The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Mike Maniscalco on the Hurricanes Journey to Becoming Stanley Cup Champions

Starting point is 00:00:01 With that, we get to the play-by-play voice of the Carolina Hurricanes, Mike Manscalco, who joins me now to talk about the Stanley Cup champion hurricanes. Mike, first of all, thanks so much for stopping by. Thanks for being patient. I wanted to make sure that Aaron Ward got in that beautiful story about Bob Miguel and Okanagan hockey. And that's such a beautiful thing. But let's open up this one with you here. What is the lesson of the Carolina Hurricanes?

Starting point is 00:00:24 Every year, it's like, okay, a team wins the Stanley Cup. And it's like, okay, so what are these other teams going to try to emulate? how are they going to be successful? What's from your point of view? And you know this team a lot better than us. You're right there with it. What is the lesson of the Carolina hurricanes? That if you put in the work and believe in what you're doing, it pays off.

Starting point is 00:00:45 And I know that's Hokie, Jeff. I really do. But, you know, this is a team that when Rod Rendemore took over as a head coach eight years ago, when people were talking about, you know, the word culture gets thrown around a lot. He was talking about a work ethic in a standard of how you have to play and carry yourself. And, you know, Aaron was talking about, you know, Bob McGill and, you know, it's caring about others and putting that kind of feeling in the room. And that's what this team is. If you look at how this team acts off of the ice and interacts with each other, they're close.

Starting point is 00:01:17 You know, there's that. And again, you don't have to love everybody in order to win, but it certainly helps when you're willing to, you know, all right, for this guy, I'm going to lay down in front of the shot, or I'm going to do this, or, you know, I don't feel great today, but I'm going to find a B game to get to. And the lesson for, I think, everybody who's out there is, you know, just because you don't win the whole thing doesn't mean that you're not doing good things and building your way to getting that way. And, you know, honestly, for this run for the eight years,

Starting point is 00:01:46 you got to take a look at the teams that knocked Carolina out of the playoffs, chap, they went to the Stanley Cup final, right? Or they went to the conference final. It's not like they were getting beat in the first round. So for me, that's the lesson that if you stick with it and you, you believe in in what you're doing, it pays off. And in this group, I hate using the word deserved. I really do.

Starting point is 00:02:06 This group deserved to win the Stanley Cup. You know, it's an interesting, and I don't, listen, you go 16 and three. Like, you leave no doubt, right? Like, there wasn't like one of those like, oh, half a puck here, half a puck there. And they could have been out in the second round. Like, no. Like, it was convincing, like, all the way through the Eastern Conference and the Stanley Cup final. And it seemed as if, like, did it feel this way to you, Mike?

Starting point is 00:02:28 I really felt that game four things changed for the Carolina Hurricanes. And you saw it right through the game where it felt like the Carolina Hurricanes really figured out how to play against Vegas. And you saw the confidence build and grow all throughout that game. And it was almost as if the Carolina Hurricane said, okay, now we got it. You know, I was speaking to T.J. O'Shee this morning on the Hockey Lifeers podcast. And we're talking about playing Vegas. and he said when the Caps won the Stanley Cup, he said he knew in game one that they were going to win

Starting point is 00:03:04 because he felt that they were already in the process of breaking. Guys were already yelling at each other. Guys had their head down on face-offs. Guys would come to the bench and slouch. He's like, he would go back to the bench and say, guys, we've already broken them. And it seemed like in this series, Carolina started to break Vegas in,

Starting point is 00:03:24 in game four. Do you see it the same way? Close. I want to rewind it about a period or so back. I think it started to happen in the third period in game three when they came back when they were down four nothing. And they scored three goals in 39 seconds. And Vegas is thinking, Vegas is thinking this game is over. We're on Easy Street. We're going to cruise to game

Starting point is 00:03:47 number four. And all of a sudden they're like, what the hell? We have to put, we got to keep playing. And then it goes to overtime. time. And, you know, I think the one thing, and I always joke, I owe Justin Williams a dollar every time I say this. And it's, so I think I owe him about a million dollars. But he talked about in a playoff series, you have to let the opponent know how hard it is to beat you. And then you just got a way on them. And you wait until one of their legs gives out. And I think that when the Keynes came back with four goals in the third period, remember, it was the Mitch Marner show in the second period. I mean, it was. Four records. Four records that game. Four records. Any show records. Unreal. I mean, we're doing stuff like, you know, Wayne Gretzky hasn't done. That's what you're talking about amazing things. And I just go back to that. And I think in that third period, where Carolina, you know, other teams could have just said, you know what? Screw it. Save the energy. We're going to move on to game four. We'll scrap it. No, they just kept coming after them. And I can use one of my favorite line. I've got all the lines for you right now, Jeff. That's go for it. Today's a day. In Rocky 2, when Apollo's manager tells him he doesn't want him to fight Rocky in the second fight.

