Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Nick Olczyk on future of Utah Mammoth, Tij Iginla and other young prospects ready to make Mammoth roster, Stanley Cup Playoffs + more

Transcript

Nick Olczyk on future of Utah Mammoth, Tij Iginla and other young prospects ready to make Mammoth roster, Stanley Cup Playoffs + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:02
Speaker 1: Belong it with may Day, and I can tell it
0:07
Speaker 1: one belong it was with may.
0:16
Speaker 2: He's the Sean O'Connell show. You were home of the
0:19
Speaker 2: Best Inside got four years.
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Speaker 3: Let's get back to OC from the Murder Chevrolet Studio
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Speaker 3: of ESPN seven hundred ninety one f M.
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Speaker 2: Because it's all the same.
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Speaker 4: Welcome back to the show, O Comic Show.
0:37
Speaker 2: Welcome in Nicole Chick.
0:39
Speaker 4: From the Utah Mammoth and the Sports USA NHL broadcast.
0:43
Speaker 2: Nick, Welcome back to the show. How are you, sir?
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Speaker 5: John? Great to great to be back on with you.
0:48
Speaker 5: It's a very exciting time of the year with the
0:53
Speaker 5: playoffs going on and how tight some of these series are,
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Speaker 5: and obviously uh an unforgettable and memorable and exciting season
1:01
Speaker 5: for the Utah Mammoths, unfortunately not able to move past
1:04
Speaker 5: the first round, but found a way to win two
1:07
Speaker 5: games and gain a lot of experience, and it was
1:09
Speaker 5: just so great to see Mammoth Nation all over the nation,
1:13
Speaker 5: all around the world and in the great state of
1:15
Speaker 5: Utah really get behind their team as they had done
1:18
Speaker 5: all year. But as the Stanley Cup playoffs continue on,
1:21
Speaker 5: the series are tight and hopefully everybody's been enjoying and
1:25
Speaker 5: taking in all the games so far.
1:28
Speaker 4: I definitely want to get to the ongoing series here,
1:31
Speaker 4: but I want to start with the Utah Mammoth.
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Speaker 2: And I mean, obviously, you're so incredibly close to.
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Speaker 4: It, and you've had the experience all year long and
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Speaker 4: even last year, the first year of the franchise moving
1:43
Speaker 4: to the state of Utah. So I'm not telling you
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Speaker 4: anything you don't know here, Nick, but I grew up here.
1:49
Speaker 4: I moved here in third grade from Minnesota. I grew
1:51
Speaker 4: up here. Hockey was not a thing when I was
1:53
Speaker 4: a young kid in the state of Utah.
1:56
Speaker 6: College football wasn't even as huge of a deal in
1:59
Speaker 6: the state.
1:59
Speaker 2: Of Utah when I was young.
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Speaker 4: And obviously that has changed pretty drastically in the last
2:04
Speaker 4: couple of decades. And I think the best equivalent I
2:07
Speaker 4: can find to what we have seen here with the
2:09
Speaker 4: Utah Mammoth in their first two years is when that
2:13
Speaker 4: shift started to happen for college football in our state.
2:17
Speaker 2: When Utah went.
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Speaker 6: On an undefeated run in two thousand and four under
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Speaker 6: Urban Meyer and became the VCS Busters, and everyone wrapped
2:25
Speaker 6: their arms around college football and Uyu was really good
2:28
Speaker 6: at the time, and that rivalry really started to get
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Speaker 6: even more intense. I remember in those days, I was
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Speaker 6: a lot younger than thinking, Wow, this is something different
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Speaker 6: in our state.
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Speaker 4: I have not felt it. It hasn't sounded like this,
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Speaker 4: it hasn't looked like this. I was at the very
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Speaker 4: first Utah Mammoth game. I was at the first Utah
2:48
Speaker 4: Mammoth playoff game. And it really is And I know
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Speaker 4: we've kind of talked about this before, but it really
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Speaker 4: is something that our state has never seen. And people
2:58
Speaker 4: are biting down on this thing. They're embracing it, and
3:02
Speaker 4: they're caring about it. Even now into an offseason, I've
3:05
Speaker 4: talked to a lot of people who they didn't just
3:08
Speaker 4: like put the Mamoth sweaters away. There's a curiosity about, Hey,
3:12
Speaker 4: is this team going to be as good next year?
3:14
Speaker 4: Are they going to be better next year? What's this
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Speaker 4: offseason going to look like? And for me, that is
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Speaker 4: a really strong indication of the staying power of the
3:22
Speaker 4: Utah Mammoth and of the NHL and of hockey in
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Speaker 4: our state. Because of course, you can cheer for it,
3:27
Speaker 4: you could be interested in it when it's right there
3:29
Speaker 4: in front of you, but now we have to wait,
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Speaker 4: and people are waiting with eager anticipation and with great
3:35
Speaker 4: curiosity and interest. So I guess my question is what
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Speaker 4: moves do need to be made this offseason to build
3:42
Speaker 4: on the momentum that we.
