In the spring of 1997 â a quarter-century ago â 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: âStanleytown: The Inside Story of How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City After 41 Frustrating Seasons.â
Day 35:Â May 20, 1997
The backstory: For the first time in nearly a week, the Red Wings and Avalanche could pause to catch their collective breaths. After three games in five days, the schedule for the Western Conference finals called for two off days between Games 3 and 4 in Detroit. So, the Avalanche, although down two games to one, didnât go on the ice at all. Only a dozen Wings did so for an optional practice â just enough for a game Darren McCarty called âshinny on the lake.â His team lost. âThe goalies pick the teams,â he said. âI got picked by the wrong goalie again.â While there wasnât a lot of skating by the conference finalists, there was plenty of yapping. Colorado coach Marc Crawford led the charge by calling defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov a master of dirty tricks who deserved a penalty every shift. In turn, McCarty called his teammate a âRussian Canadian.â Crawford also said center Peter Forsberg should be drawing 45 penalties a game.
Vlad the Impaler? Crawford used his off-day news conference to attempt to convince the NHLâs referees to keep a closer eye on Konstantinov, a Norris Trophy finalist for the first time who had only two penalty minutes in the series. âWeâve got to play very physical against Konstantinov,â Crawford said. âWe have to expose the fact that heâs clutching and grabbing all the time. He could get a penalty every shift heâs on the ice.â Crawfordâs gripes at times, though, sounded like high praise for the Valdinator. âKonstantinov is very, very adept at grabbing the stick and holding it under his arm. ⦠There were a number of opportunities where he had a stick under his arm and he was able to keep his feet moving and keep in the play. Itâs a skill, and heâs very good at it. But it also is a penalty.â Told about Crawfordâs comments, Konstantinov laughed. âHe can say whatever he wants to,â he said. âI donât want to talk about him. They want to do something, and they start complaining. I just start laughing when they start complaining.â Wings coach Scotty Bowman didnât laugh, insisting Konstantinov didnât do âany flagrant stuffâ and refused to comment on the officiating to avoid a $10,000 fine. Associate coach Dave Lewis, who played 1,008 games as an NHL defenseman, wondered whether Crawford âwatched the same game I watched.â He added: âVladdie is the ultimate competitor, and maybe he gets criticized unfairly for that. Itâs something youâd like to be able to extract from Vladdieâs blood and put in some other playersâ blood. Heâs the kind of guy thatâs always in your face, and he throws other players off that way.â His teammates vouched for him, of course. McCarthy said âIâm glad heâs on our team, because he would be a hell of a guy to play against.â Defenseman Larry Murphy said he never noticed Konstantinov clutching and grabbing. Sergei Fedorov said Konstantinov played the same way he had in their Red Army days â always tough and always aggravating. And then Avs defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre declared: âIn the playoffs, you get away with a lot of things. Itâs just a matter of not getting caught. Konstantinov has done a very good job of not getting caught. Iâd like to get away with the things he gets away with.â
More: Vladimir Konstantinov’s caregivers fear he could be forced into a nursing home
More: Vladimir Konstantinov and his untold battle after fateful limo crash
An avalanche of comments: Although down 2-1 in the series, Colorado took solace that it played much better in Game 3âs 2-1 loss. Asked about the necessity to win Game 4, Crawford said tersely, âLosing Thursday is not an option.â Captain Joe Sakic said: âWe played better in the last game, and thereâs still another level we can reach. Iâm sure in Game 4 weâre going to do that.â Lefebvre said: âThe Wings said they should have won the first game. We feel we should have won Game 3.â
An avalanche of no comments: The Avalanche, though, was tight-lipped about a meeting involving the four team captains after Game 3. There were heated comments in the locker room. Keith Gave wrote in the Free Press: âGoalie Patrick Roy is rattled. Witnesses saw Roy, who appeared agitated, being settled down by veteran teammates, including Sakic, outside the team bus. ⦠Strange, but isnât Roy supposed to be a calming influence on his team?â Alternate captain Mike Keene, who famously called the Wings gutless and homers after Fight Night at The Joe, did admit: âSome players had some things to say. That was the time to say it.â
[ Add Peter DeBoer, subtract Lane Lambert from Wings coaching candidates ]
Out East: The Flyers regained home-ice advantage over the Rangers with a 6-3 victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden. Eric Lindros, limited to two shots on goal in the opening two games, recorded the first playoff hat trick of his five-year career. He had three shots in the first period and six for the game â half of which went in. âYou saw tonight what kind of a great player he really is,â said Flyers coach Terry Murray. In goal, Philadelphia used Ron Hextall, who replaced Garth Snow after he surrendered five goals on the Rangersâ first 10 shots of Game 2. Hextall played brilliantly for two periods, until Russ Courtnall scored twice in the first 4:02 of the final period. That tied the game at 2. New Yorkâs Wayne Gretzky tied it again at 3 with 5:39 to play. Thirty-eight seconds later, the Flyers went ahead for good when Trent Klatt converted a two-on-one. Less than two minutes later, Rod BrindâAmour, the former Spartan, scored on a breakaway. And in the final minute, Lindros completed his hat trick with an empty-netter.
