Speculation: Roster Building Thread XXXVIII:

[HatTrick Swayze]

I think the team you dislike the most is directly tied to the time frame you became a devout Ranger fan. For me it will always be the Islanders. What I find fascinating is that having lived in many places throughout the Northeast, the Islanders clearly view the Rangers as their arch rival, so do the Devils and Flyers and to some degree so do the Caps and Penguins. We are the team people love to hate.

This is true. I will add that additionally, having lived in Minneapolis and Chicago there is an odd amount of NYR hate there as well. You will hear a lot more booing and random "F the Rangers" comments than at games vs other non-rival opponents. Leftover anger from the pre-cap days is the best I can come up with.

For me personally, growing up in NJ in the late 90s-early 00s it is the Devils and no one else will ever come close.

 

[Maximus]

A lot of things could have worked out better. It seemed to me that Barry Beck for one was always plagued by injuries---either playing hurt or out. Don Murdoch kind of lost the thread after his rookie season. For that rookie season you might have thought we found our own Mike Bossy. Greschner also had a major back problem that pretty much ruined at least 2 of his years. The thing is we were never quite as deep or quite as tough or had as much superstar power as the Islanders.....and we didn't have a coach like Al Arbour--that steady hand at the wheel season after season after season. It's not to say we didn't have some good teams or good seasons but it was never really enough.

Yah Beck was always hurt which sucked cause when he was healthy, he dominated games. He was like what Byfugulin was for Winnipeg. A big guy who could simply dominated when motivated. When Beck and Ruotsalainen were at the points on the PP back than, my lord the fear opposing teams had when having to deal with those two guys booming slap shots.

Only problem was there was a reason Ruotsolainen was known as "Rexy Plexy"...he had a hard time getting his shot on net and his shots would invariably hit the plexi-glass. And Beck of course was famously critiqued game after game by Ranger broadcaster at the time Bill Chadwick to "shoot the puck Barry...shoot the puck Barry" due to Beck's bizarre unwillingness to let go his howitzer of a shot which when he did shoot it, it typically went in

Anyways it's unfortunate cause had Beck not gotten hurt so much, Rangers would have beaten the Islanders one of those 4 straight years we lost to them in the 80's.

As far as Murdoch, if you recall after his insane rookie year which your right, we thought we had our Bossy, he got hooked on coke and like you also said, he really wasn't the same after that which is a shame cause he was a real sniper when he was focused and sober. If you recall tho, Murdoch did have one last hurrah during the Rangers magical '79 run to the Cup finals as I recall he played amazing and scored some key goals especially in the Islander series.

 

[Maximus]

The last one was the worst. Miko Leninen sp. missed/ fanned on that opportunity right in front of smith.

When was that Leninen shot? I forget.

What I do recall vividly is that the Ranger rush up the ice right before the Morrow OT playoff series winner for the Isles, Bob Brooke on a 2-1 easily beat Billy Smith but hit the f'n post and the rest is history. That still stings to this day....I know I need to get over it 35 years later...lol

 

[bobbop]

This is true. I will add that additionally, having lived in Minneapolis and Chicago there is an odd amount of NYR hate there as well. You will hear a lot more booing and random "F the Rangers" comments than at games vs other non-rival opponents. Leftover anger from the pre-cap days is the best I can come up with.

For me personally, growing up in NJ in the late 90s-early 00s it is the Devils and no one else will ever come close.

I think a certain amount of this is generic New York hate

 

[Cag29]

When was that Leninen shot? I forget.

What I do recall vividly is that the Ranger rush up the ice right before the Morrow OT playoff series winner for the Isles, Bob Brooke on a 2-1 easily beat Billy Smith but hit the f'n post and the rest is history. That still stings to this day....I know I need to get over it 35 years later...lol

After suffering thru those disappointments in the early 80’s that made 94 that much sweeter sweeping the Isles 4-0! And destroying them every game. It was awesome.

 

[Mikos87]

For me personally, I do not have a level of disdain towards the Islanders as I do the Devils. @bobbop nailed it, it's really a matter of when you grew up with the Rangers that really helps shape the rivalry discussion.

