The Athletic Hockey Show - Alex Ovechkin sets record for 40 goal seasons, Matt Boldy's Minnesota Wild tie for Central lead and Jared Bednar extended in Colorado with the Avalanche

Episode Date: March 22, 2023

On the Wednesday Roundtable, Rob, Jesse and Russo marvel at Alex Ovechkin who set the NHL record with the most 40 goal seasons, they discuss Jared Bednar's three year extension with Colorado and take a look at the playoff races in the East and West, with Florida and NY Islanders vaulting past Washington and Pittsburgh, and Winnipeg and Seattle holding on in the West over Calgary and Nashville.Matt Boldy from the Minnesota Wild stops by, on the heels of his last second overtime goal against New Jersey Tuesday night, and the Wild's rebound since the all-star break which sees them tied for first in the Central Division. Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowStart making your financial dreams a reality with Chime. Get started at http://chime.com/nhlshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is The Athletic Hockey Show. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to another fantastic edition of the Athletic Hockey Show, the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. I am Rob Beasel from CBC Sports, joined as always by Jesse Granger in Vegas and Rousseau in, I'm assuming, still New Jersey, correct? Yeah, catch a train.

Actually, our guest today, Matt Boldie has a train right at the same time as mine. Unfortunately, I don't get to go on the really cool charter train that the Minnesota Wild gets to go on. I'm on a regular train with all the slowly folks. Doesn't look like it, though, does it, Jesse? We were joking right before we started recording this podcast. Rousseau's usually got a hat on, a t-shirt, whatever. He looks all gussied up.

People can see it now on the YouTube channel for the athletic hockey show. But yeah, you look like you actually dressed up for the train trip. He looks like he's ready for a charter train. Yeah, exactly. It's like the 40s when they used to, you get on an airplane or a train, you put a suit on. But, yeah, as Resort actually mentioned, yeah, go ahead. Like the full disclosure is that it's a two-game trip.

I only brought one sports code. So I sort of have to wear the sports code on the train. And because of that, I couldn't put on a sweatshirt or something like that. So there you go. All right. All right. Well, people are going to tune in to see how you look now. But as you mentioned, Matt Boldie is going to be joining us from Minnesota Wild.

And sometimes just things work out in favor of whoever books a guest. I don't know how you can have a better lead-up for a guest who has a hat trick and then follows that up with a buzzer-beater in overtime. But that's what Matt Boldie's done his last two games. He's going to celebrate by talking to us. So make sure you tune into that one in the second half of the show. That's the first thing I said to him in the post game locker. I'm like, man, we picked a good day to have you on the podcast in the morning. How much are you looking forward to that?

Just crazy. But we go through everything throughout the week, as regular listeners know. so we've got to talk a little bit about everything. And when, you know, we usually, just to let people know how this show kind of works, we have a document and we're constantly adding and subtracting stories that we want to talk about. And then there's always the question of order. And at least for me, guys, when a Wayne Gretzky record gets broken, I put it at the top of the show.

So I'm going to put this at the top of the show. I know we've talked a lot about Alexander Ovechkin and his goal scoring prowess over his 17 years in the NHL. But last night, he scored his 40th goal the season. His 13th 40-goal season, passing the great one for the most in NHL history. Of course, Gretzky had 40 goals in 12 of his 20 NHL seasons. Ovechkin has at least 40 goals in all but three of his 16 full NHL seasons. The only time he didn't score 40, 2010, 2011 in that brief, what's wrong with Alexander Ovechkin phase?

then in 2012, 2013, when it was shortened by a lockout, and then in 2020, 2021, when the season was short because of COVID. So really, guys, this speaks to what we always talk about with Alexander O'Hatchkin, elite goal scorer, but the most consistent goal scorer ever, and now he's got the numbers to prove it. Russo, we'll start with you. Yeah, I mean, look, he scored two against the wild the other night, and he does it.

I mean, I've never seen a guy that you know where he's going to shoot from, And he just scores. And it's just, it truly is amazing. And as you mentioned, Rob, I mean, imagine what his numbers would be at. We probably be talking already as him as the, we, I don't think probably would be, as the all-time leading goals score in NHL history already if it wasn't for those two, three interrupted seasons that he's had. He's just, you know, to me, the best goal score that I've ever seen in my, in my days covering the sport.

I was laughing when you were introducing him because when he scored two goals, the other night against Washington. Mark Parrish was doing pre-imposed, and I told him I was going to start calling him a two-time almost 30 goal score because he's because he, because he had 29 one year and obviously top 30 the other time. Sorry. Sorry, Perry. And I told by the way, Audra Martin to open every segment with Mark Parrish by saying that from now on. But he's just a special guy. That's why the Florida Panthers tried to draft him in like the fifth, seventh, and ninth rounds in 2003. Yeah, Ovechka, you mentioned how many times he's obviously had the 40 goal season now. To me, the most impressive part about it is all those seasons that Gretzky had with 40 or more goals,

not a single one came after he was 30. His last 40 goal season was in his 30-year-old season. And Ovechkin is now doing it at 37. And this is the fifth time he scored 40 or more since he turned 30. Just incredible. Like you look at these two players' careers. We're obviously going to compare them until the end of times right now, the way he's chasing his record. That's what really stands out is the fact that Ovechkin is doing this at a much older age than Gretzky did.

Obviously, Gretzky racked up a lot more goals early in his career, but the longevity of Ovechkin's goal scoring ability is ridiculous. With no signs of slowing down in any way, shape, or form. That's it. It's not as if we're seeing that slow decline. where suddenly a 30 goal season is a big deal, a 25 goal season's a big deal. No signs of slowing down. And how many people could say they have a chance in one season to break two Gretzky

goal scoring records? Because if Alexander Obedchkin is able to score 10 more goals in Washington's final 10 games, which is not out of the realm of possibility, he will pass Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the most 50 goal seasons with 10. And I've heard a lot of people I saw it last night on Twitter too kind of mocking the 40 goal season. Like really, are we counting 40 goal seasons? The 50 goal season is the benchmark. If he could, if he scores 10 more goals and you have more 40 and 50 goal seasons than anyone in history, I don't care if he retires tomorrow. He's the greatest goal scorer that ever lived.

