Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Right, everybody, welcome back to the good old Hockey podcast. We're back. Me and Galley, we took a little bit of like a month break off. Obviously, you guys saw some cool interviews the past two episodes. Those were a lot of fun. If you haven't checked it out, go check them out. We did one with Dustin Wolfenhe, the Flames goalie, and also galleys buddy Justin Jones, who played for boys. You see a hockey. Both great episodes. Go watch them if you haven't. But there's a lot of stuff we got to catch you guys up on in the NHL world and also our personal lives. Galley, I think you probably have the coolest personal life update, so why don't you tell everyone? Because I'm curious, too. I want to hear about it.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Yeah. So I accepted a job, new job. I'm going to be the director of game operations for the Bloomington Bison, and this was a position I was doing with the steelhead, so have a little bit of experience with it. Also was doing it with the Idaho Horseman, the Arena League football team here.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: But, yeah, man, I'm stoked. I'm going to be moving out to Illinois in a couple weeks. September 6 is when I'm going to be moving out that weekend. It's 24 hours away from Boise, so it's going to be like a two day drive, probably just driving the whole time, the cornfields and whatnot. But, uh, yeah, man, I'm really excited. I mean, I know you both know myself, and you know that, you know, I love working in sports, and, yeah, you know, that's my passion. And obviously part of being on this podcast is the reason why I'm on here at hockey. And it's, uh, it's kind of a dream of mine to work in, in the industry of hockey, so pretty excited for it. And, uh, yeah, man, just gotta make the stepping stones up to the next level.
Really excited to be in Bloomington especially. It's a brand new expansion team. Um, so just starting from the ground up, it's gonna be a really cool experience.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: What's your, like, day to day gonna be? Cause I feel like I know a little bit about it, but anyone listening doesn't know what game day operations is. Can you tell them, like, what? I don't know. I guess every day is probably different, but, like, what's the typical day?
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Yeah, dude, every day is kind of different. I mean, a lot of the times, it's. It's a lot of content creation. So I'll be working a lot in after effects and Photoshop, making stuff for the game, whether that's, you know, sponsorship wise, things, mini games, pre game stuff, and then even stuff that's like, you know, when I was with steelheads, it was like, let's go, steelheads. Now it's gonna be let's go, bison stuff, you know, crowd chants, crowd engagement stuff, stuff to play during tv timeouts, intermissions. So that's good. It's a big chunk of that. And then also, I'm gonna be making the scripts for all the games. So all these scripts are scripts and rundowns. I'm gonna be maintaining the scripts with, like, myself and the production staff there. And then, um, I'll be making kind of rundowns for both the front office staff. I have a group of, like, eight interns under me in the mascot, and I'm also making, like, a rundown for the team itself. So, yeah, man, really stoked to be back in. In hockey and shout out to working in hockey. He is a very, very awesome dude.
I actually found out about the position from his Instagram post, and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring, see what happens. And interviews went really well. And, yeah, like, three weeks ago, they offered me, and I was like, I mean, it's kind of tough leaving Boise. I've grown to love this place. It's like a second home to me. It feels like home now. I've been here for many years, and throughout summers, I never really went back to Montana during the summer. So, you know, Boise holds a pretty special place in my heart, and it's pretty, pretty brutal leaving here. But, uh, you know, I'm excited for bloomington. It's a college town, too. Illinois stays there. So, yeah, man, new beginnings. It's a little intimidating, but, uh, yeah, man, I'm ready to rock, and we're gonna have a really, really kick ass season. Um, can't wait to get out there. And, um, yeah, if you're ever in Bloomington or, uh, Illinois, hit me up and, uh, yeah. Send you some tickets and go out.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure.
Yeah. No, dude, I'm stoked for you because it's gonna be a lot of fun. I know you've been. I remember even as a little behind the scenes stuff, but before we started this podcast, like, galley had, you know, kind of reached out to me and was like, I want to keep working in hockey. And I was like, well, that's perfect, because I want to start a hockey podcast, and I don't really have anyone that is free to do that. Enough of the time. So it worked out perfect and, you know, here we are. So it'll be awesome. And I'm excited to, you know, see all that and I still gotta root for the steelheads, but, you know, if they're ever in town.
But yeah, I mean, we've had. It's been.
I was telling guy before we recorded, I think it's been a couple months since we've been recording. Obviously last season we hit the ground running and we were, you know, doing a lot of content and, you know, hope to keep that up and be a fun season this next year too.
But as far as what have I.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Really done this summer, what have you been up to? I know, I just. And also just side note, I just got back from a week vacation and east coast went to Nashville, Boston, New York City.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: Which was time. Very, very good time.
Stayed with some buddies in Boston. Nashville was a good time. I did crash on a lime scooter.
Didn't, didn't sustain any injuries, but yeah, story for another time. But yeah, Nashville was a kick ass time. New York City was cool. Once a Mets game, it's a Broadway show.
Did a lot of stuff on this trip and just went out with my girlfriend. So it's a good time.
Highly recommend doing something like that.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Yeah, no, yeah.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: What is long?
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I've done those long road trips like going to different, just like different parts of the country in a short period of time.
And it was always a lot of fun. But I mean, yeah, these past couple months they've been a lot of fun.
You know, just with work even, you know, just crying out at work. But personally, like really haven't done a whole lot.
Zach, who is in the end zone, another settle down boy. He was in town this weekend.
We had a long weekend this weekend. I went to Tyler Childers on Wednesday last week. So it was pretty much Wednesday to Sunday. Just constantly feeling like shit in the morning, if you know what I mean.
So yeah, it was a lot of fun. But I'm excited to get back to sports too. You know, obviously hockey, we're about a month and a half away maybe.
But football, college football is coming back this weekend. So I'm really excited for that.
It's definitely been, you know, I feel like we were blessed like with NHL kind of taken that Stanley cup playoff took so long that, you know, we pretty much had hockey all the way up until July.
