The Athletic Hockey Show - Jack Roslovic on home ice in Columbus, NHL needs a play-in system for the playoffs, Auston Matthews ceiling and the Los Angeles Kings season long luck could be running out

Episode Date: April 12, 2022

Jack Roslovic of the Columbus Blue Jackets joins Sean to talk about what it's like to play for his hometown team, the rebuild in Columbus his pending restricted free agency and how successful the 2014/15 US National development team has become in the NHL, including fellow former teammates, Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy, Troy Terry, Tage Thompson and Matthew Tkachuk .With a stick tap to Marvel's 'What if....' Craig and Sean take a look at what a play-in scenario would look like if the NHL adopted the NBA's exciting 'tournament style' involving the seven, eight, nine and ten teams in each conference which will decide the final two playoff spots.The guys discuss the LA Kings surprise season which has taken a blow with Drew Doughty set to miss the rest of the year after undergoing wrist surgery, if Auston Matthews can replace Connor McDavid as the best player on the planet, and what franchise will qualify for a playoff slot first, the Arizona Coyotes or the Buffalo Sabres?Plus Craig and Sean share their origin story in another edition of the only segment that matters the Tuesday boys comment section, and we praise the work by Costco for their smoothies and hotdogs, and we answer a couple of questions on hockey too! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. Record numbers in March. This just did, Sean. We shattered every record for listenership in March. Is it true? Is it true? That's a true story. You didn't get the slack here. You're not in the Athletic Hockey Show internal Slack channel. I don't pay attention to that stuff. We are on fire and we have a great show today to keep it going. Jack Roselvic of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Fresh off a four-point performance in Detroit. He is, of course, a Columbus native. Mostly, we're just trying to get as many teams, as many players off that 1415 U.S. national team,

U-18 team. Matt Kachuk joined us a couple weeks ago. Of course, Don Granado is our honorary coach of this show. We've got Jack. I think all we need is Tage Thompson. We've had the whole roster. Who don't we have at this? I was seriously.

Because neither of us, so, I mean, whatever, that's how the, how the sausage is made to an extent. Producer Jeff is the greatest. Of course. Producer Jeff, he's like, I'll go get Jack Rossevik. I'm like, okay, that's great. So it was not either of us that made that request. But you could have fold me, because with your ongoing obsession with a 2014-50 team, I love those teams, couldn't have come up with a better guess if we tried.

Well, well, we're at the point. It's like when, you know, AI has figured out what to suggest to you on whatever app you're on. And you're like, oh, yeah, I definitely want to follow that person or whatever it is. Producer Jeff is like our version of that AI. He's like, you know what? It's been two weeks since we talked to somebody who was on one of those great U18 teams. So Jack, we're excited to have Jack on. I may or may not be a part of that interview.

We will see. We will find out. Hey, buddy, buddy, I'm going to go on a limb and say that you're not. not. So it's just going to be me talking to Jack Rossific, which is great. I mean, I'm always happy when you get that, when you get the hell out of here and leave me be. It's your moment to shine, Sean. This is it. Yeah, right. This is it. This could be, this could be a career making moment for me. The last, the last, the last time, I think the last time, I think the last time one of us did a solo interview was, uh, was you with Quinn. So we'll see. The legendary, one and only,

Because you, this will be your first solo. I'm curious to see how you do. I don't know if you got the chat. It's not really my, it's not. It's a pretty high bar to cross to me and Quinn. Yeah. I don't know. Can I talk to Jack Roselvic for 11 minutes by myself?

I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I mean, I'm used to doing stuff without you, though. You believe me. You leave me constantly. Sticking me with Max last week again. How'd that go? Did you listen? Of course not.

No. You should have made the kids listen in the car on the way back. I only had 20 hours of driving between Detroit and Orlando. I couldn't work it in. Did you seriously? Did you seriously drive? Oh, yeah. I am a Midwestern dad. We don't fly the family anywhere on family vacations in the Midwest, Sean. We drive.

Max made a joke about me sitting in the backseat that that's like my typical spot on Cussons family vacations, which is not far from the, not far from the truth. But when he said that I was like, wait, are they actually, are they actually doing the drive this time? Good God. And as it turns out, we were not the only people with this idea on I-75. Yeah, everybody's been, everybody's been cooped up for so long. It's one of those things that sounds like a great idea until you actually do it. Until you're actually stuck south of Maken, Georgia, north of Valdosta, and traffic.

and you're still like nine hours away from your Airbnb. It really hammers home how far the different, how far it is between like the Atlanta area and deeper into Florida. That is a lot of. Yeah. That's the sneaky. That's a lot of real estate. So we're always like, let's get to Atlanta.

We can hang out for a couple days. And then we're going to go, then we're just going to make that quick. We're going to skip on down to Florida. And that's just, that's its own thing all together that drive. Nope. Nope.

And we make them more Custin's family vacation talk. This is more interesting than what's going on in the NHL right now. Hey, shout out to Universal Studios, though they delivered the goods on the Harry Potter experience. The kids loved it. That's awesome. It was awesome. I'm jealous. So we're here to talk.

As everybody listening knows, this is the biggest day in the NBA, play and tournament day. I don't know. I just discovered that was happening about an hour ago. It's a pretty big deal. It's a little bit of a disappointment, I would say, because of, of some of the teams that aren't involved with it. Like at one point it looked like the Lakers were going to play and they're obviously out.

But no, it's a big deal. Because it's a creative thing. It's a creative thing. And it's fun. And people like it. And it's fun. And people are talking about it. And boy, can you imagine a world, Sean,

where the NHL playoff picture hadn't been decided months ago? Can you just close your eyes for a second? And I want you to picture a world where the NHL is actually the fun creative league. Way back, way back in those Halcyon days of November 2021, a couple days before the playoffs, a couple days before the playoff schedule was,

was already decided. I mean, locked in. Like, there's nothing, what are we, like, when we're watching games. So, look,

the east has been, the east has just been brutal, brutal, brutal, brutal, because the aisles, because the aisles just couldn't, they couldn't, they couldn't, they couldn't bounce back.

after the start they had to their season. And they're next. Yeah. And they're 15 points out. And they've been 15 points out the entire time. They started the season 50 points out. If I remember correctly. It's true.

They were negative 15. So we, in the few minutes we have before throwing to the Jack interview, we wanted to imagine a world where we were talking about playing games in the NHL, what that would look like right now and make our case. because I don't think we're alone here. If you're listening to this and you're not just an incredibly boring person, you would agree with us that it is like this is something that is needed. This is something.

