Steve Dangle podcast with your host, Steve Dangle, Adam Wild and Jesse Blake.

The Whoosh is on the loosh. Oh, yeah.

He's back.

Actually, we-How about you fair may your Whoosh. See, okay, Jesse, I'm going to send you something in a second. You know what I mean? There's a couple of things I want to talk about first before we talk about the Leaps Trade and the Leifs game and a whole bunch of other things that we need to talk about. Okay? So I'm sending Jesse this picture. I want to first let you know that today is a great day. Why? And it's a great day to sign up for the Sdpn Grid Rival pool. If you're a motorsports fan, Formula One fan, Tim and I, Justin Fisher. Jesse, are you joining the Grid Rival this year? No. It's because he's scared.

Because he's in the rain. I don't like it. I got no chance of winning, so I don't want to participate. That's right. It's just a headache.

I'm going to do it because I'm going to win.

Speaking of, McLaren. We've got a weekend ahead of us.

You got a McLaren That's right.

Race weekend, baby.

Yeah, and their driver's his name is Fraser McLaren.

No, it's not. It's Land of Norris. Oscar Piastri. Piastre. Hey. Italian-australian. Lots of them.

Like Joe Avadi.

And Daniel Riccardo. Wow. Yeah. How about that? There's so many. So many of them. Join that. Also, the SDP VIP episode, when did you have it drop? It was 2 AM or something this morning?

No, it dropped at midnight on whatever Friday. It dropped at on Friday.Oh, is that even? So whenever Friday starts. So it's up.

If you want to subscribe, you get 30 days. On most platforms, you get a 30-day trial, which is pretty cool. I think on YouTube was it-Yeah, no.

Apple gets you 30 days. Just on YouTube, if you're a YouTube premium subscriber already. If you sign up for a membership, it comes with a 30-day free trial. On Apple podcast, you get a 14-day free trial. And on Spotify, the first episode is free.

There you go. Got it. And that's up to the platforms. We don't decide that. They decide that stuff. But anyway, long story short, sign up to be an SDP VIP. It's $4 a month. It supports the company. Small business, tough times. Really, really would appreciate your support. Also, the content is great.

I get a lot of tweets and emails and stuff about like, Hey, how do I join in all that stuff. And so we made it super easy. It's in the description of this podcast you're listening to. There's a link to YouTube, to Apple, to Spotify. Click whichever one you want. It is right there.

And so, too, is our... We'll put our grid rival link in there, too. Can we do that? Oh, maybe. Also, there's prizes this year for first, second, and third. We got some gift cards from Shop Race Canada, so you can buy cool cars, baby. Yeah. No, just the die cast one.

You get to give Steve a hug.

Yeah, you get to give Steve a nice hug. If you're the champion, you get to drive to Ajax and give Steve a hug. Steve gives you a little kiss on the forehead.

I got great forehead kiss. Do you? Yeah. Well, it's one of the skills you acquire with a five-foot-tall wife.

That's true. Good point. Now, Jessie, can we bring up this tweet?

It's ready.

Our boy, Elliot Coates. It's not ready. Oh, my goodness. It's not ready because Jessie didn't plug in. I want to shout out Elliot Coates, though, because Elliot made an investment, Steve. Yeah? Yeah. Sometimes you got to make an investment in yourself. Sometimes people will say, You're crazy for making this investment. What a silly idea. Why would you do that?

Did he spend $40,000 on a photo of a monkey smoking a cigarette?

No, he did not. No? He spent a lot less than that. I think he got a lot more for his money. Are we ready to show Now it is working.

There we go.

Elliot said, Everybody said I was crazy for buying a Labushka jersey, but here we're back, baby.

Yo, that's incredible. So he got a Labushka jersey the first time he was on the team. And he's got it back. That's got to be such a good feeling. You're walking around, you have a Jersey for someone who's not on the team anymore, and then they get them back.

It's like somebody who bought a Brad boys Jersey in 2002. Yeah, I knew it. And then in 2017, they were like, This is my year. Yeah.

Here's what I was trying to figure out. When was the last time the Leaps traded for a player twice? Not sign them twice, not sign them once and traded for them, traded for them, signed them.

Sounds like there's a good video in here.

There could be. It's not Roman Pollack, right? Can't be Roman Pollack.

It's not Daniel Winnick, they traded away twice.

They traded away twice.

Got back twice. Yannick Perot?

See, did they draft him, though?

So they They drafted him. Let me look. And then they traded because remember, they got rid of most of their draft picks. Always? Always.

They still do that.

But they traded for Yannick Perot in his weird visor. His cool visor. His visor that went past his chin. I was like, Just put a face mask on, man. Who are we kidding?

He helped him win face-offs.

They got him, and he scored a big goal against Philadelphia in 1998 or something. And then they got him again going into the Trade Dead in 2007 or something.

You know what? Okay. He was drafted by the Leifs in 1991, played 13 games. Then he went to the LA Kings for a few years. The Lefs traded. Yeah, it looks like they traded for a midseason, '98, '99. And then they got him back midseason, 2006, '07 from the Arizona- There you go. I remember that verbatim.

That's the first time.

Hot damn.

I remember liking him because he went a lot of face-offs. That's all I really cared about. Big face-off guy. Yeah, bro.

What was it? Two years ago, When Labushan comes over a trade deadline. Yes. It's 31 games.

Was it trade deadline? I think it was a November trade. And was it not nick Richie?

It wasn't November, but it was... He was... 31 games is way more games than I thought Labushan played for the lead.

Yeah.

It was like winter. It was a winter.

It was a winter.

And in between that time, Elliot's like, I'm going to get a Labushkan jersey, even though it was a UFA. He just got here. I'm going to be a Labushkin fan. That's some serious dedication to being in the Bush army.

There were O'Reilly jerseys. The Bush army.

I guess. Even O'Reilly jerseys-The Bush party. At least wait till he sees if he signs. It's dedication.

It's Ryan O'Reilly. This is Elia Labushkin.

Yeah, so I'll be honest.

There's a difference.

I'll be honest. I was grumpy about this trade. I was grumpy about the trade.

A lot of people I spoke to last night were grumpy about it.

I was grumpy about the trade because I thought, okay, is this... So this is the guy you I went to play with Reilly. And what was explained to me by- Also, just one note, Labushkin was a leaf on February 29th or 19th.

So it was like a month till the trade. Oh, okay.

My bad. I thought it was... Maybe I got that.

February 19th was the nick Richie, Labushkin trade.

Wow. Oh, because the season started weird, too, right? That year?

This is 2022. Oh, no.

You're not... You have a grace period between 2020, and I'm going to extend it to 2022 on account of the world.

The world, for sure, was crazy. But okay, so I'm grumpy about the Bouchka Trade, and CJ explains it like this in the chat. He's like, Okay, so they gave up a third and a sixth because they needed the double retention with Carolina.

Yes.

I don't think he understood why I was grumpy because I didn't really explain it because usually grumpy people are not great communicators. I was not communicating. I'm like, Let's be honest. I was like, I'll let the fart out of the bag. It's not great. I don't know if that's the saying. It's the saying now. I've made it the saying. All right. I think the reason I was like that is I'm like, This is the guy you get to play with, Riley. Not that I had a problem with Bush the first time in his limited role. He handles the fuck like it's a grenade.

He's not a good fuck handler. He did score a goal on a two on one. Sure. It was his first goal in God knows how long. Sure.

It was fun. He's 30 and that thing. I'm not even looking at the internet charts that are being thrown around because they said the same thing about Simon Benoît, and he's been great. They don't count. But Chris is like- Ducks.

They don't count.

Chris's response to me in the group chat, and I think you guys all saw this, was, Well, he makes less than half than Connor Timmins. I'm like, Oh, we're talking about a seventh defenseman here. Yeah.

So here's- Because geo went out, and I'm sure True Living was calling the dresser and going, Is geo going to be out for a while? The way it was talked about on 32 Thoughts Today is they were already talking about making this deal, and then geo got hurt, and it's like, All right, we got to do it. Just do it. Maybe they were thinking about... Who knows? Maybe they didn't need double retention before, but because they're doing it early, they did. When you think about it in terms of what the Leifs paid for, They paid, I think, market value. And people are going to laugh at that because a third and a six for a guy who might not even be in your top six when the playoff start sounds ludicrous. You paid a third round pick to get Elia Labushkin, who shoots right, no matter how bad you think he is, at half retained. That costs something, right?

Yeah.

Then, Carolina needs to be paid for their services. In all this. They retain half on him or a quarter. A sixth round pick for that is pretty reasonable. One thing I will give the leaves credit for, they weren't the ones who signed him to what I I believe, was a multi-year 2.75 million dollar contract. Was that the Ducks or the Sabers?

I don't know.

Who ever did that? You're nuts.

You're nuts. I like this. It was when he signed with the offseason with the Sabers. Kevin Adams signed that. Good Lord. $2.75 million for two years.

I like this player more than most, and that's a disaster.

Well, you got to remember, you're coming off playing with the Leaps in the playoff. So you got the Leaps bump. Yes. The little leaves. That's why Max Domi is here. That's why Tyler Batuzzi is here. You get the Leaps bump when you're done. Alexander Kerfoot is in Arizona with a nice contract for a reason. Yeah.

Matt, he's making the exact same money as he was making last year. And that's a bump. Let's be honest.

So you look at it and you go, the Leaps paid a third and a six for Elia Labujkin, which is true if you don't examine how he got there. It's like, what's that show where he's like, the best I could do is $40.

Oh, The History Network show. Yeah.

You know what I mean? The bald guy?

Yeah.

Who's like, Oh, I got a guy. Let me call him. He's the best coin expert in the state. Oh, he's the best antique nut cracker guy in all of-Pond Stars. Wyoming. Yeah, Pond Stars. He's got costs. So the ducks and the hurricanes are like, Well, yes, it's Elia Labushkin, but I got costs. Then there's the really funny conspiracy theory that the hurricanes helped facilitate the deal because the Leifs are in the Eastern Conference. They're going to be in the playouts, and they wanted to help the Leifs get worse. That's my own fun conspiracy theory that I saw several other people make.

But really what this is, is this is a trade for a deaf defenseman that keeps the Leifs open to trading for the defenseman who we really want that is going to play with Reilly.

You want Connor Timmins playing playoff games? You want Max Ljoie playing playoff games? Then shut up and eat your Elia Labushkin.

Elia Labushkin played seven playoff games that '22 season.

Oh, he was a top four member of the staff.

He played every game. I think there's just a familiarity with Labushkin where it's, Hey, we know what we have in this player. We've seen him before. And Brad Treliving obviously hasn't, but the rest of the staff has. Nothing's really changed since Dubas has left except for Dubas and Spetsa. So everybody's still there. And they say, Hey, let's go get some depth D and we're going to make more moves. It's fine. At less than a league minimum player, Leagueman is 925. They're paying six and change for a 2.75 million dollar defenseman.