You know what I've wondered awesome off often. And I love one day Jesse for you to ask George McPhee this, but I wonder if Alex regrets that 13 year 120, what was it, $24 million deal that he signed in like 2008. Because, I mean, if you think about it, he's made nine and a half pretty much his entire career. And I mean, this is a guy that should be a $14, $15 million player all this time. And he got ahead of the game. The Caps, I thought, did a great contract at the time. I think at the time, a lot of people like, whoa, what are you doing? But in hindsight, you know, you kind of wonder if George McPhee feels like that was one of the best business decisions that he's ever made. Yeah, I mean, he's making money from those life insurance commercials, though, with, uh, if

He's not off though, right? So he'll be all right. Good point. So the eyes will still be on Alexander Ovechkin. He's sitting at 820. Gretzky at 894 and records are falling. Let's keep moving on, guys. Head out to Colorado because Jared Bednar

going to be sticking around there, probably for the next few years, signed a three-year extension with the avalanche. You know, you look at what he's done in his career. Just wins at every level. He's the only coach ever to win. an ECHL title, the Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays in 09, a Calder Cup title with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016, and then, of course, that big silver trophy they give out at the end

of every NHL season. And it seems like just yesterday, going into the playoffs last year, people were saying, if this team doesn't make a run, his job is in serious jeopardy, and now he's got a little bit more, a little bit more of a cushion with this three-year extension. What are your thoughts on this, Jesse? Yeah, I'll admit, I was one of the people. people who was, I don't want to say low on Jared Bednar because I didn't think he was a bad coach, but I thought he was, I thought the avalanche were underperforming under him.

I was pretty critical of Bednar, especially the year before they lost to Vegas. So I was up close watching this when they lost to the Golden Knights in the second round. And it just felt like he got out coached. Like I thought he wasn't making adjustments. The Golden Knights started shutting them down the neutral zone and they really struggled. And I was, I was one of the people saying, if he doesn't get it done this, year, you've got to find another coach because this team's too talented. And he clearly has found a way to get it done. And then now this year, sometimes coaches have to do their best coaching in years that

aren't as impressive. Like this isn't the president's trophy that they've had the last couple seasons. But with all these injuries, he's had to do a lot more coaching this year than in past years. You look down this lineup and there are a lot of young players playing major roles for this team. And they're still finding a way to be in playoff position. I saw a last. I saw a lot of Last year with Vegas, when big players go down, it's very easy to miss the playoffs. And this team has not done that. I think Bednar has done a great job. And I've definitely turned around my opinion.

I was one of the people kind of saying he should be on the hot seat. Not anymore. He deserves the three-year extension. He's a great coach. And if you remember, when he was originally hired, it was what August of 2016. And I was actually in front of the Pepsi Center at the time when Patrick Waugh resigned suddenly. that earlier a couple weeks earlier I was like up there for trampled by turtles concert or something and and I was driving and I was driving up to up the mountain to go to go to this concert

and all of a sudden the news comes out right in front of the Pepsi Center that Patrick Waq quit and you're just like what the heck two weeks later they hired Jared Bedmar it straight off the Calder Cup if I remember correctly but I remember that first year they had like 22 wins they had like 40 something points everybody is like this guy must be the worst coach in the world. They lose the lottery and fall into that awful defenseman, Kail McCar. Um, you know, like, and you just, you start to think like, you know, you know, next year they get 40 wins. I think they, they, they lost in the first round. Um, but you just wondered like, all right, at some point, though, will there be that time where Joe Sackick and eventually Chris McFarland

make that move and hire the coach that they probably wanted to be the heir apparent to Bednar when they first hired them? You know, sometimes you think as a placeholder. And he's, They were patient with them. I think he's grown as a coach. We've seen him hold his stars accountable. And he's just got this presence, you know, just being around them during the Stanley Cup final last year when I was covering it for us. Like, he's just, he does have this really cool presence about this team.

And he could sure coach. And, you know, I think it's a great move by the organization to get him locked down, obviously. And I think that we're starting to see a Colorado team right now that's just primed to take over this conference. They're on fire. I think they're going to win the division. and there's just there's just that team right now is I think maybe earlier this year when they were

banged up got also got a little bored now they're suddenly realizing they got their eye on what really matters and it's a second straight cup and we'll see if they can do it well that leads us into that let's talk a little bit about the playoff races because we're certainly at the point of the year where I don't know about you guys I'm constantly looking at the standings way more than I do any other time especially you look at the west I mean you take the teams that are in the top top three positions in each division. You add the four teams that are battling for a wildcard spot, and the number of points that separate them are sitting at a grand total of 12, which is just bananas in the West,

a five or six game winning streak, and suddenly you go from a wildcard team to first overall in the conference. What's most intriguing to you? We'll start the West. We'll hit both conferences, but we'll start in the West, Jesse. What really jumps out to you as a guy who covers a team who's now sitting in first place in the conference. Yeah, I mean, it's, they're winning too. This isn't a case of teams are all bunched up because nobody can pull away. Like the Golden Knights have the best record since the

All-Star break in the entire NHL. They're like, I think 13 and two or something. And they're tied with the Kings atop the Pacific. Actually, I think they took a two-point lead last night. But basically, every night, those two are either two points away or tied. And yeah, it's just, it's really jumbled. There's 12 games. The Golden Knights play pretty much all Pacific Division. and Western Conference opponents from here out. So these teams are going to be playing each other a lot. So, you know, the whole cliche four-point game, those really matter when the standings are this tight.

Like, it's going to swing a lot. These games are going to be fun. I don't remember the last time there were like this many meaningful games, not just to make the playoffs, but for the standings. And that can make a big difference with the seating matchups and everything. It's going to be a lot of fun. I guess to me, the most intriguing team is probably Calgary. They had the highest expectations.

coming in. I think they were the favorites to win the Pacific Division, them or Edmonton, and they haven't been good for most of the year, but it does look like they're playing a little better. Jacob Markstrom's playing a little better in net. I think that if they do get in, they can be a tough matchup. They've got the talent, obviously. If everything clicks, they're a physical, heavy team that kind of thrives in playoff style hockey. I don't think, I think teams in the West would rather not play Calgary, would be my guess. What do you think, Michael? Yeah, I would agree. I think a lot of teams are hoping to finish first so they could play Winnipeg. You know, I mean, Winnipeg right now, they're just, if they get in, they just do not look like a formidable opponent by any stretch of the imagination.

