THANK YOU WINGS!

Thanks, all at Abel to to Yzerman (Stevie, best ever!). I’ve had a blast reading about all of your thoughts, panic attacks, fainting spells, and screams of joy.  I hope all of you thoroughly enjoy the celebrations to come.  PARADE TIME!

Posted by Christine Snyder from Linwood, Michigan on 06/04/08 at 10:33 PM ET

Did anyone see Hasek in that celebration mob??

Posted by cephalopod from Chicago...nope, still not over it. on 06/04/08 at 10:34 PM ET

I think we just scared the shit out our neighbors. My boyfriend just set off a couple of firework for the Wings. (This is Kentucky so random fireworks are not completely unheard of,)

Posted by Jennemy of the Skate from putting the b*tches in the box on 06/04/08 at 10:35 PM ET

“When you pull your goalie in the SCP first round that usually means you’re going fishing in about three days.” - Babs

Posted by Modnar from Cincinnati, OH on 06/04/08 at 10:36 PM ET

Helm inteview. He looks 16. Funny he’s got a better beard than Crosby. Love the kid. Be a Wing a long long time.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 06/04/08 at 10:36 PM ET

Babcock:  Nice to win, eh?

Posted by cephalopod from Chicago...nope, still not over it. on 06/04/08 at 10:36 PM ET

Hartigan with the Cup.  Grim.

Thankfully, his name won’t be on it unless the team requests it.

Helm now being interviewed.  Integral part of a Stanley Cup champion team in his rookie season, after playing more playoff games than regular-season games.  Wow.

AND his playoff beard beats Crosby’s!

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor on 06/04/08 at 10:37 PM ET

Babs at the podium:

Nick Lidstrom is a phenomonal leader

We have a very special team

To be able to share this journey with the guys, is a very emotional experience

Ozzie is a fantastic story.  He is one of the top goalies in the league because of his mental toughness.

Zetterberg is very good both ways.  Z and Pavel are two of the best players in the world.

Det has been an elite team for the past three years.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 06/04/08 at 10:38 PM ET

This is freaking awesome. I’m so glad for my Wings. And even though it’s not as nice winning away from home, WINNING THE CUP is freaking beautiful!!!!

Posted by Jennemy of the Skate from putting the b*tches in the box on 06/04/08 at 10:38 PM ET

What was up w/ the Pens fans? I don’t remember the Washington or Philly fans being such sore losers, but again, that was ages ago.

Posted by Modnar from Cincinnati, OH on 06/04/08 at 10:40 PM ET

Now showing the Cup in the DET dressing room!!!  PARTY!!!

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 06/04/08 at 10:41 PM ET

Thank you CBC for extended coverage. And nice that they interview quite literally EVERYONE. Even the GR kids.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 06/04/08 at 10:43 PM ET

Now showing the Cup in the DET dressing room!!!

Argh… what are you watching it on? Because even on the NHL network they’re not showing it.

Posted by Jennemy of the Skate from putting the b*tches in the box on 06/04/08 at 10:45 PM ET

I don’t remember the Washington or Philly fans being such sore losers, but again, that was ages ago.

Back then, Modnar, the ‘net was younger and there were less people and less comments on it.  That’s all.  Now, everybody can comment, instantaneously.

And the big deadline deals all come to nought—we got the number thirty draft pick!

The first President’s Trophy winners to also win the Cup since…oh, the 2002 DETROIT RED WINGS!

A tradition of excellence, baby!

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor on 06/04/08 at 10:45 PM ET

Cindy—crying in the lockerroom.  Too bad, so sad.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 06/04/08 at 10:46 PM ET

With a crew and the Captain well seasoned:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8_8s2zsNhSM

Posted by Steve J from Columbia, MO on 06/04/08 at 10:47 PM ET

Andrew, you don’t happen to be related to Al Davis do you:

A tradition of excellence, baby!

But I do agree, it is what separates DET from nearly all other teams in the NHL,

Tradition!!  Winning Tradition!!

