Wednesday, December 23, 2009

One Night in New York City: USHL



It might seem strange to precede a report on the United States Hockey League and its activities right up to the holiday break, but please follow me on this one.

As I have done with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Western League, I have given readers a chance to see how I came to view the world through hockey and how the sports gives me hope in a time of turmoil.

With that, I give you Dec. 23, 1979.

Or at least, I give you a window into that time and what New York was like.

"Lawless. The whole place had gone wild."

The man was speaking to me on the train platform while waiting for a Metro North local to arrive. He was talking about the city in the 1970s. The Rolling Stones said the place was in tatters; the Ford administration, according to the New York Daily News, told the city to DROP DEAD.

New Yorkers lived in Fun City, with both wading and deep-end pools of crime all around. The police? They had their own issues to deal with; yours could take a number.

And in that spirit, the Boston Bruins found themselves taking matters into their own hands in a city gone wild. The guy on the train platform had described the city well. His description most certainly captured the spirit of the night in question.

The Rangers' Phil Esposito misses wildly on a breakaway and smashes his stick to the ice. He makes a quick getaway and leaves the post-game sharing of grievances between teams to others.

John Davidson leads a discussion before the scrum heads toward the halfboards, where a fan is said to have gained unauthorized access to Stan Jonathan's stick. Not waiting for grievances to be voiced, Bruins captain Terry O'Reilly leads the charge into the stands of Madison Square Garden.

He finds the fan, separates said fan from Jonathan's stick, and then begins to emphasize his point about what is yours, mine and ours: The stick is mine, the current displeasure is all yours, and our time will now be spent exchanging unplesantries, both vocal and physical.

Another fan reaches over, perhaps to tap O'Reilly on the shoulder and say, Hello. Perhaps he was saying, "I think the guy said, 'I give!' "

Either way, that, shall we say, calm fellow then beat a quick retreat up the aisle as Peter McNab (No. 8 in your program and in the video) does Spider-Man one better by quickly navigating his way from the front rail to an intersection with the formerly calm fellow.

As McNab delivers his message, here comes Mike Milbury, who in all this really does get a bad rap, albeit while giving one.

The legend has grown that Milbury pummeled the fan with his own Florsheim. But look closely here. Milbury looks more like a shoe clerk here, struggling to remove a clearly too small style -- lace-up? He manages just one swing before persuading the customer that the shoe does fit, and perhaps the punishment for the crime as well.

Now back to this morning and the guy on the platform. Peter, a lawyer who tries civil cases involving corporations, said he grew up in the Manhattan at the time. Attending a parochial school, he said, was a haven, the calmest place to be all day.

The rest of the time, he said with a touch of a smile, the city had the air of mayhem, just like the night in question.

"The Bruins and people were crawling all over the place, but not the police," he said. "They weren't going to help you or anyone."

"After the game, my father and I went outside and there was a large group of fans," he recalled. "I asked him what was going on. He said, 'They're going to rock the bus; let's get out of here.' "

Indeed, the bus was shoved from side to side before it escaped from Manhattan.

One escapee, McNab, was doing color commentary on the Colorado Avalanche's game with the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Sounded calm and reasonable. Downright friendly, in fact. Probably is a great friend.

One thing we do know. He's a great friend to have when someone takes a teammate's stick.

And now, here's what the USHL has been up to in the run-up to the holiday break.

Friday, Dec. 11
Youngstown 5, at Team USA 5 OT
Lincoln 1, at Indiana 0
At Green Bay 5, Fargo 2
At Sioux Falls 8, Cedar Rapids 2
At Tri-City 4, Omaha 3 SO
Des Moines 6, at Waterloo 5
Sioux City 3, at Chicago 2 OT

Saturday, Dec. 12
At Tri-City 5, Des Moines 3
At Team USA 4, Youngstown 3
At Indiana 4, Lincoln 3 SO
Sioux City 3, at Green Bay 1
At Omaha 9, Sioux Falls 2
At Cedar Rapids 4, Waterloo 3 OT
Fargo 5, at Chicago 3

Sunday, Dec. 13
No games scheduled

Monday, Dec. 14
No games scheduled

Tuesday, Dec. 15
At Green Bay 5, Cedar Rapids 2
At Omaha 9, Tri-City 2

Wednesday, Dec. 16
Des Moines 5, at Fargo 4 SO
Waterloo 8, at Sioux Falls 7 SO

Thursday, Dec. 17
No games scheduled

Friday, Dec. 18
At Team USA 8, Cedar Rapids 1
Youngstown 5, at Indiana 2
At Sioux City 3, Des Moines 2
Green Bay 5, at Lincoln 2
At Tri-City 7, Waterloo 2
At Chicago 3, Omaha 2
At Fargo 3, Sioux Falls 2 OT

Saturday, Dec. 19
At Team USA 9, Youngstown 3
Cedar Rapids 2, at Indiana 1
Fargo 4, at Sioux City 1
At Des Moines 6, Waterloo 5
At Sioux Falls 3, Lincoln 0
Green Bay 3, at Tri-City 2 SO
Omaha 4, at Chicago 1

Sunday, Dec. 20
No games scheduled
The standings are here

The USHL resumes play Dec. 29.

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