Peter the great was directly responsible for 2 of the 4 Wings goals. He left Raffy wide open for a shot on the 3rd goal, and of course took the high stick on Sammy.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he sits out Game 4 to preserve himself for next season.

Posted by Jeremy on 04/30/08 at 02:05 AM ET

I don’t suppose anyone here recorded that game on FSN did they?  I started recording VS and when I got home I realize I missed the first 2 periods.  I would really love to see the whole game.

Me

Posted by 13datsyukfan13 from Mid Michigan on 04/30/08 at 02:14 AM ET

so here’s the big question.  which Avs team shows up on Thursday?  the “we have a shred of self-respect left and are still going to try to win the game for our fans” team?  the “we’re pissed off and are going to try to hurt you” team? or…

personally, although I’m not their biggest fan I don’t think the Avs will try to hurt anyone.  I don’t think they lack character to that degree.  I think they’ll come out and try to win.  which will make it hurt that much more when they don’t, since they won’t have “well, we weren’t even trying” as an excuse.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 04/30/08 at 07:01 AM ET

oh.  heh.  that didn’t work so well.  guess I should have previewed it.  that was supposed to be…

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 04/30/08 at 07:02 AM ET

The Avs probably don’t have it in them to be much rougher than they were last night. And that was pretty rough, I thought.

Posted by Matt Saler from Grand Rapids, MI on 04/30/08 at 07:24 AM ET

He left Raffy wide open for a shot on the 3rd goal, and of course took the high stick on Sammy.

Remember the game when Laperriere injured Lidstrom?  I PVR:d that game and although the Lidstrom hit rightly was the big topic of discussion afterwards, Sammy did get away with an awfully ugly high sticking.  Just before Laperrier was put down by Downey for a second time, Samuelsson slashed Laperriere on the top of his helmet brutally.  Laperriere falls over and while getting up in confusion probably believed it was Downey who stood for the offense and hunted him down.  As we all remember, Downey incredibly put Laperriere on his back like the cockroach he is.

Point is, there was no call on that high sticking and it seems it was lost amidst all the discussion surrounding Lidstrom.  It would not surprise me if there has been some talk in the Avs’ dressing room afterwards.  Is it unthinkable that Floppa would attack Sammy on purpose in retribution?  I certainly don’t think so.  He has done it before and the crybaby gets real grumpy when he’s on the losing side.

This apparently after losing the Swedish playoff finals in ‘94 - where he says that he was ready to punch the referee in the face:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4XAJFN9xAyI

Posted by lilja4ever on 04/30/08 at 08:01 AM ET

LMAO response to Dater’s accusation that Sam dove:

Just read it and Dater’s pathetic follow-up after several readers pointed out that Sammy was spitting a tooth.  The Bag thinks it was more accidental on Petey’s part.

Good God, Dater is a Snap-on rep’s wet dream.

Posted by O-Joe on 04/30/08 at 08:13 AM ET

Woody Paige:

...the Avs, whose magical tour, and Jose Theodore’s, is about to end. The “J” in his name has been replaced by an “L”.

Lose ThreeorFour. Yeah, that’s right.

Posted by Cwix from Roanoke, VA on 04/30/08 at 09:57 AM ET

Shane, Joe, Jibble; come over and talk, lament etc––I like you all in that hateful way.

From Gobbles:

“Yes the rivalry is over, but that doesn’t mean Detroit fans have calmed down and become less of assholes. No in fact the end of the rivalry has only emboldened them to be bigger assholes. When we Avs fans turned our cheek and quietly didn’t respond they started sulking, like the pathetic leeches they are. Only happy when they’re feeding off of other fans misery, instead of just being happy they won convincingly.”

Heh.  That would go into my signature field if such a feature was available here.

Posted by O-Joe on 04/30/08 at 10:16 AM ET

The third period was so stressful.  My boyfriend said that I turned completely white and that I was shaking.  I was definitely riding in the stress train. Wow. Datsyuk was a monster last night.  Zet was a monster. 

An a side note, I get to the Can last night with my Wings flag which I’ve been bringing to Wings/Avs games since ‘98 and they tell me I can’t bring it in.  I tell them I have been bringing the flag for years and no one has ever told me that I can’t have it.  They bring another usher over who says I can’t bring it in.  I beg and plead, “I didn’t drive, I don’t have a car here, I can’t lose my flag.” Then I try desperation, “I can’t get another one if you take this one away.” Finally, I got permission to bring my flag in.  I think it was the good luck charm.

Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 04/30/08 at 10:24 AM ET

Matt over at OtW points it out but i’d like to bring it back up:

did anyone see the second Dats goal?  he knocked down Rafalski’s point shot and tipped it to himself for a goal!  i hope there will be videos of this unbelievable goal.  this “Datsyuk wilts in the playoffs” thing should be finally put to rest.

Posted by Alex from San Francisco on 04/30/08 at 10:59 AM ET

How about all the whining from the Dives when master Floppa tried to embellish on Franzen’s stick.
Watch it in slow-mo he’s down like Greg Louganis before Mule even touches him. Ass. Anf they talk about Sammy....

Posted by SanJoWinger from Bay Area on 04/30/08 at 11:14 AM ET

Another great article from McLeod.  Really good stat.....
http://redwingscorner.blogspot.com/

Posted by TDeters on 04/30/08 at 11:25 AM ET

did anyone see the second Dats goal?  he knocked down Rafalski’s point shot and tipped it to himself for a goal!  i hope there will be videos of this unbelievable goal.  this “Datsyuk wilts in the playoffs” thing should be finally put to rest.

Yes that was an unbelievably excellent play by Datsyuk. I was very impressed

But seriously, Floppa dives, but that one last night late in the game was nowhere close to a dive. He was tripped and the Avs should have had a 5-vs-3. (The refs made plenty of bad calls against the Wings too, most egregiously the phantom “interference” on Zetterburg.)

And I am surprised there has been no gloating post done by your guys leader here today.

Posted by Jibblescribbits from San Jose, CA on 04/30/08 at 02:19 PM ET

And I am surprised there has been no gloating post done by your guys leader here today.

JS:  I can reasonably assure you that Chief’s gloating will be forthcoming, in his usual, sarcastic, adolescent fashion; much appreciated by this segment of the 19 “A 2 Y” faithful.

I’d be disappointed in anything less, and Chief rarely disappoints.

And certainly nothing like the disappointment you and the rest of Av’s nation are feeling today.

Mr. Ian Winwood at the Guardian may have said it best:

But what I am saying, for sure, is that the Colorado Avalanche are no longer equipped to hold up their end of the bargain as participants in the most heated and hateful rivalry in hockey.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Netherworld on 04/30/08 at 02:44 PM ET

Today’s post about Avs practice by MacLeod makes my juvenile side giggle.

Coach Joel Quenneville said after Wednesday’s practice that Paul Stastny is “probably unlikely for this series”, Ryan Smyth is “doubtful for tomorrow” and Peter Forsberg is “being checked out (medically) as well”.

As opposed to locker room sneak peeks.

Posted by Nate A from Dark side of the moon on 04/30/08 at 02:48 PM ET

“makes my juvenile side giggle.”

I didn’t know the people here had a juvenile side.  I just assume it was full on juvenile at all times.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 03:02 PM ET

Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week to watch playoff hockey.  Or to be an Avs fan.

From Mile High Hockey. LOL, doesn’t that quote perfectly sum up their fan base?

Posted by DerekW on 04/30/08 at 03:03 PM ET

Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week to watch playoff hockey.  Or to be an Avs fan.

Derek:  I think that line does indeed perfectly summarize the state of affair!!  Kudos.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Netherworld on 04/30/08 at 03:09 PM ET

“LOL, doesn’t that quote perfectly sum up their fan base? “

Says the fan base who collectively shit their pants before every game for fear of ever losing a game and then say “because that’s how I roll.”

It’s fun to draw broad brush strokes on an entire populace, isn’t it?

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 03:11 PM ET

I drown in the sweet-tasting nectar of Avatard tears.

By the way: David Driscoll-Carignan and Aaron D’Albey. 

WTF’s with Denver bloggers and their seemingly goddamn infatuation with inserting non-letters into the spelling of their names?

Dave: Just pick the daddy you liked the most growing up and be done with it. 

Aaron:  J’ohnson. S’mith. M’iller.  See how friggin’ stupid those look? Just go back to Dalbey and call it good, D’ingus.

Posted by O-Joe on 04/30/08 at 03:18 PM ET

Says the fan base who collectively shit their pants before every game for fear of ever losing a game and then say “because that’s how I roll.”

