The Athletic Hockey Show - Edmonton Oilers lackadaisical play, Matt Dumba's time in Minnesota winding down and Anthony and Chris Stewart's jerseys honored this weekend

Episode Date: January 11, 2023

On the roundtable, Rob Pizzo, Michael Russo and Jesse Granger discuss the up and down play of the Edmonton Oilers, what teams are the best fit for pending UFA's Bo Horvat and Matt Dumba, if the NHL all-star game roster selection needs an overhaul, and is John Tortorella's act with the media is wearing thin? Anthony and Chris Stewart join Russo and Rob to discuss their NHL careers, giving back through their hockey camps and how much they are looking forward to seeing their jerseys honored together, in Kingston this weekend by the Frontenacs. Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowGet a 1-year subscription to The Athletic for $2 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshowPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/NHLSHOWSign up today at StitchFix.com/HOCKEY to get $20 off your first purchase!Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code NHL23 at Manscaped.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to the athletic hockey show, the Wednesday roundtable edition. I'm Rob Bezo from CBC Sports, and a roundtable usually involves more than one other person, as it always does on this show with these two fine gentlemen. Mike Russo back after a week off, and you're in the Big Apple, right? Yeah, I am. I got, thank goodness.

This is a two-game trip that goes to Long Island because, there was a in which uh, I don't know if Jesse knows this yet, the entire nation, uh, of the United States stopped flying this morning because of a FAA like computer issue. And the entire like, everything was grounded nationwide. So, uh, I've gotten so many texts already from the Jeremy Rutherford's of the world and friends of mine and referees that are worried about getting to places. Uh, so, uh, luckily, uh, I get to take the day in New York City to work and then I'll drive in a Long Island tomorrow. Yeah, you mentioned Jesse, and I'm only going to do this, Jesse, because one, I love you

and two, you're going to go. I feel like I was about to out of there, but, no, I'm going to out him. He is always on time. He's the one of the most professional guys ever work with. We record this. And remember, we have three hosts on three different time zones. And Jesse's always so great. If we have to record early, he gets up early.

And we had to wait because somebody slept through his alarm and came right to the microphone. phone now and is going to do a show while he. So I'm out of you that you were sleeping like three minutes ago. Are you awake enough to do the show? Yeah, it was about three minutes ago. Yeah. Yeah, that's the context. I interrupted myself, but I was going to say, Jesse, you wouldn't know this. No, the guy's never late. He's always on time. He's such a professional. So it's, it's hilarious when people like you actually sleep through an alarm or something. Yeah. Wait, I blame the lack of ice in Las Vegas. 11-10 start time, your league games end up with about a 1 a.m. return to your house and a 7 a.m. podcast did not make this time. Oh, man. I just had an 11 o'clock one on Monday, too. So yeah, I know all about it.

But I just like breaking your hockey puck's a bit to start the show. Do you want to mention later on in the show, we're going to have Chris and Anthony Stewart on. it's not often guys you get to have a big moment like getting your number race to the rafters with somebody else and they're both getting their jerseys race to the rafters by the Kingston Frontenac this Saturday so we talked to them a little bit about you know we talked to them a couple days ago about just what it's like to do that with your brother and of course just sibling rivalry as a whole so we'll get to that in the second half of the show but we got a lot of stuff to talk about we had a bunch of games last night we got a bunch of things on to go all week. And let's start with the Oilers, guys. They're in Anaheim tonight.

They're just clinging to that second wildcard in the West. And I say clinging because they've lost four of their last five. Fans are not happy. Media's all over them. And it's not a big secret. They're on the lookout right now for a defenseman, as are a lot of teams. But the Oilers, that's, according to Pierre LeBron, Ken Holland's been on the phone inquiring about a lot of defensemen. Thoughts on Edmonton right now because I just cannot imagine this team missing the playoffs given Connor McTaylor and everything else. But defensemen, yes, they need a defenseman, but that's kind of just one problem in many right now, isn't it, Russo? Yeah, I mean, I think we've talked about. I'm not enamored by their bottom six at all, at all. I mean, every time I

watch them, every time I see them, the wild play them three times in like 10 days. And I don't think their bottom six scares anybody, but they do need a blue liner. That's been an age-old topic there, I think, at Edmonton. I feel like it's got to come this year, and it's going to need to be a significant name, whether it's, you know, a Chickren, a Dumbah, a Klingberg, whoever. I think that, you know, Evanston's going to have to make a move here. I think Ken Holland's trying to be patient, but, you know, in this conference, in this league, I should say, you get, you know, one three-game losing streak, one-four game losing streak, lose out of four-five, four-at-five, like they have and you find yourself on the precipice falling out. Everybody, except if you're at that

very top, Austin, Dallas is just one bad loser streak from almost being in that fragile state. And so, you know, my guess is they turn it around. If it's true, the Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisdell are the most valuable men on that team. I think that they'll turn it around. But, man, they just definitely seem to be very flaccid lately. Yeah, I agree with Mike that it's not their only problem. The bottom six. I mean, the forward depth has been an issue on this team for a long time. And I honestly thought it was going to be a little better this year. It hasn't been. When you say clinging to the playoff spot, I don't even think they really are because technically they're in that playoff spot, but it's only because they've played more games than everyone else.

I mean, Nashville and Colorado both have higher points percentages. Colorado has a significantly higher points percentage. They just haven't played as many games. once they catch up, the Oilers are not in a playoff spot, and they're probably a little bit of ways out of a playoff spot. And Calgary, too. It's shocking what has happened to those two teams. I don't think we, I think we all thought Calgary would take some time, but Edmonton, there weren't really big changes.

And the crazy thing is they're getting bailed out by a goalie that no one expected to be this good in Skinner, in Stewart Skinner. I think, like, where would they be right now if Skinner wasn't the goalie that he's been for them. It's really shocking. They're going to be here in Vegas. They play on Saturday. They play the Golden Knights. I'm excited to see what they look like in person. They've only played once this year, and that was up in Edmonton, and I wasn't there for it. But yeah, they just got their butts whooped by the Kings, same as the Golden Knights did. The Kings are playing really well right now, man. They play that one-three-one trap that's super annoying to play against. They're running it to perfection.

They whooped Vegas with it. And then I watched the Oilers game the other night and they did the exact same thing to the Oilers. They just, they wait for you to make mistakes and they score and Kevin Fial is on fire right now. I don't know what's going on with the Oilers other than it's the same problems they've had for a while. They don't have the forward depth. The blue line is bad. The goaltending has been okay because like I said, they have a guy that nobody expected to be this good. Yeah, it's, it's incredible. I just don't know what will happen in that city if this team falls out of a playoff spot and ends up watching the playoffs. Yeah, one thing that we should mention is that Evander Kane looks like he's close to

returning. So that will obviously strengthen their depths, slot some guys maybe into more proper spots. But, you know, clearly there's an issue. As Jesse, you know, alluded to, I mean, they are, they've played three more games in both Nashville and Colorado. So, yeah, they've, you know, the urgency better be ratcheted up here. You mentioned Dumbah, Rousseau. I feel like he's been linked to a lot of teams right now.

