The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 236: Revisionist History

Episode Date: May 10, 2018

Nick Mercadante joins the show to discuss the remarkable run of the Vegas Golden Knights, how they've managed to do it and what makes them so special, and a number of other assorted topics. They include:  0:30 The in-game experience in Vegas 18:30 How is the Golden Knights top line so effective? 26:30 Is Vegas' success a bad look for the league, and the GMs? 29:30 Marc-Andre Fleury's remarkable story 37:00 Braden Holtby's growing playoff resume  46:00 Tracking the puck and Andrei Vasilevskiy 55:00 Hockey broadcasts in 2018 Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easier than ever before to buy and sell sports and concert tickets. They’re giving our listeners a $20 rebate off of their first purchase. All you have to do is download the free SeatGeek app and enter the promo code PDO to get started. Every episode of the podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, and Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe to the show so that you don’t miss out on any new episodes as they’re released. All ratings and reviews are also greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

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Welcome to the Hockey Pee-Ocast. My name is Dimitra Filipovic, and joining me is my good buddy, Nick Mercodante. Nick, it's been since January 10th, according to my Skype record, since I've had you on the show. So it's, uh, it's been a while. I, I was trying to think of actually when I last I was on. Like, I, I, okay, January it is. January 10th, yeah, there we go. So it's, uh, it's been a while.

I think this is actually going to be posting on May 10th. So, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it's good to have you back on the show, though, man. It's always, uh, don't tell anyone, don't tell anyone else. I love all my guests, but, uh, yeah, I think you're my favorite. Yes. I did it. But I'm still not on the Rushmore of Hockey PTO cast. No, you're not, fortunately.

I get it. In my heart, in my heart you are, but not in the mainstream one. I mean, listen, it's pretty quality competition, I mean, to be fair. I like staying underground. I like being, you know. You're the hipster choice. You're definitely on the hipster on Rushmore for sure. It's like you, Jonathan Willis.

I mean, yeah, you guys are there for sure. Perfect. Okay. So we are recording this. on a Wednesday evening. We got a little time here. A little break in the schedule. We're not going to talk too much about

Winnipeg in Nashville because I already sort of deep dive that series yesterday. But there's a bunch of other stuff for us to talk about. And I thought that a good start would be getting into some chatter about Vegas because as everyone knows, you've been their number one super fan since day one.

And you were also in attendance for a playoff game in a round one. against the Kings, right? Correct. And I just want to mention that the next night after that game, it was game two. Yes, that's right. It was game two. I went to see my hometown game.

That's right. And I went to see my hometown team, the Vegas Golden Knights. And then the next day, they had Justin Tipperlake in town. And they had a little show at the arena there. Now, what's different between the knights and a team like the, the predators is the predators actually cancel or shift the NHL schedule around to fit Justin Timberlake in and move a game seven. Yes. Whereas in Vegas, they appreciate hockey so much.

They think it's so important. They would never do such a thing. They probably told Justin, look, man, I mean, we're a hockey town. That's what we are. That's what we've always been. Right. So it's hockey, on time, on schedule. Everybody's there.

You know, they're having the pregame show. show where they're doing some kind of sword fight on the ice, the whole bit. Right. And then Justin Timberlake comes second. That's just the way it is. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think that checks out. I mean, if you just look at just purely from entertainment value, what we've seen

from the Golden Knights this entire season, but especially this postseason versus Justin Timberlake at this point of his career. I mean, and based on what we saw from him at the Super Bowl, I mean, it's no, no question. And let's get into that. I mean, you know, this show is usually very, we don't mess around too much. we get to on-ice analysis. But having you here and we're in this break in the schedule, I really want to get into the nitty-gritty of just the entire spectacle

because I unfortunately haven't gotten the chance to go to a Vegas home game yet. But I've watched some of the pregame show on Game Center. And yeah, they're going with that medieval theme. They're doing some pretty crazy stuff. I mean, it looks like there's a rave going on there with like the guys wearing the gold night's jerseys and the glasses. the lights and the drums. The dashed-dunk drummers.

Yeah, there's stuff going on. Jeremy Roanick was like turning that, whatever that thing is to get the game going. Like, I don't know. I don't know. All of it seems very fitting for what you think of when you think of Vegas. But it's amazing. And I'm sure there's someone out there that is like, oh, this isn't how hockey should be, should be performed.

Like, you should go back to basics. But I personally enjoy it. I think it's a blast. What was it like being there and soaking that all in his event? Yeah, just to that point. Well, first of all, for a second, I thought we were going to pivot to Justin Timberlake podcast, but you brought us back. So that's what good hosts do.

Yes. But no, so yeah, to your point, there are tons of people. I think way, way too many people. More people than I guess, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point. Hockey, there's this kind of old school mentality. Everything's got to be, you know, serious. hockey, it's a man's sport, right? This whole, all these just stupid, old-timey types of narratives about the sport or whatever

you want to call it. I think it's great. The atmosphere was awesome. And yeah, they definitely, it's all about entertainment value. And they put on a show. And there's, and they, it's, there's so much attention to detail. Everything in the arena is spotless, nice, new. you know, top of the line, great food, you know, great entertainment before and after,

around the arena. They had, you know, they had like an outdoor showing. And I know they do that in a lot of places, but it's a little different with Vegas. Like, there's just entertainment everywhere. But the on-ice product is great too. And I think that that is all part of it. I really do, well, you look at their home record. I know everybody was cracking about, yeah, because team go to Vegas. know, maybe get a little bit distracted. Right. They like to do the alcohol. They do. They like to do the booze. But they play really well at home from what I've seen, not just in person, but watching the

entire season as the original number one Golden Knights fan. Right. They really, really do play well at home. And I think it just feeds into this kind of mentality of like, we're going to put on a show. and that includes playing the hockey. You know, it's all part of it. And I think it's great. I don't think there's anything wrong with dressing up a hockey game

and, you know, making more of it than just the on-ice product. And would I feel a little bit differently if they stunk? Right. Yeah, maybe. But the atmosphere was just electric. I mean, the place was packed. It was just an awesome experience. Well, we take the stuff definitely way too seriously.

