A Big Apple spring

 A funny thing happened last night on the way to this morning. I fell asleep in 2024 and woke up in, I don't know, 1970 or something.

That's because when I opened up my Sportsball feeds this morning I saw that the New York Rangers swept the Washington Capitols out of the Stanley Cup playoffs last night, and, over in the NBA, the New York Knicks put themselves on the brink of knocking out the Philadelphia 76ers. I didn't see Rod Gilbert's name anywhere, or Walt Frazier's either, but it sure felt like I should have.

That's because back in the day Gilbert was the right wing on the Rangers GAG (Goal-A-Game) line with Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle, and Frazier was the stylish floor general for the Willis Reed-Dave DeBusschere-Bill Bradley Knicks. The Knicks won the NBA title in the aforementioned 1970, and the Rangers reached the Stanley Cup Final twice in the 1970s and were a solid contender most of that decade.

Now it's spring again in America, and the Knicks and Rangers are still very much alive. The names have changed -- Gilbert is now, I don't know, Vincent Trocheck or Artemi Panarin, and Frazier is Jalen Brunson, who dropped 47 on the Sixers yesterday -- but the feel is surely the same in the Big Apple.

As in the early '70s, both were consistent winners this season. The Rangers finished with the best record in the NHL (55-23-4), and the Knicks went 50-32, second in the NBA Eastern Conference to the Celtics. Now it's almost May and both are still drawing breath, and every coot in New York is wallowing in nostalgia.

Or so one would assume.