The Athletic Hockey Show - Are the Penguins a Draft Lottery team?

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

Sean, Frank and Sean tap their sticks for former Penguins legend Marc-Andre Fleury who played his final game in Pittsburgh for the Minnesota Wild. The boys discuss the nightmare season for the Penguins and if the once storied franchise is in line to be a surprise draft lottery team this season. The guys look at the equally surprising Washington Capitals who are flourishing in the Metro Division, and discuss Kevin Fiala's healthy scratch for the Kings game vs the Sharks after missing a team meeting. Hosts: Sean Gentille and Sean McIndoeWith: Frankie CorradoExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Jeff Domet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. What up, what up? This is the athletic hockey show Wednesday edition. Sean Janseli here with Sean McAndo and Frankie Corrado. Pretty full show today. Alex Ovechkin, scoring goals. Kevin Fiala missing games for team meetings. We have someone with some experience in the matter right here.

But first, I want to talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mark Andre Fleury is in town with the Minnesota Wild last night, probably almost certainly his last game there, barning some kind of wild swerve. It's Flurry's last season. We have that to talk about because everyone likes sentiment and that sort of thing. But also the Pittsburgh Penguins are terrible. I think we can say that definitively right now.

I'm comfortable with it at least. Yeah, I am too. And here's the weird thing about the penguins. You know, all the talk of, you know, wanting to have one last go around or, you know, try and make the playoffs. You don't want football, it's like the backdoor cover. It's such a greasy move, but it happens all the time. Are the Penguins going to somehow like backdoor their way into a top five lottery pick this year and just say,

hey, you know what? We were trying. It just, you know, things didn't go according to plan, but we'll take our shiny new toy prospect and we'll be on our very merry way. I feel like there's been one team in each the last few seasons that's bad by actually. accident. Like not tanking, trying to win games. It just so happens that they finish with the fourth least points in the league or whatever. And I feel like that's where we're cruising for Pittsburgh. That team's awful. They can't defend their second from the bottom in the league at five on five

and goals against and expected goals against. So the process is screwed up. The results are screwed up. They let up more shots from the slot than any team I can remember consistently watching. it's bad and it wasn't supposed to be this bad. So how do we fix it, Sean? What's the what's the scoop in Pittsburgh? This is you guys have, you've got a genius as GM.

You've got, you know, fantastic ownership. What are we doing? We're just going to wait for Gary to make another lottery and this is a genius of it. This is the genius right here.

It's like we didn't announce that we're going to be bad or we're trying to be bad. We might, just accidentally be bad and then we'll get something out of it. And like last year, the Penguins, you know, all those stats, you just kind of, those analytics, you just kind of rattled off, Sean, you know, slot shots, shot attempt, scoring chances. Last year, if you looked at all that for the Penguins, you're like, it makes no sense that

this team is not a playoff team. Their power play was terrible. But in all those regards, they were actually a pretty good team, like middle of the pack to top third in the NHL. Now this year, you can't even look at those and say, oh, this is a team that's just underachieving. No, they are as bad as you see on the ice that they are analytically and on paper. And like this is kind of where this is where they're at now where. And I wonder if it somehow turns into a positive for them where it's like, okay, well, we didn't, you know,

announce we're going to be a bad team or we're going to be stripping things off. but it just happened for us. And now we get, you know, a very important piece of our future. And maybe that piece of our future gets to spend a year with Crosby. And kind of he gets to do the mentorship thing with whoever that would be. You know, like I don't know if it's going to be the first overall pick, like James Higgins, who's a really good player, whatever. We're getting way too far down the road.

But that would be, man, wouldn't that be such a great way for the penguins to kind of rebuild things? is, hey, we're accidentally bad, didn't mean to, but now we got, you know, a really good young prospect, going to play a year with Crosby, and we'll see if we can build it up from there. And we didn't announce to anyone that we were trying to be bad. My buddy texted me this morning. I woke up to this. Is there a generational hockey talent in next year's draft? And I said no, because like, you know, James Hake, a nice player or whatever, but there's not a McDavid. There's not a badard, right? So I said no.

And my buddy said fire Sullivan then. Like he like he this is like the mindset of the fan base right now where it's like we'll let's keep everything in place if we want to lose a bunch of games and and end up with the first overall pick, which is crazy. Like, but it's it's also it's also it's also not crazy. That is the most Pittsburgh Penguins thing. Isn't it? Like we're not going to.

Hey, we don't do first overall. all picks if it's not a generational player, man. Get out of here with this mere all-star level talent. It's got to be a top five all-time player or else we don't even roll out a bit in the morning. Yeah. Yeah. I just really thought.

