The Detroit Red Wings not only have benefited obviously from an infusion of talent since the late 1980s, they also have the right chemistry, according to winger Shawn Burr.
”There was a lot of back-biting going on then,” the team`s first choice in the 1984 draft said of the Jacques Demers` coaching regime (1986-1990). ”A lot of talking behind people`s backs.”
As the Norris Division leaders begin their post All-Star break run toward the playoffs, they are one of the National Hockey League`s best teams. The Wings believe they are flying high enough they won`t be caught in the regular season by the Blackhawks or St. Louis Blues, who trail them by 10 points. They then would have to avoid the upset that befell them in the 1988-89 playoffs when a first-place record didn`t stop the fourth-place Hawks from knocking them off in the opening round.
”In years past, guys didn`t get along as they do now,” Burr said.
”That`s one of the biggest differences, as well as having more talent. Some players seemed to be trying to take over the team. We didn`t know who was in charge and we started to feel the team slip.
”(Coaches and management) weren`t honest with you and didn`t treat everyone as equals. The problem started at the top. I`m not getting into names, but when (coach and general manager) Bryan Murray took over last season, he knew some changes had to be made.
”Nobody needs guys coming into the dressing room grumpy. If you have problems at home, leave them there. That`s one reason Bryan got a guy like Brad Marsh (from Toronto). He`s happy every day, a real team guy.”
There also were additions such as Sergei Federov, Nicklas Lidstrom, Paul Ysebaert, Ray Sheppard and Vladimir Konstantinov, as well as a commitment to Tim Cheveldae as their top goalie.
Murray admits he was made aware of the turmoil surrounding the Wings when he came to Detroit after years of coaching Washington.
”You hear stories, some good, some bad, and I suppose some that don`t matter,” he said. ”There might have been some personality clashes. We redesigned and rebuilt.”
Murray still views coach Mike Keenan`s Hawks as his biggest challenger in the Norris. But he admits Keenan`s club, filled with role players who are commonly known as grinders, reminds him of some of his Capitals` teams that failed because of an absence of enough offensive and skilled players.
”We feel we have a heck of a chance to win against Chicago if we shut down Jeremy Roenick and Steve Larmer, and Michel Goulet if he`s on that line,” Murray said. ”Brent Sutter has potential to score, but I don`t know that he`ll ever score again at the rate he did for the New York Islanders. We should end up with more guys over 20 goals than any other team in the division.”
Stop Detroit`s Steve Yzerman, still one of the NHL`s best centers, and the Wings still have sufficient offense to swamp you.
”We`ve got more guys with a chance to score (than Chicago), more skill players who can skate and handle the puck. But there are some nights I wish I had more guys who are willing to get the job done bumping and checking, to go into the corners. Chicago probably has more of those. I believe, though, the team with more home-run hitters wins more often.”
Murray doesn`t buy the Keenan theory that the playoffs are mainly tight-checking games in which the Hawk style will prove to be survival of the fittest.
”Look at playoff history,” Murray said. ”The New York Islanders won in the early 1980s with skill players like Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier. The Edmonton Oilers beat Philadephia and others with more skill players. Pittsburgh beat Minnesota last season with a better offense.
”Skill teams, talented teams, don`t win every night. But they seem to go further than grinding teams. In the early rounds of the playoffs, grinding teams are able to upset other teams. But as the playoffs go on, the record shows talent wins.”
One intangible that enters into the battle between the Hawks and Detroit down the stretch, and perhaps in the playoffs, is that Murray admits to disliking Keenan very much at one time. They were both junior hockey coaches then and Murray believes Keenan purposely lost a game in a tournament leading to the Memorial Cup that meant nothing to his team so he could eliminate Murray`s club and not have to face them later.
”There were years we weren`t friendly,” Murray said. ”But we talk quite a bit now (as general managers). We understand each other more and the jobs we have.”
Would you say you like Keenan now? Murray smiled and took a different course.
”I`d say I respect him, we respect each other,” he said. ”He gets a great deal out of his players. But our approaches are different.”
