First off, Grosek - he’s finally in New York! The bad boy has apparently been given yet another chance, remarkably, and I am assured, totally coincidentally, when Mess had season ending surgery. We are already feeling the loss, but that is what being a farm team is about. We all cheered when we saw Michal driving Cechmanek and the rest of the Flyers insane on Saturday, and were proud when Eric Lindros cited him as a huge asset for the game.

Now’s the tough part – will he keep it up? Michal needs to be in a position of perceived importance – he doesn’t play the role of the third or fourth line lunchpailer well. If he can keep his spot on Eric’s line – then I think he will excel. But the moment he gets badmouthed by management or demoted a line or three, I think the ‘difficult Grosek’ will return with a vengeance. So keep him up there, or trade him while he’s still flying high.

And what did we get in exchange?

Well, I arrived at the civic center a few minutes late for Friday night’s game. Hurrying down the steps to my seat for warm ups, I spied a #26 jersey for the pack, something we haven’t had since Ryan Bast left us after last season. Then....I see it. Ulanov.

I have to admit, my response, a sort of moan of terror, may have been a bit much. But I don't think it warranted the scolding I got from another fan. She pulled me aside later to tell me that I had been very mean to poor Igor, and that I should consider how badly he must feel about being sent down. She felt I had hurt his feelings, and that wasn't nice. Come on. It’s a 15,000+ seat arena. Do we really think a) Igor noticed my reaction b) Igor knew I was reacting to him c) Igor gives a fuck what I think?

He was clearly persona non grata to the team, getting the full Pack cold shoulder - no one spoke to him during warm ups, and when he spoke to them, they ignored him. Maybe he doesn't realize no one on this team speaks Russian. He got mediocre ice time, starting out with Sean Gagnon. Sean looked pretty pissed to be stuck with him, but MacIsaac already has his hands full with Mottau (more on this later). The next night, MacIssac was injured so Ulanov played with Mottau, and given that Mike thinks he’s a forward and Igor thinks he’s a linesman, it was as terrifying as you can imagine.

Goalie Johan Holmqvist has been incredible as of late, hasn’t lost a game in almost 10 outings. Back up goalie Scott Meyer has done very well too. In both games he has played here, Igor has demonstrated one skill he could bring to the team – screening the goalie, although it would be nice if it was the OTHER goalie. On Friday night, he planted his butt right in Johan's face, screening him so completely he didn't know the puck had been shot until he heard it go by. Igor turned around and looked down at Johan, who was still down on the ice. Johan looked up at him like he was considering decapitating Igor with his stick, slammed it on the ice between them and pushed by him. Apparently not a quick learner, he used this trick again the following night, and Meyer looked just as thrilled. Added to this were his normal number of pucks cleared through center, passes through the crease, crashing into the goalie, standing and watching people skate by him. I think the goalies may band together and create some unfortunate ‘accident’ for Igor at practice this week.

This wouldn’t be such a big deal, if it weren’t for the surprise surgery that our veteran Dman Terry Virtue had last week. Terry had his knee operated on, and could be out a number of weeks. This, coupled with our coach’s absence due to a funeral and our asst. coach’s unfortunate bicycle accident on his way to practice, led to Terry asst. coaching his first hockey game ever on Wednesday night. He did a fine job, and expressed delight in everyone listening to him and actually *gasp* agreeing with his ideas on the bench. Now, Terry is one of the toughest men I have ever seen on skates, leaves everything on the ice each game, and guides the team with a very firm hand on and off the ice. I have prayed for him to become a coach in Hartford when his time is through as a player (although that is nowhere nearby, at 31 he is one of most skilled and fit players we have). Why was he so surprised at how well coaching went for him?

But wait - who's got the other 'A' with Terry Virtue now reported to be out for several weeks? Brad 'Shooter' Smyth has worn it this season when another alt. captain was needed, but there was no 'A' on his jersey.

We looked everywhere for it on Friday night at the game. Then....I saw it. Mottau.

There is a picture on the Pack website of Mottau and Virtue on the bench – Mike is talking and looking down at the ‘A’ on Terry’s shoulder while Terry rolls his eyes. I sent it out to my friends inviting them to submit captions. The best one I got was "Nice 'A', mind if I borrow it?" from my friend Dan. I think Mike ripped the 'A' off Terry's jersey when he heard of the surgery and went to work sewing it on himself.

