The Athletic Hockey Show - The Olympic party is over

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

The Olympic party is over and it’s time to clean it up. And so today, Sean Gentille, Shayna Goldman and Michael Russo react to the US Olympians returning to their respective clubs and facing the media, answering tough questions about the unfortunate politicization of their historic win in Milan. Meanwhile, with the NHL trade deadline eight days from now, the group discusses how centers are the hot commodity this year. Plus, Shay and Sean present the teams in each conference they are looking forward to watching as the push to the playoffs begins.Hosts: Sean Gentille and Shayna GoldmanWith: Michael RussoExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Jeff DometWatch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowJoin our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/VTm9VjkFSubscribe to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. What up, what up? The Athletic Hockey Show for Thursday, February 26th. Oh, I'm on a two-day streak of getting the date correct. Yes, that is my only goal for the second half of the season. As I said yesterday, perfect. Let's go. Sean Justilly here with Shana Goldman, SG1, as I christened around the podcast yesterday.

Michael Rousseau as well. Haley Salveen, currently somewhere in the airs over the Atlantic Ocean, I believe. if she was in Switzerland for a couple days. Hope that went well. I assume she'll be back next week, but who can say? The NHL is back too. Three-week Olympic break. There were eight games last night,

so guys got back to work in eight different cities. We're going to talk about that shortly. But first, we are going to try to put a pin in the aftermath of the U.S. men's decisions regarding their post-gold medal celebration and Little Field Trip to Washington, D.C. Yesterday, a large chunk of those guys were asked about that, of course, it's back to work, as we said.

And their answers were, you know, for the most part, uninteresting and fairly non-reflective. I don't think we should be surprised by that. They had to get asked the questions. They had to give the answers. I think they were generally pretty rote. And as you would expect, we have a roundup on the site for posterity's sake, if that's something that interests you.

Many of them fell back on a variation of one line. And this is how PR training works. We heard that it's a shame to see all this politicized. That was like, that was sort of the go-to. It's a shame to see all this politicized. And I do agree with that. It certainly is a shame. Millions and millions and millions of other people agree with it as well.

If you want to move on from this, I understand. and we are almost there. But before we do that, there is one more point that needs to be made. The players who were mad about this moment being politicized are the ones who politicized at the moment. The call is coming from inside the house. Bill Guerin politicized it when he invited a politically appointed FBI director to the locker room. The players politicized it when they were so over the top excited to talk to Donald Trump that they laughed at a joke. It demeaned a bunch of women who they say they love and respect, and we believe them based on plenty of evidence. That's fine. They further politicized it when they attended not just a White House meet and greet, but the most dictionary definition political event in American life, which is the state of the union address. So if you're mad about it being politicized, you can blame them. And if they're mad at the moment being politicized, they can look in the mirror. yesterday they had to deal with some very mild repercussions of their actions while continuing to bathe in the glory of the wind and we can look at what happened to Jack Hughes in New Jersey

for all the evidence we need there he got a hero's welcome and it was deserved it was it was wild seeing jack get choked up on the mic it was a minute it was a moment it was a moment that it was well earned by his performance on the ice there um the women's team also had to deal with those repercussions as well. Did they not, Shana? Yep, they did. And I think it's, I think the whole thing is like, none of us wanted this to be political. There's always a risk when you're representing your country, especially with everything that's going on in this country right now, but also we kind of did see all this happen at four nations, right? And it just, it felt like there was a way to avoid this. And the answer isn't saying,

well, they shouldn't have accepted a call from Donald Trump in the locker room. You are a gold medal winning team, you're going, you should get a call from the president of the United States, congratulating you. You are going to be invited to the White House. You, if you choose to attend, so be it. Right. Like, it doesn't, it doesn't have to go any further than that, right? I don't expect players to jump in and fight Donald Trump on the phone about laughing at women, right? Like, I think we're kind of realistic here, but you don't have to lean into it. And then you don't have to cry that everyone's making it political and then turn around and I don't know wear a Trump hat, which the Hughes did, which Tage Thompson wore a MAGA hat. Like, that's where the lines aren't just

getting blurred. It's, it becomes black and white. You don't have to attend the State of the Union. You could just go to the White House. But you could also make the argument that this is an NHL season and everyone could also get back to business and get their heroes welcome in their respective cities after partying, which they should do. And now it feels like so much pressure, as always, is on the women to kind of clean up. up for it. And I think Hillary Knight put it so well yesterday saying, you know, the jokes are distasteful. They're unfortunate. And that, you know, it's not a woman's behavior to have to sit in front of everyone and explain someone else's behavior. And it does feel like they're being forced to do that.

