By ALLAN MAKI
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
The oldest defenseman in the National Hockey League, the one playing in his record 22nd year of playoffs this spring, has seen plenty and then some.
Only we're not talking just about hockey. Instead, we interrupt this Stanley Cup moment to bring you a slice of reality, one that has touched too many people, including the Detroit Red Wings defenseman who has made a career out of being determined, edgy and resilient.
As the Red Wings prepared for Tuesday night's playoff game against the Calgary Flames, Chris Chelios made a point of watching television updates on the shooting at Virginia Tech University. Did he know any of the 33 victims? He didn't think so. Was he struck by the horror of the incident? Most assuredly.
"It's been a rough year for a lot of people," Chelios said. "You can't live in fear but you know . . ."
He knows.
Three months ago, Chelios was about to join his teammates for a morning skate when his cell phone rang. Two people who worked at his Cheli's Chili Bar in Dearborn, Mich., had been found stabbed to death. Early reports said the perpetrator was a disgruntled former worker, a 17-year-old busboy who had a grudge against one of the victims.
Chelios said it had nothing to do with anyone being disgruntled. "It was a murder robbery," he explained. "The two people killed (Megan Soroka and Mark Barnard) were the two nicest people out of the whole staff. It was so tragic. I still can't believe it."
For the next week, Chelios spent much of his time with his restaurant employees trying to buoy their spirits. When he returned to the Red Wings, his teammates did their best to support him.
"We went on a road trip (soon after the Soroka-Barnard slayings) and we missed Chris's presence, his ability to calm things down," forward Dan Cleary said. "He's such a caring person. He's got this hard shell on the outside but he's a real teddy bear inside. When he came back, we just tried to be there for him."
Chelios prides himself on being able to separate the outside world from his job as a hard-hitting, in-your-face competitor, the kind who has antagonized more people than a blaring loudspeaker at 2 a.m. It's been that ability that has allowed him to play at an age when most hockey players are former hockey players trying to perfect their golf game.
But there was a night when Chelios let the outer pressures in, and wished he hadn't. It happened several years ago soon after Chelios learned his sister had cancer.
"We had a chance to close out a series and that would have allowed me to go to Mexico with my sister (for a few days). We played a bad game and I took it out on Steve Smith," Chelios said. "We were defensive partners and we got into an argument. We ended up losing that game and the series and I was upset.
"I apologized to him later, but (the argument) shouldn't have happened."
Chelios's sister, by the way, once chastised a driver who had cut her off in traffic. They spoke at a stop sign. The other driver pulled out a gun, shot at her then sped off.
"The police said, 'There's not much you can do about it,'" Chelios said.
"Do you feel safer on the ice?" he is asked.
"Yeah, in a way. Playing hockey has always been my way of not worrying about everything else," Chelios replied. "You know what to expect in a game. . . . In life, something can happen and there's no defence against it. It can make no sense."
Whatever happens on the ice this spring, Chelios would like to continue playing. Physically, he remains in good health, and his leadership, according to his teammates, is invaluable to Detroit's success. ("You win with him," Cleary said. "He brings everything to the table.")
Chelios has fought for his teammates and for other players, too. His dogged questioning of Ted Saskin's hiring as head of the National Hockey League Players' Association helped force an independent review of the hiring process and has offered the players a chance to rebuild their union. For that, the oldest man in the Stanley Cup playoffs since 52-year-old Gordie Howe has drawn praise and some sharp criticism.
He shrugs that off.
"You do what you believe is right," Chelios said. Then he shakes his head and tells another story. "The same day as the Virginia Tech shootings, my wife calls me to say there was someone suspicious at our daughter's high school. They locked the school down. Same day. You just never know any more."
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