Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: All right, everybody, welcome back to the good old hockey podcast. This is episode number 55. Oh, halfway to 100.
Crazy, crazy, crazy time. 50 doesn't feel real.
It probably feels.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Only feels like I've hopped on six.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know why that would be, but, yeah, we had little Pupper join the intro with you. How's he doing? How's. How's sleep going for you?
[00:00:36] Speaker B: It's actually been pretty decent. He hasn't been too bad.
He did just eat the cap to one of the doorstop things in my room, so he's being a little bit of a menace. Tried to eat my staircase a couple times, but other than that, he's been great, dude. He's been awesome.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: Good boy. He's a good boy. That's what we like to see.
But, yeah, we've had.
Yeah, crazy week. Boise State in the College Football Playoff. Feels surreal. Ashton Gentee, Heisman finalist, going nuts. I'm running on very low fumes and low, low sleep this weekend.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: How was that game?
[00:01:16] Speaker A: It was electric. It was on a Friday night, which I kind of wish it was Saturday, but got on the field, rushed the field after. Felt like a sardine. There were so many people on the field. And then I had actually left after, before they took the field goal post down, so I didn't get to see all that.
Kind of bummed about that, but I didn't think they were going to do it. I was like, there's not enough people helping with this field goal post. There was only like. There's, like, 20 people probably doing it at the time I was there.
But they were. They were working and they got it down into the river. I saw Post Malone sign the post. Too crazy.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: It was 23 degrees outside. I highly doubt anybody who did that was sober, feeling the cold or feeling their own strength. So that, too. That's pretty awesome. They threw it in the river and everything.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it was. It was a cool, cool moment. Great history, historical time, boys, you know, all that stuff. But this isn't a college football podcast. This is a hockey podcast. We got one, and we do have one of those. That's this one that you guys are listening to.
Hockey. What was last week? Last week was.
Oh, we had a win. No, we had a win in our men's league.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Yes, we did. That was a shootout. Quite a. Quite a game.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: Someone was puking.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: I. I had some. Something was going on with my stomach. I ate a Maverick pizza, which, for those of you who are not in the state of Idaho or unfamiliar with what Maverick is. That's a gas station.
I had that probably 45 minutes before our game, and it just did not sit well in between periods and actually.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: Ran out of you, I guess.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: It was so bad.
But we got the win. Shoot out. Four to three win. Yeah, it was a good time.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: I. I want to say that the timeout called in the third was just perfect for you because I knew we called that and you skated right over and just.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: I called it. I called it.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Called it. Oh, my God. I didn't know you called it.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: It's like, hey, rep, I need to dive out for a second.
[00:03:22] Speaker A: Yeah, well, guess what? We still got the dub and you got the player. The chain. You got the chain.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: Oh, I don't have it with me. I should have brought it up.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: Oh, you should have worn it on.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: It's downstairs. Crap. That would have been awesome.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah, that would have been funny. But, yeah, you got player of the game. Alan played out, like, outstanding despite throwing up every. Every intermission and every big stoppage we had. There was one. We. We drew a penalty. Yeah, we drew a penalty. And we were getting Allen to escape to the bench. I just felt so bad because the minute that he got to the bench, they touched the puck. Whistle blown. And I was like, oh. Just sprinted back for that. And now you can't even throw up because he's got to go back because we got a face off.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: I did. I did very quickly. But we're all good.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, good.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: It should be fine by tomorrow. I'm feeling a lot better. Stomach's feeling good.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: Great.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: So awesome. Hopefully we get another win. I don't know.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll find out. But we've got some pretty big news in terms of trades. What we're going to do is we're going to go over the two trades that happened. One happened today, actually, Monday.
And then we're going to go over the Four nations roster. They released, I want to say, on Wednesday when we released last week. So a little bit of a week late to it, but NHL always screws us over and waits till like, the day after to release any news for us.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: So you or the night of the night we record one of these.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: So I'm sure there'll be something else crazy that happened that we will miss. But yeah, we'll go over that.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: He's right into the Capitals tonight waiting for that.
[00:04:51] Speaker A: Yeah, it's gonna happen.
Imagine that. That'd be crazy.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: I'm pretty sure the Penguins are on like a four game win streak too. Or something like that. They've won a few in a row. I don't think he's getting traded.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I don't think he is either. But someone did get traded. Jacob Truba of the New York Rangers. The captain gets traded to the Anaheim Ducks for. Don't know how to say this guy's name. Earl Vaccine.
Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone in the comments, but. And a fourth round pick. The 2025 NHL Draft. So the Rangers just traded their captain for a bag of marbles.
But also at the same time, we're gonna look at his stats here. He's got 6 assists, 0 goals, a minus 3, 46 shots on net and 24 games played. What were you saying earlier about his giveaways?
[00:05:48] Speaker B: I. Let me pull it up here real quick. So we were at it before we hopped on here. It. See, I haven't watched a New York Rangers game this year except for the one that they played the Sharks. And I think they beat him 3 to 2 in overtime. Might have been a shootout.
He hasn't done anything.
It seems like he's kind of been floating. So he's. He has six takeaways, right? Which is something you want out of a defenseman, right? Like you won't want your defense taking the puck away off of guys. Obviously, players typically have more giveaways than they do takeaways. But he's got 23 giveaways to six takeaways.
He's currently almost at last season's giveaway number, which was 33, but he did that in 69 games played, whereas we're 24 games into the season. So he's given the puck away at least once a night, which he has never done before in his career.
Pardon me? He's done one time before in his career. He's been brutal.
At least from what I'm seeing. He's not blocking that many shots.
He's not laying that many hits. For a guy you think of as like a big, bruisy, physical defenseman. Yeah, 39 hits in 23 or 24 games played. Whereas last season he put up almost 269.
It seems like he's just floating out there.
People tend to think of him as some like.
I know there's that. That the thing about him, he's a dirty player, right? People like to say he throws the elbow a lot. I don't really have an opinion. I think I've seen some questionable heads from him, but he is still seen as like a decent defensive player. But he's been awful this season, at least statistically.
