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Lol & Behold - Tougie's Take Podcast (5/8/24)
137 Plays11 months ago
- The Fella's return to talk about the Leafs latest failure, another NHL coaching change and Macklin Sharkabrini
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- Check out our Discord!
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Transcript
Introduction and Health Struggles
00:00:00
Speaker
Endo, are you sure that you're ready? I hate him. I'm not fucking with you. I'm good. I'm good. I'm ready to go. Welcome, everybody, to another edition of the Toogies Take podcast. It is us, the guys, the fellas, your hockey friends that you hear from on a somewhat
00:00:20
Speaker
Weekly basis, because boy, this year have we had some bad damn luck when it comes to illness. I've had my own battles with COVID and bronchitis. And then, uh, Mr. Sim for the win. You've had your own misfortunes. Yeah. I finally got COVID at least confirmed COVID. I might've had it in the January.
00:00:47
Speaker
pre pandemic. Who knows? But yeah, it was a you can still hear my voice a little bit still recovering because I coughed myself horse. Yeah, it was it was interesting like a speed run. First, you know, first day night, it was a horrid fever. And the next day the fever was almost gone still had chills and then all the other symptoms kick in like sinus, not so much of a cough.
Podcast Focus and Ottawa Senators
00:01:12
Speaker
And then the next day out of the cough started and that just lingered for so many days. Yeah. You were texting me pretty much every day. I was checking in on you and you're like, well, this symptoms gone, but now here's this one. And I'm like, yes, I remember this. Well, it was like a speed run of code. Yeah. So then it lasted longer than I thought it was because I started feeling better, like nearly immediately.
00:01:35
Speaker
which was trippy. I started physically feeling pretty good. It was just the cough after two days, and then it still took the rest of the week to go away. What the fuck is happening? We're just going to ignore him for those of you on the video side. Enjoy whatever the hell Endo's doing currently. Yeah. Oh, it's like things glitch then. It's not supposed to show that at all. What the fuck?
00:01:56
Speaker
Well, I'm I'm glad things are going well for you. But yeah, basically between you and I both being sick on and off this year, like our our consistent schedule has completely evaporated. But hey, we're going to make up for it today in terms of talking about a hell of a lot of hockey because the playoffs have been incredibly exciting. But we have to kick things off.
00:02:26
Speaker
by talking about two non-playoff teams, both being represented in terms of apparel being worn on the video side of things. But we are going to start it off with good news for Sims. Oh, shit. OK. I got a cough drop in. I'm trying to finish it off. Well, hey, we can start off with the Sens then. Why not? Because there's not too much to talk about with them.
00:02:53
Speaker
Two main things, though, going on with Ottawa right now. That being, it is expected. The news still hasn't come down yet today, waiting for that. But at the time of recording, the Sens have a couple hours left to decide if they will forfeit their 2024 first round pick or push the decision to either 2025 or 2026 due to the invalidated Evgeny Dedanov trade, which is still
00:03:23
Speaker
bizarre that that even happened in the first place. I can't imagine they're going to surrender said pick, given that they have, if I'm not mistaken, the seventh overall pick now. Yeah, I wouldn't surrender it. I don't think they're going to be giving up that pick this year. Surrender the twenty six like you should be a playoff team by then. I agree. As we've been saying for three years. But will they be with head coach Travis Green?
00:03:53
Speaker
who is all he is all but official. Now, at this point, he has been confirmed the head coach of this team. It's really funny because the Ottawa Senators website, the home page looks like this where it's Chris Phillips working the McDonald's drive through. Hell, yeah. The main picture. And then below that in a smaller image is just we got our guy, Travis Green.
00:04:24
Speaker
So I don't know what to make of that, but they got their guy at the end of the day. Travis Green is an interesting one. It's a four-year contract for him through 2027, 2028. And in terms of his history,
00:04:49
Speaker
You know, he was the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks from 2017 until the midway point in 2022, goes to New Jersey for the rest of 2023-24. He was promoted on March 4th from associate coach to head coach for the Devils at the end of the season,
NHL Draft Lottery and San Jose Sharks
00:05:10
Speaker
which I still don't even remember happening, to be honest. And now he's been named the head coach
00:05:17
Speaker
of the Ottawa Senators, which. You know, it on occasion, like we always talk about the idea of. OK, coaches repeatedly getting opportunities, but there is the theory out there of OK, it can take some coaches a kick or two with the can to see if they are actually, especially if they're younger and Travis Green's younger, right? For an NHL coach, kind of.
00:05:46
Speaker
Travis Green is 53 years old. Oh, fuck. Yeah, I mean, you got to figure he played. He was drafted in the second round of the 1989 draft. Well. But I mean, Vancouver was his first head coach and gig, right? Yes. OK, yeah. So this is essentially a second full coaching game. Maybe it works. But to me, this is kind of like. Travis Green, D.J. Smith, Spider-Man pointing at each other mean.
00:06:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's the way a lot of people feel about it. So it was worth mentioning at the very least because it's been what, 17, 18 head coaching changes in like less than two years. The NHL has gone insane in regards to that.
00:06:38
Speaker
And then the opposite end, or the other side of the coin, I should say, is you have all these changes in this regard, but no changes in regards to the NHL draft lottery, which we were hoping to do a live stream for yesterday, on sin's birthday, no less, where good news was delivered. For the first time in franchise history,
00:07:08
Speaker
The San Jose Sharks have the number one overall pick in a draft where for the first time in 14 years, there was no lottery movement whatsoever. As it should be. Now see, I, I feel the same damn way about that. You're never going to get rid of tanking.
00:07:28
Speaker
Everyone wants a top three pick. Like, you're not ever gonna get rid of tanking. Like, but whatever, let the NHL do its thing. To me, a lottery system just keeps bad teams bad. That's what I feel like. Like, if you look at the, you know, kind of the standings over subsequent years, let's go back to 2018-19, just arbitrary, and you look at who was bad,
00:07:55
Speaker
Eh, I mean that was the Ottawa Senators finishing dead last. If they have a number one overall pick in their midst,
00:08:06
Speaker
Are they a playoff team five years later? Right about now? Potentially. It certainly helps their chances. Yeah. You have the LA Kings who were 30th that year. They obviously made the playoffs this year. Then the Devils who have been very up and down. Detroit, who constantly feels like they're kind of hard pressed by the draft lottery. But I don't know. At the end of the day, I am perfectly fine with NFL style. Screw the draft lottery.
00:08:34
Speaker
I just couldn't care less. But enough about the draft lottery itself. Let's talk about the result. Macklin celebration. You are a San Jose shark. Oh, man. Yeah. I I'm gonna be real with you guys. I couldn't watch the drawing.
00:08:55
Speaker
I got my hopes up way too much after spending months and months and months trying to temper my expectations. All of last year, too, with Bedard. Yeah. Yeah. I think I had some PTSD from that. And the fact of the matter is like, I don't have high hopes we're going to win. We're in the four spot. Like that's that's low chance. Just don't don't give it to Chicago. That's all we wanted. And we all kind of knew it was going to go to Chicago. And lo and behold, they jump up from two to one, I think.
00:09:23
Speaker
Yeah, lo and behold, more like a lo and behold. Yeah, lo and behold. Yeah, my buddy's a Ducks fan and he was like, yeah, that was just. I mean, it was expected. It was a rough year for Ducks fans anyway, because they expected to be better than they were as a lot of teams did. But then you have San Jose who were the clear cut worst team in the league. Yeah, it was close.
