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Celebrating Stamkos' 600th & Winter Olympics Preview · Predators Official Podcast

0:00
And I, I so his sons Carter and Chase, I, I think, I imagine
0:04
Carter is probably old enough that he'll remember it.
0:06
I don't know if Chase is quite to that age, but yeah, we love a
0:10
good and, and I, I don't know about you guys.
0:11
I didn't know that the lineup was happening.
0:13
And so the lineup read rather with his sons coming into the
0:16
locker room. And so as the game started, our
0:20
photos start coming in from the great John Russell, our team
0:22
photographer. And we started seeing photos of
0:25
the kids in the room. And I was like, oh, we are going
0:27
to have one adorable lineup read coming in a little bit here.
0:36
Welcome into the Predators official Podcast.
0:39
I'm Kara Hammer, along with Brooks Bratton and Max hers.
0:42
And guys, the last time I saw you, it was a whole calendar
0:45
year back. We're here in January 2026, our
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first podcast of the new year. And guys, you've been gone
0:54
forever. I've missed you.
0:55
I've missed you. We miss you too, Hammer.
0:59
No, it's good to see everybody at least on the screen.
1:01
I, I don't know, I don't know how you guys feel about this.
1:04
I know that Larry David says you can't say Happy New Year past
1:07
like the third day of the year. We're recording this on Friday,
1:10
January the 9th. I'm going to break the rule and
1:12
say Happy New Year because we haven't seen each other in
1:15
person. And Happy New Year to all of our
1:17
listeners and viewers too. We've missed spreading the Good
1:20
Preds word to all of you but Max, it's great to be back.
1:23
It's great to be back and Brooksy, we were with the Preds
1:26
on the longest road trip of the season, 7 road games in total,
1:30
one before Christmas, then six after Christmas.
1:34
Preds came away with a four and three record in those seven Rd.
1:37
games, came back home and beat the Islanders in a shootout on
1:40
Thursday night. So Preds looking good right now,
1:42
continuing to play well. They've won seven of their last
1:45
1014 of their last 20. And the highlight of all of
1:49
this? Steven Stamkos is 600th NHL
1:53
goal, a monster moment in NHL and Smashville history on New
1:58
Year's Eve afternoon against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas.
2:01
That was awesome. And Max, as you said, you and I
2:05
were in the building and I, you know, I, I, I try to be ready
2:09
for moments like that because obviously the game before we saw
2:13
him get 598 and 599 in Utah in the third period, almost single
2:17
handedly bring the Preds back to get a win over the mammoth.
2:21
And we were so we're in Las Vegas, as you said, and the
2:26
Preds are going on the power play.
2:27
And I thought to myself, gosh, you know, this could be it.
2:30
And my own little, small, tiny little world.
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I'm like, gosh, if this happens, you know, I'd love to put out a
2:35
photo when I tweet about the goal being scored and I'm
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looking for a photo. I'm looking for a photo.
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And I kid you not. And the grand scheme of things,
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this does not matter. But I found a photo like 10
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seconds before he actually scored.
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We got it just in time and like, gosh, this is going to be
2:49
coming. And Max, like, you know, as
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somebody who was on the call for it, like, are you anticipating
2:55
that he's in the circle like this could be coming right now?
2:58
And what was that moment like for you?
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I just just trying to stay ready for it.
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I didn't script too much of A call and I didn't say exactly
3:07
what I thought I would say, but I wanted to make sure I included
3:10
something for Smashville in there because this is not only
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an NHL moment, but it's another, Oh my God, Steven Stamkos is on
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the Nashville Predators moment. And for the players who the
3:21
Preds have had, who haven't always been Preds like Peter
3:24
Forsberg, Paul Korea, things like that, guys who are NHL
3:27
legends, I want to make sure this is at the top of those
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moments in addition to the moments from our homegrown
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heroes, Yossi Forsberg, Shea Weber, all those guys.
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So I was happy with my call. I was really happy with the
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goal. I mean, what a pass by Philip
3:42
Forsberg across to West to set it up and Cara Lindsay Rowley
3:46
got the first interview with Stammer right after at the
3:49
intermission and it was so cool to hear him reflect with
3:52
Lindsay. Yeah, I thought it was such a
3:55
special moment. And you talk about what he was
3:58
saying to Lindsay and then you go back and we watched the video
4:01
of last night when they ran over like the 100 goal, 200 goal, all
4:04
the marks. Did you hear his interview after
4:07
his first 100 goals when he he he sounded almost like the exact
4:11
same as 600 of It's a really good moment.
