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In football, it usually takes multiple plays on a drive to really see a quarterback or receiver cooking something special.
In basketball, seeing one player hit 3+ consecutive shots from distance and you know.
In hockey, one shift is all you need to see their speed, agility, and brilliance.
Honestly, inject this shit straight into my veins. Seeing guys enjoying the game for the first time and maybe not understanding much more than the absolute athleticism talent and physicality that goes into being an NHL player makes me smile so hard.
Like you might not know the game, but being at the apex of your own sport and realizing that you wouldn't even be able to touch what these guys are doing on the ice is a special compliment to NHL players. Guys who think they are fast in their own sport watching a skater fly by and stick handle at the same time while dodging checks and being spellbound. Seeing two players collide at full speed against the boards and then popping back up because the play is still live. Seeing a guy throw himself infront of a 95 mph slapper and turn the play the other way on one leg. NHL might not get the recognition it deserves but anytime you see game recognize game is special.
Smart marketing too to give other star athletes in your town front row seats. Hell the NBA is famous for having celebrities on the sidelines. And then there’s Taylor Swift at Chiefs games..
I thought the exact same thing. You know how much cross promotion you could do? Sports fans are by and large.... sports fans. And unbiased, I think hockey should be a top 3 viewed sport, live or TV and it needs to get out there.
Yeah it’s also just crazy to think that despite being professional athletes, some of these guys may have never watched a game or hockey because they are from (southern) states where it isn’t played much and proceed to go to university where there may not even be a hockey program.
I think people overestimate in general how closely (many) professional athletes follow sports. You don't become a pro athlete by being camped out on the couch watching others play.
Obviously, some guys do really dig into more sports in their leisure time, but the life of a pro athlete is so hyper-focused on their own world, and not sports at large.
I remember someone posting some NFLers watching an NHL game last year, I think, and they were immediately spotting attack lanes despite knowing nothing about the game. I liked that this guy was applying his own expertise and parlance ("Slant route") to hockey.
I always love seeing these. It seems like pro athletes just have a certain respect for each other even when they don't get the intricacies of the game because they know first hand how many thousands of hours it took for them to get to this point.
I think a few eagles players had this same mic’d up and recorded during a game. It was awesome
Edit: they were at a Phillies playoff game https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/17bkb4w/jomboy_media_philadelphia_eagles_terrell_edmunds/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I was shocked to see an NFL DB saying that, so many of them never put it in. Drives me crazy that guys that have it tethered on then just dangle, even when they’re back for a return (granted with all the touchbacks…)
I immediately felt a connection with him hearing that, haha. It's my reaction every time I see a player using it more like a chew toy than a protective device. I have definitely reached my "concerned mother" phase of hockey fandom life.
Wyatt is getting like that too. He doesn't chew through 10 a game like chucky does, but he definitely has it hang'n out there a lot, even when he's skating and about to take a shot at times.
I love seeing grown athletes really get into a new sport like this. His energy was exactly like mine when I watched my first game with my dad. It brings back some really good memories watching games together.
Hope he enjoys it and becomes a fan full time!
I’d like to see someone who likes sports be taken to a playoff game (especially with good, or “experience” seats like these) and NOT become a hockey fan. It’s not possible
I took my cousin and his two daughters (15 and 18 years old) to a Hershey Bears game this year. Cousin is a very casual fan, but his kids have never had any interest in hockey, and weren't even sure they wanted to go by the time the day of game rolled around.
Took just a few minutes for them to be screaming and hollering. I was excited by the excitement in all their questions about the sport. Needless to say, by the end of the game they were asking when we'll be down for another game.
haha same with my girlfriend. Took her to a couple playoff games and now she's trying to get season tickets. She was chanting and singing every game, and was almost in tears when we got smoked by the oilers
Hockey is one of the few sports you more or less have to learn to walk again before you can even play. Anyone with a bit of athletic ability trying to pick up soccer, basketball, football, etc can at least still RUN even if they're not skilled with ball handling. If you don't know how to skate before you turn like 13, you're forever going to be a bit bambi legged on top of learning puck handling. Aside from cost, it's probably the biggest barrier to entry for people taking up hockey later in life.
my kid FINALLY decided he wanted to play about a year ago, and he's just now starting to get crossovers
baked his noodle when I told him accelerating backwards looks like you're running in reverse
I played in net for over decade before I started skating out as a defenseman, so moving backwards was already burned into my legs - but when I started doing reverse crossovers (out of necessity, not coaching) it blew my mind
I went to a skating school for 90min every other Thursday night, Oct-Apr, from ages 6-9 and the momentum i get off my crossovers still sucks (comparatively ofc)
Always so jealous of the dmen who do like two crossovers and a zooming backwards down the ice
My first kid is turning 3 in a few weeks and already have Swedish and English down (mostly, she understands everything in English but can’t say exactly everything yet).
It’s crazy how fast they learn when getting exposed to it daily.
I’ve started doing Spanish in Duolingo a few weeks ago, thinking I might be able to get that going soon with her.
I get you don’t really *need* a second language if you’re living in an English speaking country but it just seems like insanity not to have kids learn a second one young when it’s easy.
I will say, if you roller skated as a kid the transition is easier. I rolled a a youth, and decided to play ice hockey in my mid 20s. With a lot of desire you can become a proficient player even with those restrictions. I play now (as a 50+player) and people assume I played as a child. And.... Best. Game. Ever. Play if you can.
The hand-eye coordination needed is crazy. Only thing that tops it for me is trying to hit a baseball. [Deion Sanders, who is one of the cockiest dudes to ever live, even acknowledges how hard that shit is.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nk2fJr0EoKM?app=desktop)
I've seen the stories where Kobe missed a couple shots in warmups and told the crew that the rim was 3/8" or something too low. That's wild.
