Why aren't the Rangers a bigger rival?

[ColePens]

We have some time until our back to back 10pm EST games out west so let's discuss something that has been on my mind for a while. These 2 teams have a history of playing one another, including the playoffs, and yet I find it strange they have never really been "rivals" to the Pens.

- In 92 you have the Graves incident on Mario. That was probably the most heated the rivalry has been.
- You have a win in the 89 and 96 playoffs for the Pens.

And then we have a nice little break from the Rangers until the Sid era.

- We beat them in 08.
- They beat us in back to back years 14/15. One was coming from behind 3-1 down in the series.
- In 16 we get our win back and go on to back to back Cups.


The Rangers have been a divisional foe for a long time. You have a guy like Hank in net which is easy to hate. A guy like Sid, for the Rangers to hate. There are incidents along the way as early as Adam Graves to Staal's crosscheck of Sid's head. You have playoff history. You have everything.

But there is really no rivalry and no hate. The games have never really had anything more than that added divisional pressure. I actually enjoy the Ranger fan base, especially here on HF. I don't hate them. I feel like when they beat us, they deserved to beat us. When we beat them, we deserved to beat them. So on and so on. But we actually have quite a history with this team with very little passion/hate.

Why is that?

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[CanadianPensFan1]

You would think that the rivalry would be a bit bigger.

Though, you can only have rivalries with so many teams. Philly will always be there. CBJ has taken a prime spot on the list. The Devils were for a short time, as were the Caps, along with the Islanders. But, at different times, the Devils, Islanders, and Rangers ... haven't been that good. It's hard to have a rivalry with a team that's stink on a regular basis.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

When you hate Philly so much it squeezes out your capacity to hate others. The heart can only contain so much.

Also the past few playoffs the Ranger posters here, especially the mods, have been very reasonable and a delight to talk hockey with. There was very little stick measuring and just plain hockey talk. One of their mods enjoys reading the Stat Geek Gods as much as I do.

Kind of hard to hate people when they are being so reasonable and having actual smart conversation here, a rarity especially during the playoffs.

 

[ncm7772]

Also the past few playoffs the Ranger posters here, especially the mods, have been very reasonable and a delight to talk hockey with. There was very little stick measuring and just plain hockey talk. One of their mods enjoys reading the Stat Geek Gods as much as I do.

Kind of hard to hate people when they are being so reasonable and having actual smart conversation here, a rarity especially during the playoffs.

Same with me. And it's not just here. As a whole, Rangers fans seem to be amongst the most reasonable fan base in the league.

I'd still say the team is a rival, though.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

When you hate Philly so much it squeezes out your capacity to hate others. The heart can only contain so much.

Also the past few playoffs the Ranger posters here, especially the mods, have been very reasonable and a delight to talk hockey with. There was very little stick measuring and just plain hockey talk. One of their mods enjoys reading the Stat Geek Gods as much as I do.

Kind of hard to hate people when they are being so reasonable and having actual smart conversation here, a rarity especially during the playoffs.

This makes me smile.

Though, I have replaced Philly with CBJ lately. It's hard to hate Philly. It's even hard to care about them at all. Sure, they are better this year than the last few but that isn't saying much.

But CBJ can suck the ... christ, anything. Cant. Stand. Them.

 

[Pancakes]

When you hate Philly so much it squeezes out your capacity to hate others. The heart can only contain so much.

Also the past few playoffs the Ranger posters here, especially the mods, have been very reasonable and a delight to talk hockey with. There was very little stick measuring and just plain hockey talk. One of their mods enjoys reading the Stat Geek Gods as much as I do.

Kind of hard to hate people when they are being so reasonable and having actual smart conversation here, a rarity especially during the playoffs.

I don't even hate Philly all that much any more. Their current team is hard to hate. It's just a skill team with next to no dirty players or trash talkers on it.

I'll always dislike that team because they're our rivals but I have to say it's about as calm a rivalry as it has ever been. The two teams are too busy scoring goals on each other to focus on the dumb stuff any more.

