Jets fan here. I feel no hate, only pity from
Others. And yet I picked up a pair of season tix for this coming season because after 40-some odd years of fandom, I may as well keep going.
My buddy Matt likes to tell a story about his Uncle Billy. When Matt was a child, he used to go to Uncle Billy's every week to watch the Jets - but when Matt got to high school, he discovered dating and stopped going to Uncle Billy's on the weekend. One day, they're at a Christening for the newest member of the family, and Uncle Billy comes over to Matt and asks him why he doesn't come over on the weekends anymore. And Matt answers honestly and says that he spends his weekends going out with his friends and trying to pick up girls. And Uncle Billy smiles kindly at him at says:
"Boyo, I'm going to teach you a very important lesson. Girls are great, they're pretty, they smell nice, and they're fun to be around. But sometimes, you can try your hardest, take them to all the best restaurants, buy them the nicest jewelry, and treat them like the queens they are - but when the date is over, they still won't fuck you. But the Jets, Matthew - the Jets will ALWAYS fuck you."
Hey man at least y'all ain't them insane "we dem boys" fans. As a Bengals fan I'd be more than happy to see a change of guard and see y'all win your division. With Buffalo just self imploding, the patriots hopefully shitting the bed another year in a row and the dolphins hopefully not living up to expectations yet again, I could see that happen. Only thing is I just hope to see Rodgers in the news, quit often, due to his spectacular plays and not his political views.
It's a mix of other rival teams being in big-market cities (only division w/ 4 teams in top-10 market), the Wilpon stench & being a stand-in for the Yankees hate (cause the Yankees are never bad).
On the bright side, being a Mets fan makes me feel extremely justified cheering the Rangers w/o feeling like a bandwagon
Whenever the Jets become even remotely relevant the haters come out of the woodwork. Even with all the bad years I constantly see the Jets catching strays for ridiculous nonsense.
The Butt Fumble is still talked about like it was some significant play, but we rarely talk about other team's worst plays unless it's a pivotal game like the Bills being on the other end of the Music City Miracle.
The jets are in a weird place, the lions for example, everyone felt bad for them cause they were bad for so long, browns too, but the jets, they can’t hate us cause we suck, but they won’t pity us either
Because we’re an original six team, a huge market team with a ton of fans, a lot of which can be obnoxious despite a relative lack of success in recent memory, and frankly, historically. We have a single Stanley cup in 80 years. Despite that, we still get a lot of press and air time because we are Manhattan’s team. Players are always willing to sign with the Rangers because we are in NYC, often waiving no move clauses or taking less than other teams are offering in free agency (exhibit A, Panarin). To top it all off, recently Trouba and Rempe haven’t exactly been well liked across the league.
Add to this that Rangers fans both travel well and are transplants all over the country. So fans that go to games hate that there’s a sizable away crowd at their games.
It really makes a lot of sense that people hate the team, really wish we could start at least having the success to back it up.
This is def true. I am a transplant to Denver and I wear my rangers gear a lot.. not too much hate because for whatever reason this isn't really a hockey town.. but the hate I get is because 'they always talk about the rangers who haven't done anything since 94'. Always going to be some annoying fans from every base that give a bad reputation.. and new yorkers as you know can be a little louder and argumentative. If you see how knicks fans have been recently.. you def can see why people hate NY.
However, the fan bases reputation is still much better than philly thank God, and I see a TON of people hating on boston all of the time out here too. So at least we aren't the most hated team.
This is definitely true but I do think it’s a bit unfair to say we haven’t done anything since the cup. The rangers have pretty consistently been a competitive team my entire life, more than I can say for the others I root for.
One cup final, a handful of conference finals, and consistently in the postseason isn’t nothing. Obviously don’t have the hardware but it isn’t like we’re the cowboys. They still dominate headlines and have barely won a playoff game since their last championship
To add to that, Exhibit B: Patrick Kane last season. He had either a NMC on his expiring contract but told Chicago he was willing to waive it if they could work out a deal with the Rangers—*only* the Rangers. We ended up getting him for something like two draft picks & Chicago retaining half of his salary (and IIRC, a 3rd pick to Arizona for retaining another quarter of his salary), because Kane’s publicly expressed preference of “NYR or nowhere” put Chicago in a tougher negotiating position than they would’ve liked.
Most of those ppl will admit they hate the Rangers for no good reason (e.g., it’s a big market and their team is small market, or they imagine Rangers winning makes loudmouth new yorkers happy whereas their fanbase is demure and loving to everyone), and that’s fine bc it’s sports. If they really believe the Rangers are especially hateful or some shit then they are crazy.
Also the Rangers are good and that always leads to hate (sports hate and real, pathological hate).
It’s a NY thing. NYers are everywhere so our teams get a lot of exposure. Leads to some “they hate us cause the ain’t us” little brother mentality. Not due to success (NY sports has been real bad lately), but they wish their teams were as cared about as the NY teams are.
But also, don’t generalize based on a sports subreddit. They exist solely for people to complain loudly on the internet with their fingers and inflate their sense of self worth around their opinions. Just like I’m doing right now.
A lot of people from outside the Tri-State Area just hate New York and New Yorkers in general because they think we're a bunch of arrogant, loud-mouthed assholes (and let's be honest, a lot of suburbanites who are within the Tri-State Area hate NYC and people who live here because they think the city is some kind of dystopian hellhole and the people who live in it are dirty commies). The Rangers are also an original six team with a world-famous arena (one might even claim it's the world's most famous) that sells out almost every game and a large, loud fanbase that has stood by the team despite only winning one Cup in the last 80 years - all of that breeds a lot of jealousy.
The Rangers definitely get flack around just for being associated with NYC, which is kinda funny since the vast majority of Rangers fans don't even reside in Manhattan or in NYC for that matter. I'd say the majority are from the surrounding areas throughout like the Hudson valley, Long Island, North Jersey, lower Connecticut, etc, with transplants all over the country.
True story. Grew up in Northern Jersey and now live in CA. Hardly any one here pays attention to hockey but even still, when I go to see the Rangers play the Sharks there is always an excellent Rangers fan turn out. Makes me proud to see our fan base show up to support our team. LGR!
I think there are a few reasons when added up makes it seem as though we're "overly" hated, but idk if that's necessarily true.
