Empty Netters Podcast - Four Nations Face Off Roster Selections | 116

Episode Date: July 10, 2024

Psycho DP the GM woke up and made a spreadsheet picking the entire rosters including line breakdowns for every team in the Four Nations Tournament. Needless to say CP has a few edits. NEW EPISODES EVERY MONDAY & 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 (0:00) – Intro (3:15) – Four Nations Rosters (5:16) – Finland (18:20) - Sweden (32:30) - Canada (49:36) – USA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's a rainy day here in London. I feel very much like a local. It's a gorgeous day in New England. Gorgeous. Old England, lame. New England, perfect. It's so fucking wrong, dude. They're both great.

Nah, not really. Where is this hurricane devastating the U.S.? Is that in Florida right now? I feel like every time I pop on the gram, it's like someone, doing hurricane preparation. Hurricane. Let's see here. Barrel.

What the fuck? Barrel? Hurricane Barrel or something? Is that how you say it? I don't know. Slams Texas Coast. Okay. I'm not going to.

Oh, it was Texas. Yeah. Shit. That's rough. Well, I mean, hey. Hurricanes happen. Well, well, really three.

Wow. Knocks up power to three million. That's no joke. That's a real deal hurricane. dude. We're not here to talk about hurricanes. We're not. Sorry. It is raining here in London. I'm glad for you that it's nice there. You know, you deserve a win here and there. I never get wins, dude. Do you feel like you're healthy finally after the cup run? No. Unfortunately. Still no? Yeah, I'm sick.

Come on. Still sick, dude. I had to go. I had a wedding, you know, I had Vegas. I had a wedding. I had a wedding. I had a wedding. it's like I just got back from the wedding. So it's like... That's actually fair. You did just like the wedding, and I'm sure with you, it went into Sunday.

Yeah. So like... How fast did you have a Bloody Mary or a Mimo on Sunday after that wedding? I don't know when Saturday night ended in Sunday morning began. You know, like at what point am I, is the Bloody Mary a Sunday morning drink

or am I just still drinking from the wedding? That's what's tough to decide. That line. That implies, That implies you didn't go to sleep, and I don't believe that for a second. That line is quite blurry. Yeah, if you never sleep, does the night end and the day begin? Or is it all just...

It's still a wedding drink, I think. It's still the after party. Wouldn't that be sick if you never went to bed, Saturday night didn't end? Like, you were technically still on Saturday. Like, you could stay awake until Monday and then go to your boss and be like, it's Saturday still. And they'd be like, wait, have you not slept? And you're like, yeah. Yeah.

Shit, man. I'll see you in two days. Look at the Wop data, bro. I'm awake still. I love this, Dan. I just, I'm like so upset that we're starting this episode with you plugging your whoop, you fucking loser. You sheep, bitch.

Enjoy the monthly payment, you fucking loser. It's all about heart rate variability, Dan. That's all that matters. Oh, God. You sound, you in the whole clan, I've just like, I've never been more grossed out by anything in my life. You're such absolute tools. I've never been more grossed out. out by the document that you shared with me yesterday.

Yeah. Listen, it's going to be fun. So here's the deal, folks. We got a special episode for you today. Last episode in our little hot takes and our, two early predictions,

just spicy calls. My final one was that USA was going to win four nations. And then I teased talking about four nations rosters. and he, uh, the, the DMs were a flood. People were immediately like,

we need to see these rosters, need to talk about it. People are already on Twitter. I love seeing it. People kind of predicting the rosters. And then NHL.com. Yeah. They even released their predicted rosters.

Now the rosters get announced in December. But you know me. I'm a sick man. I have sick thoughts. I have, demons that keep me up at night. You also know me. I only like roster building. I love GM mode. If I'm playing chel, if I'm playing FIFA, I've said this on the podcast before. I'm all about the team building. I'm a roster guy. I'm a balancing of the books guy. So what I did was I hopped on

XL and I created full 23 man rosters for all four of the four nations teams. And I sent them to you in the middle of the night. With lines. Not like here's the guys on the squad. No, here are the lines. I made lines. I made lines and I made sure to balance left shot, right shot, demon.

I made sure to take future considerations into account. But I went hard, dude. And basically, while these rosters are getting announced in December, here we are. It's July 9th. We're in the, we are officially in the dolderms. of NHL season. I wanted to get my beque wet, dude. I wanted to get in the game here.

So we are doing an episode right now where we are going to break down my insanity and go over my rosters and lines for these teams and give you a chance to respond and then your reactions to everything. Yep. Where do you want to start? I want to start with Finland.

Okay. Finland for me was the easiest. But what's interesting is this, dude. This is going to be the dopest tournament of all time. And I am sad. What? Oh, yeah. Olympics. I actually prefer. I prefer the Olympics, too. This will be cool. This is going to be a little appetizer, a little pass-around apps. This is going to be so nasty because All-Star weekend is so fun. All-Stars a cool event. But what do we always say? It's a boring game. The guys are just kind of like tooling around out there. Skills

is fun, but it's a bit whatever. You can see that the guys don't really care. These guys are going to be fucking going full tilt in this tournament. And I can't wait. And the rosters are preposterous of every team. So, without further ado, Team Finland,

the first six players that were announced officially to be on this team are Alexander Barkoff, Miko Rantan, Sebastian Ahho, Miro Heistel Esa Lindel and UC Soros. Do you want me to go, so now I'm going to fill in the rest of the roster. This is the only team that I am listing a clean 12 forwards and eight defensemen and three goalies.

The rest I'll be going 13, 7, and 3. Okay. Do you want me to go through forward lines and then D or first forward line D, second four lines? No, forward lines, D, goalie. Okay. Team Finland, my first line will be Alexander Barkoff centering Arturi Lekanin on the left wing and Miko Rantan on the right wing. Any issues?

You get to read them all. Then I'll tell you. Okay. So Lekhinen is my first new player. Yep. Second line will be Rupa Hintz centering A2 Luster Rhinon on the left wing and Matthias Micelli on. on the right wing.

Third line, Sebastian Ahoh, centering Toyvotera Vinen on the left wing, and Mikhail Granlant on the right wing. Fourth line, Anton Landel, aka Baby Barkov, centering Eric Hala on the left wing and Eli Tolvinen on the right wing. Defense, first pairing, Miro Heikskinin and Rasmus Ristolinan. Second pairing, Esa Lindel and Henry Yokiharu. third pairing, Nikomikala

and Yanni Hakenpa. And then my two extras are Olimata and Yuso Valimaki. Goleys, Ucissis Soros, Eunice Corpissalo, and Uco Peca Lukinen. And are they,

I think you maybe just said this, but are they allowed to carry 8D and only 12 forwards? It's just a 20 situation. They can carry whatever 23 they want. Yeah, okay. Okay, yeah, they could carry one keep one tending if they wanted. Sure, good.

Two more forwards. Why not? And for those listening on Spotify, if you want to pop over to the YouTube, we're going to have graphics pop up here so you can see what's going on. Okay, I'll start. Honestly, Dan, Finland, when you sent this, I was aghast and I had so many questions, so many issues with your bullshit. but Finland is actually we're pretty aligned and they're a good squad. It's a really good squad.

