I think the chant sucks. I’m a lifelong Rangers fan. I began
this love affair at the Garden on 50th Street when I was a little
boy. I know why the chant was started but don’t understand why we still hear it. First of all, Potvin doesn’t play any more.
How can this chant be encouraging to the current Rangers, when they can only
revere a player like Potvin. He was a Captain. He was on a team that won four
Stanley Cups in a row. He was a good defensemen. I’m wondering how the chant
can serve as inspiration to Rangers players when they are on the ice,
especially if they happened to as kids like the man. How can this chant inspire
the fans? The Isles have broken my heart more times than I want to remember. So
why would I want to hear that man’s name mentioned and used not only at the
Garden but when I’m enjoying a Rangers game in another arena?
Why is this
chant still being used? Using a negative to try to inspire something
positive is counter intuitive. I’m not even sure the folks who start these
chants today ever saw Potvin play. Most people today need to use Google to
understand the origin of this chant and Google to learn more about each player
involved. Why do those of us who do remember the players and the constant
broken hearts of the Ranger fans? I would like to hear more creative and inspiring
chants from the Ranger fans like what one might hear at an international futbol
match. I’d like to hear more encouraging chants that single out players during
the game. Certainly Henry gets his praise and rightfully so. The Potvin chant
doesn’t tell me the folks are really paying attention since this chant has
nothing to do with the game. There is an entertainment value to it if it were
used once, like the Marlboro Man who did his air guitar licks at Yankee Stadium
to “Enter Sandman” when Mariano came in.
I may be a curmudgeon, but I think the Rangers players
deserve lots more than this pitiful bygone negative chant that means nothing.
How about chanting and cheering for our boys than one of the most dastardly
villains in Ranger history. Let’s be more positive and let’s not remind us of a
sad past. Even if actors like Hanks mouth it to a camera, remember he is a paid
actor to ham it up in front of a camera.
Gosh, I wish the Ranger fans could actually make playing in
Madison Garden a more classy act as it once was rather than a constant reminder
of those days of broken dreams. We now have new dreams with this new team and
we need a new chant. Let’s go Rangers.