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Happy in the heartland
Posted: Saturday February 05, 2000 07:37 PM
How energetic the scene is and how giddy people are with the All-Star game here in the hockey heartland of Toronto. Tampa Bay, the site of last year's game, lacked a certain urgency beneath the palm trees. Here, where ice blankets long stretches of sidewalk, all hockey is important hockey. "I'm kind of nervous," Canadiens left wing Martin Rucinsky told me Saturday morning just before he went out to skate with the world team. "There's 18,000 people here. You have to bring your 'A' game to practice." Or did he mean eh-game? The players seem in generally good moods, though Jaromir Jagr looked a bit beleaguered standing before a crush of reporters at the morning interview session. He drew by far the largest crowd and must have heard the question, "How does it feel to be in the All-Star game," 72 times in a half-hour. Get used to it Jaromir: Mr. Gretzky doesn't play here any more One of the wonderful things about most hockey players is their general good naturedness and this was evident in those who agreed to interviews with one CyborXan, a bionic, purple-wigged questioner clad in black plastic suit and employed by Canada's YTV children's network. CyborXan's charge was to recruit superheroes from among the all-stars to which end she bade them perform various tasks. With cameras rolling Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig eagerly played a game of rapid-speed patty cake. Then he stood in the Karate Kid, one-leg up, both-arms-out position to demonstrate his superior balance. Later, as a reflex test, one of CyborXan's sidekicks winged some aluminum-foil balls at Kings defenseman Rob Blake who parried them with his forearms. And how about the Avalanche's Milan Hejduk whose English is, well, improving. He willingly attempted to spit out the Peter piper picked a peck of pickled pickles tongue twister as CyborXan egged him on You have to love NHLers. Here are the game's best, willingly poking fun at themselves in the name of fun for all. Good men they are.
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