Very good squad. They are absolutely stacked down the middle. Yeah. Right. Dude, so Kotkinemi was one where I was like, wow, that's a drop. But when I'm looking at the centers, I'm like, where, where, you know?

Yeah. So I'll start easy. let's go to goalie. Yeah. And not that this matters, really, but you've got to have UPL in the two spot, not the three spot. You've got to... Listen, I thought you were going to go there and I don't hate it.

I don't hate that argument, but here's where I'm seeing it. I think before last year, it would have been a no-brainer that you'd have Corpi over UPL. Now, with Devon Levi struggling in Buffalo, UPL stepped up big. I think he's probably going to be their starting goalie in Buffalo. I agree. We're not going to get into the bag of issues that is Buffalo right now. But UPL is that starter. Now, Eunice Koura Pissolo, brutal year in Ottawa has literally been salary dumped to Boston

in a horrible trade. But look at what Boston's goalie team did for Linus Olmark. He became a piece of the best tandem in the NHL. And I think Corpies is going to come in with zero pressure on him. Swayman is that starter. He is now going to be in a tandem with Swamen, working with those goalie coaches. I think we're going to see the rebirth of Corpies game.

And he's even said that. He's made a bunch of statements where he's like, I know how I can play. I need to get back to that game. And I think Corby's going to do exactly that. So I'm banking on Corpie by this time in February, you know, being like, oh, dude, he is, he is, you know, Linus Olmark.

He is one, he is part of the best tandem in the NHL. he's in the two spot. Okay, I don't, I don't, I think that's wrong. I think that the same, I think you're an idiot. I think the sabers are going to be comfortably in a wild card spot come November. Are you trying to take my sabers, Mojo? Yeah, dude, was it working for you, bro? Was it working for you?

I think the people of Buffalo would much rather me on board than you on board. So check this out, dude. You're out. I will. I'm in. I will remind them that you were all in on the senators And what happened to them, dude? No, but dude, I was never a fan of the senators.

I just picked the senators. You know? Yeah, all right. I'm cheap speaking there, Jersey. Semantics, bro. Semantics. I'm now the Buffalo guy. The Sabres are comfortably in the playoffs come November

when these are going to get named. UPL, on the back of UPL, by the way. On the back of UPL. Corpie is going to be doing just fine, and the bees are going to be great. But Swam is going to be eating games and pucks. and chicken parms from Treska. And so there's just not going to be enough of game tape for Corpian.

They're going to say, you're on the squad, dude. You're on the squad, but you're the three guy. Defense, I like, to be honest with you. I want to hate on you, but I like it. It's so good. Yeah. They're so good. They're so good on D.

They're a defense factory. Also, it's been really fun looking at this roster, seeing how hard Buffalo, Dallas, and Florida are on Finns. Like, they're just, I was right about to say, there's so much stars chemistry on this back line. I know, it's crazy. Which is great. You know, I think that's really, I think that's really solid. And Miro's a G.

So, yeah, you almost want to break up the left shot situation. I know. That's right. I know. I actually like that they're two D-lines stacked with that Dallas chemistry and success. Right. And then you can kind of just like, you're not that concerned about matchups on line change matchups, because you're just rolling out fucking finish studs.

Yes, dude. And like Ristaline is so good. Yuki Haru and Hock and Pa are both like firing up the roster ranks and just solid defensemen. I think like this is how they've won gold in the past. Like they got Tukaraska in net and then solid D. Now they got U.C. Soros in net and solid D. Like this team is good. Yep.

Okay. So let's go to forward, bro. I don't like, I might get crazy, dude. Well, God damn. Barkoff has to be your one. Barkoff just won a Stanley Cup by himself by single-handedly shutting down Connor McDavid. You need to prioritize winners. That's going to be a theme throughout my lines in these four teams.

Okay. Yep. Miko Ratanin and Sasha Barkov are winners. They are on your first line. Like they are hitting the other team like a sledgehammer. Yeah. And then, because, dude, I think Rupa Hintz is so underrated. Also, can we just.

quickly talk about what Moose is going to get to do in playing all year with Nate McKinnon, and then he just gets to go to Four Nations and play with Sasha Barkoff. Pop over to Barkoff, back to Nate Dog. That's pretty sick. That's pretty sick. But maybe there's a little bit to Moose. No, he's dope. Never mind.

I was going to say maybe he needs a Nate more than he needs a Barkoff. You know, like Nate is just such a fucking freight train, dude. And Barcos playing, and they play some D, but Barcoff's playing 200. foot game, dude. He's a freight train too, though, dude. Like, yeah, you know, remember that Matthew Cucch quote? Like, and this is the truth. If Sasha wanted to score 130 points every season, he could.

He's each of him. He chooses not to because he prefers fucking silverware. Dude, what did... I might get crazy, bro. Give me Aho's stats from this past year. I got him. Well, he had 89 points.

Yeah. That's fucking bonkers. He's so good. And he's on the third line, dude? I have him on the third line. You have him on the third line? I know, it's crazy. I was right about to say. But Rupert-Hinx, dude, you know why I have him on the third line?

Because I like Luster Rinen and Machelli on the second line with a guy like Rupa. And I want to keep Toivo with Aho. Like they just played together in Carol. I know Tara Vinen's in Chicago now, but they know each other. Chemistry. Yeah, chemistry is a thing. Because, dude, oh, man. And then Granlin, you got Granlin.

down there with him. I might even had Grandin on the second line. I don't hate moving Granny up over Machelli, but I just think Machelli, like, new home. He's going to be buzzing. He was great last year. I like him with a firecracker like Rupert. Right. And then,

okay. Because, dude, Lundell impressed me so much in these playoffs. Oh, my God. He's unbelievable. I'm like, he needs to be second line. But then we're kind of just pumping the same shit out there, you know? You know what's interesting? It's a similar player.

It's, I think when we get through these four teams, Lundell is going to be the best fourth line center of all these teams because everyone else's fourth line center is just like a first line center that is unfortunately playing fourth line center. Slightly worse than the other three centers on the team. And Lundell can kind of do this role. And dude, the role's changed in this shit. Like everybody thinks like, oh, well, you know, when you're building an NHL team, your third line looks a certain way. Your fourth line looks a certain way. It's different in four nations because you're not like, oh. Let me get four checkers or three checkers to like go.

And I'm like, no, bro. It's like three high skill guys that are like line one or two on their team. Yeah. And like run up the score. And then I look at this fourth line on Finland, Chris, Lundell, Hala and Tolvinen. And like when the games get tight, I'm like, that's a fourth line that knows how to play fourth line hockey. Like that's going to be valuable. Right.

I kind of hear you do because that's maybe one of the only, I'm cheating, but scrolling up. Like that's kind of one of the only teams that has a line. And this is going to sound like a chirp to Finland, but it's one of the only teams that has a line, a fourth line that isn't true, like first line guys. Yeah. You know, so I'm like, oh, maybe they could play a little bit more responsibly and know how to eat those minutes.

