Hockey is Back

Are you serious, a hockey article? Yes I am writing a hockey article. I have heard hockey fans still exist and I want to be there for them. I am versatile and can throw in a hockey article every now and then. I loved the Mighty Ducks movies and wore my New York Rangers jersey proudly in 1994. Hockey is a great sport and deserves its due. So what if it's a Canadian sport. I love Canada. The drinking age is 19, they have great beer, and some of the best strip clubs in the world.

In the midst of the baseball playoffs and NFL season, the NHL season has begun. The New York Rangers, coming off a disappointing season, began their season with a bang. They went up to the beautiful city of Buffalo (not really serious about Buffalo being beautiful) and defeated the Sabres 6-3.

Six goals for the Rangers is an amazing achievement. This was a team that had major problems scoring one goal in many games last season. What was even more impressive was scoring all those goals against star goalie Ryan Miller. It is one thing to score that many goals against a scrub, but to do it against a player of Miller's caliber should give Rangers fans something to be excited about.  It seemed last season if Rangers star Marion Gaborik did not score goals or goalie Henrik Lundqvist did not shut the other team out, the team had no chance of winning. Neither of those occurred for them opening night, yet they still won the game. The biggest surprise of the night was rookie Derek Stepan scoring three goals in his first ever NHL game. He is only the 4th player to ever accomplish this. ,

Stepan, a 2008 second round pick, hopefully can provide consistent offense for the Rangers this season. They are a team that is desperate for offensive production. It is also nice to see a young player like Stepan, stepping up. Rangers fans are so used to overpaid and underachieving aging veterans making up a large portion of the teams roster. They have made a couple of playoff appearances the past few seasons, but have not been able to get past the second round.  An influx of young talent is greatly needed for this franchise and might be what they need to make them into a Stanley Cup contender. 1994 seems like a very long time ago.  Rangers fans are some of the best fans in the world and have been salivating for young talent to make up the core of the team.  It was only the first game of the season, but maybe it was a sign for more good things to come.