Puck Soup - Everyone on the Hot Seat

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Sean and Ryan talk about the fallout from the GM meetings, coaches maybe being on the hot seat as the season winds down, and more

I'm Ryan Lambert from elite prospects. I'm Sean McNeugh from The Athletic. And, you know, I think we said it last week. Once you get past the trade deadline, the news isn't as, isn't as like fertile ground as it was prior to, except that it keeps happening. That's completely wrong because you have heated exchanges between the commissioner of the league and GMs. You have people. about goal interference and and suspensions and lack of protection for players and gold enter interference and coaches maybe getting fired and all this kind of stuff.

And so, Sean, I put it to you, which of those many topics do you want to talk about first? Oh, this is, this is exciting. Let's... Whichever one you want. You know what? I'm looking at an outline that somebody put together for the show. Could have been anybody. And I'm going to say, let's start with the GM meeting.

meetings fall out. Okay. And under that, again, there are like four things we could talk about. But let's start with the goaltender interference. That seems to be a hot topic. And so far as NHL teams are really mad about it and more than one. And anytime I see goaltender interference come up, I say nobody understands, somehow, nobody understands goaltender interference better than my friend Sean.

That was a brilliant fake out Because you I thought you were saying The thing that gets me mad And you weren't It drives me nuts When people in the media say nobody understands I get it for fans

You're a fan Yeah sure It's not your job to study the rulebook If you're in the media And especially if you're a broadcaster It kind of is your job to know the rule And Sure

There have been many many cases where if you understand the rule, it's not at all difficult to parse out how these rulings happen, and yet people feign confusion. They act all confused. And they just, they make it very clear that they haven't done the littlest, tiniest bit of preparation. Well, can I say, though, the reason I guess I'm bringing it up in this way is

that we can add the Pittsburgh Penguins to the list of teams that don't understand or entities I suppose that just don't understand goaltender interference like they're printing out little cheat sheets for the local media. Tee-he-he-he, tee-he, we get it. I'm sitting there going, I watched

that play. I watched that play like six times going like, is there something I'm missing that makes me go, oh, that's why they're so fucking confused? And maybe it's just because I listen to my friend Sean talk about this sometimes. but I was like, this is not goal interference.

The guy from his own team crash into him, right? You would think, yeah. That one, I think is, it's fine. Look, like, when I wrote the definitive guide to understanding goalie interference, I was very careful to not like, to not pull the No It All Act. I was very clear.

I said, this is, ultimately, it is a subjective rule. People think it's a black and white that it's not. It is very subjective in a lot of areas. And it is, you know, frankly, it is, like, there's very, it's very much shades of gray. So you're going to wind up with some edge cases that are legitimately tough calls, you're going to wind up with some,

where we don't all agree. There is nothing that you can do to fix that problem aside from move to a black and white system that I promise you everyone will hate. Oh, yeah. Those of us who are old enough to remember the skate and the crease rule,

know where this leads. So, and yeah, like most of this stuff, guess what it's it comes down to i want my team i want it to work for my team and not for the other team like yeah of course is just what we are talking about i looked into it and there's a nefarious conspiracy against me personally yeah nobody understands goalie interference because goalie interference sometimes goes against my team and that's and that's it now Basically. But that haven't been said.

Like sometimes this stuff is just close. And if you're looking for like, you know, it has to be perfect or it has to be, you know, completely easy to understand. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, the Pittsburgh one, it's a penguin guy who runs into the goalie. Is he knocked in by a jet guy? Yeah, sure. Kind of looks like it. Sort of.

Sorta. That's my thing with it is he is sort of knocked in by a jet sky. Yeah. Like they make contact. but I don't think the Jets guy is like shoving him into the goalie or whatever. And so that's why I look at it and go, I see why that's not goalie interference. Yeah. And I don't have to sit here and go like, obviously this is not goaltender interference.

It's so clear. But again, if we're operating in shades of gray and it's all discretionary at a certain point, blah, blah, blah. It's so easy for me to look at that play and go, of course I get why that's not goalie interference. And the other thing about it is the call on the ice was it was a good goal. Yeah. And the NH, and this part, I will absolutely concede is a complicating factor. The NHL has sort of been evolving over the years on how they handle overturning a call on the ice. They don't like to do it.

About five years ago, they were treating it as once we get a call on the ice. treating it as once we get into the review, we will just make the best call we can, which maybe is, you know, how you would like to see it done. But that's, that's not what the rulebook says. The rule book says you're only supposed to overturn if it's obvious. If it's very, I don't have the phrasing in front of me, but the, they make it feel like, you know, we really need to see something indisputable to overturn a call on the eyes. And, you know, it's, you They, you know, that sets a pretty high bar. That makes it so that a lot of these calls are going to, are going to stand.

And that's, I would argue how it should be. I don't, you know, we want to have the, we want to have the ability, I guess, to fix the quote-unquote obvious errors. But that's all we should be fixing. And of course, everyone thinks the call that went against their team is an obvious error. I get where the penguins are coming from on this one. I would not have been shocked if it had gone the other way. Some of these are just 50-50 calls. You know, they just are.

Like, I don't know, just like some holding calls are 50-50 and some interference. Like, it's go on down the list. And I know that when we're talking about goals, it feels like there should be something clearer. but there isn't unless you want to have a really bad rule that would be clear and we wouldn't argue about we would just all in unison absolutely hate it so um i would say that you know this one i get it i would get it kind of both ways but it's it's it's it's kind of how it goes yeah it i'm I'm literally looking at it right now on my phone. And it's literally like two guys just kind of collide in a space.

Nobody is like they're both naturally going in that direction. And nobody, it's like a car accident where there's a, there's a, you know, four-way intersection or whatever. And two cars are just like, well, I'm going at this exact second. Sorry. And they bump into each other and then what happens happens. And especially because it goes, like it kind of ramps off Carlson's stick and into the net as he's hitting his own goalie really hard.

I just kind of go, obviously not black and white, but it's so easy for me to read that as not goalie interference. So. Yeah. The other one was kind of the ruling that it was a puck battle, Pittsburgh guy lost, and, you know, it's a hockey player. I get it. So, but let's contrast.

As long as that was the only one from this week, I think I'm completely fine. So then, like, in the Islanders Columbus game, the Islanders score a goal, and that, I believe, is also allowed, right? Oh, no, that goal got called back. Sorry. So this one was called a goal on the ice, but got over. And called back. That's what I just said about how the bar seems to be higher comes into play here. and makes this one

a little bit confusing to me. So I see it with the call on the ice being what it was, I see this is like, okay, they called it a goal because it's a similar play, but not totally, right? And I think the reason why is

the contact is, again, it's a puck battle that if you want to say the Islander's guy loses it or just kind of loses his edge or whatever it is. And he... Basically what I think it is is the guy making contact with the goalie isn't on his own team. That's my read on that call.

Maybe you as the expert here kind of sort of want to say different, but that's my read on it. I mean, and that shouldn't matter. And again, like the piece that I wrote where I was talking about, like, hey, man, we can get 80 to 90% of these figured out pretty good. Most of that 80, 90% is our plays where a player goes into the crease on his own or doesn't go into the crease on his own. But when you move in the, was he pushed in, was he shoved in, that's where it gets tricky. And I think that if people are confused about why one of these plays stood and the other one didn't, I get that. I think there's – I was a little bit surprised that this one was overturned, again, because the bar seems to be higher.

