The Athletic Hockey Show - Phil Kessel: NHL ironman, Eric Staal excited for the opportunity with Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks in turmoil

Episode Date: October 26, 2022

Rob, Jesse and Russo stick tap Phil Kessel, the NHL's consecutive games played leader, Carey Price's future in the NHL, the struggling Vancouver Canucks, Marc-Andre Fleury reaches another milestone and Alexandar Georgiev gets the last laugh in Manhattan. On the management side of the game, coaching an original six team intrigues Barry Trotz and Billy Guerin challenges his Minnesota Wild.Stanley Cup and Olympic Gold Medal champion Eric Staal joins the roundtable to discuss his new deal with the Florida Panthers, playing with brother Marc, and for Paul Maurice and what he thinks the Panthers chances are this season. Plus in light of the Arizona Coyotes less than stellar road dressing rooms at Mullet Arena, we ask Eric what the worst road arena dressing room in the NHL is?Get a 6 month subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshowSubscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3BKz27u Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. What's going on, guys? Welcome to the Athletic Hockey Show, the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. I am Rob Bezo from CBC Sports, joined, as always, by Jesse Granger in Vegas. What's going on, Jesse? Good. Late night game. Always enjoy the 750 starts.

For you guys on the East Coast, I believe that's an almost 11 p.m. start last night for Golden Knights Sharks. So played hockey well into the night. Did anything big happen in that game? That's my only question. We'll get to it later. I'm sure we'll hit it. It was a pretty good game, a loud game for the fans in San Jose. And that other voice you hear is Michael Russo, who I wanted to leave till second because he was showing us, Jesse, before you came on the Zoom call.

His presidential suite in Montreal, I mean, just traveling in style, getting bumped up in the hotel. Is that what happens when you become part of the athletic? hockey show the Wednesday Roundtable Edition, they start putting you up in, like, presidential suites and stuff. That's exactly what happened. I checked in. They're like, you're a podcaster for the athletic, right? And I'm like, yes, I am. And they're like, hey, we got something special for you. So, yeah, I checked in here. And they're like, hey, we assigned you a room. It's not ready yet. We could put you in another room, but it's just like a double bed room. I'm like, okay, yeah, that'd be fine. I got to get to work. And they're like, the other room is this gigantic, enormous suite that we have. And I'm like, but she goes,

The problem is that the person's not checking out until one and it's so big that we're going to need like an hour, two hours to clean it. I'm like, I think I'll wait. And so, yeah, so I just worked in the concierge lounge all Sunday. And this is a three-day stay. So this worked out perfectly. I've done a couple podcasts here, written a couple stories. And it's even the price of a regular hotel room. So I'm not even ruining our athletic budget.

Traveling in style. And speaking of being a big podcaster, I had my men's league hockey game on Monday and I'm a left winger. and I line up for a face off against the other team's right winger and he kind of gives me a little hook kind of like puts a sticker on my stick and he says, loving the podcast this year, man, loving the podcast. So I thought I'd pass that along to you and never got his name.

All I know is we won in overtime. So that's the only thing that really matters for that one there. But thanks, thanks for the compliment. Russo, you alluded to it. One of the things we have to talk about, we're going to get right to it because we've got a lot to get through today. Something happened in that Vegas game. and it was 13 years in the making.

We knew it was coming, barring something crazy, but Phil Kessel playing in his 990th straight game. And if you want to include the playoffs, it's actually 1,071, which I kind of think you should. Yeah, why would you? I digress. I know, like, that's even much more impressive. Breaking Keith Yandel's record,

which poor Keith Yandel held it for just 272 days. It's a record, like I said, 13 years in the making. four franchises, parts of 14 seasons, and just for the cherry on top, guys, he scores his 400th goal. So Phil Kessel is the NHL's newest Iron Man. Jesse, you know, you've been covering him for so long in Vegas, your thoughts on what you saw last night. Yeah, it was cool. I think it's cool that it's Phil Castle, that's the NHL Iron Man. Like, he's just such a character, and he's a character. You have to put quotations around the word Iron Man. It is. It is hilarious. I mean, the guy is, he's hilarious. I, I remember. So the practice before he tied it two

mornings ago, they all pushed him in front of the, into the center circle, the stretch circle at the end of practice. And he's, he's such a, like, shy guy that, like, he doesn't want the spotlight. He's, like, so bashful. He's, he's in awshucks mode right now. And they push him into the center, and they're all tapping their sticks as long as they possibly can to make him uncomfortable for as long as they can. And anyways, I'm joking with the guys after. And Bruce Cassidy, I go, Bruce, we know Phil doesn't like the attention. And Cassidy quickly goes. And he doesn't like to stretch, which is hilarious to me because we all know anyone who's played a sport in their life, even in PE growing up, the most simplistic form of injury prevention is stretching.

This guy who doesn't stretch, he drinks Coca-Cola. Pola every morning. He doesn't drink water. This is the guy who played a thousand almost games in a row, over a thousand if you count the playoffs. It's just insane to me. It obviously requires a little bit of luck, but it also requires him to be incredibly hockey smart. He sees things on the ice very well. He doesn't put himself in bad positions. It was really cool to see. Obviously, the 400th goal was cool. Phil's a character. It's incredible that that guy is. is the NHL Ironman. Yeah, I am, you know, I was so bummed when they took away his goal when he tied the record. And then for him to score his 400th goal when he actually gets the record, it made it to me such a much more dramatic moment. The way he scored a two blowing by a defender. The first goal of the game, I mean, flare for the dramatic from a guy that doesn't like

the spotlight, as Jesse alluded to. You know, it's funny, I wish I knew Phil better in 2006 to understand what I was getting myself into. So I covered the 2006 Stanley Cup final, Edmonton and Carolina, and back then they used to bring all the top prospects to the Stanley Cup final before the draft. And Phil Kessel was one of them. Eric Johnson was one of them. And obviously being the Star Tribune writer at that time for Minnesota, I sat down at the, I forget what the hotel is called now, but it was a Sutton place back then in Edmonton. And I sat down with them and I immediately hit it off with Eric Johnson because he's a quote machine.

Phil was so shy and such a bad quote that me, even as a veteran sports writers at that point for 15 years, I was sweating through this interview. It was such, it was grasping at straws. I was sent there to essentially do this double feature on Eric Johnson and Phil Kessel. And I called my editor after the fact, I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to weave Kessel into this story. He gave me literally nothing. And it was just one word answers.

And now when I see him, on the bench interviews or the, you know, talking to reporters like, you know, the sideline reporter in the hallway. It's hilarious. It's almost like a standup routine, the way that he talks. And for him to do it as consistently as he's done it for as long as he's done it with all the people that always love to make fun of them. It's like become like this thing in hockey to make fun of Phil and the way that he doesn't look like a normal hockey player and all that type of stuff. And all he does is score goals. And as we've talked about on the last couple shows. I mean, for him to sit there in Arizona and sort of get lost in the shuffle and now go to Vegas with this motivation, he looks slim and with this motivation

to say, you know, you made me, Phil Kessel, wait until freaking August something to sign a one-year deal. I just think, I just think it's, you know, it's an outstanding achievement. And, you know, it was really cool to watch, you know, him get it done yesterday and then scored the big goal. You talk about him not being a quote machine. I love the quote in Jesse's piece where he says, I like to play the games. I'd rather play than sit out. Yeah. That's a Phil Kessel quote.

