Empty Netters Podcast - The Stars Tell Edmonton To Take Their 3rd Periods And Shove It w/ TJ Oshie | EP.196

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

Osh is back and it’s just in time for the conference finals action. The Stars survived an early Oilers surge to take game 1. And the Panthers are giving the Canes nightmares about their series two years ago with a huge win in Carolina. The guys debate what happens next and Osh saves the day in a game of connective tissue NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY! PRESENTED by BetMGM. Download the BETMGM app and use code “NETTERS” and enjoy up to $1500 in bonus bets if you lose your first wager! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: LABATT BLUE. It’s time for you to get on board with our favorite beer in the game. Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light are the perfect beverages to wet your whistle while you’re watching hockey or hanging with friends. That’s because there’s a little bit of Canadian kindness in every sip. Go to https://www.labattusa.com/product/labatt-blue/ to find some00:00 INTRO00:27 NOT ICE17:45 STARS / OILERS59:00 CANES / PANTHERS1:09:09 MITCH MARNER DILEMMA1:13:12 CONNECTIVE TISSUE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This game got totally flipped on its head. It looked like you're dead in the water. Edmonton just rolling on, chew, chew, as usual. And then you come out with the best third period anyone has ever seen, and you steal that game back. Everyone's thinking, typical Dallas game one all over again. And then you go up against a team with the best third period differential in the playoffs and hand them a dash five. Ice is ready, and we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters podcast, brought to you by BetMGM. I'm your host, Dan Powers, alongside T.J. Oshie, all the way from D.C. right now.

It's almost midnight where he is. And then also to my left, a man who once tried to kill me when we were kids by jumping up and down on my back. I want to remember the people. I want to remind the people because you're a bad guy, Chris Power. As always, and that did happen. But hey, then he toughened you up and then you were able to beat me. I had to do it with Oshan the pod because I need him to know who we're dealing with. You were able to beat me up. I made you stronger. Oh, God, it's true. Osh, how are we doing, dude? You're a ledge for staying up late with us here.

No, no, doing good, doing good. You know, just moving into obviously the off-season here. And, yeah, excited to be on with you, boys. You guys are some of the best. I know we were texting during the game there. I feel like I turned my phone off for 10 minutes, get back on, and ours turned it around. Dude, I was about to say, like, we have to share that moment.

We were all chatting about when to start. And I was just like, all right, I'm going to step away for a second. And then comes back and he was like, what the fuck happened? Four three. Three to one. And now it's four three. I thought it was over. Same dude.

I'm sorry. Like it's over. Dallas is done. Dude, I like made myself something to eat going into the third period. It's like, oh, oilers are up three one. You got these guys going into a third period with a three one lead. And I'm like, okay. Like, this is toast.

I'm like making myself dinner here in the, office and I turn around 30 seconds goes by in the third and it was three two and I was like oh shit yeah you because we had the basketball game on too which was also chaotic yeah and you we were looking at that and I went oh shit and Dan thought I was looking at the basketball screen he's like what happened and I'm like Dallas scored over here look over this side it's madness insanity dude this whole thing is fucking out of control so we'll get into all of that game but oh so we've got to do some of our knot ice which is just talking about non-hockey stuff before we start the show and what we've been doing recently is informing every

everybody about the Diddy trial? How up to date are you? Because I feel like you are just out of the loop in the new circuit sometimes. I have no idea what's going on in the world. Oh, so she's like, what did he do? Do you mean he's past daddy? Yeah, yeah, dude. He is like, he is an out of control monster and he's on trial right now. Yeah. So, no, I technically, I do, I go into some, some rabbit holes. And so, um, I learned about this a while ago. I feel like sometimes when things drag on, you're like, all right, I'm just, I'm done with it until until something real comes out and people start getting arrested. And then you'll hear about it anyway. You know what I mean?

You can easily tune out because anything big happens, it'll be online. That's such a good strategy. I feel like I should start. I'm too invested. I don't know why I'm spending hours pouring over the live updates on the Diti trial. Nothing fucking happens for three days in a row. Yeah. I mean, do you have any updates for us?

No, not really. There's nothing going on. It's basically what we said last time where people, it's just, just a lot of like, yeah, I worked for him and he was a bad guy. They brought a psychologist in to be like victims in domestic abuse relationships, stay in the relationships too long. And I'm like, I know. Okay.

I will say, though, some dude who worked for Diddy pled the fifth. And I'd never even seen that in real life. Like, I know that happens in TVL time. It's like, I plead the bit. Some dude was like, no. I was like, yes, dude. That's real? Holy shit.

I'm with OSHA, though. Like, I said it last episode, Osh. I was like, I need some serious drama. or some serious info to come out, otherwise they're going to lose me here. Yeah. They've kind of already lost me, to be honest with you. They get me for like three minutes.

And if I can't sponge up the information in three minutes, I just have to move on. I have to swipe to something else. Yeah. Usually a golf video about how I suck and the pro golfers are really good. Yeah. Ways to improve my swing and then I go try it and I shank it into the net. What's the swing fix we need, Osh?

Where's the miss? You know, it's the swing. actually feeling pretty good. Which means the back's feeling good. I've been struggling for a while. I was real, I was down to point two. Jesus Christ,

when me and my wife first got together. Not saying that I'm going to do with it, but, and so I've been slowly, like, trying to figure out how I played the game back then and how my swing was. And I just found the last kind of missing, piece, which was my takeaway used to be, you know, very straightened.

The reason I found this was listening to Rory Macaroid. I don't know. No, one wants to hear people talk about their own golf swing. No, they do. Actually, they do. My takeaway was way on the inside. And I ended up coming over the top, which everyone says, coming over the top. And I'm like, I know I am, but I don't know why.

It was all my takeaway. And so I went to the range with the little man yesterday. And we hammered some balls and figured it out. Wow. And also, by the way, I know you know this, but that's, that's what worked for Tiger. Just watching his dad hit balls, you know, like he imprinted on a good call swing. So not only you're fixing your swing, but you're protecting generations of OShees to make the PGA tour. So this is a good investment.

I'm trying. I told, I asked my little man the other day. Usually if I ask him when he wants to be when he grows up, he says like he wants to drive a garbage truck or train or. Hell yeah. very into trucks. And so I was like, hey, bud, do you want to be a pro hockey player like pops or do you want to be a pro golfer? And he was like, well, I feel like in golf you don't have to steal the puck away.

So, and I'm not very good at stealing the puck. So maybe I'll just play golf. And I was like, all right, man. That's what do you want to figure it out? Fine. Perfect. Golf or right wing? Right wing.

Yeah, that was a really interesting way to get there. But I'll tell you what, he got, he, the better longevity. Amazing. Easier on the body. Great choice. Come on. The kids, kids smart.

Kids smart. Exactly. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. He'll probably be driving a truck, though. Yeah. He's really into trucks. I love that for him, dude.

Yeah, I mean, this is great. This all sounds good. Moving from one trial to another possible trial. Osh, I prepped you for this. We're going to talk about something that's going on because growing up Patriots fans, it's hard to ignore what's happening to Bill Belichick. Oh, she's probably fired up, dude.

He's a Seahawks fan. He loves this. Yeah. I mean, it's like seeing the demise of a former enemy. It's a beautiful thing. But you know nothing about this situation. So we're going to fill you in. Basically, Bill Belichick has taken the job at UNC, which is insane already.

He's like, how many wins away is he from Shula? Good question. But takes a head coaching job at UNC. And then also, in the past year, maybe more, he has started dating a 24-year-old girl named Jordan. That's not a lie. She's 24. And he's like 77. Yeah.

And he's 13 wins away. And slowly and systematically, it appears that everything in Bill Belichick's life is unraveling at the seams. And tell us what just happened. So this one, this was what killed me, Osh. Because like, what I can't figure out is, he's old and she is hot and young. And he's rich, right? So I imagine she's like, I have a good life. Like I'm with Bill and, you know, I have money to do things and that's awesome.

And I suppose he is like, this is cool because I have this girl on my arm or whatever. But like to me it can't be much more than that transaction, which is fine, dude. Like everyone live your life. Live your life. The Pat's owner's been doing this with Instagram models since his beloved wife died for years. Like whatever, dude, is what it is. But, dude, Bill, Bill loves to sail. Oh, she like, he has a boat and he takes it out to Nantuck and he loves it.

