So, Devo, how do you really feel?
Was Devante Smith-Pelly’s tweet playfulness or making a point?
Moments after the Anaheim Ducks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 Western Conference Game 7 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night, Montreal Canadiens forward Devante Smith-Pelly tweeted a message that didn’t sit too well with the fans of the team that traded him.
Smith-Pelly shrugged off the responses, some of which criticized the bruising forward’s weight and Montreal’s failure to advance in the playoffs.
He told The Montreal Gazette: “I didn’t think it was a big deal…I didn’t think people would be that upset about it, but that’s the way Twitter goes, I guess.”
“The worst one?” Smith recounted to The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs. “That I was too bad to be on a (crappy) team, that the Canadiens had lost in the second round. It was hilarious. I thought it was great.”
Devo’s tweet unleashed a stream of traffic – 1,700 retweets and 2,100 “favorites.” Some of the responses, presumably from Ducks fans, weren’t all sunshine and bunnies.
The Ducks dealt Smith-Pelly to the Habs in February to Montreal for rookie forward Jiri Sekac. Smith-Pelly was supposed to add size and a power forward’s scoring touch that was lacking from the Canadiens’ smallish offensive players.
Smit-Pelly had 5 goals and 12 assists in 54 regular season games with Anaheim and only 1 goal and 2 assists in 20 games for Montreal. He notched a goal and 2 assists in 12 playoff games with the Canadiens.
The Ducks selected Smith-Pelly with the 42nd pick in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft. Before the 2014-15 season began, the team re-signed him to a two-year deal reportedly worth $800,000 per season.
Not all hockey fans were upset by Smith-Pelly’s tweet.