OverDrive - Hartnell on the Michkov's strong season, the Rangers' foundational issues and Tkachuk's leadership in Ottawa

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Former NHLer and NHL Network Analyst Scott Hartnell joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Rangers' issues under the spotlight, Brady Tkachuk's leadership in Ottawa, Matvei Michkov's role with the Flyers and more.

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or visit askkelvin.ca here's scott hartnell how you doing scott i'm wonderful how are you guys we're doing well man what do you what do you make of this battle up in western new york tonight sabers rangers what's on the line for both teams uh I don't even want to say a labialette's job, but the way they've been playing, man, it's kind of do or die for them. They're over 500 still. The Sabres have kind of been kind of the mediocre team, great games, terrible games. But the Rangers, man, you pick them always to be at the top of uh the

eastern conference right uh and they just kind of haven't uh you know been delivering here the last like three weeks right so it's uh frustrating for them but uh you know my heart's kind of with lavie he was uh probably my favorite coach in in the nhl uh here in philadelphia my last year in nashville so uh i'm pulling for them to uh i don't even want to say that philly fans will probably be mad at me that i'm sharing for the rangers right now actually so i better watch my mouth no kidding uh but yeah you were a part of that strange laviolette fired after three game scenario you were on that team right in philly yep what was that like it was wild because yeah go ahead it was wild because we had a great season the year before.

We lost against the Devils, I believe, in the second round the year before. And then we came into training camp and we changed everything. Our system, we were offense. We're just go, go, go. We signed Vincent Lecavier. We're like, oh, we're going to score a bunch of goals at games. And then, you know, Labby kind of switched our systems to be more defensive, right, to make sure we're staying back and this and that, protect the house.

And that was kind of not the way that we were built with our players, you know, with Carter and Richards and, you know, Danny B and myself and, you know, kind of go on and on, right? We just wanted to, you know, obviously play defense. That's kind of the name of the game. But we wanted to go on the offense and score goals. But I think our exhibition, we were 1-7 or 8, so it was kind of we were struggling, right?

And we had meetings with Lavi and said, hey, I don't know why we're changing what has worked the last couple of years, right? And we started 0-3, and that was, so it was almost like we were 1-10, right, to kind of start the season, even though there was rookies playing and things like that. So it was a little tricky situation. And then, you know, Craig Berube steps in,

and, you know, he was, you know, we're going to check, we're going to do this, obviously different things, blah, blah, blah. But it was, you know, Craig Berube was good for us, obviously, and then he got fired, went to St. Louis, wins a cup, and now he's with you guys up in T.O. and having a heck of a start, you know, his career. What's your read on how Laviolette would be handling all this kind of stuff? Because, you know, you talk to guys that played for him, you played for him,

you hear, like, he wants to play up-tempo giddy up and go style hockey and the new york rangers can do that but they really leak oil defensively like how much attention would he be paying to that and um can he get that message across to the top players to really buy into that in new york well it's it seems like a few they're they're top top dogs top dogs, especially I don't want to single out any guys, but Zemanijad. You watch his games and the Flyers have played them, and he had an empty net with a minute and a half to go against the Flyers and just kind of duffed it off the side of the net instead of burying a top shelf where there was so much net.

It's just kind of not like him, right? So he's struggling big time. I don't think they found their kind of not like him, right? So he's struggling big time, you know, just kind of, I don't think they found their kind of, you know, cohesiveness, their kind of the lines that they're going to run with. So it's been a little tricky for them scoring goals. Like, they're not giving up a bunch, right? It's just Jerkins making big saves.

They lose to Chicago. He saves a breakaway with five minutes left to go in the game. And, you know, keep it a 2-1 game. And, you know, they just can-1 game and and you know they just can't get that that equalizer to tie it up so it's it's not just the you know the end of the games or whatever you got to start better you got to defend better you got to score goals you got to capitalize on your chances and it just seems like they're all kind of stung right now and it's you know unfortunate business for you know a coach or whatever a team right that's that you can't score goals you're not going to win hockey games.

That's, you know, if you can't keep the puck out of your net, you're not going to win hockey games either. So it's kind of like both of those kind of variances are going to kind of screw us, screw, you know, a team and, you know, maybe a coach's, you know, bench boss, right? Yes. I mean, do you feel like the team is waiting for a shoe to drop, too? Because obviously the Jacob Truba situation is they trade him, but they've cleared up some cap space.

