The Steve Dangle Podcast - The Steve Dangle Podcast - Feb 23, 2016 - "This is the show, kid."

Episode Date: February 23, 2016

On this episode, the guys talk about the Leafs trades, why the Canucks are doomed, Brooklyn, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Panago Pizza presents S.C.P. The Steve Dangle Podcast with your hosts, Steve Dangle and Adam Wilde. I want to apologize to anybody that listened to last episode and drove over a bridge afterwards, especially if you're an American listener. Or who had to use cookware and ponder it for 20 minutes. Oh my god, alright. Alright, we gotta take a break from the in-depth questions. I think we were in-deep questions, by the way. The in-deep?

The in-deep. That's probably why, because I'm too stupid to comprehend. Did you guys see that somebody asked Elliot Friedman the synchronized swimmer question? Did he answer it? What's the question again, for anybody that might have missed it? If one person in a synchronized swimming team dies in a pool, do the rest of them have to die as well? And someone asked that on the Reddit page. The best part of that question is, have to.

Yeah, have to. It's part of the routine. That was brilliant, what Elliot Friedman did yesterday. He did an AMA on Reddit. That's an Ask Me Anything. And holy smokes, there were 1,300 comments on the thread when I last checked it. Wow. Well, he dropped a couple fun little tidbits.

So should we start with the— In a week full of tidbits. In a week full of tidbits. I want to talk about the thing that he mentioned, but I feel like we should talk about what's actually happened first. Yes. Okay? Yes, good idea. So a little later on in the show, we'll talk about the Canucks and the Flames.

But right now, because we're a Leafs podcast, first and foremost. Primarily. And they're the talk of the town. They're the talk of the hockey world, frankly. They are. It's the trade deadline week, and they're going to be making the most moves. Yeah. Talk of the town.

Sorry. So let's talk about Colin Smith and Colorado's fourth round pick this year. Massive! Going to Toronto, obviously, for Sean Mathias, which kind of happened. And it was interesting for, as far as trades go in Toronto, this is probably, like, even Brett Lebda made more of an impact than Sean Mathias leaving. Well, holy smokes. Someone, I think it was Steve Birch, went down the butterfly effect of signing Brett Lebda. Holy smokes.

The Leafs, it's like that kid who sold a paperclip on eBay and he turned it into, like, a house down the line. That is basically what the Leafs have done with Brett Lebda. But, yeah, poor Sean Mathias. It seemed like one of those stories that could have been cool. Could have been, you know, a hometown boy coming home. Been good with the Leafs. I remember hearing somewhere he wanted a multi-year deal. Leafs were like, no, we're only going to give you one.

Oh, if he plays well, we can get a second rounder for him. Nah, not so much. But they did get Colin Smith. So they got a fourth rounder, which can, if you're intelligent enough. I mean, was Reimer not a fourth round pick? Third or fourth, yeah. Just a pick in general at this point for the Leafs is great And by the way, I believe they are going to now tie the Islanders and the Florida Panthers

For most draft picks in one particular year in history In one draft since the draft went down to seven rounds Because it used to be just ridiculous Nine rounds, yeah Yeah, exactly Twelve Oh, wow, yeah I think Tim Thomas was like a 12th round pick

Wow In 1994, the Quebec Nordiques um but uh yeah they're one pick away still just one pick away but they are who knows by the time this podcast goes up maybe they won't be well that's the thing they seem to be making moves fast and furious what does what do we know about colin smith because there's i think a little bit more there that meets the eye with him yeah i was looking into it uh he's a he's a pretty small guy um he was a seventh round pick i want to say in 2012 it was just a few years ago for the avalanche um he's uh a hair under 180 pounds so you know he's a small guy for a professional hockey player

or whatever but third on his ahl team in scoring and that ahl team not very good san antonio rampage i think i think so yeah it doesn't matter that the colorado avalanches ahl affiliate whatever that affiliate happens to be he was third wiltsbury it no that's the penguin that is the penguins okay all right yeah and forgive me it changes every six months exactly hl but uh colin smith he you know i looked at that team and i looked at how they score and how they're doing in the standings not well and i just look at the marlies and i go i wonder what he could do there i wonder what he could do with that team and i wonder if because they have him now he joins the Marlies, and someone a little

older, let's say a 24-year-old Jeremy Morin, gets a shot in the NHL. Right. So he, to me, is just as interesting, maybe even more, than the fourth-round pick. Really? Okay. Yeah. Well, in any case, it's so funny to see an NHL

trade that beefs up the AHL squad that's making a run. That's what it was. It makes sense. I mean, they're gonna... As much as I have said over the past weeks and months, I really hope they don't call up too many Marlies because I want them focused on the goal. Let's face it, the goal is for them to make the NHL, right?

And the Leafs are just shedding too much. They're getting rid of too many people for them to, you know, you can't just keep throwing out Colin Greening and Milan Malik if he ever comes back and Brian Bickle if they acquire him. You can't just, you couldn't fill a whole team with that and still maintain your pride and integrity. you're going to have to go a little young Leipzig got a call up, Percy got a call up they're playing tonight

I would expect Zach Hyman would be next up front anyway you've got to go young, you've got to beef up that AHL squad so, I mean, if the Leafs had made this trade and it was a 4th and a 7th for Matthias, would you have been

any different about how you feel about it? uh yeah probably wouldn't have been as enthused i put a lot of people are treating this like a nothing trade um i i think if you get a guy who can score in the minors as well as colin smith is for a seventh rounder i'd say it's a fair deal better than most sevenths right out right they also just need people to skate on the ice like they can't just keep trading away guys and have No one playing. Yeah, and is Colin Smith not a guy that could come up? Maybe.

Because their investment is basically minimal. I would argue that, well, that is true. Their investment is minimal. I think his contract is up. He would be an RFA, though, if I'm not mistaken. Their investment is minimal. I would argue that there are other guys in the Marlies that deserve it more. Right.

Yeah. I was actually about to say, hey, why not call up Matt Fratton, but they can't do that anymore. Even though he's on the Marlies, they can't call him up because he's technically not a Leaf. And they can't call up Rafi Torres because he's staying with San Jose, which brings us to our next trait. Boy, what an indictment on Rafi Torres. So the Leafs get Rafi Torres' contract, but not him, and two San Jose seconds.

So next year's second round and the year after. None of this affects 2016. I know there are some people getting the years kind of confused. It is the next two years, which basically takes care of the Mike Babcock, Lula Amorello third rounders that they had to give up. I was just about to say, it takes care of them and upgrades on them.

So next year, the Leafs don't have a third. But they have three seconds. Which is kind of what they drafted this year anyway. They traded down twice, didn't they? I lost track. I lost track. They at least had two. We had Dermott and we had, I forget.

But you know what I mean? It was one of those... Bracco, Zirkels. Yeah, it was really hard to keep track. For sure, because right around that second, the end of the second round, beginning of the third, there was a couple trades there that kind of, wow, that was a lot. They turned nothing into something. They were like, load them up!

And then obviously San Jose gets Roman Polak and Nick Spalling. To be honest with you, I mean, we knew Roman Polak was going. And even Mike Babcock said afterwards, he said, well, I mean, this doesn't make it easy on a personal level, but we knew this was going to happen. Yeah, and some people took offense to what Polak said. You know, it's going to be nice playing games that matter. Let's not pretend like we don't know what he's talking about. Come on, everybody.

What would they be offended? What could you possibly be offended about? The Leafs were not going to be good this year. Like when Vesitasco a few years ago said he wanted to wash the blue and white out of his pads or whatever, you could tell that was something a little deeper. This, I mean, Polak was, he's on the last place team in the league, guys. He washed the skill right out of his pads, I think. Is Vesitasco still playing anywhere?

Well, apparently Team Finland also wears blue and white. But anyway, that is many, many years in the past. I'm still bitter. I'm not. See ya. Oh, no, I'm just bitter that they got him in the first place. Yeah, well, that's fair. Speaking of the Sharks, this is a little bit of payback.

So, Rafi Torres, we've loaned Rafi Torres back to the Sharks. Yes, so he will play for their AHL team, the Barracudas. So what? Is this okay? Is it because, I mean, the Leafs have, what, 48 contracts out of 50? 47. Okay, so that's a lot. So is it that they didn't want to, does that count?

Does Rafi Torres' contract count as a roster spot? Because I don't think it does if you loan them, right? Yeah, that I was confused about, too, because when the Leafs traded Fratton to the Sens, I was under the impression that, it's weird, he's staying in the same spot, but his roster spot belongs to the Senators. so i am under the impression that the leafs inherited rafi torres's roster okay spot okay i may be wrong now i don't think so do you loan rafi torres back to the sharks because you just don't need him on your ahl team or and you don't need him on the nhl team is he a bad influence or

is it just that you just don't need him could be a combination of all of them and yeah you don't need him like i think it was the leafs going let's not pretend like we don't know exactly why we are taking Rafi Torres back, we're taking him to sweeten the pot and get two seconds. I thought Polak was worth a second, one second, maybe a later round pick. All the insiders

kept saying, oh yeah, Polak's stock is so high, so high. I'm like, sweet, sick. I didn't think it was that high. So what's Nick Spalling for? Well, that's the thing. Is that the other second? No. No. He's, I mean, could you get for Nick Spalling

what you got for Sean Mathias? No. Could you get one of the two things that you got for Sean Mathias? Could you get a fourth or Colin Smith? Probably. I don't know, man. You don't think you could get a fourth for Nick Spaulding? Maybe. He's got one goal.

