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Ducks blog ~ The latest on the Anaheim Ducks, by the Orange County Register Sports staff

Is the pressure on for Red Wings’ fans?

May 14th, 2009, 12:04 pm · 62 Comments · posted by Al Balderas, staff writer

Well, Ducks fans … you’ve got some competition.redwingsfan31

I thought fans of the Ducks were among the most talented when it came to planting their feet firmly into their own mouths, but the Detroit Red Wings’ fans stepped in to prove me wrong.

While fans of the Red Wings have legitimate reasons to be proud of their team, 11 Stanley Cups doesn’t give them the right to talk out of their backsides.

As soon as the Red Wings bounced the Columbus Blue Jackets out of the playoffs, Red Wings fans went crazy on message boards throughout the NHL universe.

Some Detroit fans even infiltrated the OC Register’s Ducks blog in an attempt to show how much they knew about the hockey playoffs. I think it did the opposite.

On May 1, the day of Game 1 between the Ducks and Red Wings, “Justin” went online and stated, “The Mighty Quacks are going down in this series! The Quacks rely on one line, the Wings roll four. The Quacks have a rookie goalie that the Wings can expose more than the playoff choking Sharks.”

Uh … that rookie goalie you speak of has beaten the Red Wings three times in this series. And he’s taken on a lot more shots than his Detroit counterpart.

Even the Red Wings fans can’t always agree when it comes to discussing their own team.

While “Justin” was boasting about the Wings’ four lines, “Diplomat” saw things differently in his (or her) same-day post.

“Ducks have one scoring-line (sic), and the Red Wings have three,” Diplomat wrote. “Is that going to be a problem for Anaheim?”

Evidently not.

The four-game sweep of the Blue Jackets gave the Red Wings reason to be optimistic in their second-round series against the Ducks but even the players had enough sense to think before speaking.

“We knew it was going to be a tight series and it’s really not a big surprise going to seven games,” Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg said after the Ducks won Game 6.

After that opening series, it seemed like nothing was going to stop the Red Wings from getting another Stanley Cup — judging by the talk from the Red Wings fans. The majority of them were predicting sweep against the Ducks. The kinder ones had the Wings in five.

And sure, there were the misguided Ducks’ fans, too, predicting a sweep. But most seemed to think a six- or seven-game series’ victory was the best they could expect.

Rest assured, a Detroit victory Thursday will have all the myopic fans breathing easy — perhaps a few will say they knew it would work out this way all along. But a Game 7 loss at Joe Louis Arena could be devastating. How could the flawless Red Wings lose to a team from (gasp) Southern California?

What will these people do? Go watch the Tigers and Lions?

Hmm. Now I think I finally understand where they’re coming from.

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 62 Comments

  • Yohann says:

    Yeah, most of the delusional Detroit fans that I’m running into try and make a case that the Red Wings have actually won all six games so far but have been cheated out of them. Mass hysteria?

    How about a little California dreamin? Ducks in game 7!!!!!!!!

    Go Ducks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • dannyo says:

      Well….. well……well….
      Bye Bye Ducks…So good to see you go!
      What a bunch of thugs!

      Go Wings Go!

  • TheHurricane says:

    And what happens, Al, when your beloved poultry implode tonight? Whatever will YOU do with your time? Watch Real Housewives of Orange County?

    Nice exclamation points Yohann. Stop by A2Y I want to introduce you to some of my friends.

    We are delusional and wear diapers and cower in fetal positions until the drunken stupors wear off….you might fit right in. Unless you wear sandals and smell like patchouli.

    p.s. California Dreamin’ causes fat people to choke on cheeseburgers. Hmm, perhaps fitting for Sasquatch.

  • David says:

    hahahahahahahaha thank you for this article!!! Thank you!!!

    - I gotta let this out. I am a Ducks fan. With that said, i always knew this series was going to be tough most likely 6 or 7 games because these teams are so good. I never made a predicition because it really was too close to call. However, Wings fans are so biased its not even funny. Of course Ducks fans have biased… but we mostly gave the possibility that the ducks could lose. All i was saying was it would be a hard series…

    Now where is Diplomat? O, he’ll come back ONLY if the Wings win you COWARD!!

