Remember when the Detroit Red Wings were the dominant team in the 1990s and 2000s? Long before the Vegas Golden Knights and Little Caesar's Arena were even thoughts, they were the go-to team for everyone.
Stanley Cups (four of them, to be exact)...
Hart Memorial trophy winners (i.e. Sergei Federov)...
The unbridled success of Detroit made hockey cool. It also gave passionate hockey fans someone to hate. For Colorado Avalanche fans, it started with Claude Lemieux's hit on Kris Draper during the 1996 Western Conference Final. For Chicago Blackhawks fans, it was chants of "DETROIT SUCKS" and watching those damn Detroiters celebrate Stanley Cup win after Stanley Cup win. That was before Brent Seabrook sent the Red Wings to the Eastern Conference with a Game 7 overtime winner in 2013.
But now, it seems like that Red Wings team is a shell of its former self. They haven't sniffed the playoffs since 2016 and fans are getting restless. Suddenly, the "Yzerplan" is starting to lose its luster and fans are panicking.
"When will the Red Wings break out of their funk and ditch the 'dead things' label?"
"Another season of missing the playoffs?"
Meanwhile, Golden Knights fans know of no such thing. Their only missed postseason came in 2021-22, where a bland March (8-8-0) led to them being eliminated. There are also those two Stanley Cup Final appearances, with one win in 2023, that make them happy. Suddenly, they're the most hated team in the NHL, with fans from Edmonton and San Jose cursing their name (to name a few).
The Vegas Golden Knights and Detroit Red Wings will be about the past (and future!) vs. the present
On one hand, you have the Detroit Red Wings. They're credited with developing talented stars in the past few seasons. That includes Moritz Seider (seven goals and 31 assists) and Lucas Raymond (22 goals and 46 assists). The future is bright and reminding fans of the past... to a degree.
That won't come until Detroit makes the playoffs and ends their drought, of course. They must move past the rebuild stage and finally break through. Perhaps solving the penalty kill (69.9%, the least nice in the NHL) and the goaltending issues will help?
On the other hand, you have the Vegas Golden Knights, who will enter Little Caesar's Arena on Sunday as one of the best teams in the league. They have 86 points entering Sunday and are atop the Pacific Division. You might not see it, considering Tomas Hertl didn't bury an empty-net goal on Saturday. But life is good.
For this hockey fan, it's a battle of the past (and future) vs. the present. Can the old guard steal the game with a home victory, keeping their playoff hopes alive? Or will the new kids on the block show why they run the NHL? It builds up so much excitement on a personal level, bringing back memories of Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan skating up and down the ice.
That's the whole point of this post: Excitement. It's exciting to see two teams you've held dear throughout your life compete against one another. One has been the reason why I got into hockey while the other has maintained that excitement. Yet, they have more in common than one would think. Both have sworn enemies jealous of their success and have established themselves as popular NHL teams for regular people. It doesn't get better than that.