So, how many of your are hockey fans?

[grampster]

We have the Grand Rapids Griffins in my bailiwick.  They are the primary farm club for the Red Wings.  We have several future stars of the Red Wings playing with us.  Yuri Hudler and Jimmy Howard, the most notable.  Brett Lebda just got called back up yesterday.

     The league is the American Hockey League.  Just got home from a game a minute ago.  We got a tie with Houston and lost the shootout.  We're in first place with 11 points at the moment.  Houston is first in their conference.  Was a good game.  We came back to tie after being down 4-1.

AHL is not far removed from the NHL in talent.  Good, fast, skillful hockey.  We've had season tickets since 1996 when the DeVos and VanAndel kids (Amway) helped get a new 10,834 seat arena built and created the Griffins.

SWMBO and I have taken the two grandsons since the beginning.  They're 13 and 15 now.  They were 3 and 5 when we got started.  Good way to be with your grandkids and have some fun.

Yeesh, I screwed up the title.  How do you edit that?

[280plus]

I haven't been to a hockey game since they took our Whalers away. (Affectionately known as the "Wail Us" ) They didn't win much but it was sure fun watching them get the crap beat out of them by all the big teams. Two instances I remember. There was an incident where they got into a bar fight up in Canada I believe. Well I saw them at home the next night against I don't remember who. I was sitting maybe 3 rows from the boards. At one point one of them got savagely checked right in front of our seats and I could hear the opposing player saying, "SOOOO, you guys like to FIGHT, huh?!?" as he was grinding him into the boards. LOL...

THEN another time they were playing the Anaheim "Mighty Ducks" right after the movie came out. The arena, which was usually quite empty was PACKED. The people in Hartford are SO STUPID they thought it was the team from the movie and brought all their kids. So on THIS night the Whalers were getting booed in their own rink at home when they scored and the Ducks were getting resounding cheers when THEY scored. It was like being in topsy turvy land cause it didn't make no sense! All me and my buddy could do was laugh.

I sure do miss those days...

[K Frame]

Used to be an NHL fan, until the multimillionairs got into a squabble with the multimultimillionairs about who was going to have more money.

At that point, I lost all interest in the greedy asshat bastards.

[onions!]

I stopped watching when The Owls were the local team.

Still have a puck around here somewheres.

[jefnvk]

Just got back from a Huskies game, myself.  One of the few sports I enjoy.

[Dannyboy]

Life long Red Wings fan.  This year I am finally making the pilgrimage to the Joe.

[erik the bold]

Wings, Spirit, and Generals here!

[...has left the building.]

I'm a big Penguins fan

[SalukiFan]

I'm a St. Louis Blues fan.  I can't tell you how happy I am that the strike is over.  I wish the Blues were doing better this season but I'm just glad to see them back on the ice.

I also attend Indiana University hockey games.  Interestingly, the team is not varsity but a "club" team but that doesn't stop them from being very competitive.  

I've tried watching minor league hockey (IHL and CHL) but I was really disappointed by the lack of talent displayed in the games that I attended.  I decided to stick to NHL and college teams after that.  If I get a chance though, maybe I'll check out an AHL game if they are good like grampster says.

[jefnvk]

I've tried watching minor league hockey (IHL and CHL) but I was really disappointed by the lack of talent displayed in the games that I attended.

That is my biggest problem.  Don't get me wrong, I like a violent hockey game, but when the game becomes 'hit the other guy' instead of 'play the puck', it just doesn't appeal to me.  Hitting is good, if it is to make a play that benefits the team, but it is usually just to hit the guy.

erik - is that the Saginaw Spirit and Flint Generals?

Oh, and BTW, the Red Wings are awesome.  Proven by their 11-1 start.

[grampster]

The old IHL was where the old heads went after their NHL careers were over.   Usually 3rd liners, journeymen minor league players and some up and comers.  Hockey was more of scrum than a game.  The IHL is no more.

The AHL limits the # of old guys.  All of the teams are sponsored by an NHL franchise.
2/3 of each team will be made up of future NHL players.  The Griffins, in 10 years, have had 30 or so players that are now in the NHL.  Several goalies and various other players are now in the NHL.  Injured players will rehab at the AHL level.  We had Cujo for a couple games.  Osgood played last week.  We've had Pavol Demitra play for us, Nik Kronwal, Karel Rachunek, Kevin Adams, Patrick Lalime, Chris Neal.  These guys played for us and some of them are NHL Allstarts.  Gordy Howe has sat next to us a couple of times.  His kid is an ass't coach for the Chicago Wolves.  (I call em the Woofs, I hate that team)  I've got a Griffins jersey with Igor Larionov's name and # on it.  He autographed it.  That has got to be a one of a kind.  (any takers?)

The new rules have sped the game up.  No two line pass penalty anymore.  Goalie's pad have been made smaller.  Interference such as hooking and holding have opened up the neutral zone, especially with the two line pass being legal.  There are still the scrums in the corners, but that's hockey.  Fighting does not occur as much.  Parent NHL teams usually have execs watching the prospects.  The players want to play hard as they want to get up to the NHL.  The game is more exciting now as the scoring is getting ramped up.  Griffins are averaging over 4 pts a game.
If you have an AHL team in your area, I highly recommend it.  Hockey, imho, is by far the most exciting spectator sport when you are in the arena.

