If you’ve been exposed to pop culture over the past decade, it's hard to miss Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice Man in one of the company's most iconic ad campaigns. But the football player-turned-actor is also a massive hockey fan.
He hosted the NHL’s award show this year during the Stanley Cup final. Last week, Mustafa spoke with Avry Lewis-McDougall about the NHL Awards, the final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, his fandom of the Los Angeles Kings, his idea to get more people to watch the NHL and more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Avry Lewis-McDougall: Isaiah, the NHL season is done. What are your thoughts on the Cup final? What are your impressions? What do you think of Florida repeating?
Isaiah Mustafa: Man, this is what I'll say, in hindsight, you can see how amazing that team was, but in the thick of it, as it was going, I still thought Edmonton had an opportunity to come in and do some damage. But apparently, just going off of what Connor McDavid said in his interview, they knew how good the team was the whole time. Which is interesting, but I've been watching some playbacks, and they just did not give McDavid or (Leon) Draisaitl any room whatsoever to operate. They closed off all those lanes. They were, I mean, clogging up the neutral zone, like unbelievably. So, looking back on it, you can definitely see that.
If you can, if you look back at the series and watch, you'll see all those 13 goals in the first period that Florida had. You'll see all that stuff. But going into the series, it really looked like Edmonton had a 50-50 shot.
AL: You're a former athlete. You played in the NFL (signing with multiple teams and playing for NFL Europe’s Barcelona Dragons in 1998). You know what it's like to go through injuries. What are your thoughts on hearing all the injuries now? Matthew Tkachuk said he had a hernia – he had a torn adductor. What are your thoughts on hockey players playing through nearly everything for a Stanley Cup?
IM: It just goes to show you how great the game is and how how what that means to each player. I'm not saying that a Super Bowl, an NBA championship, a World Series championship doesn't mean anything to those players. I'm sure it does. I'm sure that's all that they, you know, that they they grew up thinking about and playing for, but there's something that surrounds a Stanley Cup. There's some sort of a mystique, some sort of reverence that surrounds that trophy. Players are willing to do whatever it takes, take a lighter paycheck, play through injury, play through broken bones, play through missing teeth, play through stitches, whatever it may be. They'll do it in order to attain that goal.
AL: Of course, and you mentioned Connor McDavid. I know you're a Kings ticket holder. What was it like seeing Connor McDavid up close for yourself? And what does it mean to see Florida shut him down? Because you know, I'm someone from Edmonton. Shutting Connor McDavid down, for me, it seems impossible. But Florida found a way to neutralize him in so many ways, Isaiah.
IM: I mean, Paul Maurice is an amazing coach. He's got some, I mean, (assistant coach) Jamie Kompon, he's an amazing coach also. Like, he just got some really amazing coaches with him. Guys that know systems.
Darryl Sutter used to say, “Finish your checks,” you know, to the L.A. Kings when they had those two amazing Cup runs. And that's what they did. And so, you knew when you played the Kings, that's what you were going to get. You were going to go up against a hard-hitting team that wasn't going to let you breathe. And I think Florida is this generation's version of that with, I mean, just as much skill and savvy, because those guys, they play hard, they forecheck, they backcheck, they do everything you need to do in a game. They don't take shifts off. And I think that's the most important thing.
To a man, every single player on that team is playing to their highest ability and getting into those lanes, those passing lanes, those shooting lanes, blocking shots, stopping passes, picking passes off. They're doing everything they can possibly do to stop. I mean, that's what you can do, when you play Edmonton, because you know that team can come back lightning fast.
AL: For yourself, being a Kings fan, of course, the Oilers beat the Kings four years in a row, so I got to ask you, seeing Florida beat Edmonton, are you thinking to yourself, ‘Ah, finally someone took them down again?’
