The Athletic Hockey Show - Takeaways from the first month of the season, Saad Yousuf on the Dallas Stars, P.K. Subban to join ESPN

Episode Date: November 11, 2022

We are a month into the NHL season, and Hailey and Sean discuss some of their early observations. Also, some thoughts on adjusting our theme song. Then, Saad Yousuf, beat writer covering the Dallas Stars, joins the show to discuss if this team is legit, the return of Jake Oettinger, if Miro Heiskanen is underrated, and more. To wrap up, with P.K. Subban set to join ESPN's broadcast crew, a discussion on other former players they would like to see jump behind the desk.Save on a subscription to the Athletic: theathletic.com/hockeyshowSubscribe 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. What's up, everybody? It's Friday. Welcome back to another edition of the athletic hockey show. Haley Salveen here with Sean Gentilly. Sean, what's going on? It's dark out as we're recording. The energy's low. I'm sad.

Oh, no. No, don't say that. Don't put that in people's brains at the start of this. Come on. because it's confirmation bias. Now they're going to be like, you guys sounded bored the entire time. But no. You know what?

How could I be bored? Because we just talked to Saad, Yusuf, our wonderful Dallas Stars writer. That's coming up in the second segment of the show. Sod's great. The energy's high, folks, because Saad was here and he's delightful. I'm not bored.

I am seasonally depressed. I'm not bored. I'm just sad. In a very, very, very real way. However, I can carry on and do a good show. I like that you've settled on the, I feel like you finally landed on the intro here.

It's Friday. Hey, it's Friday. What's up? What's up, guys? It's Friday. Friday. Can we get some kind of auto-tune system and then I can do my best Rebecca Black impression and that can be the new intro music for the show? Danielle, do you have garage band on your computer?

Can you auto-tune me to sound like Rebecca Black? I have the professional version of garage band. Yeah. Can you auto tune my voice? Let's work on this. I can make it happen. It's Friday, Friday. Do you got fruity loops on your computer?

Just coming back, like really, really old audio. Hey, do you have Sims too? Did anyone go through that weird sad phase during the pandemic where you re-downloaded like a Sims game? What did everyone just play Animal Crossing? I didn't play Animal Crossing. No, you played the Cheapo version, Stardust or whatever. That's not the Cheapo version, but that was a hundred, that was full.

That's a discount Animal Crossing. Yeah, it is. Just fire up Farmville on your Facebook. It's much better than that. That's, but that is what I did for a couple months during the pandemic was, had a depressive episode and played a whole lot of Stardue Valley. Yes. And that's been the Athlete of Hockey show on this Friday. That's all the time we have with Sean.

He's off the show. Bye. The vibes are bad. Hello, you're everybody. Anyways, the next time you hear this podcast, we might have a fun new intro. I think that'd be really great. I think it would get rid of all the naysayers early, you know? We'd really figure out who likes this show.

I'm actually already looking for a, a music-only version of the Friday song. So I'm ready on this. I will get the lyrics up and I will sing it. I will lay that track down. I was in the school choir. I don't know if you could tell. Congratulations.

But I was a little singer girl. I've already got the reputation as like a kill joy because of all the Taylor Swift bullshit that I've been dragged into by you and Dom over the last couple years. Because you are. No. Again, I've said a million ways in a million different places. Taylor Swift doesn't need me to like her. She'll be fine.

So I don't want, but I don't want to dump on this. Like if, like if we can get something fun, you know, auto tune Friday stuff, like, let's do it.

You can, you can be the background, like, ooh, got to draw the line somewhere. Danielle, just take that, mm,

that he did and we can turn that into something really nice. Make it to a beat. Background vocals. Again, this is a hockey podcast. You're right.

We're one month into the N. H.L season. The Anaheim Ducks have yet to win in regulation. Boohoo. The Columbus Blue Jackets only have two regulation wins as much as we're going to, you know, that's something to keep in mind also. It's still early for a team like that, because they're getting points, but like Columbus is bad. Yeah, they're, they're really bad and they don't have, I mean,

sorry. People, people, people pretended that they were, that they're going to be good. I don't, I don't think anybody. I don't think anybody. They've got some pieces there. I like cool cylinder. He's been terrible. He's 19, but he's, you know, he's stunk. Goodrow's been fine. Line has been hurt. The centers are terrible, and the goalies are whatever, and they have Zach Warensky, and that's it.

So, like, they were, at least they were, I mean, the ducks were supposed to be bad, right? The jackets are, the jackets are a train wreck. I think we're getting towards the point in the season where we have enough of the sample size to start, at least thinking about drawing meaningful conclusion. about these, about these teams, right? I think it depends on who we're talking about.

Like, I think there's some really good teams who have been just okay. And there's some teams who we thought we were going to be really bad that have been really good. Like, I do think there's going to be some teams who start clicking and playing better to their potential and some teams that regress down back to the mean. But I do think we are starting to see some separation. terms of like the Vegas Golden Knights already have a 12 point cushion over the Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division right now.

It's incredible. Vegas looks like a machine right now. And Bruce Cassidy has done a really good job with that group. And Jack Eichael looks incredible, et cetera, et cetera. Riley Smith looks great. I know that maybe when the Max Petretti deal happened, it was just like, oh, God, why are you getting rid of him for nothing? It was so they could resign Riley Smith.

and he looks great. I was at the Leafs game against the Golden Knights the other night and he had the OT winner, really good player. Yeah. When you see that, you're like, yeah, I guess we kind of get it.

But you have to really be on board with the whole like cap space as an asset and a trade thing. Yeah, and I think you can see it, I think it's a nice barometer, I think, of where we are in the season where you're starting to see GMs publicly get kind of itchy

over their team performance, right? We've seen it from Jim Rutherford day after day, after day after day. Things are fun when Jim Rutherford is doing radio interviews. Yeah, I think people... Well, it depends who you ask. I think everyone sees that he's old and thinks that he's some meaningful... Everyone thinks that he's some, you know, nice old man. He's not.

He's got a lot of... He's got a lot of piss and vinegar left, right? Like, he likes, he likes, he likes starting trouble. But we see from Doug Armstrong too. Like, JR has been all over that. Jerry Murtherford's been all over it. Doug Armstrong's like, St. Louis Blues, like, open for business maybe? Because they are off.

And he's backing the coach, too. He had, he met with the media last week and he had a player's only meeting where he basically said, like, yeah, Greg Brewerbe is not going anywhere. You guys are bad right now. I wonder how long he's going to continue. to back his coach when he realizes that a lot of those players might not have much trade value. I mean, because you did the story with JR.

