Latest / NHL Unscripted with Virk and Demers / Bruce Cassidy Returns: Cutter Signs, Kreider Joins the Habs and Bedard Gets the C.

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Bruce Cassidy Returns: Cutter Signs, Kreider Joins the Habs and Bedard Gets the C. · NHL Unscripted with Virk and Demers

0:04
Speaker 1: NHL Unscripted is a production of the NHL and iHeart Podcast.
0:22
Speaker 1: That's right. Episode number 98 here of NHL Unscripted. Next
0:25
Speaker 1: week will be Wayne Gretzky week, I am sure. But
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Speaker 1: for now, we're talking lots of good stuff here. The
0:29
Speaker 1: NHL's new CBA kicking off. What does that mean for
0:31
Speaker 1: the players here? And contract extensions. Plus, we'll talk about, oh, Captain,
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Speaker 1: my captain.
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Speaker 2: That's right.
0:37
Speaker 1: Dead Poets Society. Mark Stone is now a captain. Jordan
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Speaker 1: Stahl is a captain. I'm the captain now. What does
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Speaker 1: it mean for Bo Horvat and Conor Bedard as they
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Speaker 1: will get the C's as well? And on a wing
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Speaker 1: and a prayer, what's going on with the Red Wings
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Speaker 1: and Dylan Larkin? Jason Demers on assignment, as they say
0:52
Speaker 1: in the TV business. He's at Sharks Media Day in
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Speaker 1: San Jose, and our friend Nate is here back from Alaska.
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Speaker 1: Before we get into the topics, Nate, talk to me
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Speaker 1: about the Alaska Hockey Hall of Fame. You went back home.
1:02
Speaker 1: Must have been a very, very cool experience for you.
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Speaker 2: It was great. It was nice to be home, and
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Speaker 2: the weather was fantastic. I always say that September's the
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Speaker 2: best time of year because it's crisp air, about 50s, 60s,
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Speaker 2: no bugs, just a nice, sunny fall day, and It
1:17
Speaker 2: was great to be home for that Alaska Hockey Hall
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Speaker 2: of Fame, to be able to support some other people
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Speaker 2: like Scott Gomez's dad, Carlos Gomez, who got inducted, who
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Speaker 2: was a huge part of the hockey community up there.
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Speaker 2: So that was great. And another guy that I mentioned
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Speaker 2: to Tal before we jumped on was Mike Lee, a
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Speaker 2: guy that was one of the first guys to play
1:36
Speaker 2: the National Team Development Program from Anchorage. He's got one
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Speaker 2: heck of a story. And one of the few guys
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Speaker 2: that was that Derek Bugard was scared to fight back
1:46
Speaker 2: in the day and very, very, very, very tough. So, uh,
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Speaker 2: good notables and good mentions for those guys because, uh, very,
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Speaker 2: very well deserved and, and just a lot of fun
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Speaker 2: to be home. You know, another, another reason I went
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Speaker 2: home was, uh, you know, the Anchorage Wolverines, North American, uh,
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Speaker 2: hockey league team, uh, played against, uh, USA under 17s,
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Speaker 2: a couple of games. And it was, it was great
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Speaker 2: to see a couple exhibition games up there and, and
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Speaker 2: bring more, uh, attention to, to Anchorage was, uh, was awesome.
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Speaker 1: That's great, man.
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Speaker 2: Good for you.
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Speaker 1: Of course, you were inducted back in September of 2023.
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Speaker 1: So you know what this is like, being inducted in
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Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame with experiences like, how were the
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Speaker 1: speeches by Gomez's dad? That's always the trick. I mean,
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Speaker 1: I'm telling you, if a good speech, as you know,
2:28
Speaker 1: I love Federer. I went to Federer's Hall of Fame speech,
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Speaker 1: memorized the entire thing. Roger went 28 minutes, no notes.
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Speaker 1: It was amazing. How about Gomez's dad?
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Speaker 2: Carlos's speech was the best one, hands down. And I
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Speaker 2: didn't know his story before. to the detail he told it.
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Speaker 2: I mean, he's from Mexico and I'm telling you, Tal
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Speaker 2: and Avi, what he went through, how he jumped around
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Speaker 2: from family to family. Like it is insane that he
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Speaker 2: ended up in Alaska. And then of course, you know,
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Speaker 2: he has Scott who you ends up being is kind
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Speaker 2: of his golden goose, but it's, it's pretty amazing. to
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Speaker 2: see what Carlos Gomez went through and how he ended
3:06
Speaker 2: up on the other side. I mean, it's out of
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Speaker 2: a movie. We were talking about it before with Tal,
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Speaker 2: and he said this definitely could be a documentary or something.
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Speaker 2: So his speech was incredible, and what he's done for
3:17
Speaker 2: the hockey community up there is pretty special. So it
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Speaker 2: was awesome.
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Speaker 1: That's awesome. You never forget your roots. I appreciate and
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Speaker 1: respect that about you. And as you said, Alaska's got
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Speaker 1: a really strong hockey community, and they're proud of what
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Speaker 1: they were able to accomplish. You mentioned the weather, though,
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Speaker 1: because I'm sure that's the first topic of conversation with Alaska.
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Speaker 1: You mentioned September 50s and 60s. Right now here in
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Speaker 1: the New York, New Jersey area, we're still in the 70s,
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Speaker 1: which is great. So the hottest it ever gets in Alaska,
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Speaker 1: do you ever hit 80s? Like in July or August,
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Speaker 1: it's high 70s.
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Speaker 2: June, July, we might have about a 10-day stretch where
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Speaker 2: we get 70s to 80s weather. And for people that
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Speaker 2: haven't been there, over 70... It feels a lot hotter
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Speaker 2: than 70. Like what you see on the temperature is actually,
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Speaker 2: it feels like 90 plus because the sun's right there.
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Speaker 2: If you think about it, like it's right on you.
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Speaker 2: So when it's 75 degrees, it's a, it's hot. It's
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Speaker 2: a hot day. It's good to know.
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Speaker 1: A 75 degree day in Alaska is like 90 everywhere else.
4:09
Speaker 1: That's pretty good conversion rate. Let's get to the hockey.
4:12
Speaker 1: Shall we cut up after a while? Some of the
4:15
Speaker 1: Southern match Phillies offer sheep or Leo Carson. We're losing
4:17
Speaker 1: several veterans on their team. The Ducks have signed Cutter Gauthier.
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Speaker 2: That's right. Good news.
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Speaker 1: Six-year contract reportedly for $ 81 million, according to our friend
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Speaker 1: Elliot Friedman. Average annual value of $ 13. 5 million, meaning, wait
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Speaker 1: for it, Gauthier and Carlson, two phenomenal players, are accounting
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Speaker 1: for $ 31. 5 million against the cap for the next six seasons.
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Speaker 1: I know it's one of those moves that you say, well,
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Speaker 1: you got to do it. These guys are two young stars.
4:44
Speaker 1: They're blasphemous stars. They're going to get better. They'll be
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Speaker 1: worth that investment, and I'm sure that that's, in many ways,
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Speaker 1: how the Ducks will sell this and spin it. But
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Speaker 1: that just feels like a lot of money going towards
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Speaker 1: the cap. How do you weigh this if you're the
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Speaker 1: A & I Money Ducks?
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Speaker 2: I'm okay with this, A.V. I am, and I say
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Speaker 2: that because, you know, at first we're all thinking that
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Speaker 2: Cutter's going to sign for 17-plus, and he's not going
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Speaker 2: to take a dime under 15. So I give a
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Speaker 2: lot of credit to Pat Burbeak and Cutter here because–
5:14
Speaker 2: you know, moving forward in six years, this deal is
5:17
Speaker 2: going to be twice as that for him. You know,
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Speaker 2: this is a guy that's probably going to score 50
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Speaker 2: goals multiple times in this league. And to get him
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Speaker 2: at 13 and a half, if you think about it,
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Speaker 2: is a fair deal. And for six years too, you know,
5:30
Speaker 2: it gives him some term, gives the Ducks some term,
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Speaker 2: you know, rather than being on a three or four
5:34
Speaker 2: year deal than having to deal with that again. So
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Speaker 2: I think for the Anaheim Ducks and Pat Verbeek, I mean,
5:41
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, you have, your first
5:43
Speaker 2: line center, you have your top goal scorer, you have
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Speaker 2: your first D, and you got your goalie all locked up.
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Speaker 2: And I know that there are a lot of cap
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Speaker 2: space that's tied up into a couple guys, but I
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Speaker 2: think if you move forward and you realize that, okay,
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Speaker 2: we got Cutter signed 13 and a half for the
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Speaker 2: next six years, you can supplement around that. And I
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Speaker 2: think Pat Verbeek, he really kind of saved his bacon
6:07
Speaker 2: here I'll say he hit a home run not a
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Speaker 2: grand slam a grand slam would have been grand slam
6:11
Speaker 2: would have been if he he got both guys under
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Speaker 2: 15 yeah but the fact that he was able to
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Speaker 2: get cutter under 15 13 and a half or six
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Speaker 2: years I think is uh is a good deal for
6:21
Speaker 2: the Anaheim Ducks.
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Speaker 1: And listen the good news is this is a situation
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Speaker 1: where these guys are going to be stars for years
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Speaker 1: to come again if you're going to pay a guy
6:27
Speaker 1: pay a guy who's young and yet to hit his
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Speaker 1: prime they should wait till what these guys will be
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Speaker 1: able to do and you just hope that they'll be
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Speaker 1: locked up long term so All right, good moves there
6:35
Speaker 1: for the Ducks. I think it's one of those situations
6:36
Speaker 1: where you say it's now or never. It had to happen.
