The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Hockey Show: I Don't Know Hockey, I Just Know Barky

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

Roy, Rose, and Ethan are in the studio, and David joins the gang as he travels back from Boston, after covering the final three games of the Four Nations Face-Off. The guys break down last night's epic final that saw Canada emerge victorious yet again over the United States in a best-on-best competition, and Rose has a hot take about where the NHL should go from here with international competition. Then Sara Civian of The Civ Report and the Too Many Men podcast joins the show to recap the game and why this may have been the most little brother moment ever for USA Hockey. Plus, the crew touches on the upcoming second half of the NHL season, including Mikko Rantanen's contract situation with the Carolina Hurricanes and the wild race in the East for the last two playoff spots. Finally, the crew analyzes how the eight Florida Panthers who participated in the Four Nations fared for their countries.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Woo! Hello, welcome to the hockey show. I'm Roy. Rose is in David's seat because David is in Boston. Ethan is in the EP chair. He's giving a wave. A small bit of news just happened just now. David, you have details on a signing. I do. Just coming across the news wires as we are

doing the hockey show, Kevin Lankinen, perhaps some may call him the goaltending savior in Vancouver this year, has signed a five-year extension worth pretty reasonable four and a half million per year. Granted, this is his first, you know, you want to call it breakout year or whatever, but pretty steady move by Vancouver to get him long-term for that price. I mean, Thadric Demko been a little hurt this year. He came back, then he went back out again. So obviously they want to shore up a little bit of insurance there. I know they got Shelob who was amazing during the playoffs last year, but I don't know,

Roy, I'm pretty pleased with this move for Vancouver. I think it's smart on their end. So is Demko and Lackinen going to be sort of a Bob and Spencer Knight type of deal here if Vancouver was better than what they are this year? Well, I think it's probably a little bit more long-term considering Demko's got quite a few less miles than Sergei Barovsky does. Bob's done. His contract is done after next season. Well, both of them are Bob and Knight, but no, I think Vancouver, if Lankin is long-term, what he's appeared to be this season and in bits

and pieces in the last couple of years on some lesser teams, then their goaltending situation, assuming Demko gets healthy and once he's healthy, he's good to go, their goaltending situation assuming Demko gets healthy and once he's healthy he's good to go their goaltending situation to be pretty solid moving forward for a while. Okay obviously we're gonna get into the four nations in a second but apparently Rose has some sort of hot take that we actually have to get into. So my hot take is more than four nations it should be a two nation Canada versus the United States. Just get Finland and Sweden out. They didn't do anything. I'm so sorry.

I love Barkey. I love this take. I love this take. I'm going to tell you why. Not because I think Sweden and Finland should be thrown out, but because I think in the years that it's not the Olympics or the World Cup of Hockey, the All-Star break should be a three game showcase, best two out of three between the United States and Canada.

Because what we saw, could you imagine, it's 1-1 right now, could you imagine the anticipation for a third game three days from now, what that would be like after what we saw in game one, a great game in game two, which we'll get into. Like, you know, obviously we don't love the result here, but that was a fantastic hockey game, Super well played on both sides. Yeah, you are absolutely right. And you are absolutely right.

I like Ethan's idea of a best of three. Hey, that was not Ethan's idea. With my hot take. I know, you were the catalyst. You were the catalyst. He didn't have an idea with my hot take. I've kind of been saying this all week, Rosie, but it's okay.

I'm just agreeing with your hot take. But there you go. There you go, he's kind of been saying this all. They're fighting over the hot take. Come on, guys. You don't have to fight. You can with your hot take. But there you go. There you go. He's kind of been saying this. They're fighting over the hot take. Come on, guys. You don't have to fight. You can share the hot take. United States.

I can be Sam Bennett versus Breaking Sun. Let's go. All right. Let's go. Right here. Let's go. Four Nations final was last night. It was a spectacle.

It was an epic. And of course, it went into overtime. It was like a script was written. I was right saying every saying everybody take Canada as the underdog at plus one and a half and obviously they went into overtime so if you pick that one you can you want money so you're welcome but let's let's start with the national anthem okay well Canada was booeded from the beginning. And I'm sure it got booed louder because that rendition sucked. Absolutely was horrendous.

Do you guys agree with that? David was there. David, what were your thoughts on the anthem last night? On O'Canada, it felt like the over hit. Like it was drawn out. I honestly, like I felt like based off of what happened in Canada for the first game, like I was expecting more and to hear the way that fans have reacted to it, like it was some great situation. I don't know.

