The Evolution of New York-area Hockey Chants or...
Devils fans: Are they engaging in artistic appropriation or is it simply plagiarism?
Way back in the latter half of the 20th century, there was a man from Ottawa named Denis Potvin. Denis Potvin is one of the best defenseman to ever lace up a pair of skates in the National Hockey League. He won personal awards, Stanley Cups and is in the Hockey Hall Of Fame. Denis Potvin’s only problem was that he played for a suburban team with a limited fan following in the shadow of the biggest media market in North America.
This is not his story.
It is rather the story of how he inspired a tradition among fans of the team that was Potvin’s principal (and less successful) rival, the New York Rangers and how that tradition has been copied by the third New York-area hockey team.
In 1979, Denis Potvin hit New York Rangers forward Ulf Nilsson and broke Nilsson’s ankle. Many Rangers fans believe that this was a principal cause in the Rangers’ loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals that year. It came to pass that Rangers fans would express their displeasure with Mr. Potvin by yelling “Potvin sucks” every time a particular tune called “Let’s Go Band” was played on the Garden PA. A 45 rpm record was cut and became an immediate collector’s item and Rangers fan cult classic. Fortunately for future generations, that record is now immortalized on You Tube
Sometime during the 1980’s, Garden management decided that having such chants (including other classics like “Beat your wife Potvin” and "Buy a Porsche Hextall" to the “here we go (name of home team) tune, as well as “Mario wears a mini skirt” to the tune of “Camptown Races”) was not conducive to creating a family-friendly environment. Yes, in those quaint times major league sports still mistakenly marketed itself to families before realizing that in major cities the real dough can be made in marketing to affluent young males and corporate types. So, “Let’s Go Band” was banned. Did that stop Rangers fans? No way.
Rangers fans adapted by having a few select individuals who could whistle really, really loud whistle the “Let’s Go Band” tune followed by thousands of voices bellowing “Potvin sucks”. After some time Garden security cracked down and anyone caught whistling the tune would be ejected. Repeat violators would have their season tickets revoked.
An era was ending. The sad age of scoreboard-driven fan behavior was dawning at Madison Square Garden. Today of course the chant is once again “legal” since families can no longer afford to attend games at MSG unless they are very affluent or are feeding from the corporate trough. Besides, “sucks” isn’t even considered a profanity anymore.
On Long Island, things evolved a bit differently.
Islanders fans to their credit have developed a few funny bits of their own to replace the now-irrelevant “1940” chant that they used from 1980-1994. They now use the Chicken dance tune to yell “The Ran-gers suck” on the hand clap part and even better use the kids classic “If you’re happy and you know it” melody to sing “If you know the Rangers suck then clap your hands”. Unlike prissy MSG management of days gone by those in charge of the Nassau Coliseum encourage this behavior by continuing to play those songs on the PA. Good for them. Rivalries are good for business, and funny crowd behavior is damn entertaining.
Devils fans are something else. The first time I heard the whistling while watching a game broadcast from the Prudential Center I was confused. The Devils weren’t playing the Rangers so there probably weren’t any Rangers fans there in any significant number (though it can be argued that a large portion of the Devils fan base over the age of 30 are ex-Rangers supporters) and they weren’t playing the Florida Panthers (who employ Denis Potvin as a color announcer) so why were the Devils fans doing Potvin sucks? It took a few times for me to realize they were doing the exact same chant but substituting “Rangers” for “Potvin”.
I was flabbergasted.
Why would a fan base adopt a tradition that was a trademark of their most hated rival? You don’t see Red Sox fans doing the “bleacher roll call” thing at Fenway do you? I’m sure Cardinals fans don’t throw back Cubs home run balls (or do they?) So why would Devils fans adopt Rangers fan mannerisms?
Could it be appropriation with and ironic intent? Nah, anyone who’s been to Jersey knows there’s not a lot of intentional irony there. Perhaps it’s something done by the younger generation that has grown up going to live sporting events where every single lull in play is filled with blasting music or exhortations to clap, cheer, or “Make some noize (sic)” that have destroyed any inclination or ability to have a spontaneous or creative crowd reaction. That seems to be more likely and frankly it’s sad. I saw the same thing happen to Rangers crowds during my tenure as a season-ticket holder. When I started the Blue Seats were legendarily loud, profane and hilarious. By the time I left they were “the 400 level” symbolized by a middle-aged man with poor grooming habits who danced to (what else) blasting music from the scoreboard.
So what should Devils fans do? Well, they could be gracious since they’ve had more success over the last two decades than the Rangers by winning 3 Stanley Cups (though the Rangers have eliminated the Devils from the Stanley Cup playoffs in 4 of 5 meetings). If not, I think they need to develop something unique. Something special of their very own. Maybe an expression of New Jersey’s advantage over New York like “Our Penn Station is nicer than yours!” (hmm, tough to chant that) or team-specific like “No Cups This Century”.
Ah, why listen to me? Go ask Kevin Smith for something. I’m sure he’ll devote some energy to it…when he’s not busy with the Hollywood wife in Los Angeles.