Over the years. I just really thought things are going to be different for a team that signed MacGRAs like the plan on top four in 2024, you know? I can't tell you how many times. Like, I don't, I'm not involved with Penguins Twitter, but I can't tell you how many times now. I'm on Twitter and I see like Grizzlic tweets. And Grisling is, you have to know what he is. He's an undersized defenseman who's a pretty good skater who can move the puck, but he's not a great defender. And historically, Eric Carlson has done well with

guys like Mark Mathaught, who are big, burly defensive defensemen. And like, I swear to God, man, I remember watching Carlson and Mathot play for the senators in the playoffs in Pittsburgh, watching Mathot go from corner to corner. Just pucks in this corner. No, Eric, you stay in front. I'm going to go do the grunt work in this corner and just go back and forth. And then Carlson was freed up to go up the ice. Like that's what he needs.

That's what he has always thrived with. But the penguins don't have that available to him. Like, I don't know if Marcus Pedersen was. that at one point, which should probably should be. You said it. He was last year. He looks, he does not, he does not look like he's bringing that, that same kind of game this season.

Yeah, they're a mess. Noel Chari played on the second line last night. Yeah, that was not drawn up that way. And Tristan Jari being in the American Hockey League, not drawn up that way. At what point? So hold on, hold on. So you're saying this, this maybe is the sort of. analysis you need a former player for you're saying when you give a gay five million dollar

contract you don't want him in the minor leagues is this uh hmm yeah that that that's uh einstein so so sean get for once and for all can you please on behalf of pittsburgh answer i which i love i love i love doing yeah as the official spokesman for pittsburgh can mike solven get fired or not Because every time, I feel like in the last three years, I say maybe a coaching change. Some Penguins fan shows up and he's like, he just signed a seven-year extension yesterday. So is that a rolling series of seven-year extensions that he's going to sign every option? This guy is signed until the sun explodes. But is this an option or are we all just sort of tilting it at something that's not going to happen?

I think it has to be because it looks like they're not playing for him. in the way that they have in the past. Like, it's generally the same mix of dudes. But the, and Frankie, you kind of alluded to this. The on-ey's product is different. It's way worse across the board. Like, you could find reasons last year to believe that the process that was in place was good enough to, like, try to run it back for another year and see what happened.

You can make excuses. You blame the power play and whatever else for not making the playoffs last season. There were reasonable excuses. right this year there's not they look cooked across the board so unless something changes man i i don't know how i don't know how it's not a real option it and i and this is the this is probably the first time i've ever said this on the pot like i've always been in that camp that sean's talking about where it's like they're not going to do it he signed a contract they own a gazillion dollars fenway loves him crosbie loves him

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but the proof is in the pudding at this point. They have never looked as bad or this disinterested under this guy, ever. So it has to be pointed out that no coach is going to keep a job for 20 years. Like, it's just not going to happen at some point, no matter how good the coach is, no matter how much the coach is won, the coach will be fired and a new coach will come in. And it's weird because in Sully's situation, like we were hearing when they were looking for the president and GM, like Sully was in those conversations. So effectively, if Sully's getting fired, he's getting fired by the person he helped get

the job, which is, it seems bizarre. It is bizarre. This is my, my experience. I played for Sully on two separate occasions. He was the assistant in Vancouver and I played for him as the head coach in Pittsburgh. And my takeaway from Sully is that he is a cautious, somewhat conservative. conservative coach in the way of I, you really have to earn Sully's trust in order to get ice time. Like he wants to see you kind of earn it in smaller doses.

And then when he sees that, he'll give you a little more rope, a little more runway to be out there. If you make mistakes, he will scale you back. Now, the amount of mistakes that Pittsburgh is making on the ice, if he scaled it back for everyone, no one's playing. Like he'd have no one to be able to play. Okay. And the other thing, it's like, there's so many guys that he probably doesn't trust, but he has no choice. He has to play the guys.

So I'm still, he's sure, he's still coaching the same kind of systems. He's still doing the same kind of pre-scouts. He's very thorough. You know, he's very good at kind of letting you know what the other team is kind of giving you. He's good at breaking down our own video and our own issues. there's probably just so many issues, but the crux of Sully, where it's like,

you need to earn your ice time, you need to earn his trust. There's so much going wrong that I think that part of it is kind of just out the door where it's like, guys, you just got to go play. Like I just,

I don't have the Carl Hagelin line with Benino and Kessel anymore. So I can't lean on that type of line. That, you know, I don't have the Dumolin Latang in their prime. And so, what we got is what we got.

