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Episode 28: Gary Broke the NHL · Brothers In The Box

• Brothers in the Box: How's it going everybody? Welcome back to another Brothers in the Box episode. My name is Ilias. I'm here with Ishan. We are here in week 28 of the podcast. Four weeks out until NHL Playoffs start. And honestly, this week I've got some of most exciting news that I've gotten in while. Really? Well, I mean, our first discussion... Discussion topic that we have listed. I found a really like I was very excited. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I mean we can we can just Jump right in. Absolutely. Yeah, before we jump right in I feel like there's a few things Just want to wish everyone Eid Mubarak for 100 % the Muslims out there If you fast during Ramadan, props to you. Congratulations. I was it was a difficult month, but I'm making it through the month exactly Yeah, I'm jumping right into it The main announcement that we have was the World Cup of Hockey announcement. The three host cities are going to be Edmonton, Calgary and Prague. I'm excited. It's going to be ⁓ a really fun time. The two round cities were announced ⁓ and one playoff is going to be Prague and Calgary. So I think for your North American teams and probably some European teams, you'll get to come see them in Calgary. then for probably Czech Republic and those bigger teams in they'll probably play out of Prague. Yeah, which makes sense. And then ⁓ semi-finals and then the final game will be played in Edmonton. And it will feature the new Calgary Stadium because as you might not be aware or may be aware, the Saddle Dome will no longer be an NHL arena as it is crumbling upon itself, just like Calgary Flames. Fits the theme. Yeah, it does. So they'll be getting a brand new arena, which I think will look exceptionally just like the new arenas have looked like Roger's Place, Climate Pledge. So ⁓ really exciting news the NHL to get a deal done and make this happen for 2028 and keep international hockey alive until Olympics. just a heads for those Canadian fans who are complaining about a three on three hockey and no fighting, NHL will be played at this tournament. So it will be five on five over time and you ⁓ can fight as much want. ⁓ But yeah, I think like the main thing I'm excited for is like Edmonton and Calgary are two like very big cities for hockey. They have been before like, know, like obviously we may not know this, but our parents grew up in Edmonton and like, you know, there's a lot of history in ⁓ especially Edmonton. For in terms of hockey, for sure. know, like with Gretzky and Grandfuer those five like ⁓ the Oilers back in the day. ⁓ but yeah, I think, you know, like, I think it's going to be very exciting. It will be. And there have been reports that have come out about whether or not Russia is going to be partaking in this event. And there have been rumors circling around the fact that if, Russia does partake in this event, there will be a number of teams that will pull out. Interesting. ⁓ mainly European teams. obviously ⁓ have to see what happens with. the war in Ukraine and kind of, we're still two years away from this tournament. I also feel like, you know, like the stand, like not to be political, but like, you know, we talked about this with the Olympics, but the standard has to be set, you know, like obviously there's a lot ⁓ wars going on in the world right now. And, you know, if you're fighting in a war, then ⁓ I not just Russia, I think any country. Yeah, the ⁓ I, the double I, HF. ⁓ and the Olympic Committee and FIFA have all made it clear ⁓ if you're currently partaking in a war, you not eligible to play for of their competitions. I believe that Iran not ⁓ partaking in the World anymore because they don't feel it's to send their athletes to ⁓ the United States. ⁓ which would, I would support. I don't think that relations are at the, at the highest level at the moment. Yeah. And you know, obviously you don't want to like ⁓ anything ⁓ happen and there's like your talent or your measures and exactly that. Yeah. I think that's good from them. but know, ⁓ I'm excited to see best on best. I know it's two years away. There's a lot of guys I think that will get a, opportunity to step up in two years, like, like the bushards, like the Schafer's. the Bredards ⁓ I'll be excited to see and then you know with the US team it'll also get I think better because there's a lot of guys who I don't think should have been left off the roster that were left off the roster and then you also have guys like Lane Hudson who are coming up and We will get to see the full the full force of the Asian sensation on a national level I think ⁓ think there'll be a lot of changes to the roster. Yeah, especially, moving out the other guy other guys on both the US and Canada teams. It'll be interesting to see where Cid slots in. think this is an opportunity where I see him still playing in the NHL in two years. Would it be insane if Cid the played on the fourth line? don't think it's crazy. I see him as more of a third liner. I think he gets the fourth line, but I think he make the team. I don't think he'll be ⁓ a top two. And also do you think the captaincy gets passed to McDavid? You think he keeps I think he keeps it 100%. Yeah, yeah. I think as long as Sidney Crosby is a part of the Canadian team, he will remain the captain. I think that's only right. Yeah. Well, I'm looking forward to in two years looking at those rosters and seeing the amount of snubs that these GMs and head coaches decide. Obviously we're still... very far out from the