Speaking of a creepy love of young centers…
Actual Barry Melrose quote: "HE'D BE A MALE MODEL." (yes, I pictured him yelling this and possibly pounding his fist on the table.)
If he had been allowed to ramble on for another few sentences, Dateline’s Chris Hansen would have asked Barry Melrose what he was doing in the interview.
See, Melrose sat down with the St. Pete Times’ Damian Cristodero to talk all about a young man you may have seen named Steven Stamkos. The Bolts’ new coach heaped praise upon the 18-year-old center, saying the way he skates is “beautiful” and raving about his quick-release wrister.
If calling anything about Stamkos “beautiful” and bringing up his quick release wasn’t borderline-odd enough for you, the interview takes a turn for the truly bizarre a few more paragraphs down.
“He’s cut,” Melrose said. “He’d be a male model if he wasn’t a hockey player. But he’s slim. He’s 18 years old. He’s not a man yet. Vinny (Lecavalier) looked like a beanpole with shoulder pads on, too. Matter of fact, Stamkos is thicker than Vinny when Vinny came in.”
Uhhhhhhhhhh…?
Melrose went on to say that Stamkos is the type of player that plays better when he has better players around him (now you see why he got that coaching job), and namedropped Radim Vrbata and Ryan Malone as potential linemates. Both were 27-goal scorers last year, but Malone couldn’t pop in 30 playing with Geno Malkin, and Vrbata scored 27 after having never scored more than 18 in his previous five NHL seasons. So I don’t know about how good those two would be as linemates if you want Stamkos kickstarting the second-line offense.
