Ice Cold Takes: Bye bye Babcock, save(s) of the year, Disney princesses

Ice Cold Takes is a weekly humor column focused on what is trending around the NHL. Officially (maybe) the longest running column on FanSided.

I don’t know if that statement is true. It’s definitely the longest running NHL column on FanSided. This is the 87th ICT column. The Sidney Crosby edition. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to talk about when it comes to Sid. He’s still injured. Instead, we’ll jump to the 87th time this season that the NHL media has been engulfed in the fiery trash storm that is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After their sixth straight loss, the Leafs have fired Mike Babcock. Babcock led the Leafs to two of their most successful seasons in the modern NHL, but seemed to have lost the locker room in the process. Once again, it’s all anyone is talking about.

We’ve seen it a thousand times. The middling Toronto Maple Leafs are bad, so they find a way to hijack the news. This time, by firing their decorated coach. The move was met with a mixed response, including happy fans, skeptical analysts and a very, very excited Mike Commodore.

Congrats, Mike! Moving on to things that matter.

Arrest this man!

How do we not kick off the column with the most blatant robbery of the NHL season? Fans should have been chanting “lock him up” after Marc Andre Fleury made the save that likely led to Mike Babcock’s impeachment.

Disgusting. This is a once-in-a-lifetime save from a guy who apparently has 20 lives. Poor Nic Petan doesn’t get these opportunities often. This is definitely going to be the save of the ye…

Bah Gawd! That’s Tuukka Rask’s music!

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1197848558126415874

Just like that, we have two once-in-a-generation saves in one week. While Fleury had to cover a little more distance, Rask used the inside of his blocker (read: HIS HAND) to make the stop, which edges out the athleticism required in Fleury’s save and puts Rask on top of the save of the year leaderboard. Unbelievable.

Selfie twins

Want to see what Instagram is in a nutshell? Here:

https://twitter.com/Complex/status/1196115046323118080

Now, this was taken during the Leafs six-game skid that they have since broken. If you put this video on Instagram’s boomerang feature, it would accurately represent their season. From “yay, this is our year,” to “oh my God we suck again,” to “cheers to new beginnings!”

The Leafs are 1-0 under Chief Keefe and because they won that first game, I don’t think many fans are missing Babs right now.

Side note: This is a brother and sister, right? They look too much alike to be a couple? I don’t know a brother who would play nice for a sisters snap/story, though. What do you think? Are they brother and sister or a couple? (Or, hey — if they are from Hamilton, they could be both!)

It’s in the name

We don’t check in with the Western Conference enough so let’s see what they are up to…

Cale Makar might be the best defenseman in the NHL and it’s only his rookie season. He also has a dope name. Cale Makar. You don’t forget that, especially if you grew up watching William Mattar commercials. Hurt in a car? Call Cale Makar. Apologies if your brain hadn’t put those two together yet. It’s a thing, though…

Speaking of NHL rookies with incredible names, Philadelphia Flyers rookie Morgan Frost is currently the all time goals per game leader in NHL history. Congrats, Morgan! Let’s see if he can keep this going throughout his career. (Props to the NBC Philly graphics person.)

NHL x Frozen 2

With the release of Frozen 2 this week, the NHL had a little fun with its superstars. Let’s break down some of the best responses.

Matthews: Easily the best initial response. “Is it 12? Or no?” Either he wasn’t sure and tossed out a correct guess, or he knew the answer (why did he know the answer?). Twelve is actually wrong, though.

Auston’s answer of 12 covers the 12 recognized Disney princesses, however, Anna from Frozen is most definitely a princess (by Disney and world standards). So there are currently 13 Disney princesses (that are humans). If you want to get really contentious, Nala is also a princess. Update your website, Disney.

“YoU FoRgOt AbOuT eLsA”

She is QUEEN Elsa of Arendelle, dummy.

Sid: “This is going to bug me.” Correct statement because Sid is obsessive. He’s going to go home and memorize all of the princesses so he never answers wrong again. The man hates not being the best in the world, which is why he is the best in the world.

Kevin Hayes: Seven out of 14. Not bad, especially considering he is one of the guys in here without a kid. Take notes, fathers, Kevin is a more attentive uncle than most of you are dads. To be fair to the dads, though, fun uncle is an easier role.

Big Bad Bruins

To finish up, and since I don’t talk about the Bruins enough, here are three clips of young B’s defenders making people look silly:

https://twitter.com/Matt_Castle22/status/1195517053052039168

Keep your head up.