So I see why the trade happened. I'm surprised that the Rangers didn't have to give up some sort of prospect to get rid of him. I'm honestly surprised that they got a fourth round pick and Row Vacanine and I couldn't tell you anything about that guy, but yeah, I'm shocked they didn't have to give some. That Rangers didn't have to give somebody up to get him off their team with that contract. Eight million.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: He's still getting paid for another season after this season, so the Ducks are committing to him for at least another.
[00:08:15] Speaker A: Year, which is crazy because it's like, I don't. The Ducks aren't really in a situation where like they're not. I don't really know what the Ducks are in right now. They're not really rebuilding, but they're not. They're. I think they're developing and maybe they see him as a good mentor figure, which, you know, his. He's won a ton of off ice awards for various things.
You know, like you said with the dirty player thing.
I don't. Hockey's always had quote unquote dirty players and now those dirty players just get looked down upon.
I know his elbows pretty nasty and gnarly, but when you're his size and you're going up against a guy who's 5, 8, 5, 10, 5, 11, 6 foot, even that elbow, like, I, I don't know, sometimes I get frustrated when people just want to blame the elbow or whatnot. When it's like, dude, the guy's like, how tall is Jacob Chuba? 6, 4.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: He's 6, 3, 2, 12. He's a big dude.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: I just find it interesting. It's like people, people like to say guys like that, guys like Raikou Gudas or like another Duck, that's going to be an interesting D pair. And I think, I believe they both play the right side, but I definitely think they should put them together at least for a shift just to see what happens. But yeah, people like to call these guys like extremely dirty players. I don't think I've seen a single Jacob Truba hit where I'm like, there was that one in the playoffs where he like charged and like dove at a guy. Yeah, that was pretty close. That was against the Canes last season. I forget he flipped over. It might have been natures. Yeah, yeah. I think it might have been on nature's. But those were your average Scott Stevens hits in the 90s.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: Which obviously, the game of hockey is changing. It's faster, it's way more skilled than it was in 1998.
But I just find it funny because that was just a standard hit.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: You know, not even. Well, just about 20 years ago. And now it's seen as you're the. One of the dirtiest players in the league now, which I find pretty interesting. But, yeah, who knows? I think it might be a good move for the Ducks, the Rangers. It seemed like he was going to get scratched regardless, so at least they got some back for him. And at least they didn't have to give up, like, a prospect to get rid of his. His cap. Because that cap, it is brutal.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: No, it really is. So.
Don't know, like, what the Ducks are going to use him for. I think Ragutis and him on a line together would be terrifying as a forward or anyone on the island.
Yeah, it would.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: Watch out.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: That, too. Yeah. Honestly. Yeah. Goalies, too. Yep.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: That rank, I think it was the Penguins. Panthers beat the Leafs a couple years ago.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Yeah. And over time, he just yells in his face, yeah, yeah, Ducks. Don't know what you're doing there, but Rangers. You know, I think if you're a Rangers fan, you're probably.
Maybe you're not happy, but I feel like his contract was something else. Obviously, he's your captain, and I think he was pretty upset. There's a quote from him. He said yesterday morning it was accept this trade or scratching you. I said, okay.
Then it was, accept this trade or you're going on waivers. I said, okay to write a passage to get fired from Madison Square Garden.
So I think the Rangers were just.
Just about done with him. They tried last summer.
Go ahead.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: Oh, I was just gonna say, I find it funny that they've traded their last three captains.
They traded Brian McDonough, I believe Ryan Callahan was the captain before that, but he. They traded Brian Callahan away, they traded Brian McDonough away, and now Jacob Truba. I wonder who's next for that team.
Yeah, like, I know we were talking a little bit about this yesterday.
If you look at their rock, like, I can't think of a single player that I would really say, yeah, this guy's probably captaincy material. Like, I don't think Artemi Panarin's necessarily a big leader in the locker room.
I might be wrong. You know, at the end of the day, I don't know these guys personally. I don't know what they're like behind closed doors. But, yeah, maybe you give it to Igor Shusturkin. I mean, he just signed that huge contract.
Yeah. 11.5 mil.
Crazy. Hey, it's happened before. Roberta Longo is captain for a couple games.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: True.
[00:12:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: I just don't see anybody else on that roster that I'm like that. That makes sense. Yeah.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: I could see like meek, just like pure look on the outside looking in. It's a banished or even Crider they want to get rid of, I want to say. Or they were going to.
[00:13:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:07] Speaker A: So I don't even. They're probably gonna run three assistants for a while until they figure it out.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: I might be able to see like a Vinnie Trocheck captaincy. That guy seems like a.
To be around. He seems hilarious. Just all the clips I've seen of him making fun of the teams and stuff like that. Like joking, having a good time playing hockey.
[00:13:27] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: Maybe Andre Miller in a couple years or Adam Fox. But I, I just really don't see anybody who's like right now I'm like, yeah, that could be the captain of an NHL team on that roster. It doesn't seem like they have many leaders and I think their standings situation kind of shows that like that team should consistently be top of the league.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: And they're nowhere near it right now.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: Nope. But we're gonna move on to another trade and it involves our favorite team, the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood today has been swapped for Alexander Georgiev with the Colorado Avalanche. So the Avalanche received Mackenzie Blackwood, Giovanni Smith and a 2027 fifth round pick. Sharks get back Alexander Georgiev. Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2026 second round and a 2025 fifth round pick.
Alan, how are we feeling?
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Upset. I mean, I'm sad. I think I've been saying for the last bit, I've been saying for a while now, Mackenzie Blackwood is great.
[00:14:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: I, I've said it. I've thrown around the term. I don't know if I've done this on camera, but I've thrown around the term. Mackenzie Blackwood is elite.
And I don't know if he's necessarily elite, but he's a great NHL goalie.
[00:14:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: So I am sad to see him go. He's. He's been playing fantastic this season. He's up there. I believe. I. We saw. He's fifth in league saves right now. He's got 583 saves, tied with Jordan Biddington for fourth.
He's. Or pardon me, shots against. He's five.
I was way off on that. He's still fifth. Yeah. He's fifth and save. Sorry. He's fourth in shots against.911, save percentage, 3.0 goals against average. Like, he's been great.
I can't complain. I mean, he's done exactly what the Sharks have needed into. He's kept the Sharks in games where they didn't deserve to be in, which I think is only going to help progress the team and help them out in the long run. It's like when you have a young team and you know you're getting blown out eight to one every night like it seemed it was last year, that's not helping anything. But when you have a young team, I mean, even if they're not in the game, but their goal is keeping them in the game, that's at least a morale boost, right?
