Q&A With Jason LaBarbera
Monday, January 21, 2008
I was at the Toyota Sports Center today for the Kings practice and I caught Kings' netminder Jason LaBarbera and he agreed to answer some questions.
First, some thoughts on their practice:
- Caught my first glimpse of Teddy Purcell. He looks like he's fitting in well with the group. He's got a slick, quick release on the puck. There have been comments of his size (6'3", 177 pounds), but he didn't look scrawny by any means. I'm excited to see what he can do out on the ice.
- They were practicing an outbreak passing and back checking drill. My thought was, "Good, they need it." =P
- And how come their neutral zone trap comes out effectively in practice but is no where to be found during the games?
- I'm pretty sure Army told Barbs to "suck it." Ahh, good times.
The Red Wings were practicing at the same time, which I had no idea about until they started to walk by me from the other rink.
- Mike Babcock looked silly in a hoodie sweatshirt and mesh shorts.
- Some of the guys were watching the Kings and I tried to be slick and asked one of them, "Scoping out the competition?" But all I got was a very tired-looking nod of the head.
- I was like 3 feet from Dominik Hasek. SWEET!
Nichole Glaze PhotograhyQ&A with Barbs
So I actually interviewed some other guys (Purcell, which was interrupted by Sully, and Jack Johnson), but Barbs was the player I ACTUALLY wanted to interview. The first section was for him to just pull questions out of a hat and answer; the questions weren't really serious and I was looking to just keep the mood light. I was going to read the question when he pulled it out, but he just read it and answered it.
Barbs: (Pulls question and chuckles) "Whose rear do you dislike most parked in your crease" ...Thomas Holmstrom.
Barbs: "Have you ever been star-struck while out on the ice? If so, who?" ...Uhh...probably Jessie James and Sandra Bullock.
CKim: No, players! (Hearty laughter from both)
Barbs: Oh players! We're in LA, why can't they be celebrities?
CKim: Cause that's not how the game works.
Barbs: Umm, Joe Sakic. (Pulls another question from the hat) "What is your favorite thing to do on an off day? And sleep isn't an answer." Hanging out with my girlfriend.
CKim: Sounds good.
Barbs: Pretty lame...or hang out with my dog we just got. How about that? (Pulls a question) "Patrick Roy or Marty Brodeur." ...Patrick Roy
CKim: Good answer.
Barbs: "Best fighter - Ray Emery, Dan Cloutier, or Patrick Roy." I'm gonna say Jason LaBarbera.
CKim: (Hearty laugh from myself) Alright, I want to do a little...I'm gonna give you a name and two options and it'll kind of be a rapid fire thing. So "Sean Avery - perfect agitator or annoying pest."
Barbs: Annoying pest
CKim: George Parros - well-quaffed mustache or 1970's swinger
Barbs: Well-quaffed mustache
CKim: Vincent Lecavalier - softest hands on the puck or softest hands on the ladies
Barbs: (Laughs) I'll give him the ladies
CKim: Alright. Joe Thornton - exquisite playmaker or too much booty in the pants
Barbs: Exquisite playmaker
CKim: Ilya Kovulchuk - speedy sniper or Ivanans' next target
Barbs: (laughs) speedy sniper
CKim: Dominik Hasek - crazy Czech goalie or fish out of water
Barbs: Both!
CKim: Let's go with...Dion Phaneuf - the Terminator or soft as a snowflake
Barbs: Hate him. None of them, all of them. I can't stand him.
CKim: What? I. Then you should go with the second option. (laughing for a little bit). Okay, "Rick Nash - human bulldozer or a pushover."
Barbs: Human bulldozer
CKim: Sam Gagner - shootout master or baby-faced Oil
Barbs: Baby-faced Oil
CKim: Jonathan Toews - sweet puckhandler or Patrick Kane's sidekick
Barbs: Sweet puckhandler
CKim: Alright, last two. "Top fashionista - Ray Emery or Jason LaBarbera."
