Dominic Moore is my all time favorite New York Ranger. He isn’t a hall of fame candidate, he was never a top six center on any of the many teams he played for; hell he broke 40 points just once. Yet in my heart above all else, Dominic Moore is my guy. To me he is the best Ranger, even if he was never more than a fourth line center. I had become largely burned out with watching the Rangers by the time the 13-14 season rolled around, and I had become burned out on pretty much everything in life. Sometimes you find yourself in a rut and it just seems to never end. I didn’t even know if I would watch hockey again after the lockout shortened season ended. My personal life made me not really care about hockey; hell some days I struggled to care enough to even get out of bed.
I didn’t remember Moore’s first stint as a Ranger. I’m sure I watched him play but he was largely forgettable to a young Rangers fan like me. I’m the ripe old age of 18 when the 13-14 season starts and Dominic Moore is about to become my favorite Ranger. Almost everyone had heard the story of Dominic Moore’s pain, as he missed the entirety of the 12-13 season to take care of his dying wife Katie. Nobody would have blamed Dominic Moore if he had hung up his skates for good after such a tragedy, but instead he came back to the team that he was drafted by.
There are few more wonderful distractions than sports, and the 13-14 Rangers blessed me with a deep, emotional playoffs. I watched every game they played that season, and you could find me on any night of the season eating bad food in front of the TV with a yellow legal pad taking notes on the game. They always brought up what Dominic Moore had gone through: the journeyman, the underdog, the ivy league-educated fourth liner. For every ounce of loneliness, desperation or pain I felt at that point in my life, from October on, the New York Rangers and Moore were right there for me.
Every moment of the Rangers 2014 cup was a pure gift to me. It reminded me that my favorite part of sports wasn’t the games, but the stories. On some stupid level, sitting in my jersey at a game or on the couch made me part of that story. Moore scored the lone goal in game 6 of the ECF against the Habs, and it remains my favorite of that post-season run. A fourth line grinder sent the Rangers to the cup final and right to the top of my heart as an all time Ranger. After the Rangers lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Kings at the end of that run I felt better, and I learned to live with my feelings a little more than I had over the past few years. I feel like I owe the simple fact that I’m even writing this article and talking about hockey to Dominic Moore, without that distraction I’m likely still in the bed. I had three great years with Moore back on the Rangers, I cheered for him on the Bruins, and I will if he makes the Leafs. I still watch a pretty unhealthy amount of Rangers-related hockey with my big yellow legal pad and Ryan and Greg decided it was a good idea to give me a spot on this website. So if you find yourself sick of me just re-watch this goal and enjoy the story.
Author: Guest Writer
This contributor is a fan who wanted to contribute an article to blueshirtsbreakaway.com. Please show them some love on the above links. If you’d like to submit an article to be posted on the site, please send it on over using one of the links below!