Empty Netters Podcast - 85. These Three Teams NEED to Win the Cup

Episode Date: April 3, 2024

It's cup or bust for a few top teams as the playoff seeding heats up. The neutral zone trap isn't cool but pulling your goalie in OT is. The Flyers might have saved their season. Quickie and Matthews raise the bar, and the Frozen Four is going to be electric! NEW EPISODES EVERY WEDNESDAY! SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuf52MHW1O7guPMzsMvv2kA FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/empty.netters/?hl=en FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@empty.netters Head to FACTOR MEALS dot com slash NETTERS50 and use code NETTERS50 to get 50% off. That’s code NETTERS50 at FACTOR MEALS dot com slash NETTERS50 to get 50% off! Here: https://www.factor75.com/pages/podcas...  (0:00) - Intro (3:19) - Hertl back Practicing (7:49) - LA’s first Round Dilemma (11:15) - The Jets are Crashing (15:33) - Doughty’s 1-3-1 comments (21:05) - Quick Sets a Historic Record (24:30) - Wild OT Strategy Back Fires (30:11) - Matthews 70 Goal Chase (35:22) - Shane Wright Call Up (41:57) - Hot Ice (42:30) - NCAA Tourney Recap (49:19) - Frozen Four Breakdown (55:45) - Ivan Fedotov or Russian Bear (1:01:25) - Avoid Tampa in R1 at all costs (1:05:42) - Who NEEDS to Win the Cup Now (1:18:56) - Arm Chair GM (1:22:30) - Saucy Predictions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Empty Netters podcast, the Winnipeg Jets are a disaster. The Philadelphia Flyers have brought in a new Russian goalie. Who is the size of Andre the Giant? College hockey is heating up in a big way. The Frozen Fours right around the corner and we cannot wait. And we're breaking down the teams that absolutely need to win the Stanley Cup this year. This episode of the Empty Netters podcast is brought to you by Factor Meals. Factors delicious, ready to eat meals, make eating better every day easy.

Whatever tomorrow takes you, be ready with prepared, chef-crafted, dietitian-approved meals delivered right to your door. Head to FactorMeals.com slash Netters-50 and use code Netters-50 to get 50% off. That's code N-E-T-T-E-R-S-5-0 at Factor Meals.com slash Netters 50. We get 50% off. Ice is ready and we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters Podcast. The college hockey tournament is buzzing. The Frozen Four is set. We've got eight games left in the regular season.

Teams are on fire. Teams are collapsing. But before we get into any of that, we've got a birthday, well, wow. Blake, happy birthday, Mike. Yeah, birthday was this past weekend on Saturday. How was it? Tell us about when.

Yeah, it didn't really do anything special. But honestly, I'm getting to the age now where I don't enjoy birthdays and I don't look forward to them. But hey, no, it was a good, good weekend, kept it pretty low-key. But, yeah, kind of had a struggle day on the golf course, but we don't need to. I'll cut this part out. What did you shoot? I broke 100.

It was like 92. Oh, dude, what the fuck? Fuck you, bro. That's like, that's so fine. But, like, that's with, like, a lot. Like that's with like a handful of breakfast balls like got the foot wedge in the rough, that kind of thing. I mean, if there's ever a time where you deserve some breakfast balls, it's on your birthday. Those are birthday.

Fair enough. Fair enough. You're allowed at least three birthday balls around when you're golfing on your birthday. I guess you call them birthday balls, not breakfast balls. I like that. Yeah. For sure. For sure.

Well, that's not bad, dude. It's great to see you get a year older. It's great to have our first birthday together. And, you know, we're just so, we're proud of you, dude. We're proud of you for making another trip around the sun. Hey, me too. Made it. Oh, man.

Well, guys, like we said, we've got a huge episode coming for you. CP and I are over in Colorado. We popped over here to do some stuff with the avalanche. We've got an amazing interview coming for you guys next week with Ross Colton. It's going to be so great. All those abs fans are going to be able to dive in as much as they want. and then everyone else, if you love hockey, if you love cool people, you're going to love this episode with Ross.

But let's dive into what's going on right now, guys. We have a crazy, crazy amount of things to get into. We're going to go with a no-bucky warm-up right off the bat, and I'm salivating for this first one. Thomas Hurtle is playing, baby. He is suited up. He's on the ice. He's buzzing around, set for a return with the biggest golden nights,

even before playoffs. How are you guys feeling about this? I love that he, for all the L-T-I-R haters out there, he's under the cap, baby. Like, he can play now. Like, so anybody that's pissed about that can stuff it. But I'm pumped, dude. I pulled up, I pulled up his stats this year. It was, he's just under a point per game, right?

Yeah, 34 points, 48 games. Like, this kid is a player that. That's a little less under. 34 and 48's not close to it. Not just under. Not just under. But that's not a bad season by any means, you know, on track for 70 or yeah, 60, high 60 points.

Like, yeah, it's not terrible. We'll take that all day. He's always been a player to me where, and I know early in his career, those sharks teams were good. You know, that was like the Marlow Thornton, the days when they were pretty stacked and always underperforming. But he was so young then. After the sharks kind of fell out of contention, he felt like a guy to me that was a

victim of his circumstances to a degree. I was always interested seeing a hurdle, a prime age hurdle on a team that was really going to compete and make a run at it. And now I get my chance. You know, so I'm really excited to see someone that has his skill level, which is extremely high. I'm not saying he's one of the best players in the league or anything. I'm just saying his skill level is extremely high and surrounding him with players that know what it takes to win and also have an extremely high skill level on Vegas. It will be really cool to see how that gel. So this is going to be exciting. Dude, I completely agree with that. I think hurdle is the type of guy who benefits from good talent around him. That's not to say that he can't create on his own. He clearly

can, but I don't think he's lighting the world on fire on his own, which is why he felt like wasted talent in San Jose. And that's also why I said, and you said as well, Chris, in the beginning of the season during our division breakdowns, that the sharks should have traded him immediately. And they did a great job. They got a good return for him. But that was a no. fucking brainer. And this guy is now playing with Vegas. He's going to be playing with great talent surrounding him. Lots of options. A great blue line. I could see this guy stepping in and not missing a single beat and just being such a huge addition for this team. Honestly, of all of the moves that happened at this deadline, this is my favorite one. It's such a, it's such a low pressure situation

for hurdle as far as I'm concerned. I don't think hurdles coming in. And Vegas is going, you need to light the world on fire for us. You need to be the guy. You need to be a one seat. It's like, no, no, you've got Eichael still. Ikel's going to do his thing. You're going to be down here playing with guys who are fantastic, who have won cups. They know what they're doing.

And just perform. Play your game. I think it's just going to be such a great opportunity for him. And I think he's going to thrive. It's going to piss people. And Blake, you had flagged too that Vegas, before they're about to add all these bodies, Vegas has jumped L.A. back into that three spot in the Pacific, L.A. back into the wildcard. Now, you had said to us, L.A. might be happy about this. And I imagine that's coming from a

ducking the Oilers standpoint, which I get. But it's also tricky because it looks like the central is probably going to get that one seed in the West. Like probably. I'm not grueling about Vancouver, but it feels like, you know, it's avs or Dallas. And to me, the abs, in Dallas are a much more complete team than the Oilers. Like I would much rather play the Oilers than Colorado or Dallas. Just because I think there are a few holes. There are a few holes in Edmonton that you can take advantage of, but I get it if you're the Kings where you're just like literally anybody else.

Yeah, I think the Kings just want to avoid the boogeyman at all costs. I think they just look at like what they've, how they've performed in the regular season against these opponents. Like, I mean, you look at all the games and it's Vancouver. is the favorable matchup for the Kings, no doubt about it. You're going to have Thatcher Demko coming in off of an injury. Who knows if he gets any games in before the playoffs?

Like, that is definitely the team that the Kings. And probably every other Western Conference team wants to play at this point. Because I think teams would rather play Vancouver than Nashville. Agreed. I would that too. And we said it last week. If I were the Kings,

I would tank and avoid it at all costs. And I'll tell you what, man, I'm so, and this is, this is bitch made by me. Hand up, I'm happy to admit it. I'm so out on the go through your boogeyman thing. I think it's such an honorable thing to say, and I respect it so much when teams, I think Blake, you said it a couple episodes ago talking about Toronto, Boston. It was like, ah, just play Boston and try to beat them. I'm like, dude, avoid at all costs.