How many of those guys are actually tradable? Guys that they probably don't want to get rid of. Not a ton. Like, O'Reilly's on an expiring deal. He's going to, he has a lot of value. We're already seeing,

seeing him connected to Colorado, who, by the way, the abs are going to be connected with every middle six, like big, quasi big name center on the market. Like Pierre LeBron had a piece that came out this afternoon where just kind of floating,

what happens with Bo Horvatt? Star Center for the Canucks on an expiring deal. What happens, Ryan O'Reilly, Star Center for the Blues, also on an expiring deal and playing extremely badly, by the way. Very, just an all-around brittle, brutal start to the season. Jonathan Taves, like, what's going on?

These are, this is where we're at a month in, is where we're starting to see big names attached to potential buyers, right? And it is. It's wild to see. But as far as the blues are concerned. I wonder, before we start getting really into some of these teams and who could be available and what's realistic or not, I wonder if we're seeing these GMs start talking this way, because they've realized over the.

the last couple years that like, yeah, your season can end pretty early. Sure, you can make a run on it, but at the end of the day, like, look at the Vancouver Canucks. They had a horrible start last year. I mean, in a couple of years before, that's a problem in Vancouver is bad starts. And we keep seeing this Canucks team who's not like selling off at the deadline. And they're trying to make a run for it at the end. And they come up short. And the Canucks end up with with the exact same roster and no more assets in their cupboard. So I wonder if teams are starting to be like, like, hmm, and specifically the Vancouver Canucks being like, hmm, why, why not now? I mean, last year at the trade deadline.

Like, think of what they could have got for J.T. Miller at the trade deadline last year. Or at the draft. Yeah. And they re-signed them and now they're in this place where it's like, well, we don't really want to trade Bo Horvatt, but we need cap space. We are a bad team. We are capped out and we don't really have a ton of stuff we can do. So they're probably going to have to trade Bo Horvatt.

No? Don't you think? I think that's the way that the Miller deal should have been framed from the start is, you know, we know how much trouble Jim Rutherford has had creating Capspace. And part of it is because Jim Rutherford is allergic to losing trades. He does not view Capspace as an asset in the way that, in the way that younger general managers do. If he were to move a player for nothing, for a, for a, for a, for a, for a, fungible return and just get the salaries off the books and say that like player x makes four and a half million dollars he's gone now that's that's the return like those aren't the terms that that

jim rothaford thinks in he wants to trade players for players in as soon as in whenever he has cap space it burns a hole in his pocket as soon as he gets it he spends it we saw it for years years with the penguins great example patrick cornquist trade it was the last big the last big trade that Jim Rutherford pulled when he was running Pittsburgh. The whole narrative around that team was like, they need caps space, they need cap space, got to move Hornquist, find a way to move Patrick Hornquist, but they took on Mike Matheson, who made more money for more years and now was that, right? So Rutherford isn't a guy who prioritizes cap space.

All that being said, in knowing that that's the way Rutherford operates and knowing what the Canucks Caps Capp situation is in general, because God knows whether he prioritizes or not, he's been trying to clear money from the books for, you know, as long as he's been on the job. It should have been framed from the start that they were choosing J.T. Miller over Bo Horvatt more than it was. Because that's clear. That's clear what, like, you look at that roster, like, that was the choice, right? And it seems like it was the wrong one because one guy's been good and the other one hasn't been. So I just pulled up the Canucks Cat Friendly page, and they are already committed, they've committed $71.9 million to 17 players for next season, which gives them like $11 million in caps base for next season, but you look at some of the guys, I mean, Luke Shen's off the books. Will they bring him back?

I'm not really sure. I think people really like him. but Niels Hoglander is a restricted free agent. He needs a new contract. Bo Horvat is an unrestricted free agent. And I think the point, too, is, like, you, sure they have a lot of cap space, but you need to be able to use that to make meaningful change on your roster. Yeah, exactly.

You know, and how are you going to do that? Can you afford to pay Boerovat who's probably going to get, you know, what do you think he's going to make next year? Like, what is somebody going to offer him? Not five and a half million. He's only making 5.5 right now. No. He's an $8 million player at this point in his career at minimum.

Eight or $9 million. That's just with, especially now that we know the cap's going up. Like that's how much those guys are going to cost. So if you want to make meaningful change on your roster and also bring back Bo Horvett, that seems like an either or proposition for the Vancouver Canucks right now, unless they start doing what Jim Rutherford hates the most, which is just like here, take player X for nothing for me for for or or retaining cap space yeah or whatever he does not like

doing that yeah they did it with uh jason dickinson and then he went and like played really well immediately after yeah yeah yeah you think oh no right you think jim rutherford isn't going to look at that and be like all right never doing that again so yeah it's they're they're in a they're in a bad way yeah but they're not they're not alone like they're they're one of of, you know, several teams that are sunk already. And the end result of that is that we're already talking trade. And we've played, you know, 27 days worth of hockey or whatever it's spent. So some of the ones that the players that have been brought up in Pierre LeBron's story,

that's on the athletic potential NHL trade candidates and deadline buyers emerging early. Again, Bo Horvatt is one of those players that was listed. A couple of blues players listed as well. Sean already mentioned Ryan O'Reilly, also Vladimir Tarasenko. He has a full no trade clause. So any kind of deal for Teresanko would need to be kind of signed off by Teresanko. And, I mean, they were trying to trade him a year or so ago. I was going to say, we're in year three of the Vladimir Tarasenko trade.

Yeah, absolutely. You've got Bo Horvatt, obviously Jonathan Taves, Patrick Kane. I was talking to Laz about this. on the radio, and he was saying he sees Taves as a more realistic trade candidate. Like if by the trade deadline, true or false, like Taves and Kane are going to be on different teams, like he leans more to saying true for Taves than Cain right now. Tave is playing well. All the numbers are where you want him to see. You know, he's a year out from, you know, whatever, a year out from, uh,

from taking that break that he needed to just heal all over the place, right? So he knocked off some of the rust. He looks more like himself. He's at least a viable trade candidate now because of, because of A, the way he played and the fact that they can launder him twice if they need to and get his cap pit down to, you know, $2.5 million, right? So, yeah, it seems like he's, it's just really, it's hard for me to believe that Cain doesn't get moved. and I believe, and if Laz says it, you know, whatever, it's, it's law in a lot of ways,

but it's tough intellectually for me to, for me to get to that spot and say that Taves moves and Kane doesn't, but Taves is the center. It's tough for me to see them. It's tough for me to see them moving at all, because like when you think of, I mean, unless, of course, we're looking at a 50% salary retention and a team like Colorado clears out some space to be able to make that money work. I mean, we should note that Avs do have their first round pick this year. So they do have some stuff to be working with with these teams.

I just, I only see those guys being moved if it's to a contender because why would Jonathan Taves and or Patrick Kane go to another crappy team that's in a city that's not Chicago? Yeah. And they get, and they have veto power over these moves and they're going to use it. But if I'm Patrick, if I'm Patrick Kane or Jonathan Taves and you know that you're not, I mean, certainly in Tave's case, he's not going to resign with that with that franchise, right? Like it's there, it just doesn't, it doesn't make sense for them, for them to keep him around. Kane is seems like a, seems like, you know, maybe a little bit of a different situation.

