The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Hockey Show: Prime Italian

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

Roy and David are back with another episode of The Hockey Show and this week Ethan has tagged along for the ride. The crew starts off with their slap shots of the week including John Tortorella's treatment of rookie Matvei Michkov, the most fired coach in sports history and Roy getting really fired up about Sidney Crosby. After running through the winners and losers of the week as well, Adnan Virk of Prime Hockey joins the show to discuss hanging out with Mark Messier, the Nashville Predators being on the verge of rebuild mode, Regression Candidate Samson Reinhart and the conditions Kevin Weekes has set out to be a guest on the show. Finally, the crew breaks down the week that was for the Florida Panthers including two wins over the Dallas Stars in Finland and a dominant win over the Nashville Predators. Can we please talk about Samson Reinhart? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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No purchase necessary. 21 plus ends November 15th, 2024. See rules at website for participating area and other important details. Sponsored by Diageo Americas, Inc., New York, New York. Red One. We're coming at you. Is the movie event of the holiday season.

Santa Claus has been kidnapped. You're gonna help us find you can't trust this guy. He's on the list It's a naughty Lister naughty Lister Dwayne Johnson. We got snowmen Chris Evans, I might just go back to the car. Let's save Christmas I'm not gonna say that say it. All right Let's save Christmas. There it is. Only in theaters November 15th. Welcome to the hockey show. My name is Roy Bellamy. David Dwork to the hockey news is to my left. He is the co-host of the show. Ethan Padowski is in for Rosie. Rose right now is, I have no idea where she is,

but she's at Lucy. I'm not sure actually. She's listening. All parts, wherever she is, she's listening. She's somewhere in the country right now. So yeah, it's been an interesting week, and we're only gonna talk about hockey. All right, hot takes.

Let's start with the slap shots here. Hot takes, Dave, what you got? All right, my hot take comes out of, as I get myself situated here, my hot take comes out of Philadelphia. As we learned, actually you know what, let's just play the audio. We have that, Ethan, ready to go. John Tortorella talking about how the Flyers are treating their star rookie, Matt V. Michkov, who is having a great first 10 games of his career. Let's hear why he was a healthy scratch last night. Apologize if you answered any of these questions already, but I just see Matt V. is out for tonight.

What is it that he's not doing that you want to see him do? Just part of the process. Is it more a teaching thing? Just part of the process. I mean, I told you guys, with young guys, they can watch games too, as far as development. So it's trying to help them. Now the reaction to this has been understandably like, what the hell's going on? How are they doing that with like a potential Calder trophy candidate, somebody who's playing very well for a first time NHL kid? I get where

torts is coming from. We've heard that many head coaches here in Florida, head coaches around the league, we've heard that. It doesn't hurt for a young guy to get their feet wet, take a step back, watch and then jump back in. I get it. But 13 games into a season where the Flyers are currently trying to save themselves, as I look at the standings,

next to the seller of the Eastern Conference, but it's still early enough in the season that everybody's tight. So, yeah, honestly, I feel like I lost my whole train of thought just because my hot take was to relax, but now I'm kinda thinking, but is this the time? So I don't know. That seems like a lukewarm take to me instead of a hot one.

Yeah, I think we need to rein. Really ran out of steam there, David. Yeah. Oh, shit. You want to start over? No, no, Roy, what's your hot take? Let's go. Okay, my hot take is a stat that came across my wire

because you love to piss me off when stuff like this happens. Okay, there's a stat that has been tracked since 1997, the 97-98 season. Faceoff wins. Okay? And apparently, and this is going to really piss me off, as I say, Sidney Crosby became the NHL all-time faceoff wins leader. Okay. There hasn't been a single moment in the history of the sport where we talked about a record of face-off wins being broken. What the hell are we doing here? Nobody gives a f*** about this. Like, what is this? Face-off wins. This is just an excuse for the National Hockey

League to once again shove down an achievement that nobody cares about down all collective throats for cindy crosby i'm tired of this i'm really tired of hearing about this guy in nineteen years nineteen years he's been shut down our throats ad nauseam by this week he also by the way these the lead in all time face off losses so basically what this is the media is volume shooting

yes he's a buy shooter. He's a welcome He's a winnie. He's a see now. I'm He's the linear Wilkins of the face also. He's a compiler Exactly. He's a compiler. He's a compiler Omar Viscale the Omar Viscale of hockey. This compiles He's a little can Paul Maurice most wins most losses wait under the most wins, but he's getting up there Yeah, but yeah, I won't have the same take for that one. It's interesting, I'm actually reading another obscure stat. Sidney Crosby actually leads the league in most circular bunny years when he ties the states. Nobody has ever done it in the

circumference way that he's done it before. It's pretty impressive actually, but that's only been kept track since 0304. Yeah, that's about the same level as face-off wins to me. Yeah, felt that way. Ethan, you got a hot take. I do have a hot take, fellas. My hot take is that Jim Montgomery, as we go to an empty seat, Jim Montgomery is going to be the first coach fired in the nation of the season.