And I know some of that falls on everyone for making it a conversation. But unfortunately, like, we're here. It is a conversation. So it just feels like none of this had to unfold this. way. Hopefully it is a teaching moment for one how to talk about women, how to show your respect for women publicly and privately, and also how to keep the focus where it should be, which should be on this lamentous moment for men and women's hockey in America. Russo, yesterday you spoke to the Minnesota, well, four of them, at least. There's plenty of them. That's a roster that's stacked with Olympians. For the Foss, U.S. Olympians. You talked with Taylor Hisey, Grace, Sunwinkle, Kelly Panic, Britta Curl Salami.

there's a piece on the side, of course, detailing all of that. It's absolutely worth people's time. But you've spent a lot of time with them, especially over the last few months. What did you learn yesterday about those players? Yeah, I think it's, you know, to Shane's point, I think the sad part is that this video that came out of the men's locker room sort of overshadowed, you know, their accomplishment because all of a sudden, the president. and progrudgeonly invited them to the White House with the men. They obviously, you know, the one thing I will say is that it is a hundred percent true that the women didn't take the president, you know, up on his offer, not because of the joke,

but because, remember, they left before the men. They were already essentially all over the world in North America, going back to their college and professional teams. And that is the reason why they were going. I thought what was interesting, though, is that then during the state of the union address, the president announced that the women will be coming to the White House soon. That seemed to be news to all of them. You know, they, you know, the USA hockey did put out a statement that they'd be, you know,

that they're very grateful for the invite and that after their seasons are over, they will, you know, consider it. But every single one of them didn't know what that was about. They basically, you know, kind of surmise maybe this is when the president, which is tradition, invites a lot of the USA athletes to the Olympians to the White House. Taylor Heise basically said that it'll be up to Hillary Knight and we kind of heard a little bit about what her opinion was of the joke yesterday. But the one thing that was very clear to me from talking to the four women that I talked to yesterday is that none of them really blamed the men for the, for the laughing of the joke that seemed to offend a lot of people, at least in the most vocal area that we all know to listen to, and that is social media. They, they, you know, in their minds,

you know, being caught up in the moment when the president is talking, you know, like Taylor Heise pointed out to me, you could hear Dylan Larkin and Brock Nelson on the video before he cracked the joke basically saying two for two. You can hear Matthew Kachuk after the president said that we're going to invite the women say absolutely. And in their opinion, they are going to go with the pattern that they saw from the men during the entire tournament that they were there for. And that is respect and support, hanging out together in the village, the men coming to their games and vice versa. And that they're not going to, you know, let one second of a laugh when they were in this euphoric state. Like Britta Curl said, you know, take their example.

When they were in their victorious locker room, they would have laughed at anything being said. they were so excited about winning. And so I know that a lot of people want to jump on the men for, you know, laughing at an inappropriate joke. But from the women's point of view, they believe that that these, that this men's hockey team supported them throughout and that they're going to go with essentially that belief because that was the evidence that they saw for two and a half weeks while the men were there while they were there. Yeah. And I think that's part of what's a shame about this is that, you know, to some regard, they, the men undid some of the, some of the, some of the goodwill that they built up because cash Patel was, was in the locker room.

It's the, it's the, there's one person who's not staff in the locker room, and it's the FBI director. And that's what opened the door for all of this. And, you know, they bear, you know, some, some degree of responsibility for, you know, inviting, inviting, they had a party. And then, and then, some of the guests made things. That's what happens, right? If you, if you live in an apartment and you have a house party and the cops get called, you're the one that, you're the one that bears the brunt of the, of their responsibility there.

That's just, that's just kind of the way it goes. And it's, and it's unfortunate and it's their fault. Yeah. And I, you know, look, I do think that, that, you know, the guys, you know, clearly, I don't think they had any idea that this video is going to get out. I don't know in today's day and age how they didn't think that. Obviously, somebody put it out there for the public consumption. You know, we heard, so in the post game, just to take a little everybody back, so we heard, obviously, one of the first questions to Mike Sullivan in the postgame press conference was did

President Trump call in? And he confirmed it. And so we were all trying to figure out what was said because Austin Matthews and a couple of the other players. pretty non-specific about the, understandably. Yeah, and they insinuated that their travel had changed. And, you know, we knew that they were going to Miami because that rerouting was public before that, but we didn't know what he was talking about. So clearly, we knew that something was going on that that invited them to the White House. We didn't know about the State of the Union at the time.

Then, obviously, you know, a couple hours later, I'm scrolling through Twitter, and I see the video that, um, that, um, that. that somebody very pro-Trump tweeted out. I retweeted it just to essentially air out, one, because I was talking to our editor, and Ioco about the joke, but air out exactly what happened in that locker room and this, and what President Trump said to the players and the way the cash Patel was acting. And next thing I know, it obviously, my, my Twitter account erupted with people thinking that I was trying to intentionally put out a tweet of a pro MAGA, supporter. But the reality is I just wanted people to see the video because it was our first really

inkling of exactly what was said in that locker room. Unfortunate break of the job, man. That's why they pay us the big bucks, you know, is the, is the deal with stuff like that. Okay. So, so Russo, you were in, you were in Italy for my God, it feels like six months. It was three, it was actually just three weeks. I'm wondering, and I know we've heard stories about the cafeteria post game, Jack, Jack and Quinn and Dylan Larkin and Jake Ottinger. A lot of those guys have said, you know, that they're hanging out with the women's team after,

until the middle of the night in the village. All that's very cool. I'm just wondering if there were other moments there between those players, you know, that you heard about or saw or witnessed to kind of hammer home this overall point, right, which is that there were meaningful interactions and, and meaningful relationships built between the men and the women's team.

