The Hockey PDOcast - Stories From the First Week on the Road

Episode Date: October 20, 2023

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Emily Kaplan to talk about her first week on the road to start the season, and all of the teams she got to see in that time. They discuss the Sabres, Lightning, Penguins, Avalanche, Timo Meier, and Connor Bedard.This podcast is produced by Dominic Sramaty.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 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.

Progressing to the mean since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey PEDEOCast. My name's Dmitri Filippovich and making her triumphant, albeit far too belated from my liking, return to the PTO cast. It's my good buddy, Emily Kaplan. Emily, what's going on? I know.

It feels like way too long since we've chatted last, so I was super pumped when he reached out, and I know we're going to have a great conversation. Yes, I'm excited. So here's the plan for today's show. We're going to bounce around the league. We're going to chat about because you've been very active in this first week of the season

with all of your TV responsibilities going from rink to rink covering a bunch of different games and teams and so I want to talk about those teams you've been around kind of the first week of the season what you're hearing, what you were seeing while you were there and work our way through that and now we've got a couple of listener questions at the end

that will help guide us as well. So let's start with the Sabres because you were in Buffalo to do that Sabres lightning game most recently and it's a bit of an interesting vibe for the Sabres this year because last year was all good vibes, right? They entered the season with no real expectations, no pressure. It was just a bunch of young players and Granado allowed them to play at like, kind of just like freewheeling back and forth hockey, didn't really care about defense, didn't really care if it was a six five game. They were just doing their thing. And so they put up great numbers. It was really fun to watch. I think everyone was excited for them this season. And they got off to a bit of a slow start. Now they won that game against Tampa Bay, but I kind of want to get into this first week of the year for them and kind of try to manage those expectations.

and just how different this year is for them compared to maybe what they were going through last year. Yeah, so I had that game in Tampa Bay, and to that point, they had gone 0 and 2. And being around the rink that morning, there was just this quiet confidence with the team. And even Don Granado, the coach told us, you know, last year we started the season, great, we were 5 and 2. And we are so much better and in such better shape than we were a year prior. They feel like they have been patient, which I know their fans believe as well, because it's been a very long time without the playoffs. And last year, I think some people wanted them to be a little more aggressive.

Why don't you go get a goalie, something like that? But Kevin Adams has this master plan. And all about the master plan is getting this young core, locking them up, which they've now done with the latest Owen power signings. You've got power. You've got Dahlene. You've got cousins. You've got Tage Thompson.

You've got Alex Tuck. Like you have this future that you can see and it's tangible. And it's right there and building with them the right way. I want to add one other guy to that young core, Zach Ben. The rookie, I am not more obsessed with a rookie. That kid has so much confidence. He's so swaggy. All he does is just score and feels like he belongs.

So all my point is saying is like what they're trying to build here is to be sustainable. And I really do give Kevin Adams a ton of credit for having the patience to be here to that plan. I also give ownership the credit, right? Because so many times we've seen, oh, like, you know, let's panic. Let's change coaches. Let's change GMs. Like we just need to make the playoffs. They're like, we don't just want to be.

want to done in the playoffs. Like we want to build something that can last. So I think they're right on the cusp right now. Will they make the playoffs this year? I'd love to say yes. It's really hard, right? You have all those extra points that Boston got last year and you're like, oh, those have to go somewhere.

They're going to get dispersed. Like the Red Wings are going to take some. The senators are going to take some. Sure, the Buffalo Sabres will take some too. So if they don't make it, I don't know if the season is a disappointment because next year those expectations will be really high and they better. but right now I believe in what they're building and I know they believe in it too.

Yeah, you could see how the new reality for them in those first two games against New York teams where both teams gave them a bit of a bit of trouble kind of playing almost playoff type hockey like they were locking them down with that one three one trap in the neutral zone and that's something the Sabres have had trouble with in the past. I think Granado's actually been open about how that's something

they need to work on. I think they're fully aware of it. But it was a much different sort of atmosphere or game environment than maybe a lot of of what we saw last year. And that's kind of just, I think, part for the course moving forward. It's good to get those reps in. But the 20-minute Tage Thompson feature you did, I mean, that was, you were coming from

my heart without, right? That was very, very tailored for my own personal interest. And so as soon as I saw that, I was like, all, I got to get Emily on to talk about this. And he's at a bit of a slow start himself where he hasn't scored yet after scoring 47 goals last year. And I believe he doesn't have a point at all either. And he's gotten some chances, right? I think part of it is those first two games, just that wasn't.

wasn't nearly as open as maybe last year was for them, but he's still getting those looks off. And I don't think there's any reason to believe the goals won't come, but it's just after what he did last year, I think everyone's just like almost tuning in a nightly basis to see what the next highlight reel is going to be because last year was just so chalk full with him whenever he played. Yeah.

I mean, the Tage Thompson story, again, I feel like the one theme that I'm hammering down here, and if you had the listener, probably sick of hearing about it, but patience, right? That is Tage Thompson. Like, here is a player who's developed, path wasn't always linear. And, you know, once he got his big call-up opportunity in Chicago, he goes and hurts his shoulder. You know, we all wanted to write him off in that Ryan O'Reilly trade and say,

oh, my God, it was a bus because, look, the guy he got traded for went and led his team to the Stanley Cup. But you got to give players a little bit more grace. You know, all it took was just the right timing, the right health, the right determination, the right coach. Remember, Don Granato was the one who would coach him in junior at the National Team Development Program, moved him back to center where he was most comfortable. You know, it's like, hey, look, like this guy is such a playmaking skills for his size because he wasn't always his size. Like, he was shorter growing up.

