The Vancouver Canucks and Alexander Mogilny: The Jerk-off you never knew
The 2016-2017 version of the Vancouver Canucks is a team so offensively challenged the B.C foundation for the handicapped should be paying for their pre-game meals.
So desperate are they to find some scoring, that there have been hushed whispers around town concerning a possible trade for the NHL's resident gangsta and playa from the hard streets of .....well...East Van, Evander Kane. This is a player who seems unable to go out for the evening without getting into a physical altercation with a woman and breaking out in handcuffs. The whispers have many angry, including me. We don't like him, we don't want him.
But before we all get too sanctimonious we would do well to remember that this isn't the first "Abrasive " persona Van has tried to deal for. About 20 years ago we tried, and succeeded in landing one of the NHL's premier players,w Mr. Personality himself, Alexander Mogilny
For anyone too young to remember Mogilny remains one of the best players ever. He was one-third of the most feared line in all hockey histor when he patrolled the right wing for the Red Army team with Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov. He co-holds the record for most rookie goals in a season (With Teemu Selane) with 76 goals. He had multiple 50 goal and hundred point seasons in the NHL and finally won a Stanley Cup in 2000 with the new Jersey Devils to put the cap on a hall of fame career....only, well he isn't in the hall. And there is a reason for that. The HHOF has been known to take personal conduct into account when picking members, this was why it was so hard for Dino Cicerelli to get in, and why B. Shanahan still isn't there.
You see friends, the reason Bure and Federov are in the hall but their line mate who was every bit as good, maybe better, is not.
Alex Mogilny was a Jerk-off.
Yes, he was. I had already heard the rumors before he was traded to Vancouver and was slightly surprised at the parade route planning that was going on after it was announced. "Well we don,t know if he,lol have any chemistry here" I would protest "Nonsense" everyone else would say. "His best friend Bure is here, he'll love it.
The thing that nobody picked up on was that Bure didn't,t like Mogilny one bit. From the moment he arrived a prickly Mogilny would only mutter when asked about his bud Pavel, sometime he would give wrong information, like when he said Bure and he didn't,t hang out in part because of Bure,s wife.
At that time Bure was single.
The media kept it under wraps for PR reasons so as not to hurt the team but occasional they bore the brunt of his attitude. Mogilny insisted on living in Point Roberts USA as he wanted no part of Canada, but was still responsible for doing a certain amount of media availability, per his contract, a reporter suggested they could interview during his commute to save time and asked Alex for his cell number "You want my credit card too" was his reply. And don't think his teammates were spared either. Who could forget his 55 goal season with Mike Ridley at center, and how he threw Ridley under the bus by telling the media "If they aren't going to get me a center than trade me for one" he was serious too, he loathed Vancouver and spent as little time here as possible. He had demanded to be traded from the moment he arrived, never specifying why he wasn't willing to give it a chance here and left an un-wipable stain on the memories of service personnel and fans who were around in those dark times. It was almost as though there were the Canucks and then there was Mogilny, like he should have worn his own jersey during games or something
This guy holds the record for fewest charitable deeds, fewest friends made, least impact on the community a star player has ever had in this town. Most fans were spared the stories about his refusing to socialize in the dressing room, his rudely demanding what he wanted from any staff under him and his disdain for the city its self, but still when he blew out of town, there was nary a tear shed, it wasn't "Don't let the door hit you on the way out" but it certainly wasn't "please don't go'
There were so many problems with the team in those days perhaps Mogilney flew under the radar, it wasn't until a few years later when in one of the NHL's greatest locker room scandals, Shayne Corson slept with Mogilny's then wife and tore the leafs dressing room apart, that people started saying "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy"
As a point of reference, when Jeff Brown slept with Kirk McClain's wife here in Vancouver a few years prior. Geoff Courtnal elbowed him in the face in practice, while Brown was assessing the damage to his face Trevor Linden was already skating full speed at him from the blue line to behind the goal where Brown was standing dazed, Linden left his feet and absolutely crushed Brown will every ounce of his 220 lbs. It was a few minutes after the elbow and the hit before Brown was coherent enough to be served the main course, but they wanted to make sure he remembered and as Linden, Courtnall, and Momesso blocked the entrance to the bench, and any chance of his escaping. Gino Odjick licked his chops and skated towards Brown slowly so he would be fully prepared for what was coming. Anyone who has ever watched Gino in 4th gear knows how fearsome a warrior the man is, anyone who has watched Brown knows the guy doesn't have a hard bone in his body (Besides the obvious joke which I won't bother with) to fully understand how brutal the next 10-15 seconds were, just consider this, it was Captian Kirk who had decided Brown had suffered enough and went in to pull Gino off him. Brown was helped off the ice by training staff as the players applauded with their sticks, and would never wear the Canuck uniform again. Most people know this story since it has been confirmed by those involved, only a few people who were there that day know the details. Kirk was a loved and respected teammate, and if someone messed with him they messed with the entire team, now contrast that to what happened with the Leafs and Mogilney....well, you can't because NOTHING happened, not a single Leaf stood up for Alex.