6:39
Speaker 1: You don't want it to linger. All of a sudden,
6:40
Speaker 1: you've got to trade one of these guys. You've got
6:42
Speaker 1: your two foundational pieces offensively. Good to go in Carlson
6:45
Speaker 1: and Gauthier. So that brings us to, speaking of foundational pieces,
6:48
Speaker 1: the Red Wings thought that was their guy in Dylan Larkin,
6:51
Speaker 1: but he's not been traded yet. Almost five months, Nate,
6:54
Speaker 1: after your request to trade. He's still in Detroit, but
6:56
Speaker 1: what they're doing is they're ripping away the sea. Owner
6:59
Speaker 1: Chris Ehrlich telling the Detroit News Larkin could spend the
7:01
Speaker 1: entire season with the team. And making the situation even
7:04
Speaker 1: more cringe, they have an interim GM the week the
7:07
Speaker 1: training camp starts. Sean Horkoff, team's assistant GM since 2022.
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Speaker 1: He'll fill the position that Steve Eisman had held for
7:14
Speaker 1: seven years.
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Speaker 2: So it's an interim.
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Speaker 1: GM during training camp. Your superstar player, still going to
7:19
Speaker 1: be there, but losing the captaincy. How is this going
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Speaker 1: to react? You've been in a locker room your whole life.
7:24
Speaker 1: What do you do when the guy who is the
7:26
Speaker 1: big kahuna doesn't want to be there and he's still there?
7:30
Speaker 2: This is tough. This is an awkward, awkward, uh, situation
7:33
Speaker 2: here in Detroit. And this sucks because I, you know,
7:36
Speaker 2: growing up, I was a wings fan and I see
7:38
Speaker 2: what's going on right now. Um, it's tough. I mean,
7:41
Speaker 2: this all starts, I think, you know, you go all
7:43
Speaker 2: the way back to when Larkin gets hurt and, and
7:45
Speaker 2: I'm not going to speculate, but I wonder like, while
7:48
Speaker 2: that injury happens and everything goes down, you know, it
7:52
Speaker 2: went sideways, it went sideways real quick. And then the
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Speaker 2: next thing, you know, the dominoes fall, Steve, Steve Eisenman's gone.
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Speaker 2: And they're right. You know, Dylan Larkin, he can't go
8:02
Speaker 2: to camp wearing the captaincy. It's just, it's not right.
8:05
Speaker 2: You know, you ask for a trade, you want to
8:07
Speaker 2: be out. You can't be, you can't be the captain anymore.
8:09
Speaker 2: It's just, it's not okay.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
8:11
Speaker 2: And at the same time, you have that distraction for
8:15
Speaker 2: the whole organization. And I can't imagine what Dylan Larkin's
8:18
Speaker 2: feeling going into camp, you know, getting his captaincy basically stripped.
8:23
Speaker 2: And now he's, you know, at a, in limbo. But
8:26
Speaker 2: the other part of it is too, AV, is I
8:29
Speaker 2: don't understand, you know, you, you wait this long to
8:33
Speaker 2: name an interim GM, Sean Horkoff. Why not just name
8:37
Speaker 2: him the general manager? I mean, you, you have guys
8:40
Speaker 2: like Sean Horkoff, Chris Draper, Danny Clary, these guys that
8:43
Speaker 2: are involved and been with Steve Eisenman day to day. And,
8:46
Speaker 2: and now, you know, you have an interim tag and
8:48
Speaker 2: they're still going to search for a new GM in
8:50
Speaker 2: the next couple of months. You know, I, I don't
8:53
Speaker 2: understand it. I think that it's kind of a circus
8:56
Speaker 2: there in Detroit right now. So moving forward, I wonder,
9:00
Speaker 2: I mean, is Larkin going to stay? I don't know how.
9:03
Speaker 2: I honestly don't know how you navigate that and how
9:06
Speaker 2: Dylan Larkin can stay now. I think there's a way
9:09
Speaker 2: where they still try to find a way to trade him.
9:11
Speaker 2: And Dylan Larkin has to, you know, open up his teams.
9:14
Speaker 2: You can't have three teams. And hopefully this situation might
9:18
Speaker 2: speed up that process. And, you know, shit. I mean,
9:21
Speaker 2: I look at a team like, you know, Montreal. I mean,
9:25
Speaker 2: look at what Chris Kreider did. He was glad to
9:27
Speaker 2: go to, you know, to Montreal and, you know, you
9:30
Speaker 2: add a guy like Dylan Larkin to Montreal, that changes everything.
9:32
Speaker 2: They're having another center, second line center. So in Detroit
9:35
Speaker 2: right now, this is kind of a mess. And, you know,
9:38
Speaker 2: I don't know where they go from here, but in
9:40
Speaker 2: my opinion, I just think that they're, you know, Chris
9:43
Speaker 2: Illich is not handling this the right way, in my opinion,
9:46
Speaker 2: just because, You have your guys that have been under
9:50
Speaker 2: Steve Eisenman for so long, and if you were going
9:52
Speaker 2: to name a replacement GM, you should have done it
9:56
Speaker 2: way back when, when you knew you were going to
9:58
Speaker 2: let go of Steve Eisenman. you know, have a guy
10:00
Speaker 2: step in, you'd be able to be there for the draft,
10:02
Speaker 2: free agency, development camp that just happened, all these things
10:06
Speaker 2: that are just happening. And now we have training camp
10:07
Speaker 2: starting today. So this, this is an absolute disaster. And
10:11
Speaker 2: I don't know how, I mean, they're going to have
10:13
Speaker 2: to figure this out, but it's going to be a,
10:15
Speaker 2: it's going to be a circus.
10:17
Speaker 1: It's a mess. And you look to your captain to
10:19
Speaker 1: be your leader and your star. And I think the,
10:22
Speaker 1: Really salient point that Nate made, Tal, is that you've
10:25
Speaker 1: got to open up your list now, right? Like, why
10:27
Speaker 1: hasn't a trade been made? Well, clearly, Detroit hasn't gotten
10:30
Speaker 1: a fair offer in their mind for a player of
10:32
Speaker 1: Dylan Larkin's talents, or they're only getting it from a
10:35
Speaker 1: small pool of teams to where he wants to go to.
10:37
Speaker 1: So how badly do you want to get traded? And
10:40
Speaker 1: how clearly does Detroit not want to have this mess
10:42
Speaker 1: in their hands? And I get it from Stevie Wise's
10:44
Speaker 1: point of view. It's like, well, I'm not going to
10:46
Speaker 1: get 60 cents on the dollar. Like, I know what
10:48
Speaker 1: my talent level is with this guy. I'm not going
10:50
Speaker 1: to be forced into a move. But at the same time,
10:52
Speaker 1: I do agree with Nate's point, the longer the slingers,
10:54
Speaker 1: it's not good for the Detroit Red Wings either. How
10:56
Speaker 1: do you see it, Tal?
10:58
Speaker 4: Well, Chris Illich has already said that Dylan Larkin could
11:02
Speaker 4: be with the team all season, potentially, if they don't
11:04
Speaker 4: get the deal they want. I empathize a little bit
11:08
Speaker 4: because they have zero leverage. Dylan Larkin has told the
11:11
Speaker 4: whole world he doesn't want to be there, and he's
11:13
Speaker 4: only going to accept a trade.
11:14
Speaker 5: To three or four teams.
11:16
Speaker 4: I mean, so their hands are kind of tied behind
11:18
Speaker 4: them a little bit, but for a lot of people,
11:20
Speaker 4: including myself, this is our introduction to Chris Illich, right?
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Speaker 5: This is his moment.
11:26
Speaker 4: He's the youngest child of Mike and Marion who are
11:29
Speaker 4: icons in Detroit and everything they've contributed to the community
11:33
Speaker 4: and to sports there.
11:34
Speaker 5: And this is his moment right now.
11:36
Speaker 4: You know, Detroit was already, Red Wings were already not
11:39
Speaker 4: a marquee destination for free agents when they were competitive.
11:43
Speaker 4: And now they have this situation where they just look
11:45
Speaker 4: completely dysfunctional. So, Is it possible that Chris Illich can
11:50
Speaker 4: find a way to make this good and come out
11:52
Speaker 4: looking okay once this is all done, whenever that happens?
11:55
Speaker 5: It's possible. But I think that's... However.
11:58
Speaker 4: He completes this whole debacle and comes out the other
12:02
Speaker 4: end will say a lot about his legacy. Because we
12:05
Speaker 4: know what his dad's legacy is. This is going to
12:07
Speaker 4: say a lot about his legacy. This season is actually
12:10
Speaker 4: going to be the 10th anniversary of his father's passing.
12:13
Speaker 4: There's going to be a lot of eyes on Chris
12:15
Speaker 4: Illich and... We'll see what happens. It's not looking great
12:18
Speaker 4: right now. I don't know why you just wouldn't make
12:21
Speaker 4: Sean Horkoff your permanent GM. You're going to make him
12:24
Speaker 4: trade Dylan Larkin and then replace him. This guy runs
12:27
Speaker 4: your draft. He's going to stick around and run the
12:29
Speaker 4: draft after you promoted and demoted him. I don't know
12:32
Speaker 4: if he's going to do that. Even if you replace him,
12:35
Speaker 4: you might be in a bit of a pickle after that.
12:40
Speaker 2: I was just going to say, I think that you
12:42
Speaker 2: look at this division, the Atlantic division, and all the
12:47
Speaker 2: other teams in this division are expecting to make the playoffs,
12:50
Speaker 2: every single one. And I just don't see a world
12:53
Speaker 2: where Detroit even, I don't even think they make the
12:57
Speaker 2: playoffs here. And I don't even think they're close. I
12:59
Speaker 2: just think with all of this going on, potential trades,
13:02
Speaker 2: Larkin now being the captain, you know, some guys departing.
13:06
Speaker 2: I just, I just think that they're, they're at a
13:08
Speaker 2: crossroads right now. So this is huge for them. And,
13:12
Speaker 2: whether they get a new GM or they keep Sean
13:15
Speaker 2: Horkoff or Chris Draper or Daniel Clear, whoever it may be,
13:19
Speaker 2: they've got to get this right because I think at
13:21
Speaker 2: the end of the day, everyone wants the Detroit Red
13:23
Speaker 2: Wings to be a good hockey club and be a
13:25
Speaker 2: part of the playoffs for years to come because when
13:27
Speaker 2: they are, the league's in a better place. 100%.