And I hear, I've heard the argument. I remember talking to execs about this. You're like, well, you play a long, no, I'm thinking. You play a long season. You don't want it to be, get thrown away. No, no, you should use. You should use the mocking voice. I don't want to mock any.

Do it. Do it. You play. Which? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, which ones? Which one sound like that? Play all year. I get it.

You don't want to play 82 games or whatever and then lose back to back. But don't do it. Don't lose back to it. And hockey is, I mean, you know, it's fluky. We know that. There's a lot of luck involved. It's very possible. But Sean, you were scribbling on a napkin before we started the pod.

And just here's what it would look like. If we were, the season was ending, and we were not talking about the NBA's play in where they get to have all the fun constantly in the NBA, just constantly making fun trades, doing fun things over there in NBA land. Here in the NHL. You know what? You know what? It's a lot more work for the people that cover the league.

So I don't know how interested I am. I am in that. I know. All those trades. Florida for a week. It's middle, middle of the season. See you guys. Look at you.

All right. So let's start in the East because there's been nothing of interest in terms of playoff race to talk about there for a long time. What would it look like if we were starting our, the Athletic Cocky Show Tuesday edition Memorial Play in tournament? The elevator pitch on this for people who are unaware of what's going on is that it's a tournament in the NBA between this 7th through 9th, 7th through 10th seeds, quote unquote, in the playoffs where 7 plays 8, 9 plays 10.

It's double elimination for the people in the, and the, and the, seven, eight games. This is the schedule for the NBA, or this is using the NBA system as the schedule for what, for what a playing tournament would look like in the NHL right now based on the current seatings. Day one would feature games between the Pittsburgh Penguins. Wait, hold on. Before you even get to that, explain how you got to lose twice, like this, the progress.

So it's not a complete, if you finish, if you're the seven seed, a complete disaster. No, if you are the seventh or the eighth seed, you can lose twice. Like, it's double elimination for you. For nine, ten, once they lose one game, that's out. Like, that's their, that's the, not their reward, but that's their punishment for, you know, finishing quote unquote, outside the traditional playoff picture, right? Right. So seven and eight play, seven wins, you get to go right on into the big tournament. That's it.

Yeah, it's game over. Game over. Eight loses, they got to go down and play again. Who ever loses the, yeah, whoever, whoever loses the 7-8 game needs to play the winner of the 9-10 game. Right. And then the winner of that game goes on to be the 8-seed. I'm sure you're all, they're picturing this. We've explained this airtight.

You know why? We're smart. Two smart guys who are good at talking. All right. Day one would be Pittsburgh, Washington. Because it's Pittsburgh 7-seed. C. The only reason not to, I mean,

you would have to blow up the conference models for this to, or not the conference models. The divisional pods for this to work is simply as possible. But so if we went to straight NBA model, you know, conference by conference, this is what it would be like. Day one's pens caps, winner advances.

The loser goes on to play, to play whoever wins game one, between the islanders and the blue jackets. That's pretty fun. And the interesting thing here is you have the capitals who are, they're playing. They're coming on. Pittsburgh kind of staggering.

Like there would be a lot to talk about. It would be exciting. And then, yeah, then you've got, you've got Columbus and the Islanders. And it makes these other games so much, like, you know, we mentioned Jack Ross of it coming on the show.

I mean, right now, I don't know what Columbus is playing for. They, you know, they were playing in Detroit. I don't know what was online in that game. Absolutely nothing, really. You know, there's a eight point difference. Lottery. Lottery minuscule percentage points or whatever.

Now maybe even Detroit, I mean, you know, they'd have a ways to go. But at least that game, a Saturday night game in Detroit, that I was here, and I don't, I, you wouldn't know that that game wasn't getting a lot of buzz. locally. No. No. Like that game has some sort of that's an important game now

because of this model. Yeah, right. And the wings at the moment are eight points behind the blue jackets with 10 games left on the schedule. So that's not looking good. But even still. Even still.

I don't know. I mean, you'd have teams in the chase for this for this 10 spot, right? Typically. We would at least had something to track over the last month other than pretending that the islanders have a chance to make up ground on the capitals when again in actuality they are and were and have been 15 points behind for the entire season since that since game

one all right so like that and it's fun and it's not if you're Pittsburgh you know you've i guess you've earned that seven seed or whatever um but it's you know the wheels would just have to fall off you'd have to lose both to the capitals and then to a subpar islanders Blue Jackets team. I mean, and also, I mean, whatever,

we're talking about Pittsburgh. They're, you know, two points out of fifth place and six points out of, I mean, their fourth has come and gone.

But they could, that team, and the two teams in front of them are interchangeable. Like, is it Boston, is it Pittsburgh? Is it Tampa Bay at this point?

Like, you know, win some games down the stretch and avoid the, and avoid the play in round, right? Like, that's the other,

so, that's the top end of this. So you have the lower end where you have maybe Detroit is more interested in what's happening right now, or maybe they're not. On the top end, you're like, we do not want to get sucked into that whirlpool of play-inness where anything can happen. So there's a little bit more. At least there's something on the line right now, rather than we kind of want to be playing well going into the playoffs, I guess, or whatever. I don't think that there's much interest on the part of Eastern Conference teams in playing out the last age. nine, 10 games of the season here.

And how could there be, honestly? No. The stuff doesn't matter. You're trying to get healthy and whatever else because of the nature of, because the nature of the schedule. And this would at least, it always blows me away, you know, because the argument would is that you don't want to do these because you don't want to devalue the regular season. Right. Or something.

But what devalues the regular season more than a system, you know, with three point games and whatever else that makes the last six? weeks of games in one in an entire conference basically irrelevant like that that delegitimizes the regular season because these teams are on autopilot mode yes and they have been for a while and there's no recourse for it right there's no there's no and that's okay like I'm not blaming them for for going into preservation mode down the stretcher they should it's not their fault that's the that's the smart thing to do but that doesn't mean that the league has to sit back and accept it and not and not look for potentially better

situations. All right. So in the east, we have Penn's caps and Isles Blue Jackets. Those are the 7-8, 9-10 match-up. Good times.

West would be Stars Kings, 7-8, winner advances. Loser would face the winner of Vegas Winnipeg. At the moment. And this is more fun

to me than the Eastern race because, down the stretch, we're going to watch specifically the Jets and the Canucks in the death match for the for the for the 10th spot. And those are two teams and two franchises that desperately desperately desperately, desperately want to make the playoffs, right? Like there's there's no there's no like maybe this is good, maybe this is bad like like that the mindset in those franchises is such where they they would want that regardless of whether it was the 10 seed or the nine seat or a playing tournament or whatever. They don't care.

