Earmuff it, kids.
The Epix-produced Road to the Outdoor Classics is back, and you know what that means: raw audio of cursing refs, cuss-happy coaches, and pirate-mouthed players, interspersed with cute footage of athletes with their toddlers or a day off to find the perfect Christmas tree.
“Sometimes you gotta watch what’s being said because there’s so many viewers,” Toronto’s Nazem Kadri said Monday. “But at the end of the day, all that stuff gets edited.”
Since HBO kicked off the four-episode NHL mini documentary back in 2010, using 24/7 as a vehicle to hype the league’s marquee outdoor game, the series has assumed a familiar formula.
And with in-season access to NHL stars so limited, we lap it up every year during the holiday season. Like candy-cane-flavoured egg nog.
As the NHL gets set to kick off 2017 with two outdoor showdowns, the Centennial Classic in Toronto (Jan. 1) and Winter Classic in St. Louis (Jan. 2), the focus of the doc is now split between four teams — the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Blackhawks and Blues. Judging by one hour-long episode, this improves the show’s pacing.
“They do a good job of keeping behind closed doors and staying out of the way,” says Kadri. “I’ll definitely be tuning in.”
Here are the seven best things we learned from Episode 1.
Scott is a Darling
Wise move, Epix. Show producer Ross Greenburg, who only has 53 Emmy nominations on his resume, knows what he’s doing.
So we open on arguably the most personable player on the States’ most popular team: backup goalie Scott Darling, recently thrust into the spotlight with starter Corey Crawford on injured reserve.
“Other than all his accolades and great success, it’s not that big of a difference,” Darling quips about Crawford.
Yes, Darling is not just a fantastic story — journeyman goalie plays on 13 different minor pro teams before joining the local Original Six club, spinning dream into late-blooming reality — he’s a better quote than 90 per cent of his peers, and he has perspective.
“I was lucky to get one game,” admits the 27-year-old impending UFA, who is having arguably his best season yet.
Darling is 10-2-2 with a .927 save percentage. He’s a big reason Chicago has the NHL’s best record, yet he remains humble when a fan asks him to sign a Patrick Kane sweater.
“I’m surprised you want me to depreciate it,” Darling says as he inks up No. 88.
We’re not convinced they’re going to let the Leafs kids talk
Tyler Bozak — featured prominently in Episode 1 — is wonderful at face-offs and a happy new daddy, but he is not the first name out of fans’ mouths when discussing the Maple Leafs in 2016.
The kids are driving the narrative, not to mention the Calder race, but the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Nikita Zaitsev are not heard from in the premier episode. The rookies are limited to scene-setting shots and soundbites from regular press scrums. Nothing “all-access” from them… yet.
Let’s hope that changes for upcoming episodes and behind-the-scenes rookie fun is not an idea squashed by Lou Lamoriello’s rules.
Babcock does his part to make up for the lack of Matthews
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock has been through this “all-access” drill before.
Taking one glance at the stalking cameras, Babcock says: “How long are you here, a month? Misery. Pure misery for a month.”
He’s joking, kinda, but not really.
Still, the coach appears more comfortable in the spotlight than he did in 2013, when he slammed the dressing room door on the camera crew.
Babcock is seen addressing flaws in the video room with the Leafs’ defence and gets, um, miked up in-game and between periods for glorious F-bombs and plenty of urgent, encouraging words. Loving the Babtalk.
“Even they want that to be a penalty!” he admonishes the official after Boston’s David Krejci tangles up defenceman Martin Marincin, who slams into the end boards. (Marincin is still out.)
In a quieter office interview, Babcock describes his club as a work-in-progress.
“We need a chance to grow up,” he explains. “We do have skill. We just don’t know how to play.”
Ryan Reaves can get out-chirped by a ref
Blues tough guy Ryan Reaves tips in a rare goal, his first of the season, against New Jersey and gets to chirping a member of the opposition from the bench: “You’re gonna turn to dust you’re so old.”
Referee Wes McCauley then cruises by and shuts the big man up with a chirp of his own.
“Reaver, don’t even talk to him,” McCauley warns. “You’ve got the game-winner, for f—‘s sake. You’re a goal-scorer.”
Beautiful.
The tears of David Backes keep on giving
Ken Hitchcock, embarking on his swan-song season behind the Blues’ bench, looks back at last spring’s playoff breakthrough through fresh eyes.
“How are you going to find that energy to go through it again?” he asks. “Can you reconnect to new energy? We can’t rely on last year’s.”
Therein lies the challenge, as Epix dives into the vault and repurposes former Blues captain David Backes emotional speech after the Blues were eliminated.
After the Blues drop to the struggling Islanders, Hitch calls out his “top-end guys” for not performing. He loves the season Sophomore Robby Fabbri is having, though.
Epix lucked out in the Central, less so in Atlantic
Gearing up for rivalry matches between actual divisional rivals is a good thing. There’s no need to fabricate hatred between Chicago and St. Louis, or reach for Toronto-Detroit connections.
The show catches St. Louis and Chicago at a particularly good time, as they are two of the top three clubs in the Central.
Less intriguing is the Leafs-Red Wings setup. True, there’s the Babcock connection, but one is a team caught in sharp decline. The other is a last-place team on the rise, but neither is much of a playoff threat this season.
Seeing Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg hold a closed-door, players-only meeting after a “pissed-away” 4-1 loss to the lowly Coyotes makes for good TV, but is, ultimately, more sad than inspiring. Feels like the end of an era.
Martin, Babcock can talk the Leafs into victory
Leafs’ fourth-liner Matt Martin walking into the dressing room at intermission offers this on the Bruins: “They can’t skate! They can’t skate with us!”
Babcock agrees.
“Our No. 1 skill is skating. OK, so we gotta f—-n’ skate,” goes the pep talk. “We’re way better. Let’s be better.”
Toronto heeds their boss’s bench directive — “Get pissed off and compete!” — and delivers a 4-1 win at TD Garden.
One-Timers: Bonus observations
The Blackhawks awarded their player of the game championship belt to rookie Ryan Hartman after defeating Dallas… In the pre-game dressing room, the Red Wings do a fun little double-clap after every player’s name gets announced in the starting lineup roll call: “Greener!” Clap-clap… Detroit’s Steve Ott, who was fined for spearing Zdeno Chara in October, delivers the line of the show to Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl after getting blindsided: “Even I wouldn’t do that. That’s f—-n’ dirty, man.”… Leafs defenceman Jake Gardiner sports a Toronto FC hat. Unity… Nice (and humbling) to see Detroit roommates Luke Glendening and Dylan Larkin decorate the house for Christmas… St. Louis front-office guy Martin Brodeur, looking up at the Devils’ championship banners: “My allegiance is with the Blues now. That’s just how it is.”… Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, who has a wife and three kids, judges his success not by wins and losses but by his impact on people. Family first… Andrew Desjardins brings a box of doughnuts to a Chicago fire hall, which was received better than had he brought them to police headquarters.