I spent a lot of time on the Island and have a lot of friends there, and while we have our contentions on games, I've always enjoyed the banter. I also feel for the arena challenges that they've faced, because let's face it, hockey is better in NY when we have two good teams in NY. So while I won't every root for the Isles, I admire what the alumni and players have done for the community at large. Let's put it this way, guys like Adam Fox and Chuck McAvoy don't become who they are without what the Islanders did for the kids in the area.

I tip my hat to that, because I haven't seen any of the Ranger led youth programs lead to the output that the Isles's alumni have. Shane Pinto is another one that is coming along.

The Devils are a different story, you had the 06 pre-lockout series in 94, then the series after the lockouts. The Devils win in 2012 stung the most. I loved that Ranger team. That 2012 team was one that I wanted to watch every night. They just ran out of gas at the end.

 

[Maximus]

For me personally, I do not have a level of disdain towards the Islanders as I do the Devils. @bobbop nailed it, it's really a matter of when you grew up with the Rangers that really helps shape the rivalry discussion.

I spent a lot of time on the Island and have a lot of friends there, and while we have our contentions on games, I've always enjoyed the banter. I also feel for the arena challenges that they've faced, because let's face it, hockey is better in NY when we have two good teams in NY. So while I won't every root for the Isles, I admire what the alumni and players have done for the community at large. Let's put it this way, guys like Adam Fox and Chuck McAvoy don't become who they are without what the Islanders did for the kids in the area.

I tip my hat to that, because I haven't seen any of the Ranger led youth programs lead to the output that the Isles's alumni have. Shane Pinto is another one that is coming along.

The Devils are a different story, you had the 06 pre-lockout series in 94, then the series after the lockouts. The Devils win in 2012 stung the most. I loved that Ranger team. That 2012 team was one that I wanted to watch every night. They just ran out of gas at the end.

Yeah your probably right. If your over 45 as I said in my previous post, you likely hate the Islanders the most of anyone of our rivals with the Flyers a very very close 2nd.

If your 40 and under, I could see the Devils being the team you hate the most seeing we've had many more contentious playoff matchups versus them and they beat us a few times as well.

The Islanders simply haven' t been good enough over the past 20 years for any Ranger fan under the age of 40 to muster up the hate that older Ranger fans like me have and still have to this day.

I have a very very strong hunch that beginning pretty much now that once we become a perennial playoff team again which should begin as soon as next season, that if we can have a playoff matchup or two versus the Islanders, that would bring back the rivalry to where it should be which is one of the more bitter ones in the entire league.

It would be good for some of the younger Ranger fans here to finally experience what I have and see what it's truly like when we play the Islanders in the playoffs as to me, there really is nothing like it as far as intensity is concerned between the two fanbases when both our teams are good.

I think I might have to go watch the highlights of the '94 Ranger sweeperoo over those Pukes to put a smile on my face and to forget all this zombie apocalypse shit we are going thru for at least a few minutes...lol...

 

[Maximus]

Delete

 

[Maximus]

After suffering thru those disappointments in the early 80’s that made 94 that much sweeter sweeping the Isles 4-0! And destroying them every game. It was awesome.

Totally agree. As good as we were in '94, it still was a shock how easily we beat them. I mean none of the games were even close. It was pretty much as dominant a dismantling of a hockey team that could possibly have been done. So tho your right in that it took a bit of the sting off of all those beatings we took from the Islanders back in the 80's, we still had to win the Cup for it to truly mean something...at least in my mind at the time, that's what I was thinking.

Heck if you think about it, the Capitals series wasn't much different as we dominated them pretty much as badly as we dominated the Islander winning that series in 5 games.

I think that's why that ECF versus the Devils was to me the most scared, stressed and nervous as I have ever been to this day as a Ranger fan. We were so good during those first two playoff series, when the Devils beat us in Game 1 in Double OT after first Lemieux scores later in the 3rd to tie it up and than Richer with the GW goal in the 2nd OT, it really burst the bubble of those of us who were around at the time and every game from that point on became do or die.

Even the subsequent Cup final series vs the Canucks I wasn't as stressed as I was when we played the Devils seeing it was obvious to all of us that the Devils were by far the 2nd best team in the league that year and that they would be really hard to beat especially after that Game 1 win they got at MSG.

