Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Nick Olczyk previews the Stanley Cup Final, Carolina Hurricanes the rightful favorites (?), The future of the Utah Mammoth + more

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Nick Olczyk previews the Stanley Cup Final, Carolina Hurricanes the rightful favorites (?), The future of the Utah Mammoth + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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Speaker 1: I'm not.
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Speaker 2: You are listening to about Sean O'Connell show, your source
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Speaker 2: for the best utes football cover which here's oc from
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Speaker 2: the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred then ninety
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Speaker 2: two to one a half am.
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Speaker 3: Where you got me thy?
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Speaker 4: Game one of the Stanley Cup Final, Vegas Knights versus
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Speaker 4: Carolina Hurricanes is tomorrow. You can listen to it right
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Speaker 4: here on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM.
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Speaker 4: The television broadcast will be on ABC Carolina. The favorites
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Speaker 4: in Game one if that matters to you, joining us
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Speaker 4: to talk all things hockey and especially the Stanley Cup Final.
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Speaker 4: Nickolchik Utah Mammoth, analyst who of course also does work
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Speaker 4: for Sports USA, was on the Eastern Conference Final there.
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Speaker 3: Nick, Welcome back to the show. How are you?
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Speaker 1: Oh see? Great to be with you. Very exciting time
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Speaker 1: right now with with the Stanley Cup Final just a
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Speaker 1: day away, and I know the excitement, the anticipation is growing.
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Speaker 1: And having uh having covered the entirety of the of
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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference Finals, UH, and that was that was
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Speaker 1: quite the series. UH. Plenty to talk about. But great
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Speaker 1: to be with you. Hope you're doing well, and and
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Speaker 1: and by the way, I gotta say I'm a big
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Speaker 1: we'll get Choco fans, So I love the intro song.
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Speaker 1: There down a feeling. That's one of my favorites. They
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Speaker 1: just can we just miss missed the best part? Do
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Speaker 1: you get choga? That's where it's at.
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Speaker 4: That is the only downside when you're using great songs
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Speaker 4: as as radio bumpers. You can't let them get into
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Speaker 4: where you need to get them sometimes exactly well, because
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Speaker 4: we'll start with Carolina, because you know you were just
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Speaker 4: covering them so closely, and you know this is this
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Speaker 4: is a team that was red red hot in the
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Speaker 4: first couple of rounds, and obviously Montreal gave him a
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Speaker 4: off for test. But ultimately the Hurricanes pushed through and
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Speaker 4: find themselves in the final.
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Speaker 3: Uh, what makes you believe that maybe they could win it?
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Speaker 1: Full of The Hurricanes are a team that will matter
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Speaker 1: the day of the week, no matter what month it is,
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Speaker 1: whether it's regular season of playoffs. They know exactly how
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Speaker 1: they're going to play, and they're suffocating. They force the
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Speaker 1: opposition to drag them into the deep end and and
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Speaker 1: and they don't let them breathe. They don't take their
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Speaker 1: foots off their next as soon as they've they've got
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Speaker 1: them in a position where there's a lead, where they
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Speaker 1: can dictate the pace, especially at home. And you know,
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Speaker 1: with the Carolina Hurricanes, I mean, they have long been
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Speaker 1: a team for the last bunch of years that just
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Speaker 1: hasn't been able to get over the hump to the
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Speaker 1: last three seasons. In the Eastern Conference Final, they lost,
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Speaker 1: of course, to the Florida Panthers, and I look for
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Speaker 1: them right now. Finally I got the sense that that
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Speaker 1: I don't know if I would say relief is the word,
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Speaker 1: but but they finally said, okay, phew, now we proved
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Speaker 1: what we knew all along, is that not only are
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Speaker 1: we a great team, but a team that can have
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Speaker 1: a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. And talking a
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Speaker 1: lot of the players, I mean, there is, and rightfully so,
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Speaker 1: a supreme confidence of this group. And to me, it's
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Speaker 1: the players that are most important, Yes, because they're going
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Speaker 1: out and getting the job done, But to me, it
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Speaker 1: starts and ends with their head coach, Rod Brindamore. And
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Speaker 1: I heard a pretty fascinating and mind blowing statistic when
