The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Hockey Show: We Will Miss You, Jim Montgomery

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

Roy, David and Ethan are back to recap the week that was in the National Hockey League. They start off with their slap shots of the week including who will be the next coach fired in the NHL. That leads into Ethan taking a victory lap after he correctly predicted a few weeks ago on the show that Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins would be the first coach fired in the league. Plus, Mats Zuccarello suffered what kind of injury?! Then, Linda Cohn of ESPN and the Kraken Hockey Network joins the show to discuss the Seattle Kraken's progressive hiring practices, her Mount Rushmore of current goaltenders and how she feels about her beloved New York Rangers. To finish up, the boys recap what was a tough week for the Florida Panthers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Rate is annual, calculated daily and will vary based on account balance. Visit scotiabank.com slash Right Size Savings for full details. Upper Canada College inspires boys from senior kindergarten to year 12 for cool details. for tradition, excellence, and innovation meet. Learn more at our open house events on October 15th and 16th. Register now at cause and effect dot ucc dot on dot ca. Hello, welcome to the hockey show. My name is Roy Bellamy. David Dwork is to my left. He's from the hockey news. Ethan Podalski is in the chair for Rose. I don't know what college town she's in but she's uh, She's there. She's somewhere somewhere with Lucy on having fun. It's live shots. Let's start with the heart takes Dave. What you got? my heart take is It's a rule that I would like to impose in the NHL and if we can roll the video

Igor Shuster can took a shot at the empty net the other night and it was going in. It was going in the net. And who was it? It was Macklin Celebrini, I believe. Blocked the shot. Cherry picker. So my hot take is if the goalie shoots the puck and it gets past the red line, nobody can touch it.

You gotta let it go. You wanna have your chance to block the goalie goalie, you gotta do it on that side of the red line. If the goalie has enough time to get the puck to shoot it down the ice get the bleep out of the way He deserves it. Oh Igor you deserve your goal. He's been trying for so long. He doors just starting to get his goal So that's my hot take It's a rule change if the goalie takes a shot and you can say he has to be below the goal line

We can work on the semantics. I'm fine with that, but You have never been more in the goalie fraternity than this take. Just stopping people from playing defense and preventing goals that could be. Play defense when he's got the puck. Once the puck's in the air, it's past interference. What if that happens in game seven

in the Stanley Cup final and that puts away game seven in the Stanley Cup final, the team's not allowed to play. Then don't be down and have the goalie get pulled if you're in the Stanley Cup final game seven. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You are so biased. This is a ridiculous take. So biased. Ridiculous. No, no, no, I'm feeling this is a good rule. This is a ridiculous state. So biased. No, no, no, I'm feeling this is a good rule.

This is a good rule. Okay, my hot take is the next coach to be fired in the National Hockey League will be from the state, the great state of Pennsylvania. Ooh, you going with Mikey Sullivan or you going with Torz? Oh man, it's probably gonna end up being Mike Sullivan because Sidney Crosby wanted it, that's why. Crosby wants Sullivan out? Yes. Ooh, he's done. Yes. He's done

I'm completely making that up The hand of God boom it's done boom a character assassination Oh for me on Sydney Crosby. So yes, the next coach to be fired is gonna be from Pennsylvania, okay, I don't know that that's the hottest take ever. I think this to be from Pennsylvania. I don't know that that's the hottest take ever. I think this team looks like they are nowhere right now. And it's either going to be him or the Detroit coach LaLonde, right? Like those are the two hottest candidates you would say right now to be fired.

Yeah, well Detroit's been pretty under, under before. LaLonde's maybe the next day. And I read somewhere that they're thinking of bringing in Sergei Fedorov, who's been coaching over in the KHL as potentially the next Red Wings head coach. So wouldn't that be kind of interesting? Fedorov, he's done a good job with SKA St. Petersburg over there, so maybe. Steve Eisenman, yeah, I guess that would be a little bit of bias, wouldn't it? If he hires Sergei Fedorov.

