By Brad Lee
Call it jealousy, call it envy, call it whatever you want. The simple truth is that Blues fans hate the Detroit Red Wings.
Oh sure, St. Louis has other rivals. It's still really, really satisfying to beat the Chicago Blackhawks. When Mike Ricci and Owen Nolan were in San Jose and the teams faced each other in the playoffs, the Sharks were not liked when they came to town. The Nashville Predators are better than they used to be and employ that little shit disturber Jordin Tootoo. But most Blues fans would probably say that only one team is the target of their hatred, their bile, their creative curse words. And that team is the Detroit Red Wings.
When the Wings are in town, the game is guaranteed to be a sellout regardless of the night of the week or the standings going into the game. I love the "Dee-troit Sucks" and "Mur-der cit-tay" chants that will happen in the stands. There will be lots of people wearing the red menace jerseys in the stands. Hell, there will be people wearing the winged wheel when the Kings are playing in St. Louis. And unfortunately for the home fans, there will be pockets of cheering and red-clad douchebaggery when Detroit invariably scores.
You probably know our unofficial motto is "Fuck Detroit." If you do a Google search of that phrase, our site is the first and fourth search results. And yes, we're proud. We say that because of a deep-seated dislike for that team.
Here's what Gallagher says about why Blues fans dislike the Red Wings. "I hate Detroit because they always win. The usual laws of hockey don't apply. Your good guys get old and less effective and you've been good so your drafts haven't been strong and your talent pool is weak. You become mediocre as your old guys fade and your young guys are unable to fill the shoes of those who have gone before them. Those rules don't apply to Detroit."
But Gallagher doesn't stop there. "Their luck isn't fair. They work hard, draft well and draw the free agents they need. But on top of that, they have good luck too? It just isn't fair. I hate them because everything seems to break their way and everything seems to break against the Blues' way. Has any Detroit defenseman every thrown a puck into their own goal in the playoffs? Of course not."
And then Gallagher mumbled something about the Yzerman goal and then headed to the bar for more alcohol. You know the Yzerman goal, right? Game seven in the playoffs in 1996. It's scoreless at Joe Louis Arena. Game goes to double overtime. Jon Casey is in net. Yzerman gets the puck, he lets loose a wicked shot from near the blue line. The puck had eyes finding the top corner of the net while Casey barely flinched.. Yzerman wildly celebrates. It was a swift punch to the nuts that left Blues fans breathless and hurting. That one moment in time defines Gallagher's feelings and the dislike for the Red Wings.
Chris Gift writes a lot for St. Lousi Game Time. He says it's simple why he dislikes Detroit. "The Red Wings have always reminded me of a college sports powerhouse. There is no rebuilding with them, it is just reloading. Add to that the influx of Russians during the mid 90s (yes, I know that we already won that war), that made those Commie bastards even easier to hate. Detroit, as a city, is just an over-glorified Flint. The Wings make that shithole of a place look somewhat respectable. The other thing is that they win, and win, and win and win."
You know how unless you're from Boston or New York it's generally not cool to root for the Yankees or Red Sox because they win too much? It's the same thing with the Wings in hockey. And just like the Sox and Yankees, Red Wings fans are insufferable. They can't take a joke. They have no concept of sarcasm. When the Wings were in the Cup Finals last season we had negative comments on our blog after we wrote about hoping the Wings would lose in the playoffs.
The Wings come to St. Louis Wednesday night for a big matchup that will decide who leads in the Central Division, yes one full week into the season. With the Blues playing better, the stuck-up Wings fans can't even say the game doesn't matter.
So Blues fans, what do you think about Detroit? Which is the team you most love to hate? Let us know in the comments. And be prepared for some of the Wings fans to stop by and leave their thoughts.