The Athletic Hockey Show - Adam Fantilli Hobey Baker winner, Pittsburgh Penguins playoff streak in jeopardy and Winnipeg Jets clinch final spot in West

Episode Date: April 12, 2023

On the Wednesday roundtable, Adam Fantilli, the Hobey Baker winner and presumptive second selection overall in the 2023 NHL draft joins to talk about his magical season with Michigan, the frozen four, playing with his brother in Michigan, idolizing Patrice Bergeron and looking forward to the NHL draft in June, in Nashville.Rob, Jesse and Mike look back on a devastating loss by Pittsburgh to Chicago on Tuesday, which puts the Penguins 17 season playoff streak in doubt as the Islanders and Pens battle it out for the final playoff spot left in the East. The guys discuss if changes are on the horizon in Calgary, the fantastic individual seasons for Connor McDavid, Erik Karlsson, David Pasternak, and the Boston Bruins historic season, the career achievements from Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux and Joe Pavelski and the spirited game between the Jets and Minnesota Wild which sees the Jets clinch the final playoff spot in the West.Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowGet a 1-year subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshowThis episode is brought to you by Better Help, visit http://betterhelp.com/nhlshow today to get 10% off your first month Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. And down the stretch they come. Welcome to the Athletic Hockey Show, the Wednesday roundtable edition. The last time we're going to be talking about regular season hockey because the season wraps up on Friday and the playoffs, or as I like to call it, the most wonderful time of the year, begins.

I am Rob Pizzo from CBC Sports, joined as always by Jesse Granger in Vegas and Mike Russo in Minnesota. boys. Doing well. Yeah, doing well. Going to Nashville today. So always doing well. And you're going to Nashville.

I've never been in Nashville. Never been. I heard it's fantastic. Don't you think it's a mini Vegas, Jesse? I love when people say that. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. It's probably,

probably have a different perspective living in Vegas. It's, it is. I mean, I don't really think it is, though, because everyone says, like, oh, Broadway is like the strip, but Broadway is like, walkable. You want to go next door? It takes 30 seconds to walk to the bar next door. Whereas on the strip, you're like, hey, you want to go to the casino next to this? You better take a taxi or it's going to take you an hour and a half to walk over there. It's very different. I don't even like country music

and I still love Broadway and Nashville. Great, great place. By the way, I found that out the hard way my first time in Vegas. I'm like, oh, I'm going to go and play in a poker tournament right there. I can walk. Half hour later, I'm like, what the hell am I doing? And it's like hot and terrible. Six overpasses later. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So Rousseau's heading to Nashville. Jesse's here with us now, and so is Rousseau.

We got a lot to talk about. And I want to mention this, guys. After the break, we're going to be speaking to Adam Fantilli, the Hobie Baker Award winner for Michigan. They made it all the way to the Frozen Four. He had himself just a great year. And yes, it is the Connor Bidar draft. But if you look at most mock drafts, and Tilly's sitting at number two.

So Russo and I had an opportunity to chat with him a little earlier on. Just a well-spoken kid. Like he is going to love the bright lights of the NHL when he comes there. So be sure to tune into that. But boys, we got to talk playoff races. And he was heading to public speaking class. And clearly it's working. Clearly it's working.

So he did well. He's NHL ready in more ways than one. Playoff races, guys. Panthers and Jets locked up the 14. and 15th spot. So we have one spot left. Two teams want it. The Penns and the Islanders.

So let's start there. The Eastern Wildcard, number two. Islanders lost a crucial game to the Capitals. So now they have a one-point lead for that wild card. Their last game is at home versus Montreal. Pittsburgh. Somehow, somehow lost at home to Chicago last night.

I know Jesse and I are the gamblers of the group. minus 450 favorites, lost at home to Chicago. How does that happen? So now if the Islanders can pick up one measly little point against Montreal, the Penns will miss the playoffs for the first time since Crosby's rookie season. Russo will start with you. Who gets this spot? I think Islanders get it.

I do. You know, that is a, I think they're going to go up to Montreal and piss off Chris Weidman and everything. The, you know, I don't know. I mean, like, it's just to me. me, I'm just trying to imagine a NHL postseason without potentially Sydney Crosby of Gettie Malkin and Alex Ovechkin. I mean, that is pretty remarkable, which just I think signals finally the sort of the new era of this league. But I think the Islanders do it. I just don't

know how on a second of a back-to-back the Blackhawks could go into Pittsburgh in a must-win game for the Penguins with all those great players for a largely healthy team as well. and beat them 5-2, just spank them. You know, there is something wrong with that team, you know, this year. I don't get what it is because I was just there this past week and they beat the heck out of the wild to the point that the wild had their latest closed door meeting in that building. They've had like 10 of them. And I don't know what's going on with them, but that's why I just think the islanders are going to take care of business tonight. Yeah, I agree with pretty much everything Mike said. I think the islanders will take care of business against Montreal. I'll add that I think that's better. You look at now, there's a chance Florida could play Boston,

but I think probably this bottom team is going to play the Bruins. And we're looking for, I'm looking at NHL storylines in round one. Whoever plays the Bruins is going to be a massive, massive underdog. But if there's a way for someone to give the Bruins a series, I think it's Elias Soroken and Net. I think the storyline of he stopped 50 of 51, one tonight and the Islander somehow pulled it off is much more likely than the penguins

beating the Bruins. So I think just to make Bruins fans nervous, the Bruins fans haven't been nervous enough this season, right? Like, they need to have some nerves. I think, Ilya Syrokin in the other net is the only way to give them a little bit of anxiety in the first round. So that's kind of what I'm rooting for. But man, Rob, wouldn't it be great drama if Montreal could pull it off tonight? And then the, yeah, the, the penguins. who just embarrass themselves at home in a must-win game, have to go to Columbus and win that game to make the playoffs. I think that would be definitely cool drama.

It would. Last game of the regular season, when and you're in after that Chicago game, that would just be, and you know what, Montreal, as much as they are certainly in the Conrad sweepstakes, as much as they're near the bottom of the standings,

they are always giving teams a tough time. And we've seen them. We'll talk a little bit later on about what's going on in the Leafs goaltending situation. where the Montreal Canadiens were not happy with something that happened. But they're playing with some balls right now. It's not a matter of let's play out this season. Let's see if we can get, you know, more lottery balls.

They're playing with actual balls. So I think Montreal comes to play in that one. It's going to be really interesting to see. Jesse mentioned Florida. How loud of a sigh of relief is coming out of that Panthers locker right now because, wow, that that team was in danger of missing the playoffs after winning the president's trophy, after being part of, one of the biggest deals I've seen in a long time in the off season.

How much of a side relief we're hearing out of Florida, Jesse? Yeah, I mean, definitely. And they're looking at it saying, look, last year we had an awesome regular season and it did not go our way in the postseason. It proves that the regular season isn't everything. They're trying to prove it the other way this year. You get in as a seventh seed. Carolina is pretty banged up right now. They haven't been playing their best hockey.

