Non-Michigan fans: How did you become a Wings fan?

[cadmonkey 0]

Moved from Ohio (Toledo Area) to Downriver Detroit (Flatrock area) in the fall of '96. There was no option but to become a Wings fan - especially in the years that followed Eventually moved back to my hometown but there's no going back now I try to convert more fans every day.

[RedwingFan29 1]

Wings fan Since 1983. Originally from Nepean Ontario, Canada now living in South Florida. I played hockey where Stevie Y played in his early days. I loved watching him play when I was a kid. We didnt have the Senators at the time and I disliked both the Leafs and Canadians. Fell in love with the Wings.

[Urlosing96 0]

Ok be nice this is my first post. I've been lurking around for all of this year and most of last year on the ol' boards.

I found the wings in 95-96 after the sale/poke in the eye buyout of the NORTH STARS to texas in 91-92. One of my supervisors was from the detroit area and was talking about the team and the back to back wins in 96 and 97, (thanks Russ) After hearing of stevie and his leadership, and the tragedy of 97 and the limo accident, I've labled meself as a die-hard winger, Since my home team and the next closest thing the winnepeg jets were thrown under the bus, i guess i should be happy i didn't find the blackhawks or blues!

But even so, since i've lived in OKlahoma here, i did get to see steve play last year in dallas. Jan 19th was my first live NHL game. I've also been blessed enough to "put my hands on Lord Stanleys Cup!" Scotty Gomez brought it home to Anchorage when the devils won the cup and brought it out to the Air Force Base. (hell of a guy, nice to talk to,sorry... a different thread) what a truly remarkable event and i'll never forget feeling the names engraved on the side of that monster.

[KnightFire420 0]

You could say I was born a Wings fan.

My Dad named me after Gordie Howe. I even have a letter from Gordie to my Dad from about two months before I was born. (1974)

My house is covered with Wings stuff and I can't really comprehend not being a Wings fan which is hard because I live in the middle of Leaf Nation.

[Guest bullocks]

Born and raised in Toronto. Fell in love with hockey at a young age. Never really liked the leafs. Fedorov cought my eye and ive watched him since. Fell in love with him and the Red Wings...Fedorov left, still loved the red wings...and i guess about 13 years after first becomming a fan..i still love the red wings:)

[SLASHedVelvet 0]

I'm from southern California(about 35 mins from Hollywood/L.A.) and I became a wings fan back in early '95 when I was about 8.5(I'm almost 21 now). I became a fan because my family had liked hockey and I was just starting to play so we watched games reguarly in our house, mostly kings games though. So one night I am watching the Kings game and the team they are playing comes out dressed in red and white. I thouhgt they had cool jerseys and I had never seen them play untill this point. So I watch the game and I became extremely fascinated with Sergei Fedorov who scored 4 goals that night. They tied the Kings, 4-4. I thought, wow, one guy had as many goals as the whole L.A. team. This guy and his team are awesome. From then on, I began to keep up with the wings and learn more about them which is what led me to learning about Steve Yzerman and getting to watch him play. He quickly became my favorite player and a hero of mine and from the time I was 9 years old and in my second or third season of mite or squirt hockey to when I aged out of club hockey at 18, I wore the number 19 except the one season when I got pulled up to a higher level and someone already had 19 so I wore 16 in tribute to the Vladiator. Anyhow, as a little kid, I collected their cards, watched their games, read about them in magazines and took in everyhting I possibly could which was really cool because as this team was becoming my favorite team, they made it to the stanley cup finals so it was all very exciting for me as a youngster. So basically from those early days till now, I haven't missed a beat. I've also had some amazing experiences with meeting the players over the years. In, I believe 1996 because I think it was the year before they won the cup, I went to a Wings/Kings game at the Forum and had owners seats because of connections to a relative. Well, these owners seats got us into the forum club which was basiclaly a bar/resturant after the game. That night was a dream come true for me as I met everyone from Chris Osgood, Mike Vernon, Slava Kozlov to Vladdy, Doug Brown and Sergei Fedorov. The highlight of the night and I still talk about it to this day was when, my mom wanted to leave(kep in mind I was probabal 11 years old) she came looking for me and where did she find me? Sitting at the bar with Steve Yzerman. It was really cool because, he was my idol by that time and I was wearing one of those old school starter hats with the wings logo on it and YZERMAN across the front and he was like "nice hat". It was a surreal experience for me and became even more special the year after when Vladdy was involved in the crash because I had met him and had him sign one of my cards and he had to be one of the nicest players I had met. Anyhow, the years went on and I actually got meet the guys a couple more times, once in my fresman year, so I believe 2000 when I watched them practice in L.A. during the playoffs and then again one time very recently when this season they were on the horrible concluding california roadtrip and I went to see them practice in L.A. again. I watched them practice and then got to meet and get autographs from most of them on the way out. I got my pavel datsyuk jersey signed by Lang, Hasek, Draper, Osgood, Williams and Zetterberg and the highlight of the day was getting My Lidstrom all star jersey signed by the captain himself. Getting to meet nick was really awesome because that night I described at the forum club, I had seen him talking to slava kozlov and hten walked out and I never got a chance to go up to him, so almost ten years later, I fianlly met him. Anyhow, I guess that does it really, I know I went on about storees and all but it just goes alogn with how I became a fan and have always stayed a die hard fan. Oh, and my newest addition to wings experiences will be seeing game 3 of the western conference finals in Anaheim.

