Behind the Jersey: No. 33
He just signed a four-year deal for $11.25 million with the Detroit Red Wings. He recently won the Selke Trophy for best forward defenseman. He has three Stanley Cup wins to his name. He’s blessed with two adorable kids and a loving wife. He works hard and plays hard. His name is Kris Draper.
Draper grew up like any regular teenager in Toronto where he hung out with friends at the movies and participated in sports. Early in high school, he played football but when his grades started to suffer due to the overlapping seasons (of football and hockey), his dad made him pick a sport. Draper’s obvious choice was hockey. “Obviously, it was a no brainer at what sport I was going to pick. Yeah I enjoyed playing football but hockey was something I wanted to do at any opportunity that I had,†Draper said. His weekends were mainly consumed with Friday and/or Saturday night games and practices. “I wanted to be surrounded by hockey and I was able to do that by playing high school hockey and then also by playing in a different league as well. Everything was busy with hockey,†Draper said. During the summer, he did make the time to play golf and tennis with friends.
Back in the ’87-88 season, Draper played for the Don Mills Bantam Flyers in the Metropolitan Toronto Hockey League (MTHL). In 40 games, he notched 35 goals, 32 assists, and 46 penalty minutes. At the young age of 17, Draper played 122 games in two seasons with the Canadian National hockey team. In ’90-91, he played with the Ottawa 67’s (a major junior hockey team) and also played seven games for the Moncton Hawks (an AHL squad). During the next season, he participated in 61 AHL games and achieved 29 points. While playing in his second year with Canada’s World Junior Team, he led the team to the gold medal in 1991.
In the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, the Winnipeg Jets selected Draper making him the 62nd pick overall. He scored a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in his NHL debut on October 4, 1990. During his first three seasons in the NHL, Draper played a total of 20 games. He was then traded to the Detroit Red Wings for a whopping one dollar on June 30, 1993.
Since joining the Red Wings, Draper has won three Stanley Cups (1997, 1998, and 2002). Each one had special memories; “Anytime you win the Stanley Cup its special, its just that each one has its own special memories,†Draper said. The first one was the most memorable because the city had been going on a 42-year drought and everyone was excited about the Stanley Cup win. The second time around, it was a very inspirational victory after the Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnastakanov limo accident. Draper was especially touched when captain Steve Yzerman presented Konstantinov with the Stanley Cup “because that is something you’re never going to forget as a professional athlete.†He treasured the third win because he had a wife, Julie, and two kids to celebrate it with. He put his son, Kienan, in the Stanley Cup and he ate Fruit Loops out of the Cup with his daughter, Kennedi. “Just the little things like that was special since I hadn’t been able to do with the first win,†Draper said.
As seen with his favorite memories from the third Stanley Cup, Draper adores his family. As much as he enjoys hockey, he admits that there are some stretches during the season that can get rough being away from his wife and kids. His daughter understands the concept of a road trip, but his son doesn’t understand why his dad is always leaving and wonders when he is going to come back home. He admits that his wife takes the brunt of things and is the one responsible for balancing family and work. “Every guy here is lucky to have a wife to take care of the kids and kids that understand that Daddy has to go to sleep or Daddy has to go play hockey. My wife realizes the sacrifices I make to play hockey and she makes a lot of sacrifices to make sure everything works out as a family,†Draper said. And while no hockey player wants a longer summer, he does enjoy his free time where he stays in Toronto with his family. “I love summers since I can hang out with my wife and kids and everything is family-orientated,†Draper said.
Draper also spends his free time involved in the community. He is the spokesman for D.A.R.E. and after the 2002 Stanley Cup win, he brought the Cup to Children’s Hospital. Draper realizes how fortunate he is as a person and a professional athlete. “You know as we wake up in the morning, while you guys go to school and I go play hockey; these parents go to the hospital everyday to visit their kids. To have an opportunity like this and to give it back to the community and to the children, it was tough there. Being as fortunate as I am and to go in there and see all the sicknesses and illnesses and be able to put a smile on a kid’s face and if you have the opportunity to make kids forget about their illnesses for even just 10 minutes; you know you’ve done something good. It’s very rewarding to go in there and to do that,†Draper said.
