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Who Owns the Middle? NHL Center Depth & the 200-Foot Game · 2 Many Men On The Mic

• 0:49
  SPEAKER_03: It is the Thursday, September 10th edition of Too Many Men on the Mike.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: We've had uh some pickleball knowledge laid on us, Padell knowledge the last couple weeks.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: We've got to experience it firsthand today.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: Uh taking an off-ice activity for a hockey team.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: Undefeated.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: Undefeated in one week, yes, uh, of a four-week tournament.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, we're teaching these kids how pickleball translates over from hockey.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Suck on that.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_05: 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds and 14-year-olds and 17-year-olds.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_05: Suck on that.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_03: I've also been watching some of the developments in ice hockey itself, and uh, I'm curious your perspective on this.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: What I'm starting to see is uh the next it's it's it's it's what I would call the next best thing to do, is them.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: And uh for those who haven't been following closely over the summer, you had some crazy hockey deals at the professional level that were uh put to bed, uh like Kale McCar making over$20 million, first NHL hockey player making over$20 million a year.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: You had the Leo Carlson$18 million offer sheet from the Flyers.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: But what I'm starting to see now is the next best thing is to make a deal to get ahead of it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: So I just saw this Frazier Minton, former Toronto Maple Leaf high pick, uh, sent to the Bruins.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: Can't remember what they uh what they got for him, but signed a seven-year$50.4 million dollar deal.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: This is a guy that's played in the National Hockey League for a minute, and he gets a seven-year deal.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_03: And probably five months ago, we would have said that is insane, that is ridiculous.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: But now, now I feel like on the backside of these 18 and 20 million dollar deals, I catch myself looking at this going, you know what, that's not such a bad deal.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: Is the NHL becoming the NBA?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_05: It's all timing, and you know, the reality of it is you've had Leo, uh Leo Carlson getting offer sheeted and then signing for 18 million a year.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_05: You know he's not the best player in the NHL.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: And he's in what year three?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_05: He was going year, it was it was his year four contract to come off his rookie deal.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_05: Um and so a lot of this is futures betting.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_05: It's also getting players under control with an eye on the cap going up.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_05: Um obviously Kelmakarr, 20 million, that basically sets the that that sets the play.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_05: Sets the market sets the market for well, really only one other guy in the league, and that's Quinn Hughes.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_05: Meanwhile, you've got Moritz Sider who's wrapped up, and Rasmus Daline, who's both they're both wrapped up, um, you know, sub 13.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: And how do you feel about that?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: How do you feel about Moritz Sider?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_05: He's top five player, he's top five defenseman in the league.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_05: He is he is, in my opinion, has the potential on a couch this.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_05: He's got the potential to be Chris Pranner.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_05: And he's mean, he is now running a power play, and he just eats up ice, totally eats up ice.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: He had me at mean.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_05: He's mean, he's just flat out mean.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, we could say we will bought the Izer plan.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_05: That draft choice has aged very, very well, as has Lucas Raymond.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_05: Another guy.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_05: I know Lucas Raymond.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_05: They got wrapped up last year.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, even Dylan Larkin at 8.7 um is a number one center on most teams.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_05: You know, he's never had a true number two center, and I'm probably burying the lead a little bit here about your our debate.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_05: When you looked at him in the uh Olympics, uh he was he uh he eventually was uh playing uh um center, you know, one C minutes in that tournament um with Luke Hughes and um uh who else was on that line with them is Luke Hughes, or not Luke Hughes, Jack Hughes and um oh was it Tage Thompson?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_05: Anyways, I mean he was on the ice for the game winning goal.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_05: He's the center on the ice for the game winning goal, and so I think what your observation is right in line with these teams are trying to get ahead of it, they're trying to, it's a little bit of a futures bet.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_05: You know, Frazier Minton is a phenomenal hockey player.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_05: He's probably gonna top out at he may I mean, look, he may top out at a point per game for a stretch of three years in his career.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: He's got a great name too.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: Frazier Minton.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: Frazier Minton.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's that is a really cool name.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, um, but no, I think it's it's you know, these teams want these players under control, they're looking ahead, and you know, the salary cap is probably gonna go up.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_05: Um not exponentially, but you're you're gonna have room.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_05: And as we're gonna talk about, you know, you can never have enough players, good players who can play who can who can lead your team down the center of the ice.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: What a great segue.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: What a great segue.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_05: Lead your team down the center of the ice.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's right, that's right.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: So uh uh on today's episode, we're gonna have a little debate around best center depth.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I've I've heard best center depth described as a uh a one and two center, yeah.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: One and two I you know I would argue uh you got four lines.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, you have two lines that could potentially, you know, play the power play, um, and maybe even you know the penalty kill, but most teams have four lines, so and center depth is huge for the reason that you just said you gotta be able to skate 200 feet uh both ways, and um not everybody can do that frontwards and backwards, forwards and backwards.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_03: It helps.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, who do you like?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh who who do you like in the NHL uh up the middle?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_05: Well, if we're talking uh you know one C and two C, I mean most people are gonna say this argument starts and stops with the MNT Oilers with Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisidel, and to a degree, uh Ryan Nugent Hopkins, I think, has also played some center on that team.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_05: Um, all three are first round draft picks.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_05: I think two out of the three or first overall picks.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_05: So there is there is something to be said about being in that top 15, top 10.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: I think you just like him because he has Nugent in his name.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: The law firm.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_05: Nugent Hopkins, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, the law firm.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um teams can I can never get enough hyphens on a team.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_05: Um hyphenated last names.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_05: I I would say this though.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, and and look, Edmonton went to back-to-back Stanley Cups, uh, was within a goal of winning um a couple three years ago.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and then you look, but then you look this year at the teams that were in the Stanley Cup file uh finals.