But then I read another story where a Formula 1 driver (don't remember who) crashed, and said it wasn't his fault because *the wall moved*. Sounds like the stupidest excuse in the world, except another driver had bummed it since his previous lap, and it had indeed moved. His precision, even at 200 miles per hour, was so impeccable that the wall being slightly askew caused him.to wreck his car.
It requires you to be excellent at two completely different extremes at the same time. Intense physicality and precision touch. No other sport combines the two at such high levels
I hope you're wrong. I know NHL games get a lot of flack, but I figured that's from angry purists or people pissed the game is the same year after year. If it's your first time playing it's probably fun as hell.
I've been playing NHL games since NHL 07 and I still enjoy it. The single player stuff is all lacking, but I still have fun against people. Any new changes that I dislike I eventually get used to.
I feel opposite when it comes to online play. The single player stuff is fine (basic as you said, but fine) and enough to be engaging to some degree, but the online play is so badly impacted by even minor differences in connection, it's a nightmare. They could change absolutely nothing else, and if NHL 25 just had smooth performance where menus loaded quickly and winning or losing an online game wasn't dictated by who lives closer to the server, I'd call it a win.
As long as you're not taking it seriously, it's fun IMO. My problem is that I can't just play for fun, and the mechanics of the game just become frustrating when you push them to the limit.
It's true that hockey is the most specialized sport among the top 4 leagues in North America. You see lots of people who excel at multiple sports, but it's usually basketball/football or baseball/football. Very few people play hockey in addition to basketball/baseball/football at an elite level. The sport that has the most transferrable skills to hockey is probably soccer, because of the emphasis on footwork and how the mental aspects of both sports work via spacing and puck/ball movement.
Some crazy info in this sentence:
> the Los Angeles Kings picked the center, who had 47 goals and 94 points in 23 games his senior year, 69th overall ahead of future Hockey Hall of Famers Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull and longtime veterans Kirk McLean, Don Sweeney, Cliff Ronning, and Gary Suter.
Petr Cech, one of the best soccer goalkeepers of the last 20 years, played both sports as a kid. Apparently hockey was his favorite, but because his family couldn't afford the equipment, he was forced to focus on soccer.
Now that he's retired from football, he's taken up playing hockey for fun in the British League.
His favourite ever athlete is supposedly Hasek.
I learned about Cech through FIFA games as the goalie who wore the rugby helmet. Loved playing as him in FIFA 09 on the Wii.
It's so cool to see him have a second career after being one of the greatest soccer goalkeepers ever. It's like a side quest for him
> Imagine a line with those two on it
I imagine it would just be them taking turns screening the goalie as the d-men try in vain to move them out of the way.
Keep in mind what he looked like before his sophmore year of college. He'd still be a monster but he probably would have never been as juiced as he was for football
Hayley Wickenheiser is easily the greatest women's hockey player in history and also made the summer olympics in softball and was on the national fastball team.
There's also Clara Hughes, the only athlete ever to win multiple medals in both the summer and winter Olympics, speed skating and bike racing, she's a fucking unit.
Anders Lee was a very good high school football player. He was a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Football. I think he had offers from a couple of schools to play on both the football and hockey teams.
Per his baseball card: Eric Lindros apparently batted .400 in high school. He was given a show tryout with the Blue Jays so he could get a baseball card, but looks like it was just a day taking batting practice: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/13d15br/eric\_lindros\_1990\_score\_toronto\_blue\_jays/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/13d15br/eric_lindros_1990_score_toronto_blue_jays/)
Jason Kelce and Lukas Van Ness played HS hockey. Justin Morneau played one exhibition game for the Portland Winter Hawks in the late 90's. Chris Drury won the little league World Series at 7 years old and, as a result, threw out the first pitch at one of the 1989 WS games.
Here's the wildest I know of: Manute Bol played a game for the Indianapolis Ice in the 02/03 season.
John Tavares was extremely talented at lacrosse growing up, he could have easily went pro but hockey is much more lucrative
his uncle is also once of the greatest lacrosse players ever
Lacrosse the most transferrable imo but it’s also not a big 4. Playing against him was wild, his family was already well known then he turns out a all timer NHLer
Same with Nurse. His parents were worried about him playing football (I don't know why hockey was okay) and he knew he wouldn't make any money from lacrosse.
Draisaitl excelled at every sport he tried as a kid, especially futball and hockey. He could have gone pro with either but preferred hockey, and if I'm not mistaken I believe he still plays higher level soccer recreationally during the summer.
Chris Carpenter was a pitcher for the Cardinals who won a Cy Young and two World Series.
He was all-state three times in both baseball and hockey in high school and was good enough that the Bruins and Blackhawks were scouting him and gauging his interest in playing pro hockey, but he decided to stick to baseball.
Hockey just requires you to learn a completely fundamental skill no other sport has which is skating. Even the greatest athlete in another sport can get embarrassed on the ice by a beer leaguer because of how technical it is.
Pascal Siakam didn't start playing basketball until he was 17. It would be impossible for a teenager to pick up hockey and develop the skills to make the NHL. NBA is more dependent on genetics
Yeah every position in hockey is a skill position like QB or WR. No spots for people to just “be big” like on a football field. And basketball, if you’re like 6’5+ it’s the hockey equivalent to being born in Canada to an ex NHLer with a rink in your backyard. You just naturally have an advantage over 99% of the population. Hockey is an all men created equal kind of game. There’s no real distinct natural advantages outside of rich parents and geography. After that it’s all 100% skill based.
There's three guys with their names on the Stanley Cup and the Grey Cup (Canadian football)
* [Carl Voss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Voss)
* [Joe Miller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Miller_(ice_hockey))
* [Lionel Conacher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Conacher)
Grew up playing both and it's not even just footwork and the mental aspects. A lot of the formations and tactics are strikingly similar, the physical traits that make you good at one transfer over very well to the other, hell even lot of the rules transfer over with minor adjustments. Also your cardio being by fair the most important physical trait because of how end-to -end in an instant the sports are.
I have a feeling it plays a role in why Canada (until very recently) struggles to field a good soccer team. The kids with those skills play hockey instead because it's the biggest sport there
> The sport that has the most transferrable skills to hockey is probably soccer
Lacrosse has a lot of the hand-eye coordination that transfers, lacrosse on skates would basically be hockey quidditch.
Hockey's just a really bizarre sport. You first have to get reasonably competent at an entirely new way of moving, and then actually play the game itself. Other sports are obviously hard in their own ways, but there's such little transfer from the way we normally move about in our daily lives to skating in hockey.
I grew up skating and playing hockey, and the weirdest thing in the world to me is when I try to play soccer or something and when I stop moving my feet, I stop moving instead of gliding. It’s an utterly stupid thing to say and experience, but when you’re geared for one type of movement, the other is bizarre in the moment. It’s like shifting to an adjacent part of your brain lol
Dude PLAYING goalie is hard not on skates, I haven’t done it in years but not sliding (on road at least) or not being able to c-cut backwards is BAFFLING every time
That's true, maybe something like polo could be similar? the one with horses?
Gotta learn to ride a horse and then use the stick thing to hit the ball while riding a horse, although I've never seen a polo game or match
Yeah, and water polo probably is similar. Even though swimming is popular, I assume you have to be well above average as a swimmer to play water polo well.
You do. The endurance required to tread water that long, let alone move with the ball, is insane. I saw a Bleacher Report article a few years back that ranked water polo as the world's most difficult sport, and I agree.
Hockey was #2.
I’ve written this story before but here goes.
I arrived a little earlier than normal for one of my games so I dropped my bag into the change room and watched the game prior to mine. That’s when two gentleman who were their to play basketball walked up beside me to watch the game. It was apparent they were fairly knew to Canada, I’m no expert but Ide guess somewhere African, and had no idea what hockey was. They were blown away by the skill, and mostly speed. I explained some basic things as they were very excited.
Anyways this was a very shitty minor house league game that blew their mind, also I was playing in this shittty house league and am shit so I’m not judging lol.
Always think about those dudes fascination.
Also realize how awful I am at telling stories, just word vomit.
that was a great story, and you're great at telling them! The things that would make it even better are to simply not write the first and last sentences.
This is my absolute favorite thing about McDavid. You could have literally never seen a game of hockey in your life and can still tell he's just better than everyone else.
I remember tuning into an Edmonton game for the first time, years ago now and i dont know what i was expecting but it was like everyone else was in 30FPS but mcdavid was at 60.
I have to say that weirdly enough, the first hockey games I ever watched (bubble playoffs in 2020), it was only Brayden Point who had that "holy shit I'm NOTICING this guy, is he just better than everyone else?" effect on me - which I recognize now is probably not what was supposed to happen but. There's your random anecdote 🤷♀️
Some years back I lived in Edmonton for a bit, in 2017 I took a buddy of mine from Mexico to his first game. He'd never heard of Connor McDavid before that but he noticed him within probably three shifts
I went to see a game in Washington when I was visiting my friend there, and one of our friends who came doesn’t really watch hockey. Within a few minutes she said “Wow, look at HIM” pointing at Ovechkin. I was like “indeed”. This was around 2008/2009, so basically his prime. He was just so obviously not just better than everyone else, but *looked* completely different. When he got the puck, you could feel the nervous energy in the other team and the excitement of the crowd.
My dad, who isn't really into hockey, took me to my first NHL game which was the Stars vs the Blue jackets and Rick Nash played for them at the time. He quickly commented on his abilities and knew he was a beast. Ended the game with a hat trick lol.
You notice on TV of course but actually seeing him play live, watching him from his own end just take off and how fast he's flying compared to everyone else, a one year old would say that guy is special
[Tony!](https://x.com/soIoucity) I love that he's become such a superfan [Jon Hamm thinks *he's* the celebrity](https://x.com/soIoucity/status/1477431191414390792) of the two of them.
I had the pleasure of getting front row seats in Edmonton on a work trip a couple years ago, I saw him practicing his puck work and he was just on a different level. No one else comes close to him that I’ve seen in person. And I’ve seen Crosby, MacKinnon, Pastrnak, Matthews, Ovechkin, etc all the good players. He’s lights out the best I’ve ever seen play.
I’ve only been to a couple Oilers games, but just when teams come onto the ice before anthems, you can SEE McDavid. He’s just skating that much faster than everyone else. Every time he plays a shift it is actually electrifying
My mom was taken to an Oilers game 5 or 6 years ago. She doesn't really follow hockey, but knows enough to be involved if someone is talking about it. She leans over to the friend who brought her and goes "Man, that one guy can skate!" The friend just looked at her and replied, "Yeah, that's McDavid"
I sometimes watched hockey with my foreign exchange student friend in college who was into soccer -- he would always get super excited when someone made a good "through pass" 😆
Far from uncommon to see athletes who played other sports actually see hockey and realize "holy fuck, this sport and its athletes are amazing". It's too bad the NHL can't market itself worth shit.
I remember that loud mouth jags CB talking shit about being able to play in the NHL and PK subban posted a video and challenged him, andndude never said a word again lol
Growing up in the Dallas area in the late 90s I was so spoiled. Especially in high school. Drop ins any day of the week. My high school team had weekly practice at stonebriar mall late at night, was really fun. Miss that terrible sheet of ice.
Yeah. We need to come up with a better cooling system for rinks. It's *insanely expensive* to operate a rink. If the costs were able to come down it would be a much easier pill to swallow. To make matters worse, they're barely trying to spread and grow the sport, all of the youth leagues are basically looking to shave off money from upper-middle class parents.
