32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Paul Stastny and Six More, Please

Episode Date: May 17, 2021

Paul Stastny recently played his 1000th career NHL game. He joins Jeff and Elliotte to talk about (37:30) the milestone, his Hall of Fame father, the evolution of Nikolaj Ehlers, being coached by Paul Maurice, and how to slow down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The guys also recap the first couple days of the […]

too much sun my voice sounds okay though it does feel deeper to me elliot i want to open up with a true or false question so far all the games in the playoffs have been excellent true or false true it's been really good man it's been great early early a couple of days but it's been really good you know watching the start of that florida tampa game you know vegas was a little subdued because there were no goals it was still a great look and plus i love everything vegas does to put on the show but watching those fans in florida going bananas during that game i sat there and said i am jealous. What are the two things that made me jealous this weekend? Watching Mike Altieri, the longtime media leader of the Los Angeles Kings,

seeing that he had two holes in one during a golf round on Saturday, that made me really jealous. And then seeing all those fans at the Florida Tampa Bay game and it stinks that for two great series like that are going to be Toronto and Montreal and Edmonton and Winnipeg that we won't get that it stinks I'm jealous we'll talk about that with Eric Engels a little bit later on also on today's podcast we point out, since you mentioned the Winnipeg Jets, Paul Stastny of the Stastny hockey family, legendary

name. We'll be stopping by the podcast. Of the Winnipeg Stastnys? Of the Winnipeg Stastnys. Although he was born in Quebec City, I believe. Technically, Paul was. And his dad was, I think, the only player ever to suit up internationally for three countries

czechoslovakia canada and slovakia man i could go on about peter stasny all day long and there's a lot of stuff about peter stasny uh in the interview later on with paul so stay tuned paul by the way was born in quebec city you're right about that boom i still got it free just still got it still got it still got it okay elliot we have to talk about flor, Elliot, we have to talk about Florida-Tampa. We have to talk about Florida-Tampa. We have to talk about Florida-Tampa. So at some point in the third period of that game, I got a tweet from a guy by the name of Jeffrey Mullen who tweets at me,

shades of the Norris division, just much more talented. Remember those Norris division playoff games? There wasn't the most talent in the NHL. As you'll recall, you could make the playoffs in the Norris Division by getting 60 points. But the games were so intense once you got to the postseason. And I think Mullen nails it on this one. Super talented, super violent, super rough. Everybody fully committed every single shift that was florida

tampa 114 left braden point with the second of the game 5-4 final elliot well great game but the thing that really did it to me was the pace it was fast and it never seemed to slow down that was what did the breathless speed and the breathless pace at the way the game was played. I don't know how you could keep that up for a full playoff series, never mind a run. That was a great game. It was the best game that I think a lot of us have seen this year.

It will be very difficult to beat that in terms of great games that we see for the rest of the playoffs but you hope that we see it it was fantastic hockey and you know what jeff to me it was the crowd um we've gotten used to watching sports without crowds yeah that crowd really made it for me and again i'm jealous that we're gonna do two rounds at least here in can, and there's going to be no fans in the building. You know, Toronto, Montreal should have a crowd. Yeah. Edmonton, Winnipeg should have a crowd.

Look, I realize there are bigger things at play here. You know, don't come at me with those takes. I'm just saying that I appreciate even more what it's like to see a building where the people are going crazy because they're so entertained by a game maybe the best example of that and there were a few in this games the Bobrovsky saves on Sorelli late in the third turn at far side he's going to carry it this time pass along the far wing for Stamkos got away from him picked up though out in front of backhand Troy what a save Bobrovsky and Sorelli not once but twice oh what a series of save now though out in front. Backhand drive. What a save. Bobrovsky on Sorelli. Not once but twice. Oh, what a series of saves.

Now back out in front. A shot. Steve Cosa to save made by Bobrovsky. And the puck taken by Forsling. And out to the neutral zone. Point blank when he makes those saves. Like the place just erupts. There were so many of those moments in this game.

Like after every whistle, crowd was going nuts. After some of those. Like that Huberto pass. And I know there's a little bit of luck involved in it but when you're watching it in real time it looks like a clean pass the pass that huberdo makes on the owen typical will roll it up the near boards gave it away huberto elaine left side walks into the circle over to a front back hand throws it in front and they score oh and tip it and the Panthers have a 4-3 lead. Huberto to Tippett and the Panthers are up a goal.

Owen Tippett has regained the lead for the Panthers. John Rudow at the brutal giveaway. He had it. And just a lazy pass and it gets picked off by Huberto. Hard net drive. Doesn't get the original shot but is able to control the puck, and then he spins around on his forehand and finds Tippett on the far side into an empty net.

The Panthers have a couple of quick goals here. Start the third. Like, everybody's biting that there's no way he's going to pass it to Tippett, and he forces it over, and the place comes unglued. Like, I'm with you 100 every time ryan lomberg okay i don't know how many how many minutes of your life you've spent thinking about ryan lomberg but i bet you thought about him a lot tonight and everybody did every time he did something the crowd got up barkoff's chances the crowd got up like playoff sam bennett showed up right every time florida did

something the place was just charged and it was great and you're right like there was never a moment in this game and we see this in all sports but especially flow games like you can understand the first 10 minutes being chaotic and being insane but then the game settles and there sort of becomes a pocket or a vacuum where the game kind of lives that didn't happen on sunday night there was no settling there was no vacuum there was no pocket for this game to sit in they just sprinted for three periods and when nola chari made that save so the sequence begins down to our left and the lightning have it here Hedman Kucherov turnaround shot loose and fraught off a save from Bobrovsky and oh what a save made in front there by Nola Chari on Eric Chernak it wasn't Bobrovsky it was Nola

Chari who maybe made the biggest save of the game for the Panthers right there as Chernak was staring at a vacated net Bobrovsky was across to his right, having made the previous save. What a save from Acharya. Now an icing call against the Panthers. The place came unglued again. The whole thing was fantastic. What are some of your takeaways from a really entertaining Game 1? Well, I expect six more of these.

That's my number one takeaway. Hope so. I'm curious to see there's some goaltending decisions they're gonna have to come here if you're joel quenville what are you doing in game two uh bobrovsky make he saves man i'm not saying it he you know i remember this is a going back a long way first leaf game i ever covered on the road for the fan howard burger's uh wife uh went into labor and i went to madison square garden i think it was marcel kuzino's first nhl uh game oh wow and um he started against the rangers and i think they lost six five the least did and i thought he

made a bunch of really good saves and mike murphy was the coach i said what do you think of kuzino when he goes gave up six goals? So I'm curious to see how Joel Quenville feels about that. Yes, Bobrovsky made some good saves. He gave up five goals. At the same time, this is a significant investment. And what's the thing that we talked about this with Columbus against Tampa? What was the best thing that John Tortorella did?

Left them in. Yeah, that's a good call. I'm not saying the situations are the same because they're quite different, other than the fact that it's Tampa Bay and it's that goaltender. So I don't know. My inclination would still be, and again, I ain't Joel Quenville.

I ain't making these decisions. I'm talking from the back seat. My hands are nowhere near a wheel here. But my inclination would be, leave Bob in for the next game. By the way, there's a lot of online mad Hulk smash because of Kucherov and, and Stamkos. And I heard from some teams,

not only during the game, but leading up to it too. Here's the thing. Number one, once you open the door, how are you going to close it see i don't like you know one thing in this league i don't like and this is one thing where berkey and i really fought i don't like that vancouver has roberto loango's cap recapture charge against it neither do i if you approve a contract i don't believe you should be allowed to retroactively go back and punish them for it.

I think that's a joke, really. I don't like it at all. Now, having said that, that was collectively bargained. I still don't like it. I still think it should have been grandfathered, right? I don't disagree. Okay. So this whole thing with Kucherov and LTIR, first of all, Vancouver benefited from that for years.

First of all, Vancouver benefited from that for years. When Lawrence Gilman was there and he was the AGM to Mike Gillis, they used to manipulate it all the time. Chicago did it in 2015 with Patrick Kane. Now that that's happened a couple of times, it's very hard for me to listen to people scream bloody murder about it now. Once you've allowed it, you've allowed it. You can do it. And that's the way it is i to me and you know pierre lebrun i'm sure he doesn't waste any of his time

listening to this podcast but he will laugh because he had to basically when he ran the media hockey pool i used every loophole i could find he basically had to ban everything I did. So like I'm all for loopholes. Like if I was an NHL team, I would be saying, what do we have to do to use these loopholes? But, you know, I was talking with someone this weekend. If you really wanted to fix it, what would you do? And, you know, one of the things I was saying was maybe a guy has to do minimum practices

because Kucherov practiced, I think, for 12 days before their first game. Maybe they're not allowed to practice for that long. Maybe it's a max three days or something like that. I don't know. And the other thing I have to say is that I mentioned that to someone, and someone said to me, the problem is what if they're coming back from something like a concussion?

