The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Hockey Show: Four Nations Preview (feat. Billy Lindsay)

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

Only a couple days remain before the NHL breaks for the Four Nations Faceoff and Roy, David and Ethan are here to get you ready. Before they do that, they run through their slapshots, winners and fails of the week including Ryan Hartman's nasty hit on Tim Stützle that got him a 10-game suspension, the Buffalo Sabres not standing up for Tage Thompson, and Sam Bennett throwing hands with Jake Neighbors. Then, Billy Lindsay of the Florida Panthers Radio Network and NHL Network joins the show to discuss the Four Nations, how jacked up guys are to play in the tournament, the crazy Wild Card race in the Eastern Conference, and his legendary call of the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup. In the final segment, the boys run through the week that was for the Florida Panthers and Roy shares his thoughts on the Panthers visit to The White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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That's Dave. That's Ethan. Rosie is not here. She's at the Super Bowl. That's it. All right. So let's go to slap shots really quickly. Let's go.

All right. Hot takes, Dave. Hot takes, all right. Well, hi, welcome to the show. Hey. Good to be here. How you doing? My hot take, earlier this week, Ricard Raquel and the Penguins, they were playing the Devils.

He had one goal disallowed right there that he kicked in the net. Yeah. That goal did not count. Later in the game, he accidentally kicked the puck in his own net. That goal did count. Yeah.

So my hot take is if it's not in the crease and it's not danger to the goalie with you kicking your feet around, why can't that be legal? Because it's an own goal, that's why it can't be legal. Why can't a player try to kick the puck in from anywhere on the ice? If it's legal to deflect it off his skate,

why can't he just kick it? If it's a safety thing outside of the crease, that's fine. But like, and this is coming from a goalie. Like what's the problem? What, did you have to use your stick? Yeah, it's not soccer. You should have to use your stick to push the puck. I'm not saying you should try to,

but I'm saying it shouldn't be illegal. You can't bat the puck in with your glove either. Yeah. Then you can bounce off your torso. You can bounce off your leg. Well, it's a little different. I think hand-eye coordinates. You can't make that sweeping motion.

No. No, I don't know, man. I think it might be a little fun. Well, that's the other thing, fun. I mean, you can't make that sweeping motion. No, I don't know man. I think I think it might be fun That's the other thing fun. I mean you can deflect it off to skate. Yeah, that's legal. So why can't you just kick it in? Here's my question. What's that soccer if you score an own goal you get credited for a goal Why don't they do that in hockey like? Goal it doesn't count towards your goal. So no, I know that error But like the e column no, but on the stat column it comes up like Carter Verhege in the ranger one of the rangers games last year he shot the puck and it went in off a stick he got credited for the goal that's not how it should be

Carter Verhege should not get credit for that goal. You know the reason why? The defender should be credited for an own goal that's not how it works though in soccer it works that way but in... You know the reason why they do that though Ethan. No I don't. Goaltenders.. In soccer it works that way, but in hockey it doesn't. You know the reason why they do that though, Ethan? No, I don't. Goaltenders. Goaltenders. Oh. That's why. Goaltenders, the last time, they're the last to touch the puck,

and all of a sudden there's an own goal that happens, the goaltender is credited with the goal. You know, the opposing goaltender. Yeah, I don't need another anti-goal stat attached to my goaltending stats. I don't need own goals attached to my goals against the average. Enough of you and your goalie fraternity.

No, no, no, we're talking about goal tenders scoring goals, actually. Not own goals, but actual goals credited to them. Because if they made the save, and all of a sudden there's an own goal on entry net. Like the first ever goal credited to a goal tender, Billy Smith. He didn't shoot it in the net. He made a save, and then Colorado Rockies shot it into their own net. That's correct. That's pretty much why that is.

Alright, so that's my hot take. Clearly nobody agrees with me. No, clearly. Roy, what's your hot take? All right. Ryan Hartman got suspended for 10 games for this. Now, this type of stuff should not be in the game. And what he did looked like something out of the WWE. It looked like something out of AEW, TNA as well. I mean, Ryan Hartman basically did his best Jake the Snake Roberts impression and gave a DDT to Tim Stusler.

He didn't get hurt worse because that came down right in his neck. Yeah. The visor is right there too. That's so dangerous. That's what cut him open. Yeah. That's what cut him open. It could get sliced even worse. Yeah. So he had a cut over his eye because of that. He could have had a concussion. He

could have had a broken neck. And he got a 10-game suspension. Not because of that. He could have had a concussion, he could have had a broken neck. And he got a 10-game suspension, not because of that. It was multiplied because he's a repeat offender. He's been suspended seven times prior to this. Really? Seven. That many times? Yes. It's been a few one-game suspensions, a couple of threes and a five. Now he's got a 10. This is it. This is the last one. Dude's got a lot of points on his license.

Yep. He should have his license taken away from him. A ten game suspension? That's an eighth of a season. That's crazy. That's reckless play. Now he gave the reason why I was trying to keep my balance. So I used my arm to be on top of the still slide. What is this? Are kids Tyler and Claire learning to state that they need to keep their Balance on each other. That's why you need a sled. These are NHL players. They don't need sleds These are the best players and staters in the world. I'm sorry, but you I don't buy that That play was off a face off by the way. That's why that's why he complained about I was trying to keep my balance there

But yeah, I mean this or just fall on your ass and don't you know, maybe? Paralyze the guy right ass and don't, you know, maybe paralyze the guy. Right. I don't know. So he's appealing this suspension. If Bettman says no, because this is six games or more, he's going to have to go to an independent arbitrator and then who knows what's going to happen from there. But he deserves this suspension. Yeah, that's not cool.

