It's just around the corner!

The hockey season, although it may seem far away, is JUST around the corner. That being said make sure you're connected to the Red Wings in all possible ways.

Facebook
If you're one of many who enjoy Facebook, The Detroit Red Wings have their own page. Like this page and you are instantly connected to the Red Wings and nearly 250,000 Red Wings fans that also have liked this page.

LinkedIn
If you're on LinkedIn- This is the ONLY official Red Wings group on LinkedIn, operated and maintained by the Wings.

Myspace
Although it's not updated quite as frequently as it's Facebook counterpart, The Detroit Red Wings still maintain a membership on Myspace.

Twitter
My own personal favorite way to follow the Detroit Red Wings is to literally follow them... On Twitter. Twitter is also a great way to connect with fellow Red Wings fans so if you haven't join already... Drink the Kool-Aid and get on it!

You Tube
Last but most certainly not least, The Red Wings have their own channel on YouTube. Filled with everything from the videos you see on the screen at the Joe to behind the scenes videos that you won't find anywhere else.

Quite naturally if you're not into any of this social media mumbo jumbo you could always just keep tabs on the Wings by visiting the Official Detroit Red Wings Website

"Chew some aspirin and get over it"

Spending the better portion of my summer waiting on Mike Modano is NOT how I expected this summer to go. Over half way done and I still haven't had that "Yay, Team Set, WAHOO!" moment that usually comes somewhere in the beginning of July.

Now every single person on the planet can tell me that there is nothing to worry about and that getting an uneasy feeling about an unset lineup is foolish but I'm not drinking that kool-aid. I understand that Mike Modano is (or was) a great talent but I can't see the logic in chancing our future over a player who MIGHT want to play and MIGHT want to play with the Wings. Call it cynical, Call it bratty, call it whatever you please but I'm not a fan of any prima donna moments coming from any player. After playing for 21 years in the NHL, I'm fairly confidant that Mike Modano knows what he's capable of and he knows if he can play still. Making the Wings and it's fans wait is borderline disrespectful and I understand that many people disagree with that. I've been around hockey for the better portion of my life and I know that 99 times out of 100 when I player is done, he knows it. Mike Modano shouldn't have to talk himself into playing if he's still capable.

This whole month has been turned into ModanOHHHHHHH-NOOOOO July and I'm rather over it. So while Mike sips on mai tais enjoying his summer... er... mulling over this difficult decision, I'll be chewing some aspirin.

So Lebda is gone now...

My first thought wasn't "Wow, $2.9 million for Lebda?!?" or "Gee, I'm glad he got signed somewhere". My first thought was "What hashtags are we gonna use now?!?!?"

My brain apparently went straight to all the tags we include Brett's name to on twitter.

Once we knew Brett was going to Toronto the tag of MapleLebda appeared. LOLebda and LebdAreYouSerious were the emotions to describe the $2.9 million dollar contract.

As far as alcohol related things go you have your SoberLebdas and your DrunkLebdas (or LebDrunks if you will).

HappyLebda SadLebda MadLebda CheerfuLebda ShockedLebda AngryLebda WorriedLebda TiredLebda JeaLebda are all emotions that you experience in the Lebdaverse

Or you could take a scenic trip to the LebdaZoo to see the LebAnimals

BuffaLebda LebDove LebDog LebRAAGHDoodle LebFrog LebdaGorilla Lebdolphin LebCat LebFish LebdaTurtle LebdaStallion Lebdangaroo LebdaGoat SeahorseLebda GiraffeLebda LebdaHawk LebDingo LebDragon LebDalmatian
and the elusive DinoLebda (very hard to find but I managed to get a picture)

Although Brett wasn't the best player on the Red Wings, He will be missed (at least in some capacity).

Now I believe we should take the rest of the summer to figure out who will be the next "Red Wing Brunt of all Jokes"

Goodbye to the Greatest NHL Fighter

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you I have been changed for good

Bob Probert was a character in stories of hockey's good ole' days. A fearless fighter who accepted any challenge to a fight, dropped the gloves at a moments notice, and pummeled opponents into submission. He will be remembered the most as one of the greatest players to ever drop the gloves.


Through the trials and tribulations of Bob Probert's life, most of us wanted to see him succeed. Not just succeed in hockey, but succeed in life.


Thoughts and Prayers go out to the Probert Family in this their time of mourning.

Equal Rights To The Hall

Who are Angela James and Cammi Granato and what are they doing in the Hall of Fame?

Lindros, Mogilny, and Bure are all more worthy than those two.

I'm sorry but the Hall of Fame should be mainly what you did for hockey in general, and hockey in general is predominately a MEN'S game. Most people don't even know who these two are.

They deserve recognition, but not HHOF recognition.

