It was an interesting time for professional hockey in 2005. The NHL was in the middle of a lockout, which shut down the entire season.
Players were looking for teams overseas to keep sharp but to also earn a paycheque. However, just because things aren’t exactly going great, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun!
During the lockout, IMG Sports set up a tour across seven cities in Europe as part of a charity tour. The tour featured NHL players under the representation of IMG Sports and included many talents like Mats Sundin, Tony Amonte, Joe Thornton, Martin Brodeur, Luc Robitaille, Sergei Fedorov, Daniel Alfredsson, Ray Whitney, Daniel Briere, Dominik Hasek, Rob Blake, and Rick Nash.
With that much talent on one trip and so much downtime between their games, the boys had a little fun during their spare time.
Also on the trip was 25-year-old John-Michael Liles of the Colorado Avalanche. Liles was the recent guest on the latest episode of the Spitin’ Chiclets podcast with Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette.
Ray Whitney.
Liles shared some stories from the European tour, which included Sergei Fedorov showing up to the plane in “Like Ugg boots and the biggest fur coat you’ve ever seen.” Good times were clearly had on the trip, but the one story that stood out the most was Dominik Hasek unable to play nets because he was too hungover!
Sergei Fedorov.
Yep, Ray Whitney’s dad was also on the trip and he had to strap on the pads because Hasek was dealing with the repercussions of some late night partying.
“Ray Whitney was on the trip and Ray Witney’s Dad had to play goalie for us one night because Hasek was too hungover from the night before and he couldn’t leave the training room. He was in full gear, asleep on the trainer’s table for the entire game.”
Dominik Hasek.
Absolutely legendary. At least Hasek had a good nap and was hopefully able to sleep off the hangover. The entire podcast can be listened down below, which features stories from the trip as well as tales from Liles’ 14-year career.
https://twitter.com/spittinchiclets/status/1042752594563620870
