The Athletic Hockey Show - Keith Tkachuk on Matthew & Brady's 5 game series, Artemi Panarin allegations, Lake Tahoe recap & future of Jack Eichel in Buffalo

Episode Date: February 22, 2021

US Hockey Hall of Famer Keith Tkachuk joins Ian and Hailey to talk about the upcoming 5 game series between Matthew's Flames and Brady's Senators in the North Division. Big Walt offers his opinion on the boys trademark mouthguard's, if we'll ever see the boys fight and the bright future for the young Sens.Ian and Hailey tackle the shocking allegation's about Rangers forward Artemi Panarin, who has taken a break from the blueshirts after a Russia report, which looks to be politically motivated, of an alleged assault in 2011 that both the player and the team vehemently deny.Plus Ian and Hailey recap the NHL's Lake Tahoe experiment, Jack Eichel's future in Buffalo, Sidney Crosby's 1000th game for the Penguins, and we end with another edition of multiple choice madness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back for another edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. I'm Ian Mendez, joined by Haley Salvi. And today ahead on this episode, we'll be joined by the patriarch of the Kachuk family, Keith Kachuk. So we get set for five games of the Kachuk Bowl, Matthew versus Brady, head-to-head. We'll talk about the outdoor games in Lake Tahoe on the weekend, and we'll ask the question,

spectacular or spectacular fail. Cindy Krosby hits a milestone, and we'll also do multiple choice madness. but Haley, as we get to the start of our podcast here on this Monday, we were hit with some significant and breaking news in the National Hockey League. I think a lot of us, Haley, were kind of collectively picking our jaw up off the floor, reading earlier this morning, Larry Brooks, I believe, in the New York Post, the first reported that Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin taking a leave of absence from the Rangers

in the aftermath of what his team is calling a political hit piece from Russia alleging that about a decade ago, Artemi Panarin assaulted an 18-year-old girl in Russia. So obviously, this has political angles. This has, you know, criminal angles, the Rangers have released a statement that we can read in a bit. But what, I mean, what was your initial reaction, Haley, to seeing a story of this magnitude drop on Monday morning?

Yeah, my first reaction was, you know, and my first reaction was we don't want to take away from what could be a legitimate, you know, alleged assault. Like, I don't want to take anything away, you know, if something did happen 10 years ago with this 18-year-old. We don't want to take away from that. But I think seeing this come out automatically, in there, Brooks alluded to it in his tweet, too, but automatically you think about Artemi Panarin's Instagram post, the politically charged

Jeffrey Navalny. He has been outspoken in the past about Vladimir Putin. So right when you see something like that with a really high profile Russian player who's been vocally against the leader of that country, right away, you just start to think like, ooh, what's what's happening here? Like, you just automatically, you don't want to have the hot takes because, again, there is there is an allegation here of assault against a young female from 10 years ago. There is politically charged nature of this. And you don't want to have those hot takes online in something like this. But right away you see this this morning and you're like, ooh, there's something more happening here. Like this isn't just a story coming out of Russia. Like it just didn't

feel normal if that makes any sense. I still don't really know how to take this because it only just came out not too long ago. Yeah, and I'll read the statement for the Rangers that they put out this morning, which basically reads as follows. Artemi vehemently and unequivocally denies any and all allegations in this fabricated story. This is clearly an intimidation tactic being used against him for being outspoken on recent political events. Artemi is obviously shaken and concerned and will take some time away from the team. The Rangers fully support Artemi and will work with him to identify the source of these unethical. unfounded allegations. So what I think is interesting just from that, Haley, it's not a

tepid response from a team. They are unequivocally backing the player. And oftentimes in stories like these, the first thing an organization does is, hey, we're going to do our own internal investigation. Until this time, we're asking the player to be removed. I'm not getting that vibe. I'm getting the vibe that the Rangers are fully supporting Artem-Penarren and are on board with the idea that this is some sort of smear campaign against their superstar. Yeah, and I'm getting the feeling, too, that there is genuine concern for Artemey Panarin and his family's well-being. I think that's been the big word that I've zeroed in on from Larry Brooks, from this statement. Like, there's concern here. And that's scary. Like, this is bigger

than just a player leaving the Rangers. Like, I'm not going to get into what this means for the Rangers top six and what this means for their results. Because obviously, I'm sure there's some fans who are genuinely like, oh, we can't catch a break here. But at the end of the day, like, I'm seeing genuine concern for the well-being of a player and his family. And that's pretty scary. Yeah. And, you know, and we haven't really seen this because I think for the most part, Haley, NHL hockey players aren't, they're not typically politically outspoken athletes, right? They don't often use their platform. And Aaron has certainly been doing that in the last few months. I think of the story of NBA Zenner

Inez Cantor, Haley, who for years was outspoken against the Turkish government. And when the Knicks were supposed to go back and play a game in London, England, like he wouldn't even go because he felt like the minute he left the United States borders, he wasn't protected.

He felt like there were operatives all over the world that were ready to do something. And so I think that's the sort of fear that Artemi Panarin is now living under that you know, because he's been outspoken, this could have ramifications. And I think we also need to take a moment to understand how fortunate we are, no matter what side of the political spectrum you might fall on, that in North America, if you're Steph Curry, if you're LeBron James, if you're, you know, pick an athlete, pick somebody who has been

outspoken about their government, there has never been the feeling that there would be some sort of repercussion back to you that would maybe endanger your life or your family's life. So I think this is eye-opening for people like us, Haley, who live in North America, and just take for granted. If I want to run Justin Trudeau, I'll run Justin Trudeau. If I want to run Joe Biden or Donald Trump, whoever, you can do that without the fear of your life being in danger. Yeah, and just going right back to Larry Brooks, he did tweet, you know, that retribution was feared after Panarin's Instagram post last month in support of opposition leader, Alexi Navalny, with the caption, Freedom for Navalny. and Panarin, who has family in Russia, has been outspoken in the past against Putin.

