Stars retire Jere Lehtinen's No. 26

[Jugitsu]

[mod] I would kill to have a young Lehtinen in Dallas again

[mod] If you didn't watch NHL back when Lehtinen was at his prime, I can understand by looking at his numbers alone that it might be a little confusing as to why his jersey was retired by the Stars.

I hope this thread actually helped some to understand what Lehtinen meant to the Stars and to the Finnish national team.

 

[Harmonica1]

Strange to see Lehtinen get bashed on here when Bergeron gets praise 24/7.

Well the other one is Canadian.

 

[glovesave_35]

Saw plenty of the stars during lehtinen's career, thank you. if only stars fans would think he's worthy then good chance he's not worthy absent some really special team-based distinction like, say, a 20 year run like marleau. the fact that the stars wouldn't win the cup without him isn't a case. you can say that about many players. lehtinen had a relatively short career also, for an ostensible jersey-retirement-worthy star. the real question is does it get retied without the cup win? doubt it.

honestly jersey retirement on merit we're talking obvious hall of fame players. modano gets his jersey retired. lehtinen isn't in that conversation.

1) HOF worthiness has never been a pre-requisite for jersey retirements/rings of honor, etc. in any sport. In fact, while HOF'ers are generally 100% shoe-ins for jersey retirement at one organization in their career, jersey retirement seems pretty clearly a way for a team to honor a player who they think is worthy of such recognition, regardless of outside influences.

2) The guy played nearly 1,000 games including the postseason, all while wearing a Dallas Stars sweater.

3) During those games he was a key contributor in winning a Stanley Cup.

4) Three Selkes as a winger.

Your question about whether his jersey gets retired without the Cup win is weird. You say you watched him "plenty" but this argument of yours sounds incredibly reaching. Like, maybe the answer is no, but they did win the Cup. Lehtinen played a big part in doing so. So that being part of the criteria is justified.

14 seasons, 1 Cup, 3 Selkes, and the embodiment of what Dallas Stars hockey was all about during their heyday is a good enough resume for me.

 

[RageQuit77]

As far as it goes to contribution to winning the Stanley Cup, Jere scored a goal and had 1st assist to Brett Hull's GWG and Cup Winning goal, in The Cup winning game 6 against Buffalo Sabres 1999 Final series.

What ever, that cannot be used as an argument against jersey retirement by any measure.

#26 would be retirement-worthy even without that cup.



(Heck, why I/we must even take defensive stance in this topic?)

 

[Refuse]

Saw plenty of the stars during lehtinen's career, thank you. if only stars fans would think he's worthy then good chance he's not worthy absent some really special team-based distinction like, say, a 20 year run like marleau. the fact that the stars wouldn't win the cup without him isn't a case. you can say that about many players. lehtinen had a relatively short career also, for an ostensible jersey-retirement-worthy star. the real question is does it get retied without the cup win? doubt it.

honestly jersey retirement on merit we're talking obvious hall of fame players. modano gets his jersey retired. lehtinen isn't in that conversation.

It's not only fans of the Stars who think he's worthy of a jersey retirement, but I don't understand two things; if you don't - why is this important enough for you to post about? It's not your team anyway. If you have no idea who Lehtinen is - why even post and show your ignorance?

 

[Its a Trap]

Saw plenty of the stars during lehtinen's career, thank you. if only stars fans would think he's worthy then good chance he's not worthy absent some really special team-based distinction like, say, a 20 year run like marleau. the fact that the stars wouldn't win the cup without him isn't a case. you can say that about many players. lehtinen had a relatively short career also, for an ostensible jersey-retirement-worthy star. the real question is does it get retied without the cup win? doubt it.

honestly jersey retirement on merit we're talking obvious hall of fame players. modano gets his jersey retired. lehtinen isn't in that conversation.

Lol Lehtinen spends his entire “short” 15 year career with one team, wins numerous individual awards for his play and is a major contributor to a Stanley Cup but he’s not a good candidate for having his number retired...but Patrick Marleau, who has won literally nothing in his career and accomplished nothing except with Team Canada is, because he spent 5 more years with his team before running off to try and win that which he couldn’t achieve in San Jose with another team?

Ok buddy, whatever you say.

 

[strictlyrandy]

Jere absolutely deserves this honor. Guy was so freaking underrated and still is apparently.

People here need to show some class if they're gonna remain ignorant.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Why are people so angry over it? Why do you care what jersey # is hanging from the rafters? EVERY SINGLE DALLAS FAN WANTS IT.. so why as a ____ fan does it matter what you think.

 

[MisterNoItAll]

One of the most underrated players, Zubov too.

 

[Borlag]

Every single GM around would kill for a player like him. Every last one of them. There hasn't been a winger quite like him not before or after him. How many players can anyone come up with that can have the same said about them.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Some people must have lost their minds when Borques number was retired

 

[Refuse]

Some people must have lost their minds when Borques number was retired

I doubt most of these posters were born when that happened to be honest...

 

[Patrik Barkov]

Saw plenty of the stars during lehtinen's career, thank you. if only stars fans would think he's worthy then good chance he's not worthy absent some really special team-based distinction like, say, a 20 year run like marleau. the fact that the stars wouldn't win the cup without him isn't a case. you can say that about many players. lehtinen had a relatively short career also, for an ostensible jersey-retirement-worthy star. the real question is does it get retied without the cup win? doubt it.

honestly jersey retirement on merit we're talking obvious hall of fame players. modano gets his jersey retired. lehtinen isn't in that conversation.

Wouldn't get his number retired without the three selkes either. What a scrub.

Really though, how is "but what if he didn't achieve this?" a valid argument?

 

[pineapplestastegood]

Their 90s jerseys are so much better than the trash they wear now.

 

[Alwalys]

Wouldn't get his number retired without the three selkes either. What a scrub.

Really though, how is "but what if he didn't achieve this?" a valid argument?

Invalid comparison, the Cup is a team-based achievement while the Selke is individual.

 

[Binister]

What is this BS flying around making a case that Lehtinen didn't deserve the retired number?

The guy was the face of the franchise along with Modano. I believe the organization knows it better who they appreciate.

 

[TheForsbergShow]

Congrats to him, as a kid not knowing much about hockey in the 90's he always stood out to me whenever I watched any stars games (which is pretty crazy considering he was never an offensive dynamo). Always went out of my way to add him to my NHL teams in franchise mode haha.

He reminds me of Hejduk in that lots of people don't seem to grasp just how important they were to the franchise. May not always have been the big name from the outside in, but they play such an integral part to making those great teams of the 90's. There is a lot more to jersey retirment than just points or if they are HHOF worthy. I am glad to see that the Stars Franchise recognized him with a pretty huge honor , he deserves it.

 

[Fredrik_71]

Just wanted to add a stat that speaks volumes to his 3 Selkes, +/- 176 points for the career!

As another already said; Every single GM around would kill for a player like him. That is better then e.g. Henrik Zetterberg, Bergeron,...

 

[glovesave_35]

Invalid comparison, the Cup is a team-based achievement while the Selke is individual.

Yeah yeah we get that. But that team based achievement was something he was integral to. He wasn't a career 3rd liner who happened to be on a good team that won. He played every single possible situation on a team that won a championship. 1st line, 1st PK unit, 1st PP, last minute of the game no matter up a goal, down a goal, or tied.

The Marleau comparison...Sharks will probably retire his jersey. Great, no problem there. He deserves it. I feel like the not being able to appreciate what Lehtinen did in helping to win a Cup is something only a fan whose team has won it can know.

 

[Alwalys]

Lol Lehtinen spends his entire “short” 15 year career with one team, wins numerous individual awards for his play and is a major contributor to a Stanley Cup but he’s not a good candidate for having his number retired...but Patrick Marleau, who has won literally nothing in his career and accomplished nothing except with Team Canada is, because he spent 5 more years with his team before running off to try and win that which he couldn’t achieve in San Jose with another team?

Ok buddy, whatever you say.

To address this extremely disingenuous point ... 5 years (actually 6 in this case, don't try to sneak another year in there) is an eternity in major league competitive sports particularly between years 14 and 20. Marleau is 7th IN LEAGUE HISTORY in games with one team. Lehtinen is nowhere on the list.

Sorry but longevity with the team is a negative point here for Lehtinen. He didn't even play a thousand games. It's just a low-bar jersey retirement. No need to get mad about it, the stars are an expansion team in a nontraditional market.

 

[Saekk]

I don't think anyone gives a shit about what Marleau has done.

 

[Kale Hulls]

Sharks won't retire Marleau, they shouldn't at least.
Lehtinen was at least a champion, more that what anybody on the Sharks roster can say. But Lehtinen was a passenger. He was great but never was the driving force to deliver anything important.


I wouldn't retire his number.

 

[Snowsii]

Sharks won't retire Marleau, they shouldn't at least.
Lehtinen was at least a champion, more that what anybody on the Sharks roster can say. But Lehtinen was a passenger. He was great but never was the driving force to deliver anything important.


I wouldn't retire his number.

[MOD]

"Passenger" ?!?!
You dont win three selkes as being a passenger.[MOD]

 

[Kale Hulls]

Selke is the biggest reputation driven Award the NHL has to offer.

 

[Its a Trap]

To address this extremely disingenuous point ... 5 years (actually 6 in this case, don't try to sneak another year in there) is an eternity in major league competitive sports particularly between years 14 and 20. Marleau is 7th IN LEAGUE HISTORY in games with one team. Lehtinen is nowhere on the list.

Sorry but longevity with the team is a negative point here for Lehtinen. He didn't even play a thousand games. It's just a low-bar jersey retirement. No need to get mad about it, the stars are an expansion team in a nontraditional market.

You’re entire argument is about games played. What a terrible argument. Literally. What a terrible argument. I like how you ignored literally every other point in my post as well. Take your Marleau worshipping elsewhere. Low bar retirement. He’s one of the best players in Stars history and he actually accomplished things. But hey, he ONLY played for 15 years or whatever and guaranteed hall of famer (lol) Patrick Marleau gets kudos for playing longer.

[MOD]