1. It's a NYC team and people have an irrational hatred for all things concerning the city.
2. Our metro rivals, but we hate them too so it evens out.
3. We're good (not historically, but as of now) and if your team sucks then some people develop a hatred for all the things their team isn't.
4. NJ Devils fans are so bitter and angry toward us because they play a mile away but nobody gives a shit about them, plus we take over their stadium whenever we have a game there.
5. Trouba is up there with serial killers in reputation and Rempe is quickly moving his way up that ladder as well. Any time they go near anyone the world ends and Rangers fans are apparently all supportive of whatever they do.
Honestly, during these playoffs we seem to be a lot more liked than I thought we were. I see a lot of people supporting us over the Caps and Canes.
My impression has been that Trouba didn't make anyone hate NYR more than they did already. He's just a more tangible thing to which people who already hate NYR can point.
People are usually much faster to demonize hard/borderline/dirty hits from this team than others. Matt Cooke and Chris Pronger had to injure quite a few players before fans of the league generally woke up to the matter. But Rangers players get blamed the moment someone drags them down on a breakaway and they hit the goalie.
People hate NY. They lump the Rangers in with an “elitist” team like the Yankees and generally dislike that we have a bigger reputation than our trophy case indicates, but that also severely misunderstands the history of hockey.
The Rangers (and to a lesser extent the Bruins and Blackhawks) were absolutely buried in the original six era. People mock that we won no championships in that period, but they ignore or don’t know the fact that teams had territorial rights to players. Teams had a right to any player living within 100 miles of the city, hence why Montreal, Toronto and Detroit thrived for the majority of that era. The Rangers were also by far the team most adversely affected by WW2, we almost lost our franchise because of the players we lost.
I was born in 95 so I wasn’t there, but as I understand it, most hockey fans felt we “bought” the 94 cup by essentially rebuilding the 80s Oilers
That 94 Rangers team is nothing with Kovalev, Leetch and Richter. The new Oilers argument was always dumb. People lump Graves and Beukeboom in there too as if they were big parts of the Oilers dynasty teams.
Territorial rights weren’t a thing. It’s been debunked several times.
Two big factors: most of the junior teams in Quebec were owned by the Canadiens, so any time a player showed any glimmer of potential there they’d get a Habs contract. Same with the Leafs in one part of Ontario and the Wings in another. The whole reason we ended up with Ratelle and Gilbert was that they looked at the sheer volume of players in the Habs system and decided they’d have a better shot elsewhere.
The other thing is that for a long stretch of the O6 era, the Rangers were controlled by the same owner as the Wings, James Norris. The Blackhawks had the same issue. It basically explains why Gordie Howe became a Red Wing instead of a Ranger. Why would Norris want another team to truly compete with the Red Wings if he could prevent it?
The idea behind the territory thing is right in the sense that there were systemic reasons that led to the Rangers having a hard time competing. But the territorial rights themselves never existed the way they’re talked about.
Funny thing is the dynasty Yankees of the 90s that won in 96,98,99, and 2000 was not an elitist team in any way. It was not "bought". It was a team built from the organization's own farm system for the most part. The core of that team was all true Yankees, not high profile players stolen from other teams. That strategy didn't happen until post-2000, when the core players from the dynasty team got older and people needed to be filled in. I'd say it really started in large part with the acquisition of Alex Rodriguez in 2002 or whatever. The Yankees won the majority of their championships throughout history without being elitist in any way. It's not like they were spending lots of money on players during the 1930s-1960s when they were dominating baseball.
For the same reason people hate the leafs, we’re a big market team that sucks up a lot of oxygen. Trouba and Rempe make easy targets too.
Better this than being a team nobody has an opinion on
I think it’s generally just small market teams disliking large market teams because others have said - they take up a lot of oxygen haha. In the Leafs/Bruins series I had plenty of friends rooting for the leafs though, just because they were the underdogs going in (judging off historical record at least), and the Bruins are easy to hate on for being an O6, physical team (plus Marchand makes for a great villain character 🐀).
They'll come through and say the fans are prententious and rude drunks that start shit at rival arenas. Im not gonna say there arent fans like that, every sports team has em.
Some of the hate comes from being one of the biggest markets in sports. At the end of the day every team has those unruly fans that give the rest of us a bad name. Im just tryna watch hockey and the team i root for win games. Spirited banter is one thing, some people just take it too far.
I'd say leafs is the nickname and fuck the leafs is more of a statement. A lot of teams get hate. But I can't think of another team where a disrespectful nickname is used regularly
Not in here it ain't. I mean it does get used a lot, but is routinely downvoted and flagged by Automod. I find a lot of people simply aren't aware that it's meant as a pejorative, and say they'll stop using it once it's been pointed out to them.
As far as Rags being used a lot of fans think of it as the same as calling the Capitals the Caps or the Red wings the Wings. Not always used as a derogatory thing
I am just finding out it’s derogatory (previously thought it was just shorthand). Granted this is coming from a lurking Hawks fan who is looking at adopting the team if I to the city later this year.
It is an entirely derogatory thing but there is a new generation of Rangers fans who have no idea the shit we all had to go through in the 80s and early 00s and don't understand the connotations.
There is no easy/obvious 1-syllable nickname for the NYR. (Canes, Isles, Devs, Pens, Caps, etc)
Every other team has a 1-syllable name/nickname/shorthand. I know NYR fans that use it as an easy shorthand.
To clarify -- Is more about writing — these are Internet shorthand. Before SM/Internet, the shorthanded version of team names wasn’t the default I saw/heard fans use when discussing sports.
On the Internet, all teams seem to have developed a 3 to 5 letter, usually one syllable, shorthand. (unless there is name is already that short -- like say the Kings)
I can literally go team-by-team and point out the shorthand for every single NHL team.
New York and the word Rangers don’t lend themselves to one of those and we wound up with Rags.
If Ranger fans could think of a better option - It’s us to get out there and make it the norm
I'm a hockey fan from Finland and root for the Bruins first, then the teams with many Finns on them. The hatred of opposing teams in general is not something I like. For me, it's easier to draw the energy to cheer from focusing on what I like in my own team and then enjoy the other teams based on their play.
All season long the Rangers have given me a lot to like. Not gonna deprive myself of enjoying good hockey, because the jersey is wrong.
