Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 165: Featuring Darren Dreger

Episode Date: April 8, 2019

On Monday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets the guys are joined by NHL Insider Darren Dreger of TSN to discuss all the crazy things going on in the NHL right now. Dregs gives us his take on the Florida Panther Head Coaching situation, why Phil Housley was fired and a bunch more. He also gives us his Stanley Cup pick and talks a little about a future lockout and the possibility of it happening. The boys then preview five playoff series that will be played on before Thursday and give their picks for each series.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. ¶¶ Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 165 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by New Amsterdam Vodka. Playoffs are finally here, boys. Let's go around, say hello to everybody. We're all excited, like Christmas Eve. Let's go to Whitney first. What's up, buddy? Where you at right now? I'm at home, and I'm fired here, boys. Let's go around and say hello to everybody. We're all excited. Like Christmas Eve, let's go to Whitney first. What's up, buddy?

Where you at right now? I'm at home, and I'm fired up, boys. I mean, you know, listen, as a player, the season can get long. There's doldrums. Is that a word? All right, the doldrums part of the year. Does that make any sense to you? Absolutely.

You know what? When you're in the media, it's the same thing. When you're driving up 95 and you're working. I'm not going to lie. Game 51 to game 74, you're like, oh, my God, get me to the playoffs. But we're here. Yeah, it's been a little bit of a drag, but we are here. Next up, our next co-host, Paul Biznasty.

Bizanette out in the desert. What's up, brother? You said it, Whit. It was pretty cool at the end of the season how many playoff implications there were in game 81, 82. And what? cool at the end of the season how many playoff implications there were in game 81 82 and uh what we only knew of of two series for sure uh before the weekend am i right all right yeah yeah 24 hours ago there were only two series that were already determined boston toronto uh san jose vegas and we needed the rest of the games played to determine the rest and we're going to get to

that a little later and the new nhl boys there's no easy series anymore. There's no for sure's. And I cannot wait. I can't wait to break them down. Let's go, baby. It's awesome. Last but not least, our producer, Mikey Grinelli. What's up, brother? What's up, boys? It's crunch time. I'm ready to go. Game face on. Nice.

Let's get to it. I'm still hung over from hanging out with you guys last Thursday, to be honest with you. You guys put me in a trance. Oh, yeah. Where'd you guys end up that night? The it. I'm still hung over from hanging out with you guys last Thursday, to be honest with you. You guys put me in a trance. Oh, yeah. Where'd you guys end up that night? The Grand. I lost my phone, though.

It was a whole thing. Story for another day. Well, Grinnelli, glad to hear you find your phone. It's always a nightmare to lose it. But turning our attention to hockey, after a half a century in the business, Canadian hockey broadcast and legend Bob Cole, he called his final hockey night in Canada game, as well as his final game Saturday night in, where else?

Montreal. Got a hell of a game to call, too, as the Habs won their season finale, 6-5 in a shootout. Unfortunately, we really didn't get a lot of Bob Cole down here in the States over the years, but I'm guessing he was the soundtrack to your youth as well as the last three to four generations of Canadians. But he's the best. I could listen to him talk about anything on radio or television.

What a game, too, to send him off. Ended up being a 6-5 shootout finale. And how about that one kid? What's his name? I forgot his name already. Brian Poehling? Brian Poehling. Ends up getting a hat trick, gets a shootout winner,

and Bob Cole gets to call it. So it was just a very special night. For those of you who have Twitter, go on, just put his name in the search bar, and they got some cool videos just sending him off. Ron McLeod had some wonderful things to say about him. But just a treat to listen to. Actually, when I was at the Coyotes game, we were playing against the Winnipeg Jets. That was game 82 for the Yotes.

There was a kid who actually worked with him the previous game he'd worked. I believe he was in Edmonton. And the kid showed me a cute card of what Bob Cole prepares with. And it's literally just a, like what, probably a six inch by six inch piece of cardboard. And he writes down the lineup all like scribbly and,

and that's all he does for preparation. And he just does it off that. So this guy was the natural. Um, like I said, it was, it was just cool. That was a,

it was a very entertaining game, uh, for his last one. And of course his last words was, that's all she wrote. And that's how that was his final sendoff. So, uh,

Bob Cole, thank you for everything you've done for hockey. And, uh, you know, you were, uh, you, you were a big part of it for a long time. And we all love you here at Spit and Chicklets. There was a cool video Sportsnet, I think, tweeted out of about five and a half minutes, I think, of Bob Cole, like highlights and great calls. And that guy, he made the game exciting. It was just to hear his voice.

I mean, even though we didn't have it down here In the States I still like Knew you know his voice from hearing Legendary calls of you know Games on hockey night in Canada so What a run and to do anything that long It's just insane also because it's kind Of cool he just had the lineups I mean he might have had a little

Bit more but either way he was probably I'm just gonna I'm gonna describe what's going on Out there how much prep do I actually need as the play-by-play guy if I'm going to do a hell of a job of telling everyone at home what's going on and why? Oh, yeah. And not getting away. Oh, and going back to Ryan Poling,

if you didn't get a kill in Montreal last night, I suggest you take a saw and saw your cock off and go up to the office and hand it in to Mark Bergeron. I saw him. I saw his face, like, in warm-ups before the game, and I was like, he's going to crush it in Montreal after tonight's game. And then he had a hattie in the shootout winner while Bob Cole's yelling, Paul Lang, Scarver,

like, whatever the hell he yelled. That kid is a certified, good-looking stud. Man-rocket maybe. And to do that and have that city to go out in, I can't imagine. He probably had a double hat trick. I know I would have. I would have been at Chez Paris getting rid in the back room, free 99, baby.

Actually, before we get to Palin, which did you ever have a memorable goal called by Cole that you can think of off the top of your head? No, I don't. I had, like, not that many of them. I scored it in Hockey Night in Canada games, though, that he might have been on the mic for. I would love it if someone went and found that. It would take him seven years.

You scored to make it, like, 5-2. But yours was to make it the 2 for Edmonton? Just having your plus at your goal? I think I fell on my celebration. Oh, man. But, yeah, Palin, wow. Making his debut for the Blue Blanc at Rouge, and I'm not sure it could have been any more memorable.

20-year-old center. He was taken 25th overall in the 2017 draft. He was playing for St. Cloud just a couple of weeks ago until his team got knocked out and that upset by aic now he's playing in hockey night in canada for the most storied franchise in the in the world uh what a wild couple weeks for the kid like you said busy had the hat trick uh the third goal came with just 231 left in the game to tie it up he then got the winning shootout go to give montreal a win to close out the season uh had a trick actually in the world juniors too. He said he never had one in high school, but what was cool,

I thought his parents and his three brothers were able to make the game. And it said two of his brothers are twins, and they were his line mates at St. Cloud. So that must have been pretty awesome to have his whole family there. Another old man I let dump in my old lady. Hey, by the way, he had eight goals this year in college. And the team was nasty. He had eight tucks.

And then he's like, oh, let's see what the NHL is all about. I was like, this isn't the Northern Hockey Conference Association of America. What's this league? Is that what St. Cal plays in? Right, Grinelli? Yeah, the NCHC. Northern Conference Hockey Confederation. Hey, maybe he was too busy trying to break Bugsy Malone's record

off the ice at St. Cloud. Anyways, that's a hell of a debut for the kid, man. I had trick in your first game in Montreal Saturday night. Wow, good shit. It wasn't all pleasant Saturday night. Conor McDavid had a rough end to a tough season for the Oilers. Crashed hard into the net. Needed assistance leaving the ice Saturday in

the last game of the Oilers season. He said, I thought my leg was in two places. Fortunately, x-rays were negative after the game. The team was going to be doing an MRI on him next, but it just sucks to see, man. It's just a tough year for McDavid and then to end that way. I guess the good news is nothing is broken and it looks like

he's probably going to be fine, Biz. Boys, I almost, I was getting a little emotional. Shock way. I guess the good news is nothing is broken, and it looks like he's probably going to be fine. Biz? Boys, I was getting a little emotional. Shocker. I mean, you guys will probably rip me for that. Were you on a plane? No. So sometimes I delete Twitter off my phone just during the course of the Coyotes games just so I can stay focused on watching the play,

and I deleted it. And that same kid I mentioned who brought over and showed me that cue card that was Bob Cole's how he prepares it for games he he came and told me he goes you guys hear about McDavid and I was like no and then he showed me the clip and I'm like Jesus Christ I'm like not this guy game 82 means nothing I want that guy to go have a fresh summer so he can lead that team the playoffs next year because he fucking deserves it. And for him to potentially have had to start the offseason by just getting better for a few months, but luckily the x-ray was negative. He is going to get an MRI.

I would assume that there's going to be something up just based on the fact that when you say, hey, I think it's broken, your leg is – something's up down there and would you not agree with yeah i mean it's just it's scary more than anything you know i'm saying like for the most part when are you ever going to get news that nothing's wrong right that's what you're trying that's what you're saying well that considering he thought it was broken so obviously it didn't feel the way it felt before and to the point where he's like oh this just isn't like a a bit of a bruise here something's not right with my leg you needed help off the ice and and boys i i i mean it reminded me of the stam coast one and when when

he described what happened i was thinking on my head oh my god he because he because he thought he'd broken his leg so his tibia i believe that's the term and i'm thinking it's going to be like stammers where you can visibly see it snap but but that wasn't the case so there was still hope yeah that's true either way it was just a horrific scene if you're an oilers fan trying to enjoy the last game i mean you see dreitzel he gets his 50th and then like you're just like no this can't be happening i mean it's not like it looked minor either, Biz. That's what I agree with completely. To have him get carried off the ice in this failure of a season, the last year.

In R.A., I mean, he mouthed it. He said, I think it's broken. Did he not? Yeah, I'm not a particularly good lip reader. I did see someone on Twitter. How are you that good? But he did say, non-lip reading afterwards, I thought my leg was in two places.

And he also said they asked him about his frustrating season. He said, I would be a complete loser if I wasn't frustrated. That was kind of a funny quote and a sea of sadness in his last press scrum for the year, which you did mention. Dreisaitl got his 50th. That wasn't all bad for the Oil Saturday night. His teammate and friend of the program, Leon Dreisaitl, got his 50-goal mark.

He joined Ovi as the only two 50-goal scorers this season. He also had 55 assists and was one of just six players to reach 100 points this year as well. Dreissel was the first non-Ovechkin player to score 50 goals since Stamkos did it back in 2011-2012. He's the first Oiler to score 50 since 87 when Gretzky and Curry both broke the barrier. And he's the second German born to 50 goals.

Interestingly, Danny Heatley was the first. He, I believe, was his father was in the military, so he was born in an Air Force base there. Wasn't like German raised, but German born. I actually saw Danny Heatley. He was playing in the LA Kings versus Yotes alumni game the other night. So he said he'd be willing to do a content piece with the Spit and Chicklets crew.

