Nic

On a lighter note, at least we wont have to listen to those NBC blowhards for some time.

Had to add to that. I understand local channels having homer announcers, hell I love Ken and Mick. At a national level though, is just obnoxious and unnecessary. It shouldn't be allowed. Thankfully I get to watch CBC, and I actually heard Don Cherry argue in the Wings favor tonight. My jaw spent some time chillin on the floor.

Thank you and I love you! I forgot we have CBC.

So very much this. Just heard his name and posted on FB.

Always evil! Throw Burish onto the diving team and remember Thornton falling to the ice after barely being touched by a stick like a lightsaber cut his legs off.

Competition for gold in Olympic diving and nothing more.

nhl feed wouldnt load for me either, but the link on detroitnews.com is working for me. for those in the area my mom just said it's on channel 2 too.

I never once claimed to be a better or a more educated fan one than anyone. All I said is that I considered myself lucky to be among a crowd that I find to be rational and not blind homers. You're the one who actually seems to be talking down to me as if your way of thinking is the only right one. The NHL is a league that as a fan base, all of us are watching and none of us are playing. We're allowed to have different outlooks on and opinions of what we see, just as on anything else in life. And yes, this year, we did lose to a better team. Logically the playoffs and then the cup are the indicator of who is the best team each year. This year Nashville advanced and we didn't, so in that regard we did lose to a better team. Ii never said we didn't. I didn't take your post to to only regard this year's first round of the playoffs, I meant on a game-by-game basis throughout the seasons and staying positive. So, Nashville would be the better team in that regard. All that being said, I'm with the OP more than anything. The NHL has been making itself un-watchable over the last few years. I think Wings fans get the so-called "bad name" that you mention because we have enough bulls*** calls to rant about from watching our own games. That, and not everyone cares enough or has the time to follow every team's every game to look for other examples. I certainly don't. Anyone with any rationality can see that this is a league-wide issue, though, just by keeping up with this board and watching headlines and replays of other teams. We reflect on OUR team on OUR boards. If you cant let the little homer deep down inside come out on your own team's board with that team's fans, where can you do it? For the last few years when we got eliminated from the playoffs, I've described it as 'almost relieved because watching this bull crap is hard to do'. Do I like seeing the Wings lose or be eliminated? Of course not, but watching this circus has become somewhat laborious. I will always love the Wings as I have for the last 22 years, since I could grasp the concept of hockey as a child. I could see the BS back in 08 as well, as we lead up to that win and it's been all downhill from there, for me anyway. I, too, miss the old NHL hockey that I grew up watching. Someone put it nicely in another thread: It's no longer an obsession, it's a hobby. Do the refs miss calls on us? Absolutely. Do the refs sometimes benefit us and hinder another team? Absolutely. Those calls also go onto the pile of blown/missed/stupid calls that are a blatant issue in the entire league. Do those calls stand out in my mind as much? Absolutely not, and of course not. Outrageous crap like the too many men a few years ago, Clowe playing from the bench with no repercussions, Malkin getting a pass on what the rules said was an insta-suspension, Thornton taking a sniper's bullet because he was brushed by a stick during the Olympic diving competition that was round 2, Weber bashing Z's head and getting a $2500 fine and 25 games for Torres, fining Tortorella and Quennville for stating the obvious, are just a few that come to mind. These kinds of things stand out from the bunch the most because they are utterly absurd. It's not just blown/missed/made up calls, it's about how the league handles them as well.

Hockey is essentially over for me. I can only truly root for the Wings. I do care enough to follow standings on NHL.com to see who ends up in each round and inevitably, wins The Cup, though. So not really rooting for, per se, but I'm going with the Kings/Sens crowd for whatever it's worth.