00:09:51
Speaker
You know, if they lose the lottery and fall to the third overall pick, then you talk about missing out on the clear cut number one pick of this draft. And,
Toronto Maple Leafs: Playoff Analysis and Future Prospects
00:10:03
Speaker
you know, obviously you can still get a phenomenal player third overall, but the difference that it can make to get a guy who by some metrics is trending at a similar pace to Connor Bedard.
00:10:17
Speaker
That's kind of nuts. I didn't really think that. I consider him an elite slash possible franchise center man. But yeah, having him near Bedard is kind of crazy. But for as much as you believe in like comparison trends for players pre draft years and subsequently after. But you're talking about a guy who does not turn 18 years old until June 13th. He just played an entire season for Boston University.
00:10:47
Speaker
where he had 64 points in 38 games with 32 goals. At 17 years old throughout the entire year. High school or in college, literally.
00:10:59
Speaker
It's, I mean, it's insane. Like, it's absolutely insane. The only people that outscored him in the NCAA this year, and NCAA scoring was crazy this year. That's the best way to put it, because in the past with the NCAA, there were seasons a decade ago where
00:11:21
Speaker
You know, you were talking about Johnny Goodrow and what he accomplished. He had 51 points in 35 games. You're talking about these guys approaching 70 points. The top scorers in the NCAA this year were Macklin celebrating at 64 points in 38 games. Second place, Cutter Gautier, 65 points in 41. And number one in scoring in the NCAA,
00:11:48
Speaker
Will Smith? Will Smith, let me do some research on him. What team drafted Will? Oh, he's a shark. Let's fucking go. 1A, 1B. Oh man, I'm so stoked. Or at least 1C, 2C. Dude, 71 points in 41 games for Will Smith after being the fourth overall pick last year.
00:12:11
Speaker
Things are looking damn good for the Sharks already. Yeah, and you need good centermen. And the fact that we have two of them, like in back-to-back drafts, is really, really good.
00:12:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you're literally talking about like, OK, what was the mold for the shark success, Thornton and Marla? Yeah. And then obviously that evolved into, oh, they have couture and then they have Pavelski. And it's like Jesus Christ, the amount of people that they can run at center is crazy. And, you know, right now, you know, you look at that shark's roster and it's like, OK, what are what are they missing? You know, if you can push Will Smith to the 2C,
00:12:48
Speaker
then you're cooking. And they have that now with Celebrini. I mean, the NHL wasn't even trying to hide it last night, right? Like, that was like, oh, yeah, this kid's going first overall. Like, it's not even a question. Which I appreciate them being like, oh, but here's Cole Iserman. He might go like, no, they didn't even bother, which is great. He's like dropped out of the top 10 in rankings. Like, we might get him at 14. That's crazy. That's the other factors. Yeah, the Sharks have the 14th pick. But talking about the guys down the middle,
00:13:16
Speaker
I mean, it's Logan Kucher, who's probably not going anywhere. Well, he might not even play hockey again. That's true. Meaning like Thomas Bortolo and Philip Beastad. Beastad was always middle six ceiling. Right. If he turns into a 3C for us, like that's incredible. Bortolo can play wing if he needs to.
00:13:40
Speaker
They needed Macklin celebrating so badly. Like left left wing side, William Eklund, Quentin Musti. They still have some work to do on that right hand side defensively. On paper, at least they don't have the, you know, the franchise caliber defenseman. No, they have some work cut out for them. But, you know, at the end of the day, to get
00:14:09
Speaker
An elite level player again, depending on what metric you look at potentially generational is the pace that he's on after a season like that It's just such a gigantic win for the Sharks that they so desperately needed. Yes and The thing with Eklund is like he could play center we saw him play center He was a natural centerman at one point in his career. I like him so much better on the wing. I
00:14:35
Speaker
Um, he looked good playing center at times. Like he was, he felt he looked really comfortable there. Uh, but again, this is a good problem to have. You want too many guys who can play center. You want too many guys who can take face offs, et cetera. So forth, like for a couple of winning teams, you have to be strong down the middle. I mean, think about the last couple of cup winners, really. Uh, you know, you think of Colorado, McKinnon, they had cadre at the time. Can't remember who else they had down the middle, but I mean,
00:15:05
Speaker
Vegas obviously. He had Eichel Carlson Stevenson who came out of nowhere to be a solid, at least middle six guy, but he was playing top line at times. Those good cup-winning teams have always really been strong down the middle. Yeah, I'm looking at that abs playoff roster.
00:15:28
Speaker
Well, that was for 2023, I knew something was off. On that 2022 team down the middle, they had McKinnon, Kadri, Helm, Newhook, Nikko, Sturm. So I mean a really strong one, two, and then defensively responsible three and four, depending on where Newhook was playing it. They were playing them on the wing. I don't remember. I'm trying to think of what Tampa had at the time. They obviously had point. Stamp shows he could play middle, but he has more wing.
00:15:58
Speaker
Yeah, in terms of that Tampa team, because why not? Since we're already here, I'm trying to try to prove my point here about strong seas. Well, I mean, I think most people know it, right? Like, I mean, the Bruins don't win 65 games last year if they don't have Berger on a crazy down the middle. Yeah.
00:16:14
Speaker
Yeah, Tampa, Jesus Christ, the amount of listed centers on that Tampa Cup winning team, the most recent one, uh, Stamkos, Point, Colorn, Johnson, Gord, Colton, Coleman, and Sorelli all potentially options down the middle. Ridiculous. Yeah. So it's a celebration for the sharks. It's a beautiful day. We've had precious little to celebrate. On the other hand,
00:16:42
Speaker
Last time we did a show, the first round was ongoing. It no longer is. We're off to round two and we'll talk about the match-ups that we haven't gotten a chance to talk about at the very end. And what better way to start than by the Boston Bruins eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime of game seven, David Pasternak,
00:17:10
Speaker
likely ending what should be the last hurrah for the Leafs core but how many times has that been said there was an article shared from 2021 from TSN talking about how that should have been the last hurrah we're still here
00:17:31
Speaker
they're still here but perhaps only momentarily maybe as again we'll talk about the Bruins but for the Leafs there's just been you know a half a week's worth a little bit over that now of eulogizing of pointing the fingers who's at faults and
00:17:54
Speaker
So much more. It feels like at this point, relate to that party in terms of like everything that could have been said about the Toronto Maple Leafs has been said. And now we're just waiting to see what happens next. What's interesting to me is that the the management media availability, which got pushed back, by the way, it includes Brendan Shanahan. So to me, this just feels like they're they're going to run it back.
00:18:19
Speaker
Maybe they get rid of Keith, but like if Shanahan is still at the helm, he's not gonna... I don't think he's gonna want to trade any of them. He seems to be content with just trying to push through, and he seems to be buying in way too much to what Mr. Captain John Tavares is buying in, which like, oh, we're so close. But it's like, no, you're close to winning round one.
00:18:41
Speaker
Like that's you still have three other rounds to win to to be the champions. Like you're nowhere close. It doesn't matter if you think your next opponent is going to be easier. First of all, it wasn't going to be this year. It's going to be fucking Florida. In theory, every round you advance to that opponent is more difficult to beat. Yeah. So it's like I don't understand that logic from the captain, especially, but seemingly throughout management of like, oh, we're right there. You're not.
00:19:11
Speaker
you got to round two twice and you got fucking that's why yeah sorry you got to round two once and you got fucking bullied endo as a as a somewhat disengaged leafs fan is it even more so now are you just like yeah whatever leafs whatever
00:19:39
Speaker
I've got my boss who is a Winnipeg Jets fan chirping me in the car rides of the morning about a loose suck. Great. I love a Jets fan. That's yeah.
