Blowing Up Your GMail with the NHL Vibe Report
The first vibe report of the season, Brad Marchand's emotional return to Boston, Smith and Celebrini's TikTok fame
Happy Wednesday, hockey fans. I hope I’m not blowing up your GMail. (If you know, you know. If you don’t know, you’re about to find out.)
I created this newsletter about one year ago (yay!) for two purposes: 1. To bring together hockey fans who don’t suck — the kind we used to laugh with on Twitter before Twitter sucked. And 2. So I could give you some unfiltered musings on the game of hockey, sports culture, and all the related happenings of the week.
So, earlier this week I just couldn’t bring myself to do the whole, “We’re seven games in and I have no takes but I’m going to strain some takes out of me for the sake of consistency” thing that this industry has beaten into us. The beauty of the opportunity you all have given me to write directly to you, independently, is I’m one of the few in this industry who doesn’t have to do that.
I am beholden to telling the truth, pulling no punches, entertaining and informing you, and making sure I do what I can to foster the fun, smart community. I woke up to a chat full of folks showing off their adopted pets this morning so we’re all set there.
I am also beholden to some sort of cadence — at least once per week, two if inspiration strikes. I am not beholden to a specific day or deadline, and as freeing as that is, valuing “having shit to actually say” over “publishing on a certain date and time” is an adjustment. All of this is to say, thank you for the opportunity to trust myself and wait it out some weeks.
With that, my brain cell has officially arrived to the 2025-26 hockey season. It took her a second, but through the power of Brad Marchand nostalgia and awkward man on the street interviews, anything is possible.
Let’s start with the Brad Marchand of it all, as he contributed two assists, several tears, and all the heart in the world as he made his return to TD Garden and got his Panthers back in the win column.
The Bruins did an incredible job with the tough task of a tribute video for a man who perfectly represented the attitude of a city and a franchise for more than a decade. Bostonians in the crowd gave a hearty ovation that lasted exactly as long as it should’ve. In turn, Marchand gave us a quintessential Marchand performance: Simple, emotional, gritty, fast, shorthanded effortful, finding any way to win.
Marchand came up to the NHL full time in 2010-11 after several stints in the minors, but even after becoming captain of the Bruins a decade later, he still plays each game like he could be sent back down to the AHL tomorrow.
Crying yet? Cool. Marchand’s tribute video was great and all, but the hockey video of the week has to go to this indescribable man on the street interview of Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini I stumbled upon at 7 AM scrolling through TikTok on Tuesday.
Via @judijupiter on TikTok
And with that, my brain cell is warmed up and ready for the first Vibe Report of the 2025-26 NHL season.