Q: And something to me that is so cool was that you were around when Sid, Geno, Kris Letang first came into the league. Can you just tell us about what that was like? Because I remember you telling a funny story one time about how you had to teach Tanger how to go through a tollbooth? (laughter) And how Geno learned English.
This is the stuff that Jen does behind the scenes. Not only does she help coordinate interviews, but she just has such great relationships with them and they trust her so much and she helps them so much in so many ways I think that’s a really cool part of your job that people might not know that much about.
A: Yeah, I mean, those three especially, I always say that I’m not sure my career would be as successful if I didn’t stay with this team this long. Because I’ve really grown up with those three. I was 22 when I was an intern, I was 23 when I started full-time, and I grew up with them. They were young. (laughter) We were all going through growing pains together.
I think Geno’s two English words were pizza and hotdog. (laughter) And no. He knew the word no. It was very obvious to me right from the beginning that Geno knew what I was saying but he did not say anything back.
Q: He pretended not to say anything back...
A: He pretended. Geno is extremely smart. So smart that it makes him nervous when he does interviews because he is intelligent to know that his English sounds bad. You know, like, when you guys all wear t-shirts that say ‘I’m score’, it’s funny, but it’s not funny to him because he knows that it’s a joke because his English is bad. That’s a true story about Geno.
Tanger was like, oh my god, he’s like my son. I love him. Tanger one day came to me and said that he was driving and ‘I went through the drive-through and I didn’t have any money, so I just went through’ and I’m like, ‘What did you get?’. And he’s like, ‘I think I get a ticket’. I’m like, ‘What do you mean you think you got a ticket? What are you talking- Tell me this again.’
We had just called him from Wilkes-Barre. He’s like, ‘I’m driving in my car. You know, you drive for a while and you go through a drive through’. And I’m like, ‘A tollbooth…” And he’s like ‘Oh, yeah, a tollbooth.’ He tells me he doesn’t remember this story by the way. And he’s like, ‘I got a ticket in the mail’. And I’m like ‘Okay, well, bring me the ticket’. So we had to overnight it because it was due, and then we had to teach him how to write a cheque. So, well, some fun stuff.
Sid, he’s been pretty perfect from the day I met him. Seriously. He was that guy that you don’t have to sit there and hold your breath that he’s going to say the wrong thing. Instead it’s like, I can’t wait to hear what he says because it’s going to be the right thing at the right time. There’s not a lot of grey area with him. He’s black and white. His answers are always well-thought, well-conveyed.
If anything, I learned a lot of respect for him right off the bat because he was getting pulled in a million directions then. People say he’s the face of the NHL. He literally was the face of the NHL that year. There was nobody else that remotely… and the stuff he did for the league is stuff that I mean, I don’t think anyone could ever go back and mimic because it was just incredible. The way he was on the ice. The way he was off the ice. He was literally the perfect package and he’s a great person too.
-The Scoop with Jen Bullano, 28 Mar 2019
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