The Grind and the Buck stop here: Kris Draper will announce his retirement tomorrow.

Kris Draper will announce his retirement tomorrow, marking the formal end of the Grind Line Era. Sure, you might say that when Macs and Malts quietly stepped off the ice for the last time, the Grind Line was done, but you’d be wrong. As long as Kris Draper was on the ice to remind us what real speed is, the Grind Line lived on.

I was hoping he’d be back for one more year, but so far, the hockey gods are not granting my wishes in 2011. I mean who else can keep up with D-Helm? Nobody, that’s who.  

Most will remember Kris Draper as the grinder with the tremendous heart, who was maimed  by that filthy pig cochon deucebag Claude le-pew who viciously blindsided Draper in a devastating boarding back in 1996, a violently disgusting criminal act against Kris Draper that left him hospitalized for months with multiple broken facial bones and required reconstruction of his jaw,  an incident that forever formed our most intense and hated rivalry and around which the Wings organization and her fans rallied as the Wings utterly humiliated Patrick Wah and his Avalanche teammates soon after.

You may even know that the Wings picked Drapes up for the cost of a song. $1 dollar man. The best $1 ever spent by a sports organization EVER. Kris Draper, like his bretheren, Maltby, Osgood and McCarty gave his heart and soul to the Wings organization, integral in everyway to its on ice success.  But there are some things you might not know about Kris.

In the 1990’s, Draper and quite a few other Red Wings would head to the training room after each game and hop on a bike to do cardio or other workouts. A practice pretty much unheard of in the NHL at this time. I mean Messier’s preferred after game routine involved single dollar bills and strippers for christsakes. Draper was one of the first Red Wings (and players in the NHL) to embrace trainer John Wharton’s workout philosophies, and incorporate post game workouts, plyometrics, cross training and other techniques, helping turn the world of NHL from one where the boys played a game, threw a few punches and then headed out for beers at the Post (or worse, if you were Mark Messier), to a world where each player could better his game and better his team by more fully functioning as a world class athlete. Chronic knee and back injuries, such as those suffered by Stevie Y. and Mario L. are virtually a past remembrance due to the changes in training techniques first successfully employed in the 1990s, and Draper was a pioneer.

In the way Jimmy Howard credits Chris Osgood for mentoring him, Guys like Darren Helm and Jiri Hudler can and have given credit to Kris Draper for his role in helping them grow their game.

It was Kris Draper who first gave Darren McCarty his second, third and fourth chances to launch his come back, including his heartwarming rise back onto the Red Wing Roster in 2008-2009.  In fact, this is a story that bears repeating – please click here to read about the incredible strength of friendship, loyalty and generosity between two life long friends and teammates: Mac and Drapes.  

I will remember Kris Draper as the incredibly hardworking, tough as nails speedster who could explode across the ice faster than any other player, even players half his age. I will always remember and be grateful for the days of “Grind and Kocurs”, and I will fondly remember the last couple years of watching him play with Darren Helm, and the speed and accuracy with which they could pick off any defense and leave their opponents standing between the blues as if the whistle had been blown. Thank you Kris Draper for all you have given the Red Wing Organization and us fans. We are forever in your debt and just like Ozzie, Malts, Macs, and even Joey- Wings Fans adore you.

A Letter of Gratitude to the Great and Powerful Wizard: Chris Osgood

Dear Ozzie:

Just because we all knew this day would come as we watched Malts hang 'em up and worried while you fought off groin injury after groin injury, doesn’t make the announcement of your retirement any easier for true Detroit Red Wing Fans.

When I heard the news, the first thing I thought of was one of your first Stanley Cup speeches, where you simply and humbly thanked all of us, the 1,000,000 fans crammed into Hart Plaza, the fans across the state, country, all of Metro Detroit.

Thanked us. 

As if we had given you even a modicum of what you gave us or the Red Wing Organization. Its absurd really, when we have so much to thank you for, so much we need to tell the greatest goaltender to wear the Winged Wheel and a mask, one of the greatest goaltenders to stop a puck (that’s you, FYI). yea I said it. See, I can concede that Terry Sawchuk was also the greatest goaltender to wear the Winged Wheel- the greatest goaltender to wear the Winged Wheel without a mask. But this isn't about TS, let it go.

