Title reference:
Hi everyone,
Welcome to Mariah Carey’s season! It’s been a couple of weeks since the last Other Thoughts issue because it’s been a little quiet. No offense, but Mat Barzal getting a haircut wasn’t enough to make us pull up a google doc. However, the Eastern Conference has been heating up and keeping us entertained, and our predictions for how the year has been going have been uhh completely wrong, but we move.
Borje “The King” Salming, 1951 - 2022
The Maple Leafs announced on Thursday, November 24th, that the legendary player Borje Salming, age 71, passed. We often fail to celebrate people while they are still alive, but we are happy he got to have one final bow center stage a few weeks ago in Toronto. He meant so much to the league, and his legacy of strength and determination will remain with us all forever.
Rich People Things
Last week, we mentioned that we refuse to associate with the Devils’ fan base after their meltdown during their game against the Leafs.
Honestly, throwing stuff on the ice (that is not for a hat trick - because that’s neat) is truly loser behavior, especially during these times. With the recession creeping up and the ridiculous prices at concession stands, you wouldn’t catch us throwing $20 chicken fingers and $15 crappy beer.
It’s also not a word we ever really use, but giving employees extra work is such “Karen” behavior. It’s late, people are tired, and now they’ve got to clean up after y’all trifling asses. It’s not frustration, just entitlement.
Yes, getting three goals overturned is annoying, but let’s be honest, it’s never that serious, especially this “early” in the season. It’s unfortunate that the Devils were a game away from breaking their current record of # games won in a row, but with their star power and talent, they will have multiple opportunities to break it.
As they say, don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened, LOL.
Also, if you think this is directed at you, reconsider your life choices.
Wholesome Interactions
Last week, Wayne Simmonds and Isaiah Meyer-Crothers hung out before the Leafs-Red Wings game and gave us this cute picture.
Isaiah and his family also attended the game to celebrate his 21st birthday. We’re glad that Wayne and other folks in the industry continue to support Isaiah during this time. We hope he had a fun birthday!
Gary Bettman, the Coyote’s Ride or Die.
On Tuesday night, Gary Bettman attended the Tempe City Council meeting where they were voting on the Arizona Coyotes arena and entertainment proposal. The Council voted 7-0 in favor of the proposal, which was an impressive feat by the new Coyotes ownership group, given that the odds were not in their favor initially. The entire venture will be privately funded, AKA no tax money will be wasted on this, which was a solid move by the City. The proposal is now in the hands of city residents, who will vote on it next May.
The strong support from the league for this project is not surprising; hockey needs to expand, and - with apologies to the naysayers - that will not happen in their traditional markets. We just wish Gary Bettman et al. had put this much energy into Atlanta as well.
The Penguins Place (Gaby violently objects to this)
Two-degrees of separation: Christina Aguilera x Sidney Crosby
It was surprising that these two had never met before, given that Christina Aguilera is from Pittsburgh and has been cheering on the Penguins since she was little.
She also met the Lady Pens and was given some Line Change Apparel that we will not really comment on other than to say To Hockey With Love Apparel, when?
Starting Lineup
It’s been a week since the 1000th game celebrations for Evgeni Malkin happened.
However, we couldn’t do the Other Thoughts without acknowledging the adorable moment between him and Nikita, his son, who had the honor of reading the starting lineup as a surprise before the Penguins game against Chicago.
The team did Malkin’s warm-up, and funnily enough, Crosby scored his first goal in Chicago. Are we going to see a whole new routine?
We also wanted to wish Kris Letang a speedy recovery.
Other To Hockey With Love Things
The Athletic Shout-Out
The Athletic mentioned @tohockeywlove in their article about the best hockey Twitter accounts to follow. We truly appreciate the nod and will continue to step up our Twitter game.
Congratulations to Kirsten
Kirsten Staple, one of our mentees in the PHWA x THWL program, has published her first article! Working with Matt Larkin at the Daily Faceoff, Kirsten interviewed Brock McGillis and Kurtis Gabriel. Give it a read!
Mentorship 2023 Winter Cohort Now Open
We have opened applications for the 2023 winter cohort of The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association x To Hockey With Love mentorship program.
Here’s a Twitter thread for more information on the program:
If you’d like to apply: https://forms.gle/AG73Rh86nt72Qg6x7.
Lastly, as we previously mentioned, our goal is to ensure a sustainable program that adequately meets the needs of our participants, so if you’re interested in donating to our fund, here is the link!
See y’all next week!
With Love,
Gaby and Perrye