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 06/04/08 at 10:49 PM ET

I wish I was back in Michigan.  I think this win is going to take a few days to really sink in.  After the Pens scored on the PP, my BF said my face went totally white.  I thought I was going to throw up.  Ozzy was huge at the end.  Right when we needed him to be.  Congratulations to Nick, Uncle Mike, Zet, Datsyuk, and all the rest.  I’ve had three glasses of champagne so I can’t type straight.

Thank you Bill and Paul for giving us KK, I would not have survived out here in Diveland without you!

Thank you to the A2Y 19.  You all rock!

i just can’t believe it.  Above my computer is the wall of fame, posters from 97, 98, and 02.  Time to make room for one more.

I deleted Game 5 from my TiVo but 6 will stay there forever.  I was so tense in the final seconds that it took a bit for it to sink it.  Rewatch it and look at Cleary, it took him a second to realize it too.

Do you think Gary could have been any more disinterested in presenting the Cup?  Who cares?  Not me!

Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 06/04/08 at 10:49 PM ET

CBC hasn’t Shown the Pens since they saluted the crowd and left the ice. I’m kinda surprised, but Good for them celebrating the win, not the loss.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 06/04/08 at 10:49 PM ET

Back then, Modnar, the ‘net was younger and there were less people and less comments on it.  That’s all.  Now, everybody can comment, instantaneously.

I meant the Pens fans at the arena. I can understand cheering your team, but after they leave the ice to keep up the booing and the ‘Let’s Go Pens!’ chants? Go home, you hosers!

Posted by Modnar from Cincinnati, OH on 06/04/08 at 10:50 PM ET

They were showing the team, each one naming a favorite player.  Astounding how many listed ones they now played with.  Dats said he didn’t have one, and Homer said Vladimir Krutov—how perfect is that?

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor on 06/04/08 at 10:51 PM ET

Ah, now they’re interviewing Roberts. I guess they’ve had over an hour of mourning.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 06/04/08 at 10:52 PM ET

Greener with Babs in the dressing room:

Lidstrom is an amazing leader!!

He said that on the podium too.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 06/04/08 at 10:53 PM ET

I meant the Pens fans at the arena

Fair enough, but a lot of them seem like they were bandwagoners, so wouldn’t have the class that old-time Washington or Philly fans (okay, so Washington fans) have.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor on 06/04/08 at 10:54 PM ET

Greener with Oompa Loompa:  14 pts in the playoffs and a game winner in the SCF!!

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 06/04/08 at 10:54 PM ET

....what the hell is CBC playing for this final montage???

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 06/04/08 at 10:56 PM ET

My winning song for the Wings - 

AC/DC’s Big Balls:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W-fIn2QZgg

“We’ve GOT THE BIGGEST BALLS OF THEM ALL”

Posted by Jennemy of the Skate from putting the b*tches in the box on 06/04/08 at 10:57 PM ET

Chief…. 34.7 is already forgotten, The Kill and The Kill Part II will live forever.

I’m making t-shirts commemorating 34 seconds.  Surviving that game is a badge of honor now.

Posted by Clark on 06/04/08 at 10:57 PM ET

Some sort of old soul, Nate.  Meh.  The Sweetest Hangover.  You know, the sweetest Cup hangover would be a repeat next year!

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor on 06/04/08 at 10:58 PM ET

With a crew and the Captain well seasoned:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8_8s2zsNhSM

Thank you!

Posted by Most hated Man in Colorado from Colorado Springs on 06/04/08 at 10:58 PM ET

CBC off the air. Now I can TRY to sleep.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 06/04/08 at 10:59 PM ET

Well, it’s light out, and the coverage is wrapping up, I’m gettin’ some sleep.  THANK YOU CHIEF and Paul, and THANK YOU to the 19, see you all soon in the upcoming days to celebrate!

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from just the right side of the morning and the CUP! on 06/04/08 at 11:02 PM ET

Oh, man. Gotta be up for work in three hours.

And my boss is a Pens fan. I don’t think he’s going to be sympathetic.

Posted by Modnar from Cincinnati, OH on 06/04/08 at 11:02 PM ET

I’m sure someone else mentioned this, but the Captain (with a capital ‘C’) didn’t go down to ice level or lift the cup.  I think he wants to win it with a team that has a few more of his fingerprints on it.