And if I'm telling you right now, following this this if he does anything as heinous as that. I mean he's my he might as well go to Tony D'Angelo around go to Russia Yeah Well, the leads not gonna keep putting guys in if they continue to repeat offend and to put other players safety at hazard Like that's you just got to protect everybody else. Yeah You got anything? Can you share words in the NHL? Can you share awards like a co-MVP? The Jennings trophy goes to two goaltenders. Okay, but you can't like, like my hot take is

Barkov and Reinhardt should share the sell key. Oh boy. I mean, why don't we just go back to having ties? Well, I mean, no, no, you got first, second, third, fourth, and fifth place votes. So that's going to be exceedingly difficult for a tie to happen. If they tie, what happens? Is it first place tiebreak? First place vote tiebreaker? Yeah, it's got to be a tiebreaker.

I feel like I should know the answer. I guess my take here is that Reinhart should really win the cell keep, but he's not going to, because Barkov is on his line. And Barkov is just going to win the cell keep. Well, keep in mind, Barkov was actually injured earlier in the season. That's going against him. Definitely. But he only missed really like a week or two at the beginning of the season.

I just think the work that Reinhardt does defensively goes so fly so far under the radar because he plays next to the guy that everybody agrees is the best defensive forward in the league right now. And now that Patrice Bergeron is out of the league, Barkov can finally start winning the Selkie every year. But I just think my hot take would be both those guys give it to him. Under zero circumstance

were those two cancel each other out. That's Barkov's lower. It's one or the other. But I've actually put a lot of thought into this in recent weeks. And I've been kind of on team Reinhardt since last year, just as somebody coming up. But the conclusion I came to is that Barkov's

what he does defensively and I don't mean broadly and statistically I mean the plays he makes with his stick the way that he separates guys from the puck the way that he accelerates and completely ends plays out of nowhere I don't see anybody doing those specific things. The play he made on the game-winning goal last night where he's just got a guy up against the boards and just shoves him off and gets the puck right into the middle for Reinhart. No disrespect to Sam Reinhart and what he's doing and he's an amazing defensive player, but I think Sasha Barkov is on another level. That's just where I'm at.

When's it a week, David? My win of the week, Porter Martone. Prospect. Prospect for the NHL. He's playing in the OHL right now for the Br.h.l. he's playing in the o.h.l. right now for the uh... brampton steelheads uh... he did a q and a recently with bar down and they asked him i got a hundred questions right you know whatever was ninety four questions as he was number ninety four uh... but so many of the non hockey related answers

were hockey related like what kind of toothpaste use i don't know whatever whatever would keep my teeth into the blackie what kind of shows you are sure well you know what whatever you keep my teeth in cuz I play hockey What kind of shows do you watch? Well, you know whatever NHL tonight Every single thing was hockey related I'm so here for it. This kid is what is he like 17 years old? He hasn't even gotten to the NHL yet He's got the cliches down already as a prospect He's so hyper focused and ready to go

It's like they teach a class It's Bull Durham all over again, it's Crash Davis But maybe it's a goalie instead of a catcher. But, Porter Marton, I can't wait for him to get to the NHL, he's such a hyper-focused hockey guy, kind of makes me think of Matthew Tkachuk and somebody that's just eats and breeds and sleeps hockey 24-7. So I just thought that was cool, that's my win of the week, give me more hockey guys. Ethan. Porter Marton is 18 years old, my win of the week goes to Sam Bennett, this was awesome

last night, I was absolutely jacked up. Sam Bennett and Jake Neighbors. Sam Bennett, for those who don't know, delivered a big hit to Jake Neighbors the last time the Panthers had played. It's close to being a hit to the head. And I guess the Blues decided we were gonna send Jake Neighbors after him, and these two went at it

off the opening draw right away, put both of them in the center circle, and look at Bennett, just whooped his ass. Bennett also almost got credited with the goal, Mackie Samusevich ended up getting the credit for that goal, but did have an assist, so he came up a goal shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick, and that fight was awesome. I think we should pay a pet adoption fee,

just based off that fight. You know how Bennett is paying a pet adoption fee on this goal? That should count as a goal. That was good enough. I yes, I know that, but still, you want us to pay it? You want us to pay it? No, that should count as a goal. That was good enough. I kind of agree with that, because it's so rare when a guy will actually agree to drop the gloves with Sam Bennett.

It's not like he doesn't want to fight. The guy wins every fight he's in. Whooped his ass. He is a menace. I would never want to face him. So anytime somebody's got the balls to drop their gloves with Sam Bennett, I think there should be some kind of reward.

Hats off to both Jake Nevers and Sam Bennett. That was a great fight. Jake Nevers was like, sorry, Mr. Bennett, I was not attuned to your game. That sort of thing. Deceivingly good fighter. Yeah, my win of the week goes to the ice crew at the United Center Wednesday night prior to the Oilers game against the Blackhawks. Saw a bat flying around. Where's Manu Janobli when you need him?

Yeah, yeah. The coyote. Osborne out there. Yeah. Eventually, again, like they do with Spurs games, like we just mentioned, they caught the bat. They netted the bat down with a huge net, down to the ice and safely got that flying mammal up out of there. So good job by the Blackhawks ice crew. Multipurpose, I like that.