And when he bought the boat, he, I think he had maybe, oh, man, like five Super Bowl championships at the time. So he named the boat five rings. Like it was a V and then it said rings. And the R on ring, like the leg of the R kind of swoops down and there's rings like up the leg. So there was five rings on it. And then the Pats won again.

And he renamed the boat. He added a singular Roman numeral. So it's like six wings, six rings. Seven rings, eight rings, because I think he has two of the Giants. He does, he does. He does. He does. He does.

So the boat's called eight rings. And, dude, this weekend, Jordan, the 24-year-old and her cheerleading troop won their competition, won their championship in their competition. And he renamed the boat, adding another thing on it. And it's now nine rings for Jordan's cheerleading competition, dude. That's his sacred boat for his Super Bowl. What are we fucking talking about? Dude, a cheerleading when getting added to the boat name was unexpected. Oh, my God, man.

And there's rumors that they're engaged now. Oh, yeah. Which is like, I didn't believe it, but now I do believe it because he renamed the boat for. And I think he's legitimately lost his mind. Dude, and here's what I'm asking the two of you, Osh and CP, I need your answers. How, like over under two and a half years before we hear that Bill Belichick has mysteriously died. and Jordan is now, whatever her name is, is the head of a state. If there's no pre-up, if there's no pre-up, he's dead.

If there's no pre-up, he's as good as dead. I'll tell you that much. Man, that's, uh, I don't know. I, like, I mean, it's hard to, it's hard to even comment on it. I know. The, uh, I will say, in general, guys are not smart. Yep. This is so painfully true.

Yep. I will also say in general, guys typically fall hard. Also true. Yeah. And so, I don't know. Is it? Just the good guy in me really hopes that, like, they actually, you know, they're in love. Yeah.

Now, I don't know if you need to throw nine rings on there. Yeah, on the boat. On the boat. Like, before, before the wedding, dude. Like, you got to. I would have accepted the nine. ninth ring for the engagement ring more than the cheerleading title for being honest is is there a chance and i'm not even saying this is bad i'm legitimately saying is there a chance that she was in another life

was providing a service that he paid for and then they fell for each other and you're asking us if this is a pretty woman's situation is there a chance that we're in a pretty woman situation and he was like you know what I like you. I'm just going to make you my wife. So I'm essentially paying you a ton. Now you have a ton of money. And now you just, you're with me permanently. Is there a chance? That's all I'm asking. Yes. I think that has to. Am I crazy? I wish? Like, there's definitely a chance. I mean, dude, I don't know. Like, we're putting you on the spot here. I know. Super uncomfortable talking about it. I like, I hope to meet him one day. you know, saved.

But you'll be like, oh, you're the guy that was dogged on my marriage. Yeah, he's like, dude, that's the love of my life. Actually true.

I have met him. So, like this is, yeah, you have been. I'm in the clear here. Like, I already had my shot.

So, yeah. But it was come back around now. You know, you're right. Maybe our, maybe our spit on this is it's no one, no one gets it.

I think the thing that freaks me out the most is that he, she's been banned from UNC's facility. Yes. That makes me feel like there's something not great. But maybe it's, actually, I think OSHA's right here. This is the spin zone.

He's just so in love. He's so in love that he's distracted when she's on at the facility. That's all it is. And guys in love love grand gestures. And I can think of no grander gesture from Bill than renaming the boat.

Yeah. So this is truly, this is actually a sign and a testament to the true love that he is actually feeling. I'm okay with that. I mean, I think I like to think that it's it's all the best intentions until yeah until proven until proven differently and i mean i know like if i go to the rink like i want to be ultra focus maybe bill bander like wow dude what a

take you're right you're right he well he went to the brass and was like hey you get this is coming from me but you got to make it look like it's coming from you he said i love her too much this is big brain stuff i love her too much i can't have her around it's distracting to me how much to recruit. How am I supposed to recruit with Jordan walking around in the bikini? In North Carolina. Why is she in a bikini? North Carolina. I mean, that's I have a question. Is North Carolina going to be good?

Dude, we were talking about that today. I have no idea. Like, I think that there's a world where, I don't think there's any world where they're bad. Or worse than they were. Yeah. But there's a chance. What do you think about this, Osh, because we were just talking about this

about the recruiting aspect, which is such a huge part of college sports. I was saying that any college kid would go, oh my God, I have to go play for Bill because that's the way to the NFL. But then Dan made a good counter that was like, dude, these kids are 18 and Bill's like 77. And I don't know that that's who they want to go play for for a few years. And I don't know the answer to that, but I do think whatever that answer is will decide if they're good or not. Yeah. Maybe Jordan helps with the recruiting. Would you, in one more ways than one? Would you, would you, if you're an 18 year old kid, Do you want to go play for Belichick right now?

I think I don't, I'm not a big enough fan to know. Does he develop players or does he just make good teams? When you go to college, right, your goal is to play NFL. Yeah. And so those four years are like, you need to develop big time, right? And some coaches are really good at developing players. And maybe they're great at coaching too. and some coaches are just really good at getting teams to win.

I don't know if they go hand in hand or not, but. Fantastic question. And I kind of feel like he's the latter. I don't know. I actually think how many examples do we have of guys on the Patriots in Bill's heyday who were elite and then they went somewhere else and they were awful. So I think Bill actually does have a good reputation of getting the best out of players, maybe some unknown players, some of those mid-round draft picks that all of a sudden become all pro.

Yeah, true. So yeah, that could be a huge. If he brings the UNC Tar Heels to a football national championship, I actually think that is a sick, sick little tidbit on the resume at age 80. It would be phenomenal. That's awesome. It's phenomenal. All right, so we're going with the good guy take here.

They're in love. This is just true love. She's just not allowed at the games because he's trying to lock in. And it was a grand gesture. This turned into a great story. They're going to win the natty and have a beautiful wedding. So we're all in on this. I'm all in.

This is fantastic. And Bill, I can't wait to meet you. And discuss your love. Yeah. Let's go golfing. Yeah. Golf and Bill. Like this is a,

Hey, there's some great tracks down there too. This is a fantastic for some. Like, it's, we're going to have a blast. Yeah, but Jordan can't come because she's distracting.

Yes. You can not go golfing because she's distracted. I'm talking, course. Yeah. I'll go through the course for it, but. All right.

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What a fucking game. Holy shit. What a game. I mean, like we said in the beginning, we all checked out, thought that was over. But before we get into the crazy comeback from Dallas, oh, we were saying it early watching the game, how fucking good is this oilers team when they're buzzing? And Connor and Leon specifically. It's like Leon gets the first goal. Connor sets up the second on the peeper.

It's like, these guys are out of control. They're so good. I mean, dry-sidal, you know, from when you're in the East, you don't necessarily watch, you don't get to see the teams in the West a whole bunch. And so I've only played against him a couple times. And he was really good in those games, but you see, you know, the point leaders, you see like, geez, this guy just keeps getting points, keeps getting points. And when you don't play against him a lot, you're like, well, I mean, I get points too if I play for me, you know. But then, like, just recently, I've really started, like, actually watching hockey a little bit. and I'm like, man, this guy is good.

Like, he is actually really nasty. And, but I mean, McDavid is, I mean, he's, he's not even remotely close. He's the best player I've ever seen ever. Or played against. Yep. It's literally not even close, I don't think. What happens when you're playing against him and you're on the ice? Is it, like, obviously you're aware when he's on the ice, but is it hard to not,

like just gang tackle five guys at him is it hard to do your job when he's over there because you're like my defenseman's on an island like how do you team defend a coner mc david i mean you just you just somehow try to like keep them out of the middle of the ice somehow and the problem is so fast so it's like if you're running into a fight with with a machine gun and all of a sudden a tank comes around the corner you're like well fuck i'm just going to retreat back to the bunker and i'll see you there i got my guns jam my guns jam yeah dude like that's what everyone looks like they're on roller skates just like going back it's like fuck fuck kick back as back as fast as possible oh yeah i mean how many how many defense men do you know that literally when someone gets the puck

they just turn around and start skating full speed backwards to get some speed and then turn around like yeah when he gets the puck you just can't you just can't contain him and the what was most impressive to me is the first time that we played him he's coming down the wall i had him lined up and in my mind i'm like all right you know he's really skilled he's super fast he's probably not going to be super like strong on his skates too. And so I leaned into him so that there was no room for him to go by and that he would just run into me. And I would just, even if he knocked me back a little, you know, you brace yourself and you at least stop his momentum. And he just blew straight through my shoulder and like took my stick with me and he's going this way.

