In Which I Agonize Over Which Games and Moments Are My Favorites

... and least favorites but, we'll get to that later.

Inspired by the "Dollar Hot Dog Power Hour" podcast with Mike, Kevin, and Michelle (special guest Peter - Octopus Thrower), I have decided  my favorite Wings memories must be shared. Although they shared the ones that they were in attendance for, I think I'll just share my favorite, and least favorite, moments over the life of my Wings fandom.

Here they are (I'll go in chronological order):

1. Since I was 4 when the Wings won the Cup in 1997, I was not really supposed to be up watching hockey with my dad but... I was. I remember leaning up against my dad during the second period and dozing a little (I was four, gimme a break). My dad woke me up just in time for DMac's second period goal. I was so pumped that I stayed awake for the rest of the game. I remember being so tired by the end that I started to daze and then they brought out The Cup. For the next while, I was so excited that all my parents' friends and my brother's friends were mad at me because I live in Chicago. No one here was at all happy with that, which leads me to....
2. The Cup win in 1998. I was five then and my dad wanted me to stay up with him, so I did. I remember my dad looking at me in disbelief, with sheer joy, saying "They're gonna win it all again. I knew we could do it for Vladdy." I watched them win and I, again, annoyed the Chicagoans with my happiness. To this day, it still gets dusty when I see the Cup presentation and Vladdy.
3. In 2002, my family had a skybox for a couple games a year (at the United Center, I live in Chicago). It was so much fun and for a while, it was the only way I got to see my Wings live. I got to see some great players that way. A few times, I saw Steve Yzerman score at the United Center... everyone was so upset and I was on cloud nine for a long time each time. For that reason, that is one of my favorite memories.
4. Then, we won the Cup (again) in 2002. That was fun :)
5. (LEAST) Then the lockout happened... I hated the league.
6. (LEAST) In 2006, Oh Captain, My Captain Steve Yzerman retired. :(
7. Then, we won the Cup (again) in 2008... That was fun too :) Nicklas Lidstrom 1st European-born/trained Captain to win!
8. (LEAST) Then, there may, or may not, have been playoffs in 2009... Come to think of it, I really don't think there were.
9. (LEAST) In 2011, I saw a few Wings v Hawks games, both losses, one in Detroit and one in Chicago. I enjoyed them but.... WE LOST.... 
10. Then, in 2012, I saw a few Wings games. One on my birthday, it was definitely a great day. I woke up and opened a Jimmy Howard jersey present. That is when I knew something was up. For a while, my dad had been saying that we were doing something special on my birthday. I knew there was a Wings/Hawks game and I really wanted tickets. We went out to dinner, my dad and I, and started driving down to the United Center. I was so excited. Then, we got to the game and Conklin started. I wasn't sure how well this would go. We were down 2-0 at the end of one. By the 3rd, it was knotted at 2 and it was through most of OT. Then, Pavel Datsyuk happened. Then, Franzen happened. Then, on the way home EddieO and Steve Foley were complaining on the radio it was so great and entertaining. Definitely a favorite.
11. (LEAST) Lidstrom retired and then there was a lockout. 

Okay, there they are... I think I'm gonna go find some hockey.

A Transition from Anger to Apathy

  My dad once told me that I heard the Wings goal horn from inside the womb. That is how long I have been a Wings fan. My fandom's intensity has ebbed and flowed throughout the years but it has never gone away. I have always known that I could come back to hockey and it would be there for me to enjoy. I have always been the weird kid all throughout my schooling who is from Chicago but, has a love unlike any other for the Detroit Red Wings and all other sports from the D. Then, in 2004, the NHL locked the players out and I lost the only live hockey experience I'd ever known. I was lucky enough to be sharing a skybox at the United Center with a few other families, or something like that, and when the last lockout happened, we got rid of it. We never have liked the Blackhawks, and never will, but it was the our way to see our Wings in Chicago a few times a year. (I am very lucky to have had that experience and I'm not expecting sympathy for losing it.) 

  We, as hockey fans, lost an entire season 8 years ago and going into this summer I thought, "They would never do that again, not after the record gains they've been championing..." It turns out, I was wrong.  I sincerely hope that we get hockey back this year but if we don't, I'm really not sure how much I care. I will find other ways to get my hockey fix. I've always considered myself a hockey fan first and then a Wings fan. Will this lockout change that? Probably not. 

   

  Congratulations NHL, you've made this diehard fan, apathetic. Come back, or don't. At this point, I'm really not sure I care. I will most likely be back but, I don't know that I will ever have that obsessed, crazed fan persona anymore. I may catch a game when I can but, it will most likely not be appointment television. 

Call me when you, both players and owners, are done being idiots... You might want to call with a very large apology, you have a very large amount to explain. 

Since There's No Real Hockey to Talk About: Here's How Long I've Been an NHL fan

Yes... That's me and my brother...

Yes, that is a Florida Panthers windbreaker and my brother is wearing a Sharks one... We were a bit misguided and my dad's view was always, if we were following hockey, he was happy. We've always been Wings fans and at the time this was taken, I don't think we grasped what that means. I watched the Wings win Lord Stanley's Cup at the age of 3 but, I thought the Panthers' logo was awesome, so I wanted it. My sister and brother liked the colors of the Sharks, so they wanted apparel.

Needless to say, we came to our senses and none of us have been seen wearing anything but the Winged Wheel ever since. 

Let's Go Red W -- Oh Wait... Go Griffins!