It's great. Can we talk about the Kings for one second? Drew Dowdy goes down. Like, we'll jump into reality for a second. But we can talk about them through the lens of our tournament. They would be playing Dallas. The Kings are probably going to make the playoffs in real life. Where have you landed on them in terms of?

I'm not sure. I'm not sure if we can say that with any degree of certitude at this point. I said probably. They're two points ahead of, they're two points ahead of Vegas and they're not as good. Like over the course of It's probably too strong Vegas has

Vegas is 7, 3 and O in their last 10 The Kings are I mean they're falling apart They're right They're 4 4 and 2 over the last 10 Lost 3 straight No doubty

Their puck possession numbers Have dipped pretty precipitously Over the last little bit I'm not entirely sure How they've gotten to this point Where they're 38, 26 and 10 In the first place That's a lot of

if that's a lot of overtime points. They were getting, you know, strong goal-tending at the start of the season. That's no longer, no longer true. They're a negative goal differential team. Like, I don't think they're that strong of a bet to hold on to this spot over the next, over the next eight games. Not with a Vegas team that's getting healthy and getting its stuff together. And the, yeah, that's fair. So that answers my question.

So you think the Kings are, they've got a. a thin hold on a playoff spot probably switch it then probably not a playoff team and if they are probably not a playoff team you expect to last very long i mean points are it's easy to look at stuff and be like well it's only four points it's only six points like and anything's possible i mean that's really not that's not true like six six points or four points or whatever is a tough is a tough thing to make up when you're talking about two points and you have games against each other coming up if i were to about money on who ended up in that eight spot down the stretch. I'm pretty sure it would be Vegas. And especially the idea in Dom said this last week, the idea of having, you know,

maybe not quite a fully operational Vegas team because God knows they have problems. But to have them, to have them sneak in in that last spot would be really, really interesting. But anyways, that whatever, not the submarine in the Kingsstock, but no, I want more Kings talk. I, you know, Lisa Delman wrote something when Todd McClellan, he coached in his thousands game and, you know, not a ton of Jack Adams talk there, just because it's the Kings and they're kind of a borderline playoff team. But like this, they weren't even supposed to be, we weren't even supposed to be having this conversation right now. This is a team that was supposed to be a little, still, you know, finishing up a rebuild, a lot of good young talent. But even the fact that that they are where they are right now is, I mean, Todd's done a hell of job there. yeah, this is happening more quickly than it should have, right? And I think that was smart. I will say, I like what Rob Blake did at the deadline because I think he, he,

I would imagine he knew that this team still needs a little bit more time. Yeah. Then he needs a little bit more time on the bake here, right? Like this isn't, this isn't the finished product. This isn't a situation where you, at the deadline, you go and trade one of those, one of those, you know, I don't know, whatever, go, if you want to go trade for, trying to think of someone, someone who, someone who would have made sense for them, someone, one of the defensemen, you give up a,

a prospect for Justin Falk or whatever, just to make some obligatory kind of move, you know, at the, at the deadline there. I think Rob Blake gets it, and I think he realizes that this team isn't quite ready yet, and they're really interesting, right? Like, I'm a fan of what they've done. I like them moving forward. would I rather see the Vegas Golden Knights sneak into the playoffs and set up a first round matchup with the Edminton Oilers

in the Pacific Division playoffs? I think so. Sorry. Who you got in that series? I don't know. No. Zero goalies. Yeah.

Okay. Let's get to the Jack Rossovic interview. Which is, which is, which is going to be really good. Let's see. You guys, you guys don't even know. Hypothetically, I can't make it to that. Will you ask him about a play in possibility?

Come on. Yes. Do it. I don't never. I wouldn't know. Jack Rosovic wouldn't know me if I walked past him on the street. He doesn't. I don't care. I'll ask him whatever.

It doesn't matter of me. I'm not afraid. I'm not saying you're afraid. Ask the tough question, Sean. I think it's a good. I think it's a topic. I'm curious what the players would think. And it's a revenue generator.

Like there's also that. League can use some money. So is it, and whatever, we're circling back to this. This is the most like discursive. Like we're all over the place here. Was that seriously the biggest justification when you would talk to league guys and you would talk to front office guys? It's just like, oh, the regular season's long and we don't want to, we don't want

to penalize teams for, you know. who legitimately make the playoffs. You play 82 games. It's a proper regular season. You go through the ups and downs and you don't want where you've landed in a two-game window to determine whether or not you make the playoffs. It's not an unreasonable argument. No, it's not. And it's an argument that, you know, I thought the one game wild card in MLB over the years is just insanity.

when you talk out a 162 game schedule that comes that comes down to one game, it's total, that's a farce. It makes for drama, but, you know, from a, you know, from a, from a sample size standpoint, it's just, it's tough to even wrap your head around. I think the biggest factor here is, like, you don't think Turner Sports and maybe ESPN wants, once a, once a plan, wants a play in? Of course they do. Everybody does.

Just be interesting for once. All right. Stick around for Sean's interview with Jack. I'm excited to hear it. I will listen this time. Assuming I'm not on it. We don't know. I might show up.

We'll be right back. We are thrilled to be joined by Jack Roselvic, Columbus Blue Jacket Center. Most importantly, another member of the 2014-15 U-18 development team. I think we have one of you guys coming through every week. It feels like at this point, whether it's Kachuk or whoever else. How are you doing, buddy? Just came off for practice.

How has everything going? Yeah, good. Three days off here between the games, which you don't really get very often. So nice and rested. I did want to ask specifically about that team you were a part of it. It is funny. I mean, I sort of alluded to it. But we have, gosh, we've talked to it.

We've talked to Don Granato and we've, And we've talked to, you know, we've talked to Troy Terry and we're trying to get Ted Thompson on and on. Like you guys, they were on that team, especially the 2014-15 team. You're really starting to make your mark in the league. You know, you're seeing a lot of you guys pop. And just wondering, even looking back on it now as you guys kind of get further into your NHL careers. I mean, how do you reflect on being a part of that group? Because it really was a talented, a talented crew.

Yeah. I mean, I could go through every single name in that group. You can do it, by the way. That's fine. You can just go down the list. Like, it's fine. We got time. Yeah, and rave.