That's very appropriate, actually. The empty seat? The empty seat was for Jim Montgomery's seat eventually. This guy has never been a more fired coach in the history of sports. He is just losing control of his team. He was fighting with Brad Marshan recently. He benched David Posternak. And Gino, if you can throw that tweet back up there,

I don't know if you can. The Panthers have completely broken the Boston Bruins. That was my opinion. That's what I got from the fact that David Posternak, the Panthers have been so in the Bruins' heads that they have just broken the Boston Bruins and the team seems fractured I mean, they're not playing very well I know they're still in playoff position, but you know some of the teams that we were expecting maybe to get back Into playoff position like a Buffalo and Ottawa Detroit haven't really lived up to that standard

So they're still in playoff position, but they're not playing very well. Their numbers are bad. Their metrics are bad. It doesn't look like they're really going anywhere, gonna be a team that we expect to like contend for anything. And he's got all these problems with his players. Two bad playoff runs for him, obviously crashing out in the first round

with the best team ever, and then losing in the second round last year. He is so fired, and I think he's gonna be the first coach fired this season. Dirty talk. I'm enjoying this. Keep going. Yeah, I mean, during the off season,

they got bigger, and they got slower. What's the line? The big bad Bruins are just big and bad? Is that your line? The big bad Bruins are just big and bad. Let's go to the win of the week. I'm gonna go first, and the winner this week, for me, is Ty Domey.

Ty Domey managed to pull off something that very rarely happens, embarrassed Tom Brady. We have a video of Tom Brady in full hockey gear by the way. I didn't believe this was real when I first saw it. I'm like, what grown adult, first of all, anybody would do this, make a video of themselves like this but of all Tom bleeping Brady Yeah, I gotta explain this here Claire has better form Tom Brady's in full hockey uniform

But he apparently doesn't know how to skate so tie I don't we had him on a skate sled so he had to push the sled the sled all around the rink So he wouldn't fall it looks like he's about to take the snap from the skate sled. So he had to push the sled all around the rink so he wouldn't fall. It looks like he's about to take the snap from the skate sled. Oh. I love seeing Tom Brady get embarrassed. Oh, there he's skating without the sled.

Any embarrassing contest of content of Brady. Gotta love that. Look at this. Oh, he almost slipped right there. Oh my god. Now, mind you, now Tom Brady, after the video, said he was going to kill Tye Domi for releasing the video. Now Tom Brady might have six to seven inches of height

on Tye Domi because Tye Domi's 5'10". And Tom Brady still surprises me for no apparent reason, he's 6'5". But Tye Domi has 3,515 penalty minutes, third all time. Good luck with that one. Well, as long as they keep their states on, they'll never catch him anyway. Yeah, what's your win of the week, Dave? My win of the week, also related to Toronto actually, but a little bit more hockey-time, good luck with that one. As long as they keep their states on, they'll never catch them anyway. Yeah, what's your win of the week, David?

My win of the week, also related to Toronto, actually, but a little bit more hockey-centric. It was just an awesome play. It happened in overtime when Toronto was playing Minnesota. And if we have the video here, watch. So, Minnesota rushes in, a turnover. Oh no, here comes Toronto going the other way. There's Max Domi right there.

He tries to push it up, but look at Jared Spurgeon. Wow. Hustle his ass off to get back, but then have the presence of mind to throw it up in one motion. Game over. That only happens in overtime for three on three. Minnesota, man. That can happen five on five.

That was so cool. But how cool was that play? How smart was that play by Jared Spurgeon to not only recognize, to get on his horse, to back check, to stop the rush, but then mid back check, know that they're changing, the Leafs are changing, I just gotta throw it up the ice. And then there's two of the best young players

in Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy, and game over on our boy Anthony Solars, who's been amazing for Toronto this year. Yeah, he left that net wide open up high. He was probably like, what the hell, we're going for a line change and now I'm facing a two on oh. But I just thought that was one of the smartest hockey plays I've seen in a while credit to Jared Spurgeon for that

That was really cool. Ty Domi not exactly fleet of foot. No Max Domi. Oh, I'm sorry. No Ty Domi was Previous video, but Max Domi his son not exactly He didn't exactly put a lot of effort into it was late. No, I would yeah it was late in the shift But still you you can't lose an overtime like that, but credits a spurgeon smart man, Ethan I don't have a winner this week. I just want to say Minnesota's really good really dangerous and Capri's off Looks like a heart the heart favorite so far dynamite drop in money along with Sam Reinhardt Somebody's gonna get a jersey that just says Reinhardt That's been my joke for like two weeks now David David, is that he's getting the Reinhardt

trophy. Roy, what's your loser of the week? My loser of the week is a big time failure here. This is Hurricane's Defacement Jalen Chatfield. Oh, this is so good. Apparently he has a pregame ritual during the pregame skate after he's done. After he's done with pregame skate, he goes from one side of the ice, across the blue line to his bench and he goes into his locker room.

But he lost an edge and completely crashed into the boards. It was bad. He lost that edge, crashed into the boards, got up, dusted off the snow, and then he walked to the locker room to the applause of the fans that were around the bench. That's embarrassing. Yeah well you turn the fail into a win so credit to Chasio. No winning that one. My L of the week comes from the game between the Kings and the Predators and I think most Predators games have come with L's this week but this game was just the shit show from the start. There was the

official getting hurt. There were multiple pretty crazy intense fights in this game. There was a lot of hostility for a game between a couple of teams that are just fighting to get above the playoff Mendoza line. Obviously, Nashville in a lot worse space. This was a great fight. But just, hey, majors, to one left and right. The Kings ended up winning this game three to nothing, Nashville has just been a kind of a joke this year. It's surprising based off the moves they made

But yeah, this game was just bonkers there they go again Yeah, and I don't know it just it made me feel good as a hockey fan to watch an entertaining shit show You know you some decent goaltending some fun goals goals, but overall, as we just, I feel like we've talked a lot about Nashville this year, they're just a mess. Considering the moves they made, the Stamcoast, the Marchesau, Bruno was a Jack Adams finalist, just what the hell's going on? Yeah, we'll get into Nashville a little bit later when we recap the week that was for the Panthers.

