Apparently, Ryan Kesler did not take too kindly to a joke that Eddie Lack told at a Vancouver Canucks‘ rookie party.
Former Canucks defenceman and current Hockey Night in Canada co-host Kevin Bieksa joined the Empty Netters’ podcast last week and recalled a story of how Lack had gotten on the wrong side of Kesler during a rookie party.
Eddie [Lack]’s glove came off in warm-up. While he was skating out of the net when his glove came off, he had a bare hand. And guys were flying around in warm up, and they were shooting pucks in the empty net. He kind of reached his hand out, just as a joke, to save a puck, and [Ryan Kesler] shot a puck at his hand, and I think broke his finger.
Fast forward to the rookie party: you know how we make the rookies go up and do a joke? Most teams do that. And Eddie goes up to do a joke, and I maybe prompted him and told him something to say about Kes and Kesler did not like it. I think he threw a steak knife at him, and then he came up and dumped his glass of wine on him.
And then I remember Luongo said something, and [Kesler] threw something at Luongo and hits him in the shoulder. And Loango was like, “What are you doing?”, and [Keselr] goes, “That’s the first save you’ve made in two months.”
So Kesler’s on the war path that night, and Eddie was the one who got him going.
While Bieksa didn’t specify when this happened, it most likely occurred during the Canucks’ 2013-14 campaign, as that was Lack’s rookie season in the NHL. That was a season to forget for the Canucks, as they finished the year with a 36-35-11 record and missed the playoffs for the first time in five years, and found themselves in headlines for all the wrong reasons, like John Tortorella’s trip to the Calgary Flames dressing room after a game-opening line brawl, and when Lack was given the start during the team’s Heritage Classic game at BC Place against the Ottawa Senators.
Lack finished the 2013-14 season with a 16-17-5 record, a .912% save percentage, and 4 shutouts in 41 games for his rookie campaign, while his supposed in-team rival Kesler had 25 goals and 18 assists for 43 points in 77 games in what would be his final season as a Canuck before he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks the following summer. Meanwhile, the instigator from the sidelines in Bieksa had 4 goals and 20 assists for 24 points in 76 games.