HockeyTweet trouble and this week’s 30 thoughts

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Walsh has one responsibility here, and that’s to his client. No one would be surprised if Halak, who doesn’t seem the type to create shockwaves, is beyond frustrated with his status in the organization. On merit, he deserves more opportunity, but Price is a first-rounder and Halak went 271st. It’s not always fair, but it happens.

The difference between hockey and other sports is that this usually happens in private. You don’t have insane “Next Question” press conferences on driveways (complete with sit-ups) like Drew Rosenhaus did for Terrell Owens. Just last night, minutes after an NBA game between Golden State and Sacramento, the agent for Warriors guard Stephen Jackson phoned up an ESPN reporter and napalmed coach Don Nelson. (Jackson has demanded a trade.) That’s also very unusual in the NHL. There are times you get a phone call from an agent, but most prefer to keep their names out of it.

Hockey is not a rock-the-boat sport. Edmonton fans hate Chris Pronger, but he led the Oilers to within one win of a Stanley Cup six months after demanding a trade. No one knew.

That’s why I wasn’t surprised by and totally understood Kelly Hrudey’s angry reaction. There is a greater cult of omerta among the NHL fraternity. Craig Simpson has told me several times he thinks the best teammates are the guys who reveal the least.

Walsh’s twitter feed is very informative and interesting, but this isn’t the first time he’s deleted something after initially posting. (Not that it matters. There are sites out there – like Delete-tweet – which keep records of removed comments. Once it’s out there, it’s out there.) It’s also not the first time he’s made pointed commentary. During the summer, when Chicago chose to let Martin Havlat walk, he wrote, “So much for taking care of the team MVP.”

It’s unlikely Havlat had any issues with that considering his own anger at the Blackhawks.

This is not a new media/old media issue. This is simply a question of whether or not an agent did his client a disservice. If Halak is OK with this, he’ll get his wish for a divorce. He’ll be a pariah in the room. After last season, Bob Gainey wants none of this and Jacques Martin is the most controversy-phobic coach in the NHL. If Halak isn’t okay with it, well, unfortunately for him, all of that might still apply.

CLASS MOVE OF THE WEEK

San Jose’s Logan Couture scored his first NHL goal Thursday night in Detroit. Normally, a visiting player’s score would go almost entirely unrecognized, but the milestone was announced to the crowd as play resumed.

His parents – in attendance for the special moment – really appreciated the gesture. Not many buildings would do that.

MORE NHLPA

The purge continued last night with the Buzz Hargrove’s resignation. More interesting, however, was the decision to bring on Donald Fehr as an advisor. During research for my NHLPA piece posted Saturday, a few people mentioned that Fehr should be brought on board in that capacity. However, some thought the idea would be discarded because of Fehr’s close association with Ian Penny.

Ignoring that in favour of including Fehr was a very smart decision.

NON-HOCKEY THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

Would have loved to listen to Alex Anthopoulos’s conference call Saturday afternoon, simply to ask one question: Would you have a problem, as a young, new GM, with trading Roy Halladay to a divisional opponent?

The Boston Red Sox are desperate. They just traded for Jeremy Hermida, who will make approximately $4 million in arbitration, and may be their fourth outfielder. The Yankees just won the World Series and will have flexibility to add even more payroll to a very deep lineup if they choose to let Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui walk.

Boston reportedly had the best offer for Halladay and the Blue Jays’ GM sure made it sound like the pitcher wants to go. Kevin Lowe had an opportunity to make his first trade as Oilers GM with the Rangers, but didn’t want his opening deal to be with Glen Sather.

Will Anthopoulos want the first player he trades to beat him eight times over the next two years?

30 THOUGHTS

1. Let’s do a few on the Hall of Famers. Best quote I ever heard about Steve Yzerman came from Jason Williams. I asked Williams how things had changed in the Red Wings room after the captain’s retirement. He said, “It’s a lot less sarcastic around here when I make a mistake.”

2. In 2002, Yzerman had the greatest season I’ve ever witnessed. The Olympic gold medal, the Stanley Cup – all with a knee injury requiring ground-breaking surgery. Yzerman now admits it got really bad before the second game of the Olympic tournament, and Hurricanes players said that in the last game of the Cup Final, you could see the agony in his eyes.

3. People could not believe how thin Brett Hull’s blade was. You simply don’t see that any more, because the puck bounces around so much. To them, it revealed Hull’s incredible hand-eye co-ordination, since he kept his blade off-ice, cocked in prime shooting position, to release faster.

4. Remember asking Hull about Sports Illustrated’s mid-season 2001-02 prediction that the Wings would win the Stanley Cup. His reply? “What does that magazine know about hockey?”

5. Brian Rafalski said that coaches used to show him instructional videos of Brian Leetch. They wanted to illustrate how Leetch could thread ridiculous tape-to-tape passes from either his forehand or backhand.

6. The New York Times reported this phenomenal story: When President Clinton called to congratulate him on being named a Stanley Cup champion and the 1994 Conn Smythe winner, Leetch refused to believe it. He asked, “Was that Dana Carvey?”

7. Prior to winning the Stanley Cup, Luc Robitaille said his greatest moment was receiving a note from Rocket Richard upon scoring his 500th goal. It read, “Nice to see another little Quebecker get 500.”

8. Robitaille should also be inducted to the Charity Hall of Fame. He owns a house in Utah, which he made available to at least three different families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He and wife Stacia also run Echoes of Hope, which makes sure foster children who turn 18 are not neglected.

9. Six days after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Lou Lamoriello will be enshrined into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame. He was a three-time all-star as a player, and won one league championship as a manager.

10. Lamoriello’s public perception is somewhat misunderstood. He has very strict rules – still demands every phone call into the Devils offices be answered by a person and can’t stand promoting individual players – but once you gain his trust, he will take care of you forever.

11. John Davidson – who enters as a broadcaster – was the first media member to figure out Wayne Gretzky was retiring in 1999. He noticed Gretzky was using more sticks than normal, and asked why. Apparently, it was because the Great One wanted more game-used ones to give away.

12. Don’t really know Dave Molinari – the print honouree – that well personally. But, the level of respect for him in Pittsburgh is so high that the day his selection was announced, Dan Bylsma led his Stanley Cup media briefing with congratulations for him.

13. OK, now the rest of the league: great, great line from one of the NHL’s funniest players, Ryan Malone. He watched the Penguins’ Stanley Cup victory with no malice. His wife even asked him if it was hard to watch. He said no, “Because if I was there, I’d probably have turned the puck over and they’d lost.”

14. Jonas Gustavsson held his first autograph session in Toronto last week, and when he signed only his name, fans said, “No, you’ve got to sign it ‘Jonas Gustavsson, The Monster.’”

15. One GM: “When Vancouver gets healthy, they could be the best team in the West.”

16. Really interesting how the younger Swedes talk about Borje Salming. Niklas Kronwall said they all owe him thanks for showing that not every Swede was a “chicken Swede,” and Jonathan Ericsson said he thinks of the scars Salming suffered to survive. Neither one is old enough to really remember him as a player.

17. Did a piece years ago on Salming when I worked at The Score. He was really proud to hear that Bob Clarke reflected on all the abuse the Flyers heaped upon him and said, “Borje was tough. Real tough.”

18. Steve Stamkos worked with Gary Roberts during the summer. Stamkos said the worst thing Roberts made him do was run with a 75-to-100-pound sled strapped to him. He’d have to do two sets of five sprints.

19. Mike Babcock made a very interesting comment about the possibility of guys like Stamkos – who weren’t invited to the Olympic Orientation Camp – making Team Canada: “Who are they going to bump off the roster?”

20. Ominous Quote of the Week: Agent Mark Gandler when asked by Dmitri Chesnokov if client Alexander Semin would take a hometown discount from the Capitals – “I don’t believe in discounts.”

21. The Capitals probably wish Semin didn’t believe in taking awful penalties.

22. Red Wings fans bleating for change probably won’t get too much. Ken Holland is a big believer in seeing how people react to adversity. He wants to see how his younger, less-experienced players handle this.

23. Chris Osgood, when told of Jim Devellano’s quote that it would be a “miracle” for the Wings to get home-ice advantage in the playoffs: “Maybe, but even if we start on the road, the team that gets us won’t want to see us.”

24. Very strange how things go with the Carolina Hurricanes. Either they contend for the Stanley Cup, or they contend for the number one pick. It’s tough for attendance, but, one of the reasons they won in 2006 was the complete meltdown in 2003. (It got them Eric Staal.)

25. Jim Rutherford is one of the most loyal people in the NHL. (See his handling of Paul Maurice as an example.) It will be tested with Rod Brind’Amour. Brind’Amour has another year at $3.6 million US left on his deal, an over-35 contract. He’s a very proud guy, always in shape and a giver of great effort, but has slowed noticeably in the past two years. Now, he’s minus-12 without a plus game since Oct. 9. This is a tough one for Rutherford.

26. One of the NHL’s most underrated players: Douglas Murray. But, it’s strange to see a guy with that name trying for a spot on Sweden’s Olympic Team.

27. After his team’s victory in Toronto, Lightning forward James Wright was stretching on the floor of the dressing room using a soft roller underneath his body. Why was he doing it there? “Because I don’t have enough seniority to get massage time,” he laughed. Wright is 19.

28. Kris Draper does similar exercises with a softball. Apparently, it’s brutal.

29. Last year, Mats Sundin. This year, Peter Forsberg. Who are the Canucks going to try and sign next year – Joe Sakic?

30. Next year, Eric Lindros becomes eligible for Hall consideration. Wouldn’t you love to listen to that debate? Joe Nieuwendyk is a lock.

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