Life As a Healthy Scratch

Here's a fun topic.

Next to getting sent to the minors, being a healthy scratch is one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to you as a hockey player.  The coach is saying "our team will stand a better chance if you didn't play tonight" OUCH!!  I'm sure most of you have seen the headlines about Jason Blake, Dustin Penner, and Brendan Morrison (to name a few) who have been healthy scratches in the last couple of months.  I know its especially hard on these guys because at this point of their career, they figure this part of the game is behind them. Not so my friend.  I can tell you, from experience  (lots of it) getting scratched sucks!!  And I'm not even talking about the mental effect it has on a player. I'm talking about the logistics. 

If you are a healthy scratch: 

Home games are a little easier.  You can usually find a place to HIDE!! You don't want to see anyone and you don't want anyone seeing you. You want to go from the morning skate to your house to the game.  And you certainly don't want to have to answer the question "Why aren't you playing tonight?"  This is about the time I start to limp and tell them "tweaked my knee in the last game"...and they're thinking to themselves "How do you tweak your knee on the bench?" Oh it can happen....   Almost all home locker rooms are designed nowadays where you can be in the change room or weight room and not get in the way of the REGULARS. What really sucks, when you are scratched for a home game, is when you have friends or family in town.  That's always fun. Have your mom and dad fly half way around the country to watch their boy play in the Show.  You come home and break the news "Not tonight folks!!" - Near the end of my career I'm pretty sure they had it figured out!!

On the road - this is where it really sucks!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the away game routine it looks a little like this:

Morning Skate

In the lineup: Pregame skate, bus to hotel for meal and nap, bus to rink, play...not too complicated

Scratched: Morning skate....get the "tap" from the coach at the end of practice "Your out tonight!"....Who me?? Really?? I thought I was practicing on the 6th line to throw off the other team! So for the select few who won't be playing tonight, the morning skate is going to turn into an early afternoon BAG SKATE!! Let me make sure I'm hearing this right...I don't get to play AND I get skated until I nearly puke!! Beautiful...where do I sign up??   After the skate, its time to go back to the hotel.......but wait...there's no bus...(experienced Journeyman would have had the trainer call a cab after getting off the ice - please write this stuff down)  So, you take a cab back to the hotel, eat whatever scraps the PLAYERS have left ...I've returned back to the hotel so late they had the entire room cleared out....Son of a %^#&!! My favorite part of the NHL was the pregame meal on the road!!

Gametime:

In the lineup: Get dressed, play....DUH!

Scratched: This is where it sucks the most!! First of all, do you take the bus over with the team 2.5 hours before the game? Or do you take a cab around gametime and try and battle your way in to the arena?? Either choice bites.  If you get there 2 hours before what are you going to do to occupy your time? Most coaches don't want the Black Aces floating around the locker room when the REGULARS are getting ready.  Heaven forbid....we might make eye contact and throw them off!! So where do you go?? On the road, there is no change room or weight room to hide in. Choices are Press Box or Stands. Awesome!! In the Press Box you'll have management and scouts eyeballing you or you can go sit in the stands with your suit (which might as well have a sign to go with it saying "HEALTHY SCRATCH") Please refer to my first blog for the Esa Tikanen story when we were scratched in Colorado.  Fun stuff!  Although, later in my career, I found the perfect spot to watch...Team Bus....Yep, just me and bussy. 

My alltime favorite healthy scratch story:

I was playing for the Rangers and was in and out of the lineup (Shocker). We just came back from our Christmas break (all 2 days of it) and we were struggling. The captains called a team meeting before we went on the ice for our morning skate. The message was simple "if we don't start winning some games, guys are going to start getting traded" Remember, we're playing for the Rangers, guys love playing in New York. Basically, we were viewing this game as the most important game of the season.  Its business as usual at the morning skate. I'm anchoring the 5th line of Me and Darren Langdon (One of the all time great guys).   Mac T  gives me the choice to opt out of the BAG skate if I want to. Todd Harvey has a bad hand but is pretty sure he can play.  In the 2 months I've been with the Rangers I've averaged maybe 4 minutes a game.  So, I tell Mac T I'll do the skate with my fellow scrubs.....Hey, I couldn't leave a man behind.....besides, having another body out there helps everyone. After at least an hour of pure skating drills we finish.  Now its back to the hotel.

