Latest / Predators Official Podcast / Going Streaking - and Fishing feat. Mike Fisher

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Going Streaking - and Fishing feat. Mike Fisher · Predators Official Podcast

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It's the Predators official podcast here on ESPN 102.5, The
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game streaming on Preds YouTube, and a whole slew of other spots
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here in the final week of the month of March.
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Brooks Bratton alongside my friends Kara Hammer and Max
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hers. We got a lot to talk about.
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Friends. What a difference a week makes.
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The Predators are streaking winners of five in a row,
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including a massive victory over San Jose.
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What is the playoff picture look like now?
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Yes, the P word, the playoff picture.
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We'll get into that in a little bit.
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Philip Forsberg's dominance, Fedorus Fetchkov thinks he's in
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college. But most of all, most
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importantly, and we're very excited for this, the the
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nostalgia continues. We've got an interview with
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former Predators captain Mike Fisher coming up ahead.
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All that plus so much more here on the pod.
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But Max and Cara, goodness gracious.
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The Predators have talked about getting off to better starts.
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Five goals in the first period usually does the trick.
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I think that was the best 1st 20 minutes we've seen the Predators
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play all season. They look like a team who was
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coming out, know what they wanted to do.
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They were crisp, they were passing, they were shooting the
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puck and they were scoring five goals on what?
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Seven shots? Nine shots?
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What was it after those 1st 20 minutes?
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But the Preds could not keep the puck out of the back of the net.
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They just kept scoring. Second time in Fred's franchise
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history. Time the franchise record with
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five first period goals. The other one was the famous 8
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nothing home win over the Red Wings in 2009.
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And it's just the second time this season that an NHL team has
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scored five goals in the first period.
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So what a start. I mean, fives were wild.
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Five straight wins, five first period goals.
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Fred's has taken care of business against all the teams
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around them in the standings and the other teams around them seem
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to just keep losing. So everything's coming up Preds
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right now. No, they really are and we
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talked about it last week, guys coming off of the win in
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Winnipeg and it wasn't the trip was fine out West and and
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Canada, but we talked about the Predators needed to get some
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points banked and goodness how they have they ever in five in a
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row here. Winnipeg, Seattle, Vegas,
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Chicago and now San Jose. A huge weekend sweep over the
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Golden Knights and the Blackhawks and as we've talked
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about a five goal first period on Tuesday night against the
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Sharks, 63 victory over all the Predators got out to a huge lead
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and maybe let San Jose back in it a little bit, but the
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veterans grabbed a hold of it, locked it down as the rest of
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the night went on and Predators no problem closing that one out.
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So a huge game, a huge win over San Jose.
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They're now 7 points ahead of the Sharks again.
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We'll talk more about the playoff picture later on in the
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show, but we've talked about how all the guys are just having
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fun, and it's supposed to be fun at this time of the year, the
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way that they've worked themselves back up.
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And Kara, you have a perfect example of the enjoyment that's
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inside that room right now. It's always crucial when other
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players step up like we saw in that first period.
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Brady Shea picks up his second goal of the season.
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You can't go raw when you have everybody contributing.
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How about Steven Stamkos during the streak to him and Phillip
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Forsberg have been putting pucks in the net and going on point
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streaks. 35 goals for Stamkos, just the 4th 35 goal season in
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Pred's history and he still got 11 games to get to 40 and get up
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toward that. Pred's record of 48 by Philip
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Forsberg, that would be something if he could get there.
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But Steven Stamkos has etched his name in Pred's history in
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Year 2. Stamkos continues to crush it.
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Philip Forsberg dominating the NHL, second star of the week.
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We'll touch more on him in a little bit as well.
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But a guy whose name we have mentioned a lot recently and he
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deserves it. Again, Matthew Wood all of a
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sudden flirting with 20 goals. I don't know if anybody saw that
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coming. And he has really shown not only
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what he's capable of at this level, but at the center ice
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position, guys, he continues to take that opportunity and run
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with it. Another beautiful goal on
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Tuesday against San Jose. Max Utah.
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Talk to him before the game. Had some great questions from
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yourself and other members in the locker room.
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But what a run for Woody. It's been so fun to watch him.
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As Bruno has said, grow up right before our eyes here and develop
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into a top 6 center. Six goals in 10 games as a
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center playing second line minutes.
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Pretty good for Matt Wood, and he has upped his production as
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his responsibility has been upped in the Preds lineup.
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And Kara, we've heard it from Philip Forsberg and Jonathan
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Marshiso, two of the most tenured players on the team.
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He is making them better right now, and he has helped the lines
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fall into place as this win streak began.
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Yeah, I don't think anybody was quite sure how Matt Wood would
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be in that center position, but I think he's come in and showed
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everybody he's comfortable where he is.
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And guys, I think that this happened after the last time we
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recorded, but Matt Wood took a nasty hit and Jonathan Marshiso
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was the first player to come to his defense.
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And what does that say about what type of player he is on the
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ice? When you look at a lot of like a
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smaller guy like Marchie, that's not what he's known for.
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He's not super physical that wants to get in the mix, but he
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was right there dropping the people of standing up for Mount
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Wood. And I think it it goes back to
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kind of what Samco says. The team is bonding together.