And is it just a matter of that's what teams are looking for? So every name that's out there is going to be linked to every single team that needs a defenseman. Yeah, probably. Definitely. Pierre Dorian was in Minnesota the other day, scouting the game. And, you know, that is, it appears done that before. He was looking at Kevin Fiala last year. He actually scouted the wild probably four or five times last year.

And then winds up, you know, acquiring Talbot. So, you know, clearly he liked what he saw there. I think Ottawa is a team that Darren Dregor says reported first that has interest in him. I have confirmed that. Ottawa is one of many teams that are starting to call on them. You know, the one thing I'll say is that Matt Dumba in his entire tenure in Minnesota has basically been the subject of trade rumors. He's survived two expansion drafts. He seems to be a lifer here.

He's no longer going to be a lifer here. He will, this is his last year with the Wild. They are either going to trade him in the next two or three months or they are going to let him go via free agency. My gut says that they'll only trade him as long as there's some sort of lateral move to get a defenseman back or there is a coinciding move to get a defenseman at the exact same time that they trade dumb up because their blue line, he's going to need to be replaced. They have a lot of prospects in the organization. None are ready to just step in right there.

So they are going to have to get an NHL quality defenseman back in return. And I think they have interest in guys like Luke Shannon and people like that. But I do think that Matt Dumba will be traded in advance of the trade deadline, even though this team has playoff and not only playoff aspirations, but hope to go on a run. But if they can move them and get an asset, I think they would do it as long as they get a Dback in some sort of capacity. Another name that just keeps coming up to Bo Horvatt. It's interesting because I was looking around this morning and just seeing, you know, what's not necessarily the rumors, but what people are saying.

And it's so funny because the big debate is whether Bo Horvatt is going to be a rental player because he's a pending UFA. Is he a sign and trade? Do the Canucks actually, I know Elliot Freeman was saying that the Canucks are going to still try to keep him. Usually at this point with a pending UFA, it's like, okay, where is he going to go for his run and then are they going to be able to convince him or is he going to test him? I've never seen a player so such a mystery as to what's going to happen between now and March 3rd.

Do we see Bull Horvats sticking around in Vancouver? What do you think, Jesse? Yeah, I think part of just where he is in his career is what makes this. I mean, he's 27. He's not like the young guy who's for sure like you're going to sign to a seven-year deal and he's the future. I mean, I guess he probably is going to get a long-term deal, but you're definitely not going to feel certain about it. And then he's also not old enough to be like for sure a rental. Like if you get Boer Horvats, especially the way he's playing right now, I feel like every time I turn on a Canucks game, he scores two goals.

I'd have to go back and look at the game log. I think he's done it every game, at least the ones I've watched. He scored two goals lately. He's playing really well. I think he helps a contender if you can find cap space. That's always the problem, especially the last few years. It seems that all the teams that would want to add him are not going to have cap space, so they're either going to have to funnel it through someone and retain half the salary to minimize it.

Obviously, you have a little more cap space at the deadline than you do during the off season. but I don't know where he's going to end up, but it's definitely a unique situation with a guy of his age. And he's playing really well right now. Like I said, I don't think there's a contender out there that he wouldn't help at the moment. What do you think, Michael? I agree. I mean, who wouldn't want Bo Horvett? The guy is just a fabulous player to be a true number one to center on any team in the league.

He's only 27. You'd love if you're going to give up the assets that Vancouver is going to want for him to be able to figure out a way to keep in there long term. I don't know if that's possible for a lot of the teams that could use them right now. You know, I do wonder if they have buyer's remorse with JT Miller. You know, one, I'm guessing that they don't want to give Bo Horvatt more than what Miller got at 8 million. They also have Pedersen that they've got to figure out a way, something to do here in the next little bit. He's got one year left on his deal at 735. And I don't, my gut says Elias is going to want to move on.

You know, that's just a total gut, a little gut and a little bit of, you know, knowledge. And, you know, I just wonder if they, if they, you know, if they could go back a couple months, if they wouldn't have signed Miller here because Horvatt is so integral to that team. And I think Horvatt's the better player. So, you know, it's just going to be interesting on how they navigate this because a lot of the teams that I know that would love Bo Horvett. I don't think they could sign them long term right now. That should be your Twitter description. some gut and a little bit of knowledge.

Basically, as wild fans know, if I say something, it's usually like I got like some sort of like, you know, I don't just throw stuff out there. It's never been my style. But I just,

you know, I just think that, you know, with Pedersen, there's, there's some behind the scene stuff there that, that, you know,

um, would probably make him want to go elsewhere. It tells you how bad, Vancouver's blue line is that we're sitting here like, well, they've got too many good forwards that make a bunch of money. There's no way they're going to be able to figure out how to pay all these guys. They've got one of the best goalies in the league in Thatcher, Demco, and they are awful. The team is horrible. And it's just because they've got nothing to defend. Like, it's unbelievable how bad the blue line is. They have blown 11 multi-goal leads this season.

That's bananas. Like, if you're a fan of a team that's blown, 11 multi-goal games before the midway point of the season. Tonight is the midway point. That would be pull out your hair frustrating. And you're right. A lot of that is all about the blue line. Yeah. And it's, yeah, they prove the old adage that the toughest lead in hockey is two-gole lead.

That's for sure. Coincidentally, I was emailing with the league last night because it's a wild blue two-goal lead and they're lost. And so right now, going into last night, there were 77 multi-goal comebacks in 643 games this year. How crazy is that? Yeah, I just, I just wrote that story on it. Yeah, I was going to say, yeah. There isn't it, um, they're on pace. There was my alarm. They're on pace to, uh, to shatter. They're, they're, well, at least you heard it this time. They're on pace to shatter the, uh, all time

record. Like the most, the most, the most multi-goal comebacks ever in a season is 138. And when I wrote that story a week and a half ago, they were on pace for 160. I think they're actually on pace for more now. Yeah. Yeah, it's 13%. By the way, one issue with your alarm might be the volume. I'm just saying, because I barely heard it. I didn't hear it. Oh, he was very loud on this side. No, it must not have picked up on the mic. It sounded like a submarine going down. Like it was, yeah. I love it. I love the fact that you look at last night too with Pittsburgh. With Vancouver, obviously, we're talking about it was 3.0 in the first period. The game was tied after the first period. So as a fan, it's fun to watch.

Can I interject one thing here? You know it would be a good alarm for Jesse to have. So the other day I'm in the situation room and I know we're going to talk about this, but they got the camera in there and then this microphone that comes down from the ceiling. And it is like the, it's like the, you know, the, it's like God in there. And who that is God? it's Coley Campbell. He watches all the games from his home and he pipes in there and he can see everything that's going on in the situation room and then starts talking. So if we put that into Jesse's bedroom and then all of a sudden you could have Jeff Domet. Our producer has to be a guy. Jesse, can you wake up, please? Like, how great would that be? And I'm sure that Jeff could get that approved right now through our

incredible audio team at the athletic to send a little microphone on a camera right into Jesse's room there. My fear would that be that Jesse was like, I'll just, I'll do the show from bed. If the microphone's right there, I'll just, I'll just do it right from bed. No need to get up and come upstairs. So we saw our first 32 All-Stars named guys. As I mentioned, tonight is officially the midway point of the season, but we got the All-Star break coming up. The first stage, so one player from each team in the NHL was made by the league's

Department of Hockey Operations. Stage number two, where two more skaters and a goalie for each division will be added is on fan voting. We're not going to get into snubs. We're not going to get out to who should have been and who shouldn't have been. Here's my question. Who cares? Yeah.

