Michigan Civil War Blog

Red and White House

If you were here in June, you would have read a lament about a late-nite game that almost broke many hearts around these parts...but for the amazing victory two nites later that made up for it. The Detroit Red Wings became Stanley Cup champs again during that exciting week, and yesterday the team from Michigan attended a celebration at the White House:

President Bush Welcomes Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings to White House East Room

2:37 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Please be seated -- not you all. (Laughter.) It is a pleasure to welcome the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings back to the White House. Yes, please hold your applause. (Laughter.) I am looking forward to getting a jersey, as opposed to an octopus. (Laughter.)

In 2002, the Red Wings were the first NHL team I hosted for a Stanley Cup ceremony. Turns out they are the last team I'll be hosting. (Laughter.) You guys may be back next year -- but not me. (Laughter.) So I welcome you here.

The race for the Cup was thrilling. You started the season on a tear; you ended with a league-leading 115 points. In the playoffs, you beat Nashville, swept Colorado, dusted Dallas. (Laughter.) In game five of the finals, you were just 34 seconds from raising the Cup when the Pittsburgh Penguins scored to tie the game, then scored in triple overtime to extend the series. But you did not get discouraged. You were determined -- and you won. And we congratulate you for winning a very, very hard Cup to win, the Stanley Cup.

I want to thank the Ilitch family for joining us. Give Mom and Dad my very best. I want to welcome and congratulate Ken Holland, General Manager of the Detroit club; Mike Babcock, the Head Coach. The Commissioner -- Mr. Commissioner, welcome. I'm proud you're here.

Carl Levin, Senator from the great state of Michigan, representing all the Red Wing fans who have joined us today. Senator, I'm glad you're here. Members of my administration -- who should be working, but instead are -- (laughter.) Of course, we welcome the players, the coaches, the personnel, and all the fans.

I want to thank the members of the Armed Forces for joining us. We are proud of your service to the United States of America. (Applause.)

And finally -- and finally, it is a pleasure to welcome future Stanley Cuppers -- the Auburn [sic] Extreme Hockey Club. I guess "extreme" means extremely good. (Laughter.) Anyway, we're glad you're here. Thanks for coming. I know the players are thrilled that you've come, as well.

The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy in professional sports. It's also very difficult to win. It takes four rounds in the playoffs -- 16 wins in as many as 28 games -- before an NHL player can skate and hold the Cup. That's a lot of work after a regular season.

The players here met the grueling test, and they set some impressive records along the way. Johan Franzen, affectionately known as the "Mule" -- (laughter.) Where's Johan? Yes. (Laughter.) I call Johan "Sir." (Laughter.) He broke Gordie Howe's franchise record for the most game-winning goals in a single month, the team record for the most goals in a single playoff series, and he set the league record for most goals in a four-game sweep.

Kris Draper set an unofficial record of sorts. He is the first player to score a playoff with his teeth. (Laughter.) Where's -- (laughter.) Those are beauties. (Laughter.) But somebody said they wished he'd have kept his Chuck Norris beard. (Laughter.)

Chris Chelios set a record when he played his 248th career playoff game. At 46 years old -- or 46 years young -- Chris is the oldest player to win the Stanley Cup, and the second-oldest player to play in the NHL. That guy is going to play a lot more. I mean, if he can do it age 46, why not 52 like Gordie Howe? (Laughter.)

To put that in perspective, Chris's defensive partner, Brett Lebda, is 26 years old. As a kid, he rooted for Chris when he played for the Chicago Black Hawks. Hey, guys, imagine how cool this is -- you grew up with a player as your idol and then you got to play with him to win the Stanley Cup.

Particularly inspired by the story of Darren McCarty. Darren played 11 season with the Red Wings between 1993 and 2004. But he had a problem -- he drank too much, and it brought his career to an early end. But Darren McCarty did not give up. Darren McCarty decided to do something about it. Last fall he approached his friend, Kris Draper, told him he'd cleaned up his life, and he thought he had a little hockey left in him. So he plays for the Flint Generals in the IHL, works his way up to the Red Wings AHL affiliate at Grand Rapids Griffins. And then in March, as the playoffs approached, Darren got a call from the Red Wings offering him a shot with the team.

