Chicago Hawkie Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 What was your favorite decade in hockey? Is there any decade in which you hadn't been watching that you wish you had? I would have like to have been watching in the 1980s. It was a decade known as firewagon hockey, The Hawks had a fairly good team in the 1980s. I would have liked to watch their games vs. the Wings back then. I also would have liked to see how they matched up vs. the Oilers and Flames It seemed like a less restrictive game back then, also, before all the rule changes in the early 1990s that led, at least in part, to a trap-dominated game for much of the '90s and early 2000's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 @Chicago Hawkie Excellent thread topic! My earliest hockey memory was Bobby Orr's flying goal to win the cup against St.Louis. I was 6, I don't recall the goal per say, but I was watching with all my uncles and aunts (only 2 remain of the 12 RIP to those great people and super hockey fans!!) and I recall the whole room exploding...so loud I was scared. I asked my Uncle Danny what happened, and he told me (all teary eyed) the Bruins just won the cup...AND WHAT A GOAL!! This is coming from a hard core Habs fan, they all realized the historic power of what happened immediately. I few years later I became a Flyers fan (a story for another day), but thanks to that goal, something clicked and I started watching hockey religiously. For that reason, the 70's is my favourite decade. My young formative years were spent watching Bobby Orr, Larry Robinson, Guy Lafleur, Gilbert Perrearult, Bobby Clarke...that was when hockey was the BEST!! The decade I wished I could have seen was the one I just missed, the 60's....the whole production line, Stan Mikita, Tony O...so many greats...I always felt robbed for not getting to see them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I became a hockey fan in the 1970's, remember watching, listening too, reading about the Habs, some really bad Detroit hockey, ect..... My favorite would obviously be the 1990's, I am not and have never been a fair weather fan, a Wings fan my entire life since the days of the dead things era, so watching Federov, Lidstrom, Stevie Y, Chiasson (my favorite) Konstantinov, Gallant, ect.... grow, some stay, some go but the pieces come slowly together and a back to back Stanley Cup team put together, with the greatest rivalry of my lifetime, the Wings/Avalanche with a HOFer on the ice at all times it seemed, had to be my era. Jammer mentioned the sixties as an era he barely missed and would love to have a chance to have seen, for me it would be the fifties, the Gordie Howe run of dominance in the decade and the Wings dominating the first half followed by the Richard, Plante Harvey run with the Canadiens in the late fifties, would be the era I would have loved to have seen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I liked the 80's that's when i became "hockey aware" i was a Flyers fan earlier but that was because my step dad was....in the 80's i discovered the game. I had a Pelle Lindbergh sweater, Dave Poulin was my idea of leader. those Flyers teams were why i'm a fan . the Gretzky era was fantastic, exciting hockey good teams , excellent goons...it was only diminished by the fact that Mario Lemeuix had some serious health problems that quashed his challenge to the throne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnyman Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 '70s hockey hooked me, '80s was when I understood. '90s hockey was kinda tame in comparison. I hate the pre-arranged fighting in the first ten seconds in today's game. What happened to fighting the guy who cheap-shotted your star player? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarsippius Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I cut my teeth in the 70s, but the 80s was the shizzle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poulin20 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 I liked the 80's. Dave Poulin was my idea of leader. those Flyers teams were why i'm a fan . . This! I loved the 80s and hated the 90s and early 2000's. In my eyes the league has been in decline since Buttman put his nerdy little NBA hands on it and it has never recovered. We have too many teams, horrible rules, a salary cap, idiotic division names, and no end in sight to the troll's reign of terror. Sure it has "mass appeal" and lots more fans now but it is far far less entertaining to watch than in the 80's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 Thanks for all of your replies thus far ... I really enjoyed reading them! I'll post more on this thread tomorrow ... but I do agree that the game has been watered down starting in the mid-90s with Bettman and all the changes he made then. If only we can travel back in time before that all happened ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 @jammer2 Thanks! The 1970s certainly had some heated rivalries (Bruins-Habs comes to mind). I wish I were alive in the 60's to see those Hawks teams, especially against Detroit. Both the Hawks (since 1961) and the Wings (since 