Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: All right, everybody, welcome back to the good old hockey podcast. This is Sean. That's Alan right there. And if you're watching and not listening on Spotify, you probably noticed something a little different. We're not in our rooms with a janky ass Apple camera.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: We are, in fact, in a studio. Studio. I work at SB Studios here in Boise, and we just thought, you know, it's a little time. You got to take us serious now because we're in a studio. We have these cameras, these mics, and you got to take it serious now. So. But we've got some good stuff today. We're going to be talking about the trade deadline coming up in a couple days. But, Alan, how do you feel? How does it feel to be in the studio today? How does it feel?
[00:00:42] Speaker B: I'm not going to lie. It's a little awkward. Normally when we're doing the podcast, I have like Minecraft parkour playing underneath the. Underneath the screen because I can't focus unless I have that. I'll be watching a YouTube video on one side. So there's a little weird, a little bit of a change.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: You're not stimulated enough.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: I'm not stimulated enough. I might start playing on my phone. Halfway through this play, Tetris start shaking. Yeah, Tetris, dude.
[00:01:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: I can't believe that our generation has come to a point where we have to have, like, subway surfers just to engage everyone.
[00:01:15] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: It's crazy.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: People pay attention. It's sad. What are you doing? Yeah, listen, guys, listen. Gen Z, whatever. You are Generation Alpha. You suck.
This is unbelievable.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it is.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: But outside of that, how was our. Our week? Last week we. Oh, heartbreaking game.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: We did. That was a tough game.
[00:01:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: That one was not fun.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Debut of the helmet was not a. Not workout. But it's okay.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: Okay. We have two more opportunities, so we're currently sitting in a playoff position.
I want to say we're. We're. We haven't gotten the standings updated from this past week, so we don't know if the team that's chasing us is in now or they. If they won, they could have been eliminated. This game tomorrow might be pointless, but we don't really know at this point in time.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: So we'll see.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: We'll have to get a backup goalie and to give you some rest.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: Exactly. Dude, I want to play. I want to play skater.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: You should.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: That'd be fun.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: Yeah, that'd be crazy.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: But embarrassing.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: Yeah, but not. How was your weekend?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Weekend was good. Uh, what Did I.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Do you just have a new schedule now? Because you got.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Just change around my work schedule. So I have a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday off rather than Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, which is what it was before, so it's pretty cool. Took the dog out to the park with my girlfriend and her dog and just hung out. It was a good day.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, yeah. I.
What did I do this weekend?
Oh, I went to Bogus yesterday.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: How was that?
[00:02:42] Speaker A: That was fun.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: You go snowboarding, Skiing?
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Skiing, yeah.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: Okay, sweet.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: I haven't been skiing in probably four or five years, but not to brag, but us hockey players can ski pretty. It transfers pretty well. It's an adjustment, but it's very similar to skating.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I'm not gonna say I'm fantastic or anything.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I'm a lot.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: But I just got my skis a few weeks ago, went up, been skiing a couple times since and getting the hang of it. It's pretty fun.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Not too bad for somebody who's. I've been skiing like a handful of times the last five years, so.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah, we can. We can hang as hockey players. We can.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: We can do all.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Except for.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: I'd say baseball. Baseball is a tough sport.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: I can't play baseball.
[00:03:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: The last time I played baseball, Zach hit me in the face with a ball.
It was like 20, 21. That was a long time ago.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: Wiffle ball.
[00:03:36] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: Yeah, that's fair. What happens? All right, let's get into hockey. Okay. So I would say the biggest thing that happened within the last week was the Seth Jones trade.
Obviously, the trade deadline is. You're listening to this on Wednesday. It'll be on Friday.
Still up in the air. Maybe we might do a live stream for it, maybe not.
We'll see how it goes. But.
[00:04:01] Speaker C: So, yeah.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Seth Jones trade. So Jones to Florida and Chicago actually retains 26% of the salary.
And then Spencer Knight and a 2026 conditional first round pick to the Blackhawks. What that condition is, I don't know, But Jones has seven goals, 27 points, 42 games -18. But that is with the Blackhawks. Spencer Knight, his career stats, 80 games played, 44 wins, 5 shutouts, 276 goals against, and a.900 save percentage. Noted. Better goalie than most goalies that Wayne Gretzky scored on.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Yes, I think it was all of them.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: That's funny.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: But. Yeah. What do you think? For.
I mean, I think for both these guys, I think it's a fresh start.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: That. Yeah, that's the best way you kind of describe this trade, Seth Jones.
There's been a lot floating around with that guy playing like God awfully. I can't say I've tuned into a single Chicago Blackhawks game this year.
[00:05:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: So I don't really know what the eye test looks like, but it sounds pretty bad.
That being said, we know what Seth Jones is capable of with how he played in Columbus. He was a fantastic defenseman in Columbus. They earned him a 9.5 million dollar per year salary.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: And he got traded. I think we were looking at this right before for two first round picks that were like top 15 first round picks. A guy who got picked, I think it was fourth overall in. What was that? Adam Bachvist and then another second round pick. So, like we know what he's capable of. He's a fantastic player when he's playing well. Yeah.
I think fresh start for him on a good defensive team, it kind of gives him the opportunity to shine.
[00:05:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: No, I agree. I think the Blackhawks, obviously, they're in the position they're in and even like when he joined, that was. I mean, that was around. They got rid of Patty Kane.
[00:06:00] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Recently. So he just. Yeah, he hasn't had like a real chance to showcase what he's done. And I'm excited to kind of watch him with Florida. But also, I mean, I think same goes for Spencer Knight too. I mean, you're living in Bob's shadow, I think.
Not that I don't agree with the trade for Florida, but I think also I always saw it as like Spencer Knight's like your future goalie.
[00:06:25] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: Is Bob is like great as he is, but you know, he's getting up there in age and you can't keep him forever. You know, you got Matthew Chuck on eight years, Barkov for probably another six years or I don't know how long their contracts are, but you got these guys, your superstars. And then you also had a goalie who was destined to be great. But yeah. Yeah, just didn't turn out. And I think it's tough to live in Bob's shadow.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: I think it's one of those things because he's still on his 10. I think it's $10 million contract. For another. I want to say it's this year and next season when that contract expires.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: Sorry.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: Yeah, you're good. And it's kind of difficult to justify keeping him around Spencer Knight. He's one of those guys, when he got drafted, he had all the potential in the world. He's Taking the first round as a goaltender, which is pretty uncommon.
[00:07:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: I can think of a handful of guys over the last few years, guys that are in the NHL at this point. Jake Ottinger and Andre Vasilevsky.
[00:07:27] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Like, those are the only guys. And Yaroslav Askarov. Right.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: True.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: All the potential in the world. Obviously, his career hasn't really taken off yet. He had that issue. I believe it was February of 2023. Went into the player assistance program.
[00:07:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: For some mental issues.
Hopefully he's doing better now. I think he is. He's back to playing in the NHL. He's got like 30 something games played this year. 20 something games.
I think it is a fresh start. He's a guy who still could take off.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: And he still could be one of the best goalies in the world. That's kind of how he was seen when he entered the league.
