Prior to the St. Louis Cardinals taking to the field on Saturday morning, they were addressed by a special guest–former St. Louis Blues defenseman Rob Ramage.
“Very powerful and it was right on time,” stated Manager Mike Matheny, who has been friends with Ramage for a long time. “He did a great job. The best part about Rob is this isn’t about Rob. He wants to make an impact on these guys and wants nothing for himself. He just wants to help people.”
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Ramage, who was part of the trade which brought Brett Hull to St. Louis, played in over 1000 NHL games and was a part of two teams to win the Stanley Cup. He also spent nearly a year in prison after being convicted for impaired driving which resulted in the death of his friend and former Chicago Blackhawk Keith Magnuson in 2003.
“It was pretty powerful stuff but it comes at a time when we kind of need to hear it,” said Matt Carpenter. “It’s a message that although it’s coming from kind of an ugly deal, it’s something that’s very informative. Very helpful. Hopefully, everybody can learn from it.”
“That was a powerful story, it definitely got the point across,” agreed Sam Tuivailala. “When he started mentioning Oscar, it just gave goose bumps again but I think we’re kind of at the point where we had our pain and were just going to learn from what happened.”
“I don’t think a lot of people think about it when they get behind the wheel,” offered Randy Choate. “The impact it had–you could just see, to lose a friend like that and know that you’re the one who is responsible. That hit a lot more of us guys. You should never do it anyways, but you get a couple of you in there and it’s just, you never know what can happen and it happened so quick.”
“What I liked most about it was how honest he was and just open about,” added Choate. “Cut through any BS and really just let you know how he felt and how it was. It doesn’t matter if you’re the number one pick overall, bad things can happen to anyone.”
The impact of Ramage’s message carried over even after the team took to the field.
“Obviously, it’s pretty terrible stuff but it’s an eye-opener,” said Stephen Piscotty. “In the stretch lines we were all kind of talking about it. I think that’s good to open up with your teammates and discuss–get some of your own thoughts out. Did that during stretch and then just got back into the regular routine and finished out the day.”
This was at least the second time the Cardinals received a serious message on the topic as Matheny also discussed Oscar’s passing in his delivery before the first full team workout.
“When Mike gave us the speech, a couple of us had said it–it was just a lot to kind of think about,” said Choate. “I don’t know if I want to run through a wall and just go beat somebody or sit here and cry. So it’s tough. Even when it happened–the difference is you come in here and then see that Oscar isn’t here. That’s really where the difference is and that’s the hard part.
“You could always see him and Carlos together palling around, you could see the buddies that they were. Best thing we can do is just kind of pick each other up and support. If somebody needs to talk, you sit there and talk. It kind of gets everybody a good look at yourself and what you have going on–to fix some of the things you think you have time for but may not.”
Ramage is now the Player Development Coach for the Montreal Canadiens.
photo credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
