We are all homers, but what about the others…..(read on)…..?

I grew up in Montreal in the 40s and 50s...............there were no other teams.

Gordie Howe and Terry Sawchuk were the opposition players as a kid. Montreal and Detroit had a huge rivalry in the late 40s and early 50s, and the Howe/Richard saga and Plante/Sawchuk rivalries were where it was at.

I am an old Red Wings fan (yes my memories go back to the days of Olympia Stadium) but I have always enjoyed players from other teams. I am not a hater (unlike certain people who answer with their hate blinding their intelligence) but early memories of guys like the Esposito's, Lanny McDonald (liked him over most Wings), Ken Dryden, the French Connection,Al Iafrate and I was a big fan of Pat Lafontaine, Wayne Gretzky, Super Mario, Ray Bourque but one of my all time favorites that still is around is Joe Sakic. I am leaving out some great guys (Billy Smith was a big fav back in the day...loved the attitude). I have always appreciated the skills of many players and even make it a point to watch games that dont include the Red Wings and I never miss the Stanley Cup playoffs or the finals regardless who is playing. Every fan should be a homer but they should also enjoy the incredible talents of the other guys (I never cared for Patrick Roy but have tremendous respect for how great he was). A great memory was the Summit Series (actually hate to admit it but I am old enough to recall that team Canada played 2 exhibitions with Sweden right in the middle of the heated Summit Series...something I am sure most wont remember or even know happened). Homer at heart but a fan no matter what.

It wasn't all that long ago, still being a kid and all, but let me tell you how things worked at my house while growing up.

My mom was a Hab fan. My dad was a Leaf fan. A 280 pound Belgian Leaf fan with a nasty disposition. At birth my allegiance was signed over to the Leafs. It's stamped on my birth certificate. Cheering for non Leafs was not an option for me (see dad), as they would bring only heartache and pain. It took a considerable amout of time after my father died to be able to appreciate the talent of the Richards and Beliveaus of the opposition. So I would have to say the loathing sensation was probably more of a jealousy/fear thing.

Later, it was much easier to cheer for the likes of Bobby Orr, Gretzky, Bossy, and even Guy Lafleur. Today you can add a lot of players to the list but if there is one guy who worked his way in over the years, a player I once hated but really learned to like would be Jeremy Roenick. That playoff series he had with his jaw wired shut gave me a whole new opinion of the guy.

Rangers - Gump Worsley, Andy Bathgate, Jean Ratelle

Bruins - Bobby Orr (of course) The Kraut line of Schmidt, Bauer & Dumart, Frankie Brimsek

Black Hawks - Bill Mosienko, The Bentley brothers, Glen Hall, Pierre Pilote, Bobby Hull

Canadiens - Doug Harvey, Cournoyer, Beliveau

Leafs - Keon, Armstrong

When I was a kid there were only five other teams and nobody ever cheered for the Canadiens. But when Boston played how could you not cheer for Bobby Orr. Arguably the best ever and when Detroit came to town with the Production Line Gordie and Terrible Ted just gave us a little bit of excitement. The million dollar line of Chicago brought the gardens to their feet with their feats. But my favourite non Leaf of those days was little Camille Henry of the New York Rangers. Camille was a little over 5'-6" tall and weighed about 150# soaking wet. His office was in the crease where he would bat the puck out of the air with outstanding hand eye stick coordination.

Always been a fan of Garth Snow. So much so, that I have a Conrwall Aces - Snow jersey. One of 3 player jerseys that I own.

The other two are a Gretzky '85 Oilers jersey that I bought at a charity auction, and a Gilbert Perrault that belonged to my father.

Gretzky was the big one. I never missed a game when he was in town if I could avoid it.

I had a lot of players that fall into this category.

Cam Neely was a favorite of mine.

I always enjoyed watching Mario Lemieux but I think the with the fact that he came into Philly so frequently had me spoiled a bit in that regard.

Bob Probert was another favorite.

Well I have always had a thing for a lot of Russian players . Loved Khabibulin and Fedorov. Loved watching Coffey skate. Of course watching the likes of Gretzky and Mario as well.

Well, back then I was a Rangers fan, since the Isles didn't exist. My favorite non-Rags player was Yvan Cournoyer. I guess it had something to do with his nickname "The Roadrunner". He was so fast and had great moves. I also loved the Roadrunner/Coyote cartoons. Hey, I was a kid in NYC.

Also liked Orr, the Esposito brothers, and Bobby Hull

I started watching hockey ~1991 so for me it was Fedorov! and the rest of the Red wings...but mainly #91..he's amazing.....me biased? never!

Then to my delight they came up w/the Ducks. yeah I can go to a local game..and the guys were very niiiice! They smiled, signed stuff and took pics. oh and they do love to talk..esp Carney..the only one who talks more is Brad May...and Parros!

but nobody [except my mom] can cook a better lasagna than Dipenta. jag alskar Sverige! da, dat's Swedish...

. I could never stand LA fans blehhhhhhh no offense to the fans I know are cool here..but I did like Lucky Luc.

So, when Anaheim had him [91] you can imagine I was bouncing off the walls with joy! Then BB had to be a #@&^$# and trade him..grrr!

awww I'm a decade older than Noah......ps happy b-day!

The Montreal Canadians back when they were the Flyin' Frenchmen (1975-1980). When i was a kid they were just superior to all the other teams.

That said, the one player i enjoyed the most was Mike Bossy, the best shooter in NHL history.