Category: World Hockey

Nicklas Lidstrom calls it quits after 20 years in the NHL

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by Jon

The number 5 may not be a stat that has any reference to Nicklas Lidstrom’s exceptional 20-year career with the Red Wings, but it says a lot to many of us sporting his jersey or those watching him play from the stands, knowing he is an ongoing threat to the survival of any opposing club.
He uses his superior hockey intelligence and skill to dominate the game. An outstanding passer with an incredibly accurate shot from the point. He plays calm and is very efficient in the defensive zone. This is a player that has consistently shown he is a player to be remembered, and today Lidstrom officially announced that his retirement from the league he dominated for the better part of two decades on the Detroit blueline:
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Why do fans refer to their team as “we?”

MaxK

Here’s an interesting article. Matt Horner, of hockey blog Five Minutes for fighting, dissects the psychology behind fans referring to their team as “we” and “us.” Using experimental data from a 1974 study, he goes on to show that people are more likely to refer to their team as “we” after a victory, and “they” after a defeat, which might explain the phenomenon of the “bandwagon” every year when a team is doing well in the Stanley Cup finals.

Horner has a reason for this: “People want to be judged positively by others,” he writes, “and they often try to associate themselves with something positive, like a successful sports team. This is especially true when they already feel bad about themselves. By piggybacking on the success of their team they can feel a sense of belonging and enjoy the warm feelings associated with being a part of something successful. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t actually participate in that success. The important thing is that they feel connected to it.”

Check out the article here.