Toggle sidebar

Should the Rangers postpone Henrik Lundqvist Night?

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates

Should the Rangers postpone Henrik Lundqvist Night?

  • Total voters
    68
Mike in Houston

Mike in Houston

Registered User
Apr 20, 2015
2,388
4,257
Houston, TX
Larry Brooks writes in his latest newsletter for Post Sports+ subscribers:

The Rangers should postpone Henrik Lundqvist Night to properly honor a legend:

An NHL/NHLPA board of infectious disease experts is making the decisions on postponing games around the league, but the Rangers are going to have to make one of the toughest calls on their own when it comes to the Henrik Lundqvist Night scheduled for Jan. 28 against the Wild.

Because in this time of global uncertainty, can the Rangers go ahead with the plan to fete The King as scheduled if his parents, family and friends are unable to make the trip to New York from Sweden? Is it appropriate to hold these festivities if it becomes a hardship for Lundqvist’s guests to attend?

Should the organization go full steam ahead if the ceremony needs to be pared down to conform with COVID-related protocols? Is that fair to Lundqvist?

Plus, does it make any sense to keep this night on the schedule when there is always the chance that the game could be postponed just hours in advance of the contest by the league if either the Rangers or Wild experience an outbreak?

Answers are no, no, no, no … and no.

I understand that postponing the number retirement until next season would represent a ticketing nightmare for the organization. When fans purchased tickets on the secondary market for the game, the prices were exorbitant because of the planned ceremony and not because the match would represent Mats Zuccarello’s second return to the Garden wearing the Minnesota uniform.

It is unclear how the Rangers/Garden even would approach this vexing matter. An enforced “buyer beware” policy might pass legal muster, but would create an uproar. At the same time, though, if the equivalent of rain checks were issued for a rescheduled 2022-23 ceremony, what would that mean for the Jan. 28 game?

You certainly wouldn’t expect the organization to go two-for-one and essentially eat the gate receipts for this upcoming contest. The issue might be insoluble. Surely it would represent a boondoggle.

But the priority must be the guest of honor. It must be Lundqvist. If there have not yet been serious conversations between the man of the hour and the organization, the time for that is now.

The celebration of one of the greatest careers in franchise history should not turn into an obligation. It should not become a burden. It should not become just another milestone diluted by protocols. Not this one. Not something this special.

Jan. 28 won’t wait for COVID, but Lundqvist’s grand night probably should — what is that expression born in Brooklyn seven decades ago? — wait 'til next year.
Click to read more...
 
  • Like
Reactions: egelband
Weird article considering its a month out and Henrik has been travelling all over the world the past few months. NY, ATL, Dubai, Sweden. He doesnt seem to be bothered too much by covid.

Maybe im just bargaining because i got tickets to this game for Christmas lol
 
Absolutely. I want to go and I won't go right now.
 
Last edited:
Everyone that is voting yes definitely didn't get tickets for the game and want to go.

You don't postpone this one. There is no reason to at the moment. Unless Hank is sick at the time, you cannot do that. You let it ride. Too many people have made travel plans or spent a lot of money to go to the game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Atax, FireGerardGallant and Kane One
JimmyG89 said:
Everyone that is voting yes definitely didn't get tickets for the game and want to go.

You don't postpone this one. There is no reason to at the moment. Unless Hank is sick at the time, you cannot do that. You let it ride. Too many people have made travel plans or spent a lot of money to go to the game.
Click to expand...

That shouldn't mean anything to Hank. It's his night. Not anyone else's night. There is an argument to be made that anyone who bought a ticket to this assumed the risk.

I'm going to be up there with my family in March and have tickets to two games. I'm worried those might be postponed and I have to find a way to unload my tickets. I can't just hop back on a plane to go back up there. And I bought them before Omicron. It's my hope that nothing gets postponed.
 
Mike in Houston said:
That shouldn't mean anything to Hank. It's his night. Not anyone else's night. There is an argument to be made that anyone who bought a ticket to this assumed the risk.

I'm going to be up there with my family in March and have tickets to two games. I'm worried those might be postponed and I have to find a way to unload my tickets. I can't just hop back on a plane to go back up there. And I bought them before Omicron. It's my hope that nothing gets postponed.
Click to expand...

It is not just his night. If it was just his night then who cares if there are any fans there? He can have the ceremony and stand on the ice alone with no crowd and watch the jersey go up. It's a night for him, the organization, and the fans. They can not really postpone it on their own unless they want to seriously outrage anyone who purchased a ticket to the game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FireGerardGallant
It's still a ways away but we haven't seen the worst spike via this variant yet so maybe?

They can make the call in a few weeks. No need to do it now. I understand that the people who paid out the ass for the tickets get f***ed over big time but thats the risk you assume when buying tickets.
 
No one seems to be considering the possibility that the NHL feels it has to go back to games in empty arenas again. Maybe you should. Henrik's night with no one in the seats would be a travesty. It's pretty much consensus that Omicron, though less severe, is just getting going. In one month we don;t know what we may be deep in the heart of, but the fans won't be making the decisions about how to handle it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mandiblesofdoom
Unusual Suspect said:
No one seems to be considering the possibility that the NHL feels it has to go back to games in empty arenas again. Maybe you should. Henrik's night with no one in the seats would be a travesty. It's pretty much consensus that Omicron, though less severe, is just getting going. In one month we don;t know what we may be deep in the heart of, but the fans won't be making the decisions about how to handle it.
Click to expand...

