Hockey fans love banners … all of them.
When their beloved franchise wins a division, or a conference, or puts up the most points in the regular season, or of course wins it all one of the most anticipated events is the raising of the new banner.
Though the fan didn’t earn the rectangular silk themselves, they see it as a badge of honour for a team they have supported through thick and thin, decade after decade.
They are great argument points between fans of different teams … Montreal fans can laugh heartily at Leafs fans when it comes to banner count versus time in the league. Out West Edmonton fans love the banner argument when talking to Calgarians, and Calgarians have an edge on their friends further left in Vancouver.
But where the most debate lies is in the retirement banners in each city. These aren’t earned by team success on the ice, they are deemed worthy to individual players by the teams themselves.
With that comes great subjectivity from city to city in how many banners have been retired, which players have been retired, and whether or not they should have been, or others should have taken their place.
Vancouver
Last night in Vancouver the Canucks retired Trevor Linden’s #16, an event that puts Linden in the rafters beside the only other retired Canuck, former Captain Stan Smyl (#12).
This is interesting in that the Canucks have been around since 1970 (38 years) and have only retired two jerseys, and the statistics behind the two players that were chosen.
Linden and Smyl are one two in games played in franchise history, and 2nd and 3rd in all time points garnered in the nasty evolution of Canuck jersey lore. Clearly they didn’t reach far off the list to make their decisions, nor do they hand out the honour easily and without much thought. Markus Naslund sits first in total points and third in games played suggesting he too will be retired once he hangs them up in New York. But what of Thomas Gradin, Tony Tanti, Todd Bertuzzi or Pavel Bure? Perhaps not. On the goaltender front “King” Richard Brodeur may not have won the big prize but was instrumental of Canuck success in the early 1980’s.
Edmonton
In Edmonton you have an odd mix of a clear cut winning era that everyone remembers and a throw back that only those from Sherwood Park can possibly harken back too.
Who could possibly argue with the likes of Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Coffey and Fuhr. All great players, all decorated hall of famers, and all cup champions many time over in Alberta’s capital city. But what of Al Hamilton? Who is this guy and why is his number retired? He played only one NHL season for the Oilers but considerably more in the WHA. His numbers weren’t staggering, but he was productive given he was a defenseman.
The Oilers have retired their top three point getters of all time, took a pass (at least so far on Glenn Anderson) then their 5th in Paul Coffey. Next up on their all time list for points is Doug Weight, Ryan Smyth, Esa Tikkanen and Kevin Lowe. Certainly Lowe and Smyth are givens at some point, though Lowe still being out of the rafters at this point is somewhat peculiar.
If they want to get into the years in service game then Kelly Buchberger shows up on the list as 4th overall but isn’t likely to see his #16 flapping in the wind. Grant Fuhr was an obvious choice in goal but don’t forget that both Andy Moog and Bill Ranford as other masked men that carried the mail deep into the playoffs.
Montreal
Out East the Montreal franchise is running out of numbers and may need to move into symbols much like the artist formerly known as Prince, now wouldn’t that have been a treat for Danny Gallivan.
The Habs have covered off their all time list pretty successfully, retiring their top six all time point producers, skipping the 7th and 8th (Lemaire and Shutt) and moving on and retiring their 9th (Geoffrion). Others near the top of the points list would include Elmer Lach, Mats Naslund and Saku Koivu in case they get that itch to put another jersey up in the Bell Center.
Players somewhat snubbed in terms of service would include Claude Provost (5th) and current coach Guy Carboneau (10th). Goaltenders that didn’t get the honour would include Rogie Vachon and Gump Worsely.
Toronto
The Maple Leafs have the tenure and the jersey retirements but a heck of a lot less by way of on ice success, at least in modern history. Their list of retired players has some interesting holes in it pointing to ancient animosity and some more recent situations that will warrant inspection.
Dave Keon and Mats Sundin are both firmly in the top five all time Leafs in scoring and should both be retired in time, though the Keon wounds are only now being adressed. But what of Ron Ellis? Bob Pulford? Or Rick Vaive? Lanny McDonald is retired in Toronto but only played 477 games in Leaf colours, or 40th all time in games played.
Surely Bobby Baun and that broken leg playoff story should get his jersey lifted, though his career point totals may not be up to scratch.
Notable goaltenders to not be honoured would include Felix Potvin, Mike Palmateer and Curtis Joseph.
Ottawa
In Ottawa, team history is about as messed up as the Senators current playoff predicament as they share a distant history with their Eastern cousins, but then a huge gap in the space time continuum that leaves before reappearing in the 1990’s.
Because of that they have only one player retired, a throw back named Frank Finnigan that most current Sens season ticket holders have never seen play.
All time scoring in Ottawa is a who’s who of the current roster plus that dastardly Alex Yashin, giving them some choices going forward. Bank on Daniel Alfredsson at some point in the future but it may get iffy from there.
Calgary
Finally in Calgary, you have that classic in-between team when it comes to history and success. They have been around for 28 years which is longer than the current version of the Senators, similar to the Oilers but much less than the other three franchises. They’ve won a Stanley Cup and been to the finals three times, but haven’t the history or success of the Leafs, Habs or Oilers.
So as one would expect their retirement list is rather small with only Lanny McDonald and Mike Vernon hanging from the rafters to this point; though two more are much bandied about in Calgary.
Al MacInnis is a given and the fact that it hasn’t been done to this point is puzzling in my mind. Theo Fleury has the tenure and the stats but some off ice baggage that has perhaps taken a little luster of the little buster.
Unlike the other franchises, these two players stick out like red thumbs in that they are 1st and 2nd on the all time scoring list and haven’t been retired. Lanny was a favourite son, but only played 492 games in Calgary and sits 11th all time in team scoring. So … oddly enough the entire top ten in Calgary history isn’t retired, something that simply has to change in the near future. The fact that Jarome Iginla isn’t retired is certainly understandable as he is still filling those togs, but what of Joe Niewendyk, Gary Roberts or Gary Suter?
At very least there should be two additions in Calgary before very long.
Banner Beafs:
Almost as important as the jerseys chosen to retire, hockey teams have to get it right when it comes to the look of the actual banners themselves.
One of the biggest issues of late is the changing of jerseys in the modern era and whether or not long retired players should have banners that reflect the new team’s look.
The Linden jersey last night was retired in the blue green and white that has been featured in Vancouver the past few seasons, and not the black and orange that was more frequent for the last two decades. Trevor Linden wore both so the choice was easy, but you’ll notice that Stan Smyl’s jersey banner was also in blue though he never wore those colours.
The point? It’s high time the Flames fix the current mess that they have in the rafters of the Saddledome before any new banners are added to the mix.
Issue 1: Two banners that look nothing alike. You can’t have a cartoon character McDonald jersey mixed with a more traditional Vernon retirement banner. It looks terrible. Pick a style and make them both the same. (I’m not suggesting more cartoons by the way)
Issue 2: Location. Why would you have one (McDonald) with all the team success banners and the other (Vernon) on it’s own but closer to Hitmean and Roughneck banners? What kind of continuity is that?
Solution: Wait until you retire either Fleury or MacInnis then replace the McDonald (and/or Vernon) at the same time. Have them either all the same or with a slight period variation that could look something like this; red banner, white lettering with gold trim. Newer players can have the exact same thing with an additional black bar which would tie the different eras together. Or leave black out of it, but whatever you do put them in the same spot!
