if we go down, we go down fighting

part 1 and part 2

Bobby Ryan’s real name isn’t Bobby Ryan. He was born Robert Shane Stevenson and changed his name due to events what happened before his draft and during his childhood what he basically lost: his mother was almost murdered by his father and constantly abused; Ryan had to get illegal passport and hide from FBI; or had to suffer his father being gambler and his mother hard working so he could still play hockey. (Much more here I recommend you to read it)

When was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 11 years old, his parents were divorcing and his dad was diagnosed with lymphoma so there was some financial trouble because of what he missed an entire season of organized hockey. The family hired him a trainer, though, so he actually spent the entire year working out and practicing alone. 

One of Connor McDavid’s OHL injuries was caused by his first hockey fight when he was fighting with Bryson Cianfrone of the Mississauga Steelheads; McDavid won but in the process of the fight, one of his haymakers slammed into the glass. That broke his hand and made him to have surgery.

One of the reason Jamie Benn was picked so late in the 2007 draft (5th round, 129th overall) was because he was also a decent prospect for baseball, and teams didn’t know which way he was going to go at the time. 

Leo Komarov is one of the thrifties and most sparing players in the NHL. He doesn’t mind using one of the cheapiest skates on the market if it’s a good deal and sometimes borrows and uses spare gloves of his teammates. Plus when he played in KHL in ‘13-’14, he kept on going out to games with his Leafs pants. When they complained, he wore his Marlies pants.

When playing in the OHL, Mitch Marner, Christian Dvorak and Owen MacDonald started a business together. A cafe called The MOD Feast (MOD stands for Mitch, Owen and Dvorak.) They served “bagels and stuff” and had Pizza Day on Fridays.

Joel Ward got trapped in a bathroom stall in Dallas during a road trip in 2013. Apparently the latch wouldn’t turn because the bolt was stripped. So he took to twitter and asked for help, and Karl Alzner and Braden Holtby spent over a half hour trying to get him out. Other Capitals players weren’t helping at all because they documented the ordeal and shared it with the Internet. Eventually they had to find a ladder and help him climb over the top. Ward got free after 44 minutes.

Sidney Crosby needs to have all his pants (especially jeans) custom made and just buy regular ones. Simple problem: if he bought the ones fitting his thighs and butt, they would be too wide at calves but if he bought the one fitting his thigs, they wouldn’t be wide enough for his thighs and butt.