With all due respect, it's time to root for Lappy
(from the Flyer Files on CourierPostOnline.com)
By Chuck Gormley
Flyer Files
June 22, 2011 - As sports writers we all take an unspoken oath to be fair, objective and without rooting interests.
Tonight will be different. I am not ashamed or embarrassed to say I will be rooting for Ian Laperriere to win the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy as the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
It's not as though Ray Emery or Daymond Langkow, two players I have covered, are unworthy finalists for the award. Both overcame incredible odds to return to hockey this season, Emery from a rare bone disorder and Langkow from a career-threatening concussion.
Ironically, Laperriere's failed attempt to return from a concussion was the direct result of returning too quickly from all of the concussions he sustained throughout his career, including the one in which he slid in front of a Paul Martin slap shot in the first round of the 2010 playoffs - only to return in the conference finals.
In the 24 years I have covered the NHL there are few players who have matched the passion, dedication, class and respect for the game that Laperriere has exhibited in his 15-year career with the Blues, Rangers, Kings, Avalanche and Flyers.
I saw Lappy lose eight teeth after a puck buzz-sawed through his mouth and was amazed when the attending physician, Dr. Guy Lanzi, told me Laperriere insisted he return to action with his mouth filled with 100 stitches. Weeks later a gummy Lappy joked about how his replacement teeth were delivered to the wrong address and had to be re-ordered.
I saw Lappy step in front of that Paul Martin slapshot and take a puck in his orbital, saying hours later that he would do the same thing over and over again if it gave him the opportunity to lift a Stanley Cup over his head, something he never had the chance to do.
And I saw Lappy fight back tears - he wasn't the only one, by the way - when he whispered to me that his family meant too much to him to continue his NHL playing career.
So in the moment tonight when that Masterton envelope is being opened, I admit I will be hoping the contents read: Ian Laperriere.
Because some guys are just worth rooting for.