Hockeytown0001

Definately when Dats scored with 1:24 left against San Jose in Game 2; I was lucky enough to be there and even though I've been to like 20 Wings games there, that was the best moment that I've ever had at the Joe; I must have went up 10 rows high fiving other fans after that!

So this is the third year in a row that the most revered trophy in all of sports has been claimed by a non-traditional hockey market with fans who had no clue about the team that won it during the regular season. For the third year in a row, Bettman had a huge smile on his face at the conclusion of the SCF. Has anyone told him what the ratings of the SCF this year were? I didn't think they could get any worse than they did in 04, and then in 06. But apparently, when team from Southern California (which is the worst hockey market on Earth) makes the Finals, interest drops to a whole new low. I remember an article saying that the best thing for hockey would be to have a Detroit/New York SCF, because the ratings would be high due to the fact that the Wings are the most poplular American hockey team, and you know that New York is passionate about hockey as well. Most fans in Anaheim will forget about the Ducks come next week. I had a friend from Southern California who thought the Cup was filled with money and would be cracked open like a piniatta. Anyone remember that "Ducks are playing the Canadian team, the 'Minnesota Royals' thing? And don't even get me started on the officiating. I almost can't watch hockey sometimes because of some of the calls made out there that change the game around. (Even some of the calls that benefit the Wings, I was in shock over.) Perfect example? At the end of Game 5. Gary Bettman has brought hockey morality for the real fans in the league to an all time low. Seeing Pronger raise the Cup was bad enough, but that the Cup will now be defaced with the words "Anaheim Ducks" on it is almost unthinkable. They might as well put Mickey Mouse and Goofy on there as well. You know he's a hated man when even the Ducks "fans" booed him as he entered last night. Remember when he had to say "It's ok, I bring gifts"? They should be worshipping him like the second coming of Jesus. He's one of the main reasons why the Ducks and other non-traditional teams have won. His first screw up was to put teams in places like Miami, Anaheim, Los Angeles (The only reason they are still around today was because of Gretzky), Tampa Bay, and Nashville, who could barely sell 3/4 of their tickets this season despite their top ranking in the standings for so long. Was Gary asleep when this came out, or did he just pretend not to notice? Either he just doesn't have a clue, or he was tired of having teams like Detroit and Colorado and Jersey dominate year after year. Hello? It's sports, and there will always be dominating teams, no matter what. Deal with it. Look at San Antonio in the NBA. Uh oh, the Spurs are too good, we better make a salary cap so the Charlotte Bobcats can have a chance and those selfish Spurs will finally crash! You wouldn't have this problem, Gary, if you didn't put teams in those markets where people couldn't give a flying rat about those teams. I'm glad that Pittsburgh didn't move to Kansas City. Before moving back to MI in 03, I lived there for 9 years, and their minor league team, the Blades (which featured future NHL'er Patrick Lalime and Ray Whitney) had to fold due to a total lack of fan interest. Once again Gary, thank you for screwing the best game on Earth, and a sincere thank you from all of us real fans for screwing us as well. You thought you were saving the sport? It's in even worse shape than it was in 04.

I didn't mean to imply that the teams that have won for the past 3 years didn't deserve to win. I was thinking more along the lines of that despite brilliant Gary's plan, most people in those cities that recently won just don't care. His whole plan to save hockey never worked out. The cities that have recently won just do not care. Even the Ducks players admitted that they've had to accept that hockey takes a back seat to just about everything else in SoCal. Sure, it's nice to have some privacy without being approached by fans all the time, but wouldn't it be nice to be at least recognized? Good article on Bettman - http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/6844396

Got me there Well, replace LA with......Atlanta!

That's because Dallas has real fans. I'm upset over the fact that teams like Anaheim, Carolina, and Tampa don't. Believe me, I wish that hockey was thriving in those places. It would be a little bit of consolation to see elevated fan interest because of it. But how much elevated fan interest did championships bring in those cities? Not much. The same thing will happen with the Ducks. I'll bet a lot of the people in the Honda Center last night, if asked in the middle of the regular season, wouldn't have been able to name half the players on the Ducks roster. Bettman thought he was saving hockey, but all he did was turn off the real fans to the game, and bring championships to cities that just don't care. He thought hockey interest in the US would skyrocket? The ratings are at an all time low.

I don't think so. Heatly needed to get out of Atlanta, and wanted to go to a Cup Contender, and that's what he got in being traded to Ottawa. The trade has worked out well for both teams, as both players have had 100 pts in their two seasons with their new clubs (Hossa had 92 last year). When the team is struggling, odds are some of the best players will be struggling too.

