Shaun Newman Podcast - #1054 - Brother's Roundtable

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

The Brothers are back discussing all things NHL playoffs. Watch the Cornerstone Forum 26’https://shaunnewmanpodcast.substack.com/Silver Gold Bull Links:Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/Email: [e-mail] Grahame: [phone]Bow Valley Credit UnionBitcoin: www.bowvalleycu.com/en/personal/investing-wealth/bitcoin-gatewayEmail: [e-mail] Expat MoneyExpatmoney.com/SNPGet your voice heard: Text Shaun 587-217-8500

Welcome to the Sean New Moon podcast. Always great to have the brothers back in studio, another brother's roundtable. Get you caught up on all things NHL, although I would probably surmise if you're a diehard hockey fan. You're only tuning into this podcast, and that's it. Now, gentlemen, a couple different things. How about we start with the College Trophy? I thought maybe that was an interesting one. No?

Everybody's stared at me blankly. Matthew Schaefer, the first rookie to unanimously win the Calder Trophy since Timu Salani. Really? 1992, 1993. I actually didn't know that yet, but it doesn't surprise me. You look at the two guys he's against. They were good hockey players, had nice years. Schaefer blew it out of the water.

So that doesn't surprise me, actually. Schaefer, 198 votes for first, and the guy who gets second in voting, Demetoff, off Montreal. all zero first place, well obviously zero first place votes, 120 seconds. And then Seneca off Anaheim was third. Was Slawny, was his rookie year when he put up all the goals? 76. Yeah. That was a good year.

That was a good year. But Schaefer was unbelievable this year. I thought he was. Like that's, I understand why he got every first place vote. I can understand that. Switching to coaching, here's your three Jack Adams finalists. John Cooper, Tampa Bay, Dan Mews from Pittsburgh, Lindy Ruff, Buffalo. It's got to go to Lindy Ruff, doesn't it?

It's got to go to Lindy Ruff. You know, with apologies to Dan Mews who probably did, what a great job to get Pittsburgh in it. Any other year, he probably gets there, or gets it. Yeah, but Buffalo, that was a great job in Buffalo, for sure. Well, he's 14 years not being in the playoffs. Finally get them back there. Yeah, that's where my vote goes. Has John Cooper won one yet?

I'm sure he has. Sean? Now you got to get... No, right. You keep talking, I'll find out. For some reason, I don't think he has, but he should. Well, John Cooper is going into the Hall of Fame. Absolutely.

I think he's a brilliant coach. One of the best out there, for sure. No, John Cooper is not won a Jack Adams Award. He's been a finalist three times, 2013-14, 2018, 19, 25, 26. But he's never taken home the award of the NHL Coach of the Year. Wow, it's right. That is crazy. And you think Tampa Bay had a great year too and did it without headman for most part.

And yet he isn't the, he's the third guy we talk about, right? You're like, you come back to it. Because they're always a good team. He's been such a good coach for so long. So long. He's been always the mind that he hasn't won it. Lots of times they look at a coach who's coaching team that they do over and above what they were expected to do. That's right. I have an unexpected.combelled in Pittsburgh did, right? Tramp has always been. He didn't change any. expectations they did what they're supposed to do.

That's right. Yeah, Dan, Dan, if he won't be surprised either because what do we keep saying in here? They were supposed to be bottom three and then they finally went to the playoffs. Isn't there one or two teams every year, though, that outperforms just because

one or two teams always outperform? Sure, but they're saying that's partly the reason of the coach. Now, switching to a couple of things here, okay? Dust, you might want to slide around to see this. Sorry to the audience, member. This is Charlie McAvoy and Benson, I think, off of Buffalo.

Buffalo? Okay. Watch McAvoy. Maccoy goes hard into the boards. Wham. Get six games for that. So did he kick his feet out there? So what we're watching is them go in.

This is in the playoffs. McAvoy gets taken down. Yeah, he's got his foot. He's got his feet or his foot behind him. And then McAvoy goes in. backwards. That is a dangerous play. It's,

the play is dangerous, but the retaliation is days of old, you know? How many times have we seen a scrum where the guys don't even drop their mitts anymore? They're just throwing with the gloves on. I get tired of the hypocrisy and the roughing in the NHL, though. You know,

they seem to just pick and choose what, so six games for that, and there's been other things where guys are hurt. Like, What did, what did, uh, what did, uh, what did Goudis get for his knee on Matthews? Three games. Three games. I think it was.

