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Two Man ForeCheck Episode 412

Two Man ForeCheck

6 Plays1 year ago

This we talk NHL, AHL, and PWHL playoffs.

We take a look at the coaching carousel and the closely related wheel of General Managers.

Also on the docket are the two names we feel are running away with the Conn-Smyth.

Transcript

Transition from Skype to Zencastr

00:00:00

Two Man Forecheck

Good evening, Chris.

00:00:03

Chris

Good evening, Mike.

00:00:06

Two Man Forecheck

For our listeners, we are launching on a new platform. we're going to be using Zencaster. I hope it works out well for us. ah Skype, where we've recorded since the beginning, um no longer is no longer going to be working. And since, like most sensible people, we find Microsoft Teams to be ah supremely suboptimal.

00:00:31

Two Man Forecheck

We have moved on.

00:00:34

Chris

supremely suboptimal.

00:00:38

Chris

That's a very nice way of putting it because we use teams at work and ah even when you have to be professional, yeah, some of the things that come out of coworkers' mouths are not ah that pleasant with regards to teams. So I don't mean to badmouth them, but yeah, but I'm glad we found something else to work with.

00:01:05

Chris

So this is a new era for us, sort of, because it has been many years that we've used a different format.

Patrick Brown's New Deal with Bruins

00:01:13

Two Man Forecheck

um I think we should kick off the show by talking about the most important signing in Bruins history.

00:01:25

Chris

Oh, wait, I'm sure there's, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, did they hire a new, like, like equipment manager or something?

00:01:36

Two Man Forecheck

Nope, not a new equipment manager.

00:01:38

Chris

00:01:41

Chris

ah I have no idea. a They didn't hire a coach yet.

00:01:48

Two Man Forecheck

Well, no, that that would' that wouldn't be nearly as important. But they did.

00:01:52

Chris

00:01:54

Two Man Forecheck

They did extend Patrick Brown with a new one-year deal.

00:01:58

Chris

No.

00:01:59

Two Man Forecheck

I know. Aren't you glad you were sitting down?

00:02:02

Chris

i i am very glad I was sitting down. You should have warned me. I would have had alcohol already.

00:02:07

Two Man Forecheck

Look, I told you it was the most important deal in in team history.

00:02:13

Two Man Forecheck

What else could it possibly be?

00:02:16

Chris

I mean, is this like they know they need help in Providence? I don't know what this solves or doesn't solve or if it does anything for anything.

00:02:28

Chris

Nothing against Patrick Brown, but it's he's not going to move the needle in the direction that they need it to move when you need.

00:02:36

Two Man Forecheck

Oh, honestly, I think it is moving the needle in the direction that it needs to go.

Cam Neely's Reluctance with Don Sweeney

00:02:41

Two Man Forecheck

um Mostly because i think it i think it helps confirm one of the other stories that we have here on the board today.

00:02:53

Two Man Forecheck

ah Clutch points.

00:02:54

Chris

the

00:02:57

Chris

Yes.

00:02:58

Two Man Forecheck

has a story that Bruins ah president Cam Neely is being a tiny bit squirrely about the status or about committing to Don Sweeney.

00:03:14

Chris

Wait, whoa.

00:03:19

Chris

Pot meat kettle?

00:03:22

Two Man Forecheck

According to

00:03:24

Chris

I don't understand that. He's being squirrely about... extending Don Sweeney, shouldn't he be like concerned about his own contract status?

00:03:36

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, if you're looking at the team purely from a functional um

00:03:36

Chris

00:03:42

Two Man Forecheck

financial standpoint, don's ah Cam Neely has really nothing to worry about. They sell out frequently. They sell bunches of jerseys and all the other merchandise.

00:03:55

Chris

Something tells me they would do that whether Cam Neely was president or not

00:04:02

Two Man Forecheck

Yes, but if they're doing that, is there really a reason to to punt the guy who's basically kept things in a profitable course?

Bruins' Performance Issues

00:04:17

Two Man Forecheck

I'm not going to call it the right course because they haven't won a cup since 2011. right course...

00:04:25

Two Man Forecheck

but a write course

00:04:27

Chris

But how is it? Okay. How is it a right court? There's plenty of filler for this meat pie to go around two sweeney anne newly and to and I guess to a lesser extent, since he's only the owner and I don't know how hands off he is, Charlie Jacobs.

00:04:49

Chris

And at the press conference, they were all rather crotchety. and My favorite thing being that, you know, you're going to sit there and apologize to the fan base and ah we we we let you down and this and that. Oh, by the way, we're going to increase ticket prices 4%.

00:05:08

Two Man Forecheck

And they basically took no responsibility for the fact that the team was ah suboptimal.

00:05:17

Chris

The team was indeed suboptimal. It turns out that there were some, ah whether they were excuse injuries or not, but it turns out that ah Elias Lindholm was dealing with a back issue all season long.

00:05:30

Two Man Forecheck

That makes a lot of sense. Um... Although how he and pasta still didn't manage to gel is a question that we're just going to have to leave till next year or whenever Lindholm is healthy.

00:05:45

Two Man Forecheck

um You also had Hampus Lindholm, who was basically gone, what, 65% of the season?

00:05:51

Chris

More than that? Wasn't he gone somewhere in November?

00:05:58

Two Man Forecheck

I honestly don't even want to look back at the season. I don't.

00:06:02

Chris

No, that's fine. I'm not asking you to. I'm just saying yeah i'm I'm

Potential GM Candidates for Islanders

00:06:05

Chris

thinking closer to like 80, but okay. ah you know We're quibbling here about percentages. He was gone most of the season, and clearly they could have used him on the defensive end, and then you lose...

00:06:19

Two Man Forecheck

In fact, they could have used him on the power play.

00:06:22

Two Man Forecheck

It was atrocious most of the year. Yeah, he played 17 games, so he played just under just under a quarter of the games.

00:06:22

Chris

they could have used him on.

00:06:33

Chris

So ah you, and then you lose the hall of famer. So your power play was being quarterbacked by ah rookie.

00:06:45

Two Man Forecheck

Yep. Yep.

00:06:45

Chris

And all, I don't know if he played enough games last year that he couldn't be a rookie this year, but, uh, all and all For all intents and purposes, a rookie was man was quarterbacking your power play.

00:06:58

Chris

And he did a did a pretty good job. I'm not going to say he was elite or fabulous.

00:07:02

Two Man Forecheck

Statistically, he was better than McAvoy.

00:07:06

Chris

um He also played more than McAvoy.

00:07:11

Two Man Forecheck

Not initially, but yeah, I get your point.

00:07:16

Chris

Over the course of the season, he eventually ended up catching him and surpassing him as far as games played, I'm sure.

00:07:23

Chris

Yes, and this particular article about Don Sweeney says at the bottom, the 24-25 season has been miserable. The Bruins lost Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm to long-term injuries, ended up trading Captain Brad Marchand along with Brandon Carlo ahead of the deadline, and finished dead last in the Atlantic Division, thank you very much, at thirty three thirty nine and ten

00:07:50

Chris

How Don Sweeney has survived this long? And I hear it. I don't know about you, but I have friends and family members who, because we do this podcast, actually ask for my opinion, and I assume they listen to me.

00:08:07

Chris

But when I tell them that Sweeney is the problem, i actually get disagreement with that it's not his fault that he doesn't play on the ice. It's the players on the ice. It's their fault.

00:08:23

Two Man Forecheck

It doesn't matter how... Let's take Trent Frederick as an example. I'm one of the biggest Trent Frederick fans you're going to find.

00:08:35

Two Man Forecheck

It doesn't matter how he how how much he wants to win, how well

Ken Holland and LA Kings GM Rumors

00:08:41

Two Man Forecheck

he executes the coach's system, how much time he puts into the gym, how much time he extra time he puts in before and after official practices.

00:08:45

Chris

Yeah.

00:08:51

Two Man Forecheck

He's not Leon Dreisaitl. He's not McKinnon. He's not um Zach Hyman. He's not Alex Ovechkin.

00:09:00

Chris

Very true. I'm not, I'm not disagreeing with that all. I, I, and I'm a, I'm a Trent Frederick fan. i know that, in terms of who's the bigger fan, it would definitely be you.

00:09:13

Chris

I became a fan of his when I met his family at dev camp. And, and that was one of the main reasons I, I, that's one of the main reasons I love going to dev camp is meeting the families, getting to know what makes this particular young man tick.

00:09:18

Two Man Forecheck

That did not hurt. No, they really nice people.

00:09:32

Chris

That's why I was high on Seneshen. I got to meet his mom. We talked, we, we, you know I thought there was more to it than it and then there ended up being. ah But in in, yes, in Trent Frederick's case and his brother went on to play what basketball, I believe it was not hockey,

00:09:47

Two Man Forecheck

His brother was a high school basketball player. I don't know how far he went, but...

00:09:53

Chris

but they were very nice people.

00:09:53

Two Man Forecheck

00:09:54

Chris

I remember meeting the Grizzlyks when they drafted Grizzly met his family.

00:09:58

Two Man Forecheck

um I don't remember meeting the Grizzlicks, but ah going back, we met the Spooner family and the Knight family.

00:10:02

Chris

I did talk to him.

00:10:06

Chris

Yup.

00:10:06

Two Man Forecheck

And I want to say there was...

00:10:08

Chris

No, we met the Grizzly. We actually met the Grizzly. It wasn't at the. and We didn't meet the Grizzly at. The development camp, we met them, we had gone out to eat afterwards and we met them at the restaurant where we went to eat.

00:10:25

Two Man Forecheck

Yes. um

00:10:30

Chris

Did the same with. ah No, I was gonna say we did the same with the Frederick's, but we actually met them at it at the wall.

00:10:37

Two Man Forecheck

No, we definitely met the Fredericks at the arena. the arena

00:10:40

Chris

Yes. But anyway, the point being that yeah i when I get into these conversations and people ask me that, oh, you know, no, it is the GM.

00:10:52

Chris

The GM is the one responsible for bringing in players or not bringing in players, bringing in coaches or in this case, not bringing in coaches.

00:10:55

Two Man Forecheck

play just a time.

00:11:01

Chris

I mean, other coaches have been hired, and we're going to talk about one that I didn't even know was on the board. I completely forgot about him. But Sullivan's gone. you know These people are coming off the board here, and I haven't heard hide nor hair of Sweeney doing anything to get a coach, let alone players. I know that free agency doesn't start until July 1st. I got the draft playoffs still going on. I get all that.

00:11:30

Chris

But it's just confusing to me that you make it sound like you're remorseful about the way last season went, but you're not doing anything to improve it.

Joel Quenneville's Return to NHL

00:11:41

Two Man Forecheck

and No, they' what they're remorseful for is that they're being blamed and the players are not. But they also got rid of all of the players. They got rid of pretty much everyone not named Pasta who anyone would sense walked into the season expecting to carry the load.

