Rangers-Devils has become area's hot rivalry

The Ranger Devil rivalry has been the bigger rivalry for a decade and a half. The Islanders are an inept organization. It's hard to have a rivalry with an inept organization.

For instance, due to the ineptitude, the Islanders and Devils have not had a playoff series in 20 years.

100 percent correct. Its hard to be rivals with a team that is nowhere near your level. Since 1992, the main rivalry in this area has been Rangers Devils

This is not the biggest rivalry because it's hockey, which sucks and nobody cares about.
Maybe if your playoff games weren't on the Vs. network, and if playoff hockey did better than 1.4 TV ratings, people would care.

It was great the Rangers won last night and now they need to win five more just like it to push into the playoffs. It was also great to see the refs call a great game even though they missed a few cheap shots by Brodeur on Avery. 3-0 tells the whole story though and that was accomplished without the refs affecting the outcome of the game.

Islanders-ranger$ will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be bigger than ranger$-devils. I am sorry but the ranger$-devils rivarly wouldnt be anything if the teams werent good or did not face each other in the playoffs 5 times since 1992. No matter where the islanders or ranger$ are in the stadings, the games are entertaining and fierce. Thats the difference between the 2 rivarly's. Thats the difference that a lot of the ranger$ fans(mostly under the age of 35) do not understand. Besides maybe toronto-montreal and maybe just maybe calgary-edmonton, there is no rivalry like islanders-ranger$ in the nhl. Among fans in relationed to hatred, its the biggest in the nhl. As much as you hate the devils, ranger$ fans, it doesnt compare to the Islanders rivalry with your team and the hatred your fans have for the islanders and vice versa. Islanders fans hate the ranger$ more than devils fans do. What makes the islanders-ranger$ rivalry so great and unique is that it doesnt matter where the two teams are in the standings. With the Devils it does. So sorry to disapoint you unknowledgeable ranger$ fans that dislike the devils more than the islanders. But dont worry when the islanders are good in 2 years, the rivarly will hit a new level. A playoff series between the 2 teams will really show Hermann and whoever else that the devils-ranger$ rivarly isn't on the same planet as when the 2 ny teams get together.

Hey Bryan does the nba even have a rivalry? Dont give me laker vs. Celtics. Those are teams in 2 different conferences. Ok football has rivarlys we know that as does hockey and some great ones I Might add. Baseball kind of lacks. We obviously have the greatest in yankes-boston and then we have mets-phillies and cards-cubs, but after that there arent too many. And DIno stop acting like the ranger$ are so superior to the islanders. Of course they are a better team right now. Right now being the key words, but the ranger$ aren't that good buddy.

Whoever writes Ranger$ is an idiot because there is a salary cap, so every team can spend however they want under a certain amount, so that argument makes no sense. And to those who say that one rivalry will always be more intense is foolish because there is no rivalry with a team that has been awful for a decade. A rivalry means that there are hard fought IMPORTANT games between the teams, like the Rangers-Devils meeting in the playoffs. I think if all 3 teams were pretty much equal, Rangers-Islanders would be more of a rivalry, I guess we will see in 5 years when the Islanders may finally be decent. And by the way 4therecord, maybe the Rangers aren't the best team in the NHL, but they are light years ahead of the Islanders at every position, and no Islander fan can argue with that right now.

why do newsday columnists always remark that the Rangers are owned by Cablevision which owns Newsday? Are ya'll fearful of saying bad things about the team... hello freedom of the press....

Hermann-do you really believe what you wrote? To prove you wrong-sit in the stands of a Isles-Rangers game. Youre reaching a bit with this article...but thats ok. Keep calling out the Isles...this team is on the right path.

I wonder if old Hermann would of wrote this piece if the Devils won? Ranger fans knew how important this game was to the season...being up 3-0 in the 3rd allowed the "heckling" to go on. Im not buying it Hermann.

Chris, a rivalry does not necessarily mean where the teams are in the standings. See some rivalry's need the teams to play each other in the playoffs or for both teams to be a top team in the conference like what avs-wings was. Now that was a great rivalry but its because 1) the 2 teams were the best in the conference for a while and 2) they met in the playoffs on several occations. What makes rivalry's like isles/ranger$, boston-yanks, duke/nc, ohio state/michigan, calgary/edmonton is that they will ALWAYS be rivals no matter what the standings say. Can you honestly say that devils-ranger$ will always be a rivalry? If the devils are in last and the ranger$ are 5th to last in the conference will the games still be considered great? Being close in geography sure helps that rivalry. Chris, this hockey, this sport isn't done by position like your baseball is or even basketball and football. This is a real TEAM sport. I also wouldnt say that the ranger$ are light years ahead of the islanders offensively. They are better but not 'light years' as you would like to say.

