Originally Posted by PepsiFree
I actually think Hrudey had the gall to express those egregious, harmful, and insulting opinions during game 7 for a completely different reason than stated here. No, not an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of those who believe he's a "Flames homer." And no, not an ongoing grudge against Sutter for the reasons you think. Oh yes, it has everything to do with Sutter, but not in the way you think. No, it's much deeper, much darker than that. Hear me out:
The year was 1997. September 16th, an unusually warm fall day. The trees were brimming with life, having evaded the threat of a winter storm that never came to pass. Men, women, and children alike were enjoying life, soaking in all of its wonders. Keep in mind, this was pre-9/11, a different world than the one that would come to pass, but the darkness was already brewing by this point. The period between the 1st and 16th of the month saw the death of Mother Theresa, the funeral of Princess Diana, the sinking of a Haitian ferry that kills hundreds, and, most importantly, the conviction of Arizona Governor Fife Symington on fraud charges. Now, you will logically ask, "What does this have to do with Kelly Hrudey?" These events set off a chain reaction reaching across the globe, while the world is wrapped in mourning both for figures who were larger than life and many innocents across the globe, Fife Symington's conviction on fraud charges relating to shady real estate dealings provides the perfect cover for the fraud that was all consuming in the NHL to that point. It is often believed that the NHL is a sport, but more so than a sport, it is actually sports entertainment. Stay with me. Many of the outcomes we believe to be "chance" or "luck" are predetermined. In fact, almost everything that has occurred in the NHL since 1993, every win, every cup, every draft, leads to one man: Rick Townes. Of course, you haven't heard of him, and you won't find any evidence of him. There are questions to whether Rick is his real name, or even if Rick Townes is one man at all and not a collection of puppet masters deciding the fate of the NHL in the shadows. Anyways. How does this connect? On September 16, 1997, Kelly Hrudey enters the office of shadows. The end of his career has been a forgone conclusion, decided, dictated, out of his hands. But the question remains: what does the end look like? Kelly pleads his case, he wants to go out a hero. He's told he'll be given what he wants, everything will fall into place, as Vernon had secured a repeat-success deal the season before that was to follow him regardless of the team and, now with the Sharks, success is guaranteed. The cup is his (and the Sharks) if he wants it, and god he does. Kelly leaves the meeting thinking everything will go as planned, just as newcomer Patrick Marleau and the aforementioned Mike Vernon walk in. But here's where things so south. Vernon wants a new deal, wants to go out as the greatest goaltender of all time. He wants to extend the deal from two to four cups in a row. Using Marleau, already promised a long career of success as leverage, Vernon threatens Rick Townes. With what, it's unclear, but it doesn't work. It backfires. Instead of Vernon being given what he wants, the deal reverts to Detroit, the team he was originally on. Vernon is embarrassed, but he knows the cost of sharing what he's done so he keeps it quiet. Only Vernon and Marleau know what has happened. Marleau walks out, dejected of course, his punishment for willingly being involved in Vernon's power play a punishment of never winning a cup in his career, which will be long and full of empty success. Townes instructs Sutter to blow the season, promising future success to him in return for showing the 1997-98 Sharks who "the boss" is. Hrudey doesn't know what's happened and goes into the season confident, too confident. He mails it in, thinking every win is going to be gift wrapped. But as the season goes on, he realizes something is wrong. The wins aren't coming, he's getting beaten left right and center. The season ends as a disappointment, his last. As he goes searching for answers, Hrudey gets word of what had happened. He confronts Vernon who, of course, brushes him off. But then Marleau pulls him aside and tells him what happened. Their hubris got the best of them, and Sutter was instructed to carry out the punishment. Hrudey didn't believe it at first, not Sutter of all people. But 2004 was a warning, and by the time Sutter's success had reached it's peak with the Los Angeles Kings, Hrudey knew the truth. Sutter was nothing but a pawn carrying out Rick Townes wishes, Hrudey caught in the crossfire and worse, nobody had the guts to tell him. They left him hanging.
So anyways, that's why Hrudey says things people disagree with sometimes, obviously.
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