13:29
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a signature franchise of the NHL,
13:33
Speaker 1: so I completely agree that it's better for the league
13:34
Speaker 1: if the Red Wings are good. And for Illich, Tal's right.
13:37
Speaker 1: This is going to kind of not necessarily start his legacy,
13:40
Speaker 1: but it's going to be a statement as to what
13:42
Speaker 1: he can do with his team, what kind of message
13:43
Speaker 1: he's sending, and what he's going to do with regards
13:45
Speaker 1: to this team. All right, easy Kreider. Well done, Tal.
13:48
Speaker 1: Mentioned last week the Ducks had terminated Kreider's contract. The
13:50
Speaker 1: veteran winger raised some eyebrows signing with, as Nate mentioned,
13:54
Speaker 1: a one-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens. The fans have
13:57
Speaker 1: been booing him since he collided with Carey Price in
13:59
Speaker 1: Game 1 of the 2014 Conference Finals when he was
14:02
Speaker 1: with the Rangers. 35 years of age, he scored 20
14:05
Speaker 1: goals in 11 of his last 12 seasons and took
14:08
Speaker 1: a discount. To come to the Habs, Canadians Vice President
14:11
Speaker 1: of Hockey Operations, Jeff Gorton, was with the Rangers when
14:14
Speaker 1: they drafted Kreider in 2009, and Montreal coach Martin Saint-Louis,
14:18
Speaker 1: who just signed an extension, great news there, Marty's locked up,
14:20
Speaker 1: he also played with Kreider in New York. So overall, Nate,
14:23
Speaker 1: it seems to make sense. Sometimes they say familiarity breeds contempt.
14:27
Speaker 1: In this case, the fact that they know him and
14:29
Speaker 1: love him, meaning Gorton and Marty know Kreider, makes this
14:33
Speaker 1: an easy fit for both teams. What kind of player
14:35
Speaker 1: they're still getting in Montreal when the season kicks off
14:37
Speaker 1: September 29th?
14:39
Speaker 2: Well, first off, Haps fans, relax. Let it go. Tao,
14:44
Speaker 2: let it go. It was 12 years ago. 12 years ago.
14:47
Speaker 2: Let it go. But I love this. I love that
14:51
Speaker 2: Chris Kreider wanted to go to Montreal. You know, there's
14:54
Speaker 2: always questions from fans. throughout the league and everyone's saying, Oh,
14:58
Speaker 2: players don't want to go play in Canada. They don't
15:00
Speaker 2: want to play for, you know, so-and-so and he's an
15:03
Speaker 2: American guy and he chose to go play in Montreal.
15:05
Speaker 2: And you said it, baby. I think, you know, that
15:07
Speaker 2: familiarity with, with Marty, with Jeff Gordon, you know, Marty St.
15:11
Speaker 2: Louis was his line mate and he talked about it.
15:13
Speaker 2: He said, Marty might've been one of his most influential
15:15
Speaker 2: teammates he's ever had and learned so much from him.
15:18
Speaker 2: And I can attest to that. Marty was the same
15:20
Speaker 2: for me as well. So, I think Marty St. Louis
15:23
Speaker 2: is a huge selling point. And then at the same time,
15:26
Speaker 2: look at their roster, you know, look, look, look how
15:28
Speaker 2: much cap space they have. And, you know, they don't
15:30
Speaker 2: have a guy making over $ 10 million. And I think,
15:34
Speaker 2: you know, bringing in a veteran guy like Chris Kreider,
15:37
Speaker 2: you know, the guy had 22 goals last year, over
15:39
Speaker 2: 50 points. You know, he's a guy that can play
15:41
Speaker 2: on your first line, your second line, your third line,
15:44
Speaker 2: and who knows where he's going to start off. I mean,
15:45
Speaker 2: he's probably going to be slotted on the third line, but,
15:49
Speaker 2: for sure, he could be playing on the second line with,
15:51
Speaker 2: with Demidoff and Slavkovsky, or he might even playing with
15:54
Speaker 2: Suzuki and Caulfield. I mean, he's just, he's one of
15:56
Speaker 2: those guys that is that versatile. And I think the
15:59
Speaker 2: biggest part is, is a power play. I mean, he's
16:01
Speaker 2: one of the best guys net front when it comes
16:04
Speaker 2: to doing the power play. So I think for Montreal,
16:06
Speaker 2: having a guy like Chris Kreider, having a veteran presence,
16:09
Speaker 2: I mean, we always talk about having veterans and adding
16:11
Speaker 2: guys that have been there, been around, uh, will always help.
16:14
Speaker 2: And I think With this young core moving forward, having
16:17
Speaker 2: a guy like Chris Kreider and that familiarity that Marty
16:20
Speaker 2: has with him, I think he'll be able to push
16:22
Speaker 2: all the right buttons. And I think this is a
16:25
Speaker 2: great signing for Montreal. I'm with you.
16:27
Speaker 1: My first thing was power play. No matter what, Chris
16:29
Speaker 1: Kreider is going to score you goals in the power play.
16:31
Speaker 1: He's a presence there. He's always been a power play specialist.
16:33
Speaker 1: And right place, right time. In terms of the money,
16:35
Speaker 1: this wasn't an overpay. Works out for both sides, Tal.
16:38
Speaker 1: It's not much of an investment.
16:39
Speaker 2: It's one year.
16:39
Speaker 1: If he scores 20 goals, everybody wins.
16:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, and like Nate was saying, I think it shows
16:45
Speaker 4: that Montreal is a destination right now in this league.
16:48
Speaker 5: They got Noah Dobson. That's their last season.
16:51
Speaker 4: That's a legit top pair D-man who said, I want
16:53
Speaker 4: to commit long-term to the Canadians. They just announced Alex
16:57
Speaker 4: Newhook signed a four-year extension. Below market, for sure. The
17:01
Speaker 4: guy just scored two Game 7 game winners in the playoffs.
17:04
Speaker 4: He's going to be making 5.55. You can see that
17:07
Speaker 4: players want to either come to Montreal... or stay in
17:10
Speaker 4: Montreal because they know something's happening there. And as far
17:12
Speaker 4: as Kreider, he ticks all the boxes. Veteran, leader, scoring, toughness, speed.
17:20
Speaker 4: He's a physical freak still at 35. Back in the
17:23
Speaker 4: day when I was covering the Rangers for NHL.com, this
17:27
Speaker 4: guy never, ever wore a shirt.
17:29
Speaker 5: In the locker room, ever. Carps off all day, every day.
17:33
Speaker 5: And you know what?
17:33
Speaker 2: I wouldn't either if I was him.
17:34
Speaker 4: If I looked like him with my shirt off, I'd
17:36
Speaker 4: be walking down the street buck naked.
17:38
Speaker 5: This guy is a specimen. So Habsland is very excited
17:43
Speaker 5: about this.
17:43
Speaker 2: So way to go.
17:45
Speaker 1: I never knock a guy who's ripped with his shirt
17:47
Speaker 1: off all the time. Like, no, I would be right
17:48
Speaker 1: there with you as well. So good stuff. I agree
17:50
Speaker 1: with you. Good stuff there for the Habs overall. Let's
17:52
Speaker 1: talk further, though. Circling back to a lurking conversation about captaincy.
17:56
Speaker 3: So.
17:57
Speaker 1: Islanders named Bo Horvat, 16th captain in franchise history. Conor
18:00
Speaker 1: Bedard becomes Chicago's 37th captain. Horvat previously wore the seat
18:04
Speaker 1: in Vancouver, replaces Andrews Lee, who signed with Utah this summer.
18:07
Speaker 1: Bedard replaces Nick Foligno, who was dealt to Minnesota at
18:09
Speaker 1: the trade deadline last season. So that leaves Anaheim, Boston, Columbus, Detroit, L.A., Ottawa,
18:16
Speaker 1: San Jose, and Vancouver without captains. Let's talk first, Nate,
18:19
Speaker 1: about Horvat and Bedard. I think there was some thought
18:22
Speaker 1: with the Islanders. Would you go Matthew Schaefer? To me,
18:24
Speaker 1: he feels a little young. Horvath's obviously longer in the tooth.
18:27
Speaker 1: You know firsthand the responsibilities of a captain. You've got
18:29
Speaker 1: to deal with the media, set the tone of the players,
18:31
Speaker 1: be that conduit with the coaches. So there's no need
18:33
Speaker 1: to put that on Schaefer right away. Horvath's a veteran guy.
18:35
Speaker 1: Whereas in Bedard's case, I don't think there's necessarily a
18:37
Speaker 1: quick option for Chicago. There's not that veteran presence. You
18:40
Speaker 1: know what? It's Bedard's team no matter what. Give him
18:42
Speaker 1: the C. Makes sense for me with both those teams.
18:45
Speaker 3: Hugh?
18:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm totally okay with it. I mean, Bo Horvat
18:48
Speaker 2: has been a captain before, like you said, in Vancouver
18:51
Speaker 2: and it plays like a leader. And I think, like
18:53
Speaker 2: you said, with Matthew Shaver, you know, there's no rush.
18:56
Speaker 2: There's no rush to make him a captain. I mean,
18:58
Speaker 2: I would assume that he probably gets an A and
19:01
Speaker 2: you learn, you know, you learn how to be a leader.
19:03
Speaker 2: You learn from guys like Bo Horvat and, you know,
19:06
Speaker 2: taking it one step further, you know, being a captain,
19:08
Speaker 2: you know, I think it's, you know, and this is
19:10
Speaker 2: going to be the tough part with Conor Bedard is,
19:12
Speaker 2: you know, you're not just managing, you know, your game.
19:15
Speaker 2: You got to make sure that sorry, you're not just
19:17
Speaker 2: managing your game. You have to kind of see what's
19:20
Speaker 2: going on with everyone else too, right? And you have
19:21
Speaker 2: to do that at the same time. So there's a
19:23
Speaker 2: lot of responsibilities as a captain, whether it's, like you said,
19:26
Speaker 2: stalker of the media, being that line of communication through
19:29
Speaker 2: the head coach, being able to say, hey, one time
19:32
Speaker 2: to the coach, hey, listen, we need a day off tomorrow.
