For anyone interested in sports, there are always rivals between every team, and there are many differences among them. There are two rivals that have many different sides to them, the Islanders and the Rangers. There are many rivalries in New York, such as the Mets and Yankees rivalry, the Knicks and Nets rivalry, or even the Jets and the Giants rivalry. In my opinion, the Islanders will always be superior, but who is superior not through the scoring of games, but the history and stats between the two teams.

Most Islanders fans are from Nassau and Suffolk counties while Ranger fans are mostly from Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn. So location wise, it’s a suburb vs city rivalry.

The New York Rangers were founded in 1926, and were one of the six original NHL teams. The Islanders were founded in 1972 in Peterborough, Ontario, as part of a fast expansion to get 16 teams in the NHL. The Islanders joined 47 years ago while the Rangers joined 93 years ago, and since 2019 both teams have won only four Stanley Cups, which means it took the Islanders half the time to get four Stanley Cups than the Rangers.

The goalies for each team are also divided. Each have two goaltenders, which will be compared by the GAA, or the goals allowed per game by the goaltender. On the NYR side, we have Henrik Lundqvist, whose career GAA is 2.39, and Alexandar Georgiev whose career GAA is 3.26. On the NYI side, we have Robin Lehner, whose career GAA is 2.76, and Thomas Greiss, whose career GAA is 2.68. So with the two goaltenders’ GAAs together, the Islanders have better goaltenders. The captains between the teams are Anders Lee for the Islanders, who has 237 points (total goals and assists throughout their career), and the Rangers do not have a captain, but have five alternative captains, Chris Kreider, Jesper Fast, Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello and Marc Staal, who all range from 112-329 points.

The coach for the Islanders is Barry Trotz, and for the Rangers the coach is David Quinn. Usually, there is always a player that people dislike, like Chris Kreider, who is disliked for being the fastest Ranger and is known for crease crashing. On the Islanders side is Cal Clutterbuck who usually is very defensive. Throughout their history, there is always someone to look up to, like for the NYR, they have Mark Messier, who in 1994 was the captain and delivered a hat trick in Game 6 and later won the Stanley Cup. For the Islanders, it is Denis Potvin, who was the captain that led the team to four straight Stanley Cup wins.

Both have something to joke about or get teased about, such as the old Statue of Liberty logo on the Rangers side and the fisherman logo on the Islanders side. Lastly, while almost every team uses the “Let’s Go ___” chant, the Islanders do have their own unique chant, which is “Yes! Yes! Yes!” while the Rangers have a song for every goal.

The Rangers also don’t have a mascot, while the Islanders have Sparky the Dragon as their mascot. Sparky has been their mascot since 1998. The Islanders also have cheerleaders who scrape the ice, another part of the Islanders traditions. Both teams do similar traditions before each game, such as tailgating and railgating which is staying near a railway or in a parking lot, and people range from playing games to barbequing.

Overall, both teams are equally good, but so far the Islanders seem to be the team to have a chance at the playoffs, while the Rangers have a little chance to make the playoffs. So, whichever team you choose, there will always be a rivalry between them, whether you are an Islanders fan or a Rangers fan. LGR! LGI!