All right, moving on. We should have had torts on. We definitely should add torts on. Hey God, torts is going to be next. Don't you worry. We're going to get to torts. There are two kind of schools of thought about the All Star game. One is that if you get voted on or you're going to the All Star game, it's because

of what you've done up until that point. You're having a really good season. You are an all-star. Here's an accomplishment. Here's a gold star. Go enjoy yourself. The other school of thought is this is a spectacle for the fans. It doesn't necessarily matter if you're having a good or bad season.

If you're a star player and you're not having a great season, who cares? We want to see you there. It's just purely for the fans and everything else shouldn't matter. I want to know what side you guys are. both on before I tell you you're wrong. Jesse? I personally am on the side of let's just have the most fun with the All-Star game. And like that's a lot of people are against giving every team an all-star. And it's like, why? Like, does it really crush you that you couldn't get your four all-stars on your team? Let the coyotes have somebody or whatever team it is. Like, let these fans have someone

in the game. All it's for is entertainment. In terms of the, the like, the reward for it, I think some people want to say, well, this guy was an eight-time all-star when they're trying to make him up. To me, that's stupid. Like, I don't, I don't count all-stars as an accomplishment, like, for your career to, like, validate how good your career was. I think I'm more on the- It used to be like that, though, Jesse. Yeah, yeah.

It used to be for a long, long time. Exactly. I'm more on the side of this game is, like, it's just an exhibition. It's fun. Just have fun with it. If Alex Ovechkin wasn't having his best year, I still want him at the All-Star game. Like, he obviously is still a beast, but an example. I do not take the All-Star game seriously at all.

I don't think you should count the All-Star games on a guy's career as, like, proof of why he's a Hall of Famer. I think you should look at stats in games that actually mattered. But, yeah, that's my take on. I think everybody should get one. I think it should be fun. First of all, you know what it drives me nuts is that, like, Like, if you make the All-Star game, you're not an All-Star. You're an All-Star if you're a first or second team at the end of the year.

That's what's considered an All-Star on any level. You've made eight All-Star games, and I think a lot of fans get it wrong. I think a lot of us in the media get it wrong, especially in the National Hockey League with the system that they've set up. You know, I mean, you know, the reality is that in the last couple years, especially if you look at some of the goaltenders and some of the divisions that have made it, they were there by process of elimination. They were hardly the best goaltenders in the league or hardly the best. goal tenders, even in their division in some cases. And I'm thinking the Central specifically in the last couple of years. So, you know, I just think it's a little bit of a misnomer. I honestly don't have a problem with 32 guys getting into the 32, you know, representatives

for each at least one every team. The only thing, though, is I do think it's a bit of a misnomer in the fact that, you know, if we have somebody from Arizona, now that's going to draw Arizona fans to watch it. I just, you know, if you like the Austrian game, you're going to watch it, If you don't, even if you're a fan of Clayton Keller or even Coral Caprice up, you're not going to, you're not going to watch it, you know, if you're just on an All-Star game fan. So, you know, but back to the original point, too, I am all for, like, I think Steve Mayer has done a fabulous job in making these games fun. Thinking outside of the box, I thought the Vegas spectacle last year was genius and just changing up the skills competitions. And I think that I like the fact that

now wherever they put the, the games, they're coming up with themes there. So they're going to have the dunk take on the beach in or they're thinking about it having a dunk tank on the beach in Florida which I don't even know if it's reported yet they're going to have a golf component you know where you're going to you know they're going to put these guys on a golf courts for one of the skills competitions so it's not just your normal right fastest skater and this and that I think uh I think they're doing really good things to try to make it more entertaining which is what this all-star game is supposed to be about it's supposed to be about entertainment yeah I agree and I have no problems with the one per team personally I still think there's

got to be an element of you're having a great year. Here's your gold star, which to me, like, you know, I've said this on the show before. I'm the old crumagin, you know, my wife says it to me all the time. The John Scott year, I didn't think was as great as everybody put it. I didn't sit there with a smile on my face because John Scott won the MVP. That was just me. The leagues actually made some rules to try to combat stuff like that. You know, you have to be on an active roster as of December 1st and all these rules. But that's just me. I mean, the whole let's let's have a Rudy type person on there every single year.

I like to think of it as at least a bit of an accomplishment. But anyways, if you want to vote, go vote. There's a couple of those three spots left for every single team. And I'm that nerd who watches it. I know Rousseau said, who cares? I watch every All-Star game, even if it's absolutely horrible. I just wonder if we're going to have like that John Scott. thing now with this this fan voter remember remember the whole rory fitzpatrick campaign with

vancouver yeah years ago they had like actual campaign videos on youtube to get rory fitzpatrick and the all that's what i mean to me that's not what the all-star game should be about the all-star game should be the best players in the n hl um and a bit of a reward uh you mentioned torts you uh spoiler alert here russo uh we got to talk about this um little exchange with a reporter before we even get into it, uh, here's the audio in case you missed it. How do you think the power play adjust to changing personnel, uh, somebody that's typically on the unit isn't there? What?

How do you think they adjust when somebody that's typically on the unit is set? I don't want to answer your questions. I'm not trying to be rude, but you're quick, I just can't get to your questions. Okay. So yeah, torts being torts was all over Twitter, guys. Look, just to give people some context, Torts had benched Tony DeAngelo, who's usually on their first powerplay unit. And because he was benched, they had four power plays and he wasn't on there. Was the reporter's question, and forgive me, I don't know who the reporter is.

Was the reporter's question Shakespearean? No. But are we tired of this with Torts? I'm tired of this with Torts. Jesse? Yes, I'm very tired of it. I'm tired of seeing, we're going to be. talk about Torts rant on the show today and having to figure out which of the last seven

rants over the last three days we're actually talking about. If you want to bench Tony DeAngelo, that's fine. You're the coach. But you also have to talk about it after the game. And clearly that's like you mentioned like maybe the reporter didn't say the question in the exact right way or the way that they wanted to. But that doesn't mean John didn't know what the reporter was asking. The reason he acted like that isn't because the question wasn't asked correctly. It's because he didn't want to talk about that subject because it's something that he didn't want to talk about. And it's always that way with him, it seems. And it's like, like I said, if you want to make a tough decision, bench one of your players that people are going to be surprised when they see he's not out there on the powerplay unit.

You have to talk about it after the game. That's just how it works. Yeah, I don't understand why he does this. It makes me, you know, one, I have empathy for the reporter there, whoever, asked the question and I don't know who it was. Partially, I think sometimes if you're a reporter and you ask him in what Torts his mind is probably a clumsy way, it's because you're freaking nervous to ask him a question because he jumps down everybody's throats and tries to humiliate.