 

[aufheben]

When you hate Philly so much it squeezes out your capacity to hate others. The heart can only contain so much.

Also the past few playoffs the Ranger posters here, especially the mods, have been very reasonable and a delight to talk hockey with. There was very little stick measuring and just plain hockey talk. One of their mods enjoys reading the Stat Geek Gods as much as I do.

Kind of hard to hate people when they are being so reasonable and having actual smart conversation here, a rarity especially during the playoffs.

This is definitely a part in it. Both teams have main rivals in closer vicinity. And both have mutual hated teams in Philadelphia and Washington, (although the Rangers have flat-out own Philly the last several years, and the Flyers haven't been relevant enough to really hate for us).

We have some time until our back to back 10pm EST games out west so let's discuss something that has been on my mind for a while. These 2 teams have a history of playing one another, including the playoffs, and yet I find it strange they have never really been "rivals" to the Pens.

- In 92 you have the Graves incident on Mario. That was probably the most heated the rivalry has been.
- You have a win in the 89 and 96 playoffs for the Pens.

And then we have a nice little break from the Rangers until the Sid era.

- We beat them in 08.
- They beat us in back to back years 14/15. One was coming from behind 3-1 down in the series.
- In 16 we get our win back and go on to back to back Cups.


The Rangers have been a divisional foe for a long time. You have a guy like Hank in net which is easy to hate. A guy like Sid, for the Rangers to hate. There are incidents along the way as early as Adam Graves to Staal's crosscheck of Sid's head. You have playoff history. You have everything.

But there is really no rivalry and no hate. The games have never really had anything more than that added divisional pressure. I actually enjoy the Ranger fan base, especially here on HF. I don't hate them. I feel like when they beat us, they deserved to beat us. When we beat them, we deserved to beat them. So on and so on. But we actually have quite a history with this team with very little passion/hate.

Why is that?

Pens fans are my favorite on here. I drop by here more often than any other team's bored. Montreal, Washington, and to a lesser extent NYI, are the teams I really don't like these days. I think most of the younger guys hate Washington much, much more than Pittsburgh.

Recently, whenever these teams have met, one has been clearly the better team. A couple years ago it was us, (except I guess 2013-14, but as I remember it Pens fans absolutely hated Bylsma at the time, and the expectations for that team weren't THAT high?). We also have one of the biggest contingents of stat junkies around, so there was a lot of respect for the recent Pens teams, specifically 2015-16.

Also, hating Crosby just isn't the cool thing to do anymore. He's grown as a player and I think most people just love watching him at this point. James Neal and Matt Cooke being gone certainly helps to I'd wager.

It's funny because one playoff series against Montreal was enough for us to absolutely loathe that team (I remember actually before the '14 ECF started, the two fanbases didn't seem to mind each other, bordering even on a kind of affection related to all the 06 stuff).

Funny this is a thread, as I was actually just dropping by to read your GDT.

 

[Pengwins]

I consider them a rival and really hate Dubinsky and Torterella but they aren't there anymore. I respect their fanbase unlike Philly/Wash and as mentioned they have great fans here on HF

 

[Shaffer]

Honestly have no clue. I think maybe it’s since we hate Flyers/Jackets more?

 

[dogthateats]

They don’t really have any players that I dislike anymore. No Avery, Callahan, Dubinsky, etc. I like watching Hank lose his cool, but respect him and he seems like a cool guy off the ice.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Because New York has lousy hot dogs.

 

[aufheben]

Because New York has lousy hot dogs.

You deserve a medal for even trying one of those.

 

[HandshakeLine]

You deserve a medal for even trying one of those.

12 years in Chicago will toughen up your stomach.

I dare anyone here to walk into a Chicago bar (preferably on the seedier end of the West Side), order a Chicago Handshake, and then keep it down for more than 10 minutes.

 

[aufheben]

12 years in Chicago will toughen up your stomach.

Never been, I'll take your word for it.