Now, I get – if I'm putting myself in the official's shoes here – I guess the idea here is that it's, I think it's Anders Lee who's going into the net. Is that, do I have that right? Yeah, I believe that's right. He is like already going very hard to the net and he's got a blue jacket defenseman on his back, but it's kind of one of those things of like,

yeah, you are already going into the crease. Yep. And you got shoved. Now, he is also allowed to follow the puck into the crease. and that also gets kind of confusing because you can't fully see where the puck is and then it goes in off off a blue jacket defender. I'm a bit surprised that this one was overturned. Yeah.

That's okay. I mean, when you get, what is it, when you get 51% right, you're going to get 49% wrong? That's, uh, I believe the percentages are 52 and 48, but yeah, that's right. I try. Yeah, I understand. It's an old. episode.

Yeah. But, so yeah, anyway, bigger. And, you know, thankfully that in the Islanders Blue Jackets game, it was, the goal would have made the game two nothing. The Islanders won one, one nothing. So it didn't change the course of a playoff race or something like that. But, yeah, I mean, that is my, I think the league has done a reasonably good job on goaltender interference.

I think it's gotten better over the years. because I do think there was a time, I don't know, maybe more than five years ago at this point, but certainly, you know, relatively recently where it really did feel kind of random. And I, for sure. I don't know this for a fact, but I would assume that at some point somebody behind the scenes like sat down and really put some work in on this, getting people onto the same page. I think it's pretty good, but it's a subjective rule. at the end of the day, like, there just isn't a black and white way to do it that's going to satisfy everyone.

And also, not everyone wants to be satisfied. They just want the call to go their teams away. Well, and so to that point, I've seen, God, I think it was Elliot. Could have been somebody else saying basically, like, it feels like teams really want, like, a kind of like a directive from the league on this, like to really clarify it. in the next little while, like before the playoffs, start before the season's over, whatever it is, because it is getting a little contentious out there. And to your point, Sean, like, you know, the, the, um,

the jets can look at that, that penguins play or the blue jackets can look at the islanders play and go, well, whatever, like, you know, the, the call on the ice was good the whole time. What are we talking about? You know what I mean? and or whatever, you know, whatever, the blue jackets one I'm remembering, I'm not remembering which way, anyway. Like, so I'll put it to you this way. I have been in college hockey press boxes next to the assistant coach of the team who's like on video supposed to do like offside review.

Should that, should we maybe review that for a penalty, blah, blah, blah. and like me and this guy are looking at the exact same monitor and we're like I'm going I don't think that like I'm not saying this to him obviously but I'm thinking to myself I don't think that plays offside versus he's looking at it and goes let's review it I think that's offside and it's like if if me and a guy sitting next to me looking at the exact same feed and I'm kind of like an impartial viewer or whatever and obviously he has some skin in the game um If we're looking at something, as simple as cut and dry as offside and we're disagreeing, like at a certain point, like you say, we just got to accept that sometimes there's going to be a call that we're like, I'm seeing this differently. It is, it'd be like if we had instant replay for roughing. Right. And you're like, ah, now we'll get it right every time. No, you won't. Yeah.

No, you won't. Now, I will say this, because I've, I've done the thing that I hate to do. which is defend the league and defend the officiating. Because, I mean, when you're in our business, there's no more fertile ground than crapping all over the officiating in the NHL. And I like easy stuff. So it brings me no joy to defend the NHL and the officials. But I do think that a lot of this is just, you know,

it's just people being mad that a call went against their team. then dressing it up as, you know, as something more than that. But I'll say this. The one area where I think the league hurts itself is these explanations that they put out that are completely useless. Just absolutely, completely, you know, it, they send it to your inbox. You get if you're at the game, you know, you get this thing. It goes out on social media.

It's on their website. And it's all completely useless. Yeah, it's nothing. They say there was a review. This is what the call on the ice was. They cut and paste the rule and they say, here's what we decided. It gives no insight whatsoever.

And I really feel like, you know, when you contrast that, and I know it's a different situation, but to like when there's a suspension and they put the explanation video out there, sometimes they make some good points. Sometimes they point out things that maybe you didn't see

or you didn't realize would be. I think there's, like, I really believe that the NHL could do a much, much better job explaining this stuff and that it would help the problem. I think that if they did for a season, they started doing good explanations

and maybe you can't do them in real time, um, although it would be nice, but, you know, you know, like I'm talking literally, have a writer or like a somebody in the room with those guys. And after a call like that, sit down and be like, okay, one of you, because it's a group of people doing it, one of you come with me and walk me through it and we're going to put an explanation out within, you know, 20 minutes that's going to show like what we saw and what we, why we made the call we made. I think that would help the problem a lot.

And they, I mean, they not only do they not do that. They like aggressively go in the opposite direction of basically putting out a state. statement that goes because we said so that's why. Right. I think that's a problem. But other than that, I mean, just, it's okay to just be mad that the call went against your team without making it out to be something bigger. And if you're a broadcaster, read the stupid rulebook, please.

Yes. Because you're driving crazy. Again, the thing that I circle back to, and we can move on to a different kind of topic here with supplementary discipline is that the NHL goes, well, this is how it is. And everybody goes, that kind of sucks. And they go, it is how it is, though. So, you know, you're going to have to groove on it. So apparently, Gary Betman and Carolina Hurricane's general manager, Eric Tulski, got into what

something described as like a heated exchange. Others said, it wasn't that heated about like players getting protected on. like head contact basically and protected by the league. Like, why aren't we throwing up bigger suspensions and supplementary discipline for head contact, blah, blah, blah.

And one of the things that I thought was so funny is that Gary Bettman apparently said to Tulski, well, you're just saying that because your owner wants you to say that. And it's like, uh-huh. Yeah. Hey, Gary, do you ever listen to the owners?

maybe. Does that ever come up for you? That's interesting. Why do I have a feeling that Gary Betman never said that to like the Bruins GM when it was Mr. Jacobs was the owner or the Flyers GM when it was Mr. Snyder? Like I don't. Well, even beyond that, is he saying that to fucking Cam Neal like a guy that played in the league? Or is he just like, I understand Mr. Neely. Thank you so much for your feedback. You know what I mean? Like it does kind of feel like. Gary was like, okay, get out of my face, nerd. I don't need to hear from you, you know.

I mean, I'll say this. Congratulations to Eric Tulski, apparently has been a GM long enough that he's allowed to talk at these meetings. That's a big milestone for these guys. You know, you have to, you've got to be in this league a long time before you're allowed to, I think you're allowed to put your hand up. They just don't call on you. Like just Gary Benman looking around going, anyone else?

Yeah, no, no, okay. You're waving your hand. Yeah, you get the invisible man treatment for sure. So, I mean, that's good for him. No, I mean, I don't know that I had personally felt like there had been a major change in that. But it's a player safety, man. It's good. Hold his feet to the fire a little bit, you know.

And, I mean, Gary Bettman, we all, I mean, we've seen how he does with the media, right, where he gets all pissy and defensive and everything. He is a lot of them. You're not saying pissy about a guy. Remember, why are you being so pissy to Drysidal? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah. That's like the worst thing you can say to somebody. I apologize to Gary Batman. I didn't. I mean, he's allowed to defend. I'm sure he thinks the league is doing a good job. So he's allowed to say that.

I don't know. I mean, not being in the room, you wonder just how heated it got. But, yeah, there. They're both big boys. They can, I imagine they can handle it a little bit. But, but yeah, shocking news from the NHLGM's meeting. League says everything fine. Status quo.

We're rocking and rolling with it, baby. We love it. Oh, okay. Great. But what's funny about this, this isn't like a head contact thing specifically, but, what, 36 hours later, AJ Greer. I believe it was originally called an interference penalty on Connor Zari.