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Speaker 5: Saw bull Sean, I thought that was really well put
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Speaker 5: by you. There's there's obviously a lot there we could
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Speaker 5: We could probably use the whole segment to talk about
3:55
Speaker 5: the impact of the Mammoth here, but before I delve
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Speaker 5: into the off season I cannot go any further without
4:07
Speaker 5: giving the well deserved praise and admiration of our fans.
4:11
Speaker 5: I mean, it's this book is This is me being honest.
4:16
Speaker 5: I'm not trying to pander at all, but I mean
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Speaker 5: I was I had high expectations because I saw from
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Speaker 5: day one the interest and how it's grown here in
4:24
Speaker 5: the state of Utah in hockey, in the National Hockey League,
4:28
Speaker 5: and of course the Mammoth. But just to see that
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Speaker 5: explode exponentially come playoff times me, I mean, it was
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Speaker 5: just it was it was mind blowing, and I knew
4:38
Speaker 5: it was going to grow because with success comes comes
4:41
Speaker 5: more support, more interest. As you had laid out with
4:44
Speaker 5: football in this state back in the early two thousands,
4:48
Speaker 5: and when you win, people are more interested. When when
4:51
Speaker 5: you win, there's more money. When you win, there's more support,
4:55
Speaker 5: there's more rivalries, there's more everything. And so you know,
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Speaker 5: I just I thought, for as exciting as the run
5:00
Speaker 5: was and as great as the guys played out on
5:02
Speaker 5: the ice, I mean, I had a thought our fans.
5:04
Speaker 5: They not only showed up as as team governor and
5:08
Speaker 5: owner Ryan Smith and his wife Ashley always loved to say,
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Speaker 5: and which is exactly what Utah does on a on
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Speaker 5: a daily basis due to all of the causes and
5:16
Speaker 5: teams that they support, is that our fans showed up,
5:19
Speaker 5: and they showed out, and they were there four or
5:21
Speaker 5: five hours before the home games, uh, the the plaza
5:25
Speaker 5: party out front of the Delta Center, the watch parties
5:28
Speaker 5: at the Delta Center when the games were on the
5:30
Speaker 5: road in Vegas, and and that that really gave a
5:33
Speaker 5: whole other boost to the guys. I mean, I thought,
5:35
Speaker 5: our in arena entertainment and our in arena crew did
5:39
Speaker 5: an incredible job of putting on a spectacle and a
5:43
Speaker 5: show of hyping things up to the next level. And
5:47
Speaker 5: of course the guys out on the ice went out
5:49
Speaker 5: and did their thing, and they found a way to
5:51
Speaker 5: beat a Stanley Cup contending team twice in that series.
5:55
Speaker 5: And yeah, of course ended up losing in four games
5:58
Speaker 5: in six games. But you know, when I when I
6:01
Speaker 5: look ahead to the offseason, you know, yes, there's gonna
6:05
Speaker 5: be some movement no team, or I should say very
6:08
Speaker 5: rarely and anominally would be where we're a team stays
6:12
Speaker 5: completely together. There's gonna be some unrestricted.
6:15
Speaker 3: Free agents, and we'll see what it happens with those guys,
6:18
Speaker 3: players like Alexander Kirkfoot, who was really important to Utah's
6:22
Speaker 3: penalty kill at some crucial times this season. You know,
6:26
Speaker 3: other questions, what's going to happen to Ian Cole, an
6:29
Speaker 3: unbelievable veteran defenseman who's won two Stanley Cups, And I
6:32
Speaker 3: thought he played a real important role this year, not
6:34
Speaker 3: just on the ice blocking shots and hitting everything that
6:37
Speaker 3: moves and also being another fixture on the penalty kill,
6:39
Speaker 3: but being a leader in the room and on the bench.
6:42
Speaker 3: When when the young team that is the Utah Mammoth
6:45
Speaker 3: overall face some adversity, you gotta have guys like that.
6:48
Speaker 3: You know, what's gonna happen to a Nick d Simone
6:50
Speaker 3: who I thought came in at times and filled an
6:53
Speaker 3: important role. And there was a stretch where you know,
6:56
Speaker 3: he sat out for seven, eight nine games and came
7:00
Speaker 3: in because of an injury, and you played so good
7:02
Speaker 3: you just couldn't take them out. And I think he
7:03
Speaker 3: ended up playing twelve or thirteen straight games.
7:05
Speaker 5: So you know, there's gonna be some question.
7:08
Speaker 3: Marks about players that are they going to be resigned?
7:12
Speaker 3: How about a restrictive free agent? And Barrett Hayton and
7:15
Speaker 3: you know, is he going to be here long term?
