The Athletic Hockey Show - Former NHL'er Brian Boyle on the Eastern Conference playoff race, Calgary Flames eliminated, Claude Giroux and Joe Pavelski record 1000th career NHL points

Episode Date: April 11, 2023

On the Tuesday edition of The Athletic Hockey Show USA, Craig and Sean discuss the tight race in the East for the wild card slots, with the Panthers and Penguins poised to get in and the NY Islanders falling apart and out of the East race. The guys stick tap Claude Giroux and Joe Pavelski's 1000th NHL points and put the lid on a very disappointing season for the Calgary Flames who were eliminated from playoff contention on Monday night.Former NHL'er Brian Boyle joins Craig and Sean to look back on his career in hockey and about his new opportunity with the NHL Network as a playoff analyst. Boyle comments on the playoff race including the Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers and New York Islanders vying for the final two slots in the East. Plus Brian shares his comments on the current playoff format, the salary cap and the historic season from the Boston Bruins and the comeback year for Norris Trophy candidate Erik Karlsson.Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowGet a 1-year subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshowThis episode is brought to you by Better Help, visit http://betterhelp.com/nhlshow today to get 10% off your first month Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. Hey, everybody, welcome to the athletic hockey show. I am your host on Tuesdays, occasionally, Craig Custons. What you feel like it? What do I feel like it? I don't really... I shouldn't say that, actually. Yeah.

Joined as often by Sean Gentilly. Mm-hmm. You got something to say? Yeah, you're joined as always with me. Have you ever... Have you ever done an episode of this show without me? Ever. You?

Ever? In the history of the athletic hockey show Tuesday American edition? Have you ever done this show with a different co-host? Who can say for sure? I can. The answer is no. We don't know. Me and Max once did a marathon session.

So really fun time of year in hockey. You playoffs around the corner. Also, great playoff races in the evening. much to the chagrined of everybody who hates this playoff format. But it's interesting. We'll get to that in a second. Our second segment, though, Brian Boyle joins us. He joined the NHL Network and they announced that he was retiring.

I don't know if he's retiring and out. We can't say for sure. They probably made an unfair assumption about his future plans whenever they announced. They force him to retire? Yeah, they filed the paperwork form. That's what happens when you go to work. for the NHL network. They just,

they take that extra step and faxing the paperwork and that's that. Until I hear from the PA, until Jonathan Weatherton sends me a, the weathered and release about Brian Boyle. I think he's still eligible. Brian Boyle joins us in the second segment,

and he's great, as always. Great talker, great insight from him as somebody who knows all these teams in the hunt very, very well. So, Sean, and I think, and we talk a little about who gets in the east, But one of the things that you and I were just chatting about is not just who gets in, but you don't want to sneak in the wild card.

Because I'm not sure there's anybody that's beating the Bruins. So it's not just getting in at this point. I think it's like human nature to focus on who gets left out of the race entirely when you're talking about three teams that are gunning for two spots. And it really is kind of four because the savers are still hanging around. I don't mean to disrespect Buffalo. Are they, though? They're there.

You never know. The teams ahead of them are not that good. They're not. They're playing their best hockey of the season, I think, in some respects. The Panthers certainly are right now. So, you know, credit where it's due. But there's a reason that there's a reason that they're hanging around the 90 point mark on April 11th, right? They're not consistent.

They're not particularly good. So I'm not, I'm just not ready to, I'm not ready to shovel the last bit of dirt on the sabres just yet. I refuse. And you know what? Maybe you just don't like those guys as much as I do, you know? You're not as much of a friend of the Sabres organization as your co-host here. Is this year a success for the Buffalo Sabres, just missing the playoffs?

Absolutely. Okay. I feel like that. A step forward. They found a goalie. Yeah. They got the goalie. Yeah.

and whatever. It always comes with an asterisk because every young goaltender does, but there hasn't been a second, there hasn't been a second of Devin Levi in Buffalo that, you know, suggests that he's,

that he's not a dude, right? And that he's not going to be the answer long term. And if that was the only thing to come out of this last month of the season, not this kind of like last gas, you know, push at the playoffs where we're still trying to figure out,

you know, still trying to pay, you know, pay credence to the fact that they're still around. The dude's been, he's been unbelievable. He beats the Rangers, 28 saves on, or 26 saves on 28 attempts last night. Beats Carolina. Beats the Red Wings. The Florida loss was rough, but he also, he also was fantastic. I mean, the dude is, the dude's the real deal.

And that was always the big outstead. standing question for Buffalo this season. They have all these great pieces. Everyone has just internalized the idea that Tage Thompson is, you know, a superstar caliber player. And Jeff Skinner's like, blah, da, da, da, all this great stuff that's happening with the skaters.

But the goalie thing was always, always going to be an issue. And he's as good as everyone thought. So when we look at that race, do you want to declare who you think it's in or do you not? Have you talked about this? We haven't. What did Brian say? Actually, we won't.

We won't spoil that. We won't spoil that. Listener, he makes his declaration. I am loathe as I am to do this because I've watched this team pretty consistently over the season, you know, lose to bad teams or come out flat in games where they couldn't. I'm going to go with the penguins. I think they're going to get it done. I think they find some way to get four points against the blue.

jackets and Blackhawks because that's because that's the big that's the well you know but you know dude they couldn't have looked worse against the Red Wings really like last week right and that's it's it's they're prone to it that's just what happens that that's what happens that that's what happens when you have unreliable goal tending and no quality depth that's it you're gonna have games where you where it just gets away from you and that's and that's that but that being said i i think i think they do figure out a way to get it done. Crosby, you know, especially over the last couple games. He's like in that mode where I'm not sure he's going to let it happen. So maybe the better question is, can any of these teams make a series against the Boston Bruins?

Or are we just watching teams scrap and claw to get in just to get steamrolled in round one if they get into that last spot? I think. Or which of these teams is best suited to at least. make it interesting. I think it's the Panthers. I think the Panthers have the best shot, the best shot against Boston because of, you know, the strength of their five-on-five game. We talked about Matthew Kuchuk with Brian for a little bit, too, so stay tuned for that. But that's a good five-on-five team. It always has been. And they're getting saves now. They're coming

from Alex Lyon. Like, how sustainable is that? Like, maybe we find out. But it's coming from somewhere. They have a do-do, they have a hot goaltender. They have a hot goaltender in a five-on-five game that can at least come close to hanging with what the Bruins, or here's, well, that's probably giving them too much credit. They're not going to get decimated at five-on-five every single night, right? Like, there's going to be, there would be games in that series where they hang with them. And the goaltending, you know, at the moment is giving them a chance. So, yeah, I'm going with them. That might be boring. No, I think that's the right answer.

