The Athletic Hockey Show - The big boys show up for the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of the Stanley Cup final. Winnipeg Jets Nate Thompson discusses his time as a Bolt and a Hab and reviews game one..

Episode Date: June 29, 2021

With Craig Custance on vacation, Ryan Clark from the Athletic Seattle joins Sean Gentille as guest co-host on Tuesday's The Athletic Hockey Show USA. Sean and Ryan breakdown game one of the Stanley Cup final between Tampa Bay and Montreal, plus they discuss the highlights from Gary Bettman and Bill Daly's state of the NHL address, and they address the investigation underway in Chicago regarding the sexual assault incident from 10 years ago, when video coach Brad Aldrich assaulted an unidentified player on the Hawks.Winnipeg Jets Center Nate Thompson, a native of Anchorage Alaska, and a former member of the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning joins Sean and Ryan. Nate gives us the inside scoop on the two teams playing in the Stanley Cup final, how good Nick Sazuki amd Jesperi Kotkaniemi can be, and if anyone can stop Nikita Kucherov andTampa Bay's lethal powerplay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, well, well, it's the first episode of the Athletic Hockey Show, The Americans Edition, without Craig Custin's taking a very suspiciously timed vacation. We're getting a little close to Canada Day for my taste, but whatever. Brutton a more than capable replacement in Ryan Clark. Ryan is the bead writer for the Seattle Cracken. He's a great dude. Those are two reasons to have him on. But most of all, I think the reason Jeff, our producer, wanted to book him was to do a wellness check on Ryan, who is in the Seattle area.

I don't know if you guys have been paying attention, but it's like 200 degrees there. Just wanted to make sure Ryan was okay. I care about him as a friend and a colleague, and it's good to see his face and be able to confirm that he hasn't melted in his home over the last couple days. Ryan, what's up, buddy? Hey, thank you for having me and for your concern. And all I will say about all this is this. The fact that Constance is not here, it's almost kind of like Falcon and Winter Soldier

because, like, everybody looks at Craig as Captain America. And, yeah, now that, like, Captain America's gone, it's like, who will carry the shield? Will it be, like, his long-haired friend with the beard or will it be his buddy Sam that he met later on in life? And I also share something else in common with Sam Wilson, too. We're both tall. But, yeah.

Yeah, and I share another thing in common with, with Bucky Barnes that we're both short. That dude is, that, that dude lies about being 5'10. I know, I know it when I see it.

If this ends with my nickname being the White Wolf, I know, I know we'll have done something right here, for sure. So there you go, Craig, you've been compared to Captain America

on your day off. I mean, there's, like I said, I mean, Craig's, Craig works harder than anybody. It's a well,

a well-deserved vacation for him. But there is a lot, there is a lot to talk about. We have coming off game one of the Stanley Cup finals, obviously. It's a 5-1, win for the lightning. They broke the dam in the third period last night.

I think that was my big takeaway. God knows we're going to talk about that a lot more. We have Nate Thompson is our guest. We're pretty psyched about that. Nate's, God, he's played 811 NHL games. I had to look that up. He's an Anchorage, Alaska Native. He's been a staple of a lot of really good teams over the years.

And has played for the Canadians in the Lightning. So he's in a kind of a unique. a unique position to talk about what's what's gone on here. But obviously, you know, we're going to start with the game. Ryan, I know you watched it. I know you were, you know, somewhere crouched under whatever, away from windows and vents and whatever else. But where were your big takeaways coming out of that one?

You know, it goes back to something our ARP and Basu rose early this morning, I guess late last night, depending on your time zone, which is you think about all the things the Montreal Canadians have done to get to the cup final and where they've excelled. The Lightning did those things, but they were better. You look at the net front presence, the Lightning hat. They were always there, but on the flip side of that, they were able to find ways to take the Canadians away from the net front.

And it's already going to be hard enough to get goals against Andre Vasselisky, but the way they played last night, they made it easier for him to stop those shots. But then, yes, we talk about things like the net front, and we talk about how both those teams have size and how we saw that play in advantage. But then it's just skill as well. And what I mean by that is,

you look at the goal Kutrov had and where he was set up at the faceoff, just almost directly behind the center. Right. They win possession, and he gets a clear shot on that from the slot. And it's like, A, that's a place you don't want anyone in this league shooting from,

but B, especially him. And so when you look at all those things, it's just like, yes, it was about as complete a report. performance as it gets, but at the same time, we had seen the lightning do this in the last round and we saw the Islanders come back. And if there's anything we've learned, Sean, and then we'll kind of get your thoughts on it. It's just one game. And it's the Montreal Canadians. And at this point, there is no reason to believe why they still can't come back and make this a series.

