Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - NHL SQUAD SHOW: What Are The Ideal NHL Playoff Match-Ups This Season?

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

Welcome to the NHL Squad Show! Today our hosts Gil Martin (Locked On Islanders), Jess Belmosto (Locked On Flames), Kyle Kjer (Locked On Ducks) and Shukri Wrights (Locked On NHL Game Night) are talking about the playoffs! What are the ideal playoff match-ups this year? Should the format change to 1-8, or keep the Wildcards? Plus, if you could only choose one player to start your franchise with, who do you choose? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.5-Hour ENERGYHead to 5-hourENERGY.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from, including Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Peach-Mango. Need one now? Grab a 5-hour ENERGY shot at your local grocery or convenience store—they’re everywhere! Stock up today and stay energized.Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The NHL playoffs are fast approaching, but what are some of the dream matchups we want to see? And does the NHL have the playoff format right? We're going to talk about that and a lot more coming up on this week's NHL Squad Show. You are Talking Puck with the NHL Squad Show, sponsored by game time. From the Oilers to the stars, Golden Knights, and the Panthers, the Rangers, Avalanche, and yes, even the Maple Leafs. The Lockdown Podcast Network brings together all its local experts, to provide the scoops, breakdowns, and comprehensive looks at all the NHL, with plenty of trash talk to go with it.

Don't miss the hard hits and glove-dropping hot takes on the Locked-on NHL Squad Show. It's time to drop the puck. Gilmartin here and welcome everyone to the NHL squad. Sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and join us as we get you ready for another wild week across the National Hockey League. We are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use code Locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. I am very happy to be

joined by Jess Belmasto from Locked On Flames and to welcome for the first time to the show, Shukri writes of Locked on NHL game night and playoffs are right around the corner. Glad you both could make it today. Let's start with this topic. What are some of the dream playoff matchups that you guys would like to see later this month? For me, it's battle. With the current format? With the current format? Something that's almost realistic.

Yeah. Battle of Ontario for me, Toronto, Ottawa. Yeah. That would be certainly an intense first round, although, you know, Ottawa might just get into the top three somehow. Yeah. They're not that far off right now. They are really playing better hockey. I would say Winnipeg and the flames just because the goaltending battle,

two American goaltenders and, you know, fighting it out, best team versus whatever the flames are. Cinderella story. Yeah, it would just be fun. Especially like Dustin Wolf, who is a candidate for to call the trophy, even though I think it's going to go to Lane Hudson of the Montreal, are Canadians. But I mean, Dustin Wamp has become one of the best stories in a league this year, especially in between the pipes. Yeah, definitely. I really, considering he has traffic

cones and pylons playing in front of him for defense, like I give him a lot of credit for not losing his mind. I do too. And, you know, he deserves a little bit more attention than I think he's getting from the national and international media. You know, I know Calgary is a small market team. And if you're on the East Coast, they play later in the evening. But he really deserves a lot of credit for everything he's done. And I think it would be a big boost to him and his development to get some playoff action in as a rookie. Absolutely.

And I think even if it's not, like the flames aren't doing anything if they make the playoffs. But it's just it's about that experience and playing at that high level with that kind of pressure night in and night out, even if it's, you know, just like four or five games. It's still something you didn't have before and something to learn from. Chuka, you mentioned the Battle of Ontario. What would intrigue you most about that matchup potentially? Honestly, and I'm a crumudgeon for Pocky Blood on the ice.