[00:08:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Is a future number one guy. And now Chicago has that future number one guy, which is great for them.
[00:08:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: I don't think his stats are going to look fantastic these next couple seasons because Chicago is.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: I wouldn't expect.
[00:08:18] Speaker B: Terrible. Yeah. Coming from a Sharks fan. They're terrible.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: Yeah, they are.
[00:08:22] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: Well, they're like we've always said. I mean, like, it's great they have Bedard, stuff like that. I mean, even like the. We'll get into a little bit later about. Oh, not really, but the call to race just with Macklin celebrity. We're making this conversation about the Sharks, as we always do.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: But.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: But you look at the Blackhawks and it's like, yeah, they have Connor Bedard, but the Blackhawks really have only recently been somewhat rebuilding because they've had, you know, Patty Kane, they had Jonathan Toews. It's been like a weird rebuild for them. And like, Bedard was kind of the start of the rebuild, which is always kind of tough.
[00:08:59] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: If you have, like, that main guy being picked first, it's like if Connor McDavid got picked, he kind of was. The Oilers, like, the start of the.
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Rebuild, but they had already had four first overall picks or three first overall picks.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: None of them, like, had panned out.
[00:09:14] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: So it's a little different, but for Blackhawks, like, they don't. They're just in a weird spot with their rebuild, and it's going to suck for Bedard, but they're going to be fine. I think the Blackhawks, they have some.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Other guys in the system. Frank Nazor has been playing in the NHL this year. Like, they have defensemen they have pretty much. They have like the start of everything.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: Second pick last year.
[00:09:36] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: They had this. They had the start of everything. They just need to keep the ball rolling and keep drafting well and making some good trades.
[00:09:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: We were talking about.
They've been bad for a while now. They've been bad for the last few years.
[00:09:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: And they still haven't made any huge steps in their rebuild. It was kind of like the last couple years before Mike Greer got hired for the Sharks. Like, maybe it's time to move away from Kyle Davidson because he really hasn't. Besides lucking into a first overall pick, what else has he done?
[00:10:08] Speaker A: Yeah, that was. Yeah, they lucked out. Being. They weren't even the first team. No, they were second. Right.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: I want to say they were second. Yeah.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: So.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: So it's like.
[00:10:18] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: I don't know.
I think it might be about time for them to.
[00:10:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Cause realistically, like, he hasn't. Like, you look at Mike Greer and what he's done just in his start of the rebuild and like he tore the team apart and like, he made good trades out of it. Kyle Davidson, I don't know that you can really say.
Maybe this one. Maybe this one.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: We are comparing him to the gold standard, though. True. Like, yeah, Money Mike. Yeah, Money Mike is standard for general managers in a rebuild.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: So I don't know.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's totally fair. But yeah, I think it could definitely be.
It's up for debate, like, whether. I think you give him another year, see what he does. Trade deadline isn't over yet, so there could be more.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: But, yeah, I mean, if he's just going to luck out and get a first overall pick this year, then. Or even second overall pick, like, you know, he's just banking on these bad seasons. But realistically, if you give Chicago, I mean, another two top two draft picks next couple years, I think they'll be set.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: They'll be competitive again.
[00:11:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:25] Speaker B: Like, they're gonna be terrible forever.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: No. And they're the Blackhawks, so. Yeah, it's destin. But yeah. Is that everything you have about Knight?
[00:11:33] Speaker B: That is pretty much everything. Yeah.
[00:11:35] Speaker A: All right. Well, onto the. Still on the Florida Panthers. Matthew Tkachuk is on ltir after.
Seemed like he injured himself from the four nations tournament.
I think this is hilarious because I've been. If you've watched the pod. I was on the Panthers bandwagon last year. Going to be on it this year, too, until the Sharks are better.
But Matthew Chuck is probably one of my favorite players. Just the way he plays, you know, he's kind of seen as the bad guy. But like, when he's on your team. Yeah, you love him.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: It's like Brad Marchand. Exactly.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: If he's on your team, you love the guy. But Bill Zito said today, this morning, Monday, that Matthew Chuck is going to be out for the regular season, but he should be back in time for playoffs. So looks like they're going to be playing the ltir game. No more Stone injury.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Nope.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: That brings that up.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: Not yet.
[00:12:29] Speaker A: Not yet. There's still a couple of days left yet.
But yeah, Matthew Chuck, he is put on ltir. The Panthers now have $8.7 million in cap space, so some potential additions. I don't really know what could see. I don't. I think Rantman's off the table. I kind of thought that was going to be before that Seth Jones trade. I thought they were going to try to make a push for renting, but yeah, I don't think that's happening now.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: But.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: I think the Panthers overall, what they could use. I mean, getting Seth Jones definitely helps them. They needed some help on defense, on already a great defensive team, but last year that was like their powerhouse.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: And I mean, I think if they can get another like Tarasenko rental, they just have a guy like that come in for a year, I think that can help them.
But it's just a matter of. Yeah, really what they can afford.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: I think they could absolutely use another backup goalie because they have Chris Drieger backing up Bob and. And although Bob does play better in the playoffs, he still hasn't been great this year. He's kind of been showing his age a tad.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: It's always nice to have.
[00:13:42] Speaker B: Might be a good idea to get an upgrade over Chris Drieger.
[00:13:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: No one's to him.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Who knows though, the way we've been talking about players. It's true.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Watch, he's gonna go off.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: He's gonna be a Hall of Fame goalie.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: He's got. You remember Andrew Hammond back. It was like 2015. He went on that insane run with the Ottawa Centers. He's going to have like one of those runs. He'll be starting goalie for the next 10 years.
[00:14:02] Speaker A: It'll be like Aiden Hill just like coming out of nowhere. The way. The way that we jinx players all the time.
[00:14:08] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Or just like we'll talk about a player, they get slow. Or if we shit on a player like Mitch Marner who then has like an insane tournament and yeah, our lives but.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: Oh, well.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: Yeah. It happens.
But, yeah. So hope. Maybe we just willed it into existence. They don't even need a backup goalie.
[00:14:27] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:14:28] Speaker A: We'll see.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: But watch Mark Stone beat the allegations this year because we've been talking about it the entire time.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: Honestly. Yeah.
[00:14:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: He probably will. I. Let's see. What's today? Today is the March 3rd.
Three weeks or, no, two weeks. I think from Thursday. I'm going to a Knights game. Nice Bruins.
I'm a little torn because I don't really know who to root for. I don't love both teams. Obviously, I can't root for the Knights as a Sharks fan, so I'm going to be wearing my Bobby Orchard.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: Go Bees.
[00:14:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: Go Bees.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: Kind of fun to root for them. I mean, I usually. I have a bunch of.
I don't really hate the brew. Like.
[00:15:05] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:15:05] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't hate a lot of teams.
[00:15:08] Speaker B: That's a team that is due for rebuild.
[00:15:10] Speaker A: That, too.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: My God.
[00:15:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: The Bees need. I mean, obviously, pasta's pretty young, huh?
Charlie McAvoy sick. I. I don't know. I don't even know if they need to rebuild. I think they could retool a little bit.
[00:15:27] Speaker B: I'll put it this way.