Do you have any parting thoughts on formerly America's teams, the Calgary Flames? Yeah, good riddens. Good riddens. I hate. I know we don't like that time. Hated watching the hockey team this year. Hated watching them. You used to love the Calgary Plains.

This is hard to wait. True, like, sustained mediocrity across the board this season for them. Like, they just couldn't get it rolling. Jacob Markstrom, you know, figured it out a little bit too late. Euberdow's got 55 players. The mix is way off with the players, with the players and the coach. The only person on that team,

who's like, you can say without really a shadow of a doubt that's, you know, better this year than last is Tyler Toffoli. He's been good. Other than that, Codry is not, he's not playoff Codry for sure.

He's not as Codry. Euberdow is certainly not Panthers. Eubertoe. And the mix is, the mix is bad. So you say, all right, DeFoli looked fine. Mackenzie Weaker has been fine. But other than that, man, that's, they're, they're a brutal watch, truly. Like, not a, not a fun, not a fun team to watch.

Very, very, very frustrating. And I'm saying this, of course, from my seat as a person who picked them to win the Stanley Cup preseason. That's why you're saying that. Yeah, I'm pissed. I'm pissed. There was like any time it looked like they were going to start. they were going to get rolling.

It was one steps forward, four steps back. So good riddons. All right. Did we replace them with Winnipeg as an American team? I think we kind of half-assed that honestly. Like we were all in. I think it's Toronto, by the way. It's Toronto.

No, it's not. No, it isn't. Austin Matthews led Toronto Maple Leafs. He looks like himself. He's rounding into form. Uh-oh. I'm on board with that team. Last thing before we get to Brian Boyle, just want to congratulate Joe Pavalski on a thousand points.

Any one of the great Americans? Any personal anecdotes between you and Joe? I'll just keep that between you and Joe. No, I've always loved Joe. We've talked about him. He's a guy that's made them, what is he, a seventh round pick? There was, I think I read the three players or four players all time to get to a thousand points. Pick selected that late.

I mean, just an amazing career for him. I've been dealing with Joe a long time. You know, I'm not, am I bitter that he hasn't accepted a request to be on this show? Yes, you are. All is forgiven. Folks, you wouldn't believe how often Craig. I think it's you, by the way. I think it's Sean Tilly.

I think it's Sean Tilly. Snubbed again by Joe Pavelsky and the Dallas start. Wounded. Upset. Hey, congratulations on a well-earned 1,000 points. Do you think when, when, eight years ago, let's say, because we've talked about this before, I like watching players kind of phase into the old man phase of their games. He started in the old man phase, though.

I think that's kind of how I think those are the guys that age well, right? As long as long as the skating doesn't go, right? It's the guys who are always like, well, you know, not the best skater, doesn't have a step to lose, but sometimes, you know, they're the ones that kind of figure shit out, you know, figure out different ways to do things without relying on the skating. So I don't know, man, him turning into like the preeminent tip guy, right? Like the net front, the net front presence. Like, that's, that's been, it's been fun to witness.

He's older than, he's older than nine to, which I appreciate. Like, I mean, I've watched so many practices where he just skates where he just sits there and practices that just tip right in front. Like, that's just hours and hours and hours. And he was doing that 10 years ago or whatever. And, like, this is going to pay off big down the road. Hayskinan has 71 points. Like, the stars.

What a year. You can really. If they can just, like, Wyatt Johnson's been good, like, they're getting, they're getting stuff from some of those, from some of those secondary guys. And if that, if that sustains, you know, I feel like they are kind of caught in muck because they have been you know they've been passed up by colorado and uh minnesota there's always so much attention on them just because just because it just because of that fan base and because of who covers it and whatever but all because it like russo's because brusso's got a million

maniacs who'd who you know uh so i feel like maybe in the central division yeah maybe Dallas gets lost a bit but i don't know no with us we let we talk about those guys all the time What are we saying? What are we saying? We gas him up constantly. Another guy who got a thousand points last night? Claudeau. Mm-hmm.

Of first Ontario, but played in the States. He counts. Who are they doing? What? I don't know. He's super Canadian. He's like the most Canadian. Something about the Francophone

Ontarians just seems it seems like as Canadian is against me. So when the Flyers played the Stanley Cup final, were you there when all his buddies showed up from... No, I heard about it. I was not around for that one.

Yeah. He got them tickets or whatever, and those guys were around all the time. And they were a blast to hang out with... Were they just... Were they just falling pier around, like a pack of puppies basically? Yeah, they were...

It was just like... It was amazing. And I think like one of them, like, if I'm, this might be wrong, so I apologize to these guys. Like, one of them was driving a car that was like wrapped in Red Bull ads and maybe had a giant can of Red Bull on the roof. And it was just chaos. Yeah, that was, that's probably what he did. That was probably what he did for work, honestly. That's probably what that, what that dude's job. This is seriously? That was, because like me and, me and Drew are same age, basically. So, like, I, um, that was like the first job I can remember, I can remember. I can

remember like one of my friends getting was as it was like post college was as a red bull rep. This dude was a year older than me. So he would like come back, he would like come back to campus and screw around with us. And the dude was driving, he was driving the Red Bull mobile. And I was like, is that what it means to work? Like is that is that what I have to look forward to? And that was, that was his everyday, you know, that was his everyday car. I don't know if he had another one. I think that was the only car he had. You guys don't want to know anything about the Sean Gentilly Red Bull and Boccas. Oh, let me tell you.

I think, I think, through your blackout. I think me and Claudeau went through similar phases. Did I grab a cop's bum? You never know. For sure. That's stupid. Stupid. Not that stupid.

All right. Coming up next, Brian Boyle of the NHL Network. Maybe it's in the USA if you can convince. Convincer. One more World Championship. We'll be with that. Welcome back. And we are now thrilled to be joined by the recently retired Brian Boyle, which it's an amazing career turned in.

Come on, be honest. If the USA called about the world, you're not saying, maybe I'll put in some sick time at the NHL Network. Come on. Yeah, I'd have to think that one over. Well, Brian Boyle's here with us. Brian, first of all, congratulations. What a career. A million stories.

A million teams. You were just such a fun player to watch and follow and talk to through the years. Congratulations and all of it. Thank you. It was, I wish it wasn't over, but it's certainly a blast. What a life. What a league. Man, it was awesome.

It was a lot of fun. Have you like, are you in that point where you're sitting and reflecting on it all? or like where is your mind right now as you transition into the to the TV side? You know what? It's, um, I'm just watching a lot. So it's cool to be back paying attention, um, wishing, wishing I was out there, obviously. But it's, uh, it really is more like there are times where I'm just thankful for being able to have the memories, have the relationships.