This guy got his life back together, seized the moment, and scored the opening goal in game two of the series against Nashville. That is a stout story. And -- where are you, Darren? Congratulations to you. (Applause.)

One of the things that is really interesting about the Stanley Cup is that every player on the championship team gets to take the trophy home for a day. Red Wings players took the Cup on adventures across the world -- to Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. Coach Babcock took the Cup water skiing. Slalom or two skies? (Laughter.)

Anyway, several players had young relatives baptized with the Cup. Others let their children use it as a bowl for cereal, for ice cream, and donuts. Tomas Kopecky took it home to Slovakia and used it as a bowl for a special Slovakian broth. No telling what was in that special Slovakian broth. (Laughter.)

Many Red Wings used their time with the Cup to lift the lives of others. Kris Draper took the Cup to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. That must have been a joyous moment for them to see the Cup. Coach Babcock took it to visit the disabled residents of a Sherbrooke Community Center. Brian Rafalski took it to a Wisconsin veterans home.

Chris Osgood, Dan Cleary, Kris Draper, and Brett Lebda took the Cup to visit the troops at Michigan's Selfridge Air National Guard Base. And today, Red Wings players took the Cup to visit wounded warriors at Walter Reed. As the Commander-in-Chief of a fabulous military, I thank you for honoring them -- (applause.)

There is a sign over the door of the Red Wings locker at Joe Louis Arena that reads this: "To whom much is given, much is expected." The Red Wings live up to those words -- on the ice and off the ice. And so I congratulate the players, their wives/girlfriends, the coaches, all those who support the team. The unheralded heroes in the locker room that make sure the lives of these players is as comfortable as possible -- the trainers, the laundry handlers, the equipment handlers. I congratulate you for achieving a dream that millions of kids dream about, including those in the room.

Thanks for bringing the Cup to the White House. Good luck for the rest of the season. May God bless you.

And now it is my honor to bring Captain Nick Lidstrom to the podium. (Applause.)

NICK LIDSTROM: Thank you very much. On behalf of Mr. And Mrs. Ilitch and the entire family, along with the entire Red Wing Hockey Association and family, I'd like to hand over a couple of gifts to the President here. As he said, he's not going to be here next year, but we'd love to come back again. (Laughter.)

I'd also like to have my friend, Chris Chelios come over and add a little helping hand here.

We have a dads trip every year that we have a chance to bring our dads on a trip -- out West usually. And this time around we'd like to -- when spring comes around and playoff hockey is around the corner again, we'd like the President and his dad to watch us win the Cup again. (Laughter.) So we don't have one, but two jerseys to hand over to the President. (Applause.)

END 2:46 P.M. EDT

Very cool. Whether you're partisan or not, the President's remarks were right on. Especially appropriate was noting how the Wings didn't celebrate selfishly but shared the Cup with friends, communities, those needing special cheer. They took it to Walter Reed yesterday.

It's been said that hockey players, of all pro athletes, are the most down-to-earth, the most like regular folk. Proof in the pudding here, as they continued to inspire with their giving-back approach.

The grateful alive

Now that the season's been over a week and the celebration well underway, I've been reflecting on this Red Wing Stanley Cup odyssey. I have this feeling of gratitude that my life's experience has included four -- I pinch myself when I say it -- yes, four championships in 11 years. To put it in perspective, we have to go back in time...

To April 29, 1966, when several friends and I got standing room tickets to Game 6 of the Finals at the Olympia. The Canadiens won 3-2 in overtime to take the Cup home to Montreal. I remember the game as if it were last week. I never imagined it would be three decades before the Wings would again challenge for the Cup. It was my single live Stanley Cup experience.