Then what's two million? Is two million dollars worth a second round pick? Because that's what Rafi Torres is getting paid. And by the way, they didn't pay 41 games worth of his salary. Because remember, he was suspended. So I'm trying to figure out. No, they didn't pay that salary, but it was against the cap. It was against the cap.

So, I mean, I guess to take on Polak, they just needed to get rid of it. But what I can't figure out, and this is great for the Leafs, I can't figure out where this second rounder comes from. I don't understand. Well, just off the top of my head, Polak, I think, was a 2 point something. Jesse, you on that? I think 2.7. And Spalling, I want to say, was 2.2. This is, of course, all pro-rated.

Polak, 2.75. There you go. And Spalling, 2.2 or just 2? Spalling, 2.2. 2.2. So that's five million bucks worth of salary. So with Torres, you're kind of canceling out one of them. But still, where's that second round?

Where's the second pick coming from? Well, the other theory there is teams still really value size and toughness and a defenseman with a right-handed shot. And they don't want to give up a first round, but a couple seconds. That's the other funny thing. Like, hey, give us a first rounder. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're crazy.

Here's two seconds. Here's Ryan O'Reilly twice. That is what you could potentially be giving up. Here's P.K. Subban twice. Here's P.K. Subban. Here's Duncan Keith twice. Right? Teams really do lose their mind at the trade deadline.

It's hilarious. I love it. I love it. San Jose must really believe in their chances, too. Here's the thing. They are going to make the playoffs this year. Sure. And it's a weekend race, arguably.

Oh, they better thank their lucky stars. They're in the division they're in. Because I think last I checked, they had 67 points. The last two wildcard teams are like one or two points behind them max, but because they take up the third spot in the Pacific, all that matters is another Pacific team, and I think the closest one to them is the Coyotes, who are seven points back.

It's hilarious. The Sharks are solid. They're fine. Now, with the way the new playoff format is, all you've got to do is make it out of your division, and all of a sudden you're in the conference final. Yeah. So to correct everything you said,

They have 69 points, and behind them is Arizona, who has 60, and they're nine points behind. So to correct everything, no, so the Sharks won last night. That's what I missed. Okay, yeah, yeah. To support Stevie Vignore. I checked in the afternoon, Jesse. No, you're right, I was wrong. To support, support.

Can you imagine the paragraphs of correction on Reddit? Had Jesse not corrected you? Oh my God. There would have been an entire diatribe about how wrong you are. What it would have started with, I don't usually listen, but. No, yeah, so that just further supports it. They're nine points up on the next team that can knock them out of the playoffs.

So they like their chances because they should. They should. Odds are they're going to take on the Ducks. Should be a decent matchup. They were ahead of the Ducks most of the season because the Ducks were in last place. So, let's throw this one. I'm going to throw some stuff at you.

According to GeneralFanager.com, with the trade, the Leafs are now Out from under long-term injury relief. So if you look at their general fanager page, that means they're not using any of the Nathan Horton or Stefan Robida money. They're now underneath that. Do you see what I mean? I'm not – So Stefan Robida and Nathan Horton's deals currently count towards the salary cap.

Oh, because they need to make the floor. No, no, no. No, as soon as you get—so just say, for argument's sake, that those two people are $7 million. And it's about that, $7, $8 million, right? In that range. So that means the Leafs are now $8 million under the salary cap from now until the end of the season. Okay. And so those contracts now do count against the salary cap, which means that they have $994,500 in cap space.

But I checked with General Fanager directly, and he said— You DM'd them? Yeah. He's so great about getting back. I tweeted him, actually, just publicly. Oh, just publicly. And I said, so how much money do the Leafs actually have to spend? Because of the long-term injury relief, you can put those back on and off if you need to go up and down.

I wonder if he does phoners. We should get him on the show. Guys, brilliant. He said, okay, so with Leipzig and Percy recalled, the Leafs can bring on $8.099 million in cap space at the deadline. Which means there's going to be some more finagling going on. They're saying including Horton from the long-term injury reserve. So that might even be more. This is so complicated.

This is what, you know what's funny? I know, they need to really make this simpler. Listen to all the nonsense you just said, right? A lot of people have been writing recently that Mark Hunter is the most important person in the Leafs rebuild. And you know what? They might be right because, you know, you just load him up with draft picks. He can turn them into gold, potentially. He's known as like the scout, just a rink rat,

watches more live hockey than anybody else in the world. Whoever is managing that crap, whoever is managing the Leafs cap, and I believe it's Brandon Pridham, who I'm just going to buy him on sale Valentine's candy at this point. I talk about him so much. Who's watching all that? And remember before it was Claude Lozelle. So listen to everything you just said

The Claude father The guy before was the Claude father Looking at the flames and going What can I do for you on this the day of my daughter's wedding Truly You take this Joe Colborne The way this is going for the Leafs And I just want to really put this in perspective

I gotta drive this one home The way it's going this team may struggle to hit the cap floor next year The Leafs? Yeah No. It may. It may. No, absolutely not.

I'm not saying they won't spend. I'm just saying the way the contracts are, they literally are shedding a lot of money. A lot of money. They are shedding a lot of money. Plus the potential Jared Cowan buyout, which would cost them negative $750,000. Which is why maybe you don't buy out Jared Cowan. Because it might be of value to someone else. You don't have to.

You don't have to. And this is the brilliant thing. I was going to talk about, you know, I always think of video ideas and stuff, and I wanted to talk about the Leafs' chances next year. Will they be competitive? Dude, I have no idea, because you can't actually evaluate what the team is going to be next year. No. Because you have no idea who's going to be on it.

We have eight guys currently signed to next year. That's hilarious! That's hilarious! That's not even two lines. No! Like, that's... Can I see that, Jesse, please? Okay, so it's Lupul, Van Riemsdyk, Bozak, Komarov,

Louv, the Louv doctor. Oh my, okay, so up front right now, and this doesn't include injured guys, right? So we got Komarov, Colin Greening, Daniel Winnick, and Winnick might be gone too, by the way. Yeah, yep, because he's got a very tradable deal, he's a valuable asset. Yeah, Brennan Leipzig, who barely counts, right?

Because he's a AHL call-up right now. And Byron Frase, who I think his AHL days, at least in the Leafs organization, are probably over. On defense, you've got Jake Gardner, Hunwick, and Victor Louv, like you said. But look at the injured reserve. The injured reserve has eight people on it. I know, it's crazy. As much as our team next year. So, Lupo, Bozak, Van Riemsdijk.

Yeah, Horton, who obviously does not count. Joffrey Lupo, James Van Riemsdijk, Tyler Bozak, Milan Mihalic, Jared Cowan. Stefan Robida. Oh, yeah, that little chestnut. And Josh Levo, who, by the way, his contract is up at the end of the year. Which means, I don't know. I wonder if everybody with an expiring deal is on the table to me. Absolutely.

And that includes Josh Levo. I don't care if he was an NHL All-Star, and I don't care, you know. I don't care. The fact he's an NHL All-Star could mean he's valuable. I mean that's He could be a valuable throw into a trade To sweeten a pot Oh and we are forgetting one rather large chestnut

The only goal he signed Is Bernier I believe the only two goal he signed are Bernier And I need to go look this up Cause Sparks needs a new deal He's an RFA Oh yeah Antoine Vipo That's amazing

You couldn't possibly judge what the Leafs are going to look like next year But this is exactly what you want You want to have as many open doors as possible, right? You want to be able to have as many options as possible. And the Leafs are kind of like, and forgive me, I'm going to, I'm going to Adam Wilde comparison. Oh, yes. They are like seaweed at the bottom of the ocean.

They're going with the current. They're going, whatever the current is, they're just going to react to it for the next season. Do you know anything about seaweed? Have you ever seen seaweed at the bottom of the ocean? Kind of goes back and forth with the waves. Yeah. That's not that abstract. Where I thought you were going with it is

they're like seaweed at the bottom of the ocean. They only get the purest form of the sun's light and they're actually really good for you. I learned that from Jamie Oliver. Yeah. Wow. I watch too much Food Network at home. I think you give me too much credit, sir.

I thought you were going to say something smart and profound. No, I wasn't. But I think the Leafs want to be as maneuverable as possible and this kind of gives them that sort of flexibility. You've got now, I believe, Carl Gunnarsson's contract is coming off the books at the end of the season. It is. Adam, can I do a much dumber Steve Dangle comparison? Sure, sure.

