Redwings 1926

I hope not!! I wouldn't want to be like the Cowboys. They haven't done squat in 20 years, and won't for as long as Jerry Jones in control of things. With that out of the way, I'm not convinced that there is an "America's Team" when it comes to hockey. I'd say that name better describes a handful of teams, ie the Original 6 and the one team that loves to think of itself as an Original 6 team, the Philadelphia Flyers. Beyond that, you just have a bunch of small market teams like Edmonton and Calgary, and southern and sunbelt teams like Arizona, Dallas, and Carolina that are more fickle and/or don't have a lot of fans outside of their respective markets. The 7 teams that I mentioned above tend to fill up visiting arenas like none other. Growing up, I went to lots of Panthers and Lightning games. When I saw them play the Red Wings, Canadiens, or Flyers, the place was packed with everyone rooting for the visiting team. Whenever I saw them play the Devils or Sharks, however, you could practically hear a pin drop in the place.

I don't know if I have a 2nd team now. When I was a kid in 1997, I adopted the Flyers as my 2nd favorite team after the Red Wings beat them in the Finals. I liked because of their name, uniforms, the fact that they were the team that the Red Wings beat in the Stanley Cup Finals, and I also liked their history of being the sort of big badasses of the NHL. I always thought of them as the NHL's Oakland Raiders. These days, I tend to pull for the Original 6 teams to at least make the playoffs. There's nothing worse for the league and fans than having a bunch of small non-traditional market teams such as Anaheim and New Jersey in the Stanley Cup Finals every year. It's no wonder ratings were in the crapper during the early 2000s. I also find myself pulling for the Blues during the playoffs since they have never won the Stanley Cup, and play in a great sports town that reminds me a lot of Detroit.

And you know what happened to Jim Mora after that rant? His team continued to lose, and he ended up getting fired at the end of the season. Alot of good that did. Similar could be said for John Torterella. You want honesty? Why? He's just a coach. He's not running for president. It's not his job to make fans feel good after a loss. Frankly, I could care less what he has to say as I'm just mad that they lost. That's all that matters. No amount of, "we need to do this!!", "this guy sucks" ,"this guy's a schmuck", "I guarantee we'll win the next one" is going to change that. Anyone can talk a good game. Who cares? Games are decided on the ice, not during press conferences.

That 2 games against Carolina in such a short span is not as easy as it sounds, especially when the Wings need every win they can get. I can see them getting one win against Carolina, but two wins against the same team in their final 3 games? That's tough no matter who you are. This playing two games against a team that has nothing to lose either way scares me almost as much as having to play Montreal.

Careful what you wish for. The Maple Leafs would gladly take him off our hands. Just go to their boards. It's "we need Babcock this" "Babcock for coach" that. Honestly, what do you want to do? Call people names on tv? Who cares what he says in front of the camera? Unless you have the ability to crawl inside his head, or were in the locker room, you have no idea what's going on behind the scenes. His job is to coach the players, not ensure the fans in front of the camera that he's motivating the players. I'll take Babcock's polished and general responses in front of the camera over some hothead who blows his top in front of the camera, calling out guys, causing discontent in the locker room, and having guys demanding trades. For coaches, that's usually the quickest way out of a job. Seriously, what did you want him to say? We sucked? I quit? We'll win the next one? What?

For the rest of the evening, I'm a Maple Leafs fan. I hope they can pull of a win against Ottawa tonight, instead of give me another reason to hate them like they did against the Bruins.

I would think that being a pro athlete can seem like a bit of a thankless job at times, like being a teacher, police officer, fire fighter, or military personnel. Unless you're spectacular all of the time, or pull off something heroic that makes headlines, most of the little things you do to be successful go relatively unnoticed by the majority of fans. With that said, I'd imagine that it would feel good to have notice and show their appreciation. Remember, they have pride and egos just like anyone else. They may have to distance themselves to some degree and have thick skin. Given all of the criticisms they tend to endure, many of which are unfair and misdirected, I can't say that I blame them.

Claude Lemieux seemed to care what my dad thought of him. A friend of my dad's had season tickets to the Florida Panthers, 1st row, right beside the visitor's bench. Anyway, one night in 2000, he let us have them. It was a game against the Devils on a night when Martin Brodeur was not playing, so we got to sit next to him the whole night listening to him yelling at his teammates from the bench. By the second intermission, my dad was good and lathered up and as the Devils were heading to the locker room, he sees Lemieux, and yells "Hey!! My boy Darren McCarty is gonna kick your ass!! To our astonishment, Lemieux stops and bends down to look into the glass and says what sounded like "haw?" And my dad yelled again "My boy Darren McCarty is gonna kick your ass!!" to which Lemieux replied softly "Bring him on, he's probably at home banging your wife." A few seconds later, then Devils coach Larry Robinson walked up behind, placed his hand on Claude's shoulder, and they headed off to the locker room. I was only 16 at the time, but it was a entertaining night. That night on the ride home, I swear he must have called half the people in his phone. He called my grandfather at 11pm laughing hysterically and said "Hey dad, guess who I got into a fight with tonight!!" That said, I think most do care what the fans think, to a degree, and suspect that's part of the reason why Detroit was such an attractive destination for free agents all of those years, the good teams, and the rabid fan support, appreciation. No one wants to play in front of empty seats, or indifferent fans.

