Chris Osgood's Conspiracy Theory: Everybody Wants Us to Lose

One of the biggest criticisms of Gary Bettman's NHL is the fact the league does a terrible job marketing its sport. It's a legitimate problem. Detroit Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood would seemingly agree, though, for reasons that probably differ from every other sane and rational person not currently wearing a tin foil hat with wire coat hangers dangling from the ceiling.

In an article appearing in Tuesday's Windsor Star, Dave Waddell writes about how several members of the Red Wings -- including Osgood -- feel the NHL -- and fans across the league -- have it out for the team, while everyone is rooting against them. Oh the horror.

"In the new cap era, the league is built for different teams to win every year, so it wouldn't be good for the league if we won again would it?" Osgood said. "They want the fans to think their team has a chance to win every year. "Do you see a lot of (NHL) commercials with us in it? Most of them are of Pittsburgh scoring on us or Pittsburgh beating us and we're the team that won. I think we are probably the New York Yankees of the NHL. People dislike us a lot. "We do have our fans around the league. Thank God we need them cheering for us, but we have a lot of people who like to see us lose and like to see us get guys suspended."

Wow. I don't even know where to begin, but I'll give it a shot.

First, I agree with Osgood that there are probably hockey fans across the league rooting for the Wings to lose. Here's the funny thing about that: the Wings put themselves in this position by winning a lot of hockey games -- and championships -- over the years. As winners of four of the past 11 Stanley Cups, they are the gold standard across the league, and with that comes a target that is squarely placed on their backs every game of every season. That's exactly why people root against the Yankees and it's why people took so much joy in seeing the New England Patriots lose in the Super Bowl a year ago (and that whole spygate thing didn't hurt things either). I think most players would prefer being in this situation as opposed to being in, say, Atlanta, for example, where nobody cares one way or the other if you win or lose.

Second, I don't like to see Red Wings players get suspended for ridiculous reasons, and I certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for the entire organization. Honestly, I wish my favorite hockey team had been run as efficiently as the Red Wings over the past 11 years, finding players like Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen and Jiri Hudler, just to name a few. I imagine there's plenty of hockey fans out there that would agree, even if they would like to see the Wings lose. Seriously, is it that much of a surprise that non-Wings fans would like to see the Wings lose?

Finally, addressing Osgood's criticism of commercials showing him giving up goals ... who really looks for this stuff? As Greg Wyshynski briefly mentions -- with heavy sarcasm, I imagine -- on Tuesday evening: "Yup, you never see the Wings hoisting the Stanley Cup ... it's all images of Pittsburgh not touching the Prince of Wales trophy.

The only thing I can say to Osgood is this: with the way you've played this season -- currently tied for 43rd (last) in the league in save percentage -- you've certainly given the league's marketing team plenty of opportunities to show you giving up goals in its commercials, especially in games against Pittsburgh. And from center ice.

(H/T PensBlog)