ODUYA TALKS RACIST FANS AND TRADES IN RETURN TO CHICAGO
Defenceman says racial insults like the one at Hawks game are few and far between
Johnny was on the spot Tuesday as the Ottawa Senators prepared to face the Chicago Blackhawks.
Senators defenceman Johnny Oduya, who won Stanley Cup titles with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015 and returned here in 2017 after a trade-deadline deal, recognizes he could be on the move yet again in the coming days.
Oduya, who is black, also addressed the ugly incident at the United Center on Sunday, when Washington Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly endured racist insults.
While Smith-Pelly was in the penalty box, a fan berated him with “basketball, basketball, basketball” chants. Smith-Pelly said it was clearly racially motivated.
“I heard about that and I would say that’s very uncharacteristic of fans in Chicago,” said Oduya, who played for the Blackhawks between 2012 and 2015 plus a combined 19 regular-season and playoff games last season.
“I think that’s one person out of 18,000 … and I don’t know, 100 games a year for the four or five years that I’ve been around here. It’s one drunk guy, maybe had a couple drinks too many.
“It’s just unfortunate. It’s something that we shouldn’t pay too much attention to, in that respect. It’s not something that you want to happen at the rink.”
The Blackhawks announced Monday they banned four fans from attending games.
Oduya nodded in the affirmative when asked if he had ever dealt with racial taunts, but said he has witnessed a marked improvement in attitudes.
“There have always been incidents like that, but what I notice most is that the people around you are more agitated, more upset, more angry than you are at the time. That’s kind of the response now, too. People think it’s outrageous and we don’t want that around the rink. That’s the response we should have around the rink.”
Oduya, 36, is a 12-year NHL veteran with other stops at New Jersey, Atlanta, Winnipeg and Dallas. He has the type of experience playoff contenders may seek to add before the league’s trade deadline on Monday. He has played in 106 playoff games and Senators general manager Pierre Dorion, who rejoined the team Monday in Nashville after attending the Five Nations Under-18 tournament in Michigan, is fielding offers.
Oduya, whose contract includes bonuses for games played, can become a free agent this summer and isn’t likely to be part of the Senators’ long-term future.
At the same time, he insisted Tuesday he wouldn’t lose sleep wondering about what-if scenarios.
“My approach is the same, I would say, as any time,” said Oduya, who has spent much of the season as a defence partner for Senators captain Erik Karlsson. “I’ve been through it so many times now that I would say it doesn’t bother me at all.
“Whatever happens, come that day, is going to happen. Other than that, you focus on trying to win games and be as good as you can. So, I’m not too worried, either way.”
Oduya acknowledged having the opportunity for another extended playoff run would be exciting.
“If that’s what it is, I don’t think anybody would say ‘no’ to that, but then, on the other hand, I’m very happy here, too. It has been a tough year, but we’ll see what the next week brings.”
Senators head coach Guy Boucher, saying Oduya had played his best hockey in recent weeks, insisted the endless trade speculation didn’t impact players on the ice. Karlsson and forwards Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard, Zack Smith and Jean- Gabriel Pageau have also been mentioned in trade chatter under the belief the team wants to shed salary and get younger.
“I would love to say ‘yes’ (it impacts players), because people would like to hear ‘yes,’ but that’s not (the case),” Boucher said. “Maybe at home, maybe between close ones, that’s usually the tough part. It’s not at the rink. Guys come to the rink and they work.”
Just like Oduya, Boucher said contemplating the unknowns is a wasted exercise.
“We always worry about things that don’t happen. You take care of what you can control. For families, of course, when there’s uncertainty, they have to deal with it. But that’s privately. It’s not something we live at the rink.”
I’ve been through it so many times now that I would say it (trade talk) doesn’t bother me at all.