DKH
The Bergeron of HF
- Feb 27, 2002
- 74,184
- 51,917
The week was heralded as a homecoming week for three former Boston star players. Two of the reactions caught me off guard and the one I expected had a nice twist to it.
The one I figured would be overwhelmingly predictable was the reception Tim Thomas got- and at the end of the day few took it personal and focused less on the off ice stuff and more on what he and his teammates accomplished around 10:30 June 15 2011, That his coaching staff and teammates joined it a truly memorable event. He deserved a standing O and the fans delivered.
The Seguin reaction surprised me- I expected some boos but I was sitting there and it had a 'angry/mean' feel to it. There was a bunch of stuff yelled that one year ago would have seemed impossible, The tags from soft to spoiled, to childlike and underachieving are likely the cause of every boo or comment; yet as I sat there looking around I felt disappointed in not so much him or the fans but at how I perceived how I expected it would evolve over time. It seemed like yesterday I was following every Leafs game in the race for Hall/Seguin and enjoying it as much as actually having him. Watching the draft lottery thinking 'we can't get jumped now'- and we didn't. And there was and always will be that game 2 second period against Tampa when for 20 minutes Tyler Seguin would have made Bobby Orr jealous. Truth is Loui Eriksson can put up Dallas numbers here, and Reilly Smith can be a steal. But I wanted Tyler Seguin to be a point a game player who in the room and off the ice was somewhere near the mean as the rest of the Cup mates. I don't blame Chiarelli one bit but it doesn't make it any less disappointing.
The week finished up with the return of Phil Kessel. Again I went and was surprised how his perception has changed. He was sporadically booed but hit even close to before- his name was not chanted as in the past; and even Chara wasn't playing him with the fury of the first 25 or so games they matched up. Kessel changed a lot of minds last Spring and at least to me and I think a lot of others is someone to be feared when he comes on the ice not serenaded or ridiculed.
It was interesting that each was treated differently
The one I figured would be overwhelmingly predictable was the reception Tim Thomas got- and at the end of the day few took it personal and focused less on the off ice stuff and more on what he and his teammates accomplished around 10:30 June 15 2011, That his coaching staff and teammates joined it a truly memorable event. He deserved a standing O and the fans delivered.
The Seguin reaction surprised me- I expected some boos but I was sitting there and it had a 'angry/mean' feel to it. There was a bunch of stuff yelled that one year ago would have seemed impossible, The tags from soft to spoiled, to childlike and underachieving are likely the cause of every boo or comment; yet as I sat there looking around I felt disappointed in not so much him or the fans but at how I perceived how I expected it would evolve over time. It seemed like yesterday I was following every Leafs game in the race for Hall/Seguin and enjoying it as much as actually having him. Watching the draft lottery thinking 'we can't get jumped now'- and we didn't. And there was and always will be that game 2 second period against Tampa when for 20 minutes Tyler Seguin would have made Bobby Orr jealous. Truth is Loui Eriksson can put up Dallas numbers here, and Reilly Smith can be a steal. But I wanted Tyler Seguin to be a point a game player who in the room and off the ice was somewhere near the mean as the rest of the Cup mates. I don't blame Chiarelli one bit but it doesn't make it any less disappointing.
The week finished up with the return of Phil Kessel. Again I went and was surprised how his perception has changed. He was sporadically booed but hit even close to before- his name was not chanted as in the past; and even Chara wasn't playing him with the fury of the first 25 or so games they matched up. Kessel changed a lot of minds last Spring and at least to me and I think a lot of others is someone to be feared when he comes on the ice not serenaded or ridiculed.
It was interesting that each was treated differently
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