Florida, maybe they're peaking at the right time. I don't know. but this team has been analytically very good all year. I think they're a dangerous team in the playoffs. Yeah, I agree with you. I cannot imagine that that is going to be an easy out. And this team won the President's trophy a year ago. I know they're 19 or 20 points behind Carolina,

but as Jesse mentioned, without Patcheretti, without Speschenikov, just sort of sputtering along here, sometimes good, sometimes bad. I got to think that that is concerning for them. you know, a team that last year played so, so well. And, you know, a lot of drama, Paul Maurice, obviously going up against his old team in the playoffs as well.

I think it's, as Jesse also mentioned, the sigh of relief down there. Like, you know, I was, I was talking to Bill Zito a lot during the GM's meetings. And, you know, there was, they had to make some bold, bold decisions in the offseason, obviously moving on from Andrew Burnett, the Hubert Odeal to acquire Kachuk, who's been outstanding for them as well. and for them to make the playoffs now and sort of start with a total reset going against a team that they know quite well in Carolina. It's going to be a fantastic series, I think. Speaking of the Hubert O'deal, shift over to the West, the Calgary Flames officially eliminated.

I mean, you can't tell me now, now especially the Florida puncher ticket in Calgary didn't. Calgary is not the most disappointing team in hockey this year. they're going to be watching the playoffs. Lots of finger pointing ever since that shootout loss that sealed their fate. Jacob Markstrom, we've talked about him all year. He was awful. Let's be honest, Jonathan Eubertoe was not Jonathan Eubbertoe that we saw last year. The question now is Will Head's role.

And I think people automatically look at the GM right now in Bradshaw Living because this is the end of his contract. He's been there nine years. Of course, Daryl Sutter, as much as we love, is putting. post-game press conferences, his name's going to come up. Who is to blame for this train wreck of a season that was the Calgary Flames? Rousseau. Yeah, I don't know if I want to go who is to blame, but I definitely think that heads are going to roll.

And I don't know if it's, you know, there was even a lot of talk down at GM's meetings that this could be it for, for tree living. And we'll see, obviously without a contract pass this year and the fact that Daryl Sutter, if I remember correctly, got a two-year extension earlier this season through 24. But, you know, it was just a weird situation there this year with just the way that Huberto played, the way that Huberto was deployed at times, strange decisions. Again, it's always hard for those of us that aren't in that room every day or don't watch every practice every day to second-guess decisions from afar. But the shootout deployment in a must-win

game, I don't know if I, I don't care if Nick Ritchie scores in every shootout in practice. I don't know if I want the season on his stick. You know, when there were other more talented skilled players that are sitting there on the bench watching that happen, a guy that was acquired at the deadline from Arizona getting that opportunity to extend their season. I just don't think it was the right decision. But again, you know, like, unless you're there covering a team or watching every day, you don't totally know everything. Yesterday is a good example, just to switch gears on the Minnesota Winnipeg game. You know, a lot of was made about Dean Evanson putting Reeves and Felino on the ice in the last minute after Winnipeg gone after them. What Winnipeg fans

didn't understand is that the wild in the last week have been ravaged by injuries because of extracurricular stuff. And when that whole thing happened with Johansson getting the cross-check to the ribs and then Hartman getting in the stick battle, Dean Evanson finally said enough, get his stars off the ice to make sure. In fact, none of them are coming in Nashville today. And I think that Winnipeg fans and the Winnipeg Jets didn't understand what Dean was doing. And it's just because they don't have that contextual knowledge. And I think that's the same thing with Calgary there. And like, you know, I'm looking at that shootout with the bizarre decisions the other day, but again, not being there. It's just hard to really know. But I just

think that some of the coaching decisions this year were really, really peculiar. And I think that sometimes Daryl Sutter has a way to, you know, you know, I don't want to say wear out as welcome, guys, but definitely, I think, you know, hearing him every single day sometimes could really make you tighten up. Yeah, that's what I was going to bring up. Did his crusty and his not seem different down, you know, the second half of the season. You know, we've talked so many times about how we love watching it because even when he's in a pissy mood, he kind of makes it fun. It didn't feel that way, right?

Jesse, it kind of felt like, you know, his quote unquote feud with Uberdo, you know, the way he kind of belittled some players coming up who got called up for their first game. It just felt a little different. And yes, he has that two-year contract extension. and according to Pierre LeBron, Tre Living had a two-year contract offer before the season and said, no, we'll deal with that later. I don't know if he's kicking himself now.

Jesse, what do you think about the Cowrie of Flames situation? Yeah, I agree with you and Mike that Sutter, it definitely wasn't a great fit this year. And I don't know if that's, sorry. I don't know if that's going to be the case going forward. If he's still there, I don't know if it's like there's no longer a match there, but it just didn't feel like a great match this season.

but I'll surprise you guys a little bit with who I'm going to blame. I think it's Jacob Markstrom is a major, major, major reason this team is to playoffs. If you look at expected goal share, so what teams in the game are controlling possession, are controlling shots, are getting the high danger chances, Calgary is third in the NHL behind Carolina and New Jersey. And the teams behind them, Toronto, Edmonton, Florida, Boston. They're all in the playoffs. So the top seven teams in expected goal share all playoff teams except for the Calgary Flames. To me, that tells me that team didn't perform up to expectations

and they weren't as good as we thought they were going to be. And the trade, maybe the chemistry got messed up and it didn't work out the way a lot of us expected it to. But at the same time, they still played well enough to be a playoff team, in my opinion, everywhere but the net. And I like Jacob Markstrom. I've been a big. supporter of Jacob Markstrom. I think he's a great goalie. This year he wasn't good enough, and I think it costs his team. Back to your heads roll question, Rob, you know, my biggest question is what's going to happen with Tree Living? Because if he is no longer the GM there, I don't think it's the quote, heads are rolling. I do think it might be under his own volition because when a GM turns

down a contract extension, if what Pierre reported is true and we know it is, then you just know that he was looking at sort of the way out the door maybe after this year. You know, maybe he's going to go run Boston pizza with his dad, who knows. You know, Tree Living, I think is a great hockey man. But I do think that, that, you know, that is to me a red flag that he was sort of saying this might be it for him in Calgary. And so that's what I expect to be the biggest change there. By the way, there's smoke, Gouda, ravioli.

Excellent. Excellent, excellent guys, Boston pizza. It's my go to. You said Boston pizza there was, I was like, oh, I could use some of that ravioli. Do you know that in my history of going to Canada, which is a long time, I've never walked into Boston Pizza and everybody, actually, that's not true. Gary Lawless used to do a podcast at Boston Pizza in Winnipeg and, or not a podcast, a radio show. And I went in there once to or twice to do that, but that is it.

I have never eaten there and I regret it all the time because everybody in Canada tells me how great it is. I've never been. Maybe I should go. I'm probably going to Winnipeg here next week. Maybe I need to go to a Boston pizza. It's right by the Delta Hotel there. All right. You know, Jesse, definitely go.

Smoke guta ravioli. You heard it here. Thank me later. All right. So obviously, we'll find out the next couple days who's going to be in that final spot in the east and all the matchups. So a lot still to be decided. But guys, we're hockey nerds. We like stats.

And it just feels like we've been talking so much about milestones and stats all year long. and now a lot of them are coming to a head. And so much so that I divided these into three different categories of what we've seen since we last spoke last week. Let's start with team stats. And you know where I'm going with this, the Boston Bruins. Easter Sunday, they beat the Flyers. Win number 63 on the season.

