Darren Mccarty And Claude"the Turtle" Lemieux Signing Cards Together

[Uncle Bud]

http://www.freep.com/article/20110403/COL08/104030582/1053/sports05/Drew-Sharp-Money-tarnishes-Wings-Avs-rivalry

 

Drew Sharp: Money tarnishes Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry

 

It's wrong. It's just wrong.

 

There's nothing inherently distasteful about time and perspective softening the scars between once bitter adversaries. But the sight of Darren McCarty and Claude Lemieux sharing a table as business partners at a memorabilia signing event Saturday in Mt. Clemens should have had everyone lunging for the nearest airsick bag.

 

Lemieux still wouldn't back down from his scurrilous actions of 15 years ago, and McCarty swore that he could neither forget nor forgive.

 

Then what was the point of this partnership?

 

Ah, yes ... the money grab.

 

I'm sure they took in a nice haul considering there was a minimum of 700 people lined up at the Gibraltar Trade Center when it began at 2 p.m.

 

They got to do what they got to do, but it nonetheless cheapens the memory of Detroit's last great sports rivalry -- the Wings vs. the Colorado Avalanche from 1996 through 2003.

 

Twenty years later, the Pistons and Chicago Bulls still trade swipes at each other from their epic battles. Time might give way to some grudging mutual respect, but the competitive animosity that made those games terrific never dies. I doubt you would ever see Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan banding together to make a few bucks off a moment in time that remains very personal for both.

 

Lemieux remains one of the most reviled figures in Detroit sports history. He was Bill Laimbeer on skates, an agitator extraordinaire that you loved only if he was on your team.

 

It was 15 years ago when he mercilessly rammed a defenseless Kris Draper face first into the boards in a Western Conference final between the Wings and the Avalanche. Draper suffered a broken jaw, cheekbone and nose as well as a concussion and required facial surgery. The Avalanche took control of the series, eliminating the Wings and ultimately winning the 1996 Stanley Cup.

 

McCarty personally vowed payback. Lemieux knew he would face retaliation. That was hockey justice. On March 26, 1997, McCarty went after Lemieux immediately after the opening face-off in a game at Joe Louis Arena. It not only triggered one of the more memorable brawls in Detroit sports history -- Wings goalie Mike Vernon and the Avalanche's Patrick "Waaahh" went at it themselves -- but it also proved a galvanizing moment for that Wings' team.

 

It's long remembered in this town as the night that a future Stanley Cup champion finally came together.

 

Why soil that memory with this unholy alliance?

 

Organizers charged $65 for an enlarged photograph of the fight that both would sign. McCarty sat at the far end of the table so he would sign last. Of course, McCarty couldn't resist taking one last shot at The Turtle, signing "Kicked His A--" on the picture.

 

All right, that makes me feel a little better.

 

Wings fans snapped pictures of Lemieux, dressed in a dark suit. I asked one gentleman why he wanted a shot of Lemieux and he told me that he could print it, enlarge it and turn it into a makeshift dartboard.

 

Now, that sounds about right.

 

 

There is the Darren McCarty I know.