Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Tom Callahan on the Utah Mammoth and the NHL, Lightning's come back win over Bruins in Stadium Series, Slow starts for the Mammoth + more
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: You were listening to about Sean O'Connell show your source
- 0:09Speaker 1: for the best team football couple. Here's oc from the
- 0:12Speaker 1: Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred ninety two to one.
- 0:16Speaker 2: At end you tell Mammoth and action Tonight against the
- 0:22Speaker 2: Canucks of Vancouver. Tom Callahan hosts a Lockdown Mammoth podcast.
- 0:28Speaker 2: Mammoth Insider joins us now to talk about that and
- 0:31Speaker 2: much more around the NHL. Tom, are you I'm doing well?
- 0:36Speaker 3: Those things going this week?
- 0:38Speaker 1: Uh?
- 0:38Speaker 4: You know we're We're doing all right. I want to
- 0:40Speaker 4: get to the Mammoth here.
- 0:41Speaker 2: I want to talk about that, but we have to
- 0:44Speaker 2: touch on the Stadium series where Tampa Bay play in
- 0:48Speaker 2: the Boston Bruins and the teams showed up Tampa Bay
- 0:53Speaker 2: in the Buccaneers creamsicle uniforms, full football uniforms for the
- 0:58Speaker 2: NHL team, and then on the opposite side, the Boston
- 1:01Speaker 2: Bruins get off the bus wearing colonial Patriot like period
- 1:06Speaker 2: piece uniforms. Just an absolute phenomenal thing. Leaning into the
- 1:10Speaker 2: Super Bowl matchups and the Super Bowl coming, what do
- 1:14Speaker 2: you think of them like having that kind of fun
- 1:16Speaker 2: with this with the stadium series game I loved it.
- 1:20Speaker 3: Number one, I love those Buccaneers creamsical uniforms, and no
- 1:23Speaker 3: one can tell me different. I just I have a
- 1:26Speaker 3: thing for orange. The Pirate treasure map around the rink
- 1:31Speaker 3: was also awesome. I loved the uniforms. I thought everything
- 1:35Speaker 3: about it was great. It felt like college football in
- 1:39Speaker 3: a lot of ways, and I just I loved it.
- 1:41Speaker 3: I thought the whole thing was great. Then you get
- 1:43Speaker 3: a goalie fight and all kinds of crazy stuff going on.
- 1:47Speaker 3: I mean, game goes to a shootout like that was
- 1:51Speaker 3: that was fantastic. I loved every minute of that.
- 1:54Speaker 2: The goalie fights, We've seen a couple of them already
- 1:58Speaker 2: this NHL season, And look, the casual hockey fan loves
- 2:02Speaker 2: it when these guys mix it up inside the dressing room.
- 2:06Speaker 2: I guess more from a coaching perspective, how is that processed?
- 2:10Speaker 2: When when the goalies skate out there and start hammering
- 2:13Speaker 2: away with the big pads on.
- 2:16Speaker 3: You're worried because those guys are expensive. You know, that's like,
- 2:21Speaker 3: can you imagine a quarterback fight at the fifty yard line?
- 2:25Speaker 3: That's what that is. You know, that freaks that freaks
- 2:29Speaker 3: out everyone internally. But yeah, the fans love it, but
- 2:33Speaker 3: you know, nobody gets hurt. And I'll be honest with you,
- 2:36Speaker 3: as someone who has played goalie my entire life, it
- 2:38Speaker 3: is really hard to throw punches with all those pads
- 2:41Speaker 3: on and get close. So you know, generally nobody's getting hurt.
- 2:47Speaker 3: That's what you're hoping for. So yeah, I know that
- 2:51Speaker 3: that freaks people out a little bit internally, but I
- 2:53Speaker 3: mean it's just in the heat of the moment. You know,
- 2:57Speaker 3: Swamon wanted to go, he came to center in Vasileski
- 3:00Speaker 3: obliged him.
- 3:01Speaker 5: So off you go.
- 3:04Speaker 2: Also around the league, did did Pastradak get jobbed by
- 3:09Speaker 2: the nullified overtime goal?
- 3:13Speaker 5: You know?
- 3:14Speaker 3: I mean no, there was a penalty coming on the play,
- 3:16Speaker 3: so as soon as Boston touches the pocket, whistle goes.
