And you know what? Binghamton can have the stupid Devils, because as a native of the 518 we’ve become very use to teams folding, leaving, and putting a knife covered in that New Jersey stink in our backs.
The Capital District has seen 18 teams leave in some form or another since the 1950’s and Friday afternoon Binghamton, who robbed us of our AHL NJ Devils affiliate, unveiled their new look.
They even went all Pat Riley on us and threw the rings down on the table:
It’s like when someone breaks up with you and it doesn’t seem real until social media gets flooded with pics of them and their new piece, making official what you’ve known was official for a long time. That it’s over.
Except in this case, it’s like you break up with someone who you never really liked that much and was only dating to pass the time. You see the pictures come up on your feed and instead of sadness you think “good for them.”
I didn’t hate the Albany Devils and the River Rats before them, I just didn’t care about the 518’s minor league hockey team. And neither did you.
During the Devils time in Albany they ranked in the bottom 4 in terms of AHL attendance over their seven season stint and was dead last with a measly 2,888 fans per night in their final season.
As a Rangers fan it was good to be able to catch the occasional Hartford Wolfpack game, but at the same time the team muddied our already very dirty waters with in an influx of New Jersey Devil’s fans.
The New Jersey Devil’s success in early 2000’s already brought the inner-Judas out in New Yorkers, but having a team of theirs in our backyard escalated the issue. Martin Brodeur jerseys were worn with vomit inducing pride all throughout the 518.
(He cheated on his wife with her brother’s wife, people forget that).
So, now after 27 years of having an NHL affiliate the Times Union Center will be a little emptier and a little better for it (the team had a six figure loss in 2015), but is open to acquiring a new time, albeit not a hockey one.
Godspeed Binghamton Devils, I will care about you just as much as I cared about the Albany Devils, enjoy being the farm team for a club with an illustrious average 33 wins per season over the past 4 years and your new logo that looks like it belongs on a collector’s edition of Bedazzled rather than a hockey sweater.
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