The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 353: Quarantine Rewatch, World Cup of Hockey 2016

Episode Date: April 24, 2020

Pete Blackburn helps us walk down memory lane to remember Team North America’s run during the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, their epic clash versus Team Sweden, and how they not only won over our hearts, but helped usher in a new era of hockey. The categories we cover include:3:00 Why we’re doing this game11:00 What aged the best21:00 What aged the worst33:00 Most rewatchable moments39:00 Biggest heat check performance and ‘that guy’49:00 Most unanswerable questions54:30 Apex mountain58:30 Who won the gameStay safe, get comfortable at home, kick back with a beverage of your choice, and watch along with us here. You can also go back into the archives of the show and catch up on the previous Quarantine Rewatchables we’ve already done: Penguins vs. Red Wings 2009 Bruins vs. Maple Leafs 2013 Canucks vs. Blackhawks 2011 Flyers vs. Penguins 2012 Capitals vs. Canadiens 2010 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.

Are you ready for the most ridiculous internet sports show you have ever seen? Welcome to React, home of the most outrageous and hilarious videos the web has to offer. So join me, Rocky Theos, and my co-host, Raiders Pro Bowl defensive end, Max Crosby, as we invite your favorite athletes, celebrities, influencers, entertainers in for an episode of games, laughs, and of course the funniest reactions to the wildest web clips out there. Catch React on YouTube, and that is React. R-E-A-X-X. Don't miss it. This podcast episode is brought to you by Coors Light.

These days, everything is go, go, go. It's non-stop hustle all the time. Work, friends, family. Expect you to be on 24-7? Well, sometimes you just need to reach for a Coors Light because it's made to chill. Coors Light is cold-loggered, cold-filtered, and cold-packaged. It's as crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies.

It is literally made to chill. Coors Light is the one I choose when I need to unwind. So when you want to hit reset, reach for the beer that's made to chill. Get Coors Light and the new look delivered straight to your door with Drisley or Instacart. Celebrate responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden Colorado. Pressing to the mean since 2015. It's the HockeyPedioCast.

With your host, Dimitri... Welcome to the HockeyPedioCast. My name is Dimitra Philopovich. And joining me is my good buddy Pete Blackbird. Pete. I feel like we've been friends on the internet for what feels like a lifetime now, but this is somehow the first time I'm having you on the show. And I think the first time you and I've ever really collaborated or any content.

So it feels good. What's going on, man? It's good. I was actually thinking about it last night and like how we're sort of on the same wave. Like we have the same like a sense of humor and we've been friends like you mentioned. This is the first time we've actually spoken. It is. Yeah.

We never met at any of these games or any of these events. So yeah, we've been kind of circling each other on the internet for a while. and we're finally making something to happen. This is good. We're going to do the 2016 World Cup of hockey, Team North America versus Sweden. It's funny because it's one of those games where in the grand scheme of things, it was a round-robin game and Team North America who wins this game doesn't even make it into the semifinals. So I guess it's not like an important game in the history of hockey, but kind of the undertones and sort of the people involved in what it meant for sort of

foreshadowing where hockey was headed in the next four years. It is a really important game, in my opinion. Yeah, same. And, you know, when they think of, at least when I think of the 2016 World Cup, I think of TNA. And when you think of TNA, this is probably the game that you think of. So, I mean, it's a non-important game in the scheme of the tournament, I guess. But just in the grand scheme of the World Cup and what it was able to produce in terms of storylines, this is the most important game, I would say. Yeah, the thing that bug me was, I remember it as TNA. too, but then we watched the sports night broadcast, and their Kiron thing had it as NAT instead of TNA. I wonder if they couldn't get the branding or something from TNA. So it's good, yeah, you and I, we don't have to.

We're not going to record the video for this show, but I'm wearing a Team Canada shirt. I know you're a proud Team USA guy, so we don't have to bicker about that because we can kind of combine our allegiances, just like Team North America did, and get the best of Canada and the best of U.S., young guns. and it'll be exciting.

Before we get into it, I just wanted to remind everyone, hope everyone's staying safe, watch some of these classics with us. We've already got five of these PDOCES rewatchables in the archives. Please take some time to go leave a rating and review as well. It's really appreciated. So let's get into the categories and the legacy of this game, and I think we kind of already touched on a bit, but why did we pick this one?

Because when I suggested you and I should go to rewatchable, you were excited about it, and then when I suggested this game, you were on board right away. when I suggested this game and what were your first thoughts remembering it where you were at why this was an important one to you? I don't remember exactly

where I was at watching this game but I do remember just like the excitement surrounding this team in the tournament and just how exciting it was and how chaotic it was and I sort of

I know that this team is a lot better than like the world juniors and stuff but like one of the biggest reasons why I loved this team is a big reason why I love the world juniors because it's a lot of imperfect but a super exciting fast-paced hockey where things kind of get opened up a little bit and it's like high event hockey so like it's been a while since I've revisited TNA so when you mentioned this as a game to watch I was like hell yeah especially now where I'm kind of thirsty for hockey and I was telling you I'm not a big like re-watching.

sports kind of guy because a lot of it is like the unknown and sort of like the randomness to it so if I remember how a game goes pretty pretty unlikely to watch it obviously I remembered how this game ended but a lot of it before that was was unknown and watching it again was like watching it for the first time so I was very very very very happy that I was able to rewatch this yeah yeah certainly I think not knowing how it's going to end especially with important playoff games and stuff like that, that's why we tune in kind of the drama of it. I think just the storytelling of this game was so perfect where, you know, if you talk about how like a style makes a fight, it was such a perfect comparison of like this like veteran,

scrappy Swedish team that had two years prior and Sochi made it all the way to the gold medal game. And it was pretty much the entirety of that team was brought back for this tournament. And then on the other side, you've got this like rag tag group of young guys that were just put together from two different countries. We hadn't even seen Austin Matthews play yet in the NHL. Connor McDavid, I think, only had that 45 games or so in his regular season. So it was a lot of unknowns, and you wouldn't know how these guys would mesh what it would look like.

And I remember when this tournament was announced and you had Team North America, Team Europe, I thought it was like kind of gimmicky. And I was like, I don't know how much the players are really going to care. It's right before the regular season. So I don't think anyone's going to be going full speed and trying to get injured out there. I think it's going to be kind of like a preseason exhibition. But as soon as these guys, game started, I think, especially with this team North America group, like they were just so young

and fast and happy to be out there that they almost couldn't play at anything other than max speed. And you saw that in the first couple minutes of this game where they just come out and the Swedish team just like takes a hell of a haymaker and they're almost stunned to see what this team's doing to them. Teddy Swedes are now the lockdown kings of the hockey world. They seem content to play every day with a one-to-nothing lead or challenge you to try and beat them. Team North America should test the wall. of the Swedish fortress today with speed and skill and spades,

but can they be patient, practice enough patience, not to fall into the Swedish trap? Yeah, and I remember a big part of, like, the story lines surrounding TNA was, like, a lot of players were upset. They were upset that TNA existed because they weren't able to play for their countries. And so, like, I think that there was a lot of discussion

about how, whether it was good for the turn. or not. But I mean, you watch the first 90 seconds of this game and tell me that you're not in love with TNA. I mean, come on. They come out of the gate. They score in the first 30 seconds. I mean, they start the game with McDavid, Matthews, and Mark Schifley.

