Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Who's Grumpy Now?


There was a lot of the talk in the early going about Ray Emery not being a team player because he missed an optional skate and there were rumours abound on Ottawa message boards and blogs that Emery was unhappy about losing the starting job to Martin Gerber and thus the conclusion was made that Emery was/is a distraction in the dressing room.

But has anyone seen anything from Ray Emery except a wide smile, either sitting on the bench or answering questions from reporters?

On the other hand, Martin Gerber has been in a pout since Saturday because he was yanked after giving up at least two bad goals. He's not hiding his feelings from reporters and, according to Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun, coach John Paddock even had to take Gerber aside and explain the whole thing to him, to massage his hurt feelings.

Am I the only one who sees the inherent irony in all of this? If Emery complained to the media and needed a heart to heart with the coach, the fans and the press would be all over the guy, saying he was a bad teammate.

Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Gerber being upset. He should be. That shows a competitive spirit.

But if Gerber is going to make this all about himself, then the fans and the press should exhibit the same scrutiny they routinely apply to the minutiae of Ray Emery's moods and actions.

1 comment:

Ben said...

Agreed man! I can't believe how quickly some people turn on Emery, and then cut Gerber all the slack in the world.