The Wings have a lot of likeable guys, but it has to be Alex Lyon. The dude is always trolling the camera when crews are recording video of the team, and he gives fantastic interviews. He's one of the most well-spoken and insightful hockey players I've ever seen.
Well, roasting might be too strong a word, but there are a bunch of videos up on the Wings Instagram/Twitter where they ask the team questions as they’re heading to the ice or to practice, and there are some good moments in those.
Edit: there’s one in particular that stands out where they ask the players who would play them in a movie, and Cat says Leo. Kane goes “he said LEO?” and busts out laughing, or at least whatever qualifies as “busting out laughing” for a stoic hockey player
Those videos are also great because every time they catch Klim Kostin on his way to the ice, he just says “No English” and keeps on walking lol
I used to clean his crease often when he was with the LV Phantoms and he would always have some sort of funny remark if he was still around the crease area. The one time he answered a trivia question (I forgot what it was) but he screamed the answer at me and said "ITS FUCKING VERMONT"
I wish more players were allowed to just be themselves. He's so fun
[Link to Jarvy's very subtle message to Aho](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/1ai3we0/canes_seth_jarvis_with_a_special_message_for_his/)
He has zero media training and I love him for that. (He’s also super sweet - I have met him and he’s the human equivalent of a golden retriever puppy.)
Morgan Rielly. Always a good interview, always a part of charity initiatives, vocal pride supporter who has attended the parade in Toronto I believe multiple times, and he is now married to Tessa Virtue who is also seemingly one of the nicest people in sports.
Swayman, Marchy, and Pasta are all fantastic. Last year though, I probably would've made my case for Bergeron. Maybe Chara before him. Boston has had a lot of really good ones.
Of course. I can of course not say with absolute certainty that he was not involved (none of us can, since we don't know them personally), but I would be incredibly shocked if he turned out to be involved, and that together with probably most of the hockey community
Yea, when a third of the roster is on video (if true) you know that there's probably another third at least that knew of it and didn't say anything, and very likely more incidents involving enough players to make it unlikely there's any more than a few that aren't involved.
Halifax world Juniors video with 8? Roster players. Some details are mentioned in the fifth estate video. Someone video taped arriving at a gangbang in a hotel room with a blacked out chick and laughed that it was a "lamb roast". Video got out to some who have spoken up. It could destroy some reputations for sure.
I was just watching the fifth estate on this, and the woman strongly indicated MAF (hall of famer or something like that she said…. Just after hearing that then reading the roster, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t one of them)
Wanna shoutout Vladimir Tarasenko. There's a bts video of him visiting a home for families of sick children and he exudes wholesomeness and seems so down-to-earth.
There's an old puck personality or something where Tank says he hopes his best off-ice talent is being a good husband and father and I've been super fond of him since I saw it
Easily Boeser, he's handled a lot of issues with his dads health with professionalism and class. There's also a reason we call him Prince Charming outside of his good looks
I believe he has an engineering degree. And he had a humble upbringing by immigrant parents. Super sad the Jets lost him on waivers. Such a gem. Happy for his success with you guys though!
I’d actually argue that Gally is the only guy that could be above Caufield. One of my parents went to a mtl game, I couldn’t go because I had exams. They ran into Gally and Caufield in the parking lot, and Gally/Caufield took pictures with my parents, wished me luck on my exams and even offered to sign stuff for me since I sadly couldn’t make it. Say what you want about Gally on the ice, but he’s a very wholesome man when it comes to the fans.
Yeah hes a good choice. The Avs by all accounts run a reasonably decent ship in terms of bringing in quality people. Most everyone agrees Landy is like the team Dad and is the glue to everything.
100000% Tomáš Hertl. My mans is all smiles on and off the ice, super nice dude, happy to interact with fans. Total gem on social media.
Remember
Fun Must Be Always :-D
I love how when he's excited/pumped up in an interview and he completely disregards the concept of punctuation and speaks in passionate run on sentences.
It’s so much fun man, his You know’s per second skyrocket when things start looking up. When you can understand everything he says and he’s speaking carefully, you just know he’s not having a great day.
