In the end, Chris Chelios wasn't going anywhere. by si.com

Well, what did you expect? The man is 45, which in hockey years probably makes him an octogenarian. As San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson said, Chelios has been playing hard since he came in the league - back when Wilson was watching him in high school. If Chelios wasn't going to give up the game at a reasonable age, he certainly wasn't going to give up the blue line.

Sure, Pavel Datsyuk scored the goal with 1:24 left Saturday to give the Wings a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 2, but the goal was possible only because, with about two minutes remaining, Chelios was smart enough and stubborn enough and swift enough to make the proper play and come out on the good end of the risk/reward equation.

For those of you who missed it - and if your local sports highlights actually included it, then send a bouquet to the station for its hockey savvy - the puck was squirting up the left wing boards, just beyond the reach of San Jose winger Mark Bell. Bell seemed to have plenty of time to corral the bouncing puck and chip it out of the Sharks' defensive zone, the prudent play in the dying minutes of regulation. If Chelios were any less certain of his abilities, he would have ceded the blue line and allowed the puck to exit the zone -- at least as long as Bell wasn't lugging it. Instead Chelios took two strides and chipped the puck back into the play. If Bell had managed to slither by the pinching Chelios, they would have had an odd-man rush and a probably scoring chance. By keeping the puck alive, Chelios accomplished exactly that for Detroit.

When when he was dragged out of the sauna, where he rides a bike and watches television after the game -- he calls it aerobic wash -- Chelios was unduly modest about his moment of blueline clarity.

"I figured (Todd) Bertuzzi was coming back for me, going for a change, so it wasn't a risky play," he said. "This time it worked. But I would have looked like a donkey if it hadn't worked. I had support from Todd going off, which allowed us to get (forward Mikael) Samuelsson on the ice. (Samuelsson assisted on Datsyuk's game-winner.) We play aggressive. You can only stand up and be aggressive when you have support. Other than that, you better use your head."

Chelios, of course, didn't merely use his head. He used his legs. According to Red Wings grinder Kris Draper, among the swiftest of the Wings, Chelios still has quick a first few strides as anyone on the team. "He's in such good shape," Draper said of a player who, after the release of the movie 300, has been nicknamed Sparta -- the home region of his mother, incidentally. "That's why he can get to those pucks. (We love) the way he prepares himself physically and mentally to get ready for hockey. He loves going out there in key situations. Killing penalties. Getting pucks out (of the offensive zone). Making plays under pressure. It's why Chelly has been around as long as he has and played in as many playoff games as he has."

"Chelly," said Kirk Maltby, Draper's linemate, "is only as cautious as he needs to be."

The only concession to advanced hockey age has been reduced ice time -- Chelios played a modest 19 minutes in Game 2, six-and-a-half fewer than Nicklas Lidstrom -- and demotion from the power play, which mildly rankles him.

"Like I've said all year," Chelios said with his trademark smirk, "I'd like to sink my teeth into that power play action ... I don't ever think I've lost my skills. It's just about opportunity."

With the Red Wings back in what figures to be a long series, Chelios will get more.

"Right now ," Draper said, "he's not going anywhere.