Title reference
Greetings friends,
December is zooming by, and we are getting ready to spend some quality time doing absolutely nothing for a bit. Perrye is heading home, and Gaby is preparing for her own trip back to the motherland. It will be cute and casual, but no worries, we’ll still give you our (unnecessary??) opinions.
For the last time in 2022, here’s Other Thoughts!
Carey Price and a bad case of PR
Where do we start with this story?
On Dec. 3, Price took to Instagram to oppose Bill C-21, the Canadian federal government’s new firearms bill. In the post, Price mentioned that he supports the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, which made headlines last month for using POLY - referencing the tragic incident in Montreal - as a promo code. The day after, the Habs’ communications team said that Carey Price was unaware of the events of Dec. 6, 1989, which he quickly denied.
He kept mentioning that people in Montreal know his heart and character as if that would dissolve any accountability for his decisions and endorsements. It doesn’t matter that Carey Price didn’t know about the code because he’s still endorsing an organization with questionable values.
While everyone in the Habs front office was trying to one-up each other and make the story go away, the focus shifted to what was relevant on that weekend - the 14 women who died for having dreams of working in STEM. May they rest in peace. #PolySeSouvient
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!
30 years ago, Gary Bettman was elected commissioner of the NHL by the board of governors and took office the following February.
And how else would Gary celebrate this accomplishment other than lying like he has been doing for decades?
After years of teasing about the salary cap, he confirms that for multiple reasons (mainly the escrow still being paid by players, LOL), it might not be going up as much as “initially” hoped. It will probably only see a $1M increase which is putting a lot of GMs in hot water because they were relying on that money to make ugly contracts look prettier - looking at you, Brad. *lose yo job jingle by Johnniqua*
(Note from Gaby: the anti-Brad agenda continues, I see, lmao)
He also talked about how fans love digital ads more than physical ones, as results from polling shows.
The way he talked about it almost sounds like there’s some methodology behind this process when the only person polled is probably himself. We haven’t seen one person praise it. All he has to say is that it’s easier to make more money from sponsors by rotating the ads on the board. We would appreciate the honesty more than whatever nonsense he’s trying to sell.
Anyway, Gary, you’ll never change, so here’s to another 15 years of getting booed by the entire fandom wherever you go. Thanks for keeping us entertained.
Ovechkin reached 800 goals.
Alexander Ovechkin reached 800 goals yesterday, becoming only the third player in NHL history to score that many. The sequence that led up to the goal was chaotic, which feels right given that Ovi is truly a character of his own. It featured a mad scramble to try and stop him, sending Patrick Kane into the boards. We would understand if this is what finally drives Kane to waive his NMC. Embarrassing, lmao.
We also wanted to include this article from 2018 about his pregame meals. Crunchy wellness influencers everywhere despair.
It’s Him, Officer!
On Tuesday, Kraken’s Jamie Olesiak was suspended for 3 games after a brutal check to the head on Alexander Alexeyev. There’s an expression, “he got his shit rocked,” which is the only way we can accurately describe what happened to Alexeyev. You know it’s terrible when you squint to see the replay because it’s kinda scary. Alexeyev left the game with an upper-body injury, and there hasn’t been an update since, but we’re hoping for the best.
Listen, we don’t always agree with the DOPS or believe in punitive damage, but umm, we might be convinced otherwise. Aside from the fact that those types of hits should be banned from the league, Oleksiak has 3 inches and more than 40 pounds on this 23-year-old kid. We know Oleksiak is big; Olesiak knows he’s big and should be moving accordingly. We’re not saying he has to look up and only check players with his similar build, but maybe be more cautious about jamming your elbow into people’s faces, you know? Anyway, all we could think of was this TikTok:
Also, we’re pretty sure that if we ever got hit like that, our bones would disintegrate into the atmosphere.
If you’re a goaltender, tend the goal.
It’s been a recurring bit this season where goalies don’t seem to realize they are being paid to be goaltenders.
Between Carter Hart explaining the process of how hockey is played and Jacob Markstrom talking like he’s not the one who can let the opposite team goals in, it almost makes us wonder if they need an updated version of their media training. We know they have their clichés for pre or post-game interviews, but in 2022, those clichés don’t work anymore. It makes some of them sound like if someone were to knock on their head, we would just hear an echo.
You know, you have a particular section of the NHL who realizes how they need to do their jobs five years into the game, and then you have players who play Catan.
Kirsten’s Second Piece
Our wonderful mentee Kirsten published her final piece for the mentorship. She wrote about how the Canucks looked one year after their big firings. Please give it a read and follow her!
We feel very fortunate to have the chance to work with her, and we wish her the best! Here is a link to her site with her work!
Mentorship Reminder
This is a reminder to folks that applications for the Winter Cohort of the PHWA x THWL Mentorship program are currently open!
Gaby and Perrye