The Dark Ranger: DARK-ness makes the NY Times

Bio of TDR

TDR is a working professional in entertainment and is obsessed with the game of hockey. More fourteen years ago, this site emerged as a means (or an outlet) to tell some truth'isms about the game post-lockout, rather than the crud fed to us through knuckleheads like Jimmy Dolan and his lemmings universe. Today, there are a hundred Rangers sites and is thankful and grateful to all those that have come after him, but honorable thanks go to his fellow Dark-writers, Graying Mantis and J_Undisputed. And "Let's Go Rangers!"

Bio of General Ganz

General Ganz is a cynical yet well-informed student of the human spirit. He's a professional of sorts, with a post-graduate education, some experience working in real companies, and some limited athletic ability. The total small package. He got picked on a fair bit as a kid, and he experienced his first human-non-relation kiss in his teens. He also grew up on the other side of the tracks, thereby helping to cultivate a healthy contempt for dreamers and optimists whose rosy upbringing gave them something to smile about, even when "life produced lemons." Like it or not, his only mission is to point out the potholes you're lucky enough to miss on your drive to work. To find the blemish on your daughter's carefully-stitched (and not-yet-paid-for) wedding dress. To take that little smidgen of hope that your favorite hockey teams fill you with, and pour orange paint on it. Oh, and he is a Blueshirts fan, and takes most of his fashion direction from Ron Duguay (whose name he dropped as a way to close the deal on that first kiss).

Thursday, April 16, 2009

DARK-ness makes the NY Times

Hockey Night in Blogdom: Capitals-Rangers, a Partisan Preview

By The New York Times

tj of Alex Ovetjkin

Who will win this series, and why?

Caps have better chances. Ovechkin is God. Boudreau is the best. Green is superb. Theodore is as good as Vernon who won the Cup for Detroit, but Lundqvist is no Roy.

Any history between these two teams?

N.Y.C. vs. D.C.? Madoff vs. Fedorov? But seriously, all the history between these two teams is an ancient history. Before Ovechkin. It is irrelevant now. What is relevant? Better off with Fedorov and Yes, we can!

Do your team’s fans have an opinion about the other team’s fans or the city they play in, and if so, what is it?

Caps fans hate Flyers, their city, their fans. Maybe more intensely they hate Penguins. There’s no hatred towards Rangers or New York. MSG? Caps fans think it really stinks there, especially after the dog shows. Let’s be honest, MSG is showing its age.

Do your team’s fans have any special chants, songs or mottoes that you’d like to share?

Don’t be fooled cuz he’s a Russian / it’s your body he’ll be crushin / it’s your tears that will be flowing
and your blood that will be gushin / he will leave you badly battered / with your hockey sweater tattered / you will see your team defeated /and your records really shattered

– “Ovechkin” by Pummeler

* * *

Stephen of The Dark Ranger

Who will win this series, and why?

Rangers win in 6. A poetic explanation: “How we got here, No one Knows. We only hope, Ovechkin blows!”

Any history between these two teams?

The Rangers had 48 PP goals to the Caps’ 85, while the Caps’ PK allowed 75 goals to the Rangers’ 40 goals. It’s a wash!

Do your team’s fans have an opinion about the other team’s fans or the city they play in, and if so, what is it?

Rangers fans feel sorry in general for Caps fans; even with one of the most overachieving offensive and defensive goal scorers in the N.H.L., they still just don’t know and appreciate hockey. Poor Caps fans. We Blueshirt fans obsess over our underachievers.

Do your team’s fans have any special chants, songs or mottoes that you’d like to share?

Most of the chants cannot appear in The Times, but in desperate times like these, there is simply one chant above others that resonates through the halls of the Garden, and that’s, “LET’S GO RANGERS!” A classic.