Hockey is hard. We’ve all heard before that it’s potentially the hardest sport out there, that it’s impossible to learn, that no non-hockey player can compete in the beloved sport. On the other hand, hockey players are often encouraged by coaches to take part in other sports, especially in their youth. The goal is that the players won’t get as worn out in the sport by focusing on it 12 months out of the year, and other sports also help the players to become more well-rounded athletically.
A few players have taken that message to heart, excelling at different sports. Hockey stars like Teemu “The Finnish Flash” Selanne, Dave Semenko, and countless others have even used their talents to turn pro in the past. Their versatility shows their unique athleticism, and their participation ensures they’ll be even more fit to play the game of hockey during the season.
One former Blackhawk who’s apparently quite far from that list, however, is former Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling. After a recent video surfaced of Darling running the basepaths after a ground ball at what appears to be his local baseball diamond, White Sox Dave of Barstool Chicago even went as far as to dub him the “most unathletic professional athlete of all time”:
A gimpy run that looks more like he’s trying to ice skate will likely make Darling the butt of more than a few jokes in the coming days. Hockey fans have nothing better to do in the middle of July, after all.
In the video, Darling seems like a fish out of water. On the ice, however, he was anything but. Blackhawks fans know him best for his efforts during his team’s 2015 Stanley Cup run, but he played in three seasons for Chicago from 2014-2017, appearing in 75 games total before his rights were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. After eventually retiring from the IceHogs in 2021, it’s nice to see that Darling is still staying active, even if he doesn’t have the prettiest stride.
It’s probably time we cut these guys some slack. Darling is more athletic than 99% of us, even if he is the “most unathletic professional athlete of all time”. As a goaltender, it isn’t as if he had to skate or run much. With that being said, he looks like he has a fantastic skating stride. Seems like he just has to figure out how to switch it up on the basepaths.
Poor guy’s knees look shot. See how his knees don’t come all the way straight when he tries to run.