The Athletic Hockey Show - Why each team left standing could win the Stanley Cup

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

Florida, Dallas, Edmonton and Carolina are the final four teams remaining in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. Hailey and Sean take a deep dive into why each of the four teams left standing could realistically win the Stanley Cup this season.Hosts: Hailey Salvian and Sean GentilleExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Jeff Domet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. What's up, everybody? It's Haley Salvean and Sean Gentilly here with you for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show. The Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 in game one of the Western Conference final on Wednesday night. Game two of the Eastern Final goes tonight between Florida and Carolina. The Panthers have a 1-0 series lead. And I guess it's a bit out of the ordinary to be doing this two games or one game. Meach into the conference final. But today, Sean and I are going to dive into why each team left standing could realistically

win the Stanley Cup. But first, let's bring in Sean. He is in Raleigh. He's back in Raleigh. He's on his 80th Marriott Night of the Year. Titanium platinum status. What's the update? Where are we at?

65 credited nights on my Marriott Bonvoy account in the calendar year of 2025. Thank you very much. I am, yeah, 10 more nights away from achieving titanium status for this year, or as I call it, the full Russo. It's the Michael Russo situation where they have, you know, a full buffet waiting for you. When you walk in, you get to hang out in areas typically reserved for foreign dignitaries. Oftentimes, he's also allowed to fly the plane into whatever city it might be, thanks to his airline.

Yeah, only on Delta. 10 more days. No, no, no. It's not just Delta. Seriously? He seems like someone who would only fly one airline. I think he's... He's Star Alliance guy too?

Listen. Michael Russo is not an old man, but he's been doing this job since he's been writing hockey since he was 16 or something. He's been an NHL beat writer since he was 20. So, you know, do this for 25, 30, however many years it is, you're going to, you're going to be able to spread the wealth and maybe get lifetime status on a couple different airlines.

I just thought he'd be a purist. Like he only goes to Starbucks. He only stays at Marriott's and he only flies Delta. All true. I think he's, I think he's almost, he's almost, he's certainly Delta 99% of the time because they have a hub in Minneapolis. So, so I think maybe, I think maybe a status with with American or whatever is from a different life. That might be from his, that might be from his South Florida days. But yeah, he's got,

he's got all his little, all his little jingled jangled charms and his, in the, in the special cards that they give you for all this stuff. Displayed, probably. Maybe,

maybe someday. I hope I, I hope I never get to that point. I just want to be able to bankroll a nice vacation based on the last month, that's all. Right. Yeah. I hit like the status on Air Canada one time in my life so far to get in the lounges and stuff.

And I've never felt more cool, but also showing up to an airport lounge and like sweatpants and a hoodie. And people are actually there. Business clothes and stuff. I'm just, I'm just good to have Lay checkout. That's it. That's all I need. Yeah. Well, you're fine with that on gold.

Mm-hmm. Okay. So let's get to our kind of theme or plan for the day. As mentioned, we are doing this little exercise after each team has played once already. Game one of the conference finals are over. We do have some updated odds from our friend, Dom Lus Chishin. The Florida Panthers after their win. Our colleague, Dom Lus Chishin, you're right.

We're not really friends. Acquaintance. The Florida Panthers are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup with 38% odds. The Dallas Stars are second with 28, followed by Edmonton at 19 and Carolina. way at the bottom, 15% odds after losing game one, their 13th straight loss in this round since 2009. But they play the games for a reason, though, and we've decided to ignore Dom completely and discuss why each team could win the cup.

We do have, like, one game under our belt. We can reference that. We're cheating a little bit, but it's fine. We make the rules. It's our show. This isn't the Dom show, folks. Well, Dom did write a big story about why the Cains would win the Cup, and then now they're only have a 15% chance at winning the cup.

So which one is it, Dom? Let's bring them in now. It's not Dom as the model. Yes, and here he is. All right. Let's start with the Dallas Stars because they win last night, 6-3 over the Edmonton Oilers, five goals in the third period to get the win. They just kind of came in waves in ways that Edmonton could not,

Stuart Skinner, not great in game one. But, like, that's fine. and we're used to that. I'm not worried yet. About the Oilers? Is that you're saying? Yeah, I'm not worried about Stuart Skinner. That's fine. Like, oh, he biffed it in game one, whatever. But when we're talking about Dallas, Sean, why do you think the stars can win the Stanley Cup?

This is coming from Stars HQ here. So that's why we're starting with Dallas. I think the fact that they're playing Stuart Skinner in the Western Conference finals is a big part of it. that helps look man the volatility that we've seen from Stewart Skinner not just not just this year not just this post season last

like whatever you this it's a feature not a bug with him I saw a stat this morning that was so incredible that I had to I had to go and back check it because it sounded fake in these playoffs Stuart Skinner has had either a save

percentage of 833 or less or a shutout. What? Yeah, yeah. He's had, which is, it's true. He's got, he's got two shutouts and four and four duds. Oh my gosh. And I don't, I don't like that ratio.

I don't, as a baseline. And there's other things to talk about Dallas, obviously, and there's other things to talk about with Edmonton. But that's like the overriding factor for me at this point. I don't trust him. And I think last night, some of the stuff he was doing in the third period is like, example A, underline it in Sharpie. Like, here it is.

