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#14 Brendan Shanahan

Soft-handed, two fisted, ultimate power player...Brendan is a crease-hugging, rebound stuffing machine who is almost impossible to budge. Next to Steve Yzerman, Brendan is Detroit's best player. Two weeks after he came to Detroit, the fans loved him. I ordered his jersey the day after the trade. This goal machine is the future captain of the Wings, when the blessed Stevie Y retires.

#13 Slava Kozlov

Small 'finesse' player is Slava Kozlov. This small Russian doesn't stop scoring when he (and Sergei) is on his game. Sometimes gets scrappy when the big players try to take advantage of his small stature. And who can forget when he nearly died against Chicago in the semi-finals in '95? Outside Fedorov, he's easily the most offensive talented player of the Russian Five. Performed beautifully in the playoffs.

#15 Thomas Holmstrom

Scotty's plans for this rookie Swede are a mystery. He got more icetime with the waiving of Bob Errey. His offensive awareness seems to be dim as he was in the crease three times for called-back goals during the season. Might have played one game in the playoffs. His role could easily be filled by a North American player.

#18 Kirk Maltby

A solid grinding player who Mickey Redmond consistently refers to as 'freight train'. Malts deserves the name. No matter what the situation, he goes out and hits everything in sight. With some regular ice-time, Maltby could make the lives of opponents much more difficult. Excellent defensively but he tends towards long scoring droughts. However, he sparkled in the playoffs, scoring 5 goals, 3 more than his regular season output. Scored two big goals in games one and two of the Stanley Cup Finals.

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#19 Steve Yzerman

Captain. Hero. Amazing. Stevie Y is easily among the NHL's top atheletes, among the all-time elite of both the city of Detroit and the NHL. For a complete dedication to Stevie, go to my Steve Yzerman Page.

#8 Igor Larionov

Igor is a highly skilled player who could make tape to tape passes with his eyes closed. Dubbed 'The Wayne Gretzky of Russia' he is the most respected hockey hero in his home country, second only to Vyacheslav Fetisov. He scored 80 points in 78 games last year with the defensive minded Wings, at the oh-so-young age of 35. It's hard to imagine how successful Igor could have been had he came to North America at the beginning of his career, especially during the high-scoring '80s era.

#33 Kris Draper

Drapes has become a favourite in Detroit. He epitomizes the blue collar city with his endless effort. All he does is work, work, work. He is the heart and soul of Detroit's 'Grind Line' consisting of Darren McCarty or Joe Kocur, Kirk Maltby and Draper. Came back from having his face crumpled and played a great season, changing his game not one iota. It was so sweet when Mac got revenge upon the hated Lemieux and pounded his face. To see an .avi clip of the historic event, go here.

#37 Tim Taylor

Taylor was in the lineup all season when not in the injured list. However, he saw little ice time, and was scratched for all but two games in the playoffs. He can play at right, but is a natural center. He hasn't had a breakthrough season yet in the NHL, and '97 wasn't his year. His days in the lineup may be numbered, possibly giving way to younger players who are stuck in Adirondack.

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#91 Sergei Fedorov

When he's on fire, Sergei is plain and simple the best player in the NHL. He has done everything well but fight in the NHL (but he did actually beat up Robert Petrovicky in Game 5 of the St. Louis series!). Most things he does excellently. Passing, skating, shooting; Sergei is amazing. He may never adapt a leadership role, but Sergei will always possess the most talent any Red Wing has ever had. I predicted that if he could turn it on in the playoffs, Fedorov could easily bring the Cup home to Hockeytown, with the help of Steve Yzerman, Shanahan and Osgood. Well, Yzerman's leadership, Shanahan's great play, and Vernon, rather than Osgood and of course, the rest of this great team worked together to accomplish that goal. After '97, no one will ever accuse this man of disappearing in the playoffs.

#25 Darren McCarty

McCarty has been through alot in the last year or so. His mother is battling cancer, he admitted an alcohol problem in August of '96 and horribly, he was somehow forgotten and overlooked on the original version of my page. What has he done? He has battled through all this adversity, had his best statistical season ever and become a solid power forward under and akin to Brendan Shanahan. He also beat the snot out of that turtling coward, Claude Lemieux. He is one of Hockeytown's premiere heroes. Can you say 'mayor'?

#17 Doug Brown

Dougy, like Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, consistently gives it his all. Brown is exceptional in every rating except for size, but the quality of his play easily makes up for this lack. Has a great wristshot and an even better slapshot. Doug likes to find the top of the net, just under the crossbar. Was scratched in the first round against St. Louis, in which Detroit had problems, but returned for the Anaheim series. He became Detroit's unsung hero in that series, scoring big goals and playing with Sergei and Kozlov.

#28 Tomas Sandstrom

Sandstrom seems to be kind of a dark horse, as far as his talent and future stature among the Wings is concerned. He can score and check, but wasn't playing nearly his best season before being traded to Detroit for Greg Johnson. Hopefully, he can produce consistently on one of the top two lines, but it seems he has lost what made him a scorer...Mario Lemieux. However, he has grinded it out good, had a decent playoff run, despite scoring not one goal. He was worth Johnson in any event, he brought more size and a veteran Stanley Cup winner to Motown.

#26 Joey Kocur

Kocur is a rough and tumble, check'em-up, bash'em-up kind of player. Detroit definitely needed some size on their third and fourth lines and Detroit's old enforcer, good buddy of Bobby Probert, definitely provided this needed presence. Fans can also rest assured that opponents will now be less likely to take liberties with Detroit's smaller and more talented players. Had an amazing goal off an intercepted pass against Philadelphia in Game 1.

#20 Martin Lapointe

Marty Lapointe is a decent power forward. He has survived criticism in his early years with the club, and Marty produced in a big way in '96-'97. He can hit hard, and he fights like any quality goon, on top of his re-emerging scoring touch. Was another Wing who upped his play in the playoffs big time.

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