The Athletic Hockey Show - Cole Caufield catches fire playing for Martin St. Louis, Dallas wants to extend Joe Pavelski and Everett Fitzhugh breaking barriers with Seattle Kraken

Episode Date: February 22, 2022

Craig and Sean pay up on their bet with the Monday show, singing 'O Canada' after the Canadian women won Gold in Beijing over team USA.The guys stick tape Wisconsin native Cole Caufield, who is lighting up the scoresheet since Martin St. Louis took over as head coach with the Montreal Canadiens. With Pierre Lebrun's report on the Dallas Stars hoping to extend Joe Pavelski, we take a look at the Dallas Stars roster and the cap crunch the team finds itself in and if they are indeed a team that can be competitive in the long run. In our comments segment, Craig and Sean hot on what teams should be active and what players should be on the move, on the trade front with deadline day 4 weeks away.Everett Fitzhugh, the play by play voice of the Seattle Kraken on radio joins Craig and Sean to discuss his journey from minor hockey to the NHL, his ground breaking call with JT Brown last week in Winnipeg, his love of Karaoke and musicals and of course the first year Seattle Kraken. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two, three, four. Oh, can a... What? I got an intro. We can't just jump into it, Sean. Fine. We might just use that as our intro. Hey, everybody.

I'm just so psyched to be singing the song. You are, I mean, like, I didn't know you were going to do that intro. That threw me for a loop. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. We have a great show for you. In the second segment, we have Everett Fits You, who does play-by-play for the Seattle Cracken. and made a little bit of history a couple weeks ago.

A couple weeks ago, a week ago, everything blends together. And I'm pumped to talk to Everett. Not for just that reason, but because he's a Detroit native and a proud American like us. And like the show is dedicated to. And Sean, I can't think of it. Not a Detroit native. I feel like I got lumped on with that. I'm not.

I'm a proud American like you and Everett. And also Detroit Native, I thought. Yeah, I'm from Sterling. Whatever. You're not even? Sterling Heights? That whatever. Yeah, Sterling Heights.

That's my hometown. But I can't think of anything more American, Sean, than paying up a gambling loss. So we made, maybe you could say ill advice, but I, you know what, I don't believe it was. we made a bet with the Monday show that the U.S. women would beat the Canadian women in the gold medal game of the Olympics. Never once even considering we would lose the bet. No. I didn't even, it wasn't even, and in a second here, you're going to wish even more that the Americans had won. I was definitely not like, I definitely didn't think we were certainly going to lose the bet,

was not concerned about the fact that the U.S. had two lines that they were comfortable using, and at least that Kline was playing 45 minutes a game on defense and didn't. really have a, you know, didn't have a lockdown goalie. I was not concerned about any of that. That was not going through my mind when I made this bet. Nope. But it's okay. Our patriotism and our blind support for the U.S. women's hockey team

shown through in the bet. And what the stakes were, the loser has to sing the anthem of the opposing country. And I initially, and the private slack said, no, there will be no singing, because I I'm tone deaf. Like, you're going to hear this. I can't carry a tune. I tend to just, if like, if we're singing hymns in a church,

I'm just mouthing it. Like, there's no singing. What do you do for, what have you done like historically on the kids' birthdays? Oh, obnoxious dad. Happy birthday. Yeah, like, either over the top or you're going to get nothing. So we'll see what this heads up.

My family, my family adopted a restaurant song, the song they sing in, the song they used to sing in in Chi-Chi's. Really? Like you got to come clapping out of the kitchen? Happy, happy, happy birthday. Yeah, I think my aunt worked there when she was in high school or something,

and that turned into like the birthday song at family parties. Was that because the Gentiles didn't want to pay the happy birthday sisters? Yeah, those miserable old crones, Mildred and Patricia Hill, you mean? Well, guess what? We can sing happy birthday if we want to now, because like Winnie the Pooh. Is that true? Can we sing happy birthday? I don't know. I don't want to risk you. We should do, let's do it actually.

Sing happy birthday and see if we get fine. Text handsman right now. Give them the heads up. We might be getting a heads up. Hey, it could be a lawsuit coming. You guys are either going to, you guys are either going to get a cease and desist or a sizable bill for what's about to happen on this podcast. But what we can't, we know we can sing is O Canada. And we, and we, in, because we are men of our word, we are going to sing it. And Sean gave us a little,

so we're going to let Sean lead us in with some table pounding and an intro, and we're going to bang this out. And, um, I took off my baseball hat and everything. My hair is extremely, extremely dirty. So whatever.

That's the way it goes. All right. We're doing, we're doing a sacopelle, okay? All right. Here we go. One, two,

three, four. Oh, Canada, our hominitive land. We're really slowing it down. True patriot love in all of us command. With glowing hearts, we see the rise. the true north strong and free From far and wide

We stand on guard for the Godland Glow we stand on guard We stand on guard For we Big finish Johnny Play ball What do they say in Canada after they do you

Let's play some hockey. Let's play some hockey. Oh, producer Jeff. Yeah. Oh, man. That's the most disingenuous clap I've ever seen in my life. Let me tell you. Oh, he's ready to.

He's pumped. No, he's happy because we suck. Whatever. That's fine. Was it that bad? Can we listen? Can we roll it back? Yeah, you were behind me.

You were like, I feel like I was just. I was not behind you. You were behind me. According to my Skype. Whatever. Great job, dude. This guy, also. Mendez, McKenzie, you're welcome.

You're welcome, Canada. You're welcome, Canada. That makes up for these, that almost makes up for the six-place finish in the men's tournament, right? You know, I just want to tell any hockey ranks, you feel free to use that. If you need a recording of, oh, Canada, for your, like, maybe you don't have a singer that night. Really, I thought, you know. It's available for a fee, not a large one, a small one. No.

Unlike the happy birthday sisters. This is like, this is like rights free music. We will share that. So, so Sean, getting into hockey and I'm excited. I'm excited to talk to Everett in a minute here, but, hey, not a ton going on, first of all. No, this is brutal. Like, we were like, hey, let's let's dive into some of the meaty topics. But I will say this, interesting development, and I know we don't talk about Montreal,

but we do talk about American players. Cole Coughfield, American Hero. is on just a straight bender right now. All my boy needed was another small goals boy to tell him what to do. This is the San Luis effect. Obviously. Is it that easy? Yes.

Like you just say, hey, let's bring it a coach who is the same player as our prospect who just can't seem to get going. No, we're going to look. Like, what's Marty St. Louis telling them? Like, really, that no other people haven't told them. Representation matters. It's important that it's important that Cole sees another. another short king in a position of power. I think Cole Coughfield knew Marty St. Louis existed already.

Like, I don't know. He never met him. Never heard of him. How about that? Cole Cawfield's, what, 21? I don't know. Yeah, whatever, early 20s. Like, he kind of remembers Marty St. Louis being good.

That's how weird of like a generational spot we're in right now. It's like, we're fast approaching the time where like, Cole Coughfield probably didn't quite watch Marty San Luis growing up. That's how old we are. No, he did. He's the math. He thinks of him as a New York Ranger. Unquestionably.

