The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL draft in Vegas, The Flyers have 'balls' and the Coyotes are on a heater

Episode Date: December 5, 2023

Ian and Julian praise the NHL's announcement that the 2024 draft will be held at the world famous Sphere in Vegas, the discuss the Arizona Coyotes unique win streak with the Yotes facing and beating the last 5 Stanley Cup champs on their heater, and we stick tap the overachieving Philadelphia Flyers who are buying into what coach John Tortorella is preaching.Mike Russo stops by to discuss the new coach bounce in Minnesota, the Salary Cap rising to 87.7 million dollars next season and Russo speaks with legendary TV analyst Darren Pang about Connor Berard's season and Panger's new gig in Chicago.Plus, the boys look forward to the battle of the Hughes brothers tonight in Vancouver, and share embarrassing moments in the media scrum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. Welcome to it. It is the Tuesday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. It's Ian Mendez. It's Julian McKenzie. Mike Roussel is on deck because it's a Tuesday. You know, Julian, the one thing I want to get into right away, right away, is right off the Monday show because we had tweets on this, we had emails on this.

And you seem super skeptical when I said, you know, people who live in, our listeners who live in warmer places, think Nashville, think Florida, Arizona, Texas. If they get the odd snowstorm, ice storm, what do they do to clean? And I said to you, I'm pretty sure a lot of people use their credit card. This was mind-blowing information to you, which I don't blame you because I was there myself until somebody told me this. Okay. So here we go. I got a couple of emails that we're going to kick off the show with from our listeners.

Yes. The Athletic Hockey Show at gmail.com. Ryan and Texas. We get more sleet than snow. 100% I can tell you I've used my driver's license or a store card to scrape the front window. That's amazing. That's amazing. This really blew my mind.

I really had no idea that that was the move. and the fact that so many people have like Tweet and us and you're about to go through some more emails. Like that is, that's like unheard of, but that's like a tale of two different types of ways of going about these things, right? Like I, man, I had no idea that people would willingly go out there with a credit card or some kind of thin card to take that stuff off. That just, I don't know, man. That's wild. Okay. Nathan's got a life hack for us here. Nathan, love listening to the show on Monday.

As soon as you guys pose the question about what people used to clear snow off their cars, my response was a credit card slash rewards card. I actually grew up in Toronto, now lived near Nashville. I remember using the snowbrush to clear the window on my parents' car in the morning here in Nashville. If it actually snows and it sticks, chances are nothing is open for me to drive to. Most of the time, it's just scraping ice off. the window and a credit card actually works better than a window scraper.

The card lets you get a good contact with the window, doesn't leave streaks. I use a credit card over my ice scraper every time. I even keep an old hotel key in my wallet for this exact purpose so I don't damage a credit card that I actually need. My ice scraper is this ice. This ice, my ice scraper sits unused in my garage. even when I visit my family in Toronto, I use a brush for snow,

I use a credit card to clear the ice. This is convinced me I have to at least try this once. Boom. So we'll ask Russo. He's a Minnesota guy, but he lived briefly in Florida, right? So we'll ask him. He did. We'll ask him if he ever went credit card with his snow.

So when Russo joined us. Have you ever seen the photo of Russo at that Florida arena? like there's like a photo of, I forget where in the arena it is, but there is a photo of Russo in that Florida arena. I will find it. What do you mean that Florida arena? Like where they play now? I believe where they play now.

There is a photo of it. I've seen it. Well, I swear to God. For years. I swear to God. You've never seen this? But what do you mean? There's a photo of him.

Okay. There's like a giant like blown up photo of him in like one of the halls inside of the arena. I swear to you, I've seen it. Okay. And I'm like, this is a lot for, we'll ask him when he gets on you for minutes. We'll ask him. Oh, my God.

I'll find it. I will find it. Okay. So one place where it doesn't snow, or usually doesn't snow is Vegas. And certainly in June. And we can tell you, board of governors got together.

We talked about this on Monday in Seattle. It looks like it's a green light. The NHL draft will happen in person. in Vegas at the sphere, June 28, 29th. I guess I'll have to kick you two out of there at that point. They'll take over the sphere. And then this will be the last in-person draft ever. I guess if you're going to go out,

you're going to go out in Vegas at the sphere, right? You're not going to come to Ottawa and quietly do it at the Weston Hotel. You're going out. This is the way to go out, isn't it in Vegas? You go to, hey, man, look, I mean, June 28, June 20, June 29 if you want to hang out for some outdoor concert, LeBretton Flats, why not? What's wrong with that? I like this.

You know what? If you're going to do it, do it one last time, everybody together, Vegas will be fun, right? It's, yeah, it's interesting, though. They're going to, do you care that they're going to go away from the in-person stuff? Like in the future, that's going to be it. Like this is the one-off, this is it. I care more about the fact that because of this, it's up in the air or it's not likely that us media types will be there. If it means I have to watch the draft going forward on television, I would hope that the product would be much better than what we're used to watching on television for the NHL draft.

There's a reason why the NFL draft, and to a certain extent the NBA draft, are much more enticing products to watch on TV because of the players, because of the stories that they have. A lot, especially in the case of NFL and the NBA, for a lot of people who are into college athletics down the states, those stories are everywhere. If you're watching the NBA draft, you may remember a guy's performance from March Madness a couple months earlier,

and you may know about this guy's story, and it's very much a big thing. in the NFL, if you're watching college football, you may have seen this guy win a Heisman. You may have seen this guy dominate for this university in this conference. Like for whatever reason, because of the new cycle in the States with those players,

it's so much more, it's a lot easier to make stories out of those players, even if you're getting into later drafts and the way that we look at mock drafts and all that. In the NHL, like think about how NHL draft coverage has gone. We focus so much on the execs who are on the floor, on the phones talking to other execs.

There's a reason why that Kyle Dupus meme is a thing with him with the two phones. And then like sometimes you see a couple guys in the stands, a couple players in the stands waiting to get their name picked, but their personalities are not nearly as enticing as some of the other ones from the other leagues. So the biggest thing for me is watching the NHL draft and not seeing all of those teams there will probably see

maybe a representative on Zoom or something. What's that going to do for that kid who was, supposed to be drafted third overall, and then he falls all the way to 17th. That's got to be a lot of camera time on that kid. And hopefully that kid is ready for that. And on top of that, how forthcoming will these players be to tell their stories and to be personalities and to be engaging to make the NHL draft as a product as enticing as some of the other leagues in the big four?

Not counting the MLB because I don't mean the MLB draft is not really a big televised event. but the NFL and the NBA certainly are. Yeah, you know, you bring up a good point. Like, there is always the feeling of the, the player who slides in the draft, and then he's just in that green room, like, like, back of the day was Aaron Rogers, right? Like, Aaron Rogers slipped, slip, slip in the draft.

