As we go through our hectic daily lives which includes, work, friends, commutes, meetings, and the undeniable truth, Women, we all somehow find time to keep track of a true love. That being the New York Rangers. This passion all of us here on Blueshirt Banter have at times can be more dear and important to us than every other aspect of our lives. But why is this so? Has our love for this team been derived by seeing players such as Brian Boyle develop and transform himself from a useless fourth liner to what could potentially be a second line/first line player? Is it when we see all 23 Blueshirts giving every bit of love and passion for the game for a solid 60 minutes (something we wish we could see more often), Is just the bond that we all have developed for this team? Whatever your specific reasoning may be, we all have some certain aspect of this team that makes us so passionate about our team, because for all of us this is OUR team. Let me explain why I myself am such a fan of this team.

           As a kid growing up on Long Island, I had little choice as to what New York area based team I would be a fan of. Having a father who was such a die-hard Rangers fan that his bargaining chip with my mom in order for her to get a dog was that he must be named, you'll probably all guess this, Ranger. So as a kid having a father who is a former Ranger season-ticket holder and still a die-hard Rangers fan as well as my first love, my dog, having the name Ranger, it wasn’t just fate that led me to becoming a fan. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I heard "Richter, kick-save and a beauty" or JD saying "Oh baby" , possibly more than I heard the introduction theme song for Barney. I didn't become what many would call a "die-hard" fan however until after the July, 2007 signings of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. After these signings many though it was finally time for change in New York City. That the Rangers fortunes will finally be changed. Fortunately Gomez is gone and we got back way more in return than we deserved. Unfortunately many of us are counting down on our work calendars the days until Drury's lottery pay-out, I mean contract expires. Jump forward to the present 2010-2011 season and Lord Glen Sather, rather General Manager Glen Sather has finally put together a team that we can all be proud to say we are a fan of.

            Throughout the day I find myself checking Twitter at least twice to check up on any news or rumors regarding the team knowing that I don't want to miss a thing. This years addition of The Daily News beat reporter Jesse Spector has added some competition amongst the existing beat reporters such as my personal favorite, Andrew Gross of The Bergen Record, Newsday's Steve Zipay, and Rangers Jim Cerny. Following these four reporters as well as you all on Blueshirt Banter I'm sure to not miss a beat. Now down to game time.

             The second the clock strikes 7:07 and I'm around to watch the game, the TV goes on. Sometimes on mute however to bare insanity from listening to Joe Micheletti's constant dumbfounded comments. I have to say that this years Rangers are the most entertaining group of players I have seen wear the red, white, and blue jerseys. We can finally say that our team has an identity of a hard-working, hard-hitting, skilled team, aggressive on the forecheck, and has elite talent both offensively and defensively. This team has finally become a team that is "fun" to watch. Some reasons as to why this year is different than last year is the development of the future Rick Nash (insert slight sarcasm) Brian Boyle, Brandon Prust, Ruslan Fedotenko, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarelo, and Michael Sauer. While not every player on this list will necessarily "wow" you, they'll definitely out-work you. Seeing players such as Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, and Artem Anisimov finally coming into their own and living up to talent that they all bear, makes the future bright in Manhattan. Now all of this does come with its fair share of frustrations such as seeing Hank let up that fluky goal, Anisimov staring as his skates and losing the puck because he never looks up, Roszival's ridiculously slow skating ability, Avery's blind behind the back passes to the other team, Frolov just being himself, and Sam Rosen's thinking that every play the Rangers make whether it’s Avery being offsides or a Rangers player icing the puck on accident is a "good" play. I think though as fans we can overlook the faults of this team as well as the announcers because of all of the positive aspects the Rangers bring to the ice night in and night out.

             I know that I'm not alone in my feelings as to why the Rangers mean so much to me and I'd love to hear the rest of your guys reasoning’s as to why we love our team so much. And I'm sure that almost all you can say that the future's brighter now than it has been post-Stanley Cup. And as to why this team means so much to us?, maybe it's because all of our hearts beat to the sound of

New York Rangers Goal Horn/Song (via BroadwayCjx7)