The Athletic Hockey Show - Cheryl Pounder talks Team Canada, MPP’s ECHL offer, and growing women’s hockey, Claude Giroux at the top of the NHL trade board, there’s an outdoor game this week?, Igor Shesterkin almost scored, and more

Episode Date: February 21, 2022

First, in honor of Family Day in Canada, Ian and guest cohost Julian McKenzie pick which NHL family they want to join as honorary members, and discuss how no one really knows there’s an outdoor game this week between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators, if the Preds are really a playoff team or not after losing four straight, which Western Conference team is the one to beat, with Jack Eichel joining the Vegas Golden Knights lineup this past week, and Claude Giroux as the potential kingmaker for a contending team’s Stanley Cup dreams with the NHL trade deadline exactly one month away.Then, former gold medal winner with Team Canada and broadcaster for this year’s Olympic games, Cheryl Pounder joins the show to talk about how challenging it was to call the games on a monitor, instead of in person in Beijing, if this year’s Canadian Women’s team was the best version we’ve ever seen, what’s needed to create a unified Women’s pro-league, Marie-Philip Poulin turning down a reported offer to play in the ECHL, Cheryl’s participation in the 1992 and 1994 Women’s World Roller Hockey Championships, and more.Plus, Ian and Julian talk about TAHS Tuesday’s Craig Custance and Sean Gentille having to sing the Canadian national anthem on tomorrow’s episode after losing the bet on last week’s Canada-USA Women’s gold medal game, and the guys close out the show with one Multiple Choice Madness question, in honor of Igor Shesterkin’s near-goal against the Ottawa Senators over the weekend: if you’re favorite team is playing a meaningless, midseason game and the opposing team’s goalie shoots for your team’s empty net, do you want to see him score?And, you can get a 6 month subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back, everybody, to kick off your week in hockey. It is your Monday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. As always, it's Ian Mendez with you. Haley Salveen, we're going to give her one more week off. You know what? It's well-deserved, though. She has been working her tail off traveling back to Calgary today. So we got Julian McKenzie sitting in the big chair once again.

We got a lot to get to. Cheryl Pounder, former gold medal winner with Team Canada, and part of the TSNC, CBC Sportsnet Broadcasting crew of the Olympic Games, Cheryl Pounder is going to drop by, talk about that gold medal game and talk about what we can do to grow the women's game, so that's going to be a fun conversation with Cheryl Pounder. We'll talk about kind of what went down on the weekend. Jack Eichael is on the board for Vegas.

Andrew Hammond, winning a game? What is this? 2015, we'll get into that with Julian. Speaking of goalies, Igor Chesterkin almost scored a goal. I'm going to ask a question about that in multiple choice madness. Julian, we got to get to all of that. But I want to kick off this week's show by asking you a question. Okay?

And first of all, thank you again for coming back for a third consecutive week because this has been a ton of fun. The shows have flown by. Chemistry has been great. I've been loving this. And thanks again. Me too, man. Dude, man. It's an absolute honor and a pleasure to get to do these shows with you, man.

I know Haley's usually in the seat and I'm thankful I get to keep the chair warm. But dude, getting to rock with you these last three weeks has been amazing. And again, an absolute honor as someone who has grown up and watched you. Don't do that. Don't do that. I try it to hold back. I try. You up watching me.

But here's what I want to ask you. Look, where I am today for our listeners, I live in the province of Ontario. And in our province today, it is called Family Day. It's this weird holiday that they just kind of. It's not really a mandatory statutory holiday, but it's just a day where the kids don't go to school. But it's called Family Day. And I want to know, Julian, if you had the power to just jump in,

guess what? You get to be part of one NHL family. Who are you picking? You can go join any family. You get, you know, go to a family get together with them. Like you're an honorary member of a family. Who are you picking in the hockey world? I thought about this.

It came down to two families for me. Okay. The Sue Bands because obviously P.K. and Jordan and Malcolm, and I know, like, the get-togethers are going to be great. But I thought about, and this might be a little off the board here, the nurse family. I know, here's the thing. I know Darnel is the only one right now who is in the NHL. But her cousin is Sarah Nurse. Her sister, Darnell's sister is Keanu, who plays in the WNBA. Yeah. And their uncle is Donovan McNabb. Yeah. Legend of NFL quarterback.

That's a dope sports family to be around. Can you imagine Christmas or Thanksgiving. And it's like Donovan McNabb and Kia Nurse and Sarah Nurse, Darnel Nurse. See, but the problem is I would feel so under accomplished in that family. You know? I don't care. I would not care. I would just be there.

And I'm asking, you know what they would do? They would see me covering. Oh, here comes the journalist of the family, try to ask all these questions. You got to make sure it's all off the record. And I'm just like playing around with that. I don't care. This is my opportunity to ask you guys about certain things that have happened.

I just like the diversity in sports with all of those four. I think it's great. It's a great call because I, you know, and it's a hockey family because of Sarah. Because of Sarah and Darnell. So absolutely, it's a great call. That's a great call by you. You know what I might, I might do, though?

I might go with the Kachucks. And I'll tell you what. Okay. I'll tell you what. Like, so when Brady got drafted by Ottawa in 2018, I had Keith Kachuk on my radio show. And he told me a great story where I was like, I think everybody who grew up wishes they lived in the Kachuk home. Okay. You know what Keith Kichuk did for his kids?

And again, this is what happens when your dad's an NHL player. But so young Matthew and young Brady when they lived in St. Louis. used to go on the driveway and shoot pucks like a lot of kids do, right? Well, guess what? The pucks, though, because these kids started getting a little bit of, you know, velocity with their shots. And the aim wasn't quite there when they were nine and ten years old. And so I think a puck went through the window, the front window of the house,

living room window. So now if you or I put something through our living room window, that's probably it for us. Like I'm thinking, like we're not getting. in the play anymore. You know what Keith Kachuk did? What do you do? He went down to the arena in St. Louis, talked to the maintenance guys at the rink, and got the plexiglass that they put up around the boards and had that installed over the windows in the house. That's pretty good. So when the boys would miss on the shots, it would hit the plexiglass. And I'm like, this is, this is, I know it's the

1% but I'm like, ah, yes. I'm kind of jealous because. If I did anything, I was panicking, petrified. Imagine you broke a window and your parents' response was, what if we put a plexiglass for you? I know, I know for sure. That is not that. Growing up in West Indian home, that is not what's happening to me. Exactly.

