P.K. Subban addresses controversial topic in latest video release
Photo credit: NHL
In terms of marketing, the NHL has done rather poorly in contrast to the NBA and the NFL. Even the MLB, a sport that has been notorious for never promoting their top players, have slowly crawled out of its hole in recent years. The NHL needs to do a much better job with the amount of skill the modern game possesses and it starts with the youngsters.
P.K. Subban has been a consistent voice of reason ever since he retired from the NHL and has taken on the role of analyst, as many ex-NHLers do once they hang up their skates, but he is also a big believer in his own brand and influence. He took to Twitter on Christmas Eve to remind us how insane those goals were, how much skill it actually takes, and how the league needs to promote more stuff like that to better the game of hockey:
"Are you f****** kidding me? Are you f****** kidding me? Trevor Zegras, Connor Bedard, absolutely disgusting. If you didn't see it, you must be living in a hole because it's pretty much everywhere on the planet right now.
People don't understand the difficulty. As a player, I've seen players anticipate plays on the ice, I've never seen players anticipate the movement of the puck, and if you watch these guys when they're executing these goals, they're anticipating that the puck is going to roll the way it does in transition with forecheckers coming, big hitters on the ice, they're in traffic, they're creating space for themselves. And in that moment they expose not only the goaltender but all 5 guys on the ice, embarrass them in front of 20,000 [in attendance] and millions of people coast-to-coast."
People don't understand the difficulty. As a player, I've seen players anticipate plays on the ice, I've never seen players anticipate the movement of the puck, and if you watch these guys when they're executing these goals, they're anticipating that the puck is going to roll the way it does in transition with forecheckers coming, big hitters on the ice, they're in traffic, they're creating space for themselves. And in that moment they expose not only the goaltender but all 5 guys on the ice, embarrass them in front of 20,000 [in attendance] and millions of people coast-to-coast."
Subban continued raving about Zegras in particular because this is not the first time he's pulled it off. The 22-year-old set the hockey world ablaze when he scored the lacrosse style goal against the Arizona Coyotes and put the sport on the map at a time where things were dulled out:
"I think it's absolutely awesome and Trevor Zegras, yes he's done this a couple of times in the league but [this time] wasn't even my favourite. If we roll the tape [last year] in Phoenix, he went between his legs, recovered the puck in transition, rolls it up on his stick and tucks it, not only in the net around the goaltender, tucks it around his own teammate. Listen, I love to watch players that keep defenders on their heels and fans on their toes and on the edge of their seats.
You can't tell me that that wasn't exciting to watch [Saturday] night, I can't stop watching it... Is this great for the game? Well, I don't know. I've been watching it non-stop. I'll tell you something, if i was playing I'd probably take a swing at him but this is the best thing for the game right now... we need to celebrate this skill... aside from the skill and how they play the game, they're good looking guys too, great guys to market the game."
You can't tell me that that wasn't exciting to watch [Saturday] night, I can't stop watching it... Is this great for the game? Well, I don't know. I've been watching it non-stop. I'll tell you something, if i was playing I'd probably take a swing at him but this is the best thing for the game right now... we need to celebrate this skill... aside from the skill and how they play the game, they're good looking guys too, great guys to market the game."
The NHL needs more flair, excitement, and something to parallel with the other sports they're competing against. Although the unwritten rules of the game would have the opposition hunting you down for scoring a goal like that, more players should follow the examples set by Bedard and Zegras and allow their skill and creativity to show on the ice. Both of their goals will be the talk of the town for the rest of the season and for good reason.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 27 | 507 ANSWERS P.K. Subban addresses controversial topic in latest video release Are you a fan of The Michigan/lacrosse goals? | ||
| Yes | 116 | 22.9 % |
| No | 276 | 54.4 % |
| I don't care, just score | 115 | 22.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
