Are we really Hockeytown?

[joshy207 156]

But Detroit IS a football town, first and foremost. Despite the fact that the Lions have had virtually no success in the last 60 years, the local fanbase is rabid and the Lions dominate sports talk radio, newspaper, and TV coverage, even in the offseason. College football is also extremely popular, not just U-M and MSU, but the Michigan MAC schools have a good following in Detroit, too (probably because there are a lot of EMU, WMU, CMU alums here). High school football gets local TV and newspaper coverage. The fact that the Lions sell out despite being the worst-run franchise in pro sports just exemplifies the fact that this is a football town--and football state for that matter.

If you put the Wings, Pistons, Tigers, and Lions all on equal ground--let's say they all finish first in the regular season and win their respective championships--except for the diehard fans of the other sports, most of what you'll hear about is the Lions.

National media coverage and team success may factor somewhat into the equation, but are definitely not the defining points of what makes a certain city a hockey town, football town, or whatever.

Montreal was the NHL's top franchise for so long because they had exclusive rights to all French-Canadian players. There was no entry draft or equal division of incoming players' rights until 1967. You can bet the farm that having those players' rights impacted the Canadiens well into the 1970s.

[Chunkylover 26]

Montreal was the NHL's top franchise for so long because they had exclusive rights to all French-Canadian players. There was no entry draft or equal division of incoming players' rights until 1967. You can bet the farm that having those players' rights impacted the Canadiens well into the 1970s.

Is this true?! I've been trying to think of how one team could be so good for so long even without there being a cap there was really no precedent for their dominance.

[joshy207 156]

Is this true?! I've been trying to think of how one team could be so good for so long even without there being a cap there was really no precedent for their dominance.

Yup. Each team had a geographical territory inside which it had rights to every player, plus Montreal got first crack at the French-Canadians. The young players all had to sign what was called a C-Form, declaring themselves property of whatever team it was. My dad had to sign one to play Midgets and Juniors in the early 60s.

Players outside those regions were able to sign with whichever team they chose. The pursuit of Bobby Orr in his early teens is legendary. Boston signed him to a C-Form at age 14.

[Chunkylover 26]

Yup. Each team had a geographical territory inside which it had rights to every player, plus Montreal got first crack at the French-Canadians. The young players all had to sign what was called a C-Form, declaring themselves property of whatever team it was. My dad had to sign one to play Midgets and Juniors in the early 60s.

Players outside those regions were able to sign with whichever team they chose. The pursuit of Bobby Orr in his early teens is legendary. Boston signed him to a C-Form at age 14.

That's pretty lame. Good for Montreal, I guess. The Canadian media has done a real good job of not discussing this interesting little bit of information. I mean, they did it all within the boundaries of the rules but does anyone else think they had a slight advantage through all this. Maybe an asterisk on a few of their Cups would be appropriate.

By the way that's the first time I've ever used an emoticon, and boy do I feel dirty.

[egroen 384]

When talking about Minnesota, it always confounds me no one ever mentions they actually LOST a hockey team. Pittsburgh almost lost theirs.

Detroit is an Orginal 6 - Has more Cups than any US team - Good enough for me, despite it being a pale comparison to the popularity of football and baseball.

[dallas27 7]

Tigertown

[Spinner 6]

Yes we are really Hockeytown! Our fan base isn't limited to the city limits. Some of us aren't able to make the games but you can be sure that the Wings are on our TV's and for that 3 hours plus pre and post game coverage, Hockeytown is in our living room. Just to re-itterate, if you , for example decided Anaslime should be Hockeytown and you went say 5 miles past the hondo pondo and mention hockey, people would respond with ..."huh?" Hockeytown is in our hearts and no one can take that from us whether the Joe is packed or not!

[Chunkylover 26]

Yes we are really Hockeytown! Our fan base isn't limited to the city limits. Some of us aren't able to make the games but you can be sure that the Wings are on our TV's and for that 3 hours plus pre and post game coverage, Hockeytown is in our living room. Just to re-itterate, if you , for example decided Anaslime should be Hockeytown and you went say 5 miles past the hondo pondo and mention hockey, people would respond with ..."huh?" Hockeytown is in our hearts and no one can take that from us whether the Joe is packed or not!

I agree. It's always been my argument that due to Michigan's economic problems over the last decade many Wings fans have been transplanted to Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Virginia, California. I know people in each city/state that I've mentioned who are transplanted Wings fans, including myself. I went to a Wings/Caps game after the lockout and it was easily 50/50 fan support. Even with our team filling many other teams buildings we still sold out a lot of games this year.