It just has not, have not played well for some time. Nashville is a weird team, too, right? I mean, you know, obviously we had David Poil on a couple weeks ago. He made some moves to essentially start the retooling of that franchise. Then they go to places like New York get their butts kick, but then they rebound. figure out a way, you know, in terms of points percentage, they're right on, they're, technically in ninth, you know, ahead of Calgary, because they have three games in hand. I'm kind of intrigued, though, what's what's going on in the Central Division guys. I mean, you know, again, it's just jockeying for a while last night after the Wild beat the

Devils in overtime on Boldie's an overtime winner, right at the buzzer. The Wild were actually in first place for the first time all year. and then Jamie Ben says, hold my beer and scores with seven-tenths of a second before the Dallas stars did the normal losing in the overtime. They have 14 overtime loss points this year. You know, so, you know, that is unbelievable. And so you have this Dallas, Minnesota jockeying right now, but then you have Colorado sitting there right from behind. They've won seven of the last 10 games. They have two games in hand on both of them, only two points behind. And I think a lot of us just expect, especially because I think Dallas and Colorado have the easier schedules that Colorado is going to wind up winning the division and Dallas and Minnesota are going to be playing each other in the first round.

And Dallas has played really well against the wild, you know, not just this year, but for many years. So it's just going to be really interesting. I think what happens in the central, the rest of the way here. You mentioned Dallas and the loser point. Sorry. Dallas and the loser point. They are, they have 90 points. They're atop the division.

If you just take away all their loser points, which I think we should, they're not even close to the playoffs. They're way outside the playoffs. Like they're like in 10th place and probably have no chance of making the playoffs. Just thought I'd mention that. Not that. I will say, I will say conversely, you know, a team like the Wilde, I think they lead the league in overtime and shootout wins. So, you know, you could almost say, all right, you know, if that's flipped, it's the same thing. That's just the league that we're in.

It's how they keep everything close. But you're right. I mean, I used to joke all the time back when this was a, you know, back in the day, you made the playoffs. and you could have pretty much be a 500 team, right? Or, or, and, you know, you theoretically in the tie system could go, oh, oh, in 82 with that and, and make the playoffs. And it just seems like, you know, it just seems like the Dallas stars are putting that to the test right now. I remember talking to Pete DeBore at the All-Star game. Jesse, if you remember that, we were talking about like some changes that could happen in overtime.

He just, I just want to win one of these games once in a while because at the time they were also leading the league in overtime and shootout losses. And then over in the East, for me, the most intriguing is just down at the bottom, the race for the wild card, because could we have a Stanley Cup playoffs without both the Penguins and the Capitals in there? I mean, we haven't seen the Penguins miss the playoffs since 0506, the Capitol since 2014. I mean, Ottawa and Buffalo hats off for making it exciting, but that's not going to happen. but I mean, is it going to be Florida and the islanders in those wild card spots? What's more exciting as a hockey fan? What do you guys think as far as those two wildcard spots go? Because I just, it seems weird to me to think no Crosby or Ovechkin in the playoffs.

Russo? Yeah, I don't think they're making it. I think Florida's getting in. And I definitely think the Islanders are getting in. I mean, they got maybe the best goalie in the world right now in Sorokin. You know, sorry to Linus Allmark. but I mean, Sorokin, the guy is just unbelievable too. But I just, I don't know what's going on with the penguins.

And I will say, as a media member, I am thoroughly entertained by right now the beat writers in Pittsburgh just like trying to outrage each other. It's like every single day. It's just like, who can write the nastier story about the penguins? And so I think it would almost be funny if they go get into the playoffs and like, here, here's your gift for doing that playing the Boston Bruins in the first. round. I think Florida makes it really disappointed with the Buffalo savers. You know, I just cannot believe the way that they've fallen down here, you know, losing what,

eight of the last 10 games at least and just, you know, getting spanked against teams that they shouldn't get spanked. It's, I think it's other whole mice. Yeah, exactly. You know, and that game, obviously it's the Bruins is the Bruins, but on a second of a back to back with travel coming from Minnesota to Buffalo, which is not an easy flight. Um, uh, really, really interesting. And the other team that does intrigue me right now or the Rangers, doesn't it feel like right now they are just finding themselves? They're suddenly

they put in all these pieces like Kane and Teresenko and they just suddenly look like a team that is realizing how good they could be. Yeah, I totally agree with all that. In terms of hockey fans, what's the most exciting? I think you're looking at those top teams, Caroline and Boston.

Who are they going to play in the first round? And to me, if they're playing Pittsburgh and Washington, We've seen this story a million times, and they aren't going to beat them. Not that the Islanders and Panthers are going to beat them, but I think there's a little more intrigue there, and Michael mentioned it, Ilya Sorokin, if there's someone that can cast doubt in the Bruins and can give us a series, I already see it in my head right now. Ilya Sorokin, 46 save shutout, game one, Islanders are up, and everyone in Boston goes,

oh no, here we go. if there's a guy who can take that Boston team down on his own, it's Ilya Sorokin. I want to see it. I want to see the Islanders against Boston. I don't think they're going to win. I think the Bruins are way better. And they've got a goalie that's just as good behind an even stronger team in Allmark. But that's the way you take down, like the only way one of these wildcar teams can take down a team as good as Boston is with a goalie that just loses his mind for four out of seven games.

And if there's a guy that can do it, it's Allmark. So I think from an entertainment perspective, I would much rather see the island. And like, same thing with like Panthers hurricanes. I think the Panthers can skate with the hurricanes. They haven't played well this season. They've, we keep expecting this team to be the, the team of last year in terms of the offense they can score. And they just haven't.