And obviously, like, we have the benefit of hindsight. But, like, unbelievable. What a line to start that game with. Are you kidding me? Yeah, you just got three, not even number one centers, but like maybe top 10 centers in the entire league, just playing on the same line. And yeah, one of the sneak ahead, one of the, what age the best for me was just like this team's center depth where you have those three guys. There's too many centers, so they just play them on the wing.

You've got McKinnon playing on Newton Hopkins's wing. You've got Eichel as your third line center and Jean Cachirier as your fourth line center. It's kind of comical in hindsight. But that's where they were at. And I don't know. Yeah. The first couple minutes of this are great to me. And I think where I was at was, I remember I was like I said, I was kind of skeptical about how fun this tournament would be.

So I remember this game was like a maddenay game for whatever reason they were playing it at like noon Pacific time. And so I was out and about doing a couple errands. And then I just turned on Twitter and everyone was talking about it. And I was like, okay, I need to go home quickly and watch this because it sounds like complete mayhem. And it lived up to that once I tuned in. But it also feels like this was like gifts were already prevalent. But I remember like this game, it just felt like everyone was gifting the crap out of it. And it just like every single highlight was documented.

and it felt like beyond the players themselves, we were at this tipping point for where like hockey coverage was headed as well in terms of this modern 2020 approach we have. Yeah, for sure. And just being like the gift guy at the time for hockey Twitter, I swear the McKinnon, not to skip so far ahead, but like the McKinnon overtime goal was like one of the most aesthetically pleasing, satisfying gifts that I've ever made in my life.

Just like pulling the drag. back just missing the poke check from Lungquist. Like that slow motion replay was born for Twitter. And like it definitely popped off. I remember that when I shared on Twitter. But like, yeah, I mean, this was a really great team for the sake of being a hockey gift guy for sure. I recommend everyone goes if you want to get more into sort of the where we're at in

this time. Craig Custin did a great old history on the athletic. in 2018, I believe. And it was interesting seeing, you know, we talk about how this game was kind of symbolic of like this young next generation of players that were going to come and take over the league in Matthews, McDavid, McKinnon, Eichol, so on and so forth. But it was interesting seeing like all the older coaches and executives that had helped put this team together, talk to Craig in that oral history.

Like you've got Dave Tippett, who I think is generally considered as this kind of old-fashioned defense first coach talking about how like this team. was just so fast and so dynamic that they couldn't do anything other than just get out of the way and let them play that way. And I think maybe like if he had his choice, it was a bit too risque for him, but he just acknowledged that this was the only way they really could play. And so it really did kind of help. I think seeing the success, it was, you don't want to draw a huge like takeaways from three games, but I think seeing just how crazy all these guys were together, it did kind of help usher in this new wave of like teams embracing that you can win with speed

and skill as opposed to the way that hockey had been played because it was still at that tipping point. Like now in 2020, everyone is pretty much playing that way. But back then, there was still this kind of grinded out mentality in a lot of teams. Yeah. And I mean, you imagine telling like Connor McDavid that he can't just want to opening face off and split the defense right down the middle? And like I just can't imagine even if you are a defensive-minded coach telling that group of guys to like rein it in, pull it back, you know, work slow.

be methodical, be surgical. It's just like not the way that it would have worked. And I mean, and beating a team like Sweden too, I think is, I mean, huge. Like you mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, I'd be like that team was respected. That team sort of had that methodical approach. And, you know, this team proved that you can go right at their throats and, you know, play fast, play loose, open up the game a little bit and win it that way.

Obviously, it wasn't a perfect game. and they allowed, you know, Sweden to climb back in. But, I mean, you prove that you can, you can do that in a, in like a running gun sort of way. All right. What age the, what age the best for you? I've got a couple things here. Is there anything that sticks out to you on this rewatch where you were just kind of blown away by, by where we were at back then and sort of how it's aged over time with the benefit of hindsight?

I would say, I mean, I would say three on three overtime. I mean, that was relatively new at the time. I remember being pretty excited about it. And I don't know. Was this the first season that they instituted three-on-three? We had had it in 2015-16. So we had like one season of it. And it was still this like ball of energy where coaches hadn't had the full summer yet to kind of sink their claws into it and slow it down.

So I remember that first season. It was like pure Mayhem. The teams weren't even doing the thing where you kind of pass it back out and change. Like they were just going close to the head at a single shift. Yeah. So that was that that is age well for sure. I still love three-on-three overtime. I want more of it whenever I can get it.

So I would say that age pretty well. I mean, a lot of the guys on TNA roster obviously are great and I've only gotten better since this tournament. So those are the two that have stuck out. I'm very excited to share what hasn't aged well, but I'll let you go first. Yeah, the 303 overtime, on the opening face off of it, you've got the City and Twins and Eric Carlson versus I think it was like McKinnon and Goodrow and Morgan Riley or something and it was just like it was an insane combination of talent

and we also never because we don't play the playoffs with three on three overtime we never really have this kind of like for a regular season game you get the point already and then if you lose in overtime it's whatever you're not really it's not a huge deal in this case like it was such an important outcome that we'd never really seen this combination of players

on the ice together with so much free space but also the fact that the goal actually mattered. Exactly. So I think the significance of it was huge. What I have that age the best was just the buzz in the crowd. Like I think it's maybe because it's been almost two months now since we've watched the hockey game. But there was a certain energy in the air.

And it led to my kind of most unanswerable question of how has the NHL not tried to replicate this since? I understand that with the CBA uncertainty and then with, you know, the sponsorships and the money and making sure everyone's getting a fair cut and the NHLPA being worried about insurance and players getting injured and on the company diamond and so on and so forth. I completely get all of the logistics, but this was such a smash success and maybe it was kind of lightning in a bottle,

but I do think that there was a formula here clearly where, especially putting this young team together that added all these extra storylines. So for me, it was the energy and just sort of the novelty of this, how fun it was to rewatch it, the nostalgia. And it made me think of like, you know, there was a ton of Swedish fans there. They were all decked out in Swedish gear. And then there was obviously it being in Toronto, a lot of North America fans made me wonder, like, what's an empty playoff game, empty arena playoff game going to look like in comparison.