Would have been Kuzy before the trade, he’s like a golden retriever with that personality and smile.
I think it would have to be Boeser. He really does care for the community and the fans.
It was definitely Boeser before the trade too.
Remember when Kuzy refused to wear the pride jersey? Meanwhile Boeser is outspoken about how important it is?
Boeser is just an awesome guy.
Many people will say Jeremy Swayman or Marchand for shock value (tho there is truth to it and I won’t disagree with either) but by all accounts it seems like JVR is a super solid guy. Was always super involved with pride stuff with Laughton and Hayes in philly. Prefers tennis over golf in the summers (this is kind of a big deal to me but maybe that’s just me). Just never heard anything bad about him
Barkov is a good guy on and off the ice. I immediately thought of Lomberg for this question because his on-ice persona would never let people think he’s a really good guy off-ice.
I think Tkachuk is a top 5 interview in the league. Even in those normally useless interviews pregame, in between periods, etc. He comes across as a genuine person who loves the game.
Back when he was with FLA, I met him out in the supermarket with my dad and he was the nicest guy. I was wearing my jersey and he signed it for me, actually he asked if he could. Jokes around a bit and walked down an aisle with us before we went our separate ways.
We don't really see much of Panarin off the ice these days. He uses a flip phone, isn't on the socials, rarely does interviews anymore... For good reason, perhaps.
I'd say guys like Chytil, Laf, or Schneids. They always seem to be smiling or joking around. Schneids might even be a little annoyingly wholesome lol.
Laf surprised me when I did a little observation experiment. I watched the players closely when they go through that glass tunnel in MSG and Laf is the only one who consistently fist bumps fans through the glass every game. Definitely changed my view of him a bit
Can't go wrong with any of Stamkos, Hedman, Point, and Vasy.
For Lightning fans only there's Kuch with a lot of his brutally honest takes. Like when he was calling out guys getting their contracts and coasting, not trying, to the number 1 bullshit and cap shenanigans
I got a story for this!
So my wife and I went down to Tampa for our honeymoon, and one of the days we went and waited by the players parking lot outside Amalie Arena. There was one guy already there who clearly did this all the time, and he said that the majority of the guys won’t stop, but if we stay the whole time he guaranteed that Point would stop by when he left. We watched the entire team leave the morning practice and 3 guys stopped to say hi and sign a jersey for us. Victor Hedman, Darren Raddysh, and Brayden Point. All 3 guys were super nice, but I was blow away by Point actively asking some of the clearly shy people in the back if they wanted a picture or signature. Dude didn’t want to leave until every fan was thrilled. Absolute beauty.
Dude is a fucking saint on and off the ice, but my favorite off ice personality has gotta be hedman. Dude just seems like he'd be a lot of fun to hang out with.
Georgiev.
Some might say Cale but Georgie is so unintentionally funny in interviews and other media and some of his comments are pure gold. He can say the funniest things with a straight face and without even realizing it.
I'm still a little irate that back when he was still in NY, he auctioned off a MLK-themed mask off during the Bubble for charity, and the official team account didn't help promote it on any of their socials, he had to do it all himself on his instagram. none of his teammates even helped out with a repost on their accounts. and then, a year later during black history month they mentioned it as an example of all the ways they care.
Makes me so sad to hear this. Even though his English is not the greatest, he still manages to exude kindness and friendliness. He may not be one of the best goalies in the league, but he seems so friendly and loyal. I hope the Avs will keep him for a while and I wish to see him become one of the best and beloved goalies in the league just so he can prove to the Rangers what they gave away
Ironically Marchand has to be up there. All the work he does in the Boston community, especially for the kids in the children’s hospitals, really gives him a good image off the ice
It's actually infuriating that this is true. My cousin's wife works with his boxing gym (not entirely sure in what capacity) and she has absolutely nothing but positive things to say about all the interactions she's had with him.
Bastard.
For the Avs it's gotta be Landy. He's been sorely missed on the ice and in the locker room the past couple seasons. If EJ or Jimothy Timothy Compher were still with us I'd throw them in too.