19:35
Speaker 2: And you got to go do that with the head coach.
19:37
Speaker 2: So those are going to be the things that Conor
19:40
Speaker 2: Bedard is going to have to navigate as a young captain.
19:42
Speaker 2: But I think having some veteran guys like they're having
19:44
Speaker 2: Patrick Kane there to be able to lean on in
19:49
Speaker 2: situations like that. But I think for both teams, it
19:52
Speaker 2: was two different scenarios. But I really like the pick
19:56
Speaker 2: for Bo Horvat being the captain. And on the other side,
20:02
Speaker 2: Conor Bedard, because I think it was just a matter
20:04
Speaker 2: of time before he was a guy.
20:06
Speaker 1: And it's a good point about having Patrick Kane there
20:07
Speaker 1: as well to lean on for Bedard. It always makes
20:09
Speaker 1: sense to have that veteran presence there just to bounce
20:11
Speaker 1: ideas off of, etc., One more topic, and then we're
20:14
Speaker 1: going to get to our special guest, Bruce Cassidy. Should
20:16
Speaker 1: have mentioned him at the top two times. That's right.
20:17
Speaker 1: Bruce Cassidy will be returning. But speaking of captains, last
20:20
Speaker 1: season's cup finalists both secured their captains for a little
20:23
Speaker 1: while longer. Mark Stone, two-year extension worth $ 18 million with
20:26
Speaker 1: the Vegas Golden Knights. Stone returns $ 35 million in May.
20:30
Speaker 1: And despite missing a quarter of his team's game set
20:32
Speaker 1: career highs last season, 73 points, nine power play goals,
20:35
Speaker 1: 27 power play points, a little under the radar, I think.
20:38
Speaker 1: And Cosby's trophy winner, Jordan Stahl. What a great story
20:40
Speaker 1: he was. One-year extension.
20:41
Speaker 2: He's back.
20:42
Speaker 1: He just turned 38. Base salary of $ 900, 000. That's a
20:45
Speaker 1: little light, right? Don't worry. $ 4 million signing bonus, up
20:49
Speaker 1: to $ 5. 1 million in potential performance bonuses. I love that.
20:52
Speaker 1: And they pay what you play for. You don't think
20:54
Speaker 1: Stahl can do it? He can make, you know, $ 10
20:56
Speaker 1: million when it's all said and done for one year
20:58
Speaker 1: of hockey.
20:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is what you're going to see in these
21:01
Speaker 2: 35 and over contracts is, you know, a lot of
21:04
Speaker 2: performance bonuses and a small base salary. And, you know,
21:07
Speaker 2: both these guys, you know, I know in their back
21:09
Speaker 2: nine of their career, but huge impactful players, obviously, we
21:13
Speaker 2: saw in the playoffs this last season. And I think
21:15
Speaker 2: you look at both these players, you know, Mark Stone
21:18
Speaker 2: and Jordan Stahl, and they're looking at their team saying,
21:21
Speaker 2: we can get right back to the cup final. You know,
21:23
Speaker 2: especially a team like Carolina, I think, you know, you
21:26
Speaker 2: look at, uh, what they have and their team's basically
21:29
Speaker 2: the same, you know, very, very similar to, you know,
21:32
Speaker 2: the Florida Panthers going back to back. And I don't
21:34
Speaker 2: see why Carolina Hurricanes can't do that. And I think
21:38
Speaker 2: Jordan Stahl's thinking that, I think Mark Stone's thinking that,
21:40
Speaker 2: and I think that both these signings to be able
21:43
Speaker 2: to get these guys, you know, not just locked up
21:46
Speaker 2: for their team, but I think off the ice too,
21:48
Speaker 2: these guys are their leaders and kind of the heartbeat
21:50
Speaker 2: of their team. So, Hopefully, you know, Mark Stone can
21:54
Speaker 2: stay a little more healthy and maybe play a little
21:57
Speaker 2: more games. But when he does play, he's an impactful
22:00
Speaker 2: player out there. And then Jordan Stahl, you know, we
22:02
Speaker 2: saw what he did in the playoffs and what he
22:05
Speaker 2: did last season. So, I mean, this guy's an absolute machine.
22:08
Speaker 2: And I don't see him slowing down anytime soon.
22:10
Speaker 1: 38 years of age to be a Conspice Trophy winner.
22:13
Speaker 1: I still get over the fact it was such a
22:14
Speaker 1: great story with Carolina winning and obviously Stahl being a
22:17
Speaker 1: big part of that. All right, time for a quick
22:19
Speaker 1: timeout here in NHL Script. When we come back, Bruce Almighty.
22:22
Speaker 1: That's right, Bruce Cassidy, terrific coach. Get his thoughts on
22:26
Speaker 1: what he went over this summer and what he's looking
22:28
Speaker 1: forward to this season. Our next guest drafted in the
22:44
Speaker 1: first round, 18th overall by Chicago in the 1983 NHL Draft.
22:48
Speaker 1: After 36 career NHL games as a player, he embarked
22:51
Speaker 1: on a successful coaching career, winning the Stanley Cup of
22:54
Speaker 1: the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 and taking the Boston
22:57
Speaker 1: Bruins to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.
23:01
Speaker 1: Welcome back to NHL Unscripted. It's Bruce Cassie. Bruce, how
23:04
Speaker 1: was your summer? Good to see you. What's the latest?
23:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, good to see you guys. Summer is extended for me.
23:11
Speaker 3: Usually a training camp by now, so... Doing lots of golf.
23:16
Speaker 3: I was talking to someone the other day. I forget
23:17
Speaker 3: who it was. It's first time in 45 years, you know,
23:21
Speaker 3: going back to junior days that, you know, this time
23:24
Speaker 3: you're not at training camp. So that's a little bit odd.
23:27
Speaker 3: But try to enjoy the time away from the rink
23:30
Speaker 3: and try to keep busy at the same time.
23:33
Speaker 2: I'm sure you've been following what's going on in the
23:35
Speaker 2: summer and all the different news stories. Is there anything
23:39
Speaker 2: in particular that you're really looking forward to watching or
23:42
Speaker 2: you're hearing about that's going to happen to start the season?
23:47
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know. It could be interesting to see
23:49
Speaker 3: how Florida recovers from their injuries. They've got a stacked team,
23:53
Speaker 3: it looks like, again, so they'll be good to follow.
23:59
Speaker 3: but you know, you know what, all these young guys
24:01
Speaker 3: signing for a lot of money is the thing that,
24:02
Speaker 3: that I've noticed lately. Um, teams are really taking chances on,
24:07
Speaker 3: on projecting their youth or their lineup to be, to
24:10
Speaker 3: be big time players. So players are getting rewarded, uh,
24:13
Speaker 3: earlier in their career than they ever have. So that's
24:15
Speaker 3: the one thing that's kind of jumped out to me,
24:16
Speaker 3: not a specific team, or I think just these, these
24:19
Speaker 3: kind of third, maybe whatever they are, second, third year
24:22
Speaker 3: players signing these long-term deals, uh, with not a lot
24:26
Speaker 3: of NHL experience. So interesting to see how, you know,
24:29
Speaker 3: it plays out for those handful of guys.
24:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
24:33
Speaker 1: Specifically, what do you make of the ducks? $ 31 and
24:35
Speaker 1: a half billion in cap money going to two guys
24:37
Speaker 1: and Leo Carlson and Cutter Gauthier.
24:41
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I think the, the Carlson one, they, they
24:43
Speaker 3: pretty much had to do. So, um, you know, they've
24:46
Speaker 3: invested this young player. I got to see him quite
24:49
Speaker 3: a bit the last couple of years. And to me,
24:51
Speaker 3: he's a real deal, but, it is a big chunk
24:54
Speaker 3: for two guys and go James firmly score. So there
24:57
Speaker 3: are two excellent players. It's just a, will the cost
25:00
Speaker 3: prohibit them down the road from kind of building around
25:03
Speaker 3: and building the rest of their team. But to me,
25:05
Speaker 3: it's more of the guy like the defenseman in Vancouver there.
25:07
Speaker 3: I don't even know how to view him. I think
25:09
Speaker 3: you say his name. He's a pretty young guy signed for. Yeah.
25:12
Speaker 3: And Leonard the other day. So these are guys that
25:15
Speaker 3: I haven't seen as much. We, we saw him in
25:18
Speaker 3: the playoffs for Minnesota a couple of years ago. We
25:20
Speaker 3: played some games, but, you know, some unproven talent, making
25:23
Speaker 3: a lot of money. So the thing is, how does
25:25
Speaker 3: that affect their psyche a little bit as young guys
25:27
Speaker 3: walking into a locker room and how does it affect
25:29
Speaker 3: the rest of the locker room when you're, when you're
25:31
Speaker 3: paying these young guys a lot of money? So that'd
25:33
Speaker 3: be an interesting dynamic to follow. Yeah.
25:36
Speaker 2: Bruce, how do you handle or navigate that as a coach, especially,
25:39
Speaker 2: you know, I look at the example of Ryan Leonard,
25:41
Speaker 2: you know, he could, he could conceivably be on their
25:44
Speaker 2: third line making 10 and a half million. So I,
25:47
Speaker 2: as a coach, you know, how do you, How do
25:49
Speaker 2: you navigate that with a guy, like you said, his,
25:52
Speaker 2: you know, I guess you could say his ego or, or,
25:55
Speaker 2: or what, or what he thinks he's going to be. And,
25:57
Speaker 2: and now he's making 10 and a half on your
25:59
Speaker 2: third line. And we're probably going to see a lot
26:02
Speaker 2: of that throughout the league. Like you said, with guys
26:04
Speaker 2: being paid, not on what they've done, but on what
26:07
Speaker 2: they're projected to do.
