Still some would argue that the Bruins had a rivalry with everyone in the 70's(they were the team to beat in the early 70's). The Rangers had some real good teams, but not good enough to stop a Bruins team with Orr(yeah, no way) or the Lafleur Canadians Dynasty(might have been able to beat them).
Course I think the 70's was one of the worst era's of hockey (talent wise). Even the amazing teams like the Bruins, Flyers, and Canadians got to beat up on so many crappy expansion teams.
I hate to admit it, but those 80's islanders teams were better. Not even going to mention the Oilers.
The days of the dynasty seem so far away.The Islanders run, spilling right over the next year to the Oilers comprised an era of probably the most domination by two clubs that will ever occur. I doubt we ever see anything like that again.
Personally, I always felt great rivalry and animosity towards the Canadiens, as a Rangers fan.
Were you an Expos fan? I don't know if you are into the CFL, but I love the Alouettes. I go up there to catch a game or two every summer.
I was a huge Expos fan! Unfortunatly, there were not enough fans like me in Montreal. I am still a baseball fan but I don't follow it as I used to.
Me and my friends have seen baseball games (not necessarily involving the Expos) in New York (Mets), Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago (both Cubs and White Sox) and Milwaukee. My only regret is I never got to see a game in old Yankee stadium....
Best stadiums I've seen : Fenway and Wrigley.
As for the Alouettes, yes I'm a fan, but not as much as I was an Expos fan... still crying over the '94 strike that cost us the world series....
The days of the dynasty seem so far away.The Islanders run, spilling right over the next year to the Oilers comprised an era of probably the most domination by two clubs that will ever occur. I doubt we ever see anything like that again.
Personally, I always felt great rivalry and animosity towards the Canadiens, as a Rangers fan.
Free agency my friend.
Not to mention, its even more complicated with a salary cap. The best you can hope for as a team is to be competitive for a stretch of years.
The days of winning back to back championships are probably never coming back. Some would say that is a good thing.
I was a huge Expos fan! Unfortunatly, there were not enough fans like me in Montreal. I am still a baseball fan but I don't follow it as I used to.
Me and my friends have seen baseball games (not necessarily involving the Expos) in New York (Mets), Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago (both Cubs and White Sox) and Milwaukee. My only regret is I never got to see a game in old Yankee stadium....
Best stadiums I've seen : Fenway and Wrigley.
As for the Alouettes, yes I'm a fan, but not as much as I was an Expos fan... still crying over the '94 strike that cost us the world series....
Wrigley is by far my favorite stadium. I've sat in the bleachers on top of the houses (the non stadium seats) and that was possibly the greatest baseball game experience I have ever had. I remember going to games at Olympic stadium. All of the Expo fans there were die-hard fans. Olympic Stadium is a piece of **** though. I wish the Expos could have pulled one off for Montreal though. I hate the fact that the Nationals are there but the Expos aren't. I guess it's just because I'm an old fashioned SOB, but I always liked going to Mets v Expos or Expo games when I was there for Alouettes games up there and hanging with the die hard Expos fans. Great memories at Expo games.
I agree with you and this is a big reason why the assistance was not there. The location of the stadium (far from downtown) didn't help. Also, the former owner (before that Jeffrey Loria jerk) did so much job to diminish the Olympic stadium (cause he wanted the government to build him a new one) that it became a laughing stock...
Anyway, even if we could have saved the Expos, seeing how crazy the salaries in baseball are today, they would have move anyway.... we had a good run, great memories and great players, but now it's just memories...
Wrigley is by far my favorite stadium. I've sat in the bleachers on top of the houses (the non stadium seats) and that was possibly the greatest baseball game experience I have ever had. I remember going to games at Olympic stadium. All of the Expo fans there were die-hard fans. Olympic Stadium is a piece of **** though. I wish the Expos could have pulled one off for Montreal though. I hate the fact that the Nationals are there but the Expos aren't. I guess it's just because I'm an old fashioned SOB, but I always liked going to Mets v Expos or Expo games when I was there for Alouettes games up there and hanging with the die hard Expos fans. Great memories at Expo games.
Not sure of the era that you speak of, but did you get to Jarry Park? That was the first home of the Expos, and you are right about Olympic Stadium (also known as the Big Owe). Concrete slabs fall off that white elephant of a structure every now and then.
Not sure of the era that you speak of, but did you get to Jarry Park? That was the first home of the Expos, and you are right about Olympic Stadium (also known as the Big Owe). Concrete slabs fall off that white elephant of a structure every now and then.
mid 80's to late 90's. I never made it to Jarry Park. Missed that cut by about 2 years as I was still under my father's roof lol. Whoever the lead engineer was on the Olympic Stadium project should never have gotten paid. It is right above the subway though (if I remember correctly) and it made it relatively easy to get to games. However I guess that presents problems if they ever want to demolish it.
The Red Wings were 2 goals away from doing it just 3 years ago.
I should be a bit more clearer in what I meant to say. A team might be able to win a back to back championship(Red Wings did it in 97,98). But winning 3 or 4 in a row is pretty much over.
I should be a bit more clearer in what I meant to say. A team might be able to win a back to back championship(Red Wings did it in 97,98). But winning 3 or 4 in a row is pretty much over.
Definitely. All the teams are pretty even in comparison to the past.
I should be a bit more clearer in what I meant to say. A team might be able to win a back to back championship(Red Wings did it in 97,98). But winning 3 or 4 in a row is pretty much over.
What was the Devils' payroll in the early 2000s? Because I don't think they were a team that was taking advantage of the lack of salary cap and they almost won 3 in 4 years in the early 2000s.
