Thursday's Things - A Day Late

11 Things I'll Remember Most From The Red Wings' 2008 Stanley Cup Run (One for each Cup the franchise has won)

11. Wondering if the run would end before it really got started when the Wings were forced into OT by an inferior and totally outplayed Nashville team in Game 5 of the first round

10. Johan Franzen practically outscoring the Colorado Avalanche by himself in the second round sweep

9. ESPN's Barry Melrose predicting the Avs would take the Red Wings out in six games in what would be a "nasty" series. Instead, it was a Detroit sweep in a series that, if it were football, would have been two-hand touch

8. Wondering why the hell Avs coach -- now EX-coach -- Joel Quenneville didn't start goalie Peter Budaj in Game 3 in Colorado after Jose Theodore stunk up the joint in Games 1 and 2 in Detroit

7. Realizing, after the Red Wings dumped out the Predators in six games, that we probably weren't going to see Dominik Hasek step onto the ice as a Red Wing again -- not for the rest of the playoffs, and not for the rest of his life

6. Nicklas Lidstrom's goofy, done-on-purpose misdirection shot from center ice that beat Nashville goalie Dan Ellis in the clinching Game 6 -- and everyone saying it was a good omen, because of a similar shot Lidstrom made in 2002 against Vancouver

5. Delighting in Dallas goalie Marty Turco's lack of success in Joe Louis Arena as an NHL player, which continued thru Games 1 and 2 in the conference final

4. Cursing Turco's timing as he finally won a game in Detroit in Game 5 to turn what was once a 3-0 series lead into a 3-2 nailbiter

3. As the Final Four played out, looking across to the Eastern Conference and knowing that the Red Wings are going to win the whole deal, because neither Pittsburgh nor Philadelphia scared me -- especially Philly

2. Walking out of the press box in Joe Louis Arena after Game 1 of the Cup Finals and turning to Jerry Green and asking, "Are the Wings that good, or are the Penguins that bad?" He said, "Well, you didn't see the first half of the first period" -- and I hadn't, because I was late. But I asked the same question after Game 2, too -- and I saw ALL of that one

1. Standing up, keeping one eye on the clock and the other on the action on the ice, near the Red Wings management cubby of Steve Yzerman, Ken Holland, Scotty Bowman, and Gordie Howe, wondering how they'll react when the Cup is won at the end of Game 5. Then experiencing what it's like for 20,000+ folks to have their guts slugged at the same time.

1a. Nearly tearing up when Lidstrom handed the Cup to 39-year-old Dallas Drake and watching Drake's pure joy in finally realizing his dream