It’s been quite the week for retro hockey. Following the Los Angeles Kings’ 90s “Throwback Night” (complete with glow puck on replays and Thomas Middleditch as a sports reporter caricature), the New Jersey Devils held “80s Night” Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And they delivered a remarkable promo video for it, complete with old-school graphics, players dressed as everyone from Marty McFly to Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and MSG analyst Ken Daneyko (who played with the Devils for his whole career, from 1983-2003, and is normally quite bald) in an incredible wig:
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/Z92Snysfi1— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 10, 2019
There’s even a behind-the-scenes look at that Daneyko hair flip, and a GIF of it with 80s graphics:
Behind the scenes: making of the @KenDaneykoMSG 80s Night hair flip.
Totally rad, Dano. pic.twitter.com/PJuaCV90FA
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 9, 2019
Who's coming out to 80s Night tomorrow? https://t.co/y2LJZpG1Nd pic.twitter.com/KgmqkmZTxK
— Ken Daneyko (@KenDaneykoMSG) January 9, 2019
And he wore the wig on the broadcast:
What do you think @NJDevils fans, should @KenDaneykoMSG keep the blonde flow 80's look?#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/vV6Ou8Jk5K
— MSG Networks (@MSGNetworks) January 11, 2019
Daneyko did actually have hair once, as seen by this General Hospital clip starring him and fellow Devils Doug Brown and John MacLean:
At any rate, the Devils had a lot of fun with “80s Night,” even using retro graphics and handing out Ghostbusters-themed Daneyko bobbleheads:
Let's rock the Rock for 80s Night.
📰: https://t.co/mWrQR0LF0y
📍: @PruCenter
📺: @MSGNetworks
📻: Devils Hockey Network – https://t.co/1LRgZTsaYk
#️⃣: #NJDevils | #TORvsNJD pic.twitter.com/qN59vQmxpV— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 10, 2019
Not sure if Ken daneyko or villain from last action hero pic.twitter.com/7tGy2wjuY1
— Greg (@RealistSpeaking) January 10, 2019
And we now know that Daneyko can pull off a mean hair flip.