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It's cool to celebrate with the teammates, but I, I hope I score
4:17
a lot more. And it was almost like, Stanley,
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you're the same person and you've had 500 goals in between.
4:23
Only 22 players have ever scored that many goals in the NHLI.
4:26
Looking over your career, what does it mean to you to reach
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this milestone? Yeah, it's pretty surreal.
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I mean, when you look at some of the names that are up there, it
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probably doesn't hit you till after.
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So you're all said and done and you look back, but it's just a
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lot of gratitude. Like I said, I mean, you know,
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your, your parents, your, your friends, your coaches.
4:46
You know, we see my family, my wife, my kids, I know they're
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watching it. It was a special moment.
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So I'm sure my sister and my nephews are watching too.
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So it's just, you know, all the friends and family and everyone
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that that's got you to this point.
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That's that's what you think of in moments like this.
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And obviously your your teammates.
5:03
Hey, 17 years. Very little has changed other
5:06
than the goal total for Steven Stamkos.
5:09
And one of the most fun moments after every Preds win, in
5:12
addition to the singing of Pizza Party by Mac and cheese, is the
5:16
awarding of what I like to call the post Game Party favors,
5:20
which are the player of the game prizes.
5:22
And Steven Stamkos was thankful that the milestone came in a big
5:28
Preds win, Boys. This is great.
5:30
It's always special to do it in a win.
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Any time you get something really cool like this, you're
5:36
just very thankful for each and every youth coaching staff, all
5:38
the players they played with, your family, everything.
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It's kind of surreal moment, but it's always way more special to.
5:44
Do than win. We battled hard today.
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It was so cool to be out on the ice with you guys and have that
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moment. We've had a lot of momentum here
5:54
this year. We're going to turn the page.
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It's a new year, so let's keep it going and happy New Year.
5:59
I love that just because, like, he's right, the milestone
6:03
doesn't mean as much. If you lose the game, you can't
6:05
celebrate it. And that's just what hockey's
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all about. Like individual accolades pale
6:10
in comparison to team milestones.
6:13
And the coolest thing about 600 goals is you get to have your
6:16
kids come into the locker room and read the starting lineup.
6:29
Yay. Blankenberg little juice.
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I mean, I think Brooks, you put out the video.
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How special was that then to have Stammer's kids?
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And obviously the cuteness of them both wearing Preds
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sweaters, both with the number 600 on the back, obviously has a
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little girl too. But the boys last night, they
7:01
almost stole just as much of the show.
7:03
Yeah, no, they're so adorable. And I, I so his sons Carter and
7:07
Chase. I I think, I imagine Carter's
7:10
probably old enough that he'll remember it.
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I don't know if Chase is quite to that age, but yeah, we love a
7:15
good and and I I don't know about you guys.
7:17
I didn't know that the lineup was happening.
7:19
And so the lineup read rather with his sons coming into the
7:22
locker room. And so as the game started, our
7:25
photos start coming in from the great John Russell, our team
7:27
photographer. And we started seeing photos of
7:30
the kids in the room. And I was like, oh, we are going
7:32
to have one adorable lineup read coming in a little bit here.
7:36
And props to our video team too, who crushed it, our video team
7:39
and our social team in the game against the Islanders January
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8th with Stammer being honored. Crush the content, getting
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things turned around, getting things out on social and video.
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And yeah, so cool for Carter and Chase to go in the room and read
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the lineup and then to be on the ice, as you said, with their
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their Stam coasters. Usually they would say either
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Stam Coast or Daddy. They said Stam Coast and you'd
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think 91 right, 600 was the number on the jerseys for Carter
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and Chase. And then they go over and and
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have the ceremony pre game and Barry Trotz and Sean Henry
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present Stamkos with a golden stick.
8:15
Stamkos. His parents are there, his wife,
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his daughter as well. Just, you know, an amazing
8:20
moment for the family. It's it's it's awesome for us to
8:24
be able to watch. I can only imagine for them.
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And and Stamford's been good too.
8:28
Like, he's had so many milestones recently, as you guys
8:32
well know. And, you know, it's he's had a
8:35
good balance of like, yeah, it's obviously more important to get
8:38
the wins. But I think he is, especially as
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he gets older, it seems as though he's appreciating these
8:45
moments more and more as they come.
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And he's like, you know, one day I'm really going to take a
8:49
moment to look back and appreciate everything.
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But even in the moment itself, I think he is really taking, even
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if it's just a few seconds, just a chance to look around and say,
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like, you know, this is pretty cool.
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And I think we all feel the same way.
