0205310400
DETROIT FREE PRESS
020531
Friday, May 31, 2002
METRO FINAL
1A
Photo MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press. Photo Detroit Free
Press file photo.
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman appears to have his game face firmly
in place as he answers questions Thursday on the eve of Game 7 against
Colorado. In Detroit's last Game 7, in 1996, he scored the decisive goal
against St. Louis in double overtime.
A bum right knee has bothered Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman during the
playoffs, but he hasn't missed a game and leads the team in scoring with 17
points. Yzerman turned 37 on May 9.
MITCH ALBOM FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Copyright (c) 2002, Detroit Free Press
WAITING TO EXHALE
HOCKEYTOWN HOLDS ITS BREATH WITH STANLEY CUP HOPES ON THE LINE
Two days ago, in Denver, just hours from what could have been their last night
of the season, Scotty Bowman approached Brett Hull.
"Say, Brett," he said. "I forget. Were you with Dallas in 1999? The year they
won the Cup?"
Hull narrowed his eyes. "Uh . . . yeah, Scotty. Remember? I scored the winning
goal in overtime of Game 6?"
Bowman nodded. He said, "Umm-hmm." Then he walked away.
And that, hockey fans, is as close as the Detroit Red Wings come to a pre-game
motivational speech.
Work, not words. Pride, not pontification. Bowman was joking with Hull,
because he knew a little joke was as much of a pep talk as he or any Red Wing
needed. That's the way it works around here. You can look in every nook and
cranny of the Detroit locker room tonight before the Wings' ultimate showdown,
Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals. I
promise, you will not find Knute Rockne. Nor George Gipp. Nor Gayle Sayers in
"Brian's Song" nor Denzel Washington in "Remember the Titans" nor even Russell
Crowe in "Mystery, Alaska."
No speeches. No soliloquies. These are Wings Without Words, Men Without
Metaphors, Skaters Without Similes . . .
You get the point. Nothing needs to be said. Besides, at this point, what can
you tell them that they don't already know?
What are you going to say to Hull, for example? He has already scored the
ultimate goal in hockey, triple overtime of Game 6 in the 1999 Stanley Cup
finals. What are you going to say? "Hey, Brett, try to do that again tonight,
OK?"
What are you going to say to Dominik Hasek? You know where he was the night
Hull scored his miracle? Right in front of him. Hasek was the goalie Hull beat
to steal the Cup, sending the Buffalo Sabres home from their last best chance
at glory. Hasek already has been on the wrong end of his sport's ultimate
moment.
What are you going to say to him now? "Hey, Dom, you don't want to feel that
way again, do you? So let's have a great game tonight!"
Come on.
Captain Courageous
What are you going to say to Steve Yzerman, the captain? He waited for 14
long, often tedious seasons before finally winning a Cup in 1997, and again in
'98. Since then, he has battled the hardest stones the devil can throw to get
back to that glory -- age, injury, a body that screams, "Get off the gas
pedal, slow down, how much more can we take?"
Still he churns out there, night after night, grimace after grimace. What
would someone say to him at this point? "Steve, let's make sure your playing
on a bum leg doesn't go to waste, OK?"
I don't think so.
What would you say to Sergei Fedorov? He has sacrificed his natural offensive
one-man show to play tremendous defense, major minutes, powerful penalty
killing. Is he doing that for his health? I don't think so. No more than Tomas
Holmstrom is choosing to have the snot knocked out of him every night in front
of the net, taking sticks between the legs, sticks across the chest, fists
across the face. What could you say to Tomas Holmstrom if you looked him in
the eye before tonight's game? Anything besides "Do you need a bandage for
that?" would be inappropriate.
What can you say to Luc Robitaille, who left his family in Los Angeles to
spend a year with this team in pursuit of the one thing that counts more than
his 600-plus goals -- a title. What can you say to Darren McCarty or Kris
Draper, whose blood and loyalty were the very ingredients that launched this
Colorado-Detroit rivalry more than six years ago?
What can you say to Igor Larionov? He is 41. He has survived the Russian Army.
He has endured a battle to play in America. He left behind a country,
sacrificed his homeland, his language, his culture, all in pursuit of a hockey
dream.
What are you going to inspire him with now? "Hey, Igor, give 'em hell"?
Detroit's quiet room
The fact is, there have been far more words expended outside the Red Wings
locker room than in it. Fans and sports writers and broadcasters and armchair
goaltenders all give pep talks about "what the Wings have to do to win."
Almost everyone you meet has a pointer for the offense, a tip for Hasek, a
suggestion for Bowman.
But inside the room? It doesn't work that way. Once in a while, Yzerman will
say something. It's usually short. It's never scripted. And it wouldn't sound
like much if you played it back with schmaltzy music behind it.
But if you want a clue as to how the emotion really works inside the Red
Wings, consider what Yzerman has said publicly over the past six weeks. When
Detroit lost the first two games to Vancouver, and everyone was dumping on
Hasek, it was Yzerman who said, "Before the series is over, you're going to
say, 'That Dom, he's an unbelievable goalie. He played fantastic for Detroit.'
"
And when the Wings blew home-ice advantage with an overtime loss in Game 2 of
this Colorado series, he said, "We think we're playing well."
And when they faced elimination in Game 6 on Wednesday night, he said, "Hey,
we planned on having to win this game anyhow."
You get the picture. It's worth a thousand words. No Knute Rocknes. No "Win
One For The Gipper." The best roster ever assembled didn't come together to
lose tonight, or for that matter, to stop tonight.
You'll hear that in Game 7, but not with your ears. It will be in every
grimace of Yzerman, as he lifts himself up on his stick, and in the hungry
eyes of Hasek, who hears retirement calling his name, and the intense gaze of
Robitaille, who is closer than he ever dreamed, and in the furrowed brow of
Brendan Shanahan, who has always believed he must deliver when it counts.
It will be in the panting chests and the dripping foreheads of every player in
a Detroit uniform. A symphony of silence -- and all the noise necessary.
They know what they've done.
They know what they have to do.
Game on.
Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or albom@freepress.com. Catch "Albom in
the Afternoon" 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760). Also catch "Monday Sports
Albom" 7-8 p.m. Mondays on WJR.
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