You can't do that. Right. So I don't know what the answer is, but the bottom line to me is once it's been accepted practice and it is accepted practice, everyone should just be doing it until everyone agrees to stop it. Well, if it's that much of an issue, you know what the ultimate answer for it is? What's that? Soft cap luxury tax. Hey, you're preaching to the converted here, but do you think that's going to happen?

No, I don't. But if you really think that it's an issue, if the NHL really thinks that it's an issue and really wants to do something about it, that is one of the things you can do. The whole time, and we're all reading the cap circumvention stuff. My point is, Jeff, I don't even think they care about it, really, because they don't really do anything about it.

I'm with you. But they did do something about something a couple of times of significance about cap circumvention. The whole time that I'm reading all these tweets about cap circumvention and, oh, who's this number 86? He's really 86 he's really good haha where did they get him from where's he been hiding all season long like it's this new version of um uh who was it the oilers used to bring in rio rizzolano rizzolano yeah rizzolano yeah yeah rio rizzolano would come in they changed the raver rules because yeah i think minnesota did it with ron wilson too i think it was italy and then came

back and played playoffs with the North Stars. So I'm reading all these tweets and all I can think about is how Tampa Bay Lightning, you know, looking at the loophole, using it to their advantage and here we are. All I could think about was that first Ilya Kovachuk contract with New Jersey. Jersey, yeah. with New Jersey. Jersey, yeah. And how it didn't contravene the CBA other than it contravened this vague notion

of the spirit of the CBA. It didn't feel right. Teams didn't like it. The NHL didn't like it. So it went to arbitration and they had to redo the contract. But that was the whole thing. I wanted to tweet out so many different times.

Ilya Kovalchuk's first contract says hi. That was all I could think about, which shows maybe how petty I am through all these discussions about what Tampa is doing. No question. But we're getting sidetracked here. One of the things I did want to bring up too, and they did mention this in the broadcast,

I should point out as well. Part of the time I'm watching this and seeing how far Florida has come and seeing how much of a real high-end team this has become. And all I could think about was one of our podcasts early this season when Keith Yandel was going to be scratched and it was a Sunday and we sat here doing the podcast for each and there's Yandel and he scores a goal and the place goes crazy for him before that when they're doing the introductions the guys are happy that Yandel's coming out and Keith Yandel's not going to be scratched like this has been a really interesting and emotional season for the Florida Panthers. New general manager comes in.

A lot of new players come in. There's the Yandel drama. There's the goaltending controversy all season long. And I know they didn't win on Sunday night. Tampa takes game one. They win 5-4. But it was an outstanding game. And a great team had to play a great game to beat them.

They pushed Tampa like crazy. Florida was never out of this game for a second. They were always in it. There was a Sam Bennett controversy early. And then, boom, they ignore it. And right away, boom, Barkov scores. By the way, I did think that was a goal. I don't think that's no goal. That's not goal interference.

If you're not going to allow goals like that, there's going to be too many goals wiped out in the playoffs. I think you really have to push a guy into the net for it not to count. To me, that was a battle. I don't know, pushing the pad. You can disagree with me. You'll be totally wrong, but you can disagree with me. Listen, like I always tell you, Freed, I'd agree with you if you were right.

Trust me, I would. You know, the other thing too about Florida is, Jeff, I really thought before the season there was a decent chance that Joel Quenville could be the first coach in Seattle. That maybe if this season didn't go well, the two teams would find a way for it to happen. Because new GM?

New GM, and I think that he would be a guy that Ron Francis would love to have. But now, how can that happen now? You can't do that. You can't. Listen, I'm with you, Frej. If we get six more games like that, oh, that is just pure hockey heaven.

But I'll tell you, man, so far, all these games have been great. One other thing, One other thing. One other thing. Now, I'm having trouble with one thing I'm watching on Florida, okay? Okay. I'm debating. There's 6D for my five-person Norris ballot.

I'm debating how high I want to put Uyghur. And all I'm saying is I think it could be very high. And playoffs don't count. So I'm really trying to ignore what he's doing as I decide how high I want to put him. So what are the other names that you have on there?

I'm guessing you have Victor Hedman on there. Yes, that's one. I'm guessing you also have adam fox on there that's two i'm guessing you also have jeff petrie on there not one of the top six do you have shea theodore on yes i'll tell you why at this point i might as'll just tell you who they are. Jacob Slavin. Oh, going away. Oh, yeah. And Kael McCarr. Yeah.

So six guys for five spots. And, you know, Uyghur for me, you know, I'm thinking about it. So I got to kind of watch the game and ignore. Yeah, good luck. Yeah, and ignore like what I'm trying to do here because playoffs aren't supposed to count right yeah ballots are due on

Thursday yeah good luck with that although you know what Slavin's gonna be great oh yeah you know he's gonna be great and so is Kiel McCarr the tough thing with McCarr is games played for me like I've always said,

like people are like, well, he had great numbers and he played less games. Shouldn't that matter? And I think it's fantastic. He's the only point per game defenseman in the NHL this year. But like I do think

in a hard league like the NHL, games played matters. So it's a really tough call for me. It really is. All right. John Cooper, Joel Qu quenville six more of those please thank you and with that we'll kick it off free just set we're ready to go welcome to 31 thoughts the podcast presented by the gmc sierra at4 Again, Vegas has had a good day in the face-off circuit.

Petrangelo fails to clear. Penalty time is over. Centering feet in front of shot, and they score Joel Eriksson Ek wins it in overtime 3-20 into the extra period found the puck just a few feet in front of the crease and Minnesota takes game one Greenway went down to a knee in the left corner Petrangelo defending looked like Greenway was down and out managed Managed to get the feed to the crease. And right out in front was Joel Eriksson-Eck, who had 19 goals in the regular season. And this one defeats Vegas. It's a 1-0 final score. Okay, it's taken a while, but Joel Eriksson-Eck has arrived. 1-0

Minnesota over Vegas. It took overtime. A really good game. Some great goaltending performances in this one. But one of the stories happened even before the puck was dropped, and that is Zach Parise, healthy scratch. What do we do with this, Elliot? Number one, I think they do legitimately feel that they're icing their best roster. And it's tough to argue with legitimately feel that they're icing their best roster and it's tough to argue with the way that they're playing and the way that you know they they won game one

one nothing victory on the road in vegas it's tough to argue with the results the other thing that everyone's kind of watching here is what is this going to mean for the future? You know, Zach Parise has four years left on his contract. Cap it is 7-5. There's $10 million in cash. Six next year, two the year after, and then two final seasons of one. Like, he's got control. He's got a no-move clause.

And the Wild have some big decisions to make. Kevin Fiala, arbitration eligible. Joel Erickson Eck, who had a huge year is going to be a Selkie trophy contender, scored the overtime winner, arbitration eligible. Kirill Kaprizov,

you know that they're going to have to get him done. So this is a team that's got three big contracts to deal with, and you've got Parise for four more years. Last year at the deadline, Parise, the Wild, and the Islanders were working on a trade that would send them back to New York. And it had juice. It had legs. And the problem is that it was incredibly complicated. And when it got out, it just fell apart because of the complex nature of the deal. I think we're in a situation where the Wild are making Parise realize that as a player, his future is not with them.

That there's a chance that there really isn't going to be a spot for him on the roster. So what is he going to be willing to consider if there's the possibility of going somewhere else where he can play? He's a Minnesota guy. He's got a Minnesota connection, but I think at the very least he's being kind of worn that there may not be a future there for him.

This is real tough. I mean, this is, would you agree with me that Zach Parisi is the most popular hockey player the minnesota wild have ever had yes i would say that i mean like a guy like kaprizov could eventually change that sure but this is just one one year in but as far as like being loved and the story and dad and attachment to the state and all of it. Shattuck, St. Mary, like the whole deal. So like a lot of the nerves are close to the skin.