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I continually say to people, you know, it's it's just such,
9:07
especially in this last little bit, it's such a privilege to be
9:11
able to cover someone like Stamkos again, only the 22nd
9:15
player in NHL history. There have been thousands and
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thousands of players in the history of the National Hockey
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League, and only 22 of them have hit 600 goals.
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And so just the chance to be around that and to to cover it
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and to get to talk to him after games is just so cool.
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And so it yeah, it's been a great week.
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And you know, you, you touched on it, Max, just the fact that
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he gets it and then we come home from the trip and he's honored
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here at the arena in front of the Smashville faithful.
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And that's one thing too. Like I am not that people didn't
9:48
appreciate him before, but I think that, you know, I've
9:50
really started to notice lately when he's in the starting line
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up or he gets in recognized for a milestone, the cheers get a
9:58
little bit louder. There's maybe a little bit more
10:00
of a standing ovation, which is also been really cool to see
10:03
just how people in Nashville and the Predators fans continue to
10:08
embrace him and his family, especially considering
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everything that he's been doing as of late. 18 season, 600
10:14
goals. And as Michael Bunting told us
10:16
on Fred's radio last week, maybe a couple of frenemies made along
10:21
the way for Steven. Spam goes.
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It's pretty funny. We always joke about it, but
10:26
when I played in Toronto and he was in Tampa Bay, we we did not
10:29
like each other. We had some good rivalries and
10:31
good playoff series and, and now it's pretty funny.
10:35
You know, he's one of the closest, my closest friends on
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this team. He's great to be around.
10:38
I like spending a lot of time with them.
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So it's funny how things can change when you become
10:43
teammates. But yeah, he's a special player
10:44
and a special human. And yeah.
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He's great to be around. And yeah, I just thought that
10:49
was so funny because that's also Michael Bunting to AT.
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We really didn't like each other.
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We'd never met before, and now we're best friends.
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I love hockey. That's hockey, Cara.
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That's hockey. That's hockey.
11:00
I mean, I think we heard like, you know, you, we also saw the
11:03
video put out where players around the league were
11:06
congratulating him, you know, some of his former teammates
11:08
down in Tampa Bay. But, you know, I think Factor
11:11
said it best, like, hey, it's so much better to be on the ice
11:13
with you now. Like watching you score goals as
11:16
your teammate versus watching you score goals as your
11:19
opponent. Well, I you talk about that,
11:21
Kara, and the video that you mentioned, there was another
11:24
video too, of course, the showing, you know, goal 100,
11:27
goal 200, goal 300. And I, I hadn't seen it yet.
11:30
And I was like, oh gosh, I hope he's not scoring on the
11:32
Predators in one of these. That'd be that'd be a fun little
11:35
dynamic. He didn't he didn't get it
11:37
against the any of his other milestones against Nashville.
11:41
But yeah, that was cool to look back and see too.
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Like you mentioned it, Kara, his interview after was his 100th
11:45
goal. He looks a lot younger, but
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other than that, kind of the same answer, kind of the same
11:51
that that stoic mindset and mentality of yes, this is cool,
11:55
but like, let's keep going and and that's exactly what he's
11:57
done. Let's keep going and as a team
11:59
and I think as we kind of like recap this road trip and
12:02
everything that we've been on, we start to see it before you
12:06
guys left, before the team left, the tightness starting to form
12:10
and there was some conversation around that.
12:11
What is this group? How are they going to handle
12:13
this long road trip? And I think now coming back, it
12:16
was so evident in last night's win as as we record here on
12:22
Friday, January 9th, that this is a tight knit group and
12:26
Stammer talked about it, the the closeness that they've had.
12:28
And guys, how big of a win was that to come against the
12:31
Islanders? You're tired, you're on the
12:33
road. I think you know, Chris Mason
12:34
and Hal Gilboltek said. I can't imagine playing a game
12:37
right now. I can't imagine putting on
12:38
skates and going out on the ice and playing a game and then they
12:41
come out with a big two points in a shootout win.
12:44
Well, I think the fascinating thing and Max, you heard it in
12:46
the morning. I don't.
12:47
And, and maybe he has, but I I don't ever recall Andrew
12:50
Brunette saying in the morning before the game, yeah, we're
12:54
home after a 12 day trip, but we want to treat this like a road
12:58
game. They had been gone for 12 days.
13:01
You know, we got in late on on Wednesday afternoon, a little
13:04
bit later than you'd expect. It was kind of like coming into
13:07
town and then you've got to play the next game the next day on
13:09
the road as well. And so he said, you know, we
13:12
don't want to fall into the trap game.