Yeah, I mean, I think it was one, And the, you know, them coming to the majority of the women's games. I mean, there were some games that they just couldn't come to because they had played, you know, the next day or things like that. But, you know, like talking to Charlie McAvoy and seeing his totally genuine glee at a lot of these players winning gold that he knew of because his sister played with a lot of them in, you know, Bishop Selects and things like that, you know, just the fact that just the, the incredible, you definite admiration of Matthew Kachuk talking about, you know, everybody from Lela Edwards to

Caroline Harvey, you know, obviously we know that Quinn and Jack Hughes' mom is affiliated with the U.S. women's team as a, as somebody that does a lot of development consulting with them. She's on the ice. She's a liaison between John Robleski, the coach and the players. So there is a deep appreciation for this team and for them, for what the way that that they absolutely dominated this tournament and then had to win a without any adversity really in the previous games have to go out and beat a Canada team that was not just going to lay down and go away not swinging. I mean, that was as good a hockey game as I've covered.

Canada was tremendous in that game. It took every ounce of effort in a storybook ending for the United States to come back in that game and Hillary Knight to get the tie-n goal and just so fittingly, then obviously an incredible play in overtime by Megan Keller. So I think there was just a great appreciation for them. And like I said, I mean, you know, all I could say is that I talked to the women and the men throughout the tournament. And there was just constant talk about, you know, mutual respect. And obviously a lot of that went away with that one video clip of them laughing at this joke. But before the punchline, I think it is important that, again, Taylor Isey said that she heard what Dylan Larkin and Bronc.

Nelson said, what Matthew Cichuk said. And, and again, you know, I do think that we all need to because we all are perfect people and never make mistakes, especially on Twitter. You know, everybody's perfect on there. I think that we, you know, Britter Curl brought it up to me unsolicited yesterday. You have to keep the situation that they're in in mind and understand that they're in this euphoric state. They all can't believe the presence on a cell phone talking to them. And, and they just got caught up in the moment. And I think that we've all laughed at inappropriate jokes. It doesn't say, it doesn't, you know, cement our moral fiber and things like that. And, you know, I genuinely believe that these guys absolutely respected everything that these women

did throughout this tournament. Their dominant way that they absolutely rolled the competition, including Canada, in the group stage and appreciate everything they did. And it made for a perfect ending with two twin gold medals by the men and women. First time ever they've won together. Identical two-one overtime wins against Canada. And, and, you know, hopefully now this is in the past, that this doesn't overshadow what this women's team accomplished in Milan because they were just absolutely dynamite. I think, you know, the point of, like you said, Britta Carl said, like, they're in the moment. They're laughing at the joke. It's the, like, for me, I look at it and I go, okay, but afterwards, like, you don't have to lean in, especially when, like, you know,

was the women's team called in the moment and congratulated, right? Or, like, the invitation isn't this, like, genuine let's celebrate you too, that it feels like the men could have just been like, you know what, this isn't the time, go with the women at a later day. I get the excitement in the moment, but, like, when you have time to reflect on it, and that's why, you know, like Kelly Panic's comments that you reported, like, you know, they ring a little bit louder of like, you know, they don't know why they expect differently. So, obviously, the women want to get the focus back to their hockey. And I think they're, they're doing a lot

here to take the heat off the men, which shocker, right? Women, you know, they, it feels like they constantly have to take the high road. I think now, like, if they want to get the focus back to their hockey, and rightfully so, because their hockey is a very exciting product, we saw it internationally, the PWHL, the NCAA, there's so much going on here, it would be really nice now if the men can do something within the next four years to promote that, right? Like, does it feel like,

since there's so much synergy we're hearing about, right, between the men's and women's teams, like, do you think we'll see anything to show that outside of the national level sometime before the next Olympics? It's always been one of the coolest connections between the WNBA and the NBA, is that, you know,

I love seeing Hoopers wearing, you know, W jerseys. And there's always there's always interplay and interaction between men's, between men's players and women's players in that sport. It's sustained. It's something that we saw dial up during the bubble and it's something that's kind of continued there. And it's cool to see that maybe this is an opportunity for that to happen for the, for the men's side and the women's side because I would love to see continued,

you know, continued interaction and, you know, shared growth. between the respective sides of the sport. It's cool. And I hope that whatever progress was made, you know, over the last, over those three weeks, it hasn't been, hasn't been fully undone by what's gone on over the last couple days. And the women's players certainly seem to hope that as well. And we'll see what happens from there on out. So again, I definitely think that on the other subject, you know,

I don't think this takes anything away from what the women did. I definitely think that what the the aftermath of, of, you know, everybody going to the White House and, and, you know, players, you know, putting on the Trump hats and things like that. Yeah. I definitely think that that is just going to, like, look, the players might not care, but they have to also understand that we are in an unbelievably tense divided country right now. And that is just going to, that's going to. where they've where they've chosen sides in a in a pretty real way. And I could tell you from the Minnesota Wild perspective, there are fans that are pissed. And I guarantee you, I mean, there are fans that are going to cancel season tickets over this. And I know that maybe the players don't care about that.