He does not remember a game he played. I'm not kidding. I bet he does remember a game he played for the, he has no recollection of him watching him play live for the Lightning. No way. No way. Cole Cawfield, what is he got? Five goals and six games or something crazy?

What's important What's important is if he keeps us up for the rest of the season He will have a chance at fulfilling my 40 goal Prediction for him at the start of this year Is that what you said? 40 goals We did In power rankings one week

Me and Dom did crazy predictions like one for each team Not crazy but like Bullike over the top And some of them honestly are coming true Not that one I think Dom said Dom said 20 or something thing. So, of course, he's going to be right because he always is. But yeah, that's got to be one of the

biggest reasons for optimism coming into the first, you know, whatever, eight games of the Marty San Luis era or whatever we're on right now, is that players like Nick Suzuki and Cole Cofield and guys who are going to need to be good if the Montreal Canaanans want to be good anytime soon, they're the ones that have kind of, have most clearly benefited, you know, from whether it's having Marty St. Louis around, whether it's having Dom DeS Charm, you know, elsewhere, there's some kind of effect there. And that's got to be a major, major source of confidence or a source of positivity. I think Arpin wrote something good last week, right, where he was just like, that fan base and that team and that city needs to take whatever they can get from the next however many games,

because that that is how bad the first 50 games of the season where it was just, it was devoid of hope and devoid of positivity. So they'll take whatever they can get and having Caulfield and Suzuki producing is a big, is a big part of that. So they make the coaching change. The record's 8.30 and 7. Cole Cawfield is, we're starting to wonder if he's a complete bust, right? Like all that you're like, how much is what's happening now, in your opinion, Dom Dusharm?

Like, like, maybe he's just. maybe he was the problem. Is it the, you know, the dead cat bounce where a little just a change of scenery gets you some momentum? Is Marty St. Louis a really good coach? Like what, we're like how much of these, uh, of each of those are you putting in the rest of you? I mean, I don't, I'm always hesitant to find one skeleton key solution for, yeah, for a season

that's that completely off the rails. Like anything that could go wrong with them did, right? You have Kerry Price needing to take time away. you have, you know, unreasonable, excuse me, expectations based on last year when they were not good. That was not a good, that was not a good hockey team last year. They got hot at the right time and got lucky. And I think that sort of set the bar way, way, way too high. You have issues that they had with player development, which is maybe not necessarily a Dom Dusharm thing.

But we'd seen, you know, we'd seen the Kotkanemis of the world, you know, kind of fizzle out. That was a major issue. You had COVID issues. had injury issues. Like, everything that could go wrong went wrong. But I do think a big part of it was, was Don Douchon, right? Because it was, especially at the end. Like, you saw the way, like, they were rolling Josh Anderson out there every night. He was getting progressively more pissed off. Like, they were, it's safe to say, and this is like an educated guess, that they were, that they were, that they were done with that dude. And something needed to happen. So that,

then that's always the way it works, right? Players are finished with a coach. They're tuning them out. that's only going to be magnify when the guy's not a good coach to begin with by a lot of measures. In the NHL, like, let's let's be real about it. Then you bring in Marty San Luis and, you know, I don't know. I think, I think it's a positive effect. Something needed to go right. Like the odds that they were going to be as bad as they were as hopelessly bad as they were over the course of an 82 game season were slim, right? because that had just been a black hole of negativity and they were I don't know how much

them you watched over the last few weeks of the Doucharmar dude but that was it was abysmal. Nope, not much. No, no, you told me, no, that's actually not true. That's not true. You told me you you're watching them every night. You love the kids. I mean, is that a lot? Every night?

I mean, I didn't watch the replay of the game after I watched the, every single night. Pierre LeBrun reporting today that the Dallas stars want to re-up Joe Pavelsky. So Pierre, which is fun every time in the time of year, does a lap around the league, talks to every GM. It gives you a little flavor of what each GM is planning and doing at the trade deadline. And Jim Niddle tells Pierre, he's going to sit down with Joe Pavalski and try to bring him back. coming off of he's on the last year of a three-year deal

worth 21 million he's 37 years old 53 points in 49 games great American Joe Pavelski with all this to say I love I mean the stars

are just constantly trying to keep it going there at what point do you cut bait on Joe Pavowski few the stars that's a great question that team is

Pavelsky and Robertson and Inns and they're really, really top-heavy at this point. And the problem is that you have Tyler Sagan making a ton of money and Jamie Ben making a ton of money and Radulov making a ton of like those are the problems, right? That's what makes them a win now team that can't really win now is the amount of money they have locked up in older guys that aren't producing. Joe Pavelski

is not in that group. He's, and he's not just really productive. He's, him and Robertson have something special together. I mean, not to keep harping back on on the Olympics, but that was something that I was that I personally had really hoped to see, was if the chemistry between Robertson and Pavelsky could transfer over to a best on best international tournament because they're that, they're that good together, right? So I can see the logic for NIL.

You know, you see the bones of a good team there. Maybe you find something to do with Sagan. You know, I don't, it's, it's tough. It's tough to look at that team. on this insane roller coaster that they're on because that's what happens when you're is reliant on a few players as they are. They're good for stretches, then they're horrendous for stretches and the end result is a really, really mediocre team. It's tough to see that on paper and understand why they would want to bring back a 37-year-old. Right.

Dude, right? But man, he's also been good enough where you're like, okay, comes back on a short-term deal. maybe they can clear cap elsewhere because if you think they can win now and clearly and clearly they still do, you know, Povellsky's not the problem. That's the easy part. Deciding to keep Joe Povalski would be the easy part if you want to be a decent team for the next few years. The tough part is figuring out what to do with Sagan and figuring out what to do with Ben

and addressing the cap issues that are elsewhere on that roster. Yeah. Like I get where the temptation would be to move them at the trade deadline because, because somebody with that kind of production and that presence in a dressing room like Joe Kovalski would be really valuable to a team. But you're right. Like it's not getting better in two years. So you might as well try to ride this out with this crew and see what happens. Seriously. If you think that Sagan is going to be as hard to move as it seems like he will be. And whatever else, you might as well just roll with it because the next few years or next couple years are going to be,

are going to be painful. Like they're locked in to a lot of different stuff. So I can see, the temptation or the inclination to say just like, you know, screw it. Yeah, fine. We'll bring them back. We'll bring them back for three years in $21 million or whatever or whatever it ends up being. Whatever overpayment they throw at this dude. I don't know if you have to overpay at this point. Maybe Joe, you know, maybe, you know, part of the reason Jim Nills said they want him back, A, he's been great, but also loves the area, I've been big in the community. Like, it seems like he's settled in. Maybe at this point, Joe's made his money and you can get him on a reasonable deal.

no, I haven't talked to. I guess, but if you're Joe, the flip side is if you're Joe, why, like, how much do you believe in this team's ability to contend moving forward? Like, if you're Joe, why don't, why would you take less money to sign with a, with a C-plus team? Go somewhere else. Go somewhere else where, where you have a legitimate chance to win a Stanley Cup, not one that you can see if you squint.