Like, when it comes to, like, players battling, I want to preface that statement. But I don't, but I'm not backing down from it at all because I like to see, anger. I like to see rage. Like, I like to see a team like Ottawa in which that they finally are going to break through and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, 17, when it went all the way to game seven, the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. We all know how that ended with Chris Kuhnitz winning that game seven. And this, this Ottawa team that had been building for the last few years now, building

and building and falling short in which that I'm excited to see what Brady Kachuk does. in the players. I'm excited to see like to see how like Littis O'Mark being the number one guy, how he fares in the players because you really didn't get the full chance two years ago when he was with the

Boston Bruins. I mean Jeremy Swimming like you know, stole the show so to speak two years ago but also last year. But now O'Mart being healthy you got to like your chances there but then also from the Toronto aspect of things too.

so much has been made about the Leafs. Is it the Maple Leafs or the Maple Leafs come April? Because the reality is this, they have one playoff, one playoff round since 2004. One, that was two years ago. We have a new head coach, a new system that is clearly working and you see the difference on the ice in terms of how they play. I just think that the way that the Maple Leafs are structured defensively,

They're built for the playoffs more than they have been in recent years. It was really run, shotgun, and no sort of, like, structure. And it cost them in the playoffs. But with Craig Barabwey, who has been there and done that one a cup with the blues six years ago, I think this matchup is going to be so interesting, but especially for the old school heads like myself, who I like the good old fist of cups, I want to see Brady Kachuk face off against the likes of a Brandon Carlo. because why not? And I love rivalries, you know, Battle of Ontario, Battle of Alberta,

those kind of rivalries. I miss Islanders Rangers hasn't happened since 1994, which is way, way past due. But, yeah, I mean, those kind of rivalries, you know, I think, and we'll get to this topic a little bit later, but when they change the playoff format to make it more division-centric, that they were trying to get those, you know, Montreal, Boston, Battle of Alberta, Battle of Ontario, Islanders, Rangers, you know, Flyers, Penguins. It hasn't always worked out that way, but that was at least

the noble goal. I mean, how do you guys feel about the fact that, meanwhile, Edmonton and the L.A. Kings are most likely going to meet now for the fourth year in a row. Is that good or bad for hockey? Yeah, I don't really like it. I mean, I don't know. it takes away some of the entertainment factor because we've been there, done that. It's the same thing. It's like, Jess, maybe you can understand it. If you don't, God bless. Yeah, maybe you understand what I'm about to say.

If not, God bless. It's like being served Thanksgiving leftover mass meals and gravy for five straight days. It gets old. Give me something new. I'm hungry. I want something new. Feed me something fresh. I don't want to see oilers and kings.

Give me like Sharks kings for God's sakes I mean give me something like that's exciting that's fun but the old the old adage of kings oilers again

I hate it I hate it I hate it if anything else if I had a magic one and I could pick which matchup I would rather see instead in all seriousness I would really prefer

to see St. Louis Colorado if I had to pick, it would be St. Louis Colorado instead of Oilers and Kings. I think the storylines would be fascinating and as well as just the matchup, I mean, my goodness, between psycho Jordan Bennington in the playoffs and as well as an avalanche team that is one of the legitimate dark horse's favorites to come out of the West to go to the Cup finals. So it would be fun. That would be fun. Although, you know, one thing I do have to say about having those teams. teams meet four years in a row.

It may be a little repetitive, but you get a lot of bad blood. You were talking about rivalries and intensity and all that stuff. You meet the same team in the playoffs for four years in a row. There is going to be some bad blood there. Oh, no question. And it's one of those things where, like, I'm trying to think, like, and you guys could tell me, what was the last time we've seen, like, a single-a-playoff matchup in consecutive, like four consecutive years at that?

We've seen Bruins, Maple Leafs, round one back to back years in 2018 and 19, but not four straight years. So, so like, especially in it's an original six, so I get that aspect. But the reason why I think it would be healthy to see a fresh new matchup is because because of the fact that that's how you create new rivalries in the sport. I mean, think about it for a moment. Like Vegas, Seattle, create new rivalry that way. and, you know, like Vegas, Dallas, that's become a rivalry in the last five, six years. Like, that's what I'm talking about, like new blood. Like, I like that.

It's great for the sport. It's great for those markets to get energized. Like, oh, we're about to play Dallas again. Ooh, this going to be good. Like, what more can you ask for? Yeah, no, no question. Well, we'll see if any of these dream matchups actually take place. And one thing's for sure.

