The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Hockey Show: Playoff Preview (feat. DJ Bean and Pete Blackburn)

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have arrived and the entire gang is here to get you ready! We kick it off with some great end-of-season moments for a pair of legends, Alex Ovechkin and Marc-André Fleury, before diving into wins and fails of the week, including Gabriel Landeskog's return to the ice and future NHL superstar Gavin McKenna. Has Roy really never seen an episode of Friends or Toy Story? Then, DJ Bean and Pete Blackburn of the What Chaos podcast join the show to inflate Rose's ego and preview some of the epic matchups in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. Does anybody have the courage to pick the Los Angeles Kings over the Edmonton Oilers? Finally, the gang hands out their predictions for the Florida Panthers matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Stanley Cup Playoffs starts this weekend. This is the hockey show. My name is Roy Bellamy. That's David Dwork, Hockey News. Rosie and Ethan in the other studio. Playoffs! Playoffs are here. Yes!

Here at a match up, Toronto, Ottawa, Tampa, Florida, Washington, Montreal, Carolina, New Jersey in the west, Winnipeg, St. Louis, Dallas, Colorado Louis Dallas Colorado Vegas Minnesota and Los Angeles and Los Angeles and For I'm excited though. I think the Kings are gonna do it this year. Oh, wow That would great. It's right off the bat. I want to pick them so bad No, I think and I just can't bring myself to do it because how hasn't everybody said for the last three years now This is the year the Kings are gonna do it. They're gonna take down the Oilers

I don't know and then dry subtle scored 54 goals or whatever it was this year and McDavid 100 points is in and like 70 games like the good news if the Kings make it the others don't I do want the Kings actually go to Stanley Cup final because I want to go to Los Angeles That would be cool. Yeah, that'd be that'd be a great scene out there. They have 2013 I think or 2014 2014 Yeah, they won in 2012 and 2014. We can go to the Friends thing and and and drink a coffee together and Friends was on TV. It wasn't really yeah, but they had the Hollywood tour. Oh, I've done that. I have a picture of myself on the set.

But there was no coffee. It was just the set. I've never watched an episode of Friends. Rose is looking at me like she, like I just told her there's no Santa Claus. You've never watched an episode of Friends? No. Not even just it's on TV and you just caught it?

You've never seen one episode? That's my fail of the week. You can kiss my ass. It doesn't play to my constituency. All right, that's not a show that I watch everybody Okay, all right friends is friends I mean, I understand what you're getting at Roy. I'm just saying that friends there's something for everybody Yeah, I watch Seinfeld. I know but I'm saying, like, I'm not a fan. Friends is fine. I have nothing against Friends, but I'm not, like, seeking it out. But at the same time, I've seen probably 100 episodes over the last 30 some odd years.

I mean, I have a TV. All right, well, shout out to Aisha Tyler. That's all I have to say. Last night was the end of the regular season for the Washington Capitals. And Alex, they play the Penguins. All right, let's just get that out of the regular season for the Washington Capitals and they play the Penguins. All right, let's just get that out of the way. All right. It's not like we've seen the Capitals and Penguins on national TV enough over the past 20 years. But anyway, that's not the end of the season. Alexander Oveskin ended the season with his 897th goal of his career. So that's where we at right now with the Elveskin watch

and now is officially playoff time. So those goals do not count towards- He's gonna hit a thousand. Yeah. I think he's gonna hit a thousand. You honestly think he's gonna play for the next two years. Yeah? So, yeah.

So what, he's 103? Ugh, he needs three years. He said he's not retiring and his contract I believe is up after next season. Oh, they'll keep paying him as long as he wants to keep playing. I know they'll keep paying him as long as he wants to keep playing. But he's not retiring and his contract I believe is up after next season. Oh, they'll keep paying him as I know they'll keep Paying as long as he wants to keep playing well He's gonna need to play he's probably gonna need to play at least three more seasons to reach a thousand goals, right? Well, yeah, what 103 so that's he would need to average about 34 33 and a half whatever it is