I mean, we'd be stupid right off the Canadians, right? I feel like I've come close to doing it more than enough times over the course of the last few weeks. So I'm fighting myself. I feel like you're kind of in the same spot. Like, I'm fighting the urge to look back on that third period, you know, and be like, this is, this is a gentleman sweep, right? This is going to be, this is going to be four or five games. Like, that's, that's my sincere gut reaction coming out of that. And I think a lot of it is because, you know, those first, those first two periods were fairly close. The, the HAB's pulled, you know, made a two one at the end there. But, you know, you look at how Tampa got their first two goals. It's different Eric,

and in Yonnie Gord. I mean, you see secondary scoring like that early with that team or tertiary scoring or whatever, quatrary scoring. If you're Eric Turinac, they're getting goals from everybody and you can expect, you know, Stamcoast is going to get his, right? And God knows Nikita Kutrov is going to get his. And Braden Point is going to get his. So to see those first two periods, there was that sort of like asterisk where you're like,

man, all right, the haves are playing this about as tight as possible, but, you know, the big boys haven't showed up. And then the third period rolls around and the big boys showed up. And they get that fifth goal. And I know, I want to ask Nate Thompson about this too eventually, but that fifth goal, and I know by that point it was decided, right? Like, it's the outcome wasn't in doubt. But to see Tampa come out with an FU goal like that, against against a penalty kill that had however many consecutive successful, successful tries, and to do it after Montreal had kind of started taking some runs and, you know, getting involved in some extracurricular stuff, try to set a tone for game two,

blah, blah, all that stuff. To have Tampa come out and roll five forwards and just tick-tac-toe until they scored was, that was the tone setter. That felt like something that's going to carry it. over. You know, that, because that, that Tampa power play, dude, I mean, especially, especially if they decide to call cross-checking every now and then, and Tampa gets two, three opportunities in a game, you know, again, this just all sort of builds, builds up to me thinking it's going to be a short one. And I'm trying to, I'm trying to guard against that,

because I've felt that way about Montreal before. But man, that, that last period, it's, it's tough to have a takeaway other than that. Well, that and you just wonder about the adjustments, too, because like, let's think about what Montreal is done to get this point. The narrative against Toronto were the Leafs were too skilled of a team. We saw how that series turned out. Then it became the Jets are an extremely skilled team. And this is a series the Jets should win. We saw how that turned out. Vegas was one of the most skilled teams in the league. And you saw how that turned out. You're now going against what some people do consider to be the most skilled team in the league. And if they're not the most skilled, they're in the top two or

three. So what do you do against the team like this? Because it's kind of a weird, maybe not weird, but the only way to really look at it, and this is probably going to make people like turn this podcast off forever. So sorry, Craig. But I think I, but by the way, I think I've, I think I've accomplished that multiple times over the last six weeks or whatever. So don't worry. But you're, you're in good company. But in some ways, it's almost kind of like when you're beating different sub-bosses to get to the final boss. And like that, final boss has like every single thing the sub-bosses has, but better. And it's like Tampa has that. Like they can score. They can descend. They've got size. Like they don't just have

goaltending. Like they have someone who can who can match with anyone's effort in the entire NHL. And it's like everything you've learned is now really about to be tested, not that it wasn't before. So the adjustments that they're going to make, that's where it's going to be critical. because, again, we've seen the Canadians be able to come back from not just one game down, but at least two in some instances to win a series. So to see what happens, yes, it's going to be about the adjustments. But when you look at all the things they face, but more importantly, all the things the Canadian's done to get to this point, so lightning can do those things.

And not only can they do those things at a level that a lot of teams in this league wish they could aspire to on a consistent basis. Tampa's fully functional, man. Like, they're, you know, they don't have, oh, God, the sickle hanging over their head that the Toronto Maple Leafs had. They don't have the first game injury to John Tavares, right? And then you look at the Jets, and they were kind of a fraud from the jump, and then they lose Mark Shifley for four games to suspension. I don't want to take anything away from what Montreal did against Vegas, because that series was great.

But, you know, what we've seen is a lot of breaks go Montreal's way. And then you see Kerry Price short-handed saving percentage their way to series wins. And that's awesome. And that's not to take anything away from it. But that's also a tough way to live. You can't rely on luck and you can't necessarily rely on superhuman goalie performances every night. And dapped to the Canadians for getting this far. I suppose, but man, it just feels like, it feels like we're approaching the end. And I'm going to

end up, you know, I'm sure I'll end up having to eat crow over this because I've, because I've done it before. But it was impossible to turn off that TV last night and not think like, okay, all right, this is, this is it. The other big story yesterday, and this is everyone's, everyone's favorite event, always is the the Gary Betman slash Bill Daily state of the NHL press conference. And we can run through a couple, a couple things there. We're getting an 82 game season. 22 All-Star game in Las Vegas. I'm psyched for the athletic NHL death match to see who actually gets to cover that one.

2022 winner classic will be in Minneapolis at Target Field, which is where the twins play. It'll feature the blues playing the wild. and we get another outdoor game in Nashville with the Preds against the Lightning. I guess we can say it's $5 million, so your mileage may vary on that, but the NHL will invest $5 million in diversity and inclusion programs over the next 18 months, so yay. What we didn't hear was any real, didn't hear much on the Chicago Black House. scandal, which is something that Katie Strang and Mark Lazarus and Scott Powers have done a lot

of good reporting for us. Rick Westhead at TSN has been great there too. And look, Gary, Gary Betman's a lawyer. Like, he's going to speak like a lawyer. It's his defining, it's his defining trait. But, you know, again, it was, that was a, that was a bummer to see last night. There was, there wasn't, there wasn't much. I, I didn't expect much. And that's kind of, that's kind of what I got and I was wondering if you had any thoughts there too. The thing is you weren't really expecting to hear much because like you said, some of it goes back to the fact you look at Gary Vettman's background, but also some of the two goes back to the fact that leagues are going to be extremely cautious with what

they say, how they say, especially something of this magnitude, which when you look at the reporting that's been done, whether it's been by our colleagues at the athletic, whether it's been Rick Westheaded TFSN, it's all exceptionally damaged. And not only is it exceptionally damning, but while you know the people who are involved, you don't know exactly the links as to which it is, like how many people are involved. Like we have an idea of who the central characters are, but we don't know how much this expands, if that makes sense. And with that being said, when you're the NHL, yes, you're going to say something,

but you also have to be very careful about what you say. and as far as the investigation itself, what ends up happening with this over the next several weeks to months? It's going to be really, really interesting from this standpoint. Like, what do the Chicago Blackhawks do next? Like, like, what do they do next with that organization?