tournament. But just something to be on the lookout for in the next couple months. I think they'll probably start doing tickets next year. mean, know, 2020 is a big year. LA Olympics are going to be happening then as well. And then also, I believe it's McDavid's last year. On his his contract as an oiler, is. how beautiful, I mean, it didn't happen this year, but imagine how holding up the World Cup of hockey and the Stanley Cup would feel. Yeah, it would be our first. It would be our third. Yeah. Well, we'll get to that. We'll get to that. No, yeah. Really exciting stuff coming out of Edmonton. I think it'll be great for the city as well and for the economy. And, you know, it's a little bit surprising to me that there wasn't a US city chosen. Yeah. at the same time, if look at the numbers for World Juniors ⁓ this that will happen in Minnesota, they're very poor. wasn't a of people that came out to watch the World Juniors and I think that's the difference with the US and Canada. You get more numbers just for any hockey game in ⁓ Canada than do in the US. Yeah. And I think I think obviously the US is doing the Summer Olympics, so maybe they didn't want to take everything on. I doubt it. But yeah, I agree with you. think Canada... Hockey is Canada's sport and it should stay that way. And I also really like the NHL making one of the cities Prague. Because it kind of draws from... We've been talking about the World Baseball Classic, shout out to Venezuela for winning. last on monday and huge upset yeah it was that you know it was it was a really good game yeah not very high scoring ⁓ really really good pitching from from venezuela kept the u.s off base and then you know bryce harper hit that two run homer and i thought that the u.s had gained the momentum back to win and you know they didn't yeah no i was like just like before we before we continue talking ⁓ i think yeah that game was like You look at like how much it means to like these baseball players. ⁓ yeah. And like it's a it's huge. Like I didn't like I'm not the biggest baseball fan, so I didn't like know how important the world baseball classic was to a lot of players. But like just looking at like like the emotion is like it's basically just like winning like an Olympic medal. Like, 100 percent. That's that's huge for those players. Yeah, no, definitely. And yeah, big upset. I didn't think was going to happen. But at the end of the day, is the month of upsets and we will get to that later in the episode. but another coming out of Edmonton this week was the Leon Dreisel injury. He took a body injury in Nashville game after he had scored a goal in the power play in the first period. Yeah, and he looked really good. Yeah, he did look very good. He came out first shift at the end of the first and then he sat the rest of the game. And, know, all the from from my perspective, you know, no no MD or anything sports, or sorry, sports, you know, physio or any any training whatsoever. But it kind of looked like an MCL or a groin injury from what I was looking at. know Stan Bowman had some comments Yeah, he said that I think if all goes well, then he will be back for the end of regular season most likely the playoffs And I would agree. mean like there's been like he Leon Dreistel was ⁓ Germany he was the Bayern team That's not the reason why he was there. Yeah. Yeah, obviously cuz he's looking for ⁓ with his injury. I mean he like when he was walking around he didn't have any like casts or like the solo it isn't no sense pointing to like a fracture or anything like that. But I think him coming back for the playoffs is a very real possibility. Obviously like depending on how the Oilers play I wouldn't want him to play through injury because I don't want him to make it any more serious of an injury than it already is. ⁓ would I personally if he's not more than 85 % I don't want him playing during playoffs. Yeah, no, no, that's I think that's fair. feel like obviously because you have McDavid for two years the team doesn't look good even with Dry Settle. No, let's be honest. We not be a team that's making the playoffs. No, we shouldn't. And we will get to that later in the episode. Yeah, you know, it's really unfortunate that that happened against Nashville. He's always just absolutely fried Nashville whenever he's played them. So, and he was on pace to do it again. Yeah, he was already cooking in the game as well. it's like, it's unfortunate to see and obviously, you know, just see it like waking up to that news and seeing like, oh, McDry said I'll opt for the rest of the season. You never want to see that. I think who it hurts the most is somebody who's sitting here and recording. That's me. Because he's the cornerstone of my fantasy team. I don't want to hear about fantasy right now. Yishan is currently losing by 50 plus points. No, not 50. I'm losing by 30. And everyone else in the league is lower points than I am. ⁓ that I'm playing is somehow higher. I don't... And they have the... They don't have good players either. It's just like these players that have consistently not been the most amazing and are completely out of their prime like our Player of the Week. They've been playing at amazing levels like they're right back into their prime. They have been. So I want to get it out. I'll save the heat later in the No, yeah, I mean, it's unfortunate though for Leon ⁓ and for Edmonton. I also think that it's an opportunity for the Oilers. Yeah, I think, I wanted to talk to you about this before we move on from the Oilers. Where do you think, ⁓ Knoblox like sits with the Oilers, depending on the season? Like, do