Your Stanley Cup Champions … the Detroit Red Wings

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I’ve watched the Detroit Red Wings win three Stanley Cups. This is the sweetest. These guys are an incredible team. Maybe the best I’ve ever seen in Wings uniforms. And that, people, is saying something.

Words sort of fail right now … but this Cup … this Cup is …

for Dan Cleary, a proud Newfoundlander, who turned his career and life around.

for Brian Rafalski … who knew where he wanted to be. Welcome home, Brian.

for Brad Stuart, who finally found a niche that fits.

for Dallas Drake, who also came home, and gets to retire as a champion.

for Johan Franzen, who took an ugly nickname given to him by the ultimate captain in sports and made it his own.

for Niklas Kronwall, who realized that it’s much more fun to hurt other people than hurt himself. And who will be putting fear into the heart of opposing forwards for years to come.

for Pavel Datsyuk, who doesn’t need to speak proper English with hands like that.

for Darren McCarty, who represents the best and worst of all of us, and got the second chance we all deserve when we need it.

for Kris Draper, who gave that second chance to his old friend, and trusted when he could easily have turned his back.

for Kirk Maltby, who has now been pissing people off (and winning hockey games) for 15 years as a Red Wing.

for Jiri Hudler, Brett Lebda and Valtteri Filppula, three kids who are now men. Damn fine men at that.

for Chris Chelios … a true motherfucking warrior.

for Andreas Lilja, who (God willing) won the last game he’ll ever play as a Red Wing.

for Darren Helm, who can skate faster than I feel comfortable driving on city streets.

for Dominik Hasek, who acted like a real professional for the first time in a long while, and will get a very expensive ring for doing so.

for Mike Ilitch, Scotty Bowman, Jim Nill and Jimmy Devallano, who form a brain trust that supports the best front office in professional sports.

for Tomas Holmstrom, who truly broke the mold of Swedish hockey players and helped to shut Don Cherry’s quasi-racist mouth.

for Hakan Andersson, who hands out top-flight prospects like Santa Claus on Christmas Day.

for Kenny Holland, who long ago learned a lesson we should all take to heart — loyalty matters, even in professional sports, and it pays off in spades sometimes.

for Steve Yzerman, who stayed upstairs and let the players celebrate. He never needs to don a uniform, but will always wear the Winged Wheel.

for Nicklas Lidstrom, who is European, and a captain, and a champion, and the best defenceman hockey has seen since Bobby Orr.

for Chris Osgood, a man who never listened to haters. Nor should he.

and for Henrik Zetterberg, the most complete hockey player in the world right now.

What else can you say?

I’m sure I’ll find something else to add tomorrow.

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Filed under Blatant Homerism, Life Lessons, NHL Playoffs, Sports, The Franzen