I guess I'm spoiled because my friends and family are the first ones to admit when the Wings lost a game because they played like crap or missed opportunities. Will you ever hear any of us say 'We got beaten by a better team."? Not likely. Will you ever hear us say "We lost because they played like crap.", or even "We got out played tonight?" Absolutely, every time, though more often the former than the latter. Its part of having pride in the team you root for and staying positive about future games. You want to believe that your team is the best team, especially when they have a history of being among the best, and when they lose it's because they didn't play up to par that game. I don't know, I'm just kind of struggling with your wording. I don't think taking a loss of a team that you grew up with and want to be/are proud of, and turning it into 'the other team is a better team' is a rational thing to do at all. I think being able to see clearly when the team you root for didn't play well in a game is rational, and I think that in itself is enough. On that note we're also the ones yelling the loudest when missed/blown call hinders us, haha. Also, I don't listen to talk radio at all, so I can't speak for that.

Made me laugh out loud as well! I want to photoshop the picture and comment together and post it on my facebook so badly! Haha! Too bad I don't have photoshop anymore

Oh I totally get it and don't disagree, just continuing to vent my frustrations. I just think it's equally maddening about the missed call as it is the fact that what Clowe did happened at all, and also the fact that the league is pretty much laughing at the fact that it all went down - publicly. It's just kind of a o.O at the culmination of it all. Glad I don't watch other sports, tbh, the one is enough to raise my blood pressure. LOL

It's not just the reffing that gets me worked up, per se. It's the whole treatment of the situation. The league clearly isn't taking it seriously at all. Not a word -at the very least- condemning Clowe's action regardless of disciplinary matter. BUT They say that they're SO concerned with every facet of the integrity of the game, but they let s*** like that slide? I mean I know he didn't throw a dirty hit or injure anyone, but given the circumstances they should have at least made him issue an apology. I mean they made Avery issue an apology -and suspended him- for off-ice comments about someones celebrity girlfriend. I think playing the puck from the bench in a game that's going to determine your playoff position and already getting away with it effects the integrity of the game a lot more than Avery being a smartass in an interview. I'm not even calling for any disciplinary action on Clowe here, just for the league to do SOMETHING to acknowledge that it happened and it won't happen again. The NHL is practically supporting it is what I mean. The headline on NHL.com is "Clowe stops odd-man rush from bench", which just links to a video of the whole thing, which they cutely titled "Stoll-en Goods" with the caption "Ryane Clowe pokes the puck away from Jarret Stoll while on the bench.". They give the whole matter 0 other context. They're practically insinuating that it was a LEGAL play. I know there's a specific rule against it in the rule book, but COME ON. I KNOW they don't support it, but the 'joking manner'/ ignoring/hands tied approach is not the right way to handle it, especially not at this point in the season. As someone already stated, this close to the playoffs it makes me wonder what kind of new douchebaggery that they're going to allow...It's s*** like they way they're treating it that makes people reach for the tin foil and start crafting head gear is all I'm saying.

I only cut it to your first sentence so these posts don't get ENORMOUS with quotes haha. Don't get me wrong, the homer deep down inside (and the cynic that I happen to be) blames the refs for a lot of things, but it IS a system set up for failure. I think that the official on a platform is a GREAT idea. It's really showcased every time one of these non-calls happen. The announcers almost always catch these things, the in-house, tv and even radio spectators are almost always aware while the refs are oblivious. Also interesting that you brought this up: The state of reffing in this league (I don't follow any other sports, but here's that homer/cynic I was talking about, along with the issue at hand) has already largely turned me off to watching very much NHL hockey anymore. It's been a huge personal frustration over the last handful of years. I still follow the league very closely, but when it comes to watching games? I used to try to catch every single Red Wings game from opening night til we ended our runs in the playoffs (win or lose), as well as other teams. I'm not saying I speak for anyone other than myself, clearly I don't, but this league has become damn-near un-watchable. I'm down to around 10-15 games regular season but still watching all of our run of the playoffs, to be totally honest. I know I sound like a homer there, but the state of the league as a whole makes it very difficult for me personally to even care about any other teams as far as viewership goes.

As Vladdy said, "freakin" should be used instead.

Just wanted to say that I caught your original post before it was edited and I love him that much too. hahaha!

