wow - i guess youre all things authoritative on one chris chelios. he's my favorite player, please dont for one minute think i dont know how to spell his name.
btw....
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4199927&name=09cupplayoffsblogMore Chelly
As the media horde surrounded Chris Chelios after this morning's pregame skate, Red Wings teammate Kris Draper couldn't resist.
"Chelly, sing 'O Canada,'" Draper said.
Chelios, 47, was in high demand today after the Jeremy Roenick-fueled controversy yesterday, in which the San Jose Sharks veteran went on Chicago radio and said Babcock wasn't playing Chelios because the coach didn't like Americans and certainly didn't like Chelios.
"J.R. is J.R.," Chelios said. "The NHL would be boring without J.R. There's nothing to it. ... I'm very happy in Detroit, always have been. J.R. says stuff -- what are you going to do?"
Chelios heard from Roenick yesterday.
"He called me. He said he was sorry," Chelios said with a laugh.
Babcock and Chelios spoke about it this morning.
"I was sitting at the pancake place with the coaches this morning, and Chelly walked over and said, 'I think I should bring you an apple,''' Babcock said. "First thing I did was phone my kids, because I got a couple of American kids, and tried to give them a hug over the phone because you don't want them to think their dad doesn't like them.''
All joking aside, Babcock didn't hide his feelings when asked whether Roenick's comments bothered him.
"Yeah, it bothered me, because it's a blatant lie."
Chelios denied any kind of rift exists with Babcock.
"Never had an issue or problem with him in four years he's been here," Chelios said. "I think the only coach I ever had an issue with was Mike Keenan, but he liked the confrontation. It's been a great relationship here. No complaints."
OK, then. Can we all move on now?
And it's Cheli, not Chelly.