Additionally, I agree that a good team should be necessary to be called Hockeytown. Say, a team so good that it brazenly secures the rights to that title.

[mooose kiiisses 0]

Yes we are really Hockeytown! Our fan base isn't limited to the city limits. Some of us aren't able to make the games but you can be sure that the Wings are on our TV's and for that 3 hours plus pre and post game coverage, Hockeytown is in our living room. Just to re-itterate, if you , for example decided Anaslime should be Hockeytown and you went say 5 miles past the hondo pondo and mention hockey, people would respond with ..."huh?" Hockeytown is in our hearts and no one can take that from us whether the Joe is packed or not!

and that's not mentioning that games & pre/post coverage on FSN are replayed about 3 times after the actual live coverage is finished. and the post game coverage is replayed in the morning around 6ish. the previous night's scores are on the radio constantly, and reminders for a game that night. and there is still Red Wings Weekly and Spotlight to consider.

-- i can't believe i actually read every single post.

EDIT: oh, and $22 dollar tickets are single seats. i go to games to spend time with my father, therefore single seats do me no good. and that is the case for most people, most of the time any kind of sports games are used for bonding time with family & friends, single seats don't help.

Edited August 4, 2008 by mooose kiiisses

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

6 pages???? debating if were hockeytown?

If it wasn't for the fact we have the title legally, I'd have to argue that we aren't just because our own fans can't make up their minds.

[Chunkylover 26]

6 pages???? debating if were hockeytown?

If it wasn't for the fact we have the title legally, I'd have to argue that we aren't just because our own fans can't make up their minds.

Dude, it's summer. I'm sure the owner of this board is quite pleased with the amount of debate, considering it provides him with ad revenue.

It's a good thing.

Edited August 4, 2008 by Chunkylover

[b.shanafan14 733]

We really are Hockeytown USA, greatest NHL franchise in the states, dedicated fanbase, and most importantly, we do all the winning.

[OsGOD 3]

I think we are... and so does center ice at the joe...

Although now we are "beat-out-29-other-teams-town" so that might actually be an even better label for us.

Edited August 6, 2008 by OsGOD

[betterREDthandead 58]

But Detroit IS a football town, first and foremost. Despite the fact that the Lions have had virtually no success in the last 60 years, the local fanbase is rabid and the Lions dominate sports talk radio, newspaper, and TV coverage, even in the offseason. College football is also extremely popular, not just U-M and MSU, but the Michigan MAC schools have a good following in Detroit, too (probably because there are a lot of EMU, WMU, CMU alums here). High school football gets local TV and newspaper coverage. The fact that the Lions sell out despite being the worst-run franchise in pro sports just exemplifies the fact that this is a football town--and football state for that matter.

That may be, but I guarantee you if you ask some random dude anywhere in the country what are the football towns, he'll say Dallas, Philly, Chicago maybe. Ask the same dude what are the hockey towns and the answer will be Detroit, Minny, Boston.

And let's not kid ourselves: high school football coverage is lukewarm at best in Detroit and the state overall.

[joshy207 156]

That may be, but I guarantee you if you ask some random dude anywhere in the country what are the football towns, he'll say Dallas, Philly, Chicago maybe. Ask the same dude what are the hockey towns and the answer will be Detroit, Minny, Boston.

And let's not kid ourselves: high school football coverage is lukewarm at best in Detroit and the state overall.

Your point is correct also. What I'm getting at is that here, in Detroit, football is king. Baseball is 2nd, then hockey and basketball--interchangeable depending on who's doing better. If you throw college sports in there, basketball is above hockey and possibly baseball.

HS football coverage is lukewarm in Detroit's media, but all scores are listed in the Free Press every week, the bigger games get a blurb, championships are on FSD, and the TV stations give it a little attention during the season. Hockey beyond the Wings gets limited coverage--the Whalers, UM and MSU get the HS treatment (except for the GLI) and HS hockey is lucky to get mentioned or scores listed in the papers. Outstate, especially in the state's smaller markets, HS football gets mad coverage on the weekends.

[Jwo 7]

Your point is correct also. What I'm getting at is that here, in Detroit, football is king. Baseball is 2nd, then hockey and basketball--interchangeable depending on who's doing better. If you throw college sports in there, basketball is above hockey and possibly baseball.

HS football coverage is lukewarm in Detroit's media, but all scores are listed in the Free Press every week, the bigger games get a blurb, championships are on FSD, and the TV stations give it a little attention during the season. Hockey beyond the Wings gets limited coverage--the Whalers, UM and MSU get the HS treatment (except for the GLI) and HS hockey is lucky to get mentioned or scores listed in the papers. Outstate, especially in the state's smaller markets, HS football gets mad coverage on the weekends.

