Empty Netters Podcast - The Lightning Have The Best First Line In NHL History | 142

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

The boys are down in Nashville with Thomer to see first hand if the Preds can pull out of their slump. They rank the best duos in the NHL, Thomer brags about his Jets prediction, and we’re on early Calder watch with the Celebrini injury update. And as always, they give their starting 6, discuss who’s trending, and play a new game of trivia called “what’s the connection” 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 / Hot Ice(7:57) - Predators(13:56) - Best Duos(24:17) - Jets & Oilers(38:16) - Calder Watch(44:00) - Beer League Hotline(48:06) - Starting 6(1:03:28) - Trending(1:10:38) - What’s The Connection SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: BAUER. Bauer is the go to destination for all your training needs. Head to https://www.bauer.com/training to explore tools like the Digital Reactor Danger for stickhandling or the Reactor Slide Board to add strength to your stride. CASHAPP. Download CashApp and take control of your finances! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cash-app/id711923939RIKI. Head to https://rikispirits.com/ to find out where to get RIKI near you. Follow   @FridayBeers.Youtube   Youtube  and @rikispirits to stay up to date with upcoming RIKI contests and giveaways FUNKAWAY. To check out the full family of FunkAway products go to https://www.funkaway.com to learn more funk'in cool stuff. And head over to Amazon right now and grab FunkAway products with just a few clicks. FIREBALL . Fireball's iconic cinnamon flavor tastes fire and goes down easy, making it the ultimate crowd pleasure. Go pick up some from your local liquor store and join us in drinking Fireball during our game days this season! #igniteyourrivalry  EVERYMANJACK. Give Every Man Jack a shot today and go to https://www.everymanjack.com and use code "NETTERS" at checkout for 25% off your first order CBDMD. Visit https://www.cbdmd.com to explore their extensive range of products and find the perfect solution for your needs. Don't forget to use code "FRIDAY" at checkout to get 30% OF + Free Shipping. DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB. Dollar Shave Club products are now available everywhere, so you can order from their website, Amazon, or get them at your favorite retailer near you. Visit their site right now for 20% off $20 or more, and get your products delivered right to your door. Visit https://www.dollarshaveclub.com/netters and use promo code NETTERS for 20% off $20 or more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is annoying to me that there are no consequences for the Oilers' actions. Like, they just do this, and then we'll finish second in the Pacific and go on a playoff run. And they make me look dumb. Ice is ready, and we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters podcast, brought to you by BetMGM live from Nashville. Well, not live, but we are. It feels live. We are live. We are live here.

We've got our boy, Nate Tommer Thompson, joining us on the pod. How you doing? Hi guys, guys. Good to be here. Good to be in Nashville. It is nice. How long has it been? It's been a couple years. Really? Yeah, it was when I was with Philly. It was the last time I was here. Oh, fuck yeah. Yeah. So this is got him back on the road.

It's nice to be back. Yeah. We're on the taxi squad again, dude. Yes, we are. Ripping around. This is fucking huge. Good energy. Yes. This place is sick. And then with me, as always. Wow. That was a good one. Your boy, CP. Chris Powers. How are you? I am happy to be in Nashville as well.

Me too. Always a good time. Always a good time to be in Nashville with Tomer. Yeah. Coming to Nashville with you was special. I was like, this is going to be a fun trip. Yep. Going to be a fun trip.

This is a special episode for a number of reasons. Yes, it is. We're in Nashville, as we said. But also, a little fun fact. Well, even before that, I would say introducing. Oh, true. Introducing. Yep.

the newest member of the empty netters team signed to an entry level contract picked up in free agency. Hot prospect. Six foot seven producer Ethan Wagner. Wags. Welcome to the show.

Come on. Welcome to the show. That's exciting. When we get in our new studio, there's going to be a camera on wags all the time. Yeah. He's going to be blasted out to the public, dude. It's going to be saying.

You're famous now, buddy. Get used to it. Get used to it. So we're in Nashville. It's Wags' first pod. Yep. Also, do you know what happened 18 years ago today? I don't know what.

18 years ago to the day, folks. Tomer played his first NHL game for the Bruins. Wow, fun facts. Got waxed. Got waxed by the savers. Five two. Yeah. Five two.

I remember I had just like maybe two minutes in playing time. Yeah. What did it feel like? Dream come true. It was, I mean, that day was awesome. because I got called up in the morning, drove from Providence. Have I told you the other story? I don't think so.

No. Dude, your NHL career can now legally drink in Europe. Yeah, that's pretty fun. That's awesome. It can vote. It can vote. 18 years? 18 years.

To the day. To the day. And the Bruins are playing here tomorrow. Yeah, that's kind of happening. That is sick, dude. Kind of watson. So wait, what happened? You were in Providence.

Yeah, so no, we were, I was called up from Providence that morning, drove to Boston. They got me a hotel. I didn't sleep a wink. Went to the game super early because I was like, I can't sleep. And I pull in early and another car pulls up. Nicer car, obviously.

I was driving like a white Chevy Avalanche, North Face Edition. Remember that fucking truck, dude? Yeah. That was my truck. Can we pause real quick to talk about Chevy Avalanche? Let's talk about it because I loved that truck. Wow.

When that truck came out. Yeah. Remember all the advertising. It was like it transitions from an SUV to a truck. It's a truck and an SUV. And I remember being, you know, I was probably 16. And I was like, that's fucking sick. That is the coolest truck I've ever heard of in my life.

I need that truck. And then I would watch the commercials and I'd go, the fucking commercials, you never see it in SUV form. Yeah. And I was always so, I was like, show me SUV form. But as a former owner of a Chevy A Chevy A Chevy A Chevy. Lynch. Was it just like the seats went up and down? Because like I thought there was going to be like a cab on the back. Yeah. That turned it into an end. No, that middle part between like, you know, the back seat part, it would come all. You could, you could, you could fold it down. So you could like lay down in the back. Okay. It would turn into like a whole bed. Okay. Yep. So the bed just got big. It was just bed. Bed just got bigger kind of in the way. But like it was, I mean, yeah, it had like, I love that truck. That was great. I, I, I bought that truck with my signing. I was going to say was that the. Yeah. Yeah. I was at the ELC. It's a great, great truck.

Let's be honest. That truck should have more been marketed as, it's a truck that you can put the seats down in. And the bed gets bigger. Pretty much. Yeah. That's all it was. Pretty much.

I thought it was a transformer. Like, I thought the truck could be a truck, an SUV, and then also my friend, if it went into robot form and we could, like, go take the town together. Yeah. Help you get out of sticky situations. That's what I thought it was going to do. Yeah.

And then it was just a truck. Well, we loved the truck. Yeah, no, I loved it too. Okay. It had the North Face edition, like, thing on. on the seat right back here, which was kind of cool. But yeah, so I pull up in the North Face Edition, white Chevy Avalanche, Mercedes pulls up,

I can't remember which color Mercedes of what kind, and out walks Ray Bork. Nice. And it's like, looks over at me, I'm getting my hockey gear, and he just says, good luck tonight. Oh my God. Knowing it's my first NHL game. That is sick.

And we ended up losing 5-2. Yep, 6-2 actually. Or 6-2? Yeah. To be clear. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Dan. Let's, uh, be very clear.

Let's, uh, be very clear. Let's, uh, be very clear. Six to two. Uh, I had a great seat, played about two minutes and they had a 16. They mean, at the time they had like jury. They were nasty. I fennigna. Yeah.

Campbell, Miller. That was that. That was peak goat head. That was that was goat head, eh? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They were loaded. So I was like, like, man, this is fun to watch.

This is NHL, baby. You were like, who did you play with? I can't even remember Because I barely played I played probably with like a few different guys Yeah right exactly Yeah yeah And then what was Borky doing there

What was he doing with the team then? I don't know what he was doing with the team at the time Yeah that's sick He was out of the game there getting there early It was just wild that I pull up and Ray Borks Broke He probably tells that story and he's like Dude

Times are changing I get to the rank I pull up next to some rook He already owns an avalanche He's like I can't even remember what color it was I just remember being blown away It was a truck and an SUV. Bork was like, I pulled out to my first game in a Ford Pintock.

Yeah. This guy's got North Face edition, dude. He's got North Face. Yeah, on the seats. He's telling that story. What is swaggier, the North Face Chevy Avalanche or the Eddie Bauer Ford F-150? I think mine, because on top, it had Alaska plates, too. Oh.

So it's like, what a flex, you know? Like, that's a flex. That's tough. Yeah. That's tough. Wow. How did you get it to Providence? Like, would you feel?

fucking drive. No, I bought it. So I bought it in Massachusetts. Yeah. I was still an Alaskan resident. Okay. I was able to get Alaska plates on it. That is so sick. That, wait, what?

Does that make sense? I think if you hit up the Alaskan DMV and you're, you're a resident there. Like, before I became California resident. But don't you have to register the car where you are? I don't know. I guess not. Like, here's what I don't know how I did that, but I did that. But I had Alaska plates on it, though.

Let me ask you a question. Has that truck ever once? seen Alaska? No. Yeah. How fucking ridiculous is that? It is ridiculous. That doesn't make sense at all.

No, actually now looking back on it right now, it doesn't make any sense. Eddie's out of any sense. But that's fucking, that's chills. That's chills. Like pulling into the facility every day with an Alaska-plated car is kind of badass. Yeah. It was a flex. That's amazing.