13:13
We want to pay attention to the little details.
13:15
We know it's going to be a, a mucky game, he said postgame,
13:19
you know, gritty, grindy, greasy, like you got to find a
13:23
way to get it done. And they did.
13:24
And I loved that mentality because, you know, you might
13:27
think, oh, thank goodness we're home.
13:29
We're back in front of our crowd, you know, sleep in our
13:31
own beds. Just don't worry about it.
13:33
But I love that mentality and that mindset to come in to think
13:37
of it as another Rd. game, just the way that things had played
13:40
out. And that's another thing too,
13:42
like, and you guys have seen it before too, Like you never quite
13:46
know what you're going to get after a long road get road trip.
13:49
You always hear coaches say we've been gone for so long,
13:52
we're back at home. But yeah, I'm a little bit
13:54
worried because you get into the routine of the road, you're in
13:57
your hotel, you get it on the bus, you go to the game, there's
14:00
not, you know, you're not at home, you don't have your family
14:02
around, you're not dealing with other things.
14:04
And so that was really good to come home with that effort.
14:08
And what a stat right now, the Predators have not lost
14:12
back-to-back games since November 22nd and 24th.
14:17
That was something we talked about earlier in the season is
14:20
when you lose a game, can you bounce back?
14:22
It's exactly what they've been doing over the last month and
14:25
1/2. Well, everything has been
14:27
backwards in a good way. You're playing a home game, like
14:30
a road game. You win a game with Nick Hague
14:32
scoring in the final minute and Steven Stamkos blocking a shot
14:37
in the final minute. I think that's supposed to be
14:40
the other round, yeah. Right, what the hell is?
14:42
Stammers score the goal, but hey, it worked out on Fight
14:46
Night in Calgary and it's been a lot of fun to watch the Preds
14:49
recently. So we got three games left on
14:51
this home stand. Four games in six days at
14:54
Bridgestone Arena, starting with that shootout win over the
14:56
Islanders. Blackhawks on Saturday night,
14:59
Capitals on Sunday night. That'll be just the second time
15:02
in Preds history that the all time leading goal scorer in the
15:06
NHL will be playing in Smashville.
15:08
Wayne Gretzky came to us once. Now Ovie makes his first visit
15:12
since breaking his record. And then Tuesday night, looking
15:15
for a little revenge on the Oilers, who beat the Preds last
15:18
week in Edmonton. And also want everybody to know
15:20
out there, the Preds did give away some posters for Steven
15:23
Samkos, his milestone goal. For those of you who are not at
15:26
the game on Thursday and did not get one, I've got a nice little
15:30
stack of them. It's not an unlimited supply,
15:32
but they are at the Jack Daniels Barrelhouse radio desk behind
15:36
Section 112. So come by while we still got
15:39
them if you want one. I will try and save one for
15:42
everyone out there. When we come back, the Preds are
15:46
going to the Olympics, four of them.
15:49
We are excited. UC Soros, Eric Holla, Philip
15:52
Forsberg and captain Roman Yosi are going to Milan, Italy.
15:56
Let's talk Preds in the Olympics coming up next.
15:59
Because the Olympics are less than a month away, you're
16:02
listening to the Predators official podcast.
16:04
I'm Max Herz with Cara Hammer and Brooks Bratton on ESPN 102.5
16:08
The Game at nashvillepredators.com.
16:16
Welcome back to the Predators Official Podcast here on ESPN
16:20
102.5, the game streaming on YouTube, and a whole slew of
16:23
other platforms. I'm Brooks Bratton, along with
16:26
my friends Max Hers and Kara Hammer.
16:29
There were so many Predators hockey games to talk about, but
16:31
we're going to have some different ones to discuss in
16:34
February. But it's worth mentioning right
16:36
now because we now officially know that four members of the
16:40
Nashville Predators will be headed to Milan, Italy to
16:43
participate in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
16:47
And they are Roman Yossi, the captain.
16:51
We assume he'll be the captain of Switzerland.
16:54
He better. Be he better be Philip Forsberg
16:56
of Sweden and a pair of Finns. Finn to the left, Finn to the
17:00
right. UC Soros and Eric Halla will be
17:03
representing their home countries.
17:05
Guys, this is really great. We've talked about it before,
17:08
but the first time since 2014 that NHL players will be
17:12
participating in the Winter Olympics.
17:15
There is nothing better than international best on best
17:18
hockey. We are so excited for this.
17:21
The guys are so excited to go and skate for a gold medal.
