Til the End of Time
Registered User
i asked him about rutherford, said he was a super nice guy on a personal level. didnt have any comments/feelings about him in terms of whether he's a good/bad manager, he pleaded the fifth there. said even dating back to his days with carolina, JR would always take the time to talk to fans, random people in the organization, etc. JR would spend time talking to the random HS/college interns that carolina would take, the interns were always impressed that the GM would take time to talk to lowly interns. personally he had nothing but positive things to say, and had no comment on him professional (i took this more as him saying he just didnt know much about JR in that way, rather than him abstaining from saying derogatory things).
he also said the higher ups (ownership) are "furious" at the team right now. very mad at the players, coaching staff, and apparently management. he said he "wasnt sure what [the owners] would do." though we have heard about management/owners being really pissed after some of these recent playoff series and little truly changes, so we'll see
said the pens need a guy like trottier, then told stories about trots. said everyone in the lockerroom loved/looked up to him, that he was a very respectful and friendly fellow, but when the game was on the line he was deadly serious. he had laser focus when the team was doing poorly. he said more than any other player in the past ~30 years for the pens, trots loathed losing. when things were going well, he was the nicest guy you would meet, but when the team was losing or in a close game, literally nothing else would matter to him.
also mentioned that sid has had some other medical issues that havent been discused in the media. nothing major but some stuff dating back to his junior days, not necessarily hockey stuff. guy is pretty familiar with doctors it seems.
i asked him about letang, said he was very nice person. when he first got here, he had very poor english. he got in a fight early in his career, beat the hell out of someone, and the next day my friend saw letang. he asked him about the fight last night, and letang meekly said in his developing english " i know to defend myself." without prompting he went on about what a freak athlete letang is, how he looks like a bodybuilder with his shirt off. also without prompting, he said that letang has had some really bad luck with all the injuries, and again without prompting, said that he "wonders if he [letang] should keep at it, I worry that he could be one of those guys with CTE down the road." (CTE=chronic traumatic encephalopathy). he said he wasnt aware of any discussions or real debate on letang calling it quits, just that he personally worries about letang being at risk for impaired quality of life down the road.
he then talked about concussions, said when he was first with the team 30 years ago, guys would spend their offseason in western canada working on farms or working some other second job in the summer. now every guy has a trainer and they spent the entire offseason getting faster, stronger, and heavier. he said its pretty simple, players' bodies have gotten significantly bigger and stronger over the past ~30 years yet the brain hasnt gotten any more resistant to trauma.
also said that when staal was cut by PK subban in the playoffs a few years back, staal was super pissed. they took him to the OR that night to repair his tendon, and afterwards staal was walking around on crutches fuming. staal asked burke if he would be able to play the next night, burke said "sure jordan." afterwards my friend said "you really going to let him play burk, how is that possible?" burk said "hell no he's not playing, but i am not telling him that tonight."
another story about dupuis. said he was hit from behind one night, into the boards. my friend really thought dupuis had a broken neck. said he had a huge laceration across his entire forehead, with the skull showing. most guys would be asking for MRI and stuff, but while he was getting stiched up by the plastics guy dupuis said "make me pretty." again talked about how great a guy dupuis was, and how he really thinks sid and the rest of the team miss him.
