Quote Originally Posted by mikeg19 View Post
It's the individual teams choice on which numbers to retire. And although he was a great athlete and a tremendous player while he was here, and I was a huge fan of his as well, I don't think that his number should be retired. Think of all the incredible players who have played for the Wings and their numbers are not retired. This isn't the Atlanta Thrashers here. You need to be able to stand in the same sentence as Steve Yzerman, Ted Lindsay, and Gordie Howe if you want your number in the Joe's rafters.
Nothing against VK but, in twenty years, we'll all still remember the names Yzerman, Lindsay and Howe. Number and sweater retirements are for the truly great members of a team who have had long-term impacts on the team.