Reilly Smith landed a pretty spicy zinger on his former team, the Florida Panthers, while pondering the prospect of playing in front of empty arenas as coronavirus fears spread.
“I played in an empty building for a couple years in Florida so I’m used to it,” Smith said, according to reporters including The Athletic’s Jesse Granger and The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen.
Simple, sharp, and stinging. That’s how I’d describe that one-liner from Smith.
It also felt inevitable. As teams like the San Jose Sharks come to grips with possibly playing empty arena games, and the Blue Jackets among others try to hold out against doing so, the “well that will be no change for [criticized team]” jokes were going to come. It is, however, refreshingly saucy for a player like Smith to join in on the barbs.
Pondering Reilly Smith dropping that one-liner on the Panthers
This comment makes you wonder if “living well is the best revenge” just wasn’t convincing enough for Smith.
The Panthers were seemingly so eager to get rid of Smith at the expansion draft that they gave up Jonathan Marchessault as well. That decision hasn’t exactly worked out well for Florida, while Smith and Marchessault comprised two-thirds of a line that propelled Vegas to heights that ... frankly soared above anything the Panthers have really accomplished.
(Sorry, John Vanbiesbrouck, Ed Jovanovski, and pile of rubber rats.)
Seeing a team give up on you can cause bitterness even if you’re better off elsewhere. One wonders if Smith experienced the jilted feelings of bitterly observing an ex, all while being in a healthier relationship.
Or ... you know, Smith just blurted out the one-liner without really thinking about it. That could be it, too.
Either way, it’s honestly pretty fun. We might need that comic relief in this otherwise grim coronavirus situation, too.
MORE ON THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS FOR HOCKEY EVENTS
- NHL monitoring, limiting employee travel.
- Stick shortages among many smaller concerns.
- Coronavirus might prevent NHL from participating in preseason games in China.
- Locker rooms closed to media to mitigate risks.
- Sharks mull over options.
- Blue Jackets plan on ignoring governor’s suggestions not to play in front of fans.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.