If you see a New York sports fan with a little extra hop in their step these days, the chances are that guy is a hockey fan. Rangers, Islanders — at this point, it doesn’t matter. At this point, you look at the standings and you see both teams in the neighborhood of the playoffs, and if that seems a modest achievement …

Well, welcome back from your long slumber. And in case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a lot of things to fill your Season of Cheer with a lot of … well, cheer.

(And OK, I am going to try to cut the soccer fans off at the pass here. I am well aware that the Red Bulls play Atlanta United in the MLS semifinals starting Sunday. And I am hopeful for you, the long-suffering soccer fan, that the Red Bulls can make a run all the way to the MLS title. I applaud the effort. This is in no way diminishing their success this year, OK? You guys are good. You guys are the outliers. There should be more of you.)

But as for everyone else …

So it’s been good to see the Islanders — who, you may have heard, lost their captain last summer — break from the gates fast. They even held onto first place in the Metropolitan Division for a while not long ago, though they’ve stumbled a bit lately.

And it’s been downright surreal watching the Rangers — who declared themselves in full rebuilding mode less than a year ago and started this season looking like they fully intended to honor that classification — jump into the Metro Division top three thanks to going 9-1-1 in the 11 games preceding Friday’s 4-0 loss to the Flyers.

We don’t get a lot of surprises in sports — not a lot of good ones, anyway. Nobody saw coming the 3-13 the Giants put on the board last year. Nobody probably foresaw the 11-1 start the Mets raced out to last year, so for their fans that was nice … but probably more surprising (and certainly more depressing) were the 2 ½ months of brutal baseball that followed.

Surprise is generally defined by what goes wrong: the pitcher who misses a start, then a week, then a month. The offensive line which seems better, but then it just as bad, then looked five times worse. The hyped rookie who everyone is high on … until they see him play. The coach who insists he’s going to change the culture … until he replicates the one already in place.

You know the song.

You know the dance.

And look, if we have learned anything from the lean times around here, it is that prosperity can burst in an eye-blink. A hot start can become a memory in a moment. On the record, the Rangers are still a rebuilding team, and they can certainly resume that course at any time.

But there’s something else these hard times have proven:

We really are not only a resilient lot, but we have the True Believer’s prime tool of hope. We want to believe, against all reason. Look at Giants fans who have dutifully lined up behind Odell Beckham Jr.’s belief that they can run the table. Look at Knicks fans who have barely watched the season with one eye yet want to suddenly talk a little hoops after back-to-back wins over the Celtics and Pelicans.

Look at Yankees fans, who already dream of warm weather and hot baseball, having buried the disappointment of the ALDS already. Look at Mets fans who want so badly to believe that Jeff McNeil is Stan Musial, and that the last 60 or so games last year were a preview, not an aberration.

Look at Jets fans …

(OK. There are exceptions to every rule …)

The fact is, we want to believe more than we want to kvetch. We want to believe a team like the Rangers can fall out of the sky and surprise us in all the good ways sports can surprise us. Maybe it won’t last forever.

But there’s no law that says it can’t.

The Knicks’ Mario Hezonja is like a composite character of every guy you never want on your team during a lunchtime run at the Y.

I’m not sure what my favorite Channel 11 Thanksgiving tradition: the “Honeymooners” marathon or “March of the Wooden Soldiers.” I’ll call it a draw.

A word to the wise: If you’re car-pooling to the Giants game Sunday in Philly and you can take a car with Jersey plates, take the car with Jersey plates. Trust me.

Let’s just say it wouldn’t surprise me if Rob Gronkowski scores five touchdowns Sunday.

Rich Aprile: Having been an athlete (ski racer, golf pro), fan (baseball, football, hockey), and now a coach, I have had my athletes go through what you wrote about Thanksgiving Day. I have had injuries (both rotator cuffs, neck fusion), so I can feel what my athletes are going through and help them with the mental side. You really nailed the feeling and your new understanding.

Vac: As a friend of mine joked the other day, “You know, when George Plimpton wanted to get a taste of what athletes go through, he just played with them. I think you got a little carried away.”

Bill Guterding: For my money, the Rangers are the best story in New York sports this year. These kids are relentless and darn entertaining to watch.

Vac: And it’s really not close, either.

@KentBrockman13: To the Philadelphia region, North Jersey people are the profane neighbors to the north from the other side of the tracks. Just sayin’ …

@MikeVacc: What the #@$%$$ are you &^$##$ talking about, you $#@#$!

Mike Burns: The comparison I thought to Rams-Chiefs of was the 300-yard drive in golf. When John Daly got on Baltusrol par-5 in two shots (601 yards), it was big news. So the PGA approved a new ball and equipment thinking that’s what people wanted. The result is a big yawn, and if it weren’t for Tiger, the sport would have continued its decline.

Vac: You know how the Olympic motto is, “Faster, Higher, Stronger?” In pro sports it has become “More, Even More, Keep it Coming.”