The Michael Misa Fan Club (Those who have been endeared)
My best explanation of the MM77 Extended Universe which is in no way a complete guide or exactly helpful in any way.
Sam Dickinson
Samisa! This is definitely not a primer to their relationship, or to any of Misaâs relationships with the following people, but I will do my best to give them an introduction and explanation of their dynamic. Sam and Misa have this little red string thatâs been curled around them forever. Theyâve played against each other on almost every team theyâve ever been a part of, most famously being Dickieâs London Knights and Misaâs Saginaw Spirit in the OHL. Sam was coincidentally on the ice when Misa broke his tibia his first season with the Spirit, heâs there, lingering, and covering the camera where Misa is writhing around in pain. Even when he shuffles away to the Knights, heâs looking back to see Misa, a guy at this point heâs only sort of friends with. In the famous Samisa Never Offside Podcast, Sam and Misa talked about how they knew each other since they were little kids and became friends around 14/15 (which would have been when Misa was granted exceptional status for the OHL), bonding slightly over the fact they had the same agent. This is also where Misaâs âI like Dickâ quote comes from, saying that he didnât like anyone on the London Knights but Sam. The quote is definitely funny but the meaning behind it is one Misa has kept up, he likes Sam, Sam is good to him, he likes him. More on the Samisa dynamic from the podcast here.
By all means, Sam and Misa were supposed to have that classic hate-filled rivalry but they just couldnât seem to manage that. On the ice, people would be chirping each other and Sam and Misa would just skate by and laugh. Perhaps similarly to the tibia incident, Misa was also present for one of the lowest moments of Samâs hockey career at the time, losing the Memorial Cup in 2024. The London Knights originally knocked the Spirit out of the running but because they were the host team, they already had an automatic bid in. The Spirit ended up making it to the finals against the Knights where they won by one, a heartbreak defeat. Dickie was crushed and he still seems vaguely sour over it on the podcast, but the friendship prevails!
At the sharks Samisa get even closer, and continue to make crazy heart eyes at each other that I would be remiss to not include. They bicker FREQUENTLY, and despite it all, Sam seems to soften the chirps and abrasive attitude when it comes to Misa. I am only being vaguely less objective when I say that Sam knows that Misa canât chirp, and that heâs a little too genuine, and that he doesnât always know when heâs being chirped, so Sam stays right at Misaâs level with it. At his core, Sam is an entertainer and itâs no fun if your audience isnât enjoying themselves when you start running your bits, so in this case, Sam softens and yet he also has full reign to do what he wants because Misa will laugh anyways, even if heâs being bullied. Misa likes the pushing around, and he likes having Sam around in general because according to Cat Toffoli, Sam basically lives with them. And if you want to listen to Toff, and his vague fatherly vendetta against Sam, the Samisa bullying is constant and annoying, but when it comes down to it, Sam is also the one taking care of Misa (if we can ignore the weird incesteous Sam/Toff/Misa of this clip that Toff is trying to spin⊠more on that later). The care and authority Sam takes on for Misa is actually always lingering, itâs Misa looking to Sam to know how a hotel phone works because âYouâre a smart guyâ, itâs Sam setting the alarms for them, itâs Sam getting them places on time, itâs Misa looking to Sam to answer before him or for him. Misa has full faith in him and expects that Sam will know, Sam will figure it out, Sam has it under control for me. THIS is critical to their dynamic.
Even in the early Shark days, Sam takes it upon himself to make sure Misa is taken care of. When asked about his own housing accommodations (which ended with him living by himself), he said it was important for Misa to stay with the Toffolis, have the billet experience, because he was the younger one. Although, I suppose you could also take this in a begrudging way, Sam letting Misa have it not out of the good of his heart but out of obligation. And yet when that rolled back around it was Misa who invited Sam over to eat âfamily dinnerâ at the Toffolis because he didnât want him to be lonely.