I'm facing the wall. Yeah, you're spinning like a top. And I was like, wait a second. He's strong too. He's fast, really good to stick handling, really good at passing shooting, and super smart, and now he's strong. So it's, I mean, I was like, geez, this guy's a real deal. It's not fair, man.

And I have a question for you. Before the, not literally right before the game, but yesterday, Otter gave an interview where he said, he was like, when it's all said and done, McDavid is going to be the greatest player of all time. Not of his era, like literally there's a new Wayne Gretzky, his name is Connor McDavid. The day before playing him in a playoff game. Is that next level head game or is that just like, whatever, dude, respect. I'm telling it how I see it. I think it's straight respect.

I mean, I don't think in hockey. I think there's too much of a respect between players to like throw a head game, you know, like that. But he, I mean, listen, I think, I think Wayne is like, I don't think anyone will ever be better than him. I mean, you see the numbers that he did and how smart he was for. Yeah, dude. So underrated. I mean, he didn't have the training that we have now.

You know what I mean? So it's almost like the Jordan thing. Like, you know, he was like, it's just eras. It's like different eras, different. But I don't think anyone's more exciting to watch than Conner McDavid. I think it's so true. And it goes into, I mean, like, you're doing it right now. I've just never seen the way guys, his peers, guys in the league.

constantly talk about him, like elite, elite NHL players like you, and just being like this fucking guy is on another planet. And it doesn't make sense. And I actually, going back to what you said earlier, man, I will never stop talking about dry-sidal. He is consistently up against that, like, well, he plays with Connor. These playoffs, I don't know what it's been, maybe I'm watching them a little bit more closely than usual.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone with his size and strength on the puck, and how smooth he is, how good his hands are, how good his vision is, how good his passing is. Like, I genuinely don't know how you knock that fucking guy off the puck. Yeah. It's crazy. Like, he enters the zone with the puck on his stick, and I'm like, who's taking that from them?

And we're kind of going to get to this later, but it makes their power play so unfair to me. But it's actually struggling right now, which is what we're going to talk about. But it's so crazy that I'm like, how do you get a zone entry these days when the whole team stacked on the blue line? And it's like, well, we have Connor and Leon,

and one of them can go a million miles an hour or one of them can just shield you off the puck and then we're in and set up. Yeah. I feel like every power play, even if they don't score, they have it for two minutes. Yeah.

It's crazy. It's obviously they get that, the steel slash Sagan goal, but I mean, you're up one with, what was there, five plus minutes left, maybe more.

And it's just like, I don't think anyone can feel comfortable against that team. It does, when Connor gets going through the middle, like you said, oh, shit, it feels like they're on a power play.

Yeah, it's so true. It's fucking crazy. Hey, Oh, going into the third, I saw this stack him up. I don't know if you saw it. It was the, it's the Dutchie line with Robo. And they were like, they're a minus 25 coming into this game.

And there are minus six in this game. That's when it was 3-1. And Robo's done. Dutchy hadn't scored. Robo hadn't scored. And I was like, man, dude, that is not it. If you're Dallas, where are you at on mixing lines up during playoffs? Because as a fan, I always hated it.

I was like, dude, let them fucking go. They were good all year. but do you need a jumble sometimes? I think you do if you're, say if you're down like 3-1. Yeah, sure. If you're on the first game, you lose three in a row or something. But no, you kind of got to let it ride out. And, you know, you can adjust a little bit with ice time.

You can bring ice time down a little bit and kind of get in their head like, hey, like if you want to play, we have to trust. Yeah, right. We have to trust that when you're on the ice, they're not going to put two in the net. Yeah, right. You know, one happens sometimes. I'm not a big fan of the plus minus thing because.

Because you were always out with the goalie pole. Yeah. We talked about this. Yeah. I'm not a big fan of the plus minus, but I mean, minus 25 is a big number, right? Yeah, fuck. But no, it's sometimes it's better to let them stick together and like let them

grind through a little bit. You know, sometimes it makes them better. Or maybe you just, move one guy out just for like a game or a period and then put them back together because the line obviously works right they're good players yeah they clearly have chemistry together sometimes you just need like you know even this the last 10 minutes of a period like hey all right we're gonna if one of them struggling more than the other we're going to move you up actually on a better line yeah sure yeah yeah we're gonna give you a little confidence here go play with these guys and then uh and then

moving back, but switching up, it just, I think it sends a wrong message to the players, like, hey, you guys don't work. We can't.

And dude, like you said, I always kind of get rattled for the, you know, like second line, let's call it second line, who's actually going good. And then you're like,

hey, your line's getting broken up because we got to get the third line going. And I'm like, what the fuck? Dude, I was going fine. It's not.

I know. It sucks. It sucks, man. But, you know, if you, if you want to win, you know, and you're good player

and you're like, hey, if this is what's going to make the team win, I'll, you know, I'll go play with a different line for a little bit and just hopefully you move me back. Yeah, yeah. I get that in writing. I do need to go back. What are you two seeing in this series? Obviously, we just saw game one, huge win at home for Dallas,

but all three of us were talking, and I feel like you popped on Twitter today, and the whole hockey world was talking. Dallas notoriously bad in game one of series. They start slow. So going into that third, you saw a lot of Dallas people, not making excuses, but being like, this is Dallas, this is first period Dallas. But we were all talking.

We were like, shit, they look a little out matched here. And then completely flipped the script to that third period. Yeah, like who do you, I guess I have two questions, but do you feel coming out of that game, OSHA, if you're the Oilers, you kind of feel like you just got rinsed on a bunch of power plays in the third and you're like, whatever, boys, we played a great road game. Is that how you feel or are you like, oh, we woke Dallas up? Yeah, no, so I'll go back to game one in Vegas when we won. Yeah.

It was, we lost, it was something crazy. Like, we might have lost like six, five, maybe. It's stupid that I don't remember what the score was. I actually love that. It's the loss. Fuck that. No, it's like you black out. Like, I don't hate that.

Whatever it was. I'll find out. And it was, uh, and literally after the game, we immediately said, I think I might have said, or one of the guys might have said. And we were just like, guys, we just lost by, one goal and we sucked. Yeah. We played terrible.

So like if we just stay with our game like we have the whole playoffs and then we'll be, we'll be just fine. And so I think, I think Edmonton, the worst thing they could do is come out next game and show too much emotion, be two all over the place. What I always look for is the best, the best way to tell if a team, I, think is going to win a series is if you look at their bench when things are going bad. Love this. Yeah, love that.

If guys are yapping each other, yelling each other, immediately, they'd be like, they're done. They might find a way to sneak out of this series, but they're not going to win the whole thing. And if that's in the finals, they're definitely not going to win. Dude, this is jumping ahead to a topic. We're going to get you later. Every Toronto Maple Leafs fan who just heard that just cried. I was right about to ask you.

I don't know if you saw that Leach Game 7, but they were not fucking screaming at each other, Ruby screaming and everybody. That, like that to me, and I think maybe to you, reads like too much, or I'm like, dude, play your game, calm down. You agree? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

We were, uh, it was game two. Game two. Um, we won that game. And they were, Vegas's bench was, they were already coming back changing, coming off the ice, screaming at like, Ford was yelling at a D. Yeah.

I immediately like saw and like went down the I'm like, boys, they're already yelling at each other. It's only game two. And they won game one. Yeah, right. I literally, I was like, stay. They won't win another game if we just stay like this. Yeah.

Didn't. So, like, if you look at the other, other bench and their things are going bad, and the guys are just sitting there ready to rock and just go out for their next shift, and, like, throw some money on it because, like, they're, yeah, it's done. Like, they're locked in. They don't care what happens. Good, bad. They're just doing their job.

Yeah. I'm close the rope. That's big time insight. That's like finding someone's tell playing cards. They start bugging out. You've got to start feeling good. But that is the thing that I've got in my head right now. It's all playoffs.

I've been like, what the fuck is this Edmonton team doing to their opponents? Because they get people off their game. You saw it in L.A. after game two, in game three with the, you know, the coaches challenge, whatever. But you just saw a difference in the way L.A. was playing. You saw it in Vegas. And I think I've realized it's panic.