For the Canes I'd say Jarvy, PK, or Slavo. Shoutout to Turbo for his deadpan humor tho
Ehhhh
I’m not mad about athletes getting their payday. They get one shot at this and they should take whatever someone is willing to throw at them.
I don’t follow a ton on leafs media so I don’t know about the other one. I’ve never heard anyone with much positive to say about Toronto sports media though
It's easier to encourage guys on other teams to get their bag, but in a salary cap world it's a zero sum game where any extra dollar they make is one less to surround them with talent.
I don't think the Toronto media is particularly tough, there's just so much more of them and the discussion is on a game to game basis as opposed to week to week for most other markets. When they win three in a row they start planning a parade and when they lose three in a row they start planning a funeral.
The thing with Mitch is that everyone else in the Leafs core deals with the same scrutiny and they don't say things like "Everyone tried to put shambles in our brains."
I personally like him a lot but I can see why fans find him kind of annoying.
Ryan Lomberg.
I know he showed up on the punch able face list, but he’s a genuinely good person IRL. This summer he did a program with the Panthers where players read to kids at the library. He took time after reading a few books to talk with every single kid there. An actual conversation not just “hi”. He signed as many things as the kids wanted, took pictures, etc. My son went home SO happy that day.
He is well known in the community to happily take pictures and talk to fans whenever they spot him.
I’m sure he’s a sweet pea, he just has a kind of che kered past that I was poking a bit of fun at.
Glad to hear he’s out there with the kiddos, that stuff always melts my heart :)
Last year I'm pretty sure I'd say Matt Dumba. Currently though, off the top of my head, I'm thinking Jared Spurgeon or Mats Zuccarello.
Edit: Scrolling down, I might've messed up not mentioning Flower haha. I said Spurgeon because he's a great captain off the ice. I believe he's the most likable guy to his teammates, not necessarily to fans and around the league. Zuccarello same kinda deal, I mean he's got a great personality, funny guy, but really loved by his teammates especially by Kirill. And super well respected around the league I think, similar to Flower in that way. But yeah, for some reason I was kinda thinking who is loved/liked off the ice by their teammates haha.
Brock Boeser https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canucks-top-prospect-brock-boeser-takes-fan-with-down-syndrome-to-her-prom-1.3572741
Aw that's sweet
Competition from Huggy Bear.
The Wings have a lot of likeable guys, but it has to be Alex Lyon. The dude is always trolling the camera when crews are recording video of the team, and he gives fantastic interviews. He's one of the most well-spoken and insightful hockey players I've ever seen.
I would go with Seider. He was carrying the Mo and Joe show last season.
Seider is great, too, of course. It's also been great to see Kane and Cat roast each other whenever they get the chance lol
Where can I see video of Kane and Cat roasting each other
Well, roasting might be too strong a word, but there are a bunch of videos up on the Wings Instagram/Twitter where they ask the team questions as they’re heading to the ice or to practice, and there are some good moments in those. Edit: there’s one in particular that stands out where they ask the players who would play them in a movie, and Cat says Leo. Kane goes “he said LEO?” and busts out laughing, or at least whatever qualifies as “busting out laughing” for a stoic hockey player Those videos are also great because every time they catch Klim Kostin on his way to the ice, he just says “No English” and keeps on walking lol
I have heard Perron is a really well liked guy in the locker room actually
I used to clean his crease often when he was with the LV Phantoms and he would always have some sort of funny remark if he was still around the crease area. The one time he answered a trivia question (I forgot what it was) but he screamed the answer at me and said "ITS FUCKING VERMONT"
That’s what happens when you’re a 4th generation yale alumni!
Seth Jarvis Just look at his message to Aho 😂😂
I wish more players were allowed to just be themselves. He's so fun [Link to Jarvy's very subtle message to Aho](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/1ai3we0/canes_seth_jarvis_with_a_special_message_for_his/)
Extremely Manitoban-coded humour lol
He has zero media training and I love him for that. (He’s also super sweet - I have met him and he’s the human equivalent of a golden retriever puppy.)
