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How did you become a fan of the team you cheer for?


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...I saw the light and started supporting the Leafs, and have been absolutely bleeding miserable ever since. :lol:

:D My best friend is a Leafs (MakeMe Laffs) fan, and says the exact same thing! I can respect you Leaf fans...nobody else is true enough of a hockey fan to cheer for an annual basement team, and know why they're cheering for them.

As for me, I'm a Flames fan. I got NHL 2003 for Xbox as a Christmas gift and thought "What the heck, I'll give it a try." It was an amazing game, and I thought the Flames had the coolest jersey every-- a flaming horse head, as an 10 year old, what's not to like?

Fast forward to the end of the 03-04 season, and the Flames surprise everyone by clawing into the playoffs. It was at this point that I found out that Conroy from my hometown, and the 04 playoffs was where he really shown. Iggy and Conroy seemed unstoppable. The run to the Cup firmly cemented me as a Flames fan, and I've never looked back. Sure, they haven't been nearly as successful in recent years, but my motto is "Cheer hard when they're up, harder when they're down."

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  • 2 months later...
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I started out a Gretzky fan. I was at a friends house and he wanted to watch the Blackhawks game and they were playing the Kings. I got hooked and started watching mostly Kings games (not really a Kings fan, just Gretzky). Living near Chicago I followed the Hawks a little, but for whatever reason I just didn't get into them. And they had good teams with players I liked (Roenick & Chelios).

Then one day during Lindros's rookie year I caught a Flyers game. I took a liking to Recchi and Lindros and then became a diehard Flyers. I remained a Flyers fan for over 10 years until the lockout. Afterwards, the games were on Vs not ESPN and the Flyers had a lot of turnover on their roster and it was just too hard for me to follow them. So, I basically quit watching hockey for a couple of years.

I got back into hockey a little when I heard the Hawks had some exciting young players (Toews and Kane, etc.). But it was the last winter olympics that got me fully gung-ho about hockey again. After watching the Olympics I started following the Hawks full time and that's how I became a Blackhawks fan.

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In high school in the early 1960s watching the Rangers on Saturday nights on WPIX. Winn Elliot and Bob Wolfe doing the play-by-play. Black and white TV set. Original six teams. Andy Bathgate, Harry Howell, Jim Nielson, Camille Henry, Emile Francis, Muzz Patrick, Gump Worsley, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Vick Hadfield.....Most games were against Montreal and Toronto on Saturday nights. Back in those days Rangers and Bruins invariably missed the playoffs, year after year. But I hung in there until 1994 came around. Still supporting the team, catching all the NBC games I can get on the cable here in El Salvador, and listening to the rest via internet. Interesting; when I first got started with the Rangers I would listen to the games (on WOR, I think) with Marv Albert and Bill Chadwick. Now Kenny Albert's doing the radio. Lotta water under the bridge!

Edited by Brian
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  • 4 weeks later...

Kings!!

Channel 9 on lazy Sundays, nothing else to watch, and it seemed interesting. More action than baseball, less stoppage than B-ball or Football, and those crazy purple and gold uniforms.

Oh, and the Triple Crown Line. Lots of fun, and I have been a Kings fan since.

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  • 2 years later...

first got into ice hockey through a Canadian friend of mine at school, he would say ice hockey is great and would tell him the truth that football (soccer) is. fast forward a few years after watching ice hockey fights on youtube, i started watching various goal and skill montages, i bought NHL 11 for the ps3, and i took a liking to Toronto, they play in blue and white like Chester FC do (my football team i support) then i found i could watch live streams of games that start at half midnight and finish at 0330. That was hard work especially 3 games in 4 nights with Luke Schenn playing like a turd, i also started watching Manchester Phoenix, the season i fully started watching my friend from school his younger brother signed for them too. I next discovered NHL game centre live, which was a godsend (i still prefer watching it live though) i had some favourite leaf players Kesse,l Bozak, Komarov, JVR, and Reimer, heres to next season, and hopefully a successful one for the blue and white

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I was born in Chicago (but I live in Southern California) so when Dollar Bill Wirtz kicked the bucket and it actually became possible to see the Blackhawks on TV more than once a year, I started cheering for them more.