00:19:49
Speaker
He's like, what a big Jets fan. I don't know. He's, he's a weird guy, but he pays me good money. So you know what? I let him, I let him say whatever he wants with the Leafs. Um, I don't know what's going on with this team. Uh, in terms of, you know, the new, uh, president of, um, the new CEO, essentially of a memo as he is a, is a very big sports guy. So maybe he's letting them run it back one more time. They were supposed to be, Hey, there was supposed to be, um, an interview, like a, like a team meeting.
00:20:18
Speaker
But team press conference, I think it was repeated today, but it was moved to Friday. It's confirmed to have all three members, as in Shanahan, the new president of the MLC and keeps going to be there. So we don't know what's going to happen. I think it's going to be a moment where it's believed basically go, we're a team and we believe in the team that we have here. And we see a repeat of what happened with Ottawa and they just completely fuck up entirely.
00:20:48
Speaker
Um, yeah, I don't know. I don't, I don't know what they're going to do. I can't speculate what they're going to do either because the more I want to speculate about what they could do, what they should do, they don't do it. So maybe it's like one last hurrah with, you know, contracts aging and the other side.
00:21:09
Speaker
Oh, we have a bunch of people who have to have to resign. We're not going to sign those contracts until we figure out if the team can actually play and earn their money. I saw someone, I think it was Sportsnet or the score was talking about, oh, the, um,
00:21:25
Speaker
This is now the accountability era of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I'm like, what do you mean the accountability era? The accountability era started when you gave these guys these bridge deals and told them, hey, here's some money right now. You play well and earn your spot and earn your keep and get yourself a trophy or somewhere in the playoffs. Then we can keep your accountable and we can reward you for that.
00:21:50
Speaker
Instead, it's on the exact opposite. They've had players play amazing and then give them a bunch of fucking money. And then when they have to show up come playoff time, they don't or they just underperform into ways that we haven't seen players underperform ever. There are some people who want to liken this to, you know, the Washington Capitals who, you know, couldn't get out of the first round for a while. And eventually they did and they won a fucking Cup with Ovi.
00:22:16
Speaker
But that's a different team and a whole different makeup of our roster. Like the Toronto Maple Leafs have the, on paper, again, always on paper, they have the best firepower in the league. And every single year, they don't show up, and the people who show up are the guys who are making league minimum. It's always the league minimum, guys. Matthew Nyes was probably the best player in that
00:22:43
Speaker
in that, in that series, hands down, he is, she's grown from being maybe like, you know, like a two way player. It's like a legit power forward. We'll take on guys on Boston. When they go up against literally anybody throw hits whenever I get into the quarters and all that stuff.
00:22:58
Speaker
When it comes to his contract next season, it's going to be really, really fun because he's going to want to want some money. And what do you do? Toronto might not have any money because they got to pay Marner. They got to pay Tavares because this contract's up next year and everyone wants a hometown discount. I don't believe in that shit. I believe everyone's going to try and milk the dollar as much as they can because they've done it previously. That's my mini rant. That's, that's everything that I've got going on with the Leafs. They are.
00:23:27
Speaker
in such a weird spot as they are every year. In terms of Sheldon Keefe, he has an extension that's about to kick in. This was supposed to be the last year of his deal, but he signed an extension on August 30th of last year for two more years. We'll see if he sees that through. He's been the head coach of the team for almost four and a half years now. Here's the thing. I'm going to jump in right here and say it.
00:23:55
Speaker
If Sheldon Keith doesn't bring Tron Maple Leafs into the top five of the NHL standings Latin next year, kick him out. Get rid of him. I don't care. That's regular. That's regular season, regular season success. We've had it for this entire 10 year. They've been good in the regular season.
00:24:13
Speaker
They need to be the best fucking team out there because those players are some of the best players in the league. But when it comes to have things go in, it just doesn't happen. Austin Matthews missed a couple games. William Nealon missed a couple games. When Austin was gone, that team stepped up like no ever, like they haven't seen them before. I noticed it last season when Matthews had to step out for an injury and his wrist bothering him, whatever the fuck it was.
00:24:39
Speaker
That team stepped up. You have players who are, you know, projected to play certain roles, actually played those roles. Max Tellme was absolutely insane in the face-off thought for games five and six. Game seven, put him back on the third fucking line and didn't do anything all game. No offense to Max. They just have, again, they have too much depth in terms of having two people in spots where there could be other players. Am I saying the trade Matthews? No. Am I saying the trade so-and-so? No.
00:25:09
Speaker
just it just seems like people go to Toronto. Well, Toronto has this title where everyone can go there, but then you're going to be a third line player or a fourth line player, not going to play the games. Nick Robertson was pulled out of the game seven lineup as well. That's one thing for your agent, bless you. That's one thing your agent to say,
00:25:28
Speaker
He spent the entire year begging to play on the NHL. When he showed up, he showed up. And in game seven of the pivotal moment, you take him out of the lineup. And in games five and game six, he played absolutely pretty stellar for a guy who'd never played a Santa Claus before. I'm more concerned about my favorite player is finding a place to play outside of Toronto. That's basically what it's been for the past couple of years for me.
00:25:50
Speaker
I put a tweet out a couple of days ago, talking about all the top players, all the players through the farm system that have gone on to other places that have better success. Mason Marshman, Sean Derzy, Trevor Moore. Let me see what else. Pierre Engvall. Hey, he's averaging the same amount of points he did over here over with the Islanders. Rasmus Sandin had a little bit of an off year, but he's get the money that he deserved over there as well too.
00:26:15
Speaker
Also, Justin Brazo, who was a project player. Project player with the Marlies because no one wanted to sign to an NHL contract because he wasn't fast enough. Worked with Barbara Underhill, who was a skating coach with the Marlies on design. Developed the skills. Didn't, didn't pan out with the Marlies. Goes over the Providence Bruins. Plays with Maine for a couple, for like a season and a half. Makes the NHL roster off of having an AHL deal. Signs a two-year contract. Scores his first fucking goal.
00:26:45
Speaker
in the playoffs. Fucking hell. In regards to Sheldon Keefe, if he is fired, these are some of the top candidates with NHL coaching experience out there.
NHL Coaching Carousel and Strategies
00:26:58
Speaker
David Quinn. We'll get to him.
00:27:02
Speaker
Obviously, there is the option of going AHL college route or the certainly less traveled Europe route, which does not happen in terms of top Liga, SHL coaches just doesn't happen. So top candidates out there. Jay Woodcroft.
00:27:20
Speaker
who was sacked earlier this year after a 3-9-1 start to the Edmonton Oilers season. He is being rumored for the Sharks job. That comes from a Sportsnet article at the end of April. He was a former Sharks coach, just not a head one. Dean Eveson.
00:27:44
Speaker
former coach of the Minnesota Wild who was let go after a 5, 10, and 4 start earlier this season. He was stellar with Minnesota in the regular season, 147, 77, and 27. However, in the playoffs, 8 wins, 15 losses over 4 years. It just seems like you'd be switching him and Keith out. They have the same issue.
00:28:11
Speaker
DJ Smith, the former head coach of the Ottawa Senators, who was once an assistant coach with the Leafs, before taking that head coaching job. Come back. Which... Come back. Todd McClellan, who typically stays with Western teams, but who knows, maybe he finally moves over to the East after coaching the Oilers Sharks and Kings. Don Granado,
00:28:37
Speaker
who has been replaced in Buffalo after four seasons by Lindy Ruff, who has come back to Buffalo. David Quinn, who was let go of by the Sharks. Dave Hackstall, who was just let go of by the Seattle Kraken. And probably the odds on betting favorite, unless they were to go down the path of John Quinville.
