The New Hockeytown

Hockeytown vs. Hawkeytown?

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

• 1926-49: This is apparently what was called “The Early Years.”  The Wings were founded in 1921 and didn’t waste much time — making a Stanley Cup playoff appearance in 1929.
• 1950-66: Apparently this is “The Gordie Howe Era.” Obviously named because this was when Goride Howe peaked.  He started with the NHL (and the Wings) in 1946 and carried his team to the playoffs a few times.  But the Wings didn’t return to greatness until 1950, then reaching the finals nine different times between these 16 years and winning it four times.
• 1967-82: And here we have the “Dead Wings Era.” By the way I got all of these clever names from Wikipedia.  While I, and many others like me, still refer to them as the Dead Wings, apparently this term actually refers to a distinct era where the Wings, for lack of a better term, sucked.  During this time period, there were 14 different head coaches.  It was during this era in which poor old Howe retired.
• 1983-03: These are the Wings that I’ve known, “The Yzerman Era.”  1983 is when the Wings drafted youngster Steve Yzerman 1st overall, who later became captain and will of course be inducted into the Hall of Fame now that he is retired.  Yzerman retired in 2006.
• 1994-04: This overlaps with the “Yzerman Era,” but this is loosely labeled as “The Russian Five and The Return to Glory.”  This was the era in which the Wings and Avalanche rivalry began; when Scotty Bowman became one of the most loved/hated men in the NHL; and when the Wings started to scare me.

Now, the Wings are in a new era.  With Mike Babcock heading the team and the Wings winning the Cup last season, all seems to be in place for a continuing run in the “New Era” for the Wings.  Right?

Wrong.

Here’s the problem: in case you haven’t heard, there’s a bit of a recession going on.  And, also in the news, there seems to have been some trouble in the auto industry.  Unfortunately, this affects Detroit.  A lot.  Detroit had the honor of being named “America’s Most Miserable City” by Forbes Magazine in 2008.  With the second highest unemployment rate among the top 150 metropolitan cities in the country, the highest rate of violent crimes, and having been hit even harder in the past year by the automotive bankruptcies, it’s no small miracle the Joe isn’t selling out anymore.

Now I’m not trying to write this piece to make fun of Detroit and its economic situation.  But I am trying to call attention to what I believe could be the start of a significant shift in the Detroit Red Wings era.

Perhaps the most valuable thing in the entire city of Detroit is the Red Wings.  As 2008’s #4 most valuable team in the NHL, the Wings are valued at $303 million.  This is largely due to the fact that the Wings are remarkable at winning without a large payroll; their ability to draft talent and keep it within their system is enviable across the entire league.  But with certain big-name core players coming up on retirement (Nicklas Lidstrom is nearly 40 and Chris Chelios is 108), soon the torch will be passed entirely over to the newer players.  The problem is that people are fleeing Detroit.  The population has actually decreased over the past few years, while most major cities have increased.  Things aren’t looking up.

Now there has been some tongue-in-cheek name calling of Chicago: Hawkeytown.  Chicago is slowly turning in to what Detroit used to be.  They are catching on to the philosophy of drafting talent rather than buying it and rookies are slowly taking over.  The likes of Jonathan Toews, Martin Havlat, Patrick Kane, Kris Versteeg (and more!) make it hard for any veteran to skate around these players.

The Blackhawks, like the Wings, were founded in 1926 and are part of the Original Six.  They even made their first playoff appearance in 1927, only their second year in the league.  But unlike the Wings, the Hawks have only made their way to the Stanley Cup Finals 10 times; winning only three times — the last of which was 1961.  Things weren’t going so well for the Blackhawks, and thing were only going to get worse.  Then-owner Bill Wirtz upped ticket prices despite the team losing and then forbade home games from being televised locally — if you wanted to see the Blackhawks play (and lose) you had to buy a ticket.  Rock bottom came in 2004, when the Hawks were named the worst franchise in all of professional sports by ESPN.  Great little morale booster, right?

Well,  then something changed.  Bill Wirtz died.  His son, Rocky Wirtz, has taken over ownership of the team and has drastically altered his father’s policies, making the franchise more welcome to fans and actually turning a profit.  Wirtz went out and bought himself the perfect new defensive coach, Joel Quenneville; signed the youngsters Kane and Toews (the oldest player on the team is now Nikolai Khabibulin, 36); started televising Hawks games locally; and actually finished with a winning record for the first time in the past six seasons.  Fittingly, Chicago hosted the Wings in the 2009 Winter Classic.  While Detroit won, the shift in fan relations was huge.  It was the first Blackhawks event held for fans in years, and it’s been noticeable ever since.  Even Scotty Bowman realized the shift and has since signed with Chicago to be part of the coaching staff.  The people of Chicago are starting to actually pay attention to their hockey team.  Chicago is taking the most important page of Detroit’s book and using it for themselves — and it’s working brilliantly.

While Chicago isn’t yet in the top 10 of most profitable NHL teams, they are right outside at 14th. Team value is placed at $205 million — and their value went up 14% in just one year (Detroit’s only improved 3%).  Chicago as a city isn’t facing hard times like Detroit – they are faring like any other large city in a recession.  But because of new construction and IT jobs sprouting up, Chicago — like Denver — is expected to be one of the first cities out of this economic turmoil.  It’s not a bad place to be living right now.

With Detroit now facing Chicago in the Western Conference Finals, fans in Chicago are especially perking up.  The Central Division is rapidly becoming the competitor that the Northwest Division used to be, with four out of five teams making the playoffs this season alone.  Detroit won the season series 4-2.  The interesting part is that Detroit won the first four (two were shootouts) and Chicago won the last two.  The last part of the season is when Chicago really found their footing and made a great drive to finish 4th in the conference. Here’s hoping that the transformation keeps going and Chicago can take the conference title.

If things keep heading on this slippery slope for Detroit, while the Blackhawks keep on their climb to the top, we could be looking at a new recipient of the title Hockeytown.  It’s going to be an interesting shift in the NHL, as it happens every decade or so (remember where the Penguins and Capitals were just a few years ago in 2002?).  It’s the beginning of a new era for Chicago, for Detroit, and for NHL teams everywhere that compete with these two amazing teams.

Note: For those interested in the Avalanche’s worth — we are in the top 10.