The Athletic Hockey Show - Sidney Crosby vs. Connor Bedard: NHL Opening Night, Pride-themed stick tape banned, does Rasmus Dahlin have to win a Norris Trophy now?, and more

Episode Date: October 10, 2023

Ian Mendes, Julian McKenzie, and Mark Lazerus discuss the NHL’s reported ban on Pride-theme stick tape, the Sidney Crosby-Connor Bedard matchup in Pittsburgh tonight as the Blackhawks take on the Pens, Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Schiefele signing stunning 7-year deals with the Winnipeg Jets, the potential Edmonton Oilers-Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup Final rematch, expectations for Rasmus Dahlin after signing an 11-year, $8 million contract with the Sabres, tonight’s opening night slate of games, and the guys answer some listener questions to close things out.Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. Here we go. We're up and running. It's a new season, right? New hockey season, the athletic hockey show. It's the Mendez's Julian McKenzie with you. And you know what? Julian wanted to just kind of let the listeners know,

I guess the viewers know too, that got some fun, exciting changes happening this season on the athletic hockey show. I'm going to kind of really lean into our newsroom this season and a lot of the voices you've heard before. You're going to hear Mark Lazarus today. All those voices, you're going to hear them throughout the course of the week with the Athletic Hockey Show.

We're going to be live streaming on a lot of occasions on YouTube. So check us out, YouTube.com slash at the athletic hockey show to watch us live, which means I don't know that we can just roll in anymore, Julian, into this show. I mean, you always look dapper, but now, like, I got to shave. I got to make sure I'm presentable here. were this thing is audio and video. I, you know what's funny?

Before we started recording today, I was wearing a sweater, I was wearing a hoodie that had a very big name of a brand on the front. And I thought, oh, no, I don't know if I could just advertise for this random brand that does not advertise for us. So I literally went out of my, I literally went through my closet and I just tried to find some random hoodie that won't, you know, no sponsors or anything like that. Like that's an added element to what we have to. think about with this show now. So I just wore this random outcast hoodie. I'll do a better job of

showing it here. But yeah, no, that's that's an added element of challenges for us on top of talking about hockey. We have to think about our wardrobe choices. Well, isn't that the perfect segue? Talking about things that you can and can't wear. Because here we go. Here we go. The NHL season starts tonight. We're recording this on Tuesday. And one of the biggest topics of Conferms in and around opening night, Julian, the NHL's decision to ban the use of players using Pride tape. So players in the past, look, we've talked about this in the summer and it certainly came to light with the stalls and Rimer and Proverov. Handful of players didn't want to wear pride-themed jerseys last year. I think that topic we've discussed, we've dissected,

but now there's a new offshoot to that, something we didn't see coming until the last few days. And full credit where credit is doing. Let's first give some credit to Ryan Clark, our old pal at used to work with us at the athletic. Ryan is over at ESPN. He sought some clarity on some of these special initiative stuff, decisions by the NHL,

what can players wear, what can't they wear, what can teams do. So there was some ambiguity there. Ryan Clark last week got some answers. We got a little bit more clarity on this, but then outsports.com. Monday evening, Julian, with what I'm going to go ahead and call it a bombshell report

that said, the NHL is not going to allow players to use pride-themed tape. So think about the rainbow-colored tape you see players have on their sticks. Sometimes it's on the blade. Sometimes it's up near the top near the knob. but it's very visible. Now they're not allowed to do that. And boy, oh boy, I got to tell you, this feels, this feels like a gigantic step backwards,

is what it feels like. I agree. At the end of the day, they're just, whether it's the jerseys or whether it's tape, these are just really small gestures that teams were able to do just to show that they could be inclusive and welcoming of a specific community.

and these things occur during warm-ups. You know, when fans are filing into arenas, just getting themselves settled, there are the few fans who, you know, they run up to the glass, just at the lower bowl, and they want to see their favorite players from up close. This is something that, like,

you don't really see during, like, an actual broadcast. It's not something that unless you were in the arena, you would think about. But all of a sudden, it turned into this massive thing, because one player said because of their beliefs they didn't want to wear it. And then another player felt emboldened and then more and more players. And I know we've said a lot that, you know, seven players, because of those seven players,

this is why this is happening. Who knows? It could be more than those seven players who might have felt differently. And we don't truly know what's gone on behind the scenes with certain teams and how they've handled that. But the fact that it's gone to this point, like I just, I have to give my head a shake here because I feel it's taken away from players who actively want to do good in support of the LGBT IA community or other bigger stories, right? Like, this is, we're the athletic hockey show.

The leading topic should be Connor Bedard versus Sidney Crosby. It is not the leading topic. We have to address some of the reactions over hockey tape being banned. And at the end of the day, specifically with this new story and stick taps to to Altsports.com for getting this, it's over tape, like hockey tape. Like, it's rainbow colored tape. And the fact that we're at this point where guys can't have it on their sticks, I think it's just a ridiculous thing to focus over.

It's just a small gesture. And I don't know, I'm a bit beside myself and disappointed the fact that the NFL has chosen this stance. Yeah. And, you know, I think so much of, you know, social justice causes are rooted in allyship. Okay. it's rooted in allyship. By doing this, Julian, I think the

NHL has now put a cloak of invisibility over the allies. How are we, how are fans supposed to know who are the allies? How do you, like, and like the two, I can't help, there's two guys that come to mind to me that I think last year

did so much. And that's James Van Riemstike and Scott Lawton in Philadelphia. Same guys I was thinking of. And if you remember, Julian, and I think rightfully so, a lot of the oxygen went towards Ivan Provarov. He was like the first guy. I'm not wearing the jersey. Cited his religious beliefs.

Okay. On that same night, JVR and Scott Lawton took the time after the game. I think Scott Lawton told me this. I think it was 50, 50, 50, 5-0 families from Philadelphia that, you know, connected. to that LGBTQ plus community. And they sat with them and they chatted with them. And they just wanted them to know, I hear you, I see you, I understand you.

And I think that goes a long way. And so to take that away, just the little thing like the stick tape, it's really disappointing because you want to be able to see the helpers. You want to be able to know who the allies are. And now you have no idea. And I know the league, you said, well, we're not stopping players from having their own initiatives and taking part. And you had a couple of good conversations today, Michael Backland, Jonathan Hubbardow, who both of whom I would say would be considered allies.

What I thought was interesting on both of them, though, Julian, both of those Calgary players essentially said to you and to your colleagues, hey, we're allies. We're going to keep looking for ways to be allies, but we're not going to push back on this one. This is a league rule. and we don't want to get in trouble. And I'm a little disappointed in that. Which is kind of fascinating because this all started because players went against, well, it's not really a rule when it was going on, but they went against the norm.

