The Athletic Hockey Show - Predictions for the 2023/2024 season, Are the Islanders a bubble team in the East and will Sens move out money to sign Shane Pinto?

Episode Date: September 27, 2023

On the final Wednesday roundtable, Rob Pizzo from CBC Sports and Jesse Granger and Michael Russo of The Athletic present their predictions for the 2023/2024 season, including which coach will get fired first, who wins the Hart and Norris, who finishes last and who will win the Stanley Cup?Kevin Kurz from The Athletic joins to discuss his move to Philadelphia to cover his hometown Flyers this season and he breaks down the team he covers right now, the New York Islanders, and their chances this season as a bubble team in the East.Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowYou’ll be amazed at what you can do with Grammarly. Go to http://grammarly.com/GO to download for FREE today.Head to http://factormeals.com/nhlshow50 and use code nhlshow50 to get 50% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to the Athletic Hockey Show, the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. I am Rob Bezo from CBC Sports, joined as always by the linemen. It's Jesse Granger in Vegas, Mike Russo in Minnesota. Boys, how are we on the very, very eve of this NHL season beginning? We'll start with you, Jesse. How are you?

Oh, no, Russo. People don't see this as a podcast. Russo was just itching, itching to get in there. we'll start with Russo. Well, I was going to just say, as always, you said that it was that you're joined by as always by us. And it's not going to be as always in about an hour. Yeah, this is, this is our last one, guys.

There's going to be some changes made at the athletic as far as the, the podcast go. And the Wednesday round table will be no more. But as always, as in, it has been like that for, for a good portion of our time together, because you guys are always bolting around. Sometimes you've had people filling in. but it has been a blast. And we'll talk about that later on. I don't want to start getting tearing up,

getting all emotional leaving you guys. But yeah, we will, we're doing our last show over this next hour and talking a lot of stuff because, as I said, the season, it's basically here, guys. And we were looking at what to talk about during this show. And I said, well, I still got my notes from last year at this time. And we did a bunch of predictions. And that's what people do in our industry.

at this time, we do predictions and we talk predictions. And if we're right, we bring it up all the time. If we're wrong, never happened. So that's what we're going to do over the next hour. We're also going to speak to Kevin Kurz, who you may know him as an athletic Islander beat reporter. That is going to change this year. He's heading back to the city of Brotherly Love.

So we'll talk some Islanders with him and his big move over to the Flyers. By the way, Jesse, how are you? I'm good. I'm good. You say it's the eve of the season. It really feels that way for me because tonight is the first home game for the Golden Knight. So it's the first real high, well, preseason hockey game I'll be attending. They had two preseason games already, but they were on TV.

So it doesn't feel the same sitting on my couch watching the game. Tonight I'll be in the arena for the first time since they won nine to three over Florida to take that cup. So this will be my first time in T-Mobile since then. Wow. Look at that. And that feels like, I know we've talked with this last couple of shows. That feels like yesterday. I feel like yesterday they won the Stanley Cup

and here we are making idiotic predictions as we do each and every year. So guys, let's get it. Get your crystal ball out. We're doing it right now. I'm going to put you both on the spot. I have a feeling Rousseau when it comes to predictions will be a little more like,

uh, or you know, sit on the fence. I'm going to force him to make predictions because we're not doing podcast together after this. All right, guys, I would, by the way,

you said you have your notes. So you don't have what we picked last year, right? Because I don't even want to know. No, no. I've, the only one I keep bringing up all the time is I said the Boston Bruins would have a tough time in the playoffs. And they go out and have the greatest regular season in NHL history. I bet my entire life that I didn't pick Eric Carlson to win the Norris. I could tell you that.

Yeah. Oh, man alive. Like, it's, it's just one of those in hindsight, you look back at some of the things and you go, people give us actual currency to do this show each and every week. But you know what? Let's just keep fooling them and doing it over and over again until they tell us not to do it anymore. Question number one, we're going behind the bench, guys. Coach on the hottest seat, aka first coach to get their pink slip this season.

I guess technically we already had one with Mike Pack, which is weird because we haven't had a game yet. Took my answer. He took my answer. Sure, there we go. Mike Thabcock, move on. Last year was Bruce Boudreau. Remember the firing that fans certainly didn't like the way that one was handled. But all right, guys, who's on the hottest seat?

Who were you going to be talking about as the first coach fired in this NHL season? Since Russo jumped the gun on the earlier question, you know, how are you? Jesse, we'll start with you. So when I started thinking about this question, I basically thought, okay, what team has the highest expectations? that I think are difficult to meet, that are going to be the toughest to meet. And for me, that's the senators. This is a team that everyone is expecting to make the playoffs, but they haven't really given it.

I mean, you look at the players on paper, yes, okay, there are some good players here, but they haven't given us any reason to believe that they can make the playoffs. So I'm going to go DJ Smith in Ottawa. I just think, I don't necessarily think he's a bad coach. I think he's in the spot that is the toughest of all the coaches in the league, and therefore I'm going to go with him. Before we get to you, Russo, If memory serves me correctly, I think I picked DJ Smith last year.

Wow. So it's come full circle. He's getting another shot. Russo, how about you? Well, you know, actually, I would love to go back to last year's show and look at this, because I bet you I picked Brudrae because I just knew that, you know, they didn't pick up as extension and all that type of stuff. DJ is to me the no-brainer choice, although looking at their,

and especially actually if they get off to a bad start because looking at their schedule, it's pretty, you know, they have a lot of home games early, tons of expectations. new owner in the last year of his deal, as Pierre LeBron wrote about today. If I have to go somebody besides DJ Smith, I'll go north of the border of me, right straight due north. And that's Rick Bonas. You know, he's got two years left on his deal, a pretty hefty salary. But the expectations are big.

You know, I talked to Kevin Shelvel Dayoff at the GM's meetings last month in or earlier this month in Chicago. And he made it very clear that one big reason why he expects Mark Scheifold. and Connor Hellebuck to be in their opening lineup is they are in win-mount now mode. They make the Dubois trade. They bring in Valardi and Iiafalo. And I think they are looking to win. So if they get off to a tough start after the way that last year ended where Rick Bonas just destroyed his team in Vegas after that loss about their pushback and all that, you just got to wonder if at some point it might have to be addressed. We're going to have three different answers because

I'm looking at St. Louis. I'm looking at the blues, and I'm looking at a coach who came in as an interim coach, wins the Stanley Cup, and is kind of like that actor who comes out of nowhere wins an Oscar for Best Actor or Best Actress, and then they kind of bank on that and use that for a while. This team's underachieved.