- 3:20Speaker 3: Whether they heard it or not, I don't know, but
- 3:24Speaker 3: if now it was the call, if he eh, maybe
- 3:26Speaker 3: I don't know if I make that call on overtime,
- 3:29Speaker 3: but I mean so if you want to talk about
- 3:33Speaker 3: the penalty was a legit and it could have gone
- 3:35Speaker 3: either way. But as far as when the whistle blew, yes,
- 3:38Speaker 3: that's supposed to happen as soon as there's a penalty
- 3:41Speaker 3: and it's touched by the team taking the penalty, then yeah,
- 3:43Speaker 3: the play stops. So from that standpoint, no, he didn't
- 3:47Speaker 3: get hosed, But I just don't know if i'd have
- 3:48Speaker 3: made that call.
- 3:49Speaker 2: All right, let's focus in on our beloved Utah Mammoth. Now,
- 3:53Speaker 2: they had a nice little road trip the previous homestand
- 3:58Speaker 2: was important with this acking the points, and they've looked
- 4:02Speaker 2: strong up till these last two games. Now lost five
- 4:06Speaker 2: to four to the Hurricanes and at home the other
- 4:09Speaker 2: night three to two to the Stars.
- 4:11Speaker 4: And you dig yourself.
- 4:13Speaker 2: An early hole and it's really really hard to climb
- 4:16Speaker 2: out of that. How do they avoid that moving forward?
- 4:19Speaker 2: How do they stop giving up the early first period goals?
- 4:23Speaker 3: You know, these guys have reminded me. I'm going to
- 4:25Speaker 3: give the listeners a visual right now. If you've ever
- 4:27Speaker 3: been at a sink with separate taps for hot and
- 4:30Speaker 3: cold water, you're either getting cold out of the foster
- 4:34Speaker 3: or you're getting hot out of the faucet, and they're
- 4:35Speaker 3: two separate faucets. And I kind of feel like that's
- 4:37Speaker 3: the story of the Mammoth this year. You know, they're hot,
- 4:41Speaker 3: then they're cold, And the funny thing is Unfortunately they
- 4:46Speaker 3: got cold at the end of that Carolina game. And
- 4:49Speaker 3: I can say, honestly, I can write that off to
- 4:52Speaker 3: you know, what things happen over the course of a season,
- 4:55Speaker 3: eighty two games, you're going to have one of those.
- 4:59Speaker 3: What I wanted to see was how they came out
- 5:01Speaker 3: against Dallas, and I wanted to see if they turned
- 5:03Speaker 3: that kind of anger and frustration into efforts and achievement
- 5:08Speaker 3: against Dallas, or if they let it sit and fester
- 5:12Speaker 3: a little bit in their heads. And I think it
- 5:14Speaker 3: was a little bit more of the latter. You're right,
- 5:16Speaker 3: they did have a slow start against Dallas and they
- 5:18Speaker 3: didn't really recover from that. Now and special teams has
- 5:23Speaker 3: been bad, right, So we'll talk about that maybe a
- 5:26Speaker 3: little bit later. But five on five, it's funny. Andre
- 5:29Speaker 3: Tourney says, well, I think our team won the game
- 5:31Speaker 3: five on five, and I just I don't agree. They
- 5:34Speaker 3: had eleven shots heading into the third. They scored on
- 5:37Speaker 3: one of them, and that goal probably shouldn't have been
- 5:38Speaker 3: allowed to stand. It should have been called back for
- 5:40Speaker 3: goaltender interference. It wasn't. So okay, good, that's a nice break.
