It's fair to call Detroit, Michigan 'Hockeytown' for more than a few reasons. But in the late 1990s, long before social media and online marketing became hot topics, professional sports teams needed to come up with clever ways to market themselves.
So, in 1996, the Red Wings adopted the moniker 'Hockeytown' for marketing purposes, and they even put the slogan on their center-ice logo. Of cours,e this one excited just about every die-hard hockey fan in Detroit, plus those in the local sports media and even hockey fans nationwide...for the most part, anyway.
And really, if any US-based city that ha a pro hockey team deserves it, it's Detroit, Michigan. For starters, they're the most successful team south of the Canadian border, with 24 Stanley Cup appearances and 11 wins.
Even if it's been a while since the Wings had last made an appearance in the Final (I was a senior in high school at the time), it doesn't take away from how historically good this franchise is.
Even after some lean seasons, Detroit still deserves the 'Hockeytown' label
How many more passionate NHL fanbases can you name? Very, very few match what Red Wings fans bring and, as an Original Six franchise, that fandom's been passed on between four and five generations, and that number isn't stopping anytime soon.
Legends like Gordie Howe, Sergei Federov, Steve Yzerman, Ted Lindsay, and so many others wore the same winged wheel uniform that you see today, with nothing more than slight alterations to the logo itself. There's a lot of rich history across the NHL landscape, but the Wings and five other teams are in a league of their own.
But, here's the kicker: The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't been to a Stanley Cup Final in nearly six decades, the Montreal Canadiens haven't won it in over three decades, and you can say the same for the New York Rangers.
Yeah, the Chicago Blackhawks had a dynasty going on in the 2010s, but they've barely won half of what the Red Wings have, with six Cups to their name and four conference championships. And there are the Bruins, who also have six Cups, but just one in 2011 since the 1971-72 season.
Sure, you had the infamous "Dead Wings" era, but Detroit proved they could win Cups before the Expansion Era when there were only six teams, and after, when there were as many as 30 teams. Knowing ths, only the Canadiens, with 24 Cups, but none since 1993, can make a viable argument here.
Plus, when we're only talking about US-based hockey cities, only one from the Original Six stands out. That said, the Wings were smart to call Detroit 'Hockeytown' back in 1996, and it's a moniker that needs to stand.
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