Normal pregame meal: Soup, salad, pasta, chicken, steak, vegetables, and maybe a scoop of ice cream.  Did I mention how much I miss life in the NHL?? Nobody eats better

Today's pregame meal: 2 bowls of chocolate ice cream followed by a warm brownie.  SOOO Good!! 

Normal Nap Time: Two Hours   

Today's Nap: I may as well watch a couple movies instead.

 At the rink: 

Normal Pregame Routine: Tape sticks, read scouting report, check skates, 10 min bike ride, stretch, and maybe a 10 min massage.......Get ready to play.  

Today's Pregame Routine: 4 cups of coffee, hang out with equipment guys, watch TV, no taping sticks (I'm not playing), no stretching, no bike warm up, no massage, no scouting report...Kill time until I have to go on the ice. 

 Pregame warmup:

Normal Pregame Warmup: Couple hard laps, couple starts and stops to get the legs going....snap puck around

Today's Pregame Warmup: Float around, stay out of the way of everyone...get off the ice as soon as possible.

 Now keep in mind, the entire day I've been preparing to be a healthy scratch....and THEN as I come off the ice from my "pretend" pregame warm up Mac T pulls me aside to tell me "You're in"....I think to myself....great! I should be able to handle my usual 4 minutes......He must have been reading my mind because he pulls me into the room and tells me "You're going to play alot tonght too....you're on a line with Adam Graves and Marc Savard"....Now I'm starting to panic....WHAT have I done!! Why didn't I just leave the ice when Mac gave me the option, why did I have to eat 2 gigantic bowls of ice cream, why didn't I have a nap, why am I an idiot!?!

 As it turned out we had a great game. I played a ton, had 2 helpers, and we won 6-1. Now I'm thinking I have it all figured out. Maybe I've been trying too hard my whole career.  Maybe less IS more!!  Maybe not..Healthy Scratch the next 5 in a row!! Thanks Muckler.

Alright, one more story......And this one isn't even about me - Can you believe it??

 When I played for the Bruins (Yes, I played there too) we had a practice in Phoenix. To set the tone for this particular practice please note that at the time  we had yet to win a game. I think we were 0-8ish...or something like that. Pat Burns was the coach. On a good day he's an intimidating man. As you can imagine Burnsy is not a happy camper. We are doing a neutral zone regroup drill....the play is D to D to Winger and away we go.  Sooooo, Mattias Timander is the 1st D. The puck comes to him and he's supposed to pass to his D partner. Whistle blows....here we go. Puck to Timander he passes to his partner....hits him in the shin pads.....Whistle "Do it again!!"....Timander to partner...fires it over his stick...Whistle "Do it again!!"...Timander to partner...passes behind partner...Whistle "Do it again!!"....now things are starting to get UNCOMFORTABLE...all the guys are praying Matty can hit his partner on the tape, SOON! Everytime he misses a pass we get one step closer to a team BAG SKATE!! ....Timander to partner....puck blows up and Matty misses it.....Whistle "do it again" Burnsy says, quietly now....Oh boy, this isn't good.....Timander to partner......off his shin pads!!!!!! Whistle..."Matty, Get the %$&@ off the ice!!" So, off Matty goes. Practice continues for another 30-40 minutes. After the practice I go up to Matty and put my arm around him and tell him "Don't worry about it buddy"....Matty lifts his head up, looks at me with an emabarassed/frustrated/angry look and says "I was a healthy scratch in Practice!!" AWESOME!!!  

Journeyman