7:17
Speaker 3: So you know there are some questions, there are some
7:20
Speaker 3: some some moves that are gonna gonna need to be made,
7:23
Speaker 3: whether it's it's players either being chose not to not
7:26
Speaker 3: to re sign, to re sign, or going out and
7:29
Speaker 3: making a trade or looking at free agency. And we'll
7:32
Speaker 3: see how things play out. But you know when you
7:34
Speaker 3: look at the core of this roster, Sean that the
7:37
Speaker 3: core is good, They're getting better, and they're gonna be
7:40
Speaker 3: good for a long time. Considering you've got Dylan Gunster
7:42
Speaker 3: and Logan Cooley for the next seven and eight years.
7:45
Speaker 3: You've got Clayton Keller, who is in my eyes, just
7:48
Speaker 3: entering his prime. For a guy that's going to be
7:50
Speaker 3: able to give you eighty to ninety points and of
7:52
Speaker 3: course be the captain of the team and lost and crowds.
7:56
Speaker 3: I mean, what a year for him. And I don't
7:58
Speaker 3: think we should we should underestimate the year that last.
8:01
Speaker 3: And Kraus had an immense bounce back season. And there's
8:04
Speaker 3: a reason why he wears the A for the associate
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Speaker 3: captain on this club because of what he brings on
8:10
Speaker 3: the bench and on the ice too. So overall, yes,
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Speaker 3: I would expect some movement. You know, does does Bill
8:17
Speaker 3: Armstrong maybe go out and try to get a little
8:19
Speaker 3: bit of size in the top six? You know, well,
8:21
Speaker 3: we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.
8:24
Speaker 3: You know, where where does he look to add? But
8:26
Speaker 3: also you know, Sean, we we can't, we can't go
8:29
Speaker 3: any further without talking how about some of these young
8:31
Speaker 3: guys that are on the cusp. And I'm talking about
8:33
Speaker 3: the guys that aren't even a part of the Utah Mammoth.
8:35
Speaker 3: When you think about TJ. Ginla, you think about Cole Bowdoin,
8:38
Speaker 3: Dmitri Simmis Simyschev who we saw at times this year,
8:41
Speaker 3: Maverick lameru Is, is he really ready to take the
8:44
Speaker 3: next step. So, you know, some of the guys that
8:46
Speaker 3: that aren't even on the Mammoth roster right now, some
8:49
Speaker 3: of the guys that are still in junior. You know,
8:51
Speaker 3: we'll see how those guys push and see if they
8:54
Speaker 3: can can try to make a name for themselves here
8:56
Speaker 3: at development camp and then of course main camp in
8:58
Speaker 3: the middle of September. But so there's no doubt exciting
9:01
Speaker 3: year last year, and the future is pretty blindingly bright
9:05
Speaker 3: for the National Hockey League team here in Utah.
9:08
Speaker 4: As we talk about and it is all guesswork for
9:11
Speaker 4: us right now, well for me it is.
9:13
Speaker 2: You probably have a better insight. But uh, you know,
9:16
Speaker 2: there's a there's a.
9:17
Speaker 4: Sort of cultural philosophy that takes shape with every team,
9:21
Speaker 4: and it's it's fluid and you can adjust it. I
9:24
Speaker 4: wonder how much there's a how much leadership or veteran
9:31
Speaker 4: age you need on this team, because there's there's a
9:34
Speaker 4: lot of young talent right and that's a good thing
9:38
Speaker 4: for very obvious reasons. Some of the playoff teams that
9:41
Speaker 4: are still active right now are certainly they're older at
9:46
Speaker 4: their core, and they're older on average than this Utah
9:49
Speaker 4: Mammoth team.
9:50
Speaker 5: Is.
9:50
Speaker 4: And part of that is, you know, like some of
9:52
Speaker 4: them are reaching the end of their windows and the
9:55
Speaker 4: Mammoth are just now starting to open theirs. But if
9:58
Speaker 4: you are bringing somebody in, and even if it's not
10:01
Speaker 4: the top six, even if it's not you know, first
10:03
Speaker 4: or second line type individual, how much value would there
10:06
Speaker 4: be for the Utah Mammoth in going out and finding
10:10
Speaker 4: someone who is older, more experienced, has been through the
10:13
Speaker 4: Stanley Cup playoffs.
10:14
Speaker 2: A bunch of times, because they have that on the
10:16
Speaker 2: roster already.
10:17
Speaker 4: With some guys that are kind of young to mid young,
10:23
Speaker 4: there's not like the obvious core of elder statesmen that
10:27
Speaker 4: are able to bring up the young pups, I guess.
10:30
Speaker 2: Is what I'm trying to say.
