I've decided to enter this item to shake the tree and see how many Red Wings 
fans fall out. Me (Craig) and green (Sybil) can't get enough of talking about
our favorite hockey team.

Enter anything Wings related into this item. Anything from possible trades and
discussing recent games. If you don't like the Red Wings, than I suggest you
skip this item, cuz all you will see is Wings Wings, and some more Wings.

We'll try to keep this item going into the playoffs, and hopefully the Stanley
Cup Finals. And who knows, maybe by the time this is all over, we'll be brag-
ging about our championship team.

Well here we go. "Come all ye Wings faithful!"

382 responses total.

Team sports in general are idiotic, and hockey in particular is
the *worst* of the lot. A celebration of violence. This item gets
the big "forget".

I lke the Wings. I like team sports. I celebrate violence, I guess? I also
like the Dolphins. Like, like, like . . . . Whatever happened to Gordie?

I don't like team sports, but I like hockey when pressed to name one I like.
Everybody starts with a weapon... :)

gregc, then skip this item. thank you so much :)

(I think he already has. That's what "the big forget" means.)

ug,...sports! (forgotten)

Well fellas I am a huge Hockey fan and as I type this I am also watching the
game against Tampa.  The wings  really need to keep Ozzy in the net for
good...The team was a bit sluggish the ohter nite against Florida, but I
really think with Ozzy in the net, We would have one more "W" in the win/loss
column.

BTW guys there is a Sports Cf....

Hockey is one of the greatest sports in the world. It requires a great
amount and combination of strength, speed and dexterity. 

The Red Wings are kicking ass. I hope they don't choke in the playoffs this
year.

Thank you rogue, finally a response that sticks to the subject matter for which
this item was intended. (oh, and you too bubu)

For the rest of you, thanks for the comments.

 I'll only say this once.

   Gordie Howe is God.  I can confidently state that because I have actually
had a nice long conversation with him, and he is a good and decent man. I
think that he should be emulated by more of the current sports stars than he
is. I can count on one hand the athletes who are actually "people" when off
the court/ice/etc.

I'm too stupid to understand sports.

I don't follow sports, but I remember Gordie Howe.  The late JP McCarthy
always used to say what a perfect gentleman he is, but (voice lowered gravely)
"Don't ever meet him on the ice."

I wish I had been around to see Gordie Howe, that way I would have been able
to witness the Wings winning a cup.

#10: Gordie Howe is great but Wayne Gretzky plays on a superior level
     which no one can touch. Gordie and Wayne used to be good friends but
     there are rumors that Howe has cut that off because he is jealous
     of the way in which Gretzky has smashed his scoring records in 
     1/2 to 2/3 of the time it took Howe to set them. After Gretzky broke
     Howe's all time scoring record, Howe resorted to such pettiness as to
     suggest that his points from the WHL should also be included in his
     NHL point total.

     Gretzky is the greatest there is, the greatest there ever was, and
     probably the greatest there ever will be. Howe knows is but cannot
     accept it. The only reason Howe's pettiness has not diminshed his
     legacy is because Howe is the second greatest player to have ever
     played the game. In this case, the gap between the best and the 
     second best is quite tremendous. 

#13: The Wings have the inside track on winning it this year. They had
     the inside track last year. I was quite surprised they lost in the 
     finals last year.

(Howe is also the only player to play in six different decades.)

I am also a huge Red Wing fan. I agree with the comments back there about
Ozzie. Bowman is bent on alternating them, but he'd better settle on Ozzie,
who is having a career year this year.

I have said a lot of this before in the sports conference. If you are a sports
fan, come check out the sports conference. We need more players.

#15: Longevity does not substitute for God-like ability. Never has. Never
     will. Howe is great but Gretzky is the Great One and the greatest.

What if Wayne is really getting traded? What if it was to Detroit? The Cup
would be theirs, no questions asked.

It is my peronal belief that Steve Yzerman deserves a Stanely Cup ring, before
he retires. If he doesn't, a great injustice had been done.

Re: Gretzky to the Wings:  Don't fool yourself, Wayne won't make the 
difference on any contending team, the Wings included.  But you can 
understand him wanting to play on a team that could win the Cup without
him - L.A. is hitting bedrock.

#18: Detroit is the best team in the league by a decent margin. If Detroit
     cannot win the cup with the team they currently have, it won't matter
     who is traded to Detroit. 

#19: Gretzky is the greatest player to have ever played the game. He is
     still an offensive threat at any time and should make a difference on
     most teams. It is hard to believe a center the calibre of Gretzky not
     making a difference.

  We dont play hockey down south.  Years ago we had the Atlanta Flames,\
but they were run not just out of town but out of country (now in
Calgary)  Yankees and communists play hockey.  Southerners play
football.  

I think the real reason is that hockey is too complicated of a sport
for those in the south. :-)

(like curling, eh?) 8^)

Gordie taught Gretzky everything he knows! ;-). Wayne learned by watching
old kinescopes and tapes of Wings past games. This is true! I think.

(learned and improved, apparently. I also gather that Gretsky has more
finesse than Howe.)

#24: Gretzky was a hockey child prodigy in the Toronto area. He actually
     moved from a small town to Toronto when he was a child so he would
     have more competition. He played hockey with and against children 
     many years older than him and still dominated. He was so good as
     a kid that he met Gordie Howe several times and there are quite a
     few pictures of kid Gretzky and Howe. 

     Gretzky has always insisted that Howe is his hero and "Gordie is
     the greatest." Gretzky's number 99 was supposedly chosen because 
     another kid on his early hockey team was number 9 (Howe's legendary
     number) and number 99 was the next best thing he could get with the
     number 9 in it. Gretzky really looked up to Howe.

