The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 83: West Coast Bias

Episode Date: April 28, 2016

Mike Johnson joins the show to discuss how the San Jose Sharks and St.Louis Blues each finally got over the hump, whether there's a quick and easy fix to the league's review problems, and what we're looking forward to seeing in round 2. Here’s a quick rundown of the topics covered: 0:30 How the Sharks beat the Kings 14:00 The Coach's Challenge 19:20 The good and bad of Ken Hitchcock 30:50 Ducks and Predators being overshadowed 37:50 The potential of Penguins vs. Capitals 41:00 Can the Islanders take advantage of the Lightning? Every episode of this podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher and can also be streamed right here on the website. Make sure to not only subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new shows as they’re released, but also take a minute to leave a glowing review. Thanks for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

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My name is Dimitri Filipovich. and joining me today is someone who last time he was on, we trotted out the title of official color commentator of the Hockey PDOCast, and there were no real objections from anyone, so I think if we just kind of keep saying it enough times, it'll eventually stick. It's Mike Johnson.

Mike, what's going on, then? Not too much, and I like that. Just the strength of volume, just keep repeating it, and eventually it'll just become thought to be true. All right, I think after this podcast, no one's going to accuse us of having an East Coast bias, because I think we're going to spend a lot of time

talking about the California series, but make sense considering you were sort of in the middle of that battle there sitting between the benches, at least for the three games that were played in L.A. What were your big takeaways coming away from that five-gamer? There are a few. Yeah, I called all five games in the series. Big takeaways were. One, I guess, Martin Jones looked pretty good for a big moment.

I guess his former team. He stopped all the pucks he was supposed to. I mean, the one that maybe you might want to save again was the overtime winner by Tanner Pearson, but he made all the saves. I didn't have to make a ton of great ones because the team was so good in front of them. But, you know, that was a big moment.

I could imagine playing against your former team, against your former partner in John McQuick, a guy who's won a consmite and a couple of cups could be an intimidating place to go, and he had no trouble with it. On the flip side, John McQuick was pretty average. I mean, he, uh, for, He's a tremendous goal.

There's no question about that. He had a really good regular season, which might be a little bit rare for him because his reputation has been primarily cemented in the playoffs. Because his regular season numbers haven't always been top five goal in the NHLish, but they're sure he was,

and he was just okay. So the goaltending went to San Jose in a bit of surprise. That I think, I think, I think... Yeah, they definitely did. You know, I don't think any... Just with Quiggard what he's got in the playoffs, I think you would have thought, well, L.A.'s got the advantage in goal.

But it wasn't the case. So that was a big surprise. The second part was just how good San Jose's defense is. And I know they play a good team system, lots of support, back pressure, all those things that all good defensive teams do. But the fact that they're top four could handle the L.A. King's forecheck and physicality was impressive.

I knew Mark Edwards Flatsic was good. He's only good. He's the first ballot World Cup guy. So, I mean, he'd always good. but I guess you appreciate him even more when you watch him play. Because he doesn't overwhelm you in any way, but just makes a lot of really good plays. I thought Justin Braun was, is sneaky effective.

He's not a big guy, not a physical guy, but he just kind of gets in the way, which is a good thing to do when you're trying to play defense. He just gets in a way, he's got a good stick and strong on a stick. Paul Martin, who struggled in Pittsburgh early, is a great fit out there in Zan Jose with Brent Burns. I mean, maybe there's a reason why he had to make the playoffs 11 out of 12 years in the NHL. He's just a super solid guy, and, you know, maybe a guy that you think might get overwhelmed

by the physicality that King, but he wasn't. He just plays the puck, gets it out there, makes a good pass. And then Brent Burns, one of the big takeaways I had in that first round was, again, I know Brent, I played against him as a forward, as a defense. I mean, I know what he's all about. But I think this notion that he's this riverboat gambler, just rover out there because he scores a lot of goals because he likes to create offense,

I think is inaccurate. I don't think he's quite bad. I mean, yes, he's aggressive, and yes, he's very talented offensively, but he doesn't, he's not quite Eric Carlton. Like, he doesn't go wherever he wants, whatever he wants, and just disregard what happens if he's wrong. He's a little bit more cautious than that. He picks his spots really pretty well.

and, you know, if you're going to look to see which defensemen had the more impact on the series, it was burns by far over Drew Dowdy. And I think Drew was playing a ton, and he was playing with Braden McNabb or Rob Skidary, who, while NHLers and soluble players, I mean, they are going to be a drag on his game, possession-wise. They just can't break up plays and get him out of his own end as quickly as he used to. so it was a disappointing series, I think, for Drew Doughty,

given how good his year was. And the last bit, I'll go with you as, man, Joe Pavelsky. I know he put up a lot of goals. But even more than the goals, and I know he's got great hands, the tips, and all those things. And, like, that is undeniable, so maybe the best in the NHL. But when you watch him play and you're down on the ice, the amount of good plays that he makes with a puck is the second in that series.