Holy shit. Anyways, that's a fun fact. Great, great story. That is a fun fact. Let's move on to not-so-fun facts and talk about the Preds. And listen, we talked about them last episode. We're in Nashville. The room is bugged, so everyone be careful. We talked about them last episode. I think they were 0-2, maybe 3. Maybe 3. And we said that team is not worried about this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, they're currently 0-5. I still feel

that way, even though 0-5 is obviously worse. So we don't even need to get into that as much again, unless any of you are like, no, I am at Panic Button, which I don't think you are. But my question is how far would this have to go before there's a change within the organization? Great question. So yeah, it's 0 and 5 and they don't look good. And I stand by, I said this to you, I'm not worried about that room. There's too many vets. There's too many unbelievable players for me to think that they're in that locker. I'm like, oh, we're in trouble. Yeah, right. As far as Bruno goes, I, To me, I think it's 15 games.

I think if they get to 15 games and have less than five wins, I think they might be in trouble. Yeah, I think you're right. I think it's... Right? As a GM, you have to, I think. I mean, I think with what they did this summer, the guys they picked up... And, like, you want to hear a shit stat? The last time a team started 0 and 5 and made the playoffs in the NHL was 2005, 2007.

not a good stat No it's not good And this team looks Like the painting of a team that will That can do it right Like it could only happen if you're like Well we were nasty we just started so bad But it is funny

You know I tweeted after the game You know Wonder if we're going to start having new coach conversations in Nashville If they lose this game And they lost And of course There was some replies and responses that were like Are you fucking nuts dude?

No what? But I'm just telling you. you like, that stat is bad. And the Oilers last year is a bad fact for them. Because we talked about this after the game. I didn't even think Woodcroft should have gone, but it was like he did go. And then they went nuclear.

So I'm like. So it's just like a, I think Bruno's an amazing coach. I don't think he should be fired. But at the same time, you are 0 and 5 with this roster and with UC Soros and that's not good. And you got to imagine there's a lot of line juggling going on right now. The P.P. is not cooking. That ultimately comes down.

to coaching, right? Like, that's, it's tough. I think it's coaching. I think also too, I mean, they did bring in some new guys and sometimes it can take. Yeah. Sometimes it can take 10 to 20 games for guys to get acclimated, for guys to like, you know, get in that smooth flow of playing with new players and then getting in, you know, in a little bit of a rhythm, right? But I mean, it's, it's tough and you're right about that because you can't flirt with this. Like you start getting into November and you're you know you're in the bottom place of the league I mean it's

it's tough to come back from that so they have to be very careful I mean I think that you can only have so many moral victories to at this point yeah it's like it's time to get wins now like it's there you know it's it's because you don't want to be two and nine

and you're playing catch up and it's after Thanksgiving or whatever it is and you're in trouble and this is this is both a comment that I believe is true and also a question that you can speak to. Yes, you're in the NHL. Yes, you're focused. But I feel like getting in a hold during the holidays isn't great either.

Like, let's be honest. You got families. You've got stuff going on. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Like, to be struggling is not a good time to be struggling. No, and you guys know, as the season goes on, the schedule gets harder. Yeah. It doesn't get any easier, especially around the holidays.

I mean, that's when they jammed with games the most. Totally. So I do believe that the national predators will get out. of this and I think they can get out of this and I'm sure they've had meetings and closed door meetings and players only meetings and I'm sure they've had that they have all those they have a lot of leaders in there yeah but they have to get this ship together right away it's it's it's it's a not a hard panic button press it's a soft one right yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you're lightly kissing the thing I am your

yeah yeah it's a kiss on the cheek goodbye mm-hmm remember that first kiss on the cheek yes you're not going in for the full kiss yet but you do the you do the let me know when you get home safe you and you kind of lean in and we're waiting for the yeah yeah yeah yeah you want to feel a little pressure yeah exactly because if you get if you feel if you feel pull away yeah but you also don't want to freak them out and think that you're going in for the full thing so you do the hard swerve you go like this anyway great night get them like that that's what you're doing to the panel yeah yeah hard I'm actually doubling down on the

It's Fine button. I don't hate that. I actually am like... I don't hate that. I picked them first, boys. I picked them first in the Central. And I'm like, they could still do it. I am so fine on the Preds.

It's all good. Yeah, I mean, it's... Like a freight train, dude. They are closing like a freight train. Yeah, it's funny because, like, it's just five games. It's five games. You could win the next five in a... And like, whatever.

And we're laughing about this conversation. Exactly. Yeah. But at the same time. Win a game, though. You lose, you lose tomorrow to the Bruins. Yeah. This will have happened already.

We're recording on a Monday. This will come out Wednesday morning. Now you're on six. And you're like, okay, it's not five games anymore. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, it is. And, you know, they know it.

I think while I agree with you, I don't think they're rattled. They are very aware right now. Yep. Oh and two, you're not aware. You're like, whatever, dude. Oh, and five, you are aware. Yep. So.

Next bit of news this past week, Gino Malkin scored his 500th goal. Stick taps. What an accomplishment. Amazing. It was sick. I mean, it wasn't sick, but it was cool. Like, it was fucking like the, 50 rebounds. He was on the ground, slid it in, looked cool.

Of course, Sid assists it. Amazing. And Gino assisted SIDS. Ooh, that's cool. I didn't know that. It was amazing. Yeah. Like, that was a fun little sink up.

So in the spirit of their connection, Bleacher Report released the 10 best duos in the NHL since 2000. I want to see if you guys can guess all 10, and then I want to see if there's any major snubs. Okay, since 2000, let's do this. We can do this. Let's think, I'm thinking immediately wings and abs. Kane and Tayes. Kane and Tayes come in at number two. Wow. Great.

Just tell me that Drysidal and McDavid's not on there because like that would have like five years. I guess that's enough. So yeah. They are on there. They are on there. And they're number four. Okay. I'm more, I wasn't saying that they shouldn't be on there.

I was more asking like, are we going right up to recent? Yep. And we are. Okay. Um, do we think like Sackick and Forsburger on here? Mm-hmm. No. Wow.

Wow. Um, is it all forwards? Are there some D. Um, good. Question. That is a good question. Good question. All forwards.

Dottsuk and Zetterberg. Dotsuk and Zetterberg number seven. Okay, good. What about? Oh, I got one that you should know. What would be good, Gretzky and Curry? Since 2000. Yeah, 2000.

That was stupid. Why was I thinking? You should know one. I was thinking of. Think about Orange County. Oh, Perry gets left. Yeah. Bang, number 10.

Good one. Very good one. Um, like, it's funny, right? Like, I feel like Stammer and Hedman should be on here. But like, good call, dude. There are no D. Yeah. And one, some people in the comments are pissed about.

Stammer Kutrov. Yes, Stamber Kutrov number nine. There you go. I have another one. I would like to honorary add Hedman in there. I think he's part of that. He's part of that. I accept.

Okay. I accept. I also accept. Yeah, I also accept. Wonderful, wonderful. the way. Backstrom, Obechkin. Dude, Backstrom and Ovi number three. Yeah, I got to be. I mean, is Sid Malkin 1?

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So you have Sid and Gino 1, Tays and Kane 2, Ovi Baxter 3, McDavid and Drysadle 4. You're missing 5. You're missing 6. You're missing 7. Actually, you might have said 7. You're missing 8. Stammer Kooch 9 gets left Perry 10. Berge and Martian? Berge and Martian, number 6. Yep. Yep. Yep. That's a very good one. Okay, so we need, we need, you need five and eight. Sedeens.

Yes, the Sedeen twins number eight. That should be higher. I guess I didn't want a cup. That's why that's got to be it. When you said, okay, no, I don't think you've said this yet. Yeah, okay, you're missing five and seven, I think, unless I already forgot you said seven. Okay, five and seven. I feel like I want to say like, coping.

and brownie but I don't think so. Kobe and Brownie? They are not on here. Yeah, but that's a good one. And a lot of the comments are like, how is Copie and Dewey not on here? But I think it's just forward. It's just for it.

Just forward. That's why. I was going to say, Dewey, though, in that like Copee and Brownie, they won two cups, dude. Yeah, like they could have been on. Like, that might need to be on here. The Cidines didn't win Jack's shit. This is fucking bullshit.

Yeah, that's. That's tough, eh? That is. There's a couple. Why can I'm blank a little bit here. Okay. So, okay. So we've got two more.

Getsloff and Perry 10. Stammer and Cooch, uh, 9, Cidine, Twins, 8, 7, blank. Bergen, Marcy, 6, 5 blank, McDavid, Drysidal, Ovi-Backy, Taze Kane, Crosby, Malkin. Okay, uh, let's think about this. Um, Matthews Marner? Nope. Yep.

Good guess, though. A lot of people mad about that in the comments. Also, nope. I mean, they haven't gotten past the fucking first round, so, or other than once, so. I'm still blank in here because I can't, I can't think I'm trying to go through, like. We just got to keep talking through the teams. Are there any Canadian teams of the two left? No.

Okay, that's good. We can eliminate the Canadian teams. No Canadian teams left. We got a crucial wings one. We got a Hawks one. What wings did you get? Dotsuk and Zedembert. Okay, did you guys say that?

