Link missing, only briefly
Former Spokane Chiefs toughman “Missing” Link Gaetz is still making a name for himself in professional hockey with his fists, but he recently faced a suspension from his current team for an overactive digestive tract.
Gaetz, 36, played only one season in Spokane but left an indelible mark on the city’s fans for his infamous 1987-88 season. In 59 games that season, Gaetz had an amazing 313 penalty minutes in one season (by comparison, current Chief Myles Stoesz had 238 PIM this season).
Gaetz, currently listed at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, is now a designated enforcer with the Thetford Mines of the Quebec Senior Major Hockey League. Reports about the league say each team has a designated fighter and players receive $1,000 per fight and have Gaetz making $50,000 one season.
Though the team’s official Web site is in French, multiple reports on the Internet about a recent Mines game against the Verdun Dragons have Gaetz getting a suspension for an unauthorized food break.
The story goes that Gaetz hadn’t played a shift through two periods, so he reportedly was seen without his jersey and without skates on at a concession stand – where he ordered and ate a cheeseburger before returning to the bench for the third period.
The team decided to suspend Gaetz for an unspecified amount of time out of respect for the other players.
Gaetz, who had no goals and 117 PIM in 22 games with the Mines this season, was the 40th overall pick in the 1988 National Hockey League entry draft by the Minnesota North Stars.
Gaetz played a total of 65 games over three NHL seasons, the best being his last (1991-92) with the San Jose Sharks, where he posted totals of 12 points and 326 PIM in 48 games with a plus/minus rating of minus-27.
By the way, Thetford Mines is a city in southern Quebec whose main claim to fame is that it contains the world’s largest asbestos reserves.
Not crazy about Madness
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald is among the “disdained minority” that believes March Madness is not worthy of the fuss.
“We don’t get that it has become a religion whose worshipers pray to the god Dick Vitale, meticulously fill out brackets, eagerly jump lemming-like into office pools and treat every Cinderella’s victory as if it were orgasmic delight,” he wrote.
It’s not really his out pitch
The New York Mets got pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who apparently weren’t too upset to see him go. Asked by a New York Post reporter which pitch Ishii had the most trouble with, Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn deadpanned, “Strikes.”
Over the last three seasons, Ishii walked 305 batters, second only to Arizona’s Russ Ortiz (308), but he was often effective in clutch situations, Colborn noted.