#3: Darren McCarty 1993-2004 & 2007-2009
Putting Darren McCarty at #3 on this list was a bit of a personal choice on my part. Darren McCarty was a hockey player, and a hockey player who perfectly embodied the blue-collar aspect of Detroit. D-Mac was one of the last great classical “tough guys”, but he was a tough guy with skill.
In his two stints with the Detroit Red Wings, McCarty played in 659 regular-season games. In those 659 games Darren scored 275 points (120 goals, 155 assists), good enough stats to rank him #8 all-time among Detroit Right-Wings. Along with those stats, McCarty also won 4 Stanley Cup Championships with the Red Wings.
But it wasn’t McCarty’ stats that make him memorable to Detroit hockey fans, it’s the memorable moments that Darren gave Hockeytown. Who can ever forget Darren McCarty making Claude Lemieux crawl into his shell during “Fight Night At The Joe”? Darren’s most memorable moment may be scoring the Cup-clinching goal in 1997 to help give the Red Wings their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.
Next: Shanny Takes The Second Spot