you know, it's sometimes easy to lose sight of because whether it's with very kind of overly serious analysis or just the dialogue we have or if you're a super fan and, um, you're stressing out about a game seven. It's like, it's ultimately an entertainment product. And, uh, the fact that they're doing that as I think is awesome. And we're seeing teams embrace that around the league as a whole. Like you look at what Tampa Bay is doing and they're doing some fun stuff. Obviously Nashville. I mean, we've seen Winnipeg right now with the white out and all the crazy fans outside the building. Like, there's a lot of that that's kind of being embraced by the league. And I like to see that. So when you were talking there, I had two questions that, you know, as our, as our field

reporter for this experience that you could answer, you and only yourself could answer. One, were there a lot of, it seemed like watching these games, there weren't a lot of opposing fans. You know, during the regular season, there was that like classic picture of when Edmonton was in town, I believe there was like all these orange oilers jerseys in the concourse before the game and in the stands. And this isn't even a dig at the California. your teams. I just didn't really notice much of that. And part of it might just be the fact that Vegas was so dominant in these home games for the most part in this postseason that they, even if the opposing fans were there, they wouldn't have had much reason to celebrate or get

allowed to begin with. So maybe that's part of it as well. Yeah. Well, my understanding, yes, being the field reporter and talking to the, the, the other Knights fans and attendance. Right, right. My understanding is that it kind of ebbs and flow, or it ebbed and flowed during the season, depending on who was in town, that a lot of out-of-towners would, you know, obviously make a point of turning into a trip to go see their team, which is fine. That's great. But definitely the playoff atmosphere was predominantly or almost exclusively Knights fans. It was hard to find another jersey, which is kind of surprising, considering that the

kings were in town. So it's not like they, you know, I mean, that's a short trip over. there weren't you just didn't see a lot of king's jerseys for whatever reason and um i i you know i talked to people and they said well they they oversold season tickets so a lot of the season ticket holders obviously are coming out for the playoffs and to try to get tickets on stub hub or or wherever else was almost impossible because they were just so expensive at that point um so yeah i mean look i it's cool. They like their team. It's plastered everywhere. It's not just like kind of like a niche group of people that are going to the game. You go to any bar along the strip in Vegas and they've got

night stuff up everywhere. And I'm sure it's going to, you know, pivot a little bit towards Raiders when they come. And, you know, the NFL is obviously a more popular product. But I think it's already pretty ingrained. Obviously being, again, being a winner helps, but it's pretty cool to see. Yeah, I guess I'm curious, you know, regardless of whether if they play Winnipeg or Nashville, it's too pretty rabid fan bases at this point. So maybe that'll change a little bit and there be more of those fans. But no, you're right. And the fact that it's not only that they've been successful and they've been winning a lot, but it's also, like, they just play a fun brand of hockey. Like, it's a, I know it's not like a lot of brand names. And if you're not necessarily a big hockey

fan, especially at the start of the season, you wouldn't have maybe heard of a lot of these guys, but, like, they just play so fast and it's just so free-flowing, and it's, it's so fun. I don't know, like, I, I know I tweeted about this at the start of the postseason, and people really seem to latch onto it and like it because I guess it, we never really think about hockey in this way, but it, it did feel like, kind of like a, they play like a read and react offense, sort of, where as simple as, and simplistic as it sounds, it's really, like, you get the puck, and instead of overthinking it, you just kind of pass it along and then you move into an open space and you're going to get the puck back.

And it just, that's what I'm really seeing when this team's playing. And it's awesome. And it seems very true. But at the same time, most teams don't play that way. And I don't know, like, I just think Gerard Glant has done an awesome job with this team in terms of allowing them to do so without really overthinking and really trying to bog it down, which is what a lot of NHO coaches do in. attempt to sort of, you know, not even suck the fun out of the product, but more so like

play a more conservative brand of hockey so that it doesn't come back and bite you in the ass. Well, right. And I think that, you know, one thing that's, you know, it's pretty ingrained into the fabric of how the sport is coached, especially at high levels, but at every level. And, you know, I've never coached at a professional level, but I've coached at the college level all the way down to youth hockey, right? and very young kids.

And you see it at almost every level. It's this kind of concept that there are different types of players and they all play specific types of roles. And you have to find, you have to either formulate your team where you find players for that role or if you're given a team, you have to kind of fit the players into those roles, right?

Right. And there are all different types of variations and strategies and things like that. But at the end of the day, there are scoring players, there are playmaking players, there are grinders, there are, you know, there's all these kind of like predefined, this is what these guys are. And, you know, I'm not going to say that Vegas doesn't have any of that, but not a lot of it.

Really, so I was using this analogy a couple weeks back. I don't know where it wasn't, well, probably on Twitter. If you ever played the game, Nintendo ice hockey, I hope so. Sure. Yeah, let's go for it. I don't think I have. I don't think I have. What's wrong with you?

Why are you so young? I don't even know if that's, like I, I'm well familiar with Nintendo. Okay, all your listeners know what I'm talking about. Okay, so Nintendo ice hockey on NES. There are three types of players in that game that you can select. There's a tall, skinny player, there's a big kind of fat player, and there's a medium-sized guy. The skinny guy is fast and he's got, you know, kind of like a good wrist shot, right? The big fat guy can hit and he's got a big slap shot.

And then the medium guy just is kind of like, but he's slow, right? The big guy. The medium guy is just like kind of good at everything. He's not really great at anything, but he's kind of good at everything. That's the Vegas Golden Knights. Right. They have all medium guys. They're not really in any specific role.

So to your point, they kind of just go out and play. And the closest thing I can find, so anybody who follows me on Twitter, knows I'm a huge, huge soccer fan. So if you're familiar with Liverpool in the style that they play, they play what's called Geegan Press. And Geegan Press is essentially it's they press high, they press on the ball, and whenever they turn it over, they go right after it.

And when they get it back, they immediately try to rush and kind of jam it down your throat, right? That's their style. And the knights kind of play that style. So when they get the puck, they're trying to move up ice, vertical passing, quick, quick, quick, go, go, right? And when they lose the puck, they're immediately swarming and neutral ice and attacking whoever the puck carrier is and not giving a lot of room. And is it taking chances? Well, no, they don't, they're not dangerous, but they're all good enough skaters and they're all good enough players to kind of cover for each other.

and that goes on the offensive side and the defensive side. They're filling space and they're kind of swarming, and it makes it hard to play against. They're hard to handle. And it's fun to watch. It's a great style of hockey that you just don't see at the professional level a lot because teams are so rigid in what they do. Yeah, no, it's a blast.

And it is really, I mean, it's amazing. You look at, you know, they put Ryan Reeves in the lineup in that clinching game against San Jose. and that fourth line is out there just like whipping the buck around and just dominating. And I believe like they control like 70% of the shot attempts of the Ryan Reeves on the ice. And I'm like, man, just I don't know what it is, but just like everything they do seems to work. And it's amazing.

