Every week in the NHL delivers goals, chaos, and occasionally, absolute gems on the microphone. Our “Say What?” series features some of the strangest, funniest, and most telling quotes from players, coaches, and executives around the league.
This week, the quotes cover everything from existential goaltending philosophies to GMs calling out their own teams, and one player praising his “warrior wife.”
Here are the lines that made us stop scrolling and say… what?
“Nothing matters, nobody cares, we’re all going to die.” - Devin Cooley
Calgary Flames backup goalie Devin Cooley offered one of the most shockingly honest quotes of the season, saying he calms himself by repeating his quote about nothing mattering.
It sounds dark, but for Cooley, it’s grounding. He says it keeps him from getting too excited, which leads to “stupid stuff” and bad goals. It’s bizarre, a little morbid, and yet somehow very on-brand for a player who might become one of the most quotable characters in the NHL. It also shines an even brighter light on the theory that goaltenders are generally just a little weird.
“My warrior of a wife had our third daughter while we were on the ice.” - Dylan Strome
Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome announced the birth of his daughter, Sutton Kimberly Strome, on Friday night to reporters. Because it happened earlier than expected, he was unable to make it back to be with his wife, Tayler, in time, and he appeared emotional when discussing it.
“Really proud of her. It’s tough – you obviously want to be there for the birth of your children,” Strome said. “Didn’t know it was coming this soon, but can’t wait to go see her.”
It’s rare to hear a player express something so raw and family-focused during a hectic season, but Strome nailed it. Emotional, honest, and a reminder that hockey players are humans first.
"There was nothing I could do to get back," he said. “Just really proud of her. It’s not easy… For her to do that herself, it’s unbelievable."
“Next question… sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but I’m not going to say it.” Connor Bedard
After snapping at officials over a missed call, Connor Bedard was asked what he said that earned him a penalty for abuse of officials.
“Next question,” he responded. Realizing that there was probably a better way to word it, he then apologized for being rude to the person who asked the question.
“I have to control my emotions… I put our team in a vulnerable spot,” Bedard said.
“We don’t expect him to be the best defensive player out there, but everyone’s required to play defense.” - Mike Sullivan
New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan didn’t sugarcoat it when asked about Artemi Panarin’s willingness (or lack thereof) to play defense.
“We don’t expect him to be the best defensive player out there, but everyone’s required to play defense – and that’s the conversation that we have,” he told reporters after the Rangers’ 6-3 defeat to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
“Everybody knows he drives offense, he’s a talented player. But I think he’s also capable of defending when he’s committed,” Sullivan added.
Coaches rarely call out stars this directly, and it’s intriguing that he’s choosing to do so with so much speculation surrounding the star, as he is a pending UFA on a team outside of a playoff spot.
“Everyone smells like a brewery.” - Brady Tkachuk
Not long ago, Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk started up their own podcast, called Wingmen. In a recent episode, the brothers shared what it’s like for NHL players returning to their teams after the Christmas break.
They discussed the NHL’s mandate that no team travels on Dec. 26th, which forces players to report to their teams early on the 27th, while they recover from their holiday festivities.
“It is the worst pre-game skate of the year, by far,” Matthew said. “The good thing is, everyone is in the same boat. Everyone’s a lot heavier, everyone’s a little sluggish.
“Everyone smells like a brewery,” Brady chimed in.
“It’s as though we went back 14 months.” - Martin St-Louis
Martin St-Louis has not been thrilled with the effort of his team over the past several games. He actually walked off during practice on Friday.
After an 8-4 loss against Washington on Thursday, St-Louis told reporters the way the team is playing defense reminds him of what he saw before the team was good.
He also acknowledged that Sam Montembeault and Jakub Dobes can be better in net, but the team has to get the job done in front of them as well, instead of just pointing the finger at them.
“Put pucks in deep, fewer turnovers, defend better, get the puck out when it’s around the blueline, take fewer penalties, block shots, put the puck on the sticks in front of the net,” St-Louis said. “Do you want more?”
That’s as close to frustrated as St-Louis gets.
“I’m disappointed because it’s as if we went back in time a little bit tonight,” St-Louis said. “Our good was good, but we shot ourselves in the foot. It’s as though we went back 14 months.”
“Don’t take it for granted because it's not normal everywhere.” - Gabriel Landeskog
Gabriel Landeskog dropped a fun quote, reflecting on how lucky everyone is to watch the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas and how fun it is to see talented players play hockey. While fans get to see how dynamic top stars can be, in Colorado, he’s got a front-row seat.
“You’re just blessed to get to watch on a daily basis,” Landeskog told reporters. I feel like you guys should probably feel the same way and don't take it for granted because it's not normal everywhere.”
While MacKinnon leads the league in scoring with 36 points, Makar and Necas are tied for fifth in the NHL scoring race with 28 points each.
“You have very elite players that are fully bought into what we're trying to do, and obviously they're special hockey minds and the talent and the hard work that they put in is exceptional,” the Avalanche’s captain said.
"In hockey, I always say you either win or you learn.” - Andre Tourigny
Utah Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny doesn’t believe in losing without growth. After their loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, he called out his team’s response to the emotion of the game.
“We cannot lose our focus like that because a call, or a goal, or a hit, or whatever,” Tourigny told reporters. “We cannot lose our temper and start to run around.”
In an outing where Utah’s bench boss believed his players could have controlled themselves a bit better, he wants them to learn a lesson from that defeat.
"In hockey, I always say you either win or you learn. If you just lose instead of learning, that doesn't work. You stay still, so we need to learn from what happened."
“I haven’t heard a single conversation about the Blue Jackets.” - sports media personality Bill Simmons
The Ringer CEO, Bill Simmons, was asked what the most irrelevant franchise in professional sports on a Nov. 18 episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
The commenter said they assumed it is their Columbus Blue Jackets, which have a total of 15 franchise playoff wins in 26 seasons so far. Simmons agreed.
"Now, granted, I don't have a ton of hockey fans in my life, but I've never heard a convo about them," Simmons added.
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski shrugged it off.
“Yeah, it doesn’t matter,” Werenski told reporters. “It is what it is, I guess, right? I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I like Columbus, I like playing there, and I don’t care what Bill Simmons has to say.”
“I don’t see myself in another jersey, not in Florida, not in Colorado, anywhere” - Evgeni Malkin
Evgeni Malkin is having a tremendous start to his season, and with that, there has been trade speculation surrounding him. However, the long-time Penguins center made it clear that his intentions are to stay in Pittsburgh, even though he understands that some decisions are out of his control
“There are many details,” Malkin said. “What if the team struggles or misses the playoffs, and big trades start? Of course, I don’t see myself in another jersey – not in Florida, not in Colorado, anywhere.
“I’ve played my whole life in Pittsburgh. I love the fans, I love the city. I want to finish here. But there are always details. And of course, I want to fight for another Cup,” he concluded.
“I think there’s been too much vanilla with our team.” - Brad Treliving
The Toronto Maple Leafs GM didn’t hide from accountability when he spoke with the Toronto media on Tuesday. Brad Treliving admitted that the Leafs are not where they “envisioned to be” at this point in the season.
“I take full responsibility,” Treliving told reporters. “I’m in charge of the hockey department. I've put the people in place on the ice, off the ice. So the responsibility lies with myself.”
He reflected on the team’s identity and the way they’ve played in the first quarter of this campaign.
“I think there’s been too much vanilla with our team," he said. "You can count on one hand how many complete games we’ve had.”
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