I'm still going to coach you, but I can't scale it back the way I used to when I had the horses. And at the bottom, you know, if you're talking about the bottom of the defensive group too, there's no Chad Roo-Eadle or one of those, like those guys that he had that he could just plug in

whenever he felt like making a change. Like the third pair right now is Ryan Graves and Jackson-Ivaney. And Jackson-Ivaney looks overmash a lot of the times. And Ryan Graves is fighting it, right? Well, over the years, it was like, you know, Justin Schultz was really good when he was a penguin, especially that that first year or that second year that they won the cup. Schultz was great. You talked about Ruehiedel, depth guy. You know, there was years, Ron Haines, he was there. Mark Strait came in for a little bit. Like, I'm just Ian Cole. Like, Ian Cole was an always an underrated kind of guy there. Oli Mata was more in his prime when he was there. Like, it's so different. It's so different who they have.

you know, who they had then, who they have now, and just the Sully trust factor. He just, he can't coach that way because he probably doesn't trust a lot of those guys, but he can't scale them back because he'd be playing with eight players on any given night if he did that. Yeah. And the GM that he helped get a job spent $10 million in basically his first big day on Tris and Jari and Ryan Graves. Yeah. Tough, tough to recover from that. DGB, do you have anything to say about this?

server or is this just, or is this going to be the guy who played for the penguins and the guy who lives in the Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, like whining for the next five minutes? No, I'm just, I'm shocked. Kyle Dubas is not making the changes that a team need. That's interesting. I've spoken like a true Leafs fan. Yeah, it's, I mean, this is one of those things where I, I wouldn't want to be an NHLGM period, but boy, this would, this might be the worst situation to be in.

I mean, putting aside, you know, good market ownership, that sort of stuff matters. But just in terms of roster management, I don't know what you do here. I really don't. I don't think anybody does. Other than maybe if maybe you do make a coaching change. And by the way, just to add some extra fun to it. Mike Sullivan is the coach of Team USA in the Four Nations Cup coming up. So you have an unemployed guy potentially going up against Sidney Crosby in the, you know, in the final or a metal round of that will be fun.

That's the way they can spin it. It's like we're happy to give Mike some extra time to focus on four nation friends a year. By the way, like I just got to let you know how American Sully really is. Like he is so American. So we would do, there's a drill. Every team does this drill. They call it the Canada Cup. Have you guys, do you guys know what this drill is in practice where you go in for a shot?

You pick up a puck in the corner. and then there's one line by the blue line, that player swings out by the boards. You give them a pass. Then there's another line. That player swings out. You give them a pass. Everyone knows this drill.

Canada Cup. So one time we're in practice. And Sully goes, okay, we're going to do the 1980 USA miracle drill. And he looks right at Sid and stares them down. And it's like Sid goes, Sully, that's the Canada Cup. Yeah, the 1980 USA miracle drill.

We're going to do that one now. I love it. These guys have been going at it for a while. Since you're being my Pittsburgh whisperer, let's talk the good stuff of the Mark Fleury come back. Where? Explain this to me because I, where is,

how is Mark Andre Fleury feud in Pittsburgh? Because I don't know if I've ever seen anyone be so lovingly kicked out of a market as he was like five years ago where everybody was like, we love you, you're amazing, you're a fantastic person, please get the hell out, never play goal for us ever again. And then he has yet another

comeback last night, the last one. They get the big ovation, everything. Do we still love this guy? I think he's as beloved here as any athlete I've ever been around. That includes the dudes he played with. That includes Pittsburgh Steelers, I guess theoretically that could include some Pittsburgh Pirates.

I've never seen fans in this city respond to a guy the way that they did with him. And I'm, there's a lot of different reasons for that. I think the first one is that he was in town in 2003, which is pre-Malkin. It's pre-Krosby. It's when the franchise was in the trench as far as like, are they going to move? the, you know, there were major, major questions about, you know, the future of the penguins in Pittsburgh. So he was like, you know, I don't even want to say that it was post-Lamue because Lemieux obviously played, you know, played for a couple more years, but it seemed like he was

going to be the guy, capital T, capital G, like the franchise moving forward. He was the first post-Lamue, post-Yager player that was, that people could really kind of latch on to. Like he felt like an avatar for something different. And he was 17 years old and he was super precocious and very cute and very funny. And just like, you know, he was, I think a bunch of people just looked at him. I'm like, oh, we love this guy. And they defended him when he was pretty brutal there in the playoffs for a few years.

I had never even then got the vibe that people were done with them. And then the stuff that happened, like during the 2016 and 2017 cup runs, I think he was all, he always captured, I think, fan imagination here in a way that, that very few people did. And that goes from Matt Murray, too. Like, I think everyone knew the business end of things. Everyone knew the way the expansion draft worked, uh, what their cap situation was at the time. I think there's like some revisionism then that goes on here that maybe they could have kept flurry around or whatever like, no. They wouldn't have been able to keep Jake against. or Patrick Cornquist. Like, that was the choice. And then they had a guy who had just won two Stanley Cups and was still super cheap and Matt Murray. So there was,

there was no decision to be made. It was basically made for them. And I think people understood that to an extent and never, and never held it against him. So yeah, for the last couple years, as he's gotten older, he comes back.

