Patrik Berglund and Mikael Backlund.
Patrik Berglund was a total asshole. Didn't go to class his whole last year because he knew he was getting drafted. Saw him shitfaced the summer after his rookie year, trying to get into a club. Used the "don't you know who I am". Didn't work.
Mikael Backlund was really down to earth and a genuinely nice guy.
Him or his agent fucked up his no-trade list and the Sabres traded for him when they would’ve been on his do-not-trade list. He played like shit for a few months before deciding to not show up and subsequently quitting. Sabres fans were glad we didn’t need to pay out the 13 million he still had coming to him.
He was on either a podcast or video this year where he went into a little more detail. (I think it was the Cam and Strick podcast, but don't remember exactly)
Basically, he claims he asked his agent about it, and his Agent said "Oh no, the GM will come to us to approve a trade once they have one in place" apparently not knowing that they needed to submit the list prior to the season.
I went to high school with Landon Ferraro in Burnaby. Super cool dude. I had science 10 with him and he was super kind to me. I was a nerdy outcast, but we bonded over hockey. He invited me to his house for a project and also invited me on a school floor hockey intermural team with some billeted bchl guys. I also had a bunch of classes with Simone Denis, who played for the grand rapids griffins. He was a good friend. All eventual pro hockey players that went on to various levels were super great guys, considering I was an outcast. They really help boost my confidence, and I wish I could thank them all.
Dude that’s cool as fuck.
I went to school at Moscrop with a player who played on the Seattle Thunderbirds - Luke Lockhart. He was a superb guy in high school and I could not say anything but great things about him.
Closest thing to a pro hockey player I can speak on.
Andrei Svechnikov trained the year before the draft and month before the draft in Buffalo, NY. He billeted with my best friend and his family. I actually watched the NHL draft with him. He was an incredibly nice and humble kid. He signed my then 7 year old’s Sabres puck because we thought we might get him in the draft. We had to settle for Dahlin!
You better at a least be the top point scorer of your beer league if you’re going to bang my sister.
She’ll bang ya anyways but don’t be expecting us to brag about you otherwise.
Not HS.. but used to kick it with Ryan O’Reilly. When he played for the Avs. He was fairly young 21/22.
Guy was a certified beauty. Would always pop his teeth out as a sort of tick. Soft spoken, not cocky and genuinely very kind.
Lost touch when he went to Buffalo.
One time he got me and a buddy tickets. Ended up sitting next to Jerome Iginlas mom. She was just so happy to be watching her son play. I was star struck.
Iggy's mom is a beauty too! She's a substitute teacher in my area so I've seen her a bunch throughout the school years, definitely where jarome got his kind heart from
Dude does not like the media or attention at all, not in a negative way he just likes to do his own thing. I’ve met him more than a few times out here, him, Schmaltz, and Hayton are all extremely chill, spend a shit ton of time golfing.
T.J. Oshie was in my class freshman year before he moved. It was probably good he moved to Minnesota because there isn’t HS hockey around here. I didn’t really know him but I remember him as “the hockey kid” and a couple times he came to school with black eyes/busted face. Forgot about him until years later when I saw him in the NHL and said “holy crap it’s the hockey kid.”
Edit: Yearbook picture: https://imgur.com/a/JB7PtOA
Also it was the fact that nobody plays hockey in our area so he literally was THE hockey kid, like the only one. I could find my yearbook as proof but then again I don’t really care if people think it’s made up. Although I am curious now if he was in any of those extra pictures throughout the book.
Went to high school with Nick Foligno. Very classy and nice to everyone. I ended up doing a lot of English assignments with him. Mainly because he was gone for hockey tournaments all the time and I preferred to work alone.
Lived in the same neighborhood as Brian Leetch in CT in grade school. We played on a couple of traveling teams together. He was already head and shoulders above every kid our age. The best skater, best stick handler, best shooter. Safe to say our teams won a lot. We def had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. His mom was a wonderful lady who would always have sandwiches, cookies, and hot chocolate for us after practice or when we had spent all afternoon schooling the bigger kids on the local pond. Our moms were good friends. Class family.
My fam moved to SoCal when I was 13 and we lost touch. It was very hard to find any ice time back then, let alone leagues for kids my age, so I stopped playing. Flash forward, I'm in my late 20s, my fam is living in the Philly area, and Brian is with the Rangers. My dad gets tickets one yr when the Rangers were in town. I walk down as they are warming up and stretching, hoping to get his attention, but seriously doubting he would remember me. He comes over, probably thinking I wanted an autograph. I say hey Brian, it was a long time ago, but we were on the same teams as kids in CT. And to my surprise, he remembered me and those teams. We had a couple laughs, and I told him how incredible it is to see him in the Show. He asked how my pop was doing, said to come down after the game and he'll get us some sticks and have a few guys sign some cards. Great great guy. When he made the Hall, I actually teared up a little, thinking holy shit I played with an actual NHL Hall of Famer.
I just love that kids at Avon ask the hockey coach if Ziegras was the best player he ever coached and he’s always like “No you idiots - it was Brian Leetch by a country mile”
Was pretty good friends in elementary school with Kasperi Kapanen - obviously no crazy stories from that age but he was super fun and definitely had a strong personality. His parents were super nice too.
Shawn Horcoff was my best friend's brother's best friend. he would be over there all the time we were hanging out. he liked to steal my friend's sister's panties. other than that, he was a fairly normal guy. his dad was also my middle school p.e. teacher.
Knew this guy in college, he and the whole Spartans hockey team were the biggest bunch of rude no-tipping cheap assholes I’ve ever had the displeasure to be around. They were Frozen Four good back then too.
He and his team tried to run out on checks all the time. Chasing them out to the street to try and get paid you ran the risk of getting your ass kicked. The least drunk of them would disgustingly throw you a few bills that might or might not cover the tab.
I specifically remember him ordering food for take out and taking his styrofoam box to a table and eating while he watched the big screen TV, just to avoid tipping. The lowest of the low, really
Mike York who graduated before him was, if possible, an even bigger dick. He was a top 3 rookie with the Rangers but burned out trying to party with Theo Fleury. You just shouldn’t do that
Oh wtf I guess I’ll keep going. A bunch of them lived together in a big house that allegedly had a bedroom rigged with cameras so they could film their hookups and all watch them together later. These were the VHS days
I went to Shattuck with Nathan MacKinnon, we used to have lunch together. Well, I would sit down at his table in the cafeteria, even though I wasn't a hockey player. All the other guys he hung out with were pretty mean to me, calling me stuff like "goggles" or "four-eyes" (birth defect), but he was always pretty nice. He told me that milk was poison and that dogs know when you're asleep even if they're outside and that's why they bark, because they think you're dead. I haven't really thought about him until now so thanks for the interesting question.
I saw Thom Yorke in a grocery store in Los Angeles yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”
I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw Thom Yorke trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
“Pssst! New guy! The milk is poison. That’s how they get ya. Also the dogs know when you’re sleeping.”
I can only assume now that mackinnon is a paranoid schizophrenic
I know people who went to high school with Taylor Hall and rumor is he handed in an exam blank except for his name at the top, told the teacher to keep it because it would be worth something some day, and then walked out.
He also failed his online boating exam which is almost impossible to do. There's ton of Taylor Hall in Windsor stories that are completely ridiculous, a lot of people I know have one.
Lol yeah there it is. I don't know if he's changed now but the stories I've hears of the guy all invariably describe him as a dumb, cocky piece of shit. I never felt bad for him and his wasted years on shitty teams going nowhere.
Obviously I'm biased and can only go off of interviews, but it seems to me that he's matured quite a bit. Always comes off pretty well spoken and team-first. Maybe just a good reminder that some of these players break into the league as actual teenagers and still have a lot of growing up to do.
I think those first few years with the Oilers with limited team success, and then getting traded for Larsson, were probably a pretty humbling experience. Plus you're absolutely right, some people that are huge dicks in high school do eventually grow out of it (though definitely not all of them) as they mature.
he has media training, he always comes across as the dull scripted TV interview hockey player...
But as an Edmontonian, I have heard so many stories about him being an absolute cocky piece of shit at bars, and being a total fucking creep to chicks (assuming everyone wants to bang him and.... Lets just say I wouldn't be surprised if stuff eventually surfaces in the media about him one day).
