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AtomicPunk

Glen Wesley Night!

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The Hurricanes are having Glen Wesley night Feb. 17, where they will retire Glen's #2.

Honoring a decade of hard-nosed hockey. Or so they say.

I know getting a number retired is a hot button topic around here, but even I think this one is kind of a joke.

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No doubt, a good player, but not a great player.

Your definition of a great player may be different than mine or the other joe who is smoking a camel or throwing back a soda-pop.

A great player could be considered a man who shows up, works hard, is dedicated, and does the right thing. A player of players, a teammate who goes that extra mile.

Do not dwindle the mans contributions to the Canes.

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Your definition of a great player may be different than mine or the other joe who is smoking a camel or throwing back a soda-pop.

A great player could be considered a man who shows up, works hard, is dedicated, and does the right thing. A player of players, a teammate who goes that extra mile.

Do not dwindle the mans contributions to the Canes.

Sounds like you're a pretty big Glen Wesley fan. I have no issue with that. But like I said, he was good, not great....Glen's best years didn't even happen in a Whalers/Hurricanes uniform. I completely agree with you, however, on the fact that he was a hard worker, dedicated, did the right thing, and was obviously a great team player. But...and I don't mean to diminish whatever contributions he made to the Carolina franchise...he was a good player at the best of times. I know that stats don't tell the whole story, but he topped out a 32 points (96/97) and +18 (03/04) while in Hartford/Carolina. I thought that maybe his stats in their 05/06 Cup run might have been good, but he only had 2 points then...

But, again, Carolina isn't exactly a storied franchise, so the intangibles you mentioned in your post weigh very heavily in his favor. I appreciate that you obviously have alot of respect for him as a player, but I still think it's a reach to retire his number. If the Red Wings were to retire the number of every player of Glen Wesley's stature or better, there would be no numbers left to wear. That's all I'm saying.

But nonetheless, I'm happy for Glen Wesley and I hope you don't take this too personally. You're not his brother are you? Just kidding.

Cheers man.

Edited by Yzersyukstromberg

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Your definition of a great player may be different than mine or the other joe who is smoking a camel or throwing back a soda-pop.

A great player could be considered a man who shows up, works hard, is dedicated, and does the right thing. A player of players, a teammate who goes that extra mile.

Do not dwindle the mans contributions to the Canes.

Is it safe to say his best career years occurred before he came to the Canes?

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Is it safe to say his best career years occurred before he came to the Canes?

The dude was hard-nosed during the playoffs when he played with the Canes late in his career. I would rather have a guy who has heart and is bright in a short span of time that someone who is all flash and no cash.

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Sounds like you're a pretty big Glen Wesley fan. I have no issue with that. But like I said, he was good, not great....Glen's best years didn't even happen in a Whalers/Hurricanes uniform. I completely agree with you, however, on the fact that he was a hard worker, dedicated, did the right thing, and was obviously a great team player. But...and I don't mean to diminish whatever contributions he made to the Carolina franchise...he was a good player at the best of times. I know that stats don't tell the whole story, but he topped out a 32 points (96/97) and +18 (03/04) while in Hartford/Carolina. I thought that maybe his stats in their 05/06 Cup run might have been good, but he only had 2 points then...

But, again, Carolina isn't exactly a storied franchise, so the intangibles you mentioned in your post weigh very heavily in his favor. I appreciate that you obviously have alot of respect for him as a player, but I still think it's a reach to retire his number. If the Red Wings were to retire the number of every player of Glen Wesley's stature or better, there would be no numbers left to wear. That's all I'm saying.

But nonetheless, I'm happy for Glen Wesley and I hope you don't take this too personally. You're not his brother are you? Just kidding.

Cheers man.

At this moment I am not taking anything personally unless there is a gun being held to my head.

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A. The red wings are and always will be my favorite team, i've follwed them for 15+ years.

B. I'm also a carolina hurricanes fan, kinda hard not to watch them with mild intrest living in Raleigh North Carolina

C. An original Six franchise is retiring a "heart and soul" player too, did you know?

D. Glen Wesley taught the young canes how to win, We wings fans are spoiled, but imagine this if you will. What if we arn't the most storied U.S hockey franchise in the history of the league. What if we're a team not unlike Carolina (thank God we're not) Would it surprise you to see a guy like Chelios have his number retired? Then why are you having a s*** fit about wesley? He was that kind of player for Carolina, he gave all he had and after winning a cup he walked away. I'll point out that the D in Carolina has never been the same sense.

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A. The red wings are and always will be my favorite team, i've follwed them for 15+ years.

B. I'm also a carolina hurricanes fan, kinda hard not to watch them with mild intrest living in Raleigh North Carolina

C. An original Six franchise is retiring a "heart and soul" player too, did you know?

D. Glen Wesley taught the young canes how to win, We wings fans are spoiled, but imagine this if you will. What if we arn't the most storied U.S hockey franchise in the history of the league. What if we're a team not unlike Carolina (thank God we're not) Would it surprise you to see a guy like Chelios have his number retired? Then why are you having a s*** fit about wesley? He was that kind of player for Carolina, he gave all he had and after winning a cup he walked away. I'll point out that the D in Carolina has never been the same sense.

Buddy...Chris Chelios is one of the better defensemen ever to play the game of hockey. Take a look at his stats...we're not talking about a Glen Wesley calibre player. And he's still playing a few weeks after his 81st birthday (slight exaggeration). Chelios could easily have his number retired in Chicago, where he spent some of his best years, or in Montreal, where they just love retiring numbers...and those are two pretty long standing franchises.

How did Glen Wesley teach them how to win? He had never won anything before in his life. Don't try to overblow what he was...like the other guy said...hard working, good team guy. He didn't teach the Canes how to win.