It's a well-timed announcement of the investigation, too, right? Because we've heard that we've, it was yesterday, I think, you know, on Monday, when news broke, that it was, that it was going to take place. I mean, that was helpful. If you're Gary Bettman, you can say, well, hey, we're, there is an independent investigation and we're just going to lean on, lean on what, on what we found there. So that's, yeah, that's, I guess it's really, that's really all you can hope for at this point is that the league does, does take the investigation seriously and does kind of internalize, uh, whatever, whatever

comes out of it and, and, and acts accordingly. And yeah, I didn't, you know, you don't expect that I'm going to say much, much of, if anything, in situations like that. But again, it's, um, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a frustrating thing. And, and we're going to have to just kind of continue, continue watching how it, uh, how it plays out. I'm sure, I'm sure there'll be more reporting. That's, that's, that's the one thing we can count on between between our colleagues and then request head. I know Emily Kaplan's done a lot at ESPN. This is being covered the way that, the way that it should be covered. So I, I do take some kind of solace there that, You know, people are going to have information as we can get it.

The other, okay, so the other, the other bits to come out of the state of the union situation, we're back to announcing outdoor games. Like I said, we're getting one in Minneapolis and we're getting one in Nashville. I feel like those are the next kind of showcase cities, right, to get to get, get out to our games. I think that's always, that's always a debate whenever we're talking about, whether it's stadium series or winter classic or whatever. Everyone's tired of seeing the penguins and the Blackhawks and whoever else. Like there's a, there's a very small revolving door there. It is kind of cool to see, if only for the local fan bases, right? Like, it's important to Predators

fans to have something like that. And whenever the hurricanes get one and whatever. And it's good to see these things kind of still continue to be showcased. events for local kind of markets, right? Well, the thing is this, you know, you're the NHL and you've talked so much about growing your game. And one of the things that people have brought up now that you're going to be getting a new TV deal with ESPN and Turner is, are you going to break away from the shift that was seen on NBC, which was, it was some culmination of Bruins, Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, Capitals, Blackhawks, and Redwood.

Now, yes, you did see teams like the Blues. you were starting to see more teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, the Avalanche have had an increased role the last two seasons. But when you look at it, it's still a league that, and it's strange to say, while you see the Tampa Bay Lightning, you're not being hit over the head with the defending champions, much like in the NBA,

when the Lakers win, they're always on TV. Even when they don't win, the Lakers, the self-exposure teams that are on TV, the Knicks being another example. And so, like, when you're in the NHL and you're having these serious conversations, especially in a year where you do have an expansion team and you're growing your foothold not only within your league, but really in the western part of the

continent, like, if you're then, you have to realize, like, this makes sense for those reasons, but also look at the markets where you're having this. I mean, it's hockey in Minnesota. That's, yes, the easy thing to say, but like when you look at how that city, really, how that state supports that team, the numbers and the passion are there. And all we keep hearing about natural to what feels like the last five years is like not only is this an entertainment city but it's a city that cares so deeply about the predators about hockey to the point where we saw what the Stanley Cup looked like there it looked like a party and not only that but when you think about the fact that Tennessee state and the predators has entered a partnership to explore the idea of getting a

division one hockey program at an HBCU like these are all things that you're the NHL you look at and you have to sit there and say it makes a lot of sense because you're seeing the game grow. Like it's no different than one of last year's outdoor games at Lake Tahoe when you saw the avalanche play the Golden Knights. I mean, say what you want about Nevada in terms of like it's just now being a hockey state, it's more than the Golden Knights. Like you hockey in that state is a serious thing, especially in Las Vegas. And then when you think about something like Lake Tahoe, like yes, having a team in Nevada health,

but you looked at that setting and of course you take away everything with the sun that's delayed in the first game and you wonder like man why didn't the NHL do this before because it kind of has everything you would want to set it. Yeah especially whenever the pivot kind of happened

from the winter classic being like you'd talk about 2008, 2009, whatever for a few years there that was a national kind of event but as we moved past it and it turned into more localized sort of stuff where it was a big deal for the teams and it was a big deal for the cities. You know, that's, that was always what was confusing. I was like, why are, why are we still going back to Pittsburgh and Chicago and Philly and Boston and whatever? Let's get some of these

other cities mixed in because it does create like a legitimate buzz. And it seemed like we were ramping up to that. Obviously, we were before, you know, before March of 2020. And now they can kind of hop back in and involve the Nashvilles and the Raleys and places like that because those fan bases want it and those cities want it and those teams certainly want it. So it is cool to see them get back on track. I wanted to ask you too about, you know, a report from our buddy Sean Shapiro last night. He's on the ESPN NHL TV coverage package. And there's some Moosby and there. We got Chris Chelyos joining on, he's joining in a studio role. He's obviously joining Ray Ferraro and Brian Boucher and guys like that. But they're going to bring in Cassie Campbell Pascall.