And he developed as a little player and then had a gross spurt. All of that came together at the right time last year and he was big arrival. And I've talked to Tage about it, you know, because of what you did last year, because you got so close to 50 goals, there's more pressure and spotlight and an expectation on you. And he just has the most even keel where like, he knows. And he's just like, I don't mind. I can handle it. And I believe him because that's just who he is.

And I do believe he is a player. You know, he's a son of a coach. He's basically the version of an army brat. You know, the family moved 31 times since 1991. He's adaptable. He can adjust. And I think he's going to be okay. He might be off to a slower start than he or the team would like.

But I've got all the faith in that kid. Yeah. Do you talk to him at all during that conversation? I'm very curious about the actual. sort of mechanics of the switch to the middle, right? Because generally it's considered to be a much more difficult position, especially with all the defensive responsibilities. And so whenever a guy makes that switch and then all of a sudden takes off, it's almost the inverse usually for offensive production. It's like, oh, we got him onto the wing. And then he was able to just focus on

offense. And that's why he started scoring more. I think it makes sense for him when you look at how he plays and like his frame, you want to get him away from the boards and into the middle of the ice just because he's so lanky, his reach is such a weapon. And that makes sense. why he was able to kind of make that jump that he did. But it's obviously just a very unique thing for a guy who, he was 24 when he finally exploded offensively to make that type of leap. Yeah. I think there's two aspects to it.

One, the growth spurt. Like he grew six inches in one year. So again, he was trained as a guy who could stick handle and, you know, could go find those small phases. And then he grew and we're just not used to seeing a player of that size with that type of skill. And then Don Granato said exactly what you said is, he has an insane incredible reach and he's so good with his stick.

Why would we want to limit 50% of that and say, oh, no, you can only go on one side of the ice. Like, let's know that reach all over the ice and let him go retrieve pucks and keep pucks alive and make plays and allow him to be more creative. So again, you know, it just shows some open-mindedness and coaching of just because someone is there and that's what they were given to you. Doesn't mean that's actually what you have to go with. And I think that's why he's thrived in that position. Yeah, yeah. And like I said, no goals yet, but the shot rate is pretty much identical to where it was the past the two years. So if he keeps firing, it will come.

And I get it. People are a bit sort of frustrated at the first two games just because this team did enter the season with so many expectations. But if you look at it, it's actually even through these three games, Dylan Cousins finally scores that overtime winner to break through. But it's really their top two lines or top two scoring lines that weren't contributing offensively. And so I think everyone believes that those guys will turn it around. But one of the benefactors of that, funny enough, has been that third line with Zach Benson. I want to talk about him a little bit more here with you because all of a sudden you look. And I think part of it is because those top two lines haven't been firing on all cylinders.

But actually at 515 ice time, it's been that middle stat and Benson combination with Jordan Greenway. It's actually right up there for the team lead in terms of usage. And so that's a heck of a story as well for an 18-year-old to essentially jump in for Major Jr. And not only force his way onto the team out of camp, but then play such a big. role. It's not like he's just sticking around for these nine games to give them, you know, a bit of an experience at that NHL level. It seems like this is someone who they're relying on and will be the rest of the season in a fundamental role. Yeah. I mean, talk about another great story. So, Zach Benson is third or fourth generation in the carnival business. His parents every weekend would take

the show on the road and Zach and his brother would both work the carnival. But then in whatever city they were in, they would just enroll at a different hockey school or hockey camp. And, And Zach told me that that really benefited him learning from so many different coaches. And he's just like a sponge of information. And when you think of like, why is a kid able to adapt? Like they've tried him on a bunch of different lines in preseason. And he was creating chemistry with everyone. Also though, I've been told of when he was in Winnipeg in the WHL that the style that he likes to play

best is exactly Don Granado's style. It's playing with pace. It's being really aggressive on the forecheck. Tage told me for a little guy, he's got an insane stick. He's just, you know, able just to make plays in a way that you don't expect. And then there's just this confidence about him where he just acts like he belongs. You know, nothing seems to face him. He does it all with a smile on his face.

You know, he told me like his buddies have been texting him back home, like, oh, my God, like you just made a combo play with Tage Thompson. And he's like, yeah, it's cool. But like so, like this is what I do. And so I think all. of that, you know, just who he is, that hockey DNA, that perspective, and then just the Genesequa attitude are why he made the team as a teenager. I don't think they were expecting this at a camp, but he's earned this, right? You earn yourself a couple extra preseason games. You

earn yourself to spawn the opening that roster. And then they'll have to make a decision when he gets to his, you know, 10-game rookie slide. He's living at the hotel right now. It's hard to argue. Like, again, when I talk to Kevin Adams about it, he's got away the long term of the team, the long term of the player at the same time, we want to win right now. And is this player helping us win? And I don't know what player would be better in his business than him. Emily, he is third on the team in terms of forward 5-15 ice time. Yeah, if they send him down, that's criminal.

You know, I'm no real estate agent here, but I think he can invest in some property there. I think he's not going to have to worry about going anywhere with him on the ice of 5-15, as I mentioned, 40 minutes. Yeah. Swaggy-Dade. 7-1. But did you, have you noticed that already, like, words out, like, other opponents hate him? Like, he's just so frustrated. I think it is that, like, relentless work ethic and motor, but you can already see just because he has no off switch, he's already getting under people's skin. And it's, it's rare for a young player to make that type of an impact right away.