- 5:44Speaker 3: They score on their twelfth shot, and so now they've
- 5:47Speaker 3: got two goals on twelve shots, and now in the
- 5:49Speaker 3: third period, you're like, oh, it's a game. They can
- 5:50Speaker 3: do something with this. I never got the impression that
- 5:55Speaker 3: they had it all going their way or that they
- 5:57Speaker 3: were the better team five on five, And I think
- 6:00Speaker 3: for this Mammoth team right now, to try to avoid
- 6:02Speaker 3: the slow starts, the best you can do is really
- 6:06Speaker 3: try to load up your energy early and you've got
- 6:09Speaker 3: to throw some hits. You've got to go out there
- 6:11Speaker 3: and be physical without taking penalties. And they've had a
- 6:13Speaker 3: problem with that lately. They are stepping over that line
- 6:17Speaker 3: far too often. And the other thing that kind of
- 6:20Speaker 3: gets me is when the effort's not there, you take
- 6:23Speaker 3: penalties that are born of not moving your feet, not
- 6:26Speaker 3: continuing to skate, that you're hooking, you're holding those types
- 6:29Speaker 3: of penalties, or they're doing something away from the play,
- 6:33Speaker 3: which you know you don't need to take a penalty
- 6:35Speaker 3: when it's not preventing a scoring chance. And those are
- 6:37Speaker 3: the frustrating things. They kill your momentum. And then their
- 6:40Speaker 3: special teams hasn't been good, so you're given up power
- 6:42Speaker 3: play goals and you're not scoring on the power play
- 6:45Speaker 3: when you get them. That's the frustrating part. And all
- 6:48Speaker 3: of that goes into just not having that energy and
- 6:52Speaker 3: that carry through, which is why, quite frankly, it's a
- 6:54Speaker 3: good thing Vancouver's coming to town because they're not very good.
- 6:58Speaker 2: Staying on the special teams? Is there an element to
- 7:02Speaker 2: the timeliness of the penalties?
- 7:04Speaker 3: Is there?
- 7:06Speaker 4: Is it? Well? I won't, I won't throw out multiple
- 7:09Speaker 4: choice here.
- 7:10Speaker 2: You just tell me what you think the root of
- 7:12Speaker 2: the special teams and specifically power play opponent power play
- 7:17Speaker 2: goals and the frequency with which they're scoring.
- 7:20Speaker 4: Where is that rooted?
- 7:23Speaker 3: So timing is bad taking, especially the early penalties against Dallas,
- 7:29Speaker 3: the uncharacteristic mistakes and like two delay game penalties when
- 7:34Speaker 3: they take too many minute on the ice penalties. Again,
- 7:37Speaker 3: fans understand a penalty worth of effort and coaches do too.
- 7:41Speaker 3: If you have a guy that you take them down
- 7:45Speaker 3: on a legitimate scoring chance, that's okay, I mean, yeah,
- 7:49Speaker 3: it's a penalty. No, you don't want to. It means
- 7:51Speaker 3: you were probably out of position, but you may have
- 7:53Speaker 3: prevented a goal. Okay, we're cool with that. Or if
- 7:55Speaker 3: you're taking a penalty where you're standing up for your
- 7:57Speaker 3: teammates also good, we'll kill that one off. The problem
- 8:01Speaker 3: is when you start taking the mental mistake penalties or
- 8:04Speaker 3: the you know, I'm not moving my feet, I'm not
- 8:08Speaker 3: putting forth the effort this guy is getting by me.
- 8:11Speaker 3: Oh no, I better put my arm out, put my
- 8:13Speaker 3: stick out, because I'm not skating with them. That's where
- 8:16Speaker 3: it becomes a problem, and that's the penalties you don't
- 8:20Speaker 3: want to take. And I think that beyond that on
- 8:23Speaker 3: the penalty kill, yes, special teams can be streaky and
- 8:28Speaker 3: it can go hot and cold, as the Mammoth have
- 8:32Speaker 3: this year. But to me, killing penalties is all about effort.
- 8:36Speaker 3: It is the hardest thing to do in hockey because
- 8:38Speaker 3: it is constant stopping and starting. It is just it's
- 8:41Speaker 3: physically exhausting, and if you are not giving it your all,
- 8:45Speaker 3: and even sometimes when you are, you're going to get beat.
- 8:48Speaker 3: You have to have your goaltender the especially sharp in
- 8:51Speaker 3: those cases, and you have to have just all out
- 8:53Speaker 3: effort for that two minutes to be able to kill
- 8:55Speaker 3: it out. And I think that that's why, you know,
- 8:58Speaker 3: it's been tough against the more highlight skilled teams that
- 9:01Speaker 3: the Mammoth had been given up. Those power play goals.
