Win away from history
Bowman ties Blake's record with Game 4 victory
Posted: Tuesday June 16, 1998 06:25 PM
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Cup runneth over: Bowman has a 193-112 record in the playoffs and is one win away from his eighth Stanley Cup championship (AP) |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Even with a record-tying eighth Stanley Cup
coaching victory within his grasp, Detroit Red Wings coach
Scotty Bowman wasn't changing his routine on Tuesday morning.
Everything was going by the book. Pre-game skate at 10 a.m., a team meeting
and some videos about three hours later and then the usual pre-game
schedule to get ready for Tuesday night's Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals
against the Washington
Capitals. There is a reason Bowman is the NHL's winningest
coach and that he is on the verge of tying Toe Blake of Montreal for most
Cup coaching wins. He leaves nothing to chance, even with a 3-0 lead in the
best-of-seven series. "He teaches things that make you a
winner," Red Wings associate coach Barry Smith said. "You learn details,
the defensive side of the puck, don't cheat the game, play hard both ways,
short shifts, a team mentality, and those kinds of things, Things that will
help you win because that takes care of almost all situations."
Bowman's record is all about winning. The Hall of Fame coach has a
1,057-484-277 mark in 26 seasons and a 193-112 record in the playoffs,
winning five titles with Montreal and one apiece with Pittsburgh and
Detroit. "It's quite a remarkable accomplishment, especially in
this day and age," added Dave Lewis, Bowman's other top assistant. "He is
such a student of the game and such a student of the history of the game.
He has his finger into every aspect of the game, that's just his nature."
While Capitals coach Ron Wilson has gotten most of the credit in
this series for his ability to motivate, Bowman's players said their
64-year-old coach knows how to get the most out of his players.
"I think he goes his own way," young Swedish defenseman Anders Eriksson
said. "He has his own ideas and he really makes players be on the edge all
the time, so they do their best and play as a team. He would rather have a
lot of guys contribute rather than a few individuals. That's our strength."
Veteran defenseman Jamie Macoun said
that when Bowman speaks, players listen. "He has an overview of
the game that many of the coaches don't have or haven't acquired yet,"
Macoun said. "He knows what he is doing and whether you agree with him or
not, you know Scotty knows what he is doing." Bowman has one
year left on his contract. During the past week, he has hinted that he
might consider his coaching future after the season, but he said the same
things before Detroit won the Cup last year. "I have no idea,"
Smith said when asked if Bowman would return. "Every year is a different
story." This story could have the same ending though, another
championship.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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