17:24
And Congrats to those four because this is about as good as
17:28
it gets. If you're an NHL, Uh yeah, you
17:29
want to win a Stanley Cup, But to hear a hockey player tell it
17:33
to represent your country at the Olympic Games, Don't get any
17:36
better. How much, after we saw the Four
17:39
Nations face off, do we anticipate the the level of
17:44
hockey that we saw this time last year translate over?
17:48
I mean, how are you guys feeling about that?
17:51
Well, if you thought there was no room in the neutral zone at
17:53
Four Nations, Kara, check out that rink in Italy because we
17:57
could lie down and touch both blue lines the way they're
18:00
laying it out. So should be some hard hitting
18:02
action, at least between some of the good teams.
18:07
No, it's, it's going to be a lot of fun.
18:09
I mean, you touched on it. We saw it last year in the Four
18:11
Nations, four faces nationing off.
18:14
It was, it was fantastic though. And especially, I mean, we all
18:17
know it the, the battles between the United States and Canada.
18:21
First, the, the game that they played each other, they ended up
18:24
playing in the final as well. They will not play each other.
18:27
I was looking at the schedule yesterday.
18:28
So the Canada and the United States will not play each other
18:32
in the preliminaries. They've got to make it to the
18:35
playoff rounds, the, the final rounds and then the gold medal
18:38
game, the bronze medal game. Come on that final weekend.
18:41
Hopefully we get Canada and the US at some point.
18:44
But yeah, looking at the schedule the other day and we'll
18:47
have everything on preds.com in the weeks ahead.
18:50
So you can follow along. But there's a couple early ones.
18:53
Italy, 678 hours ahead. So there's a couple fighting.
18:57
I I do think that the Sweden, Finland game is at 5:00 AM
19:01
central time start. I don't remember the date off
19:04
the top of my head. We'll get that to you as as we
19:07
get closer. But yeah, that'll be worth
19:09
waking up for definitely. And Max, you had a chance to
19:12
talk to Eric Holla. I know in Calgary just about
19:15
what this meant for him and and you had a really good
19:18
conversation with him. When and how did you officially
19:21
find out and who gives you the call to tell you that you are
19:23
representing Finland at the Olympics?
19:25
It's actually a Christmas morning.
19:28
We were just like getting up and about to start opening the
19:31
presents and I got a phone call from the head coach of Finland.
19:34
And I honestly, I looked at my phone and I was a little anxious
19:38
to answer it. I not looking back, I guess he
19:41
wouldn't have called me on Christmas morning to tell me
19:43
that I didn't make it. But but yeah, I, I, I texted him
19:47
back shortly and said we were in the middle opening presents and
19:49
if I could call him back in a little bit and, and then
19:53
obviously made the call and, and what a relief it was.
19:56
And, and yeah, honestly got me a little emotional as well.
20:00
Yeah, I, I love that answer. It's so funny looking back.
20:05
Well, Coach Auntie Pendanton wouldn't have called me on
20:08
Christmas morning if I wasn't going to make the team.
20:11
This is really funny in retrospect, but it's cool for
20:16
Holla. Like he's a 13 year veteran.
20:19
He's played a lot of places. He hasn't won a Stanley Cup.
20:22
This, this is like, this is the player you're talking about,
20:25
Brooks. This is the honor of his career.
20:28
His first year pro was the last time the NHL was in the
20:31
Olympics. And I asked him if he thought he
20:33
was close to making the Olympic roster that year and he said, I
20:37
don't even know. I was too worried about trying
20:39
to stay in the NHL to even think about it.
20:42
And then they're wiped out of the next few.
20:45
They're not in the Olympics in 2018 or 2022.
20:48
And now he finally gets the chance to be back there.
20:50
So I'm really happy for Eric Halla.
20:52
And look, this Finnish coach, Andy Penninen, has a penchant
20:56
for timing. Because you see, Soros also
20:58
found out at a very cool moment, not Christmas morning.
21:02
He found out over the summer because he was one of Finland's
21:04
first six players. That was announced way before
21:06
the season. His wife got him tickets for his
21:10
30th birthday last summer to the Roland Garros final, the French
21:14
Open tennis final, and he was sitting in the crowd at Alcaraz
21:18
Center. A5 set major championship final
21:21
in Paris when Andy Benen texted him and said, you're going to be
21:24
one of our first six. So this coach has the best
21:27
timing in the universe. There you go.
21:30
We're not sure about Sweden's coach.
21:31
I don't know. I don't know on that Phil.