1955) had lengthy Cup droughts to get over, but I think either team could have won more Cups in the 1960s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 @yave1964 Yeah, I wish I would have been watching prior to 1996, as the Wings were building their team and going through all of the growing pains that went with it. I was fortunate to have seen through the Wings-Avs rivalry from its beginning - that Western Conference finals loss in 1996 was bitter and waiting through the dog days of summer for the next season to begin was excruciating ... When I moved to Chicago in 2008, the Hawks were already an up-and-coming team, although it was probably wondered whether the Hawks were just playing way above their heads even though they began showing signs of improvement starting in 2007. This was the first year Hawks home games were televised, also. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 @mojo1917 I was fortunate to have seen a couple of 1980s Oilers games on ESPN Classic about a decade ago (Oilers-Islanders in 1984, Oilers-Flyers in 1987, Oilers-Flames in 1986, and Oilers-Blackhawks in 1990) - those games were shown in their entireties). However, I would have liked to see more of the Oilers-Hawks matchups from then. Form what I follow, though, the Oilers decimated the Hawks in the playoffs in both 1983 and 1985, but the Hawks gained revenge in 1992. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 @Poulin20 I agree ... I think all those policies put in place by Bettman beginning in the mid-90's should be overturned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iban3z Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 90's hands down. Recchi, Lindros, Leclair, Kariya,Jagr, Lemiux, Roy, Hasek, Domi, Selanne, Forsberg, Sakic, Foote, Bure, Shanny, Lidstrom, Osgood, Hexy... Hockey was just all around great for me in 90s. I was a kid, playing hockey in the street...you don't see that anymore. Kids are never outside anymore.. and when they are, they're not playing hockey. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 @iban3z As much as I have lamented some of Gary Bettman's policies in the 1990s, that decade also had a lot of marquee players and standout teams (e.g. Detroit, Philly, Colorado, Dallas ... to name some). There were also some huge rivalries (I can think of Detroit-Colorado and Buffalo-Philadelphia, to name a few) along with some major playoff upsets (Edmonton upsetting Dallas in 1997 and repeating the trick against Colorado in 1998 stands out for me). Unfortunately, that decade did not end too well for the Blackhawks ... they had some great teams in the early part of the decade but really fell off later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 @bunnyman "What happened to fighting the guy who cheap-shotted your star player?" That's true ... we really don't see that as much these days. The most recent example I can think of is when Jamal Mayers challenged Raffi Torres (who joined the San Jose Sharks last season from Phoenix) to a fight in the first game that the Hawks met Torres since his infamous hit on Marian Hossa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 @sarsippius "I cut my teeth in the 70s, but the 80s was the shizzle" I don't know if there'll ever be a decade in hockey like that again ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnyman Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 @bunnyman "What happened to fighting the guy who cheap-shotted your star player?" That's true ... we really don't see that as much these days. The most recent example I can think of is when Jamal Mayers challenged Raffi Torres (who joined the San Jose Sharks last season from Phoenix) to a fight in the first game that the Hawks met Torres since his infamous hit on Marian Hossa.I miss Mayers. Quality player. He should be a hall of famer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 @bunnyman He's a good enforcer, IMO. During his games as a Blackhawk, he would show grit and toughness without cheap-shotting. I think he's been a good role-player here, someone every team needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnyman Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 @Chicago HawkieNo doubt a gentleman as far as not a cheap shotster. My wife worked on his home loan in St. Louis. While she didn't talk with him, she said the loan officer had nothing but great things to say about him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Hawkie Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 @bunnyman He seemed classy during the few interviews I saw of him, also. I really wish the Hawks had re-signed him ... I don't know if you've read the thread on Nazem Kadri's hits on the Around the NHL board here or not, but on that thread, I have also been lamenting the Hawks not re-signing Mayers. If Kadri had been facing the Hawks in that game and pulled a stunt like that against Corey Crawford or Patrick Kane, he would get a face full of fists from Mayers (but it would be done within reason; just to send a message to not do that again). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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