And, and, you know, the camera's on them. In the NHL, like, in recent years, like Shane Wright was a guy who, and he only fell from one to four, but remember like everybody was so interested like remember when he when shade right came up to the podium people thought he like gave a look to the habs it was all kind of whatever so i i don't know like i wonder like i can't think of like of another nchl player who really fell like did like who fell like 15 spots maybe our listeners can help us out like give us like is there a player who was supposed to go top five top 10 who didn't go until like the end of the first round or second round like it's

Like the Aaron Rogers type or Randy Moss. I can't think of any loss. Really fell in his draft year too. And he kept the receipts. Oh, he did. And he made sure to torch everybody else after he got drafted. But like we we've seen got you mentioned chain. Right's a good example.

But yeah, his fall wasn't that wasn't that drastic. I mean, Adam Fantilli, a lot of us thought he was going to go second. And a lot of us were surprised on draft day that he went third. But that's not that drastic of a fall. Like that would just be like, okay. like one pick at most, you're focusing on him a little bit. Like I can't think of anybody who has had, I mean, Cole Caulfield, a lot of people were looking at his talent,

but I don't know if anyone thought of him as like a top five player necessarily. Like there were people who were surprised that he fell into the middle of the first round, but I can't think of anyone who was like, oh, this kid's going to be like a top five bona fide pick. And I don't know. And I'm sure there were, because of some of the other talented players from his draft class, I don't think people were going to hype him up to that point where it's like,

we're going to focus so much attention on him. By the way, I know we're harping on that. Like, that's like one aspect of the television product that I figure might happen as a result of the decentralization of the draft. Like there are so many other things that need to happen in order for the product to be more engaging. I know we're going to focus on that, but like I just want that mention. Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't we, why don't we step aside our pal Mike Russo, who's actually in your city for Flames and Wild.

He's in Calgary. Why don't we step aside for a quick second? We're going to come back. And the first thing we're going to talk to Russo about, the Philadelphia Flyers and forts being torts. Because he's got the Flyers playing in a classic Philadelphia kind of style. And we want to weigh in on that. So we'll get a brief break. Come back with Mike Russo on the other side.

We're in the game because we've got balls. We do. We do stupid stuff. We don't make some play sometimes. Lose sight of certain momentums in the game. a number of things we have to work on and try to get consistent up, but one thing we do have is balls.

John Tortarella, NHL coach or sporting good salesman. We've got balls. Boy, let's bring in our pal Mike Russo here. I'll tell you what, Mike, and you've covered this league a long time, you've been around ports a long time. There might not be a better marriage between a city

and its fan base and its identity than Philadelphia and John Totorella. he's got them going. They beat the penguins on Monday in overtime, on a Couturier overtime winner. They're sitting in a playoff spot. I mean, this guy's pushing for whatever, whatever you want to think about towards,

he's pushing the right buttons right now, isn't he? Yeah, he's ruining the rebuild. He is. You know, he's got them, you know, he's got Cajones. They got Cajonis, as he would say. I'll just say it in a more reader-friendly way. Although we work for the athletic,

if we could say anything and write anything. You know, I mean, I think anybody that knows me knows how much I respect Tortorella. The only time I ever really, you know, criticize him is just sometimes the way that he treats reporters. And, you know, at times he forgets that some people are human beings and have their own problems in life and don't need to be bullied by a coach. But he is, if you ever have a conversation with him, he just wants smart questions. He's got a love for the sport and he's actually a very good, decent human being. And then that's, you kind of wish that he shows that more often. And right now he's got this team playing John Tortorella hockey.

They're blocking shots. They're checking hard, which is always his key word. They're defending well. They're getting, you know, good goaltending from Carter Hart. Their last time I looked, their goals against average was right around seventh in the league. They're killing penalties despite a really lousy power play. And they have a good mix of veterans and young guys there. And, you know, you mentioned Couture's overtime.

winner. I mean, for what this guy's gone through the last couple years with his back injury and surgery and all that, you just, you know, really love to see him back. Connecting just seems to be thriving, you know, with Tororello. You have great guys in that locker room like Cam Atkinson. Then, you know, the young guys are starting to come along. Oh, and Tippett's in a little bit of a drought last time I looked, but, you know, Bobby Brinko, I know well from Minnesota is playing well. So they just have a lot of things going for them. And I think that, you know, I still think that Daniel Breyer and Keith Jones won't take their eye off the ball and look at the the long-term picture of what they plan to continue to build this franchise.

But right now, one way to really fast track a roster reset is to institute a culture of winning. And that's what Tortorella is bringing there right now. In Canada, seeing that John Tortorella clip, we would see it on TSN and TSN Sports Center would promptly do a top 10 John Tortorella sound bites. I would love to know in your opinion, Rousseau, what is the definitive? John Tortorella soundbite. Well, I mean, the one that always pops to my head is him and Brooks going back and forth, Larry Brooks, who I'm really tight with.

I mean, that was always something. And I think they actually have a very mutual respect. Julian, on an aside, I was just with a bunch of our Minnesota-based reporters at practice, and we were just talking like, what is it with Canada and TSN and Sportsnet, that every day there's got to be a top 50-something. And it's 49. It's every show that is on 24 hours a day. Ian, what is that?

You're a former TV guy. Yeah. Like, what is that? We love our listicles. Yeah. We do love listicles here, yes. Yeah, it's, you're right. And it really.

Top 50s. Sports that's got a bunch of those that they have in rotation. And every month, I think they try to at least like refresh it. But you're right. Sports that in particular has that. I guess it's more because of the, of the NHL rights, I guess. but they do have a lot of those clips in rotation. One of the recent,

Torterella, little mini rants that could go on there, I actually agree with when he was talking about it. I don't know if I desperately agree with Luke Hughes and him not being prepared for hit, and that was more his fault than Hathaway doing what he always does and running guys. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I do agree with Torterella in we've become,

I don't want to say a no-hit league, but we have definitely become a league where if somebody is blown up. It is the biggest story ever because we rarely see it anymore. I cannot tell you how many times I watch NHL players skate with their head down in the neutral zone or at the blue line. And then yesteryear, you know, Darian Hatcher, Scott Stevens would absolutely make them pay for it. And now guys just, you know, just let up and don't even consider checking somebody. And I think it's a dangerous thing. And I definitely think that we need to institute back in the game of guys just preparing for hits and not putting themselves in scary positions because every,

single time that happens, I'm like ready for just a huge moment. Like I used to see with, you know, Stevens of Korea or whatever. And, you know, obviously the Lindrae situation and, and we just never see it anymore. And again, I don't necessarily blame Luke Hughes for that play. But I, but the overarching message from John Tuderella, that rant last week, that we could throw that in the top 10. Yeah. You know what?

Is it, oh, you go ahead. No, I think what's got to happen is this has to go back to the youth level. And they have to figure out a way. they have to teach responsible body contact, both in delivering and accepting. And I think you're right, Mike. Like, you watch a lot of games now, and there's a lot of players who don't look like they're prepared.