21:34
I don't I don't think Phil found out on Christmas morning, but
21:36
that's that Max, that's a good point.
21:37
I, I think when it was announced that NHL players would be going
21:42
to the Olympics and you look at the Nashville roster and say,
21:44
OK, who could have a chance? You could probably look at it
21:47
and say Yossi, Soros, Forsberg, something catastrophic would
21:51
need to happen for them not to be on the roster.
21:53
But Holla was a guy on the bubble.
21:55
You're not sure, Maybe yes, maybe no.
21:58
But he's had a really great season here.
22:00
You know, that was something we talked about even over the
22:02
summer is that he wanted to come back here.
22:05
He's had a relationship with Andrew Burnett previously as a
22:08
coach, thought it'd be a good fit in Nashville.
22:11
And you know, a guy like that, if you're not having a good
22:14
season, you're probably not getting named to the team.
22:16
So kudos to Eric Holla and what he's been able to do here.
22:19
And I wanted to mention to Kara just quickly on something that
22:23
you touched on in the first segment about just the the
22:26
tightness of this group and the way that the team is playing
22:28
together. And I think this plays into
22:30
somebody like Eric Holla, who has just had a great season so
22:34
far and the role that he plays. And I want to mention something
22:38
that Andrew Burnett said in Calgary.
22:41
We were talking about the shot block from Steven Stamkos and
22:43
what that takes and what that means in that moment.
22:46
And Andrew Burnett, who played over 1000 games, has coached and
22:51
been with a lot of teams. He said in Calgary that this
22:54
team is as tight of a team that he's ever been around and that's
22:58
saying something. And you know, you look at the
23:01
guys going to the Olympics and how big of a role they play on
23:03
this team. I just think that all
23:05
intertwines. And I thought that that was
23:07
worth mentioning that, you know, for a hockey coach who who has
23:10
been a hockey lifer, he's been around every facet of the game.
23:13
For him to drop a line like that, I don't think it should be
23:15
taken lightly. And you're seeing that in the
23:18
way that these guys are performing individually and as a
23:21
group. The tightness and the closeness
23:22
of this team. And a 600 goal scorer like
23:25
Steven Stamkos sacrificing the body to block a shot with a
23:28
second left. I know we're talking about the
23:30
Olympics, but I wanted to bring that up.
23:31
And I just think I think it's all intertwined and the success
23:34
individually translates to the success of a team.
23:37
And then off of that come the individual accolades.
23:40
And it's just been a great run. And so happy to see that those
23:43
four guys are going to head over to Milan.
23:45
Yeah. This will also be an interesting
23:47
time to see how the players are time management.
23:49
You know, you still have a lot of hockey games to play here in
23:52
January. Then you look at the month of
23:54
February, they they play just a couple games that first week.
23:59
Then some of the players go and they play hockey.
24:01
Other players may just be sitting on the beach, you know,
24:03
like what's what's it going to be like when they come back to
24:08
close out the those last few games in February with all of
24:11
that time off? So it kind of makes you wonder.
24:14
We'll have to get with with Bruno on this.
24:16
What's the mindset? How are you, How are you
24:18
managing these players as some prepare to keep playing?
24:21
So they have that mindset of all right, I'm playing hockey now,
24:24
then I'm going to go to the Olympics.
24:26
Other players, you know, we've we've seen it before you start
24:29
thinking about that. What SPF am I bringing on my
24:33
vacation? Well we know, we know two dates
24:37
that you will be saving during that Olympic break once the
24:40
majority of the team is back. Wednesday night February 18th we
24:43
have a Smashville Live and Thursday night, February 19th
24:47
Nash Vegas casino night for the press foundation of an arena.
24:50
So that is the 2 most important dates during the Olympic break.
24:55
Of course. Well, and February 18th is my
24:57
birthday, so thank you Max for. Will you be hosting that
25:01
Smashville live with me on your birthday?
25:02
I don't even know. I will not be.
25:05
You're doing birthday things. Maybe I'm just the one thinking
25:08
about the vacation that's. Not what?
25:11
That's not what you wanted to do on your birthday, Cara.
25:14
Hang out with me. No.
25:15
I think our boss, Bob Kohler, it's like hard no, but that is
25:19
hard no. Birthday hammer no birthday
25:22
hammer on Smashville live well. Excited for our guys in the
25:26
Olympics. Going to be a lot of fun rooting
25:28
for the American team, both women's and men's hockey.