10:31
Speaker 4: So is that something that they could add or is
10:33
Speaker 4: that a wasted effort when it's better to let these
10:36
Speaker 4: guys maybe grow together.
10:38
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, look, you've got some guys that have
10:41
Speaker 3: been around and have played in the playoffs and won
10:43
Speaker 3: a Stanley Cup. I mean, I look at a guy
10:45
Speaker 3: like Kevin Stenlin, who's you know, he's twenty nine years old,
10:49
Speaker 3: but you know he won the Stanley Cup with the
10:51
Speaker 3: Florida Panthers and a guy that knows, you know, what
10:55
Speaker 3: it takes to win at that time of the season.
10:57
Speaker 3: So while he may not be you know, older in
11:01
Speaker 3: terms of you know, mid to late thirties, and like
11:04
Speaker 3: an Ian Cole, you know that that is a guy
11:07
Speaker 3: I think that that would fit that bracket that you're
11:09
Speaker 3: talking about there, Sean and and and the kind of
11:11
Speaker 3: guy who is you know, super crucial to this team
11:15
Speaker 3: because because I really don't think that there's a better
11:18
Speaker 3: fourth line center in the entire National Hockey League. And
11:21
Speaker 3: and and that's going to be another guy who who
11:24
Speaker 3: is is going to be looking for a new contract.
11:26
Speaker 3: He's an unrestricted free agent h once this season ended.
11:29
Speaker 3: So you know, you look at guys like that, You
11:32
Speaker 3: look at Nate Schmidt, who's who's still under contract. You'll
11:34
Speaker 3: be here for the next couple of years, two more
11:37
Speaker 3: years once this season uh ended, you know. And these
11:42
Speaker 3: are the types of guys that I think it is
11:44
Speaker 3: so important to have good veterans on your team, not
11:48
Speaker 3: just because they know what it takes and they can lead,
11:52
Speaker 3: and they can they can help themselves go through those processes,
11:56
Speaker 3: but but to help the younger guys. And it's not
11:59
Speaker 3: like a hey, let me show you how to do it.
12:02
Speaker 3: Sometimes it's just it's having a calming presence on the bench.
12:06
Speaker 3: You know, when you when you go through some adversity
12:08
Speaker 3: during a game in the playoffs, and and things that
12:12
Speaker 3: go a little bit haywire. And as a young guy,
12:15
Speaker 3: you you look to your left, you look to your right,
12:17
Speaker 3: and you see two guys that that have grizzled beards,
12:20
Speaker 3: there might be a little gray in there, and uh
12:23
Speaker 3: and and and they're just sitting there calm because it's
12:26
Speaker 3: not something that they haven't seen before. It's not something
12:28
Speaker 3: that they have experienced before. So it's it's those things.
12:31
Speaker 3: It's it's also helping the players during the season. But
12:35
Speaker 3: I think another crucial part, you know, to kind of
12:37
Speaker 3: go a little bit inside the game here is is
12:39
Speaker 3: during those important moments during a playoff game, a playoff series,
12:44
Speaker 3: you know, playoffs is so much tighter. You know, the
12:46
Speaker 3: rank shrinks so much less time, so much less space,
12:50
Speaker 3: a lot more physicality. You know. For example, you know,
12:53
Speaker 3: if there's a guy that's that's facing a situation where
12:57
Speaker 3: he's skating into the offensive zone and he really doesn't
13:00
Speaker 3: have much support with him, and he's got two or
13:03
Speaker 3: three defenders in front of him. You know, during the
13:05
Speaker 3: regular season, okay, maybe you know, maybe you try to
13:10
Speaker 3: beat the guy and then beat the second guy. You know,
13:12
Speaker 3: in the playoffs, you don't beat that first guy, you're
13:15
Speaker 3: not going to get through the second or the third layers.
13:17
Speaker 3: So that's where it comes to decision making of just okay,
13:21
Speaker 3: I don't have support with me. I'm just gonna chip
13:23
Speaker 3: the puck deep, going to kill the clock, try to
13:26
Speaker 3: get in on the for check and wait for my
13:27
Speaker 3: teammates to at least give them a chance to try
13:30
Speaker 3: to come out, because if you turn it over there
13:31
Speaker 3: at the blue line offensively, there's usually going to be
13:34
Speaker 3: an hopman Russia a fast break the other way. So
13:37
Speaker 3: to me, it's it's making smart plays like that because
13:40
Speaker 3: you've been in this situation, and that's where I think
13:42
Speaker 3: veteran leadership both at the at the the in the
13:45
Speaker 3: forward group as well as the decor. That's why I
13:48
Speaker 3: think it is so crucial to have those guys around
13:51
Speaker 3: because yes, of course they're going to help behind the scenes,
13:53
Speaker 3: they're going to remain calm and kind of talk to
13:55
Speaker 3: some guys through things on the bench during the heightened
13:59
Speaker 3: adversity of a player out series, but also to make
14:01
Speaker 3: those those simple but very crucial plays at crucial moments.