Peace, Ricky

[Donohue75 17]

2 Reasons - First started really watching hockey around 7 or 8 years old, first game I watched was a leafs wings team. I watched Yzerman play and thats all it really took for me. As I grew older it was very easy to watch a team grow and actually put together exciting teams for fans to watch, unlike Toronto who my entire family cheered for, there was no way I would support a team that did not support the fans......

[Wings_Fan_in_L.A 1]

i remember i came to L.A first time, and i am chinese, and i didn't what hockey is..u know not many chinese know about the hockey....my brother taught me how to watch it.....but my brother is a Kings fan, that's why i started to watch Kings games, then i love to watch hockey, but i still didn't like Kings...and i remember one day i turned on the tv, i saw the red jersey hockey team was playing, and they were playing so GOOD, i remember it was 2001, they were playing so good...then i asked my brother wat team it is, and he told me Detroit...that's time i started to love Red Wings....i watched every wings games if it showed on espn, when i knew about their history and their record of 2002, i thought i am the wings fan, cuz the wings players are very good in every hockey games...and that yr they won the Stanley Cup....i was so happy about that...i still remember how they played so well in Stanley Cup Final....i really want to move to Detroit cuz Red Wings and i can watch every wings games.....and some frds asked me a question that why i live in L.A, and i don't like Kings or Ducks...i just answered them cuz i hate Ducks and Kings....and i really really hate DUCKS forever.....that's y GO WINGS!!!!!!!!

i always be a WINGS fan!!!!!!!

GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mickeyisms Rule! 0]

i remember i came to L.A first time, and i am chinese, and i didn't what hockey is..u know not many chinese know about the hockey....my brother taught me how to watch it.....but my brother is a Kings fan, that's why i started to watch Kings games, then i love to watch hockey, but i still didn't like Kings...and i remember one day i turned on the tv, i saw the red jersey hockey team was playing, and they were playing so GOOD, i remember it was 2001, they were playing so good...then i asked my brother wat team it is, and he told me Detroit...that's time i started to love Red Wings....i watched every wings games if it showed on espn, when i knew about their history and their record of 2002, i thought i am the wings fan, cuz the wings players are very good in every hockey games...and that yr they won the Stanley Cup....i was so happy about that...i still remember how they played so well in Stanley Cup Final....i really want to move to Detroit cuz Red Wings and i can watch every wings games.....and some frds asked me a question that why i live in L.A, and i don't like Kings or Ducks...i just answered them cuz i hate Ducks and Kings....and i really really hate DUCKS forever.....that's y GO WINGS!!!!!!!!

i always be a WINGS fan!!!!!!!

GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

My inner fan is cheering right now after reading this post.

[Wing Nut 0]

Alot of Ohio fans it seems. Nothing changed for you guys when Columbus got a team?

I'm from Ohio too. I grew up on a dairy farm in the middle of no where. We got one TV channel, no hockey. So I knew nothing of Hockey when I was a kid. Until we got Blades of Steel!!! I started getting the hockey video games, I liked the Pens, and Wings. I got to know the names of the guys, scoring tons of goals with Stevie and the gang. I didn't see a hockey game until I got to college, where we had espn. I was a casual Wings and Pens fan since they were the closest and both were really good. If a game was on I would watch but I didn't really follow them. About '98 is when I started to become a hockey fanatic. I loved witching the Lemuix comeback. And the Wings vs. the AV's. Since '98 I started learning as much about hockey history as I could. As the years go by I only like the Wings. I love the way the play the game, I love the way they draft. I love the way Holland tries to make the team better, it just seems like the Red Wings are a big family. My wife didn't like any sport when we met now she loves watching the Red Wings. The Blue Jackets are soo bad it's hard to root for them. I watch their games on FSN but I hate the way they play it's so boring. They don't move the puck at all. They have plenty of talent but they don't play as a team. Any way my basement is covered in Wings stuff and I will be a wings fan for life. GO WINGS!!!!!!

Edited May 11, 2007 by Wing Nut

[RainingBlood 8]

Hahaha the N HLPA 94 is soo funny, it was 93 for me though. In fact im going to play it now. If u guy got high speed get an emulator and nhlpa93. You will be hooked for hours.

