5 Retired NHL Players My Kids Will Never See

I've been following alot of NHL Draft coverage on the days leading up to the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus. When you cover these things, the Hockey Press always drags out a bunch of history of famous busts, or diamonds in the rough.

For some reason it got me thinking of past players, players that my boys will never see play live, only in the archives. Here are 5 NHL players my boys will never see play live that I'm most disappointed about. Players I've seen in person.

(1) Wayne Gretzky - The natural true regret. The fact that my hockey-mad boys will never see Gretzky play live just doesn't make life seem fair. I saw him with the Oilers and Kings, and each time I watched him out there, I always reminded myself that this was a sight to behold, something to tell the kids and grandkids about. Seeing Gretzky play live makes you realize just how much he makes his team-mates look good. I'm telling you that if I played on Gretzky's wing, I would score 20. Not only was he a wizard with play-making and passing, he is the all-time leading goal-scorer. He is just the all-time ultimate hockey player, the one you wished most you could take your kids out to see.

(2) Mario Lemieux - The guy just oozed talent out of every pore. I swear he played with a 8 foot long stick, he made defensemen look contortionists. If he had the puck on his forehand and you tried for the puck, you were dead. In a blink, it was on his backhand and he was away. Like a cat toying with a half-dead mouse. It was ridiculous, almost unfair when he was playing. And he wasn't even all that fast, or physical, just deadly.

(3) Scott Stevens - I don't recall there ever being a player that had you saying "is he on the ice?" as much as when this guy played against your team. If he was patrolling the blue line, you could sense the opposing forwards playing the puck carefully, like with a "dump and chase". I imagine it being like a mailman trying to deliver to the door with a pit bull in your yard.

(4) Al McInnis - Seeing him play live is a totally different experience than seeing him on TV for one reason: that freakish slap-shot. Seeing, rather hearing, a McInnis cannon from the point left you silently praying that he didn't kill anyone. I remember going to games just pleading to the heavens that the other team would take a penalty so the Flames could go on the Power Play.

(5) Patrick Roy - Aside from being a great goalie, he had all these weird superstitions that were funny to see in person. He'd do his little "goose chin" move with his mask, he never stepped on a line when skating to his crease from the bench, right before a face off he'd bang the holy hell out of the goal posts, not to mention other quirky things. He wasn't particularly fast, or big, or acrobatic, but he just plain kept the puck out of the net. Period.

But, all is not lost. There's a crop of new talent out there playing right now that might have my boys saying the exact same thing to their kids. You never know.