Right. He literally, like, that's the thing is like he understands the historical significance of this moment. Like I don't want to make it sound like he doesn't give a shit about hockey history. He does. But for Phil Kessel, the reason he's so pumped that he broke this record is because he got to play so much hockey. That's literally all he carries.

about like what does this mean to you means i played a lot of games i like hockey that's good yeah it's it's great and like russo said it is low-hanging fruit when when people kind of say they look at him and i get it and for me it's not even a matter of his longevity when you look at him for me it's just his speed i mean he's always been one of the most explosive players in the nchel and you look at him and you say how but back to the awes shucks kind of fill that we see and the guy who you know just wants to play hockey i mean that That's fine. And sometimes I think we look for these players to be something else, especially when they play in big markets.

When he was here in Toronto, everyone just assumed he has to be one of the leaders that's going to be Ra Rosses, Bumba, in the dressing room and talk to the media and do everything else. And that's just not Phil. Like it's just not. And I don't know him personally. I'm just saying you could tell that that's just not the type of player he is. Some players are like that. Other players just want to show up, like you said, drink his power aid, which is apparently what he drank for so many years. and score goals and play in 990 consecutive games because they love hockey.

And that's okay. I mean, do we sometimes look for these players to be something they're not because we just feel that they should be? Yes. And I think that what Phil is, not only is it okay, it's actually an asset. Like Jonathan Marshall said we were missing Phil Kessel in the locker room. He didn't flat out say it, but he basically said it was Mark Andre Fleury. I mean, this team was under a lot of pressure to win.

Flirty lightened the room quite a bit. He's a he's a jokester as Mike has already figured out in Minnesota quickly. It doesn't take you long. This team was filling a lot of pressure last year. The the lightness in the locker room was gone. Phil brought levity to the room. Like, you guys have said, it's almost a stand-up comedy routine. In Marcia's those words, it's just pure entertainment. This is how he described hanging out with Phil Kessel. Sometimes just being the guy who just wants to play hockey and I'm not here to to be a leader. I'm not here to make speeches or get in front of the media and make these statements. That can be good for the room. Not only is it not a detriment to the room, but I think

he's an asset to the room. Yeah. And I think to Rob's point, I mean, I'm working on these these NHL 99 stories on Mike Bossy and Billy Smith. And, you know, I was a huge Islander fan growing up. And the one thing I've, you know, talking to guys like Trotier and Danny Potvin and Pitch Goring and Kenny Morrow for these stories, Dwayne Sutter, the one thing I've learned a lot during these, the interview process is how Al Arbor really recognized and was a student of the personalities of all his players and coached players differently. And I think all of a, all the, we always put these players in these, these pedestals where they all have to act the same and and be your stereotypical leader and, you know, always in perfect shape and things like that.

But everybody is different. And I think Phil, because he's so unique, a lot of times, especially when you're in the media, you portray guys a certain way. And that probably, you know, sometimes do a detriment is how people felt about Phil, but it probably also helped him be in the line, in sort of the background in the line light, if that makes any sense. I think that, you know, he has, the guy just absolutely loves the sport. You do. to me, what always matters more so than whether the media loves you because you're a good quote or not is if your teammates love you. And you ask any player that's played with Phil Kessel about Phil Kessel and what's the first thing that happens before they even utter a word, they start smiling.

Yep. You know, they, they, because he's that type of guy in the room and he's probably, I mean, he probably does stuff that none of us will ever get privy to or C or things like that, but teammates love them. And that's all that matters. And plus he performs and he wins cup. every now and then and things like that. When I wrote that locker room story where they all sit, William Carlson sits next to him. And I'm like, Will, what do you like most about your locker? And he just big old grin. And he goes, dude, I sit next to Phil Kessel.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's, you know, I've heard the same stories about him that he's just such a, you know, a jokester is maybe not the right word. Like he's, he's an elite player who just happens to make you laugh too. You know what I mean? That's been his whole career. So, yeah.

And you talk about dramatic fashion. Tied the record against the Leafs, broke the record in San Jose where he won his first cup. And if he hits a thousand games, it'll be in Arizona. Who's the schedule maker doing this? I mean, perfect. The schedule came out before they had Phil Kessel, which makes it even crazier. Yeah.

And it's also the third straight year. We've seen a games played record get broken. Marlowe set the record, all-time games played in 2020, 2021. Then Chara set the record for defensemen the next year. Then Yandel set the iron. record and now we've got Kessel. So congratulations to Phil Kessel, whether you look like it or not, you are the NHL's Iron Man. Somebody else, you talk to me. By the way, the six and two division leading Vegas Golden Knights, which I think Kelly McCrim, and if this keeps up, he's going to be doing a

victory lap for all the naysayers. He's going to be texting Daniel O'Grano, just saying, oh, really? we talked about Mark Andre Fleury, guys. 944 career games now in the books moves past Curtis Joseph for sole possession of sixth place. And I mean, you look at the all-time list, you know, Broder, Luongo, and Wao are all over 1,000. But Sauchuck at 971 and Belfort at 963 are certainly within, you know, his sights. He's another guy, like you said, like he's a jokester. He's fun. but Mark Andre Fleury is always just there.

And his numbers just keep piling up. I think we're going to really miss an NHL when it eventually happens without a Mark Andre Fleury. Mark Andre Fleury after the victory yesterday. And by the way, to all those accolades, he said he's 30 wins from passing Patrick Waugh for second all time, which hopefully for the wild sake he does this year. Mark Andre Fleury, to your point, last night he pointed out,

he goes, you know, I don't have too many more games in Montreal. all left. And actually, like, from somebody that I know I cover him, but I have been long a fan of him, it actually kind of hit me in the heart. You know, he is, because, you know, you heard, and it's funny that all of a sudden in his face just popped up on my Twitter line here, because the while just put out his postgame interviews. So you could check that out last night. But he's such a jovial guy. And the one thing I'll say, and I'm writing about a big feature on him today on the train that I'm taking to Ottawa, is the demise of Mark Andre Fleury. And I'm. And I'm. I'm definitely guilty of this, was exaggerated.