was the best player by far in that series. Every time he was on the ice, his line made things happen. Every time he had the puck around him, whether it's in his own end, or he has to play defense a lot, because Joe Thornton doesn't always get back below the goal line, so Joe Pavelsky is left playing down low as whatever, the first forward-back role. And he embraces it and does nothing but good decision, the good plays. He is, I don't know how he can be underrated when you grab 40 a year and you're on one

the better teams. I know he plays at West, but he's on the Olympic teams and all those things, but I guess he's underrated to the people of these because he was and is, he's an incredible player. Yeah, on the defense front, I think you made a couple of really good points during the broadcast kind of highlighting how Mark Edward Vlasic was controlling the gap and not letting the Kings forwards approach with speed through the neutral zone because what people don't realize is the Kings are a dump and chase team, which kind of flies in the face of a lot of stuff people like myself believe in that you want to carry the puck in with possession and play that sort of game. But the Kings, what makes them so special is that they, their system

allows for them to dump the puck in and come in with so much speed and they have so much much meat on their bones that they can win a lot of those battles along the boards. But when you're not coming in with any of that speed and you're going to kind of stop and start and dump the puck in, it's much easier for the other team to retrieve it and get it out of their defensive zone. So I think what Vlasic was doing in that regard was really huge for them. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I can remember as a player, there's nothing worse than when you get a puck and the defense is right there within stick length

that you can't really start skating, you kind of double clutch, you don't really get any momentum going in. L.A., their old system, and you're right, they are a bit unconventional at the fence of that they give up possession to get it back in the place that they want, which is down along the wall. They talked about it several times in the series about how they didn't get their forecheck going,

but I trace it back to they never got their breakouts going they never moved the puck up the ice cleanly like they usually do which allows them to dump it in in good places with speed and support so you can get that forecheck going so while you give up the puck you have

a better chance of getting it back their break their dumpins and their forechecks were so disjointed because of the job the sharks did in the offensive zone and in the neutral zone that L.A. just never could gain that speed to neutral zone throw it along the wall

and then meet the puck of the defender at the same time, which is what they like to do to be successful. And it all works together. It's the active forecheck, the good forwards, it's the back pressure, it's the sticks and seams, and it's the tight gap for the defense, but not letting those Kings players get up to head of steam. I mean, really, from start to finish,

I don't know there were lots of one-go games, but it seemed like San Jose was in control of the series the whole time. They were never really in trouble. They led the entire game, virtually every game. And yeah, they really neutralized that LA King's possession, dump it in, get it back, start the spin cycle in the offensive zone, and start pumping in shots from the point and use that traffic to gain goals and gain territory. And they just never, L.A. never really got that going,

the San Jose did such a good job, up ice, and also breaking things out of their own end. Yeah, well, I think the big takeaway for me was just, how the sharks for the entirety of the five games really just played the game the way they wanted to. And I mean, I mean, in the sense that they went into that series and just took care of business, right? They didn't really engage in any shenanigans during the player after the whistle. They just took their power plays gladly when Willand Luchich was spearing them and made the most of them

and made the kings pay that way. And I thought their speed just overwhelmed the kings. And it was interesting to see that, you know, those two, that stylistic clash, which one won out. And I was just impressed the way the sharks handled themselves, I guess. Yeah, and they established that early, Jim. I mean, they was very clear, like, from game one, the second that the puck was covered by Martin Jones, there was like five sharks back of the crease.

Not punching people in the face, but just surrounding them. Like, we're back here. We're going to try to defend this territory in groups and just kind of neutralize you guys know what about. Whenever the Kings, whether it was a spear from Loo Cheech or a blade hit from Luke Shen or just gloves to the face after the whistle, the sharks really almost across the board just kind of turned around and scared away

and that's not to suggest for a second that they were scared because they very clearly weren't scared or intimidated but it was a point of emphasis we're not going to get dragged down into a street fight we're not going to slow this game down we want to play with Temple because that's what we're better that's where we have the advantage

and they did a masterful job of it they really did I think scoring first was huge though I mean every team and the numbers bear out about 70% during the regular season if you score first you win. Maybe the LA Kings more than most because the way they play, it's kind of like grinded out game and they want to be in control.

They don't want to be chasing the game. So scoring first probably helps San Jose. Stick to those ideas that they were trying to accomplish. But they were the faster team. And I think on L.A. side, that's going to be an issue going forward. Because, Al J. Kova, which is a tremendous player, didn't have a great series. But no worries there. But if you look at some of their other top players, you know,

if they resign Lucci, how long can his body play at pace given just the size of him? Right. You know, Dustin Brown is a, that's a really tough contract for the next,

I think six years for their captain. He's not getting any faster. Marin Gavrook's got injuries. They need to infuse some speed. I know they want to be heavy and play that position style, but they got to infuse some speed at the defensive depth.

And without that, they're going to be in trouble going in the next. couple of years. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't want to overreact just because they lost in the first round here because they still were a really, really good team all season long. And they just basically ran into, you know, it happens sometimes.

They ran into a team that was firing on all the cylinders at the right time and was a tough matchup for them and it happens. But I think they do need to tread lightly here, lightly here, as you were saying, moving forward just because there is a little bit of a risk that the league is just going to pass them by a little bit because their big date trade deadline reinforcements this season, where Vinila Cavalier, who we need to pour one out for, Luke Shen and Rob Skuderi and their lack of speed really showed there, particularly on the blue line. And they've gotten away with it in the past just because their star players have been so overwhelmingly good.

But they didn't really have much to fall back on in this series. And I think they need to reevaluate how they're going to approach filling out the margins of their team this summer. Yeah. I mean, very well put. I mean, they really, and it's not easy to do. I mean, of course, on Alex Martinez's injury didn't help. But even in Martinez, you basically have Muzin, who's a really good defender. I mean, he is, he is, he is, he is, I know he plays in Drew Doudy's shadow, but he is good enough that he carries along partners like Luke Shen and does a pretty good job of it.

But you can't have Rob Skedari and Luke Shen in your top four and be a Stanley Cup contender, I don't think, regardless how great Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin can be. Right. You know, they lost Slavavoyanov, which, you're not going to go down that role. But, I mean, that was a guy in the right age bracket that played the game on the ice. a very good way, and they've never really found a way to replace him. And, you know, like Matt Green still under contract, they got, they have some issues. They have some issues. There's no question on the defensive side of the puck.

And you look at San Jose and you think, well, who wasn't around in years past? Well, where does Yon's story guy come from? I thought he was a breakout guy from him. I never, I never paid that much attention to San Jose. I never watched him closely. He was very good. every game. Along the wall, big, you know, he took his hits, he made his plays, he created his offense, and he's fast, and you can put him on the top two lines, and he plays quick with pace,

and, you know, they pulled him out, you know, another guy was playing over in Europe with success, and I think that's where maybe a team like L.A., you know, if you can't necessarily, they don't have them in the pipeline, a guy was ready to step in there necessarily, you find some of these guys who can play in Europe who are, still relatively young, 23, 24, and maybe that's one way to find the kind of talent that you need to round out your roster on attractive contracts because the Kings will be stuck because they got big money coming up. Copa Tar starts at 10 mil next year as well, and they're going to be tight to the cap to try to fill out their roster. Yeah, well, that's a surprise of doing business.

I think the best part of that series, actually, now that I think about it was that I think in the five games, there wasn't a single controversial coaches challenge that just completely suck the life out of the game and bog things down. Well, hang on, because I was... So, what game was it? Trevor Lewis sat on top of Martin Jones on a goal, not an offside call, but it was a goldy interference call.

Right, right. And Trevor Lewis came out of the corner and took the inside pass, Brent Burns put his stick between Lewis's legs, and Lewis tried to jump up, during the shot, and kind of sat on Jones's shoulder, and Jones was going to make his blocker. I watched that, and they reviewed it, and I'm like, well, that's... I mean, I know Burns is there, and he's kind of impeding his progress.

But I think that's kind of the one that they're there to take away because he took the inside path and Jones didn't have a chance to make it to say it. But I was wrong. Wildly wrong on my read on whether that should count or not count. So on a personal level, I'm like, man, did I ever miss that one? Which happens. I'm not that worried about it because it's a discretion call.

It's not really a rule call. But if I was running the rules, that would have been to me a no goal, given the standard that I think they were setting earlier this year. But you're right. There was no, because has that offside rule ever taken on a life of its own? I mean, I don't think anyone, anyone thought that there would be this many calls. Yeah. That would be offside.

I don't think, you know, they think, well, you know what? The other one, egregious one from Matt Dushain a couple years ago, we're trying to fix that because it looks really bad. And maybe there might be a couple that get reviewed, but that's it. I mean, the fact that's won a game that resulting goals is, I think, unfortunately, that's surprised even the NHL because I don't think anyone thought it was this prevalent. Yeah, I definitely don't think they thought it through. And a good example of where it can go wrong is this Blues Hawks series we should talk about next because I think that it was that game two in particular where that offside call,

the thing that bugs me is when they call it back on a play that doesn't even necessarily directly lead to the goal, I think it was Yori Letera that comes into the zone and they deem that he was offside by a split second. His blade was off the ice or whatever. and he goes down down along the boards and cycles the puck and winds up passing it out for a goal. And it's like, I don't understand how that play even really influenced this end result. So it just seems incredibly bizarre during a time where everyone wants more goals to be taking away ones that really should stand. Well, I mean, I guess you would argue they really shouldn't stand because it was offside by the technical rule of law. But you are correct.

