Former Penguin and current Predators radio broadcaster Hal Gill made an appearance on Elliotte Friedman's 31 Thoughts podcast to talk about a number of subjects, including the 2009 Stanley Cup run.
Here are some of the highlights:
• On coming to Pittsburgh in the 2007-08 season: "Right when I got traded to Pittsburgh, we got out in practice and (Sidney) Crosby was driving wide on me. He leaned in, and you know how low he gets, right? He was all the way down. He's driving to the net and I was leaning on him. I felt like if I gave him another shove I could have wiped him out and sent him into the boards. I kind of backed off and Sid went in and scored, and all the boys are going 'Woah!' because the new guy just got smoked by Crosby. Crosby came right over to me in the line after and was like, 'What was that all about?' I was like, 'What are you talking about?' And he goes, 'You didn't finish me.' And I said, 'Sid, you're the best player in the game. You're my teammate now. I'm not going to finish you.' And he's like, 'Well if you're going to let me go then you're not going to practice at game speed! Then what's the point?!'
"He did the same thing to Billy Guerin. When he got traded, he was like, 'Why is Sid like this? Why is he yelling at me?' He's yelling at Billy Guerin! He just took it to another level. I think that whole team rallied around the way he worked and what he did. That was the mindset. We had a lot of fun, but we were working."
• On an encounter with Michel Therrien in Pittsburgh: "He called me in his office once and he was on his knees. I was like, 'Are you okay? Let me get a trainer.' And he said, 'No, I can't move.' And I said, 'Yeah, I'll get a trainer for you, he'll help you out with that.' And he goes, 'No, I'm on my knees, so I can't move.' So I turn and look at the TV in the corner and it has me down on one knee (during a 5-on-3 penalty kill), and he says, 'See, you can't move.' And he stood up and had a good laugh at himself and at me, and said, 'You need to stay on your feet.'"
• On Dan Bylsma taking over: "It was awesome. I think it was our first practice, I think it was like 15 minutes before we were supposed to go on. And he ran through the locker room and he's like, 'Free ice, boys! Let's go! Free ice!' You know when you're a kid? And there's nobody on the ice? You're like, 'We've got to get out there!' For me, that said everything. We were kind of beaten down and we had gone through a long year. We were in the Cup Final and now we were out of the playoffs, it was miserable. It was a contract year for me and I was a healthy scratch. Everyone was struggling. Him going through and saying, 'Free ice!' was a sign like, 'Hey, we're hockey players. We're kids playing hockey.' And I think that was the mentality he had the whole time. Even Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final. He said, 'How many Game 7s have you played in?' A couple guys raised their hands and said this, that, or whatever. And he's like, 'I played in this game 1,000 times over in my driveway, in the rink in my backyard. I've been playing this game my whole life. And now we actually get to do it.' It was that refreshing excitement he had."
• On partying with Mario Lemieux: "There's no more of a class act than Mario Lemieux. Talk about a guy that gets it. I've talked to former teammates about it, he gets it. When we were celebrating, he was there and you could tell that the love of winning, he gets it. He gets what everyone's role is on a team, and how everyone plays, and what everyone does. For him to invite everyone to his house after we won the Cup and just share in that celebration, just a class act all around."
• On who partied the hardest after winning in 2009: "Probably me. No, you know what? I remember the sun was up, and my wife was still hanging in there with me. I'm sitting in the pool with Mario. She kind of leaned over and she's like, 'Should we ... go?' And I was like, 'No! Never. We should never ever leave this day ever. I'm hanging out at Mario's pool and we just won the Cup.' It was like 10 in the morning and I was like, 'Okay, now we should go back. Now is the time.' We all had a pretty good time."
The full podcast can be heard here:
