The Steve Dangle Podcast - Cou16a H4difin | March 3, 2018

Episode Date: March 4, 2018

On this episode, come see us live at Puck Talks on April 7th (00:00), Melnyk, Karlsson and the Sens (03:00), the Canucks, Jim Benning, and Elliotte Friedman (18:00), the Oilers and Bobby Nicks (38:00), will Kyle Dubas be GM of the Leafs next year? (44:00), the Leafs v Caps outdoor game (54:00), Drew Doughty is in trouble (1:06:00), a really, really, really, big poutine (1:17:00), the worst song you will ever hear, (1:21:00), and the press conference: Polak, Hunwick, Ovi, and blue lines (1:27:00). Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/iMIpZxyibiA Merch: https://teespring.com/en-GB/stores/fancydangleshirts Follow us on Twitter: @Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake Follow us on Instagram: @SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake Subscribe to us on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/steve-dangle-podcast/id669828195?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Panago Pizza presents S.C.P. Cool Food Checkpoint. The Steve Dangle Podcast with your hosts, Steve Dangle and Adam Wilde. Before we take a deep dive into Lake Eugene. Wow, that's a good intro. A deep dive into Lake Eugene. I think there's something we need to talk about and that's the fact that the Steve Dangle Podcast is finally getting together with Puck Talks. So I heard. Steve was blissfully unaware.

April the 7th, Saturday, it is the last home game of the year. We're going to talk before the game, so doors are at 5. We're going to do the show at 5.30, and then it's a bar, so you can hang out and do whatever you want afterwards. It's Saturday night. What do you do? Anyway. Yeah, when the game starts, the event is technically over, so we don't get in trouble.

Yes. So, yeah, it'll be our first. I think this is our first. Is it our first Steve Dangle podcast live? We did one at a Panago Pizza where maybe a dozen people came and Dave Alter for some reason. That's right. Well, it wasn't a dozen people came. It was that we invited a dozen people.

We had a limit. People won the prize. Didn't we make them pizza too or something like that? Yeah, you guys made pizza. You went behind the desk. That's cool. And we did a dough tossing competition. It's a little weird that it's taken this long to do a live show again, but it'll be a live show in front of people.

Imagine that. So that'll be fun. that's April 7th if you want to RSVP and come tickets are free homestand.ca you know I thought

it took the Leafs a little while to fire Dave Nones but once they did boy did they really turn that franchise around so this is our first one it's 255 Bremner Boulevard

Boulevard it's the rec room it's next to or no it's connected to Steam Whistle yeah which I mean if you're from Toronto

you for sure know where that is so and you also have the internet I'm confident that you will find a way to get here

I'm sure you'll find it I just said Homestand.ca if you want RSVP and come out. I think it's going to be a blast. And we've got other stuff we'll reveal. You think it'll suck? Yeah, it's going to fail. It's homestand.com.

Oh, no. I was told homestand.ca. It says .ca on sports.com. Well, it says homestand.ca on the official RSVP. We'll have to talk to Mr. Kennedy about that. Homestand.ca also works. Ah! There you go.

See, you can use all the URLs that Jesse... You know what would have been cool is just leaving it at homestand.ca. It's going to be great. I needed to see if Did you Steve this, Adam? I didn't Steve this. I believe Jesse Steve this.

Oh, you Steve this. I'm the one who's checking to see if this actually works. Well, I mean, it does say so on the Facebook invite that I'm currently looking at. Just to confirm,

Steve didn't Steve this? Mm-hmm. Wow. It's all right. It's only because we didn't give you time to. I'm sure we would've got there. I'm trying to RSVP.

Homespucktalks.com Or Or you. Let's see here. To our valued Senators supporters, this has been a disappointing season for our team. Our place in the standing speaks for itself. Trust me, no one is more aware of this and more frustrated by it than I am. But one challenging year does not define our team.

And if anything, the commitment to reestablish our great franchise and reclaim our place atop the NHL standing should unite all Senators fans, partners, and season seat members. now is the time for us to focus on the future rather than dwelling on this difficult season who's that from that's from signed eric carlson that is from the president of the ottawa senators i would love to know who wrote it well i i would i want to know how the president of the ottawa senators gets that job who did he apply to i wonder uh i think he applied to some guy who has a cottage on lake eugene he applied to danny heatley and he said can i please yeah no good for him I mean whatever he's doing the right PR move

this to me is the this is the PR change in Eugene Melnick this is the pivot is it not for now we're going to be like wow Eugene is the most beloved man in Ottawa he could run for mayor absolutely not you don't think so no dude we give it

two weeks to marinate until the next thing happens like it's going to be interesting to see how he finds a way to sneak back into the spotlight after the trade deadline with a team that's destined not to make the playoffs. It's going to happen. How's it going to happen? I can't wait to find out. You think so?

I can't wait to see. I can't wait to hear about it on Tim and Sid. I can't wait. I feel like we're going to we're going to hear a ton of rumors about Eric Carlson heat up as soon as the second round hits. First round there just won't be room. It's the second round because the first round is like a demolition derby. It's just like 12 cars going

bang, bang, bang, bang or 16 and then and then you know then there's like room for headlines in the second and third rounds. It starts. Because it's like, well, you know, in between games, we've got to talk about something, and, you know, there's only so many games on tonight, and then towards the Stanley Cup finals, it's like, oh, we're close to a deal on Eric Carlson.

And that heats up in the Stanley Cup final big time, yeah. Because it's right before the draft, there isn't a game every day, and all the journalists get together, and they basically drink in whatever city they're in, and they get a little punchy. You know what I heard. Ha! Ha! Ha! This friggin'

moment! We're two weeks away for vacation here. Enjoy your Stanley Cup. One of you is going to be gone in the next three days, suckers. And they can smell it. Yep. They can smell it. And they just want to go home, and they're ready to blow the doors off, and that's when all the silly stuff happens. I'm looking

forward to it. I can't wait. Can you imagine a Western Conference final between Vegas and Nashville? How many things leak? Just because people are like, guess what? You'll never be able to trace who leaked it. How will they survive?

Like, having been down there for one game, one game in Nashville with some of the media members. Dude, I don't know how they're going to last. And then Vegas, I almost didn't make my plane home. I had to be woken up. I got a phone call to the hotel room. Jesse, can you imagine Steve having to be woken up to be somewhere on time?

Isn't that his everyday life? I don't know what you mean. I'm on over right now. I didn't have a drop last night. I have a question. Osh-Vegas! Wow! I love that.

I'm stealing that. Immediately. You stole it. Not even good! Osh-Vegas is so good! Tehran-Vegas. Like, what are we doing here? No, no, no.

Missaga-Vegas. Like... Brant-Vegas. Brant-Vegas. Berlin-Vegas. Okay, now you're getting into suburbs that people from outside don't even know. Yeah. It's too many here.

Oak-Vegas. Oak-Vegas. Oak-Vegas is... Anyway. See, Oak Vegas works, though, because it's usually any city that ends with Ville. That's why Belleville is Belle Vegas. No, it's not, though. Anyone from Belleville calls it Belle Vegas!

Hockey question. Yes. Is it naive of me to think that Eric Alston is going to be a set for the rest of his life? No. No, I honestly— Because that's where I'm leaning right now. I kind of think it might happen. Yeah.

The only thing that makes me think it won't isn't his desire to win. It is his desire to get paid. and I just have a hard time believing the Sens are going to do that. And it's funny. I saw a conversation on the hockey Twitter, TM. Will Carlson be a problematic contract in the back half of it? Because he's going to get paid. He's going to get, what, $11 million, $12 million at least?

How old is he going to be at the end of that? How old is he right now? To answer your question before I look that up, I think every long contract is a problematic contract at the end of it, but you pay for the years where it's not, and then you say, okay, fuck it. Like, what contract has ever worked out year 12 into it? It's the ones that don't work out.

We'll find out with Zach Parise. And we would have found out with Ilya Kovalchuk, but, you know. It's funny that you're one. You're one, Ilya Kovalchuk. You're one, you're like, Minnesota did all right there. Yeah, now you're like, whoa. They can't It's the ones that don't work out

Like immediately Troy Brower And like we're two years in Did you see the Twitter Was it you that sent us The Twitter thing Between Troy Brower There was like a

Kenny Oh that was me Yeah Flames fan That said let's Buy out Let's start a Let's do a GoFundMe To buy out Troy Brower

And Troy Brower looked him up Or found him Yeah Oh boy He's like you can at least Tag me in this Come on Troy Respect to Troy

First of all Okay who's in the wrong there The answer's Troy What Why are you getting involved Troy Brower yeah come on

you're right Eric Carlson's 27 here's the thing my worry with Eric Carlson is this and I could care less about his plus minus stats the guy's got 41 assists

he's pretty good plus minus is a bad stat yeah it is it is and like it was so funny they made a story about it on one of the sports shows

this morning and they're like oh his plus minus yeah his plus minus and they're like and he's going up against you know he's top four in the league

in terrible plus minus and top of it is Oliver Ekman Larson and I'm like well, okay, they're both great players and Oliver Heckman-Larsen scored on Carlson which brought them closer together, but Oliver Heckman-Larsen is still worse. And I'm going,

they're both two of the best defensemen in the league. You can't tell me that stat matters. It doesn't. But my worry with Eric Carlson... If you want to cover hockey for a living, if you want to work in hockey for a living, do it. I'm just letting you know. I'm going to say it every time. There's a reason to remind you. If you want to be a GM,

you can. You can do it. Like, how lazy is that? You just got up in the morning, I don't know if that's lazy it's the family guy thing where Ben Affleck is pretending to help Matt Damon write alright how about this Carlson is bad

because his plus minus is some shit roll with that I don't think they were saying he was bad I think they're saying it's goofy but I'm like Oliver Ekman-Larsen is also playing in this game and he's also good and his plus minus is also bad he plays half an hour a night on a shit team what did you expect

so that's the thing Carlson has not by people's judgments had a great year this year, nor has the rest of the team. No, no. But my worry is that ankle, man. If you're giving up what you would have to give up to get Eric Carlson,

and it was a lot, would you rather give that up to Eric Carlson or give a little less up for Oliver Ekman-Larsen, assuming he becomes available, and... Is Ekman-Larsen younger? Yes. Yes, he is. And doesn't have the injury history.

none that i'm aware of i don't know it's just it's none that i'm aware of because he's a coyote dude you know what's funny last night at puck talks a few people younger there you go a few people throw through little shots at the coyotes and oh how much they suck you know the coyotes are one of the hottest teams in the league right now yeah they're they're seven two and one in their last 10 and they were heading into last night too so i don't know and then they won again so Whatever it is in their last 11. I guess, what is that, 8-2-1? They're still pretty bad, though.