I think that's exactly right. I mean, when it's the change of possession two times, a cycle has ensued full, these own coverages in place. Clearly the offside did not have any impact on the goal, even if the goal shouldn't have counted. But what do you do now? Do you go back? I don't know if you can because then you're going to acknowledge

this many goals are offside and we're going to just go back to what the rest call it because they do a good job. And we'll live with there's an egregious one once every five years. We'll live with it because we don't want to throw the game down and we want as many goals to count, especially in the situations like you just said where it didn't necessarily impact. It wasn't a two-on-one or a breakaway pass that he was offside

so that he could maintain the rush. So it's a tough situation that they've created for themselves. I would like for them just to go back, straight back. Just take it away. They take the outside challenge away and just let the referee to the lines and really do a good job. And on the ones where the skate blades in the air

or something like that, you know, that doesn't really impact the play. Even though by the letter of the law it is offside, it doesn't really impact the goal. or the other option is you adjust the offside rule. And to me, there's probably two things that it should do. Make it the outside edge of the blue line as opposed to the inside edge of the blue line. So as soon as the puck touches the neutral zone side of the blue line,

everyone's on side. You can go bombing into the zone. So I get to an extra couple feet. And the other part is make it, now this would be hard to enforce, but like the end zone in the football games, make it a vertical plane. So it doesn't matter if your skates off the ice. Right.

So if it crosses that vertical plane that starts on the neutral zone side of the blue line, that goes straight up, any part of your skate legs on that, then you're good. I'd like to see those two things, because maybe that might at least eliminate a few of these, but it wouldn't take them all the way. Well, you know what? It's gone to the point where watching some of these games,

I feel like I do when I'm watching the NFL on Sundays where someone scores a touchdown or something, and I'm just waiting to see that yellow flag sign on my screen, just waiting for the good play to be called back. And anytime a goal scored, I'm like, okay, before I get to invest it in this, let's give it 30 seconds and see whether it gets challenged and whether it gets reviewed and

whether it's going to come back. And I don't think that's what they had in mind when they put this rule in place. And I, and as I'm calling the games, every time a play goes in the zone, even before it results in a goal, if I think it might be offside, I'll tell the producer, like, watch that

offside if something happens here. Because we know we've got to go back and check it because it look like it was close. And then they'll come on, say, no, it was good. And they're like, no, you're right, it was offside, even if nobody scores. Like, it gets the point where, as we analyze the game, every time they go into the zone, you take no, is that offside? Might have been outside, even if there's no imminent chance coming up.

So, yeah, it's good intentions for sure. I like the idea of getting it right, but I also like the idea of trust in the linesmen to get it right. And I always thought they got it right far more often than apparently they had, because there have been the odd miss on these fractals. actionable millimeter type calls. Right. Makes you wonder

how many goals were scored illegally. Yeah, absolutely. Let's transition to that Blues Hawk series because I think it was similar to the California one in a lot of ways,

just in the sense that it involved one team that was playing better than its opponent, but no one could really pick them with any certainty just because we're still unsure of whether they'd be able

to pull it off just until the final buzzer sounded and we were fully sure of it. And I think that it was really cool that the Blues won from a sort of narrative-busting perspective, because after they blew that 3-1 lead and then the overtime game and that aforementioned game two with questionable reviews, it really felt like they had a lot of opportunities

to kind of go down that same path from years past and fold, but they didn't. And we saw it with the sharks, the blues, and now potentially the capitals here, and it's been a great playoffs for sort of showing that you can't get over the hump and win the big game until all of a sudden you do. So maybe we shouldn't put too much stock into all of those kind of innate

intangible abilities. You're right. Now, we'll play out again tonight with Anaheim in Game 7 at all. But you're right. I mean, I think, yeah, St. Louis was the home team here. They're a very good team in how they deal or dealt with, because there would be emotional baggage in scarring from some of their shortcomings in the last few years.

That does exist. and it does chip away at your confidence. It does. It can't not. And you can be stronger than others, and some guys might put it behind them easier. But to pretend that that doesn't exist is not correct because it does. But which maybe makes what they did in this series that much more impressive

because they were the better team. They were excellent. They generated lots of chances. Corey Crawford had to be terrific. But the one difference they had this year was, what they played in that. And Brian Elliott doesn't have a ton of experience in his playoffs

and he's been in St. Louis for a few years now and every year they've gone out to find a better option than him. Even though he's had good years, all-star years, playing in St. Louis in front of a good team or behind a good team, you know, I think the goaltender

was up to the task. He had a couple dicey games there whether he was trying to close it out. Chicago heated up a little bit, but you look at his numbers overall they're really good in that series. And so I think that's one significant difference for St. Louis.

