He's No Bob Shepard, but...

In this season when the Rangers are likely to miss the playoffs, they only occasionally come up with a superb game, like tonight's 4-0 victory over the Canadiens, but there's always a reason to go to the Garden. His name is John Amarante (sp?) and he regularly sings the National Anthem and -- on nights when there is a Canadian team playing -- also O Canada!. He'll never be a Bob Shepard since it's hard to imagine someone singing the anthem well into their 90's, but unlike Hillary on You Tube, John -- who looks like he might have taught Ferris Bueller in a different life -- brings both a fine voice and great drama to the anthem. The color guard lines up and he walks out along the carpet onto the ice and launches. It's nothing notable until the bombs start "bursting in air," which Mr. A, holding the microphone in his left hand, punctuates with a punching uppercut from his right. He then builds to the finale, "o'er the land of the free," and as the more restless players start skating circles, he waves his free arm to the crowd, exhorting the building drop-the-puck cheers, and finishes to crashing applause. It's a great show and a great way to start any game. The game DJ was on tonight too, with Arcade Fire's Wake Up just before the Rangers took the ice and then, when they went on their first power play, the synthesizer intro, the crashing first chords, leading into Keith Moon's drumming to open Baba O'Riley, maybe the most exciting beginning ever to an album or CD.