![]() When the Red Wings won the Cup, the first person Yzerman passed the Cup to was Konstantinov, who was in jersey and a wheelchair for the on-ice celebration. All together that season was different, you had that in the back of your mind. “It gave us the motivation to play even better. “It gave us a daily reminder of what really happened to him,” said Nicklas Lidstrom, whose stall was next to Konstantinov. 16, and the word “Believe.” The trainers packed the stone for road games, too. It muted their summer celebration, with Konstantinov a driving force of motivation through the next season.Įvery time a player didn’t want to work out or was fatigued, they looked at the rock placed in Konstantinov’s dressing room stall. Six days after Yzerman and Detroit ended their 42-year-Cup drought, defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov suffered a career-ending, life-threatening spinal injury in a limousine accident. One of the most influential players on the Red Wings on their second title team didn’t play a minute that season. ![]() It’s a thin line, but at the same time, the best team always wins.” “It’s about getting the bounces at the right time, maybe a call. That motivated us to tell them, ‘Hey, we almost have the same group, same core players, we know we have a great team and what it takes to go all the way. “It’s almost impossible to do it in the salary cap era. “First of all, you have to have the mindset like, ‘Everyone hates you, everyone says you can’t do it,'” said Patric Hornqvist, who won Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016-17 and now plays for the Panthers. By examining the stories of the ’98 Red Wings and ’17 Penguins, it provides a path, and some pitfalls, for this Tampa Bay team as they open the playoffs Sunday against the Panthers. Those who have completed the feat believe there are myriad factors that go into it, from health to the performances of star players, overcoming adversity and, of course, a little luck. The ’17 Penguins are the only team to repeat in the salary cap era. The fact there have been just two back-to-back champions in the last quarter century (the 1998 Red Wings and 2017 Penguins) reflects how daunting of a task it is. But so did most every other champion the past three decades. The Lightning believe they have the “recipe” to win a second consecutive Stanley Cup, having been there before. ![]() Those are the things you need when you’re going to repeat.” “You think of all those little scenarios and maybe the hockey gods are smiling down on us and all of a sudden, the puck doesn’t go. “I’ll never forget that moment,” Draper said. ![]()
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