Totally. Okay, I might go, ah, ho. I might honestly, like, flip line two and three. Okay. But I'm not mad about the line itself, if that makes sense. I hear you. You like the pairings that you just in order. I might just flip that.

Okay. I don't hate you on that one. I'm not going to fight you. But Rupa is so dope, though. Rupé is so dope. And like, here's the thing. So is Aho, obviously. So it's like you're, what are you doing here?

But I just, I see Aho is a little bit more of like, I could see Aho winning a Selki before I saw Rupay winning a Selki, if that makes sense. And I like that idea of him. on the third line as opposed to the second line. Yeah. He's just got the firepower. Dude, how many did Rupé have? 30 goals, yeah.

I'm flipping him, dude. I'm flipping him. I'm flipping them. I thought about it. I'm flipping them. Otherwise, good job. But you missed up the goalies and you messed up line to him.

Okay, moving on to Sweden. Yep. All right, moving on to Sweden. The six players named for Team Sweden, officially were Mika Zabanajad Philip Foresburg, William Nealander,

Victor Hedman, Gustav Foresling, and Eric Carlson. Here is my roster for team Sweden. Line one. Elias Pedersen centering Philip Foresberg

and William Nealander. Dear Christ. Line two, Joel Erickson Eck centering Adrian Kempi and Jesper Brat. line three, Elias Lindholm, centering Lucas Raymond and William Carlson. Line four, Mika Zabanajad centering William Eklund and Gus Nyquist.

My extra forward is one Leo Carlson. Got to get him in there. I love this, too. First pairing, Victor Headman and Eric Carlson. Second pairing, Gustav Forsling and Adam Larson. Third pairing, Rasmus Dahlene and Rasmus Anderson. the Raz pairing. Yeah.

Extra defenseman, Hampus Lindholm. Goleys. This is tough. I know, dude. Really tough. But I'm so confident in this. No, this is like so obvious.

And if you disagree, you're an idiot. Linus Olmark, Jacob Markstrom, and Philip Gustafson. I have a lot of caveats with this roster. So before people lose their shit, and before you lose your shit, I do want to say several things. Dude, the first thing I want to say is I love how in Swedish or in Sweden, I guess, like you look at the Finland team and they have a lot of similar names. Like that's, that's Finnish. Yeah, like Eli and like A2 and Tuvalho.

Ristalainen, you know, and I'm like, okay, yeah, yeah. Sweden is like, Carlson, Carlson, Lindholm, Lindholm, Lundholm, Larson, Rasmus, Rasmittman. Like they just all have the same fucking name. It ends in, they all end in sun, oh, or. What you're doing, dude? Yeah, it's, it's hilarious. Okay.

Okay, let's start on a goalie, dude. Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible. Dude, Linus O-Mark is your starter. It's not even close. We went into this goalie-free agency slash like trade opportunity to fronzie this summer, and O'Mark and Markstrom were the two biggest goalies on the market, and everyone said,

Omar has more value than Markstrom. Yep. And he does. And he does, and he's great, and I love him, and I'll be rooting for him. But you're sleeping on the best goalie in the bunch, but, dude, no, I'm not. Like, if it were big, the beginning of last year,

I would have said Gus the bus was like the lock. But Gus the bus couldn't even take a starting job from Mark Andre Fleury this year, who was 59 years old. Correct. But the year before that, Dan, a 931 save percentage 2.1 goals against three shutouts in 39 games. And he's going to do it this year. And he's going to do it this year, dude.

They had the obvious slip-up year, which we all should have seen coming and none of us or some people did, but I think we both picked him to make playoffs and they plummeted. And dude, he was drinking his own sauce a little bit, probably. There was a lot of stress going on this year, dude. I think he is going to be fucking dialed. And I still am with you on the Linus over, over, um, Markstrom, which actually will be kind of interesting just based on the teams, right? You know what I mean?

Because they're going to name this shit in fucking December. And if the senators aren't that good and it's not really, if all marks have good numbers, but the senators are kind of tanking and the devils are fucking back all the way back. Oh, they're so back. And Markstrom's kind of dialed. Like I could see them being like, we're riding Markstrom. He's winning. Losing is a disease, dude.

Losing is a disease. So if Markstrom's dialed, I could see that happening. And the wild, I don't even. know if I'm going to have the wild in the playoffs. I just really think Gus could be, because dude, those numbers the year before were fucking pure. And if he's back to that for him, like, you might want to go him. He's fucking, how old is he, dude? He's 25. Like, you might want to go Gus. He's pimped. You are so right. Like, I didn't, I didn't properly consider this. We are probably going to head into February with Ottawa being at the bottom half of the Atlantic,

certainly and I love how delusional Ottawa fans are like they're going to hear that and they're going to be like what we are winning the Atlantic this year it's it's a like Ottawa fans are absolutely out of their minds and I genuinely love it but they are going to be probably with a losing record and these other two goalies are probably going to be certainly the devils will have a winning record I imagine they'll be in the top two maybe three spots in the metro and then yeah, I expect to bounce back from Minnesota. So fuck, you are right. I think Linus might lose this starting role because he's going to be coming into four nations with a losing record.

Yes. And it's like, dude, you got to ride the hot hand of Markey. That might be it. You're absolutely right. I take it back. I'm okay with flipping the goalies. Okay. So then, dude, on D, I want, Dahlene on the third pairing is so on paper, insane.

I'm like, what the fuck? But I don't hate it, especially with the show. shot with the left shot, right shot, and the razs pairing is just too cool. You know? Yep. And what did I say earlier? Who are they to not provide us with a Raz pairing on a blue line? Yeah.

And what did I say earlier, dude? It's winning, winners. I need winners. And if you were going to act like Rasmus Dahlene deserves to be ahead of Victor Headman or Gus Forsling, you're wrong. I think Gus Forsling and Victor Headman are two of the top six defensemen in the NHL right now. And, like, I mean, God, watching what Gus just did to Connor McDavid and watching what Victor

Hadman has done his whole life. I'm like, those two. I mean, it's a shame that they're not on the first pair. But, yeah, we're splitting up left and right. And God damn it. Is there anyone more perfect to, like, keep Carlson in check than Victor Headman? I mean, honestly, it might be Gus. So, like, Carlson can play with him or Gus.

Good one. Perfect. Here's the only pushback I'm going to give you. and it's not even in a starter. Okay. It's my guy, Hamas Lindholm. Two years ago, tremendous. And I just did this bullshit with Gus the bus, so it's okay.

Yeah. Yeah. Two years ago, tremendous. Tremendous. Tremendous. Plus, what was it? 157? Plus 157 on the year? Seriously.

