The New York Rangers Aren't Getting Bullied Nearly Enough For Their "Regular Season Champions" Banner
The Rangers have been catching plenty of attention this week for raising their "2023-24 Regular Season Champions" banner into the rafters. And rightfully so. That is a ROUGH look for an Original Six franchise. That's the type of shit you'd expect to see out of an expansion team like Seattle. That's the type of nonsense you could get away with in a non-traditional market like Nashville.
But an Original Six organization? You know damn well there's never been any such thing as a regular season champion. You have your division champions (which even those I think should be considered "division winners"). You have your conference champions. And then you have your Stanley Cup Champions. If you want to hang a banner for winning the Presidents Trophy, that's all well and good. It's a really difficult achievement, after all. But you sure as shit aren't a champion of anything.
But here's the thing--this isn't the first "regular season champions" banner the Rangers have put up. They did it 10 years ago when they won the Presidents Trophy in 2014-15. The fact that they've been getting away with this for so long is beyond me. This is a national crisis we are dealing with here. I'm genuinely disappointing and disgusted with the hockey community that we've allowed this to go on for so long.
This is where bullying really needs to make a comeback. Their players should feel an overwhelming sense of guilt and embarrassment every time they walk into that building. Maybe that's why Igor Shesterkin is refusing to sign an 8x$11M contract extension with the Rangers because he refuses to get locked up long term to such an unserious organization. Definitely makes you wonder.
And before you even get into the comments--yes, I am fully aware the Flyers haven't won the Cup since 1975. I know the Flyers have won next to nothing in my 32 years of existence, and haven't won anything since 2011. But if we're going to be losers, at least we're still keeping our dignity about being losers. We're not just making up random titles now to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. The Flyers might be losers, but the Rangers are right there with us. You dipshits are just too far up each others' asses to see it.