And you say, like, all right, well, maybe if they can buy out, say, you're going to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, go somewhere else where you can actually get it done. And I don't think that's Dallas. So if I'm Joe, I'm just like, yeah, that's fine. Give me $20 million for three years. I'll be back then. Does it hurt the legacy of these guys, these sharks, the Marlowe's, the Thorntons?

Let's say Pavalski says the last couple years of his career, he's going to try to chase a cop or whatever that looks like when they're in Pittsburgh or Florida. Or like, is that just how it goes? Like, do we sit there and go, that somehow is tarnished with this crew did in San Jose? They're really good for a lot of years. I don't put, I think this is maybe a generational thing between like maybe you and me and like a cohort of media folks that are a little bit older than us. I don't really penalize guys for not winning Stanley Cups all that much. Yeah, sure.

I don't penalize them as harshly as maybe certain other people do. It's hard. It's not me. It's hard to know. No, I'm not talking about you at all. Yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't think any. I don't think any less of Joe Thornton or Patrick Marlowe or Joe Pavelski for not getting it done. Like, it's tough.

They're their best year they ran into, they ran into Matt Murray, you know? Yeah. What are you going to do? I don't have any, I don't have any outstanding issues with them because those guys have, those guys have not just been productive. They've been fun to watch.

They've been cool. They've been, you know, they check a lot of boxes there, man. So I'm not, I'm not thinking any, any less of them. But what's important to not lose sight of, I think, is that those are some really good teams.

They were on. Sharks were a wagon for a few years, and it didn't work out for a handful of reasons. But now, I don't, I don't think, I don't know. Do you? I don't think them all that much. No, I don't. Not at all. We're aligned on that.

The interesting thing to me about Pavelsky is, you know, you worry as you get older, maybe he's not, you know, maybe he's not going to be a great skater. Cho was never a great skater, right? Like, so maybe he just knows where to go on the ice and is an old man, his way through another couple of years. He's got the sense in the brain where, you know, and in the game that's going to be able to, that you would think could sustain him for a couple more years, right? And I, and I hate to, and I don't want to rag on Eric Stahl, but I was watching Eric Stahl at the Olympics. And he wasn't good. Like he, like the legs, the legs aren't there.

I don't know. I don't, I would be surprised if he got a legitimate NHL look from a decent team coming out of that tournament because he looked. And maybe it was because he hadn't played in a while. maybe he needed a couple more games to get his legs under him. I don't know. But he looked, he looked done from a leg standpoint. And did he have the playmaking ability of a Joe Pavelsky? Did he have the rounded game of a Joe Pavelsky? Maybe not quite.

And Pavelsky has that kind of, he's got that ability in the tank that maybe a guy like Eric Stoll doesn't have, right? And that's something that could sustain it. But that's a topic that always that always fascinates me, man, is finding the guys whose game is such that it's going to, it's going to sustain them when their legs really start to go. And we saw, we saw, like, who is it? It goes quickly.

It would be like, Brendan Morrow is a great player. And all of a sudden it's like, oh, he's out of the league. He's not. He's not. Right. That's it. We're like, we're like the light, we're like the light, the light goes off. And a lot of times it is the guys who don't have the elite skating ability from the

start, right? Like you think of, you think that extend it you're saying? Yeah, because that's something where that they had to contend with for the rest of their careers. I look, I look at John, Tavaris is a guy like that, right? Yeah. This skating with him was always a concern. And maybe he's done as like, you know, a first or second tier player. But I think that John Tavis, because he's, because he's got that vision and he's got that playmaking ability, and he's had to deal with being a, you know, whatever, a C plus skater for his entire career, I think he's going to be able to stick around longer than some of those guys. Brennan Morrow is such a great example, right?

That's such a, that's like my go too. That's such a great example. Because when the penguins, when the penguins traded for him, and it was that year that they traded for a Ginla, Douglas Murray, it was there that Shiro went all in because he knew that probably on some level,

his job was maybe not on the line, but pretty close to it. He just went all in. Moro was the one when he showed up, I was like, this dude is fit. It was clear. It was clear from the jump. Like the legs just weren't there. And it's a bummer. It's a bummer to watch, especially when it's guys who maybe, like, in my case, like, I loved Brennan Morrow when I was a kid. I loved watching him. Like, he's like a perfect hockey player. And then at the end, you're just like, this isn't, this isn't going to work, right? So I, so that whole discussion is always really interested in me. And I think Pavelski is a pretty fascinating test case. I think he's got a couple years left, though. I think he's got a couple years left. And, We saw what happened to San Jose.

Like, they made the, you know, I guess you could say tough decision and they let them walk and they spent that money essentially on Evander Cain. How that? Probably didn't work out great for the sharks. Whatever, hey, whatever, whatever happened with him in San Jose. Evander Cain didn't go well. Didn't work out. So, right, like, you know, you cut bait early on Joe Pavelski at your own peril, right? Like, you know, Joe's a competitive guy.

And I don't mind a short-term best. on him maybe one or two more years. Personally, I would not bet against Joe Pavelski being worth whatever money you pay him over the next few years. My issue is the Dallas Stars. It's not Joe Pavelsky. It is the rest of that roster in the way it's constructed. All right. Let's take a quick break here and join a conversation with Everett Fitzhue, Seattle, Cracken, Radio Play-by-Play guy.

I'm excited to talk to him. We will be right back. We are now pleased to be joined by somebody who thankfully has a much better voice than Sean and I. I don't know. Everett. Can you sing? This is Everett fits you. That's play by play for the Seattle Cracken.

Can you sing it all? And I've been known to carry a tune. Yeah, I was in choir and performing. Really? Really? I was in high school. So, yeah. Okay.

We should have. You're coming on a second late, then. We needed help. Are you a, are you a, are you a, are you a, are you a karaoke? guy. We should start asking this to everybody. What's your go to karaoke side? I am. I am a karaoke guy number one. I will shut the bar down

with roses by outcast. Yes. That is my Yes. Don't like don't go after me because you're not going to be able to follow it. Oh man. Me and uh, me and Tyler Batisse, who's the NBA managing editor here. We try to do we try to do the artist storytelling. Yeah.

At karaoke like a couple years ago, it didn't go well. But it's it's okay. I ruined that too, believe it or not. I've heard stories of guys around the NHL, broadcasters, PR folks, you know, your traveling staff whenever you hit these cities. And, oh, yeah, it was a cold night in Ottawa. And we found this diving karaoke bar. We were there all night.

I'm still waiting for one of those days to happen. But when that day comes, it's going to be. It's inevitable. That day will come because everybody has that aversion of that story. We're going to have like two years. of pent up karaoke energy come out next season, baby. The road trips are going to be.

We have a Slack channel here at the Cracken karaoke Slack channel. Get out of here. We've been trying to find a date. We had a date picked, but then COVID spiked again, so it was probably not a good idea for us to all be yelling into the same microphone. But I think this summer, we're going to

we're going to all get together and do a cracking karaoke. night somewhere here in Seattle. Yeah, whenever we got to circle the date, whenever the crack can come to Pittsburgh next year, we can hit up a couple of different spots. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know a place or two. So you're, so my son is big into the plays and musicals at his high school right now. We just wrapped up guys in Dallas.