So we're going to have to go down to LA and hang out with the Heat monster. Was Teddy ripping it up? Teddy was there as well. Yeah, apparently Teddy went like minus three in the alumni game. So we're going to have to work on your defensive game there, Mr. Adam Oates. Also,

I think it was my second to last season i'll never forget my trainer came up to me uh for the oats and he goes hey um danny heatley's asking for a signed stick and i'm like okay somebody one of the gans is fucking with me for sure so sure as shit he's like no dead serious danny heatley likes to collect like the plugs, signed sticks, and all like the fighter guys. So it would be like the reverse because a lot of like the guys like me, the plugs, every time a team rolls into town where there's going to be like a potential Hall of Famer or an absolute stud,

you get a personalized stick. Well, Danny Heat League wanted it for me, and I asked for one back, and he wrote back, love how you take the one T and then signed it because the one sick goal I scored in the NHL was against San Jose in San Jose to go up 3-0 when I chased Miemi, and I fucking Sidney Crosby knee dropped, kissed my fucking ass, baby, and I gave her a little fist pump, Sally, and then sure enough, the Sharks scored five on answer we lost but

the moral of the story is I had my cookie I don't give a shit so shout out to Danny Heatley for asking me for it that was a Danny Heatley Brett Hull rocket I remember that goal I asked Lidstrom for a stick and you know

the trainer you know he brings one over and you know how you could get your blade? Like, I don't know if they still do it. You get your blade kind of like sandpaper-ish, Biz? Yeah, yeah. So Lidstrom had it. I immediately texted Ethan Rapp. I knew that was going to happen.

Hey, man, I need this, like, fucking sandpaper thing on my blade, bro. Like, this is unbelievable. I was like, make it stiffer. He's like, I think it makes the tape come off easier. He's like, yeah, I probably won't be able to get those out for two or three weeks. You were taping sandpaper to your blade

just to play games? I still got that twig somewhere. Sorry, we got off the rails there, though, boys. Sorry, that's what we do on this show. We did just mention Ovechkin a minute ago, and for the sixth time in seven seasons, he led the league in goals. His 51 goals just edged out, dry-saddles 50. So Ovechkin won the Maurice Rocket Rashad Trophy yet again.

He's the first player to win it eight times, as well as lead the NHL in goals eight different times. It's also his eighth season with at least 50 goals, man. 50-50-50 with this guy. Also, his comrade, can we still say comrade? His comrade Nikita Kucherov ran away with the score and title to win the At-Rosh Trophy. In the process, he broke the record for the most points in the season

by a Russian with 128. Previous holder of the record, Alexander Mogilny, had 127, back with the 93 Sabres. Just an incredible year by Kucherov, boys. He normally cracks 40 goals. He leads the league in assists. He has 12 more than the next guy behind him, which is McDavid. At least a point in 62 of 82 games, two or more points in 38 games.

Just an incredible season. Eh, Whit? Fantastic. Just beyond comprehension in the game right now to see somebody light it up like that. It was a wild year. And I don't know the date. I don't know the episode number. But do you remember when I mentioned who will finish with more points, Nikita Kucherov or the Tampa Bay Lightning? Well, they finished with the same amount at 100. So to not get an answer there, that's like hitting zero when you're playing roulette.

And I can't imagine. I mean, listen, if an NHL team has a piss-poor, pathetic performance of a season, they get 60 points, right? So if you ever were to be guaranteed that you're going to get as many points as your team gets, you're taking it in a heartbeat, let alone when your team gets 62 fucking wins, gets 128, and you tie your team in points. So, just a fantastic year,

and you mentioned Ovechkin, and then Kucherov's got the leading scorer, Art Ross. He's probably going to get MVP, and Vasilevsky's a very big favorite for the Vesna, so the Russians had a big-time season. I know a lot of Lightning fans wanted Kuch to win the MVP last year,

but I would say he's definitely going to win it this year. He was out to prove something this year. I think maybe he felt he was snubbed for that award. He's like, now I'm going to fucking really go out and just grab it. I don't think there's really any question, so I hope Kuch wins that. Very cool to see him pass Mogilny too for the highest scoring Russian in a single season. And, of course, Ovi, the sauce crosser.

I tell you what, man, eight 50-goal seasons. This guy is a machine. Drinking Pepsi and Mountain Dew on the bench. This guy, more than Phil Kessel, his body defies science. So congratulations to the couple Ruskies. You guys deserve it. And very interested to see what you guys can do in playoffs. A couple of other notes on Cooch.

He passed Joe Thornton for the highest single-season point total of the salary cap era. And he also had the most points. That's sick. Yeah, yep. And he also, here's another one. He also had the most points by any player since 95-96 when Mario had 161 points and Yaga had the most points by any player since 95 96 when mario had 161 points and yaga

had 149 points and uh could you imagine he got 126 and this guy was scoring every game you're like checking the game notes and these other guys were getting 160 165 it must have been like nintendo 2004 on the you know when you just cross the crease and score so easily yeah lemux is the biggest joke that you just throw out there 161 like that guy remember when he came back i think he had like treatment on his cancer and came back and like played that night in philly he did something where his he was you know announced cancer free or had treatment on for his cancer and went to Philly in that old Spectrum dump with those Flyers.

Scumbag fan. And he lit it up that night. The guy is just – to just throw that out there, like, yeah, most since Lemieux when he had 161. Like, just reminds you. Holy lemux. Oh, speaking of Flyers fans, a lot of people have been asking me have I heard from that Flyers fan that he made the $ dollar bet with remember we made a bet a few oh yeah a couple

months ago he said oh i think the flies are getting in i said no and he made a thousand dollar bet there was no juice or anything and uh he reached out the other day he said i'm gonna settle up my season ending bets and once i collect everything i'll catch up with you so so i said okay the season just ended he's gonna a couple of days and we'll see how it's going. I anticipate no problems. Just to show up already, though, I mean, I would feel like if he wasn't going to pay you, he'd be off Twitter. Absolutely.

Wouldn't have heard from him. A few things. I think he deserves a little bit of merch for that, for reaching out to you as soon as the season ended. And my question to you is – Yeah, we'll give him free shipping. I mean, don't – go ahead. Give him a Biz20 promo code. Is the season ended? And my question to you is – Yeah, we'll give him free shipping. Well, yeah. I mean, you don't – go ahead.

I'm listening. Give him a Biz20 promo code. Yeah. Would you blue light him? Now, for those of you who don't know what that means, if you're a gambler, let's say IORA $1,500 and you're just being a nice guy, say, hey, give me $1,000. $1,000 is good enough. Would you blue light him?

As the guy who may or may not have ran a shop for 25 years, you don't – no blue lights, no. know blue lights. No, you don't blue lights. You pay what you lose. You collect what you win. I mean, that's, that's the way the game is. You know, it's just, I'm not being a dick. It's just, that's the way I was raised with gambling. You know, pay what you win. You know, I mean, you collect what you win, you lose your pay. That's all. I'll say this. All right. You wouldn't have many friends on the flights,

on the private flights in the NHL. Because if you're not blue light and J.R. on the hit-the-post game, he's going to be pissed. Yeah, that's a different kind of where I'm from. Teammates, it's like somewhat different, I feel like. Like you're taking your teammates' money. Yeah, but you're also taking it from a guy making over half a million dollars a year. So now we're kind of like, do you really feel bad for a guy who's made a couple sheets?

I don't feel bad for anyone if you owe me money. Sure. Fair enough. And I never get paid. Believe me. Never. Oh, by the way, I do get a couple of picks for the corner. We'll get to that a little later in the show. Boys, one other interesting note, three of the top four point getters are not in the playoffs. McDavid, Pat Kane, and Leon Dreisaitl.

Pretty wild, man. I know it's an anomaly, but it's kind of rare to have three of your top four guys not in the postseason. And not, I mean, not a great look for the league. It's not a huge deal, but you want your best players in the postseason. That's just a fact. I mean, look at that league that shall not be spoken about. You never see the top players there not making the playoffs.

So it is good in that aspect but yeah those guys will be missed we've talked about the Oilers but but but Kane the best part about Kane too is what he's always done in the regular season he does the exact same thing if not more in the playoffs he always his game always rose to the occasion so we'll miss those three watching them in the in the spring it does suck to not see those in, but that just goes to show how much hockey is a team sport compared to other leagues. Like where you look at football, it's like if you have a great quarterback, chances are you're probably going to be a playoff team,

at least with a couple good receivers. And I think that says a lot about be weary if you're a general manager, how much money you give a few guys. I know if they're the top-end guys, but you've got you gotta work out hopefully get them at a better rate than what some of these teams are giving guys because if you're dumping all your money into three four guys there's not much else money to go spend everywhere else we're just talking about the lightning a second ago and with saturday's win in boston they tied the record of the 95 96 red wings for most wins in the season with 62 that's crazy to win 62 games in today's NHL.

They also finished the season with 319 goals, the most by a team since 95-96, the aforementioned Penguins. Tampa's 128 points in the standings. Also, only three teams in history have had more points than them, and they're the first team with three guys to score 40 goals since that same Pittsburgh team in 96. So this team, they set the record. They're on a roll. They're the number one seed in the playoffs. And that's what we're going to talk about right now, boys, the playoffs. First, a quick note. We have five series openers on Wednesday night that we're going to preview

on today's show. And the other three will be on Thursday's episode in time for the remaining three series. A little imbalanced, but then again, so aren't we? I think we should throw a little friendly wager on our picks this year. And then as a tie break, just in case two of us tie, we should use the amount of games that you got maybe incorrect in each series as a gap. Oh, man, I was hoping this year we didn't have to give the games. I can't even pick the winner, let alone the game. Sure, let's just do the winner to simplify things for Witt,

but we're still going to pick in how many games just for the fun of it. Okay, and I'm going to keep track this year. Witt, I wish you luck, man, because you don't deserve to be ragged on line the way you got ragged on last playoffs. That's not right. Also, everyone listening, I wanted to bring up and let you guys know that it's going to be a little different. It's going to be good for the playoffs.

We're actually going to make sure that we record after the 7 o'clock, the early games. It sucks for the people out west, I know, but if we don't start recording until the games end at 1 a.m., that's no overtime. It just isn't possible. But we're going to make sure every Wednesday night we record and every Sunday night we record, we're not going to start.

We're going to be veterans. We're going to be on the couch. we're not going to start. We're going to be veterans. We're going to be on the couch. We're not going to have too many beers and we're going to start post-7-7-30 games. So that next day you'll have the most up-to-date news possible because this is, like we said, an exciting time for us. So before we get into the preview,

I want to let you know that I won't start drinking during my golf rounds at noon. I'll wait until the games start and I'll be on top of my game with the rest of these fellows. We're going to hold you to that oath there, wet dog. Okay.

