Detroit Free Press

The crowd was thinning and the noise was dying down. The champagne showers had turned his hair into a sticky nest. ...

The hinges are coming loose, the rusty bolts are rattling and the door that for more than four decades has separated Detroit from the coveted Stanley Cup is about to shatter into a million pieces. The Red Wings earned their third victory of this championship series Thursday night with a force that could burst a dam, a defense that could hold back time, and a speedy confidence that bordered on destiny. So mighty was their domination of the dazed and confused Philadelphia Flyers that the Wings scored their goals as if chosen from an assortment pack:

On behalf of our beloved city of Detroit, I would like to officially welcome the out-of-town media and other ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Brendan Shanahan lives by a wise old hockey philosophy: Don't think.Skate hard. Take shots. Do ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Brendan Shanahan lives by a wise old hockey philosophy: Don't think.Skate hard. Take shots. Do ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Thank heaven there's a hockey game tonight. If people here had to wait any longer, they might implode.I'm not talking about the normal Philadelphians. Normal Philadelphians might have a few other things in their lives, like jobs. The Philadelphians I'm talking about are the rabid fans who have nothing better to do but call into Philly sports talk radio -- or as it's known in the industry, Lawsuit Central.Now, it's true, most towns have some kind of sports talk radio station. Many sound like this:

PHILADELPHIA -- There were llamas and trapeze artists and the air smelled like horse droppings. The circus had taken over the building where the Stanley Cup finals were being staged, so the players had to dress in one locker room, then take a shuttle bus -- or worse, walk across the parking lot, fully dressed except for their skates -- maybe passing a few clowns and the fire-eating man. All this to get to a second building, across the way, where ice was available.