26:08
Speaker 3: Well, he's going to have to work to be on,
26:11
Speaker 3: you know, if you look at the caps, like specifically
26:14
Speaker 3: with Tuck, they added Tuck and Cairo, Ovechkin's back, Wilson,
26:17
Speaker 3: the big winger protests. So like he's, um you know
26:20
Speaker 3: we have to push for his minutes too so uh
26:23
Speaker 3: that'll be an interesting one to watch I think as
26:24
Speaker 3: a coach you basically got to tell the player hey
26:27
Speaker 3: you know you can't overthink that part of the game
26:28
Speaker 3: that's the business side of it so park that when
26:31
Speaker 3: you come to the rink and um you know and
26:34
Speaker 3: it'll be up to Washington to not allow that to
26:37
Speaker 3: be a talking point as well probably as as they
26:39
Speaker 3: go along so um I think that's the best you
26:42
Speaker 3: can do as a coach I mean You know, you
26:45
Speaker 3: want to see players get paid. I mean, I grinded
26:49
Speaker 3: the minors for a long time, so I have no–
26:52
Speaker 3: every penny the players make, I'm happy for them because
26:54
Speaker 3: it's not as easy as the outside world thinks to
26:57
Speaker 3: get there. But that one will be interesting. And like
27:00
Speaker 3: I said, a couple others that– and hopefully the players
27:03
Speaker 3: go out and earn it. I mean, Hudson signed a
27:04
Speaker 3: big deal in Montreal, and he went out and kind
27:06
Speaker 3: of backed it up. So that's what I think the
27:08
Speaker 3: teams are hoping, that these players will do that. So
27:10
Speaker 3: that can solve a lot of the problems right there.
27:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, Lane Hudson, fantastic. You mentioned that John Turrell reached
27:15
Speaker 1: out when Vegas made the change late last season. He
27:18
Speaker 1: ends up taking the team to the Cup Final, and
27:20
Speaker 1: the team doesn't bring him back. Were you in touch
27:22
Speaker 1: with John Turrell at all after that? What do you
27:25
Speaker 1: make of the team's decision?
27:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I wasn't in touch with him after. You know,
27:30
Speaker 3: he obviously had a good run. I don't know. I
27:33
Speaker 3: can't speak to the inner workings there. I know Ryan Craig,
27:35
Speaker 3: who got hired, I can tell you that he was
27:38
Speaker 3: on our staff when we won the Cup as an assistant.
27:40
Speaker 3: I like him a lot. became very good friends, um,
27:44
Speaker 3: worked for Pete DeBoer as well. And, and, and Turk, uh,
27:47
Speaker 3: Gerard Gallant. So he's had different coaches that have had
27:50
Speaker 3: some level of success that he can sort of steal
27:53
Speaker 3: from if he feels like, and he's got institutional knowledge
27:56
Speaker 3: from being there. So, um, and he's got a relationship
28:00
Speaker 3: with Kelly McCrimmon. So I think at some point, um,
28:04
Speaker 3: that was going to be in the works that Ryan
28:06
Speaker 3: was being groomed. And I guess the time is now
28:08
Speaker 3: so that again, that's, their decision, but I like Ryan
28:11
Speaker 3: a lot and I think he's going to do a
28:12
Speaker 3: good job. Uh, he'll have the usual sort of challenges
28:17
Speaker 3: for first year coaches when you're got a lot of
28:19
Speaker 3: superstars in your team and Vegas does how, how to manage,
28:22
Speaker 3: manage that. But, um, like I said, I like him
28:24
Speaker 3: a lot and I wish him all the best.
28:27
Speaker 2: What style of coaching is Ryan Craigman? What can we
28:30
Speaker 2: expect from him? I know he's a young coach in
28:32
Speaker 2: the league and we're getting a few of those, but
28:35
Speaker 2: what style of coach from when you were coaching him
28:37
Speaker 2: or maybe when he was down in the minors, what
28:39
Speaker 2: can we expect from him this season as a head
28:41
Speaker 2: coach for the Vegas Golden Knights?
28:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's a likable guy. He's got a
28:46
Speaker 3: good personality. He's calm. He was a captain in the minors.
28:52
Speaker 3: He played, I think, a couple hundred games, so he
28:54
Speaker 3: got you know, he got a taste of it and,
28:57
Speaker 3: you know, knows what the NHL looks like. So I
29:00
Speaker 3: think he'll be fairly reserved, but Vegas has a standard
29:06
Speaker 3: no matter who the coach is. And Ryan's been around it.
29:08
Speaker 3: You know, he was there from inception. So I think
29:10
Speaker 3: that's the institutional knowledge he has that they, they go
29:14
Speaker 3: into the year every year expecting to be a contender.
29:17
Speaker 3: So I imagine he'll hold them to that standard and,
29:21
Speaker 3: Their style of play, I don't know if they'll, you know,
29:23
Speaker 3: they didn't change a lot from what I understand when
29:25
Speaker 3: Torts came in in terms of systems. And Ryan played
29:28
Speaker 3: that down in Henderson and the Miners. But, you know,
29:31
Speaker 3: until they play, we won't know, you know, what he's
29:33
Speaker 3: going to use from that, if anything at all, or
29:35
Speaker 3: all of it, right? So, but I do think the
29:37
Speaker 3: players will like him. He'll be a guy they'll want
29:40
Speaker 3: to play for. And as I said, when the calls
29:43
Speaker 3: come and, you know, when to change, you know, in-game
29:45
Speaker 3: management or changing up lines or looking at different chemistry,
29:49
Speaker 3: those are the things that, you know, coaches have to
29:51
Speaker 3: get right, you know, and then holding players accountable because that,
29:55
Speaker 3: you know, that can be a slippery slope if you
29:57
Speaker 3: go the wrong way with that. And those will be,
29:59
Speaker 3: like I said, every coach has those challenges and he'll
30:01
Speaker 3: have to kind of fight his way through those.
30:04
Speaker 1: As you said off the top, Bruce, it's been decades
30:06
Speaker 1: since you've been in this position, training camp starting, and
30:08
Speaker 1: you're not there. What's your outlook for yourself this season?
30:13
Speaker 3: Well, I'm going to do some stuff with Hockey Canada
30:17
Speaker 3: as a consultant. The women's program is starting first. They
30:21
Speaker 3: have a training camp coming up. So I'm going to
30:24
Speaker 3: help their staff, whatever they need. I'm just going to
30:27
Speaker 3: be kind of an eye in the sky for them.
30:30
Speaker 3: How much they want input in practice will be up
30:33
Speaker 3: to you know, their staff. So I'm looking forward to that.
30:37
Speaker 3: It's something a little different, but it's still coaching. And
30:43
Speaker 3: I'll do a little TNT work again this year. I
30:46
Speaker 3: enjoyed that last year. There'll be some dates there, you know,
30:49
Speaker 3: so I can, you know, get out and talk some hockey.
30:52
Speaker 3: And then obviously follow the NHL. I mean, I haven't
30:56
Speaker 3: been in this position, but you know, if you want
30:59
Speaker 3: to get back in, it's usually at the expense of
31:01
Speaker 3: someone else. That's just the way it works a little bit.
31:03
Speaker 3: So I'm sure I'll be watching the teams that maybe
31:06
Speaker 3: struggle a little bit that have expectations. And, you know, that, that's,
31:11
Speaker 3: that'll be it. I've always been a fan of the game,
31:14
Speaker 3: so I'll enjoy watching the games and now it'll be
31:17
Speaker 3: with nothing on the line.
31:18
Speaker 2: So to speak.
31:19
Speaker 3: It'll just be to enjoy the game. And, you know, and, and,
31:22
Speaker 3: you know, if there's, teams play in a different way.
31:25
Speaker 3: All of a sudden, you're going to keep an eye
31:27
Speaker 3: on that. What's new and what's changing system wise or
31:30
Speaker 3: in special teams. So, um, and, uh, that's it. I
31:34
Speaker 3: got a teenage son that plays almost every weekend. So
31:37
Speaker 3: I get to see him play that, uh, I haven't
31:39
Speaker 3: been able to do a whole lot of in the
31:40
Speaker 3: last few years.
31:42
Speaker 2: That's, that's awesome. Uh, you know, I know, I know
31:45
Speaker 2: we talked about, you know, the contracts and what's being
31:49
Speaker 2: handed out and, and these young players making a lot
31:51
Speaker 2: of money, but, What do you see as far as,
31:54
Speaker 2: you know, new teams coming in or maybe some guys
31:56
Speaker 2: that are going to be on new teams? You know,
31:58
Speaker 2: you look at Utah and you see what they did
31:59
Speaker 2: with Anders Lee and bringing in Vincent Trocek. Are there
32:03
Speaker 2: any teams that really jump out to you this year
32:05
Speaker 2: that you could say, hey, listen, you know, I know
32:06
Speaker 2: it's the same teams like Florida, Colorado, these teams at Carolina, obviously,
32:10
Speaker 2: that are going to be contenders. Are there any teams
32:13
Speaker 2: that jump out to you that are possibly, you know,
32:16
Speaker 2: going to take that next step and make a big run?
32:20
Speaker 3: Well, I think you, you talk, you know, you mentioned them.
32:22
Speaker 3: I think that's a tough division to, uh, to, to
32:25
Speaker 3: gain ground on with Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota, but they
32:30
Speaker 3: could sort of, you know, solidify their spot as, as
32:34
Speaker 3: a team that's going to be there every year. So
32:36
Speaker 3: they could take steps. San Jose will be interesting out West, um,
32:40
Speaker 3: you know, with calling it Calgary and Vancouver a little
32:43
Speaker 3: bit and rebuilds and, you know, LA loses Kopitar. So
32:46
Speaker 3: is there, is there room for a new team in
32:47
Speaker 3: the playoffs there? Um, They added some veteran defensemen. I
32:52
Speaker 3: think it'll help them, help them a lot. The goaltender's
32:54
Speaker 3: been through it a little bit last year. You know,
32:56
Speaker 3: he's got some young talent up front. So it'll be
32:58
Speaker 3: interesting to see if they can make a push. And then,
33:02
Speaker 3: you know, was Washington going to get back in and
33:05
Speaker 3: challenge Carolina? I mean, they had a solid team a
33:08
Speaker 3: couple of years ago. It didn't go as well last year,
33:11
Speaker 3: but they've added some scoring. So there'll be another team
33:13
Speaker 3: to watch. And, you know, the Atlantic stuff... You know,
33:17
Speaker 3: with Buffalo taking a step, can they keep it going? Montreal's,
33:19
Speaker 3: you know, taking some steps and Toronto retooled a lot.
