The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday announced the addition of eight more players who will participate in the festivities surrounding the 2012 Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings Alumni Showdown on Dec. 31 at Detroit's Comerica Park as part of the 2012 SiriusXM Hockeytown Winter Festival.
Detroit has added forwards Petr Klima, Dallas Drake, Garry Unger and Paul Ysebaert, while Toronto announced the addition of Hall of Famers Joe Nieuwendyk, Borje Salming, Frank Mahovlich and Mats Sundin.
A seven-time participant in the NHL All-Star Game, Unger appeared in 216 consecutive games for the Red Wings after being acquired in a trade with the Maple Leafs on March 3, 1968. Unger went on to set the League's "iron man" record (later surpassed by Doug Jarvis) by skating in 914 straight contests during his 1,105-games career that included stints with Edmonton, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Calgary.
Selected by the Red Wings in the fifth round (No. 88) of the 1983 Entry Draft, Klima defected to Detroit from Czechoslovakia prior to the 1985-86 season, making him the first player in history to go directly from an Iron Curtain nation to a United States-based NHL team. Klima went on to appear in 293 games for the Red Wings during his first stint in Detroit, tallying 222 points on 129 goals and 93 assists. Traded to Edmonton on Nov. 2, 1989, Klima went on to skate with Edmonton, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh prior to returning to the Red Wings in 1998-99, tallying one goal in 13 appearances to finish his NHL career with 313 goals and 260 assists in 786 games.
Acquired from the Devils 11 games into the 1990-91 season, Ysebaert spent 210 of his 532 career NHL games with the Red Wings, totaling 84 goals and 86 assists for Detroit. Ysebaert became the first Red Wing to win the NHL's Plus/Minus Award in 1991-92 after finishing his first full season in the League with a mark of plus-44.