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_05: You had Eichel and Carlson on one side, you had Aho and um uh not uh Saul.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_05: Saul, yeah.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_05: And um I but to your point, um, the center depth on the Hurricanes is they're not as sexy up top in their one C2C, but they've got easily, I would say, they're the deepest down center down down the middle of the ice playing both sides of the puck.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, Aho's gonna be your guy who's gonna you know drive offense.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_05: Probably, you know, he's gonna be on power play one.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um but if you look, you know, I I just I think that the best teams in the NHL right now are the ones that frankly you have a competent player at center ice who is going to score between 15 and 25 goals, and you're gonna have situational hockey where you know we know that we can put this fourth line out there, and they can take um offensive zone face-offs and go up against the one C on the other team and buy us some time, maybe finish a shift at the net.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_05: And frankly, you know, most teams don't have that.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_05: And I mean, if you look at this roster for you know and who they have at center, um it's you know, Jordan Stahl, again, not a one C, not a two C, but he happened to score like every single game in the Stanley Cup Finals.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, Logan Stankhoven again was like a goal machine until you know the like the last couple of games of the playoffs.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_05: And then certainly you've got um Seth Jarvis who plays a little bit center right wing, um, and then obviously Sebastian Aho, who is who is like the and I this is gonna sound terrible, like the poor man's Barkov, or the poor man's, you know, uh um uh yeah, he's like a poor man's Barkov.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_05: But those players, uh the entire success is built from from you know down the center.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_05: And if you look at the teams in the last couple of years, uh Florida, with uh I just mentioned him, Sasha Barkoff and um you know Sam Reinhardt, that's that's where this league has gone to.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_05: And I you know haters are gonna say, well, Matthews and Tavares, they they haven't done anything.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, you still have to have the goalie.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_05: But I but you know, I mean I look no further than than the hurricanes and what they've been able to do.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_05: Now, are they gonna be able to pull?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_05: Did Stan Coven and Jordan Stahl just have magical seasons and magical planifiers?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I guess I'm looking at it from a perspective of what is it about those centers in particular that translates into success for those teams?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: You brought up Florida.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think Anton Lundell is the next Barkov.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: He's Barkoff light.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_05: I have no idea how they're gonna keep that guy.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, but they are masters of the cap.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_03: They've shown that.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, what makes these centers uh then make their team successful?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: And do you think that feeds the rest of the team, the wingers and the other players look at that and go, Wow, you know, my centers are I I think it's skating both ways, I think it's back checking, I think it's finding your center below the dots in your own defensive zone.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: And I think players notice that if you're on that team and you see your center below the dots in your own zone, you're going, man, they are really trying.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_03: And they're if they're trying that hard, I I gotta be trying that hard, right?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, it drives plays, and again, um look, once the pucks dropped, you know, it really I I think most of these top flight teams they go from being one C and two C to who's F1, who's F2, who's F3, right?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_05: And so a lot of this is um philosophical.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_05: We talked about this when we were breaking down the Carolina hurricanes and their practices and their plays, and and just how it's not so much the center position as it is owning that Royal Road from go post to go pulse, right, and being able to finish at the net on almost all of your shifts, owning the offensive zone, attacking the puck.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but it goes back to what Wayne Gretzky used to always say go to where the puck's not, where don't go to where the puck is now, go to where it's gonna be.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_05: And that philosophy, that way to play, um, whether you're on the on the offensive side of the puck or the defensive side of the puck is what I really define as center excellence.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_05: You know, you're playing, um, you know, you're gonna play that, you know, that that three levels of the of the offensive zone.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_05: You know, you're gonna own behind the net, you're gonna own the crease area, you're gonna own the high slot.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_05: And and you know, you have players working at each of those three levels.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, Quinn Hughes and Kale McCarr are down below the goal line half the time, and they're actually doing playing the role of the center.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_05: So again, I think it's a philosophical piece that when the puck is on your player stick, everyone's on offense, no matter what your position is at the face-off.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and you look how some of these teams are built.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm looking at Dallas right now.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_03: You got Wyatt Johnson, you got Ru Rupe Hints, Matt Duchesne.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: That's a handful.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: You already talked about the Golden Knights, and they've got Carlson in there, hurdle, Brett Howden.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, Brett Howden.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_05: That play unbelievable playable play.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think that maybe he had that success because of who he was playing with?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I mean, there's chicken and egg with everything, right?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_05: You know, um, I would make the argument that you've got to be able to keep up with those players.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_05: Part of it is is is yeah, I get to play like yeah, I get to play with Wayne Gretzky, but Yari Curry could play with Wayne Gretzky, right?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_05: You know, can't believe I'm giving so much praise to Wayne Gretzky.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_05: I'm getting old.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_05: Um, because he broke my heart so much in the 80s.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but I do think that you know, it and and I'm I'm anxious to see from a financial standpoint how these teams navigate this um as the cap goes up.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, there's a lot of top flight, there's a lot of top 60 players.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_05: The Atlantic, uh the Athletic, I'm sorry, the Athletic did this top 100 players in the NHL and they broke it into tiers, like, you know, generational players, franchise players, all-stars, really good players and support players.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_05: And they what they did, which was I thought was very unique, and and you can guys can go look it up on the athletic.com, um, was they didn't just rate it based on their production.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_05: They said, if this person is on a Stanley Cup contender, where does this player slot out as?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_05: Are they a franchise?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_05: Are they generational?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_05: Are they an all-star?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_05: Are they you know a support player?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_05: And like you could be a starter for you know the Vancouver Canucks, and you're a support player on a any on a Stanley Cup, you know, Stanley Cup team.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but the brett, you know, but it's interesting about Brett Howden, you know, how many goals did he have before he joined the the Vegas Knights?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: Or has he just hit his development stride and it's just right place at the right time, and he's just hit another gear, hit another level, or is it playing with uh some really good teammates?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_05: Well, he's just turned 29, I think, right?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_05: Howden?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_05: Or he's close to it.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I thought he was younger for some reason, but uh born in 1998.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_05: So what is that?
