The Athletic Hockey Show - Evgeni Malkin ends epic OT, Colorado Avalanche toy with Nashville Predators and Andrew Ladd focusing on mental, physical and social wellbeing for young hockey players

Episode Date: May 4, 2022

Rob, Sara and Jesse discuss an exciting 2nd night of the playoffs, led by the Penguins triple OT win over New York, Florida's 3rd period collapse over Washington, Calgary's shutout win over Dallas and Colorado's dismantling of Nashville.The roundtable looks ahead to Wednesday's games including Boston looking to even up their series with Carolina, Tampa looking to rebound over Toronto, Mike Smith attempting to redeem himself and his Oiler teammates vs the Kings and Marc-Andre Fleury getting the start again for the Wild vs the Blues. Andrew Ladd of the Arizona Coyotes joins the roundtable to discuss his 1616 foundation which focuses on mental, physical and social wellbeing for young hockey players aged 10-12 years, and the people who support them.Ladd also looks back on playing his 1000th NHL game, shares stories of past playoffs and gives his opinion on the first two nights of this years playoff. In our rapid fire segment, Pizzo gets Civvy and Jesse's opinion on who might be the next to retire after Dustin Brown announced his retirement from the NHL at the conclusion of these playoffs, and who will be next to coach Philadelphia, Detroit and Winnipeg. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's going on, guys? Welcome to another fantastic edition of the Athletic Hockey Show, the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. I am Rob Pizzo from CBC Sports, joined, as always, by Jesse Granger, who looks a little bored or than usual in Vegas. Aren't you, aren't you busy? What's got anything to do? Schedule is wide open.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do with myself for May this year. I really don't. And Sarasivian, who is busy, covering a playoff team in Carolina? How are you, Sarah? Yeah, Jesse, you want to take some of this off my hands? It's been kind of a stressful week over here.

But no, this is why I do this job. It's been so incredible to kind of cover the playoffs in great old Raleighwood. Yeah. The first round of the playoffs is quite literally the greatest time of the year for me as a hockey fan. Like, I just feel like you just get punched in the face with action. And the fact that now we can kind of like watch it in so many different ways. I don't know how you guys watch playoff hockey. I've got a game on my TV.

I got a game on my tablet. I'm bouncing around nonstop. And I love every minute of it. It's the first, not that the other rounds, the subsequent rounds aren't exciting, but I just love the sheer quantity of it. Right. The fact that we have four games every day for like the next week and a half, two weeks, every single day.

I love that there are no two days in between with travel. They literally have it like the, they time to tour, we're getting four games every day. I'll say like this is my first time watching the first. round of the playoffs, like, since I've covered hockey professionally. And, like, I, where the moment it hit me where I, like, thought, like, I miss this. Like, like, I wish I was covering the playoffs right now was was I was watching the Carolina game the other night. And it's not so much the action on the ice as Carolina scored two goals in secession. And they just panned to the arena and they are going

insane with the town. And, like, that building is nuts. And it just reminded me of T-Mobile arena for the last four years and it was like, man, it doesn't get any better than that. It's the most fun that sports can possibly be and I am very jealous right now. T-Mobile definitely rivals the atmosphere of the hurricanes, but when I took this job, I don't know what I was expecting, right? I'm from Boston. I covered the Bruins and the Penguins. And then I get a text from a GM of a former team that I, we were family friends. And he said, this is going to be the best building of your life when it comes to the playoffs. And I didn't believe him. But I was there for Bruins Leafs, Game 7, and I have to say it's louder in

Carolina game one. So, wow. Let's get right in. The building moves. And everybody says it and it's cliche, but it's true. Like these people come out for their sports when they're doing well. I felt that the first time I even saw a game in Montreal. And I saw a home opener in Montreal. And that was, I felt like exactly that the room was vibrating. It was just, it was awesome. And that, that, you know, coming off the pandemic year when, you know, we had to, you know, watch playoffs without fans and everything. This is, this is so much, so much better. We're going to get into it. We want, we want to hit every series. I want your opinions on every single one. And we're going to start with last night, four games last night, as Jesse

mentioned. And of course, we're going to start with Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers because this game had high scoring, high shooting, high drama, high amount of minutes played in an entire game. A Pittsburgh game one win, four three in triple overtime. And I mentioned the high drama because, you know, we've been talking a lot about goaltenders. No Tristan Jari for the penguin. So Casey DeSmith played most of the game. Then midway through the second overtime has to leave with a lower body injury. Louis Doming comes in. Poor guy is just like enjoying the hockey game with the best seat in the house. Suddenly, hey, go in there, make 17 saves before if Gennie Malcon ends. it. That was just pure entertainment. I loved every second of it. Sarah, you're smiling. What

you think? Well, I was just laughing, thinking of Pete Blackburn's tweet when he said, actually, Billy Joel is the e-bug and it's came. But God, it was electric. That's literally why we wait all season for the playoffs. I loved Josh Joey's story on The Athletic about it. I think it's a cool moment because everyone's thinking about this core group. Right? And they have like another moment to their name, right? So you've got to enjoy the ride there. I will say this morning, I walked into Hurricane's morning skate and Emily Kaplan was there after the triple overtime in New York that she covered. And I was like, girl, how are you doing this? I got to give props to her. She's on the grind. That game was so much fun. And like the Doming storyline is great. I'm curious to watch tomorrow.

The thing I always think of when a game goes to like double, triple, quadruple overtime is the, like, I feel like that game has more of an impact on the rest of the series than just a regular win. Because you put so much into it. If you win that game, you feel great. If you lose that game, you feel like, yeah, what a waste. Like, I don't, like, what a gut punch. I hate to say it, but I said literally when the game ends, all right, that's it for New York. It's going to be so much harder for the ranger, to, in my opinion, for the Rangers to, bounce back from that.

It's going to, like I said, I'm fascinated to see how each team reacts to that. Because like, I mean, they played two games last night. Igor Shasturkin was probably going to win the Vesna, in line for the heart, a 79 save loss. Imagine I told you before that game, he'd make 79 friggin saves and lose the hockey game. He was incredible. It was, it really was a goal-tending duel. I mean, even before he got hurt, DeSmith looked really good in this one for a four-three win.

