Remember the Past

I was recently reading the Sports Illustrated I received on Thursday with all the football and Superbowl coverage you could ever need. I got to the who's hot who's not page, and at the bottom it said that Claude Lemieux was hot. The most hated man in Detroit is back folks. He had a 23 game warm up in the AHL, and now, at the age of 43, he is back, playing for San Jose Sharks.

Although its been about 12 years since the brawl at Joe Louis Arena, I know Red Wings fans can still feel hatred for this guy, who, in the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs, boarded Kris Draper, causing severe injury to his face. Then, the following year, when Darren McCarty got his revenge by beating the crap out of the guy. Old time hockey, when fights were really fights, not just some shoving behind the net, and when all the seats were filled at every home game.

Even though Lemieux is not on the Colorado Avalanche, and the Red Wings are not the same team they used to be, there are still six guys on the team who played on March 26, 1997, including Draper and McCarty. Right now, McCarty is recovering form hernia surgery, and Ken Holland has said that McCarty should be back in around six weeks, so the next time the Sharks and Wings meet it should be a fun battle to watch, and right now, at the All Star break the Wings have plenty of time to prepare for it.

Right now, the Red Wings trail the season series 1-2, and the home team has won each time. The Wings next play the Sharks at home on Feb. 25. McCarty should be back by then, and hopefully Lemieux from will still be in the lineup.