But if you know you're gone, if you're in, and if that's a conversation they have and in February rolls around, right? in Chicago's like, like thank you for everything you've done like, but we are not going to bring you back next year. That's goes for both of those guys. Like, why don't you just take, like, rip the Band-Aid off,

go in a playoff chase, go to Colorado or the Rangers or wherever these guys are sort of being mocked up now because you can want like, sure they want to stay in Chicago. Like everybody, like I get it. Moving sucks. It doesn't matter whether you make $11 million

dollars or not. Nobody wants to do that. But the choice is on the verge of being out of their hands. And if Chicago says, like, again, thanks, fellas, but not coming back next year. So let's figure out what you want to do for the next, for the next, you know, 25 games. I don't know how if you're those guys, you're like,

no, this is fine. I'm just going to stay put and then deal with it later. Like, you might as well just get it done and go and wind up on a team that's capable of making some kind of run. Yeah. You've got a really, love the city of Chicago if you're going to try to stay there. Another option is a healthy Sean Monaghan, little one there. Did Peter bring him up? He did.

It was like a one-liner. A healthy Sean Monaghan could also be another option for Colorado. I think one of the funny things in here is him bringing up Ryan O'Reilly to Colorado because I think that's where he started and he signed that offer sheet. Didn't end up happening, but he signed that offer sheet. I wonder that would be some kind of fun peak chaos moments. That is a player. I would love that.

Yes, I would say that's a player who has a history in that particular market. That would be interesting. He's been really bad. He's been really, really bad. Yeah. A couple of defensemen before we move on to our conversation with Saad about the Dallas Stars or little stars deep dive because they are very good. And people are really talking about it?

Maybe they are. Maybe I'm just not noticing it. But a couple of defenders, John Klingberg, obviously, he was signed to the one-year contract, which it was really smart by the ducks because they just know that they're going to be able to flip that guy. Like, why the hell nobody wants him? You have the cap space. You have the cash to do it.

Like, I thought that was a really, like, low-key, not maybe not even low-key, just a very obvious, smart piece of business because you know that you're going to get something for this guy. and if you have an owner who's going to spend those dollars, even though your team's going to be terrible, why the hell not? Because you're going to get something for John Klingberg at the trade deadline. Another one that was brought up is... Klingberg is, he's a right shot defenseman who...

People are always going to want that at the deadline. Yeah, who is a power play quarterback. And he's got three points on the power play and the Ducks unit is awful. But people ignore that stuff. Like GM see what they want to see. And regardless of how good Krenberg is. for Ben Chirot last year. Yeah, regardless of how good Klingberg is or isn't playing,

by the time the deadline rolls around, everyone's going to say like, well, he's got this on his resume. He's an expiring contract. He's got the skill set that is in demand, maybe more than any other in the lead. Like, something's going to happen there. Well, think about the list that we all do as journalists, you know, the trade deadline wish lists.

Like how many teams say, like, oh, we could use a second line center and a right shot defenseman, yeah, welcome to the club. Everybody wants that. So that was really smart by the ducks to be like, well, let's just sign him. We're going to be terrible and we're going to get something to stock our kind of future assets covered with. Kevin Schatenk is also a pending unrestricted free agent. He makes less money than Klingberg, 3.9 million versus 7 million. So he's maybe a little bit easier to manage from a money standpoint. And then there's, of course, everyone always brings us up, but Matt Dunba is a pending unrestricted free agent. He has a 10 team

no trade list and that obviously depends on if Minnesota is in a playoff spot. So we're going to continue another cycle of Matt Dumba. I'm just glad that that's, I'm actually not going to do it. That's almost. I'm not going to engage. It's almost over. Like, like we talked about, he's like the defensive version of Teresenko,

where it's like, how long are we going to be able to, I don't want to keep talking about this. To string together Dumbat. dumb a trade stuff. Yeah, what I'll be doing. And by the way, projected cap space on cap-friendly, there are two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, twelve, thirteen, teams with, with a goose egg there for the deadline.

So still a deadline cap space? Yeah. So there's still teams in capel and the difference, you know, would you rather have John Klingberg than Kevin Chattonkirk on your team in 2022, like, sure, but three millions is a relevant number. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, God. The Penguins have, is that $5,000? Yeah. Just give that to me. Pittsburgh Penguins have $5 million.

Ron Hextall. $5,000 in projected cab space at the deadline. Ron Hextall, please give me five grand. You don't need it. I wonder how that changes if they have to dip into more LTIAR, because they had three defensemen on the ice at one. point on Wednesday night. They were, they've been riding the rails and they won the entire, the entire season on that. Lots of teams are struggling to call up. It's not just the Maple Leafs. You know, there's a lot, there's, there's a lot of teams that are one, you know,

turned ankle away from being in from being in trouble because these injuries that stop player that are serious enough to miss time, but not enough to qualify for LTA are. That is like the worst possible thing that can happen to these teams. He's only out for seven days. Shit. Darn. Darn. All right.

Let's go to our conversation with Sade. It's the Dallas Stars hour, half hour. It's much deserved. Yeah. America's team, the Dallas Stars. The Rambling Boys of Chaos. R-I-P. That name doesn't apply anymore.

No, we have to come up with something new because they're just good now. So let's talk about it with Sadd. And if you guys have suggestions on what to name the Dallas Stars now because we have to retire are the rambled boys of chaos. Yeah, let us know in the comment section. Click your heels, et cetera, et cetera. Here's our chat with Saad Yusuf. We'll be right back.

All right, we are pleased to welcome to the show. Saad Yusuf. Did I pronounce your name right? You did. God, I should have just said it with more. How do you not know how to pronounce his name yet? His last name. That's bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.

What's up, dude? No, wait a second. No, I should have said it with more confidence because I said it correctly. but I feel like people butcher people's names. Well, I'm surprised you were talking about my last name because my last name reads pretty phonetically the way it is. Usually it's the first name,

but in the hockey community, the first name doesn't get butchered much either thanks to one Brandon Saad. Did people say like Sade? Yeah, Sade, sad, something like that. Chardot. Shardet, Yusuf. I feel like we were just talking before we started recording

because you went to Minnesota and you had this great story on Jake Ottinger's offseason and I feel like there's now that Mike Russo is in the podcast network the Russo army floods the podcast stream now and you met one of them you met a proud member of the Russo army

can you just take us back to this because I think that is hilarious yeah so the first day I'm there I'm just you know I'm in Lakeville, which is where Jake is from. And so there's a gas station that was like right next to my hotel. I went to catch a game at De Beauty League that night. And then I come home and I'm at the gas station and I have my athletic hoodie on,

even though this is in August, but one, it's Minnesota. Two, you know, I was at a hockey rink. So I had my athletic hoodie on and I just get like, there was two people. It was two, it was a couple. and they just go, oh, like, you know, you work, do you, like, work at the athletic? And they're like, yeah, like, you work with Russo. I was like, yes. And they're like, and then for about five minutes, they're just, like, asking me about how he is as a person and everything like that.