When was the last time Boston missed the playoffs? I don't even remember.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: True.
[00:15:34] Speaker B: And they're currently sitting sixth in the Atlantic out of 18. I don't remember seeing this time.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: They're only three points out of wild card.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: That is true. We'll get into that in a bit. I just find that crazy.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: Yeah. No, it is. All right. Let's talk. Call the race.
[00:15:49] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:15:50] Speaker A: So it. I feel like we could have called this in the beginning of the season.
How crazy and tight this. This race is.
[00:15:58] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: Three most notable names. We'll say four. Dustin Wolfe's definitely on there. I think it's just tough as a goalie.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: It really is.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: To win the Calder. I think they should, if anything, have their own trophy. If that's even a thing.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: Lucky goalie of the year. Something like that. Which is tough because it's like he's in Vesna conversation. But he's nowhere near hella buck. Like, that's one of those things where it's like he's kind of screwed because there's so many great rookies this year.
[00:16:26] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: And guys that are going to get a lot of recognition and more recognition than him playing in Calgary.
[00:16:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: And he has basically zero chance to win the goalie award.
[00:16:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Even though he's having a Great season.
[00:16:40] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: Just because Connor Hellebuk has been head and shoulders above everybody else in the league. Yeah. So it kind of sucks for him. Yeah.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: And I think also I mean with these like the way.
I mean at least the way Celebrity is playing. He's on pace with like how Bedard was.
[00:16:57] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: Just tracking with points per game.
Obviously Lane Hudson has another 10 games on. Well both him and Mitch COB actually have 10 games on Mac.
But I mean I think the tough part for Wolf like you'd said was just I mean unless Calgary can. He can will them to a playoff spot I think. And he kind of already is.
[00:17:20] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: To be frank, like there's nobody else on that team. Yeah.
Yeah.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: And he's like definitely willing them to a playoff spot. I just think the goalie position is just so tough to win that Calder.
[00:17:33] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: Because especially with this year just with how many people. I mean Matt Hudson and Mitch Coverall in that top. I think Will Smith's actually behind them.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: He's like number four. Yeah.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: Five now maybe depending on if the fake Logan Stankhoven rookie.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: Oh God, don't get me started. You know I find really interesting though Logan Stankhoven has been nowhere near as good as I think everybody thought he'd be, which is true. Interesting. He's not like you're like 21 and you're competing with the guy who's 18. Guy who's 19. Like.
[00:18:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: With zero pro experience. Well, I guess the 19, 20 year old Mitch Cobb has pro experience but like yeah, you played in the Stanley cup playoffs last year. You should be there and ready to go. But he's not been as good as I would have expected.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: I think also for Dallas. I mean that's a tough roster to be the points like that is true. If he's getting 20, I think he has like 20 something points.
You figure you got plenty of other players that are going to be putting up numbers.
[00:18:36] Speaker C: So.
[00:18:36] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: I don't know who's.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: Who's how.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: Let's check this out. Yeah, he's got 29 points.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: What rank is he on?
[00:18:44] Speaker B: I can't pull that up on the app. 29 points in 57 games plus two. This is a bit bad. He's probably playing on their third line which is like understandable because they have such a good team.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:18:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: But Mason Marchman has more points than you. Like that's kind of an issue. Yeah. When you were seen to be coming in and leading rookies and points. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: I think. Yeah. I mean obviously I Think we're going to be a little biased here and, you know, say Max going to win it, but I think there's a legitimate.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: I mean, I think statistically it makes sense.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: It does. He's a favorite in all the betting. Betting apps, so, you know, it's not like we're saying things out of our ass to say that. If I were to say Will Smith were to win the Calder, because I would be all that. That, I would admit is being a little biased.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Listen, he's American, and he' rookie on the Sharks. He's gonna win the Calder, and he.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Has a sick number. Number two.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: He does.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: Number two.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: Nobody. Nobody.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: Brian Leach is the only other one.
[00:19:39] Speaker B: That's nasty. Nasty number. Yeah. That guy's awesome. Yeah, he's been playing great as of late, too.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: He has.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: I saw a stat. I don't know if I can pull it up, but I think since the new year, him and Mac have been, like, almost at par.
[00:19:56] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: I think Smith had a, you know, rough start, but, I mean. Yeah. Macklin Celebrini obviously could glaze him for the next hour and a half if we wanted to.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: I would love to.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: We already kind of have a certain episode.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: We should make a podcast and we just talk about Macklin celebrity for an hour.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: That would be kind of fun.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: I'm down.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: I'm so down.
But, yeah, I mean, I think any of these guys. This rookie class is insane just to start, I mean, with everyone But Hudson's got 42 assists, which is damn impressive.
[00:20:30] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: Four goals, 42 assists. Mishkov has 19 goals, so he's leading in rookie goals. And then Mac is. The thing for Mac is the less games played. If he had had as much as them, maybe he would have similar points. Maybe not.
[00:20:45] Speaker B: We don't know. Yeah. Well, I don't think he's going scoreless. And in 10 games, frankly, he might. Yeah. I mean, rookies sometimes go through tough slumps, but he's currently on pace for 73 points in a full season.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: Which neither of the other guys are.
[00:21:01] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: So, yeah, I don't know. I think he's.
I want to say he's head and shoulders above everybody else. I don't think he's head and shoulders, but, like, you watch him play, he looks at home.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: Yeah, well, he's younger than them. I mean, those two guys are. They have, like.
[00:21:20] Speaker B: They're both 20. We'd look this up.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:22] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: And, like, not that Lane Hudson had any advantage being older.
[00:21:27] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:21:27] Speaker A: Michikov definitely playing In Russia with adults.
[00:21:30] Speaker B: That helps.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: Yeah, that definitely helps you get a Russian gas. Yeah.
Yeah. It just lets you get ahead, you know, so.
[00:21:39] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: But yeah, our pick is Mack. It's always been Mac. I would say Dustin's definitely up there.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: But again, just that, that goalie. I don't know the last time. Probably should look this up. I don't know the last time a goalie won the Calder.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: Chris Mason in like 2009. Or is it Steve Mason? Because Steve Mason, like 2009.
[00:22:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: That's the last guy I can think of, the one who won a Calder as a goalie of getting a bach off in 2002. Yeah, I think 2001, one of these years.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: So there's definitely a lot of.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: Very often.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: Yeah, it's tough, but. All right, let's do a little standings check in. We haven't done this in a while. Obviously four nations kind of. I wouldn't say ruined it, but.
[00:22:25] Speaker B: Threw it off.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: Threw it off. Didn't ruin it by any means.
[00:22:27] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: But we usually do at the beginning of the month. Just a little check in, especially with playoff. This is definitely. This is like the best part of the season for me. Trade deadline. This is where all these regular season games really matter. Because it's tough. Like, I don't know, like some of those beginning games is just like you're just playing.
[00:22:45] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: It's just playing a city to watch hockey.
[00:22:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: Obviously you want to do the best you can in those five months, but this is like crunch time. So as of right now in the Atlantic, we got Toronto with 78 points, Florida 77 and the Lightning 74. Lightning is a new team in this mix here. They've been kind of flip flopping the wild card spot.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Been on a run recently. Yeah, they have nine, zero and one in their last ten.