Starting point is 00:04:59 And all I have in my head is that line of, I've seen you beat this man. Like, no man has been beaten before. And he kept coming after you. And that's what Carolina does. They just keep coming after you. So I think the seeds of doubt were planted in that third period in game number three. And it was a good win for Vegas to get the win. I think if they would have lost in overtime giving up a four-goal lead,

Starting point is 00:05:22 I don't know if we get to a game six. But I think that's where it started. And then game four was where Carolina played Carolina hockey all the way through for 60 minutes. And like, this is how hard it's going to be to win this series if you're Vegas. You know, it's, I want to get ahead of ourselves here. And I will circle back to what we saw last night. But I want to make sure I got one thing in here. And that is what's next for the Carolina hurricanes.

Starting point is 00:05:53 and it's pretty easy to look at this roster and go like, they're going to run it back, right? Like, they're going to run this thing back. And then I come back to this idea. Listen, Glenn Say, they would talk about this with the Oilers in the 80s when they were like the best team in the universe. And he would say, like, every year you have to change 10 to 15% just to keep it fresh.

Starting point is 00:06:14 And we always talk so much about rings in the room, right? Rings in the room. You've got to have rings in the room if you're going to win. Carolina's got a lot of rings in the room now. A lot of rings in the room. and how do you keep it fresh is bringing in guys that don't have rings. I've heard this from so many players that have won with the team that you need to have a mix of guys that have won once you've won the Stanley Cup. And also, younger players that haven't.

Starting point is 00:06:40 Just in order to have like that fresh inspiration for, you know what, this guy's never won it. That's why he's working like this. You know, so whether it's like Bradley Nadeau or whomever, like, do you see Carolina make you, many changes because one of the things that we've learned about Eric Tulski is, and this is the lesson I think of the salary cap, and that is, if you have a chance to improve your team,

Starting point is 00:07:03 Mike, even if it's just slightly in a salary cap role, you have to do it. A lot of GMs don't, but Tulski is one of those guys that it's like, if I can improve this team, it doesn't matter, I'm going to improve this team. Yeah, I mean, his motto is he hasn't done his job until

Starting point is 00:07:19 the 20 players who they dress are the best 20 players in the national hockey league. So I wouldn't say the word many, but I think you, if you've learned anything from what this group is done with Eric is the general manager, they'll take big swings. They'll try to make the ad that's out there to make them better. And it's the margins now. And I'm glad that you brought up a player like Bradley Nadeau. They've got young guys now in Chicago who, you know, they're trying to win the Calder Cup,

Starting point is 00:07:48 which would be amazing if they could to do the double. but they've got young guys who are hungry who are pushing the guys in the NHL for spots. And yeah, I just don't think that they're ever satisfied. And, you know, we'll see how this offseason is going to play out. But I can assure you that this group isn't just going to sit on their hands and party all summer, at least in the front office. They're going to be looking at ways to, how can we, okay, how can we add to this team?

Starting point is 00:08:11 What can we do? What was missing that could make us even more of a machine than what we were for this season? How long do you think Tomash Hurdle will have nightmares about Bussie? Oh, until he wins another Stanley Cup, right? Isn't that going to be the only way you exercise those demons? Holy geez. What a performance. Like, what a great story.

Starting point is 00:08:33 Like, I'll tell you, I've been saying this, you know, all last night and all today for anyone who will listen to me. I always say to myself, it's not going to happen to me in the Stanley Cup final. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to fall for it. And that's the cutaway shot to the parents and the wife. And I'm always like, nope, I got a heart in my heart. And I've seen it a million times.

Starting point is 00:08:50 And yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the same thing every year. But when I saw the cutaways to Bussie's folks and his wife as well, I just live in every single emotion that every family member feels when the puck enters the goaltender zone. I fell for it again. Hookland sinker. Mom's crying.

Starting point is 00:09:07 Dad's got a tear. Wife's going crazy. Do you have a thought on the Bussie story? Yeah. You try to sell this to Hollywood and they're like, no, we don't make scripts like this anymore. That's the story. his family is so nice and uh you know for him i think the one thing that we take for granted is he was 27 years old chep so um he wasn't he wasn't a young guy and he wasn't starstruck by the moment like

Starting point is 00:09:33 he put in his time he put in his time in providence and you know he won down there he basically if you take a look he he won everywhere that he was at like regular season wins and then what he did this year uh to backstop this team with 31 wins in the regular season and how many guys guys do you know can sit for 54 days. And then like, okay, we're going to put you in the Stanley Cup and go win it for us. I do think, and that's the other part when you talk about when the series changed, when Brandon Bussie came in in that third period in game number three. And I thought it was genius of Paul Sean Felder, the goaltending coach and Rod Brindamore to, don't yank Freddie in the middle of a period. You start the period with Brandon and give him a chance to get

Starting point is 00:10:12 accustomed to it. But everything for him is a learning experience, wins and losses. And, and, you know, bus trips and plane rides. It's, he just, he just soaks it all in. And he transfers it to the ice. He's got this great demeanor. And his dad, it's funny, is last night, his parents come up to me on the ice, and his dad is like,

Starting point is 00:10:33 I need to meet Trip Tracy because I want to talk, goaltending the trip. And, you know, that's, I think, I think that sums it out perfectly, Jeff, what it is. And much like, much like Greg, I have to catch a bus to get to a plane. So they will leave me here. They will leave here in Vegas.

Starting point is 00:10:50 I got time for one more. Okay, one more quick one here. I want to ask about this. I have a soft spot in my heart for players that go down to play in the ECHL and make their way back up. We just talked about Bussie. I also have a sauce for my heart for guys that play junior sea hockey in Ontario. And I think of Sean Walker, who as I grabbed the sheet last night at the end of the game, 23 minutes and 50 seconds leads all Carolina hurricanes and ice time, playing at bowling green,

Starting point is 00:11:13 didn't have a contract. I think he met his agent at a funeral who knew Rob Blake with the last. Los Angeles Kings, a flyer there. Next thing you know, he's with the Hurricanes, and now he's a Stanley Cup champion. Before you get to the bus, a quick thought on Walker. Most unsung member of this team. And I'll go back to the start of this season

Starting point is 00:11:32 when Jacob Slavin plays two games and then he misses a good majority of it. He only played 40 games this year. Sean Walker went from playing about 17 minutes a night last year for Carolina to about 21, 22 minutes a night. He's physical, he blocks shots, he's quiet, he doesn't complain about his job he's a great skater and again i can put jalen chatfield in that box too jeff if you want great stories of waivers yeah of guys who had of guys who had to earn it and you talked

Starting point is 00:12:00 about you know young guys hungry guys to win i think the teams need to have guys who had to fight to get to the nchl that it wasn't they were the number one pick in the o hl they were the top recruit you have guys in that locker room who do not take being an n hl player for granted for one second and sean walker I could have easily said for the regular season the points weren't there but he could have been in the MVP candidacy for the team just because of the minutes and how he plays and he plays every night and he's available

Starting point is 00:12:28 and he's just a hell of a hockey player and you saw in this series you know there will carry gets big hits but Sean Walker when he hits and when he's physical on that back end he was a difference maker in this series he was listen tell Mike Sunheim I apologize for keeping you along

Starting point is 00:12:44 if that's if that's who's getting you To the bus here. You be good. Safe travels. And listen, always great catching up. And congratulations to you in the entire Carolina Hurricanes organization. Same, Jeff. Appreciate it.

Starting point is 00:12:57 And let me know when I can really start enjoying this because this is all surreal right now with what's going on. And I'm working on about nine minutes of sleep, which is fun too. That's about nine minutes more than you probably should have. What's wrong with you? Come on. Let's go. Endurance test. Okay, but always appreciate it.

Starting point is 00:13:14 Thanks so much for doing this. Really appreciate this. Congratulations. You got it. Thanks, yeah.

The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Mike Maniscalco on the Hurricanes Journey to Becoming Stanley Cup Champions

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