Just kind of hand in the numbers right into the fucking boards. As clear a boarding penalty as you're ever going to see, the league suspensive, Greer, sorry, three games for boarding. And people say, well, hold on a second. Didn't this guy just get fined supplementary discipline like earlier this year? What are we doing here? And, you know, again, the answer is we're doing. exactly, this is actually an insanely harsh penalty.

I don't know what you guys are mad about. Yeah, which in the context of how they've called the rest of the season, it kind of is. I mean, three games is getting up there. I honestly didn't have a big problem with this call from the Department of Player's Safety. And again, I am, I'm just sitting here watching absolute meatballs down the heart of the plate, and I'm not taking the bat off my shoulder, and it's driving crazy.

But I, I mean, I thought that was probably about right for something that could have caused injury, like serious injury, but didn't. But didn't, correct. Yeah. That's my read on it too. But again, it was just. It was bad. And, you know, you don't want to parse it too closely except that that's kind of the Department of Player's Safety's job. Like, if he had been closer to the boards, it's more dangerous.

play. Like there was, it was a little bit further out from the boards that then you usually see. So there was like a bit of a slide into it, which is still dangerous and still, you know, we've seen pretty horrific outcomes on that. But the way the league usually handles this stuff. And again, people always say, well, I just want consistency. This call was reasonably consistent with what the league usually does, which is if something is ugly and dangerous, and has the potential for injury but doesn't cause injury. And it isn't like, you know, you're not breaking a stick over someone's head or something obviously intentional. They, they tend to go a couple of games and not a lot more than that.

Well, to your point about consistency, right? Like, that's what George Parra said in that statement last week. And our take at the time was, well, right, like, we agree that you are consistent. in that you consistently let guys off the hook and fuck up. And it's hard not to notice that the Florida Panthers get off, you know, in relatively light, I guess, is maybe, again, my, my thing is that play is maybe three games, but A.J. Greer has gotten supplemented. Now, not for this thing. And that's usually how they parse it, right? Like, it wasn't bored.

He didn't get it for boarding last time. And so this time... The last time it was boarding, but it was, you know, by the blue line instead. Yeah, if I, if I stab a guy and then shoot another guy. Yeah. You know, those are two different. Those are two different things. But the outcome can be pretty similar, you know?

So I think if you, if you add a game or two for the history and then subtract a game or two for the logo, we wind up with a pretty consistent ruling, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Again, I don't think, again, it's not that it's inconsistent. That's not my problem with it or most people's problem with it. It's that it's like, again, I'm a throw the book at him guy on these things, right? Like, that play, if I'm running it, I'm like 12 games.

I don't give a shit. Don't do that anymore. And then we hear it all the time when there's an emphasis on a new rule and then like halfway through the year power plays have dropped like 30% and you go, what happened? And they go, everybody conform to what the new rule was. And you're like, I'm watching the games. And they're like, they're still hooking like crazy. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

You could just do the same thing here. You do 12 games. Everybody goes, oh, shit. And maybe they stop doing it. And everybody's happy until a player on their team does it. Right. Of course. And, I mean, the other thing with this one is because it was the first big department

of player safety call after. the Radco Gudis thing. Everybody had their little microscopes out, yeah. Right. And, you know, that one was kind of felt like an inflection point. So it was a case of, okay, is, is something going to change? Is it maybe going to be a case where it's not that something changes, but they, okay, they throw us a bone on the first one?

Or is it that the NHL is going to do its usual thing, which is you can't tell me what to do, screw you. And it was sort of, I would say it's between two and three, because I, I think a month ago before Radco. This is maybe one game. This might be one or two. Yeah, you might be right about that. That's a good point. I hadn't thought about that, but you're probably right. And I'm with you. I'm all for higher, you know, for higher suspension. I said 12 earlier. You know, that's overstating for, but like five or six games for that, that would totally be. But, you know, and this is the thing people always say, and I think they're right about it, they don't want this going to appeal.

Yeah. That's ultimately what it boils down to, in my estimation. And even then, like, look, if I'd love to see, I'd love to see a change. I'd love to see it get harsher. They're not going to change it in the middle of March. No, no, no. This is the next season thing for sure. If at all, to be clear.

Yeah. So I kind of doubt that it will. I really did think it was fine. Yeah. This one, I... Yep. The other kind of thing that there was a little bit of a kerfuffle, I guess you would say, about at the GM meetings is the playoff format, which is basically, it's starting to look like the team that finishes first in the Pacific might end up finishing behind the ninth place. team in the east.

And that, not ideal, in my opinion. Wait, are you saying the brilliant, wonderful season-long story of the Anaheim ducks and the absolute disaster that the Detroit Red Wings are turning into might actually end up with the same record? Yeah. No, I'm not saying that because the Ducks are currently two points behind the Red Wings with the same number of games played. And a worst goal difference.

Time to make that up. Look, it's, the, the playoff, I've never been a, like, the playoff format is catastrophic guy. I sort of let others bang that drum. But, you know, I'm certainly not, I've sort of, I used to like the format because I like the idea of repeated matchups building rivalries. And I've, I've sort of given up on that because that's just not how rivalries. work anymore. But I think also we can say that if there's like this this year is a weird one because even in the past when I've heard people do the whole you know the whole playoff format stinks thing,

you almost never hear. It's almost always they need to go back to one through eight in the conference. Right. Which does not solve this problem. If there is a year in which there's just a freaky, weird imbalance between the conference, and it's not even an imbalance in terms of one being better than the other, it's one is super top heavy, and one is all clogged up in the middle. And it's weird.

Yeah. And I don't know what you can do about that other than go to a one through 16, which I've heard a few people talk about. and it'll just never happen. But I never, I almost never heard that previously. So it's sort of like, you know, this is, maybe this is our sign to think a little bigger

as far as what we want to do with the playoff format. But this, also sometimes any format you have that isn't just take the best 16 teams is going to be open to freaky, weird outlier years. And this year is one of those in the sense of between the conferences. The thing with like the Minnesota Wild playing the stars,

that's the typical division versus conference format that a lot of people have been screaming about for a long time. Right. And what that really, I think, what this is doing right now, it is just making it obvious what the problems with the playoff format that, again, I've been expressing for as long as I can remember with this format, right?

there wasn't a time where I was like, let's just see what happens. I just, you know, your mind, at least if you're me, your mind goes to the worst possible fucking outcome for this. And this is what it is and always was. Like, and this is the absolute most extreme example where right now the team, the team that is first in a division would be 10th in the other conference. I'm sorry, 11th in the other conference. They're behind Ottawa as well. This was never like a likely outcome, but it was a potential outcome for sure.

And so, like, all the people that, and maybe I'm being incredibly generous here because this is a group that includes me. But I'm like, you kind of got to hand it to the, this is a stupid format and here's why people, because they were right. It feels like nobody has liked the playoff format because, you know, we're getting the lightning or the brewing, like just pick a team that was dominant six, seven years ago, right? Those teams are getting eliminated in the first round and isn't that kind of not what we're trying to do with the playoffs? I mean, it kind of comes down. And this is sort of why I've never been able to get, I think, to the same level of frustration as others. is it kind of comes down to like, what do we want the playoffs to do?

Like, is the playoffs supposed to be the best and most efficient system for determining who the best team is? Right. Is it supposed to be a system that not only determines who the best team is, but slots all the other 16 teams in properly as far as how far they go?

