Most videos of mic’d up NHL hockey players are benign. They feature woooos, wheees, and unintelligible grunts. Sometimes there’s cheering from the bench or a sassy quip or two. But nothing truly remarkable.
Wednesday, the Anaheim Ducks flipped that script when they let fans in on a private conversation between Tom Wilson and Ryan Strome with NHL referee Carter Sandlak later interjecting. The video is so great that Pat McAfee discussed it on his national ESPN show Friday, calling it “a hilarious give and take.”
Before watching, please note: the Ducks’ Ryan Strome, who is 31, is the older brother of Dylan Strome, Wilson’s centerman on the Capitals’ first line. It’s assumed they’re friends off the ice.
Transcript
(Wilson and Strome stand near the penalty box as officials make a call)
Tom Wilson: “Other guy sticks his foot out and I’m skating up ice?”
Ryan Strome: “I think it’s a toe pick”
Tom Wilson: “Bud, I’m hot this year. Most goal-scorers get those calls, Stromer.”
Ryan Strome: (laughs) “Oh come on.”
(Wilson shrugs incredulously)
Ryan Strome: “Tommy, if you want to go center ice, I’ve been waiting my whole career for one.”
(Wilson wryly smiles)
Tom Wilson: “But hey–”
Carter Sandlak: “I’d like to f***ing see that one!!”
Ryan Strome: “Yeah?”
Tom Wilson: “Before you call it (a career) we’ve got to do it, man.”
Sandlak: “I’d like to see it right now.”
Ryan Strome: “Hey, you’ve got to f***ing put one hand behind your back.
…
(Wilson and Strome lineup against each other during a center-ice faceoff)
Tom Wilson: “Here’s your chance.”
Ryan Strome: “Yeah, I’m not that stupid.”
What makes this so fun is how much Ryan Strome moves the goal posts when Wilson seems eager to take up his offer of dropping the gloves. Sandlak’s sheer giddiness about the two throwing haymakers is the opposite of what you’d expect from the person whose job it is to enforce the law of the land on the ice.
While Wilson has a career-high 29 goals this season, his calling himself a “goal-scorer” to try and argue for a call seems to drip in sarcasm and be pushing the bounds of reality. All in all, though, it shows how clever and fun Wilson is on the ice — well at least until he actually does drop his gloves against you.