And it's like, we do this some version of this every year where it's like, this is the last time. This is the last time. Well, now it really does feel like the last time. And I think that sort of, yeah. Unless, you know, it sounds to me like the penguins,

if there's two things the penguins need, it's some good vibes and an experienced goaltender. You think one more, one more lap around the track as a penguin? Maybe. We make this happen. Is this something we can cook up on this show? Pittsburgh-based reporter, Sean Jintillis,

oh, yeah, that would be a bombshell if, if we started that kind of speculation. I don't know how you guys feel about, Flurry. Like, I think I do know how you feel about him, but when it comes to hockey players kind of getting their image and personality out there, for me, he was the first real one that benefited from the behind the scenes access like 24-7, the HBO series. Like, it was, it was new, it was different.

And everyone who wasn't around the penguins got to see this guy. and what he's all about. How happy, how charming, the pranks. Like, everyone got to see who Mark Andre Fleury was. And I think that he was the first real benefactor of that. Like, now we've gotten to see it over the years. We just got to see McDavid, which no one has really seen behind the scenes. And like everyone gets to know these guys a little bit more.

But Mark Andre Fleury felt like the first real one where it was like, this guy is awesome. And he's so cool. And wouldn't you want to have a beautiful? with him. Wouldn't you want to be friends with him? And I think that went such a long way for his kind of reputation in Pittsburgh because, you know, like, okay, you win a Stanley Cup and he played great. And then 2016, 2017, it's like he's out of the net. He's out of the net. And it's Matt Murray. And if you didn't know anything about the guy, you would just be like,

guys cooked, guys washed, get him out of here. We hate him. But everyone knew him. They felt like there was a connection to him. And I think that has that has stood the test of time, especially in Pittsburgh. He benefited from the behind the scenes access for sure. And now we're still getting, oh, Flurry the Prankster stories. I feel like once every, once every six weeks. Like I feel bad for Rossi and Rousseau and Josh Joey that whenever the well isn't dry, they can't just tap into that one again, which is like, here's some funny shit that

Mark Andre Fleury's done over the course of his career. I think we might have gotten the last one last night. But well, we had it yesterday. I was calling the Habs versus Cracken. And Dan Bilesma was asked about Flurrie's pranks after morning skate. And he took a second to pause. And he's like, yeah, he, you know, nothing crazy, but a lot of subtle stuff. But he did mention the mustache boy shootout.

You know, so if you don't know what that is, basically every month, the team will do a shootout. And if you score, you're done. you're out. And if you don't score, you got to keep trying to shoot. And the last player, so the player that doesn't score has to grow a mustache for the entire month. And Balsma basically said that Flurry would try really hard against him to try and get him to have to grow a mustache because you know the way it is for a coach. You're behind the bench. The camera's always on you. And you're going to get a lot of screen time. And oh, yeah, by the way, you have a mustache that you didn't particularly want.

So he did mention that one when it comes to not so much a prank, but trying to get him to grow a mustache when he didn't want to. What does Mike Sullivan call that drill? Like, does he have a special American? Is it the bullet drill or something? I don't think you're doing that one anymore. The Uncle Sam Beard drill. Do you like the little?

That's right. We got to figure out something like that for the three of us to do. I have to shave if I lose a drill. I haven't done that in a long, long time. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about another cup champion in the Metro division that looks decidedly less washed. We're also going to talk about team meetings.

So stick around. We'll be right back. Before that, though, if you're struggling to keep up with the day-to-day ground of the NBA, I certainly am. It can be a lot. Lucky for you, the No Dunks crew are basketball sickos. We got Skeets. We got Tos.

We got Trey daily to discuss the most impressive games and performances. Break down all the drama and track every single wedgy. Be part of No Dunks fun from Monday to Friday on YouTube or wherever you download podcasts. Frankie, we have a timely travel situation for you tonight. You're headed from Montreal to Washington to call a Capitals game. Is that correct? Yeah, we got the HABs and Caps tomorrow. DC and I might just like DGV do you just want to have the floor here talk to the

Capitals fans that are constantly in your DMs commenting on your articles like do you just you want to address Capitals Nation here? I guess I should because here's the deal. I wrote a piece on Monday in which I was responding to to Sean's piece. Sean's Friday Power rankings. You guys had the Capitals up reasonably high. And I said, look, I'm not buying it. I don't believe in these guys yet.

