Teammates who didn’t like one another

[ForsbergForever]

Please tell me more!

Pretty sure it was yet another instance of a player sleeping with his teammate's wife.

 

[Moose Head]

Wasn't this the reason why Curtis Joseph didn't re-sign with Toronto in 2002. I seem to recall a clip of Quinn reaching out to shake CuJo's hand in a pre-game ceremony (or something like that) but had to awkwardly settle for a tap on his blocker.

That was because Joseph was promised another start at the previous Olympics and Quinn backed out on the promise and went with Brodeur the rest of the way.

 

[FerrisRox]

Wasn't this the reason why Curtis Joseph didn't re-sign with Toronto in 2002. I seem to recall a clip of Quinn reaching out to shake CuJo's hand in a pre-game ceremony (or something like that) but had to awkwardly settle for a tap on his blocker.

That is something totally different based on rumours and speculation about the decision, by Quinn, to switch his goalies during the Olympics.

That being said, I'm pretty sure the reason he signed with the Detroit Red Wings was because he wanted to win a Stanley Cup and they seemed like a much better opportunity to do that than the Maple Leafs.

 

[Dhockey16]

Howe and Lindsay, I think, had some bad blood after Howe didn't back Lindsay's effort to form the player's union in 1957. The film "Net Worth" sort of makes it seem like they soured on each other. I am not sure how long it lasted as they at least managed to publicly show up at events in Detroit together.

You can assume Scotty Bowman didn't have a lot of friends on his teams, although the winning ones always seemed to respect him. But for whatever reason he seemed to get driven mad by Paul Coffey.

You can sense a bit of Bowman's problem with Coffey in reading Ken Dryden's book, "Scotty". Bowman seems to acknowledge his offensive prowess but criticizes his defensive play multiple times. He seems to have regarded Coffey as an outright liability defensively.

 

[Big Phil]

You can sense a bit of Bowman's problem with Coffey in reading Ken Dryden's book, "Scotty". Bowman seems to acknowledge his offensive prowess but criticizes his defensive play multiple times. He seems to have regarded Coffey as an outright liability defensively.

They don't seem like the types that would mix, and yet they did for 3 years. I suspect Bowman is pretty happy with him in 1995 when he wins the Norris. But Coffey was the type that went to the beat of his own drum, sort of like Lafleur, and sort of like Lemieux, both of whom Bowman coached. I think a player like that you let him flap his wings because it will pay off much more often than it won't. The results still favour Bowman of course though, it isn't as if the Wings got worse. But I'll bet you the Pens could have used him in 1993.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Gary Roberts couldn't stand Fleury, and can't blame him.

Roberts was known as one of the hardest working players, while Fleury had the talent to be a top 10 all time, but little work ethic.

the way i’ve always heard the gary roberts story is he was lazy and out of shape until his catastrophic back problems forced him to rebuild his body into a machine, so the uncle gary fitness guru that we remember was the opposite of the guy who was teammates with fleury.

i don’t doubt that they didn’t get along but i don’t think different attitudes towards fitness was why.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

the way i’ve always heard the gary roberts story is he was lazy and out of shape until his catastrophic back problems forced him to rebuild his body into a machine, so the uncle gary fitness guru that we remember was the opposite of the guy who was teammates with fleury.

i don’t doubt that they didn’t get along but i don’t think different attitudes towards fitness was why.

At the very least, observers who saw a great deal of early career Roberts must consider it ironic that he became synonymous with "dedicated pro" in most peoples minds

 

[Dhockey16]

They don't seem like the types that would mix, and yet they did for 3 years. I suspect Bowman is pretty happy with him in 1995 when he wins the Norris. But Coffey was the type that went to the beat of his own drum, sort of like Lafleur, and sort of like Lemieux, both of whom Bowman coached. I think a player like that you let him flap his wings because it will pay off much more often than it won't. The results still favour Bowman of course though, it isn't as if the Wings got worse. But I'll bet you the Pens could have used him in 1993.

If you haven't read it already, I really recommend reading Dryden's book on Bowman. He did it in an interesting way - instead of a straight biography he has Bowman list the 8 greatest teams of all time and discuss them in detail, as well as what he was doing during his career at the time. It's excellent - great hockey information and a good look into the mind of hockey's greatest bench boss. If you're not inclined to read, there's an audiobook read by Dryden himself. Can't recommend enough.