God, yeah, I mean, unreal. So it's great to see, you know, obviously a lot of success this year from that group. You know, Matthew's breaking records. Terry's scoring a lot of goals. Tage scoring a lot of goals. And then guys who just have been around. a while just doing their, you know, you got a lot of guys, tons of us around the league that are, you know, I feel like I'm going to dinner every night in every city with one of them. So it's,

it's awesome to see. And, you know, it's a group that, you know, it's amazing to be, it was amazing to be a part of. It's a huge reason for all of our development. And, you know, I couldn't, you know, be more happy that I, that I had that experience for those two years. Right. Was that something, how aware, you kind of alluded to this, but was that something you were aware of in the moment, like when you were part of that group in 14 and 15, like, did you know that it was something special back then? Did you have the sense that you guys were going to make your mark like you have been, or is it something that's kind of grown over time? You know, not really crazy. You know, obviously we knew there were a lot

of good teams. I think it's towards the end of it when, you know, our international record was, you know, was what it was. I think it was 40-some wins and, you know, only one or two losses. So you know, we were a dominant team, you know, throughout the whole world of hockey players at our age. So it was a special group, obviously, you know, I don't think anyone, you know, expects, you know, a guy like, you know, Austin to score 58 goals or whatever he's at right now or, you know, to see a guy like, you know, Troy do so well this year or, you know, you don't really, you don't really think of that in the moment, you know, I think it's one of those things that, It was great because we all were there and, you know, we could all push each other and, you know, to see guys succeed and to do amazing things at the NHL level is, you know, so awesome.

And to be able to that, you know, probably, you know, just, we didn't even realize, you know, you're competing against each every day and it's competing against the best of the world every day. So it was something that was super special. You know, none of us took anything for granted and, you know, looked at, just say, the success that, you know, a lot of us, a lot of these guys are having now and, you know, still growing. Definitely. I mean, we can talk about Austin. Austin real quick. We could talk about them all show, I would imagine. But as, you know, as a guy, as a guy in the league and a, in a peer of his and some, in a former teammate and all that, what, watching what he's doing on a night in night out basis, especially over the last couple weeks as he's even, you know, dialed it up even more.

What is that like for you? Like, what do you see it out of him? And what's it sort of like to, you know, just kind of track the kind of season that he's, that he's had. Yeah, no, it's awesome. I mean, it's, you know, so impressive. I think everyone around the league, whether you play with it or not, would realize talent. But, you know, it was one of those things that, you know, he was just another one of us guys when we were, you know, obviously towards, you know, the end of that season.

Because he was out for a lot of the first season and, you know, towards the second, beginning of the second season and then towards the end of it, we knew he was super special. to be able to see it now. I wish we could all say we saw it coming, but, you know, I think... What, you didn't? You did think he was going to make a run. It's 70 goals in the same season.

You never know, right? But to do that is to beat that, you know, is so impressive. And, you know, it's one of those things that it's not done by a lot of people ever. So to be able to watch him and see him every day. and to be able to, you know, play alongside that whole team. And, you know, something that, like I said, it's, I always find myself bragging about how good that team was.

And in an NHL locker, too. And, I mean, it was juniors. So, you know, it's got something to do if I'm still. I mean, I mean, it's stuck, right? You're still, you're still, you're still, you're still, you're still, you're still, you still got bragging rights, you know, seven years later. Yeah. How far out.

We don't know. That's funny. So I caught a lot of your game a couple days ago against the Red Wings, hat trick, four points, game winning goal, put, you know, helped you set a career high in goals already. And we got however many eight, eight, nine games left for you guys. What does it mean down the stretch to have that kind of, that kind of production for it, not just for you individually,

but for, but for your group? Because, I mean, it has been. You know, you guys are, you guys were in the mix, you know, for, for most of the season. And not a lot of people expected that out of you. So as you're, as you're finishing up this season, as you're kind of winding stuff down, what are, what are the goals, you know, individually and what are the goals for the, for the group? I think individually, you know, they match the group for me a lot is, you know,

finding that identity, finding the way, the right way to play every night, you know, trying to figure out, you know, who we are. we're such a young team that it's going to be in the next, you know, years if we want to find ourselves in the playoffs and be a consistent playoff team. And I think we have the talent to do it. It's just about, you know, finding that can be level every night, finding, you know, being able to play the right game offensively and, you know, scoring goals and finding that balance.

So, you know, I think we're good, in a really good spot for, you know, the next couple years to strive and to, you know, have big goals. And I think a lot of people, like you said, thought we overachieve this year. And, you know, in some ways maybe we did. And it's a great thing to see. But we got a lot more and it would be a lot better. You know, that's a – so these last nine games are about it's, you know, just growing as a team and finding that identity.

I mean, you guys have added a couple pieces over the last couple days, right? Ken Johnson practice. You got Nick Blankenberg coming in. you know, when you see guys who could be part of the core group, you know, moving forward coming in at this point in the season, it's not something you see all that often. And I know I know you're kind of, you know, you have your own stuff to worry about. But what have you seen out of those guys and their first couple days around? Yeah, as a player on a team that's out of the playoffs, you know, you always get the college

free agents that come around. But, you know, I think these guys, like you said, are, you know, a lot more, you know, a lot special, a lot more special. They're players that we want to be a part of our team for a long time to come. So it's great for them to get into games and to be feeling good before they come in for their first training camp. Just to get the experience, it's really good for, you know, it's a really positive step for the team and the organization to be able to start to get to know them and for them to start to get to know us. So, like I said, to kind of mold them and start that early form of getting to know our identity and, you know, how we want to play and trying to find all the right things. You're obviously still a young guy, but is that a role that you can kind of see yourself slotting into, like on this team moving forward?

You're talking about molding guys like Johnson and in Blankenberg. Is that something you're looking forward to growing into, I guess, and taking a bigger part in? Yeah, no, I mean, I'm not old by any stretch. I don't have, you know, the most experienced by any stretch on this team. But to be able to be a guy that's pretty, you know, loud and outgoing in the locker room, I can hopefully help them in the way, obviously. It's a team sport and to be able to, you know, have those guys and you know, maybe take them under your ring or, you know, just talk to them and, you know, explain.

I think the best thing for them is just to have them watch. And, you know, it's a great thing that it's great that they're in this early and to be able to start that whole process, you know, the earlier, my opinion. So it's great to see them around. I'll help them out as much as I possibly can. But, you know, like I said, just being able to get them in games and get them learning early, you know, it's going to be in benefit for the organization at the team, I think. One of the coolest things about your group is, you know, you look at you, you look at Sean Corrali, you look at Carson Meyer, you have Ohio, Ohio dudes on this roster.