But I believe they can turn it on more than a Pittsburgh or a Washington. So from, from an entertainment in the first round perspective, I'd rather see Islanders and Panthers in there. Rob, don't you think this podcast deserves Boston versus the Islanders just to see Jesse just geek out for seven games with Allmark and Sorokin? I was about to say, I hope you enjoy a triple overtime zero zero, you know, type series. We'll see it like I as someone who's known to wager a dollar or two on the outcome of a hockey game under under under blindly put whatever number. If it's two and a half, I'm like under. You know, it's just there's no way that's going to be a high scoring series.

But maybe every time I say that, that it's like, well, the score after three periods is seven to five Bruins. One more story, guys, before we get to break in Matt Boldie. And it's a story that just seems to keep coming up on not only our show, but anyone who talks hockey. It involves pride jerseys and it reared its ugly head again this week. In case you've been living under a rock, if you remember earlier this season, Ivan Prover, off boycotted his team's scheduled Pride night in January. Days later, the Rangers said they're not going to have a Pride-themed jersey night as they had originally scheduled.

Earlier this month, the Wild declined to wear Pride jerseys during warm-up. And now James Reimer enters the discussion. He refused to wear a Pride jersey during warm-up, saying it was because of his religious beliefs. He released a statement, and the statement ended with the following, quote, I strongly believe that every person has value and worth and the LGBTQIA plus community, like all others, should be welcomed in all aspects of the game of hockey, end quote. But I'm not going to wear their jersey.

When you saw this story and everything that came out after it, is it starting to get a little exhausting seeing this, or is this just almost, I hate to say it, but the tip of the iceberg is this not going to go away? Rousseau. Yeah, I don't think so that it is going to go away. And I think that definitely the precedent has been set. You know, I am one of those people that think that everybody should, you know, that everybody should have their own beliefs and you're able to do what you want and freedom and all that stuff. But I just think that in this situation, I just think, you know, I don't know. I don't like it. I don't like what it says to, you know, look, Luke Propec the other day puts out the statement and just imagine him walking into that locker room now. and if he's going to ever feel comfortable, if he ever played for the sharks or with James Reimer. And it just felt like we're going backwards there. And then, you know, I don't like the.

And I will preface this by saying that I am not the most religious person in the world. But I just, I do, I'm very cynical when people blame or not blame. That might be the wrong word. But use religion as an excuse because it does feel like certain parts of everybody's religion, is cherry picked here. And there's a lot of things as a devout Christian that or Catholic that James Reimer basically is a hypocrite about every single time. Every time he plays a game on Sunday.

It's it's great. You know, so I don't know. I just, I didn't like it. And I do think that this is going to be a topic in the NHL offices on how best to handle this because I think that the majority of teams are trying to do the right thing here. with these pride nights. And then it just takes it, you know, when one guy does this, it just takes away from everything else that they're trying to do good.

And, you know, I think that I do think the sharks handled it right. Like, I think that it was smart to get ahead of it and not do what the Wilde did a couple weeks ago and almost, you know, pretend like it, you know, let's hope that people don't realize that we're not wearing the jerseys. So at least here, they handle it in from that perspective. Yeah, I agree with Michael Vitt. I do not like the message it sends when a player doesn't want to wear a jersey. And then he comes out with the statement that basically says the opposite of what message he's sending by not wanting to wear the jersey.

Rob read the quote. Everyone from this community is welcome in the NHL. Except your actions just showed the exact opposite. And I just don't, it's talking out of both sides of your mouth. I don't like putting out a statement that says, I am totally welcoming everyone into hockey, except for if you want me to wear this jersey that shows that, I'm not doing it, because that's what the jerseys show. The jerseys are designed to show everyone's welcome in hockey.

And if you agree with that, you have no problem wearing the jersey because that's all it signifies. The jersey isn't signifying you're a member of that community or anything else that these players are acting. like it signifies. All these jerseys are meant to signify is that this group of people, everyone in the world, is welcome in hockey. And if you don't want to wear the jersey, to me, you're saying they're not. That's right along the lines of what Brian Burke said in response to this as well. I'll read you his quote. Excuse me, quote, I wish players would understand that the pride jerseys or pride sweaters are about inclusion and welcoming everybody. A player wearing pride colors or tape isn't endorsing a set of values or enlisting in a cause. He's saying you are welcome

here and you are in every single NHL building, end quote. And I said this during the Proverov situation as well. That's all this is. And I think people are missing the point a lot of the same way they miss the call at Kaepernick point and everything else that you see all the time. If James Reimer is doing this and there's someone on his team who is part of that community and maybe hasn't let anyone know about it, you're saying to this player, I don't have your back. I'm not going to have your back.

I can't even do the bare minimum, which nobody's asking you to be an advocate publicly or march and parades or anything. They're asking you to wear a jersey just to say, hey, guys, as the NHHL's been pumping in our face for years now, if you can play, you can play.

You're welcome in this dressing room. And certain players are flat out saying, no, absolutely not. And I agree with everything that both of you just said, the message it sends out for the league as a member of that team, just as a whole, it's just it's ugly. It's just not, it's not what hockey usually is about, which is, you know, you fight for the crest on the front of your jersey and the guy sitting next to you in the dressing room. It just doesn't feel that to me. And I've said this before, and I know it's got me in hot water on Twitter with some people that. that are offended by what I'm saying,

but the people that are getting up in arms in support of these actions, it is so hypocritical to reaction. I mean, they're acting like freedom, freedom, you have your own personal beliefs and all that stuff.

If all of a sudden a player tomorrow would say, you know what, I'm not going to take part in U.S. military appreciation night, those same people would be flipping the heck out. Okay, so it is about the jersey specifically

that these people are getting up and arms about. Absolutely. It's going to agree. more. And unfortunately, I think Russo might be right. This is, I don't know if this is going to go away because I really thought after the Pro Rob situation, people or teams or players would be a little afraid to step out on that ledge like that. And it just doesn't seem that way. So, and we've seen multiple cases now. And I will be, I'll be interested to see how the league handles this.