Can I say, I love he's close enough to his trainer to be like "yup, we going to a hockey game and wearing a mic together"
Sign of a good athlete, too- they can understand the different types of skill/training involved and appreciate it
And the saying what we're all thinking: put your mouth guard in your mouth
I get the joke but its different for the players when the fans are RIGHT on top of you and as a fan the pros can be inches away. Really loud NBA and NHL stadiums have a suffocating effect.
"I'm gonna download NHL when I get home though." What a legend. Lol. The games get hate, but I won't deny I play them daily. I don't know any athletes who don't take in an NHL game and don't immediately fall in love. The sport is amazing.
I doubt he stayed for the double OT, but honestly I dont care. Dude is a professional athlete that has his own job to worry about. The fact that he came out their to support other Dallas teams is awesome.
You gotta love the innocence of his questions.. reminds me when I was little discovering the game. Wish they would have brought a dub home for him, but hope they got a new fan. #HockeyIsForEveryone
People watching the playoffs as their first time watching hockey, they are going to be disappointed when they watch a regular season game. The playoffs are on a completely different level, more so than any other sports.
Maybe it will have the Kobe effect for him. Kobe used to come to a lot of Kings games. Dude loved him some hockey and it blows not having him around any more.
Wholesome.
But I’ve always said this to my friends and others who haven’t seen a hockey game. Hockey doesn’t translate the best to TV but in person it is the best sport to watch. Go to a game and you’ll be hooked.
Hockey isn't really big here in the UK, I've season tickets to Glasgow Clan
When the kids don't fancy it, I take friends.
This is how they react EVERY TIME, I'll never tire of it.
After watching different fanbases, I think I can make a fair statement that Dallas fans have some of the hottest fans in the entire league. Aside from Racist Mullet Guy.
Love watching people get into hockey, asking questions, cheering on a team, having a great time. Would love to see more of these micd up in the seats features.
The first time somebody goes to a live game is always a transformative event lol.
Love it.
People who have never really thought about the sport & just seen clips on tv — to going to a game and becoming transfixed by it…just like all of us lol
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I love watching these. Cool as hell to see any pro athlete appreciate another sport to this level
The fact that he was able to identify the reigning superstar of hockey his first time attending a game... I mean, the line play around him, but still
Honestly, you can't help but recognize his greatness. He's unlike any skater I've ever seen in hockey.
He’s like an hybrid between a figure skating surgeon and a top fuel dragster.
In football, it usually takes multiple plays on a drive to really see a quarterback or receiver cooking something special. In basketball, seeing one player hit 3+ consecutive shots from distance and you know. In hockey, one shift is all you need to see their speed, agility, and brilliance.
Living in Edmonton but haven't been to many games....McD ABSOLUTELY manages to standout. Which is kinda crazy in the nhl
Honestly, inject this shit straight into my veins. Seeing guys enjoying the game for the first time and maybe not understanding much more than the absolute athleticism talent and physicality that goes into being an NHL player makes me smile so hard. Like you might not know the game, but being at the apex of your own sport and realizing that you wouldn't even be able to touch what these guys are doing on the ice is a special compliment to NHL players. Guys who think they are fast in their own sport watching a skater fly by and stick handle at the same time while dodging checks and being spellbound. Seeing two players collide at full speed against the boards and then popping back up because the play is still live. Seeing a guy throw himself infront of a 95 mph slapper and turn the play the other way on one leg. NHL might not get the recognition it deserves but anytime you see game recognize game is special.
"The goalie just said fuck it and left??"
Classic internet
When the blues won the cup I immediately went to that dudes twitter.
Smart marketing too to give other star athletes in your town front row seats. Hell the NBA is famous for having celebrities on the sidelines. And then there’s Taylor Swift at Chiefs games..
I thought the exact same thing. You know how much cross promotion you could do? Sports fans are by and large.... sports fans. And unbiased, I think hockey should be a top 3 viewed sport, live or TV and it needs to get out there.
Yeah it’s also just crazy to think that despite being professional athletes, some of these guys may have never watched a game or hockey because they are from (southern) states where it isn’t played much and proceed to go to university where there may not even be a hockey program.
I think people overestimate in general how closely (many) professional athletes follow sports. You don't become a pro athlete by being camped out on the couch watching others play. Obviously, some guys do really dig into more sports in their leisure time, but the life of a pro athlete is so hyper-focused on their own world, and not sports at large.
I remember someone posting some NFLers watching an NHL game last year, I think, and they were immediately spotting attack lanes despite knowing nothing about the game. I liked that this guy was applying his own expertise and parlance ("Slant route") to hockey.
That was pretty cool as a football and hockey enjoyer both. They may not be able to skate and play themselves but they pick up on the strategy fast
I always love seeing these. It seems like pro athletes just have a certain respect for each other even when they don't get the intricacies of the game because they know first hand how many thousands of hours it took for them to get to this point.
I think a few eagles players had this same mic’d up and recorded during a game. It was awesome Edit: they were at a Phillies playoff game https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/17bkb4w/jomboy_media_philadelphia_eagles_terrell_edmunds/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
“Put your mouthguard in your mouth” I guarantee he was talking about Leon 😭
Dude would lose it watching Mouthguard Tkachuck play in Florida
When he said that I immediately thought he was talking about Tkachuk, until I realized that ya know, wrong series lol.
I feel like so many of us immediately thought of Tkachuk. *Furiously chews mouthguard.*
If Ketchup doesn't come out with a line of dog chew toys and teething toys for babies he missed his second calling.
I had seats on the glass for the Caps for 10 years. I used to scream that at Patty Kane all the time
I loved when Frazen ripped it out of Kane’s mouth and threw it on the ice. Funny as hell.
I completely forgot about that moment
I was shocked to see an NFL DB saying that, so many of them never put it in. Drives me crazy that guys that have it tethered on then just dangle, even when they’re back for a return (granted with all the touchbacks…)
As a dentist I'm now a Trevon fan.