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Speaker 1: I was in Raleigh heading into into Game five and
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Speaker 1: I had read that Rod brindam are going into Game five,
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Speaker 1: I had taken part in, either as a player or
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Speaker 1: a coach, of ninety seven of the Hurricanes ninety nine
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Speaker 1: career playoff wins, dating all the way back to the
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Speaker 1: year nineteen ninety nine. So I mean he has had
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Speaker 1: his fingerprints, he has had his footprints all over the
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Speaker 1: blootprint of the entire Carolina Hurricanes and franchise history. And
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Speaker 1: so now with that winning Game five, now he's taken
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Speaker 1: part in ninety eight of the one hundred wins in
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Speaker 1: their franchise history. So just pretty special considering his tenure
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Speaker 1: both on the ice and behind the bench. And when
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Speaker 1: I had a chance to ask him at a morning
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Speaker 1: skate before Game five, in typical Rat Brendamoor fashion, the
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Speaker 1: first answer out of his mouth had nothing to do
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Speaker 1: with himself. He just says, it has so much to
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Speaker 1: do with the people, the other people that have been
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Speaker 1: here for years, the other people that have been around
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Speaker 1: with the team from the very beginning. And I think
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Speaker 1: that's the culture. It takes everybody, and it's no different
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Speaker 1: on the ice. I mean, Caroline Hurricanes have four lines
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Speaker 1: that can roll and four lines that can be dangerous
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Speaker 1: four lines that can score, and you look at them
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Speaker 1: on the back end with the likes of arguably a
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Speaker 1: top three US born defenseman in Jacob Slavin, who had
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Speaker 1: a Cup game in Game one, but responded in games
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Speaker 1: two through five and was back to the unbelievable defensive
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Speaker 1: defender that he is been his entire career. I think
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Speaker 1: Jalen Shackfield is another guy that really impressed me as
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Speaker 1: a right handed, punck moving defenseman. He's not afraid to
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Speaker 1: be physical. But the one guy that really stood out
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Speaker 1: I think in a huge way is KeAndre Miller. And
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Speaker 1: when he came over from the New York Rangers, things
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Speaker 1: that had gone a little sour for him up in
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Speaker 1: New York needed to change his scenery. Everybody was wondering
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Speaker 1: is he going to be the defenseman that that that
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Speaker 1: there was a lot of potential around and especially in
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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference Finals, I think he took not just
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Speaker 1: one step, but a couple of steps to becoming one
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Speaker 1: of the better defensemen in the league and knowing that
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Speaker 1: that's the guy that can he can put you on
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Speaker 1: your rear, he can put you into the third or
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Speaker 1: fourth row, but also you know, be reliable on his
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Speaker 1: own zone to be able to move the puck. So
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Speaker 1: I just think when you look at their four lines,
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Speaker 1: do you look at the defense corps. And lastly, in
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Speaker 1: terms of this team, Freddie Anderson has not only proved
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Speaker 1: that he truly is one of the best goalies in
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Speaker 1: the league, but he has found a way to stay healthy.
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Speaker 1: And you know, we're continuing to set and our out
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Speaker 1: our condolences and well wishes to him because the the
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Speaker 1: incredibly unfortunate passing of Claude Lemieux. Claude Lemieux was actually
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Speaker 1: Freddie Anderson's agent and he had to play the next
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Speaker 1: day after finding out the news that that Claud Lemieux
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Speaker 1: had passed. So you know, he's he's playing with a
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Speaker 1: heavy heart, there's no doubt. But from the goaltender on out,
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Speaker 1: this Carolina Hurricanes team, they're a well oiled machine. Uh
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Speaker 1: They're a shooting machine and you know what you're going
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Speaker 1: to get from them each and every night. And that's
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Speaker 1: one of the things I'll see that that makes the
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Speaker 1: heart to playing it. You could you could know exactly
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Speaker 1: what they're gonna go at you with, and sometimes you
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Speaker 1: still can't stop it because of how well conditioned they are,
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Speaker 1: and considering the fact that they have steamrolled through the
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Speaker 1: playoffs having only lost one game, and of course those
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Speaker 1: two series sweeps in round one and.
