Wingnuts essay
Here is the essay I did for my English 125 class. I’d like to thank everyone who left a comment in an earlier post with ideas or those of you who gave ideas at the Lets Go Wings forum! I couldn’t use everyone’s ideas and I had to add certain concepts after my entire class and instructor evaluated the paper. So here’s my essay and thanks guys!Wingnuts
Head coach Mike Babcock’s whistle blows signaling the end of practice. The players gather at center ice for a few last words before heading to the locker room. As the athletes exit, a few remain on the ice, which is worn from the hour-long practice. Center Kris Draper scoops up close to 50 used practice pucks and skates around the rink tossing them into the hands of adoring fans who attended the public practice. Soon thereafter, goaltender Manny Legace is the sole player on the otherwise empty ice rink. With his goalie mask off and sweat trickling down his face after a strenuous practice, Legace skates towards a corner in the rink where a small rectangular hole in the glass lies. Fans shove jerseys, pucks, and photos through the tiny box in hopes of obtaining a signature from the number one goaltender in the NHL. While his teammates soak their bodies in hot showers, Legace signs jersey after jersey for the next thirty minutes. He signs every single item that is asked of him to autograph before slipping into the locker room. Later, Legace will tell the Detroit Free Press why he did it: “I just remember as a kid, I used to go to open practices. I remember the feeling when I got snubbed by one of the guys. They just walked by and wouldn’t sign. Kind of just took it to heart. Not a big deal. Just a half-hour out of my day.â€
The Detroit Red Wings have a long storied history dating back to 1926 as one of the Original Six teams in the NHL. The organization has collected ten Stanley Cup victories including three since 1997. From the glory era in the 1950s to the “Dead Wings†of the 1980s to the dynasty of the moment, Detroit has followed the team as crazed Wingnuts, a term coined for the extremely passionate Wings fans. During the playoffs, the Spirit of Detroit statue in front of the City-County building is draped in a giant Wings jersey. After each of the three most recent Stanley Cup victories, over one million people packed Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit to cheer on the newly crowned champions in a parade. When the NHL was locked out last season due to a labor dispute, Detroit’s economy lost $2.2 million for every missed home game. Detroit makes around $80 million throughout the 41 home games every season according to financial experts. The team has helped enrich the city of Detroit at a time when the city is known more for its negative characteristics than positive ones. As Detroiters lose jobs with automobile jobs being sent overseas, the Wings have provided those living in Detroit and its suburbs a bright reprieve from its economic blues. The hockey team doesn’t change an individual’s employment status, but when the Wings win in Detroit, everyone feels like a winner.
An hour and fifteen minutes before the doors open, people start to gather outside Joe Louis Arena. The snow falls around us, looking beautiful on this early February morning. A family from Port Huron is first in line. The girl, who’s only two years older than her brother, frequently runs to the railing overlooking the players’ parking lot in hopes of catching a glimpse of her favorite hockey players. She laughs in delight at the sight of players driving shiny black Hummers and Suburbans into the lot below. Two college age females clasp their numerous 8×10 photos in hopes of obtaining an autograph from one of the athletes featured in the photos as they discuss previous acquisitions from similar events. As time passes, our toes and fingers go numb in the sub-20 degree weather, our breathing becomes shallow, and our noses start to run as our bodies attempt to ward off the frigid winter weather. The waiting line swells to encompass over 500 fans, just in time for the Fox 2 Channel cameraman to record the image of a freezing mass of waving Red Wings fans waiting to attend the public practice.
It’s not uncommon to find lines of frozen fans waiting outside in cold Michigan weather in the middle of January or February to partake in a Wings promotional event. At a Darren McCarty autograph signing at Hockeytown Authentics in Troy, close to one thousand fans stood in ten-degree weather for over four hours to obtain a signature on their favorite pieces of memorabilia. The fans, bonded by a single passion, would walk to a nearby café and bring back hot chocolate for their freezing counterparts. With his ties to the community, McCarty is one of the fans’ favorite Wings. Aside from running the McCarty Cancer Foundation, which is dedicated to fundraising research for the cancer that killed his father, multiple myeloma, he is also involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Motor City Mitten Madness. Susannah, a Detroit Wingnut, made this comment after McCarty’s father passed away, “Forget every unbelievably crass athlete demanding a higher salary or whining about the lack of respect he gets, McCarty has demonstrated the epitome of sportsmanship and integrity during a time that must be unbelievably hard on him and his family.â€
McCarty isn’t the only Red Wings player to help out in the local community. Sick children at the Children’s Hospital in Detroit smile in delight at the sight of their favorite hockey players in their ward. The Wings make this yearly trip to encourage and lift the spirits of young ones fighting illnesses like cancer. Yzerman signs a hat, sweater, and puck for Michael Columbia, a 13-year-old boy who was diagnosed with brain cancer in April. “Stevie’s my favorite player,” Michael told The Detroit News. “My father has told me a lot about him. He said he hoped that my treatments are good and that I don’t get sick again.” It’s this sort of kindess towards the community by the Wings that has led to such fervor among Wingnuts.
