Scotty Bowman was coaching the Montreal Junior Canadiens back in the late 1950s. He was young, ambitious and a little nervous at the prospect of taking his lightly talented team up against a high-powered unit from Toronto. So Bowman went down the hall and managed to corner legendary Montreal Canadian coach Toe Blake and asked for some advice.

"I said, 'What do you do when you play a team you are outclassed by four or five goals?'"

Scotty Bowman's many years haven't taken any of his drive for another title.(AP)

But when it came to talking and teaching hockey, Blake was always for it.

"It took him about 10 minutes; he gave me three different systems," Bowman recalled. "He said, 'You've got 10 days to practice; I don't know if they will catch on that quickly.' He was right on. We played a real defensive-oriented game. We won the first game. It was a big accomplishment for the team."

Heading into Monday's Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals between his Detroit Red Wings and the Carolina Hurricanes, Bowman is two victories from capturing his ninth Stanley Cup as a coach (he also won one while in Pittsburgh's front office), which would set the all-time record and break a tie between Bowman and his mentor, Blake.

It would be a fitting way for Blake's record, once seemingly impossible to surpass, to go down. Bowman trained at his knee, still pays homage to the master and has no personal delusions about surpassing his once-great teacher.

"I think he was far and away the best coach that's ever coached in the league," Bowman said.

But if Blake is No. 1 all time, than Bowman is indisputably No. 2. Bowman never wants to hear the rankings flip-flop.

"You know, Toe Blake coached 13 years in the league and he won eight cups," Bowman said. "That's how I look at Toe. That's how good he is. I don't think I'd like to be compared because I win another Cup. I have had 30-something years at it, so, you know, if you stay long enough on a job ..."

Leave it to Bowman to understate what he has accomplished. It is something no one else in hockey does. This is a living legend of the sport -- the guy young coaches stand in awe, hope for a bit of wisdom and advice from, the way Bowman once did with Blake.

"Part of the dream of when you get to the Stanley Cup Final (is) the guy on other bench would be Scotty Bowman," said Carolina coach Paul Maurice, the young 35-year-old with the brightest of futures.

Maurice wasn't conceding anything to Bowman, but there is no shame in respecting the old master. Bowman's first trip to the Finals, with St. Louis in 1968, ended in a sweep at the hands of Blake's Canadiens.

He learned a few things that series. And the next two years, too, both of which saw St. Louis get broomed in the Finals.

"It doesn't look good on your resume, but who cares?" Bowman said.

That's the part of the resume that is long forgotten by today's players, many of who weren't yet born. Bowman is a hockey icon at 68, perhaps the only man capable of commanding the ultimate respect from the collection of super stars and future Hall of Famers that occupy the Red Wings' locker room.

If everyone is in a lather over the way Phil Jackson handles the egos on the Lakers' bench, imagine coaching nine or 10 future Hall of Famers, not just two?

"Absolutely everyone respects him," Luc Robitaille said. "How can't you?"

Despite the early Cup setbacks, Bowman's numbers are staggering. Only three franchises -- Montreal (23), Toronto (13) and Detroit (nine) -- have won more Cups than he. Saturday night's Game 3 victory, that sprung Detroit to the 2-1 series lead, was his 56th career Stanley Cup Finals game in 12 appearances.

He has coached Ken Dryden and against Bobby Orr. There is almost no one in the game's modern history he hasn't come in contact in some way. On the rare occasions he opens up and starts talking hockey history, it's a chance to listen to a treasure of the sport.

"I asked Henri Richard once ..."

"(Dominik Hasek) has his own structured workout. Dryden was like that ..."

"I know those games (in the '70 Cup Finals) were close, even the famous goal that Bobby Orr scored, we were down ..."

When Bowman was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 11 years ago, 20 of his current players hadn't started their NHL careers yet.

"He's a legend," Wings forward Kris Draper said. "When I was in the minors for Detroit he came to one of our games and came to the locker room before and shook hands. Everyone was in awe, saying, 'I just shook hands with Scotty Bowman, the legendary Scotty Bowman!'"

What is interesting is the Montreal native rarely flaunts all that, hardly ever discusses his past, only on the rare day when reporters prompt him and he is the mood to chitchat.

He doesn't lean on old stories and old players to motivate his team. Actually, he barely says much of anything.

"He doesn't come out and give us big speeches," Brendan Shanahan said.

Especially with a veteran club whose core has been together for most of his nine years, he gives plenty of slack.

"He doesn't talk much, but his message is clear everyday," Robitaille said. "When he does speak, everyone listens. He commands respect."

This is the old school of the old school, a guy who fully believes there should be a delineating line between coach and player. Even guys such as Yzerman, who has been the Wings' captain under him for nine years, say they barely know him socially.

"He's the coach, you are the player," said Martin Dandenault, who has been with the Wings since 1994. "That's it."

His ability to read athletes and situations has served him for 30 NHL seasons. He is a master at understanding the flow of the game and changing game plans immediately to seize an advantage. It isn't uncommon for forward lines and defensive pairings to be juggled by the middle of the first period.

"Everyone knows behind the bench how aware and how sharp he is," Robitaille said. "I don't know anyone who can read a game better."

In terms of dealing with the overall modern player, Bowman is easy. This isn't a player's coach, but he long ago realized he needed to change when the times did. He isn't the iron-fisted ruler of the past. That was Blake.

"There are two reasons for his success," said Red Fisher, the legendary hockey writer who has spent 47 years at the Montreal Gazette. "One is Toe Blake. Toe Blake is the best coach I ever laid eyes on and the best Scotty says he ever laid eyes on. He learned under Toe Blake, so he learned from the absolute best. He knows more about hockey than anybody in the game today.

"No. 2 he has the uncanny ability to change with the times. Toe Blake could not coach in the 1990s or in 2002. Scotty Bowman can. Toe Blake couldn't handle the modern player, the cell phones, the money. Scotty has been able to adapt."

At his age, with so much already accomplished, no one is certain how much longer Bowman is going to want to coach. He has a passion for his family and for golf, and running a NHL team doesn't leave enough time for either pursuit.

It seems unlikely Bowman will stay behind the bench more than a season or two more, if that. It's difficult to envision him being a part of rebuilding the Wings when the core of this veteran team, especially Yzerman, decides to hang it up.

But that's the future and Bowman learned a long time ago not to think, let alone talk, much about that.

Not when two more victories are hanging in the balance. Not when another chance to etch his name on the Cup remains. You wouldn't catch Toe Blake talking about anything past the next game right now.

Blake's great protégé and only coaching peer won't either.