Friday’s Hot Clicks: A Video Game Addiction Is Reportedly Keeping a Top Prospect Out of the NHL

A sad and very strange story.

Fortnite isn’t that great

Here is a sad and very unusual story. There is an NHL prospect, a recent first-round pick for a top team, who is now unlikely to make it to the NHL because he’s addicted to video games. 

NHL reporter Jeff Marek relayed the story on the Sportsnet podcast “31 Thoughts”. Here is the transcription, via Deadspin:

“On video games—and I’m not going to say the player’s name. I really doubt he’s going to make it to the NHL, and it’s because of a video game addiction, to the point where his junior general manager told me that they’ve had him go to counseling over it, because he’ll play until all hours of the night and into the morning and then he’ll have no energy the next day. Like, he’ll be a write-off. And it is that bad. He has this compulsion for playing video games until all hours. I swore that I wouldn’t say the player’s name, but it’s unfortunate. He’s a recent first-round draft pick for a very, very prominent NHL team, will probably never play in the NHL because of a video game addiction.”

My GPA probably could have been a few ticks higher in college if I didn’t have an XBox, but I can’t imagine playing video games so much that it jeopardizes a potential seven-figure career. 

Ovi’s face says it all

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

After taking a 2–0 lead in Tampa, the Capitals appeared to be in good shape to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1998. After jumping out to an early lead and holding the Lightning without a shot for more than 20 minutes, Washington appeared at least capable of taking a 3–1 lead back to Florida. But no, the Caps blew it. 

A keen observer might notice that, in the photo above, Alex Ovechkin’s stick is broken. How did that happen? He smashed it on the crossbar after the Lightning’s empty net goal to seal the game.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The Caps now face the unenviable task of playing on the road after two deflating home losses, compounded by 20 years of playoff failures. Ovechkin is clearly feeling the pressure, knowing that he’s one of the greatest players of his generation but also that his window to win a Cup is closing quickly as he’s about to turn 33.

Sell me this pen

(NSFW language.)

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftFAbPnNYrg]

Wacky combine interview questions aren’t just limited to the NFL. Michigan State’s Jaren Jackson Jr., widely considered a top-five prospect in this year’s NBA draft, said Thursday on ESPN that one team asked him to sell them a pen, just like that scene in The Wolf of Wall Street. 

“Shoot this is a great one. It goes with everything. You can clip it on something,” Jackson said when asked to sell the pen to the ESPN crew. “What’s funny—the pen I had in the meeting, it clicked. And I didn’t think it was working, so he asked me, ‘Is it broken?’ I said, ‘No, it’s just one of our more unique pens.’”

Bits & Pieces

A 93-year-old just made his first hole-in-one after 65 years of playing golf, so there’s still hope for you. ... A Florida woman’s parrot has learned how to command her Alexa smart speaker to turn the lights on and off all day and night. ... Meek Mill is going to the White House. ... The Yankees had to spend Wednesday night sleeping at the airport because their plane couldn’t take off. ... In other Yankees news, Mark Teixeira says he’s “not surprised” Robinson Cano got busted for steroids.

Speaking of video games...

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Hot Clicks is everything you need to know in the world of sports and pop culture, ready for you to read right when you get to your desk in the morning. Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or ping me on Twitter. Click here for previous editions of Hot Clicks. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.