Knives drawn on Hockeytown Moniker
With the first bit of adversity in the Red Wings’ incredible run over the past 10 to 15 years there are some commentators who have begun to question Detroit’s claim to be Hocketown. That adversity of course isn’t based on the actual team - it’s tough to criticize a team that finished as the top seed in conference and is one of the last four teams still playing hockey. No, it’s entirely based upon the fact the Red Wing have routinely played these playoffs before less than soldout crowds at Joe Louis Arena.
The Hockeytown moniker has always bugged certain commentators and you suspect that articles like these - that are being writen as obituaries for the title - have been sitting on their hard drives for quite a while.
To be honest I don’t know many Red Wings fans who refer to the team or Detroit as Hockeytown. Bruce MacLeod from the Macomb Daily acknowledges that as far as hockey participation and passion goes, Minnesota is probably more of a hockey town than Detroit. The State of Hockey to be more to the point. I’d agree. Search Abel to Yzerman, Behind the Jersey, Gloveside and On the Wings and see how often the phrase comes up. The logo looks cool at center ice and I’m sure the organization sells tons of merchandise that bears the slogan. The Red Wings have led jersey and merchandise sales for over 10 years before Buffalo took the top spot this season.
So its been tough to criticize the use of the phrase Hockeytown. The first chance was based on the slackened demand for playoff tickets. That is something I expect the organization to learn from and hopefully they will be more lenient in giving season ticketholders more options for buying playoff tickets. Lowering ticket prices also seems like a good idea. This is a problem that should be easy for the organization to resolve.
No one criticizes Minnesota for The State of Hockey tagline or the Lightning for being Hockey Bay USA. The criticism directed at the Hockeytown designation, however, just goes to show how much the Red Wings’ success irks a lot of people. I think that’s great. It’s a name that really isn’t a great source of pride for Red Wings fans but if it upsets people that much and rubs them the wrong way then - hell yes, Detroit IS Hockeytown. And if the Wings can knock off the Ducks it will force commentators who are irked by the phrase to just shut the hell up. Then those commentators can tinker with the column, save in on their hard drives, and pull it out once again the next time the Red Wings face adversity.
Christy has an article on the Plymouth Whalers’ OHL championship. Congrats to her and the team as she interns for the organization. Matt at On the Wings has his gameday post up. Bill over at Abel to Yzerman comments on the news that Tomas Kopecky will be put into the lineup tonight and Kyle Calder will be scratched. Calder is clearly injured. Reports at the end of the Calgary series suggested he has a broken hand. Kopecky will give the Wings some size and add a banger to the lineup. That should help the team over the next two games in Anaheim.
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