I don't want to play the boogeyman. The boogeman's terrifying. I don't want it at all. And I'll tell you what, man. If Vegas knocks out Edmonton in round one, we are going to have a circus in the media of what is going on with Connor McDavid, with what's going on with Leon Dricidal. I mean, talk about the worst case scenario if that team, I mean, for both of them, whoever loses that matchup, if that's round one, that sucks. But oh my God, if Vegas gets all their toys back into the place. playoffs and then bang they're up against edmonton and they beat them that is going to be

crazy town and i can't based on our combo last ep i somehow when Vegas dipped i kind of got caught up in the wow Vegas is a wild card team what a nightmare first round matchup for one of those two top seeds and that's all i was thinking about like i didn't even and cross my mind i was like yeah maybe Vegas will catch them the kings but maybe not and like i was just so focused on the Vegas wildcard thing did it never even cross my mind that it didn't even cross my mind that it didn't even cross my mind that if they catch the Kings, it's Vegas Edmondon, round one. And I was like, I was looking at that today. And I was like, oh, dude, that is a debacle. It's a debacle. And what's nuts is, it's weird because Vegas, they've been great all year until the last couple of months,

right? And they got the hill injury. They got the stone injury, the Eichael injury. So it's not without reason that they've slipped a little bit. But we've kind of looked at this as Vegas won the cup last year. They've been so good. every single year of their existence. If they lose in the first round to Edmonton, I don't think it's that big of a deal. It's an upset for them. I think the players are like,

fuck, this is, I mean, losing the first round is unacceptable, but brutal draw getting a red, red, red hot Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. But if the Edmonton Oilers lose, I mean, again, it's bad for both. But if the Oilers lose in the first round, it's a true nightmare. And it's one of these situations where we talk about with the format. It is not their fault at all. Like you got basically a Western Conference final draw in the first round. Adobe Acrobat Studio, your new foundation.

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Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with acrobat. And it's just brutal. All I was going to say, Dan, is this one is almost the format isn't their fault totally. I'm blaming the format less on this one because Vegas is such a low seed. Like if it was one through eight, Edmonton's four and they'd get the Jets who are five, which obviously they'd much prefer. But this is more of an issue that Vegas is just so low. inexplicably versus like this this has less to do with the format and more to do with like what is

Vegas doing down there because whoever they're going to catch sucks um anyway let's stay there for the next topic which is someone else that i've been banging the drum on all year and it's not fun right now is the winnipeg jets um losers of six straight absolutely pumped outscored 2410 and i was having so much fun we were having so much fun looking at the the the central teams and being like, oh my God, can you believe the first round matchup that someone's going to get? And now I'm like, oh, actually, it's just the avs pummel the kings in the first round and then the stars pummel the Jets in the first. You know, like that has become so less exciting. Now, could they be in a blip and do they have good players and they have Hellibuck?

Like obviously they could, they are a scary playoff matchup still, but not the best time of the year to be playing your worst hockey all season. it's it's it's what's funny is we keep getting uh messages you know people talking to us on the lives and in the dms should we be worried about winnipeg worried about winnipeg and i i think three or four games into it i was like no i mean losing streaks suck man but it's such a it's such a passionate fan thing to do to panic immediately i mean you look at the bruin you look at the rangers you look at yeah the panthers actually credits of panthers fans they don't really panic but anytime these good teams lose two games in a row people are like oh my god

where the wheels are falling off. This is a disaster. So through three or so games, I was like, it's not that big of a deal. And now I'm like, I don't know what's happening because they do look terrible. Ellibuck has not looked as good. Their defense is really, really shaky. Their big time goal scores aren't performing. Toph started super hot, has been really quiet, a few games in a row here now.

So it is getting to the point where we always talk about those 15 games or so leading up to playoffs. You don't want to be too hot and then getting the playoff. and cool off, but you also don't want to go into playoffs ice cold. And that's currently what the Jets are doing. And that is concerned. Because like you said, you're drawing someone brutal. Everyone in the West, these first round games are going to be, or series rather, are going to be so insane.

And you cannot be heading into one of these series playing your shittiest hockey of the year. Yeah. The great stat pull by Blake that the Jets have a bottom third power play. and P.K. And what roused me about that, man, is... Imagine having that and being as good as they are. Dude, because... Yeah, and the playoffs, man, like, the power play, this might be ridiculous because you get less power plays,

but it makes those goals so important. So I'm not trying to dismiss the ability to score a power play goal in the playoffs. I think we talked about that would wish even. But the... You see last year, the Oilers, their power play last year was like, fucking 50% or something. It was moronic. And then buy. see you later. Didn't make the difference. Also, you've seen teams, the Bruins come to mind. One of those years, Dan, maybe it was the cup year.

I can't remember where teams go on these heroic power play droughts. Like, oh, for their last 21 power plays. And you're like, what the fuck? How can they win? But it's like, well, because we keep the puck out of our net. So to me, the power play, a team that's trying to make a cup run but isn't particularly awesome at the power play, I'm kind of like, whatever. You know, you wish you scored every power play.

but teams that do that don't always win and teams go in droughts and still win, it doesn't matter that much. You just try to get them when you can. It's the penalty kill. If your penalty kill is a cesspool in the playoffs, you are done, my friend. And all the big moments, you're getting lit up, dude, and it can't happen. So if they have a bad power play but had a great PK, I'd say whatever.

But having a bad both and losing six straight, like, dude, I love the Jets and I hope they turn it around, but that is grim. That is very grim. It's so grim. it feels like one of those anomalies that's going to find its level in the playoffs. It's like our power play socks, our PK sucks, but we're still a really good team. We're a top team. You get in playoffs, and now you're playing the other top teams, and those two things continue to struggle.

You're going to run into big time trouble very fast. So it's great. Speaking about special teams and strategies, the Kings came under fire recently, and Drew Dowdy made some comments about the old 131 that the Kings have been operating. Hit us with some of those quotes, CP. Oh, yeah, Blake, Blake, you read the Dowdy quote and tell everyone about the Landy clip you found. Yeah, so I was just scrolling on Instagram today when I was prepping for today's episode, and I saw this clip of Landerscog, and he's like looking over at the bench during the 2020 Stadium Series games, so it was between the abs and the Kings, and he's looking over,

and he's just motherfucking Todd McClellan right to his face. And Todd, you can't really tell, but it seems like Todd. acknowledging it and kind of looking over and looking away, but he's kind of just getting at him like, come on, Todd, are you going to trap all night? Like, are you going to fucking sit in the neutral zone all night? Play hockey, play hockey, like, just giving it to him. And so Dowdy was asked about this. I think this was after the game in Edmonton. And the question was, is it boring? Is it bad for hockey regarding the one three one neutral zone strategy? And his first comment out of his mouth is it's definitely not bad for hockey. hockey. And then he says, I like seeing how frustrated other teams get by it and how well it works.

We know that defense wins championships. It's part of our game, but definitely not our identity. I have no problem with this. I have zero problem with this. And I'll tell you why. We get on or we talk about people getting on the islanders all the time for playing boring hockey. And that's neither here nor there, whether that's true or not true. If you are a good team, if you're going to the playoffs. I don't care what you run. If you're winning and the results are there, whatever. And I'm totally withdrew in that if it's pissing other teams off,

getting them frustrated, maybe drawing some frustration penalties, making them get away from their game. This is great. It's mental warfare as well as a good strategy on the ice. I don't love a neutral zone trap. So I get Landy, you know, getting on Todd. What I find really interesting, Blake, is that that clip is four years old, and this is clearly a strategy that was implemented by Todd's system, and Todd's gone, and they're still rocking the 131. So it's kind of fascinating to me that the players clearly are like, we like the 131.

We like running it. It works for us. It's a good strategy. But honestly, it's like, is it the most glamorous and glitzy form of the game? I don't care. You know, no is the answer. It's not. But, yeah, it's, I don't know.

On the ice, when I can think of playing, it was awesome when you were doing something that was frustrating the shit out of the opposing team. And if they think that's working for them, keep ripping. Man, I'm so torn on this one, Dan, because winning is all that matters. And if this, everything you just said is right, if this is helping you win, then do it. And I've been on teams where we implemented a new forecheck

and it was driving other teams crazy. They couldn't get it out of their own zone. And you're right. It's like so fun and exciting. But I'm also like, it's, I hate the trap. And I hated those devil's teams when they were winning when we were growing up, trapping everybody. And it just slows the game down.

And it's like, part of me is, you know, like, we always do sports crossovers when I'm trying to have a good analogy here. But it's like, the NBA, they used to be like, you can't run a zone because it's fucking lame. So stop. And for no other reason that it's lame. And you can now. And we're Boston people, as everybody knows at this point. And it's like, Dan, remember when the Celtics couldn't beat Miami in the final, in the Eastern finals? Because Miami's running a zone.

And I'm sitting here being like, dude, fuck the zone. This is so stupid. But Miami fucking won because this always couldn't figure out the zone. So I'm like, well, you know, if PEMs can't figure out the one three one, then congrats to the Kings. And I hope it wins them a couple of playoffs series. But I count me among the people that wouldn't hate if, and you can't really do this in hockey because it's too fast. But if the league was literally like, the neutral zone trap is a penalty. is a bench miner if I see you running it, I'd be like, good.

