This is an article I came across while reading OHL newspaper articles this afternoon. This is from the Sault Star. Not related to the OJHL but it is junior hockey.

I think it begs the questions, how far can a newspaper writer or even fans vocally in the rink or on the internet go with criticisms? Should amateurs face less scrutiny than professionals? Should teenagers be fair game in articles such as this just because people pay to see them "entertain"?



Here's the article:

http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1310330

It's time Peluso produces - COLUMN
Posted By Bill Montague


PELUSO MYSTERY: When I think of Soo Greyhounds strapping forward Anthony Peluso, I think of wasted talent. I mean, heres a guy whos six-foot-four and 235 pounds and who is feared by virtually everyone in the league, yet he plays like a scaredy-cat himself.

The guy skates around with little purpose. He seldom plays with any aggression and waiting for him to throw a hard, punishing check is like waiting for the Fountain of Youth. Hes tied with Jake Muzzin for the worst plus-minus on the team at minus-6 and he has just three goals and seven points in 19 games. Three of those points came in a 7-1 win over Brampton back on Oct. 10.

Imagine that: A guy who was supposed to be a leader this season, a guy who management put an A on his jersey to guide others, a guy who is supposed to send shivers down the spine of opposing players, yet he has just 31 penalty minutes in 19 games, most of them minors.

Now, there are those who view penalty minutes as a bad thing but when you play the kind of role Peluso is supposed to be playing, penalty minutes are like goals and assists very valuable. Penalty minutes mean youre playing tough. Youre going out there and hitting people. Youre driving to the net hard. Youre battling hard in the corners. And, yes, youre dropping the gloves, therefore building your minutes, but also bringing someone to the sin bin with you.

Amazingly, there are four players on the Hounds who have recorded more penalty minutes than Peluso. They include Matt Caria (44), Michael Quesnele (48), Jordan Nolan (39) and Jake Carrick (57). Even Cameron Odam, one of the teams youngest players, has almost as many PIMS as Peluso with 27.

Sooner or later, team management is going to have to make a decision on the big guy. At his best, he has the potential to be a Chris Simon-type player but his complete lack of passion and intensity is starting to wear thin on the fans in this city, most of whom admire guys who don the hard hat and go out there and bust their ass for 60 minutes. If Peluso played with half the heart and passion Carrick plays with, hed be a guy opposing teams would dread playing against and hed be very valuable to the Hounds.

But instead, hes like the sleeping giant. He goes through the motions lackadaisically, seldom stirring the pot and seemingly not wanting to mix it up.

So, I say this to team management. Instead of allowing him to waste space on the bench and on the ice, either sit him and send a message or get rid of him.

Im sure theres a contending team out there that they can fool into believing Peluso is a big, tough, physical player with a passion for the game.

Its too bad because I love players with Pelusos attributes. Id love to see him excel. It would be exciting for the fans to watch a guy with his size and ability leave it all out there on the ice.

But it just seems as though no one can get through to him.

Kev, I spent 15 years in the 'Soo' and one of our daughters still lives there so I am quite familiar with Bill Montague, he has covered sports there in general and the 'Hounds in particular for the Sault Star for a long time. Personally I like his style of journalism, he writes, I believe with conviction and detail. You have to remember that in Sault Ste. Marie the Greyhounds are like an NHL team and the OHL is a BIG deal in that city. From this perspective I found nothing wrong with this particular article.

Hard to say whats up with Pelusos' lack of desire but he isn't expected to be a 'point' getter and if he's not racking up the PIMs maybe they have a leash on him.Hey if they aren't happy with him in the 'Soo ship him off to Brampton.They have one missing piece to their puzzle and he could be it!

I think he went a little too far.
I understand about the Soo and that the Greyhounds are the big ticket in town, but this reporter guy does go a little too far.
Call a player out, sure, but the reporter does tend to be fixated.




Maybe this reporter, Montague, found out the Peluso is related to the Capulets.











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Anthony Peluso is well known to the Tigers, he played some games with the Cats when he was with the Richmond Hill Stars Minor Midgets. JD brought him up several times and he was very impressive. Aurora was anticipating his services but lost him to the OHL draft.