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They are a tight knit unit and they are playing as one.
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I love that's a great point Care.
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I love that you brought that up. That's that was so indicative of
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the way that this team has come together.
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And a guy like Matt Wood, a young guy, Jonathan Marshall saw
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a dirty hit and said, no, that's not going to happen.
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It doesn't matter. You don't have to go in there
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and beat the guy up. You don't have to hurt anybody,
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but just send a message and say, Nope, that's not going to fly.
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And I love that. The way the room, the room has
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continued to come together because there were reports
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earlier in the season that we're obviously not true.
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But the way that this team has continued to come together, the
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the feeling between the young guys and the old guys, how
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they've morphed. They're kind of feeding off of
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one another with that energy. And it's been a great couple of
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weeks here. So obviously still a lot of
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hockey to be played, but the Predators continue to put
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themselves in a pretty good spot.
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So that's how things shake out from the start here.
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We'll talk more on everything in just a moment, but we want to
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get to another interview of a man who we all know and love.
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He used to wear number 12 for your Nashville Predators with AC
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on the front of a sweater. He's a dad and a husband these
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days, but he's still 100% awesome.
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Predators forward Mike Fisher is going to join us coming up next
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on The POP here on ESPN1O25 The Game and streaming on Fred's
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YouTube. Welcome back to the Predators
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official podcast here on ESPN1O25, The Game, streaming on
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Fred's YouTube and wherever you find your favorite podcast.
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Brooks Bratton with my friends Maxers and Carrie Hammer back
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along with you. And the nostalgia overload
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continues because last week we had our friend Ryan Johansson on
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the show. This week another friend, former
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Predators captain Mike Fisher, kind enough to join us on the
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POP. It's not his first appearance,
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but welcome back to the show, Mike.
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Years later, how are you? Yeah, I'm doing well, doing
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good. Thanks for having me.
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Good to see you guys. Likewise, it's it's a real
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pleasure and one of the reasons we wanted to have you on for a
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myriad of reasons. But you're top of mind because
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your bobblehead night is coming up as the Preds host Montreal on
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Saturday with you and and your wife and the same bobblehead,
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which is really cool. I know this isn't your first
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bobblehead night, but what do you think of seeing yourself in
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bobblehead form? It's not something that most of
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us experience. No.
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Well, I can tell you I got to actually a few up in my office,
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but my boys get a hold of them now and it's like they don't
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usually make it too long. They play with them, heads go
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flying. I'm like, that's my butt, you
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know, but it'll be cool for them.
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You know, we we actually haven't sadly haven't been to a game yet
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this year. We just been going.
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And so it's a, you know, we're, it's a good excuse to go, to
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get, to get to go to a game or take our boys.
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And we're telling them that they'll get a free bobble.
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And how cool for the family, Mike, for you and Carrie to be
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able to share it and be on the bobble head together.
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Yeah, that'll be cool. I mean, you know, I'm sure
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people are going to want her bobble head more than mine, but
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but yeah, it's it, it'll be cool.
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It'll be fun to to be a part of it.
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And, and I I was happy that it was on Johansson's night too.
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I think he's going to be doing some things too.
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So now he had mentioned it a few weeks ago and I was like, yeah,
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I'll be there. Definitely.
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And but it's kind of a double whammy.
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So yeah, it's it'll be great. Well, Mike, you just mentioned
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you, you haven't been out this season, coming out for your
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bobblehead night, but have you been following the team?
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I mean, do you still keep up with the Preds?
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And obviously you just mentioned Joey, but any of your former
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team mates? Yeah, I, I, I watch, I watch as
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much as I can when I'm home. You know, my, my youngest, he
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plays and, and he likes to, he likes to watch games
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periodically. So I've been, I've been
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definitely keeping an eye. If you can't watch it, I'll keep
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an eye on scores. So it's been fun to see them the
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last week or two and yeah, they're they're definitely, you
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know, looking looking really good and since the trade
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deadline and it would, it would be fun to see him, see him get
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in. So I'm definitely, definitely
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cheering for him so. You shouted out Ryan Johansson.
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We had him on last week, he said.
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You officiated his wedding. How cool was that?
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Yeah, it was an honor. It was my, I mean, talk about
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I've never done anything like that before, but it's definitely
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something new for me. But an honor Ryan's, you know, a
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great friend and to be a, you know, to be asked to do
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something like that was was really cool and it was a special
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day. He's, you know, he's got a, a
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great wife now and, and I, I'm sure he told you guys and, and a
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little boy and he's growing his family.
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And we were talking earlier, you know, when I was playing and
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seeing the other kids have kids around the rink.
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I'm like, man, I want to have kids early so my kids can watch
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me play. And, but then you get so busy
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and I had kids later like him. And we were talking about that.
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The how, how much of A blessing it is now because we we have
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more, you know, more margin to do things with our kids.
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And now I'm coaching my youngest and those things that I wouldn't
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have been able to do so, but for him to be able to retire and
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start a family at that time is, is pretty cool.