Maybe I just set the bar too high in my own head. But the anthems were I Mean it was so politicized though A lot of this felt very politicized throughout it because of what's going on then nothing to do with hockey with America and Canada, but I Don't know like we you know, you know, Alex Baumgart who covers the Panthers You know down it down south with us he's up, he got almost attacked by a bartender at my hotel because he's like, yeah, I'm Canadian. And the guy just freaked out. He's like, oh, you can't

boo the ant. Like, seriously, like F-bombs. The guy had to like leave work. So this is like gone way beyond hockey. And it's just considering hockey very much as a stay in your own lane kind of thing. It's been a little weird. You know how the problem is that we tend to politicize a lot of things so we take out of the fun of a lot of things and that happens with Oscars which I love and with hockey like everything is politicized and it makes it not fun anymore. Well this is what happens when you get international tournaments going you know if this was irregularly season game this probably wouldn't be an issue. But the way the rhetoric went, I mean, obviously that happened. John Butcher-Grass on Twitter said,

I hope Canada plays like that lady just sang for the rendition of Oh Canada. That did not happen. Now for the Star Spangled Banner, the Boston Pops came out there and I gotta tell you, that was fantastic. The anthem singer that saying the United States National Anthem she knew she owned that shit man one thing we need to do more in America is what Canada did in Montreal on Saturday Night which is just let the crowd take over so you have somebody kind of lead it I think the Blackhawks do this sometimes they have like their and the Blackhawks do the applause They cheer the entire time right all right so I think what America needs to do is look most people know the national anthem just Few lines you know say can you see by the dawn's early light here?

And then put the mic in the air and just let the crowd take over because being in that arena on Saturday night and hearing The oh, Canada like that was goosebumps like I started singing along Yeah, that happens in every state, Jersey. It was amazing. Happens a lot. Absolutely amazing. Yeah, that was goosebumps. I'm telling you right now,

I wish I had the video of the lady singing, but at the end, between home of the and then brave, she looked around and then gave her a head. She took her moment. Yeah, she took a moment, did the head nod. Oh yeah, I got that. me fired up that got me right Yeah, that got me fired was a little weird in the building though because everyone else obviously didn't know she was in a pause there So every the whole unison singing kept going

Yeah, and then and then like two seconds later the song finished again So they you know, you got to get on the same page and do something like that Yeah, that's the beauty of it. That's the beauty of it. Yeah, because okay, you got to get on the same page and do something like that. Yeah That's the beauty of it. Yeah, because okay, you got you excited pause, but you got you excited again This is like in the WWE when the Rock comes to Miami and goes to sunrise And he says it Finally the Rock has come back. He stops everybody says to Miami or full audio But he says home at the end because he's back home because stops, everybody says to Miami or Full Auto, but he says home at the end, because he's back home because he went to the University of Miami. That's the sort of thing

that happened. By the way, if you bet the over, if you think the over hit on O Canada, oh boy, it definitely hit on Estelle Smingle Banner, because that thing was like two minutes. Yeah, that was a long anthem. And I hate a long anthem, to be honest with you, because I just wanted the game to start, but last night was, that got me fired up. I wanna hear from David about the atmosphere, because I think I spoke a little bit about what Montreal was like,

although we didn't speak about USA Canada. Rosie has a point though, what's up Rosie? Since you don't like long anthems, next hockey show I will sing the watermelon anthem it's very long. Okay I think that's a great idea. I think that's a great idea. I think that's a social media club right there. Yeah I think that's exactly it. Twerky I wanted to ask you about the atmosphere last night buddy because you know I can only imagine what it was like being in that arena and Boston is a great city to host this kind of event. So tell us a little bit about it.

At its best, it was great. Like there were it was peets and valleys like and I guess my bar going into it was what we experienced last year and the year before in like the Stanley Cup final and all that. But like at the best moments of the game, like it was loud, there were USA chants, there were Johnny hockey chants. It was great. And maybe I'm unreasonable in thinking that you that wanted them to keep that You know throughout and the buzz in the building throughout

But there was definitely periods of low and that maybe surprised me a little bit But the crowd was loud it was not as one-sided as I thought it was going to be I thought it was gonna be much more pro USA and it was maybe 6040, you know, 55, 55, 35. Wow. There was a lot of red in the building a lot. And it really like when Sam Bennett scored to tie the game, I was like, whoa, like it got really loud in there. And then obviously at the end, like it could have been a home kind of goal.

