ROOMIES: Tambellini and Hillen (1st in a series)Plus: Calling Nielsen's cell to stop him from snoring
By chrisbotta | Mar 31, 2009 | 1:55PM
[First in a series over the next week on road roommates].
Â
sleep 5Jeff Tambellini has enjoyed the last few weeks having Jack Hillen as his roommate on Islanders road trips. In his first full season as a pro, Hillen says, "I just follow the crowd and try to be easy about everything." As a result, Tambellini calls Hillen, "The lowest-maintenance roommate I've ever had in my hockey life."
Â
Okay Jeff, so tell us about some of your more challenging roommates.
Â
"Yash (Alexei Yashin) is one of the nicest guys around. Everyone knows that," Tambellini said today before boarding the Islanders 2:30 pm charter out of Farmingdale for Washington. "But...well, put it this way: we were on completely different schedules.
Â
"On the night before a game, Yash would go to sleep at 10:15. I'm his roommate, and I'm a rookie at the time, so what am I gonna do or say"? Tambellini laughs. "The lights in our room would be out at 10:15, the TV is off, and I'm just sitting there like, what am I going to do for the next two hours?"
Â
Any current teammates, Jeff?
Â
"Frans Nielsen. Great friend. As a roommate? Good luck.
Â
"One night, Fransy is snoring his brains out. I yell over to him. No movement. I throw a pillow at him. He doesn't wake up. We're in one of those great hotels we stay in where they over-do it with the pillows so I throw another one and another one. The snoring never stops.
Â
"I nail him with a book. I throw a clock. I'm totally serious: his bed looks like a convenience store. Finally, I realize the only way I'm going to wake him up. I'm going to call his cell phone. He's got a loud song and all the bells and whistles for his ringtone. He's conditioned to not miss a call because he thinks it's going to be his girlfriend. So I get out of bed, grab my phone, and actually call my own roommate!
Â
"Fransy's phone goes off and he jumps right out of bed in a panic to answer it. It's me, the guy on the bed next to him. I ask him to please stop snoring."
Â
ETC: Sean Bergenheim still has not been cleared to play, meaning the Islanders will most likely have to call up a forward from Bridgeport for tomorrow's game in Washington. Greg Logan reports that Joel Rechlicz will play against the Capitals and Joey MacDonald gets the start. Greg and I were at the same practice, but I didn't get that info! Once again, the veteran journalist teaches the rookie blogger a lesson. That's what I get for doing a story on road roommates...
Â
Â
Comments.