So then have a Women's Hockey Hall of Fame if women's hockey is it's own separate sport.

To take them over Bure, Gilmour, Nieuwendyk, Andreychuk,Oates, hell, even Lindros, is ridiculous.

I have no problem with women in the Hall, but make it a separate category, like the builders.

How long before we run out of "great women" and Mrs Howe gets in?

I have never gotten this fired up reading a message board before. Throw your equal rights out ladies, We’re going back to when we’re only wanted in the kitchen apparently. I understand that there are players that didn’t make the cut this year that some people feel should have. But that’s quite a bold statement to say that not only should Women’s Hockey Players not be treated as equals on the ice, they shouldn’t be treated as equals in the hall either.

What do you call a woman playing hockey? A HOCKEY PLAYER. So to say that they should be moved into their own category, segregated if you will, is totally jank. "But... But... But... Hockey is a Men’s game and.... No girls play it... Ever" Fat chance people. I’ve seen some women play that are better than some NHL/AHL players and if they were men they would have their place on a team without a doubt.


It is called the Hockey Hall of Fame. Contrary to popular belief it’s not called the “Only NHL, No Girls Allowed, Only People We Want To See In There-Hall Of Fame”. Angela James and Cammi Granato have contributed to the SPORT of HOCKEY. No, they didn't contribute the NHL. But then again, Women aren't exactly welcomed into the NHL with open arms. They must be worried that we might break a nail or must our hair or something.

“Yes, Women and Women in Hockey belong in the Hall… BUT not before this guy, that guy, and the other guy”. When exactly SHOULD women have been allowed in the HHOF? A new "great" player retires every year. Thus, every year there is a "great" player eligible to go into the hall. If the Hall of Fame selection committee had followed the "better than the ladies" concept, Cammi and Angela might have gone in with the 2027 Hall of Fame Class. Oh wait, Crosby might be in that class... So that would have been a no go as well.

Cammi Granato earned 20 gold or silver medals playing hockey representing the United States in her 15 year career. She along with Geraldine Heaney and Angela James were inducted as the first women in the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. Granato also became the first women inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. She is the only women to have won Lester Patrick Trophy individually as well as with the 1998 U.S. Women's Hockey Team. Angela James has earned seven gold medals representing Canada in Ice Hockey and an additional two medals (gold and silver) in Roller Hockey. She is a member of the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, the Black hockey and sports hall of fame, and the Canadian sports hall of fame. In 2009, the city of North York changed the name of the Flemingdon Arena to the Angela James Arena. Both players, though retired from their playing careers, remain advocates for the sport of hockey. These ladies are two of the most decorated female hockey players in the world. They deserved to be recognized for it.

Sticks and Stones, Brother! Sticks. And. Stones.

"Puck Bunny"

"Arena Slut"

"Fake Fan"

"Bandwagon Bitches"

Those are ALL names that are thrown out to describe female hockey fans.

These derogatory terms for women hockey fans are enough to make a woman fighting mad. I would like to know where it says being a man makes you any more of a hockey fan than I am. I fully understand that hockey is a male dominated sport. But where does it say that I am a substandard hockey fan simply because I am a female.

I've read blogs that say if a women says a hockey player is attractive that she isn't truly a fan of the game and is one or all of those names listed above. I'm sorry but I'm not buying this. I can notice a member of the opposite sex is attractive and not be a fan of them. I'm sure there are dozens of attractive hockey players that I would never be a fan of because they lack the proper skills necessary to play the game at it's highest level.

Another blog stated that how you dress/look at the games dictates if you are a fan or not. They said that if you wore an outfit that was figure flattering you automatically did that to get the attention of the players or the male fans thus you are not a hockey fan. It was also said that if you wore make-up to a game you weren't a fan. Since when does what is on my body or on my face make a difference in how I like the game? The answer is IT DOESN'T. If I want to wear a bikini and paint my face like Mimi from The Drew Carey Show trust me it has no baring on how I watch or like the game.

There are a couple facts that I and many other women will have to come to terms with. As much as women are more respected now for their views on hockey, there are still men who would like to treat us as sub par individuals. No matter how much you go toe-to-toe on hockey with male chauvinists, they tend to go back to the age old "hockey is a MAN'S sport" argument and stick to it. With some people, women hockey fans will never get the credit they deserve.

It IS important to say that not ALL men treat women hockey fans bad. Quite a good number of men, most especially in the Midwest, treat women hockey fans as equals. To those men I say: Thank You.

To those men who would like to put women hockey fans down.... STICKS AND STONES, BROTHER. STICKS. AND. STONES.

"Hello Mister Hockey Player Guy!"

