Tyson Barrie downed a couple drinks before battling the Vancouver Canucks in the playoffs
Tyson Barrie enjoyed a memorable, 14-year NHL career, playing over 800 games and recording 500 points.
However, his greatest accomplishment may have occurred towards the end of his career.
The Victoria, B.C., native was on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, where he told a story about unexpectedly having to suit up for a playoff game with a belly full of booze and beef tartar.
Barrie was a member of the Nashville Predators at the time. He got traded there when the Edmonton Oilers dealt him in a package for Mattias Ekholm in 2023.
His time in the Music City didn’t appear to be going well. His scoring had dipped, he suffered an injury, and in December of the 2023-24 season, news leaked that he had requested a trade out of Nashville.
By the time the Predators had their late-season surge, Barrie was a regular press-box participant.
“In Nashville, I hadn’t played that last month and a half of the season, like not a game,” he said. I’m full health bomb, like full-time.”
“Me and [Predators head coach Andrew Brunette], we went for a pint and he was like, ‘I’m sorry, I hate to be doing this, but it is what it is.'”
The Predators wound up facing the Vancouver Canucks in Round One of the 2024 NHL playoffs. They fell victim to a 3-1 series deficit after a devastating Game Four loss, meaning they would face elimination in Game 5 back in Vancouver.
Although his teammates were in the thick of the battle, Barrie was still on the sidelines.
“I’m not even a thought for warm-ups,” he said. “That’s how out of the lineup I am.”
So, what does a player do the night before an NHL elimination game when they’re expecting to be a healthy scratch?
“I go for dinner with the boys at Elisa, and then I go meet some friends for a few beers after,” Barrie said.
The next morning, after no indication at the morning skate that he would be playing, the 5-foot-11 defenceman went back out for a couple of beverages.
“I go for lunch. I have a chardonnay, a nice beef tartar down at Provence in Yaletown, I have a pint.”
Later that day, he got the news.
“I get on the late bus, at six o’clock, to the rink,” Barrie said. “Then, our team service guy is like ‘Tys, come with me'”
“I’m like, ‘No… no, you’re f*cking kidding me.'”
“We walked in, all the boys are half-dressed, like, warm-up is in four minutes. I’ve had a chardonnay and a pint, and it’s an elimination game against the Vancouver Canucks.”
Not only had the veteran NHLer been a healthy scratch for over a month, but he’d also only played in 11 of Nashville’s 55 games (including playoffs) since the Christmas break in 2023.
“[Ryan O’Reilly], he looks at me and he’s like ‘you might be the only guy that could f*cking pull this one off,” Barrie said.
“I come out, sit on the bench, like 20,000 white towels going and everything, I’m like, ‘[to Roman Josi] and I tweaking or am I on the bench right now?'”
“He’s like: ‘Oh, we’re here.'”
No one would have blamed Barrie if he put forward a crappy performance. However, it was actually one of his better outings of the season.
Skating on a pair with Ryan McDonagh, Barrie helped the Preds contain the Canucks to just one goal in a 2-1 win. The veteran even registered an assist on the game-tying power play goal by Roman Josi.
“Honestly, I felt alright,” Barrie admitted. “Had an [assist] and we got a big win.”
Barrie said that Luke Schenn was suffering from food poisoning, which is why he drew into the lineup at the last minute.
Perhaps the Predators could have used Barrie for Game 6. He went back to the press box, and the Canucks wound up eliminating the Predators with a 1-0 win.
With Barrie recently announcing his retirement, his boozy, Game 5 appearance wound up being the last NHL playoff game of his career.