Go Smurfum Rangers ! The Mouth really can't fully endorse the slogan, but that slogan and sign certainly worked some magic that night on April 18th 1983.
The MSG crowd exploded as the Rangers upset the Islanders in game four of a series that most experts had written them off in, especially after the Islanders had taken a two games to one lead.
The Rangers eventually fell to the Islanders in the series but on this night, Ranger fans celebrated, and the Blueshirts shone.
A lot of Ranger supporters remember the smurf era as a time where the Rangers got pushed around, although they might have on occasion, they surely made it up with quickness and speed, a characteristic that few Ranger teams have ever possessed.
Blueshirt forward Mark Pavelich was an incredible example of this as he was a giant ball of energy with incredible scoring touch and play making ability,
The Mouth also gives mad props to the Rangers Finnish defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen.
Reijo who at times had some defensive liabilities and affinity to not hit the net, ranks up there with the top most five offensively gifted defenseman ever to put a Blueshirts sweater on.
The following clip shows what the Rangers and Islander rivalry was all about and also proves to be an example of what it is not all about now.
The Islanders were Goliath and the Rangers were always David and the fans always embraced that role.
Now with the Hempstead club almost 30 years later being a complete joke, with no fan base and no real history of playoffs, the hotly contested rivalry is now dead in The Mouth's opinion.
His point really strikes home after you watch this thrilling game between the Rangers and Hempstead from April 18th 1983.
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