A Response Post

I had a friend of mine link me to this article over at Yahoo from a freelance writer:

"The Detroit Red Wings: Why I hate this obnoxious hockey team."

Go ahead and read it.

For a split moment, I thought about making a rebuttal at my legitimate hockey writing job, but decided that maybe I'll just do it here instead. All I plan on doing is highlighting points of it, okay? Okay, let's go.

"The Detroit Red Wings are the Stars Western Conference rivals; around here we call them the "Dead Things" or "Dead Wings.""

1. The Wings may be the Stars' WC rivals, but the Stars aren't the Wings' WC rivals. That would be Colorado for the better part of the 90s and 2000s, and lately it's been Chicago. And sometimes Nashville [Nashville usually in the playoffs].

2. We haven't been called "Dead Wings" since the 1980s, at least by the majority of hockey fandom.

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"Mike Modano is a Detroit Red Wing."

Well, yes, he is. And I'm sorry that he had to leave Dallas, especially since he's such an iconic player for that entire franchise. But is it our fault that the Stars decided they wanted to take another direction and had to let him go? Is it our fault that he's from the Detroit area? That he has a hockey arena in the area named after him? That he decided to choose his original home to finish his career?

The answer is no to all of those questions. I'm sorry that you hate us so much and I'm sorry you have to see Modano in a Winged Wheel, but that's something you have to live with because of your organization's choices. And maybe it'll work out.

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"The Detroit Red Wings are the New York Yankees of the NHL."

I've always hated this comparison.

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"The Detroit Red Wings are arrogant."

An excerpt: "They prance on the ice and are smug off of it. Most of the Detroit players are self-important nit-wits. I can't stand watching them play, or give interviews or breathe; they are jerks."

Don't make assumptions about players just because you hate the whole team. I hate Sidney Crosby with a passion, but I've been told that off the ice he is nice and moderately humble. I wouldn't doubt it.

Most hockey players are pretty humble, so assuming that an entire franchise's team is made up of "self-important nit-wits" and "jerks" is a pretty big statement to make, especially basing it off of their play. And come on, have you ever read an interview with Datsyuk? He's freaking hilarious! [And likes to fish. But that's another story.]

I've fortunately had the opportunity to meet/have conversations [or at least interaction] with Wings players. Brett Lebda likes to swear casually and poke fun at his team mates; Brian Rafalski was talking to me about Halloween costumes for five minutes because I mentioned I was Zetterberg for Halloween last year; Niklas Kronwall was ridiculously happy and impressed with my Kronwall totebag [he apparently had no idea they existed and in his words, "It could be really useful, you know, on the road."]; Patrick Eaves was crazy concerned when I told him I fell on the ice while skating; and Val Filppula kept assuring me it was totally okay for me to ask for his signature since I kept apologizing while he signed my puck [hey, I felt bad for interrupting his dessert].

Even walking up to players and asking for a picture, I've never been turned down. These guys don't get bombarded by crazy, rabid fans, which is why they're so lenient and pretty friendly. That may also have to do with their personalities.

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"Detroit Red Wings play boring hockey."

Excerpt: "Watching the Red Wings play is like watching a bunch of boring robots skate around the ice."

WHO TOLD HER LIDSTROM'S A ROBOT?! THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET, PEOPLE.

Apparently she hasn't seen anyone get Kronwalled. Or watched Datsyuk and Zetterberg do their magic thing. I will admit there are some boring games, but that can be said for any team.

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And the last paragraph:

"The Red Wings fans are some of the least knowledgeable, obnoxious, arrogant group of wannabe hockey fans I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. They are more interested in getting drunk at the games than to actually watch the game. I guess if my team was as boring as Detroit's I would just drink instead too. When the fans are good and drunk and want to show their Red Wings some love, they throw Octopus out onto the ice. Sometimes the octopus is alive, sometimes it isn't; either way, it's just another stupid thing Detroit Red Wings fans do. I hate the Detroit Red Wings and their obnoxious fans. The Red Wings have the worst hockey fans and the worst hockey team."

Apparently "tradition" isn't a word in her vocabulary [or Gary Bettman's, for that matter.]

Every hockey team has their drunk fans, their obnoxious fans, their annoying fans. Anyone I have ever sat by in a Wings game has always started talking stats with me and discussing things that are happening in the game or happened in previous games or what we think is going to happen. Rarely have they ever had more than one glass of beer. And I'm sitting in the upper rows of the upper bowl in the cheap seats.

Wings fans know their hockey. Yeah, you get the loudmouth fans who doesn't know anything [like that one guy who was complaining that the person sitting next to them loved Holmstrom], but an entire fan base being like that is pretty rare. I know fellow Wings fans will point at Hawks fans and Penguins fans, but I know better. I know decent fans of both those teams [and some terrible ones, too, don't get me wrong] and heck, the internet isn't the best place to meet thousands of amazing fans of teams you hate.

Wings fans are passionate about their hockey. Really passionate. It's because we're so close to Canada. Those people rub off on you pretty easy. So being overly passionate about our team apparently makes us look arrogant. And that's because we usually know our facts.

You want to meet good, cool fans that know their stuff? Make a comment about their NHL shirt or hat when you see them and start up a conversation. I do that every time I'm in Disney World and it's always so much fun. I high-fived a guy in a Whalers jersey at the Magic Kingdom. I also got some compliments on my Kronwall bag. Hell, I had a guy seating my family at the "Finding Nemo" musical in the Animal Kingdom who said he was a Bruins fan. His response when he saw our Wings attire? This:

"Uh oh. You guys are wings fans. We can't seat you up front even if you DO have an autographed hat! You have to be a Boston Bruins fan. But you're Original Six, so we'll let it slide."

He seated us in the "penalty box," and then put Stars fans next to us and some Caps fans across the row. I love hockey stories from Disney. They always stick with me.

I know the writer of said article was probably looking for a response like mine just to get some attention and normally I don't tend to voice my opinion on anything, but the part insulting the players and saying they're jerks really got to me. To be fortunate enough to meet the players and see that they aren't arrogant like other athletes makes me feel as though I have to defend their humanity to people that assume otherwise.

You know the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? Don't do that. Get informed before you post something for the whole internet to see.

Homer Meets Harrison

Okay, I'll admit this may be the stupidest comic I've drawn.

Last night at eleven, The Simpsons' episode was "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," my favorite Simpsons episode. If you've never seen it, or don't watch The Simpsons, the gist of it is that Homer's in a barbershop quartet and the entire thing is a huge - and I mean huge - parody of The Beatles.

My favorite part of the episode is when Homer meets George Harrison. And since it's copyrighted on Youtube, I recorded it from my computer. You need to watch it to get the whole joke of the comic [or just to see that part of the episode, if you're a Simpsons fan].



Well, I tweeted that quote last night and my Holmstrom-loving friend thought that "Homer" was Holmstrom.

Naturally, it had to be drawn with Holmstrom in Homer's place because we learned during last season that Homer loves candy. And by default, he probably loves sweets, and sweets include brownies. There. That's the connection.

Another Wings Comic!

I've been busy this past week comic-wise. Pumping out two in the span of a week is pretty dang good. This one was a birthday present for a friend of mine who absolutely loves Tomas Holmstrom.

If you didn't see the second pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, I'll lay out the scene for you:

Holmstrom and some Penguins player both get stupid off-setting minor penalties. Holmstrom is not pleased at all. As he sits in the box and the refs are converging, he takes the towel in the box and throws it at the glass right next to the ref. The ref gives him a ten-minute misconduct.

Had this been a real game, I doubt Homer would have thrown the towel out of frustration. But since it was a pre-season game, it was hilarious.

So I present to you "Tomas' Towel-Throwing Tendencies."

[As a side-note/error, Homer lost his beard in the sixth frame. My bad.]

Red Wings Comic!

I swear that I do still draw Red Wings comics. This one takes a little background.

For those of you who haven't checked out "The Comic" over at Livejournal, in its beginning stages before I branched it off into mini-comics, it was centered around a fictional, fangirl-y wedding. Getting around that awkward fact, for the honeymoon, the trip was to Franzenmuth.

Franzenmuth is completely planned out, in case you were wondering. There are rides, restaurants, attractions, etc. One of the restaurants/snack stands is this: [with Val and Ilari standing in front of it]

The friend of mine that got me into loving Filppula back when he first made the team has made Filppula's Fabulous Funnel Cakes into a running joke. We firmly (and jokingly) believe thatVal and Ilari totally make funnel cakes when they aren't playing hockey.

She pointed out this picture to me and said, "They're totally arguing about funnel cakes."

Therefore, it had to be fleshed out and expanded in comic form. [click to make it bigger, naturally.]


And if that wasn't that hilarious, trust me - there's a hilarious Holmstrom-centric one on the horizon.

A Letter to Johan Franzen

Dear Johan Franzen,

I swear, if you get injured in tonight's game against the Blackhawks, I'm going to scream and scream and scream some more and you will hear it all the way in Chicago. I will also find you when you get back to Michigan, slap you across the face, and then proceed to break down in tears and refer to that joking comment you made last season when you said you would never play a game against Chicago in October again. I took that completely seriously.

Of course, all of this will happen only if you get injured in tonight's game. Just play awesome and you know...score the GWG again because that would really help me in my fantasy hockey league.

Love,

Your passionate fan who has created an entire fictional city in your name

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As a hilarious side-note, I absolutely adore reading Down Goes Brown's posts over at his blog. His latest entry is how to predict how this upcoming season will go. His first prediction states:

"October 9, 2010 - The Chicago Blackhawks raise their Stanley Cup banner prior to their game against the Detroit Red Wings. The moment is marred somewhat when Detroit third-liner Kris Draper surveys the rafters and comments "Wow, Chicago, you've won four Stanley Cups? Me too!""

Truer words were never spoken. Okay, maybe once. It was my friend before Game Seven against Pittsburgh. He said, "Kirk Maltby could have five Stanley Cups. Kirk. Maltby."

Pre-Season Hockey!

Tonight is the first game of my nine-game pack! Is it just me or does it feel like only a few weeks ago that Chicago won the Stanley Cup? It feels like hockey barely ended. Then again, it also feels like it's been one of the longest off-seasons in recent history.

Either way, I blame Ilya Kovalchuk.

Anyway. With the season quickly approaching, I have realized that I've neglected this place over the summer. Things were crazy at work [and still pretty much are, but at least my schedule is back to being steady] and then I started that other writing job over at nhlhotstove.com [which will continue on, so keep checking for Wings updates over there] and then suddenly BAM I'm in classes again. I also completely neglected my Wings' comic, although if you guys don't mind even crappier drawn comics on lined paper, I'll start posting again [I tend to zone out doodling in classes].

But yes, my first ever pre-season game will be tonight and I am thoroughly excited. I've been holding onto dozens of Red Wings tickets for over a month now and holy shit does it feel good to finally be able to use them! If I get any awesome pictures or videos, I will definitely be sharing them with you guys.

This is just a post to assure you that I am still alive and shall be updating more consistently once hockey starts. Honestly, I need that in my life again.