It All Depends on the View

 

There's no bad seat in the Joe. I'm a firm believer of that. Although, the people around sometimes might not be the best... there is always a good view to be seen.

 

 

A few of the views from the season so far:

 

 

 

 

A couple views from seasons past:

 

 

Why would I ever do that?!?

I've seen a lot of stories, blogs, and tweets saying that NHL fans should not head back to their designated arenas or tune into the games. They say that doing this will show the NHL that the lockout should not have happened and that it will teach both the owners and players a lesson. Fans have waited months for their hockey, why on earth would they endure a self-imposed lockout just because you think so? If you don't want to give the NHL money, watch/attend games, or support the league in any way that is your choice. It's a dumb choice, in my opinion, but it's yours. What you spend your time doing or your money on is none of my business. No, seriously. I don't care.

If you decide that you're done with the NHL because of this lockout, Does that mean that you started being a fan in the fall of 2005? Because if you were a fan prior to that then you came back after a lockout. Why is this time different? I mean, this time really is. They did manage to save at least part of the season. During the 2004-05 lockout, they lost the entire season and caused the Stanley Cup to not be awarded for the first time in 86 years. Should the deal have been done in the summer? Yes. Could the deal have been done prior to the New Year? Yes. But at the end of the day, the losers in the entire lockout situation was the fans. 

So you may not come back, but I'll be back.

Red Wing Fans, I'll see you at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday. Don't be late.

Zestiny

We've got ourselves a Zettercaptain!


SHOCKING!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!

 

It was very apparent that the captain to follow Lidstrom would be Henrik Zetterberg. If anyone was shocked they probably should pay better attention. Mainly because the organization has been grooming him to be a leader for years. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It shows the faith the organization had in Z. This team, this organization, this franchise does not take giving someone the title of "captain" lightly. He's most definitely been worthy of the honor. In an organization as rich with history as the Detroit Red Wings, when they pick someone to follow 'The Perfect Human' and the 'Forever Captain' you know he's gotta have the spark that says he's right for the job.

Z is going to be a great captain, he's been a great leader for years.

Congrats Hank!

Beyond excited... well... mostly

I'm so excited to make it back to Joe Louis Arena.

Just a few things that I love about the Joe and am excited to see again.




BUT

(Oh come on, guys. It's me. You know I couldn't post about sunshine and daisies forever.)



There are a few things I'm not looking forward to...

But other than that stuff...

BRING IT ON!

Monday is a punch in the face!

Sometimes everyone has a case of the Mondays. For me, I combat this with... FIGHT VIDEOS.   I know that it doesn't work for everyone but it works for me every time. Even now, I just previewed a couple and instantly am in a better mood. Enjoy and Happy Monday!

I'm baaaaack... and so are they.

It's been seven months since my last post and almost a year since I posted on a consistent basis. In the past year my personal life, far away from my hockey life, has changed drastically. When I started Hockey Blogette in 2010, I was working minimal hours in the suburbs of Macomb County and escaping into Hockey Blogette every chance I could. Now I work for the largest online retail mortgage lender and the fourth largest overall retail lender in the United States five to six days a week in Downtown Detroit. I moved from my small hometown to a smaller town I now call home. As soon as September 16th rolled around and the sport that I relied on as my own personal salvation from everything was gone, I shut down and shut off. Hockey has been my anchor to keep me grounded and the constant in my life when I needed anything. For the better part of the last two years I made a choice to surround myself with strong, hockey minded, amazing people. When the lockout started, I locked them out too. Sure, I talked to them here and there but it was nothing like we did when we saw each other every week at Joe Louis Arena. We are friends above all else but hockey is the passion we all share. Come September 21st, unlike the players, my friend Dena and I couldn't bail on our reservations in Traverse City so we went as if it was business as usual. Traverse City in September is beautiful but it's not the same. So for the past four months, Dena and I have been sneaking away to Grand Rapids on the weekends every chance we both get. It hasn't been the same but it has been the hockey I need to make me feel like myself. In fact, I rang in the New Year in Grand Rapids after attending the Griffins game. I held out hope that a deal would be done and continued to make my season ticket payments despite all the trash talkers saying that was the wrong thing to do. Even though I paid the organization my money, my support was always with the players. I always wanted them to get their fair deal and get what they were due. When all seemed like it wasn't going to happen and after months of people telling me the season wasn't happening, news of the deal broke. Teammates that I hardly know went out of their way to talk to me about hockey that following Monday. The Operations Director of my team even yelled out "Happy Hockey Jenn". It's been in the last week or so that I have finally felt like myself again. Talking hockey and participating in conversations like I always have. The timing of the lockout ending couldn't be better.

So I'm back, and so are they.

Welcome back players, coaches, owners, and fellow fans.

I owe him a whole lot

 

I don't often talk about my family or my parents but I feel the need to tell everyone a little about my Dad, Leo Holstine on this Father's Day.

My Dad might not have been perfect but I owe him my love of hockey. My Dad had hoped for a son and was expecting to have his only son in 1987 but instead got me. With three girls, my Dad probably thought that his dream of sharing his love of hockey was a long lost dream but he was wrong. My sisters and I learned to love hockey in our own way but I learned to love the game of hockey just like him.

My Dad was born in the Mid-Fifties and would often go to Olympia Stadium with his father and various other family members. Catch him on a day where he wants to tell a story and he will recall one of his favorite memories of Olympia and it really has nothing to do with the players. The story goes that there was a older lady who used to sit in front of my Dad during the game and all she would do is complain about the team and arena. I mean, who really complains about the teams of the 50's? My Dad and his family loved to get bags of unshelled peanuts to crack and eat. Hell, my Dad still does. While other people threw the shells on the ground, my Dad's family would pass the shells down to him and he would fill up the hood of the lady's coat. When the time came to leave, the complainer would go to put her hood on and get a shower of peanut shells. A sort of payback for being a bad fan. Stories like this are often and many when it comes to my Dad. I can say that to this day, he holds the birthday that he spent with Gordie Howe as one of his best.

Many often point out that I dislike the NHL officials more than most. Which is 100% true. Why? Because I got it from my father. Instead of hating the Hawks or the Leafs, we hated the likes of Fraser and LaRue. In Chris Chelios' first game as a Red Wing, my parents were sitting front row. Cheli got into a scuffle with another player and an unhelmeted Kerry Fraser stuck his head between Chelios and the opposing player. My Dad jumped up and could be seen on the television screen screaming for Chelios to hit Fraser because he had an open shot. In later years, my Dad and I would take our complaints about officiating directly to the NHLOA. Some might find this a bit weird but it was a bonding thing that my Dad and I got used to.We have since stopped doing that but we did it for many years.

Until the 2008-2009 season, I had very rarely gone to a single game without my Dad. Every game we had our routine, a routine that I have modified to make my own in the past four years. My Dad and I would go out to eat at a small restaurant in Greektown called The Golden Fleece then take the people mover over to the Joe. I still routinely head to Greektown and take the people mover over before every game. My Dad can't attend the games like he used to due to back problems but I still hold the games I attended with my Dad as some of my favorite. I attended Steve Yzerman's Banner raising with my Dad, Saw championship banner raisings with my Dad, Sat on the glass for the first time on my 20th Birthday with my Dad, and attended my first game ever with my Dad. The picture shown above is one of the last games I attended with my Dad and it is a game that I will never forget.

So Happy Father's Day to all the Dads but most especially to my Dad, Leo Holstine.