Dalton Kasel was completely mesmerized.

Sitting two rows off the glistening bright white ice in Madison Square Garden – seats so good that the owner of the joint, James Dolan, was a row behind the bull rider – the young cowboy in a dusty dark gray hat was transfixed on the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes zipping from goal line to goal line, crashing into one another, firing pucks at the net and scoring eight times on the night.

“I don’t really know what I’m watching,” Kasel said. “But I sure like it.”

The action was fast and furious as the Rangers snapped the Hurricane’s 11-game winning streak on Tuesday night in front of an appreciative and nearly defeaning sold-out arena.

Kasel was brand new to crackling pro hockey, but by the end of the first period, considered himself a Rangers fan. 

He fit the part in his custom blue jersey with his name on the back above the number 30, an acknowledgement of the anniversary PBR will celebrate this weekend in the same arena.

The jersey had been gifted to him by Garden staff in the luxury suite behind and under the seats, right next to Garden boss Jim Dolan’s personal lair.

The 2019 PBR Rookie of the Year took in the action with Boudreaux Campbell, who was sporting the kind of lush beard found on the faces of superstitious hockey players who refuse to shave during a long playoff run.

They were the first two riders to arrive in the Big Apple for Tuesday night’s game ahead of this weekend’s Unleash The Beast tour event, participating in a slew of promotional activities in the nation’s largest media market.

During a commercial break, they surprised two random fans from Long Island with tickets to this weekend’s PBR Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, which will invade MSG Jan. 6-8.

As it turns out, the Rangers fans, Jenn and Jeremy Hecker, were also PBR fans. They’d been to PBR at Nassau Coliseum a.k.a. “The Barn,” the former home of the hated local rival New York Islanders. The couple loved what they experienced so much they went two nights in a row.

The night after the hockey game, Kasel and Campbell, who you can tell genuinely like each other, would be back in the Garden to join another competitor friend, 2022 PBR World Champion Daylon Swearingen, for a New York Knicks game, a sport much more familiar to the riders.

Kasel and Campbell were multiple lettermen in high school, including football and basketball.

While Kasel left high school in Texas after one year to be home schooled, Campbell played high school hoops in the same state for three years. (His senior year was cut short to graduate early so he could compete in the NFR.)  

“I’d play D against the other team’s best guy and shoot threes,” he said. “Defense doesn’t take much talent; it’s all about trying hard.”

Between periods, the boys met another world-class athlete – 2002 Olympic Gold Medal figure skater Sarah Hughes, who knows a thing or two about hard work. 

Hughes, who grew up about 20 miles east of Madison Square Garden in Great Neck, Long Island, would spend four to six hours a day on the ice practicing her jumps, loops and spins, and then another two hours on her conditioning.

Her Gold Medal in Salt Lake City in 2002 is widely considered one of the biggest upsets in figure skating history.

Hearing the riders describe the determination needed to make the 8-second whistle on a world-class bucking bull, the first woman in Olympic history to land two triple jump-triple jump combinations in a 4-minute free skate, said with a laugh, “Not sure if the sport is for me, but I think I’d excel at try.”

During the second intermission, Kasel went high above the ice for an interview with ESPN Radio.

It was a chance for hockey fans who appreciate humility, hard work and grit to hear from an athlete in a sport completely foreign to most, but one whose athletes also personify those attributes.

“I wanted to be a professional bull rider since I was six,” Kasel said. “I talked my parents into it when I was 13. I did the work and over the years fought through the injuries. It hasn’t come easy, but I’m now blessed to be called one of the best bull riders in the world.”

Indeed, the radio crew had done their homework, acknowledging that Kasel put up the third-highest PBR score of all time, on Woopaa for 96.75 points.

“The best thing about bull riding is everyone is trying to do the same thing – we’re giving it our best and trying our hardest,” Kasel said to close out what he called what the best interview in his young career.  

Kasel returned to his primo seat behind the Rangers bench to watch the Blueshirts, down 3-2 at the start of the third period, come out flying and explode for three goals, zapping the Hurricianes’ winning streak with a 5-3 win.

The building was shaking after each goal. The electricity was palpable. Winning creates its own sublime vibe.

The 23-year-old in a new hockey jersey accompanied by battered cowboy boots strolled from the Garden into the unseasonably warm January Manhattan night thinking about going 2-for-3 last year to make the short round and finish seventh in his first trip to “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

Riding all his bulls this time would be pretty cool, Kasel thought. That would be his plan. To be a champion in Madison Square Garden. It’s what he’s worked for, and who really can stop anyone’s plans but yourself?

Andrew Giangola is author of Love & Try: Stories of Gratitude and Grit from Professional Bull Riding, available on PBRShop.com and amazon.com with proceed benefitting the Western Sports Foundation.