Todd Bertuzzi's first game in Denver after
l'affaire Moore came off without incident. It's week-old news, but I wanted to post this holiday picture from the game:
According to the AP, Bert
"said there were no nerves, or feelings of tension and apprehension." What a spoilsport! Has he completely lost his Hallowe'en spirit? As the
North American Halloween Prevention Initiative would sing: "It's Hallowe'en! Our time to be afraid!"
Bert's Grinchy attitude notwithstanding, hockey fans should have a special nostalgiac fondness for christendom's most fiendish fête. After all, for weeks before the big night, the stores are filled with replicas of retro-style goalie masks!
Warning: Mask is a toy. Not to be worn for protective purposes.
Alas, the fastest game on ice isn't nearly so frightening now that the Jason-style mask has retired to the dustbin of sports history alongside the
Sawchuk model. (Another piece of hockey Hallowe'en lore: In honor of the holiday, Doug Favell's Philadelphia teammates
spray-painted his mask orange as a prank.)
Does anyone else remember the NHL commercial featuring John Vanbiesbrouck (reputed to be the
only player in NHL history to have all five vowels (a,e,i,o,u) in his surname)? Beezer is in his kitchen, wearing his full Panthers uniform, carving roast beef, and some kids ring his doorbell. Maybe they're even trick-or-treating; I don't recall. Anyway, he opens the door, and they scream and run off.
It was obvious that whatever ad man had dreamed up the sight gag — a guy in a goalie mask holding a butcher's knife — didn't realize that the Jason-style mask had been replaced by the modern baseball catcher's type. So the ad didn't really make sense. But I suppose that whenever anyone answers the door with a butcher's knife, it's kind of scary, no matter what he's wearing. If, indeed, he's wearing anything at all.
I hope you all had a happy Hallowe'en.