I think he may have been. The Ducks came close last year, but were knocked out by Pronger and the Oil. Now Pronger comes to Anaheim, and they advance farther. Granted, Giguere was the main reason why that happened. Maybe Pronger added more confidence to the roster. Oh well, they'll need him next year after Selanne and Neidermeyer(sp) retire and after the possible departure of Giguere.

That was cool, the playoff comilation to the tune of "Beautiful Day" from U2.

I don't think I'd go as far as to say that the whole thing is fixed (although I know we all had a few choice words to say about the officiating). The whole point of the salary cap was to make it so teams like Detroit, Colorado, New Jersey, ect. would stop completely dominating the league and give teams like Nashville, Florida, Atlanta, Phoenix, ect. a chance to compete for the Cup. What Bettman doesn't seem to realize is that most people in those cities couldn't care less about hockey. Look at the ratings for the last 3 Cup Finals. It's because teams like Tampa, Carolina, and Anaheim are in the Finals, and nobody cares. He'd have a bigger audience if it was Detroit or another team like that. Or who knows, maybe it was a big screw-you to the real fans of the league.

A while back, my friend and I came up with a funny store name for each Wing if they had one, just like Dom has his Dominator clothing line. Here's a few we came up with - McCarty's Farties - Party supplies and gags Babcock's Bubbles - Toddler toys and other gifts Draper's Drapes - Fine home furnishings Manny's Legace's - Great captured moments in sports Ozzie's Magic Shack - Magic trick supplies and other fine wizardry Cujo's Collar's - Dog supply supercenter Brett's Hulls - Yacht renting Maltby's Malts - Ice cream and other desserts Add some more if you can think of any!

Sabadka's Seafood

What about - The Pronger Coat Factory - For those who let a little cold spoil everything Heatly's Traffic School Avery's Anger Management Center Cheechoo's Model Trains McClennan's Lumberjack Service The Sergei Fedorov Bank

Langer's Lazy Lounge - Relax, life is short. Why waste effort on meaningless hockey games? here's another good one: Shanny's Shamrocks - Great Irish collectibles Few more from round the NHL: Spezza's Spasm Center - Chairopractic help Friesen's Freezers Roli's Rolaids Jordin's Too too's - Fine dancing and ballerina outfits Ricci's Beauty Salon

just to build on the bertuzzi one, Lazy Lang's Linen's - Comfortable sleepwear for those who just don't care

Guilty!

I thought he's been retired for a while? Oh well, here's to a great career!

I wen to every playoff game except for game 1 against the Duckies. For everyone else who went to playoff games, what was your favorite part about it? I still remember those acrobats for the Calgary series, and I was afraid that they would be around for the next rounds too, lol. I've also noticed that from now on, whenever I hear that stupid Pink song or any of the other songs they played in the pre-game things, I'll always remember those from the '07 playoffs. Anyone else have a favorite thing about the games this year?

That was definately my best moment too. After 5 minutes in the first, I was thinking, "Well, at least we made it out of Round 1." After the goal, I must've slapped hands with at least 12 people all around, best moment at the Joe so far!

Allright, first off I gotta say, congrats to the Ducks on this game. This is the one game they deserved to win, and they brought it tonight, we didn't. I feel terrible for Dom, Wings completely left him out to dry tonight. Had it not been for a crazy lucky bounce in Game 5, we'd be celebrating right now. Thanks Wings for a great season, I must admit in my heart of hearts, I didn't think they would last this long. Congratulations for making the WCF, the only thing you can do is build on that for the future. I liked this year's team, I don't think it needs that much tweaking. I wouldn't shed any tears if Calder and Lang left, although I wouldn't object to bringing Bobby back. If not, I had a dream a few days back that the Wings brought in Chris Drury (too expensive?). Is Giguere a free agent? lol. But I'm all for bringing Dom back, say what you want about that. He was great all year long and I would support his re-signing. Once again, thanks Wings for a great season. As much as this team can frustrate me at times, I still live and die with the Wings, and will always love them. Let's Go Red Wings!

POWERPLAY!!

LET'S GO WINGS!!!! TIE IT UP!!!!

Anyone else see that Ha-SUCK sign behind Dom? So I guess we can put Ducky fans up there with Nashville and St. Louis as the class of the NHL.

Ok, there we go, now build on that!!

how much time left

pk