    • vegasguy says:

      What pressure could there POSSIBLY be on an 8 seed in the second round…how LAUGHABLE!! That is the dumbest Q. I’ve heard yet. ALL the pressure….and I mean ALL…is obviously on Detroit. They’re the defending champs. They’re the ones picked by mosy pundits. Who picked Anaheim 8 weeks ago. Geez, it didn’t look good even making it to the 8 spot for awhile. So, given all that, and the fact they got badly outshot in the triple OT game, with Zetterberg backhanding one off the post….and obviously the no goal in game 3….I know, the Ducks never lose in OT(that won’t last forever), given ALL that, if I’m the Ducks, I have a ZERO pressure freebie shot….which is why this format is a crock…teams that played, shall we say, not so hot all year, can get rewarded anyways…teams like the Sharks, who played well all year, get penalized…So human nature says the Ducks, or any team like them in this situation, have a huge mental advantage….Everything to gain, nothing to lose…kinda like somebody handing you 5 grand to play a hand of blackjack….but you HAVE to take a hit if you have a hard eighteen….if you win you keep it, if you bust you lose nothing…where’s the pressure in taking the hit?? TOOO many teams, Tooo many rounds…it’s ALL about $$$$…fans of the lower seeds aren’t complaining, nor are the seeds….but it sure makes that regular season a big JOKE!!!…PATHETIC!!!

  • Your Mom says:

    There was nothing more ludicrous than the indignation exhibited by the Wing fans that have infiltrated these pages. They were only capable of condemning Anaheim while preferring to overlook Detroit’s game; and only a fool would suggest that Detroit plays clean. Go to games and actually pay attention behind the plays, not what the media shows; cross checks, slashes, holds, chops, dives are all in Detroit’s playbook and used often enough to substantiate that reputation prevails over reality.* Consider Babcock’s posturing before the series that the Wings would just line up and face off after whistles. It was nothing more than pretentious drivel meant to influence officials but it also mesmerized his oblivious fans.

    We have only a few more days of their self-righteous anger, this series will be over tonight and the attention deficit disorder will soon take its toll on the Old Shoe fans. Have a fine summer HOMERS!!! Do you want us to send you a few Frisbees…

    *Here’s a reference pic for you all, call it what you like but if Kronwall can’t keep both hands on his stick… think about the whining if it were the other way around!!! http://images.cbssports.com/u/gettyimages/photos/GYI0057423396051302_1024×768.jpg

  • Garth says:

    Wow, you’ve really got your finger on the pulse.

    Flawless? Find me a SINGLE Wings fan who was confident going into the playoffs after the inconsistent season we had.

    Find me one Wings fan who wasn’t at least concerned about a series against the Ducks.

    Everyone knew it was going to be a tough series. Whether they predicted a sweep or a Game 7, nobody thought it was going to be easy (See, since you know a lot about hockey, you probably realize that even if a team sweeps another, it doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be tough games).

    Find me a Wings fan who would say “”How could the flawless Red Wings lose to a team from (gasp) Southern California?” Find me a single fan who doesn’t remember the 07 series. And the 03 series.

    Are your retarded?

    • Itlan says:

      He did point out an example, Justin. It was just one example, but I would venture to guess that Al doesn’t want to fill up a page full with Detroit Fan quotes.

    • Ducks54 says:

      Go to the NHL.com boards (especially the Det/Ana series blog), close your eyes, and click on a random Wing-fan’s profile.

      Gee, that was easy!

  • rt says:

    How could the flawless Red Wings lose to a team from (gasp) Southern California? what player on the ducks is from southern california? ummm, let me look, pronger, no… hiller, no, marchant, no… randy c, no…… from michigan???? YES!!! wizzy!!!

    • Itlan says:

      Bobby Ryan moved here to train to be a hockey player. And there are several other players in the league from SoCal.

      I hardly see how this has anything to do with the blog, AT ALL.

