Login

Eynhallow · 09-01-2021, 10:02 AM

Interesting Presser Questions

During the course of a hockey player’s career, he is asked many questions by a variety of interviewers. Rinky McDangle is no exception. In fact, he has been asked a few very thought-provoking questions that he has chosen to share:

What is your pregame ritual looking like recently?

Pregame rituals have always intrigued me. I didn’t think I had any until it was pointed out that I always put on my right skate first, but tightened the left before the right. One of my acquaintances, while waiting to troop on out to the ice, taps his stick on the dressing room floor exactly 93 times. Shades of Doug Gilmour or what !! Many players eat their pregame meal at exactly the same time before every game and eat exactly the same thing.

Then there are the guys who, despite the inherent danger of being injured, will use some of the same equipment they used in Junior hockey. Butch Goring is a case in point, he wore a helmet that his dad had purchased for him. Check this out, you can literally see his head through the top of the helmet.

[Image: n8sQh-pODweShbJvHcQXu51_u2VDPDt6RJSFIA4j...Dfvblsz=s0]

Then, of course, there are the goalies who conduct personal conversations with the goal posts. But. I can understand that as you have got to be partially crazed to be a goalie anyway. Who would want to stand in front of a 6 ounce piece of vulcanized rubber going more than 100 mph!!

Have you been living up to your pre-season expectations so far?

That's a good one. So, ya, we likely all have expectations upon entering a new season. I modeled my player after another in the league who experienced a high degree of success and he stunk. You could smell him all the way to Kelowna. My point here is that there are too many variables to try and account for: linemates, ice time, PP time and just the sim engine itself. So, I decided to chillax and just build the player with the attributes I would like to see in a real world player. Maybe not the best in a sim league, but satisfying all the same.

We have SHLers from all over the world. This includes some of the interviewers. A chuckle-producing question came from this:

How has winter been for you ? Has there been any snow?

Snow !! Ya we got snow like a leopard has spots. Normally we get about 12 feet of snow over the snowfall months. However, in 2019 we got 14 feet. I hate the white stuff, but it is a blessing in disguise, at least recently. Getting the snow off your driveway and walkways provides for a decent outdoor workout. It’s a hell of a lot better than working out than the treadmill (more commonly known as a trudgemill). Along with the snow, of course, comes the cold. Although we experienced a mild winter in 2020 - 21, it is not unusual for us to get a couple of weeks where the temperatures hover around -30C.

Your team is looking into enhancing their players with cyborg parts. To become a better hockey player, what part of your body would you ask to be upgraded?

I thought about this and went through the litany of hands and wrists to improve my shot, legs and lungs to improve my skating and endurance, But, really, I don’t think a cyborg part could replace what is most needed and that is heart, not the pumping thing in your chest, but rather spirit. Players with heart are natural leaders and play every game as though it were their last. How could you go wrong with a team of players like that ?

What makes a good leader in the locker room?

Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn says, "A lot of your success and failure is going on in the locker room. Your leaders are key to managing the locker room." Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Tom Renney echoes his statement when he says, “If you don't have good people, first and foremost, in your dressing room, it will be a long season.”

Locker Room Leaders serve as the critical creators, champions, and caretakers of your team’s culture. Through their words and deeds on a daily basis, trusted Locker Room Leaders mold, monitor, and maintain your team’s culture into one that is positive and productive for your team.

As well, Locker Room Leaders must possess a great deal of knowledge about the VHL and its workings in order for newer players to feel confident in what they are doing and what is happening to their persona.

Use a GIF to describe how your player has played this season.

Here not only do you have to assess how your player performed, but also discover a gif that adequately describes that performance, A little more than meets the eye.

And so, for Rinky’s nondescript season:

[Image: snb3Kg8-fiyLL_h70cQtQcC8nUpGcNQfXKWVzK24...ONMTs_M=s0]

Where is the furthest north you have ever been in your life?

Ya, a pretty simple question on the surface. I live in Northern Ontario, so I have been pretty far north, but not in Canada. The Isle of Rousay, in the Orkneys is further north than Churchill, Manitoba. I was there on one of my mystic Highland adventures.

This also brought to mind a mildly humorous story. When I was in high school (Toronto Area) my school soccer team went to Buffalo to play another team. During warm-up there were a few girls around who I chatted up as young guys do. They asked where I was from. To which I responded with the name of my town and its location, about 350 miles north of Toronto. One of the young things, with a very serious expression, asked if we lived in igloos up there. I am still smiling !!!

If you could change one rule of your choice in hockey, what would it be?

As far as what hockey rule should be changed. It has got to be the no icing when you have a penalty. That should be abolished. If you have a penalty and ice the puck, then play is stopped and the face-off returns to your own zone. As well, you still wouldn’t be able to change the players who are on the ice. There is some thinking as well, that if a team has a penalty then the entire 2 minutes must be served regardless as to whether or not a goal is scored. This might be excessive. I don’t think a >1 goal penalty is required for an inadvertent trip, or a light hook.

How did you end up in the position you currently play?

This is interesting because in many cases, I think, the position chooses you as opposed to the other way around. Your set of unique skills may be best utilized in a position that you would not necessarily consider. Wendel Clark comes to mind. Wendel played as an offensive defenceman with the Saskatoon Blades during his two year Junior career. On joining the Toronto Maple Leafs he was quickly converted to a forward where he experienced great success.

