Off-topic: awkward teenage-ness

Being an awkward teenager is no fun. But being an awkward teenager that grows up to be somewhat famous, or at least more publicly known then the average person, must suck even worse. Especially if you were an awkward teenager any time after, say, the mid- to late- 1990s. Why? Because there are pictures! And everyone can see them.

During a hockey-less day last week, I was making due by following the Memorial Cup. Nothing like a little Canadian junior hockey action to fill a gap in NHL coverage. Anyway, the tournament this year was in Rimouski, Quebec. The Rimouski Oceanic team has produced three (potentially 4) NHLers in the last 10 years; the three that are currently in the NHL are, well, kind of big names that you may have heard of before.

Anyway, I was looking around their site seeing who might be the next one to make it big, and some how found the old rosters. And those old rosters had old head shots. I don't know why they cracked me up so much, but they really did. And thus I share with you, 16-17 year old Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, and Sidney Crosby:

Brad does not look that different at all (though I think this was the pic from his last season, so he would have been 18 or 19). Vinny... whew, I would have had to check a birth certificate to make sure he was old enough to even be eligible for juniors. (there is also a weird-- yet striking-- resemblance to my youngest nephew; I don't know what it is, but I showed my mom and she agrees. Either my 10 year old nephew has some unknown French ancestory, or Vinny has some African roots he may never have known about) And Sidney... love the hair.

And in total fairness to the guys, here I am from my high school yearbook (it was junior year, so I would have been an equivalent age):

(I didn't have polka dots; the scan just came out weird)

Looking back, that was not a terrible picture of me at that age. It must have been just after I had gotten my braces off and just before I got glasses. Lucky, my eyes went bad after my teeth were fixed, so I avoided the dreaded brace-face / four-eyes double threat.

I would have loved to include a picture of Mathieu at 16, but, um, the Internet wasn't really invented yet. I'm sure his headshots from Mt. St. Charles Academy and the Cornwall Royals are out there somewhere in a print program or something. I do have one picture of him from about that time that someone sent me, but I swore I'd never post it publicly. And my word is good. =P

Surgery news

Wow! News! And news that doesn't involve a camel.

Mathieu had arthroscopic shoulder surgery last week to repair the shoulder that was damaged, then not damaged, then possible damaged again, but who really knows. It is noted by the Montreal Gazette that he will be ready for training camp.

Still no news

Still no news. And I had a crappy last few days. So here is a picture of Vinny Lecavalier riding a camel.

No Mathieu news

I'm bored. No Mathieu news to report. At all. I check everyday, several times a day, and nothing.

So, here are random pics of Mathieu Schneider and Brad Richards staring at nothing in particular:

Mathieu in Canadeins magazine

Mathieu Schneider has awesome fans. And I'm not just talking about me. *wink wink*

Mélina, or who I shall now refer to as "Goddess Among Women," sent me a copy of the Canadiens magazine which features Mathieu on the cover (because I'm a librarian, I feel it important to point at that this issue is volume 23 #5, dated only 2008-2009).

hey, my kitchen floor looks pretty clean.

Merci beaucoup, Méline! Vous êtes une super nana!*


The article, "LA BOUGIE D'ALLUMAGE / The Catalyst," by Manny Almela, covers a lot of ground. Here are just some tasty tidbits:


On Chris Chelios:

"He was a role model for me when I was first breaking into the league and he was a player I tried to pattern my game after," noted Schneider, who has also trained in the offseason with Chelios in Venice Beach, CA for the past 14 summers. "We were already tight, but our time together in Detroit brought us even closer. I've always heard that we look alike, too. Our wives used to say when we were in Detroit that they could only tell us apart because one of us was a lefty and the other was a righty."

Good, I don't feel so bad that I had a hard time telling them apart on the ice. Same coloring, same profile, same stature, similar number... drove me nuts.