He, his last three games has been brilliant. And, you know, and what I, what I am impressed about this guy is at 37 turning 38 years old, I think a lot of us thought that, oh, my God, did the wild make a dramatic mistake here by bringing him back? Is he done? Is he washed up all this stuff after he gave up 11 goals in his first four periods this season? And about 10 of them were bad. And what he did is he put all the blood. blame on himself. He didn't blame anybody else. He was embarrassed. He called them stupid goals. And what did

he do? He just went to work. And last night in Montreal, he was brilliant and, you know, gave up one iffy goal. But when they needed him in the second period, he was just outstanding. Third period, penalty shot, all that type of stuff. And I will say this, like, you know, he said last, or I'll say, how about this one? Jake Middleton, after the game, he goes, the reason why he knows Mark Andre Fleury is back is that he's going side to side making saves and Hutton and hollering during it. I mean, he is, you know, this is one of the most unique characters in the game. He gets, you know, puck hits the post. He starts massaging the post after they go back the other way. Penalty shot there. He looks at the camera and gives a wink after he stopped Mike Hoffman.

This is a guy that I think is feeling that he's back. And the Wilder suddenly winning a couple games because of it. We'll see if it keeps it up. He's going to go to Ottawa now. And Ottawa is scoring five, six goals a game. So that's going to be a big. big test for him since you're old Ottawa senators here the last couple of years. So they have some work still to do to climb back in the standings. But Flurry is a special, special character that when he does retire, we'll be very missed in this league. Not only does he massage the post, he thanks it in English and in French, because he told me he's not sure if the, if the nets are Canadian or American, so he thanks them all in English and in French, just to be sure.

Mark Andre. Oh, by the way, when everyone was marking down the demise of Mark Andre Fleury, let it be known. I was screaming from the mountaintops not to do it, not to do it. I've seen it happen here in Vegas. They traded for Robin Lennar after he had a bad month. And then he won the Vesina the next year. This guy, what I think it is, is his style of goaltending is so aggressive and so it can be out of control when it's not on. So, like, like when Flurry has a bad game, it looks worse than when most goalies have a bad game because positional goalies, when they have a bad game, the goal just looks like, oh, well, he was in position. He just missed it. Whereas Flurry, when he gives up a bad goal, it looks awful because he's flailing and he's out of position. You got to just let the guy get it back on track.

Like he's been doing this for so long. To me, the most impressive thing about Mark Andre Fleury is just there are only 30 starting goalie jobs in the NHL. Like it's so much harder to maintain what he's doing at that position than it is at any other position because when you're forward and you have a bad year, a bad two years, okay, you just you go down to the second line or now you go down to the third line. There's only one goalie spot. So the fact that he can maintain that and be the guy for as long as he's done it is incredible to me. Especially, I mean, at that style, his style makes it even more difficult. Like you've got to be on every single night.

You're not just playing the angles, letting the puck hit you. It's incredible what he's done. And yeah, I would not write him off yet. He still got some hockey left. And I do. I hope wild fans start to give him a break. I mean, they are so hard at them. And look, there's, you know, I've covered the wild now for 18 years.

There's never been a goal given up by a wild goalie that was actually a good goal to give up, according to wild fans. And they have been all over him. And even last night, he gives up one goal. and after the game, I look at my Twitter account, and as good as he was, people are still railing on the goal. Like, let's all chill out, appreciate that this future Hall of Famers playing for your organization, the team that you're fans of, and respect that fact. And look, the Wilde have no other choice, right? If you're a wild fan, you better root on for Mark Andre Fleury because there's no plan B.

It's not going to be Philip Gustafin. Yes, for Walsstatt, they're going to overbake him in Iowa. So Mark Andre Fleury is the guy, and wild fans better get used to it and appreciate the fact that this jovial character that will be in the hall one day is getting to, you know, that you're getting to watch him at the tail end of a really remarkable career. And no matter what happens, this guy's got a near-to-ear grin. Jesse, you talked about the fact that Vegas, you know, they get Lennar and they ship him out of town and he wins the Bessna. Let's not forget that's after the same thing basically happened in Pittsburgh. Every time somebody's like, no, we're done with you. we've got someone better.

He just smiles and says, okay, give me my New Jersey and just keeps being Mark Andre. Like, he's one of the most like guys I've ever seen in hockey. And like we said, it's going to be a sad day

when he no longer plays in the NHL. All right, guys, too happy-go-lucky stories. Let's get a little depressing and negative because the Vancouver Canucks are an absolute dumpster fire right now. Still don't have a win.

We talked about last week, first team to ever start a season with four. straight multi-goal leads that were blown. Then they come home for their home opener, lose 5-1 to Buffalo. And then the to Topper against Carolina, another loss.

They were outshot 39 to 16. They already cleaned house last year. Everyone keeps talking about cleaning house. I mean, what do you do with this Vancouver Canucks team? I mean, again, the low-hanging fruit is Bruce Boudreau, and I'll talk about him in a second. But, I mean, is this just one of those ride-it-out situations? or do they need something now before things get to a point of no return?

Bruce, we'll start with you. Yeah, well, it's funny. I mean, when we have Eric Stall on in a few moments, we should ask me about Bruce because he obviously had Bruce in Minnesota. And sometimes when the going gets tough, Bruce gets tight. And Bruce is very tight right now. I had dinner with him, you know, before the wild game last week. And he was tight then.

And they had, you know, at that point, you know, we're winless and what for at that point? Now it's obviously gotten a lot worse. I don't know what you do in this situation. Like to me, this was self-inflicted in a lot of ways by management. I mean, they didn't address the defense. And their defense is atrocious. It's embarrassing. And but they were sort of like in when, like at first I thought they were sort of in this rebuilding mode.

But then they give J.T. Miller the long deal. So now you're like, all right, you know, they got the goalie. They got three of the best centers in the league in Pedersen, J.T. Miller and, and Bo Harvey. vet and they sign Miller this long-term ascension. So you're thinking, all right, they must be trying to actually win in this weak division. And then they don't do anything with their blue line. And then they're shocked that they're, that, you know, Demko's struggling, that they're, bleeding goals and all this stuff. So I don't know what they're going to do. But then Jim Rutherford, obviously the other day comes out and says, maybe we got to go into this rebuilding

mode, which makes me think that then you don't want to fire the coach because you almost want to, say, let him go down with the ship. And when it's all over with, then you hire a new coach. So I don't know what they're going to do. But right now, sometimes fan reaction. action rules the roost. And when you have fans throwing their jerseys that they've spent 300, 400 Canadian on onto the ice, that's a bad look. And so I don't know for Bruce's, I know Bruce doesn't want to get fired, but I'm worried about his health right now. And if he's got to live through this the rest of the year, it could be due damage. So, you know, and Bruce, let's be honest, if he's fired, he'll be on NHL network by next week. So it's a bad,

ugly situation there. There was guys on that team that I think when the going gets tough, they get bad. I'm saying off the ice. You know, negative, things like that. And right now there's a lot of negativity on that room. Jesse, before we get to you, the interview I think you're alluding to is the after hours interview. And one thing that he kind of just jumped out was he said the team had a bad training

camp, poor habits, and didn't have enough structure for the players. Tell me you're blaming Bruce Boudreau without telling me you're blaming Bruce Boudreau. He didn't say Bruce Boudreau, but those are all part of his job description. He also said he kind of thought Bruce Boudreau's contract was supposed to end last year, didn't realize there was this option for this year. I mean, he was not a Rutherford-Alvine hiring. I watched that whole interview, and I'm thinking, okay, they're putting this solely on Bruce Boudreau, but the question is the Canucks are paying two coaches right now, remember,

Travis Green and Bruce Boudreau. Do they really want to be paying three coaches at once? I don't know. Jesse, your thoughts on this, what's going on in Vancouver. Yeah, I mean, they're trying to put it on, just like last season at the end of the year when they played when their, when their record was good. It wasn't because Bruce Boudreau. And I was, I didn't think it was. I was like, they still suck to me. Thatcher Demko is just goalying everyone. Like, like they still sucked. I didn't think they were good last year. I thought they're just out goalying everyone. Thatcher Demko is better than the other goalie. And you're going to win a bunch of games when that happens. Now, it's not Boudreau's fault, just like it wasn't to his benefit then. Thatcher Demko isn't outgolling everyone. I don't think Demko's been bad.