And fine if it helps you win, but I just don't, that's not fun for me. Like, that's not in the spirit of hockey. And yeah, like, cool, you guys found a fun system that is frustrating high skill guys. And I'm not chirping Drew or the Kings. Like, this is a good system in that work. I'm just being like, as a hockey fan, I don't need to see the one free one literally ever again. So I hope they went a few rounds and then it gets banned forever. this this take by you that the league

take if they took that stance it's like semi pro when they do the alleyup and the rep it's almost like similar to the bubble take like I think you now need to brainstorm a rule change that you can now pitch next week and be like hey do this rule change so now no one can do the trap yeah yeah I literally want okay here's my rule pitch Blake I don't even need a week

how many reps are there four already five refs now and the fifth rep is just patrolling the one three one like he's if there's ever three he's like hey bench minor he's got he's got a fucking yellow stripe on his arm and he goes up for only one three one penalties i'm in i think my i think my last point on it is whenever stuff like this happens and people start bitching about it i'm always like just fucking beat it yeah you figure out how to beat it it's yeah sure it's annoying it's it's a little because it's a gimmick you know so it's like gimmicks get can get beat that's the whole fucking point and and it's also it's no secret

If you got Drew Dowdy, one of the leaders of this teams, openly talking about it to the media. Everyone knows they're doing it. So when you go to play the Kings, if you've got a problem with the 131, figure out how to fucking get it or shut up. It was cool, too, Drew's quote. Part of Drew's quote was like, I didn't even really like it at first, but it's actually pretty effective. You know, like he doesn't love it, but it fucking works. Let's switch it over to a former king, Jonathan Quick, over the weekend, gets his 392nd win, becoming the winningest American-born goalie in NHL history.

You'll love to see it. I think Quickey's rebirth in New York has been one of the most delightful things to see. And it's I love when stuff like this happens, Flowers record recently, that he just nabbed. I love when these iconic guys who are maybe getting a little older and maybe falling out of the spotlight get these nice milestones, because it makes people remember like, holy shit, you're so good. I mean, he has just such a great resume. And the fact that he's playing this well again and helping the Rangers, you know, march to one of their best seasons in the last decade.

It's just a blast to see. Not much to add, Dan, massive stick taps to the kid. I would say, well, it's the New England prep thing, I think, just being in the same sphere as him for a long time. But he was, I always connected more with Quicky more than Ryan Miller. You know, I'm not saying, like, Ryan's amazing and his all-time American goalie. But I'm like, I was happy to see Quickey hit this mark just because I feel like I've been a huge fan of his for a long time, watching those L.A. teams, obviously, was really cool. And could not agree more with the Rangers resurgence.

Because last year, it was like, and obviously Aiden Hill was so nasty. But with the injuries, Vegas was dealing with in goalie in the playoffs last year, to have them literally never turned to Quick was a bummer to watch. like, oh man, dude, like they're pulling dudes out of the bleachers to play goalie before they they take the guy that they just traded for. You know, she was like, man, this is crazy. And then I was like, oh, man, he's off to New York. I know he just wants to be in L.A. and retire there. This is sad.

But now, dude, he was carrying Chesty for half the year. Unbelievable season for the guy. Madison Square Garden chanting his name. And it was really cool to read all the articles when it was like three times Stanley Cup champ. And I was like, hell yeah, three time. And it might be fucking four. How sick would it be if he won for the rags back to back? dude. So yeah, awesome stuff.

We talk a lot about, you know, the recent stroking off of the Rangers that I've been doing. A huge reason of it is I just love the players on that team so much. Like, truly I do. And he has shot up to the top of that list. It's so fucking awesome. And you know what's funny? I really love, God, I can stop saying that. Not everything's funny.

What's cool is I think it's interesting when players join new teams, whether it be a trade or a free agency. And sometimes there are guys who just kind of fit in immediately. There's always those examples that you see people wearing a sweater that you're like, that just does not look right. I think Kings fans are going to hate hearing me say this. There's something about Quicky with New York this year that he looks good in that blue shirt. He looks natural in it.

I look at him and I'm like, yeah, he's a ranger right now. It doesn't feel like, oh yeah, Quicks playing for the Rangers. just like no like he's a ranger he really fits in that role and i think patrick kane in detroit is another he looks so swaggy in that red wings jersey and again blackhucks fans i'm sorry but he does look awesome it's fucking great um let's kick it to more goalie news the pulling the goalie in o t has now backfired uh yeah it was funny how it happened too because it wasn't anyone that saw this it was Wild Vegas game. What was that game? Two one, three, two? Two one. Two one. So what was, it wasn't an immediate backfire. It's not like, you know, lose the draw and Vegas breaks

it out and scores. Wild had some setup. You know, they're working the four on three. Had a good, good shot, couple rebound chances. But then Vegas jumps on it. And what I also loved was it, it wasn't Vegas skated all the way down and Ridley, Ridley, Greg, minus the clapper, put, just tucked it into an open net. It was marshy, right? Didn't Marcia still get the, um, the empty netter. Yeah.

It's a, it's a, it's a hundred and sixty foot goal. Like it, they, you know, they have it in zones. It's like past him and he just fucking no,

he fires a wrist shot. Bang, corner pocket. And I was like, nice. So that was cool. Uh, I,

it's an example of when keeping it real goes wrong. Yeah. Like, Dan, you're gonna hate this take. Oh, hell yeah. And then Marcy's just like,

goal. Goals. Yes. You don't get a point. Right. So, so last time we were talking about this. when the wild did it before.

We didn't bring up, and I didn't even know, by the way, I'll happily admit that. I didn't know watching that first Wild game live that you didn't get a point. It wasn't until we got a lot of DMs and people texting me, like friends of ours being like,

I can't believe you don't get a point. And I was like, what? And I looked that up and find out that's the rule. So this time, I know it's happening. The Wild are fighting tooth and nail to try to get into this playoff race, but they're in the race. They're trying to get into the playoffs.

And they need these points. They need the gamble. It's the right call. I'm not arguing that. I actually don't love. that you don't get a point. And you said to me earlier, Dan, you're like, there needs to be a consequence for pulling your goalie.

And I'm like, yeah, the consequences, you probably fucking lose. Almost certainly you lose. There's no goalie in your net. So it's like the consequence is your winning percentage went from 50-50 to like 20-80. You're probably going to lose. But it's worth the gamble because I need the point.

I kind of hate that rule. And I think you both love it. So feel free to sound off. But I'm not there for that. I think if they're going to do this rule, if the wild point, their goalie, then if they score, they get both points and Vegas doesn't get a point. Because the whole point of this is because Vegas and the wild are going for the wild card

spot. So Minnesota wouldn't have done it if they were playing Ottawa. Yeah, right, right. They only did it because they were playing Vegas. The last time they did it, they only did it because they were playing St. Louis. The two teams are neck and neck. So if you're going to have a consequence for one team, why not make it transferable to the other and kind of create some... So if they pull the goalie and Vegas scores...

Go ahead, Dan. I was going to just say, and sure, we can clarify it. Blakey, that's chaotic, but we love chaos here. Yes. So I love that rule. What I really love about that is if that were the rule.

So what Blake is saying is, Minnesota pulls their goalie. If they score and win, they get the two points, and Vegas gets none. That's what he's saying. So it's 2-0 either way. Yes.

If they... Yeah, got it. What's great about that is if that was implemented, if you're Vegas, you just pull your goalie too. You're like, no, fuck you. You're not pulling this shit on us. We're going to rip our goalie out of the net as well. I want to be clear, I don't hate it as much as you do, Chris. But when I was defending it, when I was saying there needs to be a consequence, I was saying that's the reason.

The reason the rule is because they're like, it's a consequence. And you're right. You know, the consequence is you are increasing your chance of losing. And I think that might be enough, but I won't lie. I kind of like the fact that they do it because it just adds an element of fun. It adds an element of drama to the game. And this has been, dude, this season of the NHL is brought to you by TNT. They know drama.

It's been a dramatic year. And I love that rule because it is dramatic. It might be enough of a consequence that you're pulling the goal or you're taking a risk. you might lose out the other point that you need, but the added element of like, you know, this is going to take some Cajonace because if you don't score,

you are losing that point. And that's tough, tough shit. Yeah, it's just like the argument, the argument is they're like, we had to do that. Otherwise everyone would have pulled their goalie because the four on three is more effective than a six on five, obviously, right?

So they're like, we had to put a consequence in otherwise everyone would have done it. And I'm like, I don't think every team is, I don't think people are going to be pulling their goalie in overtime, very fucking. often because you probably lose. And the, you need the point, you know, like that's

what I kind of don't get is that it would only happen when teams are clawing for the last wildcard spot, you know, like they need the point. So I don't think we had a pulling the goalie issue brewing without the consequence is my only argument. But it's a little

extra wrinkle, so whatever. I'm not going to, I'm, I want bubbles before I want the goal of the overtime pulled goalie rule. Yeah. here, but we're talking about empty nets. Let's go to a guy who practically has zero empty nets. Austin Matthews gets his 60th tuck.

I think he still has one, just one empty net goal. Yeah. I dropped that in, I don't even think it was a hockey talk. I think it was just randomly on the story. I saw the stat. And I was like, do you have any idea how fucking insane that is? It was really funny. One of our fans responded and was like, dude, it's not his fault.

