The Detroit Free Press is publishing a book called, Stanleytown: The Inside Story of How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City After 41 Frustrating Seasons, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Red Wings’ 1997 Stanley Cup win. The Free Press posted an excerpt from writer Shawn Windsor this morning:
The elation lasted for days, weeks, heck, throughout that summer of 1997. You could hear it on the streets, where cars blared their horns. You could see it there, too, as drivers festooned their windows with flags of the Winged Wheel, flapping in the breeze, a red-and-white rainbow that stretched from the
Ambassador Bridge to the Mackinac Bridge and back.
Hockey might not have the broad appeal of football or even baseball, and we can debate where basketball falls into the mix. But on the June night the Wings clinched the Cup, after all the pain and disappointment and the finals sweep at the hands of the New Jersey Devils two seasons before, after all that, the Wings grabbed the hearts of everyone.
And made them whole again.