Okay. All right. First up, we have the Columbus blue jackets who, if I'm not mistaken, two of the three hosts of the show said they weren't going to be in the playoffs. No names,

but I wasn't one of them. I wasn't one of them. I think we don't have to check on that. What? Before the year? I know about two weeks ago. No, there's proof of it on an episode. I said when it was Columbus and Carolina holding 7-8,

I said this is how it's good. These are the teams that are getting it. That's on an episode. Okay, we can double-check later. Fair enough. I will say I did not think they were going to make it. They turned it on towards the end. So, congratulations. I was actually both on two teams, them and Colorado.

So, I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong, which is usually a majority of the time. So, it's the season-long wagon versus Yamos all in. Money-wise, Tampa Bay is a minus 345 favorite. Columbus is 100 to get back, 275. A big favorite, not like gigantic. I'm not sure how much stock you put in the season series, but Tampa won this season series three games to none

and outscored the Blue Jackets 17 to three. Both teams did finish the season strong. Columbus was basically in playoff mode for the last month. They went seven and one in their last eight down the stretch, outscoring opponents 35 to 14. They got three shutouts from Bobrovsky in that time. Tampa went 10-3 down the stretch after they clinched the spot, so they certainly didn't rest

on their laurels. I think Columbus, as Bob goes, they go. Wits, what do you see in this series, brother? I see a lot. I see a lot of stuff going down here, and I will say this. I would almost guarantee you that you'll never hear the true answer but Tampa I believe would have rather have played Carolina absolutely this is not um the

ideal matchup that you hope to get when you break almost every record ever and you're one of the greatest regular season teams we've ever seen so to get this Columbus team that has a goalie who has two Veznas, that played great down the stretch for the most part, to have some game breakers up front, to have some very good puck-moving defensemen, this is not the 1-8 matchup that you're dying to see if you're the Tampa Bay Lightning. I still love them to win this series.

I still like them to win the Stanley Cup. They've been my pick all season long. From September on, it's been Tampa Bay. But this is going to be a tough series. It's going to be a grind. Tortorella has this team play. I mean, they're going to be ready to play in terms of compete. They're going to play it with a high level speed that really can't match Tampa, but they'll still be there energy wise. And the only thing that really kind of worries me a little bit for Columbus in terms of being competitive and keeping it in a close series is they didn't exactly light up the end of the year to get in.

This isn't a team who went 17-3 in the last 20 games to just squeak in. They kind of limped in. I mean, it took them the shootout against New York the other day to get in. They just didn't play great hockey from the deadline on. So I don't think this is a team that you can say yeah, they've been playing playoff type hockey for a while, but they haven't been playing great for a while.

It's not exactly a very red-hot team coming in, but there's just so many other matches. Biz, you can give your opinion, but there's a lot to talk about with these two teams going head-to-head. Yeah, and I mean, Bobo's picked it up, and you said, R.A., as they go, as he goes, the Columbus Blue Jackets go.

I believe in his last 13 games, he was 10-3. He had four shutouts in that span, and he'd only given up more than two goals three times. Of course, those were the three losses he had. But, I mean, Tampa has obviously an insane amount of depth offensively. Eleven of their guys were double digits in goals, three of which had over 40. Like, having 340 goal scores in today's NHL is absolute banana lands.

There's your banana lands count at one. But, yo, Columbus ain't that far behind. They had 10 guys in double-digit scoring, and that's why I think they went out and got Duchesne. Well, that's obviously why they went out and got Duchesne. And how do you pronounce the other guy's name? Dezingle? Dezingle.

Dezingle. Oh, I actually got one right. And, you know, there's adding another two guys. Now, did Duchesne have the best deadline on stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets? No. He underperformed based on what they were expecting to get from him. But one thing he does help is he helps the depth at center ice.

And I know you said that their second line center, I always forget, is the French kid, Pierre-Luc Dubois. He was struggling a little bit offensively down the stretch. Now he's going to get better line matchups there. offensively down the stretch. Now he's going to get better line matchups there. So I tell you what, if Bobo can outplay Tampa's goalie, Vasilevsky, who Vasilevsky was a little shaky down the stretch too,

a lot of inconsistency. I actually have a few games marked down here. He had the March 30th game against Washington where he allowed six goals on 35 shots. He had the March 25th game against Boston. He gave up four on 35 shots. He had the March 25th game against Boston. He gave up four on 17 shots. And March 20-30 gave up four against St. Louis on 26. So he's been shaky. And now all of a sudden he's going against his Russian counterpart.

Who knows? Maybe that plays a mental factor in all of this. I think both back ends are pretty solid. You got – how do you say his name? Wierenski and Jones, who are studs. You know, I would give the slight edge to probably Tampa on the back end because, of course, they have Hedman, who's a very elite defenseman. They have the Russian kid, Sergeyev, and then also McDonough.

So they have like three guys. And then on offense, obviously obviously Tampa's getting the nod but hey man if for whatever reason they're able to neutralize that top the top end guys for Tampa for even a few games and then Bobo takes over the rest who knows man I I this is not going to be an easy series and as you mentioned with uh I would assume Tampa was hoping that either Columbus wasn't going to win or or uh or carolina was not going to hold serve i i think that it could be an easy series and that's if if poprovsky stinks up the joint because they actually need this guy to to win them some games if he's not he hasn't been great in the playoffs everyone knows that if he isn't good in the playoffs this could be a very easy season and a very easy series. Excuse me. And biz,

you mentioned McDonough there. What a season this guy had, what a trade that was last year. He gets his full, his first full season as a lightning, as a lightning player this season, he's healthy last year, his battle and injury. And he probably had the best season of his career. He had a career high 46 points now on this team, that's not shocking, but still a plus 38. And there were times I saw John Cooper say that he thought he was the best defenseman in the NHL for moments during the season. So him along with Victor Hedman, who at times very often is the best defenseman in the NHL, are two incredible players.

Sergeyev can move the puck. They have depth. They have a guy like Girardi playing where he should be busy in the lineup. You talked about that earlier this season. So this is an incredible team that will have a chance to run over Columbus if it's not for Bobrovsky. If Columbus can figure out and score a little bit

and that Bobrovsky can really play well, the top of his game well, it could be a series. But still, Tampa will move on. I'd be shocked if they don't. And R.A., I told you I was wrong about the fact that I thought they were going to miss playoff. There's one thing I wasn't wrong about, and it was the fact that when in very

difficult situations and the going gets tough, Duchesne has not necessarily risen to the occasion. He has not been good from the trade deadline on with this Columbus team. I don't know if there's a rift between him and Torts. I'm not saying there's one, but obviously he's a very defensive-minded coach, and Duchesne's a very offensive-minded type player.

Now, and Bob as well, Bobrovsky, and I guess Panarin, you could throw in the mix too. Here's your time. There's been doubters. There's been some naysayers. And you know what? I'll give you benefit of the doubt, but now is your fucking time to show me what you can do against the best team

in the world and go out there and earn your money. And you know, this is also should be reminded to everyone out there. Columbus is the one of 16 teams that is looking to win a playoff series for the first time ever. So they haven't been able to do it. And like I said, Bobrovsky,

I just checked the number. It's a career 891 save percentage in the playoffs. That stinks like poop. 891 save percentage, Biz. I'll tell you, that ain't good. So I think it'll be good. It's going to be exciting hockey. I will – one more shout-out to a Columbus player.

We're going to love watching Josh Anderson play in the playoffs. Who knows how long it will be, but that's the type of guy. That line right there, Foligno him, they'll be playoff ready. So it will be fun. Oh, I got some inside information as well, R.A. Wenberg is probably going to be a healthy scratch game one. He had a tough year. Yeah, I was talking to Jody Shelley today and he said

he goes, Wenberg, he texted it, Wenberg, healthy scratch, welcome to the club. I was fucking, I wrote ha ha ha for like 20 times because that's how funny it was. I think to give himself a chance, Columbus needs to do two things. Number one,

not put Tampa on the power play. Tampa led the league with 28.2 on the power play. That's just unstoppable. Also, number two, they have to withstand the early barrage from Tampa. Tampa was 39-4-3 when they scored first. So they can't let them get that early jump. And even if Columbus does stay disciplined, they still have to play Tampa 5-on-5.

And even if Bobrovsky is on in the playoffs, he's still going head-to-head. But like you said, Biz Vasilevsky. Tampa, they just need to keep on trucking. Hedman did miss the last four games with an upper body. I'm sure there's probably some maintenance involved. He should be back. But to quote the referee in Slapshot, too much, too soon. Tampa's just too much for them.

Give me the Lightning in five. What do you got, Wits? Whoa. I was thinking Lightning in five, but now I'm going to say Lightning in six. Maybe Columbus gets two. That's exactly what I was going to say. I was going to say a betting man, Tampa in six. Fuck, do I want to go Columbus in seven, though.

I'm going to save my itch for another series. I know I'm getting a little bit horny for the upsets, but I think that's it. It's that tattoo, Bugsy. All right, wraps up the first series we talk about. All right, before we get to another preview, I just wanted to talk to you folks about ShipStation. As you folks know, here at Barstool, we love some merch. We just released a couple of new shirts at Barstool here.

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Go to ShipStation.com. Before you do anything else, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and type in CHICKLETS. That's ShipStation.com. Enter CHICKLETS. ShipStation. Get ship done. Next up,lets shipstation get ship done next up we got pittsburgh and the islanders this is a rematch of the epic 1993 series uh the sid dynasty era pens are looking for a fourth cup since that series the islanders are looking for their second series win since that series uh let's see uh it's pens are six-7 favorites for the series, minus 140. Not a particularly big favorite.

I think this is a very intriguing matchup. In four head-to-head games, each team won a game in regulation once, and they won a game in the shootout once. This is almost a coin flip to me, Biz. What's your take on this series? Well, before we start breaking down the series, I had an absolute hockey boner when I read the tweet exchange between Pittsburgh and the islanders

pittsburgh tweeted see you in long island new york islanders to like you know start the matchup and and then the islanders twitter correct them said on long island not in long island and then pittsburgh fires back with, yes, on Long Island. That's our bad. Although it's hard for us to keep track of where you guys are playing these days. So ding, ding, ding, ding on social media. And I'm very excited for this series. You know, we've been very hard on the Islanders,

and I'm sure a lot of people considering me and Witt are Pittsburgh bias. They want to bend us over, no lube, no spit, no nothing, just slide that dry cock right in our ass. Would you not agree? Oh, my God. Was that a little vulgar? But that's how they talk on Long Island. I know.

Trust me. I know. I've dealt with Frankie Borelli for the past couple of years since I met this goon. The Pittsburgh Penguins are not losing this series, guys. The Pittsburgh Penguins will beat the New York Islanders. The New York Islanders have no offense. They do not score a lot of goals, okay?

