海角大神

The Flying Puck is one of those sports haunts in Manhattan that draws a particular breed of New York fans: hockey partisans who bleed Ranger blue.

Just take a look at the centerpiece of its traditional Irish-pub-inspired wall: a large, sepia-toned photograph featuring two split-screen images of hall-of-famer Mark Messier, the Ranger鈥檚 famously-pugnacious captain of 20 years ago. On the left half there鈥檚 a full-frame photo of his grimacing face, looking down, exhausted, with the picture鈥檚 only burst of red lining his split-up nose.

But on the right, one of the most iconic single moments in New York sports history: Messier grasping the Ranger鈥檚 only Stanley Cup championship trophy in 73 years, featuring that wide-mouth cry of joy 鈥� a moment that, in the words of New Yorker Walt Whitman, is untamed, untranslatable, a 鈥渂arbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.鈥�

This year-round Blueshirt shrine at the Flying Puck, where 16 Rangers banners hang over 10 HD-screen TVs, is just a few ice rinks away from Madison Square Garden, 鈥渢he world鈥檚 most famous arena,鈥� where New York is now battling the Los Angeles Kings for another shot to hoist Lord Stanley鈥檚 Cup.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 going to tell you right now, with the Rangers? The energy now? Oh man, it鈥檚 just a party right now,鈥� says Ray Mack, a postal worker from Brooklyn who works in the Times Square office. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 know 鈥� with the Rangers, if you didn鈥檛 know any better, you鈥檇 think they win it every year. I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 just because of this city, but come hockey season, everybody loves the Rangers.鈥�

Even those who only follow hockey on occasion have joined the Rangers traditional lunch-pail workers and blue-collar fans to support the Broadway Blueshirts. But some 3,000 miles away, just outside the downtown Staples Center in Los Angeles 鈥� where the Kings beat the Rangers in overtime Wednesday 鈥� many in the city were going about their business without so much as a passing glance at the game.

Sid Vallegas, a 40-year-old project manager from nearby Anaheim, was snacking in front of Live Basil Piazza, just across the street from Staples Center. The caf茅 had a big-screen TV that he could peek at every now and then to see how the game was going.

鈥淚鈥檓 interested enough to see who鈥檚 winning, I guess,鈥� he says, quickly adding that basketball was his real sports passion 鈥� like most folks in LA. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 really care that much about ice hockey.鈥�

Across the street at Tom鈥檚 Urban, a 鈥渕eet, eat, and drink鈥� joint catering to the Center鈥檚 fans, workers sitting on the stoop gave a similar shrug to the game. The restaurant sports a 鈥淕o Kings,鈥� banner, but server Carla Martin shook her head when asked if she would ever go to a hockey game. Then, she added as an afterthought, 鈥淲ell, I might if someone gave me a free ticket. They cost $1,700 tonight, you know.鈥�

Nonetheless, hockey does have its partisans in this region where nobody鈥檚 swimming pool ever freezes over. Take Ross French, for instance, who lives 50 miles east of LA, yet follows the Kings with passion.

鈥淗ockey鈥檚 problem is that it is in a kind of vicious circle,鈥� he says via e-mail. 鈥淭here is a perception that people don鈥檛 care about it, so outlets like ESPN don鈥檛 talk much about it. And since ESPN doesn't talk much about it, people don鈥檛 see it on the news as much."

But at the Blarney Stone, another Irish haunt in the shadows of the Garden in Manhattan, people talk about hockey a lot 鈥� especially now. Owen Roth, an Amtrak worker from Hackensack, N.J., is sitting with a woman named Karen, arguing about Wednesday鈥檚 loss to the Kings.

鈥淲e went up 2 nuthin,鈥� 鈥� Mr. Roth is saying, giving props to the energy at the Staples Center crowd. 鈥淭hen they [the Kings] scowuhd a goal 鈥� the crowd got into it,鈥� he says, dropping his 鈥渞鈥檚鈥� like many New Yowukuhs do. 鈥淭hey scowuhd anothuh goal, and before yuh know it 鈥� now they鈥檜h behind a game. The crowd can motivate you to skate fastuh, play hahduh, and hit hahduh. It鈥檚 an advantage.鈥�

Karen鈥檚 shaking her head, and hits the bar. 鈥淚 disuhgree, I disuhgree, I disughree. The road team always wins in hockey! Look at the Game 7s this yeeuh!鈥�

She has a point, too. While home teams have historically won 59 percent of the 155 Game 7s in Stanley Cup playoffs, visiting teams are 17-11 in Game 7鈥檚 since 2004, including 5 out of 6 this year. The Kings, in fact, have won three Game 7s on the road this year 鈥� an NHL record 鈥� even though a Game 7 in this year鈥檚 Finals would, if necessary, be played in LA.

Even so, Karen, who did not want to give her last name, keeps saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 tellin鈥� ya, Rangers in six! Rangers in six!鈥� Game Six would be played in the Garden, with a possible shot at another ecstatic, barbaric yawp.

As Roth acknowledged, though, there鈥檚 some passion in Kings fans, even if it doesn't run as deep. Howard Ruben, a featured columnist for the Bleacher Report and a longtime Kings fan, explains that the visceral, childhood connection with hockey is something sorely lacking in the native Californian sun-drenched experience. 聽

Little Angelenos do not grow up struggling into snowsuits and heading out for a casual game of backyard hockey, nor do they play in school, Mr. Ruben says. He鈥檚 lived in southern California for decades, but he grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., where, he says, 鈥渘eighbors used to flood their backyards in the wintertime so they would freeze, and the kids could all go play hockey when we wanted.鈥�

But that doesn't mean nobody cares, he says, and for a brief, glorious moment, the northern sport had its moment in the southern California sun. The Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012,聽and fans lined city streets to watch the Stanley Cup parade go by.

And hockey鈥檚 gained some momentum since the 1990s, Ruben says, ever since the sport's all-time greatest player, Wayne Gretzky, played for the Kings. 鈥淎nd things have gotten better since then,鈥� he says, noting that there are some youth hockey leagues appearing in the area.

But they鈥檙e not likely to wax poetic about the sport of sticks and pucks on ice, where, in New York and throughout the Northeast, it can be a family tradition among its many working-class fans.

鈥淭he advantage that the Rangers have with fans? Theyuh one of the originals,鈥� says Roth in New York, a reference to the NHL鈥檚 鈥渙riginal six鈥� hockey franchises. 鈥淪o the Rangers 鈥� it鈥檚 passed on from genuhration to genuhration. If your father rooted for the Rangers, you鈥檙e mowha likely to root for the Rangers. And his kids are mowha likely to root for the Rangers. So they had a long time 鈥� and they got the built-in fan base. And we鈥檜h pretty passionate he鈥檜h, I think.鈥�

[Editor's note: The original version included an inaccuracy about Wayne Gretzky's career with the Kings.]