New York Rangers hope Entourage movie love brings ‘victory’
Will the New York Rangers postseason be like “Aquaman” or more like “Medellin” as either turned out in the television show “Entourage?”
New York’s last two games have become intrinsically linked with the former HBO series that aired from 2004-11 and the film, which is set to debut June 3. Oh, and there’s Kevin Dillon who plays “Johnny Chase” and “Entourage” creator Doug Ellin at Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden, Via the New York Daily News. OK, Ellin is totally repping Tequila Avion in that photo. Nice …
Why is this all such a big deal? Because Rangers forward Rick Nash held an advanced screening of the movie for the team the night before its 5-1 Game 4 drubbing of Tampa at Amalie Arena which knotted the series at 2-2. In that contest Nash, who had been a playoff goat, scored two goals and added one assist.
So if the Rangers beat the Lightning their ‘VICTORY!’ will happen because of “Entourage” right?
Not really, but it would be a nice story. And by nice I mean, coincidental more than anything, but still funny, and totally bro-tastic, because “Entourage” was the quintessential ‘bro’ type television show.
Nash has a connection with Ellin according to the Daily News. One of Ellin’s childhood friends works with Nash’s wife Jessica.
“I’m a diehard Islander fan and have been my whole life, but Jessica and Rick have been really good to us and Ryan McDonagh has, too,” Ellin said. “Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara (who plays Turtle) are big Rangers fans, and we’ve always had these huge spirited debates. But it’s New York and I’m enjoying it. It’s great.
“I’ve had some interesting times at this arena through the years,” he added. “I wore my (Denis) Potvin (Islanders) jersey here when I was 10 years old and I got to get stuff thrown at me. So hockey has been in my blood for a long time. I’m making some peace with the Rangers right now, and it’s OK, I like it.”
This creates an interesting dynamic because Kevin Connolly, who plays the character Eric Murphy on the show/movie, is a massive Islanders fan. This whole “Entourage” thing with the Rangers has turned into somewhat of a marketing success – giving the film free publicity. And Ferrara has bought in to a major degree as well, tweeting about the Rangers, engaging certain Yahoo bloggers on Twitter and retweeting them. Thanks Jerry!
But Connolly did not want to go to Game 5, per Ellin in the story, because he thought the Rangers fans would “kill” him.
And the Rangers organization has totally bought in. Per the piece, they played the song “Superhero” by Jane’s Addiction during warmups, which is the opening credits song for the television show.
We may have been too hard on the Rangers by saying a loss to Tampa could make their playoff “Medellin-like.” Making the Eastern Conference Final puts it more in the middle between a flop and success – kinda like “Head On.”
Then again, we’ve never seen these fictional movies, but always dreamed of how they turned out.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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