And I think he's kind of had that Stanley Cup on him going, I led this team to a cup, okay, but you haven't done what you should have done in the subsequent years. I mean, they were 23rd in the league last year. They're super streaky, too. They're either on a winning streak or a losing streak, the St. Louis team. So I think of all of a sudden they opened the season, you know, four, 10 and two or something

like that. I just making numbers up, but just a bad start to the season, I think Craig Barube is getting the pink slip. I think it's just, he's banked on that cup and rode on that cup long enough. He's got to achieve with this team. He can't underachieve. All right, three different coat. usually at least an agreement with two of us.

I can't believe we have three different coaches there. All right, guys, bottom of the barrel. Who's your last place team in the National Hockey League? Russo. San Jose. Enough to that. They don't pay you by the word here at the athletic day. I know.

First time ever for Russo being short on words. I know. I'm just trying to give us a half hour of saying goodbye to you at the end. Yeah. No, I mean, look, I just. I think that they are in a true rebuild, a Couture has already hurt. You know, they've, they just, they have goaltending issues. It's just, there's not a lot there.

I think it's very clear what Mike Greer is trying to do, you know, especially after moving Eric Carlson and I just look at them as like, I think that just by virtue of having Conor Bidard, that Chicago is going to be much better this year. You know, Bidard to Hall. I think that could be a pretty good magic. I look at them as being the clear-cut worst team that I've seen right now on paper. Yeah, I was going back and forth between San Jose and the other terrible team in California that I ended up picking, which was Anaheim. I just think that their – Anaheim looked like a team that was on the up-and-coming, like last year,

and these young players that we all expected so much of haven't developed – maybe I'm wrong, and maybe I was just a year early and they're going to all develop this year. but they just haven't looked like the players. Ziegress, yeah, he scores a highlight goal here and there, but he just isn't the difference-making top-line player that everyone thought he was going to be, at least yet. So I'm going to go with Anaheim. I just think it's, I mean, it's tough to pick between San Jose and Anaheim,

but I feel like there's just more, not dysfunction off the ice, but it just doesn't feel right in Anaheim for me. I just think that team's going to be bad. Second question in a row, we're all going to have different answers. I'm going to disagree with Russo on this one. I'm going to go with the trend and take Chicago. And the reason is look at history. Anytime you got that generational talent coming in, you tank to get said talent,

you're left with a pretty shitty team. You're not tanking to get a generational talent for a sudden turnaround. My whole lifetime, that's what it's been, be it Mariel, be it Sid, be it McDavid. The year after they're drafted, they could have a great rookie year, but they're shitty. They're not good yet. They're rebuilding around said player. So I think the Blackhawks will once again be that team. I don't think even if he does have himself a great year, a Calder year, I don't think

it's enough to get them out of the basement. All right. Now we go to the other end. The president's trophy, guys, your top team in the NHL after 82 games. Jesse. I'm going to go Carolina. There's a bunch of really good teams, but I think for regular season, depth matters so much because you're going to have guys get injured, you're going to need attrition to win games.

I don't know if Carolina's the best team in the NHL. There are a bunch of really good ones, but I think they're the best equipped to win a bunch of regular season games. So I'll take the hurry. And they've been right there real close to the last few years. So I'll take Carolina, not exactly going off the board on that one. I'll go off the board a little bit, I guess. And that's Dallas.

You know, Dallas, a win from being in the Santa Cup final last year, three points from winning the West last year. I think they got better by adding Matt Duchyne. And just they're coming off just pounding the wild last night. And all their stars scored in that game. I mean, everybody from J. Rob to Bevelski to everybody. And, you know, you'll just look at them up the middle with Rupert Hints and obviously the way that Sagan played in the playoffs. Ben seems to rejuvenated.

They got an incredible blue line led by Heisken and an all-world goalie led by Jake Ottinger. So I just love Dallas this year. I like that pick and I really was considering Dallas, but my Italian stubbornness got the better of me. I'm going to go who I picked last year. It defies logic to me that you can have arguably one of the greatest players of all time. Also, the second best offensive player in the league and have the depth that they do and the Edmonton Oilers still can find ways to struggle.

I think this might be the year they put everything together. I like the addition of Connor Brown. He played with McDavid in Erie and they just put up ridiculous. numbers are out here. They combine for 227 points as linemates in the final season in Erie. That's, I know it's the Ontario Hockey League, not the NHL, but that's just stupid. I'm, I'm going to punish myself and go with the Edmonton Oilers to win the president's trophy. Rock and Richard, guys, most goals in the NHL, won Connor McDavid, won it last year with 64 goals. Does he repeat Russo?

Yeah, I think he does. it's scary when he was talking about getting 70 at the at the at the at the at the uh car wash a couple weeks ago um and they may have the second best uh goal score there and dry zydell as well but i just i mean barring injury connor mc david is is above everybody else in this league there are obviously incredible goal scores in this league you know uh down in colorado obviously we know about nathan mcannon if he is healthy what he could do uh miko rantin top 50 last year braden point top 50 last year. I think Tage Thompson made sure to make it very clear to us that he'd like to get 50. But Connor McDavid, David, David Pasternak, they're going to be, to me, one, two again in the league.

I'm going to go a little, a little bit off the board and say, so I remember last year we were all saying like, oh, everyone, all we talked about all off season was how is Austin Matthews as good as Connor McDavid? And then McDavid was like, yeah, I'm going to shut that all up. I think the opposite happens. I think we talk about McDavid scoring all these goals. And Matthews is not the player Connor McDavid is, but Matthews is as good of a goal score as Connor McDavid. And I think he says, you know what? I may not be the best player here, but I am the best goal score in the NHL. I think Austin Matthews comes back and scores more goals than anyone this year.

You know, it's funny. You put some hypothetical words in Austin Matthew's mouth. I'm going to put them in Carter McDavid's mouth. I think last year he scored 64 goals just to prove he could. Yes. You know what? Just to say, yeah. I could, you look at me as a goal scorer. Here, I'll show you.

I don't think scoring goals to him is that, that drive that he has the way it is for Austin Matthews. Austin Matthews battled injuries last year. Austin Matthews had constant attention with his contract not being signed. Both of those things seem to be put to the side now. I think Austin Matthews is the one who flirted with 70 goals this year. I really, really do. I watched a lot of leap games last year, and you could tell something wasn't right

because his shot that is just so ridiculously accurate, even in bad spots, was missing. I don't think we see a lot of that. So we have our first degree of it here. Austin Matthews for me, I think he flirts with 70 goals. What about the Norris guys? Best defensemen in the NHL.

Jesse? Yeah, this one's boring for me. It's Kyle McCarr, because he's the best defenseman in the NHL, and he's just getting better. I think last year he had some injuries. I think Colorado was just a little weird last year, and he still had an awesome year. This year, I think things will be a little bit more back to normal for him, and I think he runs away with it.

He missed 22 games and still finish third in Norris voting. Yeah, he's really good. What is that saying? Rousseau. Yeah. I'm going to go. I'll change it up then. I'm not going to go, Eric Carlson, I can promise you that.

I kind of want to do Truba because that Truba piece that I wrote last week is going to be in the New York Times tomorrow. I'm super excited about that. first, I've had some stories since the New York Times bought us that have appeared on their website, but this is going to be my first story in their print edition. Nice. You know, I'm kind of, I'm wavering between two guys because I think that also, like if you see improvements of teams this year, I think you're going to start to look at players like that to put an end of the year voting.

So the two guys that jumped to my head is one in the Western Conference, not that it would be an improvement, but I think Heiskin is just absolutely all world and what he does for the Dallas Stars. And if they do win the President's trophy, like I predicted, I think you're going to look right there and starting a net and starting on the blue line there with their best blue liner. And the other one is if Buffalo takes the jump that I expect them to take this year, I'm looking at Rasmus DeLean. He was right there to me as one of the top blue liners in the league last year, not just offensively, but defensively. He's taking quite the step. And I'll go with kind of a combo between them. I got my West pick and my East pick.

Kail McCar is the best defenseman in hockey. Kail McCar's got to win the Norse trophy. It's one of those things we argue about how voters vote. I really hope we can slowly get away from the fact that like just because so and so scored, I know that he scored 100 points and that happens almost never for a defenseman. But you tell me one person who is building a team today and says you have a choice, Eric Carlson or Kel McCar and they don't pick Kayla McCar. They're moron.

So I'm going with kale. Yeah, but you don't always, it's not always just who the best defenseman is in the league. You know, it's got to be the type of season they put in. I mean, Nicholas Listram was the best defenseman, you know, in the league for many more times than the six or seven times he won the Norris, but just, you know, as a whole. But I just think unless McCar comes out here and shows that he's clear cut ahead of everybody else this season, I just think that it's not just a given that you're giving it to McCar just because right now we might think he's the best day. Vezna, Jesse, you know we start with you with these things. Goaltending talk. Yeah, if Dallas Stars fans are listening, they're going to be pumped with these season previews

because I'm taking Jake Ottinger. I think he is elite. I think he's only getting better. I think there's a group of elite goalies in the NHL, four or five of them, and I think he's the youngest of the group. And I think he may get the most workload just because I've covered Pete DeBore as a coach. He likes to play the crap out of it. his starting goalie, Jake Ottinger.

I thought Ottinger played way too many games last year, and I do think they're going to take a step back. Yeah, when he started playing poorly near the end of the playoffs, specifically against Vegas, when the Golden Knights were lighting him up, I remember looking at his stats and saying, wow, is that his, it was like his 75th start of the season. That's way too many. So I think you're going to see a little bit taken off that, but he's, Pete DeBore still going to play him a lot. So I think Ottinger is going to be on a really good team.

He's a really good goalie, and he's going to rack up the wins. So give me Jake Ottinger. Yeah, I was going to go with Ottinger, but to just change it up, I'll go to Shisterkin then. You know, I just think that Shasturkin is going to have a bounce back year. He was okay last year, but his save percentage, if I remember, was around 915, you know, which I'm not even positive was top 10 in the in the NHL. I remember listening to him at the end of the year, and he was not overwhelmed with his season comparably to the year before. So I just think the Rangers are going to have a really, really quality year this year. And I think that if that happens, Schisturkin is just going to get a ton of wins.

When you talk about workload, by the way, just real quick, you know who Schisturkin's backup is, right? He's going to play a lot this year. Even if the plan, even if the plan is not to play him a lot, they're going to see Jonathan Quick a couple times and they're going to play him a lot because there's no way you're going to play Jonathan Quick 30 games. No fucking way. There's no way that happens. Schisturkin's playing a lot this year. Yeah, I took Ottinger too. I mean, there is the question of appearances,

and he definitely looked tired to me near the end of the playoffs, but I don't know if that's one of those things where it sounds stupid to say for a professional athlete, but maybe getting that out of his system and knowing what the demands are going to be this year, if he plays anywhere near that many games again, he's prepared differently. I don't know. Jake Ottinger is, he's up there for me. And then every time we talk about goaltenders, Jesse brings up Ottinger, which just added to my prediction.

The big one, guys, the heart. I'm going to instill a rule here. It's kind of like when you used to be in hockey pools in the 80s and there was a no Gretzky rule. There's a no McDavid rule, okay? It's simple for us to say, how about the hands down best player on planet Earth. So if Connor McDavid retired today, who wins the Hart trophy in the 2023, 24 season, Russo, we begin with you. That's tough.

That's like I mentioned Nicholas Lizzie. before, Rob, they used to have a rule in the press box at Joe Lewis Arena that unless Lidstrom was absolutely exceptional, he couldn't be a number one star of the game. That was like the rule with the press there, yeah, because you could just make him the number one star every single game there. So that's kind of what we're doing here. So you're saying that we're eliminating Connor McDavid. Correct. You know what? I think Jersey's going to have an unbelievable season this year, so I'm going to go Jack Hughes. You know, again, I think that the hard trophy. A lot of times we always forget that it's the most valuable to his team. And if a team like

New Jersey takes another step this year, like they did winning a playoff round last year, if they do it, it's going to be Jack Hughes leading the way. I've already watched some preseason highlights of Jack Hughes. He's already feeling it. I'll go with Hughes. I like that pick a lot. Me too. I'm going to go. So there's a guy in the league that I feel like he's the Phil Mickelson to Tiger Woods to Connor McDavid because he just, he'd have a million wins and he'd probably have a couple hearts, if not for Connor McDavid. That's Nathan McKinnon. Oh, no.

Nathan McKinnon for me. I feel like Nathan McKinnon, if Connor McDavid didn't exist, we would think of Nathan McKinnon in a different way. Like, he would be the best player in the NHL. And I feel like because Connor McDavid exists, he's kind of just second place. And I feel like he's been so close to winning a heart so many times. If you take McDavid out of it, this is Nathan McKinnon's time to shine. I'll go with McKinnon for heart, if not.

not if not McDavid. Because of everything I said earlier in regards to the Rocker, Richard, I put in my notes, Austin Matthews, but Rousseau's turned me. I like the Jack Hughes pick, especially if it's one of those times or voters say most valuable to his team. They took a huge step last year. They raised a lot of eyebrows with how good they played.

I could see them doing that real quick before we move on, guys. Russo, do you get a heart vote? Yes. And you do too, Jesse, right? Is there such thing? and I brought this up last year and I'm going to ask it again with even subliminally. I'm not even saying actively. Subliminally, a bit of voter fatigue.

Are you looking for reasons to not pick Connor McDavid because it's the obvious choice? Or do you think voters do that? Do you think they're kind of like, you know what? They'll talk themselves into a Jack Hughes or an Austin Matthews or someone else because of where Connor McDavid is in the grand scheme of things. Jesse? I intentionally don't. don't do that because I think some voters might. So I'm like, in my head, I'm like,

no, I'm going with the guy that's the best because that's how, like, I'm like fighting the good fight, I guess. I don't know if that's actually the good fight, but in my head it is. I don't know, like obviously not last year with McDavid, although didn't somebody, we know one person in Pittsburgh that created some controversy. You know what I probably did that I know pissed off Bruins fans is I did get Bergeron fatigue. And there was always times where I was trying to analyze other guys to maybe put them in that in that in that in that role because I think that one is a lot more subjective in trying to figure out what the best defensive forward is in the league and to just say all the time that con that patrice berserun is always the number one I think

was sometimes a little bit foolish and so that was probably the fatigue but I would you know to me if he's the most valuable player to his team um you know like last year I mean McDavid wanted hands down but to your point also what you said to Jesse before about Drys Idol. I think if Connor McDavid didn't exist, I think we'd be saying that about dry Zidal. I don't think Drysidal just rides his coattails and gets points that way. I mean, look who was, you know, up, what do you have, 12 or 13 goals in the playoffs? He was absolutely unbelievable. He is such a great, great hockey player in every facet. And if, you know, hey, maybe in a couple of years, we might see Drys Idol separated from McDavid. Who knows, right?

Drys Idol's contracts up in a couple years here. Yeah, he's like the Messier to his Gretzky, right? I mean, for so many years, all the focus is on one that you're talking an all-time great. Maybe it doesn't get the attention he deserves. All right, guys, Stanley Cup champion. Again, if we're right, we're going to play this clip much later on. If we're wrong, we're going to ignore the fact that we ever asked it. Jesse, who is your 2024 Stanley Cup champion? Yeah, I mean, we've talked about every player on the team. So pretty obvious we like this team. I like Dallas. I think they're really good. I think they're young. You like look at all their, like, they've got Pavelsky. I don't think he ages, so he doesn't, he's still

young to me. But all the other good players on that team are actually young. They're all in their early 20s. I think that team's going to be really, really good. We've talked a million things about Dallas. We obviously like them. I like their goalie. I like the defense. I like the deep forwards. I'll take the stars to win the cup and Pete DeBore to finally get his Stanley Cup. Yeah, I, um, like, I really want to pick Vegas to repeat here. Um, but I'm going to go to Carolina. I just am praying that Carolina doesn't become the San Jose Sharks, the best team that just never wins. And I think last year they could have gotten by Florida if they had not lost Patcheretti, if they had not lost Vechnikov, I think if they are healthy going into their playoffs with Rod Brindamore behind the bench, I think that team has everything that you need to make them a cup championship, not only a cup contender, but win a cup. We talked about my stubbornness earlier.

I'm just going to stay stubborn, the Edmonton Oilers. You give me the best two offensive players in the world, the depth that they have, and hopefully they can figure out making Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell more of a tandem as opposed to this competition where one's good at one point, one's not. They could do it. Rapid fire, Russo, and this is Rapid Fire. You give your answer and one sentence to back it up for both of you. I have three more.

Connor Bedard, over under 69.5 points. Russo. Start with Jesse. Jesse. over he's really good Russo I'll go under and I'm not and I'm going to predict that he doesn't even win the Calder

wow I love I love the guy but I'm telling you that I think we're all forgetting there's a lot of incredible rookies in this league this year between you know Maddie Nyes and Logan Coley and Shane Wright and I mean Vitilli there are going to be a lot of

this is going to be an incredible rookie class Devin Levi yeah that's another one since 2000, only seven rookies have ever scored 70 or more points. I think it's going to be another one here with Connor Bedard. He creeps over 70 points. I think I know the answer to this one. Does Eric Carlson score 100 again?

Russo. No. No. Jesse, no chance in the world. And fill in the blank, the Bruins will have blank less points than they did last season. Russo. Would they finish 131? 135.

135. 135. I'll go 39 less points. Wow. Wow, that's aggressive. I had 28 written down and I thought that was being, I thought that was a big drop. So Rousseau's going even further than me.

I don't think they're going to be as good. I have 25 and I thought you guys were going to be like, wow, that many points. All right. So we all expect a huge, a huge, huge drop from the Boston Broads. There we go. Crystal ball time. We're probably wrong with every single prediction. And now the Dallas stars are absolutely doomed.

who is not doomed because Kevin Curse is going to join us after the break to talk about his ship from the Islanders to the Flyers and we'll talk some Islanders as well. So you're probably familiar with our next guest if you read anything on the athletic regarding the New York Islanders over the last couple of years. But this season, he's heading home back to Philadelphia to take over the Flyers beat. Let's welcome back Kevin Curse to the show. Congrats on the new gig and welcome back. Thanks, guys.