And when you think about it, look, most professional players, they didn't get to the NHL by, like Ryan Reeves didn't get to the NHL by just being a grinder for his entire hockey career. Right. At some point when he was younger, he was a dominant. player on his team or in his league or whatever it is. And he, any way you cut it, he's in the NHL, ergo he's one of the best players in the world, right? He is one of the best players in the world. He might not be, you know, ultimately the guy that should be on an NHL roster, but he's

in the discussion of however many players there are that he's up there, right? he made an NHL team he plays on NHL-I's if you just let the guy play instead of like saying like no you're doing this role you know maybe there's a little bit of talent there that got him to the NHL and maybe you can use a little bit of it and you know you kind of saw that right yeah I know you're for sure obviously there's a limit to what he's capable of playing against other NHLers but you're right I mean my favorite example of this is like I remember looking at this and I was like man Tom

Stito scored 40 goals in Major Jr. And I know he's an overager, but him and Jared Bull were like running wild in the OHL. And it's like, wow. Like Tom Sistido knows how to score a goal. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I mean, is he going to ever be mistaken for Ovechkin? No, of course not.

But if you throw him in the right system, you give him the right opportunity and you kind of take the restricter plates off a little bit, you know, maybe he can contribute a little bit. And sure, there's probably a better player you can put in their position, But if you've got the players you've got and you, you know, like I said, kind of take the restrictor plates off them and just let them play, then sometimes you get this type of result. I mean, okay, so the obvious, actually, no, before we continue with this actual serious on-ice analysis, the other question I remember that I had for you being at the game. So, you know, most of these sporting events, they cut off beer sales after the second intermission, I believe. Was that the case for this playoff game? I am not sure if they cut off sales at all.

So I didn't go out during overtime. So the last time I went out, I saw Milan Luchich was milling around possibly with an adult beverage. And that was in between the third and overtime. And there were also, aside from Milan Luchich, there were also a number of other adults with adult beverages. is very, so in between the third and overtime. So I am assuming that they never shut off for yourselves. Yeah, I was going to say, like, I don't know if that's like a league-wide mandate or whether it's, um, the building controls that.

But it's, I know that typically it is after a second period, but I mean, that game went into the second overtime and I'm just, I'm curious. I mean, with it being Vegas and just how rowdy that crowd was, I'm, I was skeptical of what was actually going on there. Yeah, yeah, it was rocking. And that was, on that evening, I did not have many adult beverages. I had a few before the game. But I had to walk across the strip.

So I, you know, I wanted to play it safe. Okay. Okay, that's good. Well, you were on the job as our field reporter. That's right. I was on the job, and I saved the adult beverages for when I was losing money playing blackjack. There we go. That's a veteran move.

You know, so you look at this team and, you know, obviously the top line, it's running out of superlatives at this point. I mean, just how dominant they've been and the fact that in round one, they really went up for the most part against Kopitara's line. And then round two, they're going up against Pavelski's line. And they're just dominating the play. And a lot of it is on the rush, of course. And a lot of it is just like a good old fashion. They're just skating laps around the other team in the offensive zone, cycling around them and just waiting for these openings to pass the puck into hiding. dangerous scoring areas and it when you watch that it's like on the one hand yeah William Carlson will

definitely not shoot 25% again or whatever next season but if they're able to continue generating that type of action and that might be one of those things where in the summer NHL coaches are going to have more time to look at this tape and try and figure out a way to slow them down and they very well might accomplish that but just based on some of the stuff you're seeing it's like yeah it makes sense that they're so dangerous and they were generating so many points. And William Carlson himself was as the guy on the receiving it, most of the time, was generating so many goals just based on where they're shooting the puck from.

Like, it's remarkable. It's like the other teams just don't have any answer for, they're just like, I don't know if they lull them asleep or what, but it just, they're passing it around, they're cycling around the net, and all of a sudden the puck just winds up in front of the net,

and William Carlson's there by himself. And you're like, how the hell did that happen? Yeah. Yeah, and, well, so one thing that's, become readily apparent to me, the more that I've watched this team is Marches-O is just a catalyst for everything. He does, I would love to just track his activity per shift, like not specific like his shots or his, but just hit every little thing that he's, he's constantly in the play on the puck, offensively, defensively, he is engaged and involved

in something going on. And Carlson has some of that, but mostly what Carlson does is he seems to find space. And then sometimes, kind of like you said, it seems like teams almost forget that he's there, or he knows how to get to the right place at the right time, so to speak, or into the space where he can be successful. And you're right, he scores a lot of goals where he's sitting in that kind of low slot off to the side a little bit. I think usually on the left side I'm trying to remember my left from right

and he'll pick up on those either the rebounds or something coming across to him and pop it in he's got all those guys on that top line have a ton of skill too probably more than they ever got credit for before they got to the Knights and you know it makes you

scratch your head how did teams miss it Well, you know what? You know what's interesting? You know, watching in that first round, Ray Ferraro was on the call for that series for NBC Sports. And he made a really great point that, you know, kind of seems obvious, but it's never really talked about this way. And it's how we think about, you know, speed-wise.

We generally talk about that as a physical component on the offensive end, where you're generating chances and you're difficult to deal with in that regard. But he made the point of how Vegas's speed really shows on the defensive side. side of things where they're just, they disrupt what the other team is trying to do so well by just limiting their time and space. And it's a lot of, like you, you come into it with a game plan. You're like, okay, you know, we want to execute. We want to really hammer the puck on these, on these, you know, parts on the ice. And we really want to do this one thing. And then you get out there and all of a sudden, you just don't have room to breathe. And you're doing everything a half second faster than you want to and everything's out of whack. And that's really when you watch them.

I think that's how they've generated a lot of their offense. It's by creating this kind of helter-skelter frantic pace and a lot of neutral zone turnovers and then bringing it back the other way really quickly. And that's really what stuck out watching this team. Yeah. And it goes back to that point I was making about the style that they play, having some similarities to this geek impress or pressing style and soccer that Liverpool and Juergen Klopp have been popular, but you kind of see it cropping up with more teams.

soccer and I'd love to see more of it in hockey but that's exactly what it is is they're constantly if they don't have the puck they're trying to get the puck back um and if you've got quick players and it's not just end-to-end fast like Connor McDavid well Connerick David kind of has everything so maybe this is a bad example but Connor McDavid when you think of him in his speed it's all about his just end-to-end speed right like he is a gazelle and he'll go um A guy like a March or Riley Smith, it's more that quickness that they have. So when they lose possession or they lose the puck, they can kind of change direction, change gears, and jump back into the play quickly.

It doesn't take them a lot of time to get up to speed or catch up with a play. And their engine is unbelievable. I truly don't know. Like when I, you know, in that game two, which I don't know their exact time on ice. I was trying to just look it up, but they did not stop the entire game. And even towards the end, when everybody was looking tired, they still had, you know, some gas left in the tank. So it's just incredible conditioning that they have to be able to do that.