But 151 total shots tied for the most ever in a playoff game with that Columbus Tampa game that Corpusalo had the 88 saves. And that was a five-overtime game. So think about the action-packed into this. And that's what I loved about it, guys. Like how many times, and let's be honest, as much as we love hockey, we've all watched those playoff games that are going into second,

third overtime and the hockey's deteriorating by the second. And all you're thinking is, it's so bad. Somebody score. I'm exhausted. Like somebody scored. This is not fun. Last night was not one of those games. It started to get there at the end of the second OT. And it was like the icing after icing, but they got it together for the beginning of the third. I saw Elliott Friedman tweet that it was cramps for DeSmith. Like the guy, like, it wasn't even an injury. Like the guy had faced so many shots. His legs are just giving out. To me, that makes Schisturkin even more. more impressive, like, what he did. The amount of shots he said, like, in that second period, it was a shooting gallery. Like, he was unreal in that second period. And then to play three more

periods after that and be as excellent as he was, I mean, he's a superstar. I know goalies can, can have that, like, Mount Everest Mountain Top and then just fall off it. Like, it happens all the time. But, like, it really does look like he and Vasilevsky are going to run this league for a while. Right. It's a perfect encapsulation of why I voted for him. for the heart, like that game right there. One thing I want to say before we move on to our next series, four hours and 18 minutes between the last warm-up shot that Louis Doming took and when he came into the game. Four hours and 18 minutes to stay focused like that is incredible, especially when he admitted

after the game that he had spiced pork and broccoli in between the first and second overtime because he said he had to get something into his belly and probably just didn't think he was playing and he goes out and does that as well. So yeah, game two is going to be interesting. Moving on. President's trophy winners didn't get off to a good start to the playoffs as the Washington Capitals win four to two. And they did so with a rally. Florida had a two-one lead going into the third. And guys, this season, teams have been 039 and 1 against Florida when they're trailing after 40 minutes. O 39 and 1, and Florida chooses game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs to buck that trend.

Do you think Florida fans have any reason to be concerned, though, Jesse? For sure. I mean, I thought this was a, I thought there was going to be a competitive series. I think the Capitals, we have, we always talk about the playoff experience. This Capitals team has so many core players that have been there and done it a million times. I think even before this game, there was reason, not to be concerned, but there was reason to believe that this is going to be a long series. And I think the capitals look like they're playing well. If they can get the goaltending, I mean, Ovi was awesome. He had that huge steal on the Kuznetsoff game

tying goal. The capitals are legit. I think this team can absolutely push Florida. I agree. And I think it's always a, I was concerned about the Panthers starting the playoffs. I think they're going to win the series still. But I like when you're talking about winning the. the cup. I do think it's dangerous how they've used offense as kind of a crutch. You know what I mean? It's been awesome to watch and fun to see them score all these goals. But I do think in the playoff, defense wins championships, you know. Who are you imitating when you do that voice? Sean Shapiro doing it transatlantic accent. Real fans of the pod know what we're talking about.

T.J. T. Oshy with the game winning goal in that one as well. And just quickly to expand on that that I gave you earlier. There were also teams were 0-1-22 in Florida when they were leading after 40 minutes. So we've talked so much about that team being able to rally themselves, all those four goal comebacks, not able to do it here as they blow the lead going into the third period. Next series was pretty much a massacre in game number one, Colorado with a seven to win. You mentioned this, I think it was last week of the week before, Jesse, about David Riddick. Five goals on 13 shots, gets yanked in the first period. I mean, I almost felt bad for him because you've got one of the best offensive teams in hockey.

And it was a shooting gallery. I mean, Nathan McKinnon just takes it to an absolute new level every playoffs. Three points last night. He's now third all time in points per game in the playoffs, which is bananas. Without UC Soros, are we looking at three more one-sided games? Sarah? Um, avalanche in two. Like, honestly, even with Saros, it would have been a struggle.

Is there like a give up, give up time? Yeah. It would have been a struggle, but it was just, it's brutal without Saros because he's basically that team's MVP other than Roman Yose. So it's been tough to watch already. Sounds like a waste of eight days to me. Oh, yeah. Daryl Sutter.

How long ago is that? A couple months ago, he's like, whoever wins. that wild card, you're going to waste eight days getting swept by the avalanche. I totally agree with Sarah. If Soros was in this series, I never thought the predators were going to beat the abs, but I thought he's the type of goalie, not just the quality of goalie, because obviously he's, I think he's one of the best three to five goalies in the NHL, but I think his specific style could have stolen a game or two, or at least hold the predators in it to like give the abs something to worry about. When you're a prohibitive favorite like the Aves and you're out shooting a team 20 to 8 and it's still tied.

The pressure builds, right? You start thinking like, oh my God, we can't beat this guy. And then the Predators get a lucky one and you're like, here we go. The predators don't have a chance to even put that doubt in the Aves mind because they just don't have the goal. And like David Ridditch, he's not great, but no goalie was going to be able to do that except for maybe the elite of the elite, UC Soros type and an athletic guy like that. So I think. think, man, unless he can make a miraculous coming. I mean, they've only ruled him out for the first two games. So if you think about it, like from an optimistic perspective, you're not supposed to win either the two in Colorado anyways. So maybe if you can get him back, coming back to Nashville, that team feels

a little bit better about itself. But right now with no UC Soros in sight, this looks, like I said, a waste of eight days. Love it. You're quoting Gerald Sutter. I wish there was a stat that could that could tell us exactly what you just talked about. Get on it, Dom. Yeah, get on, yeah, Dom, lazy ass, get on it. Something that just makes you, it's not a matter of stealing the game. It's a matter of making the other team alter their game because they're frustrated. You know what I mean?

Maybe making that extra pass, maybe squeezing the stick a little harder for one of the oldest cliches in hockey. And I think a UC Sorrows would be able to do that. But you're right. Last night was just a shooting gallery. So you heard it right here. Sarah predicted it. Avalanche in two. And speaking of Daryl Sutter, Calgary with a 1-0-0-0-series lead over the Dallas stars,

Jacob Markstrom with the busiest shutout he'll ever have, 16 saves in that one. It's interesting because it was low scoring. It was quite a defensive game. But there was some bad blood in this one. It got chippy, 16 penalties, 10 power plays, just 42 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey in this game. And we saw two fights and two key defensemen kicked out before the first intermission. Rasmus Anderson and John Klinberg got in that second fight in the same, you know, the rule. Two fights in the same stoppage.

