The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers took Game One to quadruple overtime Thursday night, with Matthew Tkachuk scoring the OTGWG at 1:54 am Friday morning. The game was the sixth-longest in NHL history, and the longest game in either franchises’ history.
The late hours combined with the sheer length of the game and the lack of OT highlights caused the TNT panel — featuring host Liam McHugh and former players Wayne Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter, and Henrik Lundqvist — to become rather silly as they tried to fill time during those extra intermissions.
Egged on by McHugh, the legends shared stories from their past overtime experiences and playing days, including multiple laugh-out-loud stories from Gretzky.
Goalie equipment problems
Henrik Lundqvist: “I just remember playing these games, double overtime, triple overtime, the gear is so heavy and so wet. I remember getting off the ice after each period. It was like water coming out of my skates. After a couple of these games, we had to just start drilling holes in my skates so all the water could leave the boot. It was so heavy. I think my equipment went from 25 to 30 pounds to 55 pounds.”
Wayne Gretzky: “A game like that, you probably lose 12 to 15 pounds. It’s all water.”
Henrik Lundqvist: “Yeah, you lose a lot. I was pretty good at drinking a lot, but the weight of the equipment going into double or triple overtime was crazy.”
Paul Bissonnette: “I remember Mike Smith after games having to get IVs during our run in the Conference Finals. Was that the same for you?”
Henrik Lundqvist: “Not during the game. I remember a couple saves. You go down, your toes cramp up when you go down.”
Wayne Gretzky likes fresh undies
Wayne Gretzky: “I will tell you this. I would change my underwear after every period because it gets so wet. It’s nice to put on dry underwear when you go back out there. It feels good.”
Liam McHugh: “I like this. These late night games. We are learning a lot here.”
Paul Bissonnette: “Mine was always dry. I’d actually have to take off my dry skates and give them to players who were playing. Who’s a size nine guys?? All my gloves too.”
Gretzky had a teammate who wore 13 pairs of socks at the same time
Wayne Gretzky: “I played with a goalie that wore 13 pairs of socks. So imagine him changing.”
Paul Bissonnette: “On top of each other?”
Wayne Gretzky: “On each foot. I remember it was when I was 17-years-old. I asked him, ‘Why do you have 13 pairs of socks on?’ ‘Because my skate is this big. It covers a lot of the bottom of the net.’ No lie. He would change them between each period. Gary Smith was his name.”
Liam McHugh: “So he’s bringing 39 pairs of socks to his games?” [Panel breaks out into laughter.]
Paul Bissonnette: “How big was his hitch bag? Santa Claus’s sack?? He’s coming to the rink with all these random socks?”
Wayne Gretzky: “Brent Burns’ bag.” [Entire panel breaks out in hysterical laughter.] “But can you imagine? 13 pairs of socks??”
[Note: Smith was Gretzky’s roommate and teammate while playing for the WHA’s Indianapolis Racers during the 1978-79 season. Smith, who co-won the Vezina Trophy in 1971-72, played for both the Washington Capitals and Hershey Bears in his career.]
What do players eat to get energy during overtime?
Liam McHugh: “I know you said you’re hydrating. Are you at that point right now where you also have to eat some food? Get something in you?”
Henrik Lundqvist: “Oh yeah. Bananas, chocolate bars. I think at this point you probably have…”
Wayne Gretzky: “Pizza.”
Henrik Lundqvist: “Pizza, yeah. I’m a burger guy but I never saw burgers.”
Paul Bissonnette: “You never sent the trainer up for a hot dog?”
Wayne Gretzky: “I have.”
Paul Bissonnette: “During the game?”
Wayne Gretzky: “Oh yeah. Everywhere. I’d do pizza in Chicago. Hot dogs in Montreal and Quebec City. Sandwiches in different places.”
Paul Bissonnette: “Pregame?”
Wayne Gretzky: “Sometimes after the first or second period when I was hungry.”
Paul Bissonnette: “Did you have a certain amount of points were you like, ‘I could use something.'”
Wayne Gretzky: “You eat at 12:00-12:30, so by 7:00, at 21 years old, you’re starving. So in those days there were no power bars or anything like that. So we’d get regular chocolate bars and diet soda and away you go. A piece of pizza.”
Paul Bissonnette: “Wayne’s on the bench eating Cracker Jacks.”
Biz’s Radko Gudas impression
The game would continue for nearly another forty minutes after that intermission, but Tkachuk would would eventually end it with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth overtime. To end their coverage of the game again to fill time, the panel reenacted the Panthers’ Game 5 OT winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs where Radko Gudas committed a minor penalty and screamed in Joseph Woll’s face to celebrate.
“We’re figuring it out as we go, folks,” McHugh observed as he set up the demonstration.
The @NHL_on_TNT boys breakdown the Panthers series-winner vs. Toronto to PERFECTION 😭
(@BizNasty2point0 stole the show with his Gudas impression) pic.twitter.com/gVQjQyQGlY
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 19, 2023
“Can we go home?” Bissonnette asked exasperatedly when the demonstration was over.
Use of IVs during OT games
Game Two between the Panthers and Hurricanes went to overtime again with Matthew Tkachuk winning it again. But before the start of the first overtime, Jon Cooper, who was a special guest on TNT’s panel that night, talked about what his experience was like coaching in marathon games.
Coach Cooper in the building talking marathon overtime games 👀 pic.twitter.com/dkYsAjzAs9
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) May 20, 2023
Jon Cooper: “So much stuff goes on. I feel for the coaches and the players. I remember, all the players are in [the locker room] for the first intermission, the second intermission, the third intermission. First overtime intermission, two of the guys are missing. So I wait for them to come in. Third overtime I go in there, only like half the team is there. By the time the fifth overtime (is happening), I walked into the locker room and there were only two players there. Did the meeting in the trainer’s room. Everybody’s on IVs, keeping their bags up. There were bars, everything. I swear to god, did the meeting in there, and I said ‘All right, somebody has to win this. ENOUGH!'”
After a lot of forced humor and personality this season, TNT’s NHL panel has seemed to find its niche as time-filling during overtime has necessitated the players and coaches to just be themselves. We don’t need more canned, PR answers or analysis. We want stories and we want honest analysis. We want more! of! this!