But to me, it's, okay, what are you doing with that cap space? You're bringing somebody in. Like, it's easy to blame the coach. And, yes, we can circle Zibanejad. I mean, Keiondre Miller is a guy that's taken some fire as a guy. He hasn't turned the corner as an elite guy. You know, when a team is kind of on pins and needles and you're still waiting for something to happen because it's, yeah, the trade of the captain,

but now is it, okay, you're going to fire the coach or is it going to bring somebody else in? To me, that can be disruptive, and they just look like a distracted team. When you lose against Chicago 2-1, I was watching that game. It was uninspired. in, to me that can be disruptive, and they just look like a distracted team. When you lose against Chicago 2-1, I was watching that game, it was uninspired. They almost looked afraid to lose instead of trying to win. Do you feel like they're just waiting for something else to happen as well? Well, you look at it, I compare New York Rangers kind of right now with the Nashville Predators, right?

They're last in the league, I believe. Last time I looked, you know, Andrew Burnett is a hell of a coach. He's a great offensive coach. He's got a great hockey mind. You know, look what he did in New Jersey when he took over in Florida there, blah, blah, blah, right? He's a really good player. They signed these guys this summer and just hasn't worked out, right?

And whether it's chemistry, whether it's this, whether it's that, it's just kind of they're struggling. They're stuck in the mud, right? And you fire a coach, you bring someone else in, it's not going to fix it, right? You have to kind of do it together. You might have to have some, you know, grinding it out in the trenches or whatever to get things going.

Lambie's had a great couple of years there, and now they're in the mud a little bit. So you just cut through him and try and move on and maybe try and save the season or do you believe in this guy?

And if I was Chris Drury and looking at Lavi and how well he coaches, how he can inspire players, how he can get the group kind of assembled, I don't know what's going on

in that room or what have you, but I believe in Lavi that he can kind of fix. I don't know what's going on in that room or what have you, but I believe in Lavi that he can kind of fix his team and get going. But, yeah, it's kind of crazy. But if you're a player and you're waiting for something to happen or bring the savior in, it's not going to happen in the cap world. You're not going to bring in a Brady Kachuk and not lose any players and all that kind of stuff.

It's on you guys. You guys got to look in the mirror. And that was my biggest thing. It was like, did I give everything in practice to make sure I was the hardest working player? That was what my parents said to me when I was a kid. Are you the hardest working player in practice every day? And that's kind of how I, you know, kind of grew up, right? Just kind of just giving it a while, like working on every battle, trying to score every shot, you know, and kind of just kind of it was just inbred grew up, right? Just kind of just giving it all, like working on every battle,

trying to score every shot, you know, and kind of just kind of, it was just inbred in me, right? And that's kind of what I brought, you know, I think, to the NHL and to my teammates and things like that. So those guys got to look in the mirror and say, hey, did I give it my all today? With Scott Hartnell, and you mentioned Brady Kachuk. Ottawa's at home against Anaheim. Man, they need one tonight.

It's almost a must- win for them as well. They're trying to break the mold there, haven't been in the playoffs in six years, and trying to break the Toronto, Florida, Tampa, Boston four-pack that have owned this division for quite some time. Brady's been in the news because of the soft tampering stuff and the Rangers connection. What would you expect to see out of Kachuk tonight?

And, you know, how important do you think the rest of this year is for him stuff and the Rangers connection. What would you expect to see out of Kachuk tonight? How important do you think the rest of this year is for him to drag this team, if he has to, the Ottawa Senators into the playoffs? It's wild, right? We've been saying this for probably two or three years. Which team? Is it Buffalo? Is it Detroit? Or is it Ottawa?

It's going to make the playoffs and none of them have even come close to not even close, right? They's going to make the playoffs. And none of them come close to it. Yeah, not even close, right? Like they're not even in the wild card race. That's the wild part for me, right? Like you should have some momentum to build these teams. And, you know, the skill in Ottawa, you know, the young kids in Buffalo as well, too.

And it's just like, holy smokes. Like how are you guys not, you know guys not in the mix every single year? So something's up. I'm not sure what it is, but every game is huge right now. Everyone's like, oh, the last three weeks of the season, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But if you are pissing away points right now against an Anaheim team for Ottawa, for example, you're not going to make the playoffs if you let this one slide, right? And that's when maybe something does happen with personnel or what have you.

