The NHL needs more drunk Nikita Kucherov

And that's no 'No. 1 bullsh--.' Kucherov's alcohol-inspired rant after winning his second straight Stanley Cup gave us a rare glimpse of a player actually showing his personality

Steven Stamkos (left) and Nikita Kucherov were front and center during the Lightning’s post-game Stanley Cup party.

Here’s a guarantee you can take to the bank. Nobody in the hockey world was more surprised to see a shirtless, hairy-chested Nikita Kucherov dropping ‘F’ bombs and throwing shade at everyone from Montreal Canadiens fans to Vezina Trophy voters – who are the GMs, by the way – than myself and my former colleagues at The Hockey News.

It was early in the 2015-16 season and we were doing a profile on ‘The Triplet Line’ of Tyler Johnson between Ondrej Palat and Kucherov. Remember them? Anyway, it was around Christmastime and we had the idea of having the three of them on the cover of the magazine in gaudy Christmas sweaters, posing for what was supposed to look like a cringe-worthy family holiday photo. Once the Lightning saw the final product, they vetoed the concept for the cover, on the insistence of Kucherov. After much negotiation, we brokered a deal where we used the photo inside the magazine, thus missing a chance at having an epic cover. During the subsequent interview with the three in the restaurant of a Buffalo hotel, Johnson did almost all the talking and Kucherov sat silent, looking down at his shoes.

Fast forward almost six years later and there’s Kucherov, undoubtedly inspired by shot-gunning a couple of Bud Lights and downing champagne, sitting there reveling in being a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion and feeling all sassy.

And here it is in all its glorious entirety:

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Kucherov, Mikhail Sergachev and Andei Vasilevskiy have been vital components to the Lightning’s back-to-back Stanley Cups.

“I was telling him every day, ‘Vasy, you’re MVP. You’re the best player.’ And then they give it to, whatever the guy in Vegas, the Vezina, and then last year they gave Vezina to somebody else. No. 1 bullsh--. No. 1 bullsh--. Vasy took both Cups. You know, he took MVP and I was keep telling him he’s MVP. He’s the guy that (f-bomb). He’s the best.”

“He’s a humble, he’s very humble guy. You know, he’s says whatever like, ‘Come on, stop it, whatever, don’t say that.’ He doesn’t want people like near him say he’s the best. He wants to prove me he’s the best, but I know he’s the best, you know. He wants to prove me, but I’m like, ‘Vasy, you proved (f-bomb) me a long time ago. When I was 15, you proved it to me.’ I was like, no question, he’s the best. He’s gonna be the best, whatever. He’s gonna make it to the NHL. He’s very humble. And he keeps working, even though he’s getting robbed every year by NHL not getting the Vezina. He’s still humble, he still works hard. If he would play in a different market, he would take this Vezina year after year.”

And then he talked about how little he wanted to go back to Montreal for Game 6: “The fans in Montreal? Come on. They acted like they won the Stanley Cup last game. You kidding me? Are you kidding me?” At this point, an official from the NHL tries to diffuse the situation by calling on another questioner, but Kucherov remains undeterred. “Their final was last series, OK? Was that long enough answer? I took a time. Hey, I kept it the whole year in my, inside.”

It was epic, and if the NHL was really on the ball, it would use its resources to have someone with a camera exclusively follow Kucherov around for the next three or four days. It might just make Alex Ovechkin’s Stanley Cup celebrations look like a church bazaar. After 16 months of watching Zoom interviews, the hockey world needed to see this. It needed to see Kucherov bare his chest and his soul.

Of course, there was the predictable reaction from some on social media who felt Kucherov went over the line, that he was classless and boorish and will now be booed in Montreal every time he touches the puck. Well, let’s cut the guy some slack here. First of all, he was gunned. Second, he had just won the friggin’ Stanley Cup for the second straight year. Last season, the Lightning won the Cup in a bubble, in front of no fans and without their families to share the moment with them. Their Stanley Cup parade was on a boat. Most of the players didn’t even get the traditional day with the Stanley Cup last off-season because of pandemic restrictions. That prompted Patrick Maroon to opine that the Lightning players and staff should each get the Cup for two days this summer. “Back-to-back days because we missed our day last year,” Maroon said. “So, NHL, wake up.”

You will never see this corner admonishing an NHL player for speaking his mind and showing some bravado. You go through enough “we need to get pucks in deep” conversations with these guys and you beg them to let you in just a little, to just display a little bit of personality. And when they do it, particularly under those circumstances, it’ legendary. The hockey world needs more drunk Nikita Kucherov, not less.