That's not refing. That's, that's the upstairs. That's the disciplinary. That's right. It has nothing to do with the refs. Fair, fair point. That's a disciplinary committee that decides that. Yeah, I don't know.

I just, I struggle with that. But I'd agree with you on that one because it seems like at times they played too much politics and, and, yeah. Six games is a lot. It's a slashing. The only. Intent to injure. I think the intent was there. The only thing with that, though, is if this was still playoffs, would it be six games?

I mean, Boston's gone, right? So now it's six regular season games. You're essentially cutting that in half. That's a three-game playoff. The problem I have with the- That's pretty steep. The problem I have with the NHL in general with the reffing and the disciplinary committee is I actually like that if you high-stick a guy, it's just a two-minute penalty.

It doesn't matter if it's the last two minutes of a game. If it's game seven, if it's in second overtime, it's just two minutes. If you flip the puck over the boards in your own end and it doesn't touch anybody, it's two minutes. You know, I don't find that they have these structures. The structures make it easier, I think, and it's easier for the players. But you'll see one guy get a stick in on the hands. Yep, two minutes. And the next guy, and it's nothing.

And you get this disciplinary. I hit from behind on dry saddle and it's nothing. Well. So what you're talking about, though, is rules that are easy to give two minutes for it. Yeah. Because they're cut and dried. It's just like an offside is cut and dried. What you're talking about is, okay, did he get him in the hands or just below the hands?

Did it impede them? Did it get them or not? That's the problem. Can we fast forward to last night then? Because was anybody watching this goal? Right here? Okay. To everybody listening, this is Buffalo Montreal.

This is to make it 2-0 at the start of the game. Okay? So they go for about eight minutes reviewing. this, okay? Whether that puck in the back of his glove is across the line, they call it a good goal, right? So then it's two nothing. Here it is again. Oh, no, this, sorry, now they're showing the interference. No, no, there it is. Yeah, right there. Goes in the net. Okay. I wish this was, sorry, folks, I wish it was something you can see, but everybody go to X and you can see it. I'll maybe post it on my timeline, but you can see, they call it a goal. Okay, here it is, good goal,

right? Here we go. We got a good goal. 2-0-0 Buffalo, then Montreal challenges it. And they call goaltender interference for the push by his stick right there into the net. Oh, my. You know what I liked? So watch the slash right here, right on the wrist. Or sorry, not on the push in the net. The guy going across.

Why do I keep saying that? Regardless. Yeah, it kind of sideswipes the goalie. Kind of sideswap. No, but take a look at the slashes the guy goes across. Right there. See that? Right there.

Comes right across the hands. Not as bad as McAvoy's, but I'm saying, where's the penalty on that? You know, I understand what you're saying does. But if you're going to have a game, you've got to start to have some rules that make sense every time. And I'm not saying all sports don't run into a little bit of that gray area. But that's a two-handed slash across the guy's wrist because he's trying to stop him from getting a good chance and there's no penalty on that. So the problem from a guy who actually did some reffing this year is that in real time,

it's easy. You know what? First of all, I just want to say, guys, it doesn't surprise me out of the four of us, the dust is the ref. Hey, maybe you should try some, Jay, and you give them a little bit more, be a little kinder to them because in real, real time, sometimes it's hard to see everything for one. And depending on where you're standing. Like, are you that blind guy?

Like, is everybody yelling, get some glasses. Dust! No? I'm used to have glasses. I got my eyes fixed. But when you're out there, you can only watch so much. And sometimes you're on an anger. Like, did he get him?

Did he not get him? It's a little bit hard to see from time to time. Now, what's actually cool about baseball right now is they actually have, you can challenge the ball straight. And that's actually really good because it's in real time and it's quick. Yes. And it's accurate. The problem with penalties in hockey is, is they're subjective.

that the ref has to determine whether it's a penalty or not. And if you stop it every time to determine whether it's a penalty or not, then the game would take forever. But it's sometimes hard to figure out. It's also training. But it's also, no, I'm not saying you want to do this or not, but it's also training players and rest, imagine right now, and everybody's scream murder,

but imagine if every time someone with their stick sideways hit somebody in the back, and they call it a penalty every time. Like in the NHL, there'd be 40 penalties in the game. Yes. But imagine if they kept doing it and people quit doing that. It becomes very obvious. Then as you and a ref, you use a ref on the ice dust, if you automatically see that,

it's just an automatic penalty just like a high stick. But we don't do that. So what we do, and I've seen that also in that Montreal game, where you can see guys in scrums in the corners and guys are hammering guys and guys are falling on the ice and guys are getting behind. And all of a sudden, for the right play, for the right time for that ref, something got knocked over in front of the net. Oh, yeah, no, that's two minutes.