We will see some good hockey later this month when the playoffs get. underway. But does the NHL have the playoff format right or should we look for some changes? We're going to talk about that and a lot more coming up next on the squad show. Today's episode is brought to you by wonderful pistachios looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious. Crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachios is one of the highest protein nuts. Each one ounce serving has six grams of protein giving you over 10% of your daily value. Plus, they're packed with fiber and better for you unsaturated fats to help keep you filling full or longer. Personally, I love the no shells variety.

It's the perfect grab and go snack for busy days, whether I'm snacking at my desk on a road trip or just need a quick protein boost. They're always my go-to. And if you love cracking open every shell for that satisfying crunch, the in-shell options are a classic favorite. So get snack, and get cracking with a snack that packs a protein punch, visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more, wonderfulpastasios.com. So playoff format. A lot of criticism over the years of the way this has been going.

I have lived through up. We have Kyle Carr from Locked-on Ducks joining us. Kyle, glad you could make it. I know you hit a little bit of traffic. So welcome. Thank you. Welcome. Just in time for the second segment.

This is Shukri and, you know, Jess, I think. And we're going to talk about the playoff format now. A lot of people think we should go back to the one versus eight. I'm old enough to remember the whole league going one versus 16, two versus 15 back in the early 80s. Of course, there were only 21 teams back then and 16 of them made the playoffs. So that was a waste in a different way. but what do you guys think about the current playoff format? Should it stay the same? Or should we look for changes? And if so, what changes should we see? Jess, let's start with you.

I want to see change. We've had this for a little bit. It's good to shake things up, keep people on their toes. But I want to see it like how baseball does it in terms of more divisional play. Give me more of Edmonton and Calgary. I don't want just three games. Three games sporadically throughout the season. I don't care. Give me like five, six. I won't get greedy. I just, I think that that is what fuels fan bases is what puts people in their seats, whether it's at home or at the games. People want to see true competitiveness and just, that organic rivalry. Are you willing to, for example, not see Alex Ovechkin for a year or two in Calgary in order

to get that? Yes. Interesting. I mean, I guess it would depend, of course. Like there's going to be sacrifices that have to be made. But I feel like, and again, the players talk. about how hard these, like, those long grips are, maybe we don't have to do it as often. I give them a little break, but I just, I feel like it could be of great benefit.

And they'll come up with a way to rotate who and what goes where. And that's why they get paid to do that, not me. Would you want to do it like the NFL does it, where, you know, one division faces another division every three years or so in the other conference. Now, there's only two divisions right now in each conference. Maybe you alternate to get an extra game in division against your rivals. Does that make sense? I would say so. I feel like that might be maybe a little bit too much, but I don't know. I think I'm just for change. I don't care what it is. Just give me more Battle of Alberta.

I don't care. Absolutely. Juky. Give me my steak and potatoes, damn it. Like, please, thank you.

But no, like, seriously, I'm with you, just like, I need change because I am, I am sick and tired

of being fed, like, spoiled baloney, like, in cheese, like, which smells like someone's rotin on the,

on the armpits in the summer, like, Like we're supposed to be infused to smell such great odor of bad content. Like, no, stop. Please stop. I'm asking the NHL, do not mess up a good thing. And you did. You mess up a good thing because as we were talking about this off the year.

And I'm getting adamanty because I'm old enough and not to sound like the old man. No disrespect to you, Gil. I'm not calling you old. But I'm just outside the old guy. But I remember a time as a kid. like in the early 2000s where the 1 through 8 matches were just absolutely amazing.

I remember the wild upsetting, I'm correctly from the wrong, the wild upsetting the Red Wings back in 03 in the O3 stander cup playoffs and their run to the Western Conference finals. I remember the L.A. Kings in 2012, their historic run because no 18 to the T and ever won the Stanley Cup.

