Ice Stars’ Only Common Bond Is Quest For Cup
They grew up in different times and continents apart, yet greatness has been a word shared by Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers and Slava Fetisov of the Detroit Red Wings.
Lindros, 24, is on the verge of becoming the NHL’s dominant player. Fetisov, 39, has had his moment, not only as a player but also as the crusader who in 1989 started the then-Soviet invasion of the league.
There is no comparing the two now, except for their immediate goals.
On the day before the start of the best-of-7 Stanley Cup finals between the Flyers and Red Wings at the CoreStates Center, both men talked Friday about winning the NHL’s biggest prize.
For Lindros, this conceivably could be the first of many Cups. He’s that good and the Flyers, the Eastern Conference champions, have surrounded him with a talented, deep and big team.
This might be Fetisov’s last chance to get his name on the trophy. The legs and skill that made him the Bobby Orr of the Soviet Union are fading, and the Red Wings may never have this good a chance.
Lindros took a couple of seconds Friday to recall his first memories of a Stanley Cup final. It was a series in Edmonton in the 1980s when Oilers fans held sparklers during the national anthem.
“It was a special moment,” said Lindros, who had 11 goals and 12 assists in the first three rounds of the playoffs. “I mean we were just kids playing hockey but to see something like that was really spectacular.
“I mean I dreamed about being in this situation for a long time, not just being here, but to win it,” the big center said. “But I guess you have to dream dreams to live dreams, and we have got our work cut out for us.”
Fetisov knows adversity. He bucked the then-Soviet hockey system in the late 1980s to get permission to sign a contract with an NHL team, a battle that at one point led him to leave the national team.
In the end, glasnost prevailed and the New Jersey Devils signed him in 1989.
Ironically, Fetisov just missed getting his name on the Stanley Cup in 1995. The Devils did not offer him a contract after the previous year and he was part of the Red Wings’ team that was swept in the ‘95 Cup finals.
If the Red Wings are going to win their first Stanley Cup in 42 years, they are going to have to prevent Lindros and company from overpowering them in front of goalie Mike Vernon. The Flyers dump-and-grind philosophy led to relatively easy playoff wins over Pittsburgh, Buffalo and the New York Rangers.
Detroit needs to play tough and physical and use its speed to counterattack. The Red Wings also have to test the Flyers goalies with shots, something the Rangers did not do well in the conference finals.
Game 2 will be played on Tuesday. The series moves to Detroit for games on Thursday and next Saturday.
xxxx Today on TV Stanley Cup finals: Detroit at Philadelphia, 5 p.m., Fox