Hockeytown is all a "Twitter"

The night started with such promise for the Detroit Red Wings in game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Nashville Predators, but then the unthinkable happened. I had to use the bathroom in the middle of play. (What, you thought I was going to say Nashville scored 2 goals in record time was unthinkable? Already happened twice in the series before game 4!)

I was gone for 3 minutes and when I came back to the television, the Detroit Red Wings were down 2-0 in the 1st period.

Fans were not thrilled in Hockeytown, and we took our frustrations to Twitter. Of course there were some Nashville fans there to cheer on their hard working boys from Tennessee as well.

Here's what the conversation looked like from the time Detroit scored to make the game 2-1, on their way to an eventual 3-2 loss:
(@hoopadoo is yours truly.)

@mediaphyter Boo, Detroit is on the board Link
@mediaphyter Ooh, what's that Red Wings? That's a spank. Nashville scores, 3-1. Link
@julzroguenine Osgood, please? Link
@julzroguenine Thank goodness, Dom's out! Link
@hoopadoo All I can say is about the tit for tat I just saw is haaaaaa haaaaaa take a hike old man Hasek Link
@pburleson Whoa Hasek just got pulled. That seemed kinda harsh, he had no chance. Link
@sigsegfalt YES! HASEK IS OUT! OZZIE IS IN! Link
@MissTrade @ hoopadoo even hasek is older than me @ 41 Link
@hoopadoo I hope Osgood starts the rest of the series too. I was done with Hasek after last year. Link
@dcweyh I'd trade both the Pistons and Tigers wins for a Wings win Link
@MaggieConv wtf is going on with detroit tonight?! bout time they put Ozzie in net. Link
@hoopadoo Why can't the Wings score 2 goals in 10 seconds? Oh that's right, Hasek plays for US. Link
@julzroguenine WTF? Draper was the only one who got a penalty? *grr* Link
@hoopadoo Oh man, Osgood had BETTER start game 5, he looks better in 4 minutes than Hasek has in 4 games... Link
@motownmutt @ mediaphyter Darn it, quit rooting against the good guys. Home ice is over-rated. Link
@julzroguenine Osgood keeping us in this game. Why oh why didn't he start tonight? Link
@sigsegfalt Osgood hasn't played in two weeks, and looks better than Hasek has all year. Link
@mediaphyter @ motownmutt Sorry Charlie. :) Link
@hoopadoo Oh, Osgood... We missed you. Thanks for bailing out Hasbeen. Link
@julzroguenine @ hoopadoo Amen to that! Link
@hoopadoo Why do the Red Wings make opposing goalies look so good in the playoffs? Link
@TheFitB Could the Red Wings be on the verge of another disappointing playoff run? Link
@GoodForm Defensive shell for the Predators Link
@hoopadoo @ TheFitB Well, remember we went into game 5 with a 2-2 series tie against Nashville back in '04. Wings won in 6. Link
@MichaelBeaton Bed Time . . night all . . . hope the wings can pull this out! Link
@TheFitB I forgot about that @ hoopadoo that was a rarity. Much respect for them even though I'm a Leafs fan Link
@dcweyh wings score 2-3 Link
@hoopadoo Yeah! Yeah! Goal Wings! Note to Ken Holland. Osgood, yay. Hasek, boo. Link
@motownmutt Red Wings w00t! 2, un-w00t 3 Link
@hoopadoo Ohhhhhh I thought the Wings game was about to be tied! Link
@sigsegfalt Datsyuk's gonna have to win this one on his own. Link
@MissTrade Wings in pred zone about 90 percent this peiod making ozzie seem good Link
@hoopadoo That was a bad whistle in the Wings game, puck wasn't controlled by Osgood. Link
@MissTrade Not complaining about whistle take what they give us Link
@TheFitB @ hoopadoo puck not controlled by Osgood is an understatement. Sitting in front of a wide open net and the whistle goes off??? Link
@hoopadoo @ MissTrade I don't want the refs to decide the game, that's all. Link
@hoopadoo @ TheFitB The ref will just tell you he "lost sight of the puck." Unreal. Link
@hoopadoo Datsyuk, the magic man? What happened to Shake'n'Bake? Link
@MissTrade Wings in 7 Link
@davidjhinson C'mon. 2.3 seconds. Hold on! Link
@julzroguenine And I can't believe I stayed up late for that... Gonna need lots of caffeine tomorrow... Link
@hoopadoo Hasek should be first star of the game... For Nashville.... Link
@davidjhinson Hot Damn! Preds Win! Link
@TheFitB Wow! Nashville ties the series with the Wings Link
@MaggieConv WTH there is no reason why Nashville should win ANY games vs detroit..but yet..they win another one. sad. Link
@bccarlso @ hoopadoo Haasek... haasek... you suck! OK, but seriously Z boy coulda scored a couple too. Link
@hoopadoo @ bccarlso I 'm out of angry things to say about Hasek. Link

Photo by Flickr user Dan4th

Tickets Prices High in Hockeytown

Photo courtesy of Flickr user DetroitDerek

Leading into this season's home opener we had an impressive streak of 396 consecutive sold-out regular season games, dating back to December 10, 1996. But that all ended when the Red Wings failed to sell all available tickets for this season's first game.

Is it because the Red Wings haven't been playing well recently? I'd say making the playoffs for 15 consecutive seasons begs to differ.

It's a number of other factors. The Detroit Red Wings did not lower ticket prices after the lockout of 2004-05, which many teams around the league did. That left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of Wings fans. With the Detroit Tigers playing as well as they have been these past two seasons, that's been a big draw on Michigan's entertainment dollar.

The biggest factor of all: the bad economy here in Michigan is keeping fans away. For a family of four to go to a Wings game, the cheapest seats you can find are $22.00 plus a TicketMaster "convenience charge." Tack on gas and parking... by the time you get drinks, hot dogs and snacks, you are looking in excess of $150.00 for an evening out for that family!

If the Red Wings want to fill those stands again their management needs to drop prices, and give away more seats to schools and charities. Empty seats do not make the Red Wings any money, but if they let someone in for free to fill that seat, they're going to have to pay for parking to get there, and chances are they're going to get hungry and thirsty during the game. making $15-$30 is better than zero any day of the week in my book.

Enjoying late night hockey

I love watching hockey at night. I run a fantasy hockey league and there is nothing better than closing out the evening with your guy scoring the game winning goal!

Watching the Dallas-Chicago game and they just assigned a second assist to Mike Modano when he never touched the puck. That phantom assist tied Modano for the all-time points lead for U.S. born players, which put the crowd in a frenzy. Now do you go back and suck the wind out of the fans' sails by saying "whoops, sorry, false alarm folks"?

Interesting side note about Mike Modano: he used to play pond hockey with my sister and her friends back around 1980-81. Small world, huh?