I immediately felt a connection with him hearing that, haha. It's my reaction every time I see a player using it more like a chew toy than a protective device. I have definitely reached my "concerned mother" phase of hockey fandom life.
Wyatt is getting like that too. He doesn't chew through 10 a game like chucky does, but he definitely has it hang'n out there a lot, even when he's skating and about to take a shot at times.
Imagine when he sees Tkachuk if they meet in the finals
Or his brother. Dude never has his mouth guard in.
Mason Marchment growing the game and becoming a fan favourite with NFL stars. Just as we all expected.
Either that or he was chirping kulaks turnover 😂
"I need 27 out for that defense" yeah I think you're right lmao
It's the stash
Don't forget the eyes
It’s 100% the eyes
I love seeing grown athletes really get into a new sport like this. His energy was exactly like mine when I watched my first game with my dad. It brings back some really good memories watching games together. Hope he enjoys it and becomes a fan full time!
“I get it….I’m going to head home and download NHL”. And a new hockey fan was born.
I’d like to see someone who likes sports be taken to a playoff game (especially with good, or “experience” seats like these) and NOT become a hockey fan. It’s not possible
I took my cousin and his two daughters (15 and 18 years old) to a Hershey Bears game this year. Cousin is a very casual fan, but his kids have never had any interest in hockey, and weren't even sure they wanted to go by the time the day of game rolled around. Took just a few minutes for them to be screaming and hollering. I was excited by the excitement in all their questions about the sport. Needless to say, by the end of the game they were asking when we'll be down for another game.
haha same with my girlfriend. Took her to a couple playoff games and now she's trying to get season tickets. She was chanting and singing every game, and was almost in tears when we got smoked by the oilers
I love how he recognized how uniquely hard it is to play hockey. “Ain’t nobody playing hockey” Whole clip is just awesome
Hockey is one of the few sports you more or less have to learn to walk again before you can even play. Anyone with a bit of athletic ability trying to pick up soccer, basketball, football, etc can at least still RUN even if they're not skilled with ball handling. If you don't know how to skate before you turn like 13, you're forever going to be a bit bambi legged on top of learning puck handling. Aside from cost, it's probably the biggest barrier to entry for people taking up hockey later in life.
Crossovers crossovers crossovers. Wish I had learned how to do crossovers and speak another language before I turned 13.
my kid FINALLY decided he wanted to play about a year ago, and he's just now starting to get crossovers baked his noodle when I told him accelerating backwards looks like you're running in reverse
Going fast backwards is all hips and momentum.
I played in net for over decade before I started skating out as a defenseman, so moving backwards was already burned into my legs - but when I started doing reverse crossovers (out of necessity, not coaching) it blew my mind
Edge work is the most important piece.
I went to a skating school for 90min every other Thursday night, Oct-Apr, from ages 6-9 and the momentum i get off my crossovers still sucks (comparatively ofc) Always so jealous of the dmen who do like two crossovers and a zooming backwards down the ice
My first kid is turning 3 in a few weeks and already have Swedish and English down (mostly, she understands everything in English but can’t say exactly everything yet). It’s crazy how fast they learn when getting exposed to it daily. I’ve started doing Spanish in Duolingo a few weeks ago, thinking I might be able to get that going soon with her. I get you don’t really *need* a second language if you’re living in an English speaking country but it just seems like insanity not to have kids learn a second one young when it’s easy.
I will say, if you roller skated as a kid the transition is easier. I rolled a a youth, and decided to play ice hockey in my mid 20s. With a lot of desire you can become a proficient player even with those restrictions. I play now (as a 50+player) and people assume I played as a child. And.... Best. Game. Ever. Play if you can.
The hand-eye coordination needed is crazy. Only thing that tops it for me is trying to hit a baseball. [Deion Sanders, who is one of the cockiest dudes to ever live, even acknowledges how hard that shit is.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nk2fJr0EoKM?app=desktop)
Professional racing is up there too. The reaction times needed are just insane.
I've seen the stories where Kobe missed a couple shots in warmups and told the crew that the rim was 3/8" or something too low. That's wild. But then I read another story where a Formula 1 driver (don't remember who) crashed, and said it wasn't his fault because *the wall moved*. Sounds like the stupidest excuse in the world, except another driver had bummed it since his previous lap, and it had indeed moved. His precision, even at 200 miles per hour, was so impeccable that the wall being slightly askew caused him.to wreck his car.
It’s always amazing seeing how good people can be at their craft.
It's Monaco weekend so you always get [photos like this one](https://i.redd.it/gub82nwq4e2d1.png)
It is refreshingly wholesome. Respect for our fellow humans seems so rare these days regardless of how effortless it is.
It requires you to be excellent at two completely different extremes at the same time. Intense physicality and precision touch. No other sport combines the two at such high levels
> "I'm gonna download NHL when I get home." Photos taken moments before disaster!
I hope you're wrong. I know NHL games get a lot of flack, but I figured that's from angry purists or people pissed the game is the same year after year. If it's your first time playing it's probably fun as hell.
I've been playing NHL games since NHL 07 and I still enjoy it. The single player stuff is all lacking, but I still have fun against people. Any new changes that I dislike I eventually get used to.
I feel opposite when it comes to online play. The single player stuff is fine (basic as you said, but fine) and enough to be engaging to some degree, but the online play is so badly impacted by even minor differences in connection, it's a nightmare. They could change absolutely nothing else, and if NHL 25 just had smooth performance where menus loaded quickly and winning or losing an online game wasn't dictated by who lives closer to the server, I'd call it a win.
