The Athletic Hockey Show - Winnipeg Jets stun Edmonton Oilers, Murat Ates joins the show, John Tavares and the media, way-too-early Conn Smythe picks, and more

Episode Date: May 24, 2021

First, Ian and Hailey discuss the Winnipeg Jets stunning the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in overtime to go up three game to none in the series, after the Oilers blew a 4-1 lead with less than ten minutes to play in Game 3, Alex Ovechkin’s future with the Washington Capitals after his team was eliminated by the Boston Bruins on Sunday, the media’s handling of John Tavares’ scary injury in Game 1 of the Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens series, and much more.Then, The Athletic’s Murat Ates joins the show to give his thoughts on the incredible Jets rally over the Oilers in Winnipeg on Sunday night, how the Jets have managed to contain Connor McDavid so far, Connor Hellebuyck’s MVP play, and much more.Plus, to close things out, Ian and Hailey run through a series of Multiple Choice Madness questions including their way-too-early Conn Smyth picks, Nazem Kadri’s suspension, Florida Panthers goalie options, and more.Now, you can get a 6 month subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back. It's another edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. Ian Mendez and Haley Salvean with you, as always, to kick off your week in the National Hockey League. Coming up in the next hour or so, we're going to discuss Connor McDavid, Leon Drysiddle, and the Edmonton Oilers pushed to the brink of elimination in stunning fashion on Sunday night. In Winnipeg, our Jets reporter, Murat Attesh, will join us to chat about Winnipeg's shocking 3-0 series lead. time Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, they're beyond the brink of elimination. They're out.

What does that mean for the superstars future? And what does that mean for the Capitals moving forward in multiple choice madness? We'll debate the length of Nazim Cadry's suspension and we'll hand out our way too early Kahn Smythe trophies as well. So kicking off the week here with Haley. First question, Haley Salveen, how is your bracket doing? You know, you and I and Sean McAdoo and Craig Custins and everyone, LeBron Burnside, everybody who's a athletic hockey show podcast host was tasked with putting together our playoff brackets. Like, how's your final four looking?

Because I'm in trouble with the Florida Panthers right now. Yeah, well, as you know, we both agreed. We both put all of our chips in the Florida Panthers bandwagon. and so it's not looking great. However, I did have Boston beating Washington, which is great. I did have Colorado also. So I'm two for two in terms of the series that are over. So I'm choosing to focus on that and not look at the Florida Panthers going all the way through.

I'm wishing I hopped on the Nashville bandwagon a little bit sooner because that series is tied and we'll see where that goes. Obviously, it's going to be very difficult for them to beat Carolina two more times. But yeah, Florida has been tough. And it could be, this could be it of my bandwagon fan time with the Florida Panthers fairly soon here. Well, yeah. And I was with you.

It's like you and I, we got to be like Thelman, Louise. going off the cliff with the Panthers. You know what? We're in it to the end. I'm with you. I hope this thing goes at least to a sixth game. I think this series,

even though it's 3-1 Tampa, it's been filled with storylines, some drama, some tension, some legit hate, some great sound bites from Cooper and Q. Like, it's been fun.

It would be a real shame, I think, if on Monday night, the Tampa Lightning just put the Panthers out. And I'm not even speaking from our selfish vantage point, of, oh, we don't want to look that stupid with our brackets.

I just think this has been such good theater and drama for the game of hockey. It has been. And we all said that this was, you know, I think it was probably a month or so ago. Last time we had Dom on the show, one of your multiple choice questions was what series, you know, are you most excited for? And both Dom and I said, you know, there was, I think, or maybe Dom said Montreal, Toronto. But I think I said, like, I would love to see a Florida in Tampa series because just think of the potential that it has for the game and, you know, building that rivalry

and all those storylines that could come into play. And it's really followed through with all the expectations that we all probably had for the series. So hopefully it goes more than just five games. Hopefully our Panthers can pull through for us here. Yeah. Well, and, you know, we're going to talk a little bit about the goaltending conundrum facing Joel Quenville. Later, we'll get to that in multiple choice madness. One glaring omission, though, from your bracket, Haley.

What'd you have in the North Division, Haley? Who'd you have coming out of the North? Toronto, not Edmonton. Oh, you did. Okay, I thought, but you did have Edmonton beating Winnipeg, right? I would never put the Oilers in the Final Four. But I should have known. I don't know.

I just thought for once maybe they would, I don't know what I was thinking. I feel like an Oilers fan. I'm not an Oilers fan. I live in Calgary. I grew up in Toronto. Like, I'll watch. McDavid's great player. But now I'm feeling like those Oilers fans who are just like, I should have known. I should have known better. But I didn't. I have a good friend who lives in Edmonton and he's down bad. He's down bad. He's just like, I'm sick of it. I'm in a toxic relationship. It's that boy you just can't get enough of her girl, whoever. it is. And he's not having a good time. But I did have Edmonton coming out of the series and it's not looking good. Wouldn't you say that about 90% of hockey fans are involved in an unhealthy,

destructive and arguably toxic relationship with their favorite team? Like it's really a small percentage of fans that are like in a healthy, in a healthy relationship with their favorite pro sports team, Right? Like, think about it. Like, like Vancouver fans, Buffalo fans, uh, Flyers fans, uh, Rangers fans lately. Think about the year that Penguins fans were like burning their jerseys and dumpsters and stuff because they lost to the flyers. I think it was that year. What was that the year that Claude Jureau, uh, he went at Crosby in, in the, yeah, so that, yeah, so that, I think that was, but remember, yeah, but remember, yeah, but. Remember though at that point, there was a window there where we thought the penguins were like done.

Like we're like, oh man, like you're not going to win anymore with Crosby and Malkin, right? Like 2012, 12, 13, 14, 15. It was looking a little iffy for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Look at us. Look at us. Look at how much we know. They went to back to back and now they're back swinging it a little bit here. Yeah.

And that's, you know, that's a fun series that I think a lot of us thought Pittsburgh, New York could go seven games. right? A Barry Trots coach team up against Sidney Crosby that has the recipe for seven games. But I don't think if you had laid out all of the scenarios for round one, boy, Haley, I got to be honest, I'm not sure a lot of people would have Winnipeg sweeping Edmonton. I think that, if that comes to fruition, and of course we're recording this just in advance of game four, if that comes to fruition, that has to be, regardless of any other outcome of any series, and I'm going to include Nashville beating Carolina. I don't know that there would be anything more stunning than Winnipeg sweeping Edmonton, no?

Yeah, I agree. I think it would be the biggest upset that we see in this playoffs. Unless it's Nashville coming back and beating Carolina in seven games, but even still Nashville winning in seven. Knock on Wood, my predators. Hoping off Florida. But like a sweep of the Edmonton Oilers after, you know, what that team did in the regular season and what Connor McDavid did in the regular season, what Leon Dry Seidel did in the regular

season. You know, I think it would be stunning. But I think Connor Hellebuck has been Connor Hellebuck. He's been absolutely incredible. they have completely, you know, they have found a way to shut down McDavid and Drysidal. I mean, shut down the entire Oilers offense, I think, before, you know, Sunday night's game where they scored four goals. They'd only scored one goal in game one and two. So I just think, you know, it's tough for Edminton fans right now because I think, obviously, they believe they should be doing better in this series and they should be.

You know, the Oilers, it's shocking. But the Jets are playing really well and they're taking away so much time and space. And that's what the playoffs is, right? It gets harder. It gets tighter. It gets faster. The checking gets, you know, there's more checking. It's more physical.

And the Jets are just playing playoff hockey. And they're executing it really well and they're really taking it to Edmonton. But, you know, it doesn't mean it's not shocking. Like, I don't know how many people would have said a jet sweep. I think anyone who actually picked the Jets probably would have said, And I did. I pick Winnipeg. I pick Winnipeg to get out of the North Division. And it wasn't based on anything other than, I feel like everything can fall into place for them because they had struggled so much down the stretch. I went with the line of thinking it's bound to turn around for them at some point. And I trusted at Winnipeg's goaltending more than anybody.

I think you've seen Connor Hellebuck at times play really well in this series. You know, and Haley, I'm thinking of, like, I brought this up in the podcast when I did it with Sean McIndoo. I'm actually thinking that this might be a worthwhile column to write if McDavid goes out in the first round. And I brought this up before. Like every NHL player, so the greatest players in the game. So you would put like Gretzky, Lemieux, Bobby Orr on the list of like the three greatest players, right? In hockey history, most people would say Gretzky, Lemieux, and Orr in some order. So here's the funny thing. all of them Haley, in their best statistical season,

all got shocked and knocked out early in the playoffs. All of them. All of them. And that's what's happening to McDavid. This was Connor McDavid's breakthrough Renaissance, welcome to the elite five of all time, and he's about to be won and done. And I think my point is,

it happened to Gretzky, it happened to Orr, it happened to Lemieux, welcome to the club, Connor. The difference is, all of those other guys had great supporting casts. And I think that's what McDavid doesn't have. It's really sad to see a superstar player of his caliber get kind of weighted down and not surrounded by some talent.

Yeah, it's tough. I mean, Leon Drysidels on that hockey team, but it's no question that the Edmonton Oilers struggle with their secondary scoring and their depth. You know, when you load up a line with those two guys, then the rest of your lineup is not. looking the same. You know, the Winnipeg Jets, when you match those two teams up, especially down the middle, the Jets maybe don't have, they don't have a Connor McDavid. You know, I'm, I like Mark

Sheifley. I think he's a great player. You know, there's some really good players on the Winnipeg Jets. They don't have a McDavid, but they have a ton of depth throughout their lineup. You know, I think their defense was a question, but their D is probably better than Edmonton's because I don't think, you know, the Oilers don't have a number one defenseman. They don't have depth. And obviously, we saw their goal tending was great up until the point where they led in four goals and the last, I guess, 10, nine, nine, ten minutes of the period. So, um, or three goal, four goals? Yeah, three goals. Three goals. Three goals. Math. It's too really to be doing math, Ian. It was four one. Count with my fingers. Yeah.

One, two, three. But no, you know, you just look at, you know, I just think the Jets match up better against Edmonton. And it's tough because you see Connor McDavid post game. And man, like this guy, you feel bad for him because this is the best player in the game right now. And he just looks so defeated and dejected. And I'll say, I guess, the difference between the greatest players, as you said,

you know, having an early exit after their best season ever is, like, you name those players again, Ian, and, you know, most, if not all of them have had Stanley Cup successes. Like, this isn't like it's a, O'Connor already has a ring, so it's fine. He had his best season and he's out, but he already has one. He has none. Like, this isn't the first year that McDavid has done something great in the regular season and then been knocked out in the postseason. Like, they have not had any postseason success.

So it's, I don't know, this is, we're going to see what happens Monday night here, game four, if they end up getting swept. I'm, I fear for the hot takes. The McDavid's a bad leader. It's his fault or the McDavid's going to ask for a trade, everything in between. I don't know. It's going to be pretty spicy on the Twitter. I don't know what the reason is. I don't know. It was fair to ask about the makeup of this team.

You know, were they getting the right pieces into place to actually win hockey games? But this is, it's not new that the Oilers struggle with adversity. Is that a leadership problem? Like people are genuinely looking at Connor McDavid and saying like, hey, like we have a quiet captain who leads by example, but once we get hit with adversity, who's stepping up and reining everyone in. I'm not saying that. I've seen it online. There's going to be a ton of questions and rightfully so if the Edmonton Oilers get swept. And I don't know if anyone's going to have the answers to what's going on here. Okay. I need you to rank, Haley, I need you to rank Connor McDavid's face because you mentioned McDavid post game on

Sunday. He looked lost. He looked distraught. Okay, so I'm going to give you three McDavid scenarios. You ranked them in order of sadness in his face. Number one, draft lottery night when he found out he was going to Edmonton. Okay. Number two, the airport photo with that couple clinging to each of his arms. Number three, post-game on Sunday. Where did McDavid look this saddest to you? That's, so that, that airport picture is incredible,

but I don't think he was sad. I think he was just very uncomfortable. The audacity, not even audacity, like the boldness, the confidence of that family to just hold Connor McDavid is incredible. It's unmatched.

Yeah. And I aspire to be that bold. It was like the Austin Matthews getting ragdolled. I think it was by Ben Chirot, not even ragdolled because he held strong, but just Ben Chirot's like pounding him and he's just smiling. I strive to be that unbothered in my life. Yeah. But Connor McDavid's sad.

I just looked up his draft lottery, the picture of him at the draft lottery. Wait, so were they? You look shocked. So did they have him in studio to film his reaction to where he was going? Yeah, you don't remember that? It was like, oh my God, his face, he's just like, oh. Yeah, he did not look super happy. Oh, no.

At all. Oh, man. Well, this looked like the start of what he knew was going to happen in his life. And then Sunday night was like, I knew it. He was probably having flashbacks to draft lottery night. So while draft lottery looks pretty darn sad, I'm going to say Sunday night. Sunday night. Okay.

Maybe I should have used that for multiple choice question. Where did Carter McDavid look the saddest? Okay. So look, McDavid's going, as you said, we're going to see some spicy hot takes on Twitter.com this week, right? You're going to hear, can you win with McDavid? Is he a leader? Yada, yada, yada, yada. You know who went through that?

Alex Ovechkin, Haley. Alex went through that for more than a decade. And so capitals knocked out on the weekend by the Boston Bruins. And it's interesting. Alex Ovechkin's contract is up. And it doesn't feel like he's going anywhere. But I mean, let's talk about this for a second. Like, what do we think Alex Ovechkin's contract is going to look like?

Is he going to go kind of the Zedano Chara route where just every year? You know, I'll just sign year by year, go one by one. Is he going to say, look, I'm going to take a three-year deal, four-year deal? Because I think if he does that, Haley, it gives us a window into he's really wanting to chase down Gretzky's record. And then the other factor is, where are the capitals? Like how do you see Washington? Has the window slam shut on the fingers of Ovechkin, Nick Baxter, O'Shee, and that group?

Or do they still have enough life there that, hey, Washington can be a Stanley Cup contender next season. So walk us through how you feel about Ovechkin becoming a UFA this summer. Yeah, well, it's interesting because I, obviously, after they were outed from or outsted from the playoffs, after they were kicked out of the playoffs. Yeah, there you go. Today is a tough day today for me.

You know, once they were kicked out, you know, I think somebody asked Ovechkin about his future as, you know, media typically does. And he was like, we just lost a playoff series. Let's talk about this later. And I wouldn't read into that too much, you know, some people might see that and say like, oh, he's leaving because he doesn't want to talk about it, but he's right.

They just lost. there'll be an exit meeting, locker cleanout day where they can have those discussions. And even then, I don't know if he's going to say much. But for me, you know, I genuinely don't know where Alex Obeschkin stands because I think he has shown that he is and can be a great member of that community in Washington. We did just see him invest in the National Women's Soccer League with the Washington spirit, you know, making a legitimate investment in women's professional sport in Washington. You know, it's tough because you saw what Zadano Char did.