It never happened. And then on top of that, like, I also remember the good old rivalry of Kings sharks at 2014. Oh, that's right, the sharks. They blew a 3-0 series lead against the Kings. Who won the Cuck? Like, I want to see that.

Give me more Montreal versus Boston in the Senate Cup playoffs. I was talking about this the other day. You know how much I missed that? I miss Montreal, Boston, when both teams were good, meeting in the playoffs. Instead, we're left with no disrespect to the Islanders, but we left for Bruins Islanders. It doesn't get me hockey excited. It doesn't make me stand up corrected.

If you know what I mean, like, it just doesn't. It's not the same. Now, if it was Bruins Rangers, yeah, definitely. I can't get behind that. I mean, a little East Coast bias, but, but Kyle, come on, man. Work with me. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me, you don't miss these, the one three,

because that's where it produced the greatest upsets in NHL history, why the Senate Cup is the hardest trophy to win with that format. No, I absolutely miss. having the one through eight, like just getting those division rivals and really creating that tension of having a blowout. Like I feel like we've been seeing Edmonton, L.A. for what, the last like three or four playoffs. Yeah. We get the same setups with Boston, Toronto. We get the Islanders versus Tampa.

Like there's so many repeat things. And like absolutely the disparity of the league is above and beyond versus all the other. three league or you know three letter leagues but it's been a little repetitive and a little painful when like we're looking at Dallas and uh Colorado in the first round and like absolutely you know it's like that's what draws in like the biggest views of the playoffs are in that first round but like it would be I'd rather much have like an upset and someone just coming up from out of nowhere, rather than watching two of the top teams of the entire season, getting blown out the first round.

And then it's like, oh, well, that was all for not. Like, good for them, but they did nothing for nothing. Kyle, on that point there, like, I remember in the early 2000s, Dallas, Colorado, media, and the Western Conference finals, this was the years when Ray Bork was in Colorado in pursuit of winning his standing cup. and I also remember now like how much that rivalry meant

especially don't have to be forgotten in the West of Conference finals back in the day. We saw the painful series. Oh, it was amazing. Are you kidding me? Papeful? Call me a damn masochist.

Like, call me a hockey masochist. Those were painfully great to watch. Drama. Absolutely. But that's the kind of thing that I absolutely miss badly. And the NHL have got to get back to that, in my opinion.

It may not be the bloody, gory days of the late 90s, under 2000s, but the intensity and the rivalries, it matters. It makes great ratings. It does. And, you know, the other thing is this from a fairness perspective, Dallas, Colorado, most likely going to meet in the first round, one of them is out. And there are going to be teams that are not as good who are going to have an easier first round opponent.

And that, to me, is a big fairness issue that this current. format doesn't avoid. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, it's like looking at the West, like with the Pacific, the only battle right now is Edmonton and the Kings getting home ice advantage. Like we know they've got the second and the third round settled in, but it's like who gets,

who gets home ice and who doesn't. But it leaves nothing for the rest. Like the wild card, yeah, it's a good race, but it feels like there's. Nothing, you know, like there's nothing really there to, like, challenge the rest of the season. Yeah. And the stretch drive has been a little disappointing. I mean, a month ago, there were like, you know, eight teams battling for two or three spots. And then the West heated up and they had five teams going for two spots.

But here we are with a couple of weeks left in the season. And it's all pretty much decided, more or less, especially after the blues. have reeled off so many wins in a row. I hate the blues. I mean, they're really great. They're doing really good. You can blame, and I mean, it's lightheartedly, but also seriously, you could absolutely blame two teams for the fact that in the East in particular,

that the wild card race has completely kind of become a dud, if you will. You can blame the Boston Bruins, who, as of March 7th, they were just barely hanging on for their life. And then right after that, and it's sad, but Columbus as well, because I was really pulling for Columbus to make the playoffs. Obviously, with the tragedy of the death of Johnny Goddrault, I was really pulling for them, but it looks like it's not going to happen. It just ran out of gas.