I loved Chelios’ favourite player: “Dick Butkus.  Grr.”  Heheh, Dick Butkus.

I don’t know if I just missed it or if CBC actually didn’t show it, but I didn’t see McCarty get the cup.  Was nice to see Babcock and Bowman both get to lift it.  No coach is more deserving of his first, and nobody is more deserving of his eleventh.  I may be the only one outside the Czech Republic who feels this way, but it was good to see Hasek get the cup, too.

Derek Meech’s dad was pretty weird.

Posted by Ryan from Toronto on 06/04/08 at 11:03 PM ET

I’m wearing my Wings jersey and hat to work tomorrow!!!  And any and all Predators fans can SUCK IT!!  WE WON!!!

Posted by Chris in Hockey Hell from COLUMBIA, TENNESSEE on 06/04/08 at 11:20 PM ET

Great season everyone! I don’t post a whole lot but I dont know what I would have done the last few seasons without A2Y and the 19. GO WINGS!!!!

Posted by jockey full of bourbon from Fenton on 06/05/08 at 01:36 AM ET

Guys,

You don’t hear from me much.  My sister Phoebe is the mouthpiece of the family, and (excluding Paul) the voice of the Wings in South Florida.

I was 15 years old in 1997. I watched the entire cup run as a newly-minted hockey fan (1996 vintage) at the condo my sister was housesitting at.  1998 followed a similar pattern.

2002 was in the midst of my college years.  Unfortunately, paying my dues required working nights.  I will never forget calling home at 10 p.m. to ask my mom how game 7 of the WCF was going, and then seeing for myself when I arrive home.

Patrick Roy = stunned.

And stunned again

et cetera.

Nothing compares to this.  This is the first Cup that is mine alone, as an adult privileged enough to watch every game in full, with attendant rituals and superstitions.

We’ve been champions for 4 hours now, and I’m not a bit closer to sleep.  The champagne parted ways with ice to meet with tonsils long ago, but I still can’t sleep. 

I don’t know who to toast first:  the Wings, led by the greatest extant leader in the NHL, or the sport itself.

Federov will be showing up to my office tomorrow.  Datsyuk will be showing up in my mailbox next week.

Winged Wheel will be showing up on my sister’s wrist within the week.  Pictures forthcoming.

LGRW,

Charlie

Posted by Charlie from Hollywood, FL on 06/05/08 at 02:25 AM ET

Followup:  recipe for a Stanley Cup

2002 Hasek Czech National Team jersey, worn atop pajama pants for every game (even and especially following Hasek’s deposal)

Thematically appropriate beer for every round (Round 1, Molson Canadian; Round 2 Molson Ice; Round 3 Grolsch (Soft European Beer); SCF Franziskaner (To celebrate the return of Franzen and the continued doiminance of Kronwall).

Appropriate timed visits to the bar; both to preserve symmetry between series and to clown on Pens fans.  Bar visits followed up with attendant visit to serviceable by-the-slice pizza joint.

Best goddamn pizza in town for game 1 of ever series (in our case, Conca D’Oro on Polk St.)

Tiny Stanley cup perched atop television.

Jersey shrine abutting TV (1996 Federov Red/White to the left; 2005 Yzerman White/Red to the Right)

Tasteful champagne for cup-clinching games (Veuve Clicquot fortified by Piper Heidsieck)

Enormous, irritating playoff beard; shaved within the hour of victory (photographic evidence pending)

Mixtape tailored specifically to every relevant member of the team (except for Lebda - come on, I dare you to find anything remarkable about him); tracklisting forthcoming.

In summation,

Y’all are welcome,

Charlie

Posted by Charlie from Hollywood, FL on 06/05/08 at 02:40 AM ET

Please forgive my brother for misspelling “Fedorov.” It’s not something he would normally ever do. We had ... a bit of champagne.

Also apparently, he had no memory of writing either of these this morning.

Posted by Phoebe from Fort Lauderdale, Fla on 06/05/08 at 01:10 PM ET