Did you have like a, you know, a senior year production you were proud of? I did. I was actually my junior year. So I was a techie for my first two years in theater. And then junior year is when I ascended to start. I was in a backup role in the Beauty and the Beast musical. And then I was one of the lead roles in Hair, the 1970s play about the Vietnam War. and, you know, all that other stuff,

rebellion and all that. So that was my big one. And then my grades kind of slipped. So my mom was like, well, you're going to college. So senior year, I was, I was kind of locked down making sure that I was trying that I could get into college. Wait, so you didn't have a reprisal of your performance as one of the dancing

plates and Beauty and the Beast or like town person number four. I was townsperson number four. and I was also a fork. I was this big plastered mold, which, by the way, a 6-3 black fork, like that is a very imposing figure. It was impossible to miss me when it comes on. I'm glad this has already got off the rails.

So what high school did you go to? Now, I'm from the Detroit area, so I want to see. Yeah, so I went to Ann Arbor Pires. So I was born and raised in Detroit. So I tell folks that and they're like, oh, so you're from Ann Arbor. No, I'm from Detroit. But I just, I did my middle school, my high school up in Ann Arbor. And then we moved back down to the city.

Once I graduated, that's whenever I go back to Detroit, that's where I go. I go to the house that my mom, my grandmother bought in 1963. We've been in that house for, you know, going on 60 years. So over 60 years now, actually. So that's where I live. Where did you land on your Cincinnati versus Matt Stafford rooting? Because I know you spent some time in CINC, so where did you land? Yeah, it was hard.

At the end of the day, I was happy for Matt Stafford. I think the bitterness of the Bengals getting good right after I left since. I mean, they were not a good football team. You know, I went to a handful of games. I did the tailgates. And I lived through the depression of being a Bengals fan. And then the second I leave the city, here, here comes Joe Burrow and here comes the Super Bowl championship. So, but no, I think ultimately I was happy for Matt Stafford.

I wasn't like going crazy like a lot of Detroiters were. That was a little weird. I thought it was over the top. But I liked it. I was happy for him with the whole Detroit Rams shirts and all that. Yeah. I didn't sign up on that. That was, that was a little weird.

But ultimately, I think my, my fandom for Stafford took over there. But I'm with you. that was a little weird. Your Trailblazer status started early. You were probably the first black fork in the history of the dramatic productions. It paved the way for what you would do in the future. I'd be willing to put 20 bucks on that. I don't, I think that might be the case.

So you said on February 17th, I'm reading one of your tweets, tonight is a night I'll be telling my grandkids about. with you and JT becoming the first ever all black broadcast in the NHL. So what are you going to tell your grandkids now that it's done? I'm going to tell them that I was able to be a part of history and that I was able to show kids who look like myself, kids who may be on the fence about becoming a hockey fan. I know that I was when I was younger, that you belong in this space, that there is a place for your voice and for your fandom within the game of hockey.

So many times as a kid, and even now, you know, hockey is referred to as a white man's game, right? But now we're seeing more people of color. We're seeing more women. We're seeing more people who were told you're not supposed to be here getting involved in the sport for the better. And it's great. And I'm hoping that, you know, 40 years down the road, 50 years down the road when I become a grandparent, I can say like, hey, do you see the six black play-by-play announcers, the two female play-by-play announcers, the, you know, whatever Asian play-by-play announcers, or just. JT and I were a part of that first wave. And that's going to be really cool to see, hopefully to see and watch that progression as it moves on.

I think that's something that like Craig and I certainly didn't have to worry about, right? Like the idea of representation and being able to look at, you know, to see people who look like you doing the job that you want to do. That wasn't an issue for us. We're two white, we're two white kids, two white males growing up, right? that was that that was the hegemonic kind of kind of dominant dominant thing not a concern right but that's something that i've certainly gotten a lot much better sense of appreciation for over the last 10 years or so and it's something that i i read what you said after afterwards just the act of being able to see people who look like you doing the job that you want to do whether it's women

watching camie granado or or or or people of color watching you i mean that's a that's such that's such a major thing and I feel like I can't really even get stressed enough honestly. Yeah, and I think the answer to that, and it took me a while to put this into words because

you know, I was always kind of confused and, and you know, why is that? Why aren't there more people who look like me within this game? You know, it can be a very, it can be a very lonely place.

when you go to press boxes, you go to arenas. I remember the first time I set foot in the arena when I was in Bowling Green. I was the only black person in the press box. I think I might have been the only black person in the entire building. And I didn't realize it at the time. But as I did more hockey, as I got the play-by-play job at Bowling Green, as I decided to make a career out of this in the USHL and going to some of the great junior cities in America and going to Cincinnati and the ECHL, you start to notice a pattern.

You know, one of these things is not like the other. And it can be, it can be a lonely place. But to be able to have stuck with it for this long and getting to the NHL was the first professional goal that I'd ever set for myself back when I was 17, 18 years old, 17, 18 years old. So I knew that I was going to get here that I wanted to get here. But on that way, on that journey and on that path to getting here, it was very, it was very weird just because, like you said, you guys, you can go to ranks. And even if you don't see folks maybe, wherever, you're still going to have fans who look like you. There's still going to be someone

in social media. There's still going to be, we don't have that. We as black people, a lot of times women don't have that ability. So yeah, it was a little lonely, but being able to see now the steps that this game has made has been, has been really special to watch firsthand. That was such a cool thing of watching the crack and build that organization, right? Whether it was bringing in Chanel and Chanel Keenan and the work she's done, bring guys like you and JT and Cammy, like this, the conscious effort that they had from the start of building that of that whole thing out. right that's like a bulwark a bulwark sort of thing of the organization yeah it's very intentional it's very

deliberate um you know you have to credit todd lewiki our CEO who you know he believes in hiring the best people and he wanted he wants to do things differently for the better he wants to change the face and change the game uh from that diversity uh perspective an inclusion perspective and we put such a premium on that on that. If you would have told me that I would have, off the top of my head, eight black coworkers, nine black coworkers on a hockey team, I would have taken that bent all day long. I've had more black female people of color coworkers on one Zoom meeting than I've had my entire career combined. you know what I mean?

And that is so special to see because you walk into the office every day. We're all rolling the same boat. We're all pushing toward the same goal. But you have so many different perspectives and so many different viewpoints. You know, we took a photo, this last road trip. It was myself. It was J.T. It was Zach who was on our social media team.

