Another Cup Would Give Him Toe Hold on History

If hockey experts are correct, the Detroit Red Wings should not have too much trouble putting away the Washington Capitals for their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. Which would signal a milestone for Detroit’s Scotty Bowman, who would tie Toe Blake for most Stanley Cups won by a coach with eight.

But even if this happens, Bowman will keep his mentor, Blake, on a higher level than himself based on the fact that Blake needed less time to reach his total while Bowman is in his 24th season.

“I was in Montreal coaching the juniors when [Blake] was coaching the Canadiens and I got to know him when he first started in 1955,” said Bowman, the winningest coach in NHL history with 1,057 regular-season victories and 190 in the postseason.

“He coached 13 years in the league and won eight Stanley Cups. I don’t know if anybody can ever equal that or even get close to it. So, I don’t think there is really that much comparison, the fact that I coached in the league 20-something years and he coached 13 years. [The NHL] may have had only six teams with only two series [in the playoffs] when he was coaching but they had the best players in the world on six teams.”

When Detroit won the title last season and Bowman took the time to skate around the ice holding the Stanley Cup, many people felt that he was ready retire. Instead, Bowman returned and has the Red Wings back in their third championship series in four years.

With the same type of intensity that he had when he won his first Cup in 1973 while coaching the Canadiens, Bowman pushed the Red Wings hard this season and has his team primed to become the first back-to-back champion since Pittsburgh in 1991-92.

“He’s been consistent in terms of his approach and his desire to win,” Detroit defenseman Larry Murphy said of Bowman. “He handled personnel throughout the year based on getting us ready to get back to the finals again.”

Bowman might not be given the league’s Jack Adams Award for coach of the year--something not awared to too many defending-champion coaches--but he surely should have been considered.

Not only did Bowman have to keep together a team that lost the services of popular defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov because of a tragic auto accident last summer, he had to deal with Sergei Fedorov’s holdout and eventual return.

Bowman kept the Red Wings rolling with his usual control that kept his team ready for anything.

“The big thing with Scotty is as a coach he has got an entire team that believes in him and that trusts him and you know, we don’t have a single guy that ever sulks or questions any of his moves,” Detroit winger Brendan Shanahan said. “Sometimes he can do things that are unexplained and you might scratch your head, but we don’t have anyone who takes that out on the ice with him.

“He throws adversity at you throughout the year and he challenges you. [The reason why] he might play you in different positions on a different line is that when you get to the playoffs . . . and face intense scrutiny and more pressure, you know that you haven’t had a soft curb season.”

That’s why none of his players were shocked when, 20 minutes before Game 6 in the Red Wings’ Western Conference finals series against Dallas, Bowman made line changes for the entire team.

A tactic he might have learned from Blake, who kept Bowman on his toes.

“I think he was way ahead of his time,” Bowman said of Blake. “I used to watch him in those days and even though we didn’t have the statistics we have today, he always knew who was playing well. He was one of the first coaches in the league to match up against the opposition and he was a fierce competitor.”

MASTER OF INSPIRATION

Whereas Bowman is known to keep his players guessing to get them ready, Washington Coach Ron Wilson is known more for his unorthodox tactics to inspire his team.

To help reduce his players’ anxieties during the playoffs, Wilson has dropped to his hands and knees in the dressing room before the start of a game to play with a miniature puck and popsicle sticks decorated with pictures of two of his players.

He has also used analogies from the movie “The Wizard of Oz” and has shown highlights during intermission of games his team is playing in. For Wilson, there’s never a dull moment when it comes to getting the Capitals mentally prepared.

“I don’t think that [Wilson] needs to do anything to get us ready now, but we’ll see how Game 1 goes,” Washington goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. “But, if anything happens, I’m sure that Ron will have a speech ready.”

HUNT WORTH THE WAIT

Washington center Dale Hunter is not taking the experience of playing in his first Stanley Cup final lightly. Not after spending 18 years in the NHL and playing in more than 1,600 games, including the playoffs.

“I’ve played all of these years to try and get to this point . . . I had always thought about what it would be like to play [in a final] and now I’m here,” said Hunter. “You train for this your whole career, so I think I’m ready for this situation.”

TO THE POINT

During the regular season, the Red Wings’ Martin Lapointe was not regarded as a goal scorer, but during the playoffs he has become one of their top marksmen.

With seven goals, Lapointe trails only Fedorov, who has nine, for the team lead and he doesn’t plan to stop looking for his shot against the Capitals.

“This is the time of year to pick up your play and take it to an another level,” said Lapointe, who has 12 points in 17 postseason games after scoring 15 goals and 37 points during the regular season. “I always figured that as long as you work hard, the goals and assists will come. That’s what has happened to me. We still have one series to go and I’m just taking the opportunity to play my best right now.”

ONE-TIMERS

Detroit will be without gritty winger Brent Gilchrist for the finals because of a groin injury originally suffered March 4 and aggravated in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against Dallas.