#meg.askbox

[larsnicklas]

What is that people don't understand about Barky?

eh i think it's less that he's misunderstood as it's.... idk. that he flies very under the radar by choice and tends to be overshadowed by flashier personalities. on purpose. i guess if there's one thing i'd say — with the caveat that none of us know the guy personally! — i don't really think he's shy at all, which is how he was described a TON when he was younger. he speaks when he has something to say and has always had yappers in the leadership group to balance things out lmao. but he's so funny!!! and tbh the older he gets the more he lets his personality show on camera i think lol

i, a longtime nicke enthusiast, am used to basically all of this and even drawn to these traits, and therefore voraciously consume every longform sasha interview/piece that is available to me in order to kind of get a grasp on what makes the guy tick. here are a few of my favorites + a few highlight videos for fun!

SASHA MINI PRIMER ⬇️ aka an incomplete but lovingly curated collection of required reading/videos/essential moments below the cut!!!

📰 Sushi With Sasha: Barkov jests that all being captain really means is, “I have to open my mouth sometimes.” [...] The fact Barkov cracks wise about his quiet ways, though, is in line with a defining characteristic — knowing how to pick your spots, both with the puck and one-liners. “Yeah, that’s exactly it,” says Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman and fellow Finn Olli Maatta. “Definitely not the loudest guy in the room, but when you get to know him he has almost like a sneaky sense of humour.”

🎥 32 Thoughts: Barkov Reminisces About Panthers Magical Playoff Run (he is so cute in this. hair fluffy. smiley. sweet.)

📰 Q&A: Sasha Barkov is home in Finland and discusses his love of chicken wings, Jaromir Jagr and the Miami Heat: How fast does that car go? Well, 65 is the speed limit, right? So, 66. But I think it would hit 200 if you really pushed it.

🎥 Aleksander Barkov Shootout Goals But They Get Increasingly More Impressive (what it says on the tin)

📰 The NHL’s new Patrice Bergeron? Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov fits the bill — ‘He does everything right: Affable as always, Barkov, despite his short offseason, looked noticeably more jacked than he’d even been during the Panthers’ tremendous playoff run. He smiled and extended his hand before discussing his motivation to captain the Panthers back to the spot that had been so grueling to get to in the first place.

📰 Barkov Keeps His Cool: It’s right after one of those long days of work at the rink in November that Barkov, known better around the locker room as “Sasha,” has me on his car’s speakerphone as he works to traverse through a bit of traffic around rush hour. In the background, vehicles can be heard zooming and honking around him. But just like he does on the ice, the Panthers captain is keeping his cool. As he maneuvers through congestion with his foot tap dancing on the pedal, he doesn’t talk much about his extension, but rather of the first time he attempted to traverse the highways of South Florida as a fresh-faced, 18-year-old hockey prodigy during his rookie season in 2013.

🎙️/ 🎥 The Hockey PDOcast Episode: Aleksander Barkov's Defensive Impact and How He Does It (analysis of barkov as a player with accompanying video clips)

🎥 Panthers Celebrate Captain Aleksander Barkov (this video is so fucking funny to me because joe t.hornton just talks for ten seconds about how big sasha is. which. yeah real.)

📰 Dwyane Wade crashes into fan at Heat game -- Panthers star Aleksander Barkov: Barkov said he would like to see Wade at a Panthers game this season. The Panthers play at BB&T Center in Sunrise, which is 35 miles north of AmericanAirlines Arena, where the Heat play. Barkov predicted Wade would get a standing ovation from Panthers fans and said he wouldn't let boards stop him from trying to see Wade during that game. "I'll try my best to fly over him," Barkov said.

🎥 Ask Me Anything | Aleksander Barkov (this is where he says his dream golf quartet is his ex bf his current work wife and his dilf mentor)

📰 Q&A with Sasha Barkov: Fast cars, Miami sports and his first move as NHL commish: Yeah, the palm trees were cool and he really liked the ocean. But he also liked to drive. To do that, he needed to head to the DMV and get himself a Florida driver’s license. “I don’t have a car but I have the license,” Barkov said during his first training camp with the Panthers in 2013. “I failed the first time because I didn’t understand the questions.”

🎥 Laine and Barkov go to town on Finnish chicken wings (literally just a minute long video of them eating chicken wings LOL)

🎥 ALEKSANDER BARKOV VS. PAVEL BARBER | HockeyShot Shootout Challenge! (silly trickshot video... fans throw rats at sasha and he's like thank you :D... it's like an artificial sheet on the beach, sasha is very cute)

[larsnicklas]

obsessssssedddd with them saying “you need to pick a goalie” and petey tap tap tapping the mic and saying “anyway… brock” and THEN they said “no, we said a goalie” and petey said “well EYE said brock!”

mr. buble said okay yes go ahead elias you make this pick!! and elias went head empty JUST brock he was like. i have one job and it's brock on my team!!!

