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Empty beer cans, and a full cupboard

Some final thoughts tonight (OK, this morning) after watching the Stanley Cup wheeled out of the Wings' locker room to the team bus in a shopping cart littered with empty beer cans ...

Injuries? Yeah, they had a few. More than a few, actually. Talked to a champagne-soaked trainer, Piet van Zant, in the zamboni entrance a couple hours ago and his initial response was, "Everybody was playing through something." But then rattled off the abridged version: Tomas Holmstrom was playing with a sports hernia (for a long time) and a torn hamstring. Valtteri Filppula wasn't practicing because of a fairly signficant knee injury. Brad Stuart also was playing with a knee injury that would've had him sitting in the regular season. Darren Helm limped out of there tonight with a nasty charley horse. And, yes, there was more than just concussion-like symptoms plaguing Johan Franzen, but van Zant said the team and Franzen will wait a day or two before explaining what exactly went on with that whole saga. There's more than that, obviously. But that gives you an idea of just why we call this the toughest trophy in sports to win.

As for the rest of the housekeeping, Mike Babcock will sign a new three-year deal in the next day or two. I bet it'll be announced Friday -- just a guess, though.

Dallas Drake said he didn't want to make a decision right now on his future. Too emotional, he said. But living away from his family all season was brutal, and now that he's won the Cup, I expect he'll retire. Ditto Dominik Hasek, who doesn't get enough credit for the composure he showed the last six weeks. His son graduated from high school last week (Dom missed it, as he was on the road) and Michael is headed to Michigan State in the fall, but I know Dom's daughter and wife were ready to move back to the Czech Republic a year ago, so now's a perfect time to do that. Chris Chelios hated sitting in the Finals, but he's not ready to quit and he'll be back for another year. Brad Stuart? Now that he's been on this side of the fence, the lure of the West coast isn't quite as strong, I'm guessing. Andreas Lilja? Probably gone, replaced in the lineup by Jonathan Ericsson.

And what does all that mean? The Wings have about $40 million committed to next year's roster, and the cap is exp expected to be upwards of $56 million. Some of that will go to resigning RFAs Filppula, Howard and UFAs Stuart and Chelios. But that'll still leave a good chunk of money to spend in free agency.

Scary as it sounds for the rest of the league, the Wings might be even better a year from now.

.....Henrik Zetterberg, the 210th player selected overall in the 1999 NHL draft, showed what a two-way superstar he has become by making some of the series' most memorable plays that led to him being voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the Finals' most valuable player.....

Zetterberg showed in these playoffs he's an offensive superstar.

Then there's the defensive star. Zetterberg, along with Pavel Datsyuk, is a finalist for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league's top defensive forward.

Zetterberg takes great pride in his defensive ability.

"That's always been a part of my game," he said. "In Sweden, you learn to play defense first. And then you develop the offense later.

"I'm happy I still can play that game over here and I get an opportunity to play that way. I like to do that."

His teammates certainly appreciate his two-way skills.

"That's where he stands out from other superstars in this league," forward Johan Franzen said. "You don't see other superstars do that. Not a lot of them anyway. That makes him real special.

"When your best players are playing like that, you don't want to do anything different."

Crosby has been hyped as "the face of the game," but Zetterberg hounded him for much of the series.

Not bad for the quiet guy overlooked as a seventh-round pick nearly a decade ago.

"I was a real small guy," Zetterberg said, referring to why he wasn't drafted earlier. "I didn't have a lot of muscles on me. Not many scouts were looking for small, tiny players. They looked for big guys that could be big in front of the net and have a good shot. My shot was awful. It's still not very good.

"Letting me play in Sweden for a while helped (three more years after being drafted). I got a lot of experience there.

"When I came over here (he joined the Wings in 2002-03), I was ready to play. It helped to play with good players. My first year, I played with Pavel and Brett Hull most of my games. It makes it a lot easier."

Zetterberg is now known for his great vision on the ice and an uncanny anticipation of where the puck is going.

He's certainly more talkative than when he first joined the Wings, but he's still pretty quiet, according to teammates.

"Guys that are a little bit more quiet, they lead by example," teammate Darren McCarty said. "That's what he does."

And he's done it as well as anyone in the playoffs this year.