But that's just the reality of the world that we live in. And look, I get the elation of winning gold and all that stuff. But they have to understand that they, you know, when they made the decision to go to the White House, that's fine. You know, there, there's, you know, I am. somebody that absolutely romanticizes the White House. I love going there. I love, look, you know, whenever I go to Washington, D.C., going outside the White House and just looking at there and wondering what's going on with government and things like that. But we are in a world right now. And I get the incredible excitement about being invited into a place like the Oval

office. But then when you pose for pictures and put on the MAGA hat and all that stuff, you are just going to alienate a certain portion of the population. And that's something you either care about or you don't. They can make that decision. Fans need to understand. You know, look, I go back to the Charles Barclay. I'm not a role model. You know, look, these guys have their own, just like us, just like you, just like the fans.

Everybody has their own opinions and their own beliefs and things like that. But you also have to, excuse me, excuse me, I'm a role model. I know that they're little boys and girls throughout Western Pennsylvania who have posters of me on their wall. It's a responsibility I accept wholeheartedly. And that's where things I'm sure are just going to get diminished. Like to me, it's more the men's, you know, thing, the men's side that had this incredible goodwill of winning gold. And for a certain portion of the population, that's been sort of taken away here. And it is a shame because what these guys did, um,

throughout the tournament deserves to be celebrated. I have no, you know, I don't think anybody should, you know, begrudge their, their love of country and representing the United States of America and putting that jersey on and playing for each other and beating Canada. I mean, that is all things to celebrate. But, you know, when you, in this day and age, the aftermath, you just got to understand that everything's seen from the party to, you know, going, going to a place where, look, that state of the union is a political place.

I am grateful that they didn't stick around, that they did leave and that, you know, there wasn't camera shots. Well, they were going to stand. What were they going to do? Stay in there for two hours while someone's ranting from a podium. Like, there weren't even seats for them. You played your role you were upon. Help, get out.

Yeah. There was a, there were, the level of worst case scenarios that was playing through my head as, because I had to, I had to watch that for, for work. That was, we got, that was as good as it was going to get. from a from a from from from that standpoint right like just get get get out yeah i slept through it used and and yeah i uh that's that's that's that's well that's that's well deserved after yeah well i just landed from that day yeah milan and you know and i was i was i was out like a light when i got so it just feels like it's sorry it's such like a like almost like a teaching moment too

if the players want it to be of like hey you have all this momentum for hockey here's how you can lean into it and no one's saying don't part go party. The videos of them partying in Miami is what we all want to see. We all want to be partying and enjoying this moment, right? Because there was so much momentum behind them.

But just as players don't want to be made uncomfortable and being forced to celebrate causes they don't believe in, right? Like we hear it constantly. No distractions. We cannot have these multi-million dollar adults be uncomfortable, cannot have that, right? Then don't alienate the things. fans and don't make them uncomfortable.

And it feels like it's an easy lesson. Yeah. And to your original point, like they, look, you know, they might say this isn't a political thing, but they also needed to know that they were going to a place that was 100% going to politicize it, you know, the second they walked onto the grounds of the White House, you have the, you know, assistant chief of staff, the, the press, the assistant press secretary tweeted out pictures of them, putting out videos, putting out videos, you know, like, You're being used as pawns and you're not just allowing it.

You're leaning into it. And also like the, you know, the, you know, the AI video on the White House official X account where, you know, they have, they have, you know, Brady Kachuk essentially, you know, ripping up who plays for a Canadian team who captains a Canadian team ripping on, you know, on Canada. Obviously, it's AI. But, you know, there's a reason why they're putting it out there. So anyway, like, look, I'm conflicted on this because I, again, have no issue. with any American going to the White House when you were honored. I would give anything to see what the Oval Office looks like and to, you know, I remember in 1998 when we were covering the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Stanley Cup Final,

and a bunch of us actually got to tour the White House. And this is pre-9-11, and we got to go in that area of the West Wing and see the Oval Office. And I remember being so fascinated and so honored to be there regardless of party. So I'm conflicted. I absolutely would give, like, don't begrudge these players for wanting to go there. But they had to understand that the second they're posing for pictures and putting on certain, you know, merchandise and, and, you know, all that type of stuff that they're just going to, in today's day and age, you're going to piss off a lot of people and have them think less of you. And again, they might not care.

I know that, you know, Tage Thompson obviously has certain beliefs. And I don't, again, I don't, I don't begrudge him at all. Every time I talk to Tage Thompson, he's so respectful, so nice, so good to deal with. Same thing with the chucks, the uses. But you just got to understand now that this is the repercussions of it and they're going to have to just deal with that when they get back to their markets. Yeah, you are who you hang out with. So that's ultimately what like what it comes down to. And you deal with the repercussions there.

And they did and they have. That was part of what yesterday was. And like I said, look at the response. Jack Hughes got from Devils fans. Like it's, it's, it's going to be fine for them. Absolutely. Everyone, everyone, when Quinn Hughes and Matt Boldie and Brock Faber get here, yeah, all the wild fans want to see, and this will be a good segue to get to the wild, uh, all wild fans want to see is them to get past the first round for the first time in a neon, uh, you know, and Quinn Hughes is the second he starts, you know, magically creating all

the points and, and moves that he was doing before the Olympic breaks, wild fans will fall in love with them again. That's the way it goes. You know, that's just, the way it goes. And these guys are good guys. Like, I mean, that's the one thing I'll say is like, it doesn't matter. Again, whatever party you think of, like Quinn Hughes, like Brock Faber, Matt Boldy, these guys are great guys. And, and, you know, unfortunately, there's just a certain population that are just going to, you know, sit there right now and, and think less of them. And that's, you know, that's a shame that they, that's the, that's the door they opened, you know. And they can, and they can take the adulation and, and, and all

up in all the ovations and applause that they get whenever they play in front of those home fans for the first time. It'll be great and they'll love it and they can hold that close whenever they get mildly criticized by a relatively small portion of the population. It's okay. We need to get to a break. We're going to come back with Russo. Talk some wild. Talk some NHL stick around. All right.

We're back. Sean, it's Taylor, Shane McGoleman, Mike Russo. We're talking NHL Trade Board. It's the 26th of February. as I've said successfully twice now. When is the trade deadline? March 6th. Yep, Friday.

Eight days, three p.m. I'm in Vegas. Oh, God. So you're going to be busy. Well, I've already warned people with the wild that they got to make their trades before I get to Vegas. I got things to do. You're going to be confirming deals when you're at various cigar spots. That's true.

I know. We've been there together. I know. I know how you roll. Mike, Jesper Wollstead's on that, on that trade board. Let's start with that because you are, you are the Minnesota Wild. What is the status there? Like I was, I was surprised to see him show up there now.

I would, you know, given where they are in their season, how good he's been so far. Is it how realistic it is, you know, that he gets moved in the short term and how realistic is it and he gets moved? You know, I don't. I think the only way that it could be the short term is if it was for somebody like Robert Thomas. You know, right now they need a top center. The question is, is when do you, if you are willing to trade Jesper Volstatt, do you do it now in a trade for Robert Thomas or do you do it the summer or even into next season when all of a sudden maybe a bigger name could become available? Look, the Wilde have traded a lot of assets in the last couple years, both in the David Eurocheck trade. And then obviously

the Quinn Hughes trade where you trade, Marko Ross. You trade Liam Ogren and Z. Boyam in a first round pick. So this is two years in a row now. They've traded a first round pick. So they're just sort of, you know, this team that had a ton of assets doesn't have a ton anymore. You know, unless you're trading a Dinole Uroff who looks like he's going to be a really, really good centerman for a long time in the National Hockey League,

Jasper Volstatt's the big name that I think a lot of teams would be interested in if you needed a goaltender. So I do genuinely believe at some point they're going to trade Volstatt. The question is, does it happen now? or do they decide to wait? And just because maybe this summer or maybe into next season, somebody of a bigger name, they want to go big game hunting. Like Bill Garant, you don't trade for Quinn Hughes and just be done.

So my guess is that it doesn't happen now that they use him maybe this summer if something else becomes available or even into next season. So we'll see where it goes. But, you know, he's absolutely somebody that I think the wild would consider moving. I know that scares the heck out of wild fans. But when you have Philip Gusterson signed for another five years after this, they've given themselves the ability to, you know, move a goaltender. And, and Jasper is obviously that name. Shana, you're, no, I'm sorry. I, I just wanted to get your, Shannon, your,

Shane is about to implode over there. No, no. I was going to ask. I was going to ask. She's Rob, she's Rob Thomas Superfan number one. We need to, we need to, we need to get her on this. Did I Stay up last night to write half a story on Robert Thomas. I did. Okay? Like, no, my question was more of like, you look at how the wild goaltending is going this season and, you know, heading into the Olympics. The last month of play there, Gus Simpson's numbers have really fallen off and he was shake at the Olympics. Like, does that change anything for right now?

And also, like, it kind of reminds me of the Bruins having that perfect goaltending situation. Like, if you want to be contending with Quinn Hughes, does that change? what you can do in net. Like if you don't maximize this tandem enough or does, you know, a lot of people are talking about Halavai if there is performance with Slovakia. Like, does anything change? Yeah, I'm with you. Like, I think that they should keep the both of them right now. And, um, and continue with their pretty much strict rotation. The one thing I will say about, Gus and his numbers have absolutely fallen off is that he's definitely winning games. Um, you know, they've won a lot of games and he's been a big reason for that. Um, but you're

Right. I mean, you know, now all of a sudden if you trade Wally, you are going to have to go get a goaltender in some capacity unless Mark Andre Flurry is going to come out of the woodwork and save the day as a backup. And he has been practicing every day here since they've been back. No, we can't, we can't do the Flurry retirement tour again. Yeah. And I think that really, like I genuinely believe that's the big reason why he doesn't want to consider it is because I think he'd be embarrassed by that. But to your point, I mean, then they would have to go get a goalie. I think it's more of a summer type of move. you know like if i if i had a guess i think that they're going to wind up doing something like a vincent trochec or somebody like that um you know but but we'll see i mean um you know i i just i i agree with you like they have a good thing going right now where both of them are winning games and why mess with that unless it's absolutely for a sure thing superstar and i love robert thomas too but he has been oft injured and um you know i i i and i don't think that wally is going to be the only asset in there. And again, the more assets they give up, the less it takes them out of, the more it takes them out of potential other things that could happen in the offseason

or even into next season. So my guess is that he doesn't go now, but I absolutely think that Bill Garron would consider it. I mean, Bill Garron and Chris Jerry just sat in a box day after day in Milan and watch Vince Trocheck play hockey together, right? That seems almost, that seems almost too easy. It seems like too perfect of a fit too. Like, you know, is he your. I will say, I will say he spent a lot of time with Doug Armstrong too. So there's a lot of reasons. That's very, very funny. Let's let's talk about a couple of the other centers on that list, Chana. We got we got Codry. We got, you know, Ryan O'Reilly's on there now. Pedersen's been on there. Shainwright. Is there, are there any names for you, Shana, that stick out? Yeah, I would say the Ryan O'Reilly's in the

Shane rights of the world. They're like the most interesting because Ryan O'Reilly is still a very good player and I think you just have to like sift through what's gone on in Nashville to like remember that like the passing still there the two-way impact still there and i think we see it with both him and stamcoast and this whole changing of management for nashville is just another wrinkle to it but like it's so different we see so many veterans right like he's 35 cadre's 35 so you know you can go that direction but Shane right maybe is the most interesting name on the list otherwise because this is someone that it's a reclamation project of sorts, right? Like Robert Thomas is having a down year on the score sheet.

That's not a reclamation project. That's a true top line center. Shane Wright, you know, over the last few years, hasn't been trusted to do much in Seattle and hasn't had the chance to sink or swim, but also hasn't done enough to earn the playing time. And when you don't have the most dynamic skill set, he's someone that's more of like a jack of all trades for centers. You know, it can be harder to pop in a lineup.

And it just feels like it hasn't happened, but it kind of feels on brand for the crack in. But is it something another team is going to be willing to bet on? You know, for a contender, he's very cheap. Or for an up-and-coming team, he could be the future. Like, that's one name I'm keeping an eye on. And Rousseau, is, is Ryan O'Reilly a fit for what they potentially need in Minnesota? Absolutely. Maybe even more of a fit, you know, because I think he'd come cheaper.

I think there's a lot of appreciation for him. he is somebody that can play up and down your lineup. He wins a ton of draws. You know, they love trocheque too. They have a need for right shots. You know, Charlie Coil is another one that I could see the wild. If, you know, if the price is too high for a trochequech. Maybe they go after.

I know that there is a lot of respect that Bill Guerin has for Charlie Coil. You know, he's told me that in the past, that, you know, that core that was traded years ago that he really liked, you know, by Paul Fenton, that he really liked Coil. I don't think Coil is a difference maker, though. You know, I obviously have covered him in the past. Great, great guy, great character guy, you know, is somebody that just, though, will kind of offensively always leave you wanting more where I think Trocheque has proven in the past that he could score as well as play a defensive role.

We just saw him be a lead on the penalty kill over in Milan as well. So I think a lot of teams, look, there's such a deficiency right now. in number of centers out there that I see a lot of teams going after Trocheck as sort of the number one option because I think the Robert Thomas Price is extraordinary. You know, Detroit, I can see going after him. We know that he's been in Carolina in the past. And, you know, I think he liked playing with Brindamore. We've seen reports where he'd like to stay in the Eastern Conference. So we'll see. The only thing I can tell you about Trochik is I have confirmed that the Wilder not on his no trade list. There were a lot of jokes in Milan about him joining

the wild. You know, he jokingly, uh, he's too easy. He tried to get in on the wild picture on day one. Um, I for, oh my God. I forgot. I forgot about that. So, look, I mean, you know, just put him on, put them on their house. Just make it easier.

We can, we can pencil. He should have just been sent home on the plane there. It wasn't a trade freeze. It's like, you know what? Simply. He should have just gone to, gone to Colorado with those guys. Yeah. That's why I keep on quickly looking at my phone.

You just never know. Like, you never know. Like, to me, the season has, like, the tree. trade season starts today. Like everybody's sober. Everybody's back with their teams. Yeah. You know, so now it's like, and, and also when, you know, a lot of times when there's not a lot of, a lot of one position out there or there's only a couple guys that really make the most sense, you want to get a jump on it.

And so I'm half expecting that if the wild are going to trade for a center, it's going to be in the, you know, next couple days or early next week. Interesting. Okay. You know, in pants, as we hope, because I'm in Vegas and I got things to do. Like, you're busy. You're, I'm not, I'm not going to out the Russo hotspots. So, so the Russo army doesn't show up seeking autographs and trying to, trying to blow you up at your various Vegas hans.

But I take solace and knowing that you'll be there. It's funny because I do have a lot of friends that are going on this trip. Yeah. And all of them's like, hey, you want to go to dinner on March 5th. I'm like, sorry. That's the next day. Like, if we're doing dinner, it can't include any alcohol. It needs to be extremely close to my hotel.

So I can run back there if there's news. You're going to be drinking, drinking whatever. But I will say the history is, ice disdressos at night. The history of Bill Guerrian is getting a jump on this. So, you know, I don't, you know, I do think that he's going to try this by that way. Interesting. All right. Well, we'll let you go.

So you can be prepared for whenever they trade for, you know, center X in the next in the next 45 minutes. Because I just. Center V, one might say. Center VT. Center VT. Very interesting. Thanks, brother. What a great backdrop that Chana has.

I was admiring it. When we had the full shot, I was like looking at all the games. Makes us look. It's definitely more books that I've ever read in my life. She's well, well lit lots of books, unlike me who's sitting in front of a rooster,

a very dark room. With a bunch of shades. This is why Shane is smarter than both of us. Correct. So, why anytime I need to put anything smart in one of my articles, I reach out to Shana.

Yeah, and she's in not in very specifically not me. Thanks. Thanks, brother. We'll take to you. All right. All right. All right, there goes, Rousseau. I'm Sean Jantilly back with Shana Goldman.

SG1, as I've started calling her. It's very, it's different than girl, Dom. I'll take it. No, I, boy, he is boy, Shana. Get it right. I would never, I would never besmirch you like that. We are excited. that hockey's back.

Like, this is, this is, again, something that's unfortunately been lost in the shuffles. There's 24, 25, 26 games left on most team's schedule here. We're picking one team per person per conference

that we're excited to watch down the stretch. Shana, who in the east do you get? Yeah, I'm so excited to go back to NHL competition. I love it. Digital ad boards. Two offside reviews last night.

I'm back. Okay. The ad board, disparity is just so painful. When they change the boards to the brighter colors, I was like, this is it. This is what I've been missing in my life. It's bright. It's colorful.

I am like locked in. Changing, like going to like shades of green and blue that I think are actually in your hair right now on the boards and on the boards in Milan. I'm biased. What can I say? Okay, team I'm excited about these. I'm excited about the Montreal Canadians because. They're fun.

They play an exciting style. I would love to see what Coal Field and Lane Hudson do from here because sometimes we see players fueled by spite and neither of them were on Team USA. So, you know, that adds a little bit of, you know, interest to it. The other part of it is the goaltending has been all over the place this year and we've seen them now make a change in their goalie coaching department. And I'm curious to see if that helps Dobish kind of keep more of a consistent level or if Montenbo can get his game back.

But the trade deadline now is like this fun wrinkle in it for them because they had such a strong offseason last year. They took such a measured approach to go for players in the right age range. And it feels like now they've had a lot of growth from their guys. Like Slavkovsky now isn't just some passenger to call Phil Suzuki. He is the guy who can help drive a line. So what do they need to do around this really exciting core? And do they change the strategy from the summer?

or do they keep looking for those players in that same age range to just keep it on track together? For sure. I mean, everybody loves your eye, baby. Like, that's like one of the big takeaways from the Olympics, isn't it? Frankie, Frankie Crato is just, he's going to try to adopt your eye. I don't know if that's, I don't know what the laws on that are in Canada, but he's, he's going to make it happen. Yeah, I'm pumped for them too. This is like an umbrella pick for me.

I'm going with the Washington Capitals. they're getting Pierre Luc Dubois back. That's a, well, they've gotten them back. That's a big deal for them and was a big reason why they've been so uneven throughout various points of the season. But I'm picking them as like an avatar for that middle of the metropolitan division in general, because that is a Mosh Pits. It's going to get really interesting down the stretch.

I don't know how good any of those teams are behind Carolina. I don't know if any of them are good, period. We're going to see Pittsburgh without Sidney Crosby. We're going to see the Islanders try to keep things going. We're going to see the Columbus Blue Jackets, you know, who've won seven in a row now. Those are a bunch of teams that are all currently within five points of each other with varying degrees of injury issues and overall inconsistency and whatever else. Not just for the wild card, but for the two spot in the three spot in the Metro Division. It's going to be really interesting down the stretch to see who comes out of that because I, because,

two teams are going to have to make it, but behind Carolina. And I don't know who it's going to be. You got Pittsburgh, you got the Islanders, you got the caps, you got the Blue Jackets. I think we can write off the flyers. But those four teams, you know, fighting it out and turn in the next 24 games into a rock fight or whatever it is, is going to be very, very interesting. And I think the capitals for that for me are the face of all that. I like that pick. I like that pick a lot because, like they also have a good track record of buying talent over.

the last year too, right? And knowing here's how to maximize it within their lineup. Spencer Carver is a great coach. So it just adds another element to it. Maybe they should trade for Ryan O'Reilly. Maybe. Do you think of that? I don't hate it.

Western Conference team, please. The Edmonton Oilers, they're never boring. I mean, come on. Here's the thing. I would love to say, I am so excited about the Utah Mammoth because I am in their product, like their playing style is great. And Logan Cool is going to be back. And that's great.

And they're in the playoff race. But the Edmonton Oilers, no matter what I do, just always pull me back in. I can't, I didn't, you know, like last night I was trying to write during the late games and they're playing the ducks and everything's fine and then they blow the game because, oh, look, Tristan Jari has another bad game and it's like a reminder of why Connor McDavid only signed for two years there because you need to know the direction of your team is sound and you don't know that in Edmonton, multiple GMs and you don't know that.

And, you know, their current one doesn't have a great track record for team building and making these savvy depth moves. That's why we're focusing on the Mangyipani contract and the Trent Frederick deal. They shouldn't matter. But when you're so up against the cap and then you take on more and commit the rest of Connor McDavid's tenure to Trish and Jarry, it's like, okay, here we go. Like the nurse mistakes last night, the goaltending mistakes last night, you're like, can they keep outscoring their problems? What are they going to do here? they're the textbook definition of like the penny jar right like you're or the the dollar the dollar jar put some change in there like over the course over the course of time like it's going to add up and eventually count for something it's that way for them except with overpaying for depth players by a little bit it's like you give someone you overpay someone by a million or 500,000 or a million and a half or whiff on you know like trade for tris and jari you know and you know and you And, you know, yes, you know, whatever.

That hit is what it is. But, you know, all of a sudden you don't have money to spend when you need it most. Oh, boy. And then, of course, we got Connor McDavid getting annoyed by questions and then losing games based on poor goaltending and bad play by darnedle nurse. Same as it ever was. It's incredible. I think I'm saying Vegas. Okay.

I'm watching them down the stretch to see just how far up in the echelon of cup contenders they deserve to go because they have been a pretty wildly inconsistent. This goes back to last year too. We don't know what we're getting them in a given, you know, six game, eight game, ten game stretch. And I think, you know, we have seen Marner find a space in that lineup certainly over the last month or six weeks ahead. I had, what's that? At center, too. Like, very impressive. I love it.

I love it. And I, and I, I, but also there's still work to be done. I think we need to see if Tamash Hurtle can turn some of the way he played into the Olympics into NHL momentum. That's going to be very interesting. Vegas is a team that I want to like more. And that's been true of them, I think, for a couple seasons now. And I will, there were 50, 58 games left. So they got 24 games ago.

I'm very, very interested to see what they look like head. it into the playoffs because again, this is a team that, you know, is streaky in both directions. And who knows what happens when, when April rolls around, right? Yeah. And it feels like for as much as they've addressed any weakness they have, they're like, we're going to buy and fix it, the center position, you know, replenishing their winger depth, fixing the blue line this year. They already added Rasp's Anderson.

They have done, I think, a pretty poor job in net for the most part. And you look at it this year of this situation, you look at the goalies that have been moved, in favor of others. Like, you know, having Aiden Hill as a number one, like, they're not a team that needs elite goaltending, but you can see just how much they've crumbled when the goaltending has been so below average. So it just like adds another wrinkle for them. Like, how good, how strong of a team can you build in front of the blue paint that you don't

need that? Logan Thompson, gently waving from Washington saying, hello. I remember he even said, how good of a goalie is he outside of the Vegas system? I think we found out. Pretty good. I think Vegas wouldn't mind having him around at the moment. No, that, so you know what? Let's get, let's get, let's get Caps Vegas in the Cup final.

My, my two teams. Let's do it. Bring it back. Bring it back. That's a nice rematch. Run it back. Put it down. We're calling it now.

Shane is on board with that too. Sheena Goldman. That is not my team. No, no, no, no, no. Cup picks. Caps. Caps in Vegas. Shane Goldman. I love to pick a team outside of playoff.

picture to make the Stanley Cup final on February 26. Book it everyone. I mean, listen, it could happen. If you listen to Tage Thompson, it's not going to be the Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup final because they are not going to the White House. We're going to leave that. We're going to leave that for someone else. How about that? Thank you, Shannon, for the time, always. And thank you, Russo, wherever you are. You might be in Vegas as we speak. Prospect series returns tomorrow with a new episode. Haley and I are back next Thursday. Until then, enjoy the 12 game nights. It's back, baby.

Thursdays, we love it. Have a good one.