And then these past couple months, I don't really know what I have to do with myself because I'm like well, there's no more hockey, so I don't know what to do. But yeah, it's been a good, relaxing, you know, for anyone listening, like me and Gallie, we had talked about just, you know, just taking a break for the months that are pretty slow, that are, you know, July and August got some interviews done. So that was fun. But, you know, I think we're ready to get back to it.
And we've got some news also for you guys as well, just with, um, you know, constant NHL stuff. But we're going to have merch coming out soon. You get a little sneak peek right here, um, this t shirt. And there's something on the back that you guys might know the logo of. Um, but we'll. We'll tease it a little bit later. It's not completely ready yet, so just keep your eye out. But we do have some news within the NHL world. Got a lot to cover. We've pretty much, you know, two months of news that we've got to catch up on. So the first one, one of the most notable ones, Patrick Lynette, the fortnight lover himself, has been traded to the Marshall Canadians for a second round pick.
Patrick line and a second round pick were traded to the Canadians for Jordan Harris Galley. What do you think about this trade? Because, you know, he's kind of been. We've talked about a little bit. I feel like during the season that there were some rumors that he was going to get moved, obviously had to go into the players rehab for his excessive gaming. But what do you think about this trade for the Canadians?
[00:08:47] Speaker B: Wow. I think the Canadians won this trade. Um, the fact that they got a second round pick on top of Patrick line, who has kind of had a rocky past few years. Obviously we don't have to bring it up. Everyone knows he's had some issues. It's gotten to the NHL player program.
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Yeah, the gaming thing was a joke by me, by the way. We don't know the actual situation.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: I like Fortnite, though. I mean, not a thin ballot dude, but yeah, I think this is a. This is a win for the Canadians. I thought he wasn't going to go to a canadian market after he left Winnipeg. I thought that, like, the Penguins might have been a good fit for him.
Maybe the. Even the Red Wings, too, or even like the Hawks. I mean, I feel like there's a lot more teams that were better fits for him. But Canadians definitely won this trade. I mean, getting that second round pick and they're not giving up too much. I mean, Jordan Harris is a decent defenseman. He's 24 years old.
Last year, I think he had like 14 points year before, 17 points. So he's got like three NHL years under his belt. Two ish, I'd say. But. So, I mean, I guess the Blue Jackets are getting a little bit back. But the biggest question is, like, is this going to make a difference? Because I feel like when line a went to the Blue Jackets, let alone I feel like a lot of players have been going to the Blue Jackets and just died out. They've just been performing less. I mean, for example, you've seen Johnny Goudreau went to the Blue Jackets and he. His production has skyrocketed down.
So maybe it's just the Blue Jackets curse. Maybe line a goes back and he becomes a 40 goal scorer again. Cause, I mean, I feel like a lot of people forget Patrick Lanay was a 40 year old goal scorer per season at a time. And if they could get that back, to get him back to that. That playing level, you know, the Canadians are going to absolutely blow this trade away.
I don't know. What are your thoughts on this?
[00:10:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think it's one of those. This is one of those trades where it's like, I feel like both sides benefited from it just in the sense of, you know, things obviously have not worked out with Patrick Lanay for the Blue Jackets. They just need to restart and get something back for him. Canadians are taking a bit of a gamble here, but I think that they can play with this gamble a little bit more because of, you know, they have a very, very good young core of players that, you know, maybe aren't quite ready yet, but they will be.
You know, they drafted well this year, I thought.
And, you know, obviously, Lane Hudson's a star who's going to be coming up for them this next season as a rookie.
So I think, honestly, the Canadians did what they. What they should have done. You know, it's. It's a bit of a gamble, but like I said, I think they can afford it, dude.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: And getting a second round pick on top of that.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Yeah, that, too.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: For the Blue Jackets. I mean, the Blue Jackets might not be too good next year. That's good. That's a pretty big dub. So, yeah, props to St. Louis or shit. I forgot he's a coach. Yeah, he's the coach.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's Bergeron.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: I want to say Mark Bergeron is the GM. I could totally be wrong about that, but, yeah, he. I mean, props to the GM for the Canadians. He definitely was. This is a good trade, I think, for them and I am predicting that he comes back. I don't think he's going to get to the 40 goal mark again, but I can see him definitely north of 30.
And that brings up my point. There needs to be a fricking comeback player of the year award in the NHL. I know there's a lot of awards and there's a lot of awards in the NHL that aren't given out in other sports. But like, I think this award would be really, really cool because every year there's a player that stands out the most. I think that had a bad season the year before and then just absolutely blew it out of the water. So NHL, do it. Name it the Mario Lemieux trophy. I mean, obviously people know Mario Lemieux. He freaking came back from cancer after three years and I think he would won the MVP that year. So like, yeah, probably one of the best comeback stories of all time. Name it after him. I mean, he's one of the best players of all time, so.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:13:10] Speaker B: Why not? Why not? That's just my two cent on that.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Yeah, no, no, I like that. I mean, I think there needs to be something.
Obviously we went to the awards so we, you know, we were kind of underwhelmed by just the presentation of it. And I feel like they can, like, I feel like every other sport has some sort of comeback player of the year. I know they have one trophy. I forget what exactly it's called. I want to say who won it. Chris Latang won it last year. But I think it's a. That trophy isn't the same as a comeback player of the year. It's more of like overcoming personal struggles in there. I don't. I don't know what.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: It's not the.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: No, it's, um.
I forget what it's called.
Um, but yeah, I agree. I think there needs to be something that is like comeback player of the year. Um, and if he has a good season, I mean, yeah, he definitely deserves it with the personal stuff that he's had.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Perfect opportunity for Lemieux, too. Like, I'm telling you, that would be such a good name for the trophy. But who knows? We'll see if the NHL does it. Batman probably won't do it.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: So if they call it the Lemieux trophy, I think we got to claim some royalty off that or something because that means Gary. Good old Gary's listening to our pod. If he names it the Mario Lumie trophy. But another trade on the docket jets trade rucker McGrorty to the pens for Braden Jaeger.