The Wings organization is one of the few professional teams to place a premium on the athlete’s family, another reason Wingnuts respect the team and organization. Last fall on a road trip to the southeast, each player was allowed to bring a mentor, father, or son to follow every moment of the trip. Team players, coaches, and support staff had the opportunity to show what they do on a daily basis with those who helped them make it into the NHL whether it was on the ice or within the organization. Both Wingnuts and other NHL fans were really impressed with the organization placing family before hockey and acting on that priority. One Carolina Hurricanes’ fan told me, “More teams should host trips like the Wings father son trip.â€
The sport of hockey is known for its aggressive play whether it’s a hard check allowed within the rules of the game or a fight that breaks out resulting in numerous penalties creating a negative image for many people regarding the sport. Some parents don’t want to expose their child to the fighting at a young age, but Wingnuts encourage their children to attend games and proudly dress up their young son or daughter in red and white. An enforcer, the fighter, has a primary job to protect the team’s star athletes. If an opponent checks captain Steve Yzerman too hard, the enforcer goes after that player to show that the Wings star players cannot be messed with or there will be consequences. It’s for this reason that Joe Louis Arena is at its loudest and most electric moments when a hockey fight breaks out during a game. All of a sudden all conversations stop and the mass of over 20,000 fans stand as one to cheer the home team’s enforcer on. Even though the Wings payroll went from $78 million to $39 million in one year, ticket prices remain just as high leaving Wingnuts to watch the games on television while corporate businessmen attend the games. Even with these negative qualities, Wingnuts around the world proudly cheer on their favorite team.
A young two-year-old boy named Michael wearing a tiny Wings jersey autographed by Manny Legace and Kirk Maltby peeks over the rink board trying to capture a glimpse of the white ice and spectacle of the impressive athletes. The dad scoops up his blonde haired and blue-eyed son who quickly erupts into tears at the thought of leaving the glass and sight of the players. Adults and older children in the nearby surroundings smile and laugh as the young boy is already expressing the Wingnut attitude at such a tender age.
For many fans, it’s the team history that fuels their passion for the Wings. Currently, about 14,000 individuals are on a waiting list for season tickets. As a result, season tickets are typically passed down from generation to generation. One fan noted this in his life, “My grandparents went to go see the Red Wings during World War II. My parents went to go see the Red Wings during the Vietnam era. I go to see the Red Wings today. I guess you could call it the Iraq era.â€
In smaller markets, Wingnuts engulf opponent’s arenas like a group of ants attack a sugar candy. For example, in a game against the Washington Capitals, red and white hockey jerseys overwhelmed Washington’s MCI Center and “Lets Go Red Wings†dominated the arena for the entire night. Wings jerseys are the most purchased hockey jerseys globally so it doesn’t come as a surprise when one fan asked his friends living in Germany if he could bring them anything from the United States. All his friends requested were some Jack Daniels and a Red Wings hockey jersey.
Dissimilar to the NBA and NFL where athletes are mostly from America, the NHL is composed of Americans, Canadians, Europeans, and Russians. This eclectic mix of athletes brings together a variety of cultures that you usually only see in the United Nation meetings. From the Russian Five in the 1990s when all five Wings players on the ice consisted of star Russian hockey players to today’s Swedish Seven, Wingnuts have appreciated the organization’s superior scouting, especially of foreign countries.
It’s easy to be a fan when the team is winning during the regular season and playoffs, but Wingnuts appreciate the players behind the jersey whether it’s cheering on the athlete who scored a career high number of goals or welcoming a player’s new baby into the world. A Wingnut isn’t just a passionate fan, but a member of the Wings family. A self-proclaimed Wingnut once told me, “I love this team like a family. It’s like you grow up with these guys because you’ve watched them for so long. When they hurt out there, you can’t help but feel awful about it as if someone really close to you is hurt.â€
Wingnuts religiously follow their team because of its strong tradition such as the throwing of octopi on the ice at Red Wings games. The tradition originated from April 1952 when an eight legged octopus was thrown on the ice to represent the eight wins needed to win the Stanley Cup and it’s been good luck ever since. Only in Detroit can one see 20,000 Wingnuts jump to their feet, scream so loud they go hoarse, stomp their feet until it sounds like the building will collapse to cheer on an out-of-shape middle aged man named Al Sabokta walking across the Joe Louis ice swinging a five foot wide octopus over his head with a huge grin on his face.
