I know y'all love dunking on Dermy, but he was genuinely my favourite dude on this squad and it seems like everyone in the locker room felt the same way. I'm actually gonna miss this big f***ing lug. Also, it was amazing having the 2nd toughest player in the world on our team for a couple years. One of the only guys who was able to wipe Reaves's stupid f***ing smirk off his ugly face. What a moment that was. f***, I love Dermy.
Dermy, and most enforcers, are beloved by their teams. I imagine part of it is the big-brother/protector aspect, but I genuinely believe these guys also tend to be just super positive people. I don't know if it's because they feel lucky to be in the league or if it has something to do with their personal philosophies based on fighting/warrior culture...but guys like MacDermid and Bordeleau are just absolutely loved by their team-mates. Even Koci seemed super chill. Altitude did one of those get to know the players thing with him and he had them do the interview at this big bookstore. Apparently, the dude loved to read and wanted that to be a big part of what he was about. Kurtis, bless his heart, shared that he wanted to be a tractor when he grew up.
But yeah, I have a real soft spot for these guys. In fact, I love them and that is why I hope they are all unemployed soon. What we know today about concussions and CTE... look, I have no problems with boxing and MMA. I have mixed emotions about how much I enjoy watching them, but I don't have problems with it because that's they only thing these dudes sign up to do. Hockey is completely different in that it is a team sport. And, to be brutally honest, these are grown ass men who shouldn't have to have a big brother protect them. Stand up for your damn self.
I like to think that Kurtis was brought in to teach our team exactly how to do that. The Avs don't get pushed around the way they used to. Yes, we still have a problem with heavy or aggressive forechecking, but we are not getting abused physically the way we used to. We got folks like Manson taking swipes at Bedard. Damn... we've actually become the bullies.