On his age, and his hair:

No matter what his birth certificate says, he actually seems not far removed from being asked for his I.D. by a bartender. "I don't get teased about it now because it's a good thing to look young at my age; it's when you look really young in your early 20s that is sucks," admitted Schneider, who will turn the big 4-0 in June. "But I do get shocked with each passing birthday. I just don't feel my age. It helps that I've been lucky to hold onto my hair; some of my buddies haven't been as fortunate in that area. I've often be accused of dyeing it, but let me go on the record as saying I've never done that. Check it out - I've got a few grays coming in here on the sides."

Thank God! I was getting very self-conscious that I have more gray hair than he does. Hey Mathieu, since we have the same color hair, here is what I use: Revlon ColorSilk™, in either dark brown or brown-black. Covers the gray, but doesn't change the color so it looks natural.


On the youth and nutrition:

(when shown the old Canadiens magazine) "I can't believe how young I look in that one - are you kidding me?" he laughed in disbelief. "This seems like only yesterday to me, that's the crazy thing. It was sucha blast and the memories are still vivid." .... "That kid there was all about double cheeseburgers and poutines, that's for sure," he admitted, shaking his head.... "I'm pretty strict when it comes to my diet now. It becomes a lifestyle thing, but that doesn;t mean I don;t sneak in a bag of M&Ms here and there," he reveled with a smile.... "The first time I had an egg white omelet, did I like it? No. But you get used to it."

Hmmm... I wonder if Mathieu can teach me about better nutrition. I know I should eat better, but I'm lazy. And cheeseburgers are just so tasty. Egg-white omelets? Not so much. I've never had poutine, but it is the first thing I do when I go to Montreal some day.


Chris Chelios on Mathieu's chipper return to Montreal:

"That's just Schneids, he's always smiling," laughed Chelios. "He just likes to show off those perfect teeth of his. He's a good psoitive guy and a great team guy. He loves the camaraderie. I'm sure it was a real easy fit for him. It's looked pretty natural to me since he's come back. It seems like he never left."

Shhh! I've heard those aren't really his. Well, they are his in the sense that he has a receipt for the dental payments. But they aren't nature's originals.


On advice received from Marty McSorley:

"He warned me not to get grumpy as I got older. He admitted that in his last few years he was always grumpy, knowing he knew morethan everybody else, and he still has regrets about that. That's something that stuck with me ever since. It's funny, I ran into him the day I was traded and thanked him for the advice."

My youngest nephew had a questionnaire to ask his family for homework the other day, and one of the questions asked for 3 pieces of advice. I said "try your hardest at everything you do," "take responsibility in the good and bad," and "be nice to people." If I had known, I would have replaced that last one with "don't be grumpy."


On longevity:

Schneider's pleasant disposition aside, how much longer is he willing to put his body through the rigors of life in the NHL? "I made a mistake of putting a cap on it five years ago, but here I am still," he said. "As long as I feel as good as I do now, I'll keep it going. A goal I do have is to play in the Olympics next year in Vancouver. That's a big thing I'd love to do."

That is a goal he's had for a long time now. Well, four years at least. I'm not sure he's on Team USA's short list, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for him.

The rest of the article talks about his rocket of a shot, his love for the power play, his appreciation what he learned in Montreal the first time around, and other stuff. A good read... and even cooler because it is in French as well. Everything looks (and sounds) cooler in French.

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*I KNEW that phrase was going to come in handy one day!

Off-topic: B-Rad's B-Day

The 1999-2000 season has come up a lot in my statistical reviews of Mathieu this year. Why? 'Cause that was a sucky season. From many statistical points of view, it was Mathieu's worst. After the season, my concerns were shared by the Rangers, who let Mathieu (an unrestricted free agent) get claimed in the Expansion Draft by the new Columbus Blue Jackets. To add insult to injury, the Blue Jackets only really claimed him to get the compensatory draft pick due to them should he sign elsewhere. Columbus first priority was not Mathieu, but another defenseman. Lyle Odelein. Seriously. How's that for a "kick me when I'm down" moment.

Mathieu did not sign with Columbus, and instead returned to his off-season home and signed with the Los Angeles Kings. Hmmm... he struggled on an underachieving, he was given up by said underachieving team to a brand new team that didn't really want him, and eventually found a home on a rebuilding team. Yup, I figured he was done.