I went to meet Jimmy Howard and Drew Miller last week and instead of being calm, cool, and collected as I planned... I said "hi. thanks" in the tiniest voice possible and ran away to the safety of behind the ropes. Ya know? Where those TERRIFYING players couldn't see/get to me. I don't know what got into me but the fact that they were looking in my general direction seemed to throw me into an instantaneous panic attack.

After that experience I put the call out to hockey fans to tell me the first hockey player they met. I never expected so many stories to come flooding in. But flood in they did. Everyone had their own story to tell from someone valeting Terrible Ted's car to my friend Kat's meeting Jason Woolley. After reading through them all I decided to share a couple of them.

George Malik, mlive's resident Red Wings blogger, shared this story:

The first player I ever met was Sergei Fedorov, way back in 1992. I was a 13-year-old kid who'd just fallen in love with the Red Wings and I had the opportunity to "meet" Sergei at a signing at The Goalie's Den in Troy, which seemed like a million miles away from my home in Garden City.
My dad, my pal Joe Kim and I had to stand outside in January for an hour because the line was so long, and when we got inside as the second-to-last group receiving his signature, I was absolutely in awe, to the point that my dad had to prompt me to mumble, "Thank you" when he signed a puck I still have to this day.

"Jedi" on the forums of LetsGoWings.com said:

The first (and thus far, only) players I got to actually meet were Hasek and Datsyuk in 07. I went to the games in LA and Anaheim with the RWNW crew, and both Hasek and Datsyuk were injured for the game in LA. VIB16, rossco and I managed to get to the area where some of the players were meeting after the LA game. Apparently Babs was pretty mad since they lost the game, so only Pavel and Dom were up there. But we got to have pictures taken with the guys. It was awesome. I asked Pavel for a picture, and he said "Sure. 5 Bucks" (especially funny when a few months later he signed his current contract). The guy's a total ham, limited English skills and all."

"RedFX" also of the LGW forums shared a quite hilarious player meeting/embarrassing hockey mom story:

I was in 4th grade when the Preds first formed. Before the season started, Greg Johnson and Blair Atcheynum (blast from the past I know) were putting on a kid's hockey clinic at the YMCA. I, of course, was a shy little lad and just played hockey and that was that. My die-hard Wings fan mom, on the other hand, recognized Johnson in the parking lot. And in the most embarrassing way possible, screamed WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GGRREEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGG JJJJJOOOHHHHHHHNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! loud enough so the entire city of Franklin could hear...

"Bring Back The Bruise Bros" shared the funny side of Aaron Downey

I met Aaron Downey late last season in Syracuse when the Griffins came to town. Me and a friend had seats right on the glass. He got kicked out of the game with only a few minutes left and instead of heading to the locker room,he stood outside the tunnel right next to us. Couldn't be a nicer guy. Got a few pictures on my phone. He really is an agitator. The Crunch fans were giving him the business,messing with him because he had recently been sent down to Grand Rapids. One of the fans was REALLY obnoxious and Aaron turns around and he looks at the guys girlfriend and goes "Is he always this loud? God bless your heart if you have to wake up to that shit every morning." Good times.

"Wings4Life19" met Mister Hockey himself in quite an interesting way:

met Gordie Howe a little over a month ago, never thought i would get to met him seeing as I live in Wyoming but he came here for a benefit for youth hockey. the venue it was at was 1/2 a block from my building so i just walked there about 5 minutes before it started. As i was walking up to the door i see about 5 people going in and tailing behind them was Mr. Hockey himself, i slowed down cuz i didn't know how tight the security was for him and didn't want to get in trouble. He goes in and about 10 seconds later I go in and see him and the group of guys with him waiting for the elevator. the doors open as i start into the hallway and they crowd in, i knew that i would be waiting for it to come down as it was pretty stuffed and they didn't know me. but as i'm standing their waiting for the doors to close one the guys says "you coming" and i stood there for a couple beats with my jaw on the floor and said "ya". Gordie looked at my wings hat and said "whatcha got on your hat there?" me being completely star struck just said "Hello Mr. Howe" they laughed and then I just stared at Gordie and listened to him talk about how he couldn't walk around saskatchewan after he signed with the wings, that was and will be the best elevator ride of my life. the elevator opened and i walked out and got in line to enter the event and he walked passed everybody in line and into the event

The set up wasn't that great as he just walked into the room and everybody surrounded him and you just hoped he turned to you and got to talk to him. i waited about 10 minutes and he turned to me and he signed my wings hat and i got a picture with him, he didnt remember me from the elevator but thats ok with me

The first hockey player I met was Chris Chelios on the street in front of Cheli's Chili prior to a Kid Rock concert. It was raining and I look like hell... but I met him.

He was too busy texting Cuba Gooding Jr to look.