The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 370: Kings vs. Blackhawks 2014 Rewatch

Episode Date: November 19, 2020

Jordan Samuels Thomas joins the show to help us rewatch the classic West Final in 2014 between the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks. We discuss what made it arguably the best and most important series of the 2010s, what aged the best and worst with the benefit of hindsight, and the individual performances that really stood out above the rest. 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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everything you did because of the hype surrounding your arrival and what they think you can be. I'm Grant Wall, and this is American Prodigy, Freddie Adieu, from Blue Wire Podcasts. Progressing to the mean since 2015, it's the Hockey Pediocast. With your host, Dimitri... Welcome to the Hockey Pediocast. My name is Dimitri Philpovich, and joining me is my good buddy Jordan Samuels Thomas. Jordan, what's going on, man? Nothing. Just enjoying my time here in San Diego.

Obviously played here for a couple of years. So it's that time of a year where everything gets cold, but it's not too bad here. So just enjoying the time not on the ice right now. Well, I gave you some homework for your first appearance on the podcast. And at least it was watching a game. I was watching some tape. And it was a good one at that where you and I were going to do. the rewatch of

Chicago versus LA from the 2014 West Final Game 7 in particular but I guess we'll start off here because this is a good kind of an introduction point for us let's kind of tee it up with like kind of sort of the legacy of this game

or when I pitched you this idea you were pretty fired up to do with me what is sort of your memories of this game, this series, this point of time in hockey, where were you at? personally sort of just like getting into and dipping your toes into the water here with this particular game and series what are sort of the uh the lasting impressions and kind of the uh the where where you went of it yeah personally like for me like i was just um finishing up my uh my master's at

quinnipiac um i would i would uh actually wind up getting trained to buffalo from winnipeg like a month after this but this uh was this series was particularly interesting to me because I grew up a big LA Kings fan, not necessarily because I'm from California, which I'm not, but just their style of hockey, that big power four, six, three, who can do have a little bit of everything that can score, make plays, block shots. And L.A. had a lot of them, so I know just for me, when I was, you know, developing my game at QuintiPiac and just trying to work to be a pro, I was just like, this organization is like, they probably had, you know, five or six players who were, like, perfect in terms of a player that I want to be.

And so I always enjoyed Washington Kings, whether it was the run in 12 or, you know, the one that we're talking about today in 14. Just that heavy style of play, that dominant, methodical, hard to play against, you know, where are you down? And if we do go game seven, hopefully, you know, the hard-nosed play would pay different. in terms of wearing the other team down and, you know, they just keep going. They're a machine. So that's kind of the background, how I looked at it then. And then just now, it's, I'm just to watch how well-oiled machine the kings were, how they battled through different adversity, especially going against a team,

like the Hawks that challenged them speed-wise and skill-wise. It was really fun to go back and watch that game. Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. They're part of what makes this matchup so sort of legendary or so aesthetically pleasing and kind of adds to the drama is those stylistic differences that kind of make the fight, right? And you see it captured so perfectly in this game where the Kings pretty much every time, I think.

I know they score once off the rush, but otherwise, like you can tell that every single time they're coming down with the puck, they want to get it below the go line and go throw the body and try to win back possession and keep it down there and kind of, ground and pound and sort of just not allow Chicago to go to other way with speed off the rush, whereas the Blackhawks are built entirely differently where they want to get more into that track meet run and gun. And there's a few instances throughout the game. And I highlighted them.

We'll talk about them more later where, and it was because LA kind of had to score. So they opened it up a bit. And you could see instantly the game starts to slip away from them where Chicago was clearly favored in that environment and that setting. And then they quickly kind of reeled it back in. and that sort of speaks to how well all the machine they were, that they were able to keep them sort of in their grasp for the most part and kind of make them play the game they wanted to play.

But it's so evident watching this, just how stylistically different the teams are and how I'm sure their game plans were polar opposites in terms of, you know, before the game and during the meetings where the coaches are telling them what they want to accomplish tonight. I imagine they were a complete, one-80s of each other. Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's,

funny because like you bring up just how you know LA wasn't really looking to do too much off the rush they'd get in they've worked their four checks which is makes it really tough for the Dman especially for the more active DEMAN on the Blackhawks like you know a letty or Keith where they're going to wear them down with a forecheck and I think on both sides I think both teams chose quality scoring chances over you know quantity obviously um there were a couple weird angle weird goals that Chicago scored, but I think they both chose quality scoring chances, just in general in that series. They just went about it in a different way.

Chicago, you know, they would do it, you know, kind of, I hate just generalizing, saying like a Russian style, but if they'd like it, you know, Patrick Kane was very easy for him to pull up and, you know, do a Gretzky turn up the wall and went for a better option or, you know, Saad doing the same thing. And then you have, you know, L.A. where they're not necessarily pulling it up, if they don't like off the rush, they'll put it in on the goal line. They'll be heavy on their D and they'll just kind of grind you along the walls along to different boards.

And, you know, and when they had the opportunity to strike or bring it to the net, they did so and they were just hard to play against. And, you know, I think when I think of what's, you know, hard to play against and heavy hockey, I mean, this team, you know, for that, you know, really five, six years span, I mean, that's, I think that's the example. and kind of gold standard of the quote-unquote heavy hockey. It was. I do think it kind of led people astray a little bit in terms of trying to copy it and

sort of replicate it where it's easy to lose sight of the fact that while, you know, Anzee Kopitar and Jeff Carter certainly have big bodies, they also are incredibly gifted offensive players as well who can capitalize on those opportunities when they do get control of the possession. And so, you know, it's great to be able to play that physical brand of hockey. But if you don't have the requisite skill to back it up, then you're ultimately kind of one dimensional and sort of not accomplishing what you're striving to do.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I look like at a guy like, like King who's great, and I got to meet him during my time just within the organization in the American League. But, I mean, he's a good example of a guy, you know, he fit, you know, he fit in that system. And I mean, and I never played in the NHL,

but like in terms of fitness system, like he fit in that system where, you know, he gets bounced around elsewhere and like he doesn't really have to play the NHL, right? So like there's definitely, you know, there's a handful of guys that just fit perfect there and they fit the ideals and the culture that they're looking for but not necessarily working with other teams. So, I mean, I definitely agree where, you know, you see different guys like that have success.

And then, you know, it's not necessarily their other way because it's not conducive to their game. It's not as simple. It's not as, you know, machine like as the kings were. When you're going back and watching these games, I've done about 10 or so of these watchables now. And for the most part, I think my success rate of picking quality games has been pretty good. And I think with this one, you know, it's clearly a classic in the sense of all the drama and all the storylines heading into it.