Yep. And, you know, this is the lack of humanity in our society today. And I don't understand why Torderella does it. I don't understand why Chuck Fletcher allows it. I don't understand why Gary Betman and Bill Daly don't tell him to stop it. It's just not fair. These are human beings that he makes feel like shit on a daily basis. And, you know, I actually like Tortorella. I've never had an issue with him, but I've never had an issue with him probably because I've never covered him on an everyday basis. I am the type of reporter that would probably go

brooksia on him. I mean, you know, I mean, that's just the way I am. I'm one of those people that I get defensive and I am more than willing to debate and have those exchanges and pressers. So, you know, I just don't get why he does this and why he just has to act like a complete asshole sometimes. And it's just not fair to these reporters. It's not fair to people in general. And what really makes me conflicted about is that the exchanges that I've had with Tortoello when the cameras are off is that he's a really, you know, charming guy at times. And he seems to have a big heart at times when those cameras are off.

So I think he cares about people. I remember Tom Reid, the reporter in Columbus when he, you know, so a lot of us reporters, we all use our phones now as our recorders. We no longer have micro-cassette recorders. We no longer have digital recorders. We have our phone. So phone is on the podium. Tom Reed's phone all a sudden with the mute button starts ringing during his press conference in Columbus and it's Tom Reed's mom calling. And Corderella answers the call and had this like really cool back and forth with Tom Reed's mom, you know, the old reporter with the Columbus Dispatch there and the and the athletic in Columbus. And so I just, I know that there's a heart there, but yet he does

this all the time. And I just, I would not want to cover him. And I feel bad for that reporter. And I bet you if that reporter was nervous asking the question, it's because he was afraid of asking a tough question to a guy that will never, ever, ever answer a tough question, even though he wants to act like the toughest coach in the NHL. It makes no sense to me. Right. To me, that's the spot on thing is like the whole persona of like the tough guy that he puts on out there, like, but you're not answering the question.

Like if you would just answer the question to me, that's tougher than just jumping down this reporter's throat every time they ask you a tough one. Just answer it. He wants his players to have spines with him. And yet he will not, you know, he will not answer a question anytime. And to me, like, you are the coach. of an NHL team. Your job is to, it's not us being assholes, reporters asking questions. We are there to give the fans that are paying a fortune to watch this team answers.

You know, and that's what I don't get. I don't get it when GMs, there are certain GMs around this league, you know, Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, there's reporters, there's GMs in this league that do not talk to the media ever. And like, and I just don't, I don't get that. You know, your job is to help inform, you know, to go to a ranger, Austin Bruins game next week is $800. Don't you think the fans of the Rangers deserve to know what's going on with the team and be informed by the media? And yet you have people that never even speak to the media.

And I just don't get this type of attitude by a lot of the people in the league. I think they forget, they think that we're just this annoyance when our purpose is not to be annoying. Our purpose is to explain to the fans what's going on with the team. It doesn't have to be this fucking difficult, period. The definition of the word bully has really evolved, in my opinion. A bully used to be loud, gruff, would get mad at you, would, you know, overpower you. He does it.

I think John Tortorell is a huge bully with the media. And I think he does it with ways like that where he's belittling somebody. I don't like it. I don't think it was it an eloquence question? No, but it's also partially because the reporter who sounds like he's young, I don't want to. But it was probably. nervous to ask the question because this is the way that torts he tries to humiliate you now and make you a YouTube moment. It makes no sense to me. If the athletic quote unquote benched me as host of

this show for three shows and they had threw someone else in and then somebody asked our producer, uh, you know, how did, how did Jesse and Rousseau do with a new host? That seems like a legitimate question because that's exactly what happened. So I understand if it's a question that really is a personal question. You know, I've seen him say, you know, I hear reporters all the time say, hey, you had a personal conversation with this player. What did you guys? I'm not going to say that in a public forum.

You bench a player who's your quarterback on PP1 and you miss, you know, he misses four power plays. I don't care how it's worded. That reporter was not on camera, you know, doing an interview. The reporter was in a press conference, okay? It doesn't need to, it bothers me. And now I'm at a point where enough. And I'm not saying this as a member of the media.

I'm saying this is just as you said, I think you hit the nail right on the head. Rousseau. This is humanity. Treat people with some respect. And when he doesn't, it's annoying. I just don't understand why it is necessary to always sit there and have a fight with the press. For no reason. Yeah.

You just bench Tony DeAngelo. It's going to be a question in there. You know, I watch all the time where the PR guy for the Minnesota Wild will just say to Dean, And hey, just to let you know, this was kind of the line of questioning to different players in the locker room. So they're going to ask you about the odd man rushes. They're going to ask about this. So you come in there with a knowledge base that, hey, you know, Russo is probably going to come after you on the odd man rushes. Have a question prepared.

You don't need a PR person to tell you that Tony DiAngelo is going to be a topic of the post game presser. And, you know, again, I don't disagree that maybe Torts didn't like the way the question was framed or all that stuff. but sometimes I also got to think that Torts needs to look in the mirror and say maybe these guys and women don't ask me the question as eloquently as I think it should be asked because they're fucking scared of me. You know, they're scared of him making them look like a fool nationally. And I just don't think it's fair. I don't think it's necessary.

You're going to, there are going to be stressful times in post-game press conferences all the time. I get it. But, you know, like everything, you know, you should pick your battles. You know, if you're going to have a nasty exchange, as Jesse said, don't do it every single day. Make it a special one. You know, making an example. But to come out on this one, it just, you know, to make it just, I don't know, it's just unnecessary. And again, I don't know the context.

I don't know if they've had three or four or five of these different types of exchanges and maybe there is a lack of respect level there on the certain reporter or what. There's always context. Like last night, the wild had too many men on the ice penalty. It was clear, egregious, too many men. and Dean went crazy, but then Dean afterwards pulled the reporter, the three beat writers aside and explained something that happened earlier in the game with the officials when the Rangers had too many men and something that was said to him, which now gave us context of why he was so pissed for a true too many men in overtime. So, I mean, there's always this context, this underlying

thing that a lot of us reporters and fans and people don't know and maybe they've had these an issue before, but I just, without the context, it just seems totally unnecessary. And it's not lost on anyone that I've been that young reporter, as both of you have. You know, we didn't come out of a box like this. You're embarrassing this person in front of their peers. I've been in that in a press conference and I'm looking over at reporters who I've admired for years and looked up to for years and had this person humiliate you like that. This is a professional work environment. Act like it.