Those are two young elite prospects.
I don't really know what happened with this trade. This was kind of out of the blue. I didn't really hear any rumors. Well, okay. I kind of remember rucker McGuirety saying something about not wanting to play with the jets anymore. Yeah, but the trade happened pretty fast is what I meant. What do you think of that trade?
[00:15:02] Speaker B: I think this is a good trade for both teams. I wouldn't say there's a clear winner yet in this, but I mean, Brady, I know a lot of people know Rutger McGrody.
I want to say he was picked within the top 15 for the pens in their draft or, pardon me, not the pens that the Jets.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Jets, yeah.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: And he was kind of like, I'd say like their most promising prospect.
But with that being said, I think they got a good player with Braden Yeager. I mean, he got 95 points last year in the WHL.
I think that he could potentially crack an NHL roster. I mean, shit, put him on a line with Crosby.
This guy could definitely do some work.
But yeah, I think he's going to be pushing for a spot on the penns roster and even McGrody, too. I think this is, these are two on the cusp of NHL ready players that are going to be very, very good in their NHL careers.
I think it works out both for both teams, too. I know the jets had some issues with McGrody. Nothing really happened with Jaeger. It's kind of interesting because Jaeger signed for the Pens this offseason before he got traded. So that's kind of an interesting piece that a lot of people aren't talking about. I did hear Rucker McGuire said he wasn't comfortable in the jets jersey, which I thought was kind of a weird comment, and supposedly he posted on draft night that he's these are the coolest jerseys. I don't know, there's, there's some weird drama. I've seen an instagram post and whatnot. But I think this trade is going to work out for both teams and for the players as well. So.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, I think it's kind of one of those, again, trade for trade thing where maybe that, that certain piece, it's a good piece, but it fits better with this other team and this other team thought the same thing and they just swap pawns. So I think it'll be a good trade and some of these trades that you know, involve prospects. They're so hard to give grades because you don't really know how any of these people are going to pan out.
But, I mean, I really do think this is a pretty fair trade to go. Definitely swap these players like that, but, yeah. And now onto my favorite, favorite trade of the week. I screamed in my room. You could ask Zach voicing, and, you know, Yaroslav Askarov obviously requested a trade from the Nashville Predators. I don't remember exactly why or if they even said anything about why. Um, but the minute that I saw that, I was like, you know, we are a rebuilding team with a lot of pieces that can use that kind of prospect. And sure, big money Mike. Mike Greer picks up the damn phone and gets Yaroslav Askarov. And we gave up a David Enstrom, who's a solid prospect, I would say, and a first round pick, 2025. But that first round pick is top ten protected. And I want to say, okay, it is. That pick right there is the golden Knights.
It's like, whichever one. So if we're in the top ten, if the Sharks are in the top ten, and we get to keep that top ten pick, but then we have to give them the Knights first round pick. So, um, I've. It's a win. Like, it's such a fucking big win for the Sharks right there. And realistically, like, this is all my career is doing with getting that 2025 1st round pick. Um, that was for hurdle. So we got rid of hurdle and pretty much got a fucking. The best goalie prospect under, I think, 23 right now or something like that. Elite prospects ranked him as the number one goalie prospect, so I am absolutely stoked. I know, galley, I can see you trying to say something, but elite prospects put him above Dustin Wolf, and I love you, Dustin. I know you just had him on, but I can't lie with facts and Instagram posts. So, yeah, I mean, I'm super excited, and I think it's, you know, another step in the right direction, which my career has really been doing. Well.
The thing that I'm, you know, worried about is just if it all falls together, right? Like, rebuilds are so tough. Look at it on the. On the surface, and you're like, this looks awesome. But, you know, if some of these players don't work out, then it's kind of a loss. But I'm hopeful, and I'm excited for the future. But what do you think?
[00:19:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I think this is a really good pick for the pickup for the Sharks.
I know the predators kind of had to move this guy after this. They signed Soros to a pretty big deal. Yeah. So I think this is a good cornerstone for their, their goaltending depth, um, for the Sharks, for the future. Um, and if he works out there, I mean, watch out of the sharks. Could be dangerous in three, three to four years. Maybe that's a little too long, maybe two to three, but, um, no, I.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: Mean, yeah, that's fair.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: I mean, Askarov was solid with the, the predators and I feel like he's finally kind of getting that starting position somewhat. Yeah, he might split the games because who's their other goal goalie right now.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: We have Mackenzie Blackwood. So I think it'll be a half and half type deal. Yeah, someone's hot. Keep starting them.
[00:20:29] Speaker B: Yeah, he's going to get a chance. And I feel like the Sharks might not finish last this year.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Maybe not. Yeah, maybe they'll finish second in the league or second to last in the league now.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Yeah. But I mean, having that, that good goalie is kind of the start of any good rebuild. And they have that with a plethora of four and defense and forward prospects, at least. I think their next step is defense prospects and getting some better ones there.
[00:20:56] Speaker A: But, yeah.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I think this is a good trade for the, for the Sharks. And Pred's kind of had their hands tied and I feel like they got a good value out of it, though, so.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: They did. Yeah. David Edstrom's no, no joke there. Um, he's a solid prospect and it's like you said. I mean, the Predators were lucky enough to be in a situation that they had to pick between Yaroslav Askarov and UC Saros. And obviously you're going to go with UC Saros. He's already established and a good goaltender, but to have that problem is a good thing. And, you know, sometimes you can't get everything. You're not always going to get the greatest trade back for, you know, someone of that, that caliber, especially when you need to get them out of there.