I haven't, I'll be honest, I don't get to watch many Vancouver games because they're almost always on at the same time as the Golden Knights. But Demko's stats are bad. I mean, he's second worst goal saved above expected in the NHL. His safe percentage is like 872, which is horrific. But I think it's, I don't want to put. that all on Thatcher Demko and say he doesn't he's not good anymore. I think that's more of a case of he's just not bailing out one of the worst blue lines in the NHL. I think Michael hit it on the

head. This is management's fault for not improving a defense that was not good. And then you add on to it the fact that some guys aren't scoring like Besser doesn't have a goal yet. Quinn Hughes, I know he was hurt, but he doesn't have a goal yet. Those guys aren't scoring. I mean, this team's going to have to outscore teams if Demko's not standing on his head back there being Dominic Kashik in the crease, basically. I think that this team is bad. I didn't pick them as a playoff team. I don't think they're a playoff team. Obviously, after six losses, it's easy to say that. They are not a good team and they don't play good defense. They rely on their goalie to bail them out night after night after night. And it's just hard to do in the NHL. And they do have to guys like

worry about Quinn Hughes right now because, you know, he doesn't look like this guy looked like he was going to be a superstar defenseman and he is not defending well at all right now. And obviously, as Jesse mentioned, he's not bringing the offense. But I've watched a lot of Vancouver games actually this year. And Quinn looks like there's some major issues going on there. And, you know, at some point you've got to address that, that you're going to, you know, you don't want to, I don't think that Quinn Hughes is somebody that's going to get ruined by this experience. But, but man, this is for somebody that's committed long term there, they've got to figure out a way to coach him

up. And it's going to be interesting. The other thing here is how does Patterson handle all this? You know, his contract's up in a couple of years. Is he going to want to be part of this, this situation? It's another thing they're going to have to worry about here because Patterson has been the one bright spot for that team so far. Well, Jesse said they rely far too much on their goaltender to bail them out, which is a perfect transition to our next topic of Kerry Price. Carrie Price met with the media for the first time since being put on LTIR. when the news came out that he was going to meet with the media, of course, everyone online, is he retiring? Is he retiring? And he's got 30 million left on his contract. He ain't retiring,

guys. And this was set up a while ago. But I find it interesting. I'm sure you guys watched it too, how different people and different media outlets kind of took that press conference. I heard a guy saying, yeah, I'm not signing my retirement papers at the moment. That's not here what I'm going to announce, but don't expect to see me playing hockey again. That's how I took it. I'll read some of his quotes after I hear your opinions, but I don't know how you guys. Basically, it was, yeah, I'm not retiring guys, but you've pretty much seen the last of Kerry Price. You agree or disagree, Jesse?

Yeah, I mean, that definitely was the vibe that I got from it. It sucks. This guy is my favorite goalie to watch in the league. just his, from a technical standpoint, he's perfect. He's the most technically sound goalie I've ever watched. It's crazy that that guy isn't going to finish a long career. But yeah, I got the same vibes that, like you said, there's 30 million reasons not to retire right now. But at the same time, it doesn't seem like we're going to see him on the ice going forward. And, you know, you sign your retirement papers and suddenly you're on your own in terms of insurance.

and all that type of thing. So I've, you know, I've dealt with that. I've had scoops of players retiring, but it's like you always have to wait till a certain date to actually write it. Or they, you know,

lose their insurance like that. And, but to your point, I also saw, because I'm here in Montreal, I saw, and I didn't go to the presser, but obviously I watched it and,

um, and have read on, put it and all that stuff. I saw a guy that's sort of content, right? Um, it wasn't like a cheer jerking press conference. Um,

you know, he seems to be in a real, really good place. Arpan wrote an awesome NHL-99 story coincidentally the day it was running the day after this press conference. And I just, you know, I think it's somebody that it's a shame that we're not going to see on the ice, you know, very similar to Flurry. Again, here in Montreal, but I saw somebody that's really in a mentally sound place right now. And, you know, I really appreciate all his words and all the stuff that he said to Arpon exclusively as well in that story. Yeah, a couple things.

During that presser, he mentioned playing with his kids a lot and his kids and his kids and his kids. And then in Arpon's piece, he mentioned when it got really to a bad place that he wasn't a good father. Those two are connected in ways that are so obvious. I mean, I agree with you. Wholeheartedly, he's putting his family ahead of hockey right now. he's saying he wants to be at a point where he's pain free, but he's not pain free. So

I'm not going to kill myself getting, you know, the surgery and everything else. The other thing, too, he was asked about has he come to grips with the fact that maybe he has played his last game in the NHL? And he said, no, I haven't really digested it yet. But quote, there's that outside hope of a miracle happening that it could come, maybe could come back and play. I've always been a bit of an optimist. I'm not giving up. Definitely not giving up on winning a Stanley Cup in some aspect, end quote. Guys, he called it a miracle for him to come back. Miracle.

We know what that word means. And I like that he kind of alluded to, I want to win a Stanley Cup in some aspect. That doesn't necessarily mean with pads in the blue ice. We could absolutely see him in some sort of role with the Montreal Canadiens or another team in the future. But like I said, I was interested to see how people were going to take this press conference. there were a lot of media outlets were like, Kerry Price not retiring as if to say like,

ooh, he's on his way back. And I absolutely didn't take it that way. But I would, I wish, I hope I'm wrong. I don't know about you guys. I'd love to see him get at least another shot at coming back, but I hope I'm wrong. I'd love it too. And if he, speaking of the other capacity,

winning a cup in another capacity, I'd hire Kerry Price as my goalie coach tomorrow. Like I just said, I think he's the most technically proficient goalie I've ever watched. I would literally hire that guy tomorrow to be the goalie coach. I don't know if he wants that position. He probably is looking at like upper management or something. But I think there's a lot of, if he's not going to play hockey,

I think there's still a lot of career in hockey for Kerry Price if he wants it. Yeah, no doubt if he wants it. And, you know, maybe they can sign him a $30 million consulting deal of any Ken retire. Right. He'll still get his money. And you get him off the cap and all that stuff. But yeah, no, I don't know. That was to me what was the biggest thing because when I watched that press conference,

I'm like, man, this is going to be one emotional press conference. And he got up there and it was super strong. And, you know, I thought it was really poised and eloquent. And, you know, just, you know, kudos to him. And I wish him all the best of health in the future. Here, here. And someone else who are going to talk about their future. Eric Stahl going to join us after the break, the newest member of the Florida Panthers.