Uh, my son wants me to take a year off, go back, take a year off, go back, take a year. off, go back. He loves the game too. He loves watching and he was a, he just started really kind of getting into it as I'm stopping. But it's awesome being able, like this year I got to be with his team a lot and go to the rink a lot.

You know, so I mean, I love the game. I love the game at all levels. It's, it's so fun to see like they've had tournaments recently. And in the fall they have tournaments. They have tryouts.

the kids get so excited. I mean, everything about it is awesome. Being able to have the chance with the network, they gave me that chance. Josh Bernstein had called me a couple times over the last few years. Being able to stay involved that way has been really,

it's been a sort of, it's not an easy transition because day-to-day is so much different. But, yeah, being home too, as the family is getting bigger and bigger. it's it's kind of working out in a way that has been you know I can accept that I go to bed and I do miss it but like I've been able to transition you know mentally and all that being a good dad and a good husband I'm right where I'm supposed to be I think for right now yeah how old is your son that's playing now he'll turn eight in like a month in May

in May 19th he'll turn eight yeah and he's six foot three I heard he's actually five feet tall 85 pounds. God, dude. Yeah, he's a monster. Was I five feet, was I five feet when I got to high school? I don't know. Yeah, Craig's, Craig's 4-8. A lot of people don't know that.

Yeah, that's what a lot of people don't know that. Crazy. That's amazing. So how did, how did you know it was, I mean, it was all in one swoop, right, where you announced your retirement and it was also, you know, you're joining the network. I feel like everyone, I think if anybody who knows here, or who's dealt with you over the years, kind of knew that that was. that that could be on the plate, on the table for you if you wanted it.

You know, you're done, you're done and immediately kind of segue into that. But how did you, you mentioned, you mentioned the network. I'd call it a few times over the last couple years. How did you, how did you know it was time? Because that's a, I, we've talked to other guys who dealt with it. It's a tough decision to know, you know, when to say it when. Yeah. I mean, it's hard because it's, like I took a year off, didn't play,

and then came back and played it. And as the year went on, I thought my game was getting better. My, my, I got random things going wrong. Like I had, my elbow was all messed up,

my shoulder and my, I had bilateral sports hernia. Like, different things just kind of creeping up that it was, I was in a lot of pain last year, but I had a little meniscus thing. That was nothing at the end of the year. I had a knee surgery,

but I, I signed on with the network just because the trade deadline had passed. They did a press release. I was always like, I'm not going to announce I retired. I'm, you know, fourth liner that I can go and thank all the people that really helped me kind of on my own. And it wasn't really something that I thought was I was going to do. And then the press release, they just kind of said I was done.

And I was kind of like, wow, I'm not done if someone calls me. I'm going to train. You know, and so I was getting a whole bunch of text messages, thanks. You know, I was saying thanks to everybody. everyone was congratulating me. And the first, like, five or six, I said, well, I actually didn't really announce my retirement. I didn't announce this.

And then at the end, I was just like, I'm going to stop up saying that because it takes too long. I'm just like, thank you. Thank you. That's great. Perfect. But also, but also if you need anybody who's, if you hear anybody that needs a big, a big, a big bottom six center. Let me know.

Yeah, I got a text from Hexie. And I was like, yeah, well, kind of not down to me need me, but. And they had won that night too. So that's why I kind of, but if you said, okay, I'll call you in summer, I'd go to the gym.

But really, it was, I just never thought I would do that, but a big announcement or whatever, but I got, you know, taking the, in terms of jumping on with the network,

it was like a whole year kind of at home. And I got to spend a lot of time with my newborn son, and be around the kids, like I mentioned, going to the practices and the dance and being present for, you know, Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas. And then, you know, even last weekend, being home for Easter was great to see my whole family. And then I was like, well, I got to do something. Like, this is not, like, I'm just kind of doing nothing. I'll work out for an hour and a half, but it was cold.

I wasn't even golf. And so I'm like, I got to get out of the house and do something. something. And that was a great thing for me to be able to do. I was thankful for that chance. I wanted to ask you, first of all, you have the interesting perspective of some of these teams that are as we sit here and talk are fighting for their playoff lives and you played for them. But before we get to those, I wanted to ask you about the Bruins. I mean, a season like we've never seen really. And also kind of out of nowhere a little bit. Like, I don't think anyone was saying going into this year, look out, this is going to be the best team of all time.

They're going to win 65 games. Yeah. It's wild. It's wild what they're doing. Like, from your perspective, what do you appreciate most about what they're accomplishing? It looks like there's, well, first of all, I appreciate Posternak. He's electric on and off the ice. The guy, yeah, what a season.

and what a season because like who's second on their team in points like two hall famers are behind them right at 63 points maybe you know so it's it's easy to kind of try and pick them apart right especially in Boston media which that's what they do that's what they always do they didn't win the Patriots won you know six times it's like that's what you're going to do and it's it's funny because like okay try and find a weakness. Okay, because he doesn't go into this box of like a checking robot. He's, you know, I guess maybe prove it to him in the playoffs, but look at the season he's having. This is so incredible, especially in Boston. And like, you get a 40-gold guy in Boston,

it's unbelievable. And he's got 60. The other thing with them is they don't give up any goals. Yeah. They don't. They don't have any, they don't have a weakness. So, and I think with the Bruins, which a number of those guys have been there, the guys that drive the bus in the room have, have been there. I think Montgomery has proven that he is a great coach. And, you know, it's a great story for him, what he's, what he's kind of had to go through and, you know, maybe self-inflicted, but he's overcome it all. It's a great, it's a redemption story. The Bruins did a smart thing by giving him the chance. Like, top to bottom, look at them.

Bergeron, Marchand. I thought they'd be 500 at Christmas and they'd be in a good spot. Right. Because they could probably get six, seven seed or something like that, wild card or maybe third in division. But I didn't see this coming and they don't have weakness. And then at the deadline, they got better. Mm-hmm. Right.

Okay. Okay. So, like, I don't see a weakness. I got two number one D on their team. I mean, a guy who's going to get Norris. votes and he might be the second best D on their team and Lynn home. Yep. Yep.

Then they get Orlove. You're going to have a guy who's like plus 50 who might not be playing in the playoffs sometimes. Like they have a rotation going now. Hopefully they stay healthy. But if they don't, they get guys. I think it's exciting to, for the people around here. Because if you guys know, like when, when the team wins, the kids want to play.

That's it. Yeah. Right. That's right. You know, so that's, it's great for the game, especially with so many, rinks here in Boston. It's great for me if I'm going to help coach them because these kids want to come out and be the next

Charlie McAvoy, David Posternak. And I'm, you know, I'll teach him how to be Brian Boyle, but that's not as exciting. So I'm going to try to work on my skills to teach them from stuff. It's been pretty amazing to watch what they've done. And, you know, I mean, there's a lot of things

that have happened almost in real time. Carlson last night, you know, has a Brian Leach season now under his belt. Listen, he doesn't get enough credit. Yeah. It's been sneaky. Yeah. Yeah.

