Karlis Skrastins Held the Key to Longevity

It was in February 2007 when I sat down one-on-one with then Colorado Avalanche's Latvian blueliner Karlis Skrastins -- in the same month he broke Tim Horton's durability record for most consecutive games played by a defenseman. 

Karlis towered at 6' 2" and his handsome devilish smile was framed by long flowing blonde locks. He was a pleasure to be around. 

Here is part of that conversation:

What's the key to longevity? 

Getting ready and getting focused for one game at a time. It’s a lot of work and a lot of effort. I think it’s the combination of work and a lot of luck, too. Hockey is a tough game to play. I had all kinds of injuries, but they weren’t serious enough to stop me from playing the game.

What was your worst injury? I had a broken wrist. It was one year before the lockout and close to the end of the season.

How did you gain confidence in the wrist when coming back from the injury? I try a couple practice. I try one game, second game, and was able to play the same game that I was playing before. If I would play forward, of course, it would be tougher for me. I was able to do almost everything I had to do. That season I was playing really good. It was one of my best seasons.

Talk about your first opportunity to play in the NHL. Dreams come true, you know. I remember my first game. I never thought I was going to play so many games, especially so many games in a row. When I played my first NHL game, it was, oh, my dream come true. It was amazing. It makes you feel good you can play in the best league with the best players in the world. If you keep working, your dreams can come true.

Who were some of the people who have influenced your career? It was more back in Europe. I don’t know if you know Russian coach Vladimir Yurzinov. He asked me to come to his team in Finland. I spent three really good years there. It was my step up in my career. Without his help, without his helping me to believe in myself, I couldn’t be in the NHL for sure. It’s where I got drafted – Finland. I kind of got my opportunity in Nashville. Nashville was a great organization and those people were helping me, too.

How was the cultural adjustment for you when you first came over to North America? It was hard. The first year, there were a couple of Russian guys to help me get used to American life. The first year I played in Milwaukee, the farm team. I learned a lot about small ice, about American hockey. Everything was step-by-step. It wasn’t like right away. I learned my language, too, day by day. I didn’t have another choice if I wanted to be here.

What has the game taught you personally? It’s what I love. It’s your job. It’s what you dream about. If I had another chance, I would do it exactly the same.

Karlis died this morning in a plane crash, along with his entire Kontinental Hockey League Lokomotive team, which was headed for its opening game from Yaroslavl to Minsk, Russia. 

Who Makes Up These Mascots, Anyway?

It's always a discussion up for debate, but perhaps two of the best sports mascots are the San Diego Chicken and Calgary Flames' Harvey the Hound. One mascot I really enjoyed in Calgary, which used to be a mainstay on the sidelines of Stampeder football games, was the American Eagle mascot from a local restaurant. It had lots of personality and was quite funny when it would annoy the football team's mascot: Ralph the Dog.

But then there are mascots where you wonder what their creators were thinking.

Yes, these are pretty bad: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/154086-10-worst-mascots-of-all-time, but I think the newly unleashed London Olympic mascots would definitely fit as number two, at the very least.

London Olympic mascots (Source: Globe and Mail)

One of the worst mascots I've seen belonged to the Calgary Hitmen junior hockey team: the Vulk. It was so ugly, you spent the whole game trying to figure out what he was. And, he was so ugly, this is the only online picture I found of him: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1201377441060518742yAfpLy. He was big, ugly, and green and mean looking. He looked like a monster. Makes you wonder why mascots are created to scare kids more than engage them.

But a quick Google search on "ugly mascots" and you will find a treasure chest of some pretty questionable characters.

Still, after all the flak the British press reined upon the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, it's interesting that this is the best they could come up with for mascots. Whatever happened to Heidi and Howdy?

1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games friendly mascots Heidi and Howdy

Brad May on Making it to the NHL

"I don’t know if it was a surprise as much as fulfilling a dream. Just the way things happened. I made Buffalo as a first-round pick and was somewhat of a local boy. I played junior hockey in Niagara Falls just 20 minutes away. I had all the help and all the support that got you through those tougher days. People wanted to see me succeed. John Muckler was the general manager of the team and became my coach. John Muckler was great, for me as a young man, as a teenager. I remember my first meeting with him. He said, 'Listen, you’re 19 years old. In six months, you’re going to have to be acting 30 if you want to be on this hockey team.' 

