Time to go (sort of)

Fans of the New York Rangers are a unique breed.  Enthusiastic, knowledgeable, opinionated, long-suffering, optimistic, pessimistic and even pigheaded. It’s what makes the Rangers fanbase the best in sports.

I’ve had the pleasure of writing about the New York Rangers for Blue Line Station for the last four years and sharing my thoughts and opinions with my, only a little crazy, fellow Blueshirts fans.

You’ve probably noticed a marked reduction in the number of my posts recently and that is because I am stepping down as the editor of Blue Line Station.  I will still make occasional contributions especially if the team makes moves that strike me as ill-advised, but you won’t see my content on a daily basis.

I started as a contributor in March 2018 and became editor of the site later that year in October. In that time I have written 2,624 articles for Blue Line Station and presided over live conversations during games for two and a half seasons.

I hope that I have helped to fill a void in coverage of our favorite hockey team.  It’s frustrating that the New York Post, Newsday and USA Today are the only  publications that even bother to cover hockey these days among local media.  It was humorous to see the Daily News actually start covering the Rangers when they made it to the Conference Finals.

One thing worth noting about Blue Line Station.  It is a site for Ranger fans with content written by Ranger fans. We don’t get press passes to the games and we aren’t recognized by the NHL as legitimate new organization. Even so, we have tried to maintain the highest journalistic standards and while we express opinion, it is always based on fact. We’ve tried to stay away from clickbait and unsubstantiated rumors.  My background was 40 years in television news and the foundation was there for me.  I hope our readers have appreciated that.

The most gratifying part of being with Blue Line Station has been the feedback from our readers.  You are an incredibly devoted and knowledgeable group and while some of the comments have been a little nutty at times, they are all based on one fact, a love for the New York Rangers.

Whether it was an utter distate for Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin (you know who I’m talking about), or a constant plea for Julien Gauthier to start because the team is too soft (you know him too) or opinions from north of of the border (thanks Ian),  or constant overstating of the obvious (you know him as well), or that belief that Mika will get a “shortie” every time the Rangers are killing a penalty (George…ever hopeful)…there are too many of the faithful to mention, but all are appreciated.

You’ve also been my copy editor and I have appreciated your pointing out the occasional (hopefully very occasional) mistakes.  The saying is that everyone needs an editor, even the editor.

I’d also like to thank the folks who have been contributing content to BLS. Andrew Steele-Davis was watching games in the wee hours in the U.K. and filing stories.  Jason Katinas started as “Sanitak” in the comments section and has been a calm and rational observer of everything Rangers. Thanks to Drew, Jake, Matthew, Dylan, Tiona and Sean for chipping in.  Hey, if you want to write about the Rangers, there is no better place.

It’s been a great ride.  I started after the team sent out “The Letter.”  During my tenure the Rangers won two draft lotteries, fired two coaches, one team president and one general manager.  They won a Vezina Trophy, a Norris Trophy and bought out a future Hall of Fame goalie.   We all endured a worldwide pandemic that shut down the sport for months.   This season was  giddy trip for a bunch of overachievers that ended with heartbreak in Tampa.

A funny story.  My first post for Blue Line Station was about the need to for a high draft pick in 2018.  I pointed out that no NHL team had been successful without a top five pick on the roster.  I made the mistake of giving this title to the piece: “Why tanking is important.”

Wow.  Was I ever lambasted by our readers who found the endorsement of “tanking” the worst crime you could commit.  I was accused of being an idiot and my favorite comment accused me of being a “millennial” with no life experiences and absolutely no knowledge about sports.  Having been born in the 1950s, that was pretty comical, but it taught me a lesson about headline writing. If you want to see it…I’ve included a link below.

I’ve been a Ranger fan since the mid-1960’s, watching games on a small black and white television on Channel 9.   I had season tickets for a number of years and was at the Garden for the Matteau game, the Stepan OT series winner and Marty St. Louis’ overtime win over Montreal.  My favorite teams were the smurfs under Herbie Brooks and until this season, one of the biggest thrills was the unexpected success of the Jagr-led Rangers with that new Swedish goalie. And of course, there was 1972, 1979, 1994 and 2014. Being able to write about the Rangers has been a labor of love and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

I hope you all keep reading the content on Blue Line Station.  We’ve got an excellent group of contributors who provide thoughtful content for this wonderful franchise.  As I said, you will still see my byline on occasion, but not anywhere near as often as over the last four years.

Thanks for reading and for your comments and feedback.  It’s been fun.