Generally, you get kind of some leeway early on and then you have to do enough to kind of almost warrant that sign of respect from opponents. And he's, already getting it. Like, people are going out of his way to try to, like, give him a little nudge after the whistle and stuff. And so the fact that he's already in people's heads like that is quite a testament to the way he's playing. Totally.

Like, you know, I was between the benches for that lightning versus Sabres game. And there was one, I think the second or third period, I can't remember. But Tanner, you know, comes back to the bench and he's just, he gives the bench in a shove. And then he's giving the entire Sabres bench the business. And he's just going off. And every other Sabres player was yelling. at Tanner Genoa, except for Zach Benson, who's just kind of sitting there and smiling. Like, this probably isn't my place.

Like, I'm good. I'm just going to wait for my next shift. And I'm sure that is the most frustrating thing for opponents too. But yeah, again, Swaggy Kid. Like, I saw him actually the hotel where he's staying, you know, we're at the bar after the game grabbing a drink. And he's there not drinking because he's not 21 in the States, but he's wearing this, like, super cool fedora and just looks like he belongs.

And like, I don't know. I just, there's something about him. Like, there's just this it factor where I'm. I think he's unfazed by things. You're right. He's probably getting under people's skin, but he continues to play his game. And if he keeps it up,

he's going to be a star in this league. Yeah, what makes it even more annoying as you see the skill as well. Obviously, he put up such big point totals in junior, but he sets up that goal against Islanders in their second game of the year

off the entry. And it's like, yeah, when you're that good along with that relentless work ethic, that's a pretty good combo for sticking in this league. Any other Sabers notes? Or do you want to go on to the Lightning?

Yeah, no, I just, you know, I was talking about the young core, and I just feel remiss of not mentioning Devin Levi, the fact that they have their goalie of the future who they're playing now. And he came right from college and they're starting him. And their big thing for him is getting him a rhythm. And it's ironic because they're one of the teams that's carrying three goalies right now, basically because they don't want to lose one of the other two in waivers. That's got a budge. I don't believe in teams carrying three goalies. I think it's just, you know, you need the reps.

You need the practice reps. It's just too many. But the fact that Levi is starting, I thought he was really good in that game against the lightning. He was. wasn't allowing a lot of rebounds. They're going to give them a lot of leeway here and the future's there for them in that. Yeah, I mean, and he's already started every game for them, right? Yeah, I'm with you. I don't really believe in the three goalies either, although I will say the origin of that for me was when the Islanders did it with a friend of the show, John Francois Barouba, a handful of years ago.

But yeah, I haven't seen anyone really pull it off. So I'm not expecting that either. Let's go to the lightning because I don't want to overreact. That's a common theme here after four games, and especially with the team with that type of established track record, right? I don't think they're going to panic regardless of what happens for a long time. But when you watch them play and you look at the depth chart, I think beyond just the goaltending, and I think that could be a bit of a cop out because, of course, when you go from Andrevaas Levalski to anyone, but especially in this case, Jonas Johansson and Matt Tompkins,

considering how unproven they are, it's going to be a bit of a drop off. But I think I'm much more worried about what's happening in front of those guys. And so I kind of want to talk a little bit about that and sort of where they go from here because it's been a pretty ugly start to the season after a good opening game where they won at home against the Predators, but the past three games in the road have been pretty tough to watch, I think. Yeah. So the big emphasis for the lightning this year, when I talked to their GM, Julian Brie's ball was improving defensively. They felt like when they were winning the Cups, they were top six to eight defensive team. And last year, that slipped. And they were giving teams way, way, way too many scoring chances. And so they've changed some of their system.

They're really clamping down. And I thought defensively against the Sabres, the Sabres came out really strong. And since then, they adapted and they were pretty good. They missed entering the third period, 17 shots on net, which was just insane. You can't win games when you're just not clicking on that cylinder. It's so apparent that the old core needs to adapt.

And they traded draft picks and their future prospects for Cups. And any general manager would do that, right? You want the success that they had, but now they're starting to pay the price. And, you know, I talked to Julian Bree's spot and he got really defensive when I even alluded to like, oh, you're transitioning to a new court. No, it is the same core. But it's really not. And so I kind of just feel like they're in a team in transition right now.

They're not an identity crisis. Like we know what style they want to play. They know what championship hockey looks like. And if there's any team that I feel has struggled early that has the ability to turn it on, it's them because they've been there. done that. They had the star power in the Braden points of the world, the Sorrelli's, you know, I think Sargachev is blossoming into one of the top defensemen in the league. I really like his play. And the other aspect is they got Andre Vasilewski, who's supposed to come back in December.

And from what I hear should be 100% when he goes. And, you know, we know what Hunter Basilevsky looks like 100%. But right now, it's just kind of hard to watch. And they're just, they're not as dangerous as they used to be. Yeah. I mean, obviously, I think those two guys have combined for an 8,80, say percentage they've given up 17 goals and four games. So that certainly doesn't help matters. But the defensive metrics for the team, as you alluded to, are bottom 10 compared to where they used to be once upon a time. And, you know, on the note of change in defensive system, I think we're going to be hearing this a lot this year. I think both them and the Oilers made kind of some noise with it. And I think it's going to become very in vogue after what Vegas did last year,

where it's kind of switching to the type of zone defensive structure they play, where essentially you just pack the front of your net in the middle of the ice, and you let teams pass the puck on the outside and shoot and rack up shot totals against you, but you don't let them ever actually break through into the high danger areas, right? That sounds all well and good, and I love that as an idea. It's a lot easier when you have Alex Petrangelo, Braden McNab, Shay Theater, Nick Higg, Zach White Cloud, go on and on, compared to some of the depth chart issues this lightning team has in particular.

And so I'm worried about it because it's rare to see them at five on five play the way they did particularly against Detroit and Ottawa in that back to back where they just got absolutely hammered from a shots and chances perspective. And so the other concern for me is, and I wondered whether this would be the case this season without Vasilevsky, they couldn't really kind of ease into stuff, right, and sort of play the long game and just save themselves for the playoffs because you look at the ice time now. headman's backup over 25 minutes a game. I believe Point and Kutrov are both averaging nearly 23 minutes a game. And they don't, John Cooper doesn't really have an alternative, right? It's not like, oh,

I'm just going to rely on other people because they are the guys who they need more than ever. But it's also not ideal with how many miles those guys have on their body and their advancing age to also be asking, you know, Nikita Kutrov to be playing 23 minutes a night in the first week of the season. So I'm not sure what the answer is there. But I think it's kind of one of the, those situations where we monitor it. And if this continues for another couple weeks, then I think

it's going to be time to panic. Yeah. I mean, look, there's a general manager I trust. And one who is very aggressive, very bold, very sneaky. It is Julian Breespaw. And I'm sure he's got a couple contingency plans of, you know, this isn't the year. How can I quickly spin this to be competitive soon? Because he doesn't want to go through a full rebuild. I think it's more of a transition on the fly. But you alluded to it. Like, they've, lost a player a game so far. Tyler Mott was a player. They brought in that they felt like fit their system really well and it sucks. He's, you know, got a hand injury. He's going to be out a couple weeks. They just don't have the death. Like there's no one they can call up that can fill in these

spots and all of a sudden you're looking at their lot of it. It was the first time I'd been to one of their morning skates where like, I'm on the ice and like, I don't recognize some of these faces. Like I don't like I don't know who these guys are. So it's challenging. I would say this though about the group and with a John Cooper led group, their coaching staff, the assistants that John has are all excellent, you know,

whether it's Jeff Blasherl or Jeff Halpern. You know, this is a group that plays with a lot of pride. The early exit they had last year did not sell with a group. I asked John Cooper,

what's your messaging this year? It goes, it's actually really easy because the way last year ended, these guys are pissed. But he wanted in that game against the Sabres for like their frustration

to turn into anger and he just haven't seen them light it up like that yet. I also were a week and a half end of the season. So like it's not the overreaction mode yet, but no, well, I think they're, you know, I think they're trying to rev that engine. It's, uh, it's making some weird noises right now, though.

It's not necessarily, uh, the car is not running the way they're used to. So they might need to, uh, take it into the shop and, uh, and see if, uh, see what's wrong with it. Um, okay, let's switch gears here. So you're doing Black Hawk's avalanche now, right? I am. Yeah, I've got a bunch of Blackhawks skims early. Okay. Well, that's a good pivot for us here to talk a little bit. You want to know why.

Yeah. Yeah. For some reason, this has become a big story this week. I guess just circulating through Toronto, right? And then Taylor Hall's comments kind of come in to his defense. Just the sort of the amount of media hype, I guess, and the amount of tension he's been getting in the first week, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. But for some reason, this seems to be a talking point.

So I guess we should get into it a little bit here. maybe we can talk about just sort of what you've seen and heard from him and other people around the league as well in his first week in NHL. A couple different thoughts here. I don't know if it had ever been explained to the players. And my understanding is Marty Walsh, the new NHL PA head, has been meeting with groups of players and explicitly spelling it out. At the most recent board of governors' meetings, it was explicitly spelled out to the owners.

We need to put our players out there more. We understand it's a team sport. We're always deferring to the team. But if we're going to grow and we're going to not only survive but thrive in the landscape of what professional sports and entertainment look like in 2023, 24, we need personalities. And I think the league might have understood that it whiffed a bit on Connor McDavid of allowing him to hide for the first couple years of his career and not wanting to do things. And they probably could have been a little stronger and saying, no, Connor, you should.

you've got to like this is what our league needs even if it is uncomfortable and even if it's completely against his grain and his personality and i think that's why they've been so aggressive with putting conor badard out there i also want to be sensitive he's an 18 year old kid this is a lot i saw him at vegas media day and it was overwhelming he had just come off of bio steel camp which had a ton of media there he'd come off the work he showcased in dc which i'd never remember that being an event but there's a ton of media there um you know prospects camp the black hawks like all of these people asking him the same questions and he hadn't even played a game

and he was starting to get frustrated by it. But he's been so polite and so well-mannered and doing it anyway because I think he gets it. And you know, I think a lot of players believe that it's self-fish to go and put yourself out there and do those interviews. And opening night, he did a first intermission period interview with me. He did sports and end of the second period.

And then he did me again in the post game. Like, what 18-year-old is doing that? And it's uncomfortable, right? Because these guys are taught it has to be about the team that can seem selfish, I actually think it's selfless because I think if these players realize it's actually selfish not to do these things because you're holding your sport back. If you want hockey-related revenue to grow, like, we need to grow this sport. And you're not taking care of, you know, your teammates who are bitching or complaining.