Like, what are you saying? And I was like, no, no, I'm. I'm admiring him. I'm not saying, oh, my God, Austin Matthews needs more empty net goals. I'm saying the fact that this man has scored 60, and one of them is an empty netter is ridiculous. So it looks like 70s up. Blake, what's up?

61 now. Come on. He just scored. Yeah. Yeah, the Leafs are currently. This episode won't come out, but by the time it comes out, he will be at 61. Or more. Or more.

Yeah. I was about to say, it looks like 70s probably. probably not in the cards, but CP, you said to me earlier today, all he needs is like one Hattie. And I love how I say all he needs, but with the way he's been scoring this year, it is kind of like that. He gets one Hattie and then a two-gold game in the next eight or so here. It's back on. He has nine games left, counting this one. He has nine games left to score 10 goals.

So it's like, that's not. He's got one already in this one. That might be three by the end of it. So 70s still in play. It's not that likely, but it's still in play. what do you guys you know we've talked about it plenty of times i think it'll be really cool to see if it kind of like so hopefully he does kind of get a goal in each of these next five games so that down the stretch those last three games aren't complete garbage and it's actually like matthew 70 watch

and like you know maybe it becomes interesting and maybe makes it really close and perfect world is you know he scores a hat trick in the last game of the season to hit 70 on the dot but i mean it's it's going to be a tough task the it is going to be a tough task i am desperate for the watch too blake and i wanted it with connor last year by the way and he completely well it's hard to say someone fizzled with 64 goals but you know what i'm saying he was on pace to to flirt with 70 and then absolutely did not flirt with it at all so i would love to be just dialed into these last couple games you know matthews two tucks away like you know imagine sitting at 68 coming into game 82 that would be so much fun

uh other than that again just a massive stick tap 60 goals in two of the last three seasons for Austin Matthews. I mean, come on, boys. I'll even call it OV's goal record now officially. OV's goal record is dead as soon as Austin Matthews hangs them up. It is wild to see. And what's crazy is we got so fixated with the way Ovi was scoring goals in the last decade. and I'm here to say I'm not sure Austin's goal scoring ability gets enough attention.

It's almost like it's expected. People are just like, oh yeah, there's Austin again. To have 60 goals in two seasons in the last three, that is unfathomable to me that you're just pumping in goals at this easy of a clip. I mean, think about it. Your season is 82 games, and this man's scoring 60 goals. you're scoring, you know, three-quarters of the time. Of the time.

It's ridiculous how good this guy is. And just the way that he's tailored his shot and really figured out that knows for goal. And again, I'll just double down and say he has 61 at the time of this recording. So he has 60 goals. And none of those 60 are empty. Oh, yeah. Dude. Here are some current NHLers.

that Austin Matthews has already passed. So he's currently at 146 in the all-time goal chart. He's passed Claude Giroux, Tyler Sagan, David Pasturek, Leon Dreisdell, Matt Dushane, McKinnon, McDavid. Like, these are all guys that are still playing and that were drafted, most of them drafted before him. Yeah, the ones that stand out to me are like Claude and Dutchy. It's like, you know, guys like pasta who they have similar seasons,

that's going to fluctuate. I mean, probably not. Matthews will always. A guy like Claude, that's like, I mean, weird war. I mean, Austin's, what is Austin? 27? Yeah, he's a year older than me, so yeah, he's 27.

The, what was crazy is two years ago, I remember when he did it, and obviously scoring's up, but they, they, people were saying, um, would we ever see 60 again? Because Stammer had done it. And it was like, who could do it? And people had said, oh, well, if anyone can do it, it's Austin. Austin. We might see 60 again because of Austin. And now I'm like, we might, we might, we might, we might,

he'll he'll just this is a joke so yeah i'm 26 dude austin's 26 he turns 27 in september like all right he's that late birthday yeah are you kidding me this guy is out of control my 10 more years dude at least yeah honestly let's call it right now let's call it right now in the year 2024, Austin Matthews is going to break Alexander Ovechkin's goal record after O'B breaks Waino's record. Asterisk's without a lockout. I don't care, dude. They didn't fucking lock out for five years.

He'll come back and still do it. It doesn't matter. This guy's crazy. He's going to do it. He's going to have this goal record by the end of it. I'm telling you. Okay. Next thing we want to talk about is my spunk.

The Seattle Spunk have called up Shane Wright. Now, Dan, we were just talking about this before they even called them up. You were right. Can you pull up that draft, Blake, while we're talking about this? For people that don't remember, Shane Wright was largely the consensus number one overall pick that entire year. And admittedly, as it got close to the draft, there were rumblings of maybe Shane wouldn't go first. And people in the know were like, oh, we knew it wasn't happening, whatever. But for the most casual hockey fans, we were like, yes, she's probably Shane.

And certainly Shane Wright looked like he thought it was going to be Shane to his beloved Montreal Canadiens. And they did not take him. And then he slipped and he slipped and he slipped and he went forth. And then famously walked up on stage and gave an all-time, all-time stare-down mean mug to the Montreal-Canadian's brass. You will rue the day that you did not take me first overall. Now, Blake, in a second I'm going to have you give the run down here. But I just want to say, if the Canadians took, if they take someone else in this situation, they take Slav or, you know, they took anybody.

And that person ends up being better than Shane Wright ever was. I still don't hate the mean mug as long as Shane Wright is also really good, you know, because you get to be like, whatever, dude. What cannot happen is you end up as like an AHS. guy your whole life if you do the mean mug and like i've never met Shane i heard he's an awesome dude i hope to meet him i hope to have him on the pod blah blah blah but just like i you something has to happen here dude because you can your legacy cannot be that mean mug and then never playing in the league yeah yeah no i i actually met Shane and skated with him when he was 15 so this is right

as he had got the exceptional status and he was this was the offseason going into his first O HL year. Super great kid, super nice guy, and just, I hope he pans out, just as a personal kind of little token. But yeah, to run through this draft, so first overall was Yer Islilkovsky, second overall was Simone Nemich by New Jersey, third overall, Logan Cooley, fourth, Shane Wright, fifth, Cutter-Gochier. So, you know, still a lot to tell, but not the greatest top five. Obviously, I got to say, Blakey, these are, you never know. especially with when you get below five, it's like, you know, it's lucky. But there's some players in this draft, man.

I mean, like, David Jurecheck for, I don't know, sorry if I'm pronouncing that a bit wrong, but David Yurecheck for Columbus, Maddie Savoy for Buffalo, Pavl Minchikov for the Ducks, Rucker McGority is really exciting. Jimmy Snuggarud's really exciting. Like there's a lot of good players.

And obviously, a lot of those guys have, haven't played in the league yet, but it is like, you, you look at specifically people like Mitchikov and Savoy, and you think about this, some of those misses, you're like, damn, that, that was a weird first round. I don't want to sound knee jerky here or panicky here, but Shane is almost a situation to me where I think Seattle should trade it. It's like, it's, I think he still has value. He was a unbelievable player. in junior. I think he could definitely pan out. But it's just been so bumpy that you almost wonder, is it like, is it better to package him with something and try to get a good piece for your team,

get back in the playoffs, then try to make him go through this process over and over again? It's been three or four times now that he's been brought up and it just didn't work. And he gets sent. I mean, Jesus Christ, didn't he get sent back to like World Juniors after the first, when he got drafted, like he went back and played in World Juniors and got cucked by Badaard. Then he came back and it's just like it's just not gone well at any point.

So I would love to see him, you know, finish out this season with Seattle, get his name on the score sheet a bunch and just be able to head into summer like, okay, that was a good little stretch. I can do this. I can play in this league and I can play for this team. But if these next eight or nine games for Seattle,

he's just a goose egg, you do wonder what the next step is. for the Shane Wright era in Seattle. I think you're right, Dan. Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right in the sense that they're kind of using these last 12 to 10 games to evaluate and see where he's at because you're kind of right. Like if you're going to have any chance to trade him,

like you still need to do it when he's considered a prospect before he starts busting in the NHL. But yeah, sorry, where were you going to say, Chris? No, same thing. Because next year is it. you know, if he's, if he's, wherever he's playing for, but if he's on the crackin and he comes to camp next year

and doesn't make the fucking roster or you know, makes it and is buried and sucks, then it's over, you know? It's not over, over. You can, you know, you can have a career resurgence somewhere, but any dreams of like, oh, this guy, this kid is really going to be something

special in this league, kind of goes away if the shine is completely off next year. I would love it to happen for him, both because like you said, he's a great dude, but also for that crack in team. I love the spunk, as we all know. You guys like the spunk, and it's just they got a lot of young players to add a Shane Wright, to add a blossoming Shane Wright at the end of this year all of next year.