00:29:09
Speaker
Unless you were to go down... Oh wait, not Jon Quinnville. That's his fucking nephew or whatever. Joel Quinnville. Joel Quinnville. There you go. Go Jon Quinnville. He's probably more deserving of a head coaching job than Joel Quinnville is at this point. If you don't go down to Joel Quinnville, you know, disgraced former NHL head coach option, it leaves Craig Barube.
00:29:32
Speaker
was let go of by the Blues this year. Barube was in contention for the senator's coaching job, but a lot of people were speculating that he's probably just waiting to see if the Leafs will bring him in. The Sens went with their guy and Travis Green. You know, someone like Frank Barube, obviously, it's just pure speculation at this stage. However,
00:29:58
Speaker
In terms of the style of team that he had success with in St. Louis, they had some skill players, but in a lot of ways it was physical, defensively responsible, right? Like that, that Blues Cup winning team for as valuable of a part as Vladimir Tarasenko was, it was more about Ryan O'Reilly
00:30:21
Speaker
the two-way gritty leadership. It was about the physicality that Patrick Maroon, Joel Edmondson could bring to that lineup. A fucking sandpaper cheap shot artist like Braden Chen. Which, hey, again, as we'll talk about with the New York Rangers here shortly, yes, I have watched Brad Martian for his entire career. I am well aware of what a cheap shot artist looks like. Braden Chen was a cheap shot artist in that postseason, especially.
00:30:51
Speaker
When it comes to Brad Schurliving and the type of team that he tried to build this year, that fits a Craig Barube style team. You brought in Tyler Bertuzzi, you brought in Max Domi, defensively you went with Joel Edmondson, Simon Benoit, Ilya Lebouchkin. It does seem like a good fit.
00:31:14
Speaker
Although, again, the top heaviness of the team for the Leafs, the, you know, every single member of the big four, the core four, whatever, is going to be making at least ten point nine million dollars next year. All of them have no movement clauses. My thought, Craig Burubei is going to be the head coach of this team. They run it back with the core four for one more year until John Tavares and Mitch Marner's deals are up at the end of the year.
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah. It's just very difficult to imagine. Who the hell is taking John Tavares? Nobody. You're not training Matthews or Nylander. They were your two best performers in the playoffs. You could argue. It's Marner who would go and.
00:32:01
Speaker
that's a very difficult trade to pull off, even if, you know, the word's out there about like, oh, Marner kinda wants to go or he'd be prepared to go. It's still a difficult trade to pull off because the conversation of fair value and the optics. The Leafs are constantly battling optics anyway. If you do not get what is perceived as a steal, you're gonna be roasted for it. A fair value trade for Mitch Marner
00:32:30
Speaker
still gets you roasted. Even though it's more likely you get a less than fair value deal, because even though you're dealing a great player, well why are you dealing him? He gets paid too much and doesn't perform in the playoffs.
00:32:43
Speaker
Well then why the fuck am I, as an opposing GM, gonna give up that much and help you out if I'm helping you alleviate $11 million worth of cap and getting a guy who can't perform in the playoffs off of your team? If the only- If the Leafs and their management can accept the fact that you're not gonna win a Marner trade, you get fucking assets back and understand that the best thing that you're getting is cap space. Mm-hmm.
00:33:08
Speaker
Like, yeah, that's I think it can't be understated how important cap spaces. Clearly, like we've seen it time and time again with the Leafs where they just don't have enough cap space to insulate and, you know, provide the right amount of support. I think I think if he's willing to wave, no matter like kind of where just you got to do it like it's not working.
00:33:31
Speaker
It's clearly not working and that's too much money to have locked up in a single player who doesn't, he's just not a playoff player right now. And I don't know if he ever will be. He's 27 now. He's a perimeter style player. He doesn't drive the net. He plays around the edges and that's not where goals are going to be scored in the playoffs. Look what the Bruins did. There's like, yeah, sure. We'll give you the perimeter all day. You're not getting the middle of the ice. And they couldn't. The entire series struggled to get the middle of the ice.
00:34:01
Speaker
He doesn't shoot. He puts up a ton of points like assist wise, but just when it comes to come to the playoffs, he just didn't shoot the puck. He was always looking to pass it over the Matthews or whoever was on his line. And like, that's great. That's awesome. But you need to be a little bit more selfish, especially in a high high key situation like that.
00:34:27
Speaker
You know, whether or not it's Utah, as a lot of people are speculating because, oh, yeah, you know, range, Dr. Phil, God, like Utah would be a good fit. Right. Which, by the way, I believe it's tomorrow. They're announcing the final list of potential names. So we're getting that much closer to knowing they were referred to as the Utah Hockey Club during draft lottery yesterday, which I think obviously just a placeholder, just a place.
00:34:53
Speaker
You know, there's no denying like for Utah, you get it, you know, a young team. You have Clayton Keller there.
00:35:00
Speaker
get Mitch Marner, Clayton Keller, like, you know, you get that more exciting style of hockey that is it conducive to the playoffs is to say like, there are options. But right now it is just pure speculation, wait and see. Because hey, a lot of times there's an obvious move to make. And teams don't do it for one reason or
Bruins vs. Panthers Playoff Series
00:35:22
Speaker
another. And
00:35:24
Speaker
I think we're all in agreement. Even if you take an L on the Mitch Marner trade, you're taking an L to get more Ws down the road, to get more than five wins in a playoff run, which is the most you've had since 2004. Just a lot of wait and see with the Leafs, perhaps more than any other team. We always talk about it, and it's true. Every single team that either doesn't make the playoffs or is eliminated in the first round,
00:35:53
Speaker
You are always left with those questions of a comment. This could be an interesting off season just because there's so many possibilities. The Leafs are at the forefront of that list, I think across the league at this stage.
00:36:05
Speaker
Let's keep talking about the Eastern Conference before moving west. And we'll talk about the second round matchups because we already covered Florida eliminating Tampa, New York eliminated Washington, and I'm pretty sure we talked about Carolina eliminating the Islanders as well. I'm not mistaken. So in terms of the second round of matchups, because we just talked about the Bruins, let's talk about it now. They have a one nothing series lead on the Florida Panthers after winning game one five to one, which
00:36:34
Speaker
Nobody could have predicted. Uh, you could have, if you understood that Florida had so much time in between games and the Bruins were made. Yeah, you could argue, Oh, they're tired, but they did just been locked in in a tight series. So like, but hey, you got to win and the Boston fucking one. So you take that. If another team's rusty, fucking take it and run. Yeah. And I mean, they got that win.
00:36:59
Speaker
with the most unlikely goal scorers in that. Excuse me, Mason Lorai is an elite OFD. Did I even say his name right, Mason? It's Mason, right? It's Mason Lorai. Okay. I thought you were gonna say, did I say Lorai correctly? And you're like, no, did I say Mason correctly? Yeah, this, like the goal scorers for the Bruins, Morgan Geeky with this third of the playoffs.
00:37:28
Speaker
Mason Lorai's first career playoff goal. Franchise. Brandon Carlo, who barely made it to the game on time because of the birth of his son. Carlo. Which by the way, to the Carlos, I'm so sorry. You gave your son a tragic name. Uh-oh. That's a tragedy. What is his name? Crew.
00:38:09
Speaker
That's like giving your kid chat. Chat, is this real? Like, fuck me. As a connoisseur of the tragedy subreddit where people go to post all the crazy shit that people name their kid, which, by the way, includes now Hilary Duff, who now has a child named Towns. Towns? T-O-W-N-E-S.
