Two Minute Drill
Vancouver Sun
CANADA.COM
Q.Tony Esposito likes to tell the story of how he became a goaltender, that older brother Phil needed someone for target practice and that he was Phil's patsy. Did your older brother Sylvain convince you to be his personal shooter tutor?
A.Actually, my story is similar. We had little ball hockey games in our house between periods of Hockey Night in Canada. My dad, my brother, my uncle and myself, we'd go downstairs and play. I was always the guy they decided to put in net. I was the smallest and youngest so I was the easiest to pick on, I guess.
Q.Many kids like to do play-by-play in these games and pretend they are NHL stars. Did you fellows do that as well?
A.My father and uncle weren't NHL players but I was always Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy and my brother was Guy Lafleur. Sure, I won a few Cups in the basement. It was home-made and my Mom would bring it downstairs.
Q.Did you move right from playing goal in the basement to playing goal on the ice? Or were you a forward at some point in your hockey career?
A.I've always been a goalie. The first time I actually skated was my first ever game. I had never tried to skate before that. I was too scared and too embarrassed because I didn't know how to skate. Finally, I played my first game and I won and I just kept going from there.
Q.If you've always been a goalie, you probably have never experienced the feeling of putting a puck in the opposition net. Have you ever scored in a real game at any level?
A.No, I've never have. Well, I played forward in ball hockey and once in a while I would score there but it's never happened in a real game. Right now, scoring a goal doesn't even go through my mind. But I'm sure if I ever score a goal in the NHL, I'll know how to celebrate.
Q.Your family moved from Quebec to Sault Ste. Marie when you were seven. As a French-speaking youngster, did you have any problem fitting into an English community?
A.I still went to French schools in the Soo but all my friends spoke English. They were great in trying to teach me the language. That's another one of the reasons I started playing hockey. I was scared to go to the rink because I didn't speak English, I was kind of embarrassed about it, but my brother was playing and I found out you can catch on quickly at that age.
Q.Before coming to the Canucks, you played for the Rangers and Lightning. How did you like living in those cities ?
A.In New York, I lived near the practice rink in Rye, which was about 25 miles from Manhattan. I would take the train downtown and go to plays and what-not. I've seen The Lion King, Cats, pretty well most of the bigger ones. In Tampa, I lived two minutes walking distance to the rink and right near the water. It was nice to have beautiful weather year-round.
Q.Now you've opened up the door to a supplementary question. How do you like our rain and do you have an umbrella?
A.The first thing people told me when I was traded here was: "Get used to the rain." Last year, when I came in February, it was just beautiful the whole time and I didn't know it would get like this. But I still love it here. No, I don't have an umbrella. I don't like them. But I've got a good raincoat and I wear it when I take my dog - - he's a Jack Russell named Mikey -- out for walks. He likes it here, too. He doesn't have to hide under the trees the whole time like he did in Tampa.