It was Marcus, who's on our digital team. And then Jason, who was our team, our team of Sousse. and we were sitting around in Calgary and we were sharing a couple of beers and we were like, man, we're doing something here. Like five black dudes on a hockey road trip working for a hockey team. And we couldn't help but chuckle

because it's not supposed to happen. You know what I mean? But that just goes to show you the importance of that representation. And real quick, I know I'm rambled here. No, no. Come on. You know, everyone always. wants to say that, oh, they only got this job because of their black or there were diversity

hires. I can tell you right now, Todd Lightwicky, sure as hell, isn't just giving jobs away. You know, the Seattle crack and the people who were hiring, I remember Todd told me, he goes, you know, whatever, when I heard your call and I talked to you, I wanted to get to know you more and I want you to know that you've earned and deserved this job. If I thought you were a bad broadcaster, I would have just said, hey, I wish you luck, keep up the good work and maybe our paths will cross down the road. So for him to say that long, long time ago, that meant a lot to me. And for the people out there who are saying that, you know, they were only hired because

they're black. They're only hired because they're women. Until you know what it's like to be the only person in that space, you know, I don't know if that's a proper way of thinking. everyone that I work with is super talented and they are good at what they do. They're good people. And they are making us better every single day. The right way to frame it, I think, is that whether it's, whether it's Todd LeWiki or anybody in the organization, they're opening themselves up to the possibility that someone like you is the right person for the job. Like they're doing

themselves a favor by considering, you know, whatever, a larger, a larger, a large, a larger talent pool than maybe otherwise would have been because it was so closed off. And that's why I think like the intent, and you mentioned the intentionality of what, of what Todd did. I think that's a really important element of, of, of the process, right? Like you actually, they're actually saying, no, this is, this is how we're going to do it. It's not just, it's, it's not just saying like we're going to hire the best person for the job. It's actually, you know, considering that during the entire process and kind of a holistic way. Yeah. And that's not

wrong. That's not bad to say. Right. I wonder if instead of just doing our normal hiring process, maybe there is a person of color out there who we don't know about that is doing the exact same thing. Just to see, at the end of the day, if there isn't, okay, but at least we turn that stone over. And we went to look for a black person, an Asian person, a woman, a Hispanic person. You know what I mean? Just anybody who doesn't fit the mold, so to speak, right? So that's important. You are allowed to do that.

You are allowed to be inclusive. That's okay. And don't be scared of being inclusive and trying to find people from all corners of the world. Right. Contrary to the last however many decades, white men are not the only demographic capable of speaking. of talking about hockey and evaluating hockey players. Exactly. Sounds crazy.

So, yeah, right. I don't know if people realize the, like, you mentioned that, that making it to the NHL was your goal. Like,

that was your primary goal. The degree of difficulty in your chosen profession, like, that space, there's only, there's a finite number of those jobs. They hardly ever open up, right?

Like, once you get one of those jobs, you're not leaving. You have to not only, you know, call games, at Bowling Green and USHL, you're probably,

I'm guessing you probably had to sell some ads. You're not just sitting in the radio booth, you know, honing your craft. What motivated you to get to this finish lane? What was your driving passion? You know, I think for me, it was simple.

I loved broadcasting. I loved play by play. I love the game of hockey. and I wanted to get to the highest, the highest place in my profession. You know, I had a blast in Youngstown, in Cincinnati doing PR and social media and marketing. I was the mascot on a couple of occasions.

I was, yeah, I was, that's what I was gonna ask. I have friends who started out in broadcasting and they had a filling for the mascot a couple times. I was specifically okay. Couple, couple summers, couple community appearances. Like, hey, we don't want to, you know, hey, you're here. Throw the costume on. I did our team services.

I helped out with immigration. I was on the hockey op staff one summer, and I put hockey op staff in air quotes because I was helping our, I was going through NCAA prospect pools for our coach. And I was gathering a list of all the players who had, or were seniors. and who we could talk to to sign in Cincinnati, right? So you wear so many hats in that level. But I think for me, I just always wanted to broadcast games at the NHL level. And it was, I wouldn't trade that journey, that experience.

I used to joke all the time. You know, one of the worst places in the world was Wheeling West Virginia on a Sunday afternoon because you just want to go home. You know, the fans are, the fans are passionate. I loved playing and wheeling, but I hated playing and wheeling because it was just one of those, that style of play. They just sucked the life audience. Three o'clock on a Sunday. I could be in my bed at home and like, man, now I'm going to call this three two game in the wheel.

But, you know, that's a place that, you know, that is minor league hockey personified. I love that city. Yeah, because the only thing to do in Wheeling on a Saturday night is go to that casino too. They support their team. I remember the worst road trip we ever had was we were Friday night. We played in Indianapolis. We drive three and a half hours to Fort Wayne, play Saturday night. One of our players gets injured.

Actually had to be taken to the hospital. He was fine. And then we had a seven and a half hour bus ride to Brampton, Ontario for a Sunday 2 o'clock game. The Border Patrol, the guy. We pull in, get out of the bus. And this guy, it's got this long 12-gauge shotgun standing there. And he's, like, walking back and forth. It's, what, midnight, 1 o'clock in the morning.

And we're all just, like, shivering and cold. Stop talking. Stand in line. No talking. We roll into the hotel in Brampton at 10 a.m. 9 a.m. for a 2 o'clock game. So I got an hour of sleep, shower change, and then off to the ring, we went. We actually won that game.

I figured the boys look great in that one, right? That was, if I'm not mistaken, that was Uco Pekelookin's first pro win. He was called up and he won that game. I think he called him up that day and he won that game for us. I got to go back and double check that. But I hope he savored that experience because I don't know how many wins are in his future as a member of the Buffalo Sabres organization. I know we flew him into Brampton for, we've. brought him into Brampton for one, it might have been the next year, and I think that was that

game. But anyway, so yeah, but you have so many stories like that, right? So it was a great experience, and I, I'm just over the moon thrilled to be able to see this dream of mine realize. I want to just point out how important. The first thing you said was, um, you loved broadcasting and you loved play by play. And then you also loved hockey. But like, that's a conversation I have with the young people in the industry that, like, that's what you can tell right away, like, who's got the drive? And if you're like, why are you doing this? And it's like, oh, I just, I love hockey. And I'm, well, yeah, so do 20,000 other people in this building, right? But when you say, hey, I'm passionate about broadcasting, right? And storytelling. And like, that's, you know, that's

such a great answer. That's where it needs to start. Yeah, I think so. And working in sports is a very rewarding career. But I will say the one thing that I found with working in sports is that it, it kind of eclipse your fandom a little bit because you have the you have the no cheering in the press box rule so you know I I can't watch a hockey game as a fan I can't just I can't go to the rink and just sit in there and watch a game we went to the um the Jets wild game the day before our game and I remember sitting in the press box and I was like man it's quiet in here I don't I don't I don't know how to watch a game as a fan like I'm this I'm calling it back and forth I'm looking around at all the all the marketing initiatives in the building and you know all the different

on ice stuff like oh they're all their team store looks good oh their emce that's a cool scarf she has on i wonder you know if we can do something like that you know all these things in the back of your mind that that that's going on but i just love the art of broadcasting and the and the beauty of telling that story i think there's in every anybody who's like kind of in our line of work. I think there's a moment in everyone's career and it's usually early on where you're like, yeah, I'm not really sure what else I would do. Like you have to, you have to have that moment where you're like, this is it. Like I like, this is like for better or worse, I'm all in on this. Because if you're not, if that's not the, if that's not the mindset, I don't know, I don't know how,

I don't know how anybody makes it work. I know exactly what that moment was. I had just left bowling green. So I was, I was a play by play announcer. So I was a fifth year senior. So my fourth year, my fifth year, and then my first year out of school. I was a play-by-play announcer. So after my my first year out of school, my third year behind the mic, I was going to come back for a fourth year. But then I was like, you know what? I got to get a real job. You know, it's 50 bucks a game isn't paying the bill. So I went, I got a job as one of those talent acquisition specialists, you know, those headhunters that every college kid gets out of school. And I was miserable.

