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SLAM! Sports 2000 All-Star Game SLAM! Hockey ALL-STAR GAME INTERACTIVE ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Saturday, February 5, 2000Oh happy Ray!Whitney and dad overjoyed at all-star selectionTORONTO - First fears. Then tears. Few players went through the emotions of Ray Whitney when the former Oilers stick boy got the word he was being invited here for the 50th NHL All-Star Game. First fears. His fiancee, Brijet Henderson, answered the phone. "It was 9 a.m. and it was our assistant general manager calling,'' said the player who ranks as one of the biggest mistakes Oilers GM Glen Sather ever made. "Her heart started pumping at 100 miles per hour. He asked her, 'Is Ray around?' The look on her face! She thought we'd been traded. And I guess I didn't help much. When I took the phone I looked a little shocked.'' Then there were tears. Whitney called his dad, the Edmonton cop who has spent two decades as the Oilers practice goalie. Ray told Floyd Whitney about his injury in Wednesday's Florida Panthers game and wondered if he shouldn't accept the invitation because of jammed lower back muscles. "Dad was being the polite father,'' said Ray. "He was saying, 'Well, you don't want to get hurt' and stuff like that. I went and took treatment and called him back. "When I told him the treatment went well and I'd decided I was going to come here and be in the all-star game, he had tears in his eyes. Had the waterworks going.'' You can't see tears on a telephone. "I could tell. He's as excited as a proud father could be. He's really pumped. Deep down he really wanted me to come here. He just wouldn't say it. It's still a big thing for both of us regardless that I wasn't picked to play from the start.'' Dad admits it. "Actually, it coming so late, it got pretty emotional,'' said Floyd. "Other than when he got drafted, I don't think I've been that emotional. This would be second place.'' Floyd didn't have any trouble getting off from the cop shop. "It just happened to hit my four-day weekend,'' he said. "And the Florida Panthers paid our way.'' This isn't Whitney's first all-star game. He went to the IHL All-Star Game in Atlanta in 1992 and was the MVP. Whitney, subbing for injured St. Louis Blues centre Pierre Turgeon, laughed. "Two goals. Three assists. It was a 10-8 game.'' It was a typical early February Friday evening when Whitney arrived here. Which is to say it wasn't the Florida Keys. That's where he and Brijet had planned to spend the all-star break. But that was never even considered after the phone call. "You kidding? She's a Canadian girl,'' said Whitney. "A Fort Saskatchewan girl. She chased me in high school,'' he laughed. Brijet had a one-word quote for that. "Whatever,'' she said. "Little Palm Island, where we were going, isn't going anywhere,'' she added. In a way, this is the ultimate tweak to the Oilers for letting Whitney get away after only nine games. He's never thrown that in the Oilers face, and still doesn't. The Oilers gave him a chance to come to camp when it looked like he was going to have a very short career, after a botched beginning with his old junior hockey linemate, Pat Falloon, with the San Jose Sharks. That they then gave him away to the Florida Panthers ... It's ironic that yesterday the Oilers gave Falloon away to the Pittsburgh Penguins. "I've never held it against the Oilers. Who would know at the time that it would work out this way? It's like my dad tells me. It's not like Slats is hoping I suck for the rest of my career because he doesn't want to look bad. He's made a lot more great moves than ones that might have worked the other way. "And Slats gave me the opportunity to make something when I didn't have anything.'' Whitney comes to the all-star game with 22 goals and 27 assists for 49 points. He's legit. There are a lot of players with lesser credentials, including Mark Messier with his nine goals, 18 assists and 27 points. But being on the same all-star team as Messier may be what thrills Whitney most. "I missed Wayne Gretzky by a year. But I get to play with Mark. That's a real thrill, being a kid from Edmonton who grew up around that team. He's one of the best to ever play.'' Don't tell Ray Whitney that Mark Messier shouldn't be in this game. He'll be telling Floyd Whitney's grandchildren about this. 
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