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EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
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10 Questions Marcel Dionne is still a hit on the ice on senior circuit
Marcel Dionne was "Showtime" in Los Angeles long before Magic Johnson and the Lakers. Dionne centered a line with Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer in L.A. that caused chaos for opposing defensemen and goalies. Dionne was the top point-scorer in 1980 and currently ranks third on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. He twice won the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly conduct and won the Lester Pearson Award (MVP selected by the players) in consecutive years (1979-80). Think you’ll find the Hall of Famer somewhere relaxing now that he’s a legend? Hardly. You’ll find him on the ice still playing competitive hockey. 1. Has the game changed much, if at all, since you hung up the skates? Hey, I still lace them up. It’s not so much the players are changing, it’s the coaching that has changed. They have taken away the ability of scoring goals. Coaches don’t want to hear 8-0 routs. They want defensive games. Even the new teams have a chance to win games by 3-2, 2-1 margins. The guys have the ability to score, but they hesitate just a little bit. And the coaches want to focus on the turnovers more than the scoring. I told Teemu Selanne I wanted to see him do more and he said, "I walk into the dressing room after a two-goal night, and all they [coaches] want to talk about is the turnovers." That’s what I’m talking about. And as soon as you don’t score, you get questioned about lack of productivity. It’s a catch-22. 2. Wow, you still play? I’ve heard of over-30 leagues in baseball, but senior hockey? We have a very successful legends tour in Canada. We play about 60-65 games a year to mostly sell-outs in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg and other cities. It’s incredible. We’ll sometimes play 15 games in 15 nights. The main goal is to give back to the public, raise money for charity and do what we love to do, which is play hockey. 3. Is this a tune-up for your NHL comeback, a la Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux? (Laughs) No way. Lemieux’s still young. I’m too old for them. When I was done, I was done. 4. Which of today’s players is very reminiscent of you at the peak of your career? That’s hard to say because of my stature. Theo Fleury is lighter than I was, but around my height. It’s different because of my ability to play with speed and to finish it off. I think Paul Kariya has a harder shot than mine, he’s quick and he anticipates. I look at Paul and he does things like I did. He’s a little bit stronger, but if I had that quick shot if his, I would have had more goals. 5. Why did they call you ‘Little Beaver’? (Laughs) That name originated in juniors. There was a famous midget wrestler in Montreal and Gordie Howe saw his name in print and gave that to me. It just stuck. Even to this day, he still calls me ‘Little Beav’. It something you’re proud of and amazing that he still calls me that. 6. So what did you call Howe, Killer Kowalski, or even Wally or Eddie Haskell? No, I could not call him anything because of seniority. 7. Speaking of nicknames, what is the oddest nickname of a hockey franchise? The [California] Golden Seals. Who thought of that name? I couldn’t even tell what I would change the team name to now because we are running out of names in sports. We have birds, cats, weather, etc. Thrashers is an interesting name. 8. Do you know what a Thrasher is? Yeah, it’s a … (long pause) bird. 9. Ugliest NHL uniforms of all-time? And I know you’ve seen a couple. Without a doubt, Vancouver had the worst uniforms. They had the worst colors. If someone told me they wanted to market, I’d say it would be a great mistake. Ours [Kings] were close behind in that category though. 10. Los Angeles is supposed to be a fashion mecca. Our colors were like the Lakers. The problem though was that we had gold pants. So our home outfit would be all gold, sweater and pants. When a team came in, if they were asleep before they played us, they would be wide awake after seeing us.
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