you think if let's they don't make it past the first round, do you think it gets fired? Do you think if they make it to the conference final? he stays? Do you think he gets fired? Obviously if they go all the way and they win the cup somehow, then he's going to stay. what if they go back to the finals again? Yeah, I think it's really interesting. I think that if you have a coach who goes to the finals and loses three times in a row, I think you have to get rid of him. Yeah. As unfortunate as it is and how good Knobloch has been in shaping the Oilers. But a lot can also be said about Stan Bowman, you know? He hasn't really addressed the core issues of the Oilers and really the stem of our issues is gold panning. I'll give him a prop that he tried and he took a big chance on Yari and it just hasn't panned out. Yeah, but Yari was never the move that was needed to be made. I think, you Obviously the goal-turning market is not amazing right now because goalies have been locked up. I mean, the only goalie that I can really think of that would make a huge splash for a team is Jesper Wollstedt. But I don't want to go, because the problem with getting a super high-value goalie is ⁓ going to have to give up a lot and we don't have a lot. The in my eyes... is that there was already questions around Jari at the beginning of the season. Yeah. And he spent time in the AHL this season. I mean both of our goalies did. Obviously, Connor Ingram was a little different, you take on a contract at five million dollars. That's thing that is not and you're giving up Kulak and obviously had to go, but it's just the decisions ⁓ and the behind those decisions and the inability to act on other pieces quickly. I think has hurt the Oilers in the past. I think it continues to plague the Oilers. And you can see it in decisions like not pursuing Mackenzie Blackwood. Or Scott Wedgwood. ⁓ ⁓ those big goalies were jumping around the lead like Lienis Almark, Jacob Markstrom. honestly, ⁓ couldn't like, I just don't understand like why one of those goalies weren't a possibility, you know, like. Obviously those goalies are older. ⁓ Linus Almark is getting paid a hefty amount of money. But ⁓ ⁓ have the faith that I would in a goalie like Christian ⁓ It's same thing if we had Bennington, for example. I trust Bennington because I know he can show up in those big moments. For Yari... I don't have the faith. He can't. He's showing time and time again that he can't. It's the same thing with Skinner. know that he can show up in those big moments. That's why we traded him and we wanted a goalie that could. And I don't expect Ingram to because he's been in the AHL. He's been an AHL goalie for the last, what, like two years? Yeah. And his trajectory... At least in my opinion was never to go from playing in NHL, NHL and then NHL starter in the matter of one season. I we were going to give them more time. And obviously we don't have that anymore because we, our main goalie that we did trade for isn't working out. So ⁓ don't something ⁓ needs to and it needs to change very, very quickly because the playoffs are approaching these next ⁓ What 12 games for the Oilers are? very crucial we need to more half at least ⁓ a to have a chance to make the playoffs because the Pacific is a very tight division currently and Not in not in a good way because they're not high scoring either. No But yeah, I think I think it's going to be an interesting change. It's going to be an interesting finish to the regular season. playing Tampa tonight, so that'll be an interesting test. I ⁓ they they have resilience. There needs be depth. The game they played against San Jose, they had 13 different guys who recorded a point. And I thought was absolutely wonderful. Yeah, and Ingram is playing tonight. Yeah, you need your defense to show up. That's the biggest takeaway for me. Yeah. And you need people who are not McDavid and are not on McDavid's line to be putting pressure and scoring goals. And you know, it helps that Vegas has been losing and... They lost again today to the Nashville Predators. Yeah. How? I don't know. Okay, I don't understand this. And the only reason I'm a little bit angry about this is because I have a lot of Vegas players on my fantasy team But they scored one goal in the past three games Yeah, they've been shut out twice once by Buffalo and I believe once by Utah and Today they lost to the Predators. So yeah, 4-0 to Utah 2-0 to the Buffalo Sabres and 4-1 to the Predators So and they're they're playing Dallas next So Vegas currently is giving us an opening. The Ducks aren't losing their games, but they're necessarily, you know. They're not winning everything, but they're not losing everything either. So both teams are giving us an opening and we need to take this opening and make the most of it. Yeah. And you know what we were saying before, it gives the Oilers an opportunity to solidify some of that depth and have some pieces come up ⁓ in bigger roles. ⁓ And obviously around the league, we won't be having that home ice advantage, especially when you get to the conference final. we get there. But having the home ice advantage in those first two series would be very nice. It would be, it would be. And we're most likely going to be playing, you know, possibly a central team if we make it to the first division somehow. ⁓ And you know, the Kings creeping up. They're now sitting at 72 points. Seattle is not that far behind either. Seattle is at 71, the Sharks are at 70. So this this division is still anyone's division. Yeah, I don't think, you know, like the Sharks really have a chance to win the