by Lyse, AllHabs.net
QUÉBEC, QC. – Anything to get close to him. Yeah, even at this ripe-old age of mine, this Sunday morning I’m akin to a starry-eyed teenager. I’m in love with big Hal.
Actually, I always loved the player even when he was criticized for being this tall slow, immobile defenseman on my favorite hockey team. And I stood by him when he got all that flack for being austere towards up and coming P.K. Subban.
You might say I’m being an opportunist, writing about Big Hal, the morning after he was top-trending on Twitter worldwide (!). But, to set the record straight, if you haven’t been following me on Twitter lately, I did tweet a number of times in the past month something like :
You gotta <3 Big Hal.
First of all, besides goalies, I’ve always loved tall men. And being amongst the league’s top shot blockers, well…
But, notwithstanding the fact that he’s on his way to invent a type of hat trick of his own – if he scores against the Bruins he’ll get consecrated with the Hal Gill’s hat trick – this new found wave of love I’m feeling was ignited with the screening of his feature on “Nos Canadiens” Friday night.
It prompted me to tweet out loud : « If I had to pick right now, I’d like Hal Gill to be my father. »
Because, this episode of “Nos Canadiens” brought to the forefront more evidence to something that I, and many who follow the team around, knew all along : Big Hal is a father figure to P.K. and probably to many young-uns on this team. You might discredit the TV series as being a gigantic infomercial praising the merits of the men in Bleu, Blanc et Rouge, but you cannot script such a loving personality.
I wish Hal Gill stays around the Habs next year, be it as an active D-man, as a D-coach or as a special counselor.
And with quotes of his like “Sorry doesn’t mow the lawn” or “Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds nuts”, he should publish a book of sayings. Or, better yet, do as @Mcammalleri13 and @BrentSopel did before him, join Twitter…
You want to know what made me crack about Hal? He drinks café so he can keep up with ebullient Subban. Now, that’s something to love. Yes, I could volunteer to mow Hal’s lawn, but unfortunately it is snowing right now.
Oh, and for those who missed the “Nos Canadiens” episode featuring Hal Gill, please visit the Vtele website.