First off, I'd like to congratulate Kris Draper on a fabulous career. The 40 year old center called it a career this week and I'm going to say that he'll be missed. Draper, or "Drapes" to fans and teammates, wasn't the flashiest player on the ice, but he was a rock solid leader in the lockerroom. Up and coming winger (and former MSU Spartan) Justin Abdelkader looks to him as a mentor type and Abdelkader's growth at the NHL level is at least partially attributed to Draper's influence on Justin.
Let's look at stats: First off, Draper was selected 62nd overall by Winnipeg in 1989. And that's where things got strange. First off, Draper went to the AHL (appearing in 7 games), then played a little in the NHL (3 games). THEN was sent to the OHL. So he played pros before he played Major Juniors. That's not the strangest thing. In 1993, Winnipeg traded Kris Draper to Detroit for... ONE DOLLAR. Yup. $1. I'm not sure a GM could keep his job in today's world if all he got for a player was $1. I can't believe that there wasn't something, even a conditional 9th round pick, that Winnipeg couldn't have gotten for Draper.
In the end, Kris Draper retires with his name etched FOUR times on the Stanley Cup and a Selke Trophy (for NHL's best defensive forward) in 2004. He retires as only the 5th player in Detroit history to play 1,000 games with Detroit. He is also 9th all time in NHL Post season appearances (2nd on Detroit if you don't count Chris Chelios).
He's not going to get into the NHL Hall of Fame, but he certainly is one of the all time great Red Wings.
Best of luck Drapes.
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Mike Commodore will NOT be wearing #64.
According to insider sources (Bill Roose's twitter feed and Winging It in Motown - Detroit Red Wings' blog), Mike Commodore will wear #22 for Detroit this season. However, Mike has indicated that he may still participate in the $64 charity promotion that was suggested along with the jersey number.
