Not everybody is happy about the league putting Mark Messier's name on its' new leadership award -- with the bill footed by league sponsor, Cold F/X. Here's Islanders Army:
Give me a break. There are no awards for Gretzky or Lemieux, but this bald A-hole gets one? He only retired 2 seasons ago.
Here's Tom Benjamin:
It's bad enough that we get a steady stream of romantic bullshit about leadership and chemistry from the media without engraving it on a trophy. Leadership is an intangible that is, at best, vastly overrated and at worst, meaningless.Brendan Shanahan is the first monthly award winner. Why? How does a fan sitting in the stands pick out a leader? Do the fans compare dressing room anecdotes when debating who should win it? Leadership can't be measured, or even defined. The NHL avoids the issue - in perhaps the most bizarre twist to the story - by having Messier himself pick the winners!
I guess the theory is that it takes one to know one.
There's more, including a withering assesment of Messier's brief stay in Vancouver, one where Tom feels the "Messiah" stole $20 million from the franchise.
Did you catch his explanation for “Why Cold-FX?” That was fantastic. “It’s from Alberta. I’m from Alberta. I’ve been using it for 10 years.” Yeah, that’s great. I couldn’t care less and it sure doesn’t make me want to run out and grab some.