The Maturation of an Expansion Team

Oh, werd?
First, there was darkness.
Then, there was Kerry. And the NJ Devils.
In October of 1982, an NHL franchise moved from Colorado to the swamps of Jersey. With the NY skyline rising ominously behind their arena, this new team worked to build a fan base from a state not used to rooting for the home team. Also, in October of 1982, Leslie and Michael Doyle brought a young girl into the world. Parents of children born from 1982 on had a choice: they could bring their young children to a very rowdy and very expensive Madison Square Garden, they could travel down the turnpike to Philly, OR they could bring their kids to see the new team up the street.
And so it was that New Jersey moms and dads put away their beloved Rangers jerseys and brought their kids to see the cheaper, more family-friendly hockey franchise in East Rutherford. The team spared no effort in recruiting these children of NY hockey fans. They offered youth hockey programs, scout days at the arena, birthday parties, huggable mascots (Occasionally too huggagle. Look up "Slapshot" the hockey puck...), and ice cream giveaways. They gave away hockey sticks and jerseys to "all fans in attendance 14 and under." As my dad noted, "I couldn't leave Kerry by herself in the stands when she was three years old at the Garden. At Brendan Byrne Arena, it's safe for dads to take a pee brake."
The expansion franchise went through an awkward growing period. It threatened to run away from home (to Nashville! wtf?!). It infuriated other franchises with its defensiveness. At the same time, the fan class of 1982 was also going through puberty. It was asking its parents to let it drive itself to games. It was sneaking beers in the parking lot. It was chanting "Rangers Suck!"
Finally, the little expansion franchise is all grown up, and so are its fans. Well... sort of...
Yes, they both now have places of their own. They are paying the bills and are financially self-sufficient (though not yet well-off). But, like many places where twenty-somethings live, the Devils home is no longer geared towards children.
The Devils organization briefly flirted with bringing in a new generation. They held a contest online to help the team update its goal horn song (originally: Rock and Roll Part 2 or the Hey! Cheer), but the results were total confusion every time the team scored. Fans twenty-one and up put down their beers to start singing "Hey!" while the six year old next to them bounced down the stairs, spilling his carvel ice scream, chanting "Ole! Ole Ole Ole!"
At the same time, cheap season tickets and a game day sale of $10 upper deck seats was leading to an increasingly rowdy presence in the 230s with barely anyone in the rafter seats other than the class of 1982. For these fans, there never was a time when there was no NJ hockey franchise. And now, we are finally old enough to come to the games on our own, spend too much money on "The Beers of Newark", and harass opposing fans also sitting in the upper deck with barely repeatable cheers. Apparently, the Devils twenty-somethings learned some of these cheers from their older, wiser cousins, the Islanders fans, another maturing expansion franchise, who started the cheer "If You Know the Rangers Suck Clap Your Hands."
The Devils fan base is now smack in the middle of its roaring twenties. Hopefully, in a few years, it will settle down and raise a family. Maybe once the class of 1982 starts having children of its own that it wants to bring to games, the "You're gay, you're gay you're gay you're gay" cheer will begin to fade from the rafters.
Last night, though, when the goal horn blared in the new Newark arena, and the fans in Section 230 high fived each other and chanted with false outrage, "Mais non!" to the Montreal fans sitting behind us, the old goal song erupted from the speakers, and 17,000+ people chanted: "Hey, you suck!"
An old favorite with new enthusiasm but with an unfortunate variation.... Hopefully not one that sticks around into the team's thirties...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhcRG3MXztg
Fans at a Predators hockey game demonstrate the proper way to chant "You suck"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DKQHXULFn4
Islanders fans offer a classic example of "If you know the Rangers suck clap your hands". Note the fact that the team the Islanders are playing is *not* the Rangers.

Disclaimer: Obviously these chants are homophobic in nature, and I am not celebrating them. This is just a commentary on being a hockey fan.