I'd be like, fuck yeah, this is sick. So that would be really good for them, especially with the slip from some of their guys this year and the team overall. Such a fun playoff run last year into the disappointing season this year. It would be cool to reload internally like that. so their fingers are our fingers and toes are very crossed and on that note chris i do want to give props to seattle i think this is a very smart move it's you're seeing the reality of the playoff hopes are not really there this season you've got this kid Shane right that you need

to be good this is a perfect time to bring him in with zero pressure and go find your game buddy get out there go have fun start jelling with some of the boys play well i think it's a genius move and hoping for the best because like we've all said, great kid and you want to see people thrive. I mean, come on. It would be amazing to see that. So you really hope for the best. Let's strap on those buckets and get into our hot ice segment.

Starting off, we said we were going to dial into the NCAA tournament more this season. We did. We have been hyper-focused, laser-focused, as Tom Brady would say, and we have been focusing on and enjoying every single game. And Jesus Christ, what a time you ever been. Every fucking game has been so fun, so electric. We've had rivalries. We've had classic matchups.

B.U, Minnesota. Michigan, Michigan State. Michigan gets a punchback against Michigan State. The little brother, nice to see you, enjoy going home and start golf in early Michigan State. Sucks to suck. But we've got the Frozen Four set. and it is an elite matchup. We've got BC, Michigan, we've got B.U.

And Denver. Just four Titans going at it. Unbelievable stuff. How fired up are the boys? Dude, it has been such a blast. Coming in, Dan and I are on the road right now, coming in and just catching games all afternoon, all night. Unbelievable, iconic matchups, too.

The bracket just broke the right way for us. it's leaving the BC, BU Natty up on the table, but it gave us the Michigan, Michigan State rematch. It gave us BU, Minnesota, some really, really great tilts. And some fun upsets. You know, QU, QU, they're doing their OT dance again. I'm taking BC to the wire, man. Like, God, we were texting Will after the game.

I was like, dude, I can't handle this right now. Like, this is too much stress for me. But there's just been such, such good action. I said to Dan at one point, I looked over at him, and I was like, college hockey is such fucking chaos. Because it's just like, dudes come down, try to towie with the shot, but somehow the puck is still there. They kick it forward, like, whiff again, fire a pass behind their back to some dude who's like

crashing backpost, fires one, and he's fucking like arrow selly. And I'm just like, dude, these are the most broken plays ever. But like high skill slash broken plays I've ever seen in my life all culminating into a goal. And it happens seven times a game, dude. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I want to give a quick shout-out and quick stick taps to one player in particular. Blakey, you're going to like this.

This Ian Shane kid on Cornell is a brick fucking wall. Oh, my God. I have not seen a team that looks like they're solely being carried by one human being as much as Cornell and Ian Shane. This kid is a junior from Manhattan. Beach, California, goes to Cornell and has been a pure bona fide stud between the pipes. And here's the best thing, dude. We were talking about it. You're looking at some of these unbelievable guys like Gabe Perrault, for example, over at NBC. And you go, Jesus Christ,

who has this guy's rights? And it's, of course, the fucking Rangers. And you're like, my God, they have the chance of bringing him up. Who knows if that'll happen or not? But we're looking at this Ian Chain kid. And I'm like, what fucking team in the NHL has this blue chip goaltender? he's undrafted. He's a free agent. He's up for grabs. I think so far there have been lights out performances in this tournament by tons of players, tons of the big names that we expected. I did not expect to have my pants blown off by this kid. And I think this has got to be a top three name off the board when it comes to. For those of you who don't know, if you are eligible to be signed as a pre-agent and you are not drafted and your draft window is over, of which his is, He is an undrafted free agent, and now that his season's over, teams can talk to him and try to sign him. He's got to be up there in the top three that teams are sniffing around because he has just performed lights out in this tournament and all season for Cornell.

It's been insane, Dan. The goal he plays so awesome because that kid, his numbers are ridiculous, but you and I were doing this the other day looking at Fowler's numbers on BC. And it's like he has been incredible, the amount of minutes he's logging. Because like I was saying a second ago, the goals are chaos. You know, like if you were watching that BC game, it's like Ryan Leonard scores that that wraparound because it's just like the puck rims and no one's paying attention. He zooms around and no one's looking. And then at the start of the third, QU scores are such a similar goal where it's like someone shoots a point shot wide. Fowler is kind of leaning this way. It bounces off the end wall, pops out the other side. So sometimes you're watching these games and the goals aren't the absolute highlight real goals you can see in the NHL that you're like, these goalies, man, they don't know what they're doing. I'm like, actually they do. It's just there's so much going on around them that these are future. You're seeing. You're seeing. future NHL studs play between the pipes right now in college. And I hope people are enjoying it because it's been an absolute blast.

It's been unbelievable, dude. I'm trying to pull up his stats right now because I want people to understand how unbelievably good he's been. But like- Yeah, so I have his numbers right here. I can read him off. So his freshman year, he played 17 games. Blake, just give me this past year.

Because this season has been so. insanely good and the games in the tournament too he was just lights out so just give me this season yeah so 34 games played with a 22 5 and 6 record a 1.69 nice goals against average and a 0.923 say percentage and the year before that his numbers were almost identical but this year was a little bit better and you love to see that right you love to see that consistency and he's getting a little bit better I don't know, man. I love it. I love the Manhattan Beach element of it. You know what I'd love, dude. Kings. Nab him. But at the same time, the kings do have Portillo, and he is a weapon. And I love Portie. I think he's going to be their guy. But we talk about a lot. There's a bunch of teams who've done really well with nabbing some of these undrafted guys. And it's almost like a draft pick in itself.

Yeah. How many teams have we talked about all season who have goalie troubles? They don't have a great goalie pipeline. They're worried about who they're starting 10 he's going to be you've got this kid who's not 19 years old you know he's a junior he's been around he's played he's played at the highest level in college hockey and perform this would be such a good signing for some of these teams that are having goalie problems i would nap this kid immediately if i was any of those teams or dan um paradox you know he's a manhattan beach kid el sagundo toyota sports center right up the road i'm sorry schmert i'm smurri parish but i'm just saying if we if shane's on the block then i think that's a huge ad for our squad. This is a great point,

man. Chris, this spring, this summer, Ian Shane, buddy, if you're listening, we need a skate, dude. Gold League at Toyota Sports Center in L.A. You just want a game pop in. We won't charge you. We won't charge you. We want to come and play for three. Doors always open. Guys, rip the puck in gold, too, by the way.

So it's not like he's giving up that much. You're staying sharp, dude. You're staying sharp. Absolutely. Absolutely. He actually plays in that 4B4 league at Toyota Sports Center during the offseason. So I remember seeing him train last summer and was, you know, just from the eye test, you can tell that he's pretty good. He's pretty good. You're telling me he's in the building. He's in the building at the barn? We got to sign this guy out. We got to sign him. We got to sign him. Well, boys, who do you

think? Who do you got? Well, like we said, we got Michigan, B.C. We've got B.U. Who are you going to? Who's your horse? I'm going B.C. Our brackets B.C. Spoiler alert for everyone competing against us. the both it's pick it with my heart for sure but i like their matchup against michigan's a good team this year but michigan's um i think bc's the better team so i like their matchup in the semi and then when just that crew you know it's like that smitty leonard perot line like if they get all the way to the natty which is what they planned on you know like they lost the bean pot but otherwise like those three dudes were like let's go to bc together and and win hockey east and the Maddie. And if they get 60 minutes away from that dream before they all go to the NHL,

I just don't, I think that's too much to deny, I think. Yeah. Chris, I'm going to steal from you for a second. Blake, can you do me a favor and pull up those BC kids stats this season? Chris, you made a really good point the other day. You're looking at that team. I really, really, really loved their performance. Was that yesterday? Was that BC game yesterday? I loved their performance yesterday. You know what that looked like to me? That looked like a national championship winning hurdle. Sometimes you get those games that's, it's not even the frozen four yet, that it looks like you're dead in the water, but you battle and you get the dub. That's exactly what they did. Getting past QU, a great team with some serious talent, being down a number of times,

tying that up, not panicking in the last six minutes, and then OT starts and they get right down to business and take care of it and win the game. That felt like a, ooh, they're doing it this year. So I really love that. But something you pointed out, we've got so many benchmark seasons going on on this BC team. Will Smith, our boy, has more points than I think it's like Jack Eichol. Maybe he just passed him, but he has the most points in college hockey since Jack Eichael. Then we've got Cutter, who's got the most goals in forever. And I want to give some credit to our boy cuts because you've got the Gabe Perot, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, trio buzzing around there. They've been playing together forever, played together at the Dev program. Now they're at BC

together. Cutter is right behind Will in points on this season. And it does feel like no disrespect to these other beautiful players on BC. But Cuts is really carrying that line by himself, it feels like to an extent. And it just goes to show the talent on that team is prosperous. Yeah, somebody and Blake, do you have them right in front of the numbers? Yeah, yep. So, yeah, it goes Will Smith, Cutter, Brian Leonard, Gabe Perot, Oscar, do not know how to pronounce that Swedish last name.

And then Emin Powell. So they have six players on their roster with a point for game or more. So sick. And Dan and I were having this combo in the car the other day that I just, and this is what he was just alluding to, but it's cooler to me. When the whole line, like when Will, Ryan and Gabe all have over a point per game and are flying, it's sick, obviously. It's an incredible accomplishment, but you kind of, they're all on the same goal every time.