It is because after every single big goal or big played, it reminds you of like how important that sort of atmosphere is to the whole viewing experience. So I'm sure we'll get used to it. And it's going to be a necessity. But it really kind of hammered that point home to me. We're just watching this. There was a, there was a moment early in the first period. where I think it was like in the first 90 seconds or so where they showed a crowd shot.

And I like, I noticed this girl in the crowd. And it's almost like you could tell in that moment in that crowd shot that like she's realizing just how good this team is. Like her face was like, I think she like milded the words like holy crap or something. And they caught it on the broadcast cam. And I was like,

that's awesome. That's amazing. Like you literally captured this moment for posterity. This girl realizing like, wow, this team. is so much fun and that she's going to get to enjoy like an incredible game here. So like that was really, really cool for me. Yeah, they were this kind of like hipster bandwagon team.

I think Nathan McKinnon age the best because this was still at a time where, you know, he came in with a pedigree. He was the first overall pick. He had an awesome 18 year old season in NHL. But for three or four years there, he couldn't stay healthy full time. He was playing on these kind of crappy teams. Team was trash. Yeah.

He and Matt Dushain, who's the leader of this. Like, and it. this point, I don't want to say that this experience changed stuff for him because that 2016 season for him still wasn't good and the avalanche were historically bad. But you hear all these stories about how young players, especially like an NBA where like all these guys who go play with Team USA with like LeBron and Wade and so on and so forth, they like get together and they learn all these new training techniques and they see from some of the veterans how they're preparing for stuff. And it adds a whole new dimension to their game or maybe they pick up a new move or a new

skill. And for McKinnon, it always felt like on these international events, he'd like go represent Canada and the world championships after the avalanche would get eliminated. And he'd kill it playing with great players. And you'd just be like, oh, man, if we can just channel international event Nathan McKinnon into a full NHL season, it'll be great. And then shortly after this, he just explodes in the past three years. He's become a perennial heart favorite and one of the two or three best players in the world. So this was still a time where we were unsure what we were going to get from Nathan McKinnon, and he quickly answered that he was going to be able to channel this energy and do it over the long haul. Yeah, that's exactly what I have for my biggest,

like my biggest growth player. You know, it's, I remember at the time, knowing that he was good, obviously he was a top pick and, you know, he was a big part of the avalanche's future, but I didn't realize that he had the ability to like turn it on as much as he did. And you kind of see that in this game. He's dominant. at points and obviously you get the biggest highlight and it's an incredible display of skill. But yeah, I mean, this was a real turning point moment for me and how I viewed Nathan McKinnon. And also, like you mentioned the fact that like they can learn new things from these other great players. But I also think that there's an element of getting a taste of success with a team that is very, very talented and competitive.

Like obviously the avalanche were terrible at the time. And I think that that can be really discouraging And that can have an effect on a player No matter how good he is and how skilled he is Like if you don't enjoy coming to the arena every day You're not going to be playing to the best of your abilities Especially if you don't have the talent around you Like I remember being at the All Star game

In the middle of The middle of that season where the Avalence were historically bad And like I was in Nathan McKinnon scrum And he wasn't even having fun at the All Star game He was like, you could tell that, like, he was being asked questions about it. He was dreading talking about Colorado. He was dreading talking about his season and just like how much fun he wasn't having. So I think that that can be, that can have an effect on guys no matter how talented they are.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy seeing how he explored. Like, we knew he had it in him, but he goes from 14, 21, and 16 goals or his three previous seasons to 39, 41, and then 35 in the shortened season. And so, yeah, quite the step up room. My last, what age the best, was I already kind of hinted at this idea of how styles make a fight, but just watching this. And in the oral history, team Sweden talks about how, like,

they just took this punch right out of the gate. And you can watch on tape how fast McDavid is, but then you actually play against them. And it's like this entirely different phenomenon. And I think for them, you can kind of see it on their faces after the first minute and a half when they're already down and they've given up another penalty shot to Goodrow. and they're just like, how the hell are we going to do this? But then the fact that it speaks to, I know people are going to roll their eyes, but kind of that championship mentality or them having been through it before,

but this like team Sweden team clearly kind of recalibrates this speed, and then eventually gets Team North America to play at the tempo they want them to play at. And I love that kind of push and pull of like teams trying to dictate whose terms the game's going to be played on. Did this game, did this tournament, did they allow fighting? Because I know international rules kind of like different. differ. But this is like an NHL sanction tournament. There was no

fight obviously, but like with how fast North America came out of the gate and then obviously like you mentioned Sweden tried to get them to adjust and play to their style and their speed and getting them on the penalty kill was huge for Sweden

and they were able to get them on the penalty kill a few times in the first period and really sort of recalibrate the game and recalibrate the speed. I wonder had fighting been allowed or even if it was allowed that there's an argument I know people love

to say that like fighting has no place in the game blah blah blah but like that's sort of a moment where you would like to see a fight or something like that to slow things down and just sort of grind this team into the into the ground so yeah I mean like that's something that I would now I'm

interested to know if that was that was legal yeah there was this it reminded me of like watching teams play the chiefs in the last NFL postseason where like they could score so quickly that the other team had to like perfectly and methodically do so many things just to do what they could do in one quick play. And so like for Sweden, it was like they were like grinding them so hard and you'd get the cities out there and they were still on their last legs at this point, but they were still

dominant cycling the puck and you do all this stuff. And then all of a sudden Seth Jones would get the puck and do an outlet pass and you just have a breakaway like within a blink of an eye for team North America and you'd be like, this is just two entirely different animals. But the fact that it was so close spoke to the brilliance. of sports and hockey that you can win in multiple different ways, right? You don't necessarily have to play just one way. So I loved watching that.

What age the worst for you? Let's get into that category. The goaltending situation, age the worst for sure. During the broadcast, they were talking about how they were surprised that Matt Murray didn't get the starting role for that team. And you look at the goaltending depth and they got John Gibson, who's one of the best goaltenders in the league. I don't care.

What is stats say? I mean, obviously he plays on a terrible duck team that doesn't give a lot of help, but he's one of the best goaltenders in the league. Connor Hellbuck is having an amazing season, and I think a huge step forward for him this year. He's been probably the best goaltender in the league this season. And then you got Matt Murray, who's been totally up and down. But, you know, at the time, he was coming off a huge run with the Penguins and was their goaltender for Stanley Cup.