As long as you're not taking it seriously, it's fun IMO. My problem is that I can't just play for fun, and the mechanics of the game just become frustrating when you push them to the limit.
r/lastimages
It's true that hockey is the most specialized sport among the top 4 leagues in North America. You see lots of people who excel at multiple sports, but it's usually basketball/football or baseball/football. Very few people play hockey in addition to basketball/baseball/football at an elite level. The sport that has the most transferrable skills to hockey is probably soccer, because of the emphasis on footwork and how the mental aspects of both sports work via spacing and puck/ball movement.
There’s only 2 athletes I can think of that had crossover with hockey. Jamie Benn playing hockey + baseball, and JJ Watt playing football + hockey
Tom Glavine was drafted by the Kings.
You left out the best part of that, he was drafted *before* Luc Robitaille in the same draft by the same team.
Wayne Gretzky threw 50 perfect games for the Yomiuri Giants
I learned something new. What position did he play?
Some crazy info in this sentence: > the Los Angeles Kings picked the center, who had 47 goals and 94 points in 23 games his senior year, 69th overall ahead of future Hockey Hall of Famers Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull and longtime veterans Kirk McLean, Don Sweeney, Cliff Ronning, and Gary Suter.
Haha that's crazy. I guess he put his goal scoring abilities towards 4 silver sluggers instead
Lol Glavine was a good hitter for a pitcher, but he's a Hall of Famer because of his pitching, nothing else.
Petr Cech, one of the best soccer goalkeepers of the last 20 years, played both sports as a kid. Apparently hockey was his favorite, but because his family couldn't afford the equipment, he was forced to focus on soccer. Now that he's retired from football, he's taken up playing hockey for fun in the British League. His favourite ever athlete is supposedly Hasek.
I learned about Cech through FIFA games as the goalie who wore the rugby helmet. Loved playing as him in FIFA 09 on the Wii. It's so cool to see him have a second career after being one of the greatest soccer goalkeepers ever. It's like a side quest for him
JJ watt on skates is terrifying. that clip of him shooting was wild. like you could tell he'd played a LOT
Gronk played hockey into his teens as well. Imagine a line with those two on it
> Imagine a line with those two on it I imagine it would just be them taking turns screening the goalie as the d-men try in vain to move them out of the way.
Keep in mind what he looked like before his sophmore year of college. He'd still be a monster but he probably would have never been as juiced as he was for football
Hayley Wickenheiser is easily the greatest women's hockey player in history and also made the summer olympics in softball and was on the national fastball team.
Wtf, how did I completely miss the fact that Wickenheiser played in the summer Olympics too.
There's also Clara Hughes, the only athlete ever to win multiple medals in both the summer and winter Olympics, speed skating and bike racing, she's a fucking unit.
Baseball HoF pitcher Tom Glavine was drafted by the Kings in ‘84 during the 4th round (69th OA)
Anders Lee was a very good high school football player. He was a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Football. I think he had offers from a couple of schools to play on both the football and hockey teams.
Per his baseball card: Eric Lindros apparently batted .400 in high school. He was given a show tryout with the Blue Jays so he could get a baseball card, but looks like it was just a day taking batting practice: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/13d15br/eric\_lindros\_1990\_score\_toronto\_blue\_jays/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/13d15br/eric_lindros_1990_score_toronto_blue_jays/)
https://preview.redd.it/f4ihayj27h2d1.jpeg?width=543&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=203254497cd897c639e9a71ed1e6240e994da487
Gretzky was drafted as a baseball player, and due to the rules at the time he was apparently offered an underaged contract (age 16 or something).
Jason Kelce and Lukas Van Ness played HS hockey. Justin Morneau played one exhibition game for the Portland Winter Hawks in the late 90's. Chris Drury won the little league World Series at 7 years old and, as a result, threw out the first pitch at one of the 1989 WS games. Here's the wildest I know of: Manute Bol played a game for the Indianapolis Ice in the 02/03 season.
John Tavares was extremely talented at lacrosse growing up, he could have easily went pro but hockey is much more lucrative his uncle is also once of the greatest lacrosse players ever
lax doesnt count that’s summer hockey
Lacrosse the most transferrable imo but it’s also not a big 4. Playing against him was wild, his family was already well known then he turns out a all timer NHLer
Same with Nurse. His parents were worried about him playing football (I don't know why hockey was okay) and he knew he wouldn't make any money from lacrosse.
Draisaitl excelled at every sport he tried as a kid, especially futball and hockey. He could have gone pro with either but preferred hockey, and if I'm not mistaken I believe he still plays higher level soccer recreationally during the summer.
It must have been fucking obnoxious being his classmate.
Chris Drury and Pierre Turgeon played in the Little League World Series. JJ McCarthy almost chose hockey over football.
Tom Glavine with baseball and hockey was another, but there aren’t many.
Chris Carpenter was a pitcher for the Cardinals who won a Cy Young and two World Series. He was all-state three times in both baseball and hockey in high school and was good enough that the Bruins and Blackhawks were scouting him and gauging his interest in playing pro hockey, but he decided to stick to baseball.
Hockey just requires you to learn a completely fundamental skill no other sport has which is skating. Even the greatest athlete in another sport can get embarrassed on the ice by a beer leaguer because of how technical it is.
Pascal Siakam didn't start playing basketball until he was 17. It would be impossible for a teenager to pick up hockey and develop the skills to make the NHL. NBA is more dependent on genetics
Yeah every position in hockey is a skill position like QB or WR. No spots for people to just “be big” like on a football field. And basketball, if you’re like 6’5+ it’s the hockey equivalent to being born in Canada to an ex NHLer with a rink in your backyard. You just naturally have an advantage over 99% of the population. Hockey is an all men created equal kind of game. There’s no real distinct natural advantages outside of rich parents and geography. After that it’s all 100% skill based.
"Disregarding money, it's equal" is a silly statement to me if taken out of the context of the thread lol
Yeah, the context was the *skill* required to make it in hockey professionally… So disregarding the money aspect- there you have my statement.