His plus minus was out of control. He got a ton of Norris votes as he deserved. Yeah. Last year, down year. Tough. Admittedly. Down year. Now, like everything I just said about Gus, if they come out and the bees are firing and Lynn told me's back, dude, all the way back, running second power play, plus minus machine, eating minutes, then I'm okay with this. But if he isn't all the way back, I'm not even talking halfway back, Dan. If he isn't all the way back, can I jump in? Yep. Because this is one of my caveats. I wonder if you're going to say this. One of my caveats was, I believe in the hampus,

Lundholm bounce back. And also, this is prefaced by the Sweden team has a serious log jam of left shot defensemen, a serious logjam. Yep. If Hamas Lundholm is not back to two years ago, Hampus Lundholm, Matias Ekholm has to be in there over him. It's like, Matias Echholm just played phenomenal for the Oilers. He fucking was absolutely buzzing for a team that just went to game seven of the Stanley Cup,

not having him in here is crazy. but you look at that left shot D and that's not even considering Oliver Ekman Larson who just won a Stanley Cup or Jonas Brodine who is a stud, stud young defenseman for Minnesota. All of these guys left shot D. Like left shot D is brutal.

Brutely, dude, I know. I just believe in the ceiling of Hampas more than I believe in the ceiling of Matias. So that's why I have them flopped. But yes, if Hampas is not all the way back, it has to be at home. That's actually the correct take. The ceiling is higher.

But I'm OEL, Dan, two years younger than Ecombe. Wow. He just looked, he looked fresh as lettuce in game seven. He really did. He looked amazing. And he can give you a little bit more, a little bit more power play. I mean, not that they're last, he's not actually, you know, who the fuck am I talking about? He's never going to sniff the eyes on the power play looking at the guys out here.

But I just like the puck moving from him that he can give you. Like when he's really going, I think it's up to me and Hampus is playing bad. and Ekholm and OEL are giving you exactly what they gave you last year, which is no guarantee. But if they're doing exactly that, I'm going OEL nod, championship pedigree, championship pedigree. I like the winner element,

but I am going to come at you with what you just came at me with. You're disregarding the fact that he's playing for the biggest loser franchise in the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs next year. So. What if they're in first? Now, obviously that's a joke. Yeah, I mean, listen, I just like, I like the ceiling.

I like the ceiling. I like the stock. I like the stock. I like the stock. And it's a big caveat on that. But I actually like the OEL above Ecombe. Like he's younger. He looked fresher.

He won. So don't hate that at all. Those three guys. And here's the thing, dude, Jonas Mrodin might come out and have a healthy season and be a fucking machine. So I don't hate that either. So good news for Sweden. They got a lot of options. left shot d bad news for sweden they got a lot of options on left shot d uh forwards ziba on the fourth

line is unacceptable and this aggression will not stand dude it's i i had a feeling you were going to bring that up because he's obviously one of the top six mentioned but i don't know man talk to any rangers fan and i mean first of all it's not even a question that pd is the first line center of yes 100 percent 100 percent um and then i look at just like the brad of Joel X. Erickson Eck. Ericson Eck, though, dude. Oh, he's so good, dude. I know, but like, this guy is going to be firing up.

And it's all about vibes, dude, like the vibe on your line. I love, and we're going to get into that big time later. The vibe of young Erickson Eck with Kempie and Brat. Like, Kempie and Brat, I love together his wings. And then after that, it's like, I love Razor with Elias and Willie, Wild Bill. Like, I don't like Ziba with. them. I love Ziba with Eklund and Nyquist. He's going to bring the best. I think Ziba brings the best out of August Nyquist. And okay, here's my other caveat. If, if Gabriel Landerscog is playing,

he's obviously on this team. Okay, dude, yeah. But, but that is like this is a, when we did our top 100. For who? Oh, like you bump, just, you just bump Leo to make it easy? No, I think I bump Eklund. I like Leo as, like, Leo, like your young gunslinger waiting in the wings if one of the centers goes down because i don't really see leo on a wing leo's such a center yep um i bump ecclan and i put i put landian and i probably i mean christ like that's that's a brutal situation like landy is a winner and so good yeah and if he's playing i imagine he's going to be great but they have to name him dude they have to oh absolutely but we're operating right now that he's not back in the line okay i think Colorado is operating that

if he comes back next year, he's coming back in, like, December. So, like, are you going to bring him back into the Colorado lineup in December and then name him to Four Nations in February? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I don't know. Okay, I'm going flip, Pedy, Nealander, just like you have it.

Then I'm going. Oh, sorry. I thought you meant flip as in swap. I was like, no. What are you talking about? Yeah, got you. Got you. Then I'm going.

Kempi, Ziba, Wild Bill, all hairlines. and I don't know how you can argue that to be completely honest with you. I'll argue it by what I always say about Mika. I don't like his hair. Yeah, but you're an idiot. That's the lettuce line, dude. It's the lettuce line. I'll give you it's the lettuce line.

It's not the all-hair line. It's a lettuce line. There's a lot of lettuce. Then I'm going Razor, Lindholm, Brat, which I love. Don't hate that either. And then Eklund, Erickson, Nyquist. Okay. Don't hate that.

You just got to give me lettuce, dude. I don't hate the lettuce line. They're not going to put Z-Bahn fourth line, by the way. I don't, honestly, I don't, I see what you're talking about, but I'm just telling you they're not going to do it. I hear you, I see unless he's absolutely buzzing, which I think he's absolutely going to be, I could see Elias on that fourth line, but I think Elias is going to be on pace for fucking 85 points with the Bruins.

Yeah, he sure is, dude. He might be second line, to be completely honest with you. One that's tough for me here is Nyquist rebirth last year. Yeah, holy fuck, dude. A full rebirth last year. And there's something to him in Flip, right? Well, there's something for, yeah, I hear that, absolutely, but I just don't, like, Flip is your first line left wing. There's absolutely no question about it.

And I just don't see a world where you're putting Nyquist over Willie Nealander or Esper Brat. So for me, you get tough with that fourth line right wing because Fabian Zetterland is really exciting. I know he had a tough year in Pipp, but like Ricard Raquel is a great player, good right winger. Neil's Holglander is kind of a, he can play both sides, but just on that fantastic Vancouver team. So like there's, there's tough questions there for sure. Not that bad though. Landy's really the only one for me.

Like you just check Landy. I agree. Okay. So you feel good. I feel good. Take me to North America, bro. All right. Here we go.

North America and no disrespect Sweden, Finland. This is where we really get in the weeds. Like, we're subs here are going to get hairy. All right, we're doing Team Canada. The six players named for Team Canada so far have been. Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, Sydney Crosby, Brad Marshand, Braden point, and Kale McCar. Here are your lines for Team Canada. This is insane, dude.

It is insane, but there's also a lot of very interesting things here. I know, bro. line one Connor McDavid centering Brandon Hagle and Braden Point Line two Nathan McKinnon

centering Robert Thomas and Mitch Marner line three and this is the best line on the team Sidney Crosby centering Brad Marshand and Steve Stamcos Line four

Matt Barzell centering Zach Hyman and Sam Reinhardt Carter Verhagie is your extra forward defensive pairings obvious First pairing, Devon Taves and Kael McCar.

Second pairing. Josh Morrissey and Evan Bouchard. Third pairing. Vince Dunn and Noah Dobson. Drew Dowdy is your seventh defenseman. Absolutely need a winner, need a veteran leader, and in my opinion, alternate captain in this roster. Goleys, Aidan Hill, Stuart Skinner, Connor Ingram.

