Dormant would be the last word used to describe the Detroit Red Wings, a franchise preparing for its 25th consecutive playoff appearance.
Yet thats how former Detroit coach Scotty Bowman described the organization before everything changed.
Detroit now has the longest active playoff streak acro s the four major American profe sional sports. The next-best active streak is the San Antonio Spurs with 19 straight postseason appearances in the NBA.
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For those looking for the answer as to how this is po sible, Bowman goes straight to the top. Mike Ilitch purchased the team in 1982, and the Red Wings havent stopped since.
Its an amazing streak, and it really speaks Michael Vick Jerseys to the longevity of the owner, Bowman told Sporting News. He wanted to win. He would come in the meeting room with the players and coaches. He knows the desire to win. Even the people in the arena feel like they are part of the team.
That streak, which continues Wednesday when Detroit opens the playoffs against Tampa Bay, garnered six Stanley Deion Sanders Jerseys Cup appearances andfour championships, including1997 when the Red Wingsshattered the then longest Cup drought at 42 years. All of that winning gaveJoe Louis Arena what Bowman calls a special feel ever since.
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And its not just that the Red Wings have done it. Its how theyve done it. ESPN analyst Barry Melrose said the legendary Montreal teams of the 1940s, 50s and 60s were able to stockpile French-Canadian players and build super teams.
The Red Wings streakstarted in 1990-91 and continued through the salary cap era, which started in 2005-06.
Its unbelievable, Melrose told SN. In todays era of a salary cap, it levels the playing field. Its hard to outwork the opposition.
Detroit has done it in the Fabian Moreau Jerseys salary cap era and the non-salary cap era and basically didnt have a high-round draft pick for 25 years, he said.
Bowman had won six Stanley Cups as a coach before his arrival in 1993 during the non-salary cap era. Detroit became a powerhouse that won three Stanley Cup championships from 1993-94 to 2001-02 while engaging in a rivalry with the Colorado Avalanche that elevated the leagues profile.
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In that era, Bowman said it was Ilitchs knack for making deadline deals that paid off later. That helped Detroit land players such as Slava Fetisov (1995), Larry Murphy (1997), Chris Chelios (1999) and later Brad Stuart (2008).
It was a destination for players, Bowman said. Players can do well somewhere else but they want to win.
Or, as Melrose put it, They gave a lot of older players a chance to win the Stanley Cup.
Detroits streak has endured through coaching transitions, too. Mike Babock led the Red Wings to another Stanley Cup in 2007-08 and kept the streak moving, even if its cutting close.
The Red Wings have finished either third or fourth in the Atlantic Division since joining the Eastern Conference in 2013-14. Detroit has lost in the first round Mykal Walker Jerseys each of the last two seasons. Late last week, Melrose wondered what life would be like in Detroit on a Monday if they didnt make the playoffs.
Despite losing their last two games of the regular season, the Red Wings are in the playoffs, but the franchise faces more long-term concerns. Veteran Pavel Datsyuk announced his intention to move back to Ru sia after the season.
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It's a double-edged sword if he leaves to play in Ru sia, Melrose said. You lose him, and that will hurt a lot because he's a great, great hockey player. But it also hurts because it's a $7 million hit against the cap.
That$7.5-million hit might make it tougher to sign an elite defenseman, something they've been trying to do for the last three seasons, and Detroit Russell Gage Jerseys still has a potential decision to make between goaltenders Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek. Mrazek is a restricted free agent and Howard still has three years left on a six-year $31.8-million deal with a10-team no-trade clause.
The Red Wings will also be leaving the special feel of the Joe behind for the $650-million Detroit Events Center, which is projected to open in time for the 2017-18 season and
Despite all the looming uncertainty, Detroit made itinto the playoffs under first-year head coach Jeff Blashill, who replaced Babcock after hisdecade behind the Red Wings bench inyet another transition the streak has survived.
Bowman, who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., has watched a lot of the first-round opponent. Tampa Bay is dealing with injuries, and anything can happen in playoff hockey. Bowman said once the streak continues, everybody forgets about the streak.
When the playoffs come NFL Atlanta Falcons Jerseys , you know how much it means to this city, Bowman said.
Until next year. Detroit can still break the NHL record of 29 straight playoff seasons, set by Boston from 1967-68 to 1995-96. Maybe then what the Red Wings have done for the last quarter century will be fully appreciated.
Or until it ends. Maybe then thats when one word will be used more than the rest to describe whats happened in Hockeytown.
When it ends, if it ends, we will all look back and say its unbelievable what they were able to accomplish, Melrose said.
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