You know, like every time a goal scored, it's like, well, there's two assists here and the goal there, and you all get the same point. Whereas when cuts is way up there where he is, and I think Dan, it was the most goals, or maybe he's one-off right now with two games left, but it's the most goals in college hockey in a single season since 2000. So he's doing that without playing with his two best friends that he's been playing with his whole life, you know, and lighting it up. So that's been pretty sick to see.

Before we leave college hockey, I just want to touch on this real quick. Chicklets hit it too, but we've been talking about it as well. What do you think about the regional locations, Dan, where they're like, hey, there's four regions in the Frozen Four and here where the games are, Springfield and whatever, yeah. I understand why they do it because it's just 16. teams, you want to get the guys in the same place, you want to have fans be able to go. I think it's so stupid.

So I feel like I've been such a contrarian all app, but you said this. Mikey Grinnell said this on a chicklets app where he was like, watch that Michigan State Michigan Big Ten championship game at Michigan State, place going bananas, 5-4-O-T win. How could you not want that? And I totally get that. But for me, that's what your conference championship. championships are for. That's what the Big Ten championships for. That's what the hockey East players are for. The high seed gets the home game and you're getting that atmosphere.

When you go to the national championship bracket, I don't actually want the home ice anymore. I'm one of the, in the minority here where I'm like, no, it should be at a regional location. And if you get a good sick regional draw where you're in New England school and you're playing in Boston, amazing. If you're in New England school and you draw, you know, St. Minneapolis, so be it, whatever. it, but the thing I think we all agree on is the venues. Like, I don't, I can't, it can't be Springfield. It needs to be the fucking Boston Garden. And then it's a cool event for fans to travel to too, because yeah, obviously, if I'm

a BU fan, I want them to have home ice in the national, but I'm like, well, no, it's, we're in the tournament now. You travel to cool locations and cool rinks. That's part of the fun. And I imagine it's part of the fun for the athletes, too. Like, as much as they want to play in front of their home crowd, they've done that 20 games already this year. they want to go play where the wild play like they want to go there and play at the at a real barn

yeah on that point chris it's like the the venue i think that there are some random ones it's like i think it was um yeah like Denver is playing in in springfield mass and i know they're playing umas in that first one but it's like that just feels random but the michigan no deck game being in like maryland heights missouri it's you know Missouri's not that far and no shot against Missouri, it's more just, that is a kind of random barn for a huge game like Michigan Nodak. Like I just, I almost think both teams would prefer, you know, you never, it's not like Michigan's like, yeah, we would have preferred to play in the Ralph. Like that's absurd. But it's like, you definitely would have preferred to play somewhere more prestigious, I think, because these

games deserve it. That's basically, but for all our Philly fans out there, Let's talk some flyers. Blakey, can you give us a run down? So to refresh or to get us up to speed, the flyers are in a tailspin. Like we kind of all expected for a while now, but now it's coming to fruition. They are actually out of the three spot.

For the first time, like, I can't even remember when they weren't the three spot. Yeah, it feels like all season. They lost to the Hawks. They lost to the Havs. Torts said the Hawks 5-1 drubbing was rock bottom. which is not good at all. But potentially little light at the end of the tunnel.

So Blake, can you give us the rundown on the goalie situation in Philly? Yes. So six foot eight, Ivan Fedatav has finally made his way over to North America from the KHL. He was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2015 draft. So that loaded draft gets another stud. Flyers tried to bring him over in 2022. Like they signed him to a two-year deal. And actually, when he was coming up,

coming over, he was detained by the Russian government to serve in the military for, I think he was two to three months. So it wasn't very long. But essentially it was kind of like, we don't want you leaving. You're not leaving. Because he also has played for the national team a handful of times and been a starter there. But Ivan has now made his way over. He's been practicing with the team.

One of the things he has been quoted as saying in his opening press conference is I'm so excited to be here. it has been a difficult two years. To put it bluntly, he's excited to be here, and yes, it has been a difficult two years dealing with the Russian government. So cool to see him over here, and I think another tidbit for this

is the guy they picked in the first round last year, Matt Save Mitchkov, the other almost generational talent kind of being compared to Bedard last year. He's another Russian guy who's tied into one of those KHL contracts. So maybe this kind of, it could either create momentum

him to bring him over sooner or just make it even harder to bring him over. I'm glad you brought that up. I wanted to mention, I'm surprised the Flyers drafted that day, knowing they had this situation going on as well. It's like, Jesus Christ, dude, how many of these situations do you want to be dealing with it? A potential blueprint too, right, Dan, where it's like, oh, we couldn't get him for several years. And then so you might have been signing up for that exact thing with Mitchcock. Yeah, I love this, man. I think it is, you know, I had mentioned a while ago that I think with the momentum and things that are going on in this season, Detroit's collapse and missing the playoffs is worse than if the Flyers miss. And I still stand by that,

but now watching the Flyers slip out for the first time, what has felt like all season, it does feel brutal. You can see it in Flyers fans' disposition. They're like, oh, my God, like we are officially sliding. This is getting very, very bad. You hate to see it. But I love this move because it feels like this might be the wild card. And I don't mean the playoffs spot wildcard. I mean, this tendency. The Charlie Day wildcard. Like, yeah, you have brought in a Russian bear military man

who is now just being stuffed in that he has awesome numbers in the KHL. He's pumped to be here. There's a chance that this dude, because no one has game notes on him in the NHL, has no idea where to shoot him. He might get eight straight shutouts and the flyers are straight back into the playoffs. It's unbelievable. the other thing they touch on, sorry, just to touch on really quickly, it's cool, you know, they're finally getting to bring him over, but I think the most important thing is this guy is

an absolute stud in the KHL. In 133 games played in the KHL, I think over the course of seven seasons, parts of seven seasons, he has a 2.22 goals against average and a 921 say a percentage to go along with 10 shutouts. Like, those are insane numbers and they have been consistent. his whole KHL career. So I think that's the most interesting part. It's like, they're not just getting a goalie.

They're getting a fucking stud. Yeah. Dude, I could not be more in on this fucking guy. I have gone on such a roller coaster with the Flyers this year. At the start of the year, I was like, what are they doing in the 3C? They suck. This is stupid. And then I was like, you know what?

This is awesome. And I love the Flyers. And I hope they make it to the finals. And then the Carter Hart situation happened. And I was like, oh, that's their job. death sentence and this season is over and I've been not rooting against them but just slowly waiting for the axe to fall where they're going to fall out of the playoffs and stop wasting my time please which is they now have and now they bring in this dude and bring me all the way back in dude

this guy is a he's a he's a tree he's an oak he's a redwood dude I don't understand how anybody is going to put one past this guy and I need the flyers to go on an absolute heater now I have never rooted harder for a Philly team than I want this Flyers team to get hot with this guy. Who's who's who is the guy? Who is the Russian goalie? I'm going on his name. Brzgolo. I'm so glad to go there.

This to me is the second coming of Brisgallup. We've got I'm in the bear in that for the Flyers now. And I feel like we're getting Briss all over again. I want this dude to be the most entertaining motherfucker on earth. And I legitimately hope no one ever scores a goal on a mouth. Same good. This guy can't start. Big.

Flyers fast. I'm the Philly fan, dude. This is incredible. Dan, I want to talk about something now that you had brought up earlier. We had been discussing on this very program, who is going to win the president's trophy and do people care? And I had said that no one cares about winning the president's trophy for the president's sake,

but specifically in the east, where it looks like the president's trophy might come from, the luxury of being the top seat in the east, is you are catching Philly, Detroit, Washington, something like that in the first round. And the other top seed, the other division winner is catching Tampa. Yeah. And that blows. Yeah, man, I'll be brief on this. I've been watching Tampa the last eight or so games.

They have clicked it into a new gear. they have sort of felt like the cooch show all season and you know the normal boys stammer point they're hagel headman they're playing great they're playing great hockey but you know i said it several weeks ago they just feel like they're out of gas there's a bit of a retool that they need to do we'll see what happens with stammer this summer i kind of peg them as they're probably going to win one series and then in the second round they're out they are playing the best hockey that they have played all season long right now for the past eight to ten games or so and it's not like oh yeah no they're playing pretty good they are

dominate and they look really really good and when you really think about it who do they have man they have Nikita kuturab they have steve stamcoast they have victorov they have steve stamcoast they have victor headman and they have andre vasselowski and net if those guys are going that is a terrifying team to face off against. So what has been a wild last half of the season and post All-Star break with all the storylines like the wild card races and all that, what is now the most fascinating thing to me is whoever gets that one seed in the east is avoiding Tampa. And I think that has become the most important thing in this season for a lot of teams. because I'll tell you what,

if I am the New York Rangers and I am playing the best hockey that we have played in 10 years and they look unstoppable and everyone is buzzing from line one to line four and you draw the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs,

I am shitting bricks. And that is not a knock on the New York Rangers who I'm loving right now and are playing so well and are my pick to win the cup. But you do not want to play that lightning team. I would say the same thing about the Panthers, you know, because theoretically it's the Panthers, the Bruins, or the Rangers that are going to catch Tampa.