The way that those Canadians made that kind of noise it was pretty cool and I mean it was one of those situations Roy and Ethan and Rose I guess when you're watching a play I'm gonna call on your math you didn't do the math right yeah 55 35 that was bad honey I was told there would be no math I've been hitting the head with a lot of hockey pucks okay leave me alone all right going into the game now we're gonna talk about the actual game now 55 35 the first goal for Canada the first goal of the game Canada did something that they really didn't do in the first matchup Which was create traffic and screen kind of hellebuck and that's what that's exactly how they ended up scoring

And Nathan McKenna was able to skate freely and got a quick shot off that got past the best goalie in the world currently Yeah, all the US goals that they'd given up before this game had been off rushes or zone entries, nothing in no in zone extended periods of time that led to goals for the US. So to see the Canada, the Canadians, I can't talk today. To see the Canadians able to capitalize in ways that other teams had not throughout four nations had me as somebody that was watching from the American perspective, little concerned for the U.S. just because there were areas that they had done so well for so long. And it seemed like early on Canada was finding ways to exploit that.

Yeah, I think the story of the game last night was and kind of the story of this tournament, right, was everybody said coming into this, this is finally the year the U.S. finally has the better roster. And that's probably true, right? The U.S. has the better roster. And that's probably true, right? The US has the better goal tending. I thought their blue line was better and they're probably deeper upfront. The problem is those guys have McKinnon, McCarr, McDavid, Crosby, Reinhardt.

Power play. They have, and that's their entire power play, right? They have the two best players in the world, the best defensemen in the world, the best player of his generation. And I'm not going to get you started, right? The best player of his generation who, who, you know, is still playing at a very high level. And I just think you saw, you know, McKinnon. Look, you can do the whole playoff Hellebuck thing. He got scored. The three goals were that shot by McKinnon, look, you can do the whole, oh, playoff Hellebuck thing. He got scored, the three goals were that shot by McKinnon

that we just saw, which basically impossible to stop. He's getting screen, he's coming back the other way. McKinnon, perfect shot in the upper 90. Then Bennett gets in, point blank, goes top shelf where Mrs. Mueller keeps the peanut butter. Wide open on that. Wide open, right in front of the net. I mean, this is a point blank chance that Sam Bennett has right here

that you're going to see. And then the third goal is again, another perfect shot by McDavid. So, you know, you can do the, the Connor Hellebock thing, but really it was just Canada's top end talent, namely McKinnon. And then McDavid here on the winner beat the United States last night. And, you know, the U.S. has some great, great players and they were certainly missing Quinn Hughes because Quinn Hughes all of a sudden makes it pretty even on the blue line. He's basically the American version of McCarr. But their guys came through when they needed them most last night, and especially McDavid. And it was very poetic that back in 2010, nobody wants to revisit it, but Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal

in the Olympics after the United States. I thought you said he wasn't gonna give you riled up. The United States had beat, remember, the United States beat Canada in the preliminary rounds in those 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Canada comes back and wins the gold. US beats Canada here in Montreal in the preliminary rounds, and then in the preliminary rounds

and then in the final, Canada comes out and this time it's McDavid. And I think this is basically like a passing of the torch here where Crosby scored in 2010, 15 years later, which God, that's 15 years ago already, McDavid scores to win this tournament. And I think it's poetic in a way, David, that you as a hockey fan and a guy that can you know I'm and Roy too that can appreciate that kind of greatness that it happened that way

it almost felt fitting. Yeah I mean see there was what I was just saying before is like there was like a moment where everything kind of slowed down and when the putt came out of the corner from Mitch Marner and by the way credit to Mitch Marner who you not mention, but he had the primary assist on both of those, the Bennett goal and the McDavid goal. So he went from a quiet tournament to having a really big impact on that last game. But it was just like it happened in slow motion. Like all of a sudden, there was McDavid, spotlight on him,

nobody around, alone in the slot. And like, I felt like we all had time to reach down and grab our phone and open the photo app and put it up there and start recording. Like it just it all felt like it was like in slow motion and there was zero chance that that goal that puck wasn't going in the net. So it was even from an American watching it was still pretty cool to see it play out and to see the best player in our game right now. Pull it off. right now, pull it off. Go ahead, Ray, go ahead. Except for Jacob Slavin, the defense for the United States was pretty awful, and they turned the puck over, and their neutral zone play wasn't exactly great either. And they left kind of hella bug out the drive for a lot of this game, especially in front of the net.

Like, dude, protect your goalie, clear out the crease. Like, what are we doing here? Well, Slaven was ridiculously good in that game. Zach Rensey also had a really good tournament for Team USA. But I mean, look, Quinn Hughes was missing throughout that they couldn't get him out there. You know, Jake Sanderson was fine. But the depth there, I think maybe played a part.