And you're like, really? Like the whole thing's been a shit show, the whole game. Cross-checking everywhere else. Here's the problem on the other side of it. Yeah. Is if you start calling penalties like that, everyone screams bloody murder because then you got 30 penalties in a game and everyone's upset. What I'm saying is, is then would it slow down over time because people don't want to keep taking penalties? So there's some subjective to it because did he get him in the shoulder?

Did he get him right in the back? How do you determine that? Listen to this. Absolutely. So this one hurt the guy and this one didn't. This one was more in front of the net So it took away a scoring play This was in the corner

So it's all right That I can drive them into the ice Really? No, no, no. There's some that are easy to call There's lots in the gray zone Where you're like, okay, is that a penalty or not? And how close do you want to call it?

Right. So now you go, and this is what I mean, though. So now we have, I don't know, 10,000 refs scouring around North America And everybody has this different idea. One guy's, I'm going to let them play And everybody's getting killed out there. The next guy calls everything.

And it's really hard as a coach to have refs every game that are totally different instead of just having some rules that you can't cross-check a guy in the back. That's just the rule. Sounds like someone like Jay should put on the stripes. Sean, what do you think if refs started calling absolutely everything? No, I'm talking about one specific thing right now.

No, but you're talking about calling the game really tight. No, I'm not. I'm talking about changing the rule. Talk about changing the rule. Okay, so, okay, so you're talking about one thing. Cross-check in the back. Sure. Okay, what about a slash to the hands?

What about all these other things? Do you call them extremely tight or not? Because if you do that, you're going to end up with games with three penalties in it. What happens? And I guarantee you it's not to be a fun hockey game. What happens, Dust? If you said, no, we're going to call all the cross checks in the back and any two handers on the stick on the hands. But if the guy only has one hand on the stick, we're not calling that.

So now it's very black and white. And if he just taps him on the shins, we're not calling that. And if he taps him on the pants, we're not calling that. We're going to call the two-hand or cross-checks to the back. And the two-hander slashes to the wrist. How hard would that be, Mr. Ref? How hard on the cross-check on the back? Doesn't matter.

Can you push a guy off or not? No. What happens if it's just the hand, but it looks like the stick. We're talking two-hand-a-cross-check dust. Jay, this is simple from the outside. I guarantee you put on the stripes and go show me what you mean. Because it's a lot more tricky than what you think. Yeah, well, I'm going to push back against you, Jay,

because I don't already like the way that the game's going right now, where it seems. you know, they're trying to do away with hitting. They're trying to do away with fighting. And the way that we grew up, right, that, like, to go play hockey and minor hockey right now, it's so almost, like, dumbed down where, like, you've got kids in the same age group

where one set of kids is hitting, the other set of kids isn't hitting. Like, you're... But you guys are getting... You're taking what I'm saying wrong. What I'm saying is if you're going to have a rule, call the rule. I'm not saying everything has to be wrong.

rule maybe you go back to where you start hitting an atom I'm not saying that you call all the slashes and stuff if you're not gonna call it you don't call it but what do you have for we have a rule right now that's high stick so 20 years ago or 30 years ago oh what about the accidental high stick and if I got my stick up we'll get your stick down and it's called every time and I'm just saying if you have a few things you call every time there might be other things that you would be letting go because you're saying hey this is part of the game that's all do you like the scrums in front of the net and guys can punch each other with the gloves

on maybe that's no penalty maybe just let them go at it But you cross-checked guy with a stick in the back. It's called because I hate. What I hate is this judgmental thing. Well, that was a little harder or that was a second time or that was this. That's BS, man. And it affects games because some teams are getting penalties and the other team's not getting it for the same thing. But you see what happened.