But I blame those two teams, but really more heavily on the Bruins because, of course, the Bruins like to make my life miserable, but what do I know? Somebody's got to do it, right? Thanks, thanks, Gil. They find that final way to do this year. Thanks, Don Sweeney. We love you.

Thanks, Don's Sweeney. Yeah. Just kidding, everybody. All right, we've got more to get to here on today's show. We're going to talk a little bit more about Alex Ovechkin and his place in history. We've got that and more coming up on today's NHL squad show. Did you know getting a good night's sleep is the number one recipe for long-term success in life? I didn't.

It took me way longer to realize than I'd like to admit. It was years of tossing and turning. I was always tired. I never felt like I could live. up to my potential. But not anymore. Thanks to Bear Mattress. I use their sleep quiz and I matched with the elite hybrid.

It's perfect for side sleepers like me. Now I wake up energized. I'm getting deeper sleeps and I'm ready to attack the day. No matter how you sleep, Bear Mattress has a match for you with a focus on recovery, cooling and pressure relief to upgrade your sleep and improve your overall quality of life. Go to bear mattress.com and use promo code locked on NHL at checkout for 40% off sitewide. This offer is not available anywhere else. You have to use my promo code on the very last page of checkout to get this discount.

That's bear mattress.com and use promo code locked on NHL for 40% off site wide. Bear mattress.com promo code locked on NHL. So welcome back everybody. We know over the weekend. And Alexander Ovechkin passing Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goals lead in NHL history. Amazingly enough, did it in roughly the same amount of games. I think it was off by one. But here's my question.

Ovechkin is now the all-time goals leader, but where does he fit in the all-time best players overall? Do you think he's a better overall player than Wayne Gretzky or no? Kyle, let's start with you. Well, I think that he's obviously had like a very different career than Wayne Gretzky with the era that he played in and like to have a location on the ice like everyone knows where Gretzky's offices and everyone knows where Ovechkin's offices. And the amount of energy that he brings to the game, I think that he's definitely on the Mount Rushmore of hockey players.

Like, I love Sidney Crosby, but out of the two of them, like, the energy that Cros, or that Ovechkin is brought to the game and everything that, every goal he celebrates is like a little kid scoring his first goal for the first time. Like, he is someone that completely pushes the game forward and you hear about Ovechkin and anything and everything that you do that revolves around. hockey and like I've seen so many memes and pictures and everything on social media that just shows like there was like a thing of the Simpsons like it was like Homer Simpson as a kid watching Ovechkin as a kid and now it's Homer as an adult and it's like him scoring like

he's been around forever and everyone knows Ovechkin like even my son who's a 13 year old like Ovechkin's been a big part of his hockey knowledge and growth as a player and like he was part of mine growing up as a hockey player so like i think that he's at the top of you know bobby or wayne gretsky gorty howe like ovechkin's going to be one of those guys that everyone talks about for the rest of their lives but if you're a gm and you can pick one of those guys to start a team who do you pick i i mean gratsky obviously he's he's got the knowledge and the know-how, but I think just for the energy and the everything that Ovechkin brings, I think I would pick Ovechkin just because he's been there since day one and he played

through a physical time of the NHL and he's also played through this crazy goaltending experience where everything was goaltender forward and they've been, they literally had to slim down the goaltender gear just to get some offense started. But he was still scoring goals. So I think I would pick Ovechkin just to have that energy on my team. Shugri, in their prime, who are you picking if you're the GM to start your team? That's a tough one. But, man, there's a part of me that I really would, I was leading to us Crosby. But my heart's saying Oveskin. And not just because of the fact you just set the new record for the most school scored in history of the NHL.

because we all are of a certain age that we remember what it was like coming out of the lockout in 2005. I do. I'll never forget like that summer in particular. Summer of 2005, it was the summer of who was going to be the team that was going to be lucky to win the lottery to draft Sydney Crosby number one overall. That was literally the summer of 2005. We're about to end up. That's supposed to be first. Yeah, but the penguins.

