Gravy’s big night final celebration of special team

February 5, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

 

“I pinch myself every day and ask how did I get here. The only answer I can come up with is that I just tried to keep it simple and work as hard as I could.”-No.9 Adam Graves

It’d be easy to wonder as they were celebrating the Fourth Horseman from that special team where the time had gone.

As I stood with family and friends up in the second to last row in Section 411, it was hard to believe that it really had been 15 years since No.9 Adam Graves was right in the middle of everything great breaking Vic Hadfield’s single season goalscoring record for a Ranger with 52 on his way to netting 10 more including the key second goal in the dramatic 3-2 Game Seven win over the Canucks ending the 54-year old Curse.

It’s so easy to reflect back and remember all those huge moments like Stephane Matteau scoring on that wraparound and Mike Richter denying Pavel Bure on a penalty shot or Brian Leetch patiently making sure he didn’t miss the open side off a brilliant Sergei Zubov pass which set the tone that final memorable June 14th night. Or that final faceoff where Craig MacTavish beat Bure on it as fireworks and the loudest Madison Square Garden you ever heard erupted with my emotional Dad in tears not believing what had happened to The Captain Mark Messier’s maniacal laugh as he lifted the Stanley Cup.

But as Sam Rosen appropriately called, “This one will last a lifetime” with equally excited partner and former goalie John Davidson who was there the previous time in 1979 when they fell to Montreal in five noted, “No more curses. This is unbelievable!”

 So many thrilling moments stick out but one that I’ll never forget is a jubilant 26 year-old blue eyed Graves looking into the MSG camera yelling at the top of his lungs:

“19—-40!!!!! Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!”

That was the precise moment it dawned on me that it really was over. They had really won!

When the team you root for wins a championship, words can’t express what it means. I can honestly say that it doesn’t seem that long ago and can still see me, my brother and father who probably never thought he’d see it having once helplessly watched Bobby Orr and the Bruins skate the Cup in 1972 all on the Staten Island Ferry where chants of “Let’s Go Rangers” blared out with alcohol everywhere and so many excited to get to the Canyon of Heroes and salute that special championship team.

It was a sweltering hot day with the area so crowded that you almost couldn’t breathe as you walked by the smallest of walkways due to the chaos. Somehow, it was all worth it to celebrate that 1993-94 New York Ranger team.

Fast forward all these years later with the club only making one more Conference Final along with getting out of the first round four other times with a lot more negative history and you’re reminded just how precious that special moment actually was.

Unless you’re a Red Wings or Devils fan, you know better than to expect seeing your team go far every year. Even our resident Devil blogger knows that’s impossible.

We all want to see our teams win. So if or when it happens, take an extra moment and cherish it. Because if you’re that fortunate as I’ve been with three of my sports teams, it doesn’t last forever. The Joe Torre Yankees are proof.

It would be easy to say as a humbled Graves thought that his jersey didn’t belong up in the rafters Tuesday night next to teammates Richter, Messier and Leetch. Perhaps the proud kid whose Dad was a cop raised well in Toronto just couldn’t fathom how he went from being just an extra as a four year-old to winding up the Rangers’ third all-time leading goalscorer becoming one of the most popular faces in franchise history.

As Messier duly noted before introducing his running mate, the night wasn’t about celebrating Graves’ statistics but rather the kind of man he was in stature always putting others before him.
“The true test of a man with character is how he lives his life when the cameras are off,” The Captain beamed also explaining that his former linemate really was that nice off the ice.

What would the Heart of a Ranger celebration be without many extra guests who the man known as “Gravy” greeted and shook hands with before he even made it onto the red carpet aside beautiful wife Charlotte accompanied by their three children, daughters Madison and Montana along with son Logan by his side with Dad Robert watching up from high above? As he would later say, his hero who had passed back in 2000 was there in spirit.

The hour long ceremony wasn’t over the top a la Messier but rather a celebration of the true humanitarian Graves is with plenty of people he had come to know through the Garden of Dreams Foundation that presented him with the first ever Hero Award along with Officer Steven McDonald,who got some of the most deserved cheers after delivering an officer’s badge in honor of Adam’s late Dad.

He thanked seemingly everyone who took time out to be there pointedly acknowledging how much the 18,200 impacted him while also thanking close friends such as Paralympic gold medalist Nick Springer along with former GM Neil Smith who brought him here.

At the time, Graves was best known for being a member of The Kid Line (Joe Murphy and Martin Gelinas) helping Messier and the Oilers win their last Cup in 1990 a couple of years after coming over from Detroit. Smith signed him sending Troy Mallette back to Glen Sather as compensation. Mallette was expected to be good but it was the other guy who wound up becoming a steal and MSG fixture for a decade tallying 280 goals including 30 or better four times along with 227 assists totaling 507 points.

He might not have been the most talented but Graves more than made up for it with grit and determination turning himself into a power forward riding shotgun with Messier.

“I stand before you humbled and incredibly appreciative because I am truly blessed,” an emotional Graves echoed to loud cheers. “Blessed to have the talent to play in the NHL and blessed to have the ability to share that ability for 10 years with the people of New York.”

“This is the place where I always felt at home,” he said. “So much so, that right now I feel as though 18,200 of my closest friends are right here in my living room.”

He summed it up perfectly receiving the kind of love the same adoring fans had shown him during his Ranger career before dealt to the Sharks for Mikael Samuelsson during the summer of 2001.

It’s hard to imagine a more deserving human being than Graves due to the kind of person he’s been wearing the Ranger sweater with pride and honor while raising so much money for charities always staying true to how he was raised with his family often taking in 40 children and treating them as if they were their own.

His efforts off the ice were recognized when he won the King Clancy in 1993-94 and Bill Masterton Trophy during his final season on Broadway being widely respected by his peers.

I can still remember before that great team went onto win their first championship in 54 years, there was Gravy showing up in suit and tie to speak at a local Jewish Community Center dinner. The man got it. We rarely think of athletes as heroes but Adam Graves is a perfect role model leading by example.

Even more special had to be the fact that nearly the entire Sopranos cast was there presenting him with a signed jersey along with DVD extras for a man who loves HBO and looked in disbelief when Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) himself was there on the red carpet to present the special gift.

His closest teammates Richter, Messier and Leetch gave him an autographed electric guitar from The Boss Bruce Springsteen to which Rosen quipped:

“You’ll have to learn how to play by yourself.”

Before the gifts were handed out, some of his closest friends came out including former ‘mates Matteau, Mike Gartner, Tie Domi, Darren Langdon, Sergei Nemchinov, Jeff Beukeboom and Glenn Healy.

This wasn’t about the entire ’94 team but rather about Graves’ pals returning to pay homage for what kind of teammate he was.

There were the five prior retired numbers including Rod Gilbert (No.7)and Ed Giacomin (No.1) joining Messier (No.11), Leetch (No.2) and Richter (No.35).

But maybe even more special was that the man Graves was privileged to share his No.9 with Andy Bathgate was there as was Harry Howell (No.3) with both their numbers finally going up where they belong 17 days from now on February 22.

 “Forever sharing No. 9 with you high above the ice means everything to me,” he said to a nice reception with my father overjoyed. I can hardly wait for that night because of what it’ll mean to him as Bathgate and Howell have been very deserving for years.

Spoken like the classy person he is.

“We couldn’t have accomplished what we did on this ice without your endless devotion,” No.9 told the Garden Faithful.

And to his loving family, the ultimate compliment: 

“My success is your success. My moment here tonight is your moment, and you are everything to me.”

Thank you No.9. You’ll always be near and dear to our hearts.