Draper is a man of ritual and superstition. When it comes to road trips, roommates Darren McCarty and Draper sleep in certain beds depending on whether the team won or lost the last game. “With Darren and I, if we’re winning then he’ll have the bed closest to when you walk in the room and I’ll have the window bed. And if we lose, we’ll switch it up,†Draper said. Like many hockey players, he has a strict pre game ritual. He drives his daughter to school and then goes to Sonny’s Restaurant for breakfast and what he eats depends on if they are winning or not. When they are winning, he eats egg white omelets. If they lose, Draper has oatmeal. “Then I just drive down to the rink for our pre game skate for like half an hour where we skate and just loosen up. It’s just like a crammed in practice, you get the goalie shots and get your sticks ready for the game,†Draper said. For most pre game meals, his wife cooks him a meal so he can hang out with his kids. If he eats with some of the guys, it is at Andiamo’s (an Italian Restaurant). Sleep is something very important to Draper so he’ll then take a nap typically from 2 o’clock to 4 o’clock. Once he wakes up, he’ll get coffee and his lucky chocolate chip muffin from Tim Horton’s. Usually, he gets to the rink about 2.5 hours before the game to get his sticks ready, stretch, and make sure he is fully warmed up. However, there really isn’t a strict routine after the game. “It depends on the schedule. If we have an opportunity, we’ll grab our wives and go out to dinner. Like right after tomorrow night’s game we have to leave to head out on the road for our game the following day. Usually if we don’t play for a couple of days or have the night off we’ll go up for dinner. But usually by the time we get out of the rink its 11:30 or 12 o’clock already so you might just grab something to eat and then head home,†Draper said.
Draper started the 2004 season with a bang after helping Canada win the 2003 World Championship in the summer and then getting a bigger role after Sergei Federov left for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. “The world championship really helped me. Anytime you play a large role in winning a championship, obviously, it builds up your confidence,” Draper said. As the playoffs drew near, people noted Draper’s strong shot at capturing the Selke Trophy until he injured his rotator cuff. “It has been a fun year for me obviously personally because I’ve reached new heights. Anytime you get mentioned to win a National Hockey Award is pretty special. It would be a tremendous accomplishment to win the Selke. I just hope that the 65 or 66 games that I have played will carry me into that,†Draper said.
Draper finished the 2004 season with a career-high 24 goals and 40 points. He had a 56.9 faceoff winning percentage, which ranked eighth in the NHL and he tied for second in shorthanded goals (he had 5). As a result, Draper was decisively voted to take home the Selke Trophy at the NHL Awards held in his hometown Toronto. “I’d like to thank my friends, my family. I don’t think anyone would be here right now without great teammates. And that’s exactly what I have in Detroit,†Draper said in his acceptance speech.
Another result of an outstanding season occurred when Wayne Gretzky announced Team Canada’s roster for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Draper discovered that he made the roster while vacationing in the Bahamas. After checking his messages on his home phone, he heard a message from Gretzky. “I still have it saved. I called my buddies and they’ve listened to it. I was always hopeful that something would happen but it is a big thrill,†Draper said. He has league-wide approval from both players and coaches. “He is deserving of all the accolades. He is a good player and when you play with that kind of speed, he will be effective,†San Jose Coach Ron Wilson said.
Draper recently signed a contract to play four more years with his team, the Detroit Red Wings. “I’m just thrilled. This is what I really wanted. It was an interesting process but I signed a four-year deal with the team I really wanted to stay with. [the no-trade clause] was big. I’ve played 15 years [1993 through 2008] with the same team, the no-trade clause means a lot to me. That’s why I wanted to get this done before testing free agency,†Draper said. General manager Ken Holland had similar thoughts: “We are all very pleased to have Kris signed for the next four seasons. He has been a vital part of this teams’ success over the years and having him back will help our club remain competitive for seasons to come.”
Sources:
- All Draper quotes (except for the last two) were from my personal interview with Draper back in November or from a press conference I attended.
- All other sources have been linked to.
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