The boys will be back in town. As part of the celebration of their 100th season, the Red Wings are hosting a four-day extravaganza at the MotorCity Casino Hotel featuring several franchise icons. The Hockeytown Centennial FanFest will take place from Thursday, Nov. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 9.
One of the highlights of the weekend is an event called "100 Years of Hockeytown," which will be hosted by Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond at the Fox Theatre.
A long and distinguished list of Red Wings alumni is returning for the weekend, including Sergei Fedorov, whose No. 91 will be raised to the rafters of Little Caesars Arena in January, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios and Vladimir Konstantinov, along with Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman.
Current general manager Steve Yzerman said Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket that he's "really looking forward to the weekend" and the chance to catch up with old teammates. Asked who he's most excited to see, Yzerman said, "Sergei, it’s been a while, with the war in Russia and limitations on our ability to go over there. I used to run into him at the World Championships every spring, so look forward to seeing him."
"I'm not sure if Igor can make it or not, probably not, he’s coaching (in the KHL), but we’ll get a chance to see Sergei and then see him again when we retire his jersey in January," Yzerman said.
Tickets to one of the days or all four can be purchased here. On the ice, the Red Wings host the Rangers that Friday night and the Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon in a pair of Original Six matchups.
The Red Wings' all-time lineup could probably match that of any other team. In Yzerman and Gordie Howe, they have two of the top 10 scorers in NHL history. If Yzerman was building the team, here's how it would look:
"Gordie on the wing, that’d be one. Center, Pavel (Datsyuk), but you couldn’t be wrong with any of the choices. Other winger, Ted Lindsay. On the backend, it would be Nick Lidstrom and Red Kelly. And in net Terry Sawchuk."
Six Hall of Famers, all of whom were named to the NHL's 100th Anniversary Team, who combined for 26 Stanley Cups and 58 All-Star selections. And as Yzerman pointed out, you could go three or four deep at any position: "You could name Sergei in the middle, you could name Pavel, Alex Delvecchio. There’s so many good choices."
Yzerman himself would be everyone else's center as the second leading scorer in franchise history and a three-time Cup winner.
"Yeah, well, you asked me to pick my team," he said with a laugh. "So if I’m on your team, thanks, but I picked my team."
Yzerman on Wednesday also told a story about the Red Wings' 1997 Stanley Cup run that offered a glimpse into what fans can expect to hear during 100 Years of Hockeytown at the Fox. Tickets to that event can be purchased here. As Yzerman recalled, the Red Wings beat the rival Avalanche 6-0 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals to take a 3-1 lead in the series:
"The game ended, it was pretty violent, we went into Colorado for Game 5 and they beat us 6-0. We come home, right before the game — Scotty wasn’t big on coming in and giving motivational speeches. He was very methodical, went over things he wanted to do with the team. But in this particular instance, he came in and delivered a pregame speech, which, for me, was incredible. Basically, he said, 'Guys, it’s time for you to play. This is a game you have to win, you will look back on your life and rue the day if you don’t go out there and perform to the best. He repeated the line 'You will rue the day' over and over and over. That sticks with me forever. We ended up winning the game 3-1, and I think collectively as a team it was the best game we ever played."