00:12:02

Chris

I mean, he got some surprise help from from Geeky, but yes, he did carry the load. I mean, he was the number one number one score, number one point getter. Yes.

00:12:14

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, David Pasternak had 106 point season on one of the worst teams in the league.

00:12:20

Chris

yes

00:12:20

Two Man Forecheck

You cannot criticize him in any way, shape or form. 43 goals. um And Morgan Geeky. Yeah, he had a better season than I really thought he was capable of.

00:12:36

Two Man Forecheck

I know that you've been a big fan. Yeah.

00:12:39

Chris

I he was just a fan because you got this guy who was able to come in here and it basically is show me contract. They signed him in two year, $2 million. dollars I mean, you want more money, get in here and show us what you can do.

00:12:52

Chris

And whether he stays here or goes somewhere else, he's going to get a raise.

00:12:59

Chris

Cause I, I

00:13:00

Two Man Forecheck

I suspect he'll be playing someplace else next year.

00:13:03

Chris

really,

00:13:06

Two Man Forecheck

If I were him and I had just put up a 33-goal season and some

00:13:15

Chris

which

00:13:16

Two Man Forecheck

someone one else came along and said, okay, we'll sign you seven years at 30% more than whatever Sweeney is going to give him, and there's someone...

00:13:29

Two Man Forecheck

There is guaranteed to be one GM dumb enough to do it because Sweeney is going to look at his entire career and say, yeah, you're worth 5 million.

00:13:41

Two Man Forecheck

And someone else will, particularly with the cap going up, will come in and say, no, we think you're worth 7.

00:13:50

Two Man Forecheck

Now they might say 7 5-year deal versus 7 on 7. But...

00:13:56

Chris

Okay.

00:13:57

Two Man Forecheck

but

00:14:02

Chris

ah Yeah,

Anaheim Ducks' Young Roster Potential

00:14:03

Two Man Forecheck

i don't We both know Sweeney's not going to budge a bit on whatever money puck he's trying to play.

00:14:03

Chris

I just...

00:14:11

Chris

Well, I just looked it up because I couldn't remember. And it turns out that I don't think he's going to be playing somewhere else because he's not a UFA, he's an RFA.

00:14:24

Two Man Forecheck

With or without arbitration rights.

00:14:28

Chris

00:14:33

Chris

Without.

00:14:35

Two Man Forecheck

Okay, so yeah, he'll be here next year, and beyond that, who knows.

00:14:43

Chris

and courtesy of AFP Analytics on on cap wages, that the they they keep adding information upon information upon information.

00:14:57

Chris

if you hover over his ah RFA block on his, on the team listing, it says four. And I don't know if this is like an expected number or what he could get or the 6.9% the cap four years would that be over?

00:15:15

Chris

six million five hundred eighty eight thousand is he a six and a half million dollar player and what kind of a raise

00:15:24

Two Man Forecheck

If 33 goals is what he's going to produce,

00:15:25

Chris

00:15:28

Chris

i mean that's that's a I mean, that's a $4.5 million dollar raise.

00:15:37

Two Man Forecheck

That's what 33 goal scorers get paid.

00:15:40

Chris

right. Fair enough.

00:15:42

Two Man Forecheck

Now, can he do it again?

00:15:46

Chris

I'd like to see it. He's 26 years old. he It's not like he's you know at the end of his career. He's in the prime or approaching his prime or whatever you want to call it.

00:15:58

Chris

So yeah, the hope is that

00:16:03

Chris

the hope is that he is gonna.

00:16:05

Two Man Forecheck

Now there's other general manager, ah happenings in the league. Um, I'm going to say something that at one point I never thought I would actually say, but you may, ah you may end up agreeing with me.

00:16:23

Chris

Okay.

00:16:27

Two Man Forecheck

No, uh, Pierre Lebrun is indicating that the Islanders plan to interview Jarmo Kikaleinen, Marc Bergevin, and Matthew Darsh for their general manager position.

00:16:42

Chris

Well, um I'm holding on.

00:16:43

Two Man Forecheck

Kikaleinen, hold on, was the general manager in Columbus.

00:16:48

Chris

Yeah, you

00:16:48

Two Man Forecheck

Bergevin was GM in Montreal, and Darsh is an assistant and the director of hockey ops for the but but the Lightning. um Do you want me to start with the part I thought I'd never say?

00:17:02

Chris

are. Yeah, because I have thoughts on all three of these characters. I mean, gentlemen.

00:17:11

Two Man Forecheck

Well, I'm not 100% sure i would love any of these as my general manager.

00:17:16

Two Man Forecheck

Assuming you get the Bergevin from the last third of the tent of his tenure in Montreal, I might actually be inclined to take him most...

00:17:16

Chris

Okay.

00:17:28

Chris

Really?

Evaluating Islanders' GM Candidates

00:17:30

Two Man Forecheck

if that but re If that last third of his tenure actually represents Marc Bergevin's mindset and ability, yes.

00:17:39

Chris

That's a what? Yeah.

00:17:43

Two Man Forecheck

I think that

00:17:43

Chris

That's where I Go ahead.

00:17:47

Two Man Forecheck

i think that's better than what Kiko Leinen is capable of. I think it's better than... mar you Matthew Darsh is a complete unknown. And... and Unlike the other two, Bergevin has been in a major hockey market as the guy.

00:18:04

Two Man Forecheck

ah He's not going to be surprised when there's you know more than six press showing up for a major event.

00:18:13

Chris

So My thoughts are, and I'm going to go in order of the way you listed them. Yarmou Kikaleinen should have just kept Lou Lemarillo because he's going to understand the New York market more than Yarmou coming from Columbus where not a major market organization.

00:18:43

Chris

Not that the Islanders are, but they're in New York. I mean, the Rangers would obviously be the biggest. But, I mean, the Islanders have a rich history, too. It's been many, many, many years since they won a cup. But it would have been just as good keeping Lamarillo at this point.

00:19:01

Chris

So that's Kika Leinen. Mark Bergevin, as you were saying, which one are you getting? Are you getting the Mark Bergevin that...

00:19:14

Chris

didn't have a clue in the first half of his tenure with Montreal, or you getting the Marc Bergevin in the second half of his tenure that was slick, sly, wheeling and dealing, trying to pull one over on Carolina.

00:19:32

Chris

00:19:34

Two Man Forecheck

I think what you're trying to say is effective.

00:19:36

Chris

Effective, yes. And as far as Matthew Darsh, I believe he said his name is?

00:19:42

Two Man Forecheck

Yep.

00:19:46

Chris

if he's a he's Yes, he's a relative unknown as far as being a GM, but he's coming from a team that has a pedigree of winning. I can see them being enamored with the fact that he's coming from Tampa Bay.

00:20:04

Chris

But he might he's also the, for me, he's the outside choice. So yes, I i guess I do agree with you. Bergevin, in this instance, if you get the second half Bergevin, then go for it.

00:20:20

Chris

But yeah, all three of these guys, you might have been just as good keeping Lamarillo.

00:20:26

Two Man Forecheck

or Or the Islanders could hire me. I mean, I'm pretty easy. Send me a DM on Twitter.

Listener's Humorous GM Suggestion

00:20:32

Two Man Forecheck

And i will insist that you cover my commuting costs back and forth between the North shore and ah long Island, but I will come in and review every piece of scouting that's been done for the last three years on prospects and pro players.

00:20:49

Two Man Forecheck

I will personally ah make sure that they, that ownership is kept up to date on our happenings and expectations with drafts and free agency.

00:21:02

Chris

So Matthew Dosh is to Julian Breezebois what Breezebois was to Steve Eisenman, basically.

00:21:11

Two Man Forecheck

If you say so, yes.

00:21:11

Chris

see <unk>t well He's the assistant GM, Director Hopper. and Julian Breezebois was the face you never saw until the day that Eisenman said, I'm leaving by this is my neck. This is my successor.

00:21:27

Chris

His Julian breeze. Why have at it? issue

00:21:33

Chris

I mean, if, if a team like Tampa Bay is willing to let him go, is that not saying something as well?

00:21:44

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, you really want to stand in the way of success for people, though, is the other way of looking at it?

00:21:44

Chris

If they,

00:21:52

Chris

True.

00:21:52

Two Man Forecheck

big

00:21:52

Chris

No, I'm just, I'm playing devil's advocate here. I mean, you think of, you think about it, you, you, you have a, you have history of, of winning with the current front office personnel and you're going to let this guy walk and then you're going to get an unknown yourself to replace him unless there's somebody behind him that you're willing to move up that you think is doing a better job.

00:22:18

Chris

I just, I mean, It's funny because, yes, on Spectre here, it says, Spectre's no. Kiko Lein and Bergeron have GM experience, but Darsh might be the better option for the Isles.

00:22:30

Chris

Been with the Lightning since 2019. Helped them win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 20 and 21. But how much did he help?

00:22:40

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, if he's in charge of hockey operations, we he's got is it got actual influence and input.

00:22:44

Chris

Yeah, that's true.

00:22:48

Two Man Forecheck

00:22:53

Two Man Forecheck

i'm I'm of the opinion that... I mean, I don't hate Kiko Leinen. um And I don't hate Darj.

00:23:02

Chris

I just don't think he did a good job in Columbus.

00:23:05

Two Man Forecheck

Well, I don't... See, I don't...

Seth Jones' Playoff Performance

00:23:08

Two Man Forecheck

Columbus is a new enough franchise that had him for so long that we don't really have data, real data, on how much is a GM who shouldn't be a GM and how much is ownership who just aren't doing their part.

00:23:26

Two Man Forecheck

um when back during the weighing days of the islanders we knew or we came to know that a lot of like mike milbury's apparent weirdness and his successor gm's weirdness was in fact ownership um granted mike milbury was weird anyways but i don't think he would have made all of the main moves that he was forced to make during that time period um

00:23:54

Chris

Okay.

00:23:55

Two Man Forecheck

We just don't know with Columbus because he's basically the only guy they've ever had. we Will we know again and will we know more in five years? Hopefully.

00:24:12

Chris

Yeah.

00:24:16

Chris

It's going to be interesting no matter who takes over the Islanders, because you're still going to have to deal with Patrick Waugh.

00:24:22

Two Man Forecheck

Yep.

00:24:25

Chris

And a team that traded away Brock Nelson. And did they trade away a couple of other pieces as well? I know that Brock Nelson was the centerpiece and he's gone by by.

00:24:35

Two Man Forecheck

I don't off the top of my head remember, but they certainly didn't trade away as many players as the Rangers.

00:24:36

Chris

But

00:24:41

Two Man Forecheck

And that's, um that's a whole show.