Right. Because, I mean, you know, it's just because it takes these instances, if it's going to just continue to grow and grow and grow, it really does take away of what events all about. So do you just go back to like, you know, all right, we're going to have, you know, hockey fights cancer night and we'll have the military appreciation. And that's it. And no more special jerseys, but we still do these nights. Do we just have one all-encompassing night that celebrates everything? Like, at some, the league is going to have to actually have to have a conversation about this because next season, this is not just going to stop. It's probably going to become more of a thing. And, you know, again, I actually feel bad for, like, you know,

in Philadelphia, there's a great example is that those players tried, you know, James Van Ramesdike, and who was it, Scott Lawton? They tried to do this incredible thing. And yet all the story was about was Proveroff, Proveroff, Proveroff. And that becomes, it's even with the while the other night, you know, it's like the Jersey became the talking point, but not all the initiatives that were going on actually at the arena that night or what John Merrill did and bringing out people and giving them a suite and things like that, that was not what was talked about. And so if this is going to continue to be this distraction, you don't want to give the players it out by saying, all right, we're not going to have jerseys on any team. But the league is going to have to have an honest

discussion this year on what's going to go into future seasons. So this doesn't become the distraction where it just takes away from what they're trying to achieve. Well said, Mike. We'll leave it there coming up after the break matt boldie of the minnesota wild we gave him a night of rest because he's had a pretty busy couple of games and he's to come on to talk to us about hat tricks buzzer beaters and everything else minnesota well all right guys i know in march it's not a shocker to see buzzer beaters but usually we're talking college basketball when we're talking about buzzer beaters but last night matt boldie pulled off one for the wild in overtime and that was fresh off a hat trick too so he has two crazy good games and then he comes on and talks to us matt boldie

the Minnesota Wilde joining us on the athletic podcast. Thanks so much for doing this. Yeah, of course, no worse. Got to start with the OT goal. How much gas did you have left in the tank? Because, you know, you get the pocket of your own zone, and it felt like one of those video games where the turbo's almost out, and I'm just sitting there just make it.

If you get to shot, this thing could go in. How much gas was in the tank for that OT goal? Yeah, there wasn't. much, to be honest. It was kind of just put your head down and go as much as you could. But, I mean, I wasn't too sure about how much time was left either. So it honestly helped me out. It didn't stress me out too much. Matt, as a, first of all, as a huge Pats fan, I got to think that you liked that you celebrated right in front of Eli Manning yesterday. I don't know if you saw that, that picture of you celebrating and right behind you is a very bummed Eli Manning. But I wanted to

know, so after the game last night, maybe. Jason show was saying that him and Dure and Duhaym were on the bench giving you grief as you were going back on the back check chasing Jack Hughes saying to get the piano off your back. Did you actually hear that from the bench or do you not hear stuff like that? Not from the bench, but I hear it about every other game from those three. Yeah, they're some of my best friends. So we're definitely not afraid to chirp each other. And that's one that I get quite a bit from those three. And what was funny is yesterday morning when I was talking to you about coming on the podcast at the morning skate, Shaw was said to you to make sure to give them credit for all the work that they do for you guys.

Yeah, exactly. All those guys are great. Like I said, they're some of my best friends. So they make this whole experience and playing in the NHL even more fun. And just have some of your best friends with you. We've mentioned your two-game stretch. What's better? Hat trick or a buzzer beater in overtime?

I'll take either one. I'm not going to be too picky about it. But I'll take the hat trick before the buzzer beater. Matt, I've gotten to know your family really well. You know, I've met your stepmom, your mom, your dad, your brothers, your stepbrothers, everything. Your dad is somebody that I've gotten really immense amount of respect for. I mean, he's a police officer. that's assigned to the D-8.

We were in Boston this year, and the next day he had some big bust planned, and he said that's like his game day. What was it like growing up in that type of environment, and how much you just respect, you know, how big of an influence was that on you growing up? Yeah, I think it played a big role. I mean, obviously my parents raised me and all my siblings with certain values and stuff like that,

I think we definitely were, they weren't too strict, but they definitely kept us tight and and held us to being good people. And I think just stuff like that, I think it played a big role, respect, learning, learning ways to be a good person, stuff like that. But definitely just the right way to live life and definitely to stay away from drugs in terms of my dad and what he does. So you kind of learn the crazy part of life that some people go through stuff like that. And it's an interesting way.

But, yeah, it definitely played a big role. Speaking of being a good person, I was reading Rousseau's piece. And, you know, it was brought up that your 20th goal cashed in a nice little bonus for you. And Ryan Reeves says, well, I guess we got a team dinner coming soon. Did the check magically appear at your hands when a team dinner happened? after, you know, cashing in that nice little $212,000 bonus? Not yet, but I'm sure they're going to try. Yeah, it's all fun, though.

I mean, those guys are the reason that bonuses like that happen. I mean, I'm not out there doing it by myself. Guys are helping me and making plays and making it really easy for me. So the more you get back to your teammates, the better crop you are. Matt, I was talking to Jack Hughes yesterday morning about you. and obviously he had a ton of incredible stuff to say about you about your time, you know, in Ann Arbor playing internationally, putting on the USA jersey and things like that. And you look at those rosters of those teams.

I mean, you know, the Caulfields and the Zegresses and obviously Hughes and all that. What was that whole experience like kind of growing up in that program with such incredible players and how much does that, you know, how much did it drive you then to keep up with them? But how much does it also even at this point to see all of you guys succeeding in the NHL, is there that competition? Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I think we had eight first rounders, so it's, it was just exciting.

I mean, going to the rank every day, I think that program was the best thing that ever happened for me. Just the person I am and how competitive I am, being able to go there and be with those guys and see it firsthand and compete with them every day was something that played a big role. And just me and how I approach hockey and kind of figured everything out. You think being around all those guys kind of pushed you all?

Yeah, for sure. I think you go to practice every day. We were practicing for an hour, hour and a half every day and staying on the ice with those guys, just talking to each other. I mean, not only are you playing hockey with these guys, you're with them 24-7, so they're some of your best friends. So, I mean, you learn a lot from each other. You learn different ways to play.