So just the fact that people who know the situation right when they saw Panarin was taking a leave, they could connect it back to that post. It's, you know, like you said, it's scary. And with Cantor, I mean, he was even more frank with the media. Like, he told local media, like, I'm afraid I will get killed if I go on this trip. Because there was an arrest warrant and like an extradition for him because he was very, very, very, very vocally against the Turkish president. And he was, I think, looking for help from former U.S. President Donald Trump. And he was terrified. And he said, I'm scared for my life.

I'll get killed if I go over there. And like you said, Ian, that's if, if, us, if one of the players in North America said something, and they have, like if players say something about the prime minister or questioning the political, you know, some of the policies, they're not going to be scared for the life. And I just think that's, like you said, it's a really important consideration that we should make because we're very lucky that we don't have to be fearful of our lives if we voice concern of the country's leader. And again, this is obviously one of those stories that will have many elements, and I'm sure as the day evolves and as the week evolves, This is going to sort of be a fluid situation.

But that is, I think at this stage of the game here, Haley, midday on Monday, the most significant story of the NHL. We certainly didn't wake up this morning thinking that this was going to be the story. Haley, I think a lot of us thought, okay, let's sink our teeth into what happened in Lake Tahoe, the National Hockey League playing back-to-back games. And let's be honest here. What happened on Saturday was a little bit embarrassing for the league when you have to have an eight-or-night-hour intermission because the sun ruined things between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalan. the league had a little bit of egg on its face.

So I'm going to ask you the question here, okay? Should the NHL be embarrassed about the way things played out this weekend in Lake Tahoe? And in particular on Saturday in that Vegas Golden Knights avalanche game. Yeah, you know what? I think, you know, when we saw the views, like there was so many people tweeting the, at that account, like old takes exposed. And when the puck dropped, it's like, oh, how beautiful, how amazing, perfect day in Lake Tahoe. And then 45 minutes later, the whole game has been paused for nine hours. And everyone's like, ooh, maybe you shouldn't have been pumping this up so much.

But I think the views were amazing. It looked incredible. There was maybe a little bit of foreshadowing because even Nathan McKinnon said in the morning, like, I wish it wasn't this nice out. The weather is too good. And unfortunately, like, I'm going to give the league the benefit of the doubt. And I do believe Commissioner Gary Bettman did say, like, They had people who were talking about if they could do this with the weather and with the locations. Obviously, they vetted that you could have a hockey game at Lake Tahoe.

And it sounds so silly, but yeah, the sun was their enemy. Like, it sounds so doom and gloom like the sun is her enemy. Sounds like something like a villain would say, right? Yeah, exactly. Like, I'm not even going to do a voice because that would just, I'm not going to do it. What voice are you going to do? No. What voice did we got here?

I don't even know, like Megamine, something weird from despicable. me like yes everyone can just imagine it themselves but saying like the sun is our enemy it's just it was such a funny click uh click bait quote from from the commissioner but you know i do think it is i think the views were amazing the hockey ended up being good the game got finished but none of that should take away from the fact that that was a failure but other than finding like colder place like what else is the league going to do like i personally don't want to trash the league for trying something different in a year like this. And obviously our colleague, Sean Shapiro,

I always mess up his last name because I always say it like the Blue Jays, Shapiro. Like Mark Shapiro, yeah. Yeah, and he's like, no. It was Shapiro. It is Shapiro. Yeah, thank you. Sorry, Sean. But he did a story like follow the money and you'll understand why the NHL was doing something

like this. So I'm not going to trash the league for trying to do something different to bring in some revenue in a really weird year. And again, I thought the views were amazing. But yes, at the end of the day, this was, I'm not going to call it like a huge embarrassment, but I'm not going to call it a huge success either because it wasn't. Yeah, exactly. Somewhere in between.

I think, you know, where I tend to fall on this one, I love the pictures. I love the way it looked. I like that the NHL tried something different, Haley. I like the fact that the league that we hammer for being two buttoned down and conservative said, what if we took a game and played it at Lake Tahoe? Okay. Well, what did we learn from this? We learned that I think you can do this, but maybe it has to be a little bit later in the day,

and maybe the sun can't be a factor, but maybe do it at dusk, right? Like we've learned something. So this is a good thing. This was the year. If ever there's a year in professional sports to put things into an incubator and see how it grows, this is the year. So let's not rag on the league for trying something that I think can work in the future. But now I'm going to ask you a question, Haley, okay?

Because I saw it all over my timeline. Enough, enough with the outdoor games. We're done with outdoor games. So I'm going to give you the choice, Haley. You got to get rid, but you have to keep one, but you got to get rid of one. Okay. Outdoor games or the All-Star game, which goes for you? Which is gone.

Ooh. That's a tough one. Because I've never been to either. And I feel like if I would have been able to go to an All-Star game and been able to go to like a Winter Classic or something, I would have a better. opinion on this. But honestly, I watch the winter classics and the heritage classics, the Coors Light, whatever. I watched that more than I, I watched that more with a keen eye more than I'd watch an All-Star game. And I do think the views are cool. I thought the, I think it was

the heritage with the flames and the jets in Regina was really cool. I thought that was awesome. So I'm going to say goodbye All-Star Games, because I like the Winter Games. I like the outdoor games. Okay, but when you were a kid at growing up watching hockey, like, did the All-Star Game excite you? Because when I was a kid, it was super exciting for me. And then you, to me, I always have this theory that, like, it's like your moment of maturity as a young adult is the moment you start getting cynical about the All-Star game is the minute you've hit maturity. You've hit adulthood. So did you like, did you love watching the All-Star game as a kid or no? Maybe you were cynical all the time, really.

