Ray Whitney gives greatest ‘get off my lawn, whippersnappers’ interview of season
Ray Whitney has played 1,243 games in the NHL and was born on May 8, 1972. For some perspective on this, that’s 19 years before Dallas Stars teammate Cody Eakin was born and 1,183 more games than Eakin's played.
Whitney’s an old-school guy in a new-school NHL, and showed as much in a rather caustic and insightful interview with Mayors Manor, a Los Angeles Kings blog. A few of the highlights:
On mentoring young players: “In my day, if you were to walk around with your headset on and ride the bike with a cell phone in your hand – stuff like that pisses me off. It’s the one thing I can relate to the young guys. I say, ‘Listen, when you’re at the rink it’s work time. You can put your stuff away, and you can worry about your girlfriend’s text messaging and stuff later. It’s time to get down to business"
On having an understanding wife when it comes to postgame beer: “Mine’s pretty good about allowing me to – not on a gamely basis, but to go out every now and then and have a couple beers with them. Bow out before they get after it too hard, but show that you’re still a part of the team.”
Read the full interview on Mayors Manor, including some insights about his time with the Detroit Red Wings and other curmudgeonly thoughts. Thanks to John Hoven for passing it along.