Yeah, happy to be here. Happy to be here. Not only that, Kevin was listening to our previous. segment our predictions for next season. And as soon as we welcomed him off the air, I said, hey, how are you? Kevin? He says, by the way, Rob, it's the Bruins will have fewer points, not less points. He was editing while he was listening. So I appreciate that. That was very, that was very Mark Lazarus of you. Hey, call me out. Call me out if I do something wrong. We're going to squeeze every bit of Islander juice out of that. Kevin is one of those annoying,

those annoying people on Twitter that like, if you put a wrong, and a tweet, they come at you and rip. Only if they rip you. Only if it's, you know, you're an idiot. Y-O-U-R. That's when you reply. Yeah. Yeah. It's so infuriating when someone does it too. When you're like angry and they say like, yeah, that's the wrong you are the wrong there. Um, anyways, like I said, we're going to squeeze the last bit of Islander juice from your, your job. But we're, let's talk a little bit about the new gig, though. Like how excited are you to go back to your home area? I know you grew up in the suburb of Philadelphia, fan of the team. And, and, you're, we're, for good measure, you get to deal with torts on a daily basis now. Well, you know, from my perspective, it's a good time, I think, to get in as a beat guy because obviously the organization is kind of undergone a reset in the last few months, shifting from the Chuck Fletcher era to now the Keith Jones, Danny Breyer era, two guys I've known for a long, long time. You know, everybody knows and likes Keith Jones, right?

And, you know, I think, I still think they're interesting. You know, they do have a lot of good young players. They have some core pieces that, you know, Sean Cotorier, is he going to return to become one of the best two-way centers in the NHL? A guy like Morgan Frost, is he going to finally emerge or is he someone that, you know, maybe they could end up trading. Travis Sandheim, another guy, is he someone that gets dangled or is he part of the core moving forward?

So I think there's plenty of storylines. They're not going to win a whole lot of games. I think everyone knows that. Obviously, Torts, I expect to keep things interesting. I've never covered them before. I've heard plenty of, I've talked to plenty of other people that have. So I think I have a pretty good understanding of what to expect. We'll see if that's the case.

But, and obviously, I know the town and I know the fan base. And the Flyers right now, you know, a lot of the, one of the words that gets thrown about, thrown around about them most often is apathy. There's a lot of apathy in Philadelphia towards the Flyers right now. You have so many other good teams in the area. The Flyers are obviously not one of them. So it's going to be interesting to me to see how they combat that moving forward and try to get that building, you know, packed and rowdy and loud again.

We talk a lot about Philly fans and like you know the Philly fans as well as anyone. You were one. What do you think it's going to be like to write for Philly fans? You know what? I think I've always sort of written that way, to be honest. And maybe right away it didn't sit well when I went to San Jose. And it was not a huge hockey market. And I got a lot of who the hell is this guy to come write about our hockey team.

He's from the East Coast. I grew up listening to Sports Radio and reading people like Tim Panaccio and the like. So I think I sort of already write that way. I think Islanders fans are a little bit the same as Philly fans. They're just not as many of them. So I'm not really worried about that part of it. And that's why I'm a little bit intrigued to see how Keith Jones the steps he takes to, again, combat the apathy that seeped in.

Because, you know, you look at some of the messaging that's gone on, that was going on before Keith took over. The fans aren't stupid. They could tell that there was no direction, you know, when Chuck Fletcher was in charge. I think Keith is now, you know, they have a direction. They have a plan in place. They're being honest with the fans about that plan. And I think that's the best way to handle them. Now, whether that works, who knows.

But there's now, I think, some honesty coming from the front office because Keith Jones, I think that's the only way he knows how to be. He's going to be honest with these people and he's going to tell them what the plan is and it might take a little bit of time. But, and I think that'll help. I think that'll pay off. I think the Philly fans appreciate that sort of messaging. Yeah, if you're a Flyers fan, make sure to read Kevin's Q&A. He sat down with Keith Jones at the Devils Flyers game the other night. you know Kevin you know we're buddies you know I've always said that you're going to be the first

athletic writer to cover all 32 markets here so you're three last one no more of those damn introduction letters that's hopefully that's undoubtment 209 to go although I again I thought that your introduction letter really struck the right cord because I think if flyer fans especially the newer generation aren't familiar with the fact that you're from philly and work for the flyers. I think this is going to be really cool for them to read somebody so ingrain there. Let's talk about your old gig. You know, the Islanders, interesting offseason for them. Obviously, they made the big trade for Horvatt last year. They re-signed both their gold tenders. I think they're making half the cap. You know, the team really had played at a great pace in the

second half of this season without Barzell. What do you expect of the Islanders this season? I think they're going to be better than a lot of New York Islander fans expect them to be. Maybe that's just because of the way they're conditioned. But I look at the fact that they were a strong team down the stretch last season. They really gave Carolina. And I agree with you, Mike. I think Carolina, that's my preseason picked to win the Stanley Cup also. And if Carolina was a little bit healthier in the first round,

maybe they have a little bit of an easier time with the Islanders, but they really gave them everything they could handle. It was two overtime games that Carolina won, both on goals that you would normally see Ilyosarokan stop, especially in game six. So I think they found their identity over the last few weeks. Lane Lambert was still in his first year as coach. When Barzell went out, I think that forced them to alter their style a little bit.

They're not going to be all that exciting to watch again, if they're winning games, that is. They kind of reverted back to a little bit of a, you know, there's not a whole lot of action there. But that's the way they've played. That's the way they had success under Barrettrots, obviously. So I think with Horvett coming in in a full year, they didn't change anything as as pretty much everyone knows at this point. They brought back Pierre Engball, Scott Mayfield, Semion Varlamoff.

I mean, all those guys, maybe those are three contracts that are too long and maybe in three years they won't look like they're good contracts. But for the here and now, this is a team that's still trying to compete. So you really had to bring all those guys back. Mayfield, you can maybe make the case that they should have let him walk and look for someone a little bit more mobile. but, you know, I think they're still a good team. I think they have the best goaltending tandem in the league.

They're obviously a little bit concerns, I think, with the pace from the back end and are they going to score enough goals? But, you know, I look at them as right now they're a playoff bubble team and maybe, you know, you make a couple moves throughout the course of the year leading up to the trade deadline. You get in and you see what happens. Were you surprised at the lack of the moves in the offseason? Yes and no. So I looked at some of the other options out there. And I just, I mean, we can just go down the list. Pierre Engval came in and he fit in really well with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmary on a line.

It was the Islander's best line over the last few weeks of the season and in the playoffs. Without him, they might not get into the playoffs because you remember they just barely snuck in. Mayfield, big guy, great penalty killer. He's a third pair D-man. he's a big body, he's a right shot defenseman. It's hard to find those guys on the open market. And again, you can maybe make the case that they should have looked for a more offensive guy because you've got no Adopson basically in that top puck-moving defenseman role.

