My world is going upside down…
I don’t know what to say anymore. The Detroit sports scene as I knew it is turning completely upside down.
- Both the Wings and Pistons are #1 heading into the playoffs. Both teams fail to make it to the finals. The Pistons do make it to the third round while the Wings can’t even win one round.
- The front page of The Detroit Free Press this morning? “The Return of Tiger Town.” Yep, the Detroit Tigers are one of the best teams in the MLB at this point.
- Captain Steve Yzerman retires on July 3, 2006. On the same day, the face of the Detroit Pistons decides he’s going to go to Chicago for more money. Ironically, my only Wings jersey (that’s not framed) is Yzerman’s and my only Pistons jersey is Wallace’s.
- Six days later Shanny signs with the New York Rangers. Mitch Albom has a really nice column piece on Shanny, you can read the Monday Edition article here.
“Friends of mine have been telling me the last few days, `You know, you will always be identified as a Red Wing,’ ” Shanahan said. “I know that. I’m proud of all we did there.”“Steve is like a born son of Detroit,” Shanahan said, laughing. “I was like the kid they adopted when I was 12 years old. It was great. I have no complaints. Detroit made me feel so special. They were like, `We’ll pretend you didn’t play those nine seasons before you got here.’ “
- Oh, and sure the Central Division was pretty weak last season. But is it me, or do all the teams in our division (aside from Columbus) seem to be improving? I mean, even the Blackhawks!
- On the same day as Shanny’s signing, the local Detroit TV stations report that we will be signing Ed Belfour tomorrow. That’s right, our first “big” move of the off-season (actually our first move, period) will be signing Psycho Eddie.
It’s safe to say that this is not what I expected this off-season. Even with the salary cap. I will always love the Wings and I will always be a big fan of the team, but I really hate to put an end to this era.
Now I’m not losing it like some people on the forums who believe we’ll be the worse team in the league, etc. I do think we won’t do as well in the regular season (at this point), but as long as we make the playoffs I don’t care. The President’s Trophy obviously doesn’t do well for us. I am, however, concerned about our lack of action this off-season whether it was by trades or signings. I’m just praying that Holland has something up his sleeves…
Oh, here are some fan reactions to the news about Belfour:
- My dad’s reaction after I told him, “It’s better than having a sharp stick in the eye. And you can quote me on that.”
- David: “I think I might paint the walls with puke now…”
- Hockeytown Red Wings (LGW): “I can’t wait for the first goalie fight of the year.”
- To which Happy Pancake responded, “Is this Holland’s gritty signing?”
- Reilly: “Low risk, high reward signing. If he plays great and is healthy, awesome. If he sucks and/or gets injured, they have cap room to add another goalie down the stretch. Look alive people.”
- Every time you hear a goal horn, an Eagle loses its Wings.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply