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This topic has been archived - replies are not allowed.
Congratulations to the
Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!
In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and make the case that the Red Wings have been the best team in professional sports for the last decade and a half:
1) This is their fourth Stanley Cup championship in 10 seasons -- which makes them the most dominant team in the NHL over the last decade.
2) They've made five trips to the Cup finals over the last 12 seasons, plus two more trips to the Western Conference Finals
3) Most tellingly, they have made the playoffs every year for 16 straight years -- an all-time pro-sports record.
4) And, they have gone into the playoffs as the No 1 or No 2 seed -- meaning they had the best or the second-best won/loss record in the league -- at least 10 times, maybe more, in the last 16 years
5) Finally: I didn't research this, but, based on having followed them all these years, and remembering how often they finished at or near the top of the standings -- and based on Points No. 3 and No. 4 above -- I'm pretty sure they've also had the best won-loss percentage in professional sports over the last 16 years.....
Happy to be part of Red Wing Nation!
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(49 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 9, 2008 4:06 PM
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> Hockey has limited appeal and will be lucky to stay
> no. 4 in popularity.
> This is coming from an ice hockey player of 30 years.
In defense of hockey:
Mad Mike Milbury tees off
By John Rolfe, SI
Well, it appears that Tiger Woods hath raised the hackles of one Mike Milbury, who is mad as hell at the iconic golfer for having the temerity to say earlier this week that he didn't give a ripe old fig about the now-concluded Stanley Cup Final, adding, "I don't think anybody really watches hockey anymore."
Mad Mike's response on TSN:
"You know what? I'm gonna change the name now. It's gonna be Tiger Wuss. Here's a guy that took about three months to get over a simple arthroscopic surgery. You look at [Penguins forward] Ryan Malone. His face exploded with a slap shot last night -- he's back out in 10 minutes! Keep your yap shut, Tiger, or I'll send a couple of wingers down there -- [Penguins forward] Gary Roberts -- to tidy you up a little bit, meathead."
This little opinion piece was par for the coarse, if you'll pardon the painful pun. Milbury is the former Boston Bruins defenseman who notoriously clambered into the stands at Madison Square Garden one fine evening in 1979 to beat the goosedown out of a fan -- by using the fan's footwear. It's my understanding that the fan uttered something that irked Mr. Milbury, who has been known to express his displeasure from time to time and in such a colorful way that NBC has made him America's version of Don Cherry: a Slap Shot-style ambassador for a game that has comfortably settled into its niche, although recent TV ratings suggest that more than a few people do, indeed, watch hockey.
Mad Mike (see our little companion gallery), who took his nickname from his brash, impulsive, constant and often disastrous trades during a 12-year stretch as GM and coach with the New York Islanders, is trainwreck-fascinating and -- particularly if you're an Islanders fan -- polarizing. After I opined in this space last March that I wished the long-mediocre Isles would stop wheeling out their old Stanley Cup championship teams at every drop of a hat-trick and actually do something like win a playoff round once in a while, I spotted a comment on a fanboard that suggested the team stage a crucifixion of Milbury every so often at Nassau Coliseum. In such esteem is he still held on Long Island, where he traded Zdeno Chara and the pick that would become Jason Spezza for the ultimately despised floater Alexei Yashin, and publically referred to Isles' star Ziggy Palffy's agent as a village idiot.
Milbury's reputation followed him into the broadcast booth, where often spars (verbally) with Pierre McGuire, who suggested during one recent Cup finals exchange that it was no mystery why the Isles and Bruins, whom Milbury also coached, had gotten so fed up with him. Mad Mike also figured in a bizarre segment during the Winter Classic game on Buffalo on New Year's Day in which his infamous shoe incident at Madison Square Garden was shown between periods -- to a TV audience made up, so NBC and the NHL hoped, of casual sports fans and newbies who were just dropping in to see what this hockey business was all about.
Lord knows what they made of that lovely little replay. It was a bit like inviting the vicar over for tea only to have your loud Uncle Mike running around in his boxers and wifebeater telling dirty jokes, spewing cheap cigar smoke and spraying cheap beer. Not exactly what you call polite company, but it has a certain perverse charm.
Mad Mike's prominence as a hockey personality reinforces the notion that the NHL is shucking its best courting duds and getting down to the business of serving and satisfying its core audience -- the rest of those sissy, golf-playing dandies be damned. A guy like Milbury or Cherry appeals to the red-blooded, old time hockey fan. He's a thumb in the eye on a cold day, a bone-rattling jolt into the boards, the damp sweater pulled over your head, the left hook to your ear.
And as much as I hate to admit it, Milbury is right about Tiger Woods. Hockey players will lose a leg, an eye and three pints of blood and be back skating regular shifts before the end of the period, but then again, no one really questions Tiger's mental toughness. And there's really no actual need to send Gary Roberts down to throw the man a beating.
As it is, I suspect that ol' Tiger was just making a little glib, off-the-cuff fun at hockey's expense. It wouldn't be the first time. Outside of its legion of devotees, of which I am one, hockey is often the butt of jokes. Among major pro sports, it's the rented redheaded stepchild with the missing tooth and taste for a good fight. There's really no need to pretend otherwise. Mad Mike certainly doesn't.
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(48 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 7, 2008 3:49 PM
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> > > Apparently, I can't curse enough to get my
> post
> > > deleted, much less the entire
> thread......and I
> > even
> > > reported myself...I get no respect....lol
> >
> > I hear tell that changes are a comin' very
> soon.
> >
>
>
> Change...that must be the theme this year.
>
>
> the more things change, the more they stay the same.
============================
Change We can believe in.
But don't expect gas prices to change for the better, or taxes either.
I thought this was a Red Wings hockey thread?
Yeah. OK. Congratualtions. It's a great team.
So were the Islanders in the 80's and the Devils until recently.
I think the trouble with hockey is that there are too many players we can't relate to or pronounce their names.
Too many teams and too few American players.
And ya just can't get a few guys together, go down to the local park and play a pick-up game or toss the puck around iun the back yard.
The only ice most people see is behind the bar or in their fridge.
Hockey has limited appeal and will be lucky to stay no. 4 in popularity.
This is coming from an ice hockey player of 30 years.
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487
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(47 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 7, 2008 1:48 AM
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Nope.....
San Antonio Spurs 4 OUTTA WHATEVER in a sport that people give a SHIT about, basketball....
Hockey is a DYING sport......ENJOY IT CHIKENWINGSZ
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The one thing you can never say...is that you haven't been told
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(46 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 10:54 PM
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> > Apparently, I can't curse enough to get my post
> > deleted, much less the entire thread......and I
> even
> > reported myself...I get no respect....lol
>
> I hear tell that changes are a comin' very soon.
>
Change...that must be the theme this year.
the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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Posts:
9,460
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(45 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 10:45 PM
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> Apparently, I can't curse enough to get my post
> deleted, much less the entire thread......and I even
> reported myself...I get no respect....lol
I hear tell that changes are a comin' very soon.
--
Prima di cercare
di guarire il mondo,
qui si tratta forse
di carpirci noi
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Posts:
8,751
Registered:
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(44 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 10:29 PM
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Apparently, I can't curse enough to get my post deleted, much less the entire thread......and I even reported myself...I get no respect....lol
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Posts:
9,460
Registered:
9/5/01
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(43 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 10:17 PM
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> he's fucking band wagon fan....I'm still waiting for
> the cocksucker to tell me what it means to ice the
> puck
>
>
> bastard.
Oh, everybody knows, that's when you put the puck in the freezer.
Silly.
--
Prima di cercare
di guarire il mondo,
qui si tratta forse
di carpirci noi
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859
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(42 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 8:33 PM
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Congrats Red Wings!!
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Posts:
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Registered:
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(41 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 4:24 PM
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Have you ever been to an NHL game?
I didn't think so....
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30
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(40 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 4:15 PM
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Nice column on Nick Lidstrom, "the perfect human," as his teammates call him.
And who, by the time he retires, will likely be considered to be the second greatest defenseman in NHL history after Bobby Orr
Lidstrom becomes first European captain to win Stanley Cup
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- How Swede it is.
Nicklas Lidstrom made hockey history Wednesday night, becoming the first European captain to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Lidstrom, one of seven Detroit regulars from Sweden, and the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in Game 6.
"Nick Lidstrom, come get the Stanley Cup," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. "It's yours to take back to Hockeytown."
The victory gave Lidstrom his fourth Stanley Cup in five chances. He also won titles in 1997, '98 and 2002 after losing his first shot at winning the Cup in 1995.
"It felt great to be the first guy to touch the Cup on our team," Lidstrom said. "But it felt a lot like the other ones. I'm very proud of being the first European and of being the captain of the Red Wings."
In each of those seasons and many more, Steve Yzerman was the Red Wings captain.
Lidstrom is expected to add to his exquisite resume this summer with a sixth Norris Trophy, a total that would break a tie with Ray Bourque and trail only Bobby Orr's eight and Doug Harvey's seven awards as the NHL's best defenseman.
Despite that, Lidstrom seems to be an unheralded superstar.
Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, though, said no one should feel sorry for the lack of hype Lidstrom generates.
"He's got a lot of titles and trophies," said Bowman, who works for the Red Wings as a consultant and coached Lidstrom before retiring in 2002.
The 6-foot-1, 189-pound Lidstrom beats teams with his intelligence and instincts, a wicked combination that puts him in the right place to make a play or prevent one.
Lidstrom broke Yzerman's team records this year by playing in his 16th straight postseason and his 197th playoff game. He later played in his 201st playoff game, surpassing Jari Kurri's NHL mark among European players.
The 38-year-old Lidstrom had 13 points and his plus-minus rating was among the league leaders in the playoffs. He led all defensemen during the regular season with 70 points and a plus-40 rating.
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(39 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 3:11 PM
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>Insightful column about how the Wings' win punctured ethnic predjuce and stereotyping in pro sports.
predjuce...
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Posts:
2,280
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(38 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 2:20 PM
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>Hey, I just noticed that I CAN still create a new thread if I want.
>Several people were bitching about not being able to create new threads. So I guess it's only some people -- the ones who created all of these bullshit mock threads -- who have been restricted from creating new ones.
>Ha! Good!
again, you are wrong...everyone can create a thread now
Stewart: Look What I Can Do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOr9SvilF-8
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6,744
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(37 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 2:17 PM
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must be a real pain the ass to keep editing that buried message to bump this thread 
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(36 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 12:22 PM
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Careful R, I might have to put you on Ignore...
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Posts:
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(35 of 49)
Re: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jun 6, 2008 12:21 PM
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dupe
--
Edited by rdfan at 06/06/2008 9:21 AM PDT
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