Kirk Maltby to announce he is retiring

[redwingslady87 130]

do you really think thats the case? to me, its more of the typical example of wings loyalty. offer a guy a contract because its the 'right thing' to do, not necessarily because the player is still capable of producing at the nhl level. even when the contract was signed, holland was very clear that it was primarily going to be a grand rapids role. all 29 other gm's also had a shot at him on the waiver wire and none felt he could contribute at the nhl level either.

i am not trying to be all negative in the retirement thread, but just hoping to provide an objective opinion on why people were against the signing.

also, i am watching nhl live on the nhl network, and they mentioned that they are hoping to have maltby on the show later. if they get anything definite i will let you guys know.

Everyone has got to get over the "offer a guy a contract because of loyalty" crap.

Did Malts ever produce much at the nhl level? No, his career high was a 33 point season. Chelios was with us for 10 years, and has warranted just as much loyalty as Malts. Did they offer Chelios a two-way contract last year because it was the "right thing" to do? No they didn't. Holland flat out said that he wasn't offering Chelios a contract. Malts had a better season statistically this past season, than he did in the previous two, and he played his role of a 4th liner, penalty killer, agitator night in and night out. I'm not disagreeing that it was time for Maltby to retire and let the young kids move up and have their chance, but I don't believe Holland would offer any type of contract to a guy that he thought had no chance of fighting for a spot at camp. The point of my original post was for the previous poster to have a little respect for the guy, but I guess in this day and age, very few people have respect for others.

[Third Man In 2,091]

I feel older today. Congrats Malts on a phenomenal career. Absolute pain in the ass on the ice and as nice as they come off it. A definite heart and soul guy. And always a champion--not many have the words 'four-time Stanley Cup Champion' before their names. Glad that the Wings found a place for him now that he's hung his skates up.

If anyone can post a video of the PK against St Louis in 2002, I'd be much obliged.

[hokeychik22 17]

Home movies of Maltby scoring the last goal of his career, Feb 13, 2010 vs. Ottawa.

Yes, that's me holding the camera!

i was at this game.. good game. was standing room in same area you were

Malts is replacing Verbeek as a scout.

Is there video of his announcement anywhere?

thats good for him

Edited October 14, 2010 by hokeychik22

[Sergei Fedorov91 24]

Detroit does it right. You see so many ex players from the organization going on and becoming TV announcers, GM's, scouts etc. Where else would you see a retirement press conference for a 4th liner? Malts hell of a career, enjoy retirement and brag about those 4 rings.

[Barrie 900]

i was at this game.. good game. was standing room in same area you were

Cool, cool. I had the camera rolling a lot during the game. I lucked out and got all 4 Wings goals that night. You can see the other 3 here, along with a couple more clips from the game.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BWyatt76#p/u/9/MDjmnHJ8Hm4

Never mind the ones of a friend and I singing badly at a Pearl Jam concert

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

This still breaks my heart. The PC was so hard to watch!

Thanks for all the great years, Malts! He had a great career. It's so hard to see these players retire now because it's who majority of us have grown up watching.

[ZetterGirl 0]

the grind line was bad ass though. they were awesome for the wings for quite a while and were instrumental in the first 3 cups. time for helm and abby and the other young guys to take over.

Well said. I still have my original grind line poster from when the free press put them in during the 96/97 playoffs! that team brought me more joy then any other time!!