It's not 925.

It's like seven something. Oh, seven something. Or 800. 925, I'm thinking, is the- The rookie. The ELC deal. Yeah. So Leagueman, it's about 100 grand less than Leagueman. So it's fine. It's not going to end the leaves or make them.

The dark part of this is like, there's a real good chance. Well, there's a greater than zero % chance, Mark Giudanos played his last NHL game, and that was last night, right? Like that.

That fall seemed really aggressive.

Oh, and then there was one replay where, again, I'm not a doctor, but he looked out for at least a second. It's bad, man. It's bad. And the Lefs are very obviously treading water. They pulled off the win last night, but it didn't look great. Six lefties, they got an $11 million forward on D, which sucks.

Although he looked good.

Mitch Marno looked good. Yeah, he looked good. It's fucking awesome.

He looked good. How did the forward group look without him? Fine. No. They won. No, they didn't. They won. They were barely treading water against the Arizona Coyote.

I have 8-1.

I don't think it has to do with... I think they won that game on talent and zero effort. I think if you're trying to look at the forward route with Mitch Martin or not on it, but playing defense, and you're looking at last night's game.

And figuring it out on the fly.

You're kidding yourself. There's no way that that was the least best effort. We know that this team takes nights off. And last night, starting from They could have put that game away on the power play where they gave up. They were at three nothing.

What was that pitch?

What the hell was that pitch? All you got to do is score in that power play. Game is over. And they let... As soon as they scored, I'm like, Arizona is getting back in this game. I knew it. I knew it would at least get to three, two. I would have bet money on it. I would have bet MGM'd it. Yeah? Yeah.

The big story.

The king of sports books.

Whoa.

It's a partner of the NHL.

Listen, I admitted in the Not the LFR. I made two videos last night. I admitted in the Labushkin Trade video. I'm talking myself into this deal.

How about it's just fine and you don't have to get excited about it?

Well, I also didn't see enough admission that, Hey, we were wrong about Simone Benoît.

You're talking about people who are putting the stats cards out.

Yeah, you're like, Admission for who? Who's we?

Well, everyone posting those cards that says player bad.

But you're going at just fans.

No, that's not true. No, I'm going at... The fans go by the numbers they're given. The vast majority of fans are not tracking zone entries and shit. You know what I mean? Yes. They're just like...

But they are taking the card for their people that do. See data. Yeah.

I'm not giving them shit for that.

Why are you upset?

No, I'm given... Okay, the person I'm really giving crap to, and I'm not attacking this guy, but it is funny, is Dom Lezizhne, because he said in the summer that Simon Benoît had the worst player card he's seen based on his model, which is fine. I didn't know anything about Simon Benoît.

Your video got 100,000 views. Which is insane.

On Simon Benoît, which is insane. And everyone's like, Well, I guess he sucks. I had people reach out to me when that signing was made, and they're like, That is not an NHL player at all. And they weren't talking about numbers or nothing. They were just like, I've seen him play. He can't play.

And so because people were wrong about Simone Benoît during the summer, that we should all hold back judgment on Elia Labushkin.

Well, let's just acknowledge that we can be wrong and that, dude, I said this long before the Leaps were going after Elia Labushkin. Numbers with the worst teams in the league, namely the Ducks, they don't count. They're such a sad, sad piece of garbage that they don't Don't count. Have you seen the complete black hole of joy that that team plays with and has played with?

You're talking about the Ducks. The Ducks, right? They're miserable. Yeah. Flavorless, strategyless. Oh, my God.

Terrible. The church wafer of hockey teams right now. They'll give you a Michigan goal every two, three months and then dick all otherwise.

And you know what you got to do? Trade the guy that scores the Michigan goal.

You got to do that because that will... I don't know. You know what? A little bit of sugar on the wafer helps. You know what? Take away the sugar. If you're going to eat garbage, it might as well be healthy for you. Here you go. I don't know. The difference between Benoît and Labushkin is there is a longer track record of Labushkin not being very good at this. I also look at his career and I go, Man, that guy's got to get a better agent. He keeps playing for shitty teams. And then I look at his $2.75 million contract, and I'm like, Maybe he's got a good one. They need guys. They They need guys desperately, and they need guys at this number because they want to carry three goalies lest they lose Martin Jones and then be stuck in a bad situation. I don't even know if they have the space to call up a Max Lejoie.

They don't. Currently, as of this morning, they're one contract over the 23-man limit.

I forgot to mention that in the video. I've never seen that before.

Yeah. So what will happen is Giordano will go on LTIR. Yeah.

That is- Very easy fix.

Yeah, that's It's a difficult one because he got a head injury last night, according to the least. That's their words, not mine. How soon after an injury that doesn't involve a broken bone, can you put someone on LTIR?

I actually don't know the answer to that.

Or can you put him on IR immediately and then retroactively goes on LTIR?

I think that's probably what.

Yeah, you can put somebody on IR, and at any moment, you can regroup and put him on LTIR. He's He's injured.

We're not seeing him anytime.

I think it's interesting that it's probably his last game because I don't know. If they get to the playoffs, I didn't think Giordana had a fit in this lineup since he's been out and he's been playing well. Then you see what happens last night. I think it's about time to call it a career. It's been a really good one. And so it's not tragic. It's not sad. He's played in the league for so long. He's the oldest player in the league, right, this year? And last. And last year. But it's sad to see him go like this.

I would like it. His father passes. He plays two games, gets injured in the second one, and that might be it. It is brutal.

I'm hoping for this. The Lefs go on a deep payoff run. They got a couple of injuries in the back end, and there's rumors like, CJ, well, Mark Giardano could come back. Adam Hope's very good. That's great. That's great. Mark Giardano could come back, and then he comes out, 40 years old, and it's April, May. Where's the opener?

If the Lefs are in the conference finals, I don't think Mark Giardano should be shoehorn into the lineup, I think they would have figured out their defense by them. No. I don't know. Who are we taking out? Bush?

Well, if somebody was injured, that's what I'm saying. But I agree with you, Jesse. We talked about this Monday, I think. It's like, okay, Giordano is back, and that's cool, but defense has looked really good without him. Then, of course, Sheldon goes and dresses six lefty. It was, unfortunately, and this is not his fault, they They used it on the broadcast as, Here's the issue that you have when you run into this many lefty. It was a Giordano pass, backhand pass in his own zone.

You really see it, eh? You do.

You really notice it. It's because the NHL is so quick and these players have no time and somebody's all over you. So, yeah, I think this eliminates that problem. It's good to have a right shot D in there. It is going to be hilarious once Lilligren is fully back to see So Lilligran and Brody and McCabe and Benwa, and then Riley Labushkin, I think is going to be awesome.

Can we live with Riley Labushkin for a frigging week? Yeah, I think I can.

I can. Yeah, I can be. Like, literally a week.

If CJ is to be believed, which I don't know. No, he seems to be pretty knowledgeable. They're out there trying to get somebody else, not just else, somebody better, right? If that's the case, Reilly and him and Reilly and Labushkin going to be paired together for what I think might be four games. I'm not going to clutch my pearls over that.

We lived without Reilly, period.

Yes.

We'll be fine.

Yeah. Okay. What if it's Assuming Lillegreen comes back, good pair, good pair, adequate pair. That's better than what they've played the last two games with bad pair, bad pair, good pair. It's just They need someone. They need some human being at Under Leagueman.

Last night, Matthew Nize scores the opening goal against the Arizona Coyote. Gosh, darn. Matthew Nize was born the same night of the last time.

That was never mentioned at all.

I know. I'm just going to throw it out one more time. Matthew Nye is born October 17, 2002. That was the last time the Leifs beat the Coyotes at home.

Do you want to know what happened?

That's the last time the Leaps beat the Coyotes at home. Forget the Matthew Nye was born there and born on that day. The last time the Leifs had beat the Coyotes at home was October 17th, 2002. If you're a fan of another team and you think that you know pain, you don't. You don't know pain. You have no idea. This is why when I said earlier for Montreal Canadiens fans who were complaining. Remember it went viral? I'm like, Yeah, I don't feel bad for them. Why would I feel bad for you? You went to the finals in your lifetime. If you're my age, Montreal has been to the finals twice in my lifetime. They won a cup in '93, at least. I don't feel bad for anybody. This Leifs team has been... That 2002 team was really good. They were good for a couple of years after that, and then they were bad for 12 years, made the playoffs once.

Once as a bad team.

And then were bad again. You could argue they were bad the whole time. And then have had seven or eight consecutive years of heartbreaking outs in the playoffs. And one second round appearance, I'm salty.

I have the box score. Okay, please. From that game October 17, 2002. Leaps go out to a two-nothing lead in the first period with a goal from Shane Corson and a power play goal from Thomas Caberlay. Bringing the Coyotes within one with a power play marker. Tsn broadcaster Mike Johnson.

Leaps go up three, four, and five, one with goals from Robert Zvela, Darcy Tucker, and Shane Corson again. I love Robert Zvela, by the way. He He's great.

He wore 67, which pissed me off. And in the third period, the Coyotes get two goals from, yes, you guessed it, that offensive juggernot Paul Mahrer. I don't know where the hell that came from. This game featured Danny Breer, who is now the GM of the Flyers. Shane Doane, who is now in the Leifs' front office. Briere and Doane, both minus two in that game. Bums. It featured a guy who isn't in a front office. I just want to say his name, Dan Fouct. His name is Dan Fouct. Mike Johnson, like I said, was in that game. Claude Lemieux, who was on the Coyotes. I don't remember that, but he's now a player agent. Tom Fitzgerald was on the Leifs. He's now the GM of the New Jersey Devils. Ty Domi, who's son is now on the Toronto Maple Leaps. Travis Green, who is currently a free agent, Coach, and Matt Sundeen, who has a statue outside Inside the building, the Leaps won in last night. Absolutely astounding it was that long ago.

Yeah, it's crazy.

And game-winning goalie, Trevor Kidd.

How do we feel about Joseph Wall last night, guys?

Damn, he looked great. He had the Labushkin stuff not been going on. I want to talk way more about him in the LFR. He was moving really well, tracking pucks really well. Zero worries.

Jesse, do you think that the Leaps could call goaltending a strength going into the playoff?

That's an interesting question. I would say a strength in numbers for sure, because I don't think a lot of teams have three NHL goalies that they can run out there at any moment. I think that was something that was really beneficial to the Vegas Goldenights at the end of last year, where they could rotate through goalies. Aiden Hill started the season as goalie, four, and ends up winning the Stanley Cup for them, and now look at him go now. But I think just if they're to be able to hold on to Martin Jones, just strengthen numbers for the Leifs. It's going to work out well for them.

