Rank The Red Wings Stanley Cups

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

Call me crazy but..

2008 - Everything about this year has been completely amazing. No one thought they'd be as dominant as they were the entire season and playoffs. They have such heart, determination and will and it obviously payed off. And of course Ozzie being the big story that he was only adds on to this. This was by far my fave Wings tem ever thus far.

1998 - Vlady & Ozzie, nuff said.

2002- I expected them to win from the very beginning, not that there is anything wrong with that, but it just didn't feel like a true Wings team. Still LOVED it though!

1997- This is shockingly last just because I was SO young and didn't really know what it meant to win, I was just becoming a crazy Wings fan and was still learning some things about the game.

Edited June 5, 2008 by HockeyCrazy3033

[Electrophile 3,554]

1997 - They won on my birthday. That alone makes it fantabulous. I remember sitting up watching Stevie raise the Stanley Cup and I was sobbing. Just outright sobbing. They did it at home, and seeing the crowd go apes*** is something I won't forget. After 1994, 1995 and 1996, I thought we were never going to win. I wouldn't say I thought we were cursed, but I thought something was just keeping us from making that final step.

2008 - No one thought after the introduction of the cap that we'd be able to win again. They thought our team would be decimated, they thought after the 2002 squad which was laden with future HOF'ers, we'd never be able to field a competitive team again. Well, they were wrong. Chris Osgood, who no one thought could carry a team, did just that. One of the best goalies in the league this season, the winningest goalie in Red Wings playoff history and a Conn Smythe candidate.....we aren't celebrating this victory if not for him. No more "he's the worst goalie to win a Stanley Cup." I say f*** you to anyone who still thinks that.

1998: The same team from 1997, minus Vladdy who was definitely a part of every game even though he wasn't out there. I rank it 3rd because it didn't have the same drama and emotion as '97 or '08.

2002: I ranked them last because we had, at any given time, 5 or 6 HOF'ers on the ice at any one time. A team like that is expected to win the whole thing and that's what we did. That doesn't take away from what they accomplished, or what that team meant to us as fans.......but it's not like they had a hard row to hoe.

[Datsyerberger 279]

Pretty much agree with OP, except for me 98 and 02 are pretty much a tie.

[betterREDthandead 58]

1. 1997: First time I ever saw any of my teams win a championship. Can't beat that.

2. 2002: I don't care if it was completely expected - the 2002 Red Wings were the greatest collection of name-brand talent ever to grace NHL ice. Ever. What a privilege it was to watch that.

3. 2008: Helps that it's fresh in my mind. But a LOT of vindication comes out of this Cup. Can't win with a Euro captain or a Euro team; can't win with a new generation of Wings and no Stevie, etc. etc.

4. 1998: Other than an interesting Game 2 comeback, the '98 Finals were the most anticlimactic, and least dramatic of the four. At least in '97, the Flyers were expected to put up a fight, and in '02, we had one of the greatest 5 Wings games of the era in Game 3. The Caps were expected mainly to roll over and die, and they did.

[ehorn3 2]

1997- Seeing us dominate the Flyers was fun especially after all the recent heartbreak at the time

1998- great to see after the limited amount of time I got to celebrate the Stanley Cup the year before

2008- Great to see Lids win as Captain, Z dominate Crosby, and Drake get the Cup

2002- After the singings of Hull & Luc with the trade for Hasek, I was kind of expecting the Cup the whole season. I know I shouldn't have had that mind set, but it was hard not to

[Copenhagen848 58]

1997

2008

1998

2002

[wingsgirl001 983]

Mine is a strange ordering, but I have my reasons.

2002 - This is on top mainly because this is the first Cup I watched us win all the way through. Regular season, playoffs, and finals. When we won in 97 I was 13 and JUST getting into hockey, and was still focused mainly on the local Griffins and wasn't watching too much of the NHL yet. Same for the 98 cup, though I was a bit more aware of it when that one came around.