This is not just a hockey situation. This is a heart situation, right? This is an emotional one. This is a tough one for Bill Guerin. This is a tough one for the Minnesota Wild. Injuries are always the wild card, specifically in playoffs. But I'm with you you and this does very much feel like zach parisi has played his last game as a minnesota wild the only reason i'm not going to say that a hundred percent is because the world is a weird place yep and one thing we've

learned this year is that nothing happens as normal. But what I do believe is that that's a possibility. Like Parise now has to realize that's a possibility. And the other thing here too is that the $7.5 million cap hit, there's not a lot of teams that are going to be able to handle that, but they might be willing to handle the cash. Like I said, there's one more year before it goes down and play especially on teams that need to hit the the cap floor and may want to do it in a way that they don't pay a ton of cash the way parise's contract is going is going to be

valuable but you know last year i believe that when they were talking about moving him, the only place he really wanted to consider was the Islanders. Is that because of Lou? Yeah, oh yeah, because of Lamorello, absolutely. And they were working on a deal that involved Andrew Ladd, and Mikko Koivu was in the deal too, and like I said, it was really complex and really complicated. But like I said, I think this year they are trying to get him to say,

okay, maybe last year it was just New York and I really don't want to leave Minnesota, but I'm willing to consider some other situations. To the game one itself, and this was a heavy hitter, like right away. And how many times on this podcast this season have we talked about these two teams? When they get together, the games are great. And as you point out, even though it's only one goal, it's a one-nothing game. Minnesota wins.

Erickson Eck with the overtime winner. There were tons of chances. Like Ryan Hartman, I don't know how many chances Ryan Hartman had in this game, but every time you look up at the screen, Hartman's got another chance. Marc-Andre Fleury, excellent. Cam Talbot, excellent. And everybody was

finishing your checks, the likes of which you would expect in game one of a playoff series with two teams that have gone right at each other all season long long 71 hits for minnesota 57 for the vegas golden knights green away with 11 felino with 10 reeves with 10 mcnab with 10 what stood out for you though from that game one you know what stood out for me and it's the same thing that stood out in all of the other series we've seen so far.

Washington was like this. Look at the show that Ovechkin put on. Everybody says the refereeing changes in the playoffs, right? I will go to the end of my days saying, Jeff, that the biggest change in the playoffs is not the refereeing, it's the players. That there's more of an intensity there? You know, each team has five to 10 games a year where they're just not there

because of the way the schedule is and the way it goes. In the postseason, there are no no-hitters. There are no games off unless the team is quit or is broken the teams come to play and the players come to play so when everybody says to me the standard of officiating changes in the playoffs i disagree completely i think the refereeing is the same i think what happens is the players change in the playoffs. They're much nastier. They're much edgier.

They're much meaner. And they cheat a little bit more. So, Elliot, it's the Islanders that draw first blood. And this one's an overtime winner as well. 4-3 is the final Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kyle Palmieri leading the way with two goals. Jean-Gabriel Pajot with a goal and two assists maybe questionable goal tending on the goal but nonetheless yeah uh what do you make of game one between these two well what's mike sullivan gonna do is he gonna come back with jari

don't know i mean to me that's biggest question. That was the difference in the game. You automatically assume that Malkin's going to play that game too, right? And the fact he doesn't show up. Yeah, you assume so. That's a red flag to me too, that Malkin wasn't. So there's two things for Pittsburgh that concern me. Number one is that Malkin doesn't mysteriously appear like Kucherov and Stamkos and whoever else does.

But the second thing is, you know, what are you doing in goal? Are you patient enough to go back with Jari in game two? Or are you saying, you know what? We can't wait. I thought Sorokin was excellent. Yep. With 39 saves. Crosby, again, excellent.

Yep. With 39 saves. Crosby, again, excellent. The hand-eye on the goal is just next level, and you expect it from Sidney Crosby. Dumoulin, the shot, it goes in! Now start frying the jumbo, Homer. Extra crispy, please.

Brian Dumoulin with the shot. Crosby gets a piece, and the Penguins have the lead. Well, it's been all pressure for the Pittsburgh Penguins in this second period, and the New York Islanders not handling it well. Letty turns it over. Dumoulin's shot from a long way out, directed at it. It's a one-handed tip by Sidney Crosby. What a play by the Penguins' captain. Watch the hand-eye coordination.

Pokes at it, knocks it down, and scores the goal. But the one thing that I wanted to get your thoughts on was not related to this game, but we saw it on Saturday night. And that's a Sidney Crosby-Colby Armstrong interview. You look good. Do you have makeup on? A little bit. You might want to think about it.

You should maybe wear the hat you were talking about. What hat? I thought you said you were going to wear a hat, and I was just seeing your big loaf right now. I'm trying to look at your office here. I got me and Stevie Y with the world championship title. Oh, here, check this out. Oh, yeah, I see the back there.

I got all the boys. Nice. I got a favorite winger award from wilkes-barre booster club that's that trophy let's go so brian burke one of your new bosses i guess you could call him him and i we kind of go way back and he called me recently and said the team needs more truculent sit so how do you how do you feel about me coming back on your wing i don't believe that at all but i wouldn't think you'd be the guy you'd pick if he was trying to bring that to the lineup that would be something i'll take imagine me just breathing all heavy on the bench this interview isn't supposed to be about me This interview isn't supposed to be about me, but we were road roommates for a good while.

What's your best Colby Armstrong story? I would say just your whole game day routine with Ellen. That first time you throw on the TV, you throw Ellen on, and I'm like, what's going on here? And then you start doing the dance that she does when she comes out, gets introduced. And I was like, what is this? And then sure enough, next game, you do it. Next game, you do it. Dude, you got to get it going. You got to get dancing.

You got to get feeling it, you know? Don't act like it didn't fire you up. Yeah, it got me going. And here's why I like it. Traditionally, we've seldom on television, radio, wherever, podcast, allowed players to talk to players. That seldom happens. Part of the greatness, and I thought the interview was great. I loved it.

It was excellent. Colby Armstrong interviewing Sidney Crosby, his old, you know, teammate, roommate, was that this is a peek into two players talking to each other. They don't need someone like me or someone like you getting in the middle and getting in the way. Just let players talk to each other. Why do we try to complicate it? If you haven't heard it or seen it, we have it on our social channels. Sidney Crosby interviewed by Colby Armstrong. What did you think of it, Frege? Well, first of all, Jeff,

thank you for advocating that you and I have no employment. Jake, talk us out of a job. Oh, well, Jeff just said on the podcast that he's basically unnecessary. It's not wrong. The way I look at it is this. First of all, I think you should always try to take advantage of relationships. Of course.

So if someone has a good relationship with someone, yes, by all means, let them do the interview. I think it depends on what the interview subject is. I think if it's something that's fun, absolutely Armstrong and Sid makes sense. And I wouldn't be surprised if we do more of that. If it's something that's a little more serious though, are you comfortable putting a friend in that position? So I think it, I think the situation matters. The other thing I would just say too, is that, you know, Crosby has been interviewed so many

times in our network. I've had good ones with him. I've had not good ones with him that are probably more my fault than his. You know, I would just think that when you have somebody that you're going to talk to as many times as Crosby is in his career, then why not mix up the people? Let everybody kind of have an approach. Let Ron have it. Let Colby have it. let ron have it let colby have it let christine simpson have it let you know myself have it i was really happy with the one i did uh last year with him on the 10-year anniversary of the golden goal but i couldn't do the interview that colby did with him on saturday that was excellent do yourself a favor and uh and check that one out uh boston washington uh this one's overtime this one's nick dowd ot winner caps three boston two and coming out of it

craig anderson 39 years of age is the story what a performance i I felt great for Anderson that night. He's someone that I've always liked. Wonderful guy. Wonderful family. His wife, Nicole, is a tremendous person. We've talked about on the show before about cheering for people. I was so happy for Craig Anderson. Yeah, it was fantastic. I'm really happy for him too.

I thought that was a game that Boston had to have because of the circumstances. If Boston loses that series, they're going to regret that game. I think they missed 21 shots, including some glorious grade A chances. They had to pressure Anderson more. They didn't. And Anderson battled. To me, that's all you ever want to see on a team is you want to see your goaltender battling or someone battling in a difficult situation and he 100% did that I was I was really happy for Anderson and for Nicole who no doubt was watching one of my sayings that I have Jeff is that the regular see at this time of year the regular season doesn't matter it's comes down to you know no matter how what kind of a year you've had especially if it's a bad one,

the postseason allows you to make amends. You can write a new narrative. And I think immediately that is the case for Ilya Samsonov. We don't know, as we tape this podcast, if he's going to start game two. And listening to Peter Laviolette on Sunday, I'm tempted to believe he won't, but Laviolette is the king of postseason misdirection,

so he could. But, you know, Samsonov twice on the COVID list. You know, the organization not thrilled with him and Kuznetsov. Depending on what the situation with Vanacek is here, Samsonov suddenly is thrust into a more important position. And he can put behind a really frustrating year and a year that I think the organization wasn't happy with

and make everyone forget it if he comes out now and gives them any kind of goaltending. Okay, so the Scotia North Division, still yet to get underway, but Elliot, let's turn our attention there. We're going to talk to Eric Engels here in a couple of moments who covers the Montreal Canadiens for Sportsnet. He'll cover off the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens series.