I'm in trouble. Yeah, exactly. So I know. I know. Anyway, I thought that was great. And we had some, I threw this out on Twitter and we had some great responses. People saying the stalls would be a fun family to be a part of. We got to vote for the Hanson brothers, but I don't know.

Do they even count? They're fictional. Yeah, they're fictional brothers. Yeah, I don't know if that counts. Yeah, I don't think so. Hey, as we kick off the week in hockey, do you think a lot of people realize there's an outdoor game this week? Like, usually when I get prepared for the...

Yeah, see? So you didn't know either. So I don't feel so stupid. I did not know. Usually when I set up the Monday show, I'm like, I'll try to look ahead to the week and see, like, is there like a super-competal? matchup that we need to, you know, keep an eye on. Like, maybe the Panthers and Lightning are playing,

or maybe Avalanche and Golden Knights or, you know, maybe there's something that we need. And I'm looking down, I'm like, Saturday, and it says, I think it says Bridgette. Anyway, outdoor game. Outdoor game? In Nashville? I'm like, I completely forgot.

I did not know. On Saturday, the Lightning and the Nashville Predators are playing in the outdoor game. And I feel like this is the classic NHL problem. where they don't promote the game enough. Like, I didn't know. And I feel like I covered this league and I didn't quite realize that it was going on this week.

When they announced that, isn't that the matchup were like the jerseys for both of those teams were supposed to be like horrible? Yeah. Don't you remember that? They announced that and they were showing like, like isn't Nashville supposed to wear like these like Smashville jerseys?

Yes. Yeah, yeah. Oh, right. Yeah. That was like months ago. And then we just, like, you just dumped on the jerseys and then we just kind of went on with our lives. Yeah, I forgot about that game.

Yeah, it's here. It's here on Saturday. Oh, my God. Friends of lightning. Yeah, anyway, so I can tell your super, I don't know, the outdoor game. Super excited for that. Oh, absolutely. I'm funny enough on this next weekend, or Saturday.

I'm going to be in Ottawa. I'm going to be watching the Canadian Senators game at the Canadian Tire Center. So I'm not even going to probably not even going to watch the outdoor game. Sorry, guys. It's terrible. Terrible that you would miss the outdoor game, which, again, will be... To go to Ottawa.

Nashville and Tampa. And again, it's a night game, remember? Because Gary Bettman said the sun is our enemy. So no more of these afternoon games, but that'll be Tampa and Nashville. Can't have the sun beating down in midday while they're playing a game of hockey and having the sun blind you.

No way. None of that. You can't have that. Hey, you know, speaking of the predators, because they're hosting this outdoor game. They were, to me, Julian, one of the really good stories in the NHL this season. I think they were kind of, I didn't really have them as a playoff team. I didn't know what they were, but I didn't think they were a playoff team.

I didn't think they were a bottom dweller. I kind of thought they were in the middle of the back. Matt Dushain had a great start to this season. They were playing really well. Now they've lost four games in a row. And I looked at their schedule coming up, and I'm like, they got the Panthers and the Lightning this week, which are going to be tough. They got Dallas, which is going to be tough.

And all of a sudden, I'm wondering, as you look at the Western Conference playoff picture, they've got a wild card spot. Are we sold though? Or is Nashville playoff team? Or like, what are the predators here? I think it's so tough because I think the stars are trying to do well, too. The Jets, the Winnipeg Jets, a lot of people are thinking they might sell up the deadline. They still have a fighting chance at getting a wild card spot as well.

I think it really just depends on what happens in the next week. It's really tough to tell right now, but it is really interesting with the Predators because at one point, they were like at the top, they were like near the top of that division. And this is a team like late last year. We were thinking, okay, they're going to have to sell off a whole bunch of assets. And then they charged into the playoffs and, or at least they were a competitive team enough to, you know, to justify keeping Matiasakholm and not just fall off the wheels completely. So I was a bit surprised to see that they're in the spot that they're in right now. I think it's way too soon to determine what's to do with what to do with the natural predators, unfortunately. It's just they need to perform a little better, but it also really depends on what the stars and the jets who are not that far behind them do.

Yeah. It's, you know, L.A. is also having a sneaky good season in a wild card spot there. It's going to be interesting. I feel like at least in that conference, Julian, there's a race. There's going to be some jockeying for positions. Whereas in the East, it's like, it's, I think seven teams have a 100% chance of making the playoffs. And the one team that doesn't is Washington. And they're sitting in around a 97% probability to make the playoffs.

Like there's no real drama in the East. And in the West, you know, Nashville's a bubble team. Edmonton's a bubble team. I think L.A. and Anaheimmer bubble teams. And Winnipeg's got a chance. Vancouver's got a faint chance. But at least they have a chance. And it's going to be interesting.

And in the West this weekend, let's move from the bottom of the Western Plow Picture to the top. Jack Eichl scores for Vegas. And it wasn't a great goal. It was like Chandler-Stevenson kind of fed him in front of the net and he banged it home. But obviously that's going to get Eichael feeling good. If Stone comes back and Vegas is healthy and the abs are kind of all ready to go and they've got everybody healthy, who's the team to beat in the Western Conference for you? Is it Vegas? Is it Colorado? I think Minnesota deserves some love. Calgary probably deserves some love.

Who's the team to beat in the West if everybody's healthy? If everyone is healthy, I still think it's Colorado because of the offensive talent that they have. And I think if Darcy Keper is still good at net, like they're a team that, you know, you can't mess with. But Vegas can always say, hey, we beat Colorado in a playoff series last year. and hey, they'll have Jack Eichael and Mark Stone healthy, if everyone's healthy. That'd be great. Minnesota, we were talking about it with Michael Russo last week.

They're a team that you cannot sleep on, and they need to win knowing with all the salary that's the salary troubles that come, that are coming to them in coming seasons. I guess it's between those three teams, really. But I think if all things being equal, I think Colorado is that team. But I will say this about Calgary. Calgary are basically.

basically playing the style that you need to play to go far in the playoffs. And Darrell Sutter knows a thing about that. And winning a Stanley Cup, of course. So it wouldn't surprise me if we're all thinking, man, I would love to see Vegas and Colorado go at in the second round or third round or however it works out. And then we see like Vegas and Calgary in like the third round or Minnesota Calgary or something. I don't know the flames this year, like they've been really good for a good chunk of

the year. I know they're going to be fine. They're going to be a good team. They know. they basically said, okay, this is the style. That gets us through to the playoffs, gets us through the playoffs. They're basically doing it throughout the year. My only thing is I hope they just don't tire themselves out before then.