They're in a vulnerable spot. And it's about education, right? And I think you've got to figure out, teach them how to make a clean hit, but also take a clean hit. Because I think most of us appreciate a degree of physicality in the game. I don't think anybody is advocating for the game to lose physicality. We just want to see it done in a responsible manner.

And I think right now it's almost as reckless or dangerous when players aren't prepared to take the hit. And so that's why I agree with it. And they take for granted that they're not going to get hit, that we're not going to see the Rafi Torres head hunting anymore. And I, you know, in a large way, and I know it's fashionable for everybody to always trash department of player safety in the NHL for anything and the inconsistencies. But the one thing that this league has done really well in the last 10 years is really get away by instituting the checking of the head rule, really getting away from, I mean, when we see head contact, it is such a rare occasion that everything blows up and we criticize and, you know, say the game needs to change. But the reality is, is that these players are starting to realize that that stuff doesn't exist anymore.

So they feel free to skate through the neutral zone with their head down to go into the, you know, the office. offensive zone in a real, you know, vulnerable position. And again, I don't necessarily agree that Luke Hughes did that at the goal line the other day. But I do agree with John Tortorella's overarching message there. And I do think that because the league has done, so such a good job of legislating head contact out of the game so we don't see these dangerous, dangerous incidents anymore, I think players now take it for granted that they don't have to really be prepared for those hits. And I think that's why also when we see a job, gigantic hit. There's always the first in the first inkling is to go and try to fight the guy.

You know, instead of just accepting that sometimes in this sport, you're going to get hit hard. The Board of Governors meetings going on in Seattle right now. A few different items seem to be popping up. The salary cap looks like it's going to go up for next year. 87.7 million seems to be the number, whether it's an approximation or specification. Could be an update with the Olympics as well. expansion. It seems like it's bound to happen. Maybe this isn't the week we hear about it, but it feels like at some point we're going to hear some kind of expansion talk. What did you make of some of the early news items to come out of the B.O.G? Yeah, I mean, I think it's very good news that we're going to start to see the cap rise again now that the escrow has been paid back to the owners from the

pain of the pandemic. You know, I know a lot of people have their own, you know, opinions on that and whether or not that the league could have, the league and the PA could have negotiated something to at least get some sort of a little bump this year, but didn't happen. It's go up about $4 million, and that's good news for a lot of teams and a lot of players that are getting squeezed out right now. Expansion is to me the really interesting thing, because it's going to happen. And I genuinely think Atlanta's coming in five years or so five years after they announce expansion. And I think if for some reason, Arizona moves, it wouldn't shock me if Arizona got a team back because the lead does not want to leave that market. Obviously, Salt Lake City, Houston, some of these markets are involved.

look, I mean, it comes down to that expansion fee and what the owners are going to split. I think the next big fight between the players' association and the owners is to try to get the players to get a piece of that. You know, that is money that is going to be split by 32 owners and does not go into the player's pocket at all whatsoever. And I saw Marty Walsh being interviewed by, I think it was Frank Zellerelli, and he basically said we're going to want a piece of that action. I can tell you right now what Gary Betman is going to say to Marty Walsh is, no, no, no, no.

what you're getting a piece of is is 100 new jobs between 50 contracts, each between two new teams and 46 new NHL jobs. And that's going to really, you know, add a bunch of occupations, obviously, about the league. So that's going to be a comeback from the NHL. So that is going to be a fight here. And the other thing I'm looking forward to is what could be

our last draft to cover in person. I've covered every single draft since 1997, guys, the draft in Pittsburgh. And, you know, I love covering the draft. that every who's who is there. So if this is going to be the final draft that we're going to be covering in person, what better place in that incredible facility, the sphere in Vegas. I cannot wait.

In fact, I can't wait so much that I booked my hotel room about five months ago. So we got to try to get the athletic not to have a group hotel because I got where I want. I got my room that I want, everything. You know that the athletic is booking a group reservation at Circus Circus. Yeah, no, you always get really nice hotels. That's the one thing I'll say about the up.

No, no. Yeah, that's exactly. But it's time that we go back to getting Marriott points. You know, Montreal, we didn't stay at a Marriott property. Nashville, we didn't stay at Marriott. We're sports writers, man. Yeah. That's like the number one rule.

Hey, by the way, Mike, you mentioned you've covered the league and every draft since 1997. Our guy Julian McKenzie here was just referencing What are you born, Julian? That's what I want to know. He's a 93. 94. 94. 94.

He's in 94. 94 of him. He says there's some, and I don't know what this is. I apologize. If this is a fever dream, I'm sorry. I just want to apologize. But like, I swear while my on a road trip I was on last year, I swear to God, I was at the Flames Gabb in Florida at the arena there.

I swear there's like a giant photo of you somewhere in the arena. Oh, anytime there's, anytime there's, you see a photo of me, it's going to be giant, let's be honest. You know, not for my own liking. Yeah, there is a picture of me in the press box. One day they'll probably name it after me when I croak, probably in that press box. Yeah, no, I've covered that team. I cover that team. I mean, what's crazy is that I've covered the wild nine years longer than I covered that team.

Like, I covered that team from 95 to 05, and I've covered the wild. This is my 19th season. So, yeah, 29 in the league. And trust me, the wild, I don't think we'll be putting my picture anywhere unless it's on a dartboard. Oh, my God. You know what? Here's a legit question. So how many, you covered the Panthers for nine?

Ten. Ten. Ten if you include the 0405 lockout, which was my pleasure to cover the return of Mike Keenan as a GM after he was fired as a coach earlier that same season. Okay. So how many other sportswriters in the NHL have covered two franchises for like a decade each? So 10 years covering one team, 10 doing another. Like I think you're in some rarefied air here. Yeah.

You know, I can't remember how long Sarah McClellan covered the Arizona Coyotes, but she replaced me at the Star Tribune of Minnesota. But I started here, what, six years ago. So it's, it's, I've got to think about that. I mean, maybe Helene Elliott. you know, between working, covering the Islanders and then the Kings, I would say definitely her. I don't know how long she was in New York.

Jeff Domet might know. But yeah, I mean, it's been, you know, quite the career. You know, maybe one day I'll get to actually cover one of the teams that I'm actually in charge of covering, go past the first round or go to a Stanley Cup final. Like, I've covered, like, freaking, I mean, I've probably covered 20 Stanley Cup finals, but obviously never. And even my first one, 95, 96, when I covered the Panthers, I, I covered them throughout that year as like back up to the backup to the backup.

And I covered the first round of the playoffs. But just to show you how young I was in 95-96, I covered the first round of the playoffs against the Ranger, against the Boston Bruins. And then I left for summer camp. So that's how long ago, that's how young I was then. And then 97 was really my first like full year as a beatwriter. That was the first, that was the year that they played the Rangers in the first round.

Colie Campbell was the coach Gretzky at a hat. metric, Bukabum. I mean, that team was pretty awesome, that range routine. What summer camp is that?

