Irrational like/dislike of players through your time as a fan

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

In the Howard traded for a first topic, it had eventually steered to a place where I sarcastically ripped Holland for the moves that he made and tossed out a list of guys who I just happened to dislike.

In that list, I called out Brent Gilchrist, who in his couple years with the team, I just didn't like. I hated seeing him on the ice and wanted him gone immediately.

I'm sure that we've all had players who just stick in our craw and we look at them and ask management, "Why?"

Who are those kind of players for you?

On the flip side, when the Wings had Stacy Roest, I was all about him as a roster player. He wasn't any good and he's completely irrelevant, but his name was cool to me. I guess I'm just kinda wondering about the oddities in our fandom.

Like
Stacy Roest
Brett Lebda
Slava Kozlov (to the point that for a week after the trade for Hasek, I was still super bummed that we gave him up)

Dislike
Brent Gilchrist
Luc Robitaille
Robert Lang

Click to read more...

 

[Claypool]

Jonathan Ericcson - This guy is going to play 13 seasons with the Red Wings. Such an average player did not need to be on this roster for so long. Still boggles my mind to this day. It's possible he passes Brendan Shanahan for most games played with the Red Wings before he's traded, slotting him at #17 just behind Red Kelly. If he's brought back on a multi-year deal next offseason he'll likely finishing in the top 10.

Dan Cleary - The love affair Babcock had with this player made me hate this team.

Darren Helm - Represents everything I currently hate about team loyalty. Again, another average player that's going to play 14 seasons with the Red Wings, mainly because Ken Holland knows his wife.

 

[RedMenace]

Recently (because that's all I can remember these days)

Irrational Like: Avery, Hudler, Tootoo, Lashoff, Witkowski, Tatar, Legace

Irrational Dislike: Brendan Smith

 

[Bench]

As a kid I didn't like Tim Cheveldae so much it nearly ruined my fandom. At that same time Ed Belfour is playing incredible hockey for the Hawks and that was a dangerous time for young Bench.

 

[Goalie guy]

For me dislikes where Krupp and Hatcher
Likes Kozlov, I know he sucked here but Ranford

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

The shape of Kyle Quincy’s head always pissed me off. Also Smith.

I also irrationally liked Hudler and Tatar a lot. Loved Datsyuk but that’s rationsl

 

[opivy]

As a kid I didn't like Tim Cheveldae so much it nearly ruined my fandom. At that same time Ed Belfour is playing incredible hockey for the Hawks and that was a dangerous time for young Bench.

Only went with dislike?

Like: Paul Ysebaert - 93 playoffs made me think he was great.
Slava Kozlov - Young guy, young fan.

Dislike: Dominic Hasek - I hated that we brought in the "ringer"
Brett Hull - He just rubbed me wrong
Robert Lang - Never did much in the sweater, bothered me.

 

[ricky0034]

I liked Hasek so much that i've always had this irrational thing for Czech Goalies in general ever since

made me extra bummed when Mrazek ultimately ended up flaming out

 

[SCD]

Dislikes:
Keith Primeau - hated every time he took the ice, still remember the day he was traded.
Robert Lang - hated the trade and the results.

Likes:
Per Djoos - thought it was a great name.
Adam Oates - Really disappointed when the team traded him.

 

[raymond23]

Dan Cleary AINEC.

Remember the Cleary-Datsyuk-Abdelkader line to start the season? Makes me quiver just thinking about it.

 

[RedWingzz]

I always really like Jason Williams. I don't even know why, but he was one of my favourite Wings for a long time. I liked Jurco more than I should have. I also really liked Filppula and Tatar enough to buy their jerseys, and still follow their careers. Helm is another player I still really like, even though he's just "meh".

I disliked Lang, I was such a Datsyuk fan at the time, that I saw Lang coming in as taking away ice from Datsyuk. I hated Andreas Lilja, but he was terrible. I also never gave Mikeal Samuelsson any credit, and called him "Sam-useless-" all the time. Also Dan Cleary overstayed his welcome by about 4 years. I used to like him, then slowly started to despise him. You can blame Holland for this though, he's the one who kept offering the contracts.

 

[jkutswings]

Sam-useless is hilarious!

I've had plenty of likes and dislikes over the years, but they've usually been tied to style of play and/or appropriateness of the contract.

Maybe Stu Grimson (irrational like). He was never any good for Detroit, but Grim Reaper was a really cool nickname for an NHL tough guy.

 

[Henkka]

I somehow started hated Tomas Tatar at some point, when doing own statistical data. He had too many off-nights, where he didn't contribute on anything. Just disappeared.

