Posted by Pierre LeBrun
DETROIT -- Win or lose tonight, the Wings have beat the Cup hangover from last season, something teams in recent years have not been able to do. Tampa Bay, Carolina and Anaheim all struggled mightily in their seasons after winning the Cup. And, yes, there were also some serious ups and downs this season for Detroit as they tried to get it going after the short offseason.
But here they are in Game 7 of the Cup finals.
"I'm very, very impressed with our group," Wings coach Mike Babcock said Friday morning. "This, to me, in all the teams I've ever coached, I mean, we had a great team last year, don't get me wrong, and I've coached lots of good teams that have won. But this team here has found a way to keep overcoming. No matter who gets hurt. No matter what goes wrong, they keep on keeping on."
"I've been so impressed with the leadership of Nick Lidstrom and the stick intuitiveness of the group and finding a way. There's lots of times this year it didn't look very pretty, and we've found a way to be here. I think you take a lot of stock in that."
And when the season ends Friday night, the Wings and Penguins will again begin their offseasons long after every other team. Shorter time span for the beat-up bodies to recover.
"Now, we're a couple of months behind and we plan on being good again next year, and then the year after that," said Babcock. "And, to me, the test of time is important for players, it's important for coaches, and it's important for our organization."
Be the hero
Every kid dreams of scoring a Cup-winning goal. On Friday night, there are 36 skaters who actually have the chance to do it.
"You're always putting yourself in that position as a kid, whether it's playing on a pond or in your driveway," said Wings veteran forward Kirk Maltby. "The one thing I could definitely guarantee then is that I always won. It's going to be a little tougher out there tonight. But as a kid, you never really think you would get this chance, and now that you are here and you have it, it's something you really need to relish."
Big E
Just a few months ago, Jonathan Ericsson was toiling in the AHL, where he figured he would play the rest of the season. If anyone would have walked up to him in the middle of January in Grand Rapids, Mich., and told him he'd be playing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in June, well ...
"I would probably have laughed," Ericsson said this morning. "I would have thought that was a funny joke."
But it's no joke. A concussion to blueliner Andreas Lilja opened up the door for a March recall and Ericsson hasn't looked back. He's here to stay. The 25-year-old rookie is preparing for the biggest game of his life.
"This is absolutely the biggest thing in hockey I've ever been in," said Ericsson.
The Swedish defenseman lived at Niklas Kronwall's place for the first month, but he has been living in a hotel since early April. Now, he's playing on the same team as national hero Nicklas Lidstrom. When the Wings' captain won his first Cup in June 1997, Ericsson was 13 years old.
"I don't remember much from it," said Ericsson. "It was hard to follow the NHL at that time in Sweden. I barely saw any games. When I was 13 that year, early summer, I was probably just outside playing soccer with my friends."
Loud, baby, loud
Babcock expects Joe Louis Arena to rock Friday night. And so do we.
"I mean, it should be a lot of fun," said Babcock. "I hope they're cheering the Zamboni before warm-up starts."
Babcock recalled a thrilling Game 7 when he coached the Western Hockey League's Spokane Chiefs.
"I don't know how we did it, but we managed to coach our team into a 3-0 deficit against the Portland Winter Hawks and we ended up winning in Game 7," said Babcock. "But I remember getting back from the road trip. In those days, you traveled, well, junior hockey you traveled on the bus, you got in the games the next day and the people were in their tents waiting to buy tickets.
"I just remember the building shaking before the warm-up. It was absolutely shaking. It was exhilarating for the players, and we found a way to win."
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