No, not quite Shane.  We don’t shit our pants before every game—it is usually during the game.  We shit our pants because we actually care, very deeply and passsionately about our team’s success.

The very nature of your statement clearly reveals that the concept of passionate enthusiasm is foreign to you.

Because Motherfu@r;s, that how we roll!!

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Netherworld on 04/30/08 at 03:19 PM ET

“The very nature of your statement clearly reveals that the concept of passionate enthusiasm is foreign to you. “

Different strokes for different folks, Jeff.

Just because my passion is expressed differently (ie. soiled underwear swapped out for sweaty palms and an increased heart rate) doesn’t make it any better or worse than yours.

That’s maybe something you could take out into your general life as well.  Different doesn’t always mean better or worse.  It just means different.

That concludes today’s PSA.  Resume juvenile giggling at the word “strokes”

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 03:29 PM ET

From Boob @ MHH:

Someone over there keeps very cleverly calling me “Boob” and saying things about giving my mother sponge baths?

Heh. 

Almost as mind-blowingly clever as that “Red Wings Suck” thing you all have going on out there in Denver, Boob.  And I can’t help it if all your comments here reek of you being an incestuous-type person.

Oh, hey, look at me.  I can spell my name like a pretend-sophisticate, Denver douche-nozzle, too.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 03:32 PM ET

Says the fan base who collectively shit their pants before every game for fear of ever losing a game and then say “because that’s how I roll.”

what you need to “get” Shane, is that we collectively shit our pants because we genuinely care about the success of the team.  you may think it’s a bad quality to care, but we don’t.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 04/30/08 at 03:36 PM ET

Just because my passion is expressed differently (ie. soiled underwear swapped out for sweaty palms and an increased heart rate) doesn’t make it any better or worse than yours.

so you think we LITERALLY shit our pants?  wow, you’re dumber than we already thought.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 04/30/08 at 03:38 PM ET

“Almost as mind-blowingly clever as that “Red Wings Suck” thing you all have going on out there in Denver, Boob. “

Right, b/c “[insert opposing team/player] Sucks” isn’t a standard, albeit lame, chant in the majority of sporting venues.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 03:38 PM ET

“Almost as mind-blowingly clever as that “Red Wings Suck” thing you all have going on out there in Denver, Boob. “

Right, b/c “[insert opposing team/player] Sucks” isn’t a standard, albeit lame, chant in the majority of sporting venues.

um, Shane?  the comment you’re responding to criticized it as not being clever.  you called it lame.  therefore you agree.

not to bright, is ya?

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 04/30/08 at 03:39 PM ET

Thanks for your input, S’hane.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 03:41 PM ET

You’re damn right it is. And you’re damn right we defecate all over as part of prep for each playoff game.

Rooting for a quality organization spoils us, in many ways. But it also makes us crazy in some other ones. Expectations can be a bitch, but I’d rather live with them than without them.

That’s how we roll.

We wouldn’t expect someone that’s rooted for a club from half-way across his continent to understand. It’s a born-and-raised thing. We don’t just shrug it off when they lose, and we sure as hell don’t celebrate the career of a player that suited up for the team for just beyond a year’s time. And while the club’s success has been amazing, it’s also resulted in us expecting nothing less than dominance.

Another of the 19 explained it in much better detail than I ever could. What you don’t get is that while there’s a TON of bandwagon Wings fans (that we hate more than you do), both in and out of the state, there are at least a few of us that have grown up tuning into 82+ games per year.

For those of us that have been fans from as early as we can remember, it has gone beyond being a choice. It’s an involuntary reaction when they lose or when they win. I can’t explain it.

My fiance has asked me in the past why I throw things when I find out the results of the annual Red/White game during training camp… “Because the Red Wings lost!” It’s tough, because they always find a way to lose that game…

On a serious note, she has asked me why I get upset when they lose. And why I act like a 9-year-old kid with a new toy when they win. The truth is, I don’t know why. It’s just how I feel. It just happens that way. When you grow up and continue to invest time in something, those emotions just get stronger and stronger.

Maybe when I have kids I’ll let it go. Maybe at that point I’ll have other things to worry about that I’ll have to purge my reaction to Wings’ results as a defense mechanism. I don’t know.

Posted by Nathan on 04/30/08 at 03:42 PM ET

Wait, we’re not supposed to literally shit our pants?