- 9:04Speaker 3: But I mean we say that the penalty kill actually
- 9:07Speaker 3: was good for most of the year. Now they've slid
- 9:10Speaker 3: down to nineteenth, which is just in front of the
- 9:12Speaker 3: bottom third. But the power play is terrible. It's dead
- 9:17Speaker 3: last now. And I just don't understand why. You know,
- 9:22Speaker 3: that definition of insanity is continuing to do the same
- 9:25Speaker 3: thing and expecting different results. I mean, I would be
- 9:28Speaker 3: trying so many different things right now in this power play,
- 9:30Speaker 3: and they just seem to keep beating their heads against
- 9:33Speaker 3: the same spot in the wall.
- 9:35Speaker 4: I noticed that.
- 9:37Speaker 2: And I don't know where the threshold is when you're saying,
- 9:41Speaker 2: all right, we got to let these guys work out
- 9:43Speaker 2: of the slump, and so give them another shot, give
- 9:46Speaker 2: them another shot, and give them another power play or two,
- 9:49Speaker 2: versus saying all right, this is it's not a commentary
- 9:54Speaker 2: on our lack of belief in you.
- 9:55Speaker 4: We just have to mix it up.
- 9:56Speaker 2: I mean, it feels like this dressing room, this team
- 9:59Speaker 2: culture would be solid enough that you could say, hey, guys,
- 10:02Speaker 2: you see the numbers. You see it's not working. We're
- 10:05Speaker 2: just going to start throwing things at a wall and
- 10:07Speaker 2: see what sticks. Why hasn't that happened.
- 10:11Speaker 3: I wish I had the answer to that. The fans
- 10:14Speaker 3: wish they had the answer to that, because this goes back.
- 10:16Speaker 3: This is not two weeks or two months. This is
- 10:18Speaker 3: not even a year and a half they've been in Utah.
- 10:20Speaker 3: This has been something that's been going on for a while,
- 10:23Speaker 3: and we've all been asking these questions. I mean, if
- 10:28Speaker 3: it's me, you know, I look at you can change
- 10:32Speaker 3: the x's and o's, you can change the personnel, you
- 10:35Speaker 3: can move, and a lot of people are saying, maybe
- 10:37Speaker 3: take Sergachev off the first power play unit. They even
- 10:40Speaker 3: floated the idea on the broadcast, which made me very
- 10:43Speaker 3: surprised the other day. But you know, everybody knows you're
- 10:46Speaker 3: going to try to set up Dylan Gunther for the
- 10:48Speaker 3: one time over there, and then they take that away
- 10:50Speaker 3: and okay, use him as bait, moose Sergachev down to
- 10:54Speaker 3: the other side, have now two one time options, and
- 10:56Speaker 3: then have somebody else running it through the top of
- 10:59Speaker 3: the blue line or chains and O's completely you're right.
- 11:02Speaker 3: I would I'd throw the whole thing in a blender
- 11:04Speaker 3: and hit for ape right now, because what you're doing
- 11:08Speaker 3: is not working. You're dead. Last there was nowhere else
- 11:10Speaker 3: to go but up. So why don't you change the personnel?
- 11:15Speaker 3: That's a question, and what kills me. Oh, I'm glad
- 11:19Speaker 3: you brought this up. I have thoughts Andre Tourney. Every
- 11:24Speaker 3: time he talks postgame or morning skate or whenever a
- 11:27Speaker 3: practice about it, always says, yeah, we're not And he
- 11:30Speaker 3: said this the other day, Yeah, we just don't seem
- 11:33Speaker 3: to have any execution right now. We don't seem to
- 11:36Speaker 3: have things go on our way for whatever reason.
- 11:39Speaker 1: And you know, it's.
- 11:40Speaker 5: Almost like he just it's like he's passing the buck.
- 11:46Speaker 5: And the question is it's like, okay, well, if you're
- 11:48Speaker 5: saying that they don't have any swagger on the power
- 11:52Speaker 5: play and they don't have the execution on the power play,
- 11:54Speaker 5: I'm like, isn't that your job to make that change?
- 12:00Speaker 5: And it's just I feel like he's just passing the
- 12:02Speaker 5: buck down to the assistant coaches. And look, that's fine
- 12:05Speaker 5: if they're running the power play, but as the head coach, man,
- 12:07Speaker 5: I expect something out of you too.
