[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12826-12828]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     CONGRATULATING DETROIT RED WINGS FOR WINNING 2002 STANLEY CUP 
                              CHAMPIONSHIP

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 452) congratulating the Detroit Red Wings for 
winning the 2002 Stanley Cup Championship.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 452

       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) congratulates--
       (A) the Detroit Red Wings for winning the 2002 Stanley Cup 
     Championship and for their outstanding performance during the 
     entire 2001-2002 National Hockey League season; and
       (B) all of the 16 National Hockey League teams that played 
     in the postseason;
       (2) recognizes the achievements of the Red Wings players, 
     coaches, and support staff who worked hard and were 
     instrumental in bringing the Stanley Cup back to the city of 
     Detroit;
       (3) commends the Carolina Hurricanes for a valiant 
     performance during the playoff finals and for showing their 
     strength and skill as a team; and
       (4) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to 
     transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to--
       (A) the Red Wings players;
       (B) Head Coach Scotty Bowman; and
       (C) President and team owner Mike Ilitch.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Tierney) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).


                             General Leave

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H. Res. 452.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Connecticut?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to have an opportunity to salute the 
Detroit Red Wings and will just point out that my statement was written 
by a staff member who does not even happen to be a Detroit Red Wings 
fan, but he has done a gracious job in preparing this statement.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 452, introduced by our distinguished 
colleague from the State of Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), congratulates 
the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings for winning the Stanley 
Cup for the third time in 6 years. The entire House delegation from the 
State of Michigan are cosponsors of this legislation.
  Last month, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in 
just five games to win the Stanley Cup Finals and bring the title back 
to, as the writer says, Hockeytown. En route to the finals, the Red 
Wings beat last year's Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche, 
to clinch the Western Conference title.
  The Red Wings' roster features such NHL superstars as team captain 
Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Sergei Federov, Chris Chelios, and goalie 
Dominik Hasek.
  I would specifically like to congratulate Detroit Head Coach Scotty 
Bowman for his impressive leadership this season and throughout his 
frankly awesome career. Coach Bowman has been with the team since 1993, 
and he has guided the Red Wings to three Stanley Cup championships, 
including back-to-back wins in 1997 and 1998. Bowman is retiring from 
the NHL and thus closing out a truly remarkable career, during which he 
set many coaching records including a record nine Stanley cup 
championships during his tenure with the Montreal Canadians, the 
Pittsburgh Penguins, and now with the Detroit Red Wings.
  Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I urge adoption of House Resolution 
452.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise to also support House Resolution 452 for consideration this 
afternoon. Obviously, all the things that the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Shays) has already mentioned are on my list of 
comments to make here on behalf of the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. 
Kilpatrick) and the other members of the Michigan delegation who, 
unfortunately, could not be here this afternoon to bring this matter 
forward and speak to it.
  I do think it takes note again for the young people that are here 
that this is not just about winning and losing a hockey game, but more 
about the hard work and determination and teamsmanship that goes into a 
championship effort; and for that, the Red Wings are certainly to be 
congratulated for the skill, tenacity, and dominance with which they 
finished the regular season and then clinched the President's trophy.
  They have done a great job. They deserve all the credit. For a Boston 
Bruins fan like myself, it is always difficult to understand that once 
again the Stanley Cup slipped away, but it went to a team who had a 
great year, was a very deserving; and we want to make sure that 
everybody acknowledges this important feat as well as the hard work of 
Mr. Bowman as the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) said, the team 
captain and other players there.
  Their whole delegation, I am sure all of Michigan, take great pride 
in the work that this team and the effort that they have made.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I think it says something that a Boston Bruins, one of the original 
six, and a New York Rangers fan are saluting the Detroit Red Wings. 
They have been an awesome team, remarkable players, and truly 
outstanding coach; and I will just say that given that some Members 
have not had the opportunity to speak, with some trepidation, I am 
going to ask for a rollcall vote and know that my House Members from 
different hockey towns will have the good nature and goodwill to make 
this a unanimous resolution.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), and we are honored to have in this 
body today a member of this body who takes great pride in being from 
Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend from Massachusetts 
yielding me the time.
  I just want to say a few words about the Red Wings as someone who has 
been a fan for quite a few years. The Red Wings are for Michigan more 
than

[[Page 12827]]

a hockey team, and I think that is the secret.
  A lot of us do care they are a successful hockey team. Some of us go 
back to the days when we played and there were not any indoor rinks. 
Some of us who are Red Wings fans used to fool around with hockey on 
ponds, and sometimes because the winter was not long enough, falling in 
while we were playing hockey.
  But as I said, the Red Wings really are much more than a hockey team 
and that has been especially true under the ownership of Mike and 
Marion Illitch. They understand what sports mean to Detroit and the 
whole metropolitan area in the State. They also understand, though, 
that sports can mean something more than just who wins and who loses.