I mean, you look at all those guys who just mentioned and everyone plays a different way, but I think we're able to kind of help each other out and talk to each other about certain things that we're all able to kind of pick up new stuff and stuff like that. Along those lines with Caprisoff, I got to ask you, obviously I'm with an injury now,

but he just strikes me as someone who would blow your mind almost more in practice, watching him just try new things because the things he does in a game make fans jump out of their seats, but what's he like just watching in practice, even just warming up in practice? Does he do things that blow your mind every day?

He definitely has the ability, too. I mean, you give him a lot of credit. I mean, for as big of a superstar he is and how good he is, he plays the hard way. He doesn't do it easy. He doesn't play only skilled. He plays so hard and competes and wins battles and uses his body and stuff like that, which you don't see too much.

But I think just that aspect of it, I think impresses all of us so much just because he has all of us. a skill in the world. And that's, that's honestly his last resort when it comes to making plays on the ice. He wants to play the hard way. He wants to forechecking and hit guys and kind of get into the spaces to score goals. But like I said, it's, it's not, it's not the soft and perimeter in a cute way. It's, it's the hard way. And he does a pretty good job of it, obviously. Matt, you guys are for one and one without, without Carill. And I think that, you know, you know as well as anybody, uh, I think a lot of times when

an injury happens to somebody that impactful on a team. I think there's doom and gloom anytime, but especially in Minnesota, where, you know, fans and media sometimes can can really, you know, just almost have this fatalist attitude. What, what happened, you know, is it, like, what happened inside that room that allowed you guys to all of a sudden come together and continue playing as well as as that you were before he went out? Because you were on fire before, you've been on fire since. and especially you in particular stepping up with six goals and 10 points in the six games that he's been out. Yeah, not much changed, to be honest. I think, I mean, it's no secret that he's our best player.

And when guys like that go down, it sucks and it's a little bit deflating and you don't really know what to expect. And yeah, it could have gone the other way. We could have lost all these games and felt sorry for ourselves and stuff like that. But we didn't, I think. and that speaks a lot to just kind of the group we have. But yeah, you're not going to change it. You're not going to go back in time and change the play where he gets hurt. So the quicker that you're able to kind of process that and realize that he's out

and we need to keep winning games to get into playoffs and get a good seed and stuff like that, the better off we're going to be. So I think we processed it quick in a good way in terms of that we weren't going to feel sorry for ourselves or like we weren't going to be a good team because he wasn't playing. But obviously we want him back in our lineup piece. He's unbelievable. And I mean, you guys see it every night just like us. Matt, also similarly, you know, you guys really stumbled out of the All-Star break

and you had a bad loss against the Vegas Golden Knights at home. And we wrote a story the other day where Marcus Flino and a couple guys were really honest in the fact that you had a real frank team meeting after that game. Billy said some stuff. Dean said some stuff. the leaders on the team said some stuff, and yet now you're 13 and 1 and 3 since then. Without sharing the inside details of what happens in a meeting like that, as a youngster, you know, as a hockey fan growing up, you always hear about these closed doors team meetings and

things like that. What does it like for a young guy to be part of that? And what was the overall message in that meeting that really helped you guys get to the point where you have been on such a tear? Yeah, I think, uh, I think just honestly relaxed. I think we, at that point, we, things weren't going our way. We lost a couple in a row. And we weren't playing,

we weren't playing our style. We weren't playing how we play, smart, defensive. And going from there, we were kind of all over the place. So I think the more that we were able to kind of settle down and relax and play our own game and play how we know how to play rather than trying to keep up with these teams that run and get.

done and they want to score six or seven goals a night. It's kind of just stuff like that. And I think obviously it hit pretty well with our group. And I think that's a good thing. I wouldn't say that we have a crazy amount of meetings or anything like that or guys yelling at each other left and right. But it's guys are, when people speak up, people listen. And obviously that goes a long way when you only hear it a couple times rather than being

harped on over and over and over again, which is obviously a pretty nice thing as a player. On a lighter note, I'd like to ask you. So I covered Mark Andre Fleury quite a bit here in Vegas, and I always love asking guys how he's pranked them. And I know he loves picking on the young player. So I'm wondering if he's got you, if you've got a good flower prank story for us. I haven't gotten pranked by flower, but, um, see, I've heard differently, actually. Wow. I heard maybe you don't know it was him, but I heard that he got you in Montreal last season.

With like a shaving cream towel. He got me shaving cream towel, yeah. He did get me with that, actually. But that wasn't too bad. He got like five guys that day with a shaving cream towel. He did get me there. I forgot about that. What exactly happened?

So all the towels are like folded up in our shower. And basically he opened a few of them up and then shaving cream all in them in the white towel, so you can't really see it. You just grab it and start drying yourself off, but it's got shaving cream in it, so you get shaving cream all over yourself. But I think the best one I've seen, and I don't know for sure if this was him, but I would assume it was right after trade deadline last year where he came to our team. He got Du Hame's car with the packing peanuts, just filled it all the way.

to the top, during one of our games, and I thought that was a pretty good one. Yeah, that's the one thing. Jonathan Marsha will say, the thing that makes it tough with flour is that he will deny it till he dies. Like,

like poker face, everything. Like, but the one, the flower told me the shaving cream won in Montreal, and I don't know if it was you or Gologoski that got it first, but either it was you, Matt, or got goose that put the shaving cream on it,

and the other one was laughing hysterically, and then they grabbed the towel and did the exact same thing. So yeah, I was the one laughing and then did the same thing. So, um, yeah, it blends in pretty good. You don't know if I guess. Yeah. Does no one ever get flower back? That's what I always wonder.

I see all the pranks for, uh, you know, Mark Andre Fleur did this. Mark Andre Fleur did that. Get them back. Yeah. There was, who's it on Ottawa? Is it Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick Holden, Matt, uh, this year like flower during the morning skate, went into their changing room and painted his dress shoes like green and red.

So, yeah, that's the thing. You get flower back and then if he finds out at you, he comes back at you again, twice as hard. So that's the tough part. So there's fear of him, of you don't want to put the target on your back? For me, yeah, 100%. Just keep doing what you're doing. And maybe he'll leave you alone. He's like, I can't mess with this guy.