Ethan, do you have any notes here? I was just going to say about Nashville, but I guess we'll get deeper into them later. It is interesting to hear them saying, and maybe we'll talk with Adnan about this, that Barry Trotts saying rebuild already this early in the season. And what do they rebuild with? Are they going to trade the guys that they just signed?

Yes. I mean, that's crazy. That's 2012 Miami Marlins type stuff like right It would be insane to see them trade a Stamco's Retaining a million in salary Telling you all right, why don't you toss it at an end here because we got like 20 seconds No, I'm excited. We're gonna talk to our boy boy Adnan Vert from Prime Hockey, see how it's been going up there in Canada so far.

It's been a fun few weeks and I definitely want to get his take on some of the craziness happening in the league. So let's talk to Adnan. This episode of the Day in Laboratory Show with StuGats is sponsored by Liquid IV. When I go to the gym, Liquid IV is with me, just like my driver's license and my car key and my phone. Whether you forget to take a sip of water during your office holiday party or start feeling parched after a long day of traveling or hosting, keep Liquid IV on hand to stay hydrated throughout the

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Get 20% off your first order at Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code DAN at checkout. That's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code DAN at liquidiv.com. Dan LeBattard, we're gonna win. Stugarts. We're gonna win. They're annoying. What an old reference.

This is the Don Lebatard show with the Stugarts. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go. All right, joining us today is Antnan Virke. He is the studio host for Prime Canada Monday night hockey. And it's been a month already, and it seems like he's having a good time. Ant man, what's going on? Are you having stories about what's been happening in the studio for you? Roy, it's been fantastic man. Honestly one of the great parts of working on Prime Monday night hockey has been the experience of going to different arenas.

Now of course being from Toronto, it's always good to be back home and get to see my friends and family etc. But you know it was a great environment there, see that's the Dean obviously work in Mark message been fantastic Blake Bolden as well first game was in Montreal that's one of my favorite Barnes the Bell Center always is a great crowd. Fans are very knowledgeable penguins are playing there got to see said but I want to talk to you about week 3 because even as a proud Canadian I'd never been to Winnipeg Manitoba didn't know what to expect. New

Jersey exactly New Jersey 2 and a half hour flight to Minnesota, Minnesota, hour and a half to Winnipeg. Surprisingly, the hour and a half flight to Winnipeg, nicer than the two and a half from Jersey to Minnesota, whatever, just nicer plane, better food, better amenities, et cetera. But we land in Winnipeg, I'm like, oh God, here we go. And one of the first signs is let's go bombers.

Which a friend of mine said, the Yankees, it's the blue bombers, of course, I see it fell to you, right? Now, I'll be honest, fellas, there's not a whole lot in Winnipeg, okay? I got right to the hotel, Radisson, 155 a night, it's a five-minute walk from the arena, there's a dollar-a-roma across the road, a couple of Canadian staples like Moxie's and other restaurants, but I'll tell you what, man, that arena, they're rocking and rolling. Only 15,000 at the Canada Life Center, but that crowd is into it, and that's the one

loss that Jets has suffered, which is against the Maple Leafs. And further proof of the power of Leafland, I'm telling you, five minutes in, fellas, Jets have yet to lose a game, and you can hear the Go Leafs Go Chants. So it's obviously a very passionate fan base in Toronto, willing to go to Manitoba for a game, but props to Winnipeg, I'm glad I got to see it.

Was worried about the cold, but I'll be honest, it was October 25th, and it was like 16 sunny. So I guess I lucked out. It is not gonna be nearly as balmy when I'm there in Winnipeg in February, but very cool to talk to Scott O'Neill, of course the head coach. This is the second team ever fellas.

13 wins in their first 14 games, along with the Ottawa Senators of 06-07. Obviously Kyle Connor has been tremendous along with Mark Scheinfleet. They have arguably the best third line in hockey. Nino Nino Ryder just played his 900th game, he's great. And obviously Connor Helbuck, two time best in winter. So very cool to get to Winnipeg.

October. Of course, it's not going to be as cold as it's going to be in February. We were in Edmonton in June, and it was lovely. So we're not going there in December. No, no, we are not. No, no. That was past. Well, here in Adden, talk about the travel.

Just getting there seemed, oh, man, that sounds lovely. Just the nice little Adden, talk about the travel, just getting there seemed, oh man, that sounds lovely. Just the nice little two chill flights. Brings back memories, doesn't it? Not really. Our travel day, we took like two days to get there. No, no, thank you. Not again. No. Unless it happens. Cheer point, David. I've never been to Edmonton. My first Edmonton flight is to see the beloved

Florida Panthers. Panthers and Oilers December 16th, me and Mark Messier. So yeah, that's pretty north up there in Alberta as you guys know. The happy hour specials at Joey's. Check them out. Oh yeah. They got that lime slush. Oh my God. Best Jack and Coke I ever had in my life. Remember, they got one in Aventura. They do, but it wasn't the same. I did go to the one in Aventura and it felt, looked, but it just, it didn't taste, I wasn't like going crazy for the flavors that I went in Aventura and it felt, looked, but it didn't taste, I wasn't going crazy for the flavors that I went,

and maybe something in Edmonton, I don't know. They had that Alberta beef that was delicious. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, I don't know. But talking about the show, Adnan, I was curious, just because you've done work like this before, you're a professional, you've been around for a long time.

