Red Wings Centennial Legends Fireside Chat – Part III

Red Wings Centennial Legends Fireside Chat – Part III

[Music] and you to come back in 98 to do that after the the summer with Sergey and Vlatty. That the toughest season of your career to to rally the team to do what you guys were able to do and believe. I didn’t I didn’t think so. I mean that that was really like uh emotional and devastating the accident and and seeing uh um you know fortunately Slava was able to make it through as injuries but uh uh with Vlatty and uh and uh um Sergey Manatanov sorry um really every time you see them like from day one of the accident is like very very emotional and not but almost like playing the games was uh cathartic. I don’t know if that’s the right word, but uh just come to the rink and play and no pressure and even getting once we get into the playoffs, it was uh we just played. I just I think we we felt I’ve I’ve we’re going to win the cup again. I know we’re going to win the cup. We got a good enough team. And uh it was if anything, it was easier to play. It was, you know, you you see the guys, you’re hoping they’re going to get better. And uh and they did get better to some extent, but never to get back to where they where they were prior to the accident. And to this day, you still there’s, you know, you get a chance to see Vlatty around, you know, you automatically think back to him as a player, what he was, what he, you know, his his ability to communicate off the ice, his personality. Everything is different about him. And you had one of the, my opinion, one of the he’d be in the Hall of Fame today. He was, we had him and Nick on defe, the two best defenseman in the league for the next 15 years. So, remember the scene in Washington, game four, and Vlatty was there. Um you you just I didn’t get to see I saw Vlatty play from afar but when I came to Detroit um it was the year season after that but you love Vlatty. Oh my he was a monster. I mean he I he was an interesting character coming from the Russian side and um he knew no boundaries. He didn’t care. I don’t know if he even knew. It didn’t matter. He would go through the wall and nothing bothered him. And and what a lot of people didn’t know is he had such a great sense of humor. Oh my god. I remember I interviewed him in Calgary. I don’t know if it was a night with that Scotty put him together or not. And he was reluctant to do it. And I said, “Well, what don’t we do it? We’ll just tape it. And if it’s you don’t like it, we won’t use it.” So, sure enough, we do. We had some fun. And I got him to sing in broken English and Russian, happy new year, Merry Christmas back to the fans in Detroit. and we got all done and he he goes, “What do you think?” I said, “They’re going to love it.” And then he goes, “Mickey, how’s my hair? How’s my hair?” I go, “You’re good. Don’t worry about it.” He was great. And I’d see him with Lind the Lindro hit in that playoff series. Yeah. Howard Howard. And they play that bad to the bone by George Thorot. Oh my god. Yeah. That was great memories of uh of him always, even now. But then when he was playing, geez, he was a warrior for sure. Yeah, it was great. So outside of Lstrom, who would be the greatest Redwing defenseman in either one of your time for a shorter time? Would it be that I gez that I played with? I mean, obviously Vlatty was he was unbelievable and everyone just, you know, talk like you just talk about one of the fiercest competitors that that played our game that was Vlatty. Um, and just durable, too. Like he could deliver hits like pound-for-pound like no other. And, you know, just probably just as important, he could take hits, too, which you know, a lot of people obviously uh, you know, can’t. And that was some that was something that was, you know, great about Vlatty. And he, you know, he had offense. He could score. He scored some big goals for us and when they were when that rushing five started snapping it around, you could see the the pride that Vlatty had and and and obviously the skill that he had as well. Um, you know, so I would say, you know, Vlatty was unreal. And then the two, you know, that I would touch on as well that I was, you know, fortunate to win a cup with as well. Obviously Nicholas Cromwell, you know, the way that he played and, you know, very similar to Vlatty as well, the way he competed and and amazing how his build, I think, might have he might have got to 185 lbs and he hit like he was about, you know, 235 lbs the way he hit players, but great player in in in all situations as well. And probably one of uh, you know, a huge ad for us that year was uh Brian Rafolski. you know, the way that Rafalski played, like a a smaller defenseman, but I’m not sure we win the cup in 08 without Rafy. Uh that’s how that’s how good he was for us. And our