I’d gone in there in 2011 with a buddy who was trying to sell an alligator skin for $4,000 (he ended up getting $2,000). I’d always been interested in the pawn business, one thing led to another, and I found myself learning the business.
Anyone who watched the television show knows that it’s a crazy business. One day a man came in and pawned his artificial leg, and then he came back a few days later and paid to get it back.
One of my favorite pawn-shop stories was shown on the television show. A kid came into the store trying to sell what he said were authentic Darren McCarty and Kris Draper jerseys.
Believe it or not, this was not set-up. This young man had no idea that I worked there, and the look on his face when I popped out was priceless.
He wanted way too much money, especially when we could see that he essentially had two jerseys that you could buy at the store for $100 each.
I took grief when I offered the kid $120 total for both jerseys. They insisted it was too much to pay.
“Yes,” I said, “but I’m going to sign one and I’m going to get Kris Draper to sign the other and we are going to sell them for $250.”
That’s exactly what happened. We got $500 for the pair. I know how the autograph world works, especially now that I’m heavily dependent upon that world for income. I’m still popular enough with Detroit fans to make regular autograph appearances.
I also tried my hand as a sports talk-show host on The Ticket. During the Red Wings’ 2013 playoff run I was a warm-up act for the pregame festivities. I came on and introduced a video of highlights from the past, and then I got people jacked up with the chant, “Let’s go Wings!”
To be honest, I’m not sure what I want do with my life. Maltby, Osgood, Chris Chelios, and Draper all immediately joined the Red Wings organization in different capacities. I’m not sure if I’d be good at that kind of work, or happy in it; I’ve never been offered.
But what I really think I’m better suited for is media work. If you look around the media landscape, you see a lot of former NHL goalies and tough guys doing media work because we know the game inside-and-out, but I haven’t been able to get that kind of work.
My friends and I always joke around that my dream job would be to succeed either Paul Woods or Mickey Redmond if they ever decide to retire from their positions as the Red Wings’ radio and television analysts.
If there was ever someone who was born to earn his living talking about hockey, it was me. I certainly know the game and I already have a relationship with Detroit fans.
I believe I have a good perspective about what it means to be a Red Wing, and what it means to be an athlete in general. I think I have a much broader understanding of the bigger picture now that I’m retiring and trying to find my place in a changing world.
As this book was being written, America dealt with the tragic Boston Marathon bombing. The feelings I had were similar to what I felt on September 11, 2001, when terrorists took down the World Trade Center.
I was at Red Wings training camp in Traverse City, Michigan, taking part in a fitness test that I always called “30 seconds of hell,” when the news came. This particular fitness test ends with an all-out sprint that leaves you huffing and puffing. I was bent over, trying to catch my breath, when the news came across the television that an airplane had struck one of the towers. Like the rest of America, I assumed it was a horrible, tragic accident involving air traffic control and/or instrument failure.
But when I caught my breath and looked up to see the second plane slamming into the tower my first thought was Terrorism.
That moment changed all of us. It made me remember that the world of sports isn’t the life-and-death world that we act like it is. But sports have their place, even during a time of crisis.
The memory I have about the events of 9/11 was the sight of planes landing at the smallish Traverse City Airport. I remember counting 45 airplanes of all sizes parked nose-to-tail everywhere in the airport as airlines complied with the U.S. government’s orders to get every plane out of the sky.
Training camp was temporarily postponed as America mourned her dead. When we resumed play and started playing games again, people seemed more appreciative of sports.
I realized then that athletes have an essential role in society’s structure. We provide the entertainment that allows people to check out of their lives, at least temporarily. We provide the moments of escape from the scariness of the real world. We play a role in keeping the country’s spirit’s high. Yes, I know that athletes are paid too much—I wish we paid our police officers and teachers more. But athletes have a role in making us feel normal and alive.
Didn’t you cry when you watched the Boston Red Sox ceremony after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013? I certainly did.
The other lasting impact that 9/11 had on me was that it made me realize the value I place on being what I call a “Canamerican.” I’m still a Canadian citizen, but I’m as much an American as I am a Canadian.
I care deeply about what happens in this country, and I’m proud of how everyone pulls together when there is a national crisis. When there is a problem, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder like it’s us against the world. And it may not be far from the truth to say it is us against the world.
We put aside our geographic, cultural, or political differences when there is a national crisis. When the Boston Marathon is bombed, then we are all from Boston, even if we live in Michigan or New York or Florida. That’s who we are. That’s what being an American is all about. In Michigan, we might be either a Sparty or a Wolverine, and we can be at each other’s throats during a football season. But a Sparty or a Wolverine would stand together for America. They can resume hating each other later.
America’s protective instincts are very similar to the fighting culture in the NHL. We protect our own. We stand up for our teammates, whether we like them or not.
It’s like the big brother who constantly pounds on his little brother—but if anyone else messed with his little brother, he would pound the shit out of him.
Since I’m now married to an American, I may even consider becoming an American citizen, although that will come after I decide what to do with my life. I would love to find a way to stay connected to the game of hockey. I feel as if there is a plan for me, but I’m not sure yet what it is. Meanwhile, I’m still raging war against my alcohol addiction. It’s a ferocious fight and there have been many casualties. My family can attest to that.
I am not a religious person, at least not in terms of embracing an organized religion. But I’ve always believed that I had a direct line to God. I’ve felt that way ever since I was young.