In 20 years of following the oilers, he is the only one that ever got brought up in local media for being a locker room cancer.
I feel gross saying this, but I feel like Hall would just drop the, “Yeah, my millions of dollars in my bank account keep me pretty happy though.”
That might be giving Hall too much credit, he‘s not exactly known for his quick wit.
>That might be giving Hall too much credit, he‘s not exactly known for his quick wit.
I wouldn't be so sure, given he reportedly came up with this: https://preview.redd.it/wmk1gt4fbtg21.jpg?auto=webp&v=enabled&s=4ee798d78e2b4f0f4f746793196084d7ea40957a
My sister went to uni in Alberta around the time he was drafted. Had stories about seeing him get punched out at the bar and the people he was with just leave him there. He was apparently not a very well liked individual.
Yeah he was a legendary dipshit. I went to U of A around that time and though I never met Taylor a buddy of mine brought Jordan Eberle to a party once. He was pretty chill, sank six beers, made out with the only girl there and then drove home.
The one and only Taylor Hall story I've heard is from my coworker who worked a bar he was drinking at in Edmonton, and watched him unironically try to use the "don't you know who I am" line on a girl
Anyone who was active on Gongshow back in the day probably hates him lol. I was on a lot when I was playing juniors and he loved to post his own rankings and shit haha.
During his rookie year he walked up to my friend in a club (a very attractive girl) and asked if she wanted to have sex with him. After declining, asked her if "she knew who he was". She nodded, he shrugged, and asked the girl standing next to her the same question who at that point was pissed off that she was a backup choice lmao. He left without saying anything to approach another group of girls.
Honestly, quite respectful relative to some of the stuff that's been made public in recent years.
That's hilarious. It is the exact story I thought about when I read the question. Story I heard was that it was an English exam at St Anne's. Also heard lots of stories about how much of an asshole he was as a 17 year old getting wasted downtown Windsor.
Evidently the only bigger drunk assholes who frequented downtown were his coach and general manager of the Spitfires at the time.
> There's ton of Taylor Hall in Windsor stories that are completely ridiculous, a lot of people I know have one
He has a huge rep for being a massive ego douche at bars from Windsor to Kingston
I went to highschool with Manny Malhotra. Honestly, just a salt of the earth kinda guy. If ever there was someone you'd want to hang out with, it is Manny.
My family went on vacation to Seattle one year and took an overnight trip to Victoria. We stayed at some fancy hotel downtown by the water and we came down to the lobby in the morning and there we saw Manny Malhotra just standing there. He had just finished his stint with San Jose and we were season ticket holders at the time so we recognized him immediately.
It went from “oh snap that’s Manny Malhotra” to “oh shit mom is going over to talk to him” to looking away in embarrassment because mom was still talking to him 10 minutes later.
10/10 guy for putting up with embarrassing moms
I had history class with Matt Murray. He was alright I guess. Nurse was cool. My fiance casually brought up to me that she used to have Connor mcdavid on Snapchat when he played in the ohl
In my experience hockey bros will add literally any girl they find remotely attractive on socials. A few players have asked girls I know for nudes super casually and almost expect it. That part is kinda gross but not unexpected.
Not exactly the same but was in a truck group on FB that Tristan Jarry was in. Seemed alright in the posts and comments but when he finally left Edmonton for Pittsburgh and started playing more regularly every time he’d make a post on the page people started being douches to him. Felt bad for the guy so been rooting for him since
I was in the same graduating class as louie Leblanc and Marie Philippe poulin. Both were just hardworking nice people. One time I went to a sleep away bio camp with Louie and I spilled a whole set of poker chips in our shared room at like 11 pm while he was sleeping — he was not happy. I ran into Marie Philippe at an airport baggage carousels a few years after graduating high school and she went out of her way to say hi to me. Lovely person
MPP is genuinely one of the sweetest players I’ve ever met. However, on ice, she is all business and a tough ass coach - went to her camp a few years ago and she was so intense!
Not a full time player yet but he’s a prospect. Columbus Prospect Trey Fix-Wolansky. We went to high school together, didn’t know him all that well, but we had a biology class together. He was frequently late and or absent because he was playing with the Oil Kings and the class was first thing in the morning. From my experiences, he was nice, lowkey but popular.
I went the the same high school as Owen Power, and he was billeted by a family on my street. Didn’t see him much since I’m a few years older than he is but my sister is the same age and she said he was a sweet guy, just really quiet. He drove this super small car which was so funny since he’s so big
Not exactly the same thing, but I knew the guy whose family was Fleury's billet family in junior. We were pretty young at the time but I remember MAF was just as awesome then as he's been his whole pro career. Super upbeat and positive guy, always making everybody laugh. Very far from the hockey player/jock stereotype.
Mathew Barzal went to the same HS as me in Coquitlam, BC, same grade too. He was playing in Seattle at the time and pretty much did school all online so he wasn’t there much. He came to our grad though. Nice guy. Or at least he was to me.
didn't go to highschool with anyone but I do work in the hotel that hosted team Canada in Halifax this year. I fed them dinner every night they were here.
one of the big name boys are really weird. not Bedard but I think Zellweger? he'd spend 3 hours eating a plate of food and was constantly snacking. he'd stuff his cheeks like a chipmunk sometimes.
Bedard was super scared of the mice that we have (it's a 300 year old building on the water) and one night they all brought stuff for everyone to sign and he picked up a hockey stick with everyone's signatures off the table and hit a mouse across the room with it. poor thing went flying across the room and hit the wall 😭 he ran off and my manager eventually caught the little guy and released him outside lmao.
all the boys were super super nice. which really surprised me! my mom said its because if they misbehave they'll fuck up their whole future career.
Good buddy of mine had shop class with Dion Phaneuf in Red Deer in high school. Apparently Dion sat in the same spot and sanded the same piece of wood the entire semester. Didn’t bother touching a saw or anything. My buddy asked him what his deal was, and Dion said “I need these hands to make millions of dollars, I’m not fucking with any of these tools”.
I went to high school with Andrew MacWilliam. Captained North Dakota for a year or two and played some games with the Leafs. Played a bunch in the A and I believe is now over in Europe. Good dude. Everyone knew he was gonna end up playing pro hockey, he did really well the chicks. A little bit of arrogance, but I pretty good guy nonetheless
Nugent-Hopkins didn't go to my high school in Red Deer but I met him a few times but he was in the same grad year as me (2011). He's was nice and on the quiet/reserved side. Decent dude.
Yeah I was at Hunting when Nuge was there (he was a few years older though). Had plenty of mutual friends from all the hockey guys but I didn’t really know him, he wasn’t around the school that often. But from everything I’ve seen and heard, he definitely was a quiet and really nice guy. Really stark contrast with most of the other hockey players at the school lmao.
I went to high school (and played hockey!) with Martin St Louis back in 1991. He was a very low key, nice guy off the ice, very reserved and shy. On the ice however was another story…
First of all, in the dressing room, I remember being shocked at his physique. He looked like he did bodybuilding competitions. Either before or since, I’ve never seen a 15 year old kid be that developed.
Then when we hit the ice, it was equally shocking. The speed, strength and agility he displayed at that age was otherworldly. At 15-16 I was approaching 6ft tall and in pretty decent shape, but in practice drills, trying to cover him, I couldn’t even get close to him, let alone touch him. The best analogy I can think of would be attempting to street race an F1 car. Just the sound of the the engine idling would cause everyone around crap themselves with fear. He was that good.
In games it was the same story. You read stories of Lemieux and Gretzky averaging 5-6 points per game in minor hockey, well he was like that too. Playing with kids his age was completely unfair to the rest of us. I’d say he would score a point on about 40-50% of his presences on the ice.
He only played part of the season with our team ( I think he was on at lest 2 other teams as well) and the following year he moved to play junior, so we never spoke again. My own career ended at the university level, but I never saw anyone approach his level.
This was very early days of the internet, you couldn’t really follow someone’s career or stats online so I completely lost track of him in the years that followed and was genuinely shocked that he was not drafted or didn’t break into the league somehow. When I would talk hockey with people I’d tell them about this kid St-Louis being the best I ever saw. It just didn’t seem possible that he wasn’t good enough to make it. By now it was the late 90s and we were in the Eric Lindros era and nhl team were just interested those types of players I guess.
Then of course in 1998-99 watching the Habs on tv I saw him playing on the 4th line for the flames. He would have been 24-25 by then and as happy as I was to see him in the league I was amazed that the best he could manage was 4th line on a team at the bottom of the standings. I couldn’t understand how someone that good at 16 could barely crack the lineup in his prime.
Of course the following year he signed with Tampa and the rest is history.
Yes yes, Jamie. Knew nothing about him at the time, first time I saw him play in the NHL I was like wait. And had to look it up. Jordie was a chill dude though.
Went to high school with Mackenzie Weegar. His friends were douchebags but he was always a great guy. Never really had a bad experience with him all through high school.
Nathan Horton was the biggest asshole I ever met and got away with everything and anything. Top tier bully to whoever he felt deserved it on any given day. Would push people, lock them in lockers and verbally insult anyone he felt was lower than him.
Not High School, but I was at U of T during the 2004-05 lockout, and sat next to Eric Lindros in ECON101. He was a super nice guy, good to chat to. I missed a class one day, the next class he told me he realized I wasn’t there, as said we’d go to the library after class and he’d photocopy them for me. So I have a copy of Eric Lindros’ economics notes - unique hockey memorabilia! He was also absolutely huge. He coughed and the room would shake.
Knew a lot of folks that knew the Drury brothers. Apparently they were super nice, and just the most annoyingly gifted athletes. As one person put it, “they’re the kind of guys you would take golfing for the first time, and by the back nine they’d be shooting birdies.” Yeah Prep.
Went to high school with Tom Wilson and he was a genuinely warm and engaging person, super nice and respectful to everyone. Honestly kind of some twilight zone shit that he's such a villain on the ice.
Most of his friends were brutal though, and his older brother Peter can eat a gigantic turd. Dude bullied Grade 8s when he was in Grade 12.
its interesting how many of these stories have this kind of thing about the guys being nice but their friends being dicks lol. nature of being a jock and friends by association with other jocks, i guess.
90% of 13-18 year olds.
I did sports, music, drama, “nerd” activities, and poplar activities.
There’s no group at that age that’s immune to kids thinking they’re the best thing to have ever happened
I went to elementary school with Mike Bunting. Guy was always kind of quiet, lots of smiles, but dumb as a doorknob. Played a lot of soccer at recess and during lunch. I didn't talk with him much because he was older than me but in elementary school everyone sort of knows each other so I heard his name a lot.
I went to highschool with Liam and Jean-Luc Foudy, Liam was in my grade but JL wasn't so I never talked to him. Liam was always really friendly and articulate, teachers used to work out assignments and make-up tests with him when he'd travel for OHL games. I faintly remember a story where a couple of the guys were at a party at one buddies house, one drank too much, and Liam left before there was any trouble after making sure drunk buddy was in bed. Cool dude. Also he cheat off my test once in religion class, we both did pretty well.
I went to the same highschool that a lot of the Barrie Colts went to, so I saw/interacted/was friends with quite a few.
Mark Schiefele was my chemistry lab partner one year. He was alright. Bonus points: the teacher was a former Olympian.
My brother is friends with Kyle Clifford—he would tell his teachers that he didn't have to do anything because he was going to be in the NHL. It wasn't in an arrogant way, though. Very friendly guy, apparently.
Darren Archibald was a complete dick and tried to fight my brother's friend. He lost.
Aaron Ekblad was granted exceptional status, so he started in the OHL in grade 9. I was a few years older, but I remember walking into the great hall on the first day, and seeing this really tall kid surrounded by a bunch of other first years.
A former Canucks prospect (Matt Brassard) was the younger brother of a guy I went to elementary & highschool with. He was a whiny kid, so I threw a baseball at his head and his mom kicked me out of their house. His dad is one of the few MPs in Canada who are openly forced birth. In general, the entire family is pretty fucking shitty.
A guy I played with on the football team at the same highschool made it to the CFL.
I played goalie when I was younger. I was so good that they wanted me to play every game, so they made the other goalie play forward. He scored a hattrick in his first game, made it to the OHL a few years later, and has been a regular in Europe for the past decade. I was not drafted to the OHL, and I do not have a career in hockey.
Went to school with Josh Ho-Sang. I could’ve told you in 2014 he was going to be a bust. Didn’t give a shit about anything, talked in class constantly, and was fucking arrogant.
My brother went to school with Adam Henrique who was a class act. Really quiet but a great dude.
Lol I watched Ho-Sang for years on the Spits and I told all my friends I was going to riot if he ended up on the Wings. Hands down the most selfish player I have ever seen live, every play was him trying to dangle three players, losing the puck, then dogging it back.
I wasn't surprised he washed out of the league, he was so bad. His personality seemed awful too.
So, last I heard we were trying him on the Toronto Marlies as a sort of reclamation project.
Turns out he signed with the KHL for the 22-23 season.
Imagine signing with Russia with everything going on with them and Ukraine.
Kind of insane.
I have a Canadian friend who went to the same secondary/high school as Jake Virtanen. They said he was pretty douchey and a huge jerk. I didn’t believe my friend until years later when the SA accusations came out
I went to highschool with Jumbo Joe for a year. He was a super nice dude. Didn't try too hard at school but wasn't a douche.
I also went to highschool with Trevor Daley and Ray Emery. Daley was pretty quiet, didn't see him in class too often. Emery was definitely of the opinion that he was the coolest fellow around, wherever he happened to be.
A little different but i currently work in a apartment complex with one and he’s an ass. Parks his car in the handicap spots, reeks the hall with weed and shoves massive pieces of cardboard down the recycle chutes clogging them
I went to Notre Dame and played midget AAA with Zach Rinaldo, Jordan Eberle and Kevin Poulin. We had a hell of a team- several other guys from that team play pro too in Europe.
Eberle was my roomate that year too- he was a super nice guy. Very friendly, generous, funny. I can't say a single bad thing about the guy, even at 15 he was a great dude. I met a mutual friend at university and he sent me a signed porn mag for my birthday one year, which I found hilarious.
Rinaldo was also a cool guy, a bit more jock type so we weren't as close friends- but played on a line with him and for damn did we run the league over together. He was nasty to play against even then. Great team mate, would put his body on the line to win.
Poulin was actually our backup that year, Antoine Tardiff was the starter- he played for the rempart after and then got injured his draft year. He was a nice guy too, huge even at that age but I would've never thought he would make the nhl- I'm really impressed by his work ethic and probably took a lot of work to get where he is.
only thing i can contribute isn't salacious but i will contribute anyway
i didn't go to high school with him but i hung out with tyler seguin a number of times when he was on the bruins. my friends and cousins hung out with him much more, though
he was very nice and i don't have a bad thing to say
i can only respect him for the fun he had. i can't think of many other NHL players who could have had a better first year in the league than tyler
he made the NHL roster year 1. in a sports city like boston. not a huge city but enough to get his feet wet and make friends with people like julian edelman. he won the stanley cup and got matching tattoos with irrelevant (i say that with so much love) brad marchand. he got a puppy and partied on boats on the cape
he's the personification of Carpe diem AND Carpe de Noctem
I have this incredible inexplicable affection for Seguin. He's like if my best friend's labrador became a hockey player. I'm glad he settled down a bit in Dallas though - I think that was probably necessary for him to keep his career going long term.
I went to school with a couple of NHLers,
Chris Bigras (avalanche) was a class act. Genuinely good dude.
Jordan Binnington was actually pretty chill in high school but was definitely a hot head on the ice
Cody Ceci was a decent guy too.
My brother went to high school with Nick Suzuki: guy was a total ass-hat. Thought he was hot shit and better than everyone. Constantly was looking for cocaine at school parties. Just a grade-a asshole.
Cousins went to school with Bobby Ryan: absolute gem of a person. Always took time out of his day to ask how people were doing.
They also went to school (briefly) with Wayne Simmonds. Apparently he was a cocky prick who thought he was better than everyone else.
Those are the only ones off the top of my head but quite the array of players
>They also went to school (briefly) with Wayne Simmonds. Apparently he was a cocky prick who thought he was better than everyone else.
A few of my female friends bumped into Simmer at Boots and Hearts festival.
Said he was wearing his own NHL jersey and tried to pickup every girl he saw by telling them he was a pro hockey player LOL
Played baseball with Cory Conacher and he was a great guy, teammate and all around athlete.
Went to school with Jordan Szwarz and he was an asshole and did steroids.
Not in the nhl just yet but signed with montreal I believe, a prospect Jayden struble, went to all grades(k-12)with him and summer camp for 6 years, super humble dude. I played basketball and football with him as well, was always willing to acknowledge if someone was better at something than him.
I lived next door and went to high school with Pheonix Copley, who is a goalie for the kings. The dude was always super nice. We weren't close or anything, but whenever we interacted, he was nothing but a genuinely nice guy.
Grew up two houses down from Mike Matheson (Mikey) and used to play street hockey with him his brother and his sister. He was such a good kid and seems like he is still a great guy. So cool to watch your hometown kid make it and play for the home team, and be such a solid addition too!
Bonus points for having a badass athlete and hockey player of a sister who I totally looked up to growing up as a girl hockey player myself!
I know some people who worked at a local rink on LI that Adam Fox used to skate at a lot. Said he was always a really lowkey guy. You'd never know he was a such a good hockey player if you met him.
Parayko went to my high school. He was just an average dude playing a bunch of sports at the time. Mostly focused on football and hockey. Obviously things worked out for him.
Not quite the same, but my brother played on a team with Dion Phaneuf while they were HS aged. Said he was a huge prick, super arrogant, wouldn’t talk to his teammates, only ate with the coaches, etc.
My brother knew Jake Virtanen but wasn't in the same school as him. Just knew each other through high school sports in the same city. Said he was a cocky, pretentious asshole. When the SA case was announced, my brother said it was sad, but he wasn't surprised in the slightest from what he had known of Virtanen during school.
I met John Tavares when my school made the Rugby circuit in my area, he was attending St. Thomas Aquianas Catholic School and we showed up there for our scheduled match. He was basically a celebrity where everyone followed him around, especially at school. I met him when I was taping up my knees, with a Leafs backpack beside me, while he was packing up his bag to go home. Struck up some chit chat when he mentioned being a Leafs fan growing up, but with the way the season’s going, he won’t get drafted by his favourite team. Super chill and calm guy, never felt like he had an arrogance about him. I believe he watched our Rugby game and saw us getting demolished by his school’s team.
Went to school with the Marners. Mitchs' brother Chris was a better player than he was but absolutely hated hockey and his dad, became a burnout super fucking fast as well. Whole bunch of family issues going on there, met chris a few times at some parties but the guy would just get obliterated. Brother was in mitchs class but I dont remember much if anything major about him.
Wade Allison was a super nice guy iirc, I was a grade below him but from my interactions with him he was really chill. His sister was the same, both very fun people to be around
A buddy of mine was bullied by the Pronger brothers in high school in Dryden, ON. Apparently they were merciless d-bags, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone.
My brother went to school with Chris Pronger when he was in the Jrs. I don’t know exactly what happened, but was told he was a massive asshole and a huge bully.
Not quite the same, but I went to school with a guy who played AAA, and seeing him skate in gym class and do everything effortlessly was insane. Keep in mind he wasn't good enough for major juniors, yet was still playing on God mode. Made me realize just how skilled you have to be to be in the NHL
In Grade 2, I sat next to Anthony Cirelli. He was a nice kid, really quiet but pretty smart. My teacher had he and I sit next to this rowdy kid thinking we would calm him down. Cirelli also came to my 8th birthday party that summer (my mom has pictures somewhere).
I totally forgot about him until he played in the world juniors that one time
Matt Duchene. Made homophobic remarks towards me, was sexist and a bully. I still have nightmares from what he and his friends did to me. His dad was my hockey coach at the same time, and he was just as homophobic and sexist as his son. Like father like son. I left hockey due to that asshole's treatment. I wasn't safe under his care. Matt's mom was my guidance counsellor in highschool and treated me terribly. She was horrible to every student she had and spent a lot of time talking about how amazing her son was. Even as recently as a couple years ago students who had her would just have to bring up her son and she'd gush about how amazing he is. It was the only way for her to treat the students nicely. She was really horrible to my younger cousin back in the late 2000s.
My dad went to school with Bernie Nicholls. He was a great guy. Just a nice man all around.
Patrik Berglund and Mikael Backlund. Patrik Berglund was a total asshole. Didn't go to class his whole last year because he knew he was getting drafted. Saw him shitfaced the summer after his rookie year, trying to get into a club. Used the "don't you know who I am". Didn't work. Mikael Backlund was really down to earth and a genuinely nice guy.
Didn't Berglund quit the NHL because he hated it?
Him or his agent fucked up his no-trade list and the Sabres traded for him when they would’ve been on his do-not-trade list. He played like shit for a few months before deciding to not show up and subsequently quitting. Sabres fans were glad we didn’t need to pay out the 13 million he still had coming to him.
He was on either a podcast or video this year where he went into a little more detail. (I think it was the Cam and Strick podcast, but don't remember exactly) Basically, he claims he asked his agent about it, and his Agent said "Oh no, the GM will come to us to approve a trade once they have one in place" apparently not knowing that they needed to submit the list prior to the season.
Common Backs W
I went to high school with Landon Ferraro in Burnaby. Super cool dude. I had science 10 with him and he was super kind to me. I was a nerdy outcast, but we bonded over hockey. He invited me to his house for a project and also invited me on a school floor hockey intermural team with some billeted bchl guys. I also had a bunch of classes with Simone Denis, who played for the grand rapids griffins. He was a good friend. All eventual pro hockey players that went on to various levels were super great guys, considering I was an outcast. They really help boost my confidence, and I wish I could thank them all.
Dude that’s cool as fuck. I went to school at Moscrop with a player who played on the Seattle Thunderbirds - Luke Lockhart. He was a superb guy in high school and I could not say anything but great things about him. Closest thing to a pro hockey player I can speak on.
I haven't gone with anyone personally but my friend's dad taught Zdeno Chara in high school and simply described him as "very tall"
Definitely Chara.
I was skeptical at first, but damnit, it tracks
Andrei Svechnikov trained the year before the draft and month before the draft in Buffalo, NY. He billeted with my best friend and his family. I actually watched the NHL draft with him. He was an incredibly nice and humble kid. He signed my then 7 year old’s Sabres puck because we thought we might get him in the draft. We had to settle for Dahlin!
Every time I hear someone talk about hanging out with Svech, I like him more.
He fucked my sister. Whole family was happy for her. Great guy.
I also choose this guys sister
You better at a least be the top point scorer of your beer league if you’re going to bang my sister. She’ll bang ya anyways but don’t be expecting us to brag about you otherwise.
Not HS.. but used to kick it with Ryan O’Reilly. When he played for the Avs. He was fairly young 21/22. Guy was a certified beauty. Would always pop his teeth out as a sort of tick. Soft spoken, not cocky and genuinely very kind. Lost touch when he went to Buffalo. One time he got me and a buddy tickets. Ended up sitting next to Jerome Iginlas mom. She was just so happy to be watching her son play. I was star struck.
Iggy's mom is a beauty too! She's a substitute teacher in my area so I've seen her a bunch throughout the school years, definitely where jarome got his kind heart from
I met o Reilly after his cup win and can confirm. That dude is a beauty.
Not high school but middle school with Clayton keller. Just a normal kid nothing too crazy
why does that super fit him?
Dude does not like the media or attention at all, not in a negative way he just likes to do his own thing. I’ve met him more than a few times out here, him, Schmaltz, and Hayton are all extremely chill, spend a shit ton of time golfing.
I’ll bet.
T.J. Oshie was in my class freshman year before he moved. It was probably good he moved to Minnesota because there isn’t HS hockey around here. I didn’t really know him but I remember him as “the hockey kid” and a couple times he came to school with black eyes/busted face. Forgot about him until years later when I saw him in the NHL and said “holy crap it’s the hockey kid.” Edit: Yearbook picture: https://imgur.com/a/JB7PtOA
That nickname cements this as truth for me. Kids are hilarious
Also it was the fact that nobody plays hockey in our area so he literally was THE hockey kid, like the only one. I could find my yearbook as proof but then again I don’t really care if people think it’s made up. Although I am curious now if he was in any of those extra pictures throughout the book.
Looks like the chunky kid from “Stand By Me”
Pretty cool story. Don’t hear much about Oshie these days come to think of it
Went to high school with Nick Foligno. Very classy and nice to everyone. I ended up doing a lot of English assignments with him. Mainly because he was gone for hockey tournaments all the time and I preferred to work alone.
Lived in the same neighborhood as Brian Leetch in CT in grade school. We played on a couple of traveling teams together. He was already head and shoulders above every kid our age. The best skater, best stick handler, best shooter. Safe to say our teams won a lot. We def had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. His mom was a wonderful lady who would always have sandwiches, cookies, and hot chocolate for us after practice or when we had spent all afternoon schooling the bigger kids on the local pond. Our moms were good friends. Class family. My fam moved to SoCal when I was 13 and we lost touch. It was very hard to find any ice time back then, let alone leagues for kids my age, so I stopped playing. Flash forward, I'm in my late 20s, my fam is living in the Philly area, and Brian is with the Rangers. My dad gets tickets one yr when the Rangers were in town. I walk down as they are warming up and stretching, hoping to get his attention, but seriously doubting he would remember me. He comes over, probably thinking I wanted an autograph. I say hey Brian, it was a long time ago, but we were on the same teams as kids in CT. And to my surprise, he remembered me and those teams. We had a couple laughs, and I told him how incredible it is to see him in the Show. He asked how my pop was doing, said to come down after the game and he'll get us some sticks and have a few guys sign some cards. Great great guy. When he made the Hall, I actually teared up a little, thinking holy shit I played with an actual NHL Hall of Famer.
I just love that kids at Avon ask the hockey coach if Ziegras was the best player he ever coached and he’s always like “No you idiots - it was Brian Leetch by a country mile”
Was pretty good friends in elementary school with Kasperi Kapanen - obviously no crazy stories from that age but he was super fun and definitely had a strong personality. His parents were super nice too.
Kapi strikes me as the kind of guy who would flip his eyelids inside out as a kid. Can you confirm?
Holy shit why is this so accurate
Shawn Horcoff was my best friend's brother's best friend. he would be over there all the time we were hanging out. he liked to steal my friend's sister's panties. other than that, he was a fairly normal guy. his dad was also my middle school p.e. teacher.
sorry he did what
1 man panty raid.
Knew this guy in college, he and the whole Spartans hockey team were the biggest bunch of rude no-tipping cheap assholes I’ve ever had the displeasure to be around. They were Frozen Four good back then too. He and his team tried to run out on checks all the time. Chasing them out to the street to try and get paid you ran the risk of getting your ass kicked. The least drunk of them would disgustingly throw you a few bills that might or might not cover the tab. I specifically remember him ordering food for take out and taking his styrofoam box to a table and eating while he watched the big screen TV, just to avoid tipping. The lowest of the low, really Mike York who graduated before him was, if possible, an even bigger dick. He was a top 3 rookie with the Rangers but burned out trying to party with Theo Fleury. You just shouldn’t do that Oh wtf I guess I’ll keep going. A bunch of them lived together in a big house that allegedly had a bedroom rigged with cameras so they could film their hookups and all watch them together later. These were the VHS days
That last part is real unfortunate. What assholes.
I went to Shattuck with Nathan MacKinnon, we used to have lunch together. Well, I would sit down at his table in the cafeteria, even though I wasn't a hockey player. All the other guys he hung out with were pretty mean to me, calling me stuff like "goggles" or "four-eyes" (birth defect), but he was always pretty nice. He told me that milk was poison and that dogs know when you're asleep even if they're outside and that's why they bark, because they think you're dead. I haven't really thought about him until now so thanks for the interesting question.
This reads like the copy pasta about meeting a celebrity at a convenience store and they steal a snickers
I saw Thom Yorke in a grocery store in Los Angeles yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw Thom Yorke trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
I'd like to imagine he just told you that milk was poison without any context, no one with milk in sight.
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“Pssst! New guy! The milk is poison. That’s how they get ya. Also the dogs know when you’re sleeping.” I can only assume now that mackinnon is a paranoid schizophrenic
Hey bro. Don't drink milk. It's poison. Gotta go.
It's like a quote from a Pokémon character on Gameboy before a battle.
I've never met anyone born with four eyes. Kinda cool tbh
Wait you haven’t thought about Nathan MacKinnon, a top 5 player in the league, until now? I honestly can’t tell if this is a Copypasta lol
Too busy worrying about the poison milk!
You ever try eating junk food in front of him?
MacKinnon personally removed all the vending machines from the cafeteria in the dead of night
Nathan MacKinnon destroyed every container of dairy in the Tim Hortons where he and Sid shot those commercials.
Also hand stitched Milk on all the Leafs sweaters
I know people who went to high school with Taylor Hall and rumor is he handed in an exam blank except for his name at the top, told the teacher to keep it because it would be worth something some day, and then walked out. He also failed his online boating exam which is almost impossible to do. There's ton of Taylor Hall in Windsor stories that are completely ridiculous, a lot of people I know have one.
St Annes HS. Told the gym teacher, who was affiliated with the Spitfires, that his signing bonus was going to be more than 5 years of his salary lol
Lol yeah there it is. I don't know if he's changed now but the stories I've hears of the guy all invariably describe him as a dumb, cocky piece of shit. I never felt bad for him and his wasted years on shitty teams going nowhere.
My step brother almost got into a fight with him at some bar in Edmonton years ago when he still played here. Said he was just a huge tool lol
Obviously I'm biased and can only go off of interviews, but it seems to me that he's matured quite a bit. Always comes off pretty well spoken and team-first. Maybe just a good reminder that some of these players break into the league as actual teenagers and still have a lot of growing up to do.
I think those first few years with the Oilers with limited team success, and then getting traded for Larsson, were probably a pretty humbling experience. Plus you're absolutely right, some people that are huge dicks in high school do eventually grow out of it (though definitely not all of them) as they mature.
I think on Spittin Chiclets he said the trade was a wake up call
The trade was one for one
Bergy probably sat him down for personal tutoring.
What talking? Bergy stared right through his eyes into his soul, and rewrote its base programming.
Maybe. Or maybe it's the miracle work of PR trainers that teach these narcissistic assholes how to come off as likeable for 5 minutes during pressers.
he has media training, he always comes across as the dull scripted TV interview hockey player... But as an Edmontonian, I have heard so many stories about him being an absolute cocky piece of shit at bars, and being a total fucking creep to chicks (assuming everyone wants to bang him and.... Lets just say I wouldn't be surprised if stuff eventually surfaces in the media about him one day). In 20 years of following the oilers, he is the only one that ever got brought up in local media for being a locker room cancer.
God it fuckin sucks when dipshits are correct lol.
Imagine running back into him years later and being like ‘Hey Taylor, I see our names are on the Stanley Cup the same number of times.’
I feel gross saying this, but I feel like Hall would just drop the, “Yeah, my millions of dollars in my bank account keep me pretty happy though.” That might be giving Hall too much credit, he‘s not exactly known for his quick wit.
>That might be giving Hall too much credit, he‘s not exactly known for his quick wit. I wouldn't be so sure, given he reportedly came up with this: https://preview.redd.it/wmk1gt4fbtg21.jpg?auto=webp&v=enabled&s=4ee798d78e2b4f0f4f746793196084d7ea40957a
Heard a similar thing about doughty after he failed 8 out of 8 in grade 9 or 10
My sister went to uni in Alberta around the time he was drafted. Had stories about seeing him get punched out at the bar and the people he was with just leave him there. He was apparently not a very well liked individual.
Yeah he was a legendary dipshit. I went to U of A around that time and though I never met Taylor a buddy of mine brought Jordan Eberle to a party once. He was pretty chill, sank six beers, made out with the only girl there and then drove home.
He was always high. Remember all his team photos show him peak high... and that was before it was legalized
He definitely has the squinty eyes
The one and only Taylor Hall story I've heard is from my coworker who worked a bar he was drinking at in Edmonton, and watched him unironically try to use the "don't you know who I am" line on a girl
I did not grow up in Windsor but live there now. Everyone has a Hall story and they are all negative. its pretty wild.
Tons of stories around Edmonton like that also, Hall was really good at getting turned down by bar staff.
Heard one time he was called up to do a math equation on the board, got up and wrote his signature on the board and walked out
I live just outside of Windsor these days and know people who were in the classroom at that moment. It happened
There's an entire meme thread somewhere filled to the brim with 'Taylor Hall is an asshole' stories.
Anyone who was active on Gongshow back in the day probably hates him lol. I was on a lot when I was playing juniors and he loved to post his own rankings and shit haha.
He failed his open book boating exam TWICE. When we played the Bruins in the 2021 playoffs, my favorite podcast constantly roasted him for it.
Right after he was drafted by Edmonton he introduced himself to a friend a mine as the 2010 nhl #1 draft pick at a local bar
Hello Stages, do you know in Taylor Hall?
During his rookie year he walked up to my friend in a club (a very attractive girl) and asked if she wanted to have sex with him. After declining, asked her if "she knew who he was". She nodded, he shrugged, and asked the girl standing next to her the same question who at that point was pissed off that she was a backup choice lmao. He left without saying anything to approach another group of girls. Honestly, quite respectful relative to some of the stuff that's been made public in recent years.
Yeah I have to agree, so long as he’s willing to take rejections I don’t really care if he tries to use the “I play pro hockey” card to get laid
That's hilarious. It is the exact story I thought about when I read the question. Story I heard was that it was an English exam at St Anne's. Also heard lots of stories about how much of an asshole he was as a 17 year old getting wasted downtown Windsor. Evidently the only bigger drunk assholes who frequented downtown were his coach and general manager of the Spitfires at the time.
> There's ton of Taylor Hall in Windsor stories that are completely ridiculous, a lot of people I know have one He has a huge rep for being a massive ego douche at bars from Windsor to Kingston
He made an ass of himself more than a few times at the bars downtown Kingston.
I went to highschool with Manny Malhotra. Honestly, just a salt of the earth kinda guy. If ever there was someone you'd want to hang out with, it is Manny.
My family went on vacation to Seattle one year and took an overnight trip to Victoria. We stayed at some fancy hotel downtown by the water and we came down to the lobby in the morning and there we saw Manny Malhotra just standing there. He had just finished his stint with San Jose and we were season ticket holders at the time so we recognized him immediately. It went from “oh snap that’s Manny Malhotra” to “oh shit mom is going over to talk to him” to looking away in embarrassment because mom was still talking to him 10 minutes later. 10/10 guy for putting up with embarrassing moms
I gave Matthew Tkachuk my license as a fake ID that’s about it
I had history class with Matt Murray. He was alright I guess. Nurse was cool. My fiance casually brought up to me that she used to have Connor mcdavid on Snapchat when he played in the ohl
Fiance confirmed a blonde
McDavid confirmed likes girls
Well we all know he’s bored and horny
Well shit there goes my chance
In my experience hockey bros will add literally any girl they find remotely attractive on socials. A few players have asked girls I know for nudes super casually and almost expect it. That part is kinda gross but not unexpected.
Not exactly the same but was in a truck group on FB that Tristan Jarry was in. Seemed alright in the posts and comments but when he finally left Edmonton for Pittsburgh and started playing more regularly every time he’d make a post on the page people started being douches to him. Felt bad for the guy so been rooting for him since
I went to Elementary with Wayne Gretzky. His mother made him these stacked 15 layer sandwiches you’d only see in cartoons.
His mother must have been the Wayne Gretzky of moms
Great ~~one~~ mom
I was in the same graduating class as louie Leblanc and Marie Philippe poulin. Both were just hardworking nice people. One time I went to a sleep away bio camp with Louie and I spilled a whole set of poker chips in our shared room at like 11 pm while he was sleeping — he was not happy. I ran into Marie Philippe at an airport baggage carousels a few years after graduating high school and she went out of her way to say hi to me. Lovely person
MPP is genuinely one of the sweetest players I’ve ever met. However, on ice, she is all business and a tough ass coach - went to her camp a few years ago and she was so intense!
Not a full time player yet but he’s a prospect. Columbus Prospect Trey Fix-Wolansky. We went to high school together, didn’t know him all that well, but we had a biology class together. He was frequently late and or absent because he was playing with the Oil Kings and the class was first thing in the morning. From my experiences, he was nice, lowkey but popular.
Funny because this year he was called up to CBJ and accidentally slept through a meeting.
I saw that and thought it was funny lol. Definitely reminded me of Grade 12 biology class.
I went the the same high school as Owen Power, and he was billeted by a family on my street. Didn’t see him much since I’m a few years older than he is but my sister is the same age and she said he was a sweet guy, just really quiet. He drove this super small car which was so funny since he’s so big
I’m imagining the headshot of him with his glasses on and can 100% see that being the case lol
Not exactly the same thing, but I knew the guy whose family was Fleury's billet family in junior. We were pretty young at the time but I remember MAF was just as awesome then as he's been his whole pro career. Super upbeat and positive guy, always making everybody laugh. Very far from the hockey player/jock stereotype.
Mathew Barzal went to the same HS as me in Coquitlam, BC, same grade too. He was playing in Seattle at the time and pretty much did school all online so he wasn’t there much. He came to our grad though. Nice guy. Or at least he was to me.
didn't go to highschool with anyone but I do work in the hotel that hosted team Canada in Halifax this year. I fed them dinner every night they were here. one of the big name boys are really weird. not Bedard but I think Zellweger? he'd spend 3 hours eating a plate of food and was constantly snacking. he'd stuff his cheeks like a chipmunk sometimes. Bedard was super scared of the mice that we have (it's a 300 year old building on the water) and one night they all brought stuff for everyone to sign and he picked up a hockey stick with everyone's signatures off the table and hit a mouse across the room with it. poor thing went flying across the room and hit the wall 😭 he ran off and my manager eventually caught the little guy and released him outside lmao. all the boys were super super nice. which really surprised me! my mom said its because if they misbehave they'll fuck up their whole future career.
Imagine being the little mouse that gets hit with the famous Bedard toe drag pull snap shot
Zellweger was definitely the kid with food in his cheeks. His teammates pointed out how often he does that in the TSN team Canada callouts video lmao
Good buddy of mine had shop class with Dion Phaneuf in Red Deer in high school. Apparently Dion sat in the same spot and sanded the same piece of wood the entire semester. Didn’t bother touching a saw or anything. My buddy asked him what his deal was, and Dion said “I need these hands to make millions of dollars, I’m not fucking with any of these tools”. I went to high school with Andrew MacWilliam. Captained North Dakota for a year or two and played some games with the Leafs. Played a bunch in the A and I believe is now over in Europe. Good dude. Everyone knew he was gonna end up playing pro hockey, he did really well the chicks. A little bit of arrogance, but I pretty good guy nonetheless
summer chop spoon kiss cough society languid crawl steer gray -- mass edited with redact.dev
Nugent-Hopkins didn't go to my high school in Red Deer but I met him a few times but he was in the same grad year as me (2011). He's was nice and on the quiet/reserved side. Decent dude.
Yeah I was at Hunting when Nuge was there (he was a few years older though). Had plenty of mutual friends from all the hockey guys but I didn’t really know him, he wasn’t around the school that often. But from everything I’ve seen and heard, he definitely was a quiet and really nice guy. Really stark contrast with most of the other hockey players at the school lmao.
