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NHL stars bash ESPN’s Max Kellerman for hockey-hating rant

Hockey fans weren’t the only ones ticked off by Max Kellerman’s hot take. Those who play the game Kellerman claimed nobody cared about and wasn’t one of the major sports also had a bone to pick with the ESPN host. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but settle down Max @maxkellerman,” Flyers captain Claude …

Hockey fans weren’t the only ones ticked off by Max Kellerman’s hot take.

Those who play the game Kellerman claimed nobody cared about and wasn’t one of the major sports also had a bone to pick with the ESPN host.

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but settle down Max @maxkellerman,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux tweeted Friday.

“Typical [clown emoji] statement from Kellerman saying no one in the US cares about hockey,” Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo tweeted earlier this week. “Not a “major sport”.
@maxkellerman tell it to the millions of fans and sold out arenas all across the league! You’ll hear more about this on [DeAngelo’s] podcast! @WatchYourTone4”

Kellerman, 46, offered his rant on Wednesday’s “First Take.” He didn’t say what he considered to be the fourth major sport in addition to the NFL, MLB and NBA.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but in the United States of America, no one really cares about hockey,” Kellerman said. “The old joke is, in every town there’s 20,000 hockey fans [and] they all have season tickets. So the arenas are always sold out, but the TV ratings don’t do anything. It’s not one of the four major team sports.”

Longtime “SportsCenter” host Linda Cohn was among the first to take Kellerman to task for his opinion, saying it was “insulting” to the game and those associated with it.

Even those hockey lifers new to Twitter had something to say about Kellerman’s claim.

“Hockey is alive and well @maxkellerman,” former defenseman, Islanders coach and GM Mike Milbury tweeted. “The MLB only has a steady viewership because men over the age of 70 use it as a sleep remedy. I prefer vodka. People love this sport around the world, something neither the NFL nor the MLB can say. Just ask Charles Barkley about our playoff.”

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