Duvie Westcott - November 14, 2007
Bob McElligott - Broadcaster
Thursday, November 8, 2007
I didn't think that we'd ever see Duvie Westcott in a Crunch uniform again, but it happened last weekend.
Let me just say, what a refreshing change it was to have an athlete here who really wanted to be here. I know, you're thinking why would an NHL player actually want to be back in the minors?
First of all, Duvie lost most of last season because of injuries and then suffered another concussion last month. Along with that, there are six spots for defensemen, in Columbus, and he was number seven. He realized that just skating in practice wasn't helping him enough. He was not in game shape and there was only one way to get there, by playing in actual games. There was only one place to do that and he was willing to do it. He could've been done with just the fact that he was suiting up and getting himself back to where he needed to be. There was nothing more that he was responsible for. But Duvie jumped right back into the minor league mind set and did whatever he was asked to do. On Friday night after the game, he signed autographs for fans and on Saturday he did a TV interview with us in between periods. These might not seem like major things to you, but in this day and age, athletes that are playing at the highest level of their sport don't normally go out of their way for the fans in the minor leagues. Usually they want to get in and out of the situation as quickly as possible. This also says a lot about Duvie's previous experience with the Crunch. If he hadn't been treated well by the organization and the fans, I'm sure he wouldn't have been as eager to do these things.
As it turns out, it's a good thing that he played in those games last weekend. He took Ole-Kristian Tollefsen's spot in the line-up against the Blackhawks on Wednesday night and played just over 15 minutes, finishing with no points and an even rating. I know that there was the possibility that Duvie would return on another conditioning assignment this weekend, but I hope that he's able to stay in that line-up and perform at the top of his game. It's deserved for a guy who's such a class act.