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Red Wings Daily: DMac Remembers Painful Cup Winner; Remains Staunchly Anti-Visor

Former Detroit Red Wings tough guy Darren McCarty recollects two serious head shots he took, one which happened while he was scoring the 1997 Stanley Cup-winning goal

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Darren McCarty, former Detroit Red Wings player
Darren McCarty scored the Cup winner for the Red WIngs in 1997.

Tuesday was the 25th anniversary of the end of what was a 42-year Stanley Cup drought for the Detroit Red Wings. It was also the night that Red Wings tough guy Darren McCarty would be scoring his most memorable goal.

McCarty’s second-period breakaway tally against Philadelphia Flyers goalie and current Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall proved to be the Cup winner. Detroit edged Philly 2-1 to sweep to the first Red Wings Stanley Cup win since the spring of 1955.

While ending a long headache for the franchise, the tally also would be leading to a headache for McCarty. He took a high stick to the side of his head from Flyers defenseman Janne Niinimaa. Such was the adrenaline flowing for McCarty at the time of his goal, he wouldn’t be noticing the damage done until much later.

“I had no clue I took the two hander to the side of the head until the shiner after the game,” read a McCarty post on his Twitter feed. “Honestly about an inch more and I would have lost my eye.

“And 💯 before you ask. TOTALLY WORTH IT.”

McCarty also addressed a popular meme that refers to a 1999 game in which a skate cut to his face resulting in 40 stitches also necessitated McCarty finishing the game wearing a visor.

This was something the tough guy simply wasn’t taking well then. He’s not changing his opinion of faceshields today, either.

“Visors still suck,” McCarty tweeted.

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