So overall, I've been really happy with my career. And we're going to talk about the Sharks and flames a little bit later. Just doing our own preview of those, of our two favorite teams. So I'll save that for later. But the next one on here, Austin Matthews has been awarded the sea for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I thought it was pretty cool how John Tavares was. You know, he like, passed on the torch to Austin Matthews.
Obviously, John Tavares is a great player, but I feel like I'm mixed between this. I think it's awesome that Austin Matthews getting this captaincy, but to me, like, sometimes a captain doesn't mean that you're the best player on the team. Like, again, I don't know how Austin Matthews is in the locker room and how he carries himself if he is the leader of that team.
But, you know, sometimes the captaincy doesn't just go to the best player, it's someone who's a leader. So I don't know. But what do you think? Is this like a new era for the Leafs? Are they going to actually pass the first round of the playoffs again?
[00:22:43] Speaker B: I think this is a good move.
I think Tavares is probably going to get moved, traded within the next two years, if not this season. I think next season.
I just don't think they can. It's going to free up a lot of cap space for them.
But yeah, we've seen this in the past with captains handing down the sea to someone else. It's, it's happened. But I think Matthews definitely deserves it. He. I think he's a leader on the ice, especially who knows what he's like off the ice.
He. He's had the a for the past couple of years, so.
And I think this might be a learning lesson for Bradshaw Levine. I think, um, you know, when he was at the Flames, like a broder broken record when he was at the Flames, he could have given the c to Matthew Kachuk. He could have given the c to Matthew Chuck. Matthew Chuck said he would have stayed if he got the c in a better deal. Well, Brad did give him the c and he gave him a bridge deal instead and was insulted by that. So I think Brad learned lesson and he's like, yeah, well, we just signed Matthews on that. I think it was a four year deal.
Let's give him the c so he stays so all the cards don't fall like we're seeing in Calgary right now.
So I think it's a good move just from that perspective and I think it's going to play out really well for the Leafs. So also Tavares.
I don't know. I don't know if I'm the biggest fan of Tavares, but I guess he's been good for the weebs.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I think. I mean, John Tavares is John Tavares.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: The whole islanders thing happened and I just, like, I just can't get that out of my mind.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: That, too. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think. I mean, how old is John Tavares. Now, he's probably.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: He's. I want to say, like, 30 or 31.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Okay. I thought he was a little, but regardless, like, I mean, I think Austin Matthews is no doubt your captain, someone who just scored 69 goals in the regular season in 2024.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:47] Speaker A: You know, it's very obvious that they give it to him.
I'm still curious about Mitch Marner. I don't know what's going to happen with him if he's going to remain. I mean, I think Austin Matthews is definitely still the.
And like you said, brad trailhead needs to get. His.
Needs to learn from the past. Don't make the same mistakes. The definition of insane is doing the same things over and over again. So he's definitely got to change some things up. And I think it's. It's well deserved by Austin Matthews. I showed him a little bit too much, and I think that's only because he's on the Leafs. If he was on any other team, he'd probably be one of my favorite players.
But I'm excited for him. I think it'll be. It'll be a fun, fun to watch captain Matthews take over.
[00:25:33] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely.
Next on the list. We got some interesting offer sheeting going on, which I feel like we don't see this enough. I think we might see it a little bit more, especially after this, but Philip Robert and Dylan Holley got offer sheeted by the blues.
Kind of snagged from the Oilers because the Oilers didn't have the cap space to resign them oilers didn't match the offers, and bamdhead their St. Louis blues just like that. So I think that's a solid pickup for the blues.
I don't know. What do you think about this, and do you think, you know, GM should use this tool more?
[00:26:06] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I think they should definitely be using it more.
I think the blues are in a spot also that I really don't know what direction the blues are headed, if I'm being honest. Yeah, they really don't.
I'm trying to think of, like, those poor guy. Like, I really. I don't. I don't know what the hell the blues are gonna look like in two, three years. Like, they're just kind of in this weird. Don't want to rebuild, trying to retool. But I. I don't know. I mean, I think it's a smart move to use this offer sheet stuff when you can, but I don't know about the. What do you think about the Blues? Do you really think they're gonna be.
[00:26:45] Speaker B: I think these are good pickups for them, but I.
I don't know. It's kind of. I feel like they're kind of a bubble team in the playoff right now. They could make the playoffs. They could not. They're not going to be really bad, but, I mean, they saw Bennington back there.
You know, they still have a pretty strong defensive core. They had Kairu, Robert Thomas. So I feel like they're going to be okay.
But this is a good move by them. I think these players are going to get a lot more playing time and a little bit more of a chance to shine at the NHL level, so.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: No, I agree.
[00:27:18] Speaker B: Good, good move, though.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: We also saw some re signings go on in the past few weeks. We saw Nietzsche's with the Carolina Hurricanes. He resigned for a two year, $6.5 million deal. A lot of people thought he was going to be traded.
Ended up not happening. And then Brock Faber resigned with the wild, an eight, but eight by 8.5 million deal, which he is a very good defenseman. He's going to be the kind of cornerstone. Cornerstone. That's my word today, of their defensive core. So I think that's going to be, you know, both of those signings are, are good for their prospective teams, but I think this faber one really knocks out. Knocks it out of the park. I could see him winning the Norris in the next and it, within that contract lengthen.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I think getting him at eight by eight and a half is not even a steal. I mean, he's well deserved of it, obviously was, I want to say, second in Calder voting, I'm assuming, behind bedard. And, you know, he had a great season. We talked about him a little bit, and I think it's also awesome, too. He's a hometown, you know, you've seen that photo of him with Caprisov scoring that game winner, and he's on the glass right there when he was in. I want to see it in college. Um, so it's. It's a cool little full circle moment that he's with the wild, and I. I hope that he's going to be the face of that, one of the fit, one of the faces of that team for the next eight years. Um, and, yeah, like you said, I think I can see a Norris in his future. He's. He's a solid, solid player. Um, nature's resigning. I mean, two years, six and a half is a pretty good deal for the Kanes. I, the hurricanes, I was talking about this with someone the other week, the hurricanes are just, they're in this weird situation, too where they have all their pieces. I feel like that they should need. They remind me a lot of the sharks. Honestly, back in the day when the sharks were good, like Carolina has always been a really solid team for the past what it seems like five, six years, but nothing to show for it.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:30] Speaker A: And, you know, I think nature's is a great player to resign and six and a half meals, a good six and a half million is a good deal for that.