Igor Chernyshov
There is already a beautiful actual primer by @melonkai that I will not even attempt to replicate, go read it! But I am obligated to mention that Cherny and Misa played on the Saginaw Spirit together briefly back in 2024-2025 when Cherny came through the CHL import draft. And of course, now they play on the Sharks together! On the Spirit they had trouble communicating due to the language barrier but from interview clips that seems to be less of a problem now. Nowadays, you can find Cherny trailing his hand down Misaâs whole body, or Misa petting an angry Cherny, or them just being giggly on the bench while Toff stares out into space.Â
Zayne Parekh
Parekh and Misa played together back in Saginaw under the Saginaw Spirit from 2022-2025, although Parekh is almost exactly a year older than Misa and went ninth in the 2024 NHL draft to the Calgary Flames. He still plays for them alongside Michaelâs older brother, Luke Misa. Michael and Zayne have actually played on multiple teams together growing up, including on Team Canada for World Juniors 2026, and the Hlikna Gretzky Cup 2023 team (w/ Dickinson and Spence) where they won gold! The two of them are pretty close, having their own uh⊠intimate pre-game rituals which for some reason include Misa holding his stick out for Zayne to either jerk, or lick; No, I am not joking. Honestly, the narratives arenât crazy here but theyâre just very clearly good friends and have been for awhile. They feature each other semi heavily on their instagrams, and Zayne seems to like to comment a lot lmao.
Even on different teams now, theyâre still friends! In my own opinion, Zayne Parekh might be too cool for Misa but thatâs okay, and it only helps to serve the unfortunately endeared narrative Iâm trying to spin here. Theyâre #parisa to me, if anyone cares.
Malcolm Spence
Currently, Spence plays for UMich but he was drafted 43rd overall by the New York Rangers in 2025 (same draft class as Misa). Previously, Spence and Misa played on the Mississauga Senators youth hockey team together, and since they were little kids. They played on different teams in the OHL, and were drafted back to back in 2022 (Misa with exceptional status, Spence was 16 at the time), but remained close friends. They played on the same team again for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup alongside Parekh and Dickinson. Thereâs probably something to be said about a clip from the Canada Finland game where Misa gets put in a headlock and Spence is the first on the scene while Dickie crosses half the rink to put the offending Finland player in his own headlock⊠Interesting narratives there. The day one vs the inevitable NHL teammate you have a long red string of fate withâŠ
And although Iâm not sure the context behind it, Spence and Misa were roommates at some point? Spence specifically refers to Misa as his roommate during the NHL Combine when he leaks that Misa wants to go to the Sharks, and thereâs some vague instagram comments I stumbled upon about it, so probably road roommates for when they played together as well as the combine!Â
Collin Graf
Quiet guys who stick together are quiet guys who stay together, I donât know. Both Graf and Misa are more soft spoken/reserved/introverted guys on the Sharks and perhaps for that reason theyâve gotten close. This is a cutieful introduction to their relationship that I fully endorse. They stick together and linger around with their occasional chats and mostly blank staring, which Iâm a big fan of. Iâm not exactly sure what Drew means when he says they sit together, but we can infer that itâs a common occurrence for them to be next to one another, on the bench, in the locker room, on picture day, on the bus, etc, etc. In a locker room and team full of big personalities, I can imagine itâs nice to find someone who can go your speed whenever you want, not everyone needs to be jumping off the walls. Funny enough, it seems like Misa gets more talkative when Graf is around, starting up his own conversations instead of waiting for someone else to. And of course, shout out to Misa saying âBecause heâs a smart guy!â about Graf being a good possible emergency ref, he really is the sincerest guy around.
