The Garden City Refugee

Random Thoughts – Teemu Selanne’s Book, John Ferguson, Brendan Perlini and More

November 1, 2019

1. For those interested in Teemu Selanne’s new book, allow me to save you the time and expense by summarizing its high points:

• Mario Marois is a hairy guy who was desperate to “initiate” Selanne soon after he was drafted, an initiation that Selanne was spared as a result of Mikhail Smith banning the practice by the time Selanne signed a Jets contract. Well, actually a Flames contract that the Jets matched.
• Supposedly in an effort to get Selanne out of a slump, Smith approached his star’s future wife in a shopping mall and asked her how she’d like Moncton, where the Jets’ farm team was based. Not only was Smith a poor evaluator of talent, but he really needed to read Dale Carnegie’s book on how to win friends and influence people.
• Randy Carlyle is a major hard-ass who didn’t exactly see eye to eye with “that (expletive) Laplander” and who was a much better player than he was a coach.
• Selanne really liked Winnipeg and was just as upset as many of the fans were about the trade that sent him to Anaheim.

There are ex-players who turn out some great books. Ken Dryden, for instance, is a better writer than he was a goaltender, and I mean that very much as a compliment. Sadly, Teemu Selanne isn’t one of those players as his book read like it was written for the young adult/teenager market. If the issue was his lack of proficiency in English, he should have considered writing it in Finnish and had it translated.

2. The passage of Halloween always brings back memories of the firing of John Ferguson, the high point of 17 mediocre seasons of NHL Jets hockey. I still fondly recall walking through the east side of the Polo Park parking lot after the game on the night before Halloween 31 years ago and I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling ever since hearing Curt Keilback’s voice over the radio saying that Ferguson had been fired.

3. Why is Halloween still a thing?

4. Seeing all the damage around town this morning after the overnight wind storm, I am so grateful that the Liberals were re-elected as the only thing that can prevent an epidemic of such devastating weather events in future is paying more taxes to Justin Trudeau. (tongue-in-cheek)

5. Former IceDog Brendan Perlini, once the 12th-overall pick in the NHL draft and less than a year removed from the expiration of his entry-level contract, is now on his third organization after being traded to Detroit recently. Rather than heed his last coach’s advice about improving his work ethic away from the puck, something that was an issue even here in St. Catharines with the IceDogs, he instead asked for a trade, where Chicago GM Stan Bowman miraculously managed to get something more than the proverbial used puck bag for him. Sadly, this low-motor kid who has been blessed with so much talent still doesn’t get it and by the time he acquires enough life experience and maturity to realize that playing at the game’s highest level takes more than sitting out on the perimeter waiting for things to happen, his once-promising NHL career will have long since been over. Which is a shame.