Friday, February 02, 2007
Dryden ceremony just right.
Seems we can’t get up in the morning without listening to or reading somebody’s crying about something in the world of sports. The latest missives in the print and electronic media world came as a result of the Ken Dryden retirement party held in Montreal on January 29th. For starters the date was picked to coincide with his sweater number. The Montreal Canadiens have chosen to add this element to these special nights for their latest inductees. Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore each had their number 12 retired on November 12, 2005. Serge Savard’s number 18 was hung up on November 18, 2006. In the case of Bernard “Boom Boom” Geoffrion his number 5 was done on March 11th 2006 because it coincided with the funeral of his father-in-law the late great Howie Morenz. Morenz died on March 8, 1937 and his funeral was held in the Forum the only time that has ever been done in NHL history. The date was March 11, 1937. Rocket Richard’s wake was held on the ice surface of the Bell Centre but no other player’s funeral was ever held in an NHL building. Morenz’s number 7 was brought down and then raised simultaneously with Geoffrion’s number 5 in one of the greatest ceremonies you will ever see and in addition, March 11th is the anniversary of the final game ever played in the Montreal Forum, another Monday night only this time in 1996 and another Montreal victory, 4-1 over the Dallas Stars.
See the trend? No. Let me spell it out for you. The Montreal Canadiens could care less what a bunch of over paid, over hyped, out of shape cartoon characters masquerading as hockey media types think. Don’t like the ceremony, don’t watch it. The Ottawa Senators were given the time line long ahead of this night. They chose to set their schedule accordingly and with the warm up beginning after the ceremony was completed all it did was push the start time of the game back, no visiting player was required to stand or participate over any length of time. Yet we still had the hand wringing the next day. Boys, here’s a suggestion. Grab another plate of wings and take an hour to wonder how your life might have been different had you made that dodge ball team in grade seven instead of being one of the first cuts. All of these players be it Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman or Ken Dryden, they deserve their nights and with that comes a price to be paid – in time. I won’t be the hypocrite that I feel Ken Dryden is and say that I’m his number one fan. I don’t like the fact he was not in favour of Toronto sweaters being retired during his tenure as GM and/or President nor am I a fan of his anti-fighting stance given how guys like Robinson, Bouchard, Lupien and others kept his crease clear during those spectacular Montreal years. Regardless, he was deserving of this night and I thought the ceremony was absolutely excellent as they all are in Montreal. Like the late Ted Blackman, long time reporter in the Montreal area once stated, “The only other group that could pull off a celebration like the Montreal Canadiens is the House of Windsor.” Truer words were never spoken.
Liam Maguire
Liam1@ca.inter.net
Seems we can’t get up in the morning without listening to or reading somebody’s crying about something in the world of sports. The latest missives in the print and electronic media world came as a result of the Ken Dryden retirement party held in Montreal on January 29th. For starters the date was picked to coincide with his sweater number. The Montreal Canadiens have chosen to add this element to these special nights for their latest inductees. Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore each had their number 12 retired on November 12, 2005. Serge Savard’s number 18 was hung up on November 18, 2006. In the case of Bernard “Boom Boom” Geoffrion his number 5 was done on March 11th 2006 because it coincided with the funeral of his father-in-law the late great Howie Morenz. Morenz died on March 8, 1937 and his funeral was held in the Forum the only time that has ever been done in NHL history. The date was March 11, 1937. Rocket Richard’s wake was held on the ice surface of the Bell Centre but no other player’s funeral was ever held in an NHL building. Morenz’s number 7 was brought down and then raised simultaneously with Geoffrion’s number 5 in one of the greatest ceremonies you will ever see and in addition, March 11th is the anniversary of the final game ever played in the Montreal Forum, another Monday night only this time in 1996 and another Montreal victory, 4-1 over the Dallas Stars.
See the trend? No. Let me spell it out for you. The Montreal Canadiens could care less what a bunch of over paid, over hyped, out of shape cartoon characters masquerading as hockey media types think. Don’t like the ceremony, don’t watch it. The Ottawa Senators were given the time line long ahead of this night. They chose to set their schedule accordingly and with the warm up beginning after the ceremony was completed all it did was push the start time of the game back, no visiting player was required to stand or participate over any length of time. Yet we still had the hand wringing the next day. Boys, here’s a suggestion. Grab another plate of wings and take an hour to wonder how your life might have been different had you made that dodge ball team in grade seven instead of being one of the first cuts. All of these players be it Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman or Ken Dryden, they deserve their nights and with that comes a price to be paid – in time. I won’t be the hypocrite that I feel Ken Dryden is and say that I’m his number one fan. I don’t like the fact he was not in favour of Toronto sweaters being retired during his tenure as GM and/or President nor am I a fan of his anti-fighting stance given how guys like Robinson, Bouchard, Lupien and others kept his crease clear during those spectacular Montreal years. Regardless, he was deserving of this night and I thought the ceremony was absolutely excellent as they all are in Montreal. Like the late Ted Blackman, long time reporter in the Montreal area once stated, “The only other group that could pull off a celebration like the Montreal Canadiens is the House of Windsor.” Truer words were never spoken.
Liam Maguire
Liam1@ca.inter.net
# posted by Liam Maguire @ 12:10 PM 