But up next, Paul Stastny, who just played his 1,000th NHL game, which, listen, we've had a full season of celebrations of milestones for hockey players. We do every season, but it seems as if, for whatever reason, they are just more profound, achieving milestones in this of the most unique season anyone's seen in the NHL. I've always looked at Stastny inset, and this may sound weird. That's a really good hockey player. And by that, I mean, when you're a guy that the coach can tap on your shoulder and that

coach knows exactly what you're going to be able to do out there and is comfortable putting you in just about any situation, You're a good hockey player. I went all the time in the world for this guy. I think he's an honest player. I think good teams need players like Paul Stastny on their squad. And listen, the family name is legendary, and that'll come up in the interview. But when I say the name Paul Stastny, what's jumping to your mind?

I've always been impressed by the way what's jumping to your mind i've always been impressed by the way he's able to articulate the game and that is probably not a great answer from him in terms of his hockey sense but i found it very valuable whenever i've asked him a question whenever i'm looking an explainer and it's helped me in broadcasts and blogs that if i ask him a question as to why does this happen or how does this happen, he describes it in a way that's easy for me to understand and therefore it helps me convey it to the masses. So that's probably not the answer that you were thinking of or that maybe even he would want me to give. But as a media member who tries to help the fans consume the game, I find that very valuable. So what you're saying then is if he wanted to,

he could come for all of our jobs. Yes. You're basically giving away our jobs, this podcast. We don't need to do interviews, and Paul Stastny can talk for all of us. And after the break, you'll hear from him, Paul Stastny of the Winnipeg Jets. series against the Edmonton Oilers. Paul, first of all, thanks so much for joining us. And on a scale of one to the sky is falling, how concerned should we

be that you didn't skate Sunday with the team? Yeah, not concerned at all. I think Sunday is just a rest day. Big sports day on TV. Golf was early. Tennis was on. So I think when you're older, sometimes you can pull some strings to get out of practice. I like that

you sent a text cc kevin cheval day off paul maurice and teammates i'm just gonna lie in bed today and i'll see you tomorrow that's a good one yeah well listen when you uh when you skate in a thousand games it does come with some privileges so yeah belated congratulations on skating in 1,000 games in the NHL. We've talked a lot about milestones this season, most recently, of course, Patrick Marleau with the San Jose Sharks. But there was a few things there. The jersey, which was such a nice touch with the number 1,000. There was the video from Draper and Riley.

What stood out from that day for you? I think just, like, the outpouring of like messages that we got both my wife and I, uh, my mom and my dad, you know, just from people around the league that we've played with, you know, I think we made it a conscience effort to be good people and just not about hockey. So every time we played in four different teams, three different cities or four different cities, I don't even know, whatever it is. But every time we go, we don't – yeah, sometimes it's nice being a hockey player,

but at the same time, that doesn't mean much. I think my wife and I always go out and make an effort to make good relationships with people that help us, whether it's neighbors or whether it's doctors or different people at school, and not just hockey players we show up with, just people that we didn't think we left that big you know, that they would impact on, you know, we're following us and keeping tabs on us. And that, you know, it feels pretty special and very humbling when you see that. You know what I loved?

I love the fact that your kids got their own mini silver sticks. I thought that was a great touch. Yeah. I mean, kudos and hats off to the Winnipeg organization. I think, uh, I don't think I've ever seen that. I think my kids were pumped about it. kudos and hats off to the Winnipeg organization. I don't think I've ever seen that. I think my kids were pumped about it and then my wife said that my son was... They haven't been to a hockey game since last

February. Everything shut down last year. We were on the road for a while. I think my kids were just so pumped to be at a hockey game and I was trying to warn them. There's going to be no fans there. There's no family room with other kids, but they still had a blast. And my son was playing with a silver stick for a little bit until, you know, they switched out that plastic stick during the game.

But the one thing that sucks about this pandemic, and I mean, there's many things, but I feel bad for the kids. A lot of these young kids, you know, they're so used to playing with other kids and just enjoying each other's times. And especially, you know, things open up for a little bit and they shut down for a bit. It's very consistent. You don't know what's going to happen. I mean, obviously you always worry

about the future for them, but at the same time you realize, you know, they just want to interact and play games with other people. And there's only so much mom and dad time they can have. And there's only so much time they can spend on their iPad. And, you know, when they get out,

when they get to play hockey or play soccer, play whatever, you just realize how much fun they have and how much they miss it. Speaking of family, I can remember my dad telling me about your dad before the 1976 Canada Cup. You've got to see Peter Stastny. Oh, you've got to be the legend of Peter Stastny

growing before the Canada Cup that year. I've always been curious, and maybe there's no real profound answer to it because you're in the middle of it, but what was it like growing up as the son of, you know, in my opinion, one of the best hockey players the game has ever seen? Yeah, I think I was just naive to it. I think there wasn't as much social media or Internet or YouTube. Right. So, yeah, I think for me growing up, we didn't go to as many games either.

I was the youngest of four. So obviously, you know, I was the tail end of things. But there was times where I think as I got older, I realized how many people valued his opinion. I just wanted to get input. Just having my dad as a father more important than anything was just, you never want to listen to what your parents say when you're younger. And then when you're older, you realize they were right the whole time.

Yeah. Especially like my first year pro when I played with sack it and turgeon and footy and leperrier those were guys that all played with my dad or had you know were involved with my dad and just kind of came full circle and you know once you start hearing stories about that then i mean i've always respected him obviously as a player and as a person but you can appreciate more and more of how good of a hockey player he was and how he never kind of he was who he is you know he never strayed away from where he was whether he was you know 25 years old in this league or whether he was you know four years old and raising his kids he's always kind of stayed true to his beliefs and his values and i think that's the biggest thing i take out of it

and you know realize how lucky i am that i'll tell you that is such a profound observation. There's a wonderful quote from Mark Twain when he talks about when he was 14 years old, his father, he thought was so ignorant and couldn't stand to have him around. But by the time he turned 21, he was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. It's a really wonderful, wonderful way to contextualize something that I think, Paul, we've all gone through. Elliot, go ahead. You know, Paul, I was going through just, I don't know, a rabbit hole last week. And I was watching some old Nordiques and Canadians games. I'm just curious, what does your dad tell you about those games?

He never talked, I mean, guys who know my dad well, I think will be like, I'm like, he never talks about himself. But then when we do have people over, when ask him questions that's when he answers and that's a lot of times when i kind of you know keep my ears open and listen to those stories and whether it's christmas parties or weddings or different events it's always kind of you know my buddy's parents that grew up in his generation are the ones always asking questions about like you said whether it's the canada cup whether it's defecting slovakia whether it's those rivalries and that's when i listen but he doesn't really talk like i said he doesn't really talk about himself and then sometimes we'll talk about highlights and i see the you know the game sub winner or i see the ones they lost and he can remember every little play that kind of

ended the series you know for a good fortune or that went against him and you know he still remembers those days but that's what you know i like about him i think he's very humble and he's just he just lives in the present now i think he's just kind of watching his kids grow up and he's our biggest fan and watches every game and he still thinks the obvious things to me all the time like that i know you told me this like every week he's like i know just making sure you don't forget i mean how often have you had a channel we're dwelling a lot on your father here we would do want to get to you in the jets but i'm fascinated with your dad and your entire family how often would you uh go back and watch old video of your dad and and what did you think or what do you think of him as a player

during the pandemic here like you said uh when we're back home in vegas i remember they're showing they showed a couple games of the on ancho network think it was, I don't know if it was like 84, 85, Montreal, Quebec, game seven. I don't even know if it's game seven, whatever it was. But I remember my dad, every time I miss a game or if I'm hurt, my dad always kind of, you know, suddenly makes fun of me about like, I'm so weak. Why am I always getting hurt? You know, I thought this guy never missed a game. And I'm watching. Oh, I think it was game five.

