Meet Hockeytown Twitter, the digital faces of the Red Wings community

Online communities are fascinating — and the Red Wings community is no exception. Whether you’re a newcomer or a long-time fan, you’ve likely experienced the Online Red Wings fanbase in some capacity or another. From long-winded Facebook rants to comment sections filled with excitement and vitriol, there’s plenty of recurring characters that make their presence known in the digital world. The most notable names are featured on Twitter, where fans flock to interact with players, media figures, and everyone in-between.

These five faces make up the Starting Lineup of Red Wings Twitter. They’re on the front lines with everything from memes to tarot card readings to fancams. You name it, they’ve made it. They’re some of the most fascinating fans I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with. To call them fixtures of the online Wings community would be dramatic, but, given the reactionary state of social media, it works.

I sat down with a few of them at the start of the season to hear their stories:

The Oracle of Detroit has among the most fascinating social media feeds out there. Scroll through and you’ll find tarot card readings, Moritz Seider fancams, and word-for-word recitations of Sergei Fedorov’s most notable quotes. Izzy is the connecting thread between so many different niches, offering a blend of spirituality, stan culture, and ever-so-subtle nods to the LGBTQ community.

Jake: Thank you so much for chatting with me. Very excited to get started. First question: Why Sergei?

Izzy: So my family have been Wings fans forever, and we have been collecting jerseys forever, and the smallest jersey we had was a Fedorov youth L which, incidentally, has always fit me perfectly? So when I started to get really into the team again around 18-19, I wanted a jersey of course, so I dug it out to wear to games and such. I lived in downtown Detroit for school at the time, so I was going to games pretty often. After a couple games with the 91 jersey, my mom got me a copy of the Russian Five book for the holidays, insisting I learn the LORE and HISTORY of it all. It drove me insane. Sergei was such a generational talent and a superstar and a tenderhearted guy, but was living in this really bizarre antihero diva story where he was either hated or glorified and no one understood him completely. I thought it was just so fascinating and poetic.

J: “Fascinating and poetic” is actually the perfect segue to my next question. Tell me about your title — the Oracle of Detroit. How did it come about?

I: I started doing tarot card readings for games as a way to practice learning the cards, but I was right more often than not. Someone on Red Wings Twitter coined the phrase Oracle of Detroit, probably Adri (@Adri_Unsung) but I can’t quite remember, and it just kind of stuck. It was a joke, except now I am right about everything that happens in the team in advance. Is it a bit? Is it magic? Is it just good guessing? WHO KNOWS!

J: Personally, I think it’s a little bit of all three, but I’m just a writer. Anyway, what is your favorite thing you’ve created? Do you have any favorite memories with the community?

I: I have no idea… probably one of the fancams. I have a horrible disease where I have to make things or else I die and I’ve gotten a lot of weird recognition because of them… actually, I’m gonna go with Filip Zadina retweeting the fancam I made for him that was set to My Chemical Romance, which was Deeply and Truly embarrassing in the moment but now it’s just really funny in retrospect. I’m trying to get him to reply to a message about what songs he likes before I make a new fancam for him.

This guy is a lexicon of information on Red Wings prospects. He actively keeps up with the SHL, CHL, and anywhere you’d expect to find a would-be Red Wing. If you’ve scrolled through Hockey Twitter, you’ve likely seen him take shots at podcast hosts, media figures, and members of the analytics community — one of which he’s particularly befuddled as of late.

Jake: How did you become a Wings fan?

Beer League Chump: I didn’t become a Red Wings fan, I’ve been obsessed with them since day one. My dad was a hockey fan and I can’t remember a time before I was a Wings fan.

J: You’re pretty active in following podcasters and other prominent media figures. Can you point our readers in the right direction on people worth following?

B: Everyone follows Max Bultman. I’m sure, but he’s easily the best Wings media follow. The Winged Wheel Podcast and WiiM content creators are generally the best non traditional media follows. But you all know that already.

J: Thanks for the high praise! Alright, last question’s a bit of a curveball: what’s been your favorite moment with Wings Twtiter since you joined?

B: Unfortunately “Wings Twitter” wasn’t a thing for any of my best Wings moments. It’s fun though, when the fanbase gets into it with Habs or Leafs fans or takes a run at hockey Twitter’s favorite graphic designer, but the best times we’ve had to this point were definitely the return of Yzerman and the Fabbri trade. A couple of huge Ws.

