Avalanche coach accuses Wings’ Vladimir Konstantinov of dirty tricks

In the spring of 1997 — a quarter-century ago — the Detroit Red Wings embarked on their quest to end a 42-year Stanley Cup drought.

The Free Press has commemorated that historic quest with a new book: “Stanleytown: The Inside Story of How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City After 41 Frustrating Seasons.”

Day 35: May 20, 1997

The backstory: For the first time in nearly a week, the Red Wings and Avalanche could pause to catch their collective breaths. After three games in five days, the schedule for the Western Conference finals called for two off days between Games 3 and 4 in Detroit. So, the Avalanche, although down two games to one, didn’t go on the ice at all. Only a dozen Wings did so for an optional practice — just enough for a game Darren McCarty called “shinny on the lake.” His team lost. “The goalies pick the teams,” he said. “I got picked by the wrong goalie again.” While there wasn’t a lot of skating by the conference finalists, there was plenty of yapping. Colorado coach Marc Crawford led the charge by calling defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov a master of dirty tricks who deserved a penalty every shift. In turn, McCarty called his teammate a “Russian Canadian.” Crawford also said center Peter Forsberg should be drawing 45 penalties a game.

Vlad the Impaler? Crawford used his off-day news conference to attempt to convince the NHL’s referees to keep a closer eye on Konstantinov, a Norris Trophy finalist for the first time who had only two penalty minutes in the series. “We’ve got to play very physical against Konstantinov,” Crawford said. “We have to expose the fact that he’s clutching and grabbing all the time. He could get a penalty every shift he’s on the ice.” Crawford’s gripes at times, though, sounded like high praise for…