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So. Well, Mike, we talked to him
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last week, of course, as we mentioned and he just talked
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about the trade from Columbus to Nashville in 2016 was other than
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getting married, having a son, he said it was the best thing
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that ever happened to him. You were traded here from Ottawa
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back in 2011. When you look back now, how much
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did that trade change your life? Well, I was, I was a big part of
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part of my life, no question. So a day I'll never forget.
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We were in Calgary and we had lost with Ottawa 11 in a row and
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we were supposed to have a good team.
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And so at that point, you know, it's just OK, they're going to
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rebuild and a retool. And I remember get Brian Murray
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at the time, just before practice, we're ready to go on
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the outside. I don't know if I was just
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getting ready. And he gave me one of these
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like, I need to see you. And I was like, that's never
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usually a good thing, you know? And he he pulls me in the the
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office and and he's or his, the room where he was.
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And he's like, I got good news and I got bad news.
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So I'm like, oh, OK, like what's the bad news?
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I traded you And I'm like, you got to be kidding me.
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So he's like, but the good news is you're going to Nashville.
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And I was like, yes, that is good news.
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Oh, but anyway, that that started something, you know, I,
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it was, it was a big, big moment.
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I was obviously getting traded. It's never it was it was weird,
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you know, but my wife and I had just gotten married six months
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before. I I'd hoped to play in Nashville
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at some .1 day that kind of the trade speed it up.
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But it was it was a great place for me to come into great group
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of guys and the organization. And yeah, it's it's it became a
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huge part and very grateful for for, you know, David and and
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this the sons organization to make it happen.
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I mean, we're almost 10 years removed now from that Stanley
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Cup run. But looking back on it, Mike,
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what stands out to you the most? Well, I was just doing a video
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and well, this was actually back up some of that memories of the
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run, but we were talking about it with some other guys actually
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recently. But just the fact that we we
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swept Chicago, I think it was the first time that an eighth
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seed had swept A1 seed right ever in the history, which is
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pretty cool. And I was doing a video for
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Joey's retirement and I was thinking about some of the
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memories and him and I actually was the conference final where
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we shared an ambulance after game.
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She when he got hurt and I got hurt same game, we took the same
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ambulance to the hospital. Like what a great memory that
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is. But but the finals, I mean,
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obviously not having Joey and then Fiala who was playing good
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too didn't help us. But I'll never forget game
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three. Really cool memory in the locker
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room. We have to, you know, we'll have
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the TV on kind of some of the coverage, Obviously not, you
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know, early on when we just get there.
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But seeing the video footage of Nashville, the streets, the
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people was we're all looking at each other.
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We knew it was going to be pretty cool.
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You know, that was during CMA Fest too.
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But just seeing that was really cool, something we'll never
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forget, just the amount of people.
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And I think that, you know, now a lot of teams since have
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parties outside. I think because of what we did
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here, you know, it's really grown outside.
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You don't need a ticket, you know, I mean, you can have you
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can watch it outside. You can just be there part of
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the city. And so they're, you know,
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obviously the disappointment of losing, but the whole the whole
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run was something special for the city and us as players got
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to be part of that. And, you know, hopefully we get
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to be part of that here here one day.
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So again. Well, I don't want to ask you to
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relive your medical history, but what are you thinking is you're
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sharing the ambulance together at that stage of the playoffs?
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Well, I'd, I'd gotten a concussion, so they were just
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kind of doing some tests, I guess.
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And then Joey, he'd done his leg contusion, so using quite a bit
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of pain. I, I don't even really remember
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that much. But having the concussion, I
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remember coming off, you know, when you get hit like that, you
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concussions, which mine wasn't that bad.
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But I remember in the room, like, thinking because I knew,
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you know, we were close to going to finals.
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I don't know if you're playing, but you get really emotional.
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And that's just a common thing. And the doctor's like, it's OK.
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And I've got tears in my eyes in the room.
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And I and I got to go join Joey. And it was, I mean, something.
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Yeah, you know, just part of the part of the deal.
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But we always, we always, we still joke about it, the
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ambulance ride together, but hopefully it never happens
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again. Seriously.
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Yeah. One and done.
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One and done. OK, We'll see you.
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You're the captain of that team in 2017.
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You decided to hang up your skates after that season, but
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then you made the decision to come back out of retirement next
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season. What was that process kind of
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like for you to make that happen?
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And and what do you remember about that time?
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Yeah, I remember, I remember. Well, I mean, I, I kind of, I
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took some time to, I figured it was my last year after that.
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And then I remember it was about December when Lavie has said,
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hey, you know, come down to some practice boys would like to see,
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you know, so I come down, watch practice, said hi to the guys
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and it's like, just see me on the way out.
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And then that's when he put it in my ear.
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He's like, what would you think? And I was like, no, no, no, I'm
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like, I'm good. I, you know, and, and, and he's
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like, well, I, I, you know, I'll call you back in, you know, a
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couple months or whatever before I got to know.
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And sure enough, and I'd gone home to, to Carrie and I was
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like, Laffy was asking me about, you know, maybe coming back and
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she kind of looked at me at that point.
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She wasn't, you know, her schedule was not bad for the
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spring and she went touring and she's like, well, why not?
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And I was like, Oh, crap, I don't know if she's she's like,
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do you think you can do it? Wait, what do you mean that's a
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challenge? Crap.