Yeah. I think when these teams start seeing those guys get going, and it's not just the two big boys, it's everyone. Bouchard's going. When Hymann starts hitting people, Nuge is going. The panic sets in a, oh, shit, are we about to get this inevitable oilers team? And guys just start getting off their game. That definitely happened to Dallas here. Definitely did.

In the first two periods. Yeah. Second period was just, it felt like they weren't doing anything right. They were completely all over the place. and then that third period starts and 30 seconds in. DeBoer, someone may, who knows, maybe it's Ben, but they clearly just settled themselves down and got back to playing their game. And the only way I think you can beat this Oilers team is if you just don't get rattled.

Don't get in your head about who you're playing. But on the other side of that is this Oilers team, I don't see this Oilers team starting to yell at each other. So it's going to be a chess match if you're going to beat this team. I think of you just have to stay composed because I don't, don't see the oilers getting uncomposed if that makes sense it does it makes perfect sense and and oh if you in in a series because i we were talking before the game last year in this exact matchup i forget the exact staff but dallas was like oh for 21 on the power play yeah against the oilers last year and we were saying like

if that happens again you're fucked and you just you got to score power play goal and then they score three of them right in the third period i think all three of those were power plays before the sams or before the sagan one uh in this game i think yeah i was they were three on the power play. So all three power play in the third period. Well, no, their first power play did not go in. I, you know, they did.

It did. No. They extended into the third period and they scored power play goal. But didn't they get a peeper in the first period? Oh, yeah, yeah, they missed their first one. That's sorry. Three power play goals in the third period.

Yes, correct. So is there, if you're the Oilers team, is, like, in playoffs, we always talk like you guys barely practice. You're just going, getting ready, getting recovered for the next game. But are you like, we need to make a penalty kill adjustment? Or do you just kind of wash that one bad game

and we trust our unit? No, yeah, it depends on how the goals are scored, but typically the thing that I love about playoffs is in the regular season, you see, whatever, we see Pittsburgh one night. So we do the pre-scout on them, and then we see the Rangers the next night, and then you get a new pre-scout. And it's a completely different penalty kill. Typically, everyone kind of plays OB similar, but other than that, it's different. Yeah, true. Every team is like, you get the scouted report. It's like, ah, they just put a guy on OV, and I'm like, oh, yeah.

They put a guy on OV and then play three on the other side. Crazy. All right, got it. Cool. Sounds good. But in a playoff series, it's almost like a chess match, right? You kind of, you do one thing, one team has success. Now, you know that the other penalty kill is probably going to change something up in one way or another.

So then you kind of tweak your game to what you think they're going to do. Yeah, fuck. And then it's just like this little mental war, like all like these, little games within the games power play versus pk 5 on 5 on 5 5 5 5 5 on 5 set breakout versus set 4 check and all these things you just kind of keep going and eventually typically it's going to get shut off at some point they're going to find a way to shut something off and then you got to turn something else on and so that's why the playoffs are so so fun to playing because it's like these little almost like in a shootout with me against bob

like these little mental things going back and forth and uh and then They're not big adjustments. They're just little ones, but they make a big difference when it comes to, you know, obviously a playoff series. Yeah. How quick do you hate the other team? Like immediately? Oh, it's pretty quick. Yeah.

First period. Especially a round one exit because round one is just mayhem. Like, everyone's fresh. Yep. You know, if you're hurt at the end of the season, your team's going to be in playoffs, you get to sit out the last couple of games and make sure your body's ready to go. Yeah. By this stage, it's kind of like everyone's hurt.

Everyone's tired. Now you're just trying to win. And so I think there's a little, maybe there's not, I don't know, but as much hatred. But something about that round one exit, like, you finally made the playoffs and then you lose. You're like, I hate Carolina for the rest of my life. Yes. Same with like when we lost, whatever.

but that's how it goes for me. Yeah, that's awesome, dude. That's so good. Dude, you can see it, man. And I was actually talking about this today. I love how in the handshake line, too, it's like, you watch guys motherfuck each other all series long, and then the handshake line, just like, hey, go win it for me, man. You're like, what is going on here?

But I do like the idea. It's like a movie scene of two bloody, destroyed people trying to beat the hell out of each other. It's just that's what it is by round three. Oh, my God, dude. It's like you're watching, you're watching guy. I think Hyman blocked a shot. above his knee today and he dropped like a sack of potatoes and it wasn't like oh he's milking it's like I bet he's in so much pain he was a trisidal hammer yeah yeah it's like Jesus Christ the guy's taking

shrapnel out here another another reason sorry I'm gonna go back a couple talks another reason you're so tired at this point that if you're wasting all your energy yelling each other or yelling at the refs teams that like really get on the refs like you don't have that much energy yeah you have a day between games you're sitting in a hotel all day or whatever you're doing um but like you're still tired when you get to the game. So just all that extra energy is just, it's just wasted. Yeah, so much better used in the third period than

screaming at Wes. Yeah. Conserve fuel, man. So that's another thing. I know we're bopping all around. The common take right now online is Oilers fans being frustrated with the officiating. And I always get a little

wishy-washy on that. A big one was the Dushain high stick that just it clearly is in the face. I don't know what you want. I mean, oh, you know how that was good.

It's like sometimes it's not intentional. It's a missed stick lift and you catch a guy in the chin or the cheek and it sucks, but it's a penalty. And at the end of the day, it's, yeah, does Dallas have three power play goals? Sure. But they were three for four.

Edmonton was one for three. It's, you know, it's not like it was crazy lopsided. So the special teams in this series is obviously going to be very important. And if you're Dallas, you can't expect to go 75% every single game. God, no.

But at the same time, it's like if you're Dallas, that wins got to feel great. You know, you do not want to drop that one at home. And then you win with a really solid punch to the mouth in the third period. How much of that confidence do you think rolls through to game two? Yeah, I guess another way to put it to is if you've ever imagined in your long career you did, if you ever lost the game one at home, does it make game two like monumental in the room for the boys? Because you're like, Christ, guys, we can't dump both these.

Yeah. Yeah, it's, um, I think. I think we might have actually went down 2-0 to Columbus when we won. Oh, dude, I think you're right, bro. 100% let me check that, but I think you're right. Three overtime games in a row, I think. Yeah. First two, I think we won the third.

But, yeah, you lose that first one at home is tough because typically home ice is, I mean, it's super important in playoffs. For whatever reason, I think we actually might have had a better record on the road when we won the country. That year? Yeah. I think you certainly did, actually, yeah. Yeah. But it's, you know, it makes you a little more antsy for sure game two.

Yeah. It all comes down to the way you lose, too. You know, if it's a, you know, if you had a good game and just whatever. But and then on the refs, too, the, it took me not too long in my career to realize that, like, hey, these reps are like, they're people, right? And so, like, the more that I scream at you, the more you're probably going to hate me and never give me to that. Yeah, exactly. And so I made a point. And I'd always tell the team video coaches,

like, hey, when you put up the lineups, can you put the refs names up there too? Oh, sick. And when it's on the TV, all game. And so at any time, like, and I tell players like, hey, especially young guys, learn their names, look at their numbers, learn their names. I think a couple teams actually put a piece of tape on the boards

with their names and numbers on. Like on the bench? Smart. Yeah, that's very fucking smart. You know what I mean? You can go up and be like, hey, Rooney. Hopefully he's doing okay, by the way. Yeah, he is.

He checks out. Confirm. He's all good. Good. Rooney, what the heck, man? Like, the guy just got me in the teeth or whatever. And they'll be honest, like, oh, I didn't see it, man. I'm sorry.

I'll try to get it back for you. Or whatever it is. You know what I mean? So, and I know the rest there at this stage, they definitely don't want the spotlight on them. And so more times or not, they're going to try to even enough. 4 and 4 if they can. Or if there's a call, you know, they'll be looking extra for a call to just even things. They don't want, they don't want to be the deciding factor for sure.

Dude, Osh, we were actually talking to Roons once and we were headed into a big playoff game. And we said to him what, I think it was in Vegas or no, it was last year. But it was like heading into a big game and he was refing. We were like, what are you hoping for tomorrow? As in like what kind of a game? He's obviously not rooting for anybody. And he goes, I hope that there's not a single penalty in the entire game. because he was just like, I don't want to make a call.

