{"id":131030,"date":"2025-09-04T01:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T01:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/131030\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T01:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T01:08:09","slug":"ryan-leonard-uses-beef-stick-to-faux-interview-zeev-buium-at-nhlpa-rookie-showcase-next-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/131030\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Leonard uses beef stick to faux-interview Zeev Buium at NHLPA Rookie Showcase: \u2018Next question!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Leonard was one of 31 players to participate in the NHLPA Rookie Showcase at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Not only did Leonard have his photo taken for his upcoming Upper Deck rookie cards, but he also caught up with an old friend at the event: Minnesota Wild prospect defenseman Zeev Buium (pronounced BOO-yum<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Buium, who spent last season with the University of Denver before joining the Wild for their playoff run, played with Leonard on both USA Hockey\u2019s National Team Development Program (USNTDP) and the USA\u2019s World Junior teams in 2023 (U-18), 2024 (U-20), and 2025 (U-20). The two talented players have won three gold medals together.<\/p>\n

The two friends were also Hobey Baker Award finalists last season in the NCAA<\/a>, with Michigan State\u2019s Isaac Howard ultimately taking home the trophy.<\/p>\n

While at the Capitals\u2019 practice facility together, Leonard and Buium made sure to mess with each other while also taking some prom-worthy snaps.<\/p>\n

Leonard also later decided to participate in Buium\u2019s press conference as a faux reporter. Without a microphone, the Capitals\u2019 rookie forward found the next best thing \u2014 a beef stick \u2014 and held it up with a serious face as Buium spoke.<\/p>\n

Very Price Is Right-y<\/a>, if you ask me.<\/p>\n

And because accuracy matters here at RMNB, we just want you to know we confirmed it was indeed a beef stick.<\/p>\n

\"Beef\ud83d\udcf8: Katie Adler\/RMNB<\/p>\n

The shenanigans didn\u2019t stop there, with Buium later asked about his and Leonard\u2019s relationship \u2014 here\u2019s how the full interaction went. Please note: the questions were edited for clarity.<\/p>\n

Q. What are your thoughts on Ryan Leonard?<\/p>\n

(Leonard is now standing directly across from Buium.)<\/p>\n

Zeev Buium: He\u2019s a good guy, I guess. No, he\u2019s awesome. He\u2019s amazing. Obviously playing together at NTDP for two years, and going through all of this together. Kind of going through all of this together right now, too. It\u2019s pretty cool to have somebody like that in your life, as close as he is to me. It\u2019s pretty fun.<\/p>\n

Q. What have you seen from him that makes him special?<\/p>\n

Zeev Buium: I just think he\u2019s great at being himself. He\u2019s got a big character. He\u2019s obviously a hell of a hockey player. I just think the biggest thing is you can just see him being himself right away. He never shies away from a big moment or a big opportunity. Always want to see him succeed, and happy that he is.<\/p>\n

Q. Did you guys compare notes at all about your experiences in the NHL last year?<\/p>\n

Zeev Buium: Yeah, I mean, we talked about it a little bit, but nothing crazy. I think we both know that it\u2019s hard. It was a big adjustment, and you\u2019re playing different roles. It was just different. We talked a little bit, but usually when we get back together, it\u2019s just about the memories, and just what\u2019s going on in each other\u2019s lives right now.<\/p>\n

Q. Did he humble brag about his first goal coming with Wayne Gretzky being there?<\/p>\n

Zeev Buium: He\u2019s doing it right now. (Leonard is, in fact, holding up a finger gesturing \u201c1\u201d in the background) Yeah, he does. He always brags. But it\u2019s okay. I mean, I got my bragging rights in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

Ryan Leonard: Next question!<\/p>\n

Zeev Buium: It\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n

While their interactions were full of good vibes, there was one touchy subject. Buium\u2019s Denver squad knocked Leonard\u2019s Boston College Eagles out of the NCAA championship tournament two consecutive years.<\/p>\n

When reminded of that fact, Leonard made sure to one-up his pal by telling the media he was a better golfer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Leonard was one of 31 players to participate in the NHLPA Rookie Showcase at MedStar Capitals Iceplex…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-131030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}