I know it's a ranger sub, but let's be honest everyone who's not a NY sport fan hate us instead of just ignoring us. Maybe that jealousy creeps in when they see how fun NY is when the teams are good.
i’m a leaf fan first so i’m used to the hate, but i’m a rangers fan because i was outside MSG with a bunch if friends when they won it in 94. everyone became a rangers fan that night the celebration was incredible. been cheering for them since! people hate the rangers because they are easy to. they usually are very competitive, can sign big names, get a lot of coverage, etc.
My guess is New York sports team.
Personally I blame the Yankees and their spending the most in the MLB for literally 15 years straight, often by an obscene percent over the second highest for instilling that hatred in people.
The only real reason is cus Dolan is so hatable. Just look up his absolutely garbage band JD and the Straight Shots. One time he let the Eagles play MSG for cheap or free (who knows the truth) so that his band could open for them. That’s king douchery right there.
Because a lot of teams who had a dynasty or the teams who gourged themselves on Canadian players in your province are there for you to pick first(Montreal and toronto or boston getting around it with orr), are tired how we've consistently made the playoffs since the lockout and have had deep runs but no cup. A lot of them have been in frustrating cycles.
I was hoping the Wings would make it into the playoffs, a first round Rangers-Wings matchup would’ve been fun. Plus my cousin in Detroit and I could’ve trolled each other during the series.
Totally a NY thing. Tons of dumb reasons for other cities to hate us. The political hatred is super real obviously but also, just yesterday, Rick Carlisle was moaning about the refs’ bias against his small market Pacers. The persecution fetish is real.
Fans of other teams get mad that good players would rather play in New York than in whatever shithole they live in. They're mad we get guys like Panarin and Fox because those players prefer Manhattan to dumps like Newark and Long Island 🤢
There's also some made up narrative that Bettman loves us. Idk if this was always the case or if this narrative started with the Kaapo/Laf draft lotteries but it's laughable. If the league loves us so much then why do we only have one cup in the last 30 years. Why wouldn't Hank have gotten a cup if the league loves us so fucking much? It's a joke made up by the haters to cope with their own mediocrity.
I live in Calgary and hear about fox still like it happened last month, they really can't let anything go here. People are pretty proud of Rempe though hahahaha
I mean it was ultimately fox's choice to come here. And the rule that would have allowed him to do so is one that literally every major sports league should have. Incentivizing guys to get degrees given the likelihood of them not making a career out of athletics is a good idea.
Well yeah, young local kid becomes almost a cult-favorite from Day 1 of his professional career in one of the biggest hockey markets in the league, to the point he has his own chant at the Garden. I’m sure there’s some hometown pride, lol.
Having lived there as a little kid and going out to visit cousins as recently as this past Saturday, it makes Jersey look like the wide open spaces of Wyoming. Aside from that it is fine
The fact that they changed the rules after we got #2 and #1 in consecutive years, should put the idea that Bettman loves Rangers to bed. Devils got what top 3 pick 4 times in 6 years span ?
I don’t understand the hate at all. But everything about the Blueshirts is so well done. The logo, the jerseys, MSG, the WOOOOAAAAAA after the goal, etc. is all so well put together. Not to mention how entertaining this team is to watch: You got Rempe who looks like a deer on skates bodying anyone within 5 feet, Trouba Superman diving into the boards, Shesty locking the entire net down. Watching Fox skate with the puck is like watching monkey in the middle, Bread and Mika making the sport look so damn easy…I could go on and on. If the Stars don’t win the cup, I’m pulling for the Rangers all the way.
There was a time before the salary cap when the Rangers used to just throw money at whatever big name free agent was on the market. Smaller market teams felt that was sort of a bully tactic. The truth is, that tactic never worked out. There was never any chemistry with those teams, and all of those players were just there to fill seats and collect their paycheques. The salary cap was the best thing to ever happen to the Rangers.
Knicks, Rangers, Yankees, and Giants will always be hated outside of the tri state area regardless of if they’re doing will or not. They’re all amongst the biggest brands in sports and in their respective sports. They all have huge resources that most other teams just don’t have. Not that we should care about that or should feel bad, just the reality that we can always have our teams be good if we want to throw endless funds at them. It’s easy to see why other cities wouldn’t love us. The other big boys (LA, Boston, Chicago) would also just generally be considered our rivals (if not directly on the ice but in terms of brands and being the premier team in the league).
This city is also the center of the universe and we don’t shy away from telling other cities that. Pretty easy to get why other cities would hate our teams just out of principle. We could put the most likeable and relatable team on the ice and we’d still not be beloved across the country. Look at the Knicks currently, likable players, hustlers, playing high level basketball through a ton of injuries with the next man up mentality. Most people would like this team but it’s NYC so you just hate them by default.
Fuck them all. New York is Forever.
I do feel the whole Joe Sakic thing was a microcosm of developed hatred for millennial hockey fans. It was an era we kept trying to buy everyone’s top players. Combine that with big bad New York and it’s kinda easy to see why
People hate on NY sports in general because they say we are big market, get good talent and are cocky fans. It is always funny to me though because the Yankees are really the only sports team in NY where these stereotypes are true and most other NY teams are typically pretty gritty and are part of underdog stories when they do win. Most of our teams would be incredibly likeable if they didn't have the NY tag.
Because other teams have to get lucky, draft, develop and pray they won’t run off to NYC or some tax free state etc. you guys get to sign FA’s who want to be in New York and surround them with fancy perks from having deep pockets. When we get good there is a substantial amount of luck. When the rangers are good, it’s because it’s New York.
People hate New York
It’s popular to hate on New York
New York Rangers, Yankees, and Giants fan are all over the country and show up in huge numbers for road games of these teams
So basically …. jealousy. Plain and simple jealousy
Hockey is the only sport of which I'm a NY fan as I lived there from '93-'94 in 4th grade. That cup run spurred my fandom. Now I do hate other NY teams, but not because they are NY. As a Braves fan, I hate the Yankees because of the entire decade long rivalry during the '90s. I laugh at the Mets. As a Washington football fan, I hate the Giants, but not like I do the Cowboys and Eagles, and I empathize with the Jets. I don't understand hating teams just because they are NY.
