Fastman, lemme tell ya my story, man.

[forty_three]

I've joked that I wanted to find out which bars Mike Commodore hangs out in so I can go quiz him on what is wrong with Ottawa.

Don't have to anymore. Me and a co-worker were eating lunch down by the river downtown and there are these two guys jogging on the path. As they get closer, I realize one of them is Commodore. I pointed at him and yelled "COMMIE!". This scared the crap out of my co-worker who is not a hockey fan at all. All he knew is I yelled Commie and now this big guy was coming towards us with a stern look on his face. He said "It's Comm-O".

Finally he smiled and my buddy could breathe again. I told him I had wanted to meet him, which was met with a quizzical look. "Uhhh, why?"

"Because I am a Senators fan"

He responded "Well, nice talkin to ya." and started running off. Then he laughed and turned around and came back over. Asked me why a Sens fan was in Columbus. I told him my story and he just looked at me and said "That's a really fucked up story, and way too long. But you're a Jackets fan now, right?"

"Not since I met you."

He laughed. A really cool guy. He answered my questions and seemed to like it.

To sum up:
- Alfie is a great guy, and works his ass of. He just doesn't seem to know how to relate as well to people who don't work as hard as him.
- Heatley is a bit of a dick and most of the staff really didn't like him. He always got along with Heatley though.
- It's tough being new/young there because everyone goes their separate ways after games. No real camaraderie.
- The fans up there are really great, but the media is "like a pack of 13 year old girls".
- When I asked if Murray is as big a douche as he seems, he just laughed.
- Columbus "rocks", and he wants to stay around.

I feel bad that I didn't realize until later that the guy jogging with him was Andrew Murray.

 

[BostonAJ]

Thanks for the inside scoop. So Alfie's a tough guy to have as you captain, eh?

 

[puckhead]

neat story. thanks for sharing.
moral i got out of it is: you eat your lunch with some dude down by the river.

 

[scottflyers88]

i never get to meet athletes. i saw gagne at the mall once although he was signing autographs.

 

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

So this confirms it.....Dany Heatley actually is a dick....

 

[forty_three]

So this confirms it.....Dany Heatley actually is a dick....

Apparently. At least some of the commoners think so.

 

[BostonAJ]

So did you gather that there is or isn't a locker room problem?

EDIT - I kind of assume all big market media networks are like 13 year old girls. You know, run with every story and let it get a life of its own. Ottawa may not be a huge city, but it's in Canada.

 

[forty_three]

So did you gather that there is or isn't a locker room problem?

EDIT - I kind of assume all big market media networks are like 13 year old girls. You know, run with every story and let it get a life of its own. Ottawa may not be a huge city, but it's in Canada.

I gather that it's more like a bunch of co-workers than a team. Everyone just kind of does their own thing. A few guys are good buddies and hang out, but some don't interact at all. Seems like no one takes the new guys under their wing, either. The divide just propagates, I guess.

Jason Smith pretty much said the same thing. Said it was "the weirdest locker room" he'd ever been in.

 

[BostonAJ]

What about Alfie? I sort of inferred that he pisses off some of the lazier guys. Sound accurate?

 

[puckhead]

I gather that it's more like a bunch of co-workers than a team. Everyone just kind of does their own thing. A few guys are good buddies and hang out, but some don't interact at all. Seems like no one takes the new guys under their wing, either. The divide just propagates, I guess.

Jason Smith pretty much said the same thing. Said it was "the weirdest locker room" he'd ever been in.

when Bertuzzi was in Vancouver, he didn't even know the names of a few of the 3rd and 4th liners.
that was such an unbelievably divided room. I'm so glad the Sedins kept their heads down in those years.

 

[forty_three]

What about Alfie? I sort of inferred that he pisses off some of the lazier guys. Sound accurate?

The feeling I got was that Alfie just doesn't relate to them. More like he just doesn't talk much with them. He's not going to go out of his way to push them because he doesn't understand why they are like they are.