This is what's so fascinating about this. We have, Lou, do you look at the sport of hockey? We as media types have long debated over the concept of individuality. and the fact that the sport has done so much to repress it in the name of having everyone play for this one uniform. And the specialty jerseys, the Pride Knights, for me, it just always amazed me that those nights, that was the moment when some players were going to step up and say, hey, I'm my own person and I believe in these things and I'm going to go away from that. So while I see the initial reactions, basically to paraphrase from Backland, Huberto, as Ian said, yeah, they're basically going to fall in line with rules. We've seen some reactions out of the Maple Leafs locker room as well. I saw Chris Johnson's tweet about Brad Tree Living saying that they'll find ways to support good causes while going around the rules.

Rasmus Anderson went one-on-one with my colleague, Solomon Volgi, at TSN, and said that it sucks. But we still don't really know if there's going to be a player is going to step out. and try to go against this. But if it was so weird for us to think initially that players would go against this to begin with, at this point, I don't think it's far fetched that somebody, even if it's just one player, somebody is going to put rainbow tape or do some kind of gesture to go against this. Maybe I'm naive to think that way, but I really think that if we've reached this point, and I'm sure that there are guys who feel away about it and are disappointed about it,

I feel as if there's someone out there, someone's going to do something. If it gets to the point where I'm wrong and I'm wrong, but all those players and nothing, like I'd be very surprised about that. If people were willing to go through the trouble of doing it the other way, someone's going to do it the other way. Yeah, and you know, my money, like I said, I thought Scott Lawton and James Van Reimsday came at this from an authentic place. And I really truly think that those are the types of guys that might do that.

I'd love to see Julian, we're going to bring Mark Lazarus in here in a second. I'd love to see James Van Riebstike, Scott Lotton, and like three other Philly teammates for a game. And maybe one guy has yellow tape and another guy has red tape and another guy has blue tape. And like all five of them together, that's not against the rules, is it? It's not against the rule. I mean, in that case, I know JV. in Boston now, I believe, that'd be really unique to see. Oh, yeah, sorry.

I forgot about that. No, but still, like, but it would still be cool, uh, to see players, if they feel compelled to do so, uh, stand up and, and, and, and say that in some way that people from all communities are welcome. And that's really what this is all about. And for people, we're going to look at us and say, oh, this isn't a big deal. Well, we flip that on its head too. This shouldn't have been this big of a deal.

At the end, you can even say that. The gestures that are being done through tape and the jerseys are some form of performance. You know, it's just pandering. Well, not pandering. I don't want to use that word. I'll say that just there are so many other things that leagues and teams can do and maybe be even be on a level of what Van Rheem's Dyke and Lotton did.

But these small gestures putting tape, that was enough. That should have been enough. And the fact that we're at this point debating it is a shame. Yeah. I'll tell you what. Let's bring him in, Mark Lazarus, and he is the self-professed, what does he call himself? The soy boy? This sounds like perfect.

This sounds like the perfect. This sounds like the perfect hockey team. Yeah. I believe Mark and I play against each other. I couldn't fit beta cuck soy boys. I just went with soy boys with a Z at the end. Are we allowed to say that word? Beta cuck?

I guess we are now. Yeah. There's a you in there. We are now. There's a you in there, Julian. You dirty-minded. Hey, hey, hey. I'm not dirty-minded.

put that on me sir i'm also so hey last we're and we're gonna talk uh all things opening night and get into badard and crosbie and all the doesn't this suck that on opening day this is what we're talking about exactly what i said most n-h-l thing ever that's exactly what i so this freaking league i swear to god crazy we should be talking about how every photographer you work for getty you work for u s a today you work for royters you work for any of them outlets you should be fighting like tooth and nail for that very first faceoff between Sidney Crosby and Connor Breddard. We should be talking about that match. Sid versus the kid. And we're not at that point. We haven't reached that yet. This is what the NHL does. First of all,

wouldn't it be funny if like Mike Sullivan sent out his fourth line to start the game? Oh my God. There's no way, right? Like, no. They have to put Bidard and. Of course, that's got to be a league rule. Yeah, that's got to be a league rule. Just as long as their tape is black or white. That's right. Hey, before we get into it, because I do think, I think there's some great storylines to get into on the season. I do because, last, look, you are one of the most genuine, passionate, articulate people when it comes to social justice issues in and around the national hockey.

And Julian, I do want to give you one opportunity here before we delve into the on-ice stuff. Just to weigh in on maybe what was your initial reaction? It was outsports.com that had it first. What was your initial reaction when you saw these play itself out? Like, what went through your mind? I was on my flight to Chicago, to Pittsburgh here, and I saw it on my phone. And I just, I mean, honestly, I rolled my eyes. Like, I'm not, I've written this before.

At some point, you kind of run out of outrage. You run out of like, you know, you're just never surprised anymore. Like, you expect the worst. This league has taught us to expect the worst from it because it just never seems to come through. It never seems to do the right thing. It never has the backbone. This is caving to like seven homopholes. That's what this is. The entire NHL has caved to about seven homophobes in this league to now to the point where players aren't allowed to express a positive thing to the fan base. That's where we're at. And I heard you guys, I picked up the end of your conversation. God, I just tweeted the same thing.

I want a revolt. I want players to go out there and do the damn tape, not even on Pride Nights. just put the damn tape on any night and say, screw you, find me. I dare you to find me. And then if they do get fined, they, you know, shame the NHL into donating that fine money towards causes that are, you know, for the LGBTQ plus community. Like the overwhelming majority of the league and the overwhelming majority of Canada and the United States is not homophobic. Like, I honestly believe that.

We've reached a point in our society. Well, we're past this shit. We're past this shit. And the NHL thinks it's still 2005 here. just shame the league, make the league do something. I want to see the zoomers, like the teenagers, the guys Connor Bedard's age and Kevin Kortinski's age. I want to see them come out and say, no, no, no, no, no. We played with Luke Procop.

This is ridiculous. Like, we're not going to sit here and abide by these rules. And then I want the teams to pay those fines. I want Danny Wirts to pay the fine for those kids. That's what I want to see. That's how you affect change is if the younger generation steps up and says, this is stupid. This is awful. And I'm not going to abide.

by it. That's what I want to see. We won't see it because this is hockey. That's what I want to see. I mean, I still think the fact that we were in this place to begin with where so many, like we expect hockey players to fall in line and some player stepped out of line. If that could happen, I genuinely believe the opposite could happen. I genuinely think someone is going to do something. I maybe. We always talk about how like, I don't know, it's bad. It's bad in hockey to stand out and do and put yourself out there. Well, seven people did it. That's literally why we're in,

because some people felt emboldened to do this and wanted to step out of line. That's literally why this happened. This is the hill they decide to die on. I hope every fan brings a rainbow flag every single time the Stahl Brothers are playing. That's what I hope. Yeah.

Anyway, I get there. Yeah, like I say, it's unfortunate that it's... I'm sick of this conversation. Aren't you sick of this conversation? It's sick of it. Yeah, but we can't stop doing it to be a hockey fan. It's embarrassing. But we can't gloss over it and just, right?

We have to keep talking about it. It's embarrassing that we have to keep doing this. I know. I know. We're going backwards. You're right, man. You're absolutely right. We're seeing all these other leagues be progressive and show interested fans that are not bald white dudes. And then the league does this.

It's just, it's just, it's so infuriating. It's just, and it's just disheartening because we just, you know, we all love this games. We love this game so much and the league makes it so hard to do it. We want to talk. Here's the thing. I want to talk about positive stories. I want to talk about cool stuff. I want to talk more about

what's good for the league. And as Ian brought up before when we were just talking amongst ourselves, like I would have loved to have put more of a focus on Scott Lawton and JVR taking time out of their day to be with members of the LGBTQ community and being inclusive. Those stories

should get more oxygen. And they weren't. I don't. They're not, but they're not allowed. It's just, oh, it's just. Anyway, and I'm glad we were able to get blast to talk about this. Yeah, it's really hard. Yeah. Yeah, exactly, just wind them up. Here he goes.

You are in Pittsburgh, presumably at a Marriott hotel, because that's how great. Of course, I'm in a dimly lit Marriott, yes. Yeah. And so, at the dimly lit the afternoon, like, what is, what is the weather like? I didn't want to open the windows because I thought it would be like weird backlighting. This is why I'm not a podcast producer or a television. This is why I'm a writer. Let's be honest.

Yeah. No, you can't open. If you open the blinds, it's going to look like you're in the witness protection program. That's what I was worried about. Yeah. So we'll leave that. But you're in there. It's Chicago.

It's Pittsburgh. It's Eric Carlson's debut in a penguin's jersey. That's exciting. But I think Connor Bedard is going to take up a lot of the focus tonight. So give us a sense of like kind of the excitement level in Chicago amongst Chicago fans. as it pertains to Bedard making his debut tonight. Well, I think you can really judge how big an event is by the press, frankly. I mean, you know, we know that money is tight for all press now.

Well, the Chicago contingent here today, it's like back when they were in the Stanley Cup final. Like, there are like four local TV stations that sent reporters here. There's, you know, seven or eight, nine, ten writers that are here. And usually three or four of us tops. Like, this is a big, big deal. These are lean times in Chicago. The Cubs just completely collapsed. The socks are a disaster.

The bears are just the bears. And the bulls are just, they're nothing. They're just mediocre mess. So this is right now the Blackhawks, the Blackhawks, who were like the worst story in all of pro sports for the last couple of years are suddenly like Chicago's shining light. And it's all because of this, you know, child man who's like with this team right now, this just turned 18 year old who's, you know,

he's on every billboard in Chicago. His jerseys everywhere. We see hundreds of fans wearing 98 jerseys now at practices on a weekday when people should be at work. Like, this is a really, really big deal. And it's funny. You know, you mentioned Eric Carlson. That's a huge deal. He's one of the biggest stars in the league.

Nobody's talking about him. You know, Kevin Kornchinsky, he is the number seven pick in the draft two years ago. He is supposed to be like the Blackhawks next Dunkin Keith. He is a huge, massive tent pole prospect for them. He's making his debut tonight. And everyone's like, yeah, whatever. We don't care. We're talking about Connor Bedard.

Like this is a really, really big deal in Chicago. Can I know what it's like from your vantage point just talking to Connor? Like this is like seeing him on billboards, seeing him get that attention, seeing him on all those scrums. He was on the Pat McAfee show the other day. Yeah. Like I see this kid who is, is, you know, the personality is what it is. And we know how hockey personalities are. And I still don't know if it's just, he's just so much of a hockey person that like what personality.

could be there has been kind of dried out, or if it's just the, he's just a teenager and he's still figuring this all out. So I would love to know your impressions of talking to him and trying to get to know him and just what he's like. It's hard to say so far because it's literally all scrums, because there's so many people at every practice right now. I flew to DC for the rookie showcase, that Upper Deck event, just so I could get a one-on-one with him.

That's the only, I got like 15, 20 minutes when it was great. And that's like the only chance I've really had. So, you know, when we get to Denver next week, maybe it'll be a little quieter. Later in the, you know, we try to travel to Florida and Tampa Bay. You know, the Chicago contingent's going to die out. They'll just be the kind of core writers. I think that's when we'll really get to know him.

But even over the course of training camp, like when I talked to him at that rookie showcase, I was like September 5th, he was a tough nut to crack, very pleasant, polite young man, but just didn't want to say a whole lot. But over the course of camp, at least with us, you know, he's starting to, he's starting to recognize us, I suppose. He's getting a little looser. He's having a little more fun. He's cracking a joke here and there.

You know, he's, you know, little things. Like today, someone asked just a really strange question about, you know, have you gone and looked up what other top prospects did in their first games? And does that put pressure on you? And he goes, you know, I think only a couple of them scored four goals in the game, talking about Austin Matthews. He's like, I don't have to really worry about that. Like, that's not how this goes.

And it's like little things like that where he cracks a joke here and there. A couple of weeks ago, you know, he started talking about how he's learning to cook on his own and now he FaceTime's his mom. And then like someone followed up on it because like they were looking for desperately looking for a lead of some sort. And he basically goes, I don't know why I said that. I'm just trying to say something up here. You know, it's like he's having a little bit of these. He's getting a little looser.

He's getting a little more comfortable. I mean, there's a lot of cliches and there's a lot of, you know, he's a, he's been doing this since he was 14. He has been in scrum since he was 14 years old. That is weird. That is unusual. But so he's very good at it. He's very good at saying the right thing, but not really saying anything. which is a skill and it's an acquired skill.

But he's loosening up. And I think, you know, I was talking to somebody the day about this. I see that he could be like a Patrick Kane type down the road with media where he will be able to talk knowledgeably on literally every single player in the league. Like you could go up to Patrick Kane and say, what do you think about the second penalty killing unit about the Minnesota Wild? And he'll tell you all the changes they've made and why it's working. Like I can see Connor Bernard is such a hockey nerd that I can see him filling that role where

he becomes a very useful quote and an interesting guy to talk to because he's, he's just so knowledgeable about the league. But right now, he's got his guard up, and I don't really blame him. But it's coming down, you know, bit by bit. But until he gets to Montreal and Toronto this week. Oh, yeah, there's no chance. Yeah, there's no chance.

That guy doesn't speak French, right? He's going to be inundated when he rolls in. Hey, let's talk a little bit about the expectations for him, Lazz, because, you know, we're putting him on the same pedestal as we did for the McDavid's, the Crosby's when they came in. And I want to know, like, what's a realistic? range of points that we should put on on badard like is it 60 to 80 is it 75 to 90 is it more than that less than that like what what should a realistic expectation be for this young man going into this

rookie season it's funny this morning alone i read three different stories that was you know we're all making our bold predictions right yeah i saw somebody had him at over a hundred points which nobody's done since crosbiz um somebody had him at not had below 50 said it wasn't really the team is too bad he's not going to even score 50. And then most people have him in that 60 to 70 to 75 range, I think. I think he's going to be a point to game player. I think the league is so high scoring right now. Like a point to game, you know, what Crosby did in 0506 is absolutely insane.

With how low scoring the league was and what a garbage team he walked on to, like to do what he did was ridiculous. There's a reason he's one of the four greatest players that have ever lived. Crosby is coming, or Badaat is coming into a much higher scoring era. He's coming on to a pretty bad team, but he's going to have Taylor Hall on one wing. And on his right wing, he might have Ryan Donato's got 30 goals over the last two years. It could be Taylor Radish, who's coming off a 20-goal season. Tyler Johnson, who's a very unselfish player.

Could be Lucas Reichel, the other first-round pick that's crack in the league now. And he's a great puck retriever and a good playmaker, and he can score goals. I think there's a lot of points to be had out there. He's on the first power play unit. He's on the half wall, Patrick Kane's old spot. He's got Corey Perry in front of the net, one of the great net fund presences. the league's known. I think there's going to be a lot of points out there for him to get. I mean, I think an 80 point season is entirely reasonable.

I don't know if that's unfair to say, but I think, look how many, there was like how many point to game guys were there last year? There was like 15, 20 points of game guys last year. Like, that's what the league is going. And Connor Bedard has all these skills. He's not just a great shot. I think he's going to have more assist than he has goals. Like, we're also talking about his shot, but the shot is hard in the NHL.

It's hard to score goals. But he is, you know, the play, he's, a playmaker too. That's what I've been most impressed during the preseason is the passes he can make. The things he sees, the anticipation he has, I think he's going to have a lot of points this year. Teams going to be awful. That's the goal. The goal is for Connor Bedard to score a lot of points and for the Blackhawks to get another top five pick. That's like the ideal Kyle Davidson scenario right now. So what about the idea that Connor Bedard is already like a top 50 player? It's one thing to look at his statistical projections, but what about player rankings? like the player tiers that we have. He's in there.

He hasn't played an NHL game, but we at the athletic have them in a pretty high tier. We're just guessing, right? I mean, nobody knows for sure. We never know how this is going to translate. You know, people called Alexei Lefrenier, a generational prospect. Google it.

Google his name and the word generational. We never know for sure what these guys are going to be, right? So it's people who know the game better than I do making projections. And there are, you know, analytical things you can do. How does this in the Western Hockey League tend to translate to the NHL and you do the math? And there's ways to project, but that's all it is is a projection. It's entirely possible that he is a top 50 player. I think most people probably think he's going to be. I think he's probably going to be. Because if he scores 80 points, he's a top 50 player. The question is, is he going to be

a top five player? Is he going to be a top three player very soon? Is he going to be Connor McDavid, Nathan? Is it going to be McDavid, McKinnon, Matthews, Bedard? Is that going to be the modern day Mount Rushmore for forwards? You don't have Kachuk in that bout, about Rushmore? There's a lot of great, but Jason Robertson's one, maybe my favorite player in the league to watch. There's a lot of guys who can put in that list. But I think that right now, that trio of McDavid, Matthews, and McKinnon,

they're kind of separated. Everybody thinks of them differently. Like, Kachuk was high on my heart ballot last year, but does that mean he's valuable and best are not the same thing, right? Devils fans are screaming at their devices. love Jack Hughes in our league. My first round pick was Jack Hughes. Yeah.

Jack Hughes is, I think he's going to have an MVP season. I think he's going to be the MVP season. He's phenomenal. I, he's incredible. People try to, and that's one of the things about Bedard is they say, oh, he's too little. He's going to struggle going in like Jack Hughes did. I saw Jack Hughes as a rookie. He weighed about 16 pounds.

Like he weighs a little boy, right? Connor Bedard is thick. He's got those Popeye four arms and he is a sturdy young man. He's five, nine and three quarters. but you cannot knock him over very easily. Like he's going to, he's, he's going to be able to hold up. Hey, before we let you go here, Las, you mentioned Chicago's ideal scenario this year. Bedard racks up a bunch of points, becomes like the marketing kid.

They still finish bottom five. We're way past the marketing part. Yeah. Here's a question for you. In our preseason writer's poll, we picked kind of all sorts of things. and we chose who's going to finish dead last. And the San Jose sharks were a runaway favorite. Like I think 90% of us that voted out of the 30 some odd writers that participated,

90% of us took San Jose as the team to finish dead last. Is there any scenario in which you see Chicago finishing below San Jose or is there any team that you think will be there with San Jose at the bottom of the standings? Chicago is entirely possible. be in the ring. Remember, this is basically this team has been completely gutted, right? You're going to have three to four rookies on the back on the back end every single night. You know, you're counting on an injury prone Peter Morazek and an unproven Arvon Soderblom as your goalies. They don't have cane. They don't have tays. They don't have Jake McCabe.

Like they've given away a lot of their best players over the last year. Yes, you add a Taylor Hall, good player, sure. You add Connor Bredar, great. We don't know what Kevin Cortisky can do. We don't know what Wyatt Kaiser can do. We don't know what Al. Alex Flassick can do. We don't know what Lucas Reichael can do. Like this, I feel like the range for the Blackhawks is very high right now. Like they could, they're not going to be a playoff team. Certainly not.

But they could be, they had 59 points last year, 59. They could be in the 70s this year, totally reasonable. They could be in the 50s again, totally reasonable. So they'll, they very well could be in the hunt for that last spot. I don't think they will be. I think they'll be like third, fourth, fifth worth worst to last, which it's fine. You, you, they were third to last last year and it turned out okay for them. Wow.

Okay, well, listen, before we let you go, let's get a Laz restaurant recommendation when in Pittsburgh, and you can't say Permanti Brothers because that's too obvious, and that's too lame. And by the way, I just killed any chances of us

getting a Primanti Brothers sponsorship. I just single-handed. On a sandwich is just disgusting. It's not good. I don't mind it. I don't mind it. Okay. Where's the place Laz hits up?

If any listeners are going to go to Pittsburgh this year, watch a game, what should go to place? You know, it's been so long since I've been. This is my first time here since pre-COVID. And I don't know a lot. Like, I lived in this, like, I covered the Penguins, my first time out of college. But I lived in the Burbs. I was working in the Burbs. Like, I could tell you to go to Jay Sports Bar in Cannonsburg or Brothers Pizza in Washpaugh.

But up here, you know, a few of us went out to this place called Bourbon and Bridges last night. And that was a good dinner. I enjoyed that a lot. So let's go with Bourbon and Bridges. Bring your wallet because it's not cheap. I'm already heard. Okay. What a great piece of advice for going out.

Spend your money, everybody. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to expense that one. Let's put it that way. Very nice. Hey, all the better. Thanks for dropping by. This is our first season opening episode and great to have you on board. I know you're going to be dropping by a lot this season.

So thanks for dropping by. Looking forward to your cover. of the Bidar debut, and I'm sure we'll get you again on here real soon. All right, guys, always fun. All right, there goes. Mark Lazarus, aka soy boy, aka, oh, no, I'm not allowed to say the other thing. But one of the TV is good dudes. Yeah.

We're new territory on the live shows, man. So you've got to be careful. You got to be careful with that. But he was great. I really appreciate having, we all, it was always, it's always great having Lazzon with us. And it was very timely, obviously, with what's going on with the pride stuff. but it was cool with, it's cool that he was able to speak on Connor Bardard. And look, I mean, I'm going to try my best to watch as much of the game as I can.

Like, that is, that is, I'm glad that the NHL saw it within them to start the season with that matchup. Like that is some, that is really cool to see, uh, a, a player that we think of as generational go up against the guy that we, we definitely know is generational. But don't you remember what the hype was like around Cindy Crosby? This was like 20 years ago, we were looking at him. his games in Dremuski in the in the in the in the queue and starts with with the Pittsburgh penguins and what he was going to be like like like that's like the first NHL player I could think of where in terms of like a prospect in terms of the hype around him crosbie's probably the first player I could think of at least in North America like watching

stories about him before even gets into the league like ovechkin obviously had that hype before but I don't think I don't think he got that same amount of attention and love before entering the league that Sidney Crosby did, especially in Canada. The guy for me was Eric Lindross growing up. Like Lindrosse in the early 90s, Julian was, and got to remember, this was an era before social media and before, like, it was even before 24-7 talk radio. It was basically just TV, but Eric Lindrosse was larger than life. And when he refused to be drafted by Quebec, and then, you know, he still played

for team Canada. Think about this. The 1991 Canada Cup was a best-on-best tournament. And Eric Lindrosse made Team Canada as I think an 18-year-old. Play with the best players on the planet. So with Messier, with Gretzky, with whoever else was on that team, he was there. He was that good as a teenager. Like, I guess the same question would be asked. If we had a best-on-best team Canada tomorrow,

It's Connor Baderd on that team. Think about it. And I know your answer is going to be like, I'd like to see him play. We never saw Lindrosse play against NHLs. They just parachuted him into that tournament. Do you think Baderd makes the team? Best on best? Right. Tomorrow.

Tomorrow? Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. They're doing a best on best. He's kind of Bidhar on Team Canada. I'm inclined to say no, because we have. haven't seen him play and there are other guys on team Canada who will probably take his spot who coaches might say is a bit more proven but that also depends on the nature of those teams like i mean then again if it's best on best you're assuming that everyone's going

to be there then i don't know i mean tell you what if that's the closest we're going to get to crosbie mcdavit play together hell yeah we're going to get that i think connor bard at the very least uh do you keep him as like a 13th forward do you do you i think Carter-Berdard is taxi squad. I think Carter-Berdard is taxi squad. And then, like, he steps up, maybe it gets a game in or something. At the, just, I'm not saying he's not talented enough to play on a best-on-best. It's just, I don't know.

I think if Team Canada is directing it, like, what they've done in years past with younger players, like, I mean, Sidney Crosby wasn't on the 0-60 in Torino, right? He was a taxi squad, though, wasn't he? He was a taxi squad. That's my point. You know what I think the taxi squad was for the Turin Olympics? This is all top of my head. I think it was Sidney Crosby.

I think it was Jason Spetsa. Jason Spetza was a taxi squad. I think it was Brian McCabe. Good. I'm pretty sure. Can somebody look that up? We'll get our, maybe one of our producers. Krisha Danielle.

Google Search Canada 2006 Olympics Taxi Squad. Tell me if Brian McCabe's name comes back. And the fact that Cross was a taxi squad guy on that team, that's my thinking with it because history has shown that even if a young, super talented player has like a year or two in, like Team Canada might still hold off on having them in the lineup. So my thinking is if we had a best on best tournament tomorrow, at best, Conraddard is a taxi squad guy.

Not because he isn't talented, but because of how Canada normally does things. when it comes to building those tournaments. Yeah, yeah, it's a good point. We'll get the answer to that here shortly. You know, I was real, what was your surprise level? One to 10, one being, I wasn't surprised, 10 was, wow, I'm shocked. Winnipeg signs Connor Hellebuck, Mark Schiafley to matching seven-year,

$8.5 million deals on Sunday. Oh, yeah, I was stunned. I was done. I think I was a full 10. More or less because I thought both of those players would be gone, whether now or whether by the end of the year, or at least next summer at the very least.

I think Connor Hellebuck with the way the goalie market is and how teams are set with salary tap-wise, I envision a scenario where Connor Hellebuck ends up staying the year and then they figure it out in the off-season. But I was surprised that Wodepeg opted to keep those guys around. And since then, I realize now that for a team like Winnipeg that wants to be competitive and wants bums in the seats, it is to their best interest to be as competitive as possible. But at the same time, like, I don't know if this team is better than a handful of teams in their own conference. Like I'm thinking like in Edmonton.

I'm thinking of a Vegas, a Colorado, a Dallas. Those are four teams I just mentioned who I think right now I would take them over the. the Vegas Golden Knights. Calgary is a bit of a similar spot with the Winnipeg Jets. And I mean, if everyone's going off on the 8.5 mill, wait until a lot of Iceland home eventually signs, if that ends up being the case. I think it will be. But like I wait until people see what money comes out of that. All that to say, like I think with the Winnipeg Jets and what they're doing, as much as it's going to keep them competitive, I'm really curious about whether or not it'll work out in the end. I'm, I was shocked about it. I thought they'd be gone. I don't know

what's going to lead to. I'm with you. I was a 10 out of 10 shock. By the way, Danielle and Chris, our terrific producers, have done some digging for us,

found that Brian McCabe was a taxi squad guy. Jason Spetza was a taxi squad guy. We can't seem to find Crosby on the taxi squad. I don't know why. I know he wasn't on that. Eric Stahl. Wow.

Taxi squad guy. Stoll scored that year, I think, right? Yeah, Carolina. He had a really... I think he scored 50 and they won the cup that year. I tell you.

That was what... Makes sense. Imagine having a team so stacked that a guy that would score 50 in stall doesn't play and a guy like Crosby who gets 100 points of a rookie doesn't play. He's not on your team. That's wild. Yeah. And having a team that that's so stacked that they didn't even meddle that year.

I couldn't tell you one thing about the 2000s. six Olympics at all. Like other than I know Sweden won. Yes. I couldn't tell you anything. Like what's the memorable moment from Turin? What's the thing that's etched in your mind as a listener? Love to hear from you on this. Switzerland beat Canada that year.