IM: I don't like to see my team lose, you know, you definitely… you know the enemy of your enemy is your friend, type thing. But you don't like seeing anyone who puts so much effort and so much respect into their training, into their skills as McDavid, Draisaitl and all the rest of the guys, and you don't want to see, those players feeling the way they're feeling after a loss like that. So I can't say that. I'm not going to pile on those guys, because they were right there until the end. So, but don't get me wrong, I would if the Kings beat them, then I would be a lot more like, “Yeah, good. Take that.” You know what I mean? But you know, I won't be happy until the Kings beat them in the playoffs.
AL: Fair enough. We know your involvement in the NHL, of course, you hosted the NHL Awards. And the NHL Awards have been around literally for over 40 years, and it's had so many celebrities involved. What does it mean for yourself to be able to host the NHL Awards?
IM: Since 2012, when I first got my season tickets for the Kings and actually saw the NHL Awards live in Vegas, I looked at that and I said, “Now that's something that I want to do,” like I would love to host this award show, because it looks so fun and everything.
So that was something that I thought about back in 2012. I didn't know how to go about it, but I do remember trying to reach out to the NHL. I'm sure I was reaching the wrong person or wrong people and just trying to ask them, like, “Hey, do you guys need a host?” I didn't have too many contacts there, and I was trying to go through people who may have known people and just go throw my name in the ring.
It worked out this year with Steve Mayer. He and I had worked together previously about more than a dozen years ago, and thankfully, he liked what I did on that project, so he had me in mind for the NHL Awards.
And I had an amazing time. It was awesome. It was an amazing time. Had so much fun doing that, because it was just to me, it was something that I was just like, “Oh, man,” this is when it's something that you want to do, or you look forward to doing, or you think like, “Man, I'd love to do that, and you get the opportunity.” It ceases to be work. It just becomes fun. And if you know how much I love the game and love the NHL and my passion for hockey, it just for me, it was one of those things, like I'll pay to do this, it's such an amazing time.
AL: This year, the awards were pre-recorded. Now, usually they're a live event. It was a little bit different this year.
IM: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I actually loved that format. It was really fun to do, and it was fun watching all the reactions of the players. I can't speak for any players personally, but I think the idea of an award show, you know, there's only one trophy those guys really, really want.
They're such humble guys. I don't know how much that plays with each one of them. I don't know how much they actually want that. But when it's something like this, where their families can get involved, their friends can get involved. They can have these kinds of surprises, and like, the community can get involved in giving them something. You know, it really does kind of show you the true nature of these athletes and how humble and how respectful they are as people. And so I think this format was something that really was able to show, like, how great hockey players, how great NHL players are, what kind of people they are.
"Players are willing to do whatever it takes, take a lighter paycheck, play through injury, play through broken bones, play through missing teeth, play through stitches, whatever it may be. They'll do it in order to attain that goal."
- Isaiah Mustafa on the Stanley Cup playoffs
AL: We know about your Kings fandom, but what was it like for you to get into the game more and more?
IM: For me, being a former athlete and a football player… I'll use football as an example. Most average, most fans, can explain football to you. They can explain plays, they can explain defense, they can explain kickoff, special teams, whatever it is.
Not many people can explain systems in hockey to you. They can't. Some people don't even get icing. A lot of times, they don't get that. They don't get an odd-man rush. They don't understand, well, why is it a power play? The 1-3-1 of the Kings used to use last season, you know, like those systems that they play, they're hard to explain. Cycling the puck, it's hard to explain to a casual viewer, you know?
So for me, what I needed to do was I needed to get involved in the coaching aspect of the game. So I talked to coaches. I talked to youth coaches, like, how do you teach systems? How do you prepare these kids to grow up in and work in different systems? What are the things you do? Talk to college coaches. I haven't talked to any pro coaches. I don't know anyone, but I will talk to pro coaches. I have talked to presidents of clubs and GMs and ask them, “Hey, explain to me the inner workings of the game as a player.” That way, I can understand the game better, and I can watch it better.
AL: So what you're telling me is, if next year, an ESPN or TNT said, “Hey, we want you on the panel next year.” You're good to go for next season?