Yeah, very good. Fails of the week, David? I'm afraid, boys, that we're going back to Buffalo for my fail of the week But I feel like this one is kind of a universally agreed-on thing earlier this week Tage Thompson got absolutely leveled by Stefan Noßen of the Devils and nobody on his team did a goddamn thing This is second time. This is like the second straight. He's laying there on the ice face down and everybody's just skating around, palms to the ceiling. What happened? The guys on the bench, there's guys on the bench that were like standing up in furious, but they can't do anything. Right. It shouldn't matter. This is hockey. This

is the highest level of hockey. This is the NHL. Your teammate gets run like that. And look, we've talked about this before. Clean hits, you leave them alone. That's not a clean hit. The guy's fr freaking helmet went popping off into the second row of the stands nobody did anything that is embarrassing it's disgusting you know what was even worse is in their next game they played Columbus and Columbus sent out Matthew Olivier and Matthew Olivier fought a defenseman for the Sabres whose name is escaping me right now Dennis Gilbert that mmm anyway they fought off the draw.

And it was like, is this them being like, yeah, we're tough. We're going to fight the Columbus Blue Jackets. No. Like, that was lame. Like, they had their team meeting. So little, so late. Words were said, the guys got heated, and then they went out the next.

It's like, no, no, this is your guy was bleeding on the ice. You missed your chance, and I just look like fools. Well, a couple of things. A couple of games prior to that. They had the gold to the ran They didn't do a thing and they went into the press conference saying hey, well we do this We take a penalty in that situation We needed to win and then Lenny Ruff said pick anybody else go and fight like they did that Did that that happened? That's twice in a row. And the second thing is you got to go pretty high. And I mean pretty high to knock down Tace Thompson with a headshot.

That is very true. That's ridiculous. There's just nothing that was good about any of that. The more I see it, the more I hate it. And I'm sure that a lot of those guys in the Buffalo sweaters feel the same way, but just twice. I don't know what the hell's going on in Buffalo. That's a deserved fail of the week though, right guys Yes, that's deserved my fail of the week. The Bouncers did not go the Kings way early in their game Ridiculous Mike Matheson, this was against the Canadians took a shot from the point Which deflected off the ass of Drew Dowdy which then deflected off the mask of Darcy Kemper. The title game won one. The Kings ended up winning this one 6 to 3 but you can't take that to a... what are you gonna call this? An own goal? The butt puck. There you go. The butt head goal. That should count against Drew Dowdy.

That should count against Drew Dowy. That goal should be Drew Doughty's goal. Yeah. His own goal. Not whoever shot it for the punter. Fart in the punt out. That would be a defenseman. That would be an E2 in that situation. If you go from goaltender to defenseman to forward, that would be E2, E3. Yeah, there you go. Ethan, you are wearing a Northeastern University jersey. Yeah. Why?

Getting to college? I want to give a shout out to you. You're going back to college. Good friend of mine from my time at NBC this summer when I worked the Olympics, Julia, she goes to Northeastern now. She's one of our interns. And she sent me this jersey.

And I appreciate it so much. And she wanted me to shout out the women's team who won the Beanpot this year. And I think their win was like the biggest win, biggest margin of victory in Beanpot history or something like that. They absolutely destroyed, I think it was BC maybe. Now BC of course went on and ran the men's Beanpot

and Northeastern got run out of the tournament over there. So I guess that could be my fail of the week is for the men's, Northeastern men. You're really kinda hitting a broad scope here on the Northeastern got run out of the tournament over there. So I guess that could be my fail of the week is for the men's, Northeastern men's. You're really kinda hitting a broad scope here on the Northeastern today. Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out, appreciate it. And also a little bit of Stu Gottson, everybody, if anybody wants me to wear a hockey jersey on the show,

send it my way. Now we did this, what, I don't know, five episodes in? Yeah, a while ago. Yeah, we got a John Van Beesbrook statue, statue, no, no, the mask. The John Van Beesbrook mask. It's right over there. It's over there in the production studio.

Like, I try, I try to get free stuff all the time, you know, and I deserve it. I worked hard over 20 years. I like free stuff. I want free stuff right now. So please. Ethan's got that Beeser mask. Yeah, yeah. So please, if you have free stuff, myself, David, that these are massive. Yeah, so please if you have free stuff

Myself, don't leave it Ethan and Rosie if she was here herself the awesome stickers Oh, we got the awesome stickers as long as it's not a rival of the Gators or the Panthers Send it my way and I'll wear it on the hand again as long as it's not Sydney Crosby related. I Asked that you please so we please benefit us, plus us. We got a minute left, boys, in this segment. Who you guys have in the Four Nations? Oh, boy. The Panthers.

All eight of them. I'll take the Panthers. All eight Panthers. I'm sure for everyone who's a Panthers. Yeah, I really don't know, like who, in terms of a favorite, like it's hard not to go to Team Finland. Team Finland to me is like Team Japan

in baseball tournaments where there might not be the most talented, but they're so fundamentally sound and they're gonna play such good hockey and they're gonna have such a cohesive unit. I find it hard not to believe that Finland could easily end up in the final of this tournament. We have Bill Lindsey coming up. If you wanna watch that, you can watch that on YouTube

if you watch on DKN. So Billy Lindsey is gonna join us in a second Hey folks, it's Mike Ryan and I need to talk to you about something that I use religiously anytime I'm hosting a big dinner party. I want to impress people and I get food from some of the most iconic famous places in the country You know what helps me do that? Goldbelly this amazing site where I order from all the time Where you can get all these amazing foods from all across our great country. They will ship free to your door! Anywhere in the US of A. Gold Belly will ship you Philly Cheese Stakes from Jim's or Pat's in Philly.