[00:16:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: And we kind of saw that the other day. We put up 51 or 50 saves against the Panthers.
The Sharks didn't deserve to be in that game, but they were in that game because him and.
[00:16:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: So all in all, I'm sad to see him go. At the same time, I think the writing was kind of on the wall there. He's going to get traded at the deadline or in the off season. Regardless. You have Yaroslav Askrov coming up and he's one of, if not the best goalie prospects that's still outside of the NHL.
I would be willing to go on a limb and say he's the best goal. Goalie prospect outside the NHL. I think Dustin Wolf is very much comparable, but he is now an NHL goalie.
So it's like, you got to make room for that guy at some point. I don't see why they brought a goalie back.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Yeah, that was weird to me.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: I could see them not wanting to run Askarov and Vaynerchuk as a tandem right now.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: I feel like your deals might be a good. Yeah, Georgia might be a good, like, mentor figure he's got, you know, not that Vanna Check is. No, Vanacheck is not a good mentor for this kid.
Yeah.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Georgiev is an NHL veteran at this point, I'd say especially with the team he's been on with the Avalanche. So he knows what he's doing. And I think, you know, like you said, it would have been awesome to be able to keep Blackwood and ask her off together, but I think with her, I just don't think that would have panned out. And like you were saying earlier, his. His value right now is red hot with the way he's been playing, especially. And on the flip side, you know, as Sharks fans, we feel how we feel. But I think if you are. God, my beanie's all weird. Hold on. If you are a, if you are a Colorado Avalanche fan right now, you're probably pretty pumped because that's kind of something that they've always been not missing, but definitely lacking is goalie goaltending.
And I think that Georgiev just wasn't enough for them. Yeah, and Blackwood's still young too, so he's got some time to develop. And you know, it's not like Kale Makar or Nathan McKinnon are old by any means. So it's not. I think this is a great, great trade on both ends, which I think I always like to see in the NHL.
You know, sometimes there's fleece jobs where you're, you know, like this troop of trade. You're just like what are you thinking? But this one was like a very beneficial to both teams, obviously both Western Conference teams. But I don't think it's going to get in our way as a Sharks just because we have a lot of time left till we're competitive. But also snagging a second round pick out of that GM Mike Greer. Gm, baby.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Before we get off the, the Avalanches point of view. So since they had Patrick Waugh and I believe he retired in 2004. Yeah, might have been a little bit after that. But since they've had Patrick Waugh, their franchise best goalie is to my knowledge one of two guys that is Craig Anderson and Semyon Varlamov. Those are the two guys I can think of. They've had Darcy Kemper, they've had Georgiev obviously for a while now.
I think Blackwood. Hang on. My dog is eating my chair. Can you stop?
Can you not eat my chair? Thank you, buddy.
I think Blackwood, if he remains at this level and I'm a huge Craig Anderson fan, I love that guy. When he was playing, I remember the Sharks played a playoff series against him. This must have been 2010 when I was first like really, really diving into hockey.
I started playing goalie around that time and I love that guy.
He was great then. I'm a big fan. Him, he had one of the best seasons in NHL history as a goalie and nobody seems to pay attention. He put up like a 941 say percentage over like 50 something games. Nobody pays attention to that.
At the same time, him being your franchise best goalie in the last, you know, 20 something years, that's not a good thing. Yeah, either that Or Semion Varlamov, who. He's a great backup now for the Islanders, and he has been for a few years, but, like, that's not a starting goalie in the NHL. Yeah, it was for a brief period of time, but he wasn't a great one.
I think it's going to work out well for them. They. They now have a legitimate goalie, and he's young. He has time to grow. They have a good defensive roster in front of them, or at least they're potentially good.
They have all the opportunity in the world. Their. Their biggest issue this year has been goaltending. They haven't been able to buy a save off Giorgio. Yeah. And then they're back up. I forget his name. Anunin.
He's not been good either.
[00:21:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: So I think for the Sharks, too. I think it's kind of helping our tank situation.
And also I think for Blackwood and where he's at in his career, I want to say he's like 25, 26, maybe 27. But, yeah, where he's at in his career, he does not need to be on a rebuilding team.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: No.
[00:21:38] Speaker A: And he's a fantastic goalie. And maybe his numbers don't. I mean, they look great on paper to me, knowing the situation, but if you're on the outside looking in, looking at his numbers, with the defense that's in front of him, he's playing fantastic. So I'm excited to see how he does with the Avalanche, who I think has a pretty solid defensive core.
So I think, honestly, Avalanche are kind of sneaky. I think that they just bolstered themselves immensely to be talked about in the Stanley cup playoffs.
Obviously, you know, we'll see how it shakes out, but I'm happy for both of them. Do you have anything else you can think, Joseph?
[00:22:23] Speaker B: Joe Sakic did his job. He got them a goalie. That's been. I mean, I've been looking at, like, the Avalanche. They're a great team. I. I don't think anybody is going to look at their roster and go, that team sucks. Right?
[00:22:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: They've been middling this year, and it's because they have not been able to buy a save.
When you're consistently out shooting teams and getting beat by multiple goals, that's a problem. And it's not because you don't have guys on the roster that, like, elsewhere on the roster that aren't succeeding. Yeah. Nathan McKinnon, Miko Ran, and they're both having good seasons.
He addressed their biggest issue. I think they're Going to get back, like, comfortably into the playoff picture.
[00:23:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: And very quickly.
And I think that they're going to be a contender.
I know that might be a little bit of a ridiculous statement because they're currently sitting there in the second wild card spot in the last, but.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: No, I mean, a goalie could turn their season around.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: Absolutely. Especially somebody who's been playing.
I know a lot of people. I bet you a lot of the guys who watch our podcast. Guys and girls who watch our podcast.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Girls watch.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: That's a strong assumption. Yeah.
A lot of the.
