But ask any hockey fan if they'd like to spend a day behind the scenes at the Bell Centre, they'd say yes.
Ask any hockey fan if they'd like to spend a day behind the scenes at the Bell Centre when all of the best players in the world are there, um, yes please.
There I was. For some twelve hours and three minutes.
At the practice, in the morning, it was refreshing to see what camaraderie exists between the players.
There are a lot of journalists present at the event, obviously. But they're everywhere, and, unless a player is around, they're usually spread out and you don't really notice their presence. So it was surprising that when Mark Messier, of all players, showed up in the press area, barely ten reporters were there to cover his presence. Granted, most of his speech was about Bridgestone tires, but press conferences aren't how journalists like to talk to hockey players.
Just like a politician, a hockey player must face a scrum. A huge scrum. Of angry big men waiting for the best image, the best 10-second sound clip, or simply a smile.
Even if Mark Messier's press conference was not a media hit, Messier himself was. Before taking the stage, Messier stopped to talk to a young man sitting in a wheelchair. Messier greeted the unsuspecting kid with a "Hey! I remember you!" For a good ten minutes, he and the kid shared laughs and smiles, and the kid's family added a new member to their family in a portrait they'll be sure to talk about.
The afternoon is pretty mellow. Players take advantage of that time to leave the Bell Centre, leaving technicians, television crews, and everyone you never hear or see to franticly rehearse for the big show.
The big show is a big show. Watching it from a television editing studio, where ready on 2, 2, 3, 7, Wider, 9, Wider! Where's our audio? No, tell him to stop! to stop! I said to stop! 4, ready on 5, no, wait, 6, out, pan 7, is just regular conversation, you can see just how much preparation was needed. And you can see how the NHL controls the rumours they pretend not to know about. Because the reason Vincent Lecavalier's ovation was longer than Carey Price isn't just the cheers of the audience, it's the "milk the reaction and wait to announce the next player" command coming from the broadcast centre.
During an event like the All-Star skills competition, everything is going on at the same time, so you could be walking down the hall and seeing certain players' kids playing hockey, then seeing Joel Bouchard talking to his producer, seeing a Journal de Montreal manager writing an article because the company put his employees in a lock-out that morning, then a rookie Boston player holding a scrum.
The big event happens when the game is over. No matter where they were from, everyone congregates in front of the Montreal Canadiens locker room, used on this occasion as a Eastern Conference locker room. Everyone from George Gillett (leaving), Pierre Boivin (walking with other people), Guy Carbonneau (leaving), Alexander Ovechkin & Zdeno Chara (holding separate press conferences), Mike Komisarek & Sheldon Souray (holding interviews), Mark Streit (signing autographs) or Vincent Lecavalier (being harassed by some 30 people while he is trying to have a conversation) passed by the area.
It was all so impressive.
Oh, and Jonathan Toews is so cute.
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