Hmm.

Oops.

Posted by TeamDub from The gratch. on 04/30/08 at 03:45 PM ET

And just to show the disingenuousness of S’hane, everybody knows the ‘Red Wings Suck’ thing in Denver is about more than just chants at The Ass-Can.  It’s billboard and tee-shirts and bumper stickers and the like.

Maybe I’ll open a store in Denver this summer specializing in that mind-blowingly clever ‘Red Wings Suck’ merchandise.  At one of those temporary shops you see in malls at Halloween.  Just for the summer.  The Denver Av’tards will eat that stuff up, especially now.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 03:52 PM ET

I didn’t know the people here had a juvenile side.  I just assume it was full on juvenile at all times.

We got both kinds here. Juvenile and childish.

Posted by Nate A from Dark side of the moon on 04/30/08 at 03:56 PM ET

Just for further proof that Av’s nation is a bunch of band-wagoneer, fair-weather fans.  Here is a snippet from Jim Armstrong at the Denver Post:

The sigh, like the burden of expectations, was heavy.

“That’s the way it goes,” Peter Forsberg was saying Tuesday night.

For the Avs, it’s going all wrong. Or should I say going, going gone all wrong?

The Avs still are clinging to hope, at least for public consumption. But grasping at straws is more like it. They know, just like we know, the end is near.

Good Freaking Grief:  Nothing like trying to rally the team is there Mr. Armstrong.  Seems like the Denver MSM is falling off the band-wagon, along with the fan-base.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Netherworld on 04/30/08 at 04:00 PM ET

WTF’s with Denver bloggers and their seemingly goddamn infatuation with inserting non-letters into the spelling of their names?

You’re right that’s completely annoying O-Joe

Posted by Jibblescribbits from San Jose, CA on 04/30/08 at 04:28 PM ET

You folks keep claiming I don’t “get it” about your fanbase yet you continue to make broad sweeping assumptions about our fan base.

“We don’t just shrug it off when they lose”

Neither do it.  But like I said, I man up about it and accept it without the need to throw things - including tantrums.

“you may think it’s a bad quality to care, but we don’t.”

I think it’s great quality to care.  I also think it’s a great quality to stay grounded in the reality of a situation.

“um, Shane?  the comment you’re responding to criticized it as not being clever.  you called it lame.  therefore you agree. not to bright, is ya?”

um, Paul, the point is it’s a lame chant anywhere so nothing to specifically deride Avs fans about.  Not too smart there, is ya?

“We wouldn’t expect someone that’s rooted for a club from half-way across his continent to understand.”

Yes, yes.  You all slid out wearing Wings jerseys and I’m a bandwagoner b/c I don’t have an NHL team in my city therefore could never understand what it means to be a fan.  It’s a lame argument but it’s not one I care about too much at this point.

“there are a TON of bandwagon Wings fan”

And yet you deride the Avs fan base for having bandwagoners?  Are you f’n kidding me at this point?

“grown up tuning into 82+ games per year.”

And I bet there’s a lot of Avs fan who have done that too. 11 years is still a lot of years to grow love for a team. 

And no, I didn’t grow up loving the Avalanche, but I was cheering for the Nordiques as soon as they drafted Sakic. 

See, I grew up watching Joe Sakic and that guided my choice of an NHL team to cheer for when I decided to escape the shell of my Habs-imposed life.

But I suppose that means nothing and I should have just kept cheering for Montreal b/c that’s how I was raised and shouldn’t ever have questioned it.

In fact, I should just forget about the NHL and keep cheering for the Swift Current Broncos b/c I grew up driving 2 hours to every Broncos home game each season.

“disingenuousness of S’hane”

I’ve been quite candid and genuine here.  Except when I was being sarcastic.  And even then, it was some genuine sarcasm.

“And why I act like a 9-year-old kid with a new toy when they win. The truth is, I don’t know why.”

I do.  But you won’t like the answer.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 04:36 PM ET

It is foolish and childish, on the face of it, to affiliate ourselves with anything so insignificant and patently contrived and commercially exploitive as a professional sports team, and the amused superiority and icy scorn that the non-fan directs at the sports nut (I know this look—I know it by heart) is understandable and almost unanswerable. Almost. What is left out of this calculation, it seems to me, is the business of caring—caring deeply and passionately, really caring—which is a capacity or an emotion that has almost gone out of our lives. And so it seems possible that we have come to a time when it no longer matters so much what the caring is about, how frail or foolish is the object of that concern, as long as the feeling itself can be saved. Naivete—the infantile and ignoble joy that sends a grown man or woman to dancing and shouting with joy in the middle of the night over the haphazardous flight of a distant ball [or puck]—seems a small price to pay for such a gift.

