Written by Brian van Vliet - December 17, 2008
Glenn Healy was an NHL goalie from 1985 until 2001. His goaltending career can be described as mediocre at best. He was a full time back up outside of a few years on Long Island where he saw as many as 53 games one season. He started out with the Los Angeles Kings where he garnered a fair bit of action for two seasons but was unable to post a GAA of less than 4.27.
Healy played four seasons with the York islanders sharing goaltending duties mainly with Mark Fitzpatrick. Glenn was only able to post one personal winning season during his tenure on the Island.
Healy went to the New York Rangers for the start of the 1993/94 season. Although the Rangers were eventual Stanley Cup winners that year, Healy was still unable to post a winning record. He went 10-12-2. His goalie partner that year Mike Richter, was an outstanding 42-12-6. So it is painfully obvious as to which goalie played the lead role in the Rangers quest for the Cup in both the regular and post seasons of 93/94.
In 97/98 Healy went to the Toronto Maple leafs for four seasons where he amassed a dismal 23-30-5 record backing up Felix Potvin and Curtis Joseph respectively. Joseph on the other hand had a wining record in all three seasons he played with Healy.
Glenn Healy retired after the 00/01 season and soon became a colour commentator and analyst for both CBC and TSN. The losing and negativity that followed Healy throughout most of his playing days seemed to translate into his broadcasting career. He would readily bash the NHL’s modern compact butterfly goalies and goalie coaches alike. Healy’s snide, sarcastic and condescending remarks were annoying to the average fan watching a game. In a time when the game needed positive reinforcement, Healy always appeared to be dwelling on the negative.
In June of 2008, Healy did all of hockey fans a favor and quit TSN in order to become the director of NHLPA Player affairs. Glenn said at the time “Basically everything dealing with a player will come through me.”
Glenn was well liked by his team mates over the years and so the assumption was that he would be a perfect fit for the role. That is until the latest incident involving Dallas Star’s forward Sean Avery.
In Avery’s latest act of human indecency, he went public in Calgary and made a disgusting reference to Flame defenceman Dion Phaneuf’s girlfriend (who used to date Avery). Glenn Healy acting on behalf of the Players, should have been outraged and condemned the statement made by Avery as an embarrassment to the league and his Association. Instead, Healy announced to the media how badly Sean feels and what a “good kid” he is.
Last week, Healy was doing a radio interview on the Fan590 in Toronto. He was asked about the incident involving leafs head coach Ron Wilson making his team practice early in the morning after a loss. Healy referred to Wilson as a “Clown.” So to put this in perspective, according to Healy, a player who continually embarrasses the National Hockey League is a “good kid” while a coach who is trying to get the most out of his team is a “clown”.
Glenn Healy was an average goaltender, a poor sportscaster and is off to a pretty ambiguous start as an NHLPA director. It’s time for Healy to understand his limitations and disappear from the forefront of the National Hockey League. I’m sure he will land on his feet as the circus is always in need of another good clown.Agree or disagree, I’m off the goalpost.