Oz, Detroit Red Wings fans everywhere owe you endless and overwhelming thanks for your 14+ years of unwavering loyalty, amazing talent, monstrous heart, never ending hard work, Stanley Cup gifts, clutch wins, reinventing your game, your wicked sense of humor, endless generosity, boundless grace, love and respect for the Detroit Red Wings organization and for us, the people of Metro Detroit, the Wings fans.

We will never forget or stop adoring the “rook” who wanted so badly to help the Detroit Red Wings and her fans bring a Cup back to Detroit after 35+ years, that he took his youthful mistake painfully to heart ; or the calm, steely yet humble record holding veteran who flawlessly executed in Red Wing Goal when so many others labeled “great” could not; or for bringing the Red Wing family its 9^th, 10^th and 11th Stanley Cups; or the sassy, generous, wizened mentor and (now) goaltending coach the Detroit Red Wing Organization knows it has been impossibly lucky to have within the fold, because Chris Osgood gives the Wings, and her fans everything.

The class and poise you have exhibited just by virtue of being the most absurdly and erroneously maligned goaltender in all of hockey makes you a bit of a saint, but having survived, achieved greatness and excellence for 14+ years as a Detroit Red Wing Goaltender makes you a legend and a superstar.

And all that time, you have humbly, continually and heart-fully expressed your overwhelming thanks to and appreciation for Red Wing Fans. Laughable, because the only people who should be bestowing thanks are Red Wing fans. We owe you a lifetime of gratitude and praise. 

And so does all of hockey. For the record, there are gads of stellar stats and achievements tucked under your fight strap.  Here is a list of some of your NHL goaltending achievements.

3 Stanley Cups (Only 6 goaltenders in history have more: Sawchuk, Plante, Dryden, Smith, Worsley and “Wah”).

401 Wins ranking you the 10^th goalie to ever win that many games in the history of the league.

4^th Best Win Percentage of all-time with a career WP of 53.9%, (Only Brodeur, Dryden, “Wah” and Plante have a better W%).

7^th Best GAA of all-time with a career GAA 2.49 (amongst goalies playing more than 500 games, since statistic was first tracked)

4^th Most playoff shutouts of all time with 15 (Only Brody, Cujo and “Wah” have more).

8^th Winning-est playoff goaltender of all time with 74 playoff victories.

16^st Best SV% of all-time at .905 (Amongst goalies playing more than 500 games, since statistic was tracked).

24th Most Shutouts of all-time with 50.

3 time All-Star.

2 time Jennings Winner.

One of only 8 NHL Goalies to score a goal, 1 of only 5 NHL Goalies to put the puck in the opposing team’s net.

Most Wins of Any Detroit Red Wing Goaltender (401). Only the Great Terry Sawchuk has more wins, played more games or has more shutouts wearing a winged wheel.

32 single season victories in 2000-2001 still ties the NYI franchise record.

15 years playing in net for a franchise that is historically known to be brutal on goaltenders (well, we did run Cujo out…).

Only the 4^th Detroit Red Wing of the Wiley Kenotye Holland GM Era to be given the post UFA deadline opportunity to come back if he wanted. (Stevie Y, Sergei, Shanny being the others.)

Osgood? No. OsGREAT.

The heart of a lion made you impossible to beat in the net when it counted most. A strong left hook meant Patrick Roy would twice be called out as the sissy we knew him to be. The character, class and grace of a champion and the insight of an elder statesman make you one of the all time greats to ever wear a Winged Wheel. Heartbreakingly, a long battle with a recurring groin injury ultimately ends one of the most storied, least appreciated goaltending careers in all of hockey.

No, I take that back. You are appreciated. Your talent, contributions and generosity have been greater than almost any. You embody what it means to be a Detroit Red Wing as surly as Stevie Y., Nic Lids, Pavel, Igor, Hank, B-Raf, Malts, and Draper always will: Greatness, Excellence, Loyalty, Heart, Selflessness, Strength of Character, Leadership, Modesty and Drive.

So thank you, Chris Osgood for all you have given Detroit Red Wing Fans everywhere. We adore and appreciate you more than you can possibly know.