So many notable subs here. Like so, so, so, so many. Dude, let me start you on D because I actually I can already hear the Morgan Riley fucking truthers screaming down my throat but I actually don't think there's anyone even up for it

except for Shea Theodore. What about Owen Power? I actually really like the argument of Owen Power. Owen Power was great last year but I just think I look at like the sheer talent mixed with some experience of this D. and I'm like, I just, really it's like,

are you going to, are you going to not? It's not his time yet, dude. He might make me. And like, look at the way, look at the way Dewey played last year. I'm like, Drew Doughty is on this team. 100%. Shay Theodore is very good. Shea Theodore, McKenzie Wigar, and Morgan Riley are in the conversation.

But for me, it's Shea. But for me, it's Shay. It's the only one. And I think it's just like a really tough out. I get some questions about Bouchard, but it's hard to argue the production. There's absolutely zero questions about push art. So yeah, let's leave it there. Goleys, well-documented, the national tragedy that is Canadian goalies.

It's unbelievable, dude. Everyone just wants to be Sidney Crosby, so no one's playing goalie, I guess. Patrick Waugh, Marty Brodor, Carrie Price, like these fucking legends, dude. Legends. And now... What happened? What are we talking about? Like...

And like, don't get me wrong. These guys are great. Great goaltenders. Great goaltenders. One of them is a Stanley Cup winner. But it is like, they aren't the certified blue chips that are around the rest of these teams. Like it is,

it's interesting that every team in four nations has like a, oh, yeah, lock starter, if not multiple. And Canada is like, I mean, this one's coming down to the wire.

No doubt about that. Yeah, buddy. No, no Bennington, eh? No. I love Benner, but I just don't,

like, He keeps showing up in articles. I know. I'm like, what the fuck are we talking about? A lot of my Canadian buddies are like, we want Binner. And you know what I really love, dude? The coming out party and the realization that people are going to have on Connor Ingram this year is something that I'm very much looking forward to.

He was so solid last year on a struggling Arizona team. They got a new home. They got new players. They got a new defense as we talked about. I think Connor Ingram has a chance of stealing this spot. But it's a... Interesting. Yeah, yeah.

And Hill was actually sick to start last year. You know, like he got hurt, but he was actually very, very good. So that actually, honestly, Dan, that could be the fucking dark horse secret weapon of the whole tournament. Like, if Aiden Hill plays like Stanley Cup two years ago, Aden Hill slash start of this year Aden Hill, he's one of the best goalies in the tournament. And then everyone goes, oh, Canada's huge Achilles heel is not an Achilles heel at all. They have the top three goalie in, well, I guess there's only four fucking teams. But you know what I'm saying? Like they have one of the most competitive goalies in the tournament, and now you're all fucked.

Yeah. It is really like, it's the biggest advantage USA has over, as frankly all the nations have over them. And if Aden Hill makes that disappear, it's going to be interesting. Yeah. Okay. Forward dude. The centers. McDavid McKinnon, Crosby, already named, obviously.

And then you have Barzell, who's the fucking man. Yeah, and had a monster year. It's hard for me to, argue that those four at all. And I'm talking like, you're, you're really trying to stretch me. Wyatt Johnson, Beau Horvath, some of the guys on the roster, you know, that can play center, Brock Thomas Stammer. Right. But like, I'm kind of like, okay, no, that's Barz's job there. So I'm willing to lock in the four centers. Now it gets interesting, dude. It sure does. It gets extremely interesting. You know where it gets particularly interesting,

left wing? Dude, what is Canada's deal on left wing? It's very odd. I know all these guys change citizenship, dude. And I might get a spot on this team. It's interesting because obviously all these guys can play wherever. But for the purposes of this, I'm trying to keep it like a well-balanced team. And like the guys who are listed at left wing are, it's lower than you'd think.

And like even in the sub conversation, you're like Huberto, Clodzreux, you know, but like those guys can play center. you know yeah i mean quickly if i may just like i said some of the subs like guys that come to mind mark stone nasum cadry mark schifely jonathan marshesot uh bo horvatt Travis connectney set jarvis jordan kairu nuge uh dillon strome Wyatt johnston clodgeru connor baudard owen tippet jonathan huberdo alexi lafranier was named which was a la riot for me I looked on NHL.com and saw their roster, and they had Laffey. Alexei Lafranier was named to be playing for this team Canada. And let me tell you what, if they name Laffey to this roster, start celebrating fourth place.

No offense, Laffey, but Jesus Christ, like talk about a New York Rangers blogger wrote that article for NHL.com. Because to dismiss the other players on this team, the other right wingers, on this team for Laffey. I was like, what the fuck are we doing? Did fucking Johnny Lazarus write that article? Hey, but Dan, he almost scored 30 goals last year.

He almost has 30. He almost had 60 points. And he'll be a hundred, he'll be a, he'll be a hundred point guy next season. Holy shit, dude. When he's on page for a buck 20, they're going to throw him on there.

That is bonkers. I'm not even going to address that. Yeah, you can't. Okay, dude. So here's my questions. I don't know that you can, I don't give a fuck what you think about these guys that you've stuffed on left wing. You literally have to play Zach Heiman with McDavid. That was an argument for me.

He was fine. And then he got on McDavid's wing and now he has 70,000 goals. He was better than fine, but yes, like he's an absolute weapon goal score and led that into the playoffs as well. I don't hate the idea of Hyman just, like, throw him up there. I also, dude, Hegel is unbelievable, and you're disregarding the element of Point and Hegel playing together. Yep, yep, yep. So that was my thought process there.

I think Hegel is a better overall player, and I like Hegel and Point being together, but if you want to mix it up, fine. I think you're just maximizing Hyman. Maybe you go Marner with Hyman and McDavid, and then we go McKinnon with the two bolts. Marner, Hyman, McDavid. McKinnon with Hegel and Point.

Okay. That's interesting to me, Dan. Here's one that's going to be even more interesting. Who's going to have a problem with putting Mitchie Marner on the first line? No one. Well, me. And here's my problem with it, Dan. Mitchie Marner might be off this team for me.

Okay. I don't know what to say to this. What do you think about that? I don't like it at all. I mean, it's just like, here's the problem, then. You're not going to punish Austin Matthews. You're not going to punish Willie Nealander. like stop

Mitch Martin is amazing he's a two-way player who scores 90 points he's great he's great player what do you have this year 85 85 sick year

26 goals he missed a lot of time by the way 85 and 69 games tremendous player Dan but points on the team for sure Ryanert's on the team

for sure guy just had fucking 57 goals or whatever the fuck it was yeah but he had like what 89 points like yes he is a certified goal score and a stud and a winner. A winner, dude.

But, like, calm down. No, but here's my thing, Dan. It's going to be, and I'm already going to hear it from the haters, because I feel like we've just been stroking Stammer for the last three weeks. But the, I could hear someone going, well, Stam's coach should be off, not Marner. Marner's actually a right wing. He's way younger. He's more productive currently.

So is Stammer. Stammer plays wing. Like, people forget that. Stammer's a center, but he plays wing. But my point is Mark Stone, I think I need a lot. on this team. He's going to be on LTIR, dude. It's fine.

