Ringing endorsements for Lewis

July 02, 2006|Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff

For Dave Lewis, the 26 years that have ticked by since The Trade have turned the deal into a punchline.

``It was clear I was weighing the ship down in the harbor," Lewis said Thursday during his introduction at TD Banknorth Garden as the Bruins' new head coach, after signing a four-year deal.

It was no joke in March 1980 when the 6-foot-2-inch defenseman, who went directly from junior hockey to the NHL, learned -- at 1 a.m., no less -- that he and Billy Harris had been shipped across the country for Butch Goring. After The Trade, the Stanley Cup-less Islanders won their first championship. In the next three years, three more Cups followed.

In June 1980, after the Islanders won their first title, Lewis was home in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, when he received a phone call from ex-teammate and old pal Bob Bourne. Amid the hoopla, Bourne told Lewis that he was missed and that the Islanders were swigging champagne with him in mind.

``That made me feel good," said Lewis, who won his first championship in Detroit in 1997 as an assistant to coach Scotty Bowman. ``But I wanted to get a ring. And it took me a long time."

Coming up short Ironically, Lewis's career as an NHL head coach mirrors his elusive chase for the Cup as a player. In 2001-02, his final season as an assistant, the Red Wings won the championship. In the following two years, when he replaced Bowman as the head man behind the Detroit bench, the Wings were bounced early from the playoffs and Lewis was fired.

The Islanders won four Cups once Lewis left. The star-studded Wings didn't win a championship once Lewis, whose mustache and downturned mouth give him a passing resemblance to Inspector Clouseau, claimed the keys. What may seem like a pyrite touch, however, is just an unfortunate circumstance to Bruins president Harry Sinden.

``They were Stanley Cup champions with a legendary, high-profile coach," Sinden said. ``It was a difficult spot for somebody to go into. I think he did a terrific job."

In 2002-03, after Lewis led Detroit to a 48-20-10-4 record, the Wings were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The following year, after winning another 48 games and the President's Trophy, Calgary and hot hand Miikka Kiprusoff punted the Wings from the second round, prompting Lewis's dismissal.

This past season, with Lewis working as a pro scout and former Anaheim coach Mike Babcock behind the bench, the Wings won a league-best 58 regular-season games. In the first round of the playoffs, they ran into Dwayne Roloson and the Edmonton Oilers, and for the third straight season, Detroit was upset by a Western Conference club that advanced to the Cup finals.