Patrick Kanealso known as “Showtime”, is the latest in a long line of superstars who have joined the Detroit Red Wings.
Some have had success. Others, not so much. And it remains to be seen how the 35-year-old forward will perform after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery on June 1 and signing a one-year contract worth $2.75 million on Tuesday.
But there’s a familiar buzz in the city the Red Wings once marketed as “Hockeytown,” and there’s more hope that Detroit can end a seven-year Stanley Cup playoff drought.
‘We think we have a chance to be in the mix,’ says CEO Steve Yzerman said Wednesday. “And with a healthy Patrick Kane, it gives us a better chance.”
The Red Wings have acquired superstars, many late in their careers, under different circumstances over the years.
The story dates back to 1982, when Mike Ilitch bought the team and hired Jimmy Devellano as general manager. Next, the Red Wings needed a boost at the box office and on the ice.
They had missed the playoffs five straight seasons and 10 of the previous 12. They had 2,100 season ticket holders.
“It wasn’t Hockeytown,” Devellano, now a senior vice president, said in 2001. “The fans had left the team. It was pretty obvious that we really had to do something to sell tickets, that we had to somehow give the fans and the fans something with a little more hope, something with a little more spice.”
Devellano loved big names.
“I’m passionate about the show business side of sports,” he said. “I think it’s entertainment. I’ve always felt that way. I don’t like boring. I don’t like dull. I like spicy.”
The Red Wings found a cornerstone in the 1983 NHL Draft when they used the fourth pick to select a guy named Yzerman. But they had to build a list around him. It was a long process.
While they found other key players in the draft, like Nicklas Lidstrom (third round, n°53, 1989), Sergei Fedorov (fourth round, n°74, 1989), Pavel Datsyuk (sixth round, no. 171, 1998) and Henrik Zetterberg (seventh round, No. 210, 1999), they demonstrated creativity in trades and free will.
In the 1980s, it was about becoming competitive. They added Brad Park (1983-85), Darryl Sittler (1984-85), Borje Salming (1989-90), Bernie Federko (1989-90) and Jimmy Carson (1989-93). They made the playoffs five times between 1984 and 1989, reaching the Campbell Conference finals in 1987 and 1988, and began to fill the seats.
In the early and mid-1990s, it was all about contending for the Stanley Cup. They had Dino Ciccarelli (1992-96), Marc Howe (1992-95), Paul Coffey (1993-96), Mike Vernon (1995-97), Slava Fetisov (1995-98), Igor Larionov (1995-2000), Brendan Shanahan (1996-2006) and Larry Murphy (1997-2001). They won the Cup in 1997, ending a 42-year championship drought, and repeated in 1998, becoming the hottest ticket in town.
In the late 1990s and into the 2000s, it was all about trying to win the Cup again. There was Wendel Clark (1999), Bill Ranford (1999), Chris Chelios (1999-09), Patrick Verbeek (1999-2001), Larionov for a second stint (2000-03), Luc Robitaille (2001-03), Brett Hull (2001-04), Dominique Hasek during three stays (2001-02, 2003-04 and 2006-07) and Curtis Joseph (2002-04). They won the Cup in 2002 and 2008.