I'm treating my office right now to a cheese steak party from Pat's, courtesy of Gold Belly. And on top of that, I threw in some original buffalo wings from Anchor Bar in Buffalo. You can get Kansas City's most legendary barbecue from Gold Belly and on top of that I threw in some original Buffalo wings from Anchor Bar in Buffalo. You can get Kansas City's most legendary BBQ from Gold Belly. And if the pizza near you sucks, they will ship you New York style pizza from John's on Bleecker or Chicago deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's, I do that all the time, or even New Haven or Detroit style pizza. If you are truly gluttonous though, they will ship you Guy Fieri's famous trash can nachos, which I kid you not are the ultimate game day centerpiece So if you're looking to host an epic Super Bowl party or any party for that matter go to goldbelly.com

And get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code Dan. That's goldbelly.com code Dan for free shipping and 20% off your first order shorter. Joining us now is the analyst from the Florida Panthers Hockey Network on the radio and from NHL Network, Bill Lindsay, who's been doing this for a long while. David, everything good? Yes, sir. Good, sir. How are you? Just came out of the gym a little bit sweaty in my car. My apologies.

I love it Go for the Pat Riley look a little back here. I don't got much hair left We just haven't have Pat Riley over here. Yeah. No, you got the slick back hair thing going with the with the sweat No, it's a good look Billy. Yeah We'll try make it work. Yeah. Well speaking of trying to make it, the Florida Panthers are making it work right now. Nice segue. Oh, thank you. I've been doing this for a while.

They just beat the St. Louis Blues and now they're going in the Saturday to face the Ottawa Senators before the Four Nations tournament break. So let's go over the Four Nations and who's going to be in it for Florida. For team USA, we got Matthew Kachuk. Team Canada, both Sams. The Sams Club. The Sams Club with Reinhardt and Bennett. Team Finland, four people. We got Club, the Sams Club with Reinhardt and Bennett, Team Finland,

four people. We got four everybody, all the Finns. We got Alexander Barkov, Anton Lindell, Itulu Sirainen, Nico Mikula, and for Team Sweden, Gustav Forsling. Now, my question is, you got all these guys going into this tournament, multiple games. How are they going to feel coming out of this tournament? My comp is obviously the World Cup of hockey that happened in the mid 90s and that was tough. That one was very physical. Nobody liked each other, even if they were on the same team. So I expect them to be a little bit tired coming out of the tournament. What say you, Bill? Yeah, we'll see. It's a good break. Once you go there, the speed level, there's not many

times that you can get at a speed level that's going to be higher tempo and higher pace than the NHL. But when you go best on best, that's exactly what happens. Yes, the Panthers have played a lot of hockey and some of their stars, the eight players that you mentioned, going over to the Four Nations, they're excited about it. It's not a heavy lift as far as scheduling, not a ton of games in the two-week span. I believe the most you can play is five over that So it's not it's not gonna be too tiring not wear them out But because of that speed level and hyper tempo Paul Maurice

I was talking to him and every occasion that he's mentioned that players when they come back from that their tempo and pace So is so high The getting back to the NHL level is kind of seems like they're going back maybe down to the American Hockey League for a normal player. That's what you hope happens. And then the rest of the group of the Panthers that get to dip their toes in the sand, Sergey Bobroski, Carter Verhege, players along that line that have just played a ton of hockey, Aaron Echblad.

You know what? Take some rest, take some time, gather your thoughts. The team is playing well at the right time. They've done enough to this point. 500 hockey the rest of the way guarantees you a playoff spot. They want better than that. But the Four Nations, they're excited for it. Expect these players, they're well conditioned, well trained, and when they come back, they'll be ready to go. And that's when I believe you will see the Panthers hit the gas pedal full throttle. That's when they want to be dialed in.

Well, you mentioned pace of play. This is going to be completely different than what this tournament is replacing, which is an angel also game. So what I'm looking at right now is them going into this game. And the fact that their teammates during the regular season, it's all going to be put aside, right? So do you agree? Like, is there going to be chirping?

Is Matt DeKuchuk going to be chirping Alexander Bark so do you agree like is there going to be chirping is Matthew Kachuk going to be chirping Alexander Barkov when USA plays Finland? It depends how the games go you play with guys and you're in a Stanley Cup like that the chirping is going to be minimal I don't know how much you actually get to it but Matthew and Brady Kachuk playing together that's kind of interesting I guess there's no bounds once you get into that team competition you're playing for your country. I don't know if things get a little side. We'll see. Maybe some sure. But I believe between teammates, you will not see it go overboard. Just kind of some friendly kidding,

if you will. Billy, I wanted to talk to you about the Detroit Red Wings, which is maybe a sentence I haven't said out loud in a while. But they've won what seven in a row now they've crept into a wild card spot in the east that they're playing great under Todd McClellan. My question is, is this just the new coach bump or are the Red Wings really turning it on? Are we going to see them possibly entering the playoff conversation when we get into March? Yeah, there's a possibility. Todd McClellan's got it dialed in right there. Powerplay is exceptional. They move it around quick. Larkin has gotten better since Todd McClellan staking over defensively they've been a little bit more structured not giving up some shots they still rely a lot on that power play they do not score a lot

of goals at five on five and still a team that you look at if you're trying to compare it but who's going to come out Detroit has a good shot as any with the way that they're playing with McClellan with it and they pushed right to game 82 last year with a hard push almost got in. And I guess the template for the Red Wings is being set with just a little bit more defensive. Their top players are going and Todd McClellan's made tweaks with Marco Casper on that top line,

a young kid playing with Larkin Raymond. So that kind of stuff, Patrick Kane, they can get in there. There has to be someone. So Ottawa maybe, yeah, who knows. They're kind of up and down like a yo-yo. I would say that same thing about the Detroit Red Wings. They're going to have to, they played a played a lot of home games are going to have to go on the road and win. But I was picking out of that lot. Yeah, it's really tough to say. I would say Ottawa and Detroit have the best chances though. Definitely not Boston, right?

