Shock To The System
Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant wanted absolutely NO part of this smelling salt
Tune in to puck drop of an NHL game and you're bound to see guys on the bench sniffing away at smelling salts in order to wake up. It's even become rampant in the NFL, where countless kickers have been seen waving those little capsules near their noses before a big kick.
It's the type of thing you see and, against your best judgement, you want to be a part of. I think they call that "peer pressure," something you're taught not to give into when you're young. The older you get, though, the more inclined you are to just say "f--- it, let me try."
That's exactly what New York Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant was feeling on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden ahead of a pre-season game against the Boston Bruins. Make no mistake, Gallant, who played 11 seasons in the show, sniffed his fair share of smelling salts in his day. But judging by his reaction to this whiff of the little salt bottle Alexis Lafrenière was sharing with him, he either hasn't done it since he retired or this was a particularly potent salt. Or both. Yeah, let's go with both:
GOOOOOOO! Yeah, that's a guy who hasn't sniffed a smelling salt in awhile, saw his players all doing it and thought "I want to be a part of that!" before immediately regretting it. If he wasn't awake for that pre-game interview before, he certainly woke up for it after that. Our only critique - save this for next Tuesday, opening night, Gerard. Can't be wasting a shock to the system like that on a pre-season game. You live and you learn.