I don't want to have to, you know, make a call that possibly dictates the game. And I have never felt a more universal thing. I was like, oh, yeah, everyone would feel that way if they're a referee. That's so funny. Absolutely. They love the game, right? And they want the best team to win or whoever is supposed to win or whatever. And yeah, but, I mean, I've gotten, I've dug into a couple.

Yeah. Hey, he had the moment. I'm human too. I'm human too. We're all human, too. Oh, so you talk about how you win matters or how you lose matters in the playoffs, right? Is Dallas being down, three, two, or sorry, three one in game one at home against the team that was a playoff best plus 10 in the third period? And then handing Edmonton a dash five in the third. Is that win almost even better than just having been up all game?

Because you're like, boys, they chink in their armor. We can beat them. We can come back. They're not that tough. Does that matter? Or is it kind of just like, fuck, it, it wins a win and we're on to game two.

I think it's, no, I think it brings your momentum into game two. So momentum is everything in playoffs, right? Like one goal here and there. And it's like, you know,

so it's, I think the, the game two, I think is going to, like the first period, if Dallas comes out and they're still buzzing and they get a couple in,

I mean, I'm going to like their chances. Yeah. If they're still buzzing and Edmonton holds them off and it's like zero one one. Yeah. You know, when you're going and you're feeling good and you're, you know, you're buzzing, momentum's on your side and you still can't like score a goal. Eventually you're like what like what else can I do?

Yeah. You know? And it starts to creep in like we should be up. We should be up. You know, like I hate that feeling. You should be. Yeah. Yeah.

You should never think. You should just, I mean, delete the last shift. Go to the next one. She'd be like a robot machine out there. That's so accurate, but I'm telling you guys, this Oilers, I mean, you could say the same thing about the Panthers. The Panthers are, Matthew Couch said it. He was like, we are built to wear teams down in a seven game series. And you also see, I don't know if you've seen that clip, Osh, or UCP, but it's a, it's, uh, Bennett and Verhegey on the bench after beating Toronto.

It's like, the game's not even over. And Bennett just says something. Oh, that feels good, eh? And like, for He was like, yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't done playing hockey. Then they're like, I got at least a month left to me. And they just look so relaxed. And, you know, it makes sense. These are the two teams that went to the final last year.

But we saw it against L.A. I think the confidence the Oilers have going back to Rogers, going to that, to that goddamn barn, is so high. And they've done it. They've been down 02 in these playoffs and come back in one four straight and won a series. So it's based on what we've seen again, how this Oilers team plays against the Kings, then against Vegas. I think there's pressure on Dallas to be like, even if they win game to. I think there's pressure on them to be like, don't let, don't let up at all and don't let anything that happens mess with us mentally. Like you're saying, I think that this series more than the Carolina Hurricanes, more than the Florida Panthers, more than frankly anyone that has played, this series right now, Dallas is.

mentality needs to be so much delete what just happened even if it's a win and and go on to the next shift to the next game etc because yeah robot brain because it's like i i think this oilers team is just so capable of letting nothing mess with them it's it's horrible the job is just one in dallas right if you're edmonton it's like literally just kind of get one game definitely yeah yeah no absolutely yeah if you can go on the road and get one game you're you're laughing on the way home yeah and what about what about skinner ohsh like He obviously got yanked, right? And then Pickard goes in.

And then he gets Skinner comes back because Pickard's hurt, two straight shotouts. He gave up five tonight because the last one was empty. I gave up five tonight. But to me, none of those are really on him that badly, a lot of power play goals, whatever. Is that how you saw it too? Or are you worried if you're an Edmonton fan? Are you like, fuck, we don't know what we have in goal? Um, I mean, goalie, I think is probably, is for sure.

Actually, not I think. I think is 100% the most valuable player on the team. Yeah. In playoffs. I mean, it's just, it just is. So, you know, there's a couple, there's a couple of screen goals in there. You know, I'm not a goalie guy. I don't know if you have to work harder to get around the team.

They all look tough to me, dude. I was a sick shot. Yeah. So, no, I think you, I think you put your trust in your guy and you just, you ride with him unless you can't anymore. You know what I mean? I think so too. The goal of his confidence is

way more fragile, I feel like, than a player's because so much rides on you and your reeds and your eyes and what you see and being able to make the big saves. And so I think Yanking him and then maybe bigger not

working out and then having to throw them back in at this stage I think might be a little risky dude because I'm with you, I think. think it's his it's his head right because i think they definitely go with skinner in game two but it's i'm just worried about up here with stew where he's like i even if even if we all agree those weren't really his fault he's like well there there goes five past me again like every game he's played he's either had a shut out or given up five goals and i'm like dude it's like i don't need that

for his mental health yeah yeah exactly stew just four more shoutouts baby we're right there and we'll be fine and we'll be just fine dude uh and then how well that we were talking on text, but that last one, which I think was technically Sagan's goal, but that play by Sam Steele on that two-on-one, the poise, dude, that was nasty. So nasty. It was great. I mean, like I said in the text, like I'm not, I don't follow a lot of, I didn't play last year. And then obviously guys in the West too. And I was like, man, who is this guy? That was, that was a great play. A lot of speed, um, poise to pull it over. I don't know if it was going in or not. It looked like it was going right under the

bar. Yeah, Sings thief. Yeah, I don't. I was like, dude, that's a playoff goal, pal. Great hand eye, though. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. But that was a smooth, that was a nice goal.

Dude, I was expecting, I was expecting, oh, that was nasty. Because that's Sagan going down the wings. I was expecting a pass or at the very least a just shot low, low pad to be like, hopefully I'll kick the rebound out, yeah. And to drag it middle backhand. I was like, holy shit, dude. Yeah. You just had so much to think about, too, with the guy on his back, too,

too, right? Yeah. So to be able to make that play, maybe not the right back check. I'm not sure who's coming back, but just a phenomenal play. I was gross. I was just looking up because I was curious.

I was curious how many times these playoffs, Edmonton has been up and then given up a lead. And I was about to be like, I don't think they have once, but they did it once against L.A. and once against Vegas, right? And then once against Vegas. Yeah.

And in that insane game. But that barely counts because dry saddle put it in his own net. Yeah, exactly. But, I mean, it does. There's just so much about this game from Dallas. It's like getting your power play going when it was your Achilles heel last year, being down, feeling like you're dead, not on your game coming back and winning so emphatically. It's like there is so much to feel good about if you're Dallas.

But it is, it is just, it's so much of this. It's so much of you can't let up. You can't let up. It's crazy. Osh, the, a couple things on the caps. We had talked in mid, while you guys were in that series with the Keynes about a couple slow starts for, for, for you. guys in Carolina and we're like, God, you got to have better first period. And then I actually thought in Washington, you did. Like, I did think you swung that first period. Maybe not getting

the leads like you were talking about to swing the momentum. But was there anything that you felt like from watching that you're like, God, we just didn't do blank? Like, this is why we couldn't bother them to make that swing or what were you seeing? Yeah, I think maybe just not consistent enough on the little place. Carolina brings so much pressure, right? It's crazy, dude. So many pucks. And sometimes when they do that, you feel like you want to make long plays and get the puck, like just get it out of there. The problem is they just grab it, turn around and do it again.

Yeah, correct. And so I think the like little close support and almost inviting their pressure being like, oh, you want to come to me? All right. Come on over here. Yeah. And making a little play. Three foot pass.

And then it's sucking in a second guy. Now you got two beat with two small plays. And then if they're, do you want to pinch on the last one, it's three. on two the other way. Right. And so maybe you don't get a three on two every time, but the four checkers, the more that they have to forecheck and they still see the puck go by them and get out of the zone, eventually they're going to change something up.

They're going to start guessing one side or another. They're going to get themselves in a bad position. So sometimes you've got to be patient with that and teams of pressure a lot. You know, you feel like you've got to play really fast and go faster than they are. But that's kind of just their game. Whereas the caps are more of a puck possession. you know, wait for the right shot, get the puck to the middle of the ice kind of team.

So I think they could have done a little bit better job there. But yeah, Carolina's a good team. Oh, dude, they looked next level in that series especially. And you're so right, dude, they want the track meet. They're like, yeah, fine. You want to rip up. You want to be pawn hockey. Sounds good.