He's buzzer beat, doesn't, and he's in a hatcher because I can't mess with him. Yeah, he's definitely not going to cut into your sticks or any like that. He, Matt, just lastly, you know, obviously last couple months ago, you signed the big seven-year $49 million extension. And I think a lot of us thought that you were going to go bridge deal and the team would go bridge deal. But what made you want to commit long-term to the wild and just how excited are you about the future, not just long-term, but really the prospect of this season where you guys

just look right now at you're playing your best hockey at the best time of year? Yeah, for me, there wasn't really a question when it was offered that the long-term deal. It was pretty automatic for me. I think I absolutely love it in Minnesota, to be honest with it. I think just the management, the staff, everything that we have done, it's the best case scenario, honestly, and I absolutely love it. And they've been so good to me along with just my teammates and the locker room that we have and kind of what Billy's created here. with everyone else and kind of the character that everless organization kind of has. It was pretty easy to want to be here for a long period of time.

And like I said, when that was on the table, that was definitely what I wanted to do. And of course, you love the beat writer, so. Yeah, exactly. That was the only thing he was wavering on. He was like, should I sorry to this deal. I got to see Russo every day. Are you kidding? Seven more years of Russo.

Yeah, well, Jesse and I can sympathize. Matt, thanks so much. Really appreciate you coming on. Keep up the crazy run you're on, and we'll get you on next time too. So next time we book you as a guest, you'll have to do the exact same thing so you come in red hot. Thanks so much for doing this. All right. Perfect.

Thanks, guys. Thanks. Have a safe train ride. Yeah, have a good one. That boldie of the Minnesota well. After the break, rapid fire. So don't go anywhere. All right, boys, my favorite time of the show and yours, Rapid Fire, and we've got five topics.

Russo, I'm looking at you. While we're doing it, just look up the word rapid. You'll know what you're supposed to do. Topic number one, in a shocking turn of events, Jordan Bittington got mad on the ice. He was bumped by Ryan Hartman after a goal, went after him, gave him a blocker to the face. Mark Andre Fleury comes to the other end of the ice, wants to fight, but the linesmen say no. Bittington gets a two-game suspension, and fans went home saying, we all. almost a goalie fight. Jesse, you know I'm starting with you on this.

How do you not let Flurry fight him? Come on. Jordan Binnington needs to get in a fight, and I want to say he needs to get his ass kicked, but maybe he'll win the fight. But Jordan Binnington needs to get in a fight because he's been asking for one for too long, blockering someone in the face while they're celebrating a goal. I don't know how that fight doesn't happen. They should have let Flurry do it. If there's a guy in the league that needs to do it, it's Flurry. They should have let it happen. I'm so disappointed. I'm actually glad they didn't First of all, Bennington was so unstable

I think he would have absolutely destroyed Flower. I love Flower, but I don't see him as a fighter. And, you know, like, and look, Flower has said he's gotten into one fight in his life and he broke his knuckle and the Wilde have bigger aspirations right now than the St. Louis Blues.

I just think it would be a big mistake. The one thing I'll say is Jordan Bennington's got a freak, they got to get him some, some, I don't know what they've got to do. Anger management. Yeah, I mean, I didn't want to say therapy, but they got to figure this out because he is so easy to play against right now, because he is so unraveled at times. And the second after he gave up a couple goals back to back and he skated to the wild bench, he started screaming at them and all that stuff, Ryan Hartman said they knew that they had him.

And I cover Ryan Hartman a daily basis. He knew exactly what he was doing. That was not an accident. He clipped him intentionally. And he knew what the reaction was going to be of this guy. and that is not on Ryan Hartman. That's on Jordan Bennington. I'm making it extremely easy for opponents

because they see when he unravels. By the way, if you haven't seen the miced-up version with Marco Andre Fleary begging the linesman to let them go, be sure to go watch. You just love Flurry. Rapid Fire topic number two. You know what, Jesse, you're going to get to start two topics in a row because this is another goalie situation.

Jack Campbell, it's fair to say, hasn't worked out in Edmonton thus far. year one of his five-year contract, and there is legit talk of a possible buyout in the off-season. Might be tough move to actually make a move as far as if they want to try to trade him because he's got a 10-teen, no-trade clause. But wow, I don't know. There were even the people who were the biggest critics of this signing, I don't think they would have thought after one year we'd be talking buyout. Yeah, it has not worked out just like every goalie move the Oilers have made since what Grant, Bill Rand, Bill Ranford maybe?

Bill Ranford, yeah. It has been a very, very long time since a goalie move has worked out for that team. So I am shocked that this one hasn't worked out. They are so lucky that Stuart Skinner has come out of nowhere. And I don't know if he's the goalie to lead you on a deep playoff run, but he's certainly done better than Jack Campbell. And he's allowed that team to be in the playoff race. So they are very fortunate for Stuart Skinner coming out of nowhere.

I'll tell you. And it should be a cautionary tale to the Minnesota Wild guys, because they have Philip Gustafin, same agent as Jack Campbell, Kurt Overhart. You know that right now the way that Gustafin is playing, who has just been, I mean, unbelievable this season, unbelievable right there with the top goalies in the league. You know, as a restrictive for Asian, Kurt Overhart is going to be looking for the moon. And so the wild better be careful here because, you know, also you don't want to go too long. You know, somebody that Jesse, I'm sure, is looking forward to watching as a pro is Esper Walshatt in the NHL.

He is their first round pick and the miners having a really good year. Looks like he's a couple years away. So you can't go too long. But Gustafin, again, proved last night, 47 saves. Unbelievable season. And coincidentally, same agent is Jack Hammer. Topic number three, Quinn Hughes becomes the first defenseman to record consecutive 60 assist seasons since Paul Coffey and Ray Bork did it back in 1993, 1994. also became the second skater in Canucks history to hit that 60 assist mark in multiple seasons joining Henrik Sedin.

I mean, we've we've shit on the Canucks a lot this year. This has been a bright spot for them. He's just been incredible. Russo. Yeah, and I was looking at their stats yesterday, and you just look at guys like Elias Pedersen and J.T. Miller, we obviously know what Horvett did, couldn't use. Their offensive numbers in Vancouver are incredible. They can't defend and they can't stop the puck. So I think we've diagnosed what the issue is with Canucks.

