DETROIT – The last two goals Brendan Shanahan scored at Joe Louis Arena will never be logged on his hockeydb page.
You won’t find video of them, either.
They came on Saturday afternoon in a pickup game played at a relaxed pace – an opportunity for one more sentimental twirl before the Toronto Maple Leafs faced the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth-last NHL game ever at the Joe.
The 48-year-old wore Leafs colours and played without a helmet.
He displayed hints of the skill that propelled him to 656 career goals and a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame, going bar down on one rush and scoring with a sneaky wrist shot from his off wing on another.
The skate was organized by Brad Holland, Toronto’s director of team and hockey operations and the son of Red Wings general manager Ken Holland. A couple members of the Leafs staff took part and Shanahan was the last to join the group.
It was the first time he played here since April 29, 2006, when the Red Wings hosted Edmonton in Game 5 of the opening round. Amazingly, Shanahan never returned to the rink during the three seasons he played for the Rangers and Devils before retiring.
“I was upset to desecrate the memory of me skating (as a NHLer) with my performance today,” Shanahan joked. “I wasn’t planning on it. Somebody said that they had the ice, so I stole Mike Babcock’s skates and somebody’s gloves and went through our players’ stick rack and took a couple sticks that I thought looked – that were right-handed, basically.”
He wound up breaking one while taking a one-timer.
“That’s why I’m not telling you whose sticks they were,” said Shanahan.
The Leafs president spent nine years as a member of the Red Wings, winning three Stanley Cups and scoring at least 30 goals seven times.
He wore a pretty big smile while back on the ice at Joe Louis Arena. Both of his goals came against Leafs goalie coach Steve Briere, and he posed for a photo at centre ice with the other participants once the hour-long shinny game ended.
There was nostalgia in the air before the Leafs’ last visit here – with Shanahan, Babcock and Holland among the men with strong ties to both organizations.
“You know, as much as the building makes it special it’s the people that make it special,” said Babcock. “From Al Sobotka, who drives the Zamboni, to Leslie, who hands out the food, to Frankie, who brings the coaches the beer, to all the guys that did the cleaning, to the Ilitch family and what they made so special.”
The Joe closes its doors after a visit from New Jersey next Sunday.
Shanahan has a lot of fond memories of the spartan rink, with its exposed concrete and interesting smells. There are no private clubs or fancy suites to be found.
“The people that worked here worked here a long time,” said Shanahan. “Just even coming into the arena we saw a lot of familiar faces. It was not a beautiful trip to the dressing room on a red carpet in a private room. It was underneath the stands, you know?
“Stepping over girders, ducking under girders, going through beer-stained floors. To me, that was some of the personality of the grittiness of the rink.”
Shanahan brought his kids here earlier this season when the Red Wings held a reunion for their 1997 Stanley Cup-winning team.
He planned to take a final private tour around the place on Saturday, looking at the pictures and savouring all of the good memories.
“I think any time one of the old arenas shuts down it’s a little bit sad for the players,” said Shanahan. “The new ones are great, but I think there’s still a little bit of sadness tinged with everybody.”
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