33:23
Speaker 3: So that'll be the division I think that, you know,
33:27
Speaker 3: someone might get left behind that we're not thinking of
33:29
Speaker 3: right now because even Detroit's been close the last couple
33:33
Speaker 3: of years to a playoff spot. So Boston, you know,
33:36
Speaker 3: they had a good year last year, got in. So
33:38
Speaker 3: I think that division might have a few surprises.
33:42
Speaker 1: We also had happened, Bruce, that Edmonton got blocked by
33:45
Speaker 1: Vegas and they wanted to talk to you. Did any
33:46
Speaker 1: players or coaches reach out to you while you're going
33:49
Speaker 1: through a challenging situation?
33:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, I talked to some people in the industry, coaches.
33:55
Speaker 3: You know, I had a bunch of friends on, you know,
33:58
Speaker 3: right off the Team Canada staff, right, that, you know,
34:00
Speaker 3: we've kept in touch with Toc and Pete and, you know, Coop.
34:03
Speaker 3: So certainly guys did. There was more than them that
34:06
Speaker 3: just thought it was, you know, a situation that, you know,
34:12
Speaker 3: obviously didn't work out for me, but, um, you know,
34:15
Speaker 3: that's it. That was a while ago and I've kind of,
34:17
Speaker 3: kind of accepted it now. And hopefully down the road,
34:20
Speaker 3: there'll be an opportunity and they'll, they'll let me talk.
34:24
Speaker 2: You know, being involved with Team Canada, I want to,
34:26
Speaker 2: you know, follow up with that, uh, on the women's side,
34:28
Speaker 2: are there any players, um, from the women's side that
34:32
Speaker 2: you're really looking forward to working with or watching, you know, we,
34:35
Speaker 2: we know about you know, Marie, you know, Philip Poulin
34:38
Speaker 2: and all the other players, but are there some other
34:40
Speaker 2: young ones that you're really looking forward to seeing and watching?
34:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's ironic. They just sent me a computer.
34:48
Speaker 3: I got here yesterday and there's some video on ahead
34:51
Speaker 3: of time where you can get a little head start
34:52
Speaker 3: because there's going to be a training camp in Quebec
34:54
Speaker 3: City down the road here. So that'll get cracked open.
34:58
Speaker 3: So I can't get specific, but my understanding is that
35:03
Speaker 3: they've got some young players here that are getting close
35:07
Speaker 3: to being, you know, taking a step in the program.
35:11
Speaker 3: So there'll be some real competition. Obviously, Poulin's a world-class player,
35:15
Speaker 3: so it'd be great to see her up close. I mean,
35:17
Speaker 3: I watched some of the games last year when we
35:19
Speaker 3: were in Milan during the Olympics, but you're watching them
35:21
Speaker 3: as a fan. You know, I wasn't paying attention to
35:23
Speaker 3: maybe specific people or systems or anything. I was just
35:26
Speaker 3: watching them and cheering them on. So, you know, ask
35:32
Speaker 3: me again in a week, I'll have much more detailed knowledge.
35:34
Speaker 3: I'm not I'm not going to sit here and pretend
35:36
Speaker 3: I know a lot of the players and their strengths
35:39
Speaker 3: and weaknesses, but I will. That's going to be part
35:42
Speaker 3: of my responsibility to make sure I keep an eye
35:46
Speaker 3: on that and maybe try to project because they're building
35:49
Speaker 3: for now the women's team, but they're also building for
35:52
Speaker 3: the 30 Olympics, right? So they've got to, I think
35:55
Speaker 3: they're trying to say, hey, is there some young people
35:57
Speaker 3: here that can take incremental steps and be ahead in
36:00
Speaker 3: two or three years? So that'll be the interesting part
36:02
Speaker 3: of that job and kind of a little bit of,
36:05
Speaker 3: going back to your minor league routes, right? When the
36:07
Speaker 3: GM would call and boss and say, Hey, who are
36:09
Speaker 3: the young guys that think might be there in March?
36:11
Speaker 3: You know, they can, you know, wouldn't be maybe two
36:13
Speaker 3: or three years, but you know, three or four months
36:15
Speaker 3: down the road. And I always enjoyed that part of it.
36:17
Speaker 3: And so that, that'll be, uh, that'll be a fun
36:20
Speaker 3: part of, of, of being involved with the team.
36:24
Speaker 2: Hey, Bruce, I was curious.
36:26
Speaker 4: You mentioned, I think you said the number was 45
36:28
Speaker 4: years since you haven't been basically in a grind with
36:31
Speaker 4: a team heading into a season. having that summer to
36:34
Speaker 4: yourself with your family. I'm curious if there was, if
36:37
Speaker 4: there's anything that you grew to appreciate, maybe that you
36:40
Speaker 4: got to pay more attention to that, maybe that perhaps
36:42
Speaker 4: you didn't have the time to before.
36:45
Speaker 5: And is it kind of tenuous? Cause we know how
36:46
Speaker 5: the NHL is.
36:48
Speaker 4: You could get a phone call in the next few
36:49
Speaker 4: weeks if things don't go right with a certain team
36:52
Speaker 4: and a job opens up.
36:53
Speaker 5: So how has that whole dynamic been, I guess?
36:56
Speaker 3: Well, you know, as a player, Uh, and I included my,
37:00
Speaker 3: you know, going back to, I went away at 16
37:02
Speaker 3: to play junior hockey, but you know, make the team
37:05
Speaker 3: out of training cap way ago. I think your summer
37:08
Speaker 3: is pretty clear cut, right? You've got a workout program
37:11
Speaker 3: that you're following and it's usually segmented throughout the summer
37:13
Speaker 3: and you're skating a little bit, but as a coach,
37:16
Speaker 3: I got to tell you, there's been a lot of summers.
37:18
Speaker 3: I've just, you know, put the computer away and some
37:21
Speaker 3: guys like to you know, once a week, get on
37:24
Speaker 3: the phone and chat. And yeah, I chat with my buddies,
37:26
Speaker 3: but I try to shut my brain off because it's
37:28
Speaker 3: on all the time in the, in the winter. So
37:30
Speaker 3: I'll say that this summer wasn't a whole lot different.
37:32
Speaker 3: It just, as this time approached, I was wondering, is
37:36
Speaker 3: there going to be anxiety, right? Because you're used to
37:38
Speaker 3: going and you're always, you know, you've got your routine
37:41
Speaker 3: and it's here now, right? It's starting, I think today. So, uh,
37:46
Speaker 3: so far so good. I haven't, you know, punched the
37:48
Speaker 3: wall yet or anything because I'm not, uh, off at
37:50
Speaker 3: training camp, getting back to work. Um, So I'll say this,
37:53
Speaker 3: I'm going to enjoy a little extra time of what
37:55
Speaker 3: I do in the summer, which is a lot of golf.
37:57
Speaker 3: As I said, I'll get to see my son play
37:59
Speaker 3: a lot more hockey than I ever have. So that
38:02
Speaker 3: part would be a positive and just try to be
38:05
Speaker 3: a fan, understand maybe a little bit of, okay, this
38:09
Speaker 3: is what retirement is going to look like. It's just
38:12
Speaker 3: something you want to do soon or not at all.
38:15
Speaker 2: Right.
38:15
Speaker 3: Cause there's a lot of people that want to work forever.
38:17
Speaker 3: Some of them have a cutoff date. Well, Hey, you
38:19
Speaker 3: know what? I'm looking forward to retirement. So, that'll be
38:22
Speaker 3: an interesting part too. How do you fill your days
38:24
Speaker 3: when you've typically been at a certain way for so long?
38:26
Speaker 3: And that's just around the corner. And that's my plan
38:29
Speaker 3: for now to do those things, but, uh, we'll see
38:31
Speaker 3: how it works out.
38:33
Speaker 1: But to say, savor the time while you can, like
38:34
Speaker 1: you said, especially seeing your son getting the golf and
38:37
Speaker 1: speaking of the golf, the great Ben Boma, my friend
38:39
Speaker 1: and our colleague at TNT just texted me asking if
38:42
Speaker 1: you're still in the Cape. And I said that you're
38:44
Speaker 1: busy golfing. He said, you should be a plus two
38:46
Speaker 1: by now.
38:48
Speaker 3: I am on the Cape and I am not a
38:50
Speaker 3: plus two. Uh, I am, I think a 2.4 or
38:53
Speaker 3: something like that. So it's, it's trending. Well, uh, couldn't
38:56
Speaker 3: putt this morning at all. Um, that's been a problem.
39:00
Speaker 3: I got that new lab putter. It's like costs a
39:03
Speaker 3: small fortune and it hasn't worked for me yet, but
39:05
Speaker 3: I'm going to keep grinding, grinding away. Uh, and, uh,
39:09
Speaker 3: hi Ben, if you're out there, I don't know if
39:10
Speaker 3: he's in Maine or whatnot, but he's been getting to
39:12
Speaker 3: work here soon too. And the, in the trucks.
39:17
Speaker 1: Uh, this is great Bruce again. Thanks so much for
39:19
Speaker 1: the insight. And I know we're going to see you
39:21
Speaker 1: coaching sooner rather than later. So I really genuinely mean this.
39:24
Speaker 1: Enjoy the time while you can. You're going to be
39:25
Speaker 1: coaching sooner rather than later. So enjoy the golf. Enjoy
39:28
Speaker 1: the time with your son. And good stuff with the
39:29
Speaker 1: Hockey can as well look forward to it thank you.
39:31
Speaker 3: All right thanks for having me fellas have a good day.
39:42
Speaker 1: Thanks once again to bruce cast he was fantastic uh
39:44
Speaker 1: we're gonna get some other hockey topics here but first
39:46
Speaker 1: up an emmy awards recap tell the highlight of mariska
39:49
Speaker 1: hargitay hosting first female host in 15 years As she joked,
39:53
Speaker 1: it just means that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler kept
39:55
Speaker 1: saying no. But how about the opening? Our man Jalen
39:58
Speaker 1: Brunson featured. Mariska Hargitay famously was on Broadway during the
40:01
Speaker 1: Knicks run after one of the shows ran down Broadway.