The people that I worked with were great. There was a great young staff and I actually still keep in touch and a couple of them. But, you know, I'm sitting on spreadsheets every single day. I'm having to hit call quotas and I'm screening people for jobs at Verizon and AT&T as an engineer. And I'm like, all right, this sucks. I'm not trying to be doing this for the next 40 years. So a buddy of mine who I went to school with was working for the Chicago Steel, the USHL, and he called me and said, hey, you know, the league office is looking for a communications

person. Would you be interested? And I was like, hell yes, get me. Yes, I want to get back into hockey. This is what I want to do. And I was lucky because I was really only out of it for eight months. Our last game was in March and then I got hired by the USAHL in December. But it seemed like forever just because of I did that four months, five months at that firm, that headhunting firm.

And I was like, man, I have to get back into broadcasting. Somehow, some way I have to get back into sports. I'm not made through this nine to five office life. I can't do it. And to wrap up from my perspective, unless Sean has something to add here. I love, you know, the cool. benefit now of you getting your platform is I love that you're

using it to promote the work of others. Like, a guy like Jason Ross who's doing great work and who's... My guy. Oh, my guy. I used to see him at the Little Caesar's press box, you know, working on his call and just putting in the time. And, you know, I just love that. You're like,

okay, I'm retweeting anything, you know, I can about Jason. I love that. Like, that's, that's awesome. Every time I hear, I'm getting goosebumps right now. Every time I hear his name, I just smile because this kid is so driven and so dedicated. But aside from the fact that he is an unbelievable talent, he is just a great person. Like he is just a nice sweetheart of a guy.

He is a gentle person. And I root for him. Like I genuinely want him to do well. Like I, if him and I are going for the same job somewhere down the long, mind, give it to him. Like, I, you know, like, he, give him the job. Like, I just, I love that kid. And, and he is, he is killing it with Chicago.

I'm so happy for him. You know, I know it's a little bit weird with the whole rotation and, and especially for a kid, I think he's 23, 24, for a kid that young to be in a rotation with a bunch of other folks, like that, that could be very, very stressful and nerve-wracking. and I don't know what he's going, what's going on inside. Maybe he is like internally screaming, but he's so cool on the outside and he's killing it. So I'm so happy for him. Awesome.

Well, thanks for joining us, Van. It was great chatting with you. And this has been fun, guys. Thank you very much. Again, I know I ramble. No, no, no. A lot of stuff to use there. I'm all for options.

If you listen, whenever this drops, you can listen to the first 20 minutes of it. You're rambling. You can, wait until you hear of shot talking about Joe Pavlowski for 40 minutes. You can reevaluate whether you consider yourself a rambler. Thanks for this, man. This was great, guys. Looking forward to the next time. Thank you so much.

That was great stuff from Everett. Yeah, he was awesome. Townsperson number four and plate fork? Fork. Any time you can work at some drama club talk at the start of the conversation. It's great. I think you kind of said it. I just, I love talking a younger broadcast.

because, and that's no knock on the older guys, right? But you said it yourself, like, these guys keep, they get these jobs and they keep them forever. So to see, you know, folks like Everett come up, I mean, that's, that's really, it's really, encouraging, man. He's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a fun. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I meant to ask him. I don't know what, you know, I hope they sent something to the hockey Hall of Fame, right?

Like, I don't know if they did or if there was, I don't know what you send, the microphone or the game sheet he's taking notes on, but like, what an incredible moment in. I think if there's one thing we've kind of learned, it's at the crack and are going to be in their right spot on that, right? So I'm sure they, I'm sure if there was something they could do or something they could send, they were probably on top of it. I would bet on that.

All right. Well, that was awesome. And let's take a quick break and then come back with the only good segment of the show. Two weeks straight. It's like, the kid is learning. It's like the wordal. I got my street going. Welcome to the only good segment on the show.

Is that the best, that's the best name of anything that I think either of us have ever come up with. We've had to name a lot of stuff you and I. We've had to name a lot of things through the years, haven't we shown? And they've all, and buddy, they've all been bad. This is when, if I never have to name a podcast and or a blog or anything ever again, I will be all set. A weekly column.

I remember you had at one point. And I can't remember. Did I? Oh, yeah. And I came up what I can't remember, I can't remember what it was called. Do you remember the name? Because I don't.

I don't know that. It was like overtime or something. It was like extra time. How about, do you remember the full body shots of the columnists at the Sporting News magazine? So like they had me like stand like with a leg up on a ladder. In front of a sheet.

It was like, it was like, it was like. It was like. It was like they shot it like they were. I wish I still had these because I did and I did for a while I may still have them as like those photos yeah oh god I I save them as blackmail material for you

they posed you like you were like it was a high school portrait or something or maybe it was like my senior it was like grab a chair put your varsity coat jacket over it with you know things facing out like sit at saddle up and then the listeners aren't going to believe it

there's a photo of Craig's doing the A.C. Slater on a, on a chair. Listen up. Listen up, kids. Why was this a good idea? Oh, my gosh. It was so old-timey, like, newspaper magazine stuff. You were wearing a heinous sweater in it, I remember. What? Yes. You did, like, the sweater over the, over the Oxford, over, like, the collared shirt look.

I mean, that's still, while I wear, it's probably, I probably still wear it. It's probably, you probably have the same. Wait, are you, are, I think you're wearing that. same sweater right now. Right now. All right. Let's dive into, we got some, we got the usual Caleb live listen and some, some good, um, good thoughts from Caleb. A lot of hat talk. Yeah, hot talk. Welcome to hat talk with the two, with the Tuesday boys. Let's go. Alex R. I've been told I have a big head and I wear seven and three quarters fitted hat, so don't let those slanders Canadians get you. I do have a big

head, it's fine. I don't have a problem with that. I realize that Julian was speaking metaphorically, who's talking about my ego, which, I mean... But we take everything literally here at the Tuesday show. I'm really stupid, and I don't get, I don't get metaphors or, or metaphorical speak. So I'm talking specifically about my size seven and, seven and whatever it is, seven and a half hat. Craig, as we established, is now canon for the show. He's got a little baby peanut head because he wears a six and seven eights or whatever it is. Yeah, I'm in the sixes. Michael Kaye with a chimes in with this with a comment saying, I wear an eight fitted hat and that's still kind of tight. All of you have small ass heads. Okay, so eight is gigantic. I remember it's like, it's pretty big. Yeah,

congrats and Michael, you have a head like a pit bull or something. Freak. Caleb B. I'm greatly entertained that you have a conscience about the show's stick. This shows schick, which I'm not sure What's he referencing? He's referencing the fact that we were talking about the Tofoli trade and I was like, okay, I know we're not supposed to talk about this because it involves two Canadian teams, but it was like an important thing that happened