But I just don't know what they're missing the hurricanes, because it's something. I don't know what it is. I think maybe I feel like this.
[00:29:48] Speaker B: Is kind of a, it's kind of a show me deal. I feel like this, they're, yeah, they're trying to get Martin Nae just to prove himself and.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:29:56] Speaker B: You know, these next two years are going to be kind of deciding, I think if this year doesn't go well, he might get treated the next year before the deadline because I think he's said to be a UFA that once this contract expired.
Speaking of the Keynes, Evgeny Kuznetsov left signs in the KHL with four year deal with SKA St. Petersburg, which this is kind of been a crazy year for Kuznetsov. Yeah, I mean, he left off, I want to say was $7.8 million on the table for this deal in the KHL, which I've reportedly heard that he's going to be making more bonuses. I already saw a nasty goal, shootout goal from him in the KHL. So, yeah, I think he's going to be doing good in Russia, but damn, man, I think it's kind of a blow to the Canes because I feel like he had a really good postseason with them and I feel like that kind of, he had a resurgence in the NHL and, you know, we, we would have maybe seen that this upcoming season, that, that old Kuznetsov style. So.
[00:31:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:05] Speaker B: What do you think about that?
[00:31:06] Speaker A: No, totally. And I think it's funny because we were talking about it this, when he got traded, we were like, is this, is he back? Is Kuznetsov back? And I mean, he had a pretty good rest of the season, but now he's gone. He's in the KHL.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: So, yeah, like you said, I'm going to make. Yeah, he's gone. He's out of the NHL, which is just crazy to think about that. You know, Kuznetsov is just, he's out of there but I think it'll be interesting to see. I'm sure we'll see clips of him on the Internet, but, yeah, I mean, he had a great career in the NHL.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Wonder if he's gonna come back at all.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: I know. How old is he? Do you know?
[00:31:53] Speaker B: Wanna say he's like. He's in his mid thirties. I want to say, like, 34, 35.
He's shit, man. He was like. He was the Ovechkin's right hand man for a little while.
[00:32:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: So it is kind of sad. I agree. It's like, damn. Because that's on, bro.
[00:32:09] Speaker A: He's gone. Just like that.
But, yeah, I think it'll be interesting to see. But, yeah. Other news, this is also kind of european stuff, I guess you could classify it as. But the 2026 Olympic qualifying games has officially begun.
People qualified so far is Italy. They are the host teams, which I am fascinated to see what italian hockey players there are.
And it doesn't count people from New York City, like, actual Italians that play hockey. I'm just fascinated to see that.
[00:32:48] Speaker B: We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if Italy snags some Americans that get their citizenship, because that happens. Olympics, that happens in soccer. That happens in all over the place. So I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. Who knows, dude? Maybe Italy goes on a Cinderella run here.
[00:33:04] Speaker A: That would be crazy. And I'd honestly be pretty happy. That'd be a fun team to watch. But I.
I'm curious. Who I know. Is it Vinnie Trojak? He's got italian heritage, but I don't think he'd maybe. I don't know. We'll see. I mean, it'd be interesting if they snag some USA players or even canadian players, but obviously, USA, Canada, Russia, Finland have qualified as well as Germany, Sweden, Chechia, and Switzerland.
I'm really excited to see, and I'm sure as everyone that's listening to this are excited to see NHL players back in the Olympics.
[00:33:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: You know, I feel like the last couple years have just been just so off with, like, Covid threw everything off. Just with the. Like, the Olympics in general. I felt like this year was the first year that I felt like Olympics were back to normal since. Before COVID Since what? 2018? Um, and that was six years ago. And now this. You know, the Summer Olympics, I thought did pretty well in terms of, you know, just competition and overall coverage, I guess.
Whereas the last couple ones have just been.
[00:34:15] Speaker B: Been whack. But Paris did a really good job this year, and it's coming. Yeah, there's.
[00:34:22] Speaker A: The. Us is getting some or us is getting 2028 somewhere that'll be.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: Yeah, 2028 summer. And then we. Salt Lake City is getting 2034, which. That's going to be freaking awesome. I can't wait for that.
[00:34:37] Speaker A: I know we're going to be 34 years old. Jesus Christ. But it'll still be cool.
[00:34:43] Speaker B: But, yeah. So there's three spots remaining in this. The qualifying games have been kind of. They're like weird tiers of qualifying from the double IHF from all these different continents.
And there's three spots remaining, and there's three groups, and there's Group D, Group E, and Group F.
Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Austria, and Hungary are in group D. Latvia, France, Slovenia, Ukraine are in Group E, and then Denmark, Norway, Great Britain, and Japan are in group FDA.
I feel like there's some pretty clear favorites. I think the hardest group is definitely going to be Group D. Slovakia. I would say they have a pretty strong chance of making it, but, I mean, Austria has some decent players as well as Kazakhstan.
Yeah, but I mean, if I were to guess, I think Slovakia makes it in group D, I'd say group E is kind of up in the air. I could see Sylvania maybe doing something I. Kopatar is not playing for Salini, which kind of hurts him. Um, yeah, but I'd probably say labia makes it out of there, and then I'm going to go off a limb and say Norway makes it in Group f, but it's gonna be interesting to see how that that goes on. And it'd be sweet if they expanded this a little bit, made it maybe two more teams or. Or four more teams and made it something.