But whenever you're picking a game and going back and rewatching something from five, six, maybe even 10 years ago, especially the NHL product has changed so much aesthetically that you're not sure how it's going to hold up over time and whether it's just going to look like an entirely different game than what we're used to these days. And I think this one certainly held up for the most part. just like from a quality perspective, it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be just because of, it felt like most of the goals were, as you alluded to, kind of like,

not random bounces, because that's what playoff hockey is all about. But there'd be just like, it would bounce off someone and just Jonathan Taves would be wide open there for a tap-in. And you'd had that a couple times. And it wasn't necessarily the super high-end skill plays that you typically expect.

But when you get to this stage in the postseason where you're in the West Final, a game seven, especially a game that's going to over, time that kind of like attrition starts to to come into play and I think we saw that in this one. So the drama was certainly there and the stakes were there, but there was a lot of just kind of throwing the puck around and hoping that it landed in the right spot for you to tap it in or kind of just especially there was that one goal where Patrick Sharps coming in off the rush

and it just hits a random dead spot in the ice and balances over Jonathan Quick's pad. And, you know, certainly shooters shoot and Patrick Sharpe shoots a lot. and when you do, you're going to get the benefit of the doubt like that. But it's not one that I think, you know, when he's retelling that story to his grandkids, he's probably telling a different story than how it actually went in. Yeah, it's funny. Like, the game is definitely watching it, you know, this last week.

It's definitely different than I remembered it. Like, just watching it live, you just kind of get lost and just how big of the swings were. Like, you know, with L.A., constantly fighting back. from behind and then just to, you know, pull even. And then, you know, that kind of goes back to what I was saying before about just, you know, that physical and mental wear that they have on opposing teams. I also was taken back, too, just, you know, as much as I love that brand of hockey.

And it was, that was essentially my game, like, how, like, you know, it's, it's funny. Like, you know, a few game sevens that year. I was just thinking like, you know, you can't even, you can't play like that in 2020. No. You know, like, and it's crazy how much the game has evolved since then. And I mean, I feel like I've experienced that in my career. Like, you know, I've played that way. And the game is certainly, certainly changed.

And I think if anything, like you said, like, you know, you see people trying to copycat that and you can't. And it's definitely a losing proposition. But I think what you do see for sure is that no matter how. skilled the game is or how fast the game is, you need that element. Obviously, LA is maybe in this, you know, instant was a more extreme example of that, of having like those heavy components. And obviously, you know, you already touch on a guy like Copartar and, you know, sprinkling gabric.

I actually forgot he was on a team that year. And Carter, but, you know, I think what we've seen in, you know, past Cup winners since then is that, you know, you do need that line that, you know, know, two, three guys, whether it's like Tampa Bay this year, going out to get like a Coleman, Goudreau, and they have Pauquette, you need that physical presence and some capacity to wear down the opponent, both physically and mentally.

So I think if anything that I learned is that maybe, you know, how the Kings did it can't be replicated, but the need for that type of presence and that type of relentlessness is something that's needed for a team to, you know, a cheap deal to mickle yeah i think it's part i mean it's definitely by design right like la wanted to play that way i think they felt like they had to i mean that was their their brand regardless of the opponent but especially against this black ox team they they couldn't afford to to play into their hands and so it was interesting seeing that push and pull where a couple times

you finally saw them just going back and forth and trading chances and you could tell they were kind of like out of their comfort zone and wanted to reel it back in and so kudos to them for accomplishing that but um i'm going to set the scene here a little bit for our listeners just to kind of, you know, jog our memories in terms of what was going on here, because the reason why we picked this game in this series and why I think it is a classic is these two teams were sort of jockeying for Western Conference or maybe even NHL supremacy for those early 2010s, where they were kind of trading championships. They accounted for five of the six Stanley Cups from 2010 to 2015. This was the rematch from the year prior where the Blackhawks won in five games

in the West Final en route to the Stanley Cup, but that was a much more closely contested series where Chicago won in double OT in game five to finish that series. It was really closely competitive. And then so you have Chicago now defending their championship. The stylistic differences we mentioned, a Game 7 OT, which is obviously always a crowd pleaser. And I think when I was trying to kind of teleport myself back in time to the kind of headspace we were in, thinking about this series and sort of the magnitude of it, it really, I was reminded that it felt like this was basically the Stanley Cup.

You didn't want to discredit what the Rangers were accomplishing out east, but they were this team where they were just riding Henrik Lunkwist. They didn't have a single player with 60 points that season. I believe Matt Socorllo led them offensively with 59 points for the entire year.

And it felt like they were going to be overmatched regardless of the opponents. So you had L.A. and Chicago just kind of going back and forth trading haymakers and it felt like, you know, you would never want to overlook an opponent. I'm sure if you talk to anyone

in any of those two rooms, they would have said we're purely viewing this is the way. West final and we'll deal with the Rangers when we get there. But I'm sure like it was kind of lingering in their minds that, you know, there's something bigger at play here. If we get by this opponent, it'll probably be the ultimate test for us. So the West Final in theory kind of was for all the marbles.

And that's what made this series and this game feels like so much more dramatic than you would otherwise believe it to be. Yeah, I think he said that perfectly because it took me to rewatch a game to even, I'm like, who did they even play in the final? I think Doc said, you know, New York's waiting for whoever wins this. But if I didn't hear that, I would have guessed a million different teams before you said in New York. But, yeah, like, the stage was definitely, as you said, like, you know, the power was in the West. The Western Conference was a lot stronger.

I mean, the East can do whatever. And then you have the teams that you might, you know, really believe in an out east. But you knew the path to the Stanley Cup was going through the West. And it really was a gauntlet. So, yeah. it really did feel like it was a Stanley Cup atmosphere, the momentum, the pressure, and I thought that,

I just felt like with watching the players and just the plays that being made, that they knew that it was for everything. And I mean, like I said, even watching it, I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't a Stanley Cup final game. Like this is just to get there. And that just speaks to the dominance

to the organizations. I mean, you can, you know, those are probably the two best organizations of, well, I mean, maybe not the decade, but definitely the first, definitely the first part. And it shows. And it showed just like, it also showed just how in transition the game was, right?

Because with the different mockouts, you see the style of play changing, but you had two very, you know, conflicting styles and both had shown success. in the league where I don't think that would necessarily be the case in 2020. Absolutely. All right. Well, let's get into categories.