William Eklund
I donât have that much for this one but itâs still important for me to note. In an interview clip, Ekky mentions that he sees Misa as a little brother to him. Honestly he has some pretty thoughtful commentary on it that is very sweet, he wants to be there for him and apparently they hang out a lot. William Eklund, you too are endeared by Michael Misa, welcome to the club. Most of Ekkyâs micâd up game is just him yelling at Misa who says zero words back which is nice, like real siblings lmao. You can tell Ekky does take the âunder my wingâ roll very seriously with Misa, as theyâre looking at the IPad on the bench or heâs straight up hollering at Misa on the ice.
Tyler & Cat Toffoli
Billet parents of all time. Originally I wasn't going to put them on here because I thought it was self explanatory but it would feel too much like a major oversight on my part. While Toff does think Misa needs to grow up a little and not be so messy, heâs also the same guy whoâs volunteering himself to get in between the Samisa bullying, and to take care of Misa in general. Heâs the ultimate fond exasperated father figure that I also have to unfortunately mention said one weird incest-lite comment about Sam and him being Misaâs fathers. Iâll leave that to the masses to digest. Every photo that Cat posts of Toff and Misa are of the ducking following his mama variety, ex. them not watching TV together, them walking into games, them going to football games, them in the car, etc. This little parental dynamic goes as far as Toff literally referring to Misa as his and Catâs child when Misa blabbed about what was supposed to be a surprise get together for Toff after a game. They also had matching family halloween costumes so that's cute!
On Cat specifics for this, she just seems to be very sweet on Misa in general, saying things like heâs a nice kid. Similar to Dickie where he softens around Misa, Cat is also quick to reassure Misa (although she does the same for everyone else too, cool lady indeed), my primary example of this being when Misa gets vaguely insecure about being loud and both Cat and Sam jump to say itâs not a bad thing. And of course there is the famous (to me) moment where Cat upon returning home goes to greet Stella, her dog, by saying âHi, baby!â in a puppy voice and Misa completely responds with âHey.â That guy is her baby too, I guess.
Possible Nick Lardis
To me, even Nick Lardis gets a mention for the #OakvilleBoys of it all. Theyâve never played together and Iâm not sure if Lardis is more of a Luke Misa friend than a Michael Misa friend but heâs around nonetheless. They were training and doing lame instagram ads together this offseason so thereâs that. He is also supposed to be a part of the Vancouver Macklin Celebrini training camp this summer which as of the time of posting this hasnât happened yet. Perhaps more is to be revealed about Nick Lardis and the Misas, or heâll be found dead on the Grouse Grind trail after having to deal with Willmack and Samisa for two weeks. Time will tell!
Honorable Mentions:
The general Ontario hockey boys friend group, specifically, Spence, Misa, Parekh and some other guys like Nic Sima. Yadda, yadda, Canada boys stick together, a lot of them played for the Spirit, or the Senators in minors, blah, blah, they take summer lake trips, okay, whatever.
This one specific comment on Misaâs instagram from Porter Martone which I accidentally walked in onâŠ
They were teammates on Canadaâs Red team for World U-17 and well, I guess they connected lmao. I shall reserve any judgement because they were like 15/16 at the time but itâs funny to put in here anyways. Hockey guy instagram comments will always be famous to me!
Honestly I could have put any of the Sharks here (even including Will Smith Hockey and the mostly joking WillMisa blood feud) and it would have worked but I digress. Macklin can get an honorable mention though because the little back pats Iâm always seeing are cute.
Gif sets are SO important to me. Yes, please take this scene and break it up into 4 or 6 three second loops that I can study over and over to appreciate the small details of it
Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance.