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So anyways, I but I took it took some time, but after a while I
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was like, you know what, why not?
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The team was doing well and I was like, man, I just need to
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spend a little bit time getting shape, which was horrible the
16:48
first two weeks of because I honestly, I remember just about,
16:53
I think it was just before, you know, I was thinking about, I
16:57
was at hunt camp and I'm like, this is the worst shape.
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I'm I've been in a long time, but I needed, it's like when you
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retire, you kind of need a mental break from working out.
17:05
But at some point it's like, no, I just don't feel good.
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So anyway, I, I hadn't really worked out much, but it, it's
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amazing how quick it does come back though, that muscle memory
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and, and how much you love, you know, competing and getting
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ready and, but I'm glad I did it.
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It didn't. And you know, we met second
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round and lost and, but after that it was, it was very clear I
17:26
was not making a third comeback. So, yeah, well, I want to, I
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want to ask you one more on that too, because I one of my lasting
17:33
memories of that day when you were first on the ice for the
17:37
first time, at least for us to. Yeah, go ahead, take pictures.
17:40
We're announcing it. And Joey came out to the bench
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and just gives you one of the Ryan Johansson bear hugs and
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everybody was so excited to see you.
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But for you and not only to come back, but just in general being
17:50
around the team, how much of A of a blessing was that for you
17:53
just to have the influence that you were able to have on on your
17:56
teammates? Because obviously everybody that
17:58
we talked to just speaks the world of you.
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How do you view that? Well, the older you get, and I
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guess it's like anything else when you, you know, yeah,
18:09
knowing you're kind of near in the end or at the end.
18:12
And for me it was, it's, it's so much more than the game too.
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You know, you, you love to compete and, you know, get on
18:20
the ice and win games and all those things.
18:22
But it's, and it took me out, made a lot of mistakes early in
18:25
my career, but the longer I was there, it's like, you know what,
18:28
I'm with a group of guys and I want to impact them not just on
18:32
the ice, but off the ice and try to be a good example and leader
18:35
and point them towards the important things in life.
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And, and, you know, I've got lots of people in my life that
18:42
have, you know, helped me and guide me and we all need that.
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And maybe I can do that with some guys and in different ways
18:48
and, and inspire guys. And that's what kind of really
18:52
matters. And, and, and, and you look back
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to you and you're over your career and Joey's one of those
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guys. And there's, there's others too.
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But it's the friendships that you remember the good people,
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you know, that's what it's all about that.
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So, but yeah, it was, you know, I was fortunate to to be in a
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leadership position towards the end of my career and, and didn't
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take it lightly because that's that's important.
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But but but yeah. Speaking of leadership, we
19:21
always talk with Roman Yossi and being the captain.
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He he talks about how much he learned from you when you were
19:27
the captain and he was still coming up and now he's played
19:29
over 1000 games in Nashville. But could you see that
19:32
leadership in Yossi and and know that he would be as excellent as
19:35
he is now? Yeah, definitely.
19:39
Your Roman is such a well liked guy that, you know, very humble
19:45
and you we we know the person or the the player that he is like
19:48
he's just dominating, you know, way more so than I was for sure.
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No, not even a question. But, you know, off the ice, you
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know, just such a good guy and you could just see it, you know,
20:00
So there's some people that and he's one of those.
20:04
You know, no one will ever say a bad thing about but Roman, you
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know, and that that's that's the type, you know, of leaders you
20:10
need that guys really want to to work with, to be a part of, to
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learn from. And you know, I'm so happy the
20:19
success that he's had over his career.
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It's really incredible. And future Hall of Famer.
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I know that and an incredible person.
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So. Well, and, and Mike off of that
20:32
too, I mean, we talked about the the guys you had a chance to
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play with, what it's like to play in Nashville.
20:38
And obviously those runs in the playoffs are fantastic.
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Just nothing like Bridgestone Arena.
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How special was it to play in Nashville for all those years
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and especially in front of Preds fans?
20:52
I mean, it was awesome. I, I mean, I, I came from a, you
20:55
know, I, I never at my hockey crew stayed inside Ontario for
20:58
so long and, you know, playing up in Ottawa, we everyone loved
21:02
to come play in Nashville. Like it's just different now.
21:04
It's changed when I, I remember, you know, Broadway outside the
21:08
rink used to be kind of quiet at times and now it's just, it's
21:12
changed so much. But guys love playing in
21:14
Nashville and you know, it's such a great, you know, city
21:19
people place to play. I love the rink being downtown,
21:24
that hole. We didn't have that in Ottawa,
21:25
the rink downtown. So, so awesome, you know, to be
21:29
a part of and for the whole fan experience and, but a lot of
21:33
great people, the organizations that you know, it's just
21:37
incredible from the top down and what they do for the community
21:40
and, you know, with the foundation and it is awesome.
21:46
And, you know, and, and I've, I've enjoyed this is, this is
21:50
home for me. This, this area.
21:51
We love raising our boys here and being a part of this
21:53
community. It is a special place, no
21:55
question and and I consider myself definitely blessed to be
21:59
to be here and have played here and be an alumni so.
22:04
We'll end on this and it's been such a run for you.
