Joe Rullier is easy to pick out on the ice: He’s the only righty in defenseman’s blue. In the fine tradition of 2001-04 around here, Bridgeport had been going with six lefties on the blue line. Rullier (PTO) changes that, though when he’ll play is uncertain; Jack Capuano said they’ll take it slow with him. When he does play, he’ll join two small fraternities: righty D-men (No. 20 for Bridgeport), and — as John Sullo noted — those who played for both Hartford and Bridgeport (No. 18). Edit just to note that he’d be overall Sound Tiger No. 199.
Jeremy Colliton was given a day off. He blocked an Ian Moran shot in the second period last night but finished the game on a hurting leg. He’s likely to be ready to skate in the morning. So will Blake Comeau, whose practice got cut a little short when his skate blade broke.
Thomas Pock cleared and was assigned to Hartford.
A report in the Boston Herald led to some speculation about the future of the Edge, but Uni Watch throws some cold water on it all. Darn truth. Always getting in the way.
A wacky but (I hope) interesting diversion comes below the fold: click on!
So let’s say I stepped away from the blog for a minute and walked up to you and tapped you on the shoulder and said, “Marry merry Mary.”
Now “the blog” being associated with a southern Connecticut newspaper, and “you” thus likely to be southern Connecticutish, you’d probably look at me, incredulous, and sputter back, “Marry merry Mary?” And then I’d point and laugh, because — again, “you” being this average southwestern New Englander, who might not be you — are slightly statistically likely to have incredulously sputtered out three words that sound alike.
And then “you” would hit me. Well within “your” rights, I’d say.
But yeah: Having learned English in an Italian/Irish section of New York, I usually say all three a’s differently: “marry” like “mat,” “merry” like “met,” and “Mary” probably the same way you do. It’s a distinction that doesn’t hold in too many places in North America anymore, but it still gives me pause when I hear one of the other words pronounced like “Mary” — or worse, when I hang out too much with folks who do it, which makes me do it. (On the other hand, get me mad or tired, listen to me forget all of Mrs. Miller’s second-grade speech classes and drop my r’s, and laugh at me.)
Anyway, now “you” are probably saying, “What the heck does this have to do with hockey?”
Very little. But it came to mind when I saw Stockton’s version of the Ryan O’Marra assignment. It provides a phoenetic rendition of his last name: Oh-MARE-ah.
Well, yeah. If that’s your accent.
When he showed up in Bridgeport, the word going around was that he pronounced his name almost European: “Oh-MAHR-ah,” which no doubt contributes to his nickname, at least at the time, of “Omar,” like Bradley. He didn’t, but it turns out that’s just another accent. I don’t remember exactly how he said it — those are the hazy months — but it was the “marry” vowel, for sure.
So Bill McLaughlin and I, New Yorkers both, were saying it one way. Other people surely said it another way. Some people apparently had it a third way. In our own ways, we’re all right.
Linguistics comes alive, baby, all in one little Tokyo-born kid.
Tomorrow — The pen-pin merger: What’s with those Southerners, anyway?