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[text_output]Born in 1988, I was born into a hockey house.

My dad, was a Ranger fan from the day he was born, my mom was brought into it because of marriage, and later in 1992 my sister enjoyed the pain and heartache that was the New York Rangers.

When I was growing up, hockey was an important part of my life. From trying to emulate the style of Brian Leetch, I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be that defenseman who could play in his own end but drive up offensively and be counted on to quarterback the powerplay.

It took me until age 8 to start playing hockey, took me until 17 to play ice hockey but from as long as I could remember I was a hockey player and most importantly, a fan.

Being a fan of the New York Rangers has had its full share of heart ache as well as some minor cases of happiness.

As most Ranger fans, 1994 was an important year to be a Ranger fan. Stanley Cup victory, the first one in 54-years; it was important. It was more important to my dad though, who has a better memory of the Rangers winning than I do. It was good seeing him happy.

The dark ages were some dark times for the Rangers and its fans. My dad became disgruntled watching the team, games we would watch would be sporadic together. He would want to do, and watch something else. I would stick myself in my room and try to watch the game, learning about structure and most importantly, learning about how to become a better hockey player.

Here I was trying to get my dad back into watching hockey. He would still come out and skate with me and he would teach me what he learned as a player growing up, to help me become a better player myself.

Now here I am and now I’m in the same boat my dad was at during the dark days of Rangers hockey.

He’s now trying to get me back into the game, back into regularly watching the Rangers when they’re on television.

I remember going to the game with him against Chicago in January; it was good going to a game with him again. That night helped me to remember why I enjoyed the game. Why I enjoyed watching the game.

It’s hard to be a fan when everything is going wrong with this team. It’s hard being a fan when you can’t stand certain aspects of how this team is constructed and managed. That’s what it’s like being a fan though. You want to find ways to reconnect yourself with this team, you want to find the thing that’s going to bring back the spark.

For my dad, I think it was him seeing how passionate I became as a Ranger fan. I would update him with news about the team, rumors that I would see or reaction to the previous game.

For me, I’m still trying to find what will suck me back in. Last week, the infamous letter from Jeff Gorton and Glen Sather piqued my interest. Got me wanting to see how the team would respond.

Respond they did.

Now, I’m not saying that the Rangers are doing the right thing by winning again. We all know how this is going to go, we all know this isn’t going to be consistent. As a fan though, as a fan I’m interested.

Last week, I voiced my displeasure on Gorton. Seeing what the next few months could be like for this team has me interested. Interested in seeing what happens next. Seeing what the future of this team will be like this year, the year after, so on and so forth.

I’m ready if all the moves happen, most importantly the removal of Alain Vigneault as head coach happens, my opinion will change. I’m okay with being wrong.

Another thing about being a fan, it’s okay for your opinion to be wrong. It’s how you handle it when you’re told you were wrong is what will be remembered.[/text_output]

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[text_output]My wife will ask me questions about the team, will bring up news to me about the team. I’m happy that she gets to experience this journey of being a Ranger fan with me. I wouldn’t want to do this alone.

She knows what she signed up for. Most importantly, I’m learning once again, what I signed up for.

Yes, this year sucks but let’s enjoy it for what it’s worth. Let’s celebrate the minor victories certain individuals on this team have had.

Let’s celebrate the future. You know I’ll be there.

Comment below and share your Ranger memories and what has made you a fan of this team.[/text_output]

Author: Shawn Taggart

Shawn Taggart is a New York Ranger fan, who loves to dive in to the statistical side of hockey.

Besides watching the Rangers, he watches the Yankees, Knicks and Giants and has this strange obession with finding some really good obscure craft beers. Loyal listener of music.