- Martin Frk. No show after that shot, even though I love right-shooting PP guys.

- Stephen Weiss. Just an injury mess, which was known before the signing.

- Brendan Smith I really started hating after that Sheahan DUI incident. He gave that driver licence for underaged Sheahan, to make all that shit possible. It was exact opposite move what a guy that calls himself as a "team leader" should do. f***ing idiot. Never been happier about anything than about the Smith trade. Also hated him on-ice.

- Jakub Kindl. Stopped trying when he got his fat contract and found this Miss Kosovo. lots of money and a most beautiful lady on Earth. I think many people would do the same and be pleased for their lives "being perfect". I hate him because he stopped being pro as a hockeyplayer.

- Petr Mrazek. The whiner. Thought too much about himself after 1 good season.

- David Legwand. Was just so poor as a Red Wings. Didn't fit on any role. Hated also losing Calle Järnkrok, because I was big fan of him on that time.

- Ryan Sproul. Started hating him after he put that sportscar picture on Twitter. Another "kindl", just never turned to be a good pro, just enjoying his life.

- Mike Commodore. Maybe was better in the past, but in our team I remembered him being only a-hole. And was bad on the ice.

- Ville Leino. Hated him here in Finland and didn't like him as a Red Wing. Nowadays I see him at Tampere boat terraces as totally drunk. I think Buffalo still pays him those 27 millions. Started some kind of successful cloth business with those money, but his wife operates it. Ville just drinks beer!

- Andreas Lilja. I never kind of hated him, I liked his physicality on a limited role. He was never too expensive and did win a Cup with us. But he lost that puck to Selänne at 2007 series... I never get over it. That one mistake...

- Mathieu Schneider. Most greedy player I remember. Took some quarterback role away from Lidström and hated him because of that.

- Tomas Kopecky. Wanted to bolt to Blackhawks with buddy Hossa. That enough for a hate. Didn't hate Hossa about his decision because there was no capspace, Kopecky only. That was just clear FU for Red Wings organization.

- Manny Legace. Those 2006 playoffs are never forgotten.

- Uwe Krupp. 16 millions for 4 years for nothing and faking an injury. "Class act."

- Anders Eriksson. Won a Cup at 1998, end then never returned as a normal pro. Fat and drunken sailor.

- Bob Errey. Hate him nowadays as a Pens commantator. Don't remember much of his games as a Red Wings. I could believe he was annoying to play against, because he is so annoying as a commentator.

That's kind of it. I didn't have much any information about earlier days here in Finland. But I was some kind of fan before.

 

[Red Stanley]

It's not irrational if you provide rational reasons why you like/dislike someone

Anyway, here's my list:

Dislike
Valtteri Filppula - all skill, no competitive spirit. Legit could've been a HOFer if he had both, considering the teams he's played on for most of his career. His playoff disappearing acts really pissed me off.
Marian Hossa - the only positive from losing to the Penguins in 2009 was the look on his face after it happened. Not so sure it wasn't the jersey that developed an allergy to him.
Uwe Krupp, Derian Hatcher, Steve Ott - just a big yuck.
Mike Babcock - I know he's not a player, but holy crap do I hate that kind of megalomaniac type of personality. Classic example of someone who buys into their own hype no matter how humble he tries to appear. He's the kind of person who would try dumb shit 100 times and if it works just once he'd go "see? I was right all along! You mofos just aren't doing it right!" The thing that infuriated me the most, though, was how he'd never stick up for our players. It was always "just try harder next time" no matter how blatantly the officials would screw us over. Now that he's in Toronto he gets all fired up when a call goes against them. Yeah, go f*** yourself, Mike. Hope your precious Leafs keep getting bounced in the first round.

Like (without including all the obvious ones)
Johan Franzen - he used to piss me off until I learned that his "lack of effort" was due to concussion issues. He has a great sense of humor. Get better soon, bud.
Dino Ciccarelli - "I can't believe I shook this guy's friggin' hand after the game. That pisses me right off."
Darren McCarty - heart of a lion, hands like wrecking balls. That breakaway goal vs Philly in the finals and beating Lemieux into a bloody turtle soup are still two of my favorite RW moments.
Slava Kozlov - one tough cookie with talent to boot. Clutch playoff performer, too. Love these types of players. Was sad to see him traded.
Chris Osgood - he made me super nervous every time I watched him play, but man was he resilient and earned his success.
Jimmy Howard - for much the same reasons as Osgood, but has had the misfortune of playing for a declining team with a shoddy defense for most of his career.
Mike Modano - one of my favorite players overall and just another reason why I can't stand Babcock.