And even though I knew we were gonna win the Cup right from the get-go of the season (seriously, I remember saying "Look at this roster! The Cup is in the bag this season!"), it was still amazing watching all of our stars skate around with the Cup. Plus the blowout against Colorado was just awesome.

2008 - Oh my God. This whole season was just....amazing. We proved everyone wrong. All those people who thought we'd never win a Cup again with a salary cap, and winning with Lids as our captain, winning the first time without Stevie, with a great mix of young and old members...just...wow. I'm still blown away and the win hasn't even fully sunk in yet. I'll be remembering this Cup win for a very long time.

97-98 - These are a tie for me since as I said, I was relatively young and still very new to hockey when we won. I remember 98's a bit more than 97's, but both Cup wins are still amazing on their own. 1997's win breaking the huge drought, and 98's win fueled by the accident. Both awesome and unforgettable.

God I love this team

[evil204 4]

I'm kind of surprised everyone is ranking 2008 so high. Other than this year's Cup, I've only seen the 2002 one, and that was more exciting for me. Seeing the Wings win on the road last night, with the building so quiet, was just really weird, and at first it didn't feel like they just won the Stanley Cup. It didn't really sink in until this morning.

[Legendary D In 03 50]

2008: For me this one's the best because while I've been a wings fan since I was seven(21 currently) and stevy y is my favorite all time player, he was already detroit's own for 10 years or so before I became a wings fan, but with this current team, I've seen everyone come to the team from the beginning with the exception of a couple(whom i only missed by about 2 years). But I remember seeing Datsyuk playing in 01/02 and knowing he'd be a superstar, I even got the 2002 cup jersey with his name on it, so to see him finally be at the top along with hank who I loved from the get go, it's just amazing. I guess what it comes down to, is I just feel as though this is "my" team, more so than any of the other teams I've ever watched lift the cup.

97/98 - 97 was the first and absolutely amazing, but having won the second for vladdy made it equally as sweet because I was crushed when that happened to him because I had met him in 96 and he was the NICEST guy ever and was always one of my favorite players and on top of that I loved seein Stevy lift the Conn Smythe.

2002 - well...we bought it, it was still a blat to watch though but it just doesn't mean as much when you look back on it.

wow, exactly how I feel. Same age, too.

Word,

LDi03

[AVAL 0]

Congrats Wings Fans.

As an outsider looking in on all 4 cup runs, I thought this one was the most impressive win. The way the Wings destroyed all 4 team, it was clear they were by far the best team. Congrats

[Mjolman 0]

97 because of our team's character

02 exciting series in every round

08 would be higher if we won at home

98

[rageous 0]

97 - Obvious (5 wings)

08 - Reminiscent of 97 in that there was that real FIRE from the players to win it (5 wings)

02 - Not sure why most people are dogging this. Sure, our team was loaded, but that Colorado series was by no means a given and is one of the best 7 games series in hockey in the last 20 years, EASY. Plus we got to beat the Faux-Wings in the finals. (4.5 wings)

98 - Great, as every victory is. But just not as magical as any of the others. (4 wings)

The definitive answer. You're welcome.

[therock48880 14]

97- Especially after beating the Avs

08- I wanted this Cup win SOOO badly

02- After the playoff failures the previous years, I was wondering if I'd ever see another Cup.

98- Great, but it just didn't stack up with the other 3, imo.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I'll play, but keep in mind that each Cup is still very special in its own way and the rank should not diminsh the ones I put on the bottom.

1998 - Nothing comes close to seeing Konstantinov holding the Cup while being wheeled on the ice. Just very touch.

2008 - Very special b/c I started getting NHL Center Ice immediately after the lockout when I knew the Wings would not be on ESPN or very little on national broadcasts (at the time). I have barely missed any games since then, the same with this season, and it was just amazing to see the team win their first Cup without Yzerman as the main leader on the ice and in the new salary-cap era. Very few people thought the Wings would do it since they couldn't spend as freely, and it's like the torch has passed from the old rosters of a few years ago to new leaders. Nothing against Yzerman whatsoever b/c he's always going to be the man, but this team showed they can win without him on the ice which is what I am proud of. I knew this team damned well and was glad to see them just about every step of the way win it all.