[00:23:45] Speaker A: Hey, if you are. Appreciate you. If you are a girl, that appreciates you immensely. But we know that. We know our crowd.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: I'm a big PWHL fan. Ladies.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: No, but it's just like they shouldn't be a team that's sitting in the second wild card spot. I don't think anybody who watches our podcast is expecting them to be there, but they have over 100 goals allowed this season. They're. They. They only have five less goals allowed than the San Jose Sharks, and they just got a legitimate goalie. What I was saying before I lost my train of thought, most people probably are not watching San Jose Sharks games unless they are San Jose Sharks fans. But Blackwood has been.
I mean, he's been unbelievable for us, and I think he's going to make a big impact on that organization in, like, immediately. I think they're going to turn it around. They're going to be contenders for.
I mean, we're early enough in the season. They're not that far behind the Wild for the best team in the Western Conference. Yeah.
Best team in the league, buddy. You gotta quit it.
Give me one second. Let me go get him his toy.
[00:25:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: We'll be right back.
All right, we're back. Alan had to. He was biting the chair.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: I bite my dog back.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Yeah, he did have to fight him. Okay. It happens.
But where's going? Oh, yes. Honestly, if I had to give both these teams a grade, I'd give them both an A. Flat A. Yeah.
Maybe a little bit more for the av. Like, the Avalanche can benefit a little bit more. Like, right off the bat, the Sharks is more. Not a risk, but a little. There's a little risk involved in it.
So that's why Avalanche just get a slight, slight advantage, but not by much. But we're going to break down this four nations roster. Maybe the reason you clicked on this video. So that's what we're gonna do.
I'm gonna pull up my screen here. We're gonna show you guys.
We're gonna go through each team, kind of read it off. For those of you listening and not watching on Team Canada. In forward, we've got Sam Bennett, seth Jarvis, Connor McDavid, Anthony Sorelli, Travis Kinekny, Braden Point, Sydney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon, Sam Reinhardt, Brandon Hegel, Brad Marshan, Mark Stone, and Mitch Marner. On defense, got Kale Makar, Colton Papiaco. How do you say that?
[00:26:21] Speaker B: Paraco Paro.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Sorry, I thought that was a p. Hero. Shay Theodore, Josh Morrissey, Alex Petrangelo, Devon Taves and Travis Sanheim. Annette. This is where I think they are going to struggle. Jordan Bennington, Aiden Hill, and Sam Montbo. Sam Montbow is an interesting pick here. We'll kind of go through these teams, and I don't know if you want to pick out anyone that kind of stands out to you, but like I said right off the bat, Sam Montbo being your third goalie and even just like, I. I mean, Canadian goalies just have not been the best in the last couple of years.
No knock on Hayden, Aiden Hill, but I just don't think that he is who you want to be. Representing your country as a goaltender. That's who you got. And Jordan Bennington has not been good since 2019. Personally, personal opinion, but what do you think about this roster?
[00:27:17] Speaker B: So the first thing I noticed when I look at this roster, and this is kind of a blind, blind reaction for me, I've looked at the US's roster, and I looked a little bit at Canada's roster.
Canada seems to be going with a little bit.
I feel like in past seasons, in past times, we've had international play with. With NHL players, you know, mostly going, yeah, we've seen Canada be, you know, this extremely talented deep team where every superstar in the league is Canadian.
[00:27:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: You look back at the 2014 Team Canada roster that won U.S. olympic gold, and frankly, it's a ridiculous roster. It's like every single player on that team was the best player on the team. Yeah, you look at this roster and it's a little bit less like that. Obviously, every single player who got picked for this tournament is one of the best hockey players in the world. Right.
But you look at guys, Sam Bennett, Travis Kineckney, Brandon Hagel, like, you look at these guys, they're all having fantastic seasons. Brad Marchant, they're looking like a little bit more of a rough and tumble team, which, you know, the last few international tournaments where NHL players have been going, they're all skill, and it's worked out for Team Canada. They pick the best players, right?
[00:28:44] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: And they typically win gold or place very highly, but they're kind of pulling the US Route from, you know, the last couple international tournaments where you've had NHL players where they have some guys. I remember Justin Abdulcator was on the US team in, I believe, 2010 and 2014.
[00:29:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:06] Speaker B: And that was like.
There are, like, more talented American NHL players out there, but they picked him because the grit.
[00:29:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: So you have guys on this roster that are like, they were willing to mix it up a little bit. Obviously, Brad Marchand has been on Team Canada's roster. Yeah. There was no question that he was going to be going to this. And he's a guy who's always going to get in the mix of things and piss people off.
[00:29:31] Speaker A: I mean, look at. Look at the Panthers. I mean, they won playing that exact brand of hockey. And you've got two of them right there, especially Sam Bennett was a leading charge in that. And you've got Brad Martian, who would fit really well with the Panthers.
So, yeah, I think that this team. Yeah, him on the Panthers would be wild.
[00:29:48] Speaker B: Imagine him on the line with Matthew Kachuck. That'd be. That'd be a show for everybody else on the ice that is not in the Panthers. That'd be awesome.
[00:29:56] Speaker A: I don't know if they'd get along as teammates, but who knows? I think. Yeah, I think this team is not. They're very, like you said, very top heavy.
I think their depth is a little lacking. But like you said, the rough and Rough and tough players, you know, maybe. Maybe that'll work out for them. But, yeah, we'll move on. We'll come back to them and kind of compare with some of the other teams. But up next, I can switch it. We got Sweden. Let me zoom in really quick.
[00:30:22] Speaker B: So I've not seen this roster.
[00:30:23] Speaker A: Okay, Sweden. Forwards, for those of you listening, Victor Arvidson, Philip Forsberg, Gustav Nyquist, Jasper Brat, William Carlson, Elias Peterson, Leo Carlson, Adrian Kempe, Lucas Raymond, Joel Harrison Eck Lies Lindholm, Mikasa Banajed and William Nylander. On defense, we got Rasmus, Anderson Rasmus, Darlene, Victor Headman, Jonas Brodine, Matthias Ekholm, Eric Carlson and Gustav Forsling. In that, we got Philip Gustafson, Jacob Markstrom and Linus Omark. Off the bat, those goalies are solid.