[larsnicklas]

drat going after arty... u were not my enemy prior to this but ur climbing the ranks quite steadily... do NOT be rude to baby goalie bc u shot a puck at the post instead of the net

i will leave you with the wise words of my valued twt mutual and goalie defender:

[larsnicklas]

I don't know why they are crying about cross posts on lb tags when theses posts aren't actually tagged they'r just not censored when they are the ones posting hate on matthew's tag daily including multiple him getting punched or hit by that rapist like it's some sort of fun thing

yeah i feel like the majority of the time people don't mean for the posts to end up in the other team's lb but the tumblr search function is so sensitive! but it doesn't surprise me that they haven't thought that through and think that cats fans are so obsessed with them that people would be posting in the oil tag on purpose LOL. it's okay they just don't know how the site works AND they're pissy that the team they've been told all season is so exceptional and special and chosen by the hockey gods is running into the buzzsaw that is the p.anthers!!

[larsnicklas]

🎤 what are some older hockey Narratives or Events or Occurrences that folks who have gotten into hockey fandom in the past 4 or 5 years might have missed that you think they would find entertaining + fun?

i chewed on this through several very mindnumbing administrative chores and i'm probably STILL forgetting so many good ones! thank you so much.....

i would not actually wish a labor lockout on anyone again but i WILL say. the 2012 lockout really gave us some things to cook with. it's the whole *waves hand* disruption of routine, and sticking guys in places they usually weren't, playing with players they usually weren't; it gave us LORE, man. it also gave us, by which i mean Capitals Fans, ovi bothering nicklas every day until nicklas went to play in moscow with him, which is so romo of them

do the people these days know that dylan l.arkin and zach w.erenski were like........ attached at the hip.... do they know they were boys together.....

i don't think guys are doing starcrossed then reunited to win a cup together then starcrossed with diverging paths again like mike r.ichards and jeff c.arter these days. i know this is like, not a rare pair or anything like that but i just think it's one that still deserves oxygen in the year of our lord 2024. do they count as old man yaoi yet? or are they just middle aged yaoi at the moment? please weigh in

brioux family christmas cards

i suspect nobody really cares about the caps young guns era except for caps fans BUT since we are both caps fans: if hockey tumblr cared about the caps they would be feral for the young guns polycule i think. there was really such an energy with those four LMFAO. also do you remember their glam rock intro video they did. that was an event to ME

WAIT i'm adding this. i miss carey p.rice and pk s.ubban... those guys made me care about the C.ANADIENS that is so so impressive. oh to see a triple low five again... we didn't even know how good we had it....

[larsnicklas]

when did sasha say that about leon?? 👀

summer media sesh :>

[larsnicklas]

since he's in evidence today I have to say something that's been bothering me for some days. it really didn't sit right with me draisaitl sharing sponsorship stories only a couple of hours after sharing stories about gaudreau. I know sponsored stories have a schedule but it wouldn't hurt if he shared it a day later than he was supposed to. I didn't see any other player doing that most of them either shared posts about gaudreau, themselves with gaudreau or just stayed quiet. idk if it's because I don't really like him after the finals and how he's known for ignoring the concept of leaving rivalries on the ice but it really really bothered me.

hiii sorry for taking a while to respond!! i wanted to gather my thoughts a little bit and answer with care!

i can definitely see how it feels insensitive + i think anytime you lose someone that was important to you in any way it feels very much like the world should hit pause!

but i also would encourage you not to read into this as some kind of disregard or disrespect for the g.audreaus. as a general rule, players don't personally handle sponsorship posts + if there's a posting schedule that was agreed upon by both parties, that schedule will generally be adhered to. i don't deign to know what any players are thinking of course, but regardless of any personal feelings on drai left over after playoffs i do think it would be monumentally unfair of me to think that he wasn't also affected by the deaths of the gaudreaus.

the hockey community is, for better or worse, extremely insular and tight-knit and no one is ever more than a single degree of separation away from each other at all times, and even someone who's perhaps known for being petty about rivalries even off the ice would not willfully disrespect a grieving family/team/fanbase.

i think this is such an emotional situation and it's easy to jump to thinking the worst of people! but often that isn't the case. i think some grace for ourselves and for others is the way forward tbh!

i hope you are doing okay ♡

[larsnicklas]

hi meg!! i am humbly asking if whenever the spirit moves you to gif some hockey men if you would consider immortalizing ekky and benny's tender friendship cup day in gif form 🙏 https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers/status/1825554605490512346?t=2ETvkRX4tGWgw36skpziJg&s=19

omg YES i fear i have been swept into the offseason vibes but i've been bookmarking videos to gif on twt and this one immediately got tabbed for gifing!! if elon ever makes bookmarks public my bookmarks are going to be so funny because it's just like various videos of hockey men embracing other hockey men, and then occasionally baseball men embracing other baseball men, and then h.aikyu fanart (idk i'm going through something here) and then also like. occasional recipes or restaurant recs 😭😭😭

[larsnicklas]

can twitter stop trying to get me to care abt the bruins goalies i’m abt two seconds from muting their names

no like same. i’m so sorry i think they’re very nice and wholesome but i quite literally do not caaaaaare. i think they should continue on as they have and i DID like s.wayman being santa for u.llmark’s kids. that’s extremely cute!! but i think people should stop shoving them into my face and maybe i would care more 😭🙏

