Todd Bersnoozi wrote: What'd Toews do? I thought he was one of they classy guys in hockey. I put him up with the Yzerman/Linden types.
Toews isn't all that classy in my opinion. He's not a complete dirtbag, but he does tend to run his mouth quite a bit.
Silly stuff such as, "we're going to expose them for what they really are" (in response to a media member's question when the Hawks were down 3-0 to the Canucks during the 2011 series). He's made a few comments like that. You NEVER heard guys like Sakic, Bourque, Gretzky, Yzerman, Scott Stevens, etc., saying stuff like that. Ever.
However - Toews gets a pass from most media members because outside of Sidney Crosby, him and Pat Kane are the two biggest NHL media darlings.
Guys like Yzerman, Sakic, Gretzky, Lemieux, Bourque, Iginla, Kariya, Stevens, Niedermayer, Brodeur, etc., etc. NEVER trash talked outside the arena. True class acts through and through.
I know in my list a few weeks ago, I chastised guys like Toews, Doughty, Richards, Thornton, Keith, Lucic, and Seabrook on here (perhaps implying that I was only singling them out since they represented rival teams), but consider the following:
Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Patrick Marleau, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, David Kreijicki (sic), Patrice Bergeron, and Tuuka Raask. To the best of my knowledge, I have never criticised them or spoken ill about them despite them being on rival teams. Why? Because - they are class acts through and through.
Even in years' past when the Avalanche made the Canucks taste their dicks all throughout the late 90's, I never once criticised guys like Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. Claude Lemieux and Patrick Roy? I attacked a lot because both men are and were douchebags.
Iginla and Kipper in Calgary? Same thing. I never spoke badly about them ever. Dion Phaneuf? Complete piece of shit.