And it's an automatic game misconduct. But I'm kind of curious, we were talking about the possibility of Calgary, Nashville being chippy. This one might be the chippiest of the bunch. Yeah, it sounds like Calgary just wants to fight everyone. I mean, it's partially their style. I think their coach has a big part of it, like just the mental. the mentality that he sets. And I think, to be honest, I think the stars have to do that. I watched a lot of stars hockey down the stretch just because they were like the ones the Golden

Knights were trying to chase. And to be honest, they didn't look like a playoff team. I think the stars limped into these playoffs because teams like the Golden Knights couldn't win a game. And they just, the stars do not look like they're in good form. I think they have one line really that can, they can compete with a team like Calgary. And they're going to have to do that type of stuff in order to hang with this team. I don't think they're going to end up doing it. But to me, it's like if you're the stars, like we've got one shot at this and it's getting the Calgary off their game, getting them to play poorly. So I understand why the stars are doing it. Sarah, what do you think? Yeah, the flames are my, I guess, dark course to win the cup, honestly,

if they can get past the abs, which I don't think that's possible. But I don't see it happening. It's just kind of a weak, a weak team against a team like the flames. Interesting to see, though, the flames have been known, especially that top line. We've talked about having 340 goalscores on this team and Guadro and Kuch and everything. They've done kind of interesting to see a 1-0. I certainly wasn't betting the over, but I certainly didn't expect a 1-0 win in game 1. So that brings us tonight, a foursome of game number twos. And Sarah, you know, I want to start with you here, Carolina with that 5-1 win over the Bruins

and you're going to be able to go to your brother's wedding because, yes, of that matchup you wanted. No Freddie Anderson, but Auntie Ron. Ranta 35 saves your expectations or your thoughts on game one and then your expectations for game two. Yeah, I will say, and Rod Brindon Moore is in agreement with me here on this one, that the scoreboard doesn't really tell the story of game one. The Bruins had possession for a lot of the game when it mattered, but Ranta being able to keep up with that is like even better than if the canes played a really high possession game.

You know what I mean because it showed confidence that he can be the guy if he needs to be. and it showed his teammates that he's got them while they figure it out. Like it was a very, the Keynes were playing like they had anxiety for the first half of the first period, and they had to settle in. But then they did, and they had a really good, the PK. The PK was just incredible, as always. And then that was encouraging to see. And then the kid, Seth Jarvis scores.

And then they kind of ran away with the game after that because they knew that they could do it. You know what I mean? And I just think the Keynes, it's a really good matchup for them, the Bruins with Allmark right now, because it's like they, it's like they played the Bruins before with Tuka Rask and with like kind of their more veteran corps. And now it's a little bit easier. I don't want to say that it's going to be easy for the Canes the rest of the way. I don't think they're going to sweep the Bruins, but I do think they're going to win the series. Yeah, for me, it's just a continuation of like, I have this theory

that literally any human being in the world can play goalie for the Canes and be awesome because this team. Right. And like I actually, I do. I, the hurricane fans, they're sick of me on Twitter. Like they, they, they are not a big fan of me because I'm constantly downplaying. Like last year with Nadelcovic, I was a big. I don't think this guy is really that good.

I think literally anyone that can play in the NHL is going to look great behind this team. And then he went to Detroit. And I, like, I was in favor of Carolina kind of just like not paying him that big contract. And he went to Detroit and hasn't looked as good. and then Freddie Anderson, who is, to me, the best goalie that they've had behind this core, comes in and he's like a Vezina candidate. And I've kind of been saying all year that I've been saying all year that like I,

not that I don't think Freddie Anderson's a good goalie, but I don't think he belongs in that top, like, five tier. I think his performance this year was worthy of being in the top five. And it's because the Carolina Hurricanes just play so good in front of their goalie. It's not so much to me the suppression of chances. Like they give up chances. it's the predictability of them. I don't know.

There's something about when I watch the hurricanes play, the chances against just seems so much more predictable than for other teams. And, I mean, Antirante, he made some big saves, especially early in that game. Boston was all over Carolina. But I think, man, what a great thing to have where the team just play so well that a guy in Freddie Anderson played so well all year. You don't have him.

And a guy like Antiront, comes in and plays spectacularly for you. If they can get Anderson back in the net, that team is terrified. Yeah. Real quick, you mentioned Seth Jarvis there, Sarah. I read your piece and Rod Brindamor's quote saying sometimes experience or playoff experience can be a bit overrated. And, you know, it's one game. I'm not going to suddenly say this. And maybe we'll talk to Andrew Lad about this who's coming up, I should mention the second half of the show because he won a Stanley Cup as a rookie. Do you guys think playoff experience is overrated? Is there an ignorance as bliss type thing? when it comes to sometimes some of these young players? I think it's necessary to have a level of experience, but I think Rod was kind of saying it's overrated in the way we constantly talk about it

as the end-all be-all and as the narrative that we push so much. Like we talk about it so much that it's like, okay, yeah, yeah, guys, it's important, but not that important. And then you see Seth Jarvis score, obviously. It's just you don't know what you don't know. So you're not overthinking, especially, I don't know, if you've been in the league for a decade and you haven't won a cup, You're thinking, I got to win the cup, I got to win the cup.

You're gripping the stick pretty tight. But maybe the rookies next to you were like, oh, let's try to win the cup for him, like bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, you know. And they don't have as much pressure. And that can be a beautiful thing. I think you need a blend, the correct blend. Yeah, I totally agree with that. I think that's a great point that the longer you go without a cup, the more, like, precious the chances are to get the cup. And therefore, you, like, when the chance feels like it's slipping away, you think, like,

like, man, is this my last chance? Like, I really have to perform here. Whereas the rookie, like, the kids in their first three years, like, in their mind, it's like, I'm going to be doing this every year for the next 15 years. Like, I'm going to have so many chances. Right. Like, that's how everyone thinks. So I do think that there's a level of like less pressure because they, they feel like this is always, like there's so many more chances for them. But I also think it's, to me, it's like, in my mind, it's situational. Like, I think when things are going well, you don't really need experience. Like, when, when things are rolling well and people are scoring and the team's winning, it's like, who cares? I think where experience can be vital is when things go

wrong. And I think when things go poorly for you to start a playoff series or first couple games of a playoff series, I think for young players and players without that experience, it's easy for it to get off the rails a little easier. But yeah, I think that's a great point by Sarah. I feel like the older you get, you feel like the chances are slipping away. Sometimes that pressure can actually, it can actually work against you. Pressure is a good way to move on to our next series because the Leafs picked up a 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ordinarily, you know, if we had the old playoff system, and I know we talked about, you know, how we're all a fan of the conference

playoff system over the divisional system, you know, you beat a team 5 to nothing and you're one of the best teams in the league. That's usually what's supposed to happen. But the Leaves beat the two-time defending champions five to nothing. Austin Matthews, Matthews, two goals and assists. Mitch Marner, a goal and two assists, Jack Campbell, all the question marks going in the playoffs, picks up a shutout. And all I keep thinking is the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to come out with everything they've got in game number two. We're not going to see that same.