Also, we haven't mentioned once so far. Jordan Bennington was unreal. there I think maybe played a part. Also we haven't mentioned once so far Jordan Binnington was unbelievable. I didn't want to mention him. Oh my goodness. Hellebuck was great early and throughout but Jordan Binnington stole that game and allowed them to get it to where McDavid's toward like credit to Binnie that was great. Yeah he made the save on Matthews which this is the chance right here that just has to be buried I mean it's a great blocker save but if you're Matthews, which this is the chance right here that just has to be buried. I mean, it's a great blocker save, but if you're Matthews, that's point blank. You're a 59 goal scorer last season. That

just has to go in. And then he made another one on Brady Kachok that was just like that. Maybe that's just Jordan Bittington's building. He won game seven in 2019 there. He made 32 of 33, stopped 32 of 33 or something like that. And then last night he was absolutely fantastic when they needed him. By the way, that shot I saw of McDavid wide open in the high slot is the alternate universe of Game 7 Panthers, Oilers, where the puck is pinned up the boards and somebody somehow, someway dry sidle or somebody fishes it out of there and gets it to McDavid. Because if you watch back the replay of game seven, McDavid's sitting there wide open just

waiting for the puck to him. And I guess you can say then that the Panthers are a better defensive team than Team USA because the Panthers didn't let it out of that corner. They won that battle and Team USA let it out and you saw what happened. And tough night for Austin Matthews. He couldn't bury that chance. And then he was kind of the guy that gets caught napping on the goal.

Didn't score a goal in this tournament. Hasn't scored in like eight straight games, including his Leafs duty. It was a tough tournament for him, but it's there anybody, you know, one last thing I kind of want to touch on here is David, is there anybody that raised their, Enroy, is there anybody that raised their Enroy? Is there anybody that raised their stock in the NHL more than Jacob Slavin in this tournament? Yeah, just him. Absolutely. Maybe Sanderson offensively, but yeah, definitely Slavin.

David? Yeah, no, after the game he had, it's hard not to think otherwise, but I mean hopefully joining Bennington gets a little bit more respect for his big game ability, but But no, I mean, you know putting me putting it under my head out the top of my head the first guy that comes to Mine after that game yesterday was certainly Jacob Slaven is even Connor McDavid for the goal that he scored He admitted like he wasn't quite as dynamic as he should be in his and many of our opinions. So All right one power play in this game it was basically playoff officiating they weren't gonna really call anything egregious unless he was egregious so there was that and that power play went to Canada the penalty kill that

penalty kill was pretty good because Jack Ikel's play he had his Kevin Stenlin moment he lost his stick and he kicked the puck away. I was like, oh my god. That led to a 2 on 1. He returns. Yeah. Eichel's play defensively throughout was really solid in this tournament.

Maybe that's an eye opening element, too. Yeah, he was probably USA's best player all around. And Matthew Kachak got hurt in the first matchup. And he gave it a go for a period and a half and couldn't do it anymore. And that is bad news for the Florida Panthers. It looks like he might be out for a little bit. Yeah, I saw the Kachuk brothers after the game last night, kind of, you know, doing

what players do, hanging out with family or whatever in the inside of the arena and just watching Matthew trying to get up and down the stairs a little bit. Clearly he's dealing with something. So hopefully it's nothing that lingers too much into the Panther season. But I think at the end of the day, as good and as entertaining as this tournament was and, you know, the what happened to Matthew Kachuck and Charlie McAvoy, is that just kind of, you take it, you take the good with the bad for something this amazing? Because it's hockey, right? Like they're not going to do what football does in the pro ball and make it like a mockery of the game. Like they're going to do it. They're going to do it.

Right. Like hockey. So no, is that just like, is this just going to be an acceptable thing? Yeah. That's like, like we want best on best, right? Yeah. I think so, David, because I was there, right. And having experienced that, like, people, I saw people that were home tweeting about, you know, Barkov limped off in one of the games, and it's like, oh my God, Panther fans, you know, this is the worst possible case scenario, and then Chucky gets hurt, this is the worst case scenario.

For me, like, it's not gonna take away any of what happened over the last week and a half, in terms of how awesome this tournament was. Guys know what they signed up for. They know what they're getting into. They asked for this. We have to remember the players asked for this in the last CBA discussions. They want this. And yes, it sucks that the Panthers probably aren't going to have

Matthew Kachuck for at least seemingly the next couple of weeks or so. But let's be honest. First of all, here's your chance, Panthers. This could be your LTIR season. If you think this could be something really long term, you could put Matthew Kachuck on LTIR, kind of take advantage of that loophole, go out and do something at the trade deadline to bring in some big time salary

and really reinforce your team. Or Matthew Kachuck is out for the next few weeks and he just kind of rests up and look, the Panthers, they want to win the division obviously because they want home ice, but the regular season is not what matters to the Panthers. What matters to the Panthers is the playoffs. And so as long as Matthew Kachuk is good to go for the playoffs, nobody's gonna remember that maybe he got a little bit hurt in the Four Nations faceoff.