     This brief history was told to illustrate why Howe's jealousy of  
     Gretzky is especially tragic and lame. Here's Gretzky who is 
     definitively the greatest hockey player to have ever laced on skates
     still insisting that "Gordie is the greatest" and here's Howe
     nitpicking about transferring his points from the WHL to his NHL
     totals and distancing himself from Gretzky socially. Howe's action
     is especially foolish given the fact that Gretzky will crush every
     single scoring record in the books before he retires regardless of
     who set the record and how high the record is. As of today, I believe
     Gretzky has already broken every single significant scoring record
     in the books, especially the prestigious ones: most points in a
     season, most goals in a season (I am pretty sure about this one), 
     most assists in a season, most goals in a career (I am not positive
     about this one), most points in a career, most assists in a career.

     I have lost a lot of respect for Howe as a person as a result of his
     actions towards Gretzky. What would have enhanced Howe's legend would
     be if he had been open about Gretzky's greatness and publicly 
     accepted the fact that Gretzky crushed his career scoring record and
     congratulated Gretzky for doing so. There has actually been very 
     little said publicly about Howe's behaviour because there is so
     much respect for Howe in the hockey and sport community. I think
     people are actually very hush about this issue because they donh't
     want to embarass the second greatest hockey player ever. 

Ok. Let's talk about Marino and Jimmy Johnson.

I hope Marino wins a Super Bowl before he retires. 

There is a chance. He can still throw and JJ has not reached his peak. Should
be fun. JJ has his killer-instinct intact. Shula, as much as I respect him,
seems tired. 

(thanks for the history of Gretsky and Howe's relationship, Jemmie. I
hadn't been aware of it.)

Well well well Wings fans...watch tonight as the Detroit Red Wings make paste
out of the Washington Capitals. Just hope Carey doesn't have a good night.

They gave up three goals, but still won. It's unusual for them to give up
three. The caps are a good team. Primeau was great tonight.

Well I have been away for a few days so I didnt get a chance to read every
response...Just a note..Yes Gretzky is the Great One but He is no, I repeat
NO Gordie Howe....Gretzky is an overpayed cry baby who cant even play 20
minutes anymore....He cant stand to share the limelight with his team mates
and will not play past his early 40's....Just the simple fact that Gordie
played til what was it 51 is enough for me....Wayne is at the end of his
career....wheeeeewwwpphhh

Well Maybe it was good that CArey didnt start last nite...Naaa I dont it the
Wings are unstoppable....Did anyone else think that Maybe Mickey Redmond had
been tipping a few back during the game?  During Redmond's corner last nite
he sure looked like it....glassy eyes and all...

Hockey the coolest game on Earth

After Marinoball! Got to learn aerodynamics!

#33: How many hockey players play into their 40's? 

     One of the greatest hockey players ever and probably the greatest
     defenceman ever -- Bobby Orr -- played less than 10 years, if I 
     remember correctly. Don Cherry thinks Orr is the greatest player ever.

     'Tis better to be phenomenally great for a shorter time than somewhat
     good for a longer time. 

Orr was awsome, no doubt about that! Struck terror in all oponents! That is
a legacy in itself, in this context. <adbarr kinda likes that idea in other
contexts, but it would not be nice>

What is more awesome than the fact that a defenceman led the league in 
points in a season is the fact that Gretzky had around 230 points while
the next highest scorer only had around 120. 

Before Gretzky, no one had ever averaged two points per game in a season.
That's 160 points for an 80 game season. Gretzky came close to averaging
three points per game in a season -- around 230 points. Keep in mind that
100 points a season in hockey is an excellent season and usually no more
than five to ten players in the entire league achieve that. That should
put things in perspective.

I believe Gretzky still holds the record for most goals in a season -- 92. 
That's more than a goal a game. To put it in perspective one has to 
understand that 40 goals a season is a very good season, 50 goals a season 
is excellent (probably not more than five or ten achieve this) and 60 goals
a season is phenomenal (probably one a season gets this, sometimes none). 

Compare Gretzky to some of the other great players in his era and you will
see why he is far and away the greatest. Mike Bossy had several 50 goal 
seasons and a couple of 60 goal seasons. Brian Trottier had a few 100-120
point seasons. Mark Messier had some 40 goal seasons and several 100 point
seasons. Steve Yzerman had some 100 point seasons. Dennis Savard had
several 100 point seasons. The most prolific scorers in the '80s cannot
begin to compare with Gretzky's numbers. 

You know I never denied that Gretzky is one of the greatest players to play
the game.  I still cant compare him to Gordie though.  Gretzky has really left
a bad taste with me lately.  His whole attitude towards the game and his team
and his concern for the allmighty buck has really turned me off.  

Last nights game against the Blues was well dissappointing.  The Wings looked
really tough in the first, their passing was excellent * Tape to Tape BABY!*
and only allowing Brett Hull and his boys to 7 sog to their 18.  The power
play was also very tough...even without scoring on it in the first.  The
second period was well fought by both teams thanks to their defense.  I do
think the story of the second though was the goaltending...Had it not been
for Mike Vernon's performance in the second they would have entered the third
down by 3.  I think the third the Wings defense just came apart.  The Blues
were trying to get Detroit off their game simply by hard hitting and it
worked...Well I am looking forward to the game in Toronto on Sunday...
Let's go Wings...

Are we taking Vernon's side now? Sure maybe Vernon made it so they weren't
down by three going into the third. However, Ozzie would have kept them off
the scoreboard in the second AND the third. No matter which way you cut it,
Vernon is a liability and needs to retire. He's had a good NHL career, I have
to give him that, but sooner or later it's time to hang up the pads and quit.
Mikey's time is now.

Verny-- take a break, you deserve it. And the Red Wings need it.

Time to forget the past and look at the future, Osgood is the future.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss