When we wrote about the funniest moments that have happened during an NHL game, we were overwhelmed with how many there were. That’s why, due to popular demand, we have Part Two of the Funniest NHL Moments caught on ice! As we approach the start of another NHL season, it’s important to remember that while players are out there competing for millions of dollars, at the end of the day they are all out there having fun. Without further ado, the next set of the funniest moments in the NHL!
Preds fans throw COVID friendly catfish on the ice
We begin in Music City, where Nashville Predators fans carried on a playoff custom of throwing a catfish onto the ice. This is similar to how Red Wings fans used to throw an octopus onto the ice during the playoffs, but the catfish adds a midwestern feel to it. What I found most appropriate was that the fans at least took the time to put a mask on the catfish! Only in 2021!
There was a lot of controversy when Gritty was unveiled as the official new mascot of the Flyers, but it seems like he has grown on NHL fans. While he may bring some laughs to some of the toughest fans in the NHL, at least one fan walked away from his encounter with Gritty without a smile. Gritty was playing duck duck goose with fans and when he picked the goose he ran off, only to come back and throw an entire cake in that fan’s face. More often than not these types of pranks are fans that are planted by the team, but still, it was a pretty funny sequence that caught on the jumbotron.
In one of the more well known interactions on the ice, then Blackhawks forward Steve Sullivan gives a fan a dose of karma. Earlier in the game Sullivan was hit in the face with a high stick and as he skated back to the bench, a fan in the front row was seen taunting him. Sullivan stopped to give him a few words but skated off the ice to get repairs. Later that game, Patrick Roy cleared the puck over the ice and it happened to hit that same taunting fan right in the head. In what is one of the sweetest moments of karma in recent memory, Sullivan skated over to the fan and gave him a piece of his mind. Even the fan’s girlfriend had to laugh at that one!
Even one of the toughest power forwards in the league is no match for a blindside clothesline from a linesman. Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn was casually skating up the ice when all of a sudden out of nowhere he was hit in the face by a striped arm. Benn had no idea that the linesman was sitting on the boards at the Carolina bench, and just as he skated by, the linesman waved off an icing call. Well he also smacked Benn right in the face, catching the star off guard and knocking him to the ice!
What happens when you head to the penalty box without your helmet? Well, either someone brings it to you, or the ref grabs one from the bench so your head is protected. On this occasion, tiny Cory Conacher got the extra large helmet of John Scott and hilarity ensues. Conacher takes one look at the helmet and laughs as he puts it on. It looks like a little kid is wearing his dad’s helmet in the video. You can bet the entire Sabres bench was laughing about it too!
Hey, we get it, after a long game the last thing a goalie wants to do is climb over a bench. Carolina goalie Anton Khudobin is being pulled for the extra man in a game against the Rangers, and skates furiously over to the bench only to end up falling back down onto the ice as he tries to climb off. Even his goaltending partner Cam Ward can’t help but laugh as he tries to help his teammate into the bench!
You wouldn’t normally see a player like Paul Ranger shoot in a regular season shootout, so he clearly wanted to make the best of his opportunity. In round 10 of a preseason shootout, Ranger skated in and kicked his stick to fire the puck at the net. The attempt got a laugh from the play by play announcers and even his coaches. One person who didn’t seem to appreciate it was Buffalo goalie Jhonas Enroth who gave Ranger a hack as he skated by.
Remember when we all tried to do this move in street hockey? Jared McCann of the Penguins flicks the puck up and bounces it in the air off his stick five times before swatting it out of mid-air. If he had scored, it probably would have been one of the greatest goals of all time! It shows an incredible amount of skill to do this at top speed, and especially through several Panthers defenders. Seems like all the time he’s playing with Sidney Crosby is rubbing off on McCann!
Out of all of the sports that young athletes can play, it is difficult to think of one that is more physically intensive on developing bodies than hockey. A high impact game that is traditionally hard on knees and hips, the topic of potential overtraining from a young age has been a popular one in recent years. Why is overtraining suddenly a hot topic? Because studies of injuries amongst younger athletes have shown that a good percentage of them occur due to the neglect of recovery and fatigue in crucial areas of their bodies. As parents and coaches we have a tendency to overlook injuries in young players as their energy levels and flexibility tend to diminish how serious the injuries really are.
Overtraining on and off the Ice
Hockey has long been known as a sport that tends to have a lot of practices and games throughout the week. Early morning practices and late night games wreak havoc on the development of young bodies and not just because they spend too much time on the ice. Overtraining and fatigue can come in many different forms including a lack of sleep to a developing body. We all know kids need their sleep but early morning practices are not just hard on parents they are hard on the players as well. Not only can this hinder a full night’s sleep, but rushing to school after a practice can cause missing breakfast which is another essential building block for a developing body. What about when they actually get to school? A lack of sleep and breakfast can cause issues with focus and paying attention in class which of course is another aspect of mitigating full development.
What about physical development as well? To account for the amount of skating and physicality of hockey, players need to build up their strength which may include weight lifting or strength training off the ice. Younger players generally have what is called an imbalance of muscles, meaning that there are a lot of weaknesses in how their bodies are developing with certain muscle groups growing faster and stronger than others. This is natural as we rely on things like our legs more than we need upper body strength as children. Without proper training though muscle imbalances can become an issue and with prolonged weakness, can be a recurring source of injuries as we get older.
What about the goalies?
Hockey goalies by nature have a relatively unnatural stance when they are in the crease getting ready to stop the puck. Their legs are always slightly bent and pushing off in this crouched and compact position to explode into a save can cause long-term issues. One of the things many goalies have to deal with are hip issues like impingements or muscle tears in the labrum area. Recently, former Vancouver Canuck and Carolina Hurricane goaltender and friend of mine Eddie Lack was forced to retire due to chronic and recurring hip injuries. Goalies who play in net since childhood most likely suffer from some sort of hip pain or discomfort during their career and hip surgery is a common procedure that goalies need to undertake.
So how can we realistically say that multiple practices per week on top of games is helping young goalies avoid serious hip injuries in the future? The crouched position that goalies take is called the valgus position, and in this stance, the space between the labrum and the hip socket is diminished causing long-term wear and tear. Goalies also feel related knee soreness and suffer knee injuries from this stance so you can quickly piece together how overtraining as a goalie can have serious future repercussions to a goalie’s livelihood. The key to avoiding injury from any sort of repetitive stance or muscle use is stretching both before and after games and practices. There are numerous stretches that can target the hip and pelvis area for goalies, but with constant use over time, it may be inevitable for goalies to have some sort of hip issue.
Recovery is Key for Young Players
This is recovery in general, not just after injuries or soreness. One way to avoid overuse of the same muscle groups and joints is to have them take part in different sports throughout the year. Give their knees and hips a break with sports like soccer or baseball when hockey is in the offseason. The problem is, especially here in Canada where hockey is gospel, parents tend to keep their kids in hockey all year round. Spring and summer leagues are becoming more normal and if they are not playing in a league they often have them in other training camps like power skating. Is that wrong? Of course not, many parents have high aspirations for their children at a young age. They do need to know that twelve months of hockey could be doing some detrimental damage or at least not allowing for enough recovery for their muscles and joints.
Since young players bounce back so fast and are always wanting to get back out on the ice, they may not feel the same soreness that we feel as adults. Always make sure to be aware of any soreness your child may be feeling after a practice or game. If that soreness is not properly healed, it can make the area susceptible to injuries in the long-term. The key to not over train is to include diversity in your child’s activities throughout the year. Remember that proper sleep, nutrition, and rest are perhaps more important to their overall development than having four practices and two games per week. We are not just training our kids to be hockey players but we want them to develop the proper strength and physical health to succeed at everything in life, not just hockey.
It will always be a point of contention, amongst fans, the media, and the players themselves: how much money professional athletes make to play a sport. How many fans would say, “I would play in the NHL for free!” Well, unfortunately for them that is not the only criteria that gets you onto an NHL roster. Professional athletes are just that, professionals. They are the best in the world at what they do and whether you like it or not, they get paid millions of dollars to do so. Never mind the years of dedication, training, and sacrifices they have made to get to where they are, but let’s also remember that this is their job, and a player’s career has a small window to make the most money they can. Generally speaking if you have an agent negotiating on your behalf, you are one of the best at whatever it is you do.