It's really tough to say. I would say Ottawa and Detroit have the best chances though. Definitely not Boston, right? Boston, yeah. Boston's all over the map. Boston gets in somehow. They always do. No, no. This year it's over.

Billy, I want to go back to the Four Nations for a second. You're around the team. I feel like I've seen a lot of writers and people kind of poo-pooing the Four Nations. Oh, it's a made-up tournament. It doesn't really matter. But I get the sense that these players are really jacked up. What's the sense that you get from being around the Panthers and being around the league as well

in terms of how fired up these guys are to play in a tournament like this? Because remember, this was an NHLPA ask. They wanted best on best hockey. So what are your sense about, you know, just how fired up guys are? Guys, I think it's been a long time, best on best. And when you put that flag on the jersey and all of a sudden with advancements in USA hockey,

USA hockey is the favorite in that tournament, which is crazy to think about. So you go into that, the goaltending, the defensemen, you look at the group and Sweden, Finland, always put together really superb teams. They're going to be tough outs. You put on that flag for any country, they're going to represent it. They're going to go through the wall. And that's why they wanted to be there.

And who doesn't want to go against Connor McDavid and Sydney Crosby? Against the Kichuk brothers going head to head and seeing the best players in the world showcase their skills. They are pumped. They're going to do it. You're going players in the world showcase their skills. They are pumped. They're going to do it. You're going to see the best from these athletes.

You'll see the game at a speed at a level that's just almost grotesque. You can't believe that it gets that fast. It's truly going to be fun to watch. Finland is the size of Manhattan. Try and grasp that. Five million people. It's the size of Manhattan. And they continue on the world stage with these kinds of players.

You've seen Lundell, Lulose Arena and Barkov, how they play the 200 foot game. They never quit. They're well taught from a young age. The same thing goes for Sweden. The Scandinavian countries are just really, really good at what they were able to do. So at the ground running, there is going to be plenty of talent showcasing this four nations. Now you mentioned Sydneyney Trosby. I'm setting my very unhealthy dislike of Sidney Trosby aside.

Tell me why I'm wrong for believing that Team Canada won't even make the championship game. Tell me why you're wrong because of goaltending. Yeah. I would start there. You've already got Patrangelo that's going to miss the tournament. Are you going to go with Drew Doughty? Are you going to go with Mackenzie Weigert? Who's going to fill this? So they've got some question marks already on their defensive core that they're trying to plug in place. They have people that are available up front. They're pretty deep, but the consistency maybe around some of these rosters are pretty stacked. I talked about Team Finland always seems to make an impact at these tournaments.

Yeah, maybe you're not wrong. Maybe just look at the World Juniors. This is a past example of what happened at the World Juniors for Team Canada. But the only really main reason that you could point to is the goaltending on the other side for the other teams seems much better just all around. So if Team Canada does not get the gold inning and does not get the saves, they're not going to be around long, Roy. Billy, we've been having a lot of fun this year watching Alex Ovechkin chase

history. I think now he's 15 goals away, if I'm not mistaken, from Tyne Wayne Gretzky, which he's going to do it this year as long as he stays healthy. And it's been so much fun to watch. But it made me think about another amazingly good goal scoring Russian that you actually played with. I was going to say back in the day, but yeah, I guess it was kind of back in the day now. Mr. Bure? Yeah, Mr. Bure.

The few years that you played with him, what was it like having a guy that ridiculously good, watching him behind the scenes? Was he like a crazy work ethic kind of guy, first guy in, last guy out kind of mentality, or did he just kind of show up and the goals just went in? Well, kind of interesting thing about Pavel Buryan, his routine that I caught on, didn't know a lot about.

I was at the rink, he came in and went, he was fast, he practiced, but he didn't put a lot of extra time in at the very rink. From what I gathered over time though, that there was a continuous workout cycle that continued at his home or his apartment wherever he had a gym and it would be late at night for whatever reason before he went to bed and then would eat after that and he would come to the rink. So to put it in perspective David, we came into training camp one year and our lowest body fat percentage was 6.2 and Pavel Bury came in hovering around

3.4 percent. That was the best. It was like rice paper on a human anatomy veins and you didn't think it was possible. So you knew that he put in the time and the work ethic and the explosiveness to watch him practice and there was a dedication there that Sometimes you play 30 minutes a night and we'd be playing back-to-back games and he would be at the morning skate the next day And I just like whoa whoa This is a little guy just played half a hockey game and he wants to come out and twirl around in the morning So his conditioning was off the charts That's what made him special and then just watching him shoot the puck and the speed I've never seen a person that explosive with with his first three four

strides and every break where you got five a game it seemed like but just shoot five hole it was simple just go down boom five hole boom five hole so he was special it's just I guess he's around five nine five ten He was 180 hundred and eighty five pounds, but there was not one shred of fat and it was the most powerful Explosive skater by far that I've ever played with and you talk about all those breakaways That was before to get rid of the two- pass. Right. So that's more amazing. He told the goalies just to kick it out as hard as they could on the rebounds. Yep.

So he could get breakaways. He just pounded the puck out and boom. Good strategy. Billy, I want to take you back a little bit. You were an original Panther. So obviously this moment, June 24th, 2024, meant a lot to you. And that came out in your call of the cup final when the time was expiring. We haven't had you on the show to ask you about this yet. So I want to ask you about it. Walk us through that emotion where it just all pours out.

We can hear you and Doug Plagin's hugging, literally hugging. We hear you talking from his chest where you guys are hugging. I thought it was beautiful. I just want to know what your emotion was in that moment. There's a much like broadcasting It's not supposed to really turn out that way in a game set I look back at the histrionics. I'm like, oh my god. What what am I saying here?

