Nothing ends a slump for you guys like playing the Sabres.
I hope to god if we get into the playoffs, that we avoid you like the plague. (Montreal too)
Now I have a question, last night on our broadcast they showed a closeup of Ray Emery's mask, I noticed he had a boxer on it. Does anyone know who the boxer is? Is there a story behind it?
Thanks in advance, and good luck the rest of the way. Ottawa has a damn fine team, and it's almost like our roles are reversed from last season. I have a feeling you guys are gonna catch fire, and have a heck of a playoff run.
ya Emery is a big fan of Boxing and Mike tyson .. last year he has a face pic of tyson on his mask but the league didnt allow him to put a real persons face pic on his mask so he change it to a random lookin boxer ....
I am doing this from memory, but I think that Emery has a few masks with boxers on them. He is a huge boxing fan and quite a good fighter as well. His exploits in the AHL are clearly documented on youtube like sites. He rarely fought other goaltenders and it was mostly middleweight fighter types. Actually I think it was McGratton who was asked who the best fighter in the NHL is and he actually said it would be Emery if they let him fight. But I digress...
He has the Tyson mask that caused a big stink last year, he also has a George Chavallo (?) mask, and I think another is Marvelous Marvin Haglar but I could be wrong on that one. I am sure someone else could let you know for sure.
ya Emery is a big fan of Boxing and Mike tyson .. last year he has a face pic of tyson on his mask but the league didnt allow him to put a real persons face pic on his mask so he change it to a random lookin boxer ....
From what I remember, it was the city that didn't like it. Fans didn't want their kids seeing Mike Tyson (a rapist) on Emery's mask, so there was this huge deal made about it and he ditched that mask under his own will (even though he was sorta pressured).
Emery is a big boxing fan and has two other masks painted with his favourite pugilists — one with Marvin Hagler, a former middleweight champ, and another with Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion.
I remember watching Tysons early fights. The guy was amazing. A tenacious bulldog. The over under on how long someone might last in the ring with him before going down hard was often measured in seconds not rounds. He was on his way to becoming one of the most feared heavyweights of all time. Understandable why a boxing fan would honour that.
George Chuvalo was probably the mask he was wearing against Buffalo. Canada's greatest heavyweight success, he fought Ali i think when Ali was still Cassius Clay, in a fight that some say made Chuvalo the inspiration for the Rocky movies. Chuvalo was a big guy who could take and give punches and almost wore out Ali and his rope-a-dope with body blows. Ali has talked about that fight as one of his more memorable difficult ones. Which is pretty impressive for a white guy. As a Canadian boxing fan, understandable why Emery would look up to this guy
I had the honor of meeting Chuvalo some years ago in Halifax. I was assistant manager at Woodside Tavern and Johnny Devison (ex lightweight champ of Canada) was one of my waiters.I went to a fight with him at the old Halifax forum and we went to Trevor Berbick's (whom I'd already met a couple of times) dressing room after the fight and Chuvalo was there.I gotta tell you when I shook his hand mine was just swallowed up.His hand was enormous and his fingers alone were as thick as Johnsonville Brats.
I had the honor of meeting Chuvalo some years ago in Halifax. I was assistant manager at Woodside Tavern and Johnny Devison (ex lightweight champ of Canada) was one of my waiters.I went to a fight with him at the old Halifax forum and we went to Trevor Berbick's (whom I'd already met a couple of times) dressing room after the fight and Chuvalo was there.I gotta tell you when I shook his hand mine was just swallowed up.His hand was enormous and his fingers alone were as thick as Johnsonville Brats.
It was indeed his Chuvalo mask. I got a pretty good look at it. I believe Chuvalo has the distinction of never being knocked off his feet, although he lost plenty of decisions to most of the top heavyweights of his day. He also has the dubious distinction of having a family more screwed up than the cast of Diff'rent Strokes. He lost two sons to drug overdoses and another to suicide and then his wife committed suicide as well as a result of the grief. I'm sorry to trivialize these genuine tragedies, but I find it absolutely remarkable that one family has been cursed with so much misery. The only one I can think of that is even comparable is the Von Erich wrestling family. Out of six sons, only one survived. All others died before the age of 35 (3 suicides, 1 accidental overdose and 1 electrocution).
I don't know if he still does this, but when I was in high school Chuvalo spoke in our auditorium for an hour or so about some of his family issues, namely drug abuse and the like. Really cool/interesting guy from what I remember.
This is not a direct quote, but it is close enough.
Chuvalo has said this about the fight with Ali, "I was not the one who had to spend the night in the hospital, later that night (after the fight) I took my wife out dancing."
I have heard him speak a few times on the radio etc. and he really is a Canadian Icon. I wish he received more recognition for what he did in the ring and especially what he continues to do out of it.
I'm very familiar with George. Like some of you have said, his claim to fame was never touching the canvas. Although he was stopped a couple of times by TKO, he never went down.
His life after boxing has been brutal also, which some of you alluded to. He has always been considered a class act in the boxing world, and I'm gonna remember to include him in my prayers tonight.
As far as Emery as a fighter, I've seen him fight in the minors, and the kid can throw. He has been playing awesome hockey for you guys this season, and you may have found your true #1 long term goalie.
I hope he and the Sens continue to play well, I've always said the Ottawa fan base is a classy bunch, and I always enjoy hockey talk with ya guys. You guys deserve a cup as much as us Sabres fans do, and I for one hope we don't meet in the playoffs again, don't know if my heart can take another awesome series.