They struggle offensively. They don't have a player like Sidney Crosby, who does? Rarely anyone, ever. They don't have a player like Evgeny Malkin, who does? Not many, ever. They don't have a player like Evgeny Malkin. Who does? Not many, ever. They don't have a player like Phil Kessel. Not common at all. He's not a common player. He's not Malkin, Crosby,

but he's still Phil fucking Kessel. They don't have a defenseman like Chris Letang. They can't match up the star power with the Pittsburgh Penguins. And I really sound so broadcast-like right now. I love it. I just can't imagine them competing in a seven-game series

and being able to score. Their defense is great. The Islanders, man, they lock it down. Barry Trotz knows how to play defensive hockey. He knows exactly what he needs to do to get guys to play defensively. They don't give up odd-man rushes. So that's the huge test. Can a team like Pittsburgh, who can take such advantage of three-on-twos,

D-men coming and making it a four-on-two, they can really dominate games getting those chances? Will they be able to get them? Because the Islanders all year really haven't given them up. So that'll be a big question. But for Pittsburgh, I mean, I think it's a – I'm so biased. I don't care. I'll admit it right to everyone.

I don't give a shit. I'm sitting here doing this because of the Pittsburgh Penguins and these guys on this team, a couple of key players for this club. I don't care. But I'm telling you this right now. Nobody's talking about them as a possible cup champ. If they somehow win the Stanley Cup this year, I will not be surprised at all. I'm telling you that.

I won't be surprised in the least because of the guys i talked about a few minutes ago and also they were crushed by injuries this year they had over 200 plus man game 200 plus man games lost to injury this year i'm reading it right here murray latang mata schultz they all miss big you know a lot of time with injuries now that's not ideal no but if they're feeling good now, that means that you were resting. Yeah, you're recovering, but it's still – if you're feeling good now, it's not the same as grinding through 82 games. So I've talked enough here, but I like the Penguins.

Quick note, and I know people are going to scrutinize me for bringing back the Coyotes into this, but you mentioned how many man games lost that the penguins had you said that was a lot do you have any man games lost due to injury the phoenix or the arizona coyotes had this year they must have had 500 380 and that led the league and and you know that's just the high number there yeah well yeah that was a little yeah you made me sound like an idiot because you guessed so high so thanks a lot but going back to this series breakdown if you think that i think pittsburgh's not gonna win this series you're fucking high on ra's uh little vial of coconut cocaine over there okay whoa whoa whoa so uh is that what you like all right uh like a little

bit everything do i think that the islanders are going to roll over and die? Fuck no, because of Barry Trotz. And if there's one guy who knows how to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, it's Barry Trotz. Although he did have a very, very different lineup, he finally solved the puzzle. Now they're going to need miraculous goaltending just like they got in regular season. Yeah, they did get that all year.

Now, has the Game one starter been named? I feel like we should know if it has been. I don't, but I'd be shocked if it's not Robert. I couldn't find it anywhere either. That's why I asked you guys. Now, my advice to the Islanders, don't start Grice. And it's not because he's not a good goalie, but it's because he played in Pittsburgh.

And if you think those top-end scorers for Pittsburgh don't know exactly where to shoot on that guy, considering they went down and shot on him every day in practice, once again, you've probably been snorting too much of R.A.'s coconut cocaine. Okay? So to me, you start Leonard, and he's got to play like he did in the regular season. Now, I want to talk about these goalies.

I have some stuff written down about them. Oh, nice, Bates. Well, yeah. I mean, I did a little bit of prep. Robin Leonard and Thomas Grace with 11 shutouts combined this season. They allowed 196 goals. That wins them the William M. Jennings Trophy as the lowest goals against for a combined duo.

So, these guys collectively got it done. So, I would expect Leonard to get the start. That's just my guess. If not, no biggie. They're also going to need a guy like Matt Barzell to step up. He would have to play out of his goddamn mind and put that team on his back offensively in order for that to get it done. Lee, a great net front guy, a great greasy goal guy.

He's going to have to have himself a series as well. And, of course, there's one little X factor where maybe the Islanders could squeeze out a victory here. Probably the best fourth line in hockey. They are going to have to chip in. He gets with 20 tucks. 20, 20 tucks. Carter Buck had himself.

Man, I wish he was UFA this year poor guy I know sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles but if they're somehow able to muster up close to a goal a game throughout that series which would be extremely

difficult but they're going to need it because they need that secondary scoring I think they have a slight chance of being this Pittsburgh team but now saying that R secondary scoring. I think they have a slight chance of being this Pittsburgh team. But now saying that, R.A., I'm probably going Pittsburgh in six. Okay, I'll give you Pittsburgh in seven, actually. I know it's a little wild there. And my last two things about Pittsburgh, you've got to give credit for the key trade that was made

when Jared McCann and Nick Bugestad came over from the Panthers. McCann played awesome. I mean, the guy can skate, skate like the wind. He looked great out there. He was scoring a ton, a ton of key goals, it felt like, down the stretch. You kept seeing his name in big games, scoring big goals. And Sid the Kid, right? I love bringing him up, but as the playoffs start,

it was his sixth season with 100-plus points this year, guys. He's only the 15th player in the history of the National Hockey League. That's a pretty long time to do that, six or more with 100 points. He passed Mario Lemieux for the most games played in Penguins history and Jaromir Jaga for second-most goals in Penguins history. And Jaromar Jagger, four second most goals in Penguins history. So an incredible regular season. And that's why I can't wait to watch that pizza-making peasant pigeon, Frankus Francis, whatever the fuck his name is, Borelli,

scream his eyes out, cry his eyes out, just whine and bitch about the refs when his trash bag fan group of Islanders fans goes pouting over to Borelli's Pizza after the final game. Smelly Borelli. Oh, boys, we haven't mentioned yet. We do have Darren Drager coming on a little bit. Hockey media superstar up in Canada. Always getting some good scoops.

We'll be having him in a second. Actually, dude, we talked about Trotz. He really cleaned that team up. It's the first time in 100 years that a team has gone from allowing the most goals in the NHL to the fewest the following season. It's the first time in 31 years that the Islanders have had home ice in the playoffs. A couple other notes to keep an eye on, Biz. I think Gino Malkin and LeTang were both hurt pretty much a good chunk

of the season. They're important guys who missed a lot of time. So you want to keep an eye on those two. If they're not 100%, obviously the Penguins aren't going to be 100%. And I typically say home ice doesn't matter a ton in the playoffs, maybe a game seven, yeah. But typically the percentage isn't as high as you think. But I do think it's going to matter in this series.

The Coliseum is that type of bond that does have an impact. And there's not going to be, if the Islanders move on, they're not playing the second round there either. So these are the last games at the Collie no matter what. I think that's going to make a difference. I think that's going to be a huge factor in the series. And I get the Isles in seven. Wow.

You're going against the Pets. You know what's fucking awesome about that too is you're not just doing it to go against the grain to, like, spice it up on this. You genuinely think that the Islanders are going to win that series in 17 games? Are you betting that series already? Yeah, seriously. I'll have a few bucks on it. I thought it would be bigger odds.

Yeah, the series, I mean, they're only, like I said, Pittsburgh's minus 140 to make 100. You get back a buck 20 on 100 for the Islanders. It's really not a big favorite at all. I mean, it's really not a pick-em because they don't have home ice, Pittsburgh. But, yeah, the line was suspiciously low, but I'm going to have something on the Islanders, it's really not a big favorite at all. I mean, it's really not a pick-em because they don't have home ice, Pittsburgh. But, yeah, the line was suspiciously low, but I'm going to have something on the Islanders. I think Barry Trotz has made a huge deal.

They're going to be very low-scoring games. The Islanders had the second-fewest goals scored amongst playoff teams. The only other team west was Dallas. R.A., I like that analysis in the sense you think it's going to be a lower-scoring series. And so to why the reason I think Pittsburgh takes it takes it is because early in Crosby's career, I could see him maybe getting frustrated with a lack of offensive production in games where he gets a little hor know when they're going to have to pick their spots against this team. These guys have seen it all. And I respect your Islanders in Game 7. I don't gamble, and I would like to bet you in that series, like a little friendly one, off-camera, or off-podcast, sorry. Don't expect a blue light. I think we can arrange that. I think we can arrange that.

No problem. And before we send it over to Darren Draga, we didn't get this one on the previous episode, but we did want to congratulate Andrzej Kopitar for playing in his 1,000th game last Monday versus Calgary. It was on Monday the 1st. He's the 337th guy to play 1,000 games. He's been a stud basically at L.A. since day one.

He's got at least 20 goals in 10 of his 13 seasons. Two-time Selkie, Lady Bing winner. Rumor has it, Biz, you had to contribute to 185 of those 337 players to play a thousand games. I didn't even know how to respond to that. I'm still fucking pissed off

about it. What's 185? They said there were 337 guys to play 1,000 games, and Rumor has it Biz had to kick in for 185 of them. Just fucking. Yeah, I didn't go at them because it really upset me internally because it just reminds me of all that money I had to spend on other people. I'm just kidding. What else?

Kopitar, dude. Stud. Oh, Kopitar. Yeah, we got to get back on track here. I think it's insane when certain individuals can play 200-feet games and still are able to produce high offensive numbers. He had a bit of an off year this year, definitely compared to last year when he won the Selkie. But I put him in the Patrice Bergeron category. He had a bit of an off year this year, definitely compared to last year when he won the Selkie.

But just I put him in the Patrice Bergeron category. I mean, two Stanley Cups, just very heavy player, just so good in his own end, such a smart stick all the time, always in the right spot. Another guy kind of like Barkov, where if you send him a shit sandwich grenade in his boots, somehow it'll end up right on his tape. He'll get it right to his tape. So congratulations to him.

Well-deserved. And L.A. had a few happy parts of their season, of course, with Dustin Brown breaking the most games played record and Kopitar. And I know it wasn't the best season over there in L.A. Kopitar, great guy too. I met him once in Manhattan Beach when we were out there. He ran into him at Out. Very friendly, right away, just shoot the shit.

Great guy, so happy for him. I think that's a very fair comparison. He's like Patrice Bergeron. It's been an unreal ride. Congrats to him. Gabe, his brother, Gabe Kopitar, he played for the Manchester Monarchs and Ontario Reign.

He listens to the podcast frequently, and so does Kopi, and they're going to come on, both of them. They want to come on. Yeah, it'll be a fun time, you know? Perfect. I did mention the two Selkies and the Lady Binger. Of course, he won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 as well. That goes without saying.

Boys, I think we should send it over to Darren Drager. Some coaching news that went on Sunday, and he's got the latest for us, so let's kick it over to him. This interview was brought to you by Body Armor. I took Grinelli's advice. I tried the fruit punch Body Armor. I've been slurping the stuff down for a week since then. Stuff is fantastic.

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better sports drink. So don't be a pigeon. Head out to your local retailers today and grab a body. Well, it's been a crazy 48 hours in the NHL, folks. A lot of playoff implications in Game 82 of the season. A couple coaches getting canned. And who better than to join the Spittin' Chicklets podcast in order to break everything down.