Yeah. So everybody, you know, in Minnesota, Florida, they know my story. I mean, I started as a sports writer for the Sunscental age, 15 years old, okay? I covering high school games would go there and I'd be nervous and all that stuff. Then I started colleges when I was 18, covered University of Florida, covered FSU. And I could tell you, Steve Spurrier treated me like a child and Bobby Bowden treated me like a man. And you never forget that as long as you live. Because you go in there and you're not confident in your own skin and you're nervous and you don't ask the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the. the questions that maybe should come out at still at this age. You know, I don't, I get tongue tied and don't ask the most elegant questions in the proper ways and all that stuff. But you, you know, at least now I'm more comfortable in my own skin where years ago, you're not. You know, I think that if I knew even at this age, if I was going to ask John Tortorella a pointed question of post game press conference, even as long as I've covered this league, 28 years, I'd be nervous. And so I think that John has to understand that a lot of the reasons why maybe he,

these reporters don't spit out questions in the most perfect way that he wants it asked is because they're scared of them because they're scared that he's going to try to make them look like a full national TV in front of their peers, all that type of stuff on social media where everything spreads like wildfire. It just, it just is so unnecessary. I deal with Bruce Cassidy on a day-to-day basis and he is the exact opposite. Like, he is such a professional and so thoughtful when you ask a question. Like, we were actually joking about it in the media here in Vegas about Bruce Cassidy a couple weeks ago. We're like, you don't even have to ask a good question. You can have, like, we all ask bad questions. We word our question wrong. I'll ask a terrible question. Bruce is so

smart. He knows what I meant to ask and gives a great answer. He's like, that was a stupid question, but I know exactly what Jesse really wanted? Here's your great answer. I'll give you this explanation. Like, and what do you know? The relationship is great. And you get way better questions. I've noted, like, Not that Pete DeBore and Gerard Gallant weren't great, but they just weren't as thoughtful and weren't as into it. Bruce Cassidy loves talking hockey. I see the questions get better at Golden Knights Press conferences this season because Bruce Cassidy is so thoughtful with his answers, because he understands our job and what we're trying to do and realizes why we're asking these questions. It's so different night and day from what Tortorale is doing wherever the hell he is. Bruce Cassidy is the only coach in the league that actually eats in the medium meal room before a game.

I think it's that's hilarious too. I was just, to your point, Jesse, I was just in Buffalo. Oh my God, Don Granato. Like, that guy does like 15 minute press conferences on a morning skate day. And he just goes on and on and on with the most thoughtful questions. The reporters there, which you know can be gruff. They love him. He just, you know, he just, I don't know, I just, like I said at one point,

during this freaking rant of mine, it is not that tough. It doesn't always have to be a fight. It doesn't have to be difficult. I just don't get it. I just don't get it. We'll leave it at that. Obviously, all three of us on the same side of this argument. After the break, trust me, guys, we got intense there for a few minutes.

It's not going to be intense. Chris and Anthony Stewart joining us talking about their jerseys getting raised to the rafters in Kingston. So don't go anywhere. Rousseau, you've covered this game. long time, as have I, have watched a lot of games. And something we see a lot, numbers being raised up to the rafters. You know, and it always seems to be the same thing. You got players there, probably with a wife and kids and tears and flowers and everything

else. So we've seen it happen before. The one thing we usually don't see, though, two jerseys going up at the same time with the same last name on it. That is an original raising to the rafters. And that's exactly what the Kingston Frontenack's going to do this Saturday when they raise the numbers of Anthony. and Chris Stewart to the Raptors who are now joining us on the athletic hockey show.

Boys, welcome to the show and congratulations. Thank you. Thank you so much for having us. I'm really, really excited to be here. And Russo, we go back a long way, back to our native in Florida. It's good to see that you're still doing well. Yeah, I said, I was telling Rob before you guys came on, I'm like, I got to be the only beat right of the lead that got to cover Boat Stewart brothers.

And I actually got to cover Chris twice. It's on his resume for sure. sure. Yep. Yeah. So guys, obviously, congratulations again. Big honor, but have a little bit of, you know, extra juice, some steroids in it that you're going to see your number of race of the Raptors and you're doing it right next to your brother. Anthony, we'll start with you. Yeah, I think it's definitely great. And, you know, I've been sort of taken a lot of flack the last couple of years from Mike Zygamannis, who was the last front act to get his jersey retired. And I play with David Ling and the British League during the lockouts. And he used to

tell me how much they used to call it, Linkston when he was there. So to go in there now and be recognized for our accomplishments where I was really, really surprised that it happened. It's definitely great. But to have it happen with my younger brother, Chris, and just his story and his incredible story and how he even made it to Kingston,

you know, that's a one and 10 million opportunity. So for him now to get an opportunity, make the most of it and have an amazing junior career and now parlay that into an angel career, you know, I always tell everybody, that's my number one accomplishment. as a hockey player, just giving my brother an opportunity to show what he can do because I really believe in his game. So to be recognized by the whole entire city at Kingston, the organization,

it's definitely one of the crown achievements of definitely of my career. So I'm very, very excited and even more excited to share it with my brother, Christopher. Chris, your thoughts on going in there with your big bro? Oh, not that he dropped my government name, Christopher. Yeah, I know. I was just thinking that. I'm like, suddenly he became your dad there. Right. No, for sure. You know, uh, I, Rousseau could speak to this. You know, last year sitting at Miko Coyvo's retirement jersey, you know, just it's the utmost, it's the utmost respect and, you know, going in there with my big brother, especially with both of us, you know, kind of having career paths that were two different ends in spectrum,

with him being, you know, the seventh overall pick and, you know, me being a walk on to Kingston. So just us going up together makes it that more special. It's a huge day for our family and having all our friends and guys that are with us, the years, you know, kind of, you know, bring it all under one roof and our kids there. You know, it's a dream come true and it's, you know, it's a great day for our family. Yeah, Chris, tell the story. Anthony mentioned that it was a one a million chance of you even being on that team. Tell the story on how you guys, you know, how you got there. No, for sure. You know, I don't know if you guys know this, but I didn't play hockey,

my, my OHL draft here. You know, we were going through some financial hardships and, you know, It was a little bigger at the time. And, you know, for football, you only needed your equipment, no registration fees, anything like that. So, you know, it was definitely a more cost-effective way to be an athlete. And, you know, my brother put his reputation on the line talking to Larry Mavity, rest of peace, who were accepting, you know, the whole award in his honor. And, you know, they gave me a trial. You know, they had no idea what was coming or any expectations.

I think it was probably more there thinking of it as a favor. But, you know, I put into work that. that summer and, you know, I definitely wasn't surprised. I think them, you know, they're looking for someone that was going to bring more physical attributes, not necessarily known for my skill yet. So I went in there and, you know, I went a job and never looked back. Okay, guys, we're four and a half minutes into the interview. Everybody's fine and dantee loving each other, big bro, little bro.

I want to know about the sibling rivalry growing up. I've got two brothers. No matter what we did, we competed like hell in our household. And we were not NHL caliber players. I want to know what it was like with the two of you. I know you had sisters, but I'm sure the two of you going at it, whether it was street hockey, basketball, football, whatever it was. I'm sure you guys fought tooth and nail.

Chris, I'll let you go first on this one. No, for sure. You know, that's definitely how the younger brother becomes the toughest. You know, he's definitely got to take his licks. And I think I took him until I thought I was a little 14 or 15 where, you know, I thought I was ready for a shot at the title. And, you know, Anthony can talk about how that went. Well, I think I won the silver.

the sibling rivalry. And I think the best way to test that and that theory was who was always in net as the goaltender. So I always made him the goalie while I dangled him. And we actually got into a couple of fights because I said, hey, you know what? You just go in as goaltender for a couple shots and I'll switch. And then after the shootout, I'd actually run away. So, you know, just our upbringing.

