For those of us lucky to have Bryn Griffiths in our lives, we
know how much he enjoys sitting back in his chair, folding his right leg across
the other, tilting his head back and telling a story.
We enjoy it, too.
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| Bryn Griffiths |
That’s what happened Monday
afternoon when Bryn shared a few hours.
A seasoned broadcaster — television and radio — Bryn also worked as press
secretary for the Winnipeg Jets in the early 1990’s.
He was responsible for the team’s
travel. He did the same job for the Edmonton Oilers in the mid-1990's.
The topic came up in light of the
Boston Bruins’ travel challenges Sunday night in Toronto. After losing Game 6
to the Maple Leafs, the Bruins had to overnight in Toronto because of a
malfunction with their charter aircraft.
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| Picture of the Bruin aircraft found on Google Images |
Bryn said flight crews start
preparing the aircraft to leave just as the third period starts. He says when
he was with the Oilers the rule of thumb was 45 minutes: the amount of time
between the end of the game and when the team departed for the airport by bus.
“So, if you can’t go because of
mechanical trouble, the team would get word from the flight crew by the end of
the game so they can make other arrangements,” says Bryn.
That’s when press secretaries
really make their money. They have to find hotel rooms for an entourage of 50 … at 11 p.m. at night.
The Bruins ended up leaving for
Boston at 9 a.m. Monday, some nine hours after the Maple Leafs had landed in
Boston — 10 hours before game time.
Didn’t hurt them. The Bruins clawed
back from a 4-1 third period funk to pull off a 5-4 win in overtime to win Game
7.
Bryn tells the story of when he was
the Jets and they could not travel one night. And no hotels.
“We ended up staying the whole
night at the airport,” says Bryn.
There were a lot of unhappy people
that night, but guess who was the grumpiest.
“Randy Carlyle,” Bryn smirks,
talking about the former Winnipeg Jet, now head coach of the Maple Leafs.
Chances are, though, not as grumpy
as this morning, following Toronto’s collapse.
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| Randy Carlyle with the Jets |
