The second episode of Epix’s Road to the Outdoor Classics features the Maple Leafs’ kids riding the Ferris wheel, Vladimir Tarasenko’s killer smile, and a wonderful little window into Connor Brown’s relationship with his supportive parents.
Here are eight things we learned from Episode 2.
Ladies love William Nylander
When a quartet of the Maple Leafs’ rookie forwards—William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews—head to the Christmas market in Toronto’s Distillery District, the kids, appropriately, take advantage of the Ferris wheel.
Prone to taking gambles, a giddy Nylander wants to rock the pod. His more disciplined ride buddy, Hyman, warns that it’s too dangerous. It’s a fun scene, but better is a hug-happy Marner and Matthews taking a candy cane face-off with Santa Claus, and the run-in with a gaggle of swooning young ladies.
Nylander wants to rock; Hyman does not.
Five teenage girls flock to the blond-coifed Nylander, giggly for a photo with the man they call “Snizzbone,” while Matthews and Marner are left sulking out of frame.
“Thanks for letting us get in there, Will,” quips Matthews. “What a team player.”
The magic of slow motion allows appreciation of nuance in fast game
It may be used gratuitously, but dang if the slow-mo shots aren’t effective in this show.
The long walks of the ice in defeat, the strapping on of shoulder pads, the anxious looks during pre-game speeches, the powerful strides up-ice, a thundering hit to Niklas Hjalmarsson: Slow those visuals down to a quarter of their real-time speed, and pow—instant gravitas and drama.
Including a slice of Americana is essential
During some downtime, Blackhawks defenceman and Middletown, N.J., native Trevor van Riemsdyk naturally heads to downtown New York with his parents to check out the National September 11th Memorial.
“To come here and see this, it makes you tear up a bit to think about how so many people’s lives changed,” van Riemsdyk says. “Being 10 at the time, you don’t fully grasp the magnitude of it all.”
Shanahan wants his players involved in the community
Maple Leafs Jake Gardiner, Matt Martin, Morgan Rielly, and Hyman bring gifts (including game tickets!) to the Yousuf family.
As part of a Habitat for Humanity project, Leafs players helped build a home for a nine-member family of Ethiopian immigrants—and quickly converted hockey fans—in Toronto. They’d been previously crammed into a three-bedroom apartment, and the dad couldn’t look happier.
Team president Brendan Shanahan makes his debut, explaining the importance of young players connecting with the community that supports them.
Blashill routinely hosts police officers and their families at Wings games
His team continues to struggle, but Red Wings bench boss Jeff Blashill once again puts the “class” into Road to the Outdoor Classics. Blashill’s dad was a Detroit cop for 10 years, as were both of his uncles, so he began a program to give back to police officers.
“I want to live in a lawful society. Thank you,” Blashill tells a local police officer before hosting his family at a home game. It feels genuine.
Good karma, perhaps?
Tomas Tatar scores a hat trick to propel Detroit to a come-from-behind victory against the Ducks and salvage a win in their five-game home stand at The Joe.
“Finally, some goals here,” says Tatar, as captain Henrik Zetterberg flips him the game puck.
Kadri is embracing his new role as shutdown centre
Mic’d up for the Leafs’ 2-1 victory over Sidney Crosby and the Penguins last Saturday night, Nazem Kadri talks about coach Mike Babcock assigning him the big checking assignments.
“When I first got drafted, I didn’t know too much about defence,” he tells the camera. “A lot of people didn’t think I could do it, and that motivates me to do it more.”
Crosby was limited to just an assist on the night, but it’s Kadri’s in-game commentary, more than his back-checking, that spices up the scene.
On Evgeni Malkin’s one-knee, one-timer, power-play goal: “That was f—–’ insane.”
On bumping into Marc-Andre Fleury: “Flower, I’m getting pushed into you, man.”
More of this, please.
Hard-luck Red Wings can’t catch a break
After flying to PNC Arena, the Wings have their game versus the Hurricanes postponed due to a ice cooling system malfunction.
“Every time I think I’ve seen it all, I haven’t,” says Steve Ott, the biggest character in his room.
So Detroit flies from Raleigh to Tampa Bay, where a pileup with the Lightning results in an injury to goalie Jimmy Howard that will take him out for a month.
“Ah, not again!” groans Xavier Ouellet on the bench.
Would have been good TV to see Howard treated for his injury and his immediate reaction, but the viewers are denied, likely due to the shroud of secrecy that must cover all NHL ailments. The show is never as “all access” as it purports to be.
Connor Brown, mama’s boy
“The stars aligned for me,” says the Maple Leafs’ red-haired rookie during a drive.
It’s always a good story: local boy grows up to play for his hometown team. So we see Brown, who recently moved out of his parents’ place, return home for a visit.
His mother, Anne, keeps putting up more of Connor’s memorabilia around the house and gets teary-eyed talking about how her parents and their parents all grew up Leafs fans. How proud they’d be of Connor.
“Happy crying, not sad crying,” she clarifies.
We see Brown take Monday’s loss to the Ducks hard and have a real moment with his upbeat parents in the bowels of the ACC afterward. Dad reminds Connor he didn’t lose any “Chicklets” from first-period stick to the face, but the loss is eating at the kid.
Son, obviously ticked: “Whatever. It’s frustrating.”
Mom, trying to make things better: “You played well. Enjoy it.”
Best scene of the show.
One-Timers: Bonus Observations
Great line by narrator Bill Camp: “If you root for the Blackhawks, you root for Goliath.”… Since the Epix cameras started rolling, Vladimir Tarasenko has pulled within two points of Connor McDavid in the scoring race and has a shot at becoming the first Blue to win the Art Ross Trophy…. Blues teammate Jori Lehtera thinks Tarasenko’s smiles lights people up like a child’s does. We tend to agree…. A Kyle Brodziak shots tips off a chunk of graphite long left in the slot when Scottie Upshall’s stick snapped earlier in the shift. “I thought it’d be my goal,” Upshall cracks in the room…. Alanna Reaves on her husband, Ryan: “At home, he’s kind of a giant teddy bear. He’s quiet, sweet. On the ice, he’s definitely not that person.”… Since his niece was diagnosed with cancer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo makes regular visits. While playing EA’s NHL video game with a patient, Petro has a couple good lines. “We’re not going to play as the Blackhawks, that’s for sure. I’m way faster in this game than I am in real life.”