Or is it supposed to, produce an entertaining postseason, which it's kind of is, you know, Gary Betman's defense is always, oh, we have the most exciting first round in sports, which it's like, kind of, and then what happens, right? Yeah, again, like, I say this all the time, but like, ratings go down because people only care about the teams they like in this league, right? Like, the example I use all the time is that I feel like the kids. casual NBA fan, like my friends and stuff like that,

who aren't like Celtics diehards, but they'll watch the NBA playoffs are like, yeah, well, the NBA playoffs are insanely good. And like the finals are often very entertaining. Mm-hmm. And I'm not saying like that doesn't, like the finals and the, the cup finals usually entertained.

It wasn't last year, but the year before it was incredibly entertaining. Um, and I don't know. Like, it's just like you're, you're eliminate, in theory, the reason the NBA finals are, are more fun is that they are, the better team wins in the NBA way more frequently. Yes. Which is also why the first round in the NBA is often not super interesting. Correct. And so the NHL's like, oh, well, we get such big ratings for the first round or whatever. And it's like, well, that's because you got more teams that the first, like, you know what I mean?

I don't think the number of people watching per team changes very much. Yeah. That's kind of my take on it. It's like the number gets smaller and isn't, I would think that they would think that that's a problem, but they kind of don't. They don't seem to. Just like getting back to the wild, I guess my thing is, okay, so we're all looking at this going, man, they got to play down. The wild, I think they're like fifth or six in the standings now, so it's not as pronounced, but for a time, and still could end up,

they could be the third best team in the league. And they could play the Dallas Stars and be the road team. Yep. Okay, so they have to play the second best team in the league when, you know, around the league you've got teams who finish 14th and 15th who have easier matchups.

I think we can all kind of accept that that on a surface doesn't seem fair. You know, I kind of look at it and I go, all right, we're constantly told in this league, that nothing matters other than winning the Stanley Cup. One team wins the cup, 31 teams are stupid loser failures that should feel bad. And you're dumb if you enjoyed your team's season. They didn't even win the cup.

I mean, if that's the case, the Wilde have got to beat the Stars eventually. They've got to beat the Avalanche eventually. If the Minnesota Wilde go out and lose to the Dallas Stars in round one, then all the format has cost them, is, yeah, they probably should have had an easier matchup, probably should have won one round, and then they would have played the stars. Or the abs or whoever, right?

I mean, like, you don't, if there's that many good teams, especially if it's a conference-based system, you run into those teams quick. You're not getting, you know, you're not getting two or three easy rounds, and then suddenly you've got to play a contender. You're going to hit them right away. So the cost of this terrible format is a good team like the, goes out in round one instead of round two.

Is that really that big of a disaster? Now, Bill Guerrins might say, hell yeah, it is. That winning that round or not is going to change how my team is perceived. As a Leafs fan, I can tell you, yeah, that's, that happens. There's lots of teams whose legacy is based on how many rounds they win, you know, and not even they're late, but like just how long people keep their jobs, how long rosters get put together,

how much playoff success are we having? And to say, you know, I guess maybe in a way I should, I should like this debate because it is saying the quiet part out loud, which is even if we don't win the cup, winning a round or two is a big deal, and, you know, we should get to do it.

I hear it. I get it. The only thing that about the argument that does bug me, and I've heard this a few times in the last week, is this idea that no other league does it this way. Only the NHL has a dumb format like this.

And it's like, well, only the NHL has this specific format, but the NFL Major League Baseball also deal with this wild card. You know, how do we rank a team that finishes ahead of some other team, but that team won the division? I mean, in the NFL,

famously, you can go 8 and 9 and win a division and get a home playoff game against a 12-win team. That happens every few years. I mean, you're clearly superior teams having to go on the road and potentially lose in the first round to teams that happen to win a weak division. Baseball, you know, same thing. If the Yankees and Red Sox both win 110 games this year in the AAL East, one of them is going to be a wildcard team and have a much tougher path through the playoffs. and have to play tougher teams. It's something that every league kind of deals with. You know, the NBA has, if I under, like, did the NBA, do you even get, do you get

a number one seed or a higher seed for winning the division, or is it just pure one through eight? I'm pretty sure you do, yeah. I mean, I see a lot of people saying that. Like, just go one through eight, the division winners get the top two seats. That doesn't completely solve the problem. Because now we'd have what? So Dallas and Minnesota are the third and fourth seats, but Anaheim is second.

And so Anaheim gets a much easier second round matchup than, and Dallas and Minnesota. Like, you're just kind of pushing it to the next round. But the flip side is if you say, okay, so we don't care about who wins a division or whatever, then why do we have divisions? Why are we playing? Like, what does the regular season even mean if it's just to get 16 teams? in the playoffs. Honestly, that I'm with you a million percent, especially because, like,

as the number of teams in the league continues to grow, again, I'm a 40 by 2050 guy. I think that's going to happen. So, to me, like, let's put it this way. If there's 40, you might as well make it 42 or whatever. And then at that point, you can just play every team twice,

home and road that we don't, it's a completely balanced schedule. Like, the unbalanced schedule, is totally a relic of when there were like 25 teams in the league or whatever, right? Where you had to fill out and you're like, oh, I guess I played the Maple Leaf 16 times this year or whatever the fuck. You know what I mean? When I was growing up, the teams in a division played each other eight times in a season. And that's when you really got the rivalries and, you know, it was a different era, obviously.

But it did feel like this division was a concrete thing. It felt like the Norris Division was a different thing than the Smife Division. Yes. And now you play a division opponent three times instead of two or whatever. Yeah, now it's just like, but also the league, I'm sure their marketing department is like, no, no, we need divisional rivalries. We need this. And it's got to be based on something other than just pure geography or pure history.

So what do you do? And like, what happens if, is it more impressive? to finish first in a mediocre division than to finish third in a good one? I mean, there's the argument that, hey, you're out here trying to win. You're trying to finish first. We should reward you if you do that. And then you get the extreme cases like this year in the Pacific versus the Central where you go, I don't know, like the wild would have clinched this division a month ago.

Are we really trying to say that? It's more impressive for the ducks or whoever they. Maybe it's the Oilers or the Knights finally wake up long enough to. Well, what it boils down to once again, Sean, is that the reason I don't like this is making my team sad. You know what I mean? Like, obviously I agree that in an ideal world, it is just the 16 best teams in the league. And frankly, it's more like the eight best teams of the league, right? Like, I'm not a make the playoffs bigger guy.

Yeah. But I think that, you know, like this is kind of the, um, the, it's only a phone hearing thing for the NHL where it's like, look, we put up with this for a while, but now it's getting embarrassing and something has to change. Like, I think that if Anaheim finishes, again, like 10th or even 11th in the Eastern Conference, like, like, or below the senators or the flyers or whoever you want to say, right? Because look, they have, they have a very similar points percentage to the flyers, the team that we all agree sucks and like sold at the deadline and all that kind of stuff. In theory, it is mathematically possible right now that the Anaheim ducks finish, like 13th in the east, if they had been in the east.

Like, that's how bad it could get. And if that happens, I do think, something has to change, like, the league would even agree with that. You know what I mean? I guess I hear you. I'm just not sure that that's the case because Gary Bettman has been so adamant on this. You know, like, there was, the door was open for him this year to say, like, you know, hey, we're always evaluating.

Yeah. We'll take a look at the end of the season. We'll talk to the stakeholders. But for now, we like what we have. But no, like, he really plants the flag on this. And, you know, he's stubborn about this to a degree that is strange. But I just don't know how he turns around even after this. And again, like, the, I mean, last year, the flames had 96 points and missed the playoffs.

