Working Class Heroes

Dallas Drake. I remember playing NHL 93 on Sega Genesis and always being the Red Wings. Steve Yzerman was my first line center but I had to have the young Dallas Drake as my second liner (hell, I was ten, what did I know right?). Dallas Drake has played over 1000 games in the NHL and up until this season, never played in the Stanley Cup Finals. Dallas Drake once said, "If the Stanley Cup was rolling down the street, I wouldn't try to stop it unless I had won it." Nick Lidstrom gave the cup directly to Dallas Drake after receiving it from Gary Bettman Wednesday night. Dallas Drake has earned this Stanley Cup.

Dan Cleary. The first Newfoundlander to win the Stanley Cup.

Kris Draper. We bought him for a dollar from the Winnepeg Jets. Four Cups later, he was the best dollar ever spent.

Chris Chelios. Just seen drinking a beer while riding in the victory parade. You can find him at Cheli's all day today, probably getting hammered with about a thousand of his closest friends.

Kirk Maltby. One of the original members of the Grind Line. You don't get more blue collar than that.

Nick Lidstrom. Was once voted the greatest hockey player in the world by the Sporting News. He could play on any team anywhere for any amount of money but he insists on taking the comparably modest pay just to wear the Winged Wheel on his sweater for 82 nights a year. When they awarded him the captain's C after Stevie Y's retirement, I was a little skeptical. I thought it should go to a more vocal guy like Kris Draper. Looking back on it now, they made the right choice. Nick Lidstrom is the heart and soul.

Thomas Holmstrom. Who would have ever thought that Homer would be such an important part of four Stanley Cup Championships? This is a guy who takes an absolute pounding in front of the net night in and night out and he does it all for the team.

Darren McCarty. The definition of working class hero.
Darren McCarty was drafted in the second round in 1992 by the Detroit Red Wings. After one season with the Adriondack Red Wings, McCarty got the call to the big club and never really looked back. He scored a career high 49 points in the 96-97 season. The 1997 Stanley Cup season was the first Cup for Darren McCarty. March 26th, 1997 was when Darren McCarty won the eternal love of Red Wings fans everywhere when he exacted revenge on Claude Lemieux for his hit on Kris Draper in the 96 Conference Finals which made Draper eat through a straw for a month or so. Not only did he beat up that dickhead, but he dragged him over to the boards and rubbed his bloody face on them in front of the Wings bench. After the fight, the game went to overtime and in a fitting way, Darren McCarty scored the game winning goal to set the tone for the rest of the season and the first of three Stanley Cup runs.

D-Mac fell on hard times in the last few years though. Battling through his personal troubles with bankruptcy and alcohol and drug addictions, Darren McCarty was out of hockey until this season when his good friend Kris Draper told him to make a comeback and play for his Flint Generals of the IHL. After about ten games with the Generals, the Red Wings came calling again. After a brief stint with the Griffins, McCarty was back on the Wings roster and back to his "goon with hands" ways. Darren McCarty's story is truly a great one of personal triumphs. I remember when I met Darren McCarty. It was at a celebrity softball game after their first cup. My elementary school gym teacher Mr. Vecellio took my brother and I after his wife had snagged us some tickets. We sat and watched right behind their fenced in dugout. I didn't have any cards or posters for anyone to sign, but I did have a dollar bill. I timidly walked up to the fence after McCarty popped out to short (not a good softball player Darren McCarty) and said, "Mr McCarty, can you sign this for me?" He turned around and laughed at me. "Who the hell is Mr. McCarty? Call me Darren. What's your name? Where you from? You play hockey? Who's your favorite player? This is pretty cool eh?" I was 14 years old and carrying on a conversation with my favorite Red Wing this side of Steve Yzerman. I still have that dollar bill.

The modern day Red Wings have won exactly zero cups without Darren McCarty on the roster. Coincidence? Probably not.

Working class heroes for a working class city. The great City of Detroit cannot thank these guys enough for all they've done, especially right now.

Hopefully I'll see the Cup again tonight at the CoPa.