And then they're like, and then, yeah, one of them, and I texted Russo this, too, I think. And one of them was like, yeah, we're like big Minnesota wild fans and big Mike Russo fans. Dude, he's as big as the team. That's amazing. So, Saad. Congratulations on working with him. Sad is our Mike Russo correspondent. And also the Dallas Stars writer at the Athletic.

That's the real reason we brought you on. But I love that story. Dallas is off 2 and 8, 4 in 1 start. They have the 7th best team in the league right now based on points percentage. Really good start for the Dallas Stars. I mean, is this real? Like, is what we're seeing in Dallas? We're going to start there, and we'll get into some of the individual players and stuff.

But is what we're seeing in Dallas? Like, is this legit? Or are we just seeing them outperforming expectations? What do you think? I think there's parts of their game that is definitely for real. Like, I think the penalty kill is definitely real. I mean, you know, the way they performed against Toronto, but then most recently, just less than a week ago against Edmonton, I think the Oilers had like six power play opportunities.

Dallas only gave up one goal to dry-sidal. But I think, you know, that part of it is real. I think the offense, though, is not, I don't think it's quite this real. Like, I think the style is, but I think they're shooting really high percentage right now, and I don't think it's necessarily sustainable. I think they're going to have to kind of find different ways to manufacture offense that isn't just, you know, the way that they're doing it right now. But I think a lot of what you're seeing stylistically from both ends,

defensively they're sound. I know Jake Ottinger has been hurt, but Scott Wedgwood came in for the last four games, went three and one. And so they're playing sound in front of the goaltender, and when they're not, whether it's Jake or Scott Wedgwood, the goaltender struggles.

So I think defensively they're good. Offensively, they're solid, but I think they do need to probably have a way of scoring that's a little bit more consistent than their high shooting percentage right now. Yeah, and just for context, for people listening, the Dallas stars currently rank second in the league and five-on-five shooting percentage at 10.29.

That's behind only the New York Islanders who were just like a little bit of a hair above them, whereas their expected goals and their shot share rates, etc. are like more and not quite in the middle. Like they're still in the upper tier like 10-11. But that's the context for that there. What's been the early return on DeBoer? Like, is there anything he's been particularly good at that, you know, especially based on last year? We don't need to slag Rick Bonus.

I think he's, we all know what Rick Bonas brings to the table and the kind of teams that he coaches. But what's the biggest change under DeBore that you've seen so far? There's just an absolute green light on offense. And, you know, I think this is also kind of a credit to the stars players who really bought into bonuses system because this is stuff that they were kind of capable of doing regardless of the coaches, but they bought into that suffocating defensive structure that bonus preached. and DeBoer has come in and just greenlit the entire thing. Like he's encouraging offense.

He's encouraging whether it's defenseman or forwards to really have a scoring mentality. And I think that's really changed a lot. I think another thing that, you know, we can break down the X's and O's, but you guys, like everyone sees that. I think the one thing that's really been, really stood out to me about DeBore is he came in and said he's going to give every player a blank slate. And I think it's very coach speak for a new coach to come. in and say and do that. But DeBore has done that like to the highest level. Like every player

started off at ground zero and then had to build their way up to him. So one of their most efficient goal scores last year in Jacob Peterson didn't make the opening lineup, has only played one NHL game and went down to the HL. Dennis Gurionov, who was kind of like the Rick Bonas whipping boy, got a lot of second line run. He hasn't been great all the time, but he's gotten opportunities he's on the second line. And then the minute distribution is just day and night different. There's no checking line. The fourth line is getting fourth line minutes.

So for me, it's just the way that he's kind of come through on a lot of his promises that he made in offseason. I mean, Guryonov is an interesting player, right? Because we've seen him, he came, showed a ton of promise early, especially in the bubble run and all that. But, I mean, my God, you called him bonus is whipping boy. Accurate. I think this is, is this the way?

way you should be being used, at least giving the opportunity to, like, sink or swim in that middle six, right? Because the stars, ideally would have a guy like him producing, because for as good as the top line is, we'll talk about them more than a minute. Like, the secondary scoring is still, there's still work to be done there. And Gurionov seems like they need to at least figure out whether he can carry some of the load or not, right? Yeah. And to kind of build on the whipping boy comments, like, yes, Gurionov holds a lot of responsibility here. Like, Rick Bonas didn't just, like, have it out for him. Like, like, Gurianov plays a very, I don't know how else to say,

but a very unintelligent game. Like, he's, physically he has all the tools. He's so fast, crazy shot. It's really good. But he just doesn't have the hockey IQ. And really, that brings down whatever line he's on. So it doesn't just affect him. But when you think back to the start to the season that Tyler Sagan and Mason-Marchment had,

that was what tied to Landrya on the line for the first three, four games. Then Gurianov came along and they kind of went stale for a little bit. That's not a coincidence. So Gurionov has a lot to figure out on his own as well. But you're right. The stars have to figure it out. And DeBoer has played a really interesting psychological game with him where he's been building him up in the media where Bonas was kind of doing the opposite.

Bonus wasn't tearing him down. He was just being honest. where DeBoer is being honest, but with a positive spin to it. Unfortunately, Gurianov mispracticed today with an injury and may not play tomorrow and an H. L. Mate Blumel might get a chance. But Gurianov has a lot to figure out on his own as well. To get wherever he was on even strength is one thing. But man, to get bumped off the second powerplay unit by a 19-year-old rookie,

that should not be happening to a guy that's supposed to be a goal score. Oh, because you wrote, you wrote something really, was that in the over, over the, over the summer or at the end of the last regular season, but you had a really good breakdown of Gariano of and just sort of, I mean, trying to appropriate blame, I guess, really, and say, and figure out how much of this is the player, how much of this is, is the circumstances and the situation that he's been put. And that was, that was really good. And I can't remember, I can't remember when it ran. But it was one of the, it was, you know, a good piece about a guy whose career, you know, low key has been, bizarre. honestly. So that was a solid, that was a solid bit of work. Yeah. And I think the word you use bizarre is right on point. Like it hasn't even been like a failure, but it hasn't been a success. It's just been bizarre. Like, you know, you can say whatever you want about bonus. But Dennis Grunov in the AHL was a healthy scratch in the Calder Cup final against the Marley's. That was back in like 2018 or so. And and so Derek Laxdale in the HL, Jim Montgomery, Rick Bonus, now Pete. DeBoer, like at some point there's a common denominator and that common denominator is the player.