I said, excuse us. We got Bobby Ryan, but it's okay. I mean, Bobby Ryan actually kind of worked out pretty well. I mean, what do I know? But like the thing that I remember most, and obviously Overskin missed that first year because of the lockout of 0405, the pressure that both Overskin and Crosby faced, I am bold enough and confident to say no player in league history has faced the pressure

that both Overshkin and Crosby had to face coming out of the lockout to resuscitate the NHL. Because it was, I want to say it was dead, but there were a lot of angry fans. And those two men carried the league to new heights and unimaginable heights that we could have foreseen 20 years later, and they're both are still on top of their game. And if you ask me to pick one or the other,

that's a tough ass now. if you said to me, pick one or swallow an entire bag of thorns. I am going to absolutely pick Oveskin because of the energy, because of the way that he, the passion that he exudes on the answer. And then also the other reason is because you have to respect his brand of hockey physicality. He was a very physical play when he first came up, scoring 50 goals, and literally knocking other players into next year.

And yet now he's still a physical player. Go go remnants on that fight. He had with Sreschikov in 2019 as an example, but he picks his spots now. So I'm going to go with Oveskin for me. A little wisdom as he got older, basically. Yes. Jess?

Yeah, no, I agree. I think Ovechkin is the right choice. Just the whole, like you said, the coming out of the lockout and just bringing the league up, but also the goaltending era. Like this has been crazy to watch. Like these kids just get better and better. And the scoring has gone down because the goaltending has been so good.

Justin Wolf. But yeah, I just, I feel like that is a true challenge. and it's a little bit harder. They all look like the Michelin Man now. So, yeah. Yep. You know, if I'm starting a team from scratch, I'm going old school with Bobby Orr,

because I've just never seen a player dominate the tempo of a game like Bobby Orr did. And he was on the ice for like 30 minutes a game, uh, handling the puck. And, uh, if you go back and see some of the things he did, he, I remember watching him kill a penalty where he was the only guy practically who touched the puck for almost the entire two minutes and nobody could catch him. He would go back behind the goal, circle around, go back. They'd chase him. He'd go to Center Ice. They chase him back. He'd go behind the goal. And, you know, a minute and 48 seconds of the penalty got killed and nobody else

touched the puck. So, you know, to me, to control the tempo of the game, never saw anybody tell Bob I love Bobby or, but that's, again, going back to when I first started watching hockey. So I'm kicking it old school with number four. You know, Gil, on that point, just real quick, like, I actually, I mean, as a Bruins fan, I want to speak, like, biases a little bit. I get it. But when we talk about, like, the greatest that ever lays up the skates, everybody says Bobby R.

Because, and I keep coming back to this point here, you name me a singular player who Reverend illusionized an entire position by himself. That's Bobby R. Without Bobby York, you don't see guys like Ray Bore. Offensive defenseman. Yeah, there's no Cal McCar. Or Larry Robinson, another Hall of Famer, or even Nicholas Littstrom, like also, also we mentioned as well.

But you get the point, like, he changed that position. Before that, it was pretty much like, you stay at home, you defend in front of your netminder, and that was the end of the story. But all changed that. Yeah, he really did. He changed the way the game was. played and I mean, Gretzky did too in his own way. And I think all these superstars did because they did things that nobody else could do. But let's agree to this much. That would be a good problem

to have if you're a lot of those guys to start your franchise. Well, Jess, Shukry, Kyle, thank you so much. It's been great talking a little hockey with all of you. We will be back here next week for another exciting episode of the squad as we get closer and closer to the start, believe it or not, of the NHL playoffs. I'm Gil Martin on behalf of everybody. Thank you so much for watching and listening to the NHL Squad Show. Have a great day, everybody.