In my opinion, Tampa Bay, as well as Toronto play, Tampa Bay looked lethargic. They looked not as into it as they should have been for game one of the playoffs. And I think tonight is going to be very interesting to see Stamco's and Kuturoff and Edmund and Vasselofsky just shut the door. I may be wrong. And if I'm a betting man, which I absolutely. am, I'm considering placing a dollar or two on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Agree or disagree.

Sarah. I agree with tonight they're going to win. I don't think they're going to take the series. I think this was so important for Toronto. I kept getting them mixed up for some reason. But I predicted somewhere that Austin Matthews is going to lead the playoffs and scoring. And I think that first game with the floodgates opening needed to happen for the Leafs for them to beat the lightning in this series.

I don't know what's going to happen next, but I'm getting good vibes from them the first time, maybe ever. What about you, Jesse? Yeah, I thought Rob's point about Tampa looking lethargic. That was what stood out to me. And I know sometimes, like, you can get in your bubble and, like, just the things you're hearing and the things you're around will influence what you see. And then you, like, it's almost like confirmation bias.

But for me, I've been, I've been covering this Golden Knights team and I've been talking to the players and a lot of them have been mentioning, like, look, in the last five years, we've played so much hockey. And then the pandemic condensing things made it even more so. And they just looked war down. And it's not just the Golden Knights. You look at the Islanders, the other team that's been in the conference finals the last. They looked worn down this year. And I think Tampa Bay has shown something similar. I think they're more talented team, obviously, than Vegas and New York. So I think the talent can carry you to the playoffs, whereas those other teams obviously didn't make it. But I mean, the lightning, that was their 70th playoff game in the last five years. Like another,

team, just for example, like the avalanche, they've been in the playoffs a lot. They've played 43. And the lightning, that was their 70th playoff game in the last five years. I do think that that team is worn down. I think when you win two cups, you get a little fat and happy. It's not quite as the, I'll tell you this, the Maple Leafs are hungrier for a Stanley Cup than the Tampa Bay Lightning are. I can promise that with 100% certainty. And sometimes that matters. And especially with a team as talented as Toronto, like I, to me, it looked like a fresh, excited Toronto team ready to like prove the world wrong versus a Tampa Bay lightning team that has just won two cups and looks a little bit worn down. It's interesting just, you know,

being in that area. There's always the ongoing joke if you're not a Lee fan that Lee fans are already planning the parade. They're already, you know, thinking everything's going great. It almost feels different this year. I feel like Lee fans are afraid to be happy. A five nothing win over the two-time defending champs. I've talked to all my friends who are Leaf fans and they're like, just relax. Just relax. If this was like five years ago, then I'm like, yeah, all the way. Let's do it. But it's, Lee Friends are afraid. They're just,

they've been, they've seen the end of this movie too many times. St. Louis, 4-0 winners over the while to take a 1-0 series lead, David Perron with a hat trick. We talked about maybe the series that you're going to watch the least. If I had to pick the first eight games, this is probably the one I watched the least. you know, intently or as I didn't scrutinize it as much. But the one thing I did want to see was Mark Andre Fleury. I don't know if Shakey's the right word, not necessarily a Mark Andre Fleury playoff performance, we'll say, maybe. Do we see them go right back to Flurry?

Yeah, he's starting today. I saw it. Okay. So, yeah, I mean, I didn't think Flurry was spectacular, but I mean, if you go back and look at the four goals, like I have a hard time putting any of the four on him. Maybe the rebound control on that, but it was a deflection. I mean, it's hard to control the rebounds on those. But this, the Minnesota Wilde, for whatever reason, have really struggled against St. Louis. I don't have the number in front of me. I think they've lost like 10 or 11 games in a row. They haven't beat them in two seasons. It's, it's been, for whatever reason, a matchup problem for the wild, even though I think Minnesota is the superior team. St. Louis is so deep. They have like nine, 20 goal scores, I think it is, which doesn't even seem possible.

Like every single forward in your top nine scored 20 goals. How do you do that? And St. Louis is rolling right now. They look good and they have a lot of confidence against a team that they have had so much success against. Yeah. This is one of the most, like, low-key, fascinating series I think of, especially the West. I love the wild season and I still think they're going to pull it out. But I do think this game is actually going to be a huge indication if they do or not.

And you know better than anyone else, Jesse. but I think it was important to give Flurry the start again so he doesn't get in his head. And then if they lose with him in net again, it feels like they're kind of screwed. Well, they'd probably go back to Talbot, which isn't a bad option. I mean, Talbot's been good this year. Like, I think they're in a pretty good position. It's just going to be, can they score? I mean, if Talbot was in net and he played better than Flurry, they would have lost,

what, two nothing, three nothing? Like, he's still losing again. It doesn't matter how good the goal he is. They've got to find ways to score. And this Minnesota team has scored lots of goals this year. but St. Louis is playing really good hockey right now. It felt like the entire game was played in Minnesota's end. Yeah, yeah.

And finally, the Kings with a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. I don't know about you guys and Jesse, I want your opinion first on this one being the goaltender. I don't care what team it is, whether I'm cheering for them, not cheering for them, whatever. Whenever a goalie at an important time of a game leaves his damn crease to play the puck and just takes a half a second of like, oh, let me look around. I get nervous. I immediately get nervous.

And that's exactly what happened with Mike Smith. They didn't score directly on his giveaway, but I think it was like five or six seconds afterwards. We've been talking about the Sentimenton goaltending all year long, guys. And it just kind of felt like, oh, and he took all the credit, or not the credit, excuse me, to call the blame afterwards saying, yep, I just can't do that. I was the reason for the loss. what are we going to see in game two?