They're like a blank Mr. Potato Head. Yeah, the form is there, you just don't know how it's all going to come together. The form is barely there, but it's still there. It's there. And all the parts are neatly tucked away in the flap at his bottom. Yeah. You never own a Mr. Potato Head, Jesse? That's where you keep it.

It's where you keep it. The nose, the tongue, the glasses. Didn't need that info. But yeah, with Gunnarsson's deal coming off the books, that means the only salary they've retained is Phil Kessel, which means... Forever and ever, amen. Forever and ever, amen.

Which means that a guy like Joffrey Lupo is far more movable. Way more. You could move Joffrey now and put him on the books, but the issue with that is that you're still... You can't retain on anybody else. Yeah. But the second Gunnarsson comes off, you can't. Right.

So if someone wants Lupo badly enough, just go and do it. Do we want Pittsburgh's draft pick this year or next year? This year. You don't want to... Like what? Do we think Pittsburgh's going to be better? I don't know. Also, don't the Leafs give up something if they don't make the playoffs this year?

You've got to read the goofy condition on that stupid draft pick. I don't know. If the Penguins were to miss the postseason the next two years, Toronto would receive 2017 Pittsburgh second-round pick, and Pittsburgh would not receive a draft pick. But what's if they only miss this year and they make it next year? Should Pittsburgh miss this year's playoffs, Toronto will instead receive 2017 first-round pick. Oh. Let's take this one. Okay.

Yeah, just take it. Just take it. Take it. I mean, I don't know. You'd have to ask a scout, I guess. If Pittsburgh is going to barely make the playoffs, then that's the best case scenario for Toronto. Right? That's the higher pick.

So, and I don't, honestly, shoot me, I don't see Pittsburgh getting any better. Which, by the way, I don't see the Sharks getting any better. Which is why I'm kind of down with having their second round picks for the next two years after this one. True. Because Marleau and Thornton are... Older, getting older. By the way, someone posted a stat, since December 15th or something like that, Joe Thornton leads the league in scoring. wow

I saw that that's ridiculous the fountain of youth the fountain of Joe hockey hall of famer I don't care what you say couple things Stefan Robida

did talk to someone in the media what yeah and apparently all he said was no improvement on condition he answered a couple questions

but that was basically I love Lou I love Lou so much he said I love him so much he didn't say what it was but he said there's just been no improvement

and obviously the organization's going in the right direction it'd be nice to be out there but And I wonder, what do the Leafs have on him to keep him on injury reserve? Six million dollars! No, but they can't withhold it.

Oh. Well, I don't know, man. It's a great question. It's a great question. How do you convince a guy to do that? He's 38, and he can't actually play hockey, but he wants his money. He's just going to sit at home and play chow. You know, we do joke.

Chow dog. He's drafting himself first overall in the fantasy draft. Yeah, Stephane Robidon leading the Leafs to the cup. Who knows how good his Chell team is and he wants to improve it. He's got some wicked hut cards. That has been the funny part about playing NHL this season

is the roster has Robidon and Horton. I'm like, guys, come on. Horton, is he playable? Oh, and I played with a guy who had Savard. I was like, come on. Well, you gotta put him in the game. You can't throw them on injured reserve in the game. They're on your team.

You gotta put him in the game. Come on, Adam. Don't give me that look. This is goofy as hell. It's a video game. No, we do joke that, oh, yeah, Roby does hurt. No, man, the guy suffered two broken legs at his age. He is kind of old and busted, let's face it.

He had a long, hard, hard career. He didn't take the easy route with his style of play. He might be hurt. Yeah, he might actually. Might, maybe. Is he season done, career done hurt? I don't know about that, but there are rules and the Leafs are taking advantage of it. I bet you $10 he signs in Ottawa or Vancouver as soon as his contract is up with the Leafs.

One of the two. I would like to announce my Jim Benning person. Wait! We need character. By the way, we're going to talk about... I'll give you Jake Furtanen for him. His contract's up. Take Jake Furtanen!

Just take him. He scores too much. Yeah, we have far too many other people who score. We'll get to that, by the way, later on in the show. We do need to talk about Jim Benning, LOL. Oh, my God. Because that is now we now have to call him Jim Benning, LOL. Like, it's like, you know, for some people, it's like Steve Dangle, MD.

It's Jim Benning. He's earned his degree in LOL. But we'll talk about that right now, though. A little chestnut that Elliott Freeman dropped, And I thought this was so brilliantly done. Gangster nonchalantly, Elliot Friedman-ly. Yeah, he was like, I'd be interested to see, I spoke to Doug Armstrong, be interested to see Kadri in a St. Louis uniform. Now, he didn't say Doug Armstrong wanted Kadri.

He just said he'd be interested and that he spoke with Doug Armstrong. He didn't make the connection. You did. And you, by you, I mean everybody that read it. It's funny because people have been like, you know, if the Leafs organization is so tight-lipped, where are all these rumors coming from? It's probably just people making it up. Yeah, you're right. It's totally just people making it up.

Or the other, like, 100-plus NHL executives out there who can't tell you anything fast enough. Like, come on. It's also a pretty obvious fit, actually. Is it? Why? Well, it's an obvious fit for St. Louis because they are in perfect, perfect grocery shopping while hungry mode. They lost Alex Steen for, I think, a month. And last night, I don't know how serious it is, Brian Elliott got hurt.

The L-dog. Oh, yeah. And St. Louis, they are in perennial going-for-it mode, no matter how they do in the playoffs. Gee whiz. Wouldn't a slightly used Reimer and a very fresh Kadri look very good on that team? You know what would look even better, Adam? A Bernier.

A slightly used Bernier. Agreed. Okay, so here's Kadri to St. Louis. People obviously want to know. And then we've got to go to break here quick. What's Qadri return? People keep saying Shattenkirk, and I don't— I'm not understanding how that makes sense for the Leafs,

and I'm not understanding how that makes sense for the Blues. Because you want to keep a guy like him. Yeah, if you're going for it, I don't think you ditch Shattenkirk. And if you're the Leafs, who wouldn't want Kevin Shattenkirk, except he's 27. And he needs to win pretty soon. Well, he's in his prime. Like, what's he going to be doing wasting away on the Leafs? Like, I just said you have no idea what the Leafs are going to look like next year,

but, I mean, I have no illusions they're going to be the Blackhawks. Like, come on. I just, I'm not understanding that. Fabry might be asking a lot. There's a guy like Barbashev. There's Colton Pareko. How about Tarasenko? You know what?

You're right. I want two Tarasenkos. You know what? I bet I could get a couple Tarasenkos in NHL 16. Probably. If I ask enough. Can we throw more fire on that flame? Kyle Dubas and...

Fire on that flame. Let's throw some fire on the flame. Oh, fire on the flame. Perfect. And director of pro scouting, Dave Morris, were on the list Monday night for the San Jose game. San Jose-St. Louis game. Well, they're looking.

They're there. They're looking. And Dubas has been very active lately, though, guys. I actually interviewed Kyle Dubas recently. Did I mention that last show? I think so. No. Maybe.

Off air. Off air. Off air. Well, anyway, I spoke to him and Sheldon Keefe. Should have some stuff from those interviews going up soon But one of the things he mentioned Just nonchalantly because he has an awesome life Is he was

Recently on like an 8 day road trip Just going from game to game to game Because that's what he does So was he watching A San Jose St. Louis game Yeah Doesn't mean anything necessarily Maybe he wanted to see

How great Roman Polak would fit into the San Jose Lineup Exactly Exactly. And boy, he was like, you know what? Polak would be a good fit. You guys, okay, we'll take your second rounders. Or maybe he was watching the slow decline and going,

oh, those seconds are going to be great. You know what? Sorry, one more thing, because we did talk about how teams lose their minds for the difference between a first and a second. It matters so, so much, the difference between a first and a second at the trade deadline, until you get to the draft, and they just start saying the position. They start saying the 25th overall pick, the 34th overall pick.

It does not matter. And I don't think to this organization it matters. Nope. Which is awesome. Excellent news. Hey, we'll be right back. We're going to be talking about the Canucks, the Jim Benning LOL. I can't wait.

I wanted to talk about this more than the Leafs. And the Calgary Flames were somehow involved, too. But it became about the Canucks. The reasons why? Well, if you don't already know, we'll tell you everything we do next on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. So we gotta ask what When this happened yesterday It was everybody

It was funny to watch the trade break It was the Canucks It was the Flames And the two names were Granlin And Shattenkirk Not Shattenkirk Granlin and Shinkaric You sound like Jim Benning sir

Doesn't matter what the name is And then somebody I forget who it was But one hockey expert reporter said, yet to find out who else is involved. As in, there's no way that this is a one-for-one swap. That, by the way, so that is a little thing that insiders do. Because a lot of them don't like to offer their opinion. Elliott Friedman doesn't really like to offer his opinion.