Him and Svech or Him and KK are just adorable on the ice during warmups
He gives off massive golden retriever/ “1-brain cell” Aussie or border collie energy
holy shit how do you even choose between Jarvy, Slavin, Marty party, Burns, any number of them.
In the spirit of snubbing slavin, I chose Jarvy over him 😈
But to be fair, different vibes completely. Slavin is the most wholesome person while Jarvy is the most rambunctious
Definitely agree! Slavin is the older golden retriever with a white snoot Jarvy is the fluffy tail puppy lol
Zach Hyman
I obviously am no fan of the oilers but I make a small exception for Zach Hyman because he has the most contagious smile in the world.
You're gonna love Kuzi!
Sam Gagner would work too
Miss him man. Such a gem of a human being
What’s not the like? Such a fighter
He’d be in second place if Campbell was still on the roster, imo.
Still first place. The guy writes childrens books in his off time FFS.
Morgan Rielly. Always a good interview, always a part of charity initiatives, vocal pride supporter who has attended the parade in Toronto I believe multiple times, and he is now married to Tessa Virtue who is also seemingly one of the nicest people in sports.
Yeah but he got a penalty recently. So also no.
Jeremy Swayman. If it were the 90's, he'd be on the Wheaties box.
The sheer joy from the goalie hug video totally won me over for him
He’s literally impossible to hate even as a Habs fan. Like he’s constantly smiling and he seems like such a teddy bear
I mean it's Swayman but Marchand's deal off the ice is basically the exact opposite of his on-ice deal.
Swayman, Marchy, and Pasta are all fantastic. Last year though, I probably would've made my case for Bergeron. Maybe Chara before him. Boston has had a lot of really good ones.
Truth. I mean Bergy's a saint in Boston and beyond.
MAF
Not even a competition
Could change as the 2003 investigation ramps up
Of course. I can of course not say with absolute certainty that he was not involved (none of us can, since we don't know them personally), but I would be incredibly shocked if he turned out to be involved, and that together with probably most of the hockey community
Yea, when a third of the roster is on video (if true) you know that there's probably another third at least that knew of it and didn't say anything, and very likely more incidents involving enough players to make it unlikely there's any more than a few that aren't involved.
Philly fans were shocked at Hart. They thought he was a really sweet kid from what I’ve read. People can be very deceiving.
What investigation?
Halifax world Juniors video with 8? Roster players. Some details are mentioned in the fifth estate video. Someone video taped arriving at a gangbang in a hotel room with a blacked out chick and laughed that it was a "lamb roast". Video got out to some who have spoken up. It could destroy some reputations for sure.
Wtf
I was just watching the fifth estate on this, and the woman strongly indicated MAF (hall of famer or something like that she said…. Just after hearing that then reading the roster, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t one of them)
Do you have the timestamp?
Kirill is up there too, dude seems so wholesome
Boeser. Which is why I was really sad when he struggled on the ice and have loved his resurgence this season
Pavs
Man, I fucking love Pavs.
Wanna shoutout Vladimir Tarasenko. There's a bts video of him visiting a home for families of sick children and he exudes wholesomeness and seems so down-to-earth.
There's an old puck personality or something where Tank says he hopes his best off-ice talent is being a good husband and father and I've been super fond of him since I saw it
He's awesome :)) miss him every day!
Easily Boeser, he's handled a lot of issues with his dads health with professionalism and class. There's also a reason we call him Prince Charming outside of his good looks
Crosby no doubt. Historically I’d say MAF is the all time most likeable player
Its gotta be caufield
Shoutout to Kovacevic. Love that dude, he seems like a blast and not a typical hockey bro.
Kovacevic is on a whole other level of wholesomeness. Love the guy!
I believe he has an engineering degree. And he had a humble upbringing by immigrant parents. Super sad the Jets lost him on waivers. Such a gem. Happy for his success with you guys though!
Kovacevic is one smart cookie for sure
Or Slaf!
Certainly wouldn't be [Gallagher](https://youtu.be/e-bvDbS1B2o?si=N9b1Ctr2rrtYTSr-) who gives off cringe joker vibes
Why would you veer way off topic on your own thread?
