Joe Nieuwendyk Retires

[calgARI '07]

[quote aoop7]After looking into his profile, I am a little confused. I know he left Cornell in '87, but did he graduate? Some sources suggest that he did not, and others refer to him as '88. Just curious.[/quote]

I heard recently that he's still a few credits short.

[Beeeej]

[quote aoop7]After looking into his profile, I am a little confused. I know he left Cornell in '87, but did he graduate? Some sources suggest that he did not, and others refer to him as '88. Just curious.[/quote]

People who attend Cornell are considered members of the class with which they entered unless they request reaffiliation with another class.  This is true whether or not they finish their degrees.  So referring to him as "Joe Nieuwendyk '88" implies nothing about the status of his degree.

[Rich S]

[quote Beeeej][quote aoop7]After looking into his profile, I am a little confused. I know he left Cornell in '87, but did he graduate? Some sources suggest that he did not, and others refer to him as '88. Just curious.[/quote]

People who attend Cornell are considered members of the class with which they entered unless they request reaffiliation with another class.  This is true whether or not they finish their degrees.  So referring to him as "Joe Nieuwendyk '88" implies nothing about the status of his degree.[/quote]

Perhaps not, in the Cornell way of doing things but it's a bit misleading given that the popular understanding is that the year mentioned implies the year of graduation.

That said, the Panthers missed him last night at MSG.  They were punchless in a 2-1 loss to the Rangers, a game they easily could have  won if they had they had a player like Joe who knew how to finish!

[Beeeej]

[quote Rich S][quote Beeeej][quote aoop7]After looking into his profile, I am a little confused. I know he left Cornell in '87, but did he graduate? Some sources suggest that he did not, and others refer to him as '88. Just curious.[/quote]

People who attend Cornell are considered members of the class with which they entered unless they request reaffiliation with another class.  This is true whether or not they finish their degrees.  So referring to him as "Joe Nieuwendyk '88" implies nothing about the status of his degree.[/quote]

Perhaps not, in the Cornell way of doing things but it's a bit misleading given that the popular understanding is that the year mentioned implies the year of graduation.[/quote]

It was the same way at Columbia when I worked there.  I admit that's not much of a sample size, but I wouldn't be surprised if most colleges' and universities' alumni offices operate the same way - as soon as you matriculate you're a member of the class, graduating just gets you the degree.  Even if Joe finishes his degree in 2008, I wouldn't expect him to reaffiliate with the Class of '08, and I kind of doubt you'd expect him to refer to himself as Joe Nieuwendyk '08.  So if you expected class year to mean year of graduation for everybody, you'd be misleading yourself at least a little.

Of course if someone puts "Joe Shlabotnik, Cornell University '88" on his resume, and he never graduated, you could probably assume he's being deliberately misleading.  But that's a little different.

[French Rage]

I smell wacky back-to-school movie!

[Rich S]

You have to love the Joe S. reference.  :-)

But I believe it's "Shlobotnick" and I have an old Peanuts button to prove it.  :-D

[French Rage]

[quote Rich S]You have to love the Joe S. reference.  :-)

But I believe it's "Shlobotnick" and I have an old Peanuts button to prove it.  :-D[/quote]

Wikipedia disagrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Shlabotnik

[fullofgas]

[quote French Rage][quote Rich S]You have to love the Joe S. reference.  :-)

But I believe it's "Shlobotnick" and I have an old Peanuts button to prove it.  :-D[/quote]

Wikipedia disagrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Shlabotnik[/quote]

and of course we all know Wikipedia is an unimpeachable source!!?! ::screwy::

[Beeeej]

[quote fullofgas][quote French Rage][quote Rich S]You have to love the Joe S. reference.  :-)

But I believe it's "Shlobotnick" and I have an old Peanuts button to prove it.  :-D[/quote]

Wikipedia disagrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Shlabotnik[/quote]

and of course we all know Wikipedia is an unimpeachable source!!?! ::screwy::[/quote]

Charles M. Schulz disagrees, too.

[CUlater 89]

[quote Beeeej]
People who attend Cornell are considered members of the class with which they entered unless they request reaffiliation with another class.  This is true whether or not they finish their degrees.  So referring to him as "Joe Nieuwendyk '88" implies nothing about the status of his degree.[/quote]

Official policy at the Sun used to be you did not use class year unless the person graduated.  The famous exception was Vonnegut.  After Nieuwendyk left school, a few of the editors decided to do the same to honor him, although early on it wasn't used consistently (and in fact if the Managing Editor saw it, he would take it out).

[jtwcornell91]

Rich is probably confused because I used to use "Joe Schlobotnik" as a pseudonym.  At the time, there weren't the same resources available online, and I made my best guess as to the spelling.

[BCrespi]

Joe and Dryden mentioned in the same piece

From ESPN.com writer E.J. Hradek's blog:

Why Nieuwendyk was great

posted: Friday, December 8, 2006

When a top player retires, the question is inevitable: Is he a Hall of Famer?