I like the fact that they're going to try to go for it. What this does mean, though, is it's likely that... Because right now, Connor Timmins is on IR. He can go down, but they would still be over.

And they would have to waive him.

nick Robertson's the guy. Nick Robertson. You bring back Yon Croke, and then you send down nick Robertson.

And then it doesn't matter after the trade down line, right?

After the trade deadline, you could have as many people on your roster as you want as long as it fits under the salary cap. Which it won't.

With your Dano on IR, it might.

Yeah. So your Dano is going to go on IR. Timmins is probably going to come off of You could wave Timmins.

You can wave them. He makes a million one.

Then Yarn Croke comes back, which a lot of people are forgetting.

Yeah. And people were like, Oh, maybe they should just trade him. I'm like, Do you not remember how useful Kelly Yarn Croke is?

That is just It's not going to happen.

Yarn Croke is very useful.

I'd bet money, it's not going to happen.

Well, and is it the worst thing for nick Robertson to go sharpen up with the Marley, score a bunch of goals, and then by the playoff, he's back in the...

There's also probably a way you could probably squeeze it out where you don't have to do it. If If you keep delaying Jern Croke coming back, you keep Robertson on the lineup, depending on what trades they make. If they need the roster spot in the next week, then you have to send him down. But if they don't, and then you just give it a couple of more days after the trade deadline, you'll probably fit nick on the roster. Nick Robertson. And the Robertson.

Interesting factor I've wondered about. There's been a little bit of noise with Matt Murray, and he's recovering. He's on the... No, no, no, wait. He's recovering. The Leifs would never activate them from LTIR because why on Earth would they? That doesn't make any sense. What if they're able to deal them?

What if they're able to- No, apparently, he's getting ready. When all the rumors are happening, he's getting He's going to play next season. Even if he'd be around, it's a next year's problem.

Well, then I don't know. Listen, it's get creative time, and let's not forget what a week today is, the trade deadline. Their situation right now is not going to be their situation in a week.

If Matt Murray is your Martin Jones next year?

Third goalie in the minors.

Do you care?

He would have to sign a league minimum.

He's a UFA at the end of this year. Yeah.

He would have to sign a new contract.

I think that the Leifs, though, going through what they went through, and I don't want to get too far ahead because who the hell cares about the offseason right now. But if he is your Martin Jones next year, you probably don't care. He grew up a Leef fan. He did play well when he has played here. 20 games he's played here have been good.

You could do worse than that. You could do better than that.

I mean, everybody, listen, myself included, nobody expected Martin Jones to do what he did.

As the guy who gets worked up about things for a living. I can't bring myself to get worked up about the third goalie next season. Not yet.

Also, 903 in 26 games. Not the greatest.

903 is like bang on League Average.

League A, take that.

Not the greatest. Isn't that...

Dude, when we started this show, league average was like 9, 10. Yes.

Like 9, 11, 12. Scoring's gone up. I think that's a relationship the least would like to move on from.

You think? I don't see... I just see that's not what I've heard. I've heard that he's really favorable to the way that they've handled his medical situation because the least medical staff is actually really good.

Best in the biz.

It used to be the worst in the biz. It is now one of the best, which is great. An easy thing to improve. Sure. He grew up a leaf fan. He wants to be here. He wanted to be here before. I don't see why the leafs... I mean, obviously, they probably are not thrilled to be paying him that much to not play, but they didn't sign that deal.

They did.

Well, they traded for it.

They brought Matt Murray in, to Kyle Dubas, specifically, brought him in to be the starting goal tender and compete with Ilyas Samsonoff, and he lost the competition.

Dude, that...

Man, if Ilyas If Gamsonoff had been tendered by the Caps, the Leaps would have been so screwed.

They wouldn't have made the play.

They'd have been screwed.

They wouldn't have made the players.

Like, Mourazic- You need a goalie. Mourazic-mourie. Holy moly.

Adam, it wouldn't have even been Mourazic. He already wasn't on the team. So it would have been Mourie.

Mourazic wasn't on the team at that point?

No, they traded them at the Montreal draft. So it would have been Mourie and... Oh, my God. Mourie and... Oh, man. He played a bunch of games for the team. Swedish guy. What was his name? I already forget his name.

Like, goalie? Yeah. I already forget. That's how little... I think Swedish goalie. I think Gustafsson because Jesse has the jersey.

I do.

He's got a notice in my mind. I'm losing my mind.

I know who you're talking about. You know who I'm talking about, right? He's like 27, 28 now, but he was 25 at the time.

What are you thinking?

21, 22, I think. Again, we get a pass for that.

Yeah.

Do I have to look it up?

I'm looking it up. He played games for the Leifs last year. I'm almost positive.

Eric Shalgren? Yeah.

Eric Shalgren. No, it literally would have been Murray Shalgren.

Oh, my God. Who else would it have been? That Finnish goal tender that the Coyotes claimed.

Fuck off. I can't believe they did that. Yes, I can. Okay, so last year, the Leifs had playing in goal for them. Oh, you know what? Wolf might have played games. It would have been- He played seven. It was Jet Alexander. Remember him? The University goalie. Joseph Wolle, Ilyas Samsonov, Eric Sheldren, Matt Murray. But people forget Wolle took Sheldren's job. Wolle was behind Sheldren.

Yes.

And He took it.

Yes. Woll started half the playoffs last year. Well, not half, but-He was a good chunk of the last half of the-Four games in the playoffs? Yeah, half last year. He was good.

I want to say he played most of the Panthers series.

I think it's four total he played. But yeah, Wole was great. Imagine all the people.No.

We're not doing this. We're not singing. No, stop it. It's Good Deeds Cup season. Oh, And I was going to say, imagine.All the people.Imagine there was a Championship for being good to people. Imagine. I'm not sure that's what John Lennon want when he sang that song. He wanted a... He's like, Where is the Cup? Is he going to do it? No, he's not. The Chevrolet Good Deeds Cup is back for its eighth season, empowering Canadian minor hockey teams to make a meaningful impact on their communities. I want to give you an example. 2019's West Carlton Warriors from here in Ontario supported disaster relief efforts after a tornado tours through their hometown. The 2021 winner, I think we talked about this last time, the Victoria Admirals, supported the Children's Health Foundation of Vancouver Island to help more children with mental and physical challenges achieve their sports goals through specialized equipment. Now, it's $100,000 to a registered Canadian charity of your team's choice and all you need to do, this is you, your friends, your family, record eligible good deeds posted on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or X using #gooddeedsup and #contest. And then remember to tag @ChevroletCan.

Canada and #yourteamsname. And every single time a video is posted of a good deed being done, that adds to your total. And again, you get to be the Good Deeds Cup champion.

Well, Adam, some people might say that that's not realistic, and some might say you're a dreamer. But I know you're not the only one.

That's right. That's bad.

It's really good, actually.

That was my good deed. That wasn't worth it. No, it was mine.

Chevrolet Good Deeds Cup. So Chris Tanav deal. Flames fans seem to be split on the return.

Listen, in the kindest way possible, not trying to be a jerk. There's a lot of opium there.

That trade sucks. Okay, why do you think it sucks?

Listen, if I was told rumors of first-round pick, first-round pick, first-round pick for ages and ages, that's what I would be expecting.

That's what they fed the media, though. That's what they fed the media. So CJ said it yesterday on the podcast. He said the ask was first-round pick and a top prospect like an Easton count. Nick Kiprios was talking about that on his show, saying, Well, the leaf should look at parting with him for somebody like that or a loss in Kraus, which I completely disagree with. But it was something that's been talked about. And there was rumors, and CJ and Julian addressed this, of a of Toronto tax because Brad Treliving left the flames. The flames didn't fire him. There might be some hurt feelings there.

Really good way to do business.

Well, again, and I said this last episode, people were like, Well, you think you know the flames, huh? Invisible hand of Marie Edwards. Once you know, you'll see it everywhere. I think that there is a little bit of that because do you think Craig Conroy is upset that Brad Treliving resigned? No, he got a promotion. Yeah, I highly doubt it. Who's upset? Why would there be a Toronto tax then? Who's upset about it? That'd be the owner.

Now, God, I'm fascinated. When is the next CJ show?

When's he recording? Monday. He's also going to be-Oh, I can't wait. Yeah, he'll be floating around SDP next week, too. Because it's trade deadline.

He had one last week, too. Or sorry, yesterday.

Yeah, that's the one I'm talking about.

Oh, okay. I got to listen to it on the way home.

The Tanev deal, you're mad at it?

I'm not mad at it. It's just I was surprised that there wasn't a first involved. Now, you could talk yourself into this deal being two seconds. Yeah, it's not even a stretch, right? It's a second round pick that's an actual draft pick. And what's his first name?

Artem.

Artem Grushnikov. I got it. Second-round pick from 2021, I think. You got it. I heard Jeff Merrick talking about him. He's not a point producer. He sounds like a young Elia Lubushkin, but he'll punish you.

Can I? Can I just say that I heard the Jeff Merritt talk as well? He's talking. He's like, The people I talk to at 1 GM, and he said he hits hard, he hits for keeps, which I really like the way Jeff phrased that. I play for keeps. And then they talked about some other things, and he He reminds you, he does this, he does that. I'm sitting there and I'm listening with my wife, Natalie, who has so much hockey shoved in her face now. She's super invested. She's like, he didn't say he's good at hockey, though. Nobody's He's talking about this kid like he's good at hockey. So I reached out to Scott Wheeler about it.

Yeah, but you know how silly it would sound if he was just like, oh, he's good at hockey.

Yeah, I think he's describing the qualities of the player and you take those attributes.

Here's what Scott said. Sure. Really smooth skater, good defensively, developing game with the buck, but not a strength, projects to be a 6, 7 if all goes well. He's like, He's number 10 on my stars prospects, probably somewhere between 11 and 15 on a flames pool. Good. And really for a expiring 34-year-old defenseman with injury history who's been healthy lately.

Yes.

Fair. But I also think that that shows that the market that the flames were trying to create for Chris Tanev just wasn't there.

Yeah. I think people are ignoring the context. Anybody who's really unhappy with the deal. You're annoying the context around it. This was the price that everybody's willing to pay. It's a second. Clearly, the first was, Hey, this is what we want, but it's not available. He's a UFA. He's old. There's an injury history there where you got to try and make this deal before he gets injured if you're not going to hold him out of the lineup. You got a prospect that they're very happy about because apparently the Flames have a lot of offensive defensemen in their system. They just want to supplant that with some guys who are more focused on defense, which they got. A second round pick is still a second round pick, which is significant. I think it's a nice work by Conrad. I have no problem with it.

It's not bad. They have all these players available, and You're not going to get a first rounder for all of them.

