Dear Answer Man,

Growing up we always thought of the typical hockey player as a guy who is missing teeth. We aren’t seeing that as much any more. What we are seeing are the huge mouthpieces. Why are we seeing so many mouth pieces nowadays?

Duane (Galena-MO)

You bring up something very near and dear to me Duane-o. That is the subject of teeth.  Growing up I watched guys like Brian Sutter, Bobby Clarke, Mark Messier and Bobby Orr all rock the no front teeth vibe. There was s dude I played with in high school who had a missing front tooth. So freakin’ cool. 

When I was 15 I took a puck to the face and got blasted open. I could actually put my tongue through my upper lip. Real gnarly. My face was broken but my teeth stayed intact.  I was bummed. Not only did I have to sit out of hockey for about 10 days but I didn’t get any missing teeth action. I did get a really bitchin’s scar on my face though. Still don’t have feeling in that section of my face after all of these years. I can do cool party tricks, chicks dig it.

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Dear Answer Man,

OK, the season is still on a down turn. I know how you hate it when Blues fans say, “Well, let’s shoot for last and hope we get the number 1 overall pick.” With the way things are going Keith Tkachuk represents our team’s best trade chip or trade bait. Is it time to say good bye to #7 again?

Yoni (Clayton-MO)

Yani, while I’m not a fan of you music, I can really appreciate musical talent. Wait, that’s not you. Never mind and for the record, Yani’s music is poop. Yes, actual feces.

It does seem like you have given up. Yeah, I do hate quitters. They are among the worst.  They take up company with Commies, Hippies, Goalies, Euros and people from South County. I can’t be in that company. Just like competing. I only compete with “do-ers” not “try-ers”. 

Keith Tkachuk has been written about, loved, hated and admired in our town. I think he’s gotten more bad press than good. He came to town as the next “Big Thing”. He had a huge contract and was another All Star on the roster. They were hoping he was the next Brendan Shanahan but less Irish. 

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Dear Answer Man,

I read recently that some Phruit Euros, as you call them, have a bit of a rivalry going.  It is between Grabovski from the Leafs and Sergei Kostitsyn. They are both from Belarus and were quite open about going at each other again. My point is this, you normally don’t hear anything like that in the press. I enjoyed it. Any chance there is going to be more trash talk like this? I’d love to get more quotes from Janssen and the like.

Nathan (St. Peters-MO)

Nate Dog, what are you doing reading other hockey publication besides Gametime? The beef between those two Phruits was not reported in this paper or on the website. Tisk tisk on you Sir.

Now that your scolding is over, I will address your questions. Yeah man, the league needs more trash talk like this but it should be controlled a bit. We all saw what trash talk did for Sean Avery and his “sloppy seconds”. That was a real black eye for the league.  The beef between these two from Belarus was funny.  Kostitsyn’s brother plays on the team as well. I’m fairly certain Sergei is the uglier of the two (super fem too).

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Dear Answer Man,

Hey Man, it seems to me that over zealous goal celebrations are on the rise. I am seeing a lot of arm pumping or “windmilling” in concert with a leg drag. Please tell me that this is going to end soon and by soon I mean right now. Is this whole thing a fad or is it here to stay?

Vince (Hazelwood-MO)

Vinny, good to hear from you. How’s the rash? Just kidding dude. Seriously though, did it clear up? 

I agree 100% with you. I am seeing more and more players go a little overboard about scoring a goal. Maybe I’m a little old school but when a player goes all out to celebrate a goal it reeks of NFL-ness and I ain’t down with that.

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Dear Anwer Man,

What is the deal with players sitting out part of the season and then deciding to sign? Should there be a rule against this or does it harm anything?

Bob (Maryland Heights, MO)

Bopper, we are seeing more and more of this the past couple of seasons. Yours truly has written about Shanahan in the recent past but that is totally different scenario. He isn’t doing this voluntarily. He needs to just lower his price. Who does he think he is? Some hooker who let’s you pay double to go bare back? Sheesh!  To me they are just spoiled brats.

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