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_05: That is 26.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_05: 26, right?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_05: 26?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_05: No, 28.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_05: 28, yeah, 28, 20.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_05: So yeah, so you know, I mean they they have him locked up for another year at 2.5.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_05: He's locked up for another year at 2.5 right now.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_05: You know, uh he's gonna, I mean, is he he's six years in the NHL right now, so he's that this is this would be a second contract.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_05: He's got two more years left.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, he's licking his chops.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: Look at the contract that guy's gonna get a year from now.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_05: Oh no, I'm sorry.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_05: He signed until 2930.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: Oh.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_05: At two and a half, two and a hook.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's some backpatting going on in that Vegas room right now.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, well, it I mean, well, even Eichel's at only at 13.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_05: Think about Jack Eichel is a he is in that category of he is a one C on a Stanley Cup contender.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_05: So there's only about I don't know, five of those players in the world right now.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: That's signed at the right time before the market before the cap went up.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_05: So um it's interesting though, but I mean, I I like, I mean, you know, we're showing our age here.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_05: I like going back in time and thinking about all-time great center duos and who actually won Stanley Cups as center duos.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, I think of I mean, obviously, the one that comes to mind, and again, I'm giving praise again, is Messier and Gretzky, number one.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I thought you were gonna roll out some Detroit carpet there.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_05: They're third overall.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_05: No, by points they are.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_05: So combined career points for Wayne Gretzky and Marc Messier, 4,744.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_05: Four cups together.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, that's amazing.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: And then and don't forget they had Paul Coffee scoring over 40 goals.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_05: 50, I think.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_05: Didn't Paul Coffey have 50 goals on that team?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think he had 48.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_03: I want to say it was 84, 85.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_05: Well, with the same with the Canadian exchange rate, I'm giving him 50.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was that same crazy year that Gretzky had 212 points with 92 goals.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, I Iserman Federal.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_05: Talk about a 200-foot combination.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: It three Stanley Cups.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: I I got some scars.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: There are many first round exits I walked out of at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings in the early 90s.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: So um yeah.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_05: Lemieux, Lemieux and Francis.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Lemieux and Francis.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_05: They didn't play together quite as long.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think Ron Francis they had that minute where those two or three years in Pittsburgh.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: And they won two cups.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: Where they won two cups by what who was the coach?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_05: Well, there were two coaches.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_05: The first coach was Badger Bob Johnson, great day for hockey.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_05: The second coach was Scotty Bowman, who nobody liked and didn't he didn't even run practices.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_05: They basically kicked him out of practices.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: He was like out, but then left there and went to I mean, he went to the Red Wings, yeah.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_05: And struggled.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we lost a couple, we lost to the we, as if I was out there with them.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_05: They lost to the the Devils in '95, and then then got you know stomped by the Avalanche, who also had Forsberg and Sakik.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and you you you actually thought about for a minute trading Iserman.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but then Bowman had a little talking to and said, I don't want you to be a goal scorer, I want you to be a sulky 200 uh uh foot player.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_03: Still scored goals, too.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: And he still scored goals on one knee.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, I mean, yeah, he yeah, and then you know, you look at Mike McDonald, Joe Newendike, in Dallas.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: No, Joe Ewendike.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I always think of him as a Cal Gary Flame, but I think he played longer with uh like that's for my boys out there, Cal Gary.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but I think he played longer on the Devils.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_05: Uh he's yeah, he was on the Devils.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_05: I think he was also in Dallas, but I think he played longest in Dallas.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I think that's that's like what team did did Chris Jelly's play the longest for?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: Oh god, did he play the longest for Detroit?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Montreal, Chicago, Detroit.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_03: And he did play that and what was the team he finished with?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: Did he finish with the Red Wings?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, he went back.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: Did he go back to Chicago?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: No, where did he go?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: Atlanta Thrashers.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh look, I know we're talking about centers, but I'm just gonna say it right now.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_03: This whole uh this what this reminds me of of the NHL's idea about you know expansion, and I know I'm introducing a new topic here, but you know, NHL expansion tonight, man.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: And we're uh we're talking about going back to Atlanta.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: Guess what?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: It didn't work twice.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_03: It didn't work twice.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they were the Atlanta Flames who drafted Jim Craig from the Miracle on Ice and then ended up in Calgary with uh Lanny McDonald coming with the worst trade in the history of the Toronto Maple.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: Getting in that Northland.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: Oh Northland helmet.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_05: Lanny with the lip sweater.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_05: I need that lip sweater.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna try this year.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna really try.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_05: I digress.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_03: I took this off on a on a tangent there.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_05: Back to center freestyle week, freestyle week.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: Back to center.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: So uh uh coaches, if you're listening out there, uh centers, if you're listening out there, uh think about these great center dan tandems that we've Talked about, uh, think about what's the common thread in there.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: And the common thread is these players play both ways.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: They play all the way down to the net and they play all the way back below the dots in their defensive zone.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: If you are a center and you want to be a really good center, that is the expectation.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh that uh that that's the standard you can set for yourself.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: And coaches, if you're out there, and uh I remember having a younger team, and I remember this kid coming up to me and he said, Coach, I'm a center.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I said, Really?