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Speaker 4: Two, how close to healthy would you call this team?
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Speaker 4: Because we saw that, you know, attrition that happens, and
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Speaker 4: I know that no team is without its bumps and
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Speaker 4: bruises this deep into a season, but we saw that
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Speaker 4: attrition really because a big factor in the Western Conference
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Speaker 4: Final for Colorado. So is this Carolina team pretty healthy?
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Speaker 3: Yeah?
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Speaker 1: I would say that they are. That they are pretty
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Speaker 1: darn healthy. Uh No, no major uh, no major players
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Speaker 1: out to speak of. And I think Oz hit the
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Speaker 1: nail on the head. I mean, nobody's healthy this time
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Speaker 1: of the year. And early in the series, Caroline was
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Speaker 1: kind of wait for some of their big boys to
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Speaker 1: pick it up, waiting for some of their their top
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Speaker 1: offensive guys to come through with some production. And as
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Speaker 1: a series went on, sebashiaho uh his name started to
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Speaker 1: appear more and more on the box score. Same with
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Speaker 1: with Andre Spetchnikov, who had a big overtime winner in
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Speaker 1: the in the Eastern Conference Final as well. So while yes,
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Speaker 1: the old adage of no one's healthy, this time of
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Speaker 1: the year remains true. Uh, this is a team that's
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Speaker 1: rearing and ready to go with the with pretty much
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Speaker 1: the full complement of their roster, trying to capture their
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Speaker 1: their second Stanley Cup in two decades.
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Speaker 4: Well there's you know, there's the recency of how closely
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Speaker 4: you were watching that Eastern Conference with Carolina, But you're
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Speaker 4: also intimately familiar with this Vegas team because of you know,
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Speaker 4: the playoff series against the Mammoth and obviously a team
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Speaker 4: in the West that we see more often than we
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Speaker 4: see teams like Carolina. This, this Vegas team got past
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Speaker 4: what was all year long the best team in the NHL.
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Speaker 4: They made Colorado look mortal, and I know the injuries
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Speaker 4: definitely played a factor there, but Vegas took advantage of
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Speaker 4: its opportunities in that Western Conference final and here they
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Speaker 4: are on the precipice of another Cup. And I just
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Speaker 4: wanted to get your overall thoughts on how well it
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Speaker 4: has worked out for them basically since that Utah Mamma series.
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Speaker 1: Well, in Vegas Gold the Knights are a team that
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Speaker 1: I mean, they have proven time and time again that
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Speaker 1: they're going to do whatever it takes to win. I mean,
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Speaker 1: that's with with players, shipping players and are out. That's management,
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Speaker 1: it's making tough decisions. It's it's firing your Stanley Cup
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Speaker 1: winning head coach Bruce Cassidy with the Western ten games
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Speaker 1: remaining in the season, and all of a sudden, here
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Speaker 1: comes John Tortorella, and as he put it, essentially and figuratively,
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Speaker 1: slapping his team in the face, saying, hey, I'm not
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Speaker 1: coming in here to change anything. I'm coming in here
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Speaker 1: to remind you of what a great hockey team you are.
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Speaker 1: And look at them now, so you know it has
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Speaker 1: been an amazing run for John Tortorella. They're in Vegas,
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Speaker 1: and whether there were injury issues this year for the
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Speaker 1: Golden Knights, whether they've got really, really, really poor goaltending
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Speaker 1: for the vast majority of the season, that was a
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Speaker 1: contributing factor as to the lack of their success and
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Speaker 1: why they were teetering towards the last third of the
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Speaker 1: season as to whether they would make the playoffs or not.
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Speaker 1: All of a sudden, now Carter Hart, who was hurt
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Speaker 1: during the majority of that time, is back and he
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Speaker 1: has performed in a huge way for his team and
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Speaker 1: has been I'm happy to say as big of a
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Speaker 1: reason as any why Vegas is where they're at right now.
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Speaker 1: And by happy to say, I mean that's just that's
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Speaker 1: just the fact. I mean, you can make a case
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Speaker 1: that the veggas goal of the Knights are playing a
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Speaker 1: few more games in the series or aren't where they are.
