Red Wings Win Pennant

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3169215704443931360.post-48408972467491791232008-05-19T21:25:00.004-06:002008-07-22T08:01:33.290-06:00Red Wings Win Pennant<a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_eRJ6KQFaW2M/SDJE6lbNuKI/AAAAAAAACPg/rNvZUZ-V6OQ/s1600-h/park.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202296292835702946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_eRJ6KQFaW2M/SDJE6lbNuKI/AAAAAAAACPg/rNvZUZ-V6OQ/s400/park.jpg" border="0" /></a> This is Brad Park. For most of the expansion era the Detroit Red Wings were beyond horrible. From 1967-68 through 1982-83 (a period of 16 years) they made the playoffs exactly twice and went through so many coaches it boggles the mind. Here, let's list them: Sid Abel, Bill Gadsby, Ned Harkness, Doug Barkley, Johnny Wilson, Ted Garvin, Alex Delvecchio, Larry Wilson, Bobby Kromm, Ted Lindsay, Wayne Maxner, Billy Dea, Nick Polano. That's 13 in 16 years and believe me there were times when some of those guys were brought back to finish out the season. Man they were bad. Some examples: <ul><li>Marcel Dionne's contract expired at the end of the 1974-75 season, and he refused to re-sign with Detroit, having played out his option year. The Red Wings traded him to Los Angeles for Terry Harper and Dan Maloney (among other things). Harper at first refused to report. </li><li>The Dale McCourt Case: A major legal battle erupted after NHL arbitrator Ed Houston ordered that Detroit transfer McCourt's NHL rights to Los Angeles as compensation for the signing of restricted free agent Rogie Vachon on Aug. 8, 1978. The Red Wings had been offering Jim Rutherford and Bill Lochead as compensation, but the Kings demanded McCourt, and the arbitrator sided with Los Angeles, which was offering McCourt a $3 million contract. Despite the big money, McCourt refused to go to Los Angeles, and sought legal protection. He got a temporary restraining order from U.S. District Court Judge Robert DeMascio on Sept. 18, 1978, overturning the arbitrator's decision and allowing him to remain with the Red Wings. The judge ruled that compensation requirements on NHL free agency were an illegal restraint of trade because they limited competition. McCourt's lawyer, Brian Smith, then sued the NHL, the NHLPA, the Red Wings and Kings in an effort to prevent McCourt from ever being sent to Los Angeles as part of any compensation package. While the cases were tied up in the courts, McCourt continued to play for Detroit, spending the entire 1978-79 season there along with Vachon. In the process, McCourt angered many fellow players, who thought his actions were undermining the NHLPA, which had agreed to the compensation requirements in its Collective Bargaining Agreement. McCourt appeared to have lost his legal battle at the end of the 1978-79 season, when the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld the arbitrator's original decision, but McCourt immediately appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court. The situation was resolved, and the need for a Supreme Court ruling avoided, when Los Angeles traded McCourt's rights back to Detroit for Andre St. Laurent, 1980 first-round pick (Larry Murphy) and the option of having Detroit's 1980 second-round pick or 1981 first-round pick (Los Angeles chose the 1981 first-round pick -- Doug Smith) on Aug. 22, 1979. This was an alternate compensation package that Los Angeles had been willing to accept in 1978, but Detroit had rejected. Los Angeles' original request, before the McCourt request set off a legal battle, had been for Reed Larson, two No. 1 picks and $700,000 in cash. The McCourt case helped to eventually change the NHL's rules on compensation but the experience took its toll on McCourt. He later said he lost his love for being in the NHL as a result of the legal ordeal. (source: Hockey Draft Central).</li></ul>The McCourt and Dionne examples are two of many train wrecks involving the organization (I could get into the best one, Ned Harkness, but it would take too long). Suffice to say that anyone not familiar with the 1970s Red Wings has a completely different view of the team than old-timers like me. If you're 25 years old, you look at the Red Wings and see the Boston Red Sox: two very successful teams who win often enough to be considered an annual power. Jimmy Devallano went to the 1983 Entry Draft and walked away with 6 future NHL players and it got better from there. The Red Wings won another pennant tonight, their 5th in the expanion era. <ol><li>Montreal (11): '68, '69, '71, '73, '76-'79, '86, '89, '93 </li><li>Boston (7): '70, '72, '74, '77, '78, '88, '90 </li><li>Edmonton (7): '83, '84, '85, '87, '88, '90, '06 </li><li>Philadephia (7): '74, '75, '76, '80, '85, '87, '97 </li><li>Detroit (5): '95, '97, '98, '02, '08</li><li>New York Islanders (5): '80, '81, '82, '83, '84 </li><li>Dallas (4): '81, '91, '99, '00 </li><li>New Jersey (4): '95, '00, '01, '03 </li><li>Calgary (3): '86, '89, '04 </li><li>Chicago (3): '71, '73, '92 </li><li>New York Rangers (3): '72, '79, '94 </li><li>Pittsburgh (3): '91, '92, '08 </li><li>St. Louis (3): '68, '69, '70 </li><li>Anaheim (2): '03, '07 </li><li>Buffalo (2): '75, '99 </li><li>Carolina (2): '02, '06 </li><li>Colorado (2): '96, '01 </li><li>Vancouver (2): '82, '94 </li><li>Florida (1): '96 </li><li>Los Angeles (1): '93 </li><li>Ottawa (1): '07 </li><li>Tampa Bay (1): '04 </li><li>Washington (1): '98 </li><li>Atlanta </li><li>Columbus </li><li>Minnesota </li><li>Nashville </li><li>Phoenix </li><li>San Jose </li><li>Toronto </li></ol>Lowetidenoreply@blogger.com