Exactly. And your first rounder is coming from Hanifin.

Yeah. Well, if they trade them. Cj was talking about how you can't leave everything to the last day because you can't be doing all of them on one day. You got to make them deals, and they've been doing that. Last couple of weeks, they've already sent out a couple of guys, and then now this is the next domino, and it wasn't going to wait till the eight to do it. I don't mind it at all. I will say this.

There was some criticism at the time when the flames traded Zdorow, and we were like, Oh, man, wait till the You're going to get this. You're going to get... Well, we already know that's probably not the case. They weren't going to get all that. And now, we're a week ahead of the deadline. They've traded Tanev, they've traded Linholm. They've traded It was a door off. And now, who did they got left? They've basically taken Markstrom off the market. So you got Hanifin. And who else are we really worried about?

I don't think Anderson is going to go.

I don't think I would be very I've never understood those rumors. No. I was excited about them, believe me, but I've never understood why Calgary... If they don't want to go full rebuild, why would you trade that player? I don't understand.

So you're looking at trading Hannah Finn and maybe Jordan Osterly.

And I am not building my entire trade deadline plan around Jordan Austerly.

No offense.

You know what I mean?

Now Conreys left for his last week, he has a deal, Nona Hanifin. He's going to get a boatload because he's a very good player, and you got to focus on that. The thing about the Dora off trade, it made sense because Vancouver was willing to pay the price that he set. Same with the Lindholm deal. Winnipeg was willing to pay the price. Just do it now instead of just waiting on the fingers crossed that you can get something more. Just take the price.

Getting Sharon Govich. Remember what I talked about? Your number one priority has to be directing the career of Jonathan Huberdo? He's found his guy from within. It just took him a while. But here he is. He's been a point of game player for at least a few dozen games with Jogger, Sharon Sharon Govich.

I have to say I give credit to Craig Conroy because if you go back to last summer, so far, he's done a relatively fair job. I would say he's done a good job. Yeah, a good job. Moving off of the who didn't want to be there long term. Although, weirdly, Toffoli did. The Flames just didn't want to take the salary that he wanted.

What tilts the scale to good for me is the return for Lynn Home was ridiculous.

Yeah, and I would say Sharon Govich has been a surprise. He's been a better player than most people would have projected him to be.

It seemed like a huge downgrade, and I just don't think it's that big.

Toffoli, by the way, like I said, wanted to stay there. I wonder if Flames are doing some quick retool if they don't revisit that because he's going to be a UFA this summer. New Jersey is falling further and further out. They're probably going to trade him. I would love to see him back in a Vancouver Connect's Jersey. I think we all would. He's so funny. Way more fun than Gensel. Not because Gensel isn't great, but I think Toffoli back in Vancouver colors would be great. For the story lines alone, I want Toffoli to the Connect.

Feelings matter. Yeah. Maybe he's... Well, it's possible he's like, Yeah, F you. I don't want to come back.

I don't think so. It's a different management group. It's possible.

Just saying.

Yeah. So interesting. Speaking of that management group, it looks as though- What is this all about? It looks as though the Vancouver Knux got pretty close to trading Elias Petterson to the Carolina Hurricane.

Do you just want to mention the other side, Dallas? Oh, Dallas. It's a great ad. I think Dallas did... Jim Nill did great work. Yeah. We say Calgary did a good job getting the assets they wanted, but I think Dallas did an even better job, if you want to look at it, getting the exact guy that they want without giving up anything that they care about.

No, dude, he fits the Dallas stars like a glove. I know.

They're going to be ugly to play against.

Dude, as soon as I heard where he was going, I'm like, That frigging sucks.

Here's what I thought when I saw that. Edmonton's got to add more offense. Vegas has got to add something, too. If Dallas makes a move like that, it probably costs Vegas and Edmonton more than they were expecting. I also think Colorado is going to make a move, too, because especially Colorado, which is such an offensive-based team, right? And Dallas, which has been high scoring and less defensive since their Stanley Cup run, they still are pretty strong on defense. They're punishing, and they're going to score a bunch now. I would say Dallas looks a lot like the Colorado Avalanche team that won the Cup.

Oh, my God. Please send this to Drew.

He's going to be mad.

Don't let him hear that.

But even he would admit Colorado has one extraordinarily effective line and three others that really need a little bit of help.

And their defense is still very good. Yes.

What I would say is Colorado won the Cup with a pretty mobile decor. They had Josh Manson, who they were like, You're our default fight Patrick Maroon guy, and everyone else, you just skate around with the buck. Whereas I think Dallas is more emulating what Vegas did last year. The defenders they have are huge. They are. Almost all of them are over 6 foot. There's some real heavy boys on there, too.

Something worth mentioning, too. If you're Dallas and you're Jim Nill, and you find out who Colorado, who Edmonton, who Vancouver, or who the Golden Nights are in on, you have first round pick this year and next year to say, why don't we block that trade and just take whoever they want? Because they do that. They do that from time to time. And so teams do that. Schenetic entry. Absolutely. Absolutely. So the The great thing about what Jim Nill pulled off is that first round pick is a Dallas Star's first round pick. And if there's ever a year to get off your first round pick for Dallas, this would be the one. I don't know where their weakness is. What are you going to go get?

Do you need a weakness or can you just give yourself a strength?

It doesn't matter. For me right now with the Dallas stars, what they've gotten out of Logan Stankovan.

Who they just loaned back to Texas.

They already got a trade deadline acquisition. I Their own player.

Dude's got four career NHL games. He's got four points, three goals, one assist. Five foot two. Literally, the two people that are most hype coming into the NHL right now are the complete opposite ends of the height spectrum. We got 6'8, Matt Rempe taking over the world, and then we got Logan, who's 4'11, just being the best center in the league.

There's a great photo of Stankovan in a goal celebration circle, and I'm like, Is he really short or are the Dallas Star is huge, and it turns out the answer is yes. The answer is definitively yes.

So the NHL is moving bigger again?

Oh, yeah. Dude, I called this on the show years ago. They're going little fast offense, and the market inefficiency is going to become huge guys who can do stuff. That's the key. They got to be able to do stuff. The NHL moved off of huge guys who can't do stuff.

And then I think we overcorrected because we thought all huge guys couldn't do stuff.

Yes, or the huge guys got better. Well, they did. The huge guys were like, Okay, I can't just be huge. I got to be able to do ridiculous stuff. Quitten Byfield should not be able to do that shit. Quitten Byfield should not be able-Tage Thompson last year. Man.

He's hurt. He'll be back.

Oh, yeah. Tage Thompson, there's a good one. He'll be back. He'll be back. In growing up, they would have never allowed Tage Thompson to be. They'd be like, That's nice. You play defense. Yes. That's great. They would have nipped that in the bud when he was 12 years old.

Hey, hey. Have you considered defense?

Why are you practicing face offs, and you shoot right. Get back there.

There's two little plays that Stankowen's had over the last couple of games that have really stood out to all the hockey nerds, and they're right to be so hyped about it, and I am as well. There's this one play against the Jets where he comes into the zone and you see how relentless he is as this little guy running around the ice. Here, Maddie, bring this off. I'll just play it one time. Which number is he in? I don't need to tell you who he is here. You're going to watch him enter the zone. You're going to see this little bee buzz around at the top and just generate scoring chances. Sorry.

Is he that tiny Timbitz player at the blue line? Watch this. Put this on the screen.

So there he is coming in. Look how quick he is. Comes through the top. Wyatt Johnson gets a shot on goal here. And watch him out front. He's controlling the play. I don't know who he's up against here, but this is the screenshot we can pull.

I think the undertaker.

Look who he's battling out in front to create this goal. Everybody on the ice is bigger than him. That's the thing. It's like he's out there. Every single person who plays hockey is bigger than him, but he's getting position against of these big guys and creating a goal out in front. It's the garbage goal that you fight for in front of the net, except he's the tiniest human, he's able to fight everybody for this goal. It's impressive stuff.

With the Texas stars this year, he has 57 points in 47 games with the Dallas stars. Also in Texas, but not the Texas stars. Three goals, one assist in four games. So he's got a point of game. And as I said this morning, he was loaned back to the Texas stars. Was he? Yes. And the reason for that is because I think the Chris Tana thing, he was the odd man.

What a crazy cup of coffee. Three goals in four games. Well, and he'll be back.

I called him a center earlier, but he's been on the wing of the Wyatt Johnson, Jamie Ben line, and the three of them look just incredible together.

I just wanted to say 47 points in 57 games, like you said, but he just turned 21. To do that as a 20-year-old in the A is really, really, really, really freaking good.

Yeah.

This is a great player, man. The Dallas stars, man.

They're so pesky. This little pickpocket is from the other angle. Is there any way to put it up on the screen? Look at this.

No.

I'm going to freeze frame it. We're just going to see the way he just- Who is that giant he's taking down?

Who's that enormous person?

Can we put that up?

Is that Morgan Barron?

Put that one up there. He's so little.

Oh, my gosh.

Comes out of nowhere right from behind, pickpockets Gets the buck, turns it around, creates a little scoring chance for Wyatt Johnson out front. It's fabulous stuff.

I forget where I was going next. Got him in the gloves.

You guys know?

You're going to Vancouver. Because I want to talk about the other side of the trade, too.

Yeah. Petterson to Carolina almost happens, and it has apparently triggered Petterson to say, You know what? I will talk extension. Because he didn't want to negotiate in-season. Obviously, how would you want to leave this Vancouver Knucks team that's looking so good, right?

This might be the story of the deadline.

If he resigns. Now, there has been movement in that they're talking, but I think the way it was framed was that there was a deal imminent. From what we I know there isn't thus far, but that can change. One phone call can change that.

The Knucks have been in first place basically the entire year. They're good. They're a good hockey team. They have been playing their worst hockey and getting their worst results of the season. And this story is looming, and this story is big. And I think, I mean, obviously, every insider is going to latch onto it on account of what the hell else are you going to talk about all week, right? There's only so many times you can mention Noah Hanifin, right? I always think the trade deadline is busy and exciting no matter what, even if you take out the big names. But this is going to be a big story. And if they're not going to sign him before the trade deadline, what the hell was the point of all this?

I think there's a benefit to the Vancouver Connect here. They get to tell their fans, Hey, we're on it. And I think that's a big thing. If it were Austin Matthews, I'd be just as worried here in Toronto. I think the other thing is if they are going to trade him, and I think that's pretty remote at this point, if they are going to trade him, his price just went up because we're already talking about extension. Is it his trade price or his contract?

Trade Price or is it Contract Price?

Trade Price. It's Trade Price. I wonder what that deal would look like. No one seems to know.

However- Marty Nietzsche is the rumored centerpiece.

He's pretty good.

I saw a few people say Sebastian Aho. I don't think so. I know it's been legal in Canada for several years, but maybe lay off. Not a chance.