And there were two teams that had 91 points that got in in the East. And this year, it's going to go in the other direction, maybe even to more of an extreme. If you're not willing to do one versus 16, though, you've got to live with that. And if you are willing to live with that, then it kind of cracks the door open to, okay. So we acknowledge that there are factors at play other than just what gets us the fairest possible matchups. So now here's some other reasons why we're not too concerned about this or that or the other way. Right. Sure. But I just think, I'm on board with one through eight.

I think 1 through 8 improves the situation enough that it's worth doing. Yeah. I don't feel like it's a crisis point as much as others do, but I'm totally on board with changing it. Yeah.

Yeah, again, I just feel like if the 11th best team in the Eastern Conference has a better record than a division winner, somebody high up will be like, and again, this is, to be clear, that we're talking about the Eastern Conference specifically. An Eastern Conference owner, where they really do seem to have the most political power in the NHL,

we'll go, we'll hold on a second, and then Gary will have to say like, oh, I'm listening now. I mean, it probably has to be the flyer. This is the first time I'm hearing it. You're right. They're the team that is, because it's not going to be like the Rangers of the Leafs

or Montreal or one of those teams. Like those teams are either safe or not close. So, I don't know, Boston, I guess my would, Boston would be the one. If Jeremy Jacobs says it, it is so. You know, like... It's Mr. Jacobs? That's not to me.

I've never met the fucking guy. And he's not my third grade teacher. I don't have to call him Mr. at all. I'm a 43-year-old man. You know, anyway. Why don't we take a break and we'll be back to talk about a bunch of other stuff? Ever feel like car shopping is designed to make you second-guess yourself?

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dot CA All right, we're back. And speaking of people getting in trouble and yelled at and things of this nature, I'm starting to see more and more people go, okay, we've got to think about like when and which coaches are getting fired, which, you know, there's 10, 11, 12 games left

in most teams' seasons at this point. And so that is a discussion you have to have. And so I'm just going to like look at, look at the teams that are currently not in the playoffs. And I'm going to ask you, Sean, do you think they're making a coaching change? Fun. The Vancouver Canucks have been eliminated from the playoffs already. Yeah.

Do you think Adam Foote is fired? I think, and I have no insight information on any of this, but I feel like this might be the rare one and done. You rarely see that. Yeah. But this season has been so poor. not just as far as the standings, but, you know, the Quinn Hughes trade isn't his fault, the Demko being hurt, but like Elias Pedersen has not flipped the switch back, which I think would be a primary point in favor of any coach.

Yeah, I think it's probably It's again, like the 200 hockey men Really hate to give a guy only one year As a coach It has to be pretty extreme But I think having 50 points And being 15 points clear For dead last is probably

Being eliminated This early in the season in a league where like everybody is within eight points of each other basically is crazy and especially the other reason I think he's getting out of there pretty pretty quickly here is he was specifically

brought in as the without saying it without saying it but as the this is Quinn Hughes's guy. Yep. Quinn Hughes doesn't fucking play there anymore. End of discussion. He's out of there. See you later. There are years where and very often it coincides with a rookie coach or a first first year coach for a team where a team is very clearly tanking. Like the GM is like, I'm not going to put anything good on the ice strategically.

And that wasn't the case in Vancouver. They Vancouver thought they were going to be, I don't know if they thought they were going to be great. They thought they were at least building a playoff bubble team. And yeah, has not happened. And, you know, along similar lines to that, I will say that since they are now in a rebuilding mode, I might keep him. This guy stinks. He doesn't seem like he's doing a great job over there. I'd keep him if I'm that.

We want to get as few points as possible for the next three years. Do you really want Gavin McKenna playing on another 52-point team next year? Yeah. I mean, yeah. I get what you're saying. Sure. Why not? I don't, but like...

Yeah. I hear what you're saying. Yeah. Yeah. Next up by total... I'm looking at this from total points here. The Calgary Flames. Yeah, that wouldn't shock me to see a change there.

I don't know. I seems pretty patient and he seems, you know, they've amassed so many draft picks that they're very clearly still in the... kind of build mode thing, but... Yep. It seems like they took a step back this year, but... 96 points last year. Yes, but what I would say is,

last year they were a PDOT team, and this year they are not. You know, like, Dustin Wolf was just unbelievable last season. And this year he's been kind of ordinary at best for long stretches. So I think that's the... We're still trying to find... his level, Dustin Wolf.

And again, I said it last year. He's put up monster numbers basically everywhere he's gone. This is the first year in quite a while that he's faced any kind of adversity in terms of like he's not performing it as a borderline elite goaltender or something close to that. And so I don't I don't know that you make a coaching change. By the way, how many how many coaches have been hired since Ryan Huska got hired in June 2023 is like more than half the league by now. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. He's, yeah, he's. It's crazy. He's like the third highest tenured coach behind John Cooper and Martens, St. Louis, is always the one that gets me where he's like. He's the ninth. He's the most tenured coach in the league. Ninth is hired in less than three years ago.

I think you can run back one more time with Huska. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But. I don't think this team, again, as you say, with all the draft picks and prospects they've amassed in recent months, I don't think they're like, boy, we really, they want their timeline this. Let's get competitive for the new building, which is, I think, 2028. Coming quick, right? Like, I mean, that's. It's not this, like, it's not going to be open for next season, but the, yeah.

So there you go. That's why. Chicago. No. No, I agree. This is again, this is a strategic low point, and they made their change last year. This is not a one and done. Yep, totally.

The New York Rangers. I can't see it. I can't. Mike Sullivan, it hasn't worked, but also. So much money for him. much money. And yeah, it's the Rangers and they've got a lot of money. But it would be put it this way.

For a guy like Chris Drury who's already, I don't know if he's on the hot seat with Jimmy Dolan. It seems like no, by the way, to answer that. It seems like that's not the case. But I mean, there's, okay, I'm not on a hot seat and there's, I feel comfortable going in to my owner and saying, we got to eat 20 million or whatever's left on that deal because I picked the wrong guy. but let me pick again. Let's give $5 million a year to Pete DeBore instead. I think this is

this is one of those things where as a GM, you know, remember my first principle of general managers in the NHL, it's job security first and everything else next. Yeah, of course. And I think it would be a very bad job security move for him to make a change this quickly. I want to say this, though.

I saw, God, who was it? Was it? And Gretz maybe? When you look at how the things have gone for the Rangers, and they had nine shots on goal last night against a team that was using four defensemen, basically. Humiliating. They add, and four shots on net through two periods.

And full credit to the senators, because, I mean, they came out and. Unbelievable performance from them for sure. I mean, they just, you know, they came out and just stuffed the Rangers and locker on their home ice. But holy smokes, I, that was a team. The Rangers looked so meek and pathetic that I kept looking on the ice to see if like Austin Matthews MC. Sliding around somewhere because, oh, that was.

So put it this way. If Mike Sullivan isn't making a billion dollars for multiple years, that's the sort of performance that gets coaches fired the next day. Yeah, well, and so you take that performance and where they are as a team overall and they've had to sell all these guys they didn't think they were going to have to sell this year. And then you look at what the penguins are doing without Mike Sullivan. Like Eric Carlson, people are going, Eric Carlson, Norris guy borderline question mark. I don't think so personally. But like the amount of praise he's gotten in the last like two weeks from all kinds of different outlets.