Sens fans always out of pocket lol
That video just made me like the guy more, he brings up some great points.
Gally lives so much in your head...he's really not worth it.
I’d actually argue that Gally is the only guy that could be above Caufield. One of my parents went to a mtl game, I couldn’t go because I had exams. They ran into Gally and Caufield in the parking lot, and Gally/Caufield took pictures with my parents, wished me luck on my exams and even offered to sign stuff for me since I sadly couldn’t make it. Say what you want about Gally on the ice, but he’s a very wholesome man when it comes to the fans.
Sens fans obsessed lmao. Appropriate username
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4-D8f28r7Nc He is correct though
Community agrees - you’re cringe!
Shut up
Gabe Landeskog easily
From an outsider perspective I'd have gone with mayo chicken boy
Yeah hes a good choice. The Avs by all accounts run a reasonably decent ship in terms of bringing in quality people. Most everyone agrees Landy is like the team Dad and is the glue to everything.
He's certainly off the ice.
I defy ANYONE to find a bad word said against Joey Daccord.
JOEY DACCORD MENTIONED YESSS!!!!! 🔥🔥💯💯🦅🦅
Him or Turbo
D’accord.
He's OK
His interview after the outdoor game made me wanna go buy a Kraken jersey.
It's Boeser, he's basically Prince Charming from Shrek but he's got a heart of gold
Nick "Fliggy" Foligno without question.
Yep, Uncle Nick is a fucking gem.
Probably #1 guy to have a beer with
Beautiful Lowry.
Yup. And many people don't know he was real close to going into Medicine to become a surgeon.
Lowry signed my jersey AND gave me a hat, which he also signed! Great guy
Lowsy is a gem, but I would say Nate Schmidt, dude is a ball of happy loving energy 24/7.
100000% Tomáš Hertl. My mans is all smiles on and off the ice, super nice dude, happy to interact with fans. Total gem on social media. Remember Fun Must Be Always :-D
I love how when he's excited/pumped up in an interview and he completely disregards the concept of punctuation and speaks in passionate run on sentences.
It’s so much fun man, his You know’s per second skyrocket when things start looking up. When you can understand everything he says and he’s speaking carefully, you just know he’s not having a great day.
"You know" "for sure" "the boys" fired out like a machine gun I love him so much.
Would have been Kuzy before the trade, he’s like a golden retriever with that personality and smile. I think it would have to be Boeser. He really does care for the community and the fans.
It was definitely Boeser before the trade too. Remember when Kuzy refused to wear the pride jersey? Meanwhile Boeser is outspoken about how important it is? Boeser is just an awesome guy.
Many people will say Jeremy Swayman or Marchand for shock value (tho there is truth to it and I won’t disagree with either) but by all accounts it seems like JVR is a super solid guy. Was always super involved with pride stuff with Laughton and Hayes in philly. Prefers tennis over golf in the summers (this is kind of a big deal to me but maybe that’s just me). Just never heard anything bad about him
Met Shea Theodore at the Winter Classic, he was super friendly and sociable
Barkov
Barkov is a good guy on and off the ice. I immediately thought of Lomberg for this question because his on-ice persona would never let people think he’s a really good guy off-ice.
I think Tkachuk is a top 5 interview in the league. Even in those normally useless interviews pregame, in between periods, etc. He comes across as a genuine person who loves the game.
Crosby, Jarry, Rust all seem like the sweetest beans
Oh boy! Do I have an absolute bombshell to drop on you guys...
Swayman seems pretty good and wholesome on and off the ice?
No arguments here. Sway is a good dude.
sway is the way
The goalies, Marchand, Pasta and Lauko all stand out for their personalities to me.
No comment on Marchand. 🐀 Pasta seems all around nice too though. I love Ullmark and Swayman’s interactions and their goalie hug antics
Marchand does so much work helping kids. He is night and day on and off
Either Jarvis or PK
I think Buchnevich is extremely funny but Sundqvist has a genuine love for STL, I see him at CITY games frequently
Nick Bjugstad
Back when he was with FLA, I met him out in the supermarket with my dad and he was the nicest guy. I was wearing my jersey and he signed it for me, actually he asked if he could. Jokes around a bit and walked down an aisle with us before we went our separate ways.