  • GeorgeMalik says:

    I’ve read as many comments from Ducks fans asserting that the Red Wings’ “Euros” would go down. There *are* some of us who are willing to admit that the teams are as evenly-matched as can be, and that the Ducks have a tremendous team with superb high-end players and an extremely underrated supporting cast. I’m admittedly scared because this series will be decided by half a cat’s whisker, but I *hope* that my Red Wings prevail, and regardless of whether they do or don’t, I give full credit to the Ducks. That doesn’t mean that I like them.

    • Steben says:

      I too think there are “bad” fans on both sides but no matter how this turns out the hawks are going down one way or the other.

    • TS says:

      These teams are not evenly matched at all. The Wings have and roll 4 true lines while the Ducks have 1 true line. The Wings have 2 premier D lines and 1 good D line and the Ducks have 1 premier D line and 1 good D line. It just comes down to Hiller playing amazing hockey and the Ducks are getting more out of their players than the Wings are right now, and that it what it takes to win in the playoffs.
      Just please do not say that the teams are evenly matched, that is not the case.

  • Adam says:

    Really? Have your journalistic aspirations sunk low enough that you’re writing columns in which you argue with sports board posters? Which rank near the most ridiculous on earth?

    Give me a break, guy. For every fan of that team saying something stupid, there’s a fan of another team saying something stupid. Or threatening to kill Ovechkin.

    Come on, there’s enough examples of good sports journalism out there. This was just lazy and readership-pandering.

  • James says:

    I hate it when an entire fan base is inappropriately stereotyped by comments made by two people on a blog. Do you really believe most Wings fans thought this would be a sweep? I think almost every single Wings blog that I read said it would go AT LEAST 6 games, a lot saying it had to be a 7 game series. I don’t think I saw one person saying it would be fewer than 6 games…

  • Greg says:

    I’d say about half the WIngs fans thought it would be a relatively easy series with comments like; the Ducks only have one line ; Hiller got lucky against SJ ; No way the Ducks can stop 4 lines. I don’t think the WIngs fans give the Ducks (or any other team) much respect. I do think the players knew the Ducks would give them a hard time.

  • Diplomat says:

    OH NO-O-O-O-OES!! We have to play the Ducks in game 7?! We so scared, we can’t even type now!

    Even though you idiots couldn’t count the number of players with 7th-game experience even close to correctly yesterday, we are pretty comfortable with our team’s experience in such “dire” situations. The Ducks have three lucky wins, and that’s hockey, the Wings learned to deal with this kind of pressure years ago. Relax! The game’s in the bag. For the Wings, that is. The Ducks don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning tonight.

    Oh, and for all the clueless California Raisin-Nuts who have been tossing barbs about Detroit’s sorry economy into every thread, I got a good laugh today at this gem: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/05/schwarzenegger-san-quentin-colisseum.html

    Yeah, you’ll get billions for those properties, Arnold. Turn them into New Dubai, or something like that. Did I say Dubai? I meant, Mumbai. Slums of. :)

    • Greg says:

      A fine example of a great many wings “fans”. The Ducks won 3, not 1, not 2, but 3 games, because they got lucky. This is one the reasons the Ducks fans do not respect the wings fans. Many are not willing to give our team the credit it deserves.
      From my observation, most Ducks fans thought it would be a 6 or 7 game series, and of course we think are team can win…that’s part of being a fan. We know Detroit is a good team, but many of their fans are just donkeyholes.

      Usually Ducks fans start bagging on Detroit when they start throwing out that CA doesn’t deserve a team, “ducks fans know nothing about hockey”, etc.
      They say we have no fans, and give an example of how many wings fans show up at the Pond. Well, we can’t help that a bunch of transplants moved out to CA and still choose to support their old home team.
      You know why you don’t see many Duck fans in Detroit? None of us want to move back there.

      • KnowsHowe says:

        First off. We give the Duckies all the credit they deserve. NONE.
        Second. You don’t see Duckie fans in Detroit because we know good hockey teams when we see one. You see lots of hockey fans here supporting other NHL teams besides the Wings. Just not the Goonesville Duckies.
        Third. We don’t want your sorry @$$ back here. We hate whiners!!!!!