 

[Urkie]

Well, at least you know for sure that Alfie works really hard. What Commodore describes is pretty much what I thought though. He's a hard worker and he tries to lead by example but he's not very good at getting everybody on the same page. This makes your theory about bringing in a mentor look pretty good.

So Heatley is a jerk? Now that you've heard it from a guy in the know are you going to admit you were wrong? After the whole debacle this past summer I kind of figured there was something there. Seems like he pissed off the staff and maybe a couple players on the team and that's where the whole thing stemmed from. Then he justified it by saying he didn't like his reduced minutes and other bullshit.

Pretty much already knew Murray was a jackass and the media was childish. This only confirms.

Great story though forty. Glad you shared it.

 

[forty_three]

So Heatley is a jerk? Now that you've heard it from a guy in the know are you going to admit you were wrong? After the whole debacle this past summer I kind of figured there was something there. Seems like he pissed off the staff and maybe a couple players on the team and that's where the whole thing stemmed from. Then he justified it by saying he didn't like his reduced minutes and other bullshit.

Well, noto exactly. What I asked was "So, I guess Heatley's pretty happy to be gone" and his response was "Not as happy as some people are that he is gone." He explained that he always liked Heatley and got along with him, but Dany's a pretty private guy. He seemed to get annoyed real fast and didn't talk to many people outside of his teammates. Most of the staff thought he was a dick. He's not terribly personable.

Kind of what I expected, based on what you hear. He's a bit of a silver spoon kind of guy, and I guess he would only talk to people on his "level". Not sure how much that had to do with him and the trade mess. But if Murray took input form the guy who washes the towels on whether or not he should keep a 7 million dollar superstar, well, he's a bigger ass than I thought.

 

[TOX1]

Did you go home and rub one off from your experience 43?

Moaning all the way through it -- "Cause I'm a Senators fan....cause I'm a Senators fan..."


LOL

 

[elocomotive]

Awesome story, 43. I just have to hope I get a flat tire so I can meet some of the Capitals. Most teams get on the golf course, but apparently ours is on highway patrol.

 

[dare2be]

Most teams get on the golf course, but apparently ours is on highway patrol.

In golf carts...

 

[Urkie]

Well, noto exactly. What I asked was "So, I guess Heatley's pretty happy to be gone" and his response was "Not as happy as some people are that he is gone." He explained that he always liked Heatley and got along with him, but Dany's a pretty private guy. He seemed to get annoyed real fast and didn't talk to many people outside of his teammates. Most of the staff thought he was a dick. He's not terribly personable.

Kind of what I expected, based on what you hear. He's a bit of a silver spoon kind of guy, and I guess he would only talk to people on his "level". Not sure how much that had to do with him and the trade mess. But if Murray took input form the guy who washes the towels on whether or not he should keep a 7 million dollar superstar, well, he's a bigger ass than I thought.

So maybe he wasn't happy in Ottawa going all the way back to 2008 by the sounds of it. Interesting....

It probably would have been worse if Spezza wasn't on the Sens I bet. Those 2 guys were and still are pretty good friends.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

This seems pretty much how I imagined things to be.

As for leadership, I think the captain has become just a symbolic figure in the modern NHL. Look at Calgary and Tampa for example. Iggy and Vinny are the perfect mold for a "do-it-all" captain and work ethic issues have been rampant on those teams. In the era of guaranteed, multi-million dollar contracts, the captain just has no say over the other guys any more. The captain has to be someone who has earned that status and who is of solid character that is respected. Other than that I just don't see that the captain does much except act as a liaison between the players and the refs and management.

Leadership in this day and age is, IMO, down to two things. 1) The collective character of the players in the room. I think Ottawa has improved in this regard in the past 2 years or so, but have Zdeno in there still would be huge. :-(.

2) The biggest factor in leadership is the coach. I think Clouston is above average on this front and improving. Ottawa seems like they are developing a more determined, hard-working culture under Clouston's leadership and after 2 years of crap that is a welcome sight.

Good story 43. Commodore is a bit flaky it seems but he strikes me as a genuine, sincere kind of guy.

 

[Automattic]

Awesomeness!!! I hope he gave Murray some shit for you not recognizing him!