Couple years ago, speaking at Arcadia University, someone asked me how "jaded" I had become covering professional athletes for the past 35 years.
I replied that was the reason why I chose to stay w/'hockey and not seek covering pro football or something else. I felt NHL players were less spoiled, less pampered, etc. and it allowed me to be less jaded.
Most of you will rail against me for this column on CSNPhilly.com, but I choose today to remember Simon Gagne for things that told me he was NOT an athlete that would be caught up with how much money how made, whether he was higher paid than Alex Ochechkin, how long his deal was ...etc.
I saw what was inside him when he made his first All-Star Game and that is how I will choose to remember him. As a kid who was overwhelmed when Joe Sakic made sure he sat between himself and Mario Lemieux and how much it meant to him to be mentored by them, something which would later carry over to the Olympics.
Simon Gagne was a classy guy. From Day One till today in so many ways and he overcame a lot of injury adversity.
I wrote this piece before I went to Hilton Head a few weeks ago.
The Flyers now have an imposing defense which tells you that they don't intend to do anything on their goaltending. They think their defense will save them.
A lot of you, like myself, don't buy that, especially, when we know that the final goal in Game 6 of the SCF would have been prevented with just "average" goaltending and in the Final, the Flyers had below average GT from Michael Leighton after two rounds of outstanding net minding.
GM Paul Holmgren is wagering he can get by a few years with average GT and superior defense.
But can the Flyers win the Cup? I don't thijnk so.
Losing Gagne strengthens the blue line, weakens the overall defense scheme since he was an excellent two-way player, and does NOTHING to solve gaps in net.
Gagne remains, in my mind, one of the classiest athletes I ever knew. And I think he will do just fine with Steve Yzerman in Tampa Bay, too.
My story on CSNPhilly.com ... and let the hate mail begin:
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