And once you start playing that way against them, really in the east, I would say literally only Florida can skate with them. So it's like, and maybe that's going to cause them trouble in this round. Yeah. But getting sucked into that type of games a killer against that team right now. Yeah, it is.

And sometimes when you see like shot, shot, shot coming at you, it almost can like rattle you a little bit. You know, you think that even if they're outside shots and they're nothing to them, you know, and one of the philosophies behind like teams that shoot a lot is because once you shoot all the defenders have to turn towards their net and chances are you're going to get the loose pucks and then you just keep doing it until they get out of position

and then you can play. but or you get bounces and you know playoff goals are usually dirty but goals ricocheting on everybody and dude in like the postseason it's like I feel even in the first period you're holding your breath all the time every goal matters so much and you feel it in the in the arena too it's like you know if you're home you get scored on it's everyone feels how deflating that is but it's like you know just talking about what what you guys you know maybe could have done better or weren't able to do against this tough team you're right carolina is good and they're constantly overlooked But you then see that game against Florida. And it's like it does feel like it's the biggest test for them, for sure. Florida is so good. And you wonder, man, like, do you think with the track record that Rod has in the Eastern Conference final this team's history against Florida? Do you think that this series has going the distance in it?

Or do you think Florida is just too good? I think Carolina has to break Florida's belief somehow. Great, great comment. They believe that they're the champions. And they have that belief system. So you got to do something that's going to break that and get them second guessing what they're going to do. I don't think you're going to be able to do that. But it's a valiant effort.

You're going to have. That's the only way to do it, right? I mean, they know the winning formula. They know what it feels like to be in big moments. They know what it feels like to win a cup. know what it feels like to come together and everyone kind of pull the rope and do you know all the cliche things that actually they really do matter um so you just got to find a way to break that and that's probably with it's going to be some timely goals and probably some really

big goaltetting yeah well o's let me let me um bounce this one off you just as a you know just a thought starter for strategy for the canes but you know you guys famously played a shitload of mario cart on your way to the cup true and i just think maybe the canes need a video game they need a team video game to get behind and bring the boys together. And I think Mario Kart fit your squad. You're very lively upbeat squad. That's a good Mario Kart game. I think the canes maybe need a little quieter. I can't think of a boring video game right now. I can think of one, actually. Fuck you, dude. Bring up Harvest Moon again. Osh. Actually, Osh would like this game. I guarantee it. There was an N64 game called Harvest Moon that I loved and literally, dude, this entire game,

was you were a little character, a little guy, and you inherit a farm from your grandfather who has passed away. And then you just have to, like, plant crops and raise cattle and make friends in the town. And then after three years, your dad comes and, like, judges you on how well the farm is doing. And how many friends you have? You would be best friends with my little brother. So I got into College Duty big time. Yeah. Like big time.

To where my wife was like, you need to stop this. You're 35 years old. Your handicaps plummeting. And, and I, so my, I watched my brother, and we'd, like, you know, jump on. He'd do, like, stream or whatever. He'd built his own monitor. He built his own computer. I don't know what.

Wow. Sick. Ledge. Yeah, like all the lights and fans and all that cool stuff. And he would post his street. And we would look, and it's literally just him driving a tractor. It would feel. I'm like, dude, what are you doing?

He's like, yeah, I've been, I don't even know what farm terms are called. Like, he's been cutting down corn. He's like, I've been doing this for like 45 minutes. I'm like, just driving the tractor? He's like, yeah, it's so relaxing. Dude, that is like, I was going to say that's psycho shit, but like, I'm not doing much different. Like, I'm out here playing an N64 game. At least that probably looked great.

It's probably a nice tractor and a nice cornfield. I'm like borderline 2D here. Just like planting strawberries and watering them. He's like, oh, I'm out of water. I've got to go refill my canteen with water. That's literally part of the game. Like you eventually your watering can runs out and you have to like go to this water thing, fill it up and then you can water them again.

It's just chores all day. He does chores all day. It's just insane. I got to get my hands on this thing. I think I'll give it a go. Dude, I'll send you videos of it. It's, actually, I feel your brother. It was relaxing.

Yeah. And it's, you know what? It's nice to see progress. It was really. It was really nice to see, like, when you're putting chicken eggs in an incubator and then the next morning you walk into the chicken coop and there's a few more chickens hatch, that feels pretty good, guys. Just saying. That's all I'm saying. And, dude, I think you got to get, you want to have to put your brother in touch with the canes.

Because, like, I think if they drive the tractor for 45 minutes, they're playing a little frenetic right now. If they drive the tractor for 45 minutes during their off days, I think they might relax out there. Relax them a little bit. You got to get into the old school games. I feel like a lot of the, you know, the kids these days they're into like more of the new school stuff where you're just like alone in your room, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

You got to get where there's four controllers. Yes, dude. Get some golden eye going. Oh, dude. Get some Mario Kart. Wait. Oh, did we ever get into this? Were you guys doing Mario Kart on Wii or N64?

Oh, N64. Yeah, I was like, I was pretty sure we read that. Thank God. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I would. I would go to bed at night at like 10, and my eyes would be completely red. For holding them open for so long on this, you know, the graphics aren't great.

And graphics were made for small TVs, right? Yeah, yeah, good point. We're on a big huge projector. Like, you can barely even see that it's Mario. Oh, it's just like, you can see the individual squares on the screen. It's closer to like Minecraft or something Yeah, yeah It's so true

Like Mario's hat is actually like A million squares that you can see so vividly It's a staircase That is so good dude Holy shit That's so accurate man So when we first moved out to L.A A buddy of ours used to fly out for Thanksgiving with us

And we used to get bombed And play start to finish Star Fox Until we beat it on Thanksgiving night And like That was like a full of Thanksgiving meal and a bunch of wine and beer just playing Star Fox on a huge TV screen. It's like, I can't think of worse health habits that was going on. Dude, you know what?

I would get, oh, you know how? If you press A, if you press the A button to go, it's down. Like you've pressed A. Pressing A harder doesn't make you go faster in Mario Kart. But dude, I would leave Mario Kart games with an A imprinted in my thumb. I was pushing so hard. And everyone's like, why is you doing it? So hard.

I was like, I don't know. They're on the gas, dude. Stay on the gas. Oh, for sure, dude. Like, I've, like, broke controllers, but I'm hammering my thumb through that. I didn't, uh, in 2018, I didn't leave the team hotel one time in two months. I left after game,

in between game one and game two in Vegas, but only because I was the best man at my friend's wedding. And I, I was like the last day I could get a tux. Yeah. Oh, wait, wait, wait. I thought, I thought you were about to say, that the wedding was between game or anything like what i needed to go i just need to get fitted um

his bachelor party that i planned actually started the day on june 7th the day we won so it was like my brother's day uh our best friend's wedding or uh bachelor party and so actually that night we were partying we're at haka san i was about i was going to jump on a flight go meet the boys for like half day where were they in California there? Anyway, so they're in California. And then and then just fly back and meet the boys in the DC later that night. But they're like, don't do that. You're an idiot.

Once you get here, you won't, you won't be able to leave. We'll be going crazy. Yeah, that's so true. That actually would have been so funny. The only time I left the hotel because we were playing, literally playing Mario Kart every day, all day. I even skipped a couple of pregame naps, which like. That's crazy actually, dude, because that's your routine. Was anyone on the team skipping with you?

Or were you like playing solo Grand Prix here? I think Nisketon had like a short nap and then came down and joined me one day. But I mean, it was, it was kind of embarrassing. You know how you can like race your ghost? Like they save like your father's rat. Like Osh's Mario just rip it around. Dude, trying to catch the ghost. I love the idea that like Lauren catches Osh playing too much Call of Duty.

And then he just trades it in for playing Mario. Cart 64 on a 75-inch TV screen. She's like, well, this is better, I guess. So whatever. I fucking love that, dude. Apparently, it's not a big turn-on to be a little gamer at age 35. Yeah, I mean, it'll come back around. It'll become cool again.

I mean, here's the thing, pal. Alice is going to find out I play Harvest Moon now, and things are going to get off the rails real fucking quick. And we're dead. And we're absolutely dead. Oh, my God. All right. So we got tomorrow night, boys, game two, Florida, Carolina.