I think I've just always been really cranky. For anyone who knows me, it's not a new thing with age. Yeah, who did this to you? I don't know. I don't know what happened, but growing up in a small town maybe. Sorry, Fergus Ontario. You know what? I remember being more excited about like the first winter classics.

And because for me, my dad and I, we would sit and we would binge the 24-7 HBO series that would come out. We'd always watch the game. We thought the whole documentary series leading up to it was awesome. We thought the game was awesome. I'm obviously aging myself a bit, and I do this a lot. You're aging me. Yeah, aging you. The 2009 Winter Classic, outside with the big snowstorm, I think it was 2009.

Maybe it was the year before, but the Penguins won. I think it was against the sabres. The blue jerseys, they look like they're in the snow globe. The game was fun. Sidney Crosby gets the game. winner. I remember that more than anything that's ever happened in an All-Star game, except for maybe like Ovechkin wearing the weird hat with the, I think it was the shoot-o competition. Like, I just think that I just prefer the winner classic. Maybe I'm, maybe I'm a little bit crazy, not just cynical,

but I prefer watching the outdoor games. Yeah, I think I'm with you. But again, I'd love to talk to like 12, 13-year-old kids right now. Do they love the All-Star game still? Like that's the part I don't quite have a handle on. But I'm with you. I think if you had to keep one, maybe it's, maybe it's the outdoor game. Look, you mentioned Sidney Crosby there in that, that iconic moment, I think 2008 or 9, where he scores that goal in Buffalo and it's like in a snow globe and it's this magical moment. Well, I thought it was funny that on the weekend where the NHL tried something different to try and replicate kind of a cool outdoor moment in an outdoor game, Sidney Crosby back in the headlines as he plays his 1,000th game.

game, Haley, something that probably could have or should have happened a while back, but because of the injuries to Sid, he gets to a thousand games. A really cool moment I thought where all the Penguins players came out wearing the 87 jerseys. I thought that was cool. But here's my question to you. I'm going to throw out a statement. You tell me if it's a crazy statement or, you know what, there's merit to it. Here's my statement.

Here's my hypothesis. Sidney Crosby is the most accomplished player in Pittsburgh Penguins history. Okay? That's my hypothesis. I want to be clear. I'm not saying he's the greatest. I'm not saying he's the best. I'm saying Sidney Crosby's the most accomplished player in Penguin's history.

Yes or no? Well, if we just go over his resume in a thousand games, it's three-time captain of a Stanley Cup, two-time winner of the heart, an Art Ross, two Con Smyth trophies. He got the golden goal. that wasn't with Pittsburgh, but, um, I mean, his resume, it feels like that's deserved for someone who's played a hell of a lot more than 1,000 games. So if you think if we're just looking at their, a decorated trophy case, oh, this, this is tough because I don't know if you can find,

like there's even people who would think that, you know, Mario Lemieux was more talented than Wayne Gretzky and there's the arguments of who's the best player ever. So it's difficult to say that Crosby was more accomplished. But I think, just the trophy case in the amount of time, while he's played more games, I believe, he has more cups. Yeah. He's played more games than Mario. He's won more cups than Mario.

Now, look, who am I going to take at their peak? But I'm taking 66 every day of the week. It's not even, but if you're just looking at it from who accomplished more with the penguins, is there, I'm just asking, is there an argument to be made that the guy that played a thousand games and won three cups is ahead of Lemieux in accomplishments, not in terms of who's the better player just in what he did for what he did for the franchise. I think it's worth having the conversation. I think so. Yeah. Like if we're not saying like is Sidney Crosby going to be better in the books than Mario Lemieux, I don't know if I want to be a part of that argument.

No, no. No one's saying that. Definitely no. But if we're talking about his resume, his trophy case, what Sidney Crosby has accomplished in 1,000 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, I think there's definitely a fair argument to be made that he is the most accomplished. player in that organization. Yeah. And it's amazing to me that you think of the Penguins, and they have a pretty storied history when you consider they've had Mario and Yager and, you know, Francis and Afghani Malkin and Crosby.

And Sid is the first guy to ever get to a thousand games with that. That was surprising to me. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly. That's what I was, you know, I was surprised to see that nobody else had gotten to a thousand. Now, here's the next question, Haley.

Does Jack Eichel get to a thousand games with the Buffalo Sabers? I feel like the answer is going to be no at this stage of the game. That's a tough one too, Ian, because, I mean, I don't think so. How something's got to give there on either side. And I just, is Jack Eichol going to get to his UFA years and say, oh, yeah, like, I want to stay here? What has happened in Buffalo to make Jack Eichael want to sign? Let me ask you that. He's got his, look, he's locked up for another.

a few years at 10 million. I think the key on Eichol is you're hearing the the rumblings about trade stuff with him. It's getting louder. Here's the whole key. I think the date we need to look at, Haley, is next July. So July 2022. That's when Eichols, no trade clause kicks in. And at that point, he's going to control essentially where he gets to go. If you're the Buffalo Sabres and you want to move Jack Eichol, I feel like you have to do it between now and then. So I guess the question, question I'm asking as the Sabres continue to kind of muddle along here and struggle, what do you do if you're the Sabres? And how many teams you think would legit line up for Jack Eichel?

I feel like it should be 20 teams, but I don't know. What do you think? I feel like it should be. I think that you just look at, I know that there's going to be that kind of that feeling, maybe on the outside, that Jack Eichel, you know, what is he accomplished in Buffalo? but I think that the lack of accomplishments, I don't think that's necessarily telling of the caliber of player he is. I still think Jack Eichel is an elite hockey player.

