Home Ice. Madison Square Garden: The World's Most Famous Arena



Living in New Jersey, we've attended many events at MSG, there is something about this building that is so special. You feel an electricity whenever you are there. It is the arena to which we will compare all others.


Our first MSG visit: September 2, 1996  USA vs Russia, World Cup of Hockey

I'm not even sure how we got tickets to this, but boy oh boy, this was a game we will never forget. This is the only game we have ever been to where the USA chant happened. It is not easy to put into words when you hear that or even get to be a part of the chant, but if you could bottle and sell patriotic pride, you would have made a fortune from that night. This was Chris's first live hockey game, when asked his thoughts on that night today, "Everyone went crazy, it was so exciting when Brett Hull scored that first goal". It never calmed down after that.



Over the years we have seen several NY Ranger's Games, we have sat all around the Garden. Cantor afforded us great corporate seats, including Chris's wedding gift from Kate, almost behind the glass, and then later Ambac would own a Sky Box. Not a bad seat at MSG, before or after the remodel.


One of our best nights at the Garden was back in 2009. We were in Ambac's skybox and had the whole thing to ourselves. In the box to the right of us was Sean Avery and in the box to the left was Adam Graves! We were able to wave to Avery, he was alone and wanted to be left alone, but Adam Graves was super welcoming. I mouthed to him through the glass partition that he was my favorite player ever and he waved me over. It was absolutely thrilling...we took pictures with him, thanked him profusely and then went back to our box...and then....we heard a rustling behind us and turned to find ADAM GRAVES IN THE BOX WITH US!! We watched the entire 3rd period with him and he stayed with us after to chat and sign Chris's hat. I would swear for years after this that Adam Graves was our new best friend.
Besties



 One year we even took the Little Dudoni to see the Wringling Bros Circus at MSG and of course we saw Disney Princesses on Ice too! 

So little 😢

MSG has been a family happy place for almost as long as Chris and Kate have been together, these arenas will have a lot to live up to.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Arena #1: The Prudential Center aka The Rock

Image
  New Jersey Devils host New York Rangers   April 5, 2025 Final Score NJD 4- NYR 0 The Prudential Center is truly a beautiful arena, we had been here in May of 2024 because Rachel's graduation from MSU was held here and got a taste of how the other half live with the seats we sat in that day. They were very luxurious, spacious, and close to the floor. We did not have these seats for the game and were terribly disappointed, in our next life, we are going to be wealthy. Building 10/10 The Food TPC is an odd place for food. We were completely puzzled by the way everything worked. They had a lot of options, but it seemed there were stations for each item. There was not a traditional "concession stand" where you could get hot dogs, pretzels, popcorn, beer, etc. Each item had its own kiosk unless you wanted more of a restaurant style "to go" meal like tacos or chicken sandwiches. They had a "boardwalk" style food court, but it was absolutely mobbed, so we di...
Read more

A little about us

Image
 Hello and Welcome!  Frozen Superfans We're Chris and Kate Dudonis and we hail from South Jersey. Chris is a lifelong NY Rangers fan, Kate a converted Philadelphia Flyers fan. How did that happen??? Well, knowing Kate the way he did, it was through personal stories about the players that Chris knew how to get Kate to turn away from Philly to New York. By the '98 season, she knew the players names and most of the wives names, so lets just say she was all in. We've rooted for the team through the highest highs and playoff droughts. We've been convinced Sather was an idiot and wondered how in the world we'd replace Zuc and Hags. We prayed for Henrik to hoist the cup just once in his brilliant career and we froze in 0 degree temperatures at Yankee Stadium to see them crush the NJ   Devils .  As the little Dudoni grew up and went off to college, though, we looked at each other and wondered how we would spend our empty nest years. We discussed travel, but had no plan, u...
Read more

Visiting Away Ice:Our Criteria

Image
Even though we're there to see and experience as much as we can, and we plan on reporting on it all, we thought it would be prudent to have a list of observations that we want to be sure to make. We want to cover the usuals like the food and seats, but we want to cover some additional details that we think are special about a hockey game. The list The Food Everyone that knows us knows that Kate loves a good hotdog and Chris is a connoisseur of soft pretzels, what's a sporting event without good eats The Seats Comfort as well as placement in the arena. How is the view of the game The Cleanliness Mainly in the bathrooms, but also in general The Souvenir shops Is there a good selection of items The Jumbotron These can be good or bad. Honestly, in all things MSG, this is where the Garden lacks the most. We are looking forward to seeing what some of the new jumbotrons can do The Staff A day at the game can be made or broken by the staff of the arenas. From the ticket takers to the c...
Read more