But I held out hope, and continued to pull for my guy. I knew he had more in him and his proverbial "best years" were sure to come. But being a "prepare for the worst, hope for the best" kind of person, I set out to find a back up player to assume the "favorite" spot should Mathieu retire.

That was 9 years ago. And I was right about one thing: Mathieu's best years were to come. He experienced a resurgence in LA that would see him log his best offensive numbers in years, add an All-Star Game appearance to his résumé, and garner the attention of the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings who robbed the perpetually rebuilding Kings by snagging Mathieu in exchange for their young superpest, Sean Avery.

But whatever happened to my back-up? The rookie who caught my attention in 2000, and made enough of an impression on me that he vaulted to my #2 favorite? The guy who was not the biggest, not the most talented, and often overshadowed by his extremely gifted friend and teammate? The guy who jumped out of that shadow and lit up the QMJHL in that very season that Mathieu began to fade? The goofy looking kid with a toothy grin and unfortunate blond highlights?¹

He played his first NHL game on opening night in 2000 at age 20, and never looked back.

• He registered 62 points in his rookie season, and has hovered around a point per game ever since (recording his career high-- so far-- of 91 points in 2005-06).

• At just barely 24 years old, he helped lead his team to a Stanley Cup, scoring 26 points (most of any player in the playoffs that year), and had 7 game winning goals (for perspective, if it takes 16 wins to skate with the Cup, he won just under half of those for his teams). Those 7 game winning goals are an NHL record for most GWG by one player in the playoffs. And as his team faced elimination in game 6 of the Finals, he scored two goals and assisted on the game winner in overtime.
  


• For those accomplishments, he was the runaway winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy that year. (Sports Illustrated referred to those playoffs as his "Coming Out Party.")
  


• He once won the Lady Byng Trophy for his "gentlemanly" play, and was nominated a second time.
  


• Until some freak stuff in the last year, he was something of an "Iron Man," missing just 2 games in his first 7 seasons (and those were for a death in his family)

• He gained a reputation for being a good man off the ice, donating not only money but time to various charities, especially those involving kids.
  


• And somewhere along the way, he actually got kinda hot.²

He is, of course, Brad Richards. And today, May 2, 2009, he is 29 years old.³ Woo-hoo! Happy B-Day B-Rad!⁴

(for more on the lighter side of the pretty private B-Rad, see Myra's
"What I Learned about Brad Richards on My Summer Vacation" post from last summer.
It is her most viewed post all the time. A testament to the following B-Rad has.)

And to answer a question that I have gotten a lot lately-- why the Unofficial Mathieu Schneider HomePage and no Unofficial Brad Richards HomePage?-- well... 1) I wasn't as bored after I graduated from college in 2000 as I was between 1996-2000 when the Mathieu site was born and grew, 2) by the time I wasn't consumed with my Master's thesis in 2004, Brad was well on his way to super stardom, and I didn't want to look like a bandwagon jumper, and 3) he's a young, cute guy, and I didn't want to look like a "puck bunny." But this season, I thought "to Hell with it all" and decided to come out of the B-Rad closet.

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¹Substitute "OHL" for "QMJHL" and "mullet" for "blond highlights," and that description sounds a bit familiar doesn't it?

²Not my usual "type," but he has his "meow!" moments. =P

³At the risk of having my fandom questioned, I'll be honest... this is the first year I actually remembered his birthday. And I will never forget it now. Why? It happens to fall this year on, um, National Masturbation Day. Seriously. Last weekend I saw a poster advertising a, no lie, "Masturbate-a-thon" to honor National Masturbation Month (really!) and to raise money for a group that educates the public about sexual health. It is slated for May 2, and, between giggles (because I think I am perpetually 10 years old), my brain recognized that date. Why was May 2 a date that was familar? Oooohhhh.... that's why.

⁴Oh, and to answer a question I have actually received a lot, I verbalize that "BEE-rad," not "BUH-rad." And, yes, I have my own personal nickname for Mathieu. And no, I will not say what it is. I've kept his a secret for this many years, and I'm not about to say it now. Maybe when he does actually retire....