Yeah. Yeah, no, there's obviously a lot of contributions there. I think, like, I mean, that top line's obvious. Mark Andre Fleury. We'll talk more about him in a second. You know, the blue line, like, Shea The Udoer is obviously really popped watching these games. But obviously, I think Alex Tuck is like the guy who, you know, he had a really good year.

And but I feel like now on a more mainstream level, people are just watching this guy. He's like, oh my God. Yeah. This guy looks like prime Todd Bertuzi out there. Just like, he's just like bowling through people and just like it's a combination of size and skill. It's like, wow. When he has these just solo rushes up the ice and you're just like, oh my goodness. That's what I was just going to say.

And he's he's a fast, powerful skater too. Like a different type of player. but again, another player where it's almost like, you know, somebody probably Gallant said to him like, look, you're going to play your game. So I'm going to let you play your game and just go out there and do it. And I think all these guys, you mentioned Theodore, like they play free and you can just see it. You don't have to, you know, know the specifics of the sport or the specifics of the style of hockey that they play or anything like that. to if you watch them a little bit, you get that sense that they, they're not restricted to making certain types of plays.

They really will just play kind of this free type of game where they're not really afraid to make mistakes. And if they make mistakes, they just get right back into the play and attack and disrupt and not really give the other team a chance to take advantage of it. Yeah. Yeah, man, it's been rock. I was looking today, you know, Dom has, uh, has their odds of making the Stanley Cup final at like 41% or something and then winning it all at 17% and Mike's model is similar. It's, it's either going

to be a pretty substantial underdog. I'd say regardless of who they play in that Western Commerce final, but at this point, I mean, just how far they've come and the fact that you're saying, like they have a very realistic possibility of winning the Stanley Cup is just, just, it's mind-blowing. But, okay, so here's the thing. This is what I want to talk with you about. There is, like with everything, whatever happens in the hockey world, and I think with stuff in general, Twitter can be really annoying sometimes with the dialogue and how you just try to suck the fun out of everything. And then now there's this revisionist history that's happening.

And you're seeing people like talking and writing articles like, oh, well, of course this is happening. Like the league handed it to them on a silver platter. And it's like, what do you, like no one heading into the season thought they would be good, including Vegas themselves, I believe. So it's like. Most of us thought. that they actually kind of stumbled their way through their expansion draft. Yeah.

You know, so. With good reason. Right. Yeah. Like, I don't think it was unjustified. And I think it was there to expect that they'd be maybe entertaining, but not good. And now it's all this. Yeah, it's like, you know, the league set them up.

And it's like, no one was saying that before the season. It's like everyone's falling over this house trying to sort of explain our account for what's happened as opposed to, you know, I mean, obviously there's a certain element into the fact that they took advantage of the situation they had and they kind of forced the hand of a few teams and made a couple really good trades where they basically got like two awesome players from Minnesota and from Florida and they took advantage of the fact that they could do so but also like that was just poor management of assets by those teams especially a team like Florida so it's I don't think that has any to do with it didn't get it from the NHL the NHL didn't like bestow them a team built to be successful.

That is not how it all went down. You know, other other teams might have assisted. Yes. Yeah, I don't think it's a bad look. I don't think it's a bad look. Like for them, if they do keep going, or let's say they even, it ends here and, you know,

it's still remarkable. They made a conference final and they won the final four teams. I don't think it's a bad look on the league. I think it's a remarkable story. I think it's definitely a bad look on certain GMs that they contributed to this because it was, avoidable. Like, there's a very realistic possibility of every GM was doing their job at an optimal

level that this team would be really bad. Yeah. No, that's right. Yeah. I mean, I just, well, whatever. I can't get over the Panthers and the decisions they made. Yeah. That horse is dead.

Honestly, there's like nothing you to say anymore. I don't want to say anymore about it. It just is just bizarre to me. But, yeah, there were a couple guys, there were a couple guys they got. whether it be through trade or through expansion, that I felt like we're kind of can't miss. And I remember coming on the podcast and talking about Flurry and saying that works for everybody.

It worked for Pittsburgh. It worked for Flurry. It worked for Vegas. And I said that they were getting a really, really good goalie in Flurry. I think I had them in our top 10. So, you know, to me, you know, there were a couple guys. I thought March or so was a can't miss guy. I thought Smith was a can't miss guy.

I thought Fleury was a campness guy. There were a few of those guys like that, but the NHL did not bestow them through the expansion draft, like this team that was just primed for success. I think they both success. Yeah. Yeah, well, let's talk a bit about Flurry then. You know, he's had a remarkable season.

I think that if he had played more than the 46 games, he did in the regular season, and he had obviously kept up his performance. I think there would have been legit Vesna Buzz. and deservingly so like so like i think he was remarkable in the games he did play and then now obviously he's like a 951 say a percentage he's got four shoutouts in 10 games uh out dual john quick and martin jones like the performance so far speaks for itself but there also has been i don't know like the dialogue around him is also weird because i think everyone's rooting for mark andre flurry

uh deservedly so like just he handled everything in pittsburgh towards the end there with such grace in class and the move here and he's sort of been the face of this franchise and he just seems like a great guy um but i don't know it also wasn't one of those like no i mean it was a no brainer from the perspective of just he was kind of it was a numbers game there and obviously pittsburgh was going to keep matt murray and he was gone as a result but looking at some of those uh playoff numbers from his past as well like it's he's had a very very interesting career let's let's say that Yeah, he has. And he's had his ups and downs like most goalies. And I've said this a million times. We've been spoiled by a couple goalies that have done things that are otherworldly.

And then we get these expectations that every goalie should be able to do that. And, you know, Mark Andre Fleury for the majority of his career has been a very, very good goalie. And yeah, he's had some rough playoff runs. but so did some of those teams that he was on. He had a strong playoff run last year, and he faltered. He beat the caps by himself, pretty much. Yeah, yeah, and he faltered in a few games, and they gave it to Murray, and Murray finished the job.

And, you know, now there's this, since the Penguins have lost, there are some writers who will go unnamed, who are coming out and starting to pitch the question of, should they have kept Flurry? Does this have to, you know, Murray struggled, so should they have kept it? And, you know, I'll go back to what I've said on your show and every place else that I can. Murray is 22. He's 22 years old.

And, you know, his, the majority of his performance has come in a couple of playoff runs with the best team in the NHL and winning a Stanley Cup. You have vaulted him up to this status that he shouldn't have been at yet. He was primed or due to struggle a little bit because he's 22, and that's what young goalies do. So you just got to kind of deal with it and relax. You know, it was the right move to let Flurry go and give Murray the net. Just because he struggled as a 22-year-old doesn't mean you need to blow it all up. It'll be fine. He's still going to be a good goalie.