And that's something cool because like we've seen, I think, especially over the last whatever 10, we'll say 10 years, like the post Rick Nash kind of generation of players, guys like you who grew up watching him. And now you're also, now the three of you together are, you know, part of, you know, part of that organization. How, you know, how cool, how cool is that for you and how seriously do you take it, you know, as an Ohio guy who's planned for an Ohio team? Yeah, super cool. You know, obviously, I post-Fick Nashville, like you said, not to reiterate you, but we all grew up on them. We all grew up on Columbus hockey. We all grew up on this team. And I think we're getting to the point where, you know, you look around the locker and.

And the more you talk to everyone, everyone wants to be here, which is what we want. I don't think there's questioning if guys like Sean and I or Carson like or dislike a city. You know, we love it. We grew up here. I'll always come back here. So it's great to have, you know, because you want to enjoy it. You want to enjoy it. And, you know, winning or losing, the city can, you know, make a big impact on, you know, your life and quality.

And so it's nice to be able to look around the locker room and see everyone genuinely loving it here and, you know, loving what the city's about. And then leads into, you know, good times around the rink and, you know, just a better overall quality of life, which usually translates to some better hockey. And it's great to great to have these guys around and, you know, to kind of lead that charge being advocates for what we are and what kind of... Yeah. I mean, you mentioned it, but is that... is the narrative that we saw kind of emerge around Columbus that, you know, for whatever reason, guys, the public marching order is that guys don't want to play there for or have, or some guys have not wanted to play there for one reason or another. Is that, is that legit? Is that, is that,

is that something you noticed or is that an overblown thing that's based on kind of a, kind of a small, a small group? Yeah. So I've, I've never really, you know, played with any, like I said, I've been here for, it's been two years now. And it's been pretty much the, close to the same group of guys that, you know, here and haven't really seen, you know,

the other side of it. So it's, it's one of those things that, yeah, definitely, you know, people think it's a small market and, you know,

a small city and, and there's not much to do or whatever, you know, whatever kind of excuse they want to make up. But, you know, we,

you know, the team, like I said, we love it here. You know, there's, there's tons of, you know, it's a great,

sports town. You look at, you know, a team like Ohio State football. I mean, I can't even, it's bigger than, you know, some of the major football teams around the, around the U.S. It's bigger than probably all hockey teams. So it's one of those things that we're no, we're no stroke of a sports town, I think, in many ways. So it's, like I said, I haven't really been around it. So, you know, people think what they think. And, you know, You know, I think it's just great that, you know, everyone here is, is enjoying their time and, you know, spending it, spending in the right places. Love it. And that's, that all sounds good, man.

And you're, you're a big part of it moving forward to, like we said, you hit, hit 15 goals. And, you know, I know that, you know, moving forward, you're going to be a big part of it, too. So I appreciate the time. And we'll catch up with you down the line. Well, thank you, fellas. Greg. Yeah. You there?

Okay. You can just look at me. I'm on the Zoom with you. Is this, are we, have we started the segment? It was very quiet. I mean, yeah,

it can be. Yes, I'm here. Sean, are you? Maybe. This is the only good segment on the show. So we dive into the user comments on our page, in the athletic app,

on the other side of the world, pack of lunch. People seem to have figured it out, though, I will say. Craig, there were 47. seven comments on the on the on the on the on the on the on the on the on the chuk episode. I was not I was not ready for those.

I opened it up when I was talking when me when me and Max were talking last week and was disgusted almost by the by the I was upset by by by by the number of comments. What is wrong with you people? We we we love it. We love you doing our jobs for us. Keep it up. Especially when you talk smack on Craig. as they did last week a little bit.

Come on, people. He's so nice. Maxi, what will notable American Austin Matthews have to do to be considered the consensus best player in the world? He's so dominant on both ends every time I watch him, but dethrone McDavid seems sacrilegious.

There's a lot to unpack here because this is a good question. And it may be up to Sean and I to carry this burden. moving forward because Conor, what Austin didn't arrive with that Connor McDavid did was already the expectation that he was the best player of his generation, right? Like Connor, since he was 14 or whatever, in Canada, coming up and playing and, you know, whatever tournaments they play in and, like, he was already granted this status.

So he has to be dethroned. Austin Matthews was not granted best player in the league status. or generational talent of his generation status. Connor, and this is not, like I like Connor. This is not me running down Connor McDavid, but that's just,

I don't think he, I don't think he do. I do like Connor McDavid. He's a good player, but he did come in with that expectation and that status. Whereas Austin, yes, we knew Austin was great.

He came in with expectations and he could be generational. But like, he wasn't placed on a throne. I don't think to the level that Connor was. So now that we've, you know, now that the gap between the two that may or may not have ever existed in the first place in reality, but perceived gap is gone. It's going to take some convincing to get Austin pushed into that status. Now, Austin has, he, you know, he plays in Toronto. That's going to help.

He's also, like, he's having a ridiculous season. and he's really driven. Like this will drive him. He's going to find ways to continue to improve, knowing how he's wired. So what's it going to take? I think it's going to take Sean and I, you know,

we're going to have to raise this up every episode. We need to add. That's what awesome. He's needs is more needed to people advocating for his status there. That's it. Dom asked the question last week. Is he better than Connor McDavid at this point? I mean, he's having a better season.

It's going to take, he's going to have to do it for a couple more years. There needs to be. Why, though? Why? I mean, for the same reason that Connor took it from Crosby. Like, you don't, it doesn't just happen. Yeah. I mean, there's a body of work at play here where McDavid has been,

was, you know, he had the edge for a couple years. Here's where, this is what might fast forward to the process. And that could be the playoffs and a playoff run. And that big horse like Austin Matthews having an incredible. run in the playoffs, which is not out of the question here. That will switch that narrative really quickly. If the opposite, if Vegas makes it into the playoffs and the Oilers get bounced in round one and Austin goes on a run in his dominant as he's built

to be, really, that's that to answer your question, Max C, it's not, it's, that's what's going to take. And that may happen. And I think. Yeah, just a, just a long playoff run for. for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and who could, who would, who would, who would bet against that, you know? Can I, can I, James N and answers the question in this, which is fine.

Well, I guess we'll allow much better. Even though these are, our questions, James, you can, feel free to answer it, I guess. Get out of here. He's, he's wondering if this is a career year for Austin Matthews. I don't believe it is. I, I don't think that this is, this is going to be some aberration. for Austin Matthews. No.

