HBO 24/7 Episode 3 – Favorite Moments

By Stefan Kubus –

In the third installment of HBO’s “24/7” series, the Red Wings’ Winter Classic primer against Toronto at the Air Canada Centre from Dec. 21 highlighted the latest happenings behind the scenes. Here were some of the moments that stood out:

• Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle discussed with his team how winning face-offs is a team effort, not solely the responsibility of the centerman.
• During Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith’s visit home to his parents in Toronto, Smith talked about how his brother Reilly (a forward with Boston) wanted the bedroom they shared as kids painted red and white for Detroit, while Brendan wanted it blue and white for Toronto.
• Detroit head coach Mike Babcock said with veterans, the morning skate would be optional, but having a lot of younger players, or “kids” as he called them, the morning skate was a lot more important.
• A popular iPhone trick, Dan Cleary asks Siri who the ‘Magic Man’ is on his iPhone, to which Siri produces Pavel Datsyuk’s biography and stats.
• “The best players do ordinary things better than everybody else.” – Maple Leafs assistant coach Greg Cronin prior to Toronto’s game against Detroit.
• The Red Wings players referred to Datsyuk as “Magic” in the locker room during the first intermission of their game against Toronto.
• Toronto forward David Clarkson got burned by Datsyuk on a deke in his own zone and then said he shouldn’t have slid at him, but added it was a “pretty sick move, though.”
• There was an interesting look into the Toronto “War Room” where goals are reviewed in an instance where Clarkson’s goal against the Red Wings was reviewed and then confirmed as a good goal.
• Danny DeKeyser autographed a plate at an Italian restaurant he eats at prior to every game. He also sported a Western Michigan lanyard, his alma mater.
• Joffrey Lupul bought his mom’s Christmas gift, a sweater to keep warm during the Winter Classic, on Christmas Eve. He joked about how she now knows that he procrastinated because that it’s on HBO.
• HBO gave a look into what Christmas is like at Daniel Alfredsson’s house. Santa Claus made an appearance and gave one present to each of the kids.
• In the van Riemsdyk household, a Christmas tradition is to play an outdoor pickup game with family and some friends. It was a nice moment seeing James van Riemsdyk feed his dad for a goal in the game.
• Henrik Zetterberg was shown getting a skate in for the first time on his backyard pond since moving in there three years ago. The Red Wings captain said he hopes to see a little bit of snowfall for the Winter Classic.