Gary Roberts and Kris Draper went hard at each other 20 years ago, nearly dropped the gloves Saturday in an alumni game and they’d probably be throwing checker pieces at each other during rec hour at the NHL old folks home.
“That’s kind of what we are and who we are,” the Red Wings’ Draper said after his hack exchange with Roberts preceded his 4-3 winning goal in the dying minutes against the Maple Leafs at the Centennial Classic alumni game at BMO Field.
“You have the intensity and the competitiveness and we don’t get enough of that when you walk away from the game. You just don’t have that fire and that passion and (in these games) it kicks in a little bit. You saw the Leafs came back flying in the third period (after trailing by three at one stage) and they wanted to win.
“You want to represent yourself well. You’ve got your wives watching, my parents, brothers, sisters and kids were here.”
The Toronto-born Draper, now a Wings executive, was rammed hard by Roberts into the boards in the third period, retaliation by Roberts for Dino Ciccarelli’s similar hit on Danny Markov. As play moved up ice, extra jabs and slashes took place and teammates stepped in. But Draper said he gave only “a quick thought” to fighting.
“It wasn’t fake, I can tell you that,” laughed Draper, who is 45 while Roberts is as old as Leafs’ half century Cup drought.
Later, Draper was in the right place in front of Curtis Joseph to bury a rebound from a slapper by Ciccarelli.
Roberts said afterwards it stung to lose the game on a Draper goal, but added there was no lingering bitterness.
Draper and Roberts missed each other in the handshake line as Draper was being interviewed live, but Tie Domi, who had knotted the game 3-3, assured the rugged Roberts was fine after the game and saw it as part of hockey.
“They’re two of the most fit and competitive guys on either team,” Domi said. “You see them buzz around out there. They could play on both teams right now.”
During his post-game TV bit, Draper was asked about Ciccarelli breaking an unwritten rule that there would be no slap shots — a safety measure for some slower players such as Mickey Redmond, who is pushing 70.
“What do you mean,” Draper said when asked again by the media. “I never heard of that.”
Told it was probably a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ he laughed.
“Between who? Dino is a half-slapper. It’s in the books. Sorry, about that guys.”
An announced crowd of 28,710 watched as the oldtimers tested the ice for the NHL game between the clubs for New Year’s Day. Two Leafs went down with injuries, Mike Palmateer, a few weeks shy of his 63rd birthday, stretched to make an arm save on a Tomas Holmstrom penalty shot and had to get off, bringing Felix Potvin into the game a little earlier than planned. Wendel Clark, who has been advising middle aged people to be health conscious since he hit 50 in October, limped off with what he told Sportsnet was a popped hamstring.
“I didn’t know I had one,” quipped Clark.
One of Detroit’s early goals came from Brendan Shanahan, the Leaf president who was compelled to play for the team where he won three Stanley Cups.
“I’m the luckiest guy on the ice,” Shanahan said. “I got to be with my old teammates and I was in the Leaf room until about 45 minutes before the game, making sure our alumni were getting to meet our current players. I thought I had two teams and two sets of friends out there.
“Marty Lapointe and Igor Larionov were my linemates when when we won two Cups in ’97 and ’98. We get on the ice once or twice every 20 years and yet somehow we all know where each other will be. We’re just not as fast and we don’t lead each other as much. On my goal, Marty said: ‘Up the middle Shanny.’ I turned around and the puck was there. It’s funny after 15, 20 years what one look or one word can still mean.”
Shanahan had a good chuckle about the Roberts-Draper exchange.
“I’m not surprised,” he said. “We don’t get to do this anymore, so when we do get involved or nicked up, we love it.”
With Detroit up 3-0, Clark stayed with the puck after his first shot was stopped and managed to get Toronto on the board before the third period began. Then the Leafs grinders took over, Darcy Tucker and Domi jamming in goals.
“Nice to hear the fans chant my name after a goal for a change,” said Domi, the team’s penalty leader. “Usually it’s for a fight. A nice way to go out.”
Domi wore a toque over his famously hard melon instead of a helmet.
“It was an honour to be here,” he said. “A hundred years (only comes once for a team) and it’s a special memory to share with people.”
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