Who drew you in?

[sergei_is_still_a_wing 1]

My dad grew up on 13 mile and woodward in ferndale. end of story. you don't watch hockey with a dad from detroit and root for anyone but the wings. man am i glad my dad wasn't born in chicago... hehe. He moved to san diego where we live now in the early 80's.

other than that i really got hooked in the early 90's when i was a tot of around 6 or 7. watching sergei evolve into a top 5 forward was just astonishing. i wish a remembered more specifics. i came around with the 2002 dream team more than anything. haven't missed a wings/kings game in LA since 2003. Even if those are the only 2 wings games a year i get to see in person, i can get by.

Wings/Ducks Game 2 WCF's 2007 at the Joe made me a fan for LIFE tho. Dbl overtime loss, but man was that exciting. The Joe was nuts.

Grandma still lives at 13/Woodward by the way on flowerdale. Love you grams...

[stlwing14 0]

Grew up watching the Blues and playing youth hockey (all the way up to the college level) but didn't have a real favorite player until Brendan Shanahan came to Saint Louis. I would grow to play in a very similar fashion as Shanny (just left handed instead of right) and to this day he remains my hockey idol.

I don't know what it will be like when he retires; if I'll ever idolize another player again to the same level who knows. And there's no clear replacement in view. Has the power forward gone extinct?

[EuroTwin 240]

...

I'm going to blame my dad. He started it. I watched games with him, because he's a pretty laid back kind of guy, and hockey and the Wings were pretty much the only thing he got worked up about, and that was amusing to watch as a small girl. And I got hooked on hockey at the same time. And then my uncles and then my cousins. They sort of continued the insanity because they were all fans too. We'd spend Thanksgiving and Christmas talking about the season, and our camping weekend during July talking about the off-season dealings.

But mostly my dad, because I honestly can't remember a time when I wasn't a Wings fan.

[Copenhagen848 58]

When I was like 11 or 12, my cousin, his friend, and I were bored and found some old hockey sticks in my uncle's house. We decided to go play some street hockey and all pretended to be a pro hockey player. I didn't know ANYTHING about hockey at the time. My cousin's friend wanted to be Gretzky, my cousin was Howe, and he told me I could be Yzerman (even though I had no idea who he was).

A few days after playing that night I saw a Red Wings game on PASS while flipping through the channels. I wanted to see who this Yzerman guy was that I was supposed to be the other night. Well, I found out who he was all right, and how awesome hockey was. I was hooked on hockey, the Wings, and Yzerman from that day.

[datsyukonethree 0]

Fedorov. I remember his amazing skating ability standing out to me even when I was completely new to hockey.

[Namingway 146]

I have to say that I was pretty lucky because that game 7 against the Blues in the Western Conference Semifinals back in 96' happened to be my very first game as a hockey fan (Although not too lucky because shortly after we were knocked out by the avs!) but it was a great game and I learned how exciting it can get. As the next season started, it didn't feel the same (I didn't know how different playoff/season hockey was back then) but I tried watching the games as often as I could. I really liked Feds and the Russian 5 but my favorite back then was Ozzy for some reason, I think it had to do with my friend that showed me the game was a big Osgood fan himself.

Anyways we won the cup that year. It was a great feeling, I remember going to the parade and everything was awesome. Then came the limousine accident. It was a very tragic event but the unity of the players, staff members and fans all together is what made me love the Wings. I remember my mother taking us to the crash site when it happened, we were living in Rochester Hills so it wasn't too far. The place already had a good hundred fans there with their families praying and lighting candles and stuff. It was really touching to see that fans cared enough to be out there all night to get together and pray.

The next day we went to the hospital were they were at (I think it was the Beaumont in Troy or Royal oak) to give 'get well' cards and what not. I remember seeing McCarty, Fedorov and Shanahan coming out of the elevator in front of me and I felt my heart go up my throat and everything. I would've asked for autographs but it didn't feel appropriate at the time so I didn't but it felt like a special moment that I'll always remember. I thought the "Believe" patch they had on their jerseys was a great idea for the following season. We also won the cup again

After that we moved to France and to other places here and there but I haven't been to Michigan since then. Ever since all that I've been and always will be a Red Wings fan at heart. I can't think of a single particular player that drew me in so I'll give the credit to the entire organization and Red Wings team and fan base

Edited August 24, 2008 by Namingway

[IceMunkee 15]

I started watching when my father took me to a game when I was pretty young. Then I got to be a teen and the only thing that mattered was Beer, Blunts and Boobs. While I still loved the winged wheel I never watched. Then I enlisted in the Army and was withdrawn. In 2002 though my friends got me back into it. Their excitment got me excited all the way from Kentucky so I bought center ice and there you have it. My friends that got me back into it actually are Hockeytown heroes themselves. I don't know how many of you remember but during the Playoff's against the Aves. A Denver radio station bought a billboard that had something to do with the priceless thing. Well Booster313 and another friend that does not frequent the LGW and has lost the faith for the tigers, spray painted over the sign with Aves Suck!!! Yeah they are heroes in my eyes!