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Speaker 1: It's not for for Carter Heart's performance. And look, it's
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Speaker 1: not just it's never just one guy, of course, but
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Speaker 1: I mean you look up and down their roster, and
10:20
Speaker 1: how about the playoffs for paveldorfiev, I mean it took him,
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Speaker 1: I think it was three games to get his first
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Speaker 1: goal in the opening round against the Utah Mammoth. Now
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Speaker 1: he's got Ted Jack Eichel sixteen assists and the guy
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Speaker 1: that I think if you're a you're hockey fan, if
10:35
Speaker 1: you love the game, you want to see players do
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Speaker 1: well and succeed. I think anybody that has that mindset,
10:41
Speaker 1: that mentality, you're happy for Mitch Marner. Look, things went
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Speaker 1: the way that they did in Toronto, it just it
10:48
Speaker 1: just didn't work out. Now all of a sudden, he's
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Speaker 1: got a new lease on life in Vegas, part of
10:53
Speaker 1: a team that that obviously now very much as Stanley
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Speaker 1: Cup contender, and and look at what he's done leading
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Speaker 1: the Vegas Gold the Knights with twenty one points. Because
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Speaker 1: on his day, and even on a day where maybe
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Speaker 1: he's feeling it halfway or he's fifty percent, he's still
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Speaker 1: one of the most elite two way players in the
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Speaker 1: entire national hockey So up and down this roster o
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Speaker 1: see Shiller to Carolina. They can play any what you want.
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Speaker 1: They got forwards that are crashers and bangers. When when
11:19
Speaker 1: you think about Nick Daubd and Keegan kolas Are, you
11:22
Speaker 1: have that superstar factor of course as well with with
11:25
Speaker 1: the likes of Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner. You can
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Speaker 1: go on and down the list. And then the back
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Speaker 1: end puck movers, guys that can that can be physical
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Speaker 1: and go back on pucks and get him quickly out
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Speaker 1: of their own zone. When you think about Shay feed
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Speaker 1: or Kayden Borzak has had a nice playoffs as well,
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Speaker 1: and then now they've got a goaltender that has given
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Speaker 1: him a chance every night and then some on a
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Speaker 1: lot of their occasions so far in the postseason. So
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Speaker 1: this is this is going to be a heck of
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Speaker 1: a series. I don't see it being a short series. Considering,
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Speaker 1: I think that there's some real similarities in between these
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Speaker 1: two teams, meaning that they can adapt game to game.
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Speaker 1: If it's chippy, they have the person to thrive in
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Speaker 1: those moments. If it's overly physical, they can handle it.
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Speaker 1: If it's a game that turns into a bit of
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Speaker 1: a running gun game, they got no problem playing that either.
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Speaker 1: You got two goaltenders that have been feeling all playoff long,
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Speaker 1: and superstars that on both sides seem to be heating
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Speaker 1: up at the right time. I just get the sense
12:19
Speaker 1: that this series, in this Stanley Cup Final, has all
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Speaker 1: the makings to be the opposite of quick. I think
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Speaker 1: this could end up being a series that goes at
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Speaker 1: least six games, seven games, and give us an epics
12:33
Speaker 1: Stanley Cup Final here in twenty twenty six.
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Speaker 4: You and I have talked about this before, and you
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Speaker 4: just referenced Heart and what he has done in the
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Speaker 4: crease for Vegas so far. And is there a way
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Speaker 4: to explain it when a guy just figures it out
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Speaker 4: in gold, because I mean, this is not exactly how
12:51
Speaker 4: his entire season was going injury notwithstanding, it's not exactly
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Speaker 4: how his entire career has gone. I don't know how
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Speaker 4: many people would have said, that's the guy who is
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Speaker 4: going to be as responsible as anyone else for a
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Speaker 4: Cup run for Vegas. I mean, I know that, I
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Speaker 4: know that John Tortorella had a lot of confidence in him.
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Speaker 3: Is it that partnership that helped figure this out?