I agree with evilzyme. And to be perfectly honest crap like this brings up sour memories of BS reffing that effects playoff games. Remember the non-call when Franzen took a high stick to the face from Setoguchi? What about the "Franzen's lightsaber stick slicing off Thornton's legs" while the Sharks were getting away with diving that whole series? Thornton got a penalty for roughing before he dove, but at the time the dive was so extreme it just highlighted everyone's frustrations on our side with non-calls on the Sharks for blatant diving not only last year but the year before. There's never a guarantee of anything in the future when you're in the present, a few years ago we were seconds from winning the cup and the pens got a goal that pushed us into what? triple over time? Point is, what Clowe did was BS, should have been called, and what that WOULD have guaranteed was a 5 on 3 situation for the Kings that could have been a game and seed changer. Overreacting? Hardly. What if we get into the first round and something like this happens to us and decides a game...or a series? I really don't see how it's funny in the context real NHL hockey, either? In a comedic movie, sure. I'll edit here to say obviously things will get missed. Humans make mistakes and don't see everything, but at the same time there needs to be a system in place to deal with outrageous things like these. Everything is so in the moment in hockey games, but these outrageous examples and other things like them should not go completely unpunished.

Was just about to say this, exactly. He may or may not be the best player in the league, but he's still overrated even if he is. I think that for people on this board it has a lot less to do with 'still being 2008' and a lot more to do with being flat out sick of the the media around him. He's gotten as much 'positive' press about 'what a great player he is' over the what is it, year or so, he's been off as he has in his active career. Their bias is obvious and THAT'S what leaves a lot of people sour on him, not his play necessarily. Also, I haven't been keeping tabs on his on-ice 'personality', but from what I remember that isn't/wasn't helping his case, either. I know that doesn't have anything to do with how well he plays, but to call someone a blanket "BEST player" in the league, they, in my opinion, should be broadly known as being pretty classy to fit the whole package of such a description. That's purely me, though. And the way he at least used to be doesn't fit that bill for me. Like I said though, I only speak for myself on that one.

This is pretty much what I've been thinking. Reading people say that the Blues are playing playoff-style hockey now, I keep picturing the light switch picture that gets posted around here every year. There's a time for playoff hockey and the regular season isn't really it. I imagine it's easy to get burnt out pretty easily playing at that level for an extended period of time. What happens when we get to the playoffs but they've been playing at that level for months? We even usually tend see a bit less presence from our star players (even without injuries) as the season dwindles down -to prevent potential injuries- don't we? We've still got almost a month to go.

Hockeytown Authentics is a Red Wings merchandise store in Troy. If you want to buy a bunch of Wings stuff that's your place. They do have a small outlet in JLA as well. It's basically the Official store. http://www.paperchips.com/hockeytownauthentics/ I've never had a reason to stay downtown at any hotel, but Greektown is by far my favorite of the casinos we have.

I don't know if you have any age restrictions in your family, but the casinos are always fun. Also, great food in Greektown, I try to go there ever time I go downtown. 50 cents or a buck each way to take the People Mover (train) from JLA to Greektown. Pegasus, New Parthenon (My favorite), Pizza Papalis, Mosaic's are great places. Also - Free parking at Greektown casino. If you do take the People Mover over, there's always a TON of people at the JLA stop after the game, you can walk around the arena and go into Cobo and take their stop. There will be people doing this, so just follow the smaller crowd if ya want. Also, Cheli's Chili Is right by Hockeytown Cafe. Venues to check if there's any concerts in town if you'll be here more than one day: Filmore, Fox Theater, St. Andrew's, The Shelter. I agree that most affordable hotels will be in the suburbs. When I have friends coming to do stuff in Detroit I always recommend searching in Roseville. There's an area with a lot of cheaper hotels (Red Roof, Days, etc) about 15-20 min from downtown right off of I-94. I'm an east sider so I don't know the area between the D and the airport as well, so maybe someone else can chime in about that. Also, if you have passports, the Windsor tunnel is right there by Cobo/JLA, I know there's some cheap hotels in downtown Windsor, which is a lot closer. If you go this route, though, mention border crossing to your rental car company. The folks at the Windsor tunnel aren't fond of rental cars, though. I got detained for crossing in one. Caesar's Windsor also has free parking (Ontario age restriction is 19). Royal Oak and Ferndale are fairly close and have good bars and restaurants. I highly recommend the Woodward Avenue Brewery if you head up that way. Excellent food there.