So it was the first round. So it was best of five. And I'm watching. I'm like, dad, where are you? He's like, oh, I was hurt. I missed game four and game five and the next two games. I'm like, you make fun of me all the time,

but then, you know, you get hurt. You know, the biggest game against the biggest rival in game five. So it's definitely, you know, but it was fun to watch. And then I think I, to me, I'm like a student of the game and I like the history of the game. So I've seen highlights and I, you know, it it was fun to watch and then i think i to me i'm like a student the game i like the history of games so i've seen highlights and i you know it's fairly similar sometimes when

you see the way he skates the way he plays you know how i'm like similar to it but at the same time it's more about the stories the guys have played with them about and i can see it i can see his competitive juices i've seen in my whole life whether it's on a tennis court whether it's in the soccer field whether it's playing against him in chess right there's he never wants to lose and you know he had that same mentality on the ice and if he lost he'd be pissed off wouldn't talk to anyone if he won you know he'd be the happiest guy in the world just you know the sun's coming up all the time but he wanted to win you know and he went at all costs at the same time you know he wasn't afraid of anybody and he wasn't afraid of anything and obviously him defecting Slovakia or Czechosvakia, when my mom was nine months pregnant,

that was kind of the first step of realizing when you grow up with little, and it can be taken away from you at any time, I think it makes you that much more hungry, and I think that's where his hunger came from. So going into the playoffs here this year, it hasn't been an easy finish for the jets and i know there's a lot of theories paul does it matter how you go into the playoffs to you a guy who's seen everything does it matter how you go into the playoffs yeah no like sometimes yeah sometimes

no i think i don't know i've been on teams that don't know both and some of them good some of them bad whatever you can't predict it i totally think you can't just flip the switch i don't know. I've been on teams that have done both and some have been good, some have been bad, whatever. You can't predict it. I totally think you can't just flip the switch. I don't like that when people think that. I think you can't just do that. I think if you have good habits and you're losing games and you've had some bad bounces, but you're figuring certain things out, I think that's important. Maurice has really harped on is you know trying to find the good habits and especially and a year like this where you're playing the same teams or playing potential playoff teams about you know things we might do in our game like we would try different things last eight nine games we tried different things that you know might have helped us defensively might have hurt a little bit offensively but took the positive and we're kind of fine-tuning the other things to try to get everything kind of work at once and then I also think

Losing Ehlers I think was big loss for us. I don't think you realize how good he's been in my mind I think he's been our most consistent player all year just a different dynamic different dynamics a game I think from when I was here three years ago to now I think he's matured big time and whether it's him getting older or whether it's him scoring his first playoff goal last year, I think he's just way more relaxed. Day in, day out, he's been very more consistent. He's a lot more even keeled than when he was three years ago.

That comes with maturity. The guy never complains about anything. I think sometimes he could. He could complain more. There's times where he should probably be playing more. But he never does. He plays his game all the time who's there he's playing with he creates chances creates power play so i think getting him back i think will be really important when you're playing with the healers how much in your mind are you saying whether it's you

know yourself or dubois saying we just need to put the puck in an area where we make a foot race because we know heallers is going to win that race yeah I mean when I'm playing with them I mean my whole mindset is just getting the puck and get it to him early right because I think he would rather have it early and ski through the zone because he's so fast you know people won't gap up if they try to gap up against them they'll just chip it around them but there's certain players especially today's team that want the puck early and i think with him it's get him early and then he does a good job of bringing one or two guys to him

and whether it's me or dudes or who's there playing with them our job is kind of to find that open hole or get to then knowing that it's going to get there you know and i think guys that want to hold on the puck might not like playing with him because he wants to hold on the puck too but for me you know i want to distribute and find the open guy like makes things happen every time he's on the ice. For me, it's about getting into him early, but not in a bad position, obviously. He's always been a very easy player

to play with, and it's just a fun guy to play with. Is he the fastest player you ever played with? They're all different. Every player in this league is still different. You have guys that float on the ice that are 6'3", weigh 200 pounds. You have guys that are super powerful, like a McKinnon,

who's just super explosive, super fast. I mean, his nickname is Fly just because he's like a little water bug out there. He's so quick. He's so light. I mean, I just found out he figure skated growing up, and now it makes a lot of sense because when you see the way he turns both ways, the way he cuts on a dime, he's just so comfortable doing these 360 pirouettes with his head up, and it just seems like second nature to him. ways the way he cuts on a dime he's just so comfortable doing these 360 pirouettes you know

with his head up and it just seems like second nature to him and i think i think that helps out a little bit but i think just his skating ability is very unique and it's very rare in this league by the way i do agree with you on ehlers this year like i don't think he's going on my ballot he's not but when i was starting in about 35 to 40 games in to start putting together my long list for things like the Hart Trophy, I had Ehlers on my list. I just really thought that he wasn't going to be at the top of it. I was debating if he was going to be in maybe the five position. I thought he had a really unbelievable year this year. And your point, Paul, about him, his mind being clear because he finally got his first playoff goal

that makes a lot of sense to me like it just must have been a relief even though the Jets didn't win last year the way he competed in the way he battled and produced yeah I think it's two things I mean that I think so you trade Patty away and obviously you know fly and Patty have always been line mates and I think sometimes you know when you're playing with line, it was such a goal score. You know, those guys are so close that sometimes it might've taken away from healers a little bit because he was looking for Patty so much. And you know,

when you do play with goal scores like that, you're obviously always looking for a little bit. So that's another thing. But yeah, I remember when he scored in the playoffs, I texted him, I was in the bowl and happened. And you could just tell it.

Cause when we had that run in 2018, he wasn't playing bad. He had so many chances and nothing went in. And as the playoffs went on, you could just like, when we had that run in 2018, he wasn't playing bad. He had so many chances and nothing went in. And as the playoffs went on, you could just like – when you're that young, obviously you put so much pressure on yourself. And you could just see kind of – it was just building on – the pressure was building because he wanted to score so bad. It's almost harder like that.

And sometimes I'm like, you just got to get one. The next year they lose to St. Louis. He didn't get one. And all of a sudden you get that first one. I mean, even talking this year, he's like, yeah, man, it felt so nice getting it. And all of a sudden, you know, the next game. And the best part was his goal was the least likely of a Nikolai Ilyich goal.

You know, he's, you know, net frame, tips it in on a power play where, you know, you usually see him coming down the half floor. You see him with speed kind of, you know, one-on-one guy. So, of all ways, he scores a goal. Like, that's the way he scores. And then all of a sudden that just, you know, made him relax. And all of a sudden, for a guy like that, that good, a future that bright, almost it's that next step to become,

you know, become an even better player. I am worried, by the way, now I'm going to call him fly on air. Now that you've put this into my head. Yeah. I never know, right? I never know if guys say that on air because Nikolai is not the easiest but Ehlers doesn't fall off the tongue, Fly is just so much easier and if you see him, it's just

the way he plays, it totally makes sense Just so you know, Paul, he's totally going to call him Fly, or at least reference it to cover himself It's in my head I want to ask you about Paul Maurice one of the more interesting coaches in the NHL and everybody who's ever had him sort of has one or two stories about him.

You've talked previous about, you know, the number of Winston Churchill quotes that he'll that he'll come up with on a dime. You've had some pretty heavyweight coaches in your career, whether it's Joel Quenville, whether it's Ken Hitchcock. What do you make of Paul Maurice as a head coach? What stands out for you? I mean, I speak high volumes of him. And then, you know, when I was here last time for 30 games, and when I left, you know, anyone that would ask me, I would, you know, I had nothing but praise to say.

I think he just has a good understanding of the game today. And he realizes his coaching has to change a little bit from where it was 10 years or 15 years ago. He just, you know, it's how to relate to the players all the time. 10 years or 15 years ago. He just, you know, it's how to relate to the players all the time. And whether it's one-on-one, you know, talking to Blake to get to guys that are 20 years old,

or, you know, it's how to talk to 20 year olds. And he does a good job of kind of managing everybody. And it's hard. It's hard to keep everyone happy. And I always try to tell guys this. I'm like,

every team has four or five guys or two or three. It doesn't matter. Every team, there's certain guys that need to be pampered. And I mean, businesses everywhere, right? Some guys just love to hear the praise all the time. And that's how you get the best of them. And then there's other guys that don't need it.

But, you know, if they get yelled at, that's how you get the best of them. And he's done a good job of understanding that. And it's hard to do. It's hard to manage, especially when you have so many good players and so many guys. Every guy thinks they should be playing more. Every guy thinks this. when you have so many good players and so many guys. Every guy thinks they should be playing more.

Every guy thinks this. He does a good job of realizing or talking to guys to buy another role and realize how important they are. At the same time, look at the big picture and realizing the better they do, the better the team does. The better the team does, the more individual success for everybody. I still maintain he may have the best deadpan in the entire NHL. To me, he's one of the more entertaining coaches in the league. How much do you see the funny side of Paul Maurice?