this week. Like we got to actually kind of delve into a little bit and you cut me off at a certain point. Like you had had more than enough to fully speak. Like your Montreal Canadiens talk today? Way too much. That's cold coffee. Then you veered and sort of talking about. Should we actually stop naming Canadian people on the show entirely? Like, just kind of like mentioned the previous coach of the Montreal Canadians, like in past. Yeah, just say that when they made the coaching changes, their former coach,

and now they have a current coach who's a former player who's not at all. But yeah, Tafoli's been good. The flames are a wagon. They've won 10th straight now. I mean, did I see it coming? Am I a genius? It's not for me to say, but maybe. Caleb just does make a great point

that Tyler Tofoli is a fantasy league favorite of his and that fits our Oh absolutely Your lineups in with veterans like Jeff Carter and Tyler Tofoli That nobody else is excited about And you're gonna probably do okay You need the Tyler Tofolies on your team Caleb also said he was listening to us talk

To Truba joking about Fox after watching Canjjay Miller get a game winning shootout goals So he was talking about that group of Rangers defensemen Which we talked about with Trub Who was great by the way If you're a Rangers fan go back and listen that because he was

chill, he was kind of in vacation mode it was a lot of fun but that's a good group we'll see what happens with them moving forward I mean that team I thought the interview was funny

because like you in particular were kind of like basically like are you guys are you as good as it seems like you are that was kind of question I'm not sure it was an honest

honest question I don't think they are but that doesn't mean that they don't have some really interesting pieces they've got some star caliber players or players having star caliber seasons. You have the Kako Lafranier question marks. Maybe they gas up in March.

And they have Shusirkin. It was good enough to do whatever you need them to do. I don't think on balance they're the third best team in the league or whatever. Why don't you say that when Jacob Trouba was sitting there? I don't remember raising any of these points. I know, because I'm a coward. Oh. Wilsey says,

Preds fan here really loved your bonus episode about teams who should make a big trade. I was so upset last year when they didn't commit to a fire sale rebuild, as was I. And I'm so conflicted now that they are exceeding everyone's expectations.

My question is this. Forsberg has been a trade rumor for a while now. But if you were poyle, would you consider trading Saros given that you drafted a great young goalie prospect in Ascarov? If you trade Soros,

it is a good question. It is a good question. But if you trade Saros, else you trade everybody. Trade everybody. You might as well. Just. Dan Forsberg, for that matter, at this point. Right.

Like, if you trade any of those guys, I mean, obviously, Yossi's in that group and, you know, whatever, Duchenne's played his way into that, into that group now, too. If you trade any of those guys, you're done. Like, that's fine. I don't really have, inherently have a problem with that. And that was where, that was kind of the realization that I, that I personally wanted to see the Fred's make before the season, right? Because I'm like, this would be fun.

We have a team with interesting pieces that would be like a seller, right? Where you're like, what happens to Forsberg? What happens to Duchenne? Like you kind of throw these, you know, solid, solid players and sprinkle them throughout the league, right? It's always good when there's a seller that has good players that's actually selling. Right. But as we said in the bonus episode, we were all in on the Preds just going for it. Like, you know what I mean?

Like it's like the stars at this point. It's not going to get any better in a year one or two after this if you're the Predators. So that was our Apple podcast. If you're a subscriber, Apple Plus podcast, you got to listen to that. But that was in a nutshell. Predators were our surprise. Like, go for it, predators. So we're saying no, don't do it.

Don't trade your goalie. See what happens this year and then we reevaluate in the offseason. Maybe this is, maybe they fall apart down the stretch and end up whatever, losing and getting swept in the first round of the playoffs or something. And then maybe then you say like, all right, this isn't working. We need to transition. into the next phase, whatever it might be for this organization, right? But this season, man, just keep it together. See what happens. The West really isn't that good. There's not that many

good teams. That's why I love what the flames did. You just recognize it's like, yes, the abs are here, but everybody else is playing for second place. Let's just, let's gas up and see how it works. And we all know the abs are going to lose in the second round anyways. Here's the other thing. I would say, no, I don't know. I don't believe that really is. Oh, you should have. Dude, who's the coward now. Stick to it. Oh, all right. Fine. He absolutely isn't the summer. I'll stick with it.

Oh, speaking of Ascroft, I, I, um, this is a fun, like thing that I remember, uh, that I don't know if what, I think if the predators hadn't taken them, the Florida Panthers, if I remember this correctly, were sitting, we're drafting in the vicinity. Even with

Spencer Knight and Bobrovsky. Oh, man. I believe they were looking really, they were going to just, they were just going to say, hey, this guy is best guy on the board. We have to take them and we'll worry about the rest later. I believe that's what they were going to do and just follow up conversations. Or I think they were looking really hard at that scenario, which I just, I love that idea. Like you already have. So it's just best player available is this rushing goalie. We're going for it. I wish that would have happened. That would have been, totally going to blast. Maybe not the worst in hindsight. I mean,

not like Spencer Knight's been all that great, you know? I don't know. Are we allowed to say that? Actually, never mind. He's awesome. Josh H. Let's talk about this one, this comment from Josh H, who's not a regular listener to the podcast, clearly. He says, this podcast played automatically after another podcast. That's actually how we get most of our listens.

By accident, yes. Yeah, yeah. Like nobody's actually searching us out. If we happen to start playing, and that's what happened to Josh H., and he said, I listened for 20 minutes before realizing Craig wasn't a giggly P.R. Lebrun. He says, honestly, if Pierre Lebrun smoked weed, they'd be indistinguishable. What do you mean if?

Now, that's a loaded sentence. I don't think you guy. I love, like, I love that he thinks that, but I don't agree with it. Did I sound like Pierre? I don't think so at all. I've never, I don't know if I've gotten them. But that's, I could, there's worse comparisons. There was somebody, we were talking to somebody who you sounded exactly like, and it was

stuff to tell you a part. This is... Seriously? People were joking about it. This is months ago. I can't remember who it is now. Well, someday we'll have Phil Kessel on and we can... Just not...

...it's not true. Josh goes on. I wonder what the sponsors think of their ads being read in the tone of a condescending teenager. Then he made a vulgar comment about one of our... One of our beloved advertisers that we will not repeat here. Yeah, how dare you, Josh? Does anyone...

Do you love our advertisers? Does anyone read these comments or am I shouting into the void? I know my BlackBerry is compatible here. Just a tour or... forced. Unreal. Josh H. With his

kind of at debut. Also, possibly accidentally reference, and that might be another Pierre reference because my man had a Blackberry way,

way, way longer than he showed of. Pierre did. Oh, yeah. He was not getting rid of that until he had to.