Jesse, I want your opinion as a goalie who defends goalies no matter what we say. You are the goaltender, tend to the goal. There we go. Mike Smith is so brilliant playing the puck. To me, he plays the puck. There's such a massive gap between him and the second best, like, puck handling goal in the league. But I think it works to his detriment because he's so good at it. He just doesn't make the simple play because it's,

It's like, he's so good. It's like, I can make this pass, and that will be an even better breakout. But it's like, Mike, we just need you to not give the puck to the other team. Like, it doesn't, just rim it around the glass. Like, it doesn't have to be the perfect pass. I do think he plays it a little too much. I think he gets a little too fancy at times. And I think in the playoffs when, I think maybe those things work in the regular season,

when the pressure, like we always talk about how playoff hockey is different. The pressure, the forecheck is just a little bit more intense. There's just a little bit less time and space for everyone. and that includes the goalie. And I mean, he's right. He cost him that game. And it wasn't just that. I didn't think he played particularly well.

That first goal, he was sitting with his heels on the goal line. He drives me crazy with how deep he plays in the net. I think Mike Smith has the capability of playing, like putting together some like steal worthy games, like stealing some games for this team. But he just has too many playoff games that end with him like at fault. It just happens too often for me. I'm sick of this. I had the Kings and Seven at the beginning of this. And I feel like the Canadian media has tried to force the Edmonton Oilers onto me.

They're there doing, why is nobody talking about the Oilers? Because this situation sucks and it's going to continue to suck. And they need to do something better in that. They need to revamp everything. And it's not their year. I'm done. I'm done. Should mention, McDavid with a very McDavid type goal in that game.

And I should also mention. It didn't matter. Exactly. But that's what I'm trying. To your point, that's exactly what I'm saying. McDavid does McDavid things. Drysidal does dry sidle things. And what are we talking about?

Mike Smith, given the puck away. And that ends up being the game. One of the checks on the checklist of what makes a McDavid-like goal is it was meaningless because the team lost anyway. Did he dangle five defenders? Check. Did he make the goal he look ridiculous?

Check. Did it happen at 100 miles an hour? Check. Was it meaningless? Check. Maybe he should stop scoring and give the rest of the team some urgency. They should bench him. Should also mention you were talking about goaltenders who can really play the puck well.

Jonathan Quick, 47th career win, ties him with Ron Hextall on the all-time list. So you talk about one of those goaltenders that, you know, just synonymous with playing a lot of playoff hockey. Jonathan Quick is one of them. So those are the four games coming up tonight. Can't wait to watch more hockey. And something else I can't wait for to talk to Andrew Ladd, the Arizona Coyotes. to him about his thousandth game. We'll talk to him about, you know, playoff hockey, get his opinion. I'm sure he's watching it, even though he's not playing in it, and the 1616 Foundation as well.

He's coming up right after the break. And we were very pleased to be joined by two-time Stanley Cup champion. Now with the Arizona Coyotes, Andrew Ladd, joining us on the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. Andrew, thanks so much for doing this. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me. We got a lot. We're going to get through. We're going to get to some of the playoffs. I want to get your opinions on that. We're obviously going to get to the 1616 Foundation and talk a lot about that.

But before we get to those topics, I think we should start right off with this interview by saying, congratulations on a thousand games in the National Hockey League. Walk us through that day because I'm always curious when you know a milestone's about to happen. You know there's going to be tributes. I watch the video tribute. And if I'm kind of feeling a little dusty and watching that and I don't even necessarily know you, I imagine your family and everyone around you. had a good time that day as well. Yeah, yeah, it was, it was awesome. I think going through the process

of getting to that point, there's a lot of reflection on the people that helped you get to that place and get to that many games and the support system, you know, from when I was younger to my parents and my brothers to now, you know, my wife and my kids. And there's been, we've gone through a lot last, you know, three or four years. So to have that moment with them, it was, it was pretty cool to have my kids were pumped to be on the ice and excited knowing that it was a big moment for me. And yeah, it was just, it was awesome just to cross that milestone off the lift. Had to feel good doing it against Chicago as well, the old teammates. Yeah, the way it worked out.

I actually happened to be there for Taves of ceremony in Chicago. So I got to see that and be a part of that. And then, you know, to be able to play my 1,000th against, you know, him and Caner. And even, you know, Riley Stollman, it was just funny, came full circle. I played with his dad and, you know, had some memories of him rollerblading around as a young kid. And then to be able to play my thousandth game against even him was pretty cool. We debate this all the time about the thousand games and like, what's the most impressive part about it? Is it the durability, not getting injured?

Is it the ability to be good enough to stay in a lineup that long? When you think back to getting a thousand games, I guess, what was the, hardest part about it? What are you the most proud of? Well, I mean, yeah, I don't know if durability was my thing the last, you know, four or five years, but I think just the longevity, I think the ability to play as the game evolves, you know, it went from post-lock, no, I guess I say post-lockout. There's been a few lockouts, but originally coming in the league where there was a shift and how the game was called. And then as the games evolved, you just seen more speed and more.

speed. And as you get older, you have to find ways to keep evolving your game and stay relevant. So I think just being able to play the game as long as I have the way I have. I've tried to play a pretty physical, intense game throughout my career. So to be able to do that, you know, I'm proud of that. I've been working on a story where I'm talking to Ray Whitney, Eric Cole, and kind of all those beauties. And they just have so many good stories about that team and about how hard those practices were. Can you maybe like give us a little story about that or a Rod Brindamore story? Oh, yeah.

So like I didn't really, I came into that obviously as a rookie. You know, 19. I turned 20 in December that year. So I didn't know any different. So I was like, okay, this is how people practice in the NHL. And then I remember talking to Ray Whitney and him saying like, His dad was a kind of a practice boy for the Oilers when they were winning cups. And he said, my dad says we practiced like the Oilers did when they were winning cups.

And I was like, oh, that's, that's an interesting comment to hear coming from a guy that has been around the league for a long time. And it was just, it was the pace of practice. A lot of them weren't long, you know, but we practiced with a certain intensity that translated into those games. And as my career has gone along and you kind of, you go through different teams and different coaches, I think I realized how special that was. And Rod was really the guy that set the tone for that. I remember I tell guys here all the time because we show up, you show up now and guys are scrimmage. They just want to scrimmage, maybe practice for 20 minutes and then scrimmage. And when I was in Carolina, we would, we would play, we would probably have be on the ice for an hour.

