On Monday March 15th, John "Icing Happens" Wrobel and, Don "The He Man Devil Hater" Cardoza attended the Devils-Ranger game at Madison Square Garden. A minute to minute diary of the events that unfolded, as written by John Wrobel, follows below….

6:37PM We enter Madison Square Garden, and receive a complimentary Sam and JD Bobble head. This is the first indication of how bad things have gotten at the Garden. They have to give out bobble heads of the ANNOUNCERS?? What about Nedved, or Kovalev, or maybe Leetch or Carter. Even a Simon or Barnaby bobble head would do. Oh right sorry, this is RANGER Bobble head night, my bad.

6:40 Being still a bit early we decide to head down closer to the ice to watch the pre-game skate and park ourselves four rows up from the ice. These are not our regular seats unfortunately, but I do like the computer stations at each seat location and the waitress service. Definitely can get used to this.

6:47 We begin the long trek up to our actual seats. At this point I'm glad I changed into sneakers and comfortable socks. As we are making our way I'm noticing quite a goodly amount of Devils Jersey's amongst tonight's attending crowd. Could it be that there is a mass conversion taking place from Ranger to Devil fans? Or possibly Rangers fans disguised as Devils fans? I pitch these theories to Don and his reply is "Nope, the Rangers just suck."

6:54 We arrive in our actual seats. Four rows from the very top. Main difference between the seats we were just in and these (aside from the noticeably thinner air) is the presence of oxygen masks and viewfinders at each seat location. From here I can vaguely make out something below that appears to be an ice surface.

6:57 Don is thumbing through this years Ranger yearbook which he picked up earlier at the Rangers team store. Apparently when you buy season tickets they come with a coupon for a free Ranger yearbook. Well at least the $2,200 spent was good for something. As an aside, the yearbook is obsolete at this point since only about three players remain from the time the yearbook was printed.

7:07 I can make out a table down there on the ice. It appears some sort of award will be given out prior to the singing of tonight's national anthem. The word filtering through the crowd is that it is a new award being given out this year, which is the "Seventh Straight Year Without a Playoff Appearance" award.

7:09 Correction to entry at 7:07, it's actually the 2002 Lester Patrick Award (for outstanding service to U.S. Hockey) being given out to John Davidson and Mike Emrick. That makes quite a night for John Davidson, A bobblehead in his likeness, AND receipt of the Lester Patrick Award. It's to bad that now the night will be ruined as he has to go and call play by play of a Ranger game. Mike Emrick did not get a bobblehead in his likeness tonight, unless you allow for the fact that the Bobble heads stand about 6" high. (That's a short joke for those of you who do not know Mike Emrick)

7:11 We have the opening faceoff. It's Martin Brodeur in goal (there's a shocker!) to our right and Mike Dunham in goal to our left.

7:12 An immediate chant of "Fire Sather" comes up from the crowd. Although I can't tell who is chanting, the Ranger's fans or the Devil fans?

7:16 Four minutes in the Devils get their first power(less) play. Sandy McCarthy gets 2 minutes for tripping Grant Marshall. Devils fail to score. (Did I even need to say that?)

7:25 Midway point of the first. Shots are even at five. Very humdrum game so far. As I look around the arena I see it's slightly better than half full at present with a slight edge to Ranger Jersey's vs. Devil Jersey's. Sort of makes me feel like I'm at the meadowlands.

7:31 Devils will get their second power(less) play of the game. Lundmark gets 2 for tripping Scott Gomez. Incidentally we believe we are sitting close to Gomez's family. From here I can see Morticia, Pugsley, Wednesday, and His Uncle Fester.

7:32 The ref just called a 2 minute minor on Tom Poti for interfering with Jeff Friesen thereby giving the Devils a 2 man (dis)advantage. Don is rather agitated and has some choice words for the referee regarding the call. Even if the Ref could hear Don from here the sound would no reach him until at least 8:00.

7:34 Devils fail to score with the two man (dis)advantage. John is rather agitated, and has a few choice words of his own.

7:39 First period comes to a close. Score 0-0. Devils outshoot Rangers 15-7. I can compare the first period excitement wise to a Jamaican Bobsled Olympic Qualifying event.

7:45 Between period entertainment features the Ranger City Skaters. Basically pretty hot chicks in tight outfits skating around. At this point Don wishes he sprung for the front row seats after all, and tells me he would like to take a 2 minute "spearing" penalty right now. Sounds like my queue to head for the concession stand. Link for those who would like a glimpse of the Ranger City Skaters. http://www.rangerscityskaters.com/

7:51 Quick check of the out of town scoreboard shows Toronto and Buffalo tied 2-2 in the first. At least goals are being scored somewhere tonight.

