'I Stopped Watching It After I Scored': Although William Nylander Couldn't Finish Watching His Episode, Amazon's New Docuseries Is a Must-See for All Maple Leafs Fans
The first episode of 'FACEOFF: Inside the NHL' follows Nylander and close friend David Pastrnak in a candid look at their friendship and first-round playoff series.
When the Amazon was set to do a behind-the-scenes look at some of the NHL's best players during their most raw moments, Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander star jumped at the opportunity to participate.
But now that the final product is finished, he had to re-live the painful end of his team's first-round playoff exit to David Pasternak and the Boston Bruins during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I stopped watching it after I scored and stuff," Nylander laughed after the debut screening of Amazon's brand new docuseries 'FACEOFF: Inside the NHL' on Monday.
The first episode of the six-part series — which is executive produced by James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin, co-founders of Box To Box, Steve Mayer and Ross Bernard for NHL Productions, and Daniel Amigone — takes you behind the scenes of the top stars in the NHL during the most intense portion of the year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZExUxxdA8[/embed]
The first episode takes a deep look at Nylander and Pastrnak. Telling the origin story of their friendship while both were teenagers playing for Sodertalje of the Swedish Hockey League to bitter rivals, the series goes beyond what the NHL has done in the past with their HBO Winter Classic specials.
Nylander missed the first three postseason games this past spring after playing in all 82 regular season games due to migraines. The crew went to Nylander's home and filmed him watching Game 3. A crew caught a nervous Nylander watching every shift before the Bruins went on to defeat the Leafs 4-2 in the contest.
The series, made from the same crew that produced F1's popular series Drive to Survive, does an excellent job of showing how much players care about their craft and the results.
In Nylander's case, they caught the infamous moment in Game 4 when he returned and he was yelling at his teammates on the bench in frustration as the club went down in the series 3-1.
"When you're on the bench and that kind of stuff happens, they catch that. But that's what's fun about the show and being able to see that aspect of the game," Nylander said. "I mean, without the cameras there, nobody would know what was going on."
It wouldn't be a Nylander show without seeing the star take the subway to the game. In some ways it's kind of old hat for the player and the team after the Maple Leafs were the subject of Amazon's All or Nothing docuseries that documented the 2021 season. In that regard, it wasn't anything new for Nylander.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQXqcILCMPw[/embed]
Sadly, some stuff was left on the cutting room floor
"When I was hurt they were watching one of the games at home, I had a huge box of Krispy Kreme donuts," Nylander said with a smile. "I guess I didn't make the cut."
The entire series debuts on Prime Video on Oct 4.
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