25:31
Hopefully the arena is done in time and I do want to correct a
25:35
common misnomer. The Olympics are in Milan,
25:38
Italy, not Mylan, Tennessee. A lot of people by that for our
25:42
West Tennessee people. Sorry, the there's no rink at
25:46
Mylan High School as far as I know so.
25:48
Wouldn't that be something though?
25:50
Yeah, yeah. Philip Forsberg will not be
25:52
going to Mylan, Tennessee for the Olympics.
25:54
And I think you would fit in great.
25:55
There were you watching that Netflix show about Paris where
25:58
they got it confused of like Paris France and then then said
26:00
the dating show goes to Paris, TX?
26:04
Very similar to something I saw. Well, Paris, TN and Mylan,
26:08
Tennessee aren't too far away from each other, so the
26:12
possibility is there. The.
26:13
Culture is off the charts. Speaking of international
26:16
competition, we had 7 Preds prospects in the World Juniors,
26:20
the most of any NHL team. We'll tell you about Brooks's
26:22
ginger friend who got the gold, and also some other friends who
26:25
made marks along the way. This is the Predators official
26:29
podcast on ESPN 102.5 The Game. Welcome back to the Predators
26:39
Official Podcast here on ESPN 102.5, The Game, Nashville
26:43
Predators, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platforms.
26:46
My name is Max Herz from Preds Radio with Kara Hammer from
26:49
Preds TV and Brooks Bratton from nashvillepredators.com.
26:54
The World Juniors have come and gone.
26:55
It's always fun to get to watch them in Canada, where the
26:58
tournament is basically March Madness.
27:01
I hope at some point it will be as popular in the US as it is in
27:04
Canada because it's an awesome way to follow the next wave of
27:07
NHL errs. And the Preds were a big part of
27:09
it this year with a league high seven players in world juniors.
27:14
Sweden got the gold. Predators had a defenseman, Vigo
27:18
Gustafson, a prospect part of the gold medal team A got first
27:22
place with a win over the Checks in the finals.
27:25
Canada got the bronze. USA did not meddle.
27:29
We had a lot of standout individual performances though
27:32
Brooksy from a lot of Preds prospects at various points
27:35
throughout the tournament. Yeah, you mentioned it.
27:37
It was a really fun time to be in Canada because like you said,
27:40
it is such a big deal, especially for the Canadian
27:42
National team and yeah, a lot of Preds making their mark.
27:46
So one that sticks out to me was, as you said, unfortunately,
27:50
the United States did not meddle, but they had a chance to
27:53
advance in overtime because of a game tying goal from Riker Lee
27:58
in that final game. It was based in Minnesota at the
28:01
home of the Wild actually. So the place went crazy as you
28:04
can imagine, all the US hockey fans, but regularly with a huge
28:08
goal there. Teddy Stiga's world junior
28:10
career comes to an end. You may remember he had the
28:12
golden goal last year for the United States, but he had a
28:16
couple of points as well. But I think the stand out in the
28:18
name that everybody will recognize, certainly most
28:21
recently as Brady Martin. And he had a great showing for
28:25
Team Canada. He scored four goals and
28:28
unfortunately got hurt in the second to last game, so he did
28:31
not play in the bronze medal game.
28:33
They were still able to win bronze, but Brady Martin look
28:36
great and Jack Ivankovic, the goaltender.
28:39
The Predators draft in the second round of this past year's
28:42
draft, he actually got in some good action.
28:44
We weren't sure, you know, in a tournament like that, you've got
28:47
three goal tenders. Weren't sure how much action he
28:49
was going to see. He actually got a couple of
28:51
wins, had a really good save percentage, some good goals
28:55
against and so it's just a great showing for him to be able to
28:59
play in some of those high pressure situations.
29:02
That was really good to see. Cam Reed, the defenceman also
29:05
with Canada as well. And then Daniel, Daniel Neimanen
29:09
who skated for Finland, the defenceman, recent Preds draft
29:12
pick. And yeah, you mentioned the
29:14
Viggo Gustafson, unfortunately didn't actually play a ton for
29:17
Sweden. He was in a suit and tie
29:19
receiving his gold medal. But you're right, he's got that
29:22
great red hair and so we love to see a ginger having success and
29:26
that, you know, I'm like, even though he didn't play, you still
29:28
get a gold medal. You don't have to play to in the
29:31
gold medal game to receive it. So good for Gustafson.
29:34
But I I think the biggest thing that comes from the World Junior
29:37
is you touched on it. Max 7 prospects for the
29:41
Predators skating in this tournament.
