![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Thoughts before a game seven...
Jun. 12th, 2009 09:37 amI've been a Red Wings fan for as long as I've been a hockey fan. You could say that I started in the late 80's, but I didn't really know anything about hockey then except that I liked it. It wasn't until 1993 that I went to some hockey games in Roanoke, Virginia, with a hockey-playing friend that I really learned the game, and since then hockey has been the only sport I really cared about.
Those were tough times to be a Red Wings fan. Well, not super-tough; they had a decent team but they just couldn't go anywhere in the playoffs. In 93 they lost to The Leafs in the first round. The next year they finished first in their conference and averaged over three goals a game, only to lose to the San Jose Sharks - an expansion team! - in the first round. I still have Arturs Irbe related nightmares. The next year saw a shortened season due to a lockout, but the Wings finished with the best record overall and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to get swept by the New Jersey Devils. In '96, the Avalance knocked Detroit out in the conference finals.
Every year was the similar: Do very well in the regular season, get kicked in the teeth in the playoffs. It really sucked to care. Be we kept being fans because, you know, that's how you do it. And that loyalty was rewarded the next year when the Wings beat Philadelphia to win their first Cup since 1955. And then they won again the next season... And after that, it didn't hurt so much when they lost in the playoffs. Oh, it still sucked, but instead of getting kicked in the teeth, you just got slapped across the face.
Since then, Detroit has won The Cup two more times. They've NOT won the cup six or seven other times. And whether they've won or lost, I've been proud to be a Red Wings fan. I'll always be a Red Wings fan; Sometimes I pretend that the Blackhawks could become my favorite some time in the distant future, but deep-down I know that I'll always be rooting for the Wings.
I'm confident that the Wings will win their twelfth cup in team history tonight, but win or lose, I'll be wearing my Red Wings shirt tomorrow.
Go Wings!
Those were tough times to be a Red Wings fan. Well, not super-tough; they had a decent team but they just couldn't go anywhere in the playoffs. In 93 they lost to The Leafs in the first round. The next year they finished first in their conference and averaged over three goals a game, only to lose to the San Jose Sharks - an expansion team! - in the first round. I still have Arturs Irbe related nightmares. The next year saw a shortened season due to a lockout, but the Wings finished with the best record overall and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to get swept by the New Jersey Devils. In '96, the Avalance knocked Detroit out in the conference finals.
Every year was the similar: Do very well in the regular season, get kicked in the teeth in the playoffs. It really sucked to care. Be we kept being fans because, you know, that's how you do it. And that loyalty was rewarded the next year when the Wings beat Philadelphia to win their first Cup since 1955. And then they won again the next season... And after that, it didn't hurt so much when they lost in the playoffs. Oh, it still sucked, but instead of getting kicked in the teeth, you just got slapped across the face.
Since then, Detroit has won The Cup two more times. They've NOT won the cup six or seven other times. And whether they've won or lost, I've been proud to be a Red Wings fan. I'll always be a Red Wings fan; Sometimes I pretend that the Blackhawks could become my favorite some time in the distant future, but deep-down I know that I'll always be rooting for the Wings.
I'm confident that the Wings will win their twelfth cup in team history tonight, but win or lose, I'll be wearing my Red Wings shirt tomorrow.
Go Wings!