I'm willing to, but I'm not there yet. And I didn't get a ton of pushback on that immediately. But then I said, hey, they've got the Rangers next. Let's see what they do against the Rangers. Beat the Rangers and then we'll talk. And now I've got a lot of capital fans of my mentions who would like to talk. They're taking me up on that offer. So I guess my,

my response is, look, I'm, I get it. We all spent last year waiting for the Capitals to drop out of the playoff race, and it didn't happen. We spent all summer giving the Capitol's playoff spot to Ottawa, Detroit, or even Pittsburgh, or whoever wanted it. We just declared it up for grabs. And now, you know, they're sitting there off to a great start and beating good teams, by the way. This is not,

one of those things where you look down the schedule and you go, oh, they beat Chicago and Columbus and whatever. And beating good teams in a way that they weren't beating good teams last year, right? Like this is a really good, really substantive five-on-five team. So I guess where I am is, is I've got to crack the door open. So you talk me into this, Sean, being a well-known capitals lover, sell me on this team as being something other than the team that we're going to look back on in two months and go,

oh, remember when they were six and two, that was cute. And then they're gone. The offseason additions have been good. Peerluc de Blas is doing what they need from him. He's basically been a point per game guy. Andrew Mangiopani is doing Mangiopani things, which is, you know, solid middle six, bottom six presents where, you know, he's winning his minutes pretty decisively.

They're a way better five-on-five team. They're getting good minutes from Chickren. There's still issues there, right? The power play is a mess and whatever else. But the forward group, I think, is where is the change for me. Because it makes so much more sense. Strom is a fit with Ovechkin. They have Alexei Proto, who's moved up, has played really well.

Had a couple setups for Ovechkin last night. He's big, skilled, really good passer. like pretty responsible defensively. He seems like the kind of guy that you want to pair with Alex Ovechkin and Ryan Strom in, in, in, in,

in, in, so I think the forward group makes sense. I, I, I, I, I,

I, I, think Spencer Carbara is a really, really, really, really good coach. And I, and I,

and I think that was clear last year and it's only become more clear here. So I'm not willing to like, write him in pen for the playoffs or, or anything like that. But I think this is like, this is best case scenario. This is what they were trying to do.

This is what they thought when they went out and got Dubois and Magiapani and Chikrin and made these shuffles around that lineup. Like, this is, this is what they had in mind. This is how they drew it up. Spencer Carberry, what he's trying to do with this team is very evident. Like, he is coaching offense with this group.

and they're winning the shot share, the expected goals share. Like they are, they're outchancing their opponents far more often than not. But they're also scoring, like, they're scoring at a higher point, like goals per game ratio than they did last year. Like, scoring is up for the capitals. And part of that is Alex Ovechkin has four goals already to start the year. Like he, I don't, I don't even know when he scored his fourth goal last year, but it wasn't this early in the year. And then watching them play the last couple games, they,

it's very clear that like they're, they have schemes offensively. They're not just in the offensive zone saying, all right, we'll just be creative and we'll see if we can score something. No, like they are looking for high tips. You know, they're shooting off the net.

The puck is getting, you know, it's in attack mode way more offensively than it was last year. Like it looks way more. threatening. And a lot of that has to do with Carberry. Like I think Carberry has is coaching this team offensively, which is not an easy thing to do because you're basically, you're saying, okay, I was not an NHL player, you know, didn't score goals, whatever. Like, and you're telling these guys how to do what they've done at various levels, whether it's NHL, AHL, OHL, how to do it

better. Like, that's a hard message to have to convey for a coach. Like, it's different. if OV comes to you and tells you, okay, this is how I scored 800 something goals, okay, I'll listen to you. No problem. You did it. But like, this is, you know, someone who's not you trying to tell you how to play offense, which is, you know, always a sensitive subject for offensive players. But they've done a great job buying into what he is teaching systematically offensively. And it's like they're, they're producing like they're, it looks like it's sustainable offensively for them. And that's very encouraging for the caps. It's not just.

white knuckle it in hope that Charlie Lindgren wins you like a one goal game, which was that was their, that was their recipe for a big chunk of last season. That's, right? And that's the recipe of like every team. And that's what it makes this such a, you know,

a story that I would like to root for is, is what, frankly, what you're describing, an offense friendly coach has basically not been a thing in the NHL for decades now. And we're all NFL fans, right? Every time there's a head coach opening in the NFL,

teams are, should we get a defensive guy? Should we get an offensive guy? Which, you know, what do we need? What do we want to emphasize? And you don't see that in the NHL, typically. You almost never see a team go, we want a guy to come in. And how much would you love to see a coach come in and go, we got a ton of talent on this team.