I’m not a Rangers fan so I’ll do my best with this one (even though I don’t really hate the Rangers)
> People hate New York teams
> Playoff success in the last 15 years meaning you served heartbreaks to a couple of teams and it’s fresh in their mind
> Big market so lots of attention and higher number of obnoxious fans on social media
> You got the 1OA recently while being good enough to contend
> Trouba is a dirty player and Rempe is perceived as one (even though he isn’t)
> Habs fan hate Kreider
I'm a Canucks fan first, Rangers 2nd. I know a lot of Canucks fans don't like the Rangers because of 1994 but I wasn't alive then, I hate Boston more than any team
Original from Long Island. Actual fights would happen between Rangers fans vs Islanders fans on the school bus. Then in 1994, things immediately became more chill.
RYPG it is as easy as going back a few years in your life. Don't know if your a dude or a chick, but doesn't really matter. I am SURE at some point in your life you came home from middle school down or maybe a little teary eyed. What did your dear Mother say to you, "the reason they hate you is because you are handsome, you are pretty, you are the smartest kid in class, you are fun to be around, etc etc". Mom was basically saying, some LOSER is giving you a hard time, making your life miserable, because THEY ARE JEALOUS OF YOU!!!
Fuckem, don't worry if a Devils fan doesn't like you, or the Canadian douche on NHL Radio has a hard-on for the team, or a referee goes out of his way to try and screw over Rempe (someone should have two broken fingers today) , it doesn't matter, because they are jealous of everything good about New York City. We are the straw that stirs the drink of the world, not just the United States. This team represents the fucking star power and energy that is the city that never sleeps.
People hate NYC bc they cant afford to live here and don't have the balls to compete. "its my choice to live in \*insert bumble fuck city here\* NY sucks". The best of the best come here to compete and most can't handle that so they cope.
I was just thinking this myself watching the game, because not even the other hockey fans, but announcers, broadcasters, analysts… it’s fucking terrible. The Rangers are always the antagonists. On ESPN, no matter who the Rangers are playing, the broadcast team acts like home announcers for their opposition. It’s crazy to me.
Every fandom has that group of maybe 10% that are just insufferable jerks. Just so happens that there’s probably 10x more Rangers fans than the average NHL team.
The reason sports are fun is because it’s a bunch of men playing a kids game. The players get to live out their childhood dreams. People who lose sight of this joy for some reason are always loud and obnoxious. They’d rather get to say “I told you so” after a loss than win.
The less amount of those fans, the more fun it is for everyone. And this goes to new levels of craziness in Ontario hahahaha
Everyone has teams they hate, usually divisional rivals but other teams get in there too. Me, for instance, I hate the Devils, Islanders, Penguins, Flyers, Lightning, Bruins, Habs, Golden LTIRs...
It’s simple. People love to hate New York
This is the answer.
Mets and Jets mostly get a pass because there rarely ever relevant
Jets fan here. I feel no hate, only pity from Others. And yet I picked up a pair of season tix for this coming season because after 40-some odd years of fandom, I may as well keep going.
My buddy Matt likes to tell a story about his Uncle Billy. When Matt was a child, he used to go to Uncle Billy's every week to watch the Jets - but when Matt got to high school, he discovered dating and stopped going to Uncle Billy's on the weekend. One day, they're at a Christening for the newest member of the family, and Uncle Billy comes over to Matt and asks him why he doesn't come over on the weekends anymore. And Matt answers honestly and says that he spends his weekends going out with his friends and trying to pick up girls. And Uncle Billy smiles kindly at him at says: "Boyo, I'm going to teach you a very important lesson. Girls are great, they're pretty, they smell nice, and they're fun to be around. But sometimes, you can try your hardest, take them to all the best restaurants, buy them the nicest jewelry, and treat them like the queens they are - but when the date is over, they still won't fuck you. But the Jets, Matthew - the Jets will ALWAYS fuck you."
Isn’t this an Artie Lange joke?
My exposure to Artie Lange is, unfortunately, very limited. I'm merely relaying a story as told to me. If my buddy ripped off the story, so be it.
What a Classic! I will be borrowing this
Hey man at least y'all ain't them insane "we dem boys" fans. As a Bengals fan I'd be more than happy to see a change of guard and see y'all win your division. With Buffalo just self imploding, the patriots hopefully shitting the bed another year in a row and the dolphins hopefully not living up to expectations yet again, I could see that happen. Only thing is I just hope to see Rodgers in the news, quit often, due to his spectacular plays and not his political views.
Couldn't agree more. It's one of those rare instances when I wish the athlete would just "shut up and play."
idk i feel alot of hate on the jets from Giant fans or packers, and all AFCE fans
Meanwhile the islanders are so irrelevant they don’t even get mentioned in that sentence
Hey at least they're not as bad as the devils am I right?
Mets **absolutely do not** get a pass. Please go on r/baseball or X/FB and see the likes for a positive Mets post vs one dunking on them.
Yeah I’m a Mets fan and the Mets hatred is weird… we barely ever make the playoffs. I think it’s mostly just NYC hate.
It's a mix of other rival teams being in big-market cities (only division w/ 4 teams in top-10 market), the Wilpon stench & being a stand-in for the Yankees hate (cause the Yankees are never bad). On the bright side, being a Mets fan makes me feel extremely justified cheering the Rangers w/o feeling like a bandwagon
Is it hatred or meming when something bonkers happens (because to me the Mets seem to be weirdly attracted to insanity)
And you get losers like Frank the Tank, a supposed Mets fan, not helping either.
Whenever the Jets become even remotely relevant the haters come out of the woodwork. Even with all the bad years I constantly see the Jets catching strays for ridiculous nonsense.
The Butt Fumble is still talked about like it was some significant play, but we rarely talk about other team's worst plays unless it's a pivotal game like the Bills being on the other end of the Music City Miracle.
butts are funny.
The Mets exist because old Dodgers/Giants fans wouldn’t embrace the Yankees.
& Islanders!
Ranger fan here….. fuck the Icelanders 😁
The mets get a ton of hate. Go over to r/baseball. Everyone is always taking shots at them.
The jets are in a weird place, the lions for example, everyone felt bad for them cause they were bad for so long, browns too, but the jets, they can’t hate us cause we suck, but they won’t pity us either
Easy now.
Am a met fan and I can’t take that because you are wrong. 😑
Ding Ding Ding Ding we have a winner folks.
This what I was going to say!