Just give it a little time. Yeah. No, definitely. I mean, people can get carried away. It's remarkable. I mean, just do you remember like when Mark Andre's, If you were legitimately like a punchline in the playoffs. I mean, like the nadir being obviously that, well, I mean, the Islander series is really bad,

but at least they wanted. But I mean that Flyers series the year before in 2011, 12, I believe he was just, like, that was insane. And everyone was like, oh, my God. Like, is Sidney Crosby going to win only the one cup because of this guy? Like, it's, it's, he just kept submarining them. And there was other stuff going on, obviously, with injuries and lack of depth and everything like that.

But, I mean, a lot of it was the fact that they were not getting any saves. That's right. But you know what? I mean, that's the, the, if you want to analyze a goalie's career on, you know, seven games or eight games or whatever it is in a playoff series, where, you know, whatever it is, four or five, six, seven games against one team, where a goalie performs quarterly instead of analyzing them on the body of their work during the regular season and then determine that they're a bad goalie,

that's great. I'm not going to. I don't do that. And I've always looked at Flurry as a good goalie who had some bad playoff series. And it happens. That's what happens. You know, could somebody say, well, there was a pattern there? Yeah, sure, you could say it.

But it's still just not big enough of a sample size for me to get behind it and be like, well, this guy just can't perform in the playoffs. So I feel a little vindicated because he's performing quite well right now in playoffs for Vegas. and it just kind of goes back to he's a good goalie. He's proven that over his career in the regular season. Sometimes you have bad stretches. Sometimes you have good stretches. He's on a good one right now.

And that's good for him. Let's, yeah, let's remember this happy feeling in the case that, you know, like Nashville or Winnipeg just destroys them in five games. And he's giving up like four or five goals again and getting pulled. Let's just remember these happy feelings. Let's try to keep level-headed. Yeah, and as much as I am the first and biggest Knights fan, you know, I do have to mention that Nick Benino is going for his third Stanley Cup with Nashville.

So that's going to be a tough one if Nashville goes through. And I'm not positive that they're going to go through. Winnipeg, that series, geez, the level of hockey has just been incredible. So I think whoever comes out of that, Winnipeg or Nashville, that's going to be a tall order for Vegas to handle those types of teams. Yeah, definitely. All right, let's take a quick break here to hear from a sponsor and we'll talk about some other stuff on the other. Let's take a minute here to give some love to CEEK, who is sponsoring today's episode of the HockeyPedio cast. As you know, if you've ever gone through the process of trying to get tickets to a sporting event or concert or what have you,

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And I was making some joke about how certain fan bases that had just lost could shave their playoff beards, and I made that connection. And I included the Capitals instead of the Penguins. And it was just one of those things. I guess just old habits diehard. So I apologize. A few people caught out to that, and we're like,

hey, wait a second, you messed up there. So it's apologies to Capps fans. They're through. And there's a bunch of cool stuff we can talk about with this team. I think, you know, the natural starting point with you being on as our, you know, you're a resident, um,

field reporter for the Vegas Golden Knights, but you're also our goalie guy. And, uh, brain hopey, um, is really interesting because obviously he had a terrible regular season and, he didn't start the playoffs for them and they went with Gruberauer and then

halfway through the second game or so. They made the switch and they're obviously not going to be looking back now. And, you know, you could, you could, justify that choice. But, you know, just more so focusing on Holtby rather than that decision in Grubauer is he's, I think he's looked remarkable in this postseason. And I don't know what happened

this regular season, but especially watching that Pittsburgh series. Like, I know he wound up with like a 9-21, say percentage overall, which is perfectly fine, but it's not mind-blowing by any means. But as that series went along, it really felt like the only way Pittsburgh was going to beat him is if it it was like some wacky deflection or some just unstoppable sequence where he was completely out of position based on something out of the ordinary happening. Like if he was able to see the puck at all or size it up like he was stopping it, just felt like he was so, you know, to my entry and I, I felt like he was so just fundamentally locked in and solid.

And he was amazing there down the stretch. And he's obviously looking ahead to this Tampa Bay series where I think Washington is deservedly going to be quite a big underdog. if you're kind of writing up the blueprint for how they're going to keep this Cinderella run going and potentially make the Stanley Cup final, it's going to be, I think, the power play and obviously Ovechkin, but it's going to be a whole lot of just Brayden Holpe just continuing this playoff magic. Yeah, I think if I was picking a goalie, probably behind Flurry in terms of this year's playoffs,

who has, well, it hasn't surprised me because he is a good goalie despite this regular season. But I would say that he's had this kind of redeeming type of run here. Because last year, he did struggle. And it's funny because when I watch him, there are still some of those things that caused him to struggle last year. Like that he still has trouble. He can look around the screen and he can, you know, he's great in terms of his side to side movement and his reaction, but he tends to have, like, his feet will be shuffling while he's trying to make saves, and sometimes he makes a little extra work for himself. All those things

are still there like they were last year, so they haven't gone away. I think the big difference is that he's made all of the saves. Right. Which is in his job description. Rich is in his job description. So, you know, it's like, I think, so when I coach goalies, I tend to at a certain point, I stopped tinkering, and I tell them, okay, you've done your reps, you've worked on these things that I've asked you to work on, now it's time to just make saves. And I think that he's probably in that sort of mindset now, where it's like, okay, you've done your reps, you are the goalie who you are, now you've got to make saves. So just clear your head and do that job.

And it seems like he's been able to do that in this playoffs. and it's definitely, I think, if not the primary contributing factor to the cap success and their ability to move through, it's right up there near the top. Like I said, I think he's right behind Flurry in terms of his performance. His goal saved above average has been incredible in this postseason, especially because he didn't come out and start the postseason. Like you said, Gru Barre did. So that's all good. It took some courage for the, it sounds backwards, but it did take some courage for the caps to say, okay, we're going to give the net back to Holpey and let them run with it. Because I want to give you credit, you have pointed out many, many times how good of a goalie Gruberr is.

And I've grown in my appreciation for him. And if I was coaching the caps, I'd have a really tough time taking the net away from Gruberra. Because of the type of goalie that he's been for the capitals over now, several seasons. So, you know, like I said, it's kind of this redeeming story. It's nice to see. He's a great goalie. So I think if he can keep it up, you never know. Maybe it's the cap to year.