That's why and maybe I'm biased, that entire ECF versus the Devils just might be the greatest playoff series in NHL history....seriously it was that good.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Yeah your probably right. If your over 45 as I said in my previous post, you likely hate the Islanders the most of anyone of our rivals with the Flyers a very very close 2nd.

If your 40 and under, I could see the Devils being the team you hate the most seeing we've had many more contentious playoff matchups versus them and they beat us a few times as well.

The Islanders simply haven' t been good enough over the past 20 years for any Ranger fan under the age of 40 to muster up the hate that older Ranger fans like me have and still have to this day.

I have a very very strong hunch that beginning pretty much now that once we become a perennial playoff team again which should begin as soon as next season, that if we can have a playoff matchup or two versus the Islanders, that would bring back the rivalry to where it should be which is one of the more bitter ones in the entire league.

It would be good for some of the younger Ranger fans here to finally experience what I have and see what it's truly like when we play the Islanders in the playoffs as to me, there really is nothing like it as far as intensity is concerned between the two fanbases when both our teams are good.

I think I might have to go watch the highlights of the '94 Ranger sweeperoo over those Pukes to put a smile on my face and to forget all this zombie apocalypse shit we are going thru for at least a few minutes...lol...

For me, it's the Penguins. I despise them more than the Devils or Islanders.

 

[Boris Zubov]

For me, it's the Penguins. I despise them more than the Devils or Islanders.

Agreed. I have felt that way since the early 90s. Growing up in the 80s, it was obviously the Islanders, but nothing in sports has ever angered me more than the 91-92 playoffs. The screw job the league laid on us in that 2nd round was criminal, with Adam Graves getting suspended for that weak hack on #66's hands. Added to that, Messier plays on a bad back & Richter lets in the dagger from center ice in Game 4. We were up 2 goals with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd to take a 3-1 lead. If we win that game, then that round & in reality the Cup is ours. Instead that shitbag team wins in OT & doesn't lose another game the rest of the way. The fact those clowns were gifted another #1OA pick during the lockout is almost as infuriating. I digress...

Even when the Devils were doing well, I didn't really pay them too much attention. The Cup hangover lasted long enough to ignore their success. Then that hangover turned into disdain for the Rangers front office, which led me to hockey indifference while the Devils were ruling the East.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

94 was special because not only was it the dismantling of the Islanders but the Rangers had such a hard time at Nassau Coliseum for what seemed like forever back then, almost as hard as The Forum in Montreal.

Also, beating the Capitals was a huge payback. Rangers and Capitals had a pretty good rivalry as the Caps were such a pain. It's funny because up until that point, 86, 90, 91, it seemed like the underdog always won in the playoffs when those two team met up. That rivalry is the most underrated in terms of old Patrick Division teams. Even the Lundqvist vs. Ovechkin era rivalry has been huge.

As a fan base, Islanders have the most obnoxious fans. I don't see the rivalry ever getting to how ridiculous it was from the 80s-mid/late 90s because it's a different time/different generation. Going to games back then especially in the 80s was the Wild West and you had some let's just call them un-PC characters who would say and do stuff that would not be tolerated today.

There have been moments where the rivalry has been that beefed up, such as 2007 the Simon/Hollweg game (I was there and it was the most intense regular season game I have ever attended), the 2013 Girardi goal, Rangers not playing well in Brooklyn, or even as recently as the last game at Nassau which was had playoff intensity, but for any of the younger fans, amps that up x11 during the peak of the rivalry.

 

[leetch99]

LOL...I hate then all...from Bruins / Habs/Flyers in the 70's and Isles/Caps/Penguins/Devils after . Any time we win versus them it is extra sweet . Not real hate...just hockey hate LOL...after all...it is only a game .

 

[NYSPORTS]

For me, it's the Penguins. I despise them more than the Devils or Islanders.

you’re younger

but yes, the hatred I (many of us) have for the Penguins is higher than any other team since the 80’s.

 

[NYSPORTS]

LOL...I hate then all...from Bruins / Habs/Flyers in the 70's and Isles/Caps/Penguins/Devils after . Any time we win versus them it is extra sweet . Not real hate...just hockey hate LOL...after all...it is only a game .

