Devils fans are always obsessed with the Rangers. I always wonder if they care more about the Rangers than their own team.
Funny, but Devils fans say the the same thing about NYR fans. Islanders fans used to say that about NYR fans and vice-versa. That happens in every sport.
If you would have read the posts, you would see that it's not just Devils fans pointing out the horrible NYR television ratings.
I think it's jealousy that no one cares about their team (people/media) even after winning 3 cups in 8 years and that Rangers fans still view the Devils as a crap organization and actually respect the Islanders more than the Devils.
For a team based in Northern New Jersey that doesn't have the words "New York" in front of their team name, they get plenty of attention. They are also getting a new building, so apparently there are enough people that care. Not the most, but enough.
It's very subjective, but I look at the NYR organization as being "crap", especially Neil Smith's & Glen Sather's draft record and the product they have put on the ice for all or most of their tenure. It doesn't help that their national television ratings have no effect on the popularity of the NHL in the U.S. either.
Therefore, they try to go out of their way to try to take jabs at the Rangers.
Going out of the way??? Did you even read the posts in this thead by fans of other NHL teams and see the poor television ratings for games featuring the NYR?
Whenever I see the Rangers organization badmouthed it's always by Devils fans, rarely Flyers or Isles fans, always Devils.
I know many Flyers fans & Islanders fans who haven't given up badmouthing the NYR.
Besides, NYR fans have been badmouthing the Devils organization since 1982.
I think it says something. That's why I dislike Devils fans more than Isles and Flyers fans even though I hate those two teams more.
What this has to do with television ratings, I have no idea...
There are definitely many more Rangers fans than you see on the surface.
We know there are more NYR fans than Devils fans. That's not the issue and nobody is debating this.
But if you would have looked at the television ratings, the NYR are clearly irrelevant in the New York and national sport scene.
Are there as many die-hard fans as we think? Probably not, however, 95% of new yorkers if you ask them which hockey team they like, they'll either say the Rangers or they'll say they don't like hockey. Lots of people I know say they don't like hockey but if they have to watch a team they pick'd the Rangers.
Huh? If your 95% rule was true, the NYR almost certainly would have Yankees & Mets type of television ratings.
It's not a matter of "The Rangers don't have as many fans as we think" it's that hockey has no fans.
We know tha. At least in the U.S. That's the whole issue of this thread.
I remember as a kid no one I knew was a Rangers fan, then in '94 everyone I knew liked them. Heck I remember on the school bus kids were chanting "Let's Go Rangers!" I mean it just goes to show that hockey was definitely in the spotlight that year.
Nobody is denying this. When New York teams win Championships, they garner much attention.
The NYR were fortunate enough to win during a a 16-year lull in the New York sports scene that saw only 2 Super Bowl Championships by the Giants and 1 baseball World Series Championship by the Mets. The Yankees and Mets were horrible in 1994 which is why the NYR and Knicks owned the sports scene in New York in the early to mid 1990's.
Just look at last nights sports news in New York: Philip Hughes' injury and near no-
hitter had as much attention as the NYR win over Buffalo. More people talked about Hughes and the Yankees misfortunes today on both sports talk radio stations in New York.