The first half hour, we had no puck. So Rod would just get on and we'd just bag skate for the first half hour. And then we got to play, right? So I remember Anton, I think Anton Babchuk was there. And so he's like, I'm just going to skip the bag skate and come on for the scrimmage, right? So he comes off for the scrimmage and Rod just kind of gave him the point, get off the ice. He can come back tomorrow and try this again and show up and everything else shows up.

That was kind of the tone that, that, uh, And I'm sure you still see that every day with the canes now. And then you played a thousand games in the NHL. So that had something to do with it, didn't it? That foundation? For sure. You know, I think you, it was such a veteran team. I think when you're around veteran players, they're at the point in their career where

they're starting to hurt, you know, maybe they're not feeling like they did when they were in their late 20s. And they're searching for different ways and different avenues to keep that level. and evolve their game. And at the time, I probably didn't realize it. But they were, you know, they were into all sorts of different things, fitness-wise and taking care of their bodies. So to have that influence at a young age for me, you know, I thought that was normal then.

And then you soon realized that they were a pretty special group and guys that, a lot of those guys played, you know, more than a thousand games. So to have that as a youngster coming in the league was, I was extremely lucky for that. Well, speaking of coming in the league as a youngster, a heck of a start to your career with the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes, also with the Chicago Blackhawks, of course. So we got to ask you about the playoffs. We've seen a game from every series,

which one really jumps out to you? What's something that kind of piqued your interest to say, oh, I can't wait to see how the rest of this series goes? I think the Rangers, I watched a lot of the Rangers' Pittsburgh game last night, and I think it's just going to be a great series. They play a lot of speed, a lot of skill. You know, hopefully the Smith is okay, but, you know,

seeing what Louis Doming did coming in and triple overtime, or I guess he, I don't know, did he come in at the end of double and face just a bunch of shots right away. And he's, you know, I think he calmed that team down and allowed them to get that victory. It was fun to watch. So that's a series for me that has a lot of high-end talent. and they were playing with a lot of speed, a lot of emotion and it should be fun moving forward.

Talk about a little bit about playoff experience because I know, you know, Sarah wrote about this in her piece with Rod Brindamore talking about maybe playoff experience is a little overrated. And like I said, you won a Stanley Cup as a rookie. So you had no experience.

And some people would say, ignorance is bliss. And then other people would say, you need that experience on a team to help you on that playoff run. So I guess short question to this, even though I gave you such a preamble. Is playoff experience overrated?

I think it just depends on who's in that room. I mean, I think you need some veteran players. So I guess it's easy for Rod to say that if he's got Jordan Stahl, you know, in the room. And, you know, even the other guy, Slavin, and then they got a good leadership group there. But you have all those guys that have kind of at least been through, you know, a lot of what playoff hockey in the NHL is like, right? you know, when you get to that level, you know, players are used to playing in pressure situations. And, you know, it's not like they've never played playoff hockey.

They've just never played NHL playoff hockey. So if you have the right group of veterans around those young players, and a lot of it, I find is just settling guys down because, you know, they're, the emotional aspect of playoffs is where you can get yourself into trouble, you know, losing a game and thinking it's the end of the world where older guys understand it's a long series. You just have to get the next game and then go from there. So I think that's the, you know, that's the way I see it. But, you know, eventually you have to get experienced sometimes.

And, you know, you look at guy like, you know, Gensel, he came in and did pretty good right off the hop in Pittsburgh. Did you notice it being easier to like, were you calmer like the second time? Like when you went on the run with Chicago, then maybe the first run. Did you notice differences in yourself? Yeah, for sure. And I mean, we had it like a, you know, we, when we lost, we, so we lost, we were up three one at Eminton and we lost, um, what is it game five and six. And then they, they evened it up. And I'll still remember the speech that Rod gave at after that game six. And it was really just to settle everyone down and just say, hey, like, let's understand where we at. If we're at the start of the year, if we said, hey, we have, we had, we said, hey, we have. one game to win the Stanley Cup, would we take that? And obviously, everybody in the room's like, yeah, of course.

And so he really kind of put everything in perspective and allowed the group to go, okay, yeah, like, we know what we have in here. Let's just relax, regroup and come give our best in game seven. And to me, that set the tone for how that group showed up, that next game and allowed us to win the Stanley Cup. Seems like Rod has just been the same exact guy for decades. Yeah, I think that's, that's, that's, what people respect about him. He, you know, what you see is what you get with him. Um,

and there's such a genuineness to, you know, whether you're, you know, he's answering a question or he's, he's, he's involved in the game or, you know, I was, you know, I was scared shitless of them when I, when I first got in there just because he's just such an intimidating, intense guy. But, you know, as you get to know him, he's, he's got the biggest heart. He really cares about the people around them, and you can feel that every day. I got to go back to that Pittsburgh, New York game one for a second, because, you know, you talked about Louis DeMang and he came in. And after the game, somebody was asking what he was eating in the dressing room.

And he said, before he came in between the first and second, overtime, he was eating spiced pork and broccoli because he just said he was hungry and he wasn't expecting to play. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I feel like some of those, some of the best stories I've ever heard always come during the playoffs when you think the players are the most nervous, but sometimes they're not. have any, do you have any stories that stick out from either your Carolina run or your Chicago run, something in the dressing room that maybe would have surprised a lot of fans to hear? Oh, well, yeah, I mean, the, I think the one that comes to, the biggest one that comes to mine is when,

uh, we were playing Vancouver when I was in Chicago and, uh, it was kind of right before the game and the Kentucky Derby was going on. And, uh, uh, it was kind of right before the game and the Kentucky Derby was going on. and Joel Cwendwell hit the, I think it's the trifectar, right? Yep. So he had, he hit a massive bet and won a bunch of money basically right before we were going to play Vancouver. So boys had a pretty good time with that and just probably not something you expect before a playoff game. Did you have it on the TV in the room? No.

So we were like we were just showing out. So like they had like he was running around the room going nuts and we were just like what is going on right now. And then that I think one of the assistant coaches kind of filled us in on what was going on. But yeah, he was fired up. He had a good day. But I mean, stuff like that's got to have a bit of a calming influence. You talked about some of the younger players really, you know, they're so jacked up. The hardest part is calming them down.