That's how I run my programs now in coaching the minor hockey where we have kids that are older and they're leaders for the younger kids. because what it does now, it just teaches them how to be big brothers and big sisters and be leaders. But what it really, really does is it pushes the younger kids to be better and it sees them something to strive for. So, you know, I'm at my camp right now and there's, you know, seven, eight, nine years old players. And they get to see now the 15 and 16 year old players that are going to be in the OHL. So it gives them something to push for. But, you know, even with my brother, you know, when he came out of, you know, football, you know,

we started to go for runs and he couldn't keep up. So he rode the bike. and then a couple weeks later, we'd be doing rollerblades. And before you knew it, he was actually in better shape to me where he was actually beating me in the run. So it was amazing to see and just to see that transformation. But again, I toughened him up, but, you know, he ended up being a tougher player, you know, on and off the ice. So I did my job as the bigger brother, that's for sure. Anthony, you know, you're coming to us from a hockey rink.

We know that you have the Stewart hockey, you know, camps there. Chris, I just saw you the other day. you brought your entire Brainerd Warrior team down to Xcel Energy Center as well. What has made you both give back with both the Stewart camps, but now Chris, with you owning the Minnesota hockey camps here, how fulfilling has that been with as busy as both of you are with other things going on in your lives? Well, I think for me, and I could let Chris speak for himself was, you know, we were these younger kids, right?

And we had that sense of community back then where, you know, we, needed those rides to the rings. We need someone to help with equipment and registration costs. And we had people go above and beyond to make sure that we had success and found success and an opportunity to be successful in hockey where, you know, they didn't have to do that. They could have said, you know what, it's too much to come and pick you up from your neighborhood, figure it out yourself. So we had those people go above and beyond. The community really went above and beyond to make sure that we were successful in the game of hockey. So for me, I feel like it's my civic duty to help these young generational kids of equity deserving kids to now have that same

opportunity. So, you know, it's funny, I drive by the rink all the time and kids are saying, don't worry, I'll take the bus home. No, no, you're going to hop in the car. We're going to take it Tim Hortons, get you a coffee and drive you home because easily the community could have drove past us or forgotten about us and we wouldn't have the success. So it's more so for me to pay it forward to the next generation of kids. No, for sure. No, I'll piggyback off that with, you know, what Ace 2 said there was, you know, it takes a village. No, we're fortunate enough to to run into the right people who, you know, help bridge this journey for us.

And, you know, that's the satisfaction I get out of today. Just the impact you can have on a kid's life, just taking a little five minutes after practice, talking to them, getting to know them. You know, with Minnesota hockey camps, you know, we average about 90 kids a week. And, you know, we're a full summer program and then outside of that, you know,

we're training our local high school boys and girls, you know, 90 of them a week. So, like you said, just give them back and having a fun atmosphere, inclusive atmosphere and really teaching these guys how to play the game the right way. You know, not just hockey lessons, you know, life lessons. You know, I've been fortunate enough to go through so many life lessons throughout this game that, you know, like I said, it's our civic duty to pass that back to the next generation.

Speaking of that, guys, I mean, siblings in the NHL is nothing new. I mean, you go all the way back to the Richards, you know, the Espositos, the stalls. Now we see the Hughes brothers just doing so well. But I'd imagine at times it might have been tough, not only on yourselves, but your family and your parents and, you know, trying to get two guys to realize their dreams is difficult, as you mentioned. Any advice for maybe families that have two or three players who are definitely NHL bound that maybe you guys learned along the way? Anthony? Hold on. Let me take that one first day, school for the class.

You know, for me, I was a lucky one. You know, I, my brother wrote the blueprint. I just had to follow it, right? You know, gift and a curse whether that was good things, bad things. You know, he had the experience that firsthand, you know, so for me, just having my brother show up and do the things right first and, you know, being such a highly tired of prospect, you know, from the age he was 13 years old, you know, Bobby Orr walking in our house, you know, just having that, you know, that first class experience and kind of getting

to learn from him, you know, hands on was so big for me. I remember being 15 years old, being at the 2003 NHL draft, which is arguably the best NHL draft of all time. And just watching my brother going 25th of the world to the Florida Panthers, that really kicked it in for me that, you know, if he could do it, I could do it. And power of belief and positive thinking is real. Yeah. And I think this game, it's all about timing and opportunity. And there's going to be a time and place where you know you have that opportunity to make it to the next level. So you just got to let them have fun.

And, you know, I'm in Toronto where it's a crazy marketplace for lack of. of better words and, you know, everyone thinks their kids going to the National Hockey League at, you know, eight, nine years old. And, you know, if we tell you what it takes to make the league at nine years old, half the kids would quit. So you just got to let them have fun, work on the game, get better. But don't just put so much emphasis on winning and being the best and being the best at a young age because, you know, you see the tale of the Stewart brothers. I was seventh overall, 25th overall, world junior superstar. And I owned up playing, you know, less than 300 games in the National Hockey League where you have my brother who was undrafted and, you know, your three-year

OHL player drafted 18th overall playing almost 700 games. So there's different pathways. You just have to embrace the journey, whichever way you go, but you got to have fun. And you can't say, can't just decide to quit. Here's my brother. He had every opportunity to quit and say, you know what, I'm not doing it anymore. He took his break. He came back and made him better. So just deal with the adversity, develop, but just embrace that journey that is the game of hockey. It's funny because when you talk about your brother, I mean, that's how I always envision him is having fun.

You know, I mean, the other day when your kids were down there, Stewie, I was showing one of your sons where you used to do the Stewie sprint, you know? That, to me, took on a life of its own and why you were such a popular player here in Minnesota twice, by the way. What, like, first of all, like bringing your kids down there the other day, giving them a tour of the locker room, all that type of stuff. Like, how fulfilling is that for you? And did they recognize how special you?

were to this organization? No, for sure. I think they were definitely a little young, but, you know, my kids are, we're spoiled. They were saying, hey, dad, how come I don't get to go practice with the wild, right? As opposed to the other 13 kids on the team, you know, they couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe they get to meet Pro Kappasov or Mark Andre Fleury as opposed to my kids. Oh, there's Uncle Dums or there's Uncle Reaver. But like you said, just that experience, that behind the scenes experience, you know,

we're kind enough for Marcus Julino brought us through for a team dresser of tour, you know, just to sit in Mark Andre Fleury Stahl or Caprosoft stall or, you know, Jared Spurgeon's stall. Just getting that behind the scenes look, it's just, it's just life is life changing, you know, and the fact that, you know, I'm still in good standing to make that call or make that text message to Andrew Hyatt, who's, you know, the director of our team services and still be embraced. You know, this is five years in a while this year. And, you know, as a deaf player, you know, at best, but to go you to show,

you know, it's all how you treat people in this game that, you know, my name's still good enough to call these guys five years later and they're literally dropping everything you on, you know, on a game date, you know, coming into an NHL dressing room on a game date, it's something, all this kind of stuff is unheard of. So to just, you know, have your name still being that good standing around here is, you know, something I pride of myself on a lot. I'm sure on a, you know, an event like this, a lot of memories come back from those junior days in Kingston. Is there one that really sticks out for the both of you when you close your eyes and think of your time with the front knacks, a memory, a story, something that

you'll be thinking about when you're standing on that ice? Anthony? I think when I won world junior gold, I brought it back to Kingston, and they actually like the local bar, had like a world junior night where I actually brought it to the night club and people were lining up to take pictures and kiss it and everything like that. But I think the one thing for me was just the fans and just how. pride they had in the Frontex. The Frontex wasn't just the team. It was a way of life.

