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Nice pun lol Rick McCann if actually interested. No one big. He was up and down between the main club and affiliates for a good 10 years. Have to admit it's pretty special having a few boxes of old memorabilia from back then. Still have a few programs with him and Howe and others in it as well as many international items. I will share one story that has always stuck with me. One game my father took a hard slapshot off the ankle in a game but continued to play. After the game he realized his ankle had swollen up immensely and ended up being taken to the hospital for a blot clot it had caused. The result was that he had to get his vericose (sp?) vein stripped from his leg. Very serious condition if not treated immediately. Anyways shortly after this happened he was having a dinner with Howe (said it was steak and lobster lol) and the ankle/leg was swelling so bad that he couldn't even get up. No pressure on it at all. Howe, without hesitation, picked my dad up in his arms carried him up several flights of stairs and called the team doctor. This is an old vet doing this for a rookie in the old days. Howe being Howe I guess. Class act.

What is it like to play on the same line as Dan Cleary?

This I agree with This not so much.

During the course of this season there have been several posters who have criticized this team's Coach, GM, Owner and all of the players (if not most of them). So, it got me to wondering: Why do you cheer for the Red Wings? For me, I cheer for this team because of the character of the organization. From Illitch to Holland to Babcock and all the players. There is something about the members of the organization that seems to come across as competitive, yet humble. We have had some great players and some great success, and now in facing adversity, the players, Babcock, Holland and Illitch all seem to still be focused on winning. So why do you root for the Red Wings?

Frk. Jarnkrok Jurco Ferraro Sheahan. Pulkkinen Tvrdon. Aubry Callahan. Coetzee. Quine. ( a good AHL vet) Sproul. Ouellett Almquist. Billins Nicastro. Marchenko Nedomlel Mrazek (One of our many G prospects) My only questions are who they will send to Toledo? You have to believe the higher ups in Toledo want to keep Coetzee and Nestrasil, and they probably will get to with the latter. If GR signs a AHL vet defenseman (and they probably should) Nedomlel or Almquist may be on their way down too. GR should think about a veteran goalie as well to mentor Mrazek. If that happens, Toledo should have one of the goalie prospects too. They could be pretty stacked next year. Anasthasio, Backman, Jensen are in the mix too.

Crosby has one on his own team. Malkin>crosby

I saw the Wings play the Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens with my ol' man 22 years ago. I arrived as a Leafs fan and Steve Yzerman changed that by halfway through the first period, even as a ten year old I could see that his team was the team I wanted to watch. I never looked back LGW

I agree, but in his defence it doesn't need to be on every page of every thread.

Ok then ignore it.

The usage of this quote was clever at first. Several thousand uses later, it is getting very tiresome, even more so because it comes up in almost every single thread about the team.

- Its a class act organization that's run right, starting with the ownership down to the players. - Its an original 6 team with a rich history and has had some of the greatest players of all time. - When they're at their best, their style of play is mesmerizing. The passing, the skating, the whole flow of the team was just incredible to watch at times. - I don't live in Detroit and I wear Red Wings gear ALL the time (the logo is even tattooed on my arm) and I'm known as that "Red Wings fan" (like their's only one or something). I like being known for that. Its a good feeling.

Thats like asking me why I breathe....

Why do people think that being a fan and being critical are mutually exclusive concepts? If those who didn't get angry when the team plays like s*** didn't care about the team, they wouldn't get angry.

Are you flippin' serious? You are NOT allowed to see Rob for a week or until you get your senses back, whichever is longer. Friggin' men waltzing in and leading our sweet, innocent little girls astray... Hockey. Peanut butter, jelly, or both?

Oh please. That's the most ludicrous thing I've seen. Crosby is not as good of a scorer, not as good of a physical presence, and not as durable. But every other conceivable attribute is in Crosby's favor, he plays a two way center game(Is he a Selke candidate? No, not yet at least but his responsibility on the defensive end is just miles above what Ovechkin is asked to do. Crosby take absolutely no nights off, Ovechkin takes weeks off when not being productive with points. Crosby has an over .20 PPG difference, how is it even a question who is better offensively really? Crosby is 4th all-time in point per game right behind Bossy, during this one of the lowest scoring eras. I mean give me a break, and is .20+ ahead of anyone currently in the league. Oh and add that Olympic gold medal to the ring too, and don't forget who clinched the victory. Ovechkin is a great player, but Crosby has separated himself from him since Ovechkin's prime in 07-10 where there was actually a debate. I hope Ovechkin regains his 60+ goal form, he is a great talent and fun to watch. But Crosby is also fun to watch, and I just don't understand how supposed hockey fans can pass over the opportunity to watch one of the greatest players to ever play the game grow as a hockey player, it's a once in the life time opportunity and it's just sad to me. Because as a hockey player my whole life, Crosby is and will be the best player I'll ever watch live, and that's something that I will cherish. There isn't a Gretzky, and Howe in every era, but we are lucky enough to be experiencing one of those type players and it's a shame people don't care about the actually game when it comes to Crosby. And don't forget how cheap Ovechkin is, he's been suspended, and has countless of at the very least questionable hits. If the Red Wings fans think Backes is cheap, I'd love to see how they would react when Ovechkin would have ran Lidstrom like he did Gonchar, or Gleason, Let me refresh your mind, this video doesn't even include his suspension and cheapshots from the past 5 years.