Did you know, by the way, did you know that Blackberries until recently were, I had a, but I have a, but a dude I work

with had a Blackberry until a couple months ago, because that's when Blackberry finally said like, your your devices aren't going to work on cell networks anymore there were still functioning blackberries in the wild as of like I'm not surprised because people have

flip phones and like it's cool to have old electronics now like that seems to be a thing did the blackberry chats was that still a thing like you had to wasn't there a thing where i never had blackberry people that i never did and like pierre would be like oh i just got a text from a gm but it's a secret blackberry canadian chat and I'm like oh my gosh you guys I'm just going to text them like a normal person. Like a normal person without a Blackberry pin. Yeah, I don't know. That had to be a graveyard.

That was probably like signing into Instant Messenger like the last couple years that it was on. You're like, okay, it's just there's four people on here. Tipsy McSaggers is the name of a bar originally referenced in the Simpsons. I am ashamed to. I've forgotten that. So thank you. Is that true? Did you did that like, were you like?

Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yep. Briefcase J. I hope it's briefcase Joe. I hope that's what that stands for because that's a very funny joke from, I believe, Jimmy Kimmel.

We talked about bringing up briefcase for some reason to class on the first day of school. And the kids called him Briefcase Joe. But yeah, that is a... Wow. That would be a deep... Well, I mean... Why is first in briefcase? Like, whatever.

Another thing I realized on our... I celebrated a long weekend President's Day. as every American do that does, of course. And I watched a one on a Simpsons marathon with my youngest, kind of, you know, as one should. I didn't, so we had a bit called my, our two cents or just our two cents, which I just thought was, you know, two cents. Do you know, Kent Brockman had a, my two cents?

That's right. So I think we should bring it back. I thought that was part of the joke. Did you? Maybe we have a lot of Simpsons references we don't even realize. Yeah, we have. watch some of that. The Simpsons being on Disney Plus is

made my life better by probably 7%, we'll say. But I did see that there was a marathon on cable yesterday and watch a little bit of it, of course. Ret Z, far too much Canadian team trade talk. He censored the A and the first A in Canadian. Which is really funny. Yes, Rhett, that was fine work. Especially when my U.S. Base Wilde made a blockbuster deal this week, too.

I expect 10 plus minutes breaking down the Andrew Hammond for Brandon Braddock trade. Seven and five eights hat size here. I stand with you, Rhett. Yeah, we're not going to talk about Andrew Hammond for Brandon Braddock. But, buddy, we are officially one month away from the trade deadline here. And we celebrated that with the Eric DeHagic trade deadline big board update. Oh, yeah. 2.0 is already up.

It's got Klingberg, Drew, 28 other players who could be dealt. This is, he means it in the truest sense, the big board, and it's only half consisting of coyotes in their... Who do they even...

Okay, so beyond... Unreal news breaking at the start of this podcast, that the rec center rink will not be, probably not be functioning in time for them, which is amazing. Well, first off, who else did the coyotes have to trade? other than Phil and checkering.

Like, do they... No, I'm just joking. That's it. That's it, right? I don't know. I mean, like, they might have some dude stashed on, you know, whatever Roboda Island that they're...

They could trade the Marion Hosa contract. That's kind of what I was thinking. I haven't looked at their cap-friendly page in a while. There's got to be some funny, some funny shit on there. Is there... I'm really interested to see what happened with J.T. Miller. I think he's he's the guy who, you know, I know we've heard that the, that the Canucks maybe are interested in keeping him around. He's definitely a guy that Jim Rutherford, you know, is going to gravitate towards because he's got some, he's kind of a jerk in a good way.

He's got positional versatility, you know, whatever. But that is, that is, that is interesting because the Canucks need cap space, you know. and a lot of those other guys do you move out Brock Besser to create cab space? I don't know. I don't know about that. I mean, Jim's going to do something.

He won't be able to not. 100%. So I know he probably likes J.T. Miller a lot. But when you're like, okay, this combination isn't working, you know, you have to make some tough decisions. I'm guessing, you know,

he's going to do something. And that one makes a lot of sense to me as much as, you know, everything you said about JT is true. But that's why teams like him. That's why you get a ton of value and it gives you a chance to shake things up in Vancouver. All right.

So in honor of, so the trade board in Rhett leaving a great comment, is there anybody you would handpick from this trade board to put on the Minnesota Wild? I mean, we talked about Drew last week. I think that, I don't know that that forward group is so stacked and I think that might be a little bit of, you know, putting a hat on a hat. You know, you talked about that last night.

Sometimes when stuff is going really well, you got to be conscious of kind of upsetting the apple cart a little bit too much. But I'm going to say it again, I want them to acquire a goalie. And if that means acquiring Marc Andre Fleury, I think they should go out and do it because I do not trust Cam Talbot. I don't. And I don't think anybody should. So they should have another. you're allowed to have two FTs and goalies. I said this is somebody who is who,

it was a wild fan, honestly, because I would ever made some, I was, I talked about Camp Talbot and the power ranking said, said effectively the same thing. Like, they need another goal. Why do you get Cam Talbot so much?

I don't. I think he's a, I think he's just a weak point on that, on that roster. And it's easy, the easiest thing, this is a way I think about trying to figure out what team should add.

And it's, and it's super, but whatever. If the Minnesota Wilde get bounced in the first round or whatever, in the second round, fifth game, five game loss, whatever it is, what is the most likely reason for that to happen? It's going to be goaltending. It just is. They have, they have the, they have a, they have a great defensive group. They have an insane amount of depth that forward for that organization historically led by the Alpha Dog and Caprizov who makes that entire line click. like you got to figure out what the most likely reason that your team fails is and then try to address it.

And for me, with them, it's goal tenet. So go out and get Flurry. We know Billy Garron has some, has some experience with Mark Andre Fleury. Yeah, that's right. Go get them, man. Let's wrap this up, Shawnee. I do want to give another plug. We did it last week, but to Arthur Staples, New Rangers podcast, The Garden Faithful,

if you're a Rangers fan, check that out. Arthur's the best. Shout out to the, I guess, the Monday show, Ian Mendez, Julian McKenzie. Congratulations on your win, et cetera. They have Cheryl Pounder on the show this week. Who's great, by the way. Yeah, I'm happy to plug that.

She's cool. She's cool. I don't know about those other two dudes. Cheryl is cool. Also, we referenced the Apple podcast. bonus episode that's on the athletic audio plus on Apple podcast if you want to get that you can start a 30 day free trial for just 99 cents a month after 30 day free trial wraps up and you get all of our bonus content this week it's the Wednesday group that's doing the bonus content

also great deal right now on the athletic if you go to the athletic.com slash hockey show you get in for a dollar a month for six months what's better than that? Nothing nothing Nothing's better than that At all In the world And that's a wrap We talked to

This is like way too much Hockey Talk today, I feel like Right? Way too much First segment beyond Beyond the anthem was Very serious Third segment

Very serious Do you feel like the anthem Like set the tone That it made things like Feel like we had to I feel like it It changed the whole tone Of the show today

well buddy the bright side is we're never going to do that again we don't ever have to worry about it so if that if that changed the vibes in the room it's a one-time thing because that ain't never happening again yeah you're welcome for sean jentilly i'm craigustance you've been listening to the tuesday american edition of the athletic hockey show have a great week hashtag t a h s tuesday boys with three zies. Good evening.