Perfect Time for the Spotlight in New York to be on Hockey…For Good?

Let’s be honest Rangers fans, no one wants the Islanders to go well. I am no exception to this strain of the thought, but however they are and Rangers fans can’t ignore that anymore. However, with this resurgence in the rivalry it can only mean good things for hockey in the soon to be shared Big Apple.





Hear me out on this. Hockey has always played runner up in the city that never sleeps to a bunch of more popular teams. It’s no secret that hockey, even on the national level, isn’t as popular as its competitors in baseball, football, and basketball. This same microcosm is true in NY, always has been.


Now, why is this the perfect time for hockey to jump onto the mainstage of sports in NY? Look at what’s going on around in NY. THERE IS NOTHING GOOD TO WRITE ABOUT AS FAR AS NY SPORTS GOES. Nets and Knicks having lackluster seasons. NY Jets and Giants having laughably bad years. NYY and NYM not reaching the post season. Hmmmmm.


When someone says NY sports this year are horrible, you immediately reply with, "Have you checked out the hockey standings?”


I can already see this taking place. Cam Talbot just the other week was on the back cover of the NY Post. How often does that happen in NY? A back-up goaltender making the cover of one of the most widely read papers in the country. Kevin Klein continues to make headlines almost wherever you look in the media. The media is even so closely following Henrik Lundqvist’s injury that i’m getting updates on my phone when the guy rides a bike! Not to mention that two potential Hart trophy winners are playing down the road from each other in Nash and Johnny T.



On the Island, it’s the same team. With “old barn” closing down this year there was always going to be a little attention, but with the team playing so well it’s been even more than anyone would have thought.


I think last year the Rangers helped elevate hockey into the mainstream again in NY, because it’s no secret that when teams win, people care. However, this rivalry has been dead for some many years (the nineties, when both teams were so bad it was all we had to look forward to, don’t count), it’s so refreshing to have it back. Now, I don’t want the Isles to do too good, buttttttt for now I’ll take playoff style hockey in February over a dead rivalry any day.


All this being said, these two teams could meet in the playoffs, and a part of me does and part of me doesn’t. It’d raise hockey awareness in NY to levels rivaling the skyline in downtown Manhattan. A part of me says no because, the Isles are a good team, haha.


All I know is that these two teams playing like this, during this team of a NY Sports drought is nothing but good to raise the level of hockey in the Empire state and that whatever happens down the road, there’s gonna be some good hockey.

Game on.


--Dennis

https://twitter.com/DMalles98

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What's Wrong With Youth Hockey?

For me, there’s nothing better in the world than going outside and playing hockey on a pond or an outdoor rink. However, through my own observations on the youth of the country, or as a whole are not following in this trend.

Now, at the risk of sounding like an old-timer at the age of 23, it’s no secret that the youth don’t get out as much. I try to skate on my outdoor rink 2 to 3 times a week. To be honest, I hardly see any young kids on the rink, ever. However, last week I saw a group of youths out on the ice right when I got there. The only issue was it wasn’t just them, it was their and their Dad’s hawking over everything they did.

Each kid had their travel team or club team’s jump suit on and were pretty good at what they did. 90% of the time the kids just worked on their one-timers and slap shots. Too me it almost seemed like an unofficial set up by the dads. At one point one of the fathers even said, “I don’t see much skating going on out there, go out and work on your stride.”

To me, going out on the pond is all about having fun. I only played a couple years of youth hockey, but I can already tell times have changed. At one point on of the kids yelled at the other kid to make crisper passes and pick it up. It, to me, seemed kind of wrong. I did however get to meet one of their little brothers. He couldn’t have been older than 6 and he wanted to play a pick- up game so bad. He asked his brothers and their friends and they all said no because they were working on their slappers. Now, what kid doesn’t wanna play pond pick up hockey? So I played 1 v 1 with the little guy, he beat me 10 to 6 according to him.

Now this is where I think we’re losing the game. Kids are being forced into the mold that their coaches and fathers want them to be. We’re losing the creativity of the game. Where do you think Wayne Gretzky learned his trade? On the ponds of Canada, that’s where. Kids are no longer allowed to be creative with how they play and are forced to be by the books.

When you're out on the pond or just playing outside, you can try things. When I was outside this day I was trying to perfect a move I saw Toews do on YouTube (in vain), but it was fun almost getting it. Being outside and away from youth hockey has allowed me to develop a style all my own. It may not be the best one, but it’s my style and I love it. I’ve been able to become a great skater, who has great hands within 5ft of the net. I may not have the best shot, or the best stick work, but I’ve always managed to stay creative. I’m 23 years old and every time I skate I wear a jersey of my favorite players still to this day.

I don’t think kids have this anymore, they’re not allowed to think out of the box. All defenders must sit on the blue line. All goalies must stay in the butterfly. Forwards need to handle the puck in a certain way.

Let me ask you though, would Bobby Orr have flown if he had been in a youth developmental program? Would Datsyk been able to undress Turco if his father had hawked his practices forcing him to work on his skating? Would the Staal brothers been as great as they are if their parents hadn’t let them skate together  on the pond?

Let them play.

--Dennis Malles, Rangers' 5th Line

Contact Dennis at https://twitter.com/DMalles98

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Why The Rangers: Dennis Edition

When I was younger, I knew I was a little different from the rest of my class because they didn’t really care for hockey. While most talked about Derek Jeter and Sammy Sosa, I tried to find anyone who knew anything about Paul Kariya or Adam Graves.

As time went on, I found that hockey is a cult following and it’s fans are as ravenous if not more ravenous than other fans out there.

Some of my best childhood memories have taken place under the roof of the Garden. Seeing Mark Messier surpass Gordie Howe for second all time in points and watching the Rangers sweep the Atlanta Thrashers.

Times have changed, and so have the faces, but that NYR crest has always been the same. I became a true diehard that lives and dies with the team when I was a junior in college.

I just had been given the news that I would no longer be able to play sports ever again at a competitive level. I said goodbye to my college lacrosse team, and then a week later was dumped by a girl who had other ideas about her future.

Times were pretty dark, and I was a 100 miles from home living in a different state. After realizing I now had nothing to do with my time, the Rangers became the mainstay of my days. They were the thing I looked forward to the most everyday and I never missed a game.

The New York Rangers made me feel like I was a part of something again. They returned some sort of normalcy to my life and no matter who left my life and who stayed, they were always there at 7pm on MSG.

Mark Messier, Adam Graves, and Brian Leetch have since been replaced, but just like life, the team moves on. Henrik Lundqvist, Dom Moore, and Dan Mats Zuccarello fill in the voids as your favorite players and you pick up right where you left off.

So, this is my way of thanking the team that’s given me so much pain, misery, but far more joy over my whole life. Still searching for Lord Stanley, but the memories this team has given me can never have a price tag placed on it.

It isn’t just a team, it’s a part of me.

Dennis Malles – Founder and Co-Writer

https://twitter.com/DMalles98

https://twitter.com/Rangers5thLine

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