I will, okay, so I think that depends on how you conceptually look at, you know, the idea of a career year. Like, it, I do I think this is an aberration? Like, no. Do I think that it's a smart bet to, you know, maybe next year say that we're going to also have the Ken Austin Matthews score 70 goals in a season debate?

I don't think that's particularly likely either. Like, that's tough to do. It doesn't happen that often. So if this is it, if this is the peak of us in Matthew's career, at least statistically and individually, then like, there's no shame in that. Like, this is a wild, wild thing that he's doing. He's also got, what, 10 games to score 12 goals to get to 70. It's not impossible. Shana actually answered it much, much more concise, saying drag the leaves, kicking and screaming to a cup.

That will do it. it. Yes. That would flip the narrative and then people would be comfortable saying decisively that awesome Matthews

is better than Connor McDavid if he wins a cup with a Toronto Maple Leafs. I like that it's kicking and screaming. That's what we do it. Yeah, right.

The leaves are like, everyone else the team is like fighting against him. We don't want it win a cup. Ew! Ew! Ew!

I made a joke about Montreal I guess me and Max both said this. Montreal is the worst team in the league. I think I said it offhand. last week.

Carlos Al brings it up. He said, you heard it here, folks. I'm telling all my buddies on the crack in some redness that we're moving that we're moving on up. Who is the worst team in the league right now?

Is it the Montreal Canadiens? I don't think so. I think they've done enough in the last little bit and they've shown enough of a pulse under Martin San Luis to get them out of that discussion. I mean, there's just,

you got the level of just hopelessness and in weirdness in Arizona. And then and then the failure to mean expectations in Seattle, I think that kind of makes them. I think that I think that kind of gives them the lead. Don't, don't count out Jersey down the stretch. I think stuff could get, I think stuff could get pretty bleak here with that goaltending and with and with no Jack Hughes. So yeah, I don't know. I might have spoke too soon. I think there's plenty of reasons to be, you know, at least interested in the Canadians. I'm not sure we can say that about other teams. Josh R. asked, have players, when you've interviewed them for these podcasts, ever said something

that was insider information, in quotes, and then was broken as a bigger story later, potential trades, free agent signings, or general team info? It's a good question. There's never, I would say what's happened in, this was typically more often in the kind of the longer form, full 60. Like Sean and I aren't getting inside information. typically in a 10-minute window. But when you do a lengthy hour-long podcast, sometimes stories come out that people weren't aware of. And then this would happen.

And we would, we would transcribe it or other people would turn it into a, you know, they would turn it into a story, like they would take a clip or a quote. So yeah, I think they do often unveil. When you have this time and you can be conversational with a player, they often do, you learn something about them or about, you. you know, a transaction or a decision they made and that becomes news. So yeah, I don't, I can't think of any offhand. I think the other way, wait, I kind of took the question a different way, honestly.

Players have absolutely said things off mic whenever we stop recorded that have, that have given me ideas for stuff. Oh, is that what they mean? Like before and after when we're just chatting? Because that definitely has happened. That has happened. And frankly, it's happening with more frequency over the last, over the last little bit. I feel like there's always.

I feel like there's always a couple minutes after we hang up where at minimum, the conversation that we'll be having, like, before we disconnect is like, I wish I would have, I wish I would have asked about this or I wish, or I wish I would have worked that into a follow-up or whatever. And there are absolutely things that have been said, you know, off-mic or off-record here that have planted ideas. I didn't, for sure. It's a way, but that's definitely the case. what you all didn't hear following the Jack Rossovic interview was him demanding a trade

that to Sean, yes, Sean specifically. He, he demanded a trade and he said, I'm so glad that you did this interview by yourself and that that, that bum, that bum partner yours wasn't on.

I may have been on. Do we know for sure I wasn't on? I think it's safe to say. Come on. Bryce C says, I feel like we need to spend some time on the Tuesday show discussing the national embarrassment that is reared its head this. and has negatively impacted the league.

It is rendering games unwatchable. Of course, I refer to the shiny silver and gold helmets on the Kings and Knights. Can we state intervention for the good of USA hockey? Yeah, I don't like them. I don't, there's, I typically love, I'm a big fan of teams, especially non-traditional teams, especially teams like Vegas and whoever else going off the board with. with jersey choices or aesthetic choices? I'm on the other side on this one, but go ahead.

I like them. I like the idea of them. The fact that they don't, they don't match the rest of, and this is not their fault because you're talking about plastic versus cloths. So like one's going to be, you know, spark, whatever, sparklier, more reflective than the other one. But there's just something kind of distracting about it.

I would rather they just sell all the way out and find some way to, if they could. all the way with it, just come on out and like gold. Yeah, just like wrap the, wrap the jerseys in gold in gold foil or something. Like, don't, don't just limit it to the helmets. Those are my, those are my complaints. Is the clash between the helmets and the jerseys?

All right. Is that it? That's your only take. Perry G. Yet another week with no women's hockey, no mention of the fact that the Boston Pride won the, won the Isabel Cup, an American team even, which is true.

The Boston Pride are the, are the PHF champions champions for this series. I believe they outscore their opponents 15-3 during the playoffs, which is wild. Pretty darn. Yeah, are bad for not mentioning that as much as maybe some people would like. But I will say that Haley Salvin just put up a story yesterday going into the future of the women's game in North America, as far as the PHF is concerned, as far as the PWHPAs. concerned. Some very interesting stuff there. And it is worth your time if you have not read it yet. I will say Perry had I been here last week. See, this is bullshit. It's not true. I believe Perry was

in the comments the week before saying the same thing and I forgot to bring it up. So, but anyway, shout out to the Boston Pride. You have to go back and listen to this to this dude's question. I can't remember who asked it about the. anchor man style bra between brawl between days anchor man style braw wow so very very very very expensive and very erotic uh yeah you set up day days like an anchorman brol between days of the podcast we're not going to go into this again but it's really funny and you should and you should listen to this follow up to the brawl question would you rather fight 100 duck-sized doms or one dom-sized duck

I'll tell you what, the Dom-sized duck isn't going to be that big. It's a 5'9 duck that lies about being 5'10. I thought Don was taller than he is. I guess. He's as tall as I am. I thought he was like 6 to 6. I know. I thought he was like 6 to 4 or something.

I know what dude is 510 in shoes when I see one, baby. Riley D. Have we heard the origin story of your friendship? You two making jokes and Craig losing his shit laughing sometimes makes your already extremely entertaining episodes even more so. Have we heard the old? Origin story. Riley, let me tell you.

