What does Bill Paxton have to do with the Wings?
By Editorial Staff
In the 1986 movie Aliens, Hudson (played by Bill Paxton) says a funny and poignant quote…
"That’s it man, game over man, game over! What the **** are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?"
I woke up on Sunday and thought the same thing. What are we, as Wings fans, going to do now? I live for the NHL playoffs, even if my beloved Wings aren’t in them, and in their absence I pick another team. Unfortunately, my Eastern Conference team is usually the Buffalo Sabres, but they were eliminated in the first round by the Boston Bruins. So I am left with the task of picking from a list of teams that I either am indifferent towards or I do not like at all!
Pros
- They have two former Red Wings Todd McLellan and Jay Woodcroft
- They have never won the Stanley Cup in franchise history
- If they won, at least we could we lost to the eventual cup winners (that counts for something right?)
Cons
- They beat us (anyone that eliminates us is now a rival right?)
- Douglas Murray’s hit on Franzen
- Thornton’s cheap shot on Holmstrom
- Shark fans (are they worse than Blackhawk fans?)
- Late games…I live on the East coast and HATE 10:30 pm games
Pros
- They are playing the Blackhawks
- They are down in the series and are currently the underdogs
- They have never won the Stanley Cup in franchise history; they’ve made it to the finals twice (1982 and 1994)
- If they won they would have beaten the Sharks (see above why this is a good thing)
- They have former Red Wing Mikael Samuelsson
Cons
- Late games…I live on the East coast and HATE 10:30 pm games
- Chances of coming back to beat the Blackhawks is pretty slim
Pros
- They’re not the Sharks
- They haven’t won the cup in 48 years (1961)
- New ownership has taken the team from a laughing stock to a cup contender; attendance and viewership is through the roof
- They have former Red Wings Scottie Bowman, Marian Hossa, and Tomas Kopecky
- Early games (8:00 pm EST starts)
Cons
- They’re the Blackhawks (need I say more?)
- Their fans
- I would like to see Hossa miss out on winning the cup again. I’m not a Hossa fan (even when he was a Wing).
Montreal Canadiens
Pros
- They’re playing the Penguins
- Not a Red Wing rival
- Early games (7:00 pm EST or 7:30 pm EST starts)
Cons
- No former Red Wings on their roster
- They’ve won the cup more than any other team (21 times!)
Pros
- I like Crosby
- If they win that would be another slap to Hossa for leaving
- Early games (7:00 pm EST or 7:30 pm EST starts)
Cons
- They beat the Red Wings last year
- It would be better for the game to have 2 different cup contenders
Pros
- The last 5 times they made it to the finals they lost; last cup win was in 1972
- They have Miroslav Satan on their roster and I get a kick out of non-hockey fans miss pronouncing his last name like he is the devil
- Not a Red Wing rival
Cons
- No former Red Wings on their roster
Pros
- They’re the underdog in their series, down 3-1 to Boston
- The last 5 times they made it to the finals they lost; last cup win was in 1975
- Not really a Red Wing rival; they probably don’t like us much for sweeping them in 1997
- They have former Red Wing Ville Leino
- Early games (7:00 pm EST or 7:30 pm EST starts)
Cons
- Chances of coming back to beat the Bruins is pretty slim
- They have Chris Pronger on their roster (remember that d-bag?)
So they you have it…the run down and analysis of the remaining teams. Based on that list, I’d have to say the teams I’m going to be cheering for are Boston and Chicago. Boston because Montreal has won the cup 21 times, Philadelphia has Pronger, and Pittsburgh shouldn’t be in the finals without Detroit. Chicago because the Sharks beat the Wings and I want to see them be “playoff failures” some more and Vancouver is probably going to lose. My Western Conference choice is really the lesser of 2 evils (for this year anyway).
I’d like to hear from you. Leave a comment of submit a vote (multiple votes allowed) on who you’re going to be cheering for.