A recent Kraken-related social media post provides reminder #867 that this isn't your father's, or your grandfather's, NHL.

The post in question shows Seattle Kraken forward Alexander Wennberg and wife Felicia with the Stanley Cup. It's noteworthy, not because the Wennbergs continue their high-profile online presence, which we've covered here, here, and here. 

No, what's interesting is the player appearing in the photo with them: William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights, hoisting the Cup because his team won it this past June.

Joining a division rival's day with the Cup may be unusual, but fraternization no longer is. Pass outside NHL dressing rooms after any game, and you're likely to spot a friendly hallway cluster or two of opposition players. 

Perhaps they were once teammates, or maybe they share a homeland. Wennberg and Karlsson check both boxes, natives of Sweden and teammates on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Other rivals get to know each other at charity functions, or off-season workouts, or though having the same agent, etc., etc.

No one thinks for an instant that this reduces the intensity of competition during games. The fact that Alex Ovechkin tries to pulverize Evgeni Malkin with a check, or that the Capitals and Penguins' fan bases detest each other, doesn't stop the Russian superstars from joking around at All-Star Games or sharing off-season dinners.

But it wasn't always this way.

Dave "Tiger" Williams, who was fearless on the ice, as an NHL-record 3,966 penalty minutes will attest, did have one concern away from the rink - that Toronto teammates would spot him pal-ing around with a friend from another team. In Tiger's case, that friend was the Islanders' star center Bryan Trottier. Williams was Trottier's protector when they were teammates in junior hockey.

On a hockey podcast I produce, Tiger said, "It was not cool at all to talk to your buddies that were playing on another team. The older guys didn't like it, and they certainly would have kicked you in the rear end if they caught you even winking at your buddy. They're not stupid. They know who you played junior with.

"But Trots and I, when Trots started with the Islanders, we still saw each other all the time. He was nervous about it, I was nervous about it. He said to me, 'The hotel, walk down two blocks to a 7-11. I'll pick you up after the game, win, lose or draw.' I'd walk down two blocks, jump in the car. He was staying with a family on Long Island, and we'd go there so nobody could see us."

Even in the old days, there were exceptions. None could possibly be more high profile than shown in the screengrab at right. Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Johnny Bower is doing an on-ice interview, not long after winning the 1964 Stanley Cup. 

Who's that with a friendly arm draped over Bower's shoulder? None other than Johnny's fishing buddy, Gordie Howe, of the just-vanquished Detroit Red Wings!

This in no way disproves the existence of old-fashioned disdain for fraternization. What it does show is that when you're Mr. Hockey, you can Hockey any way you damn well please.