They had a goalie that was not outplayed by the opposition. And that hasn't been the case, whether it was Ryan Miller or Jake Allen or or Yara O'Hulac or whoever it was the last several years for St. Louis, generally their goalie was

outplayed. And the other thing, when you talk to Ken Hitchcock, he would lament in years past, it's tough to win series when the best four or five players in the series or on the other team, especially referencing Chicago. So they couldn't match up with Taze, Kane, Hosa,

Keith, Seabrook, saw it, whoever it might be. And I think when you watch this series play out, one, they limited, some of the effectiveness, especially maybe if Taze, Hose, get a little bit older. But I think more than that,

I focus on the upside. The emergence of Tera Thanco, despite the on-ice disputes, which is another conversation entirely, I think Jaden Schwarzis, and I think Robbie Fabry, guys like that that maybe didn't have as big of a role in years past. Allow the Blues who play a very structured game under 10 hit track to have some game breakers, to have some guys that don't have to get 40 shots to get a goal.

They need a break. They can make a play. They can beat a guy one-on-one. They can make a great pass and result in a goal and be a difference maker. And I think that was not someone that they had enough of in years past relative to their competition. got more of it this year, and because they're going on the round two. And you're almost worried now for St. Louis, is there some sort of emotional letdown? They finally got over the hump.

Jay Bolmeister finally won a playoff series. They finally beat the Chicago Blackhawks. Are they able to ratchet it right back up against the first place team in the division that Al-Stars? Yeah, Jay Bowleser just like, I did it, guys, I'm out of here, and just goes on vacation. I don't know what am I supposed to do after May 1st? I still play hockey, and that's not happen for him in the NHL in his career. Yeah, yeah. No, it's funny because I'm a huge fan of the job Ken Hitchhawks done during his time in St. Louis,

and particularly this season where they had no business being as good as they were through the 82 games the regular season, just because of the various injuries they had, and he kept it all together. But at the same time, you saw all of the bad things people point to when they think of him in this series in the sense that Teresenko is essentially playing third-line minutes just based on the volume of time. He's spending on the ice for much of it, despite the fact that the Blackhawks just completely looked helpless every time he was on the ice. And I guess, I don't know, maybe he's just a bit too risky for Hitch's taste or what it was.

But it was all the sort of nasty traits you think of over the years kind of wound up coming back in the series. And I guess it's good for him that they wound up overcoming it anyways because he probably would have been fired if they didn't win this game. Yeah, there would have been, there still may, but I think there would have been for sure wholesale changes in St. Louis. they didn't get through game seven after being up three one and probably starting primarily with Ken Hitchcock. And you're right, he's done a fantastic job. He deserves coach of the year consideration for sure this year. So it's not like he didn't do a good job, I just think that that.

And he knows that. He knows that that's his reality in St. Louis heading into this season. Yeah, I mean, Hitch is undoubtedly a great coach, one of the all-time bests. He is very tactical and technical, very exacting, very demanding and precise about what he wants you to do out there. He has had a history of bumping heads with his top guy. You can have Brett Hall on this,

and he could fill up five hours of Ken Hitchcock stories about how they went back and forth on the best way to play. So you're right. And I think maybe even more so in the playoffs, and this is human nature and understandable, but it's sometimes unfortunate as well, but coaches are all about limiting mistakes and not really maximizing good place. They want to know what's the downside, and can I control that,

and then I can live with less upside if I know that there's less downside. It's not the old pool out of it. It's not what you make, it's what you leave. Right. And, you know, Ken H.cock's no different than many coaches in that regard, especially when they get in a tight series against a good opponent. He's like, I don't want to put a guy out there that I deem risky, even if it's far more likely that we'll score him on the ice than not.

So, yeah, I mean, that's a trouble, but it's not surprising to see that conversation or that kind of ice time allocation go on. But it is surprising to see players in the middle of games kind of snap at their coaches and very demonstratively show their displeasure with what's going on. Which I don't mind. You know, I mean, you play within the game, you want to be a good team guy, but I don't mind a little battle back and forth for fiery competitive people.

Yeah, and I think sort of tied to this, what else we saw in the series from the Blues was they really tightened up whenever they had the lead, and it went above and beyond your typical score effects where the team trailing is kind of pursuing a goal and winds up leading the shot count. They really made their game so conservative and dumb things down. And you look at the game five, for example, where they went up and early, and the Blackhawks blew them out of the water after that and it really came back to bite them. And I wonder if they try to do that against the stars, I think it's going to make for riveting television

because once the stars get a full head of steam going, good luck trying to slow them down. It will. You're right. And I think so much of that, the score effects, but even more we call the blues effects in this series, have to do with their history and their opponent's history. Right. It's so hard, and I say this during broadcasts all the time,

It's so hard to keep playing when you're winning. You know, it seems counterintuitive. Why not? You're up. Why not keep doing the same thing? Just the psychology of it. Very few teams can do that. Just keep rolling, playing the same way, smart and aggressive but picking goals.