[00:36:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:09] Speaker B: All in along, like, the World cup is doing, so.
[00:36:12] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I think a bigger tournament would be cool. Um, and just to give a chance to some of those smaller country, like, not smaller countries, but hockey, not as hockey dominant countries.
[00:36:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:25] Speaker A: Give them more of a chance. Um, I mean, I think, same as you, I think Slovakia's got the. Could go either way, but, um, I mean, I think I like Latvia, but I. I think Slovenia is still going to do it out of Group E and group F. I mean, I feel like Norway always has, looking at those four teams. I know great Britain sure ain't going to get a team in. Neither is Japan, but Denmark does have decent players.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: I mean, Freddie Anderson is from Denmark and Nikolai Ehlers is from Denmark, so, I mean, they have. They have some decent players on Denmark.
[00:37:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. So we'll see. I think group F is a little hard to judge, too, but I'm gonna go with Norway just with my gut.
Will my gut be right? Probably not, but who knows?
I mean, obviously I'm excited. I think it'll be a lot of fun. I think USA is gonna kick ass.
But Canada, again, is no joke. Russia is no joke. And really, all those teams that have already qualified are gonna be tough opponents. But just looking at USA's roster, like, I'm sorry, I just. I'm gonna have to go with them.
I know our canadian listeners might not like me for it, but I think this is the year, or this 2026 is the year that USA gets that gold medal.
[00:37:48] Speaker B: That'd be awesome. Yeah, it's. Their. Their roster is scary.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: On paper it is, but I'm less worried because of their goaltending. We have much stronger goaltending.
And I know that's not everything, but I think our team, like USA team, is still pretty stacked.
But, I mean, I think it'll be a good. A good, hard fought thing because we still don't know exactly what the actual rosters are going to be, so who even knows?
[00:38:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:21] Speaker A: And that's still two seasons from now. There could be some breakout canadian goalie that is just a rock star and we don't even know about it. But that is going to wrap up our coast to coast. There's a whole lot of hockey news these past, um.
Past couple months. Yeah. Nothing super crazy, you know, like it is in the regular season, but still some good moves in the offseason. Again, super excited about Yaroslav Askarov, and that's going to lead us into our final segment. We're going to do the good, the bad, the ugly, with our two favorite teams. One being the Sharks galleys. Being the flames, uh, galley. Why don't you start it off?
You honestly could just get through all three.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: Definitely.
I just, uh, will rattle off some things and, uh, for the Calgary flames, there's decent amount of bad and ugly, but we'll start with the good. Uh, Dustin wolf reset with the flames. Two years, 850k average. Um, solid deal. I think it's kind of a show me contract.
Please, Dustin Wolf, save us. Save us from the misery the Flames fans are in, and he's keen to be the starter. Shared. Govich also signed a five year, 5.75 contract, so getting those younger players signed, that's a really big thing and awesome thing.
[00:39:37] Speaker A: Five years a year, that's pretty solid.
[00:39:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
Or, sorry, it's 5.75, Mildred, average. So I think it's like 30 year.
[00:39:50] Speaker A: Okay. I was like, holy crap. One year or one year.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: Yeah, that would be wild if sherry Govish did that.
Yeah, we got sharky resigned. We got the wolf and Sharky, two animals.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: But young players are also getting a chance this upcoming NHL season. Connor Zeri, Matthew Coronado, Martin Paspasil, Jacob Peltier, Kevin Ball, Dustin Wolf. So it's going to be really exciting for flame stance to see some of these high draft picks actually get NHL playing time. I feel like they've been kind of sheltered, not this past year, but years before, so we're kind of given the reins to a bunch of kids besides Huberto and Cadre, I will say the defensive core looks very dangerous. We got Brustowicz, Poirier, Eaton, Moran, who's a first round pick a couple of years back, on top of Uyghur Rasmussen. So flames are keeping that strong defensive core. There's also a new arena coming up. They grow broke ground this summer. The flames aren't moving, which, uh, thank God, they're not moving. But, uh, yeah, it's awesome that there's a new arena coming. Uh, the whole, whole salad, um, is going to be gone in a little bit, which kind of makes me sad.
Moving on to the bad. Where do I even start? I mean, there's a lot of stuff to talk about, but the biggest one, that's the worst for, I think, Flames fans are, the Oilers are in the midst of a cup contender, being a cup contender, and the Flames are kind of at the beginning of a rebuild, so it's pretty brutal to see the biggest rival making the Stanley cup. And I know Wayne Sanders rooting for the, for the Panthers big time, which was funny. And that would have been, that would have been crushing if the Oilers won the Stanley cup this past year. Um, yeah, obviously, Freddie mentioned it. Huberto and Cadre, they have pretty abysmal contracts. Huberto's is not very good at all. I want to say he's getting paid 11 million, still has six years left. Um, very, very bad.
Seven by seven.
But, you know, who knows? Maybe they can have good years this year. I know a lot of flames fans have been kind of delusional, and, like, this is to come back season for Huber, though. But we will see about that. Cadre has been playing good. I think cadres been playing good. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets shipped off. But sorry, Jonathan Huberto is not getting traded anywhere. I don't think anyone really wants him with that contract. And then the biggest, like, bad is, I mean, we had Johnny Goudreau, we had Matthew Kaczuk, even Elias Lindon. We don't. I'm not really Elias Lindon, but Kaczuk and Gudreau. I mean, we don't really have any more standout star players. So that's kind of tough for us.
Like, it was kind of a tough decision for me to who do I, whose jersey do I get when I went up there? Yeah, I got Connor Zary. Hopefully he becomes our next star this upcoming season. I have hope for him, but yeah. And then onto the ugly.
