Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I agree both should be retired. I think with Al, the issue was a little bit that he went on to play a big role on another team, including in management, unlike Iginla or Lanny. With Theo, I still have the suspicion that he's either done something off camera that bugged them a lot, or that he is insisting on things for the ceremony that are not what they want to do (like pay him or something). I have zero evidence of this, but Theo has gone from one thing to another so much that I think he's a bit hard up for cash and without the skills to make a bunch.
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Both things seem petty. If MacInnis and Nieuwendyk went on to do other things with other teams, fine. That's life. They still gave you some of their best years and got your organization to the top of the mountain, and they had to do it against the Gretzky Oilers.
Retire their numbers.
Theo, look. Everyone knows what Theo's deal is. Everyone knows the obstacles he's overcome. You take the good with the bad. Say 'we're retiring your number on November 14th, be here by 4:30'. Fleury makes his money as a public speaker now, and from what I've heard in interviews, doesn't seem financially strapped.
Again, for 2 and 14, they're already basically retired. Nobody wears them, nobody would. Unlike 25, which apparently goes to any scrub who needs a shirt. Whatever you want to say about Nieuwendyk, he did get you Iginla. So if you're going to honor him anyway, just take 25 out of circulation.