Interesting and Entertaining Goalie Facts and "Eccentricities"

[Jim MacDonald]

Hi everyone

Hope everyone made it through the work week ok. TGIF!

I wanted to learn from you guys any interesting/funny or even "regular" goalie behaviors/habits you guys have learned of through the years. Here's some interesting ones I've learned:

1) Marty Brodeur-drank a half a can of Sprite between intermissions (he said Gatorade hurt his stomach and water didn't give him enough of a lift).

2) Mike Palmateer-learned he was nicknamed "The Popcorn Kid" and the trainer would give him a freshly popped bag of popcorn before a game (lol!)

3) Dominik Hasek-learned (at least during the 01-02 season) he was very particular about his fingernails being cut to just the right length.

Hope you guys enjoy thinking about this post and look forward (as always) to reading and learning!-Jim

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Any list of “crazy” goalies has to start with Gilles Gratton aka Gratooney the Looney, who amongst many other quirks, once refused to play in a game because “the moon was in the wrong part of the sky”.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

Any list of “crazy” goalies has to start with Gilles Gratton aka Gratooney the Looney, who amongst many other quirks, once refused to play in a game because “the moon was in the wrong part of the sky”.

this is seriously awesome!

 

[The Panther]

Gilles Gratton was seriously nutty. According to Wiki:

Legend has it that Gratton once told his teammates he was reincarnated and had once been a soldier in the Spanish Inquisition. (Gratton also allegedly believed that, in a previous existence, he was an executioner who had stoned people to death...and thus was fated to be a goalie as punishment.)


Grant Fuhr wasn't exactly the poster-child for sophisticated maturity when he broke into the NHL. Of course we later found out he had a substance-abuse problem from around his second season, but what Edmonton fans did know for years prior was that Fuhr would inevitably arrive at training camp completely out of shape (which led to his poor play and demotion to the minors in 1982-83). He also was amazingly hopeless in paying his bills, taxes, rent -- you name it. Glen Sather and the Oilers arranged to pay Fuhr's bills and such because he simply couldn't organize himself to do it.

 

[iamjs]

Patrick Roy would not let his skates touch the red line or blue line when skating from the bench to the crease and vice versa.

 

[tony d]

Didn't Patrick Roy talk to his goal posts? I believe I've read that somewhere.

 

[CaptBrannigan]

When we were in a pinch to re-stock laces a few years ago and our preferred supplier was out also, we got some from the Lightning equipment staff. Struck up a conversation and apparently Bishop would not use laces with a black tracer and insisted on using only blue tracer laces. Now that’s quirky.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

Gilles Gratton was seriously nutty. According to Wiki:

Legend has it that Gratton once told his teammates he was reincarnated and had once been a soldier in the Spanish Inquisition. (Gratton also allegedly believed that, in a previous existence, he was an executioner who had stoned people to death...and thus was fated to be a goalie as punishment.)


Grant Fuhr wasn't exactly the poster-child for sophisticated maturity when he broke into the NHL. Of course we later found out he had a substance-abuse problem from around his second season, but what Edmonton fans did know for years prior was that Fuhr would inevitably arrive at training camp completely out of shape (which led to his poor play and demotion to the minors in 1982-83). He also was amazingly hopeless in paying his bills, taxes, rent -- you name it. Glen Sather and the Oilers arranged to pay Fuhr's bills and such because he simply couldn't organize himself to do it.

Panther I read a Grant Fuhr Autobiography co-written with a gentleman I believe named Bruce Dowboggin (or something like that). A player (I forget who it was) said Grant would eat like six cheeseburgers...all at one time...lol..kinda relaying the message he wasn't very much into nutritious eating. Grant even said himself later on he would eat munchies in front of the tv late at night....ha ha ha!

 

[The Panther]

Didn't Patrick Roy talk to his goal posts? I believe I've read that somewhere.

You could see him doing it in almost every game! Was caught on a lot of TV feeds.

 

[blood gin]

I remember John Davidson talking about how Gratton would just randomly play brilliant classical piano at all hours of the night and claimed that he had never taken piano lessons before.

 

[blood gin]

Also remember hearing Marty Brodeur had to go to the movies the night before every playoff game he started

 

[blood gin]

Pelle Lindbergh wore the same undershirt for every game he started and never washed it. Basically 5 years with no washing or repairing the shirt

 

[Jim MacDonald]

Pelle Lindbergh wore the same undershirt for every game he started and never washed it. Basically 5 years with no washing or repairing the shirt

This is seriously awesome! I'm glad I thought of the topic to learn/read stuff like this!!

 

[Theokritos]

Any list of “crazy” goalies has to start with Gilles Gratton aka Gratooney the Looney, who amongst many other quirks, once refused to play in a game because “the moon was in the wrong part of the sky”.

Gilles Gratton was seriously nutty. According to Wiki:

Legend has it that Gratton once told his teammates he was reincarnated and had once been a soldier in the Spanish Inquisition. (Gratton also allegedly believed that, in a previous existence, he was an executioner who had stoned people to death...and thus was fated to be a goalie as punishment.)

I remember John Davidson talking about how Gratton would just randomly play brilliant classical piano at all hours of the night and claimed that he had never taken piano lessons before.

What in the world.