 

[HandshakeLine]

But seriously, I just can't hate the Rangers. I like talking hockey with a large chunk of their fanbase, they're not as obnoxiously O-6 like Detroit or Toronto or Montreal, and NYC amazing.

I mean, any relationship will change, but it's hard to hate the Rags without Torts, Avery, or Dubinsky there.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Never been, I'll take your word for it.

Great city, terrible weather. And they have this... attrocity, Malört.

 

[aufheben]

Great city, terrible weather. And they have this... attrocity, Malört.

I don't know if this is a warning or a recommendation.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I don't know if this is a warning or a recommendation.

All depends on how much you like the taste of artisanal bile in a shot glass.

 

[NMK11]

Recently, whenever these teams have met, one has been clearly the better team.

Really good post and I appreciate the insight, but Im shortening it to the above because I think its a lot more true than we think. Ignoring Philly who will always be the number one team to rag on (haha, get it?), I think CBJ and the Caps have been more consistent vs us. It does seem like when we play the Rangers in the playoffs (where rivalries are maintained to me) its either been one or the other. And maybe its just my mind playing tricks, but it seems like even when we meet in the regular season the teams are on opposite streaks. We never seem to facing each other when were both hot.

 

[aufheben]

All depends on how much you like the taste of artisanal bile in a shot glass.

One of my favorites.

lmao "Artisanal Bile", I'll write that down somewhere in case I ever start a band.

 

[ncm7772]

Pens fans are my favorite on here.

You're the first person to ever say that!

I honestly believe we are the most hated fanbase in the NHL. And to be honest, I understand a lot of it.

 

[PensPlz]

Rags just aren't dirty enough.

Yeah Staal's crosschecks to Sid's head were bad, but that's... about it. Can't think of much else. And that was a playoff game. Whilst stuff like that happen every game against CBJ. Even preseason games has Malkin fighting.

And King Hank is entertaining. His tantrums are pure comedy gold. Can't hate that.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

This is definitely a part in it. Both teams have main rivals in closer vicinity. And both have mutual hated teams in Philadelphia and Washington, (although the Rangers have flat-out own Philly the last several years, and the Flyers haven't been relevant enough to really hate for us).

Pens fans are my favorite on here. I drop by here more often than any other team's bored. Montreal, Washington, and to a lesser extent NYI, are the teams I really don't like these days. I think most of the younger guys hate Washington much, much more than Pittsburgh.

Recently, whenever these teams have met, one has been clearly the better team. A couple years ago it was us, (except I guess 2013-14, but as I remember it Pens fans absolutely hated Bylsma at the time, and the expectations for that team weren't THAT high?). We also have one of the biggest contingents of stat junkies around, so there was a lot of respect for the recent Pens teams, specifically 2015-16.

Also, hating Crosby just isn't the cool thing to do anymore. He's grown as a player and I think most people just love watching him at this point. James Neal and Matt Cooke being gone certainly helps to I'd wager.

It's funny because one playoff series against Montreal was enough for us to absolutely loathe that team (I remember actually before the '14 ECF started, the two fanbases didn't seem to mind each other, bordering even on a kind of affection related to all the 06 stuff).

Funny this is a thread, as I was actually just dropping by to read your GDT.

This is one of the few teams whose board I dislike more than the team itself. Which is funny because one of my favorite posters is from there and I like several others. But hell, the past few playoffs has made discussion when it is a Pens/Caps series worse than having major dental work done without the benefit of anesthetics. Not going to mention names as to who makes it that way, but I doubt anyone who reads this does not know who I am talking about.

 

[aufheben]

You're the first person to ever say that!

I honestly believe we are the most hated fanbase in the NHL. And to be honest, I understand a lot of it.

This is kind of why I usually defend the Penguins on HF. If I see one more person say the Pens have get preferential reffing my heads gonna explode. And hating Crosby stopped being cool like 5-6 years ago.

I rooted heavily for the Penguins to be Ottawa this past spring. f*** that team.

 

[PensandCaps]

Idk about you guys. But I'm still pissed about blowing that 3-1 lead vs them. Could've had another cup appearance.