He hasn't been able to get it done in Buffalo, but I don't think that can completely fall on his shoulders for so many different reasons with that team. So, but I do think, you know, that no, that full, no move clause coming into effect, well, definitely, you know, the sabers don't want to, to, to, end up with their hands tied. They don't want to be handcuffed. I mean, at least they shouldn't. And if you have a player who is maybe expressing that he doesn't want to, I don't know,

it's a tough one Ian, but I agree that the 2022 is the big one. In terms of him playing a thousand games in Buffalo, because he's at under 400 right now. So he would need to play like seven or eight full seasons with the Sabres to hit a thousand with the Sabres. I don't see it right now. I think if you're a betting, if you're a betting person, I kind of feel like Jack Eichols' days are numbered. And it's remarkable to me that this guy is so talented.

And it just nothing seems like I thought the Sabres had a really good. I don't know what you thought. I thought the Sabres had a good offseason. I thought bringing in Taylor Hall on a one-year deal is like, hey, this is perfect. You know, you got Skinner in there. You got Stahl in there. I thought you might have some pieces, and here we're sitting in late February, and they're continuing to struggle along. So I just don't know.

But I think, like, if I'm Ottawa or I'm like, you know, you cover Calgary or you're in Nashville or you're one of these to Anaheim, whatever, L.A., like, wouldn't you be all over Jack Eichael? And I know the one that's always going to come up is the Rangers, right, because is. His old coach, David Quinn is there, but I feel like 20 teams in the league should be all over this guy. Like, unless you have McDavid or Matthews or McKinnon, you don't have a player as good as Jack Eichel. Yeah, I definitely think that's fair, and I definitely agree. I just think that I think maybe sometimes we'll get, I mean, it's not even, I just think sometimes when we're discussing the Sabres and Jack Eichel, I think that the Sabres inability to, you know, win something or get it done and Jack Eichael, like, I just, I don't think those need to be together. I think that he hasn't done anything with this team, but I don't think that's an indictment on his skill level.

And that could be a player who somewhere else could maybe get it done. And I just, I just don't think that this, what's happened in Buffalo should impact people wanting Jack Eichael on their team. because he's a hell of a player. All right, Haley. Coming up, you and I are, this is going to be a lot of fun coming up. We've got Calgary and Ottawa five times in six games,

starting later this week. This is going to be a lot of fun. And I know it's going to be a lot of fun in the Kachuk household as well. So we're very pleased to be joined on this episode, The Athletic Hockey Show by Keith Kachuk. Keith, welcome to the show.

How are you? Thanks for having me, guys. Everything's good here in St. Louis. Hey, listen, I guess the first question How many interview requests have you received leading into this Ottawa-Calgary matchup starting later this week? We've had a few. We've had a few. I haven't done any yet, but we'll probably do something during this week.

So I'm trying to stay away from a lot of interviews because Calgary is not doing very well right now. So I don't know what positive we can say about that. I'm struggling with the exact same thing. It's good to know. Yeah, you're fishing for things. Yeah. It's got to be tough, but no, it's, we're looking forward to this week. So it's going to be a lot of fun.

How much different is it going to be just because normally we would see, you know, the big suite with the whole family, with the split and half jerseys, even just some of the games with, you know, yourself or Taryn, Chantel going to games. You know, is this the first season where you guys aren't going to be able to actually be at a game to watch, watch Matthew or Brady? Yeah, it's tough, obviously what's going on at the Pandock and the rules and, you know, especially going to Canada where, you know, you have to quarantine and they're still not let fans.

So it's difficult, you know, you miss the boys. We always love during the course of the year to go see them at different places and have some time to watch them, especially obviously when they're playing together. We get the whole family together. especially in Ottawa, because there's a lot of, you know, relatives in the, you know, Boston area that can easily travel there as opposed to Calgary. So it's going to be a little bit different, but, you know, it's still the same. You get stressed out when the boys play each other because you both want them to do well.

You want them to do both do well. And, you know, so it's going to be a little tough. But I miss the boys and wish we could, you know, obviously get a chance to see them. But unfortunately, we can't stay within the rules. You know, Keith, I remember when you came on the radio with me in Ottawa a couple years ago, just before the first time they played each other in the NHL and you said the rule was no fighting boys you're not allowed

to fight my question is is that rule off the table now when they play five times in six days at six games is that rule off the table no the brothers should never fight that's the bottom line I don't care there there's plenty of guys to fight out there they can pick other guys on their

opposing teams so they don't need to fight each other their brothers or their best friends and you know they both can find other ways to contribute except for fighting and shantel wouldn't like that too much and i wouldn't like it so it better not be i know i uh i spoke with chantel in the past and she was like absolutely not no but uh no it wouldn't make they're like you said there's there's more than enough people that they can go at if they want to get some energy out there um this is not going to be the first time

obviously they played against each other is it starting to feel a little bit more like it's just another game or does this still have a special value for you and your family? You know, it's still special. Anytime they play each other, I mean, you know, it doesn't happen very often, you know, and especially within this division. I mean, you always, you know, it's just, you know, they're playing in the National Hockey League.

It's a big thrill for brothers to play against each other. Yeah, it's been a few years now, probably three, this is the third year. So it's still great to see them. The only thing I don't like is when the coach, play them on the same against each other. That's when it's frustrating as a parent because you're in a no-win situation there. Like, you know, you'd rather see one on the ice than maybe the next shift, the other one goes on.

Now they have to play each other. So it's tough, but, you know, it never gets old. It really does it. It's more for, you know, when they hit the ice, it's business as usual, you know, but for the family, it's always great to get together and watch them, you know, compete. Their teams compete against each other. And, you know, it's, I don't know. It's a thrill. I know my parents really enjoy it. I know Chantelle's dad really enjoys it.

And we do for the most part. It's probably a bit more tough for Matthew when the ref makes them go on the face off against each other. Because I don't think he's won a single draw against Brady. Yeah. Yeah, Brady. Brady's actually decent at faceoff. So, yeah, I don't know. I think it's all part of the way the referee is and positioning. And it always seems to happen in Ottawa where it favors Brady on the backhand. Yeah, I don't think much bothers Matthew about that. So Matthew just wants to win.