Hillary Knight and Blake Bolden are also, are also in conversations about roles within their coverage. We have Messia. We have the ESPN holdovers. I was wondering what you thought of that, of the team that they're assembling there. Is it, is it, is it cautious? optimism? Is it like, why are they just bringing back hockey dudes from the 90s? Like, what's, what's your take on all that? Some of it is wait and see, but some of it too is you look at what's worked in other leagues. And it seems like prior to this cycle, one of the things we've seen, whether it be from the NBA or the NFL and some degree major league baseball is you saw these Hall of Famers, and if not Hall of Famers, players who were very close to getting to the Hall of Fame

or at least exceptionally visible within their sport, be these analysts and be these larger than life figures. It's why we talk about inside the NBA we do because, like, Tammy Smith was a venerable player that people knew in the NBA. Charles Sparkley and Shaquillo and Neil are Hall of Famers. And when you look at NHL coverage, at least when it comes to the male analyst you have, because the women you have, like, yes, they are, like, there's no question. Like, those are Hall of Fame, all time, great, far none. But when it comes to the players who played in the NHL, like, you see people who have, like, played in the league for a long time, but none of them have really been what you would call, like, those Hall of Famers,

because usually seems like those players, either go into ownership or they go into the front office. So now... They're in power of development or whatever. Right. Exactly. So now that you're seeing the likes of a Messia, Chelle, of Wayne Gretzky with Turner, like it starts to make you wonder, like, what is this going to look like, especially

in a sport where we hadn't really quite seen this in terms of NHL players. Yeah. I, you know, the thing about, the thing about Shaq and Kay. That's a funny point you made about Kenny Smith and not to get off on a TNshire, but people younger than us know Kenny Smith as like the TV dude. And like you and I are old enough to remember when he was, you know, a champ with the Rockets and winning done contests and stuff. So it is funny to see him just kind of age into the TV guy thing.

The thing about them though, and whether it's Jack or God knows, Charles Barkley is that they're good at TV. I hope, I hope that Messia and Chellios and Gretzky are also good at TV, because if they're not, it's going to be a problem. Like, I like the team that ESPN's building under those guys. You know, and again, Messio and Cellio and the ESPN guys, bringing in, you know, Kevin Weeks and Brian Boucher and Ray Ferraro and all these, like, these are, these are all talented guys. guys, Brandon Burke, like guys like that, they're good broadcasters. The top end of things is a little bit more unproven. Messia has been on TV before. It hasn't, didn't, didn't go particularly

well. Yeah, it's a major, it's a major wait and see for, for me too. I get why they're doing it. I'm just not quite sure it's going to work out. I think that's enough for us here. We need to, we need to get to Nate. Nate Thompson's our guest. All right, we want to get to interview with Nate Thompson, he's a free agent center. He spent the last year with the Winnipeg Jets. He's got a lot of experience across the board with both of these teams. They were seen in the cup final. The Jets swept the Oilers in the first round and then lost to Montreal, of course.

But before he was a Canadian, where he played with Kerry Price and Brinacalliger and Shea Weber and all these guys. He was there for two years. He was also teammates with Stephen Samkos and Nikita Kutjav and Victor Hedman and a whole bunch of guys on that lightning roster. And of course, he's in Alaska native. He played his junior hockey with the Seattle Thunderbird. So Nate was great.

Makes all the sense in the world to talk to him, not just because he's from Alaska, but because he knows these guys. He knows half the Canadians roster, and he was teammates with really the core of the lightning for a few seasons there. So he was great. Lots of insight from him. we really appreciate his time and we hope you enjoy it. It must have been a little bit of a weird experience for you last night in game one,

right? Dude, you're watching a lot of guys who you've played with face off there. Yeah, I mean, I guess it's, I don't know, I've played for so many different teams now. I guess I'm kind of getting used to it. But yeah, I guess there's definitely a little bit of an emotional attachment to both teams because I've played in Tampa for, you know, the longest than anyone in my career.

And then, you know, I was just playing in Montreal about a year ago. So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's tough. I don't really know who I'm rooting for. I don't know. I don't know. It's tough to watch it. Sometimes, you know, I catch myself watching the game, and then sometimes I catch myself, you know, I'll watch a little bit of it,

and then I'll walk away. So that's just how it goes. Curious, I mean, given that you're someone, you know, the system, you know the personnel of kind of what, those teams do definitely Tampa with its system. I mean, how do you, like, view those games? I mean, can you really view them as, like, a hockey fan, or do you really find yourself playing analysts going like, okay,

I see what they did there. It's this, this, and this, or, like, of course he was going to make this move, because I saw him do it in practice, and I seen him do it in the league several times. Like, what's that like for you? It can be pretty fun, actually. You know, I can, I think when I watch, you know, especially this time of the year, if I sit down and I watch a game,

I guess I kind of put on my skis. out coaching hat a little bit, you know, because I've played in both organizations, played for both coaches, and kind of know the tendencies of each, you know, of each team and, you know, and how they play. And I think I can almost see, too,

of being on each team, knowing if they have their A game or not, you know, watching, like watching the game and knowing the way they need to play. And, you know, I think last night you saw, I mean, Tampa, you know, we look at them as this high octane offense,

offensive team, but I think they're not really viewed as a defensive, defensively responsible team. Like, they are so good defensively, and people I don't think it would give enough credit for that, you know, just because the way they, you know, way they forecheck, the way they're de-gap up on, you know, opposing teams forwards.

and, you know, you saw that last night. And as you make a mistake against them, you know, they transition. They're pretty good offensively. They're a pretty good player. So, you know, I think Montreal is going to have to play a pretty perfect game and not make too many mistakes against them to get to have some success. You know, whatever. You brought up Montreal.