Go ahead. Give them some great. I wrote, I tweeted last night. I tweet once every four months. And this is why I tweet once every four months because I was getting so angry. People are like, it's minus 19. Okay, how many empty net goals is you given up? And what's the teams plus minus?

He's on the ice half the game. What's the team's plus minus? Right. Plus minus 19 is like plus 80 on that team. No offense to the trust. That's true. Yeah. That's what the conversion rate is.

I ran the numbers. Plus 80. I was a guess. But, you know, and I love Greerzian. I love quitting. These guys are doing what they have to do. This is what their team is right now. And I get it.

And there's no disrespect to those guys because I know it's hard. And not a whole lot, even with them, not a lot separates a good team from a bad team in the NHL. But when you don't score a lot of goals as a team and you're a defenseman, you get 100 points, and you get 25 goals, it's incredible. It's going to be hard. not to give him the Norris. He's going to deserve it.

Yeah. Him or Fox, you'd imagine. How's Carlson, I mean, he, look, he's been around a while now. Can you watch him and get a sense of how his games changed or progressed now versus, you know, 2014 or whatever when he was, you know, when he was, you know, blown everybody away kind of, kind of for the first time? What's different about him now versus a few years back? Well, I mean, as Achilles, like, that doesn't, I mean, it heals, but it's never the same, right? He's had those issues and maybe some other issues come up because, I don't want to speak for him, but his game's predicated on his speed and his deception. He still has the deception.

He can, I mean, you saw his goal, his second goal last night. He walks the line. He finds a lane. He's creative. And he's hard to get a piece of. If he does have a little edge sometimes, he gets upset. But again, if he's playing on a stack team 22 minutes a night, he's a little fresher, he's seeing kind of how, you know, how the team is supposed to play on both ends of the rink. Like, he knows he has to drive the bus if he want to win games in San Jose.

He's got to put up the points. Maybe he goes down to 70 on a real good team, but he's still like, I don't know if he'd be sheltered or whatever, but like he's had to overcome that injury. he's had to overcome some, you know, shenanigans in Ottawa, and he left, and then, you know, he went to San Jose and they gave a lot of money, but they had, you know, Marlowe and Thornton, and I don't know if they had Marlowe still, but they had Thornton and Pavelsky still, and they had Burns. Obviously, yeah, so that was going to change. Yeah, and we had Burns, like, they're both right shot, power play defensive, how's that going to work? I mean, it didn't, but, yeah, there was going to be turnover there, so it's kind of like, well, you sign this big, long thing, thinking you're going to be on this team, but like, you're not because they're older and things are going to have to change when you make that kind of ticket on a cap world. So he's, I mean, I got to say that, I mean, even this year, he's lived up to his end of the bargain. And he's voiced probably concerns with them trading Meyer. Obviously, he did that. He just wants, I think he wants to

win games. He doesn't want to be a dormant. I wanted him on the, the Oilers. I was rooting for that to happen even though Eckle has been great. Well, I mean, they're, like he's, he's playing well, he's helping him,

you know, he's doing what he's can't, what, what he can. And he, maybe this summary, he plays his way out. Like,

you can end up, end up on a more relevant team. Like, he's a big, big ticket though. Big time. Big time. It's crazy.

That's the, that's the crazy part. Like, any people could have had them. But it's, it's a tough, it's a tough, it's next thing possible

to make work. It's fat. It's fascinating, man. What happens? What happens next for him? This is a good big salary cap is a reason. Yeah, of course it is. So Florida Islanders, Pittsburgh.

Who's, you get to pick two? What about last night? Yeah. My pick two weeks ago was the Islanders in Pittsburgh. That seemed right, yeah. But I mean, what did, well, the Islanders lost. Yeah, they lost the caps. They lost in regulation.

Florida lost an O-T. They were flat. Florida got a point. They looked like... They got a point. Mm-hmm. But they look like they're probably going to... Who do they have?

One left? They've got one game left. Florida had... Florida got a point against the Leafs, the Leafs last night. Pittsburgh's got two games left. It's Columbus and in Chicago. Islanders... Yeah, I think Pitt's going to win out.

Yep. Right? You would imagine, I mean, you would imagine, but we've seen... And they control their own destiny, right? They do. They do. If they get four points they're in. And then the islanders have,

Islanders get the HABS and the Panthers get, the, the Hurricanes. Panthers Hurricanes, Panthers hurricanes, Panthers hurricanes, Islanders Habs. It's easy to say Florida pit, but I'm sticking with my guys. I'm sticking with the Islanders pit.

Yeah. But, I mean, I think it's going to be Florida pit now. But I'll stick with the Islanders. I don't know how that happened. The Panthers, the Panthers figured it out, man. Like, they got, they have that Alex Lion who's, who's the backup goalie. Yeah. Last four years, they needed some saves.

And they're getting them. And they have been for the last couple weeks. So it's like they went, you went five out of six or whatever. Yeah, I mean, after Paul Maurice blew him up, that was kind of fun to watch because. Yeah, what did you think of that? Because that was such a huge off-season story with, you know, them making that change and bringing him in where maybe the mindset's a little bit different. What did you, what have you thought of the job he had to do in the job that he has done

over the last couple months? Yeah, so that's not easy because you got to give credit to Brunel last year. That wasn't an easy spot. and he just kept them rolling. But I mean, they scored a million goals last year. Yes, they did. And the rink gets smaller and the rules change a little bit, or they are enforced differently in the playoffs.

And then if you're not getting saves, you're not going to get six goals a game in the playoffs. And you see kind of how it all went down. So he probably understood that there's a certain way you have to play. And I don't think you can just say, all right, we're going to play this way now to play. out. You need, it's trial and error all year long.

82 games is, is, when you're on a team that knows you can, you can kind of go somewhere, the coach pushes different buttons. And the downfall is like maybe you fall out of a playoff race, kind of what happened. And now that they've found their game, it's, it's probably going to make them better in the playoffs if they get in. And it's going to make them better in the long run. If you play defense and you check and you get saves, then, when you get your opportunities with skill,

like you're going to score these big goals. I always go back to like Bergeron, who does all these things every day. And then in big games, he plays well and he's a Hall of Famer, right? He could probably get more points every year if he cheated a little bit, but he knows that it's about winning Stanley Cups.

So I think maybe that's the deal what Paul Maurice had to come in and do. There were some changes, obviously big changes, this guy like Huberto who everybody loved in that room. You know, that was huge. But the kid they got back, it's not too bad. He seems like he's okay. Yeah.

