Bowman, Yzerman, Fetisov, Larionov, Robitaille, Hull and now two more today. It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Maybe it's unpleasant for many of you, because of the hard fact their induction represents, but Brendan Shanahan and Chris Chelios aren't even the end of the line.

The 2002 Red Wings were the greatest hockey team of all time, and the legacy they left is a team that still plays the same type of game, with the same type of integrity, for an organ-I-zation that has refused to yield.

And there will be more: Datsyuk, Hasek and Fedorov are still to come. Mike Babcock and Henrik Zetterberg will join them. Chris Osgood will, too. Larry Murphy's in, and that's due in no small part to his two Cups with Detroit.

The greatest franchise in hockey. Then and today. No team has sustained this kind of success. No fan base has been as priveleged as we are.

Grind your teeth over it if it angers you. It's even better that Chelios, Hull and Shanahan won Cups after playing in Chicago and St. Louis...especially St. Louis. Oh, the angst. Heck, I almost forgot that Osgood came back and won a Cup after wallowing in that pit.

Players come to Detroit to win. And they leave as Hall of Famers.

"I know I wouldn't be on this call today if it wasn't for my time in Detroit. It's such a special place."

That's Shanahan, via @helenestjames.

Another banner day for Hockeytown.