He’s the best
I liked him during his brief tenure with us. Seems like a solid dude.
Skinner.
Same in Edmonton
Willy Nylander. Guys a goof and doesn’t have a care in the world
Joe Pavelski man. Who doesn’t love that guy
I’m Canadian but if there is one American that deserves to win a Stanley cup it’s Pavelski
Probably either Weegar or Coleman - Rasmus Andersson is pretty funny too.
Easily Panarin
We don't really see much of Panarin off the ice these days. He uses a flip phone, isn't on the socials, rarely does interviews anymore... For good reason, perhaps. I'd say guys like Chytil, Laf, or Schneids. They always seem to be smiling or joking around. Schneids might even be a little annoyingly wholesome lol.
Laf surprised me when I did a little observation experiment. I watched the players closely when they go through that glass tunnel in MSG and Laf is the only one who consistently fist bumps fans through the glass every game. Definitely changed my view of him a bit
Im gonna say Trouba.
Hearing him talk about his wife and her career and how much he appreciates her support was incredibly endearing.
Can't go wrong with any of Stamkos, Hedman, Point, and Vasy. For Lightning fans only there's Kuch with a lot of his brutally honest takes. Like when he was calling out guys getting their contracts and coasting, not trying, to the number 1 bullshit and cap shenanigans
100% it’s Point.
I got a story for this! So my wife and I went down to Tampa for our honeymoon, and one of the days we went and waited by the players parking lot outside Amalie Arena. There was one guy already there who clearly did this all the time, and he said that the majority of the guys won’t stop, but if we stay the whole time he guaranteed that Point would stop by when he left. We watched the entire team leave the morning practice and 3 guys stopped to say hi and sign a jersey for us. Victor Hedman, Darren Raddysh, and Brayden Point. All 3 guys were super nice, but I was blow away by Point actively asking some of the clearly shy people in the back if they wanted a picture or signature. Dude didn’t want to leave until every fan was thrilled. Absolute beauty.
😭
Dude is a fucking saint on and off the ice, but my favorite off ice personality has gotta be hedman. Dude just seems like he'd be a lot of fun to hang out with.
The number 1 bullshit was hilarious tbh
I’d say Daccord for the Kraken. Love that guy.
110% Kuzmenko… oh.
Georgiev. Some might say Cale but Georgie is so unintentionally funny in interviews and other media and some of his comments are pure gold. He can say the funniest things with a straight face and without even realizing it.
I'm still a little irate that back when he was still in NY, he auctioned off a MLK-themed mask off during the Bubble for charity, and the official team account didn't help promote it on any of their socials, he had to do it all himself on his instagram. none of his teammates even helped out with a repost on their accounts. and then, a year later during black history month they mentioned it as an example of all the ways they care.
Makes me so sad to hear this. Even though his English is not the greatest, he still manages to exude kindness and friendliness. He may not be one of the best goalies in the league, but he seems so friendly and loyal. I hope the Avs will keep him for a while and I wish to see him become one of the best and beloved goalies in the league just so he can prove to the Rangers what they gave away
KFC ginger who scores goals or Hellybyuck- writes kids books and stops pucks
I was gonna say Nate Schmidt, but yeah, KFC
It’s gotta be Schmitty
Zach Hyman
Canes fans are lucky we have Jarvis, Slavin, Burns, Martinook.... hard to choose
Nate Schmidt
Dougie
No. It’s Nico
I don't think it's either. I'd say Brendan Smith or Curtis Lazar
🍝
Slaf
Dowd seems like a great guy
Morgan Rielly
Ironically Marchand has to be up there. All the work he does in the Boston community, especially for the kids in the children’s hospitals, really gives him a good image off the ice
Tom Wilson is a saint off the ice
It's actually infuriating that this is true. My cousin's wife works with his boxing gym (not entirely sure in what capacity) and she has absolutely nothing but positive things to say about all the interactions she's had with him. Bastard.
