HankthaTank 1,100 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 Was wondering this the other day which was the most enjoyable to watch and I know I will get killed for it by guys like Doc saying just enjoy the run for all. As I certainly enjoyed them all I was just interested to see which was LGW's favorite. Probably pretty obvious it would be all but 2002 was great as I was actually at the game. 97 ended the drought and got to see Stevie raise it for the first time. 98 was for Vladdy of course. 08 was just great to watch guys like Hank dominate s*** stain and the Pens. So make your pick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoWings1905 2,694 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 2002 was the best team, but 2008 was my personal favorite of the Red Wings Stanley Cup victories. That 2008 team was an absolute treat to watch. They put on a clinic every night with their puck possession. Dominant top line, hands down the best defense in the league and Ozzie was lights out in the playoffs. Plus, it also shut the people up who always griped about the Red Wings "buying" championships. The salary cap has just proven the Red Wings are the best franchise in the NHL. 3 Original-Six, HockeyTownHouligan and HankthaTank reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hooon 1,089 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 I do love them all, but I had to go with 97. That was just the most exciting year for hockey in my life, was great to watch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HockeyTownHouligan 57 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 It was a joy to watch them prove everyone wrong about them being too old and too slow. They killed with the puck possession they displayed and seeing Nick hoist the cup as the wings captain was the best thing ive seen in a while. That and it was the most recent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yellowknife Redwing 57 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 Easily '97 That cup felt like a life-changing experience. 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blgillett 48 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 Love them all but 97 was my favorite 02 was the best all around team I think. I almost cried when they won in 97. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Original-Six 254 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 As for the team itself i love them all. Its like trying to pick your favorite child. As for favorite championship, 97 takes the cake. Capping off all those years prior with a cup win in that fashion was pure biblical. 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thedisappearer 291 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 Easily '97 That cup felt like a life-changing experience. This. Watching Stevie with the Cup is up there with getting married and the birth of my two sons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,794 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 2002 That was a fun run and a special roster of players. 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tr!PoD#19 524 Report post Posted July 28, 2010 Probably 2002, just because of the entire hockey year. Dominating regular season, with a Team Canada Olympic Gold in the middle, followed by the comeback against Vancouver in the opening series (All my friends are Canucks homers, so it was an intense series), followed by the 5 game spanking of the Boos, followed by the game 7 destruction of Colorado in the WCF. I just wish we would have gotten to take out Toronto for the Cup instead of Carolina. Oh well. f*** it, I can't pick one. Tie. 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newfy 695 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 Probably 2002, just because of the entire hockey year. Dominating regular season, with a Team Canada Olympic Gold in the middle, followed by the comeback against Vancouver in the opening series (All my friends are Canucks homers, so it was an intense series), followed by the 5 game spanking of the Boos, followed by the game 7 destruction of Colorado in the WCF. I just wish we would have gotten to take out Toronto for the Cup instead of Carolina. Oh well. f*** it, I can't pick one. Tie. Oh man where I'm from if that series would've happened it would have been crazy. South Western Ontario is either leafs or wings fans basically and the Wings would have absolutely destroyed the leafs. I voted 97. It ended the drought and that team was what I adore in a hockey team. Grit, determination, skill and toughness blended into one team 1 Original-Six reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 I've started threads like these before. Maybe not necessarily here but elsewhere. The consensus is usually overwhelming that 1997 was the favorite and I agree. 97 is definitely my favorite. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheDetroitRedWings 286 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 This one is really tough for me. I was going between 1997 and 2002. And as much as I loved the memory of watching Stevie Y hoist the Cup for the first time, I had to go with 2002 by a slight edge. And for me, it's partly because the early 2000s were really, really good to me in life. My best friend died in '97, and then Vladdy's career gets ended in his prime. I just wasn't as happy a person back then. But 2002 I was thriving, loving life and having a great time. Literally everything was going right for me, so the Stanley Cup championship was definitely the icing on the cake for me. Plus that was such an epic squad. Arguably the most stacked we've ever been as a franchise. To this day I still miss that 2002 roster. That was the one year where almost every single hockey fan thought the Wings were gonna win the Cup. And they were all right. Also, that was the one team in a long time to actually win the Presidents Trophy and then go on to hoist the Cup. And that still hasn't been done since. That team was so good that it got the job done almost every night as soon as the first puck dropped game 1 of the regular season, all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. 