Osgood and Draper call it a day
On Tuesday 7 July, legendary net minder Chris Osgood decided to end his lengthy 17-year career and just a week later, fellow Red Wing Center Kris Draper retired, recording 17 seasons with the team who slipped out of the playoffs in the conference semi-finals last year.
Although these two will be missed on the ice, Osgood stays in Michigan to be the goalie consultant with the Red Wings and Draper is also staying in Detroit with a ‘front-office’ role to play.
Osgood, the 38 year old Canadian, racked up 744 NHL appearances in 18 seasons playing for Detroit, New York Islanders and St.Louis in the process. He recorded 401 victories in his career, including 317 as a Redwing, which is the second highest amount of wins by a Red Wing. The highest number of wins for a Detroit player was amassed by Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuck.
In his career, Osgood won three Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998 and 2008 but it was the latter two trophies where he had the biggest part to play, as the starting goalie during those series. Osgood became famous for last wearing the players helmet/cage with a big neck guard, instead of the modern day one-piece helmet. Debate goes on as to whether Osgood will go down in the Hall of Fame but one thing everybody does know is that Osgood brought skill and talent to the game and will be missed by the Detroit Red Wings and around the league.
Kris Draper, the 5ft 1in Canadian called it a career just a week after the announcement of Osgood’s retirement. This gesture gave Osgood the respect he deserved and a week to receive the congratulations and recognition he had merited.
The word ‘legend’ is used a lot but this word sums up Kris Draper in referring to his career with the Detroit. With over 1000 appearances in the NHL and scoring 158 goals with 203 assists, Draper also won the Selke Trophy in 2004 for the league’s best defenseman. To add to all that, he won four Stanley Cups in Wings’ colours. He says he is looking forward to his role in the office for the 2011-12 season, although he doesn’t know what it will involve just yet.
Two great players join Brian Rafalski in retirement in 2011 from the Red Wings stable. All three have played a huge part in the game, and have been a pleasure to watch on the ice. With gaps to fill, the Red Wings are looking forward to next season where they will have high expectations as ever.
