Neil’s Substack
Neil’s Substack
A Trio of Goons: NHL Trade Deadline + Ovechkin/Gretzky Edition!
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A Trio of Goons: NHL Trade Deadline + Ovechkin/Gretzky Edition!

Neil and Walt chat with the great Gare Joyce about deadline moves, Ovi's record chase and Canada's strained relationship with Wayne Gretzky.

It’s a very special edition of

, in which and I are joined by author, Substacker, Canadian resident, and general hockey expert in the wake of Friday’s NHL trade deadline. We talk about the big moves of the day — debating a little Winnipeg versus the field (as led by Dallas) in the West — and Gare takes us through the significance of Alex Ovechkin challenging Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, at a time when things involving both Ovi and Gretz are particularly fraught. We also talk a bit about what Gretzky was like as a young man and dive into the psychology of the Great One’s relationship with his homeland.

As promised in the show, I’ll re-post my chart of net Goals Above Replacement (GAR) talent added minus subtracted by each team through its trades since Jan. 1:

And be sure to check out Gare’s Substack, How to Succeed in Sportswriting (without Really Trying), along with his book of the same name, his biography of Sidney Crosby — highly recommended — and his recent post about players who knew Gretzky as a teammate before he made the NHL:

How to Succeed in Sportswriting (without Really Trying)
No. 269: "I MADE WAYNE GRETZKY CRY" / And now he's making us cry foul. My buddy who humbled Brantford's hero as a teen & others who brushed with Greatness.
In a more innocent time: Wayne Gretzky, age 16, between his linemates with the Soo Greyhounds, the grumpy Dan Lucas and the smiling Paul (Henry) Mancini…
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Filed under: NHL, Hockey, Podcast, Interviews

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