That sets a new record. Most in NHL history, they now have 64, by the way. They pass the 96 Red Wings and the 2019 Lightning. And then last night they beat the count. to bring their point total to 133 again. Most in NHL history passing the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, that dynasty team that some people will still claim is the greatest team in NHL history. Well, the Bruins have more points and still have one game left at Montreal.

We've talked about how we didn't see this coming. Well, nobody saw this coming. But how can you put this Boston Bruins season into perspective? when you hear numbers like that. It's mind-boggling. Jesse, we'll start with you. Yeah, I mean, it's so impressive the longevity of their stars. Now, Posternak, obviously, is a young guy, but you look at Bergeron and we just, we thought

they didn't have this in them. Like, we didn't think they were going to be bad players, but to still be the elite of the elite at this age is so incredibly impressive. To me, that's the, when I look at this Boston team, that's what stands out to me is the age of a lot of their star players and no drop-off. If anything, they've gotten better somehow. And, I mean, they're just such a complete team. They've got maybe the best forward group in the NHL. They've got an excellent blue line with McAvoy. Olmark, he only started 48 games and he won 40. That doesn't even seem possible. And Swayman is probably the best backup goalie in the

NHL. This team is just so complete from top to bottom. Absolutely. I mean, you know, David Kreichie leaves the league, comes back and gets almost a 60-point season. You know, incredible, as you mentioned, goaltending duo in Swamen and then. David Posternak, though, we got to talk about this guy's brilliance. I mean, first of all, I think he's 45 points clear of Marchand for second, who's second on the team and score. So 111 points when I looked last That's what he's at. 60 goals, maybe underpaid on his extension. This guy is just absolutely sensational.

And if not for McDavid, I mean, like we don't even talk about Pastor Dak for potentially being the Hart Trophy winner, just because of McDavid's incredible year. But what this guy has done this year is just sensational. And I mean, I think he has 40 power play points. just unbelievable team, unbelievable player. Before we move on to the individual stats, I mean, I have this argument all the time when it comes to the Jack Adams Award.

We never picked the team that stomps all over the league. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like when the lightning did it most recently, John Cooper did not win because according to voters for some reason, that's not doing enough coaching. I mean, can we not say what Jim Montgomery has done?

Like, I'm sorry, if somebody went 64 games in an 82 game season, how is your coach not the best coach in the NHL? Especially because this isn't a stacked team in the traditional sense where you've got the five best players, the best goal. It just was so unexpected and look what they've done. How do you not consider their coach? I agree. And maybe this year will be the exception, but it's going to still be hard. You know, because I just know the way that people choose, right?

I mean, how do you not look at Dave Haxdahl as being, at a minimum, a finalist? You're two of a team that last year looked like was going nowhere this year and has them in the playoffs. You know, I mean, another one, Lindy Ruff, right? I mean, the devil's right now 110 point season. You know, he's somebody else that I would, that I would consider there. It's just, but you're right. I mean, like, what, how do you not pick the coach? What do you have to do?

What do you have to do to win this damn award? You coach the best team ever wins and points. Like Jesse, would it shock you at all if Dave Haxdoll is sitting there at the end of the day or something like that? I think it would actually would shock me. I think he's going to win in a runaway. Every race this year, it feels like a runaway. And I think that one is too. But I do agree with you that historically we like the voters have for sure given it to the overperforming team, not the best team.

So this would be a change from history. think just because of what the bruce, I think it's a combination of how great the Bruins season is and the fact that it's his first year there helps him. I think, I think if Montgomery had been the coach in Boston for 10 years, he's probably not going to win it based on this year. But the fact that he came in and this is the first year he's there, it's like, it's easier to say that's the coaching than it would be if he had been there the whole time. Then you'd just say, well, it was just a perfect season type of thing. So, so I think he gets the benefit of that and wins it in a runaway. And you have to throw the surprising factor in there, right? It was, I mean, again,

if this was an elite team, if this was Colorado, say Colorado goes into the season, no injuries, everything else, and does this, you're like, well, yeah, that's the Stanley Cup champions. Of course they're going to do something like that. No one expected, even to say Boston to finish first in the league, let alone do it with record setting numbers. So you have the surprise factor, you have the record factor, you have the first time coach factor. I don't know how you can vote for anybody else, but that's me. I don't get a vote. Have you guys ever actually looked at Jim Montgomery's coaching record in his career? Like, everywhere he has ever been has had record-breaking seasons.

I'm a D-U fan. Whether it's the, yeah, whether it's college, whether it's the USHL. I mean, he really is obviously, I haven't had a ton of dealings with him. But he just is obviously an incredible hockey coach that obviously ran into some problems. a couple years ago here in Minnesota. He's gotten his life back on track, gets the chance in St. Louis, and now he goes there and picks up,

you know, frankly, I think where Bruce Cassidy left off our guest last week and, and he's done just a sensational job there. Hey, can I butt in? Not to make a totally change subjects, but,

you know, Jesse said one thing that I was interested in that there's going to be runaways in every single category. Who do you think is going to be the Norris? Like, do you think Carlson's running away with it? I think he's going to win. I think that, so like the Norris thing is weird because I think, I think everyone thinks there are like three deserving guys, but everyone's going to end up on Carlson.

So the voting will say Carlson runaway because everyone will end up with Carlson, but I think it's a tough choice to get there. Does that make sense? Yeah. I think it's a tough choice to get to Carlson because there are a lot of good options, but in the end, everyone will make that same tough choice and choose Eric Carlson. Yeah. I guess the thing that I'm still, and Rob, this is a good segue to your probably next stat,

but like the thing I'm, I still am having trouble reconciling. And I know that Rob, you and I had this debate on one of our recent shows on just, you know, a bad team picking that guy to win the Norris. But they have given up like, fuck. I mean, like a thousand goals this year. And it's like, you know, it just seems like, like I know he's on the ice or a ton of goals, but he's also on the ice or a ton of goals against. Well, you know how you said, how we just.

talked about how it historically voters will vote for a coach that does the least amount with the most or has the biggest surprise well historically when when voters vote for the norris trophy they go to the stats page and they say who has the most points it's almost like the reverse selky like it's it's the most offensive defenseman and the guy scored a hundred points yeah that to me is the difference and and that's so that that does segue into this next part, the individual stats. I'm going to give you guys a bunch and you tell me which one's the most impressive. So right there, Eric Carlson, 100 points. Listen to the other players who have ever had 100 points as a blue liner. Bobby or Paul Coffey, Brian Leach, Al McKinnis, and Denny Popvin. Talk about

elite company. And this is after he didn't put up 50 points in each of his last four seasons. Then you got Connor McDavid. Hatt hits the 150 point mark. Ho-Hom, sixth player to ever do it. Only other players to do it, Wayne, Mario, Eiserman, Esposito, and Bernie Nichols. And he still has a game left and he's got 152. We mentioned Pastor Neck, 60 goals, second player to score 60 goals this season. We haven't seen two players with 60 goals in the same season since Mario and Yager in 96. And then just in general, the 100-point plateau guys. Last season, we saw eight players get it. This year we're already up to 11 already. We're at the end of the season. We're at 11. Mitch, Martin, Jack Hughes, still possibilities that they can get to 100. So, because,

between Carlson, McDavid, Pasternak, and just generally players hitting that triple digits, which one stands out to you the most? And I don't think a lot of people are going to say McDavid because we're just so, we're so used to his greatness. But for my money, 150 points in the season is not something I ever thought I would see again. We'll start with Jesse on this one. Yeah, I mean, McDavid's hundred and 50, like we were just talking about how great Postronach is. He's 40 points ahead of him. 40 points is a great season. Like, for, for like 99% of hockey players. Like 40 points of great season.