40:04
Speaker 1: I mean, ran blocks and blocks, at least 12 blocks
40:07
Speaker 1: just to go watch Jalen Brunson on the Knicks. She's
40:09
Speaker 1: as avid a Knicks fan as it gets. Love seeing
40:11
Speaker 1: the Brunson cameo in the Emmys opening.
40:14
Speaker 5: I love seeing my guy Jalen Brunson there.
40:16
Speaker 4: And Mariska is legit a Knicks fan.
40:19
Speaker 5: She was courtside for the whole run.
40:21
Speaker 4: And I like I'm enjoying the Hargitayna-sance or whatever you
40:25
Speaker 4: want to call it.
40:26
Speaker 5: She's having a nice little run.
40:27
Speaker 4: She's hosting the Emmys. You know, she's at the Knicks game.
40:31
Speaker 4: She won an Emmy for the first time in her
40:33
Speaker 4: career as a director.
40:35
Speaker 5: Her film is actually excellent about her mother.
40:38
Speaker 1: Jane Mansfield.
40:38
Speaker 5: Jane Mansfield, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, good for Mariska. I'm loving.
40:42
Speaker 4: She'll always be the cute girl auditioning for the Seinfeld
40:46
Speaker 4: sitcom on Seinfeld.
40:47
Speaker 5: Yeah.
40:48
Speaker 4: For me, but I don't watch award shows that much,
40:51
Speaker 4: but it was cool to see her have.
40:53
Speaker 2: A moment there.
40:54
Speaker 1: No, no question. I was thrilled to see Ray Sehorne
40:56
Speaker 1: win Best Actress for Pluribus, a show which, admittedly, I
40:59
Speaker 1: don't watch, but just loved her from Better Call Saul.
41:01
Speaker 1: She was always robbed year after year, so she finally
41:03
Speaker 1: got nominated. The last year of that show didn't win,
41:05
Speaker 1: but finally wins her first Emmy, and a wonderful tribute
41:07
Speaker 1: to the great Michael J. Fox. He won the Bob
41:09
Speaker 1: Hope Manitarian Award, showing some great clips, of course, of
41:12
Speaker 1: Family Ties and Spin City, Rescue Me, Kirby Enthusiasm, all
41:15
Speaker 1: the great shows he's done. Was out there in the wheelchair.
41:18
Speaker 1: Obviously slurred speech at times, but still making an impression,
41:21
Speaker 1: making an impact. Seeing his family there was great. Son's
41:23
Speaker 1: a dead ringer for his dad, Sam, and his three
41:26
Speaker 1: daughters there and Tracy Paul. So very cool to see
41:27
Speaker 1: Canada's finest and Michael J. Fox there as well. The Pit,
41:30
Speaker 1: big show. DTF St. Louis, a show I love. I'm
41:33
Speaker 1: glad that did very well. David Harbour, Linda Carlini, both
41:35
Speaker 1: won Emmys and went for writing, directing, and limited series.
41:38
Speaker 1: In terms of movies, it's the 25th anniversary of Wet
41:41
Speaker 1: Hot American Summer. My friend Scott Regal, she asked me
41:43
Speaker 1: if I'd seen it. I'd never seen it. He's like, what?
41:44
Speaker 1: I was like, all right, fine. 25th anniversary, I'll watch it. Talents,
41:47
Speaker 1: one of those movies, got 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics
41:49
Speaker 1: hated it. Maybe that was why I was not keen
41:52
Speaker 1: to watch it. But I enjoyed it. It was very funny,
41:54
Speaker 1: very silly, 95-minute comedy, very horny comedy. Just a bunch
41:58
Speaker 1: of people at camp looking to get it on. That
42:00
Speaker 1: would be the best way to describe it. Very Meatballs-esque.
42:02
Speaker 1: But really good cast. Now, a very young Paul Rudd
42:06
Speaker 1: and Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper, one half of a
42:09
Speaker 1: gay couple. I wasn't expecting that out of Bradley Cooper.
42:12
Speaker 5: Elizabeth Banks.
42:13
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Banks, yeah, in a bikini. That's always strong. So
42:16
Speaker 1: it's a very good cast. Your thoughts on Wet Hot
42:19
Speaker 1: American Summer? People seem to love this movie. It's a
42:21
Speaker 1: cult classic.
42:22
Speaker 5: Definite cult classic.
42:24
Speaker 4: I always see clips of the actors talking about it
42:26
Speaker 4: because when it came out, you know, the names at
42:30
Speaker 4: the top of the marquee were Janine Garofalo and David
42:32
Speaker 4: Hyde Pierce.
42:33
Speaker 5: And now it's like Bradley Cooper's first.
42:36
Speaker 4: Film and Michael Ian Black, who, you know, all the
42:40
Speaker 4: guys from the state who have gone on to do
42:42
Speaker 4: all these other fun things, you know, Joe Latriglio, Ken Marino,
42:46
Speaker 4: two guys I love, you know, who are an all
42:49
Speaker 4: hilarious actor. So it's, it's a great takeoff on the classic,
42:53
Speaker 4: as you would say, horny 80s camp comedy, summer camp comedy.
42:59
Speaker 4: They did a great job with that. They did a
43:00
Speaker 4: sequel on Netflix a few years ago that was not
43:03
Speaker 4: as good, but I think they were, they were trying
43:06
Speaker 4: to profit off the nostalgia a little bit.
43:09
Speaker 5: But the original is a classic. I enjoy it. I'm
43:11
Speaker 5: glad you brought it up and mentioned that it was
43:13
Speaker 5: the 25th anniversary.
43:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you emailed me to make sure you don't
43:16
Speaker 1: watch the sequel, I wasn't even aware there was a sequel.
43:18
Speaker 1: So that just shows you how badly that was received. Nate,
43:20
Speaker 1: have you seen the movie Wet Hot American Summer? Thoughts
43:22
Speaker 1: on the Emmys? Or perhaps, have you had a horny
43:24
Speaker 1: camp experience? Your choice.
43:26
Speaker 2: I've never seen that movie, but the title, you know,
43:30
Speaker 2: obviously got my attention. And when you guys said it was,
43:32
Speaker 2: you know, a horny comedy film, you know, I don't know.
43:35
Speaker 2: So is this film, would you say it's like a,
43:37
Speaker 2: you know, I guess a comedy version of like Dirty Dancing,
43:40
Speaker 2: kind of that, you know, like is a little bit, no?
43:43
Speaker 2: Or just am I way off?
43:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, Dirty Dancing to me is like a romantic film,
43:47
Speaker 1: which has some comedy. This is like just straight up farce, goofy,
43:49
Speaker 1: you know, it's as if it was, like I said, Meatballs, Stripes,
43:52
Speaker 1: like those 80s comedies, Bigfoot. You know, The Great Outdoors,
43:55
Speaker 1: stuff like that. Big, big.
43:56
Speaker 2: 40% Rotten Tomatoes, though. So you're saying I shouldn't watch it?
44:00
Speaker 1: That's what I was skeptical of watching. They really shit
44:03
Speaker 1: on it. But I'm like, no, I think the critics
44:04
Speaker 1: were a little harsh on it. I think the audience
44:06
Speaker 1: score is more indicative. It's about 70%. I think that's...
44:09
Speaker 1: If you look where you're going for it, it's a funny, silly,
44:11
Speaker 1: outrageous comedy. There's more hits than misses. Also, Chris Maloney,
44:14
Speaker 1: very good. Speaking of Law & Order, Mariska Hargitay. He's
44:17
Speaker 1: actually really funny in the movie as well. At one point,
44:19
Speaker 1: humping a refrigerator. In the meantime, NHL's new CBA kicked
44:23
Speaker 1: in the week, meaning it was the last chance for
44:24
Speaker 1: teams to sign players to an eight-year contract extension. A
44:27
Speaker 1: few teams took full advantage. Drake Bathurst and Ottawa Green, eight-year,
44:30
Speaker 1: $ 86 million deal.
44:32
Speaker 3: Wow.
44:33
Speaker 1: Washington giving Ryan Leonard an almost identical deal, eight years,
44:35
Speaker 1: $ 84 million. It's a stunner. Buffalo and Noah Ostlund, eight-year,
44:39
Speaker 1: $ 52. 8 million. Even Justin Sordiff, eight years, $ 50. 8 million. I'm
44:43
Speaker 1: not going to have you go through every single one,
44:45
Speaker 1: but there's one that stands out, maybe Ryan Leonard.
44:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to say that one probably jumps
44:51
Speaker 2: out the most. And we talked about it in the beginning.
44:54
Speaker 2: It's what these teams are going to do now. They're
44:58
Speaker 2: trying to set themselves up and they're trying to hit
45:00
Speaker 2: home runs and they're trying to pay the guy for
45:03
Speaker 2: what he's going to be rather than what he's done.
45:06
Speaker 2: And I think teams look at it as, okay, if
45:09
Speaker 2: I can get this guy locked up for a lot
45:11
Speaker 2: of term, a long time, and have this– I guess
45:16
Speaker 2: you could say a discount deal at that time, whether he's,
45:19
Speaker 2: you know, producing at a high rate, but it's, it's
45:22
Speaker 2: crazy too, because I look at Ryan Leonard and he's
45:25
Speaker 2: probably going to be on their third line making 10
45:27
Speaker 2: and a half million. And, you know, that's wild to me.
45:31
Speaker 2: And I think just that's, that's the landscape we're in
45:34
Speaker 2: right now in the NHL is these GMs are going
45:36
Speaker 2: to try and get ahead of it and make sure
45:38
Speaker 2: these guys are signed long-term. And, I heard an interview
45:42
Speaker 2: and Billy Guerin was talking and I love Billy G
45:45
Speaker 2: because he keeps it real. And he said, a lot
45:48
Speaker 2: of these guys haven't done shit. They haven't done shit.