That's bullshit, dude. That's bullshit and you know it. I think he needs to be on this team. Like, I get you, but like, I, again, he's a winner. He's a winner and he delivers and he can do it all, dude. Winner and a leader.

And also gets fucking Selky votes. Like, he does everything, bro. He's, yeah, but it's so. It's up here. It's up here. So does Mitch, dude. Like, you have an, you have enough.

winning on this team with fucking Sidney Crosby, Steve Stamcoast and Brad Marchand, then you know what to do with. You don't need more winning. Dude. And everything you're saying that fucking Markstone does, so does Mitch. I will not sit here and accept any Mitch Slander on this podcast in this country. I will not in England. I will not hear any Mitch Marner slander.

Mitch Marner is fucking so good. And when he gets out of that fucking team, he is going to pop off and thrive and probably win a cup immediately. But what happens, Dan, when Team USA leaves a single Xbox in the Canadian hotel lobby, Fortnite on, just ready to play, loading, map loading. And it's the night before the game. And if you have Mitch Marner on the team, then now he's up all night and he's exhausted. And he's got no legs in the third period. But if you have Mark Stone on the team, he goes, walks over, turns it off to save the energy bill of the hotel that he doesn't need. even own and then he goes to bed and he's ready for the third period.

Because it's February and Mark Stone's internal clock is going to click on and he's going to go, I'm injured. I have a lacerated spleen. I can't play. Barner's off this team and then here's another one that I got for you. I can't believe. Rob Thomas. Dude, okay, this is another one.

We, like the Robert Thomas disrespect needs to stop. The one thing I'll say is Thomas is a center. And I kind of bumped him to left wing. And if you want to talk about bumping someone else, maybe Swaggy Verhagie up there instead, like, that's fine. But the Rob Thomas disrespect is a epidemic that is going on amongst NHL fans. This guy just churns out 80 plus point season after 80 plus point season. Like it's his fucking job on the middling St. Louis Blues year after year after year.

He plays 82 games. Like he is just so good and no one gives him his flowers. And I'm like, this guy has a spot on this team. Well, what about Jarvie, though? That was my, Jarvie is my like, you want to flip over? Oh, absolutely. He couldn't. You want a spark plug in this lineup, a guy who's going to do whatever you ask of him.

And also there's like so much seriousness. Like, think about how serious this team is with McDavid, with McKinnon, with Sid, with Sid, like, with Stammer even too, there's so much seriousness. And like Jarvie might be a nice little dash of fun and just energy. He's that energizer bunny. He could absolutely be on this team. I thought about popping him on that left wing as well. Jarvie's definitely in that conversation.

And then because like, oh man, because you maybe you'd have to go him over Verhege. But Verhege is a winner, but he's a winner. He's a winner. And so then maybe it is Rob. And then it's the Rob slander all over again. I'm sorry about that. Verhege is another. guy. It's just like back to back, monster years.

Monsters. Back to back. Stanley Cup performances. Back to back Stanley Cup performances, like himself. Like, it's like, uh, you need winners. You need guys who get it fucking done. And like, and I love the idea of maybe you even, you unite him and Reiner, you know, like, what if you did, like, if you did Hyman McDavid, Marner, let's leave him on for now, even though he's got to be out. Hyman, McDavid, Marner, Hagle, Nate Dog, Point, which. is sick. Sick. Marshy, Crosby, Stammer. And then...

And then you're dropping Rob Thomas in this scenario. Yeah. And then I go over Hagee, Barsey, Reinhert with Jarvie on Reddy... In Reserve, Ready 5, Maverick. Don't hate, but I do hate losing Rob Thomas. He's great. But the argument is the center problem. You go, I'm sorry, dude. You're tremendous, but just like... Yeah. Like, Jarvie's a winger. I don't know what to tell you.

Jarvie's a winger. I need a winger. Someone who's going to get pucks off the wall, dude. Get pucks off the wall. Get chipping out. I don't like it because I'm here to give the respect that Rob Thomas deserves, but if you want to keep, like, there's so much, so much chemi now, we've got so much chemi now. If we've got the bolts, we've got the bolts playing with Nate Dogg. We've got Hyman and McDavid together again.

And now we've got the Stanley Cup winning cats surrounded by Barzzi. Like that chemi is good. And then also, like, the best friends. Jarvie keeping it all together, the glue guy. And then you got the best buds of Marcy, Kraze and Stammer together. too. Like, that's... Dude, team chemistry.

Canada, chemistry, Canada, dude, that's going to do it for him. Okay. If we do that. I thought we had gold and then we just fucked it. Yeah. Delete this. Hey, delete this. I know.

Like, that's team chemi. Like, we just made team chem out of control. Unbelievable. Babe's taken a quick second to talk about our betting partner, bet MGM. We've been partnered with them all season and by God, was it fantastic. We had our own empty net props. We had so much action going. CP and I did the 12 days of Bet's mess.

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First bet offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See betmgm.com for terms. U.S. promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Okay, are you ready to move on to Team USA? Boy am I ever. Team USA, a.k.a.

Championship. That will win that four nations. The six players named to Team USA. Michael, Matthew Kachuk, Austin Matthews, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Adam Fox. Here are my lines. Yep. Line one, Jack Eichel, centered by Matthew Kachuk and Kyle Connor. Line two, Austin Matthews, centered by Jason Robertson and Clayton Keller.

Line three, Jack Hughes, centered by Brady Kachuk and Goal-Kawfield. Line four, Dylan Larkin, centered by Jake Gensel and Brock Besser. Defense, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy, Thomas Harley and Brock Faber, Zach Werenski and Adam Fox, my spare D is Noah Hanifin, my spare forward is J.T. Miller. Goalice. Jeremy Swayman, obviously. Connor Hellebuck Jake Ottinger

Damn you did Demcoe dude I did him I'm sorry I hated every second of it That's my guy But I had to do it This one is brutal And The center depth for Team USA The D depth is out of control

The first one that I would like to mention It was hard not putting Patrick Kane on the right wing And I also want to say this, a similar caveat. We weren't sure if Patrick Kane was going to retire or not. Patrick Kane signed for the Detroit Red Wings and then had 47 points in 50 games. If Patrick Kane starts the season for the Detroit Red Wings and is just Patrick Kane again, he is in this lineup. He is Team USA. I don't know which.

I don't know which of those right wings that I bump. But here's the thing, Chris. Here's the thing that everyone fucking forgets. Team USA has fallen short time and time again. And you know why? You know why, dude? Because we just name dinosaurs to this team because we're like this. Oh, well, we need this guy because he's an old wily vet.

And then we lose to the faster superior teams. So I will no longer be like this. Well, we need so and so. We need so and so. Like they're an old vet. I don't need that. We got winners in this lineup. And we've got the young best talent in the NHL in this lineup.

And that's what we're fucking rolling with. I will hear nothing else, but Patrick Kane deserves to be in this conversation, and he is in this conversation. And like I said, if Patrick Kane is Patrick Kane, he's in the lineup. I don't know who we're losing, but he's in there. There's no question about it. Okay. Goalie, I got nothing to say. I got nothing to say.