You were there for two seasons. Everybody knows what a big role you played in the development of guys like Nick Suzuki and Evans and Kotkinami and stuff. But what was it like, you know, kind of being the, being the Sherpa for those guys, being, being Uncle Nate in the room and all that, all that stuff? Did you know that those guys had it early on? And what's it like watching them, you know, kind of take that next step this year? Yeah, it's a lot of fun watching them.

I mean, you see a kid like Nick Suzuki, you know, he was one of those kids when he got got there that I knew he had it right away. He just had this swagger about him and this confidence. And he enjoyed every second of every minute of being at the rink and soaking it all in. You know, and KK was another kid too. You know, KK is a little bit different where he's a fun loving kid, always kind of joking around. Never really takes anything serious, which I think sometimes can be an issue.

but for the most part, you know, I think he was, you know, it's good too because he's just loose and he just goes out there and has fun. But you can see the ability both of them had right away. And you knew that they were going to be a big part of their organization. And for me, you know, I think it was just kind of giving them some guidance like older guys did with me. Just somebody just to go talk to them and just to let them know, hey, like this is, you know. you know, do this, do this here. You know, just kind of guide them along. But, you know, a guy like Nick Suzuki, he was one of those kids where I didn't really

have to say much. He just, he got it right away. And you're seeing the impact these two kids are having on the team and how bright of the future they have for the Montreal Canadiens. Because Suzuki came into at least a little bit of a tough situation because he's the main dude coming back for patchy already. and you know, there's a, there's, I'm sure there's a segment of the fan base that was, that was pissed about that. But there was, it felt like the learning curve for him was,

was, was really, really short. Like, like, he, he came in and, you know, kind of made that trade make sense, like pretty quickly. And is that, I mean, you, you mentioned the swagger that he has, but, I mean, that's, that's one of those deals, too, where, you know, Patrody's doing his thing in Vegas, Suzuki's been great so far. And he was, he was really great from the jump. Like is that is that kind of swag that he has come coming in initially? Did that, did that help, did that help him, uh, help him make an impact quickly? Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, he came out of junior the previous year when he went a Memorial Cup. I think he was MVP. And, you know, he comes into training camp and you

could see the way he was, you know, he came into training camp, not just to like be there. He was there to make the team. And he wanted to come in and, you know, he could see the way he was, you know, And like you said, make an impact. And he was young and he had his growing pains early. And, you know, fortunately, I got to play with him on my line for a good chunk of the beginning of the season. Congrats, man. Yeah, it was, I mean, it was, I mean, it's some of the most fun hockey I played, you know, especially when I was in Montreal, just because, you know, everyone talks about,

oh, yeah, Nate helped Dick so much. well, Nick Nick helped Nate so much in the first month and a half, two months playing with him. He was just such a smart kid and we had a lot of fun playing together. And, you know, he was kind of figuring out, you know, I think kids when they come in the league, they kind of have to figure out the ways of the league and, you know, defensive side of it and just kind of get their feet wet.

And he really did in the first couple months. He was figuring out, you know, every aspect of the game, and it did not take him very long. I mean, I didn't have to tell him anything, really. I mean, every now and then we would talk about stuff, but he knew when we, you know, when we would get back to the bench, he would point out of play to me, and I'd point out of play to him.

You know, it was one of those things where this young kid is, you know, well beyond his years. And he wasn't on my line. He wasn't on my line that much longer after that. So the rest is history. So let's jump back to when you date. viewed in the NHL. How would you describe what it was like being a young player then with the responsibilities, the way veterans were sort of involved with your development compared to like

now that you're in this role of being a veteran? How much has it changed in that regard or has it really changed considering we hear so much about how this league is getting younger each and every season? Oh, I think it's changed a lot. You know, it's a young man's game now. You're seeing these kids are coming in the league from 19 to 23 and, you know, they're making a huge impact on their team. You know, when I came in the league, I think my first game, I was 22. It was a little bit different than, you know, the kids really weren't coming in and playing right away. You know, I think my first game, I think I'd like two minutes. So, you have not a whole lot of impact in that game. But, you know, I think it's just different. You know, you're, you know, you're not a lot of impact on that game.

looking at the way, like I said, the way these kids are, you know, they're kind of the, they're the team. You look at every player in each team and every franchise and, you know, their star players are all under 25 years old. And that's just the way the leagues go. And so, you know, the comparison is, is a lot different because when I first came in, there was a, you know, what I was playing with New York, Islanders, I think we probably had 10 guys over the age of 30. Yeah. You're lucky if you have over five now. So it's just a lot different the way the league's going. Yeah.

And then you went to Tampa and you're playing with guys like, you know, Vinny and Marty and players like that who were, you know, they were still at a super high level, but they were into their 30s at that point too, right? So, yeah, it is wild to see, you know, kind of how that's changed. I'm curious to ask you, too, like as a PK guy, like when you watch the lightning, on the power play and you see what they did late.

Like, are, are you like, what do you, what do you, like, what do you, like, what do you even do with that? Like, when you, when you watch that last, that last one with five forwards out there and you got Coochard out doing, like, doing, doing his whole, his whole deal. Like, what's, what goes through your brain when, when, when you watch that unit? Don't take a penalty. All right, ladies and gentlemen, that was it. All right.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, uh, it's, uh, I mean, there's a reason why that that power play is so deadly as me. Just the options, you know, I think it's to kill against that power play is it's one of those things where you pick your poison. You know, who do you want to give up? Do you want to give up Cooch?

