The WWE Universe and the hockey world collided at last year’s NHL Draft, and no, we’re not talking about an appearance from The Goon.
Last year, former Vancouver Canucks bench boss Bruce Boudreau was a featured panelist as part of Sportsnet’s NHL Draft coverage. Of course, the draft is quite literally a night of making dreams come true, with each eligible player hoping to take the first step on the road to the National Hockey League.
However, it wasn’t just an evening of making players’ dreams come true, but last year, Boudreau’s as well. Not only is Boudreau one of the brightest minds in hockey history, but a diehard pro wrestling fan. Boudreau has even gone so far as to have recognized the Canucks ‘Player of the Game’ with a Vancouver Canucks title belt. That fandom, of course, is where Kevin Owens comes in.
During a break in the draft, Owens shocked the legendary head coach, appearing during the live broadcast to say hello to Boudreau.
Speaking with Spencer Love, Owens detailed how his friendship came to be, and how he first came to know of the Stanley Cup Champion.
“Bruce was awesome,” Owens chuckled. “It’s funny because years ago, I watched this – I forget what it was called, NHL 24/7 or something like that. That show where they follow the teams leading up to the Winter Classic. I used to play hockey when I was a kid. Then, once I started wrestling, I kind of gave up any other sports, right? I stopped playing [and] stop watching.”
“But, over the pandemic, I kind of got back into hockey a little bit,” he continued.” Like I said, I’d already watched that show. The season I watched was the season where they followed Bruce’s team. So, I got to know Bruce through that lens, and I got a huge kick out of them. Just [a] great, really lovable guy. [I] really enjoyed him, you know. I liked them a lot already. Somehow, through the grapevine, through Twitter and stuff like that, I caught wind of him being a huge wrestling fan. He would say his favorite wrestlers were Bret Hart, and currently, Kevin Owens. I took that as a huge compliment. Through various little incidents where he’d mention wrestling and stuff like that, I could see the guy was a really big fan.”
“We have to get you guys together!”
Owens then went on to detail how his surprise appearance at the 2022 NHL Draft actually came to be.
“I was in touch with Jackie Redmond, who works with him through the NHL network and stuff like that,” Owens stated on the NHL Draft. “She also works with WWE. Eventually, it just kind of worked out. I ended up at the Draft because it was in Montreal. I was there with my dad and my brother, I took them there to see it because they’re huge hockey fans. As I was in my suite with my brother and my dad waiting for the whole thing to start, I saw Jackie on the floor doing our show, so I texted her. She’s like, ‘Oh my god, Bruce is here! We have to get you guys together!’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!'”
“It just kind of worked out that way! We surprised Bruce. His reaction was so cool. He and I have become friends, [and] we’re in touch since then. We were actually texting just this morning. It’s great – it’s just great to have made a new friend who loves wrestling, and I love hockey. We talk about that stuff, and it’s just really cool it just worked out that way.”
Visit the link below, or Love Wrestling on YouTube, for our full interview with Kevin Owens. For those who use the transcriptions included in this article, please give an h/t to Love Wrestling.
