Adam Foote still hasn't forgotten the mid-1990s rivalry that existed between the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings.
The former Avalanche defenseman was asked if there was one member of the former Red Wings he would punch in the face Friday night during the alumni game, and responded with one word.
"Draper," he told Denver's 104.3 The Fan on Thursday morning.
Kris Draper, to be exact - the former Red Wings forward who was hit into the boards from behind by Colorado's Claude Lemieux in Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference final.
"Lemieux was frustrated simply because, the way the game was going, Detroit knew they were going to lose that series," Foote said.
"(Red Wings head coach Scotty) Bowman was setting the table for the following years, in my opinion. Just earlier in that game, I got hit from behind (by Vyacheslav) Kozlov, and that took 20 stitches.”
Draper suffered a broken jaw, as well as shattered cheek and orbital bones on the Lemieux hit, but Foote is still not pleased with how his former rival reacted after the incident.
"I just didn't like the way Draper carried (himself)," Foote said. "Yeah, you can be upset (that) it was a bad hit, (but) it was a bad hit on myself and all we heard in the media for, god, over a year was (about) that hit.
"It's too bad that he got hurt that way, but he was always just a little bit of a pest. There's something about him that just turns my stomach the wrong way."
Foote and Draper were teammates on the Canadian team at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turino, Italy.
The Avalanche-Red Wings alumni game takes place Friday night at Coors Field in Denver.
