NHL Stars Reveal Secrets: Cheat Meals, Music, and Playoff Format

NHL: Stars Reveal Secrets and Preferences for the 2025-26 Season

Henderson, Nev. – With training camps opening this week, the NHL prepares for a new 2025-26 season after a summer full of changes, including a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players. Recently, Alofoke Deportes had the opportunity to converse with several of the NHL stars during the NHL Player Media Tour near Las Vegas, where key topics were addressed: what they like about the new agreement, who will benefit from the relaxed dress code, their opinion on the playoff format, and of course, their favorite cheat meals, songs to get motivated before games, and peculiarities in their equipment.

Favorite Cheat Meal

Players shared their culinary indulgences:

• Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins): “A huge plate of chicken wings on Sunday to watch American football.”
• Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders): “A burger from 7th Street in New York.”
• Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks): “Probably a burger and fries.”
• Seth Jarvis (Carolina Hurricanes): “Pizza. Domino’s. Incredible. Everything there.”
• Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche): “Probably a burger, there are good places in Denver. Cherry Cricket has a good burger.”
• Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia Flyers): “Shake Shack. Burger, fries, and a chocolate shake.”
• Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning): “Pizza. Pineapple and ham.”
• Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks): “Pizza with prosciutto. The fancy pizza. Italian, with prosciutto and burrata.”
• Brady Skjei (Nashville Predators): “Nachos. Tacos. Something Mexican, for sure.”
• Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars): “Chick-fil-a. Or a burger from Culver’s, fries, and a chocolate shake.”
• Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks): “A burger. From anywhere. I’m easy.”

The Best of the New Collective Agreement

Players highlighted the positive aspects of the new agreement:

• Seth Jarvis: “I appreciate the training camp being a little shorter.”
• Jake Oettinger: “The relaxed dress code is great.”
• Jack Hughes: “The shorter preseason is probably the best.”
• Pierre-Luc Dubois: “No more suits is very good.”
• Charlie McAvoy: “The playoff salary cap thing was good.”
• Clayton Keller: “Added medical attention.”
• Victor Hedman: “Dress code. You can express yourself more.”
• Lukas Dostal: “The dress code. You can invest in nice jackets.”
• Jordan Eberle: “No more physical testing was good.”
• Robert Thomas: “I like the pension and medical care for retirees.”
• Connor Hellebuyck: “I like the dress code being more flexible.”

Relaxation in the dress code could result in captivating styles from the players when arriving at the arena.

Who Will Benefit from the New Dress Code?

The players mentioned their teammates with more style:

• Charlie McAvoy: David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie.
• Jack Hughes: Himself, Timo Meier, Luke Hughes, and Jesper Bratt.
• Jordan Eberle: Vince Dunn.

Songs to Motivate Before the Game

Each player has their own way of mentally preparing:

• Seth Jarvis: Doesn’t have one.
• Brady Skjei: 90s music.
• Jake Oettinger: Drake.
• Jack Hughes: “Best of You” by Foo Fighters.
• Travis Sanheim: Country music.
• Victor Hedman: Music to get motivated.
• Pierre-Luc Dubois: French rap.
• Cale Makar: Varied music.

Playoffs Format: Change or Keep?

Opinions on the playoff format vary:

• Alex DeBrincat: Likes it as is.
• Victor Hedman: Would go back to the 1-8 format.
• Lukas Dostal: Would change it.
• Brady Skjei: Could change it, but also likes the current format.
• Jordan Eberle: Would prefer to go back to 1-8.
• Travis Sanheim: Wouldn’t expand it.
• Pierre-Luc Dubois: Wouldn’t expand it.
• Seth Jarvis: Happy with the current format.
• Jack Hughes: Likes the current format.
• Cale Makar: Likes the current format.

The current playoff format has resulted in the Oilers and Kings facing each other in the first round for the last four years.

Equipment Peculiarities

Players revealed their strangest habits:

• Sam Reinhart: Constantly adjusts his helmet.
• Brady Skjei: Uses foam skate guards.
• Jordan Eberle: Changes his left glove and keeps the right one.
• Travis Sanheim: Uses a new stick before each game.
• Jake Oettinger: Hits his stick on his glove constantly.
• Pierre-Luc Dubois: Cuts the laces of his skates.

Highlighted Statements

Quinn Hughes on the new Canucks coach, Adam Foote: “He’s been very good. He brought structure, competitiveness, he’s a good guy. We’ll see how it goes with him as a coach, but I think he’s very excited and looking forward to the opportunity.” Zach Werenski on confidence in Columbus: “We were there. We were in the playoff mix until game 82. We know we’re a good team. It’s doing it consistently now, doing it again year after year, right? We had a good year last year. It still wasn’t good enough. So it’s doing it again and doing it even better. I think the confidence that [General Manager Don Waddell] has in us will give us confidence as well.” Patrick Kane on the invitation to the Olympic development camp: “I think I was talking to my agent about the possibility of being on the team and that I was under consideration. So when you hear that, it’s not really a big surprise that you’re there. Probably a little more surprised that Alex [DeBrincat] wasn’t included, but I think we both have some motivation to get off to good starts this year.” Robert Thomas on his goals for this season: “I would like to get 100 [points]. I think I was pretty close to that pace last year, without an injury. So, staying healthy and continuing to improve, I think 100 points is my next goal.” Connor Hellebuyck on what he learned from the 4 Nations Face-Off ahead of the Olympic year: “The emotional effort of the 4 Nations was definitely a learning experience. Not only that, but I learned about the [things] off the ice and what to expect from that, and how to manage bringing your family, managing how many extra media there are and the stress that’s in that. I definitely learned some good things from that.” Sam Reinhart on the Panthers’ free agent re-signings: “I think it’s a testament to what we have there. Guys could make more elsewhere, you know? But we have something they want to be a part of and they don’t want to leave. Obviously, it’s pretty exciting to see it all get done the way it did and see everyone back on board.” Patrick Kane, after Sidney Crosby interrupted an interview to say hello: “That would be a good center to play with.”