So make sure to stick around for that. We're back on the athletic hockey show, the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. Rob Pizzo, Jesse Granger, and Michael Russo with you. And guys, I don't know if you know this. No active player in the NHL has played more games than our next guest. And yes, he's officially active again after signing that one-year deal with the Florida Panthers. Eric Stahl joining us on the athletic hockey show.

Thanks so much for doing this. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. I got to warn you while we were waiting for you to connect. We were kind of spitballing different ideas. Hey, what do we want to talk to Eric about? and we're going to go everywhere in this interview. Some of the topics we're going to hit. It's not your typical Pucks in Deep type interview.

So I'll ask the most basic question just to kind of get us going. And then I'll let Rousseau ask you about some strange stuff. Sure. I know you had to wait a bit because of cap, you know, constraints and everything else. But how good did it feel to finally sign on the dotted line and become a Florida Panther? Yeah, you know what?

It felt really good. I've signed a few contracts in my day and over my career. but, you know, this one, this one felt, felt really good because of the amount of time and commitment, effort and all the things behind the seats that I kind of put into this, this opportunity. And then to finally, you know, see that kind of come about and sign them down line with this group and this team. It was definitely exciting. It felt really good. And just, just excited to be part of this group and back in action. and just taking it a little bit by little and day by day and then just progressed as we go. Erica, just like what continues to drive you?

Because, you know, I was talking to Jordan, your brother at the NHL Media Tour, and I asked him how tough last year was on you. You know, you go to the Stanley Cup finals of Montreal. You're on a line that performed really well. And next thing you know, you're not getting a job last season. And yet here you are still wanting to play hockey. at your age. What keeps you going and how tough was last year? Well, I mean, I think what keeps me going is that

chance to compete for a Stanley Cup. I think, you know, my goal every year I've played is to try and win a Stanley Cup. Obviously, it's not something you can do every year. I've been fortunate to do it once, but it was a really long time ago. And, you know, I got really, really close with Montreal, and it was tough. It was really tough to get that close and not, you know, come through in the end. And, you know, that's why I'm playing. That's why I, you know, took this chance and this opportunity to come with the Panthers.

Because I believe that they've got a team that is as competitive as anybody in the top echelon of the league that has that chance. So that's why I'm here. That's why I sign. That's why I'm still playing. And I feel like I can contribute. I think I can play a role and an opportunity to fit. with the right situation, the right players, the right team, and help. And, you know, I believe that in myself.

And over the last year and a half was difficult or the last year, you know, being away from it and kind of watching it from the outside and speaking with so many people I have so much respect for and so many people telling me to hang in there, hang in there, hang in there, stay with it. And a lot of opinions asked. And so I did that. and obviously took this opportunity and this chance to come to camp with Florida and now, you know, signing with them here finally and getting a chance. It's going to be great.

You mentioned being away from it. How did you spend that time? I know a lot of guys talk about in the offseason when you're not on the ice every day, you can work on certain things. You can work on fitness, stuff like that. Are there benefits you're seeing to have been away from it, whether it's mental, physical, anything? Yeah, I do think I'm in a real good physical shape. I did train a lot all last fall before Christmas. I was in the gym and I was also on the ice on my own with a couple of guys in Minnesota that kept me in good shape. And then I came right after Christmas break into the Olympics and went right, right, well, I wouldn't say off the couch,

but off the couch into four games in Iowa. I played really well. It felt good on the ice. and then went to the Olympic Games. And so, you know, the body felt really good. And then obviously after that, then took a little time before summer. And then, you know, having this chance ahead with Florida, I really cranked it into overdrive through the course of the summer,

just training and getting the body right. And I felt really good, actually really good at camp, felt strong. and, you know, that gives me confidence, you know, when I'm, when I'm out there and going to get that opportunity that, you know, I'll feel good and be able to contribute the way, you know, I see in my head and hopefully they see as well. So, but, you know, I feel refreshed. I feel excited. I think those juices are there to want to get back out there and just compete. You know, that's the part I love and missed for sure and still had that fire and that desire to want to do that. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year.

Along those lines, Eric, how different is it as, I know it's your birthday in a few days? You're going to be 38 years old. And I hear veterans say it all the time. You can't fall out of game shape because getting back in when you're a little older is tough. How different is training and being in the best shape of your life, as Paul Marie said it, when you're 38 versus, you know, when you're just drafted or your earlier years in the league? Yeah, I mean, I think it takes, you know, obviously. at this point of my career and this time of my life, it probably takes a little bit more of a

narrow focus and a little bit more, you know, specific regimen, I would say, as far as what I've been following. And it takes more effort with just recovery and making sure your body is, is right for the next time you train hard. Because, you know, when you're 22, 23 years old, you just recover really quickly. It's just really easy to bounce back. And even when you have a really hard training session. You are, you know, you, you can have a short night sleep and you can be ready to go the next day. But as you get older, I find it's just, it takes more conscious effort to be smart with decision making, with diet, with sleep, with all those things. And, you know, you learn that with experience. And I've obviously fortunate to have, you know, played with and been around a lot of

good people and a lot of smart people in this field. And, you know, I've tried to take advantage of that as best I can. And coming down to Florida, they've got a great group here, a great staff of people that are on the ball when it comes to fitness and planning and getting the guys prepared properly every day and just taking full advantage. And it's been good. And I do feel very good. It's obviously, you know, counts when you get onto the ice for the games.

And that's what I'm excited about. Jordan told me that you were at Pebble Beach when you and Mark, agreed to go to Florida together, I think on the 18th hole, he said, or the 18th fairway. Tell us that whole story. And then what is it like one being with Mark right now after playing with Jordan and then being back with Paul Maurice? Yeah. I mean, it was a crazy, crazy couple days for sure.

It was Jordan's 1,000 game trip from the fellows from his team in Carolina. And so we definitely lucked out on that, joining him with him and being out there. It's really cool. Never been out there before. and it was such a blast. It was just the four of us. Spent a ton of time just having laps and playing golf. And then we were obviously knowing it just the way it lined up schedule-wise,

it ended up being, right when free agency opened. And we had just finished, you know, a hole of 18. I'm not sure which course we were playing that day. But it just finished. And so we had been talking with our agents kind of before. you know, after the round and Mark, they had contacted Mark about signing with Florida and, and he right away was like, yeah, I'm in like, no-brainer for sure. And then they had asked if I was interested in doing a PTO.

And to be honest, it wasn't fully on my radar at that time just because it was the first day of free agency and what happened for me for the last season. I just didn't think, you know, anything could really jump at me right away. And when they said that, it was kind of one of those no-brainer moments as well. I was like, you know what? I've been itching and wanting this chance to get back into the league and get back playing. And I know this is probably the route I'm going to have to take. And what a great opportunity with a phenomenal team in Florida.

