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GATINEAU, QUE. — The 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft featured a relaxed setting for the players waiting to be selected by Teams Alfredsson and Chara.
Well, save for the bathrooms.
With 46 players in the draft — including the rookies — the men's room facilities weren't exactly ample.
"How was the battle behind the scenes for the bathrooms?" asked Ryan Rishaug of TSN to Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers, drafted to Team Alfredsson.
"As soon as there was a TV timeout, it was just like during a game: You had about 2 and a half minutes to get the job done and get back to your seats and pretend like nothing happened. It was pretty funny," said Hartnell.
The word after the Draft, however, was that Team Chara's Joffrey Lupul used his assistant captaincy to cut the line for the bathroom, specifically in front of his old Flyers teammate Hartnell.
Hartnell denied Lupul pulled rank to get into the men's room. Because … well ...
"Let's just say we shared the same bathroom at one time. He had to get out there quick. Everyone likes to play swords I guess," he said, with a laugh.
"I don't know if I can say that or not. I don't know if he'll be embarrassed or not."
OK, so did the co-mingling in the facilities take place?
"That may be true," said Lupul, a forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs. "It was a mad scramble, and I'm not exactly sure what happened. Uh … uh … it's probably something I didn't want people to find out.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. I've showered with him before in Philadelphia. So it wasn't too weird."
Was fellow NHL All-Star Game assistant captain Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers aware he had the ability to dictate bathroom line policy? Has he abused said privilege?
"Not yet, but the weekend just started," said Lundqvist. "I didn't know about it. But now that you told me, I'm probably going to use it."
Thus is the excitement of the NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft. It'll leave you feeling flushed.
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