So yesterday, the Dallas Stars sent the other Matt Murray, not the Toronto Maple Leafs, Matt Murray to the American Hockey League signaling a possible return for Jake Ottinger. And then today he took part in full team practice. So we can maybe expect to see Jake Ottinger in the star's next game tomorrow. Or I guess this comes out Friday morning. he'll just whenever you listen to this jake ottinger's probably back he'll be back what like just can you contextualize like his hot start to the season and just what that means for this team to have jake gottinger yeah i mean it means everything and yes uh jake

not only practiced but also spoke with the media which is generally a good sign as well and and and did say that he's he's pretty much ready and deborce said that it's a possibility but uh but yeah uh you know, he's been a legitimate Vesna candidate. That's not overstating. When he got hurt, he had the top safe percentage, top goals against average. Like, he's been everything. And here's the crazy thing. It's everyone was talking about, and Haley, you know this, the seven game series

against Calgary. And they were talking about if he could sustain that. And then he came out and through the first nine games had better numbers in those first nine games than he did in that series against the flames. He's unreal. So it just like, and, you know, I don't think it's a fluke. Like, you know, I spent, like you mentioned off the top, I spent time with him in Minnesota. I saw the way that he works.

He's very, he's 23 years old, beyond mature for his years. And he's very just technically sound. And he has a lot of good people in his corner. The goaltending coach Jeffries for sure. But you look throughout his career, Ben Bishop has played a starring role in his development. He's had Anton Udobin. Then last year he had Brayden Holby. And so you have like all these guys who are in his room together.

And, you know, I think a lot of that plays a role in how well he's played. But I don't think it's a fluke at all. Do you think Jason Robertson has what it takes to be a star in the NHL? That was that was an incredible moment. The media member from Edmonton literally went up to him and was like, you know, I said you're being up, you're like becoming a star and like stars fans on Twitter were not having it. They were like, he already is a stuff. Wait, he went up to Jason and said that to him also?

Yes, yeah. Like, Jason, I think you have what it takes. Okay, thanks. Cool. Oh, no, no, no. He was relaying the story. He was relaying the story that I said this on Twitter. He said it.

That he said it and got dragged for it. Oh, I was like, wait, he went up to Jason Robertson and was just like, Jason, I think that you have what it takes, young kid. No, God. Canadian air against their, that's a textbook. textbook case of it. I thought, I thought Haley, your tweet to that literally made me laugh out loud was breakout breakout candidate. Jason Robertson, can he do it? I'm not sure. 41 goals score. Jason Robertson could have what it takes. But is this just like the thing, and sorry Saddlake, is this just the thing

that we do sometimes like maybe specifically in Canada just because you're not paying attention to something does not mean that it's not happening. And Jason Robertson is already well on his way to that. Like, what more do you have to do? Score another? I mean, sure, follow it up. Fine, but I don't think anyone saw that and was like, ooh, I don't know.

Let me give you the best example of this. And this is a very true story that I tweeted in that thread. Last year, it was in March or whatever, Jason Robertson scored back-to-back hat-tricks on the road, back-to-back hat-tricks. And that same week, Nick Robertson scored his first NHL goal. The stars were playing in Toronto. It was going to be the first Robertson Bowl.

I get into Uber and I never tell Uber drivers usually what I'm in town for. But I just happened to slip and let him know. And the Uber driver literally goes, oh, so you cover Nick Robertson's brother. And I was like, I was like, this guy is on pace to score like 50, just coming off a back-to-bag hat drinks. He's the older brother and it's wild. I am the ass backwards, like Toronto media member now because at training camp, like, I don't basically Chris Cuthbert who calls Leafs games was like,

you need to stop because like all throughout training camp. I was just like, Jason Robertson, is he going to make the team this year? Like I was like the Leafs person at camp being like, it's Jason Robertson. And everyone's just like, Haley, that is Nick Robertson. Like you need to figure it out. I was like, he's the better brother. I'm sorry. I mean, Nick Robertson is very talented, but I was like, uh,

I couldn't like compute in my brain after so many Stars games last year in Calgary that it was Nick Robertson and not Jason Robertson. Unbelievable. He had 41 goals last year. He's over a point per game. He's Nick Robertson's brother. He's Nick Robertson's brother and a guy who maybe is turning into a star. Yeah.

Unreal. It's wild. And, you know, he's also, I think, seventh, last I check. he was like seventh in the NHL in scoring this year. And oh, by the way, that's after he had one training camp practice because of a holdout. He practiced one day in training camp, the last practice of training camp. Most guys could never do that. Look at Toronto and the guys who miss parts of camp and they come in and it takes them a year to get their feet under them.

I think I was reading through Dom 16 stats today and he had a big thing about how like we are not, like once again, we are not paying enough attention to the Robertson, um, hints Pavalsky line. Like they are outscoring opponents 13 to 1 at 5 on 5. They have a 67% XG. They're also on the top power play units where they've scored nine goals on the power play that like trio has been in on.

Like what, what do they have the, is this the best line in the NHL now that the Godreau Lindholm could chuck lines out? Because I thought they were the best line. the league last year and this was a close second. Like is this, are they just building off that to be the best line at five on five in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the LHL? Yeah, I agree with you. I, I thought last year, Calgary's line was the best line too, and I thought this was a close second. And, and I think this year, they're right up there. I think there, I would put them probably number number one through number three somewhere in there. And the

funny thing is that the most underrated player on that line, as much as we just talked about Jason Robertson is Rope Hints. Like, people know, Joe Pavellsky because of the longevity. Jason Robertson, 40 goal scorer and everything he's doing. Jason Robertson is not the best forward on the Dallas stars. Rope Hintz is the best forward on the Dallas stars. And that's not really a hot take and it's not a hot opinion. Like, you know, Rope Hintz, his complete body of work, offense, defense, everything that

he's able to do is just unbelievable. And, you know, Shana Goldman and I did a pretty in-depth piece at the end of year about how he really should be a Selky candidate almost for the pretty much for the next decade the way that he plays it's the two-way game he's the engine in my opinion of that line um... Pavelski does a great job fitting in Robertson is a great goal score taking nothing away from those guys but yeah i think the line as a whole is underrated and i think their centerman is is grossly underrated. Don brought up the player tiers thing which i which i was a part of he said this is this is dom running in 16 sets when we did our player tiers project before the

summer we had Robertson in tier 3c, hints in tier 4A, and Pavelski in tier 4B. Across the board, it felt too low for all three given their results and the feeling has only increased since. I would like to say, take this opportunity to say it on the podcast, that I had all three of those dudes higher than they ended up. It was me and Dom and Shana and Corey Promin, and I lost the argument. I had all three of those dudes higher, at least higher than we ended up having them. It was an argument that I lost.