Note: For this to make sense, I highly recommend that you've read:
Chapter 1.0 (overview & context)
Chapter 1.1 (the player experience)
Chapter 1.2 (billeting & school)
NTDP connections, military-edition
"Players are taught that from the moment they join the NTDP, they are representing the United States of America, at home, at school and abroad, 24 hours a day.â - NTDP website x
The crest: âThe 13 red and white stripes reflect those on the United States flag.â x
stick tap at the end of every national anthem x
The Russia armed guards story: 'Another item that left an impression...was playing in the Six Nations Tournament in Russia. "There were German Shepherds, armed guards and it was creepy," Leopold said. "We had one phone in the whole place to call home every night." Leopold said they drank bottled water because they were told to not drink the tap water. Political protesters met players at the game and held signs that read, "Get out of Iraq" and "Go home Americans. Our eyes are on you." And there were more armed guards surrounding the rink.' x
You know the iconic win song? "OH MAMA, DON'T YOU CRY" (example: WJC 2025 Ryan Leonard x, 2024 Rutger McGroarty x, 2021 Cam York x)
Well, it's a military cadence call: "Kirk Culik is a cross-training coach and former Marine whoâs become a legend with the program since arriving 18 years ago. Heâs responsible for the call-and-response military chant Team USA sings in the dressing room." x
They literally sing it while theyâre working out, like soldiers. "Itâs a chant that the players learn during their training sessions, spat out like the shout-and-repeat songs heard during basic training." x
NTDPâa list of corporate partnerships includes Army National Guard & United States Air Force. x
USA Hockey Arena (remember, "the purpose of the hockey arena is to provide a wholly owned home for the National Team Development Program" x) has giant letters for AIRFORCE.COM plastered around the arena:
NTDP's power play is called the "U.S. Air Force Power Play." x
Side note: thereâs a funny old video where the NTDP started using a training aid used by the Air Force...and there was just endless slides of different fighter jets for way longer than one would think necessary for, you know, a hockey video. x
Origins of the NTDP
From "Inside stories behind the start of the United States National Team Development Program": x
An overall lack of international success forced USA Hockey to confront why it was struggling to even reach the podium, let alone win tournaments. [...] He knew from personal experience, having coached the USA at the 1995 World Juniors, where the team struggled due to a lack of continuity between players. [...]
DeGregorio said Jackson came up with the concept that became the NTDP. Jackson presented USA Hockey with a plan: They would take the strongest American male talents between 16 and 18 years old and develop them into players who could excel at the next level. Jackson said doing "it the right way" meant hiring a staff that could recruit players, find billet families (local families who players live with) and enroll the teenagers in high school. [...]
Jackson said the biggest unknown they faced in creating the NTDP was the number of people who spoke out against the program. "Someone said to me that no one knew what we were doing. That's not true," said Mancini, who is now USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey development. "It's not that we didn't know what we were doing. There was just no precedent."
Jackson and his staff heard how the program should be a six-week summer course. Jackson said the only way to make change was if the NTDP were a year-round program with two teams separated by age in the form of a U-17 and a U-18 squad.
Proponents against:
Jackson said there was infighting among different factions of USA Hockey, high school hockey and those at USA Hockey's headquarters who were against doing a year-round program. There were states that held meetings with their high school associations about the NTDP. Herb Brooks, coach of the legendary 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, urged Jackson to not go through with the NTDP. [...]
Mancini said the logic for using Ann Arbor as the home base is that it was centrally located. But he said there were college coaches who felt like the NTDP being in Ann Arbor was a recruiting tool for schools like Michigan and Michigan State.
From How USA Hockey went from failure to hockey factory:
Coming up with a blueprint was hard enough, since no such program existed in hockey. And to this day, Monaghan refers to the NTDP as a pilot program â essentially a pair of all-star teams made up of the best under-17 and under-18 players in the country. [...] âPeople couldnât get their arms around what we were trying to do,â Monaghan said. âThose first couple of groups of kids, I call them the pioneers. They took a chance. They took a chance on their own development.âÂ
One of those players was Jordan Leopold. [...] Leopold signed on but then had to deal with the fallout: Minnesotans didnât take too kindly to having some new team in Michigan poaching the stateâs best high school talent.
