Good to see Ron Hainsey hasn’t changed one bit.
In town with his new team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, for Saturday’s game at PPG Paints Arena, Hainsey ran through his greatest hits during a post-morning-skate media scrum, Hainsey’s sarcasm evident in several answers.
“I don’t know,” Hainsey said in response to a question about what getting his Stanley Cup ring would represent. “That’s a little deep for a Saturday morning.”
It is here where Hainsey might actually be missed most. Yes, the humor and the unwillingness to just do what everyone else would’ve done in that situation: Give some stock answer about how it’s special, this was a unique group, on and on.
But that’s not Hainsey’s style. He’s never been afraid to be himself, and good teams need players like that.
Hainsey is the guy who, because of poor grades as a teenager, was forced to work in his family’s construction business while going to summer school. He’s also the guy who played 900-plus NHL games without a playoff appearance then, when asked if he knew what to expect, cracked, “I would expect them to drop the puck and then there’ll be a hockey game.”
A few more Hainsey gems from Saturday’s session:
• On the uniqueness of Saturday’s game: “It’s a special group over there, a special place. Got a game at 7, though, so we’ll get it going.”
• Will it be special to get the ring? “That will be nice, yeah,” Hainsey said.
• On the Penguins and Leafs potentially meeting in the Eastern Conference final: “There’s a long way to go. Certainly, we’re all fans at some level, that would be a cool series to go to the final, but we have obviously a long way to go before that. It’s Dec. 9. It’s about putting ourselves in the best position we can.”
There’s a reason the Penguins, with a bunch of young kids, traded for a guy like Hainsey, who seemingly would find some way to downplay the final minute in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.
It’s also not fair to label Hainsey as grumpy. He can be, and was, tremendously insightful Saturday morning, such as when he talked about joining the Penguins in February of last season.
“If someone’s going to step up and trade for you at the deadline, you want to do well, obviously,” Hainsey said, “but maybe part of you wants to make it worth their while, whatever they’re giving up to bring you in.”
As for the media aspect of his job, however, Hainsey handles this stuff in a unique way. He loves cracking back at reporters, purposefully trying to downplay what they’re getting at, while only selectively delving into topics about teammates.
Asked what he learned playing with Sidney Crosby, Hainsey was having none of it: “I don’t know. Lot of stuff. It would be hard to pick one thing.”
This, of course, is the guy who handed Hainsey the Stanley Cup first.
Then, Auston Matthews, the Leafs’ phenom. Hainsey had no problem biting this one off. Perhaps it’s an only-for-a-teammate kind of thing?
“[Matthews’] ability to put the puck in the net, seemingly from what most guys are dumping it in … you’ve seen some of those this year, where he’s kind of crept his way in, pulled it, fired it, and everybody kind of went, ‘Whoa.’ ” Hainsey said. “Just the ability to take over games like that, which so few people have … most of us are [playing] a role out there. Those guys — Sid, Auston — they can do special things out there.”
Hainsey has been pretty special for the Leafs thus far. He has two goals and 12 points in 29 games, punching up a plus-8 rating and averaging 21:50 a night compared to 21:00 with the Penguins a season ago.
The Leafs are obviously loaded with young talent, perhaps the biggest reason they’re 18-10-1, but don’t look past how much Hainsey’s unique personality has brought to their group, either.
“Him and Patrick Marleau have been like newfound gold for us,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “They’re good people. When you come to a younger team in particular, I think as a younger player you have a real quality chance to have a major impact if you’re a good human being and you do it right every day. That’s what those guys are. They like hockey. They’re relaxed. They’re enjoying the game. I think they’ve had a real impact, Hainsey in particular on Morgan Rielly and Marleau on a lot of the young kids up front, so that’s been great.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: December 9, 2017, 11:51 p.m.