I mean, he said an, like I wanted to ask you about that, Brian, because he's, he's been unbelievable. It's not easy just switching, you know, going from the west to the east, switching teams. You've, you've had to do that midseason, off season. How long does it take you to get comfortable? and when you see him doing what he's doing, why do you think it's been so successful? I mean, mid-season is harder,

but any time you get to go in, and I have no idea what it's like to have to go into something where you know it was kind of you behind the whole rule. And then here's all the money. All right, you better perform now. Right.

So that you have the pressure. You orchestrated it at all. $76 million. Oh, by the way, you're not playing with Johnny Goodrow anymore either. We're talking about Matthew Kichuk, by the way.

I don't know if you even mentioned on that. I feel like we're talking in code. This is a Matthew Kitchuk conversation, but go ahead. Right, well, give the kid credit.

I mean, not only has you put up 40-goal season and, and, well over 100 points. Like, he's five-on-five games

been unreal. Yeah, one of the best, even straight players. He brings boys into the fight, like, let's go, get some emotion.

and he does things that I think he knows our things will you got to have a motion playing and sometimes in Florida that it's a quiet building sometimes it's getting louder it's but he does all the things that he's getting paid for and then some so I mean he's lived up to his end of that bargain he he wanted to be down there he's excited about it he said that and he's been he's been awesome for them and then you get rid of weeks but then Montaurs having a career year. He's, is he, 70 points? I think he, I think he might be, he scored again last night. I know. I'm not sure what, not sure what he's that point wise, but yeah, he's been, he's been great. They needed,

they needed someone to step up. It's been awesome. Yeah. And, you know, Echblah's been hurt a little bit here and there, but, and he can, he can do both, but when he checks really well, that that makes them that much better too, because actually, he's such a, he's got a long stick. He's a great defender. Yeah, so I mean, it's, I'm surprised they are where they are. Now you convince me to pick to get in the playoffs. Dude, they're, like you said it, they're getting, they're getting saves. That's why they, that's why they are where they are now versus versus a month ago.

It's not like, it can be, it can be that simple. It saves all year. They are. Like the island is holy's good. Yeah. All right, this is the last one for me because I don't, we don't want to keep you here all day talking hockey. But I, because you're so fresh removed from the room, there's, there was a lot of conversation.

It came up around the All-Star game and about the playoff format, like Sid and, like, I think Conner came out. And now we have a little bit of a race. So we're like, oh, maybe it's okay. People forget. People forget, like, it could be better. Like, what are your thoughts on the format? And what do you feel like players really want on this?

Well, I think it's like it's really, really, really hard to win hockey games in the NHL. And then if you play really hard all year long and you get yourself positioned in a one through eight, I think they should play at one through eight and then recede throughout because you've earned that right through six months. Yeah. of playing through pain and getting you all that by your coach and the media, us now, because I'm you guys now, right?

Yeah. Welcome, by the way. Welcome to the club. It's you. Yeah, we'll send you the card. But you're in that spot.

If you sneak in as the eight seed, great, good for you. Now you're going to play the best team in your, in your conference. And then whoever is the best team after that is if you have happened to beat them. Right? So that is,

I get why they want to do the division thing and then the rivalry is really build up. But like, losing after after two weeks. Who are the exciting teams they're going home? And yeah, I mean, you win the games. I get it. But don't tell me that the players love it because they don't. Was there like a

was there like a grace period with that? Like when they instituted it where were you guys like, all right, this is like we'll see how this goes. And then after a few years of it, it's like, okay, we're like, whatever. No, they're like this is how it. Like this sucks.

Okay. This is how it is. I mean, mean, whatever. It doesn't, it's not even like this sucks or this is great. It's like, yeah, we're going to do it this way. Okay. All right. So what I didn't, for the first couple years, I'm looking like, how do you, what, what's in? You're on the bus like, what, what's the tiebreaker? I don't know. Like, so, like, all right, we better win tomorrow. So, you know, don't, it's, there wasn't, I mean, might have been a couple guys with the executive committee on the P.A. I mean, they're just like, this is what they want.

Okay. And is it, because travel? Did you get something as players for that? I'm sure there was some exchange. We've been through too many labor battles to remember. Yeah, I don't even remember. Yeah, I'm trying to think of what this is. Trying to get help here, dude.

Here's your salary, but we're going to keep 20%. We're going to get a team in Seattle and we're going to get a team in Vegas. We're going to keep over a billion dollars, but you don't get any of it. We can pay escrow. No cap increase. Is that, is, is, Are there any signs that getting better? It feels like it was, you know, the percentage maybe was a little, a little bit, a little bit less shitty on the player's side than they thought it was going to be this year.

But is that still, I mean, that's just always, it's, it's never, it feels like it's never going away. Yeah, I mean, yeah, and it, you know, I get why people are, it's hard to empathize with athletes and their paychecks. I get to play, and that, listen, I played last year at League minimum, I played the year, before. If I wasn't stubborn and signed on July or two years before, I guess, I would have a better deal. I get it. But if it says

you're getting something, and if you're a fan, you think they're getting like 33% of that taking home. They're taking home like 33%. Especially depending on what they're playing Florida or Vegas, you get more. But it's like the escrow thing, it is what it is. And it makes sense if you put it all down, like, okay, we'll give you the opportunity so you can

sign more guys, but we're going to have to have a buffer zone for our own safety, which is like, okay, you're the owners, and this is why we get to play in these buildings and have these fans. As long as everybody's trying, is everybody above board really, like on marketing it and making it the best product it can be, I don't think you're going to get complaints from players. Because, yeah, there's a certain set of rules. I mean, not everybody's happy. This side's probably not that happy. The other side is the same.

like it's then then you're negotiating in good faith. If everybody's doing my part to promote the game as best they can and grow the game as best they can and the pie gets a little bit bigger as it should because I think it's the best game, I don't think you're going to get any complaints for players. Is that happening? I don't know. Is the promotion where it needs to be?

I mean, I haven't spent enough time as a player. I was like, can we do more and maybe not go to like China for two games randomly? and then see you in five years, like, or like the global series. There's so many European fans, how do we,

how do we get to them? But it's so hard to travel there. Serve them a little bit better. Yeah, that's a, it's a killer on your body to travel there and then come back and try and play it. I've done that a couple of times.

It is not, they're basically scheduled losses when you come back. If you pull one out, it's great, but it hits you for a couple weeks. So I don't know. It's tough.

There was a stretch where every team that went over to Europe to start the season, the coach got fired by mid-season. It was like seven in a row where it was like the team came back and was terrible. There was also a stretch when teams went to Europe that they won the Stanley Cup. Oh, really?

