The Athletic Hockey Show - San Jose Sharks terminate Evander Kane, Edmonton Oilers nearing rock bottom, Multiple Choice Madness featuring a Rally Monkey, and much more

Episode Date: January 10, 2022

First, Ian and Hailey talk about the excitement and the energy young, American players like Jack Hughes, Trevor Zegras, and the Tkachuk Brothers are bringing to the game of hockey, and then discuss the San Jose Sharks placing Evander Kane on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract after his second COVID-19 protocol violation this season, and if the troubled winger can find another NHL home or not, John Klingberg publicly voicing his frustrations with the Dallas Stars after stalled contract talks, and whether Rick Bowness’ stick-smashing incident following a Stars loss to the St. Louis Blues will result in a fine for the coach.Then, The Athletic’s own Daniel Nugent-Bowman joins the show to discuss the Edmonton Oilers in free fall, going 2-9-2 over their last thirteen games, a COVID-19 outbreak putting a pause in their schedule, head coach Dave Tippett on the hot seat, despite the fact that GM Ken Holland has never fired a coach midseason, the possibility of Mike Babcock getting an opportunity behind the bench, the immediate need for a reliable goaltender, and more.Plus, to close things out, Ian and Hailey run through a series of Multiple Choice Madness questions about whether it’s more impressive for a forward to score 60 goals or a defenseman to score 30, if Alex Nedelkovic should still be eligible for the Calder trophy this season, and if the LA Angels’ “Rally Monkey” dropping the puck for a ceremonial faceoff between the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings Sunday night was the most memorable puck-drop ever.Also, is it okay for Hailey’s dog Bono to wear a Calgary Flames jersey?And, right now, you can sign up for an annual subscription to The Athletic for just $3.99 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It's another edition of the Athletic Hockey Show to kick off your week. It's Ian Mendez, Elise Salvin, with you, as always, for the Monday podcast ahead in the next hour or so. The Evander Kane saga boiled over. San Jose on the weekend will discuss whether or not the winger can find the home again in the NHL this season. The Dallas Stars. They're in the news for a couple of reasons, as John Klingberg publicly aired his frustration about contract talks, over the past few days while his head coach, Rick Bonas,

also had a bit of a public display of frustration that made the rounds on social media. So we'll get into that. Daniel Nugent Bowman will drop by to chat all things Oilers with us, as they appear to be reaching a crossroads after a terrific start to the season. They have really, really struggled in the last six weeks, and we'll wrap up the show as we always do with a little multiple choice madness, talking about whether or not we'll be more impressed if a forward scores 60 goals in a season or if a defenseman scores 30.

And we'll also hit on a monkey dropping the puck for his ceremonial faceoff. It was all part of the weekend that was in the hockey world. I'll tell you what, Haley, pretty good weekend to be a sports fan. I mean, there was some great, I mean, the Saturday night Toronto, Toronto, Colorado game was bananas. It was lived up to the hype. It was entertaining. And then we had an unbelievable weekend in football. It kind of felt like, you know what, this is a great weekend in the world of sports.

It was a great weekend to have the flames not playing. I didn't, you know, what I did on Saturday night after watching all the games. And then watch the Sopranos. I had some wine. Like, I did nothing. I did nothing. Usually I work on the weekends or I'm like, you know, I'm going to try to get this ready. I'm going to try to do this.

My week's easier. I was like, you know what? No. I'm going to sit here. I'm going to watch all this stuff. that's on TV. I'm not going to move. I'm not going to do anything. And I put in a shift on the couch and just watch sports and watched HBO with my dog. And it was great. But that the, the Leafs-Aves game was great. I thought that was a really, like, you know, I think Dom made

the tweet. It was like, this would be an amazing, like, cup final or, and obviously all the responses were like, Leaves got to get out of the first round. And, you know, the abs got to get there too, but it was great. There was the star power. There was good matchups. I mean, it was a great game to watch. And I thought the, I thought watching Anaheim and Detroit go up against each other was actually quite entertaining too, because you've kind of got the battle of the three potential Calder trophy finalists this year. So that's kind of a fun matchup. And the ducks have been so great to watch. I'm a huge fan of Trevor Zegris. I really can't overstate that. I've been watching a lot of devil's games too. It's because Jack Hughes is super fun. I don't know what it is.

We've got to get to the bottom of this one day. Like, what is it about these American kids? This is the Canadian show. So this really hurts me. I know. I hope Sean and Craig aren't listening. But what is it about these American kids? Yeah. They've got the skill, the personality. Amazing. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. The Cuchukh brothers, you name it. Caulfield. Yeah. Like, eating pizza in the Stanley Cup final. I know. I know. I'm with. you. It's exactly what we need in the game. You're right. Watching Anaheim, Detroit, and he got Ziegrich, and you got Mordtsider, and you got Lucas Raymond. A little later, we're going to talk about whether or not we think Alex Nadelcovic should even be a Calder finalist. But it's a lot

of fun right now because you feel like the, and I feel like Zegris, even though statistically Lucas Raymond is kind of, you know, right there or not better, do you not feel like Trevor Zegris ever since the flip past the Sunny Malano, it's like, okay, by the way, he's just going to win the Calder Trophy. Like, just based on that, like the hype around him has just been magnified like a hundredfold in the last two weeks or whatever.

Yeah, I think it probably just depends on what kind of impact you're looking for a player to have in terms of the rookie of the year. I mean, I think this year is going to be more of a battle than last year where everyone just kind of assumed it was going to be Caprizov who won just because you looked at a stat line and the impact he had on the Minnesota Wild. But I think, to me, it's tough because Lucas Raymond has been great. I think when it comes down to the two Detroit guys, I think Mort Cider probably has a more

overall impact on the game from his position. And he's been really, really impressive. I would love to see what his level of competition's been. Not that that's going to be a crazy thing. You're still a rookie. Even if you're playing really well against second or third lines, it's still great. But yeah, I don't know, something. I think it's going to come, I think it's going to be tough because I think Zegris is obviously,

there's probably more attention paid to him. I think it probably depends on what team ends up doing better through 82 games for sure. I think he's got the flashiness and the skill set, and then he puts that on display. So I don't know, I think it's going to be tough. I think I'm a, like I said, I'm a huge Zegris fan. I think I lean a bit towards more at Sider right now, just because of that overall impact he has in the game. But I wouldn't be shocked if Trevor Zegris won because of the skill set that he shows. And he's not afraid to, and he's got the confidence to do certain things. And that's certainly impressive.

I don't know. I'm still torn. It's going to take me like the rest of the season to be watching this between those three for sure. But I don't know. I probably waffle on it a bunch. Yeah, it's going to be fun. Those are three dynamic players. And you're right.

Moritz cider might be the best young defense, like rookie defensemen in the game. And it's just, you know, it's exciting to be a Detroit fan, I think right now. They've kind of taken a step forward in the rebuild this season. And it's certainly, I think, been fun to watch them. Something that was not fun on the weekend, Evander Cain, Haley. And this was probably the biggest story in the weekend that was as the relationship between Evander Cain and the San Jose Sharks ultimately ended on the weekend. and basically just to give people the rundown version,

if you're not aware of kind of how this all played out. But the sharks, of course, placed Evander Cain on unconditional waivers on the weekend with the intent to essentially terminate his contract. And the reason why is they felt that he once again breached the COVID protocols, this time in the American Hockey League. And if you recall, back at the beginning of the season, Evander Cain was suspended for the first 20-some-odd games of the season because it was determined that he,

tried to falsify his COVID-19 vaccination stuff. So he was already in hot water for that. And now, and by the way, a terrific piece of writing from our two writers, Corey Massesack and Kevin Kurz. They teamed up to write a piece on kind of Evander Cain and San Jose Sharks in the weekend and talked about, well, this time around, this would be his second COVID-19 protocol violation. The first, as I said, tried to provide a fake vaccination card, got called out for that.

This time around Haley, it seems as though while he was supposed to be in quarantine over the Christmas holidays, he left the San Jose area and returned to his hometown of Vancouver. And that is what they're saying he breached it. This is obviously going to be interesting because Vander Kaine's agent on Monday, Dan Milstein, saying that there's interest around the league to sign his client who could be a free agent. The NHLPA is going to file a grievance here. They're probably likely looking to protect Vander Kaine's fighting. financial interest.

There's a lot of ways this could go. But let's start with this, okay? Is there a scenario or a team and a situation you can see a VanderKain fitting into Haley for the rest of this season? Let's say he's a, he's a free agent now. You could sign him to a one year rest of the season deal, a million box, $8.50, I don't know, whatever it is. Is there a situation where you think that this can work out for a Vander Kaine and the team that signs him? Absolutely. I think there's enough owners, general managers, front offices who value winning enough that they're going to go and sign this player. It's going to be likely at a way lower cap hit and salary than he's making right now. So there's an incentive there. And, you know, I think there's going to be teams who say, like, you know, it's not worth the PR. It's not worth, you know, I think one of the big things with Evander in San Jose, was just the stories of issues in the locker room, not showing up to practice on time,

you know, not respecting the veterans or the captains in the room and not doing X, Y, Z. I think there was a lot of turmoil that had been, and it's not my opinion, it's just from what we've read and what's been reported. You know, there's a lot of problems in that locker room. So I think that's, I think more than anything, that's probably something that teams are going to say, like, ooh, maybe we don't want to add that to the mix. If a team's got a really good room. They've got a lot jelling. It's going to be like, we don't want to mess up our chemistry. That's going to be the thing that teams are like, wait a second, the chemistry is going to be off, not the like, you know, look at all these other problems that just led to him being available

in the first place. I think that's just kind of the way that, I don't know, I don't know, I wouldn't be shocked to see him sign somewhere. I think, you know, it's different. It's, you know, I don't want to say it's apples to oranges, but they're different people. But like Tony DiAngelo had issues last season and he got a contract. With the Carolina Hurricanes, I might add, who's a team that everyone thinks because of their social media presence is like the fun, quirky, like, you know, friendly neighbor kind of team. Inclusive.

Like, you know, their social media presence is very like everyone loves the canes, but their social team is not the one that's owning and running the operation there. And obviously the people at the top were like, yeah, he's really good. We need to replace Dougie. Let's go get Tony DiAngelo. And I think there's going to be teams that think the exact same way with Evander Cain. We need a guy who can score 20 goals. We need a guy who can change the game.

We need a better power for. We need a better whatever to add to our group. And Evander Cain is going to be there. And he's a great hockey player. He was incredible last season. And people aren't going to forget that. Okay. So I think a couple of things that are interesting here.

I wonder who is the NHL's version of the New England Patriots. Because when you think about the New England Patriots, the NFL, they often would bring in guys who needed a second chance or a chance to prove themselves again. They had the right culture, right? Like is Tampa that team? And here's what I think is really interesting. From the reporting from Corey and Kevin on the weekend, in their column, this is what they wrote. And this is fascinating to me.

I'm going to read this word for word. Okay. Evander Kane, whom the sharks tried to move over the summer after it became known to management that most of his now former teammates did not want him pack, currently has a three-team trade list. It's believed to be Tampa Bay, Florida, and Vancouver. It's unclear whether any of those teams were ever interested in acquiring him. This is a change from previous years when Kane had teams like the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights on his list of acceptable destinations.

In other words, two teams that he had played for in the past that would be highly unlikely to reacquire him and another team in Vegas in which he was immensely disliked by the fan base stemming from his battles with former Golden Knights forward Ryan Reeves. It's like, Haley, this is fascinating to me. So what you're telling me, Corey Massesac and Kevin Kurz, is that in his old no trade agreement, Evander Cain was like, yeah,

I'll accept the trade to the following three teams, the Buffalo Sabres, the Winnipeg Jets, and the Vegas Golden Knights, knowing damn well, none of them would trade for him. This is unbelievable to me, no? It's so freaking petty. Like, you know what? And it's actually kind of great.

I mean, it's bad, but it's kind of great. And you know what? I don't know. I had this conversation. It's completely different situation, completely different. And like, this is not something I'd heard. Like, I think, you know, Johnny Goodrow is great. I'm a big fan of his too. But I remember thinking in the summer, I was like, because he has a five-team trade list now. And they didn't, because the Flames didn't resign him in the summer. I was like, what if for some reason the Flames tried to sign him? And Johnny was just like, you know what? I'm going to. the five teams that will never get this done just because you didn't re-sign me this summer.

And obviously, like, you know, the hope is still that the flames are going to re-sign Johnny Goddrow. So I don't want any flames fans to hear that and be like, no, Johnny, don't do that. Johnny Goddrow is not a Vander Cain. I think it's funny. I think within the context of everything, maybe not so much. But I don't know, that's the level of petty that is, I mean, what? whatever, it's your prerogative.

Like, it's pretty hilarious. Yeah, but I do think it's funny that, according to our reporting here again from Corey and Kevin, that Tampa Bay and Florida appear to be on his three-team list that he would accept a trade to. And you would think, Haley, as we talked about earlier, places where he might fit in, places where, you know, maybe he could slide in.

Do Tampa and Florida fit that criteria for you? I mean, I don't think Tampa has a cap space. But I mean, you don't, could they juggle him around, get him in at 780,000, whatever the minimum salary is 800,000, like for the rest of the year? Right, right, right. You know, like, you're probably not signing him to anything more than the rest of the year and league minimum. I'd be shocked if he gets anything more than that. So I'm thinking Tampa, Florida, would you, would you do that? Yeah, I mean.

The Panthers going to want to take the hit on signing of Ander Kane after everything that happened already this year. Do the Tampa Bay Lightning want to add someone into the fold when they have a chance to repeat? Is he going to come into the locker room and be a problem? They've got a good thing going there. Like, I don't know. I honestly don't know where the fit is.

I don't know who the Tampa, I almost said Tampa Bay. I don't know who the Patriots are. And I know, like, the Patriots are. the Patriots have a good culture, but I also think, like, some of it is just like Tom Brady bringing guys in, too, because we saw that with Antonio Brown and Tampa Bay bringing him in. I honestly don't know. Like, I wonder if there's someone that Evander's been really close with that's going to pull for him in the room. If it's a team that I know that there's going to be teams that are going to be interested,

and we've heard that from the agent. I just, I really can't imagine who that's going to be right now without, I don't know, it's tough, but I'm sure we're going to see him play. Yeah. Yeah, it's, anyway, this to me is going to be one of the most interesting stories. And again, his agent, Dan Milstein on social media on Monday saying, or suggesting Haley, that multiple teams are interested. Now, does that mean, is that him just trying to ratchet up a little bit of a market? Yeah, hey, listen, that's what that's what good agents do, right? They create a little bit of buzz. But boy, oh boy, like, I'm, I'm so interested to see where this goes, because

the guy's got oodles of talent. He was San Jose's most productive forward about a year ago. So it's not like you're talking about somebody who was good five years ago. He was good last year. So I think this is going to be really interesting. I think if he go, like,

boy, like Tampa would actually be the place to me. Because if he can't go there and fit in, then where else can he go, right? Like, I don't know. But you're right. Maybe they don't want to mess with a three-peat by bringing in a potentially combustible part to the mix.

I'll tell you what, Haley. You know, Evander K. not the only unhappy player and kind of with a little bit of friction with his team. John Klingberg of the Dallas Stars with some interesting comments last week about his contract negotiations. He kind of basically let it be known publicly

that he feels underappreciated by the Dallas Stars. Basically feels like they've ghosted him for lack of better term. He's like, hey, I'm sitting here. me and my agent are trying to be flexible. We're trying to be flexible on term and dollar. He's like, we're not even hearing from them. And he basically feels like, you know, he wants to stay in Dallas.

He's not hearing anything. Now people are starting to say that John Klingberg is in the last year of his deal. He's 29 years old. He probably is trade bait at this stage of the game. What do you think about a player kind of going public? You know, oftentimes teams and players try to keep things tightly under wraps. don't like stuff leaking out. John Klingberg basically came out and said,

I've wanted to stay, I want to stay, I haven't heard anything from them. What do you think this does to the negotiations? Does it help facilitate a deal in terms of a contract or does it kind of facilitate a trade out of town? Yeah, well, first I like that from a player. I think it's refreshing to hear them come out and be honest. And they're kind of just putting, you know,

the stars, I guess the GM and then the front office, like their feet to the fire a little bit. It's like, hey, you know what? Like, do something here. And you know what? That could mean they're going to be done with him. That could mean they get a trade. But it's going to probably force them into some kind of action. And the player is kind of taking control of that because he felt like probably nothing else was happening, like he said.

I don't know. I like it. I think a lot of times we hear. I'm just again because I'm in Calgary I'm thinking of you know the Sam Bennett um saga from last season here in Calgary where it was reported on hockey night in Canada that Sam Bennett had requested a trade out of Calgary and then you know Sam Bennett wouldn't talk about it to the media or he wouldn't say anything about it and it was all very like you know I'm going to let my agent in Broadtree living deal with this I'm going to let this and this and it's like you know

what like it's out there like your your people are probably the the ones that got that out there. Like, you want out. Tell us why. And that's obviously a selfish thing as a media member to say because it's a better story. But I like it. You're being honest about your situation. You're being real. That's something that we, I think I always appreciate when we get it in the game because we always get the company line, right? It's always, I'm going to let my agent deal with this. And so you had a player kind of taking control over his situation. Is that going to mean they re-sign him?

Like, I don't know. I'm sure there's a lot of petty people in NHL front offices, so maybe that'll just piss them off. But, you know, maybe it'll get him flipped somewhere at the deadline. It'll get him flipped to a contender, and maybe he could resign there. He gets flipped to a contender, and then he can test the water as a free agency. But I think what it does is it probably forces some action. And that's probably what his intention was.

And, you know, a situation in Dallas is pretty interesting. interesting on Sunday, their head coach, Rick Bonas. Let some frustration be known publicly as well, Haley, in a different way. So if you weren't paying attention to this game, basically the Dallas stars are up on St. Louis. Last couple minutes of game, they're up one-nobing. Well, Rick Bonas watches his team, allows St. Louis to rally with two power play goals in the final minute of regulation time. Ryan O'Reilly and Jordan Kairu scoring, I think it was 18 seconds apart, giving St. Louis a dramatic, wild, crazy 2-1 comeback win.

And Bonus was frustrated. He felt like there was some mispennelty calls, and then Meryl Heiskenen got called for a penalty. Anyway, at the end of the game, bonus grabs a stick off the bench, and I mean angrily smashes it two times on the bench. and I want to know what you think about, you know, coaches often will preach, you got to stay disciplined, you got to stay controlled, they preach that to their players.

When we see a coach lose it like this, what do we think? Are we okay with it? Because, hey, you're a human being, you're frustrated, or you know what, you should practice what you preach and you should keep it a little bit more under wraps. Yeah, I mean, I don't know, when I see stuff like that, I always always. just my reaction is never like, he shouldn't do that. My reaction is always just like, ooh, he's a, he's angry. Like, I don't know. I never, maybe that, maybe I should care more about it. But like, I think it's, I guess just as a viewer, you kind of watch and you're like, that's

kind of funny. Like, he's losing his mind right now. He's very, very angry. It's like, what is it from elf? Like, ooh, he's an angry elf. But yeah, like, if Rick Bonas is like preaching in the room to tell the player, and that's the thing. I don't know what his coaching style is. I don't know if that's what he's saying to his players, right? So if he's in the room at intermission saying, like, keep your cool guys, like, play within the whistles. Like, don't, you know, don't lose your cool.

And then he goes and does that. Then it's just like, okay, well, what did you just tell us? And then you didn't follow it up with your own kind of action. I don't know. What do you think about it? Because for me, I see it. And you're just like, for me, I saw that and was just like, I wonder if he's going to get a fine like Ron Brindamore did.

Right. But like Rod Brindamore was screaming in the face of the ref and he's like smashing a stick as everyone's leaving the bench. So it's not like he smashed the stick at the ref or something. So I don't know. What do you think about it? Well, it's going to be interesting, right? Because I think it was at some point when Brindamore got fined and it was $25,000,

they basically said that all coaches in the league, okay, are put on notice, effective immediately, and this was from back in October, effective immediately, all general managers and coaches are put on notice that any public comments and demeaning displays that are critical of officiating video replay and supplemental discipline specifically and also the league in the game of general

will automatically get a fine that is no less than $25,000. So my question is, does that, I guess does that constitute bonus angry at the officials or angry at the city? Like could Rick Bonas say, hey man, I just lost the game 2-1. I wasn't mad at the rafts.

I was just smashing a stick. Like, do you think that there's a defense to that? I have a bad feeling he's going to get fined and they're going to say we don't like that type of public display. But I don't know. I think I agree with you in that. I mean, I don't know. Was it directed directly at the officials?

It did look like he was barking at somebody, right? Right? Yeah, I guess we'll see. I mean, I think it's kind of, it's a separate conversation, but I thought that that, you know, memo going out being like trying to control the message is a little rich. Didn't love that. But I think if you're going to find, if you're going to find one guy for it, you should probably stick to it across the board. But again, there's a difference between smashing your stick post-game while everyone's leaving the bench. And like, screaming in the referee's face. And I don't think Rick Bonas came out to the media and said anything about the referees.

He just kind of had that moment post game where he smashed the stick as he was walking off the bench. So I think he's kind of got a bit of an out there. You know, I wasn't, I didn't do it at the guy. I didn't scream in the guy's face. I didn't say anything post game. I just smashed my stick or someone's stick. I wonder who's it was.

Can we find that out? Yeah. Stick did he smash? He just smashed a stick and walked off. So maybe he'll get away with it. I mean, goalies smash their sticks all the time. Are they getting fined for inappropriate behavior? Because they're usually smashing their stick because they're mad at themselves.

So Rick Bonas can probably just say, like, I was mad about the team. It's mad about my coaching performance. So I don't know. We'll see what happens with that one. All right, Haley. Tell you what, this should have been a game day for the Ottawa Senators against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. Surprise, surprise. That game has been postponed again.

But we're still going to kind of talk about the, Edmonton Oilers here, Haley, because as compelling as Calgary has been lately with that kind of road trip out against the heavyweights, I got to say, Haley, the situation a couple hours north of you, boy, you got to be, fans in Calgary must be looking up to Edmonton and just with so much fascination with what's unfolding in Edmonton, just before we bring Daniel on here, Daniel Nugenton Bowman. I got to ask you how Flames fans are feeling about watching the Oilers implode right now. Yeah, I mean, the rivalry is a pretty great one. I think everyone kind of knows that. So I think one of the things, you know, the Flames lost three straight to three really good teams in

their last road trip. And, you know, one of the things that kind of made it better was like, well, at least Edmonton's not doing well. Like the Flames lost a couple. I think Vegas lost a couple at home and Edmonton is doing what they're doing. So I think that kind of gives Flames fans this kind of cushion, just as a fan base, but also just when you look at the Pacific Division, flames had that long, long layoff. They lost four straight. They won two, then lost three straight. And they're still above the Oilers and the standing. So it's all good. I mean, it's all relative, but it's all good in Calgary when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers right now, for sure. Well, let's bring in our guy. Daniel Lugent Bowman does a terrific job covering the Oilers for us

with the athletic. And I'll tell you, there's been no shortage. of things that talk about, whether it's coaching, goaltending, frustrations from superstars. And now we got ourselves a COVID outbreak. Listen, Daniel, first of all, thanks so much for hopping on the podcast today. Oh, you're welcome. I was going to kind of add to Haley's what she said there. I was wondering, their fascination from flames fans are just downright glee because it has not been very good here in Edmonton.

It's 2-9 and 2 over the last 13 games. And before they started that free fall, they were in first place by points percentage in the entire league. So they woke up on December 1st with the, with the best points percentage in the NHL. And it's, it's been a quite the drop off since then. So yeah, there's lots to talk about. So which way do you guys want to start? Yeah, I think, I think maybe just, hey, listen, the COVID outbreak has obviously put a halt on the schedule for now. As I mentioned, it was supposed to be Otto Edmonton on Monday. That game's been punted to later in the week. So give our listeners a sense of, you know, how many players are affected here. McDavid is obviously the headliner.

Is it a feeling like he'll be back? And when do we expect Edmonton's next game to take place? Yeah. So they were supposed to practice Sunday at 2 o'clock PM here in Edmonton, Mountain Time. And McDavid was supposed to be on the ice for that. So he missed the Toronto game on Wednesday, along with Tyson Berry and Derek Ryan.

And those three players were supposed to be out of protocol to be able to practice Sunday and with all likelihood be able to play Monday. So Friday, Kyler Yamamoto was pulled off the ice. because of a positive COVID test. And then Saturday, four other players along with Yamamoto went into protocols, along with six staffers. So that was kind of where the first real red flag went up. And then two more players, Warren Fogel and Brendan Perlini went into, oh, sorry, no.

I forget who the other one was actually. But there's two players that went into protocol on Sunday. And that's what prompted practice to be canceled. And therefore, the game. tomorrow or today, Monday being canceled and postponed to Saturday. So the Oilers, you know, they've had their COVID problems. There's only eight players on the active roster who haven't been in protocol. But they haven't been like, you know, Calgary or a couple of these other teams where

they've all happened at once and prompted a shutdown. This is really the first kind of significant wave of it. So they've had probably two or three games where it's really impacted the lineup. But it's kind of been, you know, since. the end of November. They've kind of had one or two guys on the COVID protocol list and not able to play games. And it's really kind of come to a head here. But hopefully, you know, when the action kind of picks up again on Saturday, it should be relatively out of the picture for them for the next little while. This has kind of been more than just COVID stuff with

Edmonton Oilers. I mean, obviously we just kind of touched a bit on with the flames with what's going on with Edmonton, but can you find something to put your finger on of the problem that's wrong with the Oilers? And it kind of feels like we could have seen some of this coming in the off season or maybe early in the season. There was a lot of power play success. I just don't know. I don't know if I'm completely, completely shocked that the team is having these problems. Are you? No, I'm not either, Haley. And, you know, they obviously had a tremendous start the year going nine and one. And as I mentioned right off the hop there,

just on December 2nd, there were 16 and 5. So a tremendous record, a lot of things going well. But there were a lot of things that they were doing that were, you know, kind of going above and beyond what could be expected.