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Speaker 1: I think that could very well play a huge role
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Speaker 1: there oc. I think that's a great point. And those
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Speaker 1: two know each other back from their Philadelphia days when
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Speaker 1: when John Tortorello is coaching the Flyers and and Carter
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Speaker 1: Hart was breaking into the NHL there and and trying
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Speaker 1: to establish himself as a as a number one, as
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Speaker 1: a guy that belongs in the National Hockey League, and
13:29
Speaker 1: obviously all of the the off ice issues that went
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Speaker 1: on for Carter Hart, you know, and and now all
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Speaker 1: of a sudden he's back in the crease. And and
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Speaker 1: look when you look at the numbers, when you look
13:39
Speaker 1: at the stats, when you look at how he's played,
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Speaker 1: the one thing you cannot deny is how important he
13:45
Speaker 1: has been for the Vegas Gold the Nights, reaching this
13:47
Speaker 1: moment of being in yet another Stanley Cup. Bind So
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Speaker 1: I think I'm going to be completely honest with you
13:53
Speaker 1: and that I don't know the bualtending position as much
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Speaker 1: as I do maybe the mentality of a player, but
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Speaker 1: I think it's just like anything in life, when you're
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Speaker 1: surrounded by people that want you to succeed, that are
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Speaker 1: there for you, and of course it helps to have
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Speaker 1: some familiarity. Like the point you brought up with John Tortorella,
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Speaker 1: I think all of those elements create an environment where
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Speaker 1: a player can thrive. And when a player's mind and
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Speaker 1: mental is thriving, then all of a sudden.
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Speaker 3: We lost Nicole Chick.
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Speaker 1: Some both sides that are hitting full of stride at
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Speaker 1: the exact moment where you would write it and script
14:42
Speaker 1: it if you possibly could.
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Speaker 4: So I'm prone to, you know, flights of fancy and
14:48
Speaker 4: being revisionist in my history. But if Vegas ends up
14:52
Speaker 4: hoisting this Cup, I'm never going to get over the
14:55
Speaker 4: fact that this Mammoth team was fifty two seconds away
14:58
Speaker 4: from going up three to one that series. Yeah, and
15:02
Speaker 4: I know that that's just how sports are. It's why
15:04
Speaker 4: we love them, it's why we hate them, right, But
15:07
Speaker 4: is there anything we can read off of Vegas's success
15:12
Speaker 4: about our Utah manmon.
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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm gonna give you this SoC and it's going
15:17
Speaker 1: to be pretty straight simple and to the point. Did
15:21
Speaker 1: we know Vegas is a good team, yes, going into
15:24
Speaker 1: the to the first round. Did we know that it
15:26
Speaker 1: was going to be a battle. Yes. But I think
15:30
Speaker 1: Vegas going to the Cup Final, considering how their year ended,
15:34
Speaker 1: opens up two doors. First door is I wonder that
15:38
Speaker 1: if the coaching changes that were made late in the
15:41
Speaker 1: year by both Vegas and the New York Islanders. Obviously,
15:44
Speaker 1: you know, on the Islanders didn't end up where they
15:46
Speaker 1: wanted to be, But for Vegas, you know, you wonder
15:50
Speaker 1: if that becomes more of a common theme as the
15:53
Speaker 1: years go on, if management doesn't like how their team
15:56
Speaker 1: is spiraling, as opposed to allowing the current administration and
16:01
Speaker 1: the current head coach to try to fix it. You know,
16:05
Speaker 1: is firing a coach with less than ten minutes left
16:07
Speaker 1: to go or left to less than ten ten games
16:09
Speaker 1: left in the season, is that going to be done
16:11
Speaker 1: something that we see it very well could be. But
16:15
Speaker 1: the main points to make that think with this is
16:18
Speaker 1: just get in, Just get into the playoffs and it
16:22
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. Just just get in and you never know
16:25
Speaker 1: what can happen. Your goaltender could catch fire. Your top
16:29
Speaker 1: guys can reach a level that maybe you never thought
16:33
Speaker 1: an unsung hero can could help lead you all the
16:36
Speaker 1: way to where you want to go. So I think,
16:38
Speaker 1: really it's those two interesting parts when you think about
16:41
Speaker 1: when you think about Vegas and how they've gotten to
16:43
Speaker 1: this point, is that, Yeah, Tortorella came in and he
16:46
Speaker 1: helped rescue the season for them, made sure that they
16:48
Speaker 1: got into the playoffs, and now the rest is history.
