Which current NHLer could host Saturday Night Live?

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce recently took his talents to the stage as host of Saturday Night Live but which current NHL player has the chops to host the comedy institution?

Video Transcript

JULIAN MACKENZIE: You know that thing that happens whenever we see some athlete in a different sport do something cool, and then everyone has to think, but what if the NHL did this or who for the NHL would do this? We started doing that with Travis Kelce over the past weekend because the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs who won the Super Bowl. He ends up hosting SNL. And of course, people started asking around, which NHL player could host SNL and not be cringy?

OMAR: None.

SAM CHANG: None.

OMAR: None.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: There's-- so there's nobody? There's nobody in the NHL right now?

OMAR: That's not true. That's not true. There's one. There's one person who can honestly do it, and it's Brad Marchand. I don't think anyone else could. Brad Marchand is probably the only one I think could do it.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: I don't know.

OMAR: No one. I'd-- there's no one. Imagine McDavid?

JULIAN MACKENZIE: No.

SAM CHANG: You know who I think could do it? It wouldn't be great, but it'd be fine?

JULIAN MACKENZIE: Who?

SAM CHANG: Jeff Skinner.

OMAR: Yeah.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: Oh.

OMAR: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The-- yeah, that was actually pretty funny.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: You can let them do like the fun skits they've been doing with the sabers. I guess there are Twitter page that keep posting the videos up. Like that, I watch that, like a skit of that.

SAM CHANG: Yeah.

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: The one problem, though, was like the NHL. There isn't a name that is well known enough in the general sports world to get called. Like the one guy, you know he's retired now, the only guy you ever see getting called to do it, and that was PK Subban. That's the one guy.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: --before I do it.

OMAR: Yep. Yep.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: Some people might be like, oh, you're still playing? Is that guy from ESPN? Like, I don't know, man.

OMAR: No. Subban's hilarious, man. Like, I don't know how no one up North like didn't get him. I don't-- I don't know how.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: I don't even look at it that way. I think of it as like, you know what? No. Get the ESPN bag, like if he-- honestly, I thought if SportsNet got him, no disrespect to SportNet, TSN. I would be like, well, how did he not make it work at ESPN? Like I would have been more stunned if it didn't, if it didn't work the other way.

OMAR: But he's so frickin' in there. He's so funny, man, like he's hilarious.

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: Yeah. And also to ESPN, one thing that ESPN did that SportsNet and TSN still do not do, is they gave PK his own original series, PK's Place. Like that's one thing you would do if you're in Canada. You don't do no original content. Sports and TSN is very much, you know, stick them on a desk and that's it. ESPN--

SAM CHANG: Kermit did. You know what we got? Kes' house.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: Oh, yeah. I remember that. Oh.

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: I-- why? Why was it a thing?

JULIAN MACKENZIE: It's just-- I think there's-- I think like if SportsNet and TSN really wanted to, they could do it, but maybe it's-- one, it's definitely a cost thing because, you know, things cost so much in this economy. Two, who's really out there for them to really like put a whole show around that people will be interested in? Like Kes' house is Ryan Kesler. He's just not that interesting of a person. I know they had guests every now and again, but like it wasn't really worth it.

SAM CHANG: You didn't want to see Post Malone hang out with Ryan Kesler?

OMAR: That was funny.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: I think I watched that segment. That was interesting. That was-- that was interesting

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: It does feel so random like, hey, here's Chad Johnson. What? I was trying arrange an--

JULIAN MACKENZIE: You got an ochocinco here.

OMAR: Yeah.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: I think if they got like someone else to like host that show, then it would have been more interesting. But like Ryan Kesler doesn't really do it for me. Well, he didn't really do it for you. He didn't really do it for anybody. That show doesn't exist anymore.

OMAR: Yeah. There are a lot of people I know who like actively do one of two things during intermissions, unless it's Saturday during the second period, mute or they change the channel. And there are so many like-- that that's bad. (LAUGHS) Like that's bad, and I don't I-- and again, the fact that like going back to the initial question, how we're literally just like, it's taking so long for us to think of any player in the NHL who could host SNL.

If we're talking about the NBA, there are parchment length papers of examples of we can think of.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: Giannis Antetokounmpo could do it tomorrow. Well, not tomorrow. It wouldn't be Saturday, but he could do it. He could do it the next possible episode and it would be hilarious.

OMAR: Yeah, but like for hockey, man, it's just like-- it's such a shame because like one of the things I love like growing up in to this day is like, when people put together like miked up compilations and just hearing how the players are on the ice because it's like they're actual frickin' people and they say funny things and they do funny things and they do stupid stuff and whatever. But this is like-- but like-- but like in a nutshell or at least actively, like the league is so, like, hesitant to jump into that.

And again, you have players like PK Subban who, like, did his damndest to say like, no, I am PK Subban. Like, yes, I'm part of the Montreal Canadians, but like I am PK Subban. I have my personalized celebration. I have my triple high five with Carey Price. And then, what do they do?

JULIAN MACKENZIE: They've banned it.

OMAR: Gone. Done, right?

SAM CHANG: I mean, the thing is like I've always thought of golf as like an incredibly boring sport, right? Like for the longest time, I was like, oh, Tiger Woods is cool. That's like your personality. But I can, off the top of my head, name like-- and I don't follow golf. I can think of golfers who I would watch host SNL.

JULIAN MACKENZIE: Oh, my God.

SAM CHANG: I watched full swing just because it was entertaining. And I said to-- I said to my partner, I was like, can you-- I would love for there to be a show like this about the NHL, but, like, it would be so boring.

OMAR: Nope.

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: Yeah.

SAM CHANG: The closest we've gotten is HBO 24/7, and like parts of that were good. But like this league is so-- not just this league. I think hockey in general because it starts from like-- it's just the culture of hockey from grassroots levels onwards. You're just like, all the name on the back doesn't matter. It's all about the team. Like you all dress the same, you all carry the same coffee cup, you all walk into the rink the same. Like you start that from such a young age that it's like there is no personality.

Like what's-- would you watch an NHL version of Full Swing or Drive To Survive? Like I don't know if I would.