LA Kings' Playoff Struggles

00:24:48

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, we could literally, we could legitimately do a whole show on the Rangers trades in the past 12 to 15 months and signings and whatever.

00:25:01

Two Man Forecheck

um But we're to to the left coast instead

00:25:05

Chris

Okay.

00:25:07

Two Man Forecheck

Because there is a yeah there's some happenings going on with the LA Kings.

00:25:15

Chris

Well, after they once again coughed up a hairball to the Edmonton Oilers for the fourth year in a row,

00:25:23

Two Man Forecheck

Edmonton.

00:25:27

Chris

ah yeah, they didn't fire the head coach, but they did get rid of the general manager. Rob Blake is now currently looking for employment.

00:25:39

Two Man Forecheck

Well, maybe he can move to Boston and run into Cam Neely in in a certain Home Depot that I used to run into him in.

Debating Ken Holland's Suitability

00:25:53

Chris

So it, I mean, is this the same carousel that's going to be whoever the Islanders don't get or is LA have somebody in mind? I haven't,

00:26:06

Two Man Forecheck

Well, it appears that...

00:26:06

Chris

what's the what's the story yet

00:26:09

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, the carousel is spinning, and this person hasn't wasn't a GM last season, but well-known to NHL circles.

00:26:21

Two Man Forecheck

According to Mayer's Manor, the king's best known um they be King's best-known blog, Ken Holland is expected to be named as general manager.

00:26:36

Chris

Oh, I hate to admit this because ken Holland started, or not started, but when I first took notice of him, he was with the Red Wings.

00:26:47

Chris

Then he went to the Oilers. I didn't know he moved on to the Kings.

00:26:54

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, i it seems to be one of those things that happened without a lot of attention happening.

00:27:02

Chris

Yeah, that went completely under the radar for me. And yeah I mean, interesting, ah maybe it's not as interesting as I'm going to make it out to be, but was he hired because he worked for Edmonton?

00:27:21

Chris

You know, institute institutional institutional memory is a great thing, but having information having information on on a team that you can't seem to get past might be just as important.

00:27:21

Two Man Forecheck

I think he was more hired because he's Ken Holland. um

00:27:36

Two Man Forecheck

i mean, for not for nothing, but the Oilers are a more talented team than the Kings.

00:27:46

Chris

Okay.

00:27:49

Two Man Forecheck

Now, are they a balanced team? Not really. they're... Let me rephrase that. The first three years they got by the Kings, were they a balanced team?

00:28:00

Two Man Forecheck

No, not at all. They were 80% offense, 3% block, and the rest was coaching, defense, and goaltending. Um...

00:28:09

Two Man Forecheck

the rest was coaching defense and goal tending

00:28:10

Chris

I'm going to

00:28:14

Two Man Forecheck

00:28:23

Chris

So according to this timeline,

00:28:27

Chris

um Holland and King's president, Luke Robitaille, is this some unwritten rule that the team, that the president has to be a former player? Cam Neely in Boston, Luke Robitaille in l LA.

00:28:42

Two Man Forecheck

There's a lot of that going around. i don't think it's an exclusive. I don't think it's actually exclusive. The thing for me with this,

00:28:51

Chris

um Yeah.

00:28:55

Two Man Forecheck

you know, lu Lamorello just retired at quite an advanced age.

00:29:00

Chris

Did he retire or was he fired? I thought he was fired.

00:29:02

Two Man Forecheck

He was let go, but however however it happened,

00:29:02

Chris

He was shown the door. ah quite Yeah, according to the according to the article we had last week, he was shown the door.

00:29:12

Two Man Forecheck

Ken Holland is going to be 70 this November.

00:29:16

Chris

Yeah, not exactly a young pup, but...

00:29:20

Two Man Forecheck

00:29:29

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, he actually played in the NAHL, the WCHL, the BCHL, I'm sorry, the BCJHL,

00:29:41

Two Man Forecheck

um I mean, he was playing hockey someplace where the stats were worth keeping

Quenneville's Coaching Success

00:29:49

Two Man Forecheck

in 1973.

00:29:52

Chris

Okay.

00:29:54

Two Man Forecheck

His last professional game would have been in the eighty four eighty five season.

00:30:01

Two Man Forecheck

00:30:06

Two Man Forecheck

you know

00:30:08

Two Man Forecheck

I don't have any... I'm not saying that, you know, because he's old, he shouldn't be considered. But... teams, as a rule, like keep their general managers for a good amount of time.

00:30:20

Chris

Yeah.

00:30:26

Two Man Forecheck

And when you hire someone multiple years past retirement age...

00:30:33

Two Man Forecheck

is are they basically hiring him to groom someone else? um

00:30:40

Chris

I would imagine they yeah i would if they're smart, they have somebody either in they either have somebody already in-house or somebody that they're looking to hire as soon as their contract with their current organization.

00:30:53

Chris

i mean, look at, not that it was successful this year because Nashville had a rubbish year, but they had their man. They they knew David Poyle was going to be done.

00:31:07

Chris

they had Barry Trotz already on the hook.

00:31:12

Two Man Forecheck

Yep. yep

00:31:14

Chris

I mean, it makes sense to have that backup that you know you're going to be bringing in, or if he's already in the system ah vis-a-vis Tampa Bay when they knew Eisenman was going to go, they knew they already had Julian Brisebois who had been there behind, you know, in the room with Eisenman for a handful of years,

00:31:37

Chris

So it was a seamless transition, although it's not like Tampa Bay is. They're still playing well, making playoffs, whether they're getting deep or whatever.

00:31:50

Chris

ah Yeah, it makes sense that they should have somebody. I think that Holland is somewhat of a placeholder, but I also think if he was there, the fact that this article talks about like the head coach, Jim Hiller,

00:32:03

Chris

ah is not necessarily, you know, he's not looking over his shoulder wondering whether he's going to be fired. He's likely to remain with the team.

00:32:16

Chris

ah Their assistant general manager is a former player, Nelson Emerson. Is he being groomed for the job?

00:32:23

Two Man Forecheck

Yep.

00:32:26

Chris

Considerably younger, knows the franchise, knows

00:32:31

Chris

Is Holland just holding it until they feel that Nelson Emerson is ready to take the role?

00:32:37

Two Man Forecheck

I kind of feel like this is going to be like a three-year run. And we'll see him move up to President of Hockey Operations again, Senior VP of Hockey,

00:32:51

Two Man Forecheck

or step aside to a um special advisor to the general manager role.

00:32:59

Chris

Yeah.

00:33:00

Two Man Forecheck

00:33:03

Two Man Forecheck

Now he's, I mean, Ken Holland is and to everything I've been able to ascertain a pretty healthy guy.

00:33:04

Chris

00:33:10

Two Man Forecheck

So it's not like he's falling apart or anything. i haven't seen signs of, you know, him needing a nursing home or anything like that the last few times he's been on TV, but

00:33:26

Two Man Forecheck

and very few people are more energetic and able at 70 than they are at 50 or 30. thirty

00:33:37

Two Man Forecheck

um It's going to be fascinating to watch what happens here.

00:33:41

Chris

There's just so many moving parts. I mean, diving into this, ah and, you know, after they talk about Hiller and Nelson Emerson, they also bring up the fact that Ken's son, Brad Holland, is a possibility to follow him.

Familial Ties in NHL Management

00:33:58

Chris

Because when Ken Holland moved to Edmonton, Brad went with him as a scout. Ken leaves. Brad becomes assistant general manager there. Could they bring him in, even though they've got Nelson Emerson, could they bring Brad in and have him be like on staff as, you know, working in the general manager's office and groom him to take the role?

00:34:23

Chris

And then there's, because it would seem that, and i not the best word to use, but ah incestuous relationship, whatever, but apparently Brad was with the Maple Leafs organization when ah Jim Hiller was an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

00:34:42

Two Man Forecheck

The there's a whole lot of um very close relationships in hockey. And I think that ah in a lot of ways it makes it's part of what makes.

00:34:55

Two Man Forecheck

It's part of why people don't get fired as quickly as they would in in other fields.

00:35:07

Chris

I agree.

00:35:09

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah.

00:35:14

Chris

I mean, the the best example has to still be the the Vegas Golden Knights, George McPhee being the GM when they first start. Four years later, three three three, four years later, he's moving up into a president's role or or a director of operations or whatever he moved up to and hands over the role of Kelly McCrimmon. And again, seamless.

00:35:36

Chris

And here they are still making deep runs into the playoffs. Yeah. making deal. I mean, it there was literally no hiccup between McPhee and McCrimmon.

00:35:48

Two Man Forecheck

Correct. And at the time, I had hoped the Bruins could snag McCritum in because...

00:35:53

Chris

Oh, I wanted Kelly McCrimmon to come here. He, I mean, the guy is a hockey, the guy is hockey smart. ah It would have been nice if they could have pried him away.

00:36:07

Chris

i think i think I think Vegas knew that he was going to be their next GM. they They weren't letting anybody talk to him as far as I remember.

00:36:18

Two Man Forecheck

I also suspect that, well, yeah, I think they knew that if someone offered him a general manager's position, that he would end up taking it because clearly he wanted it.

00:36:18

Chris

It was...

00:36:31

Two Man Forecheck

Um...

00:36:34

Chris

Well... Proof is in the pudding. You look at what Vegas is doing on the ice and yeah, he seems to know what he's doing.

00:36:42

Two Man Forecheck

Um... Speaking of guys who we hope know what they're doing, we're going to have to teach an old coach a new trick, and that's flying in the V formation.

00:36:55

Two Man Forecheck

Joel.

00:36:58

Chris

Oh, the head coach I was talking about that I forgot. He wasn't even on my radar.

Benefits of Quenneville for Ducks

00:37:03

Two Man Forecheck

Joel Quenville is back in the NHL after a good couple of years out. um And he's going to be the new Ducks head coach.

00:37:16

Chris

think that was i think that was a smart play for him. like Like we discussed pre-show, he wasn't the focus of all the nastiness that happened in Chicago.

00:37:28

Two Man Forecheck

And it certainly wasn't his ultimate responsibility.

00:37:28

Chris

i'll

00:37:31

Two Man Forecheck

i think he performed less. He didn't perform as well as he should. As i would hope a coach would in that situation. um But I also.

00:37:47

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, i I think he's taken his rolled up newspaper to the nose and it's just time to move on from it.

00:37:49

Chris

well

00:37:56

Chris

Yeah, no. Yeah, he got... they the The NHL whacked him on the nose. He was he stayed he stayed quiet. Was he an assistant somewhere?

00:38:07

Chris

I mean, was this completely out of left field or was he an assistant somewhere? I mean, I don't even...

00:38:14

Two Man Forecheck

um I don't think he's actually coached anywhere in the last like couple of years.