I failed to understand the communism part. Cause the owners caved on every issue to end the lockout(which they shoukdnt of now the players will want more). In communism they don't cave to the others demands. But back on topic I was born into the teams I support. Michigan, tigers, wings and steelers. Which was difficult at times...tigers in early 2000s or Mich with rich rod. The only time I cheer for another team is if they winning helps my teams. Or if they got ovie...lol.

It is so funny the whole Crosby:Ovechkin thing was never a rivalry to begin with, just something the media tried to create and they've failed miserably to do so. One of the best rivalries will always be Pittsburgh versus Philadelphia and not Pittsburgh versus Washington. As far as Crosby competitors there are guys named Stamkos, Malkin, Toews (I hate to say it but this guy reminds me so much of Stevie) its not even funny

He told me you two were just a one time thing.

Because for as much hockey as I have ever, or will ever watch, nothing makes me happier than when a Red Wings' player scores a goal. It's a natural gut reaction.

In 1992 I came across the pond to study chemistry at the University of Toledo. I had a passing intrest in hockey already, so I started following the Wings, who everyone at that time still called the "Dead-things". Luckily they had a bunch of great young players, were exciting to watch, and my first game at JLA was a 5-1 defeat of the Canucks - some rookie by the name of Dallas Drake had 2 goals and an assist I came back home, suffered through the NJ and Colorado defeats, then watched them win in '97 on a Sunday afternoon at my girlfiends parents house in Australia. Came back to England again, watched them win in the middle of the night in '98 in my bedroom with the sound turned right down

I'm a firm believer in rooting for the home team. My dad passed it down to me along with my love for the Red Wings. The first game I ever watched was game 4 of the 1995 and I thought it to be the most boring thing I'd ever seen. But by the next year I was watching games right along side my Dad, hating the Avalanche and cheering away. It's been what brings us together ever since. He had some health issues and we spent time in Pittsburgh during the 09 season as a result, the playoffs got us through, and we reveled at being the Detroit fans in enemy territory when the Finals started. Fortunately, when we came back to Michigan the Wings were up 2-0, but I'm getting off topic. We'd watch the Lions but grew tired of the antics of football, and over the past few years we've been much more into baseball; but hockey was what really brought us together. I had tickets to go to this year's Winter Classic with my Dad, but the lock out ruined that. I'll be living somewhere else when the next one rolls around, and I don't know if I'll ever not hold at least a slight grudge against the NHL for that lost memory.

Watching the playoffs in the late 90's got me through some tough times in Detroit when I was younger. It's become a source of calm and stability for me.

hahaha I was born in Trenton. Riverside Hospital. Have a lot of family In Michigan. My dad worked at Fleetwood cadillac when it was around and mom worked for GM. I had an uncle that worked for Ford (god rest his soul) another aunt and uncle that worked for GM as well. Moved to ten-o-see at a young age so the Michigan teams followed me. Now I live in Texas and still love all things Detroit and raising my kids to love the same=) No Texas teams for us here although I do love going to watch the Texas Stars play specially when the Griffs are in town.

I've had a chronic back injury since I turned 23, four years now. One herniated and one bulging disc...I have no idea how you could play NHL hockey let alone Helm's type style. I love Helm as a player and what he brings to this team. If this ends up being career ending it will be yet another sad, very unfortunate loss for the organization. Terribly sad for Helm as a person. I really hope he can recover. I am getting really tired of seeing great players careers cut short. I was just talking to my Wife about this the other day. Imagine how different the history of this sport would look if we wouldn't have lost all or most of the careers of Orr, Lemieux, Lindros, Bossy, etc. But just as frustrating is how hard the phenomenon has hit the Red Wings, in the case of players in thier prime. Konstantinov, Fischer, and Grigorenko's careers were ruined within the span of 7 years. Konstantinov was one of the best defenseman of his generation, Fischer was a cornerstone of the next generation of Wings, and Grigorenko was primed to become a fixture in the top six for years to come. Darren Helm's career has just begun...i truly hope things work out for him.

I'm beginning to think that only missing the playoffs will jar management into seeing how serious our decline has been just over the past 3 years. Those kinds of off season moves or resigning (Bertuzzi, Samuelsson, Colaiacovo, Quincey - totalling $10.5 million) were terrible decisions, and sorry Holland but it ain't getting it done!