I mean, you know, a little reunion there. That'd be nice, right? Excuse me, it's CSKA, not SKA. I always confuse the two. This discussion flows perfectly into my win of the week, and we'll start moving into wins. Sedway man over there, he's good at this. My win of the week goes to me,

because we talked about the next fired coach. You can't say the first fired coach, because I called the first fired coach a couple weeks ago on this show. I said it was gonna be Jim Montgomery. Roll the clip. 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. That's very appropriate, actually.

There 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. 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 some of the teams that we were expecting maybe to get back into playoff position, like a Buffalo, an Ottawa, a Detroit, haven't really lived up to that standard. So they're not playing very well. Their numbers are bad. Their metrics are bad.

It doesn't look like they're really going anywhere. Going to 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 on 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. So Jim Montgomery finishes this season at eight, nine, and three of 19 points in his two plus seasons in Boston.

One of the best coaches in Bruins history, Roy, and he last... Two plus seasons. I'm pretty sure he had the best record in the NHL over his two plus seasons in the NHL. That's a tough bar to hit, man. Boston... But at the end of the day, I mean, they just weren't getting it done. You can see that this year was kind of going nowhere. Feels like the team is falling flat.

They're way too talented. I mean, I know their roster is flawed, but they're way too talented to be playing as poorly as they have been. And it just felt like the world was caving in on Jim Montgomery. I think the biggest thing it came down to and why I had that take in the first place

is they failed back to back years in the playoffs playoffs and you just can't do that in Boston And when you don't get a contract extension going into your third year and the final year of your contract It just suggests to me that after two bad playoff runs You basically had about 20 games to figure it out and get the ship right and if you didn't get the ship right you Were gonna be canned and so I mean I'll miss you, Monte. I really will. I'm going to miss that guy so much. 120, 41 and 23 is two plus seasons worth the club. And I mean, the playoff run, you say bad playoff runs, but all they did was run into the Eastern Conference champion in back-to-back years and the Stanley Cup winner in one of those

two years. So, sure it was the Panthers, but you know, it's not like that they just got beat by some crap team. Like, yes, it was an eighth seed, but an eighth seed that went to the final. Yeah, but keep in mind how he got here. He was the Stars coach. He got the Stars to the playoffs at that time for the first time in a long time, and then got them into the Stanley Cup final, and then he gets fired because he had a drinking problem. And then he goes to rehab, he gets hired by the Blues, and Craig Berube made him assistant coach, and then he gets his job at Boston. Did a great job. Did a great job.

And unfortunately, this season just didn't pan out for him. Yeah. He's the kind of coach that if he gets on in like a Utah type situation, a Seattle, somewhere that they'll give him some runway, and there won't be these grand expectations he got some real success yeah uh... you'll win a week days sticking with my usual trend of goaltending my one of the week goes to

our true she loves of the vancouver can not still a plan the new york rangers have a very proud of this where where it was was a blocker it's on the ice get pick it up not not many people in goal he kept playing for like thirty seconds with a bare hand Without a stick. Where's his blocker? It's on the ice. Pick it up. No, I'm gonna keep playing goal. He kept playing for like 30 seconds with a bare hand, which is dangerous enough. But then he goes out there and he makes a save and he makes the save with his chest.

He catches the puck and then he gets the whistle. That's ballsy. Cause you could break a finger and you're out for a month at least. So credit to Archer Shilovs for having some grande o huevos out there. I'm not exactly sure. I don't think the referee is obliged to call it off if the goaltender loses a glove. We just talked last week about Anthony Stolar playing without a glove and making a save

with his bare hand. Yeah, he froze the puck with his bare hand. So maybe we're seeing a trend now where goalies are just getting so fed up with the shooters being so good now that they're going to start doing the the Hoshig thing and taking it to another level using the blocker hand but using a bare hand. So good on you Archer Shulovs. I love the focus. I love that he made the save and that's a big W on my book. My one of the week is Winter Classic in Chicago is going to be played at Wrigley Field between the Blues and the Blackhawks. They released the uniforms, New Year's Eve by the way is when the classic is gonna happen.

