Thursdays With Hildy: Cam Janssen Says Stupid Stuff, Embarrasses Self... And Team?

Obviously Blues fans know that Cam Janssen isn't always the sharpest tool in the shed. But Janssen always presented himself in the community very well -- he did community service, he was nice to the fans. As a local boy, he almost had carte blanche to do anything, and when he was finally replaced by Ryan Reaves, a lot of Blues fans commented that they'd miss his personality. Does he have hockey skills? Not really. Is Reaves a better player? Absolutely. But still, there were still a few grumblings from fans when he left, and lots of well wishes for his career in New Jersey.

Well, with one interview with the Thom and Jeff Show, Janssen probably embarrassed himself more than he needed to:

Ye gods. That kind of came off badly for Cam, no? Ignore the foul langage (which I'm sure that 95% of our readers don't care about anyways) and look at the content. He basically admits he goes for guys with their heads down, he throws in the compulsory homophobic comment, and then he compares the Kings to fat chicks you regret banging.

This kind of stuff, in one on one conversation between you and your friends, eh, whatever. Do I agree with what Janssen said? No, but one on one is a private venue. What Janssen said however he did so publicly. He's no schoolteacher, but hockey players have to watch what they say in public too. Any employee has to watch what they say so they don't embarrass the person that gives them their paychecks.

With this, Janssen runs the risk of bad PR for himself and for the New Jersey Devils, the team that he's a representative of. You can't tell me that the team'll be thrilled to watch this.

You can be on a radio interview, but if you know it's a bad idea to play into the interviewer's schtick, don't do it.

My question to everyone this week is this: how would you feel if Cam Janssen said this while he was wearing the Blue Note? While it wouldn't create a Ben Eager sized problem for me (you all know how I despise Eager), I'd still be mortified by the whole situation.

EDIT: Janssen apologized:

"Earlier this week, I participated in an internet-based radio show in which I used some poor judgment which I now regret. The New Jersey Devils were unaware of this interview, which I arranged myself.

"I would like to apologize for my poor choice of language. The tone of the interview was very casual and off-color, and I lost focus on what is and is not acceptable and professional. I am deeply sorry to anyone who was offended by my language. Moving forward, I hope to eliminate that type of language from my vocabulary. I would also like to take this chance to express my support for the work the You Can Play project is doing, and for the gay community in general.

"I apologize for the embarrassment my comments have caused to the New Jersey Devils management, as well as my teammates."