Like, like, like, like, you, you went to a lake? And like, no,

like, yeah, it was like a staff member at a summer camp in Georgia. Like, I went to this camp for like 11 years. Boy, this,

uh, I bet every bit like all the people behind the scenes of this podcast right now are like, God, can we just talk hockey again? Like really, go off to Wales. Jeff Domette,

who made me run back to the hotel is like, this is what you get you. Jeff. We talk about my childhood days. Don't put this on producer, Jeff. Don't put this on producer, Jeff. He's just doing his best. Yeah. By the way, I hit a sandstorm on this walkback, by the way.

I don't know. It's so warm here in Calgary. The wind was blurt. I got pelted, Julia. Yeah, it's very mild in Calgary today. Like out east, it's being, they got hit with a snowstorm. I don't know how bad it's been in Ottawa for you, Ian. But like in Calgary, it's supposed to be like a high of,

I guess it would be clear. I guess it would be close to like 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It might be a little bit warmer today. It's warm out. It's pretty, we got lucky on this trip. This whole trip, we go Vancouver, Edmonton, and then Seattle. Nice to the league to make us go like that. And, but every, every city, I mean, we're going to be in Edmonton, no snow.

It's going to be pretty cool. Yeah, it makes up for the fact that you haven't covered a team in the Stanley Cup Finer. So that's, yeah, it's kind of fun. Ian and I have covered teams in our respective markets who have been in the Stanley of Final. and you haven't. I've covered that O-4 series. I was here, yeah. I mean, it's, yeah, it's one of these days, one of these days.

Hey, listen, before we pivot, you got a great conversation with Darren Pang that we want to set up. But real quick, you're in Calgary, where the Minnesota Wilde seemed to be turning a corner and how much of that can be attributed to the brand new head coach in John Hines. Three and O, right, since he took over? Yeah, three and no going to tonight's game against Calgary. and obviously, I mean, you know, I think it was a wake-up call to everybody in that locker room. There's a lot of pride in that locker room. They were not delivering.

And I think that this has to do with a lot of your normal coaching bump that you get. They haven't played three of the greatest teams in the league. I'll say that. I mean, you know, their P.K was 32nd in the league, and they got to play St. Louis in Chicago as part of this. One team had six power play goals. The other had seven all season long. So if there were ever two things that could, or two teams that could cure the wilds penalty kill woes, it be those two teams.

They're getting goal-tending from both Gustafin and Fleury. That was something that Dean Everson wasn't getting. But they're just playing fast, fast hockey. Like I was just talking to Jake Middleton and Marcus Felino. And the one different is that there's a lot of clarity in terms of routes. And if you watch them, if they play the way that they were playing in the first three games under John Hines, and if that continues to build tonight, is that they just, there's really short 10 to 15 foot passes. Everybody knows where each other is.

And it just makes them look fast. Their top line has been outstanding with Zuccarello, who's on pace for 97 points, by the way. Caprisoff and Rossi right now under John. Erickson Expected a beast. Faber has been unbelievable. They're getting great play from Jared Spurgeon and Middleton, their best play of the season. And I mean, Felino has just been one of the best shutdown forwards in the league. And the fourth line's been really well to the point that they're winning so much right now that Hartman's had to really buy his time since back in the lineup from the league.

in from the suspension and play on the fourth line. So, so far, so good. You know, they play Vancouver. They usually always win in Edmonton. Then they go to Seattle, a team that they have a ton of games in hand on in a team that I don't, I think might have overachieve last year and hasn't looked great. So these are winnable games. And, you know, it's a chance to really climb up the standings a bit until they start to get the real heavy weights of the league that we'll see then if this team is actually for real and back to where they were during their back-to-back 100-point seasons under Eveson. And I got to talk to Eveson last week, had breakfast with them.

And he understands it. And he doesn't agree that's the spark that be needed, but he also gets that this is what you sign up for as a coach in the National Hockey League. Excellent. Listen, we look forward. I know Julian is looking forward to that game tonight. Minnesota and Calgary. So speaking of people who have covered two teams,

Mike Russo has done the Panthers and the wild, Darren Pang doing the old switcheroo this year, went from St. Louis to Chicago. So set this one up. Our listeners and viewers, you're about to get roughly a 20-minute conversation with Mike Russo and Darren Pang. So what do we have in store for us here?

Yeah, I mean, obviously we talk a lot about the Chicago Blackhawks and the rebuild that they're going on there and a lot of the week that Connor, the season that Conrad has had, but also the week that Conor-Badard had last week, with just getting into, you know, his name being dragged through social media in just an really unfortunate way. You know, he talks about the line of questioning that Connor endured in Winnipeg.

You know, I will say this. I'm always uncomfortable, you know, criticizing people that, you know, that do our jobs and we're the ones that have to ask tough questions. I never saw the line of questioning. I wasn't there for it. But he talks about that and how he didn't think it was fair to Connor. And then he talks about, you know, Soder Blooms. and what he thinks in terms of his future in goal,

whether or not he thinks that he could play goal in today's NHL, and we talk a little bit about just the league, you know, as a whole. We talk a lot about Rocky Warts as well. If you remember Rocky and him were super tight. One big reason why he went to Chicago from St. Louis, as you mentioned, Ian, was because of Rocky being the owner there. And then unfortunately, soon after he gets there, Rocky dies unexpectedly.

And so much so that it was Darren Pang that did the public emceeing at his memorial. So they were really tight and it's emotional conversation they're talking about Rocky Works. All right. Well, listen, that sounds like a great conversation. Thanks again, as always for dropping by on a Tuesday. Enjoy the game tonight. We'll hit you up again next Tuesday.

Yep, see you guys. Take care. Yeah. There he goes. There goes, Mike Russo. Julian, we need a picture of the two of you in the press box tonight, all right? Make sure, yeah. Yeah, I'll make that happen.

Yeah, make it happen. All right. Okay, so for the listeners, for the viewers, here you go, roughly 20 minutes, It's a conversation with a Chicago and T&T analyst Darren Pang and our own Mike Russo. Happy to be joined by one of the best broadcasters that ever played the game. One of the best goalies that ever played the game. Oh, no, easy now, Mike.

Easy now. 27 wins doesn't get me that one there. The great Darren Pang, TNT has been ESPN for years before that, coyotes, blues, and now, of course, with the Blackhawks replacing the great Eddie Olchuk. And, you know, the first thing that strikes me is the pin on your, on your lapel on your jacket, Darren, the Rocky pin. And I know you were very close with him. You come there and he passes away tragically soon right after it.