top four that year was it was uh it was Swed and Rafy. It was Croner and and and Brad Stewart and Stewie. And you know, that top four was it was unbelievable of of how good they were. And Rafy scored some big goals for us. So, you know, I would say, you know, Vlatty, uh, obviously Nick won, uh, Vlatty 2, Croner three, and, uh, and Rafi four, and was, like I said, able to play with some, uh, some greats, longer tenure, but concur with that. Yeah. And then I had, although we didn’t win a cup, we had C Paul Coffee here, uh, who won a Norse trophy here, was one of the all-time great offensive defenseman in the NHL. And then it was at the end of uh his career, but Brad Park for for two years I played with here and uh won like great hands uh cannon for a shot and just uh outstanding hockey sense and he was playing on on no knees, you know, just playing on experience and skill. But those would be uh the top uh I would think along the way uh for me and you know I don’t I think Croner just came in just when I retired but obviously watched his career and uh fantastic player as well. You’re right about Vlatty on the offensive side. Remember that goal he scored on Belffor from a distance out. I thought the year before he got hurt that he’d have a really good chance to win the Norris. I’m not sure who maybe McKinnus won it that year. one of the really top offensive guys with a big shot, but that would have been it for him. I thought maybe a chance at in the in the shortened season. Did Kauf beat him out? Was that the 95 when Kauf won the he won the the Norris with us, right? I thought Vlatty might uh finished second that year to to your point. And I mean just he was that good. Yeah. He ended up he tore his Achilles, right? playing tennis and he comes back what 3 months later he’s playing in the NHL, you know, just uh it unreal of of of how he was. And and the the the amazing thing was is like it wasn’t by accident because he was like that in practice, you know, like you had to keep your head up against Vlatty in practice, too, cuz he was coming. So, he was absolute and fierce competitor. Yep. And as we celebrate the centennial season of hockey in this wonderful city of Detroit, uh your guys time here, we’re going to do one-times because uh hockey players love one-times. Uh most superstitious player you ever played with. And this could be for you too if there is one. And if you’re speaking of yourself, you can. But most superstitious player you ever saw? Superstitious/Routine. is that I’d say Brennan Shanahan. Name a routine perhaps that he did. Well, one thing he always needed no matter the shift going out for a power play, he needed cuz he uses the aluminum sticks. Remember, they were kind of slippery and he always needed this dry and a rub. It’s what he always said. So, trainer had to dry the stick, rub it down, hand it back to him. Then he’d always kind of give it like the blade a little knock. That was uh something I always noticed uh from him. He had he had a lot of routines going on. He doesn’t want to say he was superstitious, but he had a lot of routine going on. That would be Shanny. Yeah. Steve, how about you? Um, off the top of my head, I can’t think of anybody, but when uh uh Grapes brings up Shanny, yeah, he had some few routines along the way. Were you? Um, yes and no. Not really. More routines. Yeah. you um I used to like to uh tap the goalie on the blocker, hit the up underneath behind the crossbar, stick my blade up in there right before we’d get her going. Um I thought you always said you’d go tap the goalie before the game and say see you after the game. That’s right. Do your job, earn your money. Most most annoying player you’ve played with? for us or the other team. Well, obviously Kirk Malty. Yeah, I mean that’s uh he would he would annoy us, but he would definitely annoy the other team. Shut up. Yeah. Yeah. Maltz for never annoyed me, but uh um but yeah, he would certainly the other team would drive him nuts. Drapes did a good job with that, too. Loudest player. Loudest player. Holly. Holly was loud. Oh, that’d be a good one. Holly was loud. Yeah. Yeah. I sat beside him. So, I got a lot of that. Sean Burr, uh, God rest his soul, was very, uh, talkative. Wouldn’t call him loud, but he was, you know, Sean always, always chatting, always chatting, always, uh, something to say. Yeah. Yeah. That, you know, you talk about Holly, we have to talk that O2 team. Um, what was it like being a part of that? All the Hall of Famers at O2 team when when you It was a fun year. We, you know, we had a fun, it was a fun year. I think we had the Olympics that year too. We had the break. Um yeah, didn’t didn’t put a whole lot of thought into that. It was um one we had a good team and everybody had fun playing together. Like uh I think everybody treated everybody as equals and