Until 1995, when the Wings finally made it back to the Finals. Experience told me this could be my son's only Finals opportunity. He was 15; I had been 14. I bought two tickets midway in the upper bowl at Joe Louis from a reseller, at a dear price, worth it because it would be 2025 before the Wings were once more in the Finals. Just like in '66, the Wings lost the game, and they soon lost the series. Once again, disappointment, this time worse because I just knew how long the interval would be until they had another shot at the Cup.

Wrong. Just two years later, a favor was repaid by four tickets in a suite at mid-ice for Game 4 of the '97 Finals. It was a tense game; Lidstrom's slapshot put the Wings ahead, and then McCarty's amazing 1-on-2 goal gave us breathing room. As the seconds ticked down, the Joe rocked all the way to the rafters where we stood, and my whole family got to witness the first Wings' championship since 1955. It was amazing, including the parade a couple days later when Red Wings World turned out on a beautiful day.

Tragedy struck in the aftermath when a limo accident severely injured two Wings and a trainer. It formed the motivation ("Believe") for the team to get back to the Finals, where I sat in front of the TV and watched the Wings win it on the road at the MCI Center. Amazing, two Cups in two years.

In 2002 the Wings had a team of Hall of Famers, carried high expectations, and won it all on home ice while I watched on TV. Three Cups in six years. Didn't seem possible.

I won't go thru this year's Game 5 again, except to say I can now look back with some fondness on the nite. What a game it was, with the Wings almost winning in front of the home crowd. Despite that heartbreaking loss, they bounced back to win Game 6 and bring the Cup home to Detroit. Now that it has sunk in, this ride has been truly amazing.

What's also gratifying is to see what kind of people the Wings are all about. Check out this: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/SPORTS05/806110360/1053/SPORTS05

So, I'm full of gratitude. From salad days at the elbow of my grandfather watching HNIC and Channel 50 in black-and-white, it's been a great run. I've had the privilege of attending four Finals games and witnessed the Wings win one--the most meaningful of all after a 42-year drought. I've had the experience of six Finals, with four championships--all in a row since '97. It couldn't be sweeter, given how the Wings are a family operation, where the entire organization shares the credit together, with players who hail from small Canadian towns and international destinations, full of humility, often taking lesser pay for the greater good, bringing joy to a Michigan that so often so dearly needs it. Ah, here in Michigan. Saying that makes it all so much sweeter.

Thank you, Lord, thank you.

The week that was

Seven days ago tonite, I sat at this desk and wondered, with tickets in hand, whether the Detroit Red Wings would win the Stanley Cup on Monday nite. Too many Detroit teams had flamed out in my own history to be so confident as to not doubt. That was borne out the next evening.

I've never been to a sporting event that had so much emotion as last Monday's game. The crowd was full of electricity, anticipating a fourth Cup in eleven years that nite. The noise was deafening...until the Wings came out flat and fell behind 2-0. They pulled within one early in the second period, and then tied and went ahead in the third. The go-ahead goal was followed by noise off the scale. As the clock ticked down, the fans grew wilder and wilder, until there was but a minute to go. 'One minute left!', I muttered to myself. Then, with 34 seconds remaining, Pittsburgh scored with an extra man to tie it up. Still, the Wings were not going to be denied. They threw the puck at the net in the remaining time and then tilted the ice the next two overtimes, dominating play and only narrowly failing to end it gloriously. After five periods of hockey, we were drained and compelled to leave. I handed my stubs to a couple young men outside Joe Louis, hoping they'd be able to watch a victory celebration. On the car radio going home, with the volume just high enough to hear if a goal was scored, we learned that Pittsburgh had won. We were home in bed at 1:44 am, a lot earlier than everyone else who stayed to the disappointing end.

It took the better part of two days to recoup. On Wednesday, in Lansing for an MHC meeting, and then driving to Chicago in the evening for a couple days of business and pleasure, arriving in the Windy City very late, I was too tired to check the score--and too conscious of the possibility of an unhappy outcome. I believed, with two chances to do it, that the Wings would win. I didn't have enough confidence to prove it to anyone, however, least of all myself.