[Wings_Fan_in_KC 3]

Grew up 15 miles from Mackinac City - went to college in Ann Arbor (Go Blue) and have been a Wings fan since I was 12 years old (I'm 42 now). I moved to KC in 1990 and the saying goes, you can take the boy outta the state but not the state outta the boy. Plus, there's only like, 25 hockey fans in the whole KC area anyway and no team here to follow since DeVos ruined the Blades.

GO WINGS!

Edited May 11, 2007 by Wings_Fan_in_KC

[Wingsfan1988 0]

I am originally from NC, live in Pittsburgh, PA now.

In 1982 I was in Second grade and saw hockey on TV. My dad being from Pittsburgh was a big hockey fan and decided to recruit me to the Penguins..but in NC the only jersey he could find was red and had a number 9 on the back.

The next year he bought one of them "new fangled" satellite dishes..it didn't get any Pittsburgh stations but Detroit stations came in. The Wings had alos drafted a guy Named Steve who I quickly adopted as my hero...I also started playing hockey in Raleigh.

That year we came to Pittsburgh a few timest o vivist and on Febrauary 15 that year I went to my first hockey game, Pens Vs Wings...Wings won 7-3. I was hooked. I have been a Wings fan for all but 6 years of my life...I stilll have the Howe jersey.

I moved to Pitsburgh in 1991 when my dad got a job back here in Pittsburgh, I have been to over 100 games since then. Pittsburgh is only a 5 hour drive...I have been lucky enough to see them win all 3 cups in person, I was also there for Game 6 in 1997 when they took out the AVs...on of my fondest memeories.

Kinda corny.

[ttbrunke 0]

Two words why i became a Wings Fan STEVE YZERMAN

I started getting into hockey about 15 years ago when I was like 12, the more I heard about Yzerman the more appealing the Red Wings were. Yzerman was someone to look up to, I think it's great that he was always a Red Wing and will be forever. I got in at a good time just before the Stanley Cups (there for the good times but can't be called a bandwagoneer). Now with guys like Lidstrom and Zetterberg and Datsyuk they are still exciting as ever, the team seems committed to winning every year now (no rebuilding years). Thanks Wings for some great memories.

[canucks1988 0]

in the mid to late 90's when the canucks never used to make the playoffs i just like the wings alot especially because of fedorov i really loved his skill he was one of my all time favorite players

[Draperfan 104]

Born and raised in Ottawa,Ont.Living in Victoria BC now.I used to watch hockey with my dad as a kid,he was a Gordie Howe fan(yes im old) I never looked back been a redwing fan ever since,over 40 years now

[DetroitRockCity13 0]

Lived in Southeast Michigan 'till I was nine. Go back twice a year, have never stopped loving all of Detroit sports.

Never will

[dats13owns 157]

I started getting into hockey when I was in Junior High. At first, I took a liking to the Penguins because I liked Lemieux. I started getting into the Wings when they had the Russian 5 (Kozlov, Konstantinov, Federov, Fetisov and Larionov). I just kind of got attached to the Wings after that, epecially Yzerman. When got into High School, I ended up on a roller hockey team called the Red Wings. I started wearing my Red Wings jersey to school and everyone talked Red Wings with me and I pretty much found a team to be passionate about. That year (1997), they finally broke their 42 year cup drought. 10 years later, I now have Yzermans 19 tattooed on my wrist and an autographed Yzerman jersey hanging on my living room wall. I love the team as much as I ever did. I plan on trying to make it out to the Joe at some point in the next couple years to witness my first NHL game. My current favorite player is Pavel Datsyuk, and I'm estatic that the Wings locked him up for the next 7 years.

Go Wings!

[Must Kill 0]

First and foremost, I am a hockey fan. My love and admiration for the sport exceeds any team loyalty. That being said, both The Wings and The Captain have been a big part of my existence since I was a child.

Strangely enough, I started cheering for the Red Wings because they were the bad guys. At least in St. Louis they were. I went to my first game at the St Louis Arena back in 1988. All I remember is that the game ended in a 4-4 tie and that I'd never been privy to so much intensity and downright hostility. It was like a drug. Maybe I was a sadist at eight years old, but I've been a Wings fan ever since. I used to catch all sorts of hell through school, but I never wavered in my support. I'll never forget the 96 Quarterfinals. People in St Louis still get a bug up their asses if you mention "the goal". I love it!

Now that I'm an adult, I try to make it up to JLA at least once a year for a live Wings fix. It's refreshing to walk into a hockey rink and NOT have frat kids try to fight you because you're wearing the Winged Wheel.

Mahalo.

ah isnt it great being from st louis and a fan of the wings, not only are the pissed about "the goal", but mention hull winning a cup in detroit on hulls jersey retirement night is priceless.