we just had a lot of fun. We had a lot of different uh guys from all different worlds, different personalities and we had a lot of fun and ultimately ended up winning the cup that year. But uh it was just a really No, mostly. No, I think was Dandy. Dandy was young. Fish was young. Pavo Pavo was 21. Boy, Deo would have been 23 maybe at that. 24 at that time. Dandy was 25ish. Most you guys knew exactly where you were in life and on the ice. And you kind of were able to I think it seemed like enjoy what you were doing a lot more than normal. Yeah. You know, we had a pretty good regular season, right? like uh you know kind of winning games and um just just playing and you know we u got to the playoffs to change a little bit but uh yeah it was it was a lot of fun. A lot of like big personalities um guys that have had a lot of success. So but the egos the egos weren’t an issue at all and um just it was a great it was a great dressing room. there was, you know, just like Stevie said, the personalities were were something else. And uh, you know, I think in the in the regular season, we just went out and played and and kind of embraced it and and we knew we had, you know, a really good team and a talented team. And I, you know, I think in the playoffs, uh, as soon as that started, it was, you know, now all of a sudden everyone starts talking about the team and the group. And you know, Dom made it noticed that he was coming to Detroit to win a Stanley Cup. And Luke wanted a trade to to Detroit to to win the Stanley Cup. And you know, that was something that, you know, was brought up there. And obviously, it didn’t start out too well when we uh we ended up losing, you know, the first two games at home against Vancouver. That was a a long plane ride out out to Vancouver going down 02. But that was, you know, one of my memories of Stevie is, you know, we landed and called a players only meeting at the hotel and and we went in and just basically, you know, convinced everyone that, you know what, we’re all right. We’re going to win. We’re going to win game three and we’re going to go from there. And I don’t know if he knew we were going to win game three and then win four in a row and win in six, but uh it sure sounded good at the time, you know, coming from Stevie. I think I called Dom getting a shut out, too. I was really I was going all in on that one. Holy jump. Yeah. I I do remember getting on the plane down O2 and and walking on right behind you and you turned to Scotty and to Kenny and you said, “We’re not losing this series.” And I thought, “Boy, I feel a lot better now.” And away you went and then all the fans booing the the team bus and waiting towards the airport in Vancouver. Parade of cars with brooms and honking. Yeah. And Kenny Holland turned to us and he said, “This is perfect.” Cuz our bus was really quiet and Kenny said, “This is perfect.” I’ll leave you uh with this one. So maybe a thought. You obviously Litstöm’s in the top three, I would think. But um most skilled Red Wings you’ve played with and we’ll give you top three. How’s that? And in no particular order, um whatever you want, forwards, defense. Yeah, I’ll obviously go with uh go with Stevie. um you know the the way you know he was able to you know in the offensive zone do what he was able to do in the offensive zone. But for me obviously being able to watch Stevie away from the puck and you know just uh how he the importance of of how he knew about you know winning faceoffs the little things the intangibles of the game that were really kind of the only reason why I was a part of the Detroit Red Wings. Uh, and watching him, you know, work on those things was something that, uh, you know, I’ll never forget. Uh, you know, his work ethic, uh, on and off the ice and, you know, Stevie, you know, didn’t even know how much he was impacting, you know, all of us and especially the younger guys. So, I’d put Stevie there. Obviously, Nick Ledstrom, uh, Swede was incredible. his uh you know his hockey sense, his hockey IQ, his poise. Um the ability to to score big game big goals when we needed them in big games was was unbelievable of of how Nick could do that and and just as impressive. Uh every it seemed like every shift in the playoffs he was playing against the other team’s best players night in and night out 28 30 minutes a night wouldn’t matter and Swede would just go do it. Uh and then I got to go three and four. Uh I have to go with uh Henrik Zedterberg and Pavle Tatsuk. Um you know just the the run that we had in ’08 with those guys. Obviously the the con smite shift that Henrik had in Pittsburgh. Uh Henrik was he just his his inner compete the way he burned for it was something special. You know it’s something that you just can’t teach. Henrik had it. And then obviously Pavle the the skill and the goals