22:06
Obviously you were a fantastic player, had a great career here
22:09
in Nashville, but you've earned this stage of life.
22:12
How much you enjoying just being a husband and being a dad these
22:15
days? It's been, it's been great.
22:17
I mean, it's, you know, parenting is not always easy
22:21
shocker, but my boys, they're they keep us going.
22:25
You know, we live on the farm here.
22:26
There's always things to do and that they keep us going and
22:31
they're they're and obviously this sports and things and but
22:34
but I I'm definitely enjoying this stage of life and have some
22:37
fun projects I'm working on too. And so, but having the freedom
22:42
to do other things is has been nice.
22:44
And it's crazy to believe someone was asking me the other
22:46
day how long you been retired? Like how many years?
22:48
And that's, I think it's almost 8 now.
22:50
And they're like, what? I thought it was like 4 or five.
22:53
That's crazy. Go so stinking fast, you know,
22:55
But but no, it's, it's been great.
22:58
So yeah. Well, it's been awesome to see.
23:01
Great to catch up with you. I hope that this next bobblehead
23:05
makes it a little bit longer than maybe some of the other
23:08
ones at home for you. No guarantees in this household.
23:14
Well, Mike, it's a pleasure as always, take care, give our best
23:17
to the family, and thanks so much for doing this.
23:18
We've loved having you. Thanks, Brooks.
23:20
Thanks, Kara. See you Max.
23:23
That is former Preds captain and all time good guy Mike Fisher
23:26
here on the Predators Official Podcast.
23:28
We'll be back in just a moment here on The POP.
23:32
Welcome back to the Predators official Podcast here on
23:35
ESPN1O25, The Game and Nashville Predators YouTube.
23:39
My name is Max Herz from Fred's Radio with Brooks Bratton from
23:42
nashvillepredators.com and Cara Hammer from Fred's TV.
23:47
Just another face for the second week in a row from Fred's alumni
23:51
that makes you smile and remember how great that cup run
23:54
was and all those years in the 20 tens.
23:58
I love the relationship between him and Joey too.
24:01
Not that they weren't friends when they were playing here
24:03
together, but I love just the way that that is continued after
24:06
they're playing days. Obviously they're both here in
24:08
Nashville. And great to hear some stories
24:11
from Fish. You get into the nostalgia of it
24:13
all and get guys back. Looking back on what happened in
24:17
2017 and and another moments in time, I love talking about kind
24:21
of a challenge from Peter Laviolette, like, hey, do you
24:23
want to come back? And then his wife, Carrie
24:26
Underwood says, well, you can do it, right?
24:28
Aren't you going to do it? I love that.
24:30
It's fantastic. Yeah, and I think, you know,
24:33
it's so fun to look back on Fish and the cup run and him coming
24:37
back and everything. But guys, the triple overtime
24:40
goal against the Sharks as we just got done playing San Jose,
24:44
but how great of a memory was that?
24:46
I still, at that point in time, I was not working for the team.
24:49
I was covering the team sitting in the stands.
24:52
It's one O clock in the morning and here comes the hero, Mike
24:56
Fisher. How great was that?
25:00
Amazing. And my favorite Mike Fisher
25:03
memory is during the cup final run when Carrie Underwood was
25:08
interviewed in some sort of pop culture publication.
25:11
You guys may remember this better than I do, but she was
25:14
asked does your husband like to sing your music?
25:18
And she said no, but he likes to sing in the shower.
25:21
What is he saying if he doesn't see you sing your music?
25:24
And he she said that Mike Fischer in the shower sings
25:27
Party Up by DMX and that was when and how that became the
25:31
Predators power play song. And here we are, all these years
25:34
later, Mike Fisher still singing in the shower every time the
25:37
Preds draw a penalty. His influence never reigns.
25:42
That's fantastic. Yeah.
25:43
I carry that overtime goal. That was one of the better goals
25:46
in Predators history. A huge goal, obviously, at that
25:49
moment. And nothing like a nice little
25:52
triple overtime thriller at 1:10 in the morning.
25:54
So once again, our thanks to Mike Fisher for joining us.
25:57
Just a gem of a human that we're all better off for knowing him
26:01
and we're glad he was able to be with us again.
26:04
We've mentioned it before, but in the midst of this five game
26:07
win streak, Philip Forsberg asserting his dominance.
26:10
Name the NHL second star of the week with 9 points and four
26:13
games last week. Three more points against the
26:15
Sharks on Tuesday night. We've seen this before, but how
26:19
impressive is this right now from Philip Forsberg in the way
26:22
that he is? I'm not.
26:24
I'm not going to say single handedly because a lot of other
26:26
guys are contributing, but a lot of times it feels like
26:29
especially Sunday in Chicago, he said.
26:30
Nope, I'm done. We're going home.
26:32
Let's end it right now. That's what it should be.
26:34
You're a leading scorer, should be putting the team on his back
26:37
and what Phil is at his best. I don't know how much else you
26:40
need offensively for the Preds. The way he's played this week,
26:43
he's been on another planet. Five goals and seven assists for
26:47
12 points in A5 game point streak, and all five of those
26:50
games are Preds wins. That Sunday game in Chicago, he
26:54
just took over. Like he put out a mixtape from
26:57
that game that you could put 5 minutes together of this.
