Farewell, to the last of the Grinders

When I wrote a blog about what might happen this off-season, I never expected to be right. I never expected for Joey MacDonald to resign, Chris Osgood to retire, Ty Conklin to sign, and now... Kris Draper to retire. But unfortunately for long time Wings fans, That is the case.

There would have been no Grind line without Kris. He's centered that line like no one else could. From winning the Selke Trophy to helping the franchise win four Stanley Cups, there will never be another player like Kris Draper. Kris is the guy that pushes himself harder than any other player on and off the ice. Drapes encouraged the rest of the team to follow his lead. Often leading off-ice/away from Joe Louis Arena work outs, Drapes took the fitness both on and off the ice as his project.

Kris may not have been drafted by our organization, but he's ours. He may not have been born in Michigan but he's a Michigander and a Detroiter to us. He's been naturalized after just short of two decades with our organization.

Thanks for the memories, Kris!

















Thanks for everything, Enjoy retirement, and we'll miss you like crazy!


The retirements of some of our most favorite Wings have come too closely together it seems. So here's what I suggest: players who have names that end in "strom", are Swedish, and are the last remaining Red Wings from 97' cup year have to stagger their retirements... by a few years.