Rangers-Devils rule ratings

Good morning, Best here again. Allow me to take off my hockey writer helmet and briefly don my TV hat to bring you this ratings update:

Game 1 of the Rangers-Devils series averaged 6.2 percent of New York area homes on NBC Sports Network, the best ever for a hockey game in this market on NBCSN/Versus/OLN.

That beat the 5.7 MSG got for Game 7 of the Rangers-Senators series, which was the best such mark for MSG since Game 7 of the '94 finals.

NBC Sports Network already has recorded nine Devils and/or Rangers games during these playoffs that surpassed the previous high on the network for any hockey game in the New York market.

And Game 2 Wednesday night figures to set another mark, as long as the game is close. Which it will be, of course.

Covering the conference finals has been fun so far - despite the crazy work schedule. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm just a visitor on the beat. But the fact that today's day will begin at the Rock with the Devils' morning skate at 10 a.m. and end at the Garden around midnight (barring overtimes), gives me renewed appreciation for the hard work the hockey scribes put in during the long, long season.

Speaking of hockey on TV, I mentioned the other day that the best game I ever saw on television was Game 7 of the 1994 conference semis between the Devils and Rangers.

But the best game I ever saw live, without question, was the 1979 ECAC quarterfinal between Providence and Cornell at Lynah Rink in Ithaca.

Cornell trailed 3-0 after two and 4-0 and 5-1 in the third. Providence's Randy Wilson missed a shot at an empty net from about five feet out in the final minute, then future Ranger Lance Nethery tied it for Cornell with 13 seconds left.

Cornell won four minutes into overtime.

Afterward I stood outside the Providence locker room and watched its coach being interviewed. Standing alongside me - which I did not learn until recently - was Keith Olbermann, who was covering the game for WVBR radio.

As we recalled the scene during batting practice at Yankee Stadium last month, we agreed it was the most devastated we ever had seen a coach after a loss - college or pro, before or since.

The stunned Providence coach's name? Lou Lamoriello.