And when he does, it's very calculated. And he says, this is my opinion. I want to make sure you know that. And this is why. One of the little things they can do is go, I'll check and see if anyone else is involved because they know it's such an obvious fleecing. That was this trade.

Well, now okay, just to sum it up, Hunter Shinkaric, I almost called him Shattenkirk again, Hunter Shinkaric one of the top prospects on the Vancouver Canucks. A first round pick. First round pick. A first round pick who probably went lower than he should have. And

I remember actually going into that draft, Steve you talking about him a lot. He's a great goal scorer. He's one of the best goal scorers available in the draft. And Marcus, not Michael Granlund. As CanucksArmy.ca put it, not even... No, they called him the worst Granlund.

Which, I'm sorry. Marcus Granlund. Marcus Granlund, who has how many points? He's played 31 games this year? Who cares? He's not your character. He has five goals and four assists in 12 American Hockey League games.

I'm not going to ask you, Steve. I'm not going to ask you why this is a good trade. I'm going to ask you how the hell Canucks the Canucks said yes to this what happened well I think the best line

in this whole thing I wish I had it prepared but I remember it basically the best line in this whole thing I believe it was Thomas Drance tweeted a line from

writer for sportsnet.ca writer for sportsnet.ca a line from Benning after the trade was made basically going well you know we got Berchi

we got this other guy I can't remember who it was you know and we feel they fill our offensive or goal-scoring needs of the future. And Dmitry Filipovich goes, oh, good, because under the new CBA, you're only allowed to have a certain amount of skilled players. It's just not a smart trade. It's not. I actually compiled some of my favorite Jim Benning LOL quotes.

Oh, great. Thank you. The first one is, the one thing about Hunter is he likes to score. We don't know if that's going to translate to the NHL or not. No, because that's not a thing people do in the NHL. You're right. Granlin, I can tell you for sure, doesn't score at the NHL. I can tell you that for sure. Yeah.

We've seen it. There's evidence. There's evidence that he doesn't. There's a body of work. So what would you rather have, a no or a maybe? Your choice. Then we've got, I don't think we gave up on Hunter Shinkaric. Also from Jim Benning, LOL.

I don't think we gave up on him. We just decided he was worth trading. On Granlin. We get a two-way player that can play in any situation Up or down in the lineup He can play left wing, he can play center You know what that sounds a lot like? An elite third liner, Adam

Which, as we know, is not a thing An elite third liner is a second liner Anybody who can play up or down in the lineup Usually doesn't belong in the up category, right? We can friggin' throw him We can throw him That sounds like a plug That would be the definition of a plug

And it's plug or competent bum which you need you do need confident bums you do need confident bums you also need a goal scorer one more and this is great and this is from Jason

Bruh I'm going to go with I've never actually heard his name said out loud let's go with Bruh because he's our bro and Jason this is a great quote he's like one more thing from Benning Benning said that they tried to get a D-man for Sienkiewicz,

but Granlund was the best they could do. Which, sorry, who said that? Jim Benning said that. Jim Benning said that. But Jason reported it. What is so great about that press conference, because I think there's another quote you missed in there, there were two covering his butt quotes.

Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, you know what it was? It was that one, which, okay, read it again. Benning said they tried to get a D-man for Sienkaric, but Grandlin was the best they could get. Subtext, look we tried to make this trade better, but this is the best we could do

and the other one was there was someone in the Canucks organization who used to be with the Flames, I want to say Weisbrot I think was his name and basically he championed him as, you know what, he really wanted this deal he really wanted this deal

Was Weisbrot not the guy that drafted Sven Barchi as well? I believe so, and passed on Shinkaric, and then drafted Emile Poirier instead. Where's Emile Poirier now? I don't know. Um, okay, so there's that.

There's all of that, alright? Now, let's rewind to the Toronto Maple Leafs deal with the San Jose Sharks. Okay. Okay. Couldn't get a defenseman. Couldn't get a defenseman. Okay? Are you telling me if the Vancouver Canucks did

are you telling me that they did their due diligence they couldn't they wouldn't want a Roman Polak if they're looking for a defenseman

that badly a right handed shot big defenseman young defenseman maybe is that what they wanted maybe they wanted a younger guy

and less expensive than Polak so you trade away a young guy who's 21 this is exactly you're trying to make sense of it

and the beauty is there's no sense to be made it's a bad deal from a bad management group and Canucks fans I'm going to tell you right now

Jesse we got a next show Like cause I'm about to go off on this team We got a next show Find Nostradanglis Talking about this Like one of the first episodes of the podcast Your team is going downhill And you're gonna stink

And you're gonna stink for a long time And it's gonna be a slow Awful Excruciating death But it doesn't have to be That's the point Yes it does Because they have stupid people in charge Adam

It doesn't have to be if they have smart people involved, but they have ridiculous people involved. What did we talk about last show with regard to the Leafs? We talked about a certain trade, and it was Peter Holland. Acquiring Peter Holland and just the mismanagement of the Leafs. Because they gave up on Joel Colburn. They gave up on Joel Colburn, didn't really get a whole lot for him, and granted, Joel Colburn's not amazing. But he's playing. They got more for Sean Mathias than they did for Joe Colburn

At the time, which I'm not sure is awesome Then their lack of centerman Due to like two injuries They're like, holy crap, we have to make a huge trade They go out and they get Peter Holland Who has been fine, but they gave up on a prospect to do it And they gave up a pick That went from being a third rounder to a second

Because they mismanaged Peter Holland Mismanaged his minutes Mismanaged his games played Mismanaged his time in the minors mismanaged everything relatively small deals okay so you might go you described the deal perfectly it's an it's a probably no versus a maybe yes it's really a fistful of maybes this trade what's the big deal what's the big deal the Canucks are fine they got Bo Horvat they got Jake Furtanen they got Jared McCann they still have the Sedins to rely on well they did fill their quota oh I

I mean, they were over the cap on scoring. You're right. For a team that has scored, what is it, a league low amount of goals this year? Oh, Adam, what's with your numbers? One of the league lows? Do you want to check on that, Jesse? Do you mind checking that one? I'll tell you a number.

Jake Vertanen, 6th overall. Or 5th overall, whatever it was. And Will Horvat, 9th overall. Guess how they got him. Lou, not Luongo. Schneider. Loophole Lou. Oh, Loophole Lou.

Yeah, well. he's our snake now I can't I can't why and this is the problem with the Leafs for the longest time this is why it rings so much in our ears I think when we see something like this

it's trading skill for size for maneuverability like you telling me Hunter cannot do the same thing that Granlin can do are you telling me he won't least at least become

Granlin if you were to put him in the NHL right now are you telling me that he could not at least compete with Granlin I think you're making some assumptions Adam

are you an NHL executive I'm not are you smarter I'm not than Jim Penning I got a message from a Canucks fan who I think sees the writing on the wall fan or

writer they requested anonymity anonymity anonymity expert would you say would you trust this person's opinion yes okay all right so this is more than just Joe

from uh burlington not joe from burlington joe from uh surrey right well uh so and they're a listener i guess i know you talked about frank corrado last podcast and we're making fun of the canucks for just letting him walk and i don't know if you know the story behind vancouver's decision to place him on waivers but it's even stupider than you guys made it up to be how is that possible and i and i said well we only went based off the province's story what's the reason basically corrado was the final cut from the canucks i think he was a cut for all intents and purposes pretty early in camp but he was the final guy to actually be cut from the roster the 24th guy there was a ridiculously obvious and easy way

to keep him though all they had to do was send Bo Horvat to Utica on a paper transaction for one afternoon that would have allowed them to open the season with Corrado on their 23-man roster then Chris Higgins who was injured could have been placed on LTIR immediately Horvat recalled and Corrado retained. I said, LOL, no way. Come on. That's not, that can't be true. It can't be that easy.

He goes, hell, given what we know now, Corrado could have been placed on LTIR. Now, I don't know if that's true. And as we revealed one or two podcasts ago, well, as we revealed, as the province revealed and we read on the air, Corrado was pretty injured.

He separated his shoulder last playoffs. He broke his hand and he basically didn't get an offseason because Utica went very deep, and he was hurt. So he came to camp sort of out of shape, and of course, because, yeah. What was he going to do? He was busted. He was busted. This person continues,

Hell, given what we know now, Corrado could have been placed in an LTIR. Anyways, I forgot who initiated the call, but a phone call was held between, oh, they said they don't know if this is true, this last part. Okay. So, yeah, let me re- I'll start over by saying they don't know if this is true. Anyway, I forget who initiated the call

But a phone call was held between the NHL and Vancouver To ensure the Canucks actually knew the roster rules There's no way that What do you mean there's no way? Look at the trades that have happened in the NHL How likely, Steve, how likely is that? Like the NHL actually called him and said, are you serious? You know what Jim Benning has made me tweet three times now?

