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HBO 24/7 Episode 4 (Finale) – Favorite Moments

MiHockey Staff

By Stefan Kubus –

HBO’s “24/7: Road to the Winter Classic” wrapped up Saturday night, recapping the 2014 Winter Classic and its aftermath between Detroit and Toronto. Here were some of the moments that stood out:

  • The Red Wings’ road trip to Florida and Nashville was highlighted early, where many of the players brought along their fathers, friends or other family members.
  • “You have to pinch yourself every day, especially being from Michigan, having the opportunity to play for your hometown team. It’s pretty special.” – Joseph Abdelkader, father of Red Wings forward Justin, on his son playing for Detroit.
  • The Maple Leafs coaching staff joked about how returning forward Tyler Bozak serves as Phil Kessel’s chauffeur around town.
  • Kessel and Bozak are roommates, too, and Kessel gave Bozak a hard time about how much he sits on the end of his own bed and plays video games.
  • Dan Cleary was shown getting stitched up during the first period against Florida when he also lost 10 teeth on the play.
  • Henrik Zetterberg’s father, Goran, drank a celebratory beer with the Detroit coaching staff after the Florida win. Awesome.
  • After Kessel scored a goal in his game against Carolina, he called the goal “lucky” (banked it in off goaltender Cam Ward’s pad and in the net from behind the goal line) in the group celebration. Bozak immediately responded with, “Who gives a s—?!” Hey, a goal is a goal, right?
  • In that same game, Toronto forward David Clarkson had to leave to repair a nastily-cut elbow that required 18 stitches inside and out. His first words after? “I’m playing.” He came back and provided the screen that helped the Leafs score their fourth goal of the game in the third period.
  • Kessel and captain Dion Phaneuf fit in a grudge match game of ping-pong in again before they departed for the Winter Classic in Ann Arbor. Phaneuf won.
  • Phaneuf was shown signing his seven-year, $49M contract extension at his team’s hotel in Detroit.
  • The power went out as the Leafs were getting dressed to take the ice for practice at The Big House on New Year’s Eve.
  • The unique New Year’s Eve party in Ann Arbor was highlighted. Instead of a ball dropping at midnight, they had a giant, lit-up puck to commemorate the Winter Classic. Really neat.
  • The Maple Leafs (and presumably Red Wings, as well) team buses were escorted by police to the Winter Classic past all the traffic on the shoulder of the highway.
  • After the first period of the New Year’s Day game, all former Spartan John-Michael Liles could do was laugh and move on as he found out he was traded to Carolina just before the game began.
  • In a neat, second-period moment, former Spartan Drew Miller is shown coming to the aid of former Wolverine Luke Glendening in a scrum in front of the Toronto goal.
  • Following the game, the series brought the scene back to kids playing outdoors to revisit that theme of the players being kids again, which the show opened with.

It was a bit surprising HBO didn’t speak to Glendening (Grand Rapids) before the game at some point about surprisingly being called up and playing in his fifth outdoor game.