Quote:
Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon
Yeah like I've been a huge Backlund fan since before he made the NHL, but seriously, if you retire his number, what about Joel Otto? Robyn Regehr? Craig Conroy? Gary Roberts? You have to draw the line somewhere.
Personally, I don't think there's any unretired number (at least not yet) that should go before Al MacInnis.
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The difference for me is being the all time franchise leader in games played. That 500+ more games than Otto, 650+ more than Roberts, 700+ more than Conroy and 400+ more than Reggie - that's assuming he does it, but if he does he will have exceeded all of those guys by a loooong ways
I hear people saying you shouldn't do it because he wasn't elite, it's a fair point, but for me being the all time franchise leader in games played (and a captain while doing it) is special and if he does it with 1200+ games I don't know if that will ever be equaled. My vote would be in the camp of hang his jersey if he gets past Iggy.
With the state of the roster it'll probably be at least 10-15 years before another jersey retirement is even considered after that.
MacInnis and Fleury were iconic players and it's hard to argue with them being retired based on what they did on the ice. Just feels like the off ice stuff, whether it's beef with the owners or screaming at the clouds, has muddied the waters there too much and I can't see it happening.