McDavid all the time is the best player on the ice. So they can put their stick on his gloves all the time. But if somebody else does it once to somebody else, well, no, that's a penalty. It's stupid. Not going to disagree with you there. I think the problem you bring up McDavid, The challenge with him is is sometimes I think he's moving so fast that they actually miss the stick getting into either his skates or his hands because he's moving that fast. It's because he could draw probably 15 penalties a game.

Sure. That's what it is. So then you've got to defend them different. How many? I get the game so fast. But it's different when you're on the ice dust ref and how many is there of you? Two? Yep.

You got four guys. Not three blind mice? Just two. You got four guys on. So you got two lines and then you got two reps. talking about the NHL, you got four guys on the ice at all times. And if you miss anything, you got video replay. So you can literally go see it. And be like, oh, man. Yeah, that was, you know, like you can get the call right or as close to right as possible. Right. I mean,

as far as getting rid of Jay's cross check in the back, it's like anything, isn't it? If all a sudden you can't cross check in the back, I'm going to find another way to do what I want to do to you that isn't a cross check in the back. If it's, I'm not allowed to cross check in the back, you go in the corner, right? How many times? we see the D man just at or forward giving it to the back it's an automatic penalty there'd be a lot of penalties at the start because it'd be like grandfathering it in right there'd be a whole bunch of guys who've played that way for forever yeah um it's hard for a lot of people to watch hockey these days because you know like a little love tap on the shins sometimes is a penalty like what the hell

is that I don't even know what that is right and yet a guy can cross-check a guy twice in the corner and knock them the ice and it's nothing it's a problem but The thing I see, and maybe I'm wrong on this, thing I see coming is I feel like hockey's going to turn into soccer. It's about speed and skill, which is great because it's fun to watch. I mean, you watch Anaheim Vegas game last night, holy Macon. Like Anaheim is, they're quickly making me a fan of them because they move the puck. They're just all over the place. That little Zellwiger on the back end, I guess he's not that little, 5, 10, he's telling me.

But, I mean, like, he can really give her, you know? Yeah, you all laugh. He's got four inches on show. But I mean, he can really go. But, like, if you take out all the big hits, right? Anytime the McNabb hit last night, it was interference. That's all it was. I gave him a five-minute major for it.

And you're like, like, we can slow down the video as much as you want. The guy just didn't have the fuck and he drills them. It's nothing more than a two-minute interference call carry on. Yeah. But the way the game's going is, you know, in minor hockey, we're taking hitting out more and more. Big kids out there, the ones that feel. that the most because they're just big, strong kids. They run into anything. They're getting called penalties for things that are just them being big and strong. And then as you get older, they're,

you know, like open ice hits. Oh, that isn't allowed. Why? Like we, I mean, you got your head up your ass. How are you going to learn not to do that? And the only way to really get that out of the game is just to have go backwards, which I don't see society doing, which means you go the other way, which is you start calling more and more and start eliminating the big ice hits, which, which where we don't see a whole lot. Like even... Although Barbershev last night, hammered deal.

True enough. But I mean, it used to be, how many years ago was it, you get to the playoffs and then, oh, playoff hockey, refs put their whistles away and they go at it, and there was hits everywhere. Yeah, there's hits now,

but it's, it's, it's tamed down from 10 years ago. Well, it's definitely... And another 10 years, it'll be more tame. It's more skilled than it's ever been. There's no window clerks coming behind the net and just absolutely K-O.

I don't know. There might be the odd one, but could you get rid of the cross-checkings? I think they've been trying to figure out how to call it tighter without calling 15 penalties because McDavid is just so fast. Yet that's the way the rules should work. If McDavid gets a step on you, it is what it is. There's no way McDavid should be number eight in penalties drawn throughout the year.

There's no way. See, my argument isn't get rid of cross-checking. If you want cross-checking in a game, let everybody do it. My argument is I hate this. Oh, like I see Half the time they're missing half the play And then there's one cross check And they call it

And then a minute later They're battling in the corner or something There's two cross checks and there's no call It's just it seems to happen all the time And that affects a game I don't care what you have for rules If a guy's on a breakway and you trip them That's a penalty

If he hits the puck first, no penalty I don't care what you have But just call it the same all the time That's all I'm asking Or it's close to the same It's close and I understand Nobody's perfect We understand that right

Doesn't matter what sport you're in You're always going to have a little human error Yeah standardized the this is what a penalty is. Yeah. They've been wrestling with that. I mean, like think the offside roll. The offside roll is just.