Like the Bruins went 11, they won. I mean, there was a couple, it was like two or three in a row. So yeah, we'll go to Europe. Like, let's do it. Yeah, happy too. It's either either one or the other going to win a cup or.

Yeah, you either go. Dude's going to get fired in February. very. As long as I'll do it. I'd take that. For sure. Thanks for doing this, Brian.

It was great chatting with you, as always. And congratulations again on everything. And I hope Hexie calls you back. Maybe, uh, seems like, seems like they could use you. What's the, what's your schedule for the,

for the playoffs? Is there, is there a plan for that? Are you just going to pop in and head over to, head over to Jersey for, for, you know, as they need you?

Yeah, April 20th right now. to the 24th, I'll be there doing like, I think, the West game. So I'm in studio like nine to two unless there's overtime. Yeah. Pretends to be. Yeah, yeah, there does. So that's for the first round.

And then I'm waiting on May. And then we'll see where it goes from there. But it's fun. It's exciting. It's different. Like I'm trying to get. good at it. I want to do it a certain way, but it's so much fun to watch hockey and can't get yelled at. I'm working, honey. I got to watch the guy. That's right. Part of part of the

scam, man. Welcome to the club. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Do you find it hard to be, not to sidetrack that says we're winding down, but like you're a positive, upbeat guy, but at times you're going to have to be critical or whatever of guys you played with. I know people talk about this. Like, do you find that challenging or do you, you know, what's your approach there? Because you've got to be honest, right? Yeah. Um, geez, I don't know. I've tried to sidestep it as much as I could. Yeah. I mean, that's easiest thing, right? Just try to try to avoid it. But like, what if, you know, what if the penguins get in and, you know, lose and get stomped and four by the Bruins? Like, is there, can you just slip out the back door on that one? I wouldn't, wouldn't blame you

Yeah, that's brutal. Like, you were there six months ago or whatever, nine months ago. Even if I don't play with a guy, like, if I had an issue, even as a player, like, if you have an issue with somebody, I mean, I, in any kind of aspect of life, I'd go to them first. Yeah, you would never, it's broadcast it. Yeah, so, but it's kind of like, well, I also have a job to do, but I don't think I'd ever just kind of, I don't know. I guess I can't say, but I don't know if I'd like to just tear somebody down. think I would do that. Tough to imagine.

You're doing that, honestly. Yeah, I mean, it's such a hard game. And there's always like a reason. And generally, the teams that get there are there for a reason, too. So they have, you know, different things happen. I'll just say that. And we're going to make mistakes. Every single guy in the league has been will again.

But that does, like, I did worry about that a little bit. But then after I did the shows a couple times, it was. I wasn't as, yeah, I wasn't as worried. Did you ever have any issue? Did you ever have a media beef with somebody that called you out or anything? I'm trying to think if there was a... I probably got wrote more when I was like a younger player. And I actually do, I remember my agent like brought this to me when I got traded from L.A. to New York.

It was like after my second year pro. He's like, just don't worry about this, man. It's like, it's fine. And I'm like, I don't even know what you're talking about. He brought it to me. And he's like, you know, this writer was like, why did we trade for this guy, et cetera? And so then I knew who the guy was? And I'm like, you know, who was this guy?

And I ended up, you know, having a brutal year in my first year in New York. I was like, I guess it was right. And I never really said anything. I'm like, he's just writing for, you know, it's his opinion. And, you know, by the time I left New York and even still, I have, I have good relationships with that writer in particular and the rest of them. You know, they're going to be critical. That's their job.

and some guys get up selling. They didn't play. They don't know how hard it is. I'm like, well, neither do the people that are reading what he's writing. So it's like, you know,

the people that really know are probably in this room or in, you know, front office somewhere here. But they're going to make decisions. And when they're critical, as a player, if you can look your teammates in the eye

and your coach is happy with your game, your teammates know you're giving everything. That's all you really have to care about. If you start looking through the media, if they write 10 good articles about you in one bad one, what do you think you're focused on, right? So, like, that was my approach with that. You just kind of drown out the noise.

And I think the players do that too in the playoffs. Yeah. Well, Brian, thanks again. Enjoy, enjoy the postseason and the network. And we look forward to watching on there. Oh, thank you. You too. It's going to be fun.

I can't wait for the playoffs. Almost there, man. A few more days. I know. Best time of year. Let's do it. Right on. Always good to talk to Brian Boy,

Also, I'm not convinced he's retired. I think he's got another year at him. The dude was great from top to bottom in that talk, except for when you asked if he was going to stay in shape for the summer. To play for US? Then he locked up. I can't imagine. I can't imagine why.

He's played in the world before. They had to run one year with them on that team. Totally. He was always, always down to do it. also you know the guy he was on a lot of teams that made the playoffs but it seems like the guys who are best suited for that game sometimes are the ones who are in a team who are on a team that gets eliminated in the first round because it's like you just keep the you just keep the train

keep the train rolling yeah keep it going um all right coming up next we're back in the uh back in the comment section of the app supposedly i don't know i don't know if that's actually gonna maybe we are we haven't looked i've been gone through it feels like months You're on island time, bro. This is the only good segment on the show. Folks, we have jumped through hoops for you because you jump through hoops for us. Very, very boring technical thing happening here with Craig and I that we, so that I won't get into. But we can't.

Oh, please do. Yeah, okay. Let me tell you something about test app. We can't read the comments right now. They're not loading on the version of the app that we use. But we have reported it to our Bugs channel. Hey, Sean, how do you spell athletic? Can we start there?

Because producer Jeff can read the comments and he's been screenshoting them. I'm very disappointing that like nobody. I need to do a better job with this because I clearly haven't cultivated their relationship with the listeners that I thought I did. I thought people would have. appreciated the joke because it was spelled out on the on the on the on the on the ad read so I spelt it very slowly and omitted the L said T8 I don't know that's fine you don't have to not that funny a lot of people called you out understand the athletic yeah I know I see it I see

them in the comments now and I also had people tweeting at me about it um and I think maybe somebody on the Puck Soup discord rip me for it as well um deservedly so I mean this is your employer I thought it was really funny I thought it was a really funny creative thing to do

and it's not my fault that you guys don't appreciate my genius that's all I can say T-H-E a-t-h et-I-c-c dot com slash hockey show

or whatever it was so we're going back through two weeks here we have we have we have a bunch that we're left on our interview with Brena Decker, she was unbelievable. I think we need to gas that one up again

because she was... Anybody who maybe missed the episode two weeks ago at the end of March should go back and listen to it because she was a blast. She was awesome. And then there's some comments left on last week's episode with Mexico Craig. Oh my gosh.