I don't know. We had this conversation and we said, yeah, I don't see him leaving. He'll probably sign again in Boston and we were wrong. So I think maybe it would, I would love to take a look inside his mind and, you know, see what he's thinking of, you know, especially right after a playoff loss. But I don't know. This is really bad Ian because you want to, you wanted me to walk you through it. I don't even know.

I do think that, you know, we had Tarek, our Washington writer on not too long ago, and we kind of discussed this, you know, is the window closing? We all thought it was. And then they're pushing to win their division. Obviously, the Penguins ended up winning the division. But, you know, the Capitals are a team where I think we've discussed that their window was closing or closed for a long time. now. I genuinely think now, and I'd be happy to be wrong about this, as a lot of people typically are, but I don't think it's slammed shut, but I do think that I'm, I don't think it's unfair to say

that that window is very close to being closed, if not closed already. Alex Ovechkin's 35. It's an aging core group. I just, I think it's getting there. And it's going to be a difficult decision for the capitals, they're going to need to decide what their direction is moving forward. Because if Alex Ovechkin's coming to you and saying, hey, I want to stay for three more years, do you keep the rest of your core intact? Do you start trying to build around a younger core piece and keep Ovechkin as a veteran? Do you keep building around OV as the piece? Like, I don't envy that position because you have the greatest goal score in the game saying, potentially, I want to be here, do you then not build around him? Like, when do you make that choice to start

focusing on other pieces? And I think that's going to be something that's really interesting to watch this offseason in the coming weeks and months as we maybe hear more and see that laid out. And I think it all kind of hinges on Alex Ovechkin, but I don't know how you feel about it, Ian, but I think that's going to be one of the more interesting offseason stories is what does Ovi want to do? and what direction are the capital is going to start to take this? Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Like it is.

I feel like it's not a storyline that's been talked about nationally enough. Alex Ovechkin's contract is up. And again, I don't feel like he's leaving, but you've seen situations like a great example right now in pro sports is Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers, where, boy, you can get into a sticky situation with like a legacy player if you're not on the same page. So they got to make sure everyone's on the same page.

And I still think Ovechkin is like five. Like if he wants to take a run at Gretzky's record, he needs five full NHL seasons. He's about 160 goals shy of that. So I feel like, you know what, give him 30-ish goals per season, but he's got to do that for five years. So minimum, I think he's five years away. So it's going to become interesting. Do you think he'll play in the NHL until he's 40? I think the only thing that would keep him there, Haley,

is the pursuit of Gretzky's record, right? And I have no problem for him doing that. I'm all for it. Like if he says, I want to chase down that record, go for it. I would be all in favor of it. I just don't want to see him. I don't want to see his career kind of tail off.

And then he becomes like a 12 goal score. Now he's hanging on for three extra years and he's scoring 12 goals. I don't want to see that. But if he's still like a 20 goal guy, I'm all in for Ovechkin. You don't want to see people saying like, okay, wrap it up. Time to retire. You don't want that for people.

No, and I think you saw that a little bit. And I felt bad too for Patrick Marlowe. There was a school of thought that people were like, oh, this guy's hanging around, a break Gordy House record. Look, the NHL's not a league where people just let you hang around. Like, it's not this fun, you know, club that you could just hang around. It takes a lot of dedication and determination. I just, I wonder, I guess my point is,

whatever Ovechkin's contract looks like this summer is going to give us a window into his mindset of, am I going to start to go year by year? Am I going to sign a, you know, if he signs like a four-year deal, I feel like that's him saying, I'm in for the run on, on Gretzky. But if he signs like a one or a two-year deal, I think I'm going to be a little hesitant to kind of gauge what he's thinking.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think it's interesting. I think we'll see. I think there's also the school of thought and the idea that's out there that OV would like to finish his career in the KHL. So we'll see. We'll see where his heads at. We'll see what he wants to do. He, you know, he does have a wife and two young kids. Little baby Ovi, all the videos that we saw coming out of the summer of him shooting pucks and stuff. So we'll see. It's going to be really interesting. Obviously, we don't have the answers because we don't. I don't know Alex Obuchkin. But it'll be really interesting because, again, there's some pieces on this roster that are aging. Ovi is the only unrestricted free agent coming out of this season for the forward group. So realistically, if you lock him in, then you can have the exact

same core for at least one more year, two more years. You know, Tom Wilson has four years left on his deal. T.J. O'Shee is five years away from UFA. Backstrom is five years away from UF.S. UFA. Like, I mean, we can talk about what do the capitals want to do with their cords. They want to build around something else. But they've got a couple of aging guys with big contracts and no move or no trade clauses.

So maybe we are just looking at the same Washington Capitals group for the next couple of years. And I don't know if that's a bad thing. You know, if we can see the same Alex Ovechkin. But we'll see. It's going to be really interesting. You know, I think, you know, Ovi's got his cup. And as we talked about this earlier,

You know, McDavid still needs to find his Stanley Cup and find his team success. And it took a long time for Ovechkin, took a long time for Steve Eisenman. It takes time. Like, you know, but what I think is interesting on the weekend, Haley, too. And I know you pay attention to all sports. You're not just a hockey fan. You're a fan of everything. And I think all of our timelines were flooded with the Phil Mickelson story on the weekend

where, you know, Phil is north of 50 and he wins a title. And it's a weird career arc because Phil kind of was a not-so-liked person. on the golf tour and now it's like everyone kind of likes him again. And it got me thinking from a hockey perspective, like who would be somebody we would want to see win again? Like we didn't know how badly we wanted to see Phil Mickelson win until he got to the Sunday of this, of the BGA championship. We're like, man, this would be a great story.

So as you start to look around the NHL, Haley, if you were looking around at guys who have already won a cup and you're like, I wouldn't mind seeing that guy win another cup because it would kind of be fun and cool. Like, who's on that list for you? Like, is there a guy or two, like, whether they're playing in the playoffs this year or still in the game that you're like, yeah, you know what, I'd be cool if that guy won another Stanley Cup?

Like, do we have a Phil Mickelson that we could kind of get behind seeing winning another title here? That's a tough one because I think my list is more people who haven't won. You know, there's like a huge list of vets that you'd be like, oh, I would love to see him win a cup. Like, you know what? I want Jerome McGinlet to win a cup still. But, you know, now I'm like in this situation.

It's like, okay, well, who's won a Stanley Cup? Who's aging? Who do I actually like? Because most of them that are coming to mind haven't won. First of all, so down goes brown. Sean McAdoo wrote in his column on Monday. He power ranked all the players who haven't won a cup. And not surprised.

Oh, really? Joe Thornton comes in at number one. Souter in Piresay in Minnesota are. two and three. So anyway, he's power ranked the top 20 guys in the playoffs this year. You're being nice. You're being nice. He's the old guy without a cup rankings. Yeah. You just said guys who haven't won a cup. His headline is literally the old guy without a cup rankings. Yeah, that's his whole thing. I'm done trusting him. I read his last two rankings pieces and look at my bracket. It's on fire. Right. Yeah. You went for.

Team chaos. We're in a fight. Sean McIndoo and I. Okay. We're not on speaking terms. But you can continue with his column. Yeah. Well,

listen, I work with both of you, so I'll bridge the gap. So here's, here's my guy, Haley, Mark Andre Fleury. And I know that,

I know that flower is already won. He's not an old guy. He doesn't have to be old, but he is old. What do you mean? Mark Andre Fleury's old. He was drafted in like 2003. Phil Mickelson's 50.

Yeah, but no one's going to play until they're 50 in the NHL. 35 is 50 in the NHL. How do you feel? Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I'm 44. I feel, I feel terrible, Haley. I got sore muscles all the time. People here keep talking about people here like, oh, Johnny Gujaro is getting old.