- 12:12Speaker 2: I mean, it makes perfect sense to say, halt the insanity,
- 12:18Speaker 2: make the change, don't blame it on the analytics, don't
- 12:21Speaker 2: blame it on anything else. Just like and if you
- 12:23Speaker 2: want to give credit to somebody else when it starts
- 12:26Speaker 2: to get fixed, go ahead and do that. But man,
- 12:29Speaker 2: it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep doing
- 12:31Speaker 2: these things the same way. Tom Callahan, by the way,
- 12:33Speaker 2: our guest here talking Utah mammoth. Let's stay on this
- 12:37Speaker 2: for just another second. If let's say they made that
- 12:40Speaker 2: decision today, like, all right, guys, we gotta do this.
- 12:43Speaker 2: We've got to I like how you said it. We
- 12:45Speaker 2: got to throw it in the blender. Do you do
- 12:48Speaker 2: it against Vancouver, a team that's bad enough that you
- 12:51Speaker 2: can probably make a couple of mistakes or have things
- 12:53Speaker 2: go poorly and still survive it.
- 12:56Speaker 4: Or do you do it you know in the more.
- 12:59Speaker 2: Like Colorado and Minnesota are coming up at the end
- 13:02Speaker 2: of February.
- 13:04Speaker 4: When do you do it? Does it matter what opponent
- 13:06Speaker 4: you do it against?
- 13:08Speaker 3: Well, I think Vancouver is a great time to do
- 13:10Speaker 3: it because they're dead lasting penalty kill. So yes, this
- 13:14Speaker 3: is your prime opponent to try some new stuff because yeah,
- 13:17Speaker 3: you can probably get away with a little more. That said,
- 13:20Speaker 3: I mean, so that's interesting, right, the worst power play
- 13:24Speaker 3: against the worst penalty kill. For special teams, you also
- 13:26Speaker 3: have the Olympic break coming up, and so knowing that
- 13:29Speaker 3: if you start to install a new system now or
- 13:34Speaker 3: a new personnel now, look, you're going to bruise some
- 13:37Speaker 3: egos and that's part of the problem. But at the
- 13:40Speaker 3: end of the day, if you put in a new
- 13:41Speaker 3: system now and you let guys work through the x's
- 13:45Speaker 3: and o's, you've got two games before the Olympic break,
- 13:48Speaker 3: and then you've got some time where they can think
- 13:50Speaker 3: about it, try to adjust to it, and then you'll
- 13:51Speaker 3: have practices coming back. It'll be like a tiny, little
- 13:54Speaker 3: mini training camp after the Olympics. I think this is
- 13:57Speaker 3: the perfect time to do it, with the way the
- 13:58Speaker 3: break in the schedule works out. Absolutely, now is the time.
- 14:04Speaker 4: Let's talk about that Olympic break.
- 14:06Speaker 2: Obviously, team USA, we're going to see Clayton Keller in
- 14:09Speaker 2: what is a lot of us felt like kind of
- 14:11Speaker 2: an overdue chance to represent Team USA left out of
- 14:14Speaker 2: four nations last year. And when you see the form
- 14:17Speaker 2: he's in right now, are you optimistic that this is
- 14:20Speaker 2: going to be an excellent Olympic tournament for him?
- 14:23Speaker 3: You know what, he loves the international stage. I mean,
- 14:26Speaker 3: he just steps up. Look at him last year at
- 14:28Speaker 3: the World Championship as the captain of Team USA led
- 14:32Speaker 3: him to that title, which was fantastic. I do think
- 14:38Speaker 3: he's a big time player. I think when the lights
- 14:40Speaker 3: are brightest, he's at his best, and I'm excited to
- 14:44Speaker 3: see what he's going to do. I absolutely think it's
- 14:46Speaker 3: going to be turned up for him. And of course,
- 14:48Speaker 3: you know we're all going to be pumped for him,
- 14:50Speaker 3: and you know the other guys that are going to
- 14:52Speaker 3: their respective Olympic teams as well. But I like this
- 14:56Speaker 3: and you know what this bodes well for when they
- 14:57Speaker 3: get into a playoff run with Keller at the helm
- 15:00Speaker 3: and this is exactly what this is a training ground
- 15:03Speaker 3: and a preparation for I think he is going to
- 15:06Speaker 3: be a big time performer, and that's why I am
- 15:11Speaker 3: excited to watch his Olympic tournament because I think he's
- 15:14Speaker 3: going to be one of the names that there are
- 15:16Speaker 3: people who still don't know who he is. Ninety point
- 15:19Speaker 3: season last year, people still don't know who he is.