We want to play high event hockey. We want to, we're perfectly willing to beat you five to four. Everybody would flip out and lose their mind. mind because we all go, that's not the way you win in this league. And it's, it's so, it's so strange. I'm sure fans of other sports are like, what do you mean every coach is trying to win two one? Every coach is trying to be the defensive minded guy?

Is Spencer Carberry our way out of this? Is this guy, do we need to get behind the capitals, make this guy win the Jack Adams and maybe flip the switch? One thing on that, like I, I'm sure he's not just saying, you know, we're just going to throw our sticks into the middle and we'll just, you know, figure it out defensively. Like they're, they're, they're, they're, it looks like, it looks like they're being coached offensively and they're buying into that, but it's not just, you know, hey, we're, we're just going to figure it out in the defensive zone. Like, there still is some discipline to stick into

their structure there. Just, you hop in my bubble right now, man. I'm, I'm sorry to, sorry to do that. It's just, there's just no way. There's no way you can win games like that. You, you still have to have, you know, some semblance of being a defensive, responsible team or else what you, if you're not, then you kind of look like that how the Canadians look last night or last Tuesday against New York where it's like first TV time hits, TV timeout hits and you're down for nothing. Like, that's not the cap. Yeah. Let's let's let's talk about them for a, for a minute. Well, while we still have you here. Like, what is what's their what's their problem? Because I, I haven't, I haven't watched. I haven't watched. I haven't watched much of them, but, but the, the good games are. The good games look good.

they look like they're a team that's on their toes, competitive, you know, everyone's on the same page, some tenacity on the forecheck, you know, good scoring prowess in front of the net. Those are the good games. The bad games, the blunders are massive and it's for nothing, you know, 10 minutes into the first period. Like they're, the variants cannot be that drastic for the Canadians. The bad can't be that bad. Like good teams or teams that are in the mix, if it's not a good night for them, like, okay, they make some mistakes, but they're minimized. nothing is minimized right now for Montreal. If they're making mistakes, they're huge mistakes. And it's just like there's just so much variance with that. That's the biggest thing for Montreal right now. We promised at the start of the show that we were going to lift the veil on life as an HL player as we so often too here. It's like there's a little asterisk next to that because we don't do it then often.

Kevin Fiala, scratch for missing a team meeting last night. Things are going pretty well for the Kings, right? They got 12 points. They're second in the Pacific. But that's a funny, I don't know if it's a funny, funny reason to get scratched, but it's funny that it's public information. I think that, I think that was a,

that was interesting to see it hit last night. You got to, with something like that, you just got to be honest and upfront about it. And I'm actually, I'm happy you guys don't healthy scratch me for the amount of times that I'm late hopping on the podcast. I'm like three minutes late, late, two minutes late.

If you're three minutes late for a meeting in the NHL, that's, do you know, that's catastrophic. Like a 10.30 meeting in the NHL really starts at 10, 29, 50. Like, if you're a minute late, you are in big trouble. We always, we always have this saying in the NHL is hurry up and wait. Everything is hurry up and wait. Get there five, 10 minutes early and wait. Because if you show up, like right at the time it's supposed to start, it's not a good look.

And so the thing with Fiala, you get healthy scratch because you miss a meeting, not late, miss a meeting. This is how I think that goes down. Obviously, the coach is going to have to talk to you about it. And then rules are for everyone on the team. So the coach is probably going to look at you and say, okay, what do you think I should do in this situation? Do you want to hold yourself to the right standard and accountable for everyone else the room to see as an example or do you want to be let off the hook do you want a special rule just

for you so what do you want to do you want to be with your teammates or do you want to have a special rule for you and the player probably looks at it and says no i'll take my medicine and just you know like let's get this over with and i'll i'll take it and so there you go you get you you miss a game i think that's if we're all doing it together we're all doing it together and i think if you're a player um you you you just you have to accept that i want to do to say like No, I actually want special treatment. I'll be, I'm definitely, I'm sitting up tonight. Thanks for, thanks for the offer.

I appreciate it. I'm going to take my option and play. See you later. Yeah. I had two instances where I was, you could have seen maybe some skid marks in my underpants, maybe close to missing a meeting. And both of them were with Lou Lamarillo. Let me know, let me know how you feel about this.