It's like, well, what's different? Oh, Mike Sullivan didn't tell him how to play hockey anymore. And he instantly looks like an elite defenseman again. That's interesting. Hey, what's going on with Adam Fox? You know what? Like, that's kind of how my, how I, like, think about what they might be thinking about. But to your point, I think Drewry's like, if I just keep my head down, I get to keep this job for two more years.

and then I get fired, but that's two more years of paychecks. I don't have to go on unemployment or whatever, you know. Yeah, filling out those forms is a pain. Brutal. Got a call every week. Yeah. Do you have to call or can you write a letter? Because he likes writing letters.

You know, I... He's a letter guy. I've only been on unemployment one time in my life, and that was like during the, like the financial crisis, like the 08 financial. crisis. I have to assume the system has changed. I don't know how. Because the system sucked before. I'll tell you. I got news for you, buddy. I'm betting it didn't get better. I'm just going to go ahead and say. Maybe you can text instead of call. That's all I'm saying. The Blues. A tough one because it's the GM switch is happening, but I mean, Jim Montgomery's a really good coach.

Yeah. And also, again, like, and it's a weird situation because it's a succession plan. It's not a GM getting fired and a new guy coming in. But very often, even if I'm going by the first law of being a GM, if I've got a pretty good coach and I'm not sure on, keep them for a year. Keep that card in my back pocket, right? They always come for the coach before the GM. So in theory, you hold off of the longer you keep the coach, you've got a shield in front of you. And I would say that if it was a so-so coach, and I think Jim Montgomery is a good coach.

Yeah, I obviously agree with all that. The Sharks. No, sharks. No. Sharks this season's a success, even if they're made. Yeah, absolutely. Worsowski seems like he's pulling all the damn correct strings. I mean, I don't want to do anything to mess with whatever's happening with Macklin Celebrini.

Yep. Totally correct. This is an interesting one, the Winnipeg Jets. I don't, I guess it's possible. But, I mean, coming off of last year, I mean, it's sort of like the Calgary situation where it's like, oh, they were a good team Lush. I mean, the Jets, you get fired a year after a president's trophy? Yeah, you absolutely can. Part of the thing we get fired, yeah, like, it just happened with the Rangers last year.

Yeah. Part of the thing with the Jets is unlike, like the Flames and unlike last year's Rangers, they're not a team that's going to be in the mix for every big name that comes available. No, they are not. You know, I don't think Pete DeBore is picking them or, you know. Totally. So I'm going to say they give it another year. Yeah, I think that's right.

I think, again, much like Dustin Wolf, we really, see what kind of a level we find with the Winnipeg Jets and Scott Arneill. You know what I mean? Like obviously last year was just a great goal-tending performance and they shot really well on the power play, if I'm remembering how the Jets cooked it up last season. And then this year, kind of not that. And also. So what's in between those two things?

Probably a playoff team. They're making enough of a push that I, you know, they're not going to make it barring something really unsurprising, but. Yeah, you're right. especially the way it's going in Seattle and San Jose, they could end up finishing ninth, which looks a lot better than, I mean, they look like they're going to finish dead last for a while. And they did kind of get back under control. So I think he should be okay.

Yep. Florida, I think we can just sit here and say no, that we can write off so much of what is happening with Florida. Yeah. There's just no way they make a coaching change. Toronto. Yep. Yeah, Barab is. Yeah.

We already agree. The only question there is, is it five seconds after the season ends or sooner? As in during the season. Yeah, totally. That's the only suspense there. Yeah, I obviously agree with that. And I like Craig Barubi. I like the higher.

It has not worked. Not even a little bit. Nope. No. Okay. Geez, the devils. This is a tough one, I think. Yeah.

It's like deceptively difficult to make this call. It is, right? Because it's everybody likes Sheldon Keith, but this will be three years. He's been three years in New Jersey. One playoff game one. That doesn't cut it for a team, you know, especially when he inherited a team that was playoff worthy. Like he didn't come in and take over a team that was 60 points and, you know, trying to

climb out of a rebuild or something. Totally. Yeah. So I think the thing there is I think a lot of the eyes are on Tom Fitzgerald and if they make a GM change then who knows. Right? Yeah.

Sometimes a new GM comes in wants his own guy. Sometimes a team will just flush both guys at the same time because you don't want the new GM to have to do the dirty work. sometimes a new GM comes in and says, yeah, I'll keep Sheldon Keefe for a year. And, you know, the same thing we just said, you know, with other teams where it's like,

yeah, we're going to hold off, play that card. I'm going to say they keep Sheldon Keefe because a new GM decides to stick with his guy. But he will then be in a world of danger because the old cliche about if the boss, us didn't hire you is is very true. Yeah, it just, with them, it just seems like the vibes are really bad. And I don't know that, that, like, firing your coach fixes that. You know what I mean? Like, I don't, let me put it another way.

I don't think Sheldon Keefe is the problem in New Jersey. I don't really know what the problem is, quite frankly. But I don't think it's Sheldon Kee. I think it's injuries. You know, like, you can go down the list. Like, there are discontented players, whatever you want to say. But, yeah, I just don't, I don't think they're going to make a coaching change, basically for the reasons you said as well. Who's next?

The Kings, I suppose, are next. No, I mean, they made their change. And so their DJ Smith is interim, I believe. so they will be in the market already. Yeah, that's right. I guess what I'm saying is do we think DJ Smith is the guy? Like, are they going to stick with him? I do not.

I tend to agree with you. Geez, okay. Next up is, is it Utah? Can it be Utah? No, wait. They're in the playoffs. I read that wrong. I read that incorrectly.

That's my mistake. We haven't done Seattle, and I... Seattle, I guess, is the other... They should be safe. Yep, I agree. Again, like, they can't make three coaching changes in two years, right? Like, that's basically what that boils down to. You know, you got to say the capitals here next, I suppose.

Yep, and that I... I would not. I think they are going to be... I tend to agree. Spencer Carberry is good at his job. Yep. Here's an interesting one. Nashville?

We've been doing... Katie, just cut and paste the same Andrew Burnett discussion we've been having for years now. Yep. I mean, I guess the thing is Barry Trots seems to love the guy. Barry Trots isn't going to be the GM anymore, except he is. like until they find a new GM. Well, but they're going on a run too. That's the other thing, man.

Like, they're, people are saying, oh, maybe, maybe. And it's like, oh, okay, well, if they, if they even get close, like nothing's going to change it. In fact, Barry Trots might go, I'm back. I'm never leaving. And even if, remember, like,

Barry Trots isn't like, yeah, I'm out of here. Barry Trots is going to get kicked upstairs or whatever and become, So, yeah, it's, I think, again, the whole new GM thing, but I wouldn't be shocked if he gets another year. Yeah. Andrew, man, this guy's a personal hero of mine. As somebody who wakes up every day and goes, what is the absolute minimum I can accomplish today

that won't result in disastrous consequences? I got my little W. W-A-B-D bracelet that, man. I need you to understand, Sean. The amount of credit that Bono should get

for keeping this fucking team together is like, honestly kind of fucking incredible. The Edge should be getting like custom jerseys sent his house on a weekly basis. Every time they win, here's a new piece of Nashville Predators merge

for Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton, of course. I know all the members of you, too. So do why, definitely. Okay, let's say the Philadelphia Flyers. Now, they just made a coaching change. Yeah, Rick Tockett's done a real good job with this team. They're in the race.

Like, they're going to. They are. You know, Tocket's kind of a weird one. Like, I feel like a lot of people are kind of iffy on him, but it's hard to argue. argue with, I wouldn't call it success, but he's, he's done more than enough to earn a year two. And that's before you even factor in that he's a former flyer and understands the flyer. He is? Is that true? It is. I looked it up, yeah.