        • GoDux8 says:

          Another dumb*ss wings fans. You guys were sure doing a lot of whining after the first few games of the series and back in 07, as well.
          Still..have yet to hear 1 (not even one) wing fan say Kronwall’s elbow to Carter that broke his nose, was dirty.
          You guys (most of you anyway) only see one side.
          How many californian’s do you know in MI? Probably not any.
          Good luck with your dirty wings.

    • John says:

      “Diplomat” . . . is a doofus. The poor dimwit just can’t help himself . . .

  • The Big Geek says:

    Actually, if you read tsn.ca, or puck Daddy on yahoo, or any other common destination for Hockey fans - - its all Red wings in 4 or 5, and admittedly sometimes 6. They also assume that ALL Ducks fans are new to hockey, and therefor bandwagon and irrelevant. Nevermind the fact that some of us are transplanted Canadians, or East Coasters, or what not, and have been playing and following hockey all of our lives. They also paint us with the Goons brush, and while a lot of that is deserved, this team could be all finesse and would still get no respect. Wings fans that comment online– and I’m generalizing, but that’s the point here - - have a sense of entitlement and how dare you suggest we’re not the best evAr. If the Ducks win, it’ll be because they gooned it up or the Refs sided with them and the Wings got hosed. If the Ducks lose, it’ll be because the superior team won. There’s no consistency. There’s no fairness. There ARE a ton of newcomers to the game in the OC - - I grew up in Windsor, which might as well be MI - - and there are a lot of people in the OC that don’t “know” hockey as well or as long or as passionately as Mnay Red Wings (or any original 6 team) for that matter - - it doesn’t make anyone less legit, or less loyal, or better or worse. May the best team win. Period. Get over the wannabe “California” sucks stuff, so you’re original six and have 11 cups. We’re 15 years old and have 1 - - which we got going through you. You got the last one. We’ll see who gets the next one.

  • DetFaninOrlando says:

    There are unrealistic Detroit Red Wings fans!?!?!? STOP THE PRESSES!

    I don’t encourage my delusional brethren, but neither am I surprised by them.

    What makes more sense? Over-confidence in the defending Stanley Cup Champions, or over-confidence in a team that barely made the playoffs on the last day of the season?

    To me, the delusional Ducks fan are far more-nonsensical. And there are just as many of them claiming the Ducks would check the Red Wings back to the stone-age as there were Red Wings fans convinced that their team’s abundance of skilled players would mean a quick end to the Duck’s playoff run.

  • Your Mom says:

    Wow, just wow……

    I will say there were some Wing fans that suggested a good series but a lot more were “smack talking” a romp. The selective memory exhibited by Wing fans here makes me wonder if their thinking is more clouded than Scotty’s facemask during his fight!!! Stop drinking the Kool Aid folks!!! Or is their drinking water from the Detroit river???

  • OC Bandito says:

    Diplomat = Buffoon
    What do you mean by “we”; you are not on the team.
    If the Ducks win then they won the series and not me and the Ducks.

    Three lucky wins… are you really going to embarrass all Detroit fans by your complete lack of class?

  • Biggie says:

    Lakers in 6.

  • mac says:

    After the red wings lose tonight, you guys can pick up your dead octopi and make some calamari for us when we are celebrating.

  • rt says:

    itlan, i was referring to this comment in the article….”Rest assured, a Detroit victory Thursday will have all the myopic fans breathing easy — perhaps a few will say they knew it would work out this way all along. But a Game 7 loss at Joe Louis Arena could be devastating. How could the flawless Red Wings lose to a team from (gasp) Southern California?”

    did you read the article??

  • Chaz says:

    I appreciate all the Detroit fans coming to visit. It’s been fun. But how can you (some of you, i should say) seriously believe that the reason why the Ducks won three games comes down solely to “luck”? Really? Luck? In a best of seven? How can the players of the Red Wings show the Ducks respect and not their fans?

    Tonight will be fun. Either way, the best team in the West is going to end up winning the series tonight and represent our conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.