16:51
Speaker 1: And so of course, yeah, if Vegas would have lend
16:53
Speaker 1: lost in the second round, we could be sitting here
16:55
Speaker 1: and kicking ourselves and saying, I can't believe we lost
16:57
Speaker 1: to the team that only won or that that ended
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Speaker 1: up losing the following series. No, Vegas. Vegas is the
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Speaker 1: hell of a team and on their day they are
17:06
Speaker 1: one of the better teams in the entire league. And
17:08
Speaker 1: so for Utah, I think they're exactly where they need
17:11
Speaker 1: to be, which you've loved to have won the first round, Yeah,
17:12
Speaker 1: of course absolutely. But you look at the year over
17:16
Speaker 1: a year success that the Mammoth have had. Head coach
17:18
Speaker 1: Andre Turney's winning percentage has increased each of the last
17:22
Speaker 1: six seasons. I think that's only been done by two
17:25
Speaker 1: other coaches in NHL history. So this team, they're going
17:28
Speaker 1: in the right direction. And so can you sit here
17:30
Speaker 1: and the pills a little bit easier to swallow because
17:33
Speaker 1: you lost in round one to the team that's now
17:36
Speaker 1: buying for a Stanley Cup. Yeah, I guess you could
17:38
Speaker 1: maybe make the case. But with how hungry those guys are,
17:41
Speaker 1: with how upset the Mammoth players and staff were having lost, Yeah,
17:46
Speaker 1: that's just the way that the cookie crumbles. But you
17:49
Speaker 1: know that that's going to be something that drives them
17:52
Speaker 1: to have even better summers and to come back next
17:54
Speaker 1: year and make sure that when they do make the
17:56
Speaker 1: playoffs that they can the next step is to win
17:59
Speaker 1: round one.
18:00
Speaker 3: And go to the last thing.
18:02
Speaker 4: Before I let you go, and I know you were
18:04
Speaker 4: still working for Sports USA, so that that takes the
18:08
Speaker 4: bulk of the attention. But we saw a lot of
18:10
Speaker 4: these Mammoth prospects still playing in juniors and having a
18:13
Speaker 4: lot of success up in Canada and Gabe Smith especially
18:18
Speaker 4: just dominating up there, and you know this, this is
18:20
Speaker 4: the pipeline that eventually will be on NHL ice for
18:24
Speaker 4: the Utah Mammoth. So against the backdrop of the improvement
18:27
Speaker 4: that you already alluded to with the first two seasons,
18:30
Speaker 4: and now you know, maybe some of these guys rounding
18:33
Speaker 4: closer to NHL form. I mean, how how much different
18:37
Speaker 4: do you think their roster could look next year? Even
18:39
Speaker 4: if it's fourth line guys, you know, these young cats,
18:42
Speaker 4: I mean, is their room with what we saw last
18:46
Speaker 4: year and what's coming up the pipeline?
18:48
Speaker 1: And you you, you hit the nail on the head
18:52
Speaker 1: because now all of a sudden, there's gonna be some
18:53
Speaker 1: real competition and there's going to be some contracts that
18:56
Speaker 1: are up, some players that are going to be understricted
19:00
Speaker 1: free agents, meaning that that they don't have a contract,
19:04
Speaker 1: and his Bill Armstrong and Chris Armstrong and their staff
19:06
Speaker 1: are they going to choose to resign some of those guys.
19:10
Speaker 1: But all of a sudden, now you're gonna have some
19:13
Speaker 1: spots for Mammoth's top prospects to come in and make
19:16
Speaker 1: a difference. To me, what an incredible year Fatigs again,
19:19
Speaker 1: law he seemingly all you ever saw were highlight real goals,
19:23
Speaker 1: were him setting points records and leading his team in
19:27
Speaker 1: points and just having an incredible year. And that's to
19:30
Speaker 1: me a guy that that's going to be a difference maker.
