Red Wings TV Ratings Down 21%

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Too many Europeans? That's a ridiculous reason to not watch the Wings. If people are honestly tuning out because there's too many Europeans on the team, they aren't fans to begin with.

I'd have to go with the last reason. I know many people who don't even feel that the hockey season starts until the playoffs anyway... so that's when they tune in.

For a real hockey fan, ANY "reason" not to watch is inexcusable in my opinion. But there are lot more "casual" fans than there are "real" fans, and they're the once that put the fan base over the top. I've always been an advocate for European players, but North American fans simply cannot relate to European players the same way they can to North American players - and thats a cultural phenomenon that is present EVERYWHERE in society, not just in spectatorship. Its a very real, human sentiment, and theres nothing wrong with it. It has everything to do with identity association, and barely even touches on the talent and skill aspect of the game.

[Reds4Life 51]

What's the difference between Canadian an Swedish players? Are you sure you are getting up at 2 am to watch hockey man? 2 totally different styles, 2 totally different mind sets. We Canadians are ferociously in love with our national sport and it shows in the way we play, Similar to Soccer in England or Football in the USA.

Oh my God, not this again. "Canadians are tough and Europeans are soft." Geez. It doesn't matter where were the players born. European players play just as hard as Canadians.

Can I ask what makes you watch the Wings?

As far as a difference between Swedes compared to Canadians, it's obvious.

Canadians and Americans grow up speaking english and have similar names. As much as people don't want to admit it, the difference between Canadians and Americans isn't all that much.

Besides, US teams have been used to seeing Canadian talent since 1910. They've grown accustomed to it.

But saying that, if there were two players of compelte equal skill, one from Canada and one from US I bet most American's would choose the American, just like Canadian's would choose the Canuck.

Does anyone here seriously think Real Madrid would love having a team full of Germans and Russians? No.

And I don't think an NBA team would have as much poppularity if it was made totally up with Croatians and Spainards.

I watch Wings because I love hockey and I am a Wings fan. I would watch them if there were no Europeans too. No difference to me.

Edited January 30, 2009 by Reds4Life

[titanium2 867]

Attendance and TV ratings have been down ever since the conclusion of the '06 playoffs. AFTER Yzerman and Shanny no longer were playing for Detroit. Coincidence? I don't think so.

You're right but you're talking about two different eras and generations. The people of Detroit learned to love Yzerman, the franchise player. That took time. My point is that the Zetterberg-Datsyuk era is still relatively new. The ratings are down but I doubt it has anything to do significantly with Europeans/North Americans.

[ManLuv4Clears 7]

Not really. Theres a reason Aaron Downey and Dallas Drake were fan favorites.

Here is a Bingo, Detroiters gravitate to blue collar players that are rough and tumble and play with their heart on their sleeve. Like the above mentioned. These two players were key thru the regular season to solidify a cup run and people so easily forget this.

[ManLuv4Clears 7]

You're right but you're talking about two different eras and generations. The people of Detroit learned to love Yzerman, the franchise player. That took time. My point is that the Zetterberg-Datsyuk era is still relatively new. The ratings are down but I doubt it has anything to do significantly with Europeans/North Americans.

FAIL. The Joe was selling out in the "Dead Wing" era, ie the 80s, because of players like Yzerman, Probert, Burr, and Gallant. Yzerman was loved soon after he was drafted and was adopted as a hockey idol. I'd love for you to elaborate on how Detroiter's learned to love #19.

[titanium2 867]

Not really. Theres a reason Aaron Downey and Dallas Drake were fan favorites.

Not that I disagree with you or what you said but I guess I just don't get the joy out of watching Drake cause a concussion or take bad penalties with one of his kamikaze hits or Downey bashing someone's head in courtesy of the Red Wings. I guess I don't understand why it's so bad that the Red Wings try to play above that as much as possible.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Here is a Bingo, Detroiters gravitate to blue collar players that are rough and tumble and play with their heart on their sleeve. Like the above mentioned. These two players were key thru the regular season to solidify a cup run and people so easily forget this.