27:01
Phil doing incredible stuff offensively.
27:03
Two goals, including the overtime winner, a primary
27:06
assist. He had a primary point on all
27:08
three goals and the highlight of the day wasn't even on the goal
27:12
scoring play. It was the soccer kick to Steven
27:16
Stamkos through the slot, which was if that goes in, that's one
27:21
of the best goals in Pred's franchise history.
27:24
Well, yeah. And having Phil in the first
27:26
star last night against the Sharks game, he said that the
27:29
vets say they really haven't liked the way they've been
27:31
playing. They were challenging themselves
27:32
and they came out and they had a strong showing.
27:34
And guys, one thing we talked about, they're playing as one.
27:37
They're playing as a unit. We've talked, heard the vets
27:39
say, about how they're being energized, but also we need them
27:43
to step up. And hey, Phil Forsberg, Steven
27:45
Tamkos, Ryan O'Reilly. But those guys get going.
27:48
They're unstoppable. Look, the the guys who have been
27:52
here since 2017, I think about this all the time, but
27:56
especially since we just got to see Mike Fisher's face for
27:59
Philip Forsberg and Roman Yossi. Especially the hunger those guys
28:03
have to win a Stanley Cup for the Nashville Predators is
28:07
unmatched with how frickin close we all felt it in 2017, led by
28:14
those guys. And all of a sudden this year,
28:17
in a year where it was not expected for the Preds to be in
28:19
the playoffs by anybody other than the players and coaches on
28:22
the team, they are in position to get in there.
28:25
And when they're playing this well, we've seen it before.
28:29
The last team in can be the last team left in the Western
28:33
Conference. And for Philip Forsberg to be in
28:35
the prime of his career at age 31, heating up and taking it
28:39
personally like he has over the last few weeks.
28:42
And for Roman Yossi to be the healthiest he has been in years,
28:46
the star power at the top of the Preds lineup has the power to
28:49
carry them places. And I love seeing the level that
28:52
these guys have taken it to recently.
28:56
This is exactly what Barry Trotz said.
28:58
Hey, you're feeding 2 heads right now.
29:00
At the trade deadline, they got rid of pieces.
29:02
They weren't sure they were sitting out of a playoff spot,
29:04
but then they found a way. The young guys have come up.
29:07
They've stepped up. Now we're in a playoff spot.
29:10
I mean, this is exactly what what Trotz was talking about.
29:13
And the guys are trending in the right direction.
29:16
It's been impressive to say the least and a little bit of a
29:18
boost of energy for the veteran players has continued to come
29:22
from the young guys that have made their way up from
29:24
Milwaukee. And one of those players,
29:26
Fedoris Fetchkov, Congrats to him and new two year $2.5
29:29
million deal signed on Monday. He's obviously thrilled to get
29:33
it done and says he just wants to keep getting better and
29:36
establishing himself here and the mix of vets and young guys
29:39
in the room. Fedoris Fetchkov wondered, is
29:42
this what a collegiate experience feels like?
29:45
Here's what he had to say on that right.
29:48
Now it's been different because like after deadline, obviously a
29:51
couple of guys left and there are like huge part of the team.
29:56
But now it's a little bit different.
29:59
Now it's a little more young guys and still easier for me
30:02
because like, you know, right now it's easier to you have fun
30:08
with the guys who same age as you.
30:10
So yeah, it feels like a little bit, I don't know, I've never
30:13
been in college, but I think it feels like college right now a
30:15
little bit. Yeah.
30:17
So really can't get me live. So it just feels like college
30:21
right now. Yeah, it's fun.
30:25
Brooks, that is the the best answer you've ever gotten from a
30:28
Fred's player right there. I'm putting that right at the
30:31
top. Fetch just absolutely clowning
30:33
in the corner. And he looked off camera to stop
30:37
the interview and ask his locker neighbor, Matt Wood, if he was
30:41
right that it felt like college. Because Fetch, as he said, has
30:44
never been to college. Matt Wood has been to two
30:46
colleges. And Wood obligingly agreed.
30:50
But in the words of Fetch, Woody can't get me lie.
30:54
So I agree, Svetch, Congrats on the contract.
30:57
Lovely. What?
30:58
He did not lie. Yeah.
30:59
We're glad to have Svetch here for another couple of years.
31:02
Who? He's just a great presence
31:03
around the room. He wished Kara a Happy Women's
31:05
Day last season. He does it all.
31:07
What can't he do, Kara? You know, Brooke, you'll get a
31:10
kick out of this. So after our morning production
31:13
meeting, I, Willie said, let's go talk to dispatch and, you
31:16
know, get a second thought from him about, about the, the
31:19
contract. So I go in and I and he goes,
31:21
you might get a great one liner. So I go and ask better, you
31:25
know, Congrats. You know what came to this
31:28
decision? And he said, oh, it's a lot of
31:29
young guys and a lot of money. Easy decision.
31:34
And I, I came back and I, I told the group, you know, I didn't
31:37
really get that great one liner. And sure enough, I opened my
31:40
social media 10 minutes later and see the tweet about the
31:43
college and I thought, darn, should've just stuck around for
31:46
one more minute. Hey, you got them warmed up for
31:49
us though. Carrie, you getting disgust?
