In case you didn’t know amazon released the Inside the NHL documentary on Friday, and if you’re a hockey you have to check it out. It follows NHL stars like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl William Nylander, David Pastrnak as well as Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes. Hockey fans have been waiting for a documentary like this as the NHL hasn’t had something like this, unlike other sports. The NFL had a major success when they released “Quarterback” in 2023 and followed it up with “Receiver” this year. Formula One increased its audience with their Netflix series “ Drive to Survive”
Inside the NHL is every hockey fan’s dream. You get an exclusive look behind the scenes of some of the best players in the entire league. Something that I really liked and what I thought was unique was that it starts around playoff time. So you get to see the players during the intensity of the playoffs. It also follows mainly all of the star players, so you can get an inside look at what separates them from the rest.
The show also some us some legendary clips and sound bites. I’m going to start with the big one. The Amazon cameras were in the Oilers’ locker room and caught the raw emotion of Edmontons game seven loss in the Stanley Cup final. We got to the the silence of the team following the biggest losses of the players careers. Including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in tears following the loss. Something that I never thought you would ever get footage of, we got to see in this documentary. If you’re a fan of the 31 other teams you gotta see it. ( Especially Canucks and Flames fans). We also got to see McDavid super animated after losing game two yelling at his teammates. Giving you a look at the type of leader he is. Another one is we finally get to see what William Nylander said on the bench to teammates Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner during game four of their first round series against the Bruins.
We got to see some unique parts of players lives. Such as William Nylanders friendship with David Pastrnak. The two are rivals on the ice but have been friends since they 16. We get a great backstory of their friendship and how Nylander helped Pastrnak with his english.
“I honestly think once we got together on the team and started playing together as a line it was like instant chemistry between us,” Pastrnak said. “I didn’t speak that much English so I think on ice playing on the same line, the chemistry was the big part. We became good friends because we liked playing with each other and we understood each other on the ice. That was important.”
“He was always trying to help me,” Pastrnak said, “especially when I used a simple word instead of using the right word, he would try to tell me the right word for finishing the sentence.”
One of the players covered is Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche. Landeskog hasn’t played since the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022, and I was confused on why he was picked for the documentary. Once I him in the episode I was hooked on his story and I think you would be too. He talks about his injury and how hard its been for him not playing. He also talks about being a dad and having this time with his kids, and how valuable it is for him. You could tell from the emotion how much it was killing him not being able to play. Landeskog commented on his injury after the season.
“It’s just kind of a slow form of torture,”You want to be there to support them and just kind of go through all those things with them, whether it’s the ups or downs.”
As a Canucks fan I was so excited when I heard that Quinn Hughes was going to be in the documentary. It was also bitter-sweet because I knew I was going to have to relive the devesting loss to the Oilers in game 7, but there was a part of me who wanted to see the behind the scenes of that. We know how reserved and quiet Quinn is so it was nice seeing his life in Vancouver outside of hockey. You get to see him out grocery shopping and be a regular person like you and I. Everyone knows about Quinn superstar family and younger brothers Jack and Luke who play for the Devils. You also get to see great family of the Hughes’s and we learned that Quinn calls his dad for a pep talk before everygame.
I’ve been glued to this documentary and can’t get enough. I really hope theres another season next year and maybe they would cover the whole season not just the playoffs. If you’re a hockey fan this is something you muse see!