  • Diplomat says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LOSISS5UWM

    Yes, it was luck, that you made it to game 7. Marchant’s long-range prayer? The ref stealing the next game for you? The Ducks getting EVERY break, bounce and call in game 6, and then getting so lucky in the third period, they lose their minds and just start punching everything in sight?

    It’s over, Quackers. All over but the crying. See ya in about five years, if you can rebuild by then.

    • Greg says:

      You forgot about the goal that a wing kicked and bounced off 2 ducks before going in…..the 5 min major and loss of a player for a clean hit…an uncalled elbow that broke a nose that should have at least been a double-minor, the uncalled elbow to WIz that would have been a 4-4 instead of a PP on which the WIngs scored…….you want to talk luck, the WIngs have had plenty of luck, too. If the wings didn’t want the snot beat out of them the end of game 6, they should have just left the ice, instead of trying to play tough guy to the Ducks.

      Diplomat? Did Obama hand you that name? You sound like one of his hacks.

    • DucksFan says:

      How bout see you tomorrow. Here’s my email address: newportbarhopper@yahoo.com. You can send your Congrats email to me tomorrow. I’d be happy to send you one if Detroit wins.

  • rt says:

    good point chaz!!! it will be a great game!! did you see the penguins blow out the cap’s at their rink? it should be a tighter contest tonight!, signed, dave bing, mayor of detroit!

  • Chaz says:

    It wasn’t luck. I’m a huge fan of my Ducks, but I can view a game objectively. Game 4 & 5, the Red Wings dominated play and deserved those wins. I can understand you saying how we got lucky that Detroit didn’t tie Game 3 (emphasis on “tie” the game - why do you constantly insist that you’d win that one?). Game 1 & 2 was what we expected, tight game that could have gone either way. You took the first, we took the second, but by no means did the Ducks (or the Red Wings) get lucky. Lucky bounces may happen, but it doesn’t win a best of seven. And if you insist that we are just lucky, then I guess, if the Ducks should win tonight, that no matter how talented and experienced your can-do-no-wrong Red Wings are, they are incapable of closing out a so-called pathetic #8 seed that had no reason being there in the first place. If the Ducks are so bad, then what does that say about the Red Wings should they lose?

  • The Big Geek says:

    In a majority of playoff games - - Veteran players, when interviewed, will say that you make your own luck

  • DucksFan says:

    I’m just hoping for a good, hard, competitive game tonight. I’d like to see the Ducks of course.

    However, I’m willing to bet that should that happen, Diplomat will have NOTHING to say. Which is totally predictable of any clown who makes statements like “The Ducks don’t have a snowball chance in hell of winning tonight”. That kind of statement goes beyond being a fan and just being unrealistic and completely uneducated. But hey, maybe he has a point. After all, Buster Douglas, Mine that Bird and the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team didn’t have snowball’s chance in hell either.

  • Chaz says:

    They also said we wouldn’t win Game 6. Or live to see a Game 5.

    Oh well.

  • Ray says:

    Where’s your big talk now, Al? Have fun on the golf course.

  • Kay says:

    Hahaha! You get NOTHING! Good DAY, Sir!

    And you know what? I’m QUITE proud of beating your overhyped, undertalented B-team thugs.

    From our backsides, right into your faces.

  • je says:

    Ok this is easy to say after the Wings have won but a story based on a couple of message board comments…you have to be kidding. Most wings fans knew this would be a tough series. Niedermayer (sp?) played a great series. I hate Pronger but he would look great in the winged wheel.

  • Mark says:

    What will these people do? I don’t know, perhaps enjoy the summer. I guess summer vacation is going to have to be put on hold for now, we have another series scheduled. Maybe you can enjoy the Lakers who are currently getting killed by a Yao-less, Mcgrady-less team.

  • Octo Joe says:

    Na na na na na na na na Hey Hey Goodbye

  • Mike says:

    Who cares about pressure? I do not see the point of this article.

    With that said, great series, but the Ducks got just about every break imaginable. The early whistle on Hossa’s tying goal could have made this a very short series if properly called.