You know, like, you know, the power play up until a few games before that, that drop off. It was over 40%. McDavid and Drysidal as great as they are. You know, they were scoring two points a game.

You can't really keep that up at that level. And, you know, now that they are down to one point a game, basically, you know, that's, that's, you know, it's essentially a goal or a goal one half, depending on if they're contributing on each other's, on each other's goals that they're losing. And, you know, the power play has dropped off a little bit. Goaltending has been, I would say, average throughout the course of the year, Miko Koskinin has had a few really good games. But, you know, over the course of the last, you know, through the stretch, the last 13 games, the goaltending has fallen off. Mike Smith has only played six games this year due to a couple different injuries. And their best goaltender has been Stuart Skinner, who's, you know, just above average in terms of a lot of the stats, but is now back in the H.L. So you couple all that with the fact this team has had depth issues for years.

And Ken Holland really tried to fix that in the offseason, getting, you know, guys like Warren Fogle and Derek Ryan, hoping for her for a bounce back from a guy like Zach Cassian. And that third line was very good for the first, you know, five, six games and has really taken a tumble. And, you know, they haven't been linemates much. The, when McDavid and Drysidal aren't on the ice at five on five, the oils are getting outscored, rather, 38 to 19. So exactly two to one ratio. And yeah, that's all you need to know, right? Like, you know, these guys, McDavid and Drysiddle are the number one and two forwards, dry saddle being ahead of McDavid in terms of ice time.

But they can only do so much. I mean, dry stuff of playing just under 23 minutes a night. I still leaves a lot of time that you need to put together a competent lineup. And unfortunately for the Oilers, that's been the real issue for this team over the past years. And people thought it was going to get better, but it's, it's actually gotten worse. What about the calls to fire their head coach? Is it time to consider moving on from Dave Tippett? He certainly deserves to be on the hot seat.

There's no question about it. You look at the record that they've had, two nine and two. with the type of team that this is. I mean, there are some holes, but the way that they went out and spent in the off season, you look at Tyson Barry being re-signed, Cody C.C. being brought into, to replace Adam Larson, who left for Seattle.

Obviously, everyone talks about the Duncan Keith trade and them paying full price to acquire him from Chicago, Zach Hyman coming in, Ryan Eugent Hopkins being re-signed. This was the summer that Ken Holland had, you know, the money, and the cap space and flexibility to be able to revamp the lineup the way, you know, at least, you know, the way he wanted or as best as he could, given the parameters,

you know, the salary cap on what was available in free agency. With McDavid and Drysettled being right in their primes being the top two scores of the league, as they've had as they have been for the last little while, this is a win now time. You know, there's no more excuses here. And, you know, a stretch like this has gotten coaches fired in the past. Now, Ken Holland is known to be a very patient general manager and has never fired a coach in season and his entire tenure as a general manager dating back to the 97, 98 seasons. So I, you know, it's it's really unlikely that that happens. And, you know, with the way things have happened here with this game getting pushed back, I think.

And Dave Tippett also being on the COVID list, there's some extenuating circumstances combined with the injuries that they've had that I don't think. Ken Holland really wants to make that move. But if things continue, I think he'll be left with very little choice because it's very hard, especially as I mentioned with all these players coming in, it's very hard to really revamp your lineup in season and make some trades when you have a lot of guys under long-term contracts. And the coach is the one bullet for lack of a better word that the GM can use because it doesn't require any kind of salary cap considerations.

It's a very easy move. you know, get rid of one guy, bring in another, without having to make any type of trade. And Dave Tippett is in the last year of his contract. So he's the type of guy that he's had a long career and has a lot of other, you know, business and outside interests of the game. He's, he's totally fine being on kind of a year-to-year basis right now. I know he wants to do well here. He wants to win.

But if if Tippett were to be let go, it wouldn't be, you know, the end of the world from his perspective in that regard. I mean, don't get me wrong. He just want to win and everything. he wants to be here. But there is that, that logical line that people are drawing in terms of, of Dave Tippett being on the hot seat and what's gone on here.

And there have been some, some questionable moves, I would say, in terms of how he's kind of manipulated the roster recently. You know, Darnell Nurse is a very important guy on a lot of nights, even when the defense is completely healthy, is up toward the 30 minute mark.

But there's been a couple of games where he's been absent due to, due to injury. and then a couple games because of, or just one, I guess, because of COVID. But in that game, they went with six defensemen. And they had to dress due to cap considerations, a very young defenseman, Dimitri Sam Rukoff. And he, you know, had two glaring mistakes on the,

on the, you know, the first two St. Louis schools very early in the game. And Dave Tippett decided, and along with the associate coach Jim Playfair, who works with the defense, but they decided not to use Sam Rukov for the rest of the game. So for 50 minutes, he went down to five defense, Duncan Keith played almost 27 minutes. And he's barely played due to COVID and an injury over the last month before that. And Duncan Keith is at this 38 years old and is at the point of his career where he can't take on those minutes.

And so he had one of his work games throughout the rest of that night. You can't put guys in situations like that. And there's been a couple other examples, but he's very, very reliant and overreliant in some cases on his veterans. and obviously playing his stars quite a bit. So, you know, he deserves to be on the hot seat, whether or not he gets fired. That's another, I think the next few games will kind of determine that. But I think it is a case where Ken Holland really does not want to make that move.

You know, it's interesting, I think, because you mentioned Ken Holland never making an in-season coaching change as a general manager. And there's one name, though, that keeps coming up, at least externally. And that's Mike Babcock, because obviously, Kenny Holland and Mike Babcock won a Stanley Cup together in Detroit in 2008. They've got a history. Is that the name that's being bandied about

in your market in Edmonton? And if not, what are some of the names that people are talking about of potential replacements down the road, whether it's this season or beyond for Dave Tippett? Yeah, it's funny. I mean, that came up a couple, a few days ago or over a week ago now

with Elliot Friedman putting it out up there and then going to Holland to get Holland's denial or what have you. Obviously, there's that straight line parallel between Babcock and Holland, given their tenure and their history together. If you're looking for an established coach, I think that's probably the guy that everyone thinks of. It's funny, though, I have a 20-month-old daughter, and she has, for whatever reason,

maybe it's because of her father watching hockey, but she's always interested in hockey on TV. So this morning, after our usual round of baby shark, which I've kind of gotten fed up with, she called for hockey to go on. And I just threw on YouTube and what came up at the 19 or sorry, the 2016 World Cup of hockey. And it's on right now, actually, the Canada, Russia semi-final game. And I'm thinking, oh, that's funny. Who's the coach? Well, it's Mike Babcock.

We're going on six years ago. And what has he done really since? Well, they obviously won that tournament. And then he coached Toronto to a lot of, I would say, middling or even worse results with the team that he had. There were a lot of questions about obviously what went on in Toronto and how he conducted himself with, you know, obviously the stuff with Mitch Marner and all that,

but also the way he manipulated the lineup. And, you know, maybe Dry Sattel and McDavid are playing too much here. But the huge criticism of Mike Babcock in Toronto was that he wasn't playing his stars enough. So I would rather, you know, lean on the side of overplaying my stars than underplaying them. And, you know, I don't know if Mike Babcock is certainly the right guy here in Edmonton. I think that there's going to be constant speculation about him, given the, again, given the history that he and Ken Holland have together. But I think if you're looking for the kind of names that people are talking about in this market, I think, oddly enough, they are in-house.

Jay Woodcroft is another guy that Ken Holland knows very well. He goes back to Detroit Day's post-lockout, being a video coach, and has worked his way up through the NHL ranks in terms of being an assistant coach and is now in his fourth year coaching the farm team in Bakersfield. It's done a tremendous job there of rounding out some prospects and getting them up. The other guy is in-house is Glenn Gullison, who has coached two NHL teams and is in, his responsibility is,

is a power play along with the forwards. And the power play is obviously very good, even though it has taken a little bit of a dip lately. So if you're looking for in-house guys, those are the two that immediately come to mind. Outside, you know, I think you need kind of somebody that can get the best out of those bottom six players. And I think McDavid and Drysadle can do what they do with very little help in coaching.

I think it's a rest of the lineup that needs some fine-tuning. I'm not sure if Mike Backcroft's a guy, but he's going to be the guy that people talk about, regardless of whether it's the right move or not. So you already mentioned there's probably not going to be an in-season coaching change, or it's unlikely to happen based on Ken Holland's previous body of work. What are some of the other ways that the Oilers can get back on track here? The goaltender.

They need a goalie very badly. They needed one for years. and, you know, it's not to put all the blame on Miko Koskin. And again, he's had some pretty good games. He's just a goaltender who's, quite frankly, been put in it on, you know, he's been put over his head in terms of what he's been asked to do. His best season came two years ago when he was sharing the load in net with Mike Smith and had a 9-17 percentage.

Since then Smith, who's going to turn 40 in March, has had injuries in the last season has been out for extended periods of time. And when Miko Koskinin has, you know, been forced to play long stretches with very little reprieve, although Stuart Skinner has been able to offer him that this year. He's really struggled. You know, early in games, it's bad goals. You know, he's not a starting goal tender in the National Hockey League. And, you know, in fairness to Ken Holland, he did not sign him to that contract.

It was signed by Peter Shirelli and the. the ownership and management team the day before Peter Shirley was fired, which is a whole other oddity of its own. But it was a complete overpayment from day one at $4.5 million over three years. And, you know, given the parameters of that deal, you know, not playing up to it. And, you know, he has no trade clause to half the teams in the league. It's very hard to move on from that contract. But, you know, Holland has tried to upgrade the goaltending.

Everyone knows about Jacob Markstrom a couple of off seasons ago. Last summer, he was in on Darcy Kemper before Colorado got him instead of Edmonton from Arizona. But he also kind of hedged his bed in signing Mike Smith to a two-year contract that, again, being almost 40 years old. I think they want to move on from Koskenen. How they do that again is very challenging. But they have to find a way to upgrade the goaltending because it's the biggest. you know, the biggest issue with this team, you know, again, we talked about the bottom six. And it is, it's, you know, a lot easier to, to try to go about replacing a couple bottom six guys,

you know, for, you know, for late picks or whatever. But the goaltending is the biggest thing that could, that could have a tangible, you're finding a new cold tender that could have a tangible impact on this team. It's just a matter of how they go about doing it. It's, it's more of the question than anything else. Well, listen, Daniel, it's obviously, it's never a dull moment in Edmonton, even when the, the team is kind of on pause here with COVID. Plenty of storylines for all of us to analyze. We appreciate you dropping by the podcast here.

We're hoping that things will get back on track for the Oilers, at least getting back into game action later this week. And listen, we'll talk to you again, I'm sure, at some point down the road. Oh, you're very welcome, guys. This is pleasure being on with you guys. All right. That was a great little catch-up with Daniel there in Edmonton as the Oilers. Boy, what a fascinating story there they're going to be in the weeks and months ahead. So we appreciate Daniel dropping by with his vantage point on all things.

Eilers. Haley, time for us to wrap up the show. Got a couple of multiple choice madness questions to tackle here. And I'm going to ask you this because Kail McCar is having a dynamic season for the Colorado Avalanche. Haley, he's on pace. If you prorate his number, he's actually on pace to score more than 40 goals this season. That's probably not going to happen, but I think a 30 goal season is within reach for sure. So here's what I want to know. Here's our first question in multiple choice madness. What would you find more impressive? Is it A, if a forward ends up scoring 60 goals this season, or B, if a defenseman ends up scoring 30 goals this season, what would you be more impressed by, Haley? That's hard. That's a really tough one. I think 60 goals in 82 games is really, really impressive. But at the same time, 30 goals for a defender who's, for me, there's an asterisk there. It's 30 goals for a defender who can also play well on the defensive side of the game. Like this isn't like a offensive defenseman who completely cheats the other side of the puck. Like that, that's really impressive to me because that's a really well-rounded player. And specifically when we're talking about Cam Ocar. It's not just that he's scoring goals. It's the goals that he's scoring.

He completely walked Kirby Doc the other day, and that's not the first time we've seen him do stuff like that. That is a generational defensive talent. So I think if we're putting a face to the name, I'm probably more impressed by someone like Kail McCar doing what he's doing than a forward who is a known goal scorer scoring 60. I don't know, though. 60 goals and 82 games is a lot.