45:51
Speaker 2: But we are in a league now where it's growing
45:56
Speaker 2: and it's great for the league. Guys are making a
45:58
Speaker 2: lot of money and this is what you have to do.
46:01
Speaker 2: You have to sign guys long term and hope that
46:03
Speaker 2: you get term and hope that you hit on these guys.
46:07
Speaker 2: But that one for me really, really jumps out with
46:09
Speaker 2: Ryan Leonard and I think all the other ones, Sordiff, Oslin,
46:14
Speaker 2: these guys, this is an example of maybe what are
46:17
Speaker 2: they going to be. But I think at the end
46:18
Speaker 2: of the day, if these deals turn out to be
46:23
Speaker 2: longstanding and at good value, then that's what these GMs
46:27
Speaker 2: are hoping for. And they're also hoping that they don't miss, too,
46:30
Speaker 2: because that's a possibility as well.
46:32
Speaker 1: $ 10 million for a guy that could be a third-line player.
46:35
Speaker 1: That's a reach. You better be hoping that's going to
46:37
Speaker 1: work out for you. The Edmonton Oilers got some major
46:40
Speaker 1: blowback this summer. We all know when they obviously named
46:43
Speaker 1: Mike Babcock their new head coach. That frustration of the
46:45
Speaker 1: team increased after they signed Alex Formington last week. He
46:47
Speaker 1: was one of the five Team Canada players charged with
46:50
Speaker 1: sexual assault in 2024. All five players were acquitted. We
46:53
Speaker 1: saw Carter Hart back in the NHL last season. And
46:56
Speaker 1: since Edmonton signed to that one-year deal, popular Oilers fan
46:59
Speaker 1: Mary Lowen, who's known as Mama Stanley, has said she
47:02
Speaker 1: will no longer support the team. More than 60,000 people
47:06
Speaker 1: have signed a petition on change.org asking Edmonton to undo
47:10
Speaker 1: the signing. What do you do if you're the Oilers, Nate?
47:12
Speaker 1: They clearly knew if this was going to happen, there
47:13
Speaker 1: would be some blowback.
47:16
Speaker 2: Well, the Oilers don't care about optics, I'll tell you that.
47:19
Speaker 2: And they're, you know, I guess they're taking a page
47:23
Speaker 2: out of the Vegas Golden Knights book, and at the
47:25
Speaker 2: end of the day, they're just, you know, they're worried
47:27
Speaker 2: about winning hockey games. And I think... If you're a
47:31
Speaker 2: fan of Edmonton, obviously you're going to be a little
47:33
Speaker 2: upset with, like I said, the optics of what's going on.
47:35
Speaker 2: I'm not going to comment on what went on in
47:37
Speaker 2: the past, but I played with Alex Formington when he
47:41
Speaker 2: was a young player, and he can play. He's got speed,
47:44
Speaker 2: he can skate, and I think he's a guy that's
47:46
Speaker 2: going to help their bottom six. So when you look
47:49
Speaker 2: at what they've added, I think the Oilers definitely got better.
47:53
Speaker 2: They did. Are they... you know, a popular team right now?
47:58
Speaker 2: Absolutely not. But, you know, that's the name of the game.
48:01
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, this game's a business. And,
48:04
Speaker 2: you know, I think the Edmonton Oilers are trying to
48:05
Speaker 2: get better. And, you know, fans are passionate. Fans are
48:09
Speaker 2: going to be passionate, you know, especially in Edmonton. We know.
48:13
Speaker 2: But I think still, AV, I know there's a petition
48:17
Speaker 2: and people are not happy about this, but that building
48:20
Speaker 2: is still going to be full. It's still going to
48:22
Speaker 2: be sold out. And the Edmonton Oilers are still the
48:24
Speaker 2: Edmonton Oilers. So, good luck to Alex Formington and the Oilers,
48:29
Speaker 2: but like I said, they're taking a page out of Vegas'
48:32
Speaker 2: book and doing whatever it takes to win.
48:34
Speaker 1: I always say Montreal's the best place to watch a
48:36
Speaker 1: hockey game, but to your point, Edmonton's a close second
48:38
Speaker 1: for me. That is a great building, great rink.
48:41
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
48:41
Speaker 1: The revamps and the rejuvenations they've done there, it's absolutely phenomenal. Tal,
48:44
Speaker 1: your thoughts on the move?
48:48
Speaker 5: Sorry, just I mean, this is on Alex Formington now.
48:51
Speaker 5: He's going to get asked about this.
48:52
Speaker 4: He had to know what the response would be in Edmonton,
48:56
Speaker 4: especially after the whole fiasco when they hired Mike Babcock. So,
49:01
Speaker 4: you know, we don't need to get into the details
49:02
Speaker 4: of what happened. I think if he wants to try
49:05
Speaker 4: and win over some fans and maybe he doesn't care,
49:07
Speaker 4: but showing some contrition and a little accountability maybe wouldn't
49:12
Speaker 4: be the worst thing. Like the example someone brought up
49:16
Speaker 4: to me was Logan Mayhew a few years ago when
49:18
Speaker 4: he made a, you know, he he, he got into
49:21
Speaker 4: himself into an unfortunate situation and did some horrible things.
49:25
Speaker 4: And he was contrite and he was asked about it and,
49:27
Speaker 4: and made a point to prove to the, well, it
49:30
Speaker 4: was the Canadians fans at the time he's in St.
49:32
Speaker 4: Louis now, but he wanted to show fans that he
49:35
Speaker 4: wasn't the person they thought he was. And now he's gotten,
49:38
Speaker 4: he's going to have an opportunity to, play a big
49:40
Speaker 4: role on St.
49:41
Speaker 2: Louis.
49:41
Speaker 4: And I think a lot of people have kind of
49:42
Speaker 4: accepted him as someone who has learned from his mistakes.
49:45
Speaker 4: So let's see if Alex, you know, if Alex Farmington
49:47
Speaker 4: can do the same thing in Edmonton.
49:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, actually speak louder than words and hopefully he's able
49:52
Speaker 1: to regain some of that trust there, at least from
49:54
Speaker 1: the public eye. And a couple of notable retirements as
49:56
Speaker 1: we close up shop here at NHL Unscripted, episode number 98.
49:59
Speaker 1: Defenseman John Klingberg, who enjoyed, you know, a nice little
50:03
Speaker 1: home bounce back season with San Jose, 2025-2026, scored 10
50:05
Speaker 1: goals to the Sharks. But he retires after playing 12 seasons, Stars, Ducks, Wild, Leafs, Oilers,
50:14
Speaker 1: and the Sharks. And goaltender Connor Ingram also announced he's
50:17
Speaker 1: calling it a career after five seasons. Nashville, Arizona, Utah,
50:20
Speaker 1: and Edmonton. Ingram won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance
50:24
Speaker 1: and dedication to the game after returning to the league
50:26
Speaker 1: following his struggles with an undiagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder and alcohol.
50:31
Speaker 1: A tough decision for both players, Nate, but clearly we
50:34
Speaker 1: wish them well.
50:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's always hard when you get to the situation
50:39
Speaker 2: where you have to make a tough call. And I've
50:41
Speaker 2: been there. I know my last couple of years, you know,
50:43
Speaker 2: when I was in Philly, you know, I had a
50:47
Speaker 2: shoulder surgery, ended up finishing out the season. But then
50:49
Speaker 2: the following year, all I could get was a PTO.
50:51
Speaker 2: And the next thing you know, I'm back in the
50:53
Speaker 2: minors playing for the Ontario Reign my last season. And
50:56
Speaker 2: that was hard. It was hard to be able to.
50:59
Speaker 2: you know, you have to, after playing as long as
51:00
Speaker 2: I did in the NHL and having to go back
51:02
Speaker 2: to the American league. So I wonder for these guys,
51:04
Speaker 2: you know, if that's the situation and, uh, you know,
51:08
Speaker 2: but both, you know, especially John Klingberg, you know, what,
51:10
Speaker 2: what a career he had, um, just such a good
51:13
Speaker 2: offensive defenseman and a guy I thought maybe that would, uh,
51:15
Speaker 2: sign with a team or, or get a PTO and, and,
51:19
Speaker 2: and help a team out this year. Uh, but good
51:21
Speaker 2: luck to him, you know, an incredible career and incredible
51:23
Speaker 2: offensive defenseman that, you know, at one time he was
51:26
Speaker 2: just so dynamic and, and dangerous out there. And then,
51:30
Speaker 2: you know, Connor Ingram, um, who's a good, good goalie
51:33
Speaker 2: who was a good goalie and, and you just hope
51:35
Speaker 2: the best for him. And, uh, especially for life after hockey, because,
51:39
Speaker 2: you know, once you retire and move on, it can, um,
51:43
Speaker 2: you know, it, it can be a lot. So hope,
51:45
Speaker 2: hope for these guys that, uh, that everything goes well
51:48
Speaker 2: post post retirement, but just both, both good guys and, um,
51:52
Speaker 2: you know, good careers.
51:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, Klingberg, as you said, solid career, 12 seasons, obviously
51:56
Speaker 1: made an impact. With Ingram, I agree with him. A
51:58
Speaker 1: little bit surprised, only five seasons. He seemed like he
52:00
Speaker 1: had flashes of talent, but for whatever reason, he does
52:03
Speaker 1: move on. And as you said, we wish them well.
52:04
Speaker 1: We wish all of you well as we continue here
52:06
Speaker 1: on NHL Unscripted. Again, Wayne Gretzky, number 99 episode next week.
52:10
Speaker 1: Jason Demers will be back. Lots more hockeys. Again, training
52:13
Speaker 1: camp underway. It's a great time to be a hockey fan,
52:15
Speaker 1: a great time to be listening to NHL Unscripted. Make
52:17
Speaker 1: sure you subscribe, rate, and review, and give us some
52:19
Speaker 1: love on Apple, iTunes, wherever you listen to your podcasts.
52:22
Speaker 1: And we'll see you next time here on Unscripted. NHL
52:40
Speaker 1: Unscripted is a production of the NHL and iHeart Podcast.
52:44
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