He's 40 ahead of Posternak, who's been amazing. It's ridiculous. But I would say that, well, the one that stands out to me or the one that has, I don't know, the biggest relevance. I like the 11 players hitting 100 point number because it really tells the story of where this league is going. I think Connor McDavid is a spectacular once in a lifetime athlete. Same thing with Eric Carlson.

But I think the 11 players hitting the 100 point mark really paints the picture of, of where hockey is now and is going. I think that number is going to continue to go up as we go, because these guys are just getting so skilled. And the old grinder fourth lines are getting out of the league. They're being replaced by young, skilled players that teams are trying to develop into those hundred point players. So you're losing defensive presence and physical presence.

You're gaining offensive skill with younger guys who aren't as good defensively. This league is just getting more and more. more and more leaned towards the offense. And I think that, I don't think of a number tells you that more than 11 guys with 100 points and the possibility of a couple more. It's, it's insane. Yeah, awful goaltending. Don't you think Jesse?

Yeah. The biggest problem is just, just, it's a downfall of NHL goalies right now. No, I'm being tongue and cheek if you're just listening to the show the first time. Jesse is our goalie whisper. So we always have to rip on the goleys to him. You know, the one thing I'll say is I'll be interested. Like, this is definitely, we saw this trend starting last year. So there's no doubt that this league is becoming a much more offensive league.

I will love to see next year because it just, I was talking, I've been talking about this, actually harping on this for a month. I have never seen so many horrendous teams in the NHL than this year. I mean, you know, there are, there are so many free spaces on the bingo card this year. it's unbelievable the difference between the teams at the top and the teams at the bottom, very few in the middle. Tell that to the Pittsburgh Penguins. And I think a lot of it is, yeah, right.

I think a lot of it obviously is Bedard and Fantilli, who are having on here in a couple minutes and people trying to get there at four or five generational players in this draft. So that could be part of it. But there are some god-awful teams this year. I mean, it's just, it's that simple. And I think that it gives you the ability to just load up points. The other thing right now is that today's young player, they freelance on the ice and it makes it super exciting.

But this is a league now where there are where players make a lot of mistakes and coaches just have learned to accept it, where it's no longer the league where, you know, the Jacques Lamar is basically tightened everything up and don't let you, don't let you do it. I mean, these guys are allowed to not think on the ice and just go out and play. And the other big difference in this league is even though hitting is, as Gary Bettman loves to tell us all the time. Open ice hits, neutral zone is not. And that is partially because the league has done a really good job of getting rid of head hits and, and really, you know, the reason why whenever a big time hit happens that there's head contact, it's such

big news, is that it is a rarity. It's no longer in every week thing in this league. And I see it every single night watching hockey where guys are allowed to skate through their neutral zone, where years ago they would be absolutely pummeled. They, you know, and whether head up or not, they would, and now we almost never, we see guys peel off and things like that. And what has allowed is a lot of, a lot of ability to really counterattack with speed. And that's why we see so many odd man rushes every single night. So I think there's myriad reasons for the offense being up.

But to me, I still go McDavid, 153 as being the most impressive number. I agree with so much what you just said there, Russo. I got to just, and to me, it's a lot of what you said about letting creative players be creative. There was a bad period there in hockey, and I know there were a couple of them, really. I mean, you mentioned Lamar. That mid-90s era was terrible. And then even afterwards, when physicality was at its height, you just didn't see players have the ability to do something that would make you jump out of your seat. And now we see it.

We talk about it on a weekly basis. We're seeing creative players get creative and we're seeing them able to use their speed. We're seeing you just never know what's going to happen on the ice. And that's what hockey should be. It was overcoached for a long time. And I'm not trying to diminish the coaches to say like, oh, you finally let the players play. But when you've got that tool in your toolbox, let the players play. And I know McDavid's not a great example for this.

But when you see him start to cross. over in his own zone. What do you do? You go, holy shit, here it comes. Like, you just get so excited to see what's about to happen. That's what sports is supposed to be. And that's why we're seeing such big numbers. Real quick, before we move on, though, yeah, last night, Rob, I was watching that overtime

between Colorado and, and Edmonton, which didn't last long, right? Because because McDavid turned on the turbo mode and had, and got himself slashed by Byron for the power play. But him and drives idle together on the ice in over. time. Could you imagine being Bowen Byron back there and having to look up and see that? I mean, it's just, it's three on three. It's unfair for anybody to be on the ice against those two. Jesse was all over the hundred point seasons. Just to let you know, there's 11, as I mentioned, the record for most 100 points scorers in one season, that crazy 92, 93 season, 21 players had 100

points. We're heading in that direction. Who knows where we'll be in five years, but 21. And like I said, with Marner and Hughes knocking on the door with a game left, that number could be up to 13. And before I go, we don't need to really break this down too hard, but two career stat numbers were set. Sidney Crosby becoming the 15th player to reach the 1500 point mark.

And Claude Drew and Joe Pavelsky, each getting point number 1,000 on the same day. It's never happened in HL history. two guys get a thousand point this is all in the last week this is this is not a season recap to anyone who's listening this was all in the last week all of these milestones happen um and before we get to the break and then uh here from madam fantilly i got to get your opinions on this and you know i'm starting with jesse on this one because it's a gold tenting situation it was just a weird peculiar crazy time in the blue ice in Toronto over the last week let me quickly give a cap in case people don't know what happened. So the Leafs were right up against the cap.

Matt Murray suffers a concussion. So they call up Joseph Wall to come in and fill in, which he did. Saturday night against Montreal, Ilya Sampsonoff started and the Leaf signed University of Toronto goaltender, Jet Alexander to an amateur deal, and he was the backup. He actually got to see a minute of action and we'll touch on that in a minute. Then they go out when the Frozen Four was done and signed their prospect, Matthew Nyes, finished his college season, and they found themselves within $3,750 of the salary cap. So they tried recalling Walligan on an emergency basis.

The NHL said, uh-uh, you can't do it. So yesterday, before their game against Tampa Bay, the Leafs had not one, but two amateur goalies at morning skate before a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Shortly thereafter, the league gave them special permission to actually call up Wall who started against Tampa Bay. And they had Matt Onuska as a backup, another amateur deal there. Thanks to James Myrtle for really recapping that well on the site. Go read about it. That's how I got all that into about a minute of talking. Teams have been pushing the cap for years, guys, and we've had to see them get creative.

But does this lead you to believe there needs to be a tweak as far as emergency callups go, so we don't have a possible University of Toronto goaltender playing a game that could mean something down the stretch. Jesse, our resident goalie expert. Oh, Rousseau just throws the jab in there. I understand both sides because it's like, when it's a forward, it's like, well, too bad. You're just playing with 11 forwards tonight. And you can do that. With a goalie, you can't.

