Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Canadiens prospects take it upon themselves


Now this is a funny one from the cwazy fwenchmen:

MONTREAL — Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore has stopped a lot of shots in his NHL career, but nothing like this: A stranger in hockey equipment jumped on the ice during Montreal's practice Monday and shot a puck at him.
"He couldn't beat me," Theodore said. "That's the main thing."
The practice crasher was chased toward the boards by Canadiens coach Claude Julien, but wouldn't get off the ice until he was pulled away by an arena worker. The intruder called Theodore a "great goalie," adding he didn't score because "I didn't have time."
The 28-year-old man, a recreational-hockey player intent on showing he could play at a top level, identified himself as Raphael. Police spokesman Olivier Lapointe said that although two officers spoke to the man, it was "not really a police matter," and the man was not arrested.
He stepped on the Verdun Auditorium ice when most players were at the far end of the rink. Wearing skates, full gear and a white jersey, Raphael skated in on the goalie with a stick and a puck. He was poke-checked on his first attempt, and Theodore later stopped a rather weak wrist shot to the high glove side.
"I didn't really know what was going on until the guy came on," a smiling Theodore said. "He came at me with his head down so I just wanted to say, 'Welcome to the big boys.' I poke-checked him to say, 'You have to keep your head up.' When he came back, I thought about going out of the net and not playing into his game, but then I thought he had the [courage] to go on the ice, so I let him have a free shot at me."
Raphael said he crashed the practice to show the Canadiens what he could do on the ice.
"For many years, I wanted to play high-caliber hockey," he said. "I had nothing to lose."
The man had spent most of the practice sitting in the seats in hockey gear. Winger Alex Kovalev said, "Maybe he was wondering if we need a right-handed shot and tried to prove he can play on our team."


Now be ready for the wave of loons about to take to the ice with dreams of glory. Kinda like the "Making the Cut" show that kind of slipped into non-existence, what ever happened to those guys. I don't remember a Raphael there!

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