division. But like, yeah, like they, everyone has a chance to make the playoffs aside from the Flames. Yeah. Cause they suck. And the Canucks. And, oh yeah. Horrible. also just a little shout out to the Gracks. Thank you guys for having such cheap tickets and making games like very easy to watch. Easily accessible. ⁓ we the opportunity to go to the lightning game. and master class Lanken and save. Just, just got it. ⁓ yeah. Honestly, save of the year candidate. Yeah, absolutely robbed. ⁓ Hegel. Yeah, Brandon Hegel. but yeah, it's so much fun to watch and tickets are cheap. I get to watch Kuturov drop three points on them. yeah, I go scored a nasty goal. Hey, it was ripper nasty nasty And we also got to see how much of a shot fiend there in radishes I mean he's goals also very nice his goal is it was just a clapper from the point, but yeah He's kind of taking that that number one D roll from Edmund Well, I've been to washed nuts. It's up for discussion But not for today's discussion. for today. No. But yeah, moving on. To Calgary now. ⁓ covered Edmonton, we've covered Calgary. We don't have anything for Prague, but to Calgary, Sean. Yeah. I don't know who it was. was Conor's area. Conor's area got hit by AJ Greer. He slammed him into the boards. Um, and he got a game misconduct. He did get a game misconduct. Um, and he is getting a video hearing, which, know, for those of you who remember the radical goodness hit on Austin Matthews, it's a maximum of five games. Um, I could see him getting all five. I would think he's going to get three. That's my prediction. Yeah, it was a it was a boarding call. I was in the corner and Zeri was kind of gliding towards the corner and A.G. Gruer shoved him really hard. Yeah, just into the boards. the boards. He head went into the And he kind of fell onto his knees and went head first into the boards. Yeah. To be honest, it's a disgusting injury. It is. It's really hard to see guys go into the boards. like that, especially head first, with how prevalent and how harmful concussions are. At the same time, I these younger guys like Zeri been accustomed to ⁓ taking hits and being able to protect themselves. And obviously his numbers were turned and he hit him right in the numbers and he went down. But he went down very easy. Yeah, I think, you know, like a lot of... Not to say like it's it's not his fault. It's not soft or anything. It's not soft. Like obviously you hit him hard like you can tell that he did. And I think he should still be reprimanded but I think that there is a point to be made that these younger guys if got it you got to hit a little head swivel you know you you got to ⁓ your surroundings you got to know who you're playing against and what line you're playing against and the players that are on the ice because ⁓ It's the big leagues, know, you're not everybody who comes from their little hometown or... Yeah, and you know, like obviously in like the younger leagues, there's less like kind of emphasis on hitting and a lot more emphasis on skill, I feel like in the past few years. Yeah, I think it's just a transition, like a gradual transition ⁓ from a hitting... A hitting game to a more skillful game. But, you know... That's not what it is in the NHL. There's guys are going to light you up. You're not looking. You're flying into the board. Yeah. And you're going to get injured. Yeah. Because these guys move weight. Yeah. Like you look at like what Radko Gudis, Jacob Truba, know, Ryan Reeves, all those guys are players that will hit you. If they catch you with your head down, you're going to pay the price. Because that's how they... impact their team. And obviously this is in the situation and he deserves a suspension in my opinion. But it's something for younger hockey players to keep in mind. You know, you got to be able to withstand hits in the league and you got to be able to, you know, remain vigilant of your surroundings. ⁓ Grier was suspended. Last time he was suspended was in March of 2023 suspended for one game for Frost Tracking. So it's not like he's prone to many suspensions. know, three years ago is not that, it's not that far, but it's not close either. So, you know. So should we expect an AJ Greer suspension in March of 2029? I mean, I guess maybe, maybe. So if he got one game, then it's three games this one. So he gets six games next time. I don't think your math is. Laughing or five games next time. No, I think it'd be nine games because three times one is three But it's like one. ⁓ two extra. Okay. I It's five. Okay. Well, maybe not maybe it is nine Maybe I don't know I'm not sweet. Have to be. Yeah, very egregious. I was on nine is not a very even Probably be ten or eight Who knows maybe the league has something in store. I don't know No, ⁓ something that we've been watching couple of days is March Madness. Always fun to watch college basketball. ⁓ I have not been watching a lot of this season just because I'm sick the format that the NBA has. I don't think it's a good product in my opinion until we get to playoffs. I enjoy watching the occasional game. I like talking to my friends about it. Obviously, it's still a sport that is very... popular and I just I think I think that the the product that they offer nowadays is is less in value compared to Yeah, what let's say five years ago. Yeah, but um, you know with playoffs coming up it is March College basketball is more fun than ever. Oh so much fun to watch. You know Right now or for for the tournament Duke and Arizona and this is for the men's tournament. Duke and Arizona are favorites. Duke almost got upset as the one seed against