That Spring of '94: Knicks, Rangers have Garden rocking just like they did 30 years ago

The education of this New York metropolitan area sportswriter began in the Spring of 1994.

Talk to any Big Apple sports fan who was around back then, who witnessed Madison Square Garden rocking night after night during an epic string of New York Knicks and Rangers playoff games, and they’ll tell you there was no better time for that to happen.

Yet in my case, it was totally organic.

Start with a 15-year-old high school freshman who was living away from his hometown, in a remote area where trees outnumbered residents. Entertainment consisted mainly of cable TV and newspapers, though there was internet access – to whatever degree dial-up modems and Prodigy online could provide it.

Add in an English teacher who knew how to get more out of his students than dry-read book reports. Thank you, Mr. Hogan, wherever you are.

Finally, add a big dose of hope. After nearly eight years of our family living in Connecticut during Dad’s corporate-ladder climb, he was free to work in a Northeast office of his choice. Our family house sold, and we were preparing to return home to New Jersey that June.

And we weren’t the only ones being moved. The entire Tri-State Area was about to be swept up in the hope that came from a Rangers' Stanley Cup run and a Knicks' NBA Finals run.

If you don't remember, it's same feeling that's sweeping us now, as both the current Rangers and Knicks are looking to make memories the way they did in '94.

Quickly, a qualifier: I have covered New York Metro sports for nearly two decades, but I am a New Jersey sports fan. Born in Bergen County, raised (mostly) in North Jersey.

The only true New York teams for which I rooted in 1994 were the Yankees and Jets. That summer, the former had a sure-fire World Series season in the Bronx blown up by a players strike – which I am also 100 percent convinced cost Jimmy Key an AL Cy Young Award.

The latter… well, there’s no need to discuss that Jets season past Week 12, so let’s move on.

And we should, since the eyes and ears of the sports world were focused in and around New York for months, literally.

Not only had Madison Square Garden become Playoff Central, the United States was hosting the World Cup, and a few matches were slated for the Meadowlands. By July, we were having a welcome-home party with many extended family members, watching the Brazil-Italy final from the Rose Bowl on a big-screen roughly the size of – and categorically more reliable than – a Yugo. (Remember those?)

But the “remember exactly where you were when…” moment of those days happened on the night of June 14, 1994. These gems are among the rarest in all of sports, sometimes even if you have no vested interest.

And if you do? Well, I guarantee that if the Jets ever produce one, they’ll have to scrape me off the ceiling.

NOTE: That was a Joe Namath-inspired guarantee. I cannot bring myself to type the word if it has anything to do with that Messier guy who ruined my 1994 Memorial Day weekend. (Eventually, and thankfully, the Devils-Rangers Eastern Conference final on Memorial Day weekend in 2012 went in favor of my beloved New Jersey. Henrique, it’s over.)

But at the time in '94, my Brooklyn-born father asked, “Don’t you want to see the Rangers win? It’s been 54 years.” I remembered that phrase up until the day he took me to the Devils' 1995 Stanley Cup parade… but that’s a 30-year anniversary column for next year.

Thirty years ago this June 14, I did allow myself, momentarily, to get swept up hearing history. In the guest room of some dear family friends – we had closed on our house earlier in the day – with the help of a 5-year-old Sony boombox, I tuned in to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on the radio.

The Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, as I laid awake after lights-out time. I can still remember hearing the description of the Cup being passed to Sergei Zubov, eagerly anticipating the next day’s article to find out how “Zoo Bob” actually spelled his name.

I spent the following week with my grandparents in Toms River before our new house was ready for move-in day. Spent a good bit of time wondering “why,” along with everyone else who watched the O.J. Simpson white Bronco chase – which even interrupted the Game 5 broadcast of the Knicks taking a 3-2 NBA Finals lead on the Houston Rockets at the Garden.

Unlike the Rangers, the Knicks lost in their ultimate Game 7. It was just as well, considering they had beaten my New Jersey Nets in the first round of the playoffs.

Everyone in the Tri-State Area has their own memories of the late spring-early summer of 1994. I will always think back to the 15-year-old New Jersey kid spending his last night of an eight-year Connecticut layover by listening to the New York Rangers end their 54-year Stanley Cup drought.

Now 30 years older, with a wife and child, I am not moving my family anywhere this year. But if these Knicks and Rangers decide to celebrate their anniversaries with some extra flair this spring, enjoy it. As you can see, these moments don’t come around often.

And I have learned that, no matter who you root for, it pays to study your sports history – from “A” to “Zubov”.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Knicks, Rangers are in big playoff games at Madison Square Garden again