 

[The Panther]

If you haven't read it already, I really recommend reading Dryden's book on Bowman. He did it in an interesting way - instead of a straight biography he has Bowman list the 8 greatest teams of all time and discuss them in detail, as well as what he was doing during his career at the time. It's excellent - great hockey information and a good look into the mind of hockey's greatest bench boss. If you're not inclined to read, there's an audiobook read by Dryden himself. Can't recommend enough.

Conversely, I found the book dry and dull, rather like Dryden himself. I reviewed it here, in the books thread some time ago:
Hockey History Books

I don't recall Scotty criticizing Coffey's defensive play "multiple times", as you state, above. Hard to check, though, as the book -- annoyingly -- lacks an index. In discussing the '82 Islanders vs. the '84 Oilers, Scotty says, "As for their defence, Coffey was great, most of the time" (p. 357).

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

An interesting topic would be "Teammates Who Liked Sean Avery"

I was going to say that Avery pretty much pissed off all the vets on Detroit.

I forget who said it, but it was reported that when Avery was chirping at Salic from the bench Brett Hull pulled Avery back to the bench and said, “ You don’t get to talk to Mr. Sakic like that.”

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

There’s a thread on the history of hockey forum about Belfour, and in it there’s mention of Belfour and Hackett feuding. It was more one sided though, as Belfour didn’t seem to like the competition.

 

[crobro]

Ivan Hlinka and tiger Williams

 

[buffalowing88]

Huh, I was a kid then so I didn’t really understand all the drama. I get Hasek’s frustration to some degree, but he was also a prick in general. Seems to have mellowed with age, but that’s a childhood hero i soured on early. f***in Kozlov in return, really? Shoulda called his bluff on that retirement bs.

I’m shocked Guerin got a job and is a successful GM after basically assaulting a player in camp. Old boys club, I tell ya.

Yeah, that Hasek trade. I was like 12-13 when it happened. My dad didn't even care at that point but I remember just wondering how that could happen. Turns out it was probably a good life lesson haha. Small market teams had zero leverage back then. Detroit was a small market in some terms, but they were a dynasty so they don't count.

Glad to hear someone else remembers what Guerin did. He's a disgusting person and I don't care how anyone wants to justify him. The thing he did to that rookie is beyond hockey. It's a sign of a criminal. I wish nothing but bad things upon that man.

 

[buffalowing88]

That scrimmage game cheap shot could have been a freaking criminal charge. Not only does he Tomahawk him in the head with his stick, he then whines up and gives him a full force cross check while he is down. f***ing gutless. If that happens during an actual game I wonder what the disciplinary result would have been.

Please keep repeating this any time his name comes up here. I have made it a weird cause but I think he's, like you said, "gutless". There is nothing cool about supporting Bill Guerin. He's a bastion of what hockey needs to get rid of. If we're going to attack players for stuff off the ice, we should attack them for physically destroying the careers of guys on the ice, too. Bill Guerin is a POS. Primeau as well.

 

[buffalowing88]

Literal assault with a deadly weapon. I hope the Wild suck moving forward because of him.

 

[buffalowing88]

I heard Barnaby talking about Hasek on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, that he was a general grade-A prick, a cheater (but I’m not sure if he meant that he was cheating on his partner, having an affair with a teammate’s partner, or both) and so on. He said he hated the guy, but he also made it clear that he regarded him the best goaltender in the world bar none, and that it was amazing how he managed to keep those offensively challenged teams in the game.

With Hasek, I think I’ve heard slightly more positive reviews from the Blackhawks days, but it might just have been Mike Keenan, and it isn’t really about Hasek being a good teammate as much as distinctly different from Belfour (who I’d wager also has made a few enemies among his teammates). I remember hearing stories about Hasek’s commitment to improving his game, and that players to an extent appreciated Hasek in practice as he actually encouraged them to fire howitzers at and try to score on him, whereas Belfour would lose his shit and go after guys for taking a slap shot at him in practice. But iirc Hasek also kept guys on the ice forever just trying to score on him, so in the end they probably didn’t appreciate it all that much.

Yeah, so crazy but I think the Barnaby interview besides the Spittin Chiclets one may have been on Keenan's pod? If it wasn't on that it was on The Instigators pod. But there's been many other bits where he chewed into Hasek as a person. I don't think he meant anything about Hasek being a cheater in terms of women, though. The man wasn't exactly handsome or articulate haha. Idk what that meant. Interesting to ponder.