I know a lot of people have seen a lot of social media posts and articles about this. The Flames are a completely different team on paper than one year ago. Like, everyone has gone. I mean, Chris Hannaf got traded. Noah Hannafin got traded. Jacob Markstrom got traded. Elias Lindholm got traded. I mean, like, our whole core is gone. I wouldn't be surprised if some more of that core get shipped off from Craig Conroy. And I think Craig Conroy is doing a good job so far. Some questionable trades here and there. Um, but we will see. Um, and then the question, I think, about all players is like, are we going to go into a full rebuild this season? Like, is there going to be more pieces moved? Like, I was just talking about earlier, you know, are they going to be trading all the older players? Are they going to trade, like, say, Anderson, who's like a very stark, like, good player, could get a very good return, you know, we'll see.
And then the, I already mentioned it, the saddle dome is going to be the sad dome this year. Most likely it's going to be torn down in a couple years, and its next couple years might be a little bit sad for its last years. So that's my good, bad and ugly for the Calgary Flames, though.
[00:44:18] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I mean, I think you guys honestly do have a really bright future.
Not as bright as ours, but. I'm kidding. No, I think, I mean, there's a lot of, like you said, there's a lot of fun to watch this year with some of these younger players getting more of a role like Dustin and Zayn park isn't going to. You don't think he's going to come over this year? He's still. What's his deal?
[00:44:44] Speaker B: There's, that's a, that's a big question, too. I mean, there's talks that he could make opening night roster, but we will see if he makes opening night roster, has a good training camp. I mean, we could have the next quid use on our hands. I mean, this guy has stud. I I think he is one of the most talented players in the whole draft. I'm surprised he went that late. Yeah, and I think the flames are kind of him and Bruce Dewich, to be kind of that, leading the charge from the younger defense men. Bruce Dewich was in that tree with Canucks, which was an absolute steal. Like. Oh, like goodness. So think back on. Um, but, yeah, I mean, I would love to see Perek in the NHL this year, but I think we shouldn't rush him.
But I think he's good. I honestly think he's good enough to do that.
[00:45:34] Speaker A: So, yeah, we could see like a late second half. Cause is he still on a CHL contract or how?
[00:45:40] Speaker B: Yeah, he's probably gonna go back to the OHL. It's just like him and Bruce de wich. It's like they've done basically everything in one. God, all the accolades as defensemen. So, I mean, I don't know if it's going to really. It probably benefit them to get one more year. And who knows? Maybe they go to the HL for a year. That might help them kind of get their pro level. So either way, I'd love to see them either in the NHL or the HL this year. I think Bruce, which is at least going to be in the HL, correct. Could probably do another year in juniors and it wouldn't. Wouldn't be hurtful.
[00:46:17] Speaker A: So, yeah, I think what's honestly kind of interesting about the whole junior hockey system now is I feel like, you know, we're seeing some of these players go to college and, like, Will Smith, for example, stay back another year, or even Ryan Leonard, who I thought was going to be joining the Capitals this season. Um, I feel like. I mean, I know it's good hockey down there, but in the CHL, but I almost feel like if you're going to, like, it's a better route to go to college and develop there because some of these contracts, you can't really go to the AHL yet. Like, you have to be either playing in the NHL or you're going down to the CHL. So, yeah, I don't know. I feel like. And it's all different. I mean, it's. It's. It's really hard to judge that, but I just feel like with NCAA hockey, you get a little bit older, a little bigger players, and depending on what college you go to, pretty good competition. So, I don't know, I just. That came to my mind, but the Sharks are good, bad and ugly. There's still a lot of bad and a whole lot of ugly, but unlike last year, there is now some good. I felt like last year there was really no good. It was all bad and ugly.
You know, I watched very, very few Sharks games.
You know, I would watch it if it was on at a good time for me. I wouldn't, you know, cancel plans because of a Sharks game, but that might change this year.
You know, I think obviously, we have a lot of really two prominent. Two prominent young players that are going to be playing up in Will Smith and Macklin celebrini that are going to be really fun to watch. For me as a Sharks fan, you know, I think it's going to be fun to see what they can do. I'm excited for Tyler to Foley. I think he's gonna be that. I think he's a perfect piece for, you know, just this development and, you know, seems like he likes San Jose. I've been seeing some stuff on instagram, but, you know, I'm just really excited to actually enjoy watching Turks hockey and not be rooting for them to lose. Like, I don't. I don't expect them to win a lot of games, and that's okay for me. Like, I'm like, you know what? At least it'll be fun hockey to watch.
[00:48:39] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:48:40] Speaker A: Um, the bad part, I mean, I think our defense is going to be really hard to watch this year. Um, I just don't see many bright spots in there besides, like, Mario Ferraro and I don't even think, like, sam Dickinson isn't going to play. Um, Henry thrun, I want to say, is going to get some more playing time, which I think will be interesting to see how he plays. He's a Harvard grads, he's a smart guy. Um, but I, you know, I think it'll be, it's going to be. There's going to be some tough games to watch still. You know, even though it's going to be fun, I am still thinking they're going to be bottom five, maybe bop bottom ten.
That's me being a hopeful Sharks fan. But, you know, we're definitely going to win more games than we did last year. And, you know, the other thing, too, is like, I don't think our rebuild is close to being done. Um, it got a hell of a lot closer with Askarov, the Haskarov trade. Um, you know, I've always said the Sharks are going to be dominant in five, six years, and now I can honestly see them being not playoff competitive, but a bubble team in two to three years now. Whereas before I was like, no, it's still a long ways away. Um, so, yeah, the ugly, I think these losses are going to be brutal. I think there's going to be some ten goal games still.
You know, it's not like it's not going to be on Mackenzie Blackwood or ask Rob. I don't think it's not their fault. It's just, I think as a team, it's just going to be. It's going to be brutal. And, you know, especially against some of these good teams, you know, we have a whole lot of young players. And, like, outside of Celebrini and Will Smith, like, there's still William Eckland, who's. I wouldn't really call him a prospect anymore. He's got a season under his belt. But like I said, henry thrun.