I know you emceed the public service. How much did it hurt you and just what he meant to this organization? Well, he's just an incredible person. And our relationship goes back so long, obviously, when Bill own the Hawks while I was playing, I got a couple calls from Rockies. He had the 10-year-old son named him. Danny, Danny wanted to be a goalie, and Rocky would ask me, would you mind, I've got some ice up here in Winnetka or Wilmette, up on the North Shore? And he said, would you mind teaching Danny how to play goal? You're his favorite player. And so as years went on, I, you know, we continued our relationship. Every time I went into Chicago, no matter who I was working for, I'd always ask security, is Rocky here? And Rocky'd be having dinner, he'd get right up, and we'd give each other a hug. And so he was, and he was highly influential on, on making this move. And he was, he, he

He was a very persuasive, powerful, kind human. And in my last conversation with him, I was sitting in my lake on an Ed Rondack chair. And in fact, I thought that I would get right into the mood of talking to Rocky and making a decision to return to Chicago. And I had a bourbon and a cigar. And I remember thinking, Rocky would love this. He's probably doing the same thing in his backyard right now. And so very sad that, you know, not even a month later that Rocky had passed. I was very fortunate to be in the offices.

And my wife Lynn has known Rocky and the family, too, since I played with the Hawks in the 80s. And we just, by chance, walked down a hallway, went to meet with Jamie Faulkner, the president. And I looked to the right of him like, Rocky. You know, because I hadn't seen them, you know, through the summer. We talked on the phone all the time. And I feel so fortunate we were able to sit there for about 45 minutes and just talking about everything, talking about the old stadium, talking about Danny, talking about the future, the Blackhawks, he was telling me how excited he was for me to be there. And I just felt like a million bucks.

I felt like that, you know, you've got to get a man of that stature and that power, but such a kind man that wants you there, it was just a really great feeling. And then, you know, then a couple weeks later, we all heard the news, which was so sad. Yeah. So sad. I mean, he's just a, he's great for hockey. I tell you what, I remember when, when, you know, I wasn't, obviously I wasn't with the hawks. I haven't been with them since, shoot, 1994.

probably. And I got the news that he was taken over and that they were going to be on home TV. I remember telling my son at the time, I said, the Hawks are going to be on home TV. Like, this is 2008 or something like that. And by now my son's growing up. He doesn't live in Chicago or whatever, but I'm like, you believe that? The kids of today are going to be able to watch them at home. And it always frustrated my son when he was a kid growing up. And at one point, he wrote Bill Words a letter saying, why is my favorite player like the Isermans and the Sackx and the Yagersers? And I can't even watch our team at home, you know. That's great.

Anyway, so long story short, when Rocky took over and made that decision, I was so excited for the city of Chicago and look what happened after that three Stanley Cups in a short amount of time. And here you now are on their television sets, which is pretty awesome. You know, last time you and I did a podcast, I was talking to Keith Jones about this, because I did about a month ago I was in Philly and did a podcast with him. It was you and him. We did it at the West and downtown Minneapolis the day before the coldest winter classic in history. as you both know abundantly well because you had to be outside.

No, no, no, no. Jonesy was up. He was up in the heat up there. I was between the benches. I was the one freezing because that winter classic, Edzo wasn't able to make it. So I was between the bench. So we did a little reversal.

And I knew that. I knew that Jonesy. He was not going to go between the benches. He was going to slide up there in the nice warm, whether he had one little sweater on and I was freezing down below. What was that like for you to be behind the matches? You got the best view ever of Jordan Kairu, dominating a winter classic.

Unbelievable. He was unbelievable. Yeah, you are right. I think, I think that's the neat thing about winter classics. There's always somebody that just kind of, you know, I don't know whether they just think they're a kid again or think they're on the pond or think they're playing outdoor hockey, but he definitely put on a show. What I remember is my face was burning, and one of the trainers, I'm not sure.

I think it was Ray Barilli of the blues. He came in, he gave me some cream. And he says, you got to wear this cream. you're really going to get like windburn bad. Yeah. And so I put it on. I remember thinking, wow, that is amazing stuff. It just deflected off my face.

And just being around there and the environment, people that say, like, ah, winter classic, it's, we've done it before. It's, it's, oh, yeah, really? Go inside that market like you did it right here in, in mini. And it wasn't old. It wasn't bad. It was, that's all everybody talked about for three days was the winter classic. Yeah.

So I'm all in and I'm looking forward to going to Seattle and be a month away. Yeah. A little warmer weather. Yeah. Yeah, that's for sure. What was it about television that you just fell in love with? Because obviously, as you know, I mean, I know that you're a humble guy, but you are one of the most popular color analysts there ever has been. And people just love every time that you're on that television.

What is it about it that you fell in love with? Well, I was rehab in my ACL. In 89, I tore my ACL in the playoffs against Calgary. And over the summertime, to get long story short, we kind of misdiagnosed it. We weren't sure. We thought it was a sprain. And then by September, I just had this incredible pain. And we realized then that it was a torn ACL.

So all that winter, so from September all the way, a producer, Lisa Seltsdale, I'm not sure if you remember Lisa. Yeah, I did. She was a producer and director for Patton Dale because they simulcast back then. And she is really influential in my decision making. And she was the one that asked Bob Palford for permission for me to do college hockey. So I guess they talked on the side and Polly thought it was a great idea because coming back from an ACL at my size and maybe, you know, maybe I wouldn't be back. So basically, I did I did UIC Flames hockey. I did Michigan State.

I did Ferris State. I did Bowling Green. Like I really got my feet wet in that part of the business. And Lisa Seltzer really helped me along the way. and I came back after doing a game. It was a live game. I remember it was Bowling Green, Rob Blake, and, oh, shoot, who's Blakey with, anyway, Blakey was on that bowling green team.

And I came home, and I was just, it was exhilarating for me. It was so exciting. And so I knew from that moment, I think I got something else here. And that's where, you know, I've always loved watching hockey. I always had books on players. I always had, you know, that came easy for it. me. People that they say, oh, no, he's a hockey. That guy's a hockey nerd. He watches hockey. I'm like, hockey nerd. He just loves the game of hockey. You know, I love watching hockey. And I still, to

this day, love watching the game. And so I think that's how that transition, Mike, became really easy for me to get out of the game of hockey. Yeah, and have something else. Yeah. And have something else, you know, I ended up re-injuring my knee again after going down to the minors. And that, if I didn't have that broadcast, I probably would have tried again. But I had something else and I was excited by something else. So it was a big relief that I, that I was able to maybe make a living and support a family because that's the big question is after you've played just even a short amount of time. I was a six-year pro.

Didn't make enough money. So you had to do this. And now you're a star golfer and great. I see all the pictures all the time on Twitter and all that stuff. You mentioned before we talk about the Blackhoss. You mentioned, you know, your size and coming back. You know, today's game, it's all about, you know, a lot of times these teams want those Ben Bishop types and Ned, the big giant goalies. Because at a minimum, the best save could be just hitting you.