âIt was very controversial at the time,â Leopold said. âI remember being invited on to a radio show to talk about it, me and some veteran media guys. They fed me to the wolves. I was 16.âÂ
A 'funny story' from recruiting:
Jackson said recruiting players came with the challenge of competing against agents, major junior teams or even some colleges that may have wanted a player to develop elsewhere before coming to their school. He remembers when a low-level agent held a party for 16-year-old players at an airport hotel where there were kegs and exotic dancers.
"The one positive thing for me with that airport hotel story is we had a young man, his name was Joe Goodenow on the U-18 team," Jackson said. "His dad was the executive director of the NHLPA and all it took was one phone call and that agent got fired. But there are multiple stories like that. Some are funny and some are not so funny."
USA Hockey
Hiring process (or lack thereof):
'Approximately five months after leaving the Chicago Blackhawks amid sexual assault allegations in June 2010, Brad Aldrich joined USA Hockey as a video coach. [...] Though USA Hockey requires background checks for coaches, the organization did not contact his previous employer to check his references or inquire about the nature of his exit. âWe have no records/knowledge of anyone from USA Hockey calling the Blackhawks for references of Brad Aldrich,â USA Hockey said in an email in response to a number of questions about his employment history with the organization.' x
Why would USA Hockey be so quick to hire Brad Aldrich? Well, his uncle, Scott Aldrich, is a beloved long-time equipment manager for the U.S. National team. x
(Side note: Brad Aldrich's father, Mike Aldrich, is the equipment manager for the San Jose Sharks who suggested everyone take their shirts off for the infamous group photo. x x )
Safesport probe in 2020:
May 2020: "USA Hockey president Jim Smith is under investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport concerning his handling of allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse by a youth coach." x
"According to the report, Smith was told in 1989 that Chicago-area coach Tom Adrahtas had sexually abused several junior players. Through a spokesperson, USA Hockey acknowledged that Smith, among others, is under investigation for not taking action as a result of that complaint." x
"The matter was closed by SafeSport, but Smith later announced he would not seek re-election, referencing the allegations [...] Smith has since rejoined the organization." x
Safesport probe in 2023:
March 2023: USA Hockey employees 'alerted an accused party of an investigation and provided the accused party information âabout the underlying allegation of misconductâ and coordinated communications surrounding the matter.' x
Reid Boucher (NTDP player) assault case:
Note: this story contains information about sexual assault of a minor. Please proceed with caution, or feel free to exit this post since this is the final section of this chapter.
From "What a police report shows USA Hockey knew about ex-NHL player's sex assault case" (excerpts):
-> In 2021, Reid Boucher, a former NHL player, was brought to the attention of police and arrested in a decade-old sexual assault case involving a 12-year-old girl in Ann Arbor.
But back in 2011, USA Hockey removed then-17-year-old Boucher from the scene of the reported assaults â the residence of his USA Hockey National Team Development Program host family, according to an Ann Arbor police report and a USA Hockey spokesman.
The police report suggests Ann Arbor Public Schools had at least enough information to conduct an interview back then. And it shows USA Hockey had a note about that conversation. The report does not indicate that police or Children's Protective Services were called â something USA Hockey spokesman Dave Fischer confirmed Monday.Â
A USA Hockey program executive, when interviewed by police last year, said he didn't recall the gravity of Boucher's removal from the so-called "billet" home. And Fischer said the school only alerted the program to a girl saying she had a boyfriend on the team, an allegation that, at the time, was deemed to be unfounded.Â
But the woman believes USA Hockey and Ann Arbor schools should have called police.Â
"I am so disgusted that the solution was only to remove him," the woman said.Â
The woman told the Free Press that, back in 2011, Boucher twice pressured her into use of her mouth for oral sexual assaults at the age of 12. A witness told police that she told her stepfather and he, in turn, contacted the USA Hockey team coach, according to the Ann Arbor police report.Â
Fischer said the girl's school contacted USA Hockey after the school heard that the girl was telling friends she had a boyfriend on the team. The woman recalls that she was pulled from school one day and, by the time she got home, Boucher was gone from the residence.
