Cup full at the Joe

The fate of Hockeytown -- and to a lesser extent, the landscape of the NHL -- rests in Game 7 of The Varsity Series, which the league insists be known by its formal title, the Western Conference finals.

If the Detroit Red Wings -- the oldest touring group since Mick and the Stones -- come up with a Game 7 victory, after winning Wednesday night in Colorado, it could change the look of the league in the immediate future. (This assumes Detroit handles those hard-checking Cinderellas from the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes.)

The first question: Will coach Scotty Bowman retire? His saintly wife, Suella, stopped tugging on Bowman a few years ago. She has her own little fiefdom carved out, visiting children and grandchildren, so the decision largely will be her husband's. (Like the wife of George Weiss said when he wondered if he should come out of retirement to become the first general manager of the New York Mets, "I married you for better or worse. Not for lunch.") Assuming the 68-year-old Bowman remains in good health, then the quest for yet another Cup might be more of a siren call than the inducement of playing 18 holes a day or dabbling in the inevitable media work that will be available to a former Hockey Night in Canada commentator. As a Bowman confidant told me, "He's got so much energy, I can't imagine him walking away."

The more important question: Will Dominik Hasek walk? Hasek, as you might recall, said he was retiring after the 1999-2000 season; he actually called a press conference in the Czech Republic during the summer of 1999 to announce his last season with Buffalo. The reasoning was strange -- his new Czech autobiography flatly stated that 2000 would be his last year and Hasek wanted to be consistent -- but after injuries limited him to 35 games that season, the goalie, now 37, changed his mind. Certainly the trade to Detroit has rejuvenated him. He trudged through his last two seasons with the Sabres, the focal point of a team that had to claw for everything. The atmosphere was stultifying. Given the history of Detroit, which, like Philadelphia, tends to floss with its goalies, it's remarkable Hasek came to the all-star Wings to escape pressure. He even seems to remember his teammates' names, something some of the Sabres use to wonder about. "All I know," associate coach Barry Smith said, "is Dom told me he's happier than he's been in years."

But if Hasek does quit, the fallout will be enormous. Wheels will spin as they did with the free agent goaltending carousel of 1999 when Curtis Joseph and John Vanbiesbrouck changed teams and Mike Richter re-signed with the Rangers. Detroit, which is interested in unrestricted free agent forwards Bill Guerin and Bobby Holik, will have to re-order its priorities and chase a No. 1 goalie, possibly Joseph. Suddenly the market for Joseph, Ed Belfour and even Richter gets even hotter with the Wings joining the Blue, probably the Flyers (after Roman Cechmanek's tirade), Maple Leafs and Rangers in the hunt.

This postseason might have been the aging Wings' best chance for a Cup but not their last. Beneath the AARP jokes, there is a solid underpinning of young talent for the first time since Martin Lapointe and Kris Draper emerged in the late 1990s. Jiri Fischer, 21, became a top-four defenseman this season, and Brett Hull found worthy linemates in Russian rookie Pavel Datsyuk and 24-year-old Boyd Devereaux. Detroit has also signed the best player in Sweden, 21-year-old Henrik Zetterberg. He won't provide the immediate boost rookie Kristian Huselius did in Florida this season because he won't get the same ice time, but Zetterberg was the revelation in the Olympics. Smith hopes to take a half-dozen of the young Wings to practice for a fortnight this August on the big ice in Finland to further their development.

Ultimately the 2002 Stanley Cup might elude the Wings. But in Detroit, with money to sign free agents and talent in the pipeline, the Cup always seems three-quarters full.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber covers the NHL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

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