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and I said really because I need to see it.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_03: And what I mean is, how many times can you skate back and forth the entire length of the ice without getting winded?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_03: And uh what I noticed with this particular player is he went down one time and he got about halfway back and then he ran out of gas.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and so then we talked about things like conditioning and how we needed to be able to for our centers to go all the way up and down the ice, back and forth.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_03: And uh uh, but what I have seen as a coach is the best centers that are out there are the ones that you have a hard time pulling them off the ice because they just keep skating.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_05: Sorry about that.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_05: You got a you got a top 10 over there, coach.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_05: I was going there, but we'll we'll we'll so to your point, um I I would even take it a step further if I'm coaching a hockey team, and spoiler alert, I am.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_05: I want to put as many of my kids in position to play that center role on any given shift, and that is that is putting drills and games together where they are constantly moving and communicating and finding that open area of the ice and taking the role of the center, you know, getting us out of you know the bubble hockey, you know, rigid lanes up and down the ice.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and I would make the argument that every single one of these kids needs to get up and down the ice and has to.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_05: I almost want a kid and a player who, and hear me out, you never want to lose the puck, but they're almost as excited when they lose the puck because now they get to go back and try and get it back.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_05: And um you want a dog on a bone.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_05: You want a dog on a bone, uh, four checker.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I I truly believe that um you want a player who is geared towards being a center, or that F1, as we like to call it, who likes to have the puck on their stick, likes to draw players to them, and then be able to either make a play or distribute that puck, all while keeping their feet moving.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_05: And oh, by the way, every other time your team has the puck on the stick, there's gonna be a turnover.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_05: There's always gonna be a turnover, and that's just part of hockey.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_05: You know, pucks get tipped, somebody tries to make a 40-foot pass when they don't need to, somebody tries to rocket a five-foot pass when they can just leave the puck.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it happens.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and so you want, to your point, a player who's gonna be able to not just physically be able to do it, but want to do it, want to be able to skate, get back, track back, as we're as we're calling now.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_05: And uh I I love I love players that uh that wanna want to attack like that.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_05: And there's there's a drill that I may be able to introduce that accentuates that later on the game.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_03: We got to pay uh a couple quick bills.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_03: We'll be right back on Too Many Men on the Mike.
• 25:39
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• 27:38
  SPEAKER_03: Now, let's get back to the show.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah!
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's too many men on the mic hockey trivia time! Now here's your host, Grant the Killer, Saulsmen.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_09: Thank you, thank you.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, I misclicked the button there.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, I did.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_09: Hello, everybody.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_09: Hello.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_09: So there's been a trend going around, gentlemen, that 2026 is the new 2016.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_09: So we are going to go back to the year 2016, and that is where our hockey trivia begins.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_05: Grant, in 2016, you were a freshman at Sekman?
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_09: I was an eighth grader, I believe.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_09: Eighth grade.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_09: I was 13 years old in 2016.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yes.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_05: Learning the curveball, right?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, there we go.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_09: Um, we're going to start.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_09: Who won last week?
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_05: This first time ever.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_05: Let's give a little hand for Coach Drew.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_05: Coach Drew.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_05: Coach Drew.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_05: He was my partner today, though.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_05: We dominated.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_05: He dominated.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_05: Shout out to Sean and Mojo.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, guys, we're talking about you.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_05: That's right.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_09: All right.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_09: Here we go.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Drew.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_09: Yo.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_09: Which player scored four goals in his NHL debut in October 2016?
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_03: Four goals in his NHL debut.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_03: That's impressive.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_03: Can we steal?