00:38:21

Chris

Yeah, he just, he kind of disappeared, waited in the weeds, you know, just let everybody kind of get over, and not that I'm advocating getting over what was done in Chicago. That was a nightmare, and it should never be repeated, and people who were involved should be. Yeah.

00:38:47

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, they should be.

00:38:49

Chris

Yeah.

00:38:49

Two Man Forecheck

um So he's been out since October 28th of 2021. It will basically be almost four years by the time he's coaching behind an NHL and NHL game again.

00:39:03

Chris

And clearly a head coach who knows but who knew what he was doing. i don't think this is a I don't think this is a, and I'm not comparing off-ice stuff. I'm comparing head coaching on a, because Mike Babcock credited with a Stanley Cup with with the Red Wings, but he didn't have to do anything.

00:39:25

Chris

All he had to do was stand behind the bench and look good because the players that were sitting in front of him all knew what they were doing better than he did. I don't think that that's qui i don't think that's quite Quenville's role, but when he was in Chicago, he had Captain Sirius, he had Patrick Kane, he had a whole laundry list of talented players.

00:39:53

Chris

It wasn't like he had to be micromanaging, which is...

00:39:57

Two Man Forecheck

He didn't have to be micromanaging, but he also had a lot, a lot of turnover in players during those years. Because you remember, they won the cup and over half the roster was traded before the parade.

00:40:15

Chris

Yeah, and then they bring in other players. mean, but when you have guys like Patrick Sharp, and yeah ah you got a little bit of grittiness with Andrew Shaw. you got i mean indeed He had a well-structured team.

00:40:31

Two Man Forecheck

And

00:40:31

Chris

Unfortunately, in Anaheim, he's not going to have that, not right off the bat.

00:40:34

Two Man Forecheck

he's not going to have that, but I don't think that you can purely say that the roster was most responsible. I mean, he's got 969 NHL wins as a head coach for a 548 win percentage.

00:40:52

Two Man Forecheck

He's second to only Scotty Bowman, who coached 400 more games than him. um

00:41:00

Chris

won himself more than a few Stanley Cups, if I'm not mistaken, between the Red Wings and the Canadians.

00:41:03

Two Man Forecheck

And, you know, Quenville is basically coming back in time to keep Paul Maurice from catching him in total wins.

00:41:05

Chris

And and i don't think and I don't think that had anything to do with his comeback either.

00:41:13

Two Man Forecheck

um He's currently 53 ahead of Maurice.

00:41:22

Two Man Forecheck

No, I don't. But, um I mean, Lindy Ruff is now top five in the league in wins too. And both he and Maurice have below 500 win percentages.

00:41:36

Chris

I mean, he's they've got some they've got some parts down there in Anaheim. It's not...

00:41:42

Two Man Forecheck

And that's, see, that's the part that makes me hopeful as a general hockey fan, because I don't know if the coaches that they've had in Anaheim in the last couple of years

00:41:59

Two Man Forecheck

can make this collection of ingredients into an edible product.

00:42:08

Two Man Forecheck

I don't know if this is sponge cake, devil's food cake, or just a waste of eggs and flour.

00:42:08

Chris

And I think...

00:42:16

Two Man Forecheck

Um...

00:42:16

Chris

But i I think that's something that, unlike the other coaches they've had there, I think that's something Quenville does know how to do, is how to get the most out of what he has, finding relationships that work on the ice.

00:42:32

Chris

Who's going to work best with Trevor Zegres? Carter Gauthier, is he... as advertised, Leo Carlson, who's he going to work with? I mean, you've got some young, talented players on that team.

00:42:46

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, the whole team is pretty young.

00:42:46

Chris

I'm not sold. I'm not, I'm not sold

Ducks' Defensive Development

00:42:51

Chris

on their defense. Their average age of their forwards is 27. I mean, Alex Killorn's on the team. He's 35. He brings the ah age up a little bit.

00:43:00

Two Man Forecheck

But the other, I mean, then you have four 31-year-olds, but everyone else is...

00:43:00

Chris

They've got a couple of

00:43:06

Chris

in their twenty s

00:43:07

Two Man Forecheck

yeah you got Troy Terry, who's practically a gray beard at 27. Trevor Zegers, 24. trevor egress twenty four Robbie Fabry, who I don't even remember the last time he played.

00:43:19

Two Man Forecheck

um,

00:43:19

Chris

And look, he's on IR again.

00:43:22

Two Man Forecheck

um Isaac London, Lundestrom, uh, 25.

00:43:29

Chris

Lundstrom, yeah.

00:43:32

Two Man Forecheck

um they've got, i mean, the average age of their defense is even younger. um

00:43:40

Chris

26 years old on the D, yeah. They got, you got Radko Gudis who's kicking around wearing the C. That makes sense. He's probably probably the guy you want wearing in the C at this particular point in time with this or with with this group of...

00:43:48

Two Man Forecheck

00:43:53

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, he's probably played more games than anyone else on the roster at this point. um You do have Jacob Truba there. um And you have those three youngsters who were, um who came up together.

00:44:07

Two Man Forecheck

Lacombe,

00:44:09

Chris

Jackson. Yeah.

00:44:11

Two Man Forecheck

Hellison, and was it, I forget whether it was, i think it was Zellweger.

00:44:17

Chris

that what got you?

00:44:20

Two Man Forecheck

I think that the Ducks are going to be a better team next year because of a coaching change.

00:44:21

Chris

and calm Yeah.

00:44:28

Two Man Forecheck

Am I saying that they're going to make the playoffs? No, I'm not saying they're going to make the playoffs. Um,

00:44:34

Chris

Yeah. I don't, I don't suddenly expect that they're going to be, ah you know, fighting for a third or a fourth. Is it possible that they could be fighting for the last playoff spot come the last two weeks of the season?

00:44:48

Two Man Forecheck

That always comes down to health, but yeah.

00:44:51

Chris

Yeah. you But Quenville in the next two to three years will have this team going in the right direction. i mean, he just, he's got it. You look at what he's done in the past. He's got it.

00:45:07

Chris

He knows how to put relationships together on the ice, how to make them work well together.

00:45:14

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, this team isn't terrible, terrible.

00:45:15

Chris

And

00:45:19

Chris

is he going to get the most out of Gibson?

00:45:19

Two Man Forecheck

They had 80 points last season. um So they finished, but they only finished, well, they finished four spots out of the playoffs. um

00:45:29

Chris

They were better than the Bruins? You

00:45:32

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah.

00:45:34

Two Man Forecheck

Bruins only had 76 points.

00:45:38

Chris

you know, is he is he going to look at the goaltending situation and say, ah you know, but because he never had until he, and he never had.

00:45:49

Two Man Forecheck

He never had a great goalie.

00:45:51

Chris

No, he won ah he won one Stanley Cup with Artur Zerbe. The other two were with Corey Crawford.

00:46:00

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah.

00:46:04

Chris

You know, and Corey Crawford, there was a book on him because the Bruins actually took advantage of it during the series. They ended up losing on their own problems with their old goaltender, but...

00:46:16

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, he had the ghost of Habby Bullen in Kane's, I believe, first or second season.

00:46:27

Two Man Forecheck

um And I do very much mean the ghost of...

00:46:33

Chris

they actually have Did they actually have the Boulin wall there?

00:46:38

Two Man Forecheck

They had the Bullen wall there in

00:46:38

Chris

Was he there?

00:46:42

Two Man Forecheck

what what would have been Kane's second season, Bullen, Cristobal Huey, a name I haven't said and in 10-plus years.

00:46:44

Chris

Oh, okay.

00:46:48

Chris

I remember Cristobal Huey, not good, but I...

00:46:53

Two Man Forecheck

Antti Niemi was there that year.

00:46:55

Chris

Antiniemi, that's it, not Otto Zerbe, Antiniemi, thank you. I knew i had the ah knew I had the wrong name.

00:46:59

Two Man Forecheck

ah That was the o eight ah nine season. Um...

00:47:04

Two Man Forecheck

00:47:09

Chris

Yeah, but Anthony Niemi was toward the end of his career, too. So he was... you know When they won the Stanley Cup with him, it was like, eh. Okay. Like I said, Corey Crawford was... yeah he He didn't have stellar goaltending.

00:47:24

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, I mean, he in the 0-9-10 season was the first cup.

00:47:24

Chris

So...

00:47:29

Two Man Forecheck

ah The goaltending team was Niemi, 39 regular season games. u weigh weigh 48, but a terrible save percentage.

00:47:43

Chris

Christopher, you a yeah.

00:47:43

Two Man Forecheck

um And Corey Crawford played one game. Second championship in the twelve thirteen season, um where Patrice Bergeron, you know, punctured his lung and kept skating.

00:47:57

Chris

At that point, at that point, Corey Crawford was the starter.

00:48:03

Two Man Forecheck

Oh, wow, I forgot he was there.

00:48:05

Chris

Who?

00:48:07

Two Man Forecheck

They had Carter Hutton as their third goalie.

00:48:09

Chris

Oh, that's right.

00:48:11

Two Man Forecheck

Corey Crawford had a solid season. 30 games played, 926 save percentage. That was the shortened 48-game season.

00:48:21

Chris

Yes.

00:48:22

Two Man Forecheck

Ray Emery was the other guy. 21 games, 922 save percentage.

00:48:25

Chris

thats

00:48:29

Two Man Forecheck

Again, name I haven't said in 10 years.

00:48:29

Chris

and don't think I don't think I don't think Ray Emery ever get back to that number.

00:48:36

Two Man Forecheck

i I think that rate that might have been Ray Emery's last hurrah.

00:48:42

Two Man Forecheck

And then the third cup, the third cup, they actually...

00:48:43

Chris

Carter Hutton, there's a name I

00:48:48

Two Man Forecheck

had three goaltenders giving them good performances, but they also had monsters, like a monster defense.

00:48:57

Chris

Well, yeah, you had Duncan Keith, you had ah Brent Seabrook. ah

00:49:04

Two Man Forecheck

You had Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook.

00:49:04

Chris

Right.

00:49:06

Two Man Forecheck

um You had Yamerson, Redblad, who ended up, he had a bad injury that year, and he was still fairly, he was only 23 that year

00:49:09

Chris

Yep, yall yep.

00:49:18

Two Man Forecheck

uh mikhail roosevelt johnny oduya um a name i haven't said in a while andrew clendenning was on the team for part of the year um kloss doll back only played a couple of games but yeah um

00:49:22

Chris

Johnny Oduya, yep.

NHL Playoffs Excitement Lacking

00:49:39

Two Man Forecheck

oh uh trapper van reamsdyke was on that team for 18 games

00:49:44

Chris

yeah before Yeah, that was before he went to the Canes.