 

[Henkka]

Dino Ciccarelli - "I can't believe I shook this guy's friggin' hand after the game. That pisses me right off."

Gotta love that quote too (about Claude Lemieux).

 

[ShelbyZ]

Likes:

<<< Aaron Downey
Sean Avery
Norm Maracle
Chris Osgood
Joey MacDonald
Jordan Tootoo
Brad Norton
Jimmy Howard
Steve Ott
Cory Emmerton
Jamie Macoun
Brad May

...I see some themes here...

Dislikes:
Petr Mrazek
Mathieu Schneider
Robert Lang
Curtis Joseph - I WANTED BELFOUR
Jonas Gustavsson
Brad Richards
Teemu Pulkkinen
Bill Ranford
Jakub Kindl

Speaking of Stacy Roest...

I remember him playing in those two seasons mostly because the team had bled so much depth up front (Johnson, Taylor, Knuble, etc all gone in trades to get around the waiver draft or get a rental) and seemingly always had guys in the bottom 6 going down to long term injuries (Draper, Maltby, McCarty, Kocur, Brown, obviously Gilchrist). IIRC, he was more often than not centering a 4th line of odd hodge podge spare parts or prospects that didn't pan out...

There's a couple games in 98-99 where he was between Darryl LaPlante and a "comeback" Petr Klima who would combine for anywhere between 3-8 minutes of ice time.

Then in 99-00, the Red Wings started the year with a bunch of injuries and then lost the ENTIRE Grind Line (IE Draper, Maltby, McCarty and technically even Kocur, who was still under contract and with the team for that whole season but was sadly never able to get over his groin/hernia issues before they finally shut him down with a couple games left in the regular season) to long term injuries.. Roest was usually always stapled to (at the time) highly touted youngster Yuri Butsayev. They would eventually be joined by minor league journeyman Marc Rodgers, who made the team after a good camp, and then another (at the time) promising youngster and previously mentioned Darryl LaPlante. IIRC, Roest, Butsayev and especially LaPlante were all gifted skaters and occasionally created some excitement. Thanks for the reminder.

I feel like you could have a real fun thread reminiscing about some of the forgotten guys that came and went between the 98 and 2002 Cups... Verbeek, Clark, Ranford, Samuelsson, Butsayev, Rodgers, Roest, Todd Gill, Maracle, Golubovsky, Klima, LaPlante, Wregget... Who'd I miss?

 

[Red Stanley]

Gotta love that quote too (about Claude Lemieux).

You could tell he meant it, too. The look of genuine disgust and shame on his face. I bet he was cheering McCarty on during that fight.

 

[ShelbyZ]

- Uwe Krupp. 16 millions for 4 years for nothing and faking an injury. "Class act."

You should read this: MITCH ALBOM ON: KRUPP V. WINGS: 'I WANT MY REPUTATION BACK'DOG-EAT-DOG LEGAL BATTLE RAGES ON OVER $12.3 MILLION » Mitch Albom

Krupp's side of the story is that his injury was real (and a re-occurrence) and that his dog sledding and sort of retirement wouldn't have been a big deal if it had not been for one thing:

With just under a year on the job as a GM, Holland declined to insure a contract for the newly 33Yo oft injured Krupp, who was one year removed from missing the stretch and playoffs with a back injury, and 2 years removed from missing all but 6 regular season games. previous season was actually the first time Krupp had come close to playing a full season since 1992-93.

“Here’s what happened,” he says. “We’re in the office, and Kenny’s got the letter from Watkins saying I need to retire. And Kenny starts yelling, ‘What is this s—? What is this s—? You think on the basis of a two-sentence letter you’re gonna get out of here? You think we’re gonna pay you your contract?’

“My agent says, ‘Kenny, what do you mean? His contract is guaranteed. You have to pay it.’

“Kenny says, ‘We’ll send you to one doctor after another until we find someone who’ll operate.’ He is really upset. My agent goes, ‘Kenny, what’s the big deal? It’s a disability thing. It’s insured.’

“And Kenny goes, ‘There’s no insurance.’

“And my agent goes, ‘WHAT?’ “

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Mike Vernon.

Love everything about his game. He wasn't the stone wall for Detroit that he was for Calgary in his youth, but he was pretty amazing.

Jason Williams was another guy I didn't like. I wondered why the Wings seemed to like keeping him around as much as they did. I never saw anything special in him at all.