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_09: No, no, no stealing, no stealing.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm thinking about who is in 2016, who would have been a rookie around that time.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_03: You giving me Jeopardy music?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, I guess I should give you your Jeopardy music.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you gotta give me the countdown.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_03: Force me to make a decision.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_09: All right, time's up.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_03: Are you gonna are you gonna let me play the effing game?
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna I'm gonna time it out.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_03: You got three, two, three.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_03: Time me out.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_03: He really wants to go.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_09: All right.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_09: The answer is Austin Matthews.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Jared.
• 30:22
  unknown: No.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_09: Who's the number one overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft?
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_05: 2016 NHL draft?
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_05: It was Austin Matthews.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_09: That would be correct.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Jared leads one to zero.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_09: I'm sorry.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: That was terrible.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_09: That was terrible.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, Coach Drew.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_03: Go killer.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_03: Let's move it up.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, way to kill it.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_09: Which player finished 2015-2016 with the NHL's highest point total?
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: Hmm.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: 15-16 with the highest point total.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_03: Hmm.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_03: That is my question.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna go with Patty King.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_09: Impressive.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_09: Very impressive.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_09: Lead.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_05: He was MVP that season too, wasn't he?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_05: I think.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_09: All right, we got 1-1.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Jared.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_09: 2016, there was a World Cup of Hockey.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_09: What country was victorious in that World Cup of Hockey?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_05: Um 2016.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_05: Is that the last time we had the World Cup?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_05: I think it was so I think it was.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_05: Oh man.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_05: 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, this was the year that they had like the North American team where it was like half Canadian, half American.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_09: No, it's not.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_09: You're thinking there was a Team Europe.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_05: Team Europe.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_05: I'll back off then.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_05: Um Canada.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_03: I love Grant's look.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_03: He just kind of kacks his head and he's like, Grant, you're right, you might be wrong.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_05: Grant, do you know what that tournament used to be called before it was called the World Cup?
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, I do.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_09: Um because they played it in the 90s, I know.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_09: Was it the World Champions?
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_09: The world the World Championships?
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_09: No, it was called the Canada Cup.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, that doesn't make much sense.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_09: All right.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Drew.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_09: Who won the 2016 Stanley Cup final?
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_09: Ooh, 2016?
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_09: The two thousand the would these questions are for the 2015-16 season.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_09: I guess I should have been a little more clear.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so fifteen sixteen season.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_03: I know this is not right because it was the Capitals were the eighteen.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_03: That was the year before the Blues.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_03: And it wasn't Chicago because they were 15.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna say the Kings.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_03: Kings were 12 and 14.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_09: Who was it?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_09: It was the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_09: Now, Coach Jared.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_09: Right, Penguins.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_09: They were back to back.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_05: Back to back.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, basically, it's either the Kings, the Blackhawks, or the Penguins for a span of 10 years.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_05: They won all the cups there.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Jared.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_09: Who did the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat in the Stanley Cup finals of 2016?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, I think here.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_05: So 2016, that would be the Nashville Predators.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_09: So it's the San Jose Sharks.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_09: San Jose Sharks.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, Coach Jared still leads 2-1.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_09: Are you sure?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_09: 100%.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_05: So they beat the San Jose Sharks and then they beat the Predators the 17, 16, 17 year?
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, I believe that would be correct.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, two to one.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_09: Where do I want to go from here?
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_09: These are our last round of questions, too.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_09: I only prepped five for each.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_09: Um, so I'm trying to figure out which one is what to ask who.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, coach Drew.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_09: For the tie to extend the trivia.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_09: Sure.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_09: Who won the twenty sixteen con Smythe Trophy?
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_09: To use your context clues.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_05: It's either him or I mean it was either him or Fleury, right?
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_05: Maybe, I mean, because there was maybe Malkin.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_05: Maybe Malcolm.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_05: Because that that San Jose team, they had paves, they had Logan Couture, they had Thornton, and that team was stacked.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_03: The Velski.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_05: That team was stacked too.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_05: But they were coached by uh the guy who never wins.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_05: He was in Dallas.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_05: He was in um Dabor.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_05: They're coaching.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_05: De Boer.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_05: They beat De Boer.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_05: He never wins.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_05: He always loses the finals.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Jared for the win.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_09: We know that Canada won the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_09: Who was the MVP of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey?
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_05: The 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_05: I mean like.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, there's like the string of all those players, like Tyler Sagan, Carter.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it wasn't Sydney.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_05: Um David was left off that team.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_05: A member of that team is not on that team.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_05: So um.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna go.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_05: You know what?
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna say it was Carrie Price.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_05: It was Sidney Crosby.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_05: I like it.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_05: All right.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_09: All right.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_09: What's the here's what we're gonna do closest to the pen.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_09: This is the back-to-back weeks we've had to do this in trivia.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_09: How many goals were scored in the 2015-16 NHL season?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_09: How many goals?
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_09: I want you to text them to me.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_09: All teams?
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_09: All teams regular season only.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_09: For the regular season only.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_05: All right.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_05: There's 31 teams.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_05: No, there was only three teams in there.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_05: Let me think about this for a second.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_05: Eighty game seasons back then.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_09: I believe still eighty-two.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_09: No, no, eighty, you're right, you're right.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_08: Yes.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_03: And goals, right?