I feel like we've kind of lined it up here. In rewatching this, what sort of stuck out to you as really aging the best? And you can kind of take that any direction you want, but just in terms of like now that we've had the benefit of six years or so or whatever now of hindsight, what was kind of ahead of its time or what wound up being proven to be correct or what really stuck out to you is aging the best here? That's a tough question. I think when I first saw the question

when we were kind of going back and forth on just taking notes, like Patrick Kane was his skill level and how he played was so ahead of the game. And I feel like the game has finally kind of caught up to his way of thinking and way of playing out there. I mean, he really, like he looks no different really today than he did back.

then, except for the way the game was played, it was different, and, you know, how people played against them obviously now are different. But, I mean, watching him play, like, I age extremely well. And he's, he's, I feel like he was kind of a decade ahead of his time in terms of style of play. And I think a lot of the style of play you see today probably has a lot to do with the younger players who are kind of transcending the league, uh, watching a guy like him play. Yeah. And it's funny because in sort of contrast to that, I guess they kind of technically age the worst by sort of definition, but what age is the best for me was watching players who are still around, but look physically

different in 2020 as, you know, just aging takes control. You know, whether it's a Duncan Keith or even a Drew Dowdy who's not necessarily that old, but because of the Miles and the sort of grueling nature of games like this is probably his actual body is sort of probably older than his age would indicate. They like look physically different. You still watch them in 2020 in NHL games and they're still effective in different ways. But like in this game, they're still sort of at the peak of their powers of flying around and jumping up on the rush and finding themselves in scoring positions and throwing big hits. And they're just playing a different brand of hockey than you'd see from them today. So it was kind of a neat trip down memory lane to watch, you know, great players like that.

Guys like Dowdy, you know, I would kind of jump to me like, you know, not wearing a letter, a guy like Sade, not having a letter, like guys who are like leaders and now proven and commodities, like they're, you know, Doughty's going for a second cup in this game. But, you know, you're completely right in terms of the style of play. I mean, Doughty's games are a little bit more controlled now. I mean, sure, that probably has something to do with just, you know, the type of competitive games that he's in now,

but just learning the game and learning just to, preserve himself longer but um yeah i think the the names that you brought up definitely makes sense and even a guy like stebrick also stood out because i mean that's kind of when he's in his team canada days and then you think now just kind of you know him getting in and out the lineup a little bit it's it's crazy what difference really only six years make no it is and i think even in this game you can kind of see that he was never never certainly the most fleet of foot player right like he would use kind of smarts and physicality and gile and he had a big shot and they were utilizing it from the point on the power play in this game but you could tell i think there was one goal against it

was certainly an unlucky bounce but he was like a step slow to react and get there and i think at this point he's 28 or 29 years old right on that edge and it was kind of a i guess a warning sign of kind of what was going to come down the road and and it's interesting i guess part of it has to do with sort of, you know, the loyalty and the good times and you want to reward the player for all the success they've had of the organization. But watching this game, it was kind of tough to believe that a year later you'd sign that, um, that player to the type of contract that the Blackhawks eventually did. Yeah, it's funny. Even, you know, I was talking to someone like, you know, a lot of guys got rewarded just, you know, for that, you know, pre-2015 success. And rightfully so,

I mean, the success that they had, but, you know, from a GM perspective, it's, you know, I guess it's a really tough choice. Loyalty versus projecting futures. I mean, it's a tough job. But I mean, I agree with what you're saying in terms of it's hard to believe that. The amount of money was owed for someone who I guess is in the prime and, you know, science says he's going to be out of his prime. So I don't know, maybe that's something where analytics won.

Kind of helps with that type of stuff there because, yeah, it's definitely a difference. Okay, I'll give you another what age the best here. The, uh, watching Pobatar and Tave's duel in this in this game was really fascinating to me. I just, I don't know how you feel about it, but I love that idea. We don't see as much of it in hockey because it is such a team game and you're kind of, you know, a lot of the game is spent on the fly and you're jumping over the boards and it's really tough to sort of game like, mono, mano, this guy's going to go up against this guy for the entirety of the game like you'd see in the NBA, for example, where, you know, they're guarding each other and, and you can really sort of, test who's better. But at this time, there was a lot of conversation, you know, Tays was in the conversation versus Crosby. And then Copatar was kind of clawing into it as like, who is the clutch big center that you would want to build a team around if you're trying to win a Stanley Cup. And they

were just really getting after it in this series where they were kind of playing exclusively almost against each other. I dug it up for you. I'm going to drop some stats on you here. So in the seven games, they played 66 minutes total at 5-1-5 against each other. During that time, the shots were 32 to 32, so completely even goals were only two to one for L.A. And the high danger attempts were 16 to 15 for L.A. And so they basically played each other to a draw. And I think that's why you saw Kane and Sade kind of have freedom to create more offensively. And similarly, you know, Carter's line got a slightly easier batch up and they could create more,

and they had more freedom themselves. But you really saw kind of Kopitar and Taves just to Goliathus at this point at the peak of their power. is just going head to head and ultimately canceling each other out. And I'm not sure if both teams, you know, should have gone that route. Maybe they should have tried to free up one or the other to not have to play against the other and maybe have some easier minutes so they could produce more offensively. But it was cool watching them play against each other. Definitely.

I mean, I think you want to see your best on best, especially your one-vers-one, because that's, I mean, that shows the true strength of your team. If your top players can cancel out, how is your secondary and, you know, traciary. wave of scoring and depth. I actually thought, you know, Tavis probably had the slide edge in game seven just in terms of just what he brought. That's funny watching that game, too,

because I thought, wow, like Taves would make a perfect Los Angeles King. Like he had one, two, two, three shifts where he was just, you know, using his body, working below the dots, and he owes on and no one can get the puck off him. He got Willie Mitchell leaning on him, green leaning on him,

and he's just kind of having his way. And I was just thinking, like, wow, he had been an unreal king player during this time and would have fit right in. But, I mean, you can make an argument and everyone has that he can play anywhere. But I think, obviously, with the Kings, he'd been great.

But, yeah, that battle was phenomenal. And I think that's what you want. I think that's, you know, that's what your GM want to see, your fans want to see best on best. It's when I was prepping for the show and doing the research, I, uh, so at the time I was writing for sporting news and I wrote this article. I remember it was controversial at the time. I got a lot of pushback because people just viewed tapes to be an entirely different tier. Uh, as just sort of the mainstream opinion. But I was a big believer that if Kopitar, um, you know, either played for a different market or was from a different country, we'd

think about them a lot differently and I actually had this line in this big article I wrote about it where I wrote, we'd be kidding ourselves if we didn't acknowledge that Anzee Kopitar would be viewed differently if he were named Andrew King from Minnesota, Ontario, for Mississauga, Ontario, sorry. And, you know, it's, when we think back, because I was kind of comparing them and stacking them up. And obviously, Taze has the advantage of the extra Stanley Cup and the one con smite to his name. But otherwise, like statistically, they're very similar players. And you could even argue that at the peak of his powers, Kopitar had a slight advantage. manage in terms of, you know, what he was able to accomplish with the pieces he was given.

Certainly didn't have the caliber of line mates. Definitely. So, like, for me, like, Copa tar is my, like, favorite player in the NHL. Like, I think his combination of strength and skill and vision, and you spoke to it in terms of the pieces I dealt with and the numbers that he's able to put up from, you know, organization that has never, you know, we'll just say they struggle offensively for him to drive play as much as he does is amazing. So, I mean, I'm sure there is some sort of bias in terms of that. You mean, you know, you always hear a good, you know, good Canadian boy or something like that.

