Kris Draper set to announce his retirement

In a summer that has seen the Detroit Red Wings lose the likes of Brian Rafalski and Chris Osgood, the team appears to be on the verge of losing a third player to retirement this offseason.  The Red Wings have scheduled a press conference at Joe Louis Arena for 11 a.m. tomorrow morning, during which it is expected that long time checking forward, Kris Draper, will announce his retirement from hockey. Draper’s story is the stuff of legend in the Motor City, as the Wings picked him up from Winnipeg in 1993 for literally $1.00.  Draper would go on to be one of the best checking centers in the league for the majority of his career, and brought certain intangibles to the clubhouse that helped make the Wings into the powerhouse they are right now, and have been for the past two decades. Draper’s departure signals what is realistically the end of an era in Detroit hockey.  Starting in the mid-to-late 1990′s, Draper, and teammates Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur formed one of th...