It's a blue collar city. And regardless if you won or lost, if you had a great effort, they respected you. So we had a lot of respect because we brought that effort every single night. We didn't have a lot of great teams, but we worked extremely hard. And we brought that effort every single night.

So it's going to be great going back to Kingston. And I think it's probably about my 12th or 14th time going back. I coach minor hockey now. So I bring my teams back there to go to tournaments and meet some old friends and family out there as well, too. So definitely going to be experienced another one that I'm probably never going to forget. Yeah, for me, I think, you know, just my draft year. You know, we had four guys get drafted that year, three of them on my line.

Two of them are my line mates, Bobby Hughes and Corey Emerton is still playing in Switzerland. But, you know, the one memory I do, but finally was in shout out to Jim Halton, who's coaching his thousandth game here on Thursday when he called out A-Stew and told him he couldn't make the Florida Junior C team in front of the whole team. and it was probably the funniest thing I ever heard in my life, but, you know, Jay,

due's credit, we were going on the, the Windsor Plymouth road trip, and he went and had three hatchicks in a row. So I think you knew how to push the right buttons, but, you know, just seeing my brother humbled in front of the whole team

and being called the junior C player was, you know, probably one of the funniest memories I have a junior. I have another one, too. It's the one time. I think we were losing, I think it was 111 in London after two periods, and we were trying to pull the fire alarm

to try to get out of there. We were talking to talk, and my brother, ended up, say, you know what, enough is enough. He went and turned the game into a debauchery, ended up fighting, getting thrown out. So I think we ended up losing a 14-1. And that was part of the most embarrassing moments,

but it was fun being in that dresserum, trying to get out of the building after two periods of luck. Anthony, what's it, what's it been like kind of moving over that dark side and becoming a member of the media? You know, I mean, you do such a great job on Sportsnet. And don't you think, I mean, it's too bad brain or it's not a little closer to the Twin cities. I think you're two and a half hours away, Stewie.

But don't you think Chris needs to. needs to find himself a job on Valley Sports North. Oh, you think wild fans deserve that? Absolutely. And who's there now? Is it Carter that's there now? He looks at Carter Walls and Parrish. He's looking fresh, right?

And again, I used to always blame the media. So now I can blame myself. But even as a player, I'm like, well, I'm not part of the media. But, you know, but it's great because you get to talk the game for a living, right? And, you know, usually after retirement, some guys got to go and work in an office or real estate. I get to stay in the game and talk hockey. So it's a lot of Maple Leafs talk. And you know, you got to talk about them a lot.

But I'm really fond of their team and what they're doing this year too. But it's definitely a great experience. And, you know, just going back to what my brother said, just treating people the right way, conducting your business the right way, you have an opportunity now to get more opportunities. So using my lessons growing up from humble beginnings now. And it's really helping me now in my second career as a broadcaster. I got to ask you, I was watching the Leaf game last night.

and I know Amber and Friege were showing when you did win that world junior gold. And obviously, we're right in the middle of it right now. Do you watch every minute of the world juniors and just get taken back every time? And when you see someone like Connor Bedard doing what he's doing, I mean, you could kind of relate to that a lot better than a lot of us can, can't you? Well, I can't admit it because it's on a rival network. But I think Sportsnet, they are the replay. So I watch it on the replays on Sportsnet.

But, you know, just, you know, I play with some great players in Jeff Carter and Sidney Crosby and Bergeron and Brent Burns. But just seeing what this Bedard kid's doing at 17 years old. This is a 19-year-old tournament, 19, 20-year-old where guys are coming in now as men dominating. He's doing this at 17 years old. And, you know, I thought I was the man. I led the team in the tournament in points with 11 points one year thinking I'm the man. This guy's got almost two games. Game and a half.

Game and a half of you at 11 points. Yeah, right. And I got all my points because I'm playing against, you know, some of the teams and they're seeing a guy, 6-2, 240 pounds coming down on them. Then I'll just take the puck and go to score. But to see Bidar do this as an underager, it's amazing. So I don't think the wild, they're not, they're fighting for the playoffs. And, you know, I think they'll get in. So they won't be able to draft him.

But whatever team gets them, they're getting a superstar, a 15-year surefire superstar. And it's great to see. And it's exciting to watch him play as a junior. Yep. Hey, Stewie, just lastly for you, Chris, as you know, I had Ryan Reeves on Straight From the Source, my other athletic podcast the other day, talked about your bachelor party

and how you weren't able to be sort of up to snuff with everybody else, couldn't keep up, eventually had to leave early. Is that accurate? To me? No, no, Chris Stewart. Oh, that's me. So I, you know, they're there for three days.

I've got 40 hours and I'm out of their voice. That's all up for the goal. And I do the Irish. too. You don't say by to anyone. Don't touch me for a month. I'm out of here. I love, I love one. I love how Russo keeps calling saying Stewie. There's two on the show, I know. I know. I know. You got to classify who you want to say. And what balls you have to ask him at a bachelor party. That's, wow. That's the kind of show we have around here, huh?

I will say this. If people that are listening to this have not heard that Ryan Reid's podcast, there is a lot of great Chris Stewart stories on there. Like, lots. Like, like about playing hoops in Jamaica and everything. Next time you see Rebo and speaking of Jamaica, tell him I want to rematch from the swim race. He'd be in the 25 meter dash during this pool. And I was like, I was known as like the fastest swimmer from Canada.

And he, he dusted me off. But I want a rematch. Tell him that one. I will definitely. They used to have his water wings on in the shallow wind. What's he telling you? And we'll be there to broadcast the whole thing.

Guys, thanks so much. congratulations. Really enjoy it, you know, having your brother there with you. I know we're poking fun at each other right now, but it's got to be a huge honor. So congratulations. Thanks so much for doing this. Thanks, guys.

Thanks for having us, guys. Appreciate it. Great thanks to Chris and Anthony for coming on the show, guys. And it'll be interesting to see both of them on that blue line watching the Jersey go up to the rap. After the break, we usually do rapid fire, but we got one topic we want to discuss. So it's rapid fire with just one bullet. so don't go anywhere. Okay, guys, we usually do rapid fire here,

but there was one topic that we really wanted to discuss, and so we're just going to stick to this topic. We didn't get to it in the first segment. Chris LaTang, if you remember guys, right before the Winter Classic. He did have an injury, but he also left the team because news had come out

that his father had passed away. The Penns just wrapped up a long 10-game road trip, and they were supposed to be heading home, and players, just like anybody else, if you're on the road for a long period of time, are looking forward to going home. But they decided to change that up and head to Montreal to be there for their teammate

and to head to the funeral for Chris La Tang's father. They did this while sacrificing rest. They ended up getting into Montreal 4 a.m. And the funeral was that morning. They did this with the help of the team who had to do a lot of things just logistically to make this happen. They had to have someone in their organization

fly with a box of all the players' passports because they weren't preparing to cross a border and now they had to. And to be there for their teammate, Chris LaTang. I don't know about you guys. This is one of those times where it feels like I was chopping onions as I was reading this story on the athletic. Your thoughts on something like this.