So I don't appreciate being dragged into this group that's disrespecting those guys because they're, because they're, they're, they're awesome. I've been trying to gas them up as much as possible. I called Dom out today on the radio as well since we're on the subject. He wrote in the Calgary section, why is nobody talking about how the flames have one of the hardest strength of schedules in the league? And I was literally on the radio talking about this all week. I was like, so I guess one of my best friends doesn't listen to my goddamn radio show because I have been freaking talking about this. It's like everyone needs to calm the shit down because I don't want to calm the heck down.

Everyone needs to calm down because they have one of the hardest schedules in the league and then Dom goes out there. It's like, nobody's talking about this but me. This is, again, again, Dom, that is, that's pure Canadian arrogance. Yeah. From Dom because. Yeah, back to this. I was sorry.

It's true. It's true. I think that's part of, I think that's part of why we, why we're having this discussion and why talking about Robertson, it's like as soon as a person, whether it's Dom or whoever, whoever cornered Robertson and Edmonton, it's like when a person has a thought for the first time, it's like, oh, nobody is talking about this. I guess, this is the first time I thought of this thing. So that means that it's the first time that anybody on earth is thought of this thing.

It's being applied to Jason Roberts. being like, yeah, like an actual star player. Canadian arrogance. Last thing on that line, Joe Pavelski, like, it's crazy. Like, you know, he's also a guy that kind of flies under the radar. Who could have thought he's still good? 30, but he's 38 years old. And it's like, he has been the star's leading goal, leading score for the last two seasons.

So as much as Robertson's broken out, whatever, like, he's been the star's leading score for two seasons. So it's just wild. That line is incredible. Is he the best old guy in the league? He's got to be. I mean, I can't. Because we've got, who's the 38 to 40 year olds? Yeah. Well, the oldest player in the league is Mark Dordano. Mm-hmm. Who's looked good. He's like, what? That's true. He's the oldest. Oldest active player, like guy under contract, like playing is Gio. That's brutal. That makes me feel I mean, he's 40. I know, but still, but I don't, yeah, I know. Are you four? Are you four? You know that I'm not, you know that I'm not 40.

Don't, don't ask questions, you know the answer to. Are you 40 years old yet? I think Joe Pavalski might be like the best old guy in the NHL when we're looking at the 38 to 40 range here because you've got Eric Stahl, Gio. Ryan Stuter. Yeah. Ryan Suter.

Yeah, all apologies to Eric Stahl. But I'm taking, I'm taking, I'm taking Joe over him. How old is, um, how old is, um, Zach? Porese. Porezzi? It's Porezzi and it doesn't matter because he is worse than Joe Povellsey. But I'm just saying, is he old guy. Yeah, he is a old guy.

He's 38. He's an old guy. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't really matter. Yeah, I think Pavealski is the best, is the best old man. What an inspiration for 38-year-olds everywhere. Yes. Oh, God bless him.

He's still moving. God. what an inspiration Sodd we were talking on this but before we started recording and I know we've talked a lot about underrated players and underappreciated players

and under the radar guys in Dallas I was not expecting to hear you say that you think that Miro Hayeskin is still not getting enough still not getting enough debt for what's gone on with him this season how good has he been and

is he going to win in Norris can you just tell me now so I can maybe get on it or something. Well, so I mean, that's the standard that I kind of say he's underrated by because I don't think anyone that watches hockey, even in Toronto, thinks that Miro Haskinen is not great. Like, everyone knows Mero Haskinen is great. But I don't think that he gets necessarily his due just because, just because so much is made about the offense. Like, you look at what Carlson's doing. You look at what McCarra's done. And, you know, those guys are

really, really great in their own right. But then you have to watch Miro Haskinen on a nightly and like there was a play the other night. I don't know, like, you know, you guys see me on Twitter. Like, there was a play that I just, like, freaked out on Twitter when I saw Miro make. Like, he, this guy just like, it looked like he was moving on fast forward as he went and closed out a complete, unattended breakaway. And it's just those kind of plays that will never find the stat sheet.

And, you know, that's the thing with Miro Haskin. And his impact, all you have to know is he was out for three games. the stars, I want to say, were 0 for 15 on the power play. He came back and like nothing. They were scoring multiple power play goals a game. He's absolutely unbelievable the way that he plays and how unassuming he is. So, yeah, I don't want to make it sound like, you know, some Miro Haskinen fanboy talk here, but I'm just saying, objectively speaking, looking at the way that the entire league plays,

I think Miro Haskinen is legitimately a top five defenseman in the NHL. worry is that he's going to end up being a little bit like Charlie McAvoy in the sense that he's going to end up being like the best defenseman who doesn't win in Norris because he's playing in the Cal McCar era. Yeah, I agree. He's going to be like this generation's Chris LaTang. Well, and you know, it's funny because Dallas has a guy like that, Sergei Zuboff played through the Lidstrom era.

Yep. You know, like they've seen this story happen before. So. Yeah. Lots of lots of good players were smoked out by Lydstrom

the thing with Hayskinan you mentioned the power play he's finally there he's finally getting legitimate run there because he was blocked by Klingberg for a couple years four points in 10 games

a lot of talent with that unit like we talked about that's what it takes like everybody loves like the the slick little plays that he makes you know on his on his exits

and you know the skating and all that stuff that's all well and good. What you need still to win the Norris is just like sheer tonnage of points. And you get that on the power play. And it seems like that's going to happen. So I don't know, man. At some point, it might not be this year.

But at some point, people are going to be tired of voting for Kilmachar. And Muriel Haskin's going to win a Norris. It's happening. Yeah. And look, their same draft class, one pick difference. Like, they're always going to be tied at the hip that way. And so, you know, it'll be interesting. But I think it's, like you said, it's a lot of fun.

And people have to remember, Miro is still just 23 years old and just recently turned 23. So, yeah, as is Jason Robertson and Jay Gottinger. So crazy. I think the last one for me, Saad, because I know you have to run out on something. Should we not and not you specifically, like, but should people like apologize for just completely dumping on Tyler Sagan for a year in which he barely had a hamstring or quad muscle? or a knee, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Because he looks, we've seen some vintage Sagan moments already, and it makes you think like, oh, maybe,

maybe we should have given him a little bit more time. Yeah, and I mean, honestly, like, you know, I'll toot my own own horn here. If you were, I was going to, I was going to do it. That's why I said not you. That's why I said, not you. You don't need to freaking apologize. Neither do I.