I think it's interesting, though. What is going to be interesting for me is the term. I think the The split here is going to come down to, maybe not the money in, but we talked last episode about, what if he just took a three-year deal? He'd only be 28. Oh, I think that's what's going to happen. But I think the reason that they were unable to get the deal done before is because Vancouver is like, no, eight. And he was like, no.

Well, he's at an awkward age. He's 26, right?

Twenty-five.

Twenty-five. So if he signs an eight-year deal that takes him to 33, what contract are you going to get at 33?

Exactly.

No. Sign... I mean, he's probably They're probably thinking three. The Knucks are probably thinking, Please get serious.

But it would be awkward if he signs a four-year deal because that takes him to 29.

Awkward for him.

29 is okay.

You're not going to get an eight your deal at 29, are you?

You bet your ass you are.

Awkward for him or awkward for the Knucks? Awkward for him.

Both. Listen, your stock goes down on the back nine. It just does. That's the life of a professional athlete. I think the eight-year deal expires beyond 30. So if this next contract takes him to 30 years old, he has a chance of getting an eight-year deal. But then beyond that... No. When Matthews signed his five-year deal, everyone talked about why the hell would the Leaps do that. But we know exactly why Matthews would It's following the more NBA-style model of, well, it's a salary cap league. The cap is going up, so I'm going to sign short term, continue to play well, short term, bigger money, short term, bigger money. Lebron signs like... How many contracts has LeBron signed in his career?

A lot. A lot. Is it double digits? It's like every year.

Yeah. You want to be signing as many contracts as you can because the salary cap keep going up. So you want to take advantage of the higher salary cap because you get a higher percentage.

Yeah. A player like William Nylander, Hey, well, why would I sign eight years? You're going to give me how much? Tell you what, let me sign on that dotted line.

That contract is going to cover any bump you would get under the salary cap.

92 million dollars I'll make it work. Yeah. And Petterson, I think, can ask for more than that. And if he signs for... He could sign like 11 times 3. And I really don't think any Knux fan should complain about that. Yes, it's three years. 11 is a lot less than a player like Petterson should be making as a free agent, in my opinion. Well, what about after three years? Well, how much will you care if you win the Stanley Cup this year?

Yeah, it's not about the... With these negotiations, I hate that thinking when you're like, What about eight years from now when that contract expires? I'm like, Well, what if we win?

The Knucks haven't had a chance to win the Cup this good in 13 three years.

To quote Dave Nonis, Who cares about the last three years of this deal?

Who cares about the last three years of this three-year deal?

The sage, Dave Nonis.

You just need an answer, I think.

I don't think you need an answer in season, though.

Do you think the public Is the public pressure is the only reason that they start negotiating again? Yes. The fact that it's been a media storm in Vancouver around this contract is the reason that Petterson's like, Okay, I guess you can talk to my agent?

I'm guessing this is starting to interfere with their trade deadline plans because you got a plan for the future. And how the hell do you do that when one of the cornerstones of your franchise, you have no idea.

Can't commit.

Yeah. You need an answer there. So his power move was, I'm not negotiating in-season, and I'm simply going to get ridiculous stats. And the Knux power move was... I will say this. I believe Elias Petterson a lot more than I believe the Vancouver Knux. I believe Petterson's willingness to wait and Petterson's willingness to leave, they're not trading them to the hurricanes. Yeah. I don't think that's an enormous bluff.

I don't think that was going to happen in this season. Even in the offseason. Maybe you're starting a conversation for, say, it just went sideways the negotiations and you need a trade partner in August, but it's not happening anytime soon.

Hey, guys, we don't have Elias Petterson, but we do have Jesperi Cough and Yemi. Get out of my face. That's not happening.

And Frederick Anderson. We sent Demko back the other way. And Quintin Hughes.

Yeah. Why not? Why stop there?

Just give them all to Carolina.

I just don't believe that. When Frida dropped it the other day, I was like, Okay, back up. You need to... Don't present that to me like I'm supposed to already know what you're talking about. That's brand new information. I I believe that calls were made. I believe all that is genuine. Do I believe they were ever going to pull the trigger on it? No, not a chance.

Interesting. I wonder how Carolina feels about that because in a sense, you just use them as a negotiation ploy.

I think they think they're getting to the front of the line if there's anything that goes wrong. There's nothing wrong with having a conversation. Yeah.

If you're in an NHL front office, I'll ask the question I always ask. What do you do all day?

Stuff like this? Yeah.

Is it a waste of time? I think it's an interesting thought exercise. In the process of talking about Petterson, I'm sure you talked about a bunch of other stuff. Who knows? Maybe you got some useful information. I don't know.

If I'm the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, and I got all this money, and I own a bunch of private jets, and I say, Hey, I'm going to fund whatever political party I want, and then I hear my GM doesn't make a phone call to Vancouver and Elias Petterson might be on the block, I'm upset.

I'm pissed off if you don't just call Jim Rutherford up or Patrick Alvian and be like, Hey, what's going on here?

How can I get Petterson?

Do the Hurricains have as good as they are? Do they have a player as good as Elias Petterson?

It's close.

I don't think-Aho is pretty good.

I thought it was pretty close.

Aho is pretty good. He's pretty damn good.

He's pretty close.

He's not Petterson.

He's pretty close.

He's on a frigging wicked deal. Berjaven did them a huge favor. But you got it. Someone calls you with that, even though you know it's a bluff, you got to listen. You got to talk. But I don't think the Canucks on their end of it were ever going to do anything.

What are you going to do? Go scout another game? Have a conversation. Go talk to another GM.

Yeah, let's go scout Elias Petterson. I don't know his game.

Also, I want to know why Carolina. I feel like Rutherford called his own stomping going, Hey, just in case, if we did do a deal, what would that look like? Because if it had been widely known that Elias Petterson was available, if you're any team in the league, you make that call, don't you?

The The Canucks? I keep saying the Knux. The Hurricanes, maybe more than any other team in the league, I'm like, That's a team that does their job. That's a team that makes phone calls. That's a team that tries things.

They do make calls. Yeah.

They just seem to be in on everything. They're one of the busiest front offices out there. So that's why Carolina. And maybe you trust Carolina to shut up about it.

Exactly. I think there's maybe that. But I also think part of the reason I was thinking about the Petterson thing, Carolina has had spectacular success in signing guys to deals that are 5, 10% below market. I wonder if Petterson was thinking, Well...

No.

Yeah. I'm not bending on this. And then all they'd have to do is qualify him, and they have him for the next year. Or he could sit But I don't think that would help his...

In a year, he'll be a UFA. Nothing's changing that. So Carolina can make that deal, and he can do the exact same thing to them that he's done to the Knux, except this time it's higher stakes because he's a UFA instead of an RFI.

But he wouldn't sit next season, is my point.

No, I think any deal that any team would make for Elias Petterson would come with an extension. You're doing a bad job if you don't get an extension with the deal.

They hadn't received permission to talk to his agent, though, about that. Who? Carolina.

Yeah, because the deal wasn't real. I think we got to be a lot further down the Vancouver is going to trade Petterson train than to get to the point where the other team is talking about an extension. Because if they're actually serious about trading him, let's say, going into next year or something because he doesn't want to be there, then you let teams talk to him, then you get the sun and the moon for him because you can move them with the extension.

I'm going to put this out there that I think this came from the Knux. Well, what's the incentive for the hurricanes? So we were in on this. We were in on this, we were unsuccessful, and now all our players are like, Was it us? Yeah. Right? Yeah. This is a shitty day for the Carolina Hurricanes. Oh, yeah. They're mad. They got to be mad today.

Well, that's what I was thinking. Maybe not so much. Wouldn't you be mad if you were thinking that maybe that's a possibility and then you were negotiated, you were used as a pun? I don't know. I don't know.

It's always fun to think about where the leaks come from. Friedmann goes and he writes this little blurb on. Ca about, Hey, the hurricanes had this deal. It's like, Okay, this sounds like the Knux told him or somebody within that organization told him, Hey, this thing happened with the hurricanes. Go write this. Then Petterson looks bad because he doesn't want to talk, and now it's forcing Vancouver's hand. Now his agent gets to go back to Vancouver and be like, What the hell? Let's talk. I don't want to get traded, all this stuff. If it all adds up and it points to one place, I think that we know where it came from.

It'll be brilliant if it works.

It might work. The Calgary Flames, I do want to go back to them quickly because now it's out there that the Flames are going to on to Markstrom because they don't want to send the wrong message.

Yeah.

Do you agree with that? They have played well of late, been on a win streak.

He's not a UFA. There's no rush to take Markstrom.

Whoa. Jesse, that's a great point. Adam, what the hell did you just say?

They don't want to send the wrong message?

No, after that, they've been playing well? Gasp? You're finally on the flames train?

I'm not like, listen. That's what I said. There's the haves and the have nots in the Western conference. There is. But no, if I was out here denying that they went on a five-game winning streak, that would be super disingenuous.

They are not on a five winning streak.

They have. It did not happen. In the last week. They are still seven points behind the Nashville Predators.

How have they lost ground?

Well, because the preds have been good. They've played two less games than the preds, but that still doesn't make up for...

God, that's I feel bad for them. I mean...

Yes, they're 7, 3, and 0 in their last 10, but the team they're facing or that they're playing is the team that didn't get to see you two, 8, 2, and 0.

To me, a Markstrom deal only makes sense if you get a goalie back because your long term plan with Dustin Wolf is obviously to not rush him.

Sure.

Right? If you're completely pulling the on that situation. What are you doing? And looking at some of the trades that have been made already, I don't think you're going to get a very good price from them anyway. Just hold on to them.

Yeah. I don't understand. There's no urgency to move them. No. Yeah. Also, you did the thing again, Adam. They're on a four-game winning streak, not a five-game winning streak. Oh, shoot.

Way to go, stupid idiot.

What a big dumb idiot.

Two episodes in a row. The Nashville Predators have won seven straight, by the way. So the YouTube thing obviously worked.

Yes, it did. Yeah, Yes, it did. Take things away from equipment managers. Deprive them of experiences. Well, we all know that a team who plays in Nashville will never get a chance to see a concert.

Could never have fun again. No. I think the only place that would be more fun that would interest somebody from Nashville is Vegas. Where else are you going to go where things are better for entertainment? Okay. You got to be spoiled in Nashville.

Nashville feels like a real place on Earth. I think that's the difference.

Yeah, Vegas is alien.

Yeah. No, whenever I go to Vegas, I feel like I'm from a visiting planet.

I get it.

The Tennessee Titans are building a new stadium, and they're doing the most Nashville thing ever. On top of it, they're building the world's largest rooftop bar. On top of it.

I love that.

I love that. There's never been anything more Nashville than that?

