Amidst a brutal schedule, this week is time to rest some aching bodies and recharge for next weekends three and three. Don't forget the "Evening with the Pirates" Tuesday night! Good fun for a great cause...
Have you seen the new commercials the NHL has put out this spring? The one with the pranks is the best. As I watched a game the other night, and viewed this scene, it brought back some memories that I thought might lighten up the week during this tumultuous stretch we face the next month. The NHL has really stepped it up in the marketing department and it is about time. With commercials featuring the new group of rising stars in the league, they have a hit especially with the players, poking fun at some age old traditions.
Ovechkin ordering the menu and sending it to another room, pretending to be Sidney Crosby is perfect. I first saw this one way back in my first couple of seasons. It was different back then, since there were no charter flights, every team would spend the night in the city they were playing that night, and, well there was a chance to "bond" after every game. It usually involved meeting up with some of the opponent, and almost always full attendance of your own team. In some ways, this period of the game made for tighter teams, and I think the teams of today lack the cohesiveness that road trips created in a group. Regardless, the night would end late, and the bus came early as would the flight. The old 5 am knock at the door, with a big breakfast on the cart was the last thing you wanted. But, every so often, you would hear the unsuspecting recipient of an early morning room service call, then a very loud "WHAT!", and an even louder door slam as the victim would not only have awakened for nothing, but was stuck with a nice, large breakfast bill. Jeremy Roenick and I were on the receiving end of a hot breakfast in Atlanta one early morning, but the sting wasn't as bad when you had only arrived the night before on a charter, and really had no reason to get up early, since we only had practice that day. J.R. simply told the guy we didn't order it, not in those exact words, and shut the door on the poor waiter and went back to bed.
The days of commercial flying always presented opportunity for some horsing around. Imagine 20 or so immature young males with 3 or 4 hours to kill. Not good. Many flights were strictly for "sleeping off" the night before and left some unguarded victims asleep. Typically, the oldest trick in the book was hiding someones shoes on the plane so at worst he spent the deplaning time searching and cursing. Sometimes, the culprit would keep the shoes, so the guy would have to walk through the airport with no shoes, and then when he got to the baggage carousel he would see them going around with the bags.

Other little tricks you may have seen during the NHL shoot, the shaving cream on the hand. Works best when another is dozing. Fill "Sleeping Beauty's" hand with shaving cream, then dab a little on his nose. As he stirs, and feels something on his nose, BAM! Makes for great entertainment. The other passengers usually get a kick out of that one. Less work, but no less fun is just a dab on top of the guys head. When he wakes up, and walks through the airport without knowing, a few stares from passerbys usually is the tip off. Of course, none of this fun happens now because after 9/11, charter flights became the mandate around the league, so the pranksters could not continue the traditions.
But, before charters, not only was travel different, much of the time spent travelling was in the airport, during layovers. This is where I saw the "dollar bill" trick for the first time. A resourceful teammate would always bring fishing line on the trip. Who leaves home without it? He would tie a dollar bill on the line and set it out in the aisle of the concourse in the airport. The bait was set... A few people would walk by and take a look and then keep going. But, one person would always see the bill and reach for it. As this was happening, the player holding the string would slowly pull it just out of the reach of that person, and, well you can imagine the surprise of that unsuspecting person and the roar of laughter that the guys would let out. Sometimes it was almost dangerous the way the people would be reaching for the bill! Most, however, were good sports about it and also got a good laugh. Some would just keep going, a little embarrassed.
Over the years, I have seen alot in this game, but nothing got me more than a day we travelled to New York. While playing in Philly, we would take the train to N.Y., a little old school, but a great way to travel. When we arrived, in the bowels of Madison Square Garden, we would board a bus, and go to the hotel nearby.This trip, my roommate, J.R., jumped in a cab ahead of the bus and got there ahead of the team. Sometimes guys would meet friends in cities, especially in N.Y., so not going on the bus was nothing out of the ordinary. So, we check in, I grab my key, and head up the elevator. I settle into my room and sit on the bed, take my shoes off and go to the T.V. armoire in the room to hang up my coat. As I go to open the door, J.R. lets out a scream and jumps out of the armoire! I jump about 3 feet in the air and scream as well, and J.R. breaks out laughing. He said he was sweating to death in there waiting for me to arrive, as his cab got there a bit ahead of the bus. He definitely got me that day. From then on I made sure his key was not missing when we checked in the hotel.
So, hopefully that got your mind off the heartbreaking ending to our weekend. Have faith, though. We are playing good hockey, and still have many games against Lowell and Worcester. We still believe...
If I can leave you with a few thoughts: don't fall asleep on planes, never attempt to pick up a stray dollar bill and always check for your roommates key when checking into a hotel... Weino

E-mail this entry to a friend