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_05: Just goals, regular season.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_05: All things considered.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, I have the answer from Drew.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_09: And once again, Coach Jared is wildly off, and Coach Drew is our winner.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_05: Dude, I know what I did wrong.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_09: The answer was seven thousand five hundred and seventy regular season goes goals.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_05: What was it?
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_05: What was it?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_05: 7,000 what?
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_09: 7,570.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_09: 570.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_09: So how many goals per game?
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_09: Five and a half.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Jared guessed 11,640.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Drew guessed 7,200.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I did?
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_09: What'd you do?
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_05: Instead of doing 15 times 80 times 4.85, which was my number, I did 30.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_05: Because the problem is there's two teams in every game.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_05: Matt is undefeated once again.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_05: Congratulations.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_05: I think I think I think we're tied overall 2-2 now.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_09: I think both of you have a punishment to do, right?
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_09: Both of you have to do a punishment for losing.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_09: No, no, you have two punishments.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_09: Coach Jared hasn't done one yet.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'll think about that the next 24 hours.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_03: Stay tuned.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_09: All right.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_09: Let's go to break.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_09: While we think about that.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_05: Real quick before we jump back in, if you're enjoying Too Many Men on the Mic, hit like and subscribe on our YouTube channel.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_05: It's a quick click for you, but it helps us grow the show and keep bringing you great hockey conversations.
• 40:45
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• 40:49
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• 40:56
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• 41:02
  SPEAKER_05: That's the number two.
• 41:04
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• 41:10
  SPEAKER_06: All right, back to the show.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_05: The all-in-one hockey tool built from the bench.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_03: I've got two questions for you right out of the gate on in this segment.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_03: Who do you think is playing that song?
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think that is uh just a LA studio player, or is that like a true composer that came up with that keyboard?
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_05: I think it's the it's the MIDI from NHL 94, MIDI file from NHL 94 for the Chicago Blackhawks, I think.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_05: I think it is.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but absolutely, I I it's you know, there are so many great organ songs.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_05: That definitely needs to be a top 10 list.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_05: Best organ, best goal songs.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, maybe we need to add an organ to the uh Too Many Men on the Mic band.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_05: That would be pretty cool.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_03: Little Hammond, cool.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_05: Little Hammond or uh Wurlitzer.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_05: Wurlitzer, no quarter.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_05: That would be cool.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_05: We could also do some Motown, too.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_05: Ooh, that would be excellent.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_03: My second question is something I've got a sneaky suspicion that this drill draw that you're gonna get into here in a second might just have to do something with, dare I say, centers.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_05: Well, certainly the center part of the ice.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_05: And if we talk about, and it's funny though, to go back to Frazier Minton.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, you know, another reason why he got signed for 7.2 million.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_05: Think about it, he's a third line center that can maybe put 50 to 60 points on the board for you.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_05: That's worth 7.2 million a year.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_03: What do you think his middle name is?
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: Typhon.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: Hopefully it's not like Bob.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_05: Frazier Archibald Mitten.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_05: Frazier Archibald Mitten.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_05: That's I'm going.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_05: I'm sticking with it.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, that's what he's getting, whether he likes it or not.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_05: All right, so here we go.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_05: So the game or the the game, because this is a game that I want to talk about here, is what we call um the Royal Road.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_05: And uh 3v3 Royal Road.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_05: And when we talk about the the center of the ice, and for those of you um who are watching at home and maybe don't know what the Royal Road is, if you were to draw a line and bisect the ice horizontally from goal line to goal line through the center ice dot, and you'll hear this a lot on Canadian uh Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts, that's the Royal Road.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_05: And when we talk about playing in the offensive zone, we talk about um you know being able to move laterally across the Royal Road and get defensemen, get forwards on the defensive side of the puck, and get the goalie moving left to right and out of position and moving the puck.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm gonna go ahead and put a goaltender in here.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_05: As you look here on the um, I'll make the goalie uh, we'll make the defensive, we'll make the goalie.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_05: Well, actually, the goalie can be uh gold because he's playing for himself.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_04: And let's uh build out a kind of uh let's create a let's see what we got here.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, here we go.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_04: I gotta scroll over.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_04: There we go.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_04: And we'll make this kind of a sec actually hang on, let me do this right.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_04: Don't have my mouse with me on um, there we go.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_05: Rectangle.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_05: We'll draw a rectangle on the ice and we'll shade it.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_05: This is gonna be the area of play from the top of the circles in between the dots.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_05: Um actually we'll move it maybe a little bit.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_05: Uh let's move this down just to me from the hash marks, because you can play behind.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_05: There you go.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_05: So what we're gonna have here, and let's put it put our goalie back in.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_04: And let's shade this color a different color.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_04: Actually, we'll have blue versus red players.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_05: So we'll have three blue players, and they can be on either side of the of the royal road here inside the box, and we'll have three red players who can be on either side of the royal road inside the playing area.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_05: Now, these players can go anywhere in this play, this area of play, and any time they can score.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_05: But there's a catch to this.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_05: In order to score and take a shot, the players have to make a pass to a teammate across the Royal Road.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_05: So Puck starts up here with the coach.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_05: He dumps a puck in.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_05: I like to sometimes shoot it at the goalie, but that's just me.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_05: Sorry, goalies, but you know, you gotta be on your toes.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_02: Pay attention.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_05: Dumps the puck in.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_05: Players play now, and it's it's literally a oh, hang on.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_05: Put that back in.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_05: Dumps the puck in, and now the players are going to one play three on three, battle for the puck.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_05: So depending on what side you're on, you're gonna battle for the puck.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_05: Try to get possession.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_05: But in order for in order to score, you have to be able to pass the puck across the royal road to a teammate on the other side.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_05: Now, you would say, hey, that's easy.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_05: I'll just pass to a player on the other side.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_05: Well, there's three other players playing, and so the goal of this is to pressure the puck, support the puck, but have constant movement in the offensive zone below the dots and below the goal line, where you're going left to right across this royal road.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_05: And so you're owning the space that's down the center of the ice in the offensive zone.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_05: And this also is behind the net.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, you once you make that pass, you should be going to the net or you should be crossing the royal road crossing the royal road, right?