19:33
Speaker 1: And at least from what I've seen in camp, both
19:36
Speaker 1: in development camp last year into main camp last year,
19:40
Speaker 1: he's finally healthy after the two lower body procedures and
19:43
Speaker 1: he came back and he had one heck of the
19:46
Speaker 1: season that to me a sorry from christ from where
19:48
Speaker 1: he was drafted for sever draft pick by the Utah
19:51
Speaker 1: formerly known as a Utah Hockey Club. I think this
19:53
Speaker 1: kid's got an incredible future. And you know, Caleb Denoe
19:58
Speaker 1: is another one, a first round pick last season. Really
20:02
Speaker 1: seems like he's gonna end up being the complete two
20:04
Speaker 1: hundred foot center that that any team wants as a
20:07
Speaker 1: number one or a number two up the middle. And
20:09
Speaker 1: obviously with the steps and evolution that that Logan Cooley
20:13
Speaker 1: has taken on the last couple of years, he's only
20:15
Speaker 1: going to get better. And I'm really happy you brought
20:19
Speaker 1: up the name Gabe Smith because I've had some people
20:22
Speaker 1: tell me that that they think he is going to
20:25
Speaker 1: be better than than anybody really ever projected because of
20:29
Speaker 1: the size, because of the jam that he plays with
20:31
Speaker 1: the ability to produce and to score and to really
20:34
Speaker 1: kind of do everything, and and when you look at
20:36
Speaker 1: the mammoth roster. You've got some size in the bottom six, yes,
20:41
Speaker 1: but you know when you look at the top six,
20:43
Speaker 1: you know, could they get a little bit more beefy there?
20:45
Speaker 1: Could they get a little bit bigger? Yes? And so
20:48
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, now you've you've got a guy
20:50
Speaker 1: like Gabe Smith, who you know, who could at some
20:53
Speaker 1: point he'll maybe make his way and talk his way
20:56
Speaker 1: into that conversation and play his way into into that
20:59
Speaker 1: type of So you know, the great news is is
21:02
Speaker 1: that these guys are are getting incredible experiences as they
21:05
Speaker 1: had on their playoff runs and Memorial Cup runs, and
21:08
Speaker 1: that's only going to help them when they get to
21:10
Speaker 1: the National Hockey League, get continuing to learn what it's
21:12
Speaker 1: like to play in those in those those those events
21:16
Speaker 1: moments and where your seasons on the line, your games
21:19
Speaker 1: on the line. It look nothing like the National Hockey League.
21:21
Speaker 1: But the more times as a player, as a person
21:24
Speaker 1: that you can test yourself in the highest stakes moment
21:28
Speaker 1: of that time in your life, I think that's only
21:31
Speaker 1: going to be a valuable experience that those guys can
21:33
Speaker 1: can rely on and uh and move on. But the
21:36
Speaker 1: good news is you don't need me to tell you
21:38
Speaker 1: all you gotta to go do is is search online
21:41
Speaker 1: for top prospect pools in the Utah. Mamathar are unanimously
21:45
Speaker 1: among the top, and so the president is very much
21:48
Speaker 1: in the good hands with the guys that are currently
21:50
Speaker 1: on the roster and the guys that haven't even more
21:53
Speaker 1: a mamateur as yet. Those are the guys that everybody
21:55
Speaker 1: should really be looking out for.
21:58
Speaker 3: So what's the what's the Nicole chick a summer plan
22:00
Speaker 3: here in Utah.
22:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's actually gonna be pretty busy summer. Uh, some
22:06
Speaker 1: travels going on. Was like, was was so awesome to
22:10
Speaker 1: be to be part of the Eastern Conference final coverage?