You know, something like that to me seems like it would maybe help kind of bring the mood down a little bit and get everybody calm. Yeah, for sure. And I mean, that group in particular, we had, there was a certain level of confidence. And we played as a relaxed group, which, yeah, I think as an individual player, you kind of figure out what works for you. You know, am I the type of guy who needs to be super serious and fired up to get to play? And then there's, you know, other guys that, you know, Dustin Bufflin that's just every day is just loose and, you know, having a great time. time, but that work for him, right? So it's something that everyone has their own personality. And you, as a young player, it's just figuring out like, hey, what do I need to do to perform

night and night out? And some guys are serious. And some guys are super loose. Tell us about the 1616 Foundation. Oh, yeah. So it's me and my wife started our foundation, I guess, like four years ago. and we are big initiatives, you know, surrounded mental health. And we really wanted to figure out like, okay, how do we impact mental health? And when I was in with the Islanders and I was in Bridgeport, I just needed to find a purpose, really. So mentally, I was in a great spot. And I wanted to, you know, serve people, find a way to have an impact in the game and the mental health space. So we started 1616, which in short is a program for 10 to 12 year old hockey players that our intention is to treat the mental side of the game like the physical side of the game.

And I say that in terms of like we're very intentional with how we train kids physically at a young age. But we're not very intentional about training their brain and the different aspects that come with, you know, the more. pressure that we're putting on kids at a younger age to perform and to be put in those positions. So we put them in those positions without the tools and that's not fair to them and they're not ready for it. So 1616 is really about building those mental habits within the game with with stories about real men and female pro hockey players to teach those kids how to how that's work for them. As, as NHLers, we have a tremendous. amount of resources and as you play in the game, you go out and you search for different ways to

perform better physically, mentally, and I've kind of run the gamut on all of those things. And I want to take a lot of those resources to kids at a young enough age where we can build a strong foundation to impact their mental health moving forward. I love this so much. It just feels like youth hockey has gotten so stressful and it's so like one-track mind, right? For sure. It's funny, like, through the, part of the process that we go through is we'll interview, we'll do a Zoom interview with a player to get their story so that our curriculum team can

create a story arc for these 10-year-old kids. That's going to be impactful. And to a player, everyone, you know, what advice would you have for 10 to 12-year-old kid playing hockey? And every one of them is like, hey, just have fun. There's a certain level of, you know, I guess there's something that fun does for your brain that we kind of forget about as parents and coaches with kids that, hey, like, for them to evolve not only as a hockey player, but as a person, they need to enjoy what they're doing. And if they don't have that enjoyment and we're taking that away from them, we're really, we're doing them harm.

Of all the stories you've heard, is there one that stands out maybe that you think was really impactful of something an NHL player had gone through that. that really helped the kids? Yeah, I mean, so we talked to Anthony Stewart about, you know, him growing up and having to walk, you know, four kilometers to the rink every morning and having the impact of, you know, family, you know, stopping by and picking them up and giving him Tim Horton's on the way to the rink. And just how that's led him to try to serve other people in his community, whether that was his brother or Wayne Simmons moving forward. We've talked to a sledge hockey player named Zach Levine, who went out for a hike and ended up getting frostbite and lost one of his legs and found sledge hockey.

And now he's playing in the Olympics. You know, we talked to Blair Turnbull about how she builds confidence and what that was like growing up as a female and playing with boys and the different challenges that she's faced. So we had a massive group and really the support from from players has been tremendous. We've got a lot of players that have donated their time and stories and to get them. It's funny. When you say something for 10 to 12 year old kids, people, you know, are super generous with their time, but also with, you know, their stories. And I think we've gotten a lot out of, out of a lot of players that will be impactful for kids.

Andrew, I also love it. And I love the fact that you are going backwards. And, you know, the NHL has done a lot over the last number of years to bring awareness to mental health issues. But how much of your program really does deal with even just changing the culture of it? Because for so long, what were hockey players told? Toughen up. You know, just be tough.

Don't admit something's wrong. If you're admitting something's wrong, you're weak. I mean, to me, the actual ability to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to to say, hey, I need some help or, hey, you know, I'm not having fun, like you said, is so much a part of improving kids mental health and having them enjoy hockey. Yeah. And I mean, that's, I felt that firsthand. So I have this one of my bad habits is I internalize everything. So like anything bad happens to like to your point, like I just keep it all in and I'll deal with it and push forward until you're pushing forward to the point where you can't go any further. And I got to a point

where I was in New York and I didn't think I had a way forward in terms of like, can I keep enjoying this game and do what I'm doing? Because I knew it was starting to affect my family. You know, my wife, my kids had to deal with me coming home and even my teammates in the dressing room. So that forced me to reach out, find someone to help me through that. And I was like, you know, holy crap, man. I got so many bad habits that I've built up over the years that I have to start dealing with. So for me, like being able to take that to young kids and not only the kids, but the parents and coaches to really help them understand the impact that they have on these kids with their words and their actions and how you can push them one way or another.

Like that's a huge opportunity for you to help a kid along. And I think sometimes we get caught up in the game and the emotion and trying to win hockey games at such a young age. We forget about, hey, like, you have an important role here to help this kid out, not only as a hockey player, but as a person. And that's really what we're, you know, 16, 16 is all about is trying to, to have, you know, be more intentional with that impact. What a great program. So glad you can come on and talk about it. Andrew, what's the next couple of years kind of look like for you? You've hit that thousand games. You know, you're obviously going to be looking to a point after hockey, and I'm not retiring you just yet.

But I mean, what are the next few years look like for you? Yeah, we'll see. I think when you get to my age, you know, first and foremost, see how my body is going to respond in these next couple months. And then I, this has been fun for me. It's been fun to have a different purpose other than hockey. And I think, you know, one of the big things I've figured out with this is hockey is what you do. It's not who you are.

and I'm looking forward to the next chapter, whatever, whatever that may hold. 16, 16 will be a big part of that. And, you know, I'm kind of the, one of my, I guess, strong attributes is I'll have the ability to kind of like readjust, reset and figure out what I want to do next. But I think just staying in the game in some way, whether that's with kids or at a professional level is something that I'd like to do. Well, as soon as you do that, come right back on the podcast and talk to us again. Andrew, thanks so much for doing this.

We really appreciate it. Good luck to rest of the way. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me. All right, guys, time for my favorite portion of the show and yours. The Rapid Fire, Dustin Brown announcing he's going to retire from the NHL at the conclusion of these playoffs. Are you, you know what every now and again you get those things where it says like, oh,

the last episode of Seinfeld was this many years ago and you're like, what? Dustin Brown's played 18 seasons in the NHL. That number seems way too big. I still think of him as the young Dustin Brown, but your thoughts when you heard this news, Sarah. Yeah, just a heck of a career. And I love when they call their shot before the playoffs, right? It's like, okay, now we got to be invested in this playoff run and watch this playout in real time. It reminds me of Justin Williams, who also played with Dustin Brown.