Three times, I've retweeted myself Because I'm like, look, it's true again Look, it's true again Jim Benning Has made me so thankful For this current Leafs group And if there's anything That all the GMs around the entire

League could take from the previous Leafs regime, it's shut your mouth Shut up, stop saying things Someone needs to give him this advice Because everything That comes out of his mouth is a carnival And it's hilarious. You know what?

I hope no one talks to him. I hope no one talks to him. And Canucks fans, God love you. I hope you find happiness in another team. But this is way too much fun because you are being run by crazy people. Crazy people. And I called this years ago not knowing how bad it was actually going to get. Because here's what you got.

You got a management group that doesn't know if they're going north, south, east, or west. You don't know what you're doing with your prospects, very clearly. except for the ones that are on the NHL team you got a young Jake Furtanen a young Bo Horvat and a young Jared McCann which is fantastic and you're going to waste them

because what the hell is your team? What is your team actually? You got Alex Burrows who's getting older you got Daniel Sedin who's great but he's getting older you got Henrik Sedin who's great but he's getting older and when those guys leave

what do you have? You got the young guys who aren't going to be supported by anything because you got a group of crazies running your team I predict And by the way Ryan Miller too

Oh Superstar starting goaltender Ryan Miller I believe is up at the end of the year Is he not? I predict The Canucks are gonna have At least one

Bottom five finish You know what I'm backing out From what I What I texted you guys So screw it I can't back out From what I said

I predict the Canucks Are gonna get at least One last place finish In the next five years If they're lucky One They're nuts They're nuts

And you have to hit Rock bottom before real change happens. Montreal should feel happy for the rock bottom that they're currently hitting. That's the only way change happens. Unless Marc Bergevin has anything to say about it. Just hilarious.

And what's hilarious, too, is Montreal fans keep thinking that something's going to change. They keep thinking that one day they'll just start winning again. Well, the annoying thing with the Habs is they're not actually this bad. Right, but you don't change anything, nothing changes, and the result

stays the same. Canucks fans, I just want to, just before we go on the radio here, have given up on Coach of the Year, Alan Vigneault. Oh. Ryan Kessler. Roberto Luongo. Corey Schneider. Don't forget to throw John Tortorella in there. John Tortorella. They gave up on him.

One year into a five-year commitment. Zach Kassian. Although Zach probably had his own issues. And any number of other players. But that alone, Vigneault, Schneider, Luongo, having Kessler leave because he was so angry at them

I mean that alone is going to shift the very fabric of an organization and then you've got Tortorella coming in and being just it was awful. Everything about that team was awful. One of the most interesting one year coaching tenures I've

ever seen. It was crazy. Crazy. And the fact that Tortorella is working again is shocking to me. Just shocking. But and I said this Jim Benning is playing himself right into a bad broadcasting job. Yes, you did say that. And I mean that.

Because he does say things. For this company. Oh, you think it's a different one? I didn't know there was a different one. Or you think he's going to be working beside another... Another bad exec who's no longer worried? You never know. Hey, we got to go here on Sportsnet 590.

The fan, this broadcast is brought to you by Panago Pizza. It is what is on the inside that counts. And we are going to talk off the air, but still at Sportsnet.ca because you can download. I'm going to talk about the New York Islanders. and why the New York Islanders believe that Jesus himself will be going to Game 7 and scoring their Game 7 Stanley Cup winning goal. We have proof of that, and I'm not even kidding.

We'll talk about it after that. You're the best. I'm serious, though. Is Jim Benning not doing that? Am I wrong? Can I correct two things? Sure. So, Ryan Miller is signed through 2017.

And they're paying him how much? $6 million? No, no, no. You know what? We're not done with the Canucks. And the goals for game They're second last So there you go

I had something up there No give me it Yo when did they agree to give Derek Dorsett's sign for the next Three years after this one Why? There's a list of all the Deals Jim Benning has done you should take a look at those Steve

Has he even been GM for 12 months yet? Yeah a little over 12 months I remember when Lyndon and him took over There definitely was some positivity in there Like, oh, alright, well we got Trevor Lyndon back Until the moment they uttered Boston Model Did they utter Boston Model?

Oh, you bet They let It's affecting them two regimes later I tweeted I can't believe the Canucks Were what they were And let it go south so quickly And a Canucks fan tweeted me

Let it go so quickly This has been 10 years in the making. No, it hasn't, actually. They won the President's Trophy and made it to the Stanley Cup Final. And then the next year, they followed it up with another President's Trophy. Yes, they got knocked out in the first round by the team that ended up winning the Cup. The Canucks might have been the second best team in the NHL that year. Never know.

Never know. This is from CanucksMisconduct. I didn't actually know SB Nation had a Canucks page. January 29th, 2015 Traded Gustav Forsling To the Chicago Blackhawks for Adam Klendening March 2nd, 2015 Traded a second round pick in 2015

To the Calgary Flames in exchange for Sven Berchi March 2nd, 2015 Traded Dustin Jeffries To the New York Islanders in exchange for Corey Conacher June 27th, 2015 Traded Eddie Lack to the Hurricanes for

A third and seventh round pick In the 2015 NHL entry draft I would argue that That is Is Eddie Lack worth more to an organization than Sean Mathias? Yes Eddie Lack who by the way Beat out Roberto Luongo

For the starting job in Vancouver Under Tortorella But still Come on He's at least worth a piece of chicken He's at least a second round pick He's a piece of chicken He is a piece of chicken.

I don't know about a second-round pick. Traded Patrick McNally to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a seventh-round pick. Traded Kevin Biexa to Anaheim. Boy, they're going to draft a lot in the seventh round. Damn. Traded Kevin Biexa to the Anaheim Ducks for a second-round pick in 2016. Oh, I forgot Biexa. I would argue the Leafs got more for Roman Polak.

Yeah, and Biexa's pretty good. Traded Zach Kassian in a fifth-round pick to Montreal in exchange for Brandon Prest. traded Nick Bonino, Adam Clendenning and a second round pick in 2016 to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brandon Sutter and a conditional third round pick in 2016, traded Nicholas

Jensen and a seventh round pick to the New York Rangers for Emerson Edom, I forgot that trade even happened so there's another young guy trades Hunter Shikaric to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Marcus Granlund I didn't think any of those were too bad but

that team is going nowhere, faster than I've ever seen anyone go nowhere. You know what that reminded me of when I was listening to those trades? It felt like we were in an insanely slow twister. Just a lot of stuff going back and forth,

not really much changing, and it just is swirling around you, and there's no control. That's all that was. That's like taking an abacus and going, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click. That's all that is. They're just shifting the pieces around, it's not going to happen.

Why are you guys freaking out so much? Well, because they're not going to make the playoffs. We have too much scoring. I mean, Graylin could be the piece. I mean, I don't want to take that away from him. He could be the piece. Probably is not the piece. Look, I feel like

I feel like I feel like right now the Canucks are on beyond scared straight. Okay. And we're the prisoners. as Leafs fans and they can take our advice

or not. But they're not. They're the kid that at the end is like, yeah, I still don't care. Still don't care. Yeah, you know, I think I'm going to study harder in school and I'm going to appreciate my mom and my sister and then the graphic comes up. This idiot went back to Juvie

like two weeks later for throwing a rock through a bus window. Alright. Yeah, like we're going to actually listen to Leafs fans, would they have to say, alright. No. You know, listen. We've seen this movie. If there's one thing Leafs fans know, Canucks

fans, it's losing. And it's... And mediocrity. And mediocrity. And wasting Swedish superstars. There is nobody, there's nobody that understands the swirling, slow tornado of click, click, click, click, click, click

than us. You know, you could tell us that we don't know what winning looks like, and you would be right we know what losing looks like and you're headed straight for it you're gonna kiss it on the mouth you yeah and you know what is another great thing about all this because of their division i could see him making the playoffs next year because their division's that bad the power ships they're not that far out all the ducks got to do is get a little worse so the sharks got to get a little worse it'll be ninth place man it'll be like it'll be just like the

The Kings will be very good. The Ducks have some tough decisions to make with their RFAs. And, like, Getzlaff's going to be a little older. Perry will be a little older. Sharks will be older. Coyotes will be older in the good way. But how much better? It's all...

They could make it. They could make the playoffs. And you know what? People will be quick to send us this and be like, See? Okay. All right, you guys, St. Louis just made room for Kadri by putting Brian Elliott on long-term injury reserve.

Oh my goodness. I love that you spun it that way. He might actually just be injured. But they made room for Kadri as though the Leafs couldn't take some salary back or something. No, they made room for Kadri. I don't even know who St. Louis' third goalie is. I believe they just made room for James Bernier. James Bernier.

