The 2023 NHL Draft begins Wednesday night so this was the perfect time to conduct some “man on the street” interviews around Nashville to find out how out-of-towners are enjoying their stay and what they think of the big hockey event.
Nashville’s Penalty Box Radio did just that and they ended up finding a really interesting interviewee in “Kyle from Chicago.” What they didn’t realize at the time was that he was actually Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, who decided to stay in character the whole time.
Hilarity, as they say, ensued.
So we walked around downtown Nashville talking to hockey fans about the 2023 NHL Draft.
And then this happened. @NHLBlackhawks come get your GM! pic.twitter.com/zuZjGxhHdf
— PenaltyBoxRadio (@PenaltyBoxRadio) June 28, 2023
Things get off to a great start when the interviewer asked if he’s just visiting (“Yeah”) and if he’s been to Nashville before (“a couple times, yeah”) for Blackhawks games (“Uhh…yeah.”).
The questions then get ramped up as Kyle is asked to rate how well he knows hockey on a scale of 1-10 (“Probably, like, I didn’t play professionally or anything, so probably like a 4,” adding that “some people say I don’t know that much.”). Then, when asked to name as many hockey players as he can in 20 seconds, he starts with some obvious ones “Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux,” before rattling off a whole lot of members of the Stanley Cup-winning Blackhawks from a decade ago. The interviewer was pretty impressed by the specific knowledge from a fairweather fan.
“Big Hawks fan,” added Davidson.
And finally, the pièce de résistance comes when the interviewer asked Davidson if he thinks the NHL rigged the draft for Chicago so that they could land highly coveted prospect Connor Bedard.
“No. … I’m very confident,” making a face at the camera that said it all.
Kyle from Chicago ¯_(ツ)_/¯ https://t.co/HUK1cTZluC pic.twitter.com/r1TsmQOzOB
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) June 28, 2023
It was a pretty good get for Penalty Box Radio, even if they didn’t realize it was a get at all.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.