Huh. I feel like you never hear about this. Don't, don't go through old flyers footage looking for a bald guy who looks like Rick Tocket. Mm-hmm. But, yeah. And now, now we're into more. more, I think, theoretical stuff, right? Because, like, Utah's not making a change, and they're the last team out, even though they're, you know, ahead of two teams in the Pacific. But one of the theoretical things that I've been wondering about is if Detroit

misses what happens. Yeah, Detroit missing out of all the teams, not counting Edmonton, who I guess are, are still dicey, and we can get to them in a minute. But that's the one that feels like the biggest disaster if they miss. I feel like if you're Boston or the Islanders, you're really disappointed to miss the playoffs after holding down a spot for most of the year. But you can still, given where you're at in your trajectory, you can live with it. Detroit, and to a lesser extent, Ottawa, but especially Detroit.

I mean, they were in first place. in the division a couple of months ago. Yep. That said, I mean, Todd McClellan really turned that team around last year. This was his first full year. I don't think. And certainly, it would be an impatient move,

and Steve Eiserman is not an impatient GM. So I don't, I think, I think he's safe unless there's a conflict behind the scenes that we don't know about, which could absolutely be the case. Yeah, and he's a relative. recent hire, as you say, this is his first full season. But I just, it really felt like the Eiser plan was pulling into the station, you know? Yeah. And now if they miss again, again, and, you know, in part, I got to tell you.

Remember when they barely bought at the deadline and people were like, well, hey, wait a second, you know. Well, barely bought, but they gave up their first round pick. That's what I'm saying. Like, they, they, or I guess a better way to say it is, they barely added. any like impactful stuff while also giving up their first round pick. Yeah.

They did the Are You Happy Now Dylan Larkin thing? Yep. By the way. He's within his rights to go, obviously I'm fucking not. What are you talking about? So I mentioned Detroit and then Ottawa I think is different because

that is a really good team that if they miss, and I don't think they are at this point, but if they miss, it's going to because of their goaltending was garbage. And it would be very unfair to pin that on Travis Crane. I think he's done a really good job there, so I think he should be safe unless they really feel like they've got to send a message.

Dude, Detroit, Ottawa tonight. Good shit. If you're getting itchy for the playoffs to start, you want to watch an early playoff game tonight, especially since, game is in Detroit. Red Wings have been sitting home rested. Ottawa played last night.

Played well, but, you know, play travel. Boy, if the senators come out and beat the Red Wings tonight, especially in regulation, that is, that might be they're done for the Red Wings. I mean, this is, this feels like a legitimate must win for both teams. it's really hard for me to picture one of those teams losing regulation tonight and then making the playoffs. Ottawa, just because they will, I mean, they'll give up all the ground that they've gained in the last week and Detroit because yikes.

Yeah, I mean, like they played the Bruins on, I think, Saturday. And that was after Boston College had been eliminated. And so people were like, oh, can James Hagen's get to Detroit for, and, we'll talk about James Hagen's in a bit. But it turns out the ruins didn't need him. They won four to two in Detroit. And they've just been in this situation where I can't remember what a count does it, but they're like, this is the swings in playoff probability that will happen.

There's a few that do it. And it's, they are veering all over the road on there. That's what I mean. Like every game for the Red Wings is like this has like a 15 point. like valence on what happens here, you know? And it's like, damn, that's crazy. So, yeah, I just like, I'd be interested to see what happens with the Red Wings. And there's one other team I wanted to talk about in this.

They're currently in a playoff spot. So maybe it's not totally fair. But we have spent a good chunk of this episode talking about how the division there in makes them like huge losers, pathetic freaks. Sure. You know? And this is the. Edmonton Oilers.

They're not going to miss the playoffs. It just doesn't seem possible, given the division. Like, they're four points ahead of... There are four points up on the Kings who have a game in hand. Yeah. But... I just think the Kings kind of aren't good, you know? And the Oilers would have the tiebreaker because the Kings have won three games in

regulation all year. Yep. they love going to overtime. The kings are behind the Rangers and the Blackhawks in. So that's why I wonder about, because we got some comments this week. You might have heard about these comments from a young man, he's from the Greater Toronto area,

but he lives in Edmonton now. His name's Connor McDavid. And what Connor McDavid basically said, was the Lightning. Boy, there is a well-coached team. It's unbelievable how well-coached they are. I wish we were that well-coach. I don't know why we're not.

Anyways, see you later. The coach is so smart and handsome. Not like the stupid loser we have. Anyways, don't misinterpret this. Got to go. Bye. Yeah, they said like, you know, what do you think is the deal with all that or whatever?

And he was like, I believe the term was, that's a question for Nobby, which first of all, tough nickname. Tough one, yeah. I'm not a big fan of the mister, but I got to drop a mister. Like, come on, call him coach. Yeah.

Coach Nabi. Why aren't you that well coached? I guess you'd have to talk to the coach about that. You know, that and that plus the Leon dry sidel comments, like whatever, a month ago now, would make me pretty nervous. Yep. If I was the Edmonton Oilers about, or specifically if I was Chuck Knoblock, now that I say, Chuck Knoblock. Chuck Knobloch, yes.

He's probably nervous, too. Do you think he's, can he throw to first base? Yeah. But by the way, have you looked at the King's schedule? I have not. Good Lord. They're next, they've got 12 games left. They play Calgary, Vancouver.

Utah, St. Louis, Nashville, Toronto, Nashville, Vancouver. Whoa. Then they get the Oilers, and then they finish with Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, and then it says here your kids' might league team, they're going to play. Okay, so maybe it's a little more live that the Oilers miss the playoffs. If the Oilers miss the playoffs, like it's over. I mean, that's... If the Oilers miss the playoffs,

Oh. Chuck, Chris, Frank, Steve, all the knoblocks. Whatever job you have. All the knobbies. Whatever job you have if your last name is knoblock, you're getting your fucking walking papers the day the Oilers are eliminated from the playoffs. It's that simple. Man, that would be disaster.

What do you think goes the other way in the three-way Austin Matthews, Connor McDavid, trade? Dylan Larkin. You think? Okay. Yeah. Somebody's going to be like... And I'm assuming Detroit gets McDavid and Matthews in that because... Well, at that point, they might have to throw in like a third or fourth round pick.

Okay. Just get them over the line, though, you know? Just default. Maybe. That's the kind of player you give up a first for, in my opinion. Good point. Anyway, I guess that's it for coaches that feel like they're on the hot. Am I missing anybody?

Um, actually, let me, is there anyone else? I don't, not in the East. No, I don't. You know what? I mean, we actually got a, we got a question in the mailbag. Vegas, you never know. That's, that's what I was going to say. We got a question in the mailbag about, uh, if they really kind of flame out is Bruce

Cassidy in trouble. And it feels like the answer might be, yes. And, and he wouldn't be in almost any other market. But, yeah, Kelly McCriman is an absolute psycho. So maybe. Yeah. You're never safe in Vegas. Nope.

Not even a little bit. So, yeah, everybody else feels like they're in good shape. That's great. I love to see that. All right. Let's move on here. The big controversy of the week. They asked a guy who hasn't been known, let's say, for expressing.

the best thought-out opinions I've ever heard. They asked that guy, like, what do you think about this? And then he said what his answer was. And his answer was not good. It's Jack Hughes and the hockey Hall of Fame puck. They got really mad at this kid for saying something that he, I don't think, thought about too much. I mean, what he said was very dumb.

I'm not saying it wasn't. I mean, I don't think you should have to think. think that hard before you do the whole why is the famous hockey puck at the hockey hall of fame? Totally. But, yeah, and then he kind of cleaned it up. But.