Is there anything that surprised you about the Amazon Prime broadcast that you love about it, that you weren't expecting? Well, I think one thing that's really cool, David, is like when you're in an arena, you are at the mercy of the fans. So quite honestly, so many times I'm in the studio and it's in controlled environment

and it's just point A to point B. It's very easy. It's Gretzky to Curry and we get it done. Even college football, I was on the road, we're in a secluded environment there for ESPN. So it wasn't too abstract. But I'll tell you, that second game, the Leafs, we're like our studio

setup is right where the fans are walking in gate five or gate six. So I wasn't quite expecting how loud it was. And like normally I'm always, you know, fishing with my earpiece, make sure the volume is loud. When they announced Matt Sundin was coming up. And again, we got Mark Messi with us, right? This is big deal. There's fans cheering. Sundin, I was like, oh my God, I nearly blew an eardrum. Like that crowd was really into it. So it's, it makes me further appreciate when I see Chris Thompson

doing Amazon football Thursdays, or I see any broadcasters working, Kevin Burkhart doing the World Series. People don't realize, David, like, ah, guy, how easy is this? Ask a guy a question, go to the next question. I'm like, yeah, but if you can't hear, you're at the mercy of being out there by yourself.

So I'd actually believe in fandom for Sundae. Yeah, it's awesome. And by the way, it was one of the first times ever, David, I could say to a player, I can say to him that I'm gonna read lips. Yeah, I'm gonna read lips. And by the way, it was one of the first times ever, David, I could say to a player, I can say to him that I found him to be statuesque because right over my eye line was the statue of Matt Sundeen outside, a six-four Swede. Normally you think you use that adjective with, you know,

supermodel, Al McPherson, but I got to call another man on national television statuesque in the case of Matt Sundeen, because he's a six-four Swede. You just made people of a certain age smile. Definitely. You mentioned Mark Messier. You have a story, don't you? Oh, so Roy, here's the thing.

You know, again, my Flyers fandom goes back to what? 85, 87. So when I'm talking to him, I'm looking at a guy who made me cry when I was nine years old. And Game 7 is a great series. If you guys have a chance to check it out, you'll love it. It's available right now on Prime, not only in Canada, but here in America. And one of them is of course, the game seven,

Oilers Flyers. So I'm watching it and I'm like, I don't know why I'm watching this. This is so painful bringing back the memories, but it's cool seeing Nessie Ingretzky and a lot of my buddy Elliot Friedman. But from Philly's perspective, you see a lot of Ron Hextall and Dave Poulin.

And Hextall said to this day, he's met people have told him, hey, because of that series, I became a hockey fan. The quality of hockey was so great. Hextall, as you guys know, memorably won the cons might, him hey because of that series I became a hockey fan the quality hockey was so great Hexdahl as you guys know memorably won the cons might even though they lost that series in seven and Dave Poole is talking about Poole and goes like why would I ever want to people ask me have you rewatched the game again no I lived it like it was a heartbreak why

would I ever want to watch that game again so anyways I'm talking to Messi off air about a little bit he's a guy that game seven was awesome and then I mentioned Hexdahl and I said it goes oh Hex he's really good in the documentary he's really you know he goes for a guy who was so fiery and such a pain out there like so aggressive and hostile you know he was really good at it explained their perspective I said yeah and he kind of paused he goes not crazy but a guy from the losing team when the cons might another positive goes but he was pretty effing good yeah.

All these years ago can appreciate that and nothing about most of us we did the coast to Coast show last night on Prime, which was actually shot in Secaucus, New Jersey, which is where I do MLB Network and Angelina Network work. So it's that studio, but the game was available on Prime. Anyways, they want us to pre-tape the open. You guys know sometimes these guys get a little bit finicky. Okay, fine, no problem.

We do it, and then they go, hey, let's do one more. And I'm telling you, fellas, Messi is a nice guy. He's down to earth. He's very chill. But he got that glare in his eyes and goes, why? And I was like, oh my god. I was like, then I just looked in the eyes of a 26-year veteran who scored almost 700 goals as a six-time Stanley

Cup champion. They go, well, let's just do one more. He's like, person's always better. And they're like, well, let's just do one more. Do the second take. And it was fine. Kevin Weeks is such a legend. Such a pro is five. But Moose looks at me and he's like, first one was better. And I'm like, well, let's just do a second take. And it was fine. Kevin Weeks is such a legend. Such a pro is five.

But Moose looks at me and he's like, first of all, it's better. And I'm like, whatever you say, Matt. It looks good kill with that glare. It's unbelievable. It sounds like he was about to throw one of his famous elbows there. Oh, no. All right.

