'Shoresy Classic' will see hockey-playing actors face 8 NHL alumni teams

Justin Abdelkader was shocked when he and the Detroit Red Wings alumni team stepped onto the ice at Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 11, 2024.

"The lower bowl was almost full and there weren't as many Red Wings jerseys in the crowd," said Abdelkader, who played 739 games with Detroit from 2007-20. "When they announced our team, we got a cheer, obviously. But when their team was announced, it definitely felt like they were the home team."

The Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs from the Hulu and Crave hockey hit series "Shoresy" took over the Red Wings barn and will do it again Monday to launch the second edition of the "Shoresy Classic" that pits the hockey-playing actors from the fictional Northern Ontario Senior Hockey Organization (aka The NOSHO) against eight NHL alumni teams.

Cast members Jared Keeso (Shoresy), Terry Ryan (Ted "Hitch" Hitchcock), Jonathan-Ismael Diaby (JoDolo), Andrew Antsanen (Brant "Goody" Goodleaf), Ryan McDonell (Michaels), Jon Mirasty (Jim No. 1), Brandon Nolan (Jim No. 2) and Jordan Nolan (Jim No. 3), Max Bouffard (JJ Frankie JJ), Jacob Smith (Fish), Keegan Long (Liam), Bourke Cazabon (Cory) and Frederick Roy (Delaney) will go head-to-head against retired NHL stars that include Abdelkader, Dino Ciccarelli, Jimmy Howard, Mickey Redmond, Cal Clutterbuck, Eric Cairns, Rick DiPietro, Benoit Hogue, Andrew Ference and Darcy Tucker.

"It's kind of a dream come true for all of us, especially going out against NHL alumni in NHL arenas," said Diaby, a defenseman chosen by the Nashville Predators in the third round (No. 64) of the 2013 NHL Draft who played 82 games with Milwaukee of the American Hockey League and 77 for Cincinnati in the ECHL. "Feels surreal every day to be out there. Everybody either played or really tried to play professional hockey, so everybody's excited to step on the ice every day and face these legends."

The Classic begins at Little Caesars Arena and continues Nov. 28 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto; Dec. 7 at TD Garden in Boston; Dec. 10 at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York; Dec. 14 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.; Jan. 22 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary; Jan. 23 at Rogers Place in Edmonton and concludes Jan. 26 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

"The boys are ready to go," Diaby said. "It's exactly like back in the day, going back to the hockey season, just the boys on the road. We have our western stretch with, like, three games in four or five nights, that's exactly like back in the day in the AHL and junior hockey. It's actually really cool."

Some of the proceeds from the games will go to the Boston Bruins Foundation, Detroit's East Side Youth Sports Foundation, MLSE Foundation in Toronto, the Islanders Children's Foundation, the Kings Cares Foundation, the Calgary Flames Alumni Association, the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Foundation and Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation's Every Kid Deserves a Shot initiative.

"The charity aspect is just the cherry on top," Abdelkader said. "It's a feel-good game, for sure."

NHL alumni players say they're excited to share the ice with the Shoresy stars who've developed a huge following from the show's irreverent, bawdy take on hockey culture and the constant NSFW chirps by foul-mouthed but tender-hearted Bulldogs captain Shoresy played by Keeso, the half-hour program's creator and writer.

"I just appreciate the humor," said Clutterbuck, an Islanders broadcaster who played 1,064 games for New York and the Minnesota Wild from 2007-24. "It just reminds me of my days, kind of playing in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), just the way people talk. I was always a big fan of 'Trailer Park Boys,' and I feel like it's very similar in its Canadian humor. And obviously, Trailer Park Boys married with hockey sounds like a good idea."

The show's popularity has transcended Canada and the hockey community. Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Jonah Williams is such a huge fan that he invited Diaby, McDonell and Antsanen to hang out with him and his fellow linemen at the game against the San Francisco 49ers in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday.

Diaby, Ryan and Brandon Nolan attended Game 6 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Several Dodgers players said Shoresy was popular in the clubhouse, and pitcher Evan Phillips told TSN that it's "one of the best sports TV shows ever."

"I think it's one of those TV shows where you can really get attached to different characters," Diaby said. "We're pretty raw in our humor and the way we chirp each other and the way we do things, so I think it's relatable as a sports show if you take any competitive sport, team or individual sport, for sure."

How the Shoresy Classic came about began with a joke. New Metric Media, the show's production company, had a successful run with a "Letterkenny Live Tour" from 2018 to 2022 based on the popular Keeso-created show that spawned Shoresy. New Metric CEO Mark Montefiore half-jokingly talked about doing "Shoresy on Ice" to Keeso and the show's creative team.

Executive producer Kara Haflidson suggested reaching out to NHL alumni. The first call went to Boston Bruins Alumni and its president, Frank Simonetti, who helped Haflidson and New Metric get in touch with other NHL alumni organizations.

The inaugural edition last year featured the cast against Bruins, Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres alumni and drew more than 25,000 fans to the five games. The Toronto game sold about 7,500 tickets in less than 30 hours, the show's producers said.

Simonetti said Bruins alumni knew they would be facing some talented players when they booked their game at Boston University's Agganis Arena, which holds a capacity of 6,150 for hockey.

Jordan Nolan played 375 NHL games and won the Stanley Cup twice with the Los Angeles Kings (2012, 14) and older brother Brandon played six games for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2007-08. Ryan was a first-round pick (No. 8) of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1995 NHL Draft. Mirasty had a lengthy minor league career, including two seasons with the defunct Danbury Trashers who in 2004 set a United Hockey League record of 2,776 penalty minutes before the league folded July 13, 2010.

Some of the retired Bruins hadn't watched Shoresy then and didn't know about its popularity and didn't fully understand why Agganis was sold out.

"We were technically the visiting team that night and when we were introduced, we received the version of a polite golf clap when we came out, and we had guys like Hall of Famer Joe Mullen in the lineup," said Simonetti, who played 115 games for the Bruins from 1984-88. "And then the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs were introduced, and it was like Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Jesus Christ were introduced. The place went bananas."

The games this year will have a fanfest atmosphere with show-branded merchandise, exclusive content played during intermission and demonstration areas in arena concourses for "Shoresy: Legends of the North," a new video game based on the show. There will be some hijinks, but don't expect Savannah Bananas on Ice once the competitive juices kick in.

"Last year, we played two 25-minute running clock halves, and I remember guys on our bench being like, 'Wow, we're going to have to keep the shifts short -- this is a lot higher (pace) than we're used to,'" said Howard, a retired goalie after playing 543 games for the Red Wings from 2005-20. "It was literally 30-40 second shifts on, off, on, off, 'Get me off, get me off.'

"By the second half, both sides fizzled out hard. The first 10 minutes, I was like, 'What did I get myself into here?'"