(Link to story on Capital Sports Report)

The weather is beginning to turn warmer, which means one thing; the Stanley Cup playoffs are starting. That’s right, the one sport where fighting is encouraged and where the concession costs go directly to players dental costs is entering it’s final act of the 2014 – 2015 season.

While the defending champion Los Angeles Kings are on the outside looking in, the team they beat, the New York Rangers, are the top team in the entire league right now and are hoping to try and redeem themselves after losing the Cup 4 games to 1.

Meanwhile, across the East River and through a few other boroughs, another team is playing on past the regular season’s end. The New York Islanders are the Eastern Conference’s third seed and have been playing above average hockey all season, something not seen in the Nassau Coliseum in the past few years.

The team’s last Stanley Cup appearance came in a losing effort to the Edmonton Oilers in 1984, so this is a team whose fans have been yearning for success for a very long time.

So, here comes the interesting question; who is New York’s sports team? The team who came close but failed to collect in the end or the underdogs who want to be the team who went from worst to first?

Well, to start we need to go back. Both team’s haven’t won the cup in 20-plus years. The Islanders’ last win came in the early 1980’s, when the team won four Stanley Cups in a row between 1980 and 1983. Since then, the team has experienced both playoff births with success deep into playoffs, to droughts of 5 plus years without a playoff appearance.

Now the Broadway Blueshirts have been in the same boat for the most part. Their last win came in 1994, after a 54 year drought (or curse depending on who you ask) which made them the team to be in New York. Since then, the team, like it’s Long Island counterpart, has had bouts of ups and downs. Between 1997 and 2005 the team didn’t make the playoffs once, but every other year the team had some stint in the postseason.

That brings us to the now, the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where both teams are after the same prize and the two may meet up in the Semi Finals.

Both team’s have their star players who have led the team throughout the year. The Rangers have Rick Nash, who came to the Big Apple from the Columbus Blue Jackets three years ago, who leads the team in goals and points. The Islanders on the other hand have team captain and 24-year-old John Tavares, who has not only lead the team in the same areas as Nash but also leads in total games played, an impressive 82.

“When looking at impactful players in the NHL, you have to look at Tavares.”Michael Martin, a hockey fan with eyes over the league, said. “He’s at least in the discussion for MVP.”

The Rangers ended the season with a 53 and 22 record, with 7 overtime losses, and captured the President’s Trophy for being the top team in the entire National Hockey League. The team’s head coach, Alain Vigneault, is in his second year with the club and his improvements helped lead the team to break franchise records in both season wins and points.

They currently have a 2-1 lead over the 8th seeded, Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Islanders ended the season with a 47 and 28 record, with 7 overtime losses, and their playoff future was in question late in the season. Coach Jack Capuano had only made the playoffs 1 time in his four seasons with the club, but thanks to young talent and strong, consistent players like Tavares, the Islanders were able to punch their ticket.

Capuano did lead the team to their first playoff spot in six years back in 2013, but just making it isn’t enough in this league.

The Washington Capitals tied up the series with the Islanders at 2-2 with an overtime win last night.

One hockey fan, CJ Sutera, said it best about a team making it to the playoffs.

“You made it that far, but in the end you want more then a banner saying ‘Metropolitan Division Champions’” he said. “You want to win it all, not just for the team but for the fans.”

EJ Paras, a New York City sports fan with an interest in the NHL uses an old adage to describe the situation.

“In hockey, just like every sport, almost isn’t enough and that is doubly true in New York.” he says, “‘Almost is only good in horseshoes and handgrenades,’ and every team and their fans know that going in.”

So, where does that leave the city of New York? Who does the average or bandwagon fan, who has no affiliation to either team, root for during these series? Well, it all comes down to personal preference of course, but both contenders make cases for themselves.

The Rangers, as one of the original teams in the league, have both history and more recent success in the league, with the whole redemption for coming up short last year, while the Islanders are the classic and fan favorite underdog story, who may not be the best team but have enough character to win over the everyday fan.

Either way, hockey in New York City is going to be the winner in the end. With both teams performing well, it will make interest rise once again for the sport. Plus, if both met each other, a little inter-city rivalry never hurt anyone.