    The Wings dominated in this series, but as can often happen in the playoffs, one hot player - the goalie - can keep things close. The Ducks never mounted much of a serious threat offensively but were able to keep it close because Detroit could not bury the puck and I think had lapses out of pure frustration. Still, I find Getzlaf and moreso Pronger to just be thugs at this point. Two blatant penalties on Pronger in this one that weren’t called. He’s an embarrassment. I recall him being a much cleaner player in St. Louis.

  • Diplomat says:

    For the record, I started out trying to be nice to you Duckies, but the early returns were hostile and inflammatory. Like the late ones. :)

    You were uber-lucky to make it to 7 games, as the Ducks got spanked in every game, in every way except the calls, breaks and final score. That’s hockey. We accept it. But don’t pretend you don”t know the Wings were the far-superior team, all season, and all playoffs.

    Godd luck to Cali, in coming out of bankruptcy.

  • dtownchamps says:

    LMFAO…..yep time for reruns of REAL HOUSEWIVES OF THE O.C.!!!!

    DONE…..KAPUT…..FINITO…..ADIOS…..PATHETIC GOONS GO GOLFING FOR THE SUMMER. LIKE MAMA ALWAYS SAID ‘CHEATERS NEVER PROSPER’….WELL THERE YA GO LAME DUCKLING FANS!! AND YOUR LESS-THAN-MIGHTY DUCKLINGS? well, they’ll probably make some tee times….AFTER THEY CRY FOR A WEEK……HOCKEY IS FOR MEN NOT WHINY GIRLIE GOONS!! AND THE MEN WON IN THE END…..AHHHH, SWEET VICTORY!! P.S. I JUST GOT BACK FROM THE JLA. THE GAME WAS A WAR THAT WAS WON BY THE BEST TEAM. I WISH THE DUCKS AND THEIR FANS NOTHING BUT THE WORST….SEE YA WOULDN’T WANNA BE YA!!!!

  • dtownchamps says:

    NUF SAID…..SHUT YOUR PIE-HOLES AND GO SURF OR EAT SOME GRANOLA…..OR BETTER YET GO PICK UP SOME ILLEGALS AND PAY THEM 3 BUX AN HOUR TO PAY DOWN SOME SOD LIKE YOU PATHETIC LIBTARDS LOVE TO DO!! MAN OH MAN I WAS GETTING SO TIRED OF YOU DUCKLING FANS BABBLING AND TALKING SMACK, I ALMOST LOST MY LUNCH. GLAD THE GOONS GOT SMACKED DOWN IN A HUGE WAY!! DID YOU CALI PEEPS SEE THAT GAME?? WOW WHAT A GAME!!! SEE YA, WOULDN’T WANNA BE YA!!!

  • pdogg says:

    It was a hell of a series, but realistically the Ducks had a lot of calls go their way-even supposedly neutral announcers on versus pointed out the uncalled crosschecks by Pronger and Neid’s stick on the ice was pathetic, to line it up to try and stop the wings the way they did was a sad display.
    The wings won, the
    ducks played their tails off but the you deserved to lose.

  • Lamar Woods says:

    Hey Al,

    Since the Ducks are out of the playoff, maybe you can cover the L.A. Rams. No, I mean L.A. Raiders. Oh wait, how about Disney On Ice?

  • Kev-Mag says:

    Congratulations to the Ducks and the great season they had, it was one heck of a series. I am a Red Wings fan and am not delusional, but realistic. For all you Ducks fans that are going to whine and cry just like your team did about that goal Detroit scored let me say this: This series shouldnt even have gone 7 games, Detroit had a game taken away from them by a referee when he “lost sight of the puck” even though it was very visable to everyone else. The Ducks continued to act like a bunch of goons again last night and it didn’t help them. Maybe your goalie should learn to cover up the puck instead of leaving it LOOSE behind him where its fair game. Every time the Ducks went to the net they would chop and hack at the puck when Ozzie had it and your goalie didnt even know where it was and didnt have control of it and Anaheim is going to cry saying it should have been no goal lolllllllllllllll gimme a break. After Hossa’s goal was waved off your whole team said it was a lucky break, well your luck just ran out. Enjoy your summer vacation, game over, goodnight!