Barnaby, like you said, has always said Hasek was an incredible competitor. I wonder if that's why he got on good with Keenan. He has definitely depended the guy on his pod, I'm sure of that. But at the time, he's gunning for a title and Belfour is proven, if not an asshole/alcoholic. He didn't make a bad choice either, as I think Belfour is just phenomenal. Hasek was just a world beater but no one knew it to that extent at the time.

It's funny you mention Hasek keeping guys on the ice. When I was like 8/9 I went to Marine Midland as my XMas present to watch a practice and he actually stayed out there for 30 minutes after stopping shots for breakaways and one-timers. It got boring seeing Derek Plante and Brian Holzinger get stoned after awhile.

But my main issue is that the man pulled himself out of big games at the end of his tenure and let the team ride on Steve Shields because he said he wasn't comfortable. Roy would never, ever have done that.

 

[The Panther]

But my main issue is that the man pulled himself out of big games at the end of his tenure and let the team ride on Steve Shields because he said he wasn't comfortable. Roy would never, ever have done that.

Or maybe Hasek was injured? Is it, in fact, possible that he was a better judge of his own injuries than you?

You're right, Roy would never have done that. However, Roy did send up himself and the Montreal Canadiens' fanbase, putting his own ego far in front of the team, and disgraced that proud organization (forcing them to trade him) in the process.

 

[DeysArena]

If you haven't read it already, I really recommend reading Dryden's book on Bowman. He did it in an interesting way - instead of a straight biography he has Bowman list the 8 greatest teams of all time and discuss them in detail, as well as what he was doing during his career at the time. It's excellent - great hockey information and a good look into the mind of hockey's greatest bench boss. If you're not inclined to read, there's an audiobook read by Dryden himself. Can't recommend enough.

It's a good book when it focusses on Bowman. I really learned a lot about his life and career. However, there are several places where Dryden gets distracted by some of his old pet peeves about hockey culture.

 

[DitchMarner]

Please keep repeating this any time his name comes up here. I have made it a weird cause but I think he's, like you said, "gutless". There is nothing cool about supporting Bill Guerin. He's a bastion of what hockey needs to get rid of. If we're going to attack players for stuff off the ice, we should attack them for physically destroying the careers of guys on the ice, too. Bill Guerin is a POS. Primeau as well.

I've never liked Primeau at all. I have heard he threw a stick rack at Fedorov when they were teammates (a friend said it - not sure if this is true or not) and he was called "Primeau-Donna" earlier in his career.

Do you know of any particular incidents he was involved in in which he was a POS?

 

[Byron Bitz]

I remember hearing whispers of some beef between Iginla and Phaneuf when they were teammates then a few years later they dropped the gloves as oponenets

 

[FerrisRox]

I remember hearing whispers of some beef between Iginla and Phaneuf when they were teammates then a few years later they dropped the gloves as oponenets

I can't get into specifics and name names, because I can't reveal how I know this, but Phaneuf had beef with the entire Flames roster. He was vehemently disliked in the room for his selfish me-first behaviour on the ice and how much he enjoyed being on the hilight reel. He was mockingly known as "Sportscentre" in the room and one veteran (not Iginla) repeatedly would call him out for selfish play including at least once with many journalists in the room.

 

[Jets4Life]

I can't get into specifics and name names, because I can't reveal how I know this, but Phaneuf had beef with the entire Flames roster. He was vehemently disliked in the room for his selfish me-first behaviour on the ice and how much he enjoyed being on the hilight reel. He was mockingly known as "Sportscentre" in the room and one veteran (not Iginla) repeatedly would call him out for selfish play including at least once with many journalists in the room.

Probably Regher or Bertuzzi...

 

[tabness]

 

[Byron Bitz]

I can't get into specifics and name names, because I can't reveal how I know this, but Phaneuf had beef with the entire Flames roster. He was vehemently disliked in the room for his selfish me-first behaviour on the ice and how much he enjoyed being on the hilight reel. He was mockingly known as "Sportscentre" in the room and one veteran (not Iginla) repeatedly would call him out for selfish play including at least once with many journalists in the room.

Was the veteran your referring to Craig Conroy?

 

[FerrisRox]

Was the veteran your referring to Craig Conroy?

It certainly was not not him.