You got to have one out there. But at the same time, you also can't just totally let teams off the hook for press. the cap and there's no punishment to pressing yourself up against the cap. So I'll propose a wild rule. If you have no cap space and you don't have the emergency exemption because you haven't had the injured player for a certain amount of days, whatever the situation was for Toronto, you can call up a goalie from the minor leagues, HL or ECHL, but the other team gets to pick which goalie you call up.

Tampa Bay gets to tell you, nope, you're not taking your top HL guy. you're taking your backup in the ECHL. He's playing tonight. Get him on a plane. And then that will prevent teams from doing it. And it will allow teams to have professional goalies in the net. That's my proposal. You know what?

We talk about players being more creative. Jesse Granger coming in with the creativity. Imagine Julian Breed by like, yeah, you know what? You're taking Jesse Granger. He's starting against us tonight. But yeah. No. Manage your cap.

that's the rule. You know, instead of Kyle Dubas following Matthew Nyes around for the last two months, and then eventually because of their cap situation, signing to a contract that I can't imagine the NHLPA was happy with that having no performance bonuses, you have to manage your cap correctly. And what if last night's game meant something to Tampa Bay? They got a special exception in the Leafs won.

That's not fair. It's not fair. So, sorry. You know, everybody else has to manage their cap correctly. They didn't have to sign. They didn't have to sign nice. If you didn't have enough cap space, sorry, you can get them next year. So I think the way the league constantly changes rules on the fly drives me crazy.

And it happens all the time. And this is just the latest. I got nothing to add because that was exactly what I thought. You know, everyone plays under these same rules. And like I said, we've talked about teams playing fast and loose with those rules. and the league has had to send out memos saying we're going to check on whether or not certain person is actually hurt. Well, you got a crack dad on this. And the nyes, the nye signing to me is the whole crux of this whole thing.

You wanted to sign him. And I heard Kyle Dubas said, well, we, Sheldon's never coached him before. We wanted him to get a little, you know, NHL experience in case we, you know, he is going to be on the playoff roster. Well, then you're going to be putting in a University of Toronto goaltender. You're not getting these special exemptions. So I'm with Russo 100% on this one. Real quick, though, the whole thing on Saturday night with Montreal. So the Leafs are winning 7 to 1.

There's about a minute left. And Samsonoff comes off and they let Jet Alexander, the University of Toronto goaltender, come in for a minute of glorious Disney-like NHL hockey that he can now hang his hat on. And the Montreal Canadians were upset. Chris Wydenman was saying, well, they'll get what they deserve in a little while.

how can you be upset at this? Jesse? Yeah, it's odd to me that they acted like it was a like rubbing it in their faces type of move when I don't think anybody else viewed it that way. It's odd. I will say that I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I do think that the more teams start to put these emergencies in like in the last minute. It does, it's going to lose the, it's like special. Luster.

It's going to lose the luster eventually if. It's happening five times a year where teams are just putting the back, the eBug in. And know what I mean? Like, I feel like it's such a rare thing when both goalies get hurt and the guys got to go in. I like the e bug. I think it's such an interesting, like, dynamic. It's such a special thing that you don't see in any other sport. And I think we can, we can lose that if we're playing guys just to play them in the last minute.

But at the same time, I can't see how you could see this as like rubbing it in someone's face and be mad about that. Yeah. This wasn't like David Ayers where it was an organic thing where Carolina had no choice but to use them. And he technically works for the Leafs and beats the Leaves. That was a great story. This one, I agree with you there. You know, Chris Weidman's comments. You know, to me it's, to me, they're embarrassed after a loss and he's probably just, you know, just, you know, probably saying things that probably a day later, he might just say that was probably a little bit overboard. You know, I don't, I don't think it's the biggest deal in the world. I know people have been dragging Chris Wyden through the mud on this, but to me, that's just an embarrassed hockey player after a loss. It's just using that as a, you know, as something to say. Maybe I'm wrong. You know, I've only interviewed Chris Biden once in my life, and that was in Arizona in December, and he was super cool to talk to and all that stuff. So, you know, I'm a little biased, probably a little bit bit there.

But, you know, you get embarrassed and then they throw in the eBug and you're a bunch of professional hockey players and you see that. you know, I'm sure that, you know, the media just picked him, happened to pick him that night, asked him about it, and he just probably said something five minutes after a game that he was embarrassed to be in. Give the kid a minute of NHL hockey, which is what they did. I got no problem with it. Speaking of someone who's probably going to be playing NHL hockey,

don't know if it's going to be soon or in a year from now, the Hobie Baker Award winner, Adam Fantilli. Russo and I had an opportunity to speak with him earlier today. and we'll hear from that after the break. Okay, so our next guest led the nation at scoring for Michigan, 65 points and 36 games. A Frozen Four appearance. When's the Hobie Baker Award?

And Russo, I don't ordinarily say this when we're going to start an interview, but we have a very limited amount of time with him because he's got to get to class. But that's what happens when you interview someone who is still in school. Adam Fantilli joining us on the athletic podcast. Congrats on a fantastic season.

Thanks so much for doing this. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on. So I know it just ended. The season just wrapped up. I listed a bunch of stuff that went really, really well for you, but have you had time to kind of put it into perspective,

you know, what's gone on over the last season? And forget looking forward for now, just what happened with Michigan this year, the run, your awards, your success. Have you had a chance to really put it into perspective? I mean, a little bit. The last couple days have been a bit of a whirlwind.

The team's just been kind of, of hanging out together and I've had to talk to a few people and just being around my family and stuff like that. It's had a little bit of a second to sink in, but the whole season's been a bit of a surreal experience. It's been amazing. This place is so special. What class are you going to, by the way? I got a public speaking class. So are you going to be giving a speech? I mean, how much will this help you in doing interviews down the road and things like that? I mean, it's actually unreal. She helped. me, she took a look at the, at the Hobie Baker speech to take a look at her, make sure it was all

good. The formatting was right. There's actually quite a bit of things in there that help out with stuff like that. It's really good. We should get our producer to send you, send this interview to your teacher just to break down and how you did on this one if it's actually working. Because the reason is right. I mean, that's going to help you throughout your career, right? Exactly. Maybe I'll get some extra credit for that. That'd be good. what was that whole experience in like i mean you know to go from obviously you know adam the disappointment of losing to quinapia and then you know stick it around for the hobie baker you're sitting between two gophers um what was that last couple days like for you and uh you know did it did

at least leave you with that gratifying feeling or was it still very tough yeah i mean obviously losing in the semis of the frozen fours gut ranching i mean we had so many amazing seniors that and that won't be coming back next year that I wish we were able to do more for those guys. But after that, after that night, we just kind of wanted to celebrate the season that we had. We got a lot done more than quite a bit of people thought we would have been able to accomplish. So we were all proud of ourselves. And I was really happy the whole team was able to stick around for the ceremony the next night. I meant a lot to me.

You know, you look at a season like this and Adam, I'm an older brother. oldest of three. And, you know, you love your brothers, but you want to, you know, slit their throat sometimes with the fight you have. You got to share this whole, you got to share this whole season with your brother, Luca. What was it like, you know, being not only a teammate, but a roommate and having your brother around for such a great season? Oh, yeah.

