Former Bruin Marc Savard has been doing some work for Sportsnet in Canada over the last month, and 99.9 percent of the hockey world agrees that it is great to see him back around the game and doing well.
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, however, is the 0.1 percent who is not happy about this. For reasons I cannot even begin to fathom, Simmons decided that the notes section of a column about the Humboldt Broncos tragedy was the perfect spot to take a completely uncalled-for shot at Savard.
"Marc Savard basically disappeared when his career ended in Boston," Simmons wrote. "Media called. Nobody answered. Now suddenly Savard is a media guy. My advice: If he calls, don’t answer"
Of course, Savard "disappeared" because he was suffering from post-concussion symptoms that ended his career. Savard has detailed the hell he endured for years after he stopped playing -- headaches, anxiety, depression and more.
But god forbid he not return the phone calls of the guy whose career highlights include wondering what ever happened to a player who died in a plane crash, making up stories about Phil Kessel eating hot dogs as part of his long-running smear campaign, and getting ethered by Jose Bautista on Twitter.
Savard responded to Simmons in a Twitter post Sunday.
"I've never been one to let negative media posts get to me but this one has hurt because for me this is extremely personal," Savard wrote. "After my concussions in 2011, I spent many years dealing with some serious mental health issues and post-concussion symptoms. I did not withdraw myself from hockey or the hockey world by choice. I was not in a good place!