And obviously I know Paul well and I've had him as a coach for a number of years. And I knew he would be straight up with me and tell me what he thought regardless. So I jumped at that as well. So we kind of joined in together at that time. I think we officially signed the two documents. It was on the 18th, the restaurant on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. So really cool moment and special memory. And hopefully, you know, that memory gets sweeter as this year plays out.

And it becomes a successful one. Eric, you mentioned your number one, goal in all this is to win another Stanley Cup. I wanted to ask you. So social media has been arguing over this all week. The question was posed, what would you rather win two Olympic gold medals or one Stanley Cup? You're one of the few guys who's won both. I think I know the answer here, but can you just, can you just compare what it's like maybe winning each of those and how the two compare to each other? Yeah, I mean, I think winning the Stanley Cup has got to be, it's got to be one. I mean, yeah, it may be different for a European.

in guys that grow up in countries and it's the focus is international a little bit more. But, you know, a Canadian kid, you grow up and you watch the Stanley Cup erase, man. That's just all you dream about. And one, you just dream about playing a game. Two, when you're there and establish yourself, all you want to do is win a Stanley Cup. And I think it's just the fact that you go through, you know, we just went through a month of training camp. It's a grind. It's tough.

you develop these relationships with guys with the staff and then you go through 82 games and it's again it's just developing that relationship and that camaraderie with the group and then it's four rounds of playoffs of seven games series so when you get to the end of all that and you you know reach the top of the mountain and find that success there's no better feeling and i would argue there's no better feeling any sport and the olympics no question uh is a phenomenal feat and something i'm so proud of especially the fact that when we won it was in Canada, which there was so much out of pressure with being in Vancouver. But I would still say it's a 1A, B type thing.

But Stanley Cup is the ultimate goal and prize that give at seven years old, you're thinking about trying to win. So I'm going to be 38 years soon and I'm still dreaming and itching for one another one so bad because I know how good it feels and how special it is in such a moment that you walk with forever. So that's why I'm here. That's the goal I'm after. And it's been fun so far with these guys.

It's a great group and just looking forward to the rest of the year. Along those lines, how was your experience in Beijing? I mean, you know, Jesse talked about being one of those rare guys that has a Stanley Cup and a gold medal. You're also one of those rare guys that played in the Olympics with NHLers and without NHLers, obviously very, very different. Not the results you necessarily wanted, but how was the experience as a whole? You know what? It was really cool.

It was actually a really, really cool experience. I was really happy that I did it. Very different, very different experience than with the NHL or isn't without. Just overall, I found the guys were great, you know, but it was such a different dynamic being in Beijing, COVID, no fans, or some fans. So it was different in that respect. But, you know, the common goal was the same, obviously, trying to win a gold medal for our country. And we had a lot of great players, some good European pros guys that played pro hockey for a long time. But just how you see the quarterfinal.

I felt like there was a good both five or six teams that probably could have taken it all. And we matched up with Sweden in the quarters. And it was, I think it ended up being two nothing, empty net, but one nothing game for zero. zero game to about seven minutes left. It was tight. It was a lot of tight checking, competitive hockey, but it was fun to be a part of that experience and, you know, build some relationships with different guys that have been around the sport in the game a long time, but in that type of environment, it was pretty cool. I was glad I did it. By the way, when is your second NHL debut? Is that going to come in Philly tomorrow or where? I'm hopeful.

We'll see for sure tomorrow, but I'm trending that way. So we'll see. We'll see. But looking forward to getting a good sleep tonight and then see how the day goes tomorrow. One we were talking before you came on about this. I don't know if you've seen on social media today what the visiting locker room in Arizona is going to be like. You guys go there in five days. It is literally a makeshift.

like I don't even know how to describe it with like curtains it's curtains yeah it's curtains it's it's crazy so one how much are you looking forward to go in Arizona but two uh you know what is the worst visiting locker room in the NHL oh well probably the one with curtains coming up here I would say uh but I I'm all for experiences Mike so I'm looking forward to uh to seeing it and and experienced it all firsthand, the smaller arena, but obviously unique, different. Nonetheless, it's still NHL hockey, and you're still after the points. So that's what we'll be after when we're there. I would say the worst, I mean, it's, it's, there's been a lot of new arenas now.

I remember the old Islanders dressing room. Oh, yeah. It was pretty brutal. The visiting locker room there was bad. Obviously, I haven't been to the new rink yet, but I remember. I've heard that's a top notch. So I'm sure that's way better. The old igloo was brutal in that dress room.

You know, but the dress rooms were brutal, but honestly, as a player, like, I love those ranks. I loved playing in the igloo. I love playing on at NASA, that old rink there, had some great games. It's just cool environments. I understand that you can't hold on to those places forever because you need to adapt with times and get new buildings. But some of those old buildings were great, even the brutal lot.

rooms that were still fun to plan. All right. What's the best then? You're slamming certain rakes. We got to give the pub. What's the best? I mean, the new Pittsburgh visiting locker room is pretty phenomenal. They did a nice job there.

The old, I mean, the Bell Center visiting rooms is nice for, you know, it's gone by the wayside a little bit more now. But, you know, years ago, that was one of the nicer ones. I don't know. There's no real bad ones. We're treated pretty well, to be completely honest. The guys, even the trainers and all the equipment guys, do an awesome job just making our life easy by showing up and just putting our gear on. So we're lucky.

It's a treat to play no matter where we are. Erica, we were reminiscing also before you came on about the 2003 draft and just how amazing it is. Not just the first round, which was stacked, but, you know, you, I mean, you talk about Patrice Brugheron. and Joe Pavelski and Dustin Bufflin throughout the draft. When you, like, I have a lot of memories from that draft in Nashville for multiple reasons. One, the Panthers in 2003, tried to draft Alex Ovechkin three different times in the 2003 draft, by the way, when he was draft eligible in 2004. So that was a fun one.

But the other one I remember about that is how much of almost like a campaign job that I was writing for the Panthers and number one overall to draft you. and next thing you know they dropped to three, Nathan Horton comes to Florida, and Mark Andre Fleurie goes one, you go to Carolina. When you were in that draft, like, did you have any idea where you were going to go there? You know, especially at that point when Florida at one point had the number one overall pick. Yeah, I didn't know. I don't remember if I knew, I ended up knowing what was going to happen, but I don't remember if it was the night before.

I think it was only like an hour or two before the draft. My agent had kind of got word of what was going to happen and the flip and that pittsburg was going to take Flurry. So I knew before the draft about an hour or two before how it was going to play out. But obviously, you still never know for sure. You're still nervous. And I knew, you know, I had spoken with all those teams in the first, you know, first round, really. I had a lot of interviews, and I know the ones I had with Carolina, with Florida, and Pittsburgh, they all went really well, and I was going to be just excited and looking forward to the chance to

live on my dream, no matter where it ended up being. And fortunately, for me, it was Carolina because, you know, they, you know, had went to the Stanley Cup finals, then had a lot of injuries in a tough, tough year, and then ended up with me. And so I ended up in an environment where there were so many great. veteran good players that I learned so much from and obviously win a Stanley Cup a couple years later. So, you know, I think it worked out and was meant to be the way it did. And I feel very fortunate that way. But it was a special draft.