And so, like, stock was so high on him at the time. And they were talking about how they were super surprised that he wasn't the starting goalie for that team and watching back on it. I was like, wow, okay, okay. That hasn't aged super well, because there was at one point where team North America was up 11-1, 11-1 in shots, and I think they were up 2-0 on the scoreboard, and John Gibson basically hadn't had to do anything. And then he gave up a really bad goal to Forsberg. And he looked, he definitely looked shaky out there. Like as the game went along, he tightened it up. He made a bunch of key saves down the stretch. And in overtime, he like stopped Daniel City on a breakaway.

and so he certainly kind of right of the ship. But at the start there, it was very bumpy waters. And you had Jim Houston and Craig Simpson just going off about Matt Murray, had like a finger injury or something. And they were like, how different would this be if Matt Murray was in there? And they were basically like, you just put any shot on net against John Gibson because he can't stop anything right now. And they were basing it off of like 30 games of Matt Murray being really good,

obviously and winning a Stanley Cup. But we'd know. And at the time, like John Gibson had been great. but he's basically just been low-key, like one of the best goalies in the league ever since, and they were acting as if he was like this ultimate weak link that was going to do them in. So I think that's a good one. What age is the worst for me? Here's a great one, and you have a personal attachment to this.

Louis Erickson. Yeah. So I'm going to give you a walk down memory lane here. So Sweden's top line in this tournament is the Cittians with Louis Erickson. And I'll keep in mind that this summer, Louis Erickson's coming off a 30-goal season for the Brewing. the Canucks give him a $36 million deal. And the idea was, we're going to bring him in and we're going to play him with the Siddines and we're going to create this magic.

And so in this tournament, team Sweden's trying to make this happen and everyone's, and they actually look pretty good in this game. And everyone's thinking, like, man, Louis Eriksson and the Siddings, they're going to be magic together for the next six years. And it has not aged particularly well, I'd say. Like, he was 31 at this time. They gave him a six-year deal. He scored 37 goals since then.

So he's been paid $36 million to score 37 goals in four years, 89 points. So I'd say what age the worst, just top line Louis Erickson playing with the city. I think this was still the time where everyone was saying that Erickson was like the most underrated player in the league. And the wheels came off of that entire sort of trajectory pretty quickly. Yeah, for sure. And you don't have to tell me. As a Bruins fan, I've kept close tabs on Louis Erickson.

You know, the debate of who the Bruins should keep that offseason. between or who the Bruins should take that offseason between David Backus and Louis Erickson. I mean, looking back on it. Neither? It's a real tough choice. Yeah. Yeah. Or, I mean, you could also have Andrew Ladd, Kyle Okopozo.

I mean, it was a great, great summer. Philip Forsberg is playing with Nicholas Baxter, and they're great in this game. They're probably Sweden's, like, best pairing. And it's just like, man, they could have done magical things together on the capitals for a long time. So that kind of age bad for me because I was just sad to see that. Austin Matthews pretty mustache. Oh, yeah. The mustache is aged the worst.

He looks like a normal guy in this game. I don't know. I like the mustache. It gives him character. I don't know if this is necessarily like aging the worst, but I totally forgot that Brandon Sodd was on this team, mainly because Brandon Sodd had been around for a while. He was even on the blue jackets at this point already.

So like I totally. forget how young Brandon Sott is sometimes. Yeah, he was coming off a 30 goal year for them. I think it was his best offensive season. Yeah, their fourth line was Brandon Sod, Sean Couturey and J.T. Miller. And it's like, especially now you see J.T. Miller what he's done with the Canucks this year and Sean Caccheree, obviously. And they clearly had more offensive growth, but it's also one of those lines where they just win every single puck battle. So, yeah. Another thing that aged really poorly, during the broadcast they talked about about how much

the Panthers love Vincent Trocheck and how well that was going for Florida so that clearly hasn't panned out so well for the Panthers. Yes, yeah. So you own Team North America merch, right?

I sure do, yeah. Is it the dark jersey? No, it's the white one. It's the way you're wearing this game. Yep. I understand why. Here it is. Yeah, you're showing it to me right now.

Beautiful. But it's not a great jersey. I disagree. I like it a lot. I do like the black ones better. But I think that there was like a lot of criticism surrounding those jerseys and those uniforms. heading into this tournament.

But I think that they were perfect for like encapsulating what this team was. It was new. It was different. It was like sort of like cutting edge. And it grows on you. So I think that it was perfect for this team. I mean, it kind of looks like the final product of a graphic is graphic design is my passion meme. It's like, I don't know who put this together.

The letters are wonky. I'm looking at it right now. The gold gray patches on this on the shoulders. It has like the Roman numeral 23 on the crest, which is pretty lame. But I mean, I like it. They sort of look like practice jerseys. I won't lie. They look like practice jerseys.

The white ones do, at least. But I think that they're perfect for this team. I mean, the kits the Swedes are wearing in this game are so beautiful. They're like that crisp yellow and blue. I disagree. I love the colors. And I love the Sweden's logo. the Trace Kronos or whatever it is.

It's one of the best in international hockey for sure, but this iteration is pretty bad. Go and look at their socks. Look at their socks. Their socks drove me crazy during this game. It looks like that team is wearing yellow calf socks because it just goes up barely above the skate and it looks like they're wearing calf socks.

It's terrible. Advantage team TNA in this in this. I mean, I'm a bit biased as the jersey is hanging behind you at this time. But yeah, all right. I agree to disagree on that one. I think no shot counter on the broadcast. Like occasionally they flash what, like who has what. But I remember I was working for SportsNet at this time,

and I would very aggressively and actively push for them to get the shot counter on the broadcast. Finally, it happened in the 2018 playoffs. And now if you watch a game on Sportsnet, they have it full time. Every broadcast should have the shot counter. It drove me insane watching this game. not knowing where it was at. I understand. It doesn't necessarily tell you that much,

but it's just like a good thing to have in the back of your mind and kind of helps remind you of where the game is at in terms of a who's dominating perspective. So that aged the worst for me because I don't want to watch a single broadcast without it. Okay. Yeah. I thought that the broadcast didn't age too poorly.

Like you can watch this game and feel like you're watching it on TV basically like right now. So aside from that, I thought that the broadcast was age pretty well. Team TNA is defense Like their actual defenseman Ryan Murray There's a lot of Ryan Murray

Shane Gostis Bear This was like I mean we're going to get into Apex Mountain later This was like peak everyone loving Shane Gostis Bear Jacob Truba Even Morgan Riley I get it

Like they went with You know guys who had an offensive touch to them Because it was just the identity of the team And they wanted to get the puck to them and there's Seth Jones and Colton Preco and they've obviously aged very well, but it's crazy to me to think that this was the best

they could have had, but maybe it is, it also speaks to like now in 2020, teams are so much more willing to get young defensemen the lineup right away. We've had this movement of like Quinn Hughes and Kail McCarr and whatnot, whereas in 2016, I think it was still lagging a bit behind for defensemen. For sure, and

I think like when you institute a team an under 23 team like this, you're your biggest weakness is probably going to be defensemen because they take the longest to develop at the NHL level or at least they did at this time and like you mentioned there was sort of a hesitancy to stick those young guys in the lineup and just let them run free

and the game has since transitioned to that being acceptable and that sort of being profitable for these teams so you know if you do this team right now you're going to have much better and more established defensemen. But I think that speaks to how the NHL has aged more than this team. Right. Yep, I think that's fair.