14:05
Speaker 3: I think that's a real difference maker. And so we'll see,
14:08
Speaker 3: you know, Bill Armstrong at a very veteran laden back
14:12
Speaker 3: end last year. You know, we've already mentioned a couple
14:15
Speaker 3: of the guys, and we'll see how that transforms with
14:17
Speaker 3: a couple of young pups that we talked about earlier
14:20
Speaker 3: who were very much on the cusp of wanting to
14:22
Speaker 3: break into this roster.
14:25
Speaker 4: Nicole Chick, our guests here on the Sean O'Connell show,
14:27
Speaker 4: recapping some things with the Utah Mammoth, who season of
14:30
Speaker 4: course is over as Stanley Cup playoffs continue. Of those
14:34
Speaker 4: young pups, and you did throw some names out there,
14:36
Speaker 4: and there's maybe a couple more in the pipeline. Who
14:38
Speaker 4: do you think is most likely to emerge as an
14:41
Speaker 4: everyday staple next season.
14:45
Speaker 3: Boil boy, I think the name that comes to mind.
14:48
Speaker 3: I'll give you a forward, and I'll give you a defenseman.
14:51
Speaker 3: The defenseman I'm waiting for Dmitri Simyshev to really take
14:56
Speaker 3: that next step. He's got all the tools. He's six
14:59
Speaker 3: ft four or he can really skate there's offensive instinct
15:03
Speaker 3: there is it? Is it fifty to sixty points a
15:07
Speaker 3: season type of offensive instinct? I'm not sure if maybe
15:10
Speaker 3: it's that much. But he is the kind of guy
15:12
Speaker 3: that that is going to be able to to make
15:14
Speaker 3: some things happen on the on the offensive side of
15:16
Speaker 3: the game. And he proved for stretches this year that that, yeah,
15:20
Speaker 3: he's he's on the cusp. But to do it for
15:24
Speaker 3: five games in a row and then to do it
15:26
Speaker 3: for fifty games in a row there sean, that's that's
15:29
Speaker 3: that's the big difference of being in every day, every
15:32
Speaker 3: game National Hockey League player, and the only way he's
15:36
Speaker 3: going to gain that experience is of course to play.
15:39
Speaker 3: But I give him a lot of credit is that
15:41
Speaker 3: when he was sent down to the American Hockey League
15:44
Speaker 3: after playing almost twenty games in his and when he
15:47
Speaker 3: broke camp with the team last year, you know that
15:50
Speaker 3: the points weren't there. The consistency I thought dropped a
15:54
Speaker 3: little bit as that segment of games had gone on.
15:57
Speaker 3: Once he you know, once he got to that twelve
16:00
Speaker 3: to nineteen game mark, I thought, you know that the
16:03
Speaker 3: pace of play, you know, dropped a bit from him.
16:07
Speaker 3: So he went down to the American Hockey League in Tucson,
16:10
Speaker 3: and I thought it was the right decision because there
16:14
Speaker 3: he's not going to be playing third pairing minutes, where
16:16
Speaker 3: he's playing twelve to fourteen minutes a night, you know,
16:20
Speaker 3: like at times he was in the NHL. You know,
16:22
Speaker 3: down there in the American Hockey League, he's he is,
16:24
Speaker 3: he is a big fish in a small pond. I mean,
16:27
Speaker 3: he's he's the top pair guy. He's playing power play,
16:30
Speaker 3: he's playing penalty kill. And he ended up being an
16:33
Speaker 3: American League All Star and went to the All Star
16:34
Speaker 3: Game to represent the Tucson Roadrunners and was playing in
16:38
Speaker 3: every situation. So I think it's just like anything in life.
16:40
Speaker 3: You want to get better at anything, you got to
16:41
Speaker 3: do it a lot. You got to get your reps,
16:43
Speaker 3: you got to be put in high pressure situations, and
16:46
Speaker 3: you got to have your limits really tested. And so
16:48
Speaker 3: I give him a lot of credit. I think the
16:50
Speaker 3: organization handled that perfectly, knowing that yeah, when you're on
16:53
Speaker 3: the CUSP, you want to play in the NHL. Of course,
16:56
Speaker 3: there's no question about it, there's no doubt. But I
16:58
Speaker 3: thought the you know, the the mindset and the attitude
17:02
Speaker 3: that he showed going down there. There was no pouting,
17:04
Speaker 3: there was no you know, poopy pants, so to speak.
17:08
Speaker 3: He went down there and and he performed well, and
17:12
Speaker 3: he put up points and played in every situation for Tucson.