I'm trying to go maybe Rangers. Okay, so they're seven. I thought I heard seven on that. So yeah, we just have five. Yep. Dotsuk and Zetterberg, seven. Okay, we just have five left. I was thinking Rangers too.

Rangers, too. Was there, is it Rangers? Do you want me to answer yet? Oh, okay. That's where I was going. I mean, I would guess like Zabanajad and Kreider, but if they are five, that is... They are not, but a lot of people in the comments mad about that, too. I mean, listen, they're amazing, but I don't think you should be mad.

Like, if this is 20, they're in there, but I don't think they're top 10. That would be absurd. Yep. Okay. It's not Rangers, though. It's not Rangers. Okay, it's not Rangers. Nope.

It's not going to be any of the Panthers guys just yet. We got Stammer and Kooch. Uh, no one, I don't think it's anyone on the canes. No. It's not, this is, again, this is five. Like, this is a good, this is better than Bergen, Marsha. Oh. Oh.

Come on. Is your Rube Warcheck? Dude, no, but there's a lot of people mad about that, too. Yeah, that's a good one. There's a good one. There's a good one. There's a good. That is sick.

But, like, again, if that was higher than Bergen, Marshan, I'd be like, yeah, you're right. That's aggressive. This one, I'll give you one more. Are you upset that they're above Bergen, Marchand? No. Wow. Okay.

I almost feel like, how do we not get this one now? You're going to lose your shit when you find out of this. There's no way to use it. And this, I'm not, this isn't the answer. There's a lot of people in the comments about like Nate and Moose and shit, but it just feels too quick. Yeah, yeah. And I hear that.

You know, so it's not that either. Okay. Western Conference? Yes. Yeah. For some reason, I was viving a Western Conference team. So. Oh.

No, it's not a Canadian team. I can give you one more Is it a Minnesota Wild pair? Yeah, that's where I was going with it. No. Why did you have to think about that? Because I was just trying to delay it. Okay.

Do you want a big hint? St. Louis Blues. No. I don't think I want, maybe a big hint. We can't take too long with this. Don't give us a big hint. Because if you give us the big hint, we're going to get it immediately. Okay, then just keep going.

Western Conference. Dallas? Nope. Before, all right, so it's not Dallas. It's not, we already got Anaheim, it's not the Kings. It's not the Blues. It's not Canadian team. It's not Minnesota.

They're legends, boys. Legends, this is amazing. And it's not a Canadian team. What is wrong with us, Tomor? Come on. Why are we blanking right now? Let's think about the Central. They are the...

Central is Nashville. Wild. Winnipeg? Oh, wait. Is it a former Arizona? No. Okay. Good guess.

Utah. But it's not when it takes. No, it's not a, well, um, Chicago. Nope. Is it a central team? You got them. Is it a central team? No.

Okay. It's a Pacific team. Pacific. Yep. And it's not Edmonton. It's not Calgary. But it could have been in 2000, though. That's what I mean.

It's divisions were different. Oh, oh, fair. It's the Pacific now. It's a currently Pacific team. It's a Pacific team now. Is it the Kinked? Nope. Okay.

I was like, what the fuck? No, it's not Canadian. Why do I keep going to Canadian? Stop. Stop going to Canada. Stop going to Canada. Stop going to Canada, Nate. Is it a, all right, we got ducks.

We got Kings. The Sedeans and the Oilers superstars have something in common among everyone on this list. like they are the only four that something has happened that everyone else something different has happened they have won a cup

they have not one this pair has also not won this pair has also not one a cup you got it wait wait what team before you say San Jose yeah okay the San Jose sharks yeah I know who Jumbo

and Patty Marlow Joe and Patty Marlow and you could put Pav in there too almost yeah I mean not there's a lot of guys Hey, wait, hey, guys. I would like to give an honorary addition to Joe Pavelsky. Yeah, I accept. Accepted. Accepted.

Great. Number five, dude, Jumbo Joe and Patrick Marlowe. Wow. That's actually, that was tough. That's kind of hard. That's kind of hard, though. Like, that ranking is tough. Agree.

And, dude, I don't know. Like, that order is good, I think. Because it's tough. They're high with no cup, you know. like stammer and cooch being behind the sedans. I'm like, and like you can almost do. I mean,

what about deep? I mean, and I'm a forward, but there are some deep hairs. Oh yeah. It would have been really interesting to put you. You could do that or you could give me a fucking break. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Uh, prong or need to me. Like those guys like, I mean, there's so many that you could. 100%.

Yeah. That's where I think that's where I was like. Yeah. Struggling. Uh, that was. Awesome, but I agree. Stammer and Kooch just simply cannot be below the Sadiens. The Sadiens are amazing.

Yeah. I think you're right. Stammer Kooch, two cups, three straight cups. Over 100 points. Like, come on. Both of them. Studs. Stuts.

Yeah. That's fantastic stuff. We were talking about the Preds skitting a little bit, and let's go back into the Central and talk about someone that's making you look very good, dude. The Winnipeg Jets. Five and O. Gold Clat for D. Five and O start.

Little golf clap. Thank you. Five and no start. I had him missing the playoffs. You're an idiot, dude. Shifley's buzzing. Kyle Conner's Barry in the puck. Hellabuck is the best goalie in the fucking national league.

What the fuck's going on? That's it. You just said it, Dan. Yeah. That's literally just all of that. I told you what's going on. That's literally what's going on. You told me that's what's going on.

They're balanced, dude. That's what I feel. Like Shifley has eight points. And not, it's too tight. It's still tight. It's the beginning of season. But like, you guys. guys at 12 and there's dudes in double digits.

Shelfly leaves the team with eight points. But it's like eight, seven, seven, six, six, six, five, five. You know, like, they're just getting it up and down the lineup. And then they play a good D. They're a great goal. They're currently a plus 16. Top in the league. Rangers are plus 14, a little behind him, but.

Dude, plus 16 after five games. Everything going right for the Winnipeg. Yeah, they're chugging along right now. Oh, my God. They look nice. Dude, it just, you build in. It's a nice hockey team. You build in, there'll be a bump in the road.

There'll be a rut at some point. You just build in the security for it now. Yeah. And now this is the other side of having a great start is like, if you start like this and you do skid a little bit, you're okay. Whatever. You can afford a skin mark. You can afford a little skid mark.

It's okay to go through it. And like if you're the Preds, you kind of have to have clean undies from the rest of the season. Yes, yes. Like you lost five straight already. Like we can't be doing that again. Yeah. You know? Like it's fucking nuts to look.

Well, we talked about this the other day. Bruins' record season. What do they have? 64 wins. Yeah. Something absurd. Think about that. 64 wins.

Absurd. That's only 18 games left after those 64 wins. And like they didn't lose 18 of those because they had a couple of OT losses, right? So when you think about an 18 sample size and if you're the Preds and you're like, we already have five of those losses. Like you can't lose another five in a row. So that's just nice insurance for the Jets right now. And it's funny. The Pittsburgh game last night.

Like that's a classic trap game. Yeah. Pittsburgh goes up. 3-1, I think, in that game. And that's when we were like, ah, the winning streak's over. But then they're just like this, no, no, we're cooking. Yep. Boom. Six goals.

Or five goals. Yeah. Six three wins. You knew, dude. Well, those guys have been together for so long. Like, they're so familiar with each other. Like, and then you add in, like, where they have AI there now. Yeah.

I follow those guys. And then, like you said, when Helibuck's playing so well, like, man, that team is hard to beat. Like, he is, he's elite, man. He's in the Ves and talk every single year. Yeah. Yeah. so good. Every year. You know what? Yeah, you're right. You were saying last night about the barn. It's hard to go up to Winnipeg. And on top of that, yeah, you go into Winnipeg and you feel like there's

50 guys on the ice because it's so loud. I was explaining to you guys last night. It's like an energy thing. Like once they start. You go down a goal. You go down a goal. It gets louder and it gets louder. And it gets louder and it gets louder or they get or you get caught in your own end. Like your own, you know, D zone. And they're buzzing around up. It gets louder. It gets louder. It's good louder. You're just like, Oh, my God, this is... I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go home.

I want to go home. Call my mom. Call my mom. Call my mom. We're drowning right now. It's what's going on right now. And it's, man, they're hard to play there. For sure, dude.

It's hard. So, I mean, that's a, that's a good hockey team. Yeah. And Central is, uh, central is on lookout right now, I think. You know, it's tough. We, we spent a lot of time talking about goalies last season, I feel like in particular with, with, with with things like Edmonton. Yeah.

It's a good topic of. conversation then is is stewie the guy and hellebuck is the guy right and has been the guy multiple multiple vessels yep he's always in the conversation like you said it must be frustrating as fuck for him and the team when they're this good yep they know that they're this hard to beat and then they get to playoffs last year and hellabuck kind of falls apart like you must be like she should be winning a cup dude yeah and he just like is not the same goal yeah so not yet Yeah, so like this year, they must look at themselves, they must see themselves as a team how they're playing when they're healthy. And they've got to be being like, guys, like we can put this together.

You imagine how fucking crazed the city of Winnipeg would be if they want to stand like that. Dude, they can't even get fucking wins. The league is better when Winnipeg is good. The league is better. It's just better. The people of Winnipeg would lose their collective minds. Who'd they get last year? Tough.