Well, I think at this time, like, it was still close enough to Ryan Murray going second overall, that I think there was still this hope that he would turn into that defenseman that we were hoping he to be. But my last, what age the worst, was Johnny Goodrow. It was great in this game. He's arguably Team Northern Carolina's best player. He comes in, but his breakaways. So he comes in on the first penalty shot, and he comes in slowly,

and he shoots, and the commentators are ripping him for not kind of throwing a fastball at Henrik Lunquist. And then he has a breakaway later on that he scores on this beautiful move where he comes in at flying at a million miles per hour. And the reason I say it aged the worst is because this season,

I watched him miss a million breakaways, trying to do the same sort of like Deak five-hole move and for whatever reason he never changed it up and it's like teams weren't scouting him and knowing that he wanted to do it and it just aged the worst for me because i watched this and i'm like he's throwing so many different looks on breakaways at lunkwist and in 2020 he was just doing the same old move that wasn't working so i think he aged the worst just from from that uh sort of creativity perspective okay fair enough i also i mean i hate i hate the slow uh slow penalty shot and shoot out breakaways like i i know you can't like put a rule in or whatever to say that you have to go a

certain speed, but seeing how much different Lundquist approached the real-time breakaway versus the penalty shot, like, you give the goaltender so much time to sort of like read you. And for a player like Johnny Godreau, who's going in a million miles an hour in the game speed breakaway and still has the hands and the creativity to pull it off, like, why wouldn't you always use that to your advantage? Well, especially against Lundquist, who's like, claim to fame beyond being a great goalie is that he plays the deepest of any goal in the league. And it's like,

you're not going to like, weight him out and make him make a mistake. Like, he's going to be there. So I think you need to like throw your fastball at him. So I agree with that. Do you have any other what age the worst or do you want to get into the turning point? We can go to the turning point. So where, what's the turning point for you here? Because obviously I think this game, which like any great game has a lot of sort of peaks and valleys. It's not necessarily like one neat. The game entirely flips. But is there any particular point where like one team is just dominating and then all of a sudden the game script flip three? Yeah. Well, I mean the first the first like 10 minutes, you know, if I had to pick a moment where, you know, I had to tune in, it's either going to be

right off the jump and I'm going to watch like the first 10 minutes of this game because TNA comes out flying and it's an incredible start. And then you, you sort of watch how Sweden has to adjust and has to like sort of counter and bounce back and that's really interesting to me and then you know after they do that it slows down a little bit and they're able to climb back in the game pretty slowly

but you know other than that I'm obviously going to start at the overtime because it's an incredible five minutes of three on three and you know that's obviously where you find the winner and so it's either going to be the very start or the very end for me for sure

yeah I mean the start is just absolutely insane. Team North America just blitzes them like crazy. Literally the first shift of the game McDavid comes in and on a breakaway. He gets hooked. It's a delayed penalty. Austin Matthews makes this crazy like dangle off of his knees. On his knees, yeah.

Gets the puck to Riley, I believe, and then he puts in the rebound. Then they get another power play. Goodroll misses a penalty shot. They score again. I think like the turning point for me was it was two nothing. And then there's this play where Ryan Murray of all people

was like kind of near the net and he has a basically like wide open tap in and lung was makes this crazy like diving save to keep it at two nothing and i feel like that kind of kept sweden in it because i think with a worst goalie like this game could have really gotten out of hand north america was playing that well like it easily could have been four five six nothing at some point but lunk was was playing well enough for sweden to kind of get their legs and get their bearings and eventually they get a couple power plays they get mac david out of the game because all of a sudden team North America is playing short-handed for like six minutes in the first. And yeah, I think at one point, they had this stat where McDavid had seven total shifts in the

first period, and he had three breakaways. So pretty crazy performance from him. But it did feel like as the game went along, I don't know how much of it was him just sort of not being able to do it on every single shift and how much of it was Sweden changing their tactics. But I do believe, like, because they started the game on the opening draw with the Cidines against him, which was an obvious mistake because they're certainly not a fleet of foot enough to keep up with them. But then as the game went along, they had that like Haglin, Haglin Silverberg Kruger, I think,

line out there against him. And they sort of really shattered him well. So that was a nice adjustment by the Swedes. I think the most rewatchable moment for me, the overtime is absolutely insane. I kind of forgot until I'd rewatch this, how many chances there were leading up to the McKinnon goal. Like you've got... Yeah, same here. I was. I was waiting for it too because I think they started the overtime with McKinnon on the ice. And I was like, wait, did they get it immediately? And I remember that it was like in the final minute, basically, of that overtime period. That is when the goal actually happened.

Well, so Daniel Cedin has two great tries. He has this like two on one where Gibson's totally out of place and he just kind of fans on the puck and misses it. And then he has a breakaway. But then McKinnon has a great chance. Goodroll has a great chance. and Lundquist just makes these crazy sort of like shoulder saves or he just fights it. McDavid. McDavid had probably the best chance.

Right at the side of the net too, yeah. Right on the doorstep. And Lundquist makes an incredible pad save. Like it was an unbelievable save. Yeah, there were so many chances in that overtime. But with McKinnon, I don't know what the exact count was, but he, I think he was out there for like the entire overtime. Yeah.

Because like, McGavin had that one shift, but. I think he was like in his. he had over like almost a full minute or a minute and a half of ice time before that his game winning goal. And I remember like thinking like it's probably lucky that he had been out there for so long because you can kind of see him sort of dog it on the way back up the ice. And they turn the puck over and Goodrow was able to get it to him because he's just like right in front of the net still because he's not hustling it. hustling back and it ends up working out for McKinn in there. And you can kind of see him like, he's like, oh, shoot, I like have the buck on my stick in front and nobody's here. And he sort of like turns it on and makes the move.

Yeah. So I think like he had put a serious amount of time into that shift before scoring. There's a breakaway pass to center. Daniel Sedin alone, great saved by Gibson. Americans with a minute to go. Nathan McKinnon. Johnny Goodrow, great move, shoots. One fist, popped that off, and here they come again.

At center, Herrickson, he was all alone. McKinnon's all alone. He shoots, he scores. Well, I think like a full minute prior, I think it was at the start of that shift. He gets the puck, and he has a full head of steam, and I think against pretty much any other normal human being in the world, he goes out wide and he gets a breakaway. But unfortunately, the other player defending him is Eric Carlson. And it's funny because Carlson's been dog.

so much throughout his career about not being able to defend. But he basically like decides, yeah. He's like, I'm going to meet you at this point you're trying to go to. And he just basically erases him and just takes the puck from him. And it was crazy because like both of the guys are kind of at the peak of their physical powers. And they just collide. And Carlson just takes the puck from him. And you're like, oh my God.