Yeah, I like that. I like that. Forwards, I mean, Team Canada's. Team Canada, they're always going to have the superstar, but honestly, like the first name that really sticks out to me. Maybe William Nylander and Rasmus Stalin is always this solid player, but outside of that, this also isn't. I mean, Leo Carlson being of what, second year? And Bedard also. We forgot to mention that Bedard not making Canada, which we can kind of go back to. But yeah, he had. He had said, like, you sleep in the bed you make. He's not having a great season, so you kind of, you know, you get what you get. But Leo Carlson's having a pretty good season, so he made it. Also, Canada is really competitive for who's going to make that team.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: But overall, I don't know.
I want to keep looking at the other ones first before I really give anything.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: Okay. I have a little bit of a take.
So with Team Canada, obviously you have Connor McDavid. Right. And he really is next factor. If he has himself a night, Team Canada is going to beat any team in the tournament. That's just how it is. Right. He's. If he puts up four or five points in a single game.
Yes. Canada's goalies are not fantastic. You have Aiden Hill, but like goaltending, if you get a hot Aiden Hill, he's going to be just as good as, you know, your best Philip Gustafson. Right. You're. He's not going to be just as good as your best Connor Hellebuyck. But if you get a. If you have a hot goalie, he's gonna do damage.
[00:32:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:43] Speaker B: At the same time, is a guy like William Nylander really miles behind in talent than Conor McDavid? No. These guys, the skill difference between them, like you look at in youth hockey, the skill difference between your average AAA player, Average double A player is pretty big, right?
[00:33:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:05] Speaker B: In the NHL, you're talking about this much difference of players. They're all the best players in the world.
[00:33:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:11] Speaker B: William Nylander is one of the premier players in the NHL and in the world.
[00:33:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:16] Speaker B: Is he that much worse than Conor McDavid? No.
Looking at the rest of their lineup, I'd be willing to say that they have a better lineup than Canada.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: Really.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: Which might be a hot take. They have better goalies for sure.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: Yep.
I like that defense. That blue line looks pretty solid.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: It's on par, at minimum.
[00:33:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:38] Speaker B: And then forwards, like, they have a way deeper squad.
[00:33:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:44] Speaker B: And I'm looking at him like, yeah, there's the x factor of McDavid. There's the x factor. Sidney Crosby could go off and have himself a gamer. Right.
[00:33:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: Nathan McKinnon.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: But Nathan McKinnon he could have himself a game, but at the same time, like, none of these guys are that much worse than them, but the rest of their team is so much. It's so much deeper.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: Yeah, you have.
[00:34:10] Speaker B: I mean, looking at it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 guys who are a first liner on, in. In their boards.
[00:34:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: And I mean, yeah, you can say the same thing about Canada. Besides maybe Anthony Shirelli, Right?
[00:34:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:31] Speaker B: I think he plays on their second line, but, like, I don't know. I'm taking their four group over Canada anyways. Let's move on.
[00:34:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: No, before you pick me apart. Too bad.
[00:34:41] Speaker A: No, I mean, honestly, I want to look at all these before.
[00:34:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Making any claim on who I think is the best. I will admit I'm biased here because I think this is the best team, and that's maybe because I'm American, but.
[00:34:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Team usa, we got forwards. We got Matt Boldy, Jack Hughes, Brock Nelson, Kyle Connor, Chris Crider, Brady Kachuk, Jack Eichel, Dylan Larkin, Matthew Kachuk, Jake Gensel, Austin Matthews, Vinnie Choczek, J.T. miller. On D. We got Brock Faber, Noah Hannifin, Jacob Slavin, Adam Fox, Quinn Hughes, Zach Warinsky, Charlie McAvoy in net.
And this is crazy. Connor Hellbook, Jake Ottinger and Jeremy Swayman again off the bat, going down and up. Goalies, I think this is the best net that you're gonna have in this tournament. And it's not close at all. You got two Vesna finalists. One no Vesna winner. A Vesna finalist.
I don't even know. I. Has Jake ever been a Vezina finalist?
Last season, all three Vezina finalists, one winner.
[00:35:49] Speaker B: Pretty sure they all three wore last season. Yeah, I know Bobrovsky was.
But Jake and Connor and Swayman, what he did in the playoffs was wild.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: Yeah. And like Swayman's.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: Great goalie. Yeah. So solid there. Quinn Hughes, you got a.
I mean, Quinn Hughes, I think stands out. Charlie McAvoy is solid, too. Adam Fox, Brock Faber.
I mean, those top four right there, assuming that's the top four, is a pretty solid. Well, top three, very solid. Top three defenders, no shade to Brock. I just wrapped him in there and he's.
[00:36:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:27] Speaker A: Up front, though, this is where I think we kind of have an edge on Canada is our superstar.
Count. You count. I'm gonna count. Austin Matthews. I'm gonna count. Jack Eichel. I'm gonna count Jack. Wait, did I say that? Austin Matthews, Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes.
And then honestly, I'll put Matthew Chuck in there at superstar. He was almost. Yeah, that's four right there. I think Austin's clearly number one.
Chuck's up there too, but. And even his brother Brady, like, he's a great player. I don't think he's been able to shine on the Senators, to be honest. But everyone else around, I mean, Jake Gensel is also a superstar. Rock star, maybe not a superstar.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: Connor. Yeah, I think he might be superstar level.
[00:37:21] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Genuinely do.
[00:37:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:24] Speaker B: Matt Baldy is going to be.
It's. This team is gross.
[00:37:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: Like, I don't think we're being. We get delusional about the Sharks a lot. Right?
[00:37:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: I don't think you're delusional in saying that. This team is nasty and this team is probably the best team in the tournament. Like you. It's the same thing as Sweden. Like there is not a single player on this team besides maybe Chris Kreider and Vinny Trocheck that aren't first liners on their team that aren't one of, if not the best players on their team. You look at the defensemen, you have two Norris winners.
You have one guy, Jacob Slavin, who if the Norris were awarded correctly, the best defensive player in the league. He would win it every year. You have Brock Faber, who is going to be a perennial Norris finalist.
Charlie McEvoy is up there as well. I'm pretty sure he's been nominated for it.
[00:38:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:29] Speaker B: Noah Hannifin is the probably the worst guy of that group and he's sick.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:37] Speaker B: Right. Maybe Zach Wrensky, he hasn't been good the last few years or not like seen as good, but it's because he's been injured.
[00:38:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:46] Speaker B: Like there's no real weak spot on this team. I don't know who's gonna get. Because you gotta scratch. At least you got to scratch one forward, you got to scratch one defenseman, right?
