In Red Wings Land

Detroit Red Wings jersey a gift from hockey gods. Here's why it's GOAT

Sure last season sucked (last season, this season, whatever). But at least we have a great jersey.
And yet, the only NHL team that can already plan a Cup Final watch party hauled in a win Thursday when USA TODAY Network hockey writer Vincent Z. Mercogliano put them atop his NHL power rankings – in jerseys.

Well, no need for a parade down Woodward, but it’s something, right?

At the least, it was a reminder that even as the Red Wings suffer through their worst stretch in nearly four decades, they’re doing so in championship-level outfits. (There’s a reason Wings jerseys have spring up in pop culture everywhere from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” to TV's “Scrubs” to Kanye West's daily wardrobe.)

Gretzky continues to treasure trophy from Richard

This was a pretty cool story about Gretzky’s admiration for Richard.
Wayne Gretzky, one of the most decorated players in NHL history, keeps one lone trophy in his California home.

It's one the NHL all-time leading scorer didn't even win. It was a gift from the late Maurice "Rocket" Richard, one Gretzky has cherished for more than two decades.

"It's a replica of the Maurice Richard Trophy that he had made up for me and personally presented to me," he said. "I'll never forget it.

"It means so much. It always has and it always will."

If you want to read all 21 pages of the NHL’s Return Protocols, here you go.