Not lately. Yeah, that's true. No, but that's what I'm saying. Like lately he's actually been more funny because he realized like, yeah, you know how it is,

right? Like the days basically like I've been around a lot of the days where I'm like, Oh my God, he's going to yell at us. We're done. Like our confidence shattered. And that's me talking 15 years in this league. He comes in with the of the days where I'm like oh my god he's gonna yell at us we're done like our confidence shattered that's me talking 15 years in this league he comes in with the exact opposite mindset I'm like oh this guy just has a good feeling for the room you know the day he's

like you know we're feeling good this or that that's when he's yelling at us I think he knows you know he gets a feel that's what he said when I talked to me the other day I was asked about how he comes up with his premium speeches or whatever and he says he always kind of just obviously he thinks of certain things, but everything's kind of off the cuff and he just, he gets a feel for the room and that's, that's hard to do. And I think whether it's talking to certain guys,

you're just, just thinking, you know, for a guy that used to play hockey, you realize, you know, a lot of times what happens when you, when you're this much older and everyone's playing the game,

whether it's 20, 30 years, you forget what it's like to be a player and you forget the mindset. You forget, you know, the internal pressure that every guy puts on themselves, but he, he hasn't forgotten that. His humor has been great, but sometimes it's like to be a player and you forget the mindset you forget you know the internal pressure that every guy puts on themselves but he he hasn't forgotten that his humor's been great but sometimes it's i appreciate it wheels appreciate it sometimes i feel like the young guys don't appreciate it because they you know it just goes in one ear out the other or they don't

understand it but uh he'll make fun of himself just as much as he makes you know jokes here and there good on him i wanted to ask you about just McDavid and Drysaddle. They're great players. McDavid had just ridiculous numbers against you guys this year. You're never going to stop them. But what do you have to do to at least slow them? Like you said, you just got to try to contain them, right? They're going to get their points, their goals, their chances.'s a matter of like defending as a as a unit of five sometimes it's

you know sometimes you're out there and there's there's not much going on sometimes you might have to sacrifice a little bit and be like all right we're gonna have to sit back here a little bit once we get in the zone we're gonna have to sit back and not go for that chance not try to play that transition game you know we have some guys that can play a transition that want to play a run and gun game but there were some guys that realized like if we're going to win you know we can't get these high scoring games against these guys because that just you know that feeds their game they just play better and better like that and then i think sometimes you get so caught up in worrying about how to defend them you realize when you play the best teams

or the hardest things to play against are the teams that have the pocket grind you and they and they make you defend all the time and then you can't really pick up as much speed so for us it's also you know when you do get a puck in the offensive zone it's trying to kind of make them play as much defense possible and not making that whole play you know sometimes you've got that whole play and it it might work whatever 10 15 percent of time but there's a time and place for those times and sometimes you don't want to do it because all of a sudden that's a time place for those times and sometimes you don't want to do it because all of a sudden that's a three-on-two other way and it gets so fast the three-on-two really means a potential breakaway from so it's more about trying to make them defend and try to make them stop and you know it's the same way like when you play a lot of these guys

right defending is just no one wants to defend I don't care how good of a two-way player you are I don't care how much you're defending it's offense is way more fun. Defending, you lose your speed, you're at a standstill. It's a lot harder to create offense from there. I'm curious because, as you mentioned, you've been in the league for a lot of years and you've seen a lot of different hockey players. What's something that guys

like me and Elliot, who just watch it on television, talk in the studio about it, what's one thing that you think we miss about Connor McDavid that as a player who's been in the league as long as you have, you say, that's the thing that's most impressive about 97?

I don't know. I think to me it's, there's very few guys in this league that can skate faster without the puck than with the puck. And what makes him so special is he's so explosive he's so fast i mean fast on another level that it's just like one stride you hear him you're like oh he's gone but he can stick handle so fast and think at the same time so a

lot of times when you see in the media it's like oh this guy's just fast like david like that's fine doesn't matter but the fact that he can think the game and stick handle and move his feet all at the same kind of pace, I think that's what makes him special. So when you see these two-on-ones, these no-look plays, these three-on-twos, you know, obviously the game's slowing down in his head. Everything's in sync. And you don't see that at all, right?

Like, the game slows down for him, but he's also going 100 miles an hour. So it's just generational players players very few and far in between and i think a very special player and i think one thing that's changed for him this year you know playing against them and seeing them is he seems a little stronger you know on he's gotten better on face odds he seems stronger you know on his edges battling the puck you know i think in the past you know he's attacking guys and that's something that you know guys have talked about whether he's that's just him maturing as a player and getting better because, he's attacking guys. And that's something that, you know, guys have talked about, whether he's, that's just him maturing as a player and getting better.

Cause obviously he's still young and he's always going to get better. And that's just him adding to his game, whether, whether he had assist for him or whether all of a sudden he's a little more hard nosed now where you're like, oh, you realize you can't knock him off pucks in the corners. Like you could a couple of years ago when I think he was just trying to go off the rush only. That's very interesting. Paul, thank you very much for making some time for us.

And congratulations on 1,000 to you and your family. That's a journey not just the player makes, but the family takes together. That's awesome. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me, guys. And that's Paul Stastny. We thank him for stopping by the program,

and we thank Scott Brown of the Winnipeg Jets for making that happen. Before we get to Eric Engels and a preview of the Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens series, Elliot, you talked about this Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada on Headlines. The Vancouver Canucks, what is happening, if anything, with the organization and Jeff Cortnall? Well, he came public and did an interview with Ben Kuzma in the Vancouver province on Sunday, confirming a lot of what we kind of heard, that he was being considered for a non-GM or president position. I had heard that Cortnall had felt

that he wasn't qualified for those two jobs, which is probably smart. And he confirmed that in the interview with Ben Kuzma. So I think we've got a situation where the ownership is saying, we can't come back with this. Now, Jeff Cortnall was a longtime friend of the Aquilines, the owners. Goes back to his playing days and their days. They helped them start some charity initiatives and they were big contributors to it. So there was a long friendship there.

He made the introduction of Mike Gillisis to the aquanies before gillis became the general manager and trevor linden left in 2018 and a year later he was about a day away from being hired as an advisor or a consultant and i I don't know what happened. I've heard lots of theories about what happened, but basically they got the ball to the one yard line and it never got punched in. At the last minute, the decision was made not to do it. And now they've gone back to them. And I just think we're in a situation here where i think what the owners have decided is we can't come back the same way but they don't know what to do it's a dangerous spot because you've had a plan you've had a plan you've had a plan. You've had a plan. You've had a plan. Your plan is to bring back your general manager for another year. And now, all of a sudden, Jeff, your plan is thrown awry,

and you're sitting here, and the clock is ticking to the end of the season, and you're kind of trying to figure out, what do we do? And plus, also, it's a financial problem for them because obviously, they lost a ton of money this year and that matters. They don't want to spend five times five on Jim Rutherford or whatever. That's not what they're thinking of doing. You've got this thing here where you're saying, okay, we have a plan. Now your plan's thrown off. You realize you have to change it it you don't want to throw 25 million at somebody what are you going to do and i think that's what they're trying to figure out

how much of this is player driven this idea that they need to change how much of this is player driven how much of this is fan driven whatever a lot of it is fan driven like i think they knew this year was going to be potentially a down year for them but i think the players being upset at how during the outbreak that they felt that there was no communication with them i think it's the fact that travis green had to hold an extremely uncomfortable media conference the day that you know jake fortan was removed from the team i think there's a lot of things here that have just kind of gone wrong and each one of them hurts the impression of the franchise like i don't even think it's on ice related,

to be perfectly honest. I think they were expecting and prepared for the possibility that this wasn't going to be a great season. What I think has happened is that they've had just some things that have happened that haven't been handled very well. And it has eroded the consumer confidence in the organization yet they're trying to do this without as you mentioned completely blowing the

budget yes and again we talked about this last week i understand that if you don't have skin in the game you don't understand what it's like to have skin in the game. I respect that. After a year where you've lost as much money as the organization has, I do understand that you have to be prudent. And I think what they're trying to do is say, is there a prudent decision that we can make? You know, one of the things that's kind of happened is, you know, Florida's making some changes. And, you know florida has made some

very interesting bets you know jonathan marsh's soul was one carter verhage who scored in game one was another like every team florida's had its makes and it's had its misses yeah but they've had some very interesting makes and cam law Cam Lawrence is one of the guys there who was part of that decision-making group. They're letting them go. And those guys kind of grew up with Vancouver ties. And I wonder if you're the Canucks, should you be looking at them?