And he was just okay last year. He didn't really, I think, take the steps that they expected him to take. Still a good prospect, still a lot of room to grow. Could be much better this season. But their biggest issue was they didn't play with enough pace from, you know, from the blue line back. And they didn't really change up the defense court at all. So is that going to, you know, is that going to hurt them moving forward?

That's, I think, the main concern with this team going forward. And then Barlamoff, you know, maybe there were a couple backup goalies out there, but he's comfortable in that backup role. He's very good friends with Ilya Sorokin. He'll be fine if he only starts 20 to 25 games a year or if he's only playing once, you know, once a week, once every 10 days. and he's still a pretty good goalie. I mean, you know, you look at backup goalies around the league.

Where do you rank Semmyon Varlamov? I mean, Jesse, I could ask you that question. I think he's the perfect backup goalie, especially like you said, because they're friends. Yeah, and that's the strength of the team. So, you know, Sorokin, obviously is a Vesna candidate. You're not losing a whole lot putting Barlamov in there. And that's still going to have to be the backbone of this team and how they win games is their goaltender is going to have to be better than the other goaltender.

Let's stick there because this is our last show, so you know, I'm going to go heavy on the goal-tending. Covering Sorokin, like, he played a little bit two years ago, and he got the 50 games the year before, and then last year he gets 62. Like, what did you learn covering him? What impresses you most about him? You know, I know it sounds cliche, but this guy, I mean, he really does not overthink anything. You ask him any question at all. I remember asking him at the end of the season what it would mean to be a Vezna finalist.

He said, well, you know, it'd be cool, but he doesn't really think about it. When he was playing, he went through a tough stretch, I think, last January. And he really has the ability to shake things off quickly. But obviously, his athleticism is just ridiculous. I mean, he never looks like he's out of a save. And we've seen him multiple times. It looks like it's going to be a tap-in for the other, for the other, for, you know, somebody else. And he, you know, whirls around and whips his goal.

goalie stick out and makes this ridiculous save that's on the high. I mean, he's made, I think, three separate times. We've seen him sort of just bend his back at a crazy angle and, and whip the goalie stick around and stop a puck out of midair. And so he's, he really is never out of a save. And I think you've talked to Adam Francilia too, right, Jesse? I got some interesting insight on, on him. He just detailed with me how, just how effective Sorokan's movement is in the crease. You know, he's not over committing. He's, he's, he's just very steady. So, you know, I'm no goalie expert like you, but I think he, it does seem like he makes a lot of saves that might be difficult for other goaltenders, they look very easy, you know. In fact, so easy

that if you're an average viewer walking at home, you don't realize what he just did. You're like, wow, that should have been a tough save, but like he was right there in plenty of time. Kevin, Lou Lamarillo 80 years old, young 80, every time you talk. The same as Mick Jagger. Yeah, I know. And it's a, you know, I mean, but I mean,

basically the same person. Seriously. You know, but you've gotten a, not that he speaks to the media often, but he is approachable, much more approachable than actually people think and things like that. If you had a guess, I mean, how much longer is,

is he going to do this? Because, you know, there are times where I look at him, I'm thinking that he, he's, I think, prepping to wrap it up, which obviously that's got to be in the back of his mind. But then there's times he talked to him where you just think he's going to be around forever, kind of like Gary Bettman. Yeah, and you look at the moves he's making. I mean, I don't think he's going to be around when Pierre Engball's seven-year contract is coming to an end.

I wouldn't count it out. You know, everyone looks at this team and probably rightfully so and says, boy, this in another three or four years, it might be a little bit rough on the island with the lack of prospects and some of their aging contract. but I don't really have any sense of that. You know, never has he ever given any sort of indication that he's ready to retire. I remember I remember asking him that question. It was over a year ago now at the golf tournament, which is kind of the first time we get a chance to talk to these guys.

And, you know, I said, how excited do you get this time of year? And he says, when I'm not excited when training camp begins, I'll know it's time to hang it up. and I haven't reached that point yet. So obviously Chris Lamarillo is here as the assistant general manager. Maybe there's a line of succession there. But I don't think, again, if that's the case, we're never going to hear about it. We're never going to know.

So I don't know. I mean, he's, the guy still looks good to me. And he's, he, you know, he's, I don't see any signs of slowing down at all. when it comes to Lou. So I don't really have an answer. Kevin, of course, Schneider retired.

And I was going back to that trade at that draft 13 years ago or whatever it was. And Bo Horvatt was the big deal, if you guys remember that. But just given what you saw since that deal, you alluded to this earlier, but what are we expecting from Bo Horvatt with a full season with an Islander, Jersey on? I mean,

I find him to be such an interesting player, because sometimes you look and you think this is the type of missing piece of team needs. And then other times, I feel like he disappears for long periods of time. Yeah, it was really interesting because he came in right after the All-Star break. And they put him with Matt Barzell. They moved Barzell from the center to the wing. I personally think Barzell is better as a winger anyway. And they had instant chemistry, both at five on five and on the power play,

which was generally abysmal throughout the course of the year. Then Barzell gets hurt just six games. into, you know, after Horvatt had arrived. And that obviously didn't help Horvett. Now, I would also argue he wasn't playing all that well either down the stretch. He kind of had that initial impact right away where he was really strong and then then he faded.

You know, he had to do more offensively for sure. But he was still out there in key situations, taking key face off, obviously. To me, one of the, maybe the biggest storyline headed into the, the Islander season is, is that chemistry between Horvatt and Barzell going to present itself again, because that's going to be the key to the offense, again, both at five on five and on the power play, which finished, I think, 30th last year. They need that power play to get to get going, especially because this is a team that's going to expect to play in a lot of low-scoring games. You need to win the special teams battle more times than not. So that starts with the power play.

you know, we'll see. He's here from day one. He didn't make any secret about the fact that moving from Vancouver to New York last season, moving his family in the middle of the season and all that was difficult. You know, sometimes maybe we don't think about some of the off-ice stuff these guys are going through. Vancouver to New York is not an easy trip. But now he's settled here and he's right back with Barzell again. They're going to play, I think, together tonight against the Flyers at the Islander. So, you know, I'll be interested to see how that look. in the early goings, but that's going to be a huge, huge key for the Islanders this season. Kevin, just a final question for you. Do you want to give Flyers fans just an indication of when you're moving there full-time, what your next month is going to be like as you kind of rearrange your life? And you also, you joked about covering torts and you've talked to a lot of people covering torts. You know, as a sports writer, I mean, you are a veteran sports writer, but you know, I mean,

there are times where nobody wants to become a YouTube moment and go viral and all that. I mean, is there anxiety when it comes to covering somebody like him? Yeah, but, you know, in my experience with coaches like that, and Pete, Pete DeBore and I would get into it every once in a while, too, and that would happen. But, you know, it's, as long as you're prepared and you ask a coherent question, and if he gives you an answer that is snippy or you don't like,

I mean, what can you do? I'm not going to lose sleep over that. But, you know, I think it's just, you know, he doesn't like talking. What's been relayed to me from a couple of different places is he's not big on talking, breaking down the game over with what just happened. He's like, well, you guys just watched it. You saw what happened. What do you need to me to talk about it for, right?