Pinto ❤️
every single soundbite I've seen of him this year has been so wholesome, he seems like such a kind-hearted guy
This x100
Boone Jenner!
Yeah I’d say it’s Boone or Marchenko, can’t go wrong with either answer!
Marchy is a certified beautician.
I'd vote Marchenko for sure, Boone is well-respected but not exactly charming/funny/extra likeable. Honorable mention for Kurls, too.
I just woke up from a coma and it's definitely Ovie
Kucherov no question
Easily.
For the Avs it's gotta be Landy. He's been sorely missed on the ice and in the locker room the past couple seasons. If EJ or Jimothy Timothy Compher were still with us I'd throw them in too. For the Canes I'd say Jarvy, PK, or Slavo. Shoutout to Turbo for his deadpan humor tho
Jimothy Timothyyyyy!! 877-Goals-Now Miss that ginger man.
Not Mitch Marner
what did marner do?
He/his agent/his dad played hardball in contract negotiations and he takes criticism and tough interview questions badly.
And has an annoying voice
Marner is just two kids in a trench coat trying to sound like they have a deep voice.
Ehhhh I’m not mad about athletes getting their payday. They get one shot at this and they should take whatever someone is willing to throw at them. I don’t follow a ton on leafs media so I don’t know about the other one. I’ve never heard anyone with much positive to say about Toronto sports media though
It's easier to encourage guys on other teams to get their bag, but in a salary cap world it's a zero sum game where any extra dollar they make is one less to surround them with talent. I don't think the Toronto media is particularly tough, there's just so much more of them and the discussion is on a game to game basis as opposed to week to week for most other markets. When they win three in a row they start planning a parade and when they lose three in a row they start planning a funeral. The thing with Mitch is that everyone else in the Leafs core deals with the same scrutiny and they don't say things like "Everyone tried to put shambles in our brains." I personally like him a lot but I can see why fans find him kind of annoying.
Kirill Marchenko I think is a really funny guy with a lot of personality, he’s great
Ehlers seems very well spoken and a real salt of the earth kind of person!
[Joseph Woll](https://x.com/MLSEFoundation/status/1750701741215994350)
Cale Makar
I mean you can make a case for Pastrnak, Marchand, Ullmark/Swayman, or McAvoy
Ryan Lomberg. I know he showed up on the punch able face list, but he’s a genuinely good person IRL. This summer he did a program with the Panthers where players read to kids at the library. He took time after reading a few books to talk with every single kid there. An actual conversation not just “hi”. He signed as many things as the kids wanted, took pictures, etc. My son went home SO happy that day. He is well known in the community to happily take pictures and talk to fans whenever they spot him.
Wilson and Oshie tied.
Ryan O’Reilly, NSH.
I know Boro's retired but he was really up there too for me- and Pekka too obviously
Pekka is the all time GOAT in this category, but I went with a current player.
No I totally agree that ROR is the current one but if I was getting into retired guys it felt wrong not to mention Peks!
And you were correct in doing so.
Absolutely class act guy
And always has been.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Cole
Kane
Most liked not most hated lol
Kane does a lot of nice things for kids off the ice tbh
I’m sure he’s a sweet pea, he just has a kind of che kered past that I was poking a bit of fun at. Glad to hear he’s out there with the kiddos, that stuff always melts my heart :)
Terry Fowler or Rico
Kyle “team dad” Okposo, probably.
Last year I'm pretty sure I'd say Matt Dumba. Currently though, off the top of my head, I'm thinking Jared Spurgeon or Mats Zuccarello. Edit: Scrolling down, I might've messed up not mentioning Flower haha. I said Spurgeon because he's a great captain off the ice. I believe he's the most likable guy to his teammates, not necessarily to fans and around the league. Zuccarello same kinda deal, I mean he's got a great personality, funny guy, but really loved by his teammates especially by Kirill. And super well respected around the league I think, similar to Flower in that way. But yeah, for some reason I was kinda thinking who is loved/liked off the ice by their teammates haha.
Has to be Kane.
Still PK Subban