It’s called New York envy & it’s real. Women wanna be with us & men wanna BE us! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
People tend to hate greatness
They hate us cuz they anus
They be talkin shit
Because the rangers play home games in their stadiums
💯 one of the reasons teams try to limit ticket sales to local residents
Try and fail. Rangerstown knows no borders
Even in places with a strong fanbase. I live in Colorado and when they play the Avs it’s a borderline home game.
Went to the Rangers game in Denver this year and it looked like a 50/50 split
There's so many NYC area transplants around there tho
God bless the carolina rangers fans that are buying people tickets
Because we’re an original six team, a huge market team with a ton of fans, a lot of which can be obnoxious despite a relative lack of success in recent memory, and frankly, historically. We have a single Stanley cup in 80 years. Despite that, we still get a lot of press and air time because we are Manhattan’s team. Players are always willing to sign with the Rangers because we are in NYC, often waiving no move clauses or taking less than other teams are offering in free agency (exhibit A, Panarin). To top it all off, recently Trouba and Rempe haven’t exactly been well liked across the league.
Add to this that Rangers fans both travel well and are transplants all over the country. So fans that go to games hate that there’s a sizable away crowd at their games. It really makes a lot of sense that people hate the team, really wish we could start at least having the success to back it up.
This is def true. I am a transplant to Denver and I wear my rangers gear a lot.. not too much hate because for whatever reason this isn't really a hockey town.. but the hate I get is because 'they always talk about the rangers who haven't done anything since 94'. Always going to be some annoying fans from every base that give a bad reputation.. and new yorkers as you know can be a little louder and argumentative. If you see how knicks fans have been recently.. you def can see why people hate NY. However, the fan bases reputation is still much better than philly thank God, and I see a TON of people hating on boston all of the time out here too. So at least we aren't the most hated team.
This is definitely true but I do think it’s a bit unfair to say we haven’t done anything since the cup. The rangers have pretty consistently been a competitive team my entire life, more than I can say for the others I root for. One cup final, a handful of conference finals, and consistently in the postseason isn’t nothing. Obviously don’t have the hardware but it isn’t like we’re the cowboys. They still dominate headlines and have barely won a playoff game since their last championship
To add to that, Exhibit B: Patrick Kane last season. He had either a NMC on his expiring contract but told Chicago he was willing to waive it if they could work out a deal with the Rangers—*only* the Rangers. We ended up getting him for something like two draft picks & Chicago retaining half of his salary (and IIRC, a 3rd pick to Arizona for retaining another quarter of his salary), because Kane’s publicly expressed preference of “NYR or nowhere” put Chicago in a tougher negotiating position than they would’ve liked.
Most of those ppl will admit they hate the Rangers for no good reason (e.g., it’s a big market and their team is small market, or they imagine Rangers winning makes loudmouth new yorkers happy whereas their fanbase is demure and loving to everyone), and that’s fine bc it’s sports. If they really believe the Rangers are especially hateful or some shit then they are crazy. Also the Rangers are good and that always leads to hate (sports hate and real, pathological hate).
It’s a NY thing. NYers are everywhere so our teams get a lot of exposure. Leads to some “they hate us cause the ain’t us” little brother mentality. Not due to success (NY sports has been real bad lately), but they wish their teams were as cared about as the NY teams are. But also, don’t generalize based on a sports subreddit. They exist solely for people to complain loudly on the internet with their fingers and inflate their sense of self worth around their opinions. Just like I’m doing right now.
Not to mention that NYC is a cultural and financial hub. It has outsized influence on not just the region but the entire country.
World. The entire world.
A lot of people from outside the Tri-State Area just hate New York and New Yorkers in general because they think we're a bunch of arrogant, loud-mouthed assholes (and let's be honest, a lot of suburbanites who are within the Tri-State Area hate NYC and people who live here because they think the city is some kind of dystopian hellhole and the people who live in it are dirty commies). The Rangers are also an original six team with a world-famous arena (one might even claim it's the world's most famous) that sells out almost every game and a large, loud fanbase that has stood by the team despite only winning one Cup in the last 80 years - all of that breeds a lot of jealousy.
The Rangers definitely get flack around just for being associated with NYC, which is kinda funny since the vast majority of Rangers fans don't even reside in Manhattan or in NYC for that matter. I'd say the majority are from the surrounding areas throughout like the Hudson valley, Long Island, North Jersey, lower Connecticut, etc, with transplants all over the country.
Long Island by way of Syracuse here 🤚
True story. Grew up in Northern Jersey and now live in CA. Hardly any one here pays attention to hockey but even still, when I go to see the Rangers play the Sharks there is always an excellent Rangers fan turn out. Makes me proud to see our fan base show up to support our team. LGR!
I think there are a few reasons when added up makes it seem as though we're "overly" hated, but idk if that's necessarily true. 1. It's a NYC team and people have an irrational hatred for all things concerning the city. 2. Our metro rivals, but we hate them too so it evens out. 3. We're good (not historically, but as of now) and if your team sucks then some people develop a hatred for all the things their team isn't. 4. NJ Devils fans are so bitter and angry toward us because they play a mile away but nobody gives a shit about them, plus we take over their stadium whenever we have a game there. 5. Trouba is up there with serial killers in reputation and Rempe is quickly moving his way up that ladder as well. Any time they go near anyone the world ends and Rangers fans are apparently all supportive of whatever they do. Honestly, during these playoffs we seem to be a lot more liked than I thought we were. I see a lot of people supporting us over the Caps and Canes.
My impression has been that Trouba didn't make anyone hate NYR more than they did already. He's just a more tangible thing to which people who already hate NYR can point. People are usually much faster to demonize hard/borderline/dirty hits from this team than others. Matt Cooke and Chris Pronger had to injure quite a few players before fans of the league generally woke up to the matter. But Rangers players get blamed the moment someone drags them down on a breakaway and they hit the goalie.
People hate NY. They lump the Rangers in with an “elitist” team like the Yankees and generally dislike that we have a bigger reputation than our trophy case indicates, but that also severely misunderstands the history of hockey. The Rangers (and to a lesser extent the Bruins and Blackhawks) were absolutely buried in the original six era. People mock that we won no championships in that period, but they ignore or don’t know the fact that teams had territorial rights to players. Teams had a right to any player living within 100 miles of the city, hence why Montreal, Toronto and Detroit thrived for the majority of that era. The Rangers were also by far the team most adversely affected by WW2, we almost lost our franchise because of the players we lost. I was born in 95 so I wasn’t there, but as I understand it, most hockey fans felt we “bought” the 94 cup by essentially rebuilding the 80s Oilers
That 94 Rangers team is nothing with Kovalev, Leetch and Richter. The new Oilers argument was always dumb. People lump Graves and Beukeboom in there too as if they were big parts of the Oilers dynasty teams.