But that's the style, that grinding style, wearing down teams while also getting offensive output from your best players. That's what you need to do to get through to a Stanley Cup final and eventually win it. Calgary might be playing the best way of any of the teams in the Western Conference in order if they're trying to win a Stanley Cup this year. imagine if, you know, Calgary's been good lately. Haley Salvean has been away from covering the team. Yes.

I, is this one of those causation, correlation deal? Like, what happens if Haley comes back this week and the flames lose three in a row? I'm not saying, but I'm saying. Oh, no. Haley, Haley can't put that on herself. That's the team. No, we can put it on her. That's the fun part. We can put it on it.

No, man, I'm just the, I'm just the, guest on the podcast. I can't do that to Haley. You can't do that. I'm not going to do that. I'd like to come back to this show just in case Haley has to take off for a couple days to go to the Stanley Cup playoffs and cover a series. I don't know. I don't want to put that on it. I like it. I like how the fact that you know that I'm not going anywhere to cover any playoffs anytime soon so you know I'm not going anywhere either. I do want to ask you like Eric DeHashik has his new up at the athletic year on this Monday. athletic trade deadline, big board,

which kind of looks at the top, you know, 30 players that are in play in and around the trade deadline. And at the top of the list is Jake Chikrin, Jeff Petrie, Claude Giroux, John Klingberg, Mark Giordano. That's your top five. Is there anybody on this list? Tyler Toffoli was on the list, obviously got taken off in the trade last week. If there's one guy that you're super interested in, like, man, I wonder,

is he going to go, where is he going to go, what's the cost going to be? Who's it for you? Do they have to be a surprise pick? Because I'm looking at the Claude Jureux situation right now. And this is the part where I plug a show that you could listen to on The Athletic, the Chris Johnston show. On the episode that's dropping today, we had a brief conversation about Claude Juree. And C.J. kind of let it be known that he wouldn't be surprised if that's something that goes all the way to the end, like towards the deadline. This is a guy who I think is still very committed to being at Philadelphia.

you flyer, even though their season is not going as well as they would expect. But this is also a guy who, if you put him on the Colorado Avalanche, if you put him on a cup contending team, he could be that piece that puts them over the top. So I'm really intrigued at what is going to happen with him and what team he'll go to and what the, I mean, obviously the price that's going to be paid for them. I mean, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a pretty exorbitant price for Claude Giroux, but also considering the salary that he might be making, maybe there's some salary retention there on the flyers part, but that's still a top line elite guy.

He's the most elite player on the trade board list and the most elite player that is out there available for trade ahead of the deadline. I think teams will pony up and we'll pay whatever it costs to get this guy on their team because he could make that difference for a playoff team. I think he's at the top. Obviously, being in Montreal, Ben Chirot is like kind of second just because there's been so many teams who have been very interested, at least reportedly. Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but, uh,

love Toronto fans. I don't know if they necessarily want Ben Shrad at the cost of a first round pick and another asset. They seem to be freaking out a little bit about that. But yeah, it's been fun seeing that discourse. But ultimately to answer the question, Klo Juru, I think for me,

that is the piece where I'm curious, not just if teams are going to be available to trade for him, but if Klo Juru even really wants this. Yeah. And you know what? And I think I agree with you. Because I think in this list of guys, Juru's the only like legacy player

with his franchise. And you always have to be careful with how you handle legacy players because it could fracture the relationship between you and the player, can fracture the relationship between your organization and the fan base. You have to tread cautiously.

And Claude Jouroo has earned the right to call his shot. Like if Claude goes to them and says, you know what, I just love it here. I want my jersey up in the rafters one day. I want to end up as a flyer and I want to be part of the solution. I think it behooves you to listen to Claude Juree. Like he's earned that right to kind of call his shot.

But if he wants to be traded and he's willing to be traded, you've got to also do that carefully with respect. You know, we've seen so many bitter departures over the years. So that's why I'm interested in, in Claude Jureux as well. And I'm with you. If he goes to Colorado, he goes to, you know, insert team here. He's playing on their second line and maybe on their first unit power play. Boy, he can still do some things that are pretty special.

And to me, I think he would be the one guy I would be all over. But I'll just, I'm curious to see how the Flyers handle that too. I also want to add too with regards to his legacy. Like, I think Claude Giroux has done enough where if he were to say, you know what, I'd like a trade out of Philadelphia to go to a contending team. I think he's done enough throughout his career as a flyer where Flyers fans might not be grudge him too much for wanting to go to a different city. And I think his legacy is more or less intact.

A guy who has taken his team to many a Stanley Cup playoff. I believe he was on that team that went to the Stanley Cup final at the beginning of last decade. This is a guy who has meant so much of the franchise and has been one of the league's best players. If he wanted to go to a different team, I don't think too many people would be all that upset to see him go. And I think his legacy would still be secure. If they wanted to retire his number, I'm sure that debate could be had. I'm sure a trade wouldn't necessarily hamper any. put a dampen

on any of those expectations of that happening or messing up his legacy. There's no issue with that. I had to double check, yes, he was on that 2010 team that made to the Stanley Cup final

against Chicago. But yeah, like he's, Clod Drew's legacy, I think is secure for the longevity and the achievements he's done

and accomplished with the Philadelphia Flyers. So I don't think anyone should blame him if he wants that. All right, Julian, you know what? The great thing for us

is we don't have to sing the American anthem because, you know, we would go full Carl Lewis. Right? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, speak about your own pipes, my brother. I don't know if I'd go Carl Lewis.

Oh, I would, okay, I would, I would do the Carl Lewis with, and the Rockets, Red Cross. Wow. Nah, I'm not embarrassing myself like that. I'm not embarrassing myself like that. I can't do that. But we don't have to do it because Team Canada emerged victorious, and we're really happy to bring on it to the Athletic Hockey Show.

She is a gold medalist with Team Canada. And if you live north of the border, You certainly heard her coverage of the Olympic Games up here, and she's a terrific broadcaster now. Cheryl Pounder joins us here on the athletic hockey show. Great to have you, Cheryl. How are you on this Monday? I'm great, and I have to say, guys, I'm really glad that I get to sing the Canadian National Anthem on this one. And Haley says hello in transit and owes me a pint for covering.