17:15
Speaker 3: So I think that's another guy that's going to come
17:17
Speaker 3: to camp ready to go. Uh And and I think
17:20
Speaker 3: to look at a forward. Tch Againla really impressed me
17:24
Speaker 3: last year Sean. He's he's finally back and healthy. It
17:27
Speaker 3: was about a year ago he was dealing with some
17:30
Speaker 3: lower body injuries. He had to have some procedures and
17:34
Speaker 3: and he is. He had a heck of a year
17:36
Speaker 3: this past season for Kolowna UH in the Western Hockey
17:39
Speaker 3: League up in the in the CHL. And you know
17:42
Speaker 3: when I watched him in camp, uh he is assertive
17:46
Speaker 3: that that to me is the word that really comes
17:48
Speaker 3: to mind describing Taj Againla. There's not a lot of
17:51
Speaker 3: perimeter with his game, uh is he is he six
17:53
Speaker 3: foot five, no, but he sure plays like it. He's
17:56
Speaker 3: not at all fraid to engage in the physical battle.
18:00
Speaker 3: He wants the puck on his stick. He wants to battle.
18:02
Speaker 3: And if he's going into a corner against another guy,
18:06
Speaker 3: he's either coming out with the puck or the other
18:08
Speaker 3: guy's leaving with a bruise and he's got the puck.
18:10
Speaker 3: So it's just you know, I think he is he
18:14
Speaker 3: is right there. We'll see the how he can manage
18:19
Speaker 3: a camp. But the type of guy that that is
18:21
Speaker 3: a real difference maker of both with his feet with
18:24
Speaker 3: his brain. And all you need to do is type
18:26
Speaker 3: in T I J T AGAINLA on YouTube and just
18:30
Speaker 3: watch some of those goals he scores. That's a that's
18:32
Speaker 3: a twisted rister that he possesses. So it'd be really
18:35
Speaker 3: exciting to see those two guys among others that that
18:38
Speaker 3: should make a real push to to make the opening
18:40
Speaker 3: day roster that camp coming up next season.
18:44
Speaker 4: I want to stay with those two in particular for
18:46
Speaker 4: a minute, because you know, there's always a leap when
18:49
Speaker 4: you're climbing a level. For the guys you just mentioned,
18:52
Speaker 4: is it more getting physically ready, physically mature, or is
18:57
Speaker 4: it is it a mental capacity to the game, because
18:59
Speaker 4: they're they're not on the same spect size of it,
19:01
Speaker 4: they're not on the same level when it comes to
19:03
Speaker 4: their own like individual physical size, but the difference in
19:08
Speaker 4: how they play, the difference in position et cetera. Is
19:10
Speaker 4: it a physicality readiness or is it a mentality readiness
19:14
Speaker 4: that you need to see these guys achieve.
19:16
Speaker 3: I think it's bull shan, I really do. I mean,
19:19
Speaker 3: you could make a case that it's that it's both,
19:22
Speaker 3: you know, in terms of the mental part of the game.
19:25
Speaker 3: I mean, I think that goes hand in hand with
19:27
Speaker 3: the physical part of the game. And the one word
19:29
Speaker 3: that comes to mind for me, you know, it's like, Okay, well,
19:32
Speaker 3: what makes Clayton Keller the great player that he is? Well,
19:35
Speaker 3: you know that you're going to get eighty or ninety
19:36
Speaker 3: points out of him every regular season. Like he's consistent
19:40
Speaker 3: in that way. He knows what it takes every single
19:42
Speaker 3: game to do something. And no, no two games are
19:45
Speaker 3: going to be the same. Sometimes the puckets are bouncing
19:47
Speaker 3: your way, so you got to adjust. Sometimes the opposition
19:50
Speaker 3: is taking away a certain play that you want. Okay, well,
19:53
Speaker 3: how can you adapt? How can you adjust? And for
19:55
Speaker 3: young players, the toughest thing to do is to be
19:57
Speaker 3: as consistent as you can, but also make these out
20:00
Speaker 3: a little adaptations and adjustments throughout the course of a
20:03
Speaker 3: game and and the season. So for both of those guys,
20:06
Speaker 3: I think he goes hand in hand, and look, I
20:08
Speaker 3: mean there's a there's a there's a tremendous training staff
20:12
Speaker 3: with the Utah Mammoth of course down in the American
20:14
Speaker 3: League as well, that are going to make sure that
20:17
Speaker 3: these guys are doing all the things that they need
20:18
Speaker 3: to do to keep their their bodies and their minds
20:21
Speaker 3: in the best place possible. But for a young guy
20:25
Speaker 3: trying to break into the NHL, there's gonna be spurts
20:28
Speaker 3: where you show a lot of promise and things are
20:30
Speaker 3: going your way. But to me, it's how you handle
20:33
Speaker 3: the downtimes. It's how you handle the adversity that that's
20:36
Speaker 3: that's found to come your way at some point. So yeah,
20:39
Speaker 3: I think it's both. But for those guys in particular,
20:42
Speaker 3: they have very unique skill sets in that they were
20:45
Speaker 3: they were dominant at at levels growing up when they
20:48
Speaker 3: were teenagers and now when you know, again, let's still
20:51
Speaker 3: a teenager, and and Dimitri Simischev breaking into is is
20:55
Speaker 3: his young twenties. You know, these are guys that that
20:57
Speaker 3: I think do have the right mindset. They want to
20:59
Speaker 3: play in the NHL, they want to be difference makers
21:02
Speaker 3: at the Utah Mammut, But but it is a process.
