On This Date in History: Wings Win '97 Cup
Twenty years ago today: summertime in the suburbs in the nineties, neighborhood-wide barbecues, block parties, buckets of soda, catching fireflies, neighborhood girl chasing neighborhood boy, bottle rockets. I still look back with wonder on that very special time when the Red Wings won back to back Stanley Cups in '97-'98, with a Woodson Heisman and National Champsionship sandwiched in between. I was an unadulterated nine years old when Darren McCarty scored late in the third to kick it all off -- June 7, 1997.
"Late December back in '63,
what a very special time for me
As I remember what a night"
Go Preds tonight (still bitter about 2009)
It was awesome after the previous year of 62 wins, the all-time record of most regular-season wins, set at 60 by the 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens and then losing to Colorado in the playoffs. Good times.
watching the '96 yzerman 2ot goal in game 7 against st. louis with my dad in our living room, along with dreisbach-hayes, is one of my first sports memories.
Yes it was. Didn't have the regular season accolades of the previous three years, but that Cup is all that mattered
'97 was the infancy of my sports fandom, as I was a 7 year old and just starting to figure out hockey (and later that year, football). What a time, indeed.
By now I'm old and jaded and I know too much about sports. The cost of becoming a more intellectual fan is that the good times will never be as magical as when you are a kid.
coming of age as a wings/michigan fan in '97 has made me a very nostalgic adult
As a non-native Michigander and only a Michigan fan starting in the mid-2000s, I envy those of you who followed Michigan and the Wings in the 90s
M basketball in '89 + the Fab Five
M hockey was dominant through the ninties, winning it all in '96 and '98
M football in '97
Wings in '97 & '98
Bastards
Pistons in '89 and '90!
But maybe in the next five years, JH will give us a title or two, and Mel can also give us a titile or two. That'd be nice
Not hanging in the rafters is an absolute tragedy. The organization needs to suck it up and hang the damn banner.
So many great players on those teams.
Out of all the Red Wings teams that won the cup, that '97 team was my favorite. Every player on that team had a special role, bought in, and it was truly a fun team to watch capture the title.
Man enough to say I cried like a little girl when Yzerman raised that cup for the first time. Right up there with Rose Bowl in 97 vs WSU.
That team would have won 4-5 cups in a row if Vlady had not gotten into that Limo....
I met my wife at a party I went to immediately after the Wings won the Cup. I'm sure she has no idea that today is the 20th anniversary of when we met. I will have to put on my Yzerman jersey when I get home tonight and see if she can figure out why (that's what I was wearing at that party).
Hopefully we won't have to wait another 42 years to celebrate the next one.
One more thing - I think it is about time we retire #91. Now way we win either the '97 or '98 Cups without him and probably don't win in '02 either.
is one of the great robberies in D Sports
Shanahan was a bigger key. True power forward. Could dominate physically and score.
Shanny put the Wings over the last hump.
Fedorov was absolutely an elite player but given the playoff results against New Jersey and in the early 90s when #91 was on the roster, it's debatable he was a make or break piece.
Are we all. Last year was absolutely brutal.
I think everyone in the hockey universe is cheering against the Pens, save for Pens fans themselves
Yep... I'm still pissed about 2009 when Malkin's one game suspension was lifted by Bettman. He had three points in the game he was supposed to miss.
Lifelong wings fan, in my mid 20s then.
Was at many games that season, including the "Lemieux turtle" that set the season on fire.
Went to most of the playoffs, including Game Three. Feeling in the pit of my stomach to start the game was one I'll never forget -- almost puked due to nerves/excitement. Watched Game Four with close friends.
I was in the Parade ... not at it, in it. Had a fun talk with #91 on the bus from Hart Plaza to the team picture ... maybe someday I'll post the pic here I have of me walking with him, while he was holding hands with a then-unknown very young Russian tennis player lady friend in a slinky dress who was about to become very famous....
My now-deceased grandfather's name is among those from that '97 team engraved on the Cup ... one of the four times he's on it, and that one is my favorite.
I was in the AF overseas. Someone once showed me how to use a spectrum analyzer as a video receiver so in an completely unauthorized manner, I used a satcom terminal and searched a couple of TV satellites for signals, eventually found the game, and my squadron watched (without sound) Hockeytown rock!
The commander did stop by and shake his head at me.