The best, greatest teams can. But it's a real skill that groups have. I always think of those Detroit Red Wing teams in the late 90s, early 2000s, that they'd get up 3-1. And it'd be far more likely that game went up to a third. 6-1 and 3-2 because they just kept rolling, kept rolling, never stopped. And you didn't see that out of St. Louis because maybe they got a little tight, which is understandable, maybe because their coach instructed them to even be less risky,

which is probably true. And because they respected their opponent so much that they were a little fearful of what might happen if they did get a little running gunnish, or even not even running gunnish, but just allowed for the normal course of play to ensue. But if they do that with Dallas, because Dallas is great. I mean, Dallas, Minnesota, no leave would say for that series. I mean, you're up 4-0-0.

You're like, wait, 4, 3, 8 minutes later, it's almost hard to do. But that's how Dallas plays more than anyone. So it could be very interesting how these two teams go back and forth as far as who gets to dictate the pace and the style of the game, but also, you know, I don't think any lead will be necessarily safe in this series either. Right. Yeah.

Well, it's not like sharks, catings in the sense that there was a very different stylistic approach in terms of speed versus sort of power and choking you out in the neutral zone. But the blues and stars are different just in, like, they both play fast, but they have sort of different mandates, I guess you could say. And it'll be fascinating to see which one wins out. I don't know. What are you thinking for that series? Well, I think if St. Louis can recover emotionally, you know, get their heads right to be in the right place to compete and play, I think St. Louis will get through it.

I think the goal-tending in Dallas, I mean, they use both goalies again in the first round like they have all year. Without Tyler Say again, if he's not going to be able to go and doesn't look like he certainly can be able to start the series because he hasn't been on the ice yet since, I guess, what game two that he played is, in the first round. Yeah, I think it's going to be St. Louis. I just think that they will be physical, and they'll be able to counter, and St. Louis just, or Dallas just won't defend quite well enough to get through it. And in some ways, I don't cheer for anyone. I really don't care who wins.

But I like offensive teams to win. Right. I want Dallas to be successful. I want teams that are willing to be aggressive to have their coach empowered, their players to be creative and think gold and not just not getting scored on. I want those teams to do well. I just don't think that it will happen in this year. I don't think that they'll get through San Luis. Yeah, well, it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds. Let's quickly do Ducks Preds because we are recording this before the game seven and I think it's going to run

the next day. So I don't want to get too deep into it. Maybe we can record a segment where we praise the Ducks for winning Game 7 and a segment where we praise the Preds and then we'll just run whichever one comes through. Cutting at it. That's right. Cut in pace. We always look smart. But I don't think the series has really gotten the attention or love it deserves just because it feels like whenever they've been playing, it's been overshadowed by either the California series or blues, Blackhawks being in overtime or something like that. So no one's really been paying attention to it. But I think the hockey itself has been pretty entertaining and aesthetically pleasing just because both teams have been playing with speed and moving the puck well. And there's been, there has been some shenanigans after the whistles. and I don't know, it's just been entertaining for me.

It has. You're absolutely right, and we shouldn't be surprised because, again, Nashville, because they're a wildcard team and they played in the Central. You thought maybe they're not quite as strong, but they're very good. They finish the year, excellent. They have, like we talked about the top four in San Jose. The top four in Nashville are off the charts good as well.

Matthias Eckholm and Ryan Ellis deserve more attention than they're getting. people talk as they should about Weber and Yosey, but at Coleman Ellis are a great little pair. And yeah, and back and forth they go. It's been chippy, it's been physical. You know, Home White hasn't meant that much in this series. So it's a fascinating, it's been a fun series, and it should be because when both teams get, you know, around 100 points,

it should be some pretty good hockey. I think there are, going to game seven, not knowing how it plays out, lots of pressure on Anaheim. They've lost three years in a row of game seven at home. So we'll see how that plays out. And Pecker-Rene, who is perceived to be

one of the best goals in the world. Right. And you look at his numbers this year, for sure, and he wasn't that. He would tell you that as well. He wasn't what he hasn't in the past. He was pretty mediocre, pretty pedestrian. And he hasn't had any playoffs,

despite being on some pretty good teams in Nashville, and goalies can win series. We've seen that over and over and over. He has not done that in his career, despite being really good. And what an opportunity now. He doesn't have to win a series. He just would just win one game.

And I think it'll probably have to be pretty good in Game 7 for a Nashville to win. So I want to see what the type of René performance looks like in game 7, because it hasn't been there in the past, despite his pretty illustrious track record. We'll see what he does in this deciding game against Anheim. Yeah, no, it'll be fascinating. I think that I'm trying to think of what would be a more viewer-friendly matchup against the sharks in round two. Obviously, you know, ducks versus sharks would be interesting. But I think that people are sleeping on the Predators a little bit.

They're a sneaky fun team to watch, I think. they play five Peter Lodger-led that's how he plays right that's how he coaches he wants guys to go fast he's not on the spectrum

of offense versus defense he is shade far more to the offense aside than the regular coach which is good and so he wants his guys to play quick and I think

Johansen has really fit in nicely with James Neal and I think Phil Forsberg established himself as a legit star in the NHL and they have both defense that drive the offense and there's so much comes

from their defense that against San Jose, they're built pretty similarly. And I think it would be a really fun series to watch. So either way, they'll be compelling storylines, but yeah, and you talk about changes. The Ducks losing game seven at home. Again, there'll be massive changes in that team. They got to re-sign, Lynn Holm, Vattenin, Raquel,

Frederick Anderson, who I think will get traded this summer. and they're not a cap team. They're a budget team. So those guys are all going to make $4 million more, because they all make around a million now. They're all going to make $4 or 5 or 6. So you're talking about $15 million more dollars on your payroll without changing a player.

They can't afford to re-sign all those players to what they're worth without making other drastic changes around their team. So I would expect whenever the Ducks lose, but especially if they lose Game 7 against Nashville, pretty significant changes coming for the ducks this summer. Well, and if I'm running another team and I'm unsure of my own coach's future, I'm definitely waiting to see how the duck season plays out before I move on. Because, yeah, if they lose in the first round again,

I think Bruce Boudreau could be looking for another job. I think so, but you probably would know. I think Bruce Boudreau has the best winning percentage ever. Ever. Of course, yeah. Ever in the regular season. Well, it's just like we talked about with Hitchcock. The playoffs numbers aren't there, but, yeah, like, he's amazing.

If you're a player, you should want Bruce Booder to be a coach because he's got a lot, well, you're going to win, and he's got a lot of guys have good seasons. He can play offense with him, and he lets them. So, you know, maybe the 8th to 24-7 thing, or maybe some of the technical stuff. He's not a, I don't think that's his forte, the technical side of the game. Right. He's a personality, personnel manager. He understands how to deal with players and empower them.

And I think in today's game, if you have strong assistance, that's probably the more difficult job. And he does a really good job of it. Yeah. Yeah, no, I agree. So, I mean, you seem to be pretty high on the sharks. Do you think that they're going to make it to the Western Conference Finals, regardless of the team they play in the second round?

Well, I mean, if I'm going by my pre-playoff takes, I had the ducks going to the Stanley Cup final. Oh, you got to stick with it then. well I got I got a roll with them now I can't I can't drop off on it now so um yeah it's so tough to pick it's so tough to pick I mean I look at my eight picks to win the first round I'm well I took Florida to beat the islanders I was wrong there yeah I took schroago to beat st. Louis in a toss-up I was wrong there and I took the sharks to beat the king so I'm wrong for three of them already I can be wrong for four it's just it's just so tough to pick but I'm gonna stay with the

duck I think they'll get through um but I don't say it that with a lot of confidence anymore because these teams are all so close and they wouldn't surprise me at all, especially given what I just saw in San Jose. Yeah. Maybe the challenge for San Jose will be, they'll be off, I don't know, for sure, a week almost between games. And that's not good. Unless you're getting the guy like Tyler saying, get healthy, you don't want any part of a

week off the playoffs. You want maybe two days, max three, and then you want to get back playing. So we'll see if there's any rough. That will be a challenge for the coach. staff on the Sandals they to deal with when they get going in round two. Yep. All right, let's move over to the Eastern Commons really quickly, rapid fire style, because I think there's not even really much to say about Penguins

Capitals. It's going to be amazing. I think everyone should watch every second of it, and I think that it's a coin flip. I think the Penguins are playing so well right now that I'm going to pick them to eke it out in seven games, maybe six, but I think it could really go either way, and it's mostly just, we're all going to be winners just because it's going to be a fantastic series. Yeah, I mean, as a fan, as somebody who likes sports, even, forget about hockey,

like you want to tune into that. The storylines will be incredible. The history of the teams of the two primary captains, to watch it all go down, it'd be great. It's going to be an amazing, amazing hockey game. Pittsburgh has been as good as anyone, including Washington, since January, since Mike Sullivan took over. And, you know, some of the questions that you might have about,

Pittsburgh, well, what can Matt Murray do in the playoffs? We know he's supposed to be the goal of the future. We know that he is so highly thought of by everyone, but, you know, is he ready for this? And I think he showed in the first round once he was healthy. He was absolutely. So if you're not concerned about the goaltending for Pittsburgh, and I think you have to love the way they're possession numbers,

like, flip under Mike Sullivan, and the fact that now they have the puck more often, they generate more shots, their offensive players are playing with speed as opposed to chasing the puck when Mike Johnson was coaching earlier in the year. They're scary.

And if their third line is Nick Benino and Carl Hagman and Phil Kessel. And they're rolling the way they are. That's a tough matchup. And you know what? Maybe one, maybe we can kind of stop the narrative of Phil

Kessel can't play in big games. Yes. Can we, can we, You can say what you want about his personality, you can say what you want about how he dealt with the media in Toronto, you can say what you want about his commitment to defense. All those things, all right, you know what, it's okay. You can have that conversation. I don't think you can have the conversation that Phil Castle can't play in big games.

Yeah. I don't think you can have a conversation that's playoffs or good teams are too much for him. It's not true, has never really been true in his career, whether it's Olympics, whether it's playoffs, whatever. Big moments, he seems to be just fun. Yeah. well I think the what we know regardless whichever team loses the series the takes are going to be pretty hot

regarding their star player is not coming through in the clutch so we know that's going to happen but like it Islander's lightning I did want to talk about this series with you for a few minutes just because I have I'm going to pick the lightning

because I did before the playoffs started and I think they're the better team but I have to admit I wasn't overly impressed with the way they played in round one I know that they got through in five games and their star players played really well and Bishop was very impressive,

but I honestly thought it was much more of an indictment against their opponent and how pedestrian they were this season than anything the Lightning did. The thing is, I'm not sure the Islanders are the team

that's going to be able to take advantage of them. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. You talk about our players. I mean, Ben Bishop has really become a top flight goalie, regular season playoffs, you name it.

So I know Thomas Grice was a pretty good story. The fact that he's stepped in for the honors, but you've got to think the advantage should be to Tampa in that. Yeah, I don't know if the Islanders have enough beyond their first line and whatever line John DeVaris plays on to do enough. And, you know, they have some nice pieces of a good player and the Elson's in the Lees and the fourth line that gets some, much attention and much of it justified.

Yeah, I just don't know. I don't know if they'll have enough, even with the injuries. And apparently, Stralman is probable to make an appearance in the second round. If he gets back and is it all healthy, they get that much better because of one area you think, well, maybe you can take advantage of tampon is with their defense, because, you know, you can't, you don't want Matthew Carl out playing 20 minutes anymore. Right. It's just, you know, that's not, that's not a great recipe for success.

So, you know, if Jason Garrison is your number two, you know, you might look at that and say, you know, there might be some opportunities there, but I don't know if I'm with you. I just don't think the outers probably have enough to get through this. And maybe it allows Tabby get even healthier. And again, Steve Stamco's back on the ice. I know he's not wearing the no-contact jersey, but if Tabba gets through this series, then maybe he makes an appearance as well. and one more and Kuturov he's pretty good

yeah pretty good he is pretty good holy cow he's got some skills so yeah and the redemption story Jonathan drew on I mean the fact that he's back at least producing points

you gotta respect that a strange turn of events in the Tampa locker room yeah well and you were making note of this with Pabelski in the Shark series and I guess you can say this about most really good goal scores but with Kuturov what stands out is

I mean he has that shot, of course, but he just always seems like he's in the right place at the right time and just kind of finding these little pockets in the offensive zone to occupy sneakily and score, even though, I mean, you look at that roster right now and it's pretty clear that whenever he's on the ice, particularly on the power play, the puck is probably going to, the lightning want to try to get it to him to score the goals. And the other team knows it and they still can't really seem to kind of latch on to him at all times.

He just breaks free and it takes only a split second for him to wind up getting free and scoring that goal. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and he's got the two things that the good offensive players need. One, he's got the brain to talk, to understand the spacing and the timing and where to get, where you need to get to, which not everyone has. But the other part of it, he's got the skill to get there, and sometimes you've got to beat a guy to make it to open up. Sometimes you've got to win a physical battle to get to open ice. You can't just think it. You also have to do it once you get there, and he's got both sides, and you combine that, and it's dangerous.

and yeah, he is becoming the go-to offensive guy for Tampa. And again, you start extrapolating that out. If they get through the second round without Stamcoast, you have to think every round they advance further, every game they win without Steven Stamcoast probably decreases the chance of Tampa resigning them, you'd think, just because all these guys are going to have to get paid for all their success, but also maybe they're thinking we have a good enough team, maybe we can allocate our dollars elsewhere

because there's only so many to go around if we give Stam or 12, how much is going to be left over for Kuturov and Couloran and Johnson and Hedman and Ben Bishop and all the guys that will need to get signed this summer and next. Yeah, well, especially after last postseason where Stamco's struggles and lack of production was noted and Lightning kept winning just because Johnson and Kuturov were racking up the points. Yep, for sure. Mike, what games are you doing the rest of this postseason?

I guess you only know for round two so far. Yeah, I'll have to be updated. We don't know what's going on beyond literally tomorrow. So the pesky seven gamer of the Preds and the ducks have put a wrench in everyone's plan. So we're waiting for that to sort itself out schedules to get finalized and then we'll find out exactly what we're up to. But I know I'm down to Dallas for game one on Friday, and beyond that, we'll have to wait and see. Yeah, taking it one game at a time.

That's it. Aren't we all? All right, Mike. We'll talk soon, okay? All right, too. Thanks, buddy. The Hockey PDOCast with Dmitri Filipovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Philipovich and on SoundCloud at soundcloud.

At soundcloud.com slash hockey p.docast.