Do you want to give up Stammer? Do you want to give up Hetty up top? They're all on their one-time versus side. It's pretty much. Here's a serious question. Do you try to force Kuturav to shoot? Do you try to take away the pass from him? Because then at the end of the day, if you do that,

you still have Nikita Kutrov shooting the buck. I think the biggest thing as a penalty killing against that power plays, you just don't want to give up seam passes. You don't want to give up passes through the seam where the goalie has to go from side to side and a guy is shooting at one time. Or you want to make sure you keep the buck on one side of the ice and it's either a shot or play down low.

And that's it. I mean, but these guys are the best players in the world for a reason. And, you know, this is, this is what they do. So I think it's,

you know, you got to limit their power plays first off. You know, you can't be giving them more than two power plays a night because as a guy like Cooch or Stamber, those guys, you know, heady,

like, as a PK guy. And, you know, you give a power play, you give them numerous, numerous chances throughout the game. For them as an offensive guy, think about, you know, they're holding out of the puck,

they're feeling good, you know, that gets them into the game. And then, you know, it can go a lot worse for you after that. So I think it's just the biggest thing about that power play is you're going to need your goalie to make some saves and you're going to need to limit those seam passes and kind of a tick-tac toe plays because you want to keep the fuck on one side of the ice because those guys will make you pay all night. And, you know, you kind of saw their, you saw their skill set last night on display. And you did, you did overlap with Kutrov for that, I think it was in 2014 or whatever it was.

When he came up, you know, he's his second round pick or whatever, a late second round pick. Did you have a sense that he was going to turn into this? Because we're putting him, I mean, he's got another 30 point postseason that puts him in an insanely elite group. third dude to ever do it. I mean, it's a dumb question because there's no way for you to know that he was going to turn into this like world beater. But like, what did you see out of him early? Because you did you did overlap a little bit there in Tampa. Yeah, well, another guy that was on my line for a little bit. Oh, of course. This is, we, this is the theme. Yeah, I just, I just promote guys. That's what I do. I could see it. I remember when he was young and he came to camp and there was,

things he was doing as a young kid. I remember when we were watching, I'm like, who is that? Right. You know, he was doing these, you know, making these plays that no one else really could make. And he was doing it so fluidly, it's so smooth. You know, you watch him, he looks like he's almost floating on the ice out there, the way he moves. And when he came up, yeah, you could see it. I mean, I could see it.

I knew there was something special there. I think at the same time, though, Cooch is a guy that really, really works on his game. Like, he works hard at his game. And people would never think that because they think, oh, it's like he to Coutcherop. He's so talented. You know, that's what he has.

But the guy really works at his craft. And you saw that even young at a young age when he first came in. And, yeah, I mean, he's one of the best players. in the world. It's fun to watch. I mean, I love watching it out there. It's, uh, he makes it look so easy. It seems like the last few years we've seen a team with the cup finals where there's one team that has a coach that's been there for a little bit, like we saw with Boston and Bruce Kathy, of course, John Cooper with the Lightning. And then there's been another side where you've seen interim coaches like Craig Barruvi. What we're seeing this year with Dominic Dushchev and, of course,

last year with Rick Bonas. I mean, do you think that almost kind of speaks to this, the unpredictability of this league that for every idea that you think you might have, like, you just never know? Or how would you assess it when it comes to just how teams try to get a handle on coaching with the idea that you just never know how it's going to play out? Yeah, I think you just see that parody in our league that it doesn't matter where your regular season, doesn't matter what you've done. It's all about that belief and knowing that, you know, you can win on any given night and you've seen that obviously in a team like Montreal,

you know, the run that they've gone on it. You know, that's a testament to the coaches with whatever coach it is that does get to the finals is setting that belief in the team to know that they can win on any given night. And I think, you know, I think it's just, you know, the unpredictability of, like you said, there's different coaches every year coming to the finals with different teams.

And, you know, I think it's just, that's our league. Like, it's, that's the beauty of it is any team can win on any given night. And, you know, you see the different sports and no, no offense to the other sports, but it's usually the, you know, the favorites every year that are in the finals are the top four teams that are left. And, you know, in the NHL, that seems to be never the case. Obviously, the light, they're one of the favorites. But, you know, every year you're seeing. a new team kind of go on a run and make this, you know, Cinderella run to the finals.

And I just think for me, yes, it's different coaches that come in and set that belief. But I think at the same time, it's just a parody in our league and how good the league is. There's really not, there's really not that much of a difference, I guess, between certain teams where it's that close, you know, with, between, between winning and losing and moving on with, you know, with that parody. You know, you hit the 800 game mark this past season. Did that milestone mean anything to you? Because, I mean, like, you're part of the O3 class. You know, it's good.

It's, it's legendary. You're top 20 in games played from that group. And you're behind like 15 or 16, like first and second rounders. There's not a lot of, there's not a lot of seventh rounders from that, from that group that have played as long as, that have played as long as you. So what did that, what did that mean? And what's it, what's it meant to be part of that group like over the last, you know, whatever, 15, 16, 17 years? Yeah, it was meaningful to me.

I think just it's an accomplishment in itself because, you know, I think I'm still playing, right? And it shows some longevity and, you know, to be a part of that group, I didn't even know that. But to be a part of that group is humbling because I, you know, I know a lot of, I know a lot of guys in that draft and you know, I guess you could arguably say that that 03 draft was probably one of the best of all time. And, you know, it's, it's, it is. I think it's flattering. And, you know, but at the same time, I don't feel like I'm done. I want to keep playing. And I'd like to get to, you know, some more milestones and games played. And yeah, it's, it's, it's one of those things where it's, you know, kind of feather in my cap. And, you know, just one of those.

things where I'm I'm humbled to be able to play this long in this league. Yeah. So what's the off-season look like for you as far as, you know, I know you said you're working out with your skills coach, you know, what's the next month kind of look like on your schedule? Yeah, it's, you know, we, it's kind of a shortened off-season. We got done in June and you're seeing these guys played in July in the finals. And Camp's going to be back starting again.

I think it's September, so middle September. So it's only a couple months, so it's pretty quick turnaround. So for me, it's, you know, it's status quo. Same thing every summer is, you know, preparing, working out, training, getting on the ice, doing all those things that, you know, I've done for so long to try and get ready for next season. And yeah, I mean, I still love it. I still love working out and doing all those things and getting ready and preparing.

I don't know, I want to keep playing until they rip the skates off. And so we'll see what happens. We got to get to do a thousand, man. That's a much, that's a much nicer round number than 800 does. Yeah, it is. That sounds a lot better, doesn't it? Speaking of that longevity, I mean, if you could go back and tell the player who's debuted for two minutes in the NHL what to look for, Or what would be that big piece of advice you would give yourself when you are 22 about, hey, this is what you're in for?

Oh, that is a good question. What would I tell myself? Stay on line with Nick Suzuki for as long as you can. Yeah, exactly. I think I would tell myself just, it sounds so cliche, but. I think I would tell myself not to take it too serious sometimes. I think for me, I'm extremely hard on myself, probably to a fault. And I think early in my career, from the age of 22 to 27 in that range, I, you know,

I think when things didn't go well for me, it was because I was so hard on myself. and I think I just kind of forgot that I needed to just have fun and enjoy it. And now that I'm 36 years old, the last however many years, four or five years, I think some of the most fun hockey I've played in my career. And I, you know, I'm just trying to enjoy it and enjoy, enjoy every moment of it. And in that sense, I think some of the last, you know, last little while, my career too, some of the best hockey I played too. So it's, you know, it's, it's no secret it goes hand in hand. So I think that would be probably the advice I give myself. That's good advice.

That's a, it's good advice for everybody. Yeah. Nate, I, I appreciate your time, man. Have a good, have a good, have a good, have a good, uh, we'll catch up down the road. Thank you so much, guys. Thanks. Yeah, thanks for having me, boys. That was great stuff from Nate, right? Pacific Northwest legend. He played, he played for Seattle and in the, in the, in the, in the Western League. He's from Alaska, all of that. He was the perfect guy to have. He's an American, baby, right?

Yes, yes, yes. It was, man, you're a character. No, but to be serious, I mean, like, he's someone that when you sit there and you think about everything you've done in his career, he's sort of this touchstone, for the lack of a better word, in the sense of, like,

he's seen how this league has changed in terms of how young players are viewed in back then versus how they're now. He's been able to see all these different coaching style. And not only that, but when you think about, like, the way he's been around certain talents like Kuturoff, like Nick Suzuki, but even this too, as he was explaining Tampa's power play, all you can think about was how everybody runs the 131. And you make, and people ask these questions. Well, everybody runs the same thing, then how do people still get goals? And it's like the way he talks about Tampa system, that's how people get goals in a one three. one. When you have that, like, that's kind of the interesting thing, is it's like, is it the coach in the system he has? Is it the talent? Is it both? And when you're Tampa, it's literally all of the above. Absolutely. And again, that's good stuff from him on the lightning and the Canadians and a whole bunch of other stuff. We didn't bring this up in our initial bit

about the state of the union address from Gary Batman, but more bummer news about the NHL's participation or potential non-participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Betman said yesterday there are, quote, real concerns about whether players will participate. And that's because of timing and it's because of COVID-19 stuff. You know, there's plenty of reasons for them not to do it, I suppose. But the upshot is that they haven't committed to building an Olympic break into the 21-22 schedule. And they don't know. And Bettman says it's causing issues and there's concerns and blah, blah.

blah, blah, blah, blah. I get it. There's a logical reason for all of this, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It would be an enormous bummer to have another Winter Olympics go by without NHL participation. World Cup of hockey just doesn't scratch the edge. I'm sorry. And I'm upset. We're going to go through another four-year period without it happening. because like I've completely lost faith in the NHL's appetite for doing it at all, really. Like they got that taste of not having it. And I think it really does feel like they're like, yeah, it wasn't worth it. And again, I get it.

There's business concerns. There's plenty of reasons not to do it. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'm pissed. Let's figure something out. All right, Ryan, what's new in Seattle? There's always stuff brewing with the crack. We got the expansion draft coming.