I always believed in Tyler Sagan. Because, like, you know, I've covered this, I've covered this injury since, it happened. This was, this was right when I got on the beat, a month prior to me getting on the beat is when he got hurt. And, you know, I was in communication with him. I did the big expose about everything that he went through. And then I went and spent three days in Toronto with him this summer and was in the gym with him, seeing the way that he was working out and all that stuff. And I've seen kind of the struggle. And people have to remember last year when he came

back for just a couple of games, three months before he came back, he was. was not able to walk. Like he was, he had video with him on the ice. He was in that wheelchair for a bit, wasn't he? Yeah. So he was in a wheelchair for two months and then, or about a month. And then he was on the ice holding onto a chair in front of him just to skate, just to get on the ice. And so yeah, I think, you know, there's definitely something to it. I think Sagan's health is in a much better place. But I also think it's a, it's a perfect storm for him as well because he's not handicapped by Jamie Ben to his left side anymore. And now he has Mason Marchment, who is basically young Jamie Ben, which is really nice.

And then he has Pete DeBore's system. And so all those things combined, his health, Marchment being there and DeBore's system, that's really, like you said, you're absolutely right, Haley. It's created this thing where he's had a rejuvenation of sorts. And the awesome thing for him is he only ever has to be. be the best second line centerman on the team because no one's taking rope a hans's spot and so the pressure is kind of off of him as well where yeah he's getting paid um to be you know whatever but at this point everyone knows ropeah hence is number one so the story that you wrote about his rehab

was so overwhelming like there was so there was so much there was so much stuff in the top of that just about about you know just straight what happened to him like the biology that you had to you had to dig into that dig into on that was wild this is the big takeaway for everybody by the way this is what it should be if anybody is like is like needs to bone up on the on on the dallas stars like we've talked about four different things you've written here like there's no you have no excuse to be surprised by the dallas stars sod is covering them like a blanket baby let's go but i'm about one-sixth of the way covering my team the way that rousseau the way rousseau does yes Yes. When I was in Dallas for the playoffs, I was wearing an athletic sweater and someone said, oh my God, do you work with SOD?

There's no way that's true. It might be. Just let it like. Yeah, I'll take it. I'll take it. Yeah. No, it was Sade seeing me and saying, oh my God, you're in Dallas? Yeah. I fudge the truth a little bit. But thank you for joining the athletic hockey show. This is so much fun. This is the Friday show. We are the Superior Fun North American show.

I don't listen to very many podcasts because I do radio on my own. But this is the podcast that I catch most regularly. So I appreciate the opportunity to be on it. You guys are great and do a really good job. We love the Dallas Stars. Wait, what was the nickname for the Dallas Stars? Sean, didn't you, didn't you coin them? Oh, the Rambling Boys of Chaos.

Oh, that was last year. Yeah, by the way. That was the power rings. Did that stick? That made its rounds in the organization, though. So just FYI. Yes. There were definitely people not on the hockey side, not like GM players, but like on the

on the business other side. It wasn't, it wasn't Neil calling you up. No, no. It wasn't Jim Nill, but it was definitely people on the business side that were, that brought that up a few times. me. I love that. Tell them to lean in, embrace it.

They're less chaotic this year. They're just good. Yeah, they are. Yeah, they're just good. Yeah. Amazing. We love that. Love it.

Thanks, Sade. Awesome. Thanks, dude. Thanks for having me, guys. Saad is just the best. I spent a lot of time with him last season, Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars, seven game series in the playoffs. They also played a couple times the regular season, and he's awesome.

I feel like we've talked about him a lot on this show because he's done a lot of really good work already this season. The story with Jason Robertson's contract extension came up quite a bit. So it was nice to have him on and actually talk to him instead of just talk about him. Yeah. First time I met Sod was at the draft of Montreal and he rolled up to the bar wearing like hoop shorts and slides. Oh hell yeah. Adam Sandler, what are you doing here? Like this is this is my kind of guy. He's the best. He's so cool. We were walking out of the rink in Dallas and obviously the mavericks were playing the next day. It was NBA playoffs as well.

And the Phoenix Suns were walking in because there's a practice court in the arena. And like Saad and I had to stop and wait for all them to go through. And like Saad's a big hoop guy and I used to play. And I like watching the Sun. So we were just like standing there watching like, hey, there's Ben Simmons. Hey, not Ben Simmons. Jesus. Wrong Kendall Jenner.

Boyfriend. Hey, there's Devin Booker. Hey, there's Blake Griffin. Wait a second. Wait a second. Kyle Kuzma? No. Devin Booker. It was Devin Booker. And then I saw Devin Booker everywhere at the sweet green locations throughout the Dallas area. Because that's the only thing I eat when I'm in the United States because I am celiac. So I love a sweet green. I don't know if you've heard, but I have a gluten intolerance. Anyways, thanks to talk. I am celiac. I eat skittles. I love skittles. Right beside me today is runts. My God. And you can tell which kind of runts I like the most based on what's left in the bottom of this bag. There is the orange ones left in the blue ones because I ate all the bananas and the peaches.

This is pervert shit. Perforts. Eating banana flavored rungs. What is, why would you say that? That's disgusting. Calm down. What the heck? Purchased in bulk, by the way.

Yeah, I went to bulk barn, which is a delightful place. Just like pick through the bin of runts and get like, oops, oops all runts bag. How are we supposed to get to the thing we're actually supposed to talk about in this segment? I have an idea. What is P.K. Suban's favorite hard candy? Does he like runce? Does he like luffy taffy? Does he like skittles?

Is he a skittles, man? Can we get him on the show? next week? Yeah, sure. Oh my God. He's easy to find now. He's a media bum like the rest of us. I am going to bombard ESPNPR with requests until we can find out if P.K. Suban, do you like candy? Do you like chocolate? Do you want to do a candy draft with us on the Athletic Friday show? Do you also want to sing our theme song?

P.K. Subant's ESPN was like the worst kept secret on the planet. Like it was, it was, it was, going back to when he was playing, right? So he retires. It was just a matter of time before he officially hooked on with them, and it happened. Deal was announced on Thursday. He's going to be a, seems like a pretty regular presence in their, in their studio show and all that. Again, as expected, the first, the big time, by the way, like the, this really started picking up steam when I was in Vegas for the, for the preseason player tour. this is around the time he was he had retired and all that people but it was directly before like

he retired a couple weeks later and people are like oh what's happening what's what's happening with PK and someone there said um hey what do you typically see from pk suban's instagram around this around this time of year and it was like workout photos and they're like yeah you see any of those no so everybody was like okay he's transitioning into the next in the next phase of his life the dude the dude's ready to be on TV full time. Well, this was a news release that I saw this morning and it just made sense. Like, regardless if you were in the know or not,

like it just makes sense for P.K. to have a media career. I remember the clip when he did the, like, coach's corner and he did the Don Cherry kind of impression hitting the table and wore the funky suits. And we, you know, I just don't think anyone was shocked with P.K. doing that. Arpin alluded to it too, in one of the kind of career retrospectives, he wrote after P.K. retired, just sort of that this is always, always the logical next step. He had a preexisting relationship with ESPN. He'd done stuff with them before. This was always natural that lives in the metro area, you know, just played in New Jersey for a while on and on and on. There was any number of reasons that this was going to happen. And now it's where, and now it's where he is. One of the guys who everybody,