Who says where I was? know where I was. I said where you were. Did you and Max talk about it? Yeah. Would you give my exact location? Give your real life address to Porto Vieterda. Resort life. Hola. Aligos. It was great. Let me tell you how lovely it was. Yeah. What? I mean, what was the highlight? We were talking about it. It was the best thing you did. We went to a tequila, a local tequila factory or whatever factory. I used to do it. I don't know. Wherever a tequila it's made and um and did a tasting and included the kids which was really funny to watch like

children drink tequila which drink tequila that was my highlight as a dad this father of the year over here cormick they're like what it you guys drink this on your i'm like this is really good there was a coffee one i bought it was really good i did are you a tequila guy just generally am now big time i just can't i can't do i can't really can't do it i can't do it i can't really can't it doesn't, I don't really care. I don't really care for the taste. I certainly don't like Ms. Cal, which is, you know, it's expert,

expert level tequila. That's not, it's not my thing. Too much, too much smokiness. Don't care for it. So, Chris H writes, can I get to the comments? I don't give a shit, whatever. Are you like, yeah, you're stalling something?

I don't feel like talking to you about hockey right now, so I'm just want to talk about booze. You want to talk about Mexico? Yeah, yeah, that's fine. about Mexico. Chris H says we need producer Jeff

and regular show hosts Craig Customs a lot of K's here's the thing about you commenters many it's very funny lump you all together

I may I say one thing about a pet peeve and now it's all over the comment section so guess what I like when people's businesses

spell their names incorrectly I think it's great jokes on you Chris is right Cars for Kids Jingle I totally forgot that I did that too. I sang the cars for kids

Chancel a couple weeks ago, apparently. So producer Jeff, you're going to have to find that and maybe we're getting into the intro. It's really good. Sean could sing. Besides the anthem, which screwed up the timing of his, well, no. Emily L goes, I love that Chantilly hates the whole Friday schick with Haley, but also

loves the hashtag Tuesday Boys, Tuesdays thing. It's true. That's true. Does that make me a hypocrite? I think it is schick. Friday is schick, but me complaining about it is schick. Just like hashtag Tuesday Boys thing. Are you sincere about anything on these podcasts?

Honestly, lie about the spelling of your employer. That was a joke. The Friday thing is all. My employer is the New York Times company, sir. Which owns the athletic? You don't work for the time. I'm about to have an ID badge. Emily.

That doesn't mean anything. Anyways, Emily L. It's A-plus interview with Decker. It was so great to hear from her and know that she's thriving in her post-playing career. I vote this show on the Friday show. She's agreeing with Emily. This is, she's...

Just work their way through the entire U.S. and Canadian women's national teams. I agree with this, by the way. The players in these teams are so much fun to talk to. Give me all the women's hockey content, please and thank you. Tough loss for the women, the American women last night.

really talked about it because the win when it matters. They always do. No, I mean, Decker was great, but also like Haley and I have talked to, we've talked to Marie-Filly-Palin, we've talked to Hillary Knight on the show. I mean, these are icons, icons of the game. And they were just lights out, 10 out of 10 great. So I'm totally on board. Ambrose, Aaron Ambrose, we talked to a couple weeks ago.

Weird, deliberately, I think, especially on the Friday show, I think. think we're leaning into talking to them in the spots that we can because they really are, man, there's something about them. They're just a blast, a blast to talk to. So, what I want to say, we should get John Robo on the show. Totally. He's, he's playing the, it seems like within the women's in the U.S. side, you had to, like, establish yourself for like 20 years to get playing time. And it seems like that's going away under, he's always been kind of forward thinking, play the kids kind of coach.

so I'm not surprised to see that. I mean, it leads to maybe you're not as tight defensively or whatever. I mean, there's maybe an exchange, but I, if they want to make skill and youth, their identity moving forward, I'm in on that. Yeah, he talked to Haley, I think, at length about that ahead of the tournament too. I know a lot of it made it made its way into, into some of her pre-tournament coverage, and it's certainly going to be, you know, a focal point in the next whatever week. Because all of a sudden, by the way, we're out of, they're out of group play.

We're about to start the quarterfinals there. So there's three games left. But it was. It was a, it was a, it was a kind of a conscientious choice by Robleski there. Because, you know, I think you realized, you know, look at the results. Look at the way things have gone. You know, this is the fourth international tournament. They're going to have played in 18 months or whatever, two years, basically, 18 months.

And he needed to change things up. And now, and I think he came into the, with, you know, to this, batch of roster construction, you know, knowing that, especially if you're building down the line, if you're building for two years from now, you want to have these younger players who are, you know, who've had a taste and have played big minutes and have had experiences, you know, like last night in that game against Canada, which again, I should say for anybody who like, who has completely missed it, it was tied, a man of Kessel tied the game at the buzzer, basically, and then it went to a nine-round shootout. It was crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy game.

and I think he recognized that, you know, he needed to get more people in the pipeline who, you know, had experienced stuff like that, especially with, you know, the Olympics, like, crazily right around the corner now. Is that right? I mean, it's not wrong. I mean, we're, you know, there's, they've...

It's, I wouldn't... Around the corner. It's not... You know what's around the corner of the NHL play out? Sure, fine, but they're about to have played their second... Lunch. Lunch. Lunch is around the corner. they're about to play their second world championship since the Olympics.

Yeah. You know? Like, it's not, like, it's not too early to start thinking about that. And when you have a core of players that's, you know, not overly young, you know, you got to start, got to start thinking about. So, yeah. I mean, that's what our bless he's good at, right? Like, we've watched him do it in a lot of forms over the last bunch of years.

The dude knows what you're doing. Bailey H. writes, I'd never search for the comments section until today. Y'all weren't kidding. This was quite the journey. Anyway, now that I've played Pete to troll his toll, here's a tidbit you guys may appreciate. Went to the Wild at Blue Jackets game a month ago or so.

Each cup holder in the arena had a free can kuzzi. The sponsor? Question mark. Does she answer it? Does she just ask? Oh, here we go. Here we go. No, sorry.

Or is there a part two? there is. The sponsor, visit central Florida.com. I'll give them credit. Good ad to run before spring break in central Ohio. Would have been even funnier if the Panthers

or lightning were in town though. Oh, that's great. It's smart. It's smart because, you know, there's a lot of, I mean, whatever, Columbus is a couple hours west here. I feel like there's a lot of Pittsburgh people that vacation down there

or snowbird down there. Smart. I always get jazzed up when the Tuesday boys show up in the podcast feed. Thanks, Anna. Well, she's just trying to use jazzed up because Tuesday Boys has three Zs. Maybe. I think jazz should have two Zs, three Zs. I really can't spell.