We got plenty of other stuff. What's new in your world? Well, of course, there's what happened last week with the Cracken hiring, Dave Haxall, and sort of the decision behind that. And you're getting someone who had experience in Philadelphia that was an assistant in Toronto so to see how it's going to work this second time around is going to be interesting. Of course, there's the expansion draft, and then there's the actual production around the expansion draft,

given that ESPN is going to be in town to broadcast. So it's going to be Chris Baller, Brian Boucher, and Kevin Wee. How about that, man? They're bringing out the big guns for that one. Yeah, no. I mean, it's kind of interesting to see. And so, like, one of the things, and we reported this early on, we actually had the exclusive on it, was the Cracken or planning, along with the

NHL, to have this thing set up at different events and, like, different spots in Seattle. So, for example, like someone throwing a fish at tight place because it's something that they want to be, like, authentically Seattle, but they wanted to be recognizable for a larger television audience while also having celebrities with local ties to this. And so it's going to be interesting to see how that works because like people have joked if you can't get Frazier Crane, why are we doing it? But then you think about like the real life celebrity choices like you can go get. I mean, for example, Rain Wilson is from here. Joel McHale is from here. Brandy Carlisle is from here. But then it's like there's all sorts of like weird, fun, interesting things.

things like you can do. Like I was talking to someone the other day who was like, why don't they get Squidward from SpongeBob? I mean, come on. Think about it. Like, and I'm sure if you could hear it in the background, my cat just came in and me out. And the cat's just like, look, I watch SpongeBob. That's my demographic.

If you can get Squidward, like, I will go to climate pledge. But it's like you're a cat. No one's driving you anywhere because you're a cat. But now that we've lost all credibility with this show. But the reality is this. To see what they do is going to be interesting because, like, for them, it is an introduction to the NHL. And not only that, but it's an introduction for a lot of people to the city of Seattle and everything that they see. The question is not whether McClmore will be involved.

The question is how much. It's almost like an is because, like, at this point, you're so used to it because, like, there's a story our Marcus Thompson did about his golf line not that long ago. he's involved as a minority owner with the Seattle Sounders. He's known for being a Seahawks fan. And of course, my oh my, off the heist was a song that it speaks so much in Mariners history with that famous, famous call. And so, like, that's just it is like there are so many different pieces there. But then you're like, but this is the cracking. Like, they're known for kind of having like these, wow, they really did that moment.

So, like, who would be a surprised person like they would bring? Like, for example, people don't know this. Bob Barker was born in Washington. Like, he left at an early age. So, like, if you're them, like, go get Bob Barker. Again, if that's even a possibility, go get Quincy Jones. He's from Seattle. His family moved here in early age.

Like, why not? That'd be cool. And then, yes, of course. I mean, like, if you don't get the likes of a Pearl Jam or a food fighter, like, Yeah, there's a crowd that might not be happy with that. I know. You got to find some way to, there's got to be like Mike McCready or one of those, one of those pro-jamb guys.

You can work into the mix. I'm just looking at famous people from Seattle now. Kenny G. Come on. University of Washington alum. So like when I covered the Husky, bring them in. Like there's no joke. So there was this video and I urge people to look at it.

It was by B-CU. I think it was the ECU was the credit union on campus that like it had all these famous

the University of Washington alum singing the fight song and so like it was like Richard Kahn who was

Al from Home Improvement Julian Queenie Bill Gates senior like Brock Heward and one of the

people who played it was Kenny Gene on his saxophone and it's just like yeah this slap

but then when you think about like the rest of the state especially somewhere like Washington State, for example, like it would make sense to bring someone in there. Like, if you're the Kraken, why wouldn't you try to look at bringing in Old Glory? Like, this is Old Crimson. Like, why not have like Chris Fowler sit there and be like,

oh, look, Old Crimson is literally everywhere. This flag never takes the day off. Like, this isn't even game day and this flag is here. So it seems like there's the possibility to do a lot. Yeah, we need the. Kenny G. Squidward Maclamore collab. Drop it. Let's make it happen. Ryan, man, it's been a blast. I appreciate you tagging in here. I know it's probably up to probably up to about 300 degrees in your in your home right now. So it's it's tough. I'm glad.

I'm glad you're here though, man. And I appreciate your time. Hey, no worries. Thank you so much for having me. I really do appreciate it. Of course, this is this is the Americans, Ryan Clark, American, Sean Jensilly, American. Craig Custin's in his absence, remains American. But it's not the only NHL podcast here at the Athletic. Wednesday is the day for the two-minute advantage. That's Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBron. We have a packed one tomorrow.

We have Dave Haxdahl, who Ryan is about to get to know very, very well. And we also have Katie Strang and Rick Westhead from TSN to talk about the Blackhawk sexual assault investigation. So that's a full day full of. full of very important stuff. So I certainly suggest that you listen to that. Also, check out our comments section. I know Craig loves, Craig loves to pump that up here. And he's right. It's funny. And on the app, you can go onto our episode page and leave comments there complaining about phrases we say too much. We're going to have a whiteboard, I think, or some sort of list of things that Craig and I can't say. And we're going to hit a buzzer whenever, whenever one of

us says it. I know Galaxy brand is on the list and at the end of the day, I believe. Those are, those are the two inaugural inductees. So leave comments. We love to see them. Leave reviews and ratings on the Apple podcast page, even when they're not, they're not all that positive. So leave it. We'll have some fun. We're going to keep dipping in there and talking to some of our favorites. If you're not already a subscriber, you can go to theathletic.com slash hockey show and receive a subscription for $3.99 a month. Ryan, again, man, I appreciate it. Stay cool up there, and I'm sure we'll talk to you again soon, huh? No, no, you got it.

Thanks again for having me. This was a blast. And, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens when Captain America comes back. It'll probably be like, you've ruined this empire. I worked hard to build, me and my beard, because I look like Hank Scorpio from the census. So there you go. There's going to be a fight for the shield, man. Me and you against them.

Let's make it happen. Oh, you two can have this shield. I'm just fine chilling out. My own business. Love it. Thanks again, guys. Enjoy the week. And we'll see you next Tuesday.