[00:23:15] Speaker D: Geez.
[00:23:15] Speaker B: Eight game win streak.
[00:23:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:17] Speaker A: Good for them.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: That's nuts.
[00:23:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: And they, I mean them after. It kind of seemed like last year that they were kind of falling apart just with their team.
[00:23:26] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: But being able to add Jake Gensel.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: And have him be a huge impact player, that helps.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: And you're losing. Like they lost Stamkos. They lost their captain.
[00:23:37] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: So Andre Vaslovski, in the last 10 games, he's 9, 0 and 1 with a 1.6 goals against average.947 save percentage. He has two assists and two shutouts. Damn, that's quite a run. Seems like he's willing them there right now.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: Yeah, like you kind of need that.
[00:23:58] Speaker B: Got to score two Goals a game and you'll win most of them. Yeah, exactly. That's pretty awesome.
[00:24:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: And then in the Metro, the capitals in number one, hurricanes and devils. Capitals are 10 points ahead of the hurricanes, who are number two, 84 and 74 points. So they are damn near locked in for the playoffs.
[00:24:18] Speaker B: I'd say so.
Real quick interruption. Going back to. I think it was our first podcast of this season a couple or a couple of weeks into the season, so we had already had some games played. I called the Washington Capitals pretenders. Washington Capitals fans, I'm sorry. Yeah. I was wrong. And I will apologize to you guys. Not the Canadians, but I will apologize to the Capitals fans out there because this American team is awesome.
[00:24:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: I don't know if you've watched Capitals game this year.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: I haven't.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: They're fun. Yeah, they're fun to watch. They're fast. The team's good. You got ov. Whenever he scores a goal, it's electric.
[00:24:56] Speaker A: No.
[00:24:57] Speaker B: Speaking of which, he still scoring? He did. He scored against Tampa the other day. Yeah.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: So he's 11 away.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: Close goal, too. Yeah. I think he's 11 away from breaking the record.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: Damn.
[00:25:06] Speaker B: Which is just nuts.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: No, he's going to do it. And I think he plays the sharks in about 10 days, so we'll see. He could get a couple, especially 4G of his. Annette.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: Four.
[00:25:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:20] Speaker A: So devil. I mean, Devils dropped pretty. Not. I wouldn't say hard, but they were. Devils were leading the Metro for a while.
[00:25:26] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:25:28] Speaker A: And then we'll move on to wild card. You got the Blue Jackets and the Red Wings in spot as of right now, 68 points for the Blue Jackets, 66 points for the Red Wings. Which, by the way, do you watch the stadium series between them?
[00:25:41] Speaker B: I did not.
[00:25:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:43] Speaker B: Honestly, like, I heard it was an electric game, though.
[00:25:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I did, too. I didn't expect much of it. Just because it's the Blue Jackets.
I didn't realize. My bad. They were kind of on a heater right now, but 6, 3 and 1, their last 10 and they. Yeah, I didn't watch that game. It looked fun. Their whole intro with Johnny Goudreau was awesome.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: That game was a. They were destined to win that game with the family leading them out on the ice. That was pretty sick.
[00:26:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:11] Speaker A: And they're in Ohio, like.
[00:26:12] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:26:13] Speaker A: My thing was, it's just like. It wasn't that. It's not that big of a rivalry and, you know, it's tough. I just feel like every stadium series game I've kind Of turned into is just.
[00:26:23] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: It's not the same.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: I think they're not the Winter Classic.
[00:26:26] Speaker C: No.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: Even like they Winter Classic was kind of ass.
[00:26:28] Speaker B: Yeah. They need to get some new matchups in there.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Again next year.
[00:26:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Next year. Two Florida teams.
[00:26:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: Right. That'll be sick because Tampa's playing the stadium series. That's going to be in Tampa, I think.
[00:26:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: Orlando. I forget.
[00:26:41] Speaker A: But yeah, it's.
They're doing it indoors.
[00:26:45] Speaker B: Indoor. Is that what they're doing?
[00:26:46] Speaker A: Yeah, they're doing it or not indoors, but they're doing it at the Tampa Bay Rays.
[00:26:51] Speaker B: Oh, okay. So the top baseball.
[00:26:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:54] Speaker A: It's like a dome, so it can close if it's hot, which it probably will be in January in Florida.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: But that kind of defeats the purpose of the stadium series.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: I know, right. Well, that's what I mean. I'm like.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: Still, though. Yeah, it's cool.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: It is. I mean, if we have our first.
Our first like stadium series game. But it's indoors.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: How is that going to work?
[00:27:13] Speaker B: It's still stadium.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Right. I feel like the Blue Jays hosted it. Don't they have the indoor stadium? Yeah, they do.
[00:27:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: I don't know. Pretty interesting.
Getting back real quick. Jack Hughes. Did you see the play against Vegas?
[00:27:27] Speaker A: We got hit.
[00:27:28] Speaker B: He got hit into the board real bad by Jack Eichel and he's probably going to be injured for the rest of the season. That guy can not get catch a break. Yeah. Which sucks because he's nasty.
[00:27:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:40] Speaker B: But.
[00:27:41] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: I don't know. That sucked. I'd be curious to see what happens to the rest of their season because frankly they're kind of clinging on to a spot in that Metropolitan division. Yeah. It's not looking too great for New Jersey right now.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: No. And it's kind of. It's pretty. Not tragic, but I would say tragic for them at least.
I know Devils fans have been waiting.
[00:28:07] Speaker B: For Hughes to break out.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Just. And he's super. He had a great. I mean he had 99 point season a couple of years ago, but yeah. Since then, like there really hasn't been. He's been hurt.
[00:28:17] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:28:18] Speaker B: So it's tough, but guys made a glass bones and paper skin.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: Every morning he breaks his legs, he breaks his arms. Yep.
[00:28:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: And he's just. I mean, it's unfortunate to be. To have that issue and.
[00:28:32] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: But they're still in a playoff spot right now. Hopefully they keep that and he can maybe come back for playoffs at least.
[00:28:37] Speaker B: But hopefully.
[00:28:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:39] Speaker A: All the other Teams outside of it, though, the wild card is not locked down for those Blue Jackets or Red Wings. I think any of these four teams that I'm about to name could get in. So you got Ottawa Senators, 64, Rangers 64 points. Bruins 64 points. Montreal Canadien, 63 points.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: They've been going off too.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: They have.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: They have not been bad.
[00:29:01] Speaker C: No.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: Which is interesting because I think they started out the year being awful. Yes.
So good for the Canadians. Yeah.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: They're close to.500 win percentage, but.
[00:29:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: I mean, I think again, this. All this difference is within four points, which is like two games where these teams. Someone loses two games, someone wins two games and it's all shooken up.
[00:29:24] Speaker B: Really up in the air.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: Ottawa is an interesting one too, because I feel like they.
For the sake of Brady Tkachuk, them keeping Brady Chuck, they need this push and they need to make playoffs before he gets fresh. Obviously he's a captain, he probably loves it there, but I mean, they've always had like a salt. I mean, they got Omar Cat.
[00:29:45] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: They have a solid team. They just can never get out of the bottom.