I think I'm just, I don't know. That's a really tough one because I just think, I think I'm just being kind of my, it's the recency bias with watching someone like Kail McCar play and the way that he influences the game at such an elite level. But 60 and 82 is kind of crazy. Yeah. I don't know.

Yeah, I'm, I think it's a great, it's a great debate to have because if you, since the year 2000, There's only been two players in the NHL to hit 60 goals. One was Alex Ovechkin, who had 65. The other, Stephen Stamco's, who had a 60 goal season. And it's been more than a decade since that's happened, right? And then the only defenseman to score 30 in the season since the year 2000 is Mike Green.

But the funny thing is green kind of fits the prototype of what you were saying, Haley, like just an all-offensive guy. Brent Burns, by the way, had a 29-goal season and a 28-goal season. and so he just missed out by a hair. But I think I'm going to say it's a forward. Like to me, to score 60 goals, just scoring 50 these days is a challenge. Boy, to get to 60,

I'm going to say that. I'm going to say a forward score in 60, I would find a little bit more impressive. Okay, next question. We talked about, we referenced Alex Nadelcovic in the Calder Trophy way back when at the beginning of this show.

I want to ask you this. Because this is a weird one, Haley. Because I actually voted for Alex Nadelcovic as a Calder finalist last season when he was a goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes. But it turns out he didn't meet the threshold of games played, which is 25 for a goalie. So guess what? He's right back to be eligible again.

So here's my question. Alex Nadelcovich was a Calder finalist last season. He's eligible to win the award this season. Would you vote for him for the Calder Award this season? Your options are a yes. Of course, I would vote for him again. He's eligible for the award. Why wouldn't I or be?

No, you know what? I don't feel right potentially voting for him for the rookie of the year in two straight seasons. Where do you stand on this one? Yeah, I mean, it's not like this is a, that's not like a guy who's played a ton of hockey in his, in his NHL career. I think he played 23 games last year, 23 games for the Hurricanes. And 25 is the cutoff. Right. And he's at 24.

now with the Detroit Red Wings. And I mean, he's been good. I think he's got a winning record. He's got an above 900, say, percentage. I mean, I don't have a, we can debate whether or not he's going to be good enough to be voted in at the end of the season. That's a different conversation. But I think in terms of eligibility, yeah, if we're going to vote for Caprizo, who had like

nine years in the cage off. You can vote for a guy who's going to get wild fans all over you. I'm sorry. just saying. But don't you think... But like he played 23 games. He's still technically a rookie. The rules of the rules.

But I know. We were going to make that same argument last year. Make it this year. But they should have. And this is not to... Again, I think I would... Look, if he's eligible, then he's eligible. So I'm not going to penalize the guy for that.

But they should have changed the rules on the Delcovich because he appeared in 23 games in a 56 game season. Right? It wasn't 23 games in 82 games. They should have pro-rate. it, I guess is what I'm saying. And they didn't. And I'm not going to, I'm not going to penalize them for it.

But I do feel weird that, man, for a second straight year, I might put this guy on my Calder Trophy ballot. But anyway, I don't think he's going to end up winning it. Like as like we said earlier, Zegris, Cider, Raymond, or probably ahead of them. But it certainly is an interesting debate. Hey, let's wrap it up with this. Speaking of the ducks and the wings and all those great rookies, Haley, they didn't steal the show on Sunday.

I'm obsessed. I can't believe it. It was Raleigh Monkey. Yes, Raleigh Monkey. He's so cute. The infamous monkey who is the guy, the guy, the monkey who gets the Anaheim Angels fans. Or sorry, they're not the Anaheim Angels anymore. What are they the Los Angeles Angels?

He gets them going. Oh, my God. And they got them. I'm sorry. I'm just, I'm sorry. I'm watching the video again. I can't. Like, he just, it's so cute.

Sorry, continue the question. It is. But, okay. So Rally. monkey drops the puck before Dallas, oh sorry, but for Detroit Anaheim on Sunday. Before I ask you the question here, as you've watched this video for the first time, did it not cross your mind? They're like, I don't think this monkey is going to drop the puck. Like I was like, I, throws it off the table. Yeah. I'm sorry, I'm watching it as you're talking. And I, I didn't know

that this happened until I looked at a rundown for the day. And I, it's, this is the cutest thing. I think I've ever seen. He's wearing a little diaper. He has a jersey on. He's sitting on a table. And he just throws the puck. He just, he just throws the puck. And it lands right in between them. Like, it's a great puck drop. Look at him. Oh, my God. Yeah. I wish we had a close up of like Dylan Larkin's face. Like, are these guys freaking heartless? Like, why aren't you, why aren't you shaking the monkey's hand? Why aren't you smiling more? You know, what's the protocol? Because usually when somebody drop ceremonial puck, you shake their hand, you have fist bumped them. What do you do with a monkey's hand? No.

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Okay. So this is my- Ryan Getslav cares? Like, has Ryan Getslap like over this monkey? Is he just like, I've seen this guy before. Like, drop the puck, dude. I wanted, wouldn't you love to see, like, wouldn't you love access to a video of both Dylan

Larkin and Ryan Gatslap the moment they were informed? hey, listen, you're coming out to take the ceremonial face off tonight. And by the way, it's a monkey. It's a monkey dropping the puck. Wouldn't you love to just, just that moment of just like what was their reaction? Like, what did they say? Yeah, absolutely. I need to know.

And I need to know. Like, this is one of those things where it's like hockey players are so like into their routine. It's like, all right, let's drop the puck so we can like get the game on. I did my warm up. I've got to get going here. But like make an exception for the freaking monkey wearing a. diaper in a little jersey he's got a leash on yeah oh my oh my god that is the cutest that is the cutest freaking thing like has there ever been another animal dropping a puck because now i've

got to find out no no i don't see and so this is my question to wrap up the show wrap up multiple choice madness rally monkey dropping the puck on sunday is that the most is that the most memorable ceremonial puck drop you've ever seen your options are A, yes, I can't think of anything more memorable than this or B, no, I can think of a more memorable ceremonial puck drop. What do you got for us, Haley? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, there's a picture of him with a hockey stick. Raleigh monkey. Oh, my God. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I think the Snoop Dog puck drop was really funny. He did a Q&A, which was a. just like hilarious.

Like Sean Gentilly got like Snoop Dog. Right. For a story this year. And Snoop Dog was talking about that puck drop and he called like Sidney Crosby, like his little cousin, Sid the kid. So I think everything Snoop Dog does is great. So I thought the Snoop Dog puck drop at the Kings Penguins game, uh, geez, probably like in, what was that, 2016, like quite a few years ago now.