What's happening? but so to lead up to that to have that three to nothing series lead the reaction is gonna be Pretty good if you win in game four, it's not to be what you saw come out of me in game seven it would have been somewhat you know pretty not predetermined but i would have just let doug have his whole say let him run through it and then i would have jumped on board with my part same thing with game five game six so going into game seven it's the most nervous i've ever been uh i would go back to game seven against Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Finals

since I felt those kinds of nerves. But this time I had no control. And you're on the verge of the biggest collapse in NHL history. Going back to 1942, World War II, Toronto Maple Leaf, and there was only six teams in the league. So you're trying to picture this as, and Paul Maurice, 26 years behind the bench.

All the thoughts I'm going, how does Paul Maurice come back and coach next year if we lose this game? How do we get back? We've been here twice. How do we get here a third time? And we had a three nothing series lead. So you're going into this game with,

this is monumental. This might be it. This might be it for 20 years. You just don't know. You can't waste an opportunity like this. So I'm just nerve-racked the whole game. So the reaction is going to be different if it's 3-1, 4-1. We're cruising. So it's still all different. When that puck got held down in the corner, there was nothing going through my mind but just counting down that

clock and thinking it was still 6 on five, two on one. And to be able to know that the Panthers won that trophy, it just exploded. There was no rationale to what was coming out of my mouth. It was just going to be spit out. But yeah, I lost my mind. It's one of the greatest feelings I've ever had in my life. And I couldn't control it. I felt a little bit for Doug for stepping on him and game seven for such a historic call.

But once it went in, that's it. It was, everything was just being let out. I couldn't believe that we'd handled that pressure, got through it. And we were finally, finally gonna be called Stanley Cup champions down in South Florida. Yeah, I think I got hit by a water bottle. I'm feeling celebrating. by a water bottle.

I apologize for that. Let's look at the division leaders before we let you go, Billy. The Panthers are leading the Atlantic. They got a three-point lead over Toronto right now. One of the biggest surprises of the year are the Washington Capitals. So that's the East right there. The Capitals lead in the Metro. The Edmonton All this have had the best record in the NHL since November 7th 28 9 and 3 and The winter peg jets who have been great all season have won seven in a row in 11 to 14. So are we looking at? both conference Matchups there for these semifinals. You're looking at Washington and Winnebago. Yeah Well, I'm looking at Washington and Florida're looking at Washington and Winnebago? Yeah, well, I'm looking at Washington and Florida and Edmonton and Winnebago.

Are we looking at the conference finals? There's a good chance. The question is, Washington did a fabulous job in the off season bringing in seven players under the age of 30. They retooled on the fly and they all have been impactful. Pierre-Luc Tobler, Hugo Majapani, the goaltender Logan Thompson, Chikran Roy on defense, you

just can name them all. So they got better fast. How good are they going to be in the playoffs? There's no real track record there. They were there last year. Spencer Carberry, unbelievable coach. But if the Panthers are there, when push comes to shove, can you go toe to toe with that lineup and kind of unexperienced group?

There is just unproven in the playoffs to get there and get it done against the Panthers. It would be a heck of a series. My hats off to Spencer Carberry and the whole Capitals organization. It would be fun to watch. Let's say that way. And on the other side, Winnipeg, Hellebuck, for all he's done in the regular season and another Reznik trophy coming. Winnipeg, he blew up in the playoffs unfortunately last year and Hellebuck dismantled, they got kicked out quickly. So they're

another team like the Toronto Maple Leaf so the Winnipeg's just got to prove it. They're a prove it team. Edmonton's been there, done that before. You look at the analytics from the Edmonton Oilers, it's outrageous, the zone time, first in expected goals for second in expected goals against. It's a dominant team, even throughout the lineup. If they get any kind of secondary production and holds up, it'd be tough to see, but it's, so you go,

I guess it would be just more two experienced group that have been there, done it before. And if Winnipeg and Florida, or sorry, Winnipeg and Washington, the two W's are able to get there. The question is, how do you hold up in a seven game series under all that that pressure when it's been the first time in a long time for both those franchises? Billy, we appreciate you joining us from the Florida Panthers Radio Network and NHL Network. That's Bill Lindsay, everybody. Thank you, Billy. Love you, Billy. Actually, I'm sorry about the car and everything, but yeah.

Hey, man, you got to go to the gym. So I appreciate you guys having me on. All the best, Roy and David. Guys, it's that time of year Valentine's Day is coming up. And for me, there's only one place that I trust. One hundred flowers dot com. Every year year I order stunning high quality bouquets from 1-800-Flowers that my wife absolutely loves. She looks forward

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They took half of the games on the road that they just recently played. We're gonna get into that right now. We're gonna start with the game at home versus the Chicago Blackhawks. It didn't start well. No, it didn't start well. Seven seconds?

Is that what it was? Seven seconds. That's the fastest goal in the 97-year history of the Chicago Blackhawks. That blew my mind. Somebody at the game, I was at the game, somebody behind me told me that that was the case, that an original six teams scored the fastest goal in their history against the Florida Panthers in 2025.

And I was just like, that is crazy. That was terrible play. That was a goal from a Landon Slaggart. Seven seconds. Yeah. I mean, cool. It's awesome that he's got a big piece of Chicago history. And that would be it for the Chicago Blackhawks. And that one, the Panthers then pretty much took over for that game. They had 22 shots on goal and 47 attempts after the first period. 27 scoring chances on 15 high danger chances and scored twice to go into the intermission 2-1.