IM: I'm not afraid to be on the TNT panel. I'm not afraid to step up and analyze some game tape, because I have confidence in that I know how much I love the game. I know how much I've watched the game. I know how much I've watched, recorded games, rewound games. Watch different things happen. I study the game like a student.
AL: You know one thing, too, about the L.A. Kings that we've seen so often, there's been Black players and Black fans, of course. Well, the biggest Black player on the team right now is Quinton Byfield, and I met and profiled Quinton last season. One thing that Quinton said to me is he loves seeing more Black kids coming up through the game. He sees a Black kid in Southern California. What’s it meant to see the influence of more Black players and Black fans get involved in hockey and going to Kings games now, Isaiah?
IM: That's a big thing for the game. Diversity in the game is just something that can help it expand more, you know? You want people to learn how special the game is and keep that special aspect of the game, so growing it is just something that I think is inevitable, and it's just something that the game is definitely open to and welcomes having more Black kids in L.A. play.
I feel like I have, just me personally, because I live in Los Angeles or live in the L.A. area of Southern California, I feel like it's part my responsibility to get the word out. If I love hockey as much as I do, then I need to translate that to a younger generation of Black players so they can understand how much this game is for them.
"To a man, every single player on that team is playing to their highest ability and getting into those lanes, those passing lanes, those shooting lanes, blocking shots, stopping passes, picking passes off."
- Isaiah Mustafa on the Florida Panthers
AL: I'll ask you here on the spot, Isaiah, Give me three players who would kill an Old Spice ad.
IM: (Drew) Doughty, first and foremost. He'd kill it in his sleep. He'd be awesome. Matthew Tkachuk right off the bat. No problem. Let me think who else is out there. Auston Matthews could do it, too.
Now I want to, I want to say something to you, yeah, because I want to get this out there, and I want to get people talking about this, OK? Because I think this could help. And I don't want any credit. All I want to see is that this happened.
I think one of the reasons why the NHL has not expanded as far as, say, the MLB, NBA or the NFL: camera angles.
I think what is happening is, you take anybody, and you bring them to a hockey game, they are immediately a fan. It is the best live sport that you could you can watch. There's nothing that compares to it, nothing. You see the speed. You see the physicality. You see it all.
But when you watch it on TV, something is lost in that. Something is lost in viewership. So what needs to happen? What I think is you need to see the speed you know, like when the Olympics, when the 100 meter is about to be run, and you see the camera go at the same speed as the sprinters, and you can see the operation, and you can see how fast these guys are going. And you go, yeah. Like, look at this. Literally, you see it.
The same thing needs to happen in hockey. And what you do is you develop a camera that you can put inside the boards, just underneath the rail, just underneath that has a plexiglass so it's clear all the way around, or at least as far as you can get it around. You put several of them, say, six, in the corners, and then by the benches.
What you do is you have that camera straight on the player, and you see how fast that player is skating. Then you can see how fast the game is. If people could experience that, you would, you'd see viewership just like, explode.
AL: That is a really cool idea. I know you're involved with the CBS series Cross. And Alex Cross has been a character, a Black character. What has it been like to be involved in a series that has a Black protagonist that's been around for decades?
IM: It's like, not only is Alex Cross a Black character, but he's unapologetically Black. Like he is of, you know, the DC metro area. He's a badass; he's a forensic psychologist. And to be able to portray his partner on screen, it is real.
I mean, I have a great lead in the show, Aldis Hodge. He's an amazing actor and an amazing partner to work with, so I'm blessed in that respect. But yeah, it is probably, without a doubt, one of my favorite things I've ever worked on. It is so fun to get into that character and work with him and work with Aldis. That is, I just can't say enough.
Being an athlete harkens back to team, teammates and teamwork. When you get on a good team, you gel, and you get that vibe and, you know, you're like, Oh, we're gelling right now, you know? I mean, let's not mess this up. And that's how I feel when I work with Aldis.
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