All right, we'll talk about how the Panthers did in the entire tournament, and we were going to talk to Sarah Sivian of the Civ Report, and too many men about the Four Nations tournament coming up. Folks, did you know that sleep is one of the most important parts of recovery? Whether you're a pro athlete or just looking to crush your day, getting the right kind of rest is key. And that's where Sleep Number SmartBeds comes in. Since 2018, Sleep Number has partnered with the NFL to help elite athletes get quality sleep that they need to perform at their best. In fact, 80% of NFL players sleep on Sleep Number SmartBeds. Tough workout? The Sleep Number SmartB Bed can be adjusted to suit your needs.

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So you can choose your ideal comfort on either side. And now, save 50% on the new Sleep Number Limited Edition SmartBed, limited time, exclusively at a Sleep Number store near you. See store or sleep number comm for details Sarah Sivian joins us from the civil port and too many men And as David's any apart in the airport announcements continue they were both in Boston for the four nations final, which turned out to be a significant

event for Canada in this situation. But how was the atmosphere in the arena at TD Garden? Because it was pretty palpable for the entire week from both locations based on the political thing, basically, that happened with the United States. So how was the atmosphere in TD Garden during the game? Yeah, okay. First of all, that cracks me up because we talked to Nathan McKinnon after the game and he's like, listen, I don't know much about politics, but I know Canada and USA is kind of a thing right now. That cracks me up. It's like a thing. But yes, it was

a thing at TD Garden. It definitely booze for all Canada,'s like a thing. But, yes, it was a thing at TD Garden. It definitely boozed for old Canada, but people were there. But then there were cheers, too. Like, there was a lot of Canadians in the lower bowl, and obviously when the momentum shifted to Canada, like, they showed up and they showed out, but at the same time, everything was extremely loud.

Like, I talk about, I was at game seven of Maple Leafs verse Bruins years ago. Like it got as loud as that, maybe a little bit louder. That was the goal that Reimer gave up on that one. Yeah. Oh, isn't it always? Yeah. Sarah, I wanted to get your take, and you kind of just alluded to it a little bit, but just

as somebody that's been in that building so many times, I wasn't sure how that would compare. And so if that's comparing to like game seven Bruins Leafs, like that would be a big thing. But I was a little bit surprised just based off of how pro Canada the crowd was in Montreal last Saturday that there were so many Canadians that I don't know if infiltrated is the right word. I mean, there's talk about guys that drove like 30 hours to get there. But we're I was a little surprised that it wasn't more of a home home ice advantage feel. Were you? Um, no, I this is Canadian like, this game winning them winning was just kind of emblematic of like, you know what? Team USA can improve and improve and improve, but hockey is still Canada's game. And I think like obviously Montreal is just hours away from Boston. So that was a good geographical rivalry type thing.

And I know a lot of people from America that went to Canada for the other games. So I just think at the end of the day, hockey is very Canadian. And you kind of saw that with the representation there. Hey, Sarah, was this maybe the most little brother moment USA hockey has had with Canada, where you win the game on Saturday in Montreal and everybody's really fired up about it. You have the three fights in nine seconds, all the drama with the group chats and the political stuff. And then you come out, you go to Boston,

it feels like you talk a whole lot of just to lose the game that actually matters again. Like, could this have been more of a little brother moment for USA Hockey? Oh, what a great take, absolutely. And also just, they kind of succumbed to the drama around it where Team Canada and you saw okay in the media there's a lot of questions asked about how are you feeling about this moment like

where does it compare to everything and Sidney Crosby said something before the championship game that just made me realize all right like this is little brother moment for USA he's like you know what I've been involved in a lot of big moments. It's so true. And everybody on USA was fighting for their lives. And I don't know, I liked Brandon Hagel kind of on Team Canada, up Tampa Bay Lightning. You may know him. Said he's playing for obviously the Leaf in the Jersey and not the group chat or whatever.

That was kind of, that's the mentality that a team that gets it needs to have. And I mean, I loved the antics to some degree. You know, I love Matthew Kachuk and I love when he was asked about that group chat thing and her, Brandon Engel said, we don't have a group chat and Kachuk's like, well, maybe they don't like each other. That's hilarious. And these chirps back and forth are needed to grow the game.

But at the same time it is, you end up a little brother when you can't pull it off at the end, even though this is the closest hockey game I've ever seen in my life. Was this also a missed opportunity for the USA? Like, isn't Canada only going to be stronger one more year? Like, USA is still going to have the goaltending advantage, but obviously everybody's looking forward to Milan now next year at the Olympics. Do you feel like this might have been USA's best shot to get Canada in one of these best on best tournaments? Great question. I don't think so because of the trend of how hockey is growing in America. You look at the percentage of guys that are American born from 10 years ago and it's at least 10 or 15% higher. So I feel like the game has been exploding in the US.

