And think about what you've said.I was watching Off the Record today (so of course I was already mildly enraged).
And they were chatting about the Canadian Olympic team. They were throwing blueliners around and Brian Campbell's name came up.
Adam Proteau (a Hockey News columnist) said that by this time next year Brian Campbell will be old and he wants to see younger, faster players on defence.
Brian Campbell is 29 years old. He will be 30 at the Olympics. Get the man a wheelchair and find him an old folks home, quick!
And can somebody also find me a faster defenseman? Last time I checked Campbell is one of the best skaters in the league. I don't understand how he is being overlooked for the Olympic team.
Old and slow are not things I think about when I think Brian Campbell.
Penguins fire Michel Therrien.
Too late.
Blockbuster Trade.
Mathieu Schneider picked up by the Canadiens. Maybe now they'll un-suck. Or not.
1 comment:
Hi Jenn,
A friend of mine pointed out your post. So I went to the corner, and now I'm back – and I realize that, in the passion of the OTR argument, I didn't fully explain my reasoning about Brian Campbell.
I didn't mean to imply that Campbell was "old" in the sense the word is used in modern athletics; rather, I meant he was too old to be part of the group of 23-year-old players (Brent Burns, Mike Green, Shea Weber and Dion Phaneuf) Steve Yzerman is focusing on to anchor Canada's Olympic team blueline for years to come.
Believe it or not, I like Campbell's game. If he'd blossomed a bit earlier in his career, and if he'd had some additional international experience, he would very likely be in the mix for the Vancouver Games.
As it stands, though, he doesn't have the all-round game of a Niedermayer or Pronger, he doesn't play as physical a game as Robyn Regehr (another guy I think has to be on that team), and he isn't in that core group of 23-year-olds who'll likely be around for one or two more Olympic Games after that.
So that's what I should've said that day on the set. But the science of performing on panel discussions is, alas, at best inexact.
Best of luck with your writing career,
Adam
aproteau@thehockeynews.com
Post a Comment