00:38:18
Speaker
or not.
00:38:37
Speaker
Um, the shit people name their kids crew isn't the worst, but it's in the, it's in the conversation. Um, you also had Justin Brazos first career playoff goal, which
00:38:50
Speaker
pure power forward move and then Jake Debraskan empty netter for his fourth of the playoffs. I mean, that is the type of depth scoring that the Bruins need, right? Like you need those guys. It can't just be Posternock. It can't be Marshawn. You need other people to be able to chip in. Yeah.
00:39:10
Speaker
At the same time, heading into this series, I had mentioned, like, okay, the Panthers are still heavily favorited, but it kind of depends on Bobrovsky. He's the big X factor. Because even if his save percentage is low in a general sense, which it has been in the playoffs, he has that tendency to make ridiculous saves at clutch times. We saw that against Tampa in the first round. He had, if that doesn't go down as the save of the playoffs, I don't know what the hell does. Right?
00:39:41
Speaker
But in this game, he allowed four goals on 28 shots because the Bruins had an empty netter. That's not the best version of Barofsky and the Panthers are in a bit of trouble if they don't get that version of him because on the other side and the story of the playoffs for the Boston Bruins is Jeremy Swamin, who
00:40:05
Speaker
is playing some of the best hockey and performing so well at his position.
00:40:14
Speaker
really to an extent that it might be the best Bruins fans have ever seen. He had 38 saves on 39 shots against Florida in game one, stood on his head against the Leafs and is approaching like record territory in terms of save percentages through the first few games of his career, first dozen or so playoff games of his career. His goals against average right now is a 1.43
00:40:43
Speaker
through seven appearances with a 955 save percentage. I've talked a lot throughout the history of the show about Tooka Rask and how he was thrown into the bus despite really strong performances. And yeah, I mean, Tooka as a goaltender overall. By the way, if you've ever heard him speak, it is amazing.
00:41:09
Speaker
A mixture of Finnish accent with with with with way more Boston than you'd expect. Oh, yeah. It is the trippiest thing I've ever heard. Now, see, I want to move to Finland so I can be the invert. But, you know, to Carrasque finished his career with a nine twenty one save percentage in the regular season in the playoffs. He had a nine twenty five. Oh, how.
00:41:36
Speaker
Just an embarrassment of riches when it comes to goaltenders for Boston. Yeah, including in the 2013 run where they lost to Chicago, he had a 940. People blamed him too. And people blamed him for 17 seconds, not the team in front of them that took a nap.
00:41:53
Speaker
Um, you know, you have that standard of goaltending. And then obviously the biggest standard is Tim Thomas, who was the reason why the Bruins were able to break that choking label for a year in 2011. And then went right back to that theme, uh, is because Tim Thomas in the 2011 cup run put up a nine 40 save percentage in 25 appearances.
00:42:21
Speaker
and had a career playoff save percentage of a 933. That's pretty good. Again, limited sample size for Jeremy Swamin so far, but he has a 930 career save percentage in the playoffs, including the 955 through seven games this year. I still have a lot of doubts about this Bruins roster, as I think most people should.
00:42:49
Speaker
because you don't necessarily look at a team that has a top line on cat friendly as of five hours ago of Pavel Zaka, Morgan Geeky and David Posternok. You don't necessarily look at that and be like, that's the team that's gonna do it. But in terms of the coaching and the goaltending, if it holds up, they can do it.
00:43:18
Speaker
But at the same time, you can't discount Florida.
Physical Play and Controversy in Hockey
00:43:22
Speaker
Because if Bobrovsky starts making more saves than he should, as the series goes on, and maybe even tonight in game two, the Panthers, I would expect them to look even better. Even though they outshot the Bruins in game one, they're gonna be that much more aware. Because like you said, they went a week without playing any games. That series is far from over. Oh yeah. But,
00:43:45
Speaker
Hey, the Bruins could get gentlemen swept from here on out. The Panthers could win four straight. That is viable. I'm just happy as a Bruins fan that it's not going to be a fucking three-game sweep for Florida, where they just kick the ever-loving shit out of them. Yeah, yeah. So there's a little bit more...
00:44:05
Speaker
optimism, but at the same time, it's still like, okay, like we'll, we'll see, you know, just how this ends up going. Pretty sure Bennett still hasn't touched the ice, right? Correct. Yeah, that's a big factor. It's going to be a fucking nightmare when he comes back. It always is. I mean, God, dude, that Florida team, Bennett, cousins, Kachok. Yeah, like they're, they're as close to an all Uruk-Kai team as we could fucking have. And everyone knows how amazing an Uruk-Kai NHL team would be.
00:44:36
Speaker
It's a menace. If you don't understand my reference, you do not follow Acton the Foolerman. And you should, because goddamn. It's a great account. It is. And I just... I never ever would have thought to think to put an urakai hockey team together, but holy fucking shit. Explain, well, okay, you know what, explain to people.
00:44:59
Speaker
Okay, um, for those of you uncultured fucking swine out there who haven't seen Lord of the Rings, first of all, um, yeah, I don't know. I was gonna say something rude, but, um, yeah, like, okay, so Urakai are the ultimate
00:45:17
Speaker
like Chad bad guys basically like if you think about it from a meme standpoint they're the ultimate just Chad fucking bad guys who like to fight they fight all the time they're big they're gritty and They're still skilled at the same time. They're skilled and agile and they're the best creation of the dark powers in Middle Earth
00:45:39
Speaker
And so you think of them as a hockey team, and I even made this comment. It's like, yeah, the closest thing we have to that is Florida right now. Because you think about them. They're all pieces of shit. You hate to play against them. A lot of them are pretty big. They're very physical. And that allows the other skill guys that they have to be able to just do whatever the heck they want. They don't have to mix it up because they have so many urakai already on that roster. So that's the whole idea of that.
00:46:06
Speaker
And I would even go so far as to say, like, if you want to win the cup, you got to have some fucking work in your roster. And you look back at all a lot of the previous winners, like even back to twenty nineteen, the blues, they were they were they were as close as you can get to or a guy swinging their fucking swords of people's heads. Well, speaking of the topic and of people who can be described as a menace,
00:46:34
Speaker
The New York Rangers are up two to nothing on the Carolina Hurricanes after a fairly convincing game one victory and then a double overtime victory in game number two with Vincent Trojek scoring the winning goal. Rough start for the Cains, especially in terms of discipline. That's been very costly to them. However.
00:46:57
Speaker
The most talked about point in regards to this series isn't necessarily the great performance of the likes of Igor Shasturkin, or Mikasa Banajat, or Panarin, Laffronnier. No, the biggest talking point coming out of this has to be, as he was once deemed Jacob Trumba. Look. Flying elbow.
00:47:28
Speaker
Look, I like physical hockey. Again, I grew up a Bruins fan. I love physical hockey. Jacob Truba, I will give him credit. He has done such a good job of these borderline hits that by default, he has built up a fan base of protectors.
00:47:55
Speaker
I posted a response on Twitter to Jeff Vayette who was questioning. The tweet was, this missed hit would be a great case study for can you suspend somebody for a missed hit due to intent. And my response was the white guy Trump supporter me.
00:48:18
Speaker
Oh, my God. That's just good old fashioned hockey. If you don't like it, you little local liberal cook, you can find a different sport. Like what the quotation marks and what like the picture with like 50 different like people like I'm surprised no one understood that you were making a fucking joke. They didn't. Did people respond to it? I didn't even look. I mean, perhaps they did. No one responded to it, but they didn't. I was getting people to respond to it.
