The Life and Times of Boring Sean Monahan
By Ryan Pike
8 years agoOctober is a big month in the hockey world. Training camps end. NHL rosters are set. The regular season starts. And later in the month are two big events: Halloween, and the anniversary of the first tweet by Boring Sean Monahan.
For the curious, October 25, 2013 was an off-day at home for the Flames. When the account began, the Flames were considered a bottom-rung NHL team and nobody was quite sure if Sean Monahan would stick in the NHL. Two years later, Monahan is a bonafide NHL star and the account has become a staple of most Flames fans’ social media universes.
To commemorate the greatness that is @BoringMonahan, let us take a trip down memory lane.
A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF TWEETS
WHO IS BORING SEAN MONAHAN?
My operating theory is that there are a bunch of people managing the account, and there definitely were a bunch of them at the start. So it has to be at least two or three players who were on the 2013-14 Flames in October 2013. Social media savvy is not necessarily a requirement, though at least one of the ring-leaders has to have a decent Twitter account (or at the very least, a Twitter account). And considering that some of the tweets were really clever, odds are at least one of the people involved spent a lot of their free time in the press box.
In addition, to be charitable, the account got a bit less hilarious after the 2013-14 season – leading me to believe that one of the key players behind the account left the team. But the similarities between the two “a reporter asked me” tweets (from March and November 2014) make me think that there’s some continuity from year-to-year, so at least one of the persons involved from the beginning are still with the team.
Here are the most common suspects.
BRIAN McGRATTAN
- On 2013-14 Flames, played most games.
- Demoted to AHL’s Adirondack Flames in middle of 2014-15.
- Has a Twitter (@bigern10) dating back to October 2010. (His wife is also noted as being quite social media savvy, so there’s a decent chance that they both could’ve ran the account.)
- Generally regarded as one of the funnier Flames, Monahan’s best buddy as a rookie, and was the only account Boring Sean Monahan followed until recently (now it’s Brian Burke’s).
CHRIS BUTLER
- On 2013-14 Flames, but played every game.
- Left team as free agent in off-season.
- Has a Twitter (@TheButler44) dating back to July 2012.
- Mentioned (by Eric Duhatschek) as one of the funnier Flames, noted for his dry wit.
LANCE BOUMA
- On 2013-14 Flames, but played almost every game.
- Still with team.
- Doesn’t have a Twitter.
- Roommates with Sean Monahan. If he wasn’t involved before, he was probably recruited at some point.
DEREK SMITH
- On 2013-14 Flames, but was seventh defenseman most of the year.
- Left team in off-season for spot on ZSC Zurich in Switzerland.
- Has a Twitter (@dasmitty24) dating back to June 2011.
- Generally one of the funnier, chattier Flames when he was with the club.
SEAN MONAHAN
- Is Sean Monahan.
- Has a Twitter (@Monahan20) dating back to July 2011.
- Generally regarded as a funny guy by teammates, though is usually quiet around the media and speaks in a mixture of riddles and straight-forward statements.
If you ask me to bet, I’d say it was a mixture of Derek Smith and the McGrattans, especially at the beginning.
As for who’s running it now? I would imagine Lance Bouma’s currently involved given his closeness with Monahan, but beyond that it’s a bit of a mystery. And hey, that’s part of the fun of it.
THE LEGACY
There are several NHL parody Twitter accounts throughout the league. Many try too hard to be funny or clever. But few encapsulate the spirit of the player they parody or capture the imagination of a team’s fanbase in quite the same way as Boring Sean Monahan.
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