The NHL has come a long way in player salaries, but still trails other sports like the NBA, NFL, and MLB in the size of contracts. Part of that is the cost of the TV deals that the NHL gets compared to say the billions of dollars that the NFL gets. Part of it is merchandise and ticket sales: you can pack nearly a hundred thousand fans into a stadium, but an arena is limited to about 25,000 at capacity. Part of it is the NHL salary cap that was introduced back in 2005 that brought parity to the league but also managed to cap how much the top players were able to make. Let’s take a look at how NHL salaries have evolved over the years.
Contract Length
There was a time where General Managers tried to outsmart the cap by offering players mega long-term contracts that would pay a smaller annual salary each year. The New York Islanders are the first team to come to mind in the early 2000s, when they offered goaltender Rick DiPietro an NHL record 15-year contract as well as a 10-year contract for Alexei Yashin. Both players stopped playing for the Islanders long before the contracts were over, meaning New York had to keep those contracts on the books for years. Chicago also handed out some epic contracts to keep its young core like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Ketih intact. They did so, and they won a couple of Stanley Cups so organizationally it was a win, but now at the tail end of their careers, the Blackhawks have been rebuilding for some time. Now, after the most recent collective bargaining agreement, the longest contract that can be handed out by NHL teams is seven years.
Contract Amount
The dollar amounts of contracts will always rise over time given inflation and the relative price of the dollar. But if you take a look back over the years, you will notice a steady rise and fall of salaries as different CBAs and salary cap systems have been in place. In 1990, Wayne Gretzky was the highest played player in the NHL at $3 million per season. But a simple inflation calculator will tell you that this is only the equivalent of about $6 million in 2021. In 1995, Gretzky made $6.5 million, which in 2021 would be roughly $11 million. Still a pretty good discount for the greatest player of all time. Just five years later, Jaromir Jagr made $17 million in 2000, which in 2021 would be an astounding $26 million or about 35% of this season’s team salary cap. After 1996-1997, NHL player salaries ballooned, and Gretzky never was able to make his worth with his contracts, although he made plenty through endorsements after retirement.
But then in 2005-2006, the NHL salary cap was brought back where each team only had an incredibly low $39 million and no player was allowed to make more than 20% of the team’s salary. So Jagr went from $17 million in 2000, to $8 million in 2005. Still a lot of money, but imagine if your salary was cut in half during your prime years of work. The salary cap has steadily risen since 2005-2006, and player salaries along with it. This year, it isn’t Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin or even Connor McDavid that has the highest salary. It is Toronto Maple Leaf Auston Matthews, and a close second is his teammate Mitch Marner.
Historical Contracts and Salaries
It’s funny to go back in time and look at what the legends of the game were making compared to what an average player makes today. The first $1 million contract was not handed out until 1977-1978 to Bernie Parent and Bobby Hull, who wasn’t even in the NHL at that time. Hull’s contract came when he was playing in the WHA, or the World Hockey Association, a short-lived rival to the NHL. From 1953-1957, NHL legend and the late great Jean Beliveau, was the highest paid player every season with a salary of $21,000 CAD. In 1966-68, Bobby Orr was the highest played player with a salary of only $35,000 CAD. Finally, Jaromir Jagr managed to play during just the right time as he managed to amass $120 million over his great career, more than any other player in NHL history.
NHL salaries may never reach the point of other leagues like the NBA where the average 2021 salary hit $10 million, or the MLB where recently young superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. signed a 14-year $340 million contract. But players today have CBA negotiations and the NHLPA to thank for the amount of money they are able to make now compared to just a couple of decades ago. And remember, players don’t always make the published amount on their contracts, as can be seen when we previously broke down how much players actually make. As long as the NHL sticks to the current salary cap structure and limits how much the top salaries can be, we may never see the exorbitant contracts from the early 2000s, but the benefit for fans is a league with parity and evenly constructed teams no matter how big or small of a market they are in.