[00:38:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: And one goalie. Who the hell are they gonna scratch?
[00:39:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:39:01] Speaker A: Honestly. Well, because they're gonna play. I don't know. You probably should have looked into this. But we can talk about it when it gets closer to the four nations tournament. We'll definitely do some more breakdown of this. This is kind of just reactionary, but. Yeah, assuming how they're going to do this. It's a tournament style, so you're going to have players cycling in and out. It's in place of the All Star game. So there's no All Star Game this year. It's just this, which I'm kind of upset about. But that could be a discussion for another episode because it leaves off. I just feel like it leaves off some players if your nation isn't a part of this. That's why. But I think you're gonna see some cycles in and out and I don't know the stretch of how many games they're going to be playing in this tournament. If it's going to be like the All Star Games, like back to back to back. I just assume like that I'd assume.
[00:39:52] Speaker B: It'S like around Robin where they all play each other, every team plays each other and then best two teams play for the championship. I don't know though.
[00:40:01] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll have to look into it.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: But I just think it's. It's crazy that the US is. Because a delusional American in 2014 would have said, yes, the US is, is comparable with Team Canada. You look back on those rosters, they're not. I love Joe Pavelski, but he's no Sid. Right.
[00:40:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:21] Speaker A: No.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: You'Re not delusional if you say this roster is better than Team Canada. And I think that's been a big worry for Canadian over the last few months. When, when this was released, I remember seeing a bunch of videos and comments and posts about how Team USA might actually be better than Team Canada. And I think we're finally seeing it coming true.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: As American, I love it.
[00:40:49] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that this is a product of America having all these teams and these kids watching, you know, hockey growing up. Yeah. You know, we've got. NCAA has been evolving and will continue to evolve in the future, but USA Hockey has done a great job in.
Wait a minute.
Where the hell is Cole Caulfield?
[00:41:17] Speaker B: He got left off. The biggest ones were him and Tage Thompson.
[00:41:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Cole Coffee. Cole Caulfield's surprising. There must be something behind that because I would take Cole Caulfield over Chris. Chris Crowder, J.T. miller, Brock Nelson, like, I don't know.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: I think.
[00:41:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
[00:41:36] Speaker B: Yeah, Here's a taste. J.T. miller is probably the most underrated player in the NHL.
I know he's got his off ice issues where people say he's an right.
But most of that seems to come from fanfare and not actually from players.
[00:41:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:54] Speaker B: I think that guy is gross at hockey. I think he gets overlooked as a superstar in this league. He is. Frankly. He's better than Elias Pedersen. Right. Or at least he has been this year. He was last year.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: Yeah, he was last year.
[00:42:10] Speaker B: And Pederson's Seen as one of the premier players in the NHL.
He's nasty.
[00:42:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:42:17] Speaker B: I don't care about his off ice antics or if he's got, you know, character problems. I don't really care. I'm here to watch hockey. Right.
[00:42:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:42:25] Speaker B: I'm not one of those old heads who's like, oh, they got to be good people too. No, I didn't give a. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, on your point that this is due to, like all these NHL teams being in the States and a bunch of kids actually growing up and watching hockey in the States, I find it crazy because, as you know, most of the viewers probably don't know I coach a team and we live in, you know, Boise, Idaho.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:50] Speaker B: There's no NHL team around here, but we have a program that's based out of Coeur d'alene, Idaho that is sending players to the WHL now to go play junior hockey at the premier level in Canada.
And I think it's kind of crazy that these kids are coming out of nowhere in the US now and you're going to keep seeing it over the years. This is just something that was bound to happen with there being so many people in the United States.
[00:43:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:18] Speaker B: Eventually it was going to catch fire. Yeah.
[00:43:21] Speaker A: I mean, the sport's been growing. If you look back on the. What the shoot, what, let's say the 20, 2010 Team USA roster, any kid that the youngest player that would be playing in that tournament would be 20 years old. 2010 was born in 1990. Hockey. Gretzky. You could count Gretzky for that. Gretzky was around, around that time. So then those kids being born after Gretzky are now all here, right in front of our faces.
And just this sport growing. And it's going to continue to grow. It's still growing. And I think that we're going to see just with the amount of people that are in the U.S. outnumber Canada. I know hockey is Canada's bread and butter. It was ten foot, but yeah, it's. It's just, it's bound to happen.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: Mathematically, it just, it doesn't make any sense that at some point the US Wasn't going to take over. I'm sure we'll still keep seeing because it's been, it's kind of been this way where there's, there's been a massive rise in American hockey players. But you're still going to see the Canadian superstars that they live, breathe, you know, everything is hockey where even you look at. You look at a guy Like Auston Matthews. I'm pretty sure he also grew up playing baseball and he's one of the premier players in the NHL. But I think you'll still see the Canadian superstars. But I think you're going to see a. A change in just the amount of Premier NHLers from the United States.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I think one last thing too.
[00:44:56] Speaker B: Yeah, we gotta wrap that up.
[00:44:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
But honestly, most. I think most of the people watching are probably from the States. So I'm assuming you guys care about this, but they're probably Sharks.
[00:45:09] Speaker B: No Sharks on the roster. Boom.
[00:45:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I know.
[00:45:14] Speaker B: Yeah, they up.
[00:45:15] Speaker A: Oh, that's what it was. The last. I mean, the last two first overall picks, Bedard and Celebrity are both Canadian. So it's like, yeah, you're gonna have these superstars that come out. What?
[00:45:25] Speaker B: Celebrini played most of his youth hockey.
[00:45:27] Speaker A: In the U.S.
yeah, but he still played world juniors in Canada.
[00:45:33] Speaker B: Yeah, but still you think about it, right? Yeah, you have these Canadian superstars, but even Celebrini played college hockey. He played minor. That is true for the Junior Sharks. Same organization both me and Sean played for.
[00:45:45] Speaker A: True.
[00:45:46] Speaker B: He played in the ushl. He played at bu. Like it's. It's a movement towards America. Oh, Puppy's saying hello.
[00:45:53] Speaker A: Oh, he's saying he wants to change that ruffling.