7:55 Second period gets underway.

8:13 Devils breakthrough at 10:14. Jan Hrdina gets his first goal as a Devil on a defensive giveaway by a Rangers defenseman. Don's agitation cup has runneth over. Also an unknown Ranger fan sitting to our Right also seems a bit agitated, and wants to know who the defenseman was who gave up the puck so he can (and I quote verbatim) "Rip off his head and S**t down his neck." This also ruins my hope and dreams of a 0-0 game.

8:21 Rangers receive 2 minute bench minor for "too many men whom you've never heard of on the ice." Devils fail to score. (Again, need I say this?)

8:23 Patrick Elias gets 2 minutes for interference. With Simon and Barnaby traded, and Purinton scratched tonight. I get the feeling this is about as nasty as this game is going to get, thereby guaranteeing it's not being viewed in the Eskow household.

8:26 Second period comes to a close. Devils hold a 1-0 lead. Outshooting the Rangers 28-13.

8:30 Between period entertainment now features "Mites-On-Ice". Whoops….my bad, that's just a newly formed line for the Devils featuring Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, and Jeff Friesen. No, again I take that back it IS Mites-On-Ice. I see the Ranger scouting staff down there behind the net.

8:38 Puck drops for the start of the third period.

8:44 Patrick Elias connects from the slot on a sweet pass by Gomez from behind the net to make it 2-0 devils. The ushers have asked Gomez's family to tone it down a notch and have asked his Uncle Fester to put the light bulb away. Strange group they are.

8:45 The chant of "Fire Sather" has been renewed with increased vigor than earlier.

8:50 Rangers climb to within one on a goal by Balej. OK, I'll say it for everyone…."Who the hell is Balej?" (pronounced Ba-lay) Sounds like a new perfume from Calvin Klein. I can see the slogan now. "Promise her anything, but give her Balej." Well if hockey does not work out for him, at least he has something to fall back on.

8:57 Chant of "Potvin Sucks" is heard. I can't imagine what these Ranger fans have against Felix Potvin, but he must have done something to piss them off. Maybe he pulled out a no trade clause and nixed a trade to the Rangers recently.

8:59 I just noticed the absence of "Dancing Larry." For those of you who don't know who Dancing Larry is, he was this guy that would sit in the upper deck and do this kooky dance whenever they played the song 'Strike it up' by Black Box. I asked Don if he knows what ever became of Dancing Larry, and his reply…."There's nothing to dance about." Can't argue with common sense I guess.

9:09 Jay Pandolfo scores with a minute and thirty seconds left in the third to give the Devils a 3-1 lead. And a surprising amount of Devil fans jump up to celebrate the game clinching goal. Apparently all Rangers fans have left the building and the Devil fans feel it is now safe to expose themselves. I feel a clarification is needed here. That's expose as in "make known" not exposure of the indecent variety.

9:10 Don is attempting to start a "ten percent off" chant but nobody is joining in. But he has succeeded in getting several dirty looks. As an aside to the 10% off thing, the Rangers owners announced before the season started that if the Rangers fail to make the playoffs again this year they would reduce ticket prices 10% for next year. This could be cause for the trade deadline fire sale.

9:12 Game mercifully comes to an end, and the Devils come away with a 3-1 victory. Final shots on goal are 45-18 Devils. I'm not sure what I enjoyed most this evening. The win by the Devils, The Rangers City Skaters, or watching Don absorb another defeat at the hands of the Devils further cementing his status as "Devil Hater". I think I'll have to go with the third choice there.

9:31 Bonus Coverage…….One other noteworthy event just occurred. As we are waiting for our train to depart, a rowdy (and intoxicated) group of Devil fans are yelling "Rangers Suck" in the middle of Penn Station, and nobody is stopping them OR even talking back!! This would be unheard of just a few years ago. Well, yet another indication of just how bad things have gotten here in Ranger land. Is nothing sacred anymore?

Well, hope you enjoyed the second installment of Ranger/Devils Diary. Click here to read the first installment. A diary from a trip the Brothers Legere took to one of last season's Rangers/Devils games.

Note to anyone who might be up for providing a third installment next year. Bring a mini-recorder! Seacrest OUT! Whoops, wrong show. Wrobel OUT!