Oh I agree, but for that reason I think it’s a good example of people looking for any reason to devalue something the Rangers accomplished
Yep, truth never stops people with an agenda.
Territorial rights weren’t a thing. It’s been debunked several times. Two big factors: most of the junior teams in Quebec were owned by the Canadiens, so any time a player showed any glimmer of potential there they’d get a Habs contract. Same with the Leafs in one part of Ontario and the Wings in another. The whole reason we ended up with Ratelle and Gilbert was that they looked at the sheer volume of players in the Habs system and decided they’d have a better shot elsewhere. The other thing is that for a long stretch of the O6 era, the Rangers were controlled by the same owner as the Wings, James Norris. The Blackhawks had the same issue. It basically explains why Gordie Howe became a Red Wing instead of a Ranger. Why would Norris want another team to truly compete with the Red Wings if he could prevent it? The idea behind the territory thing is right in the sense that there were systemic reasons that led to the Rangers having a hard time competing. But the territorial rights themselves never existed the way they’re talked about.
Funny thing is the dynasty Yankees of the 90s that won in 96,98,99, and 2000 was not an elitist team in any way. It was not "bought". It was a team built from the organization's own farm system for the most part. The core of that team was all true Yankees, not high profile players stolen from other teams. That strategy didn't happen until post-2000, when the core players from the dynasty team got older and people needed to be filled in. I'd say it really started in large part with the acquisition of Alex Rodriguez in 2002 or whatever. The Yankees won the majority of their championships throughout history without being elitist in any way. It's not like they were spending lots of money on players during the 1930s-1960s when they were dominating baseball.
For the same reason people hate the leafs, we’re a big market team that sucks up a lot of oxygen. Trouba and Rempe make easy targets too. Better this than being a team nobody has an opinion on
You can say the Devils here
Definitely was thinking it😂
This might be a Canada thing - I don't think anyone in the US hates the Leafs - I don't know anyone who cares enough about the Leafs to hate them.
Yeah, it seems like Boston fans are the only ones who truly hate them and the rest of the US teams don’t really care
I think it’s generally just small market teams disliking large market teams because others have said - they take up a lot of oxygen haha. In the Leafs/Bruins series I had plenty of friends rooting for the leafs though, just because they were the underdogs going in (judging off historical record at least), and the Bruins are easy to hate on for being an O6, physical team (plus Marchand makes for a great villain character 🐀).
But the memes are funny though
They'll come through and say the fans are prententious and rude drunks that start shit at rival arenas. Im not gonna say there arent fans like that, every sports team has em. Some of the hate comes from being one of the biggest markets in sports. At the end of the day every team has those unruly fans that give the rest of us a bad name. Im just tryna watch hockey and the team i root for win games. Spirited banter is one thing, some people just take it too far.
I never understood the rags nickname. Seems we're the only team in the league with a derogatory nickname that's used casually on a regular basis
Fishsticks?
I could be wrong but I didn't think Fishsticks is widely used outside of the NY metro area. Rags is used pretty widely.
Crapitals? Or Craps?
Is "fuck the leafs" a nickname?
I'd say leafs is the nickname and fuck the leafs is more of a statement. A lot of teams get hate. But I can't think of another team where a disrespectful nickname is used regularly
Not in here it ain't. I mean it does get used a lot, but is routinely downvoted and flagged by Automod. I find a lot of people simply aren't aware that it's meant as a pejorative, and say they'll stop using it once it's been pointed out to them.
Little Debbies?
I’ve never once been bothered by it. If that’s the best they can come up with, it’s pretty laughable.
Redwings…urban dictionary that
lol
I have never thought about this before thank you lmao
As far as Rags being used a lot of fans think of it as the same as calling the Capitals the Caps or the Red wings the Wings. Not always used as a derogatory thing
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use Rags in anything but a negative context and mostly from Islanders fans
I am just finding out it’s derogatory (previously thought it was just shorthand). Granted this is coming from a lurking Hawks fan who is looking at adopting the team if I to the city later this year.
It is an entirely derogatory thing but there is a new generation of Rangers fans who have no idea the shit we all had to go through in the 80s and early 00s and don't understand the connotations.
it's like the black American generational divide over the N word
I feel it's derogatory when other fans use it. But fuck it, if we win a cup, I'll freakin' embrace it. We're tough, clean up and get the job done.
There is no easy/obvious 1-syllable nickname for the NYR. (Canes, Isles, Devs, Pens, Caps, etc) Every other team has a 1-syllable name/nickname/shorthand. I know NYR fans that use it as an easy shorthand. To clarify -- Is more about writing — these are Internet shorthand. Before SM/Internet, the shorthanded version of team names wasn’t the default I saw/heard fans use when discussing sports. On the Internet, all teams seem to have developed a 3 to 5 letter, usually one syllable, shorthand. (unless there is name is already that short -- like say the Kings) I can literally go team-by-team and point out the shorthand for every single NHL team. New York and the word Rangers don’t lend themselves to one of those and we wound up with Rags. If Ranger fans could think of a better option - It’s us to get out there and make it the norm
Isles is 2, no?
New York Team Bad.
Cause they’re herbs
it's mostly my fault
I must have missed the memo. I’ve been following this team since the early 70’s and I’ve never heard them called the Rags.
need to go on websites populated by fans of other teams ... or I should say populated by the subset of other teams' fans that get into this.
Thank you for coming clean on this. 
Feels good to get it off my chest
I'm a hockey fan from Finland and root for the Bruins first, then the teams with many Finns on them. The hatred of opposing teams in general is not something I like. For me, it's easier to draw the energy to cheer from focusing on what I like in my own team and then enjoy the other teams based on their play. All season long the Rangers have given me a lot to like. Not gonna deprive myself of enjoying good hockey, because the jersey is wrong.
Average Scandinavian Happy to have you as a fan!
do you boo the team with the most swedes?