Well, it's such a tough balance because we, if there's one sort of thing you and I always come back to when we talk about goalies and goalie performance and the evaluation of them, It's like you really don't want to be reactionary and you need to let stuff play out and you need a large sample size for a lot of this stuff to develop. But in the postseason, like if you lose four times, you're out, right? And it's like they were facing that two nothing hole with Holpe for starting game three in Columbus. And it's really tough. I mean, it's one of those things where now that it worked out like this, you know, we look at it as a great move. But obviously if it had it backfired or whatever, then we'd be like, oh, my God. what an idiot like how could he have went back to him he was so bad this year you know it's like got it you got

it that's why that's why i say it's it sounds backwards but i think it did take a little bit of courage to do that and to write it out because when you are you know down to games like that you're right you're one loss away from you know uh-oh here we go we're you know we're we're going to get knocked out again and um and holpey is going to be our goalie who's in the net when we get knocked out again, how many times can we do this? I don't care that Holbe won a Vesina. At some point, you know, we have to do things differently. And that's the type of mentality that a lot of NHL teams have or would have in the

cap situation. And I don't think anybody would be safe even a Vesina winning goalie. So, yeah, it's a pretty good story. But, you know, one thing I do want to point out is that by and large, You know, maybe, well, I don't know if there's any exceptions at this stage, but I think that all the teams that are remaining have gotten pretty solid goaltending in the postseason. Right. Well, you sort of have to to advance in the playoffs.

Like, it's like, it seems obvious, but it's like, yeah, the team that generally gets more saves from their goalie will probably win. Sure. No, you're right. You're right. But, you know, there's always that kind of do you need an elite goalie to win a Stanley Cup? and you look at some goalies who have won and you kind of say, well, I don't know if they qualify as a lead or whatever the case may be.

There are teams that carry their goalies for a long span of time. But ultimately, you're right. You know, last year I was dogging Pecorina. He stood on his head all the way up until the Stanley Cup finals and then he fell flat. So you could say, you know, he helps carry his team to the Stanley Cup. He just fell flat at that time. But at this stage right now, all the goalies that are remaining, including in this game seven coming up, have played pretty darn well.

I mean, there's been a couple blips for Renee, you know, a few blips for the other goalies here and there. But they've all been pretty steady, you know, and pretty good. They have. One guy who has really impressed me has been Andre Vasselowski. You know, obviously the talents. there, but just based on the way he ended his year and his own comments and sort of admitting the fact that, you know, this was the first year as a starter and it kind of wore on him a bit physically or mentally or a combination of those. And I mean, the number is sort of reflected. I know that

some of them might just be temp, but kind of took their foot off the gas pedal and definitely like just watching some of those games, like their defensive system was a bit looser. And obviously that's tightened up now with added focus and attention to detail in the postseason. But there's no doubt that he himself has looked much better. And something I noticed. And, You know, this could very well just be sort of an anecdotal thing, and it might not actually be backed up by the numbers. But I know you and I have been trading a lot of messages throughout this postseason about the goalies that have looked suspect

when the puck's been behind the net, and most notably Michael Neuverth being a great example of that. And I noticed a few times in that Bruins series, because the Bruins did seem like they were trying to make an extra effort to sort of work the puck behind the game. the net and sort of impose their physicality on the lightning and sort of wear them down that way. And then they'd get it back out front. And it looked like Vasilevsky was tracking the puck really well. And, you know, it's stuff like that when you see it because we know obviously that's a

big time blind spot for a lot of goalies that, you know, when I see a guy doing something like that, I'm like, okay, like this is a, he's pretty locked in. And it seems like he's in good shape. And obviously, you know, both the Capitals and the Lightning have very good offenses. And And we've talked up, Holbein and Vasilevsky here, but we'll see how this Eastern Conference final shakes out. But it looks like both guys are heading into it in peak form right now. Yeah, yeah. And it's kind of neat because Vaselowski, I think it was two post seasons ago

when he came in for Bishop when Bishop was injured, right? Am I remembering right? I'm losing track of years. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, two years ago. And he had major problems from the goal line back, tracking the puck. So I've said this to you, you know, it's one of those things, and sometimes it goes unnoticed kind of in the blur of the regular season, but there are certain things that all goalies have problems with, it seems like, at the NHL level. And some of them, you know, one of them includes play that's developed from behind the net and also play that's where the play is developed from the front of the net, but the puck is fired off the boards or moved to the back of the net and then back to the net.

and then back to the front of that quickly. It's just, you know, if you think about it intuitively, it's hard to, you're not turning your body around, right? When the play goes behind you, you're using your head to look and track, and you have to turn your head so you automatically have blind spots, no matter what you do. It's not like you can just follow the puck and turn your body around and watch it and then watch it go back to the front.

And some goalie struggle with it more than others. it seems like, and this is, I couldn't back this with statistics or anything like that, but it seems like in the playoffs, maybe it's because of noise, that goalies sometimes lose the puck more often behind the net, or there's more confusion or chaos behind the net. I couldn't tell you specifically why, but it's just, you know, I kind of think through, like if I was in that situation, it's noisy, There's pressure, everything else.

You're kind of panicking. You turn your head too fast. You lose side of the puck. But certain goalies are just bad at it. Like Noyverth has always been bad at it his entire career. I've been barking about it for several years, but apparently nobody in Philadelphia hears me, and they still are just going to keep giving them that to Noyberth in big situations.

But, you know, that's fine. Just keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. I mean, in that Penguin series, I mean, some of those were, like, laughable where the pen used to go behind the net. He, like, it was like, he was, I mean, there were obviously all those zoo-enter jokes, well, he was, like, incapable, physically of turning his head to the left. Like, he was like.

He was lost. He was just looking behind the net, like, over his right shoulder the entire time, and there's that great picture, like, Sidney Crosby just wrapping it around and whoever's still looking in the opposite corner. It's like, stuff like that. And there's like, there are some, like, kind of rhythm and timing rules to playing, uh, as a goalie to playing the puck behind the net, such as when do you lead your post, when do you turn your head?

At what point when the puck is at the center line and you can't see it out of your periphery vision, that's when you're taught to turn your head and push at the same time to get across with the assumption that it's going to continue moving that way. But he was like pushing too early

and then Crosby went the other way and it's just all this just confusion. But yeah, and then Vasileski on the other hand, it seems like he's worked on that part of his game. I probably haven't, didn't watch him enough in the regular season to be a perfect judge of it, but certainly in this postseason, everything he's doing, he just looks ready to make the saves. He's always set. He seems like he's always in a position to make a save. Even if he can't react to it, he can make

a blocking save because he's so positionally sound. And those are the types of things that sometimes matter in playoff series where there's chaos going on around you is to just be there. and be set and be ready, you can make those blocking saves. So Vaselowski has gotten very, very good at that, and the results are there. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, obviously with all the pre-scouting goes on, and I remember earlier in this postseason, like Willie Nealander had this interview, and the reporters were asking about what the leaves needed to do better, and he was like, yeah, we need to get the puck behind the net and get them to turn their heads.

And, like, people are on to this stuff. And obviously all the great work our buddy Ryan Stimson did and sort of actually quantifying this and yeah i actually thought a great example of what you're saying there with like you know sometimes there's going to be a reactionary element obviously to it like stuff's happening so fast and there's so much chaos you just kind of need to be in the right position and hope the puck hits you sometimes um was that actual glove that glove save mark and andre flurry made in the um over time i believe uh was a game three against san Jose where he like made this ridiculous glove save and then will carlson went back on the other and scored and that was one of those where it was like this like

quick hitting bang bang play from behind the net out front to logan kutcher i think and like obviously part of that i mean margontra flurry great reactionary save on his part and flashing the glove like that it was so pretty but what i took away from it was like it just seemed like he was like in the right position and sometimes there's a certain element to that as well when it comes to stopping the puck like you can't be like flailing around and looking over your shoulder constantly and it just seemed like he was really locked in and and so i that's what i took from that save obviously the actual gloom love component of it is what was the most beautiful part. But I thought I like the technique of it.

Well, and I think to, you know, whether it's a trained eye or an untrained eye or, you know, you know, a casual fan or somebody who's watching hockey all the time, you know, one of the things that you can tell about Flurry when you watch and play, he's very, very compact. And he's, to your point, he's not ever really flailing around. he's got a great control of his body. So everything is compact and tight. There's not a lot of holes. So if he's in good position and he gets the right push and he gets to the right depth and he's on his angles,

he will be in a position to make a save whether he can react to it or not. But more importantly for a situation like that, he gives himself an opportunity to react and be right there on top of it instead of react while kind of flying out of position. and that's something that's distinct to his game that he's built on and improved over, you know, over the years that he's been playing in the NHL. If you looked at the other net, Martin Jones is kind of the exact opposite of that. So Jones is all over the place, and he never looks like he's set and ready to make the save. And he is often flailing around or flying off an angle,

line or losing the angle line. And to your point, you know, in the midst of all the chaos of an overtime and things are happening quickly, boy, if I was on the San Jose bench, I would be terrified constantly watching him because it just, it looks like everything he's just not prepared to make the save. I mean, to his credit, he's in NHL starting goalie, I guess, so take that for what it's worth. But, you know, I look at those two goalies. I look at Flurry.

I'm like, that's why I want in those situations. Because it just seems like he's got so much more control. Jones is all over the place. And I think during the game, I tweeted, like, right before they scored or maybe it was right. I think it's right as they scored. I was tweeting it. I think I said something like Jones is just waiting to give up a goal. he's a willing and able participant

okay um okay one final thing before we get out of here I know we kind of want to talk a bit about the uh the broadcast the state of broadcasts uh in hockey right now and uh the commentary teams and stuff and I feel like I could speak to this very um in a very educated manner because I have been watching an insane amount of hockey the past couple weeks uh I've been so most these have like the I thought you were going to say because you're a professional broadcaster.

Well, yeah, the obvious equals out saying. I mean, come on, I don't want to chew my own horn. Come on, let's get real. But no, it's, so they're doing the Canadian version on SportsNet, and then they're doing the American feed on NBC. And so I've been watching all these games live, and then I've been going back and I'm working on this tracking project, so I've been rewatching them.

So I've kind of tried to make a point of like, if I'm watching it live on one of them, And then when I go back and rewatch it, I check out the other one to kind of, so I'm not listening to the same thing over and over again and kind of seeing what's going on with these broadcasts. And man, I just want to say, Pierre McGuire's workload is, I think, the most impressive thing of this entire postseason. Say what you will about the quality of the commentary. I don't understand how he gets from place to place.

Okay, so how it was working in the second round was they were like alternating days, right? So it was like everyone was playing every second day. And it was like the cap the cap the capital series against the penguins was on a Monday. And then Tuesday would be lightning Bruins. And then Wednesday would be capitals again. And he was doing all of those East games. Right. It was just mind blowing to me.

Like I understand that out east of travel might not be that big. But it's like just the amount of effort it would take to sort of even just have like a bare bones preparation level for what's been going on in the series. And you have you have to like devote all your attention. an energy to one of them and then he was just doing that for both of those like i was joking on twitter like it's there's been these two days off now while we're waiting for this game seven and it's like the first day off he's had from calling a game in like a month it's just it's crazy to me yeah for for you know as much um i guess as as as much uh as people like to get on his case for his broadcasting and everything else like that guy is a workhorse i would love to see his flight

logs for like his trap i mean just think about it so if a game starts at seven o'clock it's over what 10 right yeah 10 o'clock okay give or take then he is he rushing to the airport that night and then flying to his next destination or um it does he wait until the morning and then fly and and you know he's where he's leaving at five in the morning so he's getting however many hours of sleep by it's just insane to me and it's hilarious because every night when I turn on the television I'm like you know if I start watching the game all the sudden it like dawns on me I'm like oh that's pier again how is what how is that pier again and then I start listening I'm like is the rest of the team there no the rest of the team isn't there doc's not on this game why is pier on this

game they just like wheel him out Hannibal electric style get out there pier yeah maybe there's multiple peers. Wouldn't that be something? Oh, man. I don't think the world's ready for that. And okay, so the reason why I brought up the workload is like obviously, I just think that's like NPC should not be using one person that much. I think it's crazy. It's stretching them way too thin. And the caveat also is I think that job is like sneaky hard, I think. We always expect a certain quality to it and it's very easy to rag on the commentator when they're saying something kind of obvious or whatever, but it's like, I don't, I personally, honestly, I don't think I could do that job. Like, I think it's incredibly hard to be like informed, but also like charismatic

and entertaining. But all you like, you need to cover all these bases and it's stretched out over three hours. And also like his actual job where he's on ice level between the benches and it's just so loud out there and it's frantic pace happening in front of you. Like I, I can't even imagine, um, you're trying to balance all those things. things while also doing your job. I think it's remarkably hard. So when I'm critical of him and I make jokes about it, I sort of,

I fully acknowledge and understand that. You do it with love. Yes, yeah, yeah, definitely. But at the same time, I think it's fair, like, especially for people that are watching, consuming a lot of these games in the postseason, and it's kind of being jammed on your throat. Like, it's,

I think the commentary is, it's not good. It's not good. I think they're, they're in desperate need of a refresh in the model. It's not so much because they do, you know, they obviously do add new voices and new faces, but it a lot of times feels like more the same. You know, aside from the fact that this postseason,

they committed to putting a woman on broadcast, which is awesome. Yes. That's something that, you know, I don't understand how there's a huge subsection of hockey fans that aren't ready for that. But it's just great that they did that. But I think they could do more of a refresh, and maybe it's giving even more voices an opportunity to be on the broadcast, maybe changing the style of how they do these broadcasts.

I don't know what it is, but you're right. you listen to enough games. It all kind of blurs together. Yeah, there are personalities and they stand out. You know, you've got, on the American broadcast, you've got your guys like Milbury and, you know, on the Canadian broadcasts, you've got Don Cherry, and there are these, like, you know, kind of big voices that,

I don't even know what you call it at this point, but divisive type of personalities. But I just feel like the entire model for how to, we consume televised hockey could go for some type of change. And if I had all the answers, I'd be working and broadcasting. But it is just this, it's over and over again that the same type of approach is taxing, and it doesn't do enough to highlight how exciting and entertaining the sport can be. That's just how I feel about it.

That's just how I feel. And I think the actual dialogue is just kind of reductive and it's it's upsetting because obviously there's much many more eyeballs on the product come the postseason and it's a great time for the league to, you know, create new fans and people that will be excited to check back into the league at the start of next season and might be along for the ride from the start, right? And obviously the most important thing is being entertaining. and I actually find Pierre, for example, to be very entertaining. Like, I know his shtick can be sometimes tiresome, but he makes me laugh. I think it's funny. But then he's like watching the Tampa Bay Series, for example, you know, he's going on and on about Ryan Callahan and Chris Koonitz and the stuff they do to win hockey games and how in the

pro season it's great and all this. And then, you know, he goes, this is why I can't get on board with analytics because, you know, Chris Kunitz has actually been dominating. It's like it will take you like five seconds of research to find out that Chris Kunitz's line has actually been awesome this postseason. Like they've been dominating in terms of job metrics and what you're seeing on the ice in terms of how they're throwing their bodies around. It's actually sort of been productive like they're creating a lot of loose pucks and they've actually been playing good to their credit. But so you can tie that all in and sort of be entertaining while also educating the fan rather than, you know, taking all these pot shots and just going with the tired old cliches about playoff hockey and

physicality and throwing the body around and well right and it's and it's the easy way out too so so it's or like the path of least resistance I guess because you know some of it's not just you know getting new personalities and new voices which I really do think is important in a way forward for improving broadcast but it's also the level of preparation and what goes into the in-game analysis you know I think it's time that we move away from just, you know, let's analyze face-offs and hits because they're just easy to see, you know. They're not the most important thing, and we don't have to belabor it, and it's not an analytics thing.

It's just a broadly known hockey fact that at this stage, there are other things that could be analyzed in more depth that are more important to the outcome of the game. So do the prep or have the material available so that you can actually bring those things to light during the broadcast and inform the viewer of what is going on that maybe they can't track while they're watching the game and taking care of the kids at the same time.

It's just, you know, that type of thing. And I think that, you know, and I personally don't watch enough baseball to know, like, what they're doing every day. But I feel like in baseball, they've gotten a little bit more of that, especially like on MLB network and places like that. They've gotten a little bit more kind of honed in on let's bring some more information to the viewer. But in hockey, they're nowhere near it.

It's just the same thing over and over again. It's Milbury, you know, barking about the, you know, they've got to get in their faces and they've got to step up and play harder and with no other information to bring to the table. and then like Keith Jones basically reiterating the same thing to him. And then back to the game. Yeah, it seems like we're stuck in this like endless time loop. And it's just like, it's 2018. We're still talking about this stuff?

Like I thought we'd evolve a little bit. And, you know, I do want to elaborate on your point there. I think AJ's been awesome this postseason. You know, in Round 1, NBC was doing the three-person booth with Kenny Albert, Brian Boucher, and AJ. and then in round two, it's been with Chris Cuthbert and Brian Boucher, I believe. And it had been awesome. And I'd love to hear more from her. I think she's been really good.

And yeah, part of it is just changing the dialogue and being more creative and trying to tell a better story. And also part of it is having different voices and mixing things up a little bit. And I think she's been awesome. And I'd love to hear more from her for it. Yeah, me too. and, you know, some of the criticism was that on the broadcast they were stepping all over each other because there were too many voices like that was somehow her fault.

You know, maybe break up the booth a little bit and give her a little bit more, you know, time and space to say more. So, you know, it's a baby step. It's something. I think that, I think that, I, I guess, you know, you got to applaud whatever steps are taking to bring some new voices in and, and cater to the audience that wants to take in hockey instead of the audience that they think, you know, wants to take in hockey.

Yes, that's an important distinction. All right, Nick, let's get out of here. I was going to ask you to plug some stuff, but you have nothing to plug. Until the next time, the PDO cast sends you out to do, field research. Yeah. Plug my field research for the PDO cast. And my Twitter at Nmercad, where you can read my collected works, which will one day,

a wise publisher will put them all together and turn it into a coffee table book for the ages. Maybe they'll include some of yours, too. It's a wide assortment of topics. And I will say following you is a pretty eclectic experience because, I mean, you're a busy man. you have a lot of work going on. You have a young family now.

You have dogs. I mean, you know, you've got stuff going on. But so I love like myself. I have nothing going on. Like, this is my life. So I'm, I'm on Twitter 24-7, and I'm not even bragging about that. I just acknowledge it as the truth and my reality. So like whenever something happens, I'm quick to react to it and comment on it.

But you, like, sometimes I like, like a day passes or whatever or at least like a handful of hours. And then you're like jumping back in and rehashing this conversation that's already been done for a while. I love it. I think it's great. I really appreciate. I love the experience of following and Merrickat on Twitter. Yeah, I like to get the opinions of people. Sometimes people will DM me and it's not really a compliment.

It's more like an observation. They'll be like, you know, following you is just kind of a strange experience because I feel like I'm looking into somebody's life. But then at the same time, they're like trying to give content for their followers. and it's just all over the map. One day you're talking about gardening and then you're going off about Roma soccer and then you're doing goalie analysis.

Yeah. And yeah, you know, that pretty much sums it up. That's how I use Twitter. Thanks for following. It's all part of the package. And I will continue following and I recommend everyone else that's listening. Do so as well.

And let's get you back on the show sometime before the season is over before we go away for summer breaks. I don't want to wait. I said at the start of the show last time we had you on was June 10th, January 10th, so it's been a couple months. I don't want to wait that long again. Let's get you back on here next month or so.

Certainly, you know, when the Knights hoist the Cup, you're going to want a voice. We're going to get you back out on the field. All right, man. Have a good one and we'll chat soon. All right. Thanks, Dimitio. The Hockey PDOCast with Dmitri Philipovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Philipovich and on SoundCloud at soundcloud.com slash hockey p.do The podcast.