I knew there was something wrong the past week but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Suddenly, there was no John Dellapina Ranger articles in the Daily News. Something which had become the norm for more than a decade.

As it turns out, the likable beat writer has left his post to work for the NHL. Kukla’s Korner had the full story a couple of weeks ago with colleague Patrick Hoffman writing a piece on Dellapina’s move from being at the rink covering the sport to suddenly helping the league promote the game as the new Director of Media Relations.

Regarding his new position, he said:

“In a way, I’ll be doing the same thing - trying to spread the hockey gospel to those who sadly have yet to get it while providing all of you hard cores with as much of the game as you can stand.”

He’ll sorely be missed as he was a very knowledgeable hockey guy who always put together solid recaps along with columns which were a fun read. The man also was a frequent guest on WFAN talking puck with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts as well as the one and only Schmoozer himself, Steve Somers as well as other WFAN late night talkshow hosts.

Dellapina was always willing to come on and talk hockey. Very entertaining listen and a keen sense of humor. You could really tell he enjoyed his job which definitely had its peaks and valleys with 1994 being all the way at the pinnacle with a brutal stretch of playoff futility following rock bottom. I guess we can say that at least his run finished on a high note with a Ranger team which restored pride to the jersey making the playoffs three consecutive seasons and the Eastern Conference Semis twice.

As much as I might curiously read Larry “Scrooge” Brooks’ Slap Shots columns, Dellapina was always a good read giving proper perspective on the team without the unnecessary shots below the belt his controversial colleague often uses. There was an ounce of class about this man unlike Brooks, who has just become way too cranky even if he does bring up valid assertions about league issues.

With Johnny B. Goode no longer at the Daily News, Michael Obernauer has taken over doing alright thus far but it’s still going to take some getting used to.

It’s not often a beat writer gets the kind of praise Dellapina received from other colleagues that covered the team but that only tells ya about the man’s character.

I’m sure he’ll do an outstanding job working in a vital league capacity where there’s never enough good PR. Something which is always needed for the sport to succeed.

Thanks John for serving the Ranger hockey fanbase so well. Best of luck with your new endeavor!