Surprising Places Around The World You Can Find Hockey
Have you ever wondered how much ice hockey is played around the world? We all know the hockey hotbeds of Canada, the United States, Scandinavia, and Russia, but what about regions where ice is not readily available? If you are like me, you would have never imagined that ice hockey is played in Kenya or Costa Rica or even North Korea! But why wouldn’t they be? Hockey is a beautiful sport and the allure of seeing players skate at full speed while stickhandling a puck and trying not to get decked is an incredible experience to watch, let alone play. With the global community getting smaller each year as technology and the internet make basically anything possible, we shouldn’t be surprised to read that ice hockey is played on nearly every continent on the planet. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body of the sport and currently has 76 countries that are members! Let’s take a look at some of the more exotic locations that you can find a local rink to go play some shinny at!
Africa
Really? Africa? The continent with the hottest average temperature on the planet has ice rinks? You better believe it! South Africa actually has the most organized hockey community that centers around the South African Ice Hockey Association, as well as the South African national hockey team which has been a part of the IIHF since 1937. There is even a local South African Super League which was founded in 2016, and features three local teams from Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town.
North Africa actually has several hockey loving countries that have their own exclusive competitive ice hockey leagues as well. These countries include Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. In total, twelve African countries have some sort of organized ice hockey league or association that is currently running, although there is no plan to form an African continental hockey league that would allow teams from the different countries to compete.
The Americas
No, we’re not going to talk about Canada and the U.S. for obvious reasons, but the other North American country, Mexico, has a fairly decent hockey following. The Mexican Elite League was formed in 2010 and has four competitive teams all based out of Mexico City. There is a small but organized development system in Mexico as well that actually has national programs for men, women, and juniors. Mexico currently has a total of over 1,500 registered ice hockey players across the various programs.
We all remember the Jamaican bobsled team right? Well this Caribbean paradise actually does have a men’s national team, although Jamaica currently does not have any ice rinks for them to play at. The solution? Holding tryouts in other countries such as Canada and the United State where ice rinks are abundant. The goal of the men’s national program is to compete in a Winter Olympic Games in the next twenty years!
Other South American countries do have some limited exposure to ice hockey including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. While there are not any professional or organized ice hockey leagues in South America, there are national team programs that compete in such tournaments as the Pan American hockey tournament. Not surprisingly given the climate, inline hockey has become popular in South America, and there are several countries with both men’s and women’s national teams.
Asia
Ice hockey actually has quite the following in Asia, with Japan being the clear leader in the sport. The island country actually has 167 IIHF recognized rinks and nearly 20,000 players registered to organized leagues. Japan had its own ice hockey league which operated until 2004, when a Asian continental league was formed. Japan has both men’s and women’s national development programs and the women’s team has actually qualified for the past two Olympic Winter Games. One of the highlights of Japan hockey was at the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games when the men’s national sledge hockey team took the silver medal, losing to the United States in the gold medal game.
Perhaps on the more surprising side of the spectrum, North Korea has full developmental programs for its men’s and women’s national teams. North Korea actually has 13 IIHF recognized rinks and over 2,000 registered players. There is even a North Korean Championship that has been played in every single year since 1956!
Given the sheer population that China and India have it should come as no surprise that both countries have organized ice hockey leagues for both men and women. China even has a franchise based out of Beijing that competes in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League or KHL, called the HC Kunlun Red Star.
Other countries that have professional, organized ice hockey leagues include Israel, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Australia, and Indonesia. How many of these countries would you have guessed have an organized ice hockey league?
Europe
Europe is a global hub for ice hockey and we all know about the countries who have risen to dominate the sport in the NHL. But what about some of the smaller countries that you wouldn’t expect? Belgium, Estonia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Spain, and Turkey all have a very faithful ice hockey following and all have some form of organized professional leagues!
Italy, a country known for its obsession with soccer, actually has 70 IIHF recognized rinks and well over 5,000 registered players, while even smaller countries like North Macedonia, Luxembourg, and Romania, all have their own organized ice hockey leagues.
So there you have it, ice hockey truly is a global sport that is enjoyed on basically every continent. While some of these countries may not have the facilities or equipment that we are so fortunate to have in Canada, the love of the game and the spirit of competition is something we can all appreciate.
