Regular season hockey in the NHL (in North America) is just around the corner, and other leagues are starting to drop the puck in games that count. The final days of pre-season action and the first week of October gave us plenty to talk about:
The Calgary Wranglers Unveil Their Jerseys
After much waiting, the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers this past week finally let the hockey world see the jerseys they’ll be wearing this season.
Both the home and the road jerseys are a nice nod to their parent club as well as the Wranglers of the WHL that called the old Stampede Corral home back in the 1970s and ’80s. There’s also an updated take on Blasty, the horse logo that has been a staple of Flames alternate jerseys off and on since the late 90s. In terms of first-year threads, the Wranglers have hit a home run with these.
Leon Draisaitl Keeps The Language Family Friendly To End The Pre-Season
The Edmonton Oilers said goodbye to the pre-season with a 5-3 win over the Seattle Kraken this past Friday. After the victory, Leon Draisaitl chatted with Oilers TV host Tony Brar about the game and the upcoming season and made sure to keep his post-game reaction to the fans G-rated.
If you’re not in on the joke, a couple of times over the past few seasons, Draisaitl has told the fans they were “f—— phenomenal” in his post-game on-ice chats. Click here for an (uncensored) example.
No matter the team or player, you don’t usually remember these interviews, but Draisaitl showed off a bit of his personality, which fans always enjoy.
Tomas Hertl Gets An Amazing Welcome Back To Prague
This season marked the return of the NHL’s Global Series games in both the pre-season and the first two games of the regular season. San Jose and Nashville just finished playing the first two games of the year in the Czechia.
The season may only be two games old, but one of the coolest moments already of the 2022-23 season came from these games, thanks to Tomas Hertl scoring in his hometown of Prague on Friday.
The ovation for Hertl after the goal is something you must see for yourself.
What a moment for one of the faces of the Sharks.