Kris Draper Integral To Red Wing’s Success For Almost Two Decades

You don’t get a lot for a dollar. Well, that is not true if you’re a fan of the Detroit Red Wings the past 17 years. In 1993, the Winnipeg Jets traded Kris Draper to the Red Wings for a dollar ($1.00), which was probably $1.50 in Canadian dollars at the time. I don’t know what Winnipeg’s rationale for that trade amount was. My only memories of the old Winnipeg Jets, before becoming the Phoenix Coyotes, were Teemu Selanne, Nikolai Khabibulin and their strange arena with the large mural of Queen Elizabeth. Winnipeg’s loss was Detroit’s major gain. Grind Liner Kris Draper retired this week spending the last 17 of his 20 total NHL seasons with the Wings. He won four Stanley Cups, played for Team Canada in the Olympics and was awarded one Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2004 for the best defensive forward of the year. The speedy, defensive minded forward’s most memorable moment came in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals when world class cheap shot artist Claude Lemieux hit him from behind ...