[larsnicklas]

hockey xenophobia is such a strange brand of insane to me bc why are so so many old ass men in the canucks draft announcement posts complaining abt the first pick being swedish and even going so far as to complain that the second pick, despite being canadian-born, had swedish immigrants for grandparents. like genuinely wtf is ur problem. get a fucking grip. a guy who might just be an actual nazi was picked in the top 20 and this is what we're bothered about?

u spoke not a single untrue word here!!! it’s that stupid pervasive belief that north americans have that euros (and particularly swedes) are soft it drives me nuts lol. i know the c.anucks draft a lot out of sweden but it’s like. they have a robust and very good euro scouting department with a proven track record of success why wouldn’t they continue drafting out of there?? anyway a team full of finns and swedes just won a stanley cup so i think the nucks should continue as they are 😌

[larsnicklas]

"idgaf abt the oilers but i hope this drives players away because wtf"

this is not bashing the other anon but I don't think they care since that team have one of the worst group of people in the nhl and the ones seen as "good people" like mcloser and drai are always publicly praising them like how they said that rapist is so nice such a good guy and shit

yeah i mean! i don't think any group is a monolith and i do think there probably are players out there that would be more hesitant to join an organization helmed by bowman

but i would just, as an aside, caution against viewing the oilers as some outlier on this. the team you (general you, not you specifically, anon!) root for is not immune to defending their rapist teammate and that's a fact! i know it's tempting to want to feel moral superiority over other fanbases but you gotta resist it lol. the only side any of us should be on is the side of any victims and survivors, it's really not about team colors

[larsnicklas]

personally it's hysterical to me that they are leaning sooo hard into the 1942 parallels because the key momentum shift in 1942 was that the red wings coach was so incensed by the calls in game 4 he went out onto the ice and fist fought a ref, leading to his suspension for the rest of the series. if there is ONE thing i know pomo is NOT gonna do!

right like 😭 if you’re grasping at something that happened 80 years ago under a completely different set of circumstances and when there were 6 teams in existence like……. be serious…..

[larsnicklas]

‪i'm tired of michael russo from the athletic saying on twitter (and on his article) that bob "stole" game one because the oilers "certainly deserved better". as far as i know, a goalie is part of the team and not only he was phenomenal, the boys scored when they had the chance to do so (i expect florida to be better against edmonton's speed next game).

yeah like!!! in some ways i don’t mind the framing of bob stealing the game because he’s gotten shafted on coverage the past three rounds because of who he’s gone up against (and beaten, so THERE!) so i don’t mind some pumping of the bob tires. but then again i do notttt think it was as lopsided as some of the analytics might suggest — corey sznajder’s microstats tracking had the oil much less dominant, and everybody simply what? forgot about score effects? the cats struck decisively and opportunistically, improved every period after a veryyy lackluster first, and held their lead despite the oil push + successfully killed three penalties on the night. they deserved the win idc what the canadian media says lmfao. at the end of the day the only numbers that count are the goals and one team had 3 and the other had 0. so!!!

[larsnicklas]

i'm feeling a greater-than-normal sense of dread abt tonight's nucks-oilers game

this message for some reason made me laugh out loud, but i swear not in an AT you way. just like, in solidarity.

it's okay, let the dread take hold of your entire body and soul, and then go take a walk if you can! run some errands if you've got the time and inclination and talk to people who don't care at all about sports! remind yourself that it really is genuinely just a game even if it's (perversely) fun to get swept up into the emotions, the epic highs and lows of the stanley cup playoffs!!

but honestly speaking. many many people thought the oil were going to cakewalk through the second round and instead they're sweating and going through a goalie controversy and they're down 2-1 in a series and are feeling the HEAT! and meanwhile the c.anucks are just. doing their jobs man. going to the rink keeping their heads down and working hard to put a good game together in front of their third string goalie child. the vibes are better in v.ancouver, is what i'm saying. no matter what happens this IS a successful season for quinn's first year of captaincy. and for the o.ilers, anything short of a cup is going to feel like another failure of a season in a long stretch of them. we're playing with house money, baby. just enjoyyy the ride and hope that the o.ilers stop slewfooting quinn.

[larsnicklas]

my solitaire and mahjong screentime is going to shoot up exponentially with how much i will be avoiding twitter for the next month

laughing like. yeah i know 😭😭😭 i think i’m going to just have to make liberal use of the mute feature and then go back and unmute after the furor settles down a bit. i also have decided this is the perfect time to start a new stardew v.alley save for the 1.6 update in an effort to be on my timeline less LOL so we are shaking hands on this!

[larsnicklas]

another very satisfying thing about the cup is how after that oilers reporter were xenophobic against elias his team full of canadians lost the final to the panthers a team a with an european captain with way less canadians and a lot of europeans on the roster

saw someone say “less toronto, more tampere” and i had myself a good giggle at that!