Where Do The Red Wings Rank With The All-Time Best?
And now there are just two... On Tuesday afternoon at the Kris Draper retirement press conference I was talking to former Wing and current 97.1 staff member Darren McCarty about the "glory years" of Detroit hockey. D-Mac was telling me about a picture that he has hanging in his house of himself and the 4 other Wings members that have won 4 Stanley Cups since the 1997 season. Draper, Kirk Maltby, Nick Lidstrom and Thomas Holmstrom of course are the other members of D-Macs picture, a photo that represents something that might not ever be accomplished again.
It's hard to believe how quickly it has all gone, as now just 2 members of D-Macs photo are still active players in Lidstrom and Holmstrom, who both might be playing in their last season. (We hope not) But it does make you think, at least it makes me think about how this team will be remembered and I'm not even talking about statues or numbers being retired. I'm wondering if Detroit's group of 5 championship core players, the 5 guys that are in McCarty's picture have a chance to go down and be thought of as the best group of core championship players ever.
When a team finally wins a title, whether it's one or six, it usually takes a bunch of the same guys that have went through the championship growing pains all together. Isiah, Joe and Bill did it with the "Bad Boys", Chauncey, Rip and Ben did it with the "if it ain't rough, it ain't right" Pistons that went to 6 straight Eastern Conference Finals while Tram, Lou, Jack and Lance did it with the "Bless You Boys" 84 Tigers. It's always seems to be the same recipe, you get a bunch of guys, usually that you have drafted or have been playing in your system and you send them to war. Over the course of time they learn how to win, they go through the battles that at first usually ends them on the losing side of things and then the next thing you know they get over the hump and bring you a title or maybe even more.
McCarty's picture, no doubt is the best core group of championship players that Detroit has ever seen. The rings and titles prove that, but where do they rank nationally all time? Below are my five top core championship groups of players that have ever won a title or more. You tell me if the Wings, Lidstrom, McCarty, Maltby, Draper and Holmstrom are comparable? By the way, the following are in no particular order.
5. The Bulls 6 titles.
The ultimate core group of championship players has got to be Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Sure there were other intregal players that helped Chicago bring home an amazing 6 titles over the course of a decade. But Jordan and Pippen led the charge and could only be stopped when Jordan went into retirement for his first time.
4. Showtime
Magic Johnson won five titles throughout the 80's and he did it with the help of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. James Worthy was around for three of the championships as well. As much as I hated the Lakers and their arrogance, nobody can argue that this group of players could have been the best ever assembled.
3. Mr. November
Anybody sick of hearing about the Yankees yet? Well, unfortunately the pin stripers had and still have one of the best group of core championship players ever. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada have won a combined 5 rings and by the looks of it have a great chance to make it 6 this season. However Pettitte will only have 5 considering he retired after last season. New York, for all purposes was heading nowhere before Jeter and company came on the scene and took the Bronx by storm. It's crazy to think about how many unforgettable moments these Yankees have produced over the last 15 or more seasons. Throughout the greats like Roger Clemons, Alex Rodriguez and even Paul O'neil, it was the above four that stayed together and achieved a total dynasty in New York.
2. Big Red!
I think it goes without saying that the core members of the Big Red Machine have to be on this list. Guys like Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Dave Concepcion, Ken Griffey Sr. and Tony Perez won two titles and 4 national league pennants from 1970 to 1976. This core group of championship players even had their own Saturday morning cartoon for a while back in the 80's Nothing says success like cartoons, and that was when kids used to actually watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. Pretty remarkable!
1. The Oilers
From 1983 to 1990 the Edmonton Oilers won 5 Stanley Cups, with players like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog. Now even though Gretzky was not there for all 5 cups, he was still part of possibly the greatest group of core championship players ever. I think it's safe to say that anybody looking for a team to root for that resided on the ice in the 80's found themselves going nuts for the Oilers.
So there it is my top 5 list of the great groups of core championship players. Does McCarty, Lidstrom, Maltby, Draper and Holmstrom compare? I think they do! Who have I left out? Help me out people!
In the meantime, it should be said that Draper's contributions to Hockey Town will never be forgotten!
-Jeff Riger