                              {time}  1530

  And the Red Wings, I think, have such wonderful following because, 
especially under the Ilitches, and the coaches there, led by Scotty 
Bowman, there has been continuity. We have come to know the players. I 
must say, on some teams, the players change so much every year, it is 
hard to identify with them. But that has not been true of the Red 
Wings.
  The team that won the championship and the Stanley Cup really melded 
together and became a family, taking in new members, and I think that 
gave us a sense of community and a sense, if I may say so, even of 
family. When Vladi Konstantinov was seriously injured, everybody 
rallied around him. And it is always a moving few moments when he 
rejoins the team for various events.
  So I just wanted to come to the floor and to say, in tribute to the 
Red Wings, many thanks to all of the players, led by Steve Yzerman, the 
captain; to all of the coaches, led by Scotty Bowman; and to the entire 
Ilitch family, for making a sports team something more than a sports 
team. This wonderful group won the Stanley Cup, but they really also 
won the hearts of a lot of us in Michigan.
  And if I daresay, as I close, to all my colleagues who have not been 
in the Detroit metropolitan area recently, there are more Red Wing 
flags flying from cars than you will see such flags anywhere else in 
America. If we who are candidates for office had just one-fiftieth of 
the flags that fly from the cars supporting the Red Wings, we could 
never lose an election. The Red Wings maybe can lose a Stanley Cup 
contest in future years, but they won it again this year and all of us 
from Michigan are very, very proud of them. And I thank the House for 
bringing up this resolution of congratulations.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
thank the gentleman from Michigan for his very thoughtful comments, and 
to say whether you are a Bruin fan, or Ranger fan, like Mr. Tierney and 
me, you can still be very happy to support this important resolution 
honoring the Detroit Red Wings.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
congratulate the entire Detroit Red Wings organization for winning the 
2002 Stanley Cup on June 13, 2002, and collecting their 10th Cup by 
defeating the Eastern Conference Champion Carolina Hurricanes. After 82 
games, followed by perhaps the most grueling playoff setup in 
professional sports, the Red Wings proved once again that talent and 
experience could triumph over more youthful competition.
  Marian and Mike Ilitch, the owners of the Red Wings and community 
leaders in Detroit, have once again returned Lord Stanley's Cup to 
``Hockeytown,'' where it rightfully belongs. I would like to thank the 
Ilitch family for their dedication to the city of Detroit, State of 
Michigan, and to all Red Wing fans.
  Red Wing fans are indebted to retiring head coach Scotty Bowman, who 
has brought the Red Wings to the playoffs 7 times in the last 8 years, 
won three Stanley Cups in the past 6 years, and who, with this year's 
victory, has earned his ninth Stanley Cup victory, surpassing his 
mentor Toe Blake for the most championships in National Hockey League 
history. This is truly an amazing accomplishment and I wish him well in 
his retirement.
  Finally, I express my congratulations to the Red Wing players for 
their incredible season, and for showing all of us how to perform under 
great pressure. I applaud the hard work and dedication which made this 
victory possible, and would offer my personal appreciation on behalf of 
Michigan's 16th Congressional District, to Captain Steve Yzerman, Brett 
Hull, Igor Larionov, Brendan Shanahan, Lue Robitaille, Sergei Federov, 
Darren McCarty, Chris Chelios, Niklas Lidstrom, Dominik Hasek, Kris 
Draper, Jirri Fischer, Jesse Wallin, Uwe Krupp, Mathieu Dandenault, 
Pavel Datsyuk, Ladislav Kohn, Kirk Maltby, Boyd Devereaux, Fredrik 
Olausson, Steve Duchesne, Jason Williams, Maxim Kuznetsov, Manny 
Legace, Jason Elliott, Sean Avery, Jiri Slegr, and Tomas Holmstrom.
  With the recent signing of Curtis Joseph and re-signing of Chris 
Chelios, I look forward to seeing another Stanley Cup Parade in 
Hockeytown next year!
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in congratulations of the 2001-
2002 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings.
  Although history will be the final judge, the Detroit Red Wings are 
already being considered one of the greatest hockey teams ever 
assembled. Led by the winningest coach in NHL history, a team made up 
of truly great players--more than half a dozen prospective Hall of 
Famers and a rookie class with seemingly boundless potential--the Red 
Wings are a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. If there is 
one thing that can be said about the team, it's that they could never 
be counted out.
  Throughout the year and the playoffs, the stars stepped up and led 
when leadership was needed, and when the veterans had difficulties, the 
rookies came through when it really mattered. Under Scotty Bowman, the 
Red Wings came together with an offense as quick and precise as a 
surgeon's scalpel, and a defense as tenacious as the octopus that we in 
Detroit have adopted as our symbol for the playoffs.
  The Red Wings have shown themselves to be outstanding role models 
both on and off the ice. They embody the values of teamwork, discipline 
and dignity, and their involvement with the community has brought it 
together. For our young people becoming passionate about the sport of 
hockey, they couldn't look up to a better group of players.
  And so today I join with my colleagues in congratulating the Detroit 
Red Wings for their Stanley Cup victory. This team has guts, 
determination and finesse. Sports Illustrated has called them the New 
York Yankees of Hockey, but I'm not so sure that's appropriate. They're 
the Detroit Red Wings of Hockey, and that speaks volumes more.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the 
Representatives for bringing up H. Res. 452, a resolution that I, along 
with support from the entire Michigan delegation, introduced 
congratulating the Red Wings on a tremendous year that culminated in 
winning the 2002 Stanley Cup Championship.
  As a native Detroiter, I am so proud of the Red Wings for bringing 
the Stanley Cup back to the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan. 
They showed true heart, dominance, skill, and tenacity throughout 
regular and post-season play in the National Hockey League. More 
importantly, they showed all of us that anything is possible with hard 
work, determination, and a strong team spirit. The Red Wings are true 
champions.
  Thank you to head coach Scotty Bowman, who led the Red Wings to their 
third Stanley Cup under his leadership, with the back to back wins in 
1997 and 1998. I wish, Mr. Bowman, ``the Winningest Coach in Hockey,'' 
all the best in his retirement and thank him for all that he has 
brought to this great sport. Congratulations to President and team 
owner Mike Ilitch and his wife, Marian, who have shown steadfast 
support for the team and the City of Detroit and have been owners of 
the Red Wings franchise since 1982. Their commitment to the team and 
the City rings true everyday.
  For all hockey fans out there and for anyone that knows even a little 
bit about hockey, clinching the Stanley Cup is no easy feat. The Red 
Wings went through four grueling playoff rounds and defeated four very 
competitive and skilled teams to win the Cup, including the 2001 
Stanley Cup Championships, the Colorado Avalanche in the Western 
Conference finals, and the valiant Caroline Hurricanes in the Stanley 
Cup finals.
  The Red Wings faced strong opposition, but showed their true grit and 
skill every step of the way, getting stronger as each playoff series 
progressed. All the players on the Red Wings contributed to the team's 
success. Deservedly, each player will have his name engraved on the 
Stanley Cup, which is considered to be the most conveted sports trophy 
in North America.
  I would like to thank my Michigan colleagues for cosponsoring this 
resolution. We

