The Philadelphia Dilemma

You would think that it would be automatic: Chicago is playing against Philadelphia, Ranger fans root for Chicago. After all, the Flyers are a despicable divisional rival. But I'm finding that that isn't necessarily the case, for a bevy of reasons. Let's take a look at a few:

1- Philadelphia eliminated the Rangers on the last day of the regular season and saying that your team lost to the Stanley Cup champs is some kind of consolation prize.

2- East versus west, yo. Biggie 4eva man. Can't get all mushy for those left coast suckas. 2Pac got what was comin' to him, ya herd? Gotta stand by yer bros from da conference. Even if Chicago isn't particularly far west.

3- Chicago is the latest thing. After despising the mass of bandwagon fans in Pittsburgh and Washington, how can you jump to the Hawks now that their owner died and they got good? Most of the folks filling the "Madhouse on Madison" are making their first visits there right about now. If they can stick with the Cubs despite the magnitude of suckitude, why didn't they stick with the Hawks? You don't want to be like them, do you?

4- Duncan's Teeth don't match up to Lappy's bruised brain. Sure Duncan Keith lost seven teeth and still played 29 minutes but that is just what hockey players do ... they lose teeth. Mike Ricci, Bobby Clarke, etc. Ian Laperriere took a puck to the face that gave him a brain contusion, one that was going to end his season. But did the toughest player in the NHL let that happen? No. A month later he returned to the ice. And not only that, in the series-clinching win he was credited with two blocked shots.

5- The former Ranger factor. That Flyer warrior Laperriere? Played 28 games in a Blueshirt in 95-96 before being stupidly dealt away with Mattias Norstrom, Ray Ferraro, Nathan Lafayette and 4th round pick for Marty McSorley, Jari Kurri and Shane Churla. It was a foolish attempt to re-capture the 93-94 mercenary magic and it utterly failed. And, speaking of utter failures, Glen Sather and John Tortorella thought they needed to add some size to the fourth line last summer. So what did they do? Dealt a draft pick for project Brian Boyle. A project that clearly did not work out. To give Boyle a spot the dynamic duo let the penalty killing, faceoff winning fan favourite Blair Betts go. Unceremoniously at that. So, without a job on Broadway, Bettsy showed more heart than the entire ensuing Ranger roster and went to Flyer camp and earned himself a new gig.

Love Bettsy but then again, there are also many simple reasons to cheer for Sweet Home Chicago:

1- Original Six and the best sweater in the NHL that isn't a Blueshirt.

2- Rags to riches story, re-igniting the passion for pucks in a major city.

3- Toews, Kane, Byfuglien, Keith and Seabrook. And possible future Ranger Versteeg.

4- The Blues Brothers. C'mon, Hawks are on mission from gahd.

5- They aren't the Flyers.

As for me, I'm headed to the Finals as a member of the working media so I am not rooting for either team, just an exciting series of top flight hockey full of drama and passion.

*cough, cough, Chicago, cough, cough*

Which side will you be pulling for when the puck drops Saturday?

Fans Are Fans And We're All Fans

As I pointed out in the game wrap of the Rangers/Wings game, a guy showed up to the Garden wearing a Penguins Bill Guerin jersey and was given the proper Garden reception. Well, in case you didn't see it in the comments of that post, Stan said hi and I thought it was worth a post on it's own:

I am the guy who was wearing Billy G jersey. First of all i must thank all the Rangers fans for a great night! Even though i was rooting for Rangers and i know you guys like to feel important but its was not about you that night. It was about Detroit. Hope you guys enjoyed my Lets Go Pens chants, Geno Malkin score updates, and tons of other good stuff. I definately put on a show for all of you! I am Russian and a huge hockey fan and yeah i love Penguins and yeah we won the cup! The girl i was with was not my girlfriend though :-) Was at MSG last night as well watching Rangers take on Ovie great game. After the game met Marc Staal (Jordan's bro of course), Vinny Prospal, Michael Del Zotto, and Brian Boyle. Here is a link enjoy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usbzoso
I'll be seeing you on Nov 30th when Pens take on Rangers! Hit me up on twitter @usbzoso

I have to admit, I can appreciate that: rub it in the Wings' faces that you beat them when it counted and root against them the first chance you get. Sure he shouldn't have been rooting for a division rival, just against the Wings (not the same thing) but that's ok. Stan had fun with the situation, didn't get upset and didn't act stupidly. Luckily (surprisingly) no Ranger fans acted stupidly either so it was just an enjoyable jousting.

Hockey pride is hockey pride and proud fans should certainly be appreciated.

As long as they aren't fans of the Islanders. Or the Devils. Or the Flyers.

Scotty's Swiss Diary Part 4

8:58 pm, September 30th, 2008

Wow, where to begin?? Let's get the usual out of the way first. The Rangers sucked. They were terrible; they fumbled the puck, they blew scoring opportunities, they had bad defensive lapses and if they played an NHL team, they would have lost badly. Now the good thing: they didn't play a NHL team, they played SC Bern and won 8-1.

As the cute German girl who works for Ovation Sports said to me, 'its like a different level, with everything.' To find an equal for SC Bern, you probably have to go down to the ECHL. They were soft, they had trouble passing, their shot selection poor, their shot power poor, their positioning poor and their conditioning was terrible.

And the worse part for them? Don "Have another donut you fat pig" Koharski didn't do Bern any favours by calling a tight NHL game. He gave the Rangers two 5-on-3 power plays, he cut what little momentum they were able to build with dubious calls and his fat ass was in the way more than once.

Now for the good stuff. The fans were incredible. Once you got past the fact that they are snotty Europeans who smoke like chimneys (smoking was allowed in the arena and I nearly choked), they are as passionate and involved as any I have ever seen. Their team lost by seven goals and no one, NO ONE left. They sang, they banged drums and they waved flags. It was awesome and I can't even imagine a Garden like that at all. How sad, because Ranger fans are some of the most passionate in all of sport and if they channelled it properly, they would be the best fans in all of sport. Why hasn't the Garden bought the Misfits "I want to be a New York Ranger" song yet? It is perfect to sing along to and a fun song, look it up.

They played the Ranger goal song after every goal, but I didn't even cheer for the Blueshirts' second and third goals as Koharski basically handed them over. They resulted in a weird feeling for me that I have never had before - I felt bad rooting for the Rangers ... To properly capture the atmosphere, I would have to say that it was like someone told the SC Bern fans that Santa Claus didn't exist. But, like any kid, they bounced back and were happy to get presents anyway - singing all the way to the end.

And it hasn't ended yet - the arena folks don't throw people out when it is over. They are still serving beer and selling souvenirs as I type this - an hour or so after the game ended - and there are still people hanging out drinking, smoking and having a good time.

Tomorrow should be a better game but I am sure the fans won't be as into it. And who knows how many there will be? There were at least two sections of seating today that were empty (the standing room was utterly packed though) and they kept advertising the game against Metallurg on the big board.

Before I bounce, and if you are still reading this, some more quick things: the building booed when there were television timeouts, apparently they don't have them normally and they felt they ruin play (and they were right). There were more Ranger jerseys than I expected and believe it or not, I saw a 88 Lindros and a 20 Robitaille among them; weird. I mentioned drumming before, they have a permanent drum section in the standing room area with some tough-looking guys and girls going at it all game - so cool.

And, one last thing (for now): many of the standing room fans claim their spots by the iron posts with stickers and ribbons and take their time showing up. Some girl actually expected me to move because her sticker was there. Ha! Doesn't she know I'm from New York? Doesn't she know I'm Scotty Hockey? I would have felt bad but her boyfriend was right next to me and he didn't offer to move to give her the spot by the rail so I don't feel bad, she deserves it by being with a loser.

I'm sure that more will pop into my head later or tomorrow, so until then Es-C-S.C.B, Es-C-S.C.B!

The Great Booing Debate

The above picture is not of me, but of Mario Dileo, another Rangers fan. I do not know him, nor speak for him, just appreciate his passion.

Ok, onto the subject at hand, the Great Booing Debate. This battle has roared its ugly head again thanks to the play -- well, very presence of -- Rangers defenseman Marek Malik.

I will get back to him in a bit, but the two sides of the debate are basically this:
SIDE A - You are a fan of the team, so you support the team, no matter what they do.
SIDE B - You cheer when the team does well, but are quick to voice your displeasure when they do not, usually in the form of booing.

There is some grey area, but those in each side feel quite strongly that they are correct and that the other are not "real fans."

The one thing that I have found, after being part of argument after argument on the matter, is that you have to agree to disagree because there is no right answer. People express their passion in different ways, and you just have to respect that. I am not going to pry you out of your seat to yell and cheer when I do, but you shouldn't chastise me when I boo or yell. Different strokes, for different folks. The only time I take exception is when people curse endlessly. Even though they are often priced out of it, professional sports are still family entertainment. However, that does not include the occasional "Asshole" chants directed towards players on the other team or the officials.

As for me, I yell and I boo but I also am the first to yell encouragement when a guy lays down to block a shot, or cheer when the team kills a penalty or does the little things that show they care and are putting in maximum effort.

And on that note, I take it back to the impetus for this post, Marek Malik. You cannot watch Malik play and say he appears to give it everything he has. He waves at skaters as they pass by, sometimes swinging his purse at them, sometimes going so far as to try to shove them into the boards but rarely does he knock them off the puck despite the fact that he often at least three inches taller than them.

I didn't boo his introduction at the home opener (as many fans did), but I did start booing him when he started playing like a pylon in the Rangers end. Malik was his usual lousy self playing soft not pushing people off the puck, waving his stick senselessly and showing his complete lack of agility while letting skaters have free warrant to do what they want in the Rangers zone. Yes, he put up three assists (two of which I find to be incidental rather than based on deft passing skills) but that does not change the fact that he put up a poor performance doing his job as a defenseman.

Yes I booed him, and joined in a 'M-A-LIK, Malik You Suck' chant at one point. Did that stop me from cheering when he got his assists? No. Did that stop me from laughing hysterically when he was named third star? No. Does that not make me a 'true fan'? Well, that's for you to decide. I believe I am, but what you think is what you think and thankfully (?) that can't be changed. At the end of the day we are both rooting for the same team, and I hope we will be cheering and high-fiving together at the end of the season. If not, your loss.

Poseur.