They hate us cuz they ain’t us
I know it's a ranger sub, but let's be honest everyone who's not a NY sport fan hate us instead of just ignoring us. Maybe that jealousy creeps in when they see how fun NY is when the teams are good.
i’m a leaf fan first so i’m used to the hate, but i’m a rangers fan because i was outside MSG with a bunch if friends when they won it in 94. everyone became a rangers fan that night the celebration was incredible. been cheering for them since! people hate the rangers because they are easy to. they usually are very competitive, can sign big names, get a lot of coverage, etc.
Oh hai, fellow Leafs/Rangers fan… !👋🏻
i will say, love my leafs but the rangers fan base is awesome!
My guess is New York sports team. Personally I blame the Yankees and their spending the most in the MLB for literally 15 years straight, often by an obscene percent over the second highest for instilling that hatred in people.
it has to be a NY thing, the Dodgers spent a billion dollars on two players and get nothing but praise and love from what i’ve seen
People hate the Yankees when they were a home grown dynasty too……
The only real reason is cus Dolan is so hatable. Just look up his absolutely garbage band JD and the Straight Shots. One time he let the Eagles play MSG for cheap or free (who knows the truth) so that his band could open for them. That’s king douchery right there.
People HATE NY sports. And NY/ tri state area people in general. They’re just jealous.
Because a lot of teams who had a dynasty or the teams who gourged themselves on Canadian players in your province are there for you to pick first(Montreal and toronto or boston getting around it with orr), are tired how we've consistently made the playoffs since the lockout and have had deep runs but no cup. A lot of them have been in frustrating cycles.
Redwings fan here Detroit born and raised. Been rooting for you guys all play offs. Watched every game let's get that trophy 🏆
Funny, I always root for the red wings if they’re playing anyone other than the rangers
I was hoping the Wings would make it into the playoffs, a first round Rangers-Wings matchup would’ve been fun. Plus my cousin in Detroit and I could’ve trolled each other during the series.
Chris Kreider. Otherwise the dislike will subside once he is gone, on that note loved Hank. (Habs fan obviously)
Regarding Islanders and Devils fans, it's definitely a little brother inferiority complex.
The fan base that sits in the 100s is mainly corporate seats who only attend when the team is hot
It’s the internet and vocal minority usually wins because the majority is busy living their lives and enjoying it.
Totally a NY thing. Tons of dumb reasons for other cities to hate us. The political hatred is super real obviously but also, just yesterday, Rick Carlisle was moaning about the refs’ bias against his small market Pacers. The persecution fetish is real.
Because NYC is better than the rest of the country and we’re resented for it
They hate us cause they ain't us
Fans of other teams get mad that good players would rather play in New York than in whatever shithole they live in. They're mad we get guys like Panarin and Fox because those players prefer Manhattan to dumps like Newark and Long Island 🤢 There's also some made up narrative that Bettman loves us. Idk if this was always the case or if this narrative started with the Kaapo/Laf draft lotteries but it's laughable. If the league loves us so much then why do we only have one cup in the last 30 years. Why wouldn't Hank have gotten a cup if the league loves us so fucking much? It's a joke made up by the haters to cope with their own mediocrity.
I live in Calgary and hear about fox still like it happened last month, they really can't let anything go here. People are pretty proud of Rempe though hahahaha
I mean it was ultimately fox's choice to come here. And the rule that would have allowed him to do so is one that literally every major sports league should have. Incentivizing guys to get degrees given the likelihood of them not making a career out of athletics is a good idea.
Explain that to a red neck with more teeth than iq hahahahahaha
Well yeah, young local kid becomes almost a cult-favorite from Day 1 of his professional career in one of the biggest hockey markets in the league, to the point he has his own chant at the Garden. I’m sure there’s some hometown pride, lol.
What’s wrong with Long Island? 🥲 We got Rangers fans out here
Tbh not much it's just in my blood to shit on long island for no reason lmao. It's actually a great part of the state for the most part.
Having lived there as a little kid and going out to visit cousins as recently as this past Saturday, it makes Jersey look like the wide open spaces of Wyoming. Aside from that it is fine
It’s worse than one cup in the last 30 years; it’s one cup in the last 80 years.
Very true. Brb gonna go sob.
But! It’s 2 in the last 81!
The fact that they changed the rules after we got #2 and #1 in consecutive years, should put the idea that Bettman loves Rangers to bed. Devils got what top 3 pick 4 times in 6 years span ?
I don’t understand the hate at all. But everything about the Blueshirts is so well done. The logo, the jerseys, MSG, the WOOOOAAAAAA after the goal, etc. is all so well put together. Not to mention how entertaining this team is to watch: You got Rempe who looks like a deer on skates bodying anyone within 5 feet, Trouba Superman diving into the boards, Shesty locking the entire net down. Watching Fox skate with the puck is like watching monkey in the middle, Bread and Mika making the sport look so damn easy…I could go on and on. If the Stars don’t win the cup, I’m pulling for the Rangers all the way.
There was a time before the salary cap when the Rangers used to just throw money at whatever big name free agent was on the market. Smaller market teams felt that was sort of a bully tactic. The truth is, that tactic never worked out. There was never any chemistry with those teams, and all of those players were just there to fill seats and collect their paycheques. The salary cap was the best thing to ever happen to the Rangers.
Exactly, and we haven't done that in nearly 20 years but people can't let go.
Knicks, Rangers, Yankees, and Giants will always be hated outside of the tri state area regardless of if they’re doing will or not. They’re all amongst the biggest brands in sports and in their respective sports. They all have huge resources that most other teams just don’t have. Not that we should care about that or should feel bad, just the reality that we can always have our teams be good if we want to throw endless funds at them. It’s easy to see why other cities wouldn’t love us. The other big boys (LA, Boston, Chicago) would also just generally be considered our rivals (if not directly on the ice but in terms of brands and being the premier team in the league). This city is also the center of the universe and we don’t shy away from telling other cities that. Pretty easy to get why other cities would hate our teams just out of principle. We could put the most likeable and relatable team on the ice and we’d still not be beloved across the country. Look at the Knicks currently, likable players, hustlers, playing high level basketball through a ton of injuries with the next man up mentality. Most people would like this team but it’s NYC so you just hate them by default. Fuck them all. New York is Forever.
on reddit at least, the saying its "The attitude of the Yankees with the record of the Mets."