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and it's a very simplistic game, but it's one that teaches habits and it's one that teaches concepts about communicating, constant, uh, constant movement and support.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_05: There's obviously a lot of compete, but you're trying, you can't just, you know, get the puck and take a shot.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_05: You have to get the puck, get your head up, find your teammates, and either skate the puck across the royal road yourself or make a pass across the royal road.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_05: But anytime the puck is on one side, it's on your stick for the first time, before it can be shot at the net, it has to cross the royal road.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_05: Either you have to skate it across and take a shot, or you have to pass it across and take a shot.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_03: It sounds like a 1980s movie, The Royal Road.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like bad things happen on the other side of the road.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_05: Mad Max and the Royal Road.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_03: No, but this is but this is a this is a great drill because uh my immediate takeaway is uh don't think you can just stand around.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_05: No.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, this is not a standing around kind of drill.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_03: You got to think about where you are, which side of the royal road you're on, making sure uh you either stay on that side by watching the play and what's going on around you, or perhaps going to the other side of the roll royal road, supporting the play, making yourself available, knowing that you have to cross the royal road to even have a chance to score.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_03: So it's a great movement drill.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_05: And I would say, too, if you're if you have this game for younger players and you've got one of those ice markers, I coach with Tim Bayliss on the Eagles, and he has got his backpack full of ice markers.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_05: Ice markers.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_05: And I love it because not only is he drawing virtual creases, no matter where that that net is, former goalie shot out, but you can draw that line on the ice.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_05: Certainly as players get older and you want to put them in more game situations, you you basically they they get the feel of it, but it gives you offensive feeling.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_05: It also gives you defensive feeling because you kind of got to know where you are.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_05: You're looking at where you are from relation to the the goalie.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_05: Am I screening the goalie?
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_05: Am I gonna stick on the puck?
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_05: Um, am I gonna you know pull this puck behind the net and try to open open up my players above the above the goal line um to make a pass?
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I like where the drill is run below the dots, actually, right below the dots, right across from dot to dot, and then down to the end, back behind the net.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_03: So in a uh deft way, deft.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's my big word.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_03: Deft with drift, deft with drift way.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, it's teaching you to get to the net, play below the dots, uh, get to the goal, and uh create some chaos down there.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_03: I like it.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_05: Deft chaos, deft chaos.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_05: We're very deft at creating chaos here, but uh you know, and it's a very simple game.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_05: You know, there's no progression.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I I suppose you could create a progression, you could create flankers on here, but then it becomes a different game, right?
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_05: This game is about 3v3 and a goalie moving the puck, attacking within attacking the goal within inside the dots, getting across that royal road, and creating that movement to create a shot and a scoring opportunity.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like roadhouse might be on the other side of the royal road.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_03: That's how you get to the roadhouse.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_05: Hey, be nice.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_05: Be nice until you don't, until you don't have until until you can't be nice.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_05: Excellent, excellent.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we'll have this up on the on the website here.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_05: Go to too many men on the mic.com, scroll down to the coach's corner.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_05: This, along with we're closing in on over 50 drills brought to us by coaches throughout the country, actually throughout the world, Canada, Europe, um, all over the world.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_05: Folks coming onto our show and sharing what their best practices, best games, and best drills are.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_05: Don't you miss out on it?
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_05: Go over to TooMiniMenontheMike.com.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_05: It's free, which is the same as not having to spend any money.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_05: Free 99.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, free ninety-nine.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but it's a great drill.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_05: And again, as we talk about centers today, this is a great concept drill, good concept game to get players talking about owning that center ice, that portion of the ice right in front of the net, um, and moving that puck to get lateral movement from the goaltender and the defense.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_05: So great uh fun game.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_05: Um, we hope you hope you enjoy it.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_05: Hope you can use it.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_03: Useful.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's a good one.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_05: Very useful.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_05: It's a useful.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna run that one and practice on Friday.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, we might run it tomorrow at varsity practice, but that could be one that we throw out there.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_05: I think that there is some value to it for sure.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, well, we've got some big things on the horizon, and um obviously from a personal standpoint, I think we're T minus uh what 13 days, 14 days, 12 days, T minus 12 days, right?