This is the exact three I want in this exact order. I'm sorry, Thatcher Demko, you're a tremendous goalie. And you might just play your way onto this team. And if you do, then I'll tip my cap to you, sir. but these are the three I want here. Absolute big gamers. And boom, perfectly done. Yeah.

Defense. I love Faber, dude. God, I love seeing favor in there. I didn't know if you were going to do it. I don't know about Werenstki and I don't know about Harley. Okay, here's where I'll jump in. Left shot D. Log jammed.

I know. dude left shot d log jam left shot d quen hughes thomas harley zack wrenski noah hanifin we also got jacob slavin who is maybe the best defensive deem like leaving slavin off the team was very very difficult for me but who else even is there shay luke lukhues brady shay um Shane gosdus bear those are the those are the guys that i really you know i i need mentioned in this so i think i maybe only want slavin now that you say it so i think slavin i mean like Shea is so good and Luke Hughes buddy I mean you're fantastic but oh yeah but

but not your time yet not your time yet not your time yet not your time yet like we just saw the like he was thrust into too serious of a role with the devils and just made too many mistakes he's going to be one of the if not the best defense men in the NHU's dude it actually will be so sick when all three Hughes brothers are on an Olympic team yes and like for for Christ's sake

like I mean it like Luke is going to be yeah he's going to win multiple Norris trophies it's just not his time yet for me Werensky and Hanifan were both like Werenski he's just he's been so unlucky with injury I know like so impossibly unlucky and

he had such a good fucking year last year like in everyone's face he stayed healthy he had such a good year and he deserves a spot on this team the one place where I hear swapping Werenstki with Hanofin or Slaven is size Quinn is a little bit smaller

Yep. Foxy's not even six foot tall. I don't think Brock might be six feet, but look that up for me right now. I'm not sure he is. But like your size is really coming with McAvoy and Harley. 6-1. But that's probably going to 6 feet. You know, they're not monsters on the back end.

And you put Hanifan or Slavin in there, especially playing with Fox. Like, you know, I hear that. 6-3. 6-3-207. Hanath, probably the exact same size. I think he's 6-3-2-10 or something like that. But that's the one-off.

It's 6-3-207. Does it? Yeah, there you go. They're the same person. So we've got plenty of offense on this USA decor. So if you want to lose Rewenski and put in some size like Slave and a guy who's going to kill penalties, guy like Hanifin.

I don't hate it. I think I do it. So that, that is the one place that I will, I will back off. But like, Thomas Harley, to me is,

is, like the surprise here for some people, but my God, is this kid a monster? Is he good? Is, like, he's just chock-a-bock full of vim and vinegar.

I love his fucking game. He's, he's been playing with and learning from Miro Haskinen, you know, like, in every sense, he's on this team, and I love it.

I was not familiar. And he didn't have a tremendous playoff, I would say, based on the stats he put up in the regular season. But I wasn't familiar with his game till playoffs. And he's fucking nasty. He's 22, which is like the one thing where I'm like, I don't know, dude. You know, like, is it like Bedsie, right? And Canada's stacked.

So I'm not saying, we didn't even mention him, really. But Bedsie, I'm like. And I do that. Like, it's a fucking marketing scheme. The amount of people that are naming him, it's a marketing scheme. Connor Bedard is a future Hall of Famer probably, but he's also a 5-foot-9-19-year-old who got the points that he did because he shot it fucking 70 times a game on a HL Chicago Blackhawks team. Like look at those guys on Canada. Putting him on that team would literally be a marketing ploy.

And if they do it, that's why they're doing it. And I want everyone to know it. Yep. And my point was going to be, no one's questioning, are you going to make teams? you're just not on this team. And I could hear that with Harley a little bit. Like if they wanted to go Slaven and Hanathan and Shea or something, how old is Brady Shea?

I believe he's 29. Yeah. Like if you wanted to go to those boys and you're like, Harley, you're a weapon and you're probably going to make the Olympic team, but you're just not on this team. I can live with that, truly. I'm like, you're great. I just, I can live with that because you're 22. But I don't hate to pick by you.

I really like that. But we've got to look at the forwards now. Yeah. I've never felt more confident in anything in my life than line one. Really? And my only question is why you don't want Austin up there. And I'm not even saying I do. I'm just saying I'm surprised you didn't have Austin up there. I want Austin up there. Or I don't want Austin up there because I look at Kyle Connor. Yes, dude.

A certified-50 from him. A certified sniper. who is going to bury goals. I look at Matthew Kachuk, just a unbelievable all-around player. And then I look at Jack Eichel, who is just a supreme skater, winner, and one of the best fucking dishers

serving out four-course, five-star meals all day long. And I want Jack Eichel passing the puck to Kyle Connor and Matthew Kach over Austin Matthews. Austin Matthews is going to get his cookies. He always has. He always will. Keller is so good everywhere. And I actually think Keller is one of the better passing wings in the league.

So, like, great right wing to be playing with Austin Matthews as far as I'm concerned. I think Robo, we saw him this year, Karen more about dishing the puck and spreading the wealth. I think that's a great person to be playing with Austin Matthews. To me, to put out Austin 70 goal scoring Matthews on your second line. Oh, my God. that is such a fucking weapon. And honestly, dude, the winning element, the attitude element, like the, the competitiveness for listeners here, we asked Jack Eichel this year to, like, pop on and talk to us about some

playoff shit in like the third round. And he was so appalled he almost ended our friendship because he was like, dude, I should still be playing. Don't make me fucking talk about hockey right now. And I was like, I love that response so fucking much, dude. Like, he is such a competitor. That is who I want as my friend. first line center leading this USA team. Like Jack, in my opinion, is like, that is the attitude

that I want as the first line center. And I'm not saying Austin doesn't have that. I know Austin has that. But like, I want Austin as the murderer on that second line that is just going to fucking light it up out of control. Okay, you've completely convinced me on that. However, is there any concern that we just built team Kemi up in Canada and that Then on our first line, we put Matthew Kichuk and Jack Eichol, one of whom beat the other one in the Stanley Cup last year, and the other one nearly caved in the lungs of the other one in game two of the Stanley Cup finals. Are we at all concerned with that matchup? I thought you would bring that up.

In my opinion, I think it's a classic Jack O'Callaghan, Rob McClan-Han situation. Yes, dude. We put them together. Yep. Make it work, dude. Make it work. Make it work. Okay.

I love the Matthews argument. Robo's there. Brady Kachuk, most obvious. I actually can't believe Brady Kachuk wasn't named in the first six. That's how important I think he is to this team. I agree, dude. How about that? How about that?

I love it. You want to talk about attitude? Like, that is the attitude that I cannot wait. And also, dude, regardless of what the senators do, the fire that Brady's going to come out with next year after just watching his brother win a Stanley Cup. Oh, dude. This is his Stanley Cup. This Four Nations is his Stanley Cup because he's like, I'm winning something this year.