So a stupid question for you, or the refs paid enough. What do they get paid? I think your regular ref is around 250 grand when you got guys that are making millions, right? If you had refs making 500 grand, would you have more competition for guys being able to get up to have banks? The answer is yes. The answer is yes. Because if you had refs making 10 million a year, you'd have a bunch of people instead of putting their kids into hockey,

they'd be putting them into reffing. Right. First year, around 240,000, mid-career, 15 years, up to 485,000. Veterans, 4 to 500,000. Honest to God, that isn't that bad of a wage. So I'll tell you what, people out there. Instead of everybody just hammering their kids at baseball and hockey, maybe the odd ref should be started because that's a pretty good career.

You look at Colin as trying to work himself up, right? And, like, they're not paying anything. for what they're doing? No, no, at the lesser levels, I bet you you make nothing. Should I ask Dion Foster that. He went all over the place with it. I interviewed him. That's years ago I interviewed him.

Would you start off at dust? Ah, it's not very much. $60 a game? Yeah, $50 maybe? $50 a year? Yeah. For a kid, it's a decent little wage. Yeah, I don't do it for the money, of course.

I'm doing it because... No, no, I feel like you could be secretly doing it for the money. Hey? No, it doesn't need to do it for a little crocodile arms. over there? To get yelled and screamed at for a couple hours. Now, it doesn't happen all the time, but once in a while. Did you actually, did you have a couple games over with parents were hammering at you?

Yeah, coaches, parents. They really? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I actually, I left a game in Irma and playoff game. And there was two kids that went at each other. And I kicked them both out and Irma parents, well, Irma coaches were furious. It was their best player. I didn't even realize he was their best player.

they just, you know, like they were throwing. So I just kicked them out. And they were mad because that was their playoffs and losing their best player. And I'm like, well, I don't know. They were throwing at each other. And they wouldn't stop. So like, I don't know what to do here. I kicked them out.

I don't know. What do you do? So Dustin, not a fan in Irma. Yeah. What do you do? Bruce Cassidy. We talked about the others. What do you do?

And the others just find ways to just, I don't know, or maybe everybody in and here. Bungle things. up. It feels like it. Like, I can't figure out why the Emmington Oilers can't make, or maybe Vegas made it, like, so the media knew about it. Isn't that something that you do very quietly?

Maybe Vegas just threw it out there just to mess up, oh, just to mess up Emmington? Because, I mean, like, I would see it leaking from Vegas, not Emmetton. Yeah, absolutely. If it's leaking from Emmetton, you got problems. You got a huge problem. But I think it probably leaked from Vegas. They probably think it's kind of funny. The only problem is you got to remember,

you know, if you're Vegas, so how many people were involved in that conversation? Because yeah, it might be funny right now, but what's your long-term relationship with people? And you're building long-term relationships in that league, you know? For sure. Do you talk to Craig Brub... Okay, so here's the problem now. Is that if your current coach knows that you were

talking to someone else about replacing him, you're kind of screwed in the walk. Well, you're pretty much got to let him walk and now you've got to look for somebody new. The problem I have with Burubei, and I don't, like, I mean, he's won a Stanley Cup. He really struggled in Toronto with him high prolific. players and so are you bringing whereas you think Bruce Cassidy when he was winning he's coached

you know Pastornak and Bergerna Marcian and some of them guys so I don't know Brubay though he coached Ovechkin right no Burube was St. Louis when they won the cup he came in and right as a ship but whom I'm thinking of there was was Washington's when when they went and did their run wasn't that that uh he's kind of short and budgie and low no no no no no no No, no, no, he didn't win with him. No, he came after him. Boudreau was gone. He was gone by then.

Who did they bring in? Harley's looking up. Somebody's yelling at the radio right now. Yeah. Newman's, you have, a bunch of morons. It's this guy. But the problem you have now is, like, can you keep around Noblock at this point? You got them under contract.

No, no, no, you got them under contract for three years, but I mean. Barry Trots. Barry Trots. Barry Trots. Barry Trots is who they brought in. Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking it was Bruby. I don't know, is Bruce Cassidy the guy?