Siena the 16 seed. They're actually losing a half time which is quite interesting. For those of you following a perfect bracket challenge there's only 133 perfect brackets remaining as the recording of this video. takes place or this podcast takes place. knows? There's going to be even less after the game. ⁓ absolutely. A hundred percent. And our biggest upsets thus far are number 12 High Point Upset Wisconsin ⁓ VCU Upset North Carolina. Number 11 VCU Upset, ⁓ six, North Carolina. And just a lot of fun to watch because ⁓ just, every game means something. Every game is like a do or die. Yeah, and I don't know if you remember, I don't think it was last year, but the year before there was that one three point shooter that cooked up and I think got an NBA contract, maybe a G League contract. But he said like every night, like, or he said something along the lines of like every night and every game that you play against, no matter who's on the court, you could go up against anyone and they can upset you. Yeah. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how good you are. doesn't matter how good your team is. what you did during the season. Yeah. It doesn't matter the talent that you have. You can go against someone and you can lose because a team can want it more and that and have put in that much more effort and they'll beat you. And that's just, that's just how March Madness is. And it's that much fun to watch. Yeah. It makes it so fun. ⁓ but who is your, who is your, ⁓ your pick for winning? It's actually not a, not a, a popular pick, but I have Kansas winning. Yeah. I don't know about you, but I have the Tennessee volunteers. Yeah. You're yeah. No. Trust me when I say they're making it all the way. Yeah. They're going to upset. I don't even know who they're playing next. You know, uh, you know what March madness, I think in a quote, if we're summarizing it in a quote, it's Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. literally the, ⁓ what sums up March Madness. And that's what I love about NFL playoffs. NFL playoffs. Well, I feel like the one game format is ⁓ know, like everything, is on the line. Whole season is on the line for like what? 56 minutes of basketball 12 minutes 40 40 40 minutes in college. Yeah 40 minutes of basketball everything is online two halves. Yeah like that You know like you have to put everything you have everything on the line game everything on the line Every single possession matters no matter like you turn the ball for once I can change the game You're all in every single game And you know, that's the beauty of it. is absolutely the beauty of it. know, speaking of playoff formats, is the main agenda item of this podcast. Someone is not too happy with the playoff format. Because ⁓ we've been talking about this and we've had numerous conversations now. we thought we'd bring it onto the podcast. I think personally, in ⁓ my Yishan is just a tad bit stupid. I'm okay to be the villain here and I'm perfectly fine with that. Because that's a role someone has to play and I'm willing to play that role. And obviously if we post a reel about this I guarantee you I'm gonna get a bunch of hate comments. Oh 100 % because you're wrong. No I'm not wrong. No you are wrong. I just, it's my opinion that I enjoy this playoff format. And your opinion is wrong but let's clue, let's wait, let's just give us a second. no no, before, an opinion cannot be wrong. That's just how it is. Oh, a hundred percent. no. But let's, let's clue you guys in first. So you guys know what we're talking about. Currently the NHL playoff format starts with your four divisions and your top three in each division makes the playoffs for a total of 12 teams. And then in each conference, there are two wild card teams. So the two next highest point teams in each conference that make the playoffs for a total of 16 teams. Yep. And then obviously throughout the playoffs, you know, they move throughout the bracket and then best of the West and the best of the East meet in the Stanley Cup final. And usually in most cases, it's the best in each conference that meet in the conference final, but that's the idea. occasional like Pacific, we Pacific very rarely. or like central vs central. But yeah, the two sides that we kind of have to this debate are the playoff format is broken and the case study or evidence for that is the Pacific. And then my side is more, is what it is. That's just how it is. argue side, I think that a 1-8 format makes a lot more sense. I think it's lot more fair to teams who do well in the regular season. I think it rewards teams that do well in the regular season by putting them and placing them with the lower seed. Objectively, as it sounds, the Oilers don't deserve to make the playoffs and they're only in the playoff race because they're in the Pacific Division. And as you were telling me yesterday, there are 10 teams in the Eastern Conference who if they were placed in the Pacific Division would be winning. Yeah, I believe the Ducks are at 78 points and the Columbus Blue Jackets are at 79. The Anaheim Ducks now are at 80 points. The other teams that are at 80 points are the Philadelphia Flyers, the New York Island, 80 points or above, okay? Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadians, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, and Carolina Hurricanes. A lot of those teams are in playoff positions currently. The teams that are in playoff positions are the Blue Jackets, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Canadians, the Lightning, and the Sabres. and the Bruins and the Red Wings. But you're going to tell me, you're going to sit here and tell me that if the Flyers or the Islanders who are not making the playoffs currently would be making the playoffs and playing the wild card too, if they were a Pacific team, tell me how that is fair. And in what world that makes sense for the NHL where you want to have best on best playing in your playoffs and you want to have the best of the talent and the guys who worked the hardest during the regular season to be playing in the playoffs. I understand that the Pacific is ⁓ an unfair, it's based on location. know, most left Pacific, Central's in the middle and then Metropolitan and then Atlantic. So I understand that obviously, you know, it's only, the only real argument that I have is on I like watching hockey and location. Your team is placed in the NHL based on the location of the team. The Pacific plays the Pacific ⁓ more often of where they are and it's convenient to play. And you don't want like the thing for is in the playoffs, don't want to teams flying over from God knows where. I'm not saying that. I'm saying a one to eight format in each conference. No, no, ⁓ understand that. But if you take, if you take teams like let's say Vancouver and you take who, who, I don't know, ⁓ U S geography very but Texas, Dallas, Dallas. does and the bar and and you're telling and i'm there every single ever every single other game you're coming up and going down you're coming up and going down he's gonna be that much more tired at the end at near the end of the the playoffs out or rather out rather teams play closer to where they are and not have to fly very far for them to for them to play and be less tired in the end. Okay, so let me take you back to NHL 2022 and let me paint you a picture. Colorado finishes as division winner with Nashville as Western Conference, dude. That's to Nashville is ⁓ least a three hour flight. Okay. In that same year, you had Calgary to Dallas. So exactly what you're talking about happened, but in your format that you like. Well, actually it was Vancouver and Dallas that I was talking about, but yes. It's 45 minute difference. Yeah. ⁓ in Calgary is further up. Maybe the flight from Vancouver is a little bit longer, roughly the same. Maybe it's a 15 minute difference. But what you said would not happen was the exact thing that happened. Okay. Well, it's the same thing that's going to happen. Okay. You want to pull into question all these different like variety of things that will happen. But the sole fact is the NHL is based on location. It always has been and it always will be. It hasn't always been. It hasn't always been. If you would know your NHL history, you would know that they used to play a 1-8 format. And why did they change it? Because Gary Mr. Betman decided that we need to force rivalries by creating divisions. Which is not the way that the sport should work. Okay, But it's only being brought up now because NHL fans are mad that the Pacific sucks. But it's always sucked. I think they've always been mad. No, no, no, no, no. But it's brought up this year, especially because of how the points disparity. Yeah. Like how insane it is. But I love having NHL rivalries. The Kings in the end. I'm not, I'm not. The Oilers wouldn't have a rivalry if they're, if your one to eight format took place. First, first of all, The Oilers and Kings is not a rivalry. opinion, those teams hate each other and that's what constitutes to a rivalry. The Kings in desperate want to beat the Oilers at all costs. And if you me that's wrong, that's not awesome. not saying to get rid of divisions. Divisions are great. You play more in your division and ⁓ those division games matter more because you play more of them. and there's a possibility, and there's a possibility, and there's a, no there is a point because you play, just like the NFL, you play more inter-division games. Just like the MLB, you play more inter-division games. Just like the NBA, you play more inter-division games. No, but it doesn't matter if it's one to eight, you're gonna be playing, you're seeded regardless. I'm saying for the regular season. You're given more teams from your division to play on your schedule in that season. If you happen to draw somebody in your division, so be it, you know? like Nashville and Colorado, for example, would be the seeding as of this moment if we went one to eight. And then Dallas and Vegas and Edmonton and Minnesota and Anaheim and Utah. think that this opens the door for teams who do well and are not in a position to compete for playoffs or have to go up against juggernaut even though They played well during the regular season. I don't think it's fair to the Dallas Stars that in the first round of the playoffs they have to play the Minnesota Wild. They worked hard to get their 96 points thus far. They've won 43 games and for what? To draw one of the best teams in the league? That's in my opinion, that's not right. We have the regular season for obviously for playoff seedings and to determine which teams are the best and those teams should be rewarded for their ability to, you know, play well. I just want to note back to the 2022-2023 season. Vegas would have played the Jets. Seattle would have played the Oilers. So that's inter-division. Minnesota would have played Colorado. Inter-division. And Dallas would have played LA. So that's half inter-division, half not. It's the same thing. No, it's not. It is. It's not the same. It is exactly. It's one matchup of a difference that has the possibility of changing. Those teams are basically the same terms of Who they're like, think, I think