Chelios was having a hole cut into the side of the sauna and a window installed. That way, he could put a television outside and stationary bike inside. He could watch hockey while he worked out in the heat.
“He was 40 years old,” Holland said. “Most 40-year-olds would have had a heart attack and that would have been the end of them.”
But Chelios wasn’t like most 40-year-olds - or 42-year-olds, or 44-year-olds, or 46-year-olds - and there was no end to his amazing playing career until Tuesday, when he announced his retirement and accepted a job as the Red Wings’ advisor to hockey operations.
The Wings held a news conference at the Olympia Club inside Joe Louis Arena, on the other side of the wall and a few yards from that sauna. At one point, Holland said Chelios was 47. Chelios leaned forward and corrected him into the microphone.
