Thoughts on a long- waited Stanley Cup film that lacked enticing interviews
My family used to have one of those miniature DVD players hanging over the back seat of our Honda Odyssey. It was advanced technology — probably a 7- inch screen. So before we went on road trips when I was growing up, I always sorted through our movie cabinet and selected a few to bring along.
The 2006 World Series Film was in the mix every single time.
So I understand there’s a unique excitement about the goofy tradition of American sports leagues releasing an official film commemorating the championship- winning team after every season. Those documentaries are delightful for harnessing nostalgia, and they feature boatloads of exclusive interviews and behind- the- scenes footage. At least, they’re supposed to. As I watched the NHL’S 2022 Stanley Cup Film this week, after it was finally released on ESPN+, I found myself thinking of those road trips when a young St. Louis Cardinals fan got goosebumps every time an interview revealed what Albert Pujols was thinking during a key at- bat. And I found myself disappointed that current Denver adolescents won’t experience that small but satisfying sensation.
The interviews shown were essentially a hand- picked reel of the most clichéd postgame news conferences clips. In fact, I was surprised by the overall stale- ness of the content for most of the
90- minute runtime, especially after Avalanche fans waited eight months for this ( and not always patiently, as you would know if you saw my inbox).
If the league was going to keep hockey fans on the edge of their seats for this long, surely something special was in store, right?
Never mind that the Jordan
Binnington- Nazem Kadri secondround drama was skipped over entirely.
How about sitting Kadri in front of a camera for 10 minutes to talk about that or literally anything else? He’s a charismatic guy. He’ll have interesting insight, whether it’s about Binnington or the weather in Tampa during the Final.
For what it’s worth: I got the 2006 film for Christmas that same year, two months after the World Series.
This isn’t intended to take a fun piece of memorabilia more seriously than it needs to be taken. Nor is it to say the NHL film was devoid of interesting stuff, even if several of the juicier moments had already been released by the league on other platforms.
Jared Bednar’s profanity- laced speech before the third period of Game 6 was great insight into
the makings of a dominant Cupclinching 20 minutes.
“To me, the tide turns in that game the quicker we get with the puck in the neutral zone and push pucks north,” Bednar said. “… Every ( freaking) time we get an opportunity to put the puck to the net, whether there’s bodies there or not, let’s ( freaking) keep getting it there. … You’ve gotta have the confidence, boys, and the swagger to continue to skate with the puck out of our zone and make plays. If there’s nothing there, then you use the up- andout. Send it to their ( freaking) blue line and we’ll chase it down. But we ( freaking) play our game with confidence.”
There’s Lightning coach Jon Cooper stopping a giddy Cale Makar on the ice to tell him, “I don’t think that’s the only trophy you’ll be picking up tonight, kid.” There’s a touching moment between Bednar and Nathan Mackinnon,
and there’s a rare interview clip that proves to be the movie’s crown jewel: “It’s not just a trophy to Canadian kids,” Bo Byram says with tears in his eyes.
So yeah, there’s still quality footage, mostly toward the end. It’ll still make a nice stockingstuffer for your kids another 10 months from now.
But for all that waiting, I think it’s fair to be bummed that the entity with unparalleled access released a video barely more enticing than any random playoff highlight reel set to alt- rock hype music and posted on Youtube by a fan six months ago.
None of this probably matters anyway. Do mini- vans even have DVD player attachments still?
Avs and league- wide extras
1. Speaking of last year’s playoffs: The team that challenged Colorado most in the Western Conference has officially started selling 10 months later. The Blues traded Vladimir Tarasenko to New York. Ivan Barbashev and Ryan O’reilly are probably next. Also, this trade means the Rangers are out of the running for Patrick Kane after they had been connected to him in trade rumors all season.
2. With Bo Horvat in Long Island, the top remaining centers available are O’reilly and Jonathan Toews. But I wouldn’t rule out a smaller- scale Avalanche trade that builds their depth in the middle of the ice without costing as much as a bonafide 2C. Once Gabriel Landeskog returns, handling the salary cap will be a headache. There’s a small but intriguing secondary market for centermen right now, including pending UFA Nick Bjugstad, who has 11 goals at a $ 900,000 cap hit in Arizona.
3. The Avs have new branding on their helmets. It’s Kiewit, the team’s “official engineering and construction sponsor.” Get it? Hard hats.