- 15:21Speaker 3: I think this could be a bit of a coming
- 15:23Speaker 3: out party for.
- 15:24Speaker 2: Him as we talk about, you know, not necessarily Olympics,
- 15:30Speaker 2: but the way this whole season is going, we've beaten
- 15:33Speaker 2: to death the point that here in the best division
- 15:35Speaker 2: in hockey right now, three of the top teams in
- 15:37Speaker 2: the NHL are right above you in your own division.
- 15:41Speaker 2: And we know that this is, you know, still a rebuild,
- 15:44Speaker 2: although expectations have elevated for the Utah Mammoth. When we're
- 15:49Speaker 2: looking at the grand landscape of this NHL season, is
- 15:53Speaker 2: it Colorado's Cup to lose at this point? Do we
- 15:57Speaker 2: have enough of a sample size that you're off of
- 16:00Speaker 2: it in saying that, is there a team in the
- 16:02Speaker 2: East that you think could unseat the Avalanche as we
- 16:05Speaker 2: get down toward playoff time? What are we looking at
- 16:08Speaker 2: as we handicap the league as a whole.
- 16:11Speaker 3: Well, first of all, I want to retire the phrase
- 16:13Speaker 3: we're in a rebuild. We aren't anymore. At the beginning
- 16:16Speaker 3: of the year. This is playoffs or bust for the
- 16:18Speaker 3: Utah Mamma and that's where it is going forward. So
- 16:20Speaker 3: we're out of the rebuild now, let's stop. That's five
- 16:22Speaker 3: years of that and that's a message to the fans
- 16:25Speaker 3: really for me, and I know the front office is
- 16:28Speaker 3: going to say what they're going to say, but it's
- 16:29Speaker 3: time let's go forward. So that said, you know what,
- 16:34Speaker 3: Colorado is great. They're deep, they are a difficult team
- 16:38Speaker 3: to beat. They have a lot of good things going
- 16:40Speaker 3: for me, and I know they've cooled off a bit here lately.
- 16:42Speaker 3: I like Colorado. I love the way Dallas is built.
- 16:45Speaker 3: They are also a very deep team that really adheres
- 16:48Speaker 3: to their system. They play really good hockey, and I
- 16:52Speaker 3: actually like their goaltending a little bit better than Colorado's goaltending.
- 16:57Speaker 3: Over in the East, Tampa Bay is crazy? Is he
- 17:00Speaker 3: good right now? The Lightning look amazing. They look like
- 17:05Speaker 3: the Lightning that won the Stanley Cup a couple of
- 17:07Speaker 3: years ago, which should scare everyone else. That team is
- 17:12Speaker 3: just they're putting it together at the right time. But
- 17:15Speaker 3: the other team that I think folks might be sleeping
- 17:18Speaker 3: on a little bit right now, watch out for the
- 17:20Speaker 3: Carolina Hurricanes. They're riding a young goaltender who is just
- 17:25Speaker 3: feeling it right now. I don't know if he's going
- 17:26Speaker 3: to run out of gas eventually or not. I feel
- 17:29Speaker 3: like that's almost the only thing that could derail them.
- 17:31Speaker 3: But Rod Britdemore has them. And you talk about another
- 17:34Speaker 3: team that plays its system to a t. Carolina is patient.
- 17:37Speaker 3: It's physical. They wear you down They wait for you
- 17:40Speaker 3: to make a mistake and then they pounce on it,
- 17:42Speaker 3: and that is a very frustrating formula in a playoff series.
- 17:46Speaker 3: I think the Carolina Hurricanes are another team to watch out.
- 17:49Speaker 2: For as far as the Western Conference wild Card in
- 17:52Speaker 2: playoff race goes. Last year, toward the end of the season,
- 17:56Speaker 2: right we're looking at it, We're counting points, we're seeing
- 17:59Speaker 2: how many games are least. It's like, all right, yes,
- 18:02Speaker 2: we know who you're chasing right now. Above the Mammoth
- 18:04Speaker 2: are obviously you know the three teams in Division Colorado, Minnesota, Dallas.