James Bernier. What a great way to describe the last two seasons James Bernier James Bernier Randy Horacek When you said Horacek I was like There was an actual moment where I was like That sounds familiar

Oh right he was head coach Head coach Peter Horacek So Just in case you missed it earlier I don't know how you could have The Islanders truly do believe that Jesus will show up And score the winning goal in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Final And they don't want you to miss it

Remember we talked about this They don't want you to miss it We said initially When this arena deal went through We were talking about the obstructed seating We're talking about the scoreboard that's off center We're like what if What if it's the Stanley Cup winning goal

And you didn't see it but you paid to be there And what if it's Jesus People were quick to tweet me The ACC has obstructed viewing. Everywhere does. Yeah, everywhere has obstructed viewing, but it's a few seats. Yeah. These are sections of seats.

I mean, you could argue where we sat at the Marlies game on Saturday was semi-obstructive only because, you know, we sat at the glass line, so we could see... If you go to a hockey game... It was so fancy, we were so close that the ice was just blocking us. You know, it really is the struggle of... You know, seeing the... The fancy folk. You think everything's great, and you know what?

It mostly is, but, you know, sometimes we have hardships, too. By the way, everybody was in the lower bowl in that game, so I do not feel fancy at all. That's okay, though. We were five rows up. We watched a kid a few seats away almost get decked in the head with a puck. Yeah, that was cool. We were at perfect almost getting killed line. I don't think Jesse likes us.

That's why he got us those seats. Exactly. I'm trying to murder all of you. Low-key trying to kill us. We were talking this morning about that and obviously the thing that happened in Montreal, which is a tremendous shame. Tremendous shame. and you know

on breakfast television Kevin brings this up and he says you know obviously it's a mistake it's an accident you gotta chalk it up to that you can't stop people

from throwing pucks in the crowd it's like you can't stop baseballs from going into the seats it's assumed risk you show up at a game there's high speed objects

and a lot of people would say what's a one month old doing at a hockey game and I would agree with them however I'm not a parent I would agree with them too but I think this is

one of those situations where there's no fault there's no fault For sure not PK's fault No And the NHL Doesn't need to change anything Everybody relax

But Dina was like What about like What if they changed up The pucks that they threw in Like what if they were What if they were Like stuffed animal pucks I forget what you

What's the word for that There's like a A plush puck Yeah a plush She's like What if they're plush pucks I'm like Dina Are you serious right now

And then later on in the show She comes to me And she's like Oh boy I'm getting lots of tweets From hockey fans and they include a lot of exclamation marks

so I know I'm in trouble anyway really funny and there was nothing but love in her heart when she made that suggestion sure and thankfully the child in that story

by the way is going to be okay the family acknowledges that it was a mistake and the Montreal Canadiens have offered them a box for a game which I think is pretty nice

that was it's a no brainer it's a no brainer easy and by the way it's nice to know that we can still solve problems without getting lawyers involved

in the 21st century how nice is that So, round of applause to that family that understands that it's just an accident. The second I saw she wrote about it on Facebook, I'm like, here we go. Here we go. But no, it was an accident. It was an accident. Do you guys know how many seats are obstructed at the Barclays Center?

How many? Take a guess. 500. There's one section. So, how many? Can I ask the capacity? For hockey, I believe it is 15,795. Which isn't much.

Closer to six. That's not great. It's about what the Jets get. Yeah. Except they fill it. The Islanders are 28th in attendance. Which is sad. Okay, so hang on.

In Brooklyn. Brooklyn, New York. I'm going to say 750. 1,500 seats. Whoa! That was my guess in my head. So a 15th of your seats. Yeah.

That's not good enough. Now, here's what I read. 31 games played at Barclays Center. No, I don't think that number's right, Adam. 15,000. It's closer to a tenth. It's a little less than a tenth. 15,000, and he said seven...

What did he say? How many seats are obstructed? 1,500. Yeah, so... 1,500. So one in every 15 seats. Is that... Yeah, that's right.

No, I don't think that's right. Isn't that right? I'm awful at math. I'm not going to tell you. Okay. I'm pretty sure that's right. 15,000 divided by 1,500 equals 10, Adam. Oh.

Shit. Oh, I love you. I love my friend Adam. I'm so bad at math. Steve's talking to me now. Okay, so that's one in every ten seats. Am I right? Now you're right.

Wait, that's even worse, though. That's even worse. To my point. I'm playing Jesse now. I know you were wrong, but you're right. You're righter than you thought you were. You don't know how right you were, buddy. You guys, 70% of bridges are going to collapse.

Jesse, to be fair, it's between 10% and 70%. Oh, okay, my bad. By the way, shoutouts to all the people from Iowa who tweeted this. I get tweets from Iowa going, hey, by the way, my mom takes like three bridges to work. Thanks. What about those guys who were at the Marlies game who drove from like... Oh, from D.C.? D.C.

Oh, they were cool. But no, there was a guy from Pennsylvania. Oh, that's right. Who's coming to Hockey Night Cinema who's like, thanks, guys. I'll avoid any bridges on my way up. He's driving eight hours to come to Hockey Night Cinema. So anyway, 31 games as of the New York Post articles posting, which they were the first ones to report on this,

there have been 31 games played at the Barclays Center. What was the record? They are 19-8 and something. It's a ridiculously good home record. And under the agreement, Barclays pays an average lump sum of $53.5 million. So Barclays pays the Islanders to be there. They give them $53 million, okay? Then they take all the ticket proceeds.

So the Islanders don't actually need people to show up at their game to make money. So they don't care. However, they do care because people are pretty upset and they're saying there's a little known clause that kicks in after the fourth season that both sides could take advantage of, which could split the deal. They're also saying that longtime fans hate it. They're worried about retaining players because here's the thing. The Islanders may have moved to Brooklyn, but their practice facility is still near Nassau Coliseum. So it's still a completely separate way. So a guy like Jonathan Tavares, which I believe the New York Post posted about,

they said, you know, when he's a free agent, why would he stay here when he could go somewhere else and it could be so much easier? Not in New York traffic and not with that hassle and not with an arena that doesn't, you know, that 10% of the people going to the game can't even see the full game. This doesn't make any sense. That's incredible. That's crazy. It really is incredible.

Crazy. But there is light. Islanders want to leave. They want to leave. They want out. It took 31 games and they're like, I'm done. But here's the thing. Nassau Coliseum is not an option anymore.

Yeah. Because I guess they're doing renovations there and it only seats 13,000 now. Yeah, they can't play there anymore. It's not going to be an NHL stadium. We keep picking on the Coyotes. Sometimes we pick on the Panthers. Are the Islanders going to move? I hope not.

Because wouldn't it be one of the first teams in the modern era that has won a Stanley Cup and moved? I think they would be. Nordiques fans grumbling. But they never won a Cup. They basically did, but you're right. But they won a Stanley Cup and moved. I mean, think about that. I think the last team to do that was the Ottawa Senators in like the 20s.

Yeah, yeah. No, I think they just folded. I'm not even sure what happened there. it would be sad because you know they were a modern day dynasty you know

and hockey all the famers they're they're one of the best hockey teams of all time well especially if you

ask Mike Bossy especially if you ask Mike Bossy one of the best players of all time but they don't have anywhere to play you can't go to

Madison Square Garden well maybe you can no there's not enough dates it's already oh okay it's Madison Square Garden you know

there's already two teams in there and all the concerts, so you can't do it. But, as we know as hockey fans, there is much shenaniganery to be had. So, you never know.

They could share an arena with the Devils. They could. They want to go up to New Jersey. You know what? The Brooklyn Islanders of New Jersey? And the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim? If I were them, that would be what I do next year. Or for the next couple years. Yeah, and I'll tell you why.

first off, you've got a built-in hockey market there, right? And it is super... I mean, the Devils don't pull the greatest attendance when they're not winning. But they're mostly winning. And they've been a surprise this year. They've done pretty well. Might make the playoffs.

Now, then, so you've got the Brooklyn Islanders, then they move to Jersey. And it's a weird setup for a couple years. They give them a couple years to figure out what they're going to do. Either they're going to build something... They sleep on the Devils' couch. Yeah, they sleep on the Devil's Couch for a couple years. But while you're doing this, long term, what if you converted some Devil's fans into Islanders fans?

What if? And then the Devils move. However, it would be very funny if the Islanders were no longer playing on the island. Like, that would be what it is, isn't it? They'd be off of the island. And beyond all that, they saw all this coming. All of this information that we are talking about now, the things that are not working. We talked about on this podcast 18 months ago and said, dumb little podcast from Canadians in Canada said, this isn't going to work, kids.

Anyone with common sense. That's my point. They knew this and they continued to – it's amazing sometimes the breathtaking manner in which people allow themselves to fail. Well, not just people. People with so much money. So much money. And if there's one thing everybody has a good grasp of, I think, it's that making money is difficult. Very hard.

And you've got to be a certain level of intelligence to make that much money. And then you start wondering how they ever got it in the first place. Well, the whole reason they're in this situation is because people were being cheap. Because it was originally supposed to fit hockey. And then they cut the arena down 200,000 square feet, which caused it to just be a basketball facility. How much money could that have possibly saved? Which is ridiculous, by the way. There's no way one team, one basketball team can support a stadium.

