I have just wrapped up perhaps the most bizarre week I’ve ever experienced covering the Ottawa Senators.
And that’s really saying something, when you consider I lived through the bankruptcy situation and the Ray Emery era with this team. So here is a re-cap of my last few days with the struggling – but highly entertaining – Ottawa Senators.
Tuesday: Jarkko Ruutu takes a bite out of Andrew Peters left thumb during our broadcast of the Sens-Sabres game in Buffalo. I was really upset by the whole incident – but not because I thought Ruutu crossed the line or violated any code. Instead, I was just upset that I wasn’t in my customary spot in between the benches to witness the shenanigans. If that incident happened in Ottawa, I would have had a front row seat and would have turned into a mini-celebrity. My face would have been in the background of one of the most replayed highlights in North America. I could have been a guest on CNN or Fox News. Instead, my only chance to interview with Bill O’Reilly or have a screaming match with Nancy Grace is now gone. The incident drew outrage from around the sporting community. Jim Rome called Ruutu “an embarrassment to humanity.” Of couse there were some witty takes on the biting incident. The best e-mail to the post-game show on Team 1200: “Didn’t they learn anything from soccer players? It’s never okay to bite Peters.” (In case you don’t get that joke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkEGCo85oHo)
Wednesday: It was supposed to be a nice quiet off-day in Boston. A few of us media types had decided to head to PF Chang’s for a relaxing supper. But before we could load our first lettuce wrap, we got word that Eugene Melnyk was issuing a statement around 7:30pm to address the rumors of a massive shake-up as reported by le Journal de Montreal. It turned out that the story was false, as Melnyk denied that he was hiring Pat Quinn and Bob Nicholson to come in and run the show. But that French tabloid really affected my ability to enjoy a nice wonton soup in downtown Boston. So as a payback, I would like the Ottawa Sun to report that the Montreal Canadiens have placed Jaroslav Halak and Youppi on waivers – just to see the French media scramble around and chase a false story that was created in Ottawa.
Thursday: Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse for the Senators, their charter plane is unable to fly back to Ottawa after a 6-4 loss to the Bruins. Mechanical problems with the aircraft forced us to stay an extra night in Boston. So we all had to load into a bus and head back to the hotel to try and get our rooms back at 2am. The only problem was that the Carolina Hurricanes had already moved in, so there was a good chance that Joe Corvo had taken my old room. The whole process took about an hour in the hotel lobby, since they had to manually check everybody in at the front desk. It was a surreal scene as they were calling everyone individually to get their rooms. And in case you’re wondering, Mr. Mendes got his room about an hour after Mr. Hartsburg and Mr. Alfredsson.
Friday: After finally getting home to Ottawa at 3pm, Sportsnet asks me to do a phone interview with Brad Fay for the 6pm show. This is the first time in my career I had done a phoner for TV, so I got to feel like Chris Mortenson reporting on breaking NFL news or Christiane Amanpour talking about life in the Gaza Strip. My biggest fear for the interview, was having our four-year-old burst into the room and yell, “Daddy I want to watch Madagascar!” That might strip me of some credibility, as I try and talk about the struggles of the Ottawa Senators.
Saturday: The Senators host the Rangers at Scotiabank Place, but I barely watched any of the game on the ice. That’s because I was too busy watching my parents, who were in the stands and just happened to be sitting right next to our main Hockeycentral producer Bob Torrens. It brought back a flood of childhood memories – like when your parents would run into your teacher at the mall. There was nothing good that could come out of it, because you were the only common link between them. I was trying to read lips from up in the press box, but I only imagined them trading embarrassing stories about me. “When Ian was two years old, he smeared his dirty diaper across our living room wall.” Or, “Mrs. Mendes, could you please tell your son to ask the players for more Puck Poll questions. He’s not very motivated.”
Sunday: I enjoy my first day off in a week, where I don’t have to worry about a lack of puck-moving defensemen and nobody asks me if Martin Gerber is going to be waived in the next five minutes. My wife and I decide to go for dinner and see the late showing of Valkyrie. And sadly, spending two hours watching a failed Nazi coup was a nice and relaxing escape for me.