A.J. Mleczko closed out a first-intermission interview with Jack Hughes on Thursday by suggesting the New Jersey Devils forward wrap himself in bubble wrap and switch to plastic cutlery, a reference to the hand injury that cost him 18 games last season. Hughes called it “a weird joke midgame” and skated off. The clip has been circulating ever since.
Paul Bissonnette discussed it on Spittin’ Chiclets, and his sympathies landed on the ESPN side of the exchange.
“Obviously feel bad for her. I thought she did an unreal job finishing out the rest of the game,” Bissonnette said. “That would f***ing, like, I would be in shambles a little bit.”
He was also quick to point out that he’s hardly in a position to judge.
“Mind you, I’ve asked some pretty stupid stuff on air too, so I’m not innocent of that as well,” Bissonnette said.
Did the Jack Hughes interview help ESPN?
The argument Bissonnette made next is the one nobody else has been making. His view is that the awkwardness did the broadcast a favor, because the clip spread far enough to pull viewers toward a game they weren’t otherwise watching.
“In the same breath, kind of helped promote the game, ’cause the f***ing online was blown up,” he said. “So everybody probably turned that game on and Jack Hughes is putting on an absolute clinic. So a couple of clicks for AJ for growing the game with that one.”
READ MORE: AJ Mleczko: the Olympic gold medallist who became the first woman in an NHL playoff booth
Whatever anyone made of the joke, the hockey justified the tune-in. Hughes scored the overtime winner to give New Jersey a 3-2 victory in its opener, with younger brother Luke Hughes also scoring. It was the second time in a year he’d settled a significant game in overtime, having done the same for the United States against Canada in the Olympic gold medal game in February.
Mleczko, for her part, is no stranger to any of this. She won Olympic gold with the United States in 1998 and silver in 2002, and became the first woman to work as an in-booth analyst in Stanley Cup Playoff history in 2018.
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