Retire Doug Weight's Number?

I can see the argument for retiring the number, but personally I probably wouldn’t. Though, if 94 isn’t retired when Smyth’s body gives out I’ll be one unhappy camper.

And yeah, I agree with everyone else that the Stanley Cup thing is ludicrous.

Just wondering if any of the people calling for Weight’s # to be retired were laughing at the Canucks for retiring Naslunds #.As much as I liked Weight as a player the unofficial retiring of his # is enough for me.

Okay I did some research and their are currently 238 in the Hall of fame and Since Doug Weight started playing in 1991, 39 (Isn’t that ironic :) ) forwards alone have been inducted.

I don’t know, it seems to me that Weight was underrated(maybe because he has never played for a big market team other then his brief time with the NYR???).

Usually I like to say a players name out loud and then see what my first thought is regarding whether or not they should be in the Hall of Fame but I am having a tough time with this one. He does have the Cup ring so he passes that test. It really does not help that the Oilers have sent such great legends into the Hall. That’s probably another reason why most Oiler fans would not think of Weight as a Hall worthy candidate. I don’t think that is really rational myself.

The HHOF is worthless, so there is no point using that as the basis for this argument.

I wouldn’t retire any numbers either. It’s a silly practice.

I’m not crazy about retiring numbers in general, so my initial reaction to this is to keep it in circulation. I’m not totally against it, but I think the criteria needs to be even stricter than “Hall Of Fame”. It needs to be someone who’s done something or been of major significance to the team, the region the team plays in, or was of major importance to the history and culture of the game. It’s this criteria that makes me uncomfortable with Colorado’s retiring of Ray Borque’s number, for example. The other team I cheer for has retired almost every number under 20 and at this point it just seems like a way to market the glory days. So I don’t think #39 should be retired officially. Doug Weight was a great player, and I absolutely think he should be a Hall Of Famer, I just don’t think that “he was a good player for the team when they were really crappy” has quite the same significance as some of the other numbers up there, and I’m not crazy about all of them either. But that’s something of a contentious debate.

Partly in response to RiversQ’s comment, and in general response to this post:

RiversQ: If that’s your opinion that’s fine, I respect that fully. However, I would like to put my PoV out there, as an “outsider” (i.e. being a Brit who has never even been to Canada, let alone EDM, but is a die-hard Oilers fan). Here in the UK, we have many great sporting traditions in our primary sports (football/soccer, rugby, cricket etc.), but remembering past heroes is not one of them. In football, the likes of Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore (whose number is actually retired by West Ham, but this is an extremely rare case, and probably not known to anyone who isn’t a West Ham supporter) and Bobby Charlton are not known to the kids who love their football (my friend who is a soccer coach confirmed this after getting Geoff Hurst’s autograph and showing it off to some kids he was coaching; they looked baffled as to who he was on about). Beckham will be remembered more for his celebrity status than for the excellent footballer he was, whilst Lineker (one of the best goal scorers in history) is only really known as the guy who presents football shows on TV. In rugby, Richard Hill, Jason Leonard, Rory Underwood, Jeremy Guscott, Gareth Edwards, all only known and remembered by those that were there at the time. In cricket, Geoff Boycott is forgotten and Ian Botham is “the guy in the Shredded Wheat adverts”.

Now, to my point: when I started to follow the NHL properly 6 years ago, I was supremely impressed by the way that Americans and Canadians honour their past heroes. Retired jerseys that hang in the rafters for all time, a perfect way to preserve the memory of past greats, and for when you bring your kids to a game and they look up and say, “who was Messier?” or “why does no-one wear 99?”, I happen to think is a great way to pass on experiences, memories and inspirations to the younger generations (I sound old here but I’m only 23!). It’s something that you guys on “that” side of the Atlantic do very well, and does impress us here in the UK. Although I know impressing an Englishman/woman isn’t your greatest concern in life :)

As for my opinion on Doug Weight: I believe he should have his number retired by EDM, although I won’t be on the warpath if he isn’t. I would actually consider the same for Smyth. As I said in an article here the other day, whilst I think that HHOF membership is a great requirement by the Oil for jersey retirement, Smyth and Weight were supreme ambassadors for the team and great players through a difficult era for both the Oilers, and for hockey in general. Elite? No, save for a couple of seasons probably not. Huge part of the team’s history? Yes, no doubt. Jersey retirement should be just as much about team history (the Little Team That Could) than it is about honouring the game’s greats. If we don’t remember them and “teach” the new generation of Oiler fans about the team history, that leaves a huge gap between the departure of Messier, Fuhr and Anderson, and the arrival of Taylor Hall, MPS, Eberle and whoever is picked No.1 this year. Whilst those years were lean, they were still important and Weight and Smyth were the main components in a gritty team that was at least competitive for a few years. In my opinion, and I admit I love history as a subject in general, a grasp of the history of the team you support results in a far more passionate, knowledgeable and appreciative fan.

How about a simple compromise on the Jersey Retirement thing? They “retire” the jersey, but that doesn’t mean players can’t use that number in the future. Result? Great player remembered by fans, number still in circulation. Simple, and everyone gets their way. Of course it’ll never happen, but still.

Sorry for the ramble :)

I think EasyOil has the simple solution. Just do what teams like the Habs already do and honour the jerseys. That way they go up in the rafters, players get remembered, numbers can still get used.

You can then reserve retirement for your all time greats. Not a if this is a new idea.