I'm like, he's 28. It's like I'm going to have a quarter life crisis. I'm on the wrong side of 25, Ian. Okay. Don't be sticking to. You know, you're going to get to this point as you continue to, as you continue to kind of evolve as a reporter. Here's how it's going to work for you, okay?

Because this is how it happened to me. It happens to everybody. You're going to be watching the games and you're going to relate to the players really easily because everyone's in their 20s and you're yucking it up and you all understand the same things. Then you're going to get in your 30s and you're going to, you know, there would be fewer players that kind of are the same age as you. Then you're going to get to my age, Haley, where you're going to start watching the NHL draft and you're like, damn, those parents look so young.

because you're the same age as the parents. And then you're going to realize that some of the coaches that are coming into the league are the same age as you. So this is where I'm at. I'm at the same age as some of these parents whose kids are being drafted

and I'm the exact same age as Ottawa Senator's head coach DJ Smith. Same age. And I remember when I broke into this league and I was like same age as like Martin Havlat and you know, I kind of grew up with that core of Senators players, Hosa, Alfredson, you know,

Spets, we were all around, you know, within five, six years of each other or whatever. And now it's, I'm the same age as the coaches, Haley. So, enjoy it. And now Spets is like on the old guy rankings. Exactly. Anyways, so Mark Andre, you pick Flurry. Yeah, that would be my guy. Everyone loves him.

So, yeah, like, I guess it's tough thinking of, like, the Phil Mickelson because he's quite a bit older. Like, he was on the seniors tour. Like, I'm not even. It's not even a joke. He was playing on the seniors tour. Comes in and wins. So I don't know. It's tough. Like would not be like Yarmier yager coming back and like signing a one year deal and then winning a cup or something. Yeah. Yeah. That's fair. I mean, that would be great. Like if that's the guy you want to see. I would love to see Fleury win a cup though. Yeah. Love it. I'm a huge fan.

That's what I think too. I think a lot of people have this universal love for Mark Andre Fleury. So I think if he was the guy, but I think there are a couple of guys. Now, I'm going to throw another name at you. Tell me if there's, look, his team's not in the playoffs this year. But is there any love for like Ryan Getsloff? Ryan Getslough has reached the end of his career. He won a Stanley Cup early in his career. Like, do you care or not care? Or is it just, eh, whatever.

Ryan Gatslap doesn't move the meter for you. I don't know. Maybe it's because he's been playing in California for so long. Like, he's Canadian. A lot of people, like, probably. think fondly of his time with like the Olympic team when he's winning the cup but like I when I hear that I'm not jazzed about it I wouldn't be I wouldn't hate it but I'm not like oh my god I need to see that I would love it maybe it's a Phil Mickelson thing maybe you see him down the stretch in the final

round of the playoffs a year from now and you're like I didn't know I needed this I didn't know I needed Ryan Getslaw to win again but I'm not feeling it right now all right haley I also got to ask you this too And you kind of touched on this earlier that, you know, Nashville has kind of become a fun story. They're down, when they were down to nothing, I was thinking, ah, this could end up being a sweep. But then Matthew Shane, of all people, scores the game three overtime winner. They get another overtime win. Like, are the Predators suddenly like a fan favorite? Like, are we kind of like an, are we all kind of pulling for the Predators here as a, as a fun, lovable underdog?

I know they're playing Carolina. So it's not like Carolina doesn't have that feel of this, you know, established franchise that we all hate. But I don't know. I'm kind of, I'm kind of digging what Nashville is doing right now. Well, it's so funny because I think a lot of people look at the Carolina Hurricanes as the fun, lovable team that, you know, people need to pay more attention to because they're really good. And like it kind of became that like people would call them kind of like the hipster pick. Like, yeah, you got to pick the canes because they're so underpric. appreciated, but then it also became this team that's like, well, if you're not appreciating them,

you're not paying attention. And it became this weird, like, battle of like, the canes are actually good. Why are you saying they're underrated? It's like, well, we're all saying they're good. Like, it's the same thing. Anyways, um, the canes are the fun, lovable team. But when I watch that series, um, I've been fully rooting for the Nashville Predators. The last two games I've watched have been so fun. I think I, I tweeted yesterday. Um, I've been. Um, I've been. Um, I've been. And, um, My couch shift is entering hour four. Like, I literally did not move. I put on the game.

It was 12.30 mountain time. Didn't end until after 4.30. And my back started to hurt. But I was having the best time. Like, it was a good game. There's physicality. There's good skill. High energy.

The fans in Nashville. Like seeing a full building, all the country music. It makes me, I went to Nashville last year on the road with the Sends. And it was incredible. It makes me miss Nashville. But man, like, that's a fun series, honestly. Like whoever comes out of that series, it's up in the air. Obviously, the canes are still the favorite to come out of that series.

But, man, it was so fun. Like the back-to-back double over times. I don't have it in front of me, but I know I was looking at it yesterday. I was texting back and forth with my friend, Jessica, who is also watching the game. And I was like, I think Sebastian Aho has played over 70 minutes in the last two games. and you look at the time on ice for Roman Yossi, and he's over 70 minutes in the last two games. Like in one of our columnists here wrote a story, Joe Rex Road,

Predators have the canes on the ropes, assuming both have the energy to continue. Like that's a ton of hockey, two back-to-back games. Well, they didn't, they weren't back-to-back games, but two games, you know, went into double O-T. That's a ton of extra hockey. man, the goaltending has just been so impressive. Nadelcovich has been incredible, but U.C. Saros has been unbelievable too.

I'm so glad that we had Adam Vingen on, and we asked him, you know, is UC Saros, should he be up for the heart? Like, is he the MVP of the season? And he's been the MVP of the playoffs for sure. But, you know, I watch this team and, you know, I'm rooting for Nashville. I mean, I wouldn't be upset if Carolina won, but I'm watching this and I'm having a ton of fun watching these games, and I've been really enjoying watching the Preds for sure. They're my new team since Florida disappointed me.

It's just been so much fun to watch The Predators. I think, again, having fans in the stands, I couldn't help them think about the Winnipeg come back on Sunday night. Imagine if that MTS center was even half full. Can they do the all white, the white out and stuff? Yeah, it would have been awesome. But, you know, we've had so much fun watching, whether it's 10, Tampa, Florida, or Nashville, Carolina.

Like, there's been some really fun series, but Haley, there was a moment, and I think this is the first time we've had a chance to have anybody on a podcast. I don't think we've had any athletic hockey shows since. Game one of Toronto, Montreal, and the scary incident involving John Tavares, Corey Perry, you know, is probably, look, I remember as I first broke into this business, I was in the press box the night, Marian Hosa, his state. accidentally clip Brian Barard in the eye. And I got to tell you, it's frightening, it's scary, it's like you worry about somebody's

safety. But when I saw what I saw on Thursday and was watching it live, I actually had to change, I actually stopped watching the game for about half an hour. I was like, I'm actually quite bothered. I just felt really bothered by it. And I think the fact that there were no fans even made it more eerie, like that you couldn't hear anything. And it was honestly, it was, it was so tough to see.

And then to turn around on Friday morning and see multiple news outlets put in Montreal, the French tabloid had a picture of Corey Perry's knee hitting John Tavares in the head, the moment of impact. And in the Toronto Sun, it was a picture of a completely dazed and concussed John Tavares. bloodied face and that was the picture on on the front page and Kyle Dubas felt the need on Saturday to address the media and say we don't agree with your decision it was it was the wrong decision and I think what bothers me Haley and I don't know if if this is how you feel but when we work in the media those are exactly the types of stories okay that give the media a bad name

If you want to think that the media is this predatory, like we're these predators and we just, we love the, if it bleeds, it leads and we like clickbait, we like sensationalism. That's exactly what that is. And I think if we don't stand up as a group and say, that's disgusting and it's wrong, then it's going to continue. So I didn't like it. I think it was wrong to do it. I think it was in poor taste.