what, what, what, in my opinion, that a lot of people fail to understand is the fact that matchups in the NHL, the reason that the playoffs are so hyped up is because of matchups like Dallas and Colorado or Minnesota and Colorado starting at the very beginning. Like you look at last year where Vegas had to play Dallas in the very first round. I know, wait, maybe, maybe it was two years ago. It might have been last year. It was not last year. was not last year. No, no, sorry. wasn't last Colorado played Dallas. The year before. played Dallas in the first round. Yeah. Those matchups are what fuels the playoffs through. It's what keeps fans engaged from the very beginning and fuels them throughout the playoffs. And that doesn't happen in any other sport. In NBA? NBA it doesn't Ishan, Ishan, tell me if you're a player, if you're a player playing on this team, any... you work really really hard to come up and into games and you finish the season with 13 or 15 losses and then you draw a team like Minnesota in the first round and you get bounced in six games because you can't keep up with likes of Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber and Kril Kaprizov and then they also have good goaltending like it's just and I'm not saying that the stars can't keep up with the likes of them but I would rather much rather see a good team meet later on then two good teams duke it out and one gets bounced really early and then have a good draft pick as well I think it also screws up drafting because as you know they don't have that good of a draft pick your draft pick is significantly better yeah obviously when you if you lose in the first round it's gonna be better but I think the main point I'm going to make here is that In the last couple of years, a team that has won the president's trophy or has proved that they deserve a number one seat has not played a good team in the first round. Like if you want to sit here and tell me that last year the Jets played the blues in the first round and because they almost lost that that should make a one to eight format, I'm going to disagree with you. No, ⁓ I'm not saying that. don't think that the Jets, like obviously we know of a president's trophy curse. Yeah, I think winning your division and winning your conference brings up a huge advantage already. obviously it might be fair. It may, it may be a little bit unfair between ⁓ second and the third place in the divisions, especially in the central currently. But the fact that the Avs have to play the Utah mammoth current, or no, sorry, the LA Kings right now. I think that's an insane advantage. You're giving team, an ⁓ old Nashville team and an amazing Colorado team a chance to cruise past Nashville and bring a confident win. ⁓ Yeah, they'd be playing Nashville in a 1-8 format. That's what you failed to see. No, The thing is, that doesn't- The top team in the conference still gets that special advantage. They get home division all throughout until the finals, and then they also play the worst team. But then, I think if you agree with your take, then regardless of whether you have conferences or not, you have to get rid of divisions. You don't. Yes you do, because they don't matter anymore. There's no reason to have a division told you that the- the You you can't you can't tell you can't sit here and it's for regular season purposes Then it didn't stick to one form you can't have you can't have it both ways You can't have a division you can't have a look at the NBA and tell me you can't have it both ways because they do NBA is screwed up regardless of how they Regardless of how they have their format as well. I think I think their format their format with a play in tournament is stupid I agree with you, but I'm not saying bring the plane in You what you fail to understand is the fact that these these teams that are playing it right now in both the central or in both the central and the pacific doesn't matter where they're seated. It's it's how it works and you can't change that based on location. It's based on the fact that they've been put into a division. If you want it to change, move your team. It's that simple though. I know not that simple. That's why there's divisions in place. It's not that simple. You're playing against... ⁓ It's based convenience. And that's just how it is. I think that the division format gives way to much luck in determining who you play in... postseason in the first couple rounds. and that's luck. Too much luck. Yeah. What do mean luck? How are you getting luck based on the oilers are lucky that they're in the Pacific division. No, no, yeah, I agree. But they don't, they don't have it. Like you're acting like they have a choice. The New York Islanders are unlucky that they're playing in the Metro. They're in, they're in New York. Like where, like I don't, like what I don't understand is that's where they are. Like that's the location that they've been put in. They don't get to choose where else they get to go. what I'm saying is that if you, can fix that by putting in a one to eight format. But you really can. Yes, you can. Of course you can. No, you couldn't. Of course you can because you give the teams who do well during the regular season a better chance of doing well during the postseason because they deserve that chance because of how well they played during the regular season. Okay. I'll agree to disagree with you here, but I think the fact that, we'll through your one to eight format. Colorado would play Nashville, which I think that's fair. I don't think Dallas playing Vegas in the first round. I think that's just as bad as