That's like one thing I think I remember. And almost every other time since, like any time I see Canada, Switzerland meeting up in anything in men's hockey, I think, oh, Canada better not overestimate the beach. because they lost in 06. Like that is like the one thing I sort of remember. Did Martin Gerber like outdo? Like did he, was he the guy?

Martin Gerber would have had, Habiti, if I think he was, well, if it's 06, Martin Gerber would have been in Carolina at that point. He would have been their starting goalie. So this might have, well, he would,

it would have been around the time he was still the starter or around the time Cam Ward would have supplanted him. I think Cam Ward just supplanted him in the playoffs. He did supplant him in the playoffs. That was Gerber's team all year. Yeah, Carolina, kept beating up on Montreal all year, and then Montreal had like a series lead on them,

and then Cam Ward came out of nowhere, and the rest was history for the Carolina. The Habs were up to nothing, weren't they? Yeah, and Saku-coi who got a stick in the eye from Justin Williams. Yeah. Man, you know, I love how a poor memory for me for the 06 playoffs.

Wow. Julian's childhood comes rushing back. You know that scene in Ratatouille where the critic is eating the, the Rattitude and all the childhood memories come rushing back. That's you with the 06 playoffs. It is all coming back to you. What other thing about the O6 playoffs that I just want to mention that is relatable to today?

How many times have you seen people say that the Stanley Cup final matchup will essentially be a rematch of the 2006? Yes, Carolina. I've seen a lot of people say that Edmonton, Carolina will be the Stanley Cup final matchup this year. And I thought I was being unique when I first thought of that, but seeing everyone else come up with it, I'm like, whoa, wait a minute. Like,

are we all, like, I've never seen so many people be so unanimous on that finals matchup. You know what's, and I probably, I think that's what I picked too, Carolina Evanton. The only time we've had a repeat, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I think the only time we've had a repeat in the finals

in the cap era was the back-to-back Detroit Pittsburgh years, right? We've never had another combination, have we, of, of, like, of teams. Like, L.A. played the, the Rangers and the Devils and Chicago, right? They had Philly. They beat Philly. They beat Tampa. So, and Tampa had, Tampa had, Tampa's the weirdest. Tampa had Dallas. Tampa had Montreal, which will never have again. We will never

have two Eastern Conference teams and Colorado. We will never have a Tampa, Montreal Stanley Cup final. I mean, maybe never say never, but like, the fact that I thought about that yesterday. Like, Tampa Bay Montreal was a Stanley Cup final. Like, that's not possible in the current form of the NHL. 25 months ago or whatever.

Like, it's not that long ago. Dude, like, it was the weirdest thing. Like, people weren't allowed to watch. I can't wait until we all grow old and we have to tell our kids and grandkids, hey, I remember covering the Stanley Cup playoffs in the middle of a pandemic.

And, yeah, you know why the Munchrock Canadians have have the Western Conference trophy in their trophy cupboard? Yeah, because there were no such thing as conferences that year. Like, we were, we just, we just let everyone just do their thing that year.

Like, it was, it's going to be a wild time explaining to people in a couple of years what that was like. I appreciate you when you say, imagine when we get old. I'm like, I just told the story of Eric Lindross in the pre-social media age, okay? So I've already reached that point.

By the way, Dickie Crosby technically was, like in the infant, my story was in the infancy of social media. Like Facebook was like what a year old? Start at 04, I want to say. I think Facebook was 05, 06 somewhere. What they're like that. Like it was just like an Ivy League thing.

Yeah. A little clarification here. Eric Stahl had 100 points in 050. Not 50 goals, 100 points. Had 45 goals and 100 points. That's what he had. Hey, one other signing I want to talk about that happened on the weekend. So I'm with you.

Really surprised that. Hellebuck and Sheifley's day because if I could have put money down on it, I would have said one or both were out the door. I think we all felt like Rasmas Dahlin was going to get done in Buffalo. Good for the player, eight times 11. It's an $88 million deal. But that comes with expectations. And so, I mean, do you have to, when you get that money, eight times 11,

like, do you have to win a Norris or at least be like kind of a Norris finalist? Is that the bar now when you get an 8 times 11, you have to be a Norris finalist at some point early in this in this contract? Is that is that the bar for Dalini's got to be one of the top three? Because this is a high bar, man, with Kail McCar, Adam Fox, and Meryl Heiskin. And that's just three guys at the top of my head. There's only one other defenseman who is getting paid more money than Rassas Dahlene right now. I believe it is Eric. It's Eric Crosson at 115, right?

115, yeah. So yeah, I think at that point. I get that the cap's going to go up and eventually other defensemen will make more money. But yeah, I think for Ross was Dahlene, he has to be among the top three, top five best defensemen in the league. He's got to be up for a Norris. He's probably going to have to win a Norris at some point. But also, to put individual accolades aside, this Buffalo Sabres team over the next eight years, they need a couple cup runs in there. Like I think it's one thing if Ross was Dalian, you know, competes for Norris's every year.

but if that Buffalo Sabres team is still sputtering and they can't get to the playoffs or they can't get out of the first round, how are we going to look at that contract? That's ultimately how he's going to get judged. That's how I really think, especially if his contributions are not as significant as they should be. Pick one.

I'm going to give you three guys. You tell me who's most likely to win a Norris trophy. At some point in their career, Ross Ms. Dahlin, Ross Miss Dahlin Owen Power Moritz cider You can only pick one

You're like yeah That guy's gonna win the Norris I've inclined to pick Rossmus Because of how good Of a defenseman he is at both ends And how much hockey's played Basically since he was a teenager really Like I remember watching him

At like the world juniors like a 16 year old And like he had so much potential And you can tell you're still Just trying to get himself adjusted but like this guy has logged a lot of minutes and he's getting better and better and better as the game goes on. More at Cider, I think

otherwise probably would have been my pick. I mean, he at least had a good start to his career and he's starting to get a little bit more underrated now where you consider some of the other defensemen who have come up over the last few years. But I'm inclined to pick Rasmus. But the fact that the Sabres have both Rasmus Dahlina and Owen Power,

Owen Power, who I also think will be a stud in the National Hockey League when it's all said and done. That's a really good start. for the Buffalo Sabers. I know they have Tia Samuelson locked up too. Maybe look at the rest of the defense. It could still use a bit of work. But I think having Dahlian and power

as part of a defense corps, there are so many teams who would fight to have those two cornerstones on defense. That's really good for them. Yeah. They have a... And they're locked up long term too. They're stacked.

They're stacked. Yeah. Well, they got to get power done, but that'll happen, right? Like, that'll happen. And you're laughing. If you're Buffalo, you're laughing. Hey, before we wrap up this pod,

and we're recording this on Tuesday afternoon leading into opening night. So we talk with Lasmo, Chicago, Pittsburgh. I want to talk about the other two games and not the games themselves, but the team's involved. And let's start, I'm really, Nashville and Tampa is actually going to get the season going. And am I right on this? Is this a 5.30 start time? 5.30 Eastern time start.

So if it's a 5.30 Eastern time start, that's a 3.30 mountain time start, which means that if I get done with lunch, I could sit down. No, I think it is. It's a, like, that's amazing. Why are they playing a game at 530? Are they, wait, are they, are they, they, they're in North America. They're not in Europe or anything like that. It's not a global series game. It's not global series matchup. I don't think they're playing, even if they were playing in Dublin, that would be at 10 p.m. in Dublin or where, like, you know, you know, know what I mean? Like it's a weird time. 5.30 p. It's a 5.30 start time is what I saw listed. And do they just want to get a jump on people leaving work? I think they just wanted a triple header, right? I guess. I guess. That's the 530 game. 8 o'clock is Chicago, Pittsburgh, and then the late game is Seattle, Vegas. But, okay, just we'll strip aside the weird start

time for a second. There might not be two more interesting. teams in the league than Nashville and Tampa from a man I don't know how this is going to go perspective yeah which team are you more certain of where they're going to end up this year Nashville or Tampa I still the thing with Tampa with me they've accrued so much credibility in terms of being a good team in terms of their playoff runs in terms of the quality of players that they have that I'm not prepared to bet against them. Even if they're not going to have their best goalie for the foreseeable future,

like I still expect for them to find a stop gap. And even if the goaltending is not perfect, I still think the players they have in front of Jonas Johansson will still end up being good enough to keep them afloat. Really, for Tampa Bay, you've done all this work over the last how many years to get to Stanley Finals, try to make the playoffs. you don't need a division title. You don't need to necessarily fight for something that Toronto might end up winning.

Or hey, maybe Buffalo surprises everybody and they end up being the division winner. If you're Tampa Bay, you are fine with just making sure your guys are healthy, taking it easy here and there, getting your wins when you can get them, and making the playoffs however you can get in. Because you know if everyone's at full strength and you have the right team to do it, no matter where you are seated, people will fear your team and you will be one to be reckoned with. So I think if you're the Tampa Bay Lightning,

I can't tell you exactly where in the standings, but I could tell you there'll be a playoff team. Nashville, I'm a bit more uncertain about. It seemed like they were going to tear down. They tore it down at the deadline last year, and they still almost made the playoffs. And then you look at the Central Division, and I mentioned Minnesota,

I mentioned Dallas, I mentioned Colorado. I don't know if they're good enough to be a playoff team when you account for some of the other teams in the Pacific. I don't know if UC, I love UC Staros as a goalie, and I hope he gets VESA of consideration this year. I don't know if that's going to be enough to put them in a position where they could make the playoffs. I can't tell you where they, maybe they just miss, I guess,

but like I'm not as sure about where they're placed compared to where Tampa is. And a lot of that has to do with reputation. Yeah, I'm with you. And you know, it's kind of nutty. John Cooper has never won the Jack Adams' as best coach in the league. And he's a guy that, you know, what, 2019, took them to 62 wins, back-to-back Stanley Cups, another trip to the finals.

Like, he's done four trips to the finals and all sorts of regular season success. He's never won a Jack Adams. I'm going to submit this as a bold prediction. I think that guy's going to get a lot of love for Jack Adams this year. It'll be like the first time people might be like, ooh, John Cooper's a good coach. Which is wild because we've always thought that about, I know, but he's always thought he was a good coach.

I know. But I'm with you. I'm very reluctant to bet against Stamcoast, Point, Kuturov, Hedman, and, you know, go down the list. Those are some real elite players. They might be at the tail end of their prime, but they're still in their prime. And they're all coming off a long, off-season layoff. Remember, those guys were done in the first round after that,

Austin, Toronto. They have a few more, they had a few more weeks to recover. Great. Brandon Hagle's good. Nick Paul's good. Like they got, I know they're thin. They're not what they were two years ago, but that's a good team. And maybe we'll get the answer to how they respond to

without Vasilevsky and we'll know. But I think they're too good. Nashville is fascinating to me. It's like they went and got Ryan O'Reilly and they got like they're almost in a win now scenario with some of the most people. It's so strange because it looked like they were because it looked like they were doing the opposite.

And they generally took steps. to do that. And then when they realized their young players that they had found a way to get them almost within striking, no, they were within striking distance of a playoff spot last season.

They just decided, all right, cool, we're doubling down the score, we're going for it. But I just don't know, and I'm happy, I would be happy to be wrong. I just don't know if they're better

than at least three teams in that division. And when you account for some of the other wildcard teams, like I don't see Seattle missing the playoffs this year, unless the goaltending really is bad, but like I don't see them missing. And if they miss, if they don't miss, like, and if Calgary gets in there too,

and if L.A. gets in there too, where are you slotting Nashville in all this? So, okay, so that's interesting because that takes us to the last game of the night, which is the Seattle Cracken, who had just a remarkable, punched above their weight, surprised a lot of people playoff year last year in their second year in the league, and the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. I was going to ask you which of those two teams takes a bigger step back this year, only because they reached, it felt like they both reached the pinnacle of what they could accomplish last year, right? Seattle not only made the plus they won around.

Nobody saw that coming. Vegas wins the cup. To me, there's almost like, there's no room to go up for either of them, but is there a room for Seattle to go up, you think? Like, I guess my point is, do you see a scenario where Seattle wins two playoff rounds? No, I don't see that. I think for Seattle, I think the success that they got last year was really great,

but in terms of the quality of the roster, in terms of the young players that they have and what they want to do with them, I still see a franchise that still wants to hum along and continue to build itself out before they could really be taken seriously as a true contender. It's a bit different.

I think you could spot the similarity with New Jersey where they've also accumulated some towns But they had a really good round, really good showing last year. And they made to the second round. And it seems like that cup window for them is slowly starting to be open. But that's because of some of the other veterans that have joined too, getting guys like a Timo Meyer, Jack Hughes looking like an MVP candidate. Seattle, I don't see that same quality of players.

But the fact that they're balanced as a team and they have quickness and pace and Maddie Badeers is still growing as a player, the fact that they were able to make the playoffs last year, I feel like they have a good chance at making it again. So I could see them taking a step forward. As for Vegas, you know, they go through the cup run. They still have a good chunk of those players. Who did they really lose from that team last year? They traded away Riley Smith.

Riley Smith was the main, main piece, right? Basically, right? Like, Phil Kessel didn't even play much of the playoffs. Like, this is still the same, more or less the same team that found a way to be as dominant as they were in the post-season. season. I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on the Vegas Golden Nights, to be honest with you. Even as as soon as the confetti started flying and they were celebrating the Stanley Cup, betting odds didn't even have them as the favorite to repeat. And I understand it's very difficult

to repeat as a Stanley Cup champion in the NHL. But like, Vegas is a really good team from top to bottom. They have an elite number one center. They have an elite number one defenseman. And we've seen in the playoffs, you don't necessarily need the goalie. You need a goalie. and Aiden Hill looks like he's going to be that guy. Like, I don't think Vegas necessarily needs to win their division to be considered this, like, formidable opponent. Like, Edmonton's probably going to win that division. But they're a really tough out for anybody.

