Bowman addressed the crowd and called the '97 champions "a team for the ages."
"Looking back, knowing how hard it is to win and then to win back to back of course, and this team tonight was the first one in 42 years, so that's a long time," Bowman said before the ceremony. "That was a special time to win a Cup for sure."
Part of what made that team so close is what they had to overcome to achieve their dreams.
The Colorado Avalanche were the Wings' nemesis in a rivalry that all NHL fans wanted to see, even if they weren't fans of either team.
That is why the night of March 26, 1997, is one that Shanahan will always remember.
"It was that one game where we felt like everything sort of came together for us against Colorado," Shanahan said. "They had beaten us three prior games that year and we played them in March shortly before the playoffs started. We had the five-on-five brawl with McCarty and (Claude) Lemieux, the comeback late in the third period to tie the game, go into overtime and win the game in overtime. That was the real switch for us and Colorado, where we gained a psychological advantage and carried that into the playoffs and really played well against them in the playoffs.
"I would say that regular-season game was probably the most important one to our era, as far as growth as a team. Not just because of the fights, not just what it did to galvanize us, we were already pretty tight together, but to be able to do that against Colorado and then come back and win wouldn't have been the same if we didn't come back like we did and win the game."
The impetus for that brawl was the Western Conference finals in 1996 when Lemieux hit Draper from behind, smashing his face into the boards.
The hit broke Draper's jaw plus his cheek and orbital bone, which required surgery and numerous stitches.
All of it was memorable for Holmstrom, who was a rookie in the 1996-97 season.
"The Colorado game, it was a freak show, the big brawls and then another Colorado game when (Patrick) Roy gets pulled, stuff like that," Holmstrom said. "I don't think the arena has been that loud ever. Winning here the first Cup and see the crowd and everyone still remembers it. It's great."
None of those '97 Wings have forgotten that most pundits picked the Flyers to beat them in the Finals.
"Going into the final against the Flyers the perception was the bigger, stronger Flyers were just going to be too much for us to handle and we got into Game 1 and by the end of Game 1 we felt we could compete with these guys and just keep doing what we're doing and we'd come out on top," Yzerman said.
Although current captain Henrik Zetterberg and coach Jeff Blashill were not with the Wings in 1997, both enjoyed the celebration.
"It was a nice moment for everyone," Zetterberg said. "We were out there a bit for the ceremony, a lot of legends on the ice."
The Wings drafted Zetterberg in 1999 and he was a rookie in 2002-03.
"I got pretty good relationships with a number of those guys, whether it was guys like Nick and Tomas that I had a chance to coach, or I've gotten to know Igor Larionov over the years and just real, real good people," Blashill said. "Darren McCarty, the whole crew, Joey Kocur, just real good people. As a Michigan guy, I lived that as a fan a little bit so it was pretty cool."
The '97 team had a chance to tour the new Little Caesars Arena before the celebration at the Joe.
"It'll be a beautiful new building, I've seen drawings of it," Shanahan said. "It'll be great for the team, it'll be great for the city but you always feel a little bit bad when the old buildings close."
Said Holmstrom: "It was great to see, it's huge. I still love Detroit, the Joe here. That was my home for 18 years I was there at least, I played for 15, so that was my home. It's going to be nice to see the new building."
Lidstrom and Yzerman played their entire careers at Joe Louis Arena.
"It's been a fantastic building, a great building to play in," Yzerman said. "To watch games for the fans the atmosphere is fantastic, but I think it's time. Everything I've seen in the new building is spectacular. It's going to great for the organization. Everything that's going on around the building is going to be fantastic for the city as well.
"It's been a great building, but it's time to move on."