Here's what my issue is with them. So I think that's, I think that's a big part of it. Yeah, an 815, say percentage last night for Stuart Skinner. And that's kind of like the tongue and cheek joke, though, about the Oilers with him is like he's, like, that's kind of the book on him. like he kind of stinks it up and then he figures it out and ends up being unbelievable. But that's like not a good way to start every series.

Right. And maybe in. And now they're playing a Dallas team that is like really clicking on all cylinders. I think for me, the reason to pick the Dallas stars to win the Stanley Cup is, I mean, they got here, made quick work of Vegas.

You know, largely without like Mero Haskinen's played four games. the postseason. Jason Robertson's played seven. He clearly, he's been fine. He doesn't look great. So this is a Dallas Stars team that's doing this without their full power. And I think that's what makes them even more impressive.

Nobody has more goals or points than Miko Ranton in the postseason. You've got Tyler Sag and he's got four goals. Rope Hintz has five. Grandland has five. Like there is star power and depth. Um, and like I said, at the top, I think the stars, especially in the third period last night, they can just kind of come in waves in a way that Edmonton could not last night. And I think part of that is Stuart Skinner couldn't stop the bleeding. Um, like he couldn't make the stop to kill the star's momentum. And Jake Ottinger was able to shut the door and keep Edmonton at three. Yeah, they looked cooked for the first two periods of that game too. Like that, like that, like, yeah.

That was not a good performance by them, but then they turned on the jets. And in the way that they did it too, and this is not an original thought. This is something Daniel Nujit Bowman and Mark Lazarus discussed postgame, but it's completely true. The way they got to that level in the third period was just they were doing things that they haven't been particularly good at. at various points throughout this postseason. Like the power play struggled goes three for four last night, right? That was, they were awful. The power play was terrible last season in the last playoff round in the Western

Commerce finals last year against Edmonton. That's a huge part of why they lost in the first place. They got outscored 17, 14, and six games and go, 0 for 14 on the power play like that's easy math right the power play struggle well that well now last night it's clicking right and it had been it had been good good for a decent chunk of the postseason as well getting goals from matt duchin and tyler saying and and and guys like that who hadn't those guys in particular hadn't been all that productive either so it seems like for all the star power that they have for his great

as Miko Rinton was in the first two rounds, it seems like other guys are in the battle now, right? Whether it's Sagan, whether it's Duchenne, whether it's Hayskin and looking more like himself, whether it's Robertson giving them something more as he gets more and more healthy. It seems like they had, like, Miko Rintan and put them on his back

for a couple weeks in bottom time, and now the stars are looking more and more, you know, like a fully operational death star. And I think that's what we saw in the last couple minutes last time. Yeah, and that's where doing this after game one comes in handy. Because I think if we were doing this four days ago, we might not be saying they've got the mix of star power in depth. Because like they did look as top heavy as the Edmonton Oilers, but without Connor McDavid and Leon Dreis, Idle as great as Miko Ranan is.

He's not... The move that McDavid made early in that game around Miko Ranton, Jake Onger made the save, but he was in a Western Conference final McDavid form. Like, he's flying and so is dry-sidal. But the fact that they got a goal from Matthew Shane last night, he had 30 in the regular season, zero in the postseason to that point. Sagan was on an eight-game goalist streak. So to get goals from those guys gives us the chance to now say,

yeah, they've got Star Power in depth, in the Western Conference Final, at least that we've seen on Wednesday night. I'll see you mentioned Hayskinen first. How much do you think you played last night? Don't want. Yes. 25 minutes. Pretty close.

2412. I'm good at defense workload stuff now, apparently. He's gone from 1452 in his first game back, 1833 in the next game. him 2340 in the clincher against Winnipeg and then he was at 2412 last night so at this rate he'll be you know they make the cup final he'll be up to 31 or 35 minutes by like yeah by the end of that he's a he's a horse I mean that that goal he scored last night too or the the shot the shot he put on net yeah in in the third period that was that was the kind of shot that was the kind of slick you know like he knew exactly what he was doing it was just

his pinpoint accuracy, like up up to the corner. That's the kind of stuff that he's done for the last few years where you're like, this dude's going to win a Norris at some point. I don't know when. Like, at some point, he's going to have the big offensive season with all the points necessary and he's going to be Miro Haskin. And in every other aspect of his game, he's also going to have, you know, like everything's going to come together from a point production standpoint

and whatever to actually get him the award. He's a beast. And he, and that's not, that might be a, Ultimately, man, that might be my biggest reason to believe in the stars is that Hayskinin is back and, you know, skating 25 minutes a night and doing some of the stuff we saw last night. Yeah, I think we talked about this on the show before, but I think I've picked the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup like the last three years in a row. And this is the first year I didn't. And it was because we didn't know when Mero Hayskinin was going to be available. I just didn't know if they'd be able to get by Colorado without Haskinen and,

Jason Robertson. Jason Robertson. Yeah. It's a tough. And they've done it. And so that's kind of like, okay, like maybe this is the year they do it because they're showing the ability to get it done without those guys in a way that they, if you go into the playoffs last year without Mirah Haskinen, the Dallas stars aren't making it out of the

first round. And but they're showing that they can do that in a different way this year. And then obviously you get Miko ran in and things are great. So we're, I guess I won't speak for Sean. But go stars. Back on the Stars wagon over here because everyone I picked to go in the cup finals out. I'm allowed to re-pick who's going to win. That's how it works.