Oh, man. Do you remember standing on the Green Monster in Boston and having drinks? It was freezing cold. But do you guys remember doing that when we went down with the lead?

We weren't on top of the Green Monster. We were on the other side. We were on the other side. We We were by Pesky's Pole.

That's it.

I've been on top of the Green Monster.

I haven't. That was so much fun just sitting out there in the outfield drinking beers. Oh, yeah.

That was amazing. What's better than drinking beers?

Every building down there in Nashville has a rooftop bar. Do you remember walking down that strip? Just every single building, you're like, Oh, there's people up there.

They just literally removed the roof. Yeah.

Yeah. 50 preds jerseys, six girls all wearing green. 50 preds jerseys, six girls all wearing purple.

Oh, because they're...

Yeah.

It is the Nashville Predators and Bachelorette capital of the world.

So it's perfect that you build your new football stadium and you break that world record. It's going to be cool.

That is cool. I want to go to that.

Yeah, me too.

I would love to see a Titans game. I feel like that would be a fun experience. Me too.

I need to wear my Eddie George jersey.

Oh, I hope you still have it.

Of course I do.

That's incredible. I just want to throw this out there, too. This is the impact that this player has made. I'm going to send this text over to Jesse. I'll throw that up on the thingy on the... Because this is a picture. Johnny Lazarus put this out there. It's a picture of the NHL store in New York. Okay? So this is the head office merch store.

Whose Jersey- Get out of Do you see- Matt frigging Rempe.

He played, what, six games now in the NHL? Playing the League Saturday night?

Do the New York Rangers have the biggest numbers in the league, or do the Blue jackets have the smallest. Look at that.

That's a good point.

Fantilly 11. Rempe, 73.

Now, let me ask- That's what those jerseys say. Let me ask you guys a question. Yes. Look at Matt Rimpe's jersey. Look at the numbers. Look at how great that is the stitching. Everything looks great. Isn't it next year that Fanatics takes over? So are all of those things going to shrink? That's what I instantly thought because of the baseball thing, right?

Dude, those baseball jerseys are shocking.

You won't see a change to NHL jerseys for the first few years, initially, because they bought out the Quebec factory that Adidas currently makes those jerseys in. So for the first, at least a year, the jerseys just be copy and repeat from what Adidas did. And so the jerseys will remain the same. It'll just be over time as they develop their own jerseys. We'll see the changes.

That's a risky purchase. I mean, it is Matt Rempe, but The name is a good investment. The number's tough. 73. There was an NHL player I used to have on Facebook, and his profile picture was him in a preseason game, and his His number was 56.

That's a preseason ass number. Yeah, it sure is. That's not a number.

He had a teammate chirp him 56. Wow, you must be sticking to the team. He did not make the team.

No. That's the number you wear when you're going back down.

Seventy-three.

I don't know. Ryan Reeve had a great fight last night and definitely won it against Liam O'Brien.

Liam O'Brien is a tough nut, too. Yeah, he is.

Do you think, and I hope the answer is no. Reeves and Rempe don't go head to head on Saturday.

Oh, just put him in the opening face off. Yeah.

I just don't- Just put them in. I don't want Rempe to fight anymore. That's too much fighting.

No, you got to fight Reeves, though. That's Bowser. You got to kill all the bosses.

You're both dead, correct.

I'm worried about the guy.

Yeah, both of us can be right.

He fights too much for the player this player is trying to be. He's got to go Ryan Reeves.

Now, I will say Princess Peach is in the castle and Balzer is standing out there and he's just going to turn around and leave.

Come on. There's not much reason for- Maddie said, Who's Princess Peach?

Princess Peach is winning. Could you not let Luigi take this one?

She's a Nintendo character. No one else.

She's a Nintendo character, Maddie.

No, I'm kidding. Could it not be Luigi's Haunted mansion or something where he's the main character? Could someone else be the guy? Do you know what I'm saying? Who do you want to step up? I don't know. I don't know all the Rangers who could Adam's like, Panarin better fight Reeve. That would be a fight I would not enjoy watching the two of them. I bet it'll be great, but I just... I'm worried about this guy. You saw his face.

Yeah, you're worried about- Both of his eyeballs are swollen up and he's... Yeah, but then what if he coldcocks Ryan Reeves at Center Ice, and all of a sudden, that is his flag in the sand. There's a new sheriff in town.

Yeah. Fight. Toronto?

Is it in Toronto or is it in New York?

Are they in New York? Oh, no. You know what? It is in Toronto. Right. Yeah. So you knock out Ryan Reeves in Toronto on Saturday night, Hockey Night in Canada.

It's so bad when the team Tough guy gets knocked out. I'm trying to think of the last time it happened here, and the number I'm coming up with or the incident I'm coming up with, Domi, Ty Domi, went through everybody for over a decade. And then you know who finally got him? Brian Mcgratten.

Oh, Brian Mcgratten was huge. He was a senator? He was huge.

He was terrifying-looking. He looked like a fire hydrant with a beard, and he laid Ty Domi out. And the The whole building is like, Oh, that's our guy.

Well, it was like when Colton or laid out George Paris.

Yeah, Jessie's got the fight out.

October 29th, 2005, Brian Mcgratten, Ty Domi.

Domi is hanging in there.

Acc.

But he is beating the shit out of that old man. And at the time, for a professional athlete, he was an old man.

That was an uppercut.

And you never see Domi like that at the end of a fight. Ty Domi. Oh, my God.

There's a screenshot there, Matty, if you want to throw it off.

Mcgratten was so frigging big. He was so frigging big and so frigging scary for so frigging long.

It's It's rare in these NHL fights, you see a punch connect like that.

Yeah. And that's the risk. And that's why if you're Reeves and you do pretty well in a fight against a guy like Liam O'Brien, you flex your muscle to the crowd. He wasn't even supposed to go to the penalty box, but he turned to the hard cam like it was frigging wrestling. I know the main broadcast cam is over there. I got a point. Oh, I got to go.

All right, The ref spun him around, walked him off.

Yeah, he knew. Yeah. He knew. Liam O'Brien didn't seem to know.

Yeah. They're fighting. Are they fighting?

They're fighting.

Who knows? Okay. All right. Either way, we got to be good with it.

We haven't seen a fight between two players who have never played each other this obvious in a long time.

What are you talking about? He just did it four times.

No, no. It's several days before of the game. These two have never played each other, never interacted, and we're like, Yeah, they're gone.

The opening phase off? Did you get it out of the way?

I don't think those two people are going to be in the opening lineup. But first period.

First period?

First It's a period for sure.

I have a question for you guys. I might have. As I mentioned to George Paros, who has had the most in-person hearings? Which team has had the most in-person hearings in the George Paros area?

Toronto Maple Leaves. Yeah.

Known for their violence.

Who's had the most suspended games in the George Paros era?

Toronto Maple leaves.

Okay. Not Toronto. Does Shane Pinto's suspension count?

No, because that wasn't a on ice to play. Okay.

That's 41 games as well.

It's not the least. It's not the least. There was a 20-game suspension, and it's not the Flames.

Capitals?

Capitals. Tom Wilson. Tom Wilson, 20 games. Basically, it's exclusively him. The Leaps are second. The number of total suspensions, so not game suspensions, just total suspensions, is Leaps. Isn't that crazy? The Leaps have been suspended the most times since George Pérez took over. The soft leaves suspended the most times.

Where's the NHL head office? It's in Toronto.

While George is in- The league is rigged for Toronto.

People got to shut the fuck up.

That's That's crazy, isn't it? Yes.

Why did you bring that up?

I brought it up because I brought up George Paros, and I remember that I was going to get that stat out a couple of shows ago, and I thought, this is worth mentioning.

Yeah, because I saw those when the Reilly suspensions came down. Yeah.

Jeff had it out, and I was like, you know what? That is interesting.

Well, in his defense, the Lefs employed Nazem Khadri for a while.

Yeah. Well, what's interesting is when you look at the columns that Jeff puts together, one of the suspensions is for six plus because that was the Nazem Khadri suspension.

Yeah. If you take out every Nas suspension where the Lefs last.

Well, Cadre did-He got Spets on that, so. Cadre did hit a downed opponent, which was illegal until nick Cousins did it. Right.

And then it wasn't legal.

That was his big mistake.

Okay, I like that. Hey, should we do the press conference? Let's do it. Let's do it.

The Presser SDP.

The Steve Dangle Press Conference.

Timothy Lilligran, not participating in practice. Giordano, not surprising, is also not there. Just throwing that out there.

That's why they got Labushka.

Nobody knows Lilligran's timeline, right?

No. It doesn't seem long, but who the hell knows? I would hazard a guess there are guys playing who in an ideal world wouldn't be. Jake McCabe being one of them. Not a game goes by where that guy does not get smashed directly in the nose.

I think Mike Johnson said, just put a cage on for a month and be done with it. Because he keeps getting hit and then the visor keeps hitting him in the same spot and he keeps bleeding.

Mccabe is an inappropriate name because his nose looks like a map of Scotland. It's crazy. It's tough.

It's crazy.

This is from Congo Red. For Adam, if you could pick a Leo's career path, NHL career path, based entirely off of a previous player's, who would you choose? And then for Steve, Whose player path would you choose for Everly?

Oh, I like that. Wait, Adam has to choose Leo's career?

Leo's NHL career path, and you got to do Everly's based on a previous player. Got it.

And it has to be a player. Tricky.

That's a good one because you want a story, right? I want Leo to sell the movie rights to his story, right? I want her to be like, We're making a documentary about how great this player was.

John Scott?

No.

Okay. No.

I've met him. Why do you instantly... Both of you instantly go to a bad place. I'm trying to compliment you.

Well, you said movie.

Who else has a movie? How many NHL movies are made about NHL stars?

We got Herb Brooks in Miracle on Ice. We got mystery Alaska.

We got the Mighty Ducks.

We got the Mighty Ducks D1, D2, D3.

We got lots of...

We got Youngblood in the '80s with Rob Lowe.

We got Shorzy.

Shorzy? There's tons of great hockey movies. Don't tell me they're not. There's tons of Wayne Gretsky documentaries. Come on.

Leo better never forget to call his parents. That's all I'm saying.

See, there's got to be in any great story, there's got to be a little bit of... There's got to be something to overcome.

I have an answer for Everly. Okay, go. Okay. In my head, I was like, I got to pick a man because she can be a woman who has a man's career path. Who cares? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Then it was like, Haley Wickenheiser is a gold medalist and a doctor.

Oh, I like that. And played in a men's league in Europe, too.

Yeah. Haley Wickenheiser has lived one of the most ridiculous lives in the history of hockey. One of the most ridiculous lives in the history of humanity. There are not many people who are in the conversation to be on money. Haley Wickenheiser probably ought to be.

