If you live and breathe hockey, you’ll enjoy both shows currently on streaming services. While both are interesting in their own right, they are very different and put the magnifying glass on different parts of the hockey industry.
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Of course, The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens focuses solely on the league’s most storied franchise, but it doesn’t stop at what goes on the ice. There are segments about the players, but there are also some that feature various departments, such as hockey operations, marketing, and communications. You’ll feel like you are taking a peek everywhere.
Meanwhile, the Amazon opus is all about what’s going on the ice and gives us an inside look at what the players are up to off the ice and how they take care of themselves. Don’t expect a lot of Canadiens content, though. It was filmed during the playoffs after the Habs were done playing.
You’ll get some inside information on the Canadiens’ rivals. For instance, you may remember the altercation on the Toronto Maple Leafs bench between Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, but unless you can read lips, you couldn’t know what was said; now you can:
Nylander: Just [….] shoot it. Stop […] crying bro! This is the issue, you guys […] about […], let’s […] go.
As you can probably gather, the profanity has been removed from the quote, but it’s not on the show, nor is it beeped. You get to hear the entire “unsanitized” version of the discussion. The Swede explains how frustrated you can get on the bench but that nobody is upset after the game since everyone wants to win.
It’s also interesting to see who’s friends with whom. The Leafs’ Nylander and Boston Bruins’ David Pastrnak are best buds, having played together when they were younger, which adds another layer to the Toronto vs. Boston rivalry.
The second episode gives a peek into Jack Eichel’s career and the injury issue that got him out of Buffalo. The Vegas Golden Knights ace explains just how much of a hockey town Vegas is, but also how the organization is all about winning and doesn’t care if players are attached to the city; if you’re not delivering, you’re gone. Like many other players (it seems), Eichel has a chef at home, and he has some teammates around before the games to eat.
Related: The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens Episode 6
We also see how Nashville Predators’ GM Barry Trotz essentially grounded his players, forbidding them to go on a field trip. The players had bought tickets to a U2 concert at the Sphere in Vegas, but as they were underperforming, the boss put his foot down. Somehow, this motivated them all, and they went on the mother of all winning streaks.
Of course, like in any show about hockey, there’s injury talk and a glimpse at how an injured ankle can be treated and how acupuncture can be used in the physiotherapy the players receive. Some gruesome injuries are discussed, and you find yourself asking (probably not for the first time) how it is exactly that these players can keep going.
The third installment focuses on Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. We see how he uses visualization in his gameday routine, how he plays guitar and sings as a hobby, and we hear how his arbitration hearing last year stung him:
It wasn’t a process I wanted to go through, but I understand that it’s a business. When you go into that room, you don’t say a word. […] The arbitrator on their side, their job is to help the management side and to rip players. Hearing that you’re not worthy of what you think you’re worthy of, that’s hard to hear. You don’t forget what was said, I wrote them down and I looked at them the other day and I put a couple of checkmarks. My biggest knock was that I wasn’t trustworthy in playoffs: check.
P.K. Subban actually introduced that segment and mentioned that his arbitration hearing was the pivotal moment when he realized that hockey was a business. If you recall, the blueliner had filed for arbitration back in 2014, and the hearing actually took place, so he heard “why he wasn’t worthy,” as Swayman would say. He reached an agreement with the Canadiens before the arbitrator’s decision and mentioned that owner Geoff Molson had a monumental impact on negotiations.
Related: The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens Episode 5
The series, of course, follows the Florida Panthers’ quest for the Stanley Cup and emphasizes Matthew Tkachuk’s career and interactions with his family, his brother Brady and father Keith. While the Cats’ alternate captain can be a real pest, I actually felt it was really moving to see the dad cry as his eldest son raised hockey’s ultimate prize.
You’ll also see what the Oilers’ dressing room looked like after McDavid and co. lost the final, and you won’t have to wonder why he didn’t come out to collect the Conn Smythe. As they say, an image is worth a thousand words.
Even if it doesn’t focus on the Canadiens, I firmly believe any hockey fan will binge through Amazon’s six-part series. I watched it over two nights, and I can attest that it is no cure for insomnia.
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