If there was ever a Number One Moritz Seider Fan, it’d be Raz. They’ve been an active member of the community for a few years now, producing hilarious season primers, fun updates on players, and, of course, boatloads of Seider content. Raz is involved in just about every facet of Wings Twitter.

Jake: You’re based out of Boston and you’re a fan of Detroit. How did you get into the Wings?

Raz: My dad is from Michigan and he got me into the Wings at a very young age so I always kinda rooted for them even when I wasn’t super in to sports. I got really into them during 19-20 season and have kinda been obsessed ever since.

J: Of all the seasons to get interested in them, that’s…not the one I expected. My next question revolves around your Twitter presence. Why did you choose Moritz Seider?

R: The Winged Wheel Podcast basically said so much good stuff about him that I got super interested in him. Also he’s tall and super smart and good at defense and is a great leader and is our entire future basically.

J: I take it you’re a fan, then?

R: Is it that obvious?

J: Could’ve had me fooled, haha. Anyway, my final question: what has been your favorite moment while on Red Wings Twitter?

R: My favorite moment I think was when Adri (@Adri_Unsung) got over 700 people blocked by an Arizona Coyotes fan. Also whenever we beat the Lightning. There have been a lot of good times. [laughs]

You can’t stop by Red Wings Twitter without seeing him at least somewhere. Championing Darren Helm and coining the term Vranas in Pyjamas, Rohan is a man of many titles. He’s known for his sardonic replies, hockey jersey authentication, and, to top it all off, he’s the man who ended Prashanth Iyer’s podcast. Indeed, the Australian aficionado is a key fixture in the community.

Jake: This interview is good for trade value. Even better is this first question: how did you become a Wings fan?

R: Growing up we had a Russian shopkeeper nearby and every time we went in they had hockey on. This is pre-Internet so usually a VHS recording. The speed and physicality of the game appealed to me as I’d played rugby growing up. Naturally, being Russian, they were Red Wings fans so I was somewhat indoctrinated although it didn’t take long watching the likes of the Russian 5, Yzerman, Lidstrom, and the rest of that 90s juggernaut to decide they were my team and have been ever since; unfortunately, this also led me to become a Lions fan.

J: Darren Helm. Why? Why Helm of all players?

R: He’s #elite Jake. The 2008 playoffs when he came onto the team and brought speed, energy and goals, which I am led to believe are important. It snowballed from there; prime Helm always was exciting and even as age took over he was still a guy who gave everything. Off the ice, he seems like a really genuine person too.

J: Last question — or I suppose it’s more of a statement. Make an assumption about the Wings this season.

R: Raymond scores game 1. Seider is really good, yet unspectacular, is recognized more in Detroit than by the national media, but is not top 3 in Calder voting. Helm wins the cup with the Snow Waves.

WiiM’s very own Sara made the list — and for good reason. If you’ve ever seen a Red Wings-related meme and laughed, you can bet your bottom dollar it came from Sara. She’s the architect behind the Meme Factory, churning out some of the funniest, most iconic memes to enter the hockeysphere. The quality — and quantity — are simply unmatchable.

Jake: Hey hey. How did you become a Wings fan?

Sara: I inherited Detroit fandom from my dad who is from Michigan. I grew up in Pennsylvania so if not for my dad I could have been a Flyers fans (or worse, a Penguins fan). We had dial-up internet and antenna TV (yeah yeah let’s get you back to the nursing home grandma) so I couldn’t actually follow the team until I went to college in the late 00s.

J: Holy crap. You are a grandma. Alright, so on to the next question: the Meme Factory. Tell me about it. How did it come about? What’s inspired you to keep it going?

S: The origins of the Meme Factory can be traced back to 2013 and it started with fewer memes and more stupid movie posters with Wings and Tigers players badly edited in. My Twitter friend Katie deserves a lot of credit because I saw a sports meme she made and thought it was funny and then started making my own. And then I made hundreds more. The first rainbow picture I think was actually ex-Tigers coach Brad Ausmus because he had his hands held out perfectly for a rainbow to fit. The Red Wings Awards spawned in 2014 and that pretty much solidified the existence of the Factory.

J: The Meme Factory is something I look forward to every year. Last question — what’s been your favorite moment with the Online Community of the Wings?

S: The Friends We Made Along The Way. Other than that, there have been so many great moments of everybody yelling online together but one of the most recent things was the fundraiser for the Jamie Daniels Foundation during the powerplay drought. That was really something special. The best moment on Wings Twitter for me personally is when I met Henrik Zetterberg and everybody was as excited about it as I was.