Yeah. Is best case scenario here, look, it feels like Calgary at least right now is in the playoff mix, Ottawa at this stage of the game is not. So is, again, you're not going to really cheer for one son over the other. But is the best case scenario here, all these games at least get to overtime and there's three points handed out in these games, Keith? Yeah, I think so. I think that's the best case scenario.

But I'm so down on Calgary right now. So I don't know. They're supposed to be played a lot better than their show, including Matthew. So, you know, at the end of the day, you know, when did they play in eight, nine times to share against each other? So, you know, everybody, you know, I guess we get to overtime, I guess it keeps everybody happy. So at the end of the day, whoever does well and whoever doesn't, you know, we won't be able to really be able to enjoy the person who does well because we're going to feel bad for the one who doesn't do well. So it's a tough situation to be in. but, you know, I know Calgary is probably more favorite to be in the playoffs than

Ottawa is. But Ottawa is fun to watch, and I really enjoy watching it on a lot. Because you never know what you're going to get with them out. They will work their butts off. But if we can get to overtime, I think we can all leave happy. Haley and I, obviously, because we cover Canadian teams, Keith, we feel like our entire focus is on the North Division. What's it like for you?

Because you have the two boys playing. Are you watching other divisions? Like, are you able to watch many St. Louis games? you pretty much focused on the North Division this season? Well, I travel on weekends, so it's tough watching college hockey, but, you know, it feels like there's never dull night. There's always more than the boys playing. So I try to rotate between Matthew and Brady and being in the different time zone, it helps.

But when they're not playing, obviously, I work for the blues, so I want to watch the blues. But, you know, it's interesting with the North Division be because it's such high scoring exciting games and then there's a lot of star-studded players in that North division so you know I feel a little bit bad for Ottawa senators and you know one night you're going against

you know McGaventon and Drysett ridiculously unbelievable players and then the next night you're going against Austin Matthews and Tavares down the middle and Mariner I mean it just it just never ends with

Pedersen and all these guys It's just crazy the talent that's going on. So it's exciting to watch last night, which I think surprised a lot of people. So I think the North, based on the stars that are playing, it's a fun division of watch. That was one of the things before I left the Ottawa beat to move to Calgary was it's going to be a difficult year for the Sends because they're just always going to be punching up. And that's difficult for younger players, especially. you know, rookie teammates. But it seems like they have this really great work ethic.

And Brady's having, you know, he's doing his thing. And I've been impressed with the young players like Josh Norris and Tim Stutzla. They're not playing against easy teams and easy players. But, you know, they're having a pretty decent transition into the league. No, I know the record doesn't reflect on, you know, they've had a couple tough stretches, but they're well-being. You can't just snap your fingers, but the players that they have that are, I mean, The sky's the limit for that kid.

Josh stepped in and stepping in doing well. And, you know, with a mixed in with a few veterans and then the North Dakota pipeline they have ready to go up to Ottawa is going to be used. So the pieces are there. They're going to go through some growing pains. But I think DJ has done a really good job of getting these guys focus. And I'm sure it's tough on them. But, you know, I know people may be a little bit down on them, but they shouldn't be because the future is bright. And I think this will pay off in the long long.

they can keep everybody. Keith, I look at the NHL stats right now. Brady is leading the league in shots on goal, and he's now second. Radco Gudis is ahead of him in hits. And I, you know, I did some digging.

We have never seen a player in the history of the NHL lead the league in hits and shots in the same season. I tried to ask Brady about this yesterday, and, you know, I guess he was raised really well because he went right to the team element, Keith, and said, ah, I'm just a team guy,

I'm not focused on that. But I'm asking you to be a proud dad here for a second. and tell me what it's like to see your son atop the league in shots and hits at the same time. Well, I guess, well, first of all, I'm proud of Brady, both of the boys. Brady, when it comes to his play, you know, it's the hits I'm more, I guess, proud of than the shots.

Shot, you can shoot from anywhere. He likes to shoot the puck, I guess. But, you know, he, the compete level that he has, shows up in areas like that. And I know he doesn't care about stats. He just wants to go out and help his team win and provide, you know, that room for his teammates and his line mates.

So, you know, he plays hard. I mean, no matter what the score is, he's going to play hard, he's going to have some tough nights. He's young, but, you know, to be able to, you know, with hits and shots, which would have been really crazy because you see the same guys who continue to get a lot of shots on that. and guys like, you know, Wilson and Reeves

who are physical players. We've got a lot of hits. So Brady brings it and, you know, it's good, but he wants to get in the playoffs. Okay, Keith, you know, this is a question that Senator's fans always ask me, and that is the way your boys, and I think Brady in particular,

the mouth guard hanging out of the mouth. And, like, is Brady always been like that? Like, did he always have the mouthguard, even when he was growing up kind of hanging out of the side of his mouth? It's a unique thing. I think it's kind of like his thing. I just wanted to know where that kind of comes from. Well, both those boys, I don't know why they do it.

I guess they watched Patrick Kane when they were younger and saw him dangle that malt car. But it really upsets my wife because, you know, we spent a lot of money at the dentist, orthodontist. So it would be really sad if they didn't use that properly and got their teeth knocked out. You know, shame on them, I guess. I don't know. I think it's watching Patrick Kane. I mean, all these kids grew up watching Crosby and Cain, and when Cain sings was he was always flipping around the Mold Guard. They haven't lost any teeth yet?