I think that's the gist of a lot of the, maybe the awkward moments between Torts and some reporters. And, you know, we don't do a whole lot of game recaps, right? Maybe you still do her. So I don't, I'm not going to do a whole lot of game recaps. But it's, it'll be interesting. It's, I'm not really anxious about it yet. I'm sure there'll be a couple moments where that happens. But what can you do?

That's part of the job, right? Right. And what's your next month that's going to look like here? When are you getting them? Yeah. I'm going to be around the, I'm going to be around the flyers mostly. I'm on the first two road trips. They go Columbus, Ottawa to start the season.

And then it's, I think it's Dallas and Vig. Vegas. So I'll get a beer with Jesse when we're in Vegas. I think we have three nights there, as a matter of fact. Um, so I'll be around the flyers as much as possible. You know, obviously it's not that far from Philly. I'll be down there from, I think I'm only going to miss one game in October, um, when I'm moving. So, um, yeah, I'm looking forward to better not be the game that Minnesota's there because I'm on that road. It's the game after. I checked. Yes, it is the game after that. It's just Carolina. So I'll miss, I'll miss our friend Bernsie. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Uh, yeah, definitely. Uh, uh, yeah, thanks so much for, uh, talking about

the new gig. We're looking forward to reading all about the Flyers and we'll see that first viral moment that Rousseau's talking about when it's welcome. Thanks, Kev. Talk to you soon. Okay. Thanks, guys. Kevin Gers, the athletics new Flyers beat writer. Coming up after the break, rapid fire. All right, guys, my favorite time of the show and yours for the final time. Rapid Fire. You know what, Russo goes long as you want. It's my last show. Rapid Fire topic number one. Stephen Stampcoe's, of course, entering the last year of that eight-year, $68 million deal. He was asked if there were conversations about a contract extension, and I'm going to read his quote directly. Quote, to be honest, I'm disappointed in the lack of talk in that regard.

It was something that I expressed at the end of last year that I wanted to get something done before training camp started. End quote. It's kind of like when your parents used to tell you, I'm not mad. I'm disappointed. Well, Stephen Stamcoast is disappointed. Russo, your thoughts on this one. Yeah, I mean, you know what? Obviously, I really respect Stephen Stamcoast

and how honest he always is in these situations. And I'm sure this summer, when he saw some of the expansions that went around, you know, Hegel and I think as you know, was re-signed and then you got, you know, Sorelli locked up for a long time. Obviously, Point locked up for a long time. Kutrov locked up for a long point. I think Nick Paul got a new deal.

I think he's probably like, Well, how about your captain here? I'm the guy that still is scoring, you know, at a 30-something goal pace and has had a couple really good years in a row after, you know, really three or four years ago, looking like his game had dropped off significantly after some of the injuries. So it's going to be interesting how Tampa Bay handles this. For them to not start really having, you know, major conversations with them,

makes you wonder if they have looked at it and said at his age and his injuries, and things like and what he's going to cost that maybe they just are not able to stomach resigning him. So we're going to just see where this goes from here, but definitely an awkward start to a season where the captain

basically goes public the way that he did there. Yeah, for an organization that doesn't have much going on, right? Like, it just seems like everything goes well in Tampa and like everything's smooth and there's never any drama or problems in Tampa Bay.

It shocked me. When I saw the quote, I was like, whoa. Like it hit me. I was not expecting that. He's, I mean, he's played 81 games each the last two years. Like Mike said, I feel like the injury concerns, maybe not behind him, but they definitely aren't what they were a couple years ago when it looked like he was falling apart. I think he's proven over the last two years that he's not falling apart.

He had 100-something points two years ago. Last year, he scored like 35 goals. He's such a good player. I am shocked because of the player, because of the organization that this is happening right now in Tampa. It's surprising. I agree. And just to put a bow on this, Julian Breezebaugh did comment on it. He said, I need to see how this season plays out before I make those decisions.

After the season, once I've gathered that information, I could work with Stephen and his agent on a contract structure that will be in the best interest of both sides. So I think that kind of alludes to what you guys are talking about. If we see a decline in Stephen Samco's, that's going to affect it. He does it. But I think the outrage that I've seen over this quote is warranted because this is this is a guy who deserves a proper sendoff, we'll call it for what he's done for your organization. I think the biggest thing, guys, is not so much like, look, Julian Breed's was one smart guy and he knows the salary structure of this team and where he could pay this guy and all that type of stuff. I think where to me the most surprised was what it felt like was a lack of communication where Stephen was confused about where everything. has had and that this maybe these conversations didn't have with them. Now, if these conversations

would have with them and Julian Brisewaugh told him, like, look, you've got to see how you play this here. You know, right now we have, we have, you know, a lot of stuff to figure out in terms of our future here and your age and your advanced age and things like that. If that was said to him and he brought this up, then that's, to me, more on Stephen than the organization. All right, rapid fire topic number two. Mark Recky, Bluejackets announced they've added him as an assistant coach to Pascal Vincent Hall of Fame forward, obviously, former Penguins and Devils assistant coach as well. Your thoughts on Mark Recky getting back behind the bench, Jesse. I like it. I like it. And a coaching staff that is obviously having some turnover right before the

season, I think it's a good move. Some turnover. Some turnover. That was awesome. I just some turnover. If that's what you want to call it, we'll go with that. Rousseau. Yeah, they've had some stuff going on behind the scenes that cause them to have to hire an assistant a day after training camp starts, basically. I like it. I mean, Matt Mark Ruckie is such a great hockey guy. Obviously, an awesome player, but he's experienced in, you know, behind the scenes as well. You know, you add something like him in there.