Yeah. Just like, who's the astronaut? I I always forget his name. Oh, Chris Hadfield. Yeah. There's another person that it's like, Do you ever stop? Do you ever stop achieving? How do you achieve at that level for that long doing that many things? Yeah.

You know you're a jerk for being able to play the guitar, right? That's right. Yeah. You're not supposed to be able to. Where did you find the time?

Exactly.

Probably took you no time because you're really smart. So I'm going to say Haley Wickenh. Okay.

So I would say that's a good one. I like that. I'm going to say one that might surprise you, but there's a reason. Steve Iserman. Okay. Now, the reason I say Steve Iserman is that Steve Iserman was the youngest captain in NHL history.

19. Right?

And the Detroit Red Wings nickname in the '80s was the Dead Wings. Yes. They were terrible. But who brought them to faint, really, truly. Brought them back is Stevie Izerman. He's Zermann. I want Leo to have an arc like that where he is the first piece of a Stanley Cup champion, eventually, One of the greatest teams we've seen in the modern era.

For it to be a great story, he's got to start low.

He's got to start low. That's my point.

Can't start high.

And also gold medal. And then he goes, he builds the dynasty Lightning, but then leaves before they even win. He doesn't get his ring. But then goes back to his original team, whoever they are.

And is so humble that when he gives a speech refusing to take credit for his own work, the crowd grows Jones.

Yeah. Do you remember that? Yeah. The whole crowd in Detroit went, Oh, Stevie. I think. And to be as beloved as... Because Wayne Gretsky was great. Mario Lemu was great. There's I love the Detroit fans have for Steve Iserman that I think is different.

If I'm not mistaken, Steve Iserman holds the record for all time scoring among players who played their entire career with one team. Wow. Crosby's got a shot at it.

Oh, he should get it, I think.

Unless he goes to Colorado. Stop. What? I didn't say anything.

I think Stevie Iserman would be sick. And the thing about Steve Iserman, too, is that he had a little bit of the Michael Jordan when he was younger in the sense that Michael was a scoring machine, and so was Steve Iserman. Michael had a head coach, a legend, Phil Jackson, come in and say, You're going to score less. We're going to score less, we're going to win more. And that's what Scottie Bowman told Steve Iserman. You're going to have to do these roles that are less fun. Other people are going to score some more than you do, but we're going to win. And that's what they did. Iserman wears glasses.

Leo wears glasses. The only thing I would want for Leo is better knees.

Yeah, but listen, there are going to be some injuries.

No, I know. But when you're like, Okay, he's got to follow a career path, then I'm a father. I'm like, All right, who's a player who never I got hurt? I just want him to be safe. I just want my baby boy to be safe.

I like that. I like that. So that's who I'm saying. That's who I'm saying. Young leader who's there forever. And there's this picture of Steve Iseman. And if you want to Google it, Steve Iseman, hug in the cup, missing a tooth. Do you not see that for Leo?

'97. Absolute warrior. God, I would love that.

And then he brings the cup back to Whitby.

No, we would... Okay. Whitby Ajax. This is very silly.

Okay.

I would want Leo's Day with the Cup to feature the Black Dog Pub. Okay. Scarborough.

Have you considered that it's not up to you?

No, I haven't.

Okay, just throwing that out there. Just throwing that out there. I haven't. Okay.

But for those of you who don't know, that is a place in Scarborough where the Cup has been two or three times.

Steve Iserman's last season in the NHL talking about a guy who makes sacrifices, still had 34 points '61 games. Babs had his ice time down to 12:46.

Damn. I bet he loved him.

Oh, I bet they got along like a house on fire. And you could see the points drop off, too. So at the end of the 92-93, Iserman has 137 points in 84 games. And then there's the lockout short in the year, 82 points in 58... Or sorry, in the next game... Sorry, in the next game, he had an injury short in the year, but his point total never crosses 100 again. And that's because It was more of a team game in Detroit.

What was his final season? Was it '03, '04?

'05, '06.

Was '03, '05, '06? There were a bunch of players who might have retired after '04, '05, but they were locked out for an entire year. They're like, Dude, I can't I'm not going to go out like that. Yes.

Yes.

Most games played with one franchise in NHL history, nick Lidscham's at the very top. Alex.

What?

Alex.

What?

Alex, another red wing. Delvecchio. Delvecchio? No, I thought you were going to do it Italian.

Delvecchio. That's what I thought you were going for, but I'm like, Surely it's not just that he's Italian.

I want you to say it Italian-y. Delvecchio. Thank you. And then Shane Jones, Steve Iseman is number 4. Number 11 on that list, Ken Danico.

That's great, Jesse. Thank you for bringing that clip up. Thank you for bringing up that excellent stat. That stat is brought to you by the New Jersey State Lautary. Remember, anything can happen in Jersey.

Do you think Ken Danico knows that you do the Ken Danico?

He does. We've DMed before. How do you DM?

Does he like it?

I don't know. I think-Can we bring him on? By the fact that I'm still alive, I think it means he, at very least, does not disapprove. That does not mean he approved.

Have you seen the... This is old, but have you seen the Jimmy Fallon, Mick Jagger, where Jimmy Fallon is Mick Jagger, but in the mirror? Yeah. Have you seen that?

Oh, no, no.

It's actually Jimmy Fallon, but funny.

Yes.

And I think you doing that with Ken Danico would be amazing.

I would love to do that.

Danico v. Danico.

I would love to be on a panel where you're like, Ken, you were part of those amazing Devils teams. What was it like winning your team's first ever cup in 1995? Right before he starts to answer, I go, That's a great question, Adam. It's always great to be the first.

We got two more things. Here Here we go. One is a leaf stat. There's three players in Mapleief's history that have three straight 80-point seasons. Can you name them?

Oh, man. Three players in Mapleleaf's history. I think Boria would be one. I think Matz It should be another. Are they only 80 points or did they go above that? Is it minimum? Eighty plus.

Three straight 80-plus point seasons.

Here's my guess. Boria, Matz, and Darryl Sittler.

Steve, who's your three?

Okay, I don't think Boria. Rick Five, maybe Vinnie Dampoos?

Sittler. Sittler. Five. I don't think Sandine did it. I don't think Gilmore did it. Ander Chuck might have done it.

Are we missing Mitch Marner?

Yeah. Wait.

Mitch. Mitch did it.

You got submit.

Mitch Austin Sittler.

Submit Okay, I'm going to say Mitch, Borea, because I want to get crazy, and I'll pull Matt off that and I'll do Vinnie Danfuss. Sittler, Lanny McDonald, and William Neelander. Oh, really? Last night, he got 80 points, which is his third straight 80-point season. Mitch Marner and Austin Matthews have not had three straight 80-point seasons yet. Both of them will enter number 4 and number 5 on this within the next couple of weeks when they hit their third straight 80-point season.

That's got to be because of the shortened seasons, right? Yes. Yeah. Oh, my God. Cool.

William Neelander is the third player in Leifs history to have three straight 80-point seasons.

But why is he so soft and not worth it?

And the only reason he did it is because he beat Matthews and Marner to that mark last night.

That's amazing. Yeah, pretty fun. Also, William Neillander is still the team leader in scoring.

Yeah.

He got his 50th assist last night, and so did Mitch.

Mitch looks incredible.

He looks That looks quite good.

He is all the way back.

It's very silly. Okay, so I tweeted this last night. I was like, he's already a top three right-handed defenseman in the Matthews era. I go, I'm mostly joking. No, you're not. Name three. Name three better. Who's in the conversation?

I mean, you're talking in terms of skill or results?

Yes.

Because I would say, skill-wise, Tyson Berry has got to be up there. Absolutely not. He has tons of skill. You're talking about skating, pot handling? Tyson Berry is fine. You're talking results then.

Okay, well, I was asking for skill or results, and you said, doesn't matter.

I'm like, then it has to be- Results. Because he had terrible results. Am I wrong?

No. It's not Barry.

It's certainly not.

It's not Ceece. It's not.

It can't be.

Who's in the conversation? Hunwick? Luke Shinn. Hunwick shot left.

Oh, who shoots right.

Shoots right. Luke Shinn. Roman Pollack. Roman Pollack. Justin Hall?

It would have to be Justin Hall.

Justin Hall was good.

Hell, he wasn't. Is Connor Timmen's top five? Like, Timothy Lilligren? That's the conversation. Sorry, am I missing anybody?

I don't think you are.

I don't think Igor O'Gaganov?

All right, that's Let's move on. Are we moving? We have one last. Last thing. This is from Doug. I thought it was interesting.

What's up, Doug?

Next Olympics, since you chatted about the 2010 Canada versus USA game, a lot of people forget the gold medal game was tied by USA with less than 30 seconds. Steve does not.

Absolutely no one forgets that.

Steve doesn't.

There's not a human being alive who is- A lot of Canadians don't forget that.

So this is scenario for next Olympics. Adam, your coach of Team USA. Steve, your Coach of Team Canada. Okay. Great. Goalie is pulled 30 seconds left. Adam's down. What six players is Adam throwing out there for his goalie pulled lineup? Steve, what five players are you putting out there to defend Adam from scoring?

Do I get to decide Adam's players?

No, your team Canada. Adam's team USA.

You're the coach of your team.

Maddie. All right. Maddie's laughing at you.

Okay. All right. So obviously, I'm a Lee fan, but obviously this is obvious.

It's Austin Matthews.

It's Austin Matthews.

He's going to be one of your six.

Shit.

You got to defend him.

I'm going to say Adam Fox. Okay?

You know your... No. No? No, no. Go ahead. No, no. What are your six?

My sixth, right? Okay. Austin Matthews, Adam Fox. All right. Hart Trophy winner, Rocket Richard Trophy winner, Norris Trophy winner. Those three guys. Sure. Matthew Kuchuk. That really sucks, doesn't it, Steve? Really, really sucks. Then I'm throwing out Jack Eichel, Jacob Slaven, JT Miller, and... How many freaking players is that? Whoa, that's three.

Jacob Slaven, Jack Eichel, JT Miller. Jt Miller, Adam Fox, Matthews. And K'Chuck. You already got six.

Okay, that's it. I'm good with that. Oh, shit. I didn't even take Charlie McAvoy.

The reason I was a little down on your list very early on is because you took two defensemen.

Well, I just figured with six and the defense is- You're trying to score a goal. I know. Why did you get two defensemen? Because I figured Adam Fox would do all the offense and Jacob Slaven could do all the, Hey, if somebody gets too high, I don't know.

Nathan McKinnon, Connor McDavid, Mark Stone.

Eew, eew. Gross. Stinky.

Mekar Taves. At this point, Aiden Hill.

Oh, you picked your goalie, too.

Well, I probably got to.

Because it's six on five, right?

Hill-i have to pick six. Adam has to pick six.