31:51
There you go. But hey, how great has Bech been
31:53
6-2 and one in his last few games and nine games since
31:56
coming up from Milwaukee? And you know, Trotsy said.
31:59
He's playing with a lot of confidence right now.
32:01
It's almost like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders
32:03
and we don't know. Was it the white stick to start
32:06
the season? Was he in his head with kind of
32:08
how things were going? But coming back up from
32:10
Milwaukee, he's had a total reset and he's earned where he's
32:13
at right now. Well, in a great feed from
32:16
Svetch on Phillips, Phillip Fordsberg's goal, that first
32:19
goal last night and just an example of what he's capable of,
32:22
Andrew Brunette saying, yes, there's still, we still talk
32:25
about consistency and you talk about that with every young
32:28
player. But Svetchkov really is glad to
32:31
be in the spot that he is. He wants to continue to get
32:34
better, to establish himself here and we're certainly looking
32:37
forward to seeing that. So again, Congrats to Svetch on
32:39
that deal and guys, we've talked about it again.
32:42
But the playoff picture now as we record this on Wednesday,
32:45
March the 25th, just 11 games to go in their regular season for
32:49
Nashville. They continue to occupy that
32:51
second wild card spot, 77 points now 7 points up on San Jose
32:56
A-Team. They'll face two more times
32:59
before before it's all done. The Preds are also just three
33:02
points behind Utah for that first wild card spot in the
33:05
West. According to Moneypuck, 59.8%
33:09
odds, that number was down to 20 seemingly just a few days ago.
33:13
And again, as of Wednesday morning, that's what we have.
33:16
So guys, what do you think as we go along here?
33:20
11 games to go? We know the California trip is
33:23
going to be massive and we'll touch on that more next week
33:25
before we head out there. But this is what you want end of
33:28
March, and you're in playoff conversation right now.
33:33
It's March Madness and we're not talking about basketball.
33:37
I love where the Preds are at right now.
33:39
Nobody else around them seems to want it anywhere near as badly
33:42
as the Preds do. And Brooks, I give you
33:45
permission to look up in the standings and see if the Preds
33:48
can catch Utah for that first wild card. 3 points back with a
33:52
game at hand and a head to head meeting.
33:54
Yeah, look up, do it, see if the press get into that Pacific
33:58
Division bracket because that would be a whole lot of fun to
34:02
stay out of the double dog fight in the Central Division if the
34:05
Preds are able to make it in the playoffs.
34:08
But First things first, keep taking care of business.
34:11
Get yourself in. Any clinch that would happen
34:14
before the final game of the season is a luxury.
34:16
I'm expecting a sweat all the way to the finish.
34:19
And you know what, Brooks? I don't give a money puck about
34:23
what money puck.com says. They didn't believe in US early
34:27
in the season. We were under 1%.
34:30
They can tell me it's 59.8% right now.
34:33
I put Money puck.com in my block folder with at Brooks Bites on
34:38
Instagram, things that I have absolutely no interest in
34:42
viewing on my Internet browser. I don't care what they say.
34:45
All that I care about is hockey and winning.
34:49
Love this Max rant we have happening here.
34:52
Bitten fire on a Wednesday. Well done, Max.
34:56
No, it's it's it's great to see and I'll look up.
34:59
I I love that idea. Look up to Utah that.
35:00
And that's what they've said too right.
35:02
Like it's not just a matter of yeah, you've gotten into a wild
35:05
card spot right now. Now the goal is to move up.
35:08
It was one thing to say all right we'll finally get in there
35:11
but what's to say I mean there are still a bunch of teams
35:14
jumbled up. Teams are losing every night in
35:16
the Pacific seemingly, and things are so unpredictable
35:20
right now. We've talked about that.
35:21
California trips going to be massive.
35:23
They play Utah on that trip as well.
35:25
Who's to say that that game won't be a battle for the one
35:28
and two wild card spot at that juncture?
35:30
So lots to watch out for and we're really excited to be here.
35:34
It was obviously not the case at this time last year.
35:36
Not a lot to cheer for. But these games against New
35:38
Jersey, Montreal, Tampa, the rest of the week, you mentioned
35:41
it, Max. You can rely on other people or
35:44
at least keep an eye on what others are doing.
35:46
But as Steven Stamko said on Tuesday, the best part about all
35:50
of this is it's in Nashville's hands, right?
35:53
They win, they keep getting in, so if you can prevail more often
35:58
than not, which they have been doing, obviously, just keep
36:01
stacking points because the more points you have, the better off
36:04
you're going to be. And there's no reason to believe
36:06
that the Predators cannot continue to better themselves
36:09
over the next few weeks here. And Nashville sticking with the
36:13
motto when the week they have not changed anything about their
36:15
way. They're coming out and
36:16
performing. They had a goal last night to
36:18
set the tone against the San Jose Sharks.
36:21
I was also told that they wanted to tell the league, hey, we're a
36:23
team that can play a full 60 minutes when they got the job
36:27
done. So we'll stick with that motto
36:29
when the week you're listening to the Predators official
36:32
podcast. We're going to have the Big E
36:34
coming up next. Welcome back into the Predators
36:38
official podcast, Cara Hammer, along with Max hers and Brooks
36:42
Bratton. And today we are going to talk
36:44
about our Big E awesome person of the week.
