Don't count out Bowman or his Red Wings in the West.(Scotty Bowman)(includes article on San Jose Sharks)

As Scotty Bowman walks down a lonely corridor outside the locker room after a game two weeks ago in St. Louis, you could almost hear his thoughts. And none of them was about retirement

The wheels never stop spinning for this 67-year-old man of contradictions--he can be your best friend one day and be so wrapped up in something that he'll ignore you the next. It's all part of the mystery of the coach with the most victories in hockey history.

Never has there been a more complex or captivating individual in hockey. Some say he isn't a people person, that he's hands-off even with his favorite players. Others say he could be a perfect liaison to the United Nations because no one acquires more key information in a short conversation as easily as Bowman does.

Details. That's what beams up Scotty Bowman. At his age you would think there are plenty of things he could do to occupy himself away from the rink. But Bowman never stops looking for an edge, whether it means scouring through hours of game tapes or getting on the Internet to search for one little tidbit that might help him.

The Red Wings had a great talent base, but Bowman's attention to detail was crucial in helping them become the NHL's best team in the 1990s, when they won two Stanley Cups in three finals appearances.

Today it's a slightly different story. Detroit has a roster that includes eight players older than 33. It has a former No. 1 goaltender, Chris Osgood, who can't stop a beach ball. And the team is still fighting to overcome the fact that it has bowed out of the playoffs in the second round two years in a row--both times to a faster Colorado team.

On this night Bowman begins his postgame media conference with the standard bill of fare. But after the first wave of inquisitors is gone, the real Bowman shows up.