I think it could only do a good thing. Topic number three, the senators, look at to create some cap space. they want to resign restricted free agent Shane Pinto, according to Pierre LeBrun, Matthew Joseph, one player who's been rumored to possibly be moving. They have a grand total of $121,953 in caps. That seems like a lot of money to guys like us,

but that's literally pennies in regards to a salary cap. Rousseau is thinking to actually happen, or are we going to be hearing about this for a bit? Yeah, I'll bet my life that Pinto's not signing for a buck 25. Yeah, buck 21. Yeah, Buck 21. That's not even enough to buy yourself a new car, you know, when you sign that deal. So anyway, look, I mean, they're going to have to make some moves.

So this poor kid's going to have to sit out for a long, long time after really quality 20-gold season last year. And so the problem that Ottawa faces is that there's a lot of teams out there that are at the cap, you know, half the league. So there's not a lot of teams that could take on, you know, the name being, you know, Banty to Ruff. round, I think is Matthew Joseph. So they're going to have to look at a team that has a ton of cap space like Philadelphia or one of the teams near the bottom to try to take not only Joseph, but probably an asset to create the space to basically resign Pinto here. So it's going to, you know, I feel bad for this kid. You know, as I joked on last week's show when Kailan Addison signed, Pinto and him are not going to take the same. I joke that Kailen Addison might have been the longest, like the smallest contract in NHL history for a contract dispute.

Pinto is not going to take his qualifying offer, which was roughly around the same. He is going to need to be paid in the two and a half range, I would think, and so they're going to have to get rid of the player at some capacity. I totally agree with everything Mike said. I think he covered it. The only thing I'll add is 120,000 in cap space is a ton of room for someone that comes. covers the Golden Knights. Last year, when they signed Nick Hague, they had $11,000 in cap space. Not $11,000. I remember joking. I had a one-on-one with owner Bill Foley short, like a couple days after they signed that contract. And I joked with them. I was like, you guys have enough

cap space to buy a beer at T-Mobile Arena. And he laughed and goes, no, we don't. It costs more than $11.11. That's got to be a record. That's like as far as the exact amount, that's got to be Close. If you look at Nick Hague's like cap hit, it's the weirdest number ever because they had to structure that contract so that it would exactly fit into the thing. Like you look at all these and they're all round numbers with like a bunch of zeros at the end. And then you get to Nick Hague and his cap hit is $2,294,150. Crazy. I talked about this earlier with Kevin. Corey Schneider announcing his retirement after 13 seasons. I played in the H.L. last year said there were some, you know, offers coming from overseas,

but quote, I just didn't want to play in the American Hockey League again, and I knew the NHL was a long shot. I think my body just kind of said, that's enough. I, like I said, to Kevin, I always think of that draft where Gary Bettman comes out and says, we have a trade to announce and he's getting booed because he's Gary Bettman, and he just said to the New Jersey crowd, you're going to want to hear this one. Jesse, goal-tending topic, we always start with you. Yeah, Corey, I mean, he's a guy that he had a really long, good career.

I mean, if you can make that much money playing hockey, that's a pretty damn good career. I think because he was drafted so highly, he was the first round pick for the Canucks, I think there were much, much higher expectations for him. He probably didn't meet those. But in the end, when you look back on it, played a lot of NHL games. And it had a really good season for New Jersey. You look back, back in 15, 16, he finished sixth in the Vesina voting. 17th in the heart voting. He was really good that year. Never really lived up to expectation,

but a good career. My body says every day that that's enough, by the way. Every day. Yeah, that hit home for me. You know the other thing on this podcast that hit phone for me was Kevin Kerr saying that Lou said that he was going to hang it up if he ever showed up to training camp, not excited. And I was like, well, maybe that I should have hung it up like 10 years ago. You know what, Jeremy Rutherford just texted me that J. Beaumester is 40 years old. I covered him as a rookie at 18. That's another thing that tells me it's time to hang it up. Screw Corey Schneider.

Are you retiring right now on this podcast? Let's announce my retirement. I'm taking the luster away from Rob's final show here. It's over. I call it quits. This is going to be like when in 2002 and when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup and everybody's all excited and on the ice, Scotty Bowman's like, that's enough. I'm done.

And everybody's like, all right, let's write about Bowman now and not the Red Wings anymore. That's what I just did. Usually at this point ask you what you're working on this week so we can talk about it next week. There is no next week. We've talked about it throughout the show. Just give me a second to say it's been an absolute pleasure talking hockey with the two of you over the last season. It's been fun. Jesse for two seasons with you.

So, yeah, it has been great, guys. And obviously just changes in raid. And hopefully we'll get to talk to each other. again very soon another another avenue maybe yeah you are a polished pro um i uh i join the show and i get us canceled um i apologize for that it's all rousse us fault yeah i know uh but you are you are such a polished broadcaster rob it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know you from here from afar and uh really looking forward to uh in a couple weeks being in Toronto and uh and we could grab a beer together and uh toast the show that you've done an incredible job on uh for

a couple years here. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yep. It's been a lot of fun. And if anyone questions what Russo is saying, how polished and good Rob is at this job, just go back and find one of the episodes where I had to do his job and listen to how clunky and awkward every transition from every topic. It is so much harder than Rob makes it look. Like, it, Rousseau and I do most of the talking. Our jobs are so easy because Rob is so good at what he does. It is much, much harder than it sounds. So great job. It's been awesome working. Yeah, and I want you to still send all your little cool factoids because you are a hockey encyclopedia. All your little neat little things that I've stolen from the show and thrown into articles. I expect that now in text messages.

Yeah, I remember getting, I get texts from Russo sometimes. He's about to do like Edmonton radio or something and he'll be like, who's that stat you said on the show? I got to bring it up. What was that stat? Bring that. Send it. I'll just send them 50 texts with like crazy stats on it. And I'll still do it whether we're doing this or not. Also, also, that's that's that. Also, big thanks to Jeff Domet, our producer, my good buddy. He puts a show together every week and is going to, I love working with him. It's going to be sad not working with him on a weekly basis. But guys, the athletic hockey show does return tomorrow on Thursday.

Ian Mendez and down goes round. For the last time for Jesse, for Russo and Piso, enjoy the season.