A Delight for Detroit: The Return of the Grind Line

The original, which featured Draper centering Kirk Maltby and Joey Kocur or Darren McCarty, enjoyed a wildly successful run during the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup championship seasons of 1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-2 and 2007-8.

Helm, 24, who was in grade school during the first incarnation of the Grind Line, said: “There’s definitely a lot of history with that line. It’s pretty amazing.”

The sequel drew praise in the Red Wings’ first-round sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes. Draper, Helm and Eaves combined for three goals and two assists, deflecting some of the pressure from the Red Wings’ human-highlight reel, Pavel Datsyuk, who had 6 points. The Red Wings began their second-round series, against San Jose, on Friday.

Helm scored his only goal of the Coyotes series on a rebound of a between-the-legs shot by Datsyuk in Game 2. He picked up an assist in Game 4 when he forechecked defenseman Keith Yandle to the ice, gained control of the puck, and passed to Eaves, whose wrist shot beat Ilya Bryzgalov.

“That’s Helmer every night,” Detroit Coach Mike Babcock said, adding: “Helm’s an elite player, probably not a fourth-line player. Helmer and Eaves and Draper do things right and they do it right shift after shift after shift.”

Fourth lines are usually as utilitarian as a four-door pickup. Often overshadowed in the regular season by the flashy scorers, the grinders who finish their checks and chase down loose pucks and crash the net become golden in the playoffs, where beauty is in the details.

“Fourth-line guys are asked to do everything,” said Brian Engblom, a Stanley Cup-winning defenseman who is now an analyst for Versus. “They always say you’re an energy guy. You’re a forecheck guy. That’s true. You’re expected to play defense first and make sure you cause pain to the other team. But you’re also expected to get pucks to the net. It’s not going to be fancy, put it that way, but you’re expected to produce.”

Members of the Red Wings’ checking line in 1997 could throw opponents off their games with their checks and their cheekiness. They averaged 27 years and more than 72 penalty minutes in the regular season.

“I guess we were kind of young and cocky and kind of had that mentality,” Draper, 39, said last week.

He recalled a locker room conversation early in the 1997 playoffs that turned into a contest to name the line. As Draper recalled, John Wharton, the former team trainer, came up with the moniker.

“As soon as Joey heard the Grind Line, he was like, ‘Yeah, there it is right there,’ ” Draper said.

Maltby made the cover of Sports Illustrated during that magical spring, and the Grind Line, including McCarty, amassed 24 points as the Red Wings ended their 42-year Stanley Cup championship drought.

In Game 1 of the finals, against the Flyers in Philadelphia, Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman started his cheeky checkers against the Legion of Doom scoring line centered by Eric Lindros.

“I’ll never forget it,” Draper said. “The crowd was just buzzing and here we are, us three, sitting in the tunnel waiting to go out there just kind of looking at each other like, ‘Well, here we go.’ ”

The Red Wings won, 4-2, on their way to a four-game sweep of the Flyers. Maltby produced the decisive goal in Game 2, and McCarty the winning goal in Game 4.

“It’s funny when you hear younger kids bring it up and talk about the Grind Line,” Draper said.

By younger kids he meant Helm, who in 1997 was 10, around the same age that Draper’s middle child, Kienan, is now. Off the ice, with his baseball cap pulled down low on his forehead, Helm looks harmless.

He is 5 feet 11 inches and 195 pounds with a boyish manner that turns bullish on the ice. In the first game against the Coyotes, Helm leveled a hit on Phoenix defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who was sidelined for the rest of the night with an upper-body injury.

“All you got to do is go down a few times with Helmer on your back, and anybody who’s gone back for pucks doesn’t like doing that very often,” Babcock said. “He plays heavy. He’s big in the fact that he’s a fit guy and he makes you pay. I just think he’s a real good player for us.”

Helm and Eaves, who will turn 27 Saturday, combined for 25 goals during the regular season. With Draper, who missed the first two months of the season with a sports hernia that required surgery, they form a line that Babcock said he would not hesitate to start over the pretty scorers.

“They play great for us,” he said. “They’re like a fly you can’t get rid of.”

Draper was asked how he was a different player now than in 1997. He laughed and said, “Besides the obvious?”

He remains quick, on the ice and with the quips. “Off the ice, he acts like he’s 16 or 18,” Helm said, adding, “He’s yappy, and he plays practical jokes on guys.”

When Helm had his birthday in January, he received a cream pie in the face from Draper, who has also been known to tape teammates’ sticks together or hide them.

Reminded that Draper would turn 40 in May, Helm broke into a grin. “Good,” he said. “He’s got some payback coming.”

Draper is in the final year of his contract. During the first playoff series, he said he received texts after the games from Maltby, who retired last year and is working as a Red Wings scout, and McCarty, who is also done playing.

So far their reviews have been all good. Unlike some sequels, this one has remained true to the spirit of the original.


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