So, yeah, I think if Bizarre's a good. Or not. Bedard celebrating is a good point. Yes, he's Canadian, but he did come up in the American hockey system. Yeah. And Bedard still. And we'll see who wins next year if. Or who gets first overall next year. But if it's James Higgins or whatever his name is, guess where he's playing. Austin College.
[00:46:23] Speaker B: So you see guys like this in the future, it's like I think we are going to see kind of a rise in. In just the superstar players that are coming out of the US which is awesome. I think it's good for the sport, just overall growth. I want to see more Russians. I want to see more Finn. Sweden, Slovaks. Checks. All of them. Give me all. Give me all the elite NHL players. I want to see everybody.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:47] Speaker B: International hockey is better when it's not just Canada winning.
[00:46:50] Speaker A: That is true. It's a good point.
[00:46:52] Speaker B: So it's cool to see all these competitive teams.
[00:46:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:46:55] Speaker A: All right. Moving on to Finland, the last team of this four nation face off.
Oh, God, if I mess up any of these names, I apologize.
But here we go. Forwards Sebastian Ajo, Eric Holla. Anton Lindell. Joel armia. Rope hints. E2. Lester Ryan, Alexander Barkov. Capo Caco. Miko Rancinen, Mikhail Granlin. Let's go. Patrick Line. Tivo Terravinen, Arturi Leckonen. On defense, we got your hack up. Okay.
Hockenpaw.
[00:47:34] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:47:35] Speaker A: Rasmus Delinean Mural Heisman Dilly Mata.
Holy. Oh my God, I can't read. Okay, you read the rest.
[00:47:46] Speaker B: USO Valamaki, Nico Mikola. You got Kevin Lankonen. Which?
Side note, I think Kevin is a great name for a finished guy.
You see all these names. Rupe Capo.
[00:48:01] Speaker A: I mean, even like Sebastian is still.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: It's not like.
[00:48:06] Speaker A: Yeah, Eric's felt with the K. You know, all this stuff. And then you got Kevin.
[00:48:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Kevin Langonen. UKO Pekka Lukanen. And then you say Sorrows.
I Looking at this, this is the first time I've actually seen Finland's roster.
[00:48:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:48:26] Speaker B: They'Re a one line, two line team. Yeah.
Their defensive core, Miro Heiskin is one of the premier defenseman in the NHL.
Yanni Hawkenpaw is not.
USA Soros is one of the premier goalies in the NHL. Kevin Lankin is not.
[00:48:48] Speaker A: Hey, I even Ukapeka Lukin and I would not consider an elite goaltender. I think UC Sorrows is going to carry this team goalie wise and just even defensively. I mean, this is not the deepest of teams. Defensively, their forwards are all like, you know, I think Patrick Kleine, rope hints. Ajo. That's line one.
Maybe, maybe not. Those are your top three. I'd say maybe Mikhail Granland, biased pick. But Mikhail grand, top four. Oh, no, I forgot. Wait. Barkov, center, number one.
[00:49:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Greatest player offensively. They have a good defensive team. I think.
[00:49:28] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:49:29] Speaker B: Defensively they're a little bit lackluster, but you said it best. This team is going to live and die by USA Sorrows. If he has a good tournament, I could see this team winning.
[00:49:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:42] Speaker B: If he has a bad tournament, I could see this team being the worst team in the tournament.
[00:49:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:47] Speaker B: It really just depends on how he plays and what ends up happening there. If they can get the goal support too, really make him successful.
Because he is. Regardless of the season that Nashville and him are having right now, he's still a premier NHL goalie. He's gross.
[00:50:07] Speaker A: If you put the.
[00:50:09] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think the rest of the teams. Yeah, it's.
[00:50:13] Speaker A: It's like. I don't know. But if you had to rank all four of these teams, who would you go with? 1, 2 and 3 and 4. We'll say this four, I think we both can agree on that.
[00:50:24] Speaker B: You're gonna want to clip this. I'll start at the bottom. Finland, number four. I think they'll be competitive. I don't think it's going to be like them getting blown out like when you see Germany play an international play. Right. Or they're getting beat every game, 10 to 10 to one.
But I think there'll be a competitive four. I'm gonna say Canada at three.
[00:50:45] Speaker A: I knew it. Yeah.
[00:50:47] Speaker B: You know, Finland or Sweden to USA 1.
[00:50:51] Speaker A: Sweden 2. USA 1.
[00:50:53] Speaker B: I just, I really think looking at their defensive core, they have a lot of good offensive defensemen. Right. Then they have some really questionable guys.
Colton Paraco, I do not think is one of the premier NHL defensemen.
I know he's I think the blues longest serving defenseman, but I don't think he's a premier defenseman in the NHL. Alex Petrangelo, if this were five years ago. Yeah.
Now I don't think so.
Travis Sanheim, Meh.
[00:51:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:51:33] Speaker B: Shay Theodore, I don't think he's been great this season. I haven't watched a whole lot of. A whole lot of Vegas games. I don't, honestly I don't really know. But from what I've seen, I haven't heard anything about him. I guess that kind of tends to be that way. But he's a good player. But like Devon Taves, Kale McCarr, defensively they're going to carry this team. I guarantee it'll be online. And then Josh Morrissey is a great offensive defenseman, but he's not going to keep the puck out of the net.
[00:52:02] Speaker A: I'd say solid.
[00:52:05] Speaker B: He's solid, but he's not like Alex Petrangelone when. So when they won Gold in 2014, I believe he was on that team and he was one of the best defensive on that team. He's not that same. Alex Petrangelo, Kale Makar, it's just really a top heavy team.
[00:52:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:52:23] Speaker B: And I think Sweden's better than them on paper. I mean you look at their. Rasmus Anderson, last few seasons has been one of the best defensemen in the NHL. He hasn't gotten any love because he's on Calgary and Calgary is frankly ass.
They've been okay this season. Dustin Wolf, you've been awesome. I'm sorry if you're listening to this podcast, but Gustav for his Ling is probably the best defensive defenseman in the NHL. As we've, we've discussed and sent each other highlight reels of him picking the puck. Off.
[00:52:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:54] Speaker B: And hitting them.
Matthias Ekholm is great. Rasmus. Darlene is one of the most satisfying players to watch in the NHL. I don't know if you've ever seen. There's this one guy.