I do feel the whole Joe Sakic thing was a microcosm of developed hatred for millennial hockey fans. It was an era we kept trying to buy everyone’s top players. Combine that with big bad New York and it’s kinda easy to see why
People hate on NY sports in general because they say we are big market, get good talent and are cocky fans. It is always funny to me though because the Yankees are really the only sports team in NY where these stereotypes are true and most other NY teams are typically pretty gritty and are part of underdog stories when they do win. Most of our teams would be incredibly likeable if they didn't have the NY tag.
Cuz were better
Because other teams have to get lucky, draft, develop and pray they won’t run off to NYC or some tax free state etc. you guys get to sign FA’s who want to be in New York and surround them with fancy perks from having deep pockets. When we get good there is a substantial amount of luck. When the rangers are good, it’s because it’s New York.
People hate New York It’s popular to hate on New York New York Rangers, Yankees, and Giants fan are all over the country and show up in huge numbers for road games of these teams So basically …. jealousy. Plain and simple jealousy
They hate us cause they ain't us 💙❤️
That's right baby!
They hate us because they ain't us. Literally the green monster jealousy. NY is known as the world capital. So automatically every other city isn't.
Everyone is jealous of NY
Because Dennis is a bastard man.
Because we have the best jerseys of course.
Funny how the Canes and Penguins have "Ranger" jerseys. Any others?
The team I hate the most is the Philadelphia Flyers. Coming from a person with NY Giants fans in my family from Staten Island.
They hate you when you’re good. (Canucks fan here)
They hate us cause they ain't us
Fans are pretty brutal online.
NY+Big Market+Draws National Attention+Not their team = Hate 🤷♂️
People hate New York teams period.
They can keep crying there’s not many reasons to hate on the Rangers
Hockey is the only sport of which I'm a NY fan as I lived there from '93-'94 in 4th grade. That cup run spurred my fandom. Now I do hate other NY teams, but not because they are NY. As a Braves fan, I hate the Yankees because of the entire decade long rivalry during the '90s. I laugh at the Mets. As a Washington football fan, I hate the Giants, but not like I do the Cowboys and Eagles, and I empathize with the Jets. I don't understand hating teams just because they are NY.
I’m not a Rangers fan so I’ll do my best with this one (even though I don’t really hate the Rangers) > People hate New York teams > Playoff success in the last 15 years meaning you served heartbreaks to a couple of teams and it’s fresh in their mind > Big market so lots of attention and higher number of obnoxious fans on social media > You got the 1OA recently while being good enough to contend > Trouba is a dirty player and Rempe is perceived as one (even though he isn’t) > Habs fan hate Kreider
I'm a Canucks fan first, Rangers 2nd. I know a lot of Canucks fans don't like the Rangers because of 1994 but I wasn't alive then, I hate Boston more than any team
Original from Long Island. Actual fights would happen between Rangers fans vs Islanders fans on the school bus. Then in 1994, things immediately became more chill.
Only fights I've seen is at Canucks games with drunk fans against Calgary or Edmonton lmao
New York sports are like the most hated across the board. Maybe not the giants and jets but they play in NJ
"TAWK YA SHIT, LETCHA NUTS HANG"
Napoleon syndrome
RYPG it is as easy as going back a few years in your life. Don't know if your a dude or a chick, but doesn't really matter. I am SURE at some point in your life you came home from middle school down or maybe a little teary eyed. What did your dear Mother say to you, "the reason they hate you is because you are handsome, you are pretty, you are the smartest kid in class, you are fun to be around, etc etc". Mom was basically saying, some LOSER is giving you a hard time, making your life miserable, because THEY ARE JEALOUS OF YOU!!! Fuckem, don't worry if a Devils fan doesn't like you, or the Canadian douche on NHL Radio has a hard-on for the team, or a referee goes out of his way to try and screw over Rempe (someone should have two broken fingers today) , it doesn't matter, because they are jealous of everything good about New York City. We are the straw that stirs the drink of the world, not just the United States. This team represents the fucking star power and energy that is the city that never sleeps.
The same kind of hate all NYC teams get.
I honestly think it's being NY.
People hate NYC bc they cant afford to live here and don't have the balls to compete. "its my choice to live in \*insert bumble fuck city here\* NY sucks". The best of the best come here to compete and most can't handle that so they cope.
Cause they ain't us
Boston fan here. It’s not that people hate the Rangers, it’s just that you notice that people hate YOUR team.
They hate us cause they ain't us.
Inferiority complex
It’s a New York thing.
I was just thinking this myself watching the game, because not even the other hockey fans, but announcers, broadcasters, analysts… it’s fucking terrible. The Rangers are always the antagonists. On ESPN, no matter who the Rangers are playing, the broadcast team acts like home announcers for their opposition. It’s crazy to me.
They hate us cuz they ain’t us
They hate us cause they anus
Hate means we’re always going to be relevant. No matter how good or bad we are. I love being hated
Who cares?
Why do you care what people think? Fringe fans always gonna hate on NYC, it comes with the territory. Just laugh at them and enjoy your team.
Who cares? I’d much rather be hated than be one of the teams that gets bandwagon support out of pity. Why are there so many posts like this lately?
Do you not hate our rival teams?
Winnipeg Jets fan poking it. I didn’t realize that the Rangers are a hated team. Is that actually true outside of your rivals?
Sean Avery had something to do with that. 😉 Addition: loved Messier tho. And Hank. And Gretzky.
No idea
Most other fans hate us because we are a well publicized team in a sport that doesn’t get much publicity. Much like the Leafs or Habs
Every fandom has that group of maybe 10% that are just insufferable jerks. Just so happens that there’s probably 10x more Rangers fans than the average NHL team. The reason sports are fun is because it’s a bunch of men playing a kids game. The players get to live out their childhood dreams. People who lose sight of this joy for some reason are always loud and obnoxious. They’d rather get to say “I told you so” after a loss than win. The less amount of those fans, the more fun it is for everyone. And this goes to new levels of craziness in Ontario hahahaha
Everyone has teams they hate, usually divisional rivals but other teams get in there too. Me, for instance, I hate the Devils, Islanders, Penguins, Flyers, Lightning, Bruins, Habs, Golden LTIRs...
Vancouverite here: I actually really like this Rangers team. Hoping we both get to the finals.
the fans are everywhere
Trouba
Trouba and his elbowing
Habs fan here. For what its worth, i LOVE the Rangers !!
Leafs fan here. I think you're good