And we've talked a lot about athletes being people. This is a perfect example of it, isn't it, Jesse? Yeah. What an awesome story. Not, I mean, and like the players deserve a ton of credit for being willing to do it. But like you mentioned, there's a lot of work going on, not just obviously the box of the sports is a crazy. The whole hockey team. Yeah.

But like, like I talked to the guy on the Golden Knights that books all these hotels and flights and everything. Like, it is a lot of work. And that's when you're planning it months in advance, when you know the schedule away in advance. To do that last minute like that was probably not easy. I'm sure it meant the world to Latang. That is such a cool story. I kind of saw it with Alex Petrangelo dealing with his daughter's illness, and luckily she's getting a lot better recently,

but he missed some time. And just seeing how hockey players, they're just as close as like real family. It's so cool to see how they support each other in tough times away from the rink. You see how quickly things go. We talked a lot about it with the Hamlin thing. in the bills last week.

Like, you quickly realize how insignificant some, a win or a loss is when things happen outside of sports. And I think when those things happen, hockey players do a really, really good job of sticking together and helping their teammate. That was, it was such a cool story to read. A lot went into it. And I'm sure it was well worth it for Letang. Yeah, I completely agree.

I think it says everything about that organization and the players in that organization. obviously Crosby, Malk and all the leaders on that team. You know, I mean, that's the one thing, like the wilder having a, I know I always keep on bringing the wild, but they're having their father-son trip, their special guest trip next week as well. And I think that's something that, you know, what is really cool that all these teams do. So also players get to meet, you know, where their teammates came from. So, you know, over the years, don't think that, you know,

Crystal Tang's dad was an integral part of just that whole fabric of the Pittsburgh Penguins. And it says everything about, I think, that organization. Other teams have done this in the past, but that was, you know, as Rob was telling us, during the break to, you know, somebody bringing a box of passports to Phoenix because it was an American trip to get it over there. And I think it is another, again, reality check for all of us, media and fans alike, to always understand that these guys are human beings and we never know what's going on away from the rink.

You know, I cover a team right now than the last week, okay? Two coaches, father-in-law's died. The GM's father-in-law died. One of their star defenseman's grandmother died. And one of their players' closest friend in the world died. All in the last week. And nobody really knows that. But yet these guys are playing through it and coaching through it.

And I think it's, again, a reminder that none of us understand when we're watching a hockey game, why somebody might be not focused or not playing well or something like that. And I just think it's another good example for all of us to realize that these are humans. Here, here. And it just was the story I really wanted to bring up because it just, you know, they always say that, I don't know what the old saying is, but when someone in your family dies, you find out who your true friends are. And as you mentioned, I'm sure that meant the absolute world to Chris LaTang.

Boys, what are we working on? Rousseau, I want to start with you because I saw your pictures from inside the situation room. And I'm really looking forward to that because the situation room has evolved over the years to what we've seen now. So I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, where are we standing, how everything gets broken down. Yeah. Now they have a retired ref in there. They've done that for two or three years. So the night that I was in there, Bill McCreary, but you have these supervisors throughout the hockey league and they rotate in and out of there throughout the season. And what is, their, strive is to get better consistency is you have somebody that's been playing the game. And then you

have the, you know, you have 11 loggers. Seven of them have worked there for nine years. So they've seen it all. You have Rod Posma, Kay Whitmore, and Coley Campbell, Chris King in there all the time. Mike Murphy, who's one of our guests next week on next week's athletic hockey show, he just retired, but he basically built that situation room with, with Coley Campbell. And so, you know, I was in, within there five minutes, there was an overturn goal in the Vancouver and Winnipeg game where Bo Horvett was offside by about a foot and a half on a Mikhailov goal. And what I found interesting, guys, is that the way the process works is that as when any goal happens, whoever's logging that game will yell out, you know, goal Vancouver.

And before there could be even a challenge or they have to look at the goal, the logger is looking to see if it's off sides or potential goalie interference, a high stick or whatever, that the goal was put in with a, you know, in a legal fashion. And this logger, Paul, that was doing the Vancouver game right away alerted everybody, hey, we might have a challenge here. There's no doubt that Bo Horv had is offside. Then at that exact moment, the video goal judge from Winnipeg actually piped in and said, hey, just to let you know, I'm seeing off sides here, we might have a coach's challenge. And within 30 seconds, before the linesman even got to that microphone in the penalty box, they knew that play was

offside. And that's why the review took two seconds. I could tell you that there were lots of different colorful things that happened in the eight games that I watched in there that day. This story will run toward the ends of the month. They also do stuff. They log every event of every game. They're also doing special things right now by watching when goalies are intentionally or unintentionally knocking the net off the moorings because they're trying to improve that and see if there's also a trend going on. And also why fights are starting. They're very concerned right now with what they feel is a trend of fight starting after clean hits, which all of us see. And they're going to bring these clips down to the GM's meaning to see if there's anything the GMs want to do. So it's going to be a really good story. It'll run later this month.

And then the other story that I'm working on right now is another A1 story on intermissions and what it's like to be in an NHL locker room during intermission. And lots of cool anecdotes that will be in that story. And that'll run late next week. Jesse, what do you got coming down the pipe? And that is fascinating stuff. I can't wait to read it. I feel like I learned stuff just hearing you tease it just now.

I can't wait to see what we find out in the story. So my Marty Brodour, NHL99 piece is running this week. I'm super pumped about that one coming out. And then I also have a little project that I'm working on. I think it'll be out later this week, if not early next week, with Sean Gentile and Shana Goldman. I have brought them together to help me vote on goalie mask power rankings. We are ranking the best goalie masks in the NHL.

I feel like there's going to be some hot takes in there. Some fans probably won't agree with us, but I'm excited about ranking the best masks in the NHL. You guys know me. I love my goalie gear. It's going to say it. This is such a shocking story from Jesse Granger. Yeah. Brodoer and goalie mask. Yeah, I'm very lucky. I get to write about the things I'm passionate about. And you get paid for it. So yeah, we'll be sure with all that. We're going to be and we'll talk about it when those stories come out. So thanks, boys. We will see you next week. But before we go, I want to let everybody know what I tell them every single week. You can get an annual subscription right now to The Athletic, just two bucks a month for a year when you head to The Athletic.com

slash hockey show and you can subscribe to the Athletics NHL YouTube channel. That YouTube.com slash The Athletic Hockey Show. The Athletic Hockey Show returns Thursday with Ian Mendez and down goes brown. I want to say thanks once again to Anthony and Chris Stewart for Jesse and Rousseau. We'll be back next week. Mike Murphy, as Rousseau mentioned, is going to be our guest talking about the Situation Room. People love it. People hate it. We'll get ourselves in that room and find out more about it. So we'll see you next week. Talk to you soon.