Who are your goalies? What is it again? Hill?

Aiden Hill, Kael McCard, Devante, Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, frigging Mark Stone.

It's pretty good.

It's a lot of speed.

I don't think Adam scores.

I hate the fact that- Unless Mark Stone is the one that bothers the most.

The takeaway machine. What was one? I think it's curious that you don't have Mitch Marner.

Wow, are you a hater?

Defending a lead. Who the hell do I take off? Yeah, that's the thing, though.

Like, Stone, McKinnon, McDavid.

And then you have two defense. And you don't have Sydney Crosby?

Who do I kick off?

Games taking place tomorrow. You don't have Sydney Crosby. Crosby on the ice for that. You don't have Sydney Crosby on?

Game on the line. It's 30 seconds. Andre Iguedala?

Yo, Mark Stone is your Andre Agudala, I think.

You don't have Sydney Crosby?

It's Mark Stone, though.

It's Sydney Crosby. There'd be the golden goal, and then if Mark Stone's out there, the golden stole, as in stolen the fuck.

The golden... Go to jail.

I liked it, and I think that you should, too.

The golden pound Round of tape on the butt end of his stick. No, that's my answer. I'm sticking to it. Wow.

And fans are going to...

Sydney Crosby and Mitch Marner left off the ice. Wow. For Devon.

Now, imagine I change my... Oh, yeah, two defensemen. Mitch Marner can look at the best. You imagine I put four forwards out there when it has all I'd look like?

Put Mitch out there next to my car.

On the right? Yeah, have two righties out there? That's That's the most ridiculous part of it. Not that he's not a defenseman. That's the most ridiculous part of it. Imagine I take out, let's say, McKinnon, and I put Marner. People are like, this fucking guy. That would be...

You can't do that.

The guy who had the Matthews tweet last week just said, Marner's better than McKinnon. Yeah, no. That's my answer. I'm sicken to it.

Okay. Adam, I feel like you're lacking high-end scoring. You got Matthews, obviously. Okay. Chuck's going to be able to get something in there. Yeah.

Adam Fox Who am I? Okay, I could go with Gensel. No. Kyle Connor, Patrick Cain, Jason Robertson.

Clayton Keller is probably in that conversation. Alex Duprin cat?

I put JT Miller and Jack Eichel.

You know who I think really should be out there instead of Adam Fox? I'm not trying to disparage Adam Fox at all, but-Quinn Hughes?

You're crazy that you think...

One, Quinn Hughes. Two, Jack Hughes.

Yeah, Yeah.

You can go either Hughes in that spot, and I would be happy.

Would you go five forwards, one D?

Maybe. You're trying to score.

Yeah, but if two of your D are Adam Fox and Quinn Hughes, I think you could.

Yeah, maybe I should take Slaven off and put Hughes on. I just can't take Adam Fox off the ice.

Yeah. I think it might be Hughes and Fox.

Hughes is probably better.

Yeah. Like, Hughes and Jack Hughes.

The reason... Okay. And Luke. And Luke. All of them. Let's put them all on.

And Hughes. Yeah. And Hugh Jack. The long lost other Hughes.

If you want more finish, to bring cats in American. Anyway, I don't know. The reason I wanted Matthews to be set up for his big shot, right? And I figured JT Miller can clean up rebounds and also shoot a crazy man and do anything you want him to do. Jack Eichel is going to set you up. Adam Fox is going to set you up.

No, dude. You have Eichel in the right-handed bomb. You have Matthews in the left-handed bomb. You You have JT Miller and Matthew Kuchuk fucking shit up in front of the net. Then you have Quinn Hughes and Adam Fox walking the blue line.

That's going to be a crazy- That's pretty good. That's going to be a crazy-ass team, man. I can't wait to see that. Can't wait. Now, to end the episode, we're going to do something a little bit different. Randy Druzen, who is an author, is going to join us. She's talking about her book, Behind the Mask: A Revealing Look at 12 of the Greatest Goalies in Hockey History. What's crazy about this book, and really interesting, is that she interviews people around them. What made their careers, and she gets some pretty cool stories. And these are not just modern goalies, although Cary Price is involved. There are goalies all the way back to guys like Mike Palmateer and that thing. So let's bring on Randy. Bringing on Randy Druzen. The book is called Behind the Mask, and this is about 12 different star NHL goalies, some that you may have grown up with, some that have just retired, some that are a little bit more contemporary. Randy, welcome to the show. We're so excited to have you on. I want to just run through the list of goalies that you've done profiles on before we get to the concept of the book.

Roger Crozier, Rogui Vachon, Jerry Chivers. This is one I I don't know, Ed Giacomen. I hope I pronounced that right. Tony Esposido, Vlad Trechiac, Mike Palmatier, Grant Führ, Roberto Lo'Wango, Marc-Andre Fleury, Hendrik Lundquist, and Cary Price. So what was the goal and how is this book formatted? Because it's It's different from any hockey book I've ever heard of.

Yeah. I mean, it's formatted like an anthology. Each goalie gets his own chapter. So therefore, people who have interest in five goalies only have to read those five chapters. They don't have to read the rest. So every chapter is self-contained. And I did my best to make sure there was no... There's some overlap in some instances where the goalies played each other. I tried to make sure there were no discrepancies in describing a certain series from one chapter to the next. So there should be some consistency as well.

Okay, so let's go through some names. We'll start with somebody that everybody knows. Marc-andre Fleury. The chapter on him, obviously, he's beloved. Really mean guy.

Yeah, I hate him. Nasty.

What did you find out about him? There's so much done on Marco André Fleury, but I think there's a lot that's still untold.

Well, I think with him is he's such a nice person, and he's so much fun, which is different than a lot of goalies, that people overlook the fact he's very intense competitor. He would stay on that ice and not leave until the coaches basically said, Okay, it's time. You need to leave us alone now. He was really intense, and he's still intense. And I think that's why his career has lasted so long. It's not because he's a friendly guy, which he is. It's because he's an intense competitor and he loves the game. And a practical Joker, I might add.

Oh, yeah. No question. No question. Guys like... One of the things I think that is such a crime, and it's politically a crime, because Vlad Tretiak never played an NHL game, but he is widely regarded as probably one of the top five goal tenders of all time still in certain circumstances. When you're doing... Because you're talking to people, not just these goal tenders themselves, but you're talking to people around them. How did you start the research on a guy like him?

Yeah, Tretiak was the most challenging chapter just because there's not as much written about him in English language publications. I just started by going through old newspaper archives following the '72 Summit series, his other appearances in Olympics and World Championships. I also spoke to Alex Braverman, who's a hockey insider, so to speak, who speaks Russian. He really helped put me in touch with Tretiak, and he did the interview for me by translating my questions into Russian and translating his answers into English. So that's how that interview worked. It was the first time I'd done anything like that, but I think it worked out quite well.

Steve, you know how easy that is?

It's extremely not easy, actually, as I've discovered.

Former KHL employee, Steve Dangle.

Yeah, contractor. How dare you?

Yeah, that's right.

I want to know, and I think a lot of people want to know about Cary Price, who's such an interesting figure in modern hockey, just for how beloved he is in Montreal. The lack of longevity hurt some of the all-time conversation with him, but there's no question that for a period of time, he was the most dominant goal tender in the NHL and arguably the most dominant player in the NHL.

Definitely. And that one season was a record-setting season. It was just phenomenal, and all the awards he won and the people he amazed with his performance. But also the thing about price is, even when he wasn't at his best at the top of his games, he still freaked out NHL players. He still was in their heads, and you were still getting comments from them saying, He's the best goalie in the league, even when the stats suggested otherwise. He just had this ability to get into the heads of opposing players in a way that a lot of goalies don't.

It's a fear, right? You almost wonder if he had to face better shots just because teams feel like they had to elevate their game against him, right?

I think so. I think also what comes to mind now is when there was a poll among NHL players, they ranked him as the best goalie, even though, again, his stats might not have back that up. There might be other goalies who are statistically better, but from a psychological perspective, there was no one better at intimidating opposing shooters. I mean, from this era, you go back into the '90s and the '80s, there's other goalies who did that. But I think from the common era, the current era, rather, I think Price is probably one of the best at that.

Why goalies for the subject of the book?

Oh, you guys must know the answer to that. You're hockey guys. You know they're different.

They're weird.

I mean, I think traditionally, a lot of them were very weird. Because it takes a certain personality to want to stand in front of a puck without a mask. And that's the way it was in the beginning. Now, because the equipment has improved and it's more systemized, the approach for goalies to hone their skills and to go through the system, I feel like they're not quite as odd as they used to be because really odd person would not make it through that selection process. But they are different. They do march to the beat of their own drummer. In many cases, they're a little quirky. I wouldn't say completely odd, but I'd say a little quirky.

Very much looking forward to the chapter of Mike Polmeteer because seeing him play in the Legends game, what, three, four years ago, or maybe even five years ago now, where he played and then he fell on his back. I'm like, Please don't break something, man. Like, it's amazing. That was the end of it. Yeah, he was like, Okay, we got to go. Jess, do you have any one you want Can I add here?

I always like asking the author of the book, what's your favorite story from the book?

My favorite story? Well, there's so many. That's why I like writing about goalies rather than say left wingers. I feel like Marc-André Fleury, when I was interviewing the goalie coach from the Penguins, said there was this time where he was standing on the ice at the end of a practice chatting with someone about something, and he heard this ruckus over at the bench. And he looked over and he actually saw Fleury jumping over the boards into the bench, Superman style. And he had such exuberance, and there was such a great reception that it's something that stuck out in this goalie coach's mind enough for him to tell me this 10 years later. Like head first? I think so. I asked for the details, and he was laughing a little too hard to share them with me. But I mean, Superman didn't fly backwards, so it must have been.

I definitely expected that story to end with. So then he started doing it all the time. But thankfully, I think for his team and his fans and his agent, he did not do that.

The other thing that was great with Flurry, I think you may have seen there was a game last year where he wanted to get into, was it last year or the season before? It may have been last season, where he wanted to get into a dust-up. He really wanted to get into a brawl.

With Jordan Bittington. We talked about this, what, three episodes? Yeah, maybe even less. Yeah, Monday? We just talked about this incident. It's so funny that you bring that up.

It was a great incident. You can see Fleury, he basically said to the ref, I need to go get my stuff because I don't like having my hair this way.

Amazing.

The ref was like, Okay, you better go get your mask then. You don't want your hair looking like everyone's feet.

Behind the mask, a revealing look at 12 of the greatest goalies in hockey history by Randy Druzen. Randy, thanks for your time today. We really appreciate it.

Thank you. It's been fun. The Steve Dangle podcast. Follow the guys on Twitter @steve_dangle, @AdamWYLDE, and @JesseBlake.

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