Detroit Red Wing Culture

At the start of the Stanley Cup  final, thought I’d share an article I liked on Detroit Red Wing culture/success. Admittedly, Fetisov, Konstantinov, Lidstrom, Hasek, Larionov, Fedorov etc provided a luxurious base for the Wing’s resolve to develop players patiently. The Habs had the Morenz, Blake, Richard, Harvey, Plante, Beliveau foundation to breed Cournoyer, Lemaire, Savard, Robinson, Lapointe, Lafleur, Shutt, Dryden group – but they also had outrageous, territorial expansion equity/rights advantage. Not to diminish Montreal accomplishments nor the legacy contribution of individual Red Wing players like Abel, Lindsay, Howe, Delvecchio, Ullman, and Yzerman, Detroit’s current success stands alone in hockey as a visionary commitment to developing individual players within team concept and systemic value add. Smells like the Patriots. As Brian Burke announces Leafs are re-tooling a grittier approach, hope he notes comments below re context of toughness. An aside: As well as he performed for the Leafs, how good might Borje Salming have been in the modern Wing’s culture? Or for that matter, Thomas Kaberle? Or lesser known, John Wright? Bill Gilligan? Paddy Adair? Thomas Polk?) Hey Gouche thought you’d like this, Patrick Keenan