Sincerely,

Juice

Nobody Beats the Wiz

The Commodore 64 Campaign is ON like Donkey Kong! A Donkey Kong Charity Drive

Well Kids, if you build it, they WILL come! The day Mike Commodore signed with the Detroit Red Wings, George Malik (one of my favorite blog/sports writers) started a Facebook-Twitter campaign suggesting Commie wear the number 64 as a Wing. I loved the idea, twitted it and then forgot. Luckily the rest of the Hockey/Wing/IT/Geek/Gen X/Slacker world did not:

Today Puck Daddy announced they are raising money for charity in an attempt to get Mike Commodore to agree to wear No. 64. And Mike Commodore has been in touch with Puck Daddy on the matter, and is responding positively, as his twitter account shows!

SWOON!!!!



On behalf of the Hockey Recon Team, and and my website, la-juice.com We have collectively pledged our $64 toward the cause. The cause beign twofold:

1. Get Commie to wear No. 64 as a Wing.
2. Money will go to the charity of Mike's choice.

If you want to contribute- and why wouldn't you? email puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com and let Wysh know!

Sharks toss Loyalty, Hunger, History and Heatley out like Chum

It’s a common and non-controversial belief of mine, one which can be proven factually over in at least a dozen different ways- that the San Jose Sharks, in their dogged pursuit of a Stanley Cup, have modeled their system after the Detroit Red Wings. From coaching to Blueline, I have spent the past 7-8 years thinking of the Sharks as “Mini-wings” – and if they had ever gotten farther through the playoffs than past the Wings in these last two years, I would have probably internally uttered the phrase “And the Student  becomes the master.”

Of course we all know that on paper, even with a President’s Cup in glove, the Sharks cannot have so far been unable to seal the deal. I suspect that it has something to do with not having 100% complete full buy in to the system. If not lack of buy in, it’s a lack of heart, and frankly, of all the other teams I watch, I scrutinize the Sharks, and I can tell you that from my seats (which- when they are in HP Pavilion-are in the rafters) I don’t see a lack of heart on the team.  (Take that JR)

In other words the puzzle pieces are there. Frankly, I suspect that what they need now is the pain, the suffering that comes from getting so close that you spend the next 365+ days doing nothing but pursuing the Stanley Cup. Because that is precisely how the Wings of the 1990s did it. And I have thought of these San Jose Sharks as heading down the same path as my beloved Red(Army)Wings.

But what I see now is a lack of patience, and a pursuit of the short term, perhaps borne of a lack of history and therefore perspective. It began last year when they let Nabby go. Sure they got lucky with Niemi, but that was a HUGE gamble that luckily paid off.

I know you are thinking, Niemi has a Cup, Nabby doesn’t, how could it possibly be a bad trade?  And to that I say, in my opinion, Niemi was an unknown whose true talent would not be experienced until he stopped goaltending for a defensive juggernaut (the 2010 Blackhawks) who made his job relatively easy.

In retrospect, I think the Sharks got lucky because Niemi does indeed seem to have the talent. But I think they gave up something crucial in letting Nabby go: they lost the hunger, loyalty and the history. They tossed away one of their core, one who has suffered and fought and tasted bitter loss, and who still wanted it. They lost a historied statesman who had shown time and time again that he had massive talent and could win clutch games. They tossed away things that cannot come with a new goaltender, things that have to be earned:

Loyalty, Hunger, History.

To me it was the first crack- or break, if you will- from a crucial part of the formula, the one that brings so much success to the Detroit Red Wing Organization. In the late 1990s through several early exits and heart breaking conference and Stanley Cup Final losses, the Wings stayed with their core. Some tinkering or retiring players were moved or let go, but the core stayed solid. Only when the chance to bring a truly phenomenal talent in arose did the Wings depart from the script.

Because they believed in themselves, they believed in each other, they believed in their team, they believed in the Red Wing Organization, the system. Top to bottom, full 100% buy in. And on top of that they were patient. And then they won, and then they kept on winning. Since 1996, almost every 4 years, if not more, a Detroit Red Wing Team wins a Stanley Cup. 20 years of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, more than any team in any professional sport. The system works, and if you don’t buy in you don’t stay.

(I’d like to point out the Sharks have a impressive playoff streak too- second best in the league, as a matter of fact.)

By tossing Nabby, the Sharks showed an impatience, and perhaps fear that they don’t know how to put together a Stanley Cup winning organization.  They show that they don’t either have top to bottom buy in, or that they don’t believe: in themselves, their team mates, their organization.

