Central perl
Fans enjoy uptown practice as Rangers prepare for Classic
At least for a few hours Saturday afternoon, the Rangers got to be kids again.
The Blueshirts held an outdoor practice in front of a packed house at Lasker Rink, a hidden gem at the top of Central Park on 110th Street, as they began to prepare for the Winter Classic against the Sabres at Citi Field next month.
“You definitely get that taste of it, the sun in your eyes, the glare on the ice,” captain Ryan McDonagh said. “Just a lot of memories growing up as a little kid, getting to play outdoors with your family and the kids in your neighborhood. ... You just roll up to the park and there’s a great sheet of ice for you and you play all night.”
First-year Ranger Kevin Shattenkirk played in last year’s Winter Classic with the Blues at Busch Stadium. But for the New Rochelle native, who had never skated in Central Park before, Saturday had an extra special feel.
“We had enough rinks out in Westchester, but it’s a cool spot to be skating here,” Shattenkirk said. “It’s something that I think a lot of kids here are dreaming of doing in the long term. You never think it’s going to be a possibility when you’re that age, but I think it’s great when the team has an opportunity to do something like this for the community and reach out to all these young kids out here.”
Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey and Brady Skjei went the extra mile on their commute to practice. Dressed in full uniform (minus the skates but including the gloves and sticks), the roommates jumped on an express 3 train from Madison Square Garden and arrived right at the Central Park North stop.
The trio, trailed by a camera crew, took a selfie with a few surprised passengers before heading to work.
“It was pretty funny,” Hayes said. “The rink was small, but it’s awesome to come out here and see the fans and see all the support we get. We have a pretty set routine, so to do something different is actually exciting.”
The rest of their teammates pulled up to the rink in vans as exRanger Adam Graves was wrapping up a clinic with 40 kids from the Ice Hockey in Harlem program. McDonagh gave them all tickets to the Winter Classic before he took the ice.
The practice featured some traditional drills, but coach Alain Vigneault mixed it up for the crowd, too, including a 3-on-3 period and a shootout.
Fans decked out in Rangers garb turned out in droves, lining up an hour before the practice began.
“I’m not surprised, but still you appreciate it,” goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. “I know the fanbase in New York here is very passionate about the game. When we pulled up, I was like, ‘Yeah, of course.’ ”
Some visiting teams have skated in Lasker Rink in previous years, but the Rangers never got to do it until Saturday. McDonagh said he hoped it could become an annual tradition, whether or not they were playing in the Winter Classic.
Because in the midst of an 82game season with too many monotonous practices to count, the Rangers got to turn back the clock to the more innocent days when their hockey careers were just getting started.
“You go back to your young days when you’re putting your skates out in the little house by the rink and you’re putting mittens on and you’re going out there and spending hours on the ice, just for the love of the game and the fun of the game,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “That’s a little bit of what happened today. It brought everybody back.”