Barbs: (Laughs) That one's easy, that's me.
CKim: Wayne Gretzky - best player ever or best player ever
Barbs: (confused) Say that again?
CKim: (incredulous) Wayne Gretzky...best player ever...or best player ever
Barbs: ...best player ever
CKim: Thank you very much!
It ended kind of playfully because of the nature of the last question. But he said that he liked my questions and we went our separate ways. I'm glad Barbs played along with the questions and had a little fun with it.
Much thanks to Barbs for answering my questions! I really appreciated it!
13 comments:
awwww, I'm glad that Barbs was such a good sport. Now I REALLY like him! Maybe even more than O'Sullivan...
Yeah, I was stoked that he played along. Maybe Sully was just really hungry and crabby because of it. Or maybe he told Purcell not to get a big head from people wanting to talk to him. Who knows.
That's really awesome! I loved some of those questions/answers. The Lecavalier one, and also the Thornton one.
I'm pretty sure I'd just stand around staring like an idiot if I saw Joe Sakic, so I totally agree with him. Also about Phaneuf, can he just drop off somewhere? Like hell?
Kirsten - I don't think either Barbs or JJ knew that I was referring to a song by asking "to much booty in the pants." Nonetheless, I had to throw that in there. I honestly got star-struck by Hasek; I was thinking, "Don't look at him!!! Act cool!!"
Phaneuf can definitely go you-know-where.
AHAHAH I love it! I certainly don't have the balls to just walk up to one of the guys and ask him for a piece of his time or whatever. Mainly cuz these days I see them walking in and out of the club level ushered by a security guard. If I went to the practice I might have a shot, but then, you never know. Last time I went to a practice, the brilliant thing that popped out of my mouth was, "Hi, can you sign my ____?" and I'd rather not re-live it, thanks. Of course, my brain was scrambled cuz it was my hockey heart, but whatever.
LOL. I'm not as quick on the fly as you apparently are. :) Good job, chick. I hope you nail down one of my guys for one of these... cuz, yeah... I don't think I'm capable of not making a doofus out of myself.
Great stuff, Connie! :) I bet that was lots of fun. Now you've set the bar high!
I have to disagree with his answer about my little ball of hate though! :p
Better interview your #4 before he's gone! ;)
Finny - It was definitely cool and I'm glad I was able to interview the player I actually went there for.
KQ - Thanks for the props! I'm hoping KingsCast can do something with the audio since the text is definitely not as cool as the audio. And I give Barbs kudos for answering truthfully and not just to be nice.
I can't get to Blake since there's a veteran's parking lot that's gated off. Alas, I feel I'll never get to talk to him and the trade deadline's coming up!! CRAP!!!
Dude, CKim, you're braver than I because I never would have had the guts to do that. Barbs sound like a lot of fun though!
Did Babcock have perfect hair, though? (It is our firm belief, here in Detroit, that the man can look as ridiculous as he wants but his hair is perfectly sprayed into place and resembling something akin to a little plastic Lego hair knob.)l
Sherry - He definitely has that laid back air about him, which was probably why I wanted to ask him these questions. And I just HAD to ask the fashionista question because he's got some STYLE.
Steph - Mmm, you know, I didn't remember his head looking any different from what I see on TV. It was more the clothes. So I'm just gonna say that his hair was the exactly same as it usually is. haha
HBIC linked me over to your interview, great stuff! Keep those coming for sure! I'm gonna blogroll you cause I like your style. If you happen to interview Sully, be sure to ask him if he's still a pyro ;-)
Thanks for stopping by, maal. I'm hoping to get some more of these goodies with the players. But most likely not too soon because the Kings aren't going to be playing at Staples for about 3 weeks. Thanks again!
I think that it is great that they are quite cooperative and you did a great job about the interview. Something that I would like to share it with the price per head demo community.
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