They released the uniforms and this is how it looks. The Blackhawks are gonna be in a base red uniform, they got the usual stripes which are black and white on the bottom, is now in the middle, much like the Panthers and the Canadians' home jerseys and you see the shoulder crest is at the sleeve the the see what the tomahawks and the blues base white with blue and yellow stripe again kind of like the Canadians and the Panthers home uniforms. They got st. Louis written across the middle. I like it I like I like the blackhawks a lot actually those are the blues are kind of like, you know, they're fine But the blackhawks one is really nice. The blackhawks throwback II. Yeah might have the best sweaters in the league

They always look so good and then the throwback looks they have are always tremendous as well Yeah, the the crest in the middle. It's written circular. It says Black Hawk Chicago, much like the throwback, and they got Chief Black Hawk in the middle. I like it. So there you go. So that's the win of the week for me. Let's go to the fails of the week, Dave. All right, my first fail of the week,

because I have two. My first one actually happened last week. Matt Zuccarello blocked a shot from teammate Brock Faber when they were playing against Montreal, blocked it with his stuff. What do you mean his stuff? His nether regions. Blocked it so well, in fact,

that Brock Faber's shot actually ruptured Matt Zuccarello's testicle, to the point where he has to have surgery, and he's out for over a month. To quote the great Chris Whittingham, it hit him in the penis. No, it didn't hit him in the penis. It hit him in the area below his penis.

Yes, and you know, much more painful area in my, you know. So. Moving on. Yeah, prayers up for Matt Succarello. Yes, prayers up. Everybody pour one out for Matt Succarello. Yeah. Moving on. Well, Succarello. Yes, everybody pour one out for Matt Succarello. Yeah. Moving on.

You have two fails. Yes. Unless it was both testicles. No, my second fail of the week happened, I think last night actually, the Oilers were playing the, who are they playing with? The Rangers? Can't even remember who they're, no. You can look at them and find out.

They're playing the Y because it happened to Marc-Andre Fleury. So Leon Dreisaitl kind of dumped the puck from his own blue line, and it kind of bounced down the ice, bounced through two defensemen, and then it bounced through Marc-Andre Fleury. I don't know how this puck went in. It was the most ridiculous shot that I've seen on a goaltender. And Flower is probably just laughing at himself. I think I just saw a Panthers jersey in Edmonton.

Of course you did. It was Stockholm syndrome. Yeah, but look at that. I think I just saw a Panthers jersey in Edmonton. Of course you did. It was Stockholm syndrome. Yeah, but look at, oh my god. I don't know how that puck went in, but yeah, that's rough. That's rough, Roy. Yeah, that sucks, man. That's bad. So that's my fails of the week. What do you got for us, Roy? Yeah, we have audio and video for this one. The Nashville Predators apparently started the game versus the Seattle Kraken with a penalty. I'll let TJ Luxmore explain. Referees over here. Looks like we got a wrong lineup issue. My ace analyst Chandler Stevenson gave me a little tip right here to my right and I love being right here. So it's a a lineup issue Nashville has a minor penalty for starting the incorrect lineup

So it's written down wrong number 91 was that song down instead of number That's that's bad. That is bad. So apparently the Predators, instead of writing down what they wanted, which was Philippe Forsberg, they wrote down Stephen Stamkos's number. So yeah, that's not good. You want a hot take about who could be the next coach fired? Bruno? So you want Tennessee over there?

It's ugly there, man. It's not getting any better. Instead of Pennsylvania. I think I heard that on a podcast this week that the last coach to do this also got fired that season. So Bruno, I'm a little concerned about the Preds. I'm a little concerned about Bruno. I would not be surprised if things keep going the way they are if he ends up being, maybe

not the next coach fired, but he doesn't see the end of the season. Oh, that's bad. That's not good. He was trusted into head coaching because of the issues that Joe Quinville had dating back to his days in Chicago in the 2010 Blackhawks team. And he had to resign from the Florida Panthers

as a result of it. And I guess he's just not ready yet. I mean, we'll see. That's a big boo-boo. That's bad. That's a big boo-boo. That's bad. Coming up next we have Linda Cohn from ESPN and the Kraken Hockey Network. We're gonna talk about the Kraken and things that are going on around the league such as the injury to Alexander Obranskin. And goaltending. And goaltending, yes, because she is a goalie. We'll be back. Peloton has what you need to keep you on track to your goals no matter what season of life