Like, I mean, you know, when we sit back and go, you're going to make a move of coach, okay? You're going to stir that all up again. I don't know, Sean, is Tristan Jerry the guy? No, but I would argue that I would, what, what's the problem with the Oilers? They lock defensive prowess. So what was Boston known for being good defensively, right? You would bring in a guy that, you know, allow the horses to run, but we're playing a different way, right?

There was a ton of leadership in that team. His team is that he's coaching. He had Chara and he had Berger on his and his Marchana, and them guys are guys at Bay Inn, even though they were talented. Right. So I don't know. We always, you know, we like John Cooper in this room, right? But he's under contract.

And how many guys, like, how many people were surprised a little bit to see Torrella show up in Vegas? Like, I don't know if that was the name to Paul. hopped into my head, and here they are a game away from going to the Western Conference finals. I still have, maybe I'm going to be completely wrong. I feel like Anaheim's going to come back. I thought they should have won last night. Like, I thought they should have won.

Well, two of the three series that are left are close, and that's one of them. The other one is the Montreal Buffalo series. Yeah. Both of them are tight. It's not like one team's just taken away. Buffalo Montreal is really tight. It is. How do we make out on our predictions last week?

I think you won. me and jay had the same thing and uh i'm pretty sure you won that was a bad bounce had a couple bound bounces i think because i'm pretty sure me i know that dustin didn't win yeah that's over two in two weeks i think how'd you make out in the don's cup this year i got last this year yeah but if you if you ask everybody who's one the most don's cups i think you'll find you know what you know what i'm excited about the don's cup right now is dad actually has a fight in chance does he yeah he's got two two the two top vegas guys the two top buffalo guys.

So if them two teams go to the finals, dad would have a shot at winning his first ever Don's Cup. Wouldn't that be amazing? I'd be over the moon for him. Harley went three for four. Would we go? No, four for four. Was that game three?

No, no, Harley went three for four. Would mean you go? No, that's a lie because I'm thinking we've had a bunch of games since then. Okay. The Wild won game three. Yes. Anaheim Vegas one game three

Vegas one game three So one and one And then Montreal one game three Yeah Carolina one So we actually went three for Me and you went three for four Would Harley go?

No two for two and two And Harley had Colorado Lost Vegas one Buffalo lost Carolina one So we all went two and two And so what was the score What was the tiebreaker?

It was the goals, and you beat me on goals, and Harley didn't put goals down. Yes. Because you guys said that. Yes. I win. Bullshit. I win.

We're all mediocre. Smartest guy in the room this week. So does it seem like Carolina, like the top two teams on each side are going to play in the final? Doesn't it seem that way now? No, it seems destined right now. It seems destined for sure. I mean, Caroline's had a very easy road, though. Like, they're going to be breasted and healthy by the time this series ends.

With all respect to Ottawa and Philly, it's not exactly, like, look at what Colorado's having to go through versus what Keralat went through. When's the last time the top team off each side met in the finals? It's been a while. That does not happen very often. No, it doesn't. Lots of times the top team doesn't even make the finals. You know what's going to be interesting? It doesn't make it out of the first round.

What we were talking about last week when you weren't here is 14 times a team has won the, swept the first two rounds and they couldn't give me exact numbers because of different formats and whatever else, right, throughout the years. But the only up until the 90s, the only team that didn't win the cup was the Ducks and

they lost in game seven. So there's good chance that... So I did listen to last weeks. It was probably the worst brothers roundtable of all time because everybody just agreed with each other. It was just awful. Jay, I agree with you. So do you.

Oh, I agree too. Oh, look, we picked the same teams. Oh. Yeah. It was awful. Well, maybe don't miss a roundtable test. What do you want for me? I try and put you guys in a room.

Then Jay's like, I can't make it. Can't make it here. Can't make it there. Then dust is gone. I'm like, okay, what would we do in here? Hey? Hey, so are we picking a series here? No, no.

Sure. We can. Do you want to talk about last night's Montreal Buffalo game before we gave up predictions? I mean, Montreal has been, like the first round against Tampa Bay. I thought they were good, but like, yeah, they had, you know, had their hands full of Tampa Bay. I thought they've looked really good against Buffalo. And then they have that weird bounce off the wall.

