The New York Rangers are nicknamed the “blue shirts” due to their classy reputation and blue uniforms. The term applies to players, coaches, officials, and fans. The Rangers were one of the original six teams in the NHL and have a storied history. Wayne Gretzky played his final years with the team. The term can also be used in contrast to the New Jersey Devils.
A blue shirt is a common nickname for the New York Rangers, one of the oldest ice hockey teams in the National Hockey League. The term is a bit confusing now, since Rangers aren’t always dressed in blue, and may in fact wear blue-trimmed white shirts in some games.
Initially, a New York Rangers player was called a Broadway blueshirt. This may be because Broadway is in close proximity to Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers play their home games. Also, Rangers were known as a classy team when they first started play.
They tend to attract Broadway stars and the upper class to the plays, due to their “classy” reputation as well as their prowess at the game. Ranger or blueshirt players only missed one playoff in their first sixteen years as an organized team.
Often the term blue shirt applies not only to players but also to coaches and team officials. Basically, if one works for the New York Rangers, one is a blueshirt. Also, a fan might consider himself a blue shirt.
Alternatively the term blueshirt can be used in contrast to the red shirts of the New Jersey Devils, a rival ice hockey team existing in close proximity to the Rangers. However, the Devils didn’t settle in New Jersey until 1982.
Often a blue jersey player or journeyman gets some respect since the New York Rangers were one of the original six teams in the National Hockey League. Wayne Gretzky, arguably one of the greatest hockey players ever, chose to play his final years in a blue jersey, from 1996 to 1999. When he retired, the National Hockey League also retired his number for the entire League.
The reference to a blue shirt harks back to the origins of American ice hockey. It could provoke heated debate about the team’s success now, or simply evoke nostalgia for the New York Rangers’ many accomplishments. A blue jersey is a team member with a history, which for sports fans implies his or her own kind of class.
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