2 oldredbarnman and HankthaTank reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Booster313 138 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 2002 was my pick but they all have a special place but Hasek is my favorite player and I was actually there so it wins. 1 Jamessss reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HankthaTank 1,100 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 (edited) Good post above. That '02 team was just unreal. Graduated that year and will always be the single best sporting event I was able to attend. Craziest thing when they announced that Nick won the Conn Smythe that got more of an ovation than Lord Stanley did I think. Oh what a night!!! Edited July 29, 2010 by HankthaTank 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheDetroitRedWings 286 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 Also, that team had something that no other team in NHL history has ever had before or since: 4 500+ goal scorers on the same team (Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille). And Steve was literally a warrior on one leg throughout the entire playoffs. Talk about an epic year. 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zombi 43 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 Watching the 1997 playoffs and eventual Stanley Cup Victory was a moment of my childhood that I will always remember. I was 9 at the time, and I can remember going out in the family's van and honking the horn in our subdivision after the Wings won it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hockeytown0001 7,652 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 Love them all, although each one has a different feel and meaning. 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Broken 16 381 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 1997. No question in my mind. The buildup was awesome and the celebration party was massive. 1 oldredbarnman reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Z Winged Dangler 2,082 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 i used the all of the above feature... 97 ended the drought and i was an excited kid and life time wings fan (of 12 years at the time) and 97 kicked off the dyanasty. 98 was strictly a special group effort for vladdy. 02 was amazing for the guys the wings picked up and just a fun team to watch. 2008 was great because as someone above said, the wings showed they were still the team to beat even in the salary cap era. it was also a passing of the torch from guys like yzerman, shanahan etc. to lidstrom as captain and dats and Z. a new grinder like helm to bring the wings energy every night. they're all great for their own reasons. it's nice to see the superstars like Z take the reigns from yzerman with the cup and conn smythe. yzerman - federov - franzen pretty much transformed for us into zetterberg - datsyuk - franzen in the way they play, which shows how great the wings organization really is. 2 oldredbarnman and HankthaTank reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldredbarnman 13 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 Each cup has it's own special feeling, but '97 was pure ecstasy. Being a Wings' fan for as long as I could remember, it was an unbelieveable feeling watching Stevie raise the cup, and the emotion of the building letting loose that Saturday night. Free beer from the vendors too!! No more "1955" chants & signs, no more game 7s against Toronto and San Jose, no more choke label. The cup was OURS!!! My best friend had died in 1990. He was a huge Wings fan, a hockey fan, and a hockey player. So when we won it, I did tear up, for both the Wings victory, and also that he wasn't there to share it with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doc Holliday 1,888 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 1998, surprisingly. We really didn't get a chance to celebrate 97 due to Vlady's accident, so winning it a second time and watching the team surround him with the cup was just a treat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kira 451 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 I'm with the person who said it's like asking a parent for his favorite child. I have good memories of all of them. Watching Stevie raise the Cup in '97, something that hadn't been done since I was born was amazing. I remember standing there at work with tears in my eyes. In '98 it was for Vladdie, and I cried when he came out on the ice and held the Cup. I can remember exactly where I was in '02 when Nick scored from center ice and destroyed Cloutier, the 7-0 laugher against Colorado, and the three OT game in the Finals. And '08, good Lord, how could I forget that one? I'm torn between them all. 1 Z Winged Dangler reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HankthaTank 1,100 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 (edited) http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJn0dSKl3wQ&feature=related Goosebumps... I still love them all but this was pure euphoria. My dad was crying like a baby being a season ticket holder at Olympia for years and the beginning of the Joe and even a little into the dynasty years. This was just undescribable. At the end with the credits cracks me up everytime when Stevie was like, "Is this the real one or a replica?" and then how shocked he was it was the real one...lol epic Edited July 29, 2010 by HankthaTank Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeverForgetMac25 483 Report post Posted July 29, 2010 The 1997 Cup...simply because it put an end to the drought and it was the first Red Wings Cup I ever witnessed. As much as the others felt great to win, that one meant so much to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites