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HBO 24/7 Episode 1 – Favorite Moments

MiHockey Staff

MiHockey’s Stefan Kubus shares his favorite moments from the “24/7 Red Wings/Maple Leafs: Road to the Winter Classic” debut on HBO last night. Warning, there are some spoilers in here if you haven’t seen it yet.

24/7 Episode 1

  • Showing kids out playing hockey on the pond at the beginning of the episode symbolically showcased the childhood spirit of the outdoor game.
  • As a way to keep the team loose, head coach Mike Babcock has a different player announce the starting lineup with whatever embellishments he feels necessary. Tomas Tatar took his turn before the home game against Florida and joked that defenseman Jonathan Ericsson was recently named by GQ as the best looking athlete in the U.S. before announcing his name.
  • On a personal note, I made an appearance after Babcock’s media scrum following the Red Wings loss at home to Florida. That was cool.
  • Daniel Alfredsson decorating for Christmas with his wife and kids at the family’s new home in Birmingham, Mich., and then taking his kids to skate at Joe Louis Arena.
  • The Maple Leafs and (AHL affiliate) Toronto Marlies skated with their families at Ricoh Coliseum (home of the Marlies) for a holiday party, a nice way to get away from the daily grind.
  • Toronto forward David Clarkson showed off a tattoo on his left arm of his daughter, McKinley, when talking about how special it was to have them with him for the team’s holiday skate.
  • Speaking of feeling like a kid again in playing outdoors, Leafs forwards James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel played bubble hockey to unwind in their spare time.
  • After practices, Babcock goes for a jog around the Joe Louis Arena concourse to get some extra exercise in.
  • While out to dinner with Kyle Quincey, Darren Helm, Brendan Smith and Justin Abdelkader at a seafood restaurant a few miles from their Florida hotel room, rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser asked how the ribs were, which his teammates certainly gave him a hard time about.
  • Also at the dinner, the players discussed their concern over whether Pavel Datsyuk would play in the next game, emphasizing how much No. 13 means to the team off the ice, as well. That came just before somebody at the bar offered to buy them shots of Jose Cuervo.
  • Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle went to make some toast at the rink to get some breakfast in, but he somehow jammed the toaster and had to call for maintenance to fix it.
  • Toronto General Manager Dave Nonis and Vice President of Hockey Operations Dave Poulin discussed their thoughts on the process for Phaneuf’s hearing, calling it a “fair process” considering the NHL and NHLPA represent both players/both sides of the infraction.
  • During a practice, for a quick second, you can see Toronto goaltender James Reimer breaking in his Winter Classic equipment in practice. The blocker had the retro Maple Leafs logo on it and the rest of his pads were visibly new.
  • HBO had the cameras on Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf when he found out he was suspended two games for his hit on Boston defenseman Kevan Miller and was visibly displeased with it all.
  • It’s universally accepted that goaltenders are weird. In preparing for the game in Florida and even during intermission, Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard could be seen in his stall with his eyes closed, almost dancing with his shoulders and hands.
  • Forward Stephen Weiss made his first visit to Florida since signing with Detroit. Jakub Kindl was trying to talk to Weiss during a TV timeout, but Weiss told him, “I’m watching my highlights.” The Panthers paid tribute to Weiss with video on the jumbotron.