With the first day of the 2023 NHL Draft officially in the books, with rounds 2-7 set to resume at 11 am EST, fans across the greater sports world have one question above all others: will Kevin Owens make an appearance?
Now for fans out of the know, while the 32 teams across the NHL were scouring draft profiles to secure the next great contributor to their on-ice product, KO was just sort of there at the Bell Centre in Quebec, Canada, dreaming about the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event that would be showcased at the venue seven months later, and waiting for a chance to surprise then-Vancouver Cannucks head coach Bruce Boudreau while he was talking about the team's draft strategy on live TV.
The moment, which can be watched here, was the best kind of live television, as Boudreau is apparently a huge fan of wrestling and was visibly enthused to meet his favorite wrestler on a day typically reserved for filling out depth charts and making media appearances, but how did it come together? Well, as Owens explained on the Love Wrestling podcast, it all stemmed from a mutual appreciation between the coach and his favorite wrestler.
“Bruce was awesome. It’s funny because years ago, I watched this – I forget what it was called, NHL 24/7 or something like that. That show where they follow the teams leading up to the Winter Classic. I used to play hockey when I was a kid. Then, once I started wrestling, I kind of gave up any other sports, right? I stopped playing [and] stopped watching,” Owens said via Fightful. “But, over the pandemic, I kind of got back into hockey a little bit. Like I said, I'd already watched that show. The season I watched was the season where they followed Bruce's team. So, I got to know Bruce through that lens, and I got a huge kick out of them. Just [a] great, really lovable guy. [I] really enjoyed him, you know. I liked them a lot already. Somehow, through the grapevine, through Twitter and stuff like that, I caught wind of him being a huge wrestling fan. He would say his favorite wrestlers were Bret Hart, and currently, Kevin Owens. I took that as a huge compliment. Through various little incidents where he'd mention wrestling and stuff like that, I could see the guy was a really big fan.”
Being a native of Montreal, when the 2022 draft rolled around, KO saw an opportunity to meet Boudreau and used his connection to a member of WWE's media department to finally make an NHL coach's dreams come true.
Jackie Redmond played matchmaker between Kevin Owens and Bruce Boudreau.
With his venue of choice in place, Kevin Owens decided to reach out to Jackie Redmond, who worked for both WWE and the NHL Network at the time, to see if she could help him facilitate a meeting and, in a fun twist of fate, it worked out smashingly.
“I was in touch with Jackie Redmond, who works with him through the NHL network and stuff like that. She also worked with WWE. Eventually, it just kind of worked out,” Owens said. “I ended up at the Draft because it was in Montreal. I was there with my dad and my brother. I took them there to see it because they're huge hockey fans. As I was in my suite with my brother and my dad waiting for the whole thing to start, I saw Jackie on the floor doing our show, so I texted her. She's like, ‘Oh my god, Bruce is here! We have to get you guys together!' I'm like, ‘Yeah, let's do it!' It just kind of worked out that way! We surprised Bruce. His reaction was so cool. He and I have become friends, [and] we're in touch since then. We were actually texting just this morning. It's great – it's just great to have made a new friend who loves wrestling, and I love hockey. We talk about that stuff, and it's just really cool it just worked out that way.”
Unfortunately for KO, there's a lot going against him in making another NHL Draft appearance this year, as the event is taking place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, KO has a match at Money in the Bank in London, and Boudreau was fired by the Cannucks midway through the last NHL season. Still, there is a happy ending to this story, as Boudreau reunited with the WWE Tag Team Champion in Hershey, Pennsylvania on the RAW before Night of Champions, and gave a speech that inspired KO and Sami Zayn to retain their straps against Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa in Saudi Arabia. All's well that ends well, as they say.
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