It was great. Like that was super fun. That was a awesome crossover. I think anytime. you can get celebrities of that stature involved in hockey is great. Again, like LeBron James was tweeting it. Like, now he's like a stakeholder in the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he posted a picture of the Penguins social on his Instagram.

And that's like hundreds of millions of followers now looking at a Penguins thing. So anyways, I think that's awesome. But, yeah, no, Rally Monkey is the cute. That's like my reaction to that. I can't pick anything else. That is the cutest thing I've ever seen. And there's a picture of him standing up on the table with, a little hockey stick in a duck's jersey. And I'm, I, I can't handle this right now. I should have,

I should have watched that video before we started recording. This is my live reaction to the live reaction little monkey and I'm obsessed and there's nothing better than that. I love it. By the way, our producer, Chris Flannery is chimed in telling us, so for Haley, the two most memorable put drops in NHL history involve a monkey and a dog. I love it. I love that. Where's the dog one? Stoop dog. Oh. No.

Oh, no. So stupid. Okay. So let me throw one other one at you that I feel like maybe I should have, I should have given you the heads up on this one or sent you the picture. Have you, or maybe you've seen this. I'll just, okay. So back in the day in the 1980s and there's a great debate as to whether this was the real

Michael Jackson or an impersonator. Have you ever seen the picture? of Michael Jackson, air quotes Michael Jackson, dropping the puck in front of Mario Lemieux and Vancouver Canucks Captain Stan Smil. It's from a game in Vancouver in the 80s, and there has been a great debate, Haley, as to whether or not it's the real Michael Jackson

or it was an impersonator. And people have dug into this, and they've looked into, was it, like, Michael Jackson was apparently playing in Vancouver around the same time and what, like, people study the photos and I think it's come back that it's an impersonator and it's a fake, but it's an all-time great photo, fake Michael Jackson dropping a puck with a young Maryole Lemieux right in front of them.

That one is the all-time refute. Do you think the Vancouver Canucks would actually hire like a fake Michael Jackson to drop a puck though? But people have like, people have looked at this photo and said, for example, if this was to He's got his, he's got his, he's got his whole vibe on. Are you looking at the picture right now? Yeah, I'm also looking at an NHL.com story. Yeah.

Which is like showing the merits of like it's fake, it's real. Yeah. And I think the one thing why I think it's fake and it was pointed out, I think in that article, is if this was the real Michael Jackson, why wouldn't there have been like a red carpet for him to walk out to center ice? Like they're just letting this guy, insert your moonwalk joke here. But you're going to let this guy slide out the king of pop on the ice with no. I think it's a fake.

But that's your most memorable. You don't know what? Do you think he even remembers? You think Mario Lemieux with all the things that have happened in his life would remember a, well, I guess if it was the real Michael Jackson, he'd remember. I mean, it's Michael Jackson, yeah. Um, okay, okay, okay. One of my favorite conspiracy theories, and this is going way off and I don't care because I talk about, this is like, you know, how everyone has a thing they could talk about all the time.

One of my favorite conspiracy theories is that Aver Levine actually died in 2003 and it's been like a lookalike. It's like the Paul McCartney. And it's not funny because, it's not funny because like the, they actually, you know, the reasons why they think Averloven died is because, you know, her first album was very sad and she was severely depressed. and Averloven actually died almost 20 years ago, and it's been this body double that's been actually Aver Levine the last 20 years. It's like, what are we doing here? And it's the wildest thing. I just, anyways, that the Michael Jackson question really reminded me of the Averloven thing.

The conspiracy. Michael Jackson's actually alive. Yeah. You know, one of these days we'll do, in the offseason, we'll do our favorite hockey, our sports-related conspiracy theories. hockey-related conspiracy theories. Unreal, yeah. Averloven one is hockey.

I think she played minor hockey and Nipian. Did she? Jeez. I don't know. I'll make that up. Yeah, make it up. I just want to talk about it some more. All right, we'll tell you what.

We'll leave it there. This was a jam-packed hour. I loved it. I think we probably in hindsight, we probably should have spent more time on Rally Monkey because your love for Rally Monkey really came through the last 10 minutes here of the show, Haley.

Yeah, I think that was the most energy I've brought in a while. Yeah. Okay, that's how we need to know. Now we know what the things that get you going. All right, we'll leave it there. Look at the picture of him with the stick. I know. You just texted me that.

I hadn't seen it. I sent it to the group chat. It's the cutest thing I think I've ever seen in my life. That is pretty, that is pretty impressive. All right. One more thing before you wrap up the show. Yeah, of course. As I try to get out of this podcast three seventh time.

Stop it. I have more things to say. My parents, I don't know if your family ever did this for you. Now you're like... An old man, you're older. When you were young, I don't know if your parents ever did this for you while you were like covering a team, but like my parents bought Bono a Flames jersey for Christmas. Why didn't we leave with this?

I don't know what to do with it because it's like, well, I'm a journalist. Like I'm not going to wear a flames jersey around. Like I, do I put my dog in one? I think it's really fun. I think it's acceptable if you're a beat reporter. If your pet wears the hat or shirt or jersey of the team that you cover, I'm going to say that that's acceptable to me. Right.

Okay. You know, like, I'll put the jersey on him later. You're not going to buy your dog. Like, you remember when Rob Lowe showed up to that NFC championship game with an NFL hat? Like the generic NFL hat? You're not going to put your dog in an NHL jersey. Like it's got to be of a team. Bono is neutral.

Bono is non-biased. Yeah. He's a neutral party. No, he loves the flaming sea. It wasn't a blasty jersey. I was like, what the hell, mom and dad? What the hell? You didn't get him a blasty jersey?

You got him the flaming sea, really? My dog is better than this. Also, they bought it in an extra large size, which I think is too big. So I was a little offended also. My dog is not overweight. Listen, we'll leave this to the listeners. They can hit us up in the comment section

or you can tweet at us. Is it on side or off side for Haley to put her dog in a Calgary Flames jersey? I'm going to say it's on side. I don't see a problem with it, but I'm sure somebody out there will have a problem with it. All right. This time for realzies, we're going to leave it there.

And we're going to thank everybody for listening to this. edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform. You can leave us a rating, leave us a review. We appreciate that for sure. I want to remind you, you can subscribe to the Athletic Audio plus on Apple Podcasts, get all the bonus content from our entire network. Start with a 30-day free trial.

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