0206110398
DETROIT FREE PRESS
020611
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
METRO FINAL CHASER
1R
Photo MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press
Red Wings Brett Hull, left, and Boyd Devereaux celebrate Hull's second-period
goal Monday night. It was the 100th playoff goal of Hull's storied career and
gve the Wings a 1-0 lead. They lead the Stanley Cup finals, three games to
one. Detroit can wrap up its 10th Stnaley Cup on Thursday night.
Detroit firefighters, from left, Frank Ciavattone of Redford Township, Harry
Wilson Jr. of Livonia and Scott Legas of Detroit show their tattoos. Wilson's
brother Mike, also a firefighter, was beaten by 'Canes fans after tossing an
octopus. Story in Sports.
MITCH ALBOM FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
SEE ALSO METRO FINAL EDITION, PAGE 1R.
Copyright (c) 2002, Detroit Free Press
HULL-ACIOUS!
BRETT'S 100TH WINS IT; CUP IS 1 VICTORY AWAY
THESE NUMBERS TELL THE STORY FOR THE WINGS
RALEIGH, N.C. -- It was only a number. It was only one shot. And Brett Hull
has taken a million shots in nearly two decades in this league. But here he
was Monday in the Stanley Cup finals, taking a beautiful feed from Boyd
Devereaux, dropping to one knee and firing away. The "ping" off the post was
like a magic password that opened the trap door. The puck ricocheted into the
net, a secret tree house appeared, and Hull climbed into a very exclusive
club.
It was only a number, but what a number, his 100th goal in the NHL playoffs, a
mark reached by only three other men. Hull made history, all right. But it
wasn't history that made him leap into his teammates' arms. It was the 1-0
lead he provided. It was the small push of this piano-heavy force that they
are collectively trying to shove across the finish line.
"How did it feel, joining that club?" someone asked Hull after the electric
3-0 victory Monday night over Carolina that moved the Red Wings to within one
triumph of the Stanley Cup.
"Well, it's amazing to think about the people I've joined," he said, referring
to Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Jari Kurri, "but on this team, if you don't
get one goal or if you get five, it's the same, as long as you win."
He smiled. "You know, there was a time when people said you couldn't win a
Stanley Cup with Brett Hull on your team, and . . ."
"Wait," interjected Brendan Shanahan, who was sitting nearby. "Did you just
refer to yourself in the third person?"
"I was trying to give myself a pat on the back."
"Oh, OK. If you have 100 playoff goals you can do that."
They both laughed. A team.
Here they come, folks, returning home on the wings of three straight victories
in these finals. Hull's special number Monday was indeed just part of his
team's story. And Hull, a guy who, incredibly, was unsigned and barely pursued
after last season, continued his run as a mature force at critical junctures.
He had a hat trick to close out the Vancouver series. He had six points
against Colorado. He had a huge goal late Saturday in Game 3 to save the Wings
from defeat.
That deflection, near the end of regulation, took the life out of the
Hurricanes and their noisy crowd. They were still smarting Monday night when
Hull did it again, 6 1/2 minutes into the second period.
It was only a number. It was just one shot.
One big, big shot.
Don't forget Hasek
It was only a number. A zero on the scoreboard. A shutout. And Dominik Hasek
has had more shutouts than you can count -- six in these playoffs alone. But
this one had resonance. This was like a war cry, heard throughout the whole of
North Carolina, because Hasek has only gotten stronger as this postseason
rolls on.
Here he was Monday, making sharp saves, making hard saves, getting lucky when
he needed luck, being good when he needed good. He stopped all 17 of the
Carolina shots, a virtual plug in the net. But it was a moment out of the net
that put the stamp on this night.
It happened late in the first period, when Chris Chelios fell trying to defend
speedy Erik Cole, and suddenly Cole was free and alone and heading to pay
dirt. Hasek did not hesitate. He drifted out from the net in typical maddening
fashion, like a rogue cop, like a daredevil, committing to no-man's-land, no
cover, no backup, by himself -- "What are you doing!" you could hear the
Detroit fans screaming -- and suddenly it was the lonely 37-year-old Czech
with all his bulky padding and slow-moving skates, against a speeding New York
kid almost young enough to be his son.
Hasek sprawled. Cole tried to cut past him. But Hasek's stick was in the right
place, it worked like a snowplow, it swallowed the puck, even as Cole, on
momentum, flew on naked to the net, a stripped bird. Hasek poked the puck
away, then rose triumphantly and eased backward into his cage.
"Do you feel like you're getting stronger?" Hasek was asked after Monday's
shutout.
"No stronger," he said, "but just as strong as when I started. I am not doing
anything different.
"And I do not want to do anything different."
It was only a number. It was only one shutout.
But man, what a time for a shutout.
End of the line
It is only a number. The loneliest number. One. As in one game. One more to
end it, one more to bring it home, one more page to turn, one more entry in
the hockey ledger, one more night of leaving it all out on the ice.
Which is exactly what the Red Wings won't be thinking.
"Now it's just a matter of staying away from the hoopla," coach Scotty Bowman
said. "As soon as this game was over our guys were warning each other. You go
home and your good friends and your relatives and they're all well-meaning and
they want to be there when you win -- but that doesn't help you play.
"We have to shut that down."
The Wings need only thwart the hype and thwart the Hurricanes. One more time
and the Stanley Cup is theirs. All signs point toward it. They finally opened
up Monday night, getting three goals -- including the long-awaited
drought-ender by Shanahan -- and three goals in this series is a geyser.
They played their most complete finals game. Their confidence is oozing. Their
offense is getting fresher when it should be tiring, and their defense is
every bit as stingy as Carolina's. You can sense the Hurricanes slowly
recognizing the inevitable: They can stop any Red Wing, they just can't stop
them all.
"The fourth game is the hardest to win," Kris Draper cautioned.
Perhaps. And yes, the Hurricanes will tell themselves they had bad luck,
clanging a couple of shots off the post. But guess what? The Wings specialized
in hitting the post in Game 3, and they still managed to win that one. These
are the finals. You make your own luck.
And you make your own story.
One shot. One shutout. One game. They were all just numbers, but numbers add
up. And if you collect them just right, they turn to letters.
And the letters spell "g-l-o-r-y."
The players won't say it, but the rest of us will. Get ready. You can feel
that glory, on the wings of a red-and-white airplane, coming home, and
planning to stay.
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).
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE.
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