CrashingTheGoalie

by Bill Heintz

The odds and ends of the off season can sometimes be like reading the entrails of chickens or the leaves at the bottom of a cup of tea. If you are superstitious (and knock on wood, thank God, I am not) then you can convince yourself that they are portents…predictors of the coming season.

So Alex Burrows gave the lumberjack special to a goalie in the summer league.

Two schools of thought, of course. One is, he never shoulda done it and two, the goalie deserved it.

Like many Canadian kids I’ve played the game at a lower level and I’ve swung my stick in anger…even offered to perform rhinoplasty on an offending opponent. But I’ve never actually given someone a mouthful of Sherwood…or KOHO or anything like it. But I don’t care what level the game is being played at, emotions often run counter to intelligence. Guys do stupid things. Alex swinging the stick was stoopid on a number of obvious levels…even if the other guy pressed his nuclear button.

See, Burr is one of my favorite players and he’s been on the upswing for a few years now. Fought his way up from the East Coast League, through the AHL…from spare part to first liner in the NHL. Finally scores a decent contract….and now this. This is one tea leaf that I’m hoping does not portend darker days ahead. And for Chrissakes Alex, if you are going to break teeth, save it for the Show, where we can watch the endless re-runs on Sportsnet and listen to the holier-than-thou types rip you a new arse for a couple of months afterwards.

Secondly, one of the guys I love to hate, Mr. Jeremy Roenick, is retiring after a twenty year career. Scored over five hundred goals, mouthed off to the press, worthy opponents and hotel bellboys. Handed out some staright out monster hits and elevated the game for Team USA. Didn’t win the Cup, but lots of greats don’t. Never liked the guy cause he did us harm on lots of occasions but man the guy was one fine hockey player…and I would have loved him if he played on the Canucks.

So what now JR?

Does he have the temperament for coaching, or the acumen for a GM position? A few doubters out there, for sure. But a team hiring JR to market the game?…hell, that is a sure fire winner.

courtesy of multiprey.files.wordpress.com

Thirdly, the comeback attempt of Theo Fleury. I really am holding my breath here. Even as a Canuck fan, I loved Fleury when many of the Orca faithful hated his guts. He was such an in-your-face little bastard. But he could score goals and he could hit like a compact freight train and he just seemed so damned fearless.

Who knew about the demons?

Well, some people obviously, but when you are in the bigs and you are producing, then a a lot of personal crap gets covered up. When you stop producing, the knives come out. I watched Claude Lemiuex’s painful comeback attempt this year and really just shook my head. What did the Sharks hope to gain from that effort out there?…at the expense of letting a younger guy learn the ropes, mind you. With Theo Fleury, it will be a far more interesting…and certainly public kind of story. The press will watch with the type of morbid fascination reserved for all potential train wrecks and they will be ready to pounce at the first sign of failure. With Claude the Clown it was more a matter of indifference.

But Theo gets a different kind of coverage…certainly the opposite of indifference. And everyone loves a good crash and burn. But like I said, I really am holding my breath on this one because I’d love to see this guy succeed on some level.

Because redemption is also a great story.