He's a TSN insider, probably the second biggest insider in the world other than Mike Commodore. Darren Dreger, welcome to the Spit and Chicklets podcast. How are you doing? I'm doing great, and that was a tremendous introduction. I was sure you were going to say Bob McKenzie, but I love the fact that you've ranked Mike Commodore as the number one insider in the world.

That's top notch. Well, I mean, yeah, he did break the Nyquist trade, and that was probably the biggest one at the deadline, so we figured we'd mention him first. But, hey, a nice little shout-out to you, and, of course, Bob, the Bob father. Bob father is getting set. He's on his retirement tour.

I don't know if you guys know this or not, but a source tells me that Bob mckenzie is likely going to retire perhaps as early as the end of next season so all of the uh you know concert information that you get over the course of the summer the margarita mixtures everything that bob likes to do when he's not on the clock is going to amp up this off season so by j 2nd, you'll be getting that on an hourly basis. And I can picture you now like Brick in Anchorman when you're just fighting for the sources, meeting up with Elliott Friedman and every other insider.

Who's going to get Bobby Mack's sources? But, Dregs, listen, it's a crazy time for you. Playoffs are wild for the players and the media. Where are you off to now, and what's your first, at least first round look like? Well, you know what? I'm on my way to Winnipeg, and it's a Canadian thing, obviously. So I'm intrigued by the Winnipeg and St. Louis series. I mean, has there been a more impressive team,

aside from the obvious in the East and the Tampa Bay Lightning, the marks that they were on, pretty much wire to wire? But has there been a more impressive team than from the obvious in the east and the town of lightning the marks that they were on pretty much wire to wire but hasn't been a more impressive team than what we've seen in the west of the st louis blues now they turn it around and it's it's tough sledding right now for the winnipeg jets so uh that's kind of why i'm investing in that best of seven to open things up because i think that has all kinds of possibilities and intrigue around that series. So I'm making my way to Winnipeg for the first two games. Yeah, no easy matchups anymore.

We wanted to talk to you about the coaches being fired. Obviously down in Florida probably – I would say that wasn't maybe the biggest surprise. Maybe Buffalo was. But can you break down these coaches being fired and whose potential to hop in? Yeah, a real tough time here, isn't it? And, you know, coaches, as they say, the old cliche,

they're hired to be fired. But you had two pretty good ones. And, you know, I would say relative newbies, not that they're inexperienced, but, you know, they're inexperienced when it comes to being head coaches in the NHL. And Phil Housley in Buffalo, and obviously Bob Buechner of the Florida Panthers I mean I feel for Bob Buechner because you know the undercurrent around the Florida Panthers has been there for several weeks now not because he's been doing a terrible job by any stretch of the imagination but just

you know most believe that that Joel Quind, because of his relationship with Dale Talon of the Florida Panthers, was most likely to slide in there in some capacity. Now, there's no guarantee that's going to happen, although earlier today, I got a real strong sense that it could happen. It could happen with Quenville being announced as the replacement coach in Florida as early as tomorrow. No guarantee of that. That's just kind of some inside spider senses tingling, if you will. And then that opens it over to all kinds of, you know, wild speculation. Because I know, I know that Artemi Panarin loved playing for Joel Quindle when he was in Chicago. Panarin, of course, is focused on the playoffs,

but he's an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. So I think that Florida is going to be a very interesting organization to pay close attention to in the months ahead. And, you know, in Buffalo, you know, maybe as early as two months ago, this might have been unthinkable. But the Buffalo Sabres just unraveled. I mean, they took it right off the tracks. And at the end of the day, somebody's got to pay a price for that.

And Jason Bonnerill wasn't going to make a knee-jerk decision. You know, he had to be monitoring closely what was going on with the Sabres. Didn't like what he saw in the coaching of Phil Housley, so he moved him out. And I'm not going to speculate on who might be a frontrunner there because it's one of those that has the big question mark with all the possibilities out there but i will say this i mean jason botterill is part of team canada's management crew and elaine vigno is the head coach for team canada at the upcoming world so uh this is a good opportunity for elaine vigno to impress wouldn't be a surprise at all to see him back in the game with his you know know, coaching record and what he's done.

Dregs, I'm curious. I don't know Bob Bugner personally. I don't know if you do. But for me, it was a little bit of an unfair firing. And I look at Logan Couture sending out tweets today basically saying, look at the team, how are you blaming him? To see a player kind of get involved like that, what have you heard of him? And do you believe that it was kind of unfair, too, with the team that, you know, he was kind of given involved like that. What have you heard of him, and do you believe that it was kind of unfair, too, with the team that he was kind of given?

Yeah, look, I'm on that page with you. I do know Bob, and Bob is a good guy. He's a character guy. He was a hard-nosed hockey player, and he is a very fair and understanding coach. For me to say whether it was fair or unfair would be biased because I'm a Bob Boogner fan. I just, I think he's good people. So this one stung a little bit, but I would say that I've conditioned myself and I didn't, it's not like I wasn't expecting the news. I thought maybe they'd take a bit of time, a few days, a week, maybe a couple of weeks.

Same here. But obviously Dale Fallon and the Florida Panthers are moving forward. But, I mean, Bob Buchner is going to coach again because he is a good coach. He's an excellent communicator. And, you know, he's going to pick a spot. Now, maybe it isn't in the National Hockey League by his own personal preference. I don't know. I haven't talked a lot since he was let go earlier today by Florida,

but I think there's a place for him in the National Hockey League for sure. Hey, Darren. R.A. here. Thanks for joining us. In light of Elliott's tweet about Quenville today, we can, I guess, understand why Bugner was fired if they want to bring Quenville in, but, you know, I know you just mentioned Buffalo Sabres unraveling.

Why did Howsey have seemingly such a short leash? It didn't seem like they gave him a hell of a lot of a chance. Two seasons. Did Barter just see enough out of him and realize he's not the guy? Yeah, I think that's what it boils down to. And I don't know if he had enough time to do his exit interviews. And then, you know, guys, as former players, you would understand this. And maybe you guys didn't have the opportunity in your day.

But times have changed. If you're not communicating almost on a daily basis as a coach even as a general manager with your star players your leadership guys and really with your entire roster then you're missing an opportunity because young guys jump into the league now and you know we might use the word they're used to being coddled and I think that that's a little bit unfair i think that's just the evolution of the player and maybe it's the evolution of parenting in general i know you know i i've got a 20 year old and a an 18 year old and i'm pretty sure that you know the way i was parented as a 17 18 year old isn't the same way that i parent my 17 18 year old my 20 year old that's just not the way of the world anymore. And as an NHL coach, if you don't buy into that and communicate

and listen to the needs of your players, especially the young guys, you're going to struggle. You're 100% going to struggle. And I get the sense that that was part of the problem with Phil Housley. He just wasn't willing to adjust to what was part of the problem with uh with phil housley he just wasn't willing to adjust to what was kind of being delivered to him from the younger group and when you're captain of jack eichel he's a superstar player in the national hockey league and is exactly part of that younger core that i'm talking about i'm not saying that phil didn't listen to jack eichel

maybe he didn't listen or didn't catch the vibe of the team, but he missed something because I know this. As I said earlier, two months ago, Jason Bonner and the Buffalo Sabres weren't even thinking, wasn't even on their radar that they were going to have to make a coaching replacement. Well, and I'm just guessing, but if that were to be the case, it may be a guy who played a long time when it was different,

when things weren't the way they are now. So a former player, it doesn't really shock me there. No, I hear you. But, you know, I think today, how many is that? That's eight coaching vacancies now? I mean, holy smokes. It's like the NFL. I mean, if you're interested in coaching in the National Hockey League,

just drop your resume down with every team in the league. Because aside from, you know, a fortunate few, I mean, it's just a carousel of change. And, you know, it's good. It's good to have opportunity. But, I don't know, change for the sake of change isn't always the right thing. And, you know, that's why I wonder about Boogner to revisit that in Buffalo. But, I mean, you look at it, I'm not going to kick sand on Ken Hitchcock in Edmonton.

I mean, Hitch has been a tremendous coach for so many years, highly decorated, all those things. But it goes back to the point that I just made about, you know, having the ability to adjust and communicate and connect, most importantly, connect with today's young player whether we like it or not that's the way the game is gone because of the salary gap and you know the coaches that aren't able to do that are the ones that are probably going to get pushed out yeah we talk a

lot about old school coaches versus new school and with all these job openings darren are we going to see any outside the box hires instead of the old typical old boy network hires we're going to see some maybe college coaches or even a guy we never heard of yeah some degree but i wouldn't say ever heard of you know we know that the national hockey league is dipped into the ncaa pool we see that in dallas we see that with david quinn and new york rainers um i wouldn't be surprised if a guy like ricard gronberg who is a national men's coach for Team Sweden and has been for a while, gets a real hard look in the national hockey league. Now, he may not crack it as a head coach initially, but I'll tell you what,

I'm going on record right now saying I'd be surprised if he's not coaching in the national hockey league next year, maybe as a first assistant, if that's what's needed. But with all the vacancies, maybe he gets a real strong look. So, yeah, I look at Anaheim as an example of a handful of Swedes on that team. You know, if they decide to promote Dallas Aikens from San Diego, maybe Gronberg is a fit there. But, again, based on all the options all of a sudden now,

if you look around the national hockey league, and it's not over yet. I mean, there are lots of people wondering about Bruce Boudreaux in the Minnesota Wilds. He's going to be the guy that drops next. So I think if you're an NHL owner or senior management group, and you're not looking outside of the norm, and whatever that is, you know,

is that a junior coach? I mean, that might be a bit of a stretch. Is it an NHL assistant? Yeah, that happens all the time. Is it an American League coach or an American League assistant? If you're not looking outside the norm, then frankly, you're not doing your job. You know, do your job, interview a bunch of people, find the coach that's going to connect with the players that you have

and make your team better. Dreggs, one thing that melts my skull, and I don't know exactly the rules anymore, but when a coach gets fired and then the other team who wants to hire him has to ask permission to the other team, is that still the case? And then if so, do they still have to give up a draft pick or work out a deal on the side in order for that to happen if they do want to hire him?

No, they don't have to provide any compensation anymore when they hire someone. But 100%, they still have to ask for permission. Now, there is the odd individual where that doesn't apply. But, I mean, if you're joel quendo and you're you're making what five plus million dollars whatever he's making getting paid by the chicago blackhawks or you know lane vino getting paid by the new york rangers four plus i mean you can appreciate why those organizations you don't want to have something um because at the end of the day

they're still gonna you know they're paying a good chunk of the salary. So if that individual were to get hired, they either split the deal or, you know, the team that hires them, you know, takes it over completely. There's lots of sort of scenarios that can unfold. But I can remember when a compensation had to be paid and Bettman knew that that was a disaster. I'll give him credit for this. He hated it when it was initially introduced. He fought against it, and then it was because of how bad it turned out to be that he was able to force it out of the league. So, you know, yeah, I mean, there's a wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

I want to speak to your guy. Are you okay with that? Yes, I am, And they push forward. But, you know, when we hear that Joel Quindle has signed on with the Florida Panthers, it'll be because he's a great coach. They want him to get another opportunity, and they don't want to pay him anymore. Hey, Darren, switching gears over to the league contract. I hate to even bring up the L word, but it just seems like this comes up every couple years.

