Okay, a couple things to note before listening to this song:
* It’s Danny Taylor, the Calgary Flames new goaltender, singing about the hilarious routine of getting sent down from the AHL to the ECHL, which I myself had the privilege of experiencing three times. HOWEVER - he did not write it. They aren’t his lyrics, he’s singing a song that was written by a guy he used to play with. So nobody from Wheeling should be mad at Taylor, and in reality, it’s more about having to go to a lower league than to a bad town.
* “Wheeling” is in West Virginia, and they have an ECHL team called the Nailers. Yes, the Wheeling Nailers. This is in the same league that once was home to the Macon Whoopee.
* This is from three or four years ago, and I just dug it up because Taylor’s name is in the conversation these days. I played with him for a few weeks in 2008-2009 in Reading’s training camp (when James Reimer was the other goalie, incidentally), and I can confirm that he is hilarious. My favourite lines in the song: “I can’t believe they found me in my hiding place” (when you’re worried about getting sent down, for some reason it feels like it won’t happen if you don’t run into the coaches), “Leave your sticks here” (sticks ain’t cheap, and minor league teams aren’t afraid to be stingy with them), and the coach’s “We both thought you were great!” (nobody ever tells you you played like dog meat, because they are massive liars). Oh, and I also like “I’d fight Bonvie,” but that might just be from someone who recognizes him as a minor league knuckle throwing assassin.
“Don’t lose any confidence in yourself!” Here’s “Death’s Better Than Wheeling.”
