Monahan's Dull Facade Doesn't Match the Man. but He Does Display a Little 'Captain Serious'
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A Perfect Kind of Boring - Sep. 1, 2015 - Randy Sportak
BASED ON WHAT MOST of the hockey world sees, Sean Monahan would be the perfect soldier caught behind enemy lines. Watch any interview of the Calgary Flames center. With his stoic demeanor, straightforward statements and monotone delivery, you’d think he'd be great at divulging nothing more than name, rank and serial number under the worst kind of torture.
Give away his personality to the media? Not a chance.
According to roommate Lance Bouma, however, being the youngest Flame to reach the 30-goal mark isn’t the only thing Monahan cracks. “He’s a funny guy and makes me laugh all the time,” Bouma said. “He’s very mature for his age, but he’s funny and has a lot of wit. Away from the rink, he opens up and is not the same guy you see every day…He has a dry sense of humor, and it's similar to Boring Sean Monahan.”
Ah yes, Boring Sean Monahan (@boringmonahan), the excellent Twitter account that has brought all kinds of dry-witted gems:
“We're going to the playoffs! I'm happy, I asked some of the guys and they said they're happy. Coach Hartley doesn't look happy but he is.”
“TJ Brodie said he burnt his toast this morning. I told him to turn his dial back to 3 or 3.5. Sometimes 4 is too hot for wide slot toasters.”
“I have only spent 2 minutes and 8 seconds untangling my headphones this month. Johnny Gaudreau said he spent over 9 minutes.”
The perpetrator behind the account is still a mystery (“I still think it's Chris Butler and Derek Smith,” Monahan said, "but I have no idea.”), yet even the target of the lines enjoys the humor. “It doesn't bug me,” Monahan said. “I get a laugh out of it, so it's fun. I think I actually say some of the stuff that's on there, so it's funny.”
See, Monahan does see the humor in himself and life. Heck, he’s often the one behind it. ”He's also a prankster in the room,” said teammate Joe Colborne. “When ‘Grats’ (Brian McGrattan) was around, those two were dangerous together. One time, Grats put cheese in ‘Mony's’ coat pocket or some place he wouldn't notice for a while before it went rotten. From there, Mony took it to the next level. Pretty much for a month, you had to check every single pocket, every single shoe, your wallet, anything, because there'd be a piece of ham or cheese or something in it. I'd put him as one of the top pranksters on the team.”
Guilty as charged. “I prank a lot of guys on the team,” Monahan said. “About 70 percent of the time they're arguing who did it, and they don't know if it's me or ‘Staje’ (Matt Stajan) or ‘Bolls’ (Brandon Bollig). It gets pretty funny when you're the one who did it. You go to the rink and want to have fun. Obviously when the games come, it's serious and you play to win every night, but I don't think you can go to the rink every day and be serious all the time. A lot of people think that's how I am, but I'm actually really easy going and like to have fun.”
The most fun, though, comes from winning, something Monahan and the Flames finally found themselves doing again last season. Instead of being in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes, the Flames reached the second round of the playoffs thanks in large part to Monahan, who has already proven capable of being that big, top-line center who can go up against opposing stars and still produce.
And to think the Flames had him fall into their lap with the sixth pick of the strong 2013 draft. Monahan has a late birthday (Oct. 12, 1994) and played on a last-place Ottawa 67’s team in his draft year. He also missed 10 games that season due to a suspension and failed to make Canada’s world juniors team. If not for those circumstances, Monahan could’ve cracked the top five. “If he had been drafted in his 17-year-old year, the year we went to the league semifinals…he would have gone higher in the draft,” said Chris Byrne, who coached Monahan with the 67's and now scouts for the Los Angeles Kings. “But it didn't work out that way. Calgary's probably pretty happy it worked out the way it did.”
Make that downright giddy, actually. With Monahan, Gaudreau and '14 first-rounder Sam Bennett, the Flames believe they have the building blocks at forward for a great future. Until Bennett joined the Flames for their playoff run, Monahan was the team's youngest player. “I have to remind myself he's only 20,” Colborne said. “It shocks me every time I think about it. He acts like he's a veteran who’s been in the league for a long time…I'm not saying he's Jonathan Toews, but it’s amazing to see the comparison between those two. How many times has Mony come up clutch in a big game, scored that huge goal? Like Toews, he's not the biggest guy and not the fastest guy, and isn't going to run you through the boards, but he plays a hard game, a 200-foot-game.”
Even if Monahan is a Toews-lite, the Flames will take it. That would mean having a leader in the Stampede City for years to come and the opportunity for success not seen since 1989's Stanley Cup. Monahan believes the first steps were made last season. “A lot of people are going to say we overachieved, but deep-down this is a team I believe in and the guys in the dressing room believe in,” he said. “I think we're going to have a big year. This is the tightest team I've been on and…a pretty special team. I'm looking forward to this being a good team for a long time.”
