Red Wings Have Their Day: Accolades All Around for Detroit

They didn't win the Stanley Cup, but yesterday, June 23, 2009 will go down as a day that stands with the tallest of Detroit Red Wings achievements.

Detroit General Manager Ken Holland was chosen as the GM of the year by The Sporting News, Mike Babcock was chosen to coach Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics, and Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, and Luc Robitalle—all former Red Wings, were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

That's quite the list of accolades. This doesn't just all happen to one team, well...ever. Not all in one day anyway.

Let's start with Ken Holland. Why was he chosen as the NHL's top GM again?

He started the year off by signing Marian Hossa to a one-year deal. He then signed Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen to long term, salary cap friendly contracts that will keep both of them Red Wings for life.

He didn't panic when Chris Osgood struggled during the regular season and didn't mortgage the team's future with a costly trade.

Congratulations to Ken Holland, who is not only the best executive in the NHL, but also arguably the best executive in professional sports.

Mike Babock will coach Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics. This wasn't a big surprise. Canada's GM for 2010 is none other than Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman didn't have to look far to find his coach, but it is a decision that should be applauded.

In the last four seasons, Mike Babcock has been to three Stanley Cup Finals and won a Stanley Cup in 2008. There is no better coach in the NHL over that span.

More importantly, Yzerman chose Babcock because of his coaching style. Babcock will be coaching a team of all-stars and will have to work with Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Roberto Luongo, and Dion Phaneuf among others.

He will also have a large task ahead of him as Russia is expected to be the big favorite going into 2010, with their expected first line of Ovechkin, Datsyuk, and Malkin, possibly the best line ever assembled. 

If anyone can get it done behind the bench for Canada though, it's Babcock.

Finally, Luc Robitalle, Brett Hull, and Steve Yzerman were all inducted into the Hall of Fame yesterday.

The three players were teammates on the 2001-02 Red Wings, and won the Stanley Cup that year.

Luc Robitalle goes into the Hall of Fame as the NHL's all-time leader in scoring by a left-wing.

Amazingly picked in the ninth round, Robitalle is only the second player ever drafted that low to score at least 1,000 career points.

His record for goals in a season by a left wing (63) stood for 15 years before being broken last year by Alexander Ovechkin.

Brett Hull was a sixth round draft pick, believe it or not. I'll remember him as one of the most competitive players of his era.

Hull would do anything for ice time and always welcomed the pressure that comes with being on the ice for the last minute of the game.

He scored an incredible 741 goals during his career, good for third all-time.

During his time in Detroit, he played on the Two Kids and a Goat line, coined by Hull himself. The kids were a rookie Pavel Datysuk and Boyd Deveraux, later Henrik Zetterberg. Hull was of course, the goat.

Hull scored 67 goals in two seasons on that line at the age of 39, while helping Datsyuk and Zetterberg grow into the players they are today. 

Steve Yzerman enters the Hall needing no stats to back him up. He is simply the most revered player to ever wear the Winged Wheel, and is respected by hockey fans and players around the world.

One of my favorite stories about Steve Yzerman occurred during the 1995 offseason.

Detroit had just been swept by the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals and Scotty Bowman, who was also the team's General Manager at the time, was looking to make a trade.

He put Yzerman on the trading block and before long a deal was pending with the Ottawa Senators.

Then came the 2006 home opener. The PA announcer called Yzerman's name and Joe Louis Arena erupted in a cheer that seemed to last forever. The building had never been louder, it was truly amazing.

Scotty Bowman came out from the tunnel and all of a sudden the cheers turned into to the loudest, most directive boos I have ever heard. Scotty Bowman crouched down, gave a half-wave to the crowd, as if to say "OK, I get it"

Yzerman was taken off the trade block that week. The fans spoke, the Captain wasn't going anywhere.

Through the whole ordeal, Yzerman never complained. He never whined about not wanting to be traded, he didn't hold out, he didn't even become complacent.

He simply said, he preferred to stay in Detroit, but that he was fortunate enough to be making a lot of money and the worst thing that could happen is he'd be playing the game he loved somewhere else.

That was Yzerman, and that story can pretty much sum up the type of person he was.

So, it was no Stanley Cup, but three Red Wings teammates became hall of famers, the coach will lead Team Canada, and the GM is executive of the year.

You can't beat that. Let's hear it for Detroit.