Sweden 3, Finland 2
It was great watching the gold medal game and seeing the three Sweden goals come from a Wing (Zetterberg, Kronwall, Lidstrom) with Lidstrom getting the game winning goal. I was cheering for the US, but since I figured they wouldn’t do well, Sweden was my next pick mainly because of all the Wings on the team - I have my priorities.
It sounds like Niklas Kronwall might be feeling a little guilty getting a gold medal after being Mattias Ohlund’s replacement.
Niklas Kronwall proudly wore an Olympic gold medal he thought should have rested around someone else’s neck. Given a chance to play once defenseman Mattias Ohlund went down in the quarterfinals with an injury, Kronwall stepped in for Sweden and scored a goal in a 3-2 victory over Finland in Sunday’s men’s hockey final.Ohlund, who missed the final two games after being injured in a win over Switzerland, didn’t get a medal in Turin. He might receive one from his rookie replacement.
“I think he deserved it more than I have,” Kronwall said. “I came in and played two games. If we don’t end up getting another medal, I’m offering a medal.”
Kronwall said if it came down to it, he would find it difficult to part with the gold medal. He planned to get in touch with Ohlund to at least share the excitement of the title.
I have also finally uploaded photos from the Wings public practice that I attended on February 11, 2006. You can view them at my Webshots account.
Behind the Blog: Abel to Yzerman
Today’s Behind the Blog features Bill Houlihan who runs Abel to Yzerman (A2Y). A2Y is a pretty new blog, but already one of my favorite daily reads. He posts a “Fan Post of the Day” including Wings game summaries and thoughts on the latest NHL news. It’s always an entertaining and informative read.Q.1 - What made you decide to create a Red Wings blog and why did you name it A2Y?
As a fan, I’ve always wished I could go to one place on the internet and find everything packed in one site: all the day’s articles, articles from our opponents’ paper, fans viewpoints, stats, history…all of it in one place. So, I figured rather than keep whining about it I would go ahead and try it myself. Also, I love to write and the Red Wings are certainly something I feel passionate about so it was kind of natural for me.
As for the name…I had considered “Hockeytown South.†But, thankfully, it was pointed out I might run into copyright problems so I scrapped that. “Abel to Yzerman†came out of nowhere, really. I was thinking alphabetically, obviously. One of Kukla’s readers wondered why it’s not Abel to Zombo. Not sure that would attract the readers Yzerman would.
Q.2 - Abel to Yzerman just started in December 2005, yet you have over 11,000 hits in that period. What do you credit your popularity to?
I have no idea, really. I think it’s great, but it may be an indication of the frustration so many Wing fans have with the Michigan media, which is terrible where the Wings are concerned. I try to give Wings fans what I was looking for when I started…a central place for Wings news and maybe a little humor thrown in.
Q.3 - Since A2Y is so new, where would you like to see it a year from now?
I’d like it to be a little more visual, with some multi-media aspects to it that you don’t see now. But, believe me when I tell you I’m about as novice as you can get where site design and code are concerned. So, it’s going to be a slow process.
Q.4 - How long have you been a Detroit Red Wings fan and where do you see the organization in five year?
Well, I grew up in Michigan. I’ve been a Wing fan all my life. I think the future of the Wings is incredibly positive. There is so much young talent. Not just in Detroit where Zetterberg, Kronwall and Datsyuk lead a great core of youngsters. But there are players in Grand Rapids like Valteri Flippula, Jimmy Howard and Jiri Hudler. Igor Grigorenko is back to 85 percent of what he was before his ’03 car accident and he’s going to be great. I’d say that the Wings will be just as good in 5 years as they are today.
Q.5 – Which Wings’ Stanley Cup win did you enjoy the most? Why?
Wow…good question. The ’96-97 team was obviously special to all Wing fans because it ended the 42 year drought and the Wings had to go through Colorado to do it. And McCarty’s goal in Game 4 was unbelievable. The two Cups following that one were great for their own reasons. But to see Steve Yzerman get that monkey off his back…that was the best.
Q.6 – If you could change one thing about the Wings either as a team or organization (front office/owners), what would it be and why?
As a team, I’d like to see a little more grit. I think getting Niklas Kronwall back helps in that respect. But, if Ken Holland makes one deal on or around March 9th I hope it’s for a tough winger. One player I really disliked during the height of the rivalry with Colorado was Mike Keane. But, I think the Wings could use someone just like him right now. As for management…get the corporate types who buy out the lower sections to donate them to people who wouldn’t typically be able to afford those tickets. Get the vocal fans, the hard core fans, closer to the ice. That’s the definition of a pipe dream, right there.
Q.7 – How hard has it been for you to follow the Red Wings when you haven’t been back to Michigan for 15 years?