[hokeychik22 17]

i was in 5th grade (1997), and was watching a game with my dad during the playoffs..the player i saw that got me ito it was D-Mac!!

[FinRedWing 172]

Admiring Sergei Fedorov's amazing speed & moves in the 1989 World Championships.

I became a fan of his and thankfully Red Wings drafted him.

When he joined the team,I kind of did too.

Edited August 23, 2008 by FinRedWing

[j.hoop 64]

i was born and raised to love the winged wheel, but i wasnt fully drawn in until 1996, when i was about 8. it was the first time i felt real heartbreak, after the playoffs. i loved the intensity and emotion the wings played with, it kind of reminded of the oilers team that went to the finals in recent years. i wouldnt of thought this possible, but my love was taken to new heights with the eventual introduction of datysuk, by far my favorite of all time.

[auxlepli 17]

Just testin'. Lol. Sry.

No worries.

Now it was the Russian Five, and their puck-possession style game, that solidified my love of the Red Wings. That really appealed to me because it's the same way the Soviet Olympic teams and the 1980 U.S. team played.

[chuklz 15]

It was actually Peter Forsberg that drew me in. He is an amazing skater and play maker, but since I'm from Detroit and everyone in Colorado was an ass about any association with the Redwings during the height of the rivalry... my loyalty was cemented in Detroit.

[Spinner 6]

Actually a friend of mine made me sit down with a 12-pack and explained the game to me. Been a hockey fan ever since. Although I did peek in on a few games growing up and watched the amazing Bobby Orr.

[Winged Scooter 0]

Okay so I know this is a boring and oft-repeated answer but Yzerman, got me interested back in 85. Now, that being said , the Bruise Bros. Joey & Probie got me TOTALLY HOOKED. And I remember the 1st time I ever watched a playoff series (every minute, of every game start to finish) was the 7 game series against Toronto back in 87 when the Wings were down 3-1, came back to beat the Leafs in 7, and move on to The Campbell Conference Finals against Wayne & the Oilers ! Yep, that did it for me, I've been a hockey junkie ever since!

[Lidstrom for Norris 0]

So you may or may not have heard, but Yaz (Carl Yastrzemski) had triple bypass surgery, in reading articles there were a s***load of comments with people giving Yaz credit for making them a baseball fan.

I personally wasn't a fan until I saw Yzerman play, so I can relate to those people.

But it made me wonder, what player brought you into the world of hockey?

If this is a waste of DB space feel free to delete.

It was definantly Lidstrom. I was born in 92, started watching hockey in 98. Even back then Lidstrom was (at least to me) the wings best player.

[StaticWithABeat 0]

Born in New Brunswick in '86, grew up watching Leafs games with my Dad...Wendel Clark was my first favorite player. Moved to Michigan at 6 years old, quickly converted to the Red Wings and took on Sergei Fedorov as my new favorite player.

[MsRedWingFan 0]

I was actually a Rangers fan because that was the only hockey we could get here for a while. Then watching the 80's Olympics I became a die hard hockey fan and I would say Stevie Y is what made me a RedWing fan and have been a Wing nut ever since.

[VM1138 1,921]

I became a die hard fan after we won in 97. I remember watching the last two games and loving every second of it.

Yzerman drew me in, back in the day.

[55fan 5,133]

The Toronto Maple Leafs

When I was a kid, we moved to Sask and actually got hockey on TV, but not as many Wings games since they let all those new teams in (as my dad would constantly remind anyone who would listen). My hockey-watching memories as a kid were of the Leafs, even though I knew that the Wings were the team I was supposed to cheer for. I would sit mesmerized in front of the TV watching the puck go back and forth up and down the ice. After we moved back to the states, I didn't see much hockey, and I got out of it, but I still have a bit of a soft spot for the Leafs.

I don't remember any of the players from when I was three- I mean from actual memories, not looking them up. To this day, Dad will pull for an O6 team over any other. And he still doesn't like it that they let those "new" teams in.

[Kira 451]

My hockey memories go back to the 60's...watching Hockey Night in Canada and seeing players like Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Maurice Richard and the like. I loved it. When my brother was at Michigan Tech, he would get us tickets for the Great Lakes Tournament for Christmas, and I really got hooked on the game. I've been a fan of the game since I was a kid of about 8 or 9 (that's a long time ago), but I have to admit that Pasha hasn't hurt either. He's drawn in my nephew (who is 12) as a fan of the game now...Carson loves Pasha and Nick Lidstrom. So thanks to the Wings from the 60's until now for drawing in two generations of fans.