Dallas Drake

Dallas James Drake (born February 4, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger in the National Hockey League (NHL) who began and ended his career playing for the Detroit Red Wings, the team that drafted him. In his last season, the Red Wings made it to and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final, enabling him to end his career with his first and only Stanley Cup championship. Team captain Nicklas Lidström handed the Cup to Drake first to skate with above his head as recognition of how long he waited to win the Cup.

Previously, Drake played for the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes, and St. Louis Blues. Drake played his college hockey at Northern Michigan University.

Playing career Dallas Drake was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1989 NHL entry draft in the 6th round, 116th overall. In the final game, NMU captain Darryl Plandowski scored the winning goal as the Wildcats defeated Boston University 8–7 in triple overtime. The trade was regrettable for the Wings, as Essensa appeared in only 13 games and was not a factor in the playoffs. Bautin would only appear in one game for the Red Wings. Drake went on to have a successful role on the checking lines and penalty kill units of the Winnipeg/Phoenix Coyotes organization.

During Drake's time with the Coyotes, Phoenix-area band, Stone Bogart, wrote and recorded the song "Dallas Drake," depicting many great moments by the player and clipping various radio broadcasts. The song was used on ESPN and ABC broadcasts of NHL games for the few years following the song's release.

Drake was known as a tenacious skater and a tough customer in the corners throughout his 16-year career. Although he wasn't a prolific goal scorer as a pro like he was in college, his knowledge of the game, leadership and fierce competitiveness allowed him to skate in 1009 NHL games. Since 1992, he was sent to the minor leagues only once. In the 1993–1994 season, Drake skated one game in Adirondack on a rehab assignment, scoring two goals before returning to Detroit the following day and finishing with 10 goals and 22 assists.

Drake signed with the St. Louis Blues for the 2000–01 season, and remained with the organization for six seasons. He achieved his career high in goals with 20 during the 2002–03 season, and was named captain for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.

Drake was placed on waivers by the Blues on June 26, 2007 with the purpose of buying out his contract.

On July 9, 2007, he was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Red Wings to a one-year, $550,000 contract. He had considered ending his professional career with other NHL teams, but chose to return to Detroit in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup with the club that had drafted him over 16 years prior. On June 4, 2008 those dreams were realized when Detroit defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins to win their 11th franchise Stanley Cup championship. During the on ice post-game celebrations Detroit captain Nicklas Lidström passed the Stanley Cup to Drake first.

Personal Drake was born in Trail, British Columbia, but grew up in Rossland.

Drake and his wife Amy reside in Traverse City, Michigan with their four children. She was a member of the US squad that captured the gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship. In addition, she scored a goal for the US in the gold medal game. His other daughter Darby is on the University of Nebraska Omaha swimming & diving team.

Drake was inducted into the Northern Michigan University Hall of Fame in 2002.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1987–88 Vernon Lakers BCHL 47 39 85 124 50 11 9 17 26 30 1988–89 Northern Michigan University WCHA 45 18 24 42 26 — — — — — 1989–90 Northern Michigan University WCHA 36 13 24 37 42 — — — — — 1990–91 Northern Michigan University WCHA 44 22 36 58 89 — — — — — 1991–92 Northern Michigan University WCHA 40 39 44 83 58 — — — — — 1992–93 Detroit Red Wings NHL 72 18 26 44 93 7 3 3 6 6 1993–94 Detroit Red Wings NHL 47 10 22 32 37 — — — — — 1993–94 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 1 2 0 2 0 — — — — — 1993–94 Winnipeg Jets NHL 15 3 5 8 12 — — — — — 1994–95 Winnipeg Jets NHL 43 8 18 26 30 — — — — — 1995–96 Winnipeg Jets NHL 69 19 20 39 36 3 0 0 0 0 1996–97 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 63 17 19 36 52 7 0 1 1 2 1997–98 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 60 11 29 40 71 4 0 1 1 2 1998–99 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 53 9 22 31 65 7 4 3 7 4 1999–2000 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 79 15 30 45 62 5 0 1 1 4 2000–01 St. Louis Blues NHL 82 12 29 41 71 15 4 2 6 16 2001–02 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 11 15 26 87 8 0 0 0 8 2002–03 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 20 10 30 66 7 1 4 5 23 2003–04 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 13 22 35 65 5 1 1 2 2 2005–06 St. Louis Blues NHL 62 2 24 26 59 — — — — — 2006–07 St. Louis Blues NHL 60 6 6 12 38 — — — — — 2007–08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 65 3 3 6 41 22 1 3 4 12 NHL totals 1,009 177 300 477 885 90 14 19 33 79

Awards and honors Stanley Cup champion (2008)