- 18:10Speaker 2: You've got Vegas and Edmonton. You've got Seattle and Anaheim
- 18:14Speaker 2: in LA that are all within that like striking distance.
- 18:17Speaker 2: But then right behind you you've got Sharks, predators. When
- 18:23Speaker 2: you look at the teams that could be poised to
- 18:26Speaker 2: make a Saint Louis Blues from last year type run
- 18:29Speaker 2: that are right now trailing the mammoth, 're in that
- 18:31Speaker 2: same neighborhood as the Mammoth. Is there anyone out there
- 18:34Speaker 2: that you're like, that's a lurking giant or at least
- 18:37Speaker 2: a lurking problem problem.
- 18:40Speaker 3: Well, man, we really could say that about a lot
- 18:42Speaker 3: of teams because of how bunched up it is right
- 18:45Speaker 3: now for the wild card. So as of today, Utah
- 18:49Speaker 3: has kind of fallen back out. Anaheim and Los Angeles
- 18:52Speaker 3: have gotten in front of them. And I can make
- 18:54Speaker 3: a million cases for why Anaheim will fall out, la
- 18:57Speaker 3: will get stronger, San Jose should fall out, a Peg
- 19:00Speaker 3: will get stronger. But that's kind of the crazy thing
- 19:03Speaker 3: is between the injuries and really the thing we don't
- 19:06Speaker 3: know is this year's Olympic break that pack. That is
- 19:12Speaker 3: those really six or seven teams and I include even
- 19:16Speaker 3: Seattle in that one in Evanton, Vegas. Aren't they far
- 19:18Speaker 3: out in front of the Pacific. Anything could happen. But
- 19:20Speaker 3: what the deal is is these teams are all playing
- 19:23Speaker 3: one another every single night, and no one really is
- 19:27Speaker 3: gaining any ground. And this is where if you're Utah,
- 19:31Speaker 3: it is so important to not turn anything into a
- 19:34Speaker 3: three point game, meaning don't go past regulation and give
- 19:37Speaker 3: the other teams a point. Because San Jose believes in
- 19:40Speaker 3: themselves right now, that's what makes them dangerous. I don't
- 19:45Speaker 3: know if Nashville is going to keep it up or not.
- 19:47Speaker 3: I feel like Winnipeg is better than they've shown, but
- 19:50Speaker 3: they better hurry. But La is good. The ducks are good,
- 19:54Speaker 3: the cracking are good, and I should say good enough,
- 19:57Speaker 3: you know, and the Mammoth are good enough that they
- 20:00Speaker 3: need to continue to pick up these points where they can.
- 20:03Speaker 3: What you hope is is that in the Pacific, one
- 20:08Speaker 3: or two of Seattle, Anaheim, La San Jose just starts
- 20:12Speaker 3: to shammer on those other teams and beat them down
- 20:16Speaker 3: the standings for you, because right now the parody in
- 20:18Speaker 3: the Pacific will actually hurt the Mammoth chance for a
- 20:21Speaker 3: wildcard position. So you have to hope that the Pacific somebody,
- 20:25Speaker 3: I don't care who it is, but somebody starts to
- 20:27Speaker 3: separate themselves out and start to put away games and
- 20:31Speaker 3: create a gap.
- 20:34Speaker 2: Need to see those Mammoth get some a clean couple
- 20:37Speaker 2: points tonight against a very vulnerable Canucks team that is
- 20:41Speaker 2: seven point thirty puck drop on ESPN Plus. And obviously
- 20:47Speaker 2: Tom Callahan and company will be leading you into it,
- 20:49Speaker 2: talking about it tomorrow, talking about it the next day. Tom.
- 20:54Speaker 2: Always appreciate your time and your insight. Thank you, sir,
- 20:58Speaker 2: thanks for having me on.
- 20:59Speaker 3: And yeah, big two points tonight, Fingers crossed.
- 21:03Speaker 4: If you're not.
- 21:04Speaker 2: Already following it's Callahan on air on Twitter, Tom Callahan
- 21:08Speaker 2: and Utah Mammoth insider and host of the Lockdown Mammoth podcast.
- 21:12Speaker 2: Very very dialed in on all things NHL, as you
- 21:14Speaker 2: could tell by that conversation,