They won the game 5-1. They were excellent 5-on-5. And for the game, a goal and an assist from Sam Reinhardt, Sergey Bobrasky, after allowing that goal, could have taken a nap in the crease for the rest of the game. That's how bad it was for the Blackhawks. You did have to make like 20 saves, I think. Yeah, 23, 24, something like that. Yeah, something like that. He didn't take a nap. He woke him up for the nap and then he went back to semantics. Calderbury Hakey finally scored a goal after a four game drought and only one point in those games. He himself had nine shots on goal and 12 attempts, nine scoring

chances and five high-danger chances. The fact that he only got one goal in that game was amazing, but he would make up for that. Yeah, the shooting percentage evened out the next game for him, didn't it? Yes, it did, because if Panthers won 6-3, he got a hat-trick. He had on three shots. Yeah, against the New York Goll Islanders. Three shots, three goals. So four goals on 12 shots, 25% shooting percentage. I'd say he's pretty happy with that

for a couple days worth of work. Yeah. That was well-earned for Verhege because he struggled this year. I mean, coming up, we'll talk about St. Louis, that game where he misses an open net. It just feels like it's been that kind of year for Carter Verhege.

His shooting percentage is really low. So it felt good to see him even out with a three for three against the Islanders There's another dominant first period for the Panthers 15 shots on goal in 28 attempts 15 scorn chances But they let the foot off the gas pedal in in the second period now. I Asked for 10 goals. They didn't give it to me I asked for 10 goals to stick it to Tony D'Angelo. The fact that he's back in this goddamn league again. But they didn't get 10.

They did get six though. But the story again was Carter Verhege with the hat trick. He had an assist for a point night. The three secondary assist for Alexander Barkov and Sam Bennett made himself known in that game, even though he didn't get a point. Bennett's been playing some great hockey lately. That whole second line, like Mackie Samistewicz has been in another lineup, but when he's out there, they look great. But putting Bennett and Tichuk back together, that's really clicked for the Panthers because, you know, Tichuk for a while was playing on that top line. Paul Maurice was

farting around the lines a little bit. Now they're getting back into something more traditional as we're starting to hit the ground running towards the playoff push. But I think Sam Bennett is such a key player with this Panthers team, him and Aaron Echblad, the two. I was just going to say the two U.F.A.s are so key. And it's no surprise to me that the Panthers have been playing such great hockey since Aaron Echblad returned. Yeah, they struggled with him out.

They've been playing much better. They're seven and three in their last 10. They've been playing much better. They're seven and three in their last 10. They've been playing much better with him in. Bill Zito, if you're listening, get on it, buddy. You have enough cap space to sign both of them. Make sure you get both back. The Panthers then ran on the road on Monday and visited the White House in the District of Columbia.

Now, it's an honor, it's a privilege for any champion, especially the Stanley Cup champions, to visit the White House. I don't know if they go up to Ottawa to see, what, the Prime Minister or anything like that in Canada. I don't know if they do that. But say what you will about the man in the Oval Office. I find him to be a vile, repugnant, reprehensible human being. I don't believe in his politics. I don't believe that he will make America great again. I believe he will make America the complete opposite of great. I don't respect him as a person.

I don't respect him as a man. But I do respect the office. I do respect the title that 48% of our fellow Americans have bestowed upon him. And as I said, it is a privilege and honor for a champion to get to go to the White House and meet the president of the United States, the leader of the free world. So no matter what you say about the guy, no matter what you say about a president, whether it's a man or eventually a woman, whoever owns that title is there and the champions get to meet them. And the

Panthers, be it as they may, got there for the first time in 30 years. I'm very happy about that and they joined the many teams and people over the past 34 years in this sport to be able to go to the White House. Good on them. It was great to see the boys stand proud at their accomplishment. It was great to see Karlok Pozo. That was cool. That was really cool.

Good for him. And Matthew Kachuck as the speaking voice for the team, went up, said he was proud to be an American, it was an honor to be there. What else do you expect him to say? He's the alternate captain of Team USA for the Four Nations tournament? Of course he's going to say that. So good on him. Very happy that the boys went there.

So again, what else is he going to say? He's going to play for his country in a week and a half. So good on him. So say what you will. They did what they had to do. They visited my house and good on them. They won the Stanley Cup. They won the Stanley Cup. They deserve to have that moment. And I don't think anything else, I think you said it perfectly right, I don't think anything else needs to be said. Hopefully they return next year. Yeah.

Or skip the trip entirely. Well, they'll hopefully as we get older, and our kids get older, there'll be, you know, a few, a few pictures of the Panthers at the White House with different presidents over different generations. Because as you said, the president, whether it's man or woman, whoever is just the person, the office is everlasting. Yes. Well, for as Well, 300 Long as democracy. Whatever. Well, for as long as democracy. Well, 300, 200 years, whatever. That's another topic for another time. Great American experiment that is still going on.

The next day they played the Washington Capitals. They lost. I don't know what it is about a team going to the White House and then losing the next game, but that tends to happen a lot. And the Panthers had a poor effort against the Capitals, except for Sam Bennett. He had the best game out of any Panther on the ice that night. He had a goal in this, seven shots on goal in 13 attempts and nine scoring chances and he has now paid for the adoption of 17 pets through Benny's buddies in the Humane Society of Broward. So good on him. It was a rough third period really. Yeah. It was

also poorly appreciated this game because Nick Dowd who ended up having a goal in an assist in this game ran Sergei Barbaroski twice. Twice. Twice. No calls. Either time. And it was not a good night for Bob anyway. But it is what it is. Alexander Overskin scored a goal in that game, and he's getting closer to Wayne Greske. He might do it. He's got two months to do it. He might actually do it. What'd you say, 15 goals away?

Is that what it is? 16, 15, 16. He's 15 from tying, 16 from breaking. And let's see, Washington's play at 35, 45, 46. He's got it. He's got it. So yeah, they've got 19 games to go. He's got it.