Do you think when you look at a team, so when you look at the two series, Montreal at its moments, like you say it against Tampa Bay, but Tampa Bay in reality was a very seasoned veteran hard to play against team. Buffalo for as talented as they are or new to the playoffs as well. So Montreal maybe looks a little more a step even better against them

than they did against Tampa just because Tampa was such a hard series for them. And whereas Buffalo is, you know, they got the guns going and everybody has their moments but it's not as tight as what Tampa Bay was. I mean, that's why Dustin went with them in the draft. Absolutely.

thought that they were a well-seasoned the only problem Tampa had was the headman was gone for that whole series that would have made a big difference for sure because you're talking about your number one D-man. The two teams that I've said this two weeks ago, I'll say it again that have surprised me are Montreal and Anaheim and both

when we come back to coaching I think coaching has a lot to do with both those teams because they're playing, it seems like they're just playing above where you think they should be. I'm going to say it over and over again. Like I didn't watch Anna. I mean the games against you oilers, sure. But even then, how much

do you really pay, eh, you're paying attention? Watching them play against Vegas, Vegas looks slow. Like, Vegas, don't get me wrong, has, like, a ton of skill with Marner and Eichel and, I mean, hurdles got off the Schneide and has been scoring and stone, but, like,

they just look, they look big. I think any, I think right now, most teams against Anaheim look a little slow. The thing I've noticed, though, with Vegas is their defense is a lot better in Emmetons. And I don't mean, just specifically defensemen, I mean their system. Like, Anaheim to me is not getting quite as many

odd man breaks and like the penalty kill for Vegas is better. And they're just a little more keep things of the outside. I don't know. I feel like Anaheim's just at times dominated that series. And now they haven't got the wins for it. I mean, they're down three, too, right? But like last night, I thought they were the better team. I thought most of the game they were just like, holy crap,

when they pushed, they just hem Vegas in and all over them. Hearts doing his thing and don't give me wrong, Vegas standing in front of them and making sure shots aren't getting through and everything else, sure. But Anaheim is just like, they're cucking, man. Like game six, I guess we're slowly getting the predictions. Game six, I got Anaheim winning. Like I don't see how that series doesn't go seven.

I'll be surprised if it does. Like if Vegas goes into Anaheim and wins it. Right. I don't know. circling back all the way, though, Bruce Cassidy, you think the Oilers actually, like... So what has to happen there? So he's still under contract with the Knights.

So because he's under contract. Yes. Even though they fired him, he's still under contract. So do you think the Knights give Oilers permission, or do you think that... They said they wouldn't give permission. Period. They won't, period. Like, you can't go back there in three months.

I don't know. I read that Bruce Cassidy had interviewed in L.A. or been asked by L.A. to interview there, and he said he didn't want to go there. I think that was the thing I was. the thing I was seeing today. Whether or not he actually got interviewed, I'm not sure. Should we touch on Toronto just for a second here?

I don't know what they got going on there, but it seems like a complete gong show. Yeah, but doesn't Emerton and Toronto seem like your two gong shows right now? Maybe Vancouver. I tell you what, I'd rather be in Eminton than Toronto, or Vancouver at this point. Eminton has a solid base of players. Toronto just fired their GM for a guy that seems like he's kind of a shy seat.

and they just fired the coach fire their coach like i don't know it seems like a gong show there vancouver seems like a tire fire as well but but but but trona went from being like a perennial contender to yeah like next year do i have any confidence in them yeah not really yeah well they don't seem to be all of a sudden they seem to be going on the they seem to be trending the wrong way although they got the first overall pick but how long will it take for that first overall pick to really should play next year should play next year.

Agreed. But how long did it take McDavid to get into the playoffs? The only difference is now, no, that's true

because McDavid had Hall and Eberley and them guys there at the time. It took a little bit to get gold. They're going to have Maine Lander,

Matthews. You're going to have enough. I mean, Toronto's a could be a really good team, right? They got goal tending.

They just got similar problem. I don't know. Anytime you're, you're in turmoil with your management, right? The Oilers for, what, a decade?

It was like every new year we had a different coach. They were canning them over Zoom. They were higher. I mean, knobblocks on the contract for three more years. When you look at his coach, he's probably looking at his pedigree of coaching. He's like, I've lost in the Stanley Cup finals two years in a row. And we had a quick exit this year, and my entire team was banged up. And the first thing we're doing is we're going to-

We're punting me. We're punting me. And that feels like a very Emmington Oilers thing to do. Yes. Right? Like- It does. Especially when there isn't the guy. I get it if Quinville, and I point to Quinville because he was sitting there a couple of years ago, kind of in purgatory, and rightfully so, and you sit there and you go, okay, if you're going to make the move, make the move, but go get the guy.

