From the sports desk: Winging their way to a championship

So the Detroit Red Wings are hoisting the Stanley Cup at last, having won the championship of the National Hockey League by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 this night; and thus winning the Stanley Cup finals series, 4 games to 2.

And as a Michigan native, as someone who grew up back in the 1970s rooting for the Wings, I couldn't be more proud. Let me put the win in some perspective.

The Detroit Red Wings are a proud franchise. Led by legends such as Gordie Howe and Terry Sawchuk, the Wings back in the 1950s and 1960s were often dominant teams, winning the Stanley Cup several times, and challenging for it at other times. But by the time I began following them, in the early 1970s, the team had fallen on tougher times.

Stars such as Howe had retired. Detroit's management was suspect. The organization declined. Soon the Wings were lucky if they were even able to come close to the playoffs. Often they didn't even manage that. Still, I as a young sports fan in western Michigan, who'd come to like hockey, followed them. They weren't even on TV or radio in my locality; to follow a game live, I had to move my battered old radio to odd spots in my bedroom, where the signal from WJR radio in Detroit, which carried the Wings, might come in (on clear nights). But sometimes it did, and I can remember cheering on infrequent Wings victories in the privacy of my room and, more often, sagging as another defeat became obvious. I can remember the Wings missing the playoffs by 1 point on the very last day of the 1973 season. I can remember savoring rare Detroit victories over good teams, such as Philadelphia or Montreal; but I can also remember that sad feeling as, with the seasons moving towards their end, Wings teams with only faint chances at the playoffs blew games at home against subpar teams.

When the Wings actually made the playoffs in 1978 and even won their opening series, Red Wings fans everywhere were in near euphoria. When not long after that the Wings crashed and burned and won only 16 games out of 80, no one was too surprised.

So. With all that background, you can understand why fans like myself don't take the Wings' capturing of the Stanley Cup for granted tonight. I applaud once again the team's owner, Mike Illitch, who bought the team when they were bad and has presided over their building into an NHL power. I'm happy for the fans of Detroit, who know how to celebrate their championships, because they don't come every day (heck, the Detroit Lions haven't won a championship in over 50 years!). And I applaud this Wings team, which is full of good skaters and passers, and who seem to play the game in a way it was meant to be played. And this championship is especially for those old Wings fans, and I know I'm far from the only one--Wings fans who remember the bad days, and the mediocre days, and the many seasons in which there was no championship, and yet who stuck by the Wings and made Detroit the "Hockeytown" that it is today.

It's a good night to be a sports fan and a native of Michigan, too; we're all smiling right now. Because we know: championships don't come around every day.

Bellying up to the sports bar: NHL Playoffs

Here, my favorite team is the Detroit Red Wings, and they look to advance to the conference finals with a win tonight.

What I've found interesting in watching the NHL postseason this year--and really I've noticed it for several years--has been pinpointing a change the league has made for the better recently. No, I'm not referring to the fact that fighting has been so greatly reduced. Rather, I'm referring to the more-continuous play you see now.

I used to follow hockey closely in the 1970s, when I was a kid. One thing I didn't like about it then was how slowly sometimes the game would move. Goalies would save slap shots, but then hold onto the puck, even if there was no enemy player bearing down; the resulting face-off was deemed safer. Players would "freeze" (that is, hold) pucks against the boards on the sides, or behind the nets...yet more face-offs.

But now, goalies can get a penalty if they hold on to the puck for no reason. And referees won't blow the whistle if opposing players jam for the puck along the boards. It makes for more continuous, moving play, and makes for a better game.

Many fans are missing out on exciting stuff. NHL hockey is much better now. Now, though, the league has to get a better TV contract. Having most of its playoff games on Versus just won't cut it.