Do you think that you could have played in today's game with today's technology and just the speed and all that type of stuff or no? I wouldn't have got a chance. I mean, heck, some of these GMs, I don't like it and I don't agree with them saying this publicly, but I've heard many of them say, we don't even look at a goalie that's under six foot two. And I think that's very unfair. You know, I think there's always going to be an extremely elite athlete that can maybe outthink a bigger guy. And so, but naturally, you know, when I was playing the defensemen were, you know, the six-foot-four guys and the goalies were the five-foot-eight guys. And now the defensemen of the five-foot-eight guys and the goalies are the six-foot-five guys. So what a change that has been.

Could I play? I really think my brain could play. I do. I think I thought the game well as a goalie. I believe that I made it to the NHL because I had good hockey sense. And I could read a play and I knew shooters and passers. And I really studied the game. I studied the color of their tape, their curve, their make of their stick.

So I had to because I had to have that edge being so small. I mean, I played in the NHL at, I wasn't even 5'5. So I'm 5.4.5. I was 135 pounds when I played. So if you think that we got goalies that are 6-4, 260 pounds. Right. exactly, you know, they're a foot and 100 pounds heavier. Yeah.

And that is some bigger. And some bigger. Yeah. Yeah. I've covered some undersized guys and they all were able to play at an incredibly. I mean, I covered Mike Vernon in Florida, John Van Viesburg in Florida, Alex Steylock here and all of them played at the high level. But you're right.

I mean, it's just seems like, you know, you've got a, it's a tougher challenge to get to that spot because people don't even, they just discount you're right from the beginning. Let's talk about this Blackhawks team. Most people, I'm sure, talk to you about Connor Bardard first. I wanted to ask you about the goalie, Sutterblum. I mean, up and down, young goalie. What do you think of him and his future? Yeah, I think, I mean, Arvid's doing what every goalie should be doing.

That's just growing leaps and bounds by, you know, by every game and learning the game. So, you know, I mean, I prefer, like, I personally think that goaltenders should spend two, three years in the minors. Yeah. Ask Wild fans are getting, getting impatient for Walsdet. They are, you know. And that's not the first time that's happened, but you've got to be patient. And I do believe in that process. And I believe that when the goal is ready to be a goalie here, then he should probably be an all-star.

He should be up for MVP. You know, he should be a first three stars of almost every game down there. That's just the facts. And if he's not, then he's not ready for this league. Because this is the best league in the world. You can't learn it. Going back to Soderblum, there are times where I look at him and I'm like, Like he's, he's got an NHL body.

He's got an NHL. The technique is very sound. But there's some certain plays in the game that are, that are beaten him and their backdoor plays. It's only because, you know, it's the hockey sense to know what's around you and what plays are going to be made. But by and large, he's great off the wing. I mean, he makes some unbelievable, last night he made some unbelievable saves in the game

to keep the game going against a really tough Winnipeg Jets team. So, but you're going to see Marazick today. and Marazic's a really athletic guy. Side to side, he's really, really good, post to post. He's got a, you can tell that he's been around the league for a long time. He's got maybe better awareness than what Soderblum does. He's got better, maybe control of his crease is the way that Marty Berder used to say. And I can really see that with an older goalie like Marazic and a younger goalie like Arvid.

Badarado, heading into tonight's or today's wild game, 11 goals, 22 points. It's, excuse me, 11 goals, 19 points in 22 games. He's minus 14, 19, 23 in Ice Time, eight-game road point streak. You know, and again, watching him yesterday, you know, he brushes off checks. He just seems like he is developing at the right pace right now and showing people that this is not a fluke that he was drafted first overall. Yeah, not a fluke whatsoever. The guy's got great presence. He's an unbelievable kid.

I mean, really, he's a gracious person. He's being really led in the right direction to, I know. I see Nick Folino and Connor Murphy and Seth Jones with him and these guys and making sure that he understands that if there's 17 kids that are nearby that, you know, that don't distance yourself. And you can say, and he doesn't. He really takes care of that part of it. But on the ice part of it, Mike, I think because the Hawks are losing games, he, what I've been impressed with is his competitiveness. He doesn't take losing lightly, which is phenomenal to hear. You know, it doesn't matter what league you're in.

You should not like to lose. And he does not like to lose. He does not like to have a bad shift. He doesn't like to make a bad decision with the puck. And what I've seen since then, maybe the last eight to 10 games is just a more fierce competitor on pucks. You know, instead of just a big swoop with one hand on your stick, he's staying in the battle. And he stops and starts and he's trying to bump guys and not being afraid of that. So early in the season, he got pushed aside by Brad Marchand in the second game.

and he didn't kind of know what to do. Like it's Brad Marchand, Marshan's got him tied up and knots on a line change in the second period. He can't get off this. He can't go to the bench. And you could see this look on his face like, what am I supposed to do? Yeah.

You know? And then as games have gone on now, if that's happened today, for example, he gives the guy, he gives him a shove. Like he's, so he gets in the corner and if he gets shoved, he'll go right back at a guy. So obviously it's not his number one part of his game, but it's a great part of the game that I've seen so far.

Yeah. So besides the, The shot is great. The hockey sense is great. You know, all that stuff is wonderful, but it's a competitiveness that I,

that I've really admired. Yeah, some of the things that some guys are doing to him. I remember what Pavel Burray used to do him, put two-hand lumber right on the guy's arm. Pavely used to do that once every, like first five minutes of every game, just to give himself a little distance.

Always. Yeah, yeah, he had a mean mentality. Yeah, he did. Yep. Not to, I don't want to ask you about the Corey Perry's stuff,

and I put you in that position, but just, you know, how impressed have you have been, And just, it's got to be just the most awkward thing for Padar to have to deal with the last couple weeks. And handle it well. Handle it well. In fact, Mark Chippman, you know, the president and owner of the Winnipeg Jets, took the time as the Hawks were getting on the bus to leave and made sure he went up to Connor and apologized that.

A couple reporters. Those questions. It was really one reporter. His name is Paul Friesen. And he, you know, one question was asked. Connor answered it beautifully. I don't know if you know, you're, like he, he was, he's not afraid to answer it. He's not afraid to tell people that he's aware of what goes on.

And basically this is, it's a bunch of BS. Yeah. We're, we're okay with our families. We're good. Well, then the Paul Freese and asked another question, another question, another question, another question. And so that's what Mark Chipman was apologizing for. And again, you know, Connors, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's aged beyond 18. Yeah.

You know, I mean, and so it was impressive. But the other part of it is they're missing a friend in a friend enough. player. What happened? Nobody knows. I'm not into the speculation game. I don't care to. But really, Corey Perry was a big part of, of this season. He was a big part of the way the team played. He was a big part of being in the room, the big part of, you know, showing guys after, after, you know, after every practice, he's on the ice with Connor. He's working on little things. Yeah. You know, so it's really, it was really kind of sad to be honest with you that a decision was made that has caused this ripple down effect

and now Corey Perry's you know he's obviously not here and he's got to get some help and uh but as far as being on the ice because that's what I am as an analyst is I miss seen Cory Perry on the ice. Yeah. Net front presence.