Now I'm like, is Bruce Cassidy the guy? Well, and again, that's what we talked about, the goaltending. So now you shipped off Skinnery, Brondari. Did anybody when that happened really think that this was a huge, it's not like they shipped them off and picked up Swayman from Boston or somebody that you think is legit? you're going, okay, is this going to work? You know, and at some point, Knight from Florida was available, went to Chicago, Carter Hart was available, went to Vegas.

Thompson went to Washington. Thompson went to Washington. Like, there's been guys available that, no, we're not going to go yet, now we're going to go get Tristan Jarring. You're like, okay. Especially when you look at Montreal, well, now Montreal's goaltending, right?

Monobo is sitting there. Yeah, I mean, I would, you know what, if I was Emmetton, I would take a shot of Monobo and run with a, but not as your starter, kind of a 1A, 1B kind of tandem, because he's shown it in the past and he had a tough year this last year. That'd be a guy that I would think of

a little more than Tristan Jari. I have no faith in our GM right now. I just, I have no faith in the Oilers' management right now. I don't know. They just seem to dig themselves into these predicaments all the time. I know. Except for Ken Holland. I was a Ken Holland fan.

Then we iced him too. We're going to do predictions here? Sure. All right. Predictions. Okay. We've got game five, Colorado. No, game, yeah, game five.

Colorado, Minnesota. I go to Colorado. In Colorado? In Colorado. I'll go Colorado, too. Colorado. What are you doing, Sean? We always all agree.

We does? We always agree. I'm going Minnesota to bring it back. They're going to find. away. All right. I'm taking Anaheim to send it to game seven at home. I'll go Vegas.

I really hope for Anaheim, but. I think, I think, uh, I think Anaheim takes it to game seven. I'm going to go Vegas. Which leaves us Montreal, Buffalo. Tied it two going back to Buff. Game five. I'm going to go Buffalo. Buffalo.

They'll go Montreal. I'm also going to go Montreal. You know what I just realized with this? So some of you guys don't even really make you pick. Like we should do this in a quiet room where nobody else can hear you. Because some of you're just going the opposite. And then all of a sudden you'll go, oh, I went three for four. No, you didn't.

You went the opposite of somebody else. Like you're not even picking what you're thinking. You're like Kramer off the stock market. You just go opposite of them and you'll be right. Yeah. Well, I did win it last time, Dust. Okay, we got to have a tie break because it doesn't matter, it seems. What game do you want to pull a tie break on?

Goals. Montreal Buffalo. Montreal Buffalo Game 5. Absolutely. Well, Jay, you've been so smart, you go first. Yeah, because I'll get pigeonholed. Well, that's tough. Pick it right.

Buffalo's going back. 4-2 with a empty netter to win it. So 4-2 Buffalo. Are we doing seven goals? Jay's got six goals? No, that sounds too easy. There's four of us. That's going to be too tight.

So you got to go, what do you mean? Which team? There's six goals in the game. Harley's already picked him. I'm going seven. I think, I've already picked him. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I think, no, all I'm saying is I pick six.

But what I think it should be is the tiebreaker should be your team has to win and you, because there's four of us. So we're riding everything on Montreal. So you're Montreal? And I'm just saying that there's going to be seven goals in the game. So you're saying, four three? No, no. He's saying, just second.

You're Buffalo, Harles? He's Buffalo. So he's saying Buffalo. So he's saying Buffalo. his is seven. I'm saying Buffalo mine six. What are you saying, Sean? They've both got Montreal. So Montreal then you've got to pick your total on Montreal winning.

What are you got, Sean? That's right. Yeah. I'm going to go Montreal four. I'll go Montreal five. There we go. All right gentlemen. Always great to have you back in. I think the poor old refs got the short end of the stick on this one. Either way, another brother's round table. Thanks for

tuning in folks. I'll get some glasses. We'll update you after next week's game eight. Yeah, game eight in the noon hour series. It's going to be a, could be a fiery episode that one. Till then, gentlemen.