36:47
And again, we have a very sad short, a very sad story to share
36:52
this news coming out of Minnesota.
36:54
And Brooks, it's it's just devastating when something awful
36:58
happens to our hockey community. Yeah, we've had another loss,
37:02
unfortunately, a couple weeks in a row that we've had to pay
37:05
tribute to folks that we knew and loved.
37:07
And Jesse Pierce, who it's made national news.
37:11
It's been all over social media because everybody knew or knew
37:15
of Jesse, seemingly theminnesotanhl.com
37:18
correspondent. She also used to work for the
37:20
Wild for a time. Just a horrible tragedy as she
37:24
passed away along with her three children in a house fire over
37:27
the weekend back home there in Minnesota.
37:31
We all were getting the news on Sunday morning as we were
37:33
getting ready to head to the rink in Chicago.
37:35
And I think we were all shocked. I mean, obviously you'd never
37:38
expect to hear something like that happening.
37:41
And you know, I, I took a moment to kind of gather some thoughts
37:45
and I thought, you know, we hear the same Minnesota nice all the
37:47
time. I think there's nice and then
37:49
there's Minnesota nice. And Jesse just epitomized that
37:53
phrase. I've, I've never met a
37:54
friendlier reporter in a road city before then Jesse.
37:58
And you know, we only went up to Minnesota twice a year, but she
38:02
made you feel like so much more than a visitor when you were in
38:05
Saint Paul covering the wild and a story that was relayed to me
38:10
by Ethan Fleming, one of our fantastic video producers here
38:13
with the preds. So I I usually travel to almost
38:17
every Rd. game, but I didn't go December 23rd, just a couple of
38:21
days before Christmas to Minnesota.
38:23
But he still went just to, you know, have some video clips from
38:26
the locker room and whatnot. And this may not seem like a big
38:30
thing, but he had mentioned that during that game in December,
38:34
nobody else was there to hold the microphone.
38:36
And Jesse offered to hold the Preds microphone during some of
38:39
the media availabilities in the locker room.
38:42
And again, that might not seem like a big thing, but I don't
38:45
know many other people who would offer to do that no matter what
38:48
the logo is on the mic flag. I I just think that that's
38:52
really shows the the kind, caring person that she was, not
38:56
only in a professional sense like that to say, hey, I know
38:59
that it's difficult for a camera person to hold it with one hand
39:02
and reach out to Mike with another hand.
39:04
Let me offer to do that for you. But that's just a really small
39:07
thing and a lot of small gestures that Jesse made
39:11
overtime that made her just a giant in the Minnesota hockey
39:15
community. And so again, we didn't get to
39:17
know her up close and personal like most people in Minnesota
39:20
did. But the times that we did to
39:22
interact with her, nothing but amazing things to say.
39:25
Andrew Brunette said that after the game in Chicago, as well as
39:28
a guy with a lot of Minnesota ties, that he's going to miss
39:31
her a lot. And we're all going to miss her
39:32
a lot. It's not going to be the same
39:34
going to Minnesota without seeing Jesse there.
39:36
So our condolences to her husband.
39:39
Just an unimaginable time. All their friends, all their
39:41
family. And we're sending our love to
39:44
everybody in Minnesota who knew Jesse and loved Jesse because to
39:47
know her was to love her. And we're certainly going to
39:49
miss her. Yeah.
39:51
Just heartbreaking news and Brooks I I vividly, vividly
39:54
remember a photo being posted a few years back of her going into
39:59
the locker room carrying her her baby and a baby Bjorn doing an
40:05
interview with Mikhail Granlin and somebody posted a photo of
40:08
her her child with granny over the next few months and just.
40:13
Being a mom, that always stuck out to me.
40:15
If this is what hockey is, you could be a mom and you could be
40:18
a working mom and you could do all of the things.
40:20
So we are just just absolutely heartbroken and devastated here
40:23
this news. Yeah, she's a wonderful person,
40:27
a wonderful mom. She the only thing she loved
40:29
more than hockey were her kids. And so that was such a great
40:32
picture that made the rounds again this week.
40:35
So again, all of our best to her friends, her family, all of our
40:38
friends up in Minnesota and the entire hockey community.
40:41
It's a huge loss. And we send our condolences to
40:44
the family and the friends and the loved ones of Jesse Pierce.
40:48
We are also excited, however, to continue on as the Predators
40:52
make their way toward the postseason push. 11 games to go,
40:55
as we said, and we will continue to bring you all of the
40:58
happiness over the next week. Three games to go before we
41:01
record our next episode next week before the team heads out
41:04
to California. And it's an exciting time.
41:07
So if you're not back on the wagon yet, still plenty of time
41:10
to hop on because the Preds are steamrolling right now and
41:13
they're looking to keep it going.
41:14
So thanks to everyone for joining us as always from Axers
41:17
for Cara Hammer for Mike Fisher, who took time to join as well.
41:20
I'm Brooks Bratton, have a great week.
41:22
We'll talk to you next time on the Preds official Podcast.