Odd Couple: Classen And Haydar, Friends and Line Mates Pt 1
Hockey can be a tough sport. A game where frozen pieces of rubber fly around at speeds approaching and even exceeding 100 mph. It’s where bodies fly around a sheet of ice with the distinct intent to smash you into small pieces if you are too close to said piece of rubber. And it is the one sport where fighting is an accepted part of the game. Yet, in many ways, the business of professional hockey is an even tougher game than the sport that people watch and play. Players come and go, and compete for position and promotion while trying to make a coherent team that believes in teamwork and tries for a common goal: win. Or is that get to the NHL? Or both? Against this backdrop, making lasting friendships would seem unlikely. Yet, two young men from Canada have formed a great bond that helps them both on and off of the ice. “I think it’s real hard,” says center Greg Classen, “you have a few close friends you keep in touch with. It’s impossible to keep in touch with everyone; it’s the same as leaving your home town. I’m twenty-eight now, so all my high school friends have moved on, they are either married or got jobs.”
Adds winger Darren Haydar, “Especially within hockey, you’re only with a team for so long and for us, either fortunately or unfortunately, we’ve been back with the same team for what is my fourth year now. You take that for what it is, but fortunately for us, we’ve been together for most of that time.”
The two young men have played a lot of games together in Milwaukee over the past four years, Classen 179 (221 over all in Milwaukee) and Haydar 256. Yet they knew each other even before that, having played against one another in college in the Hockey East conference. “Played against him at school, so I knew of him,” remembers Haydar, “we played against each other for two years there, and then Greg decided to take a step. I followed behind, and I met him in Milwaukee.”
Classen corrects his friend, “I think we met at the summer camp the first time, Nashville Summer Condition Camp was the first time we actually met. We became friends almost right away. It was pretty easy for us; we kind of knew each from having played against each other so we had something in common.”
Haydar agrees, “It was kind of easy for us, there were a number of Hockey East guys in the system: (Mark) Mowers was here, Jayme Filipowicz was here from the University of New Hampshire with me, and them knowing Greg, I just got fed right into the process. It definitely made it easier when you know the situation and I knew the guys here, and then to become friends with Greg as well. When you are comfortable with your surroundings, it makes things so much easier.”
The two young men are in many ways mirror images of each other: Classen the taller blonde center who early on established himself for his defensive play and two way ability and the shorter dark haired Haydar who is best known for his hockey sense and nose for the net. Haydar is on pace this season to meet or beat his rookie season numbers that are his career best. He was surprised to hear that, “On pace for that? I don’t feel like it. I am streaky and it feels like I haven’t scored in a month,” Haydar ponders with his trade mark lop-sided grin, “ I’ve gotten assists, I’ve been involved in the play, but it’s nice to get a goal every once in a while.”
This is the first season the two have seen much ice time on the same line. “Its fun,” says Haydar, “we’re doing well right now. We’re not always out there together because of different things: power plays, penalty kills, and the way that Claude (Noel) changes the lines to affect the game. But when we’re out there, we’ve been able to connect, it’s been fun.”
In part two, we'll get to see what life is like off the ice for these two young men, Hockey's Equivalent of Felix and Oscar.