Do you get WDIV news? I always hear UofM or MSU hockey talk whether its GLI related or not. That's how I know whats going on in the CCHA.

Edited August 7, 2008 by Jwo

[Doc Holiday 0]

Aren't almost all football stadiums sold out during the season? Doesn't this kinda put football in a whole different league than all the other sports?

[Yzerfan75 0]

Aren't almost all football stadiums sold out during the season? Doesn't this kinda put football in a whole different league than all the other sports?

I agree. At one game a week, is that really hard to achieve?

[joshy207 156]

Do you get WDIV news? I always hear UofM or MSU hockey talk whether its GLI related or not. That's how I know whats going on in the CCHA.

Yeah, I do... are you talking about Sports Final Edition on Sunday nights? That's usually the only time I see CCHA coverage on Ch.4 unless it's GLI, playoffs, or a UM vs MSU game...

[OsGOD 3]

Whalers get s*** coverage in Detroit... Wonder how many people even knew they won the Championship last year and then went 4 and out this year? The only chance (and I stress chance) at seeing a game on TV is if you have comcrap...other than that no way will you get to see a game. If you want to catch a road game you have to purchase an online ticket to see the games (go over to a billets house) or go to Ginnapolis to watch whaler vision.

Luckily I have connections so my family gets season tickets to the games... other than that you can't follow them. Maybe a few write ups in the Canton Observer as well but those are spotty at best.

I catch more OSU and ND hockey games on tv than I do U-M or MSU... sad!

The coverage for College Football outside of U-M and MSU is s*** as well for detroit... Hell I went to EMU... didn't even know they had a football team (sarcasm but seriously if you didn't have to go to the convocation center for graduation, I doubt some people would even have a clue....they are promoted at all.

As for HS sports...this ain't no Varsity Blues type town... We could care less about our HS sports

Edited August 7, 2008 by OsGOD

[DallasStars 0]

In all fairness, wasn't "hockeytown" just a marketing term that stuck? It's just like "don't mess with texas", that was just an anti-littering slogan that stuck. Honestly, I don't care if you're the best city in all of hockey. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. Does it really matter? We live in a "what have you done for me lately" world and Detroit just won the cup. Therefore, making you currently the best until the next champion. Is that not enough?

[19Hockeytown5 0]

http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/americas...ing-cities.html

"America's Fastest-Dying Cities

Where's it worst? Ohio, according to our analysis, which racked up four of the 10 cities on our list: Youngstown, Canton, Dayton and Cleveland. The runner-up is Michigan, with two cities--Detroit and Flint--making the ranking.

It wasn't always this way. Despite years of economic decline, in the first years of the new century the employment situation did not look so bad--3% to 4% unemployment was the norm, along the lines of metropolitan areas elsewhere in the country. The rest of the decade was not so kind. Thanks to a crushing downturn for automakers like General Motors and Ford, Detroit and Flint, Mich., have seen unemployment approach 10%.

Detroit, Mich.

(Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan statistical area)

Migration (since 2000): -174,592

Total population change: +15,033

June 2008 unemployment: 9.7% (2000 average: 3.7%)

Annualized GDP growth: 0.5%

High-unemployment and the continued struggles of General Motors and Ford have left Detroit something of a scrap heap, with stalled growth and a fleeing populace. Is there hope for a brighter future for Detroit? Since 2000, the city has witnessed something of a baby boom, with 430,000 babies born in a period that only 280,000 died. Maybe someday they'll all grow up to drive Chevy Volts?"

Detroit had a sellout streak of almost 500 games (more than a decade) until the auto industry fell.

[DaKineMaui 8]

Detroit had a sellout streak of almost 500 games (more than a decade) until the auto industry fell.

How many games in a season?

How many years in a decade?

My math must be off.

[Yzerfan75 0]

Would Hockey Nation be a better term? I'm always amazed by how many Wings fans are at the games when we go see them play in Raleigh or Washington... sometimes up to half the arena (or at least it seems that way). I've met people at games who grew up in the Southeast and D.C. and are Wings fans... even though they have no familal or territorial ties to Detroit or even Michigan for that reason. About the only other teams that I personally have experienced like that are the New York Yankees (gag) and the Dallas Cowboys.

[joshy207 156]

How many games in a season?

How many years in a decade?

My math must be off.

41 (home) games per year X 10 years = 410 games. Almost 500 would be more than 10 years...

Stay away from those volcanoes, guy!!