 

[RabidBadger]

I am, at best, mildy pissed every time Abdelkader is on the ice. Even in the rare instances he is not a liability. It's not the contract; I would despise him if he was playing for league minimum. This goes all the way back to his MSU days.

I don't think it qualifies as irrational, but I really couldn't stand seeing Todd Bertuzzi on the team, let alone still playing in the NHL at that point.

I like Patrick Eaves. He didn't have stand out years with Detroit like he did when he left. He was a servicable player, but fairly inconsequential to the team during his tenure.

 

[SCD]

You should read this: MITCH ALBOM ON: KRUPP V. WINGS: 'I WANT MY REPUTATION BACK'DOG-EAT-DOG LEGAL BATTLE RAGES ON OVER $12.3 MILLION » Mitch Albom

Krupp's side of the story is that his injury was real (and a re-occurrence) and that his dog sledding and sort of retirement wouldn't have been a big deal if it had not been for one thing:

With just under a year on the job as a GM, Holland declined to insure a contract for the newly 33Yo oft injured Krupp, who was one year removed from missing the stretch and playoffs with a back injury, and 2 years removed from missing all but 6 regular season games. previous season was actually the first time Krupp had come close to playing a full season since 1992-93.

What was the outcome of the legal battle?

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

In the Howard traded for a first topic, it had eventually steered to a place where I sarcastically ripped Holland for the moves that he made and tossed out a list of guys who I just happened to dislike.

In that list, I called out Brent Gilchrist, who in his couple years with the team, I just didn't like. I hated seeing him on the ice and wanted him gone immediately.

I'm sure that we've all had players who just stick in our craw and we look at them and ask management, "Why?"

Who are those kind of players for you?

On the flip side, when the Wings had Stacy Roest, I was all about him as a roster player. He wasn't any good and he's completely irrelevant, but his name was cool to me. I guess I'm just kinda wondering about the oddities in our fandom.

Like
Stacy Roest
Brett Lebda
Slava Kozlov (to the point that for a week after the trade for Hasek, I was still super bummed that we gave him up)

Dislike
Brent Gilchrist
Luc Robitaille
Robert Lang

This is the truest definition of homer mentality. A glorified role player for a future(at the time) HOF goalie. I was thrilled when we got Hasek. Don't know how old you are but if you remember the laundry list of terrible goalies we had ex. Bob Essensa etc. You wouldn't have been saying that.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Mike Vernon.

Love everything about his game. He wasn't the stone wall for Detroit that he was for Calgary in his youth, but he was pretty amazing.

Jason Williams was another guy I didn't like. I wondered why the Wings seemed to like keeping him around as much as they did. I never saw anything special in him at all.

Mike Vernon literally had one good playoff with Detroit in 1997. Then we traded him right after winning the Conn Smyth LOL!I remember fans hating him before we finally won the cup. I went to a red wings rally @ JLA in like 1995 and I was a kid took a picture with Vernon and we were literally almost the same height lol!

 

[Richard Moistmaker]

Always loved Manny Legace and Jason Williams

Never liked Cleary

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

This is the truest definition of homer mentality. A glorified role player for a future(at the time) HOF goalie. I was thrilled when we got Hasek. Don't know how old you are but if you remember the laundry list of terrible goalies we had ex. Bob Essensa etc. You wouldn't have been saying that.

No, that's just how much I liked Kozlov.

He was by far my favorite player. Believe me, I was ecstatic to get Hasek. I'm a goalie, I love fantastic examples of goaltenders. Hasek might be the only player that I actually ended up being okay that they traded Kozzie for.

It was more disbelief that we got him and saying goodbye to my favorite player than anything.

And yes, I remember all of them. Chevy, Riendeau, Ing as a backup, Essensa (so bad he got loaned to an IHL team), Ranford, etc. etc.

Mike Vernon literally had one good playoff with Detroit in 1997. Then we traded him right after winning the Conn Smyth LOL!I remember fans hating him before we finally won the cup. I went to a red wings rally @ JLA in like 1995 and I was a kid took a picture with Vernon and we were literally almost the same height lol!

And on Vernon, I was including what I've seen him do in clips with Calgary in how I like him. But during the playoff run when he got us the Cup and Fight Night at the Joe where he beat up on Roy, he earned my respect forever.

Lastly, fans hated ANYONE between the pipes in Detroit. Goalie for the Wings when they are good, QB for the Lions whenever, those were the toughest jobs in town because even if you are good, people ****ing hate you. I mean, people wanted to castrate Hasek in his first year here at points.