21:05
Speaker 3: It is it's going to take time. You know, there
21:07
Speaker 3: is a development, you know path that that these guys
21:11
Speaker 3: are on. And if there's one thing that we've seen
21:14
Speaker 3: throughout the years with the likes of Dylan Gunther and company,
21:17
Speaker 3: is that Bill.
21:18
Speaker 5: Armstrong, his development staff, his scouting staff.
21:21
Speaker 3: They're not going to rush these guys along. They're not
21:23
Speaker 3: just going to plug him into the Mammoth just because
21:25
Speaker 3: it'll be a headline for a week. They want to
21:28
Speaker 3: make sure that when these guys come is that they're
21:30
Speaker 3: going to be ready and that they're going to be
21:32
Speaker 3: able to play on a consistent basis. And so I
21:34
Speaker 3: just I think that to the heart of your question,
21:36
Speaker 3: is it more mental, is it more physical? I really
21:39
Speaker 3: think it is the ultimate blend of both of being
21:41
Speaker 3: able to prepare your body, prepare your mind every day,
21:44
Speaker 3: knowing that you're playing in the greatest league in the world, yes,
21:47
Speaker 3: but also knowing that there's there's some pretty darn good
21:50
Speaker 3: players on the other team as well that are looking
21:52
Speaker 3: to shut you down. And I've always thought that it's
21:54
Speaker 3: it's tougher for a defenseman to break into the NHL
21:57
Speaker 3: just because of the level of talent now and and
22:00
Speaker 3: and it's just it's it's at an all time high.
22:03
Speaker 3: And so we'll see how things play out. But if
22:06
Speaker 3: I'm a Utah Mammoth fan and I'm part of Mammoth Nation, uh,
22:09
Speaker 3: those are those are two guys, along with a few others.
22:12
Speaker 3: Kaylea Denoye another Cole Bodwin is another Maverick Lamaroue, a
22:16
Speaker 3: guy that we've seen a little bit here the last
22:18
Speaker 3: couple of years. You know, those are those are some
22:20
Speaker 3: pretty important guys moving forward, and so it's safe to
22:23
Speaker 3: say that the Mammoths are in good hands for years
22:26
Speaker 3: to come.
22:28
Speaker 4: We watched the NHL Draft lottery play out last week
22:32
Speaker 4: and Toronto gets pick number one. San Jose, who I'm
22:37
Speaker 4: already here in their footsteps. San Jose gets picked number two.
22:41
Speaker 4: Fourth You in a row, they're drafting in the top four.
22:44
Speaker 4: How how bothered by that should I be? Because they
22:47
Speaker 4: do well with their draft picks.
22:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, Sean, I don't know if i'd
22:52
Speaker 3: stay bothered. Look teams that that are on the cusp
22:59
Speaker 3: that I think you meant it perfectly, that that that
23:01
Speaker 3: you're hearing footsteps, and you should because the San Jose
23:05
Speaker 3: Sharks I think have done an awesome job the last
23:07
Speaker 3: couple of years of picking the right players. And look,
23:11
Speaker 3: they've got a generational talent in Macklin Celebrini, who very
23:15
Speaker 3: well could be the next Sydney Grosby. I mean, for
23:18
Speaker 3: how he performed at the Olympics. For the season that
23:20
Speaker 3: he had with the San Jose Sharks, you know, all
23:24
Speaker 3: year he was my he was my Heart Trophy nominee.
23:27
Speaker 3: Even if the Sharks didn't make the playoffs, which they didn't,
23:30
Speaker 3: they weren't even within a window of or a lickup
23:33
Speaker 3: being close with without the performance that he had a
23:37
Speaker 3: boatload more points than than the guy who finished in second.
23:40
Speaker 3: And Will Smith, and that's a young team. They hope
23:44
Speaker 3: that they found their goaltender of the future. They've got
23:47
Speaker 3: a really solid young decor as well with some offensive
23:51
Speaker 3: upside and Sam Dickinson, who's a stunt on the back end.