Oh, they're still last place, but they're one point out of second last with a game in hand. Here come the Coyotes, everybody. Look out. It's going to be an all-desert first round. We're going to have the Coyotes versus the Golden Knights. Can you imagine?

I can't. It would be great. I can't. Where were we going? We were originally talking about Ottawa, and Jesse asked a great question, which is how problematic is that contract on the end of it? Or you asked the question.

No, I asked that. And Jesse was like, no, it's fine. And Jesse had a great answer to it. No, it's fine. It's good. It's fine. This is Cole's notes of what he said, but yeah. So on Carlson, on the Carlson situation,

Elliott Friedman dropped a little bomb, a little bomb in 31 thoughts, and he said, I'm convinced Nashville did more than kick tires on Carlson, Which would have been an all-time blockbuster A couple of sources indicated Toronto was looking to add another first-round pick And it would have been interesting to see what the Maple Leafs were going to do with that Don't know about Colorado or New Jersey, but both make sense from a logic perspective I have a hard time believing Toronto would go after Ottawa

And if you're Ottawa, no matter what Toronto offers you You have to shoot it down on principle, don't you? No, Dion Phaneuf proves otherwise No, that's a one-off Dude, you can't trade Eric Carlson to the Leafs. No, no. You said they were going after the first-round pick. That's what Elliot wrote.

They wouldn't be on Carlson. But that was in context of Carlson. No, I'm sorry. They'd be in the deal. I took it as Toronto would get into the deal to try and get a first-round pick out of it. Like in the three-way. That's how I read it?

But maybe I read it wrong. See, I thought I read it as they were getting... That's way more interesting. Because you're supposed to give up two first-round picks, apparently, as part of the deal. That was what they wanted for him. I took it as they were acquiring

the second first round pick so they could get in on the deal that's interesting or maybe they went in a multi-team trade it could be either Elliot was very

he's vague I think on purpose for that I would be too that was very interesting Elliot had a big week he sure did headlines last night

were interesting we're getting into Elliot Friedman versus the entire city of Vancouver I think he's going to do something with his career he's going places

you should all buy low on Elliot Friedman through the roof oh my god he's at least a 90 potential you know an nhl where they write the potential he's he's a franchise potential he's right there yeah yeah i'd take him first overall um so yeah i uh with with ottawa it's funny you know they they stink they know they stink the owner writes a letter and says they stink sorry we stink sorry we stink and hey i'm aware of it What always bugs me is people going, I'm frustrated with so-and-so. And that person going, the person who was responsible going for it, saying, I too am frustrated.

And I'm more frustrated than you. To me, as an Ottawa fan, and it was sort of the same when Leafs did this a few years ago. Remember when they wrote their letter too. I don't remember what the specifics were. But every time I hear someone go, I hear you and I'm even more frustrated. I don't know that you would have written that letter had Ottawa fans not been out with their pitchforks and torches and that sort of thing going,

you know, we're upset with this, rabble, rabble, rabble. I feel like Ottawa Sens fans are probably more upset than Eugene. I think you're right. All the Melnick Out stuff. I mean, holy smokes, my whole Twitter timeline is just full of Melnick Out avatars. I don't know who made that, but they should copyright it and make a million dollars.

And then buy the Sens, because that's all it'll take. maybe less you'll have change left over you can claim someone off waivers that'll be great no but um

okay you know what the send should do that letter fine that letter is fine whatever you had a rough two weeks

nothing but rumors about you well okay eight months out of a rough season it was a particularly rough week or two now you said your piece

shut up Shut up till the draft That should be the last we hear Out of anyone Until Okay Pierre Dorian Has to talk at locker clean up I'm close with Eric Carlson

Yeah Lock Melnick We're so close He's getting an offer On July 1st If he still has said We have best friend bracelets We went for beers at Applebee's

And that rips I have one half He has the other No okay Pierre Dorian Has to speak at locker room Clean up day Fine

Lock Melnick Out of the building You can't do that By force if you have to Yes you can He is the owner And the president You do what you gotta do

You gotta do like Mario Kart Just booby trap the place With banana peels And Ice Whatever you gotta do Keep them out of that building

Blue shell with spikes Yeah blue shell with spikes The lightning guy Whatever that is Where every player gets affected Except the guy who activated it What a dastardly deed That's such a jerk move by the way

That's such a jerk move Especially when you're right in front of the finish line And then you go off the cliff Oh son of a gun I was gonna win for the first time tonight you think fortnight's frustrating no mario kart anyway listen shut up until at least minimum the draft right minimum you know the next time melnick should speak publicly is either when they finalize something with labretton flats or whatever yeah or when they

finalize something with carlson and that is either a trade or a siding or what have you He shouldn't talk ever again. Until that happens. Until that happens. Pierre Dorian gets one. Maybe he does like a little two-minute thing on Sportsnet at the draft. Oh, we're really excited. Yep, we're really excited.

Got a lottery pick. We're really excited. That player we just picked, we think we got a good player. That's all you need to say. Yeah, that player from, and then he looks at the player's name that he wrote down in his hand because he doesn't freaking remember. Yep, we think he's going to be a really good player. It's not going to happen.

What? He's going to talk. Oh, I'm aware. I'm just saving this little time capsule for when they don't do it. Fun fact, we were supposed to have him on the show on Friday, and then he canceled because that letter came out, and then so we're probably going to have him on the show next week. Melnick?

Yeah, on Tim and Sid? Yeah, on Tim and Sid, so he's not going to shut up. He can't help himself. Why? That's Mel Nuts. Why? Oh, Adam. That's Mel Nuts.

You know when we need to hear from the 29th place team? Is with about four weeks left in the season. And two weeks after the trade deadline. It's important. Just get out there. Shut up! I don't get it! Edmonton's going, thank you.

Thank you so much. And Bob Nicholson, apparently. I didn't see this. I haven't seen the interview either, and Euler's Twitter was melting down about it. Jim Benning. Oh. Okay, well, do you want to get into Vancouver right now? I mean, we can go to it.

Do you mind? No, I don't mind at all. Just because it's a connecting plot? Okay, so go to Jim Benning, and then we're going to get to Elliot Friedman versus the entire city of Vancouver. For Bob Nicholson, The Athletic posted the context of the interview. Okay, can you read through it?

Can you read through it while Steve brings this up, and then we'll go into it? Sure. Yeah, just so we can edit it down. I'd love to know what they were saying. Okay. Do you just want me to read it verbatim? Well, not the whole article,

but like if you could scan through that while Steve and I are talking about Vancouver yeah well I'm not signed into the Athletic but I will

do you want my username? yes or do we gotta do this? give me a second oh they have a 30% off sale it ends in 44 minutes we are not selling subscriptions to the Athletic

listen Jim Benning yes I'm your login here's where I am with him it's not his fault it's not his fault the Canucks for the love of God

need to hire him a Paul Heyman. That guy can't cut a promo to save his life. He needs a hype man. He needs someone to do his interviews for him. When was the last time you heard Mark Hunter talk? You don't. You don't.

Because that's not his thing. I would never expect him to talk. So give the context of this situation because I think that there's a lot going on here and I I believe it starts with the Canucks at the trade deadline only getting, was it a third for Vanek or a fifth or something? No, they didn't even get a pick.

They didn't get anything. That's right. Tyler Mott and, for some reason, Yussi Okunin. Right. Sure. Who is basically the chicken of this trade deadline. Or of this season. It's like, we're just going to toss that in.

Vanilla. Rice cracker. He's a vanilla chicken. But it starts with the trade deadline. And then what happened was, and Elliot Friedman went on, I believe it was the Andrew Walker show or Andrew Walker. Oh my God. He was on every show.

Oh, Walker and Rintual. Yeah. So they were, they were doing, um, they were talking in the afternoon and essentially what has come out is that, and I'm not sure if this came out in this, in that specific Elliot Friedman interview, but what came out was that Benning, Linden, Canucks management, maybe even ownership were upset with the way the media covered their trade deadline. Okay. And are upset with the way the media has been covering the team.

Now, this team has finished bottom four for the last three years? This might be the third year in a row? Something like that. Yeah, I believe you. So people are going, what are you upset about? What exactly are you upset about? And they keep saying, well, you know, it's previous regime, previous regime, whatever. It's completely lack of direction.

And what came out from the 31 Thoughts podcast was Benning's press conference was such a shit show. and the reaction to it from the public. Why was it a shit show? It was poor. It was very poor. The guy can't talk. The guy literally can't talk. He can't talk, and it's not fair to make him talk.

What does he say? I'm trying to remember exactly what he said because now it's a couple weeks ago. But, I don't know, it was basically... You know how there's the right things that you have to say at the trade deadline? Well, we went on... Which is a lot of nothing,

but you still say it the right way and people are like, oh, okay. What do you say if you have a bad trade deadline? The right deal wasn't out there. I think the correct answer is, I mean, that's what a lot of GMs say. I think the correct answer is very little. You speak as little as possible. Do you have a press

conference? Do you need to have a press conference? I suppose you do because otherwise your lack of press conference is the story. You got to say something, you got to say very little. But basically, it was basically we couldn't get anything and we couldn't get this and we couldn't get that and blah, blah, blah. So anyway, what came out on the 31 Thoughts podcast

was basically the press conference went so poorly that there was another executive in the NHL was just like, well, I got to go back and watch this because Twitter is such a tire fire about it. I can't wait to see what he said. Right. It's unfair to make Jim Benning do these things. So let him just be the GM.

Put out a translator. Do whatever you got to do. It's unfair. Throw Trevor Linden to the Wolves. He's not even that good, but he's miles better than poor Benning. So Elliot goes on this show, Walker Rintoul, and says that there's a toxic, poisonous atmosphere around the Canucks right now. And they reacted politely, proving him wrong.

And then said something along the lines of they might be making some of their moves based on what the fans want or based on pressure from outside of the organization. How's that going? How's that going, boys? I'm going to read you something from the Providence. Or the Providence. The Providence.

Very not the Providence. The Providence. And it has to go with Elliot Friedman, and Elliot's going to hate that we even are bringing this up because I think this whole thing made him very uncomfortable. Well, because he was kind of at the center of something, which is the last thing he wants out of anything. All Elliot did was report a story,

and they said, I don't think so. So anyway, a writer for the Providence wrote, his relationship with Benning, Elliot's, however, is of little consequence to Faithful. The only relevant point in his screed is Linden and Benning can't function in this environment. That their performance has somehow been compromised by the suffocating negativity in Vancity. And somehow, someway, to start, sorry, that wall of noise is part of the reason the Canucks ever win. To you, Mr. Blogger, I can say, welcome to the club.

Look, I know it's not easy when every move you make is placed under an electron microscope and analyzed to within an inch of its life. I know it's uncomfortable when you've got thousands of unpaid assistants who are fully confident that they know hockey better than you do, but it's the job of Linden, but it's the job, and if Linden and Benning start listening to the choir, they are truly lost. I mean, that's with any team. That's with any, oh my god, some of the things I've heard, like, oh, owners are listening to fans. So what exactly were they upset with Elliott about? They thought he was basically going to bat. Okay, so there were...

Oh, God, do I really want to get into this? Yes. It was basically they... So there's the new Sportsnet station out there. Yes. And there's a TSN one out there as well, and they basically tried to make it a Bell Rogers thing. Yeah, I know.

And, you know... Who tried to make it a Bell Rogers thing? It's because they're the NHL shareholders, or the rights holders, sorry. So they would go to bat for... They were going to bat for a league executive, whereas bell was they're the voice of the people man nothing says punk rock like bell are you freaking kidding me tsn like home of your alternative sports news i'm not saying

rogers is exactly the clash but are you joking are you kidding right now they're both they're both big corporations man and then they tried to make it into a toronto thing yes which is Dude, it's got to be so unbelievably easy to just begin and end an article in any place that isn't Toronto. Toronto sucks. Just 50,000 clicks. That's all you got to do. How much? I would love to go to like a Yuck Yucks in Flin Flon and just see like a comedian is like they just sense they're bombing.

So what's up with these Toronto folks? Oh, yeah! The audience back on their side. Give me a freaking break. Like, we've heard it before. And of all the people, it's Elliott Freeman. I just... Yeah, they attacked the guy who literally tries to report everything without a bias.

Way to prove him wrong, guys. Way to prove him wrong. Good job. Good job, everyone. So it just seems like everybody's at everybody's throats over there, which is exactly what Elliott said. What are you generalizing? Based on what evidence?

You're right. The peaceful city of Vancouver. Peaceful. Listen, you know how many people from Vancouver are listening to this right now and they're going, Oh, dude, not you too. Dude, I'm not picking on, hey, if you're not guilty, I'm not picking on you. I'm only picking on the people who are guilty. Are you guilty?

Well, then don't feel guilty. That's all I would say. It sounds like you guys are just hating on the West Coast. Well, I mean, Jesse. Sounds like it or we are. Definitely are. No, never. You have to understand, it's unpleasant for me to look down on this unsightly scene from

my throne in Toronto. That's right. In Oshawanto. Oshawa is part of Toronto now. Toronto is so good that it absorbed the GTA. It is called the Greater Toronto Area, after all. I just can't wait to hear from every Vancouverite. You know what?

The ones that tend to reach out to us on this show are pretty cool. Yeah, they're pretty cool. I don't want them to feel like I'm attacking them. I don't want them to feel like I'm attacking them. The ones that get it, listen to the show. Yeah, and if you're not one of those people, hey,

we're the Steve Dangle Podcast. Glad you're listening to us for the first time. Hope you like it. I bet you will. Oh, man, we're going to hear from these people. Oh, no! As opposed to what? Oh, people are going to be negative online.

and I'm shaking in my boots. 11 years of this shit in the trenches in the muck. Come at me, trolls! You and Ryan Rashog just in the trenches. Yeah!

Me and him exchanging stories or battle-hardened vets. I felt bad for him when people gave him hell about that, by the way. He was just using

a turn of phrase and people got so aggressive and they started explaining the story. Don't give Corporal Rashog any sympathy Because he doesn't He wouldn't want it

So Patrick O'Sullivan Took a shot At his former co-worker Patrick O'Sullivan Who now works for I think Sirius And XM NHL

It's so not in his nature He It's very uncharacteristic Hold on I've played the story Patrick Super nice guy O'Sullivan What a great transition Adam

On the topic Of people Who Never get angry About anything Like go ahead What did Patrick O'Sullivan say? He said

I can't wait He said, guys, why can't we just get along? And then he went back and meditated. In relation to what? So Ryan Rashog, and I forget the actual context of the tweet, so you have to forgive me because I have a terrible memory. Now I feel bad. Is Patrick the good guy in this story?

No. The idea is Ryan Rashog wrote something, and then Patrick O'Sullivan took a shot at his reporting. And he's like, it's not actually easy to do my job. We don't get to hang out in a cushy studio like some people. you know some of us have to be out here in the trenches yeah oh wow and so people jumped on ryan rashog because they're like in the trenches you're a sports reporter like which is it's a turn of phrase right like it's people taking him literally and they started putting his face

on saving private ryan posters which was really funny like i mean and i'm sure ryan had a good chuckle at that too right it's when you take something that literal everybody knows what in the trenches means nobody's actually saying oh my god ryan rashog's out there fighting a war it's not happening. But Patrick just took a cheap shot. He took a cheap shot at him and then like anyway, and the guy defends himself and people just jumped on him.

But regardless of that, so that's the... And then Al Montoya blew him off. That's what it was! He had a rough day. It was the Al Montoya thing. He was mad that, Jesse, that Al Montoya was starting. Sorry, I was just trying to look it up. That's cool. He was mad that Al Montoya was

starting and didn't talk to him. Yes. Oh, that story was like that was forever ago we talked about it when Adam wasn't here that's right that's why it felt

new but awesome and then it came back up no I just made fun of Steve I'm like you and Ryan Rashog in the trenches because I was 11 years in the muck and now I feel bad

for going on going in on Patrick O'Sullivan thinking that you were going to give me something new that he was mad about and sure enough

it was nah I mean Steve let's not pretend I mean it's not like Patrick was being nice in his criticism of Ryan

No, but many were not nice. No. And their criticism of Ryan. And maybe he didn't deserve it. Yeah. I think... No, the niceness. I mean...

Oh, Ryan? Yeah. I don't know. Sometimes you get frustrated and you tweet something you shouldn't. Whatever. I give him the benefit of the doubt. Seems like a nice dude. Reports a lot.

Well. I don't know. Give him a break, man. Sometimes you just get frustrated. It's a stressful year in Edmonton. Ask. Say? Okay, now replace that name with Melnick.

I said he didn't have a stressful year. But ask any sports reporter. All the guys that we used to talk to when the show started and the Leafs were not very good, and they talk about how terrible it is following a team around that sucks. And the fan base is miserable, and the players are miserable,

and management's miserable, and they've got to ask the coach every day about that? I do think there is a tendency of sports reporters to take their jobs a little too seriously and not realize that they work in the entertainment business. No, Jesse, they work in the sports business. And sometimes sports isn't life or death It's just entertainment

Actually it's never life or death It's literally never Not since the Mayans When you lost and then you died Which is an actual game they used to play Or like the gladiator days Where you're in the coliseum And even then most of the time they didn't die

Because they'd run out of gladiators Or like not that long ago when they didn't wear helmets And Bill Masterson died There you go Sorry To go there and make it dark I just had to do a Greg McShane impression oh yeah I died

sorry so I think sports reporters can calm down a little bit I think we're all like that though everybody gets a little high on their I'm sure at Shoppers Drug Mart I got a little like I don't want to carry this toilet paper

upstairs there are just some days where your job sucks no matter how great your job is sure not that that was a great job I'm not going to lie it wasn't great we're working with you on this comparison we're working with you

all I'm saying is I have a great job but there are days where I don't like my job wow and I'm sure Ryan was having one of those days Patrick came in

and went and then Ryan came back with a response and then all it takes is one person to take that

turn of phrase literally I felt bad for him man he didn't deserve that this is a former co-worker I think I was someone's on the way

on the way in today what happened so you know when when you merge onto the Don Valley Parkway this is going to be useless to anyone from outside of the GTA, but

I don't know, you guys will be okay. Merging onto the Don Valley Parkway, someone has to let you in. It's always congested. Someone, some helpful neighbor, needs to let you in. Now, how does merging in traffic work? It's like a zipper. One guy goes in, and then

the guy who let them in goes, and then the next guy goes in, etc., etc. It's got to be like a zipper. A coming together of hands. Linking of fingers. What the gentleman beside me decided to do was split the zipper. And he just decided, you're not coming in, sir. Oh, that's the worst.

And so you know what I decided? It's a sunny day. I'm smiling. I'm having a good time. I'm just going to drive beside him for a while on the shoulder. Do you ever just stare at him? Do you just look at him? Yeah, and my new strategy is smile.

That's good. Let me tell you, I win 10 out of every 10 road rage battles when all I do is smile. Smile and wave, man. So when I finally did get in, because the person behind me wasn't a jerk-off, I rolled down my window because we're stopped dead. It's the Don Valley Parkway, idiot. Now I'm going to be behind you for the next 12 kilometers. I just go, you're cool.

I rolled up my windows and just smile at him because I see him looking at me in the rearview mirror. I watched this gentleman lose his mind he's throwing he was smoking a cigarette throwing it out the window I see his hands going up and down

like this and guess what my smile just gets bigger and bigger and bigger I was that guy's breaking point today and I'm not proud of it

but that's a dirty lie and I'm so super proud of it what were we talking about? Adam don't look at me like that I just want you know I've been thinking

You don't know what's going on in this guy's life, you know. Like, he could be going... I forced him to address it. I forced him to address his emotions. Because I bet five minutes later, he was like, how do I become as happy as that guy? True. True, I'm sure.

I'm sure that's what he said. I'm sure he's not still fuming about it right now. He's looking up some classes right now. That or ran my plates and wants to know where I live. So back to the city of Vancouver versus Elliot Friedman for a second here. just to wrap that oh we're still there tasty potato up

can we can we just it's not a phrase just move on no it's not a phrase no move on potatoes are tasty

I'm willing to try it yes Adam is it why are you wrapping your potatoes because sometimes you gotta put them on the barbecue

and cook them properly you know what I mean yeah tin foil it's not when you're closing it up see this is why the phrase is problematic

okay internet Jesse tell me about it Vancouver Jesse Vancouver Jesse we got him this reminds me of something I can't imagine

there's something about this a Vancouver May producer can't put my finger on it cannot you were trying to close the segment yes I was Adam just steamed it sorry

and to close the segment you said let's wrap up this tasty potato but to cook the potato you start by wrapping it and throwing it on the barbecue

but what if you're full and you need to put it in the fridge that's not what you're then you wrap up the tasty potato it's tasty it's worth hanging on to

so you put it in the fridge you warm it up in the microwave let's wrap up anything let's wrap up this tasty sandwich and talk about bacon let's wrap up these tasty lot

cause I'm just like I'm sorry I'm not I'm not buying this I don't know You and Jim Bennett need the same PR agency

To just talk for you Welcome to the Adam Wilde Show I'm the guy Adam Wilde hires to talk for me Talk for him This is DJ Tasty Potato We're going to get to the Bob Nicholson story In just a second but for now Let's break this shiny plate

are we ready no can we hurry up let's break the shiny plate opa I'm so silly today no I just want to I just want to know

where does it go from here for Vancouver we're talking about a PR disaster It's not good that they let it get out there That they weren't happy with the way they were covered You're not happy with the way you're covered Because your team sucks

Man, okay, so I'm about to make it about the Leafs So watch Vancouver fans get even more upset You know another thing they talked about During the broadcast last night Was they don't even know They're not even sure If Lou Lamorello's deal is about to expire We're getting to that, why are you doing this?

Wait, wait, wait They don't even know but look at all the things that are leaking out of the Canucks organization and the Leafs were like this three four years ago leaky

oh my god I don't miss this no you're right I do not miss this hey I work for a media outlet I work for Sportsnet it's

this is great for business but as a fan business is booming yeah but as a fan you should want them to shut up always Sens fans

tell them to shut up Canucks fans tell them to shut up which brings us What's another team? To the Edmonds and Oilers. Oilers, man! Jesse, what's this interview with Bob Nicholson?

Because this is interesting. So? So you said Oilers Twitter is in meltdown mode, Steve? Yeah, this is the first time I think we've all gone in blind. Alan Mitchell published his article in The Athletic about half an hour ago. This is 31 minutes ago. See, this is why we didn't get it. And I'll explain that as well.

So after the first period of last night's game, the Hockey Night in Canada crew had a chance to chat with Edmonton Oilers Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chair Bob Nicholson about the current state of the organization. And burger chef. The conversation was available during the live local broadcast, but didn't hit all television sets last night and is difficult to find online.

So here are some choice quotes that Alan pulled out from the interview. Because he saw it on TV. When asked about the main goal for this summer, Nicholson, we're disappointed with the year. There's no question about it. We're going to take our time, evaluate every part of the hockey operation, as well as everything within our organization is disappointing. We have a plan, and we're going to get it right.

When asked if last year came too easy, everything worked out for us. All of our players played extremely well. Expectations were really high in the summertime, and we couldn't get that under control. That hurts us out of the gate. We have some really good pieces, and people want change, but I'm going to be patient. I want to make sure we do a thorough evaluation and get it right.

So far, so good. So, yeah. That's pretty good. That seems like a presidential thing to say. Yeah. On Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey's roles, Gretzky doesn't get too deep into the hockey. That is Peter's call.

We brought Paul Coffey in to look at the special teams, power play especially. He's just in and out. He's already made a big influence on the players, where his role will be in the future. We'll evaluate that at the end of the season. Still nothing wrong. Okay, cool.

That's a non-answer, but fine. Message to fans. This is my third year. We had a great year last year. We did change coaches a lot, and we did make a lot of changes. I feel if you make a change, make sure you make a better change. We're not at that point to make a change, but we will be here at some time. Okay.

So, no, I think there's a quote. There's something about, oh, my God, something about, like, culture change and the locker room and character. Hmm. Something along those lines. Did you see anything along those lines? I want to cut you off before you read the entire article that we're supposed to be paying for. I'm just pulling out the quotes that he said,

and it doesn't seem like he said anything to make everybody get upset. No, there's got to be something. There's got to be something. Shoot, this broke right before the show, too. Here's the culture. Here's the culture quote. Okay. This is the question.

What is he looking for now through the end of the season? I think we want to make sure we get the right culture in the dressing room. We've got to make sure that this organization wants to be put in a position to win. That includes our management, coaches, and players. Everyone is being evaluated every game in the NHL, no matter if you're winning or losing. I have to make sure we take a big approach here, that we look at all areas, there will be some change, but we're not going to make those until the end of the year. I don't hear anything that bad.

And then Alan wrote after that, this quote sent people to strong drinks and produced some of the more entertaining social media outbursts. So this is what you are referring to. Yes. Culture is a word Oilers fans hate even more than Corsi or Swarm. So the pushback was enormous. I take it to mean we should expect Matt Hendricks or similar on the team next year and that Mike Camilleri gets a contract over the summer

at the expense of one of the auditioning kids. But that's just Allen adding his stuff. Yeah, that's defeatist Oilers fans. I think Edmonton took this too far. That quote is a single, we just need to get the culture right. Maybe out of context for us, though, it doesn't sound all that bad, but when they hear that all the time, they know what it means. I'm just doing that as an example.

That's right. But, yeah. I mean, because we heard a lot of, what did we hear a lot of in the Randy Carlisle, Dave Nones years? It was like... Truculence. No, that was Brian Burke, man. No, I don't know.

But, I mean, we heard a lot about, oh, we like, well, even Dave Boland. It was like, well, we like what he brings to the dressing room. What about the ice, man? Yeah. And it wasn't that Dave Bolin played 13 bad games. What did he play, 13, 14 games here? He went good at the start. He did, sure.

But I think the problem is that culture may not be the issue there. Skill is probably the issue at Edmonton, and everybody knows it. This was just my favorite tweet that I saw, and I was like, it made me decide, of course it is. It just made me decide, okay, I have to look this up. So he goes, this team's culture fetish is out of control. This is less a hockey team and more an A&E docuseries about failed old men trying to vicariously recreate their male friendship bonds

through the guise of building a sporting team. Wow. So we're like, ah, it's no big deal. And then you get that. You know what's problematic about that? Let's tie these laces, Jesse. I think it's problematic when you receive your information through Twitter and not the direct source.

Interesting. Well, that's how they received it, though. It's like three steps removed from the actual quote of Nichols. I would like to watch the thing on TV and then see and then react to it. And then this is a little more direct to the source in terms of we're getting that's what he said. That's a direct quote, yeah. Yeah.

But we still don't hear how he said it. That's very true. But then the reaction is, okay, it was on TV and then not many people saw it and then they kind of saw it, and then they saw what he said on Twitter, and then they're reacting to it. And then we're reacting to that reaction. So I think we need to get more to the direct source

and then have a fair opinion. It's a little meta is what you're saying. When you put it that way. So we went into this with the preconceived notion that it was going to be bad. And so we read it with a lens that it was going to be terrible. And then I see culture, and I'm like, of course! Because that was the reaction that I read.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie, Oilers fans, that wasn't nearly as juicy. That wasn't as juicy as the Bobby Nicks burger. No. It's not even the most juicy Bobby Nicks product out there. Hey, speaking of juicy, let's talk about headlines last night, which, by the way, is always juicy. It's been just on fire this year.

It's must-watch. The one interesting thing is Elliott Friedman reporting that Toronto biased Elliott Friedman reporting on the Leafs and Lula Amarello and the situation with the contract. Now, we have speculated for months and months and months, years about this, since he was hired. What will be the succession plan because of a guy named Kyle Dubas, who Colorado was interested in? And what's interesting about this is people have been like, well, what about Mark Hunter? He's a great scout.

And my argument is always, well, yeah, he's a great scout. Why would you take him out of that position? He's a great scout. Mark, how much money do you want, Mark? Here, here's the check. Stay a great scout. The Leafs need help on the back end, but they have Austin Matthews as well. I think I just solved this mystery.

It's true. Austin Matthews with Morgan Rielly tomorrow. Move Ron Hainsey down, and you got just the best blue line in the league. Absolutely, because he can skate. Sounds silly, right? Sounds a bit silly. I think that Mark Hunter is a fantastic scout. He's a fantastic scout.

So why would you take him out of that position? Look at what happened in Vancouver What do they have? A Super Scout as their GM We're at Who should not be talking? Who, me? No, no, no, Benning

Yeah, you should not be talking On the show that you talk on No, but, yeah No, it's funny Now that I think of it Jim Benning, Super Scout Doesn't really like talking Mark Hunter, Super Scout

Doesn't really like talking Oh my god, yeah Please don't make that guy GM Oh my god I don't think, and to me, my question always is, why the hell would Mark Hunter want it? I don't think he would. He's a rink rat. He loves being in the rink.

The issue, it seems to be, and this was going to be the issue from day one, how are they going to get these guys to take orders from Kyle Dubas? Well, and. Which drives me up a wall. Well, because I don't think it's that hard. I don't think it's that hard. And so what Elliot Freeman reported, and let me get to that first. Before you get into this conversation.

What do old people do better than ignoring young people? Hold on, Steve. Hold on, Steve. Yes. So let's get into what was reported and then we can get into that. So what was reported by Elliott and debated by the guy by Kipper and Chris Johnson was that. It's not the end of Lou's contract, but it is potentially and openly within the organization, the end of Lou's time as general manager. He'd take on a senior advisor role, kind of like what Cliff Fletcher does, but I would imagine a little more present than Cliff.

Now, and that's not a slight against Cliff. I think just that's just probably the way it is. So it's not quite like getting kicked upstairs like Dale Tallon did a couple years ago. No, but he would have signed, from what Elliott sort of inferred, was that he would have signed saying, and this is what he said at his first press conference, if Kyle Dubas isn't ready at the end of these three years, then that's on Kyle Dubas. Right. And I would think that the reason that they were able to keep him last summer

and he didn't go to Colorado was because they said, listen, Lou's got one year left. We believe in you. This is the succession plan. This has always been the succession plan. Lou is going to step back and you are going to be the general manager now as far as older guys taking orders from younger guys

well here's the choice take the orders or leave damn Kyle Dubas is going to be the boss and he's going to be able to call Lou Lamorello and go Lou how would you handle this situation Lou what do you think Lou Lamorello could you ask for a better guy

to be able to bounce things off of exactly well and they already got guys in these roles like ancient guys, like Jacques Lemaire. People forget he's in the front office. You know what? I was doing a little putting around on the internet the other day. He was one of the members of

Team Canada's management team in 2010 in Vancouver. What? He's brilliant. I don't remember that at all. No, but he's got his fingerprints on all kinds of greatness in hockey history. It's great that he's around the organization. What does he give the organization? I have no idea because they don't say anything. But they're winning

and I kind of like it that way. To me, this makes a whole pile of sense and fits into what Brandon Shanahan normally does, which is he saw into the future and said, we need Lou for these three years. A, to help us turn the team around, change the culture, that sort of thing. B, because we got a guy who's 29 years old who we think is

the general manager of the future who may not be ready. And we don't want to throw him to the wolves yet. And even when we are ready to throw him to the wolves, we want him to be surrounded by a bunch of other hunters with spears. You know what I mean? So that, I feel is what's happened here and what's going on.

I think the Mark Hunter debate is old school hockey people going, oh, well, he's pretty young, so I don't know. I don't know where the Mark Hunter thing came from. I don't even know if it's that deep. I think it's people guessing. They're guessing what's going on

in the Leafs organization. This is the one thing they've been open about. Lou said it the first day. Interesting. Yeah, no, that's a good point. Are we surprised by this? They've given us very little evidence, but all All the evidence they have given us is that Kyle Dubas will get the reins. That's actually very interesting.

It's funny because we had the exact same thing play out in Toronto when Paul Beeston fired J.P. Ricciardi. And then for a little bit, he was GM of the Blue Jays. And then he brought on Alex Anthopoulos, who was 32 years old at the age of when he took over to be GM. And a lot of people hated that. And everybody hated it. But Paul Beeston was there as the loo, and he guided him through it until the day he retired. and Alex Anthopoulos brought us two playoffs

and two AL championship series. Don't make me sad. I think Dubas can do a great job. Who cares how old he is? Exactly. We had it in Toronto. Exactly. You know?

Well, and that's the thing. I think the age thing is if Lou Lamorello, if Lou Lamorello wants to be a GM, could pretty much go call the team and go, hey, like, if he really wanted that.

Something tells me Lou Lamorello, when you get to that age, have you ever talked to your grandparents? They want to pass on information to you. They want to help the next guy. They want to mentor the next guy.

Why would Lou Lamorello be any different? And it's not because – and Lou is – when he's mid-70s, I feel like Lou's worked his whole life. He's probably thinking, looking back and going, who can I pass this along to? Who would be a great successor? Who's a guy that deserves this information, that works hard? And Kyle Dubas is clearly one of those guys. Why wouldn't you want to mentor someone? Why is that so weird?

and it's just the cherry on top of one of the most ridiculous legacies in all of hockey and I mean like if Kyle Dubas turns out to be go hang out on a beach every now and then you're 74 maybe that's not what he likes

even if he was a beach guy which I don't think he is although the Jersey Shore is right there he's always a phone call away pick up the phone it's not like oh we can't Skype Lou I'm sure he'll have a phone

That's going to be great for the Leafs movie when they win the Cup next year. It's Kyle Dubas, like mid-season, the Leafs are on a slump. He's just like, I don't know what to do. Help me, Lou. And then Lou, he just magically appears behind him. He's like, whoa, I didn't see you there.

Oh, I've been listening to you the entire time. Kyle, why do you doubt yourself, my son? Have I not taught you the ways of the Leaf? So you imagine this to be like Yoda in The Last Jedi? Yeah, basically. Okay, yeah, right. Jesse, you won't get that reference. But I get the cultural reference.

Like, I know what you're saying. I mean, this happens in most movies. Like, most sports movies. Yeah, like, yeah. I'm kind of thinking when Mufasa appears to Simba in the clouds. He's got it. You have forgotten yourself and so forgotten me. Kyle, remember who you are.

But is it the same scene where the Disney animator puts sex in the clouds as a subliminal message? No. Did that happen? That was a different scene. Isn't that the same thing where Mufasa fades away and then the clouds turn and it's a sex? No, it's a different scene. Simba falls down on the edge of a cliff and the dust he kicks up turns into sex. Oh, okay.

My bad. Jesse, I know my Disney. You are married to Mrs. Dangle. I mean, I knew my Disney before her. and yeah it's only gotten worse it's gotten much worse did you just type in sex lion king Adam I wrote Mufasa sex clouds

did you google image it yeah and it's not good it's a thing yeah I guess I guess it's like there's the S and the E yeah okay just google Mufasa sex clouds guys

lion king sex clouds definitely have that in your history for sure see no that's not it that's it no it's not Adam had the original up that's a little

like that's photoshop anyway yes I look forward to that scene Jesse it barely looks like sex also who the hell even noticed that

I the internet because of the internet yeah seriously fair enough I always wondered with stuff like this when

sex no hockey when when those cultural references would happen, so like sex in the clouds or something like that. What would you do before the

internet when you saw something like that? You'd just have to tell everybody you know. You'd have to carry a VHS around with you. You literally have to tell your neighbor. Like, that's so weird. Gerald! Gerald! Come look at this! You're not going to believe this!

I literally don't know what that is. It's a lion, King Gerald! Come here, VCR! I'm basically picturing Stan's dad running around with a VHS of The Lion King going, sex! Sex in the clouds! Sex in the clouds, Gerald! Oh my god.

Hey, by the way, Leafs have lost three in a row. Caudry calls it a bump. This is the first time Freddie was pulled healthy in a season. The Caps look like the Caps. I keep saying this could be the Caps' year. They got no pressure, man. Nah. Leafs look like crap.

Leafs look like absolute Because you're not going to give them credit? I'll give them credit. They look fine. When the Leafs had to score, they made it impossible to get shots through. The game plan, I thought, was pretty simple. You're playing in an outdoor game. Get a greasy one.

When I saw Hyman tie it up, I was like, oh, perfect. They're still sticking to the game plan. Roman Polak puts a floater on from the point, and it goes off Hyman's leg and in. That's the game plan. Great. You're in an outdoor game. The ice sucks. I get it.

You're going to be fine. And then the Caps basically block everything. Nylander played almost 19 minutes, had zero shots. Marner had one with almost the same amount of ice time. So I'm struggling between did the Caps do an effective job of shutting them down or did they look like crap and not ready to play at all? Or was it both? Maybe it was both.

Well, I mean. I yelled and screamed about it today in the LFR. I thought they looked like crap. Morgan Riley led the team in shots, which should tell you everything you need to know about how their lines one through four performed. I find it weird that Thomas Pekanitz is playing between Hyman and Nylander.

I know they're trying to play him at center, and I know he used to be a 60-point guy, but it's very clear that he's not anymore, and I wonder... See, they deviated from that line very quickly, though. So I didn't feel like... They're back together in practice today, though. Are they?

Yeah. I'm just wondering about that. I just think it's odd. And if, I know that they're worried about Nylander at center, and I get that, and that sort of thing, but I would almost do, and this sounds insane, let Placanik take the face-offs that are important, like the defensive zone face-offs that you need him to take,

but let Nylander jump into the center spot when the play starts and let him take the O-zone face-offs. Nylander's good at face-offs, though. Oh, there you go. The face-offs are the part that he has locked out. he's playing with Matthews I think he takes when he's with Matthews

I think he takes more face-offs than Matthews does oh yeah because they switch side to side right yeah and I think that's also just a fluke

but yeah I don't I don't get it Babcock needs to get a little more creative especially because when you look at the

the center market out there the right decision sure seems to be to put Nylander there next year and like give him a shot from game one

but maybe you mean Tavares yeah No, what Babcock keeps saying over and over again is, like, after trade deadline, it kicks up a notch, right? Leading into the playoffs and games are getting harder and harder. And he likes his projects, but I think he likes to start his projects at the beginning of the year. So I think next season, game one, is when he starts riding Nylander there at center. Hopefully, unless he doesn't.

So, but what about this year? He's not going to do it. I don't know, man. I just feel like he could be better utilized there, but again, I'm not the head coach, man. I don't know. I just feel like it's just an odd-looking line, and they play together oddly.

Yeah, I don't like it. Where did, because, yeah, they moved off of the line. Placana, he moved to the wing, didn't he not? Oh, honestly, Jesse, I stopped paying attention to the minutia. It was an agonizing game. I stopped worrying very much about who was playing on whose line. That was an awful game. And then the friggin' lights go out with ten minutes to go.

Let me go! And the game didn't start for like an hour because it was like an hour-long ceremony. And then they kicked it off of NBC for SNL. For the local news. Yeah, I was watching the NBC feed, and it got kicked off. I didn't know that. Yeah, and I saw a lot of people going,

oh, they would have kicked them off for SNL. Anyway, guys, NBC is very not-so-secretly mad at the NHL for not going to the Olympics. Because they paid a pile of money for the Olympics. Get off. Well, yeah, and SNL's going to outrate any hockey game. Of course, but I don't think NBC shed any tears over it. I think they were quite giddy to kick the NHL.

Hey, we're going to make more money now. We've already made our money off this hockey game. Oh, good business. Hey, hey, thank you for showing the American women's team who won gold and actually made us some money over the past couple weeks. now that they're off the television let's get these old Vetchkin

and whoever the hell the blue team is they're from Canada, get them off the TV well they weren't blue, they were white oh that's right can we talk about the debate that everybody seems to care about and I don't understand is the white hockey I liked it, I don't know, I don't understand

it's what people talk about when the team loses 5-2 okay, fart because I just don't care I thought they were nice I don't like them. If you look at a Navy sailor's dress uniform, it's white. Would it have looked cooler with blue gloves and blue pants? I've seen that, but I just thought it was kind of cool that they just did it without.

I liked it. I feel like it was at Diddy's White Party. I want a Lamborghini cake. I want a Ferrari cake. A Ferrari cake. An Acura cake. I wanted a Ferrari. Half of the show was South Park.

South Park. Yeah, it's what people focus on when they're losing 5-2. They were literally whiter than the ice. What do people who don't watch South Park think of what just happened? Tweet us. Oh, I don't know. By the way, if you haven't seen that episode, you must, must go watch. Satan has his own white party, and he sends Jeffrey Dahmer and a couple other serial killers to get him a cake.

Come here, you mugs. They're like the Three Stooges, right? It's just insane. It's a really dumb episode. It is so dumb, but it's so great. Yeah, so, okay. Where are the Leafs? Obviously, they need to tighten up defensively.

Obviously, they didn't play a good game. Yeah. Is the three-game losing streak just, it's a bump? It's a bump. Dude, it's their first three-goal loss in exactly a month. And the last one was to Boston. And they have since beaten them without Matthews. So, you know what I don't like is what I heard a few people say.

boy you know you take Austin Matthews out of this lineup and you know it really exposes their flaws no shit

man you take the best player out of the lineup and it really exposes their flaws well everybody's talking about Patrice Bergeron in Boston

no the fact that he's a broken foot yeah not everyone can be the Penguins having Crosby and Malkin

every team except them when they lose their top center yeah it hurts them a little bit losing Ovechkin It could really hurt the Cavs.

I wonder why. It's just weird. So yeah, we're also 6-2-2 in our last 10. And we are. There's 17 points up on a playoff spot. Yeah, up on the Panthers. Could have been 19. Who have won basically...

Could have been 19, how dare you? Wow. Hi. I'm too high expectations, Dad. My expectations are just too damn high. I just got introduced to Vancouver Adam. No, no. No?

No, it's not Vancouver Adam. It could have been 19. Actually, it could have been 23 had they won the last three games. So maybe they should think about that. Take that to the bank. And that required math, too. And then we have two games in the next 10 days.

Great. A lot of time off. Cool. Oh, so this is where Boston catches up. Oh. Dude, the Panthers have played five fewer games than the Leafs. I think they had one postponed

because of weather or something at some point during the season holy smokes the Leafs have been leading the league forever forever this season now they finally start to I don't know get a rest or whatever

I think that'll be good for the team so they get a game tomorrow and then Saturday and then Monday and then I think they get four days off and then three days off or something crazy like that

after getting three days off it's two and ten is what it is from today it's awesome it'll be good because we know hockey players are lunatics and they play through little bumps and bruises and injuries

that they probably shouldn't. This will give them an opportunity to recover from it. Hopefully Nikita Zaitsev comes back looking better. Because, man, Twitter has been piling on him, and I'm like, I'm not going to join in on this. And just over the last three games, I'm like, this player stinks. This player is so bad. It makes you wonder why they, if he's not,

is it that the injury hasn't healed yet? Boy, like his numbers weren't very good before that either. I don't know. I think it's mental. Like, I can't remember. No, it was the second goal. The second goal, the Leafs outnumber the Caps behind their own net, three to two.

Zaitsev is kind of standing on the goal post. He looks behind him. He sees Ovechkin's wide open. And what does he do? Passes it to him. And he turns his head back to, he just ignores him. He sees him there and he goes, hey, Alex, and turns around. Turns around, forgets he's there.

I thought he had I thought he had the puck behind the net sorry you gotta watch the play again it's hilarious because Marner realizes what Zaitsev did

he's like oh shit he doesn't care and rushes in to try to get him and he's not there in time and Ovechkin's able to tap it in easiest goal of his career

I think Nikita Zaitsev's having a bad stretch oh my god really bad stretch and he'll go back to the Nikita Zaitsev of last year

soon I'm sure man I friggin I hope so that is a long contract well look at Mitch Marner at the beginning of the season everybody's like

oh, what happened to Mitch Marner? He fell off. Well, Mitch Marner came back. He's in a big way. It's funny. Hockey Night broadcast put it in a perspective that I hadn't thought of. Over his last 19 games or something like that,

or 17 games, he's on a 50-goal pace. Mitch Marner? Yeah. Wow. So I'm going to go with he is not as bad a player as he was at the beginning, and he's probably not this hot. Since February 10th, Mitch Marner leads the league in points.

What? He has 16 points in the last 10 games. That is tied for most points in the NHL since February 10th. I bet it's with Kucherov and Stamkos. Oh, my God. Well, and a bunch of guys have, like, five-point games in that stretch, too. I think Barzal has at least one. McKinnon has at least one.

And he leads? He's tied for the lead, yeah. Tied for the lead. It's Feb 10. There you go. He's been a little hot. He's been a little hot. you know

he started off slow so he must be a bust probably a bust hey did you see coulda had Hannafin did you guys coulda had we need t-shirts

coulda had I don't like that I like Mitch Marder too much man I feel like we're buddies I don't know I can't I can't even joke about that

inside the first A of Hannafin you put just the number 16 so people know and the second sorry the second A in Hannafin

is just the number 4 because that's where Marner was drafted where Hannafin could have been could have had could have had could have had

could have had-a-fin could have had-a-fin there we go who's there could have had-a-fin then we just found a show title could have had-a-fin

last night I'm not sure if you guys saw the highlights from this, because I know you didn't watch this game. Please actually tweet me, no, you know, they could have had Blackhawks-Kings. Did you see the Blackhawks-Kings highlights? I did not, no. Okay, so, third period, about 10 minutes

left. The Kings trade the Blackhawks a first round pick for nothing. Kings are up 3-1 on the Blackhawks. They're not going to the playoffs, Blackhawks. And the Kings need these two points, right? If I'm calculating

correctly, the Kings are not currently in a playoff. Oh, no, they are. They are? Yes, they are. But they still need the playoff points, right? Because there's a team that's a point away from them. That's good English, Adam. They need the points.

And everybody does this time. Everybody needs points. Except for the Leafs, who are 17 points up on the next team. No, but they're trying to do a thing. They're trying to catch Tampa and Boston. So anyway... Yes. All right.

Drew Dowdy gets a penalty called on him. And I say he gets a penalty called on him because it was questionable. Oh, yeah? Questionable. and Drew Dowdy was not happy about this did he write a tweet?

no no he tweeted out loud actually is what he did several times oh like Ryan Callahan? yeah so he got two minutes

and then another two minutes for unsportsmanlike ten minutes left in the game three to one Kings that's

that's not Norris leadership so Los Angeles kills off the first two minutes hey good for them and then with 1.49 left in the penalty,

the second penalty. The unsportsmanlike you-can't-do-that penalty. Jonathan Tays rips one past the king. Goalie. A taser from Jonathan Tays. Goes in. Oh. Hawks.

Later on in the game. What color Hawks? The black Hawks. Okay. Not the other Hawks. Not the Atlanta Hawks. Not the Malmö Red Hawks of the Swedish League. Thank you, Jesse.

they could have just jumped in you never know could have tagged in hockey team just tags in we're here now we're here

so sorry the peewee team couldn't make it you'll be playing the Detroit Red Wings so later on I think it's Tanner Pearson

takes a penalty and lo and behold Blackhawks convert on that too now we got a tie game who scored I forget

I think it was I forget a member of the Chicago Blackhawks ah so remember which Chicago the

Illinois alright we got it not the Chicago Siberia that you've heard of yeah so now it's 3-3

and it goes to overtime and in overtime the Chicago Blackhawks score again oh no game over now it all pivots

on Drew Dowdy if he had just taken the penalty and shut up and not cussed out the ref and thrown his helmet it would have been fine he threw his helmet in the penalty box in the penalty box and you know

they would have killed the penalty he would have been back on the ice he would have been fine now here's the problem while he was freaking out Onze Kopitar went over to him Captain Onze Kopitar went over to him and told him to cool off

before he took another penalty and he didn't and shook his head no and after the game and I should have

asked for sound because I actually have the clip do you want to hear it I really do yeah I mean we can pause

yeah we can pause we don't need to pause just keep talking we know magic so Jesse's gonna throw this up sure do we have three headphones

yep Ante Kopitar we've got two sets I'll go grab one okay sure Ante Kopitar did a thing that NHL players don't often do?

He spoke his mind? He spoke honestly. Whoa, weird. Did he, like, pass out after? No. Sorry, I only get one of those every year. He just faints. Now, I got a question.

Does Drew Doughty sometimes lose his temper? Like, I'm sure everybody does. Like, I lose my temper. I can picture him losing his mind. I can't remember when exactly. I kind of pissed him off when he came on the show. You did? I wasn't here. Yeah, basically, I told him to his face, hockey players are boring.

Oh. But, I mean, come on, Drew. He's probably not boring in real life. I didn't call him boring, but maybe that's how he interpreted it. Anyway, I can picture him losing his mind. I don't remember when it's from. I know he has freaked out in the past. Perhaps it was when he was playing in the OHL with the Guelph Storm

and he was drafted second overall in 2008 by the Los Angeles... Can you tell we're stretching right now because Jesse is getting the sound ready? Yes, the Guelph Storm are known for their maroon uniforms and their cartoon character, Tornado, that they have on their jerseys. Do they have a tornado walking around the street? Google the Guelph Storm jersey. Oh, my God. Google Guelph Storm logo.

It's one of my favorite OHL logos. Okay. Oh, no, I see the tornado, but do they actually have a walking tornado in the stands? Oh, as their logo? Like Carlton the Bear is somehow the Leafs? Probably. Imagine if the Leafs just had a walking maple leaf And his name, I mean

They're called the Guelph Storm So their mascot is called Guelphie, obviously Is that true? No, I made that up How great would that be? Jesse, this has been the hardest two minutes Of my podcasting career

Are we ready? That says a lot about your broadcasting abilities Well, that was the joke, Jesse I don't know why Yeah, I'm not good at it That was the joke Thanks, man That was that big a touch

Go ahead We'll address it So again, Anze Kopitar is asked about This after the game We'll address it You know It's It's about

You know, it's about the team And you can't uh you know i think he obviously feels bad about it but he has taken a few this year so hopefully he doesn't do it we pissed this one away i mean we had there it is you know pretty much at the two points in the bank and you know like i said we had some chances to make it four one and most likely that's that's game but we didn't do it and like i said we paid a price for No hold on I want to correct something I said about the game

Because I watched the highlights early this morning It didn't go to overtime The Hawks won 5-3 So they didn't get any points Oh wow That's my bad Sorry guys Jonathan Tays

That's so much worse Broke the tie with 158 left Because they tied it before that Woo Woo That's tsn.ca with the sound Wow So that took a turn

That took a turn because Kopitar you can see like we'll address it I thought that was pretty honest him saying we'll address it yeah but like that's still it's pretty much nothing it's basically yeah it's acknowledging he's upset

but you know we'll talk and you're not going to hear any of it but it starts to get juicy at he's taken a few but he's still speaking very calmly and then finally we pissed it away Yeah, but I don't think that's totally on Drew Doughty.

They could have held the 3-2 lead. They're the Kings. But it starts with him. And he's an assistant captain. It starts with him. And a Norris Trophy winner. Yep. Yep.

And wants to get paid a lot of money. And will. And will. But, no, it's unacceptable. It's unacceptable. He did. I mean, let's be honest here. He kind of cost his team the game there.

Let's be honest. I thought that was interesting. A real live soundbite from an NHL player, which is pretty rare on this show. From an NHL captain calling out an alternate captain. That's actually very rare. Yeah. Leadership calling out leadership on the same team.

A couple little notes here before we do the thing that we're going to do before the press conference. According to Deadspin, some of the questions that NFL teams are asking at the draft combine, which we've seen clips of, are still as ridiculous as ever. Now, I only have a couple here, but Braxton Berrios, according to a tweet, said the strangest NFL question or the strangest question an NFL team has asked was, what is Bitcoin and what is ISIS at the Draft Combine? So they interview you, you do your fitness thing, and then they take you to a room and they interview you and they make this a whole televised event.

And obviously we've seen some pretty amazing stuff. They televise the interviews? No, they don't televise the interviews. Oh, okay. I was like, what? What – and I wanted to ask you guys, what would be your – let's look at this rationally. Okay. NFL team, multi-multi-million dollar organization, asking a potential draft pick, what is Bitcoin, what is ISIS?

What would be – and those questions would be separate – what would be the reason? What are you hoping to get out of that? Yeah. What are you hoping to deduce? So I got a little bit of insight on that. I want to say it was the 2010 draft combine. I got to go, and I heard some of the questions players were asked. And I think they just want to see your thinking skills

and how quickly you can think. So what's Bitcoin? There's no way you're prepared for that question at all. You have no idea that that's coming. And even if you know the answer, it's going to catch you off guard. So they want to see how quickly you adapt to that question. Don't unplug, Jesse. And how quickly you can answer them.

Okay. So in the NFL, you've got stuff flying at you that you're not expecting all the time. Different plays, maybe. Different plays, stuff you don't expect. There was that play that we were talking about where the player hears the play call, he knows what play is coming, and then it's not the play he thought it was at all. And his team gets scored on. Think on your feet.

You've got to be able to think on your feet. So that is exactly why they asked him that. Interesting. Okay. All right. I thought I'd throw that out there. The Coyotes now have a three-pound poutine bowl available at every game. It's called the Power Play Poutine.

Oh, my God. I'll tell you a little bit about it. This comes from Kristen Keough, who is an Arizona Coyotes in-game host and an At 12 News contributor. Okay, let's get soggy real quick. Yeah, first of all, poutine is a dish best eaten quickly. I mean, savor it to an extent, but yeah, don't let it get old. You want it to be crunchy. Yeah, soppy and soggy at the bottom of the thing.

The Power Play Poutine. It is a helmet full of poutine. Yeah. French fries covered with cheese curds and gravy. This is the bacon cheeseburger style. And it weighs three pounds. I'm going to applaud them. Whose Twitter can I see this on?

At Kristen Keough. I'll just send you the link here. Thank you. She is the in-arena host for the Coyotes. I'm going to applaud them for making a proper poutine. Because there's a lot of places not in Canada, and some places in Canada, but they better be ready for a riot, That advertise that they have poutine And it's not freaking poutine

No it's just gravy and fries And cheese Shredded cheese That is not poutine It's gotta be cheese curds And they gotta be fresh from the farm The cheese curds that squeak on your teeth They're so oily

When I was most recently in Quebec We just bought bags of cheese curds And ate them They make a squeaky sound in your mouth Like you're chewing rubber But it's not like rubber is it No. It's like delicious cheese curd.

I'd have a hard time deciding between sex and cheese curds. They're so good. Like, you may not know it to look at me, but I'm a cheese curd fanatic. You know? Like. I looked at you and thought you hated them. You might not think of cheese curds at all when you look at me. Probably, probably mostly that.

How much does this cost? That's what I would like to know. I think they were giving it away because she says get yours at section 119. So I'm assuming they might have been giving it away. Dude, it's the states. Like $3.50 Move that product $3.50

We sell everything on volume Canada $12 Poutine's rare here We have to go hunt it It's crazy It's like a diamond It does look really good So if we ever go to a coyotes game

Can each of us Take down a pound of that poutine Because it's three pounds oh yeah the three of us could demolish that no no he's saying each

no no he's not a pound each oh I couldn't eat three pounds of poutine no we should eat three pounds of anything

that's probably not healthy yeah let's split a three pound poutine and it's funny I would love to know by the end of it how much of each

of your spit I'd be drinking that's freaking gross no we would get three different plates Steve yeah we could we could just get

asked for a couple extra plastic helmets They're not, like, nice helmets. We don't have to all eat out of one bowl. And then we gotta wear them! All three guys just, Okay, Steve, can you just tip it over here so I can get my fork in there? Yeah, Steve's in the middle, we put it on his lap.

That's exactly what we'd be doing. First of all, I get the poutine. I am the poutine epicenter. Okay? Yeah, when we go to games, Steve tends to sit in the middle. Yeah, I do. So, yeah. Well, his name's on the show.

Yeah, I guess. Yeah. I'm a big deal. Yeah. He's writing a book. How many books have you written? Good guy, writes books I wrote 3,000 words the other day

Tries hard, likes letters Big fan Syllables? Yeah, so if you go to the Coyotes game Get the poutine, tell us how it is I'd like to know And I hope the fries are thick cut too And whether or not you survive

If you survive to tweet about it There's one last thing we have to do before the press conference And I don't care if you guys have seen this I know Jesse has because we were texting about it on Friday. We've all seen this. No. But we need to go through it. We need to go through it. I've intentionally avoided this.

Oh, you've never seen it? Oh, for crying out loud. Oh, this is great then. I hate you guys. The Utah Republican Party decided that it would be a good idea to explain It wasn't the Republican Party. It was the House of Representatives. But I thought it was Republican control.

I thought it was the Republican part of the House of Representatives because there's Republicans on that level too i feel like we're getting caught up in details doesn't matter regardless um they decide to write a rap song about how a bill passes through the chamber which is the boring stuff right please god no and they decide that you know to be hip with the kids the right thing to do is to write a rap song about it because the kids like rap you know these days i'd rather listen to fergie i'd rather listen to fergie's anthem it's not the same as when we were growing up and you know we were listening to bad company and stuff now the kids like the rap so we got to

try to do that. I'd rather listen to the guy who sold his expensive watch. I forget his name. What's interesting about that is they chose one of the most recognizable rap songs in history. Which is the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. To write it around. No, stop. They did.

And I don't have to tell you that it is not a diverse bunch. You can't make me go on this ride. I don't want to go. Adam. Are you ready? Adam, I'm begging you. Panagoda.com and stuff your face with delicious are we ready are we ready done nope please nope we're done i don't oh no how long is this how long

116 oh my god i'm not gonna make it i'm not gonna make it i might make it you have to see this how long is the instrumental this is a story all about how i'd like to take a minute just sit right there i'll tell you how it all becomes on this i came back They're already off beat They're already off beat They're not even like a verse in And they're already off beat

Everything about that Is a catastrophe So if you can't see the video The video is great because It's got the lyrics in comic sans Coming across the bottom Just in case you want to sing along Chain Bear

oh my god you missed that adam we're 24 seconds don't scroll back i'd like to take a minute just sit right there it's really good i have the worst friends i have awful friends all right now please no we're a quarter of the way in guys so only three quarters to go so only 75 sorry sorry how how far in three quarters and the law book is where they spend most of their day drafting out max now hardly relaxing all cool and i'll introduce some bills inside of house chambers at least that guy was trying he tried that guy tried some of them don't try

that was the problem with this video is that they didn't commit so anyway we'll pick it right back up and i'll introduce and build inside of house chambers we're more than a couple of guys making changes in committee on the hill by the way that guy had a signed uh the guy that just did the last verse has a signed make america great again hat and a stealer's thing as well which I'm a little upset about. Signed Make America Great Again hat. Steelers. You can't be a Steelers fan. You were revoked. In Utah?

Yeah. Oh, they're everywhere. We're like a disease. It's good. Go Steelers. Are they making changes in committee on the Hill? I thought you were talking about Trump supporters. Oh, no, no. Steelers fans. We're everywhere. They say we're moving this bill

back to the floor and we'll argue it there. And the answer is clear. And the bill passes and goes over the Senate to here. If it passes the Senate, then the bill is probably fair. You thought it was law, but it's just not quite there. It goes up to the governor to determine a state. And if it's good, Herbert might even be signing a letter.

That bill is finally there. Sitting as law, ready to be declared. Steve, you need to watch the very end. Oh, yeah. Why? Because you didn't wait. Oh, my God. Because I'm suffering out of my dying.

about this. You need to stop emoting for just a second. Show him the guy at the end. You gotta figure out what to call the show after I die. Alright, check this out. He sticks his tongue out at the end. And the guy behind him is offbeat with the... Dude. This is...

I like to do it once. I'm taking off my headphones. You can't make me anymore. You can't make me. Oh, I came back. This is where... Break off! Stop!

Sorry. This is where House of Cards loses me. Like, all this secrecy and the... Oh, we can't let any of this embarrassing info get out. How do you not look at all the footage that they shot that day and just go, Burn it. Burn it to ash. Where's your computer? Did you upload

the footage to that computer? Give me your computer. I'm burning your computer. Somebody tweeted me and said, because I ran this on Kiss on Friday, Greg Wyshynski retweeted it and he's like, holy crap, thanks for finding this. And somebody

else tweeted me and said, somebody got paid for that. Somebody got paid for that. Someone got paid to make that on their computer. Jordans! Let's do the press conference. The Presser SD.

What does it mean that you made me listen to that? The Steve Dangle Press Conference. I'm surprised you didn't watch it. You know that it hurts me? I didn't take in a single word of that. BagginsFrodo1 wants to know, The way you guys have been talking about Roman Polak is pretty similar to the way Penns fans talk about Matt Hunwick.

Who would you rather have on your team right now? Current Roman Polak or Matt Hunwick? Roman Polak because his contract expires at the end of the season and Matt Hunwick's getting paid a lot of money he's getting paid more than Roman Polak Hunwick

I mean is probably a better player you have to remember that those two used to play together on our bottom two that was a pairing guys Penguins fans who complain about literally anything just remember that was our pairing last year heading into the playoffs oh no our sixth guy is Matt Hunwick

oh no Our sixth guy is maybe not Chris Letang Oh no We had him as our seventh guy But we had to resort to having him as our sixth guy Because we got Derek Broussard Oh no Oh life is just so hard for you

Oh it's impossible To be a Penguins Shut up Although it was pretty hard the other night When they freaking lost 8-4 Crosby, Malkin, Broussard, Sheehan. Sheehan, Castle. Hard to feel sympathy.

I want to give a shout out to the most underrated NHL player of all time. Ever? Ever. Dino Cicerelli. No. James Reimer. Alexander Ovechkin. Okay.

On Saturday night. Yes. Recorded his ninth career 40-goal season. Yes. Unbelievable, eh? Unbelievable. He is only behind Mario Lemieux,

Marcel Dion, and Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky has 12 40-goal seasons. Ovi has nine. In a row. I think it's in a row, isn't it?

Or is it total? No, this is just total. Yeah, because Ovi's had like a 32 in the lockout. Right. 32 in the lockout. Yeah. Ridiculous.

It was like 30 games. A bunch of you just went, well, Gretzky had to play through a lockout. Yeah, well, so did Ovi. One. Is Ovechkin underrated? Seriously?

Yes, he's underrated in a historical context and I've said this every year for many years. I've basically written at least one love letter to Ovechkin's career every year that I've worked at Sportsnet. He's

unbelievable and we keep talking about his inevitable drop-off and haven't seen it. There was a season on this show early on that I remember Ovechkin didn't score for like the first 20 games

people were like wow he's falling off and he somebody asked him about it and he just laughed and then I think he scored 50 goals that year

like he just went on a tear he was just like okay whatever yeah cool I'll just stop passing if I have to Ovi will be

33 in September so when the next season starts he's currently at 598 goals I'm just so glad he didn't score 600 against Salif

I'm just so glad oh man he needed a hat trick to do it He scored in the first period. I'm like, here we go. Is it a lock that he gets 200 more and passes Gordie Howe, who finished with 801?

Boy, that's a lot of goals. 200 is a lot of goals. Let's pretend he starts dropping off. Five years of 40 goals right there. It's six years of 30. 6.6 years of 30. That's a lot of years of 30. Because he'd be 39, right?

Yeah. And he doesn't seem to have slowed down yet. No. That's the thing. Usually you start to see the regression already from what analysis has told us. There are outliers, Patty Marleau being one of them, that continue to play well. If Patrick Marleau, at almost 40 years old, can score 20 goals, or has he got to 20 goals yet? He's 19, whatever.

I think he's at 20. Yeah, he's close. He had 27 last year. I think Alexander Ovechkin can score that many at least when he's that age. He's got to have the right support staff around him. you know he probably won't be with Kuznetsov anymore but you know there's a guy with a bullet shot

but then he'll be with Baxter no oh gosh now I gotta play with the guy I've had the most success with oh no I think he can do it I think he can do it

if you get one bad knee injury though you might be in trouble but I think he can do it yeah there's an asterisk on that And also, Gordie Howe's just unfair, man. Yeah. It should be like everybody and Gordie Howe's to the side. And you can't compare anybody to Gordie Howe.

He played in his 50s, man. But that's the class he's in. Yeah. The class he's in is that. That's amazing. And by the way, to pass Gordie Howe, he's going to have to pass 800 goals. If he gets to 700, he'll be, I think, the eighth player to do it. That's nuts.

It's absolutely nuts. He's an all-timer in terms of goal scoring. There's really no other way to say it. And it's funny that any argument about him just kind of went away over time. I think it went away sometime after his, like, what, 6th, 50th, 50-goal season, whatever. He might hit 50 still. Well, and it's funny. The tendency now, and I think this has always been the tendency in humanity, is to look at something great and go, but what's wrong with it?

Wow. Hey, that feels like a shot at me. As soon as Elon Musk launched a rocket, people were like, well, but here's what's problematic about Elon Musk. Adam, Elon Musk littered in space. There was a giant car garbage floating there, and that's disrespectful to the universe environment. Wait, is this real? Was that a thing? Yeah, I think there was.

It's serious, you guys. Yeah, because it's going to Mars now. Climate change. Okay, that's real. That is real. No, but Elon Musk contributed to climate change by littering in space. I feel like he might have contributed to a couple other things. I feel like...

Jesse's just been a troll. I think I've done a really good job of not reading any think pieces. Yes, I think that the idea is sometimes... They're mostly bad. Because a person is great at one thing, it doesn't mean they're great at all things. Alexander Ovechkin is a prolific goal scorer. Outstanding offensive player Maybe not great on defense

And you know what Adam I think you made a real breakthrough I think that's okay But that was the thing People are like Wally doesn't back check I'm with him He scores 50 goals a year but he doesn't back check He scores more goals than anyone

Carlson doesn't kill enough penalties Get someone else to back check Carlson doesn't kill enough penalties is one of my favorite ones Get someone else to back check You sounded like George Costanza. Isn't that hard? I can't pick up a third-line center to back check. Scored 40 goals again.

That's not good enough for you. Hoochie mama. That's you. That's true. You're right. That's you. You're right. As I said, the day the Leafs win the Stanley Cup,

the next day there will be an article probably from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, and I know he'd be happy to write this, where he would say, here's why the Leafs are not going to win next year. And I would say that to Steve. I'd be like, Steve, that would be your article. That's your article. And he'd be like, hmm, you're right. Yeah.

Let me get to that. People do that. It's like, you know what? Steve Jobs. Shitty to people around him. Also changed the world. Both are not mutually exclusive. They're together.

That happens. Here's how it goes, Adam. Vincent van Gogh, really great. Cut off his ear because a girl didn't like him. Weird. But he's a great painter. And then you take it to an Adam Wilde place. I don't think that's very relevant here.

Van Gogh? No, Jesse. It absolutely is. I'm just saying people are flawed, man. Alright, let's put some tinfoil on this potato. Alexander Ovechkin is flawed. Wayne Gretzky's flawed. You know, the problem with Wayne Gretzky is he can't fight anyone. He'll be a blood stain on the boards, is

what scouts said about him in 1979. That is a real quote. Let's put some blood on these boards. On these potatoes. Let's wrap up this bloody potato. That's gross. I didn't remember what I was going to say now I'm just saying

Here's what's going to happen The Leafs are going to win the cup Steve Simmons is going to write an article about how the Leafs didn't win the cup properly They didn't win the cup properly? They didn't win the cup properly The next day Steve Simmons is going to write a piece About how the piece he wrote

From the previous day Wasn't a good enough piece And then he's just going to Pixelate and disappear like Star Trek no and also mixed doubles curling is not a real sport and he will disappear

and go to wherever Star Trek people go just so you know I would say this to Steve Simmons I'd be like this is your brand

this is on brand for you he knows I think he knows very well yeah absolutely Elliot said it on the

it was on the it was part of the 31 thoughts conversation he's like oh some people make a good career out of being contrarians

Bob McCowan Damien Cox Steve Simmons and I'm like that's boy if that's not the Mount Rushmore of Toronto Contrarians.

I mean, we're only missing one head. Who else do we need? A blogger. Just bloggers. And just the pension plan puppets logo. It's the fourth head. That's all it is. And we're done.

And we're done. There you go. The Mount Rushmore of cantankerous Toronto personalities. No, they're not even that cantankerous anymore. It's the old writers that were super cantankerous. But they left an impact. They sure did.

I mean, the brand's still there, but the new breed that they have there, they're pretty straightforward. Yeah, they're just kind of like polite writers. Yeah, they're really nice. They're great. They're doing great work, but it's like, yeah, they're not like where they would... There used to be, when we started this show, and it wasn't that long ago, but there was like open fights on Twitter between journalists and the pension plan puppets.

To the writers of pension plan puppets. They wouldn't even DM it. It'd be like, yeah, well, fuck you. Fuck you too. to the current writers of Benjamin Puppets be dicks we miss ya

I want you to be I want Scott Wheeler to just come out of nowhere just ride off his Harley onto Twitter and just all of a sudden

be a badass but Scott's with the athletic man oh that's right so he doesn't count oh but he does because they're not a real newspaper remember that whoa

I didn't say that I'm just making there's been some friction between The Athletic and some other newspaper entities. So he's Kylo Ren. Who, Scott Wheeler is Kylo Ren? Yeah, and Myrtle is the other dude. Who's

Kylo Ren's boss? Supreme Leader Snoke? Yeah, that one. I don't know. He seems more like, I feel like it's like He's lanky enough. You think so? How do you feel he'd take that? I don't know, I think he'd be I don't know, he'd come up with some chart about why it's not the greatest comparison.

and why he's actually more like Jack Skellington or something. That's what he'd do. I should have told this to his face yesterday, but I don't know. It didn't occur to me then. The Mount Rushmore of contrarianism. It's fantastic.

Please somebody make a logo. Bob Cowan, Damien Cox, Steve Simmons, and Kevin. You brought a Saving Private Ryan in the trenches movie poster. What's great about each one of those heads on the Mount Rushmore is they would all be disgusted to be associated with each other.

Yeah. Oh, for sure. You're putting me in the same conversation. Puh! Puh! Here's an article on why I don't belong next to that guy. The Mount Rushmore and they're all just side-eyeing each other. Ugh.

Looking over their shoulder. Because they don't want to be besides each other. This is one of the most bananas conversations we've ever had, man. Yeah, I think we're done here. No, no, we got one more, right, Jesse? Oh my god. One more question, no? No. We're done? We lost the plot a long time ago here, fellas. Guys, I think it's time we put a bow on this present.

I would like to wrap up this tasty potato. Okay. Let's maybe put some feet on the pavement and get rolling. Okay, all right. So, hey, remember, April 7th. We have the gall to criticize how other people talk about us. Oh, my God. Listen, well, it's not like we don't get it back.

Come on. Yeah, you know what? You're right. April 7th. Screw all of you. You're more than welcome to criticize me. I don't care. April 7th.

No, you're not. Who are you? We'll see you April 7th at homestand.ca. Maybe. Go RSVP. Maybe I won't come. Maybe. Can we invite the Mount Rushmore of contrarianism to be guests on the show?

Let's send really sweet invites. Like wedding invites. Like covered in just frill. Yeah, yeah. I like that. Or the new thing is just to include, to make it look like it's rustic. Like there's like sticks in the envelope. And it'll be like the painting from the Sistine Chapel or whatever.

What's the one where they're touching fingers? Yeah. Yeah. But we'll put like our three heads on one of them. And like Damien Cox is on the bottom one. And that's the one that we send to him. I like that. That's kind of nice.

Just a nude, ancient Damien Cox touching fingers with us. If we do ever interview him, I'm going to ask him about it. Because he's got this thing, and he's been on this for years, about how the NHL would be better with 24 teams. And anything above that's too much. Because there aren't enough good hockey players. I'd love to have that debate with him. I think that'd be fun.

Is he the guy who just sits in the middle of a courtyard and goes, change my mind? I think so. On just any given topic, would you ever get rid of offsides in the NHL? Get rid of both blue eyes? Jeff Merrick's a big proponent of that, isn't he? That's what reminded me of your Damien thing. Yeah, but he's punk rock man.

Yeah, he's punk rock. It's different. And that's his thing, man. You would never do it? I'd consider it. I think it's worth considering. Because, I don't know, like, there were a couple times last night where I saw the teams go offside, and I'm like, what exactly is the point of this?

And people always respond, well, it's to prevent cherry picking. Well, you have the same number of players you know. So. I would like to see offside start at the red line, like in soccer. Do you know what I mean? Oh. So that would, like, so it's just, it's just that, like. No, you're leaving more up to the ice, aren't you?

No, because I'm trying to think You would delay zone exits, right? Because then you would You would have to have the puck carrier Across the red line first And that's a little weird Or the puck goes across the red line first Maybe that

I don't know, like basketball Well, basketball, there is none Oh, there's none, yeah And there's no cherry picking in the NBA Or it's not touchback What's it called in basketball Where you pass the ball Over and back

Over and back, yeah But no one ever gets that I don't know, maybe like I feel there has to be some sort of offside and the thing in soccer is you've got time

to figure it out because in soccer if you run ahead of the last defender you're offside without the ball what if the sport is perfect

Adam it's not but okay what if it was perfect alright Steve that didn't further the conversation we're having at all

but thank you for that I appreciate that it is I mean listen your name's on the show whatever sometimes Steve just wants to say something

the Mount Rushmore of this show No, it's just four of my head. And Vancouver Jesse. It's three of my head and Jim Bennett. My name's Chris. You got to run. Sorry, Chris.

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