You might have to leave me out there about best growth. Yeah, I don't know what SportsNet gets. If we get a little funky here, you know, in the next generation, who, you know, can see bigger and better things for the sport. So while it can seem like a lot for the traditionals of the sport, I think this is the way we need to go. And I just wanted to applaud Connor and the Blackcocks for getting it because he's been, you know, I know he didn't meet with the media in Toronto,

but he's been quite accessible for how much attention he's getting. Well, especially in 2023, I think there's enough bandwidth for everyone as well, right? It's not like necessarily like, oh, we're talking about Connor Bardard at the expense of talking about Connor McDavid, I think there's still enough room and excitement for everyone to get a piece of the pie. And I'm with you. I think there's like a rising tides element as well where this is good for the sport, the fact that the number one pick, an 18 year old phenom comes into the league playing for a huge market and immediately from day one, especially performs this well. You're talking about kind of like the amount of attention and the amount of extra work off

the ice and everything. And that would be a very easy excuse to be like, that's why he's underperforming or that's why he's not living up to the hype because of all these other expectations when you watch him play. And I know he's only got the three points and four games so far. But he's playing a ton. He's playing against the other team's best players. Everyone, all the opponents are already treating him as if he's a superstar. And part of that is because there isn't that much talent around him on the Blackhawks team.

And so it's easy to focus on him. And he's still creating as much as he has so far. I think that's just a testament to how bright his future is, how fun of a story. this is going to be to unfold for not just his career, but like this season in particular. And so I think we should be devoting as much attention as we can to it because it's kind of like promoting what's so cool about this game. Totally. And like you said, like he's come in.

Firstly, he's Chicago's best player at 18. Like I watched, he's driving the offense every time he takes a shift. Like when I was in opening night in Pittsburgh, like it felt like the crowd for the penguins was just quiet because they knew something could happen at any moment. and could be dangerous. And that's the same attention that Connor McDavid deserves, that's Sidney Crosby's. Like, that's the superstar attention. And he's really good.

He's fresh. He holds himself to a very high standard. He gets really dialed in during games. I see the way his demeanor changes when he's, you know, not in the realm of the game and when he's out of it. You know, I started to see him lately, you know, smack his stick and slam the benches

because he's frustrating. He's not scoring. And in his eyes, he needs to be scoring goals every game because that's the standard he holds himself to. And his shot is, you know, his most blessed attribute. And that's what got him here at the same time. He's for, you know, the height that he has, he's really strong. He's strong on the puck.

In camp when I was talking to the guys, like, Corey Perry is like, you should see some of the plays that he's making, his vision, his creativity there. He's got all the tools to be a superstar. And so, you know, we're giving him a ton of attention early. I think he deserves it. I think he's going to develop into a superstar into the, league and, you know, he's going to have to deal with those ebbs and flows of pro hockey where you're not going to score every night or sometimes you're going to feel like you played poorly, but the team won and you got to be happy about that also.

But he'll understand. He's mature. He'll get it. I mean, let me give you a little stats dump here just to illustrate that point. So he's playing 21 minutes and 12 seconds per game. With him on the ISFI-15, the Blackhawks are out shooting opponents 39 to 36. When he's off the ISFI-15, they're getting outshot 76 to 46. in the four road games, his most common head-to-head opponents were Crosby,

Marchand, Matthews, and Malkin. And so he's getting the full-on treatment as the team's best player, and he's still crushing it in those minutes. He hasn't even scored yet. You mentioned that shot, and we've seen him release it a couple times. He still hasn't even scored off of that yet, right? His only goal was that wraparound. That's coming.

And the fact that he's already been such a threat where he's top five in the league and attempts, chances, shots on goal, and he still hasn't actually been able to turn that into goals yet. That's only a matter of time. And so I guess I feel bad for you if you're already sick of hearing about it because I think we're going to be talking about it a lot more. Emily, let's take our break here. And then when we come back, I've got a couple other topics that I want to hit with you. You're listening to the Hockey Pee-O cast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. Your number one spot for Flames coverage can be found on Flames Talk with me, Pat Steinberg. Exclusive interviews, trusted insiders, and the latest news. Listen live weekday afternoons at four

or stream the Flames Talk podcast on demand. All right, we're back here in the Hockey Pedyocast, joined by Emily Kaplan. Emily, let's talk about the penguins who you saw on opening night against the Blackhawks when they played Connor Bardard.

It's been a, I've enjoyed the first four games from them, right? I was very curious to see, considering all the widespread changes they made in the off season and how sort of disappointing the end of last year was. I was curious to see how they bounced back, how it all fit. I think it's still a bit of a work

in progress in terms of trying to sort of immerse everyone and trying to figure out how to get the most out of both Carlson and Latang in terms of usage. And we've seen them experiment with having both of them on the top unit power play, sometimes getting them out of 515 together in offensive situations in the O zone. I'm sure they'll hammer that out as the year it goes along. But I think the first four games are pretty encouraging in terms of what they're seeing, especially with what high at how high of a level Malkin himself is playing. because if him and Crosby are going to continue to be this good,

then obviously it helps make everything else in terms of adjustments a lot smoother. Yeah, so ahead of opening night, which did not go their way. They completely led up against the Chicago Blackhawks, lump them up, sent them in their own building. I've been around the Penguins a lot the last couple of years. We broadcast a ton of their games. I had never seen Mike Sullivan that happy. He was like downright, but like so just esthetic.

about the team and all the changes of the off season. And they knew what they had last year, got stale. And he knew he didn't have the depth. And he was just braking. He's like, my bottom six now, it finally has an identity. Like, I know who they are. And obviously, you know, you're excited about bringing in a player like Carlson. And I think Crosby and Malkin, who were so dependable last year.

And they both stayed healthy and just didn't get the support. And now you're like, holy cow, there's opportunity for them to return to who they should be. The one question, though, is Carlson. And I think it's going to be a work in progress because when I think of the penguins, I think of a North-South team and that's the way they want to play. And Carlson, for all of his career, has been a guy that freelances. Sometimes he wants to go this way. Sometimes he wants to go there.

And you don't quite know. And how does that fit into the very regimented system that Mike Sullivan and his assistant coaches like to run? All of that said, all of this optimism around the penguins is incredible. And I think the only reason they're going to miss the playoffs this year is of goaltending doesn't hold up and that is Tristan Shari cannot stay healthy, which as we know, given his history is a big if. But this is a team that is trying to maximize their window with Crosby and Malkin. Dubus came in and did some magic and we'll see where they go.

I'm not surprised to hear that about Mike Sullivan because it was very evident towards the end of last year how fed up he was with the bottom six personnel he was given. And it was very perplexing because they weren't really players that fit the mold of what Mike Sullivan likes from his bottom six. And so they completely renovated that, right? And you can see in the early going with how he's using the players. Like the face-off stats are amusing, like how extreme his deployment is where he's getting Malkin and Crosby to a slightly lesser extent, but still pretty much exclusively out

for offensive zone draws. And then whenever it's in their own, it's either Eller or Achari, right? And he's relying on those guys to do exactly that. Now, it is a little bit concerning to me. think part of like, it was like, okay, we're going to bring in Carlson, he'll give us a bit of an infusion offensively. They're still very, very reliant for scoring on those top two lines, right? I believe they don't have a single goal so far out of anyone in their bottom six. And it just demoted Jansson Harkins. A big point of emphasis for them was getting more depth.

And so they like fill their HL with bottom six NHL players essentially. So I think they're going to sort of circulate through that and see if someone can help them a little bit in that regard. While Malkin and Crosby are healthy and they're on quite a run now where they're As you said, they didn't miss a single game last year. They're healthy right now. They're playing really well. It's all well and good. I am a little bit worried on just how reliant they are in those two guys for scoring

because they just aren't getting literally anything from anyone else. And so that's someone to watch for, but that's kind of a concern for another day, I guess, because they're still really good and they're performing. I mean, we need to give Malk in some respect, like how well he's humming, especially with Riley Smith in year 18. When he's on his game, no one can stay in front of him or take the puck from him.

and it's really fun to watch. So I wanted to give him his flowers and kind of shout that out. And I'm going to keep watching this team. I really want to see how they're going to integrate Carlson and how they're going to be able to get the most out of all these guys. Totally. You look, Malkin is not an easy player to play with.

Mike Sullivan told that to us directly. He knows, you kind of figure it out and you get a guy with hockey IQ like Riley Smith. That's a slam dunk move. I really like what Kyle Dubas did in this offseason. I'm saying we need to change up this roster, are assigning so many guys to PTOs where there was a real sense of competition at camp,

which I think set the tone and set the energy. And now if you look at their Wilkeshire roster, you know, you mentioned it. You've got guys like Vinnie Hinoistroza and Colin White, guys with like a couple hundred NHL games that you can all of a sudden call up and plug in. That is not the position they were in last year.

Now, the question is, you know, we're talking about this year. What does the next couple years look like? And, you know, you talked about scoring. Like the one guy that do depend on on goals is Jake Gensel. And I have full belief he's going to score. You know, he came back from an ankle surgery. Way ahead of schedule.

He's just super determined to get back out there. You know, they put their contract talks with him on hold because I think Dubus wants to see what this team is this year before he starts committing out some dollars. And I think that should tell you all you need to know about his fear of what this looks like a couple years down the road. But right now they're all in. Yeah, as they should be.

When you have Malkina-Crosby and they're playing still this well, it would be upset. to do anything else. Okay, anything else on the penguins or do you want to? Yeah, you just mentioned to the usage. Like I remember last year the biggest storyline was like we'd get into games and they were completely overtaxing Chris Lattang. Like they needed him in all situations and he's a fitness freak.

Like he loves those. But he would even admit that his play would deteriorate when he's starting to get into like the 25, 26 minute range. And so now that they have Carlson, you know, and also Graves is another guy that it seems like they're really depending on early that totally opens things up for Todd Reardon who runs their defense. Yeah, I really, I know they lost in Detroit last night. I really enjoyed that Carlson performance where they're down for one and they basically are like, all right, we're just going to go full out here and try to get back in this game.

And they were just living in the offensive zone. I think he had 12 shot attempts, played like 28 minutes at three points. It was the full air Carlson experience. So I enjoyed that. Okay, you're in Colorado. Let's talk a little about the avalanche. So I got this question from Blake Wheeler 08 on Twitter or on X, I should say, Blake Wheeler, a friend of the show apparently, asks,

the a abs aren't being talked about as much as other teams to win the cup. Is that justified or do you think the abs should be right up there at the top of the list? I guess that would be relative in terms of who you're listening to because it feels like the abs are being framed as right there into discussion, right? I know last year was a disappointing finish of season losing and round one to the cracking, but it still feels like, especially while they're healthy, if McKinnon and McCar are in the lineup, they're going to be very tough to beat and they're right there with all the other teams as favorites. I don't know. How do you feel about that? Yeah, I mean,

I just left their morning skiing. I was going around the locker room and there's a lot of new faces. There's a lot of new blood, but they improved. You know, last year, they ran into so much injury trouble. Even when McKinnon was out, they found away, honestly, because McCarar, obviously, but McKin, well, Rantonin went into monster mode. He did. And he just, you know, completely turn things up. But I don't, you know, it's every team thinks that their teams being slighted. I don't see a situation where I'm not considering them as one of the top five teams in this league.

I don't until they prove me otherwise. They're just that good. Their high-end talent is so high-end. And they've got the depth. And, you know, I think Jared Bednar is probably one of the most underrated coaches in this league. I just I love the way he coaches. I love his demeanor. I think his adjustments are bang on.

I think the way that he gets the most out of players is as good as anyone. You now see him have his own coaching tree, right? Spencer Carberry is one of his guys is now getting his chance in Washington with for Spencer Carver. That's not a great first assignment. It's a tough roster to have to deal with, you know, as they're in transition. But I'll give the Colorado Abilands the flowers that you're looking for. They're fantastic hockey team.

Well, and Vegas has as well. they're currently tied with the hurricanes at plus 900 as co-favorants for the Stanley Cup. So I don't think they're being slept on necessarily. I guess just because they won the cup two years ago, it's kind of, we're always looking for the next team or whatever. But I think it's pretty clear. They're very good. I mean, through the first three games on the road, they took care of business, 10 to 4, goal differential. And that top line is sort of reminding you that it's just, it's frequently dominant,

especially now, you know, they can have Druent up there. They experimented in Seattle with putting Val Matruchkin up there and mixing it up. I think there's more talent and more speed throughout this lineup. That was very clear at the end of last year that if McKinnon's line wasn't out there and producing, they just had no other backup options. Now all of a sudden, I think they have other guys who can chip in and create. And so, yeah, it's a really good team. If anything, I just want to see them in Vers Vegas with both teams at full strength to see

how that series would play out. But I guess that's a conversation for another day. Yeah, for sure. I mean, look, Vegas was my preseason pick for the cup. because when do you ever see the returning Stanley Cup champions, return the exact same roster minus one player? And the way they played at the end of the year, I just felt like they deserved that,

plus they got an extra goaltender. But Colorado should be right up there with it. Like you said, I think speed was addressed, depth was addressed. If they get Gabe Landisog in the playoffs, you get a special X factor. You know, I'll have a report in tonight's game. The more I understand about what he is going through,

I think they're going to take a more cautious this approach. I don't know what Gabe Landisog is going to return. I think they really want to make sure that whatever they do doesn't jeopardize the rest of his career. But even just that hanging over them, that swagger of knowing you have that X factor. It's pretty cool. Yeah. Well, Vegas hasn't done anything to dissuade me from feeling good about them as well, right? I think five goals against in their first four games this season. So yeah, they're pretty good too. Okay. Enthused Kyle asks, what's wrong with Timel Meyer? So you were in, you, jersey for their opener.

So far this season, three games, zero points, four shots on goal for Tim O'Meyer. He got benched in the most recent game by Lindy Ruff and only played 11 minutes as they were trying to mount that frantic comeback that came very close against the Florida Panthers. What's wrong with Timelmire? Nothing. Nothing's wrong with Timel Meyer. I think, look, sometimes it's against a situation where expectations, both internally, but mostly externally can get away with you.

And sometimes that affects the player. And I do wonder where his confidence level is at right now because there was so much talk about him last year. This was the player that the devil's targeted. The fan base wanted him. We all knew they were talking about it. They gave up a ton for him, even though that's really against, you know, Fitzgerald's M.O.

as a general manager where he's trying to build patiently and try to trust the system and trust the process. And he comes in and, you know, he's a really good player. He's a star player at this league. But, you know, he had his first. 40 goal season. He's hit 30 a couple times, but he really doesn't stay healthy in most of his career. And, you know, this is kind of who he's been. And I think he's going to go through some stretches where it doesn't work out for him. But I also think he's going to go through some stretches where he

looks absolutely fantastic. I think you just need a little bit of patience. And as for an early benching, sure, it's really jarring to see, right? Like, holy cow, one of our star players doesn't play an entire period. What's going on? I think this is Lindy Rough saying, like, look, we're the New Jersey Devils and we're a Stanley Cup contender this year. We cruise through the preseason. We're coming up all the highs of last season of exceeding expectation. Like, I've got to show these guys like, you know, what the standard is. And if you're not going to live up to it, like, you know, you kind of need that kick in the butt. So I think it's way too early to panic. If we're still having this conversation a month from now and he's having struggle scoring and he just doesn't quite look like

himself and his ice time is down. Yeah, then I'm worried about Timel Meyer, but right now I think things are just fine. Yeah, I'm going to go out and guess that Kyle here, maybe Owens Timel Meyer in a fantasy league or something and was expecting a lot more and that's why it's disappointed. But here's a stat for you. So Timom Myers played 46 minutes this season. No one has scored a goal in those minutes. Not him, not anyone on the New Jersey Devils, not anyone against them. There has nothing has happened, which is remarkable. He plays with Nico Hissier. He also has zero points in his 57 minutes. So yeah, I think it's fair to bet on the bounce back for all those. guys because not only are they really good themselves, but we know the devils are a really good high octane offensive team. And so that's going to come. I guess one thing I did want to flag here as a potential concern in terms of the production is in watching all of these devils broadcast, their home broadcasts, every time they go in the power play, it keeps making the note that they really want to sort of diversify their top two units this year and not just load up everyone on the top one.

And so they're essentially splitting it down the middle based on how they use their forward lines. And so unfortunately for Meyer and his year, that means they're not on the unit with Brad and Hughes. And I don't necessarily, I get the theory. Like they have so many good players that it's almost impossible to fail. Like anyone that's on the ice out of those top two lines will give you a good chance of scoring with them in advantage. I generally prefer teams going down the route of you pick your five best offensive players

that make sense together and you just give those guys 90% of the power play time or as long as they can stay out there for the full two minutes. And in this case, they're kind of going 65, 35, 35, or even 60, 40. And so in terms of the scoring, it might not be necessarily what you're used to from guys like Meyer and Hishir if that continues. So maybe if you're playing in a fantasy league, that's a bit disappointing. But just in terms of like the devil's perspective, I think they'll be fine because someone, someone good is going to be out there and goals will be coming.

Yeah, that's a great point. I mean, when we have the game, I had their season opener in Jersey and we asked Lindy Ruff actually our play-by-play guy, Mike Monaco did, like, what are you calling these two units and he said you know in Canada how we have the word a we've got two a's um and it's an interesting approach like you said but when jack hughes is on the ice no matter the situation whether it's five and five that's the a unit yeah yeah that's the a unit and that looks different and that is way more dangerous than what he's not and so timo mire is not playing with jack hues his opportunities to contribute to goals decrease yeah yeah that's yeah you're on the a unit

You're not actually out there with Jack Hughes, but don't worry about it. You're the A. Yeah, yeah. Meanwhile, like tapping on the back and then just like winking at Jack Hughes, like, you know, you're the actual eight unit. All right. Do you have any other notes from the first week around the league? Or do you have anyone that you haven't seen yet that you have on the upcoming

broadcast schedule that you're excited to kind of be in the ring between the benches four? Because there's obviously been a lot going on this season, trying to keep up with all the games. The schedule. doesn't make it easy because it's like two games on one night and then everyone else is playing the next night and then two games again. And so on the busy nights, it's really tough to keep up. Is it crazy how like Turner just has all those games with the two nights and when our ESPN for whatever schedule of God reasons, we get the 17. But, you've got some pretty good games. Oh,

I guess maybe we should plug the, what is it, October 24th. Yeah, I'll be in Chicago that day. We've got the, yeah, Bruins at the Blackhawks. And Bruins are one of the teams that I'm really curious about just how different they look from last year. A lot of people are predicting regression. And I'm not so sure. Like, we'll see. You know, and I want to see this new kid.

They've got us their second line center. But it's the day we've all been waiting for, the staggered start times, all the teams in action. We're going to have like a red zone hosted by John Bucci Gras at ESPN. So that day is going to be killer. And I'm super pumped for it. With the staggered ice times.

I love that. Also, I told me. I landed in Buffalo the other night. It was like five games. on and the second I land, all of them at four minutes left in the third period. Yeah, it's very frustrating, especially living out here on the West Coast on the best coast with the, I'm up to watch games at any point in the night.

And when there's no late games, it's very frustrating. I was going to say that was a very vet moved by you saying the second, the second line center on the Bruins, not having to try to pronounce his last name because I haven't had the opportunity to meet him yet to ask him he does it. but the French-sounding name that starts with a P. Yeah. How are you liking all the, because you've been doing it for a while now, but do you feel like your process is changing at all in terms of doing the on-the-bench interviews,

whether it's during the game or at intermissions or whatever or after the game? Like, are you like trying to incorporate new stuff, how it's the work? Because obviously, I think, and you would agree yourself, like it's a difficult spot where especially in-game, it's going to be tough to actually get anything very insightful because not only are they just locked in on the game, but also it doesn't really behoove them to give you anything that could actually be leveraged against them in the future. But at the same time,

you don't want to just go with like the full cliches because we actually want to use that time to our advantage and get something that we otherwise couldn't out of them. So it's kind of like a tough, tough line to walk or whatever. Yeah. I think my biggest benefit now going into year three is just having so much familiarity with the guys. And I know now certain personnel,

of what to ask them, what to get the most out of them. You know, we have a little rapport. Like, they've seen me on the road now for a bit. You know, we've started to get to know each other. So that's probably, you know, the biggest change for me is just the comfort level, both for me to them and them to me. Because I think I also have asked questions a little differently than they've been used to. And I'm a little more pointed.

You know, like for Boudard, for example, like big picture stuff or generics, you're never going to get something good. But like, if I ask him about a specific play, he might give me some detail. So, like, you just start to get a. feel for that type of stuff. And I think that's how I've adapted. Well, I love it. You're doing a great job. The listener, the PDOCast listeners certainly agree as well because I tweeted out asking for questions. And a lot of people said, no question. Just wanted to say Emily's the best. So passing that along, Emily.

You must have a lot of Canadian nice-knit listeners. Well, we do. We have listeners everywhere, though. The PDOCast has gone international. So we're getting listeners everywhere, but they're very polite. And they're very smart and educated fans, too. So I'm not surprised to hear that they're big fans of yours as well. Emily, I'll let you plug some stuff on the way out. Let the listeners know where they can check you out, what games and what broadcasts you're going to be on here the next week.

Give us all that good stuff. Very kind. You get me on game five of my opening week and then I've got like one game the next week. But we'll promote the Frozen Frenzy the October 24th. I'll be in Chicago that day against the Bruins. And yeah, you can just catch all our coverage.

We have a great show called The Point. It's a news magazine show. It's on ESPN2, typically leading into games on Tuesdays. You can catch it on ESPN Plus if you miss it. And that's where a lot of our in-depth storytelling and interviews land. Awesome, Emily. Well, let's not let two years go between the next time we have you on the show.

Hopefully we'll have you on again soon and keep up the great work with your busy schedule. Thank you to the listeners. We're listening to us. Go smash that five-star button wherever you listen to the show and leave us a nice little review. And we'll be back with plenty more of the HockeyPedio cast, as always, streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network.