00:48:49
Speaker
Endo's in the middle of the world. Endo's just making shit up. He is. Endo is the fake liberal. That's what happened when he missed the last 10 minutes of the conversation. In regards to this hit, there are people who are vehemently trying to defend it. Jacob Truba fully committed to trying to blow this guy up, right? That's just a fact. He fully committed to trying to blow Martin Neches up. And as Neches,
00:49:18
Speaker
digs in to cut back and make a pass, he starts to fall. And Jacob Truba, as he realizes he's not gonna get all of natures, whoop, whoop, that elbow comes right up as high as it possibly can. Like, there's no defending this and the people that do are just bad faith actors at this point. Jacob Truba is the dirtiest goddamn player in the league.
00:49:47
Speaker
because he is excellent at his craft. Brad Marshawn has the rat reputation because as Sheldon Keefe even acknowledged, he is so good at what he does in terms of getting under people's skin, in terms of doing what he has to do. So that's why as a Bruins fan, I don't get upset when I see people posting the crying Marshawn meme or when I see people celebrate the fact that a referee took him down in round number one, because it is objectively funny.
00:50:22
Speaker
Like a player like Jacob Truba, like I said, he is arguably better than anybody at walking that tightrope because Brad Marsh and has gone over the line and got himself suspended. Tom Wilson has gone over the line and gotten himself suspended.
00:50:37
Speaker
Jacob Truba, that's the biggest defense. Look at his suspension history. There isn't any. But he should have. Well, that's the point, right? Is people, especially when it comes to someone like Jacob Truba, will sit there and be like, oh, the officiating sucks. The DOPS sucks. The inconsistency of it all, it sucks. And then someone will be like, hey, Jacob Truba should be suspended. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Check the disciplinary history.
00:51:03
Speaker
You can't have it both ways. You try to and it makes you look foolish, but you can't have it both ways. The bottom line is he is the best player in the league at making borderline hits. But in an instance like this, he is caught in fucking 4K.
00:51:22
Speaker
I have someone on Twitter right now trying to be like, he doesn't bring his elbow up until he realizes he's going to hit the boards. He only brought his elbow up to protect him because that's how arms work. Elbow up and then wrist out to protect from the board. Not just arms straight out to protect the elbow. You can, you know, put your arms in front of you right now. Remember to do it the right way. It's elbows out and then up. That doesn't happen. Like your instinct is just forward.
00:51:50
Speaker
yeah wax on wax off guys come on i just batch it insane people is the only way to put it and literally here let me uh i i have the clip here in terms of this hit
00:52:04
Speaker
And again, it's Martin Aegis skating with the puck. He cuts back, sees Truba coming, starts to slip. There's a lot of knee-on-knee contact there as well, which sends Truba nearly face-first into the boards, which
00:52:21
Speaker
LOL, I mean I'm glad the guy is not seriously hurt he does then Kick natures in the back of the fucking head with this right skate as he comes down Which if I'm shocked news hasn't come out about natures having a fucking concussion but the different angle here is You can see natures digging in and watch truba watch that fucking elbow come up
00:52:49
Speaker
You can't tell me he's not trying to make any contact he can. And then he'll bring his arms forward to try and protect him. The whole idea of, oh, he brought his elbow up to try and help break his fall against the, like, no, because he extends his arm afterwards to propel himself away from the boards. And then again, fucking kicks natures right in the back of the fucking head.
00:53:13
Speaker
People are out of their fucking minds is the only thing I can think to say. People are out of their goddamn fucking minds when it comes to trying to defend this guy. Yeah. That was my own mini rant. Endo had his about the Leafs. In regards to the two series, again, Boston, Florida is going to be a battle. Carolina
00:53:35
Speaker
is in a good amount of trouble right now, down 2-0 to the Rangers. You're talking about a team that is the last three times they've made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, they haven't won a game. There's a lot of conversation about Rod Bryndamore. Man, if they lose this series, God forbid they get swept. I wonder if there's a conversation about the future for Rod Bryndamore. I think it's silly to get rid of him, but yeah.
00:54:05
Speaker
It's that conversation of does a coach deserve to be fired if they're good? And then I saw one of Steve Dangle's videos about Sheldon Keefe and it's like, look, you can be a good coach, but eventually you can hit the limit of what you're able to teach these guys. Problem is Sheldon Keefe is not that good of a coach.
00:54:27
Speaker
Sorry. I don't want to get back on that topic, but no, I understand. I understand the sentiment, though. I just had to get that shot in. And I just feel like he's been outcoaching every single fucking playoff series he's ever been in. I mean, when you have a quote that's literally to other teams, they they play to what was the quote, the cheap, the fucking cheap set the game up in a way to where the Leafs beat themselves.
00:54:53
Speaker
Yeah. And your job as a coach is to get your team to follow your system and have them buy in. If your teammates are, if your, if your players aren't buying in, you're not going to win anything.
00:55:09
Speaker
regular season, you can be really fine, but just when it comes down to the playoffs, that's when everyone buys in. That's when you have players, uh, cinema spell, uh, that's when you have players, you know, just buy into the system. Like I, I, I think the peak one to me was Seattle's run last year. Every single player on that team had a point and they played two rounds.
00:55:33
Speaker
So roughly, I think when they really put like 14 games, every single player had at least one point. You had depth scoring, you had, you had top players scoring, you had everything except for goaltending. But you know what? We're talking about the players are not the goalies. The, the goalie thing is another thing entirely because you and I had a, had a brief discussion about Sam Stonewall's play on that, on that goal.
00:55:57
Speaker
When you're when a situation like that happens you're a goaltender and the pucks come into you over there I'll be really quick with it
Playoff Outcomes and Team Futures
00:56:03
Speaker
You have to act you can't sit there on the line and freeze you can say always coaching Whatever is this is he has a standard line? No in that situation You have to either play the puck or follow what the puck he got caught sleeping and then the game was over Also that first goal they had they score like in a minute 21 after the Leafs scored to tie the game up That was a wrist shot
00:56:25
Speaker
Just like one um When they was it um, when pasta knocks score the other one like from like the outside outside center Outside face-off circle on the left on the right side of him and like game six where you just let it right off the wrist right off The the shoulder went in same thing. Those are shots as a golden. You have to have regardless Doesn't matter uncontested Could be off of anything whatsoever. I get tested shot. You have to meet the first save at least the first save and
00:56:54
Speaker
Moving over to the Western side of the bracket. I wanna start off the Oilers eliminated the Kings in five games. For the LA Kings, the big conversation was what are they gonna do now? And the answer was not much.
00:57:14
Speaker
Rob Blake is going to remain as the GM of the team. They are going to decide what happens head coaching wise, whether or not they're going to move away from the 131 that has been so controversial.
00:57:29
Speaker
At the same time as well, they have also confirmed that they will not be buying out Pierre-Luc Dubois. There was a lot of conversation over that because if they were to do it before his 26th birthday, it would be a one-thirds buyout instead of a two-thirds, saving them money long-term, but resulting in him having a cap hit on the team for 14 years. They have elected to not buy him out and to try and fix the situation.
00:57:59
Speaker
Good luck is pretty much all I can say in regards to that because it has been a rough couple of years for Pierre-Luc Dubois from Columbus to Winnipeg. Is he going to Montreal? No, he goes to that way. And then it's just, it's been, it's been a time. Yeah. I would not be surprised if they make a trade. Montreal makes a trade for Dubois. That's not going to happen on my cap. There's just no way.