So I think it's just gonna get better, but I think this was kind of like a measuring stick of, okay, we thought we were absolutely there and we're not quite yet. With the politics being driven up and affecting things in both of the countries, it pretty much seems that the Johnny Gaudreau Memorial for the United States team got overshadowed

by all this nonsense, do you agree? Yeah, and it's a shame because I mean, at TD Garden there were Johnny Hockey chants and tributes. And you know what, like the team itself was talking about him and thinking about him every day, but in such a politically charged environment, it really is like they lost focus about a lot of things. And that's the most important one. Sarah, one of the least surprising things that happened last night was Sydney or was

Connor McDavid. Now you better not say Sidney Crosby. Please don't say that name. He did. Was Connor McDavid, the new Sidney Crosby, the new daddy of Canadian hockey. Oh no. Uh, scoring the winning goal. That, no, I don't think we, any of us were surprised by that. What did surprise me, maybe the most surprising thing of all yesterday, was the treatment by the crowd of Brad Marshand. He got booed on his home ice loudly. And that was like wow. So I don't know.

As the Boston girl, what's your take on that? I think there were a lot of fans that aren't from Boston that ended up going to the game. First of all, I think people are idiots in general. People were very much idiots about this game. And Brad Marchand is somebody who is okay with being booed. You know what I mean? Like he has been booed in every single atmosphere he's been in.

So I think Bruins fans do know that. But the McDavid point, I don't know. I was thinking about this, like, I know there were tons of new USA hockey fans watching this game. And I was thinking, oh my God, maybe they're disappointed that USA couldn't pull it off, but they got to see the absolute best hockey player

in the world do what he has not been able to do thus far on the biggest stage. So that's just the best hockey you're going to get. So USA hockey fans that just started watching during this tournament, you got to see something great. I wanted to ask about the big stage before the airport guys talked over me, but speaking of a big stage, just generally, how do they leave a guy that open? He had an entire dance floor of space to store that goal. Come on, America, you can't you can't leave such an amazing tournament

and leave that with the taste in our mouths. But that's it. I'm stepping back as the American. We were talking to McKinnon after the game and he's like, yeah, I mean, you can't leave Connor wide open. He just said that like he's not even trying to flex. He's just like, he was wide open. What's he going to do? Score. And it was a tough tournament and a kind of a tough season for Matthews right now. He's fighting something. I don't know what they tried to fix in Germany. I don't know if they did. I

don't know if he's sick. He seemed sick when we were talking to him. Like everybody here is sick. I sound sick. I'm a little sick, clearly. But I think something's going on with Matthews and you just can't leave Connor McDavid that open. Sarah, I wanna look ahead now. The second half of the season starts tomorrow, right? So let's look ahead to it.

One of the big storylines going into the second half of the season is gonna be what the Carolina Hurricanes do with Miko Rantanen after they just traded for him, it feels like two weeks ago. There were some rumors flying around yesterday that he doesn't seem all that excited about being in Carolina, about extending with Carolina, and that could lead to them trading him here within the next couple weeks when the deadline is on March 7th. So I want to ask you, because the only reason I've heard for why he would stay in Carolina is people really like Rod Brindamore and the power of friendship

with Sebastian Ajo. So why should I believe that after he was going to test free agency with the team he's been with for 10 years, he's not going to just test free agency with Carolina, a team he was just traded to? I don't believe that at all. I think his agent is really good at negotiating in the public too. And I think it depends. I know Tom Dundon and the Carolina Hurricanes are very much negotiators themselves in the way a lot of NHL agents are. So it's going to be hardball for a minute here. And I think we're in such a no man's land when it comes to the salary cap rising and Rantinen, everybody wants to test the market. Why wouldn't you? It's increasing. We don't know if Carolina is going to spend to the cap. They have been

right now, but like it took them a few years to get there to this position where they're spending to the cap. So it's all interesting with the salary cap. And I would think it wouldn't be about bad vibes in Carolina or anything like that if rent didn't test the market it's just who you'd be crazy not to test this market when the salary caps jumping more than it has in a decade. Give us a sense at how angry the Boston Bruins are at Team USA based off of the injury of Charlie McEvoy. Oh my god on a scale of one to ten it's Mike Milberry throwing a shoe in the crowd. Oh wow. I think he drew ends are extremely disappointed and frustrated with the way this was handled

with Team USA. I think you don't specifically make that statement that they did with our naming their medic by name and title in a tweet. Like why are you putting that out to the public? Because you are mad. But it feels like maybe this didn't have to get as bad as it did. And you're looking at,

there's a ton of kind of injuries and question marks with guys, you got Kachak on Team USA, and maybe you're questioning a little bit, like, how did they pick the staff? And was that the correct decision? But I think the Bruins would say no. Sarah, you brought something up before talking about Carolina that kind of made me think of something that's really been interesting to me as we head toward the trade line, and

that's the goalie market. I feel like Carolina's got to be the front runner if nothing else to go after John Gibson or maybe another goaltender on the market. I feel like he's the number one guy out there. But do you get that sense that they need to bring in a goalie or are they going to kind of try to ride it out with Anderson and Kocheckov and see if that works this time? Personally, I have wanted them to get a new goalie since I came out of the womb. I'm like, can you please just trade for a goalie?

Can you do something? And they just like are adamant about having the best defense of all time and like a slightly above average Goaltender, I think the Anderson situation is so precarious that you have to and they would love somebody like Gibson Like that's kind of when I look at the Hurricanes. I'm like that seems like a safe bet. They like safe players that have had Veteran insurance they can they can see and Gibson. He's itching for the playoffs. I think that'd be a great thing. But are they going to do it? I don't know. Why wouldn't you look at what the avalanche did? We're like, all right, we'll simply get two new

goaltenders in two weeks and we're an entirely different team. I think that gives everybody else the allowance to try it. Sarah, real quick, I'm going to give you five teams. You're going to pick two of them that are going to make the playoffs. The Ottawa Senators, the Detroit Red Wings, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. Who makes the playoffs? Red Wings, Blue Jackets.

Blue Jackets might be biased because I just I love the story and the vibe around them, but they have dealt with so much adversity and so many injuries and they have like not a great team. Like if you think about comparatively to the teams that they are beating, it's like they are underdog and they're injured, but Boone Jenner's coming back. They got people coming back.

And Don Woodall said he's not necessarily selling at the deadline anymore. So I think if he can buy, he said he's gonna prove to this team that they deserve to be there and maybe buy. So I'm like, if he's gonna do that, give them that vote of confidence, that's great. The Red Wings, ever since they got a new coach, it's like they learned how to play hockey again. They have one of the best power play units of all time. Like, watching this, I'm almost mad at them for like, what do they do to just turn this on? It can't

be just as simple as getting a new coach, but I guess it was. But they, they showed they're significantly better and they're trending upwards. Finally, to close out our Four Nations coverage with Sarah Sivian, you're a fashionista. Why don't you give us the grades on all four of the uniforms that these teams wore? All right. USA, oh my God, everyone's going to listen to that. I'm USA hater number one. That's not true.

I love my country because I can criticize my country, okay? So number four, Team USA. That just looks like a fake knockoff jersey to me. Three, we're going Canada. Just kind of same deal. I mean, it's boring. It's the Maple Leaf, but you get what you get when it comes to Team Canada and the Maple Leaf, right?

Two, Finland. Oh, no, no, no, no. To Sweden. Yeah, I agree. It's great. It's clean, but it could be better. OK, there's room for improvement. Nothing special. Yeah. Finland, the most special of the bunch, I guess. But all around weak jerseys. Wow. Rose is happy.

Rose is happy because of Alexander Bacow, but Sweden is classic. I mean, you got the three crowns, the accent on the sleeves to make it look like that's not an alcohol bottle. That's the Swedish flag. Okay. Come on.

Okay. Sarros' helmet was awesome. Hellebuck's helmet. No, Hellebuck had the best helmet, I think. Like that glittery gold shiny, I just, I loved it. By the Swannagersers too with the armor. And Swamen with the throwback Rangers. Sarah Sivian, The Civ Reporting. Too many men. Thank you for joining us Sarah.

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All right, everybody, let's go over how the Panthers did in this tournament. I guess some stats here, just some counting stats or whatever. I think the Panthers went undefeated in this tournament. I don't think the Panthers have lost. I'm talking about statistics over here, David. That's what I'm doing. I'm sorry. All right. Let's go with the Finland contingent. It to Lusirainen, it to Lusirainen with Justin Assis. He was a minus two, Nico Mikula Assis. He was a plus two, Anton Lundell, a goal, he was a zero.

And Alexander Barkov, Jesus, I'm getting to it. A goal and an assist and a plus one. Finland did not do well, the entire team did not do well in this tournament, but how did the Panthers do, guys? I thought Barky, I mean, he's Barky, you know? He does what he does, right? He's awesome. I thought Lundell had a really nice tournament.

I actually was listening to a podcast and they were talking specifically about Lundell and how he's kind of one of those younger guys that's coming up that kind of got some shine in this tournament that could really take advantage of the stage and did well. Meekse had a tough tournament, Loosty did what Loosty does,

but I really thought Lundell, if you're talking about guys that maybe surprised us a little bit, was one of those guys that had a really good tournament. No I think for Finland what stood out for me I've got Barkov does this thing and what Ethan was just saying about Anton Lindell kind of showing off a little bit more in the international stage what we see on a more regular basis from him but I thought Nico Mikola his usage was really high they had him in a lot of different situations, a lot of tough assignments.

So I thought particularly his effort, well, he's not going to get a lot of credit for how he played. I thought the effort that he put out there and just what they did with him in terms of the situations, I thought he did really good. I should say that I kind of said he didn't have a great tournament. That was a terrible spot for Miksi after the defensive injuries. He was their number one defenseman, basically. He's not a number one defenseman, he's a good player. And he did handle it well, but when you're forced into that spot, you're gonna have a tough time.

Beep! Two minutes. All right, so we're done. No, we are not done. For Sweden, Gustav Worsling had zeros across the board offensively. He was basically primary defense on that one. How do you think he played? Similarly to Mikala, where they just gobbled up minutes that he was used a lot. Just like

with the Panthers, right? Gustav Forsling wasn't getting much power play time. I don't think he got any power play time, actually. They definitely used them shorthanded. But both Finland and Sweden just really kind of struggled to get their footing like it's kind of Ethan alluded to earlier This really did feel like actually I'm sorry I think was Rose that said it earlier this really just did feel like it was just an America Canada and everyone everything else was Just like me don't think great analysis by Rose It's the great analysis good analysis that I get because I don't know hockey I just know bar key, but that analysis oh

Well, you guys kind of shared it It was you know, there's a there's a primary assistant a goal on this one So who had secondary system that just give it to me. Okay, for as he was really good. That's all I got I didn't that's all you got United States Matthew could Chuck two goals and assist plus three. Unfortunately, his playing time was diminished with the injury aside from that. I Mean it's pretty obvious. He was the star of the tournament for me, Roy. Like you talk about Slaven for NHL fans raised his game, his status more than anybody.

But as a casual observer for casual observers for hockey, I'm not sure anybody had more of a star turn than Matthew, Matthew Kachuk. Obviously, he's already a star in this league, but I think casuals now, people that don't really watch hockey, are gonna know who Matthew Kachuk is because of what he did on Saturday and how he was kind of the face of the team.

I understand he was an assistant captain. He really should have been the captain, if we're being honest. He was the face of the league. David, do you have to board right now? Do you have to leave? Like, was that last call? Are you boarding? No, no, that's not my flight. The white zone is for loading and unloading passengers only. No, no, no. If we can wrap this up sometime soon.

I'm actually thinking I'm going to grab some. Oh, you want some alcohol. Okay. That's what it is. I wasn't going to go there, Roy. Well, yeah well I do too. Never too early to start drinking in the airport. It's five o'clock somewhere. Bye, never too early to start drinking. See you next week. There's no clocks in here. Yeah, okay. Canada, Sam Reinhardt, no goals for assist.

He was a plus one. Sam Bennett a goal. We said bye. And no assist and a minus one. What? What'd you say? We said bye. We didn't say bye.

Thank you Sam Reinhardt. I'm not done. Alright? Go. done. Oh. All right? Go. Oh my goodness. Please. Reinhardt, tough games offensively, really good defensively though,

and then obviously Bennett, you know, huge goal, big moment fighting Brady Kachuk. I thought he had an awesome tournament. Got put into the lineup in game two, never left it. Awesome tournament for Sam Bennett. He's in love with Reinhardt. It was a gradual build for Sam Bennett. Like he'd he scratch he played

like I think eight seven or eight minutes in the first US Canada game and then John Cooper started to realize oh yeah Sam Bennett impactful player there's a reason I hate my lightning team yeah it was nice to see that set Benny got a little bit more play but kind of getting back to what you just said before we wrap it up and And your point about... Oh wait, I'm sorry. Am I getting wrapped up? No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. No, just fans like Rose that just tuned into the American game. People know who the Kichuck brothers are. Hockey fans, sports fans. Like everybody knows who the Kichuck brothers are. And what that could mean for hockey moving forward. I'm very excited to see. Sorry, Rose.

She's gone. Alright. The regular season starts back up again for Florida versus the Seattle Kraken at home. The Kraken, four wins in the last 10, in a previous matchup, Panthers won in a shootout, two to one, and they outshot and out hit them by a wide, wide margin, but the injuries,

that's gonna be significant coming into this game, and that's pretty much it. We don't really have to do anything other than that right in Montour homecoming salute to him yes goodbye we're saying goodbye now and Josh Mahur obviously as well that's it for this week that's it for the four nations we are back to regular season hockey coming up this weekend Rose Ethan Dave live from the Boston airport, Logan airport. My name is Roy. We'll see you next week. Okay. Goodbye. Bye-bye. Folks. Did you know that sleep is one of the most important parts of recovery? Whether you're a pro athlete or just looking to crush your day,

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