And obviously McKinnon scores a minute later. But yeah, it was crazy just seeing two guys going at it like that. And Carlson sort of coming out on top in that one little instance. Yeah, I did, I did notice that too. and I was like, oh, okay, all right, fair enough. All right, so biggest heat check performance. Was there anyone that really just blew you away watching this? Yeah, I mean, it was McKinnon.

Like, that was, like, at the time, too. And today, I mean, it was rewatching it. McKinnon and Johnny Goodrow was probably the two biggest, like, wild performances. But, I mean, at the time, like I said, McKinnon was sort of like elevated himself to me in the way that I perceive him. And it wasn't just the game winning goal, but obviously that helps.

Like the way that he played this entire game on both ends of the ice, basically in all three zones. Like he's a guy, obviously his quickness is unbelievable, but how quick he's able to get on the puck and just, you know, create and facilitate with the,

as the puck possessor. Like it was a great performance from him. It really was. And I felt like as the game went along, he got like stronger and better. Because he started off a bit slow. Like, clearly the first. period was all about McDavid and Matthews, but then as the game went along, McKinnon just sort of

started to take over. My biggest he took performance is Henrik Lunkwist. It's not often you say this about a guy who gives up four goals and loses, but he was insane in this game. And I think it was like towards the end, like this was one of the last sort of great Henrik Lunkwist performances that we're going to see. But man, you forget when this guy was at his best, just how dominant he was. The shots were 49 to 38 for Team TNA.

But I'd say of those 49, like 25. five of them were grade A chances. Like he was making some crazy, like, sticking out his pad. I mean, the save you mentioned about on McDavid in the overtime was like, that was just a pure sort of, I've been doing this for my entire life, and this is just a reflex move. Like, he just kicks out his pad out of nowhere and stops it right at the goal line. He was out of his mind.

And really, I think the only reason why this game went to overtime in the first place, because for large stretches, it felt like TNA could have scored so many more goals, but he was just on another level. I thought. Yeah, it was like a perfect way for him to get ready for the season because he, this was like Pete Lundquist playing for teams that didn't give him much defense and just made him do all the work to get him by. So, you know, you, you kind of feel bad for the guy that you can't even get much of a break

while playing for team Sweden that, uh, they can't play defense in front of him. Usually you say like a passing of the torch moment is generally considered like a good thing. but he really passed the torch to John Gibson as like the goalie who gets the least help from his team in this game. He's like, all right, I've done my share. John, you're going to be the guy now who gets absolutely no run support or any help from your team. And it's been kind of sad to see. But biggest that guy, like watching this game, obviously I think this category is tough for this because it's two all-star teams basically. So there's very, and it happened only four years ago. So there's very few names involved that are like, whoa,

I haven't thought about that person a long time because a lot of these guys have been so prevalent to the NHL since. But was there anyone watching this game where you were like, I can't believe this person was involved in this? I guess you were saying Brendan Sodd kind of blew you away that he was on this team. Yeah, but that was more from just like an age. Yeah. Yeah. And I think Ryan Murray is one where it's like you definitely wouldn't throw him into this group thinking back on it. you know we've we've gone over like why he was there and sort of the justification for it but like

it's surprising looking back seeing all this talent and what it's been able to to develop into and then seeing ryan murray there um i do have like a funny ryan murray anecdote with regards to tna one of my buddies like during the course of this tournament fell in love with the team was like this is awesome i'm going to buy some merch he went to go to the to the website and every tna player had sold out. Like people were jumping on the bandwagon like crazy. Every TNA player had sold out except for Ryan Murray. So to like to this day, he has a, he has a Ryan Murray T&A shirt. So that's like the only reason why I ever remember that he's on this team. And then on the Sweden side, I mean, Louis Erickson is a guy. I mean, he's not a guy who I totally forget about because I'm a

Bruins fan. But like, he's a guy looking back on it, you're like, wow, okay, this is the height of Louis Erickson basically. And it's surprising that he is such a, like a key factor for this team. I mean, Sweden had some guys that were hurt. Like, I think Zetterberg was supposed to be on this team, but he got hurt, like, Raquel, a few others. So they kind of had to call up some guys who probably wouldn't have been on the team in an ideal world.

But that's what made this so beautiful where Team North America was clearly the collection of like the next generation of superstars, whereas team Sweden was, and this is what has made them successful in these international tournaments was like a team. Like they had like this like Marcus Kruger on the fourth line and they just had guys like they were like role players and knew what they had to do in limited ice time. The guy for me though was Patrick Bergland. You know, he's on the blues at this time. I think he's coming off or the following season.

He scores a career high on goals. He signs a big contract. Then he gets traded for Ryan O'Reilly. As we know now, he basically walks away from like 12.5 million because of mental health. issues and he wants to like work on other stuff in his life and it sounds like he has because he's back to playing hockey in the Swedish league so i just wanted to to mention that but i'm like i hadn't thought about him in ages and uh he played a pretty big role in this team i mean there was like carl sordaberg this Swedish team was uh was pretty interesting but their blue line was amazing

and that's what made this such a great matchup because team north america was like all forwards whereas teams sweden had like five of the best 12 defensemen in the world of this time on their team like it was a pretty stack group and Soderberg played with uh with Landeskog in in the ceremony and future teammates so uh I don't when did Soderberg go to Colorado so he was probably there at the time you think so okay I mean we can look that up but yeah I was around there and he was there for a couple years before they traded him to a to Arizona last year um are you looking it up this is this this is the best podcast thing when uh when you're looking up where Carl Soderberg was playing in 2015

just curious. I noticed that and I was like, huh, I wonder. So he went to Colorado in 15, 16. So yeah, he'd been there for a year. Nice. Okay. So they had that connection going. Doc and Eddie's commentary corner. So we already mentioned, it was Jim Houston and Craig Simpson on the CBC broadcast. The thing, that Matt Murray, John Gibson thing that they kept going on about bug me, but I thought otherwise it was a good broadcast because they really did a nice job of capturing the vibe of this game. Like, they had that sort of serious playoff intensity that you'd hear them called game four of the Stanley Cup final. But they also, it was kind of like tongue and cheek, kind of wink, wink, like we get that this is fun. And I appreciate that because I think

it's in the wrong hands, it's really easy for them to either sort of be condescending. and make the game not feel relevant or take it like dismissive or like if you had pierre mcguire put mcgoyer out there and just over the top like talking about who carl soderberg played in junior junior a with in sweden you'd be like all right like this is getting out of hand they really struck a nice balance between the two i thought and i really appreciated that yeah i mean if pierre did this game it would have been unbearable because you especially with with tna and like how many young players. Like, he'd be referring to just all their,

their, like, their junior teams and where they'd come from and, like, draft stories and all that. And it would have been absolutely unbearable. I thought that this is the first time that I'd watch the CBC broadcast. But, I mean, I thought that it was great. Like, I thought that, like you mentioned, they perfectly captured, like, what it should have been. And there was never a moment where I was,

other than the Matt Murray thing, where I was so, like, oh, this is, this is, this is like this is tough i thought it was a really good broadcast and every call was sort of aligned with what was happening yeah oh my god if p.mongar was doing this game i think it's like his head would have exploded like just like a robot malfunctioning because of just information overload he would have been talking about mark schifely with the barry colts and the london nights and it just like it would have been an oh-h-l just disaster so i did uh i did uh i did watch one of the intermission things and they talked about uh phil kessel's tweet about being left off of of a team u s a

interview, right? Yeah, yeah, and Derek Stepan said that it would have been disrespectful if he was talking about Team USA. And it's like the panel that they had on the intermission report was like, you know, it was a bad move from Kessel or whatever. And I thought that at that age kind of poorly. I mean, everybody, there's no, I think that everybody kind of agrees that that roster building was tough for Team USA.

And I think that Phil had every right to be, feel disrespected. be bitter about what happened. So that age pretty poorly for me. Yeah, I remember this is a disaster for team me to say that's right. All right, most unanswerable questions. You got any?

I don't know. Like, I guess how would this game have been different if Mad Marie had been in that? Why? We had, why, has this event not been repeated? I thought that was one of mine.

What about this? What would a, U-23 team look like if they had done this in 2020. Or I guess if they were going to do it in 2020. It's interesting because you'd still have a lot of the star forwards. Like McDavid, Matthew, Zichael would still be on it, which is crazy and speaks to how much they've accomplished in such a short period of time in their careers. But you'd also, I think, team North America would probably be, I don't know if they'd be better

than Canada, but what would put that team over the top? and if we did a 2020 version was their defense would be Kail McCar, Quinn Hughes, Thomas Shabbat, Charlie McAvoy, and Zach Werensky, and then whoever you want is a sixth guy. And like, that's such a superior group to the one that they had in this tournament and in this game in particular.

And you'd basically have all the same forwards, if not even better versions of themselves. And you'd add like the Kachucks, Mariner, Barzal. Like, you know, I think... This honestly might be like the favorite. Yeah, yeah. They might be because a lot of the, like,

Team Canada guys are kind of like on their last legs already. So it would be a pretty crazy group, I think. Who would be a net? That's a question. Carter Hart, maybe. I don't know. I'm trying to think if there's anyone else that's kind of a still young enough. That is a good question, though.

Yeah. That might, that might. I mean, I doubt they'd have the, the crop of Hella Buck Gibson and Matt Murray. I was going to say, like, I think that this, that this team was put, in at like the perfect time in terms of like the incoming crop where you had Matthews, you had Eichel, you had McDavid, like these new guys who were like so exciting and so raw. But like I think now honestly might be the perfect time to have this team because you have those guys who have developed into like elite superstars and you still have these young guys

who are very exciting, some of them very raw. But like you, I think there would have been a, a greater mix of like elite talent or elite players now and young guys to bend off of like, I think that this team, the 2016 team was carried by the raw players. Yep. And that wouldn't be the case now. Like, because those players would be still on the team and be exponentially better. So, I mean, that's, I hadn't thought about it, but like, that's a scary thought to have. have this team now. Yeah, I think, yeah, just with the discrepancy and the defensive ability in terms of the players they'd be having. I mean, it'll be the five-man units they could have out there

with like Hughes and McCar and then some of these forwards, it would be pretty, pretty scary. Yeah, I think the goalie would probably be Carter Hart, maybe like McKenzie Blackwood. I don't know. It certainly wouldn't be the caliber of the guys in that, but I'm not sure it would matter. Here's a good one. Is this the biggest game, Austin Matthews is one in front of a Toronto crowd? honestly it might be it might be i was mostly joking um it might be i apologize i think it might be i'm not joking what would have happened if team north america had actually advanced and played canada in the semis it was funny because on the oral history all the guys were obviously like oh like it went a one game elimination anything could happen and i think it was such a confident

group that they certainly would have given canada a fight but you look at the Canada roster at this time and it was just it was comical how good that team was so I'm not sure they would have been able to keep up with them but just because of their speed and how they like threw Sweden for a loop in this game for example I think it would have made for an interesting matchup yeah I think it would have been interesting but I mean if you had to have me pick I'll I'd go Canada there I mean just because you can you can see how Sweden got them to adjust their game and like there were certain stretches where you could tell that TNA had not lost its mojo but like wasn't wasn't clicking in the way that they were at other points in the game

um so it'll like i think that canada with like the right coaching and obviously like their talent and their players um they could have slowed down t and a and made them play off of their game and i mean just being able to hold down that level of talent on team canada is always going to be tough but to ask ask it from guys who are 23 and younger and who are again really raw I think that would have been a tough thing to handle. Yeah, Ryan and Murray defending Cindy Crosby in a cycle would have been a bad look for them. My last unanswerable question was, and I feel like we've been talking about this for years, but Ricard Gromberg, the Swedish coach, at this time, he didn't have the epic beard he has these days,

but it feels like for years we've been like, when is he going to come to the NHL and coach? And he's in the Swiss League right now. I think he's under contract next year as well, but I imagine he's going to continue to be sort of a trend. the NHL coaching candidate, especially considering all the success he's had with the Swedish national team at various tournaments. So I'd like to see that because I think the NHL could certainly use an influx of different thinkers and different nationalities and different individuals. So that'd be nice. But that's about it that I have for unanswerable questions. Let's get to Apex Mountain, which is a tough one for this game because obviously Team TNA is

23 and younger. So it's kind of sad to suggest that players on that team have peaked at this point of their career. But I have won. Maybe the best isn't behind him. But it feels like at this time, Shane Gostis Bear, this was the time when, because keep in mind, he came into the league in that 2015-16 season and he just blew everyone away. Remember, like, his skating with that, like, Tomahawk movie does or whatever.

the three on three overtime. He had 17 goals as a defenseman in just 64 games. Everyone was tweeting the ghost and the bear emojis to say his name. This was like the time when I feel like Shane Goss's bearer love was at an apex. Yeah, I mean, he also had won a union. And like he was like a college hockey superstar. So yeah, I mean, this was for sure. I remember like seeing him today when I was,

watching and be like, oh, okay, I didn't realize that he was on this team. But yeah, I mean, I think that's probably like the best pick for TNA for sure. I mean, other than I guess. Ren and Sond maybe? Yeah, but I think I think Brin Sade like, yeah, maybe at the time like his peak, but I still feel like Brandon Sott is a really, really good player. Yeah, yeah. Not so much as like the holes that we've seen from Gossus Bear.

You know, Ryan Murray is another one, too. I don't, I would necessarily say that he's at, like, the height of his powers, but, like, he might be at the height of, or close to the height of his, like, hype. And in fact, again, you mentioned the fact that he, like, it's a big reason why he's even on the team to begin with. Yes. So, for TNA, I think those are the, the, oh, I guess Matt Murray, too. Oh, yeah. Well, he wins the cup the next year, but he's, like, Flurry kind of carries them against the capitals that year because he was banged up.

So I think certainly like coming off of that 2016 cup, Matt Murray, like his stock was, he was considered like the number one young goalie in the league. Right. And then obviously on a Sweden side, there's Louis, Louis Erickson.

So yeah, I think that like there are a number of guys who kind of were like at it, I guess it's sort of like the same question as like what hasn't aged well. Well, Eric Carlson. So this was the year I forgot, 2015, 16. That was the peak.

because Drew Dowdy wins in Norris, and now was sort of the peak I test versus using numbers, uh, debates and they were raging pretty aggressively at this time. It's still stunning to look back now and see that someone thought that Eric Carlson wasn't the best defense in the league that season. He had 82 points and played 29 minutes a game. Insane.

And then in 2016-17, I think this like two-year window is his peak because in 2016-17, he basically drags just a terrible, uh, or I guess under equipped Senators team to within one goal of a Stanley Cup final appearance. On one leg? Yes. Yeah. So the tier of window, I think, is Carlson's peak.

A lot of their defensemen, like, because this is, Mattias Ecclomb's on this team. And the following season, P.K. Suben comes to Nashville. And they become, like, their top pairing that carries them to the cup final. You've got Strawman, him and headmen were playing as the top pairing for the lightning would made the cup final in 2015. So there's a lot of guys there. Henrik Lunkwist, I think this was his last great year. He kind of falls off after this, but I had this stat for you.

So for this decade, from 2007 to 2016, Henrik Lunkwis plays 670 games if you combine the regular season in the playoffs. And he has plus 326 goals saved above expected. Oh, my God. So it was just an all-time decade. And in this game, he's great. And yeah, I think. I think that this is kind of like his last, last legs of his apex.

Yeah, those are some good ones. All right, who won the game? Who won the game? It's got to McKinnon, right? Yeah, just in terms of like the biggest takeaway. Yeah, I would say it's probably Nathan McKinnon. Yeah, it gets better as the game goes along. He scores the winner.

It felt like he was out there for the entirety of the overtime. The move that you mentioned, the giffable move that he puts on Longquist, there is that. They show like three or four replays, but the last one, the slow motion one. he brings the puck forward Lunkwist reaches out to Poked Cup and then he just pulls it back and goes around him and then it goes like but it's so

it's not quite as beautiful as like a wet jump shot that goes through the net and you hear the net make that noise in basketball but like how the puck bounces off of the top of the net and comes out right away is so sad yeah I mean like the move itself is

unbelievable but the shot too I think I forgot how good the shot was like because I mean it didn't need to be because he had had him beaten but like he just roofs it and it's just it's like the perfect hockey goal for me just in terms of like how sexy it is like it is so buttery it is so sexy and for me that was like oh my god nathan mckinan has like all world skill yeah he sort of put that speed and skill into one package and it was kind of foreshadowing of what you become on kre kussons's oral history that i've mentioned he has this quote he says after the

game. I saw Lundquist drug testing after the game, which I thought was fun. I would have drug tested him too after this performance. That's how good he was. He was pit. McKinnon says he was pissed. He poke checked. Lunkin said, I should have been more patient. Bickinan's response to that was okay. I mean, be more patient. Do you want to let a guy like Nathan Bikin just dangle on you and be more patient for that? I thought that going for the poke check, he was so close to getting it. He was. He was so close to getting it.

And McKinnon just has like all world hands and was able to just pull it out of reach. Like I think the poke check, I have no issue with Lunk was trying to go for it there. I think the scary thing is McKinnon also does add this quote where he actually walks you through his thought process at the time. And like part of it is certainly like a reactionary. You see a stick coming towards you so you pull it back. But like it does seem like he legitimately. thought through his head what he needed to do to make that happen and that sort of processing speed is is I guess why they're superstars and where not for even even for Nathan McKinnon to be

able to talk about that moment and be able to like have a thought process is insane because for me I would 100% black out in that moment and like there's not a single thing that I would remember thinking at that time like it's just crumple and you just go down to the ice but even if I did something cool. Like, the highlight of my athletic career is I was playing outfield in high school and like a ball had gone over my head and just like reactionary, I stuck out my hand and I caught it with my bare hand running backwards towards the warning track. And like, I couldn't even begin to tell you what the hell I was thinking in that moment. It was a pure reactionary thing. And like, I couldn't walk you through that at all.

So, like, for somebody to be able to, like, be able to process that in the moment and, like, have reactionary split-second reaction time is crazy, like, consciously. Yeah. Well, if this quarantine goes on any longer, maybe we might have to do a full rewatchable on you making that catch. I swear to God, it's the biggest regret in my life that that wasn't on tape because I would have for sure made, like, SportsCenter Top 10. It was an unbelievable play, but I feel a little bit dirty.

making it because I'm not nearly talented to make that play. It was just total, total reaction. Yeah. Yeah. Whereas this sounds like Nathan McKinnon intended to actually do this. Right. Which is scary. Yeah.

And he has since proven that he is, uh, he's very capable. Yes. Um, all right, Pete, this was a boss, man. I'm glad we got to do this. Any, uh, any sort of closing thoughts or takeaways from this game? I think we kind of covered it from most angles. Yeah. I know.

I had a lot of fun. It was great to be able to watch hockey and to be able to talk about it. it. So I appreciate you bringing this to my table and allowing me to reenter the hockey zone and be able to talk about it in a fun manner. Yeah. Well, this is a blast, man. I'm glad we got to do this. I'm glad we finally got you on the show. I'm glad we got to do something together. And it only took a global pandemic to bring us together. Seriously. You must have really been desperate. Yeah. It was a grasp of at straws. Do you want to plug some stuff? Where can people find you? What are you

working on these days? Yeah, I'm doing a daily newsletter for CBS Sports. That's been a ton of fun. It's basically like the crux of my job now. So if you want to subscribe to it, it's the CBS Sports HQ newsletter every morning. Just bring you the sports news that you need to know. I'll inject some humor into it. We have a mailbag every week.

It's a whole lot of fun. So that's basically what I've been doing lately. I'm very much enjoying it. All right, man. Well, everyone should check that out. I'm glad you came on. Thanks for taking the time. And stay safe and we'll chat soon, okay, man?

Absolutely. You too. Have a good one. The Hockey P.D.Ocast, Dmitri Filipovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Philipovich and on SoundCloud at soundcloud.com slash hockey pdiocast.