Game 1: It wasn’t déjà vu all over again - it was far worse. 500 and gave up more goals than they scored, despite future Hall of Fame goalie Grant Fuhr. “You’ll see a totally different team in the playoffs, for sure,” forward Martin Lapointe said. 3 seed in the Western Conference and heavy favorites against No. After that March 26 classic against the hated Colorado Avalanche, the Wings finished 3-3-3, scored only 18 goals in those nine games, hadn’t settled on Chris Osgood or Mike Vernon between the pipes, had abandoned the Russian Five as a unit and were playing their best two-way center, Sergei Fedorov, as a defenseman, leading him to declare heading into the playoffs: “It doesn’t matter whether I’m happy or not.” Detroit finished 38-26-18 with 94 points, a far cry from its 131 points from 1995-96. The backstory: For three weeks after the greatest night of hockey in the 18-year history of their building - Fight Night at The Joe - the Red Wings did little to buoy fans’ hopes that this would be the year the Stanley Cup finally returned to the Motor City. The Free Press is celebrating and remembering the champs with our book: " Stanleytown: The Inside Story of How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City After 41 Frustrating Seasons." Day 1: April 16, 1997 In the spring of 1997 - a quarter-century ago - the Detroit Red Wings embarked on their quest to end a 42-year Stanley Cup drought. View Gallery: Detroit Red Wings 1997 Stanley Cup title: Photos from playoffs
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