Ever since 1979, the chant of “Potvin Sucks!” has rained down from the crowd at Madison Square Garden during every New York Rangers home game, after a playing (or fan whistling) of the Let’s Go Band theme music. This is what happened after one check in a game on February 25th of that year, when Islanders defenseman Denis Potvin hip checked Ulf Nilsson, who suffered a broken ankle on the play. Because Nilsson was one of the Rangers' best forwards at the time, the MSG crowd voiced their frustration for the rest of that season with that chant.
But it did not end at the finish of the 1979 season.
The chant has become a tradition at the Garden, and although Potvin retired in 1988, the chant lives on. In lieu of recent struggles that the Rangers have faced, the chant is becoming more and more ridiculous. Not only is it severely outdated, but half of the fans in the stands do not even know what the chanters are yelling.
Listen closely after every chant; you will hear people asking amongst themselves, “What is a pot-man?” The young Ranger fans have no idea who he is, nor do the casual fans. And most of the ol ...
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Article written by Greg Caggiano
New York Rangers Fans Should Nix “Potvin Sucks!” Chant
March 19th, 2010 by Greg Caggiano Leave a reply »
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