DETROIT - Kris Draper walked through the players parking lot into Joe Louis Arena on March 26, 1997, saw TV cameras lined up, and knew this wasn't going to be an ordinary day.
"It wasn't a regular, regular season game. There was just something there," Draper said. "The pregame skate was different. You could just kind of feel it. Warmup was different. I think there were 20,000 fans there for warmup. You could feel there was something electric."
By the end of the night, Detroit Red Wings fans had witnessed the most memorable regular season game in franchise history, a defining moment that galvanized a team that would soon end a 42-year Stanley Cup championship drought en route to three titles in a span of six seasons.