ILMichFan70

May 18th, 2013 at 1:32 PM ^

Nope. Just born and raised in Chicago but my family is originally from Grand Rapids as well as Shelby Township. Plus my grandpa, dad, uncle and two cousins attended Michigan which is where I get my Michigan love from. Quite a bit of my family are Red Wings fans though because of originating from Michigan so we have a fun rivalry. I'm not one of those "Detroit sucks" Blackhawks fans because of that reason.

brandanomano

May 18th, 2013 at 1:28 PM ^

Wings need this game badly. If we get a split coming back to Detroit we're in decent shape. The longer this series goes on for, the more I like their chances.

CRISPed in the DIAG

May 18th, 2013 at 1:32 PM ^

The Chicago Blackhawks have to be the least appreciated and recognized teams in the Original Six. But then, I have always wondered if Chicago was a bit overrated as a sports city in terms of fan passion.

Brown Bear

May 18th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^

Stan Makita, Phil Esposito, Bobby Hull. No tradition.
Yes their horrible owner refused to show home game on tv but that makes the city bad fans when they still supported them? It's not our fault that Bill Wirtz was an egotistical asshole and refused to show home games on tv. This city is full of die hard Hawk fans and when old man Wirtz passed away and his son started running the franchise like it should have been it gained even more fans. Nothing wrong with a fan base growing, but to say that Chicago is a fair weather town when we've sold out stadiums in all sports for years through good and bad(Bulls post Jordan, Cubs, Bears and Hawks during the blackout years) shows your ignorance.

CRISPed in the DIAG

May 18th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^

Those hockey players? Known only by your fan base over the age of 50. You haven't sold out your hockey arena until recently. Post-Jordan bulls are an afterthought. Nobody goes to Cubs games to watch baseball. Nobody GOES to White Sox games. The Bears get support in spite of themselves and that deformed spaceship of a stadium. So you got me there. Chin-up! You could still win this game. But, gosh, it'll sure suck to lose this series after you all but gave yourselves the Cup a couple months ago.

justingoblue

May 18th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^

For the Blackhawks as an organization, and "lacking tradition" is pretty ridiculous, but the United Center was damn near impossible to fill, at least the times our teams needed to sell 300 section blocks. Unless the Blues or Wings were in town, you pretty much ate the cost of the seats.

I'd also add that there are a ton of fair weather fans that all claim to be lifelong fans despite lacking basic knowledge about team history or hockey in general. The real question is whether there are more than other "long dormant" teams recently finding success, and I have no way of knowing that.

justingoblue

May 18th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^

But it's pretty much the Wings and Canadiens and then the other four. Not winning a cup in the expansion era is a big knock on their tradition relative to Detroit and Montreal.

What does Boston have? Two Cups in the seventies? Orr>Hull?

WingsNWolverines

May 18th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^

Looking pretty good overall but damn can't get our defense sucked down in their end and have them with the advantage up ice! That goal should have never been!

Trump

May 18th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^

I would rather see one of Sam Bernstein's children on the ice rather than Brendan Smith