If you are too young to remember Alex's years here, count your self-lucky. Because he wanted nothing to do with you or your city......and didn't want you to have his credit card number either
So desperate are they to find some scoring, that there have been hushed whispers around town concerning a possible trade for the NHL's resident gangsta and playa from the hard streets of .....well...East Van, Evander Kane. This is a player who seems unable to go out for the evening without getting into a physical altercation with a woman and breaking out in handcuffs. The whispers have many angry, including me. We don't like him, we don't want him.
But before we all get too sanctimonious we would do well to remember that this isn't the first "Abrasive " persona Van has tried to deal for. About 20 years ago we tried, and succeeded in landing one of the NHL's premier players,w Mr. Personality himself, Alexander Mogilny
For anyone too young to remember Mogilny remains one of the best players ever. He was one-third of the most feared line in all hockey histor when he patrolled the right wing for the Red Army team with Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov. He co-holds the record for most rookie goals in a season (With Teemu Selane) with 76 goals. He had multiple 50 goal and hundred point seasons in the NHL and finally won a Stanley Cup in 2000 with the new Jersey Devils to put the cap on a hall of fame career....only, well he isn't in the hall. And there is a reason for that. The HHOF has been known to take personal conduct into account when picking members, this was why it was so hard for Dino Cicerelli to get in, and why B. Shanahan still isn't there.
You see friends, the reason Bure and Federov are in the hall but their line mate who was every bit as good, maybe better, is not.
Alex Mogilny was a Jerk-off.
Yes, he was. I had already heard the rumors before he was traded to Vancouver and was slightly surprised at the parade route planning that was going on after it was announced. "Well we don,t know if he,lol have any chemistry here" I would protest "Nonsense" everyone else would say. "His best friend Bure is here, he'll love it.
The thing that nobody picked up on was that Bure didn't,t like Mogilny one bit. From the moment he arrived a prickly Mogilny would only mutter when asked about his bud Pavel, sometime he would give wrong information, like when he said Bure and he didn't,t hang out in part because of Bure,s wife.
At that time Bure was single.
The media kept it under wraps for PR reasons so as not to hurt the team but occasional they bore the brunt of his attitude. Mogilny insisted on living in Point Roberts USA as he wanted no part of Canada, but was still responsible for doing a certain amount of media availability, per his contract, a reporter suggested they could interview during his commute to save time and asked Alex for his cell number "You want my credit card too" was his reply. And don't think his teammates were spared either. Who could forget his 55 goal season with Mike Ridley at center, and how he threw Ridley under the bus by telling the media "If they aren't going to get me a center than trade me for one" he was serious too, he loathed Vancouver and spent as little time here as possible. He had demanded to be traded from the moment he arrived, never specifying why he wasn't willing to give it a chance here and left an un-wipable stain on the memories of service personnel and fans who were around in those dark times. It was almost as though there were the Canucks and then there was Mogilny, like he should have worn his own jersey during games or something
This guy holds the record for fewest charitable deeds, fewest friends made, least impact on the community a star player has ever had in this town. Most fans were spared the stories about his refusing to socialize in the dressing room, his rudely demanding what he wanted from any staff under him and his disdain for the city its self, but still when he blew out of town, there was nary a tear shed, it wasn't "Don't let the door hit you on the way out" but it certainly wasn't "please don't go'
There were so many problems with the team in those days perhaps Mogilney flew under the radar, it wasn't until a few years later when in one of the NHL's greatest locker room scandals, Shayne Corson slept with Mogilny's then wife and tore the leafs dressing room apart, that people started saying "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy"
As a point of reference, when Jeff Brown slept with Kirk McClain's wife here in Vancouver a few years prior. Geoff Courtnal elbowed him in the face in practice, while Brown was assessing the damage to his face Trevor Linden was already skating full speed at him from the blue line to behind the goal where Brown was standing dazed, Linden left his feet and absolutely crushed Brown will every ounce of his 220 lbs. It was a few minutes after the elbow and the hit before Brown was coherent enough to be served the main course, but they wanted to make sure he remembered and as Linden, Courtnall, and Momesso blocked the entrance to the bench, and any chance of his escaping. Gino Odjick licked his chops and skated towards Brown slowly so he would be fully prepared for what was coming. Anyone who has ever watched Gino in 4th gear knows how fearsome a warrior the man is, anyone who has watched Brown knows the guy doesn't have a hard bone in his body (Besides the obvious joke which I won't bother with) to fully understand how brutal the next 10-15 seconds were, just consider this, it was Captian Kirk who had decided Brown had suffered enough and went in to pull Gino off him. Brown was helped off the ice by training staff as the players applauded with their sticks, and would never wear the Canuck uniform again. Most people know this story since it has been confirmed by those involved, only a few people who were there that day know the details. Kirk was a loved and respected teammate, and if someone messed with him they messed with the entire team, now contrast that to what happened with the Leafs and Mogilney....well, you can't because NOTHING happened, not a single Leaf stood up for Alex.
If you are too young to remember Alex's years here, count your self-lucky. Because he wanted nothing to do with you or your city......and didn't want you to have his credit card number either
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