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Flames fan all the way, but lately have been growing into a Blues/Ducks fan.. they really know how to build a team.

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  • 7 months later...

Dallas Stars.

I know that they are not what they once were thanks to their "Rent a Player" thing they've been doing the last 9 years, but I really still get a kick out of them.

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In 1992 I've been with my parents and brother in New York and my dad brought us to the Garden for the last game of the regular season - Pens vs. Rangers. Although the Pens got destroyed in that Game, I followed the playoffs at home (not easy from Germany before that thing called Internet came along) and the Pens won their second cup. From that day on I followed the Penguins and my brother became and still is a full-on Rangers fan.

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In 1992 I've been with my parents and brother in New York and my dad brought us to the Garden for the last game of the regular season - Pens vs. Rangers. Although the Pens got destroyed in that Game, I followed the playoffs at home (not easy from Germany before that thing called Internet came along) and the Pens won their second cup. From that day on I followed the Penguins and my brother became and still is a full-on Rangers fan.

Oh my god!

That was the first Rangers game I ever went to! I was around 12 years old and had a paper route. One of my customers knew I liked hockey and he told me he worked for the Rangers. He asked who I wanted to see them play and then he got tickets for my father and I to go to that very game.

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Hahaha, funny incident! I was crispy 13 back then.

Maybe that fateful connection makes you ship that Kasparaitis Pens jersey to Germany! :)

Edited by Pens4ever
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Hahaha, funny incident! I was crispy 13 back then.

Maybe that fateful connection makes you ship that Kasparaitis Pens jersey to Germany! :)

Is that you that messaged me this morning through Facebook?

That one is pending sale right now.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Oh my god!

That was the first Rangers game I ever went to! I was around 12 years old and had a paper route. One of my customers knew I liked hockey and he told me he worked for the Rangers. He asked who I wanted to see them play and then he got tickets for my father and I to go to that very game.

"Today on NHL Fan Missed Connections..." :doh:

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Love this question!

Ok, well I'm from Maryland, and the old Capital Centre was in MD, so it's not that far of a stretch...BUT.

I was an awkward kid who had no coordination and couldn't play any sport to save my life, until we did a hockey unit in gym class in 8th grade. I got stuck in goal...and I was a BEAST. Dunno how it happened, but I actually ended up on the middle school team and earned a trophy for best goalie in the league that year, oddly enough!

So we had a team trip to go to the Cap Centre to see the Caps play. I don't recall who they played in that game, or what date it was, but I remembered that I loved it. Been a fan ever since.

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  • 2 months later...

Always loved playing hockey as a kid (usually street hockey) - but for some reason never watched ice hockey.

When I was 14 - some of my friends were watching playoff hockey and wanted to watch it a few times they were at my house and got me hooked. They were all Rangers fans and it just so happened it was the '93-'94 season (great season to be a Rangers fan). Lots of people thought I was a bandwagon fan... but 21 years later, I'm still a die hard Rangers fan! Just got hooked recently on buying jerseys - went from owning 2 Rangers jerseys (one was a gift) to 6 now -- 4 bought in the last 2 months :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I got hooked on hockey from watching the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team on TV when they beat the Soviets in Lake Placid. I was 14. I couldn't get over the constant heart stopping thrill of the end-to-end action that sport displayed. In those days, with only local channels, hockey wasn't a product I had access to. I was mesmerized after that experience.

My dad was a subscriber to the Chicago Tribune, and i was a regular reader, especially with the sports section as well as the arts section, which listed all of the upcoming concerts. I noticed the coverage of the Blackhawks, and while I couldn't get them on TV, I noticed they were broadcast on radio - WIND out of Chicago.

I began tuning in, and that's where I was introduced to Pat Foley. He made the game as vivid as could be imagined given that it was on radio - and the broadcast conveyed the excitement of what that arena was like - the fabled Chicago Stadium. I got quickly hooked on such matchups as the Neal Broten/Dino Ciccarelli North Stars, and the Bernie Federko led St. Louis Blues.

