New look Wings wat to reach out, hit someone

Sporting News, The, Feb 10, 1997 by Larry Wigge

At one end of the Red Wings locker room, center Steve Yzerman is naming players he would pay to see. On the other end, coach Scotty Bowman is discussing the cold, hard reality of how players have to be used in games.

"I would definitely pay to see Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic, and Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne," Yzerman says. "Maybe it's because I'm a center, but I like to see players working together with tremendous skills, making plats. This is still a team game. and being creative to score a goal is what I'd pay to see."

But the harsh reality is that those players are not permitted to show all their skills down the stretch of the regular season and during the playoffs, when officials blow their whistles less frequently. The bottom line -- a Stanley Cup championship-usually is computed by a combination of talent, size and a productive system.

Given those qualities. Bowman says ifs a reach to think any team will be able to unseat the defending champion Colorado Avalanche. Literally.

"They throw two great lines out there against you -- with joe Sakic centering one and Peter Forsberg the other," Bowman says. "You don't know which fine to concentrate on. But that's not the reason they are so tough to beat."

Bowman digs into a cooler for a sliver of ice before unveiling his blueprint to stop the Avalanche's bid to become the first team since the 1991 and '92 Penguins to win back-to-back tides.

"The reason they are so tough to beat is the reach their defensemen have," he says, spreading his arms as wide as he can. "Uwe Krupp is enormous. And Adam Foote, Sandis Ozolinsh and Sylvain Lefebvre are masters at keeping opposing forwards away from the net. If you can't get close to the net, your chances of scoring diminish.

"We had a great skill team last year and could have kept them together and maybe led the league again in the regular season. But what good is that when you know the referees are going to allow those big defense-men to keep our small wingers away from the net? That's why we decided to change the chemistry of our team.

"When we get to the playoffs, we will have nine forwards that are 200 pounds or more. We'll move Slava Kozlov from wing to center because size doesn't matter as much there. Ifs amazing that we're talking about inches and feet instead of goals and assists, isn't it? But that's what this game has come to."

Bowman says he expects to have Brendan Shanahan and newcomers Tomas Sandstrom and Tomas Holmstrom at left wing with Sergei Fedorov, Martin Lapointe and Darren McCarty on the right side entering the playoffs. All are 200 pounders -- and only Fedorov played regularly on the top, three lines last spring.

The Red Wings acquired Sandstrom from the Penguins for Greg Johnson. The deal should help both teams because Pittsburgh has enough wide bodies and can use the double-zone play of Johnson. In Sandstrom, the Red Wings get some of the grit Dino Ciccarelli gave them last season, only in a bigger package.

Detroit fans who have watched their team win game after game over three seasons are understandably confused by the recent play of Bowman's bigger, tougher Red Wings, who enter the week 0-4-2 in recent games on home ice.

"The league has told us by their actions that there are a different set of rules for the regular season and the playoffs," Bowman says, biting his tongue in midsentence. He recently was fined $10,000 because he said a referee called the game one way for his Russian players, another way for everyone else.

Bowman's makeover hasn't been limited to his front-liners. He also has transformed his defense with such wide bodies as rookies Jamie Pushor, Aaron Ward and Anders Eriksson, pushing out veterans Paul Coffey, Mike Ramsey and Marc Bergevin. Plenty of size and reach, eh Scotty?

It appears the Red Wings miss Coffey's ability to move the puck from defense to offense, shortening the distance the forwards have to skate to score. But Bowman thinks his critics overstate Coffey's value, particularly on the power play.

"Everybody talks about the points," Bowman says. "But what did he do for us in the playoffs? He was a liability out there."

Bowman continues to search for the final piece of his puzzle. He would like to acquire hulking defenseman Luke Richardson from Edmonton. Jeff Norton, another Oilers defenseman, moves the puck well and is another possibility. Last week, Bowman reportedly turned down Montreal's offer for backup goaltender Mike Vernon, presumably for a package that would have included defenseman Stephane Quintal.

Bowman knows he can go back to the Canadiens for that deal, but he wants to see first if No. 1 goalie Chris Osgood can come back strong from a hamstring injury.

Owner Mike Ilitch came to a practice last week and let Bowman know he wasn't pleased with the team's record. To underline that concern, he traveled with the team to St. Louis.

Bowman has guided teams to six Stanley Cup titles. But some fans believe the game has passed him by. Don't be tricked by that kind of thinking.