And unless injuries really plague them, I don't, I don't know if I'm picking against them. I still have to really think about what my cup final matchup will be. But I'm just a bit surprised that people don't think this Vegas team could repeat. I think they were really excellent last year. And I think they have what it takes to do it again. Let's wrap up the pod here to open the season by opening up the mailbag. And a reminder to the viewers and the listeners, we love to hear from you. The Athletic Hockey Show at gmail.com, the athletic hockey show at gmail.com.

So last week, Julian, we talked about how the NFL had, I think it was Atlanta, Jacksonville, did a toy story game. The players were animated. And the NHL toyed around with this. They did Big City Greens. and we said the league has to try something. And we discussed the Lion King at one point. Frozen. Frozen.

I got a couple of emails here on that. Vincent and Montreal writes into the show Ian and Julian. Regarding your debate last week about what would be the best animated series or movie as an NHL game, there's only one choice, The Simpsons. It's now owned by Disney. so no issues over at ESPN, the most popular cartoon in the world, which would not only reach young fans but casual ones too. Plus, they're human-like, so easy to use for hockey.

Just imagine Brad Marshand is Bart Simpson, Trevor Ziegress, as crusty Leon Drysidal, is Rainier Wolfcastle. Possibilities are endless. Personally, I want to see the goalie tied up with ropes like Millhouse. Of course, you can have Kent Brockman describing the game, I can't think of a better idea than that. I'll let you two debate and to paraphrase from Homer Simpson,

season six, episode eight. Don't go easy on each other because your colleagues, I want to see you both fighting, fighting for the love of your listeners. Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. If I had lights, I would turn them on and off. We'd recreate that scene. Fight, fight.

I love the Simpsons. I would love it. Like the Simpson, I would, I would, I would fight tooth and nail to watch that game and even cover that story, to be quite honest with you. I would fight tooth and nail to cover a Simpsons branded NHL game. Like, I think that for me, that's my favorite, that might be my favorite cartoon of all time if I'm really thinking about it. The Simpsons, just a brilliant, hilarious show. But only like 10 seasons 5 through 10.

I mean, even the earlier seasons you get, like basically one through 10, I think it's just a perfect, incredible, hilarious show. And maybe you're right. If you're being more specific, 5 through 10, you get some of the funniest memes that have come from it that we still use today, some funny quotes, some funny stuff like, like, well, I love, like, going on YouTube and finding, like, a 15-second clip from just a scene, like,

Mill House's dad getting fired from, like, the Cracker Factory. And he's like, so after 20 years so long, good luck. 17 years so long, good luck. I don't recall saying good luck. Like, I would love that. So put that at HL for it. I would love that. I wonder, oh man, I just, I'm biased,

Begis Simpson's fan. I have a homeless Simpson wadzie. I would love it. You know what we need to do? We'll outsource this to listeners. Maybe they can help us out. Again, the athletic hockey show at gmail.com, or you can tweet at us,

Ian Mendez, Julian McKenzie with you here. Could you, is it possible, could you make a full lineup, 12 forward, 60, whatever, and players' last names are the same last names as characters in the Simpsons, meaning like Jeff Skinner would work, right? For Seymour Skinner, like you get a Skinner. Obviously, there would be Simpsons.

Are we using current day players? Are we using every player in the issue? The whole thing. There's a McBain, right? Andrew McBain played, so there's a McBain. uh, Brock Nelson. Nelson would work. So I wonder. So it doesn't matter if it's the first name or last name.

Anything. Could you make a full roster of like Simpsons characters? Oh, man. Oh, wow. Our producer Chris just drops in Moe Sider. Oh my God. I want to do this. Can we try to find this out?

Well, let's figure it out. Oh my God. Because I remember there was a game one time. I feel there was a game where... Oh, Carl, like Carl and Lenny. His last name is Carlson. So you could do like John Carlson. Carl, it's Carl Carlson?

Yeah, apparently that's his name. Yeah. Oh, dude, we're doing this. Oh, my God. Brett Burns? Yes, yes. You could totally do it. Oh, my God.

That was from Daniel. Do we know of any Leonard's? Do we know of any Leonard's? Do we know of any Leonard's? It's Lenny Leonard and Carlton's. Carl Carlson? I mean, it makes sense. You just have to make those simple.

How do they not have Pete Peters in there then? That would have been a classic. That actually would have really worked out. We need a, too bad there's no like crebopal or anything like that or, or, I mean, Skinner, at least we have Skinner. Yeah, we get Skinner. Anyway, we'll throw that out. We have some fun with this. We'll come up with a roster.

We put up the roster and we see, you know, I guess Craig Simpson. Oh my God. love joy. This is, this is. Oh, we could actually do this. We could actually do this. If we find a, if we find a player in the history of time name of Claw, we're going to, I'm going to lose my mind. Willie, will be groundskeeper, Willie.

I don't know how you could, but bleeding Gums Murphy, I mean, someone's got to be bleeding gums. Joe Murphy. Joe Murphy. That could work. Groundskeeper, Willie Nielander. Yes, that works enough for me. That works perfect.

Perfectly fine. Oh, my God. Okay, we'll throw that out. We'll throw that out. Hit us up with the Simpsons, all Simpsons line up. Can we do this? Can we? I think we can.

If we try really hard. I think we could. But this is the perfect place to leave it. Right? We got to drop it here. It's like a cliffhanger episode. We just make, we give you a homework. And guess we're right back at it tomorrow.

We're back at it on Wednesday. Are we not? Yeah. Is part of the new schedule. So now we just jump back into this on Wednesday. So hit us up, the athletic hockey show at gmail.com or tweet at us. That puts a wrap. Hey, this was a lot of fun.

We're looking forward to opening night. I get, wait, is it opening night when there's a game at 5.30? Opening. Opening. Evening? Because it's not opening day. Like opening day. Prevending, right?

Isn't that the term? Pre-evening? Pre-evening. Isn't that what it is? What time is the evening for you? Seven? That's fair. Seven to nine.

seven to nine is evening. So anything before that is pre-evening, pre-evening. The pre-evening matchup. Tampa National. It's still technically afternoon, I guess, but you're on pre-earning, I guess. We could debate this on Wednesday. We'll debate it. Wednesday.

All right. Thanks, everybody. Thanks to Mark Lazarus for dropping by. That was a lot of fun. Like I said, we're going to be doing a lot of fun things on this, this format, this platform this year, including YouTube. So follow us, YouTube.com, slash at the athletic hockey show.

Lots of content going up there. And I want to remind you to follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a rating and review. We certainly appreciate that. Julie and I will be back on Wednesday to wrap up with me.