I mean, it was our fourth year running. We live in the same dorm room. Like, we do everything together. I mean, he's my best friend. I love being around him. I think just about anybody you ask will say they love being around. I mean, such a likable kid. He's such a social butterfly.

And he's always bouncing around meeting new people and stuff like that. So he's a good guy to meet always good guy to be around. But yeah, it's our fourth year doing it. I couldn't ask for anything more. I mean, not many people are fortunate enough to do the things that we've been able to accomplish together. And the Clark Cup, the Big Ten championship, and so many things in between. And so being able to experience all of that together has been amazing. I think that means the world for me.

Adam, I got some questions on Twitter that wanted to actually kind of go back to the decision to go to the U.S.HL for the Clark Cup and Michigan. What led you to come down here as opposed to maybe staying up in Canada where you were drafted in the OHL? Yeah. Well, first off, my first year in juniors was COVID, so the OHL didn't even play. I am also decent, I'm pretty close with Owen Power and Brendan Brasson and both of those guys played at the seal and they talked to me about the development model, how good it is there, how much they just tried to pump out hockey players into a hockey factory over there. So I went over there for my one year that was COVID. Loved it and I wanted to stay another year as opposed to going to the OHL. It was, I can't say enough great things about that place.

way they develop hockey players. It's next level. It's amazing. But in terms of my decision to go to college and not go to the CHL, there's so many reasons for me. I mean, playing with my brother is something that I just said is so special to me and would be to a lot of people. And also, I have a late birthday. So I would have been playing in the, in the OHL for three years before being eligible. Playing in the NHL is tough to do at 18. So, possibly coming back for a fourth year to be playing at 2007s at that point, as opposed to playing against 98s, 99s, guys that have been here, and guys that are men and are big and fast and strong.

So I think it was the right play for my development. You know, along those lines, Adam, I mean, it really has seemed to change the path to getting to the NHL because, you know, when I was a young kid, NCAA was the consolation prize. You couldn't get yourself into a team in the CHL. All right, let's see if I can get some free education, go to the NCAA. That's not the case anymore. So if you were to have someone who's a young star who's trying to make that decision,

CHL or NCAA, and they come to you because you've had the experience, you've been a Michigan Wolverine, you've won the Hobie Baker. What do you say to them? What are some of the positives that maybe Canadian kids don't necessarily see to playing in the NCAA? Yeah, I mean, the first thing right off the, bad is the level of play. It's really good. I mean, some people that might have Knox on the NCAA

because they're those older guys and don't have the so-called top-end talent that the CHL has, I say look at the past three drafts. I mean, 2015, or no, what am I saying? 2021 was for the top five, went to Michigan. I mean, you got guys like Luke Hughes, you got Nyes, Cooley. All these guys are coming through and making their mark in the NHL. So you can't have a knock on it.

And the development that I can only speak for Michigan, I can't speak for other schools. But what they're what they're doing here to develop hockey players and develop you as a man is really, really something special. Adam, just looking ahead here, obviously, this is going to be a whirlwind, you know, next. What, two months for you? You know, not only in school here, but you got the draft lottery coming up. You got the Combine. You got going to the Stanley Cup final, which is always a big thing for top prospects. And then obviously the draft in Nashville.

What is this next couple of months going to be like? Do you have a pretty good plan here? And what do you plan to be doing on the draft lottery day? I don't really know, maybe golfing. I don't know. Yeah, it's going to be a busy summer. I'm really excited for it. It's so many things that I've been looking forward to my whole life.

So I'm just going to try and enjoy the ride. It's going to be special. You know, it's this time of the year right around draft time where you hear all the experts because, you know, to be honest, even guys like myself and Russo, we don't necessarily get to watch every Michigan game. And you hear all the time, Adam Fantilli reminds me of a young, blank.

And that's just guys like us who watch a lot of games, but I want to know your answer to that question. If someone says, Adam Fantilli, you know, who do you model your game after? Who is someone you looked up to and you really try to play like that player? Who would that player be? I stumped them, Russo. I stumped them. Growing up.

Well, the reason is because I try to model my game after certain players, but I also realize that the players that are in the NHL are in the NHL and they're there for a reason and they're there because you lead at what they do. Growing up, I always loved Patrice Berserat. I'm a huge Bruins fan. And watching him really got me to pay attention to the 200-foot side of the game and try and take care.

And I know you can produce offense, but you want to be a plus player. You want your plus minus to be as high as possible. You want to be able to take care of it as much as you can on the defensive zone before heading over to the offensive zone and having your fun, right? So I watched him a lot growing up. And I'd say like I tried it to emulate a bit of Nathan McKinnon in my game as much as I can.

But he's Anthony McKinnon. I mean, it's hard to do. By the way, I'm looking at Twitter here and I got a tweet that says, tell him he's ready to go pro and doesn't need another year at Michigan. I think this is a big time Minnesota fan that just wants you to leave. it did feel like another really good Twitter question is it it just felt like you guys were a really tight-knit group at Michigan this year and Princess wants to know what your favorite team bonding moment was this season

the ones that you could talk about you know what I think there's two things in particular that really brought us close together. That set us apart. The first was the passing of our equipment of manager, Ian Hume. That was tough on a lot of the guys going to his funeral and being with his family and stuff like that was tough. And I'd say dealing with what happened to Stephen Holtz

when he was in the ICU with that virus and we didn't know what was going to happen. That was really scary. So that kind of brought us really close together. I know those probably aren't the answers that they're looking for, but I think it's really hard chips that brought us close together and what made us so tight to sure. Talk to me about, like, you know,

I don't might kind of alluded to it a couple minutes ago, but your plans, especially for the draft, but between now and the draft, I mean, we always hear about the meetings with the teams and talking to them and, you know, trying to make your best impression. But do you know what your next two months are going to look like as far as doing that and combines and workouts and everything else.

I know the season just ended, but paint us a picture of the next two months. Yeah, I mean, for the next probably two weeks, I'm going to stay off the ice, take a little break, give my body a rest, and then from then get back in the gym, start getting stronger and try and get ready for next season. Through that period, yeah, there'll be interviews,

there'll be meetings. It's going to be busy, yeah, but you just try and got to, you got to try and fit it in your offseason training, whenever you can, throughout that time period. So it's going to be busy, but pretty much, yeah, it's just after these two weeks, get back in the gym, get back on the ice, and start climbing towards the goal. Obviously, Brandon Dorado, I mean, he was thrust into a tough spot probably last summer. You know, it just feels like he just did a tremendous job this year with you guys. Tell us about him as coach and how he sort of handled that unexpected elevation to head coach.

He handled it amazing. I mean, stepping into, like, finding out midway through the summer, being on an interim tag. I mean, this guy, this guy came in and he was amazing from the start. He, like, did such a good job, everybody in the style of play that he wanted us to go after. And he's such a, he's such a player's coach. I mean, I love being around him. He went here and he's just, he's amazing to be around. And the way that he formed himself into having a head coach's attitude

throughout the season and becoming more comfortable with us and just learning to become a head coach is something that I thought he did an amazing job getting better at throughout the season. By the end of the season, you felt like he was a 20-year coach at Michigan and he's been to nine frozen fours, one national championships. He just had so much experience for us to go to him with. He was amazing for us. I love that.