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You know what else you can do with Peloton? Ugh, I can't believe we just blew that game. How am I going to sleep? Boom! Peloton has classes for sleeping. Just put it on and fall asleep. Find your push. Find your power with Peloton at OnePeloton.com Okay, joining the hockey show today, it's Linda Cohn from ESPN and the Kraken Hockey Network and I am

I'm pretty excited. I'm a big fan of Linda's because I've been watching ESPN for geez I mean you know forever forever. That's great. Yeah yes it is so it's a real honor for me to actually get to talk to you and it must be a real honor for you to be able to witness history because you have Jessica Campbell on the crack and who was the first woman to hold a coaching position at NHL. She's the assistant coach for Seattle right now. So let's assess her first two months of her coaching career.

How is she doing behind the bench? And was it her who pointed out the TJ Luxmore a couple of days ago that the Predators started the wrong lineup? Yeah, I would go that was all Jessica and by the way, I have never ever seen that have you I mean i've been watching hockey obviously much longer than you guys because you guys are babies But never ever you're welcome anytime. You should have me on more often. I'll continue to compliment but I have never seen that. And I, I give credit to Jessica

Campbell, for sure. First of all, kudos to head coach Dan Vosma. As you know, it's his first year here with the Seattle Kraken. And those two were on the same staff at Coachella, the AHL team for the Kraken, a very successful AHL team. And we all know Dan Vosma from his earlier coaching stints cup winner with Pittsburgh and then Buffalo not as not as great. But Jessica is fantastic. You know, talking to the players about her.

It's it. They just love her. I mean, she's smart and she knows the game. She played the game and it's fantastic and kudos to coach Bosma and the entire Kraken organization. There was no pause. There was no hesitation. So when they hired Dan Bosma and Dan Bosma wanted Jessica Campbell with him by his side, they said, sure, Dan, whatever you want, we love Jessica and she's done a great job so far. And the Kraken are on the upswing. You know, they're above 500. They have a West Coast road trip. They're

playing LA tomorrow. They play Anaheim. But they just finished a home stand in which they went five and one. So they got to keep winning because as you guys know, the Western Conference is a hell of a lot tougher and deeper than the East, my opinion. Yeah. Especially the way that Colorado and Edmonton are playing so far this season, which has been pretty disappointing. But it seems to me that the Kraken are basically the most progressive team in the league right now as far as their hiring practices are concerned, not just in the front office, but on the broadcast team as well. But it's not just that the hiring practices, they're finding actual qualified people to actually do their jobs.

I mean, how are they able to do that? You know, led by this amazing organization, just, you know, it's Seattle. You know, I have a history in Seattle. First of all, my daughter was born there before I worked at ESPN way back when when you guys were toddlers, I worked for the CBS affiliate in Seattle. Kiro and it was my first big break and that's where ESPN spotted me. But this city is amazing and it just they don't see that there's any difference. They they just as you mentioned perfectly

they just look for the most qualified people for the job and I don't know. They just have it going on it Todd like wiki he was the guy that spotted me and I've known him and he he brought me in but Samantha Holloway, who's the owner a woman owner? It just goes on and on. They just wanna grow the game and they're doing a hell of a great job. The fan base is incredible.

And you guys gotta get out to the Climate Pledge Arena. Oh yeah. It is state of the art sickness for arenas. I mean, it is ridiculous. To me, it's like a museum. I mean, you go in there and you're like, before you even get to your seat and watching a Hockey game. You're like I gotta walk the hallways before I get my beer. I have to see what's going on here

That's really beautiful. So Yeah, it doesn't surprise me that Seattle is ahead of the game. Well Linda first I want to say thank you for your kind words on Roy and I's age so far We really because because around here we're kind of the elders statesmen. Yeah, we're the oldest people here, basically. So it's nice to- Hard to believe. Well, I have 40 and what, 41? Yeah, so a little bit.

You guys don't even look at, what's your secret? Can we compare moisturizers? I mean, what's going on there? Cocoa butter over here for me. You can't go wrong with cocoa butter. Yes. Is that the secret? Yes. Oh man. Yeah that is she butter. I got a Yes, so what you know, we're coming up on ten years this spring on actually the first time that you and I got to meet I you probably don't remember and I wouldn't blame you but I do have a picture of it if we can put it up here Oh

You and I met on the ice About ten years ago. You are so nice That was so skinny too So as a fellow goaltender somebody another member of the Union, I'm curious right was that day by the way hell great Can we share? Oh, please know or unless you've been bragging about that. No, no, no, no. Let's talk about it. I mean, that was so great when the Panthers decided to open up.

They were desperate for goalies and I mean desperate because you saw us. Oh, yeah. So what happened was in the back story, the Panthers had played a game. Yes, go ahead. Roberto Luongo and I believe it was Al Montoya were the goalies. They both got hurt in the same game. Yes. Lou actually went to the hospital, I think, to get like an x-ray on his shoulder, came back and finished the game,

because Robbie Tallis, the goalie coach still, was dressed in his gear ready to go in. So like a day or two later, the Panthers come out with, say okay, because of what happened, we're holding open goalie tryouts. So of course everybody in the media, who's a goalie, myself, Linda, we had to get there. We had to get on the ice. We had to see if we could cut it with the big leaders.

With the big leaders. And yeah. I don't know about you, but I didn't make the team. Okay. I did not make the team either, but we went live on SportsCenter, which was very cool. Daytime SportsCenter, kudos to ESPN for taking that live. And then I did a story on it and it got a lot of great hub for the Panthers. And yeah, and actually, oh, way to go. Actually, I did really, I stopped 10 of 11 shots,

by the way. Sean Thornton buzzed one right above my ear, by the way. Torky's getting beat right here, Pat. Yeah, this is me getting shelled beat right here, Pat. Yeah. This is me getting shelled by John Madden here. Yeah, because I was going to say that wasn't me because I stopped 10 of 11. No, that was me and my 500 safe percentage. I'll take it.

Against two NHL guys, I'll take my 50 safe percentage and go home. But that shot though, boom, I was like, oh my God. He hit me in the head. I never felt so my age than I did in that moment. I thought I was good, I'm out here, like I'm a beer lead superstar. And then those guys are just making me feel like I was 10 years old, oh man.

Oh listen, I'm with you, like if it was a real game. I mean, I only, like when I was getting, you know, going into the butterfly, I remember it 20 years earlier being a lot easier to get back up on my feet. I don't know what happened. So sticking with the goalies, I did want to ask your opinion on the current goalie,

not us, not the prospective NHL goalies, but the current ones. Maybe a softball, maybe not, but what is your goaltending Mount Rushmore currently of NHL goalies? And I'm sure you guys are just starting to get on there because for me, he's like above and beyond, but I'm just curious one goalie to another. What's your goaltending Rushmore currently? Currently. So you mean like guys in the league right now? Yeah.

Of this week. I mean, like red hot right now. Well, no, like this season mean, this season like current. Just saying this current. Yeah. OK. Well, you know, obviously Igor wants to get paid like the best goalie in the league. And he probably should get paid 12 million a year. But I said this on a few other radio programs and podcasts. I love Igor. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I grew up a Rangers fan and all, but I he's got to be better

Jonathan quick is pushing him to be better like he did last year I know Jonathan quick has only started four games, but he's a point zero nine one goals against Three goals allowed in four starts for an L. I I think That guy the future Hall of Famer first ballot is pushing Igor to be better and he has to be better. I expect I have Igor up here and he's got to remain up there. But here's what I love about Igor that I don't love about the other guys. And this is my long winded answer because I could tell you right now. I also love Connor Hellebuck, but Connor Hellebuck has proven he's a multiple Vezina trophy winner because he has great regular seasons.

I don't know what happens in the postseason with Connor Hellebuck. He's not the same guy. I don't know if they use him too much. And Winnipeg is doing the same exact thing because as we speak today, he's played in 13 games, which is, I think, almost all of their games compared to some of these other guys with the low goals against who have not played as many games.

You know, the Guff's, the sins of Minnesota is playing great. You know, I can name a few. I mean, Joey DeCourt is playing great. He's not in the top five. He's doing great. How about carrying their team? He's played 15 games, one under the league tall. Yeah.

How about that? So I don't know what's going on there. So if we're talking about best regular season goalies, I'm going with Connor Hellebuck. If you're talking about postseason goalies, I got I would I would have it. Currently, I would have Igor Sestarkin there. That's the guy I want, because what I love about him and I bring this up with other sports as well, I don't care about your league MVP's regular season means nothing to me. If I want my team to win, How do you do in the postseason?

And especially when you're talking about a goaltender, and I say this about quarterbacks in the NFL as well, I don't care about the Pete Mannings back in the day of league MVPs. How do you do in the postseason? It took them a decade to figure out how to do well in the postseason and win a couple of Super Bowls.

One of them, he did nothing. By the way, one of them, he did nothing for. My guy is Eli, as you can tell. Eli saved his best for the postseason. This is why. But anyway, let's get back to hockey. I got a Giants fan for a wife, so I'm with you. We like the Giants in my house.

We're good. I don't even want to talk about it. I was down on Daniel Jones from the beginning. Well, then you're happy today. The organization is awful. It's sad. Now it's pathetic. Now it's absolutely pathetic.

It's like I was texting my son. I'm like, and he's a Patriots fan, so he doesn't care about the Giants forever. That's absolutely pathetic. It's like, I was texting my son, I'm like, and he's a Patriots fan, so he doesn't care about the Giants forever. That's too bad. But he has sympathy for his mom. And I'm like, oh my God, this organization has never been lower.

It's just so pathetic, and it's just, it's sad. But anyway, what were we talking about, goalies? So I'd want Igor in the postseason. I'll take on a hell of a during the regular season Linda you mentioned that you're you know, you're with the Kraken now, but your heart lies at MSG So I want to ask you about the Rangers because I was reading about them recently They're having a lot of success their records good. They're sitting towards the top of the Eastern Conference But the vibes feel kind of off right the top six isn't playing well

You know, especially a guy like Zabaniadz not playing very well. The fans don't really seem satisfied. What is the vibe like in the fan base right now? What are your kind of feelings on the Rangers? How confident are you that they can finally, not just get back to the Eastern Conference final, but clear a team like the Panthers or Carolina or somebody and make it back to the Stanley Cup final? Yeah. Isn't it interesting? Cause I talk about the difference in the regular season and the post season and you know, the Rangers,

as we all know, have had won president's trophies and had super regular seasons and won divisions, won the Metro. And now they're sort of like, look out now, they're like in a wild card spot, you know, what's going on? So, you know, I just think there's a malaise there. They played a lot of hockey over the years. And, you know, you have to be careful of that. Like, that's why I'm so

surprised pleasantly about the Florida Panthers, right? I mean, they get there off to this amazing start after playing so much hockey the last two years, right? I mean, because they went to a final loss and then they won the cup last year. And that says a lot. So I'm not panicking about the Rangers. I think guys like Mika is going going to figure it out. I think a lot of the guys are going to be just fine. This team is too deep and talented and they will coach with Peter Laviolette. But you brought up a couple of teams right now, Carolina and Florida that are playing much better than the Rangers. And you can make a case, the Washington Capitals with Ovechkin. I know he's hurt now, Carolina and Florida, that are playing much better than the Rangers.

And you can make a case, the Washington Capitals with Ovechkin, I know he's hurt now, sadly, you know, is a more exciting team. And the Rangers are just scratching out victories. I mean, as we speak now, you know, they lost by a goal to Calgary, you know, good Ranger teams of the past, and I mean, last year, would not lose by a goal to Calgary, even though the Flames are playing well this year. But these are the kind of things that they're about a goal away and they're going to fix it. And that's why the season is so long. I'm not worried about the Rangers. But if it was, you know, if we were talking in two months from now,

I'd be more concerned. But it's not Thanksgiving yet. So I'm not worried. You brought up Alexander Oveskin. He's out four to six weeks after colliding with Jack McBain of the Utah Hockey Club, fractured his left fibula. Now he has, he's a leading league. He's tied for the league lead with 15 goals. He has 27 goals to go before reaching the record all time. He's only missed 35 games due to injury. So

this is significant if he's going to miss time like this. Do you think that he will return and actually fulfill this record or are we going to look at another season of Alexander O'Renshkin? I am heartbroken for Ovi because I believed he was going to break it. He heard all the whispers in the off season like, oh, it's going to take him at least two years to break this record. That's if he stays healthy and all this. And that's if, you know, father time doesn't catch up to him.

And there he was electrifying the league, leading the league in scoring for the first time in a few years at the age of 39. And then, of course, he suffers this broken leg four to six weeks he's out. As much as I don't want to bet against ever Alex of Etchkin, I just think this is too much of an injury to come back from and pick up where you left off and that's a lot of goals to make up. I wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't put it past Alex to somehow put it together together put Humpty Dumpty back together again in six weeks and continue on this torrid pace

Washington as a team is going to miss him because they were playing so well with him, right? Yeah So I don't know and he's their captain. He's their leader. So it is it's heartbreaking It's tough for him obviously and what's at stake and and for the league because it was pretty darn Exciting to see Alex Ovechkin at the top of the goal scoring lead. He's only what 26 behind Retsky And if he misses, let's say 20 games, he's still gonna come back like half the season So as long as you can hit the ground running, it's certainly within the realm of the ground running. It sure is That's why I don't bet against it. Yeah, you're right. You're absolutely right.

It's not that big of a number anymore. But you got to figure, coming back from a broken leg, you got, you know, I would throw in about six games of warmup, like you have to go through a preseason again, so to speak, right? So, you know, we'll see. We'll see. I'd love to see it.

I'd love for it to come down to April, right? To see how close he is. It would be fantastic. And finally, Ryan Reeves has been suspended for a headshot on Dornel Nurse. Now there are two things here. Dornel Nurse should absolutely know to keep his head up. In that position, coming around the net as a defenseman, he should know better than just to look down like that. And Ryan Reeves is lucky that he wasn't suspended for more than the five games

saying gap because this is his fourth suspension. What do you think about this hit Linda? Yeah. I mean, I can't blame Darnell nurse. I know what you're saying. Hockey players should have their heads up at all times. The guy was playing the pot. I mean, he should have gotten more up at all times. The guy was playing the, I mean,

he should have gotten more because of the history, because it was like a Mack truck running into Darnell Nurse and it got him where it should not have got him, in the head. I don't like it. I didn't like anything about this and I certainly don't blame Darnell Nurse. You don't blame the victim in this case ever. And I don't know.

I'm not a fan of Ryan Reeves. I know he has a great personality and all, but once he going to learn, listen, at least, you know, back in the day, you know, went in the back in the day. But, you know, when Tom Wilson had some issues, many, we still realized he was a really good hockey player with good mitts and knew how to score goals. And he kind of cleaned up his act a bit He doesn't do stupid things. I think this was a stupid action by Ryan Reeves. I think he should know better Because he does have talent. I mean he was a Ranger at some point. He's been on a million different teams

This is not right. So I don't like any of it. Yeah. Yeah, I believe there's a saying out there I think it was Frank Sabell who says it any of it. Yeah, I believe there's a saying out there, I think it was Frank Sibelius who says it, you sign guys like Ryan Reeves to protect your players from guys like Ryan Reeves. That's funny, that's Frank, that's a great line. Yeah. Yes. Linda Cohn, it's been an honor for you to join the show. I'm really happy that we got to speak to you. Thank you for joining us, Linda. Thank you so much. Hey, thanks for inviting me. Anytime, guys. Continued success on the podcast.

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New York, New York. Please do not share with anyone under legal drinking age. Okay, a little quick Panthers recap here and it wasn't good. Not the best week. No. Going into this week, they lost back to back to the New Jersey Devils. They go into the Winnipeg Jets game on Wednesday and they shut them on five. Nothing. It was a good effort by the Panthers.

Alexander Barkov, goal to assist. Sam Reinhardt the assists who's off for his link to assist So gave a brosky with the shout-out 27 shots faced stopped all of them It was a more traditional Panthers game, especially after those two games against the Devils. They for checked they hit they scored five goals Defense is pretty solid just overall It was nice to see them get back to playing Panthers hockey after those two games against the Devils that were a little rough. Little rough stuff. But unfortunately, while we thought, while we hoped

that this was the Panthers kind of getting back on track, it was more just a one-off because the next couple of games we're gonna get into right now are not great. They got on a road trip, they went up to Winnipeg. Back to back, back to backs in this situation. Back to back, back to back. They lost six to Winnipeg. Back to back, back to backs in this situation. Back to back, back to backs. They lost 6-3. Mark Seifley with a hat trick.

Morgan Barron with two goals. Not great. And Alexander Balkoff, he continued his point streak which would end in Chicago. Sam Reinhardt scored. Matthew Kachuk scored and had an assist, but 6-3 in Winnipeg. Yeah, a little closer than the score would indicate because of the two late empty net goals. Special teams were a little funky in this one. Overall, just not, the Panthers are having a hard time getting back into their game. They're not forechecking the way they

usually are. It's really been in the neutral zone that they've been having trouble, whether it's the Jets or we'll get to the Blackhawks in a second. But both teams doing a really good job of keeping Florida's own exits a little bit murky and not letting them have the fluidity that they're used to. And as a result, Florida's sputtering a little bit right now. In Chicago last night, they lost 3-1 to the worst team in the league. Very frustrating. Sam Reinhardt continued his point streak. It's now at 12. He's tied with the league lead with 15 goals.

Unreal. As I said, Bakarov's point streak ended. It stops at nine games. Kota Verhege at the end of this game, a massive, massive turnover in his own zone with an empty net. And that effectively ended the game. But there was a bright spot in this game. Conor Bedard had zero shot attempts. I mean, they played, first line played very good defense against Chicago's first line in that game.

Yeah, this felt a little bit more like a Panthers game defensively, but offensively they just couldn't get anything going. And credit to the Blackhawks, as you said, the worst team in the league right now, but they played some pretty solid defense, particularly in the Panther zone, trying to keep Florida from exiting the zone and moving through the neutral zone.

Florida just couldn't get anything going. They couldn't get any speed. They couldn't even get deep enough to dump it. They were having a hard time. Once they got in the zone, they'd keep pressure. Once they got in the zone, they kept zone time sustainable. I think they had over five minutes of zone possession time last night. It was just getting there that was really hard time.

And then as you mentioned, down two to one late, Carter Verhege with a ill-advised, call it lazy, call it whatever you want, just a weird drop pass with the net empty, giving Nick Foligno more than enough time to get to the puck. Just a confusing play. I'm sure Carter Verhege, more than anybody, is sick to his stomach about it. But Panthers got to get back on track, Roy, because now they've lost four of five. I think they've given up like 19 goals in the four losses some ridiculous number which if you go back to like the last eight wins they haven't given up that many goals so yeah it's a little bit of a time for Paul Maurice as we've talked about many times he knows this team he's out of push those right

buttons and get them back on track tomorrow they play the Avalanche who are five one and zero in the last six So they are surging right now. What you look at in this game as a preview. Slowing down Nathan McKinnon, Kael McCarr. Yeah. I mean, if the Panthers are playing good hockey, this would probably be like more of a high scoring type game just because Colorado can put the puck in the net. Not necessarily the best at keeping the puck out of the net.

And Florida, when they're on, they're going to be driving offense. Obviously they're a very good defensive team, matched up against a highly good offensive team, so it should be a good matchup if Florida gets back to playing their game. So you heard it here first, bet the over. Yeah, that's what Roy said, bet the over.

Bet the over. All right, so we're off in the next two weeks. We wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving and whatever holiday that you might celebrate or whatever My name is Roy Bellamy. That's David Dwork. That's Ethan over there Jason's in the back. So as you know, there might be another person Yes, all right guys, thank you for watching and listening we will see you in December December. All right. Goodbye Howdy loyal listeners, it's Mike Ryan and we're getting pretty close to wishing folks happy holidays

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