Red Wings legend stops by high school to support project on historic game

STERLING HEIGHTS — Detroit Red Wings hockey legend Darren McCarty stopped by the Stevenson Manufacturing, Automation, and Design Engineering program on May 26 to hear firsthand the students’ final report on a historic matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings.

Nearly 30 years ago, the game was billed as “Fight Night at the Joe.” It was an opportunity for the team to respond to Avalanche right winger Claude Lemieux breaking Red Wing Kris Draper’s jaw and shattering his cheek during the previous season’s Western Conference Finals. In total, the March 26, 1997, game included 18 fighting major penalties and 148 penalty minutes, with even the goalies participating in the fights.

English teacher Sarah LaCombe said that Honors English 9 students analyzed persuasive appeals used in commercials, advertisements, music, movies and historical speeches to study their effectiveness on persuading an audience. For this assignment, students chose a topic of their choice with the goal of convincing the audience, their classmates, of their opinion using three persuasive appeals.

“Freshmen in Stevenson’s Center for Manufacturing, Automation, and Design Engineering (MADE) program, Jacob Cox, Johnathan Konwerski, and Austin Simpson, decided to complete their presentation on Fight Night at the Joe,” LaCombe said in an email. “While researching, Jacob asked if he could try to get a primary resource for the presentation and sent Mr. McCarty a message on Instagram. McCarty responded, and they set up a phone call and interviewed him over the phone during first hour one morning.”

Once the presentation was complete, the group invited McCarty to visit the classroom to watch their presentation, which he accepted. After the presentation, McCarty spoke to the class about “Fight Night” and how it led to a Stanley Cup victory and to the history of Red Wings hockey.

“I was part of all four Stanley cups here in Detroit. But I always say that’s the date where everything changed,” McCarty said in a press release. “If that game and that stuff does not happen, then we don’t sit here today with all that success.”

McCarty also scored the game-winning goal in overtime May 26. While he visited the school, he spent time meeting the students, signing autographs and taking pictures.

“Mr. McCarty’s visit is more about the team of students than the project or presentation,” LaCombe said in an email. “Jacob, JP and Austin took the initiative to add something special to their assignment. Mr. McCarty said it was their polite message that made him take notice and respond. I am very proud of the work the group completed and very thankful that McCarty took time to visit with us.”

Two days after the presentation, Lemieux died in Florida at age 60. For more information, visit uticak12.org.