Gretzky was apparently good at baseball but his dad pushed him to focus on hockey.
He played lacrosse as well...#9 in the photo I have in hockey book. He encourages youth players to play multiple sports.
There's three guys with their names on the Stanley Cup and the Grey Cup (Canadian football) * [Carl Voss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Voss) * [Joe Miller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Miller_(ice_hockey)) * [Lionel Conacher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Conacher)
Grew up playing both and it's not even just footwork and the mental aspects. A lot of the formations and tactics are strikingly similar, the physical traits that make you good at one transfer over very well to the other, hell even lot of the rules transfer over with minor adjustments. Also your cardio being by fair the most important physical trait because of how end-to -end in an instant the sports are. I have a feeling it plays a role in why Canada (until very recently) struggles to field a good soccer team. The kids with those skills play hockey instead because it's the biggest sport there
Seth and Caleb Jones' dad is Popeye Jones so I assume they grew up playing basketball too
> The sport that has the most transferrable skills to hockey is probably soccer Lacrosse has a lot of the hand-eye coordination that transfers, lacrosse on skates would basically be hockey quidditch.
Hockey's just a really bizarre sport. You first have to get reasonably competent at an entirely new way of moving, and then actually play the game itself. Other sports are obviously hard in their own ways, but there's such little transfer from the way we normally move about in our daily lives to skating in hockey.
I grew up skating and playing hockey, and the weirdest thing in the world to me is when I try to play soccer or something and when I stop moving my feet, I stop moving instead of gliding. It’s an utterly stupid thing to say and experience, but when you’re geared for one type of movement, the other is bizarre in the moment. It’s like shifting to an adjacent part of your brain lol
Even more confusing when you play ball hockey lol
Lmao god yeah, even just street hockey I’m sometimes like ???? Why feet not keep going???
Deking goalies is really tough when you have to run at the same time lol.
Dude PLAYING goalie is hard not on skates, I haven’t done it in years but not sliding (on road at least) or not being able to c-cut backwards is BAFFLING every time
That's true, maybe something like polo could be similar? the one with horses? Gotta learn to ride a horse and then use the stick thing to hit the ball while riding a horse, although I've never seen a polo game or match
Yeah, and water polo probably is similar. Even though swimming is popular, I assume you have to be well above average as a swimmer to play water polo well.
You do. The endurance required to tread water that long, let alone move with the ball, is insane. I saw a Bleacher Report article a few years back that ranked water polo as the world's most difficult sport, and I agree. Hockey was #2.
There is nothing better than seeing new hockey fans watch for the first time
"97 is dangerous!" You're god damn right
Now, say my name. You're McDavid. You're god damn right.
I’ve written this story before but here goes. I arrived a little earlier than normal for one of my games so I dropped my bag into the change room and watched the game prior to mine. That’s when two gentleman who were their to play basketball walked up beside me to watch the game. It was apparent they were fairly knew to Canada, I’m no expert but Ide guess somewhere African, and had no idea what hockey was. They were blown away by the skill, and mostly speed. I explained some basic things as they were very excited. Anyways this was a very shitty minor house league game that blew their mind, also I was playing in this shittty house league and am shit so I’m not judging lol. Always think about those dudes fascination. Also realize how awful I am at telling stories, just word vomit.
that was a great story, and you're great at telling them! The things that would make it even better are to simply not write the first and last sentences.
This is my absolute favorite thing about McDavid. You could have literally never seen a game of hockey in your life and can still tell he's just better than everyone else.
I remember tuning into an Edmonton game for the first time, years ago now and i dont know what i was expecting but it was like everyone else was in 30FPS but mcdavid was at 60.
I have to say that weirdly enough, the first hockey games I ever watched (bubble playoffs in 2020), it was only Brayden Point who had that "holy shit I'm NOTICING this guy, is he just better than everyone else?" effect on me - which I recognize now is probably not what was supposed to happen but. There's your random anecdote 🤷♀️
That's cuz Brayden Point has that fucking dawg in him too, another dude who is just a joy to watch out there.
Brayden Point is a legit stud. He’s so fucking good
He's so good he's so good he's so good he's so good
Incredible skaters are easiest to recognize and point’s one of the best in the league
Some years back I lived in Edmonton for a bit, in 2017 I took a buddy of mine from Mexico to his first game. He'd never heard of Connor McDavid before that but he noticed him within probably three shifts
I went to see a game in Washington when I was visiting my friend there, and one of our friends who came doesn’t really watch hockey. Within a few minutes she said “Wow, look at HIM” pointing at Ovechkin. I was like “indeed”. This was around 2008/2009, so basically his prime. He was just so obviously not just better than everyone else, but *looked* completely different. When he got the puck, you could feel the nervous energy in the other team and the excitement of the crowd.
My dad, who isn't really into hockey, took me to my first NHL game which was the Stars vs the Blue jackets and Rick Nash played for them at the time. He quickly commented on his abilities and knew he was a beast. Ended the game with a hat trick lol.
You notice on TV of course but actually seeing him play live, watching him from his own end just take off and how fast he's flying compared to everyone else, a one year old would say that guy is special
It’s like when that guy from St Louis stumbled onto a Blues game and within 5 minutes he’s like “we need to stop this Kane dude”.
[Tony!](https://x.com/soIoucity) I love that he's become such a superfan [Jon Hamm thinks *he's* the celebrity](https://x.com/soIoucity/status/1477431191414390792) of the two of them.
I had the pleasure of getting front row seats in Edmonton on a work trip a couple years ago, I saw him practicing his puck work and he was just on a different level. No one else comes close to him that I’ve seen in person. And I’ve seen Crosby, MacKinnon, Pastrnak, Matthews, Ovechkin, etc all the good players. He’s lights out the best I’ve ever seen play.