[00:29:49] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: It's been like that since 2017. Really?
I know. Pretty interesting. I would love to see Brady Kachak in the playoffs.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: I would, too. We didn't. We've never seen it.
[00:30:00] Speaker B: Never seen him. Yeah. I feel like he'd be electric. Probably will him to at least a series win or something.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: I mean, look what he did. Four Nations. He's the same shit.
[00:30:09] Speaker B: And he's nasty.
[00:30:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:30:10] Speaker A: But also the Rangers, you know, they've kind of had the.
They had a rough, very rough start.
[00:30:21] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: And still are kind of rough. But I think this JT Miller trade changed everything for them because he's got. I saw. He's got more points than Elliott Pedersen has shots.
He's embarrassing.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: That's a crazy stat.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: Yeah. But I mean, we said this when Vancouver traded J.T. miller. It's like you just got rid of a hundred point score.
[00:30:40] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:30:41] Speaker A: For a locker room dispute between him.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: And Elias Peterson, which it sounded like that the Vancouver Canucks locker room was saying that they traded the wrong guy.
[00:30:51] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: Like it didn't seem like. I almost wonder if Quinn Hughes is more of a fan of Elias Pederson than maybe. Because that. I could see you wanting to keep Quinn around, not go to the Devils to play with his brothers. So.
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: The only way to do that is keep your friend. Seems like they're good friends, but.
[00:31:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:08] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: No, it's a good Point.
[00:31:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:09] Speaker A: Because I'm sure there's outside external reasons for that, but still, just to give up a player like that. And I forget their return was not Philip.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: And Philip Beetle.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Do they get like a first?
[00:31:23] Speaker B: No, I think it was the second round pick.
[00:31:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:26] Speaker A: So Vancouver, you screwed the pooch. But we'll see where they are in the standings.
[00:31:30] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: They're outside a wild card right now. All right, so onto the West Central, we got the Winnipeg jets, top of the league, actually, 88 points. So they're four points ahead of Washington. Who's second?
Winnipeg jets in the Central. Dallas Stars with 80 points. Minnesota Wild with 74 points. So there's a pretty big gap here between all three of those teams. Winnipeg, I think is locking down, but I'm never sold on them. Yeah, never sold.
[00:32:02] Speaker B: Although I will have to say after I think the issue the last few years has been their goaltending in the playoffs. Right. Connor Hellebuck, he's been the best goalie in the league for like the last four seasons. Pretty much.
[00:32:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:16] Speaker B: But he hasn't shown up in the playoffs. Yeah. That awful series against Colorado last year where frankly the entire team played like crap. But yeah, I think every game this Colorado scored five plus goals every game, which was just awful. Even Winnipeg's one win, I think it was like seven to six.
[00:32:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:33] Speaker B: Which is crazy 80s hockey, but I don't know. He played great in the World cup of Hockey, not the World cup of Hockey. Four nations tournament.
[00:32:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:44] Speaker B: So we'll see. I think this might actually be the year where they put it together.
They look like a powerhouse of a team.
[00:32:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:52] Speaker B: I mean, you can't be a. You can't not be a powerhouse when you have 19 losses and we're at the trade deadline.
[00:32:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:59] Speaker B: No, it's kind of nuts. I highly doubt they'll lose again this week. Yeah, they're on a run right now. They're 8, 1 and 1 in their last 10.
They did just lose a game in overtime, but like. Yeah, they're hot. They're hot at the right time of year.
[00:33:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:13] Speaker B: So if they can keep that going, you know, they've been hot all season.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah, they have. But even like last. I mean, they were. They were top of the Central last year or were they second?
They played Colorado first round.
[00:33:26] Speaker C: Right.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: Yeah, Colorado. Because Colorado is in the wild card.
[00:33:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:29] Speaker A: Okay. So, yeah, they were top of the league.
[00:33:32] Speaker B: I forget.
[00:33:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I think they were.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: I think they were like top of the league. Colorado had a weird season last year.
[00:33:37] Speaker A: Regardless. The cat, the jets have always been hot.
[00:33:41] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: In the regular season. They've been a good team. Hello. Book won Vesna last year, so obviously great goalie. But again that. I just. I need to see it from him if he shows up in playoffs. I can believe in them, but it's like the Maple Leafs until that happens.
[00:33:56] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: Till they get past the second round.
[00:33:59] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: I just, I can't believe in them. It's nothing against them. I mean, it's everything against them, but I just can't like.
[00:34:08] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:34:09] Speaker A: Watching the Sharks as a kid growing up and just never seeing much past the third, second round.
[00:34:16] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:34:17] Speaker A: No matter how good you do in the regular season, the playoffs are different beasts.
I don't know if it's their style of play that just doesn't translate well to the playoffs.
[00:34:26] Speaker B: I think it might be.
[00:34:27] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: Because they're kind of a fast run and gun type of hockey team. They're at their best when Cal Conner and Mark Scheifele can skate.
[00:34:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:36] Speaker B: So I don't know. Maybe it just won't translate.
[00:34:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:40] Speaker A: But onto the piss. Well, okay. Actually first Minnesota Wild sneaking in. They. Because they started pretty hot and they've. How's their last 10 been? Five and five in the last 10. Yeah, they started really hot. I want to say it was a Philip Gustafson that was. He was. Yeah, he was inside.
[00:34:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: Yeah. He was playing insane. He was up there.
I remember like two months in the season he was up there with Conor Hallbach's stats were like almost identical. Yeah.
But I think he's come back down to earth a little bit.
[00:35:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: Standings real quick. Your stats real quick.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I think.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: Yeah, he's definitely come back down to earth, at least from where he was at the beginning of the season. He's not on top five in any same percentage or goals against. He's sixth and say percentage real quick. Looking at the goalie stats, Mackenzie Blackwood is fifth and say percentage in the league right now. 9:16. Let's go.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: So proud of him.
[00:35:42] Speaker B: I have been saying that guy's been elite.
[00:35:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:45] Speaker B: For like years now.
[00:35:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:46] Speaker B: I love Mackenzie Blackwood. That guy is awesome. Good for you, bro. Yeah.
[00:35:51] Speaker A: No, he. I mean, as much as I'd love him to be on the Sharks and be with us through the rebuild, I think with where he's at in age and he can really get somewhere far and I think, I mean Colorado's now in.
They're in a wild card spot still.
And I think Colorado's issue as well as Georgia did that Playoff run after that. Like, he's been. We're Sharks fans. We know how he is now, if we get your point. Yeah.
Doesn't help that, you know, he's in front of the Sharks defense, whereas Colorado's defense is probably a lot better. But for Mackenzie Blackwood, I mean, that's a big upgrade for him and being able to kind of showcase. I mean, he was on the Devils when they were kind of struggling.
[00:36:35] Speaker B: Yeah. When they had all the offensive talent in the world, but none of the defensive.
[00:36:39] Speaker A: Exactly. And he was really. Not really young, but he was a lot younger at the time.
And then.
[00:36:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:45] Speaker A: Then he's on the San Jose Sharks for the last couple years, so it's like he hasn't been given a fair shot.