No, who bumped him? Oh, um, Dallas. Dallas? First round? Is that right? I can't remember, dude. Dallas. I'll look it up. Played Colorado next.

No, Dallas got Vegas first round. It was nightmare. Yeah, that's right. Dallas did get Vegas. So maybe it was Colorado, Winnipeg? It was Colorado. It was Colorado. Yeah.

That's right. It was Colorado. And how many games? Was it a torch job? I feel like it was. Six games, maybe? I was just going to say because two years ago, Winnipeg lost to Vegas in the first round,

and they won game one in Vegas, then got swept. And I was like, I just want to. to Winnipeg fans to get a playoff win because the place is insane. Their fans are the best. Like when I played there, it was during COVID. Yeah. It was during playoffs. And we sweat.

They won five. They went five. It was five. Wow. Yeah. Like, dude, that sucks. That's not good. Yeah.

Not good. That's not good at all. It's not good. It's not good. That's not good enough. It's not good. That's not good enough. They can't be doing.

They can't be doing that. But like, just just to show. how passionate their fans are. We swept Edmonton. It was a triple overtime game. Zero fans. Yep. Right?

The game, we didn't get out of the ring until 3 a.m. Yeah. When I pulled out, there was cars wrapped around MTS Center at 3 a.m. Yep. People honking and people outside,

like, just buzzing. Busing because we just swept Edmonton. Yeah, yeah. And people were still, like, out of their house, like, during COVID, like, going on in the ring. So much drunk driving going on.

Yeah. I was going to say. I'm sure there was a lot of safe driving going on, but That is awesome, dude. Awful, awful, awful. Yeah, but I'm sure there wasn't anyways. Pray to God there wasn't. It was not.

But yeah, it was crazy, man. I've never seen any like the passionate fans there. So this is good for winning. Hell of a start. It would be exciting. Hell of a start. Maybe not so great of a start. Yep.

The only three teams, only two teams have a double digit plus. Jets and Rangers, like he said. Only three teams have a double-digit. it minus sharks minus 14 gold diff preds minus 13 oilers minus 12 we talked about this last episode too so I don't need to pile on the oilers again but it is annoying to me that there are no consequences for the oilers actions like they just do this and then we'll finish second in the pacific and go on a playoff run yeah and they make me look dumb because I have all this tape of me being like Stewart skinner's not the guy the oilers d sucks and then they're like it doesn't matter

I will just- Like, I'm gonna fire Knoblock, though. I mean, I don't know what. I mean, but that's the, that's what happens when you have the two best players

in the world on your team. And they just decide, okay, I'm gonna just put you on my back and we're gonna win 10 games in a row. Yeah. I mean, listen, it is,

it's tough for Knoblock. Like, you just, you're getting fired. That's the rules, that is the rules. It worked last year. And they go back to Jay, dude. They should just switch.

Swap, swap, boom, boom, boom, boom. Woodcroft's available. Everyone gets a chance. You just, You just you fire Knoblock, you bring back in Woodcroft, you go straight to the cup again. And we do this next year and Nobleck's back. Then you just keep getting a new coach every single year. And they get to take a vacation every other year.

It's interesting strategy, Cotton, see if it works. Dude, I am bummed, though, about the sharks because we were all like, none of us had them in the playoffs, obviously. We were like, this is going to be a fun season. They're building on stuff. I bet they don't finish eight. Well, I think you had a mate still. laughing about. I was like, why do you think the flames are better than the sharks? And now these sharks have not won a game. And the flames of only one game. They haven't even lost

the regulation yet, dude. That's insane. Like, so I highly doubt the flames are finishing fucking eighth. You know what was really funny? We can get back to the Oilers in a second, but when we were having that conversation breaking them down, we, we were shitting on the flame saying it's going to be a fire sale, blah, blah, blah. And then at the end of it, I did go, I mean, they have great players, though. Like, if they pull it together and it's exactly what they're currently doing. All of their big boys are playing. Exactly what they're doing. Yeah. So it's like, fuck me. But yeah,

Oilers, like, do you think, similar to the panic button question with Nashville? Do you think that they're just like, whatever, dude? Like, we'll be fine. This is dumb, dumb that it's happening, but we'll be fine. Actually, before you answer, because I remember you said something in our preview up that I completely, you had the always hired me and you completely won me over with this.

Because Dan goes, now that they've been to a game seven, they know, they become that team that they're like, they're like, the Panthers last year, but they're like, well, get me to the playoffs. Like, I'm fine. So he was predicting a potentially slow or regular season, and you were like, no, I actually think because of the way they lost, this

year is fucking all gas. Yeah, I was thinking they were going to be peddled with them out. And I was like, dude, you are 100% right when you said that. So, what do you think, you know, coming out the gate? But also let's just take a moment, thank you. Yes, dude. Very good. Thank you for, I was right. I was right. Yep, very good, Dan. You were right. And I was also

also totally not completely fucking wrong about the flames. Yeah. No, no, no, you weren't. You were right about that. You were right about that, too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don't think that they're worried. Yeah.

But, I mean, there's some, there's a little bit red flags. There's some red flags right now. Yeah. With their team. It has to be. There's some red flags. But it's, it's tough. Like, we're not, we're not reinventing the wheel here with this statement, but losing sucks.

Everyone fucking hates losing. Mm-hmm. So it is. funny when we're saying all these teams are like they're fine they're not panicking i mean dude if you're in that locker room you're like this blows yeah you know like coming into the locker room after a loss is a shit feeling and doing it five games in a row start the season doing it four or five games to start the season you are kind of like dude fuck this like what is happening and i if i were in that locker i wouldn't be panicking but i would be looking around like if i'm at dinner me and me and leon if i'm

Connor, I'm like, what, what is going on? Yeah. Like, why do we do, why are we doing this again? You know, you know they're having this conversation. Yep. Again, not freaking out, but they must be, right? Like, yeah, I don't think they're freaking out, but they're like, guys, like, come on, like, what the fuck? Like, let's

get this back on the ship right away. But I think because they've been in that situation before, I think that they can, I think they can get it going right away. Yeah. I do think that they get a couple wins in a row and I think it'll be right back to we're fine. Well, do they went down. like, they're going to be fine.

They went down to Philly and like 2-0 in that game. I was like, if they lose this game, and then they were like, just kidding, where the Oilers went back. I was like, they're all right. But then they lost the next game. I know, I know. They're whacked by Dallas, dude. They're in a tough, tough spell.

So it's, you know, we've got several unexpected situations. I mean, but that's every year at the beginning of season. That's what I love about this at the start of the series. There's so many, this team sucks. This team's great, you know. It's a lot of good surprises. It's just so unpredictable, dude, but, you know, it's pretty fucking sick that Utah is good. Yeah, it's awesome.

Come on. I'm pumped for them. Pausing the pod really quick to talk to you guys about our partnership with CBDMD. You guys have to check this stuff out. It is amazing. And they've got a great promo going for you right now. If you use promo code Friday, that's F-R-I-D-A-Y, you get 30% off your order and free shipping. Come on.

Are you kidding me? They've got all kinds of really cool products. I'm putting CBD on everything, dude. My hands are hurting me. from hockey and golf, my joints are aching, I'm putting the CBD there, but they've got this THC drink mixer that I'm really, really digging. Okay, it's three milligrams of THC, you slip it into whatever you're drinking, water, juice, soda, anything.

And they've got a black cherry flavor and an unflavored one if you'd rather that. And there's 28 service for bottle, and it's just an awesome, discreet little way to get a tiny bit of THC if you want an alternative from the alcohol buzz, which I do often, melds me right out. It's a fantastically cool product. I love using it. And it's, it's revolutionizing my weekend nights out.

So I highly recommend you go to CBDMD.com. Do not forget that promo code Friday and check out everything they got to offer, but especially that drink mixer. Everybody knows we have an awesome partnership with BetMGM, but right now we've got an even cooler offer than we're normally rocking with. It's a Bet10 get 200 offer.

And the promo code is AF 200. So what you've got to do is download the BetMGM app. As soon as you get on there, they'll ask for that promo code and use AF200 to get this deal. The way it works is you make a minimum $10 bet on sports, right? So obviously, hockey's firing right now. I'm cooking up parlayers every night.

But you bet on whatever you want, bet on football, bet on baseball, bet on basketball, or, you know, bet on hockey because that's the cool sport. But anyway, you make your bet $10 minimum, and then you get $200 in bonus bets put into your account. How sick is that? So we've got a great partnership with BenMGM. You need a great partnership with BenMGM,

and the way to do it is using this almost Friday promo code for the bet 10 get 200. Go check it out right now. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-800-Gambler. Call 8778-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope-N-Y for New York. Call 1-800-3-5-0-0-0-Masthus for Massachusetts. 21-1-800-1-800-1-800-1-800-Bet 100-Bet 100% off for Iowa. 1-800-9-8-1-80-1-8-1-8-1-4-Rocet-Ref $1ststet-1st,

in partnership with Kansas-Cross and hotel. See Ben-MGM.com for terms. U.S. Promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. the Bet 10 Get 200 instantly offer only available in D.C., Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Colorado. Babes taking a break to talk to you about our partner, Lucy. Lucy is a groundbreaking nicotine product that is always tobacco-free, crafted by scientists for adults to make sure you get the best nicotine buzz you could ever have.

