The main issue I have with post game coverage is the general lack of personality conveyed by the majority of the league. The NHL has some of the classiest athletes and coaches in all of professional sports, but sometimes you just want to hear someone go off.
No canned responses about “working hard”, “winning the battles” and “shaking up the lineup” (Booth, consider yourself shaken). I would love it if there was a bit more colour in those interviews and players said what they were really thinking.
Stuff like this…
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (yep, that logo will follow you everywhere!)
Head Coach Jack Capuano – “This is what happens when management tells me I can’t play Rick DiPietro. That was my secret plan”.
Evgeni Nabokov – “Now it’s become clear why the Sharks wanted Niemi and not me. HE can beat the Canucks”.
John Tavares – “How many games dow we have to win before I get to meet Jay Z? They keep telling me it will happen after the next game, but still nothing”.
Matt Moulson – “Hopefully this is enough to put on me the Canadiens radar. I really want to be traded there. It’s meant to be”.
Cal Clutterbuck – “As usual, I hit everything but the scoreboard tonight. Classic Clutterbuck”.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Head Coach John Tortorella – “F*#ing rights! This is the second time I’ve come into New York and beaten a team. Let those Ranger pr*cks know I’m coming for payback”.
Roberto Luongo – “I’d hate to use the old sports cliche ‘settling down after some early jitters’… so I won’t… but I did.”
Henrik Sedin – “I’m used to getting penalties for hooking, but getting a penalty for being hooked tonight was as unexpected as it was ridiculous”.
Daniel Sedin – “I miss Burr. Someone had to say it”.
Ryan Kesler – “Not quite beast mode, but getting there, you know? Aggressive puppy mode!”
Chris Higgins – “Yeah it was a lucky bounce, so what? The hockey gods giveth, who am I to question it?”
Mike Santorelli – “I might not have scored the overtime goal, but watch that play. It’s got my fingerprints all over it”.
Brad Richardson – “They will probably give my goal to Juice, but for tonight I’m an overtime hero. Plus it wasn’t even shorthanded!”
Jannik Hansen – “Owwwwwwww! My arm feels like the ankle of someone who blocked a Garrison slap shot”.
Jason Garrison – (Overhearing) “Pfft, no it doesn’t. It’s still attached”.
Kevin Bieksa – “I’ve already set up pre-game interviews with Dan Murphy for the next two games and he’ll be on speed-dial for the rest of the season”.
Dale Weise – “You wanna talk about that pass? I will only answer questions about it if you all refer to it as ‘Manning-esque’. Even if you don’t, I’d still love to talk about it”.
Chris Tanev – “Win or lose, we still finish up the night on a bus to New Jersey. So… we will still lose tonight”.
Andrew Alberts – “Yeah, you know, I’m disappointed I didn’t get more than one shift, but trust me, if I had, I would have done everything in my power to get a third shift. Realistically that would have been it”.
David Booth – “Yeah, I’m pretty pissed off about being a healthy scratch tonight. If only there was some sort of activity I could do to work out my aggression…”
You can follow j.Bow on Twitter (@jBowmancouver). David Booth’s ice time is on the endangered species list.