was excited to see transition into media mode at some point is there. Are you happy with the state of, like, the TV broadcasts in the league? Like, they've got some good hires lately, and I think ESPN and TNT are trying year two of it, but you've got to think when you look at the personnel. I think ESPN game calls are good. I think they're play-by-play and color teams are set up well. I've enjoyed that, but Messia, cellio's, you know, intermission,

that's not, that's not working for me at all. And then TNT's, you know, points for trying. Like I like, I do enjoy, I enjoy the pregame show for the most part. You know, I, and again, I appreciate the effort that they're putting into actually trying to being entertaining. Like, what, whether they hit the marks is another thing entirely, right? but they're doing their best. So I think year two, yeah, it's probably, it's gone a little better than year one,

but for ESPN especially, there's room to, there's room to grow there. And they need to get better, especially from a studio standpoint, absolutely, because they're lagging behind big time. I think you can tell that TNT is trying to strike the same lightning or find the same little pot of gold with their NBA crew. It's very obvious.

Like the TNT NBA guys with Shaq and Barkley, I mean, I just don't really know if you're ever going to be able to recreate that. But I think my question that I wanted to get into here is like, what's the closest approximation to that in the NHL? If you could assemble like current former players, like a future panel on the NHL on TNT that gets anywhere close to what the NBA has gotten, like who is it? And is PK involved in that? I think he might hate. You know, I get... Even though he's on ESPN. Yeah, right.

I get the goal for TNT. Yeah, they're trying to replicate some version of what they've got in the NBA, but the NBA's got Barclay. That dude is one of one. There is no analog in terms of between the caliber of player he was, between the stuff that he's willing and willing to say and capable of getting away with. and also just being a genuinely funny, engaging, you know, personality plus guy, right?

Like, this is, in addition, by the way, to being one of the 25 best NBA players in history, like he's one of one, right? So to try to make it like a one, try to make it a direct, you know, a direct analog there, it doesn't exist. So I do appreciate what TNT's tried to do, you know, with Gretzky.

They're playing his strengths, which is he has a sense. of humor and he's capable of being, you know, made fun of, which is funny to see Gretsky's chops getting busted by those guys. But the guy who I really want to see on TV is Yager. Oh, yeah. His social video of the salute was like really funny. Really funny, funny stuff, making fun of Jason Zucker. Actual good comedic timing, I think that's an important thing too. like if you want someone who actually does know how to make people laugh and is willing to set up jokes and stuff yager has that in spades he just needs to actually officially uh retire as a

player which he is he is he is still technically has is not done for his check league team but he's still like top of the list for me and i'm showing my i'm showing my bias here but i put yager put yager on tv put more european players on tv like chain like whatever mix mix it up. Superstar European player, one of the best of his generation. Like, get him on there, man. He's hilarious. Do we think that Sidney Crosby has a career in the media when he retires? Or is he the guy that you, like, never hear from again? Part of me wants to say that, like, anything's possible because Wayne Gretzky is, you know, a TV analyst. But Wayne Gretzky also does a lot of appearances and marketing stuff and, like, my first ever, like, assigned

when I was like sports assignment when I was at CBC News was the launch of Gretzky's whiskey at the LCBO like Gretzky's was available so it's kind of surprising that it's media but he's always been in and around I mean that was part of the that was part of the narrative when he got traded L.A. too is that he wanted to have more of that in the bag you know Janet Janet was still acting a good bit back then on and on like that was part of the reason he ended up with the Kings in the first place right? And we'd seen stuff from him, partially because of the pop culture space that the NHL occupied, especially in America at that point, like in the early 90s. Wayne Gretzky hosting Saturday Night Live.

And there was a Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, Saturday morning cartoon. And like, he was more of a presence, you know, in that TV media, movie entertainment space than Crosby has ever even come close to getting. So now that sounds. It's never going to happen. It wouldn't, and the dude, definitely wants no part of it. I can maybe, I can imagine him maybe getting involved with a front office or something, but I would bet a lot of money that you're never going to see that dude in any kind of official full-time media capacity.

I think in general, just the MBA is more fun, which is like comes across in the studio. Like there's more fun things to talk about. There is more fun people who have graduated. from the NBA to media roles, you know? I think you would think of the fun guys who would work on TV and like PK's top of the list. And I think some of the other ones are ones that are, you know, some level of problematic. You know, some of the fun guys aren't exactly the guys you want having the massive platform. Totally.

There's a lot of guys. So you've got to find that balance. A lot of former hockey players with great senses of humor who were assholes. and with, you know, not just skeletons in their closet, but guys who you just don't want a platform in any way at all, right? So that's part of the problem. It's a tough needle to thread. And then the other thing, the other thing that's a problem

is that so many former players, even still, even with how front offices have been opened up and we're seeing more non-players, you know, get involved, a lot of the guys who you would like to see on TV get involved with teams. Roberto Luongo He should be We are worse off

As a as a sport That we don't have that dude on television In some capacity But he works for the Panthers So like what are you going to do And there's a there's a bunch Bill Garron Imagine I was just going to say like

I think Bill Garin would be so funny On a freaking panel Yes The pictures of him With the Stanley Club On my freaking with the ice cream Sunday and with the grocery store

I love I love those photos of Bill Garen You haven't seen them look Just Google Bill Garen Just Google Bill Garen ice cream Honestly It just makes me smile In this dark sad day

Yeah as our respective apartments Look how dark it is in here I'm gonna Google Bill Garen ice cream Every team has a guy like that in the front office where you're like, boy, I feel, or on the coaching staff or whatever. Where you're like, boy, I feel like, I feel like Person X would be good on TV for, you know, whether it's because they're smart, whether it's because they're charismatic, like, whatever it is. Every team's got one. This is the most wholesome, sweet thing I've ever seen.

This guy looks so happy to be sitting there with this giant ice cream Sunday. Big boy season. Let's go. This is where I wish we have like a Twitter account for the show where we could just like post the really weird out of context athletic hockey show. Out of context, the Rite A show. I do think we should get a show Twitter account and I'll just tweet weird, random pictures that we talk about on the show.

Like the photo of me holding up my bag of fronts and the picture Bill Garan with his ice cream Sunday. It's fine. You can do that. So that's our homework for the week is to launch a Twitter account and lay down a mixtape of me singing. It's Friday, Friday. Danielle and I will get on that. I don't want you to be involved. I don't like the vibes you're bringing to this.

It's for the best. Yeah. Like I said, it's just like the Taylor Swift thing. Nobody needs to hear from me on this particular topic. And everybody needs to hear me singing before the show starts. All right. Thanks, everyone for joining us. we will talk to you next week on another edition of the Friday show.

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