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| 24/7 Rangers/Flyers: Episode One review |
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| Features |
| Written by Blake Benzel |
| Thursday, December 15, 2011 04:55 |
It’s here, the moment puckheads from Vancouver to Tampa have been waiting for: The debut of "24/7 Rangers/Flyers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic" on HBO. Following the Capitals and Penguins on their road to last season’s Winter Classic, the first incarnation drew rave reviews from fans and non-fans alike. This season is looking to build upon that success.Episode 1 of this four-part series following the Rangers and Flyers on their road to the NHL Winter Classic was highly anticipated. It didn’t disappoint.Unexpected stars emerged (Brandon Prust was one of the more entertaining on the New York side). Expected stars shone (Ilya Bryzgalov waxed poetic about everything from the universe to the finer points of Russian liquor and the illegality of hunting tigers). Some tuned in for these lighter moments, but the more serious aspects made this episode truly terrific. A brief rundown: It started with a montage with terrific narrator Liev Schreiber that is as eloquent as it is descriptive of the reasons why we, as hockey fans, love hockey. “It is a gradual process, taking hold not over weeks and months, but years, decades and entire lives. The game engraves its way onto the body, envelops itself around the soul. Insistently. Excruciatingly. Completely. Hockey becomes them.” That is the narration as shots of the Flyers and Rangers are shown and that sets the tone for the episode and the episodes to come. This particular episode starts with the strains of the Black Keys “Lonely Boy” playing as we’re introduced to part of the New York Rangers’ way of life – their commute. Some carpool (Derek Stepan), some walk (Brandon Dubinsky), some take a cab (Ryan Callahan) and some take the subway (Steve Eminger). It may seem mundane, but it’s something that we rarely think of when thinking about teams getting around in the Big Apple. The team’s commute moves on to the storied history of the Rangers’ franchise before quickly transitioning into the Rangers’ pre-game meeting against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not soon after the start of the game montage (which, like all, are shot amazingly by the HBO crew), we’re reminded just how dangerous the game can be, revisiting Dion Phaneuf’s crushing hit on Michael Sauer (which led to a concussion for Sauer), as well as Michael Del Zotto sliding head/shoulder first into the boards. After this introduction to the Rangers, it was on to Philly and the Flyers, set to the strains of the Fitz and the Tantrums song, “Money Grabber.” While the trades of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are touched on, it’s only in passing, followed by a Paul Holmgren quote saying, “Sometimes you need to take risks, in our business.” We’re then introduced to the Philadelphia Flyers, then to the star of the show – Ilya Bryzgalov. Click on the link to fully enjoy “Bryz” at his best, but suffice it to say that it’s very enjoyable. They mention concussed captain, Chris Pronger, who talks for a moment saying, “When you have the ability to play, it’s never fun watching,” and we’re back to the Rangers, who are taking some local kids to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. This is our first glimpse into the personality of the team, with Henrik Lundqvist being the butt of some jokes and pranks by Prust and Brian Boyle and a very genuine moment with Boyle, talking about how much he got out of it. Then, came Sean Avery. Channeling his inner Zoolander, we join Avery as he is in the midst of a modeling shoot and his tumultuous start to the season is discussed, though we’re not treated to any of his on-ice antics other than the particularly witty quote in the montage at the beginning of the episode, where Avery shouts, “You [expletive] loser.” After our brief visit with Avery, the cameras follow Michael Del Zotto on his trip to the training room following his rough collision with the boards against the Maple Leafs, with Del Zotto making the comment, “21 years old and I feel like a 61-year-old man today.” Torts gives his views of the training room and we’re on to Philly where we see a fairly awkward interaction between Max Talbot and Dan Bylsma prior to Philly’s game against the Penguins. The touch on Jagr’s defection to Philadelphia and Jagr sounds fairly emotional when talking about choosing Philadelphia over Pittsburgh, then they move on to the game. The Flyers win the game, which is followed by this exuberant celebration to the tune of Mac Miller’s “Knock Knock.” After the Flyers’ celebration, we’re on to a game involving a celebration of a different kind – New York’s tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning. HBO shows all of Artem Anisimov’s celebration in all of its glory, including the aftermath in the penalty box during which Brandon Dubinsky gives a profanity-laced tirade about the lack of a penalty to Vincent Lecavalier and Anisimov asking exactly why he’s getting a penalty. Anisimov is followed to the locker room and seen sitting by himself before the rest of the team files in after the period and Anisimov is met by a knowing smile and a chuckle from Avery. Torts goes on a little bit of a rant, the game finishes and we see Anisimov apologize to his teammates. We’re back to Philadelphia, where Peter Laviolette and Craig Berube discuss Ilya Bryzgalov’s status for the month, then on to a team meeting where Laviolette stresses accountability on the team’s day off. Following the meeting, we follow Wayne Simmonds, one of 28 African-American hockey players in the NHL, on his way to an Ed Snider hockey workshop, opening a new inner-city rink. Simmonds even gets a little dig in on his old team, saying that he’s, “loving it so far. The fans here, they’re awesome. It’s a bit different than L.A., obviously. It’s a way better hockey town.” After watching Simmonds teach some inner-city kids hockey, we’re back to the Rangers who are preparing to face the Buffalo Sabres and quickly we’re on to following Ryan Callahan, who is having dinner with his parents. Also in the same restaurant are a group of Rangers players who decide the check by putting their credit cards into a hat and drawing them out until there’s one remaining. In case you were interested, the losing parties for the team’s two tables on this occasion were Jeff Woywitka ($650k) and Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875M). After this, we’re back with the Flyers and we get to see the unfortunate incident that led to Claude Giroux’s concussion and, consequently, through a very illuminating view of the NHL’s concussion protocol, from the quiet room all the way through the baseline tests. After this, we’re back to the Rangers where we get to watch Ryan Callahan have one heck of a game in front of his family, then get to meet his 95-year-old grandmother in a very touching scene. After that, Max Talbot breaks out his newest Christmas sweater at the Flyers’ Christmas party, before we learn that Claude Giroux is out with a concussion. The episode ends with the Flyers taking the train to Washington and Laviolette talking about the casualties of war before watching the Flyers’ train heading down the tracks. Favorite Quotes“They (the kids) got to meet us, we got to meet the Rockettes.” – Brian Boyle“You’re the dirtiest player in the league, bud.” – Scott Hartnell to Matt Cooke “If you have a chance, finish him. He’s a good player, but don’t [expletive] your pants on him. Don’t play off of him. We’ve got to still try and take time and space away from him.” – John Tortorella on Phil Kessel “I wanted to see if you can show me that celebration you had the other day. We’ll work on it today. We’ll work on some new stuff – see how many brawls we can start.” – Brandon Prust to Artem Anisimov on his celebration “The solar system is so humungous big.” – Ilya Bryzgalov Favorite MomentThe whole episode was great, but there’s just something about that Flyers celebration that I can’t get out of my head. Maybe it’s the mental image of old-man Jagr sitting in the corner, shaking his heads and muttering, “Darn kids,” to himself while they do it.
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| Last Updated on Thursday, December 15, 2011 15:24 |