22:13
Speaker 1: Uh what supports USA larry Ton who is the the
22:18
Speaker 1: head of that and of course his white Nancy too,
22:21
Speaker 1: who I'm just so honored to be able to to
22:25
Speaker 1: work for them, and and to get a chance to
22:26
Speaker 1: work with a couple of who I think are some
22:29
Speaker 1: of the best in the business, Johnny Forestland doing play
22:32
Speaker 1: by play and Jimmy Fox doing color. It was it
22:36
Speaker 1: was so much fun to be with those guys and
22:38
Speaker 1: and two incredible humans off of the air and just
22:43
Speaker 1: as good as as what they do on the Air
22:45
Speaker 1: Hall of Famers in my opinion, So it was great
22:47
Speaker 1: to to start a couple of the warm months here
22:51
Speaker 1: working with those guys. Uh and and please, I think
22:55
Speaker 1: you guys recovering it there on that you guys are
22:57
Speaker 1: carrying it right on the ESPN seven hundred at the final. Yeah, okay,
23:01
Speaker 1: yeah exactly. So Johnny Forsm will be back, and then
23:04
Speaker 1: my dad, well, actually Eddie Olczek will be we'll be
23:07
Speaker 1: doing color as well, and then Billy Jaffe, who did
23:10
Speaker 1: the West sideline reporting, he'll be coming over and having
23:13
Speaker 1: your coverage there. So it'll it's abound to be an
23:15
Speaker 1: entertaining final as far as the radio commentary goes. So
23:19
Speaker 1: everybody just just please tune in and Sports USL have
23:23
Speaker 1: everything covered for you. But but oh see, quickly asked
23:25
Speaker 1: in terms of the summer, definitely going to be based
23:28
Speaker 1: here out of Utah and playing in a couple of
23:30
Speaker 1: softball leagues. I'm a big, big baseball guy in the summer,
23:32
Speaker 1: So anything I can do to remind me of of
23:36
Speaker 1: maybe one dream I had at one point a plane
23:38
Speaker 1: on the baseball diamond in the majors, living out that
23:41
Speaker 1: partial dream on the softball fields. So got that going on,
23:45
Speaker 1: We'll try to get back home and see my family
23:47
Speaker 1: in Chicago. I got a trick down to Florida in July,
23:51
Speaker 1: and my best friends actually getting married, So I've got
23:54
Speaker 1: his wedding to attend, his bachelor party to plan, and
23:57
Speaker 1: I'm actually officiating a wedding as well, so it'll be yeah, yeah,
24:02
Speaker 1: So a lot of planning, a lot of a lot
24:05
Speaker 1: of times of fun to be had. But I'm excited
24:09
Speaker 1: to spend a good chunk of time here as well
24:10
Speaker 1: in Utah golfing and as I mentioned, playing softball and
24:14
Speaker 1: just trying to squeeze everything that I can out of
24:16
Speaker 1: out of the great summer here in the great state
24:17
Speaker 1: of Utah.
24:18
Speaker 3: Well hopefully sooner than later.
24:19
Speaker 4: You're also going to have a Major League Baseball team
24:22
Speaker 4: here in Utah, if the recent reports are to be believed.
24:24
Speaker 1: So that would be that would be pretty special. I'm
24:28
Speaker 1: a guy that bleeds blue because of the Chicago Cubs.
24:31
Speaker 1: But I can tell you what if if if Major
24:34
Speaker 1: League Baseball comes here to Utah, I will be they
24:36
Speaker 1: will be instantaneously my number two competing with Number one.
24:40
Speaker 1: So we'll see how it plays out, but that would
24:42
Speaker 1: be be pretty special to have three of the major
24:45
Speaker 1: sports here in the Salt Lake area.
24:47
Speaker 4: Nick, appreciate your time. Thanks so much, Enjoy the summer.
24:51
Speaker 4: We'll chat again soon anytime.
24:53
Speaker 1: I'll seeking up the great work you guys. Have a
24:55
Speaker 1: great rest of the day.
24:56
Speaker 4: Nicole Chick, Sports USA and Utah Mammoth Hockey analysts. He
25:00
Speaker 4: was on the Eastern Conference Finals for Sports USA and
25:05
Speaker 4: as he said, his dad will be on the Cup
25:07
Speaker 4: Final which begins tomorrow right here on ESPN seven hundred
25:11
Speaker 4: and ninety two one FM, your home for the Stanley
25:13
Speaker 4: Cup playoffs in the NBA finals.
25:16
Speaker 3: Also