I forget what his Instagram handle is. I'll have to find it. And you'll have to edit it, I believe. It's not. No, I forget what it is. I follow him on Instagram, but he does. He does the RAS camera. It's one of those like it. It centers in on there.
[00:53:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:20] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:53:20] Speaker B: I probably sent you a couple of them. I'm holding.
[00:53:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
[00:53:26] Speaker B: It's so satisfied to watch. Dude, he's so smooth. He's so gross. Victor. Heaven's Victor Admin. It's kind of hard to compete with the guy who's that big and that talented. Eric Carlson's dropped off a bit, but if he has a good tournament, I mean, you never know what could happen.
[00:53:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:43] Speaker A: Then you go, he's around a. He's like, Eric Carlson's got a good supporting cast around him.
[00:53:49] Speaker C: Not that.
[00:53:49] Speaker A: Yeah, the Penguins are. You know, he's obvious got Cindy Crosby, but he's going to be playing in an elite tournament with elite players on his. And I think he can have a great tournament. He's still Eric Carlson.
But I mean, I don't disagree that Sweden is honestly a good pick at 2 over Canada.
[00:54:08] Speaker B: I think they're better, honestly. Yes. I know that Canada has Sidney Crosby and Nathan McKinnon and Connor McDavid.
I don't really care because everything else I think is lackluster, which is crazy. I would have never guessed that, you know, four years ago.
[00:54:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:23] Speaker B: But I genuinely think everything else is lackluster. If Aiden Hill or Jordan Bennington or Sam Montabeau, for whatever reason, they. They just get hot at the right time.
[00:54:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:36] Speaker B: I think that team will probably beat anything. But it's kind of that way with every single team. Like when Linus Olmark or Philip Gustafson's been outstanding this year, nobody's beating them. Jacob.
[00:54:47] Speaker A: I mean, Jacob Markstrom played great last year. Well, not great. He was on Calgary. But for being in Calgary, like, he didn't do bad. And even with the Devils now, like, he's playing pretty great. So I don't. I don't. I'm not going to discredit that. You know, I think you could make an argument for Canada being two.
[00:55:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:05] Speaker A: I think USA being one is hands down pretty obvious. And if anything, you're coping you're coping hard.
[00:55:14] Speaker B: So we're, we're having the. We're having the Settle Down Awards here in a few days.
[00:55:19] Speaker A: Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that.
[00:55:20] Speaker B: And I'm probably. I don't think I was in the voting this year. I'm still a little bit too new, too fresh. But, yeah, I mean, I'm gunning for that worst take spot next season. Okay.
[00:55:32] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:55:33] Speaker B: This might be an awful take.
[00:55:35] Speaker A: Right.
[00:55:35] Speaker B: In fact, this is probably going to be an awful take. I don't really care. I don't think Connor McDavid is going to be that much of a factor in this tournament. And I think Canada is going to be. I think they're going to be a competitive last place with Finland.
I think Sweden and the US Conor McDavid has not been phenomenal so far this season. He's Connor McDavid. He's been good. Right. Obviously, who's injured for a little bit too, says in the album that's the only thing they got. They got Nathan McKinnon too. Sidney Crosby is definitely slowing down. He's. Yeah, he's not Sidney Crosby of four years ago. Right.
[00:56:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:56:15] Speaker B: I think they're going to be competitive last plays.
[00:56:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:56:20] Speaker B: Or they're going to be competing for last place. I don't think it's close. I think Sweden and the US Are going to have a. They're going to have a great matchup in the finals.
[00:56:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:56:29] Speaker A: I agree.
[00:56:30] Speaker B: That is my hot take of the century. I'm sure Canada is going to go on to win this tournament. Now I just changed everything. I ruined it for the U.S. i'm so sorry.
[00:56:39] Speaker A: Don't matter. You know what, honestly, I'm excited for this. We'll be doing more stuff when it gets a little closer. I want to say it's in February, but. Yeah, we just want to do some little breakdown, little over like just analysis right off the bat, since it just dropped. But like Alan said, I forgot to mention this in the beginning. If you're watching this point, thank you. But this Thursday on the Settle Down Media YouTube channel, you can go in our bio if you're new to the good old hockey podcast.
We are a network of podcasts, sports podcasts. We're all friends.
So go check it out. It's in the link. Go to that YouTube channel. Follow it on Thursday. So tomorrow, when you're watching this Thursday night, December 12th at 8pm Mountain time, settle Down Award show, you're not going to miss it. It's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of a lot of degeneracy and craziness.
It's gonna be fun. We did it last year, and it was a good time. And we've got more faces this time, so it's gonna be. It's gonna be a wild time, so be sure to check that out. But if you watch this point, and you caught us, last year or last episode did pretty well on YouTube. We got some new subscribers, so welcome.
You know, you can listen to us on Spotify, too, if you don't want to be watching the videos again.
[00:57:58] Speaker B: I understand if you don't want to see my face, but, yeah, you know, hear my voice. I'm sure you'll love that.
[00:58:04] Speaker A: He's got a voice of gold and a face meant for radio.
[00:58:07] Speaker B: I was gonna say face for the radio, baby.
[00:58:11] Speaker A: No, I'm kidding. No, the prank. But seriously, thank you, everyone listening.
[00:58:17] Speaker B: That's a doom right there.
[00:58:19] Speaker A: Yeah, that was a doom. But we'll see you guys next week. We've. Alan and I have a game tomorrow on Tuesday, so we'll break that down for you as well. And then point night, baby. Yeah, Point night. We got the. I'm not gonna mention the team name.
[00:58:31] Speaker B: But I forget what they're called, but they're awful. Whoever we're playing, they're awful. I'm sure they're gonna beat us now, but if I get an opportunity, I'm shooting the puck on that from goal.
[00:58:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:58:42] Speaker B: Hopefully I'll try and get Scott out to this game, have him film it. We can. We can flip it on the. On the.
[00:58:48] Speaker A: Yeah, be funny. All right, guys, seriously, thank you for watching. Be sure to like and subscribe if you aren't subscribed and you're new and see us on that Settle down award show tomorrow, Thursday, December 12th. If it's past that, go back and watch it. You can rewatch it. It's on settle down YouTube. Click the link in the bio, and we'll see you guys next week.
[00:59:07] Speaker B: Peace.
