The Media and Sound Bites

Great quotes are easy to come by in the NHL … Coaches and GM’s have been around and seen enough of this league that their sense of humor has to be in tune or this sport will drive anyone in a leadership role to drinking! There are motivational quotes like the one from John Tortorella, when talking about the Lightnings game play, where he said “Safety is death.”

Then there are the ones that show how much respect this league commands – when Barry Trotz was talking about Peter Forsberg, “Some of the things he's done, they write books about. Babe Ruth-type stuff. But he doesn't bring an intimidating personality. He's a genuine, solid guy and any team that gets him is getting a great talent and a good person." You don’t find respect like that in other leagues, sure you’ll hear someone say good things about a player, but in regards to honor and respect, I think the NHL is the bar every sport franchise should aspire to reach.

You can also find them with players after a game, these guys just poured their souls out in front of millions and they have to remain positive. Win or lose, they cannot say what’s really on their minds … I have seen a few times after a game when the media is talking to a player before he goes into the locker room and they are hitting him with 30 different questions in 7.8 seconds. Like when they caught the Flyers RW R.J. Umberger … you know he wanted to say something other than “A week-and-a-half, maybe 2 weeks ago, we thought we were going to contend for the top spot in the East, and things turned the wrong way. We lost a couple of games, we've had some injuries and we need to find a way to stop it right now." You know he had something more to say about that situation, and I am sure in the locker room he was a little more candid – Now there is a sound bite!

What about players who talk about other players … the ones who surprise even their teammates when they take the ice. Like with the Oilers Mathieu Roy, when he was talking about his teammate Zack Stortini and said “Maybe when he puts on his helmet a couple of wires touch each other or something, because off the ice he's a really nice guy. On the ice, he's nuts."

And to wrap this up – a couple I got a chuckle out of when reading. The Ducks GM was quoted "You guys (the media) aren't going to let a guy sit there for three or four years and not do much with the deadline and go out in the first round and say; 'Well, he's husbanding his assets wisely. He's marshalling his assets wisely. This is a sharp guy.' You're all going to say; 'Put him on a rail and throw some tar on him and get him out of town.'" When asked about his plans for the trade deadline. Or when questioned about Trade rumors Flames GM Darryl Sutter says "I don't pay attention to it. It's like listening to a magpie in the morning-as long as it doesn't wake the kids up, it don't bother me."