In a room oozing with testosterone, being nominated as one of the sexiest athletes in Chicago is bound to bring out catcalls from teammates.
That’s just what Thunder Bay’s Patrick Sharp had to endure earlier this season, when Victoria Secret sponsored a contest seeking the hunkiest of the sporting world.
The Blackhawks, revitalized after nearly two decades of mediocrity, missed playoff berths and fan apathy, jumped in skates first, producing a promotional video touting the 28-year-old over Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and Brian Urlacher, Mr. Defence himself, of the football bears.
To the tune of Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack, the electronically-fused singer belts out, "We’re bringing Sharpie back," as craftily composed pictures show the ruggedly good-looking forward dressed as a lumberjack, a mountain climber and even a polo player.
Then his teammates chime in.
"I always read about how good looking Sharpie is," says Ben Eager, who arrived in the Windy City, dealt by the same Philadelphia Flyers team that developed Sharp into an NHL regular.
"I sit a couple of stalls away from him, and he’s not that great looking up close."
"I don’t know what they were thinking picking Sharp," chirped former No. 1 pick Patrick Kane. "They probably messed up the two Patricks on the team, Sharp and Kane."
Sharp, who lost the contest to Rose, took it all in stride.
"It’s been nothing but taking heat from the guys since that contest came out, but it gets a good laugh out of everybody in the room and I played along with it," Sharp said, sitting recently in the visitor’s dressing room at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
In other words, he’s doing what he can to keep the dressing room loose, on a team that has high expectations and is battling the San Jose Sharks for Western Conference supremacy, looking to improve on last year’s semifinal appearance.
Disappointed at not being named to Canada’s Olympic team, Sharp, who has 16 goals and 23 assists in 49 games, he’s taking that in stride too.
"They’ve got a lot of good hockey minds picking that team and you’ve got to trust the decisions that they make. And there’s not going to be a person cheering louder for Canada when the Olympics come that I am," said Sharp, who plans to be in Thunder Bay during the Olympic break.
His teammates, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews, were named to the Canadian team, bringing the Olympic experience that much closer to home. But, he added, it’s a good indication of just how good the Hawks are these days.
"I think it speaks volumes how well the Hawks are playing this year and how far we’ve come as a team."
Come June, the Hawks could be seeking their first Stanley Cup championship since 1961, a full two decades before Sharp was born.