I don't believe so, but they keep doing that stuff. They're going to lose it, and they're going to only have themselves to blame. I'm not going to have any sympathy whatsoever for them. They're not going to get any help from mom and dad with the dental bill if that happened. No, I guarantee you a mom will try to help, but, you know, like she always does. But when it comes to that, it's your own fault that they lose any chicklets. One of the things I did want to ask you about, Keith, maybe steering a bit away from some of the games here.

But I know for me personally, with no hockey on, I was watching every single one of those stuck with the Kachuk's videos from Sportsnet. I thought they were hilarious. I thought they were really fun. What was that like for you guys to film? And obviously, it was probably nice to have everybody home for such a long period of time. But what were those videos like for you guys? How much fun was that?

Well, first, I know, there was some silver lining having all there, everybody home together for the first time and a long time. So, and I think it was really good for Taryn having their big brothers around a lot more. And, you know, filming that, you know, I don't know who somebody's from SportsNet set that up. And, you know, it started up this and out. But it was actually fun to see them competing. And, you know, they did a really good job that people setting up on the video. and, you know, they were competing hard.

We did the golf, we did football, we did basketball, pickleball. So there were some neat stuff in there. And I don't even know, I ended up knowing who won, but it was pretty close. But it was a lot of fun for the guys to do it, the boys would do it. They competed hard and some of those stuff they didn't show. It was getting a little physical attack just doing a basketball game. I just didn't want anybody to get hurt. Yeah.

How many of your one-liners and chirps got cut out of the final coffee? I had to be careful. I said, I was in a few of them. Some of them I wasn't in, but a few of them I was going to have to give it to the boys a little bit. You know, and pickleball especially. And Matthews cheating going over the line. You're never supposed to go in the kitchen and pickleball. But he always seemed to break that rule and I was giving it to him.

And they couldn't do Terrence field hockey stuff. You know, being lefty shooter has been, you know, and field hockey can only shoot righty. So there's some things cut out that I gave it to them before. And I forgot I was on video. That was one of the better. That one was really impressive. I could, the differences in field hockey to ice hockey. It's really interesting to see, you know, they obviously weren't great.

Taryn's goalie was very good. That was a fun one to watch. I enjoyed that. Yeah, it was fun. They did a good job. I mean, it was hard because you can only, in field hockey, you can only play righty. When Taryn first started, she would play hockey out for the boys lefty. So she had to learn really quick.

She can only shoot right. So it was tough. It's hard. It's hard to handle the ball. It's hard to shoot the ball. It's harder than it looks. And I think, you know, the boys giving her grief when they'd go to watch her because that's what big brothers do. And they figured out it was pretty tough to, you know, be able to, you know, play that sport.

It's hard. You know, Keith, I think a lot of people love to get advice from when you have three athletic, high-achieving, competitive kids. Like, how do you, how did you harness that? Like when you have three kids that are ultra competitive, like how do you, how do you handle that as parents and not push them and not make things so crazy and chaotic within your own home? Well, I think, you know, first of all, they got to want to do it. I mean, you can't force a kid to play a sport because the parents like it. We were lucky that our kids like to be outdoors, whether it's playing basketball or a street hockey. He roll a hockey or, you know, flag football or different sports.

So they were active. And as long as they wanted to do it, we had the ability to do it and be with them all and especially when I retired when I was playing. Chantel did a lot of that stuff driving them. And it's a big commitment. But, you know, when they're younger, you're not looking at, oh, my God, they've got to play in the NHL. That wasn't what we were looking at when they started playing hockey at a young age.

It was just continue to love the sport and play it and not only just play hockey, but play other sports. And I think when you play a well-rounded athlete, you can, it has. helps you in the sport they'd eventually play. And Taryn just tagged along with them and played outside with them. And as parents, we just were fortunate. Our kids love sports. And as long as they wanted to do it and worked hard on it,

we were willing to spend the money and take them different places to do it. Maybe one of the final things I'll throw at you, Keith. Ian and I were just debating about this. And we were debating between if you could only keep one, would it be an all-star game or the outdoor games? And one of the things Ian was saying is he'd like to know, you know, what kids feel about that. And I'm interested about what players feel about that,

or former players, playing in multiple all-star games yourself and obviously having your kids and your family on the ice and in the room and stuff, what would you say between the two? Well, I did get to play at an outdoor game, but it was an old-time hockey game, I guess, you could call it. And that was unbelievable in St. Louis.

I've never, that experience was incredible. Play at a, you know, Bush Stadium and, you know, in front of that many people on that ice. And it was so much fun looking around. I just couldn't believe they can do something like that. With the All-Star game, I mean, to have, to be able to play in that, you know, the All-Star game itself isn't great. But I think the, you know, the skills competition is probably the most thing that I think people love. and it's fun and it's exciting and guys let their hair down

and have a little fun with it and I had the ability especially later when the kids were a little bit older to play in one where they got to hang out the dress room and go on the bench experience that stuff so I think both things are great

I think if you can do both that would be unbelievable I mean I can't pick one of the other but they're both great and a final question for you here Keith last week we saw two of your former teams that you played for in the St. Louis Blues, the Arizona Coyotes played seven consecutive regular season games against each other.

I'd like to know if you could go back into the height of your playing days and pick one team that Keith Kachuk wanted to face seven straight times in the regular season, who would you pick? Wow. Well, it certainly wouldn't be when I was Coyotes playing against the Blues because I didn't want to play Pronger and McKenna seven times. I didn't want to play against Dallas and play against Hatcher seven times. Didn't want to play against the Avalanche before.

Play against Adam Foote seven times in a row. That was for the playoffs. We can do that. Detroit was always those teams, man. It just was a hard team to play against. But, God, I would have to say the Chicago Blackhawks. I don't know, something about the Chicago Blackhawks, the old stadium, the new rank and the excitement there.

And that's me playing for the St. Louis Blues, against the rival, Chicago Blackhawks. So that would be the team that I would have loved to fight against for seven years. You can never go wrong, St. Louis. Fans go crazy. We have a lot of people that go to Chicago, and Chicago brings in a lot of people to St. Louis. So it's a great rivalry.

Yeah, it's one of the great sports rivalries. Listen, great rivalry, too, with the brothers going head-to-head coming up. Appreciate you. Keith taking the time, because as you mentioned, I know you're going to be just flooded with requests. So both Haley and I really appreciate you. I take it a few minutes to join us on the podcast today.

I appreciate it, guys. Good luck with everything. Stay healthy. Okay. O'Haley, that was a fantastic and fun conversation with Keith Kichuk, and this is going to be great when the two teams that we cover meet later this week. And I know you might be involved in a little fun little charity initiative here too. Yeah, it was a great interview from Keith.

We appreciate him. It's good to know that we're very original because he's getting flooded with request. Original idea from the podcast. But obviously for those listening who maybe don't know, I covered the Ottawa Senators last season, and then I moved to Calgary this year. So I've covered both of the Kachucks, and now Ian's obviously my replacement in Ottawa,

we're doing this podcast together, and it's going to be fun to have that kind of Kachuk bowl for the next week or so. So one of the really great initiatives that I've seen on Twitter, led by Bonks Mullet. He's super funny. He's a good follow if you're on Sense Twitter, hockey Twitter.

He started an initiative called the Sends Money on the Board. All the proceeds go to Canada's Lifeline in honor of Brian Frazier, who has been, you know, I just can't speak highly enough about Brian's resolve and just the strength that he's shown through his battle with cancer. So for me, I want to put some money on the board for this matchup. I'm going to say, for every Kachuk goal, Brady or Matthew, I'll go 15 for each Kachuk goal. Brady or Matthew. throughout the entire nine game series throughout the season.

So I think they've been scoring quite a bit. So hopefully they score. If they don't, then I'll do something else. But that's maybe a little bit of outside pressure on Brady and Matthew to get some goals. So I can donate some money, put some money on the board for Canada's Lifeline and Brian Fraser. There you go. Well, listen, we've got to wrap up our show as we always do with a little multiple choice madness. Haley on a Monday.

Multiple choice madness. Here we go. Five questions. We'll rip right through them. Number one, we opened the show Haley talking about outdoor games. I'm going to ask you this question. What do you think the NHL will do with outdoor games in the future, okay? What are they going to do in the future?

Not what should they do? What will they do? Is it A, have them back in large stadiums when it's feasible again. B, have them in picturesque backdrops like the mountains or, you know, significant landmarks. Or C, they're going to get rid of them all together. The league has realized it's run its course. What happens? Probably, they'll probably go back to the large stadiums once it's feasible.

I can imagine that the amount of revenue that comes in when you have a winner classic with a full stadium, football stadiums can fit a lot more people. I would imagine that that probably brings in more money. So again, if we're thinking follow the money, I would assume that the league is going to go for something that's going to bring in revenue. I don't think they're going to ditch it. I don't think they've run its course. So I think if there's, you know, a business outline that shows that there's some

some influx of cash for the winter classics or outdoor games, whatever it may be, they'll go back to it and they'll go back to it with fans. Unless they can see that they're going to get even more money from like ads or something, having a Battle of Alberta at Lake Louise or something, if you're going to, I just think, again, they're going to follow the money. And I just don't think that they're going to ditch it. Yeah, I agree with you, but I think it's B. I think they're going to realize what they did in Lake Tahoe can work.

It's just got to be in a more controlled environment, a little later in the day, sun's not a factor. I think you're going to see them continue to do outdoor games. There's no way they're going to get rid of them, but I think I like the idea of doing them in Central Park or Parliament Hill, Lake Louise, you know, I've seen people say, do it the Grand Canyon, but I don't know what, I don't know. That seems a little risky.

Okay, on to question number two in multiple choice madness. Which has been, who has been the best surprise goalie in the NHL so far this season, Haley? Is it a, Kevin Lankinen? of the Chicago Blackhawks, B, Chris Driger, the Florida Panthers, C, James Reimer of the Carolina Hurricanes or D. Mark Andre Fleury, he's back. He's back as the number one goalie in Vegas. I'll go first on this one.

I think I got to go Lankton. Chicago's sitting in a playoff spot, Haley, and I didn't even know who this guy was. He's 7.3 and 3. His safe percentages hovering around 9.30. Look, Reimer's like 8 in 1. Fleury has got a Hall of Fame resume. I'm not overly shocked there. Drieger's a surprise, but Lankinen, if you told me Kevin Lankin's name before the season,

I wouldn't have known who this guy was or he sounds like it could be like an F1 driver. Kevin Lankton won the F1 race. I don't know, but this guy has been great. Give me Lankton in Chicago. Yeah, I'm going to agree with you, Ian. Like you said, I'm not surprised that Mark Andre Fleary's back. The number one, I think most people probably could have predicted that. It's just a nice storyline and, you know, his save the other, I think it was last

week, where it looked like he just ripped his groin in half. It's incredible. And I was in pain watching it. So I'm not shocked that Mark Andre Fleury is back playing like Mark Andre Fleury. But I agree with you. It's Kevin Lankinen. And if we do another segment with Dom Lus Chishin, we'll have to talk to him about that because he's been betting on the Chicago Blackhawks because of Kevin Lankan. And now I think that's his favorite player. So. Yeah. Let's let's let's move on to question number three. You're hearing most of the love in the MVP race is going to David and Matthews, and obviously some votes for Nate McKinnon. I'm asking you to take those three names out, Haley.