We talked to Richard Petty about how expensive it is. Most stadiums lose money. So you have one facility that's going to hold a couple concerts. Because, by the way, any concert that's worth its weight in gold is going to Madison Square. Why would you have a basketball-only stadium? That is insanity. And then two years after that, they realized, oh, wait, we need the hockey. So then they tried to retrofit, and then we end up in this situation.

So it could have had hockey. It could have been fine if they didn't cheap out. And once again, I just feel bad for the fans. Yeah. It comes back, you know, the Blue Jackets fans before we were talking about. God bless Islanders fans. Islanders fans, God, you have to put up with the goofiest shit. I mean, and to think some of them were conceived in the parking lot.

Back in 1982, my son was conceived back in 1982 when they were such a good team. The Islanders. I've never been. I don't know if they sound like that. Back in 1982. If you had told me they were going to move in 1982, I would have said, no way. That's what I would have said.

I would have said it right to your face. I hurt for them. Because one thing we don't understand as Leaf fans, and we haven't understood, we do understand it, the older generations do. But as Leaf fans Since the passing of Harold Ballard And this includes our generation Steve

We don't know what it's like to have an extraordinarily frustrating owner You know it From time to time our ownership has been frustrating Who's one dude People are like oh the pension plan One pension plan okay fine You know cause Mr. Wang wants to sell the team

No one wants to He wants to sell the team make all the money And then control the team Okay So you're a person with millions of dollars, and you're looking at the Islanders right now. Do you want to give the Islanders any of your money? Imagine you bought— And you get no control of it?

Imagine you bought, like, a lawnmower at a garage sale, and just every couple weeks, the guy you bought the lawnmower off of just comes and takes it to mow his lawn. Yeah. Oh, and by the way, he also gets to decide what kind of fuel it is, whether that's the right fuel or the wrong fuel, whether it's mixed gasoline with oil or just gasoline straight or— I wasn't going to take it that deep, but yeah. I mean, that's bananas. That's crazy. I personally can't wait for the Quebec City Islanders. It's going to be a great time.

Or the Vegas Islanders. Or that. The Vegas Islanders. It'll be like the Utah Jazz. There's no jazz in Utah. No. I think jazz is still outlawed in Utah. Just based on what I'm sure.

Were they... They were the New Orleans. They were the New Orleans Jazz? Yeah. That's such a much better name! It was the Minnesota Lakers, and then they moved to L.A., which there's no lakes in L.A. I didn't know that! I couldn't figure that out.

I was in L.A. last week, and I actually asked myself, why Lakers? Because they're Minnesota. They didn't change the name because they're lazy. Quebec City Islanders! L.A. has so many things. How do you say it? Can you look up Islanders in French? Can we do a Google Translate?

Islanders. Islanders. Islanders. The thing I wish so bad They were the Utah Mardi Gras So close That would have been great That would have been

Oh my goodness Habitants Des Îles I'm going to go with What's the triangle accent Because the Montreal Canadiens Are technically the habitants

I know accent aigu That's it Habitants des îles Des îles I suck Wow No But you can't be the Habitants anything

Because the Habitants are in Montreal They should be the Quebec Nassau's Well you And by the way The Quebec Park and Lodge Any team that goes Park and Lodge The Quebec

The Quebec 1982's Any team that goes to Quebec City Rightly so Will be named a French name Oh Of course Probably should Absolutely should

I mean Montreal Is Canadian Is a little Half and half Yeah Or it was a little half and half. Quebec is Francophone.

Yeah, they're 100% French. That's like, it's like walking into Mexico. It's Spanish. Montreal, if you don't know French, you can... Like it's, Mexico, they'd be like, but Mexico is like, that's full on Spanish. They're a country, Adam. All Adam had to say was, it's kind of like another country. Quebec's like going to Japan.

It is! It's the same thing. It's a different language. Quebec, did you know that all their subways run on magnets? Do they? No! I don't know. How did that make sense?

I didn't understand that. Because in Japan, don't they have the magnet trains? Oh, yeah, they do. Look, alright, we're all very... What is this? We're all varying levels of stupid here. Monorail. That's what makes us lovable.

The varying levels of stupidity. I've been to Ogdenville in Tokyo, and by come I put them on the map. We are the seven-layer dip of stupid. that was a good analogy right still delicious still delicious

but just a little stupid I still pick around the peppers oh fair enough you could have done that with anything hey by the way we are the donuts

of stupid donuts are delicious but still stupid layers of well there's less layers but skate2great.org not stupid

fantastic organization a charity that you should donate to text 41010 to Dangle just text Dangle to 41010 it used to be about How can Adam make a great transition?

Now it's just the dumbest part. Now it's just about, all right, this is the emergency break. Think about the kids. Did you win? No, I didn't. I would have said something. I won, dicks. You won, dicks.

Hey, do you guys want to do the press conference? No. Okay. Well, we have to. But before we get into it, can we just promise, promise that we keep it semi-hockey related? I have some special requests from listeners who almost, almost, like me, put their eyes out, put their ears out after last episode with the pots and pans. I would like it if we were asked hockey questions.

Oh my god! What about on Twitter? We got any of those? Okay. Hold on, hold on. Let's do the press conference. The Steve Dangle Press Conference. This is Steve Dangle.

And I'm Adam Wild. Gillette's best blades can save you up to 50% versus the other shave club's $9 per month plan. That's right, Steve. Close, comfortable, smooth, and up to 50% off versus the other shave club. Sounds pretty smooth to me. Get it? No. Yeah, what?

I mean, I get it, but it's Adam. Seriously, that was pretty good. Join today at GilletteShaveClub.ca. Adam. What? I think that was pretty solid. That wasn't even in the script, man. I know that.

Okay, now. So the Preds are 1-9 in 3-on-3 overtime so far this year. Wow. Is this random bad luck, or do you think there's a reason for this? Remember when the Kings last year, they had that awful OT and shootout record? And if they had just been decent in the shootout, they would have made the playoffs? I didn't know that, but that doesn't shock me at all. Anyways, please answer the question.

Because I remember, and I'm sure Preds fans will correct me because it's not like I watch the Preds that closely. Wasn't Peter Laviolette one of the only coaches going into all three-on-three overtimes with two defensemen and one forward? I think that's what he was doing. I would have imagined he'd change it up by now. They're 1-9, eh?

Yeah, and the question asker. Also says, could it be LaViolette's system? So, maybe there's something there. Well, yes, it absolutely could. Ten games and you have one win? Yeah. Time to change something. It's funny, like, Babcock and, you know,

criticizing Haaland and Haaland criticizing himself for, I think it was letting Voracek get away in that recent overtime loss for the Leafs against the Flyers. That was the first time I ever heard, like, a coach actually, like, say something, like, strategic regarding three-on-three overtime. I think most coaches this year are just treating it as a crapshoot. Well, that's stupid.

Why would you do that? Also, just a theory, not having watched, but more space equals more shots and more wide-open shots. Also, Pecorino has sucked this year. Maybe that's it. Yeah. Maybe that's part of it. And Laviolette traditionally, and correct me if I'm wrong here, is a very defensive-minded systems guy, is he not? I don't remember.

So I feel like— kind of guy so maybe that's what they did and they have scored like one of the lowest goal totals in the league they wanted ryan johansson for a reason yeah so i'm yeah i don't know i would change the system up um and maybe maybe if they'd won say five of those games if they just split them they'd feel less desperate right now well and the other problem is like you know you only have so much time to practice um you're gonna focus on winning the game in the first 60 minutes not the potential last five right but you have to acknowledge that the last five is going to be there too well in this now we're getting into the same debate with three on three overtime that we got

into with the shootout like do you go out and sign a shootout specialist like is uc okan and worth that much more because the shootout exists. And that was an actual argument. If you're decent on three-on-three, if you win those five games, Adam said, those are five points. Yep. Five points is a lot. It's a lot. It is a lot, but what do you do? Do you dedicate part of your practice to

a three-on-three scrimmage? Well, I don't know why you wouldn't. I don't know why you wouldn't do that anyway. Because you want them to skate, right? And that, I think, is sometimes, because they're at the NHL level, it's less of a concern, right? It's more of like, hey, we need to work on this system

really drive this system. But if you are playing the same system day in and day out, chances are your players know the system. Are they going to make a few mistakes? Sure, for sure. But Peter Laviolette's team is pretty good. They play a system pretty well.

They're going to make the playoffs this year. Their goaltending has not been very good. And that seems to be one area where they would improve. And why not take one practice, one practice and go, all right, here's what I think we should try. Let's try to nail this one.