The Peluso family were also a sponsor of the Tigers for years. I used to get a great kick when Anthony's father, brothers and friends!! came out everytime Anthony played a game. You couldn't miss them, all 6"5" and the toughest bunch of guys you ever saw, they used to fill the lobby with their presence. More than a few times the brothers were ready to clean out the whole house whenever someone yelled or got on Anthony's back.

From what I remember Anthony was the calmest of the whole family, kind of like Michael of the Corleone family and needed a fire under him to get him mad. JD knew how to do that and as a result he always played well when called up by the Tigers.

However one does not play around with the Peluso family, take it from a guy who knows. I would suggest that the writer may want to consider a few BG's, the Peluso family and friends are not "Scaredy Cats".

Just a few hours after the column was out, Peluso scored a goal to help his team in a win last night.

Good for Anthony, he is a good kid.

I was excited to see how the Greyhounds stacked up against my Spitfires today... disappointing is not the word I would choose to describe what I saw... 12-1 Spits.

I was expecting a tight, hard fought contest.. but what I saw was an uninspired mess of a Greyhounds team just get absolutely embarrassed.

I personally like the Greyhounds and used to look forward to watching them play the Owen Sound Platers as a child near my hometown... I was just awestruck and disappointed with what I saw today.

Are the Spits that good? Or are the Hounds that bad?

"If I ever need a brain transplant, I want one from a sportswriter, because I'll know it's never been used."

I think Montague went too far in his personal attack on Peluso. Montague is more of an editor these days and doesn't go in the Soo dressing room like in his beat reporter days; since then he thinks he can say whatever he wants without respect for anybody.

The Peluso family is one of the best families you could ever meet. Anthony is a great kid who is one of the toughest kids in the O. That's why he was drafted into the NHL. He's had some personal family off-ice issues which perhaps has affected his play but he does not deserve those personal attacks. He's only a 19 year old kid.

Montague makes so many stupid comments in his article that make no sense it's hard to take him seriously. Unfortunately there is not much one can do about what is written by a sportswriter...they are difficult to censure.

Anthony didn't play today but I suspect he'll have a strong finish to his season over the next several months.

While I don't agree with being mean to kids, guys younger than this kid are playing in the NHL and are under a much larger microscope and much more pressure, and subject to far worse criticism.

If the team or a player stinks, they stink. Junior hockey is treated as a business. Players are bought and sold like cattle, drafted far from home etc. If they're going to be treated the same as the NHL players, they should be able to roll with the punches.

Or maybe the writer was just taking a lesson from the Dickie Dunn School of Journalism?

*I can see your five hole*

...don't know if you saw this KEV but that Sault writer got some flack for that attack on AP...

http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1322514

There have been worse reporters in this league. He wrote stories a 10 year old could write. All he did was add numbers, names and the team. Real smart guy.
LOL

While I agree that it's a tough article I don't agree that this reporter went too far.

We are talking about the OHL here, a league that is comprised of mainly "For Profit" companies (teams) who employ hundreds of administrators. 20% of the Players are already "pros" with the NHL having earned cash and stipends to assist them in their final year in Junior. This as well as the cash received by players is the reason that you don't qualify for the NCAA directly from the OHL.

This is not a bad thing, but it no longer offers the "amatuer" status that remains at the lower Jr. levels. Teams and players can not expect to be treated like Peewees with postitive homogeneus stories and reports that treat every game and player with positive pot pourri. That kind of crap is the job of team press releases and their own web sites.

I don't know the Soo but in reading this article this player was expected to be the tough guy and a quick review of his stats show that there seems no point production so what else does he bring to the table?

But my point isn't really about the player. It's about the sport entertainment business of which this player has chosen to participate in.

In addition to the team, the media are ALSO there to make MONEY. Nobody reads stories in the paper or watches reports unless they provide some incite into the subject. Alternately, many media types have made a better than average living by being outspoken and creating contraversy with their opinion and leaving the niceities to the back pages. It $ell$!!

The OHL is a Professional League that's covered by a Professional Media. I don't like all the teams and I don't like all the media. But I enjoy it all.

Thank you, I'm glad someone agrees with me

*I can see your five hole*