No knock on the hurricanes because they could do it, but I just think it's one of those three. And I think I'm picking Tampa easy, if it's Boston. I'm probably picking Rangers and Panthers, but I've got to think about it because I'm not sure. And neither of them want that at all. They don't want that smoke at all. So totally with you, Dan, that's going to be a fascinating top of the table watch in the East. It's crazy. Blake, also, if you didn't know, I put $100 bucks on the Rangers winning the cup the other day.

I am all in. Wow. That's, yeah, good on you. I don't think it's going to hit, but. I'm putting my money where,

I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I just think they're different, dude. I think they're different. I'm rocking with my boy, Cridey. I'm rocking with Johnny Laz. I just,

I think that they got a shot this year. Not if they win the president's trophy. That's true. See, you're fucked either way. You either win the president's trophy and you automatically lose or you get second and you automatically,

you play Tampa first and you automatically lose. So they're really between a rock and a hard place. I got to call the sports book. I want my money back if they draw Tampa in the first round because that should be a push. You and Dolan are going to be hanging out in the finals together, eh? Wow. He's not going to let me in, and I don't blame them. I talk shit, but it's Rangers fans and the Rangers team.

I mean, you'll find a watch party somewhere. Yeah. You'll be in some Brooklyn loft and some Williamsburg loft watching the Rangers game. Hell yeah, dude. I'll motherfucker that guy the whole time. Oh, man. But yeah, that's something to keep an eye on because it's funny. It's not even a President's Trophy race.

It's a race to avoid Tampa, which is just electric. All right, the last thing I wanted to talk about, we're touching on the Stanley Cup here and what team has a shot. I wanted you guys to get in this combo with me. And let's quickly touch on, I think there's eight to ten, maybe real, real contenders for the Stanley Cup this year. And I want to know which of them you guys think are teams that are going in, the teams, the players, management owners, all that,

that are thinking we need to win the cup this year. Which ones really stand out? Because I think there are a few that aren't going into these playoffs just thinking, let's go for a great run. We've got a great team. We've got a shot here. I think they're going, shit, man. The pressure's on like, we need this cup.

So I want to know what you two think. I'm going to have less that I think than you, Dan. Because some I already know that you're going to be like, this team needs this cop and I'm like, no, they don't. The one I'll start us off with though that no one is going to disagree with is the Edmonton Oilers. They have just been flirting with it and flirting with it and they've got these unbelievable players and Conner's got 100 assists and Skinner feels more confident than ever.

And I'm like, that's sick, dude. But they just, they're going to be facing, you brought it up last step, they're going to be facing some big decisions. Now, if they go to the finals and lose or even the conference finals and lose, I don't think it's blow it up mode and everything's fucked this is a disaster i don't think that but i just think they connor's getting frustrated you know how old is he like there's there's these guys the top of the league the top of their game can only want to they said it in their exits last year we're wasting time we wasted another window we wasted another year that's the feeling in that locker

arm right now so if they don't win the cup this year they wasted another year and they're going to be fucking pissed totally Blake my first team is the Winnipeg Jets. I kind of touched on this last episode, I believe. But I don't see that team staying very competitive for very long. Like I think, like, they could definitely be a playoff team for the next two, three years. But I don't know when are they going to have Connor Hullabuck kicking the way he is right now and have the forward depth that they have right now?

I think their back end is good. Like, it's nothing special, but it's definitely solid. But I just don't know when this Winnipeg Jets team. will be this good ever again or not ever again but you know in the next five 10 years and as a team who's never won it before and they had you know the ticket pricing or the ticket sales debacle in the beginning of the season um you know the ownership is you know hinted that oh we could you know this isn't sustainable like they need something to really you know galvanize that city in that group and hey a mug would do that for sure yes it would man yes it would

Is that your only one? No, all mine are all the four Canadian teams. I mean, Chris, yeah. And that's not just a Canadian take. But Vancouver doesn't need this cup, this year. Wow. They do. After 2011 and, you know, they have a team this good.

Like, they haven't had a team that has been close to winning a division since 2012. Like, I think they won the division 2015 or 2010, 11, and 12. they haven't had a team that's been this competitive since. And like they're going to have some tough decisions in the offseason cap-wise and roster management-wise. And honestly, I still to this day don't, I look at that team on paper and I still don't think like, yeah, this team. Like I know they're a playoff team, but I don't consider them,

oh, they're a cup contender. But that's why I say they need this cup right now. You have a starting goalie, you have all the studs up front and Hughes on the back end, somehow pull it all. together and make it work this year because I don't know when it's going to come back to again. And then the obvious one is Toronto. I don't need to go on about that. Yeah. I wasn't even going to name them, but that they are, because I don't think it's happening this year. And I was the biggest it is happening this year guy all season. But that is,

God, like it felt like they wanted to be all in this year, you know, and it's not going that way. So fuck. I'll tell you what, man. Toronto has done something this year that I admire. or so much. I feel like they re-signed Willie and they've just kept everyone so happy and Austin scored 60 and there's just so many other teams that have so much hype around them and so many storylines that it almost feels like this year definitely more so than last year and the year before. There's just not as much pressure. It feels like it feels like they're kind of like, yeah, whatever, dude. Like we're pretty good. We're going to lose. And I don't know how they've done it, but they've just stayed out of the spotlight this season in a way that I can't.

believe. Which is not easy in Toronto. Yeah. For me, you're right. I have three that come to mind. I completely agree with both of you. Or Blake, I think the Winnipeg one is a great call. I wouldn't. Yeah, I wouldn't have said that. That's a shout that I wouldn't have said, but I really love what you said. CP are totally right with Edmonton. The three that I think about, in order from least to most for me personally, Dallas comes to mind. I think that Dallas has just been so good for a long time, and it feels like they've fallen short, but not in a collapse type of way, not in a like, God damn it. Like what the, it's just more of like a, ah, shit, it was a bummer to lose that one. And I feel like it might kind of be time as now.

It's like, hey, you got to get over the hump sooner or later here. But I put them third because I don't think it's a they need the cup. But I do think Dallas, their fans, and that organization should be thinking, we should get to the Cup or at least to the Western Conference Finals. The two big ones for me, the Carolina Hurricanes, I made my comment about Brenda Moore, and I think that seat should be high. I don't think they're ever going to fire him because of what he means to that franchise, and he's a phenomenal coach and just an unbelievable person.

I would never want to lose a guy like that. That said, I'm getting a little thin on the excuses for them. it's felt like there's just been a number of like, you know, we're getting closer, whatever. We had some injuries that last year, whatever. That team is really strong right now. They've got good goaltending, maybe not the best goaltending, but good goaltending. Gensel's been amazing since joining the team. I don't really think that there are any excuses for them anymore.

They need to be going into these playoffs going, we're winning a cup. I know that that's the goal. And I know Carolina players and fans would say that as absolutely the goal. but I think that there's some pressure. And then the other one, the obvious one, my horse, I do think it's the Rangers. I hate to say it because I don't want to put more pressure. And I know there's a lot of people in the Rangers community

that are getting a little cocky. There's a lot of ones who are really nervous and not getting over their skis. I don't really love the, you know, the Corps getting older. That's true. I don't really see any sign. I mean, look at Panarin. He's having the best season of his life.

I think Mika and Crieds are still playing phenomenally. Igor has woken up. he's playing great. But I do think that team, as I've said, best they've looked in a decade. It feels a little bit right now with how hot they are, how they're firing on all cylinders. There is an opportunity here. You've got three of your star forwards who are entering their mid-30s. Feels like too good of an opportunity to let slip.

And I'm sure there's a lot of people in the organization. on that team in the locker room and in the fan base who are going, we got to get this cup. This year, it's just, it's from an opportunity standpoint, I look at it as this is too good of an opportunity to waste. And I really hope that they can keep just buzzing the way they are. Otherwise, it's going to be tough. It's going to be a tough one. I'm with you, Dan.

Those would have been my other three. Carolina, especially after the Gensel move, O and 12 in their Eastern Conference finals, like, come on, dude, shit or get off the pot here, do something. Rangers obviously nothing more to add Dallas I would even I'm even more bullish that they need this one Pav is 80 Ben and Sagan you're getting these seasons

from that you're like oh I don't know how long I can rely on that you know and they're handing it over to Robo and Hints and Miro and Wyatt like there's a there's a pipeline for sure they're going to stay competitive but how often do you have what and the stank boy in the stank dude but how often do you have the vet the vets producing the goaltender you have the young star

You know, like this is the win the cup season, dude, win the cup. This is the team you win the cup with before those guys need more money, before the older guys leave. So yeah, I'm even more bullish on that. I thought you were, there were three teams I thought you were going to say, which I was going to passionately disagree with, which would be Boston, Florida, and Colorado. All teams, I think, would love the cup. All teams, I think could win the cup. Boston tougher, but like Colorado, Florida, certainly.

