Remembering the 1994 Rangers With Jeremy Schaap

When the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, it broke 54 years of frustration for the franchise and its fans.

"Now I can die happy" was a recurring theme for tens of thousands of fans, some of whom had waited a lifetime for this moment.

So many memories from that magical year come roaring back, especially from the series against the New Jersey Devils.

Mark Messier's guarantee down 3 games to 2 in that same series versus New Jersey....

Howie Rose with the iconic "Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!" call in the second overtime of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinals against the Devils....

And of course, the ultimate reward for the team and its fans would come in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks, another 7-game classic.

Noted author/broadcaster Jeremy Schaap has a new documentary on that incredible season, No Easy Victories - the 1994 New York Rangers, coming out on June 4.

Jeremy joined Chris Swendeman and Jim Monaghan this morning on the Two-Minute Drill.

In addition to the victory on the ice, the documentary also focuses on New York City police officer Steven McDonald who was shot in the line of duty on July 12, 1986.

Paralyzed from the neck down by a gunman's bullets, McDonald became an inspiration for both the team and the city. He and his family - wife Patti Ann and son Conor (now himself a captain in the NYPD) - are an incredible story of faith, family, and resilience that goes far beyond the realm of sports.

For Bono’s Birthday, New Jersey Picked five awesome U2 songs.  I based it on the feedback that I received for First Call Last Call.  It was fun to go through the U2 catalog to celebrate Bono’s big day because they have so much material to choose from.

At 5 pm weekdays, I do First Call Last Call, a themed block of music for the ride home.  About an hour before that, the theme is set at the WDHA Facebook page.  I post a question of the day and base the tunes I play on listener responses.   It’s always so much fun to read through listers' answers.  We have the absolute best listeners.  SO musically smart and knowledgeable!!

U2 is awesome because they continually reinvent themselves.  If you listen to their debut “Boy” it sounds so uniquely different from their last album “Songs of Surrender.”  Yet you can see how the band morphed and got to the place in their career to write their last album.  They consistently put out great music and have been since the start of the 80’s.  It’s a pretty big feat!

Plus U2 is one of those bands that you need to see live.  They could easily impress by just coming out on stage and performing for the crowd with nothing else visually to look at.  They sound phenomenal and they’re fun to watch. 

But they don’t do that.  They have video screens and all sorts of things to look at and follow.  Heck, they just did the sphere in Vegas and that was a whirlwind of imagery, and audience members were almost like bobbleheads moving all around to see everything they could!

Whether you’re a fan of their live shows, just the albums, or every single thing they do, there’s no denying that they have at least one song a listener can find appealing.

It's got a great opening drum beat and a dark atmospheric tone to it. A rockin song dealing with atrocities that Bono witnessed while visiting another country.

This is a U2 classic.  It really encompasses their overall sound and is very catchy!  It's proof that they can write undeniable earworms.  It's a song that continues to live up as one of U2's greatest!

This is a track written about the Polish Solidarity movement.  It's got a  tremendous bass line and some awesome playing all around.  Plus Bono sounds hypnotic!

Larry Mullen sets the tone with almost march like drum beat to intro this track.  Bono sounds so passionate and emotional while singing.  This one is just arockin tune from a band that knows what their sound is all about!

Acthung Baby was a shift in sound for the band.  But it paid off.  It kept them relevant and it also holds up now.  This is a fun one about a mysterious woman....I think?