Introduction

Greetings, folks.

This particular blog - West of the East River - is devoted to hockey - or at least it will be when I get started. Yours truly has been a hockey fan for a long time - not as long as the Ranger Pundit - but a long time nonetheless. I've always referred to myself as the world's biggest Rangers fan - west of the East River - hence the name of this blog.

Somehow - many moons ago - yours truly began following the New York Rangers. My father was enamoured of the Montreal Canadiens, my older brother was a Chicago Blackhawks fan, and most of the other kids at my school were big on the Maple Leafs. When I finally came out as a Rangers fan - some time after the Maple Leafs won their last Stanley Cup - my hockey-loving friends could not understand how I (or anyone well to the west of the Niagara River - never mind the East River) could be a fan of the Blueshirts. With my navy-blue Rangers jersey - worn whenever it was too warm for a jacket but too cold for short sleeves - yours truly certainly stood out. It wasn't until I attended my first NHL game - in Buffalo during the Sabres' inaugural season - that I saw someone else wearing my beloved blueshirt. With the New York Rangers providing the opposition that evening, there were many blueshirts to be seen.

My knowledge of - and experience with - this new fangled contraption in front of me is not nearly as extensive as my knowledge of - and experience with - hockey, so this blog will be simple. Nonetheless, I will try to make this blog informative and thought-provoking enough to make it worth reading.

Joseph Durocher