Brendan Shanahan trade pays off for Wings; Kirk Maltby makes SI cover

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 43: May 28, 1997

The backstory: With the Stanley Cup Finals three days away, the Red Wings and Flyers returned to the ice as preparations ramped up for a series that would end a 42-year Stanley Cup drought for Detroit or a 22-year drought for Philadelphia. Cup fever griped the two cities. But the players and coaches tried to focus on the task at hand. Take Flyers coach Terry Murray, for instance. He said he had spent the past few days holed up at the team’s practice facility in Voorhees, New Jersey, watching game films. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, during a session with reporters, he had a blank look when someone mentioned the William Penn statue. Told the landmark statue atop City Hall, with great fanfare, sported a giant Flyers jersey, Murray replied: “Oh, is that right?” The teams made little news, reporting no significant injuries from their conference finals. In Detroit, the Free Press revisited the main men in the season’s biggest trade, heard Papa Bear complain about a Russian stereotype, found the other Grind Liners razzing Kirk Maltby and caught up with an octopus outlaw.

STANLEYTOWN, DAY 42: How Eric Lindros went from Michigan youth phenom to Red Wings rival

Cup or bust: Each spring, the Wings’ Russian players got asked how badly they wanted to win the Stanley Cup. In hockey circles, plenty of fans, media, front-office types and players questioned, sometimes out loud, sometimes in whispers, whether Europeans, especially Russians, possessed the win-at-all-cost desire of their Canadian counterparts. “I’m tired of answering this question,” said Slava Fetisov, 39, considered the greatest defenseman in Soviet…