If this were a Lions thread, I might agree with you. As others have said, having seen my favorite team win 4 Stanley Cups in my lifetime, enjoy 22 straight winning seasons and counting, most of which were at or near the top of the standings, and still making the post season the last couple of years when others said they wouldn't while rebuilding is fine by me. I don't feel like we "deserve" anything. We've been the most fortunate fans in the league since 1992. If you were to walk up to a Maple Leafs, Flyers, or Blues fan with such a sob story about how you think "We as Red Wings fans deserve better", they'd probably either laugh at you or throw something at you. In fact, I'm about 99% certain that the Philly fan would probably throw something at you. They like throwing things when they're mad. Even Santa Clause isn't immune to flying projectiles in Philadelphia. That said, 'Flyers' is a pretty good name for their hockey team. Every team goes through slumps from time to time. Even the Red Wings of the 90s and 2000s had their fair share.

A Red Wings win with Jimmy Howard getting a SO win on the road against a playoff caliber team? I'll take it!!

To answer your question, because comparing American markets to Canadian ones is pointless. In the US, hockey is more of a regional sport, and even in those markets, fan support is dependent on the team's winning. In Canada, hockey is the sport. It's a part of their national identity, and it seems every Canadian joke has something to do with hockey. Win or lose, they pack their arenas, doesn't matter if you're Edmonton or Montreal. With all of that said, michigan has long been a big hockey state, and was long before the Red Wings started winning again, so I think the title is fitting. Aside from maybe Minnesota, Michigan is about as close to being a Canadian province as it gets in terms of the sport's popularity and presence. And no, even mentioning the word "Hockeytown" and Boston or New York in the same sentence is stupid. Those are baseball towns, first and foremost. The Red Sox and Yankees are like the faces of those two cities...

Winnipeg? No disrespect as I'm pretty sure they are crazy about their team, like most all Canadian markets, but I'm willing to bet that in numbers, their fan base is a fraction of that of the Red Wings' because Winnipeg is such a small market. In my 31 years on this earth, most of which has been spent living in the American southeast, I've yet to come across anyone from Manitoba. Detroit, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, on the other hand, are like a dime-a-dozen around here. As for Boston? I know lots of New Englanders around here too, and even have some family up there. The funny thing about most of the New Englanders I've met over the years is that they all seemed to be indifferent about hockey, or straight up told me that they didn't like it, even after the Bruins won it all in 2011. In general, I think Boston is kind of a weak hockey market with all things considered Similar could be said for the Rangers. I've met two who are die hard Rangers fans, and the rest of them either like the Islanders, Devils, or don't really follow hockey that much. I don't know what your definition of a "great fan base" is, but I have to think numbers are a big contributing factor. Another is how often they are shown on national television, which the Red Wings are a lot. It seems like every other game on NBC is someone playing the Red Wings. Other popular teams seem to be the Blackhawks and Penguins. If faced with the daunting task of ranking teams by fan base, I'd have to say Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Buffalo. Buffalo did not make that list by accident as I am willing to bet most in Buffalo care more about their last place team than the people in New York and Boston do their Cup contenders, sad I know. When it comes to fan support for their hockey teams, New York and Boston are a joke.

And what he's helped this team do lately hasn't been the worst possible outcome when you consider how well this team's been doing despite being in a transition period. If this team were built to win a Cup, and underachieving the last few years then that would be one thing. That's not been the case since Lidstrom retired. In fact, I'd say this team's been overachieving and exceeding expectations since then. Comparing this current team to one that's missed the playoffs the last five years is not a fair comparison to say the least. What annoys me is the knee jerk reaction so many fan seem to have with this team. When they're in a slump, even in the midst of an overall good season, they want fire the coach, and clean out the whole front office. If they suddenly make a strong push and win 4 out of their next 5 games then all of the sudden they are heroes. If they lose in the first round, they're jerks and need to be fired. Should they win in the first round? They're heroes. After they come up short in the second round? They all need to be fired. If by the grace of God this team makes it all they way to the Conference Finals, they're all back to singing Babcock's praise again... Being a fan of this team sometimes feels like being a Jerry Seinfeld in a room full of Cosmo Kramers and George Costanzas!! For a coach whose message has become so "stale", I'd say this team's done pretty well all season, with their 40-24-13 record so far.

If you think the "Hockeytown" logo at center ice is ridiculous, just imagine how Detroit calling itself "Footballtown" would look. Don't get me wrong as I love the Lions as much as the next guy, but if I were to give that title to anyone then it'd probably have to be Green Bay, or maybe Pittsburgh at a distant second... I think "Sportstown" would be most fitting for Detroit, though I suspect St. Louis, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia might have something to say about that. Personally, I like the "Hockeytown" name. It's no different than folks in Green Bay calling themselves "Titletown", or St. Louis calling themselves "Baseballtown". Why people have to take things so literally sometimes is beyond me... Detroit's "Hockeytown", and screw what other fans think. Many are probably just mad that they didn't think of it first...

Reading this makes me miss guys like McCarty, Shannahan, Chelios, Kocur, Probert, and those guys who seemed to know how to get under opposing teams' skin like Maltby and Holmstrom. The only thing I'm not sure I agree with is the on the Wings missing the playoffs as I'm not sure missing the post season would be the best way to lure those big name free agents to this team. From my observation, missing the playoffs seems to have more of a negative impact on an organization's culture than a positive one. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Edmonton Oilers fans were saying the same thing around 1992 when their team was still good enough to make the playoffs, and even make a good run, but were still a far cry from the team they were just a few years prior. Here it is now 23 years later, and that organization has only enjoyed moderate success in the late 90s and early 2000s, and that Cinderella team in 2006. The way I see it is that it's much easier to build on the momentum of a winning team than it is to escape the vicious cycle of being a perennial loser.