Anyone going to the Griffins games can find me.  I'm the old geezer in the Griffins jersey with GRAMPSTER on the back.  *grin*

[280plus]

Wish I could go with you gramps...  

[Dannyboy]

Grampster, you're probably gonna get Kronwall again this season.  That kid can't catch a break...unless it's in his leg.  Poor guy.  He's good, though.  Probably not as good as Lidstrom (not many are) but he's got plenty of talent.  Hopefully he'll get lucky sometime soon.

[grampster]

Yeah, Niklas is a terrific player.  He's also quite a humble nice kid.  You're right, if he bought a 2 pant suit, he'd burn a hole in the coat.  Red Wings were gonna team him up with Lidstrom.  Wooley ( the guy the Wings picked up to replace him)  just pulled a groin muscle, so we lost Brett Lebda up to the Wings.  He's a good kid.  Watch him.

[erik the bold]

erik - is that the Saginaw Spirit and Flint Generals?

Yep!  Could also include Port Huron, but I don't get to too many of their games lately.......

[Old Dog]

Grampster ... just saw your thread.   I grew up in the great state of Michigan, a die-hard hockey (of all levels) fan ... sitting up in the rafters of Cobo in the old days (watching the rink through the haze of cigarette and cigar smoke) ... loved high school hockey, the Wolverines too, but minor league hockey in the midwest is awesome.  Loved the old IHL (Saginaw Gears, Flint Generals, Marquette Iron Rangers, Green Bay Bobcats (?)).

Now that I'm up here in the PacNorthwest, I make the annual pilgrimage up to Vancouver B.C. to watch the Wings beat up on the Canucks (there's usually more red in GM Place arena than the stinkin' Canucks' colors and more Wings fans than Vancouver fans!).

[grampster]

OD,
Yeah, when I watch the Wings on TV, there is generally more red jersey's in the stands than the home colors, no matter who they play.

I saw Gordie Howe play once at Cobo.  If you were in the upper deck, you were afraid to stand up for fear of falling out of your chair it was so steep. *grin*

I remember the Gears and the Generals.  We had the GR Owls in the old IHL and the GR Rockets going way back to the beginning of the IHL.  I was towel boy for the Rockets in the 50's.  My mom worked in the concession stands.

[jefnvk]

Loved the old IHL (Saginaw Gears, Flint Generals, Marquette Iron Rangers, Green Bay Bobcats (?)).

I don't think that was the IHL, was it?  IIRC, IHL was the Detroit Vipers.

Yep!  Could also include Port Huron, but I don't get to too many of their games lately.......

Sweet!  My brother has season tickets for the Spirit, he absolutely loves them.  They wern't around much before I got shipped off to college, but I do enjoy going on breaks.

[grampster]

The Gears and Generals were in the IHL for awhile, but that was awhile back.  They then played in a league that was all Michigan teams.  Muskegon Lumberjacks were also part of that.

[jefnvk]

Ah, that is when I remember them.

[Smoke]

Not a hockey fan.  Never understood the game.

Seems to be popular with commies and yankees.

Smoke

(ducking and running like heck )

[Bemidjiblade]

Not a hockey fan.  I like my games with the team and my fights in a ring.

[jefnvk]

Seems to be popular with commies and yankees.

Actually, it is good for swaying commies from the dark side

Why are tehy going to play for food in Russia, when the can play for millions in Capitalist America?

[grampster]

If you watch hockey on TV, I can see why one might not care for the game.  Having said that, hockey is probably the finest example of sport when attended in person.  It depends a lot on fan participation and is hard not to become a part of the game.

With the new rules, the game is faster.  It favors skill players who can handle a puck, pass well and have the physical abilities to skate extremely well.  It is a game of position and poetry of motion.  There are plays and systems.  When there is a break down, the result is high intensity. When a play works, it is beautiful to watch.  The game is fast and furious.  The fighting is rare these days, but also has a purpose.  It is a very macho sport, but the players seem to be very community oriented.  They are team players and individual talent is usually complimented and aided by line mates.

[Old Dog]

Not to mention, Grampster, that professional hockey players are generally the most articulate and well-educated professional athletes in the world.  I had several members of my university's hockey team in my political science classes, and they were all excellent students (especially the Canadians).  And you are totally correct, watching a game in person is the way to become a diehard fan (that's how I converted my wife) ... Hockey, I think, is also the most graceful of all the team sports, with some of the coolest sounds (the snick/whoosh of blades on ice, the clacking of stick blades on the puck, the big "whams" of guys getting checked into the glass) ...


JEFNVK, you'd be surprised how many millions of US dollars one can earn playing pro hockey in Russia.  All the teams have millionaire owners now, and pay the huge bucks (hence, the big numbers of NHL players who played over there during the lock-out).