In the case of Joe Nieuwendyk, who abruptly retired on Wednesday due to chronic back problems, I offer a thumb's up. And, just for the record, I think I have a pretty high standard when it comes to such an honor. For instance, I wouldn't have voted for the induction of Clarke Gillies, Cam Neely or Bernie Federko. After all, it's not the Hockey Hall of Really Good. It's the Hockey Hall of Fame, a club for the elite. I think Nieuwendyk fits in that elite class.


Nieuwendyk's career numbers are solid. He netted 564 goals and 1,126 points in a 20-year career. Throughout the years, he was a top two-way center who could beat you with a single shot, a deadly accurate wrister that he would usually launch from the top of the circle. As a youth, his standout abilities on the lacrosse field helped his game on the ice. Working with a lacrosse stick helped him develop that terrific wrist shot. He won the Calder Trophy after scoring 51 goals in his rookie season and he matched that number in his sophomore campaign. In all, he tallied 192 goals in his first four seasons.


However, I think I'm most impressed with the fact that Nieuwendyk helped three different teams to the Stanley Cup. In 1989, he was part of a Flames team that stopped the Canadiens. In 1999, Nieuwendyk was part of the Stars title team. He enjoyed a great playoff run centering a line with Dave Reid and Jamie Langenbrunner. For his efforts, he was named the Conn Smythe Trophy. And, in 2003, he played a supporting role in the Devils championship run. He didn't play in the finals, however, due to injury.


In 2002, Nieuwendyk added an Olympic gold medal to his career résumé, skating for Team Canada.


In the dressing room, Nieuwendyk was a class act. He was a quiet, no-nonsense guy who led by example. I can't think of a time when he said anything negative or controversial to those of us in the media. Simply, he was team player.


Langenbrunner, who was traded to New Jersey with Nieuwendyk in 2002, was a little surprised by the timing of the decision. Like most people around the league, Langenbrunner knew the Panthers pivot had been suffering with back woes for several years, but he didn't realize things had gotten that bad.


"I know he'd gone to see a specialist" in Cleveland earlier in the week, Langenbrunner said after his Devils edged the Habs, 2-1, in overtime on Wednesday night. "I know he was hopeful to play another season or two."


Nieuwendyk's back, which limited him to just 15 of Florida's 29 games this season, obviously put an end to those plans. Still, he probably won't complain. That was never his style.


In the next couple of years, with the recent retirements of icons Mark Messier, Scott Stevens and Ron Francis, entrance to the Hall will be difficult. Here's hoping the voters don't miss the boat on Nieuwendyk, who stands among the best players to ever lace on the blades.


TRADITION


I just gotta tell you how much I love the Canadiens sweaters. I've been a fan of their classy look since my childhood. I was reminded of it on my way into the Devils-Habs game on Wednesday. In the parking lot, I spotted a guy wearing a white road (once home) jersey with the big No. 29 on the back. The name, DRYDEN, stood above the number. In Ken Dryden's day, I don't think the Canadiens had names on the back of the sweaters. I could, however, be completely wrong about that. The memory starts to go when you reach your mid-40s.


Still, to me, the Canadiens jersey, road or home, with that classic CH on the front, means hockey. I can't imagine how much of thrill it must be for a young player to pull on that sweater for the first time. I hope they never change it. It's just another reason I'm frightened about the "new look" that the league plans to introduce at the All-Star Game. The league has been working with Reebok for the past several years on coming up with a more form-fitting uniform. They plan on going to the new look next season. I'll reserve complete judgment until I see it, but I really doubt that I'm going to like it. I have a feeling a lot of you aren't going to dig it, either.


I KNOW!


As ignorant as I might appear from time to time, I do know that Brett Hull skated for the Red Wings and Dave Andreychuk spent several seasons in Buffalo during their respective careers. Several readers, who replied to my ESPN.com column where I talked about the ceremonies honoring those players, thought I might not have known that.


Well, I do remember that. In fact, they both played for multiple teams. Andreychuk made several stops in his long career; aside from the Lightning, he skated for the Sabres, Maple Leafs, Avalanche, Bruins and Devils. Hull, meanwhile, began his career with the Flames, who traded him to the Blues. After his long stint in St. Loo, Hull spent time with the Stars, Wings and Coyotes.


I do hope that the Wings decide to have a small ceremony for Hull and it would be nice to see the Sabres honor Andreychuk. I'm not saying that either club has to retire those jerseys, but I think it would be a fitting gesture by both clubs.

[Rich S]

Thanks John.

I'm confused about a lot of things these days :-} but this isn't one of them.

That Peanuts button is still on a bulletin board in the house where I grew up.  It definitely has Joe S's name spelled the way I did above.  Hopefully I'll remember to retrieve it when I'm upstate in two weeks.

And ol' Joe will still need a hit to raise his BA to .004! :-D

[Al DeFlorio]

From the Panthers' web site: http://www.floridapanthers.com/Newsroom/RecentNews/index.cfm?id=621

[Drew]

[quote Al DeFlorio]From the Panthers' web site: http://www.floridapanthers.com/Newsroom/RecentNews/index.cfm?id=621[/quote]

Class act.