As predicted, veterans clinch Stanley Cup
DETROIT -- Dominik Hasek asked to be traded to the Detroit Red Wings because he was sure they would take him to the Stanley Cup. Turns out it was the other way around.
Hasek finally won the Cup he has chased throughout a Hall of Fame career -- and 600-goal scorer Luc Robitaille did, too -- as the Red Wings beat Carolina 3-1 Thursday night to win their third Stanley Cup in six seasons.
Tomas Holmstrom, a surprising scorer for much of the playoffs, and Brendan Shanahan, a surprising non-scorer for most of the last two rounds, scored Detroit's goals in tightly played Game 5 that mirrored one of the most defense-dominated finals ever, with only 21 goals scored.
The Red Wings sealed it with Shanahan's empty-net goal with 45 seconds left.
Detroit, with one of the greatest collections of Hall of Fame talent in league history, went wire-to-wire in winning coach Scotty Bowman's NHL- record ninth Stanley Cup, breaking a tie with former mentor Toe Blake.
Just moments after the win, Bowman announced during a CBC interview that he was retiring.
Bowman, who first coached in the finals during the 1960s, became the second major pro sports coach in two nights to win a ninth title, joining Lakers coach Phil Jackson. Former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach is the only other coach with nine titles in any of the four major sports.
But this title will be remembered just as much being Hasek's first, just as Ray Bourque's first with Colorado was a year ago.
Hasek, who at 37 may now retire now that he's got a Cup, finally gave up a goal -- Jeff O'Neill's line drive that he had no chance to play late in the second period -- after shutting out Carolina for more than 166 minutes.
But it was Hasek's almost perfect play over the final three games and the timely scoring of Brett Hull and Igor Larionov that turned around the series and finished a season dominated by Red Wings from start to finish. Their Presidents' Trophy for winning the regular season was all but assured by a 22-3-1 start.
From the time Brett Hull scored with just over a minute left in Game 3 to prevent Detroit from going down 2-1 in the series, allowing Larionov to win it late in the third overtime, Detroit outscored Carolina 7-1.
Detroit teased its fans throughout the first period without a series of good scoring chances without getting the first goal, only to get it early in the second period.
Holmstrom, skating down the slot, stuck out his stick with his right hand to deflect Larionov's pass from the right circle through Arturs Irbe's pads.