Let's stay in the West. Let's go to the Edmonton Oilers because we did just discuss Stuart Skinner and his problems in the postseason. Problems or just like being a brick wall. There's really two different versions of Stewart's. Well, isn't that, isn't he, isn't he one of the reasons why they can win the Stanley Cup as well? If Stuart Skinner goes on a heater, no one can beat him, then look out. You stole my bit. Stuart Skinner is also a reason to believe that the Edmonton Oilers can win the Stanley Cup.

Because like, he had a really long shotout streak coming into this game last night. Sure, he fell apart in the third period. But like, I don't know, you get good Stuart Skinner for three or four games a series. and you let you let the other guys take you there. You let the big boys take you the rest of the way. I think that's, I think that's a viable way to win to win, to win, to win,

to win playoff series. Yeah. That's, they've made it to the Eastern Conference final doing that. Let's not stop, or Western Conference final. It's not stop now. Is there a more,

is there any, is there a more creative reason for the Oilers to win the cup other than McDavid and Drysidal? I saw they, uh, did the, their signature, like, look over at each other on the bench that scares everyone now every time there's a moment where they're down really bad and they just kind of look at each other and pat each

other on the leg. It's like, oh, God, they're going to score six goals and game two. I still think, you know, I still think the fact that in last night's maybe not the best example, but they are getting big contributions from Connor Brown and Cory Perry again and Hyman. Hyman's, Hyman looked more like himself and Evander Kane. Like, these are guys who, to varying degrees over the course of the regular season just, like, weren't getting it done. And there were a reason to worry about them coming in the playoffs. So even though it can show up in game one, the story that one is Dallas's depth. I think the fact that Edmonton, you know, still has the contributors necessary to kind of bail,

to maybe bail them out when need be. I think that's still a big reason to believe in them. Yeah, I guess I just still feel like if the Oilers are going to win the Stanley Cup, it's not going to be because of like Connor Brown. No. And I know that's not what you're saying. Like, I just have a hard time coming up with anything more creative than if they win the cup. It's because they have McDavid and dry.

I think that's okay. I think the way the rest of the Rosser was playing for most of the season to me was disqualifying. Like we like, I mean, yeah, that's why I had my crash out. about the oilers. Yeah, dry sidles, dry style is incredible and Mick David's incredible. And Evan Bouchard, you know, he's, he's

like Dom wrote a couple weeks ago, that guy's going to make $11 million or whatever and people are going to lose their mind over it. But like, he's, he's a playoff performer. You know, he steps up. Beyond those guys, though, my God,

we just watched, we watched everyone else wounder and struggle and sync for six months worth a regular season games. There's a reason people are going to know. I understand. Like I agree with what you're saying. I'm just saying they're like if I'm picking the oilers, it's because McDavid and Dryside are.

Me too. I agree. Like, those guys. I don't, I'm not good at like play by, this is why I write and do panels. I'm not a play by play person.

So I'm not good at like describing a move that happened. But like, truly the McDavid, you know, breakout deke around Miko Ranton in game one, early in the game was like if he scored that, it would have been everywhere. I mean, he didn't score and it's still everywhere. Like, he's just dangling around people.

He's got so much speed, the hands. Like, it's just, you see stuff like that. And it's like, oh, my God, are we going to a Panthers, Panthers Oilers final again? And if they're going to get there, I do think it'll be because McDavid and Drysiddle drove the bus. And yeah, they get some contributions from guys down the lineup. But like this is the David show and the postseason again. He came out there last night in seventh year.

You know, like like he's there's he's good for he's good for a couple wins per series based on that alone. Yeah. And we're, you know, nobody has more points in meiko ran in. But, you know, guess who's tied second? It's McDavid and Drysidal with 19. points in the postseason. So those guys are cooking. It's always going to be the reason to believe in the oilers.

They are built that way for a reason. And they do it. I think that, like, I don't want to do the like, what does this mean? How does this relate to the Leafs? But like I did see some stuff online of, well, I saw a lot of stuff online of people like bemoaning. Like the Leafs are built in a way for Matthews and Marner, Neelander to, to win them.

playoff series. And like, there's another Canadian team who's built that way. Like, they're doing it. Like, the oilers are built

for McDavid and Drysidal to, to win them playoff series. I think McDavid and Drysiddle are the better players. Yeah. We line them all up.

The Toronto Maple Leafs didn't invent expecting your best players to, to carry you to. All I am saying is, like, these guys,

they go out and they do it. I'm not saying the Leafs invented that. I mean, they don't, though. The oilers. That's the thing. They're doing it right now.

They don't do it. They haven't done it. We made the top final last year. And they lost. I said win playoff series, not Stanley Cup. I mean, that's like, that's the big variable with,

with those guys. Every, like, like we love, we love McDavid. We love dry sidle. I always, I always argue with Dom over this.

Like, everyone acts like they can just decide to win. And they can't. That's not, that's not what I'm saying. If they could, if they could, they've won them playoff series.

I know. and they've done that. So anything else about the Oilers? No, I just, I've just, I thought jealous watched the game last night. That was fun. It was entertaining. That was a great, that was a great, that was a great, that was a great third period. Credit to, credit to Laz and D&B and Pierre.

We're going to watch that one in person. Why, you don't think that Keynes Panthers was fun? I think it's, I think it's probably less fun than what I, what I, what I watch. in the third period last night, yes. That's all right. Let's take a break and we'll get to that series next. If you're super intrigued and excited to talk about the Canes and Panthers. After that stunning endorsement, we'll take a break.

We'll right back on the Athletic Hockey Show. All right, welcome back to the Athletic Hockey Show. I guess a better question in discussing the Carolina Hurricanes here, Sean, is not so much. Why will they win the Stanley Cup? But knowing that they lost game one, their 13th straight, Eastern Conference final loss, their ninth straight since Rod Brindamore took over as coach, why will this time be different? Math, I guess. All these, that the chances are going to start going in.

That's why they think they can win the series. So I'm content to just defer to their logic there, because it is true. That was kind of my thought, too, is like, as much as I want to say, like, what I wrote down in my prep sheet for why the Canes could win the cup is just like Kane's hockey question mark,

even though it hasn't worked to this point. Also, why they might lose, yes. Right. Like, this is the Stewart Skinner. The Keynes are going to lose because they're just going to get,

shoot from beyond the dots to oblivion, and the panders are going to get 10 high danger scoring chances and score on five of them. But then the reason that they'll win is, because they're going to outchance the Panthers and eventually score more goals than them. It's, I don't know. Yeah, and I think some of the stuff that they did in game one

was uncharacteristic of them. I think you have Sebastian Ajo taking our tallyatory penalty on kind of a soft call and then four to scores. And that's it. They're up, they're up 1-0. Carolina is stuck chasing it for the rest of the, for the rest of the game. I don't think something like that is all that likely to happen again.

That's a pretty disciplined team. That's a really good penalty kill. I don't think that particular thing is likely to come back and come back and bite them again. They give up two power play goals. Is that going to happen again? It could. Florida is awesome, but I don't think it's,

I don't think it's particularly likely. and you know I hate to sound like Rod Brandenmore here but it's like they had a bunch of chances they had some really good ones it's just a matter of capitalizing on them now we've seen them we've observed this this is observed reality from the Carolina hurricanes

over the last few years it's like they get chances and they can't bury them consistently enough and then they lose in the playoffs that's what happens right so to see it born out in the in the in the in the in the in the first game of the series is is it shouldn't be all that it shouldn't be all that confidence inducing for canes fans but it's in the day they're they are going to get chances they are going to they're they're going to get a ton of shot attempts a ton of chances a ton of high danger

chances and blah blah and you just hope that you know if it if you're them that they that they start going in at a more reasonable rate that's why they think they can win. So I'll fall back on that. Yeah, I think at the end of the day, the canes are still a really deep team. They don't have a ton of holes in their lineup, right? Especially on their back end. You just had a Jacob's Slaven piece come out. Like if we wanted to, I don't think you win a playoff series just because of one defender. But if you want to find reasons to think that they're going to get by, the Panthers more than just they play Keynes hockey. Like Jacob, Slavin is a great one. Like, he's legitimately one of the best defenders, if not the best defensive defender in the NHL. And he's going to probably eat matchup minutes against.

This is the problem with the Florida Panthers is who do you try to deploy him up against, right? Like if you line match Slavin with Barkov, well, then who's getting your second or third deep hair. But that's where the cane's depth comes into play. Like, you can feel comfortable with. Brent Burns or whoever against some of these Panthers guys. But I think Slavin's one that you can highlight if you're looking for more than just Cain's hockey is good.

Jacob Slavins a great one. I mean, Freddie Anderson was, he was great against the caps. And there's reason to think that he could, if he can find that again, then maybe the Cains can have some success in this series. Obviously,

the Capitals and the Panthers are. Two very different teams, though. And we have game one as an example of Freddie Anderson not looking great against the Florida Panthers. So maybe that's not a great one. I just think, you know, the, the Cains play tough style. They control pucks. They control possession better than any team. Like, you know, their odds aren't great and the Panthers are really good.

But I don't feel as doom and gloom about the Carolina hurricanes right now. Maybe that's going to, maybe that's crazy. They have Andre Svetnikov at the top of the lineup playing really well. He's got eight goals and 11 playoff games. He doesn't score against Florida, but a three game goal streak ahead of that. Like, we talk about Carolina is not having the horse at the top of the lineup. True. I said they're a very deep team with very few holes.

Svetsnikov is producing like, a high-end piece. He's producing like eight goals in 11 playoff games. Like that is, that's high-end stuff. So if he, you know, keeps that up and keeps being,

you know, the eraser for them at the top or the, the X factor, the guy who you can be like, all right, go out and score a goal. If he's, if he's capable of doing that a couple times,

that's something that they've missed. That's something, and that's something that they've chased. And that's something that they acquired. And then we're maybe forced a, straight away and kind of in in miko and miko ranton but as sphnecob can be that dude at the top of the lineup at the top of the forward lineup and you can see it you can you can see the vision in all that in all that confidence that they showed after losing their fifth straight game to

florida in the eastern conference finals in their 13th straight in the eastern in the eastern conference finals overall all that confidence that they showed makes it it'll it'll be a lot a lot easier get to hold up. Yeah, it's a tough, this is the one where it's a tough chat knowing that they lost game one, because we really are trying to figure out, like, why is it going to be different? Because a lot of these things were true last year or the last time they lost the Panthers. The last time they got swept in the Eastern Conference final. Also, I said you could put Brent Burns up against the second line.

He's on the pair with Jacob Slavin. Yeah. It'd be Dimitri Orlov and Sean Walker. Yeah, that's. But like one through, one through five, their blue line solid. I don't know if Scott Morrow played in his first game. Game one, yeah? Probably in the game again.

He's in one through five, not one through six, because he's a younger guy, we'll see, right? I was, uh, I had a really nice chat with Scott Morrow about, about Jacob Slavin. He was like just a really, a really thoughtful, like engaging, engaging dude. And he was like, just, you know,

nice, nice, Nice conversation. Rough night. He was in there for Jalen Chaffield. And this is not a reason that Caroline is going to win, going to win this series. It's just a bit, it's just a fact. It's a bit of news.

Like Jalen Chaffield. I think, Brendan, we'll see, I'll be at Mornings Gate in a little bit here. Brindamor sounded a little bit more optimistic about him yesterday than he did the day before, day to day. upper body injury. He's going to need to get clear medically. He's going to need to convince the coaching staff that he's,

you know, capable of doing it. And that's a, that's a big loss, man. He's a, he's a top four offenseman. He typically plays with or,

he typically plays with Orlov. All the pairs, and they, and they don't, they don't mess with their pairs all that much either, right? Like these are guys, they're pretty set in stone over the course of the regular season. So that stuff's out of whack now.

That, that did not help them in game one. great um but yeah i like their their d one through five um and like their core to your point sean svetnikov aaho even set jarvis taylor hall had a really good game against the caps there's there's reasons for optimism with with the carolina hurricanes it's just a little tough to maybe have that conversation after again the 13th straight loss and after the fact that they lost yeah the fact is they lost the way that they lost yeah so we'll see in game two that game is that another eight o'clock puck drop for you or are they at seven they all are

they're all right prime time maybe how was eight p.m. prime time i don't know ask ask tn't you decided that talk to wasinski it's probably his fault i've played him so yeah that's fair um all right last but not least because they've got the best odds we kind of buried the lead here i guess but why do you think the florida panthers are going to win the stanley cup up again. The Florida Panthers. I think what we saw in game one, particularly against, against Carolina, this is like kind of an exist now.

I mean, me and Mackin, who talked about this a little bit is like Florida has got levels after levels after levels where it's like they dial it up. And yeah, that maybe that's the problem with Carolina. You know, Brenda Moore talks consistently. Like there's one way to play, you know, you play the same, whether it's October, January, or May, always play your hardest. They don't have a dial.

I think we just see the best of the Carolina. That's the concern is that you see the best of the Carolina hurricanes for six months during the regular season. In the Panthers, meanwhile, hanging out, especially now, defending champs their schedule was tough so they were sort of treading water for a little bit they were getting healthy blah blah like they were i think i think they might have dummied some people yeah we literally all picked tampa to win the first round sucker sucker stuff man we're fools i blame um producer chris flannery for making us do cut picks under duress

that was that was that was that was chris's fault then he then he made the he made the he made the graphic and I tweeted out. I didn't. I didn't. I was like, these were terrible. I don't know. I'm smart enough to know that I don't know what I'm talking about. So if I make predictions on stuff like that, I'm going to keep it as far under a hat as I possibly give. You know, that's what I picked is none of your business. Yeah. Forget. Forget that it's being published on a, on a very well-read website.

Leave me alone. Yeah. Don't ask. None of your business. Sergey Bobrovsky is another big reason too. Sorry, Sean, do you want to finish your point? I cut you off with our terrible predictions. No, I was zoned out. I think about how I picked the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup in that same poll.

Yeah, I had Vegas, Tampa. I had Vegas Tampa Cup. Aiden Hill. You let me down, buddy. Two games in against the wild. I was like, oh, no. This guy's, this guy doesn't have it. This guy stinks.

This isn't Aiden Hill from two years ago. Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. One of the kind of, I guess, fun things about being more full-time on the women's hockey beat this year is that I can, I still cover the NHL and you don't become a fan. But I can watch playoff games a little bit more now and be like, oh, go stars. I don't feel bad because I'm not covering the series. I can freak out about the Edmonton Oilers.

No overtime mode. That's that we're getting, we're getting one in the series, by the way. I was saying it, I was saying in game one. Panthers, like it's three. Absolutely.

It's, we need to just resign ourselves to it happening at some point. Yeah. So the, I see a lot of the canes in the Ottawa charge a little bit in the sense that they're a team that just has like a, bunch of very good players.

And Svetikov, Aho, like, those players and other teams are probably stars because they're just able to, like, go out and, you know, play offense. Yeah, sure. I think Ajo probably committed to the defensive side of the puck and gave up some of the offensive superstar power that he could have had. And, like, that's fine. That's what makes the Canes work. da-da-da-da.

But, like, the Ottawa charge, they don't have a ton of superstars. They have, like, a strong. team, they do a good job at identifying talent from other teams that like, oh, if we get them in our system, they'll probably play really well. And that's worked out well for them in the first, you know, two seasons of the PWHL's existence. But oh my God, they go to overtime all the time. Like, they had a four OT game against Montreal in the first round. In game one, they went to OT against Minnesota. And they go to OT in that first game. I'm here in Ottawa, by the way, for the finals. And I was like, please God, I don't want this to go to multi.

I just had that feeling of this is going to go to like four overtimes tonight. And Emily Clark scores within three minutes. And she even said after, I guess in the room, they were all like, let's, let's try to make this a quick one. Okay? We don't want to be here eating mustard packets and pickle juice yet again until 1145 p.m. Anyways, we're talking about the Florida Panthers. I think Sergey Bobrovsky is a big reason to believe in the Panthers for the Cup, or at the very least, just against this Carolina team, right?

Mike Russo had a great story to you and Mike on this series, if people haven't figured that out yet. But he wrote about how big game Bob is back. And he was dominant in game one. Oh, yeah. Like if you're the Keynes and you're happy about your shot share and all the attempts you have on net. Like you're, one of them's got to get past Sergey Bobrovsky eventually, right?

No, not really. He stopped 31 shots and that 5-2 win. In the money puck deserved to win, O'Meater, Rousseau had this in his story. The Keynes had a 70.9% chance of winning that game based on, like, how they were tilting the ice. And it was just, it was Bobrovsky. like I mean, I feel like those deserve to win oh meters are kind of like they don't work.

And especially in a series like that. But I do think that was so I think that was reason of being a little stinker putting that in his, putting that in his story too. I think he was being, being a smarty pants on that one. I appreciate. I hate the deserved a one meter. I hate it. Sure. So they had, but the shot advantage was 78.

to 46 and Bobrovsky had a 1.73 goals above expected. So like a deserved to win a meter thing. Like that's really just showing like how much like many more chances the Keynes had. And when teams play like that, they win 70% of the time after a thousand simulations, whatever. So, you know, I think obviously it's a credit to the Panthers for scoring five. And Freddie Anderson wasn't great. But Bobowski was very, very good in game one.

and he was great in the playoffs last year all the way to winning the Cup. So I think if you're looking for for reasons to think Florida's going to win, other than the fact that it's the Florida Panthers and they're running back a team that won last year with Brad Marchon. It's Bob. Probably another interesting Russo's story on Bob Rossi coming up too. I'm not going to, I'm not going to spoil it. But the media area in Carolina is right by the Panthers wait room.

So that was in that in that yeah I heard chuck was being a bit of a rat over there. Oh God. I wasn't even bringing that up. Yeah. Yeah. Putting Matthew Kachuk with a medicine ball by a microphone turns out maybe nothing. I don't say rat in a derogatory manner by the way. But but yeah, Bob's uh, let's just, it's lifting related with Bob.

And I think it could be, I think it could be pretty interesting. That's going to come from Rousseau at some point over the next couple of days. Another reason for... Does he lift really lightweights or something? Like, does he, is he doing like, I'm not going to spoil this on air? Is he a Pilates princess? I, I will... Is he doing serve the platters with like five pounds? You were going to have... Please tell me, please tell me. I will tell you, fair. I, we were, we were not going to discuss this on, because I think there's a pretty, it's a pretty

funny reveal on this. I think he's a Pilates princess. Just gonna have to wait and find out. on the athletic.com. Anyway, my big reason. Cardiver Hagey scored last game. It's just like a reminder of the weapons that they have and the way that they got it done last year. Carter Hagee coming off kind of an uneven, unlucky regular season. Shooting percentage was way down. Production was way down. It looked a little bit more like himself in the postseason, right?

Five goals, five assists in 13 playoff. games. Really important player, but also just a reminder of the guys that they have that are capable of getting it done. And him in particular, man, he's just a, he's a playoff performer. Scores a, scores a big one in that in that first game. Having guys like that around is, is the reason the Panthers are at the top of the list. Top of the list, um, the highest odds to win the Stanley Cup according to Dom's model. What was at 38%? Um, after winning game one. So could it be the Panthers again? I think Panther Stars Cup final could be kind of fun.

Yeah, it'd be really fun. I hope, like, whatever. If that's what, if that's what we get, I hope it lives up to the expectations. I think people are, especially after the way the games won went, you know, it's impossible not to look at it and start thinking about

what those two teams are going to look like against each other and how they're going to match up. So if we get it, I hope it delivers. Just jump back on the Stars bandwagon. I never, I never should have left. I never left.

I never left in my heart. Yeah, I did. Sure you did. No, I didn't. No, I didn't. As per the predictions filed to the Redditakki Show Slack channel and published by Chris Flannery, everybody. Yeah. You jumped off the bandwagon.

I didn't. I was still a star's fan at heart. I just felt worried for them with the way he's skin in. which is normal anyways, it's fine. I'm back on the wagon. I've been sat there for a while. Let's take a break when we come back. I am in Ottawa for the PWHL final

so we can do a quick PWHL air fryer segment. The long-awaited return. We'll be right back on the athletic hockey show. All right, welcome back to the athletic hockey show. It's time for our PWHL air fryer segment. Insert the sizzle. I guess it's not really a sizzle. It's like a coracle.

frying, an air fryer sound. Whatever sound an air fryer makes. It's a fan with a little beep. So I am in Ottawa for the finals. I'll be heading to Minnesota for games three and four.

If necessary, the Ottawa charge are up one nothing in the series, which is kind of a pleasant surprise, I think. The charge missed the playoffs last year. They were the third ranked team, but Minnesota, Ottawa, and Boston all finish tied with 44 points in the regular season. So Ottawa charge after missing the playoffs last year, they've got a 1-0 series lead against

their reigning champs. Yeah, how did this happen for them? Because I feel like I watched, I watched, especially last season, I watched a chunk of their games and was just like, okay, this is a, this is a non-contender in this league because you, as a casual, if you're me, you look. at the top at the lineup and you're like, there is no briefly pull in there. There is no seraphilié.

There is no high end. There's no, they don't have to make a lot of high or whatever. They don't have the big name at the top. It seems like they're real needle movers, like real in players and the players that maybe you need to win you, win you a title. And here they are,

they're two wins away from it. So is stuff changed with them? Like, is it been existing players that have gotten better? Who have they added that's making a difference here? Like, how did they go from being, you know, kind of out of the discussion last year to, you know, on the doorstep? Yeah, it's funny you ask that. I have a story that dives into all that on the athletic. Oh, you don't say.

This morning. And I think the charge are really interesting because this is a team, unlike most of the franchises and the PW. the original six markets. Ottawa is not like some big women's hockey hotbed. And I don't mean to, you know, slight. There is like a women's hockey history here, but Ottawa is not a team where, or Ottawa is not a market where superstars are from or played college hockey in.

So when the PWHL started and you've got the initial three signing window, players aren't lining up to sign in Ottawa. Ottawa had to go out and like sell players on coming here. And those are players like Emily Clark, Brian Jenner and Emerald Smashmire. Good players, like very good women's hockey players. They're on team Canada.

But they're not the like top line young superstars, right? Mary Philippe Poulin and Renee Dibian, Laura Stacey, that's package deal going to Montreal. Even Aaron Ambrose, she had ties to Montreal. She wanted to be drafted there. Players want to play in Montreal. either because they're from there or they want to play with Mary Philip Poulin. A bunch of top players are from Toronto, Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse,

Daryl Watts got drafted by Ottawa in the sixth round. Like people passed on her six times in the draft. Ottawa takes a chance in her. She plays great and she leaves the first chance she has to go to her hometown team in Toronto. Taylor Heise, Lee Steckline, Kelly Panick, they're from Minnesota. They're going to Minnesota, right? Boston, a lot of players either went to Northeastern or, Boston College, BU, they want to go there. Ottawa and New York, more than any other team,

knew that they weren't going to be able to attract, like, the big ticket free agents. So they really needed to build their rosters through the draft, through trades, through, you know, finding the gems in free agency. And Ottawa, more than New York has done that really well. And the New York sirens, like, they signed Alex Carpenter. They've got a great goalie. They drafts their affiliate first overall. So there's really, they're weird. They shouldn't be finishing last place two years in a row. But out of, almost out of necessity, the charge and GM Mike Kirchfeld have built this like really interesting team that is now two ends away from winning the Walter Cup. And that's through, they sign Rebecca Leslie in the off season. She's got back to back

opening goals in the playoffs. This is a player that, you know, scored one goal. And that's, you know, scored one goal in the regular season, had two goals for the Toronto Scepters last year. And Ottawa was like, you know, she always looks like she's buzzing. If we put her in our system, she plays a little more. Maybe she'll be a great secondary scoring player. They trade for Teresa Venetiava last year. Cheyenne d'Arcangelo, those were two players who were fine in their original markets. And now they're among the top scores for Ottawa.

Venetiava scored more goals than anyone not named Poulin and Hillary. night this season. So I go into all the moves in this story, but really like the Ottawa charge have come together largely due to like a series of very aggressive, smart, creative transactions by the organization, as well as the players that they had last, last season. Emily Clark has back-to-back game winners in the postseason. She's been unbelievable. Her line with Gabby Hughes and man-in-man, a smart late-round draft pick by the charge last year. Great shutdown line. They, along with Jocelyn the Rock and Ashton Bell, completely shut down Mary Affiliq Poulin in the first round.

And they're going to play heavy match at minutes against Heise and Kendall Coyne Schofield. Even trading for Jocelyn the Rock. I mean, Sean, I think we talked about it. When that blockbuster happened, even I was like, what are they doing? she's turning 37 this year she's been on the ice for most of Toronto's goals against she looks her age she's been unbelievable back to being like a shutdown number one defender and that's because Ottawa was like she's playing like 30 minutes a night in Toronto if we get her here and play her 20

like she's going to be good again and and they were right so um the chargeer's super interesting they've got like this really great mix of their foundational core a coach that people really like. Carlos' structure is all about defense and puck possession. So that's where I see the ties to the canes. It's shot attempts. It's holding the puck. It's playing good D.

They are more than happy to win a bunch of games, one-nothing or two-one. And like elite goal-tending. So I don't think the- This is all because of Gwen fell up so you can just spoil it down to that. No. I don't think it's all because of Gwen. I know, I'm being, I'm being facetious.

She went to high school in the Pittsburgh area. Oh, right, right. She's a huge part of it, though. Like, she's been unbelievable. She's been the best goalie in the postseason. And that's another player who was not on the Ottawa charge last season. I mean, this is someone who was the Emeralds Mashmeyer's backup for most of the season. But Mashmire goes down in March.

She's on long-term injured reserve. And now Gwen Phillips is a finalist for goalie of the year and rookie of the year. It's got a 1.1-1 goals against average and a 9-57 say percentage in the playoffs. Like, she's a huge reason why they're here. Like, how many teams, number one goalies go down and you have like a superstar stud goalie waiting in the wings? Not many. And so that's- Certainly not in the PWHL at this point either.

No, like you, and I mean, Minnesota. Top-heavy in terms of goal in town. Yeah, like Minnesota is maybe, Minnesota is the only team that has like a true tandem. them, but like Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley aren't putting up the numbers that Gwen Phillips is in the postseason. Like, Aaron Frankel went down. Aaron Frankel missed two of Boston's last three games this season, and they missed the playoffs, mostly because Aaron Frankel was gone. What needs to change from Minnesota to, I mean, not that they're out of this series, but that, you know, that's the, that's the five's little flunky. So what needs to go different for them?

I actually thought that they looked like the better team in game one for large chunks. I didn't think Ottawa looked very good. And I think if like you're a charge fan and you want to like, why is Ottawa going to win the Walter Cup? Like they didn't look very good and they still won game one. But I think if you're Minnesota, you want to, you want to capitalize in your power play opportunities. I think you want to get in front of Gwen Phillips.

You want to get her moving because if she gets eyes on the puck, she's going to stop it. Like she's just been that good. The only goal that Minnesota scored in that game was a very, was like a huge biff by Phillips. Actually, she came out of her net and threw the puck right to Katie Knoll, who's on Minnesota. And they had a wide open empty net.

It was like a pretty big miscue for someone who hasn't had any of them. So like Minnesota didn't beat her. She just handed them the puck the one time. So I think you want to get to Gwen Phillips a little bit more. I think their top line needs. Taylor Heise needs to shoot the puck more. Like, that's a huge one. If Minnesota's going to win, it's going to be because Heise's finally shooting the puck and she's scoring.

She's got this unbelievable shot and she loves to pass, loves to pass, loves to make plays. But she's such a naturally gifted goal scorer. Like, that's something Ken Cleese has been really trying to hammer with her. It's just like, please, God, shoot the puck. So I think that's a big one. If Minnesota is going to win, it's going to win. because they've got one of the best top lines in the PWHL, and Taylor Hise is finally just ripping it past Guar Phillips.

I don't know. I think it's a good final. I think most of these games are me one goal games. Both these teams came into the final, very different ways. Ottawa won three straight one goal games against Montreal and Minnesota scored 18 goals to beat Toronto. So we had this really high scoring series and one that was. was a defensive shutdown series.

So I think this series is going to be closer to what Ottawa played against Montreal. It's going to be more of a matchup series, like Good D. Gwen Phillips playing well. Even Nicole Hensley played well in game one. So this is going to be tight and low scoring and probably a lot of overtime is my prediction. Let's go. That's the PWHL Airfriar. The Airfriar is just Sean asking me one question and me talking for eight.

minutes. I think it was seven. Yeah, it's okay. Well, you asked a big question. Like, how was I supposed to answer that? It's a good answer. Someone's screaming on a street. I think it's fine. They're just excited for the charge game, I hope. They're excited for morning skates here in Raleigh, 17 minutes. Has Mike Russo texted you for your Starbucks order yet? He's not, but that's coming and it's giving me anxiety. So it's probably time to close up shop here. We'll text at 10.15 on the dot. I'm at Starbucks. What do you want? Reorders.

True. All right. Well, thanks everyone for listening to this episode of the athletic hockey show. That was our chat about the four teams left standing in the NHL and a little bit of PWHL finals action as well. Sean and I are both on the road for these playoff series. Thanks, Sean, for doing this. I'll get you out of here by the time.

Mike Russo texts for your coffee order. And thanks, everyone for listening to the Athletic Hockey Show. The Prospect Series has a new show tomorrow. That's Friday. Enjoy the hockey tonight. It's Keynes Panthers at 8 p.m. And Ottawa Charge versus the Minnesota Frost at 7. So you've got a nice little tandem watch if you want.

They've staggered the schedule. That's why TNT has games at 8. So you can watch PDA at 7. And then you can go back and forth. It's perfect. It's the best hockey night. We'll be back next Thursday.