And then you mentioned losing players winning the Con Smythe, which brings me to my Florida Panthers. And there's a guy in the Florida Panthers this year that's just dominating. His name is Sam Reinhardt. 57 goals last year. Welcome to the Florida Panthers. And there's a guy in the Florida Panthers this year that's just dominating. His name is Sam Reinhardt, 57 goals last year. Welcome to the show, Ethan.

Why do, what, at what point do we stop saying, oh, this guy's bound for regression at some point, and just say, this is a really good player that's gonna score 40, 45 goals every year for the next two years. And at what point do we actually start calling him Samson? I love that, go from Sam Reinhardt to Samson. Exactly, well, Ethan, listen, he's awesome.

We were watching a lot of that game last night, the Panthers of course, they took care of business against the Predators, win yet again. I've just been impressed Florida again, anytime you can be so good on the road to me, that's the mark of a great team. They go five and all, they take care of the Stars, a couple of those games in Finland and then last night really all over that Predators team which looks old and slow and tired and take that Steven Stamkos who plays the Predators again, plays the, excuse me, plays the Panthers again. This team is a member of the Predators, but yeah, Reinhardt's awesome, man.

There's no question about it. He's a dynamic player offensively. He brings so much to the table. I don't know if there's any doubt he could be a 40, 50 goal player, as you said. Panthers look great right now. Mess was saying, he goes, you know, with these teams, there is this still like a hangover at some point.

And I said, is that a cliche? He said, no, because it hits you around January, February, because you played so much hockey and you're playing at a high level. And he goes, of the 82 games, there's about 15 that are like really critical. Like, I'm not saying every game isn't critical. He goes, I know what you mean.

Because there's the 15 games you go, these are absolute, you know, measures and parameters, et cetera. And this was not that game against the Predators, of course, but like that Panthers, Oilers game will be so, you know, a Panthers, Bruins game in January will feel that way. And he goes, those are the games you can tell whether or not they have it. But Reinhardt specifically has been amazing.

Panthers are great right now. No question. You mentioned the Predators on Tuesday. Barry Trotz was on radio and he said, I'm trying to do some things right now. We will be limited a little bit because of contracts. If we don't get it going, then I'm going to have to start our rebuild plan. Since then, the Predators lost to the Capitals and then it got smoked by the Panthers.

Is it rebuild time? I think it is Roy. And Kevin Lee's been a great point to me. He said they're very right-handed shot heavy. And I said, okay. And he started going through the line because look at all this bit right-handed shot, right-handed shot. I said, okay.

And he goes, when you're game planning against a team like this, like it becomes very easy because it's like you're only focusing on one part of the ice it doesn't matter like what sport it is if you're two one dimensional one aspect if you're an NBA team and you're too reliant on threes if you're a baseball team and you're too reliant on home runs if you're a hockey team you have too many right-handed shots he goes it becomes an issue secondly they said both mess and weeks he said that team out there they look old and they look slow both Mets and Weeks, they said, that team out there, they look old, and they look slow, and they look tired. And I like a little grit, and I like a little sandpaper, and that's critical to my team.

But that can't be like the emblem of my team. Like, I need to have talent. Ultimately, if you ask what I want, hard work or talent, like obviously I take both, but I'll take the talent. Like, I'll just take a lazy floater who's exceptionally skilled, and somehow we're gonna win this game. And I hope in game seven, he learns to back check check and we'll figure it out. The Nashville, they

seem thin on talent and they just seem old and slow and tired. There's a specific stat, fellas, they're 30th in odd man rushes. Oh. And I was like, if ever there was a stat, right, where that speaks to, that just sounds like you're old and slow and you're always up on your heels. Yeah. 30th in odd man rushes. That's crazy right now for Barry Trotz's team. So they're bad in transition. Exactly, like if you lose that puck and all of a sudden you're in transition,

like they're in trouble. Like all of a sudden like, oh God, three on two, twos on ones, like specifically that number must just be outrageous. And I'm with you that it feels like it's rebuilt time because I'm like, there's no one there thinking, okay, even if the most optimistic Predators fan, did you think they were gonna get 10?

I'm like, no, you probably thought playoff team, maybe a six or a seven seed, wild card, et cetera. But if it's this bad right now, I think you just turn the page and move on. So one last thing I wanted to get into before we wrap it up is happening in D.C. Alito Vecchina scored in five straight games. He's 33 goals behind Wayne Gretzky. Like we were talking before the season, like, could it happen this year? And now I feel like we're saying, could it happen by the All-Star break or not

the All-Star break? Four nations, whatever. Oh, you're right. This is crazy and I am loving every minute of it. I didn't think I'd love it as much as I am, but it's been so much fun to watch Adnan. No, I'm with you, David. I think he's an incredible player. It's funny, growing up as a proud Canadian, there's always been that rivalry, Canada, Russia, etc. You'd think someone like me would say, no, I want Kretzky to have the record forever. But I'm like, I love Ovechkin, man. I think he's been incredible for the sport. He's so charismatic. He's so dynamic.

And you're absolutely right. Watching him last year, you said, oh, man, this is going to be like Willie Mays of the Mets. Like, he's just going to be sputtering towards the end. And will he break the record? Yeah. But it's only because he has a couple of years left on his deal, and he's going to be a 20-goal scorer who's just getting,

like, garbage goals, empty net goals, power play goals, like easy ones. He's not going to be a 40-goal guy. Now, Ovechkin's on pace for 55 goals. It's unbelievable. I was like, wow, like he can hit 60 this year. Like that's nuts. That's Austin Matthews territory.

And watching the Capitals this week specifically, like that shot when he one times at the power play, like it is absolutely a thing of beauty. If you and I, I thought three of us had to write down just favorite hockey plays, hockey moments, signature moments you can man. Ovechkin from the faceoff circle, one-timer. It is awesome to watch.

And as I said, he's been great for the game to think 900 goals. And again, talking to Kevin and Mark last time, they go, hey, you know what, dude? He's not sitting there saying to himself, okay, 30, 25, let me get to 895. He wants 1,000. Like this is the way these guys are built.

They're gonna go, 900. I broke the record. I'm gonna get 1,000. Imagine 1,000 goals without intervention. Like these guys are machines. There's no points laying down and the capital's been an incredible story. You talk about a team that looks like a legit cup contender. You don't think that energizes Alexander Vecchia even more? So it's amazing to think it's inevitably 900 goals. And again, in today's game fellas, that's so impressive. Again, I adore Gretzky, but that was a much more different style of hockey, much more offensive, far away in hockey. I'll get some people here living in Jersey, a lot of Bossy fans and the Islanders, etc.

They'll say Bossy's still the greatest goal scorer ever. If you look at goals per game, I believe Mike Bossy, the late Mike Bossy, 76.77. So I mean, I suppose you could have an argument. Obviously the back injuries killed him. But I think for all of us, Ovechkin's going to be the greatest goal scorer of all time. He's a blast to watch. Mike Bossy bringing him up, that makes two gods happy. Prime prime Canada Monday night hockey and in Burke. Thank you for joining us Oh, thank you so much fellas before I go

I have to reach you Kevin weeks cuz he's gonna be stopping grounds next week. So I said listen Roy's not gonna let you off the hook here him and David wanted to have you on the podcast got you on the hockey So he said specifically he'll do it But he said he wants to know if you're available on Monday night to take him out I might make sure the same restaurant. I have here. Oh, yes. He said Specifically you need to go Joe Stone crabs five Italian prime Italian 9 p.m. You're paying oh Bring the medal our card. Yeah, that's gonna get expensive. I'll tell you that I get that garlic bread ball He's happy to the hockey show podcast, but he wants to be at that place, Italian

Prime. Give him a little bacon, a little bit of a bread bowl, he'll be good to go. Oh yeah, that's a deal. We will be there. Nice. Thanks, Roy. Thanks, David. We'll talk soon, boys.

All right, brother. Be well. Thanks, Ant-Man. Stugatz here for my friends over at SimpliSafe. The holiday season is right around the corner. That means you're away more, and burglars know it. That means you need to protect your home. Right now SimpliSafe is giving exclusive early access to its Black Friday sale to Leviton

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Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boothill Casino and Resorting Kansas, 21 and over, age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Don Lebatard! Go make the frog here, live from Middle Rock Media Studios here in Miami. Stugatz! The Germans are advancing on France in World War II. This is the Don LeBathardt Show with the Stugatz. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, hit that happened last night in the Kings-Conucks game. Tana Janow had a match penalty for a hit that he laid on Brock Besser. It looked like the

point of impact was the chest, but his shoulder ended up hitting Besser's head. He received a match penalty and will have an automatic hearing from the league. In person. In person. in person in person unless yeah but he's gonna have an in-person hearing from the league most likely he's gonna get suspended but Again like he had his arm tucked The point of impact to me looked like it was gonna be the chest and the shoulder hit his head Dave What do you think about this? Do you think he deserves a lengthy suspension on this? Looks like there's gonna be a suspension. I mean, it's not just the hit itself. It was blindside. It was a blindside hit.

The puck was nowhere to be found. He took a couple of strides, lined him up. Gennon knew what he was doing. It could have been avoided and he could have not raised up. That's what always gets me is when you see them raise up to make that forcibly hit. So yeah, I would be surprised if that doesn't end in the suspension. I could be wrong. I thought that I had heard that it was an in-person hearing,

but right now all I see that there is a hearing. Could be on Zoom. Yeah, it could be on Zoom. Ethan, do you feel the same way? It's pretty ugly, Roy. I mean, it's right up to the chin. It looks true basque. I would say and anytime it looks true basque Yeah, it's well. I mean with true, but you see him launch There's a bit of a difference between some true be hits

But yeah, I definitely think that I mean just the way everything's headed and this is an ugly play like this It looks like he takes it right on the chin This is the kind of thing that they're trying to get out of hockey Like you don't want to get the big hits and all that out of the game You want to get the ones that can concuss guys out of the game? But as you said it was interference Yeah, either way it was a penalty the puck wasn't there the hit was illegal whether or not wherever he hit him It's just the severity of the hit itself is how you take that to the next level Like yes where he first touched him it appeared his chest, but the motion it was chest, chin,

I think that's a suspendable offense. Okay, let's give out a number here. Do you say three? I think that's the over under and I'd probably take the under. I'm thinking this is like a two game suspension. Two game suspension. I'd agree. All right, two game suspension. So I guess maybe the over under would be like one and a half. And I wish that we can get this on Draft Kings, man. We could bet on this thing. I would probably win a lot of money. All right, let's go to the Panthers recap here. On Friday, they beat the Stars 6-4. These are the two games that were in Finland. The Finland. The Finland games here. And they, I mean, they really trounced. They really trounced the stars in both games really.

Let's start with the first one and Alexander Barkov scored in front of his hometown brethren, his family. So that was very nice. Why don't you go over what happened in game one? Game one, it was kind of a Panthers blitz early on. They jumped out to the two-nothing lead. Evan Rodriguez scored like 20 seconds into the game. Sasha Barkov scored that nice goal

to get everybody's attention, and then Dallas fought back a little bit. It felt like, not an exhibition game, but it felt like an international game. It felt like a one-off type game, because both Florida and Dallas are much more of a tight playoff style of hockey type of teams. And this felt like a rush game.

This felt like a president's trophy season for the Panthers, a game from that year where it was rushes back and forth, a lot of scoring chances both ways. But still, Florida, they've created this monster in South Florida that they can beat you in a lot of different ways. And in this game, it was Florida kind of dominating for the most part. They were up six to two before Dallas got a couple of late goals on Bob who really wasn't that tested in the second half of the game as much as he was in the first half. But just overall, it's a pretty resounding win for the Panthers and a nice start to their global series visit. Two things from what you said there, David. First of all, I don't want to discredit just

what the Panthers did to the Stars because it was a one-off in international play. This was a big matchup. I mean, this is the best team in the East against, well, Winnipeg right now is the best team in the West, I guess, but two of the Stanley Cup favorites, right? Many people would say. And it's an early season test to see how do you match up with one of the best teams in the league? And the Panthers whooped their ass.

And I know they got the two goals late, which leads me to the second thing I wanted to mention, which is that Fuentes and I have been having discussions about it concerns him how we have to score four, five, six sometimes because we're giving up too late, a lot of these games are ending up little higher scoring games. Look, I'm not worried about Bobrovsky come playoff time.

I know that come the playoffs he'll lock in, but do you guys have a little bit of concern about some defensive issues with the Panthers maybe, because you're starting to see some higher scoring games Than you normally would or is that something you just know never worry about the goals that you're talking about these late game goals these Situational things that the Panthers were they were up big and then they give up a couple goals late If these are tight games you're having different personnel on the ice you're playing matchups You're doing you're approaching it differently. You're not like last night, you're not putting your fourth line guys out in the power play.

No, sure not. You know what I mean? Those fourth line guys were out for like, I didn't see Kachuk for the last like 10 minutes of the game, I swear. Yeah, but that's the luxury of being a good team is that you can play this style and you're not, you don't have to, you can kind of shield minutes. You don't have to have Barkov killing every single penalty. So no, I'm not concerned because when the Panthers get locked in they look great

So and for now I'm fine with the way they're cool. I'm gonna show that to Fuentes. I'm not I'm not concerned because You're scoring four goals a game. You're doing something right? Pretty much like well the Panthers have been swore on like hotcakes lately, too Yeah, they're average will make me hungry five goals a game over this I'm trying to distract you from the food five Five goals a game over their six game winning streak they're averaging. That's pretty good. On Saturday, they played again.

They beat them again, four-two. They did. And that was a little bit tighter. Covered both games. Yeah, they covered both games. That was a little bit tighter. And in the end, the seven finished players from both teams, four from Florida, three from Dallas, combined from 11 points in the series. Alexander Barkov had four,

Nikko Mikola and Esa Lindell from Dallas, they each had two. Anton Lindell, Ittu Lusterainen, and Mirja Heskinen from the Stars, they each had one. So 11 points from the Finns. The Finns showed up in this season series. And I can say season series because they're done. What I liked about the second game, when you talk about comparing the two games, is obviously it was a much tighter game. Florida held Dallas to their lowest shot output

in that third period of that last game. Of all the six periods that they played, that was the best defensive period that Florida played. And it was a one goal, it was tied actually going into the third. AJ Greer got the game winning goal, it was about two and a half minutes into the third as I look at the stat sheet here. But that was your more traditional type of Panther game and they took a Dallas team that is very motivated and very talented and they shut them down pretty well in that third period.

So I really liked overall on the whole both of those games at Finland. It would have been cool if we could have seen them in person. I think one of the most encouraging signs from the Panthers so far is what they're doing in these third periods because we touched on it earlier with Adnan about the championship hangover. We haven't really seen one from the Panthers yet. I'm a little concerned that they're kind of peeking

a little early and maybe they'll start to run in. They're gonna run into a rut at some point. It happens over the course of every NHL season. It should have happened already. But it should have NHL season. It should have happened already. It should have happened already. Exactly, it should have happened already. To see them come out with the injuries to Barkov and Kachuk, who are so important late in those games, and after playing such a grueling playoff run and a short offseason with a short offseason the offseason before, to them come out and to start the year

and just still be the same Florida Panthers in the third period and just shut games down. I mean, they shut that game down last night. There have been multiple games this year, I think against the Rangers, they just turned the game off in the third period completely. It's what they do, it's what they're known for. And despite the thought that,

oh, they would have a championship hangover, they're doing it right out of the gates better than they have in years. Yeah shut down city in the third period just like last year. Just like last year. What I like about this team to your point of the the lack of a hangover or what Adnan had said that some some of these teams they experienced the hangover in December January February I want to see when the adversity strikes this team. Because what we've learned about this Panther team over the last two plus years under Paul Maurice

is that they thrive under adversity. So when things happen to them, they overcome it every time. The only time that they didn't was when they ran out of games to play against Edmonton or against Vegas when everybody got hurt, they just ran out of time. So whenever the next bump in the road approaches, I have confidence that this team is going to be able

to overcome that just because that's all they do. They're built for it, they're built for the tough terrain. So yeah, bring it on. They already did it this year, sorry Roy, just one more thing, they already did it this year. Again, without Barky and Chucky, we were worried that Barky would be out for a while and playing without your two best players

to start the year for you know fair amount stretch of games like they were great in those stretches of games and and More than stay to float like we were hoping for them to early in the season So yeah, I think you're right David they are built for anything that comes their way last night The Panthers defeated the Predators 6 to 2 Carter Reagan had two goals in assists. Alexander Barkov had three assists, he has 11 points in eight games. I mean, what the hell?

That's crazy, but the Predators in last night's game, and we talked about this earlier, did not play. They had no fight until just about the end of the second period when they finally got themselves into a scrum in a game that they got thoroughly outmatched. They had lost the night before in DC, so it wasn't terribly surprising. But again, is that really an excuse? Because good teams find ways to, as we were just talking about, good teams find ways to

get things done. Yeah. But I mean, look, Florida was up 2-0 five minutes into the game. If there was any internal juice that Nashville brought into that, Florida pulled it out of them really quick. Absolutely. I mean, it was just a disastrous game for the Predators and maybe Andrew Burnett's on the hot seat.

Well, I don't know, right? Cause didn't Barry Trotz answer a question about that earlier this week that somebody asked him if Andrew Burnett would be on the hot seat and despite all the issues that they're having in Nashville, it sounds like Bruno is gonna be okay for now, that the problems that at least Barry Trotz is seeing in that team aren't necessarily due to a lack of-

He's not coaching. Yeah, it's not coming from behind the bench. We've talked about it a lot, but they built, like I thought Nashville was gonna be good. They put a lot of effort into building that team up during the off season, and to see them fall flat in their face like this, it's still very early. And they could still turn it around.

It wouldn't be surprising. I mean, Edmonton wasn't in a very much better situation at this point last year. Now granted, Nashville doesn't have Connor McDavid, but they do have Philip Forsberg, Stephen Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Yussi Soros, Roman Yossi. Bradyshey. They've got a very, very talented team.

Maybe they're top heavy, but still they're better than what they've shown. They got good goaltending. Yeah. Well, they got a good starting goaltender. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, they got a good starting and starting goaltender. But, um, yeah, that just that was a poor showing for a team that should be better. Definitely. And if they don't get it right, it's over for them. They're in trouble, Roy. Like, you can't make the playoffs in the first month and a half of the season, right? But you can lose. You can definitely miss the playoffs.

And right now, like, Nashville is trending towards definitely missing the playoffs. I was reading about them the other day. And basically, what they were saying is that their metrics, they're shooting the puck, like their shooting percentage is super low, like it will positively regress at some point. But with the way their other metrics are,

that's only gonna cause their offense to regress to like league average. It's not like all of a sudden the pucks are gonna start going in and you're gonna have this high-flying offense that's in the top 10 in the league. Like, they're gonna be a league average offense based off chance creation, things they do at five on five, things they're doing on the power play.

Stamkos will get Roland on the power play. He scored a power play goal last night, which like, did you guys both have flashbacks watching that seeing Stamkos from his office on the power play against the Panthers? But I just think that it might just not be a good team. Like they spent a bunch in free agency, but it happens in every sport where you go big in free agency and it doesn't always pay off.

You know, it's so much about drafting, building a core, you know, trading for your core the way the Panthers have. Like it might just be that they went too big in free agency and they're gonna have to blow this up. And if they blow this up, like, you know, Marceau, Stamcoast, like, I don't know if anybody's gonna be safe, except probably Forsberg and Soros, right?

Essentially after Soros signed that extension. Massive deal, so. Oh, rally. It's gonna be interesting what kind of rebuild they're gonna do with some of the contracts they have, but no. Can we talk about Sam Reinhart, please. Okay. We don't have time again He's very good how good Sam Reinhardt season has been

Oh, I can say right now is that the Panthers played the Flyers tomorrow the Flyers are the second worst team in the Eastern Conference and they are dead last in the metro and I don't want to put I want to brush them to the side like I did the first game versus Buffalo because I learned that lesson but I mean that should be a win. Oh just like the game against Nashville on Thursday should have been a win like if Florida shows up and does what they should do then they should beat this Flyers team that's right now they don't they don't have anything in the goaltending department. No. They just scratched their high-end rookie.

It's been a rough year. And you want to talk about hot seat? I would think torts is probably on the hot seat. Yeah. I'm much more interested in the New Jersey games coming up this week because the Devils are off to a great start this year. Hot pick for a lot of people for a deep run, maybe even a Stanley Cup. That could be a conference championship.

That's too, yeah, definitely. They've got some good goaltending in Jersey between Yeah, you know Mark's German Allen those two guys and Jack Hughes Looks like he's about to get rolling. He made a great play last night, but it two games at home for the Panthers against the Devils That is gonna be a big that's a big early season measuring stick for the Panthers and the Devils to see how they match up against Each other right? Thank you, Ethan. Thank you, Gino. And thank you, Danny. Thank you, David. And thank me. Thank you, Roy.

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