Many times in my life I’ve had a feeling that I was being guided to do one thing or another, and I’ve always felt like it was God steering me in the right direction.
That’s why I feel that eventually I’m going to end up where I need to be. I’m going to find a job that I was meant to hold. I’m going to end up with people who want me to be with them.
I have faith that my life will eventually work out, as long as I continue to fight against my addiction. I know I can’t give in because my disease has fatal consequences. That’s why this is my last fight, and why it’s the most important fight I have ever had.
Sometimes a casual Detroit Red Wings fan will stop me on the street, knowing that I’m a former player, someone they recognize but they can’t quite put a name to my face.
“Aren’t you Bob Probert?” they often ask.
“Bob is dead,” I say. “I’m Darren McCarty, and I’m very much alive.”
Darren McCarty Career Stats
Playlist
“Last Goodbye” Black Label Society
“If I Didn’t Have You” Thompson Square
“A Warrior’s Call” Volbeat
“Rearranged” Limp Bizkit
“Boys ‘Round Here” Bla
ke Shelton
“Lonely Day” System of a Down
“The Hockey Song” Stompin’ Tom Connors
“Tubthumping” Chumbawamba
“Bad Company” Five Finger Death Punch
“Simple Man” Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Rockstar” Nickelback
“Second Chance” Shinedown
“The More I Drink” Blake Shelton
“Detroit Son of a Bitch” Dirty Americans
“Coming Down” Five Finger Death Punch
“These Days” Foo Fighters
“Chalk Outline” Three Days Grace
“Blue Jeans and a Rosary” Kid Rock
“Girls, Girls, Girls” Mötley Crüe
“Like Jesus Does” Eric Church
“Whatever” Godsmack
“Better Than I Used to Be” Tim McGraw
Photo Gallery
April 1, 1972—the day I was born.
Two years old and already playing hockey.
10 years old and playing my second-favorite sport.
Belleville Bulls teammates Craig Fraser, Jake Grimes, and me.
Hanging out in Belleville with my teammates.
Me and Grandpa Jigs.
Me and Coach Brian Drumm—he was my coach, mentor, and billet when I played Jr. B for the Perborough Roadrunners.
My biological father, Doug Francottie, was a cop. I never knew him growing up.
My stepdad, Craig McCarty, was the man who raised me. His death in 1999 is still hard for me to deal with to this day.
Scoring the winning goal against the Flyers in the ’97 Stanley Cup Finals. (AP Images)
Holding the ’97 Cup with Grandpa Jigs’ wife, my grandmother Jean (GiGi) Pritchard.
Joey Kocur, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, and me posing with the ’97 Conn Smythe, Stanley Cup, and Campbell Bowl.
Scotty Bowman and me with the ’97 hardware.
Performing with Grinder.
Visiting Bill Clinton and the White House with the 1998 Stanley Cup champion Red Wings, with injured teammate Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov.
Freddie Olausson, Mathieu Dandenault, me, Boyd Devereaux, and Kris Draper in 2002.
Boyd Devereaux and me singing with Kid Rock at the Jefferson Beach Marina after we won the Stanley Cup in 2002.
After the 2002 Cup party held at my house, I rode away in Probie’s bike “Moo Moo Cow.”
With the Calgray Flames, here I am fighting with Sheldon Souray of the Canadiens. (AP Images)
Performing with Grinder (Getty Images)
Ozzie, Malts, me, and Drapes in front of Lenin’s tomb in Red Square, Moscow.
Eating ice cream out of the 2008 Stanley Cup.
Holding up the Cup with my mom and my sister.
Griffin and me hanging out with the ’08 Cup.
Anna Okuszko and I on the day we had an actual post–Las Vegas wedding in Calgary, Alberta.
Here I am as an analyst on Versus in 2011, doing what I love to do—talking hockey.
The hands of a fighter today. Ouch!
Reuniting with my Black Label Society brothers in 2011 at Joe Louis Arena after hanging with Zakk Wylde on the tour bus.
With X-Pac (Sean Waltman) in my backyard on Clearwater Beach.
The past rears its ugly head. Front page of the Detroit News and many other news outlets in Michigan, unfortunately.
Sheryl and me. As her brothers tell me, my wife is the best shot in her family. When I look at this picture I can hear her saying her favorite quote: “You can think it’s a game if you want to.”
Sheryl and me. This is one of my favorite pictures—I’m right where I want to be.
—
Copyright © 2013 by Darren McCarty and Kevin Allen
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Triumph Books LLC, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCarty, Darren.
My last fight : the true story of a hockey rock star / Darren McCarty, Kevin Allen.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-60078-885-7 (hardback)
1. McCarty, Darren. 2. Hockey players—United States—Biography. 3. Recovering addicts—United States—Biography. I. Allen, Kevin. II. Title.
GV848.5.M39A3 2013
796.9620922—dc23
2013030979
This book is available in quantity at special discounts for your group or organization. For further information, contact:
Triumph Books LLC
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
(312) 337–0747
www.triumphbooks.com
Printed in U.S.A.
ISBN: 978-1-60078-885-7
eISBN: 978-1-62368-679-6
Design by Patricia Frey
Interior photos courtesy of the author except pages ii, 60, 70, 128, 142, 167, 218, and 250 (Getty Images), and pages 82, 90, 92, 125, 152, 182 (AP Images).
Insert photos courtesy of the author except where otherwise noted.
My Last Fight Page 20