Off the ice: The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, who gave the Wings all they could handle in the second round, fired Windsor native Ron Wilson, the only coach in their four-year history. Wilson just had led the Ducks to their first winning season, playoff berth and series victory (over Phoenix in seven games). âI am very disappointed and hurt,â Wilson said. âIâll have to get this Mighty Ducks tattoo off my rear. I didnât argue about this dismissal. Iâm not going to beg for a job. ⦠My dad, Larry, who was fired by the Red Wings, told me you become a better coach after the first time youâre let go.â The late Larry Wilson, who won a Stanley Cup as a center for the Wings in 1950, coached the team to a 3-29-4 record in 1976-77 and never was an NHL head coach again. General manager Jack Ferreira said Wilson was fired not because of money or his record but for âphilosophical differences.â The Associated Press reported Ducks management was unhappy Wilson had become too much of a one-man show. Ferreira admitted: âLetâs put it this way: Ronâs a good coach. Heâs also a good quote.â Wilson, 41, wasnât expected to be unemployed for long. The Bruins, Canadiens, Coyotes and Sharks all had openings. During the Wingsâ sweep of the Ducks â which featured a single overtime, double overtime and triple overtime games â Wilsonâs name was bandied about as a possible successor to Bowman, whose coaching contract expired after the season.
[ Why Wings are gambling on another undrafted European, Pontus Andreasson ]
Famous last words: Crawford took potshots at the Wingsâ defensive corps: Nicklas Lidstrom, Slava Fetisov, Bob Rouse, rookie Aaron Ward, Konstantinov and Murphy. Crawfordâs comments were aimed mostly at Fetisov and Murphy, who werenât the swiftest skaters as they approached age 40. âWe finished checks,â Crawford said, âand when youâre doing that against that defense, youâre going to cause them to cough the puck up a lot more often. They play basically with five defensemen, and theyâre not the quickest group of defense that you ever assembled in the NHL. They are very, very effective if you give them time, but if you donât give them time, then theyâre vulnerable.â Elsewhere, Dave Perkins wrote in the Toronto Star: âJust imagine, though, the final dagger thrust to Leafs fans being Larry Murphyâs winning a Stanley Cup ring. Yeah, him. The player who caused those knowledgeable Toronto fans to make bovine noises whenever he touched the puck.â
Relive the glory: The Free Press has crafted a 208-page, full-color, hardcover collectorâs book with fresh insights and dynamic storytelling about the 1996-97 Wings. Itâs called âStanleytown 25 Years Later: The Inside Story on How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City after 41 Frustrating Seasons.â Itâs only $29.95 and itâs available at RedWings.PictorialBook.com. (Itâll make a great Fatherâs Day gift for the Wings fanatic in your life!) Personalized copies available via myersgene@comcast.net.
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: âVlad The Impaler: More Epic Tales from Detroitâs â97 Stanley Cup Conquest.â 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 Gaveâs prose also appears in âStanleytown 25 Years Later.â)
Even more to read: Red Wings beat reporter Helene St. James, who helped cover the 1997 Stanley Cup run, recently wrote âThe Big 50: The Men and Moments That Made the Detroit Red Wings.â Featuring numerous tales about the key figures from 1997, âThe Big 50â is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. (Plenty of St. Jamesâ prose also appears in âStanleytown 25 Years Later.â)
To access our most exclusive sports content, like the stories linked above, become a Free Press subscriber for $1.Â
Stay informed on what’s happening across Michigan: Subscribe to our news alert emails.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 1997 Red Wings: Avalanche coach accuses Vladdy of dirty tricks