WPCNR VIEW FROM THE  EIGHTH AVENUE MEZZANINE. By “Goal” Gordon. May 7, 2008:

Let me tilt back my fedora, light up a Lucky, and pound this out on my  Royal Corona keys while in the quiet of the old Garden press gondola. The real  Garden. The one with the blue haze of cigar smoke hanging in the upper deck, when the ice was made by hand cart and the players played without helmets, when Gumper was in Goal and Andy Bathgate, Camille Henry and Andy Hebenton were my favorites, and the New York World Telegram and Sun called them the Blueshirts, and they used to run 1-inch ads in the sports sections, reading "Hockey Tonight Toronto 7 PM Fastest Game on Earth."

Madison Square Garden 1950s. Eighth Avenue and 49th Street.

Now that hockey, figure skating, (I remember the Ice Capades), has grown and now faces an ice crisis. I think The Rangers have the oppportunity to give back to the community a favor that will never be forgotten, and make a memory as warm as the 1994 Stanley Cup. A selfless gesture that will be appreciated so much by the community that has loved them so long.

What We Would Give for some Ice -- like Yost Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Just 10 Hours Away

You see they have closed the New Roc rink in New Rochelle.  New Rochelle city government is reported thinking about building a new rink. Meanwhile New Rochelle High School, Rye,  and some other hockey teams, not to mention the Team Image of Yonkers, the Synchronized Skating 4th  Ranked National Team,  have no place to skate or practice. Most of the rink slots in Mount Vernon, E. J. Murray Rink, Westchester Skating Academy, Katonah Harvey School, and in Stamford and Greenwich are filled.

But there is a rink that is only used eight months a year.

And the New York Rangers are not using it now.

WPCNR contacted the Rangers public relations department, leaving phone messages and two e-mails asking if the Rangers could possibly have an interest in stepping up and really helping the hockey teams, the  figure skaters and the Team Image Synchronized Skating team by working out  a plan to share their ice.

The Rangers as usual have made their early exit from the playoffs and that ice is just there. The Rangers could charge for the ice time, and win so much good will from hockey, figure skating teams, and of course the figure skating community, if they could work out a plan. Even during the hockey season, the Rangers only use the rink certain hours of the day.

However, the Broadway Blues publicity department apparently did not want to explore this one with the press.

It is a natural idea if the corporate legal types can work out the liability issues.

Sports teams help a lot with the community, mainly giving gift drives, and public appearances for a good cause.

Here, the Rangers now have what a lot of teams and kids and parents who love skating need – ice.

With Ranger stars putting in occasional appearances when local teams practice, the public relations value would do the Garden a lot of good, considering the horrid publicity a certain basketball team enjoyed last fall.

Since many teams pay for the ice anyway they would most likely be willing to pay the Rangers for their precious ice.

The Rangers could score a hat trick with this idea.

All it takes is a few phone calls to explore the possibility.

Let’s Go Rangers!

Make that call to New Rochelle High School, Rye, and Team Image. Explore needs how you can help.

This is really for the kids and they would love the Rangers for life.

High school hockey players and figure skaters grow up to be season ticketholders some day.

With the right handling, this could be the greatest thing a sports team has ever done for so many people who love hockey and the ice sports.

All it takes is Jim Dolan to reach out, figure out how to share the ice (for pay, of course), and tell his lawyers to make it work and it can get done.

Teams have already been trying to book ice, but to show you how crowded the rinks already are, Team Image, shown at the Providence Rhode Island National Syncronized Skating Championships could only find ice at 4 in the morning at Westchester Skating Academy.

Is hockey doomed for New Ro and the other hockey sixes that used New Roc?

The Rangers have the closest rink.

They are the local team to our southern Westchester hockey teams.

The youngsters need the Blues to come through.

The Devils and the Islanders are too far away to be practical.

But if the Rangers don't, the Devils and the Islanders could step up, too.

Hockey and figure skating and synchro skating are sports that the players and the athletes love. They admire the Ranger players and live and die with them.

The Rangers could pay them back this year with a gesture of sharing their ice that will be talked out for decades.