So many great players, so many relationships that I've, you know, kind of initially started to have then and have continued on over, you know, the course of my whole hockey career because kind of all came in together and, you know, different events, whether it be All-Star or international competitions, you get to know these guys better and better. And it's been, it's been pretty special to, you know, to kind of come into the league altogether with those guys. I'm sure you follow Russo on Twitter, like so many of us and so many people out there, Eric. He threw out that you were coming on the show and said, any questions for the big man.

I want to read one or two just from some of the people out there. This one's from Julia MTN Murphy says, What the heck is in the water in Thunder Bay? It seems like, and I quickly looked it up for you trivia buffs out there. Alex Delvecchio, the all-time leading score from Thunder Bay, followed by one Eric Stahl. So what the heck is in the water in Thunder Bay?

You know what? There's a lot of great hockey players from there. It's one of those small towns where, you know, everybody plays. So you get a town of 100,000 people where every single single. kid starts the game and plays, you're bound to develop some hockey players. And Thunder Bay has definitely done that. There's been so many guys in front of me and in front of my brothers that have played ahead of us and played in the league. So I feel fortunate to, you know, have kind of grown up in that environment and, you know, followed suit with some of those other

guys. And, you know, it's a great town. It's a great hockey town. And for, for sure, for sure there's something. I couldn't tell you what it is, but there's something in that water because there's a, there's a lot of NHL, there's a lot of pro hockey players that, you know, have made their way up through the ranks. A bunch of goaltenders now, too. So they're kind of covering all positions, but, you know, great hockey town for sure. Ryan and Greg Johnson, right? We're from there, right? Yeah, Ryan. Yeah. I covered Ryan. I skated and worked out with Ryan. I remember being in high school. My high school was literally right across from from the gym that we'd work out with. I was still only like 15 or 16 years old

and RJ was already in the NHL and I would go into like I didn't know anything about anything. I was 16 but I would go into the to the gym to work out during my fair at high school and RJ would be in there working out and I remember watching him. He was probably I mean he's a couple years older than me. He was probably in his 20s so he had played pro for a while. He would be in the gym for like three hours and like training hard. Like I I was watching this guy. I'm like, oh, I'm like, that's what it's going to take for me to make it to the NHL.

This guy's been in here for like three hours. I'm just like doing the quasi bench press and like those standard things. And he was doing every other type of movement there was. But I just remember how hard he was training. And, you know, as a 16 year old kid, 15 year old kid watching him, I was like, okay, this is going to take next level. But if I'm willing to put it the work in, I can, you know, try and do this. same thing. So I learned from a lot of those guys ahead of me, especially in town. And RJ

was one of those guys for sure. Yeah, he's Canucks's assistant GM these days. He still looks like he could play. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm sure he's still in great shape. Yeah. Can I ask you one wild question? You mentioned playing in Iowa last year. You played with Marco Rossi. You played with Kalin Addison. How good do you think these two guys can be? Yeah, I don't believe Kalin was there when I was there. Marco was there. I liked him. He was a great player.

I think offensively, his instincts were, were NHL level. You know, I think for any young guy, and especially, you know, it was the same for me.

There's so many, so many detailed parts of the game, so many detail parts of pro hockey that you just have to learn and experience and get better at. And I think, you know, it was such a short time that I was there,

but there were, there's certain, you know, wall plays or certain little things that, you know, I think he probably only gained experience from playing down there for the year. But his, his offensive instincts, his ability to, you know, find holes, make plays, I could tell right away that he had those tools. And nice kid, he was willing to, willing to work and try to get better. And I enjoyed it. It was fun. I was out in the power pole. We had five forwards out there for a little bit with them. and moving the puck around.

So it was fun. I'm not surprised that he's cracked the lineup there this year. He's only going to gain experience with more opportunity and chances. But it'll take time to learn, but he'll play for a number of years for sure. Eric, one more Twitter question before we let you go. This is from MN hockey fan 336. Besides hoisting the cup, what hockey accomplishment is he most proud of? Oh, that's a good one.

You know what? There's a number of, obviously, Olympic gold is very high up there. That is an incredible accomplishment. I think, you know, another one that I am really proud of is that, you know, I have three brothers, three younger brothers, and all four of us have played games in NHL. So I think that's cool.

Even my youngest, he played two with Carolina and pro hockey for a number of years. and all four of us suited up. We all lived out our dream. We all played a game in the NHL, and that's pretty special. There's not a lot of, if anybody, that can say that. And then the fact that,

you know, Mark last year, eclipsing a thousand games, Jordan, just a little bit before that and myself, you know, that hadn't been done before. So, you know, I think those accomplishments that you can enjoy together as a family and as brothers, super special and super cool.

And, you know, those are, those are relationships that you have and you will have for the rest of your life. And to kind of go through those things together is special. And now for me this year, being here with Mark, you know, he's never won a Stanley Cup. And I know how badly he wants one. And for me, just to be here with him and try and work as hard as we can to achieve that goal. It's going to be a lot of fun. And Jared's coaching now, right? He is, yes. He's coaching in Charlotte. Oh, very cool. Speaking of coaches, last question for you, Vancouver's off to a tough,

tough, tough start this year. You had the coach there. How do you think Bruce Bougesho is handling this, Eric? As you know, he can get tight. He's probably not sleeping great, I would say, at this point. But, you know, they've got good players there. It's a long year. I'm sure that he's high. I'm sure that heat's high right now, but, you know, you got to, I think for Bruce and for those for those guys there, you got to look perspective. It's seven games in. There's still, you know, you're almost that, almost, you know, 70 so odd games left. So it can turn around, but obviously you want it to turn around as fast as possible. But, you know, Bruce is going to turn every stone over to try and find a solution. I know that he's a passionate hockey guy and loves being at the rink and loves being

being around the guys and his staff. But he's competitive. So I'm sure he's not very happy right now, but as soon as they get that one, he will be back to his more jovial self, and I'm sure they'll find that soon enough. Eric, thanks so much for coming on. We have one more favor.

When you do go to Arizona, take some pictures and send us what that dressing room looks like and what curtain you're standing next to? Because we were talking about it. We got to get a little bit of it. inside scoop. But good luck the rest of the way. And hopefully we'll talk to you throughout the season. All right, guys. Be good. Thank you.