Its not just that we had two North American fan favorites either - the entire flavor of the team last year was more blue collar than it is this year. More hitting, more fights, more grinding and buckling down, more energy overall. Now we're seeing a team play lackadaisical hockey, go soft on the forecheck, and, with the exception of a few games here and there, no hitting - and absolutely no fighting in general.

Don't get me wrong - I love seeing Pavel Datsyuk set up some crazy goals and see Marian Hossa score a beautiful goal, but thats only a very small fraction of the game that we get to see our guys making creative scoring chances and pretty passes. Outside of that, we see a lot of irrelevant passing, complacency along the boards, few big hits, and lackluster energy at any given moment.

Its not just the NAMES, its also the STYLE.

[shoe 165]

I have a different perspective on this whole thing. I watch more wings games now than I ever have, but I do it because of the net, Im pretty sure you cant calculate viewership from people watching the games over the net the way Im watching it may as well be called TV piracy.

But here were the games I got excited about this year, VS the leafs, VS the Canadiens, VS Chicago, VS Anehiem and the Sharks.

The leafs are a given cause I live in Toronto and no matter what even if they played once every 3 years it would still be the biggest regular season game of the year to me. The canadiens Cause I work with a habs fan. Chicago cause they killed us last year and they are emerging and the team in the division to compete, taht home and home was exciting to pull away from them by 4 points after Christmas. The 2 teams in Cali because they actually looked like they had something to play for I think every wings fan gets up for a game against the ducks these days and San Jose is sitting on top of our hill with our ex assistant coach.

The next must watch for me is the game against pheonix, because they are starting to come around and they beat us last time we were there.

My last jersey was an Yzerman I get the whole fan relation to him, Id like to get a Franzen jersey but Im not doing that to find out we lost him in the summer he is the guy I cheer for the most on this team these days. Last season Dallas Drake was the guy that excited me the most so I get the anti euro thing. But I think the 2 biggest personality character players on this team are Datsyuk and Hudler IMO.

The only other thing I can think of for veiwership being down might be cause TV shows are getting better, dad cant get the tv from the kids watching 90210, Husband cant get the tv from the wife watching the batchelor. Wife cant get the game on cause her husband is so into the Sci Fi Channel? I dont know.

[Mckinley25 679]

I never said Canada own's hockey, it was invented in Canada and it is part of our heritage.

I don't know that this is entirely true. I think the game developed more in Canada, but it was more likely invented in the Netherlands where there is evidence in the form of paintings from the 17 and 1800's depicting people skating with hockey sticks and a ball.

I wasn't there so I don't know for sure, but I read that in a book about the history of Hockey, I'll try and figure out where from exactly.

Those of us from the U.P. know that hockey as a professional sport was born in the Keweenaw with the Portage Pioneers;) I don't know how true that is either but I have a shirt that says "Houghton, MI: Birth Place of Professional Hockey"

Anyway...as someone else mentioned this team has maintained its success by drafting European born players that were leftover after all the North American players were selected. If we didn't do that we would not be a playoff team today and we have a lot more to complain about.

Edited January 30, 2009 by Mckinley25

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Not that I disagree with you or what you said but I guess I just don't get the joy out of watching Drake cause a concussion or take bad penalties with one of his kamikaze hits or Downey bashing someone's head in courtesy of the Red Wings. I guess I don't understand why it's so bad that the Red Wings try to play above that as much as possible.

First of all, Drake didn't cause any concussions when we was here last year, and Downey was never "bashing someone's head" arbitrarily. Thats what great about being a Wings fan - when we're physical, when we're hitting, etc. its never just "for the hell of it." It always has a purpose, and more often than not its closer to the clean side of things than the dirty or questionable.

Second of all, Downey fighting and Drake hitting do things to the overall team make-up. They energize our players. They set an example, a precedent. They give our smaller guys someone to back them up if they throw a big hit. In short, because guys like Downey and Drake are willing and capable of answering to the oppositions big guns, guys like Cleary, Maltby, and Draper can play a bigger, harder, rougher game as well.

[Hank 0]

FAIL. The Joe was selling out in the "Dead Wing" era, ie the 80s, because of players like Yzerman, Probert, Burr, and Gallant. Yzerman was loved soon after he was drafted and was adopted as a hockey idol. I'd love for you to elaborate on how Detroiter's learned to love #19.

Well said. Yzerman was loved by fans nearly immediately after he recored a goal and an assist in his first NHL game.

It helped his popularity that the team was so bad there weren't many other players to cheer for.

But he was still adored almost instantly.

Still, if Illitch forced the players to greet with fans similar to what they do for Tiger Fest I have a feeling fans would connect much more. But they don't and they're allowed to be sheltered from the masses of people who helped make them millionares.

Sooner or later Illitch is going to have to do something. I'm sure he's making money now, but having to charge only $9 for thousands of tickets and seeing TV ratings plummet will force him to make changes.

[Chelios57 31]

I don't know that this is entirely true. I think the game developed more in Canada, but it was more likely invented in the Netherlands where there is evidence in the form of paintings from the 17 and 1800's depicting people skating with hockey sticks and a ball.

I wasn't there so I don't know for sure, but I read that in a book about the history of Hockey, I'll try and figure out where from exactly.

Those of us from the U.P. know that hockey as a professional sport was born in the Keweenaw with the Portage Pioneers;) I don't know how true that is either but I have a shirt that says "Houghton, MI: Birth Place of Professional Hockey"

Anyway...as someone else mentioned this team has maintained it's success by drafting European born players that were leftover after all the North American players were selected. If we didn't do that we would not be a playoff team today and we have a lot more to complain about.

Yeah hockey I believe was invented somewhere out in Europe (maybe England).

And the first professional hockey ever started in Michigan.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Some fans let the Standings in the sports section determine how much they follow the Club during the regular season. When the ratings drop during the playoffs, that's when the broadcasters, and the advertisers, should start to worry.

Plus, with all the TV timeouts and this commercial break and that commercial break...I mean for a game that is billed as one of the fastest in the world, it sure takes a long time to play one!

[Ms_Hockey 0]

For a real hockey fan, ANY "reason" not to watch is inexcusable in my opinion. But there are lot more "casual" fans than there are "real" fans, and they're the once that put the fan base over the top. I've always been an advocate for European players, but North American fans simply cannot relate to European players the same way they can to North American players - and thats a cultural phenomenon that is present EVERYWHERE in society, not just in spectatorship. Its a very real, human sentiment, and theres nothing wrong with it. It has everything to do with identity association, and barely even touches on the talent and skill aspect of the game.

North America and Europe play two different styles of hockey. That much is certain. Maybe I'm way over the ledge here, but when you put players from both on a team - they meld together. They have to find a way to play together, and they do it (for the most part) from the coach telling them how he wants the game to be played. They have specialized skills in different areas of the game due to being trained in different parts of the world... but when they come together on a team in the NHL, they're expected to play like a team with the same team dynamic. So really - doesn't it all even itself out in the end?

But you're right, there's far more casual fans than true fans. I can appreciate any style of hockey - from finesse to physical. If there's a European player who's astounding with puck handling and not so heavy with the hits & vice versa - fine by me.

I just don't agree with the idea of not watching because of European players.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Isn't Lacrosse Canada's national sport? Or do they have two?

[Chelios57 31]

There's a good responce. Better get back to your redneck class there guy, I bet they are teaching you how to make bombs out of the fertilizer in your shed.

I never said Canada own's hockey, it was invented in Canada and it is part of our heritage. We are good at it and we have a right to be proud about it. We play a different game the europeans... you would know that if you could afford to watch more of the games I guess. Lucky for you the the Red Wings have become a perrenial playoff team, I'd hate for you to be denied of your national sport.

I can argue that Football is our national sport because we have the CFL but it's not. It's an American sport and Americans are rasied with it and they are good at it and have a right to be proud. That doesn't mean we can't play it, everyone can play it, but americans are around it more and are there naturally going to be better at it.

Keep the hate going buddy, I hear its good for your health.

Let me start by saying. f*** off.

I watch as much hockey as the next guy. I watch every possible game I can online (every single day of the week). Play in numerous leagues and have a pond hockey weekend organized starting tonight in East Lansing. I've been to 3 different NHL arenas. There isn't one person in the world who's a bigger hockey fan than I am. I'm not saying I'm the biggest hockey fan, but I'm just as passionate as the next guy.

So f*** off, I - like many Michiganders - cannot afford to watch hockey. I hate that I can't, but I just can't (thank God for friends of mine/bars that can). Why don't you be a little more considerate next time you bash a guy for being poor jackass.

I can't believe I got called a redneck and that I try to build bombs out of fertilizer. Hahaha! :looney:

P.S. everyone in my family is much naturally better at hockey than playing football. Don't ever call that garbage my national sport.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Isn't Lacrosse Canada's national sport? Or do they have two?

Yes and yes. We have two national sports: hockey for the winter and lacrosse for the summer. Lacrosse received the honour first.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

What's the difference between Canadian an Swedish players? Are you sure you are getting up at 2 am to watch hockey man? 2 totally different styles, 2 totally different mind sets. We Canadians are ferociously in love with our national sport and it shows in the way we play, Similar to Soccer in England or Football in the USA.

Baseball is the US's national sport.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Yes and yes. We have two national sports: hockey for the winter and lacrosse for the summer. Lacrosse received the honour first.

Ah, okay. I knew lacrosse was either once the national sport or still was.

Thanks for letting me know.

[Guest micah]

Baseball is the US's national sport.

The US does not have a national sport.

Baseball used to have the nickname "national pastime", but was never in fact named the national s[port of the United States. Football is the most popular sport in the United States and has been for decades.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

The US does not have a national sport.

Baseball used to have the nickname "national pastime", but was never in fact named the national s[port of the United States. Football is the most popular sport in the United States and has been for decades.

Oh okay. So it probably WOULD be football, then. (If we were to name one tomorrow.)

[esteef 2,679]

Not that I disagree with you or what you said but I guess I just don't get the joy out of watching Drake cause a concussion or take bad penalties with one of his kamikaze hits or Downey bashing someone's head in courtesy of the Red Wings. I guess I don't understand why it's so bad that the Red Wings try to play above that as much as possible.

Because the rest of the league DOESN'T "play above it", reducing the Wings to skilled "targets" for the rest of the league to pound on?

esteef

[egroen 384]

Canada is one of the few countries in the world that actually has an official national sport, and the only to have two.

[Hockeytown Red Wings 245]

Last night I was more fired up at the end of the second period than at any other point in the season.

A lot of it had to with our comeback, O'Halloran raping Homer, and the Wings were buzzing. But what I really loved to see was the bodies flying around. Downey's presence and hitting energized the whole team last night. Of course it didn't work, but the crowd actually made some noise.

I watch regardless of the player's nationality, fighter/non-fighter, but I'd love to see Downey get some 4th lines minutes on a fairly regular basis.

[SFwingsfan 23]

I have lived out of the state for the last 4 seasons. I buy NHL CenterIce and watch about 90% of all the regular season games. I'm a fan of the Red Wings first, then individual players. Personally I want the best team on the ice. That means I want the team that gives us the best chance to win the Stanley Cup, period. That being said, I certainly understand the point being made here. If i'm really honest with myself I try to recognize why I was cheering so hard for Darren Helm. Most of it is the fact that I love the way he plays, but I think part of it is the fact that he walks and talks like me and would blend right in to my social circle. That's a hard thing for me to admit but it has to be partly true. I have friends and co-workers from pretty much all races and ethnic groups, but I can't say that I interact with recent European immigrants on a daily basis. The bottom line is that the number of North Americans on the roster isn't going to make any difference in the amount that I personally devote myself to the Wings. However, i'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't favor replacing some of our European stars with North American stars assuming their skills and quality of play is identical.