[Lilja 0]

I think for me it began with Detroit on NHLPA93 on Sega Megadrive. Growing up we never had any NHL hockey on tv here in Sweden so I had to live on purely statistics ( this was pre internet era ) and sometimes on a 30minute collection of highlights every saturday. A TV show that drove me nuts. 30 minutes of GOAAAAAAAAL and GREAT SAVE. Just didnt make up for it.

[Sandman 0]

My Dad has had season tickets to the Sharks since they started as a franchise. That goes back to when we had season tickets at the Cow Palace. My first ever hockey game was the Sharks vs Red Wings. My 2 favorite players at the time were Fedorov and Yzerman. It's been all Red Wings for me since then........my friends consider me a die-hard. I don't think I'm as die-hard as some people on here but I'm close. I now live in Minnesota. So it always goes in this order of teams....

Red Wings until I die

Sharks

Wild

[Guest Punasiipi]

Back in 94-95 I saw my first NHL games in Finland, some of the finals were shown in television. Did not know anything about the teams, to me they were guys wearing dark uniforms and the other guys who had these white and red jerseys...which were actually quite cool. Something about the team which was called Detroit started to interest me more and more; the way they played although losing to Devils, names of the players and this one Russian, named Fedorov. That was the start.

Next stop was PC-game Nhl-96. At the time that was the closest thing to NHL because there was no way to see games in television. I drove my friends nuts when I refused to play any other team than Detroit and spend hours changing lines and checking player attributes to find best line combinations. I still have warm memories when I see names like; Errey, Burr, Rouse, Ramsey, Shephard etc...spend so much time with them

When cable started to show NHL games regularly, I was in heaven. Games started usually at 02.30am in Finnish time but I didn't care. When Detroit was playing I watched the game with cap in my head, towel on my shoulders and wearing only boxers...and they all had winged wheel in them. Do you have any idea how hard it was to find fan merchandise in those days?

I cried when Detroit won SC back in 96-97...woke up my girlfriend to celebrate in the middle of the night but got no sympathy from her, only pillow to my face. Luckily my wife pretends to understand when I get my gear on and watch Detroit playing...although she wasn't very pleased when she found out that our 3 years old son learned "f**k" because I mumbled that when opponents scored.

My biggest treasure is still the vhs-tape where Darren kicked Lemieux's ass...and one of the warmest memories is meeting Pavel at the airport and doing some business with him. There was a BIG difference in personalities between him and Kovaltchuk, I can tell you that!

Valtteri Filppula, I'm so proud of him being the first Finn to EVER play for the Wings (about time to get some!!!!) and seeing him do so well. This team has so much for me again despite seeing Sergei and Stevie leave...

Edited May 19, 2007 by Punasiipi

[ShanahanMan 473]

1991, right before my fifth birthday. I was in Bloomfield Hills at a relative's house and at the time and really had no idea what hockey even was. My dad said he had something, "special" planned but wouldn't tell me what. Our destination Joe Louis Arena for "the game". I still had no idea where I was going though. We arrived and walked in, and I'll never forget the feeling when I got to my ice level seats and saw the players during the pre-skate. It was freakin godly. The game was against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the whole place was electric. It was my first game, AND it was my first OT game. When we scored that OT goal, the place exploded and I was hooked and have been a fan ever since. Not too long after, my dad enrolled me in hockey. That game had to be one of the greatest days of my life.

Edited May 20, 2007 by ShanahanMan

[swedishseven 9]

watching fedorov early in his career led me into being a wings fan.i thought he was going to be the next "great one".....i was wrong.also being from victoria ,which if you trace wings history far enough back,was the start of the frandchise.so its almost like cheering for the home team....my other option..canucks

[RedRockit 0]

I'm from NWO, and back in the 80s, I used to watch hockey but had no particuloar fav team, and since no one I knew cared anything at all about the sport, it wasn't all that much fun with no one to watch with, talk over the games, etc. Then (coincidentally in Scotty's first year as coach), my young son became best buds with two boys who both came from families of Wingnuts (one had occasional access to season tix, and they took RockitSon to many games-- lucky kid! The only time I've been to The Joe was to see Alice Cooper), and I started watching and cheering for the Wings in earnest, and calling the kids' Wingnut mommas the next day for game analysis. in fact, it seems to me now that I became completely addicted to 'em overnight: watching HNIC on a then-often snowy Channel 9 or Mickey on an even-snowier Channel 50 (no cable in the country, but Windsor's channel usually came in well enough over the Lake) or listening to the game on the radio and of course, never missing a nationally televised game.

Re the overnight addiction: there's just so much that's special about the Wings and I wish I could say I've been a fan my whole life. I deeply regret not being there for some of the great times of the past, but I've enjoyed all the great times that I have been privileged to witness.

GO WINGS!

Edited May 20, 2007 by RedRockit