I'm trying to think of who else I can't think of on the top of my head right now, but there's still a lot that needs to be done. So I'm not expecting this to be a turnaround season by any means, but I'm hoping. All I'm really hoping for is that if we lose that, we lose like seven to five or something like that, where we get a lot of points.
I don't want to be getting killed. Ten to zero, I'd be okay with, like, ten to eight getting killed, but I know that's not very realistic. But, you know, I think it's a step in the right direction. 1ft in front of the other, slowly but surely, and I'm proud of my career. I haven't been proud of a sharks GM for a while.
Doug Wilson was always someone that I thought was making the wrong decision.
And whether I know what I'm talking about or not, clearly it didn't work out for us.
And I'm just. I'm excited. I really am. I'm excited this year, and it's the first time I've been excited to watch a. It's been. It's the first time I've been excited to see the first Sharks game of the season since probably 2019. Every season after that, I've just been like, God, here we go again. Another fucking ass kicking. So I'm excited, you know, moving forward. That pretty much wraps up my stuff for the sharks. That was my rant.
[00:52:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I would. I hope that they don't get scored on that much. I mean, hopefully Oscar has a good year. I think to Foley is going to be really good for them, though. I think he's probably going to have another 30 goal plus year. He's going back to a warmer climate. Past five or six years he's been in cold climates such as New Jersey or Calgary or Montreal.
I think to Foley's best, some of his best years was with the La Kingsen.
[00:52:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: Which is the warm climate. So I think the sharks, who knows, maybe this is a resurgence, maybe it's the warm, warm weather that will make him play better. But I think that he's going to be, he's going to be good. He's probably going to be on their first line and yeah, I'm sure he's going to be a good veteran presence for those younger players. So it's going to be interesting to see what the shark, how the Sharks do this year and, and the Flames. I mean, yeah, real question is who's, who's going to finish lower?
[00:53:06] Speaker A: I think it's shark still, you guys, you guys at least have, like, you guys still have Jonathan Huberto. Like, you know, as bad as his contract may be, you still have him. Like, I mean, realistically, our best player is Tyler to Foley. Like, I could say celebrini or Smith are going to be the. But you can't expect that out of a rookie to be the best player on their team. I mean, look how it went out for sure, dude, that guy's hurt and he's, I don't think he's going to come back this year. And honestly, like, Logan Couture's just always been nothing. I don't like him, but it's just, I've always just, he's never been enough and I'm like, dude, come on. And, you know, I feel bad for him in the sense that, you know, he's kind of never had a good team since he's been a lot older. Like he benefited. You know, he was, he was a young, bright star when we were still good and then the minute we fell off was like his prime years being 26, 27, and since then he's just been riddled with injuries. So it's tough for him for any of that. But, you know, I, I think the sharks are going to be lower than the flames. What do you think, though?
[00:54:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I'd say so. Unless they start selling, unless the flames are doing horrible and start selling everyone, which is not completely impossible.
I think you're right on that, but.
[00:54:38] Speaker A: Yeah, we shall see.
[00:54:40] Speaker B: You know, he's almost, almost an hour podcast tonight. We had decent amounts talk about.
[00:54:45] Speaker A: Yeah, we did. And I mean, that was, I think part of it was just the not talking about hockey for the last two months, just doing interviews. So.
[00:54:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:54:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Everyone, thank you for listening. Moving forward into the future, the next couple months, obviously Galley is going to be doing his new job, so we're going to have to try to figure out some just timing for this next cup, this next month, really September.
Obviously preseason is going to start here soon, but we're going to start doing division previews for these episodes. You know, kind of like we just did with the Sharks and flames. We're going to do for probably not as Ranty as we just did, but start talking about each team in the division. You know, we could gallon, I could go on and on about the Sharks and the Flames, but for other teams we probably have less to say. So.
But we're going to do a preview for those teams in those divisions and then probably move into some predictions for awards, finishing, you know, Stanley cup, all that stuff right before the season starts and then boom, before you guys know it's going to be October 7 whenever the season starts and we got hockey back. I mean, yeah, realistically, it's it's right there. It's. It's so close and I don't know if you saw NHL 25 has the quinn the Hughes brothers on it.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: I.
[00:56:08] Speaker A: Which I think is interesting. It's the first time any brothers have been on a cover for a sports game for EA.
Yeah, I'm sure that game will be dog shit just like the last one. But you know what? I think it'll be a cool cover.
We'll see if their glorified roster update is any good. Maybe we'll do a little review of it if if it comes out in time, but definitely. Gary, you got anything else before we kick it on out of here?
[00:56:35] Speaker B: No, man. I'm excited for the future. And go Bison. That's all I gotta say. And good to get back on here and talk and yeah, I think these previews are going to be really awesome.
We've got quite a few episodes under our belt now. I think this is episode 42, so we'll be a little bit more maybe analytical or have some more opinions or who knows what. But I'm excited for that. Yeah. Excited to get out to Illinois as much as I'm sad I leaving Idaho. It's going to be a good time out in Illinois.
[00:57:06] Speaker A: New time job, though. I mean, I think everyone listening to is going to be excited just to hear some of the stories that you'll have, because I'm sure you'll run into some crazy shit along the way.
[00:57:17] Speaker B: I'm sure. I'm sure.
[00:57:19] Speaker A: Yeah. So. But, yeah, guys, thank you for listening. Be sure to follow us. Subscribe. Follow us on Instagram at Goodall Hockey podcasts.
That's kind of not been dead, but we've been slow on it just because it really hasn't been much. Right under Galleyood o hockey podcast. Go follow us on there, and you'll start seeing more stuff from us during the season.
And we will be back to you guys not next week, but the week after, and you'll know more about the future of the episodes in that episode. So peace out, and we'll see you guys in two weeks.