00:58:28
Speaker
I would be extremely surprised if they're stupid enough to do that. Especially with how well they've done otherwise. Yeah. That is just such a hefty contract to take on. So, but who knows? Maybe. You say again, just because you have cap space doesn't mean you should use it. You as a Leafs fan should know that. I want them. I don't want this. I want problems always.
00:58:58
Speaker
The Vancouver Canucks made it past the Nashville Predators in six games, a series that I'm sorry, but to me, Nashville fucking blew it. This was a winnable series for them, especially dating back to the collapse and the missed empty netter and then losing in overtime.
00:59:18
Speaker
They had a realistic shot winning the series, especially of Vancouver being down to their third string goaltender. I said heading into the series that I was choosing Nashville because I thought Vancouver had a lot to prove.
00:59:31
Speaker
They did win this series, but I'm still not convinced at the Canucks being legitimate contenders. Out of the eight remaining playoff teams, they are the ones I would be surprised by the most, should they win the Stanley Cup this year.
00:59:50
Speaker
It's a huge series for them against Edmonton. You beat Edmonton, I buy that you're legit. But until then, especially with Cylophs, or Cylophs still being the starter, I'm on the oiler side for that particular series. A hundred percent, especially with the way Skinner played. Yeah, and of course you have the best player in the world.
01:00:11
Speaker
I don't know if the Canucks have enough defense to deal with that. I think the good defense in Nashville was more symptom of Nashville having weak offense. But we'll see. I could be proven wrong. I won't be upset if I want to see Tyler Myers try to keep up with Connor McDavid. I won't be upset if the Canucks win. Beyond the base level, like, oh, God, the oil is fucking blue again in Connor McDavid. Can we please get him back to a conference final? But.
01:00:40
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there are some questions about this Canucks team for sure. I mean, even beyond this season, like you're talking out of their eight defensemen listed on roster right now, only three of them are signed next year. Meyers, Zadoroff, Cole and Friedman are all UFA's and Philip Bronix and RFA. So I mean, it's a really interesting time for them because I think they're finding a little bit more success than anybody expected. So that's a really interesting series.
01:01:12
Speaker
Colorado knocked out Winnipeg in five after winning four straight games Incredibly disappointing end to the Jets season Connor Hellabuck was even though he might win the Vesna was fucking horrific. Yeah And that's a team that's also gonna undergo changes because head coach Rick bonus announced that he is retiring and
01:01:35
Speaker
We've talked about Rick Bonas's history in the NHL. I mean the guy turned 69 years old this year. His first job in the NHL was with the Winnipeg Jets as an assistant coach in 1984-85. The first Jets.
01:01:56
Speaker
Like he went on to become, he was a temporary head coach for the Jets, then he was the head coach for the main Mariners of the AHL for two years, head coach of the Bruins for a year. Didn't he do the Senators expansion team? He was the head coach of the expansion Senators, went to the Islanders, was head coach there, went to the Coyotes, was an assistant and temporary head coach, was an assistant coach with the Canucks at their peak,
01:02:23
Speaker
Um, you know, when the post lockout up to their kind of fumbling and here's John Torello and all of that, um, just an incredible career in hockey, uh, coach Dallas for a bit.
01:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, you did. Yeah, just before the pandemic. Dude, those into the pandemic years are a blur, right? Well, I mean, Jesus Christ, like last night you were like, yeah, three on three overtime was 2015 16. I'm like, that can't possibly be true. And it is so.
01:02:56
Speaker
It's just it's bizarre, but that's a big loss for the Jets. And again, we kind of talked about the tumultuous nature for them of our wheelers gone. We're probably going to get rid of Shifley and Hellebok. Never mind. We're keeping them. Oh, shit, we're good. Oh, fuck, we got pooped on by by the abs.
01:03:14
Speaker
It's as I said, every team, you can argue it's an interesting offseason, but for the Jets, especially, it's like, what the fuck are they going to be moving forward? Yeah, because we all were like congratulating them. You know, they went all in. They said we're committing to Shifli, we're committing to Helladuck. And they were rewarded in the regular season. But then they fell far, far short of any expectation. And in the final first round matchup, the Dallas Stars win.
01:03:42
Speaker
in seven games over the Vegas Golden Knights. It was 2-0 Vegas. What happened? Get fucked. We get to start today with sin celebrating and we get to end today with sin celebrating. LTIR merchants, get shit on.
01:04:04
Speaker
Now, I had a perspective on this. Yeah, I know you wanted him to win just so more teams would abuse the LTI are, but not every team has a man that goes down mid season and stays out to the playoffs, do you? Nor do they have that same man making like eight or nine mil. I thought it would be a massive like violation of like the NHL and H.L.P.A. rights and one of the entire loophole if medical team were lying about someone going down.
01:04:31
Speaker
So I don't think it's lying, right? They're not lying. He's injured, but then he just waits longer or he comes back earlier. That's what it is. So in the past, players would play through this.
01:04:45
Speaker
Mark Stone would have kept playing until he severely fucked himself up and then would have been deemed out for the year. That's what players did. Now teams have been more wise to the idea of, oh, we can sit you out for an injury you could play through and would be willing to play through, but we can now sit you out, get extra reinforcements, have you come back for the playoffs and the cap isn't a factor. So we have that much better of a chance. Teams got wise to this.
01:05:11
Speaker
a decade ago or so, right? Like, it was utilized by Chicago in 2015. The Lightning utilized this during their back-to-back run. It's a successful move by successful teams. I mean, Vegas, obviously, we're the defending Stanley Cup champions. And again, I can't help but wonder because it felt, it might be recency bias, but it felt like this year more than any other, there was a tension on this loophole.
01:05:39
Speaker
because of Mark Stone specifically. Like, I don't think the spotlight had ever been brighter. And for them to lose in round one, it just makes me wonder if some of that attention goes away. And if they had won, if the conversation would have been that much more to the forefront.
01:06:03
Speaker
The main reason why I want to see the loophole change is not because I'm mad at the Vegas Golden Knights or anything like that. It's because I'm fucking tired of the conversation. I am so sick and tired every season of having to hear, how hard is Mark Stone actually? This team's essentially ch- I'm just, I'm sick of it. Either
01:06:20
Speaker
close the loophole or change the way shit works, I don't care. I'm just tired of the conversation as it currently exists. It has reached the standpoint of talking about officiating in the Department of Player Safety for me, where I'm just, I'm fucking sick of it. I don't want to talk about it. It's reached the point where it's, you know, the fucking, like I think of the big three for the NHL of shit that I'm just tired of discussing.
01:06:47
Speaker
I am tired of discussing the D.O.P.S. and refereeing. I am tired of discussing the cap hole loophole. And I am or as people call them, the cap circumcizers. And I am sick and tired of debating whether or not Chicago should change their fucking logo. They should fucking deal with it. Hey, we get to never talk about the coyote arena deal again for now, I guess. Yeah, I guess we don't have to talk about that for a while. We got we got rid of one horrible narrative.
01:07:20
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. So anyway, Vegas is out. The hockey world rejoices. It sets up Colorado and Dallas in round one or round two. They played game one last night. Fucking Dallas. Dallas was up big and fucking choked. Yeah, there's no other way to put it.
01:07:47
Speaker
I was trying to think of a way to phrase it. There's no other way to put it. They fucking choked. And that is a dangerous Colorado team to give that level of momentum to. And here's the thing that screwed me up the most is like, I just assumed because they had a four goal comeback late, I'm like, oh, they must be in Colorado. Like the altitude got to him. Nope. They're in Dallas. Unacceptable. Can't happen.
