"When (the banner) goes up there, it's there forever," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "I spend a lot of time when I'm in an Original Six building, whether it be at the morning skate or standing on the bench during the national anthem, looking at all the history up there, and to be a part of history I think is a special, special thing.

"When we got to see our names on the Stanley Cup (Monday night),  WoW Or that was a great night for our players," Babcock said. "For guys like (General Manager) Ken (Holland) and (Kris) Draper, (Kirk) Maltby and (Chris) Osgood, they're on there three and four times. What a fantastic tribute to their commitment and their passion for the game. So we'll be thrilled to share that with the state of Michigan and our fans here in Detroit."

While the pre-game ceremony also will be memorable for Holland, he's also looking forward to the start of a new season.

"It's obviously going to be an unbelievable night with the ceremony maple story mesos  before the game and having (retired players) Dallas Drake and Dominik Hasek there to join in the celebration," Holland told NHL.com. "Emotions will be high, the building will be full and the Maple Leafs are in town, so there's going to be emotion regardless. The thing is, once the puck drops, I know I'll start to worry if the players are still kind of living in the past, but that's where Babcock comes in. I know Mike is going to make sure everyone is focused and ready to rock and roll when the puck is dropped. The Stanley Cup is so hard to win, so it'll be neat to celebrate with the fans one last time on the accomplishments of last year."