I'm trying to do math on the fly here, but that's doable. I think for OV. Yeah real quick What'd you want to talk about the the wild for? I wanted to talk about Marc Andre Flurry who played his last regular season game the other night against Anaheim in Minnesota He wasn't he didn't start Philip Gustafson started but the game was overtime and the wild put him out there for overtime and what happened when ended up being a shootout He made he comes in cold off the bench. He makes two amazing saves right off the bat being a shootout. He made, he comes in cold off the bench, he makes two amazing saves right off the bat, wins the game, they do like, they handshake afterwards for him. It was just such a cool thing for a goalie who's been around forever. For the fact that he's like pushing 40 and he's still

like maybe the most athletic goaltender in the NHL, just watching him play, it's amazing what he's been able to do with his body in his career. So I just wanted to give a shout out to that, to Flurry. I've been a huge fan of his since he came in and I was searching for his rookie cards back in the day. So I guess that was really cool. I wouldn't be surprised if his post-playing career is in line with Roberto Lurango. Maybe it would be a high ranking

front office employee somewhere. You would think he could do like, if you wanted to go into hockey ops, if you wanted to go into broadcasting, hockey ops if you wanted to go into broadcasting Like he's got that kind of a personality and he's not the kind of hockey knowledge. You think he disguised the limit? All right It's time for wins and fails of the week. It's presented by Jägermeister. Serve it cold or don't serve it at all Jägermeister damn that's cold for more visit Jägermeister.com drink responsibly Dave What's your win of the week? My win of the week is for all of us We are all winners this week and it's because of the week? My win of the week is for all of us. We are all winners this week.

And it's because of the next great superstar in the NHL, and that's Gavin McKenna. He's 17. He's not eligible for the NHL draft until next summer. This is how good this kid is. He's already viewed as the number one, like the number one guy. He scored two goals this week in the WHL playoffs He plays for the medicine hat. Yeah the Tigers Yeah, and they're playing against Prince Albert and I think they swept them last night in the second round But he scored two goals this week. One of them was the one we just showed where it was a short-handed goal He deeped around like four guys in the slot before sniping the goalie and then he did a Michigan goal Like two days later, which I we're talking about the other day like the Michigan stuff is just, it's becoming too common. Yeah, it's becoming too easy.

They need to have something new, but it's just like what this kid is doing. I'm excited to see how the next year plays out for him, but watch out NHL. Gavin McKenna is, he's coming. All right. My one of the week this year, this, this week is real deserving for this guy, Gabriel Landis Gogg. He suffered a horrific injury in 2020 when his skate sliced him just above his knee and he's had multiple surgeries. And now it's time to get back in the game now. It's his first game in three years. His

first game in three years when he accepted a condition and assignment with the Colorado Eagles following the game. His teammates celebrated him in the locker room take a listen how many goals I was asked out there what my goal was with the first game. I don't really have much. Just go out there and enjoy it. You guys made it easy to go out there and enjoy it. You guys have a special group in here. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms. This has been a long road for me, but this isn't about me. This is just about what a community and what a lot of people can do and I felt the support from from all over the place for years once again thank you for making this a very special night.

Landis Gogg's next game with the Eagles he would end up scoring a goal so it's like he almost never left so he is now called up by the Avalanche to play in the playoffs and he will start with the big club against the Dallas Stars this weekend. It's really cool like I honestly doubted whether this day would ever come for him. I hoped it would. It was just such a long road. I'm super excited for him. Yeah, so am I. Good for him. And I'm very happy for him to be back in the fold. That's gonna be an interesting matchup. And we're gonna talk to Pete Blackburn and DJ Bean of what chaos about the playoff matchup. Stars Avalanche is going to be a good one.

It is. The Rantinen Bowl. Yes, yes. That's the other thing I wanted to talk to him. Those are X-Factors right there. The comeback of Landis Gogh and Miko Rantinen playing his old team. And we'll talk to them about that.

Rose, you'll win. I have a win of the week. Yeah, that's why I won two games. Team Allen confirms that in Toy Story 5, Woody and Buzz Lightyear are gonna reunite. So, how about that? Are they going to play hockey in Toy Story 5? I don't know, but they're gonna reunite.

So why'd you bring them? We're gonna have a reunion. That's why we went to the WIC. Spoiler alert, I didn't know that they broke up. Of course, Toy Story 4, he went to, he stayed with his woman and then they went back to Landy. His woman? Oh. Yeah.

Oh, he's with Bo Peep. You need for okay. I don't I need to watch one. Oh wait, which one has a woman? There's what you've never seen Toy Story. No, so you're nursing friends or Toy Story. That's correct Have you seen the Incredibles? I have yes. Okay, that's good. Have you have you seen Lord of the Rings? No, Harry Potter? No. Okay, let's go to the fails, please. All right, yeah, yeah, you got like five fails from me. Fails of the week, Dave. My fail of the week, another cell phone

ended up on the ice last week. I know we talked about it a couple months ago or whatever when it happened in the KHL where some guy's phone fell out of his gear during a game. It happened again, this time it happened at Women World Championships over in Chechnya. Carolyn Harvey from Team USA bumped in the corner and her cell phone popped out.