Yeah. What are your predictions for the game? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills at this point, but I just, I've been the one going, the canes are different this year, the canes are different this year, and everyone's like, you'll see, you'll see. And then after game one, I was like, oh, fuck. So I got to just stay crazy, I think. And to me, if Carolina loses game two at home, where they were.

31 wins at home the regular season. Most wins in the league at home. Hadn't lost at home all playoffs. If they lose game two at home, I got to believe they know they're dead. So this is desperation mode. So I'm willing to get crazy one more time and say they fight back and win game two. Osh.

Hmm. Man. I think it's going to look a little bit like tonight's game. I think Carolina's going to get up. Yeah, fuck. This is a good. Up too early. And I think Florida is going to come back in the end and win it.

Oh, Jesus. God. Bob looks great again, dude. That would be so backbreaking for that. So devastating. I know. I don't know what that means for the series. It doesn't look good.

I personally would like to see everything go seven games and everyone beat the hell out of each other, personally. Because fuck the Carolina Hurricanes. I hate you forever. I hate it forever. Dude, what happens if they get swept?

Like, actually. If they get swept again. Do you guys not care what I think? I do, but I just want the shot first. I think that's, I think you're probably looking at a big change, one or two kind of big changes. Yeah. Just because people get restless, right? Of course.

When you have a good team, you get restless. Three Eastern Conference finals in four years swept in all three is, is, what are we talking about here? We got to do something. Oh, it's exactly what I said. Like, I was talking to. talking to a buddy the other day about it. And he was like, no, like, Rod will never be fired. A good point, he was like, you won't find someone better for this team and franchise.

But at the end of the day, it's like if you go Owen 12 in what eight years, it's less than that, frankly, in the Eastern Conference finals, I don't care if you're not going to find someone better. You have to find someone different. Yeah, right, right. It's just, I mean, it's not working. And, yeah, I'm with OSHA. I don't know if it's going to be up and down, but I think Florida wins. I think Florida wins because I actually don't think Caroline's back is truly against the wall yet. It is when you go to sunrise down 02.

But that's the thing. It's same with this Oilers team. The Oilers and the Panthers are so similar. If this Panthers team smells blood, it's like it's over. And there's already blood in the water. So I think they win. If you had to redo, you said cats in seven before it started. If you had to redo that right now, what would you say?

I don't want to answer that because that game was too bad to react to it. Give me a second game and then I'll react. Then you'll know what's cats and four. I have a question for you guys. Do you think, so if that did happen, right, if there need to be a change. Yeah. I just kind of thought about this. They will be, you know, the fourth best team in the league.

Yeah. Yeah. So there's 27 other teams. that wishes they were the canes where they are yeah yeah so to make a big change granted the fans you know you always want more but there's 27 other teams that would rather be in the spot they're in such great point i know and it's it's kind of like what you were talking about with the lines earlier where you're like there's no need to explode this thing that's working most of the time you know we know this works almost all the time yeah we're in a rough patch but like do we rip the line apart do we fire

our coach. It's like, dude, like you said, we're the fourth best team in the league. That's pretty sick. Yeah. I mean, it's such a fucking good point. At the end of the day, even if they do get sweat, Rod won't be fired. Direct. He won't be fired. And I'm not saying I think he should be. And I hate to say this because he's been so good and shit, Osh, she against you guys. Freddie was phenomenal. Insane. Phenomenal. But it's like he has a tough game one. We'll see how game two goes. But if that goes poorly, three and four go poorly. You do wonder, man. You look at that Carolina team and that defense and no disrespect to Freddie, but if you put like an LT all season in front of them or just someone who's a little bit fresher,

does that make the difference? Because maybe that is the thing in this Rod era that we haven't seen. We haven't seen a certified championship goalie on that team. Maybe that's the big change. But I'm with you. I think the big change does have to happen. What change it is? I don't know.

But we'll see. Okay. Now overreact to game one of this series. like what I had picked stars in seven and I guess I would say because I actually thought that game looked great for Edmonton for a long stretch of it so I think I would just keep my pick

I would remain stars in seven but I don't feel bad at all if I'm an oilist fan right now I mean I texted you I texted you guys and was like I didn't even seen the stars have like possession of the puck until the third period that was a fact yeah dude 100%

And they were in there in the finals last year. I mean, I don't really have any overreactions for the game. I mean, I think stars are pretty happy right now that they were able to find a way to win that game. But I don't think Edmonton is not sweating at all. I don't think so. Yeah. I don't think there's a reason for Edmonton, the team or the fans to be rattled in the slightest. at the end of the day, the home team won. Heldserve.

And they got outplayed in two of three periods. Yeah. And the one thing, as always, is Skinner. Mm-hmm. The one thing is if you're like, I mean, Skinner coming off two shutouts. Yeah, dude. Let's in five. That's the one thing you're like, keep an eye on that.

But yeah. Because you guys know, if we're talking here in two days and Edmonton beats the wheels off Dallas at home, you're like, yep. And now Edmonton's on the driver seat. Dude, you know what I actually thought was sneaky in that game most? I don't know if you're watching yet. but the Sagan goal to tie it was Edmonton was controlling the play and they just turned that one over at the blue line. Sagitt's got the breakaway.

I think that was actually a massive goal just to see one by Skinner because he was going on seven periods of shutout hockey and you know, you didn't want to go to the room like Jesus Christ, dude, nobody can score on Stuart Skinner. Just getting that one, even though they went down but two immediately, I still thought that was an important goal because I imagine that does get in your guys heads a little bit if a goalie's on a heater like that. Oh, absolutely. I mean, when a goal is on a heater, you're. You're just like, I mean, like we were talking about earlier, you start second-guessing what you do. You started thinking you have to do something that maybe you're not comfortable doing. Great shot by sex. I mean, to tuck that in there, just like a quick little low glove.

I mean, I would have put money that he was going to be deeking that somehow. Me too, dude. That's why we're not goalies, too. That's why we're not goalies. Pretty good. Pretty good. Oh, yeah, man. I have a, I have a question. What happens if it's the same finals as last year?

What's the prediction? And Florida wins again. What is what does Edmonton do? Do, dude. If the Panthers win because I actually, I know exactly what they do. Well, first of all, the city of Edmonton birds itself to the ground. they're so down down to the pavement

yeah uh i i i think they i think they do a massive massive roster shake er excuse me no way i think they do a big roster shake up in certain areas i think stew skinner is gone yep gone and i think that they find a way to unload nurse like it's it's been done but they i think they do some significant things it's especially if it's handily if it's a seven game again we can talk but i felt like last year should have been quicker from florida like i couldn't believe that got to seven so if it's like if florida were to win in five or six even this year comfortably six game six blowout i think you might be right yeah um the tricky one is knoblock because he oh no he's fine he's been great his job's his job is fine no matter one i think you're right

because they're this far his job's fine no matter but oh could could could connor leaf could Connor leave. Get out of here. I mean, Wayne left. Yeah, exactly, dude. But his best friend just signed an eight-year deal. That is literally the, that's the factor. He cares. I think those two love each other so much that they'll never leave each other. Wasn't Mess Wayne's best friend?

Great point, dude. Fuck you. Great point. I think we might just be in like a little matrix here. We might be in a full-on time loop. We might be in a full-on time loop. The Kings, the King's got McDavid. That is sick.

Could you imagine if, actually, we talked about it. today, Osh, could you picture a bigger villain moment on Earth? We were comparing it to LeBron, like the first era of Cleveland, LeBron where he bailed and went to Miami. We had the decision going on. Could you imagine the villain arc

if McDavid left Edmonton and went to Florida? If they beat them again this year and then he joins the Panthers next year? Is it even possible? Would it even be possible? I don't, well, I mean, I suppose he could sign anywhere. If he plays next year with Edmonton and then is a UFA and doesn't really sign and then he just signs in Florida,

I think the entire city of Edmonton would do whatever they could to destroy that man for the rest of their existence. Florida's got a lot of cap room, actually. Just say it. Something to think about. I don't know. Something to think about while we're on the topic, one more thing before we get into a game to close us out. We kind of referenced, you were talking about the benches kind of losing it going at each other. We saw Toronto lose again.