But for me, you've got to win the games that you have to win, that you should win, excuse me, and you kind of build on that. And then you surprise some teams. Then you can come out and have a four or five game winning streak, right? You've got to win eight out of ten, two or three times out of the year to come out of a hole and try and make the playoffs. So they've got to obviously sharpen up as well. If you looked at the Eastern Conference standings right now

in the second wildcard position, you would see the Philadelphia Flyers, a team you're obviously very close to, played there a long time. Just your, what do you make of the Flyers? And I guess more importantly than that, like, has Mitchkoff been as advertised or has he kind of exceeded your expectations this year? Yeah, no, well, I do the Flyers pre-intermissions and post stuff. So I, you know, watch all their games and, you know, the young kid,

19-year-old rookie, you know, not knowing any English any english you know you can't really talk to them obviously uh you know but i know guys absolutely love them right if you watch closely their games uh you know someone comes near him uh you know there's three or four guys kind of sticking up for him he's doing that for other guys so there's there's a little bit of love in the in that dressing room right uh to protect this guy he was uh he was uh i would call it piped in quotations by john torrella for for two games in a row uh you know maybe 12 games into the season uh you know just kind of wasn't up to snuff wasn't up to you know playing like torrella wanted him to play right and and after those games he's been on fire he's got a bunch of multi-point games here. He's just kind of one of those guys that thinks the game way better than, say, a really good skater.

A guy can skate like the wind or whatever. He doesn't have the speed that's going to blow you away like a McDavid or a Matthews or whatever. But he can put passes into places that not maybe 10 or 12 other guys in the NHL can put these passes. Look at, for example, last day against Columbus, the Frost goal, he just kind of laid one into him. He beat two or three guys to the front of the net, shot it, got the rebound, put in the back of the net, right? So this guy can make plays like a Kaprizov, I guess, would probably be the closest example.

Both small guys, both not super fast, but just can dangle and hold on to the puck and things like that. So I wasn't sold, actually, the first 10, 15 games. But since he had the benching there, he's really come out strong and looked really, really good for the Flyers. He got kicked out the other night, and he signed a fan's water bottle. Water bottle. That's awesome.

I guess the back story is when he was going out, the guy, I think it was a kid or whatever, said, can you sign it? He said, after, after, after. And then he gets kicked out, and he stops and signs it. Have you ever seen anything like that? You probably got kicked out, I'm sure, a bunch in your career, scott would you ever stop and sign something on your way well out of the ring it's actually it's actually a great story so just to go on that story i guess the kids uh spoke in russian to him so he kind of got caught off guard so he did stop he looked up and the

kid said something in russian i don't know if he was practicing russian say can you sign this or whatever so he did stop and and that's awesome. And Torres got asked in the morning skate and he didn't know what the heck the reporter asked him or whatever. But my funniest thing, I was in Pittsburgh at the Igloo. It was the shoot. It's a shootout, like one of the first couple of years. And it went to like nine shooters and I hadn't gone yet. I was like, oh, and I, you know, a little nervous, obviously. And sure enough, they shot first, they score. So I have to, I got picked the next guy. So I have to score.

So I go in there, puck starts bouncing, wobbling on me. Like I had my move already picked out my head, right? Fake shot, fake shot back at the shelf. So I fake the shot and starts bouncing. Bounces over my stick again. I hit the goalie, run over the goalie, and the exit to our dressing room is right to the left, if you can imagine this.

So I hit the goalie, net's off. I go right down the tunnel. I swing my stick or whatever, and I hear this guy, and he had this jersey. It said fart smell instead of heartnil, and number 19 fly, jersey, whatever. And I was like, I was so mad. I was, you know, in there first.

My gear was off in literally, you know, 90 seconds probably, right? And, you know, we got a point or whatever, and I go up there. So I went back out to the tunnel after I kind of calmed down, and I kind of went out there and looked around. And I'm like, hey, where's my stinkiest fan? He's like, oh, he's like, oh, hey, you heard me. So I ended up signing his jersey, to my stinkiest fan, Scott Fartsmell.

So that was my one story. I didn't do it right after because I was flashing red, as you can imagine, but I went back afterwards. So kind of a fun memory. It's all about the fans too, right? If he walks by this young kid and, you know, he didn't, right? He goes up there, signs his water bottle, and the kid is going to remember this thing. That's the whole thing about us hockey players or, you know, the players that are playing now.

Those little things that you do for these kids, for the girls, for the parents, you know, this and that. Throw a puck to a kid in a warm-up, it's like, it just makes their night, it makes their week, it makes their month, it makes their year, right? So it really kind of makes them kind of, you know, kind of try to achieve something or be a hockey player, whatever it is, right? And it's just so cool for, you know, Mishka, who, you know, has been here for two months and played in this NHL, and he does that.

I thought it was super, super cool for him. And the kid that got his water bottle autographed by Mishkov. So it's probably up on a little shelf in his room, and just awesome stuff. It was so awesome. Yeah, that's a really cool story. It's always great catching up with you, Scott. We appreciate you doing this, and we'll do it again down the road. Yeah, thank you, guys.

Anytime. You got it. Scott Hartnell joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Check out Maple Toyota's huge truck and SUV lineup, including Tundra, 4Runner, Highlander, and Grand Highlander in stock and ready to deliver. Visit mapletoyota.com.