Red Wings forward, Dallas Drake, has announced his retirement today saying that he will not pull a Farve. This means that he is done with playing hockey in the NHL. He was a good, gritty journeyman and an intregral part for the Red Wings during the Stanely Cup Run.
I actually met Dallas. He played at Northern Michigan and ended up marrying a former classmate of mine from high school. A memory that I have is what happend during the Member-Guest tournament at the Country Club that my family belonged to. It was on the 17th hole. My partner and I finished a few holes ahead of my father and his partner. I grabbed a golf cart and went down to see how my dad's group was playing. I got to the green at the 16th in time to see my dad putt out. My dad was playing with his partner who where paired up with Dallas and his brother-in-law. Dallas gets to the 17th tee and pulls out the driver. Now, this hole has out of bounds on the left and a swamp on the right. Most players pull out an iron to keep the ball in play but that also requires a much longer shot into a small green. 'Phwack', Dallas hits the ball out of bounds. 'Phwack', Dallas hits the 2nd ball into the swamp. He then quickly takes the driver and breaks it over his leg saying something that I can't repeat here but it was very funny. That evening all of the men in the tournament went to a nice bar outside on a deck that overlooks the course. Dallas was very generous and picked up half of everyones bar tab.
He is a good person with a good heart. This is why I think he was able to play for so long. He did not have the most points, was not the biggest, but always did what was asked. It is players like Dallas Drake that make hockey teams better and make people better.
Always loved Drake when he first played with the Wings and was sad to see him get traded way back then. He was one of those players you wanted playing on your team but, hated playing against. When he came back to Detroit this past season, it was met with gladness by some and with reservations by others. After the way he played during the season and his fine playoff performance, I know he shut up those critics who thought he was washed up. It was very nice to see him win the Cup with the team he began with and what class Nick Lidstrom showed by handing Drake the Cup first to skate around with it. The NHL just lost a little class with Dallas' retirement. Good luck to him in his future endeavors.
Thank you for the comments! It shows the people do read what I write and it means a lot.
Drake is a classy guy he is going to be missed it was nice to see him retire as a champion good job sis
the first time i actually paid attention to his play, i was a little skeptical this year, but in the playoffs he was an absolute beast and a huge key to the cup, after 15 seasons i'm glad he could go out a champion, another great signing by ken holland
Drake really went out there every night at gave all he's got, i'm glad to see him win a cup. On a side note, i think you write some good stuff siss keep up the good work.
Why no Redwing blogger on the site Ek?