When millions of dollars are involved and contracts and player livelihood is at stake, games are taken seriously. But occasionally, we get these brief glimpses of NHL players just being human and having fun, and even more rarely, we see them being downright silly on the ice. Let’s take a look back at some of the funniest moments in the NHL over the past few seasons.
Ref Hides Beachball in Jersey: Game 4 of the opening round of the 2017 NHL playoffs saw the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins tangle. Many will remember this as the Senators’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in double overtime of Game Seven. But for me, I’ll always remember when a Boston fan threw a pink beach ball onto the ice, and the referee grabbed it and quickly shoved it under the back of his jersey and kept on skating with the play.
Ovechkin’s Stick is on Fire: When Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the 2009 season, he pulled out a celebration that still gets played on highlight and blooper reels to this day. His famous ‘stick is on fire’ celebration is loved by some and hated by hockey purists, but there is no denying that Ovechkin will go down as one of the most entertaining players to ever lace up the skates.
Rask loses his skate blade: It wasn’t so much funny that the blade of Tuuka Rask’s skate fell off, but more so his reaction after Tampa Bay scored on him. I will always remember the sight of Rask chasing after the refs while trying to skate on one skate blade. Thankfully he wasn’t injured, nor was anyone else when he threw the skate blade in anger!
Barbashev loses his skate blade: More skate blade fun on the ice! Ivan Barbashev of the St. Louis Blues crashed heavily into the boards and completely lost the blade of his skate. This one was a little more light hearted than Rask’s situation, as the referee slid Barbashev on his knees all the way to the bench! That’s some quick thinking by that ref!
Girl Falls While Singing National Anthem: We’ve all seen this one before. In one of the most cringe worthy two minutes in national anthem history, this poor girl forgets the words to Star Spangled Banner and then promptly returns with cue cards, only to slip and fall on the ice. I am glad she was okay because I cannot help but laugh everytime I see her reaction after she slips!
Dustin Brown forgets how to use a water bottle: In one of the funniest five-second clips you’ll ever see, Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown goes to take a drink from the water bottle but doesn’t realize he’s holding it upside down. I think the best part of the clip is that Brown pretends like nothing is wrong and tries to play it cool by checking if anyone saw what he did.
Tie Domi fights a fan in the Penalty Box: Another classic moment where former Leafs tough guy Tie Domi is sitting in the penalty box, and a Flyers fan that’s probably had a little too much to drink falls in and starts throwing punches. Chaos ensues but give Domi credit for holding back and not beating the guy up! Domi has a great retelling of the story and how it all ended on the Spittin Chiclets podcast.
Sean Avery Distracts Martin Brodeur: One of the most entertaining and divisive players in recent memory, Sean Avery took his antics a step further in the playoffs against Martin Brodeur. On a 5 on 3 power play, Avery parked himself in front of the Hall of Fame goalie and rather than use his body as a screen, he turned to face Brodeur and began to wave his arms and stick in his face. It was probably even more aggravating for Brodeur when Avery scored shortly after, and forced the NHL to create a rule before the next game even played.
Tiger Williams Rides the Pony: We’re going way back with this one in one of the most iconic goal scoring celebrations in NHL history. Vancouver Canucks tough guy Tiger Williams sure let people know whenever he scored a goal by riding on his stick across the ice like it was a horse. Something tells me if some other player tried to do this they would hear about it the next shift, but Tiger was tough enough to handle his own.
Skinner is in alone, without a stick: Jeff Skinner was home free behind the defense skating at full speed towards the Rangers’ net. Unfortunately for him he left his stick behind so he was dribbling the puck with his skates all the way down the ice. To make matters worse for Buffalo, the Rangers took the puck from Skinner and came back and scored at the other end. I can’t help but laugh when I think how helpless Skinner must have felt.
Sully and Force Do Their Thing: Enough with funny players, it’s time to acknowledge some of the funniest fans in the stands. In Vancouver, Sully and Force, otherwise known as the Green Men, were often seen beside the opposing penalty box making life miserable for the other team’s players. Some of their antics include holding up signs, doing headstands against the glass, and even holding up a cutout of Carrie Underwood against the Predators (her husband Mike Fisher played for them).