Adam, this is the time of the year. We talk about it on every single show. We're looking at the standings. You're looking at playoff clinches. You're looking at, and I'm sure you're looking at the top of the standings. You said you're a Bruins fan. My God, what a year to be a Bruins fan. Yeah.

But don't lie to me. How often are you looking at the bottom five teams in the standings? Because, yes, this is a year where we have a year where we have a year. consensus number one in Connor Bedard, but every mock draft I'm seeing has Adam Fantilli sitting at number two. Are you looking at the possibilities of who could win that draft lottery, it would be second than that at draft lottery and maybe be your future? You know what, not a ton. I mean, I watch a ton of hockey, so you have a good idea of who's really good who's losing consistently. Honestly, I'm not really looking. I mean, I know the

general idea, but until the, uh, the balls drop, you don't really know much. So it's, uh, we're just waiting for that. How do you, Adam, like, you know, keep your eye on the ball, so to speak, and stay on, on, on firm ground, you know what I mean? I can't imagine being, uh, your age. You just win the Hobie Baker. Now you got to go back to college. You're, you know, go to public speaking class. You're about to get drafted. I mean, how do you sort of keep from looking too far ahead in the future and not sort of staying focused on the now? Yeah, it's exactly it. I mean, something that I work with a sports psych.

She's amazing. I think everybody should work with a sports site. She's done so much for me. But one thing we really focused on is being where your feet are, and that's something I try to live by. Wherever your feet are, be in that room, be with those people, be as present as you can and enjoy that moment. So being here with you guys, my feet are in this room.

I'm going to try and be as present as I can on this on a Zoom call, right? So just trying to enjoy the moment, enjoy every piece as it comes because it flies by. I mean, the freshman season, I can't believe it's over. It happens so fast and now it's done. So just trying to enjoy it as much as possible. It's interesting you bring that up because, you know, so many people or players your age now are focused on, I got to put on X amount of muscle. I got to increase my speed.

I got to, you know, work on my defensive zone coverage. and the mental side of the game sometimes gets forgotten. Aside from really making sure you're present, what else is this sports psychologist really helped you with? And is that something that maybe people don't know a lot of athletes are doing now, even before turning pro? Yeah, I mean, I won't get into everything we do together. But like setting deliberate goals, like going into practice,

I want to get X amount of shots off. I want to work on my pull shot, a shot, and deliberately focusing on it and talking to them through it after and how it felt when you got it right and when you got it the right way and trying to emulate the exact same feeling you had and just get the repetition down and become consistent with it. So mental side's huge. I mean, I've been working with sports like the last five years of my career and I think it's done wonders for me. Like I said, I think everybody should do the sports side. By the way, do you, somebody pointed out to me that you hold your hands pretty high in your

stick. Is that something that is different than most players? And where did that start at? Or is it not true? I don't know how other players hold their sticks. But that's just, I guess, what feels comfortable to me. I don't know. Maybe.

I don't know. I'll have to start looking at that. Yeah, don't let me mess up with your, like, thinking all of a sudden you're going to be thinking too much about it uh by the way have you been to national yet no i've never been to nashville you will enjoy it trust i heard it's an amazing city yeah i'm i'm heading there actually today uh it's it's it's one of my favorite cities and i mean honestly this draft uh what i'm looking forward to is if you think about it's 20 year anniversary of the 2003 draft which in my days covering the sport is is uh is without a doubt the best

draft that i've ever seen and um who's going to be there with you at the draft and is that going to be pretty emotional? Yeah, I mean, it's something you work for your whole life. It's a dream come true to have your name called. I'm bringing as many family and friends as I can and as many people that have had a hand and getting me to this point. So it's going to be surreal. I'm so excited.

All right, Russell, we got to let him go. He's got class. And if we are the reason he is late for class, we will never hear the end of it. Adam, thanks so much for doing this. Congrats again on a great season. And we'll talk to you in the future for sure. Absolutely.

Thank you guys so much for having me on. Yeah, the future Blue Jacket, Duck, Black Hawk, Shark, Hab, Coyote, Adam, until he joining us on the podcast. Thanks so much. Absolutely. Thank you guys so much. Rapid Fire. Coming up after the break, so don't go anywhere.

All right, guys, my favorite time of the show and yours, Rapid Fire. and we got a lot to go through. So, Russo, rapid fire. Rapid fire topic, number one. We've talked a lot about the playoff situation and teams clinching and everything, but we didn't really talk about Seattle. First playoff spot ever in franchise history,

and they did it in their second season. Coming off the heels of that 27 wins, 60-point debut season, how big is this turnaround for the Seattle Cracket? Russo. David Haxthold for the Jack Adams. done. It's amazing. I mean, it really is because, you know, like, it felt to me that Ron Francis had two hands tied behind his back before their draft after the way George McPhee masterfully took advantage of every single team in 2017.

And, you know, he wound up making no trades before the, before the, before his expansion draft. and he went about it a different way. They loaded up on picks, but they went out and made some big free agent signings. They're doing this to me with two goleas that are just, sorry, Jesse, subpar. But Seattle was just in here about two weeks ago, guys, and extremely deep up front, great blue line,

which is what they built around, if you remember. They had nine NHL defensemen. It felt like they took in that expansion draft. But none of us saw this coming. know the Pacific is big time down, especially with the two California teams in Vancouver. But man, like they, for them to do this this year and all of us naysayers, all of us skeptics all year long thought that they would just plummet and they just never did. I think it's quite impressive. Yeah, it's a cool story. And you mentioned a lot about how different they did

it from, from Vegas. I mean, they're doing this with building from within. Maddie Berners, high draft pick. They're developing, they're, like, they're not going out and signing the big free agents. We all thought they would after the, after the, they kept saying how salary cap is a weapon after the expansion draft. They're like, yeah, we didn't get any good players. But look at all this cap space we have and everyone's like, oh, they're going to be huge free agency players like the Golden Knights have been. They haven't at all. They've, they've done very few signings, smart signings. Berkovsky obviously was a good one. But I'm really hoping for a Vegas, Seattle first round matchup, just for the drama of the first, like, the two newest teams that have done it in opposite ways.

If Vegas wins, it's them kind of like, like, hey, settle down. We're still the, we're still the better expansion team. If Seattle wins, it's like, we're already ahead of you and we didn't mortgage our entire future like the Golden Knights have done. That would just be a fascinating drama-filled storyline. So I'm really hoping for that. Rapid fire topic number two, Luke Hughes, after Michigan was eliminated by Quinnipiac in the Frozen 4, signed a three-year entry-level deal with, yes, the New Jersey Devils.

Got to play with his older brother, made his debut last night. Got a nice front row seat for his older brother, Jack Hughes, to get point number 97 to set a new franchise record for the New Jersey Devils. I like seeing brothers play together. What do you think, Jesse? Yeah, very cool. Especially, like, this young, it's not like some guys that have been in the league forever, and they're finally getting to play together.

They're kids still, basically, and they're both awesome hockey players. So, yeah, it's a really cool. It seems like it's happening. Like, I feel like at every draft the last few years, it's like half the kids have the same name. It seems like it's happening more. Maybe this is just my recency bias. Like, I've actually been covering drafts for the last couple years. But it seems like there's a lot more brothers getting drafted around the same time.

