Red Wings Don’t Intimidate Chistov

Mighty Duck left wing Stanislav Chistov had to be a Detroit Red Wing fan. Growing up in Chelyabinsk, an industrial city in Russia, there was really no other way to go.

The Red Wings were Russia’s team, with a roster that read like a Moscow phone book, with Sergei Fedorov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov and Igor Larionov on the team in the mid-1990s. Fetisov, Kozlov and Larionov even brought the Stanley Cup to Red Square in 1997.

“The Red Wings had so many Russians and they were winning the Stanley Cup, of course they were the favorite team in Russia,” said Chistov, who will turn 20 April 17. “They are still a big deal over there.”

Of course, Chistov will be looking for goals, not autographs this week, when the Ducks play the Red Wings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Any golly-gee-I’m-playing-against-Fedorov feelings have passed long since.

In fact, Chistov had a goal and an assist the last time the Ducks played the Red Wings. He finished with 12 goals and 30 points in 79 games.

“It felt good the first time I played against them,” Chistov said. “I watched these guys when I was a kid in Russia. But this is the playoffs and I want to win. We’ll see how that goes.”

Like Chistov, Kurt Sauer is experiencing an NHL playoff rush for the first time.

Sauer, 22, made the jump from junior hockey to the NHL look easy this season.

He played 80 games -- missing two when his wife gave birth -- and is a key member of the Ducks’ penalty-killing unit.

Sauer has yet to develop goose bumps about a playoff game in the loud and grimy Joe Louis Arena.

“Yeah it’s a new thing for me, but everything has been a new thing for me this season,” he said. “I am focused on playing Game 1. This is a seven-game series, so if you’re worrying about anything else, it will be too late.”

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There are Ducks with ties to the Red Wings. Bryan Murray was general manager from 1990 to 1994. Adam Oates began his NHL career with the Red Wings in 1985-86. Fredrik Olausson helped Detroit win a Stanley Cup last season.

Also, Coach Mike Babcock spent the last two seasons as coach at Cincinnati, a minor league franchise that was shared by the Ducks and Red Wings.

“It’ll be fun for me, but it won’t help me much coaching against them,” Babcock said.

“The guys who have been winning cups for Detroit never played in the minor leagues.”

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Red Wing defenseman Mathieu Schneider, traded by the Kings on March 11, has noticed more than a few things different in Detroit.

“This team performs well in the big games against the big teams,” Schneider said in the Detroit News.

“Without a doubt, I’ve noticed that. It’s a mental thing. This team is built for the playoffs and knows how to be successful once it gets there.

“It’s a different mind-set here from what we had in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles the last few seasons, we were playing playoff hockey the last two months to just get into the playoffs. Here, it’s a much different mind-set. The games have all been big, for first overall, first in the conference. The games are of even more importance.”