Okay. So the one, my first year in Toronto, we would always say arrive at the airport by let's say we had a two o'clock shuttle bus over to the terminal arrive by 1.45 but the bus is leaving at 2. I don't know why we did it this way, but it was always 15 minutes before. Now traffic was bad. It's horrible in Toronto. It was actually a little better back then. It's way worse now. But I think I got to the airport terminal like one 154 once and the things leaving it too. So technically I'm not late, but by the sheet, I'm late. And I just remember walking onto that bus last person on, healthy scratch,

not playing, and lose eyes looking right through me. Like, do not let this ever happen again. And I wasn't even late. But by the schedule on the, on the email, I was, I was late. So that one, I was kind of crap in my pants a little bit. But the other one, a game in Buffalo. I had a bunch of family and friends come down and watch the game because I was actually playing. And, you know, like you get talking to people. Then you realize, oh, crap, the bus is leaving. Like there's guys on the bus.

I got to go. So I realize that. I'm like, guys, everyone, I got to go. Bus is leaving. Boom. I run to the bus. As I'm running up the stairs on the bus, I kind of trip, catch myself, lose right there. He's like, we've been waiting for you.

Oh, no. don't let this happen again. Let's go. And I'm like, oh my God. And I could just feel it. I'm like, what is this, is this guy going to have me whacked for like being late?

Was like, what happens if you, if you miss the bus, that's just it. Like, if you miss the bus for the plane in the NHL, you are on your own dime, finding a way to get to where you got to go.

If you miss the bus, can you try to drive to, can you try to get to the airport yourself? Is that viable? You can grab an Uber or a cab and try and meet the plane. But it's always going to be met with some kind of like something, some kind of talking to, you know, it's just the nature of the beast. How many alarms are you setting? Oh, my God, like to wait when you got to get up early in the morning for a Lou Lamarillo meeting.

And I guess my other question is, what happens if you wake up and you realize you have to leave right now to make it to Lerner. meeting, but you don't have time to shave. Like, which is it that you have to... Do you show up on time with stubble or... Here's what it is. You get there and then you put your hoodie on and you just... You know how some people just kind of cover their face sometimes with their hoodie? They chew on their like drawstring. Like, you're just...

Your face, cover your face with the hoodie, with the hand and see if you can kind of get by, but lose a shark. Like, he's... He'll find you. It's like he sniffs it out. I had to pull that shit when I was in high school because I went, I went to an all-boys Catholic school with like crazy, you know, dress code regulations and stuff.

And, you know, whatever, by the time you're 17, 18, like, you got to, you got to shave.

And it was this, it was the same thing. Like, I'm like, I'm like going by, you know, Christian brothers, you know,

wearing their little outfits with like my hands over my face or or whatever. So I don't get a written up and have to go to detention for having a, for having like three day stubble as a 16 year old. It's probably the same thing. It's very similar. to how that sounds exactly the same as Frank's NHL experience. So I need to say this.

I hate having to like feeling the need to plug this. In Custin's new book, it's called the franchise, there's a Lou chapter where he sits down with Lou and talks to him about a bunch of stuff, including the shaving stuff, including the hair stuff. I read it a couple weeks ago. I regret to inform you that it was very,

very interesting. So if anybody was more, more Lou Lamarillo's stories, man. The Custin's book is called the franchise. One other thing before we go on these team meetings. Now, usually they start, if it's a 10.30 meeting, it starts right at 1030. With Torts, it could have started at 1027. Like, Torts could just walk in.

And within five seconds of walking in the room, boom, meetings on. Like, videos ready to go is just waiting for his prompts to get things going. So with Torts, you had to be. in there like 10 minutes before. And if you weren't in there at 1027 and he started the meeting, he just flat out would not let you in. Like, just get out of here. I don't know if that's changed.

I feel like he's a little more gentle now. That's, we would never, we would never do that to you here. I would just, I would just like to say because you're never late. That was, that was bullshit from you at the top of this.

Frankie's always the first one here. Stop it. Jeff's, Jeff's nodding his head. Oh my God. That needed to be sad. And you know why? You know why you're always the first one here?

Because you got it hammered home by the Lula Amorello's and John Thorterellis the world. Frankie Crato, always on time. Thank you, my man. Thanks, boys. See you. All right, we're back. Sean McAdoe.

What have you learned? What have we learned, Sean? I learned that I should have bought an NHL team last year because... We were going to go in on the centers together. We talked about it. And then, you know, we didn't want to... We didn't want to be on Snoop Dogg's bad side. He's a close personal friend of mine.

I have correspond to with Snoop Dog. So I don't want to screw up that relationship. I've never talked to Snoop Dog, but I have, I have recorded in the same booth that Snoop Dog was once in. So, I mean, we're basically, we're basically best friends. According to Sportico, that has franchise valuations out today for NHL teams, surprise surprise they're all worth a lot of money but the big news to me i think is that according to this list every single team has shot up in value significantly over the last year that doesn't feel possible to me like it's not like anything has happened in the hockey world that has

caused every team to go up literally 20 30 in some cases 50% you year to year. I don't really understand that. But maybe the more interesting piece is to just look at the rankings of which teams are the most valuable. Number one, Toronto Maple Leafs, there you go. We win. Congratulations. Toronto Maple Leafs champions.

