En skyttekung som var beredd att göra precis allt, allt, allt för sitt lag (även om det innebar att kasta handskarna mot ligans mest fruktade fighter). En av NHL-historiens största vinnarskallar genom tiderna. Och dessutom en skön snubbe som bjöd på sig själv.

Det fanns redan många goda skäl till att gilla Brendan Shanahan som hockeyspelare.
Nu finns det ett till.

Den här storyn bjöd Shanahan (som växte upp i Toronto som stort Maple Leafs-fan) på som gäst i Gary Bettmans radioshow:

– When I was 14 years old I was skating in the summertime at a rink in Toronto. Rick Vaive (stor stjärna i just Maple Leafs) happened to be skating at an adjoining rink and we were actually in dressing rooms that were right next to each other.
– I went in when he was sort of settled and asked him for an autograph. I didn’t get the best response from Rick Vaive at that time.

Fyra år senare blev Shanahan draftad av New Jersey Devils och tog omedelbart en plats i NHL. Rick Vaive – som hade nekat Shanahan autografen – hade då blivit bortbytt till Buffalo Sabres.

– Fast forward four years later and Rick Vaive is waiting for a meaningless faceoff in Buffalo. He’s now playing for the Sabres. He’s lined up next to some 18-year-old kid from New Jersey. When the puck dropped, I attacked Rick Vaive.

– It was a quiet, uneventful game. He couldn’t believe the rage I had, not only in attacking him, but it took two (linesmen) to restrain me afterwards and throw me in the penalty box.

Av förklarliga skäl hade Rick Vaive ingen aning om varför han blev nedslagen.

– He said to one of my teammates at the time, Jim Korn, ‘By the way, what’s wrong with that kid and why was he coming after me?
– Jim Korn said, ‘Apparently he asked you for an autograph when he was a little kid and you weren’t that friendly to him. So he’s harbored those feelings since then.’

Storyn slutar dock inte där. För tre år sedan dök Rick Vaive upp i Air Canada Center i Toronto. Han hade med sig sin 14-åriga son och bad Shanahan om en autograf.

– I signed the autograph, took a picture and gave him a piggy-back. I didn’t want karma to come back and get me.

/Stefan.