Mon dieu - une true Manch legend!
Mon dieu - une true Manch legend!
oh oh monsieur, alf da Dicks Umile sycophants on dis tred telling to keep im cuz e do such a grate jobs wif leetle talente. Mais now you telling us dey grate recruiters.
I actual tink dey not so bad on da recruit. Personaly I tink dey ZUCK at poste saison et beeg game coching. Neveur - NEVEUR - ever any adjustemente, ever. Juste bang you ed aganst de wall ovure et ovure again. Pour decades.
Bottom line? E been given da resources (et de salary) to win et e don't . You genious buddies a his can talk all day mais you is what you recorde say you is, et no NC et juste 2 HE title in 20 year don't saying much, non?
No kidding ... Jimmy "Bunny" Poriveau!!
Long time no see, mon ami!!
For those who might not know ... "Bunny" is a colorful character who was raised in a Franco-American neighborhood in Manch, and used to work at JFK Coliseum at the skate rental shop, and also drove the Zamboni back in the '80's and '90's. I'd heard that he left long ago - not much was said about where he ended up, so it's nice to see him posting here. His story is kind of bittersweet, but probably warrants recounting.
Anyway ... Jimmy's folks moved to Manch from somewhere up in Quebec in the '60's, when "Bunny" was still a pre-schooler. I think he made it as far as his first year at Central, but he always struggled with the language, so he dropped out and eventually was hired by the city to work at JFK, where an uncle was facilities manager at the time. Jimmy basically did everything at JFK, and really loved his work, so while he always kind of a loner and never started a family ... life was still good. He was doing what he loved to do.
Life seemed to get even better when the UNH program entered the picture, when they played at JFK in the '94/'95 season - while Snively was being rehabbed, and what would become The Whitt was still under construction. To say Jimmy was psyched that JFK would be hosting UNH hockey in that transition would be an understatement. He was still a relatively young guy back then, and he gravitated to the "French" kids like Gagnon, Larochelle and Stevie Pleau. But his favorite players were older Canadian kids like Flinton and Bryan Muir. I guess Jimmy felt a kinship with them due to his heritage.
Anyway ... it was a loose bunch that season, and they spent a ton of time on buses between Durham and Manch. A bunch of practical jokers, and of course "Bunny" wasn't immune to being the butt of their jokes. And Jimmy was still kind of naive, so that played right into their hands if they wanted to pull his chain from time to time. And that would prove to be his undoing.
Word is that at the end of the season - a season BTW that ended with an OT upset loss to Providence in the HE quarterfinals, and a 9-2 drubbing at the hands of Denver in the opening round of the NCAA's - one of the older guys (not sure if it was Flinnie or Muir, or Eric Royal - a NH kid that Jimmy also gravitated to) sold "Bunny" that Coach Umile was going to hire him as equipment manager for UNH Men's hockey for the following season. And of course, Jimmy fell for it hook, line and sinker.
So of course he quit his dream job at JFK, and when Coach Umile had to break the news to Jimmy that his old UNH pals had hosed him big-time ... well, you can imagine how that impacted on the poor unsuspecting kid. Hit him like a "tonne a briques" he told a mutual friend. But Jimmy so loved those UNH kids that I don't think he ever believed Coach Umile. He's never quite been the same since.
As you can see ... he still follows the UNH program, and I guess I'm only surprised that "Bunny" hasn't chimed in yet, championing the virtues of his old pal from back in the day, Stevie Pleau. Bon chance, Jacques!!
Over the years I've learned a couple of things like offsides, checking up, dump and chase, equitable ice time versus equal ice time (that was a hard one to learn!). I learned from Jack Edwards what blowing a tire means too
)))