Quinn Hughes is an unbelievably good offensive defenseman. He's only could continue to get better. I think a lot has put on his plate defensively on that team, and I think it's incumbent on the executives there in Vancouver to fix the way they are defensively to take some pressure off Quinn in future years. Yeah, I agree. I think he can be a lot better defensively, but I think a lot of it, like when you're being asked to be the driver of the offense

and you're that young and you're expected to be the defensive anchor. It's going to be tough. I got to watch him last night against the Golden Knights. Man, he's just so smooth back there. It looks like he's floating on the ice. And because he skates so well, it allows him to, he's not even worried about getting caught by the forechecker. And it allows him to see those stretch passes up the ice.

They obviously have some talented forwards that he can get the puck to, and that leads to a ton of assists. Two more guys. The league is changing jersey makers. again. Fanatics are going to take over from Adidas in the 2024 season. Adidas has been making them since 2017. Third company to make NHL jerseys since 2005, and it's the first time they are actually going to be doing it for one of the major four leagues in North America. I know Sean Gentile wrote a piece about this on The Athletic. Fans are not happy about this one. Jesse? Yeah, I mean, I am not

surprised. If you're as a league, you've got a jersey maker that makes the good jerseys, Adidas. They make the jerseys that are the ones the players wear. And then you've got a company that makes the shitty jerseys that are a third the price, but look a third the price. And again, this is not against fanatics. They are being told you are going to make the knockoff jersey, not the knockoff, not the jerseys the players wear, you're going to make the cheap ones. So for years, they've been making the cheap ones. And then you tell fans, oh, that, those cheap ones you've been wearing, that company's making the good ones now. Of course they're going to be upset.

We don't know if fanatics can make a high-quality jersey. I'm sure they probably can, but I totally understand the reaction from the fans when you tell them all those bad jerseys that cost a third the price, they're going to make the good ones now. Totally normal reaction, exactly what you'd expect. Yeah, I didn't know anything about this, by the way. Obviously, as you could tell, I'm not somebody that goes out and buys jerseys on a regular basis. so I didn't know all the uproar that would take place. The only thing I'll say is that, one, we got to assume that the quality is going to improve. Right.

The other thing that the fans seem to be up in arms about that I've seen all over Twitter is that, I guess there's a tendency that you buy a Fanatics jersey and it comes to you, and the name of the jersey is completely misspelled. Or the number's wrong, or you got wrong number here, but the right number on the back. That will not happen. There will not be, you know, like Jonathan Marsh or so next year is not going to suddenly be skating with his name spelled wrong. number 18 on his back and not, you know what I mean?

Like, it's, first of all, the equipment trainers take care of that type of stuff. You don't have to worry about that. Names will be spelled right and numbers will be correct next season and beyond. And final one, Jesse, this one's just for you because the Monday boys do the Jack Adams award winner of the week. The coach that, you know, deserves the award, not for the entire season or the front runner of power rankings, but for that week. And of course, you're a goalie guy. So they want to know your Vezna trophy winner of the week. Take it away, Mr. Goli expert.

Who always wants to talk about goalies every time you can. Yeah, I think Serochan won it with one save last night. Did he not? I mean, that paddle save on the Leafs was insane. Yeah. If you want to go for the whole week, though, to be fair to the rest of the league, Igor Shisterkin, I mean, Michael mentioned earlier that the Rangers look like they're coming into their own and everyone's like, okay, these Teresanko's been fitting in well.

came not quite as well, but it's starting to look better. This is starting to look like the team they thought could make a deep run. And I think the biggest part of that is Chesterkin has been solid all year, but he is now starting to round into that form that he was last year going into the playoffs. The Eastern Conference, they are going to be a major problem if Igor Shisterkin can play this well in the playoffs. So I'm going to, even though Serochan had the save of the week, I'm going to go Igor Shostirken for Vezna of the week. He has been spectacular. There you go. You had a lot of goalie talk today, Jesse.

You got to be happy. Yeah. And I'm disappointed. You know, I mean, Mark Andre Fleury, Jesse's guy has won seven straight games. What's he have to do to get in the Vesda conversation with you, Jesse? There's so many good goalies right now. Oh, Jesse's the tough critic. Guys, 30 seconds or less.

What are we working on this week? Russo. I'm working on a feature on Brock Faber, who the Wilder are going to sign the second that the go-for season ends, hopefully with a national championship working on that. And, man, I don't know if I should give this out. Sean Gentile and I are working on a really, you know, comprehensive story on the prospects of the NHL returning to Atlanta. And I guarantee it'll be a talker.

Nice, nice. Jesse? I've got Golden Knights covers just as usual. They've got some big games coming up. They're going to Edmonton, and then they play the Oilers back here in Vegas. So two games, eight points on the line for two teams. that are right next to each other in the standings. And a cool little piece on Teddy Bluger,

who they traded for at the deadline, who's not really the biggest acquisition, but the amount of time this guy starts in his defensive zone is absolutely staggering. Like, I'm looking at the numbers that you see what percentage of starts a guy gets in each zone. This guy's not allowed to play in the offensive zone. And he really, like, has embraced that role.

So a fun little story on Teddy Bluger and how often he starts in his own end. All right. We'll be sure to look out for those pieces. And before we go, you can go read those pieces. I want to let you know, remember, you can subscribe to the Athletics NHL YouTube channel now. You can see our ugly mugs when we interview people like Matt Boldie. If you go to YouTube.com slash the athletic hockey show.

And while you're there, other things you can look at. Mark Lazarus, his take on the whole James Reimer fallout with Ian and Julian. You can hear Katie Strang talk about the allegations of hazing and abuse with Harvard's women's hockey team with Craig and Sean. plenty of great hockey content, so be sure to check that out. The athletic hockey show returns Thursday with Ian Mendez and Down Goes Brown. I want to thank Matt Boldy for coming on the show as well. For Russo, Jesse, I'm Rob. We're off next week, so we'll see you in two weeks, April the 4th.