But Kopitar, I mean, you know, I've had him as a top five player in the NHL just overall what he brings for, I mean, since then, probably, you know, since 2012, there's not a more consistent player that I think you can rely on. And if you would have seen him with different teams who might play a little more open, his numbers would be even better than they are, but he's still putting up those numbers with a team that

values, you know, puck possession and defense, you know, before, you know, production. And that's why they had so much success. And that's why, obviously, he eventually became captain because he bought into those and not only was able

to be responsible and trusted, but he also more than took care of business on the offensive side. Yeah. It's funny you bring up sort of how they, what they prioritize or what they valued because certainly I think this Kings team, especially in 2012 where they took the league by storm after acquiring Jeff Carter,

but they were kind of the OG, I guess like the Red Wings teams there in like 2007, 8 were like the OG puck possession teams when you think of the all-time grades at 5-on-5, but this King's team was right up there. And in any measure you'd want to look at at 5-1-5 in terms of dictating play, controlling shot share, chances, expected goals, anything. But funny enough, this Chicago team certainly was up there too. I think there were two of the top three or four or five-on-five teams that season.

And I guess that age is the best in terms of both the two of them showing that you could accomplish it in wildly different ways and also the value of just being dominant at 5-on-5 and having the puck on your stick at all times and the success these two organizations had kind of prioritizing that in their game. Yeah, I mean, the whole expression is more from one way to skin a cat. I mean, I think both teams and probably give the edge to LA for this because they, I mean, they really, I mean, they built very well through the draft and then they added, you know, the handful of pieces, you know, and same with the Blackhawks.

But I think they did a good job of just making the most, you know, they had a vision, the King's vision is to, you know, play that puck. possession and then the Blackhawks had, you know, skil with, you know, they had their bigger guys or stronger guys, but I think it was good that both coaches and organizations were on the same page of that because I think a lot of teams, you know, might draft a certain type of player, but maybe the coach doesn't do it the way that's conducive. They really stuck to a plan. And I think that's why both organizations had success because you can see the cohesion and showed up on the ice between, you know, the scouts and the GM and the coaches and the players what's expected.

and I think that's why everyone worked well together. No one looked at a place out there in terms of how they should play or how they were expected to play. And I think just me playing in the American League system for the Kings is no different there. I mean, it was so easy to play because you knew what was expected,

you know exactly where you should be. And if a puck goes to where you should be, it's not the person's fault past the puck. It's a person, it's your fault for not being where you should be. And not having that predictable whole field. So I think both organizations did that to a T, and I think the organizations are successful do that.

I mean, it seems like Dallas and Tampa Bay who made it to the cup this year, again, built through the draft, and it worked its all way up from the American League, the success that they've had there. That starts with the vision from the scouts and the front office, and then it takes a head coach and everyone to buy and execute. but I mean I think you see a lot of that the

you know kings had their success and their American League team had success and all those guys filter in you saw that in this year's cup as well I think it all matters I think it all you know brings things together

I'll give you one final what age is the best and then we'll move on from this category no controversies you know sometimes you think of these big games and you taint it's tainted by a horrible call

were review, especially in 2020, we're having so many conversations about, you know, challenging off sides and goaltender interference and not knowing what's what there. They reviewed one time with a Jeff Carter high stick and it was quickly ruled a good goal and I think they got the right call there. But there were no, like, there were some penalties and certainly like I think Brendan Sawd had one where it was kind of a questionable makeup call where it was a weak slash that they probably kind of let go. but for the most part they're like this game was control the outcome was determined by the better team ultimately winning and persevering and there wasn't sort of that caveat of oh well if this one call had gone differently would it would the result have been different because we didn't really have any of that and so I appreciated that that this game wasn't sort of marred by some sort of questionable call that was just just lingering in the air yeah that's a good one they they played hockey they left it out on the ice and yeah

like that. It was strength on strength. And yeah, no controversy at all. I'd agree with that. That's awesome. 2020 has really forced us all to reshape the way we work and try to become more efficient in the process, whether it is having Zoom meetings on a daily basis or working remotely from home or if you're running the P.D.O cast, watching and rewatching old games as opposed to new ones because there's nothing currently to talk about. We've all had to make adjustments to become more efficient.

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That's Blue Wire, all one word. Bet online, your online sportsbook experts. All right. What age is the worst? That's a tough question. Want me to kick this off here? Yeah, lead with that. I had a couple things, but I want to hear what you have.

So at this time, Chicago is running this power play one set with Kane and Taves, obviously. And then they've got Andrew Shaw as kind of the net front present that's kind of mixing it up and trying to get it in in Jonathan Quickspace. And then they're running two defensemen at the point, and they're like really catering a lot of their looks towards teeing up either Seabrook or Keith one timers. And at one point, they have an extended five on three for about 40 to 50 seconds or so, and they don't even get a shot after. time. And for all the skill this team had and all of the sort of offensive pieces that they had, it was strange to me. And certainly it aged the worst because in 2020, whenever I'm watching a game and I see a team run two defensemen on their power play. One, I always kind of raise my eyebrow because it's just so outdated at this point. Pretty much every team is exclusively running

four forwards. And this team certainly wasn't devoid of for deserving forwards to run out there. And sure enough, you see later on Patrick Sharp's score set up by Brennan Sade on their kind of powerplay two unit. And it was just, that was a bit of an eyebrow raised to me where I feel like they didn't maximize their opportunities in that regard because I guess maybe in 2014, I'd have to go back and look at it. But that was just maybe the way, you know, they were operating. They were prioritizing those looks. And over the past six years, we've learned that's probably not the most efficient way to run your power play. Yeah, that's a good point. I remember seeing that.

I didn't, I don't think I thought. of it as, you know, black and white as there's two defensemen out there. But, yeah, that was definitely weird to, definitely weird to see. I, you know, not an indictment on some of the, and we kind of already, we kind of already talked about it, but just some of the, I guess the players that you, that were, like, a guy like Seabrook, and, you know, he, in fact, he had, you know, during these games compared to to now. Like I like how you kind of talked about.

Like you can kind of see, you can kind of see where like the holes were or where they were going to be. Yeah, that's something that I guess I just kind of kept circling back to. And I'm not sure if it's because of just the dialogue that came out of there this year. And so obviously you're more sensitive to it. but I think he was definitely someone that I got my eye on. And even like, like, Saud, watching him play with Kane,

it just seemed like arguably his best hockey. And that's not an indictment on him. I think that's probably more of praise of Patrick Kane and how he's able to elevate his level. Like he had a lot of, you know, a lot of ice out there with, you know, Saad and Shaw and just the way

he elevated those guys. I mean, it really looked like a guy like Saad had a completely different gear. Yeah. Well, what age the words for me every single time Chicago has traded Brennan Saad and we'll run through those three transactions at a second

here. But at this time, he's 21 years old. And for my money, he was the best player on the ice in this game. You know, certainly. Yeah, and that's why I was like, I can't believe I can't believe I understand I understand there's you know cap and all that stuff um it's funny because just watching like the world series they kept saying like who trades mooky bets and obviously he sod's not at that level but right you know you find a way to keep a guy like that we just he

just did it was so good so just to see him you know come and go come and go you know that definitely is just and that's kind of what was alluded to before like I would like to find a way to to keep that. Yeah. Obviously it helps. Kane's just demanding so much extra attention and it's creating extra space for him on the ice. So that helps.

But it felt like he was creating something anytime he was out there in this game. He had the goal assist, five shot attempts. Shots were 11. Yeah, whether it was energy or an actual play. Like, he just was a very all-around really good player. I mean, it felt like honestly, the puck bounced on him a couple times there. I feel like under better ice conditions. He might have even scored a couple more times.

But so yeah, he's playing on his entry level deal at this point. He's 21 years old, as I mentioned. Yeah. A year or later, they wind up moving him. But so these are the three times Chicago's traded Brennan Saad. So in the summer of 2015, they traded him for Artem and Isamov because they didn't want to pay him on his next deal. And then two years later in the summer of 2017, they trade Artemi Panarin for him because

Panarin has a year left on his deal. And they're kind of regret, or avoiding having to deal with him as a free agent the following year. And then this summer, they trade him for Nikita Zananan. Zedorov, and I bet you he's going to look mighty good on, on Colorado playing in their top six. And I guess, listen, like, if you watch this game, if you told me the Brennan Zod, just purely from watching this game, if you didn't know otherwise, told me he was going to be one of the five best players in the league and be a complete superstar, I'd believe you, without knowing anything

else based on how good he looked. So I guess it's a bit disappointing that his career hasn't necessarily turned out to be the sort of game-changing impact player that he was in this one. but still a heck of a career obviously he scored 30 goals and Columbus won a couple cups and still has some good years ahead of him but yeah it was it was kind of jarred to see just how impactful he was in this one yeah for sure it just kind of and and I guess it has nothing to do with the game but just when you you go big picture and you're looking at it from 2020 it's like you know he's he's he's been given away twice now yeah funny um there's a couple different

ways I can go with this one. I guess a quick one, the amount of dumping and chasing. I don't mean to insult you after all we've talked about with how you like the King's style and the way they played. And certainly, I admit they, you know, it was by design and they had to play this way against Chicago. And this is what made them successful. But just watching it, it was like, every time they'd enter the zone, you'd be like, okay, here comes to dump in. And to the point where, you knew it was an older game to watch. But you know what? You knew this wasn't new. You know what though Jordan?

Like it was interesting to watch because there's one point, I think with like about a minute left in the game and regulation, Dustin Brown's coming in off the right wing. And you can almost see Chicago's defense like relax a little bit because they feel like they can sag back because he's just going to dump it in. And instead he just keeps the puck and goes in and almost wins the game there because they sort of gave him that extra room. And I honestly just watching it, it certainly looks like they were just fully expecting him to dump in based on their ammo. and he sort of, you know, pulled a little switcheroo and took advantage of it. But that's the sort of extreme and the extent to how often they were dumping in that Chicago was just fully expecting him to do it again there. Sometimes it just didn't make sense. Yeah.

Like, why would you dump it there? Like, they just, it's like, and, you know, and going back to it, like, you know, it makes sense for what they did and everyone bought in. Like, you know, maybe, you know, your chances of scoring off the rush if you're, you know, that type of player, if you're Duwait King or something like that. that probably very low. I mean, you know, can you make that slot line pass? You know, are you going to pick a corner? The chances are against you. But, you know, so you give up that opportunity, you put it in a corner, Duncan Keyes on the ice. So now you're getting a body check on him. You're wearing him down. The game goes to OT. All those little things, those little incremental things make a difference. And, you know, that's something, I love like, you know, analytics and

data, but that's something that you can't really take an account for. that feeling of just knowing that, you know, you're going to get hit or, you know, you're cheating the sag and having a loose gap because you just want to get to the puck as quick as can so you can get the puck off your stick as quickly as you can. It all adds up and you can see it on the audience. I mean, obviously, none of us were in the game, but I'm sure those guys, you know, those third line guys or pretty much everyone was willing to play the body, but they could, they probably could see it in their eyes. It was frustrating that it's a lot. So, I mean, it was definitely, I don't know how to describe unsettling to see so many dumps because you would just, it's just uncomfortable, I would say, to see it in 2020. But then when you just, you know, put yourself in the context of what the Kings were doing and then just, you know, the war attrition that's going on there, then it's, that it makes more sense. Yeah.

I think there was one time where Dwight King, like, literally entered the offensive zone unimpeded and it was just inside the blue line. and just dumped it in anyways. I was just like, what? This would be... Yeah, he like soft chipped it to himself. Obviously, he was going to get it. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look like he's just hoping to get contact.

I know. He's like, okay, I'm just going to go throw my body in that corner there and kind of kill 40 seconds off the clock here and see if we can grind down a little bit. Yeah, and that guy, and he eight minutes. I mean, you know, he played, he was playing top nine. He's not top nine skill-wise, but he knows how to hold on to a puck and eat possession time.

I mean, I think he's probably a top six player in that respect on the Kings for, you know, his career there. What was, uh, let's get into the most rewatchable moment here. Was there, you know, beyond just obviously saying like, okay, you should, if you can only watch a part of this game, watch the five minutes of O'Ir or whatever, because it actually was entertaining. But was there any other points in the game, sort of inflection points where, um, you were particularly kind of riveted or, or, uh, finding yourself really being sucked into it. If someone was like, oh, listen, I'm not going to sit down because I'm not a huge nerd and watch two and a half hours worth of this game, are there certain regions you're kind of telling them to go into? I actually kind of like the first 10 minutes,

and the reason why is because it would probably set you up to continue watching. I thought the Kings were playing, I thought the Blackhawks were a little loose, and the Kings were out playing them the first 10 minutes, but they were down two goals in the way that they, you know, the way that the goals went in were a bit deflating, right? I think one of them was like that weird bounce off like Patrick Kane's pants to someone back door.

You know, you had mentioned the sharp goal, but, you know, I, I, like, when I rewatched this, I kind of forgot that the Kings came back and won this in OT because it's just like, you know, you're doing what you're supposed to do. You're on the road. Chicago fans are losing their mind, you're down to nothing, you know, you have to look at the details where you're thinking as quick, shaky is even there.

Obviously, there are some bad bounces, but you don't know what that does two teams. So it's like I looked at it as like that first 10 minutes, it's like, you know, kings are going to come back and win this in overtime where it could have been done playing against, you know, the Chicago Blackhawks, we've already won two cups.

The games have it at home, They're already up to nothing. I found that intriguing. It's probably because I knew the outcome. Right. But rewatching it, I was just like, how are, how will they, how will they get, how are the Kings get out of this? Because they're not goal scores.

So two nothing's not the deficit that you really want. Yeah. That's, that's kind of, that was, that was, I really enjoyed that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was interesting seeing how they got there. I think there were three goals in a, like, basically a 60 second span of game time.

late in the first. I would say the start of the third is a bit of a slog. Like there's just nothing happening for seven or eight minutes. And considering Chicago is up, I think they were happy with that way. But then like I mentioned earlier, I think it's around the 12 minute mark, where with 12 minutes left in the third period, you can see that LA sort of goes, all right, we can't just keep milking clock here because we're going to lose. We need to score. And so they open it up a bit. And there's like four or five odd man rushes traded back and forth and a couple big saves and a couple close calls and that's when the game really starts to open up and then after la ties it um i was really impressed to see how much chicago sort of went for it um you know with about six minutes left or so it was

a tie game at four four and they were creating some some serious pressure there and nearly won it at the buzzer i kind of forgot like quick makes this remarkable sort of toe save uh right at the goal line so they certainly these weren't two teams that were sort of just taking it for granted and kind of waiting to to get to the locker room and wait for overtime like this one easily could have ended in regulation and I love seeing that sort of that motivation to not just not just take those last couple seconds or a couple minutes for granted yeah you can I mean who knows but you can kind of make an argument that that push from Chicago is just like they knew that like this is probably their best opportunity.

Obviously, it's every team's best opportunity to win it, but the Kings in Game 7, they're not going to give you an inch. You know, you got Mr. Game 7 across the way. And I, that push, like, it was definitely noticeable. They're going on all cylinders. It's like, you know,

Versteen wasn't getting that much ice time before. Like, he's, you know, getting more ice time, getting involved offensively. And they, I mean, they opened it up. even more and it kind of looked like LA was a bit not taken off guard but was unable to match the speed it's like you know you know you're going to be in a long playoff so maybe you're not going you know complete 100% top speed and they're like all right like let's take the top off of this like let's let's end this now because you know you're going to give if you don't LA's going to get a

fresh 20 minutes and they're going to do what they do and that's where kind of you know I brought up a couple times that's where the wear and tear and just the mental and physical grind that playing that king's team will do to you will start to take effect yeah yeah definitely um all right big as he chick performance and you're not allowed to say patrick a and it was good here because he's obviously a superstar can't say ansi copatar is there someone kind of like in a depth role or someone uh just rewatching this not knowing knowing the result but not knowing how they got there they really stuck out to you as like kind of just popping off the page of that was a better performance than i remembered Huh, that's a...

I mean, I... I... So, so Jared Stoll, obviously, he missed it in time, right? He started the game. He was out for a bit. And I kind of forgot the minutes that he was playing for this team. Right. And I think, so it kind of reminded me just how, like,

versatile of a player he was. And obviously, like, you know, he's, you know, he's the big body in front of the goal for the for the game winner but i mean yeah i just i i just forgot because there's a lot of players that are very similar i just kind of forgot all about jared stole and his impact on the team and then just the grittiness to to to come back so i thought you know in it's game seven and it obviously meant something to him um but you know battling what he was battling to come back i couldn't have the impact that he did i thought that was that was great and then like I said I did forget

gabbrook was on the team too but that was just more of a goal thing than an overall play you're such a hockey guy highlighting Jared Stoll's grittiness as what stuck out to you that's funny um I mean obviously the obvious answer is bernan sod right like he uh just just how good he was but yeah I mean he was playing on basically for all that's the purpose is the top line um Patrick sharp was interesting to me here because the way I

remembered it was he was playing with taves and hosa and he had a great year and you look at the numbers he scored like nearly 40 goals but at this point in the season i don't know if it was because he was struggling offensively or because uh you know they had that tase copatar matchupes so i think quenville might have wanted to load up a bit more physicality so they could deal with copatar and brown um but they had brian bickle playing on the top line there with taves and hosa and and Patrick Sharp was relegated to third line duty with Marcus Krueger and Ben Smith. But he was kind of, I don't know if, I don't know if that was the sort of wake-up call that he needed or, or what have you. But he was flying out there and creating a lot and he scored the two goals.

And so just, you know, by the definition of this kind of P-Chic performance for a less harolded guy, just, you know, he was a third-liner for them in this game essentially. And he came up with two big goals. So I think Patrick Sharpe's performance here. He was still getting work on the... On the power play. I was just like, he's still getting work on the power play, right? Utilizing his shot.

That first goal that kind of went over a quix pad, right? That was him, right? That wasn't... Yeah, he swore to him and then on the power player. Right. So, yeah, and he had the slap shot on the power play. So, I mean, I think that was more of like a surprise, because I think it said, like,

that might have been his fourth and fifth goal of the playoffs, which you would think you would have a lot more. So, yeah, I mean, I guess from his production standpoint, from so far in the playoffs he produced well but it was it was a good bounce and and then all credit for him on that power play shot because that's a clutch shot that the team needed um at the time uh but yeah i think i guess looking back you i was definitely i knew bickle played with that top line i just i forgot that it was you know at this juncture of his career because this is kind of you know i guess you could also say like you know in terms of like breakout performances like this is part of that street that

made Bickle very highly, you know, attracted, attractive to a lot of other teams in the league where he really just kind of fit in in Chicago playing with those type of players. Well, I mean, he was playing on this top line. I think it was a 2013 cup when he scored like nine goals or something and then he got paid. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and then he got paid $16 million. And unfortunately, you know, when you what age the worst in terms of how, you know, and we talked about this with Seabrook sort of those loyalty contracts and how that's where teams

kind of get themselves into trouble a little bit. like Chicago in that last year of that deal basically had to attach Tuval Taravinen to give them to Carolina just to allow that to happen because they were so up against the cap and and so for another day. Yeah. And so when you're giving up guys like Taravina and you're giving up and they have to give a Philip Dano at some point as well who has thrived in Montreal and that's why if your team like Chicago you're looking back five years later and you're like,

oh, well, this is maybe why we've kind of failed to to sort of regenerate a second or a third to run here while we still have K in Kaves and Keith because we gave up a lot of that young talent because we just couldn't afford them. Definitely. Three cups to show for it. It's so hard to argue. Yeah. Yeah.

It's hard to. I don't know how you, you know, being a gym international hockey league is a tough job. God, you sustain that. Yeah. That's why, I mean, like Nick, Nick Letty in this game, wildly overqualified for the role he was playing. I think he played just 12 minutes. in this one and you could tell like he was supremely gifted with his skating and his and his

offensive skills but uh they just didn't trust him and you know maybe deservedly so because he was unfortunately out there for uh the game game winning goal against to kind of bounced off him unfortunately and he couldn't really get good position out front of net but um yeah he was another kind of cap casualty for them so it is what it is yeah you're right when you achieve the ultimate goal of winning his Stanley Cup it's tough to argue but that's the price you pay yeah um all right most unanswerable questions. Here's one for you. Do the Columbus Blue Jackets get rings for L.A.'s 2012 and 2014 cups after they just gift-wrapped Jeff Carter and Marion Gabbrick for them? Yes and no. I mean, I'm sure, I mean, that's a really good question, and that fits the

unansweral part. I mean, obviously, it had to change for Jeff in Columbus. It wasn't work out during a short time there. So as much it was a gift wrap, I mean, Columbus has been I feel like they've always made decisive moves and that was one of them. And obviously, the return wasn't there but they did what they had to do for their club.

But I remember seeing that trade, saying like, wow, like, they couldn't have acquired a better player that's going to fit into their system overall. And I remember looking, I think maybe the athletic came out with a story. This year, just looking back

got the trade or something like that and you know whether it was going to work out or not but i mean he's he it's it's been great so i mean i guess they should get cup rings for that yeah i mean it's being decisive is one thing they gave up for a chicken katurri for 39 games of them and then quickly quickly pulled the uh pulled the pull the shoot and uh got jack johnson in return for yeah and uh yeah it's nuts and you know you mentioned the gabberic one you forgot uh that he was was on this team. Like he was very clutch for them. I think he led them in goal scoring during his run.

I believe he had like 14 goals or something. He, you know, it wasn't that obvious in this game, but I remember at the time he really provided them with like this kind of dynamic goal scoring element. Just a little burst. Exactly.

He's the only guy who's going to be pulling past people. I mean, that's how he scored his goal. Just, you know, there's one thing he can do is skate. So I remember being, I didn't remember it being during this. this run because it's i don't know i feel like that's often associated with with gabberick and

kind of his his style of play and that's his pedigree but obviously like you know he was more than there for this and he made a contribution uh okay here's one final answerable question or maybe it is answer rule because i'm going to pose it to you and hopefully you can answer but um this idea of kind of like referee even up calls and i alluded to it earlier with uh the sod slash he got in the second period. It was after Chicago got a five on three and they didn't capitalize. And then you kind of knew just with the flow of the game that the next sort of remotely questionable thing they did, the referees were going to try to get LA back and their and their good books are kind of even it out. And like as a player, how do you sort of like deal with that kind of like, does it like

affect your mindset at all? Are you kind of aware of it? Because it certainly feels like just like as an observer watching these games that you can tell like when that tide is shifting and when a team's been getting a lot of calls and they haven't been capitalizing on them. Like the other team is due for the power plays. Yeah, as a player, you definitely aware of it. I mean, a coach will say it too. I mean, if you start off and you had three power plays in the first, then you go in intermission.

The coach is saying, like, you know, the next one's probably coming to us. Like, you know, we deserve it. Because even if there were three definite penalties, like, you know, you run the advantage for six minutes. So they're probably going to call you tighter because, I don't know if it's like a natural thing. So, I mean, I think you're definitely aware of it. I don't think it affects a player.

Like, even if a player complains or says anything like that was a make-up call, like, you know, it's kind of a heat of the moment type thing. But like you said, I think it's, well, I think you said this. It's to be expected that they're going to try to keep the game as even as possible. And especially in the game like this where both teams are competing, nothing egregious in terms of penalties. Like, no, no. nothing dangerous so i think they also gives some leeway in terms of the calls that can be made um

what were your thoughts generally on the on the we're going to do doc and eddy's commentary corner here the the link that i send you that we watch this on that's available on youtube and i'll share it with the listeners so they can watch themselves but it's the cbc call with uh with bob cole on it um just what how do you feel about the quality of the broadcast in terms of um because sometimes they can really feel like outdated just because you know the the final product of how you present stuff on TV has changed so much over the past how many years how do you feel about this one in terms of just like them narrating what was happening capturing the drama of the moment like do you think they did a good job i i think they did a phenomenal job um and i remember because just from

the notes that you sent me just to talk about this i'm not sure if it was was just because it's, you know, COVID and we just had to see on the cup with no fans or anything. And obviously that adds to it. But I just, I mean, I've seen this before and it's 14 years ago, you know, not 14 years ago, but six years ago, I know the outcome. But I would say that this is probably as engaged as I was all summer watching just from the energy that was in the building. And then the way they were telling it, I mean, I thought they. did a great job of just, you know, staging, staging the whole thing. And the game really did stage itself.

I mean, you know, L.A. not having a lead, you know, for most of the game. And the back and forth, the two styles of play, I thought they hit on that really well, highlighting those big players that you want to see. You know, it's something, well, now that I'm talking about out loud, It's definitely something that I think just dealing with this last playoffs, this last year, just not having the fans in the building. Because I just, I mean, I remember watching it and this one and having a little bit of goosebumps in the moment knowing what's going to happen. And knowing this, like I said, six years ago.

But you can definitely feel the energy. And I thought they did a really good job of just presenting that. Yeah, the crowd's good. You got Charles Barkley in attendance wearing a jersey. Yeah, he got a lot of screen time. A lot of screen time, yeah. Yeah, that was weird. But you know what?

Like the only thing that I think, I thought from a broadcast standpoint, they did a good job of like, you're right, just letting the game come to them. It was certainly set up perfectly where like the drama was already built in. And the story was there. They didn't have to do too much, you know. They did good analysis between plays. I like that.

I certainly thought they brought something there. But the one thing that stuck out to me was it was weird. This is where it felt a bit dated. There was like no shot counter. There were no like graphics of like showing. you know, chances or shot locations or anything. And that's stuff that I've certainly gotten used to and maybe started to take for granted a little bit in 2020

that kind of adds to, you know, the statistical sort of storytelling of it and kind of getting a feel for like who's dominating or who's playing well. There's like very bare bones. And I guess that was sort of the norm for 2014 where they were just basically showing the action and there was nothing else popping up on the screen.

It was just purely what was happening in the game. Yeah, I mean, that's a good point. But I don't think there's anything wrong with it because, like, you know, just going back to this year with it, you know, with no fans in the stands, like those graphics and stuff mattered so much, right? Because you need something to fill the time. Like, I just thought the production in general where you have, you know, the fans losing their minds and panning, you know, whether it's Charles Barkley or another star just going there.

Like, I thought that really just from a viewing perspective, if you're not there, like, I'd rather kind of get the view of everything and get that. atmosphere from how they did it versus just looking at, you know, the different stats that they can put, that they often put on now that, you know, you know, just because, like you know, like you said, like a shot counter, like that's, you know, I think you and I both know, that doesn't really talk about the game or. Well, I think you can, you can necessarily add it to the screen without it, like, interfering with the product, right?

But yeah, like, in this particular game, I didn't miss it, but it just kind of stuck out to me as being different from what I'm used to, I guess, recently. Who won the game? Let's end it on here. Like, just now that you watched it, you rewatch it, it's fresh in your mind, whether it's like a lasting legacy or whether it is the most impactful performance. Like what stuck out to you there as like the ultimate sort of beneficiary of the final result of this one?

In terms of like a player or like a big picture perspective? It could be anything, to be honest, just like in terms of this game. What, what, like, like, who, like, coming out of it, who, who, who or what sort of won, won the game? Who, who benefited the most from it? I think Jeff Carter. I liked, I liked his game. Obviously, he was able to contribute, but I thought he popped in a lot of different places. And, you know, obviously, it fits well in the system.

but considering the backdrop that we had in terms of just Columbus and, you know, how they traded for him and just obviously was willing to just say, like, we made a huge mistake and then for him to kind of have the success that he had there and moving forward,

I thought that was probably very just, you know, like prove people wrong for him because, I mean, he's been a world cast player. So for that to happen to a guy who's represented his country, especially when it's Canada, it's kind of wild to think that something like that this had to happen, but he did it and was a key contributor.

Well, I included him. I thought like the winner was that 70s line because, I mean, first of all, they were kind of this like viral sensation at this point, right? Like they sort of took the league by storm. Everyone was talking about. Everyone was creating memes about them. And, you know, Carter was sort of the figurehead there, right? You have kind of this like really, you know, Tyler the Foley has always looked kind of babyish and younger than he is, but he's like especially clean cut in this one where he doesn't have like a single facial hair. Yeah, he looks like a young guy for sure. He looks like he's like a teenager.

He always looks young. No, he looks like someone who like won some sort of a draw to get to play with Jeff Carter. And Jeff Carter is kind of just like chauffeering him around and, you know, Tanner Pearson's out there. And they dominated throughout this postseason. But especially in this game, they created the two goals. You know, Jeff Carter really got them back into it.

You were mentioning earlier. Pearson was really good. You mentioned earlier, like, when L.A. went down 2-0,0, and you're thinking, how are they going to create enough offense to get back into this? And L.A., and Jeff Carter just kind of just, like, willed one into the net there with, like, this rush after a block shot. And so they were awesome. And it's interesting you mentioned Carter, because I don't think he was, like,

at his physical peak here by any means, I think early on in Philadelphia when he scored 46 goals in 08-09, like, that's when, as a goal, score he was at his best. But just in terms of like putting it all together and being the complete package, I thought he was in real command of the of the game as you alluded to in this one. And you know, kudos to him. I remember when he signed that 11 year dealer, whatever he signed with with when he went to Columbus, like, or I guess he signed it with Philly before they traded him. But I remember thinking like there's absolutely no way that Jeff Carter is playing by the end of this deal. And sure enough, he's only got two years left on it and is still potting 20 goals

the season and still is a useful contributor in that HL level. So it's, you know, he's certainly proven me wrong because if he told me that 10 years ago, I would not have believed you. Right. All right. Well, I think that's going to do it.

That's going to be it for this one. I think we cover the games. Certainly, you'd recommend watching it to all the listeners. You enjoy the experience of going back and reliving these glory days. Definitely. I think if you want to see just

the competitiveness of hockey. I think this is it. And if you just enjoy, I think if you enjoy just watching the game and being able to appreciate just how it's transition, I think this is a really good game to watch

because you have, you know, two contrasting styles, but you can still see different players and philosophies that you still see in today's game. So from that perspective, I think it's a lot of fun. But you can see how dominant, you know, the kings were, though they were a bit extreme

and how they played their population style, but just, you know, seeing just what a complete cohesive unit looks like. And I think that's what the kings were during their runs for the Cups. Yeah, yeah, I highly recommend it as well. It lived up to the hype. It lived up to the lasting memories I had of it, and I would recommend watching it. So, all right, this is going to be it for the latest rewatchables. Jordan, this was a blast, right.

And I'm glad we finally, after months and months and months of texting back and forth trying to make this happen, we finally did it. So hopefully it wasn't too painful and hopefully we'll be able to get you back on sometime down the road. Yeah, that's great. Thanks for having me. After we finished recording, I was thinking back to the conversation that Jordan, Samuel Thomas and I had. And I realized that we probably didn't give Justin Williams enough credit and love for his performance in this game. and I couldn't end this show without doing so because it was Game 7 and he is Mr. Game 7 and his performance. And this one was exactly as great as you'd expect. And I wanted to give him a little bit of love for it before we got out of here.

So he had the goal. He helped set up the game winner by Alec Martinez with a very Justin Williams-esque. It wasn't flashy move, but he retrieved the puck after a dump-in, won a puck battle against the boards, got it out to the point. and the rest was history. So it was a very classic Justin Williams' performance. Started off, slow. He started off this game down the death chart, worked his way up, wound up playing some really important minutes down the stretch,

and put his imprint on the game and lived up to the nickname, Mr. Game 7. He ended his career with a negative 1 record in Game 7s, an NHL record, seven goals in those games, 15 points. He got the Kahn Smythe at the end of this. postseason, three Stanley Cup rings, a true legend, one of the early analytics goats. And yeah, I just wanted to give them a little bit of love. So before we get out of here, hopefully you enjoyed today's episode of The Reloachables.

If there's any future games you'd like for us to cover, we're still going to have some time here before we have actual new live games to discuss. So plenty of opportunity to get creative and have fun and relive some old classics. So certainly feel free to let me know if there's any games you'd like for us to do in the future. We've already done a bunch of them. So if you miss them for whatever reason in the spring and summer, go back into our archives and check that out. And yeah, like I always end every show, just a reminder that it really helps us a lot if you take the time to go and leave us a reading and review. Honestly, just the five-star click helps.

And that's really the most simple thing you possibly do. but if you've got some time and you've got some energy and some willingness, certainly leave us an actual written review. You can discuss whatever comes to mind what you like about the show, why you'd recommend people listen to it. Really enjoy reading all of those and seeing what you have to say. So thank you for that for those of you that have already done so. Hopefully those of you that haven't and I've been holding out will do so moving forward.

And we will be back with a really fun show. I'm not even going to tease it. I'm just going to let you know that it's a really good one. We've already got a recording. We're going to be running it early next week. So really looking forward to that. Videocast with Dimitri Filipovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Philipovich and on SoundCloud at soundcloud.

At soundcloud.com slash hockey p.docast.