Don't add McKinnon, McDavid, or Matthews, because they're all been talked about to death. I ask you, which other player in the league deserves a little heart trophy love after the first 20 games this season? Is it A, Patrick Cain in Chicago, B, Jonathan, Hubbardow in Florida, C, the old guy, Nick Baxter, still lighting it up in Washington or D. Mark Schifley in Winnipeg, Haley. I think it's maybe a bit too early to do that because, I mean, we're already over a quarter of the way through the season. So I don't know how much things are going to die off. But I mean, speaking of Lankinen, he's been great. But I mean, I think that Patrick Kane's been playing pretty light out.

He has 26 points through 19 games. Again, Chicago's in a playoff spot. And we all thought that they were rebuilding. And I just think that we saw from Mark Lazarus, he wrote a piece in the office. off season. I think, you know, Jonathan Taves, Patrick Kane, they were pissed. Like, they were like, we didn't sign up to rebuild. And look what, look at what these guys are doing. They're in a playoff spot right now. So maybe I'm going to, I'm going to go with Patrick Kane. You know what? Give me Jonathan Hubertow. I think he's had a great start to the year, 22 points in

16 games. I just, I love the way this guy plays that as cyst he had last week where he kind of did the little spinorama. Like, he is one of the most underrated. I even think some people think, Barkoff is underrated. I think Huberto might be even more underrated. I think the Florida Panthers are the best story in the National Hockey League so far this season. And I think Jonathan Huberto is a driving force behind that. So I think that he deserves a little love for the hard trophy.

Question number four in multiple choice madness, Haley, which division do you think is going to have the most compelling race for first place? I'm taking the Canadian division out. Toronto's running away with that thing. So I don't feel like it's going to be overly compelling. So amongst the other three, Haley, what's it going to be? The east, the central, or the west? I'm going to go first and I always like maximum chaos.

So give me the most number of teams involved in the race. Even though I think that West Division, probably from an elite team standpoint in St. Louis, Vegas, Colorado, they're all legit heavyweights. I like the fact that as we sit here today, I don't know if it's going to be Boston, Washington, Philly, Pittsburgh, Islanders are still hanging around. I just think that there's so many teams in the mix there in the East, that's going to be the most compelling one for me. What about you? Yeah, I mean, you kind of.

stole mine, but again, I don't want to agree with you twice. So I'm going to go with the West Division. I think that's going to be really great because you have, you know, I think that's three heavyweights. I mean, you have the, the abs who were in the Stanley Cup final last year, Nathan McKinnon. I mean, it's Nathan McKinnon and Kail McCarr. That team's been playing great. I think Vegas with Mark Andre Fleury playing hot. You got Mark Stone. That's a great team. And the blues, I mean, they won the Stanley Cup two years ago now. That's a great team, too. And I think that, you know, it's not the same chaos with, you know, what, four or five teams who could realistically battle, but that's three heavy weights that can battle for the first spot. So I think, though, the one, two, three in the West Division is going to be,

it's going to be really interesting to see how that plays out. And I think, you know, whoever ends up having to play those three teams, I mean, that's going to be, that's going to be a tough one. And it'll be interesting because it'll be the four out of the division for the playoffs. So that two, three, that two, three fights going to be crazy because, again, those are three teams who could realistically be number one. And you're probably going to have two of them playing against each other in the opening round of the playoffs. Yeah, I know. I'm with it. That's going to be such a, that's almost like a little group of death there. Okay.

Last question, Haley, multiple choice matters. We had Keith Kichuk on the podcast today. I'm starting to do a little bit of the adding and looking and projecting. I want to know, Haley, look into the future and tell me when it's all said and done, which father's son combo is going to end up with more goals? Is it A, the Hulls, Bobby Hull and Brett Hull, they've got a combined 1,351 NHL goals. Okay, so about 1350. Or is it going to be the Kachucks.

Keith is obviously in the books already with North of 500. They're at 685 as a family right now. Haley, they would need, and this happens to be the number, this isn't some sort of subliminal message, 666 goals. The Kachucks need 666 to match the halls. I ask you, Haley, do they get there? Do the Kachucks? And they got an extra kid in there, so it's a little bit of an unfair fight. But do the Kachucks catch the Hall's father's son?

Yes or no? Subliminal messages. I don't know what you're trying to say here. Yeah. I mean, that would mean that Matthew and Brady would need to get to, you know, under half, like just over half of what their dad did. I think they're unicorns. I think they're great players.

So they both need like over 300 goals each in their career. they're still fairly new Brady still in his ELC. I think that family's great. I think they could get there. It's going to be tough. It's going to be really tough. They're going to need over 300 goals each throughout their career. But I think, you know what?

I'm going to say yes because I think that would be really fun and really cool to see them catch up. I just, the only thing I worry about them, they play the game so hard and so rugged. Can they durability-wise get 12 years from now? 600 goals between them. They have the talent. I'll say yes too,

but I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch these two play and see if they can chase down the hulls. I think that's a fun number. But I'll say, yeah, I think it's feasible because I think Brady, we're only scratching the surface on his offensive upside. All right, Haley, this was a lot of fun, and I guess we'll be back at it midway through the Kachuk Bowl next week.

So we'll have some fresh, fresh material here. It's going to be, we're going to see what happens here. because I'm with Keith. It's not been, it's been tough flooding for the Calgary Flames right now. And I mean, if the measuring stick for this team isn't against the Leafs right now, it's going to be, can they get through a series against the very, very hardworking and better than they look, Ottawa Senators. So we'll see how my mood is next week.

Yeah, yeah. We'll get you again next week. And we'd like to thank everybody for listening to the Athletic Hockey Show. Make sure you subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform. Leave a rating and a review. We certainly appreciate that. want to subscribe to The Athletic, you can go ahead and get an annual subscription for just $3.99 a month when you visit Theathletic.com slash hockey show.

Our next edition of The Athletic Hockey Show comes your way Wednesday, two-man advantage edition of the show. Scott Burnside, Pierre LeBron, I'll be back at her on Thursday with Sean McAard.