| 29 June 2010
Kris "Chuck Norris" Draper is one of the few Red Wings who nearly played in every single game this season. Early on in the year, Mike Babcock through the veteran on a line with a couple of kids - Patrick Eaves and The Namesake (Darren Helm) - and the result was pure magic. The "Little Red Corvette" line was born...obviously named after the song and the fact that all three wore red (duh!) and had great straight away speed and were good around corners. It was this chemistry on the 4th line that lead Draper to have his best season statistically since 2006-2007...that's the good news. The bad news is that he still only managed to eek out 22 points.
Realistically, 22 points isn't too bad coming from a 39 year old "defense-first" forward who plays on the 4th line. His career numbers were never staggering...
...we all knew that the 24 goal season was an abomination.
Don't get me wrong, I love me some Kris Draper. The guy is still money at face-offs, which is always nice when Helm gets kicked out of the dot. The dude is still working his tail off every single shift that he's on the ice...something that hasn't changed for the 16 years that he's been in the organ-i-zation. He clearly works hard off of the ice to maintain the pace that he plays at...and thus, unlike some other veterans (Kirk Maltby)...Draper continues to earn and deserve a spot on this roster...for now anyway.
Although, if the this year's play-offs are any indication of what's to come from Drapes, then maybe we should start thinking about someone else playing with Helm and Eaves. #33 registered no points in all 12 games played and racked up 16 penalty minutes...not the kind of thing we've come to expect from Draper.
What I expected: 5 G 10 A 15 Pts
What we actually got: 7 G 15 A 22 Pts
Final Grade (including the play-offs): C
He gave more than I figured he would in the regular season, but the play-offs were a big disappointment. Draper better keep working his butt off to earn his spot because the whole legacy role only gets you so far on a team with young and hungry players like Helm, Eaves, and Ritola.
Kris Draper is the only man alive who can pee into hurricane-force winds.