The other thing too, I think in Vancouver that I would say is you're going to have good years and you're going to have bad years that's just life you got to have two hands on the wheel and they just look like a crazy driver who's going from lane to lane you have to be steady they just don't look steady was it like this even before the JTer press conference which when we look back at this vancouver connect season that's going to be one of the headlines you see like i remember when the outbreak happened like i do my weekly hit in in vancouver there on the sportsnet station i said i think jim benning's coming back like said, I always believed he was coming back. I always believed he was going to be the GM.

I think around the pandemic is when it started to change. I just think that the last, I don't know, what is it, the last six weeks, the last month? There's been a lot kind of happening there. And now, the other

thing too is now the fans vote with their wallets, right? And I think there's a little bit of concern about that and there should be you know your consumers are upset you you have to be aware of it anyway so i think there are a lot of conversations going on about where they're going to go from here like i know people know people have said, for sure, Jim Benning's not coming back. I don't believe that yet. As we tape this on Sunday night, I don't believe that yet.

Do I think it could happen? I think it's possible. I don't think it's what they want, but I think it's possible. But I don't think that decision is made. I think that decision is going to be made probably this week. The other thing too is the coach is really unhappy. You can see it. There hasn't been a ton of conversation and negotiation about his future. If they want him

back, now it comes down to what does Travis Green believe his leverage is does he think he's getting another job then he's leaving right after the season's over and you've lost him now do you think you've got leverage on him well then you play hardball do you want him back well then you show him you want him back something could change the last minute they could make him a big offer that makes him say, okay. But the way you're looking at it right now, they're not acting like an organization that wants him back. Is that just a matter of,

and we've talked about this a couple of different times, he has his number and they have a different number and no one wants to come off their number. I think that's part of it. I just don't know how much real negotiation there's been, but I do think that's a big part of it. And the situation, if Jim Benning, again, this is all speculation, but if Jim Benning does come back, we would expect a number of different people working around him.

I don't know. I heard they've offered their scouts extensions. Like some of them were up. I've heard they've, like that tells me that they were always planning on bringing them back story continues uh let's get to eric engels he covers the montreal canadians for sportsnet here to preview a much anticipated series it was close at 93 it was an easy four games for the Montreal Canadiens in 1979. And here we are in a pandemic season. The classic rivalry set to renew again in the postseason.

The Leafs and the Habs. Here's Eric Engels. Okay, so we are pleased to be joined now by Eric Engels, who covers the Montreal Canadiens for Sportsnet. First of all, Eric, thanks so much for stopping by. And secondly, if I told you at the beginning of this season that Montreal's playoff would begin with Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher sent to the American Hockey League, what would you have said? I would have said?

I would have said this was probably going to be a crazy season and nothing would surprise me, but this one has thrown me a little bit for a loop. Price and Gallagher off to the AHL for a little conditioning time. You know what? It's six weeks without a game for Brendan Gallagher and four weeks without one for Carey Price. I think the one concern is that they're playing against the Marlies. You better hope that if Gallagher's in the lineup,

Brandon Baddock is standing next to him. You don't want anything happening to him. And, you know, Price, it's so important for a goaltender, more than anything for a goaltender, to see pucks. And we saw it with Freddie Anderson in the NHL before he came up to the NHL. And I think, you know, the Canadians really wanted to get them into the last game they played against Edmonton, but it was too soon and too fast. And I think this was probably part of the plans for a while, and they were smart to just drop it on Sunday night that Monday, those two guys are going to play a little bit of game action. Price is scheduled to play half the game.

Good for him to see pucks in a game situation, make sure his head is straight. And Gallagher, well, I don't think anything will stop him from coming out game one on Thursday. So hopefully everything goes by smoothly. Okay, Eric, thanks for coming on. No, just kidding. I actually do like the decision.

I think it's a smart decision. Although, you know, if someone gets hurt, you can only imagine all of the I told you so's that are going to come out of this. But I think it's a smart play. All right, Eric, you've been following the Canadians all year. They started great. Then they kind of lurched their way in.

To me, it was very concerning for them how long it took them to clinch a playoff spot. What do you think? I think they were in straight survival mode. This situation, and it was funny because the other day, Brendan Gallagher did his first media availability for a while, and he said, you know, I'm not sure enough people have talked about what we've been through. You know, we've done nothing but talk about what they've been through. I think everyone took their situation with a bit of a

grain of salt, at least the people writing on the team. You know, nobody was all over them for losing, what was it, 14 of the last 21 games, given the situation. They had played 25 games in 44 nights, a lot of it without Gallagher, without Price, without Tatar, without Sherratt. You know, go down the list to know their most important players. And the players and what we're hearing from them, because we're not around them enough, is that everyone really stuck together and that they feel as though they've been through adversity and come through on the other side of it. And I think it really was pure survival mode. Now, I wanted to

see if there was going to be another portion of the schedule that looked like the first 10 games. Unfortunately, we never got there. And I think that the thing that really resonates with me now, as I look back on this entire season, is before it all started and everyone was extremely excited, I sat down with GM Marc Bergemet and I said, what makes you most excited about what you've seen throughout this training camp? And he said, you know, we've added this size and this physicality and this experience to our team, but we haven't sacrificed speed. And I think that statement became less and less true throughout the season. And I think that's the biggest concern going in against this Toronto team. Let's pick up on that then,

because Marc Bergemet made, as you know, documented and seen, a number of moves, whether it was Allen or Edmondson or Anderson or Stahl. I mean, it seems as if every time we opened our laptops, Montreal was making another move. And when you make that volume of moves, you're going to want some mulligans at the end of the season. From your point of view, or maybe from Montreal's point of view as well, what worked and what didn't work? Well, I think Tyler Toffoli at 28 goals did pretty well. And Joel Edmondson near the top of the league in plus minus did pretty well. And Jake Allen stepping in for Carey Price and doing what he did, he was remarkable. And he went through a run where the Canadians couldn't score more than two goals

in front of him. So he really did his job quite well. I think the Jeff Petrie extension set him up for another kind of career season, a tremendous season where for a long portion of it, he was in the Norris Trophy conversation until he slowed down a little bit and then picked it back up towards the end. On the acquisition front, you know, you look at the additions of Eric Stahl. I thought when they made the deal for Stahl, they were adding some much-needed experience to a center line that was extremely young. You look at Nick Suzuki and Yosperi Kakuniemi. They had gone through different ups and downs,

and Kakuniemi ended on a down and Suzuki on an up. Jake Evans is a rookie, even at 24 years old and a little bit of experience last year. And Philip Deneau, you know, if he went down for whatever reason, they were going to be stuck with just the kids and potentially Ryan Poehling coming up from the American Hockey League. Now his season ended with surgery, so that's not an option. And Stahl, for whatever reason, hasn't been able to kick it into gear. And I thought that he had more to give than this. And I was willing to look at the Buffalo situation and say it was so awful that, you know, here's a guy that just a couple of years ago had a remarkable season in Minnesota.

And if he's even half as good as that, he'll be a contributor, a good depth addition for the Canadians. That hasn't proven to be the case. Although I will say that over the last few games, we saw him adhering to the system decently, a details-oriented player that is smart and puts himself in the right positions. I think he could have had some better luck around the net as he got some chances. He took the spot over Kotkaniemi to start this series. I know a lot of people are up in arms about that, but I still think that it's a legitimate thing. Ducharme has made a decision here, and I think he's going to be willing to lean on Cockney Emmy further down the line

if he needs to, but this is Stahl's job to lose. The other one was John Merrill. We all know the confusion around the deadline moves with Merrill and Gustafsson and Mete going out the other way and them being stuck on the salary cap, but this is a guy that was supposed to be a steady, reliable defensive defenseman. No one was vaunting him for his offensive skills. And he has been containing plays rather than shutting them down. And he's wearing a minus 12 in his games with the Canadians as a result of that. So some of the things worked really well.

I forgot to mention Josh Anderson. He had a really good season, did everything that everyone expected of him. But now it's time to see what the real value is as we move forward. What's at stake here? You know, this team, if they go out with a whimper to Toronto, which a lot of people around the country expect, what are we going to say about them? Because we all thought that they were a team that was built for the playoffs. I kind of look at them a lot like the Dallas Stars last year, where they just needed to get through the regular season. And who knew that it would be as tumultuous as it was going to be? I thought they would be a lot better after watching their first 10 games. I think the

whole country was swept up in that. You know, what's at stake is that they have to go out and prove they're the team people think they can be. Because I look at them and I look inside their room and know their players and know a lot of them over several years, they've got a great room of guys and guys with tremendous experience who have been through the battles and been through the wars and should be able to elevate their games at this time of year. You look up and down their lineup and pick out the names. You say to yourself, these are guys that tend to step it up at this time of year. If they don't do that, it's all in question.

And if you're talking about Marc Bergemet, you know, here's a guy who's been on the job for nine years, the results are not indicative of someone who is worthy of getting a five-year contract extension, if that's what's on the line. But I think the expectations were that they would make the playoffs, they met them, albeit in a way that I don't think most people in the organization expected. And I think really the decision is going to be in his hands at the end of the day. Is he going to want to continue if the Canadians don't step up and play the way he believes they can? I really do believe that I think it will be his decision to make. And I do wonder which way he's going to go with it if that happens. But I think that the Canadians

are going to show up and play. And this is going to be a real series against Toronto. So you think he's got an extension already? I think it's been percolating for some time that that has been in his hands. I know everyone is probably looking at it like, well, what happened at the deadline with the roster management and all that? I think people look at the results of the last nine years and wonder why that would be the case, but I think you also have to look at Bergemet's tenure in two segments. years and wonder why that would be the case, but I think you also have to look at Bergevin's tenure in two segments. He was given a reset in 2018, and he has done a great job of stocking up the

roster with their prospects and the moves that he's made and the trades that he's made. And look, if you go back to the summer or the offseason and look at those moves that were made, I think everyone, yourselves probably included, looked at them and said, wow, this is great work that Mark Bershvay has done. He's really set them up to be a much better team than the one that finished last season, coming off a really positive experience in the bubble. If the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round here, who on that roster are we talking about the most? I think we're going to be talking a lot about Nick Suzuki if that happens. I think naturally you're going to be talking about Carey Price. He's going to have to be at his best against this offensive team in Toronto. But I shouldn't say just offensive

because I watched the Leafs this year and felt that this team has progressed in a lot of different ways from their young guys finally maturing and realizing the way you need to play to win and the guys that came in around them to make them realize that and play that way. We saw them shutting down games, and there was some real evolution in their play. I think Carey Price is just going to have to be right at the top of his game. Shea Weber, too.

You want to pick one or two guys, Jeff, but honestly, the Canadians are not built like the Leafs. They are built like a team that everyone has to step up, and everyone has to play that team-in-your your face style of game for them to be successful. So I think at the end of it, you can pick out a few of the key guys and Suzuki, the way he stepped up in last year's playoffs in the season that he just had is obviously one you'd circle and Price is one you'd circle and Weber's one you'd circle. Jeff Petrie could be essential for them, obviously. And Josh Anderson is a guy who

he's got to wreak havoc on that Maple Leafs defense and make them feel it guys like Jake Muzzin but Rasmus Sandian and Morgan Riley those guys are going to have to hear Josh Anderson coming and be worried about it to the point where if it gets to seven games or it gets late into the series they're looking behind them and hesitating to go get that puck. How effective do you think Weber can and will be? It's a great question because we ultimately don't know the severity of his injury. We know that it was severe enough to keep him out, but he played with it for a couple of weeks. And, you know, at this point, it's not a secret. He's been wearing a brace on his thumb. You know, what I

had heard is that he tore something in there. And that's why you hear guys like Ben Sherrod and Brendan Gallagher saying he's the toughest guy that they've ever seen and he's the ultimate warrior. And I think a lot of Montreal fans look at Shea Weber and say, well, if he was playing as hurt, why don't you just shut him down? And that just totally ignores the culture that is so pervasive in this game and what that does in terms of inspiration when a team is facing the situation Montreal was facing with their schedule and all the guys out that if this guy was willing to go battle with what he was dealing with and play and never complain about it never miss a practice or a skate or a game that I'm going to do it too and so I would never put anything past

Jay Weber I thought last year in the bubble I don't know what people's evaluation was I thought last year in the bubble, I don't know what people's evaluation was. I thought he was an absolute monster. He lives for these situations. And I would expect that if he's playing, which Dominic Ducharme says he's extremely confident he'll be there come game one, he'll be at the height of his abilities. Give us a, as we conclude here, Eric, give us a sense of what this series means

in Montreal right now. In Toronto, listen, these two teams were one series away from facing each other in 1993. The last time they faced off was a sweep by the Montreal Canadiens in 1979. Just a fantastic team. How is this resonating in Montreal right now? You know, they don't feel the same way about the Maple Leafs as they do the Bruins or even the Senators to a degree.

And I think you'd say the same thing about Toronto and their fans and those rivalries. The difference is within the cities themselves and the rivalry between the cities, Montreal, Toronto, the national spotlight, the way people view our coverage of both teams, and they feel that it's so slanted towards Toronto. That's just a thing that's always going to exist. No matter how many flowers you throw Montreal's way, they're always going to think you see it as Toronto, Toronto, Toronto. And that is more of a rivalry than what we've seen on the ice in my lifetime. And I remember saying at the beginning of the season on Twitter, like, uh, you know, this should reignite the rivalry and bring it to a place where it hasn't

been for decades. And people were like, did you not watch last year? I'm like, listen, if your idea of a rivalry is Max Domi calling, uh, Kapanen an idiot for throwing his stick,

uh, at Jeff Petrie for, for a penalty shot, then you have no idea what an actual rivalry is supposed to be. And thank goodness they're playing in the playoffs. I think it's great for them. I think it's great for us. I think it's great for both cities.

And I think with the way things are set up in these two teams in the division and the directions both of them are going in with the future being bright in both organizations, this could be the first of many that we see over the next few years. And I'm all for it. I just wish it had happened in the second round. I'm a big believer that things are much better for the league and for the teams involved if Toronto and Montreal are both successful. And I would have loved to have seen this come in the second round because the first round is already so ramped up and it's so exciting. And that second round,

you tend to get just that slight lull and that wouldn't be there with these two teams playing. And perhaps we'd have bought ourselves enough time that potentially some fans could be in the building i think that's maybe stretching it a bit but it is the dream and i hope we get there soon because we're seeing what the effect is in the united states as these playoff games get started and i know the players are looking at this with a bittersweet kind of mentality that man i wish we could experience this the way it should be experienced so hopefully we will over the next few years, but I think this series is going to be awesome. Hey man, you know,

if there's one that you look at and you say you want a full building, it's this one. Eric, thanks so much for stopping by. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me guys. All right, for you,

and that's Eric Engels of Sportsnet. We thank him for stopping by the podcast as we thank all of you for listening today. Could I just say this? Yes. podcast as we thank all of you for listening today could i just say this yes it is depressing and disappointing that we can't have fans from montreal toronto it's the worst one one of my buddies says to me and he's a big leaf fan he said you know the leafs are going to win the stanley cup right because we can't have a parade listen i remember uh 93 i was like easy cowboy i remember 1993 my sister was graduating university

she went to bishops and my buddy george and i were in montreal downtown montreal for game six la toronto and we ended up at a bar called Cheers watching it. And there were a number of players and Jacques Demers from the Habs in there, all cheering wildly for the Los Angeles Kings. And I remember saying to myself, why would you not want to face Toronto? Like there's a number, I think Patrick might've been there. I think Wau might've been one of them. Anyway, there's a whole bunch of them all cheering wildly for the Los Angeles Kings and thinking to myself, why would you not want the Leafs? If you're that confident in yourself, isn't that the team you want to beat?

Not the Los Angeles Kings, but I'm with you. Like that series is screaming, like screaming for each, for packed houses. And they would be. It would be wild. Taking us out, a track produced by Wes Marskell and Jason Kaus of the Darcy's, mixed by Hugh Mackey. Now, I say this because not much is known about the actual artist, Billy, who, along with the production team,

delivers a killer-esque blast of Americana-tinged arena rock with rattlesnake-esque tambourine and heartland rock pianos. I just made that up off the top of my head, can't you tell? With his latest single, here's Billy and the Devil with Even If It Kills Me on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. I'm gonna find a way out of here Even if it kills me And my faith is turning into fear Even if it kills me Wind-swept hills, Arizona plains I worship at the altar of a parlor game

This burden weighs a ton Always thought that I'd die young Hearing the echoes drifting through the air Absent of hope, full of despair This burden weighs a ton And I ain't no prodigal son Even if it kills me, I'm gonna find a way out of here Even if it kills me and my faith is burning in the field

Even if it kills me, kills me, kills me, kills me I try to keep my spirits up, but I've been betrayed. So I walked away from the world that led me astray.