I don't know why they can't nip this stuff in the bud. But if you had to put odds on a lockout happening, what would the odds be for that? I would say right now I feel like they're 30 percent or less that there'd be a work stoppage. But keep this in mind. Yeah. I mean, keep this in mind. They haven't even come close to the heavy lifting of the negotiations between the NHL and the Players Association.

That's going to happen likely in the next month or so. We all know what the issue is from a player's perspective at Invesco. They hate paying it. They hate paying the percentage that they have to pay. And then they hate having to wait for a year or two years to get whatever money recouped from the ESCO refund. two years to get whatever money recouped from the ESCO refund. The problem is the system and the salary cap structure that they have and the 50-50 whole mechanism is a real tough animal

to wrestle down to the ground. You know, 50-50 is what it is. So I think that there are ways that the Players Association can get creative to lower escrow. And that's on Don Fear. And then ultimately it's on the National Hockey League, the owners and the commissioner's office to respect that the players, the escrow issue is a big one.

And they're not going to concede on it. But I don't feel at this point, maybe my mind will get changed in the weeks ahead. I don't feel like this is a hill as bill daly once said that uh the players are willing to die on so here's hoping there's no uh work stoppage but here's hoping there might be a bit of a sweeter deal for the players as well darren how big of a mistake is it not going to the olympics it feels like a squandered opportunity to not play on the world stage being blown here yeah it does and i've always been

in that corner i mean anything you can do to grow the sport uh you're growing your revenue and that's you know what the relationship is all about between the national hockey league and the players association uh that the last one was a myth there's no doubt about that and the belief is that you know the league felt that they were okay missing the last one because the next one is in China. That's a market that the National Hockey League covets and the Players Association and the players want to jump back into.

But I wonder if the players don't use that as their bargaining chip. Why not a little bit of reverse psychology? To flat out say to the owners, alright, you didn't want to go to the last one? Okay, well, we missed an opportunity there to grow the game. So yeah, yeah. We're not, we're not going to China in the next one, unless you make it worth our while, unless you get creative with, you know,

our concerns with escrow, unless you do something to sweeten the pot from a player perspective by, you know, taking a chunk of the responsibility of paying into the player pensions and benefits and all of those things, then maybe the players balk on going to China. If they did that, if they positioned that, I think that they'd catch some ears at the bargaining table from the owners

because China is a market that still remains untapped, and the league and the owners want a big piece of that market. Absolutely. And one last thing about that. Should the Olympics not maybe step up and start handing over some cash to the NHL considering it's the biggest cash grab at the Winter Olympics? Yeah. Yeah, no, 100%.

And that's part of the issue too, right? And I agree with that. I respect the players in the National Hockey League for standing their ground. Now, you know, when it comes to the Olympic stage, I'm sure the IOC committee would tell you, as their executive did, that, ah, come on, hockey's not that big of a deal. And if we're doing it for hockey in the Winter Olympics, then we've got to do it for basketball.

We've got to do it for baseball. We've got to do it for the major sports in the Summer Olympics as well. I don't know if I'd buy that entirely. I mean, everything is negotiable, absolutely everything. And, you know, if you're an NHL owner, and it happens. I mean, the New York Islanders sent John Tavares to Sochi in 2014, and he came back with a broken leg or a busted knee, whatever it was, off the top of my head.

I mean, it was a considerable risk, and the New York Islanders at the time paid the price. So, I mean, hockey has evolved globally, I think, into a moneymaker and a sport that millions and millions of people around the world, not just North America, want to see. So it is time for the IOC to step up for sure. Well, I know you're probably dying to get to that airport bar drag, so I'll leave you with one final question, and it's a two-parter.

All right? First, I need the team, in your opinion, that has the most pressure on them in the playoffs this season, and then to finish it off, I need your pick. All right. Well, I need your pick. All right. Well, it's pretty obvious. I'm going to say Tampa Bay because of everything that Tampa Bay Lightning have accomplished this year. Man, who hasn't been impressed? I mean, they pretty much clinched the playoff spot early December.

I mean, that's how good they were out of the gate. But they've kept the pedal to the metal, and they have been tremendous. And I've watched a lot of their games, the pedal to the metal, and they have been tremendous. And I've watched a lot of their games. The passion, the commitment, and how bought in they are as a group is off the charts. But now they've got to sustain it. And, you know, the regular season, as you guys know, means nothing. You know, is it possible they could be upset in the first round? It's a long shot, but it is possible.

So there's a ton of pressure. There's a ton of pressure there's a ton of pressure on the tampa bay lighting i say that if tampa bay doesn't win it's good the boston bruins for me are the next one i you know people are questioning took a raft they're they're wondering about the blue lines that daniel carroll 150 years old, all that stuff. I get it, but, man, do I like the swagger of the Bruins. I love the nonsense that we get on the ice and off the ice from Brad Marchand. You know, David Pasternak might be one of the best contracts in hockey, period. And I want to go to the pool of youth that Patrice Bergeron keeps drinking from

because every year this guy seems to get better so if it's not the lightning then i'm going with the brunette you should see the load that ra just blew in his in his shorts he is fucking done we're not we're not going to get him for the rest of the podcast greg's uh have fun in winnipeg uh have fun in winnipeg and very very much a thank you for coming on and uh you're the best man you were you were easy to talk to that interview was also brought to you by chad brownlee grinnelly you're the resident country and Western expert on the show here.

Tell us about Chad Brownlee and why we should be listening to him. Yeah, and as we just heard, you could hear his new song, Forever's Gotta Start Somewhere. He's a former Vancouver Canuck draft pick turned country singer, already top 10 at country radio and over 5 million streams on that forever. It's got to start somewhere. So be sure to check out forever. It's got to start somewhere as well as the rest of his catalog streaming on

Spotify. Now, thank you very much to Darren Drager. What a guy. And that's awesome for him to call in on his way out to Winnipeg. And listen, guys, I actually want to tell you that was the weirdest thing ever.

I had the most vivid deja vu of all time. I never sit down when we're recording. I sat down on the ground. I was stretching out my hammies. And all of a sudden, I was like, this has happened to me before. It was right when he said, I'd say that if Tampa Bay doesn't win, the Boston Bruins for me are the next one. He said that and at that time I'd been sitting down with what was on TV in front of me talking to Darren Drager, looking at

you guys with him saying that sentence before. I know this is like totally off subject, but that deja vu is the weirdest shit of all time and that was the most vivid one I've ever had. Which is weird because you look spooked out when, remember when he said, hey boys, can we slow down for a second here and you ended up getting

up? Dude, I was, I we slow down for a second here? And you ended up getting up? Dude, I know I sound like a weirdo right now. Everyone's had it, but what is that? How have I been there before when we're talking to Darren Drago and spitting chiclets about Tampa? What the fuck? Did I dream it? You're talking about deja vu. It's got to be like a chemical imbalance in your brain for a split second

where you believe that you've heard that before. I mean, I've never had them on before, so it wasn't that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like deja vu isn't real. No, I think that you possibly dreamt it, but you don't remember the dream. And then it happens, and you're like, this has happened before. Wow. So that's your breakdown of what you think deja vu is.

Deja vu to me is just like kind of like when you get up too fast and all of a sudden you feel like you're going to faint. I don't know, man. Getting up too fast and fainting is different as opposed to like – No, I think it has to do with the blood pressure to your brain or something like that. When you get up too fast and like sometimes you feel like you're going to – Yeah, that's –

I'll be interested to hear what people say. I mean, maybe deja vu. Maybe it's actually you can get rid of it i love it though i want to get deja vu every day and remember the the example i used might not have been good but i wasn't comparing the two on to the playoffs and now boys we're going to swing over to the west we got three west conference series starting tonight a couple of nice ones uh st louis and winnipeg it's the the Lazarus Lake St. Louis Blues versus a Jet squad that bowed out in the conference final last year.

The series is a pick-em in Vegas, basically a coin flip. Both teams finished with 99 points, but the Jets got home ice on the ROW tiebreaker. The Jets also won three of the four head-to-head matchups this season with one of those wins coming in a shootout. Winnipeg, man, they got deep got deep forwards i mean the top nine forwards among the best in the league but i don't know

man this is a coin flip of a series you got jordan binnington versus connor hell your buck i don't know if that's a wash we don't know what binnington's gonna do in the playoffs lots of questions biz what do you how do you see this series shaping out uh winnipeg has not been playing good hockey boys they have have been brutal. And last night in the first period, or sorry, two nights ago now, in their last game, 82 against the Arizona Coyotes, they just didn't look like that same ferocious Winnipeg team. They ended up turning it on.

They ended up getting a few power play goals, one of which was as time had expired. But I tell you what, the big boys, Connor, Shifley, and who's the other one I'm thinking of? Wheeler. They were doing their thing. Patrick Laine was invisible. One goal in his last 19 games.

He's invisible. Fizz, one in his last 19. How about after he had five goals against St. Louis and he had 19 in 22? He had 11 goals in his last 60 games. Bud, I tell you what. That's horrible. I laugh at the fact now that there was a big argument going on about the Matthews line A who's better.

This is going back about a year. Listen, I respect line A's world-class skill, and I don't want to rag on the guy because he's got world-class shooting ability. But, buddy, I wouldn't pay that guy, man. His body language on the ice melts my skull. It's painful. You don't pay a guy that's going to mope around like that over $7 million. He has no

other intangibles. He can mope around if he gets 42 a year. Exactly. Ovechkin gets 50 and doesn't mope around. Listen, does he cheat to the offensive side of the puck? Sure. But he ain't moping around. If it's in his vicinity,

he's going to get it back. And he's got a bit of a mean streak. He throws some body checks, and he's good along the walls. Laine just, he looked disinterested. Like, come on, kid. Let's go here. You have a window here of four or five years when the Winnipeg Jets are going to be relevant and have a chance to win this thing.

So I know you stepped in the league, and all a sudden you're on an awesome team and things are getting done a little bit easier because you're stacked. But holy shit, man, you're going to blink and all of a sudden you're going to be playing maybe in Winnipeg and your teams ain't going to be so good anymore and things ain't going to be so happy. So I don't know, man. Other than that, I mean, I just don't like Winnipeg in this series at all. Bufflin had an issue the other night where he fucking lost his mind after the game because Trouba, in the last two minutes, they had a power play, and Trouba ended up staying out there

the full two minutes. So apparently there's some issues going on in the clubhouse. This is just what I've heard. I don't know. That could be totally fabricated by the person who told me, but chances are they know what the fuck they're talking about. You know, we went to it back last episode. I mean, other than that, they need Morrissey back on the point.