The Rangers-Devils rivalry has been a one-sided rivalry since it's inception. Even with the Devils success since 1995, they never ONCE beat the Rangers on their road to a Stanley Cup. The Islanders on the other hand beat the Rangers 4 straight years on the road to 3 Cups and another Finals appearance. The Rangers beat the Isles in 94 on the way to their only Cup in the last 69 years (great job btw). It's the same reason why Red Sox fans always hated Yankee fans much more than Yankee fans hated them. The Islander-Ranger rivalry has genuine hatred on both sides, and the fact that they haven't played in the playoffs in 15 years and it's still as strong as it is goes to prove just how great the rivalry is. The Islander-Ranger rivalry is self-sustaining no matter how good either team is. The Ranger-Devil rivalry is only relevant if the Devils are a good team.

Patrick Gough wrote:

It was great the Rangers won last night and now they need to win five more just like it to push into the playoffs. It was also great to see the refs call a great game even though they missed a few cheap shots by Brodeur on Avery. 3-0 tells the whole story though and that was accomplished without the refs affecting the outcome of the game.

So Refs always work well in Rangers wins?

Very well said Johnny. It only matters if the Devils are good.

Man, Isles fans get so defensive when they are told the Rangers-Devils rivalry is better. Don't worry guys, there's enough of us to go around. The Rangers will always have a rivalry with the Icicles. But the Devil-Ranger rivalry is better. The Garden was buzzing the other night. You could feel it. The only time Rangers-Isles feels like a rivalry is when thousands of Ranger fans take over the Mausoleum and Islander fans get ticked off.

4therecord wrote:

Islanders-ranger$ will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be bigger than ranger$-devils. I am sorry but the ranger$-devils rivarly wouldnt be anything if the teams werent good or did not face each other in the playoffs 5 times since 1992. No matter where the islanders or ranger$ are in the stadings, the games are entertaining and fierce. Thats the difference between the 2 rivarly's. Thats the difference that a lot of the ranger$ fans(mostly under the age of 35) do not understand. Besides maybe toronto-montreal and maybe just maybe calgary-edmonton, there is no rivalry like islanders-ranger$ in the nhl. Among fans in relationed to hatred, its the biggest in the nhl. As much as you hate the devils, ranger$ fans, it doesnt compare to the Islanders rivalry with your team and the hatred your fans have for the islanders and vice versa. Islanders fans hate the ranger$ more than devils fans do. What makes the islanders-ranger$ rivalry so great and unique is that it doesnt matter where the two teams are in the standings. With the Devils it does. So sorry to disapoint you unknowledgeable ranger$ fans that dislike the devils more than the islanders. But dont worry when the islanders are good in 2 years, the rivarly will hit a new level. A playoff series between the 2 teams will really show Hermann and whoever else that the devils-ranger$ rivarly isn't on the same planet as when the 2 ny teams get together.

Rangers and Isles last met in 1994.
Rangers and Devils have met in 1994, 1996 (I think), 2005 and last year.

Hey, the I$lander$ tried to buy a fir$t line ,$o let$$top with the ridiculou$ dollar $igns. Weight, Guerin, Comrie....$utton, Witt, Poti, Park,$treit,- all "bought" as lo$er I$lander$ fan$ like to $ay.$o yeah, you $hould be proud; and place that dollar $ign in the I$lander team name too $ince all that buying got you no clo$er to the playoff$.

Memo to I$lander fan$:

$how up to Ranger/I$lander game$

Mike Hock your living right in the middle of Islanders country! MOVE OUT!!! Streit was a great signing buddy, unlike a lot of the terrible, overpriced signings the ranger$ have had. I agree with guerin being overpriced but hes gone now. Park lol are you serious? Witt was another good signign but not overpriced. We use the $ for the ranger$ because 1) before the lockout thats what they did and had no success. Im used to writing the $ so im not ganna change now. Plus since then the ranger$ signed drury and gomez to overpriced contracts and thats the core of the team.

Jim, if the devils werent good there would be no rivalry. Thats why the islanders-ranger$ rivalry will ALWAYS be better. You live in f7cking islanders country! If your going to live hear and be a ranger$ fan please hate the islanders a little bit more. Seems like you hate the devils more than the islanders.

4therecord wrote:

Mike Hock your living right in the middle of Islanders country! MOVE OUT!!! Streit was a great signing buddy, unlike a lot of the terrible, overpriced signings the ranger$ have had. I agree with guerin being overpriced but hes gone now. Park lol are you serious? Witt was another good signign but not overpriced. We use the $ for the ranger$ because 1) before the lockout thats what they did and had no success. Im used to writing the $ so im not ganna change now. Plus since then the ranger$ signed drury and gomez to overpriced contracts and thats the core of the team.

It's spelled you're shitforbrains