Here Are The Most — And Least — Surprising Answers From The NHLPA Player Poll

The NHL season is winding down, which means it's time for a tradition like no other…

No, not The Masters. I am of course talking about the NHLPA's annual player poll.

I'm a big player poll guy because I like it when athletes get the chance to answer questions anonymously, which provide some interesting insights.

The NHLPA does this every season and it asks players questions about all kinds of things about the league, its players and beyond.

Sometimes these answers surprise me, but then there are other times I probably could have called the winner months ago.

So, let's look through some of the surprising and not-so-surprising results of this year's NHLPA player poll.

Surprising: The Toughest Arenas To Play In Are Vegas' T-Mobile Arena And Carolina's PNC Arena

Score one for "non-traditional" markets!

I feel like most years, the toughest building to play in belongs to an Original 6 team. United Center wasn't fun when the Blackhawks were at their peak, and I can't imagine Bell Centre is a place where you love being a visitor.

However, this year, T-Mobile Arena — home of the Vegas Golden Knights — was voted the toughest barn to play in.

I guess all of the off-Broadway nonsense seems to work. Winning a Stanley Cup doesn't hurt either.

I was pumped to see the Carolina Hurricanes' PNC Arena come in second. It's about time they got their due. We've talked about it before, but between showing up for an outdoor club hockey game and putting beer in a plastic hockey stick, Raleigh is a hockey town through and through.

Not Surprising: Cale Makar Serves Up the Crispiest Breakout Passes In Hockey

I have a soft spot for a nice, crisp breakout pass. Back in high school, I was a Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League mostly thanks to my breakout passes (led the team in assists because I would pass to the kids who were way better at hockey than I was).

So, I love that this was asked, but I was not surprised to see that Cale Makar was the overwhelming favorite on this front.

Picking the best breakout passer seems a little goofy, but in today's NHL where the game is as fast as it is, the transition game is huge and that starts with…

…

…exactly, a breakout pass. 

Congrats to Cale Makar on what is without a doubt one of the biggest honors of his career (aside from the Conn Smythe Trophy, Norris Trophy, Stanley Cup, being named an All-Star, Calder Trophy the Hobey Baker Award…)

Maker was also named the defenseman players would most like to have on the blueline in a must-win game.

Surprising: Players Want The NHL To Play A Game In Italy

The NHL Global Series sees a couple of teams each season play abroad, so the NHLPA asked players where they'd like to play, and Italy came out on top.

I didn't see this one coming, but it makes a lot of sense. As the NHLPA noted, the 2026 Olympics are in Italy, so that would be a smart way to get people excited about the NHL before its best players descend on the country.

Sweden came in second, but the NHL played there just this season. Third was England, and that seems like a no-brainer. The MLB and NFL have played in London, so why not send a couple of teams over to play some puck in Jolly Old England too?

Not Surprising: Marie-Philip Pouli Is Players' Favorite PWHL Player To Watch

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) has been a huge success, and so the NHLPA asked players who their favorite PWHL player to watch is.

If you know anything about women's hockey Marie-Philippe Poulin winning this is not a surprise.

Poulin plays for Montreal in the PWHL, and she's the face of women's hockey in Canada. She took nearly a third of the votes which is huge. The player with the second biggest share of the vote was Hillary Knight — arguably the face of women's hockey in the US — with just shy of 15% of the vote.

Cool to see the ladies get a shutout, and by the way, the IIHF Women's World Championship is happening right now, and Team Canada vs. Team USA is one of the best rivalries in sports.

Check it out.

Surprising: Ryan O'Reilly Is The Top Faceoff Man

Players were asked who they'd want taking a pivotal faceoff and the honor went to one of the few visor holdouts left in the National Hockey League: Ryan O'Reilly

No shade to ROR, I was just surprised that the winner wasn't the guy who came in second place: Sidney Crosby.

He's currently tied with the Rangers' Vincent Trochek for the best faceoff-winning percentage in the league at 58.5%.

Crosby was named the league's most complete player in the NHLPA poll, I'm just surprised something that I'd argue is one of the best parts of his game — and has been for years — didn't quite get the love I expected.

Not Surprising: Players Hate Facing Brad Marchand But Would Love Him On Their Team

Bruins captain and Hall of Fame pest Brad Marchand was named "Player you least enjoy facing, but would want on your team," and that's not a surprise because I feel like he's the only answer.

Connor McDavid coming in second makes me think not every player understood the spirit of this question, but Marchand dominated with nearly 30% of the vote. 

As he should.

When he hangs up his skates, this poll question should be named in his honor.