By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
June 27, 2016
For as long as I can remember, I have always been desirous™ (Rush Limbaugh) for the Red Wings to add a superstar African-North American to their organization.
Considering the team plays its home games in a city that is predominantly black, I always thought it would be very cool for the Wings to employ an African-North American to help attract a different demographic and give young children of color in the area a player they could relate to. Now, I am not saying any personnel decisions should be based on the color of an athlete’s skin, but if by happenstance the Wings did acquire or develop an African-North American it’s my belief that it would be beneficial to both the franchise and the community.
Just look around the Joe Louis Arena. There aren’t a lot of black folks in the building since Orange Hat Guy tragically passed away a few years ago.
Unfortunately, Grant Fuhr, Wayne Simmonds and P.K. Subban don’t grow on trees. Although in the year 2016, a bunch of racist pieces of shit would still like to see them hanging from one.
And the team’s history with black players hasn’t been exactly great. The most (in)famous black person to ever play for them is Tony McKegney, who arrived in Detroit via the worst trade in Motor City sports history. Not only was he part of the deal that shipped Adam Oates and Paul MacLean to St. Louis for Bernie Federko, but he only played 14 games for the Wings, tallying a whopping three points.
And then there was the short stint of Nate Robinson, who only played five games for the franchise and who had the same number of points in his NHL career as the height-challenged Nate Robinson who played point guard for the Knicks, Supersonics and Celtics among other teams during his NBA tenure.
.
In fact, the most famous person to ever wear the Winged Wheel is Tupac Shakur, whom you can see above wearing the sweater in the midst of spitting at the paparazzi while wearing a giant crucifix necklace.
And if you made a top three of the most prestigious black men to ever wear a Detroit NHL jersey, McKegney and Robinson would be way behind Cam Newton and Big Sean ….
Of course, the motivation for writing this article occurred over the weekend when the Red Wings selected Givani Smith in the second round of the NHL Entry Draft.
The Guelph Storm product is a physical presence who was rated #54 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. And while Ken Holland and Company clearly reached for Smith at pick #46 in the second round, the description of the right-winger’s game will surely turn on a segment of the Wings fanbase ….
Wait a second here.
Solid pair of mitts?
Able to generate some space for himself?
Speed and puck skills aren’t his forte?
Discipline an issue????
Reckless and a headache in terms of the penalties he takes?!?!!??
Oh my [Trout], if Givani Smith ever makes it to Little Caesars Arena, I already have the greatest nickname for him …..
BLACKDELKADER!!!!
Of course, the way the Wings develop young talent, even if things go perfectly to plan, Blackdelkader won’t make his Detroit debut until 2022 and who knows if any of us will be alive by then?
But there is another way to add an African-American to the fold as early as THIS season …..
Yep, the DSR’s NHL shaman, Prashanth Iyer, raises an excellent point as always. The Columbus Blue Jackets are salary cap strapped, so why not tender a HUGE offer sheet to Popeye Jones‘ restricted free-agent son?
Iyer went a step further and suggested that a potential pairing of Jones and Brendan Smith would be a perfect coupling. And here is a graph that none of you will understand to support his thesis.
Brendan Smith getting top-pair defensive minutes with the Wings?
A superstar black hockey player in Detroit?
Yeah, right. Either are about as likely as finding a unicorn on a swinger’s website.
Wait. What?
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