I'm just kidding. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you know what? I'm disappointed in Haley. I gave her one task, Cheryl, when she was doing that hockey show. I said, just one time on the show, you need to drop a reference to our podcast. Well, not only did she not do that, she made a reference to her dog.

Like Bono, Bono made the show, but our podcast didn't. Well, you're going to have to figure that one out with her. I watched her day in, day out, get ready for that show with a changing schedule, changing outfits, which I might admit, was impressive. And just her hockey knowledge, which was awesome. and got to meet her personally. So I just thought I dropped a hello for her as she's in transit the next day or so, so everyone will have her back.

Yeah, no, no. You know what? She did a phenomenal job there with Hart and PJ. It was fantastic. You did a great job alongside Brian Moodrick. I need to know how challenging was it for you to call those games off a monitor. So this game, games are going on in Beijing. You're in a Toronto studio.

I can only imagine how challenging that must have been. You know what? At first glance, when we first came into the studio, you kind of were wondering, what in the hell is this going to look like? And what is this going to come through at us in terms of the visibility of it and the audio? And what is this all going to look like?

What can we ask for? What can't we ask for? Because as you know, it's very, very different when you're there, what you can see. It actually worked out fairly well. We had three monitors in front of us. We had a program monitor, which, of course, we could look at. And again, it was the look that everyone at home was getting.

So you're not privy to what's happening behind the play. So certainly when there's delayed penalties, you're kind of looking at one another, like, did you see it? I didn't see it. But again, you would just reference the fact that you weren't in the building and then you'd get the replay of it. But for the most part, they had some great producers over in Beijing who followed the game and directors that followed the game extremely well, as well as back. in studio, just high-end, top-end talent that was able to direct us in terms of what we were seeing.

So there was communication between Beijing and us. So because there were relationships, people we knew over there who kind of gave us heads up of players. So it was easier, actually, than I thought in terms of getting the call and seeing it the way you would see it if you were live. Now, of course, you don't get, you know, the coaching, coach looking at a player or glancing down the bench and all of that kind of. wonderful stuff, but still felt the energy jumping through the TV at me and, of course, Brian as well. So much different, but I think it was executed and just, hey, it's an Olympic Winter Games. You bring what you have to bring and you have a lot of fun with it. How cool was that assignment of just being able to do color commentating at the Olympic Games,

even if you had to do it from a studio. I'll just say here, like I'm a big fan of your work of how you're able to explain things in a really entertaining way and just easy for people to digest and you work really well with Brian during those games. So what's it like getting that assignment and having that opportunity to work in the role you were working with at the Olympic Games? It was awesome. Last time in Pyong Chang, I was fortunate to work on the panel with Cape Burness. So we had a lot of fun, just kind of got thrown into it, which probably was a blessing in some ways because when you get thrown into it, you have no idea exactly what you should be doing. So sometimes it's just, it's a fresh perspective. So we had a lot of fun there. But coming into

this lens and being color and then not really necessarily having the opportunity to mark what you're seeing. So I think that's the biggest difference for people at home who aren't fully aware of what goes on when you're in a booth. So if you're working a regular NHL game, the color analysts can say, hey, on a whistle, can I get that play? Right. And so you know what's coming. But in an Olympic winter games, you don't know what that replay is going to be. And you can start talking about something that happened. Then all of a sudden it starts to change. You start to see it. And you're like, yeah, okay, let's twist this around and bring it back home. But I think because Brian and I, we've met before, we both like wine.

I think it was a natural common denominator that brought us together right away and just decided, you know what, we both prepared for this. We had conversations walking into it, some storylines that we knew we would want to get out. And just being authentic and being real and having fun with it. Because I think, you know, mistakes are going to happen in a game. and no matter what angle you take. But when you can have fun with it and enjoy each other's company,

which I think we did, maybe talk to him, it might be a different story. But I think that's a big piece of it. Just getting in sync with your partner and recognizing their type of call and where you can lend some knowledge and when to pull back and let it be him or vice versa.

And I think that there's no ego with Brian there. So I felt like it was really great because I have a little more knowledge. of the players involved. So we leaned on each other from that perspective. And yeah, it was a lot of fun. Honestly, coming in at 2 a.m. or leaving at 2 a.m. was exhausting.

But I felt like we perked up come 6 a.m. to do the second game because, you know, it was a lot of fun. So what were you doing there to kind of stay? Like, are you a coffee person? Was it just power naps? Like, how are you getting through those? No, Ian, this is exactly what happened. So we were, we were, Brian was fortunate to go home for a few hours.

I was staying at a hotel down, you know, with Haley. We were all downtown on Front Street in Toronto right across from CBC. So I would exit the building as fast as I could. And I wouldn't wear my hat back to the hotel. Reason being, I slept face up because there was no way in hell. I was coming back half an hour early to have hair and makeup done. So I actually slept on two cushions like this with my face up for about three hours. hours and then I got back and I just said, you know,

hose it down and let's go to, let's go to town. So the three hours in between actually were really great. And by the time we got to the end, I was sleeping on the side. I didn't care. I was fine. But, yeah, but you know what? Again, coffee and just, I think there's something about the energy of an Olympic Winter Games and knowing the other side of it and the women on the other side.

And we did some men games, some of the men. some of the men's games as well to just know, you know, they're putting it all out there for their countries, whoever they are. So it's our job to represent them as best we can and tell their stories and bring the game as much visibility as we can. So I think it was just, you know, you felt you were energized. I mean, now at times when you're eating fish at 9 a.m. Or wings, you know, that kind of changed things a little bit in the booth. But no, it was, yeah, to say we weren't tired would be, would be lying. but I think we found a way.