The Legion of Doom was a nightmare yet I have always felt the Flyers lost their mojo when they left the Spectrum.

 

[Dr. Ogrodnick]

I mean, can't we just hate them all? I guess I hate the flyers a teeny bit less because I have a close friend who is a flyers fan. But devils, isles, penguins can all rot.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

1A Devils
1B Pens (until the superstars are gone I guess)
1C Flyers
1D Isles

in that order.

 

[Good Intentions]

Roster building thread becomes pick the rival you dislike the most?

 

[Irishguy42]

Roster building thread becomes pick the rival you dislike the most?

I mean, might as well.

 

[wafflepadsave]

Roster building thread becomes pick the rival you dislike the most?

Nothing is gonna happen unless they sign another free agent kid.

 

[True Blue]

Yah Beck was always hurt which sucked cause when he was healthy, he dominated games. He was like what Byfugulin was for Winnipeg. A big guy who could simply dominated when motivated. When Beck and Ruotsalainen were at the points on the PP back than, my lord the fear opposing teams had when having to deal with those two guys booming slap shots.

I remember Beck going toe to toe with Langway in the middle of the ice. Two captains dropping their gloves to square off. If he were not always hurt.....

If your over 45 as I said in my previous post, you likely hate the Islanders the most of anyone of our rivals with the Flyers a very very close 2nd.

Those two have a special level of hate in my heart that others, including the Devils, can never touch.

 

[Maximus]

The Legion of Doom was a nightmare yet I have always felt the Flyers lost their mojo when they left the Spectrum.

Totally agree. The Spectrum was a house of horrors for us back throughout the 70's. Even tho Rangers had some great teams, anytime we went the Spectrum, we got our asses handed to us. They intimidated us and the coup de grace was when Dave Schultz beat the crap out of Dale Rolfe in the '74 ECF at the Spectrum and not one Ranger came to his defense.

To this day that is as embarrassed and humiliated to be a Ranger fan as I have ever felt....it was that disgraceful. Those of you who saw it when it happened know exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't know what I'm talking about or haven't seen it go to YouTube and type in the search area "Shultz pummels Rolfe". Be prepared to want to vomit tho...lol

That game at the Spectrum symbolically was the end of that era of solid Ranger teams as the team had gotten older and a retool was on the way when John Ferguson came in to shake things up.

Things did change tho as the Rangers did win some very very big playoff games at the Spectrum tho as those pretty solid Ranger teams of the early to mid 80's out-skated and out-skilled the more heavy and slower Flyers back than.

One of the most exciting playoff runs the Ranger ever went on which not too may peeps talk about was the magical playoff run in '85-'86 to the ECF where we beat the heavily favored Flyers and the equally good and heavily favored Capitals. We ended up losing to the Canadians but man that was a fun ass playoff ride that year as we had no business doing what we did to those teams. which made it that much sweeter.

George McPhee beating up and bloodying Rich Tocchet during the Flyer series in '85-'86 at MSG to this day is one of my favorite moments as a Ranger fan.

Anyways each year we beat the Flyers...'82,'83 and '85, we were always heavy underdogs and yet we swept them in '82, beat them in 4 in '83 and in one of my favorite playoff series ever, as mentioned we beat the heavily favored Flyers in 5 on the way to the ECF and clinched it at the Spectrum.

 

[True Blue]

George McPhee beating up and bloodying Rich Tocchet during the Flyer series in '85-'86 at MSG to this day is one of my favorite moments as a Ranger fan.

Agreed. And will add to it that when Orr knocked out Fedouruk, it felt like over 20 years of torture at the hands of the Flyers were exercised.

 

[Maximus]

Agreed. And will add to it that when Orr knocked out Fedouruk, it felt like over 20 years of torture at the hands of the Flyers were exercised.

This is simply beautiful to watch again:

 

[Maximus]

Agreed. And will add to it that when Orr knocked out Fedouruk, it felt like over 20 years of torture at the hands of the Flyers were exercised.

Yah...that was brutal what Orr did to Fedoruk as it's not often that you get one punch knockouts.

For awhile there it didn't look like Fedorok was going to get up. Thankfully he did but he was never the same player ever again.