Mike Francesa says he was not using random fans from his country club as his proxy for hockey analysis.
Earlier Monday, the X account BackAftaThis, a longtime Francesa chronicler who has managed to remain anonymous since launching his account in 2017, posted a clip of the former WFAN hosts talking about the NHL playoffs on his BetRivers podcast.
In the snippet, Francesa acknowledged that he hasn’t watched much hockey this season, but played golf last week “with a couple of my hockey guys that I rely on”.
“They told me the Rangers would have no trouble with Washington. They said Washington shouldn’t even be in the playoffs,” Francesa said, emphasizing that this had been relayed to him before Game 1.
The Rangers defeated the Capitals 4-1 on Sunday in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series, in which they were heavily favored coming in.
He said later, “They loved the Hurricanes. They thought the Islanders had very little chance against the Hurricanes, and they thought the Hurricanes had a great chance to beat the Rangers. They also liked the Florida Panthers a lot. And in the West, they liked Edmonton a lot.”
BackAftaThis made fun of this method of analysis.
“Mike Francesa does not watch the NHL. Fortunately, his golf buddies do. Here is a preview of the Stanley Cup playoffs from some random people at his country club,” the account wrote in the tweet accompanying the video clip.
Francesa, who almost never reacts to internet chatter about his content, insisted this commentary did not come from interlopers.
“For those of you dumb enough to think I gave you some businessman’s hockey views,” Francesa wrote on X Monday afternoon. “Those words of wisdom came from about 30-plus years of NHL experience.”
The Rangers host the Capitals for Game 2 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.