You better fucking believe I'm winning something. And it's going to be this. Yep. If Caner's in, dude, which I think he is, I think I might go Cole, dude, which is crazy. You might dead Cole. Yeah. You know, I understand it. How old is he?

How old is goal? I think goal is 24. Looks that. Sounds about right. He's a bit of injury bug, too. He's 23. He'll be 24. Oh, January 2nd.

Cool birthday. So, yeah, he's 23. Played 82 last year, though, Dan. Played 82 last year. And I think he's going to have a big year this year, dude. That Canadian's team is so, so exciting. How big is? How big is Keller, though?

He's like 5.10, 11, I think. that big because because because goals yeah Clayton listed 510 goal listed 5.7 you know and I don't hate a patty cane there instead of two really small right wings. Well Patty Kane's 510 like he's not big. Yeah but I'll take that. Is he 510? Yeah he's small dude. 510 510.

Okay okay but I mean someone's got to go. If Kane is playing he's in dude, he's in period. Yeah. You're saying you might lose Brock? No. I really don't know on that right wing. I know. Brock has just,

Brock has earned every flower these last two seasons. And same with J.T. I kind of feel like. Unless J.T.'s bad in the broom? Is he a bad room guy for like two weeks? Is he the guy that's like. Yeah, but like you love him if he's your boy all season. But if you're just popping in for two weeks,

are you like, bro, fuck off. We're having a fun. Yeah. Maybe. And what's tough is I am a absolute, like, look again let's talk about center depth jack ikel austin matthews jack hughes dylan larkin are you fucking kidding me we're not even mentioning chris i know tage thompson we're not even mentioning you know like a lot like what if trevor zegras has the year that i think he's gonna have

no but i still think here's another one dude here's another one that maybe maybe the quick trigger answers that people aren't thinking about viny trocheck yeah i know he is the captain of that New York Rangers team and just had a fucking monster season and was a all star deservedly so. Vinnie Trocheck is a like talk about, you know, grit that you want on this fucking team. Like that is another center option. But Dylan Larkin, as everyone who listens to this podcast knows how I feel about Dylan Larkin, he to me is like Captain America. Like he is the guy who is from Michigan, went to Michigan, plays for a Michigan NHL team.

And it's just like the heart and fucking soul of every team. that he is on. And if I talk about an anchor center on this team, Dylan Larkin is like the first thing that comes to mind. So that is a non-negotiable. He is on this team. And it's such a voice in that locker room. It's not even fun.

The trickiest one for me will be Tage if he's two years ago, Tage. Like if he's going fucking off and has 20 fucking five goals in November, they're putting him on the team, period. So that's going to be a really hard one. because I just don't see how you lose. I don't see how the committee can lose the top three centers. I know, dude. With a straight face.

It's crazy too. Then you're talking like last center and if Tage has got 28 and I'm like, oh, fuck. Yeah. Maybe Dylan has the reserve. And we did this. No. Abs of fucking lootly not. Dylan Larkin is in this lineup.

We did this for Canada, so we're going to do it here, just like showing some love to people. The guys that are in the conversation in the wings, like Matt Boldie, absolute weapon. Yep. Alex Debrinkette. We mentioned the D already. Nikki Schmalt, Alex Tuck, Frank Petrano, Johnny Goodrow, Casey Middlestett, Zegris, Troy Terry, Cooley, Beneers.

Like, holy shit. These teams are so fucking stacked and this is going to be so, like, I'm, my fucking dick is hard right now. I know. Troy Terry, there's got to be shootouts in this, eh? It's international hockey. I wonder Troy Terry. Troy Terry might find himself a roster spot just to do the repeat performance.

T.J. O'Shee, Trevor Zegris. if we're talking shootouts. Like, come on, dude. Patrick Kane, too. Fuck me. Jesus Christ. Yeah, dude. Cainer.

Okay, lose Cole, lose Brock. Give me Caner and Terry. And then make sure every game goes through shootouts. Loss Brock. Yeah, dude, because we just need those right wing spots for our shootout guys. Oh, oh, sorry. I thought you were talking in favor. I was like, what the fuck are you talking about?

But no. I mean, this team is just like, it's so exciting. I, you honestly, you have yet to, Actually, no. Slavin in for Wrenski to give us a size. Caner's in if he starts good. I just promise you that. But other than that, I'm changing nothing.

No, agree. And I'm telling you, Tage is, I don't want it. I'm just saying, Tage is the only one that if he is firing, they will play him. Because he's just such a unicorn, you know? Like, if he is absolutely popping off, then they're going to put him in, because there's just no real answer for that on any of the other teams. But the problem is, dude, like, we're talking about such specific. centers and like Jack Eichel, Austin Matthews, and Dylan Larkin are fucking brick

shithouses dude. Like we like I know Tage is a unicorn, but like there's plenty of power play strength on here and there's plenty of size down the middle. Like that's, you know, yep, that's the only time where I'm like, fuck, it's hard. It's extremely hard. It's, dude, I've never been more fired up about a U.S. roster. Oh my God. It's so fucking exciting.

Leaving like the way for Toronto, 40 goal Frank. next year leaving tucky somebody's de brinket like leaving some of these guys off is so baffling to me but i'm like well fuck man it's a stacked line like don't sleep on boldie map i know i know god damn um you don't have a problem with foxy on the third pairing i i noticed dude why would i thank thank you sir no i think i think he's fine there like obviously every ranger's fan is going to go swap him and chuck play quinn and foxy yeah which is dumb because like you like charlie is is a perfect perfect partner for Quinn for Quinn

let Quinn cook and let Charlie absolutely fucking bundle people and then shock people with his skill all over the ice I would hear if you leave Harley in Faber and Harley is too too young

that's too reckless that's too reckless I hear that actually I could go Foxy and Harley and then Faber and Slavin and Slavin ooh that actually might be perfect

that might be money dude we might be doing that yeah I don't hate Foxy back up. I don't hate that. Foxy back up. Okay. I feel good about this breakdown.

I feel good about these lineups. The, give me the medals. Oh, shit. Um, no. Wow. All I'm going to say is USA's winning. USA's winning.

I just got so much love for so many people on all of these teams. I know. USA's winning. And I want everyone to tie for second. USA. USA gold, Swedish. and silver, Canada, bronze. Thanks for coming out.

Thanks for coming out. All right, that's it for us. On this episode of the Empty Netters podcast, hope you enjoyed this breakdown. Can't wait for some of the comments. We'll do it again. We'll do it again when they get close. Once we're mid-season two,

and we can see how people are playing. But I want to compare them. Hey, everybody, keep the receipts on this. I want to compare our picks in November, in mid-November to our picks right now. And obviously injuries and things like that, God forbid, those will change stuff. But yeah, when these rosters get announced in December,

we're going to revisit this absolutely and see how close we were and then things that we're like that's a no-brainer or I don't like it because I guarantee you this every single and we don't need to pick out who it is every single team is going to make a decision that we are like what the fuck is that yeah yeah agree guarantee it guarantee it all right that's it for this episode of the empty netters podcast unbelievable four nations cup preview breakdown get the blood flowing we'll see you next week And until then, as always, skate hard.