They've got all different options for you. From the milligram perspective, four milligrams, eight milligrams, 12 milligrams. So if you want a nice, low, subtle buzz, or if you want a nice, boom, right, hit you, right in the head, right in the face, gets the bloodstream pumping, 12 milligram, that's got you covered too. They've also got pouches. They've got hydrating breakers. They've got lozenges, and they've got gum.

So whatever your delivery system is, Lucy has you covered. And their flavors are out of control. They're so good. Right now, I'm kind of dabbling between their apple ice and their cinnamon. It's fall. I kind of got like an apple cider vibe going on with that. It's unbelievable. It's delicious, as always.

And for me personally, I've said it to you before. Golf course is where I hit my Lucy the most. I'm hunting birdies out there. I get to the turn. I need a little bit of energy. I need a little bit of focus. Lucy has me covered every single time. So whether it's a nice kick of energy you need,

you need to relax a little bit, you need some focus, whatever your desire, Lucy is going to make sure that you are taking care of. They've got all these flavors that are unbelievable, like we have said, and they are the best delivery system when it comes to clean, nice, efficient nicotine. Lucy is the best in the game. So you're going to go to lucy.

and you're going to get 20% off your next order. lucy.co.c.c.c.c.m. For 20% off. Guys, think about this. You're always going to the gas station. You're always going to the convenience store, the bodega around the corner, and you're paying too much money to get your tins to make sure you've got your nicotine fix. I'm telling you right now, go to this website.

Use this promo code. We're saving you 20% and that's just smarter. Stock up. Get some of these logs. Get all these pouches. Get stocked up so you've got it whenever you need it for me on the golf course. If you need it while you're driving to stay focused, stay awake, stay alert. If you need it while you're working on a project so you can stay locked in at all times.

Lucy has you covered. Make sure you go to that site again, lucy.com slash Friday and use that 20% discount code and get fired up with Lucy. Let's talk about some rookies. We've got Calder Watch going on all year. And someone that we all pointed out who is buzzing. No goals yet, but Logan Stankovine. Absolutely buzzing. Seven points, I think, right?

Six games, all assists. And you've got to imagine those goals are going to start coming. I told everyone on BetmGM. I was like, that is such a massive, like his odds, I think eventually they got high, but it was like at the early, in the middle of the summer, dude, it was like Mitchcoff-Selabrini. That was the low odds. Like, who do you want? And I'm looking at the stank man, like fifth of the way down.

And I was like, 25 games in the NHL last year, and he was nasty. What are we talking about? Yeah. So seven points for Stank. We've got Lane Hudson with four. Seamus Casey also with four. Mitch Koff got his first two goals of his career in the same game. He has four points.

Celebrini stuck at two, but obviously. Injured. Injured. He's going to be back very soon, which is great. But they released today, though, that he's out, quote, at least another two weeks. Two more weeks, I saw that, yeah. It feels to me like they are officially, you know, he's got this little knock. They're being very safe with it.

I unfortunately think we might get a bit of a Leo. Carlson treatment this season. We're going to be very careful. Even if he comes back from this, you think they'll have him on load management? I think that they're not going to be afraid to have him on the time. Interesting. So you don't think they're going to be able, like, you don't

think that they will, like if he's healthy, he will not play every game. I think he will. I think he will too. I think it's going to be more like this though. Once he's healthy, back in the lineup. Whatever this injury is, I think the second he feels even a tickle,

They're going to be like this. Set out a game, dude. Yep. Because they're, you know, they're going to finish bottom five in the league. So let's, but my say,

like, if this, this scenario, so say they're in a stretch where they've played seven games in 10 days or something like that. And he's exhausted.

He's playing a ton of minutes. Yeah. And they have another game that doesn't mean anything. What if they're like, go watch that one go watch that way maybe go work out a little bit more so like do, go build some strength

and sit this game out you think they would do that? I don't see why not. Yeah. I really don't. But again, like he, I don't think, and I'm not saying Leo Carlson is this, I know Mack is not the type of kid who would want that.

Or even frankly be fine with it. He wants to play every single game. But I think we all see it. I mean, that kid is beyond special. Yeah. And if I am that team, I'm not even sniffing the possibility of messing with an injury with him. I'm not even, I'm close pinned to that idea. Yep.

No, I think that's right. I was actually just reading funny. You said that story because Stammer's rookie year, they had Melrose and he's like barely playing. And they fired Melrose bring in talk and talks like did that. He was like, hey, dude, you are tiny. So I'm going to play you two games, healthy scratch you and you'll work out to get stronger. And that lasted like three games. and Sammer was like, fuck this, dude.

And then they were like, okay. So I could see, you know, they'd be like, Mac, we're going to sit you down a little bit. And he's like, yeah, like hell you are, dude. It's your dream. Yeah. So I think, but I agree with you. If he picks up a knock, they'll sit him no problem because there's no,

there's not, you're not forcing anything this year. Yeah. Did you, have you guys seen this battle going on online between Sends and, and Habs fans? Senators fans got very fed up quickly with how much slob-naving is going on with, Lane Hudson. So now, now Sends fans will tweet. They're like, oh my God,

un-fucking-believable game from Lane Hudson. Zero goals, zero assists, zero points, dash three, 57 headfakes behind the net. Looked like a stallion out there. Yeah. And I'm like, dude, he's good. Fucking calm down, Sanchez fans. But I guess it's just, you know,

he's got a couple of those games where he gets on the score sheet and Habs fans are like, this fucking kid is a hall of fan. He had four through three or something and people were going crazy. He's nasty. He's like, he's so sick, dude. You watch about the, he looks at he's like in a video game. The way he like walks across a blue line and stick handles and does spins and like he's just, he's good.

Oh, he's really good. He's unreal. And I got to say with those preseason crazy games, now both of their teams having tons of good young talent, the Sends, Havs, rivalry is fucking back, baby. Yeah. I'm fired up. Those fan bases are at each other's necks right now, and it is so funny to watch.

And I'm glad I'm not a part of either. Yeah. Oh, yeah. My weak constitution would not survive this vitriol that's going on. It's fucking unbelievable. All right. Do you want to get into a beer league hotline? Yeah, so we're going to start doing some beer league hotlines in the pod

because people always comment on the page that they're like, oh, dude, do these in the pod. I want to listen. So we'll keep putting them on the page, obviously, but we're just going to start reading some here. Yeah, we'll just belong in the episode. See how it's just. I love it.

Okay. You know what else belongs in beer league? In beer league? What? I think we're going to get them. I think we're going to get them. Oh, out of retirement. Yeah.

I think you got a lace up. I think I do. I think I have dust the gear off and come out. But where do you guys want me in the lineup? Like, what am I? Good question. You know, like, you know, like. What are you talking about?

You're one C. You're a former NHL player. Well, dude, we get guys that have put in bloods. I mean, I don't want to come in and rock the boat. You know what I mean? Blood, Sweat and Tears and dust off that 44 jersey and fucking put him at once immediately. And that's obvious. God damn.

So anyway, take us away with Beer League Hotline. Okay, Beer League Hotline. Now, have you heard this? The Beer League Hotline? Like, have you heard this one yet? I haven't heard this one, no. Okay, neither of I. No.

Here we go. No. I quit hockey after Midget Major AAA. Almost 20 years later, I decided to lace him back up in an effort to drop some pounds. I joined a D-League team, and we finished last. Fast forward a year, and I've shaken off the rust and 60 pounds. Now I'm in three leagues, D, C, and B. And the D league is no longer fun.

Other teams are mad I'm in it. I love the boys there, but the A league has come calling, and they play the same night as the D league. Do I stick it out with the D guys, score six a game, and win the boys a ship? Or do I challenge myself in the A league, leaving my D guys doomed and forced to drop down to the lowest level? Oh, they are so much at play here.

It's a lot of play. First of all. Good for you, man Good for you, man Drop in 60 LBs We get so many of these And it's hard to choose And I was so pumped

The reason we did this one So quickly by the way He just sent this is because I was so proud of that dude That's fucking awesome Honestly like I'm like man I need to fucking put my gear on Yep

I'm like what am I doing? I read this on purpose Just to get you out on the squad 60 pounds and wither away You don't have No I know I'm just saying like That's inspiring Like that's inspiring

Yes it is It's a great story. It's awesome that he, you know, he did that. And we did talk about it. Beer League is the best way to keep off the... It is a great way. You kind of put him right back on. Yeah, after the game, I'd have a bunch of beers, but...

You don't have that problem. No, I don't. So you're just going to get fucking shredded again. It's going to be amazing. Well, let's go back to this guy. Sorry. Sorry, this isn't about you. Sorry, it's not about me.

Okay. First of all, I love this guy. I love the message this sends about Beerley. Yeah. I wanted to say definitely go to A and challenge yourself because they play at the same nights. You can still see the boys. Oh, right. You know, like you'll still see the boys.

At the bar after. Hit the bar after. But it's different, though. After it's different, but whatever. But for me, it is the, if you really think that they're going to get bumped to the lowest division, if you bounce, that's tough. But you can't, I don't. Is it even fun, though? Like, he kind of said it wasn't that fun.

Yeah, you literally said it's not fun for him. And being a ringer is at. dude. Yeah. I think he makes I think he's I think he wants to go in the A. Me too. I think he basically he's asking us just to basically confirm that he wants to go up. Say it's okay. It's okay. Hey it's okay you can go up.

