Crosby, Shanahan, Rantanen And More NHLers Should Give Season 2 Of 'Faceoff' Intriguing Storylines
The NHL talent starring in the second season of Prime Video's behind-the-scenes series should make for some must-watch moments.
NHL and Prime Video collaborated for a second season of their popular Faceoff: Inside the NHL streaming TV series.
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Pittsburgh Penguins icon Sidney Crosby, Dallas Stars right winger Mikko Rantanen, brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk and Toronto Maple Leafs right winger William Nylander are some players featured in Season 2.
Los Angeles Kings stars Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield, now-former Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, retiring Minnesota Wild star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and Columbus Blue Jackets players Sean Monahan and Zach Werenski are also in the series. That's a cast that has a wide variety of personalities. Seeing Hockey Hall of Famers like Shanahan and surefire Hall of Famers like Fleury and Crosby really adds to the appeal of this series.
Marc-Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby (Matt Blewett-Imagn Images)
To be sure, these types of documentaries always have something for casual and hardcore hockey fans alike. And this season's dramatic moments – including the all-time goal-scoring race from Washington Capitals right winger Alexander Ovechkin, as well as the high drama of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament – would be great to see behind the scenes.
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But Rantanen getting a major surprise when the Colorado Avalanche traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes, which later sent him to the Stars, is an intriguing storyline.
Of course, seeing Monahan, Werenski and the Blue Jackets playing out this season while grieving the loss of teammate Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, could hopefully help the rest of the hockey community remember the brothers and continue their legacies.
As we know, the NHL continues to try and market the personalities of the game – not always an easy task, given how guarded many players and management members can be – so this new series is welcome content for the game. The intricacies and subtleties of the sport are magnified in these documentaries, and that can only be a good thing for all involved. We want there to be a heightened sense of the stakes involved for people across the league, and we're drawn in by exclusive moments that will stay with fans for quite some time to come.
As the hockey documentary genre evolves, it will be intriguing to see what new angles are explored in this season of the show. The main hook for the series is all about access that we might not otherwise have, but if this doc pushes the envelope in one regard or another, that will set it apart from your garden-variety sports series.
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