Are players, is that a normal thing these days? Are players keeping their phones in their gear during games? Measuring analytics, I don't know, but why is this happening? Maybe I'm a goalie and I think if I have my phone on me during a game, it's going to get shattered and destroyed, but this makes no sense to me. Why does this keep happening? I have two questions.

Why not wear a watch that's the accessory that goes with the phone that can measure those analytics and where do you keep the phone? Right. I don't have pockets in my gear. There's no pockets there. Do you keep it in your pads? Do you keep it under your helmet? No.

In the sleeve? In the locker room. Elbow pad? Yes. You keep it in your pads? Do you keep it on your helmet? No In the sleeve? In the locker room Yes, you keep it in the locker room No, what you keep it is the water What are you keep the water bottles behind the bench? That's where you keep it But they got iPads now Yeah, they got iPads

I don't think you'd need it in the bench. You don't need it for anything You're playing so I would leave it in the locker room because imagine if someone sits in it or it falls sits on it yeah sits on it and it falls or you lose it I'm up yeah yeah yeah I really know about losing things so oh yes you do yeah just live it in the locker room

my god Dave's right though I mean they're keeping analytics on you know body but yeah but they have things for that they put things in jerseys and like I don't really understand like why do we need cell phone? I just I don't get it really. I know it doesn't make any sense to me Apple sponsoring They just don't care about their phones quality, you know, my phone gets destroyed. Whatever. I'll get a new one My fellow week is an NHL first for the first time in league history We will not see the New York Rangers Boston Bruins or Pittsburgh Penguins in The playoffs Wow We will not see the New York Rangers Boston Bruins or Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs. Wow

That's interesting. You're happy. Yeah, that's not a fail. That's a win for everybody, dude We don't have to know it's a fail for them I have to watch Crosby and Pasternak and Panarin and it's a fail for the Penguins It's definitely but yeah, I have to laugh at that. And also for the final time this goddamn it. For the final time this season, I will continue the streak of me shitting shitting on the New York Islanders because they they sound a racist. And because on Saturday they lost 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers of all teams, the sorry ass Allenders were eliminated from playoff contention and maybe they will rectify in the offseason what they

did this season by again pulling this idiot off the scrap heap for his fifth or sixth chance in this league. Maybe they will rectify it but for right now, ha ha, hee hee, ha ha ha, ha ho, ha ho. Rose? Yeah, my Fail of the Week, it's Roy's lack of movie and TV show knowledge, so we're going to talk to Adnan about it when we get him here, because that cannot happen. All right, we got it. Yeah, that was my Fail of the Week. Thank you.

Adnan's on next week, so we'll talk to him about it. It's not lack. Have you watched the Leviton show for crying out loud? I know about. Lack. We can just put it with lack. Okay. I disagree.

I firmly disagree. Rose, true or false? There was an NHL goalie whose last name was lack. True. Good girl. All right, for those who are watching on DraftKings Network, you can find our interview with the hosts of What Chaos, Pete Blackburn and David Bean. That's David J. Bean. We call him DJ. So you can

watch that. And the rest of the show, we're going to go over the Tampa Bay Lightning Florida Panthers playoff match up here in the first round. And the fact that the people that are predicting that the Lightning are going to win this series It's really making me angry Really really making me angry. Somebody's bound to pick against the Panthers. Yeah, I guess whatever but I'm biased What can I tell you play it sound? Biased there you go Pete Blackburn and DJ Bean coming up next Howdy folks, it's Mike Ryan here to remind you that Game Time is the official ticketing partner

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We're about to get into this thing. We're going to get in depth. Why are you using the Power Love Hour voice for this? Yeah, it is. It's time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Panic is coming. It's a quiet storm. That's what it is.

Yeah, right? All right. We have Pete Blackburn and DJ Bean from What Chaos is a spectacular hockey show that they do basically every single day. I can't do a daily show about hockey with Rose and I can't do it. But David Dwork was on the show last week and DJ had mentioned that his favorite person on this on our show is not me is not Dave and shows. Fuck not. I didn't even get mentioned.

So I mean, I noticed that. No, no. His favorite person on the show is Rose. Why is that DJ? First of all, Rose, we've never met. What up, legend? I think it is so funny that I just think it's so funny that you're a producer of a show and you're like, I will produce the show.