You can go up. Go up. And tell the boys thanks. Tell the boys thanks for getting me back in shape and getting me back out here. Yeah. Tell the D boys thanks to that. Buy them a nice bottle of wine. Yep. A couple bottles of wine that they can have. And tell them enjoy the E league you fucking bitches. Yeah, like honestly

he wants, he wants to have fun and he's going to have more fun playing. Agree. And Tom, you're right. Like, I think this guy is looking for, yeah. He was looking for us to open the door. He was looking for confirmation I think. And we're giving it to him. Could you every other week? Play, let's say it's Monday nights.

Could you what? Play the D team. Week two playing the A team. I don't think so. Week three playing the D team. Four playing the 18. I'm not saying that you literally can't. I don't think it's an option, dude, because I think that A league's going to be black. Tart heroin. Yeah. Like you can't play A-League one week and then go to D-League the next week.

The next Monday. And I think it's going to hit the same. He'll be losing it. He'll be losing it. You forget who you're with too, you know? Go too hard against the D-boys. I'm like, sorry, I fucking blacked out. I thought I was next week.

And then reverse, you humiliate yourself with the A-boys because you thought you were in D-League. Trying to do a Kenny Wu out there. I'm like, that's not how this goes, pal. Once you play A-League, the second it hits your lips. Yeah. You just need more. like NHL, AHL. Yeah, right.

He's like, no one wants to go back. No, no. You want to stay. Yeah. No, no more Ziploced sandwiches on the bus. We're getting catered meals. No more soggy subs and sandwiches, you know? Like that, no.

Yeah, you got to go up. He's going up. He's going up. He's going up. Got to go up. Okay, now we're going to get into our starting six. We're doing this thing, Tom, or where every week we tell everyone who the best left wing is best center, best right wing, best lefty, best right week, best goalie.

right now. I'm not just saying Connor McDavid every week. I'm saying right now Connor of David has one fucking goal and he is not the best center in the league. Who is the best

blank in the league? Yeah. So our starting six right now. Left wing. Left wing. Got a couple chirps. Shout out Johnny Laz.

We had Matt Boldly last week at left wing. Okay. The just plain and simple reality there is one answer. Artemi Panera. The man is

untethered from this earth right now. Unbelievable. I think he's got 14 points in six games or something. I think he's got 12. I think it's six goals, six assists, 12 points. Just had a hat trick recently?

Yeah. But he's hot. He's hot. Because of not hitting the game totals, but he had never had 100 points until last year. 120 points. Ridiculous year. I was like, if you're the Rangers, I'm like, that could come down. I think he's still good, obviously, but that could come down.

Right now he looks like he's about to put 120 points in my eye socket again. I like that you just said that because I was about to just say, I think that there is a very real scenario that we're living in where he is underrated. I think. By me. And dude, yeah, you do it. I think I do it sometimes. You know, we have those conversations.

You were like, Jack Hughes is better than every player on the Rangers. And Rangers fans lost their minds. And they were like, Panarin is better than Jack Hughes. And I don't know if you can even argue that right now. I can't anymore. When I said it, I could because Jack had a 99 point season. Panarin is what, 32, 33, and what's Kooch? 31?

Around the same. Yeah, they're pretty close stage. Panarin is just quietly doing exactly what Kuch is doing. They are aging like a full-bodied Italian red, dude. He produces every single year. I mean, even if it's even his down years are not really down years. No, it's amazing. He'd be a dream to have him.

Yeah, he's, he's, and I don't know what it is maybe it's because Panarin like the way he plays he's a little bit more elusive and he's a little more loose out there where yeah where you have a guy like Hughes who's like you know

speed and other top players that guys talk about me maybe that's why he's not as noticed as elite as those guys maybe maybe that's part of it but man that's a good point but he's so like yeah he's he's nasty

like the plays he makes him he makes guys he's one of those wingers too like makes guys around him better the way he holds on a podcast and he's has so much just he has so much like deception and i don't know he's he's sick he's sick he's sick and he's hot right now he's so buttery too oh he's he's maybe not always going to have that highlight you know like shifty undressing people but like his vision his smoothness on the ice that's what i mean like you know like you don't think of the breadman as like fast and like speedy right like he's very elusive the way

he slows things down and yeah he's poetry extra whipped cream cheese he's poetry baby he is a smear on a bagel dude extra whipped is so dope yeah that's naughty why isn't it always like that I think some people like a hard fucking mouthful of cream they were like oh it'd be cool if this is harder to spread

like the Dunker Donut one yeah where they just like spread it on Like the stuff on Oreo, you see your teeth marks in cream cheese, that's how much there is. There's like a half inch layer on there. Get a nice dental imprint when you bite into that smear. That just reminds me of the Duncan Notice ones. Incredible.

Pile it on there. Yeah. Dude, there was a, not name and names here, but there was a bagel shop in our hometown called the bagel basket. Creative name, right? Yeah. Super original, yeah. And it was the hot spot in high school for kids who thought they were cool if they

drank coffee to go to bagel basket get get an ice coffee and your your smeared bagel and come into school and you'd be swirling your ice coffee you know what i mean and i would watch some of these kids this is where i'm saying not name and names some of kids i went to high school who are just fucking fat as shit in high school yeah and they're just stuffing a bagel with this much cream cheese down their throat every morning you should probably stop having that every morning that adds up yeah with your with your ice coffee extra whole milk and sugar. Yeah. Your iced chai latte.

Yeah, it's gas. I like it. It tastes so good. It tastes so good. Sounds pretty good. Sounds really good right now, actually. Sounds pretty good. So who we got at center? Center. This week, best center in the NHL is the 69 million dollar man, Sammy Reinhert. Five goals, seven assists, 12 points. He's doing it power play. He's doing it PK. He's got two shorties. He's doing it five on five. Panthers looks sick. He looks. He looks worth every penny of that deal.

You know, I was like, when, Panthers get some tough calls on the offseason, who they bring him back? They bring back Ryan. And I'm like, man, is he going to go for damn near 60 again? Yep, he is. Congratulations. Good business done by everyone involved. You know what's been wild is the, remember last year there were all the talks of kind

of out of nowhere, Rhino and Hyman, these monster 50 goal years. And people were like, who's more likely to do it again? Obviously, it's just five games. But Rhino didn't skip a fucking beat, dude. Signs his contract, and he's fucking pumping points up on the board. Oh, yeah. And Hyman's completely stalled. Yeah.

So, and again, that could all change. I think it will change with Hyman. And I think both those guys are, I mean, now, I think they're both on Team Canada. Oh, yeah, yeah, cool. Both of them. I think you have to consider both of them on Team Canada. They're on the short list. Oh, right?

Like, they're on like, yeah. Reinhardt, I think for sure is on the team. I think Reinhard's on the team. Hyman may be different, maybe, I don't know, maybe now, but I think he's still, I think he's still on the team probably. I think you might get Hyman on the team

almost as a caveat of wingman vibes. Of like, if Connor is like, you guys want to win, give me Hyman, you know, like there's a possibility. Maybe as an extra guy

or something like that possibility. Yeah, yeah. But also, when Hyman's playing, he deserves to be on the team. Yeah. But I think with Reinhardt, though, I think, like,

with Barkoff hurt right now, like having him and he, He's stepping up, but he can play center too. He can play goal center and wing. Like, this guy is so versatile, like, so smart. Yeah. Like, this guy, he's not, he is now elite, I think, too, in the league where, I mean,

he scored, what, 57 goals last year? Yeah, he's, it's crazy. Like, that's elite. Like, he's, this guy is a superstar. You know who else has been stepping up? Lundell. Oh, yeah, yeah, Lundel. And so he was funny, like, you know, his nickname is Baby Barkov.

And it's been really cool seeing Barcoff goes down and it's like, oh, look at that. Lundell's got, you know, five points in five games. So dope. And four goals, I think. And it's like, oh, shit, dude. It's so fucking sick as a team, as in management, as teammates, and then as fans. When you do have a guy who seems like, oh, they're waiting in the wings. And then they get an opportunity and they take it.

You're like, oh, fuck, yeah. Like, this is. Like, what a good sign for Florida Panthers. You have your captain out for a substantial amount of time. And you just keep plugging away. It's just a well-old machine. If someone comes in and next man up and it's just we keep winning. Unbelievable.

Starting six right wing, we've been talking about him, Akita Kuturov. Seven goals, six games, two assists. Also hasn't skipped to beat. Guys fucking buzzing around. We all thought the lightning might suck in this playoffs. We're idiots. Yeah, I'm eating a lot of crow. See?

I eat crue. We all are. Big time. Yeah. Yeah. I'm wrong. The Kutrov has deep fried a crow and sliced it and served it to it. all of us. Didn't even de feather. Yeah, yeah.

Didn't de-beder it. They're eating it, feathers, beak, feet, and all. And we're dining. Because fuck me, they look good. They're beating good teams. And he is just other fucking world. Can we talk about their line too? That line? We said that.

Harlem Globetrotters out there. Yeah, they do. The play the death line is pulling off is moronic. Yeah. And to start the season two, Braden Point has been motherfucking people. Like, the amount of people that Like, is point that good? Yes, he is.

