Heading into the 2001-02 season, the Rangers planned to host training camp at Madison Square Garden, marking the first time in their 76-year history that they would hold training camp in New York City, let alone MSG.
The initial plan had been for the Rangers to hold their on-ice training camp sessions at Chelsea Piers – about 10 blocks south of MSG – and their off-ice fitness testing in the ballrooms of the Marriott World Trade Center hotel. Because there was not enough space in the Chelsea Piers locker rooms to adequately fit all the players the Rangers were inviting, the team adjusted its plans to have all their fitness testing and on-ice sessions at MSG instead.
Players began arriving at MSG for off-ice fitness testing to begin training camp on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Several players were expected to greet fans in the MSG lobby as tickets went on sale at the box office at 9:00 a.m. that morning. Eric Lindros, who was acquired by the Blueshirts in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers a few weeks prior, was expected to be a guest on the TV show Live with Regis & Kelly later that morning as well.
But the terrorist attacks that occurred that fateful day – including the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center – changed everything in New York and throughout the world.
Like all sports teams and leagues, the Rangers and NHL postponed games and team activities in the wake of the attacks. The Rangers moved their training camp from MSG to their practice facility at Rye Playland in Rye, New York, and two days after the attacks, they were on the ice to begin preparing for a new season. Less than a week later, several players – including Mark Messier, Lindros, and Mike Richter – visited the World Trade Center site to offer encouragement and support to the first responders and rescue workers, as well as support and condolences to those who had lost loved ones.
New Yorkers in all walks of life were profoundly impacted by the attacks, and for many New Yorkers, there was at least one personal connection with someone who was tragically killed on that day. The Rangers were not an exception to this.
One of Brian Leetch’s closest friends – John Murray – worked inside the World Trade Center. Leetch and Murray became friends over a decade prior when Leetch attended Boston College, and the two of them – as well as their families – grew closer over the years. The loss of a close friend only made the days that followed the attack that much more difficult for Leetch.
The Rangers’ first two pre-season games were postponed, and they ultimately played their first pre-season game on September 17, 2001, in Detroit against the Red Wings. Two days later, the Blueshirts played their first pre-season home game against the Devils at MSG in what was the first professional sporting event in New York City since the terrorist attacks.
For that game, “United We Stand” was painted just inside each blue line on the ice. The boards of the rink had the message, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all injured and lost, New York’s Finest and Bravest, all volunteers, and rescue workers.”
Before the game began, Rangers and Devils players stood together on the red line for a moment of silence, and then Rangers’ legendary anthem singer, John Amirante, sang both “God Bless America” and the “The Star-Spangled Banner” while wiping tears from his eyes.
The night after their game against the Devils, the Rangers played the Flyers in Philadelphia. Between the start of the second and third period, United States President George W. Bush began a speech addressing members of Congress; the speech was broadcast on the jumbotron inside the arena in Philadelphia, as both teams came out to the bench to watch. When the speech ended, the game was called as well, ending in a 2-2 tie after two periods.
As the healing process began, the Rangers organization prepared for the team’s first regular season home game of the 2001-02 season – October 7, 2001, against the Buffalo Sabres – and determined how to appropriately honor everyone impacted by the attacks. First, the Rangers and Sabres each wore special jerseys with “New York” on the front (the Rangers’ jersey was blue, even though their white jersey was their home uniform for the 2001-02 season), which were later auctioned off to benefit the Twin Towers Fund. In addition, the Rangers’ goal horn for the 2001-02 season was changed to the horn of an FDNY engine.
Members of the FDNY and NYPD hockey teams were invited onto the ice as part of the pre-game festivities as honorary members of the Rangers. After the 2001-02 Rangers were introduced one-by-one, a moment that was not planned took place, and it was perhaps the most poignant moment of the pre-game ceremony.
When Messier skated out as part of the player introductions, he was not wearing his helmet. Larry McGee – one of the captains of the FDNY hockey team – had been wearing the fire helmet of FDNY Chief Ray Downey, who was killed on September 11; McGee had also taped a picture of Downey on the front of the fire helmet. When McGee saw that Messier came onto the ice without a helmet, he skated over to the Rangers’ captain and asked if he would wear Downey’s helmet; Messier obliged, drawing a huge ovation from ‘The Garden Faithful.’ The image of Messier wearing that helmet – which, as Richter said years later, symbolized that “we are all fighting with these guys” – remains one of the most powerful moments in sports that took place following the attacks.
The Rangers also welcomed first responders from different organizations to represent all the people working at the World Trade Center site – FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police Department, and Emergency Services Unit, as well as iron workers and engineers assisting in the clean-up effort – and announced that several tickets for each game during the 2001-02 season would be allocated for the heroes of New York.
Once the puck dropped following the emotional ceremony, Lindros scored his first goal as a Ranger, and the Rangers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Sabres, 5-4 in overtime. Leetch scored the game-winning goal; given Leetch’s personal connection with the tragedy and his connection to the city – he was the longest-tenured Ranger and had lived in New York City throughout his career with the Rangers – it was fitting that he scored the overtime winner that night.
As John Dellapina – who was a media member covering the Rangers on that night and who currently works in the NHL’s communications department – said years later, “If a Canadian had scored that goal, it wouldn’t have been the same thing. If a Californian had scored the goal, it wouldn’t have been the same thing.
“This was the New Yorker on the Rangers who scored that goal. It was a pretty special moment.”
