Remembering the Happiest Hudler
Remember when we were all happy?
Us here at NOHS were huge Hudler fans. (I'm speaking for myself here, and assuming the rest were too, because who couldn't love the little guy.) Drew once made Kris Draper laugh at Hudler's expense. Short jokes always get 'em.
And yes, he did leave to go to Russia and get his millions (of hookers), but he came back. They always come back...right Sammy and Bert? And he missed us! Us and Osgood. Well, he really missed Osgood. More than he missed us. More than he missed annnyyythingggg.
Credit goes to The Triple Deke.
Let's take a look at the good, bad, and happy moments, after the break:The little guy played. Not always hard, but he always smiled. He didn't always shoot, but he almost always scored goals. Sure he was set up beautifully by Datsyuk on 89 of his 91 goals (made up numbers), but he managed to cluck to Osgood after every game. It's a goalie thing.
There was some great moments Happy. Like this one, just last year:
And this one. So you were so happy my friend.
So happy you could dance!
And then there was some not so happy moments.
Hookers all over Russia were worried about you. But you survived and always made time to pay attention to the ladies.
And now we say goodbye Happy. You'll always be a Red Wing in my heart.
Well at least a Ved Ving!
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Growing up in a blue collar system, and very far from Phx, it wasn't until 2007 that I finally attended my first live Wings game against the Coyotes. First goal I ever saw live (Red Wings goal no less) was scored by none other than Jiri Who-dler.
I always had a soft spot for him, not quite as big a softie for Huds as, say, Mike Babcock, but I certainly never hated the little guy even when he would disappear for a while. Actually he and Sammy I never seemed to hate, especially not quite the same way much of the Wings faithful has.
And 2007? I know I know, it seems like it makes me a bandwagon fan, but trust me, I was there, listening to Ken Kal and Paul Woods on 97.1 The Ticket at my computer or watching on ESPN whenever I could for a long, long time before hand.
And I still, after missing 10 years of Phx hockey, have a better attendance record than nearly EVERY person in Phoenix.
Hudler is the reason I have a puck the red wings played with. He was deff one of my favorite wings players, his expectations to the fans were higher then they had for any other player, yet he was 2nd in goals on the team and still everyone was too hard on him. Such a shame