Posted by Roger Angell from Agincourt And After on 04/30/08 at 04:50 PM ET

It’s a screen name on a friggin’ blog comment section, Gobbles, not the one I use in the real world to try and pretend I’m a sophisticate.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 04:52 PM ET

I like how, on many of the Avalanche blogs I’ve been reading, the bloggers are mentioning how childish and idiotic the A2Y 19 are, right before saying something that proves that they’re operating on the same level.

I’d like to address all the commenters who keep mentioning how they were born-into Red Wings fan-dom and about how Avs fans can never understand how passionately you feel about the game.  I have been a Red Wings fan for slightly less time than the Avs have been in Denver.  I wasn’t lucky enough to be born into a family that had even heard of hockey.  I discovered the sport in high school and have never played hockey with more than three other people (and never on ice).  I’ve never lived in Detroit.  I can’t exactly say why I’m a Wings fan, except that the first game I ever really got into was game six of the ‘96 conference finals.  I liked the Wings style of play (and, let’s face it, the uniforms looked cooler).  Lemiuex’s hit on Draper solidified my rooting interest.  The next season, I watched more games, picked up on more of the Wings’ history and found myself drawn to them as a model of a high-class organization.  Nowadays, I never miss a Wings game.  I order center ice every year and arrange my schedule to make sure I get to watch games (including taking after-work naps to make sure I’m awake enough to watch west-coast games).

I experience the highs of winning and the lows of losing the same as Nathan has described.  I watch other hockey games to scout teams strengths and weaknesses to see how they would match up against Detroit.  I worry the same as any of you every time I hear that Datsyuk has not skated in practice.  I almost took a sledgehammer to my own house out of pure rage when the Sharks scored that GWG off the netting.  I’ll go toe-to-toe with anybody who says that I can’t love the Red Wings the same as you do because I wasn’t lucky enough to be born into it.

Finally, to any Avs fan who thinks that I’m being an apologist for them, you’re sorely mistaken.  Reading a majority of you giving up on the series with your team down 3-0 sickens me.  Let the players decide when the series is over.  You don’t get extra credit for giving up hope on your team, and you don’t get extra credit for calling yourself a realist about your team’s chances of coming back.  Be a fan, that’s more important than what people have to say about your blogs or your comments.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 04/30/08 at 04:56 PM ET

You know, if I was to become rich, I like the reasons to be very much the way Mike Ilitch went about it –- i.e. staring with basically nothing and building my wealth over time; taking a vision and having the smarts, guts, determination and work ethic to pull it off. 

Of course, the way Stan Kroenke did it--by tapping an heiress to the Walmart fortune and using her daddy’s money to play ‘entrepreneur’ without having to go through all that other bullshit (particularly that hard work part), has considerable upside as well. 

I don’t know.  I’ll have to think about it some more and get back to you.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 04:56 PM ET

Finally, to any Avs fan who thinks that I’m being an apologist for them, you’re sorely mistaken.  Reading a majority of you giving up on the series with your team down 3-0 sickens me.  Let the players decide when the series is over.  You don’t get extra credit for giving up hope on your team, and you don’t get extra credit for calling yourself a realist about your team’s chances of coming back.  Be a fan, that’s more important than what people have to say about your blogs or your comments.

I will be cheering my heart out for the Avs on Thursday. I will nervously sit on the edge of my seat hoping against all hope that game 4 is the first step in a Colorado Miracle. But I am smart enough to know that

a)This Detroit Team is the best Detroit team I remember seeing in a long time. They have a killer instinct I don’t remember Detroit ever having, even when they won Cups.

b) No Stastny, Smytty, Wolski, with a perpetually questionable Forsberg makes any nearly-impossible comeback even less likely.

c) Even if they were to outplay the Red Wings for 4 straight games, they would need luck as well. You don’t win 4 playoff games in a row without at least a little luck on your side (unless you play against the Ottawa Senators.)

Posted by Jibblescribbits from San Jose, CA on 04/30/08 at 05:06 PM ET

I like your style, J.J.

“Finally, to any Avs fan who thinks that I’m being an apologist for them, you’re sorely mistaken. etc, etc”

Believe me, I’ll be cheering like hell for the Avs to win.  I’d love it for the team to look the odds in the face and say “*#$%@& it, we can do this.”

I just really don’t see it happening and will be straight up about it on my site because that’s how I roll.

I don’t think being realistic in that way makes me any less of a fan. It doesn’t mean I’ll be any less happy if they do win a game or two, or any less sad if they do get swept.

It will actually make me all the happier if they shove it in my face and take the series.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 05:11 PM ET

Yes, Jib and I were holding hands while making basically the exact same comment.

I wouldn’t want to ruin the serious atmosphere that was just injected here

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 05:13 PM ET

If I had a blog, I’d have a really cool and clever name for it.  Not something mundane like, Detroit Red Wings Talk (aka Wings talk).

Zzzzzzzzzzz…

But I don’t have a blog, because I’m not cool.  That and the fact that I have too much self-respect in the unwillingness to whore myself around the comments sections of more-popular rival blogs essentially begging for readership.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 05:48 PM ET

You’re a bitter, bitter man OJ.  I could honestly give a shit if Wings fans come to my blog.  I’m not trolling for readership here, I just enjoy talking hockey.

I write my blog for myself and Avalanche fans.  But if anyone, Wings fan or otherwise, gets enjoyment out of it, then that’s great.

And no, I’m not terribly creative with names but it’s the content that matters, not a catchy name.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 04/30/08 at 06:02 PM ET

I’m not trolling for readership here, I just enjoy talking hockey.

You enjoy talking hockey with a fan base that you yourself describe as juvenile and childish (which is true, by the way)?

Me thinks you’re a lying S’ac-o-S’hit, S’hane.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 06:11 PM ET

I think it’s important for us to keep a little perspective here.  It’s fun throwing barbs back and forth, but I don’t think that our Colorado friends would nearly be as villified if they were fans of a different team.  Now I know that we have had run ins with other teams’ fans before, but I think with Nashville in the last round, we managed to find some sort of common ground with them.

The rivalry is over.  Life goes on.  I think while there may be some lingering hostility with the Avs, they’re starting to look more and more to me like just another team in the league and not a rival.  That’s not a knock on their team but a reflection of turnover of both teams. 

It’s hard to manufacture a hate against a guy like Joe Sakic.  Forsberg and Foote are easy to hate but with Petey only playing one game and Foote seeming to be limited in the series, Sakic seems like one of the only ones left from the original rivalry to hate and I just can’t do it.  Who else is left to hate?  Lappy?  Well, every team has their pest.

I have a lot easier time working up a hate for the Ducks(now where did they go?) and I think I can probably come up with some for the Stars or Sharks if/when we get to the conference finals.

As for this real fan versus not real fan business?  I grew up watching the Wings from an early age, which included a lot of the dead wings years.  There have been some ends of series, even lately, that have seemed inevitable.  You hope it’ll be different but you realize how it’s going to end.  I felt it in ‘03 against the Ducks.  You become realistic and I don’t think it makes you less of a fan to be realistic.  Maybe I’m not as crazy as some people are about it, but my passion for the Wings is there.  I can see our friends have that passion for the Avs as well.  If not, why would they spend their time writing blogs or arguing with opposing fans other teams blogs?

Posted by Hap from Grand Rapids, MI on 04/30/08 at 06:14 PM ET

If I had a blog, I’d have a really cool and clever name for it.  Not something mundane like, Detroit Red Wings Talk (aka Wings talk).

Kibbleribbits?

Hap,

How dare you have a rationalized reasonable perspective on Avs fans. Don’t you know that this is no place for those kind of down-to-earth thoughtful responses.

I fully expect the Throbbing Red Wangs fans here to severely chastise you with as much profanity as humanly possible.

Posted by Jibblescribbits from San Jose, CA on 04/30/08 at 06:21 PM ET

If not, why would they spend their time ...arguing with opposing fans other teams blogs?

Pimping for page views, like S’hane and GobbleJiblets here.

Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 04/30/08 at 06:34 PM ET

...it’s the content that matters…

You said it.

Bye.

Posted by lilja4ever on 04/30/08 at 06:39 PM ET