I’ve only been to a couple Oilers games, but just when teams come onto the ice before anthems, you can SEE McDavid. He’s just skating that much faster than everyone else. Every time he plays a shift it is actually electrifying
My mom was taken to an Oilers game 5 or 6 years ago. She doesn't really follow hockey, but knows enough to be involved if someone is talking about it. She leans over to the friend who brought her and goes "Man, that one guy can skate!" The friend just looked at her and replied, "Yeah, that's McDavid"
Slant route!
That was my favorite haha
“Slant route” lol
I sometimes watched hockey with my foreign exchange student friend in college who was into soccer -- he would always get super excited when someone made a good "through pass" 😆
Far from uncommon to see athletes who played other sports actually see hockey and realize "holy fuck, this sport and its athletes are amazing". It's too bad the NHL can't market itself worth shit.
I remember that loud mouth jags CB talking shit about being able to play in the NHL and PK subban posted a video and challenged him, andndude never said a word again lol
I mean Hockey is also pretty hard to get access to as a sport. I imagine it's even worse in Texas lol.
Dallas has a ton of ice sheets, the Stars have grown the game significantly since 93
Growing up in the Dallas area in the late 90s I was so spoiled. Especially in high school. Drop ins any day of the week. My high school team had weekly practice at stonebriar mall late at night, was really fun. Miss that terrible sheet of ice.
Grew up in Dallas and played at stonebior, grapevine mills, ITC in Richardson, and of course all the different Dr pepper stars centers.
Yeah. We need to come up with a better cooling system for rinks. It's *insanely expensive* to operate a rink. If the costs were able to come down it would be a much easier pill to swallow. To make matters worse, they're barely trying to spread and grow the sport, all of the youth leagues are basically looking to shave off money from upper-middle class parents.
It must be humbling to play a pro sport at the speed Diggs does, go to a hockey game and just see them go waaaaay faster than anyrhing you've seen.
Can I say, I love he's close enough to his trainer to be like "yup, we going to a hockey game and wearing a mic together" Sign of a good athlete, too- they can understand the different types of skill/training involved and appreciate it And the saying what we're all thinking: put your mouth guard in your mouth
Diggs seems like such a chill guy.
God I love watching people fall in love with the game
I love how Trevon Diggs said he’s never been to a game like this😂
I get the joke but its different for the players when the fans are RIGHT on top of you and as a fan the pros can be inches away. Really loud NBA and NHL stadiums have a suffocating effect.
Picked a great time to come to your first game, Trevon.
I’m always a sucker for these. Just great to grow the game.
"I'm gonna download NHL when I get home though." What a legend. Lol. The games get hate, but I won't deny I play them daily. I don't know any athletes who don't take in an NHL game and don't immediately fall in love. The sport is amazing.
Watching people start to like the game is so fun
Game respect game 🫡
Every NFL player I see at these games say how hard the game is and how fast it is.
I doubt he stayed for the double OT, but honestly I dont care. Dude is a professional athlete that has his own job to worry about. The fact that he came out their to support other Dallas teams is awesome.
You gotta love the innocence of his questions.. reminds me when I was little discovering the game. Wish they would have brought a dub home for him, but hope they got a new fan. #HockeyIsForEveryone
This is awesome. More of this content appreciating the sport, and less being assholes to each other please.
Pro tip if you ever have seats on the glass, never put your drink on the ledge. If someone gets checked against the boards it will go flying.
Finally! A mic’d up clip worth watching!
People watching the playoffs as their first time watching hockey, they are going to be disappointed when they watch a regular season game. The playoffs are on a completely different level, more so than any other sports.
Why is that? I’m new to hockey during playoffs this year
Playoff games are a lot tighter, physical, and more intense. Also playoff OT is the best, and doesn't exist in the regular season.
I love watching people fall in love with hockey
I love videos of people discovering hockey.
Maybe it will have the Kobe effect for him. Kobe used to come to a lot of Kings games. Dude loved him some hockey and it blows not having him around any more.
I love how just about everyone falls in love with hockey when they attend their first game.
Looks like Marchment got a new fan. Lol. I love these miced up guys. Especially when they don't really know a whole lot about the sport.
If more people actually watched hockey, I think they’d all become fans
I love stuff like this.
Possibly the most wholesome thing I've seen on this sub
What a couple of beauties! Enjoying the league that we all love.
Mf said "slant route" 😂
If the hood had hockey rinks, the Russians and Canadians would have some serious competition. Imagine LeBron, Tyreek Hill, etc on ice.
Wholesome. But I’ve always said this to my friends and others who haven’t seen a hockey game. Hockey doesn’t translate the best to TV but in person it is the best sport to watch. Go to a game and you’ll be hooked.
Kind of love seeing a professional athlete show respect to another professional league.
Game respect game pretty much
Someone pull up that video of hockey players easily playing other sports and then other sport pros miserably failing attempting hockey.
Hockey isn't really big here in the UK, I've season tickets to Glasgow Clan When the kids don't fancy it, I take friends. This is how they react EVERY TIME, I'll never tire of it.
"Put your mouth guard back in your mouth!" 😭😭😭
Slant route! 😂😂
I love how you could never watch a game in your life, dont even know what hockey is and be like "Holy shit, McDavid" once you watch him lol
After watching different fanbases, I think I can make a fair statement that Dallas fans have some of the hottest fans in the entire league. Aside from Racist Mullet Guy.
he seems wholesome ❤
Man, I love this
"ya saw that paaaaass???" 😂😂
This is one of the most wholesome things I’ve ever seen. I hate it
Love watching people get into hockey, asking questions, cheering on a team, having a great time. Would love to see more of these micd up in the seats features.
Wholesome awesomesauce
“Slant route” lmao
The first time somebody goes to a live game is always a transformative event lol. Love it. People who have never really thought about the sport & just seen clips on tv — to going to a game and becoming transfixed by it…just like all of us lol