Once undrafted, BG's Lebda brings Stanley Cup home

Might have been Tom Petty who said waiting is the hardest part.

But in the case of the Stanley Cup, it's the winning that's truly difficult.

The waiting part, waiting for your chance to host the Cup for a day and hoist it for a night, sharing it with everyone you know, well, it's a small price to pay for dancing with Lord Stanley's dented chalice.

And for Buffalo Grove native Brett Lebda, patience is no less a virtue than was the hard work it took to win the trophy in Detroit last month.

"It has to go all the way around the world and everyone gets their day with the Cup,'' said the 26-year-old Lebda. "I can wait for it. It makes it that much more special.''

The Red Wings defenseman didn't have to wait long into his NHL career for a chance to win, taking home the big prize in just his second full NHL season.

"You understand how lucky you are when you see a guy like Dallas Drake, who had such a long career and never even had a chance to play for the Cup until this year,'' Lebda said. "We have a lot of young guys on our team and a lot of us came up together through Grand Rapids (of the AHL), and we know we're fortunate to have had the opportunity already.

"But we also knew that's what we're there for, to win the Stanley Cup. That's the great thing about playing in that organization, is we play for one reason.

"We're playing to win the Stanley Cup and that's it. You don't play on that team if that's not your goal, and no one has to say it. You look around at all the great character in the room, and all the leaders, and it doesn't even have to be said.

"You're there to win.''

And after winning, it's not like the Wings sat back and rested. They got better in free agency and expect to win again next season.

"That starts at the top,'' Lebda said. "That's our great ownership and our management and our coaching staff.

"They want to win every year, and they're not satisfied. They're always looking to make us better, and that's why it's so much fun to be part of this organization. The focus is on winning.''

Lebda, who's spending the summer in Wonder Lake, has returned to the Chicago suburbs a local hero, a la Chris Chelios, bringing the Stanley Cup back to a city that hasn't seen its own in nearly a half-century.

At least a couple of Chicago guys can bring it in for a visit.

"You don't see many guys from the Chicago area (in the NHL), but it's getting a lot better around here,'' Lebda insisted. "The system is in place now to produce a lot more players. It's getting there.''

Lebda credits his hockey education from the Glenview Stars, the Chicago Young Americans and Team Illinois with getting him ready before he left Buffalo Grove High School after two years for hockey in Michigan and the USA Hockey Developmental Program.

He followed with a terrific collegiate career at Notre Dame, where he led the Fighting Irish to their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

But he went undrafted and every team in the league passed on him in free agency, until the Red Wings gave him a minor-league tryout in 2004.

Less than two years later he was playing full time on the Detroit blue line.

"I don't look at it like the Hawks or anyone else missed out. I'm just glad the Wings gave me a chance,'' Lebda said. "Every team's got different needs at different times and it's just a matter of timing.

"The important thing is someone gave me a chance to prove myself, and I'm very fortunate it was such a great organization and that I've been able to win the Cup so early in my career.''

Lebda will present that Cup to family and friends in about a month, when it's his for a day. There's talk that Chelios will have it the next day and that the two will bring it to Wrigley Field for a seventh-inning extravaganza Aug. 22.

"That's just a rumor,'' Lebda said. "Once it's Cheli's, I'm sure he'll have big plans and do it right because he always does things big and he always does it right.''

Lebda looks forward to sharing the Cup with his mom and dad, Nanci and Steve, who still live in Buffalo Grove, and former coaches like Glenview hockey director Sylvain Turcotte, not to mention the dozens of coaches he named from his years playing hockey here.

"I was just like everyone else, playing hockey in the driveway, pretending to lift the Stanley Cup, and then it happens and you can't believe it,'' Lebda said. "But you don't get there without the whole organization and every teammate and all the people who helped you when you were young. You can't forget them.''

So Lebda will give them their day and then shortly thereafter it'll be back to work for the Wings. It's a short summer when you win the Stanley Cup, but they know the task at hand and the challenge facing champions trying to go back to back in the modern era.

Yet, in Detroit they're not talking of competing. For Brett Lebda and the Red Wings, it's now all about repeating.

brozner@dailyherald.com