And it's I good to see from him. That's awesome. And then in the Pacific, got the Knights atop the Pacific, as always.
Knights. Edmonton four points behind them in second, and the Kings four points behind the Oilers in third.
And then Calgary is sneaking in wild card, as of right now, 65 points for the Pacific. We said this at the beginning of the year. Weakest division.
[00:37:20] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: By far.
[00:37:21] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:37:21] Speaker A: It has us in it.
[00:37:23] Speaker B: Two teams. That's about it.
[00:37:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: The Kraken, Ducks and Sharks are just Ducks now. The Ducks are not going to make the playoffs. They could, but they're not.
[00:37:33] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: I find it interesting.
The east, it seems like, is a lot closer of a race between everybody.
[00:37:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: Than the west is. Like, if you think about it, see, Tampa and New Jersey are in third in their respective divisions.
[00:37:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: They're eight points above wild card seeding. Right. Their New Jersey could be a wild card team.
They're four points out of the Blue Jackets. It seems like that is a lot closer than like Minnesota and Vancouver. Even though I think that it's technically closer between Minnesota. Vancouver is just. There's a lot bigger of a gap.
[00:38:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:22] Speaker B: You have a ton of teams in the low to mid-60s in points. And then Colorado's at 72 in the second wild card spot.
[00:38:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:32] Speaker B: And the Kings are at 70. It's like. It just seems a lot more wide open. Like probably that. That second wild card spot could be one of four or five teams.
[00:38:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: Could be Calgary, could be Vancouver, could be St. Louis, could be Utah.
[00:38:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:47] Speaker B: Right.
But then the rest, it's probably locked down.
[00:38:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: Which I find really interesting. I guess LA could go on like a. Just a heater of losing games, but they're, you know, they're five points out of a wild card spot with two Games at hand.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: So it's. It's kind of interesting.
Just seems a lot more wide open, especially if you look at the points percentage.
[00:39:12] Speaker C: Yeah, that too.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: I mean, the Avalanche are in wild card spot, but they have more points than the Kings. Only by two points. But it's just stuff like that where I mean, even 70 points, would they even be anywhere in the east? They wouldn't. Like 70 points wouldn't get them anything in the Metro or Atlantic.
[00:39:31] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:39:32] Speaker A: For the Kings. So it's just. I mean, it's tough when legitimately you're only four teams in that division are the Knights, Oilers and Kings and Flames. Like those are the only realistic shot that you have at playoffs.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: So it's like, it's. It's pretty interesting. But I don't know. The west, the past few years has kind of sucked. Yeah, it's kind of been mediocre. It seems like it's the. It's the same teams we're seeing year in, year out make the playoffs and I can guarantee. Let's see who made the playoffs last year over Calgary? Was it Vancouver?
[00:40:08] Speaker A: Yeah, Vancouver. Everyone else. Yeah, the Kings were in it because they always play Edmonton.
[00:40:14] Speaker B: Vancouver gets one more point than Calgary in the last 22 games. And it's the exact same teams that we saw last season make the playoffs. True.
[00:40:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:23] Speaker B: Whereas there's definitely some difference in the East. You have Columbus and Detroit and it's.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: A lot tighter too. I mean.
[00:40:30] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:40:31] Speaker A: The Montreal Canadiens are potentially fighting for a playoff.
[00:40:35] Speaker B: Playoff spot, which is good. They're only three points out.
[00:40:37] Speaker A: Yeah. And they're. They're six even.
[00:40:40] Speaker B: You look at like New York, the Islanders, they are five points out of the playoffs and they're the third worst team in the conference. Yeah, that's kind of nuts.
[00:40:52] Speaker A: Well, even. Okay.
[00:40:53] Speaker B: There's a huge drop off between the last place team in the east and the last place team in the West.
[00:40:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:00] Speaker B: 14 point drop off.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: So the Sabres have 53 points. Last team in the east, and The Sharks have 39 points. The Blackhawks have 43. The Preds have 49. So it's like. Yeah, it's all super tight and even. I mean, let's see. So Montreal Canadiens are six in wild card right now and they have a fighting chance. They're at 63 points. You could even say Philly. And the Islanders, 61 points. They are five points out.
[00:41:29] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: That is the eighth place team in the wild card on the East. In the west for the eighth place team is the Nashville Predators with 49 points. And they are 16 points away.
[00:41:38] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: So huge drop off.
[00:41:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:41] Speaker A: A huge. It's just a big race out of the east and it's been like that, I feel like for the last couple seasons.
[00:41:46] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: And I think they're just. The east is just stronger.
[00:41:49] Speaker B: What happened to Buffalo? That's crazy. They started off well.
[00:41:53] Speaker A: They did.
[00:41:54] Speaker B: They started off awfully. Then they got hot and they were pretty good for a while. I know Tage Thompson's back to doing Tage Thompson things. Yeah.
[00:42:02] Speaker A: I mean, Buffalo has a lot of. I don't even want to say issues because, like, they have, I want to say, a solid team.
[00:42:10] Speaker B: I think they do.
[00:42:11] Speaker A: They got Jeff Skinner, which was a huge ad, but I don't even know how he's doing this year. But yeah, I mean, I think the Sabres, it's just one of those teams where it's like, it's just not clicking. I think the Canadians had kind of been in this spot that the Sabres are in now.
[00:42:28] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:42:28] Speaker A: Because the Canadians have always had a solid roster. Maybe not a playoff destined team, but they've always had a solid roster. Just it seems like it's finally clicking for them. Especially watching that game that they played against the Sharks, which. Cole Caufield, you are an insane man.
[00:42:46] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:42:46] Speaker A: Oh, my God, he's so gross.
[00:42:48] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: And I know that we were saying that Maclin Celebrini plays better defense than Lane Hudson. Obviously. He got walked by.
[00:42:55] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:42:56] Speaker A: Cole Caulfield.
[00:42:57] Speaker B: It's going to happen.
[00:42:58] Speaker A: You're going to get. It's Cole Caufield you're going to get.
[00:43:00] Speaker B: You're a forward back on defense. It's got to happen.
[00:43:03] Speaker A: It's Cole Caulfield and three on three. Hockey mind you too. So defense is a little different.
It's not the same. Same game. But yeah. Cole Caulfield is a beast. Don't know why we didn't take him to four nations.
I'm sure he'll be there for the Olympics, but I. I hope so.
[00:43:19] Speaker B: Freaking hope so.
[00:43:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:43:21] Speaker A: He's gross. He also, he was my pick for what's called Rocket Richard Trophy.
It's going to be leon. He's like nine goals ahead. Ahead of number two. But Cole Caulfield's at 29 goals.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: Goal, Caulfield.
[00:43:39] Speaker A: And the joke is always he's the greatest 40 goal scorer to never score 40 goals. Could this be the year that he finally gets 40 goals?
[00:43:46] Speaker B: This could be the year.
[00:43:48] Speaker A: I think it is. He's got what, 20 games left. He's got to score 10 goal, 11 goals. I think that's really doable for him, especially if they're fighting for a playoff spot and they need him to produce.
[00:44:00] Speaker B: Funny little stat here.
So I believe besides Mark Scheifele. Right.