I just got a question about Team Canada in that tournament. I know Haley wrote an article just in light of them winning gold last week. You can make an argument. This might have been the best Canadian women's team we've ever seen at this tournament with the way Sarah Filet broke out, Sarah Nurse and Mary Philippe-Pillian, breaking that record for most points at an Olympic Games by Haley Wickednizer, which now Nurse has the all-time record. With all these other players, of course, Mary Philip-Polier and her heroics,

What are your impressions of that team and what do you think they stack amongst other Canadian women's teams we've sent to the games? Yeah, and I'm a little biased here, but I would have said be prior to these Olympics, the 06 team. Yes, I was on it. We had a celebration yesterday as the 20th when we won the gold medal back in 2006. I would have said that that might have been the greatest team up to this point. And I think this one takes the cake. I really do. The game and its speed in particular and the way they generated offense,

speed through the neutral zone, the movement that they created. And that all the way from a very active back end through to the front. And you look at the number of rookies and you mentioned Serafiliere, like I think she could be your next generational player coming in, the ability to have the instincts, but not just that, but the ability for her brain to keep up with her legs, you know, just be able to translate the game at such a high pace. And we saw movement that we haven't seen.

before across the board. And I used to think when I was calling games sometimes, Canada looks a little slower. The Americans look faster than we do. And really now, I think it was more about the structure around the game, you know, the stagnant structure, which can sometimes stymie creativity. And in the end, that translates to stymieing speed. So this was a team that was very creative in their movement. And, you know, because of that, I feel like they got the offensive production. They had the puck more in the ozone. And I mean, they were, they were the best team that I've ever seen assembled for Canada. You know, you mentioned that 06 team and you win the gold medal in Turin. Can you take our listeners through what the flight home was like?

Were you all able to fly home together, separate flights? Because one of the things I always love talking about teams is when they get that little opportunity to fly home, if they can fly home together, it's one of the greatest experiences, but I know that's not always possible. Yeah, and in 2006, I believe we did. We were on a charter. And, you know, it's a little bit of a blur. I'd probably had a few too many beverages by the time I got on the plane. But I can definitely tell you in 2002 in particular, Ian,

when we got off after winning the first gold medal for Canada, I remember being on the plane. And we'd had a tough, tough year having lost every single game we played against the United States. and we're on the charter hall, much like 06. But at this time, we never even thought anyone watched, right? We didn't even think that there was really a following for the women's game. And just it was enough for us, though. It was enough for us to just be connected on that plane together, you know,

together with your gold medals, much like 06, much like these women will be now. And we got off at the airport and the pilot says, would the women's team come off last? And we're kind of like, what? Like, we just want to get out. We want to get, you know, we want to go have some fun. And we came off last and it was incredible, the amount of support that had come to the airport to welcome us home. And I was crying. Like, I, what?

You know, and that just that feeling that, you know, people watched. And that is a moment and memory that I have ingrained in my brain, much like 06 on a charter. I believe it was the charter. And we always flew back to Calgary. And I don't know what the women are doing right now because that is where we were centralized and we're living at the time. So we had to get our stuff to ship it back home. So pretty incredible stuff when you can get off and see your family members for the first time.

And this is where it will be very, very different for this group because they didn't have their family members with them. So to be able to step off a plane and to be able to run to your mom or your dad or a sibling or just someone who helped get you there. that is going to be an incredibly emotional moment. You know, I think it's interesting you talk about how you get on that plane in Salt Lake City in 2002 and you're not sure what the reception would be because I think at the time, women's hockey was fighting an uphill battle, right?

Yeah. And I think what I was really disappointed in Cheryl during this Olympic cycle is it feels like we kind of got dragged back into it. And I just want to know how disappointing it was for you to read some of the commentary that was out there to suggest that, you know what, women's hockey doesn't necessarily have a place at the Olympic Games because it's a two, two country event. Yeah, it's disappointing because I know how hard these women work to be the best. And excellence is something that we strive for.

It's the motto of the Olympics. And these women have pushed the envelope for years and years to get to the point where we're saying they are the greatest in the world at what they do. And this is the best ever. And that's what we want. We want to push for excellence. and you need to be best on best to realize what you need to do to be able to get there. So you don't want these women to have to apologize for being great at what they do,

but there is an appetite for the women's game. It's out there. My daughters play this great game and they love it. They tune in. They played hooky the following day because I said, you're not going to watch this on PBR. You're going to watch this live and experience the emotion of the game. And, you know, so for them, they deserve an opportunity.

to watch these women outside of an Olympic year. And for me, that's the biggest calling for this particular group right now. And I think it's an integral piece for the global growth of the game as well. Because when you start to showcase the women making it more visible, then the grassroots start looking at it, right? Mummy, Daddy, why can I play? And young boys are watching, young girls are watching. And so it becomes a natural part of what you're watching.

And I think that the grassroots are really critical, in particular in other countries where they don't necessarily have the same support. It's a bit of a shame that that discussion couldn't have been framed, you know, in a different way, for example, and you could tell me if I'm wrong, but if we had said, well, what can other countries across the landscape do to get on a level of Canada and United States? Would that have been a better way of discussing it? Yeah, and I think there's, what you have to remember, too, is when you look at the growth of the game as a whole, if you look at, for our arguments say in the B pool at the Olympic winter games. So China beats Japan. So they're 20th in the world and they beat the sixth place team. You're seeing the Czech Republic, you know, against the

Americans in the quarterfinals. It's still a tie game going in, you know, into that third period. And what you're also forgetting is that back in 2019, Finland knocked off Canada and potentially the U.S. for argument's sake, you know, many would think they did. And the trouble there is that people aren't reflecting back on that. They're just seeing the 11-1 blow out in the prelim action against Canada. But I'm telling you that Finland team had they in that first period in the semis against the US scored at the end of the first period, that would have been a different game. So you're looking at a very young team, Posse Mousden and the coach there, built this team to win somewhere in the cycle between 2018 and 2020. And effectively they did. The problem is when you have

retirements and key players leave, it's replacing them. And so the under 18 becomes critically important. World championships with 10 teams now become massively important. And so these are all steps to encouraging youth, encouraging the U18 development process. And this is where it needs to happen because they are the feeder systems to your national team programs. So I think one of the the other big things that comes out of the Olympic Games show, once again, I think the television numbers tell the story. There is a tremendous appetite for women's sports. The problem is we seem to only pay attention every four years.

And this is a big question. And I'm asking this because I think as a mainstream media member myself, I'm wondering, I need to start looking at the mirror myself and say, like, what do I need to do better? Like, what am I not doing well here to amplify this? So I'm going to ask it in that kind of way and just say, like, hey, how do we need to be better in the mainstream media to help promote the game? Well, I think, you know, doing exactly what we're doing, having conversations about this,

but keeping it at the forefront beyond, you know, two weeks post-Olympics, because then it disappears. And so how do we find a way to continually press and add to the conversation and showcase great athletes in the game, whether it be our under 18 athletes too, because no one knows them? And so these are the up-and-coming players that are going to be part of your national team program at someday. and I think the push for a best-on-best league. I mean, the fact that Poulin, you know, said no to the ECHL contract is just another indicator that she wants to be here for a league with it with the women to encourage this continual growth to push on for a best-on-best league. Because the reality is all of those players who just, you know, garnered in all of that visibility, they are not playing anywhere. And so when I look at myself and I say, Cheryl, okay, so when you played a decade ago and you were playing club, was it any different than it is today?

