Opinions of the NHL Awards show

[Big Phil]

Okay, so the 2019 version just happened and I have to say it was actually a job well done. Kenan Thompson who is best known for being the longest serving veteran of SNL (Darrell Hammond if you count him currently as the announcer beats him I guess) hosted. He was funny. Thompson is hit or miss with a lot of SNL fans but I have always felt he had this sort of "aw shucks" type of comedy. Not laugh-0ut-loud so to speak, but entertaining and he is sort of hockey royalty with the Mighty Ducks movie.

So I thought he did a good job but the "Tony Babcock" character doing the interviews stole the show and even Crosby's reactions to him were funny. I don't know, whatever the NHL did this time, keep it up, because I am rarely entertained when I watch this show.

What moments do you like or dislike about past awards shows? For years it was Ron MacLean who hosted it and the show was usually in Toronto. I thought it fell flat in other years. George Strombo hosting it felt out of place, Will Arnett, "meh". Most of the time even with MacLean the jokes bomb and it is awkward. But I do have to admit one of the funnier skits I ever saw was Keith Primeau in the 1997 NHL Awards show with this skit about wearing a helmet that made it look like you weren't wearing one:


Leslie Neilson at the opening sketch of the 1994 NHL Awards:


MacLean opening of the 1996 NHL Awards:


MacLean with Phil Esposito in opening 1997 Awards skit:
Satire - Phil Esposito no longer #4 in goals scored

I guess MacLean had his funny moments.

Some of the awkward stuff was Cuba Gooding Jr. at I think it was the 2014 NHL Awards. I remember Messier and Adam Graves looking noticeably awkward when they were presenting an award with him and there was a time when Gooding talked over most of an awards speech from Andrew Ference
Cuba Gooding Jr. at NHL Awards (PUCK DADDY)

Was he drunk during this show? Seemed like it.

Click to read more...

 

[sr edler]

I've never watched one, but I did watch a Swedish football award show once and the guy (can't remember who it was) actually executed a funny joke:

Defenseman Olof Mellberg (who was in the audience) had committed a high head level hand foul and a penalty against against Croatia in a qualifier with the national team, and the host (I think it was) made the joke that it was a successful attempt to not ruin a perfect haircut (on the Croatian player). I think Mellberg's a guy that's considered handsome and well aware of fashion and his own looks.

 

[Pasha71]

I did like Kenan Thompson (but then again, I like him in SNL too), except for the award history segment (not funny at all). Mike Babcock somehow reminded me of Ron Burgundy, and the Crosby part was the funniest. Loved the Krasinski/Fischer part (well, I do love Jim/Pam and The Office). The Price/young kid moment was nice.

Of course, I was NOT happy as a Blues fan (only one award), but I do realize those awards are based on the regular season, so, yeah, Tampa can have all the awards they want, but we got the most important silverware. And as an ex-Soviet, yeah, I am happy for Kucherov and Vasilevskiy (and even for Barkov, even though he's technically Finnish).

 

[tarheelhockey]

Most years it's almost unwatchable. Vegas has improved the quality somewhat, but it's hard to disguise a lack of identity and personality leaguewide.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Having Kenan Thompson as host was a major improvement in comparison to the last few years.

 

[tony d]

Didn't watch the show this year, I find that they try to hard to be funny on these shows.

 

[NyQuil]

Professional hockey players are among the most boring human beings on the planet.

It’s like pulling teeth to try to make this event entertaining.

 

[VanIslander]

My opinion of the awards show:

No use waiting during the live show. In the Internet Age, one can easily find short to-the-point video replay of whatever award presentation you wish, saving a lot of time.

Back in the day, if you missed the ceremony then too bad, you had to settle for 10-second news hour clips, newspaper reports and/ or sports talk radio discussion.

Awards shows used to an EVENT. It hasn't been captivating sine the 1990's (other than Ovechkin's drunk antics, but i hunted down them afterwards and they were hilarious, indeed THAT would have been worth watching live - and that was the all-star weekend ceremony).

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

I actually enjoyed it this year

 

[Rarename91]

Okay, so the 2019 version just happened and I have to say it was actually a job well done. Kenan Thompson who is best known for being the longest serving veteran of SNL (Darrell Hammond if you count him currently as the announcer beats him I guess) hosted. He was funny. Thompson is hit or miss with a lot of SNL fans but I have always felt he had this sort of "aw shucks" type of comedy. Not laugh-0ut-loud so to speak, but entertaining and he is sort of hockey royalty with the Mighty Ducks movie.

So I thought he did a good job but the "Tony Babcock" character doing the interviews stole the show and even Crosby's reactions to him were funny. I don't know, whatever the NHL did this time, keep it up, because I am rarely entertained when I watch this show.

What moments do you like or dislike about past awards shows? For years it was Ron MacLean who hosted it and the show was usually in Toronto. I thought it fell flat in other years. George Strombo hosting it felt out of place, Will Arnett, "meh". Most of the time even with MacLean the jokes bomb and it is awkward. But I do have to admit one of the funnier skits I ever saw was Keith Primeau in the 1997 NHL Awards show with this skit about wearing a helmet that made it look like you weren't wearing one:


Leslie Neilson at the opening sketch of the 1994 NHL Awards:


MacLean opening of the 1996 NHL Awards:


MacLean with Phil Esposito in opening 1997 Awards skit:
Satire - Phil Esposito no longer #4 in goals scored

I guess MacLean had his funny moments.

Some of the awkward stuff was Cuba Gooding Jr. at I think it was the 2014 NHL Awards. I remember Messier and Adam Graves looking noticeably awkward when they were presenting an award with him and there was a time when Gooding talked over most of an awards speech from Andrew Ference
Cuba Gooding Jr. at NHL Awards (PUCK DADDY)

Was he drunk during this show? Seemed like it.

No

 

[Rarename91]

kenan isn’t funny wasn’t in a long while his impressions are crap they are literally just his everyday voice yes he was in the mighty ducks but that was long ago (( we need a hockey movie based on he blues runs)) I much rather gritty yes he can’t talk but he don’t tell shitty jokes I mean my god they were joking when doing the king Clancy berube faces said everything u need to know about the awards

 

[Big Phil]

kenan isn’t funny wasn’t in a long while his impressions are crap they are literally just his everyday voice yes he was in the mighty ducks but that was long ago (( we need a hockey movie based on he blues runs)) I much rather gritty yes he can’t talk but he don’t tell ****ty jokes I mean my god they were joking when doing the king Clancy berube faces said everything u need to know about the awards

How was Berube reacting to the show? I didn't notice.