1997 Detroit Red Wings confident ahead of semifinal rematch with Avs

In the spring of 1997 — a quarter-century ago — the Detroit Red Wings embarked on their quest to end a 42-year Stanley Cup drought.

The Free Press has commemorated that historic quest with a new book: “Stanleytown: The Inside Story of How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City After 41 Frustrating Seasons.”

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Day 26: May 11, 1997

The backstory: During the day, a handful of Red Wings showed up at Joe Louis Arena to work out, but they couldn’t skate because of a 14-year-old, 5-foot-2 wizard on skates, Tara Lipinski. At night, the Wings learned the Colorado Avalanche would be their next opponent because of a 31-year-old, 6-foot-1 agitator on skates, Claude Lemieux. So Keith Gave wrote in the Free Press: “Now it gets ugly, this Stanley Cup playoff tournament. Now it gets interesting. Now it gets fun. This is what we wanted, after all, for most of the past year since a broken face and a room full of broken hearts and Dino Ciccarelli, self-loathing, saying over and over, ‘I can’t believe I shook his (expletive) hand.’”

In Detroit: On the final day of a three-day break, a collection of Wings couldn’t stay away from The Joe. Trainer John Wharton reported that they worked out on their own. They couldn’t get on the ice because of a figure skating tour headlined by Lipinski, the Detroit Skating Club phenom who in the months prior became the youngest U.S. and world champion. Before its matinee performance, the tour held a skate-around in the morning.

Wharton said the three-day weekend would not affect the team’s conditioning or game-shape edge: “We’re a very well-conditioned team, and that’s attributable to the players. From off-ice conditioning to nutrition to sleep, they all want to do what’s best.” The Wings’ lone injured player, grinder Joe Kocur, was expected to return from back spasms for the next day’s practice.

Story continues

In Denver: The top-seeded Avalanche was pushed to the limits to close out seventh-seeded Edmonton, 4-3, in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal. The Oilers battled back from a two-goal deficit in the second period. Then they tied it again; early in the third period Lemieux scored for the seventh straight game. The man of the moment was Andre Kovalenko, who scored during a power play.

But with 2:20 left in regulation, Kovalenko committed a cross-checking penalty against Mike Ricci. Seventy-two seconds later, Adam Deadmarsh scored the winner for the Avs. One of the assists, of course, went to Lemieux, whose 10 playoff goals led the NHL and whose 19 playoff points shared the lead with teammate Joe Sakic. With a Wings-Avs rematch set in stone — to open four nights later in Denver — the bad blood started to flow again. No one could forget the 1996 series, won by Colorado in six games, and how Lemieux seriously injured Kris Draper with a blindside hit into the boards. No one could forget March 26, 1997, when Darren McCarty avenged the cheap shot by pounding a turtling Lemieux and scored the game-winner in a brawl-filled overtime thriller at The Joe.

“It’s no mystery we don’t like each other, but you have to put aside the personal vendettas and play,” said Avs forward Mike Keane, who called the Wings heartless and homers after Fight Night at The Joe. “That’s what the playoffs are all about. You want to play against teams you don’t like.” Keane wouldn’t walk back his previous comments. “They could have done that in our building,” he said, “but no one cares about that now.” Sakic said: “It’s going to be a physical series, obviously. Whenever we play Detroit there’s a lot of emotion out there and a lot of excitement. You probably won’t see the same stuff you saw last game, but it will be a physical series.” Ricci said: “It’s a great rivalry. It’s great for the players, great for the fans and great for hockey.”

Off the ice: After the Avs’ victory, “Hockey Night in Canada” hooked up with Wings coach Scotty Bowman, a former analyst with the CBC, for his take on the Western Conference finals. “Well,” he said, “we feel better this year. We lost 13 more games than last year, but I think our team is better prepared. We’re playing the Stanley Cup champions. We realize that. But it seems this year, since the St. Louis series … in that series, we learned the hard way that we can play a tough game, but we can’t retaliate and take a lot of penalties. I think that’s going to be the secret. We saw that Colorado struck with that winning goal on a power play. I think we can do a lot better than we did last year.”

Famous last words: Lemieux, for a night at least, didn’t try to fan the flames of the heated rivalry. “They’ve got a different team now and so do we,” he said. “It’s up for grabs.”

DAY 25: Road to Stanleytown: Why Steve Yzerman admitted 1997 Red Wings were ‘different’

DAY 24: Red Wings’ rest for West final cut short by (who else?) Avs

DAY 23: Brendan Shanahan goal while you slept gives Wings sweep of Ducks

Off the ice: Before the finale of the Ducks series, Vladimir Konstantinov learned that he was a first-time finalist for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the league’s top defensemen. But he said he didn’t deserve the honor.

“This was not my best season,” he said. “Last year was better than this year. This year was up and down. Last year, I play a stronger game. Last year, I play with the Russian Five and I get more goals. I give the Red Wings my best season last year. This year, I was not one of the best three defensemen in the league. After last year, but not this year.” The other finalists were Brian Leetch of the Rangers and Sandis Ozolinsh of the Avalanche. In 1995-96, Konstantinov scored a career-high 14 goals and led the NHL with a plus-60 rating. In 1996-97, he posted a career-high 38 points and finished third in the NHL with a plus-38.

“They give trophy to Brian Leech,” Konstantinov said. No other Wing was a finalist for an award.

[ Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s to-do list extends beyond hiring new coach ]

Famous last words: From Avalanche coach Marc Crawford: “We’ve been successful when we can focus on a particular goal: The one that’s ahead of us. We prefer to win this game and not look forward to a possible Game 6 or 7.”

Relive the glory: The Free Press has crafted a 208-page, full-color, hardcover collector’s book with fresh insights and dynamic storytelling about the 1996-97 Wings. It’s called “Stanleytown 25 Years Later: The Inside Story on How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City after 41 Frustrating Seasons.” It’s only $29.95 and it’s available at RedWings.PictorialBook.com. (It’ll make a great Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift for the Wings fanatic in your life!) Personalized copies available via myersgene@comcast.net.

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More to read: Another new Wings book arrived in April from Keith Gave, a longtime hockey writer for the Free Press in the 1980s and 1990s: “Vlad The Impaler: More Epic Tales from Detroit’s ’97 Stanley Cup Conquest.” It is available through Amazon and other booksellers and a portion of the proceeds is earmarked for the Vladimir Konstantinov Special Needs Trust. (Plenty of Gave’s prose also appears in “Stanleytown 25 Years Later.”)

Even more to read: Red Wings beat reporter Helene St. James, who helped cover the 1997 Stanley Cup run, recently wrote “The Big 50: The Men and Moments That Made the Detroit Red Wings.” Featuring numerous tales about the key figures from 1997, “The Big 50” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. (Plenty of St. James’ prose also appears in “Stanleytown 25 Years Later.”)

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 1997 Detroit Red Wings confident ahead of rematch with Avs