What do you think, Rousseau? Remember when Jack Hughes freaked the heck out of the Vancouver marketplace when they, when they mentioned like, you know, oh, you know, and some day will have Quinn here too. It's like, it's pretty cool. But I think Jesse's point is outstanding, too. Like, you know, there have been really cool brother-brother stories throughout the league, obviously the Sutter's. But, you know, when Robin Scott Niedermeyer played together at Anaheim, they had all, they had both been in the league a long, long time. When Pavel and Valborre played together in Florida, they had both been in the league a long long long time. This is just going to be so cool

to watch these two develop together. I mean, Jack obviously had a record-breaking season for the Devils, but he's still super young, and now Luke is going to be there with him. And actually, that's one of the things that we probably should have asked Fantilli about is I got to think that everybody on that Michigan team got together to watch Luke Hughes's debut. Real quick brother's story, I remember seeing an interview with Phil Esposito, where he played his, Tony Esposito played his first game against his brother, Phil. And Phil called home, and his mom said, well, how did Tony do? He said, he did really well.

He only allowed two goals. It was a two-two tie. He did really well, and she goes, well, how did you do? He said, well, I scored both goals. So talk about Big Brother really helping you out there. Topic number three, Bo Horvatt. Throw a little shade at the Vancouver Canucks. He was doing a postgame interview.

He was asked what it's like to be part of this playoff race. And he said, quote, I mean, it's unbelievable. A lot better than Vancouver. I'll tell you that for free. And walked off. He later apologized because obviously people in Vancouver were not happy. He said, I didn't mean any disrespect to the fans of Vancouver or my teammates or the city. it wasn't directed at them.

The fans were all excited. Went on to say, let his emotions get the better of him. I don't know about you guys, but I laughed. Russo, we start with you. Yeah,

I laughed at as well. I mean, everybody needs always to have a reason to feel disrespected and lose their mind. And this is the latest one. I mean, you know, if I was a Canucks fan,

I would just laugh at it. You know, Po Horv had enjoyed his time in Vancouver. He was in playoff games in Vancouver. This was just an emotional time. They still, by the way, if karma is a bitch, they're not in the playoffs yet.

So we'll see what happens. Yeah, if you're in Vancouver and you are super upset about this and it's disrespectful, you are too soft. We should not be soft as hockey fans. We love hockey for the chirps and the hits and come on. Like, it reminds me of, it reminds me of Eichol when he went back to Buffalo.

and after the game, he's like, yeah, it was nice of them to finally get into the crowd to finally get into the game. All it took was me leaving. And the fans in Buffalo lost their minds. It's like, you love when the hockey players are chirping on the ice. But then when they chirp, you, come on. Like, we should not be getting upset at these guys. We need more of that. I'm not saying every player needs to chirp his host, the city he played for. But when these things happen organically, they are great. As hockey fans, we should embrace it. Don't be too soft. do we do when we hear the same old cliche answers over and over again? We complain. We don't want to hear both pucks in deep, given 110 percent.

The good Lord willing, we'll get a couple points and move on. No, no, I want to hear this. This is awesome. So, yeah, I mean, it wasn't anything. Just relax everybody in Vancouver. Two more topics, guys. The NHL officially announced they're going to be heading down under. Melbourne, Australia, are going to host two preseason games between the coyotes and the Kings

as part of their global series. the first ever games played in the Southern Hemisphere. It's going to be a fun one to watch time-wise, time zone-wise, isn't it, Jesse? Yeah, that's cool. I didn't know it was the first one in the Southern Hemisphere. That's very cool. Interesting choice of teams, but very cool that they're going to be playing in Australia. I think it should be fun.

Like you said, I didn't really think about that. Time zone, I don't know if we're going to watch the game, but if we are able to watch the game, it'll be fun. I'll catch the highlights. Yeah, I want to get the athletic to send me. You know, it is an interesting, I would love to know how they picked those teams, because I do think a lot of teams did bow out. I know one here in Minnesota. Originally he was interested, and then they started really do the math on how this could affect the start of next year.

And I think a lot of teams were a little worried about that. I mean, this is not, you know, it's not around the corner, right? It's, what, 17 hours from LAX to get there? um yeah it's a trip it's a trip but i don't know about you guys i've never been to australia i would love to cover it uh yeah for two preseason games yeah that that's a good excuse to head to austria i'm just i'm just i just keep on reiterating that fact to try to get jeff domet our incredible producer to just put in a pitch for me to do this podcast from from melbourne next year, I think he needs to just, like, get on the editors to say San Rousseau.

And Pizzo and Granger. Yeah, exactly. Done. Final one, guys, coyotes file a $2.3 billion claim against the city of Phoenix over arena issues. They said they were, they're countersuing, actually, for $2.3 billion in damages, saying Phoenix and Sky Harbor were trying to tank the new entertainment district. Is there ever any good news coming out of?

Was that damn place? Or are we always just making fun of arena names and talking about lawsuits? Well, I think the big scoop is that maybe next season they're going to play in Australia. I mean, that might be what's going to happen to happen. Isn't it? I mean, it really is just crazy. The saga of just years and years and years of this since they moved out of America West Arena is just, it's exhausting to even try to keep up with. But, you know, everything that we hear is still on May 16th, that boat's going to go through

and they're going to get that thing approved in Tempe. We'll see. Yeah. It's the day there's no crazy news about the coyotes in their arena will be, I'll be surprised. Total disaster. It's like that couple that's always like fighting and breaking up. You're like, just tell me when it's all done. Right. And they're officially broken up and we don't need to hear about it anymore. All right. That's it for, wow. Rapid fire went pretty quick.

That a boy, Russo. What are we working on this week, boys? Mike, we'll start with you. Uh, playoff preview stuff. Uh, if the wild play, the Dallas Starzada and I and Shana Goldman were working on a big, uh, Robertson, pre-suff, uh, you know, back and forth. We're doing a big thing, uh, on Philip Gustafin, a lot of really cool stuff, uh, on the horizon here as the NHL playoffs begin. Yeah, I've got a lot of preview stuff coming up for the playoffs for the Golden Knights. Uh, got a Jack Eichel piece I'm working on playing his first playoffs in nine years in the NHL. He's excited for it.

and another kind of playoff preview piece. I won't give out too many details, but a piece I've been working on for a few months on three of the best goalies in the NHL and what connects them. So that'll be out there. I knew that it had something to do with goalies. By the way, speaking of Eichol,

I forgot to mention this when we did speak to Fantilli, one of three freshmen to ever win the Hobie Baker Award, Adam Fantilli, Paul Correa, and Jack Eichol. So pretty elite company there. Thanks, boys. for another great show. And I want to let everybody know that if you're listening to us,

you could also see us if you want. Head to YouTube. We've got our own YouTube channel at YouTube.com slash the athletic hockey show. And the athletic hockey show returns Thursday with Ian Mendez and down goes Brown.

I want to say once again, big thanks to Adam Fantilli. Just such a cool, well-spoken dude. Can't wait to see this guy handle media in the NHL on a regular basis. The Roundtable returns next Wednesday. And yep, we're talking

first round of the NHL playoffs. For Russo, for Jesse, I'm Pizzo. We'll talk to you next week.