Also, Gensel just scored for the first time. He hasn't even barely scoring yet. Yeah. Oh, my God, dude. They are, you know, it's funny. Cooch is Cooch, man. It's every single year. It's like, it's all we talk about is how good he is, how all the things he does,

how special he is. I mean, he just keeps doing it. And it's just, I mean, how fucking cool is it? And I genuinely feel this way. How cool is it? Two Florida teams are just model franchise. Seriously. Like, you know, we think, oh, might be, the screws might be coming undone here. And it's like, no, they're sure not. So it's, it's fucking. Dude, I like how Cooch is coming off a hundred assists season. Yeah. And has two assists so far and seven, and the league leading seven goals. Like, he's like, it's, nah, dude, I score now. Yeah. Sorry. I'm going to score 100 goals. I had a, I have a heavy investment in Jake Gensel scoring 40 because I thought he was playing with 100 assist man. Turns out he's playing with a 20 assist man. And Cooch is going to score 70 fucking goals. Those are all Gensel's goals.

Those goals belong to Jake, sir. So figure that out for me, pal. Left D, we're going several good candidates on this one. Yes. This week we're going Josh Morsi. One goal, six assists, seven points, plus seven for the five and O jets. And that's why. That's why we're going Morsi.

You're putting up over a point for game and the team's buzzing. Like, we're going to give you some flowers. Borsling is like a plus. nine, I think he's the highest plus defenseman in the league, also playing lefty, but he only has four points. Morrisy's seven points plus seven undefeated Jets. This guy does it all. He does it all, dude. All around defenseman. Good to see him healthy again. Good to see him healthy. I mean, he could put up another Norse type of season. I mean, he's that type of player. When he's going really good, they are different. Like they're they are a problem when he's sick. Yeah, I mean, when you have a guy like

him, like it doesn't, I mean, he can play 30 minutes every night and, you know, you have a guy like that on the ice constantly. I mean, it's a lot of good things are going to happen. He's a, I mean, he is a also big time conversation, Team Canada. Oh, he's got to be on Team Canada, I think. And, I mean, he's, he's

one of these guys. I feel like the last two years we've sort of seen this new crop of elite defensemen. He's in there. Yep. And you're so right when he's buzzing. Fuck me. Yeah. Good. Well, we had him in our top ten, didn't we? Yeah, I think so. Left, left-hand defenseman, right? He was in there.

He's sick. He's sick. So good. On the right D, not so great in the plus minus column. It's just Kail McCar. Absolutely has to be. He's got 12 fucking points. Tide for the league leading points. Two goals, 10 assists, six games, as a defenseman.

He's a dash four. Not great. Obviously, Colorado's struggling, not great. Yes. But end of the day, this is, I've said on these airways before, a very prominent defenseman in the NHL told us he is the best player in the league. better than McDavid, he's better than McKinnon, he's better than Cooch. And in my opinion, starts the season like this is why I'm like, that is a legitimate.

Yeah, it's crazy, dude. Like he is from, from Dee, he's doing Ray Bork, Bobby Orship in today's NHL. He really is. It's fucking nuts. Like, what if he has, like, what if he had like 120 points? Like, that could happen. Well, you've heard, like, you've, and I've heard, like, McKinnon and other guys talk about, like, you've heard Nate McKinnon talk about him as the best player.

Yeah, yeah. McCar, he's like, Cale is the best player on the team. And that's coming from Nate McKinnett. From Nate, who doesn't say shit like that. No, he does not. So, like, when you have a guy like that saying he is the best player in the team, like, and I remember you mentioned, like, Keith the handle talking about him being the best, the best player in the league. Like, he was one of those guys. Like, he, I would have to agree, man.

Like, when you're on the ice with that guy, he's scary. Yeah. Scary. Dude, he's scary when he's against you because of what he's going to do to you. and he's scary when he's on your team? Because you're like, I can't believe how bad I am. Yeah, it's crazy. It's scary, how good he is, exactly.

That's awesome. So I was just thinking about this. Do you guys know who the last defenseman to win the hardest? Oh. Pronger? Pronger is my guess. 2000, Chris Pronger. Oh.

It's got to be the best bet in the game that if a defenseman were to win it, it's him. Yes. I think, yeah, has to. I don't even think, I mean, I guess anything could happen, but just like Yos, Quinner, I just don't think those guys could win a heart. Yeah. Like, unless something fucking insane happened.

But, Kail, I'm like, you are trending to win a heart. Yeah, I could see him doing it. Two goalies have won the heart since a defenseman has won it. That's crazy. That's wild. That is crazy. That's wild. Do you know who?

Yes, I do. Do you know who? Cary Price. Yep. Stay on the same team, my friend. Oh, Theodore. Wow. I forgot about that one.

I don't know what happened there. No, but that was absolutely insane. Well, talking about goalies, our starting six. We went Helley last week. You got to go him again. Here's the thing. Otter, 4-0, Hellebuck, 4-0. Otter 953 save percentage.

Hellebuck 952, save percentage. Otter one shutout. Hellebuck, one shout-out. Otter 1.48 goals against. Helly, 1.25 goals against. Hell, he has the belt, so he keeps the belt. But damn, dude. Those boys playing good hockey right now.

I mean, that is fucking crazy. A couple American-born goalies right there. How about that, dude? How about them, apples? We need sway to go on a 3-0 volume with fucking putrid numbers and just put the fear of God in Canada. You're all dead, dude. Doesn't that make you excited as an American fan?

It's so sick. It's awesome. Those are the two guys. Dude, and sway. And then you have sway. And Demco. Like, holy. shit like that's insane yeah uh it's insane well i just hope that they bring all three i think i hope

they bring hellabuck sway and otter and just play each of them a period and yeah yeah like like these guys are this good we can never score on them yeah that would be fucking unbelievable all right that is our starting six we've got our tammie pinarin Ryan. Ryan. Sam Reiner. Nikit Kutchev. Josh Morrissey. Kail McCar. Connor Halman. Good line.

Good line. That's a good, good line. We've got, what, two Russians and three Canadians. And three Canadians and an American and Nets. Yeah. Good spreading the well. Yeah. Spreading around. It's pretty good. I think we had five or six Americans last week.

Wow. Yeah. Which is a lot. That's gas. Getting into what's trending. Yep. Trending up. Ross Colton, friend of the program.

Our boy. Ross Colton. Six goals. One off the lead league, right? Yeah, it's that QH7 and the lead in the league. Six goals right now for Ross, the boss, dude. Fucking A. Six goals and six games.

Carrying the team. We keep texting him after every game. We're like this McKinnon. Who dude? Fuck that. Yeah, seriously, man. It started like, we texted him like, carrying the team, exclamation point.

And then the next game he gets two more. And we're like, carrying the team, all caps, gets two more. You know, you can send text in the iPhone that like get loud. carry in the team. You are the best player. What's his high-end goals? Like a little over 20?

Bro, I'm going to check for you. I think he went 22. 20. 20. I always thought he was a guy, though. You'd think like he was a guy that could break out and score 30 to 40 goals. He is a guy that has that ability. Like, you tell me what he skates.

Like he- You know who he is to me? Chris Kelly. Chris Kelly? I think he is so similar to Chris Kelly's game. But more offensive, though. I think a little bit. More offensive.

But, like, throws the body. Kelly scored 20 on those B's teams, though. Yes, he did. By the way. You know. And he's just got such a perfect attitude. He's a perfect locker room guy. Like, yeah.

I mean, good God. Ross Colton is the best. Ross, middle six. His second year, he was 25. His second year in Tampa, he scores 22. Yeah. Then he went 16 in Tampa, 17 last year in Colorado. He's going to get 25 this year.

So I think he's a guy. He's got 25 by fucking Christmas. So I think he's a guy that could get 30 for sure. Yeah, yeah, me too. I think he's going to do it this year. It's a good player. It's a fucking buzzing. It's a good player.

Unbelievable. Give me the next one. Also trending up, Alex Lyon. The wings have three goalies. All of them are not good. No offense. And when you get three goalies, you get no goalies, as they often say. And I'm looking at it, dude.

And we saw it. We saw it. You weren't in yet. I saw it. You guys witnessed it. Yeah. And he put in a masterclass. Like, they, they, 40-something shots.

He made some monster saves. That knob saves. knob save on stammer. Yeah, which obviously, I mean, save of the year. I mean, who was it? It was like game, uh,

it was the first game of the season, right? Was it fucking, um, uh, no, who played overseas, uh, Buffalo and, oh,

you're thinking of, uh, Jersey. Markstrom. Marky. That game, that same. That same. Oh yeah.

That was ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, this, that, that lion knob save was like, was insane.

You know, a knob saves a little. Yeah, because you don't know that much about it. But, like, that was on the Peeper, moving post-to-post against a stammer one team. One-tie, I know. Which was under the bar. Yeah, that was-that-was. But, dude, Huso played one game, lost, you know, got lit up.

Yeah. But Talbo has been in three. He's, he started two. He's one-in-one, 907, say, percentage, 33-1 goals against. But Lyon is also one-in-one, 9-38, say, percentage, 206 goals against. And Detroit felt like that team where I'm like, you didn't address. the thing that was your problem. Big.

If he gives you that the rest of the way, you're a goal, then do it. I mean, yeah, if Lion can play like he did the other night, I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah. But yeah, that is the big, I mean, that's what we were talking about for. I mean, that was my big question mark was there. Absolutely.

