Detroit – It’s one evening that will live forever in Detroit sports history.
Every Red Wings fan knows what he or she was doing on March 26, 1997 – 10 years ago today – when the Avalanche played the Wings at Joe Louis Arena.
It has been 10 years since Darren McCarty pummeled Claude Lemieux, Brendan Shanahan flew through the air to get after Patrick Roy, and, of course, Mike Vernon battled Roy, punches thrown wildly, with coaches screaming and fans going berserk.
Kris Draper had been on the receiving end of an ugly hit by Lemieux the season before in the playoffs, and that touched off the bad blood between the teams.
Nearly a year had passed, and in the minds of the Wings, payback came due on March 26, 1997. The game, won by the Wings, 6-5 in overtime on a goal by McCarty, was a unifying force for that team, which would go on to win the next two Stanley Cups.
“It brought the whole team together,” Kirk Maltby said. “It wasn’t like we were playing poorly, but we were just going about our business, and that night just ignited us as a team.
“It definitely turned our season around. The camaraderie of it, and we just became that much more of a team.”
The Draper-Lemieux incident was at the front of the minds of every player, coach and fan that evening. Lemieux never showed remorse for the injuries he inflicted on Draper after drilling Draper’s face into the boards. The fact that Detroit lost to Colorado in that 1996 playoff series increased the Red Wing players’ sense of urgency.
“Everyone expected (the brawl) to happen, and how we got there wasn’t good, but it was an accumulation of a lot of games,” Chris Osgood said. “It was probably more fun for the fans (than players). But it was kind of necessary.
“It was probably one of the last steps for us to take, to come together as a team and the fact we stood up for each other, going into the playoffs.”
The buildup heading into the game, and the war of words between the teams, led everyone to believe something memorable was going to happen.
“There was hatred between the teams,” Osgood said.
“They were a great hockey team, and we were a great hockey team, and they had the one thing that we wanted, the Stanley Cup,” Draper said.
“They had beaten us the year before, and New Jersey had beaten us in the Finals in 1995, and we had to find a way to get over that hurdle.
“That night really helped us and excited us, especially because it was so close to the playoffs.”
Coach Mike Babcock remembers watching that game, and those highlights, and appreciated the emotion showed by the Red Wings.
“Sure I watched it, and it was competitive stuff, and that’s what sells hockey,” Babcock said. “It was great.
“Now, did you want anyone ever getting hurt? No. But it was a competitive rivalry and those teams in the pre-(salary) cap days were four lines deep, six defensemen deep, with good goaltending.
“Those rivalries in those days lasted.”
The highlight of the evening for Wings fans, of course, was McCarty pounding on Lemieux as Lemieux assumed a turtle position to avoid the brunt of the blows.
“Claude and Darren fighting, and Darren scoring the game-winning goal, that was great,” Babcock said. “People tend to forget, after all the other stuff that happened, it was a great game, going back and forth, 6-5 in overtime.”
Osgood’s favorite memories, not surprisingly, are of the goalies.
“Vernie skating to center – and I thought he’d be exhausted just skating all the way there,” Osgood said. “I remember pictures of Vernie’s head fitting into Roy’s glove. Remember, at that time, there were no rules on equipment, and Vernie’s head fit entirely in Roy’s glove.
“Roy getting cut, and saying he’d won the fight. Vernie was so tired. Vernie skated off the ice and he was exhausted and was hoping they’d kick him out of the game, but they didn’t, and he had to go back there and play. He could barely move.
“And Shanny flying through the air to get after Roy.”
It was 10 years ago, but many Wings fans remember it as if it were yesterday.
Said Draper: “For everyone involved, it was an unbelievable night, and one the fans will never forget.”