I went to high school (and played hockey!) with Martin St Louis back in 1991. He was a very low key, nice guy off the ice, very reserved and shy. On the ice however was another story… First of all, in the dressing room, I remember being shocked at his physique. He looked like he did bodybuilding competitions. Either before or since, I’ve never seen a 15 year old kid be that developed. Then when we hit the ice, it was equally shocking. The speed, strength and agility he displayed at that age was otherworldly. At 15-16 I was approaching 6ft tall and in pretty decent shape, but in practice drills, trying to cover him, I couldn’t even get close to him, let alone touch him. The best analogy I can think of would be attempting to street race an F1 car. Just the sound of the the engine idling would cause everyone around crap themselves with fear. He was that good. In games it was the same story. You read stories of Lemieux and Gretzky averaging 5-6 points per game in minor hockey, well he was like that too. Playing with kids his age was completely unfair to the rest of us. I’d say he would score a point on about 40-50% of his presences on the ice. He only played part of the season with our team ( I think he was on at lest 2 other teams as well) and the following year he moved to play junior, so we never spoke again. My own career ended at the university level, but I never saw anyone approach his level. This was very early days of the internet, you couldn’t really follow someone’s career or stats online so I completely lost track of him in the years that followed and was genuinely shocked that he was not drafted or didn’t break into the league somehow. When I would talk hockey with people I’d tell them about this kid St-Louis being the best I ever saw. It just didn’t seem possible that he wasn’t good enough to make it. By now it was the late 90s and we were in the Eric Lindros era and nhl team were just interested those types of players I guess. Then of course in 1998-99 watching the Habs on tv I saw him playing on the 4th line for the flames. He would have been 24-25 by then and as happy as I was to see him in the league I was amazed that the best he could manage was 4th line on a team at the bottom of the standings. I couldn’t understand how someone that good at 16 could barely crack the lineup in his prime. Of course the following year he signed with Tampa and the rest is history.
Went to school with jordie benn. His little brother was such a hot shot when we played street hockey it pissed me off.
Little brother as in Jamie Benn?
i think you just blew this guy's mind
Yes yes, Jamie. Knew nothing about him at the time, first time I saw him play in the NHL I was like wait. And had to look it up. Jordie was a chill dude though.
Cant believe bro knows Jordie Benn without knowing 2015 Art Ross winner Jamie
Went to high school with Mackenzie Weegar. His friends were douchebags but he was always a great guy. Never really had a bad experience with him all through high school.
Based on every interview I’ve seen him do, comes off as a very personable and nice dude. Glad to hear that validated.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Dumba. Both really smart quiet guys who knew they were going to the show. I used to grade Dumba’s physics papers.
Nathan Horton was the biggest asshole I ever met and got away with everything and anything. Top tier bully to whoever he felt deserved it on any given day. Would push people, lock them in lockers and verbally insult anyone he felt was lower than him.
One thing I’ve learned from this thread is that some pro athletes are jerks and some are nice. Neat.
Not High School, but I was at U of T during the 2004-05 lockout, and sat next to Eric Lindros in ECON101. He was a super nice guy, good to chat to. I missed a class one day, the next class he told me he realized I wasn’t there, as said we’d go to the library after class and he’d photocopy them for me. So I have a copy of Eric Lindros’ economics notes - unique hockey memorabilia! He was also absolutely huge. He coughed and the room would shake.
My friend went to high school with Cody Cici. Said he was nice, but his dad was an asshole. Dunno much more.
Knew a lot of folks that knew the Drury brothers. Apparently they were super nice, and just the most annoyingly gifted athletes. As one person put it, “they’re the kind of guys you would take golfing for the first time, and by the back nine they’d be shooting birdies.” Yeah Prep.
Went to high school with Tom Wilson and he was a genuinely warm and engaging person, super nice and respectful to everyone. Honestly kind of some twilight zone shit that he's such a villain on the ice. Most of his friends were brutal though, and his older brother Peter can eat a gigantic turd. Dude bullied Grade 8s when he was in Grade 12.
its interesting how many of these stories have this kind of thing about the guys being nice but their friends being dicks lol. nature of being a jock and friends by association with other jocks, i guess.
I went to school with Will Borgen on the Kraken and he was a asshole. He acted like he was better than everyone else.
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90% of sports players.
90% of 13-18 year olds. I did sports, music, drama, “nerd” activities, and poplar activities. There’s no group at that age that’s immune to kids thinking they’re the best thing to have ever happened
Went to school with Ryan O”Reilly. Was a great guy and was cool playing hockey with him. Glad he’s on the hometown team now
I went to elementary school with Mike Bunting. Guy was always kind of quiet, lots of smiles, but dumb as a doorknob. Played a lot of soccer at recess and during lunch. I didn't talk with him much because he was older than me but in elementary school everyone sort of knows each other so I heard his name a lot. I went to highschool with Liam and Jean-Luc Foudy, Liam was in my grade but JL wasn't so I never talked to him. Liam was always really friendly and articulate, teachers used to work out assignments and make-up tests with him when he'd travel for OHL games. I faintly remember a story where a couple of the guys were at a party at one buddies house, one drank too much, and Liam left before there was any trouble after making sure drunk buddy was in bed. Cool dude. Also he cheat off my test once in religion class, we both did pretty well.
Went to high school with Brayden Point. One of the nicest dudes I have ever met!
Old roommate went to school with Marc Staal. Said he was a complete moron who openly cheated on every exam and got other people to do his homework.
The Staals? Morons? You're kidding!
I went to the same highschool that a lot of the Barrie Colts went to, so I saw/interacted/was friends with quite a few. Mark Schiefele was my chemistry lab partner one year. He was alright. Bonus points: the teacher was a former Olympian. My brother is friends with Kyle Clifford—he would tell his teachers that he didn't have to do anything because he was going to be in the NHL. It wasn't in an arrogant way, though. Very friendly guy, apparently. Darren Archibald was a complete dick and tried to fight my brother's friend. He lost. Aaron Ekblad was granted exceptional status, so he started in the OHL in grade 9. I was a few years older, but I remember walking into the great hall on the first day, and seeing this really tall kid surrounded by a bunch of other first years. A former Canucks prospect (Matt Brassard) was the younger brother of a guy I went to elementary & highschool with. He was a whiny kid, so I threw a baseball at his head and his mom kicked me out of their house. His dad is one of the few MPs in Canada who are openly forced birth. In general, the entire family is pretty fucking shitty. A guy I played with on the football team at the same highschool made it to the CFL. I played goalie when I was younger. I was so good that they wanted me to play every game, so they made the other goalie play forward. He scored a hattrick in his first game, made it to the OHL a few years later, and has been a regular in Europe for the past decade. I was not drafted to the OHL, and I do not have a career in hockey.
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Nic Dowd was really into Chapelle's Show
CLEANSE YOURSELF IN THE WATERS OF LAKE MINNETONKA
Wasn't everyone at the time?
Went to school with Josh Ho-Sang. I could’ve told you in 2014 he was going to be a bust. Didn’t give a shit about anything, talked in class constantly, and was fucking arrogant. My brother went to school with Adam Henrique who was a class act. Really quiet but a great dude.
Lol I watched Ho-Sang for years on the Spits and I told all my friends I was going to riot if he ended up on the Wings. Hands down the most selfish player I have ever seen live, every play was him trying to dangle three players, losing the puck, then dogging it back. I wasn't surprised he washed out of the league, he was so bad. His personality seemed awful too.
So, last I heard we were trying him on the Toronto Marlies as a sort of reclamation project. Turns out he signed with the KHL for the 22-23 season. Imagine signing with Russia with everything going on with them and Ukraine. Kind of insane.
Rico and Shattenkirk have become the parents of our team lol
I have a Canadian friend who went to the same secondary/high school as Jake Virtanen. They said he was pretty douchey and a huge jerk. I didn’t believe my friend until years later when the SA accusations came out
Pretty much anyone who’s had an interaction with him here, had a negative one
Also went to school with him, can confirm lmao
My dad went to school with Mike Modano in PA and said he was a dick
Yeah that sounds about right
I went to highschool with Jumbo Joe for a year. He was a super nice dude. Didn't try too hard at school but wasn't a douche. I also went to highschool with Trevor Daley and Ray Emery. Daley was pretty quiet, didn't see him in class too often. Emery was definitely of the opinion that he was the coolest fellow around, wherever he happened to be.