That might even have been my pick. I think Florida is a little higher than your, you're, than your, you're, you're saying. When you think about it, dude, think about Riney and Montor's contracts being up. Like Bob, the reawakening of Bob that happened last year with Bob, he's probably going to be top two in Vesna. But there is a chance that next season Bob shows up and he's like, I'm not good anymore. Like, you never know. Yeah, fair, fair. And that one, because they do have some contract stuff. I just, I think they're a little higher in that echelon of we need to win than you think.

Yes, because I agree this would be two years. Well, last year, out like a fucking lucky one though you know like they shouldn't have been there last year really but but wasn't it one of those things where you would have said all season they underperform it's like the playoff starting and they finally played to their level and now this year they played at that level the whole time so yeah this is them this is who the florida panthers are they are one of the five best teams in the nchl so i do think they're a little closer up to that level which is why i was less passionate though because i'm like i just think they're going to be competitive for the next few you never want to miss a window never want to miss an opportunity but i just felt like they're going to be competitive

colorado same boat where i'm like they're nasty but they could there's there's a couple holes there you know like they haven't quite filled that landy hole yet maybe it is landy next year but but they haven't filled that yet they haven't quite they don't have the big big goalie they won without the big big goalie so you can do it but there's just there's room to improve and the and moose and and and and a lot of those boys are going nowhere kale um so they're going to be fine and then who else did I say, oh, the Bruins, just, like, they've been so much better than I thought they were going to be this year for sure, but just with the flexibility they have in the cap and the roster for next year, I'm not like, oh, if you don't, I mean, the Bruins, the last 15 years,

yeah, you needed one more cup for sure. But in terms of, did they need this one? No, I think they'll be, I think they'll come back even stronger next year. So we'll see. You guys are so greedy. One cup. You needed another cup. I did, I did. You went to three cup finals. It's lost, dude.

It's awful. It's worse. I'd rather miss the fucking playoffs. How many times have we said, losing is the worst feeling in the world, dude. It's so much more intense than the joy of it. I pray to God, you never get to a Stanley Cup final and lose. And lose.

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We're loving it. You should love it too. All right, let's kick it to our final segment. Blakey, take us away with Armchair GM. Yeah, so Armchair GM. Dan, you won last week by one point, 21 to 20. So we got a 21 point lead for Chris heading into the final two and a half weeks of the season.

The score is 275 to 254. Yeah, one takeaway from last week, Bad GMing by Chris. Chris, you drafted Vince Dunn, and Vince Dunn has been sitting on the IR. Fuck. But hey. That's what happens when you get such a big lead, dude.

You get lazy, you know. Yeah, yeah. You get complacent. I didn't say anything. Yeah. It was a little shitty move by me. It's competitive out here, dude. I mean, dude, you're beating my ass.

I got to crawl back in here. So this week's theme, I thought we would, you know, stay on state topical so we are doing wild card race teams so the teams that you can draft from are as follows Washington Philadelphia Detroit the Islanders L.A., St. Louis, Minnesota. I know listeners or fans might say like oh well L.A. is not a wild card team or blah blah blah. These are the teams that are in and around it competing for it. Get off my back. This is playoff time. But one thing I wanted to put out to the listeners.

I am including Minnesota. If they're going to be rolling the dice, you know, pulling the goalie, trying to at least make it interesting to make the wild card race, they can be put into this. Yeah, okay. I like it. But one other thing is you cannot draft anyone you drafted last week. So, for example, Dan, you cannot draft Caprizo.

Okay. So that's tough for first pick, too. Wait, wait, neither of us can draft those guys or just. Dan. Just if you picked them last week. Okay. Yeah. So no one can have the same player two weeks in a row. Okay. I'm ready. Go for it, Dan. With my first pick, I will take Dylan Larkin. He came back, right? He's okay. Yeah. I guess I would be a fool to not go Carol Caprizz off with my first pick. All right. With my next pick, I will take Flip Forgeberg. Um, give me, Rob Thomas

Give me Drew Doughty I'm going all friends of the pot Yeah, that was good Um Noah Dobson Travis Kine No position for this one Okay so I just need a third forward

Um Give me Copey Wild card pick Give me Ivan the bear Oh sick Fuck I love that I'll take John Carlson I will go with a non

I'll go with a lanky young gun Mo cider. All right, we'll see how that goes. Now, C.P., why don't you get yourself ready for some saucy predictions because it looks like Dan

finally hit one, boys. Woo! It's actually the second time I've hit one, but the only time I hit one, Chris also hit so we both had to eat. So Chris now needs to eat two. Doused in hot sauce, fiery, ghost pepper melt your mouth hot sauces because you boy nailed his prediction i'll go ahead and

tell you what my prediction was i said that in the next three games for the edmonton oiler connor macdavid would have five assists let me tell you what in game one he had two in game two he had two and then in game three over this weekend mac david's just buzzing around there burying goals and they're winning six one and i was like hey dude get one fucking apple for me you are the assist King, Jesus Christ, and then he finally got one, I think on the last goal for the Oilers. So I hit it and CP. Yeah, McDavid was on a heater. What was that, Blake?

McDavid was on a heater for you. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And it's like been a eight game multi, multi point streak. Yeah, he's out of control. And he's going to hit 100 assists. It's unbelievable. Yeah.

One other thing I wanted to put out to the listeners is on our, on our upcoming armchair GM post, comment what you would want the loser punishment to be. I have a few ideas that I'll pitch at the end of the season but I think it'd be interesting for our loyal listeners who are following along with our game. I totally forgot that a punishment was something that that was coming. So I'm thinking my initial idea was my initial thought or idea was for us to put together a ridiculously terrible style like gloves helmet stick all that and force you to wear it in a full men's league game and we get a bunch of content of you looking like an absolute bender that's actually a great you know what's what's tough is i'm probably going to lose that because if

chris lost he would just be able to go out in his regular gear all right listen i got fucked again on this just like i do every time my predictions right every time and then something fucking insane happens I said Vegas would become Vegas, turn it on, and go four and O. They went three in one, and their one loss was a fucking melt against the Preds where they were up like four nothing. And the Preds came all the way back in one, which is fucking preposterous. So I shouldn't be eating anything, but I'm going to. And so this is fucking Melinda's ghost pepper.

Five bell. Look at that, dude. Full five bell. this is going to be very unpleasant. I heard this stuff is legit, though. They got everything. They got every cool flavor. This is their ghost pepper.

And I got two pieces of chicken. And we're going to douse it up. And this is, I'm actually not, I don't feel good about this. Yeah, it looks scary to me. One nice thing about us being remote is I don't have this in my nose right now. Yeah, which is real, by the way. Yeah, it still overtakes the entire. It's so crazy.

Yeah. But we won't get the, you know, the really good reaction of Chris's eyes crying and, you know, profusely. I'm getting this all over my fingers now, too, so I'm not going to able to touch anything. I think this might go very poorly for him. I put way too much on, too, by the way. This is dinner for you? Okay. I go for it, Chris.

Eat. You can give yours while I'm about, well, I'm about to go. Actually, no, let me eat it. Yeah, eat it. dude i've got to put too much on he loves making a meal out of all this eat your hot sauce bitch oh fuck

immediate I put too much on well you've got to eat another one so take that down the hatch my friend okay I'm gonna make my prediction go for it I don't feel good about this prediction

I don't think it's going to come true but it is saucy and in the name of saucy predictions you know I'm riding high off of the in. Let's get crazy here. So, by the time we're recording next week, the Nashville Predators will play four games. The Winnipeg Jets will play three games. The Nashville Predators are currently four points behind the Jets. My saucy prediction is that the Preds, by this time next week, will be tied with or above the Jets in points.

What? How many back are they? four. Yeah, that's a saucy one. Well, they get that extra game. That's why I'm doing it. They've got eight points to get. Winnipeg only has six.

So we'll see. And I mean, the way the two teams are going, it makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Have you eaten your second one yet? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay.

The Conner McDavid scored 64 goals last year. That's the high watermark for a long time. Matthews has three games this week. One of them is right now. I was going to make this prediction anyway. I didn't even know he scored yet, but I'm still getting it. By the time we record next week,

Matthews will have passed McDavid's mark from last year. He'll have 65, 65 goals at the start of next week. And how many games? Yeah, okay, fine. Five goals in three games? Is it saucy? Yeah, you gave me five assists in three games, so I have to accept goals.

Yeah. All right. That's a beautiful job. Those are our two saucy predictions. CP is struggling. Blake, happy birthday again, big boy. Guys, we're coming down the wire here last couple of weeks of the season. We're going to have the Frozen Four tournament in two weeks.

Stay tuned for tons of fun stuff. We're going to be buzzing on the page. We've got Ross Colton coming out next Monday as well. Tons of new guests that you guys will be pumped to see. We can't wait for it. And until then, skate hard, everybody. Thank you.