What was the Devils' payroll in the early 2000s? Because I don't think they were a team that was taking advantage of the lack of salary cap and they almost won 3 in 4 years in the early 2000s.
Almost, but game 7 against Colorado was not close. Anyway, those Devils teams never had the truly elite-level forwards it would've taken to be a dynasty. I wouldn't blame that on free agency so much because those guys rarely hit the market. They just never drafted someone of that caliber up front (granted the mid through late 90s drafts were not exactly loaded with forward talent). It's true they played a defensive system, but I can't think of a single dynasty that didn't have at least one truly great forward.
Contrary to some with shorter memories, the Rangers and Habs had a pretty intense rivalry back in the 1970s. Better believe that it was a big deal to the Garden faithful when NY dispatched Montreal during playoff time in '72 and '74, when the Canadiens were defending Cup champions both times. Then came the heartbreak of the '79 SCF, when the Scotty Bowman-led dynasty had its swan song by defeating NY in 5 games.
Since then, the Rangers-Habs rivalry has cooled, just as the Rangers-Isles rivalry has become tepid. When your opponent is no longer a powerhouse, the satisfaction that you once got from beating them over the head no longer gives you that same feeling.
Last edited by The Lone Ranger: 03-31-2012 at 03:19 AM.
Almost, but game 7 against Colorado was not close. Anyway, those Devils teams never had the truly elite-level forwards it would've taken to be a dynasty. i wouldn't blame that on free agency so much because those guys rarely hit the market. They just never drafted someone of that caliber up front (granted the mid through late 90s drafts were not exactly loaded with forward talent). It's true they played a defensive system, but I can't think of a single dynasty that didn't have at least one truly great forward.
I can't think of a dynasty that didn't have at least three or even 4 great forwards.
I never considered the devils even close to a dynasty. They were a highly competitive at their peak. But a dynasty requires at least three consecutive championships or as close as possible. The Scotty Bowman Red Wings were closest team to do it. But even they fell short.
The Devils benefited greatly from the "dead puck era" where they could just throw interchangeable cogs out on the ice and win. In todays game, that is really hard to do. You need some A level talent somewhere in your line up.
Last edited by Blueshirt Believer: 03-31-2012 at 03:03 AM.
The Americans and Rangers were BITTER rivals. The hatred ran deeper and more profound and had a dynamic probably more deep than probably any rivalry in the sport...ever. No matter how short lived.
The Americans were promised something that was stolen from them, literally, forced to relocate to another burro, and then denied the right to exist after sacrificing their players for the war effort.
That rivalry would be the Islanders v Rangers rivalry ten fold.
Sorry, but you need to read up in this. Just because YOU weren't alive for it, doesn't make it less important.
And the Maroons were THE team in hockey. They were the team to beat. The Rangers specifically targeted the Maroons to launch their early success. If they could piggy back on the Maroons prominent name, and their star players, and beat them, then the Rangers could be a success. It worked.
I think Montreal happens to match up well with NY over the last few years. Their speed and special teams play along with solid goaltending has worked well, although this year the wheels fell off. Kinda seems like forever when the issue was to keep Halak or Price. Hopefully Eller can continue to develop...
But that joke of a GM and front office that they have in Canadiens land has to be the burning issue.
Not sure Roy is the answer either.
I have been to the old forum and saw all the flags. I watched Patrick Roy play and even Mario Lemieux score a shorty in that building. Great memories.
I wish the NHL would make an original six division. Only us old folk care about the Islanders anyway. Devils celebrated their cups in a parking lot, enough said about that.
So I think the NYR could use a rivalry with Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit
i went to school in montreal so have a bit of experience here. habs fans are the first to putdown their own team but the first to pound their chests when they win. it's a classic hedge. they're very annoying in that way. if they lose, they take all the piss out of it saying 'we suck'. but when they win, you never hear the end of it.
that said, all-in-all, they're a good bunch. just annoying. and - of course - the habs are a pretty great franchise. and despite them being a constant source of frustration to me, as a ranger fan, i kind of like them.
i really dislike the flyers and pens. i wouldn't go so far as to say i 'hate' them, because that's just silly. but those are the two teams - as a ranger fan - that i dislike most. the isles are pretty **** too, but they've sucked forever. i shouldn't, but i have grudging respect for the devils.
i still have plenty of bad feelings for the caps from the patrick division days.
The Rangers had a pretty good rivalry with Montreal in the 70,s and the 80,s. MSG always had a buzz when the Canadiens came to town. The Islanders rivalry with the Rangers will never be surpassed. Some of the younger fans say that the Devils are our biggest rival historically but as someone who was a bigtime fan during its heyday nothing ever comes close to the Rangers/Islanders rivalry and if you didn,t experience it you missed an awesome time. The Devils rivalry is about 10x less intense as the Islanders rivalry in its heyday.
Almost, but game 7 against Colorado was not close. Anyway, those Devils teams never had the truly elite-level forwards it would've taken to be a dynasty. i wouldn't blame that on free agency so much because those guys rarely hit the market. They just never drafted someone of that caliber up front (granted the mid through late 90s drafts were not exactly loaded with forward talent). It's true they played a defensive system, but I can't think of a single dynasty that didn't have at least one truly great forward.
The last 2 games of that series weren't really close. That goal to make it 3-1 was pretty late. Still they came closer than any team to winning 3 of 4 since the 90s. The Wings were in the finals 3 of 4 years but got swept in one of them. It's amazing when you look at the forwards on Detroit and Colorado and compare them to those of NJ, that NJ was able to stick with those teams in achievements. Is St. Louis the new NJ?