That's it. And I will kill producing the show. I will do a great job at that. You talk about whatever you want to talk about. I'll be over here producing the show. And when they, cause we bug our producers so much for like takes and ideas and everything and like, Hey, what do you think of this thing? It would be the best if we were like, yo, Sean, how do you feel about the Sabres? And

he was like, Jason suckers on that team back to you. Yeah. At least I told them that our toy story five is going to have a reunion with a William bustling year, but this is a hockey show. We're not talking about that. Or the rings or Harry Potter. If it was, if it was not for me you wouldn't know that so yeah i agree with you see the story about uh rose becoming our producer we uh covered the uh the with the all-star game in toronto no no it's a hall of fame induction of roberto lorongo in toronto that's what happened she was our video producer and that's how she became all lead producer on this show you know it just happens to be that she was a sign of me we did have fun in Toronto yeah yes we did we have fun in Toronto I mean Rose goes to Toronto at the end of

November and doesn't bring any winter gear yeah borrow a winter hat and stuff like that but I mean I couldn't have predicted anything less than Rose and that being completely unprepared to go to Toronto in November. And losing stuff. It's also worth noting the prolific music producer, Rick Rubin, famously knows absolutely nothing about music and in fact actually knows nothing about recording music and has produced some of the greatest songs ever. So maybe you don't need it. Good vibes, guy. Winning Grammys, knowing nothing about what you won. Basically.

I'm just saying something. Like it's been three minutes and we've been talking about me not hockey. So I'm doing my job. All right, yeah. That's the reaction. Center of attention over your rose. How about we actually do what the title says.

Yeah, no need to inflate her ego anymore. Do we get back to the sexy playoff talk? Oh, sexy playoff talk. All right, Capitals and Blue Jackets last week. That's not very sexy. No, no. All right, before we get into the playoffs, how does this happen?

Dmitry Voronkov received a 10-minute misconduct with 9.42 left, so he was ineligible. He was done for the game. But apparently, nobody knew. And when the officials knew, when they noticed this, this is what happened. Please play the video with sound. The players are trying to figure out. Columbus number 10 received a 10 minute misconduct earlier in the period.

He was no longer eligible and then he was on the ice so there was an illegal player for Columbus on the ice. They have a minor penalty for an illegal player and number 10 for Columbus is still removed from the hockey game. That's about as major of a screw up as there is. Like nobody on the team knew. He stopped being a referee for a second and just became a dad because that's how you explain something to your kid.

He got kicked out of the game but he's still here. Now he's got to go to his room. Go to your kid. He got kicked out of the game, but he's still here. Now he's gotta go to his room. Go to the corner. That was weird. Fellas, what do you think about this? Because either it's the referee's fault for not telling the team, or it's the team's fault, or at least the coach's fault,

for not noticing that there was a 10 minute misconduct on the log. Pete, you take it. I think it's funny, you said this is about as big a screw up as you can have. Cause I think like two days later there was literally two referees staring at a shootout attempt that went directly into the back of the net and somehow neither one of them noticed that the puck went into the back of the net.

So just an incredible week for referees, just not noticing crap and doing their jobs when it's right in front of them. But like at least this one was way funnier because Verankov is like one of the funniest guys in the NHL. I would not be surprised if he just knew that he wasn't supposed to be there, decided to stay. And when you look at like the reaction from the Columbus bench, everybody was laughing, including Dean Evison. They were just like,

this guy rocks. He's hilarious. We can't control him. Dean Evison who has never laughed once in his life was laughing and as Pete said, Veronkov is known as the funniest guy on that team, which is odd because he doesn't speak the primary language of that team, which is English. However, and I'm not trying to get high on our own supply here, we had him on our show

and we learned that yes, he could use a translator, but he generally is picking up what's going on and he chimes in when he wants. So I think that that was some selective understanding of English when he was given a gay misconduct and he was like, awesome. I totally got it. And I heard the explanation was he just doesn't speak English, So he didn't know that he got thrown out of the game. So I don't know what to believe here. I think he knew that he got, I think.

Yeah, he definitely knows, he knows hockey. He knows more English than he lets on. And the other takeaway that we had from our interview was that he calls himself big boss and he says, I am big boss. That's amazing. And so this seemed like an example of him just being like, I make the rules here. Yeah, he big bossed him. We've all been there. Captain now. Big boss. That's and so this seemed like an example of him just being like, I make the rules here. Yeah, he big Boston. We've all been there. Captain.

Big Boston. I like it. The final boss. He's the rock now. Uh, the, uh, the stars, uh, avalanche matchup as we go into the Stanley Cup playoffs here, that, that's going to be a big one. And I think the biggest X factor here is the return of Gabriel Landis, God, uh, and Miko Rantan facing his old team. What do you think Pete? Do you think I'm right?