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_05: Today's the eighth.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_05: 12 days from now, we're gonna be playing on a porch.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_03: We are gonna be playing on a porch 334 Waterman.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's right, at Porch Fest, which is uh uh exactly what it sounds like.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_03: You're playing uh us in like 50 to 60 other bands on porches and neighborhoods throughout St.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_03: Louis, and uh it's kind of like a uh a modified pub crawl, except you're not necessarily going to get a beer, you're going to listen to a different band.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_03: And there's some interesting bands, there's some cool bands that are playing in this.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_03: So uh I definitely am gonna walk around uh before our set, after our set, check out some of the music that's around, but uh that's gonna be a good time.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we uh I just got the contact information from the porch that we're playing on.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_03: So we got to go make a visit, uh, chat up the folks there, uh uh tell them that uh how appreciative we are, but then also get their tips on you know where is the best place to play on their porch or in their front yard.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_03: Is it a porch or a front yard?
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_03: We'll have to see.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I'm excited for it.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_05: There's like you said, there's a lot of great bands, and I just feel like it's an opportunity for more community.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, if you're not doing anything Sunday afternoon uh around 2 30 on September 20th, head on over to 6334 Waterman in the Loop District, um, where Porch Fest is occurring.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_05: You're gonna have an opportunity from I think one o'clock in the afternoon all the way till probably seven o'clock to see some great bands, interact with some great people and come support us in our show and maybe get a shout-out.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Steve Ewing, uh Steve Ewing from The Urge uh is doing uh the main stage at the end.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_03: It kind of culminates with Steve Ewing, uh, which if you haven't heard him before, listen to The Urge, uh, go out on Apple Music, uh, phenomenal vocalist, uh part of a great band.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_03: And now he does his uh own uh solo and duo gigs.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_05: That's awesome.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_05: Well, in addition to our personal news with Porch Fest, we're closing in on Mid-States Hockey Night in St.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_05: Louis broadcast beginning here in mid-October.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_05: We've got some great sponsors that we're excited to share details on in the coming weeks.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_05: Um, we do want to also mention uh a couple weeks ago we had Austin Friesen on um from the hockey guys, and we are gonna be a partner with Afterlight uh Recovery um uh drink mix, and there's gonna be more and more of that coming.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_05: Next week's our first official uh you know partnership, and uh we're super excited for that.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_05: And then next week, the godfather of fun.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_05: The godfather of fun.
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_03: Bob Mancini.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_03: You can't have fun in hockey without Bob Mancini.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_03: Can't wait.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_05: And we may get a little controversial.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_05: I think if you remember a few weeks back, if you listened to the show, Drew and I started to wade in.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_05: I think it was more of a tiptoe.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_03: I was I I was doing a lot of waiting.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_05: I was a little more tiptoe, but we started to wade into the the National Development League for USA hockey.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_05: And Bob, um you know, who is a USA hockey like guru, the godfather of fun, as we like to call him, has a lot of great details and a lot of information and really some great insight as to you know the goal of this of this new development league and hopefully how this is gonna help lift uh a rising tide lifts all boats.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but I think it is uh that's a good ism.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um I I I think this is a great episode for new coaches out there to listen to because uh Bob promotes fun.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_03: He talks about how you can keep kids in hockey, continue playing the game, and as a coach, ways to do that and ways to in uh introduce fun into your practice plan.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're a newer coach that's out there, you definitely want to listen to Bob.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Bob does a great job of uh just bringing it down a notch or in some cases several notches and bringing you back to uh a good base.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_03: And the base is hockey's fun.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's where we started as kids, and he sees that as a through of any practice plan.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're a new coach out there, you definitely want to listen to Bob.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_03: If you're a more seasoned coach out there, you still want to listen to Bob because it's it's a good reminder to bring you back to where you were as a kid, what this is all about, and this is about having fun.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_03: So Bob Mancini is wonderful for this.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_03: Catch the episode if you can.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, we got personal things going on with shows.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_03: We got sponsors that are coming in.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_03: We got Bob Mancini.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we both have high school hockey that's uh uh starting up now, and so we've got kids and programs and teams to start looking at.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_03: So we're starting to put our own practice plans together.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you've gotten uh quite a head start on them uh on on one, and uh so it's a brand new year, a fun time to be involved in hockey.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_05: It's always it's you know, it's always a it's you know, we mentioned him earlier, Badger Bob.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_05: It's a great day for hockey.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and we're excited for the season to get started in full swing.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_05: We get to you know build these relationships with with great players, great coaches, great families.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_05: And uh again, special thanks to everybody out there in our listening audience.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_05: Big thanks to Vantage, our presenting sponsor.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_05: And uh, for those of you, you still have time to sign up for the September drawing, which will be on September 20th.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and then again, every single month we are drawing another winner for that$100 pure hockey gift card.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_05: So head over to if you don't see the QR code on our site, be sure to head over to Vcu.com forward slash hockey.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_05: Fill it out, get your information in there and get a chance to win yourself a hundred dollar gift card.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_05: Coach, uh heck of a show today.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_05: Congratulations on the the W.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_05: Um, we are out of here, everybody.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_05: Have a great afternoon, great evening wherever you are.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_06: He shoots, he scores.