Hang a banner. Hang the banner. Yeah, you know, I'm always a little, Sportico is the standard. I think these days for sports franchise evaluations. Forbes has also also you know been at the forefront of that for

a zillion years I I'm I'm I the values are going up it seems like it's a little bit too much and part of the reason the values are going up is because

pro sports are kind of opening the doors to private equity buying chunks of franchises like NFL teams or the NFL is allowing it now private equity can own up to 10% in any NFL team, which is a, that's a major, that's a major change. And I think that's part of it. I think that's part of why valuations are up is that, you know, it seems like there's

going to be a gold rush on hedge funds and what have you getting in on this stuff because they weren't, they weren't allowed or, or either not allowed or discouraged from being involved with it before. So here's, here's something to remember. Here's what everybody should, should keep in mind. whenever you see franchise valuations, franchise valuation lists or whatever, and you see stuff like this saying that teams are raising,

you know, 22, 30, 31%. The Winnipeg Jets, by the way, are at the bottom. They're value only increased by 19%. So boo-hoo for them.

Yeah, that's terrible. And there's still a billion-dollar team, meaning in theory, they increased in value, what, $200 million in a year? whenever you

folks see these lists, just keep it in mind next time you hear a sports owner crying poor or acting like that it's something they own, you know,

as a play thing or just, or as a hobby or whatever. These people are making... We're talking about that they lost money last year. Oh, you know,

we lost a few million, yeah, but the value of your franchise that you're eventually going to sell or pass on to your kids or whatever

Sean. And also there's Hollywood accounting and funky stuff that goes on where you can say that you lost money when you didn't actually. So I don't believe them. They are billionaires. They are getting richer by the second on all their concerns when sports teams are at the absolute top of it. These guys don't own it for fun. They don't own it for a hobby. They own it because it makes them a shitload of money year over,

year over year. So if you hear them say that they don't, don't believe them. And this list is example A. And definitely print out this list, put it up on the fridge or something for a year or two from now when Gary Bettman starts working his bit about, you know, God, we may need another lockout because the economics just isn't working for some of these teams. Yeah. He's been full of it every single time he said it. Never more so than right now. Yeah, because the value of the Detroit Red Wings only increased by 29% next year over the 35% that it increased this year. Boo-hoo. Don't believe them. Thank you, Sean.

And thank you for listening. Did you learn anything or is that? We're closing on that. Who cares? Connor McDavid might be hurt. That seems ominous. We haven't learned yet what's happening with Connor McDavid. and that scares me.

I haven't learned what's going on with Connor McDavid's lower body injury. Maybe we'll get some clarity on that today, maybe not. But dude, that did not feel great to me, watching him sliding to the boards. That felt like something's going to cost him some time. I mean, the way he got up and skated off made me think maybe it's not too bad. Because we've seen guys, like we've seen guys get hurt in ways that seemed innocent. and, you know, in fact, the dreaded non-contact injury is sometimes the worst one you can have. But very often, it feels like the player might know.

He seemed okay going off. That's a good point. And as soon as you hear, they send him home. And the fact that you've got a fan base freaking out and nobody has, you know, leaked it out there that, hey, guys, don't worry, it's not, it's not that bad. Also, I got my fingers crossed, but, ooh. They were quick on the trigger with saying he wasn't going to be back. the game too, which I feel like is probably not a probably not a great sign, but whatever.

Cross your fingers like you said and wait and see what happens. As we record this, it's 10.38 a.m. on Wednesday on the East Coast. Hopefully there's some news in one direction or the other. All right, buddy. I think that's it for us this week. Anything you want to leave the folks with?

Not really. You can find my stuff in our wonderful hockey section, including my vastly superior weekend rankings that will drop on Monday. I've also got a piece on scary starts. It's going to drop on Halloween. See what we did there?

See how we made it timely. Spooky. Bad start. So I spent the week writing that and then revising it because every single year, every player I name has three points that night. And then I have to go and change it or else people will act. Who was it?

Who is the big one that you have? There were a few guys. Chandler Stevenson had three points. Last night, the last time I checked. And of course, Alexander Rovetchen decided to drop a two-gold performance. Again, because I don't believe in the Capitals. You're just going to ruin my life about it. It's how they roll.

All right, bud. Thank you and thank you folks for listening to the Athletic Hockey Show. If you're a Spotify listening, you can leave comments on our episodes now. Congratulations. Ali and I are back tomorrow with a Thursday edition. Take it easy and talk to you then.