And then if it ever happens again, you guys know what to do, and let's not spend more than a practice on it, because you guys are adults, and you know what I'm expecting of you. Let's do that. Jesse, how secure is the Preds' playoff spot? Because they've been real bad recently, and I can't imagine it's

very secure. Because they're in the Central, right? The Predators currently sit in the first wildcard spot with 67 points, and Minnesota trails them with 64 at the first missed playoff spot. And how far back

Because Arizona, the next team. So, seven points clear of Arizona. All right. Well, that's pretty secure. You could lose it. Yeah. Could lose it. So, why has Jake Gardner never been given the opportunity to play forward?

I can't be the only one that thinks he doesn't see the game from a defensive perspective very well, says this Reddit user, Methshin. Now, alright Let's Let's try to use another example Jake Gardner is an offensive forward Ah, shoot Jake Gardner is an offensive defenseman Alright

So by your logic Every offensive defenseman Who's not like the most awesome defensively Would be a better forward Eric Carlson is an absolute star offensively And even if you go, well, wait, wait, wait, wait, he's decent defensively. Well, based on that logic, he'd be a better forward, right? Do we actually think that?

Do we think Carlson would be? No. What about Chris Letang is another guy who comes to mind. PK Subban. Would we have thought that Larry Murphy or Ray Bork, not that Ray Bork wasn't responsible defensively. I guess that's not really a fair comparison. Or Paul Coffey.

Paul Coffey. Paul Coffey's a great example. The best example of an offensive defenseman. What about Brent Burns? Brent Burns is a little different, just in the way he was used, buffling. I think it helps when you're giant. But an offensive defenseman's offense is different than a skilled forward's offense, I think. And it's about getting the puck up the ice.

I think a big problem with Gardner is, well, one, he does make egregious errors. but also the skill isn't really there for him to pass to he's got it and he can carry it, that's never been part of the problem I want to see I want to see Jay Gardner passing to someone

other than what they have if you have better forwards in front of you as an offensive defenseman, I think you have to skate less because you can give it to them instead of having to do all the work

There was a time where I would have tried Gardner forward No, not anymore Also, Martin Marincin's playing on the first pair tonight I'm pretty sure Let's maybe revisit this conversation next year I thought, somebody tweeted the other day They're like, you know Some sort of source

And these people have some sort of outlet too Like I forget whether it's a podcast or a blog They messaged you or you just read it? No, I just read it and they were talking about the fact I still can't believe the Leafs see Marincin As a first pairing defenseman I don't think anyone sees Marincin ever as a full-spreader, and whoever said it, I was kind of flabbergasted. I was like, nobody ever made that prediction.

He's playing on the first pairing right now. It's either a stupid opinion or dishonest. I hate when people say that kind of crap. Just because they play a guy somewhere doesn't mean they actually think he's that type of player. Yeah, they're the last-placed team in the league. Look at what they're doing. As if they actually think he's the first line-up. I saw a good tweet

I don't know how much I agree with it but it's an interesting argument I want to see what other people think Martin Marincin is a shutdown defenseman in 2016 the new shutdown defenseman isn't Brian Marchment

isn't always throwing the hits Dave Manson using the body grinding it out they're just a solid possession presence that can't really put up points. That's it. Get the puck, clear it.

Get the puck, give it to someone else, get off the ice. He's got two points this year. So he's not putting up any points, but weirdly his possession numbers are still awesome. That doesn't make him awesome. It just maybe makes him the modern day shutdown guy. It's an interesting argument. I don't know how much I agree with it.

It's an interesting thought. That is interesting. I feel like, just on the Gardner point, it would be like taking, you know, when Mike Pecka was at his peak, it'd be like taking him and putting him on a first-pairing D. Yes, he was a responsible defensive center, but no. Patrice Bergeron is such a responsible center. Let's try him on defense.

We need a guy. And Boston does. And then you've got to fill that hole. Exactly. I think Gardner's great where he is. Let him develop. So, Y. Wilson points something interesting out. The San Jose Sharks have 21 road wins.

They're 21-9-2 on the road. And at home, they're 11-12-3. I never understand that. What the hell is going on there? That's just got to be a fluke. Like, that's really just got to be a fluke. Because I was going to say, well, I mean, with a record like that on the road, you must have great coaching.

And then you get home where you have a coaching advantage and you suck. I don't get it. Like there must be Maybe they were healthier During those games I mean There is There is an element of chance

There is An element of Flukery That's gotta be it Come on Yeah There can't actually be a reason for that No

I don't think so I mean If they did it year after year after year Which maybe they have I don't know Maybe but Come on Okay

Last question The Leafs have 50 points right now They've played 57 games how many points do they finish the year with? Can you look something up for me? Sure. How many points did Buffalo finish with last year?

I need to know this. This is vital. How many points did they finish with? They got about 25 games left. I think it might be exactly 25 games left. The Sabres finished with 54 points.

Yo, whoa! Look at how bad the Leafs are this year, and this is why I kind of went out Mike Harrington yesterday on Twitter, that Buffalo writer, getting all indignant about his... About the Leafs tanking? About the team he cheers for. Look at how

bad the Leafs are this year. They're already four points away from last year's Sabres. No, no, no. Four points ahead. No, Leafs have 50. Oh, I thought they had 57. Sorry, my bad. 57 games played. Oh, okay. Come on.

Like, that team was shocking. And I'm not really saying the Leafs aren't. And they traded the goaltender at the deadline. Again, I think that Michael Neuwirth trade was the dumbest trade in Buffalo Sabres history. They tanked on top of tanking. Yeah. Like, they downgraded and then traded the downgrades. Like, we are not tanking enough here.

And we are tanking for a 20% shot at McDavid. And they did it from the get-go. They did it from game one of the season. Arguably, so did the Leafs. Arguably, but for God's sake At least they were competitive for a while Up until JVR got hurt They were right in the playoff mix

They were closer to a playoff spot Then than Phoenix's Damn it, Arizona I almost caught myself Almost caught myself Maybe I should put a dollar in too Damn They were closer with JVR in the lineup

To a playoff spot than Arizona currently is now You know what I mean? Like, at least they've been competitive most of the year And you can blame some of it on bad goaltending Well, no, okay, no, no Take that out, take that out, take that out You cannot compare This Leafs year

To last year's Sabres atrocity What did, just for context What did Harrington say that made you talk to him? Uh, let me look it up I don't know He's just, I don't know I just, you know what With me, at very least

You know what you're getting I'm an admitted fan I just don't like when a writer In that kind of position Went at Babcock He was one of the guys who was like You drown babies right What's it like to drown babies

Went at Babcock What are you talking about He didn't go at Babcock He was asking the hard questions By the way This is a tip for all you kids out there Anyone who says Anyone who brags about

Themselves asking the tough questions is so very worth ignoring. They don't ask the hard questions. Yeah. They like to think they do. Gives a shit. I have it up here if you want to. Oh, thank you.

You found it? Yeah. Steve, you tweet a lot. I do. I'm sorry. Well, it's also been a pretty exciting week. You are right. I had the Canucks to make fun of.

Mike Harrington said, Sabres tanked. We all know it and called it out. Leafs going to go full artillery and I sense media attaboys coming to Lulam. Absurd. What? First off.

First of all, that's a writer. Okay, what was he doing with Tim Murray then? Was he not saying the same thing? Were the Leafs not going into this year saying the same damn thing? Are you out of your mind? And I said,

did you hear yourself at the Babcock presser? So what did he say back? Yeah, it's called Asking Tough Questions. It's what I'm paid to do. Guess you don't hear too many up there. Oh! No. Oh!

Damn, Harrington. Back at it again with the sick shirts. Damn, Harrington. Damn. Damn. Sassy, man. Sassy. Well.

Damn, Daniel. Look. Part of it... Look, he does have a point. The Leafs are kind of doing what the Sabres did last year. But did they not admit that? Did Shanahan not come out and explicitly say, and Babcock explicitly say,

there's some painful years ahead? Did the Sabres not? Yeah, but I don't understand what the difference is. I think what annoyed me the most... Why is he trying to point us out? What annoyed me the most is, yeah, he got indignant about it and tried to make it a Toronto Buffalo thing.

anytime anyone tries to act like their city and their writers are better than another city you're just a you're a fan you're a fan that's all you are you're a fan with credentials congrats you're a basement blogger when you're a jet you're a jet all the way

like really me and my writing crew are tougher tougher and meaner than you and your writing crew look I don't want to go on I don't want to take this route I don't but I'm going to This is Toronto

When you're talking about hockey This is the show kid It is That's it That's the name of this show By the way This is the show kid Steve Dangle podcast

We're wrapping it up for today Steve has to go to work You gotta answer the question first Oh What was the question? 25 games left 50 points How many do the Leafs have

At the end of the year? To the point we just made They got 4 points to go Can they make it? They might not I think they're lucky If they make 60 You don't think they're going to get 10 points over the next 25 games?

I think it's going to be really tough So what's your number? My number is 60 60? Alright 67 Follow the guys on Twitter At Steve underscore Dangle At Adam W-Y-L-D

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