But the information provided to police by the current assistant executive director of the USA Hockey development program, Scott Monaghan, suggests a counselor did interview a seventh grade student around that time, and that USA Hockey was given a note about it. Monaghan spoke with police multiple times, according to the police report.
The first time, in early April 2021, he said he recalled moving Boucher from the home but said he did not have any recollection of the gravity of the situation, the report showed. He said he'd look for any documentation and contact the program's lawyers about releasing it.
He then called police back later that month and said the only complaint he had after the move was about the house not being cleaned up, the report showed. But he also said he found a note from a middle school counselor about a student with a boyfriend on the hockey team. He sent police a copy.Â
Fischer said the school conducted an investigation and found nothing. However, he said the program also spoke to Boucher, his parents, and the girl's parents, he said. Despite the finding that nothing happened, he said USA Hockey decided to move proactively.Â
"We still felt it was the best to remove Reid from the billet home," he said, later adding: "There was never anything of any kind .. that there were any sexual (assault) allegations."
The woman's parents denied that they were ever interviewed.
Boucher was removed from the woman's home around the same time as the notification and interview, the police report indicates. An email included in the report and dated March 16, 2011, discusses picking up "the rest of Reid's stuff."Â
One witness, believed to be another friend of the woman from back then, and the woman's parents both told police they believed USA Hockey changed a policy regarding housing players following the incident with Boucher. Details of the change were not included in the police report. Fischer said he did not immediately have information on the policy Monday to comment.
The woman said she has to recognize that views and handlings of sex assault has changed, somewhat, since the timing of her incident, a decade ago. But she raised concerns about whether that school counselor was equipped for a trauma-informed handling of a child sex abuse report, and said she feels USA Hockey buried it and should have done more.Â
From "Ex-NHL player from Michigan gets deal in sex assault case â and survivor is 'disgusted'" (excerpts):
-> Reid Boucher has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor in 2011, when the girl was 12 and he was a 17-year-old in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. Boucher, 28, pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving sexual penetration with an individual between the ages of 13 and 16 years old.
Boucher was originally charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. However, during the December hearing, Circuit Judge Patrick Conlin agreed to let Boucher enter a plea for the lesser charge and agreed to sentence him with no upfront jail time through the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, or HYTA. Under HYTA, the case wonât appear on Boucherâs public record if he successfully completes his sentence.
Boucher was the womanâs âbillet brother,â she told the Free Press.Â
Her family served as a host family in Ann Arbor for several members of the USA Hockey development program when it was based there. Boucher was one of them.
His attorney declined to discuss details of the case, but the woman said Boucher quickly became close with her family â much closer than her prior billet brothers, with whom she recalled some awkwardness.Â
But she said he made her uncomfortable at times, that he played songs with overly sexual lyrics, told her about his sex life, tickled her, roughhoused with her to the point of a bad rug burn, and once took off his shirt and hit her with it to wake her up.
But the worst came when he found videos she had made on her mom's computer of herself dancing and he called her down to the basement, where his bedroom was, she said.
"He just kept giving me the idea that he was going to post them," she said. "He was like, 'I'm going to show everybody.' "
It felt like the end of the world to a 12-year-old whoâd grappled with bullying, the woman said. Then the situation escalated, with Boucher showcasing a stash of alcohol in his room, pressuring her to drink, then turning the conversation to sex, all while teasing her, she said.
Ultimately, the now-23-year-old woman said she recalls then-17-year-old Boucher on two occasions pressuring her into the use of her mouth for an oral sexual assault. She said when the first time took place following the discovery of the videos, Boucher coaxed her to continue despite a plea that she wanted to stop, and the second time, on a different date, he pressured her by saying that he would tell people about the prior time.
Boucher was removed from the home and was out by at least mid-March 2011, according to emails contained in the report concerning the collection of his belongings and an issue with a carpet.  //
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