Are we any further ahead? And I have a hard time saying yes. And that is tragic when you see the numbers and see how far the game has come and you see the grassroots. And so for me, we keep asking the question, but we're asking the same one and we're not moving any, we're not inching. any more forward. So for me, like I know I said it the other day, I kind of stick of the question of, you know, we're like, we need to start doing something about it. And I think I'm with you in. I mean, I don't know what the answer is. You need funding and you need resources and you need platform. But I think there's an appetite for it. And I don't think you'll

ever know unless you give it the proper platform, what that opportunity can lead to. Does the NHL need to help in this? I always think of what happens in basketball. And I see the support that is thrown to the WNBA, not just by fans, but by NBA players who will go to games. Sometimes you'll see them wear the merch. The fact that the WNBA has merch itself, and it's really cool. Like, I have the popular orange WNBA sweater that a lot people were wearing, I think, like, a year or two ago.

Like, that's like one of the, I was like one of the hottest pieces of sports apparel you could get, but that was just a cool thing. Do you think the NHL needs to do something similar, like what the infrastructure seems to be with the NBA and the WNBA? Well, I think that, you know, a lot of the sort of the standing still has been around because I think there's always been that question as to whether they were going to get on board with the cease of operation with the CWHL, which took everyone by surprise back in 2019 and left these women with nowhere to go.

And yes, there's the PHF and yes, there's the PWHPA. But at the end of the day, women's hockey can't be splintered, right? there needs to be a best on best league and for the opportunity to play. Listen, I'm what I'm a supporter of, I'm supporter of the game. And so what is in the best interest of the game right now? And, you know, I do believe that that was the idea that the NHL would hopefully come on. But now that there hasn't been, you know, anything that has productively come about, there was a lot of questions as what do we need to do now?

Do we need to move on and create another league? And I think the temperature and the question marks were around that. But certainly the resources and the platforms are there. You're right, Julian, like they've got the resources. They've got the platform. They've got the buildings. They've got the marketing ability, capabilities. So it's all in place.

So, yeah, it would be in an ideal world. It would be great. But I think that that's been the question for three years now. You know, you referenced there that basically said, look, it's tragic that, you know, I played for a club team 10 years ago and the environment really hasn't changed. I'm wondering if you could explain to us just how difficult was it for you to try and make a living as a professional hockey player 10, 12 years ago. Yeah. Well, well, you didn't, right? Like, that's the bottom line. You just, you didn't. So I remember

coming home for my first ever Olympics. And I mean, I was living at home. I didn't, I didn't have any money, but it didn't matter to me at the time because I just wanted to wear my jersey and I wanted to represent my country to the best of my ability. And so I had the support around me to be able to do that. But there was never a paycheck at the end of the day. And a lot of my teammates certainly retired early because they didn't, their careers were taking their working or paid careers, were taking too much of a hit in order to continue to play the game. And so they would, you know, left the game early. And that's what we don't want.

We don't want a seraphilié to have to say, okay, well, you know, I'm done. I'm 26 because there's no, you know, room for me to grow here. But more importantly, beyond the paycheck for me right now, and I think it's more about getting an actual league in place or process in place that this is something to aspire for, to be.

And for our children to say, I want to play here one day. and there's an objective. It's a path. And I think that's what these women are being very courageous and they're standing up to say right now is we need this. We deserve this.

And so does tomorrow's athletes. Tomorrow's athletes deserve this. And so I think they've been holding off because they want to do it right. You know, it's time to do it right. And so waiting for the proper time, well, it's been the proper time. Why and now was three years ago.

but in terms of waiting for the right fit and making sure that it's going to only push forward and not take another step back. And I think that's where they've used their voices. And again, I know I know players on both sides, right, playing within the PHF, playing with the PWHPA and doing great things to try and play hockey and just get on the ice and all those things. But in terms of the greater good of the game, you know, there needs to be a unified position. Absolutely. I want to go back to Mary Philip Poulin. We did kind of touch off on the fact that there was a report that kind of surfaced that a team in the ECHL,

the lines in Tufti Fiaire were interested in signing her at one point when she turned down the offer. What would you say to somebody who would see that and would feel that Mary Philip Poulin not joining that team would, would be a mistake because that's a way for them to bring visibility to women's athletes playing hockey, but they turn down that opportunity. What would you say to that? I would say you need to know Mary Philippe Palin, and it would bring visibility to one player. It's a very good point. It's an excellent point. It's just one player. One player. And Poulin doesn't operate that way. And not that I would I would hold it against her either because, you know, playing the game and you play the game because you love it because you're passionate about it because it's, it's something that is inbred in you and you just love it. But Poulin also knows what they've been fighting for for years and she wants to do it together.

And the game needs her. The game needs her. And I think she, she knows that. She's a leader. And so for her to accept that contract would certainly help visibility in the women's game in Poulin and bring light to the greatest in the game. But she wants to bring light to all of the women in the game. And for me, that's just another testament to the leader she is, the humble leader she is. Sometimes I want to go, come on, you're unbelievable, right?

A lot of people. Yeah, yeah. And what she's done and what she's coming off of. yeah, it just speaks volumes. And like I said, I wouldn't hold it against you if she did. But again, I think the visibility, she wants to strengthen the numbers and what they've been pushing for these last few years. Well, listen, Cheryl, we have really appreciated your time here dropping by.

I got two hopefully fun questions for you to wrap this up. The first one is something you sparked it pointing when you said you and Brian Moodrick are fans of connoisseurs of wine. I need to know Cheryl Pounder's best recommendation for a tour. $20 bottle of wine or less. Oh, a $20. My gosh, you're putting me on the spot here. I'm not going to be able to come up with the name.

I might have to send it to you later. I'm blanking at you. You're hoity tooty. You can't even get down to be $20. No, I'm not. I am not a hoity tooty. No, no, no, no. I am not a hoity tooty.

