"From the day I arrived in St. Louis, you made me feel like I was born and raised here," Hull told the crowd. "Unfortunately I wasn't able to retire here, but I can tell you my heart never left."
by James Mirtle @ 10:55 PM
Trackbacks
| Permalink |
9 comments
A sportswriter at The Globe and Mail, James covers the NHL and the game of hockey. He is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, a senior editor with McKeen's Hockey and was the NHL network manager at SB Nation from 2008 to 2010. A graduate of Thompson Rivers and Ryerson universities, James grew up in Kamloops, B.C. — one of Canada's great hockey cities — and was a season ticket holder in the Blazers' glory years.
► NHL
► Football Betting and NFL Picks
► Learn how and where to play every online casino game including blackjack, roulette and slot machines.
► Find great seats to Texans
vs Bears,
Wizards
vs Suns, and other sports tickets at
SportsBreath.
► Buy tickets from the best: We have cheap Super Bowl tickets, Patriots playoffs tickets, MLB baseball tickets, and Olympics tickets.
Get Sports Betting Predictions including NHL Picks, NHL Odds, NHL power rankings and daily updated NHL Team Schedules.
Blog content © James D. Mirtle
"James Mirtle is good enough to challenge ... as the best hockey blogger out there."
"James is the Sidney Crosby of hockey blogging."
"His performance during this year's Trade Deadline became its own tribe in Brazil."
"My favorite blog and website on the ‘net."
"One of my favorite spots on the internet is Mirtle's site, I won't lie. Guy knows his stuff and is an excellent writer."— Lowetide
"Mirtle looks like the kind of guy who would like to take you out to a nice dinner and talk hockey to you all night long."— hot oil
"Always interesting, intelligent and entertaining. A daily read."
"James Mirtle is battling Off Wing for the title of "most prolific" hockey blogger."
"James Mirtle bats out one heck of a hockey blog."
"Hockey journalist extraordinaire and hockey blogger supreme."— Boltsmag
"Want to know what sports blogging can look like when it's in the hands of a real journalist?"
"James Mirtle is the purveyor of some new hockey blogginghotnesscoolness."
.
9 Comments:
Looking back at all those clips of what St. Louis used to be made me think about how amazing it is they never won the cup during those years.
You've got to feel bad for guys like Adam Oates and Curtis Joseph that never won a cup.
Also, those guys doing the play-by-play during the games in St. Louis are horrible.
I love these ceremonies. Nothing more cool than seeing a tough grown man trying his best not to cry. Great stuff.
1) Probably the first time we've seen someone have his ex-wife and new (trophy) wife both there and both acknowledged.
2) Probably the millions in the settlement made that go a little smoother. ; )
A well-deserved honor and a shame he did have to go elsewhere to win a Cup. But as the fans in Beantown still love Ray Bourque and understand he had to go elsewhere to win a Cup, so do Hullie fans in the Show-Me-State. I'm just happy Blues fans showed true appreciation for one of our best by selling out the Scottrade Center. If only they could do that on a regular basis...
A very touching ceremony and a well-deserved honour. Flames fans are still mad that they traded Hull, but the parts in return were keys in the 1989 Cup win.
Nice to see a sellout but most were probably dissapointed with the performance. A 5-1 buttwhooping.
Maybe next time they retire a jersey, they should pick an easier opponent to play!
Examples:
Vernon's 30 is going up on Feb 6 (Chicago at Calgary)
Messier's 11 is going up on Feb 27 (Phoenix at Edmonton)
Almost certain victories!
Yeah, but Girly, the Oilers lost to the Coyotes when they retired Coffey's 7 last year. The Oilers suck in ceremony games. See also Messier's eternal retirement in New York last year.
Hull probably has more friends/ex-teammates on the Wings anyway
Sadly, there is no easy opponent for the Blues. :(
Savard. Hull. Soon, Messier. Who's up next? Niewendyk?
I always enjoy the retirement ceremonies, seeing the silver-haired vet tearing up a bit, waving at the crowd, the red carpet...it's a nice vibe.
But I believe the only team that is doing any forward-thinking on the issue is the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The game has only been around for 100 years, and "all-time" greats in most arenas have untouchable digits hanging from the rafters. Look at Montreal - they have TWELVE retired numbers, and they're all the cool ones, too. Boston, eleven... Someday, the only numbers available for players will be horrible football numbers like "80" or "78". I hate how that looks.
In all the years of hockey to come, there will be someone else to carry the torch of the greatest player in the game...and historical precedent will demand their jersey hang with the rest.
When will teams finally draw the line at retiring jerseys?
I believe Toronto has taken the right tack on this - honour the numbers, but keep them active. This way, the veterans are appropriate saluted, the great history of the team is honoured and kept alive with active numbers, and the issue of availability of future numbers is preserved.
But even their strategy could be tweaked; clubhouse rules should dictate that only veteran players be granted the right to wear an honoured number. It's a disgrace to see Slugobov motoring around wearing #9 on his back.
Still. I love seeing the classic numbers out there on the ice - 7, 9, 14, 16...it's a crying shame that such beautiful numbers will never be available again in Montreal.
Post a Comment
<< Home