1997 - I realize this was the first Cup for Detroit and the area in over 40 years, but I just didn't understand and get how important the Red Wings were to the area and how big hockey was in Detroit since I only started getting into hockey and the Red Wings in the 1995-96 season.

2002 - Still very special obviously with all the Hall of Fame talent. And Detroit or fans shouldn't feel guilty whatsoever about "buying" a Cup, if you want to call it that. The rules and the game were different, it was a capitalistic system where you could spend freely and the big spenders could get the bigger names more often than not. While that obviously doesn't always yield success (see NY Rangers of those years), fortunately it did for Detroit that year.

[Cruiser008 37]

Listed in reverse order (like they do it on the sports shows)

4) 1998

The whole year Detroit was on a mission to repeat as Cup Champs and win for their fallen teammates. Although the finals were one-sided the comeback in game 2 with Draper's OT winner remains vivid and the ovation from the players to the crowd when they showed Vladdy and Sergei in the press box was a moment frozen in time

3) 2002

The playoffs were defined by Stevie Y willing Detroit to victory on one leg. The center ice blast was the biggest turning point in any of the 4 cup runs, and the Det/Col series (the talent between those two rosters is something we may NEVER see again) remains my favourite play-off series of all-time. Lidstrom made history as the first European to win the Conn Smythe, and winning game 5 at home in Bowman's last game as coach capped off a remarkable season for a truely remarkable squad.

2) 2008

This year's cup win was truely different from the previous three because the nucleus of this team was so different. The Wings especially the new generation of stars such as Datsyuk and Zetterberg had SO MUCH to prove to the world; we were called too soft, too small, and worst of all playoff chokers (the worst was after 2006). No one picked us to win at the start of the playoffs and no one wanted us to win in the finals. But Wings fans kept the faith and we persevered, winning every series on the road. Ozzie returns to glory 10 years after his first cup, Lidstrom becomes the first European captain to hoist the silver chalice and Zetterberg has a all-around performance for the ages.

1) 1997

93, 94, 95, 96. EVERY year the disappointment was greater than the year before, and we wondered if it was ever meant to be. A lifetime of joys and sorrows turned into one magical June night in hockeytown that the Wings, their fans, and the hockey world will NEVER forget. Perhaps The Captain said it best:

"I don't know how to describe how I feel. I wish -- I am glad the game is over, but I wish it never would have ended. You know, since I was -- as long as I can remember four, five years old I have watched the Stanley Cup. I have stayed up, made a point of watching it, presented the celebration in the locker room and always dreamed of the day that maybe I would get there and I never kind of the dream is way out there and you never -- sometimes you wonder if you will ever get there and so, I guess as the game was going on and when we finally won, is it is almost like I wanted to it is back and watch the whole thing and not miss a minute of it and not forget a minute of it. I don't know if it could ever be as good as the dream, but like I said, I would rather watch it is back and watch the whole thing. I don't want to miss any of it. I wish it would have never ended."

-- Steve Yzerman, June 7th, 1997

[Barrie 900]

02 - Not sure why most people are dogging this. Sure, our team was loaded, but that Colorado series was by no means a given and is one of the best 7 games series in hockey in the last 20 years, EASY.

That 2002 Wings-Avs series was the best 7 game series I've ever seen. There was so much emotion and pride involved. Both teams had 2 Cups going into the series, and we all knew whoever won the series would be the eventual Stanley Cup Champion.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

The Cup run in 2002 was tougher than this Cup run, so I don't know what all this talk is about how we bought things, and how easy our run was.

Back then there were several teams buying all the talent, so we didn't do anything wrong, we just did it better than anyone else did.