Thursday morning greeted me with the great news of a stirring win. I felt a bit silly, getting all worked up over sports, but I guess that proves how it is an escape from real life. Perhaps, though, it's more.

For what the Wings accomplished, despite a salary cap world, despite a number of really bad calls by refs, despite an historic heart-breaking triple overtime loss, is instructive to those of us in the Great Lake State. A team full of players who want to be in Detroit most of all, some of whom have taken reduced pay to make it possible to bring in other talent, who battled through a first round challege and then found themselves the un-favorite of many media in the Finals (cue the Sydney Crosby video), who hail from Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Canada, US, as old as 46 and as young as 21, came together and achieved their ultimate goal, succeeding through the ordeal that is the Stanley Cup playoffs. Why important here?

One sportswriter said this: "This Stanley Cup was for the people. This was for the unemployed auto workers, the people between jobs and the people who are worried about losing their homes. This is for the man and woman who want so badly to go to every Red Wings game but cannot afford to do so. The problems this community faces do not go away. People are still unemployed. More business will continue to shut their doors and more of our great talent will move out of state. However, the Wings ease the pain somewhat. This town really needed this celebration." (Terry Foster, Detroit News)

There's a huge lesson here for every Michigander: a group of diverse individuals, who are described as 'family' thanks in large part to that brand of leadership at the top, worked determinedly together in pursuit of a common goal, put team ahead of individual accolade, and achieved their mission, despite the lack of confidence of others...like yours truly. Oh me of little faith.

A week later, I've learned my lesson.

Epic battle

If you glanced at the category, you saw that this post is about sports, not the Civil War. It'll be short, too, for I'm exhausted.

We went to the Wings/Penguins game last nite, hoping to see the Stanley Cup back in Hockeytown. Didn't happen, thanks to a last minute tying goal and a triple overtime Pittsburgh win. Most emotional sporting event I've ever attended, down the up then down, Wings relentlessly attacking through much of the game, etc. Unbelievable experience. Explains why this week will be post-lite.

Well, there is a Civil War connection, of sorts. I just can't imagine how Lincoln survived the ups and downs himself during something that sure meant a lot more than a hockey game (though it was quite important to me last nite), up with, eg, capture of New Orleans, down with, eg, failure of the Peninsula Campaign, etc. He was a better man than me. But, then, you likely knew that.

Go Wings!!

For the fifth time since 1995, the Detroit Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup Finals!

Not bad for a town described by a Dallas sports writer as a place no self-respecting human would want to inhabit.

The Wings lost to New Jersey in '95 but won in '97, '98, and '02. That's 5 appearances out of the last 13 Finals, with three Cups...so far. The Devils are next with 4.

Since the year of your blogger's birth, the Wings have 6 Cups. Not close to Montreal's record over the era, but the Wings have done much better lately.

PS. If the Detroit Pistons can keep their run going, we'd have two teams in a championship run here in the Great Lake State.

Hockeytown and more

On the heels of the Wings' accomplishment last week comes last nite's 50th victory of the season for the Pistons, a franchise-record seventh straight season with at least that many wins.

Anticipation continues to rise over how the Tigers will do this season, having picked up Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, and Dontrelle Willis in the off-season, producing a payroll over $100M.

Over on the west shore, Grand Valley State University is in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight with a 36-0 record. I don't care what level of sport, to go undefeated like this is an achievement.

Of course, one of the amazing things GVSU did was beating the MSU Spartans in their first game, an exhibition. The Spartans themselves are in the Sweet Sixteen for Division I. The womens' teams for MSU and Michigan are in post-season mode.

The MSU hockey team is the reigning champ of the NCAA with their surprise march to victory last year.

The Plymouth Whalers are the reigning Ontario Hockey League champs (though down 3-0 in this year's first round playoff series).

And Gordie Howe, the greatest athlete in history, turns 80 next Monday.

Being a sports fan in Michigan ain't difficult. Except...for one team, which shall go nameless.