Max C has an actual hockey question. I'm going to read. Yeah, this isn't like Ian registering with my brain because I was not prepared for it. You can read it. Good. Okay. We haven't read this yet. I just says he has an actual question. I have an actual question this week. Bear with me. Let's say Nashville traded to get Matthias Echholm back from Edmonton on this current deal. Nashville retained 4% of the contract to send him to Edmonton. Would this cancel out his contract counting as a salary retained slot since they now own 100% of his contract again? And could they then flip him again while retaining more instead of wasting a spot for 4%? author's notes. I thought of this thinking they retained 4% on Grandin's awful deal, but I'm curious in anyways.

Mack, they retain back for a player you retain on. Yeah. Do you know that answer? I don't. I don't offhand. I mean, logically, they should, it should no longer count as one of their retained because they're paying 100% of it. Yeah.

I don't think that's happened yet. That's one of those things where that's like a will. cross the bridge when we come to it thing where the league ends up, you know, making something up that does. But I'm not sure you can, another commenter said there's a probate. I think there's rules against reacquiring. There is. Yeah, there's a, you can't, there's a time. Yeah, it's a time. Yeah, it's a year, isn't it? You can't like trade for players and then trade back for him, but, yeah. Ecombe, I believe that retention lasts longer than a year. So if, if you're like,

okay, we'll retain 4% per season for the duration of the deal. whenever the one-year moratorium kind of runs out. I don't know. That's a great question. I have, way to put me on the spot. I don't know what the answer is. No, I probably should have read it. We don't have any of the answer.

Like, but the logic, logically it shouldn't count, which makes me think that it would since this is the NHO that we're talking on here. Blaine, I want to talk about first step-ca, because all I could think about this weekend was, was the traffic cone. Ford it's worth, which is nothing. Brooks Kebka will be playing in the Masters. We talked about him going and taunting Aaron Necklenk with the cone. Majors are separate from the PJ Tour, so live players will be there.

I'm sure we were wondering. I was corrected, by the way, by someone in my, in real life about the Kepka thing. Because I said like offhanded, like, oh, like, you were like, what is he going to do? Go, go harass him at the Masters. And I was like, he's not going to be there that, dude. Dude's in the lift, I was wrong. I should have corrected you. That being said, he probably won't have to work the weekend.

Well, he did. Wrong. But he didn't fall apart, which. How much? I'm sure Aaron Eckblad was church. Someone needs to ask. Someone should ask Eckblad yesterday. How hard were you cheering for?

Well, I, I, you were on vacation, so you didn't, I don't know if you were, you might have been unplugged. I mean, I was out. We don't know. Well, he got to ask. about that in the wake of it. Kepka did. Eckblad did.

And he was like, and it was somebody who was like fish, like, kind of had the, sort of took the same approach you did where it was like, these guys know each other, right? They're friends. Yeah. And Echblat was like, no, we're not friends. Come on.

Correct. Joanna W. An absolute treat to hear a Pulitzer Prize winner explain what a spoonerism is to Craig Custins. It's true. The transposed first letters of consecutive words, right? You didn't know what that was. I did, though.

No. That's why you have the poll. Yeah, it's right. Sitting on my mantle right here, not really. I didn't get it. Also, we should acknowledge that Luke Hughes is going to make his NFL debut in front of the Joe. Haley and I brought that up on.

Haley and I brought that up on Friday and we said the same thing. I was like, did we, I said this? I think I think I said this on the record. I was like, didn't we talk to Luke? And then she was like, no, that was you and, that was you and Craig. You remember talking with Luke Hughes? No, I knew that I, how do you not, look, we got, hey, we did the whole family. That's part of our bed.

No. The Hugh, that's what we. I knew that I, you thought it was you and Hayley. I knew that I, I knew that I talked to Luke. And it was supposed to be me and Haley talking to Luke. But I. we traded Hillary Knight for Luke Hughes No I double book myself

And had to pass on talking to Luke at all And it was not a professional move by me But it all It all worked out Wait so I only talked to Luke Hughes Who did the Luke Hughes? Me and you It was supposed to be me and Haley

And I was like And I had a huge day And had a bunch of calls lined up I believe it was for an NHL 100 thing And it was It was either Lindross or Pronger, and I couldn't get one of them off the phone. And it led to me having to bail on a Luke interview when he was like, you know, sitting at his, sitting on his phone, like, waiting for it to happen. And I just, like, couldn't.

I couldn't do it. So that, so that turned into me and you getting Luke further down the line. So whatever. Are you happy? I'm thrilled. I'm happy he's getting to play. That's a nice little pickup for the playoffs. Corey E writes,

I'm a subscriber to the athletic and listen to these podcasts on Apple every day just to hear Craig's daily successes in finding clothes for his upcoming weddings and so many weddings coming up. People are hearing that.

Recording that ad. People are hearing that ad a lot, brother. Sometimes multiple times on the same show. It's a really funny one. Had I known that, I would have treated it differently. I probably would have correctly connected my microphone

to my computer when I recorded it because I didn't. Oh, that's where you garbled your way to do with your smart-ass comments. And it sounds like I'm at the bottom of a well.

You're a... Wuck it. Justin S. Good evening, he says. Oh, there's more. Yeah, this is the last one we'll say. Given Craig's chronic absentee is a melodress of Sean

to increase my chance as a kidding her response. That's fine. Justin, just ask the question. That's the only reason I wanted to read it. He asked about Devin Levi because this is old. But he said,

feels like the sabers are still stuck in goal-tending limbo, blah, blah, blah. Justin's talking about trading for sorrows, which would be hilarious. But the question is, what other signings are trades do you see that could bridge the gap without blocking the path for Levi? The answer is none. The path is clear.

He's arrived. What are you going to do? You're going to start someone else next year? Come on. Nope. Nope. Is that it? Anything else? Anything else you want to share? Pizzo, Jesse, and Mike Russo are joined by Adam Fantilli, your Hobie Baker winner. We should have more college hockey players.

I was just thinking that. On the Wednesday roundtable, let's stop asking the Dallas Stars for players and start asking. Also, don't forget to subscribe to the athletic hockey show on YouTube. You can go to YouTube.com forward slash at sign the athletic hockey show. Can you spell that? spelled T-H-E-A-H-L-E-T-C hockey show. The Tuesday Boys, oh my God. I'm reading this and I have no idea what's happening.

Tuesday Boys return next week with Craig and Sean, which is us speaking at our playoff preview, which... Yet another Ron Burgundy Mullen for you. Jesus. Happy New Year, everyone. My. It is great to be back. back. You know what? I'm excited about this. I'm excited about the playoffs. I feel like, I feel like the switch flipped sometime on Saturday and now we're, now we're ready to go.

But it is still, it is still the new year.