Yeah, well-timed to motivate his team and build the storyline. I feel like every underdog has to have a storyline. And Dustin Brown announcing it before the playoffs gives his teammates. a little bit extra juice. I like the timing of it. Who's next? I mean, we got a lot of players on this list. Could we see Charra retiring next? Keith Yandel, Joe Thornton, Jason Spetsa. If we were running a pool right now, who'd be your number one overall pick? Just all the above? I mean, done.

Like, my initial reaction, just my gut was Zadano Chara, but also like this guy hasn't been able to skate for 10 years and he's still awesome. So like, like the lack of skating has and hurt him, so maybe he'll just play forever. I don't know. That was the gut, though. Char, what do you think, Sarah? I just think the ending of that Islander's game, the goal, and then the lightning coming up to him,

it just feels like it might be the end. It's just sad. I feel old to be the first player that I was a huge fan of. So, what a career, though. I can see Keith Yandel being next to. Now that the streak is done, and he's becoming a healthy scratch, I can see him going, all right,

the streak is over. I can ride off into the sunset. We saw three teams make coaching changes. Red Wings parted ways with Jeff Blaschell and his assistants. Mike Yo won't be back as the Flyers head coach and assistant coach Phil Housley parting ways with the Arizona Coyotes. Did any of these surprise you or intrigue you in any way, shape, or form? The whole Philly situation intrigues me, not because they fired him

because I thought that was justified and I obviously that team has massively underperformed. I thought it was interesting that they're trying to keep him on as an assistant it's just a weird idea of like, hey, we really think that you're a good coach. We just don't want you to be the coach. We want you to be around. We just need someone that's better than you to be above you. Like it's a very strict. In the smaller office.

It's a very strange dynamic to want to demote a coach. You rarely see it. So to me, that was intriguing. Other than that, they seemed pretty cut and dry. Well, it's funny. I asked an NHL executive, who I won't name one. hey, this GM position is open. Do you want it?

And he was like, no, I'm getting paid to do much less right now. It might be one of those situations where at the end of the day, it is a lot of work. And you're still getting paid a significant amount if you're taking a demotion. So kind of maybe he's looking at the work-life balance. And you don't have to talk to us. Yeah, it was a unique situation. And, oh, sorry, go ahead. Sounds okay.

I was just going to say in Detroit, that kind of surprised me. just because I figured they'd have a few more years with him before they were totally blowing it up. But I guess it'll be interesting to see who's nice. He's another one who I feel like, it feels like Jeff Blaschell just kind of went to the Red Wings because we don't pay enough attention to the Red Wings because they're in that rebuild. You know what I mean? And any time a coach is there during a rebuild, you're like, we talk so much about the top 16 teams in the playoffs and everything else. You're like, oh, yeah, the Red Wings are rebuilding.

And then you're like, well, if the rebuild's not going on the right track, then something needs to change. And speaking of coaching changes, well, Kevin Shevoldeoff is extended by the Winnipeg Jets. And in his press conference said they're going to do a full-scale search for their next head coach. And if Dave Lowry wants to be considered, he's earned that right. Interesting. And I wonder how long it's going to take them to make this move.

And again, something that seemed like so long ago, the Paul Maurice press conference seems like forever ago. And this team is now still looking for a permanent head coach. I think it's hilarious that it's literally Adam Larry's dad. I don't think that's a great dynamic, to be honest with you. I don't think that should be a thing. But I don't really know enough about it. I was going to make a joke about it when the Jets were playing the Cains.

And then I looked it up and it's actually his son. Like, when's the last time we saw that? Yeah, it's odd. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a good, like, if there are coaches out there amongst the teams that are firing their coaches, like, that's, that's, it's odd. That's not a bad job. Like, we've got the, or one of the best goalies in the league, and they've got some really, like, solid, solid scores up front.

The defense needs to be retooled a little bit. But I think when you look at, like, Philadelphia, Detroit, like, to me, Winnipeg, even though they aren't in the playoffs, that's an attractive spot to land. And I think you could do a quick turnaround. So if they pick the right coach, I think that's a good situation. All right, so eight game ones in the books. can't wait to see every single game two and the rest of the series. Guys, what are we working on this week?

Sarah, I'm assuming it has something to do with the Carolina Hurricanes? Maybe, yeah. I mean, do you do a lot of planning during the playoffs? Is there specific angles you're looking for? Is every game going to be different? I like to kind of see where it takes me, but I also like to be prepared. I will say I have one of my favorite stories I might have ever written to schedule for Thursday morning, just stories from the 016 that won the cup.

and they just can talk forever. They're dropping F-bombs and reminiscing. And I felt honored and so happy to hear some of their stories. Jesse? Yeah, I'm covering an off-season in May for the first time ever. So it's interesting. I honestly, I have a lot of cool stuff that I'm excited about coming up. Yesterday was Locker Clean Out Day. And I was adding up the times of all the interviews I did. And it was five minutes short of three hours. So three hours. Hours worth of interviews with Kelly McCrimman, Pete DeBoer, all the Golden Knights players that I'm sifting through and transcribing over the next few days. Immediately on the docket is a story on Mark Stone's back injury, which is still not fixed. He obviously missed several times this season.

He sat out for more than a month. He missed a bunch of games. He said yesterday that they're still trying to figure it out. They're trying to determine whether he needs surgery or not. So speaking with a bunch of people about Mark Stone's back injury, obviously he's not an old player. He hasn't, he's not even 30 yet. He still has five years left on a huge contract. So getting that situation solved is majorly important for the future of the Golden Knights.

So that's what I'm working on. Can't wait to read those things and can't wait to talk to you guys next week when these series have really taken shape. Want to tell some of our listeners, remember follow us on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget leave a rating and a review. It helps us out a lot. You could subscribe to the Athletic Audio Plus. on Apple Podcast to get all of your bonus content from the entire network. You start with a 30-day free trial, then it's just 99 cents a month after that.

And right now, you get an annual subscription to The Athletic for just a dollar a month for six months when you visit Theathletic.com slash hockey show. The Athletic Hockey Show returns Thursday with Ian Mendez and Down Goes Brown. For Sarah and Jesse, I'm Rob. We'll talk to you next week.