Friday, October 29, 2010

Steve Montador Makes Me Happy

The Sabres are not very good at hockey lately and there are a million things we could probably debate. Should Lindy Ruff be fired? Should Darcy Regier be run out of town? Should Tim Connolly be executed at center ice? Should Craig Rivet be benched? Should someone be traded? Why in the world is it so hard to get the sound on the HD broadcast to work correctly? But you know what? I said I was going to have fun this season and gosh darn it, I'm going to do it. And firing Lindy and executing players is not fun, not really. Instead of tackling any of the above, I'm going to write about something that makes me happy. Here it is:

Buffalo Sabres' Steve Montador, Left, Works
Hi, Steve!

First there's the obvious: Steve Montador, unlike many of his teammates, has been pretty excellent at playing hockey so far this season.  Our defense is currently running amok and he's been one of the few steady Freddys.  He's never going to win any awards, he's never going to draw a lot of attention to himself, but for the most part, he goes out and does his job well.  That's my kind of defenseman right there.

But here's the thing that really makes me happy: Steve Montador is wearing a visor even though he doesn't really have to anymore.  There are a few things I don't understand about hockey players: I don't understand why they sometimes put elbows or shoulders into another player's head or back.  I don't understand why they wear their helmets so loose that they pop off if someone looks at them funny.  I don't understand why someone with a concussion history TIMCONNOLLY wouldn't wear a mouthguard even though research has shown that good ones can offer serious protection.  And I don't understand why any hockey player in the NHL would refuse to wear a visor.  Hello, have you seen how hard those guys can shoot a puck?  One player losing or severely damaging an eye would be enough for me.  Perhaps I'm not macho enough for hockey, but I feel like this is one area where macho kind of bumps into stupidity.  (As it often does really.)

We'll have to see if it sticks - I remember a few years ago when Paul Gaustad took a puck to the eye and wore a visor for a total of seventeen or so minutes - but hearing a guy say, "Hey, it turns out that protecting my oddly handsome face isn't so uncomfortable after all!" is music to the ears of this soft-hearted hockey fan.  So thank you, Steve Montador for giving me something to feel good about.

4 comments:

Jaime said...

I would stand and clap for you if you could hear me. I don't understand how reasonably intelligent, fully grown men could disregard their health the way that they do in hockey. It drives me absolutely nuts.

And as for Steve Montador, he has that ruggedly handsome thing going for him. I thought he was sort of weird looking at first but the more I see him, the more I think hey he's not so bad.

Heather B. said...

Jaime, I know exactly what you mean. When Montador first came here I filed him in the "almost but not quite handsome" file, but he's grown on me. I think as I've decided I've liked him, he's gotten better-looking.

price per head demo said...

If he can make the difference and take the team to the cup at the end of the season. It makes everybody happy.

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