[[Page 12828]]

congratulate the Detroit Red Wings on an awesome year. Way to go Red 
Wings! Hockeytown is proud.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
congratulating the Detroit Red Wings for winning the 2002 Stanley Cup 
Hockey Championship.
  As one of the Original Six hockey clubs, the Red Wings have proven 
time and time again that they are one of hockey's premiere franchises 
of all time. With their three to one victory over the Carolina 
Hurricanes in game five of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, the Wings 
clinched their third Stanley Cup in six years, totaling an impressive 
ten Cups since the team became a franchise in 1926. With a record like 
that, it makes sense that Detroit has come to be known as Hockeytown 
USA.
  So congratulations and a special farewell go to Red Wing coach Scotty 
Bowman, who announced his retirement just before Steve Yzerman handed 
him the Cup after the final game. Congratulations also to Mike Illitch 
and Jimmy Devallano for putting this team together. Congratulations, 
obviously, to captain Steve Yzerman, to the playoff MVP Nicklas 
Lidstrom, to Brendan Shanahan, to goalie Dominik Hasek, and to all the 
members of this great club for bringing yet another of Lord Stanley's 
coveted chalices to Hockeytown. And congratulations to the Detroit fans 
that stood behind their team through it all. Mr. Speaker, we have done 
it again.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, House Resolution 
452.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________