I think he's gonna get it. He's probably gonna need three goals with like five games left and go on some And when when Gretzky starts traveling when he gets close man within five or something Gretzky starts being in the building and the It's gonna be awesome. He's gonna get there Yeah, hopefully TNT breaks into programming and starts airing stuff live on nights that does not include the NBA, you know, like Don't have to play any Marvel movie or any episode of charm the new supernatural Framing it at on Thursday Panthers went to st. Louis and they won by the skin of the teeth in regulation

Three to two now, man, think of Chuck has this thing about scoring goals in his hometown that's what he did he scored twice I felt so stupid for not betting on Matthew to Chuck before that game I didn't bet at all I wish I did yeah but that seemed like the easy like his shots his shots over hitting the first period his toe his point told his goal every all the overs hit for Matthew to Chuck yeah anytime he plays in st. Louis that's how to be what we do next season we just gotta play to Chuck yeah 11 seconds left in regulation got the game winner He also had an assist two goals for him Mackie Samus Gavridge also had a goal But he left in the second period due to injury. Yeah upper body injury Paul Maurice said maybe for

Frada one Saturday, but I want it. I want it, you know at this point the way they hit you know Don't don't push it Just be cautious that they can survive a game without him get Get him healthy for the stretch run, because that line with him and Sam Betit and Matthew Kachuk has been really good. The floor is yours, Ethan. This is your time to gush about this new second line with Mackie, Kachuk, and Binnie. I love it. I really like how they're bringing along the young kid, and we came into the air saying,

okay, is Mackie going to be the guy? Because we knew what the lines were going to kind of look like at the top. And then the third line, you knew, would be Lundell and Luz Srinan. So who's going to fill in that void left by Vladimir Terzenko? Samuskevich did a great job with that. He bounced around the fourth line a little bit. Now, Erod's filling in on that third line. He's moved up to the second line.

And that speed element that Bennett and Samuskevich are bringing and Matthew Kachuk just kind of driving the play and everything. They've been great. And it's been nice to see kichuk kind of get on a scoring run here. He's up towards I think I think he's got 54 points now second on the team You know looking like he's gonna have like an 80 point year and the Panthers don't need him to be the hundred point guy That he was in Calgary the Panthers aren't a team that has a hundred guys, right? Reinhardt leads the team with 60. They spread out the scoring so much throughout the lines, and that second line is a great example of it.

I love the way they're playing. I love the way the lines right now are structured. Obviously, that Kachuk-Reinhardt-Barkov line was ridiculous, but I think the Panthers are best off when it's kind of spread throughout the lines the way it is right now. I think this is what the Panthers will look like, barring any trades that add to the forward group. I think most of their trades will add to the defensive group.

So I think you could be looking at the playoff lines right now, as long as everybody's healthy, the way that they're structured over these last few games. It wouldn't be terribly surprising to see them add a depth forward like a bottom six guy. But I think the forward depth overall, they're a lot happier with it this year than they were last year generally. I think Mackie just adds to that. You've got a fourth line of guys

that anybody could bump up at any time, whether it's Thomas Nocek, who's been just very steady and stable in that fourth line center spot, or Jesper Boquest, who's played all up and down, which is really what most of their forwards do. So yeah, I think they gotta be pretty happy. I think their ads have to come defensively. They need a little more defense that they lost.

Yeah, they lost with Adam Boquist. Offense on the blue line. They lost with Brandon Montour from last year. They need a puck mover. And for what it's worth, Freage on the pod said earlier this week that teams are wary of the Panthers, teams are looking out and they're like, they don't have a lot to move.

They don't have a lot of cap room, but they're going to figure out a way to make something happen. Samson and Ryan Hart were with a five game point streak after assistant on the game winner. He was originally credit for scoring. Uh, but he ended up with the assist as they gave the goal to Kichuck, who by the way has a five game goal streak. And Alexander Barkov also has a five game point streak. The Panthers once again rips the heart out of Jim Montgomery, who took over the Florida

Blues early in the season after again the Panthers ripped the heart out of Jim Montgomery early in the season prior to his firing in Boston. He does not like playing Florida. No he does not. Tomorrow on Saturday they play the Ottawa Senators. One more time Brady versus Matthew. They will not fight but they will fight the other members of the opposing team before Brady and Matthew end up joining each other for the Four Nations on Team USA. So that should be a lot of fun. And things have gotten a lot interesting in these standings right now. Panthers are 8-4 and 0 in the last 12,

they lead the division as we said earlier, by three points over the Maple Leaves. The Senators, one point? Yeah, Toronto one last night. They beat Seattle. Son of a mutter. But the Senators... Mutter was a mutter. Mutter, mutter, mutter. The Senators have scratched and clawed their way into a playoff spot. They are now in a wild-card spot after losing to Tampa last night. They're actually tied with Tampa. Tampa's had one less game played, so they got the percentage points. Yeah, they got the percentage points. They got the tiebreaker. That's gonna be a fun race to watch play out, man. Yeah, I mean Ottawa had their place in the division and lost it because of that loss last night to Tampa and then Ottawa's 10-4 and won in the last 15 but they lost two in a row back-to-back losses. Yeah. And that's the

situation that those two are gonna have tomorrow before we go on break. Panthers Senators potential playoff series sounds fun doesn't it? Yeah yeah that's gonna be yeah that's gonna gain some national attention. They are going to kill each other except Matthew and Brady, who are going to be standing off to the side. Yeah. Well, they're not allowed to fight each other, but what happens with like the, all bets are off in the playoffs, right? Like that's no, no, no. Grandma says no. That's how that works. Sorry. All right. That's Dave. That's Ethan. My name is Roy. Thank you for joining us.

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