01:08:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's there's no other way to put it. I mean, that is absolutely the type of loss that can lose you such valuable momentum that you, you know, you want to say you might not be able to recover from. Dallas, of course, just came back from a two deficit. So, you know, you never say never. But yeah, to be up three nothing at the end of the first period. And then to lose an overtime for three.
01:08:42
Speaker
in front of your home crowd. That's really tough to battle back from. And for as much as people are like, okay, Dallas is legit. Dude, shots on goal. They outshot them nine to five in the first period. Colorado then outshot Dallas 11 to three in the second, six to four in the third, and then Dallas outshot them six to four in overtime. Like they took their foot off the gas after that first period. And it's like, did you expect Colorado?
01:09:12
Speaker
Nathan McKinnon and the boys to just like of any team in the NHL in the playoffs that I'm like, you can never expect them to give up. It's Colorado. Yeah. Like, who the hell was it that told your give to shut up or I'll kill you? Rotten. Like you have a guy telling his own goalie, shut the fuck up or I'll kill you during a playoff game.
01:09:42
Speaker
Like that is a team that, man, they talk about full 60. You need to do a full 24 hours. You need to get the best rest you can, the best training in that you can, the best preparation that you can. Like that is just the team that is so mentally fucking strong that I don't know. Like this is, you know, the time where it's like, okay, it kind of makes or breaks Dallas right now. Like everyone's talking about, okay, you're a legit contender.
01:10:11
Speaker
Let's see you come back from a slip up like this. Yeah.
PWHL Playoffs and Conclusion
01:10:17
Speaker
Gentlemen, do you have anything else to add in regards to the playoffs? I mean, I feel like we were. Yeah, Nathan McKinnon also told his coach to shut up and just and do your job. So I mean, that is the type of player. Where if you haven't one shit, you are incredibly toxic. Mm hmm.
01:10:37
Speaker
Nathan McKinnon's earned the right to tell the coach to fuck off basically. Like, what are you going to do? Are you going to argue with Nathan McKinnon at this point? God, he's so good. He's number two player in the world, in my opinion.
01:10:51
Speaker
The last thing I wanted to mention, aside from the Stanley Cup playoffs, is the start of the PWHL playoffs. We got to the Final Four at the end of the regular season with Toronto being the number one seed. And again, with their playoff format, they were able to select their opponent. That's cool.
01:11:11
Speaker
And they did elect to go with Minnesota. That series starts tonight, tomorrow night, Montreal and Boston. Nice. Because of course. Hey, maybe Toronto couldn't win something, man. Maybe. I mean, dude, so their their team this year was was fantastic. Is Spooner on that team or? So PWHL Toronto this year.
01:11:40
Speaker
I'm trying to get up these statistics on the the same. Where the hell are there stats? There we go. It was at the very top. Imagine that. So Toronto this year was led in scoring by Natalie Spooner. Yeah. Who led the league in points, 27 points in 24 games with 20 goals. Jesus. Her teammate tied for second in scoring in the league, Sarah Nurse.
01:12:06
Speaker
That Toronto team was pretty stacked, was pretty fucking stacked. Those are a couple of the two biggest names in hockey, obviously not counting, you know, Poulin.
01:12:17
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean, you know, Toronto, you got them led by Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse, going up against Minnesota, Kendall Coyne Scofield on that team, the first overall pick in Taylor Hasey, I believe it was. I always look at her name and I just blank on how to say it properly. And then their leading scorer was Grace Zumwinkle, who was the first to score a hat trick. What a fucking name, dude. Oh, Grace Zumwinkle's a tremendous name. That is brilliant. I love it.
01:12:45
Speaker
And then Montreal and Boston, Montreal, led by Poulin, which, yeah, she is going to continue to be a problem. Boston's leading scorer this year was Elena Muller. They got making Keller on that team, Hilary Knight. So in the way that it shaped up, you know, the two teams that missed the playoffs were New York. And obviously you had, you know, some names on New York and Ottawa as well that missed the playoffs. But the way the league is shaped up right now, like you were pretty much guaranteed to have
01:13:15
Speaker
Familiar names to the women's game major names in the playoffs and I I'm excited for this man and then Toronto tonight Against Minnesota for game one My understanding was that they were basically sold out and yeah Ticketmaster is showing standing room only seating available. Yeah stage
01:13:38
Speaker
So the best part about that is that they are at the coca-cola Colosseum for me known as Rico Colosseum where did Toronto Marley's play it seats 80-80 I think it's 8100 anyone 81 40 inside there that is Assumingly gonna be their home for next season. I don't think they're gonna be at Mattamy because that seats like 2100 and I
01:14:06
Speaker
those tickets are super hard to get. It is impossible that they're already moving into like AHL arenas for women's hockey, which in this iteration has only been around for a season now, right? Yeah. I mean, go ahead. I mean, hockey itself in Toronto is going to sell out a hundred percent. And I'm glad that like a product now that has support like the PWHL is doing well because, you know, the NHL was supporting them in a way.
01:14:36
Speaker
Uh, the executives or support them. I have yet to go into a game. The games, the games tonight and I wanted to get tickets, but it's full. It's, it gets sold out right now. I want to get tickets for Friday's game, but instead of going to the, excuse me, I'm going to the J's game. Uh, so, oh, well, maybe I won't even get the chance to see them play this season. I have to wait till next season. Who knows? For the PWHL, it's been arguably the best inaugural season you could have asked for.
01:15:08
Speaker
An article from ABC News had their total regular season attendance at a combined three hundred ninety two thousand two hundred and fifty nine fans. That's over the course of 72 games. So their average attendance across the league was five thousand four hundred per game, which is fucking outstanding, including the record crowd at Bell Center for a Montreal Toronto game that had over twenty one thousand people.
01:15:39
Speaker
I don't think they could have asked for a better initial start to this league. And hopefully, hopefully that positive momentum continues as things go on. I know that there was talk of, you know, okay, maybe, you know, expansion doesn't happen immediately. And I kind of like that they're not immediately going like, yes, expansion has to happen immediately because
01:16:04
Speaker
No, right? Like you can take your time and let this continue to build up in a sustained way. Like they broke the attendance record for a women's game six different times throughout the season, you know? And even like in February, midway through the season, they were still averaging 5,000 fans. So it's not like attendance started off hot and then dipped. They were consistent.
01:16:33
Speaker
So I give them credit for that. With that, everybody, we will look to wind things down for today. We want to thank you for tuning in. Of course, as always, we will be back, hopefully shortly. Maybe it's Endo's turn for COVID or Bronco. Are you kidding me? I'm the one who had it first.
01:16:52
Speaker
Oh, that's right. You did. You did have it first. Yeah. Your turn again, buddy. It's a big circle. I went on a bender, got shit faced and then just for November for that kegger that we had and then got sick and then had COVID and then. Yeah, that shit got COVID and it was not great. Yeah. So it's not my turn, but you know, it is my turn for us to play games again and me possibly the stream. That's it. Yeah, cool. Thank you. That's it. That's my club.
01:17:22
Speaker
So then what do you got going on? Well, now that my voice is nearly back to normal, I can finally start making videos again. Finally launched the new fucking series that I've been sitting on. Both of them. Fair enough. And of course, I think we're looking at starting a new journey for the next couple of weeks. Some NHL legacy edition, as long as my PC wants to cooperate. But yeah, that was heartbreaking last night.
01:17:52
Speaker
I love the format and I hope you guys do too, because yeah, I spent a lot of time brainstorming on that. I think it's cool just to get multiple years done with gameplay in between. So with that, everybody, thank you again for tuning in. We will see you all very soon. Macklin celebrating. Shark. Shark. Thanks, Endo, for joining.