You have to give Craig Leipold and the Wild a ton of credit. Billy Guerin is not just great talent evaluator with multiple Cups on his resume and a World Cup for USA, he is the kind of guy who will immediately put you in a good mood around the office...which matters right now in Minnesota...
He is just a hockey guy...the kind of hockey guy who will bust on you, take you out for a beer, and listen to everyone with great amounts of respect... And he is a born leader...
Which brings me to my favorite Billy Guerin Story...
Special note here to how Guerin and Tkachuk once threatened Andy Strickland that he had to introduce them to me....
But my favorite Guerin story was after he won his first Cup with the Penguins...The Cup had been on the ice getting passed around to all the family members, friends and babysitters, etc...for well over an hour....when I saw the captain, Sidney Crosby, who was still young at the time and very much not wanting to ruffle any feathers whisper something to Guerin. Billy was being interviewed at the moment and immediately said to the reporters..."Sorry boys, there is something I have to do..."
Guerin skated away like a dart...dodging other players, passing family members, leaping camera and mic cables...all the way to the other end of the arena where he grabbed the Stanley Cup from the someone's third cousin who was lifting above their head for the photo EVERYONE has to take...somehow Guerin snagged it away with a smile and said, "Sorry, its time for us players to bring this thing our locker room and have some alone time..."
And like that he was off the ice...and up the runway...Crosby stayed on the ice and answered every question...as he always does...such a great guy...Guerin emerged back onto the ice...after leaving the Cup in the Pens room and tapped Sid, saying with a smile to the reporters..."Hey folks, Sid is needed in the room to drink from some hardware...Mind if I steal him?" Guerin had that non-threatening look and smile...the politeness and jaw of a young Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life." The normally jaded and tired reporters on a deadline just smiled and allowed Crosby to go and have some fun....
And just like that Guerin, who wasn't wearing a letter if I remember it right, had taken the pressure off of Sid and the rest of the young Pens...and taken it on himself to take control of the situation....allowing Crosby to be the great guy he is...
That was the moment I knew Billy Guerin would be a hell of a GM...
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