Patrick Kane and 10 NHL Stars Who Looked 'Wrong' in Late-Career Uniforms
Patrick Kane is expected to make his Detroit Red Wings debut on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks, and after he's had such a long, incredible career with the Chicago Blackhawks, it's been so strange to see him in other uniforms.
Maybe we should get over it since we watched Kane with the New York Rangers late last season and into the playoffs, but seeing all-time greats end their careers anywhere else but the place where they became legendary makes for a fun night of remembering.
So that's what we're doing to mark the occasion of Kane moving on to Motor City: We're looking back at some all-time greats in places where you might've even forgotten they played in the first place.
Let's go down the rabbit hole of memories, shall we?
Wayne Gretzky: St. Louis Blues
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All throughout Wayne Gretzky's brilliant NHL career, he dazzled in whatever jersey he wore, and that even includes his ever-brief time in St. Louis.
Gretzky's Blues tenure didn't exactly come at the tail end of his career, but when he was traded to St. Louis from Los Angeles in 1996, his stay wasn't long. The Great One played in 18 regular-season games and 13 more in the playoffs with the Blues before he headed off to the New York Rangers in free agency, where he ultimately ended his career in 1999.
But for those 31 total games, Gretzky still produced like the legend he always was with the Edmonton Oilers and Kings. He had 21 points in those 18 final contests of the season and then had 16 more points in the playoffs before the Blues were eliminated by Detroit in seven games.
Gretzky's time in St. Louis was short, but it's forever remembered because it marked the second time the greatest to ever do it was traded.
Ray Bourque: Colorado Avalanche
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Ray Bourque was one of the most incredible defensemen to ever play the game and an iconic Boston Bruins superstar. He won Norris Trophies like they were going out of style because he was such a dynamic player for so long.
But the one thing that always eluded him was a Stanley Cup. As Bourque's career rolled on, Bruins management became more and more unable to ice a championship-caliber team around its franchise legend.
That's when the Colorado Avalanche swooped in and rescued Bourque from the dreary times in Boston in 2000 with a trade-deadline deal. They helped bring him the ultimate prize in 2001 when the Avs knocked off the New Jersey Devils and sent Bourque off into the sunset.
He even got a Stanley Cup parade in Boston after the fact. You know you're a real legend when the city of the team that traded you still throws you a parade for winning a title with another franchise.
Bourque played 94 regular-season games with Colorado in the final season-plus of his career, and both franchises retired his No. 77 on top of all that. It still doesn't make it look any less weird to see him in the Avs sweater after such a long and storied career in Boston.
Mike Modano: Detroit Red Wings
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The Detroit Red Wings have become famous over the years for all the Stanley Cups they've won but also for being a place where older legends have found a home. In Mike Modano's case, Michigan was home (Livonia to be exact).
After 20 years with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars, Modano wasn't ready to call it a career, but the Stars weren't prepared to welcome him back at 40 years old. As evidence that you can always go home again, the Red Wings signed Modano to a one-year contract in 2010 and allowed him the chance to play in front of family and friends with ease.
Unfortunately, Modano's time with the Red Wings was difficult, as a lacerated wrist caused him to miss a good part of the season. Although he was able to return from that injury that season, he missed out on playing his 1,500th game because then-Detroit coach Mike Babcock scratched him, and he would never hit the mark.
Modano retired after that season and ultimately landed in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but that final year in the winged wheel always causes a double-take.
Mats Sundin: Vancouver Canucks
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Mats Sundin will forever be remembered as a Toronto Maple Leafs legend, and for a guy whose career began with the Quebec Nordiques, that's saying a lot. Still, Sundin's career didn't end in Toronto—it was in Vancouver with the Canucks.
It was for just one season, and half of one at that, but in 2008 he signed a free-agent deal with the Canucks to make one more run at a Stanley Cup. Sundin was 37 years old and didn't sign on until the season was already into December.
The Swede showed he still had some game, as he posted 28 points in 41 games and had eight points in eight playoff contests as well. But that run was indeed the final one for Sundin as he retired in fall 2009 and later was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013.
That the Leafs traded their own iconic player in Wendel Clark to get him back in 1994 spoke volumes for what they thought of the player who would himself go on to become a franchise icon. Still, that he ended his career in Vancouver—while he was still pretty good—was a time that was easy to forget.
Chris Chelios: Atlanta Thrashers
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If there's one thing that will forever be true about Chris Chelios, it's that you'll never tell him when he's had enough as a player. After Chelios split his first 26 NHL seasons with the Canadiens, Blackhawks and Red Wings, he wanted to keep going.
The Red Wings decided to move on from the then-47-year-old blue liner after the 2008-2009 season, but he wasn't ready to go. That's when the AHL Chicago Wolves brought him in to have him potentially close out his career in the city where his legend grew exponentially.
The Wolves were the Atlanta Thrashers' affiliate at the time, so they had a front-row seat for how Chelios was doing. In March of that 2009-2010 season, they brought him back to the NHL.
For seven games, the future Hall of Famer patrolled the ice in Atlanta, but after he played in just 28 games the year before with the Red Wings, it was clear it was time to hang it up. Chelios retired in August 2010 at 48 years old. Make sure to keep those Thrashers years in mind the next time you're playing Puckdoku and looking for some easy points.
Daniel Alfredsson: Detroit Red Wings
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Daniel Alfredsson ending his career in Detroit, while very strange, was also a sign of what happens when teams don't respect their legends.
After 17 seasons and over 1,100 games with the Ottawa Senators, Alfredsson signed with Detroit for what he said at the time was to win a Stanley Cup. But while that was part of the reasoning, the rest of it was because negotiations with the Senators never went anywhere.
Alfredsson was (and is) beloved and respected by Senators fans, and seeing him sign with Detroit was a ghastly turn of events and a sign to the fanbase that management wasn't exactly on top of things in Ottawa.
At 41 years old, Alfredsson had a solid season with the Red Wings, putting up 49 points in 68 games, but the dream of winning the Cup was ended in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Bruins. Ottawa finished five points out of the postseason that year, but for Alfredsson, it was his final one in the NHL before being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022.
He'll always be remembered as a Senators legend and it's great he's back working with the organization after such an acrimonious parting, but that year with Detroit is one that will stick out in everyone's mind.
Pavel Bure: New York Rangers
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One of the more upsetting things to occur in NHL history was how the brilliant Pavel Bure's career was cut short by injury.
He exploded onto the scene out of the Soviet Union in Vancouver in 1991, and his brilliant speed and ability to fill the net were breathtaking. For seven seasons with the Canucks and three-and-a-half with the Florida Panthers (where he won the Rocket Richard Trophy twice) ,Bure was one of the NHL's most exciting players.
But when he was traded to the New York Rangers in 2002, it was a sign that his already big star standing in the league was about to explode under the lights on Broadway. But Bure's time as a Blueshirt wasn't meant to be.
A knee injury took him out of action, and he ultimately played in just 51 games for them. Twelve of those came after he was acquired at the trade deadline in 2002 and only 39 the following year. He had 39 goals and 50 points in those 51 games, so it's bittersweet because of what could've been, but his knee injury was bad enough that it forced him out of the game.
Fortunately, Bure's career was so brilliant it still earned him a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012, but that all-too-short of a time with the Rangers stands out as a "what could've been" moment.
Patrick Marleau: Pittsburgh Penguins
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Patrick Marleau will forever be remembered as a San Jose Sharks legend, but the end of his career when the Sharks decided it was time to go in a new direction after the Joe Thornton and Marleau years led to some strange sights.
We could've added Thornton to this discussion after his time in Toronto and Florida, but Marleau also landed with the Maple Leafs for a couple seasons. But that wasn't the weirdest time because the franchise was moving on and he presumably has something left to give. It was when Marleau returned to San Jose after two seasons in Toronto to presumably wrap up his career where it began...only to wind up being traded to Pittsburgh later that season.
Marleau played in eight regular-season games for the Penguins in the COVID-interrupted 2019-2020 season and four play-in games in the bubble playoffs. He had a goal and an assist in those eight games and zero points in the four-game series loss to the Canadiens. Marleau re-signed with San Jose after that season and ultimately retired with the Sharks.
Still, in the blur of everything that happened in 2020, Marleau as a Penguin is something that's still so bizarre to recall actually happening.
Martin Brodeur: St. Louis Blues
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Remember when Martin Brodeur was with the St. Louis Blues? You probably do because it wasn't all too long ago, but it still feels like it happened in a fever dream.
After all, Brodeur was one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history for 21 seasons with the New Jersey Devils. He was the Devils and led them to three Stanley Cups (1995, 2000, 2003) as well as two other Stanley Cup Finals in 2001 and 2012.
Brodeur is the all-time leader in multiple goaltending categories, including games, wins and shutouts. But for one season and seven games, he took his talents to St. Louis and went 3-3-0 with a shutout at 39 years old.
Brodeur was such an icon with the Devils that seeing him land in St. Louis was just so jarring. Even the handful of years after his retirement working in the Blues front office was odd. But now that he's back in the Devils organization as the vice president of hockey operations, it feels like everything is back in its proper place.
Brodeur will always be a Devils legend in everyone's mind...but those few games in St. Louis make for an all-time "what the heck?!" moment. But there's an even bigger one still...
Bobby Orr: Chicago Blackhawks
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Bobby Orr being a Chicago Blackhawks player for all of 26 games of his injury-shortened career might be the most notable legend-in-the-wrong-jersey moment. Not just because Orr was the most iconic Boston Bruins player but also because of how he wound up in Chicago in the first place.
We don't have enough time nor internet ink to fully get into what happened between Orr and the Bruins, but it was one of many situations through NHL history that involved infamous agent Alan Eagleson. In this case, Eagleson was Orr's longtime agent and, as Orr detailed in his autobiography, Eagleson withheld an offer the Bruins made to Orr to keep him in Boston that also included an eventual share in ownership of the team.
Eagleson, who had a long relationship with Chicago owner Bill Wirtz as well, guided Orr to sign there and away from Boston.
In the end, Orr's knees were in such disrepair he was unable to play much longer and only saw the ice 26 times for Chicago, but we're left with images of one of the greatest players in NHL history with a franchise that, while storied, probably never should've acquired him in the first place.
Patrick Kane: Detroit Red Wings
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For 16 seasons, Kane was one of—if not the—face of the Chicago Blackhawks. He helped lead them to three Stanley Cups, won the Calder Trophy, the Hart Trophy and scored the Cup-winning goal in 2010 against Philadelphia. He was Chicago.
But when the 'Hawks traded Kane to the Rangers, it sent Kane off into the rest of the NHL world to see what it's like elsewhere. His time with the Rangers was short, and their exit from the playoffs came a bit sooner than expected.
Now he's a Detroit Red Wing, still the hated rival of Chicago (although the rivalry is a bit cooler since they're in different conferences and Detroit's been a non-factor for years), and Kane is the last big guy from those 'Hawks dynasty seasons still playing. That only serves to make seeing him wear the winged wheel all the more bizarre.
It's not unfamiliar for Chicago fans to see a team legend move on to Detroit (Chris Chelios, of course), but that doesn't make it any less unsettling to see it play out before their eyes. The question now is whether Kane's time with the Wings ends up being a blip in hockey history or part of a new, more veteran legacy for him and another storied franchise.
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