Have you ever wondered how intimidating Shaquille O’Neal would have looked playing hockey? “The NHL on TNT” broadcast team gave us a pretty staggering visual on Saturday.
During an intermission break in the Carolina Hurricanes game against the New York Islanders, the crew was attempting to explain what a “net front presence” in hockey is. If you’re wondering, it’s just like it sounds: it’s a guy standing in front of the net looking to obstruct the goalie’s view, and redirect any outside shots that come his way.
Shark! (Photo by: Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
To demonstrate the complexity of this offensive role, the team placed legendary goaltender Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes. Additionally, they have two former NHL forwards on hand, Paul Bissonnette and Anson Carter, who would have done a great job running the other half of the demonstration.
However, the staff decided to make things more interesting and enlisted O'Neal's help. The NBA Hall of Famer was in the same studio broadcasting the NBA playoffs, so it was a great success.
They gave O'Neal a hockey stick and a new nickname. Bissonnette called him “Shaq Hyman” after Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers.
As you can imagine, at 7'1″ he showed that he would have been a very effective presence in front of the net (and would have been the tallest player of all time had he played ) Even the great Lundqvist, who is not small by goaltender standards (he's 6'1″), never had a chance to see anything beyond the behemoth that is O'Neal.
There are 3 goalkeepers Height was 6'7″, which is the tallest goaltender in NHL history. So even if O'Neal had to play against them, he would still tower over the tallest goaltender of all time.
I don't know if O'Neal would have achieved success as a hockey player if he had chosen that path, but it would have been an eye-opener. But it's never too late to choose a new career path, right?
