Master of ceremonies: Scotty Bowman, trying to win a record ninth Stanley Cup championship as a coach, sounds off on the Eastern Conference contenders, the leadership provided by Steve Yzerman, his best team ever��and his own future - NHL

When it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs, only one coach--Montreal's Toe Blake in the 1950s and "60s--can match the hardware amassed by Scotty Bowman. Bowman, 68, has eight Cup rings as a coach (plus one as a director of player personnel). During the regular season, Bowman's Red Wings easily had the NHL's best record and headed into the Western Conference final favored to win their third Stanley Cup under Bowman. THE SPORTING NEWS had a chance recently to pick the brain of the the man who arguably is the most successful coach in professional sports.

Q How hard has it been this season coaching the Red Wings, who had 10 players play at the Olympics?

A A couple of them had nagging injuries. The toughest injury was Nick Lidstrom. He could play, but it was a groin injury that basically wasn't going to get better. But we were able to give him about seven days off that helped him a lot. Steve Yzerman's injury was the more serious. It was bad before he went to the Olympics, and it's still a pretty bad knee.

Q Has it surprised you that there have been so many upsets in the Eastern Conference?

A Yeah, but they were close, though. The (regular-season) point totals were close. Ottawa was right up there at two or three in the conference until near the end, and they ended up seventh. So I think there weren't many points separating those teams.

Q Which Eastern Conference team stands out in your mind?

A Toronto's been hit the hardest by injuries. They lost a good defenseman quite a while ago in (Dmitry) Yushkevich. And (Mats) Sundin, captain, their top player, they played without him into the second series. So that's been tough, and they've had other injuries too. Toronto's been hurt the most with injuries.

Q Are you surprised by how successful the Sharks were against the Avalanche?

A Not after the way they had their good season. They're an experienced team; their goaltending has really come along for them; they seem to have good chemistry on the team. They've got a lot of good hard-nosed players, but they're not just guys that can't score. Now they're starting to score, and that's made them so strong.

Q How does this edition of the Red Wings compare with the previous Red Wings teams you've coached?

A During the regular season we were stronger this time. Last year we finished second to Colorado; this year they finished second to us. They had a pretty tough start with all their injuries. We were pretty healthy this year. ... It helped us a lot. We got a little injured after the Olympic break, and the Yzerman injury has been tough to overcome. Certainly, he's having a hard time playing up to the minutes he played before. But we had a good season, there's no question about that.

Q Speaking of Yzerman, how does he compare with some of the leaders you've coached?

A He's right up there with the top players. He comes through in the crucial situations. That would be the thing I notice the most.

Q Is there a Stanley Cup ring you cherish more than the others?

A Not really. They're all different. The Detroit championship one from '96-97 and then doing it the next year. And the Pittsburgh one in '92, a second year in a row. And in Montreal we had four in row. But they've all got their highlights, for sure.

Q What's been the best team you've ever coached, whether it be a Montreal team ... ?

A The one year we lost eight games (1976-77).... You needed to win 12 (games in) three series (to win the Cup). We only lost eight games out of 80 (during the season) and then we lost two more out of 14. So we lost only 10 games out 94.

Q Not too bad.

A No. The teams in Montreal were pretty similar; that team had the best statistics.

Q Who was the best player on that team?

A The goalie was (Ken) Dryden. We had the best defensive team and the best offensive team. We led the league in both categories by quite a bit--outscored the other teams by over 200 goals. Many An-Stars. Offensively, Guy Lafleur was the No. 1 player in the '70s. We had a strong defense. We had three An-Star defensemen: Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard and Larry Robinson. ... We also had a lot of other very strong role players and real good players.

Q Have you given any thought to next year? Are you going to be back?

A That's a decision I always make at the conclusion of the season. I think you focus on the job at hand and ... not think about what's going to happen as much as trying to make it happen now.

David Walton is an assistant editor for THE SPORTING NEWS.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group