Wings veteran Chelios a member of 'The Malibu Mob'

DETROIT -- Chris Chelios has won the Stanley Cup with two franchises and made the Finals with another, so he knows something about team chemistry.

It explains why the 46-year-old Detroit Red Wings defenseman fits in so well with his other team, 'The Malibu Mob.'

Chelios is at the core of a group of athletes, entertainers and others who own property in the Southern California community, pal around and work out together.

The Malibu Mob includes Chelios, big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, tennis star John McEnroe and actors Tony Danza, John Cusack and John C. McGinley, who provided some insight into the group's activities.

McGinley, who stars as the fast-talking Dr. Perry Cox on the NBC (and soon to be ABC) sitcom Scrubs, grew up a Rangers fan in New York, but switched his allegiance to the Wings after his Malibu neighbor Chelios was traded from Chicago to Detroit in 1999.

McGinley said his fellow Mob members all are big Chelios fans and drop what they're doing to see him play when Detroit is on the West Coast. They have seen the Red Wings play during recent stops in Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose.

If Chelios is in town, "the Mob is meeting," McGinley said. "Whoever's here is a quorum."

The Mob members converge on a luxury box at the arena "so we can just completely bask in Cheli's glory," he said.

McGinley said Chelios is supportive of his fellow Mob members, visiting their movie sets when he can.

And in turn, McGinley said he hasn't missed a single Red Wings playoff game on TV this season, watching the team advance to its first Cup Finals series since 2002. McGinley's prediction: Wings in six games over Pittsburgh.

Chelios, speaking between Games 1 and 2, confirmed the group's existence, saying it is 20 members strong.

"I don't know how it happened. Tony Danza came up with it," he said. "Just a group of friends out there that came up with the name."

Not only is McGinley a Wings fan, so is his character, whose love of the team has been displayed in more than a few Scrubs episodes.