Way back in the latter half of the 20th century, there was a man from Ottawa named Denis Potvin. Denis Potvin is one of the best defenseman to ever lace up a pair of skates in the National Hockey League. He won personal awards, Stanley Cups and is in the Hockey Hall Of Fame. Denis Potvin’s only problem was that he played for a suburban team with a limited fan following in the shadow of the biggest media market in North America.
This is not his story.
It is rather the story of how he inspired a tradition among fans of the team that was Potvin’s principal (and less successful) rival, the New York Rangers and how that tradition has been copied by the third New York-area hockey team.
In 1979, Denis Potvin hit New York Rangers forward Ulf Nilsson and broke Nilsson’s ankle. Many Rangers fans believe that this was a principal cause in the Rangers’ loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals that year. It came to pass that Rangers fans would express their displeasure with Mr. Potvin by yelling “Potvin sucks” every time a particular tune called “Let’s Go Band” was played on the Garden PA. A 45 rpm record was cut and became an immediate collector’s item and Rangers fan cult classic. Fortunately for future generations, that record is now immortalized on You Tube
Sometime during the 1980’s, Garden management decided that having such chants (including other classics like “Beat your wife Potvin” and "Buy a Porsche Hextall" to the “here we go (name of home team) tune, as well as “Mario wears a mini skirt” to the tune of “Camptown Races”) was not conducive to creating a family-friendly environment. Yes, in those quaint times major league sports still mistakenly marketed itself to families before realizing that in major cities the real dough can be made in marketing to affluent young males and corporate types. So, “Let’s Go Band” was banned. Did that stop Rangers fans? No way.
Rangers fans adapted by having a few select individuals who could whistle really, really loud whistle the “Let’s Go Band” tune followed by thousands of voices bellowing “Potvin sucks”. After some time Garden security cracked down and anyone caught whistling the tune would be ejected. Repeat violators would have their season tickets revoked.
An era was ending. The sad age of scoreboard-driven fan behavior was dawning at Madison Square Garden. Today of course the chant is once again “legal” since families can no longer afford to attend games at MSG unless they are very affluent or are feeding from the corporate trough. Besides, “sucks” isn’t even considered a profanity anymore.
On Long Island, things evolved a bit differently.
Islanders fans to their credit have developed a few funny bits of their own to replace the now-irrelevant “1940” chant that they used from 1980-1994. They now use the Chicken dance tune to yell “The Ran-gers suck” on the hand clap part and even better use the kids classic “If you’re happy and you know it” melody to sing “If you know the Rangers suck then clap your hands”. Unlike prissy MSG management of days gone by those in charge of the Nassau Coliseum encourage this behavior by continuing to play those songs on the PA. Good for them. Rivalries are good for business, and funny crowd behavior is damn entertaining.
Devils fans are something else. The first time I heard the whistling while watching a game broadcast from the Prudential Center I was confused. The Devils weren’t playing the Rangers so there probably weren’t any Rangers fans there in any significant number (though it can be argued that a large portion of the Devils fan base over the age of 30 are ex-Rangers supporters) and they weren’t playing the Florida Panthers (who employ Denis Potvin as a color announcer) so why were the Devils fans doing Potvin sucks? It took a few times for me to realize they were doing the exact same chant but substituting “Rangers” for “Potvin”.
I was flabbergasted.
Why would a fan base adopt a tradition that was a trademark of their most hated rival? You don’t see Red Sox fans doing the “bleacher roll call” thing at Fenway do you? I’m sure Cardinals fans don’t throw back Cubs home run balls (or do they?) So why would Devils fans adopt Rangers fan mannerisms?
Could it be appropriation with and ironic intent? Nah, anyone who’s been to Jersey knows there’s not a lot of intentional irony there. Perhaps it’s something done by the younger generation that has grown up going to live sporting events where every single lull in play is filled with blasting music or exhortations to clap, cheer, or “Make some noize (sic)” that have destroyed any inclination or ability to have a spontaneous or creative crowd reaction. That seems to be more likely and frankly it’s sad. I saw the same thing happen to Rangers crowds during my tenure as a season-ticket holder. When I started the Blue Seats were legendarily loud, profane and hilarious. By the time I left they were “the 400 level” symbolized by a middle-aged man with poor grooming habits who danced to (what else) blasting music from the scoreboard.
So what should Devils fans do? Well, they could be gracious since they’ve had more success over the last two decades than the Rangers by winning 3 Stanley Cups (though the Rangers have eliminated the Devils from the Stanley Cup playoffs in 4 of 5 meetings). If not, I think they need to develop something unique. Something special of their very own. Maybe an expression of New Jersey’s advantage over New York like “Our Penn Station is nicer than yours!” (hmm, tough to chant that) or team-specific like “No Cups This Century”.
Ah, why listen to me? Go ask Kevin Smith for something. I’m sure he’ll devote some energy to it…when he’s not busy with the Hollywood wife in Los Angeles.
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