  • MIch44 says:

    Guys, don’t spoil a awesome series with unsportsmanlike juvenile comments. Anyone who knows hockey never thinks like the writer suggests.

    I can drive less than 15 minutes and go to 7 different ice arenas… “Average boy” here is more likely to play hockey here than pretty much any other sports. Red Wings were founded in 1921… Back than, Anaheim was what? ( I am not trying to be a smart ass here, I really don’t know)

    Now I established that average Detroit fan know more about hockey, I can assure you that we never took Ducks lightly. Both teams had lucky bounces and bad calls, so what. It is a part of the game. If anything, Ducks were little luckier than Wings ( Hossa’s goal disallowed.. Pronger using Hudler as a bowling bowl and Wings get a penalty.. etc)

    Hockey is unusual because any underdog has a chance to win. I never thought Pistons would beat Cavaliers. But in hockey, it can happen very easily. And that is the beauty of the game.

    Anyway, good series and good luck next year. WIngs will be here next year ( hopefully as a 09 Champ and with Hossa ) if you guys want to take another crack at it.

    That writer of yours is an idiot and knows nothing about hockey.

  • Garth says:

    So Ducks fans, is the pressure on? The Sharks fans have a couple weeks of golfing on you guys, do you feel the pressure to equal their scores, or do you give yourselves some time before you get competitve with the golf scores?

  • decorideas says:

    The Ducks have a great team. They didn’t win but they sure put up a heck of a fight. But that’s what great teams do, they fight and play until the very end. As a Wings fan, I was very nervous of playing Anaheim and rightfully so. I may not agree with certain plays or certain calls (or non-calls) by the refs, but whoever wins usually has to overcome a lot of hardship (real or perceived). The Wings survived this time but it could easily be different next time. I think the Wings fans do expect too much. I know the result is hard to swallow for Anaheim, but they will be back and next may be very different. If this feels bad, imagine what SJ is thinking? The Ducks are miles ahead of the Sharks, no matter what happens. Don’t whine or complain, just hold your heads high. You are champions and no can take that away form you.

    • Ducks54 says:

      I’m very proud of my Ducks this season, even though they had me wanting to strangle them in the months prior to the trade deadline.

      I don’t know what I’d do if I were a Sharks fan. Soooo many post-season chances, and nothing to show for it. That’s gotta be unbelievably frustrating. Most of the Socal hockey fans that I know knew that Detroit would be a lot harder to play against than SJ. The Red Wings are just a far better team hands down. Watching this series, you can see why they are the Stanley Cup champs and will most likely take the cup this year too.

  • ProngerDonger says:

    Good luck in game 8 Duckies

  • Lane Meyer says:

    The Ducks fans have every reason to be proud as does the team.

    I think you have far less to be proud of after an article like this Al. This is a piece alright sir. Equating Red Wings fans to those that you have read or met is pretty myopic in itself Al.
    Enjoy your offseason Al, and no offense, but you are a horrible hockey writer. You do not seem to understand the game and I’ll wager it has little to do with your locale.

  • oaklandrosie says:

    Wow. Don’t know how I missed this while the series was still on. All I can say is that it *is* pretty pathetic that there is a blog post about message board “infiltration”. It does sort of give credence to the opinion that Anaheim Duck’s fans are whiners. I mean, you can’t “infiltrate” a public forum. And you have to just ignore the trash talkers because there are trash talkers in abundance on both sides. I saw many Duck’s fans posting over at the Free Press site. Oh, wait, or did they “infiltrate” it? C’mon, get real, grow a pair and deal.

  • KnowsHowe says:

    It’s wonderful up here in Hockeytown. Been playin those great young Black Hawks and their great knowledgeble fans. Lots of good trash talk ,but mostly all in fun. What’s wonderful is that there is no whining coming from the Hawk fans. They are graceful in defeat and their dialogues about the games are usually spot on. Sure there has been lots of bad calls but no complaints about refs and no Cheap shots on the ice like the Ducks. Even though they deserved to win tonight (Wings put out a really bad effort) they dissected the game play very fairly. In fact. I thought they were a little too critical of their team. Ozzie stole this one,(game 2)