The Heatley trade reflects this same crack. As does letting Setogucci go. They brought Danny in for grit and hands. He came and played with grit, talent and heart. He bought whole heartedly into the system, or so it seemed. He had chemistry with his tram mates and linesmen, he was a power play dynamo. The guy played his heart out through broken hands, high ankle sprains, groin injuries (all in the playoffs). He brought monstrous points to a team that already had monstrous points. He fit into the system. Honestly, I could be talking about any number of great Detroit Red Wings here. Players who Mr. Holland and Illitch would never let go. Heatley fit so well, I thought of him as core: with Marleau, Thornton, Guci, Clowe, Nabby.

Heatley had 39 goals in a year he played with a “serious groin injury” for cripes sake. This is not a guy you trade away for Marty Havlat.

Heatley and Guci for Burns and Havlat? Sorry this looks insanely “short term” to me. Even if they are as talented as Heater and Gooc, it looks like you are trading away key, crucial, intangibles, things that these new guys cannot bring you: your history, your Hunger, your loyalty, chemistry, buy in.

Sure its unknown, maybe Havlat and Burns have the hunger. Then again, they played for the Wild and that was also a team on paper that should have gone farther than it did in the last 3 years.  Something tells me the Sharks have probably destroyed any chance they had to move on further into the playoffs next year. Sure I could eat these words come Spring ‘12, I just don’t think I will. I don’t think short term gambles on the unknown will pay off. I think the Sharks truly don’t understand what a talented team they had, and they don’t understand the concept of long term payoff. These trades make me sad and disappointed for the Sharks Organization.

Its funny, you would think that this would be fine by me: Sharks taking more after Chicago and performing a mini-implosion than emulating my Red Wing Organization. But here is the thing. Since 2008, the Sharks are the only team that I ever though was truly as talented, deep and worthy- top to bottom- as my Wings. I both dreaded and prayed for a playoff series with the Sharks. I considered the last two Wings-Shark playoff series to be the true Stanley Cup Finals, and I sincerely believed both the Sharks and the Wings could have defeated the ultimate SCF teams if matched up. And I was broken hearted when my Wings lost in both of those series.

Now as it stands, knowing the injury counts, things like Brian Rafalski giving us clutch game winners, all while skating without a ACL for –oh a year- and that my Red Wing Organization would never have considered trading him and in fact are feeling a little lost without him- I know with certainty that the Red Wings continue to be the Winning Organization I will always be in awe and proud of. I am proud to be a Detroit Red Wing Fan. Above all else the RWO is loyal and cohesive. And it pays off year after year after year.

But my heart breaks for the Sharks. Even if I am wrong in thinking that they are making colossal fundamental errors in the management of their organization, and these changes end up taking them further in the Playoffs, I will still believe they traded in long term success for short term gain.

Free Agent Frenzy and Happy canada day!

Wings fans typically watch Free Agency Day with a bucket of popcorn and some 3-D glasses. owever this year for the first time in recent history, we have holes to fill- and the shoes are enormous:  Rafalski's retirement and Chris Osgood's status makes us vulnerable.  And given the mediocrity of this year's UFA pool, well this Wings fan is a nervous as a fox in a hen house...

As the minutes tick down to RFA frenzy hour, and some of the choice UFA D-men get signed for STUPID contracts that not only set an unreasonable precedent for this years free agent contracts, but are so overblown that they will affect next's years Free Agency Class- I am talking to you Buffalo and Columbus- Here are the day's biggest questions

1. If Jagr won't go to the Pens (and he won't, they pulled the offer a minute ago), then whose gonna pay more than 1.5MM for the guy? Wings won't (yes I remember of our Hossa contract shenanigans, but we had no holes that year) Rangers probably cannot. That leaves Philly- with plenty of cap room....

2. Could Doughty be lured away from LA?

3. Will Brad Richards go to LA?

4. What is Colorado going to do about the empty net?

5. What kind of Offer sheets will Stamkos see?

What are your biggest questions for Free Agent Frenzy day?

I tell you, so far the smartest players in the hunt this week and day are the Pens, 'Nucks and Wings, with the Pens pulled Jagr offer and 2MM for Tyler Kennedy giving them the Edge, while the Nucks over the Wings on smart reasonable contracts, but only by an Ericsson. Vancouver has signed only players taking under 2MM/year so far.

Who are the big winners and losers of the day?