This week saw the retirement of the last two Original Whalercanes in the NHL.

Sami Kapanen announced his retirement from the NHL amid precious little fanfare, and is going back to Finland to play his last few years with KalPa Kuopio, the team that he has a majority ownership stake in (and that he played for before being drafted into the NHL). Perhaps best-remembered here for winning the Fastest Skater title in each of his All-Star appearances (2000 and 2002), Sami is best-remembered by the rest of the NHL for taking a nasty hit from behind by Leafs dirty cheap-ass piece of crappest-slash- cheapshot-artistagitator Darcy Tucker in the 2004 playoffs, and fighting his way back to the bench.

Sami also had the assist on The Goal That Saved The Team’s Ass (The Warchief’s Game 4 OT game-winner) in the 2001 playoffs. A lot of people blasted Sami here because he didn’t score 293872498724 goals. I, however, will never say anything bad about the man that helped turn this team away from what would surely have been a most ignominious demise.

Glen Wesley announced his retirement yesterday that also served to announce his hiring as Director of Defenceman Development. Everything that can be said about #2 would take many long days to retell, so I will spare you the thousand words and leave you with a picture that sums it all up:

Thanks for the memories, Glen. It’s been an honour and a privilege to watch you play.