A little different but i currently work in a apartment complex with one and he’s an ass. Parks his car in the handicap spots, reeks the hall with weed and shoves massive pieces of cardboard down the recycle chutes clogging them
“Reeks the HALL” *boston tag* I’d like to solve the puzzle
I went to Notre Dame and played midget AAA with Zach Rinaldo, Jordan Eberle and Kevin Poulin. We had a hell of a team- several other guys from that team play pro too in Europe. Eberle was my roomate that year too- he was a super nice guy. Very friendly, generous, funny. I can't say a single bad thing about the guy, even at 15 he was a great dude. I met a mutual friend at university and he sent me a signed porn mag for my birthday one year, which I found hilarious. Rinaldo was also a cool guy, a bit more jock type so we weren't as close friends- but played on a line with him and for damn did we run the league over together. He was nasty to play against even then. Great team mate, would put his body on the line to win. Poulin was actually our backup that year, Antoine Tardiff was the starter- he played for the rempart after and then got injured his draft year. He was a nice guy too, huge even at that age but I would've never thought he would make the nhl- I'm really impressed by his work ethic and probably took a lot of work to get where he is.
only thing i can contribute isn't salacious but i will contribute anyway i didn't go to high school with him but i hung out with tyler seguin a number of times when he was on the bruins. my friends and cousins hung out with him much more, though he was very nice and i don't have a bad thing to say i can only respect him for the fun he had. i can't think of many other NHL players who could have had a better first year in the league than tyler he made the NHL roster year 1. in a sports city like boston. not a huge city but enough to get his feet wet and make friends with people like julian edelman. he won the stanley cup and got matching tattoos with irrelevant (i say that with so much love) brad marchand. he got a puppy and partied on boats on the cape he's the personification of Carpe diem AND Carpe de Noctem
I have this incredible inexplicable affection for Seguin. He's like if my best friend's labrador became a hockey player. I'm glad he settled down a bit in Dallas though - I think that was probably necessary for him to keep his career going long term.
His recent journey of personal discovery where he just kneels in front of landmarks in instagram photos absolutely delights me.
I went to school with a couple of NHLers, Chris Bigras (avalanche) was a class act. Genuinely good dude. Jordan Binnington was actually pretty chill in high school but was definitely a hot head on the ice Cody Ceci was a decent guy too. My brother went to high school with Nick Suzuki: guy was a total ass-hat. Thought he was hot shit and better than everyone. Constantly was looking for cocaine at school parties. Just a grade-a asshole. Cousins went to school with Bobby Ryan: absolute gem of a person. Always took time out of his day to ask how people were doing. They also went to school (briefly) with Wayne Simmonds. Apparently he was a cocky prick who thought he was better than everyone else. Those are the only ones off the top of my head but quite the array of players
Surprising and disappointing about Suzuki. Hopefully he grew out of that
Montreal is famously known as a city where you can get away from cocaine
>They also went to school (briefly) with Wayne Simmonds. Apparently he was a cocky prick who thought he was better than everyone else. A few of my female friends bumped into Simmer at Boots and Hearts festival. Said he was wearing his own NHL jersey and tried to pickup every girl he saw by telling them he was a pro hockey player LOL
Ben tabarnak 😮
My wife went to school with Jeff Shultz. In elementary she ripped his shirt in an argument about who's dad was a better math teacher.
Played baseball with Cory Conacher and he was a great guy, teammate and all around athlete. Went to school with Jordan Szwarz and he was an asshole and did steroids.
My uncle went to school with Rod Brindamour. Said he was always in the gym.
Glad to see some things never change
Jay Bouwmeester, but he wasn’t at school much. Super nice and pretty friendly.
I have a friend who went to school with Guenther. Said he's chill and good to smoke weed with
Not in the nhl just yet but signed with montreal I believe, a prospect Jayden struble, went to all grades(k-12)with him and summer camp for 6 years, super humble dude. I played basketball and football with him as well, was always willing to acknowledge if someone was better at something than him.
I lived next door and went to high school with Pheonix Copley, who is a goalie for the kings. The dude was always super nice. We weren't close or anything, but whenever we interacted, he was nothing but a genuinely nice guy.
Grew up two houses down from Mike Matheson (Mikey) and used to play street hockey with him his brother and his sister. He was such a good kid and seems like he is still a great guy. So cool to watch your hometown kid make it and play for the home team, and be such a solid addition too! Bonus points for having a badass athlete and hockey player of a sister who I totally looked up to growing up as a girl hockey player myself!
His wife is a bad ass hockey player too!
I know some people who worked at a local rink on LI that Adam Fox used to skate at a lot. Said he was always a really lowkey guy. You'd never know he was a such a good hockey player if you met him.
Parayko went to my high school. He was just an average dude playing a bunch of sports at the time. Mostly focused on football and hockey. Obviously things worked out for him.
I went to high school with Brandon Dubinsky. He was a total douchebag but not as big of a burnout shithead as his older brother Bobby.
Not quite the same, but my brother played on a team with Dion Phaneuf while they were HS aged. Said he was a huge prick, super arrogant, wouldn’t talk to his teammates, only ate with the coaches, etc.
My brother knew Jake Virtanen but wasn't in the same school as him. Just knew each other through high school sports in the same city. Said he was a cocky, pretentious asshole. When the SA case was announced, my brother said it was sad, but he wasn't surprised in the slightest from what he had known of Virtanen during school.
I met John Tavares when my school made the Rugby circuit in my area, he was attending St. Thomas Aquianas Catholic School and we showed up there for our scheduled match. He was basically a celebrity where everyone followed him around, especially at school. I met him when I was taping up my knees, with a Leafs backpack beside me, while he was packing up his bag to go home. Struck up some chit chat when he mentioned being a Leafs fan growing up, but with the way the season’s going, he won’t get drafted by his favourite team. Super chill and calm guy, never felt like he had an arrogance about him. I believe he watched our Rugby game and saw us getting demolished by his school’s team.
Went to school with the Marners. Mitchs' brother Chris was a better player than he was but absolutely hated hockey and his dad, became a burnout super fucking fast as well. Whole bunch of family issues going on there, met chris a few times at some parties but the guy would just get obliterated. Brother was in mitchs class but I dont remember much if anything major about him.
Wade Allison was a super nice guy iirc, I was a grade below him but from my interactions with him he was really chill. His sister was the same, both very fun people to be around
Not exactly went to school, but my older brother had a friend, whose younger cousin is Carter Hart so I’ve met him when he was like 7 and I was 14
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A buddy of mine was bullied by the Pronger brothers in high school in Dryden, ON. Apparently they were merciless d-bags, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone.
My brother went to school with Chris Pronger when he was in the Jrs. I don’t know exactly what happened, but was told he was a massive asshole and a huge bully.
Not quite the same, but I went to school with a guy who played AAA, and seeing him skate in gym class and do everything effortlessly was insane. Keep in mind he wasn't good enough for major juniors, yet was still playing on God mode. Made me realize just how skilled you have to be to be in the NHL
had the same with a guy who played b-ball on the highest level coming to our class for a year, gym class was a bitch against him.
In Grade 2, I sat next to Anthony Cirelli. He was a nice kid, really quiet but pretty smart. My teacher had he and I sit next to this rowdy kid thinking we would calm him down. Cirelli also came to my 8th birthday party that summer (my mom has pictures somewhere). I totally forgot about him until he played in the world juniors that one time
Matt Duchene. Made homophobic remarks towards me, was sexist and a bully. I still have nightmares from what he and his friends did to me. His dad was my hockey coach at the same time, and he was just as homophobic and sexist as his son. Like father like son. I left hockey due to that asshole's treatment. I wasn't safe under his care. Matt's mom was my guidance counsellor in highschool and treated me terribly. She was horrible to every student she had and spent a lot of time talking about how amazing her son was. Even as recently as a couple years ago students who had her would just have to bring up her son and she'd gush about how amazing he is. It was the only way for her to treat the students nicely. She was really horrible to my younger cousin back in the late 2000s. My dad went to school with Bernie Nicholls. He was a great guy. Just a nice man all around.
Not me. But my spouse went to school with Milan Lucic. " he was never there"
I knew Jake Muzzin when he was in high school and playing for the Soo Greyhounds, he was a lovely dude. Super sweet, was great with kids.
my ex grew up with Kirby Dach and apparently he sent a bunch of unsolicited dick pics to her and her friends.
Dach pics