Every hockey player in the world has to deal with the same issues that athletes from other sports do not really need to worry about: off-ice training. The fact that hockey is played on ice poses problems for players who want to get in some training sessions outside of scheduled games and practices. Ice time is a premium in North America and unless you live in an area where naturally occurring “free” ice is always available, fitting in that extra training is always going to be difficult. Training on the ice is of course ideal, but there are proven benefits to training off the ice as well, so let’s take a look at some of the best ways players can do this.
The Benefits of Dryland Training
Aside from the simple fact that training on ice is not always an accessible endeavour, there are numerous benefits to continuing your hockey training when you take off your skates. Every NHL player has both an on and off-ice training regimen as things like strength and agility training is not always easy to do on the ice. When we think of dryland training we automatically think of hitting the gym and lifting weights to work on our strength. But as you know, hockey is so much more than just brute strength. Working on things like cardio, agility, and stickhandling outside of your scheduled games and practices will help you keep your skills sharp and stay ahead of your competition!
Types of Dryland Training
Cardio: One of the more straightforward types of off-ice training, running or doing controlled sprints can help hockey players maintain their cardio and endurance, as well as build up explosiveness in their legs. In the third period when other players feel exhaustion in their legs, you can gain an advantage with strong off-ice cardio exercises!
Strength: Hitting the gym and lifting weights is a great way to add strength to your game, especially adding muscle to the core and trunk of your body. Hockey requires strength, but not in the traditional definition where we picture big biceps. Legs and lower body strength are the key to powerful skating and being strong on the puck while fending off defenders.
The type of strength we are training for is explosive strength so heavier weights with lower repetitions are the fastest way to achieve this. Another piece of equipment that is often utilized by hockey players is the medicine ball. Throwing a medicine ball or holding it while doing exercises like lunges or squats, will help hockey players build burst strength which can help you to be explosive in short distances on the ice.
Exercises: medicine ball, weight lifting, kettlebells.
Agility: Agility is a trait that most do not think of for hockey players, but those players who have strong agility skills can often set themselves apart from the competition. Training for agility is not always easy but truth be told, the types of exercises can be done anywhere. Often players can just set up cones to run through or place an agility ladder on the ground.
Exercises: speed cones or agility ladder.
Stickhandling: Stickhandling is an important skill to have and should be a part of every player’s off-ice training regimen. Using equipment like wrist weights or things like the SuperDeker can help you maintain your stickhandling abilities while off the ice, and help improve preparation when getting ready to shoot. The important thing about working on stickhandling is that you will form muscle memory within your hands and wrists, making it easier to call upon these skills in the heat of a game.
Exercises: Stickhandling through cones or objects, SuperDeker equipment, and any home made devices.
Player vs. Goalie Training
Perhaps no two positions are so dissimilar within the same sport as hockey players and goalies. Players are obviously mobile throughout the game and rely on skating explosiveness and strength, while goalies have a larger reliance on things like flexibility and agility. Goalies are not always involved in the play and can actually go long periods within a game without any action at all.
So you can see how a goalie’s workout regimen would be different from a player, both on and off the ice. Goalies are looking for anaerobic bursts which help the body to sustain energy usage in high intensity short periods of time, whereas players need explosiveness over the period of the entire game, so cardio and endurance are much more important factors.
High intensity interval training or (HIIT) are tremendous for hockey goalies and provide quick, intense exercises that replicate action in the crease. The exercises do not put prolonged stress on joints like hips and knees, which goalies already have issues with over the long-term. Lateral quickness and agility for goalies is much more of a focus than things like burst sprints or long distance running. You will often see goalies with tennis balls working on their glove-hand quickness as well. Not to say that things like strength training or cardio is not important to goalies, but flexibility, reactiveness, and overall muscle reflexes are much more integral parts to their game.
Conclusion
Whether you are a goalie or a player, off-ice and dryland training is essential to keeping up with your skills and abilities on the ice. Keeping up with these workouts in the offseason can keep your body in hockey shape and allows for muscle memory to help mitigate any rust that may come from an offseason of being off the ice. There are so many pieces of equipment these days that can simulate being on the actual ice like off-ice treadmills or stickhandling and agility tools like the SuperDeker.