The big question goes to Mitch Marner now. if you're you know you don't have to get too into it but if you're Mitch marner do you leave that city do you go somewhere else do you do you try to find fresher pastures or what are you feeling in that situation um i don't know where their locker room situation is that good call um so i mean maybe i just i don't know i can never get over a job jersey on the floor or not like a fan thrown on the you know what I mean and so dude you are preaching to the choir I like there's one thing I'll get in the mud with people on Twitter about is burning

jerseys and I'm like what are you doing yeah it's the it's the dumbest thing um and uh so I don't know I mean obviously it's like it's an F you to the team right to throw a jersey on the ice or to burn jerseys or whatever it is um but really it just makes them more more pissed off and they'll hate you. So if they wanted to run them out, that's probably the way to do it. I mean, you got boot off the ice. I wouldn't want to play anywhere where if someone threw my, if someone threw my jersey down, I'd be like, to hell with these people.

Yep. I'm gone. It's honestly as simple as that for me. And could you imagine if how much of a mic drop it would be? Let's say he signed somewhere else and he were to get asked the question. You know, you're a Toronto boy. you played here your whole career, how could you leave? He could so easily just go,

how many times have I seen my jersey burned by fans? That's why I left. You would have no other, you would have no follow-up. You'd be like, yep, fair. No, I'm so with you guys. I think that, I think he is gone for sure, but I wouldn't even be entertaining it, I don't think. Like, even if they were like, dude,

we'll throw you, we'll make it work on cap, we'll throw you Matthew's money, Tavares is gone, whatever. I'd be like, I'm good, dude. I don't need to be here anymore. Yeah. The only thing that keeps them is, is if there's a, if the locker room's tight and there's a bond there, you know, you can probably, you can get over that other stuff.

Yeah. But I guess he's going to get paid somewhere, right? Yeah. So I'm sure you're behind it. And McDavid's leaving his best friend to go to the king. Certainly Marner could leave his best buds. Like his fuck friendship's dead, dude. Yeah.

Marner leaves, he's like, you think this is bad way until next summer. Yeah. You watch McDavid. Friendship's dead, dude. What are the king's going to give up? That's what I want to know. Yeah. Right, dude.

Oh my God, it's going to be, it would be a lot. I'll tell you that much. But I mean, could you imagine, though? I can't even get over like being the GM to me. If you traded McDavid. Yep. We can't even talk about this. They're in the middle of the Western Conference final right now.

We'll talk about this later. All right, we're going to take a quick break. Then we're going to get into a fun game. Perfect time to take a break and talk about the most delicious, most refreshing crispest beer on the planet. it. That is Labat Blue. Whether you are sitting at the bar watching the game, whether you're at home, you're open in the fridge, maybe you're at a cookout because it's getting nice outside, folks, and you pop that cooler open. The only beer you want to see is the Labat Blue or Labat Blue light because

it's hockey's favorite beer. It's the empty netter's favorite beer. And it's got to be your favorite beer as well. Each pint, each bottle, each can of Labat Blue is brewed with Canadian kindness and we all know that is the best kindness in the game those bubbles that crispiness i can't get over it every time i take a sip of labat i just feel like a waterfall is just splashing over me i feel like the sun is shining it just gives me that um that that that that breath of life it's unbelievable and i want you to feel it too so let's just crack open a labat together let's watch some playoff hockey together and let's feel better than we've ever felt before. Labat Blue is delivering that to us every single time you take a sip. So crack open a

Labat today and enjoy yourself. Okay, huge thank you to our sponsors and Dan. Tell us what game we're playing this week. All right, so we're going to close this episode out with a fun game. This one is called connective tissue. What I'm going to do is I'm going to give you and CP the bio of two players and their names connect each other. So an example would be, do you have one off the Yeah, we did Duncan Keith and Keith Kachuk. So it's like Duncan Keith Kichuk. Okay. So the clue for you guys would be like some stuff about Duncan Keith and then some stuff

about Keith Kachuk. And you guys have to figure out that it's Duncan Keith Kachuk. And sometimes Dan gets- I'm going to rely on you head. Dude, Dan gets fucked with this too because he did Brandon Carlo and then Logan Couture. So it was like Brandon Karlogen Kattour. And I was like, Jesus Christ, dude.

But I, on good authority. you know both of these guys. Okay. So no worries. Okay. Hit us, Dan. All right, here's the bio, boys. A top 10 draft pick in the late 80s,

this player went on to have an elite NHL career as an electric two-way forward, making nine All-Star games and becoming one of only four American-born players to reach 500 goals. Okay. That's player one. Fuck.

Where he then spent 20 years over the 90s and early 2000s with the same club where he won four Stanley Cups and became unanimously known as one of the best to ever play his position. Okay. So the first guy... Wait, was that two people? Yeah, yeah. The first guy is one of four Americans to ever score 500 goals.

We have to get that. Madonna, Roanick. Did Keith do it? Oh, Hull. Fuck, good one. Okay, so Brett Hull, Madonna, Roneck, and Keith do it? You can't tell me. Maybe Keith Kachuk did it.

And then the second guy played 20 years on the same team and won four cups. Did you say what era? Across the 90s and early 2000s. Some guy in the 90s and 2000s played 20 years and won four cups. I'll throw you a bone. Keith Kichuk is the fourth. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Nice. Who, okay, so who? So the first guy is one of those four guys. The first name is one of those four guys. The last name goes into the second name. Yeah. And he won four cups, 20 years?

Who the fuck played 20 years? Can we get a quick reread? Yeah, reread the second half. Of course. The second guy, he spent 20 years with the same club over the 90s and early 2000s, won four Stanley Cups, and became unanimously known as one of the best players

to ever play his position. So he's a legend. He's like incredibly good. Unanimously known, guys. 20 years, four cups. Who was winning cups then in the 2000? Now you boys are thinking. The devils won a few.

I mean, I didn't start watching hockey until like three years ago. Maybe like, I'll help you out. I'll help you out. Unanimously known as one of the best defensemen to ever play. Okay. So Scott Stevens. maybe, but we already did him. Who's, okay,

if it was the four, if it was Cichuck, I guess it could be a chuck. That's actually very interesting. That's very you. Who'd you else? You said, oh, Hull, but that's probably not a Hull.

And then, Madonna. Okay, Mike Madano, somebody, you said, what was the hint you just gave? He played defense. Okay, who's the best, who are the best defensemen

from the 2000s, Osh? 2000. No, not 2000s. The best defenseman ever. Ever. Best defenseman ever. Okay. Bork.

Think about the era. Think about the era I gave you guys. Bork coffee too old. 2000s. Best defenseman ever played in the 2000s. 90s and 2000s, right? Yes. Lindstrom?

Oh, dude. Yeah, dude, you did it. Come on. Okay, so I bet the first one is, yeah. Jeremy Roe, Nick Lins. Yes, OSS. Fuck yeah, dude. Well done.

That was big. Well, that was really big. I forgot Roanick. Jeremy Roe-Nichlidstrom. Jeremy Roe-Nichlindstrom is a great player. Huge. What a player. God, what a poll, dude.

That was big. We needed that. We needed that. I'm super proud of us. Yeah, that was really, you guys were drowning a little bit there, and then you really pulled it together. Also, just in looking up the quick bios, I always forget, it is ridiculous that Nicholas Litzroom has seven Norris trophies. Dude, we're on a ton of them in a row.

Like, I think he runs several in a row. It's like him and Bobby Oren. I think Bobby won six in a row and Nick won five. That's crazy. What a clown show. Unbelievable. I played against him for a couple years. And let me tell you, he was good.

I remember the one game. I chipped three pucks in. The whole team was like, oh, when you go against him, Dude, like, just get it deep. Don't even try. Don't try anything. Don't try your little toe drag stuff. Just get it deep.

You bitch. Yeah. Three in a row, chipped it deep, knock it down out of the air, softs it across the ice. Yeah. Like that, too, and Zetterberg. Yeah. I was like, what? One of them was like a shot.

And he's still just like, too. The hard ring. I was like, okay. I should just, I might as well try to tow drag him. Dude, the, like, I can't get the chip past him. The best part about that story is, he's, he's just, he's just part about that story is, He was like 37 years old when he was doing that. He was so good.

God, that is so sick. Jesus Christ. Good for him. All right. Beautiful stuff, boys. Beautiful episode. That's going to wrap it up for us at the Empty Niders podcast. Osh, thanks for popping on. We'll be seeing much more of you. Huge game for Dallas.

Big games tomorrow. The conference finals roll on. We'll be watching it all, doing it all. Great hangs. CP, tell them what to do. Skate hard.