That guy's, you know, he gets it done in all areas. He's got a little bite to his game. He doesn't take a lot of penalties. He's mobile. He can move the puck. They need him back. Something's off about this team. They need a little bite to his game. He doesn't take a lot of penalties. He's mobile. He can move the puck. They need him back. Something's off about this team. They need a little bit of a boost.

I know he suffered a shoulder injury actually in Arizona about six weeks ago. He's coming back from that. So I'd imagine that he probably plays in game one. Yeah, I mean, there was a time very close to the end of the year where it just looked like a guarantee Winnipeg was going to win that division. And they beat Nashville 5-0 end of March. I don't remember when the date, but they walked on Nashville, and it was like, all right, they lost five of their next six games.

And all of a sudden now, you know, that's a huge difference. Nashville's playing dallas and winnipeg has to deal with st louis who is if not been the best team in the league certainly top three since january so this is a team that kind of limped in and yeah their top dogs were good uh got to give credit blake wheeler had uh broke the record for for assists that mark savard had um you know for the at-Winterpike franchise. Just an incredible year by that guy and Shifley and Connor had a big

season, but they have not looked great. All year, they've been kind of underperforming. Hellebuck, he was runner-up for the Vesna last year. Great year. I think he broke the record for wins by an American goaltender. He had 44 wins last year,

and then this year he gets 34. His save percentage was down like 11 points, 12 points. So there's a lot of question marks here, and we haven't even brought up St. Louis, but with how good they're playing and how great they've been in the second half, how do you pick Winnipeg? I mean,

having home ice is big, but I just, I like the Blues this series. R.A., I'm going to ask you. I know you talked about goaltending a wash. I'm going to agree with you there. Without Morrissey on that back end for Winnipeg, who do you give the edge to on defense between these two teams? It's funny.

I actually wrote down that they were evenly matched. I gave Winnipeg the nodding forwards, but I did wrote down that D is a wash here, and the goalies might be a wash. As far as Morrissey is, he missed the last 20 games of the year due to a UBI. He could be ready for game one. It's not a definite. But, yeah, the matchup to me to watch is Winnipeg Snipers versus Bennington. We saw how good he is in the regular season, but that's a different animal than the playoffs.

He's a rookie. You don't know if the kids certainly looked like he has ice water in his veins in some of those interviews. But, you know, we got to see when the rubber hits the road. That, to me, is the key to the series. I don't know. I like Winnipeg. I like their home.

They do another team with home ice advantage. I got the Jets in six, boys. Okay. All right. I'm going to go goaltender as a wash because, like you said, we haven't seen what Ben and Ting can do. He's got to start on the road in Winnipeg. Winnipeg, the arena is like, I don't even know.

Can you hear yourself think? Did somebody say whiteout biz? What is that from? Is that from a movie? No, that's from you making cocaine jokes. Oh, okay. Sorry. I thought I missed a movie quote. My bad. On the back end without Morrisseysey people might think i'm crazy i'm gonna give the edge to st louis i like i like uh petrangelo's more top end than i believe that anyone in the winnipeg lineup is right now especially after bufflin came back from injury and i just i think they're big and meant for playoff hockey. They are a big back end. I would probably say one of the biggest back ends of the league.

Myers is going to be a pivotal aspect of that series as well. But without Morrissey, I'm going to give slight edge to St. Louis. And up front, I'll agree with you, R.A., I'll give slight edge to the Jets. But I don't know. Don't sleep on these St. Louis guys. I'm going to go with St. Louis in seven. Biz I'm with you. I'm on St. Louis and seven, the blues guys, the D, they had 46 goals this year. I mean, they can, they got,

they got some talent there. It is an even matchup. I think it's going to be a great series. You'll see, I mean, you'll see Ryan O'Reilly play just as well, I think, as he did in the regular season, too. He's a gamer. What did they get in one of the biggest deals the Blues have made? What did they get from O'Reilly this year? Well, he carried the entire team on his back.

The guy was incredible. I mean, he had career-high points. He had a career-high in assists. From the first game of the year, he was just like their leader. On and, I'm not going to say off the ice, I don't know, but on the ice. And then when Tarasenko had the slow start, he ends up getting 30.

So this team and Winnipeg really match up well together in terms of entertainment, I think. And I believe it's going to be back and forth with the goaltending being a big question because it's true. R.A. said it. Binnington, he's just insane what he did.

I mean, he got 25 wins, I think, in 30 starts or whatever it was. It's been just this – it's a meteoric rise to the top of the NHL goaltending-wise, and the playoffs come, and that's all over with. So good luck, and if you have a game, first game you give up four, well, what the fuck's going on in your head now? We'll see what happens. And also we've got to remember our boy Hazy. I'm really interested to see what he can do in playoffs

because we know he's becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer, and we hope he gets paid. He will no matter what. Yeah, good point, Biz. He can add a couple more zeros to that paycheck, hopefully. The next series up, I think we should call it the Shit Kicker Classic. It's Dallas versus Nashville. A whole lot of yee-haw and going on with this one.

It's the first ever playoff series between these two, and it's Dallas' first trip to the playoffs since 2016. Nashville is an 8-9 favorite. That's 160 to make 100. I'm sorry, 180 to make 100 or 180. I'm sorry, or 100. Hold on, take two. The Preds are an 8-9 favorite for the series.

That's 180 to make 100 on the Predators or 100 to make 160 on the Stars. Sorry about that. Hey, Nashville, man, they're in the win-now window. They've been in it for a few years. Losing in the first round would be an absolute fucking disaster for them uh they have to be stanley couple of bust this is another one man it's it nashville's a favorite but i think this series is closer than that line indicates what do you say wit dog i say the same way winnipeg underachieved all year in my mind nashville kind of did i i let me let me let Let me list off some names for you guys,

okay? Everyone listening, including my co-hosts. Victor Arvidsson, Philippe Forsberg, Ryan Johansson, Roman Yossi, P.K. Subban, Michael Granlin, Kyle Turris.

These are all very skilled players. They have the worst power play in the NHL. I don't understand how this team's power play is so bad. It makes no sense, the players they have. All year they've sucked. They have the league's worst power play. That's crazy. With those guys and those D, they can dish it and shoot it.

And if that continues, dude, they're not going to – maybe they win a round, but you have to be able to score on the man advantage to win the Stanley Cup. And this team hasn't been able to, and it makes zero sense. It's like, I don't know, you just get on the same page, maybe keep simplified things. I mean, I'm saying things they've probably heard, the guys in the two power play units, all year. But the matchup is still in favor of Nashvilleashville i believe i don't think dallas has

the depth that nashville does and it's been a long time of of of nashville and david poyle going all in right this is four or five years of them building up to this and they went to the cup final they weren't able to get it done but their windows kind of shrink it right i mean how many more years as pekka renee gets a little? I mean, how many more years? As Pecorine gets a little bit older, I mean, how many more years? And he's had his playoff struggles, so that's a question. But how many more years does Nashville have to really give it a go? So things are going to have to change from the way they played the regular season

to win the Stanley Cup. I like them in this series, but I look to special teams as being a huge kind of factor that pops out. What are they going to have when they get the man advantage right when this series starts? Yeah, that's a great point as far as their goal output. I mean, you talked about all the skill they have. They finished 19th in league scoring with 240 goals for,

which is crazy considering all these skill guys they have. Now, saying that that they had a 26 goal differential and we're pretty good at keeping the puck out of the net for two reasons great goaltending great regular season goaltending and an unbelievable back end now if you got if you have good d and you're breaking out clean most times and you're not giving up the blue line very easily and you're forcing teams to dump it in who are teams that typically like to carry the puck in over the blue line it frustrates the shit out of you and that's ultimately how you win hockey games now pekka renee is going to have to play like pekka renee regular season pekka renee and they are

going to have to get a little help offensively from the blue line. Last season, their defensive core was the highest scoring defensive score, defensive core, excuse me, in the entire National Hockey League. So to make up for that shitty power play, if that continues, they will have to get secondary scoring from their back end. They have immense depth up front, which shouldn't prevent them from scoring any goals. Who knows? Maybe it's one of those situations where all of a sudden you hit the playoffs

and things start clicking again. Brand new season, and then all of a sudden they ride into the sunset. I don't think that Dallas is deep enough to win this series. The only way that they're going to do so is if Tyler Sagan and the big boys put the team on their back and get them to the promised land. So I just don't see Dallas winning the series. I got Nashville in six. I want to say five, but I'm going to be generous and say six.

I agree with you. There's just something off with the Preds this year. You can't really put your finger on one particular thing that's just not kind of dominating the way we've seen the last few years. As far as Rene, he had another 30-win season, but his stats are right about at his career averages. They did dip a little bit. But these are going to be tight, low-scoring games,

and he's going to need to be better. Last year, he was 7-6 with a 9-0-4 and a 3-0-7. Those aren't playoff numbers that are going to get you to the second round. And on the other end, man, Ben Bishop, he battled injuries all year. He still managed a pretty stellar season uh 27 15 and 2 with a 198 goals against a 934 save percentage seven shutouts uh he's had a pretty good playoff career too 21 and 13 with a 209 and a 927 uh i honestly got to give the edge to bishop and the pipes here given what we've seen out of renee in the postseason the last few years i think the

preds are very vulnerable here and that bishop outplays renee i'm postseason the last few years. I think the Preds are very vulnerable here, and that Bishop outplays Rene. I'm going with the Stars in six in very low-scoring games. Wow, in six fucking games. You got some stones on you, brother, and I love it. And going back to the goals against, Nashville was third in the league this season, only allowing 214 goals. So that's quick math on the 26-goal differential. But holy shit, but, uh,

holy shit. All right. You've been, you've been really analyzing this shit. Yeah. Yeah. I try to try to fucking find some winners here. I don't know if I'm going to make any money, but that's,

that's to be determined. But yeah, sometimes I like to go off the beaten path. So I think sometimes people just pick the obvious team and I don't know, try to dig a little deeper and try to see some flaws. Well, you got great reasons. I'm on Nashville.

I got them in six as well. Uh, actually I'm going to go Sure. I'm on Nashville. I got him in six as well. Actually, I'm going to go five. I'm going to go five. Let me tell you, if they're going to do any damage after the first round, Kyle Turris is another name. He's their second line guy. They traded for him. He had seven goals this year.

23 points in 55 games. A lot of question marks. I know I just kind of made it sound like I think Nashville will lose with all the things I said about that they need to be better at. I think they're really deep, and their D is much better than Dallas' D. So I think they're going to move on. I'm more talking about actually making a deep run. I think, too, one last point there, R.A.,

is when you've been making runs in previous years where you're playing a lot of meaningful games, sometimes it's a little difficult to get up for regular season games all of a sudden. True. You know? So maybe they were just bored with the regular season a little bit. They did have a strong finish, though. They did go 7-2-1 in their last 10.

