Posted on 04/01/2013 10:30:47 AM PDT by shove_it
The Detroit Red Wings honored Gordie Howe on his 85th birthday Sunday as players wore jerseys with Howe's retired No. 9 during warm-ups and "Mr. Hockey" was on hand at Joe Louis Arena signing autographs.
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Former Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who won seven Norris Trophies, was in from Sweden for the occasion. Also on hand were Red Wings Hall of Famers Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio...
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Hockey ping
Too bad the Red Wings didn’t show up for it.
There’s a long discussion that goes on around hockey about the competitive disadvantage that celebrations of some sort put on the home team. Banner raisings, jersey retirements, honoring old players, it messed up the rhythm of the start of the game, gets the home team relaxed and celebrating, and gives the visiting team time to get mad. Never really seen any stats to back it up, but it sure seems like home teams lose these games a lot.
I remember last year everytime a former Mav player who played on their championship team was honored before a game, the Mavs lost.
tell me about it. That was a good old fashioned ass whoopin’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dDh7G65yQ7w
Detroit then proceeded to honor the 2nd highest all time scorer by scoring a goal on themselves...
This years team is a joke. They should’ve had Gordie suit up.
TEd Lindsey still alive? How old?
I remember clearly when the league had just 6 teams...(Can you name them?)
The game was slow and arthritic, you freeze the puck, constant off sides violations etc. Everything to slow the game down, but the game was brutal.
They had a series of games against the best in Europe, and the NHL beat them the first couple years, because they physically beat them up.
Then came expanxsion and the pin point passing, and speed we have today.
I’d love to see a bigger ice rink, like in Europe.
go Blackhawks!
Old Time Hockey, like Eddie Shore.
yeah...no sissy helmets or goalie masks.
I’m a Sabres fan, so I’m used to being on the receiving end of beat-downs this year.
Actually, the Wings played well the 2nd and 3rd periods. Seemed to have good chances. It was the 1st period, and their goaltending that killed them!
I don’t believe that stuff, but the night they retired Sayers and Butkus’ numbers, Bears lost to Fahv-rey and the peckerheads. God, I hate those guys.
After my post, I checked my memory. It looks like the Aeros didn’t make it to the end, but the Birmingham Bulls did. Of course, Gordie Howe finished his career, playing with his two sons with the Hartford Whalers, whose fans would honor him today if the team didn’t up and move to that hockey hub in North Carolina.
They almost named the new bridge after Gordie Howe.
Franzen(The Mule)has turned into an 11 yr./$44 million dollar(lazy) a$$!
(maybe at times his attitude/play rubs off on others???)
Datsyuk never lived up to the hype as a goal scorer, 9 times out of 10 his "fancy puck-work" leads to him getting picked.
Zetterberg is too inconsistent...so is goaltending.
Supporting cast is weak(at best).
Always thought of Ken Holland as one of the best GM's in sports(though it doesn't hurt to have an owner willing to spend the big bucks to bring big name players to Detroit)...but his decisions lately have been questionable, almost Joe Dumars like(Franzen deal=Darko Milicic).
...still, this teams lacks a leader(lost a lot with Lidstrom, Holmström retiring)...
...along with speed, skill-sets, toughness, yada yada...
People have been predicting the Wings fall from glory for years, maybe their number is finally up.
The Gordie Howe Memorial Bridge — perfect. After more than 2400 pro hockey games over six decades, Mr. Hockey caused plenty of bridgework to be performed on opposing players.
He was beloved on both sides of the border.
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