Red Kelly is another example of this. Kelly played defense for the Detroit Red Wings earning first-team all-star honors six times in a seven-season stretch from 1950-51 to 1956-57. After being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs he became a center where finished sixth in NHL scoring in 1960-61 and cracked the top 10 in Hart Trophy voting twice.

What is the most inspiring thing you have seen / done?

Several years ago I went to visit my homeland, Scotland. My wanderings took me to the Isle of Skye where I went on a hike to the Quiraing. Talk about mystical. You could almost hear the spirits talking to you.

[Image: YPzdDF3hZjEss_IfnKy1C_9TwTbwqrqesI_2PqBI...76bYcTw=s0]

Did you grow up watching hockey or have you recently gotten into it ?

I think that the answer to this in large part is determined by the culture in the area in which you grew up as a child. In small town Northern Ontario ( < 1000 pop.) there were no gyms for basketball, no movie theatres, frequently no high speed internet….anyway you get the idea. One thing that stands out in these hamlets was the outdoor ice rink and the baseball diamond. You were pretty much expected to play both of these sports. If you couldn’t afford the equipment, the community found it for you. This is still true today. There are communities in which hockey is the ONLY sport available for both boys and girls. For me I grew up playing and watching hockey. There weren’t too many Saturday nights that didn’t find me in front of a TV somewhere.

Do you enjoy rivalries within sports, or do you not care for them?

I generally agree with rivalries in sports. As I alluded to earlier, in Toronto, when the Habs came to town, insanity reigned supreme. Rivalries bring out some of the best performances from an athlete. Unfortunately, sometimes rivalries can bring out the worst in both players being overly aggressive and fans resorting to violence. This has been carried to extremes in the United Kingdom where hooligan firms have sprung up with the sole intent of creating mayhem, particularly when a close rival was visiting. This chaos has been responsible for severe injuries and even death.

Do you prefer outdoor hockey or arena hockey?

[Image: 3UVhn0hM_nOctcFqYiDIwesvWMHWYIGz-FWSJhSW...ik6PUpa=s0]

As a kid growing up in Northern Ontario, we only played on natural outdoor rinks. When I moved to The Big Smoke for high school we played on outdoor artificial ice surfaces. I really didn’t play on arena surfaces on a regular basis until I was 19 years old. So, ya, I like playing hockey outdoors. But that comes with its pitfalls, mostly related to weather. If it snows you have to manually clear the ice surface on a regular basis, sometimes as often as every 20 minutes or so. The other weather related problem can be the temperature. At -20 degrees C, or colder, it can be a little uncomfortable.

Do you think it's better to build a team with good trades and good signings or building it with the draft over a few years?

I am not a GM, nor do I have anything to do with team management. That being said, I think I would want to build my team with a blend of the above. Building from within via the draft is essential. But tempering that group with some veterans, or acquiring role players through a trade is important as well. For example, let’s say you need a left wing, but there aren’t any of any quality available through the draft. Then it becomes necessary to trade to fill out your roster well.

Thank-you for reading my wee effort. It was a blast coming up with this stuff. Stay tuned for more.

Word Count = 1805

***micool132*** · 09-01-2021, 10:31 AM

Man I kinda want some cyborg parts right now not gonna lie. Let's have a good one Rinky, I believe you will establish yourself in this league with incredible performance this season.

Eynhallow · 09-27-2021, 11:59 AM

09-01-2021, 10:31 AMmicool132 Wrote: Man I kinda want some cyborg parts right now not gonna lie. Let's have a good one Rinky, I believe you will establish yourself in this league with incredible performance this season.

In retrospect....How did you know ????? Rinky will likely set a new all-time record for point production this season. He need 2 points in 5 games. I believe he already has the all-time record for most goals. How did you know ??? @micool132

***micool132*** · 09-27-2021, 12:50 PM

09-27-2021, 11:59 AMEynhallow Wrote:
09-01-2021, 10:31 AMmicool132 Wrote: Man I kinda want some cyborg parts right now not gonna lie. Let's have a good one Rinky, I believe you will establish yourself in this league with incredible performance this season.

In retrospect....How did you know ????? Rinky will likely set a new all-time record for point production this season. He need 2 points in 5 games. I believe he already has the all-time record for most goals. How did you know ??? @micool132

I knew it from the day we met, I met a prophet who told me to bet all I owned on this kid named Rinky. I knew it because you are a good player placed in ideal conditions for success! Keep it up my man, we got playoffs ahead of us!

Eynhallow · 09-27-2021, 06:18 PM

09-27-2021, 12:50 PMmicool132 Wrote:
09-27-2021, 11:59 AMEynhallow Wrote: In retrospect....How did you know ????? Rinky will likely set a new all-time record for point production this season. He need 2 points in 5 games. I believe he already has the all-time record for most goals. How did you know ??? @micool132

I knew it from the day we met, I met a prophet who told me to bet all I owned on this kid named Rinky. I knew it because you are a good player placed in ideal conditions for success! Keep it up my man, we got playoffs ahead of us!

*Jayba1t* · 09-27-2021, 06:44 PM

@Eynhallow rinky hard carry this season!

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us