DOES HOCKEY HAVE A PERSONALITY CRISIS?
We’ve all seen NHL post-game interviews, and they all sound the same:
“Well, obviously they’ve got a great team over there, so we had to stick to our plan, and we got behind early, but we dug deep and pulled out a big win. Sorry, what was the question?”
It’s not like that in other sports. So many MLB, NBA, and NFL players carry themselves with a little bit of swagger, not to mention UFC fighters and soccer players. So, what’s up with hockey? Why does it seem like NHL players are so dull?
THE EARLY DAYS
It hasn’t always been this way. Back in the Original Six days, we were treated to some big hockey personalities.
In 1955, New York Rangers’ coach, and world class jerk Phil Watson told reporters “we can’t win games with a goalie who has a beer belly”. Reporters immediately ran to the goalie in question, Hall-of-Famer Gump Worsley, who defended himself by saying “Shows what a dope we have for a coach… I only drink Johnny Walker Red.”
Now that’s what I call a post-game presser!
Media personalities had some character back in the day, too. The most memorable, of course, was Don Cherry, who always said what he was thinking, and that made Coach’s Corner must-see TV in the 80s and 90s.
But, that was then, and this is now. Don Cherry is gone and coaches don’t call goalies fatsos in post-game interviews anymore. That last part is probably a good thing, but press conferences these days sound like the most boring Madlibs of all-time.
So, what happened?
Best I can tell, it’s probably a combination of things.
TIMES HAVE CHANGED
I’m sure some of it has to do with maintaining a competitive edge. Back in the ‘50s players would show up to training camp overweight and out of shape. Now they’re expected to show up ready to play, so they can compete from opening day. Similarly, it didn’t much matter what players said into a microphone after a match in the Original Six days. But now, players do anything they can to avoid giving their opponents any kind of motivation, so they don’t say anything in interviews that the other team can take personally, as Michael Jordan would say.
From time to time something sneaks through the proverbial sensors. Like Jeremy Roenick and Patrick Roy’s legendary post-game media war in 1996:
Roenick: “Yeah there should have been a penalty shot no doubt about it. I like Patrick’s quote that he would have stopped me. I just want to know where he was in Game 3, probably getting his jock out of the rafters at the United Center.”
Roy: “I can’t really hear what Jeremy said because I’ve got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears. It’s hard for me to understand what he says.”
Alright, so Roy’s response doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and it actually doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence that he knows how rings work. But that’s how starved for personality we’ve been in this game. That passes for a mic drop.
Some of the blame for the bland interviews falls on the media. They keep asking the same tired questions, so why wouldn’t they get the same answers back. They need to change it up. Instead of asking “how important Connor McDavid is to this squad?” ask more interesting questions, like “How would you solve inflation?” or “Bop, marry, kill: McDavid, Draisaitl, or Hyman?”
Some of the blame can be put on hockey culture itself, too. All these young hockey players grew up watching the older generation, copying how they shoot, how they pass, and how they interview, so it all starts to sound the same.
I remember practising my own post-game interviews in the bathroom mirror as a kid:
Ron McLean: “Congratulations, Keener, on winning the Stanley Cup yet again. You had the game-winning fight, and you led all players in penalty minutes. Talk about the game.”
Me: “Well, you gotta hand it to them, they have a great organisation over there. They played hard, but we went out and got the result that we were looking for.”
Mom: “Keener, get out of the bathroom, you’ve been in there for an hour and a half!”
I don’t know why I was an enforcer in my own fantasy.
Anyways, it’s typically the league’s marquee players that are the most bland when the cameras are on them. League ambassadors are expected to represent their team and the league with professionalism, which is why many young players are put through media training when they join the NHL. That’s where they learn to talk the way they do.
Sidney Crosby is a great example of the spic and span image that the NHL seems to want to project. He’s the consummate professional, uncontroversial in everything he does. But, while Sid the Kid has shouldered the weight associated with being the NHL’s poster child, that’s given other players like PK Subban some room to be a little more bombastic in their media appearances.
A NEW ERA
Things may actually be starting to trend in the other direction. These days players seem to put almost as much practice into their cellies as they do their stickhandling and one-timer, which shows the importance of personal brand in 2024. And the rise of social media and podcasts has had a major impact, too. Platforms like Twitter and Instagram give players a creative and public outlet, while podcasts like Spittin’ Chiclets allow players to be a little more candid in conversation.
And it’s in the players’ best interests to forge their own brands like that, because hockey careers are short, and personal brand is a huge part of everybody’s lives these days. Players are smart to capitalize on their celebrity and carve out a personal fanbase that they can parlay into a post-playing career in media, real estate, fashion, or in the case of Theoren Fleury, conspiracy theories.
hockey needs personality
While hockey jerseys are one way for hockey players to express their personality, as a jersey maker I have to admit that there’s still no substitute for the real thing.
It seems like we’re emerging from the personality dark ages, and moving into a new era of creative expression and the return of the big hockey personality. And I, for one, couldn’t be more excited about it.
Of course, there’s going to be some missteps along the way — and that will be equally entertaining and hilarious. Because, in the end, hockey is entertainment, so why not get some personality in there?
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See you next week!
