Barkley muses on NHL playoffs
NBA analyst likes hockey; Capitals stir D.C. fans
Retired NBA star Charles Barkley, now a television analyst for Inside the NBA on TNT, is a dedicated hockey fan. He is a close friend of Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper, Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet and former NHL star Jeremy Roenick, among others.
He is known to have an NHL playoff game on one of his televisions, even when he is watching NBA games. Barkley loves playoff overtime games and NHL parity. He has pointed opinions about hockey.
In an interview with USA TODAY, here is what he had to say about this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
On Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand licking two players: “If a guy licks your face, you’ve got to punch him, and the referee has to let it go,” Barkley said, meaning no penalty for the puncher.
What would be the reaction if that happened in the NBA? “The guy would pop him, no question about it,” he said.
On why he was rooting for Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin to reach the conference final for the first time: Barkley, on the list of great NBA players to never win a title, said he had been weary of hearing that Ovechkin had never reached the conference final. He viewed Ovechkin’s situation being similar to that of the Houston Rockets’ Chris Paul, who reached the conference final for the first time this season.
“Chris Paul is a great player,” Barkley said. “He wasn’t the reason they weren’t getting to the conference finals. I hated that they kept saying that about him. You can see what a great player he is by what happened to the (Los Angeles) Clippers when he left.”
Added Barkley: “Being great is both a blessing and a curse — you get all of the credit and you get all of the blame.”
On Washington’s chances of knocking off the Lightning (Barkley, who roots for Tampa Bay because of his friendship with Cooper, said this before Game 2): “They’ve had the monkey on their back for a long time, since 1998,” Barkley said of the Capitals’ confidence level. “There’s been so much pressure on them. As a Lightning fan, I hope that now that they have the monkey off their back, they haven’t become something that can’t be contained.”
On Washington forward Tom Wilson being suspended for three games for his hit on Pittsburgh’s Zach AstonReese: “(ESPN’s) Barry Melrose is the best analyst on television,” Barkley said. “He didn’t think that was a dirty hit. I will have to accept his expertise on that. I will tell you that Wilson can play on my team any time.”
On how often he texts with Roenick: Barkley said he regularly texts with Roenick in overtime games or when he comes across strategy decisions that he wants amplified, such as the decision on when to pull a goalie for a sixth attacker or when to bench a goalie.
“The other night I texted him about (Nashville Predators goalie) Pekka Rinne,” Barkley said. “When they took him out (and replaced him with Juuse Saros in the first period of Game 7), I asked whether it was a good move or a bad move, because I wanted to know. I trust J.R. because he is a straight shooter.”
On what he thought about the Coyotes’ April Fools’ joke of announcing he was hired as a special adviser: Barkley said he was told beforehand that it was going to happen and thought it was hilarious. “I got a lot of texts from people wanting to know what I knew about hockey,” Barkley said, laughing.
On what he wants to happen if his Lightning don’t win: “I really want to see a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup because I think it would be great for hockey, and then you have the Vegas situation. … There are some great story lines in these Final Four matchups,” he said. “I can’t believe Winnipeg won a Game 7 in Nashville after losing Game 6. I thought the Jets would be shellshocked.”
On what his NBA friends think about his fascination with the NHL: “I don’t care what they think. I watch hockey every night in the playoffs. If you don’t love the Stanley Cup playoffs ...” he said, tailing off.