It was an overcast. The year was 2008. Origin story. Mike, are we even friends? There's a lot of assumptions that are friendship. That's a big, that's a loaded word, Riley. I've tolerated Sean for years. 14, 14 years.

Do you, like, what would have been our introduction? Like, we both worked at the sporting news at the same time. that would have been that that's how we know each other this I was a national writer for the sporting news and Sean was we were editing at the time like I was like I was a I was a I was a yeah I was a yeah I was out of college I was just copy editing and producing and stuff so I was the way I how do you remember it is is like you were basically overworked and you needed somebody who who could at least who could at least help and in you from an editing standpoint from from from a writing standpoint just planning and stuff you were overworked and the in the in

the hockey staff was, you know, non-existent back then. And the way I remember it was you were like, hey, how about, how about, how about, how about, how about that kid on the coffee desk? He seems like he's not that much of an idiot. Like, me, like, maybe he could help here. How did we meet? Like, how did I even come to that conclusion? I don't know. What are interactions where I, where I was like, hey, this kid seems.

It was me like, it was me like, I believe it was me editing copy that you'd file in, like, the middle of the night and just like being, being helpful. helpful on emails and stuff. And then you're like, yeah, not an idiot. Maybe this will work. I know my career to Craig Custin's. I've said this before. And then we had a podcast within weeks, I think, though.

Like, we literally, like, we introduce it. And it was, if you, like, you refer to me laughing and, like, hard at Sean, there's that podcast when nobody was listening, there's, like, there's stretches where I laughed for, like, 20 straight minutes. because I was super immature. Some of us still are. Yeah, I mean, that's it. We worked together and Craig decided that he liked me.

And then 14 years later, I'm still eating off it. Thanks, buddy. Is that true? Have we considered that Salvean trying to turn Max against the Americans trademark sign is the hockey equivalent of the Zimmerman Telegram, which is very funny. Again, the Upity Canadians go too far. And I renew my call to annex the Monday show and install Max as a puppet dictator. I mean, watch Max be

Democratic to electors on the Monday show as well. Annex the Monday show. That's a hashtag. I like that, Nicholas. If we're still looking for NFT ideas, says Chrissy, you should recreate the Last Supper, but replace the faces with Sean and all the other co-hosts

who have filled in from Fred. It'd just be Max eight times. Oh, my gosh. Who would be, I'm trying to think of who would be Matt. Who else has been, for me. Max and Max and Max? Haley, Haley kind of did one time. The thing that's happened is,

like, I've sub for other people. So I've gone on with Mendez and I think there's just too much. I guess I got to cut that shit out. Apologies to Alana, who called me out, understand, of Shapiro. That was, like, how could I forget Sean Shapiro? He subbed for you a few weeks back. apologies to Alana who rightfully called me out my mispronunciation of assayi

for the bowls last week How'd you say it? I kind of just said Asai And I took I took I took And Brian Boyle let that slide

Without a correction Boyle Boyle couldn't even say pokey so for pokey bowls So I think I think you're talking You're talking to you do too Whatever

We're lucky We're lucky we even came close. But yeah, I took some shit from other people about that pronunciation last week, including a co-host of the podcast who will remain nameless. Wasn't me. I know. Which franchise makes the playoff first, Buffalo or Arizona? Buffalo.

That's from Stephen. Easy. I will, like, Arizona is not going to make the playoffs until, Here's what I will say Buffalo could do it next year Yeah this is easy They might do it My youngest is 10 years old

Cormick as we all know Cormick is 10 He will be in college Before the Arizona Coyotes make the playoffs again The Buffalo Sabres Have 3 30 goal scores They've got 63 points

There are pieces there There's Alex Tuck There's Donnie meatballs There's gonna be goaltending at point, one of those guys who is going to emerge is a legit option that they have an ad since, you know, Ryan Miller, basically. I don't think it's close. I think Buffalo is absolutely on track to make it first. The only kind of thing that gives me pause is that we've

seen what happens with the, I mean, the West is, the West is kind of a mess. Yeah, the West is kind of a mess, but, but I don't know, man. Anything, anything, anything can happen over the course of of the season. But yeah, I think that's, I think that's a no brainer, right? As a lightning fan, can't let Stamber's 60 pass without memory, but all glory to Austin Matthews 34.

Also, bad loss by Michigan in the Frozen Four or Goodwin by Denver. That's from Nate U. I think that's a bad loss by Michigan. I, like, you have all those guys, all those guys put other elements of their careers, not on hold, but just like, made this conscious choice like,

all right, we're loading up, we're coming to win a, we're coming to win a, we're coming to win a Frozen 4. Like, this is, this is it. This is why we're all here. We're having this collection of talent that people haven't seen in the NCAA ever, really. Yeah. And it's, it's a bad loss.

It's a pretty bad loss. I don't even take joy in it. God bless Denver. That's really, yeah, that's a lie. No, I don't. I look, I like those, look, that was just a star-studded once-in-a-lifetime team. Like, I like those, that kind of, I like, I like that they did that. I like that they all came together to play for Michigan.

and it would have been fun to see them succeed. Really, like, it's, it would have been good for college hockey, in my opinion. I'm a college hockey guy first and foremost. So, bad loss. Tired. Cormix Tunes on this podcast. Wired. Cormix Tunes on Touch Tunes.

How do we make that happen? I believe that's from our buddy Slurms McKenzie. Oh, my gosh. We do need to make it happen. And I am currently requesting that producer Jeff plays Cormac. makes plays corn mix bop at the end of this again because it's been no we haven't we haven't heard it in a in a couple months and people are and people are people are requesting it so we need to remind we need to remind people of that kids of that kid's talent um the producer jeff

putting in the meatloaf karaoke oh my god after joe smith's segment a couple weeks ago i i was laughing the audio there were all sorts of fun audio elements throughout that episode and we don't hear these when they happen like these are added in post So whenever we go back and listen to him, like, we laugh harder than, I mean, I know I laugh harder than anybody at this stuff. Like the bell ringing after we mentioned Pierre LeBron's Cottage. Pierre LeBron's Cottage at 1-1-2-2 Boogie Wogie Avenue. Rod T says, great interview with Brian Boyle. I'll just have to take your word for it, Rod.