Let me. Jeez, Louisa. I don't normally look at the label. I just open it. Okay. You know what? You're killing me right now. Yeah, like I'm busting.

Like, I can't even believe this. Busted. What about, what about, are you, are you red wine, white wine, rosé? I'm red, and I'm usually, I, I am a, I am a cabernet all the way. Does that sound good? Cabernet all the way? Yeah. I'm just trying to think of one that I really love.

Because I try them all. This is the problem. You're a sample. I'm getting back to you on that one, Ian. Okay. Yeah. Okay, you get back to me. Here's the other question for you.

And you know that we do a lot of research before these interviews, which means we usually go to people's Wikipedia pages. On your Wikipedia page, Cheryl Pounder, it says that you were part of the 1992 World Roller Hockey Championship team. Let's talk about the 1992 World Roller Hockey Championships. So true story and 94. Come on, it left off that one, too? It just said 92.

Yeah, yeah, no, you know what? Yes. So our club team, our hockey team, Toronto Aeros, went over to Germany and we played inline hockey. So everyone was on quad skates and we were the only team on actual rollerblades. And we ended up coming home with the gold medal. I'll never forget it because I was very young. And I played alongside Angela James. Hey, legend.

Okay. So now we're talking. And we went over and we had an unbelievable time and got to play the game. I would play for a number of years. I went to multiple NARCH championships and in line. And it was sort of a lot of a fun way to stay connected in the game. It was I guess kind of your lighter sport, if you will, but got to travel the world a little bit playing in line. It broke my hand when I was over there, you know, because it couldn't really stop.

and, you know, crashed into someone. And, yeah, because they just threw us on these things and expected us to play because we were, we were athletes. But, yeah, it was incredible experience. But hang on. You said that the other teams were on the quad roller skates. Are those not the roller skates you would get at like the roller rink when you go? Yes, yes, Ian. Some of the teams were on those and they could stop on a dime.

You know, with that front thing and they could just stop on a dime. Yeah. So they would do these cuts on us. And so, of course, I'd use my stick and take them down. But you would have, you would have, it was almost like you had a field hockey stick, too. So I'd never played field hockey. And so I'm on these, which they're not very long, right? So you're kind of, there was really, really interesting, interesting game in Europe.

And so it was really different. So we would get over there and they'd be like, what do they have on their feet? So, but yeah, they were on the quad skates. A lot of the different countries were on these quad skates. And we come in with these fancy schmancy inline skates. And it's funny because I kept them. And my daughter needed a pair this past summer because, of course, with the pandemic, everything was sold out. And she's like, Mom, you know, do you have any roller, you know, rollerblades?

I'm like, yeah, because her foot's bigger than mine now. And she grabs them. She's like, what are these, mom? Like the first ever pair of roller plates, right? So they're ancient in this world. And I'm like, they're world champion rollers. She's like, mom, take them to play it again. Wow.

I was like, thanks, kid. Thanks. You know, they won two world championship gold medals. She's like, take him to play it again. She made in the Hall of Fame. Seriously. Yeah. Now, your gold medals from those, they're not in the same place as your Olympic gold medals.

Are they? There's got to be some sort of hierarchy. Yeah, I'm not even sure. You know, it's interesting. My Olympic gold medals are in my underwear drawer. So, but that's, that's, I was going to be. that's a very special place. Oh, my.

I'm just kidding. No, you know what? The interesting thing is you're always on the goal with your medals and people are always, you know, asking you to see them. So you kind of always have them available and accessible for people to see. So I always have them accessible, just an easy spot to grab them. But yeah, the two gold medals that I have from the Olympics and then, of course, we're in line. very, very different experiences for sure. But it's interesting over time, like I'm sure the women will tell you that have just achieved

this is it's more than the final moment. It's really the journey and it sounds so cheesy, I know. But when you go through a quad where you are, you know, have so much that you go through the sacrifices and the family sacrifices that your siblings or maybe your spouse and your parents go through in that process, you really do reflect on it after you won after you'd savour the moment and just it reminds you of how important the process is. And for me, honestly, when I left Salt Lake in particular, not down at the time, but not more now, it's probably my proudest moment as an athlete. And the reason why upon reflection is because the greatest growth in

our game happened after that Olympic final. And so I think that is a big testament. And I hope that with the numbers that the women got, that there were a lot of young women or young girls that would have turned to their parents that day and said, I want to be there, just like, you know, Renata Fas did and Rebecca Johnston and Sarah Nurse. So, you know, that's the hope for the game. And I bet you any money that down the road, those women would be saying the same thing. Well, listen, Cheryl, we appreciate it. And look, we know that you inspired a lot of young women in this country 20 years ago as a player. I can tell you, and Julian would agree with me. I think you also inspired a lot of young aspiring girls and young women who want to be broadcasters in this country with your work at the Olympic Games.

And you do it all the time on TSN too. So I think everybody is a big fan of your work. We appreciate you taking a few minutes to drop by. And at some point, you know we love doing long-form journalism at the athletic. I might hit you up for a deep dive in the 1992 World Roller Hockey Championships because I feel like there's a story there. Oh, there's lots of stories that come out there. And there's one I cannot share right now, but I'll reflect and think about how I can tell it in an appropriate manner. How's that? I'm going to use my filter right now. So this won't be Cheryl Pounder unfiltered.

Okay. Well, this has to be a doozy of a story because you just dropped the fact that you leave your gold medals in your underwear drawer. Well, come on. You had no filter there. There's socks in underwear. And, you know, it's just easy and accessible. It's right there you just grab and go, right? So, I don't know. All right. Well, you work on a PG-13 version of that story for us, and we'll get you again next time. But thanks again for doing this, Cheryl. Thanks, guys.

All right, that was a great conversation with Cheryl Pounder. One of the best broadcasters out there. Glad to see that her platform was sort of elevated during the Olympic Games. And Ottawa fans know her work very well. She does a lot of Ottawa Senator's broadcast. So great to have Cheryl there. And I did, listen, that was my Carl Lewis impression. I hope you don't think that that was me singing the national anthem.

Like, that's how I would sing it. And the best part of the Carl Lewis is, uh-oh. Yeah. And I'll make up for it. Like, who does that in the middle of the, uh-oh? For the land of the free. And then was that in a New Jersey Nets game? I don't remember what game it was.

