Ottawa – The only thing hockey and hip-hop have in common is the H. In hockey, a flashy dresser is considered someone who has his top shirt button undone. Music-wise, country is the preferred locker-room choice, with the Avalanche usually playing a Johnny Cash tune after a victory.
“Sugar” Ray Emery is doing his best to change all that. The goalie of the Ottawa Senators sat at a podium Sunday with a glittery black baseball cap on backward, with a diamond earring and silver chain that shone brightly under the klieg lights. While the preferred appearance for hockey players still playing this time of year is Grizzly Adams scruff, Emery’s most prominent facial hairs are the sculpted sideburns that look like black lightning bolts.
Emery is hip-hop cool in a sport that hasn’t exactly been embraced by today’s fashionistas. Not only is his dress unconventional in easily the most conventional of the major pro sports, Emery is that way off the ice as well. He drives a bright orange Lamborghini, has a pet python and once ate a live cockroach in the Senators’ dressing room on a $500 dare.
“He’s a little different,” Senators teammate Oleg Saprykin said.
Emery’s skin color automatically makes him stand out in the NHL. He is the first black goalie in a Stanley Cup Finals game since Grant Fuhr with the Edmonton Oilers in 1990. Emery is one of 32 black players to have played in the NHL, of whom 14 are active. He and Kevin Weekes are the league’s black goaltenders, and Emery is one of four all-time.
But while Emery’s wardrobe is loud, his words are soft. While his lifestyle is most different from the usual NHL player, when he comes to the rink, Emery fits right into the hockey mold. The Hamilton, Ontario, native is all about the team, all about sacrificing personal glory for a chance to get his name on the Stanley Cup. Ask Emery if he’s enjoying the media attention that has come his way and his answer is conditional:
“I enjoy it, as long as it doesn’t take away from the hockey aspect,” Emery said.
Emery said he has had to tone down some of his individualistic instincts, however. While hockey is coming around to better tolerating different looks, it still tends to want its players to say the same things and not create big headlines with their mouths.
“I could talk about (individual style) all day, but in the past I’ve kind of gotten in trouble for that, or other people feel it takes away from the team,” Emery said. “So I don’t want to be that guy. Whatever helps our team win hockey games is what I want above anything.”
Emery was supposed to be the Senators’ backup goalie this season, as Ottawa signed veteran Martin Gerber to a rich contract in the offseason. But when Gerber faltered early on, Emery stepped in and seized the top job. While he struggled in Game 3, allowing three goals and having trouble with positioning and handling the puck, his overall playoff statistics have been off the charts. He enters tonight’s Game 4 with a 13-5 record and solid .918 save percentage.
Still, respect has been slow in coming to the 24-year-old, as some hockey pundits still view Emery as Ottawa’s weakest link to a championship. He suffers no such opinion in the Senators’ dressing room.
“He’s been our best player in the playoffs,” defenseman Chris Phillips said. “You can’t get this far without your goalie at the top of his game, and he has. He’s really bailed us out a few times, and he was that way in the regular season. He’s just a carefree guy, loves doing his own thing – maybe some things that guys here aren’t too familiar with. But on the ice, he’s only focused on stopping the puck.”
Emery made a guest appearance on Ottawa rapper Belly’s hit tune, “Go, Sens, Go,” and has been known to favor zoot suits and do-rags and everything else hip-hop. He also is a major boxing fan, and once had Mike Tyson’s image on his goalie mask but switched to Canadian boxer George Chuvalo. Emery fought not only Buffalo goalie Martin Biron in a February game, but Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters.
“I’ll do anything to help my team, my teammates,” Emery said. “If that means throwing down, so be it.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