and the highlight goals that he was able to do the the takeaways and obviously you know all the Selki trophies that he won and deservedly so. So um you know I I was like I could go on all day about the players that I was able to play with. It was a amazing run from you know for almost uh 18 years here and something special to watch not only some of the greatest Red Wings of all time but some of the greatest players of all time. So I would say that those would be my uh my top four. Well, your list may vary because he had you first, but you know. Yeah. Well, we’re just talking skills and athletic ability. Again, I could it’s hard to just name three, but the three that really stand out Nicholas Lidstrom. Um the the for me the one underrated part of his game is how good of an athlete he was because he made it look so easy. But he was, you know, we rate these players now and whatever. He’s five out of five on hockey sense, competitiveness, his puck skills and everything. But just a just a tremendous all-around athlete. The ability to, you know, puck’s coming rimmed around the wall uh in the offensive zone. He’s got a winger bearing down on him. The puck’s a foot in the air and he’ll just kick up his foot, knock it down with his foot, put it on his blade, and either get it on net or find the open guy. Those are, you know, that I always compare him to Roger Federer. uh he was the Roger Federer of hockey made it look effortless. Um and then the two forwards there’s so many great players but uh just pure athletic ability and and and skills are Pavl and and Sergey there’s skills and uh um skating ability everything they could do was at a whole other level and Sergey’s was I think natural and Pav just worked at it. He’s goofing around after practice trying all these little things that we would never dream of trying or doing in a game and he would do them in a game and he and he never he made him look so natural. It wasn’t hot dogging or anything. you know, it just like incredible skilled hockey players and I could go on about Igor and uh you know, even and Shann’s abilities and uh a lot of players going all the way back to the Brad Parks and Brett Halls and forget if we had a goalie, you throw Dom in there, you know, like we were very lucky to play with great players and uh you know, but the those would be my top three for just pure hockey ability. And you and the fact you played with Gordy, but who are your top three? It’d be pretty easy for him. His list is harder than our list because he played with two organizations. Yeah. Oh, true. Well, yeah, but I mean here. Yeah. Here. Let’s go with here. You’re right. But Montreal. Yeah. Forget Let’s go with here. Yeah. Pretty easy really. I mean, Gordy and Alex right off the bat. And Alex played for over 20 years and and Gordy for forever. And Marcel Deion. Um unfortunately he was forced into using the system for for his betterment and had to move on and uh but boy he was right from day one. Uh and obviously he’s one of the best players ever played this game. Incredible talent and smart. Um yeah those three guys right off the hop like that. There is one more the logo right here. It’s beautiful. What do what do you think when you look at that? I’m honored to be a part of it, you know, just to to be able to uh to play for the organization, you know, an original six franchise. Uh, you know, now on to to be on this side, you know, on the management side and be a part of the 100th anniversary is a huge honor for me, Steve. Yeah. Um, an iconic uh franchise in all of sports. Um, you know, how many have been in all the all the sports been around this long? um you know, 11 time Stanley Cup champions. Um we’re we’re very lucky to to to play here. Myself, I got to play my whole career here and fortunate enough to play on a Stanley Cup team. Um so it’s uh a great place to play, a great place to live, and a great organization to be a part of. M institutional memory of a hundred years. You can’t beat it. Very few have it. um the uh the logo every time I either wear it or see it. Um it’s just very very special to be a part of going into a hundred years now. And uh the celebration that we’re going to see throughout the next uh well whatever maybe 15 16 months or so. Um, it’s going to be a great tribute to the fans especially that have followed this team since the uh the mid20s and uh can’t wait to get her going. It’s going to be great. And this getting her started today with a little hot stove and a hockey talk looking back and memories. Uh we got a lot of them and we’re blessed to have them. Yeah. Honored to be in the presence of all of you. Thanks guys. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks. [Music]

Ken Daniels, Mickey Redmond, Steve Yzerman and Kris Draper share their memories around Detroit Red Wings Centennial. Part 3/3.