Eric Stahl of the Florida Panthers. After the break, rapid fire. So don't go anywhere. All right, guys, your favorite time of the show and mine, rapid fire. I've got four topics I want to throw at you. Barry Trots, not coaching in the NHL at the moment, says he's not ready to come back, but did add that he would be, quote, intrigued if a Canadian, or excuse me, an original six team were to come calling. He said playing, coaching an original six team is something that, you know, you always wanted to do. And he also alluded to the fact that Canadian cities are a lot tougher

to coach in because of all the pressure. Is he throwing out signals here, guys? Yeah, he said, I like original six. He said, I don't think I want a Canadian team. And then he threw in New York there with the microscope too. So I guess, is he coaching in Detroit or Chicago? Yeah. Yeah. Um, I don't know, are the conuckelheads in Canada in an original 16? Because that's still the one that I just have this feeling that they're going to come calling. I've told this story before, but when Bruce Boudreau got the call last May, you got to make a decision whether or not to accept your one-year option that we're giving you or not. It was a day after Barry Trots was fired by the Islanders.

And I just think that's coincidental timing, especially for a guy that's just sitting back in B.C. So I don't know if Barry Trots, if he has interest in that job, if Bruce has let go. But it's right there for him. He might look at that team and be like, how the heck am I going to get that team to play defense? And he's a defensive master. But, you know, this game will be better for all the sports writers when Barry Trots is back. Topic number two, we always hear about marquee matchups when you got like Sid versus McDavid.

I mean, it was always Crosby versus Ovechkin. Last night we had Alexander Georgia, you have 44 saves to help the abs. beat the Rangers out dueling Igor Shisterkin, his former teammate, of course, the guy who went on to win the Besna last year. Do we care anymore about goaltending duels? Are they something you put on the marquee? And Jesse, I'm starting with you because you always want to talk about goals. I do. I care about the goalie duels. I don't know if anybody else does. Man, that was a fun game last night. Like, it was so entertaining. I was pumped just to grow the game, to have a game like that on ESPN, I feel like it had a good audience. That was a fan.

a really fantastic hockey game. Lots of action both ways. Normally goalie duels, people can say they're boring because there isn't enough scoring, but like there were tons of scoring chances in those games. Really fun to see the shootout and then fun to see Georgiev's reaction after making that winning save against his former team. Like that, that was really cool. Yeah, exactly. And that's to me all that matters is that Gorgiev cared about the goalie duel. His reaction after making that save said it all. I mean, there were like three. massive, massive fist pumps. You know, he was

super excited. It was pretty cool moment and, you know, good for him. Bill Guerin made some headlines with some quotes this week. He spoke to some reporter Michael Russo. I don't know, some hack in Minnesota. Quote, nobody gives a shit what we did

last year. Nobody cares how good anybody was last year. You have to show up and play hard every single night and it feels like some of our guys just figured they could step on the ice and we'd be as good a team is last year and they'd be as good a player. Russo, how high did your eyebrows kind of go up when you heard him talking so candidly during that sit down?

Well, you know, it's funny. So he and I met up at the cigar bar here in Montreal and we sat on the patio and it was almost like we were on stage over Crescent Street and throughout our three hour sit down. I mean, players were walking by looking up to the point that yesterday at the morning skate players were going to be. what were you talking to Garan about? What was he saying? Like all that stuff. And I said to a couple of them like, read my story. You want an athletic subscription? So yeah, I mean, I will say this. He's pretty like, you know, to me it was a rational

conversation. Like he's not spitting mad. He's not going into the locker room and tearing the paint off the wall. He's not calling individual meetings. But he wants the coaches to coach and the players to play and get to work because he has seen this league before. And we've talked about it on this show before, about how easy it is to fall out of contention, but how hard it is to catch up, just because of the funny math in this league. And he wanted them to get at their act together specifically on this road trip, because after losing to Boston in overtime the other night, I think you have a tendency as players to look at Montreal, Ottawa, Detroit, and Chicago is four lesser lights. But look, Chicago's winning and coming back in all these games. Ottawa's, you know,

scoring five, six goals a game, and they're winning games now. And Detroit had a great start. These are not easy game. Montreal leaves the league and odd man rushes and works their butt off. So he wanted to get their attention and he tried to do that the other day. But he's not going to go out and try to trade a bunch of players. He says he's not worried about the goaltending, but he is concerned about how many wild players have gotten off to just terrible starts that had career years last year. And so what his job was was to also get their attention and Dean changed all the lines, split defense pairs, everything yesterday. And yesterday against the Canadians, again, maybe considered a lesser team.

The Wild looked a lot more like themselves. And, you know, I think Bill Guerin probably was a lot happier. But now they got to get consistent with it. You can't go to Ottawa now and lay an egg. So, yeah, it was a, it was a good sit down. And as usual, I mean, I think Bill Garron is the most candid GM in the league, certainly the most accessible. And he didn't, you know, he didn't hold back any punches there.

You got to love it as a reporter. when that happens. And finally, real quick, guys, the Golden Knights and Sharks met last night, as we talked about earlier, in San Jose. And when Mark Stone, a member of the Vegas Golden Knights scored a goal, Jesse, you were laughing. The goal horn goes off. Goal horns have been around forever, but it's supposed to be for the home team. I've never heard this. Michael's been covering hockey a lot longer than I have. It was hilarious. And not only, not only the They accidentally played it for the visiting team. But the fact that, like, the rivalry is not quite what it was now that Ryan Reeves and

Evander Cain aren't trying to kill each other. And Gerard Gallant and Pete DeBore aren't taking jabs in the media at each other. But this is still the Golden Knights biggest rival, the San Jose Sharks. The fans do not like each other. And the fact that it was Mark Stone scoring the goal in the third period to, like, ice the game, to go up 4-2. And the goal horn goes off. I was dying in laughter.

I can't even imagine. what the fans were thinking. Michael, have you ever heard the team accidentally play the goalhorn for the road team goal? Only at an all-star game where everybody gets a goalhorn, right?

Yeah, it's, I did not see this until you guys made me aware of it today. I do feel bad for whoever accidentally hit it because, you know, hey, we all screw up and hopefully that person

doesn't lose their job yet. He or she had to feel like about two inches tall. But look, we all mess up. Let's be honest, somebody from the sharks probably, you know, screwed up to allow that goal to happen, right? So hopefully the Sharks game ops crew are a little, you know, you know,

a little lenient with whoever messed up here. I hope he or she is listening and going, oh, are they really talking about this? Thanks a lot, Jesse Granger. I'm so sorry. It's all, Jesse texted us right before the shows and we got to talk about this. So you can say anything interesting happened. Honestly, when you guys said that anything interesting in the game happened last night, I thought of that before Phil Castle

breaking the Iron Man Street because it was so funny. All right, boys, thanks for another good show. That wraps up this one. Before we go, I want to let everybody know. Remember, subscribe to the Athletic Hockey Show. You can do it now on YouTube as well and follow us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a rating and a review.

You can subscribe to the Athletic Audio Plus on Apple Podcast to get all the bonus content from our entire network. And you start with a 30-day free trial, just 99 cents a month after that. And this offer still stand to get an annual subscription to the athletic for just a dollar a month for six months when you visit theathletic.com slash hockey show. The athletic hockey show returns Thursday with Ian Mendez and down goes round. Peruso, for Jesse.

I'm Pizzo. We'll see you next week.