I don't know. This series has like a dwindling energy to it because I feel like the more and more I talk to people about this series, everybody's leaning so heavily in Colorado's favor just based off of the way that Dallas has fallen off over the past month and change. And we had Demetri Filipovich on our show yesterday. He was like, the stars cannot defend over this past month. So given like the long standing concerns on the right side of their defense,

the uncertainty of whether mere Haskin and comes back, like I have nervous energy heading into this game. And as far as the Gabriel Landis, God factor, like the guy hasn't played in two years, we can take like two AHL games off the table being reinserted into the NHL and playing your first games in a couple of years in the playoffs, three years in the playoffs directly, uh, being inserted against a pretty good team, whether or not they're struggling in Dallas. Like I would have very, very limited expectations from what you're going to get out of Gabriel Andiskoff.

I've been kind of talked out of loving this series. I was really, really excited for it outside of Edmonton. I absolutely love the avalanche in the Western Conference, and I've been trying to hype this up and Pete and Sean have slowly chipped away. Like you've been watching the stars, but you know that they are an absolute mess defensively and no Heiskenen. That's they've convinced me it could be a shorter series than I thought. Yeah, I was going to say to me, isn't the biggest X factor Miro Heiskenen's health? Because if he doesn't play like this could be a quick series, in my opinion,

because they have been like DJ just mentioned, they have been a mess for the last, what, 20 games ever since he went out, right? He missed since Forced Nations. So it's like they're just all over the place right now. And yeah, it does feel like some of the steam has been taken out of this series as long as he's not going to be available. There, there was a really good meme that was going around after Paige Becker's was drafted and it said they traded Luca because they couldn't handle all of

that star power and it was Paige Becker's, it was Luca Donchich and it was Cody Cece and someone responded and said, LOL, why did you choose a third pairing defenseman on the stars? Cody Cece and someone responded and said, LOL, why did you choose a third pairing defensemen on the stars? And I was that rando stranger that responded to it and was like, what third defenseman Cody Cece is like the most important player on your dig. Your defense sucks. He's arguably your best defenseman right now. Like maybe that post wasn't a joke. So guys, we've obviously talked a lot about the Washington Capitals this year and the amazing season they had and Alex Ovechkin.

I look at them as not that dissimilar from the Panthers a couple of years ago when the Panthers won the president's trophy, a very exciting, high flying team. I'm curious how that will carry over into the playoffs. However, a couple of players on the Capitals, obviously we talked a lot about Logan Thompson and the year he had. Is Jacob Chickren getting enough credit for the year that he had with the capitals because he came over there from Ottawa, kind of, is he still going to be that guy? And I feel like he had a monster year and not enough guys

are talking about it. Yeah, I mean, he's really everything they did has worked. Yeah. And Chickren, I'd say Chickren is second or third on the list. Like Thompson has been awesomerin, I'd say Chikrin is second or third on the list. Like Thompson has been awesome, but I'm still kind of waiting for Logan Thompson to be what Logan Thompson has been for the balance of his career. Chikrin and PLD are the two ones that I look at as like those

guys, I don't think that Chikrin needed fixing, but I think that he maybe needed like just a full strong year to answer whatever questions existed about him. And then PLD is the other one where suddenly that's not a bad contract anymore. And he looks like he's going to be a star and get selkie votes in the coming years. So everything they've done has worked. And when you ask if Chikran's gotten enough credit, I feel like the best story about this team, other than the Ovechkin chase is that all

these guys they got all these cast offs have been studs but when the story is as good as Ovechkin breaking the goals record it's understandable for everyone to overlook everything else. Yeah and I mean the Chikrun thing is like he might be overlooked in terms of what he's doing this year by like a wide audience but it's certainly not being overlooked by the guys that traded for him and the guys assembling that team because he got his big contract extension, they're paying him like a number one defenseman for a long time. And so, uh, it's, I think it's a bit of a gamble based off of like, he is

killing it in a contract year. How is that going to sustain, especially like, if the team performance dips. So like, I'm interested in the Chikrun of it all, especially during a playoff run, like how big is his load going to be? How much is he going to produce offensively? Cause he's at a monster year offensively. And so I do think that if Washington's going to make a massive run here and go deep, Chikrun is going to have to be as big central part of it. He's also a non-asshole version of Aaron Rodgers. In the coming years, we don't know what, if he's going to be like, guys,

we should be eating the water bottles actually, and not drinking from them. So let me ask you guys, don't you kind of feel like on the flip side of things, I know Montreal kind of snuck in, they limped in at the end here, but don't you feel like if you're Washington, you have to take a two lead back to central bell because of the energy that's going to be in that building for those two games. We're going to make it. It's actually been a central bell. No, no, no.

Good behavior. It's Sandra Bell. Say it. That's the name of it. We say what the name of it is. Say it is over here. Hates when people speak other languages. Roy, I know that's you as well, but let's take politics aside of it. You just classic Americans making everything about like, Hey, if you don't like the language, please let's respect everybody. Shall we? Sandra Bell. Listen, that place is unbelievable and it's going to be unbelievable. Don't you feel like they need to? Don't you feel like the Cavs need to

take a 2-0 lead going back there? I mean, I would say the Cavs have been playing with their food, but I think they've only had alcohol for the last three weeks. I think the Capitals, while a great story and I've loved them all season, if the Capitals, if the Capitals don't watch it,

they could be upset. And I don't know if it's by the Canadians because the Canadians just aren't that good of a team, but I'm talking second round. Somebody can get them. And maybe, yeah, if they don't take a 2-0 lead, maybe this does become a series. Yeah, I mean, like I think the Canadians are a flawed team.

I wouldn't say that they're not, they're not a good team. Like they are a very exciting, flawed team, especially defensively. So like if you're Washington, you have to take advantage of that immediately early on in the series, kind of established dominance. You have been one of the best teams in the league all year long. You've been one of the best offensive teams in the league all year long. Take advantage of that, like strength versus weakness, offense versus defense. If you let the Canadians get one of the first two games, take some momentum

back home into Montreal and feel really good about their like underdog, scrappy, youngster vibes. It's, it's your plan with fire there, especially for a Washington team that has not been there as a group, like as this current group before, like they need to make business quick business in the first round, I think. I'm treating this, uh, this all is King's series, kind of like those bad Karako tri-star Canon films of the eighties, where you got bad sequels like this is Kings all is for the Armageddon like they've played way too many times they have four straight years that they want to play. Police Academy 5. Police Academy 5 oh Jesus Christ all right let's talk about Dono and Nurse like what we're doing here cross check to the face of Quentin

Byfield and he gets one game. One game? Just happened to be the last game in the regular season. Now he's back for the first round. Like, should have gotten more. He's a repeat offender. He's been suspended before. In fact, he's been suspended three times

and two of those suspensions have been lifted. Should have gotten more than one game. I think our producer Sean has nailed it, which is if there were more games in the regular season, it would have been two or three games. But if you go by the one playoff game equals three regular season games, then if you're given two games into the playoffs, you're giving them a four game suspension, which is a little much.

And I think that they just kind of rounded down instead of rounding way up. This would be a much easier call if there were more games left in the regular season. And he he's the big oilers guy. So like I will, if you want to attach bias to that you can, but I do agree. Like I've sort of come off my strong stance here. I thought that he was going to get two or three games, but the more that I've seen it. And then I did see like the net cam angle that I hadn't seen previously, it looked way less egregious from the net cam, which is the best look at it.

And it's just kind of like it. I initially thought that it was a cross check to the back of the head, pushing his face into the ice with force. It's still a greasy play, but it was more of like a little shove into the ice. Not you do want to get rid of that. And it is definitely suspendable. I was fine with one game, especially with, you know, the, the playoff conversion. I think it's fine to give them one game and just move on.

All right. Vanda Cain has not played since game two of the Stanley Cup final and he's listed as week to week. Um, do you think he's going to end up playing? Cause I honestly, I don't think he's going to end up playing. I mean, from what the oilers are saying, I don't know if they're just like going to make up and bring back players to like, if like Oscar Clefbomb is going to be there or something, but if you listen to what they say, whether it's Connor

McDavid or Chris Knobloch, there's been a lot of like, Hey, the, the perception of us health wise is a little off. That's all we'll say. And McDavid has said like, we're seen as the walking wounded, but I think that you guys will find that we're not as banged up as you think. And that tells me that maybe everybody but Matthias at home will be back, including a Vander Kane. But I also listen to that quote and I'm like, well, people are writing off the Oilers and people think

that they are the walking dead because they've spent the entire last month playing with zero players. Yes. We know that some of these guys are going to come back for the playoffs. The question is like, how ready are they going to be? How healthy and effective are they gonna be? And like writing off the oilers is not simply because of the fact that they've

been so injured over the past month. It's also that this is a better version of the Kings that we've seen in each of the first three installments of the series. So you can talk about like the SQL part of it and the police academy, five of it. All the Armageddon. I am actually excited for this series, maybe more than I have been for any of the previous iterations. Like for me, this is more mission impossible,

where it seems like it's only getting stronger as the series goes along. But do either of you guys have the balls to actually pick the Kings? Yes, I have. I don't know that I do. I'm going to be very mad at myself if the Oilers win because there's plenty of reason to think that the Oilers still got this in them and that they can go on a

deep run here. But based on the uncertainty factor from Edmonton and the fact that I really like what I've seen from L.A LA over the past, I guess, like two months since the four nations break, they're an awesome defensive team. They get goaltending. I do believe that they're kind of catching a little bit of a spark offensively. I think that they can beat. And I will, I'm saying that they will beat the oilers in that first.

I think there's two teams that are going to, that have the potential to make us feel like such idiots, maybe three, actually, if you factor in the Panthers, I think it's the oilers. I think it's the capitals where you ask questions about them going into the playoffs and legitimately after one game of the postseason, we might be like, Oh my God, that was so stupid. Okay. I'm so sorry. Like Leon dry saddle might score five goals in the first game.

And you're like, Oh, it could be Leon dry saddle and literally anybody else. And they're just going to win these games. We haven't seen McDavid and dry saddle together since not together, like in the same lineup. I'm not talking playing together since March 18th. It's been a long time. They've also been without. And I agree with Pete. Like I like L.A.'s offense, but we're putting that up against a lineup that we

legitimately have never seen before that is going to have down the middle. Connor McDavid, Leon Drysaddle, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, who has been awesome when he's been healthy the last couple of months. And what Adam Henrique with with Trent Frederick and probably Corey Perry on his line. Offensively, they are going to be freaking loaded, but doesn't matter if Stu Skinner is horrible. Rosie. I have a question. So, uh, these two guys, their team is the Panthers and the Naively, which one is your team?

Like, yeah, it's your team though. The oilers DJ and PD yours. I don't know which one. It's the Bruins, right? Pete. My Pete, yours. I don't know which one. It's the Bruins, right Pete? My other Bruins, they are nowhere to be found over the next couple of months. So don't have to worry about that.

Oh, that's why you hate Marchand. I don't hate Marchand. Pete hates Marchand. No, he doesn't hate Marchand. I love Marchand. I hate the place with the Nantons. We have Marchand now. Yes.

You guys are on a full rebuild now, aren't you? Yeah, I would say that. The front office says no. You say it's a retool and it might be a hybrid retool rebuild, but there's not a whole lot to look forward to at this point. So I would call that a rebuild. Are you supposed to have your second round pick

when you're in a rebuild or do you not need those? I don't know, I'm not in charge of rebuilds. Right. But I'm saying like they're entering this rebuild and the only thing they have, they have some later picks and everything. They have like second round picks that are later in the round. Like they don't even have their own second round pick. They're going to finish. I don't know. That's going to be like the fifth pick of the second round, something like that. And that's gone.

Like they have kicked the can down the road so many times. And now that the bill is due, they just don't have the cash and they don't have the prospects at all. They might stink for a long time. And it's thanks because like the, I love the oilers. They're my favorite team, but like Bruins are like my family. And it's tough to see your family go through something. Yeah. But it's also like there is the bones of this family still exist. And like, if things go right and they nail a lot of parts of what they're

trying to do and the retool rebuild, they can be back sooner than a lot of people expect. My only concern is that they're leaving the same people in charge that have failed in a number of different areas to try to keep this thing alive. So I would feel a little bit more enthusiastic about where we're headed if it were a different group of people in charge. So I'm just going to tell you, Brunes, I like that is Bruins

because it's one flight away. Edmonton. I wish I could like them, but it's too many flights. So yeah, that's the only thing. Don't say it, Ethan. Don't say it. Yeah, don't say it, Ethan. Thank you.

And they're complaining about going to the Stanley Cup final, which they asked to do. I've been to three of them. Thank you. You sound like you're complaining about that. I don't want to hear it. I didn't say a word. Brad Marchand.

Shut up. Or however his name is. Dave? Guys, we'd be remiss if we had John and didn't ask you a little bit about the playoff series that we're gonna be elbows deep in, and that's Panthers Lightning for the fourth time in five years. Well, I was gonna say balls deep, but I kept it clean. But now you got me.

I mean, this is Tampa, Florida here, deep, deep. Yeah, let's go. Obviously, Tampa, a little bit different than last year. No Stamppost, but Gensel's been awesome, Kuturov, Art Ross winner, let's go. Obviously, Tampa, a little bit different than last year. No stamp toast, but Gensel's been awesome. Kuturov, Art Ross winner, possibly heart trophy guy, Vasilievski, Vintage Vasi. I know I'm still taking the Panthers in seven, but what do you guys think? How's this going to play out? Yeah, I also lean Panthers, but like I said, they're the other team that we're talking ourselves into why they could lose in the first round. And it makes sense because everybody should respect the lightning.

But at the end of the day, if Kuchuk is back and you have Kuchuk and Marshawn and Bennett, like they're just going to be such a nightmare to play against. And we're in year two of saying someone who wants to make a playoff run, get Seth Jones because he's not what he once was, but he can eat minutes. And for a team that lost their leader in minutes on the back end, the Panthers were the smartest team to go out and get Seth Jones. I don't think he's going to be spectacular, but I think that they will

benefit greatly from having another absolute horse back there. Vasilevsky, I would say, wins the goaltending matchup, but I think this is going to be close and I would still pick the Panthers to get out of the first round. Yeah, I think it's close. I'm going to lean the lightning just based off of they have one of the best, the best line in the series. They have the best goaltender in the series. And I'm uncertain about what you're going to get from Matthew Kachuk. And if Kachuk is great, then that might shift my leaning towards the Panthers. But right now I feel like the margins on this series are very, very thin. And I think it's going to be a great series.

I think it's going to be a war. And I honestly, like, I worry about whichever team even comes out of this series based off of what they might look like at the end of it and how depleted they could be in the second round. You also have to remember our guy Brad Marshand has been hurt for a lot of the last however many months and he is playing for a contract and this is going to be a big big moment for him. He's had massive moments over the years in the postseason. The stage is set for him. I think that if he's healthy and if he's right, he'll go off. Come on Pete

I know you want to root for us. I know you don't watch more Shannon, you know, it's so it's so weird. You want to see it. I know you it's so weird that I'm the Panthers not supporter but like Panthers Jason know like we're both Panthers respectors. I want Brad Marsh on to have an awesome postseason I want the Panthers to get to make a run. That would be awesome. I wouldn't cry about it. Like I like Marshawn and it does benefit the Bruins in terms of the, uh, the conditions on the, on the draft pick that were sent over for him.

Like I would like the first round pick, but at the same time, like I don't, I don't, I don't care about your happiness in South Florida. I don't, I don't, I could care less if you win or not. I don't want everybody in the chat to be miserable. That's okay, Pete. I mean, look at it this way. At least there'll be a one day contract for Brad Monshawn one of these days so he can retire.

That's pretty inevitable, right? I mean, I wouldn't rule out him coming back in the off season. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. All right, DJ Pete, you can find him on What Chaos. All right, real quick. Let's go over the series ourselves. Let's do predictions here. Panthers lightning. All right, Dave, what you got? I got Panthers in seven. I think it's going to be a fun series, a deep series. I'm excited for it. And let's move that train down to the second round. All right, Ethan. Um, I'm not gonna lie the last few days I've started to feel a little more worried than I expected to feel

Um, I think it's a lot of the noise that's coming out in terms of people favoring the lightning I still think the Panthers are the better team. They're the deeper team I like their forward depth more than I like the lightnings forward depth and I just think with Kuchuk coming back Marshaan in the fold. I think think Marshin has a big goal in him somewhere. Vasilevsky terrifies me, but I still think the Panthers are the better team. They're too good in the end. I'm going to take Panthers in six. All right, Rosie. I'm taking Panthers because Barkov is there. So, uh,

how many games Rosie? Uh, I think it's going to be a seven game also. Yeah. We're going to Tampa for game seven, we're going to Tampa for game Yeah, we're going to Tampa for game seven. So all right. I got I got Florida in six Even though it's gonna end up being a seven because we have to go to Tampa and we have to celebrate They'll win at Burns steakhouse. I swear to goodness. I want to go to burns to have a steak. I love that So Fails it'll be Florida in seven,

but I'm going with Florida in six. But you know what, if they win in six, that would be what, on a Saturday or Friday? That'd be a Saturday at home. Oh, we can party. So we just drive up to Tampa the next day and celebrate in their backyard and have a burnt steak anyway. No, we party here.

All right, fine, we'll party here. All right, for Rose, for Ethan, for Dave, for Jason, for Mike, for myself. Thank you for joining us this week on the hockey show. And oh yeah, by the way, DJ Bean, P Blackburn, we appreciate you. We love you boys. You can find that on YouTube every single week and DraftKings network. Thank you for joining us this week. Okay, goodbye. Playoffs. English.

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