Has nothing to do with the NHL. That's a state/federal law thing. The league is never going to just decide to go to empty arenas if they aren't forced to.
 
South Africa is the view on how this will go. Already going down in cases quite significantly. There will be no reason to move it and no reason for empty buildings. This isn't January 2021 anymore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: McSauer
JimmyG89 said:
South Africa is the view on how this will go. Already going down in cases quite significantly. There will be no reason to move it and no reason for empty buildings. This isn't January 2021 anymore.
Click to expand...

In yet another thread governed by the COVID conversation, I agree.

It appears that highly infectious variants spike very quickly and then fall just as fast.

However, there is difference between the US and South Africa. The US is about 8 times the size of SA and we could think of SA as its own state with its own set of regulations that are countrywide. In the US, Covid in general has struck in waves, but dependent upon where you are in the country.

Our state mandates and restrictions differ from region to region and this exacerbates the problem of accurately predicting the curves.

Hopefully with Omicron it will run its course rather universally throughout the country, which appears to be happening

In regards to the NHL, we have to throw Canada in the mix as well. Cases have increased 272% in two weeks due to Omicron, so they seem to be in step with the rise the US is facing, though not as many cases.

Terrible, but from a league standpoint better to have it hit and "go through the population" at the same time so whenever the infection rate plummets we can "get back to normal" - whatever that means these days.
 
If the COVID situation gets worse and limitations either from the NHL or the state/city cause the game the be played with a reduced crowd size, I would say move it. But if they do that they need to figure out a way to make things whole with people who paid through the roof to be there when Hank's jersey goes up who now might not be able to.

If it goes on as planned, everyone who has tickets will just need to look at the numbers and make an informed decision on whether to go or not. If it goes on as planned (which I hope it does), I'm fully vaccinated including the booster and I'll throw on two masks regardless of what the guidelines are the the time, so I'll be there since it's within my comfort level.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UnSandvich
There is basically no way to make people whole who bought on the secondary market unless the season ticket holders are willing to take the game back and guarantee tickets for whenever it is rescheduled. I don't see this happening in many cases. They legally sold Rangers vs Wild and not Hank's jersey night. Also, if season ticket holders took them back now they would likely take a loss due to the Covid situation and game being so close...which they wont take risk.
 
JimmyG89 said:
South Africa is the view on how this will go. Already going down in cases quite significantly. There will be no reason to move it and no reason for empty buildings. This isn't January 2021 anymore.
Click to expand...
Unless public health officials stop focusing on cases as the key metric and start focusing more on hospitalizations and deaths, who knows where public policy will be in late January re: covid in NYC.

Is there enough time between now and 1/28 for us to get to the other side of the wave the way SA is now? Who knows, considering politicians seem to just do things that give the illusion of action to make it seem like they're trying hard, I'm not sure I can confidently say we won't be in some sort of lockdown/no gatherings over XX amount type scenario on 1/28.

As an aside, it's incredibly frustrating to see officials making overreaching policies cloaked in "following the science" when it's anything but. If they were following the science they wouldn't have children >10 be forced to wear masks in school or have indoor mask mandates for vaccinated people or things like that where the science itself is at odds with the policy. The league will hopefully realize that it's not April 2020 anymore and with all of the vaccines and treatments readily available as well as the current dominant strain being less (not for everyone but for most it seems) severe that there's no need to be testing asymptomatic people anymore. During a bad flu season we don't test healthy people for the flu so there's no reason to be testing everyone. If someone has symptoms, test them and if they're positive then have whatever quarantine period is necessary but there's no reason healthy, non-symptomatic people who are vaccinated should need to be tested and/or quarantined. Hopefully public policy is also going to catch up to that soon. Zero covid is never going to happen and the sooner people realize that the sooner we can start to move towards the end of this.

I'd feel bad for the people who bought tickets if they postpone but Lundqvist deserves an all out retirement night, not a capacity limited retirement or a no spectator retirement. He already had to finish his career in front of an empty building, his jersey retirement should be in front of a packed to the brim Garden.
 
I mean, it's all up to the government right? Idk what's the protocol in NYC. Is there a cap on spectators at events?

I was pissed that Draisaitl got his Hart Trophy in his living room in Germany, alone, at 3 AM in the morning ...

I'd be equally pissed if Hank had his number retired in front of 3000 peeps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: egelband
NYRFANMANI said:
I mean, it's all up to the government right? Idk what's the protocol in NYC. Is there a cap on spectators at events?

I was pissed that Draisaitl got his Hart Trophy in his living room in Germany, alone, at 3 AM in the morning ...

I'd be equally pissed if Hank had his number retired in front of 3000 peeps.
Click to expand...
Not as of yet and I don't think there will be. There will certainly be a vax requirement, that's already in place.

I'm not sure why the vax requirement isn't enough. The hockey world has gone absolutely bonkers over this variant.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fitzy and egelband
Posted this in another thread...

I weighed various options and decided to purchase 1/28 tickets from the Rangers (Ticketmaster) rather than the secondary market because this way I have some recourse if the ceremony is moved or canceled. I would imagine they will do everything possible to hold this date because of the shear size of the gate. Tough to walk away from $3MM+​

I'm sure they are thinking about what to do. I suspect they will do everything possible to hold the original date.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom