The Steve Dangle Podcast - Happy Birthday Steve | March 11, 2020

Episode Date: March 11, 2020

On this episode of The Steve Dangle Podcast, Happy Birthday Tomorrow Steve! (00:00), who wore the crown?!? (08:30), the Leafs beat the Bolts (17:00), a check-in on the East playoffs (47:00), a check-in on the West standings (58:30), how COVID-19's impact on sports (1:11:00). Originally aired: March 11, 2020 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/S9NCeVIq7qM 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-S-D-P-P, the Steve Dangle Podcast, with your hosts, Steve Dangle, Adam Wylde, and Jesse Blake. Let's go! Hey, Adam. Hey! Before we started this show, Steve sent us a message that he had treats for us. Oh, yeah, he's like, boys, bring in treats! And I'm like, I look down at my belly and I'm like, ooh, I probably don't need those treats, but I would probably eat them. Definitely.

I was looking forward to them. I didn't have a lunch today because I was like, oh, I'm going to eat this treat from Steve. Oh, man. Where are those treats, Steve? They are right in front of what my wife and I refer to as the key bowl, which is just a bowl that we throw our keys in in the front hallway. In Oshawa. In Oshawa. And not here.

And not here. because I was just so gosh darn excited to see you guys. You know how hard it is to eat something from here that's in Oshawa, right? Yeah. Yeah, I've tried it a lot of times. I'm always like, Berry Hill Food Company. Can't get it done.

What was the treat? It was delicious Leafs sugar cookies that my wife got me for my birthday. Wow. Which is coming up. It's tomorrow. And they are, well, they're safe at home. It'd be a shame if everyone tweeted Steve

that he was a fat bitch on his birthday. I was just gonna read that tweet randomly I didn't know Jesse was basic his comment on that. Okay, all right, all right. I was like, damn, Jesse, I know, but I tweeted LFR tomorrow, hashtag victory puppies return. And someone tweeted me,

have another drink, you fat, worthless alcoholic. Your dogs are fucked. And I read it while on air, on ice surfing, like I didn't read it out loud. I hope not. I was, Jeff Merrick and Jason York

were in the middle of talking and I'm like, I have to go back and re-listen to the broadcast because you could probably, If my mic is turned on Hear me go That's funny

Oh my god It's so funny That person had to be kidding Right I hope so I don't think so You don't think so I don't think so

They attacked your dog So it's gotta be a joke That's got to be a joke My dogs are fucked I think they I think that's a hardcore listener Yeah Call you an alcoholic

I don't know Alcoholic Fat alcoholic Man Like of all the things To call Steve That he's objectively not I think that's funny

Alright I think that person's Trying to be funny Which one He called me three things. Fat, worthless, alcoholic. Alcoholic. I don't know, man. I love you. Are you kidding

me? I don't think you're fat or worthless. But an alcoholic. Yeah, maybe. Oh, okay. That one's fine. So if everybody has a birthday message for Steve tomorrow, make sure it's great. Happy birthday. Hashtag aggressive happy birthday with Steve Day. So hashtag aggressive happy

birthday. Send Steve your most aggressive happy birthday tweets. Do you think we get it trending in, like, Toronto? That'd be kind of fun. We probably could. Adam, you're good at that. We're Steve Dangle Day. All I got to do is go to Nassau Coliseum and have people be mean to me.

You know, listen, not all of us have trended across the world. I have, but not all of us have. It's true. I've actually trended twice across the world. Did you know that? What was the first one? So there's Tavares Day TO, and then there's this other one where it was a billboard in Halifax that I thought was hysterical

which said it was a billboard here and it was for traveling to Halifax like a tourism company and it's like oh you guys have an aquarium? that's cute and then it said from Nova Scotia and it was very funny

I like that anyway I posted that on my Twitter I took a nap and it started Canadian Civil War it blew up like thousands of retweets and I was like what is this and the guy that wrote it actually reached out to me. He's like, hey, that was up like six

months ago, and I don't even work at that company anymore. And I was like, man, this is amazing. It's just weird. Sometimes you catch the right retweet, and then it just explodes. Halifax owes you money. Well, I don't think so. Halifax gave me a lot of great stuff.

Halifax was good to me. It was a wonderful place. On the fat, worthless, alcoholic front, going to the trainer, I feel real good about myself. We haven't told you about Steve's trainer yet, but anyway. Back's been super comfortable. Everything's great. Great. But I'm like,

you know what? Just to keep myself honest, I'm going to jump on that scale for the first time in God knows how long. Right, and? 227. Which, down from... What a mistake. Oh, down? Is that up or down? 227 is the biggest number I've ever seen, which makes me go, holy shit, what was I just before

Christmas? Well, the biggest number I've ever seen is 240. I must have been around 240. Yeah, and that was when I was like 18. Wow. Bloated. You were 240 to 350 big. Yeah, I was. I was.

I'll show you pictures. Well, I mean, you can't miss working. It's your favorite story. I love telling this story. So we're all huge beer drinkers back then and going forward. But Adam's like, boys, I know how I'm going to lose this weight. He pulls out a 2.6 of whiskey. We're like, that's great.

Jack Daniels, full of sugar. Idiot. Great idea, Adam. Yeah, it's from beer to liquor. Yeah didn't work. No weirdly. Yes So what happened was I was drinking a ton of beer underage and I was And I was eating late-night McDonald McDonald's so it's it's weird when it the thing is is that like McDonald's once in a while is cool But like three nights a week is a lot and I sure put on the pounds

I put on the freshman 15 before I even got the chance to be a freshman and drop out And so, you know, things happen. Like, we have a friend named Derek who is, and Jesse, you've met him a million times. He is a policeman now and is in incredible shape, vegan. He's like a shredded buck 70, maybe buck 65. But in his first year of university, he got up to 260, I think. He was heavier than I am currently, which is wild. And it's crazy because, you know, that's just what happens, right?

Everybody talks about the freshman 15. He showed me a picture, and I was like, dude, oh, my God. I know. Oh, my God. You wouldn't recognize him. I've been really lucky because I was like a heavy, I was like a fat kid. Let's just say it. And then I got a growth spurt, and then all my fat just kind of extended, and I was skinny.

Yeah, but that's puppy fat. That's how it works. Like, there should be no skinny 10-year-olds. You know what I mean? Yeah, I was kind of fat. If I had been fat. Yeah, I was fat. And then I just grew out of it.

If I had been fatter at 10, I could be tall like you right now? Is that what you're saying? Exactly. Damn it. Yeah, yeah. I missed my opportunity to be fat then. Now I'm fat. Right?

You got to time your fat. Yeah, right? Everyone's got one. Typical Jesse doing it all right. Perfect. Don't you just hate the guy? A lot. God.

You should. You should. I'm great. Yeah. Listen, it's been an unbelievable week in sports. Oh, my God. Just across the board. So I'm going to tell you how this show is going to go down.

We talked about it before the show. And so we're going to do, obviously, Who Wore the Crown? That's important. We're going to talk about the Leafs. We're going to talk about some other stuff around the NHL. And we are also obviously going to have to hit COVID-19 because there is a lot more at stake than I think people want to believe. And I don't care if you want to be that doesn't bother me guy. What do you call him?

Not bothered by anything guy? Not bothered by anything guy. Oh, we're being hysterical or whatever? Listen. The media. Yeah. Yeah. So here's the thing with the media.

The media repeats what the World Health Organization and what the Canadian and the CDC, I don't know what the Canadian one's called, but I know the CDC in the States, we're just repeating what they're telling us. The entire sports tournaments and leagues have ceased operations. Right. And one thing about them is they like money. Yeah, it's crazy. And I feel like this might be serious if they shut down.

Right. So we're going to talk about that a little bit later in the show. But for now, let's get into who? Who wore the crown? I like that version. Live generously, and life will treat you royally. Why not pour yourself? Why not?

It doesn't work. Why not pour yourself and a friend a crown royal? Because we're going to talk about who wore the crown, where we, with the help of you, recognize one of the Leafs players who gave it all for their blue and white. Last night, it's against the Lightning. That's what we're talking about. It's our town. It's our crown.

We beat the Lightning twice in two weeks. It's not about what you have, but what you have to give. So let's crown that Leaf who gave it all for the team. Brought to you by our friends at Crown Royal. live generously, and life will treat you royally. Let us get into this. Steve Dangle. Ooh, this is actually a tough one.

It's a very tough one. But before the big four, one thing we talked about for a while was the Leafs leadership group being three guys. And it's obviously not quite this anymore, but there was a little clique. And it was Austin Matthews, Morgan Riley. And Matt Martin. Matt Martin.

Matt, keep the flies off of Martin. Absolutely. Keep the flies off. Frederick Anderson. I would say at least two of those guys could be up for the crown today. Matt Martin? He's one. Carter Verhagen.

Carter Verhagen. And the other is Carter Verhagen. Who looks really good last night, by the way. Who had eight breakaways for some reason. Carter Verhagen's very fast. Wow. He's a great player. Yeah.

Who missed the boat on that one. Yeah. He was wrong. Yeah. He was right about four of the five guys in that trade. So close. So close. So close.

Woo, that's only a five prospect. One might come back to bite you. You know what? I'll give Luke credit. Not bad. You don't throw away all your magic beans. So, you know what? I'm going to give it to Freddie Anderson.

Yeah. I'm going to give it to Freddie Anderson. The Leafs played a very good game against Tampa, I thought. But there were a few fire drills, man. And the second period was awful. And there was at least one really good save. He had to make him the third. So the Leafs played better in front of him, but they were still far from perfect.

And Freddie's last three games have been really good. And out of his last three games, the only one he's lost was the one he got a shutout in. Weird. Because the National Hockey League. I'm going to give it to Freddie. If he keeps playing like this, the team will score more around him. And all of a sudden, the Leafs become formidable again. But until they put it all together, it's wait and see.

But he was great. I'm glad you picked Fred because I think he deserves that. You know, I think we've been rightly, no matter how much people protest this, we've been rightly critical of his play. Suck the puck, man. Yeah, and which, you know, fine, he's done that for years. But it's okay to admit when a goalie has a bad couple months, and he has. A couple months.

A couple months. Not weeks, months. He was bad from January to about the start of March. And, you know, I will say the Western Road trip, the one game he played was great. Jack Campbell was great, too, and we said that. That's what we need to see more of, and we need to have that sustained. The Leafs live and die, as Nick Kiprio said years ago on this show, by what Freddie Anderson does. They will go as far as he will take them.

Now, one thing I do, I'm going to give mine to Morgan Rielly. And the reason I'm going to give it to Morgan Rielly is, you know, there's a couple missteps here and there in the first period. He fell, this and that. But the guy missed two months and came in and was the best defenseman on the team. Wasn't it ankle injury, too? Yeah, he broke an ankle. And so, you know, it's funny that—or did he break his foot? It doesn't matter.

It still hurts. I think Muzzin was foot. Okay. So— And now it's hand. I don't know or care what he broke, to be honest, because it doesn't make a difference. You're talking about mobility. You're talking about loss of—you would think loss of some conditioning, right?

If you break an ankle, you're not doing power squats anymore. You're not running anymore. You're not skating anymore, right? Biggest minute eater on the team. Right. And for as tough as everybody was on Morgan Riley, when he went down, this team sure struggled. And when you see him out there, there is just, I don't even know if it's just him, but there's a confidence that the team plays with when he's there that is just different.

I was sort of alluding to it in the video today. It's not saying John Tavares was the wrong choice for captain. You need more than one leader to get anywhere in the National Hockey League. Morgan Rielly carries himself like a captain. He does. And he could absolutely have been captain, be captain one day, go somewhere else and be captain. That guy's a leader. And so Morgan Rielly, you get the crown, you stepped in, and you were the best defenseman on the team by far.

It was great to see some of the other guys step up. You know, Travis Dermott looked good. Cody Cece was there. Someone tweeted, Cody Cece is at his best when he's in human meat shield mode. What? In the first period, I guess he blocked a really big shot. Yeah. Yeah.

But Riley and Cece have been fantastic, according to the numbers. So, take that one. Well, there you go. We can talk about that. Which means they're both equally good. They are. Yeah. I believe Riley and Hainsey, numbers-wise, were okay, too.

Equally good. Equally good. Jesse. This is getting boring because I am trying to pick someone other than William Nylander. This bores me. But he continues to be the best net front player ever and score more and more power play goals. Yeah. Phil Esposito be damned.

Yeah. Who? Exactly. Phil Espa-lander. You know what, man? You heard it. I was going to say, Phil Esposito, who? That works better.

We can go with that. Does it? Yeah. It's not great, but we'll go with it. He showed up again, scored number 31. How can you not give the crown to William Nylander? Very easily, stupid. Here's how.

He gets my crown because he continues to score and draw penalties, which is also an underrated part of his game, how many penalties he's drawn this season. Net front goal. My crown goes to William Nylander. Willie is able to hold on to the puck and actually skate with it for a while without panicking. Where Kapanen does a different version of that, which is faster and feistier, but he's got to get rid of the thing. And he sort of goes back to old faithful, whereas Willie Nylander, you never, as a defender, you never know what the hell he's going to do.

The puck sticks on his stick a long time. Like, he'll enter the zone and he'll just hang on to it and hang on to it and nobody really takes it from him. and they does something and usually leads to the best goal we've ever seen ever ever

and I'm gonna just go out here I'm gonna go out on a limb and break our format here can I break format for a second I don't think you're allowed fourth crown

I'm gonna fourth crown and I'm gonna crown I'm gonna crown a journalist whoa I'm gonna crown Christina Rutherford we talked about her piece on Danny Ryland

from the NWHL last episode she tweeted this our feature on Danny Ryland and women's hockey was the most read big read on a single day

in Sportsnet history. Wow. You know how hard that is? Like, think about, like, come on. Come on. That's huge. And that goes to show, A, great writer, B, great subject. Right?

Yeah. There is interest in women's hockey, duh. But also, that, you gotta read it. It's just a fascinating profile. Do you know, do you know how many friggin' clicks you gotta get? I don't, I don't, I don't know how you, it's a lot. Like, what would you- You'd be a major Canadian city.

so if okay so it's hundreds of thousands yes really yes yes maybe not every day but most days you've got to be at least in the hundred thousands to be in the top five wow yeah i've i've done it a handful of times that's the only reason i know and i'm super proud of each time that's really difficult and especially it's a big read too long yeah so long that article is at least 3 000 words Yep. It's probably more. That's, yeah, that's unreal. One, two, three, I'm counting.

Four, five. Are you counting paragraphs? Or words? No, I'm just counting the words. We'll see if it's 3,000. Okay, well, you work on that. Okay, I'll get back to you by the end of the show. That is Who Wore the Crown for this week,

brought to you as always by Crown Royal. Next time the puck drops, why not? Why not? Live generously and treat your Leafs crew to a Crown Royal Old Fashund. Is that how we say it? It's Fashund, old-fashioned. By the way, Crown Royal old-fashioned.

Delish. Just throwing it out there. I love an old fashioned It is so It is such a Can't miss cocktail And if I'm at a bar And they can't do

An old fashioned Leave the bar Leave the bar You should get together With Jason York Is he an old fashioned guy Loves an old fashioned guy When's he coming on

We gotta get him soon Cause apparently He's got great stories And apparently Father of Jack York Peterborough Pete's great Apparently he's Jason York

Huge jerk Heard nothing but Terrible things Like literally Immature like Martin Marincin Yeah Remember that joke

Remember I called Martin Marincin immature And that was a couple episodes ago. Oh, I don't remember. I don't remember. It was a joke then and it's a joke now.

But I've heard Jason York is one of the... He's Ned Flanders. I've heard he's a great guy. He's the nicest person on planet Earth. So he's on your nicest person list.

It's, yeah, it's a short list. Him, Jack Armstrong, like Pinball Clemens. Really? He's Pinball Clemens nice? I don't think anyone's Pinball Clemens nice.

Okay, so he's up there. A few weeks ago, I watched Pinball Clemens bring a room of people to tears at the Conn Smythe Gala. Just, oh, everyone, I've never heard a room of hundreds of people

that quiet. Wow. Hey, everyone, Mike's talking. If Pinball Clemens ran for mayor of Toronto, you know he'd win with no platform, right? Yes, he would win. Yes. Because you know, he'd just be like, do good, and that's it. Yeah. Just do good. And we'd all be

like, you know what, let's go out and do our civic duty for Pinball. By the end of his, like, campaign speech, I would be, I and all of his competitors, would be weeping at how much we have wasted our life, and how much potential there still is in it i would just believe in myself so hard pinball clemens 2020 is he he is american there's still time yes there's still time pinball clemens save us all

please um okay so let's talk about let's talk about this leafs team that just beat tampa for the second time in two weeks um and let's you know this remember this is the same leaf team that lost to the three worst teams in the west maybe the west is just that good maybe um still true that thing we've been saying for 15 years has not altered one bit no but but in all honesty you know this is a that was a especially that first 10 minutes because i'm looking at the clock and i'm thinking they haven't gotten a shot you know five minutes and i'm like oh that's pretty good 10 minutes in you've held tampa to no shots i know they don't have no shot attempts even right and i know they don't have edmund and stamkos so what but they have a jike like that team is so

deep it's stacked and also i don't feel bad for you like that's just how it works leafs are missing these guys have you seen the people who are out of the lineup for colorado how are they playing the nhl right now let alone winning games steve works with a guy named drew producer drew who does the dang it videos yes and i don't care about the uh colorado avalanche wow so there you go i thought we were talking about police yeah i thought we were talking about an important team get out of here it's crazy no you know what you know what bothers me about the Avalanche is I was so pumped about Mikko Rantan's season

and he just, twice he's had And Kadri's going to be injured and McKinnon, now one to two weeks, injured. Grubauer's the number one, injured. Kel McCarr, going to win rookie of the injured. Unbelievable. I'm trying to think of an equivalent.

Oh, I don't think there is. It's like if Matthews, Marner, Hyman all went down and Riley went down and Freddie went down. And that's not even their whole list. And they're still in it. Don't feel bad. Don't feel bad for you. I feel a little bit bad for you.

Jesse, zero sympathy, Blake. No, why? Zero. Zero. Never mind, he's right. What would you call them? I would call them, we should continue talking about the Leafs game. True, fair point.

So, you know, ten minutes in, there's not even a shot attempt. And even on the, and then. And the first one came on the power play. And it was 16-1 in the first period, was it not? Shot attempts, I think. 16-1 at the time of Nylander's first goal. There you go. Or only goal.

And that first power play from Rasmus Sandin, because he was in the box or whatever, I'm just thinking, even the penalty kill looked good. Now, second period... It's looked way, way, way better. Second period, you get into a little bit more of the, oh yeah, these Leafs. And so Carter Verhege has a couple breakaways, and there's some, again, Carter Verhege, a guy that you just never thought you'd hear from again, but he led the AHL in points and goals last year.

82 points in 76 games. That's crazy. Third round pick from 2013? I think even longer ago than that. He's 24. He's only got 13 points in, I think, 52 games so far, but in a super-duper depth role for the Lightning. That guy might be a player yet.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Carter Verhage score at least 20 goals in the NHL. With wheels like that? Sure. Oh, my God. Round 3, 82 overall, 2013 NHL draft. There you go, Adam. There you go. Got lucky.

That's the Gauthier draft, by the way. So what would you have taken, Gauthier or Verhage? I'd rather have Gauthier. Neither. How many career goals does Goat have? Because Verhage's got nine this year. I want to know if Goat has as many goals as Carter Verhage. It's close.

I know for a fact it's close. Jesse, you type in the search bar and what do you do? It's faster if you use Google. Can we get a new producer? It's faster if you use Google every time. How many career goals does Goat have? Yeah. 13.

Still the champ. Frederick Goat, Jay, the people's champ. I love Freddie. I'm just me too no it's just yeah I'm a big fan of Freddy

because he's a tall hockey guy and like tall hockey guys because I'm a tall hockey guy yeah you know 6'5 guy who's taller you or goat I think we're about the same

same size yeah that's crazy and he's such a good guy everybody loves him right he is there's times he drives me nuts

but there's you know the skill set's the skill set you ever heard him talk his voice no I haven't it's just extremely deep and French too and French

and he just talks about his hats and I wear hats. Sheffield. Apparently he likes hats and shoes too. Doesn't he a shoe guy? He's just... I'd never want to see him traded.

If the Leafs ever can't get him into the lineup, I want him to replace Carlton the Bear. I don't know. There's something about... They're the same size. He's too solid to be

Carlton the Bear. They're the same size. Have him wear the... I'm the Bear now. So, the third period, Freddie has to make some saves again. But the Leafs look

a little bit more balanced. Much, much better. And, you know, it's funny because there were times in this game where there were that the thing that we have wanted for the Leafs for the last 18 months since John Tavares was signed. Now, I guess it's more like 20 months now. Is this the constant wave of offense? We finally like for a couple of seconds there, it felt like the press was so hard on Tampa that it was like, that's that's what this team should be. We're getting a glimpse of what this team should be. The Leafs brought the game to them.

There were nine penalties in that game. That's a lot of penalties. That's a shitload of penalties for a Leaf game. Yeah. And the power play has finally switched some stuff up. Now, they're still doing that stupid back pass thing. And I was watching the broadcast last night, and Ray Ferraro nailed it. He's so good.

Ray Ferraro said, he said, I don't understand the back pass if you don't have speed. If you do not have speed, it doesn't work. and the reason he gave was because essentially all they have to do is stand you up at the line and Tampa was trying to do it to the Leafs too and they were slowing down and doing the back pass That to me was the worst part of the California trip is their power play There were so many parts of their game that were lacking but they did alright Their power play was awful. I couldn't watch it. It wasn't that they weren't scoring. They weren't even getting into the friggin zone. That's the problem

It was awful. And now that they do with Morgan Riley back, but with Mitch Marner high. It seemed to work a lot better. It just seemed like they have the ability to kind of just shift it. If you were to look at your hand and there's five people and you're looking at it like that, you kind of

shift it a little bit. It just seems like they shifted Mitch 20 feet back, but he was down low when he got the puck to Matthews for the game-winning goal. It still seems like they can do other things. And the problem for me watching that power play

Is I knew every time what was going to happen And I'm not a smart enough hockey person That I should be able to figure that out They should have One or two or three plays Or like just a couple wild cards Those are your plays And then every now and then you do something ridiculous

Yes 100% To me what stood out about the power play Mitch Marner had an excellent game And part of it was he didn't let tampa get set up he made them panic uh maybe tampa didn't play them that well on the penalty kill i'm not sure but he the quick decision making uh led to the nylander goal he throws it in front right off the face off uh john tavaris tips it nylander gets the rebound

and then the uh the matthews setup is hilarious it's hilarious watching matthews with that much time and space. Tampa is waiting for him to pass it. All four penalty killers are looking at him and converging on him slowly. But Mitch just takes a couple little stutter steps into the slot, make it look like, you know, I might shoot. And then as soon as he sees the little sliver of light, gives it to Matthews and it's over. But that's Mitch's game, isn't it?

Yeah. That's the Mitch Marner. That's what they're paying Mitch Marner for. Right. Here, I'm going to send Jesse a screen cap for the broadcast of just the moment the Lightning realized they've made an egregious error on the second call. And that's when I knew I'd fucked up. Yes. It's Ryan McDonough and Andre Vasilevsky.

Who are not, they're no slouches. They're very good. Reigning Vezina and Ryan McDonough. And it's just the, I can't wait for you to show them. It's just the moment of, ah, shit. Like, that thing we didn't want him to do, he did it. Right in front of our faces while we were looking at him. So how sustainable do you think what we saw last night is?

Because my issue with the Leafs thus far this season, and I think it's anybody's issue, is the inconsistency. So what we saw last night is what they can be. How far away are we from seeing what they can be on a nightly basis? Okay, so their next game is Friday? Tomorrow Tomorrow against Nashville Yeah, because you sound really positive

About the team But I'm a little upset Because they didn't show up For a week of hockey Yes! Last week Yeah, but we fundamentally disagree on that though That they lost three games?

No Because I think that's fact I agree that they lost three games Get into that But I disagree that they were awful During those games Okay, but they lost the games Oh, I was mad about it

To the three worst teams in the West. Jesse, you're speaking my language. Also, let me throw it out there. The Kings have won six straight. Okay. They're playing good hockey. All right. I know.

I know. I get it. So they show up for one game on a Tuesday at home. I don't forget about the week that just happened where they couldn't win. Totally. But I'm looking for the encouraging things. Freddie was good. What's confusing me the most, because the defense is playing a little bit better,

I actually thought the defense was worse against Tampa than it was in any of the three California games. I thought they gave up way more dangerous scoring chances. That's just from my eye. I don't know what the numbers are, and obviously they won one and lost three. Right. Right. But what's concerning to me is the depth scoring is gone.

And there were a few encouraging signs last night. Pierre Engvall's breakaway, ding, off the post. He had a couple of really good chances in the first period. Dermot hit a post. Dermot hit a post. On the way out of work, I walked right by him. I was like, who's that 6'5 guy in a suit and toque? Engvall?

Yeah. Was he eating off the top of a tree? No, he was talking to someone. Oh, like he could actually do that. I'm a stupid. No, you wasn't. I need a coffee in my hand. Okay.

No, so that's been really concerning to me, is the fact that the bottom six can't score a frigging goal. Well, we were talking about last episode, Dennis Mulligan, and... It's cancel culture. It cancels culture. What? He's not a cancel culture. He just cancels anything bad or good.

The fictional cancel culture line that I made, whereas we talk about three guys who just, they don't do good, they don't do bad, they just are. And at times it's Pierre Engvall, at always it's Dennis Mulligan, and Nick Patan was the other, who has good numbers, does nothing good, does nothing bad. He's just... He's just there. Cancels the other guys out. If you called up Nick Patan and put those three together, I would call that line cancel culture.

He's like a bishop in chess. He's just not smart enough to know what that means. It's the one that goes in the L. No, that's the knight. That's the horse. Which one's the bishop? Bishop's the one that goes, like, diagonal. And you're like, um...

The triangle-y guy? No, well, he wears the hat. Right? The hat. He goes diagonal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, the triangle. I find bishops to be useless, right?

But they sort of... You get one or two hits with them, but then they're toast. If you need to sacrifice somebody, you're going to sacrifice the bishop. Right. Because the knights are way more useful. I don't know what you're laughing at, Steve. I think that's the appropriate term. But I liked what I saw last night from the third line.

I always like what I see from the fourth line. I really like Kyle Clifford and I really like Jason Spezza. They do their job. Based on what a fourth line in Toronto has meant for years, which was, here's two knuckle-draggers and some poor sap who can't win a face-off, which was, you know, Jared Smithson, Colton Orr, and Frazier McLaren. And listen, it's not because they're bad guys. They just, like, Colton Orr had, or sorry, Frazier McLaren had four career goals.

I would say this. At least Frazier McLaren and Colton Orr had purpose. Yeah, they had identity. Which was to cave your face in. The Steckels and Jared Smithson, holy shit, that was dire straits, man. Yeah. That was, Jay McClellan, I don't know what he was supposed to do. Here's where I'm at with Jason Spezza

So the points have dried up a little bit Not surprising, he's on the fourth line You would expect And the second power play unit's a joke It plays 20 seconds of power play And the 20 seconds start in their own zone They have no shot You might as well just send out two defensemen

Because it's just the next shift And I've been I haven't liked Mulligan I still don't mind the trade What if you took Spezza and put him third line right wing in absence of Cappy While Cappy is up on the left wing on the second line And then you get Engvall, Kerfoot, Spezza That's a line with some jam, some speed, some playmaking ability

I like that Decent shots And you put Malgan in a role that's probably better for him Cancel culture Where it's him, Clifford, and Goat And you just send them as battering rams into the other into the, send him forechecking into the other zone and just tell him to be

assholes. I think that's what I would do. I would put Spezza up on the wing and if you want him to take faceoffs, fine. It's Malgan, Clifford and Goat? Malgan, Clifford, Goat would be the fourth line. You're going to generate nothing

from that line. It's the fourth line. It's the cancel culture. Kyle Clifford is doing stuff out there. He's almost scored a few times. Yeah. I'm still not a huge fan of him in his own zone, but that guy is crushing people. Crushing people. And it's so...

It's, you know... Because here's the thing, with Goat, I find if you put Maulgan and Goat together, I feel like you're almost... Goat threw a hit. He threw a hit, fine. I think he's got some confidence with seeing how Clifford does it, right? I hate to do this. I hate,

hate, hate doing this. But have you seen some more hits since Kyle Clifford came? Yep. Because I seem to, even Matthews. No, we have never been against hits. Ever. Yeah. And fighting is, last I checked, still there.

So you might as well have someone who's good at it. It was a little annoying when the Lightning were going at Freddie. They were literally standing above him. And even the broadcast said, you've got to push somebody off of your goalie. Yeah. You can't let them do that. Well, and the fact that, was it? Come on.

Who got the penalty in the second period for crossing Freddie's crease and hitting him in the head? Was it Coleman? Blake Coleman, yeah. Did they score on it? No, I don't think they did. Yeah, he elbowed him in the head? You have to do something about that.

That was the second time somebody had done something on Freddie, and that was purposeful. I'm sorry. It was. And that's Blake Coleman's game. He's a tough guy, whatever. I'm not hating on Blake Coleman for that. Mike Stevens tweeted last night.

It was almost exactly what Brian Gionta did to Reimer. Right. Right, just with less ramifications, obviously. Now, there are two Mike Stevens in Leafs' Twitter fan. I'm talking about at MikeyStevens81, who I love. And he tweeted this. There's more than two. There is, yeah.

Okay, there's two that I know. He was talking about how it's sort of like, and I'm looking for the tweet. He said, I know this is common knowledge, but by now, Cody Ceci adds zero value to this hockey team. Doesn't score, doesn't defend, doesn't take issue with an opponent popping a squad on his goalie. and it's sad because it was Cody Ceci's first bloody game, but, like, second. But saying he had zero value is diminishing him as an NHL player. That's a little insulting.

I don't like that. I think it's a little excessive. As someone who has yelled and screamed Cody Ceci's name many times. I didn't mind Cody Ceci last night. Yeah. But, yes, it's hyperbole. He made one play where I'm like, who stole your brain? And can they give it back?

That's theft. It was a rebound came in front of the net, and Cody Ceci is standing right in the slot, and it ended up on his stick, and he literally went, and he just threw it to the side of the net, like right onto the stick of another Tampa player. Yeah, and Cody's, the thing is. You're a blue team tonight there, Cody.

When you go there, you'll wear white. He's 6'2 and 210 pounds, which means he's taller on the ice. Hit someone. Move someone. I don't even need you to hit them. Just move them. Prevent them. You know what pisses me off?

What pisses me off is when NHL players say they don't watch hockey. You know what I mean? Why? Why? Because if you watch other teams, you might pick up on some other shit. Go watch any Bruins game. any like dude you just played you just watched from the press box the california road trip you see what you're allowed to get away with defending your goalie and in front of the net

pop a guy i'm not you don't even have to drop the gloves you don't grab them by the collar wrestle them to the ground cradle their head if you're that afraid of hurting someone but for god say like let them know you exist in the world let them know you have a birth certificate for crying out loud yeah do something if someone hurts your goalie well especially when you've got a goalie who's got concussion and neck injury issue issues and you're going into the playoffs what is it about the leafs and goalies who just they take blow after blow after blow to the head yeah the first time i can remember it really happening was james reimer in 2012 and he just kept getting beamed and they're both these big goalies who they they sort of look similar in the

net i don't know maybe it's the way they lean out or something they both do lean out yes no question all the time all the time it's but it's starting to you're right it's starting to drive me now well who was on the ice for that i you know what i don't know but they need almost and i hate to bring this up because it's such a goofy example but you almost need a guy with an attitude like you know it's our fucking water bottle like the david clarkson yes and and i think kyle clifford brings that a little bit and and the thing is kyle dubas has never been against toughness and we've talked about this the whole point in drafting the way they did was to say you could trade for toughness which they've done sure you don't want to draft it you want to get yourself as much high

skill ceiling as you can because if you do need to move some skill out you'll be able to go get the toughness but you're not trading toughness for skill the other way you're not going to get a lot of value back for that. You know who's going to catch a lot of people by surprise? Well, it's hard to hide now, especially heading into the playoffs. Look out for the Philadelphia Flyers, man. Oh, yeah. Because they have an identity now.

You know what to expect from them every night. They're back to the Broad Street bullies a little bit. Travis Konechny is 5'3", and leads their team in scoring, and will, in every situation, give you a little stab with a stick and a smelly glove, and probably bite you for sustenance, because that's what he does and the whole team that I love that little uh that picture I think it was Flyers Rangers I can't remember who the Rangers player was but as soon as he skates over he tries to hit someone the Flyer on the ice gives it back Konechny's on the bench he's screaming at him I want to say it was Nolan Patrick or just Scott Lawton uh on the bench next to him he's

screaming at him Kevin Hayes is watching like laughing like I love being on this team the The Flyers love being Flyers right now. No, they won 10 in a row. Also, they've won 10 in a row. You can't complain. You know what? Okay, I want the Leafs to win the Stanley Cup full stop. As a fan, do you know what series would kick ass and balls?

Boston versus Philly. Oh, man. Conference final would kick ass and balls. That would be so much fun. It would be amazing. Yeah. It would be an amazing conference final. Pittsburgh-Philly is going to be sick.

Pittsburgh, oh my God. Well, Philly might pass Washington and win the division. True. I kind of think they will. They're one point back. I'm hoping they don't only because I want to see them play Pittsburgh. The Metro's not done yet. No, it isn't.

Not at all. It isn't. And you know, the Metro is such a bananas division, too. But I just, not because I don't want, like, listen, Philly's played great, but I want Philly and Pittsburgh to meet in the first round. I just do. I think it'd be so much fun. And it's also hugely important for Philly to get home ice advantage because their home

and away splits are ridiculous. They're like unbeatable in Philadelphia. They are 25-6-4 at home, 16-15-3 on the road. Whoa. And Carter Hart's record, I want to say his record at home, because they lost last night, right? I think his record at home is like 23-1. Something stupid, but I think he has a losing record on the road.

Well, it sounds like it. Yeah, I mean, it must. It must be. Anyway, so sorry. No, it's all right. It was all, I admire Philadelphia because you at least know what to expect. And they're not full of, they have big players. But like, for example, like you don't look at Matt Niskanen as a tough guy.

But like, he'll do bad things to you if you get in his face. Well, and I think now with a couple of playoffs, three playoff series, but more two against Boston, where the Leafs were, you know, poked and prodded and they got under their skin and licked and whatever else happened. You see what Boston can get away with And all we did was bitch about What Boston was getting away with Time to start getting away with it And the Leafs hammered them over and over again in game one

And then in game two They just buckled It was the weirdest thing It was that game It haunts me They all haunt me differently All the losses to Boston So that's the thing

And I think There's going to be some big moves this summer We knew last summer when Chris Johnston came on and just dropped bomb after bomb after bomb after last season. It was the most unbelievable episode I've ever been a part of. It was unbelievable. But he said at the time there's going to be massive changes. And there was, you know, the Tyson-Berry trade and everything else. There has to be.

There will have to be massive changes. Forget where the salary cap is going. We'll get to that a little bit later because it was projected at 88 potentially on the high side. Yeah, flipping right, not going to happen. It's going down. I think it's going down too. But here's the thing. We'll get into that, I guess.

The Leafs need to move a salary at least because Dermott's up. There's some other players that are up. They've got to – I think Clifford might be up. Yes, that's an interesting one too because there's, I want to say, a pick tied to it. Yep, and I wonder – You have Jack Campbell for a full year. Yep. It's not much of a raise, but it is one.

It's something. And I just wonder about where the Leafs are going to be in terms of trying to re-sign some of the players they need to re-sign. And we're not going to get too deep into that this show because there's plenty of time to talk about the Leafs' offseason plans. However, when they move... We might only be talking about Leafs-Lawson. Yeah, no kidding. Let's not burn that bridge right now, because that might be it. When you talk about moving a guy, say it's Andreas Janssen, say it's Kasperi Kapanen, Alex Kerfoot, all the names that were put out there.

The guys, the defensemen I think they're going to be looking for, and I can't put a name on this guy. But the defensemen I'm looking for, I think, there's going to be two. Obviously, you need a top four right shot. That is number one on that list. But number two is you need a bottom pairing guy who... Gives a shit. Who will move a body. You want the Zach Hyman of defensemen.

Kyle Clifford of defensemen. Brendan Dillon. Guys like Brendan Dillon, who's a big meanie. Matt Niskanen, who you will never get. But that type. Give me a big meanie that can play hockey. I want them to play hard. For 10 minutes, I need you for 10 minutes a night.

Okay, let me ask you this. Do the big, tough meanies who can't play hockey exist anymore? Yes. Like still? In the NHL, there's not a ton. Right, but I think you want to get big, tough meanie who isn't on such a hard downside on his career that he can't play anymore either. Right. So that's the other problem is that those meanies, their career trajectory tends to be a little bit shorter because they're hard miles on the body.

Sure. So, you know, if you get a really great, solid, right-handed shot defenseman to play with Morgan Riley, that's great. You've got your second pair solidified with Hall and Muzzin. And you expect, if Travis Dermott plays a little bit more like he played last night, he's still your third-pairing guy. Why isn't Justin Hall that guy? Well, maybe he'll develop...

He's like 28. Yeah, like... He can develop an edge. The thing is, developing an edge is a mindset. Yes, he has skill, can skate, is huge, does nothing, and does nothing physically, I mean. Like, that to me is exactly, he, I think the Leafs' growth has to come from within, at least in the near future. Agreed. And, like, Tavares is a guy right now who I think is battling it, like, just in terms of his body language, and he ends up picking up, I think, two assists last night.

Marner, too, was battling it. Marner's been battling it, found a way through. Justin Hall is in such a heavyweight battle with himself right now, and he's got to come out. I wouldn't, like, what do you do to get out of a rut? You've got to do something different. What would be something different for him? Throw a hit.

Throw a hit. A lot of people are going to like hearing this. Get in a fight. I know you're important to the team, but, you know, guys are coming back in the lineup. A couple guys can take a couple extra shifts over the next five minutes. Punch someone in the head. It's in the

It's, listen Everyone else is allowed to do it Everyone else And if they're not allowed to do it, they do it anyway You know, like, this is This is what I've learned State-sanctioned violence is what it is This is what I've learned from watching the playoffs

Over the last few years Like, I realize no amount of Complaining about the rulebook Will get that problem Solved So accept reality. Accept reality and hit someone. Stick up for yourself.

Yep. Yep. And he's patient zero there. And Cody Ceci, too, I guess. You're right. Right. Well, and if the Leafs do end up playing, listen, if the Leafs make the playoffs, they're playing Tampa, essentially.

You know, Tampa could, I mean, Tampa's eight points behind Boston, right? They were, a couple games ago, it was just three points. And now Stamkos and Hedman, that's tough. Right. Now, they'll probably be back for the playoffs. And Hedman at Sportsnet did a little interview, and he wants to go through Toronto and Boston. And he said it in that order. These guys...

They know. They're not stupid. They know, but part of me wonders, uh-oh, are they doing the same thing they did last year? What do you mean? He's already talking about the second round. He's already looking ahead. Like, really? Are you serious?

It's March 11th, Victor. Really? They didn't do that last year. Do you think they did? Did they? I think we did. I don't remember hearing an interview where they did. Well, I mean, look at what happened.

They must have. Right. And also, Victor Hedman's probably upset because if he's healthy, that series probably goes a little differently. I don't know if they win. Agreed. I mean, look at the last two games. Would it be so bad if the Leafs got Tampa in the first round? Well, they're going to.

Whether it's good or bad, they will. Yeah. And unless they don't make the playoffs and Florida does, and then Florida gets Tampa. Which is still possible. But that was the other thing I said in today's video. I'm like, if Florida wins their next game, or wins their game in hand, Leafs are still up 1. Leafs control their own destiny. Believe in yourselves, you bunch of vassals.

You drive me nuts for crying out loud. And then play great games like they did last night. So, you know, that's interesting with the Hedman interview. Because I think there's a boogeyman appeal with Boston right now with the Leafs. And I think that's pretty clear. I wonder why there is. Yeah, exactly. There is such heartbreak associated with that logo and those guys. And I wonder if not because Tampa's a slouch. They're not. But if you play Tampa, I wonder if just the mindset's just straight up different. You're not in Boston Garden. You're not making that short flight. It's just a different atmosphere. And Tampa plays a far more grinding game than they did in the past three or four years. Like, look at who they—Barclay Goudreau and Blake Coleman and Zach Bogosian.

And Shattenkirk's not really a grinding defenseman, but he's a different player for them. I still remember him from the Washington series. Gimme Kevin Shattenkirk. Yeah, because you can get under his skin. Yes, gimme Kevin Shattenkirk. I just think it'll be interesting to see Toronto because maybe they still look at Tampa differently. you know brains are weird right it's hard for a brain to get out of a thing so if they mine's perfectly normal if they feel like yeah sure you you especially uh i i think if they're able to

go into tampa and go maybe we can outgrind these guys for this well and can you imagine what they beat them in the regular season right imagine what it would do for the least mentally to beat the lightning for so many of those guys it's their first ever playoff series win and then they go at Boston. Now I'm looking ahead. I have a hard time looking at an 8 seed versus Tampa will be, I think, like the 3 in the conference. And you're like, yep. You know what?

Confident in that 8 seed, knocking off the 3. Happened last year. Happened last year. It did, but that was 8 versus 1, and what are the odds? It's rare. Well, there's a reason we still talk about it. Exactly. And I want a reason to bring it up. It was unexpected. Let me throw this at you, too. Goal differential for Boston, plus 53.

Goal differential for Tampa, Plus 50 Goal differential for Toronto Plus 11 Different class Wow Bit of a different class Yeah

Yeah So Can I throw this out there Sure As a big dumb lug When it comes to the standings I don't pay attention to standings Well

I Said every NHL player ever I don't give a Single solitary shit About your Record on the season Final 25 games That's all I care about

But how in what in what way do you mean that well how do they line up how would they line up if the playoffs were just decided on your last 25 games right so like for example like we look at some of the upsets from over the years columbus versus tampa that one's maybe not the greatest example on account of columbus actually really struggled to get into the playoffs but they juiced up at the trade deadline so to me it wasn't weird that they were able to find another level The number one example to me, this team barely squeaked into the playoffs. They were 11th place in the West, back when it was still a one-day-eight system, I think.

They were 11th place in the West when they made a significant trade, and they were second place in the NHL from the time that trade was made. L.A.? L.A. They got Jeff Carter, and they were the second-best team in the entire league, and they played the President's Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks, and they beat them in five. Because they could finally score goals.

Yes, if the Leafs, you know, who have been way up, way down, if they have a great final dozen games, I'm not going to give a shit what Tampa's record on the season is. But I think that's why Columbus was able to have that edge in that series, right? Because they fought and fought and fought and fought. And got in. Well, and here's where they're at right now. Columbus is in the exact same position. They're not out.

No, they're in the second wild card. And here's who they're facing if the playoffs start today. Boston. Oh. Now, that's a tough series. but you have to wonder, with most of the players left over from last year's team, and it's a real loss that Josh Anderson won't be playing because he's such a SOB to play against. But Columbus-Boston, although everybody gives the edge to Boston in that series,

I think if that actually ends up happening, it's a very interesting series because they do play a similar game. It's a great John Tortorella series. Oh, yeah. The only way we'd beat you is if our goalie plays bonkers bananas and if we beat the shit out of you. 1, 2, 3 potentially overtime and maybe even in the parking lot and it might be torts going to Bruce Cassidy why not

money on torts him and his vest the Islanders just need to pick up one point in their two games in hand to pass Columbus look at the Rangers I know the Rangers are right there look at the Rangers DJ Z-Bad

he's taking over the East baby DJ Z-Bad Man he's What has he had 18 goals No no 23 goals in 22 games Since the All-Star break

Wow Something like that Just insane Insane And I want to say 9 over the last 4 Now before we take a look At the Western Conference

Because I do want to do that I want to say Hey listen We've got a new partner On the show That we're very excited about Elite Prospects Oh yay

Yeah So Elite Prospects Is we've partnered With Elite Prospects Just to give you You know obviously We've got the draft coming up And you're going to see

A lot of stories about that. But what Elite Prospects gives you, I think you already know. If you're listening to this show, you've probably been on Elite Prospects a million times. Have you seen this? Have you read about this? Yeah. Have you read about it? Brand new site.

No. But in all honesty, they have a premium service. And there's some really cool features with this that allow you to get that sort of edge in just – you know what? Sports sometimes is really just about knowing more than your friend, right? A little bit. You know what I mean? Gives you that little bit of edge. So what EP Premium gives you is advanced player search filters.

You can do custom lineups. You can bookmark things. And you get access to rosters from around the world. And one of the things that they're really great about is European League stuff. Like, obviously, they're great with the NHL. You already know that. But they have rosters and player information. They can tell you what agency they're a part of.

That's pretty key. Yeah. That's extremely key. Underrated. Big deal. No, because who your agent is, and you learn a lot about the game based on the player agents. I want that player. Looks at the agent.

I no longer want that player. Right. Exactly. There's full access to articles that they have there, scouting reports at EP Ringside, which you should check out. NHL team depth charts and in the system list. So if you're interested and curious about, and every site's going to have something different, but EP Premium has such an in-depth look at each prospect. If you're interested in the system, if you're interested in who your team should go after

and who they should draft, they've got brilliant analysis on that sort of thing. They've got all player game logs from the NHL and the AHL. That's my jam. Love game logs. Isn't it great? Transaction notifications, no ads, no pop-ups, and you can manage and verify your own EP profile. And there's also stats cards and player profiles that you can export to a PDF or Excel.

Basically, if you're a nerd for hockey, which if you're listening to the show, hi, you are, You need EP premium, but I don't want to pay for it says person who has Netflix and Craven If you're listening to the show you probably spend a lot of time doing this it's probably worth it for you. Yes, absolutely So check out elite prospects come check out their premium service It's just a great Great, it's crazy the information that is available like you met you think about So 2012, 2013, when the advanced stats debate really started, and that's kind of when this show started too,

the things that we have access to now versus what we would have had 10, 20 years ago is unbelievable. And I think it's well worth the money. I do subscribe to services like this, including Elite Prospects Premium, because I think, because I'm dumb, it's really important to at least ask the smart people. Right. You know what I mean?

Right. Yeah. And they're the ones doing all your homework. All you have to do is read it. Exactly. You, they did all the work on the project. You do the presentation. Bingo.

Bingo! Speaking from experience. Actually, I didn't either. I was, I did not excel at any. Jump cuts is when I got comfortable in my own skin. Are you serious? You were never good at the oral presentation thing? No, not really.

I started to get better at it as I took drama. But that was, I did not like it. Interesting. Like, I always, I was the kid, I was Sweaty Palm's panic kid whenever it was my turn to read. And I would try to read ahead in the book and, like, okay, how many kids are in front of me? And, okay, I know I'm going to get this paragraph. And if I was wrong and I was on a different paragraph, shit! And I would lose my place.

See, I would actively put my hand up and want to read. Yeah, well, that makes a lot of sense. And there was, it's funny. It's funny because, like, in all the. And then you grow up to be a radio broadcaster. It's weird. It's strange. There's no jump cuts live in class.

I was fucked. Sorry. Yes, Adam? I remember looking at my report card when I was in like grade seven grade eight and they have like the English mark that we Had was was split up into three so it was like your your writing your oral and your reading sure You know your marks or whatever yeah? So like my reading and writing would be average oral a it's like a guaranteed a so I like oh Adam's got that a A-oral.

Oh, no. What? Did we end the Elite Prospects portion? Yes, we did. Okay, good. I think so. But you know, I just told you, I Elite Prospects premium.

A for oral, baby. Yeah. Damn straight up. Anyway, I was very proud of the fact that I could do a presentation. I'm surprised. Jesse, how did you do on presentations? That was okay.

Were you a shy kid, or were you like... Certain situations. Okay. I was shy. I had a weird childhood. I don't know. Is it tough as the... Like, were you always the tall kid?

I was. especially towards the end of high school I find a lot of tall kids are like shy yeah yeah I was definitely shy in the middle portions of high school for sure but I was such a outgoing kid in elementary really? so it's kind of topsy turvy

so it's interesting so Tim Grover remember that book I told you guys about he's the guy that trained Kobe and Dwayne Wade and all those guys and Michael Jordan so he says in that book that the extra tall NBA players tend to be super shy and super um taco fall seems shy yes shy and um uh self-conscious because of the way

people look at them is that how you feel because you have you're you're special you know you have this thing that nobody else has and you're not like anything you're looking around at so yeah there's definitely a otherness that's really interesting when you're really tall i always thought they'd be like yo i'm gonna fucking dominate everything no it's because i think as humans you want to we tend to go towards groups and like-minded people and then you're not you're not anything you're looking at around, you know? So you definitely stand out and you feel a little awkward. Interesting.

Especially as you're a teenager. Yeah, you're awkward anyway. You know? You're just adding on to your awkwardness. Do you remember it was a Marlies playoff game and we saw a guy who was like at least seven feet tall and like 400 pounds, something like that. He looked like the big show.

Okay, no, not really, but continue. And people were just taking pictures with him. He wasn't. He was just a guy. Very large. Yeah, he was a large human. You don't want that. You don't want to be.

He is the biggest person I've ever seen in my entire life. Granted. But I wouldn't take a picture with him. Right. That's a little, hey, I can see how different you are. Yeah. Let me point that out and take a picture of you. That's a wild thing for someone to do.

I feel bad for the guy. Me too. Totally. Totally. Man, that's wild. Listen, we got to talk about the Pacific Division. My favorite division in all of sports history. We don't have to, said the person from Toronto.

Next. No, listen. So Thatcher Demko stole a game for the Canucks last night. It was amazing. And they needed him to. They needed him to. And it's great to see him rise to that level. Listen, I want the Canucks to make the playoffs.

Like, I really do. I work for Sportsnet, and I can say the same. Also, go Jets. Yeah, well, the Jets are... So here's how the wildcard looks right now. Nashville, 69 games played. Boom! 78 points.

And Nashville are my enemies at the moment. Vancouver, 69 games played, 78 points. Winnipeg, 70 games played, 78 points. Minnesota, 69 games, 77 points. And the Coyotes falling out of it with only 74. Crazy, crazy. But the Pacific Division is interesting because, well, first off, I had this. Somebody just sent me this tweet.

It's from a guy with 100 followers at Burnt Reynolds. and he said, put together Louis Erickson, Jay Beagle, and Sutter on a line and call it the West Coast Expense. Oh. Gee, that's an expensive line. Yeah, that's what I said.

Jim Benning needs to put the phone down on July 1st, and this year he won't have a choice. But the Canucks... Want to bet, said Jim Benning? Yeah, really. The Canucks are... How can you not cheer for them? And they got Besser back. Yeah.

That was the big thing where I'm like, well, if they even make the playoffs, what's the point? If they get Besser back, Toffoli, I think, has been good. Certain guys are playing the best hockey of their lives, and Jakob Markstrom's in there. The Canucks can catch you off guard. Yes. And get at least a round deep, and then it's anyone's game. Let's say the playoffs start today, okay? Sure.

It's game 69, game 70, February, whatever. Nice. If they play the St. Louis Blues, who they would be playing. That sucks. Tough. That's a tough one. If they get into the second wild card spot, they play the Colorado Avalanche. Now, you say crazy, but it depends on where Colorado's at with the injury situation, does it not?

I mean, I know Colorado continues to win. But if McKinnon's out, Rantanen's out, Grubauer's out, even though Fran Souza's been great, Makar's out, not saying that they won't be back for the playoffs, but even then, are they really even at full strength? Because we're a couple weeks away now. 100% healthy, I think Colorado's my team to win the West. They just aren't. They just aren't that.

Right? So what's it going to be? The way they are now, Vancouver can absolutely beat them in a seven-game series. So St. Louis, Colorado are duking it out for the Central Division. If they played a team from the Pacific, it'd be Vegas. A Vegas-Vancouver series would be interesting to me. Because they know each other really well. Mark Stone is a huge wild card because he's out right now.

Right. Like, as much as Vegas loaded up on goaltending, the way Markstrom's played this year, assuming because Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Leonard together, pretty dangerous tandem. Yeah. And it worked out well in Pittsburgh when they had a dangerous tandem, including Marc-Andre Fleury. Not bad. But Vancouver healthy with Markstrom healthy.

I might give the edge to Vancouver. It's complete. You don't think so? These playoffs are completely jump off. Like, who knows? Like, well, I mean, every playoffs technically is, but, like, I don't know who to pick. Because the amount of injuries and the significance of them are insane. My two preseason cup final picks are shot.

I picked Colorado and Carolina. Carolina doesn't have Hamilton or Pesci. Oh, that's not even fair. How many teams in the NHL can survive losing either one of those guys on the right side, let alone both of them? and they loaded up and they got Vatanen and I think he's out too and they got Trocek.

They loaded up. They should be a cup favorite. They might still be. It's just when are those guys back? Like Hamilton I think is out long term. I think he's done done. Oh, you think he's done for the year? I think he's done for the year.

Oh, that sucks. It's brutal. It's brutal, but what are you going to do? Here's the thing. Pittsburgh doesn't even have Gensel. We haven't talked about that in months because Pittsburgh's been so good.

But now that they're falling off could use Gensel. And, well, listen, it's what happens when you lose Patrick Marleau. It's true. Look at what's happened to Carolina since they lost Patrick Marleau. And look at what happened to the Sharks. In fact, I tweeted jokingly about that, because

John Scott was on Good Show yesterday, and he said, well, you know, they were asking him, you know, what do you think happened with the Leafs? He said, well, losing Patrick Marleau's tough. And it's like, well, he hasn't helped Pittsburgh since he showed up in Pittsburgh. Looks handsome.

He does look good. I love Patrick Marleau. It's not his fault. Hey, all three teams to have lost Patrick Marleau over the last 12 months are not on pace. They're on pace for less points than the year before. Whoa. San Jose, Carolina, Toronto. All of them.

It's true. Math. Maths. Quick maths. It's indisputable fact, actually. Once again, I am right in my analysis. And guys, we're getting closer and closer to a Calgary-Edmonton first round. I want it.

Like, if the universe, please do not rob me of this. I want to go to there. I want to go to there big time. Now, I don't know how either team comes out of that series and wins a cup. I think they'll be damaged. Yeah, you'll all have one, at least one, fewer limb. Like, I just don't know how you do it. It's conceivable in these playoffs, we get a Philly-Pittsburgh,

we get a Calgary-Edmonton, and potentially a Philly-Boston. Dude. Do we look at that series and say Edmonton is the favorite because they have the two best players in the whole series? Or do we say Calgary plays better playoff hockey than Edmonton? Oh, they do not. You don't think so? I like Edmonton a lot more in the playoffs. You know why I give Edmonton the edge?

They're goalies. And I never thought I'd say this. Which is wild. Mike Smith is having this revival year. And Mikko Koskinen's played really, really solid hockey For the most part He started the last, I think it's four games Because he's on fire

Koskinen? I can't even keep up And Rittich, Big Save Dave Has his moments Up and down His stonks are down right now And Cam Talbot? Like, really? No You know what I mean?

The starter last time Edmonton made it Yeah, exactly I understand the dry saddle on McDavid. I get it. But to me, if they don't have goaltending, they're not in. Like, last year, they didn't have a goaltending. They have goaltending this year, and I give them the edge a hundred

times out of a hundred because of the fact that they've got strong goalies. And they've got a goalie like Mike Smith, who's been deep in the playoffs. Third round. Third round. Coyotes, 2012. It was an exciting time. Now, that was eight years ago. It's a long time, but as a guy who cheers for a team with not a lot of experience

going late in the playoffs, it does matter. How about this? Mike Smith was excellent in the playoffs last year. True. Just last year. He was. He was Calgary's best player. Is Mark Giordano still out? Good question. I'm going to go to the bathroom. That's great, man. You guys

answered that question. I don't believe so. Let's have this conversation then, Jesse. Why do you think Calgary would be better in the playoffs than Edmonton? I don't know if they would be better. Not against each other. Are you talking suitable? I think when

gameplay slows down, I think guys like Giordano, Lindholm, Kachuk, even Lucic are more effective. No, I won't push back on that. And that's playoff hockey. And I could see Calgary winning a round or two. Interesting. Just based on the way they play. Interesting.

It's not impossible. How often does the best offensive team win in hockey? I can't point to it. It's rare. Right? It's usually the team with great defense, goaltending that's able to stay on their head for four weeks, and then an offense that holds up. Here's the only way, and I'm going to have to pull this up,

so I'm going to talk really long in order to delay it. There is a way that Calgary can beat Edmonton. Obviously, they've got to get goaltending. They've got to stop McDavid. They've got to stop McDavid. That is an especially tough one. And Dreisaitl. And Dreisaitl.

And Nuge. It's a little bit weird. Like, what did they do at the deadline? Who? Calgary. Calgary? I could take a look if you really want. Because if you, like, I'm pretty sure it's looked like they were going to play Edmonton for a long time.

Yes. How don't you just go, we need a McDavid stopper? Or, like, we need someone extra on D. If I'm in the Pacific Division and Edmonton's making the playoffs, I'm getting a defenseman. Just to have them. At the deadline, they acquired Derek Forbort. Derek Forbore. Forbort.

I like Forbort better. Eric Gustafson. Great pickup. They traded away Brandon Davidson. And that's about it. Big old pile of nothing. Yeah, yeah. There's your answer.

That miracle kid run that Calgary made in, what year was it, 2014-15. They played 11 games. Johnny Gaudreau, a rookie. had four goals, five assists, nine points. He was spectacular. The following two playoff runs. This is half a decade ago. This is half, it's a very long time ago, right?

So 16-17, Calgary made it. And last year, Calgary made it. Nine games total. They got swept and almost got swept last year. Right. So nine games total. Goudreau, zero goals, three assists, three points. he in the deciding game last year against colorado he had three breakaways i think in the same period

and i don't i'm not even sure he got a shot i think he might have missed all three he definitely didn't score on any of them so if calgary is gonna have any shot like i know the best offensive team doesn't always win because the the style changes johnny goudreau's gonna yeah i think if johnny Goudreau doesn't show up to play hockey like he hasn't in the last two playoffs, as you just pointed out, I don't think they stand a chance at all. Stars gotta be stars, right?

Sean Monaghan has been good, but last year even, you know, one goal, one assist. But part of it, I don't know if you could point at any Flames. Part of what Monaghan's points are gonna be based on Johnny Goudreau finishing. Like, Johnny Goudreau's gotta be

scoring goals. Right. SDA's points are gonna dry up on the Pete's if Nick Robertson is not scoring 55 goals in God knows how many games. 100%. So, sorry, I'm just jumping back in because I kind of knew where you guys were going anyway. We haven't even really talked about the Oilers yet. I just feel like the Oilers on top of having those two, the two-headed monster there, will just brutalize you.

Yeah, they're tough. Darnell Nurse is, whew. And you know what? I like the Tyler Ennis pickup, man. That was a really smart move. Andreas Athanasiou. When he comes back. He's pretty one-dimensional.

Yeah. But, uh, he's really fast and really, he's, he's, um, uh, what's the word? Belligerent, I guess. Yeah. Oh yeah. Does not care about your personal wellbeing, uh, being. Will drive through you. Yeah.

I have a feeling he's going to get demoted to more of a depth role. Um, cause it turns out being fast is not enough to play with Conor McDavid. You got to have other things, but if you throw them down on the third line and just go, hey, sick them like you said sick them uh i i've always felt like the oilers were built poorly for the regular season but if they ever make it it's not gonna be fun no four to seven games with that and also that's not fun at all do not sleep on i know he's been injured mike green mike green is older now yeah but that guy's that guy thinks the game he's a smart player that's a and he's been there that's a miserable power play to have to go up against oh yeah it's game seven of the

second round your body is just beat to shit you're picturing having to if even if in the best case scenario you win this you got to do this for another month and you got to play against mcdavid and dry sobble just to keep going just gag me with a spoon yeah yeah that sucks yes i wonder when we had um ken reed wrote the book about him why can i not think about it uh when we had dennis baruch on he talked about the philadelphia flu in the 70s when guys would just be like, oh, I'm sick, because they didn't want to play the Flyers. You've got to think there's a little bit of that anxiety that kind of gets under your skin when you're going into a game against the Oilers now.

Depends. I don't know. I think certain guys are excited to play against them. Sure, but you've got to think there's some other guys who are like, like, if you're a defenseman, and your job tonight is Leon Dreisaitl and Connor McDavid. Just, holy shit. I mean, I know they've split them up. They're on different lines now.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. That makes them more dangerous to me. You'd be playing a lot. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Which, like, oh, McDavid with Dreisaitl, it's an amazing line. Look at him putting up all those points.

I'm like, of course they are. Well, yeah. Of course they are. The problem is lines two through four are shit. But now that they split them up and they have a little bit more depth and they're playing differently and they're getting some goaltending, oh, my God. I've done a complete 180 on the Edmonton Oilers.

The Orange teams are coming up. Yeah. Oilers, Flyers. Nugent's a better winger than he's ever been a center. I think he's just proven that. Yeah. He should be on Dreisaitl's wing, and he should stay there. Well, and what makes that a lot easier to do is splitting those two up.

Yeah, yeah. Now it's him and Dreisaitl, and that's how it's going to be. And this is why I ragged on the Oilers for so long. People think I just hate them. Dude, what solved this all was Tyler Ennis? Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Where was this two years ago?

Yeah, well, and it's a different mindset. They haven't always had Tyler Ennis, right? They were good before they got him. But it just makes them so much more formidable. To me. Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Let's do it. Now, this is something that—

Elephant in the room? What is that, another fat joke there, Adam? Getting it from both sides now? Go ahead. You know, listen, it's not a fun subject, but the job is to talk about what's actually happening. And I don't know if you realize how close you are to losing the season right now. Yeah, we're talking about the playoffs. the Stanley Cup being awarded

this year in my opinion is up in the air if we were putting odds on it the odds would not be good and Steve that's media hysteria and that's ridiculous you gotta wake up you gotta wake up

and it's not because people always go to the extreme on this one will I die well if you're under the age of 40, 50, 60 What do they say? People 60 and over with diminished immune systems are the ones that tend to. It's not really about that.

Yeah. Well, there was a guy on Twitter today like, I have cancer. What am I supposed to do? Exactly. You know? Exactly. That's the extreme, but yes. Yes.

It's not about, I hate to pull your head out of your ass. It isn't about you. Well, you don't know any old people? Any? You don't have parents? You don't work with any? You don't have parents, grandparents? Even if you don't have any in your family, you don't know any.

You don't ride the subway, you psychopath? Even if for some reason you don't know any old people, you've known old people. Yes. Or have I touched something that an old person has touched? I have a question, just a question. They're people, right? Yeah. Right.

So their health and your compassion would still exist, right? Yes. So this is the thing. How about I'm about to turn 32, I'm perfectly healthy, I don't want to get sick. Fair. That's fair. Don't fuck up my next two weeks, please. Yeah, exactly.

And by the way, for a lot of people, the symptoms aren't pleasant. Even just the flu sucks. Now, the thing is that you have to look at it like this, okay? There's no other way that you can look at this if you're the NHL. What is Gary Bettman's job? What's his vocation? Not his title, his vocation. What's he trained to be?

A lawyer. What are lawyers? Litigious. And conservative, right? And conservative. They have to be. They have to look out for the worst possible situation That's a lawyer's job

You're not talking about politically conservative No like in terms of like Worst case scenario planning Should we speed or should we not speed Well we shouldn't because we might get caught That's what a lawyer would tell you So in this particular situation Even though they're not saying it publicly

All major leagues not just the NHL Have to look at it like this So you're the Toronto Maple Leafs And god forbid somebody on the team Contracts this virus Which is totally not out of the realm of possibility. Totally possible. The team was decimated by the flu or something just a few weeks ago.

So here's what happens. Not only does that player and their family then go into quarantine for two weeks, so does the coach, so do the trainers, and so does every other player on the team. And the team they played, and maybe the team they played a couple weeks ago. It's just, the league's done. Even if you don't do that, even if you're like, oh, well, we'll ignore it and hopefully, you know, it'll go away. You've pulled one of 31 teams out of the league. You can't continue the league.

Right. You cannot actually continue without all the teams being able to play. And if all the teams are not able to play, then you can't have a playoffs and you can't have a Stanley Cup. Guys, it takes one player and the league is shut down. That's all it's going to take. Yeah. and especially with the nhl where you're literally your job is to live in your own sweat for three straight hours and travel on planes and travel on planes to different cities this is it it may not

directly affect you you may never get this but to talk about like i i look at what columbus did yesterday the governor of ohio came out and said i wouldn't recommend gatherings over a thousand people and even that i'm like that's liberal um the columbus blue jacket said no we're still going to do this? The Ohio State governor is signing an executive order banning gatherings of a thousand or more. So when is that news? Literally. This updates every

ten minutes. So he signed the executive order so they can stop people from going to the NCAA tournaments, the March Madness tournaments that are supposed to be held in Ohio. You're so fast, this has changed. No, no, go, go. I was about to say two hockey leagues have been cancelled. Wrong. Yeah, the Australian

and German. Wrong. Or Austrian and German, excuse me. This is from Zisman... This boy... Sounds Swiss. Zmemberg. Anyway, Slovan Bratislava,

formerly of the KHL, announces that the Slovak clubs of the top tip sport liga have decided to cancel the remainder of the 2019-2020 season.

This means that five countries so far have canceled their hockey season. Austria, Germany, Poland,

Norway, and Slovakia. And you might say to yourself, well, I don't give a shit about any of those leagues. your team is probably going to look at drafting players out of at least two of them and also

that's insane and there's probably listeners from those countries there are people that would make the argument and there's a lot of North Americans who play for them and there are people that make the argument that well wait a second, I mean it's a heck of a lot more intense in Europe specifically countries like Italy, which are right across the Alps

from Austria and Germany and whatever, yes but that's because that's right now if you look at what's happening in new york right now governor cuomo's already declared a state of emergency have none of you watched the movie and and beyond that no it's not everybody there's there's like three people in our mentions who are like you guys are this is phony and bullshit and whatever let me tell you this one player any of these leagues they're done yeah one player And, you know, the NBA today, it was leaked that Adam Silver and the other owners are looking at,

well, can we move games to cities that are not affected? Tomorrow, the Warriors are playing without fans. That came down around 2 p.m. Because San Jose is also now doing that, too. That's going to be the first one. It's going to be fun to watch. It's going to be the wildest thing you've ever seen. And they've shut down all Italian Premier League soccer, all of it.

So Italy's been rammed by it. Yeah. Italy's done as a country. Yeah, they've locked it down now the reason that they had now the reason Italy is is because of its Italy's always been for thousands of years a main shipping hub so you're always gonna have a Cross section of people like actually when the when the Black Plague came to Europe in the 12 or 13 hundreds It came on a Turkish ship to Italy first Oh, is that and it made its way up over the course of like a couple years to the rest of like northern Europe and

Eastern Europe and that sort of thing that's just the tale that's told well that No, that's what they they actually had reports on it because what happened was the ship showed up, and there was one person still left alive and That was recorded the SSC plane no I wouldn't have been that but it was it was a ship that was either Turkey or Africa But essentially what happened was it was a grain ship and back then Africa Supplied a lot of the grain and so what the northern Africa on the journey They died on their and there were there was notorious their stories of from that time ghost ships

ships just washing ashore and everybody dead now that is the black plague yeah that is not coronavirus but if you think of it like you're gary bettman for just a second okay you have 18 000 people in every arena yeah varying ticket sales or whatever can you rightly in your mind incur the risk as a lawyer that somebody contracts coronavirus covet 19 whatever you want to call it at your game can you incur that risk because here's what you're saying when you throw those games you are saying to the general public these are safe we when you have these games the reason they have security is they're trying to guarantee your safety and and it becomes i again i'm not a lawyer but it becomes hairier when you have certain things like the governor saying please don't do

this and then you do it anyway and then it gets sick or people get sick so you were you were saying the shipping hub the story i had heard is something about um skiing trips and a few people got on a skiing trip sure and they come back to italy from the skiing but italy's a sub it's just it's just what it is it's a it's a central hub in it in europe like what's coming up march break and spring break and all that like fuck one person at some thing or other in florida gets it thousands of people from god knows where then travel back home and i don't need to tell you what's next right that's the key it's it's not and it's it's if the nhl if the job of the nhl for fans is to guarantee their safety and to want their they i don't know if you can guarantee

somebody's safety but you know they put protective nettings up so pucks won't go into the crowd They have security there and they have metal detectors so people can't bring guns and weapons in. You know, there's a reason they have all those things in place because they want to keep the people safe. And if somebody gets it and they turn around to a lawyer and say they didn't make sure I was safe, they held this event. Guess who's liable? And the NHL could have multiple cities having class action lawsuits against them if they don't take action on this. You can't have that. It's totally possible.

100% conceivable Listen McDonald's Somebody sued McDonald's For a coffee that was too hot And they won Alright So if you think this is nuts

That happened That's real So She did have like Third degree burns But it happened Yeah Coffee's hot

I saw a tweet about that recently And they were like This is one of the It's a bit of a misnomer Worst case of misinformation It's a bad example It's actually kind of interesting By the way

She 100% deserves it Yeah I read the story I know I'm just saying But the point I'm trying to make here is that this it's a legitimate argument that can be made and will will win in court and that's where the nhl's motivation's got to be it's protecting the the the the money now there

are owners in this league and i would imagine columbus is one of them saying we cannot lose this revenue which is why they're they're so brash about the fact that no we're going to still host the games it's still going to be normal these teams a lot of them are just getting by by the skin of their teeth but when it comes down to it public safety is going to come first and do not be surprised look at what's happened over just the last seven days look at what's happened in the world how much the cases have grown from how they doubled and tripled morning yeah this is going to get and and i ever i work in a building thankfully jesse same we work in a building with a lot of smart people in news and i went and talked to them a couple of them today and i said

Listen, what are your thoughts on this? You know, you've read the reports. You've gone through all this. These are real journalists. And they said, going to get worse before it gets better. And if you're one of these people that's still not bothered, you probably listened to Joe Rogan. No, you're not. And the person who we had on last night said, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

I guess you saw it, too. I did, yeah. That scared the shit out of me. Who we had on is fascinating and very smart. Yeah, and again, Rogan's a bit of a minefield because he has on Brilliant People and Chucklefucks. But I think that's his brand, right? Yeah, but this guy was like, no, no, this is bad. He was saying how they have the ability to track viruses like dinosaur bones, kind of, or like the rings on a tree.

So they're able to pinpoint when it made its first transfer from animal to human. They're saying it was around mid-November. So if you think about it, they're able to just go back and see, okay, it happened like this week-ish last year in 2019. That's not that long ago. No, that's like, what, four months, five months? And now it's worldwide. So this is a great lesson. So this is where we're at.

If you're the NHL or if you're a public official, whatever, your job is to be overly cautious. So you can bitch and whine and complain about us being hysterical, about the NHL or the NBA or the MLS or whatever league you watch being too cautious. That is their job. They need to be too cautious. I would much rather them be too cautious than not at all and have somebody pay the price for it. And so going forward with this, we don't know what's going to happen this season. And if no games are canceled and if this passes and nothing happens, great. Yes, of course.

But if something does, at least we were prepared. And can the priority in a pandemic not be sports? You know, our priority shouldn't be on having a Stanley Cup award. They're not even depriving you of sports. They're depriving you of live sports. It should be our priorities here in a pandemic should be saving people's lives. And if that means not gathering glumps of 20,000 to save a couple more people's lives, we should do that. So it's not a bad thing.

Don't stock up on toilet paper. Stop hoarding toilet paper. Go get a PS4 and play video games instead or something. And also the flu has killed more people than this thing. That's like Thanos drops down from space and kills a guy. And you go, well, the flu has killed more people than Thanos. Yeah, now! Yes, so far.

Also, we can cure the flu. We have vaccines for that. This one doesn't have a cure. It's just going to keep going. And let me throw this out there with the flu argument, because I've seen a few messages and they've all been very polite about this, because I think people knew we were going to talk about this. The thing with the flu is the percentages, whatever the percentage is, the death rate

from what i've read is between four and forty times yeah what the flu is so more people have gotten the flu true but on a per capita basis even if the difference is even if one let's just say for instance one percent of people die from the flu which i believe it's somewhere close to that i don't know no coronavirus is four percent of people die per thousand one percent versus four that's one that's 10 people versus 40 people if you have a hundred thousand people which by the way way more than a hundred thousand people are going to get this a hundred thousand people that's four thousand deaths if it's a million it's forty thousand versus ten thousand that is a lot of people so when you say oh it's the difference between one and four percent we're not talking

about safe percentage yeah we're talking about lives and it's four times as many so and you know what else is going to age poorly, and I hate to do this because I have a ton of respect for the job and the people who are part of the PWHA. That statement that they put out is going to age so poorly, and I am

shocked. Yeah, a lot of those people are my friends and co-workers. Time in place. Not now. Exactly. You should be concerned about, because what What they're showing, and it's been funny, is the players standing behind a podium. I think in Calgary it was, they had an actual line.

Like a line drawn on the floor, like everything beyond here is lava. And it was funny to look at, but then I'm just looking at all these reporters packed in. And I'm like, man, that's nuts. That's insane. No wonder they're trying to keep you away. The Professional Hockey Writers Association is what we're talking about. This this is the statement that they released on March the 9th, which is two days ago, as of the recording of this show, almost to the hour. We, the entities covering pro and college sports in North America, are concerned with the developing international outbreak of coronavirus and the need to contain it.

We understand the precautions may be necessary in the name of public health. We are intent on working with the leagues and teams and schools we cover to maintain a safe work environment. Wonderful. If the quote stopped there, perfect. But it didn't. And this is where they went wrong. We also must ensure locker room access, which we have, which we have negotiated over decades to players, coaches and staff to not unnecessarily limit in either the short or long term. what the fuck were those first three sentences then what do you mean unnecessary we look forward to open communication with the leagues together as we deal with this serious health matter now

I get that people don't want their jobs changed I get that people don't want to lose the access that they have because for a lot of people their whole living is based on that

I understand that but this is so incredibly tone deaf on so many levels let's talk about the hotel workers that are getting laid off right now because of this let's talk about all the travel and tourism let's talk about we're getting laid off because their employer like fuck you i'm not paying your health insurance right and that's more stateside than here yeah let's talk like for for one second guys for one second as chris johnson always says and i believe he's a member you work at the candy store yeah yeah toy store you work at the toy store you work at the best job in the world you know what makes covering sports difficult the absence of it do you want it to be harder to

interview players or to not have games at all those are the options at this point we are having this conversation man it's that serious and and so for them to issue that statement yeah yeah yeah we're worried about the health but what about us which is essentially what that statement is i'm shocked and surprised that people who write so well who have so much empathy and so much talent did not have the introspection to say maybe this isn't the time well and so when did this come out it was two days ago 48 hours ago 48 hours ago i bet there are fewer people in the pro rock pro hockey writers association that support that statement now than 48 hours ago and And I bet by this time next week, they're going to feel embarrassed by it.

And that statement was signed by the Associated Press sports editors, Pro Football Writers of America, North American Soccer Reporters, United States Basketball Writers Association, Professional Basketball Writers Association, Pro Hockey Writers Association, and Baseball Writers Association of America. So all of them. It's not just hockey. It's not just hockey we're talking about here. And that's important. That's a very important detail. It's every major sports writing organization in North America signed that. so that is

on everybody's part something that is just not going to age well and listen, I'm the king of shit not aging well, I get it but this one was a slam dunk you just did not need to do that we know that you want locker room access

fight that battle six months from now when this is in the rear view mirror right now, we don't care nobody cares what we care about is health and safety and that's what you should care about So the first paragraph should have been the only paragraph. I take issue with that.

I know these are good people. I know they mean well. Tone deaf, stupid, should not have happened, not going to age well. And let's talk about a little bit, because Elliott Friedman has this, because he always does. He's so great with this. Also, shout out Frank Cervelli, who's the president of the Pro Hockey Writers Association. Good for him. I had no idea.

Good for you. Yeah, 32 years old, man. That's amazing. That's a great accomplishment. He's 31. 31. Frank Cervelli is younger than either of us, except for Jesse. I sort of hate how accomplished he is.

I know. All right. Bloody hell. Anyway, I want to talk about this because how does this affect hockey, right? How does this affect the game beyond the health and safety? Do you have something you want to hit? Just real quick. So Columbus, again, Ohio is a really interesting player in all this because of what the governor said.

This is from Allison L. Yarmul Kekulainen, GM of the Blue Jackets, addressing the media. As a league, we've decided to play in front of our fans. We'll take every precaution possible. Those two sentences completely contradict each other. That's one tweet. Oh my god. Those two things do not make sense.

You know what that is? That's an owner saying, I can't lose this revenue. You know that, right? Because he's got to pay the players whether or not that's happened. And I think what you're going to see is you're going to see some of these smaller market owners Go to the NHL and say You need to cop up some cash here Because we need to cover our losses

And I bet Insurance will cover some of that Because I'm sure They didn't insure the Nathan Horton contract So I don't know what they're doing in Columbus But there has to be Some sort of insurance for act of God Stuff like this

And if they don't, better get some next time Well, South by Southwest is facing that issue right now Because they didn't have any Well, South by Southwest specifically didn't have any insurance protecting them against a pandemic. Wow. So they can't get any of their money back. Coachella, at least, is just delaying it until the fall.

Yeah. South by Southwest just laid off. It's just canceled and they get no money back. And they just laid off a third of their employees the next day. Yeah. Because they're trying to salvage anything. This is really important. So let me get to these two things because both of these points address what we've just been talking about. So this is from 31 Thoughts, the Bible.

Number six on the thing, if you want to read this for yourself. There is a lot of skepticism about the cap estimate provided last week at the GM meetings. Well, duh. We may never know

how legit those 84 to 88 million dollar figures were if the virus takes its toll on the league's economics, which we, on this show, all believe that it will. Players being paid as usual while games are either cancelled

or held without fans is going to hurt their escrow the more revenues drop. There's still so much we can't predict, but a couple of agents are wondering if withholding even more

from remaining paychecks might be prudent although no one's ever going to want to be the one who suggests that if it does get really bad will the nhl and nhlpa negotiate next season calorie salary cap the way they did out of the last lockout so here's what elliot provides as an example since 2013 2012 2013 was only a 48 game season 13 14 was set at 64.3 million dollars no matter what that was the cap in brackets he said that number was the most recent 82 game that number was in the most sorry that was the number in the most recent 82 game year which was 2011 2012 so they just went back to pre-lockout levels just to make it that's what it is okay there are so many variables and so

many uncontrollables the league held a conference call with clubs tuesday and the concern is real now number seven on this two other worries for teams which we just talked about insurance revenue sharing two different things if you're not familiar with south by southwest it's a huge film festival and music festival that takes place every march in austin texas jesse great that you brought it up this year's version originally slated for march 13th through the 22nd was unfortunately canceled its co-founder and managing director ronald felson uh told the austin chronicle that their insurance policy did not cover viruses and pandemics not all policies are like that but you can be certain that everybody is double checking theirs as for revenue sharing that's

going to be damaged if the playoffs are affected. This will be a problem for organizations that budgeted for it. Number eight, the NHL canceled its business meeting scheduled for the 26th and 27th of March in Washington. It's too bad. I know all the employees really like that event. Number nine, the Danish league has suspended playoffs until April 1st and changed the format instead of best of seven quarterfinals, semifinals and a final. There will be a round robin. Each of The eight postseason qualifiers will play each other twice, home and away. It will be three points for a win, two for an overtime win, and one for an overtime loss. The number one team from the regular season begins with four points, so you get a lead.

Second team gets three, third team gets two, fourth gets one. It's not perfect, especially for those top clubs who would be the favorites in all three series, but it is creative, and it gives a better chance for there being any sort of playoffs at all. So all of those things, those three points are very, very interesting, and they relate to what we talked to. Guys, if I'm the league, if I'm an owner in this league, and I'm an owner of a small market club,

and Columbus is the one that's right out front of this and being as hard-headed as they possibly can be about this, it's because Columbus is worried about their revenue targets. How are we going to pay these guys no matter what? And the players have to be nervous too because their escrow is tied to NHL revenue. And so if there's no players, if there's nobody in the stands, it affects the players enormously as well. And you have to look at and then you've got to think about the rich teams, Boston, New York, Toronto, Montreal, who pay out these these equalization payments. Right. This, you know, it's NHL socialism, right?

That's how it works. You're paying for the less fortunate in the league to keep the league up and going and together and healthy. and so you look at these richer teams and they're going oh my god our checks just got bigger this year and they know that and so it's going to push a lot of teams that would be have teams into the have not category which puts a lot more stress on the richer teams which puts a lot of stress on the players this is a potential debacle i can't imagine that the league brings the salary cap down but i would not be surprised i would not be surprised if they do fine but i don't think they will here's what i would suggest if i'm the league i keep the salary cap at what it is flat you keep it flat because you would there's so many teams close to or over the cap that it would be

such an issue i would imagine that the league comes out the same way they did last time and the time before the lockout to compliance buyouts per team interesting that's what i think happens so so even now if the cap goes down you have to grant compliance buyouts you must you can't just screw teams like that they'll be completely fucked yeah and the and the rich teams by the way who are all at the top they'll say to gary betman no if you're if you're lowering the cap you're giving us compliance we're not even talking about the leafs like no there's jeremy jacobs walks in there and says uh yeah okay you're gonna lower the cap well you're giving me a get out of jail free card on this one at least one at least one i think there'll be two i think if this goes worst

case scenario and let's say the cap stays flat or goes down you're gonna see compliance buyouts come out i really do believe that man it's not it's it's a crazy unprecedented time i've talked to people who have been in this industry 35 40 years no one's ever seen anything like this no and the weird thing and john oliver did such a great job of explaining this on last week tonight The reason this spreads so quickly is because the symptoms are so minor for most people. People are still going to work because they're used to fighting through flus and colds and all those sorts of things. You can have it for a few days and not know you have it. Yeah, two weeks.

Was it four days? You can have it for two weeks, be symptom-free. I've heard two weeks, I've heard four days. They're both, when you think about it, they're both a lot of time. Especially children because they don't really get it at all, but they can still carry it. yes that was a that was a freaky thing

dogs can carry it dogs yes but they can't transfer it back to humans oh okay so they can get it and hold it

dogs can just have it and just be happy and have it and not have any effects it's awesome I love dogs dogs are the greatest right

so wait they have it but there's no effects and they can't transfer it right what a dumb virus they might sneeze a little but it doesn't affect them

you know they're not gonna they're not gonna be sick really That's interesting. Does Ziggy have coronavirus right now? Anyway, so there's the doom and gloom, but there's reality. The worst case scenario is one player gets this, season's those guys. Yeah.

So hopefully that doesn't come to that. I don't want to see any league do that. Listen, it's not a medical podcast, so you can pick apart yada, yada, yada. The fact of the matter is there may legitimately not be a Stanley Cup this year. Right. I could see a situation where we play the Stanley Cup playoffs in September or October. You make up the games in the fall. I think you just don't do it, because then you've got to play another season after that.

And in 1919, with the Spanish flu, far more deadly, they didn't award a cup. It's been 101 years. This is going to happen once a century. I think that's fair. What if you just simply didn't? I'm just spitballing. Is there a situation where they just shut the league down for, I don't know, two weeks? They just shut it down.

No one's traveling. You just stay put where you are. hope it goes down I don't know because the thing is that this is more than just the leagues though right so it's going to be a 3-6 month process for this wave to come through and it's coming

it's happening in Italy right now it's starting to happen in the UK you're starting to see it really happen elsewhere but guys the wave's coming I don't know how extreme it's going to be but it's coming and it's going to be more than 2 weeks it's going to last longer than 2 weeks uh adam had the brilliant idea that we become twitch streamers yeah we're in quarantine why

not right yeah you and everyone else like let's do it but there's gonna be a lot of traffic going hey guys what's up steven brunt brunt xx69 power brent blair you're such a noob i don't i don't know listen like like we're looking at contingency plans here at work thank god technology is easy right you know it's going to be fun uh when the leafs are in the in the first round and they score an amazing goal and joel bowen has his magical goal call and you hear his echo

in the building because no one else is there. Wow. Murder! Murder! Murder! Would he have to do it

from a TV screen? I have no fucking idea. Like, how would he be allowed in? He's done it from a TV screen before. They're flirting with the idea of not flying around

broadcasters either, so just people who are stationed in the city would do all of the games that are in that city. I'd like to hear Joe Bowen on a national game.

Right? Especially against the Canucks because we always get Jim Hewson versus the Canucks when the Leafs play the Canucks. So if the Leafs play the Canucks again, actually, I don't think they do.

It'd be nice to have Bowen. You want to hear a homer. Jaka Markstrom, sieve! He never insults the other team. No, he doesn't. He's good that way. He's not like Jack Edwards, who's like, this guy deserved a gorgeous hit.

I love listening to Bowen and Jim Ralph on the radio. It's great to me because I can't see it, but the Leafs have however many like let's say the Leafs take 200 penalties a year in their eyes

the number's closer to 25 it's closer to 25 those guys Jim Ralph is always I don't know I don't know

he's the perfect counterweight to Joe Bowen if you've never heard Joe Bowen if you're not from Toronto Joe Bowen is the most energetic person in the world

calling a game and he's he's almost like who's the guy in Buffalo who's also yeah he's like that kind of energy and Jim Ralph is the

polar opposite in energy. Well, you know, like you hear Matthews! And well, he scored what a shot from Matthews. Great. Great shot. The other day he was like, man, Travis Dermott takes way too many penalties and I'm like, Jim Ralph? Wow. Travis Dermott, like he should be

in jail. If Jim Ralph thinks a Leaf takes too many penalties, that Leaf should be in prison. That's right. Jim Ralph, former goalie for the Leafs too. Oh. Back in the 70s. Anyway, that's the Doom and Gloom discussion and there will probably be more. Why not? There will probably be more.

Sorry, it sounded like you were setting that up. Okay. Do we want to get to the press conference or are we going to leave it? I think it's about time we wrapped up the show. All right. Oh, shit. Yeah.

It's quarter after. Yeah, I think you got to get out of here. Get the hell out. Bye, Steve. All right, we'll see you Sunday, guys. All right. S-T-E-V. The Steve Dangle Podcast.

Follow the guys on Twitter at Steve underscore Dangle at Adam W-Y-L-D-E. And at Jesse Blake. Brought to you by Panago Pizza. Order at Panago.com and stuff your face with deliciousness. Connection complete.