Just my opinion though, and I most definitely respect yours even if I don't agree.

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Retiring jersey numbers is a new practice, and I'm OK with newer franchises getting in on the action. Not every franchise has had the fortune of being in the league for a million years, but fans deserve to have their heroes and legends honored.

Agreed...like I said, for some teams it's a bit of a 'reach', but it is fun for the fans, and generates revenue. I enjoy it, and while I'm glad the Wings keep the jersey retirements to very elite company, I think there are a few who probably deserve the honor, but might not get it at the end of their careers. (ie; Ozzie, Sergei)

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No issues here, I like Wesley and it's not my team anyway, they can do what they want with it.

I still think it's kind of funny though. Wesley, Adam Graves, even Doug Gilmour to an extent (Has anyone ever gotten so much love for getting to the conference finals? He basically got his number honored because of one season.), the latter two of those being Original Six teams. Yet you get blasted by some around here for mentioning Shanahan, Fedorov or Osgood in that capacity.

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Buddy...Chris Chelios is one of the better defensemen ever to play the game of hockey. Take a look at his stats...we're not talking about a Glen Wesley calibre player. And he's still playing a few weeks after his 81st birthday (slight exaggeration). Chelios could easily have his number retired in Chicago, where he spent some of his best years, or in Montreal, where they just love retiring numbers...and those are two pretty long standing franchises.

How did Glen Wesley teach them how to win? He had never won anything before in his life. Don't try to overblow what he was...like the other guy said...hard working, good team guy. He didn't teach the Canes how to win.

Just my opinion though, and I most definitely respect yours even if I don't agree.

Yes i'm very much away of who Chris Chelios was and is as before he was a red wing i spent many a year hating his guts.

You missed my point entirely, I'm not exactly talking about Chelios as a person or comparing his legendary Career to Wesley's, but theoretically stating; a D man who played his best years on another team, but came to another team and helped mold a group of young D men while playing some of his best hockey in years during the Stanley cup finals.

Obviously you don't watch a lot of Canes hockey (not that I blame you or anything) but it's silly for you to say something like that if you're not a fan of the team. It's like me coming here and questioning the impact of a Red wing without knowing the first thing about the team and it's workings. Wesley embodied the term "relentless" which was then Coach Laviolette rallying cry during the 2006 playoffs. In the Finals especially he proved to be invaluable after the canes blew a 3-1 series lead in heartbreaking fashion. In the locker room he was a vocal leader who calmed some frantic nerves on the blue line and allowed a nearly perfect game from Carolina's Defence.

Seriously, i understand if you don't think he's on par with Steve Yzerman. He's not, not in any shape or form. But if you don't understand what he means to that fan base and that franchise it's kinda silly degrade it.

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Wow, I never expected so much passion in a thread about Glen Wesley. Amazing.

Do I have a problem with him having his number retired in Carolina? Nope. He was a model player on a team without much history (well, at least in THAT city).

Would I retire his number on the Wings for his contributions to team work ethic and attitude? Nope, no more than I'd retire #33.

Why all the vitriol?

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Have they already retired Ron Francis' number? If not, why is Wesley going first? Also, does this mean Aaron Ward will also have his number in the rafters?

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Yes, I think Francis was one of the first things they did after he retired.

And very deserved.

I'm not dogging Wesley, per se, if you have noticed in the past, I have been vocal for the Wings to do more of this. Great players in a team history should be acknowledged. And I will admit to not knowing as much as a Canes fan would.

It just seems that lately there is a number retiring frenzy. I thought it was funny when the Avs retired Bourque's number. He played for them for 2-3 years! And maybe the Leafs with Clark and Gilmour, well, they are 2 of MY favorites, but a case could be made that they don't deserve it, compared to other players in Leaf history. Will they retire Joseph's number?

As a Wings fan, we seem to have a different standard. We shouldn't.

I think it would be very odd for us to retire Paul Coffey's number, for example. Or Mike Vernon's. But #16, #91, there are many numbers that SHOULD be up there.

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Yes i'm very much away of who Chris Chelios was and is as before he was a red wing i spent many a year hating his guts.

You missed my point entirely, I'm not exactly talking about Chelios as a person or comparing his legendary Career to Wesley's, but theoretically stating; a D man who played his best years on another team, but came to another team and helped mold a group of young D men while playing some of his best hockey in years during the Stanley cup finals.

Obviously you don't watch a lot of Canes hockey (not that I blame you or anything) but it's silly for you to say something like that if you're not a fan of the team. It's like me coming here and questioning the impact of a Red wing without knowing the first thing about the team and it's workings. Wesley embodied the term "relentless" which was then Coach Laviolette rallying cry during the 2006 playoffs. In the Finals especially he proved to be invaluable after the canes blew a 3-1 series lead in heartbreaking fashion. In the locker room he was a vocal leader who calmed some frantic nerves on the blue line and allowed a nearly perfect game from Carolina's Defence.

Seriously, i understand if you don't think he's on par with Steve Yzerman. He's not, not in any shape or form. But if you don't understand what he means to that fan base and that franchise it's kinda silly degrade it.

Trust me, I understand what he means to that team...just because I'm a Wings fan, doesn't mean I only follow the Red Wings. I'd consider myself a pretty well rounded hockey fan. All I was getting at is that Glen Wesley is a bit of a reach when it comes to retiring a number. Like you said, it would basically be the equivalent of Chris Chelios getting his number retired, but in Detroit, not in Chi-town or Montreal. Either way, I respect your opinion, and unfortunately, I don't see anything silly about my evaluation of Glen Wesley. He is what he is, and that was an above average NHL defenseman. I just wish teams would raise the bar a bit when it comes to hanging jerseys up in the rafters, that's all. Like another guy in this thread said...who's next Aaron Ward?

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