I made my first trip to Chicago Stadium at 16. We bought tix from Ticketron and made the trip to "The Madhouse On Madison." I couldn't believe how small that building was for the number of people it held. And I couldn't believe how loud it was. Hockey in person is the best spectator sport in existence, and in that building - with no seat more than 100 feet from the playing surface, it seemed so intimate. Even the standing room seemed close, and seats in the 10th row mezzanine seemed too good to be true. When they played the anthem through that organ, that building shook.

Saw a bunch of games in that building - often got mom to write dentist appointment notes so I could skip school and get tickets for the big matchups. They were good in those days, although not quite good enough - they seemed to keep running into Gretzky's Oilers. I remember one game where the Oilers outscored the Hawks 12-9 - Gretzky didn't score but he had 9 assists. As much as it hurt, you couldn't help but be amazed at just how good they were. They knew how to pass. And how to finish.

It's been an addiction ever since. One can imagine the joy when they finally won the cup in 2010. I never thought I would see it, especially after the early United Center era when things were really rough. People really gave up on "Dollar Bill", and many came to the UC disguised as empty seats. That was a tough transition, as was the new building, which is so full of luxury suites that four Chicago Stadiums would fit in United Center's footprint. That upper level requires an oxygen tank from the thin air ;) So it's a different experience, but they are winning big now, so it's all good - but I'll never forget, and will always cherish those old days in the Stadium.

I watch the playoffs every year - Hawks or not, and enjoy Olympic hockey too - the highlight of the Winter Games. Cable makes it much more accessible and enjoyable - it's a long way from tuning in on that table radio when I first discovered Blackhawks hockey. I also enjoy the local semi-pro team too, who won two cups in the Colonial League some years back. They were great medicine during those lean Hawks years, and great fun for the $$$.

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  • 4 months later...

My family moved to Northern Virginia from Daytona Beach, FL when I was about 12. I went to my first Caps game with a church youth group, and watched them get crushed by the Maple Leafs. I was hooked. I remember Rod Langway was the only one on the ice with no helmet. I thought that was the coolest. Saw them about several times after when my folks could get tickets. In high school I worked at the Reston Ice Rink, and the Caps came for an exhibition practice, '92 or '93 maybe. My boss put me in charge of the locker room, and I got to hang out with them all day. Got goalie sticks from Don Beaupre and Steve Taborachi, a stick from Dale Hunter, and Adam Oates. Got to eat lunch with them. Man that was a fun day. Every playoff game I've seen (four of them over the years) they have been beaten by them Penguins or them effin Ranger sob's.

I keep telling myself if Caps don't win a Stanley Cup before Las Vegas gets a team, I'm jumping ship. It's been nothing but heartache and stress the last 24 years...I don't know how much longer I can take it lol.

My pops sold the hockey sticks at a yard sale for $5 a piece. I was pretty ticked when I found out....

Edited by SkooterTrash
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My family moved to Northern Virginia from Daytona Beach, FL when I was about 12. I went to my first Caps game with a church youth group, and watched them get crushed by the Maple Leafs. I was hooked. I remember Rod Langway was the only one on the ice with no helmet. I thought that was the coolest. Saw them about several times after when my folks could get tickets. In high school I worked at the Reston Ice Rink, and the Caps came for an exhibition practice, '92 or '93 maybe. My boss put me in charge of the locker room, and I got to hang out with them all day. Got goalie sticks from Don Beaupre and Steve Taborachi, a stick from Dale Hunter, and Adam Oates. Got to eat lunch with them. Man that was a fun day. Every playoff game I've seen (four of them over the years) they have been beaten by them ###### Penguins or them effin Ranger sob's.

I keep telling myself if Caps don't win a Stanley Cup before Las Vegas gets a team, I'm jumping ship. It's been nothing but heartache and stress the last 24 years...I don't know how much longer I can take it lol.

My pops sold the hockey sticks at a yard sale for $5 a piece. I was pretty ticked when I found out....

That should have clued you in as to what you were in for.

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