The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in exciting fashion on Wednesday night, but an unsung hero was the talk of the dressing room following the presentation. Dallas Drake was the name on all of the Red Wings lips as he took the cup from Captain Niklas Lidstrom and took a tour around the ice with hockey’s holy grail.
Drake of Rossland, B.C., finally earned a Stanley Cup ring to cap his 16th NHL campaign.
“I can’t believe it,” said Drake. “We’ve got a tremendous group of guys who want to win more than anybody I’ve been around.
“I just can’t be more thankful right now.”
Several Red Wings players said the will to win for the 39-year-old Drake was an inspiration that drove them to work for it as hard as they could.
“It was great to see him skate around with the cup,” said goaltender Chris Osgood, who is from Peace River, Alta., and will be taking the Stanley Cup home when he gets his turn with it.
We had to hear Don Cherry boast about the importance of veteran leadership for Pittsburgh in the form of Gary Roberts, but it seems among all of Detroit’s leaders, Dallas Drake was possibly the least noticed by fans…but the most revered by his teammates. That is what true leadership is all about.
Even prolific hockey scribe, Joe Pelletier, failed to mention Dallas Drake in his review of the Red Wings wily old veterans.
I must admit that the young Penguins did their best to keep it interesting, and I echo the sentiment from the fellows at On Frozen Blog who gave kudos to the Penguins for reinvigorating the Finals with their late-game intensity, giving both games thrilling white-knuckle endings.
Bubba, from Canes Country has made some interesting observations about the differences in style between the last three Stanley Cup winning teams.
“Two years ago, the Hurricanes won the Cup using speed to outscore their opponents. Last year the Ducks used their size and physicality to wear down everyone they played against. This year the Wings used defensive skill and puck possession.
Each year, the winning team’s system was supposed to be the new magic formula for being successful in the NHL. For instance, last year many experts were saying that teams needed to get bigger like Anaheim, if they wanted to compete. But Detroit wasn’t necessarily a big team. They have a couple of big players and they can certainly be physical, but I wouldn’t call them a big team.
There is no magic formula for success. Each team should be unique and true to themselves. They should concentrate on doing whatever it is that they do well, but do it better than anyone else can.”
It will be interesting to see what the off season brings in terms of player movement. In particular, Ray Shero, has some big tasks ahead of him in Pittsburgh to keep the core of this superb young team together for another run at the Stanley Cup!
Both Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone, possibly the best wingers on the Pens, are free agents come July 1. Brooks Orpik, one half of the No. 1 defence pairing, is also free as are many of the character players such as Gary Roberts, Pasqual Dupuis (who had a fantastic playoff), Jarkko Ruutu, Adam Hall and Georges Laraque.
In addition, the Pens have Darryl Sydor signed for next season at $2.5 million US, a contract they may buy out for the part-time defenceman.
The next few months should be interesting!
July 1st, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Is “Hockey Digest” still being published? If so, how many times is it published per year and how much does it cost to subscribe to the magazine? Thank you.