So maybe they're starting to ramp it up now that they know they're playing for keeps. No. And should Nashville lose in the first round, it would be interesting to see what they do there because, you know, like I said, they're a contender, and that would be a disaster were they to lose the first round. So, hey, gang, before we go any further, I want to talk to you all about Tommy John. Warm weather season is basically here, and luckily Tommy John,

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season, the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks. Second year Knights, of course, knocked them off in six in their unlikely runs of the Stanley Cup Finals last spring. Another series, that's a pick-em. In the season series, the Sharks went 2-2 while Vegas went 2-1-1. That's because of the regulation. Overtime wins. That's how two teams can win twice. The teams look a lot different than last

year, though. Vegas has added Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Mark Stone. San Jose went out and got Eric Carlson. Added Gustav Nyquist as well. Again, like I was just saying about Nashville biz, the Sharks are another team that's in win now mode. They've been looking for a return trip to the final after losing to the Pens back in 2016. They can fill the net as good as anyone, but again, Martin Jones, I feel like we're talking about goaltending every series, but because it's that important, Martin Jones, I don't know if we're too sold on him.

What's your take, Biz, on this series? Yeah, I mean, San Jose had an unbelievable stretch of hockey there, and then they dipped. Right towards the end of the season, they dipped a little bit. 3-6-1 their last 10. I'd say they're a little bit lucky considering Fleury's just coming back from injury, so it would be difficult to bit lucky considering Fleury's just coming back from injury. So it would be difficult to me to give Fleury the nod considering he hasn't

caught his game rhythm back. So I'm going to say goaltending's a wash. But, yeah, they got to start finding the back of the net again like they were before when everything was clicking. I mean, it's difficult for me to pick Vegas in this series just based on the people that – the staff that San Jose has and the depth on offense. But, hey, man, when things aren't going well all of a sudden,

it's tough to just turn the switch. So, to me, I'm going to have to pass it over to Wick because I'm still thinking who I'm going to pick because Vegas hasn't played that great down the stretch either. No, but the Sharks, man, what a team up front. They have some great defensemen too. The Carlson question mark is, you know,

it sounds like he's ready to go for the playoffs, but he hasn't played in so long. Like he's got to have something that's not a hundred percent, you know, I mean, to not have played for, for such a long time, that's a huge issue for the sharks and Martin Jones, not to pound on the guy, but I mean, this was, this was a horrible year for him. I mean, this, this is, it was the worst. It was just, it was sub 900 save percentage, dude.

And there were times when I think more than once, twice, two or three times, Pete DeBoer saying after, you know, we just needed a save tonight. And to have the coach be saying that stuff, I mean, usually you kind of stay off the goalies in the media. But it was such an issue this year that at times he just couldn't. He couldn't not be honest. You know, so if you're a Sharks fan, you can look on his history in the playoffs. He's pretty good.

He's had some really good games in the playoffs in his career, so that's got to make you feel a little better. But, man, to have that struggle all year, and down the stretch, this is a team, as you said, they took a little bit of a dip. It was like a cliff, dude. I mean, they gave up three or more goals in 11 straight games down the end of the season. And in that, they lost seven in a row. And it was just, when I look at Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Jones, I'm sorry, people

of Vegas. I apologize, Daniel Negreanu. I'm picking you. I'm picking you. I'm picking you. I know you don't love to hear this. I know last year I was up on the big screen. That's not going to happen this year. You're not going to make a fool of me.

I think that you're going to move on. I think adding Mark Stone and what the team's done since he came over, it was such a big move. They struggled at the beginning of the year, but naturally at the end of going on that cup run they went on and then not having Schmidt to start the year on D, it was a different team, like R.A. said. So, man, I think Vegas is right up there to win the West.

Yeah, a couple more notes on the goaltenders, boys. Martin Jones' save percentage in the regular season was 8.96. That's second to last among goalies who played at least 46 games. In three games against Vegas, he had a 3.62 goals against and an 893 save percentage. In the playoffs against Vegas, he had a 3.13 goals against and an 895 save percentage, one shutout. Down the other end, Marc-Andre Fleury had a 913 save percentage in the regular season. In two games against San Jose, a 1-5-4 goes against, a 9-5-0 save percentage with one shutout.

In the playoffs against San Jose, he had a 2.14 goals against with a 9-3-5 save percentage, two shutouts. I know which way I'm going here. If Vegas stays out of the box, rolls four lines, and gets the goaltending they used to from Marc-Andre Fleury, they'll get the same results as last year. Sharks not in six, Vegas in six. I'm going to have to piggyback R.A.

I'm going to pick Vegas in seven in this. To me, the biggest factors is if Marc-Andre Fleury can get back to exactly what he is in playoffs and patch already. What is he going to do now that he needs to perform? He has, I mean, the past tells us he's in a similar situation to Duchesne where when the going gets tough and it's playoff time, he's not really there to produce. He's got to come up big.

So I got Vegas in seven in this one. I'm actually Vegas in six as well. And this is one, a couple numbers that really stood out to me and and almost shocked me in a sense that riley smith william carlson and jonathan marshall show right last year dynamic this year they've been very good too not as great as last year but that was going to be tough to kind of do again but they have 57 points as a line in 18 games against the San Jose Sharks in the last two years, including playoffs. So that's three guys that obviously love playing against San Jose.

And that along with Fleury, that kind of, you know, that along with Fleury versus Jones matchup is what has me on the Vegas train. Hey, talk about a couple crazy buildings meeting in playoffs. Like San Jose is one of the hardest rinks in the league to play in i know at least when we did when i was playing with the phoenix coyotes at the time it seemed like the first 10 minutes they would come out and and it was just like you had you had these beats by drays in your ears they were so fucking loud it was like and then now now vegas is taking it to another level. So home ice may play a huge advantage in this one.

All right. I missed the – did you say the lines on that, the gambling lines for that series? I did. The series is a pick-em. Oh, wow. That makes me feel like we all really like Vegas. That's kind of weird.

If Jones plays good, I mean, they could easily win, but that's just right now for me. I'm not ready to bet on that. Yeah, and just to clarify, I did say Vegas in six. I think I had the Sharks written down, and you did mention gambling, Wits. That's probably a nice time to segue into the old corner right now. I'm going to give a couple of picks for this week. And before I get to the gambling corner,

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chicklets, you get your first refill pack for free with the Quip electric toothbrush. That's your first refill pack free at G-E-T-Q-U-I-P.com slash chicklets. All right. I know some like 70% of game one winners go on to win the series. So anytime I make a series pick, I always take that team in Game 1 as well. Looking at the Vegas-San Jose series, I think Vegas was the last team San Jose wanted to see. So I'm going to go with Vegas in Game 1 as well as for the series. There's no price for Game 1 yet, but it should be around to pick them.

Vegas might even be a small dog. The series price is a pick-em. So I'm going to take Vegas at minus 110. And we'll save for five units. And game one, we'll save for two and a half units. Let's swing it over to Dallas and Nashville. I see Bishop outplaying Rene here, like I mentioned a few minutes ago. I think Dallas is going to steal a low-scoring series here,

so I'm going to be taking the Stars in game one and as well for the series. They're definitely going to be in dog in game one. That line's not out yet, and they are plus well for the series. They're definitely going to be in dog in game one. That line's not out yet. And they are plus 160 for the series. So I'm going to take Dallas for five units on the series and two and a half units for game one. I'll have more action as the playoffs go on. Follow along at RearAdB's blog on Twitter

if you want any tips or whatever. So those are the picks so far. We'll have a little more for you later in the week. All right. And Grinnell, if you don't mind posting all of our picks for who we got in the series. And of course, we're going to be here on Thursday to break down the remaining three. So good luck to all you, especially you, Whit. This is a big bounce back playoff for you, man. I'm ready. I need it. We are so going to get torched online for these picks, Biz. can't wait and i'll be on my phone for 20

hours arguing with strangers and uh before i send it off boys i got a busy trip to toronto planned i am going in there to do a content piece with sports net i will be racing zambonis um against uh marks of art so we're doing yeah so we're going to do a little fun content piece then i'll be having a meet and greet at the Sportsnet bar right by the Rogers Center, which is like the old Sky Dome. And then the following, so I guess a week from Monday, I'm going to Game 3, Boston in Toronto, and I'm filming an NHL first-timer.

So could you imagine your first time going to an NHL game would be in Toronto and it's a playoff game against the Bruins who kind of set up a rivalry I I they go to the right the regular season game next year they're like what the fuck so that's good that's gonna be I mean for a first time game that'll be sick so I'm excited for my Toronto trip I'm gonna get to watch some hockey and excited to go on Thursday to that sports net grill place and meet some fans and hang out good looking forward to it man you always seem to have some fun with that stuff uh hey boys i just want to bring this up it's nothing we like to talk about but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention it

it's been one year since the humble broncos bus was crashed into on the highway on a on the way to a playoff game and so many lives were forever altered I know a lot of media is doing one year stories I hesitate to use the word anniversary it's usually for pleasant things and I know it's a place that's still healing it's always going to be healing and people aren't healed yet I know the media likes to put time markers on things and we just want to send our love and you know open our hearts to everybody out there we're still ridiculously sad as the hockey world still is about it, but we just, you know, want to let you know we haven't forgot about you. Everybody's hearts are still heavy on it.

And I did want to recommend to everybody, we'll tweet this out. It was a TSN original doc titled 29 Forever. It was very moving. I mean, I bawled my eyes out watching it. I think everybody should take a look at it. It's about an hour long, but it's well worth the time. Everybody who lost their life or had their lives otherwise affected, it would be a nice tribute to them to watch it.

So, again, everybody up in Humboldt, we love you. We're thinking of you. And, you know, we know you're still hurting, and we're hurting along with you. So hopefully every day gets a little bit better for you guys, and maybe the playoffs will make things a little bit easier for you folks. So we're thinking of you, and we love you up there well said all right that's uh emotional stuff and and just piggyback what you said man that is uh that's heavy stuff and uh what do you say wit i'll never

i'll never forget waking up and just going on twitter for no reason and seeing that i'll never forget it and i remember just crying i really really, I'll, I'll just, it's like a moment that just stays with me. My wife woke up, I go, you are right. And she doesn't know hockey. She doesn't like get it right. She wasn't, you know, I don't blame her, but I was like, you know, to describe all this, this bus, these kids pass, she was like, that's so sad. But like me playing the game and me being on those bus rides,

it was just every guy who had ever played the game understood like oh my god like that was any one of us so um we'll never forget it and like ra that was very well said our thoughts and prayers will always go out to you and i'm glad you mentioned that piece i know ryan rashad was one of the guys involved in the in the producing but it was incredible so well we're thinking of you, and I guess the way that we can leave it is the stick will always be left outside the door for those kids. So peace out. Thank you. Bye.