It was a lot tougher before the internet and before the Center Ice package. I remember watching the Wings lose to Colorado in ’96 from an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. And I watched them win the Cup in ’02 from another ship in the Persian Gulf with the satellite cutting out with 7 minutes left in the clinching game. It’s been hard, but worthwhile.
Q.8 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?
Well, I can tell you that my first pro hockey experience was watching the Saginaw Gears in the late 70’s. I remember Dennis DeRosiers and Marcel Comeau. My first Wing game at the Joe wasn’t until 1990 against the Rangers.
Q.9 – How many hours a week do you spend working on A2Y? Do you find it hard to balance the blog and everything else going on in your life?
Aha…the big question. I usually get up at 5 and try to do a game recap and post whatever Wing-related articles I can find before I go to work. Then, I’ll usually try to post something at lunch time. I’ll spend an hour or so at night working on it, too. So, I’d say about three hours per day. It is hard some days, but it’s been fun so far. I can definitely see how some people can get burned out on it, though.
Q.10 – Why did you create and currently run a feature entitled “fan post of the day?†And which post has been your favorite thus far?
I’m glad you asked that. I was a message board guy for a long time, especially the MLive Wings Board. So, I guess I have a soft spot for the fans who post there and at some other boards. Plus, as hockey fans we are so passionate about our sport. I think it’s cool to demonstrate that however I can. My favorite fan post so far has been the one from LGW that included several links to historic Wing radio broadcasts.
Q.11 - Where do you see the Detroit Red Wings finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?
Well, I see them earning the 1 seed in the West. The easy answer to that is that the Wings will go as far in the playoffs as Legace allows them to. I think it’s a bit more than that, though. If the Wings have trouble scoring like they have the last two playoff runs, it won’t matter how Legace plays. If Lang, Zetterberg and Datsyuk can play the way they’re capable, I see the Wings hoisting the Cup again in June. If the scoring drops again, we could lose to anyone.
Q.12 – What did you do to pass the time during the NHL lockout?
It’s kind of a blur, really. By the time it was over I was so tired of numbers and acronyms. I remember listening to The Score on my computer at work when they had those two or three days of extended negotiations last Jan or Feb. It looked like we would have a 30 game regular season. Then it all fell apart. Pretty depressing stuff to look back on. But, in hindsight, I’m glad they didn’t cheapen the Cup by playing an abbreviated season.
Q.13 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Favorite Wings player? Why?
I was a big McCarty fan. I really liked everything he brought to the table as a player and as a member of the Detroit community. It was obvious that he really loved playing for the Wings. Yes, Darren had some personal problems but who doesn’t? He brought a real human side to that team. With him gone…I’d say Chris Chelios is my favorite player. He’s fun to watch every shift. Steve Yzerman’s obviously a favorite too. I think an unspoken motivation among the players is to win one final Cup for the Captain.
Q.14 – How do you think the Tocchet gambling ring scandal will affect the NHL aside from just giving it a black eye?
The issue is Gretzky. As a coach, he allowed Tocchet to keep his job while heavily involved with illegal activity. That, in itself, is bad for hockey because of Gretzky’s stature. But, if that’s the extent of it…just that Wayne knew about it and didn’t stop it, then I think the damage could be minor. If it turns out that Janet Jones was betting on behalf of her husband, then that’s going to be bad.
Q.15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?
Definitely Kukla’s Korner. I’ve been reading his blog since the day it started and still do. Aside from being a fan of his site, Paul has been great in answering my blog-related questions. I also enjoy Cason’s Blog and The Battle of Alberta. Both make me laugh and offer some great writing. Acid Queen, when I can get past her hatred of my Wings (out of sheer jealousy….easy, AQ….just kidding), is a daily read, as well.
Kris Draper observational interview
For my English 125 class (aka freshman english), I had to write a one to two page “essay” as an observational interview. This assignment really isn’t graded, just check plus, check, or check minus. Anyways, I was allowed to use my previous interview with Kris Draper, which you can read here, that I did in November 2003 for this assignment. As such, the essay I turned in is as follows…The Essay
Anne Marie Krappmann, the Detroit Red Wings’ community relations manager, has just informed me that I’ll be interviewing center Kris Draper following the team’s morning practice. My eyes wander down the hall passing over walls listing Detroit’s ten Stanley Cup wins and previous NHL award winners as I anxiously wait outside the locker room. Each time the locker room door opens, my heart skips a beat as I see players like captain Steve Yzerman, Darren McCarty, and Henrik Zetteberg walk past me into the adjacent room behind a bright red door. Finally the moment arrives, Draper emerges from the locker room wearing a casual sweater and jeans looking fresh from his recent shower following a strenuous practice and time spent talking to the media. After we introduce ourselves, he guides me into the room beyond the red door. My eyes widen in amazement at the sight of a restaurant setting with Wings’ photos galore and numerous players sitting in the back eating lunch. We sit down close to the door where the interview begins.
Draper appears confident, which is undoubtedly from his experience as the Wings’ go to guy for the Detroit media, and seems eager to answer my questions. He’s been playing professional hockey in Hockeytown since 1993 providing plenty of time for various nicknames to crop up. Most commonly, this 34-year-old redhead is referred to as Drapes, but occasionally teammates will call him Spike in reference to “the little dog who doesn’t stop, the little bulldog who keeps going.†Whether it’s killing the penalty on the ice, playing with his two kids at home, or cheering up a team grouch at practice, Draper always works hard to achieve his very best like his nickname infers.
Like many athletes, specifically hockey players, Draper is a very superstitious individual. His pregame routine is closely followed to prevent any potential mishaps on the ice. During the current NHL season, Draper wasn’t performing offensively like he had before the lockout so he made everyone move their locker room stalls back to the previous arrangement. Consequently, he scored a goal that night. A typical game day starts after Draper drops off his daughter Kennedi at school. He drives to Sonny’s Restaurant where he orders egg white omelets if the team won their last game. A recent loss results in an order of oatmeal. Following breakfast, Draper attends a half-hour long pregame skate to loosen up and prepare his sticks for the game that’s later in the evening. He promptly heads home to eat a home cooked meal and play with his son and daughter. An efficient nap re-energizes his body for the game as does a stop by Tim Horton’s where he orders a coffee and chocolate chip muffin because “that’s my lucky muffin.†Draper arrives at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit about two and a half hours before the game to warm up, stretch, and make sure all final preparations have been made. Once the game is over, the players and their wives will go out for dinner. However, the team often has to head for the airport following the game to fly to their next game’s location. But Draper finds it hard to complain about the busy schedules and late nights because “it’s something that I’ve wanted to do ever since I learned how to skate and knew what hockey was.â€
When Draper isn’t at Joe Louis Arena or on a road trip, he’s at home with his wife, Julie, and two kids, Kennedi and Kienan. He loves the summer when the NHL is in its off-season because the Toronto native can devote all his time and attention to his family in his hometown. Draper explained to me the challenges of being a father as an NHL player, “During the season there are some stretches when it gets pretty tough; you’re away from your kids on road trips and the kids are wondering when Daddy is coming home.†Between training camp, 82 games during the regular season, and a potential for 28 playoff games, the NHL schedule can place a lot of pressure on a family. Draper quickly admits that his wife makes plenty of sacrifices for the family to function, “Every guy here is lucky to have a wife to take care of the kids and kids that understand that Daddy has to go to sleep or Daddy has to go play hockey.â€
In his NHL career, Draper has gotten his name on the coveted Stanley Cup three times in 1997, 1998, and 2002 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. Each victory has been memorable for its own reason. The first Cup win because Detroit hadn’t won in 42 years and the city was ecstatic to have the Cup back in its grasp. The second victory was special because it was a very inspirational victory after one of the Wings defenseman and staff member were seriously injured in a limo accident in the previous year. However in 2002, Draper was married and had both kids at that point in time so he was able to do little things he had been unable to do in previous wins like placing Kienan in the Stanley Cup and eating “Fruit Loops out of the Stanley Cup with my daughter.â€
Draper understands how fortunate he is at this point in his life, “Everyday I get to come down here [Joe Louis Arena]. I’m a Detroit Red Wing and I’ve won three Stanley Cups and everything in hockey is just going really good now.†Draper realizes his good fortune and does what he can to help the local community. He is the spokesman for D.A.R.E. and after the 2002 Stanley Cup win, he brought the Stanley Cup to Children’s Hospital in Detroit. When the hospital asked Draper to bring in the Cup, it was an easy decision for him to make. “You know as we wake up in the morning, while you guys go to school and I go play hockey; these parents go to the hospital everyday to visit their kids…Being as fortunate as I am and to go in there and see all the sicknesses and illnesses and be able to put a smile on a kid’s face and make kids forget about their illnesses for even just ten minutes; you know you’ve done something good. It’s very rewarding to go in there and do that,†Draper explained to me.
While the interview lasted nearly 30 minutes, the moment went by too quick. Before that morning in Joe Louis Arena, Draper was a speedy center who won three Stanley Cups and proudly represented the Detroit Red Wings. Following the interview, he became an individual who was extremely passionate about his hockey and who, above all else, deeply cared for his family. I left the arena with a newfound respect and admiration for the hockey player everyone calls Drapes.
Behind the Blog: Boltsmag
For today’s Behind the Blog, BtJ heads south to the warm state of Florida to catch up with John Fontana at Boltsmag. This blog covers everything you need to know about the Tampa Bay Lightning including other local hockey teams. Always a great read.Whenever I have a free moment this week, I’ll be sending out my next batch of Behind the Blog email interviews out to various hockey bloggers. I have two in mind specifically, but if you’re interested in participating please drop me an email. I’m planning on sending out four total this batch so I need two more blogs. Thanks!
Q.1 – You’ve been blogging consistently since February 2004. Why did you create Boltsmag?
As a Lightning fan, I’d been active on the Internet in various places and in various amounts from 1999 onward, discussing the Bolts on FanHome.com, ESPN’s message boards, and the old Rivals.com network site named Boltsmag. I’d discuss the team with a clique of other fans who were optimistic despite the team’s dismal performance and held out hope that things would improve in the future. And over the course of the years – they did improve for the Lightning.
The Dot-com bubble burst and Rivals and Boltsmag disappeared. FanHome has become part of the Scout.com network and the few places I could talk about the Lightning, I was treated as an outcast because I wasn’t part of another clique of posters, or I wasn’t a fan who shared a certain opinion that the Lightning needed to do this-and-that in order to contend. It really started to bother me that my opinion amounted to nothing because I wasn’t agreeing with a certain message board member, or I wasn’t articulating my argument with certain information that another message board member seemed to make vital to all their posts. With a chorus of nay-sayers, I ducked out of the message board communities and started following things on my own, talking about the team with only a few close friends.
2003-04’s preseason rolled around and I got curious looking for Lightning fan site. I took a look at some web pages that were devoted to the Lightning and was taken aback by it all. Most sites were non-updated entities that were relics of years gone by and the glory period that was the 1995-96 season. I felt sorta ashamed because it looked like there were no fans for the Lightning on the Internet. What fans you could find were on wayward message boards like Sun Sports TV.com and were that closed clique group (aforementioned) that wouldn’t even address general hockey issues or opinions from certain NHL fans that the team doesn’t have a fan base and should relocate.
It was the constant misperception by closed-minded fans that suggested Tampa Bay didn’t really like the Lightning, that the Ice Palace / St. Pete Times Forum was a waste of money to build and so-on and so forth. There was no one defending the Lightning and the fan-base through all of this.
So I simply said “The heck with it†and decided to build my own blog to report on the Bolts, to show that there are fans in the south and in Tampa Bay. I might not be a season ticket holder, I might not be the most in-the-know guy on the Internet with regards to the team or the NHL but I do follow and support the Lightning.
Q.2 – What do you hope to achieve over the next few years with your blog?
I’m hoping to improve coverage of the Lightning organization and local hockey in general…I had tried to obtain media credentials earlier this year in an effort to expand coverage of the team and was shot down for it.
Q.3 – Do you have any advice for fellow hockey bloggers, especially the newcomers?
K.I.S.S. – keep it simple, stupid. There are a lot of great in depth blogs out there and sometimes less is more. There are several official NHL blogs at current that rarely post and when they do – they write long stuff that rambles in several areas before coming to a halt. These are looked at as “blogs†but they really are just columns with comments.
Shakespeare also had a good line which needs to be remembered by anyone writing daily – “This above all, to thine own self, be true.†You’ll hear other’s opinions and other’s comments and beliefs wherever you go on the Internet, just don’t get caught up in it.
Q.4 – When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?
This is sort of sad but I think it was 1998… I’ve been a fan for a while but it’s hard for me to get to the games or talk people into going to games with me. I don’t drive and the arena is a ways off – always has been. Tampa Bay also offers few or no mass transit options to get around – so I was at the mercy of family or friends to go to any sporting event. At any rate, it was the Lightning versus the Ottawa Senators. I think the thing that stands out most in that game is Cory Cross giving away a goal and me screaming “CROSS, YOU SUCK!†at the top of my lungs. To which I must say, thank you Toronto Maple Leafs for Fredrik Modin in exchange for Cory “Sieve†Cross.
Q.5 – Any final thoughts on Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup win in 2003-2004?
James Mirtle had told me to savor the Cup – because it may be the only one the Lightning ever experience. That wasn’t James trying to discourage me or discredit the team – that was speaking with history in mind. How many teams in the NHL have won the Cup? How many years tend to pass between Cup wins? I mean, the Rangers had a 54-year drought, the Leafs haven’t won the cup since 1967, and there are teams that have NEVER won the cup.
I guess my final thought is that even if the Lightning never play for the right to hoist Lord Stanley’s cup again, the 2003-04 season will be mine to savor for the rest of my days – and that’s the same for Lightning fans everywhere. The Bolts might look like a fluke right now in certain people’s eyes, or they look nothing like thy did last season – but that doesn’t make the Ring’s any less shiny or the memory of the Players with the Cup any less sweet.
Q.6 – Which player has had the biggest impact on the Lightning this season?
John Grahame – and the impact hasn’t been for the better. I could also say “Jassen Cullimore†as someone having the biggest impact on the Lightning this season. Jassen departed the team for Chicago during the 2004 off-season before the strike. Without him on defense, things feel a lot weaker…But I believe Grahame has had a bigger (negative) impact on the team.
John’s Comment on 2/6/06: Just a sidenote, Christy sent me this interview request and I compiled my responses at the beginings of the Lightning’s current hot streak, if not before it. Grahame has become an entirely different animal in his last 4 starts (3 shut outs) and the entire team has found emotion again.
Q.7 – How long have you been a Lightning fan and where do you see the organization going over the next 5 years?
I’ve been a fan of the Bolts since their inception. I was a kid at the time and while hockey was a novelty at first to me, we had a hockey ref who owned a baseball card shop near where I lived and we would spend hours hanging out with this guy and talking about the team and hockey along with other sports.
As for where the Bolts go in five years – I haven’t a clue to be honest. If they get there bearings back, it’s possible they make another Cup run or more than one. If the team tries too hard to become competitive this season or next season – the next five years could be a mess.
Q.8 – Which Lightning player, if any, do you believe will win an end of the year NHL award like the Selke or Hart?
As of right now, Brad Richards for the Lady Byng…besides that, the Bolts don’t really boast anyone worthy of an award this season.
Q.9 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout?
Channel surfed a lot more. Spent more time watching TV shows such as “House MDâ€, “The Daily Show†and stuff on the Discovery channel. I also – and please don’t laugh at me! – watched NASCAR races more than I used to…Meaning I went from never watching NASCAR to catching a race occasionally. It’s sad, really…
Q.10 – Who is your favorite hockey player? Why?
Brad Richards. He’s the most consistent player on the Lightning and has been since he joined the NHL roster. This was a guy who was overlooked at Rimouski Oceanic as being a by-product of teaming with Vincent Lecavalier. He went on and starred on his own after Vincent joined the Bolts… Still taking knocks from critics because he played in the softer QMJHL… He signs with the Lightning and ends up runner up to Evgeny Nabakov for the Calder and later goes on to win Conn Smyth. Vincent Lecavalier is the boy wonder but Richards is the Dynamo that makes this team go.
Q.11 – What are your thoughts on Tampa Bay’s slump of late and where do you see the team finishing this season (ie. what seed in the conference, making it to the Stanley Cup finals, etc.)?
In a word – blah. Things just haven’t gone the way they should and the team has not responded to “rule changes†(these are mostly subjective and interpreted differently by the officials – see above Referee thoughts). Then factor in the losses behind the blue line (Jassen Cullimore, Brad Lukowich) as well as the departure of their #1 goaltender and bestowing goalie duties on a career backup and you’ve got problems.
I’ve also made comments on Boltsmag that the Olympics may be a detrimental factor this year as players (league wide) aren’t focusing fully on the games at hand and are thinking of the forthcoming Olympic tournament… This affects the Lightning pretty well as Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Fredrik Modin, Grahame, Vaclav Prospal and Pavel Kubina – the top 2 lines and a top D man.
If the Lightning turn it around – it’ll be after the Olympics and that gives them very little time to do it. I can see them making the Playoffs as a low seed – 7th or 8th – but it’s almost a stretch at this point.
Q. 12 – If you could change on thing about the NHL, what would it be?
The entire referee system. How rules are enforced, how refs are trained, disciplined and all the like. It’s been a long-standing complaint of mine that Referees need to call penalties and not just pick and choose which penalties to call. At the start fo the season – actually beginning during pre-season games – I thought that they were finally going to show that rules were meant to be enforced…. Then by mid November, the penalties stopped coming though infractions kept on occurring. Refs started to pick and chose what penalties to enforce and the league hasn’t stepped up and complained about this.
Systems of rules are there to be enforced, not selectively enforced. Power plays can disrupt the flow of the game – I realize that – but it’s not a refs fault for initializing a power play – it’s the fault of the player who committed the infraction that got him the penalty. You can blame definitions of penalties ro the refs themselves for their interpretations of what constitutes a penalty… Just don’t give me the “hindering the flow fo the game†crap that justifies a ref not calling a penalty.. A Referee’s job is not to manage flow fo the game specifically – it’s to enforce the rules.
Q.13 – Have you heard that the NHL is close to a deal with Apple regarding the iPod? If so, what are your thoughts on that?
The NHL? Trying to innovate? A pox on them! What’s next?! Glowing pucks?!?!?
Seriously – I think it’s good, especially if they can get into personal electronics faster than the other major sports.
Q. 14 – 61% of your readers who responded to your Boltsmag’s poll said they were not satisfied with OLN’s broadcasts of the NHL. What are your thoughts on the issue?
You know, it’s odd. I ran that poll the night before the last OLN broadcast (Tampa Bay versus The New York Islanders). I had written the poll thinking about how I had abhorred the OLN broadcasts early on.
I watched that game and enjoyed the broadcast more than the locally aired Lightning broadcasts on Sun Sports TV. It might have been camera positions at Nassau Coliseum or other technical issues with the building itself that made the broadcast better, or it could just very well be that OLN has improved that greatly over the first few months of the season.
Lightning fans also end up complaining with anyone besides Bobby Taylor and Rick Peckham calling Lightning games. That’s got to be a factor with some people voting against OLN’s broadcasts
Q. 15 – Is there a hockey blog or website that you look up to for inspiration?
Definitely Eric McErlain and Off Wing Opinion, PJ Swenson and Sharkspage. Eric covers the world of sports like no other and PJ is just an incredible hockey blogger. Others that I admire are James Mirtle and Tom Benjamin – play nice boys. 
Any additional comments?
This season has been tough for me to blog at Boltsmag. My posts are coming less frequent as one can see… Part of it’s being taken aback by the team and not knowing how to articulate what I feel is a problem. There are other factors like hand surgery I had in November (which I am fully recovered from) that have just had me off the ball this season.
Yet Boltsmag will be around for a while. I have no plans to give it up any time soon.
Wings 3, Avalanche 0
In a solid defensive effort, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-0. The Wings had seven successful penalty kills in the game and were unable to capitalize on three power play opportunities. Wings goaltender Manny Legace made 28 saves for the win. He looked incredibly strong today. There were certain instances that I couldn’t believe the puck didn’t go in the net; Legace had some unbelievable saves. I think Babcock has found his No. 1 goaltender.The first goal of the game came 5:40 into the third period. Henrik Zetterberg passed the puck from the corner to the front of the net where Dan Cleary flicked the puck behind Avs’ goaltender Abeischer.
Mikael Samuelsson scored his 19th goal of the season on a pass from Tomas Holmstrom 10:01 into the third. The final goal came on a breakaway from Robert Lang with 1:31 left in the game ensuring the Wings’ victory in the Pepsi Center.
Since Dallas lost to St. Louis in OT, 4-3, the Wings are now two points ahead of the Stars in the Western Conference standings. The Nashville Predators are currently seven points behind the Wings in the Central Division with 70 points.
Well that’s all for today, I’m going to the University of Michigan vs. Ohio State hockey game. Go Blue!
Wings 3, Blues 2
The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis blues with 3:55 left in the game on a Henrik Zetterberg rebound off of Andreas Lilja, who had just gotten out of the penalty box. Zetterberg now has 24 goals this season, which is a career high for him.In Niklas Kronwall’s first game back since the preseason game when he tore his ACL and MCL, Kronwall notched two assists and made his presence known on the open ice.
The first goal of the night from Detroit occurred 5:05 into the second period with another goal by Mikael Samuelsson. I’m telling you, he’s quite the streaky player. After going pointless for five games, Samuelsson has three points in two games. Zetterberg was given the assist on that goal. Brendan Shanahan also got his 24th goal of the season, 8:10 into the third period on a slap shot from inside the blue line to tie the game up.
Wings goaltender Manny Legace made 29 saves for the win. Detroit outshot St. Louis, 38-31.
NHL Face Off Fan Survey
I signed up to fill out any surveys that the NHL sends to this Face Off Fan group. Today’s survey was all about the NHL schedule. Examples of questions include (in my own words):
1) Hypothetically if the Wings were to play each team in the league once, would you be willing to lose out on a couple division games? [Answer: Heck yes!]
2) If you were to attend a Wings game, which team would you most like to see them play? List three. [Answer: Ottawa. Toronto. Vancouver (I enjoyed myself so much when the Wings played them on Jan 26, that I couldn’t refuse).]
3) If you were to attend a Wings game, which team would you least like to see play? List three. [Answer: Columbus. Minnesota. St. Louis.]
4) Which do you enjoy more? Choose least favorite, - , or most favorite. [Answer: Divisional play (least fav). Interconference play (-). Same conference but outside the division play (most fav).]
I hope that if enough people respond, Bettman will shorten the ridiculous 8 divisional games and allow each team to play every other team in the league. Even if it’s just one game (home or away); ideally it’d be two (one home and one away). I enjoy watching the Wings play the Preds, but not the rest of our division so that’s why the divisional play was my least favorite…