He did say it was bullshit, though, and that's actually really funny. It's bullshit that it's the hockey Hall of Fame. Is that right? Is it now? Because, like, I, you know, that's when it goes from, I wish I had it to I should have it. I demand that I

have it. That's why it was funny to me. And I love that they then asked Sidney Crosby. Oh, whoever asked him that question is a genius. I think that was Josh from the athletic. And then Crosby was like, hey, hold on a second. But can you, is that Jack Hughes lying in the dirt over there? Can somebody hand me a shovel? Oh, that was an all-time great question, in my opinion.

Yep. Hey, Sid, you're a normal guy who uses his brain. What do you think about this? He was like, I don't, I don't, I don't, I, it never occurred to me to even ask if I would get that puck. Yep. Okay, thank you. Mm-hmm. All right.

I don't have a ton else to say about it, but it bears, it bared mentioning. Mm-hmm. Uh, bore mentioning. Um, yeah, I, I thought, I just thought it was funny. That's all. I can't imagine, like, getting that worked up about it, but that, you know, I get a, people say I say that about too many things, so. People say you don't get worked up enough. Yeah.

Okay. Because like if I, if I express like a kind of blasé attitude towards something, I feel like people are like, what, you can't, you can't not care about that. I don't care about that. No, you're right. Um, one other bit of, uh, NHL kind of adjacent news. They, they asked about Russia being in the World Cup. Remember we talked about this last week? Russia, are they going to be in the World Cup?

Blah, blah, blah. Turns out it doesn't seem like it is the answer. Right. So, which is, which is fine. I mean, that's, yeah. It, it, when they announced the World Cup, it kind of sounded like maybe the NHL was going to just say, we're going to do our own thing and we're not concerned about the IHF. But now it sounds like there's maybe. And, and it makes sense to say, let's not necessarily lock in and say we have to make the same decision, but we're going to try to be on the same page.

Yeah, and I think you made the point last week that then Bill Daly kind of echoed, which is like if we let Russia in, like Finland and Sweden would be really pissed at us. Yeah. So that's why. So, yeah, I mean, just purely as a hockey fan, you want to see Russia in there, but there's bigger things in play. And I don't mind the NHL basically taking the stance of, you know, check back in a year. Yeah.

We've got two years until this thing. A lot can change between now and then. Yep. And then I just wanted to briefly, if I could, talk about the NCAAs, because that is happening. It is happening this coming. No, I was going to say weekend. It starts on Thursday.

That's not the weekend yet. It is for some of us. It is for me. I'm going, well, I guess I'll be at work all four of those days. But yeah, very exciting times. We had some kind of expected results and then some kind of crazy results, including Merrimack College. Are you familiar with Merrimack College, John? Not very much, no.

Okay. I'm trying to think who would be the most famous Merrimack guy to make the NHL. Maybe it's Stefan DeCosta. Remember him? Okay, yeah. Played for the Ottawa Senators, a million years. Oh, no, I'm wrong. Kovicevich is currently

a big time wheel down there in New Jersey. He's a good player. But yeah, they made the NCAA tournament this year after, I think in like mid-November being 510 and zero. They go 16,

5 and 2 down the stretch. They win their first ever hockey's championship and they've been in the conference since 1989. Pretty cool. in my opinion. Yeah. Pretty cool.

But what that all means really is like guys like James Hagan's are kind of, kind of going pro in some cases or with Hagan specifically, he signed an, what's an amateur tryout contract with the Providence Bruins. So he hasn't signed with the Boston Bruins yet. Good luck to him. He's trying. What does a trial look like 70 games into a season?

You go up to have you do some wind sprints. Yeah, well, so he's very specifically not with Boston. I think they're going to try him out. He played both center and wing for BC this year, which, you know, I guess you could say helps him add some versatility to his game, but I don't know that you're drafting him like sixth or seventh overall. I think he was seventh as a center, and then you're like encouraged that he played the wing a a bunch this year.

Right. You know what I mean? So I've been trying to figure out, though, he is on an amateur tryout deal. And with the way, like, college players have been, like, college players have signed AHL and played in the AHL last season because of the new rule changes and stuff like that about eligibility. Is it theoretically possible that he goes back to Boston College at the end of this season? I think based on like you get paid very little on an ATO. I think technically he might be able to. But a lot of that is also a lot of the way the rulings or the rules are worded is more like prior to your enrollment in college, you can do that.

So I think he also might be frozen out, but I'm not totally sure. I mean, my understanding is he's the reason that. they're doing it this way is because it's after the deadline. Yes. If he signs an NHL contract, he cannot play in the AHL. So this allows them to let him go get a few AHA, get a couple of pro games under his belt before you drop him into a playoff race. Right.

And, you know, if Boston makes the playoffs, he'll be that classic guy that, you know, every year there's like the rookie who starts in the press box. And the coach is always like, hey, man, we'll, we'll, We'll see. We'll see how this long and winding road, and it's always game three. It's always game three. The rookies, all right, he's in. Game three, go.

And you're like, oh, what a shocker. That'll be him this year, probably. But yeah, interesting that I hadn't even thought about the eligibility question. Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think that he's just done at BC. Like, I don't think he can go back. But it was something that occurred to me last night and then I didn't reread the rules this morning. You know what I just remembered, too, is the other, the other big name who played for Merrimack. Steve McKenna, remember Steve McKenna?

Okay, yeah. Big tall guy? Yes, he was. He played for the Kings. Yeah. He also went to Merrimack back in, like, the 90s. So that's the other, that's the other name there. Anyway, I'm very excited.

It should be a really, really exciting, like, tournament because there's a bunch of really good team. there's four really good teams, maybe you would even say five. And then the rest is like, I don't know. Maybe this team's good. Maybe they're not. It's kind of tough for me to say. And then a couple of teams where I'm like,

yeah, they're, you know, nice for them to make it. So there could be a lot of chaos in this year's tournament. I encourage everybody to check those out. I think they're all on ESPN in the states and TSN up north, but I don't know that for sure. Other than that, I think we're done here. So, Sean, why don't you hit him with the plugs and we'll get out of here? If I may at the athletic, I will be on with Sean and Frankie tomorrow.

Got the newsletter they're free to subscribe to and got more posts coming this week. Great. I will be at the NCAA tournament Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They did the very nice thing for me personally, Sean, of one of the region. Sites is like 45 minutes from my house and the other is like an hour from my house. And they are on alternating days, baby. Nice. So I'll be in Worcester Thursday and Saturday and Albany, Friday and Sunday or the reverse.

If that's what the schedule works out as, I don't remember off the top of my head. But I get to see teams such as Michigan and Penn State and Michigan State. pretty cool. I haven't seen Kevin McKenna play in person yet, so I'm looking forward to that. Especially because I have gone back and forth

all season in print saying, is this team on fraud watch? I don't know. Are they good? I don't know. So. Wait a second. So wait,

you called them frauds, and now... No, I said they were on fraud watch. Put the game near your house. This dude. I said, that they were on fraud watch. I had no point called them frauds.

It's a trap. And in fact, at one point, I did declare fraud watch over before reopening fraud watch on this. Oh, is that, is there a process for that? No. Okay. I just decided. And then that's all over there at Elite Prospects, and then you head over to patreon.com slash puck soup, and you sign up for the bonus episodes like mailbags and

listener choice episodes and stick to sports and all the rest. So check that out as well, Patreon.com slash Puck Soup. Thank you for listening. Enjoy the NCAA tournament. Enjoy this semi-playoff game between Ottawa and Detroit tonight. And that's it. Thank you so much for listening. Have a good one.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye.