“Listen man, I love watching Marchand, he is one of those guys you’d love to play with,” Barkley said. “I have nothing but admiration and respect for him. And let me tell you something, I hate Seth Jones… his dad [former NBA forward Popeye Jones], I played in the NBA for all those years, his dad was the only person who kicked my a** all the time.”
The former NBA MVP added he has no clue why Popeye Jones had so much success against him, but joked he was taking it out on the Panthers defenseman.
Barkley then talked about trying to watch Game 1 of the Western Conference Final between the Oilers and Dallas Stars while at Madison Square Garden for the TNT broadcast of Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Final between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.
He called the Knicks vs Pacers game the “most incredible” game he’s ever watched and was “in Heaven” when he saw the Oilers go up 3-1 in the second period then his bubble was burst when the Stars scored five unanswered goals in the third period.
Michaels joined Bissonnette and Arnett during the second period.
The sportscaster, who called the 1980 “Mircale on Ice,” joked about Bissonnette not knowing Michaels called the monumental game.
“Bissonnette’s the type of guy that thinks if it didn’t happen 15 minutes ago, it didn’t happen,” Michaels chirped the TNT host.
The “Thursday Night Football” announcer told the duo he was a “puck head” and has had season tickets to the Los Angeles Kings for 30 years, revealing hockey games are the only sporting events he will attend as a spectator.
Michaels then reminisced about the “Mircale on Ice” game between the United States and Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
“To me that will always be the number one thing in my career, it can’t be topped because of what it meant to the country. It meant so much. It was more than hockey,” Michaels said.
Former NHL defenseman Keith Yandle, defenseman Ryan Whitney and forward Colby Armstrong also were guests throughout the broadcast.