"Maturity wise. I had the right people around me. Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Andreachuk, Pat Lafontaine. They’re Hall of Famers, these guys. Colin Patterson is one of the top five guys I’ve ever played with. I was fortunate to have those types of people around me."

National Lacrosse League's Reaction to Hit on Kelusky

On behalf of Doug Fritts, National Lacrosse League

March 25, 2010

The National Lacrosse League has completed its review of the incident involving contact made by Orlando Titans’ defenseman Rory Smith upon Calgary Roughnecks forward Tracey Kelusky at the 5:42 mark of the third quarter in the Calgary at Orlando game on March 20th.

Upon review of the incident, the league has determined that Smith engaged in an avoidable body check to Kelusky above the shoulders after Kelusky had already shot the ball at the net. The check is in violation of NLL Rule 70 (Illegal Bodychecking). The league also found that Smith had taken more than two steps after Kelusky shot the ball, which is in violation of Rule 70.3. The league's review of the incident included review of the game video as well as consideration of any statements submitted by the participants. As per Rule 70.8, the league has assessed Smith a game misconduct.

Smith has now accrued four game misconducts during the 2010 season and thus must be assessed an automatic one game suspension. As per Rule 40.2, a player that accrues three game misconducts in a season receives an automatic one-game suspension. For each additional game misconduct beyond three in a season, an additional one-game suspension is handed down. The suspension is subject to the player filing an appeal to a neutral arbitrator under the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NLL and the players association.

 -30-

Doug Fritts
Vice President of Communications
National Lacrosse League

Scrappy Lappy

Anyone who has seen Ian Laperriere play knows he’s not known for his prolific goal scoring. Although he has occasionally posted some decent numbers, especially when he played in Colorado.

If you don’t cheer for his team, you respect him, even though you can see he can be one of the most annoying players to play against.

What endears him to hockey fans is his scrappiness. You can see his nose has been broken a few times – something like six or seven times. He gave up on surgery after two. He’s had his teeth stolen and never a day goes by without a scar or scratch.

Getting into fights is something he is famous for. But even Lappy will tell you he does not fight for the sake of fighting.

“Sometimes it’s not the right time.”

It might be the right time for the other team, but not his own. If that’s the case, you don’t want to give the other team any momentum, so you don’t participate, now matter how hard they try to get you to.

It’s no secret Lappy is one of my favorite people. I got to know him better each season after a sit-down with him for my Positive Sports book when he played in Los Angeles. He just has that way of brightening up a room, and I love that he skates and waves at me when he is out for a pre-game skate.

He is very much a family man, but before the kids, he and his wife Magali (who he started dating at age 15) used to watch movies a lot.

“With the kids, you just can’t go out every night. It was a great time in LA with no kids, but it’s way more fun having kids than going to the movies.”

Kids don’t always understand when dad has travel for work, and leaving them gets more difficult for him with each road trip.

“They know I’m leaving. It’s tough. You talk to them on the phone. They miss you. For sure, that’s the biggest adjustment when dad is on the road quite a bit. It’s a sacrifice everyone has to make. On the other hand, they’re spoiled because of my job. They get everything they need because of my job. My wife understands that. I’m sure the kids, in the future, will understand that, too.”

A few seasons ago, he planned on taking his then five and three year old out for Halloween.

“They love Star Wars. I’ll be Chewbacka. I just need the mask. Maybe I don’t need the mask, I’m hairy enough. (As a kid) Star Wars was my thing. I was into Luke Skywalker. It’s funny my kids love the same thing I loved as a kid.”

Lappy is always the go-to guy in the locker room. It’s doubtful anyone in the NHL can dislike him. He’s always positive and has a way of making everyone else’s day better – even when they fight.

In the meantime, check out this website dedicated to him: http://www.itsallaboutlappy.com/index.html