I understand that there's journalistic value to the photo. I understand that. But it's not it's not headline worthy to me. I think it's wrong. It was very wrong. And I think the pun that they used as well. Like it wasn't just the picture, but it was in Captain Crunched as your headline.

And that picture was also the moment that was the most scary that I think gave people the most pause. And I think there is. and, you know, not to walk through the whole thing, because I do know it was a very traumatizing moment for a lot of people. It made me feel physically ill. I was working on a piece. I had my TV muted, so I didn't hear what happened. I was working, and then I looked up, and then I saw, like, I looked up right at the moment of it happening, and right at the moment of Tavares, kind of fighting the trainer, trying to get up on his own. The trainers was holding,

trying to stabilize his neck, and then he fell back. And that was the moment where you just knew he was in really, really bad shape. And that was the scariest part. And that was what they blew up on the front page. And it's just so beyond inappropriate. There's so many people that I worked at a newspaper when I was in university as a summer intern. Things don't just go to press. There's a vetting process. People look at that and check off on it. Like, it's a, it's a If a comma is in the wrong spot, they'll have to redo the whole front page, you know, things like that. I don't, like the fact that that went through however many people and got to someone's front doorstep is terrible. I think it's, there's just a complete lack of compassion and sympathy and understanding that that's a human being.

And one of the hardest parts about seeing that was knowing, there's no fans in the stands. So naturally, Tavares' entire family who wants to support John Tavares was probably watching that game and saw that on live television and saw it on the replay. And, you know, the John Tavares Foundation posted a clip pregame, obviously before it all happened, of his two kids wearing jerseys and sitting at home, getting ready to watch Daddy play hockey. Like his wife at home with their two young kids had to watch that. And then that's what people are talking about after. Captain Crunched. It's just, it's beyond disrespectful in my opinion. And I think it's, like you said, it's those moments where, you know, there's people in the media who care and treat people like human beings.

And I obviously you're one of them, Ian. And I think it's very clear that you're one of them. And then there's, you know, ones who just want those clicks. And one of my big problems, not just the headlines that came out, was people sharing it too. I think sharing it and reposting it and saying, look at this, this is gross. You're giving them what they want, right? There is a way to talk about your anger and your frustration without giving them even more of a platform. for me, instead of posting anything, I tried to direct attention to the really wonderful

piece that James Myrtle did about the situation. James Myrtle was in the building. He said that it was probably the worst. He's been in the building for, you know, a lot of, unfortunately, you know, bad injuries in hockey. And he said, you know, I've never sat in my car for half an hour after not able to drive home yet because I feel sick. and he wrote about John Tavares, the human being and what he means to the trauma mate beliefs

and what he means to the community and his rise here and how just important he's been. And I think that was the right way to handle it. And so for me, instead of reposting the photos of those headlines and saying, look at this, this is horrible. I said, I'm not reposting that. Why don't you guys read this because this is how it should be done? And I think Myrtle handled that in such a great way. like if you teach a journalism class, Ian, like you could hold both up to your students.

We know what the trigger warning for the other headlines and say this, let's just call it what is. It's gross. It's gross. And here is it being handled properly. And I think it's a really good lesson to teach young journalists. But at the end of the day, people in media get to decide how they want to do the job, right? And if you have to choose and then you live and die by that.

And I'm just glad that we both choose to hold ourselves in a different kind of way in this game. All right, Haley, you know what? We were bouncing around wondering, like, who should we bring in as a guest? And probably midway through the third period yesterday, we did not think that Murat Atesh would be our guest. But guess what? They came rolling back to the Winnipeg Jets. What an unbelievable turn of events. And we bring him on to the athletic hockey show on this Monday.

day. We got to ask you, first of all, you're at. At 4-1, what percentage of your story did you have written kind of, you know, a game story or an angle? Like, did you hit, like, select all delete? Walk us through what happened in the third period from your vantage point. Well, I don't do a ton of pre-writing like a good writer would. You know what I mean? I just, I put the headphones on. I block out everything else. And I just, I just, just zoom in on the game like a complete nerd. I somehow can't balance that.

But I did because the game was as severe as it was, I actually for maybe the first time in my life, had a lead written, had the whole top structured in my mind. And it was going to be about how, despite the very fake playoff cup parade that was going around outside Bell MTS place before the arena, before the game started,

despite the towels on all the empty seats with nobody in the stands, despite the fake crowd noise, it was a whole bunch of illusions. And those illusions were the exact same thing as Winnipeg's aspirations of shutting down Connor McDavid and Leon Drysidle for a third consecutive night because I was that sure that that 4-1 lead was going to go and survive the night. I didn't think they had it in them. So you're saying that you jinxed it and this is your fault. Well, I guess for a Winnipeg perspective, like you manifested something great.

but for Edmonton they can blame you. Absolutely. If you're in Edmonton, Alberta, you know, a city I lived in for three years as a child, a very innocent child, you can hate that kid right now. You can hate who that kid grew up to be. And look, obviously, I don't think many people would have expected the outcome from Sunday nights game,

but also I don't know if many people would have looked at this series and said, you know, heading into game four, it would be an opportunity for the Winnipeg Jets to sweep the end. Edmonton Oilers. I mean, did you think that, you just said you didn't think they had it in them to make that comeback yesterday, but what were your initial expectations heading into the series? And has Winnipeg just done everything that you probably said they would have to do to get out of this series?

Yeah, I had the script exactly right. I had all the secrets to shut down Connor McDade. We had to put this in context. The Jets went two nine and two down the stretch. they had a seven-game losing streak. Edmonton was 7-2-0 against them outscoring them 30-something to 20-something. McDavid and Drysiddle had run rampant. Winnipeg didn't seem to have any answers right through their last loss against Edmonton.

It was impossible. It looked like it should have been impossible. You look at the odds makers. You look at all the pundits. I think you can go to our site and look at everybody, all the NHL experts who predicted this series. I think it was 100% at Edmonton's favor. And I was leaning that way as well based on what we had. seen. I didn't think we had evidence to think that Winnipeg could find the defensive game to

go through both game one and game two holding Leon Dreisdell and Connor McDavid without a point. I don't think that's realistic. You can't ask teams of that. It happened once all season. Toronto did it three times in a row. Nobody else could do it even twice. And so here we are. And it takes luck. It takes in game one within minutes of the series opening goal from Yassie Poo-Yarvi, a situation where during the regular season, Winnipeg opens it up. Winnipeg starts chasing the game. McDavid and Drysadle exploit the jets in transition.

There's lots of space behind them because when Winnipeg keeps pushing up the ice, turns out, Blake Wheeler throws a soft wrist shot on net. Mike Smith kicks it out, Tucker Pullman, scores his first goal of the year on his third shot from that close near the net. Like this is just not something that happens, but the two-on-two is played poorly by Kulikov and Larsson. Smith kicks out the rebound, boom. And then on Dominic Toninato's game-winning,

in game one goal. It hits a stick high in the zone. It then bounces off Toninato. It goes off the neck cam and nobody knows that he's scored that off ice officials have to call it in. Like, these are the kinds of things that divide the series. Hullabuck makes 38 saves in game two. Dylan de Mello throws both his hands up from his back, not even facing Connor McDavid and Connor McDavid has an empty net, stops that puck. Otherwise, it's a one-nothing third period Edmonton lead. Like these are the things that are happening to make the impossible possible heading into the game for tonight. Winnipeg has a chance to make history. They have literally never beaten Edmonton in a playoff series in the NHL and that's how we got here. So I want to make this

very clear. I know you said it was 100% of people picked Edmonton and our experts. I, and I have the playoff bracket. I can tweet it out. I got Winnipeg going to the final four. I was, I was a believer. Man, I wish we could show people your face. Your jaw. I need a He did his bracket, my goodness. Yeah, and I told Haley that I just, I always believe that Wittipag, they struggled too much for my liking down the stretch. It was going to turn around for them. But anyway, what I think a lot of our listeners want to know.

Sweet Humble-Bragian. Yeah, total Humblebeg. Oh, yeah. By the way, I got it right. Yeah. Welcome to the show. Let's not talk about the rest of my bracket, though. But what I think is really interesting and what I'd love to pick your brain about is,

okay, McDavid had three points in game three, but prior to that was held off the score sheet. Like, is there something. tactically the Jets are doing? Is there a specific shadow on McDavid? Like, what are you seeing that would explain McDavid, who had a season for the ages, being essentially converted into a mortal in the first couple of games of this series?

Yeah, it's definitely the storyline for games one and two. And we have to acknowledge there are moments like Dylan DeMello's throwing his hands up, getting that block. I mean, that's a surefire goal. And there's no tactics around that. These guys get their chances. is Connor Hullabuck has had to be good. Let's preface with that.

But the single biggest tactical difference from the Winnipeg Jets point of view is that they've backed so far off the forecheck when McDavid and Drysail are on the ice. The Jets traditionally during the season, they would commit two four checkers high, which would leave one in the middle of the ice, two defensemen. And in the middle of the ice, the Oilers defensemen were able to make that pass around those two four checkers and all of a sudden the neutral zone is wide open. And if it's wide open and Connor McDavid is going at his speed or Leon Dreisel is moving at his speed, that's too much space. There's a whole pocket there that the Oilers were able to exploit in transition.

And if you look at the regular season, I think that 6-1 devastating loss that really turned Winnipeg's emotional tie towards the negative was based on transition goals. In the playoffs, it's one forward high, two forwards way back at the red line. And the Jets are basically parking the bus four across their own blue line in an attempt to take away the time and space through the neutral zone. And it looks so passive. It must be so frustrating for like Mark Schifely, one of the most offensive players, Kyle Connor to line up with Connor McDavid and be told, okay, don't go try to get the puck. When they have committed two guys high, it's been an issue. It absolutely has. And in a heartbeat.

It happens twice in a game. McDavid and Drysout get two scoring chances in a game because they burst up through the neutral zone. Get the free entry. But for the most part, the Jets have been good at limiting the Oilers in transition. The game, sorry, part of me, the goals that Edmonton got last night to take that 401 lead, you have Leon Drysidle with a long in-zone shift. You cannot stop that. He ran over Josh Morrissey.

Morrissey's limping to try to get off the ice. The puck bounces back. The Oilers get a shot. Drysidle beats Morrissey to the rebound. That's going to happen. That is Leon Drysidal. You cannot stop that. They get a power play goal on the 5-13.

You cannot stop that. then the Jets start to open it up. They're trailing the game. And you get the, you get the jets pressing a minute and four shift from Kyle Connor and Mark Schaerner, and Mark Shaifley, pardon me. And that's against dry saddle McDavid. They get a transition three on two booms at Cassian scores.

So they have succeeded by by and large committing to their game, stopping that transition from happening and just accepting that the guys are going to get their chances otherwise. And is this just an example of like, You know, not just a complete buy-in from the players, but also just good tactical planning by Paul Maurice and his coaching staff? It is. And one of the stories for me all season long, and it's come out in quotes, it's come out from Paul Maurice, it's come out from Mark Schifley as well. Mark Schifley did not have a strong defensive impact season last year. Mark Schifley has struggled to be a matchup center going power versus power all season long. There have been issues there culminating in a high profile hockey night in Canada benching where he took a 90 second shift, took a coast to his own bench,

and was scored on by the Toronto Maple Leafs in transition just seconds later. And this has been something they've been working on. And one of the reasons why I didn't think that Winnipeg could go toe to toe with McDavid and Drysidal and have this kind of success is because I didn't think Mark Schifley could be part of a line that had success against the best players in the world. And I got to be honest, too. I love Shifley, Wheeler, and Connor, the Jets top line. Shifley is the most likely to see something and go for it and turn into stretching the zone

and trying to be a second four checker or trying to stay in the offensive zone a little bit longer. But he has been so much improved and so committed to the game over the first three games of hockey. One bad back check on that Zach Cassian goal, but that's it. And during the regular season, there was so much more of that. So for me, when you talk about buy-in and you talk about tactics combined, I look at the Jets superstar, one of the best offensive players in the world, committing to a game that I don't think was possible for him just one month ago. What do you think is going through Patrick Linae's mind if he's watching this series from a father?

What's going through his mind? I think he wanted to jump hug Nick Eilers, just like everybody else did after Euler's overtime game winning goal. They're best buds, right? Like this is the friendship that the Winnipeg community had grown to know and love over the years. Patrick Liney, with this trade, not only costs himself the offensive season of his life, playing with Paul Stastien, and Nick Euler's probably on that second line,

but now he's missing out on this. I mean, I think there's dollars missed, there's love missed, there's the playoffs missed. I think he's got to feel a little bit left out to be sure. And then I guess the other portion of that question is Pierre Luke Dubois and his impact, because I know he missed a game in this series, but like what have you seen out of the guy that,

I mean, this is who they, this is why they brought in, Pierre-Luc Dubois was for these types of series, these types of moments. I know he's only to play two games, but what impact has he had on the Jets' success so far in this series? Well, he hasn't been able to take things over. I mean, I remember that Toronto series last summer.

I remember that Tampa Bay series last summer. He was incredible. He was a force with speed, with power, all those sorts of things. He was taking over games offensively. That has not been the case. He had a couple of assists last night, which were sort of almost against the flow of play

with Eilers and Stastany, there's been a bit of play killing. And it's been such a tough season for Dubois. The trade gets followed by quarantine and then immediate for two weeks and then an immediate injury. He got injured towards the end of the regular season, misses a week of hockey, including the just first playoff game, comes in for game two. He hasn't been able to turn the tide through that same kind of dominance. But it speaks to Winnipeg's depth that he doesn't have to step in and take over the game.

They have a Nick Eelers for that. Wheeler Shifley and Connor have played a, very good against the Oilers top line. Adam Lowry, Matthew Perrault. Like there are deaf guys playing out of their minds right now. Just really, that's Winnipeg strength, that forward group. So Dubois being able to be part of that sort of secondary scoring line with Eilers and Stassney, he's just doing what he does.

And yes, plays sometimes do die on a sickie. And I got to admit, like I want to trumpet it. I want a trumpet. He came back. Things started going great. But it's a spark, I think, for me that just came in at the end of last night's game. We're okay, now he's got a couple of points. bounces went his way, you know, don't wait to sleeping giant.

If he is still getting back from injury, the Jets make it to round two, but watch out for Pierre Lugue Dubois in due time. And can, I mean, we've kind of touched on it and a little bit in some of these questions, some of your answers, but can you just talk about Connor Hallibuck and how great he's been this series? The best player in the series, in my opinion. I mean, he stopped, was it 77 of 78? 70 of 71 like the guy has been incredible all season long he's a big boost to winnipeg in the

standings he was my 2020 heart trophy number one pick on the ballot because of how horrid winnipeg's defense has been the kinds of chances the jets give up they're known for tons of shots tons of shots from enclosed tons of shots from dangerous situations like whether public or private analytical models nobody not nobody but amongst teams that are thought of as very good offensive teams the jets give up quite a lot connor hellabubub is their heartbeat. Blake Wheeler calls him the reason Winnipeg feels confident night in and night out.

It's, I think it's no secret. And maybe it used to be that this guy was the driver behind Winnipeg's success. And yeah, sure, four goals go in last night. But you have that five on three. You have Leon Dreissel doing superhuman things. You have Zach Cassion off 30, two with McDavid and Drysaddle. These things are going to happen.

But for the large part, he's been absolutely out of his mind. phenomenal. Winnipeg's best player, it's MVP, and this has been the case for two years easily. He was on my heart ballot last year, too, just to show how smart. I also am since Ian did that already. If you can make the call, you can make the call. I like it. It's all humble brags here from all of us. Like how smart we are at the athletic hockey show. Yeah. Okay. As we wrap up here, I got to ask you, because I know if Montreal, Toronto gets to a sixth game, they will allow a small number of fans into the Center in Montreal, 2,500 people. What's the situation in Winnipeg?

I think we were all thinking on Sunday night, my goodness, if there was a crowd at MTS Center to witness that, it would have been amazing. If the Jets can get past Edmonton, Murat, is there any opportunity for limited capacity, a handful of fans to come in for round two? I don't see it on our horizon because of Manitoba's COVID situation right now. I think we're per capita, the worst in Canada, at the moment, perhaps North America. We're in a tougher spot than we've ever been with respect to COVID-19,

which is a real shame at this stage with this much time gone by. And it's an especially big shame when you have a comeback win, like Sunday, down 4-1, 10 minutes to go, three minutes and three seconds they get those goals. I mean, imagine Bell MTS place. You wouldn't need 16,000 fans to blow the roof off of that place. If it was 2,000 or 3,000, it would have been so. special. So I don't see it in our immediate future. And honestly, it just makes me sad. I miss that for the fans. I wish they could have it. And I wish that we were doing better in terms of that COVID-19

situation. Well, listen, we wish you the best of luck in your coverage of the Winnipeg Jets here is if they, you know, fingers crossed. And for Jets fans that they can get into to round two and beyond. But we wish you the very best in terms of staying safe. Because obviously, as you outlined, things aren't great in Manitoba and in Winnipeg. But we really appreciate you taking a few minutes to chat with us about an unbelievable game that unfolded on Sunday. Thank you so much, Ian. Thank you, Hayley. All right, Haley, as always going to wrap up the show

with a little multiple choice madness. Here we go. We'll do a couple of questions here. Obviously, playoff-related playoff themes. Here we go. Question one, Haley, it's time to cast your way too early Kahn-Smith Trophy for playoff MVP. I know we're only like 10 days into the playoffs,

the Northern Series, you know, in some cases there's only been a couple of games played, but here we go. Haley, who gets your vote for the way too early Kanswai Trophy as playoff MVP? Is it A, Connor, Connor, C., Nakita Kutcheroff of the Tampa Lightning, B, Connor Hallibuck of the Winnipeg Jets, C, Nathan McKinnon from the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, Goldie, Mark Andre Fleury, or E, UC Sarosh. Goaltender for the Nashville Predators, Haley, who gets your way too early cons my trophy vote right now. I'm going to say Nathan McKinnon, four games, nine points.

He's been incredible. You know, he's just really taking his game to a whole other level. He has six goals in four games. In that sweep of St. Louis, he scored six goals. Like that is a star player playing, you know, raising his game in the playoffs, helping his team win. And obviously, you know, I think UC Saros played great. Like I said, I have been a big fan. But I don't know how far Nashville is going to make it, right?

So I'm going to go with a team that I think, you know, I picked Colorado to win the Stanley Cup. So I'm going to stay true to that. And not only will the avalanche, in my opinion, win this year. Because again, I think they have a chip on their shoulder from last season. But it's going to be led by Nate McKinnon. And he's, that's just an incredible first round for Nathan. so he's my Khan-Smith trophy winner. You know what?

It's hard to argue with that. Like you said, to get as many goals as he's got. But I'm going to go with Connor Hellebuck. And I think if you had got into this series and said, Haley, hey, Connor is going to be the MVP of this series. He'd be like, yeah, of course, it's going to be McDavid. But it's not. It's Hella-Buck.

And he's got a 958, I think, 9-58, say percentage, buck-55 goals against. I think the ice has been tilted at times in favor of Edmonton. Hellebuck has been dynamite. And I really truly believe he's the best goalie on a Canadian-based team right now. And that's why. Big reason why I picked Winnipeg to get out is I trusted the goaltending. I trusted it more than Edmontons.

I trusted it more than Toronto's or Montreal. But I never thought, I mean, right now I think he's playing on another level. So give me Connor Hellebuck, Haley, as the way too early Kant's My Trophy winner for me. And if I can jump in, as great. great as Connor Hallibuck has been with a 958 say percentage. Mark Andre Fleury is sitting at a 966. That's gross. It is.

It is gross. Just to say, just to throw that out there. Even Jack Campbell has a 943 say percentage right now. Like, we're just seeing some incredible goaltending this playoffs. And I love it. Goal scoring is fun and everything,

but the goaltending has just been awesome. And like you said, when you see a series like Carolina and Nashville, even though there's some goals, there's some unbelievable overtime goaltending that's gone on there. Okay, Haley, question number two, this one really created a stir in the hockey world, and that is the Department of Player's Safety slapping Nazim Cadry

with an eight-game suspension for his high hit last week as part of that series against the St. Louis Blues and Justin Falk. So here's my question, Haley. Did the Department of Player Safety get the Cadry suspension right? Your answers, your options are, A, yes, eight games was a fair punishment for repeat offender, or B, no, eight playoff games is way too hard. So tell you what, I'm going to go first on this one. And I know that I construct the questions.

And so maybe I should have altered this a little bit. I'm going to say, yes, the punishment was fair. But I just want to see this applied fairly in the future. That's all. Like, I want to know that this is being done so that. that down the road, if there's another player that's at a repeat offender, when he does something like this, it's going to be eight games for him. Because I think I've been among a huge course of people saying,

we've got to crack down on head injuries. So for me to sit here and say eight games is too harsh because no one else has gotten eight games. That's wrong. I think this is the right suspension, but let's keep doing it. Like keep making the suspensions so hard. Like, let me put this. way, Haley. This is the first time in a long time? I recall having a conversation of,

is this too harsh of a penalty? Usually it's the other way around where we're like, I don't think that's harsh enough. So they got it right, but just keep getting it right. That's my point. Yeah, and I agree. It's tough to say no, he doesn't deserve the suspension because we know that Nazim Kodry has had several instances of being suspended. And not for like trip, not for a slash for for a headshot. And that is certainly an issue, but obviously we have seen, you know, you look back at some of the headshot suspensions that got handed out this season. It's a lot of two game suspensions, I think we saw, lots of three game, one game,

you know, that really aggressive, and it wasn't direct contact to the head for Sam Bennett, but that boarding, charging call, he got one game. Tom Wilson got a fine. That's the elephant in the room, obviously. And he is a repeat offender. And he got, what, a $5,000 fine, $50,000 fine? So it's tough to look at the $5,000. But again, the league explained that as the incident with Artemi Panarin was just a post-wistle scrum that ended poorly.

and then I think he got fined for the cross-check to the back of the head on Buccanevich. So it's hard to look at the Condry suspension and say, like, yeah, this makes a ton of sense because everything I just said, you know, and I was looking at what Jared Bednar had to say, and obviously it's the coach of the Colorado Abilanch. So he is going to, you know, be a little bit biased because it's his player. But what he said, because at first I look at it and it was like, Codry, like this isn't the first time. And you look at all the suspensions as they are right now.

That's 16 games. Like that is a, that is the Stanley. You won the Stanley Cup with your playoff, um, suspension, 16 games. It goes all the way to the cup final, basically, um, for Nazam Codry. And it's hard to look at that and say, yeah, you don't deserve it because this isn't the first time he's been caught in that situation. But Jared Bednar said something interesting that makes me think, okay, maybe eight games is too much. So they lay out the rules of what a repeat offender is. And in my understanding, it's 18 months.

So you watch the video and they talk about him being a repeat offender, but he's not because he's been with us for 18 months and he does not have any history with the Colorado Avalanche. So I don't understand it. So if that's the interpretation and that's the correct interpretation of a repeat offender and Nazim Kodry has not been suspended for contact to the head or any kind of suspension in the last 18 months, then I guess I kind of agree with. Jared Bednar. He is a repeat offender in the past, but he wasn't suspended last year in the playoffs. So if it's an 18-month pad that they're looking at, if you've been suspended for this in the last essentially two seasons, then you're a repeat defender. I don't know, that's my big

roundabout way of saying, I think he should have been suspended, but maybe eight games is too harsh. So maybe I'm saying no. But it's tough. Like, it's not black and white here. It's not just, Yeah, it's good. No, it's not because we want to, I think we are both in agreement that we want there to be penalties for contact to the head. So there is a reason for these players to not do it anymore. Like, you have to give them a reason to not continue to do this. And that's probably the reason why it came down so hard on cadre because what is this? It's the fourth time in the last five years, fourth time in the last five or six years. that he's been suspended in the playoffs for a headshot. So this is clearly somebody who they're trying to change that behavior. But again, if you're calling it by the book, and that's the definition of repeat offender that they're using, the Nate games is probably too much,

especially when you see a $5,000 fine. I also think that, by the way, that 18-month rule is really stupid because that means that, so every 18 months I'm allowed to clock a guy in the head, and it's a slate. Come on. Like, let's smarten up here in H. Okay. Last question in multiple choice madness. Haley, I'm going to give you three Stanley Cup rings

and I'm going to slap a big old mustache on your face. And now you're coach Joe Quinville. Your coach, Q, Haley. I'm going to put you in his shoes. Okay. Who would you starting goal for the Florida Panthers in a win or go home game five against the lightning? would you go A, Sergey Bobrovsky, B, Chris Dreeger, or C, Spencer Knight?

Who would you go with if you were Joel Quenville? That's a tough one. Well, it was Bobrovsky who won them their first. Bobovsky played in game one and two, right? When they had the great, the awesome game one. No, no, they switched after game one. He played game one, right? Yeah.

Driger played game two, right? Yeah. I mean, my first thought is to go back to the guy who won, who's won you the one game that you've won in this series, but he's also lost a couple. And do you really want to go to a young rookie? I don't envy the position that Joel Guunville is in. I think I saw online the other day that Spencer Knight was warming up in the starters crease, wasn't he?

So I think that he's starting game five. Or at least he was practicing, like it was a possibility. I don't know. I think, I don't know, going to, you know, a rookie goalie to make their first ever playoff start and a must-win game five is, It's a bold strategy, but, you know, maybe I'll go with Spencer Knight because obviously you're down 3-1 in the series. You've, you know, there's been a ton of goals against. So maybe you need to try something new. So maybe I say Spencer Knight.

You know what? You're right. Like, so Bobrovsky did get the win in this series, but it was in relief in that in that wacky 6-5 game. Yeah. So that's the, it's just weird, right? It's tough to look at the goaltending and say, okay, well, he won the game. He lost, but he only led in a couple. He lost, but he led in, what, the five goal game. So the games have been great. I don't, you know, Andre Vasselowski's been great,

but when you look at the Florida Panthers, I don't know if they're, they can say that goaltending has been, you know, a huge strength for them. So, I mean, yeah, it would be his first playoff start ever, but I guess your other two goaltenders haven't exactly gotten it done. So maybe you go for the rookie and hope that there can be some first playoff start magic. That's kind of throwing a kid into the fire, though, against the Tampa Bay Lightning Stamcoast and Kutrov and all the firepower that they have. You know what, though? So you would go at night, though?

Eh, why not? That does not sound the least bit. First of all, that's a terrible Joel Quenville impression because he would never sound like that. And B, you have no confidence in your voice. No. But who else? Would I have confidence in Draeger or Bobrovsky? No. No. It's, it's, it's, it's so true, though. Like, there's the old saying, if you have three goalies, you really have no goies. And that's the Panthers right now. Like, they don't have anything. I would tend to agree with you. I'd go Spencer Knight. And it looks like that that's what they're doing. But why not? Like you're just a cop out because he's just warming up as the starter. So we're like, if I was Jill Quunbel, I would do exactly what Joel Kwanble is doing right now. Exactly. I would do it for sure though because I think maybe sometimes when you put a rookie goalie in there, it might sometimes snap everybody's attention in the focus and they're a little bit more worried about how they play in their own zone and they don't want to get embarrassed. So I think the kid, they have high hopes for him. Why not give it a world here? We've seen crazy things in the past with Cam Ward and, you know, other goalies that really had no playoff pedigree coming into the situations where their teams were down by a couple of games. And they bounce back. All right, Haley, we're going to have to leave it there.

How do you think our brackets are going to be when we revisit the show next week? I don't know that our Panthers are going to be alive. Yeah, that's going to hurt. You know, I didn't have Edmonton going too far, so that's not going to kill me. Um, my, I had Vegas. I had Colorado. So I'm looking pretty good there. I have Toronto.

So we'll see what happens tonight. It's going to be a big week for us, Ian. But no, my final four is my panthers. Hurt me. Our, our panthers hurt us. Yeah. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Uh, our panthers hurt us.

We're down bad. Poor Edmonton fans are down bad. I tried to make a joke about it to one of my friends. He was like, not now. I'm like, oh, ooh, spicy over in Edmonton. But we'll see. And I wouldn't hate being, again, I would be great to see Rod Bindamore and the Carolina Hurricanes go deep into the playoffs,

although I didn't have them beating Florida in the next round because, again, that's our team. But, you know, I wouldn't hate seeing the predilemma make an upset like that. You know, for all of the discourse that was around that team this year, all of the discourse around Ryan Johansson and Matt Duchayne, those two played really well the last couple games. They struggled a bit early. They've played well down the stretch. I wouldn't hate to see Nashville make a big upset. Team chaos. I'm sorry, I like the hurricanes, but I also like the chaotic energy. So down goes brown. Maybe I'll mend the fences.

Yeah, well, listen, I'll try and do that with him on Thursday. We got the show together. But that does it for us here. Tell him what I have to inform someone. Hey, FYI, you're at a fight with somebody. We'll leave it there, though. Thanks, everybody for listening to this edition of The Athletic Hockey Show. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

Leave us a rating and a review. We certainly would appreciate that. You can get a six-month subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month when you visit the athletic.com slash hockey. show. Reminder, we've got a new show in the roster. It comes your way every Tuesday. It's the Team USA. That's what they're calling themselves. Team USA edition of the athletic hockey show. Custin's and Gentilly. They're back at it on Tuesday. They'll be joined by, I guess, interim, a Sabres head coach, Don Granato. Still got the interim tag on there. Don Granato joins the

athletic hockey show with Craig Custin, Sean Gentilly. That comes your way Tuesday. Burnside and LeBron. They're back with the two-man advantage edition on Wednesday. And like I said, I'll try and mend the fence between Haley Selvian and Sean McIndoo. He's down goes brown. We're back at it on Thursday.