The Detroit Red Wings and the Stanley Cup Finals

In addition to the domestic automakers there is one other thing that makes living in metro Detroit a blast this time of year.

Cars and sports

Here at LotPro.com in metro Detroit, we’re always mentioning the fact that our close proximity to the domestic auto industry makes life here pretty exciting. Just after the beginning of the New Year, we get to look forward to the North American International Auto Show. In August, we have the Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance followed shortly thereafter by the Woodward Dream Cruise.

So what do we do for entertainment between January and August? In addition to General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, three other words come to mind – major league sports (after August, or course, comes the NFL – a topic best left alone since the Detroit Lions have been “rebuilding” since 1957).

The Detroit Pistons keep us entertained during the winter months and have been quite competitive in the NBA. February marks the beginning of spring training for the Detroit Tigers (albeit in Florida) who open up their regular season in April. But for most metro Detroiters, springtime is Stanley Cup Playoff time for the team most dear to our hearts, the Detroit Red Wings.

The Winged Wheelers

Metro Detroit, by the way, isn’t just any old sports town. Major league sports have deep roots here in the Motor City. The Detroit Pistons, one of the original NBA franchises, have played in Detroit since 1957. The Detroit Tigers, one of the American League’s eight charter franchises, was founded here in 1894. But the Detroit Red Wings, while not as old a franchise as the Tigers, are one of only six original National Hockey League teams and have won more Stanley Cup championships than any other team based in the U.S. of A.

Founded in 1926, the franchise actually played its first year across the river in Windsor, Ontario. But in 1927, the Wings (known back then as the Cougars – the Red Wings became the official name in 1932) moved into Olympia Stadium, which was to be their home for the next 52 ½ years.

The Wings made their first Stanley Cup finals appearance in 1934 and won Lord Stanley’s cup for the first time in the 1935-1936 season. Between 1933 and 1955, the club won 3 division championships and 7 Stanley Cup championships. But beginning in 1967, the Wings went through some lean years.

1979  marked the team’s move from Olympia to Joe Louis arena and, in 1982, local businessman and Little Caesars Pizza mogul Mike Ilitch bought the team and began the long process of rebuilding the franchise. The process was slow, but steady. 1983 saw the drafting of “The Captain”, Stevie Yzerman and the Wings made it to the playoffs for the first time since 1977. Four years later, they made it to the conference finals. The Wings won 5 division championships in 88, 89, 92, 94 (also their first finals appearance in 29 years), 95 and 96.

And then, in 1997, it all came together. The Wings won their first Stanley Cup in 42 years while simultaneously ending the longest championship drought in the NHL at the time. They repeated as champions the next year and followed that up with championships in 2002 and 2008.

Hockeytown

This spring, amidst all the doom and gloom in the auto industry and with both Chrysler and General Motors in bankruptcy, the Red Wings are, once again, in the Stanley Cup Finals and one of the few bright spots on an otherwise bleak landscape here in Michigan.

So, from all of us here at LotPro.com, GO WINGS!

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