Everybody on the top goals list down to top 10. Everybody on the top 10 goals list is under the age of 30, right. Mark Scheifele is 31. Then you have Alex Ovechkin, who's 39, right?
[00:44:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:44:25] Speaker B: And he's tied for 50 goals right now, which is just nuts.
That guy's awesome. I love him to death.
He's amazing. I saw a really funny stat I wanted to bring up today.
[00:44:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:44:37] Speaker B: That is completely unrelated to this, but the New York Rangers traded away Ryan Lindgren.
This marks the first time since Henrik Lungfuss was a rookie. Jaramere Jagger was the team leader in points that the New York Rangers have not had a Ryan on their team.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Oh, I saw that.
[00:44:54] Speaker B: Which is really weird. Yeah, they're going to be getting Ryan Leonard in here pretty soon. So that's not Ryan lettered Ryan. That's somebody else. I don't know.
[00:45:04] Speaker A: Gay Perot maybe?
[00:45:05] Speaker B: No, there's somebody.
There's somebody named Ryan come through the system. Why am I forgetting?
[00:45:10] Speaker A: So how many years have they had?
[00:45:12] Speaker B: That's like 20 some years.
[00:45:13] Speaker A: Damn.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: Ryan Callahan. They had Ryan McDonough. They have Ryan Strom.
[00:45:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:20] Speaker B: They've had all these guys at the years. And then Ryan Lindgren. They have not. Not had a Ryan on their team since like the early 2000s.
[00:45:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:28] Speaker B: I think it was 2004. 2005 or no, would have been 0506.
[00:45:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:32] Speaker B: Either way.
[00:45:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:33] Speaker B: That's just funny. I saw that stat that made me crack up. I was like, what on earth?
[00:45:37] Speaker A: What's funny is like, I guarantee you that's.
It's like kind of an ESPN stat. You know those extremely ESPN stat, ESPN stats. There was one the other day for the Sharks game.
I think the biggest thing for that is because of the technology we have now.
[00:45:52] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:45:53] Speaker A: And like, they can. You could ask ChatGPT what's an obscure stat in the NHL. And it's like Will Smith is the first rookie. Like they have. I don't know how they find it, but it's like, yeah, Will Smith. This was the stat. It was like, Will Smith is the first rookie on the Sharks to score two points or have a goal and assist in Montreal.
[00:46:11] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:46:12] Speaker A: I was like, sick.
[00:46:13] Speaker B: Great. Fantastic statistic.
[00:46:16] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:46:16] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:46:17] Speaker A: Cool. Because Montreal's tough to play in Maybe, but I still don't think.
[00:46:22] Speaker B: No, you texted me about that.
[00:46:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:24] Speaker B: Hilarious.
[00:46:25] Speaker A: I'm like, it's just those LeBron stats. Like LeBron is the first 40 year old male to score when it's 65 degrees out in LA with the wind chill being at plus 5.
[00:46:37] Speaker B: Dude, it's like. What? Yeah, but this is funny.
[00:46:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Last thing we can kind of check on is the awards most points right now. Nathan McKinnon with 91. Leon Drysel not far behind with 90. Kucherov sneaking up again, 87 points. He's always sneaky. Just in that conversation of nobody pays attention to him.
[00:46:58] Speaker B: I think it's just because of the type of player he is.
[00:47:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:00] Speaker B: Like he doesn't really do anything that's like insanely flashy. Obviously Leon, although I hate him, is always scoring goals from the goal line and doing shit like that.
[00:47:09] Speaker A: Nathan McKinnon's fast.
[00:47:10] Speaker B: Yeah, McKinnon's fast.
[00:47:11] Speaker A: Kucherov's just. He's a Russian hockey player.
[00:47:14] Speaker B: He's just. Yeah, he just plays hockey and he's always up there in points. He's going to be one of those guys who goes down. He's going to be a Hall of Famer, right?
[00:47:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:47:23] Speaker B: He's going to be seen as one of the greatest ever do it. Which is crazy because even in our day and time, you think of the top three players in the NHL, you're really not thinking about cooch. But he's consistently one of the best, if not the best players.
[00:47:37] Speaker A: No, exactly.
[00:47:38] Speaker B: Which is crazy. Sorry, Nikita Gutrov. Like we don't notice you.
[00:47:42] Speaker A: Yeah, we don't.
[00:47:43] Speaker B: You're sick.
[00:47:44] Speaker A: Yeah, he is.
And then Leon is leading in goals as well. 44 goals. Like I said earlier, New Ander, 35.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: I.
[00:47:57] Speaker A: I think your slander before season was a little unwarranted. But hey, why we're here.
He's had to pick up the load. McDavid has not been well. He's got 75 points, but he's not been normal McDavid self. He was also injured for a bit, so it happens.
[00:48:16] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:48:18] Speaker A: For defenseman, who's leading the league right now in defenseman.
Let's see.
As of right now, the leader is probably.
[00:48:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:48:30] Speaker A: Kill McCarr. Tied for 15th though overall.
[00:48:33] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:48:34] Speaker A: I'm sure he's going to win the Norris, which is a throwaway trophy.
[00:48:38] Speaker B: I believe you want to hear something absolutely insane. So I was just looking through the different stats. Leader in plus minus. Right. Kirill Marchenko. He's having a great season. Ryan McDonough is a plus 35, which that surprised me. Gustav Forsling is up there again. Plus 31.
[00:48:54] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:48:54] Speaker B: You go into his NHL.com stats page over his career, he's a plus 156 in 458 games. Right.
[00:49:03] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:49:04] Speaker B: You go to the best player in the world and the best player in the world for the last 10 years, right. Connor McDavid. Keep in mind he had 156 point season, right?
[00:49:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: His career plus minus is 152.
[00:49:18] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:49:18] Speaker B: Gustav Forslig has a better plus minus than Connor McDavid. Which is insane because Connor McDavid has a thousand points in under 700 games. Yeah, right.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: True.
[00:49:28] Speaker B: That's just freaking nutty to me. He's so good. It's not like you think of Gustav Forsy. It's not like he's putting up a ton of points and I know plus minus, you know.
[00:49:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:37] Speaker B: Stat.
[00:49:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:38] Speaker B: Not the greatest thing. Ryan McDonough tell you that he's the best defenseman in the NHL.
[00:49:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:42] Speaker B: Just untrue.
[00:49:45] Speaker A: But it's an important stat though. I mean if you're.
Especially if you have a bad plus minus.
[00:49:50] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:49:51] Speaker A: That's more like. Well, I mean I'd say a good plus minus two is like shows that you're a great defense. And Gustav Forsling, all of last playoffs. I will. I was like. We were watching like highlights.
[00:50:03] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:50:03] Speaker A: Of his defensive play.
[00:50:05] Speaker B: But the last five years he's not.
[00:50:07] Speaker A: Going to get any recognition for it because you know him and him and natures, they're just not or not natures. Him and Slavin are just not going to get so recognition.
[00:50:16] Speaker B: The last five years of his career, his worst season plus minus wise was in the 202120 or 2020. 2021. I believe that was the COVID shortened year.