23:54
Speaker 3: And then you look at the forward group, you know,
23:56
Speaker 3: Celebrini and Will Smith, and you can go on down
23:59
Speaker 3: the line and that that's going to be a scary
24:02
Speaker 3: team for years to come. And they just didn't quite
24:04
Speaker 3: have it towards the end of the year to be
24:06
Speaker 3: able to break in. But hey, they they they they
24:09
Speaker 3: got the they got the bounce, they got the lottery pick.
24:11
Speaker 3: They're gonna be picking second. And and finally, uh, you
24:15
Speaker 3: mentioned the Toronto Maple Leafs. Some good news up there
24:17
Speaker 3: in Leafland, not only bringing in Matt Sundeen uh to
24:22
Speaker 3: to run that to help run the show there in Toronto,
24:27
Speaker 3: also bringing in John Chica as well as as their
24:30
Speaker 3: general manager. You know, they're hoping that their future can
24:33
Speaker 3: can turn around. But anytime you start with a number
24:35
Speaker 3: one overall pick, that's a that's a good thing for
24:37
Speaker 3: the organization. And finally, some positivity to talk about for
24:41
Speaker 3: the Toronto Maple Leafs considering it was it was a
24:44
Speaker 3: pretty rough year for them on the ice and of
24:46
Speaker 3: course in the the the hotbed of hockey media that
24:49
Speaker 3: is the mecca of the city of Toronto. So you know,
24:53
Speaker 3: we'll see how things play out there. But for the
24:55
Speaker 3: San Jose Sharks, that's that's a young team and exciting
24:58
Speaker 3: team with some some really amazing building pieces for a
25:01
Speaker 3: long time to come.
25:03
Speaker 4: Now that you're a fully adopted Utah and are you
25:06
Speaker 4: pumped about the Utah Jazz picking number two in the
25:09
Speaker 4: upcoming NBA Draft lottery.
25:11
Speaker 3: I think it's great. I think it's a long time coming.
25:14
Speaker 3: I in terms of the unfortunate luck last year in
25:18
Speaker 3: the lottery. I'm still learning basketball, Sean, I really really.
25:22
Speaker 3: I grew up. Hockey was my life. Baseball is my
25:26
Speaker 3: summer sport. You know, paid attention to soccer as well.
25:29
Speaker 3: But I'm still trying to learn the ropes of basketball.
25:32
Speaker 3: But but I know that two is better than three,
25:34
Speaker 3: and two is better than four and all the way
25:36
Speaker 3: down the line. So I'm I'm hoping. I'm hoping that
25:39
Speaker 3: they can. I'm hoping that they can draft a real
25:41
Speaker 3: difference maker and someone that's going to be to be
25:44
Speaker 3: able to help them win. Because I've talked to some people.
25:46
Speaker 3: I don't know if this is informed or uninformed, but
25:49
Speaker 3: it seems like there's a lot of reason and a
25:51
Speaker 3: lot of cause for excitement next year for the Utah Jazz,
25:54
Speaker 3: and hopefully they can they can bring in a young
25:57
Speaker 3: stud at number two to compliment the likes of Glory
26:01
Speaker 3: marking In and Keyante George. The future seems bright there
26:05
Speaker 3: as well, and so hopefully they can get someone that
26:08
Speaker 3: can that can be a difference maker at number two.
26:10
Speaker 4: Listen to that Nicole Chick In a pinch, he could
26:14
Speaker 4: be doing some jazz talk for us, but we'll lean
26:17
Speaker 4: on you for the.
26:18
Speaker 2: Utah Mammoth Again. Thanks for joining us today.
26:20
Speaker 4: You guys have done an incredible job all year long,
26:23
Speaker 4: and you're helping us learn hockey. I think at a
26:26
Speaker 4: lot faster rate than any of us would be able
26:29
Speaker 4: to without you. So thanks for your time again, Nick,
26:31
Speaker 4: Appreciate you.
26:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you, Sean. Always always a pleasure of being
26:35
Speaker 3: on with you. And I know I speak for myself
26:38
Speaker 3: and our entire broadcast team that we just want to
26:41
Speaker 3: say thank you to all of our incredible fans who
26:43
Speaker 3: tuned in and at the end of the day, we're
26:45
Speaker 3: here to do two things, and that's inform and entertain
26:49
Speaker 3: because there's a lot of reasons why people tune in
26:51
Speaker 3: to watch the Utam Mammoth. You might be having a
26:53
Speaker 3: bad day, you might love hockey, you might love Clayton Keller,
26:56
Speaker 3: you might just be bored on a Friday night at home,
26:59
Speaker 3: and we're here for you. So thank you for the time,
27:03
Speaker 3: for the kind words, and looking forward to enjoying a
27:05
Speaker 3: great summer and being back at it in September.
27:09
Speaker 2: Great stuff, as always from nick ol Chick.
27:11
Speaker 4: You can catch him on the Utah Man with broadcasts
27:14
Speaker 4: Little Sports USA as well with the NHL