Battles in the corner. Like those are the intricacies of the game that you need to have, but you need the special guys that can do it. Yeah. And so they don't have them anymore. Yeah. That's really uplifting about Mark Chippen by the way because he is a class item. Absolutely.

What he did for Neil Pionk and, and those guys when, um, you know, He passed away, flying him up to Arizona, getting him down. St. Louis just says everything about him. And, you know, I've gotten a chance to talk to him a couple times. I did Jeff Vennick feature a couple years ago.

Owners don't love talking about other owners. Mark Chipman called me for that story. So really class-sack. You mentioned Nick Folino and Connor Murphy. I got to ask you about Conner Murphy because I covered his dad in Florida. It's still one of my favorite panthers I've ever covered. It seems like the apple doesn't fall from the tree with him. He looks exactly like him.

He sure does. I, you know, I haven't seen Connor a whole lot. because he hadn't been on good teams. You know, in Arizona, they weren't that good at that point. And he comes to Chicago. But boy, if I admired his, he blocks everything that comes his way. He's gotten a couple of scraps. He battles like crazy.

He's great on the PK. I mean, he'd be the one guy that, did I underestimate before I got here? I think he would be the one guy that I really did. I didn't have a true assessment of the way he plays. and when you see him every single day, he lays it on the line. Yeah. Yeah. He really reminds me.

It looks like dad. Yeah, exactly. Final question. You know, Patrick Kahn signs with the Red Wings. There's just something weird about seeing him in Red Wings practice jerseys. We just saw him in the day. I mean, it's just, it's so strange to me, you know, because, you know, not that Red Wings and Blackhawks are in the same conference anymore, but it is, it's like, you know, it's just, it's original six rivalry right there. How fun will those Blackhawks Red Wings games be?

and just like, I can't even imagine what it's going to be like. Well, you know what, barring any health issues, his first game in Chicago is going to be the game that Chris Chelyo's sweater gets retired. Wow. Like, you can't make this up. Yeah. You know, February 25th, it's going to be a rock show of all rock shows. He's Eddie, between Eddie veteran kid rock and I think Gretzky and Jordan are coming in for it.

It's going to be an amazing ceremony to retire Chelly's jersey. But do remember, they did a little honoring Rocky talk. I talked Chely had to do with this. Chelly was telling me this story that this was a several years ago when they brought Chelly back as an ambassador. And so he went to Santa Rice. They did kind of an honored him, you know, one of those things. And Chelly told Rocky, he said, Rocky, don't do it.

They're going to boo me. They still haven't gotten over it. And sure enough, they booed him. And he dropped his mic and he kind of, it was frustrating for him. So now here it is again. And it's going to be Patrick Kane and the Detroit Red Wings coming into Chicago for that moment. it's going to be something else.

But two different situations. I mean, Chelly couldn't, there was a contract situation. And I mean, Bob Murray looks back at this now. He'd go, ooh, what was I?

How did I make that move? Let's just get the contract done. And let's keep him as a hawk. Instead, he sends him to Detroit. You know, and Patrick Keynes a UFA. So, you know,

he wasn't coming back to Chicago. That was quite clear. So I think it's a different scenario. But again, it is the Detroit Red Wings. And it is fascinating. And anyway, it's,

it's good for, for the Detroit Red Wings. If they need a player like that and a shot in the arm like that, this is the year because they're in a situation of having to make the playoffs. Yeah, yeah. Well, Hayer, as always, really appreciate your gentleman for always being willing to do this,

especially, you know, an hour before your telecast. So thanks as always. That is Darren Peng and back to you, Julian and Ian. There we go. As always,

terrific stuff with Mike Russo and Darren Penn. Okay, Julian, let's wrap up the Tuesday pod. Hit on a couple of items here. start with this because the board of governors, we talk about this on Monday, border governors meeting in Seattle. They kind of just wrap things up by the looks of it and the sounds of it. Pierre LeBron is there for us with the athletic. He's reporting that Gary Bettman in his conversation with reporters says that February of 2025, so I think 14 months from now, we're going to get

a version of a best on best. And it does look like the format is going to be a four-team tournament, Finland, Sweden, the United States in Canada. That's in February of 2025. And then in an ideal world, the Olympics in 2026 and the World Cup of hockey in 2028 and they'll alternate every two years after that. So that sounds exciting. That sounds good. But how do you feel about the 2025 kind of weird thing where it's only four countries involved?

It is what it is. If that's as close as we're going to get and then we're going to get the real stuff in the coming years, I'm okay with that. I'm very, we've, we've had a lot of discussions about what we would have liked to have seen in place of a 14 tournament. But at this point, I'll just take it if it means that the path to an Olympics and World Cup of Hockey rotation is not too far behind. How about a little shout out to the Arizona coyotes this week? You know, Julian, they are in the midst of a homestand where they've played very well. they've won five consecutive games,

but there's an interesting disclaimer to those five games. Check this out. The coyotes have won five games in a row. They're on a classic heater here, where they've just happened to beat the last five Stanley Cup champions. It would have been really cool

if somehow it was in order, but they've beaten, I'm just double checking this, they've beaten Vegas, Tampa, Colorado, St. Louis, Washington. Washington was a 6-0 beatdown on Monday. what a remarkable story for them.

What a remarkable story for Arizona. They've got with Connor Ingram in goal for all five of those games. You probably never get this again. It's a coincidence, but you'll probably never get this again. A team on a five game winning streak against the last five Stanley Cup champions. Pretty cool. And of all teams to do that, the Arizona Coyotes, that's a team that's knocking on the door of trying to make the playoffs this year. I don't know if you've looked at like the Western Conference,

endings lately, but like the wild card, at least for the last few days, it's been some version of like St. Louis or Arizona in those two wild card spots. Yeah. Yeah. But you don't think that at the end of the, like, if I had to ask you, because you really, obviously, you cover Calgary, you're a little bit, not a little bit, you're a lot more in tune with the Western Conference than I would be. If you had to pick the number of points that it's going to take to get into the West,

the second wild card spot, what's your, what's your answer right now? I'm terrible with dictating. I mean, if 90s enough, I mean, I don't know if you need a little bit more. I know I'm terrible at dictating points for that sort of thing. But just looking at the standings right now between Arizona,

St. Louis, Nashville is kind of hovering around. I'm still not ready to count out the flames just yet, but the crack and the fact that they've fallen all the way this far behind, 22 points at this point. Like, that is a pretty big surprise for me. and we got it

if Emmettitz finds a way to go on a heater they've won four in a row and if they go God mode for the rest of the year they probably end up in one of those wild card spots 90 something points seems like a pretty good threshold but it would be really fascinating to see the Arizona Coyotes

after all these years of presumed tanking the Mullet Arena stuff all these different versions of these teams over the last few years for them to finally be in a position where they could make the playoffs and bring playoff hockey to Arizona and then we get to see what that arena looks like in a playoff scenario, wouldn't that be something?