Yeah, I think it was a New Jersey Nets game. Anyway. Oh, man. So we're looking forward to Craig Custin, Sean Gentilly, Tuesday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. They have to sing the Canadian National Anthem. We think to open their podcast. I don't know if they will or not.

Their producer, Jeff, is going to record it. There's going to be video. We have asked politely, because we are Canadian, we ask politely for them to sing in both our official language. I don't know that that request is going to be met and granted. Unfortunately, Julian. I have a question. So video, there will be video of this?

Yes. So this means we all get to see Sean Gentile's big head do this, do this anthem? 100%. Okay, cool. I'm calling him a big head. I just wanted to know this. I'm going to call him a big head and I'm not going to apologize for calling him that. Because on the podcast, not only did he call attention to the fact that I made light of

the size of his head. He added that I'm among these Canadians who like to make a comment about somebody and then we'll just like apologize and just kind of try to take it back. I'm not going to do that, my man. No. You have a big head. Enjoy your size eight head doing the anthem with Craig Custin, who was a great person. But Sean, you're just a big head. Yeah.

So we look forward to them singing the anthem to kick off the Tuesday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. And I have a feeling the two of us might be retweeting it once the video is available. That is a pin. If I could pin that tweet, I will pin it. Pin it to your profile. All right. I got to ask you one. Let's wrap up the show.

I'm going to just ask one multiple choice question because I think we can actually have some fun with this one. So I'm covering Rangers, Senators, Sunday night. I want to paint the picture before I ask the multiple choice question. Okay. Rangers, Senators Sunday night. Rangers are up to one. final 90 seconds of the game. Ottawa pulls its goalie,

Philip Gustafin for the extra attacker. They have six skaters on the ice. The puck ends up behind the Rangers net where Rangers netminder Igor Shisterkin takes the puck very calmly, very Hextol-esque, takes the puck and shoots it 200 feet down the ice. And if I tell you he missed by two inches,

I'm probably exaggerated. Like he just missed scoring a goal. And the building was alive. people were like, oh my God, oh my God. Like it just was electric just for that three seconds when he shot it because it really looked like it was going in. So here's the question I ask for you in multiple choice madness, Julian. I'm going to put you in the stands. Let's say your favorite team is playing. Now your favorite team, this game doesn't mean anything in the standings. Okay. If you win, it doesn't matter. If you lose, it doesn't matter. It's game 52. You're out of the

playoff race. It's a rando regular season game. your team has the net empty and the other team's goalie does what Shisterkin does and shoots it down. My question is, do you want him to score or not? So that's my multiple choice question. Your options are, hey, yes, you know what? It would be super cool. I could see that in person or be, no, I would rather my favorite team highs up the game. What do you want?

Man, context is everything. Because if I'm watching my favorite team and they're up against like a rival team And that happens. I don't know if I want that at all, because that is completely embarrassing. If it's just my favorite team against some random team that they don't have any semblance of a rivalry with, then I'm like, yeah, I want to watch a goalie goal because goalie goals are awesome, whether it's, was it Mike Smith who had one? Mike Smith or Pecorina had one.

Pecarina is the last one to do it. I think Mike Smith had one. Marty Bordure had three. Ronnie Ron Haxthol had two. Yes. Jose Thier. Anyway, there's only been 12, it's only been done 12 times. Or 12 goalies have done it.

Thank you for bringing that stat because that is awesome. I did not know there was that many. But like, man, I think I'm going to say yes, it would be cool to see it in person. The only caveat I would say is I don't know if I'd be able to live it down if my favorite team got scored on by like a rival that like I really hate. at that point, people could just use that as like ammunition to try to bring me down about my favorite team. If we're talking like my favorite team against a team I don't really care about that much, then I don't care. It's like, all right, this is fun, this is cool. The opposing goalie did it. But if they're of a rival team, I don't think I can do it. Yeah, that's fair enough.

I think though, because it's only been done by 12 goalies, it's so rare, I would want to have a seat to history and say, you know what, I was there. Like, if it's a meaningless game. Now, if it was a game that mattered and there was playoff consequences, then all that goes out the window. It's like, I think it would be like for a baseball fan, if you get to the seventh or eighth inning and your favorite, if you're at the stadium and your favorite team has a perfect game against them,

and it's a random game, game 95 of the regular season, and you're at the game, you're like, I kind of think I want to see the perfect game. Right? Yeah. And that's kind of what the goalie goal is. It's a rarity. It's a, you know, it's a rarity that comes around once in a blue moon.

So I think I agree with you, though. I think I want to see it in person. And I was that close Sunday night. I'm, damn. Maybe when the Canadians and Senators play each other on Saturday, maybe Gustafsson or Andrew Hammond might do it. Who knows, whoever starts for the Canadians in that game. The Hamburg.

I would love it if the Hamburgler got to start on Saturday against Senators. I hope they do. it. I hope the canes do it. That'd be fine. Well, listen, you and I are going to have some fun watching that game together in the press box in Ottawa. I'll tell you what. I'll set up my tablet. We'll watch the outdoor game at the same time. Can you keep tabs on the game? The bad jerseys. I'm down. I'm down. I'm there we go. I'm winning. All right. Hey, listen, I'm looking forward to connecting with you at the game on Saturday. Like I said, off the top of the show, man, this has been so much fun. These three weeks have flown by.

We're excited to get Haley back. You know, I know we joke around. We love Haley. And we were so proud of seeing the work she did. But you did a tremendous job here, Julian. This has been a ton of fun. And I'm sure we'll do this again at some point real soon. Let me know, man.

I'll make myself available amidst all the busy scheduling notes that I have. But, of course, in all seriousness, man, it's been an absolute pleasure to be a part of the show these last few weeks. Absolute fun. Love the show. And, yeah, man, again, an honor and a pleasure to do the show with you. All righty, listen, this has been a ton of fun. A reminder, make sure you tune in for the Tuesday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show.

Craig Custins, Sean Gentile, just have to sing the Canadian National Anthem at some point during their podcast. So thanks for listening to our Monday show. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a rating. Leave us a review. We would certainly appreciate that. You can subscribe to the Athletic Audio Plus on Apple Podcasts. Get all the bonus content from our entire network.

You're going to start with the 30-day free trial. After that, it's 99. cents a month. And right now, you can go ahead and subscribe to the Athletic for just $1 a month for six months when you visit theathletic.com slash hockey show. Peace.