Red Wings Face Long Odds To Repeat New-Look Detroit Squad Would Be First To Win Two In Row Since ‘91-92
After winning their first Stanley Cup in 42 years, the Detroit Red Wings now face the hard part repeating.
“Our team is going to be tested a lot,” said coach Scotty Bowman, whose Red Wings play at Calgary in one of 10 season-openers today. “It’s up to us as coaches to get them prepared.”
The defending champions face a daunting task. There hasn’t been a repeat winner in the NHL since Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992. There have been six different league champions in the last six years, and 11 different teams in the finals.
Last season, Colorado had the best record in the regular season and was favored to repeat. But the Avalanche were beaten in the Western Conference finals by the Red Wings, who had the fifth-best record in the NHL.
“You can’t win the Stanley Cup in the regular season,” Bowman said. “You have to get to the playoffs to get a shot at it.”
Bowman speaks from experience. The year before, the Red Wings had the best record in NHL history and were heavily favored to win the Cup. But they were eliminated by the Avalanche.
“I told them to have a passion,” Bowman said. “Just because you’ve won the Cup, it doesn’t go away with the first game. They’ve got to realize, everything changes.”
Things have certainly changed in Detroit since the Red Wings won the Cup: Goaltender Mike Vernon, the most valuable player in the playoffs, is gone in a trade. Free-agent forward Tomas Sandstrom left the Red Wings to sign with another team. And superstar center Sergei Fedorov is a contract holdout.
Then there is the loss of star defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov, who is still recuperating from a near-fatal limo wreck after a team celebration.
The Avalanche open the season at home against the Dallas Stars in a meeting of elite teams. The Stars had the second-best record in the NHL last season while winning the Central Division.
Anaheim and Vancouver open their seasons Friday and Saturday in Tokyo - the NHL’s first regular-season games to be played outside of North America. The Canucks will be led by former Ranger Mark Messier, who signed with Vancouver as a free agent this summer.
The Mighty Ducks will be playing without free agent Paul Kariya, who is involved in a contract dispute. Also out in contract disputes are Vancouver’s Alexander Mogilny, Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson, Pittsburgh’s Petr Nedved and Buffalo’s Mike Peca and Alexei Zhitnik.
One of 10 coaches will make his debut with a new team in the Detroit-Calgary game when Brian Sutter leads the Flames. Sutter has replaced Pierre Page, who wound up in Anaheim.
Also making their debuts with new organizations tonight: Kevin Constantine with Pittsburgh, Alain Vigneault with Montreal, Wayne Cashman with Philadelphia, Ron Wilson with Washington, Lindy Ruff with Buffalo, Jim Schoenfeld with Phoenix, Darryl Sutter with San Jose and Pat Burns with Boston.
xxxx For openers Today’s NHL games Florida at Philadelphia (ESPN, 4:30) Los Angeles at Pittsburgh Ottawa at Montreal Carolina at Tampa Bay Washington at Toronto Buffalo at St. Louis Dallas at Colorado Detroit at Calgary Chicago at Phoenix Edmonton at San Jose