When I saw Mike with the ‘A’ on Friday night at the game, I was disgusted. Mike may be talented, as attested to by his Hobey Baker award and his two consecutive appearances at the AHL All Star game (only got there the first time because as a replacement for Tomas Kloucek), but I find his attitude of ‘me first’ in interviews (‘I can’t go all out at the All Star game because I’ll stick out and embarrass everyone’) and on the ice (cherry picking at our blueline? Not skating back to prevent the EN goal? Creating breakaways then not following basic hockey rules about preventing the pass? Getting CONSTANTLY caught up ice and forcing forwards to cover for him? – Grosek gave him a little punch in the face for this once) is hardly consistent with actions of a captain.

My response when I saw Mike’s ‘A’ was, “If Mike Mottau can wear an 'A', then anyone can wear one, damn it!” I went up to the season ticket sales table and got some paper, and then some tape from guest services. Back at my seat, I created 'A's for about a dozen people who sit around me. We wore them proudly, and laughed when the guys kept skating by and staring at us, trying to figure out what was going on.

Walking around between periods, I stopped to get more tape from one of the ticket guys and he asked what the 'A' was for. While I was trying to decide how to put it, one of my very drunk friends jumped in and told him that it seemed be 'A' giveaway night, since Mottau had one, and we wanted ours as well. Joe (the ticket dude) said that was mean, Mike was a nice guy! I told him that Mike could be the nicest guy in the world, but he was a real liability on the ice. I asked him if he had ever seen Mike play, and he said no, he had to work during the game, and I suggested he should check it out for himself some time, to see what we were talking about. Joe started to yell at us about our bad attitudes, and we just laughed, which made him even angrier. We moved on, and as I made my way around the arena, I was stopped by people who wanted to know if they could have an 'A' like Mottau too, so I would grab a piece of paper and make one for them.

As the game wore on and Mike started to get back to his old tricks, we got louder. References to his Hobey Baker award, his all star status, and his new-found 'A' were made much to our amusement. I looked up at one point and noticed Joe with some house security, sitting about 15 rows up and watching us intently. I waved, and then pointed him out to everyone else. We all waved and yelled hello, offered him an 'A', and invited him down to sit with us. My drunken friend even stood up and engaged him in a lengthy conversation. Joe stomped off, and shortly thereafter another ticket guy was sent to watch over us. A few minutes later I spied the first guy, Joe, sitting a few sections over, waved and pointed him out to everyone again, and we repeated as before. He fled after that.

The next night, I was scolded again by Joe and informed by one of his colleagues (who could barely keep a straight face) that I was not a nice person. Tired of trying to explain to people that I can think a guy is the nicest human in the world but still be a problem as a player *ahem, Dave Deurden?*, I just walked away. Hopefully Terry will be back soon and the point will be moot.

One last thing I have to mention – In a wild game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this past week, Sean Gagnon made it a point to pursue Billy Tibbets. During warm-ups, the two teams lined up at center ice, 6 tough guys on each side, and jawed at each other while they made a pretense of stretching. Sean actually dropped the gloves at one point and issued an open invitation to anyone on the other team, but they all scurried away. Then, for the initial faceoff, defenseman Gagnon shoved a very amused Michal Grosek out of the circle and lined up opposite Tibbets for the draw. Both were sent to the box to settle down for 10 minutes before the game even began. When they finally got out, Billy spent most of his time trying to hop back onto the bench before Sean could catch him. Sean finally did catch up with him, smooshing Billy into a bloodstain along the boards to our delight.

Neither of them played in the third period, and speculation was rampant that there had been a brawl outside the locker rooms. I caught up with Sean as he sat out Wednesday’s game and asked him what happened. He said he had just injured his wrist, and would be back Friday (he was). I asked what had made him go after Billy like that, whether or not as a father of two little girls, he took offense to Billy’s recreational activities in the past. He said that while he didn’t like that part of him either, it was all because Billy didn’t show him the proper respect during warm-ups, and he was going to teach him some.

Sounds as good to me as any other reason, I was just glad to see the young man that my friend Jaime and I had made signs for, including “Hartford welcomes all – including convicted felons!” and “It’s the second period – do you know where your parole officer is?”, get a bit of his own back.

On Tuesday night I get to go skating with the team, and I am already working up my list of impertinent questions to ask. I’ll be back with anything that’s printable – and maybe even some pictures – in a few days.

Heather

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