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Dan Ellis Says “Peace Out, Twitter!”

Steve Farnham

@Dan Ellis: Peace Out, Twitter! #DanEllisProblems

By Steve Farnham, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC. – Dan Ellis, remember him?  He’s the goaltender who’s rights were obtained from the Nashville Predators in the Sergei Kostitsyn trade.  He’s the goaltender we quickly adored for an entire two days before he decided Montreal was not the proper place for him, and then ventured off to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Dan Ellis, who happens to be one of the NHL’s most active “twitterers” has decided, either himself or due to pressure, to leave his Twitter account.  He made the announcement late Wednesday night, his account was still active a little after midnight.

Let me explain for those who are not up to date on the Dan Ellis fiasco (if you want to call it that.)  It started a few days ago when Dan Ellis posted the following “tweets” on his Twitter account:

The first thing that jumps out at me is that Dan Ellis said that he would stir the pot that day.  He announced it himself and it was only a matter of time before he would “tweet” something controversial.  As we can see by his tweets, he then “retweeted” a message by Reggie Bush of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.  Bush was commenting on salary claw-backs professional athletes can be faced with.  Then, in my opinion, things went a little overboard on his part when he started playing the sympathy card.

To his dumbfounded surprise, he didn’t receive much sympathy from his followers and the situation degenerated like none other.  His followers attacked, some in a professional manner, others with childish name calling.  Ellis fought back, sometimes even insulting his followers.

The story sparked excellent write-ups from many including Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy.  He wrote an article titled Goalie Dan Ellis Discovers Lack of Sympathy for Whiney Millionaires. Another came from Spector’s Hockey in an article titled His Own Worst Enemy.  Both are great reads and I definitely recommend them.

Personally, his initial comments did not bother me all that much.  I found it surprising that he would dare say something of that nature and I definitely believe he lacked judgment in choosing to say what he did, but it was his reaction to his followers reactions that really bothered me.

How can you intentionally decide you’re going to “stir the pot” as he said it, and then when you do, react in a way that makes it seem like you never intended this in the first place?  Perhaps he thought he would only stir up a pot, truth is, he stirred up a pot alright, but the pot contained a hornet’s nest.

Here are some examples of Ellis’ reactions to his followers from his Twitter account:

Okay, so Dan Ellis is definitely not the guy you want doing public relations in any crisis situation.  What followed was, I must say, the highlight of the week.  Followers of Dan Ellis started mocking him, and sometimes in the most brilliant and witty of ways.  The hashtag #DanEllisProblems on twitter (which was already existing because of past Dan Ellis rants, yep, not the first time) came back into circulation and inspired some rather funny tweets:

Dan Ellis then came out the following night and apologized to his followers.  In what seemed like a sincere but maybe ‘pressured-into’ apology, he said how his intentions were never to hurt or offend anyone.  Case closed.  Right?  No.

It looks like Dan Ellis is now closing his Twitter account.  His decision?  Was he pressured into it?  Is it even true or just a tactic to see what kinds of reactions he gets?  Who knows and frankly, this story is getting played out so fast I’m starting to wonder if I even care.  I was amazed at the way Dan Ellis came out tonight to announce this.  He’s in Tampa, I’m in Montreal, yet I could hear the violins all the way from here.  The sympathy card being played was very weak in my opinion, and the worst thing in this to me is that it’s probably going to work.

Here was how he broke the news:

I have tears in my eyes just reading it again…  But seriously, was all of this really necessary?  Why am I here thinking that this ‘event’ could rival “as the world turns” on weekday afternoons in terms of soap opera type material?  (Does that show even still play?)  Already, messages are pouring into Dan Ellis’ twitter account asking him not to leave.  Whether this was the plan or not, everyone’s already forgiven him, well, mostly.

Jeff Marek, from CBC Sports, had the following tweet which got a loud laugh from me:

Jeff was making reference to Paul Bissonnette of the Phoenix Coyotes, who recently came back on Twitter under the handle @BizNasty2Point0.  His original Twitter account had mysteriously disappeared following some questionable tweets with regards to Kovalchuk’s contract situation.

In conclusion, I say this.  If you have a Twitter account, whether professional athlete or not, be responsible.  Take a second to realize what you are doing.  If you want to stir things up, assume the consequences of your actions.  It’s a relief so few of the Montreal Canadiens players have Twitter accounts!

(Feature Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

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