Speaking of nutrition, what do you order at Costco? The asai, how do you decide to pronounce this? Asaii. Asai bowl or the high. dog. Those hot dogs are huge. They're absolutely huge. I love, I love the Costco hot dog as like an exercise in like economics and price point in retail management and stuff. There's a whole, there's a whole thing about that. They're a lot, they're a loss leader. Are they? For Costco. And I believe the Costco by the way, there aren't there aren't there aren't a good corporations.

There aren't a good billionaires. We've, we've done on this before, but, but, but, but, but. But. But. Costco's pretty close. They pay their employees above a living wage, good benefits for all employees. And most of all, the CEO of Costco, his name I forget, whenever he stepped down, said, and this is a direct quote that if anybody raised the price of the hot dog that he would kill them. Well, come on. I swear to God, that's part of the deal because he, because, you know, that draws. people in. And over the years, they've found ways to keep the price point low. Like, that's why they started making their own, you know, sodas and whatever. They don't sell Pepsi anymore. Or no, wait,

what was it? You can't use your credit card? Can you use your credit card yet at Costco? Like, there's a lot of Yeah. Yeah. Um, but that was basically why they used to sell like a brand name hot dog at the, at the, at the hot dog. And they don't do that anymore. That's why they started making Kirkland hot dogs. And it's all to keep the price point of these things low enough where they can still be they can still be a buck so i think inflation's at 9% right now the price i'm looking at up right now of the hot dog at costco with according to this story with a 20 ounce drink is a dollar 50 as it was set in the mid 1980s that has not moved if you that's it's also in the story it says it's a quarter pound hot dog.

That's a lot of hot dog. By the way. I need to find this actual. I need to find this. Okay, here we go. Jim Sinigal, Costco's co-founder has always been fiercely customer first and approached the wholesale giant

his foster for decades. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. According to Iraq, 2012 2018, this was the, this is Craig Jelinek who replaced Senegal as CEO in 2012. The replacement CEO

threw out the idea of raising the price of the hot dog soda combo and drew a rather strongly worded response from Senegal. If you raise the, if you raise the price of the effing hot dog and he typed out effing, not the F word, I will

kill you. Figure it out. One of the reasons they have it, it says it's good advertising and people talk about it. Like we are. It's a loss leader. We're giving free, how did we get to a point on this podcast.

We're giving free advertisement, free advertisement to Costco. Is this, is this the Costco CEO in our comment section? Costco, if you're listening to this, the rule is you have to send us a lot of product before we talk about you a lot. I mean, that's the podcast rule. So if there's not a case of hot dogs on my front porch, actually, I don't want a case of hot dog. Or just send me a free membership because I'm a 36-year-old man who needs to stop booching off his mom's Costco. You can use mine. I can send you a membership card.

All right. there we go perfect yeah thanks buddy i think that's it did we answer the question we didn't even answer the question by the way the answer i the only thing i ever buy on the way out at costco is the smoothie they have a really good smoothie random i mean there's obviously god knows i don't even want to imagine how much sodium is in this stuff but the costco ramen bowls are really really good in terms of like in terms of in terms of random random uh like microwavable food better than they have any right to be that's like the goat of of microwavable stuff is is is is the Costco ramen again free more free Costco

we just we just really need that guys they really need the help help out they really need the they really need the Tuesday bump America's only good corporation is Costco I didn't say they were good they're okay we can say they're America's only okay corporation Costco that's to be their slogan uh right um Mike Gensel, pro scout for the coyotes, a playoff team in the year 2035. Where have I heard that name before? Also, Jake's dad.

Oh! joins Mike Russo on Straight From the Source. Hopefully he doesn't hear any of this coyotes bashing. I just think Buffalo Sabres are a little bit further along. That's all. It's not Mike Gensel's fault. No, Mike's doing his job extremely well. How many people could you blame for the Arizona Coyotes

before making it down to Mike Gensel? And would it be 500? I think, I think so. I wanted to also promote Max's. Maxineans, in terms of comparing teams, they did a good comparison between the Red Wings and the senators and which, like, which of the prospect pools you'd rather have and which of the players you'd rather have and got a bunch of opinions. It was fun.

And I like that idea. Maybe you could do it with the coyotes and the Sabres. But Sabres. I loved it. I loved it for a lot of reasons. I love the execution of it. Yeah. I love Max Neon's work typically.

Yes. They also didn't write anything, which I thought was really. really, really slick. Look, I got to, like that, if you read the last 10 stories I wrote, a lot of other people's words, you just get a lot of opinions. People like that. People want reporting. I'm not. I'm not. It sounds like I'm being facetious. I'm not. It's great. It's great work. And again, I'm always looking for, I'm always looking for an opportunity to be lazy here. Let's get real. Also, great news. Sean and I are doing the bonus episode on the athletic Audio Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Which Mount Rushmore are we going to talk about? Only time can tell. We got something really cool plan. You guys don't even know. You start with a 30-day free trial with that, and it's just 99 cents a month. And right now, for those of you who are not subscribing to The Athletic, there's got to be one or two of you left. I doubt it, but maybe you get in for just $1 a month for six months. if you go to theathletic.com slash hockey show.

And make sure you're listening tomorrow to The Athletic Hockey Show. Former NHHL referee Dave Jackson joins the roundtable with Pizzo, Sivie, Granger, and the Athletic Hockey Show. Can you imagine the people who haven't subscribed to The Athletic yet and for whatever reason decide to do so after listening to this bullshit? They're like, you know what? You know what? That's what convinced me. That's it. Tip me over.

What kills me is, you know, we have. all our metrics that every time like Russo writes something he gets a ton of subs and I'm like who in Minnesota like what wild fan we're now five years into this grand experiment or six years is like that okay I'll like I would assume he's already got him all you would think you would think everybody who wants to read Russo over the over the course of the last half decade it's not true like he's his numbers are fantastic the train the train the train rolls on I love it whenever Russo tweet something that I write because I know that my comments are just going to, or my mentions in the comments are going to be just unusable because, because wild fans are such maniacs.

I love it. I want to thank, uh, I want to thank producer Jeff for all this hard work and making this makes sense and setting up guests. Jack Roscovick, thank you to Jack for joining. Thank you to Todd Chirac of the Columbus Blue Jack. It's coming through. As always, Todd is one of the best in the business. And but most of all, thank you, Sean.

welcome. Maybe next week we can explain why Todd and Jeff had to come through with a guest on short notice. I hope so. I hope it all makes sense. Maybe it'll make sense. It's all going to come together for you all.

Maybe. Or maybe not. Or maybe not. And then we're just never going to speak of this again. Goodbye. Bye, everyone.