They didn't really, their goalie is. Who's a guy? But Lion is like, you know, I said to Wags during the game, if you had Lion as your 1B in a really solid tan, him, I think you're thrilled. He's a good goal. He's a solid goalie. He's kind of emerged himself as a trending up. Pretty good. A pretty good NHL goalie now.

You know what I mean? Like, he's pretty good NHL goalie. Another trending up. Unlikely goal score again, Paul Cotter. Come on. Eight games, five goals, one assist with his new team in the New Jersey Devils. You keep looking at the Devils winning games and you keep looking at the score sheet, expecting to see Jack Hughes, Tim O'Meier, Niko Heeshire. And we keep seeing Paul Cotter.

But we said, dude, coming from Vegas, he has a chance to get some more time here in Jersey and try to do something. Career high, 13 goals two years ago, seven goals last year. He's got five in October. This was a guy I always saw and I always watched him in Vegas. And I'm like, man, this kid is pretty good. Like, if this kid gets a good opportunity somewhere, like his kid could turn some heads. And like, right now I'm like, holy shit. This kid's hot.

He's fucking getting a good chance. Like making good plays, scoring nice goals too. He is getting in good areas. He plays hard. He also plays hard. Like, I like this. He's a good hockey player. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I like it. Awesome. I like to see it. The devil, this is like, if I'm the devil's, I'm like, man, this is money right now. Oh, dear. We are in a good shape. We are in good shape. We have this guy going too.

You're caking. You're caking. Oh, yeah. Last one, trending down. I hate to see it. Zach Hyman. Six games played, zero goal, zero assists, zero points dash one. He's going to score 60.

What's the worst? going to score 16. You know, listen, the team is, the team. Does he even have any penalty minutes? Great question. Yeah, good question. That's tough. The team's not playing as well as they can or as well as they will.

But remember what we talked about. Everyone who has stroking them off. And we kept saying, three of us kept saying, there are a lot of ifs. One of those ifs. They'll be good if. Jeff Skinner and Victor Arvorton are good. Victor Arbtson, six games, zero goals, zero assists, zero points.

What is Skinner? I think Skinner has one goal, maybe two goals. I'll check. He'm in four pimps. So at least he hasn't had zeros across the board. Yeah, yeah. He's on the stat sheet. He's on the statute.

He's on the statute. Look up Jeff Skinner's stats, but yeah, the ifs are not going for the Edmonton Oilers right now. They need their imaginary hands. Skinner, two goals, two assists, four points. Okay, that's good. Disrespectable. That's fine. That's fine.

Two and two is good. Zero pimps. But the boys need to start cooking. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, I mean, we, when we talked about it, like, they're going, like their team is going right now. I mean, they're not playing very well. And that's a product of it for sure. Absolutely. 100%.

Dude, there's in basketball, Tom, or I'm trying to figure out what it is, but there's something where it's like the basketball box score is, is like, now. things, I guess, or maybe 10 things or something. It's like points, assists, rebounds, turnovers, personal fouls, like all this shit. And if you just get goosed, it says, like, game one, and then, like, comma, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, and they call it something like the trillionaire club.

If you just get in and do fucking jack shit. You didn't exist. Yeah, like Hyman. Were you even out there? Yeah. It's like, Hyman had to get those four pips because he's like, I'm playing, dude. Oh, man. Zero's across the board. No, no, Bueno.

Yeah. No. No. Bany. Grudel. All right, C.P., close us out with the game of the week. Okay, we got a game. We got a game of the week. All right, in this game, this is a trivia game, Tomer. So this is for us. We're getting. Okay, okay. Okay. I am going to ask you guys ten trivia questions, and we can come back to, you can pass,

and you can come back to them, circle back, whatever. The first nine questions have unique answers to them. Okay. The 10th question is what did the answers of all those nine have in common? So, like, for example, if it was like, the answer to question one was red, the answer to question two was orange, yellow, green, blue, the last one. And I'd be like, what were those common? You'd be like, those were the colors of the rainbow.

And I'd be like, yes, like, there's a thing that connects all of your answers. All of the answers. So the 10th question is, like, what was the key? Okay. What was the key to all of this? Okay. Let's get connected. Got it.

Okay. Brain connection. Got it. Play along at home. This is one of my favorite trivia games. We'll be playing this a lot. Question number one. These depictions of Yommer Yager were stolen off of a truck last season.

Bobbleheads. What was it? Wasn't it Bobleheads? I believe you're right. Yes. Bobleheads. It was Boboheads. The Yomri Yager bobbleheads were stolen off the truck.

Yomery Yager bobbleheads. Okay. Bobleheads. Bobleheads is answer one. Yep. And actually, maybe I shouldn't tell you if you. you have the answer right. Oh, yeah, actually, yeah, fair.

But I'll write them down. Yeah, I'll write our answers. So you can't tell if there's right or not. Yeah, but that one I did, so Bavillheads is correct. Okay, okay. But I fucking stole the beans on that one. Okay. Question number two.

This H.L team better love chocolate because of the city they play for in this state. Okay. We're going to say Hershey. In the state. Oh, in the state. Okay, so we're going to say Pennsylvania. I'm not saying if that's right or wrong, but I am saying my man listens. I am saying my man pays attention to questions.

Good job. And because of you paying attention, I know what the connection is already. Okay. Hold on. And you do two and you're going to get it soon. I think so too. This amateur goalie won an Olympic gold medal as property of the NHL team, the Atlanta Flames. He only played 30 games, NHL games after the Olympics, but he is still forever immortalized in hockey history. I know.

Jim Craig, yeah. Jim Craig. Okay, yep. Okay. Again, I'm doubling down on I know the connection. Go on. Question number four. Jerry Chevers famously depicted stitches on his mask

to indicate how his wounds would have been treated had he not been wearing the protection. But when a wound like that was too big for stitches, the bolstered version of this household item can be used to hold it together. Wait, say again. Jerry Cheever's famously depicted stitches on his mask to indicate how his wound would have been treated had he not been wearing the protection. But when a wound like that gets too big for stitches, the bolstered version of this household item is used to hold it together.

So we're using a household item to hold a wound together. Yeah, hold the stitches to basically that the stitches can't. A bolstered. What holds a cut together? Staples. A staple. Yes. because they are more intense staples.

The bolstered it was getting me. Well done, Tom. You bet a couple of those, eh? Yeah. Never gone that extreme. Question number five, winning Kahn Smythe as a rookie in 1986 wasn't enough for this goalie,

so he won it again in 2001, helping deliver a cup to one of the NHL's biggest legends. Wah. Ray Bork. Okay? Yep. Question number six

This state is tied with New York As the state with the most NHL teams At three each Say that again, sorry This state is tied with New York As the state with the most NHL teams At three each California

Oh, nice California Okay Question number seven Playing for the penguins, the lightning, and the Rangers could theoretically be called hopping around, but that's not why this player has the nickname Bugsie. Nice.

It's his name. It's his name, if you know it. Ryan. Tell the listeners. Ryan Malone. What your guess is. I'm not saying that's right. I'm just saying tell them what's guesses.

Yes, that's who it is. If you were having a competition in blank, Keith Yandel and Mark Andre Fleury would be the finalist. Pranks. Pranksters. Pranksters. Okay? Pranks.

Question number nine. The Buffalo Sabres' Key Bank Arena is only a 25-minute drive from this major landmark. Niagara. Niagara Falls, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Got to be. Okay. Question 10.

What is the connection between all those answers? Do you know it? Well, I'll read you our answers. Our answers are Pennsylvania. Because I know it. Pennsylvania, or excuse me, bobbleheads. Okay.

Pennsylvania. Jim Craig. Staples. Patrick Waugh, but Roy. California. Ryan Malone. Pranks and Niagara Falls. It's a TV show.

Oh, it's office. The office. The office. Yes, dude. Bobbleheads Dwight's Bobbohads Scranton PA Jim Yep Dwight works at Staples

Roy Robert California Ryan and Malone Kevin Malone Yeah oh wow good fucking I picked up on Pennsylvania But I and you know what's funny is I'm not even an office guy I don't even watch it but I like

And you still are on it on it Dude pranks To you on Ryan Malone Because that is double Trouple Kevin Malone Pranks and then wedding They get married at Niagara Falls The one I was like

the staples one is hard, but I was like they might, if you figure out it's the office, you'll get staples. The staples is what, but you got you got it. Great job on that. Yeah, help me. But I had bobbleheads in Pennsylvania, I was like, oh, I got it. Yeah. I almost moved the order of those two because I was like, you might get it too fast, but I was like, this is the first one we've done. So yeah.

Fantastic stuff. Really good. Really good job. Boys, you guys crushed that too. Hey, good work. You guys were like, there was almost no stumbles. Like you guys, staples is the hardest one. And Tomer was all over it. Boy, great work. Great work.

Nice. Great game. Great pod. Yeah, that was fun. That is it for us today at the empty netters podcast. Beautiful times in Nashville. Let's go get some fucking food. Oh, I'm starving.

Let's, hell yeah. I'm starving. And we're going to keep buzzing. Keep checking out some fun interviews coming up. Great stuff. We'll be at the Preds Bruins game. And until we see you next time, skate hard.