playing No, it's not. No, you can't even say that with a straight face. I can you can say that with it's just as bad as playing Minnesota There's no way you're talking you're telling me that the the Vegas Golden Knights who've gotten shut out by Uka Pekalokinen who have put up like three goals in the last, in last what four games are gonna go into Dallas and beat them? No, no thank you buddy. Look at, look at, look at recent history. No thank you They've taken Dallas every single step of the way. think you, that, fact that, no, no, you're counting, you're counting Vegas out as a, the, okay. Every team in the Pacific, maybe, maybe not, maybe not Anaheim as much. But Edmonton and Vegas are two teams that if you put them against any team, they have a chance of beating you. And I don't care what you say. don't care what you say. don't care how much, how much you think the regular season matters. These teams step it up in the playoffs and they've shown that by making it to the conference final each and every single year and making it past, making it past the, the central team that comes out in the most, in most recent history, besides Colorado's win against the Oilers. Vegas and Euler and Edmonton have made it past those teams. And obviously you can say it's because they're tired, but Edmonton has gone seven games with Vancouver in that series. went seven games with Dallas, obviously they lost. But those teams on countless occasions have taken central teams to as far as they can and have beat them in five or less games. ⁓ sorry. six or less games. Yeah, but I think last year what the playoff showed me is that Vegas is beatable and honestly we made legwork of them. We embarrassed them. Yes, they're not the same. They made, Ilias, they made two huge acquisitions this year. I don't think it's enough. I don't think it's enough. I don't think it's enough either to beat a team like Edmonton, but they can upset these teams. Like I don't understand. Playing Dallas or playing Vegas in the first round is not an easy thing to do. Also, I'm pretty sure that Dallas to makes more geographical sense than Dallas to Minnesota. to on, to tack on another point. It's based on division and I don't care what you say, but it's based on how North America is and that's as much as I want to No, no, but that's what I'm saying. You said it's the plane distance. That was your first point. And I'm just saying that Vegas to Dallas, makes a shorter flight than Vegas to Minnesota. Okay, so do you want a cookie, bro? no. Um, I think, I don't think that's true. think we're gonna, there's no way that's true. I think we're gonna, we're gonna end this. Um, I would, I would, like the last thing that I'm gonna say- You can have a closing statement, I'll have a closing statement. I think, I think you go first. I talked for a while. No, I think, go for it. Go for No, I started this argument. No, you didn't. ended. No, you didn't. I started. I started my first point. I started, so Okay, so you ended. ⁓ Defense always goes last. look at law. ⁓ they do they do. Okay. They always go last. Nobody's been watching a little bit too much Lincoln lawyer these days. No, suits. Suits, okay. The division format is broken. One eight works and now Yishan is looking up the flight times. I'm gonna check this. The division format broken one to eight works. It gives teams that do ⁓ The division format is broken to eight works. It gives teams that do ⁓ well in the regular season, a better advantage than the division format could ever. And Gary, if you're listening to this, you need to bring it back because it allows justice in the NHL. well in the regular season, a better advantage than the division format could ever. And Gary, if you're listening to this, you need to bring it back because it allows justice in the NHL. Betman, we don't agree on a lot of things. I like your rivalry format. I've loved watching your hockey. the only thing that I'm going to close on is From Minnesota to Dallas, it takes three hours. Vegas to Dallas, two hours and minutes. That's thirty minutes of your time that you could have doing whatever you want, preparing, sleeping in. Vegas to Dallas is shorter. No, no, Minnesota to Dallas is shorter. You just said the opposite. ⁓ sorry. Well, Minnesota to Dallas is Okay. Well, let us know your takes in the comments. We're going to end by a little congratulatory message to Colorado. for being the first team to clinch playoffs. Also, before we end the, before we end the episode, we done the player of the weekend. But our players of the week are honorable mention for a second week in a row, Nikita Kutroff, four goals, four assists in four games played. Absolute heater that he's been on as of recent. I think, you know, These four goals, four assists doesn't do him justice because I think he's had them in last two games. Yeah. And he didn't have any before that. But yeah, he's had that in two games played and I'm sure he'll continue that tonight against the Oilers and then tomorrow against Calgary. But yeah, our player of the week, I don't even want to mention his name. Player of the week, Eric Carlson, the man, the myth, the legend. The Pittsburgh Penguin himself, five goals, five assists, wow, 10 points in four games. He's just been on an absolute tear. On an absolute tear. Been leading Pittsburgh to ⁓ get a playoff berth. You know, see in the coming weeks if they end up clinching and they end up making the playoffs. But we hope you guys enjoy the rest of your, or enjoy your week. be on the lookout for some March Madness MLB is starting upcoming this week and we will see you guys next week.