00:49:48

Two Man Forecheck

But that season, 936 save percentages in 14 games from both Antti Ranta and Scott Darling.

00:49:59

Two Man Forecheck

And a 924 in games for Crawford.

00:50:09

Chris

He's... i have I have a sneaking suspicion that that Quenville is going to want figure out the defense so that he can save John Gibson a little bit.

00:50:23

Chris

even

00:50:25

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, I mean...

00:50:26

Chris

And if Dostal has another decent season, then he will be able to save Gibson and back him off from 60-plus games a year and get him down to, like, low to mid-50s or something. Yeah.

00:50:39

Chris

maybe high forties.

00:50:39

Two Man Forecheck

is good.

00:50:41

Chris

What?

00:50:42

Two Man Forecheck

Low 50s is good. 52-55, I think, is about all a goaltender should play in the current NHL.

00:50:50

Chris

The, the, the new, the new dynamic in the NHL is, and the Bruins played it to perfection two years ago is to have a, have a goaltending tandem where you're not wearing one of them out.

00:51:03

Chris

You know, both of them are playing in the high forties, Could they have got away with Linus Olmark playing 52 and Swayman playing 46 or whatever the number would have been, 48?

00:51:16

Chris

00:51:18

Chris

I don't know, but I mean, it seems to be the way the the way it's going. The days of having ah Cam Ward on your team.

00:51:28

Two Man Forecheck

Or Martin Brodeur who...

00:51:31

Chris

You know, somebody who's going to absorb 67 games in Oh, man.

00:51:35

Two Man Forecheck

scored 70 games in a year. i mean...

00:51:40

Chris

I still feel bad for Cam Warden. He's been gone for a while. good

00:51:46

Two Man Forecheck

um Let's talk about the playoffs as a whole.

00:51:50

Chris

and Okay.

00:51:54

Two Man Forecheck

And maybe it's just because I don't have a dog in the fight...

00:52:00

Two Man Forecheck

um I don't know that these playoff series have been super exciting.

00:52:10

Chris

Okay.

00:52:11

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, I enjoy, I'm enjoying some of the games.

00:52:17

Two Man Forecheck

um But like last night I watched, ah watched, watched the game, the late games. And it was just sort of the games felt like they were over by the end of the first period.

00:52:31

Two Man Forecheck

Carolina went up three nothing and that was over. um i did not actually get to see the Vegas. No. Edmonton went up early and Vegas could do nothing.

00:52:45

Two Man Forecheck

um And sundays Sunday was unpretty. un pretty

00:52:50

Chris

I think that based on what I've seen and, and unfortunately, since we talk hockey, it's unforgivable that I'm, I'm missing some, but I have not seen ah hundred percent of all the hockey, but I am, I'm, I think my biggest surprise has to, is still the fact that Washington is down three to one.

00:53:15

Chris

I mean, this is a team that we were expecting. They were going to, make a deeper run and they're on the verge of getting knocked out in the second round here.

00:53:26

Two Man Forecheck

I think you are higher on Washington than i am. um But Carolina is a pastor team and it shows every play.

00:53:35

Chris

And I'm not surprised. i mean, just looking at who they have on the, I mean, got Sebastian Ajo, you got Svechnikov, who I don't think is all that fast, but when you look at Washington, yeah, they're,

00:53:49

Chris

more like the Bruins. There's slow lumbering, physical, I don't know. And I'm thinking that their goaltending might be letting them down a bit. I don't know if Lindgren's not playing as much. I noticed that he wasn't in net or if he got pulled, but, or if he's even playing, ah didn't see the game. I saw the, I saw the final score. I mean, at five to two, it's like, and ah

00:54:20

Chris

Edmonton again is up 3-1 on Vegas.

00:54:26

Two Man Forecheck

Vegas has had a couple of games where literally nothing went right.

00:54:31

Chris

Ouch.

00:54:32

Two Man Forecheck

Um, I'm pretty sure that there were there. I think it was the last game. I'm not sure that they could have made a pass. Uh, like it could have passed a water bottle three consecutive times or across the bench.

00:54:48

Two Man Forecheck

Um, it was just, it was just ugly. Um, Not sure what is going on.

00:55:00

Two Man Forecheck

Yes, Edmonton is the most complete Edmonton team I have seen in 20 plus years.

00:55:06

Chris

A while.

00:55:11

Two Man Forecheck

00:55:12

Chris

They'd be scary with a real goaltender.

00:55:17

Two Man Forecheck

Well, that's the other thing is neither team, neither of those teams is getting goaltending.

00:55:23

Two Man Forecheck

Like, not at all. Their save percentages are terrible.

00:55:27

Chris

Abysmal.

00:55:29

Two Man Forecheck

00:55:32

Chris

What I have seen of Florida and Toronto. they're basically going to take each other out.

00:55:41

Two Man Forecheck

and and Both teams will have like eight guys suspended by the time this series is over.

Goaltending Issues in Playoffs

00:55:47

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, Aiden Hill has 876 save percentage through 10 games this postseason.

00:55:55

Two Man Forecheck

Stuart Skinner has an 857 through four games this season. And Calvin Picard...

00:56:01

Chris

They, I mean, they, they wrote, Yeah, they rode Calvin Pickard against LA because Stuart Skinner was so bad.

00:56:07

Two Man Forecheck

Then he got injured.

00:56:10

Two Man Forecheck

And he's got 888 save percentage ah through his seven games.

00:56:17

Two Man Forecheck

00:56:17

Chris

Ugh.

00:56:19

Two Man Forecheck

In a battle where bad goaltending is the biggest story, yes, Edmonton is going to win because they are better offensively. They are top to bottom faster.

00:56:38

Two Man Forecheck

Um...

00:56:38

Chris

i think yeah I think you said it best right at the beginning when you said that this is the most complete. I don't think they are complete, again, because obviously the goaltending, but they are the most complete.

00:56:54

Chris

They have better defense than they've had in the past.

00:56:58

Two Man Forecheck

And having...

00:56:59

Chris

they They still have the...

00:57:00

Two Man Forecheck

when you look at When you look at their bottom six forwards, and all of the players who are not named Nurse, McDavid, Dreisaitl, or...

00:57:05

Chris

Yeah.

00:57:16

Two Man Forecheck

Oh God, what's his name? Anyone outside their top five, six players, they're getting... really they're get they've got but they've got buy-in and it shows.

00:57:30

Two Man Forecheck

Like, Evander Kane looks like he's been playing all season and is 100% in mid-season form. um Ryan Nugent Hopkins is the other guy I'm thinking of.

00:57:42

Two Man Forecheck

And then Zach ah Hyman.

00:57:44

Chris

The new Zach Hyman.

00:57:46

Two Man Forecheck

Corey Perry, at this pace, he's going to be playing another 10 years. 10 games played.

00:57:57

Two Man Forecheck

1355 night of ice time. He's put up five goals, two assists. He's a plus six. And he just turned 40.

00:58:11

Two Man Forecheck

He's literally going to be pulled out of whatever he's doing. Um,

00:58:17

Chris

He has been able to adapt his game to what Edmonton needs him to do.

00:58:24

Chris

He's no longer required to be the guy like he was in Anaheim.

00:58:32

Two Man Forecheck

uh i it's it's impressive to watch um which isn't to say that vegas is a bad team but again it's it's a lot it's a little bit like the washington series carolina is faster as so is edmonton edmonton is faster than vegas

00:58:49

Chris

the this is going to sound this is going to sound a little like sour grapes, but it's not because I i really didn't didn't want him here. I didn't like his coaching style. and But Bruce Cassidy, in my mind, does not have the ability to effect change in the moment.

00:59:14

Two Man Forecheck

No, he does not. And it's sad.

00:59:17

Chris

And i think that that I think that that is also hurting them because he can't react to what's going on in game.

00:59:27

Two Man Forecheck

No. And when you have defensemen like Shea Theodore and Noah Hannafin and Alex Petrangelo um and you've got Braden McNabb in there in the mix as well.

00:59:43

Chris

Yep.

00:59:45

Two Man Forecheck

you should be able to do something with your defense to support your forwards a little bit better, to support your goaltender a little bit better. And Cassidy does not seem to have the rolling hockey IQ to be able to make it, to be able to make those sort of changes.

01:00:05

Two Man Forecheck

um Now, give the entire offseason, come back, Vegas is probably going to win their first two games against Edmonton, but I think they're losing the series.

01:00:20

Two Man Forecheck

Um...

01:00:21

Chris

Unfortunately, yes, I would be inclined to agree. And yeah, their defense is is pretty stout. Like you said, Shea Theodore. Shea Theodore is one of my favorites. I love Shea Theodore.

01:00:32

Chris

Loved him when he was a rookie. the Noah Hennepin. Braden McNabb's got all the playoff experience. He's got the cup wins when he was with LA.

01:00:44

Chris

i like Zach Whitecloud. Alex Petrangelo. We both love Alex Petrangelo.

01:00:52

Two Man Forecheck

And I mean, jumping to the East, I'm going to say it. People are going to hate me for it. I don't really care.

01:01:04

Two Man Forecheck

01:01:04

Chris

Yeah.

01:01:10

Two Man Forecheck

Austin Matthews.

01:01:10

Chris

Go ahead. Has been.

01:01:16

Two Man Forecheck

Austin Matthews is the American Rick Nash.

01:01:19

Chris

01:01:23

Chris

Somebody please comment.

Austin Matthews' Playoff Criticism

01:01:26

Chris

Not that I don't, not that I disagree, but because I don't.

01:01:28

Two Man Forecheck

Yes, he has a point per game in his 10 games played, but he's a goal scorer who's barely scoring goals. He's got two goals so far this postseason.

01:01:43

Two Man Forecheck

Two.

01:01:46

Chris

ouch

01:01:47

Two Man Forecheck

And

01:01:51

Chris

yes That's not

01:01:52

Two Man Forecheck

that's just not what they need from him. They need him to be producing offense. I know this is a weird concept when you're one of the highest played players in the league, but they are four games into the series against Florida and he hasn't scored since their last game against Ottawa.

01:02:17

Two Man Forecheck

He had no points in on May 5th for the first game. He had no points in on May 11th for the fourth game. forty Almost 42 minutes of ice time between those two games.

01:02:37

Two Man Forecheck

No points.

01:02:40

Chris

That's not good.

01:02:45

Chris

No, not good.

01:02:49

Chris

I don't understand it

01:02:53

Two Man Forecheck

He is not a playoff performer. And hey you look you go back to last year. they played He played five games, and admittedly he got dinged.

01:03:07

Two Man Forecheck

um Five games against the Bruins. He had one goal. He was held up the score sheet in three games.

01:03:26

Chris

Rick Nash it is.

01:03:29

Two Man Forecheck

go back to the 22-23 season.

01:03:36

Two Man Forecheck

um They get to the second round against Florida.

01:03:42

Chris

yeah

01:03:43

Two Man Forecheck

Five games, zero goals.

01:03:52

Two Man Forecheck

Yes, he played really, really well against Tampa Bay.

01:03:58

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, he was held up this goal it was held off the scoreboard goals-wise in the first two games, but he had two assists in both games back in 23. You get to Game 3, he has a goal. You get to Game 4, two goals. You get to Game 5, he has a goal.

01:04:14

Two Man Forecheck

Game 6, he has a goal.

01:04:20

Two Man Forecheck

But...

01:04:20

Chris

b But.

01:04:22

Two Man Forecheck

That was a series they were winning, and quite frankly, Zach Hyman and Mitch Marner were probably doing more of the heavy lifting.

01:04:34

Two Man Forecheck

Matthew Nyes, on the other hand, never let that boy go. but I have become a huge Matthew Nyes fan.

01:04:42

Chris

You got.

01:04:45

Chris

got seven points in 10 playoff games this season.

01:04:50

Two Man Forecheck

Five of them goals.

01:04:51

Chris

Yes.

01:04:53

Two Man Forecheck

um which actually gives him a basically identical stat line to John Tavares, who is probably going to get himself a nicer paycheck than some people thought this offseason.

01:05:07

Chris

So Austin Matthews has 10 points in 10 playoff games this season.

01:05:13

Chris

Everybody's going to be like, oh, he's a point per game performer. I offer this.

01:05:20

Chris

intent and in In a similar 10 playoff games this season, Thomas Harley, a defenseman for Dallas, has eight points. Okay.

01:05:37

Two Man Forecheck

Brad Marchand, who is playing two and a half minutes a night less, was injured right through the start of the playoffs, has eight points, and is a plus eight in nine games.

01:05:52

Two Man Forecheck

He's got an overtime game-winning goal, and all of his points have come at even strength.

01:05:56

Chris

Which he's known if If I'm not mistaken, he either is leading or tied with the very top in Bruins history for overtime game winners.

01:06:10

Two Man Forecheck

ah in league league history. And you look at the Panthers and they seem to be having a little bit of Carolina syndrome because the first eight players listed for the for the Panthers this year, in terms of playoff points, all have eight points through their first nine games, all of them.

01:06:13

Chris

Yeah.

01:06:35

Chris

Yeah. Including a guy I really wanted to be a Bruin.

01:06:41

Two Man Forecheck

um pick one. I was talking about both Sams for five years before they made it to Florida.

01:06:49

Chris

Yeah, but I wanted Carter Brahegi.

01:06:51

Two Man Forecheck

i don't remember where he was before he landed in Florida.

01:06:57

Chris

he's all I thought he's always been with Florida.

01:07:00

Two Man Forecheck

um I wanted Matthew Kachuk before he landed in Florida and

01:07:03

Chris

Well, yeah, didn't we all? Yeah, didn't we?

01:07:08

Chris

Carter Rehage is not the greatest face-off man, but, you know, his his abilities are... But yes, you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

01:07:20

Chris

four five six seven You have 8 players on that roster that have 8 points. Marsha and Rehage, Bart,

01:07:30

Two Man Forecheck

Carter Berhage was drafted by Toronto, didn't break in until years later with Tampa Bay, and then landed in Florida.

01:07:34

Chris

He was a Toronto player.

01:07:39

Chris

Florida. Okay. Marshan Verhage, Barkov, Reinhardt, Bennett, Kachuk, Luster Reinen, and Lundell all have eight points.

01:07:55

Chris

In nine playoff games.

01:08:00

Two Man Forecheck

Yep.

01:08:01

Chris

Okay. Okay.

01:08:03

Two Man Forecheck

When you talk about depth scoring, you're getting depth scoring.

01:08:08

Chris

Should we take a snapshot of this and send it to send it to Sweeney and say, this is what depth scoring is?

01:08:14

Two Man Forecheck

i don't think he'd understand. um Certainly, I don't expect that he would be able to reproduce it. um

01:08:27

Two Man Forecheck

Now, the other night... I saw the most one of the most stunning goals I've seen in the last five or six years.

01:08:35

Chris

Uh huh.

01:08:37

Two Man Forecheck

And it was a goal that you almost didn't see. And i wasn't sure was going to be allowed because with four tenths of a second left, Riley Smith gets a deflection.

01:08:53

Two Man Forecheck

to prevent the OT and absolutely deflate a whole arena. It was gorgeous.

01:09:04

Two Man Forecheck

And like the goal, ah like the disappearing puck goal for Patrick Kane, it was in

01:09:13

Chris

Uh-huh.

01:09:15

Two Man Forecheck

No one else had any idea what was going on.

01:09:21

Chris

Where is Agent Smith now?

01:09:23

Two Man Forecheck

He's playing for Vegas. He's back in Vegas.

01:09:25

Chris

Oh, he's back in Vegas. Okay.

01:09:30

Two Man Forecheck

01:09:33

Chris

Good for him.

01:09:35

Two Man Forecheck

You only get two names.

01:09:39

Chris

Okay. Okay.

01:09:41

Two Man Forecheck

Who are your front runners for the Consumers right now?

01:09:45

Chris

Oh, oh.

01:09:49

Two Man Forecheck

I can give you my two.

01:09:52

Chris

One of them has got to be Miko Rantanen.

01:09:54

Two Man Forecheck

that's That's a very obvious one.

01:09:59

Two Man Forecheck

And I'm not saying that it's a lazy answer. I'm saying it's just blatantly obvious.

01:10:04

Chris

Well, he here's a man who's lighting it. I mean, talk about rubbing it in Colorado's face. Oh, my goodness.

01:10:11

Two Man Forecheck

Um...

01:10:12

Chris

You want to talk about Sackick sitting there going, oh, what was I thinking? i mean, you traded him to an Eastern Conference team thinking, okay, we've got him. He's out of the way. We don't have to worry about him.

01:10:23

Chris

Only to have him not only reappear in the West, but reappear in his his division.

01:10:33

Chris

Ouch. And then he lights you up. My second one. oh

01:10:38

Two Man Forecheck

Well, i think the I think the only other really great answer is Freddie Anderson.

01:10:48

Two Man Forecheck

1.41 goals against average.

01:10:49

Chris

I was going to say, I can't disagree with that. Yeah.

01:10:53

Two Man Forecheck

935 save percentage. um You know, ah think that, and when you look at it, Logan Thompson has the second best goal save percentage in the postseason right now.

01:11:07

Two Man Forecheck

He's way down at a more than respectable 19, 918 save percentage. Gustafson's at 914 and everyone else. a yeah Freddie's getting ready to lap the field.

01:11:26

Two Man Forecheck

This is just a, I mean, this is a coming out party for Freddie Anderson again.

01:11:36

Two Man Forecheck

um You can, I'm willing to hear discussion about Evan Bouchard, who's got who's way up there in points.

Frederik Andersen's Goaltending Excellence

01:11:46

Two Man Forecheck

um i I actually think Jacob Chikrin has been really, really good for Washington.

01:11:54

Two Man Forecheck

um Not just points, but he's been in the right spot to play make very sensible defensive plays more than once.

01:12:05

Two Man Forecheck

Um,

01:12:11

Chris

Well, got two guys who will lap in the field because Mikko Rantanen's lapping the field as far as scoring. And then you got Freddie Anderson who's lapping the field as far as goaltending. I can't think of any. You want to bring up Evan Bouchard. Okay. i was to say, I can't think of any defensemen, but he kind of fits the bill.

01:12:30

Chris

Thomas Harley, but he's a far way back. And I think his his his negative plus minus is going to hurt him as well.

01:12:42

Two Man Forecheck

yeah

01:12:43

Chris

So yeah, it is a little bit early, but I think your front runners, yeah, they have to be Rantanen and Anderson.

01:12:53

Two Man Forecheck

And, you know, we talk about why we watch hockey because we love certain players. This year has so many stories, so many stories.

01:13:06

Chris

Really?

01:13:06

Two Man Forecheck

For me, Evander Kane,

01:13:08

Chris

Yeah, it is.

01:13:10

Two Man Forecheck

basically missed the entire season, comes back, and is a driving force on that team right now.

01:13:13

Chris

He did.

01:13:19

Two Man Forecheck

A driving force.

01:13:21

Chris

He's a Vander Kane. You didn't expect that?

01:13:24

Two Man Forecheck

a Even for a player as bellicose as he is, this level of contribution and this much looking like he never missed a beat all year...

01:13:32

Chris

Okay.

01:13:40

Two Man Forecheck

is surprising. um And you look at guy like Trent Frederick spent the last two years basically needing to lean over and look at the nameplate on the back of his line mates jerseys because he went through like 16 of them a game and gets to Edmonton. He's injured when he gets there.

01:14:05

Two Man Forecheck

And he's going out and playing. He had a fight last night. um He's gotten a goal. or um And he's getting... He's probably going to be playing in the conference finals in another five days.

01:14:20

Two Man Forecheck

ah You have in Florida.

01:14:24

Two Man Forecheck

You've got Brad Marchand, who we just talked about. um But you've also got...

01:14:28

Chris

Mm-hmm.

01:14:31

Two Man Forecheck

ah a guy who managed to escape Chicago after

01:14:40

Two Man Forecheck

ah seth and Seth Jones after years of futility there. And he's playing well. People voided their bowels all over him on a regular basis like he was the sole cause of that team being bad.

01:14:57

Two Man Forecheck

Now, did he play his best hockey while he was in? in chicago No, he did not.

01:15:06

Chris

The team around, I'm sorry, you bring in a guy like Seth Jones onto a team that was absolute rubbish and then expect that he alone is going to turn it around.

01:15:20

Chris

um I don't think anybody could meet that high, that lofty of a goal.

01:15:30

Two Man Forecheck

and here's the thing

01:15:30

Chris

Whether it's Seth, I mean, you put Austin Matthews, when they brought Seth Jones in in Chicago, they were so bad. You put Austin Matthews there and go, oh, he's going to be the, I don't think Austin Matthews could have resurrected it.

01:15:43

Chris

I don't think, I honestly don't think, I honestly don't think that i i don't think McDavid would have saved, I mean, they're still struggling.

01:15:47

Two Man Forecheck

You could have tossed Mario Lemieux in there and they still would have been a terrible team.

01:15:54

Chris

They've had Conor Bedard. They've had, you bring it in. lots of young talent, you're drafting high, and you're still not there.

01:16:04

Two Man Forecheck

The last time seth Jones played in the playoffs was back in the 1920 season while he was still with Columbus.

01:16:11

Chris

Columbus?

01:16:14

Two Man Forecheck

In 10 games, he had a goal. Three assists was a plus two. Nine games in Florida this year. ah Two, two, four, and a plus three.

01:16:28

Two Man Forecheck

Off the top of your head, how many minutes a night do you think he's playing right now?

01:16:35

Chris

See, I don't think he has to play the number of minutes, like 22 maybe.

01:16:41

Two Man Forecheck

Not even close.

01:16:44

Chris

Is he still playing crazy minutes like ah he used to?

01:16:47

Two Man Forecheck

Not only is he playing crazy minutes, he's playing more minutes than the guys who have been in Florida all year.

01:16:55

Two Man Forecheck

He's playing...

01:16:55

Chris

Damn.

01:16:56

Two Man Forecheck

He's got the most time on ice per game of any of the Florida players. He's playing twenty six eighteen a night. Forsling, 23-25. Um...

01:17:05

Chris

So he's, so he's.

01:17:07

Two Man Forecheck

aaron eblad twenty two forty twenty two forty um gustav forsling twenty three twenty five

01:17:16

Two Man Forecheck

01:17:16

Chris

So Seth Jones is playing Drew Doughty type minutes.

01:17:19

Two Man Forecheck

Drew Doughty, Ray Borg, Duncan Keith. Yeah, that.

01:17:23

Chris

but Where he's actually like five or so or more years, five or more years younger than Drew Doughty, but he's still playing Drew Doughty like minutes.

01:17:24

Two Man Forecheck

That's what he's doing.

01:17:33

Chris

You know?

01:17:38

Two Man Forecheck

Like talk about a guy who went from the outhouse to, if not the penthouse, certainly something that smelled a whole lot better. um Seth Jones has to be one of the happiest guys in the playoffs right now.

01:17:55

Chris

Well, just being back in the playoffs, I mean, not having been there for half a decade or more.

01:18:02

Two Man Forecheck

Half a decade during when, when you're a really young player, um,

01:18:09

Two Man Forecheck

and

01:18:10

Chris

i mean, yeah, and and looking at his numbers in Chicago, his first year, his first year there, 78 games, 51 points.

Seth Jones and Panthers' Future

01:18:19

Chris

He had a big drop off after that, 22-23, 72 37 points.

01:18:25

Chris

23-24, 67 games, points. those three seasons. This year, before was dealt, played 42 and had 27. he was ramping it up again. thirteen twenty four twenty seven twenty five twenty nine for those three seasons this year before he was dealt he played forty two and he had twenty seven so he was ramping it up again

01:18:47

Two Man Forecheck

And the best part for the Panthers is um there was cash retained on the deal coming out of Chicago. So his cap hit for the next um and the next several years is only $7 million.

01:19:04

Two Man Forecheck

No, I'm sorry.

01:19:04

Chris

which is

01:19:04

Two Man Forecheck

There was no cap. There was nothing retained. But his cap hit is only $7 million, and he signed through the end of the twenty nine thirty season.

01:19:17

Chris

it's a nice problem if you can have it because Aaron Eckblad is what about his age as well Aaron Eckblad is right around 30

01:19:24

Two Man Forecheck

And Ekblad's a UFA this year.

01:19:27

Chris

oh he's 29 but he's a UFA so if he goes somewhere else how hurt are you by letting him go Sure, you'd like to retain him, but if you can't retain him, you got Seth Jones.

01:19:41

Chris

You got it.

01:19:42

Two Man Forecheck

And you still have Gustav Forsling, Nico Mikula, and... and That's, and it's hard to cry when you have those three on your, on your defense still.

01:19:54

Chris

And Aaron Eckblad's been a little touched the last few years with the injury bug, so...

01:20:00

Two Man Forecheck

His whole career is

01:20:03

Chris

well he had a few He had a couple of seasons in a row where he played 82 games. But yeah, for the most part, you look over his career and it's rookie season, 81 games, second year, 78. Then he dropped to 68, two years of 82. Then he had 67.

01:20:16

Chris

The 2021 season, which was shortened, he only played 35. the twenty twenty one season which was shortened but he only played thirty five ah Then he played 61. Then he played 71.

01:20:29

Chris

Last season, twenty three twenty four he was at

Panthers' Offseason Decisions

01:20:32

Chris

51. Then he played 56. I mean, so yeah, he's been touched with the injury bug his whole season, his whole career, basically, yeah.

01:20:40

Chris

Minus a few seasons.

01:20:43

Chris

Still averages 22, 20. Yeah, career, a night. just under twentyth three minutes a night So if if you're concerned about losing Aaron Eckblad, all you got to do is look and say, well, we've got Seth Jones, so if we lose him, it's not the worst thing in the world.

01:21:00

Chris

and

01:21:01

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, they they have work to do this summer. They have Barkov, ah not Barkov, they have Bennett unsigned. they probably They may or may not want to try and retain Marchand.

01:21:17

Two Man Forecheck

um Nico Sturm, Mackie Samiskevich.

01:21:23

Chris

Michigan boy.

01:21:25

Two Man Forecheck

um Thomas Nosek, Aaron Ekblad, Nate Schmidt, and Jacob Menga. I mean, Menga, if you don't retain him, you don't retain him. um I think, but they also do need to find a backup goaltender for Bob and basically a successor.

01:21:43

Two Man Forecheck

Bob is 36. He has one more year left on his contract, ah but they have 19 million in cap space according or projected for 19 million in cap space. um they probably can manage to hold on to both Ekblad and Bennett if they want to.

01:22:00

Two Man Forecheck

01:22:01

Chris

Yeah. and And the three goaltenders that they have listed.

01:22:06

Chris

Kapo Kakanen, who's been moving around the NHL since his days in Minnesota. Evan Cormier, who's 27 and still making under a million dollars a year, is pretty much a minor league goaltender.

01:22:21

Chris

And Cooper Black at 23 is a rookie on an entry level, basically. So, yeah, your your search their their search is going to be... You know, Bruins might consider trading Corpus Allo there.

01:22:37

Two Man Forecheck

ah Can we get another second round pick out of him?

01:22:42

Chris

I don't know if you'll get a second, but Corpus Allo is not happy. Entirely not related, but he's not happy because he didn't get as much playing time as wants. So he wants out.

01:22:57

Two Man Forecheck

um where What else have we got on the board for today?

01:23:02

Chris

Well, I know that we're we're running a little short on time, but there are a couple little things that we spent a lot of time on the and NHL.

PWHL Playoff Standings

01:23:11

Chris

01:23:14

Chris

Depending on how you want to look at it, I've got some underachievers for the NHL playoffs, but we've also got some PWHL going on.

01:23:22

Two Man Forecheck

Let's go to the PWHL.

01:23:24

Chris

Certainly. So the playoffs are are underway. In fact, so underway that one one one series is already over with Minnesota beating Toronto two games to one.

01:23:37

Chris

They play best of five series. ah The other one is actually, as we speak, probably getting close to ending. Montreal is playing Ottawa in their game three.

01:23:50

Chris

the Ottawa took the first game three games to two. Montreal took the second game in four overtimes, the longest game in PWHL history.

01:24:02

Chris

They played over 135 minutes, equivalent of two-plus games in one night.

01:24:11

Chris

ah And Montreal took that game four to three. ah Excuse me, three to two.

01:24:19

Chris

So they're playing their third game tonight. We could very well, and I haven't looked for an updated score yet, but we could very well have our final already decided at this point or close to being decided.

01:24:36

Two Man Forecheck

ah Yes, yes, we could. um ah we do know that the Providence Bruins have been eliminated from the playoffs in the second round. um It looks like the unofficial final for the Montreal-Ottawa game is Ottawa won Montreal nothing.

01:24:59

Two Man Forecheck

I wish I'd gotten a chance to see that because that sounds like a nice, tight-checking game.

01:24:59

Chris

well

01:25:05

Two Man Forecheck

01:25:09

Chris

There have been other announcements in the PWHL. They don't necessarily have the same type of awards scheme that the NHL does, but they've announced their finalists for Forward of the Year.

01:25:24

Chris

And it's names that everybody will recognize if you follow women's hockey because you've got Marie-Philippe Poulin.

01:25:34

Chris

You've got Sarah sarah Hiller.

01:25:38

Chris

And the third one is Boston's very own Hillary Knight.

01:25:39

Two Man Forecheck

Yep. yep

01:25:46

Chris

After having a very difficult first year and in the PWHL. She didn't score her first goal in their inaugural season until like a dozen or dozen and a half games into the season.

01:25:59

Chris

This year, she turned it around, had a huge season and is up for an award. She finished the regular season with 15 goals, four only four on the power play and 14 assists. So 29 points. They played what? 30, 32 games in their season.

01:26:16

Two Man Forecheck

that's That's a pretty ridiculous season.

01:26:17

Chris

So she was pretty close to a point per game. She's pretty close to a point per game this season. ah Yeah, 29 points in 30 games.

01:26:29

Chris

And she only had 11 points in 24 in the inaugural season.

01:26:35

Chris

Poulin led the PWHL with 19.

01:26:35

Two Man Forecheck

having Having watched last year and what and Hillary Knight being a favorite player, um I think she was trying to do much too much all of the initial season.

01:26:49

Two Man Forecheck

And it's nice to see her get grounded this year.

01:26:51

Chris

Yeah, the

01:26:54

Chris

there was a lot of pressure on her ah being the big name on the team. ah Sarah Hiller is actually she was the first overall pick in the 24 PWHL draft.

01:27:08

Chris

And she was tied with Hillary Knight with 29 points, both of which led the PWHL in scoring.

01:27:19

Two Man Forecheck

Noice.

01:27:22

Chris

So it's going to be interesting to see what direction they go because these are three very deserving candidates. And if you watched any of it, yeah, they were fun to watch. Hillary Knight actually, I mean, she was, she looked more relaxed this year.

01:27:39

Chris

Just comparing her to the inaugural season to this year, she looked more relaxed. She looked like she was having fun. Like there wasn't as much pressure on her.

01:27:53

Chris

I don't know what that pressure was, whether it was just, oh my God, it's Hillary Knight. She has to take us, you know, whatever the case may be. She just looked more relaxed this year. She looked like she was having fun again, like she was enjoying it.

01:28:09

Chris

So congratulations to her on

PWHL Forward of the Year Finalists

01:28:11

Chris

being a finalist ah and good luck to whoever it is that ends up facing Minnesota in the finals.

01:28:20

Two Man Forecheck

We did do our, we did run our poll. um

01:28:23

Chris

Paul question.

01:28:24

Two Man Forecheck

Which of these events happens first? Conference finals set, Islanders get new GM, Bruins name new head coach. um And they, the voting came out in that order.

01:28:37

Two Man Forecheck

50% said finals set, Islanders GM 36 and four, and then Bruins new head coach. Yeah. Yeah.