[00:50:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:50:29] Speaker B: He was a plus 17 in 43 games. Then he was a plus 41 in 71 games. He's a plus 1982. Plus 56 last year in 79 games and plus 31 in 61 games this year. It's just insane. Plus 156. Wonder what the greatest career all time plus minus is.
Have to check that out. Talk about it in next week's POG.
[00:50:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean these points. I mean 91 points in 60 games.
[00:50:59] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:51:00] Speaker A: So he's going to be on pace for what, 120 again?
[00:51:02] Speaker B: Something like that.
[00:51:03] Speaker A: Ish.
[00:51:03] Speaker B: Also just looking now. Just talk about how crazy that is. Ryan McDonough is a plus 281 in 987 games, which.
Ryan McDonough was fantastic for a lot of years.
[00:51:16] Speaker D: Right.
[00:51:16] Speaker B: He was one of the best defensemen for a lot of years in his career. Looking at it now, he's never had a season with a negative plus minus.
[00:51:24] Speaker A: I think even.
[00:51:26] Speaker B: Insane.
[00:51:27] Speaker A: Let's say even they take out the.
Like, you don't necessarily do like a.
Because I'd love to see like a defensive defenseman award.
[00:51:36] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:51:38] Speaker A: But realistically, like, how do you judge that? You know, I think what could be cool is doing like an all defense. Like, the NBA does this. All defensive team. Like first team, second team.
[00:51:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:48] Speaker A: They could do these, like, teams to give some recognition to these defensive players because, like, that would then open it up not just for defenseman, but also, like defensive centers.
[00:51:56] Speaker B: I think you could have it as a player vote. Kind of like the Ted Lindsay.
[00:51:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:52:00] Speaker B: Where. Because the players know who's good and who's bad. Right. They'll tell you. The players have been saying for years that Jacob Slavin's one of the best defensemen in the NHL, is the hardest play against.
[00:52:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:52:10] Speaker B: You could have something like that. Where they'd say. Because they know who. They know Connor McDavid is the best player in the world.
[00:52:16] Speaker C: Right.
[00:52:16] Speaker B: He wins the Ted Lindsay, it seems like every goddamn year.
So you could have something like that. I guess.
[00:52:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:52:24] Speaker B: It's a hard stat to judge. There's no stat behind.
[00:52:27] Speaker A: That's why if you give him like a full team, you get, you know, three forwards and two defensemen who just like a defensive team. Like all defensive first.
All NHL defensive team. And you got five players. You got Slaving.
[00:52:39] Speaker B: You.
[00:52:39] Speaker A: You get Gustav Forsling. And then you can put some forwards in there.
[00:52:47] Speaker B: But like, just players like that where I agree.
[00:52:49] Speaker A: Barkov. Barkov. Great defensive center. Like, put him at center and you can put two wingers. It just opens up a little bit more recognition for these players. And maybe the NHL doesn't really give a shit about player. I don't think the players really give a shit about player recognition. It's more for us, the fans that want to recognize these players. But it'd still be an honor for them. But I don't think that these players are pushing for any accolades. Any additional. They don't care.
[00:53:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:53:17] Speaker A: The NHL awards are Jacob Slavin.
[00:53:19] Speaker B: Oh, I'm the best defenseman in the NHL.
[00:53:21] Speaker A: Okay, cool. I want a Stanley Cup. I don't care about anything else.
[00:53:24] Speaker B: I play on Carolina. Been bouncing the first, second round the last 10 years, dude.
[00:53:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:29] Speaker A: Sucks for them.
[00:53:30] Speaker B: But it's interesting.
[00:53:32] Speaker A: Yeah. So we got an interesting week. We, I think the trade deadline. We had a huge blockbuster with Randon, but I think he's going to get traded again.
[00:53:43] Speaker B: That'd be interesting.
[00:53:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:44] Speaker A: I don't know where. I don't know how.
[00:53:46] Speaker B: Playing like garbage in Carolina.
[00:53:48] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:48] Speaker A: I mean, I think it's tough to go to any new team.
[00:53:51] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:53:52] Speaker B: Always nature is over a point per game, though. I think I saw he's got like 12 points in 11 games. Last time I checked the stats and Brandon had three points in like 13 games.
[00:54:01] Speaker A: Yeah, his nature's playing with.
[00:54:03] Speaker B: He's playing with McKinnon.
[00:54:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:05] Speaker D: But.
[00:54:05] Speaker B: So it's gonna happen.
[00:54:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:07] Speaker B: It's gonna give the puck to McKinnon. Good things will happen.
[00:54:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:10] Speaker B: But at the same time, it's just like, it's really interesting to see that because Ranton's one of those guys again last, you know, four or five years, he's like third in points.
[00:54:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:20] Speaker B: Something crazy like that. He's up there. Top five in points for the last few years.
[00:54:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:24] Speaker B: So to see a drop off like this just because you're not playing with McKinnon is kind of crazy.
[00:54:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:30] Speaker B: Just shows how great McKinnon is. Yeah, that guy's nasty.
[00:54:33] Speaker A: No, he is. He's willing. I mean. Yeah, he's like we said, the second best.
[00:54:38] Speaker B: You.
[00:54:39] Speaker A: Well, we could make an argument, maybe we will in the off season about who's, I think better, McKinnon or McDavid. I mean, there's.
[00:54:47] Speaker B: I think there is an argument, like, frankly, he's playing better. He's been better the last two seasons than he is again this year. Yeah. It's a serious. You look at points, which those guys are on the ice to put up points. They're not there to play defense.
[00:54:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:59] Speaker B: You know, you don't, you know, pick up McDavid for his stick.
[00:55:03] Speaker A: Checking if, if McDavid was playing more defense or more of a defensive game, then yeah, maybe I'd say like, well, he's more well rounded, blah, blah. But he's not.
[00:55:12] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:55:12] Speaker A: So that's where I'm like, McKinnon is not far off. McDavid.
[00:55:16] Speaker B: No, I don't think so.
[00:55:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:55:18] Speaker B: But.
[00:55:20] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, well, we got a game tomorrow, pushing for playoffs and beer league. Hopefully we get it. We need to win tomorrow. We need some victory chicken. We can't have depression chicken.
[00:55:31] Speaker B: Depression. Done with depression chicken.
[00:55:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And we go to bdubs after every game, so we just. We need some. We need victory chicken, which is necessity and it will be coming up. But hope you guys enjoyed that episode. If you're watching on YouTube, hopefully we enjoyed our beautiful faces in HD. Now see Alan's mustache.
[00:55:52] Speaker B: And you can actually see my face now. Yeah, pixelated, exactly.
[00:55:56] Speaker A: Look. Yeah, we got all that. But we'll see you guys next week possibly. Well, check the Instagram, follow us on Instagram. Make sure you're subscribed too.
We got a lot of views on our last video. Talk about the four nations. I think because we of you Canadians wanted to make fun of us, but we deserved it. We talked a lot of shit. But yeah, other than that, we'll see you guys next week and we'll be breaking down all the shit that happens over the week for. Yeah, I'm sure there'll be more trades, but we'll see you guys next Wednesday.
[00:56:27] Speaker B: Peace.
[00:56:28] Speaker A: Peace.
