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Son Number One and I watched the Wings game together last evening…he in beautiful suburban Layton, Utah and me in not-quite-beautiful “suburban” (hah!) Portales. “Watching the game together” essentially means there are a lot of Layton-Portales phone calls, mainly between periods, but also when there’s a development of note, like a pretty goal or a fight. Both of us formed the same impression early on…the Wings came out flat, got down by one goal to Dallas in the first period, and generally seemed to suffer from a distinct lack of interest in the game. When Dallas scored their second goal early in the third period, both SN1 and I seriously considered turning the game off; all that kept us tuned in was the hope that the Wings would score at least one goal and avoid the shut-out…the Wings being the only team in the NHL that hasn’t suffered a shut-out this year. We both agreed we’d hate to see that milestone go by the boards.

So, anyway. I’m glad we stayed with it. The last seven minutes of the game were great: Detroit scored three unanswered goals and got the win, 3-2. All the more impressive, given Dallas is the second-best team in the Western Conference, and a formidable foe. The Stars had to be mumbling to themselves all the way back to Dallas. “Had it, lost it…” and all that.

In the post-game wrap up phone call, we got to talking about the Wings and their fans, in general, agreeing that these are great times for Wings fans. This year is the 15^th consecutive year the Wings have made the play-offs. While 15 years isn’t an NHL record by any means (consider St. Louis, out of the play-offs this year for the first time since ’78-’79), it’s pretty good. And this year Detroit won its fifth President’s Trophy in ten years. Three Stanley Cups since ’97, plus a couple of near-misses. It wasn’t always so.

SN1 and I aren’t Johnny-Come-Lately, get on the winning bandwagon Wings fans. We’ve supported the team for over 20 years and lived through some pretty horrendous times. There was a time, and not all that long ago, when being a Wings fan was a lot like being a Cubs fan…one couldn’t even say “next year, next year!” with a straight face. The “Dead Things,” as they used to be known in Detroit back in ’85-‘86 when they finished the season with just 40 points (total!), couldn’t be considered a plausible championship team by any stretch of the imagination. Those were dark, dark days. But things slowly began to turn around, even though there were continuing disappointments, like the Devils’ sweep of the Wings in the ’95 Stanley Cup finals. We all just knew ’95 was gonna be the year the Wings turned it around and brought the Cup home. Not to be, not until ’97. Two more years of waiting and hoping…but we knew it was inevitable. And so it was, back-to-back Cups in ’97 and ’98, and another in 2002.

So here we are: it’s 2006, the play-offs begin Friday night, and the Quest for The Cup will be on again. It’s a great time to be a Wings fan!