Post by Jari on Mar 2, 2008 12:06:47 GMT -5
March 2, 2008
We're two completely separate Romaniuks, honestly
By ROSS ROMANIUK
It's pretty obvious former Winnipeg Jets forward Russ Romaniuk is tired of being confused with Sun scribe Ross Romaniuk. They finally met face-to-face yesterday during a hockey game on the Assiniboine River. The contest paid tribute to the 1920 Olympic gold medal winning Winnipeg Falcons. (Jason Halstead, Sun Media)
After more than 15 frustrating years of hearing endlessly about what are believed to have been my hockey heroics, I finally got my face-off.
And now that Winnipeg will, once and for all, see that Russ Romaniuk and I are completely separate people, perhaps the confusion will end.
At stores, restaurants and when renewing my car insurance, I'm unfailingly barraged by questions about my past years on the ice with the Winnipeg Jets -- and why, after that high-profile NHL lifestyle, I have moved on to a lowly life of writing news for the Winnipeg Sun.
It's become a bit of a name game, and a few times I've played along. And why not? There are similarities, after all, between the 37-year-old former Jet and this humble scribe.
Like Russ, I grew up on the edge of Winnipeg. And played a lot of hockey. Well OK, maybe not as well. But who needs to know?
"I'm sure we get mistaken quite a bit," Russ, now a colour commentator for the Manitoba Moose's AHL games, told me yesterday when we finally crossed paths.
Apparently, these years of mix-ups have seen the former pro frequently asked about his all-star reporting.
"Yeah, they recognize the name," Russ said of Sun readers.
"And then they start asking me about local events and current happenings. And I go, 'I don't know what you're talking about.' And they say, 'Well, didn't you just write about that yesterday?' And obviously, it comes to, 'No -- and here's why.' "
The glaring difference between us may be our upbringing -- his on the rinks of Transcona and mine scoring the odd fluke of a goal on Winnipeg's opposite end in Westwood.
"That's probably our only separation, so far," Russ Romaniuk says. "Everything else seems to be almost the same."
Yes, except that Russ went on to star with the St. Boniface Saints and University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, before a five-year NHL career with the Jets and Philadelphia Flyers.
And Ross became a legend in bubble-table hockey. And in his own mind.
To his credit, Russ doesn't seem to mind if I occasionally get some for his on-ice career.
"Well, sign the autographs if you want," he said. "And I hope I don't do your family's name anything wrong. The same the other way, I guess."
After finally meeting my near-namesake while covering a photo-op hockey match featuring Russ and other ex-pros on the downtown Assiniboine River, I left the event still only a reporter. But following a departing comment from CBC journalist Peter Jordan, who played in the game, it was nonetheless a pretty lofty feeling.
"It was a real honour," Jordan said, "to be on the ice with all of them -- Romaniuk, and all those guys."
We're two completely separate Romaniuks, honestly
By ROSS ROMANIUK
It's pretty obvious former Winnipeg Jets forward Russ Romaniuk is tired of being confused with Sun scribe Ross Romaniuk. They finally met face-to-face yesterday during a hockey game on the Assiniboine River. The contest paid tribute to the 1920 Olympic gold medal winning Winnipeg Falcons. (Jason Halstead, Sun Media)
After more than 15 frustrating years of hearing endlessly about what are believed to have been my hockey heroics, I finally got my face-off.
And now that Winnipeg will, once and for all, see that Russ Romaniuk and I are completely separate people, perhaps the confusion will end.
At stores, restaurants and when renewing my car insurance, I'm unfailingly barraged by questions about my past years on the ice with the Winnipeg Jets -- and why, after that high-profile NHL lifestyle, I have moved on to a lowly life of writing news for the Winnipeg Sun.
It's become a bit of a name game, and a few times I've played along. And why not? There are similarities, after all, between the 37-year-old former Jet and this humble scribe.
Like Russ, I grew up on the edge of Winnipeg. And played a lot of hockey. Well OK, maybe not as well. But who needs to know?
"I'm sure we get mistaken quite a bit," Russ, now a colour commentator for the Manitoba Moose's AHL games, told me yesterday when we finally crossed paths.
Apparently, these years of mix-ups have seen the former pro frequently asked about his all-star reporting.
"Yeah, they recognize the name," Russ said of Sun readers.
"And then they start asking me about local events and current happenings. And I go, 'I don't know what you're talking about.' And they say, 'Well, didn't you just write about that yesterday?' And obviously, it comes to, 'No -- and here's why.' "
The glaring difference between us may be our upbringing -- his on the rinks of Transcona and mine scoring the odd fluke of a goal on Winnipeg's opposite end in Westwood.
"That's probably our only separation, so far," Russ Romaniuk says. "Everything else seems to be almost the same."
Yes, except that Russ went on to star with the St. Boniface Saints and University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, before a five-year NHL career with the Jets and Philadelphia Flyers.
And Ross became a legend in bubble-table hockey. And in his own mind.
To his credit, Russ doesn't seem to mind if I occasionally get some for his on-ice career.
"Well, sign the autographs if you want," he said. "And I hope I don't do your family's name anything wrong. The same the other way, I guess."
After finally meeting my near-namesake while covering a photo-op hockey match featuring Russ and other ex-pros on the downtown Assiniboine River, I left the event still only a reporter. But following a departing comment from CBC journalist Peter Jordan, who played in the game, it was nonetheless a pretty lofty feeling.
"It was a real honour," Jordan said, "to be on the ice with all of them -- Romaniuk, and all those guys."
