from Dave Poulin at the Toronto Star,

Wednesday. In and of itself it doesn’t mean much. It’s not a favourite day, no one tells you they can’t wait for Wednesday, there is no acronym TGIW. The day doesn’t stand out. But it’s as important as any other day, connecting Tuesday to Thursday. It’s the glue in the middle of the week.

Which leads me to Wednesday Boys. I’m introducing the term to define a group of important players on a strong hockey team. These aren’t the superstars, the first-line guys or the headline-grabbers but they are good NHL players. They’re not the highest paid but they make a good living. They’re in the middle of your lineup, filling secondary roles as defensive specialists and penalty killers. But they can chip in a critical goal at a key time, almost like once in a while when Wednesday happens to have a big holiday fall on it.

The idea of attracting the spotlight is not part of the Wednesday Boys’ makeup. They are all about doing their job at a high level within the framework of the team. Quietly. They’re not the guys that the autograph seekers go after. The only time they’re really famous may be when they go back to their hometowns in the summer, and are recognized as NHL players. They quietly grow to learn and appreciate their importance to a team, and the others in the locker room recognize it as well.

I say this in a complimentary fashion.

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