I think it's something what we're going to see in Vancouver on Tuesday night, not one, not two, but three. Hughes brothers on the ice for the very first time. Obviously, Quinn and Jack have played each other, but welcome to the party, Luke Hughes. This is going to be a pretty cool moment in Vancouver on Tuesday night as the three Hughes brothers get together. It makes me really think back to obviously the Sutter brothers when they played and there were six of them. But I even think about in Quebec back in the 80s, they had the three Stasney brothers, all on the same team, all, you know, playing forward. But this is something really cool that's going to happen in Vancouver on Tuesday night.

I think that's so cool. I think the idea of just have, I mean, it's a bit unbalanced with two brothers on one team and one brother on the other. But the idea that brothers are just played against each other, obviously when we get the opportunity to see a shift between like Jack versus Quinn or or an opportunity where maybe Luke's on the ice and Quinn's on the ice or if

all three of them are going to have to be on the ice at some point. Yeah. If that's not already a thing that could be easily facilitated. Like to start the game, both coaches need to have that set where Quinn is starting on the Vancouver side. Jack and Luke are playing and starting on the

other side. We need that for the culture. Okay, we're going to end with something fun, but before we do, before we get to that, real quick, because on Monday's pod, we ask people for suggestions for a team name of the NHL, if Salt Lake City landed an NHL team. Okay? We weren't sure, right?

We said we are not familiar with like the culture and the geography and all that, that fun stuff that sometimes goes into making a team. So Jared writes and, I mean, sounds like Jared is from Salt Lake City. Jared says We currently have the ECHL Grizzlies And there are no grizzly bears in Utah Salt Lake City is Located on the Westatch

Mountain Range So the Sasquatch name would be Apropos Outdoor Recreation is a hallmark of Utah Five National Parks Strong gaming population So maybe even the elk Could work

As the name and then there's a mule what's this mule deer business mule deer yeah mule deer what is that I have never heard of this what is this yeah it better be mulees and not mulees

because the salt lake city moules is not going to work as a team no it is not no no no no no no no no no no no no no no absolutely not He better have tried to pronounce it another way. I bet he did. But like,

it better not be salt lake city bullies. I'll tell you that. We had someone write in yesterday and say, they should be called the Salt Lake City Mormons, if you recall. I remember that. I thought of a different one last night along those nights. What about the storming Mormons? No.

No. No. I don't. You can't do that. You can't do that. This is why I said. This is a brainstorming session. It's a good joke.

It's a great joke even, but I need to stop anyway. Storffin Borbens is not going to fly. I just, no, I'm just building upon a suggestion from a listener. I do not want the morbid community after us, Ian. No, we don't.

Okay. Let's wrap with this. It is Andre Vazolevsky's post-game scrum. Monday night, that, well, we just want you to listen for something in the background of this. Have a listen. What's about your mind in the last 48 hours from the end of the game on Saturday to the start of this one? Yeah, I mean, obviously, it wasn't great feeling last game, but that was the question. Yeah, yeah, mind.

Yeah, so just. Okay, in case you didn't hear it, in the middle of that, someone let one rip. And my question is, like, where's that, does that come from a reporter? Does that come from a player?

Like, have we gotten to the bottom of who let one go in the Basilevsky scrum? Oh, man. I don't know if they'd want to let themselves be known whether it's a reporter PR staffer like I would do it I know if that was

me I would do everything I can to not call it bring attention to myself like I would just let it rip and it's just I'm just there and everyone like at this point whoever smelt it dealt it Ian my God

whoever it would be like whoever did the ride did the grab I I don't know that that one was an all time for you like you could just see like all of a sudden you see the look on Vasilevsky space like, you kidding me? Who, who just let one go? Do you think this happens if the lightning

lose that game? Like if someone just lets one rip, does everyone laugh? Or is it just super awkward? No, I think you still laugh. I don't, I don't care if you're this, if you're the San Jose sharks and that happens, I think you're still laughing. Aren't you? I would think so, but like, depending on how the team's going, like,

you know, should you be laughing at any point after you lose for nothing? I don't know. That's why I ask. It's a lot easier for Roger Vasilowski to get that laugh off after a 4-0-0-0-0-win, especially with that team

and what happened to them against the Dallas Stars a couple nights earlier. Could you imagine him laugh at after that? Like, someone might get mad. I don't know. I wouldn't, it wouldn't matter to me,

but maybe it might be a bit more awkward to laugh at a display of a flatulence. Man. Anyway, that was an all-timer for me in terms of, couldn't believe awkward I don't know we love to hear from our listeners

the athletic hockey show at gmail.com has there ever been a more awkward scrum moment ever that you can think of more awkward than that more awkward than that I accidentally spilled

Megan Mickelson's coffee during a scrum once that was tough for those also watching online there's the photo I was trying to reference earlier. That's the photo of Mike Russo in the now Amarant Bank Arena press box. He's on the media wall.

What is this from Jostens? Like who took this phone? This is a Justin's photo of Mike Russo. This is like his high school grab photo. What is this? Yo, Michael Russo. I thought it was like him working. I thought it was it working.

This is his class of 93. whatever camp he went to. Michael, Mike, this is before the, this is before the prop. This is before the prom, exactly. How do you think Michael Russo got down at prom? How do you think he would have gotten down

in high school, like trying to like get himself going at prom? How do you think that goes? How do you think that goes down for Russo? We should have asked them. Well, the guy was a summer camp guy. So, Rousseau probably knows like who's dating who and who's going to prom with who. Like he would have provided all the updates. But like, like I would like to think he had someone in mind for brought.

I'd like to think that. We'll ask him next week when he drops by for Mike Check. On Wednesday, the athletic hockey show, it's the two of us again. Sean McAdoo is always, down goes Brown is going to be with us. Shana Goldman. What did we learn about the NHL in November?

Shane is going to drop by and teaches a thing or two about what happened in the last month in the NHL. And Thursday, of course, as always, Haley Salvean, Max, Sean Gentilly. so Boltman, Gentilly, Salve, and that comes your way on Thursday. And that puts a wrap on the Tuesday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. Hit us up, The Athletic Hockey Show at gmail.com. Anything that we got to today or even on Monday, if you want to weigh in on what you used to scrape your car,

what a good team name would be in Salt Lake City, best on best, awkward scrub moments. We're here for it. And we love weighing in or when you weigh in on our stuff. So The Athletic Hockey Show at gmail.com. And right now we want to let you know, we've got a fantastic deal to be a subscriber with the Athletic through the Athletic Hockey Show. From now until the end of the year,

you can get a one-year subscription or give it as a gift to The Athletic for 1999. For a year, you get a two-year subscription for $39.99. When you visit the athletic.com slash hockey show. So that does it for Tuesday. Enjoy the games tonight. Julian, we need a selfie with you and Russo before we hit the show tomorrow, all right?

You'll get it. Love it. All right. Have a good one, everybody. We'll chat with you Wednesday.