01:28:49

Two Man Forecheck

01:28:49

Chris

Now, am I not surprised?

01:28:53

Two Man Forecheck

I am not surprised. I actually kind of hoped we'd see a new general manager, but... um

01:29:02

Chris

Well, Bruins naming a new head coach is going to end up being last, and I fully expect it he's ah As I said earlier in the show, I think that he is actually playing the waiting game to see where the chips fall and what's left.

01:29:17

Chris

And then he's going to go your route and hire Ryan Muginale, but not because he wants to, but because he has to. He might want to as well, but he's not going to have a choice at that point.

01:29:31

Chris

Sorry, that's just the way it's falling for me. I just, I don't, I wish he was actually bringing people in and talking to them, but there's been no information on that. Joe Sacco was elevated to, he's going to get consideration in the final group. So he's not even interviewing.

01:29:48

Chris

He's just going to be there. So you're either going to get Sacco back or you're going to get Mujano.

01:29:53

Chris

And something tells me they're not going to bring Sacco back as head coach.

01:29:57

Two Man Forecheck

I don't think Sacco...

01:30:02

Chris

He just doesn't move the needle.

01:30:02

Two Man Forecheck

I don't...

01:30:03

Two Man Forecheck

i a He wasn't even that here. Was he like 390? three ninety

01:30:03

Chris

He was 500 in Colorado.

01:30:14

Chris

Yeah, I don't, they were, they were a few games under 500 when they fired Montgomery. They finished a few games under 500. and I don't know exactly what his record was. I didn't look it up, but.

01:30:27

Two Man Forecheck

406. Oh, no, wait a minute. They didn't actually or. um Hockey DB doesn't have his record in. ah

01:30:40

Two Man Forecheck

In the system right now, um but yeah, his last year in Colorado was a 406 points percentage.

01:30:53

Two Man Forecheck

Which is decidedly ungood.

01:30:56

Chris

decidedly on good.

01:31:01

Two Man Forecheck

Okay. um I think we've just about cleared the board, which is always amazing to me. we will have...

01:31:11

Chris

I had, I had one fun one, but ah I don't want to, I don't want to drag it out too long since we're middle of the playoffs or so.

01:31:13

Two Man Forecheck

ah go for it. Go for it.

01:31:22

Chris

I found an article on Yahoo Sports. It's actually from the Hockey News. Five NHL playoff underachievers. Who's failing to meet expectations in big moments?

01:31:33

Chris

Care to take a guess whose names are appearing on this list?

01:31:37

Two Man Forecheck

01:31:38

Chris

Unless you've already cheated and looked.

01:31:40

Two Man Forecheck

I have not looked. I'm willing to bet Ovechkin's name is on here on there.

01:31:46

Chris

It is not.

01:31:48

Two Man Forecheck

That's honestly somewhat surprising. um is

01:31:54

Chris

One name nobody will guess.

01:31:56

Two Man Forecheck

Go ahead and give me the names.

01:31:56

Chris

I'll give you that one. I'll give you that one. It's Mason Marchment of the of the Dallas Stars.

01:32:04

Chris

he's he's He's been underachieving in the playoffs. But the other four names, well, you got a Washington Capital, but you got the wrong one.

01:32:15

Two Man Forecheck

Wilson?

01:32:15

Chris

Because Pierre-Luc Dubois, for all the complaining that I do about how I don't think he's all that. Uh,

01:32:27

Chris

oh productive 66 point regular season. He has yet to score in the post season and has three assists.

01:32:37

Two Man Forecheck

So he's doing the Zaka.

01:32:37

Chris

Uh, Dean Letourneau. you

01:32:43

Chris

Uh, but the other three names are actually big names.

01:32:48

Chris

Darnell nurse.

01:32:51

Two Man Forecheck

Okay.

01:32:52

Chris

Yeah. ah Yeah, a little surprised.

01:32:59

Chris

ah With that going on sideline, Nurse was elevated to play alongside Evan Bouchard, but playing alongside a top-tier defenseman hasn't changed Nurse's underlying numbers.

01:33:09

Chris

The next name is somebody who... I'm wondering if this kid's playing... If this kid's just playing out the string because he knows he's not going to be there. Mitch Marner.

01:33:23

Two Man Forecheck

I don't...

01:33:23

Chris

Two goals two goals in the postseason. Zero shots in his last two games against the Panthers.

01:33:32

Two Man Forecheck

Having watched those games, the Panthers... I think the Panthers are as close to his body as his jockstrap, like, 60% of the time he's on the ice. Yeah.

01:33:46

Chris

I think that certainly plays a part in it too. The the the Panthers know, watching them over the last couple of years against the Bruins, they know who they need to lean on and just how hard.

01:33:58

Two Man Forecheck

And I'm not saying he couldn't be better because that would be silly, but he's more of a distributor.

01:34:08

Two Man Forecheck

And i I'm not sure I love that take.

01:34:17

Chris

And the last one, boy, they're really hitting this guy hard, but his numbers are atrocious. Connor Hellebuck.

01:34:29

Chris

With an 8.48 save percentage and 3.51 goals against average, the Hart Trophy finalist has been a liability on the road, going oh and for with percentage and a point six five goals against

01:34:48

Chris

Outside of a game two shutout, he's failed to look anything like the goalie most expect to be a shoe-in for the Vezina. Not only that, but the Jets are now two losses away from elimination, and he must win a game in Dallas to avoid the Jets going down 3-1 in the series. That's tonight's game.

01:35:06

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, I mean, this might be the most valid criticism, but the whole team has also been a little bit flat.

01:35:12

Chris

he He has not been the regular season hell of a...

01:35:18

Two Man Forecheck

Morrissey was out injured. He's their best defenseman. I

01:35:25

Two Man Forecheck

i will go along with underachieving, but I'm not going to get... involved in any sort of blame game where he's the reason that they're meant not making it to the next round.

01:35:39

Chris

No, I'm sure there's more. and i'm sure there's more And I don't think I'm qualified because I don't think I've seen enough of Winnipeg to make an informed decision.

01:35:51

Chris

But based on the fact that goals against, we've discussed this before, is more of a team number. Yes, the goaltender is the last line of defense. I understand that more than most people because I usually come out and support the goaltenders more than anybody else.

01:36:07

Chris

But a 772 save percentage on the road is just atrocious. There is no escaping that.

01:36:12

Two Man Forecheck

Oh, I'm not, I'm not, I can't, there's no disputing that.

01:36:17

Chris

But overall, 848, still not good. But the goals against is so high that he's not the only one underperforming on that roster.

01:36:30

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, you look at, you look at their scoring,

01:36:30

Chris

There's no way in hell.

01:36:37

Two Man Forecheck

um Kyle Connor, five goals, 10 games. That's great. mike Mark Shifley, who missed a couple of games, three goals in eight games. um Nino Niederreiter, four goals in 10 games, but he's a minus two.

01:36:54

Two Man Forecheck

um Cole Perfetti, three goals in 10 games, ah minus three.

01:37:04

Two Man Forecheck

Mason Appleton, has zero goals through 10 games. He's still getting his 15 minutes a night of ice time. Neil Pionk, I'm sorry, 24-45 of ice time, but he's taken 14 penalty minutes.

Player Underperformance in Playoffs

01:37:21

Chris

Ouch. ouch

01:37:22

Two Man Forecheck

Adam Lowry, 14 penalty minutes, only playing 17 or just under 18 a night. Nemesnikov, 14 penalty minutes um in 16 and a half minutes a night.

01:37:35

Two Man Forecheck

um Dylan DeMello, 21 minutes a night, only managed 11 shots through the nine games that he's played. um Dylan Sandberg, 10 games played, no goals, 24-32 night.

01:37:51

Two Man Forecheck

twenty four thirty two a night

01:37:55

Two Man Forecheck

Yes, he's a defenseman, but there's a lot of not producing going on here. Alex Ayafalo, 10 games, one goal, minus four, 16.53 a night.

01:38:01

Chris

Yes.

Postseason Performance Speculations

01:38:08

Two Man Forecheck

um Luke Shen, only played in eight games. um Logan Stanley has played five games, 11.38 night, zero points. Tanev, 10 games, zero points, 11.16 a night.

01:38:21

Two Man Forecheck

eleven sixteen a night um

01:38:24

Chris

They're not performing the way they did in the regular season. When you compare the regular season and the way that the whole team was performing, they were getting scoring up and down the lineup.

01:38:34

Two Man Forecheck

they they This team is flat.

01:38:35

Chris

Now, yes, it is not it is not the same team. I don't know if they're tired, but I don't know if it's... They've never been this far before. yeah I don't know what the what the reasoning is, but it is night and day.

Individual Player Stats Review

01:38:55

Chris

the way they're performing compared to the way they were in the regular season.

01:39:00

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, Nikolai Ehlers has only played in five games. He's got four points. He was their third leading goals a third leading points producer in the regular season.

01:39:12

Two Man Forecheck

01:39:16

Two Man Forecheck

that Gabriel Velarde, 61 points, 71 games in the regular season. ah Postseason, he's 12th in scoring with six games played.

01:39:30

Two Man Forecheck

there's There's a lot going on with this, or there's a lot not going on, and that's the problem with Winnipeg, and I'm greatly disappointed by it.

01:39:44

Two Man Forecheck

01:39:47

Two Man Forecheck

I really...

01:39:50

Two Man Forecheck

Yeah, I'm disappointed.

01:39:51

Chris

01:39:52

Two Man Forecheck

um Some of it, there's definitely some injuries, but like even Jarrett Anderson Dolan has just not played well. um Yes, his role is a lot more limited, but you got to show up and show out.

Canada's Cup Prospects

01:40:07

Two Man Forecheck

It's the playoffs.

01:40:10

Two Man Forecheck

I mean, about the only guy who you can say is doing the thing is Kyle Conner.

01:40:11

Chris

Yeah.

01:40:18

Two Man Forecheck

5'8", 13, plus one, um and 10 of his ah points, 10 of his 13 points have come at even strength. Two game-winning goals out of his out five.

01:40:35

Chris

Some people need to be stepping it up in Winnipeg there, or they're going to find themselves golfing again.

01:40:41

Two Man Forecheck

Golfing.

01:40:47

Chris

And then it's going to fall on Edmonton to or Toronto to get the cup back in Canada since they haven't won it since 1993.

01:40:58

Two Man Forecheck

It's not going to be Toronto.

01:41:01

Chris

Don't think it's going to be Edmonton either.

Episode Farewell and Feedback Request

01:41:07

Two Man Forecheck

And that hockey fans is where we leave you. Have a great week. Uh, we'll be back on Sunday.

01:41:18

Two Man Forecheck

um and, Share the show with your friends. Let us know you've noticed any sort of audio differences. I'm curious how this will come across. Take care.