29:42
There were a few teams that didn't have anybody, which is
29:45
kind of mind blowing to me that of all the countries, all the
29:48
draft picks, that there are some teams that don't even have a
29:51
single player. And I think, you know, over the
29:54
years past, you've heard people like David Poyle, like Barry
29:57
Trotz talk about restocking the cupboard.
30:00
The president done a pretty good job of that and A tournament
30:03
like this is very telling of what your prospect pool looks
30:08
like. So for the fact that the Preds
30:10
had seven guys there, that's great news for the future of the
30:13
organization that, you know, these countries are saying,
30:16
yeah, the best players in our country, some of them are Preds
30:19
draft picks. And those are the guys that we
30:21
want out there competing for a gold medal.
30:23
And it's great experience too, like as a nineteen 2018 year old
30:26
20 year old kid, to be able to play in an international outlet
30:30
like that, to compete for a gold medal for your country.
30:34
Those games aren't nothing. You know, that's that plays a
30:37
role in your career development. And so to get that experience,
30:41
nothing bad can come of that. And five of those players who
30:44
you mentioned are underagers who can play in the tournament again
30:47
next year, including four of the Preds first 5 picks from this
30:52
draft, Brady Martin, the headliner, And Kara.
30:55
It was very fun to follow Brady Martin's pregame eating habits
30:58
during this tournament. He says he always eats Tim
31:01
horton's before every game. In juniors.
31:03
He had trouble getting Tim horton's in Minnesota.
31:06
So the big news is Brady Martin's both Americanization
31:10
and Southernization are on schedule because he replaces Tim
31:15
Horton's with pregame Chick-fil-A OH at World Junior.
31:20
Well, let's just hope they don't play on Sundays.
31:23
Well done, Well said Kara. It was fun to watch all these
31:27
guys. We didn't mention Cam Reed who
31:29
was on the top D pair for Team Canada.
31:31
He was making in a good way, absolutely no headlines, playing
31:36
alongside Flames prospect Zane Parek who was making many
31:40
headlines, not always in a good way, but he did score a lot of
31:44
points. But it was fun to watch the
31:46
World Juniors Preds are in good shape with these guys and there
31:49
are guys that we're looking forward to seeing again at
31:50
development camp in Smashville this summer, then maybe a
31:53
training camp next year. Especially for a guy like Brady
31:56
Martin, you know he will have a shot to make the team in 2026.
32:00
When we come back. We have a long overdue to Big E
32:04
to give out. We haven't been on the air for a
32:05
while. We have not been on the air
32:07
since we lost our friend and role model Sheila Crisp.
32:10
So we are going to remember her coming up next year on the
32:13
Predators Official Podcast. Welcome back to the Predators
32:22
Official Podcast, our first episode of 2026 here on ESPN
32:28
1025 The Game, Nashville predators.com and your favorite
32:31
podcast platform. Thanks for hanging out with us.
32:34
Let's have a great year of hockey.
32:35
My name is Max hers from Preds Radio, joined by Cara Hammer
32:38
from Preds TV and Brooks Bratton from nashvillepredators.com.
32:43
Guys, at this point in the show we always give out the Big E,
32:46
our awesome person of the week in memory, our friend Aaron
32:49
Donick who we lost to lung cancer last summer.
32:52
And since we last recorded, we also lost another member of our
32:56
Preds broadcast team who we love so much.
32:58
That was Sheila Crisp who died at the age of 82 couple weeks
33:02
ago on December the 17th. And there is no doubt that
33:06
Sheila is our biggie. She is the best.
33:08
Her and Aaron fought hand in hand, arms linked as they both
33:12
battled cancer together. And Sheila was Aaron's biggest
33:15
fan and, well, we the the thing we can take solace in about
33:20
losing Sheila is that she died so comfortably holding Terry's
33:24
hand with all three of her kids together in Hospice care in
33:27
Nashville. And the Chris family is the one
33:31
who is getting the Big E all together, not just Sheila,
33:34
because Kara, they have, they have made this almost a happy
33:36
occasion. And they went on vacation
33:39
together for Christmas in Arizona.
33:40
Cuz Sheila said first she said, I'm going.
33:43
And then when she knew she wasn't going to make it, she
33:45
said, you guys are all going and I'm not going to be there, but
33:49
you're still going. So the Chris family is, is just
33:53
a bunch of beautiful souls, which everybody already knows.
33:56
But it's it's been almost three weeks now and it it still hasn't
34:02
really hit us. Yeah, I've been on a group chat
34:04
with our broadcast team and the Chris family, and you talk about
34:08
them going to Arizona. And Tony, Jeff and Kaylee all
34:12
send us a collective message and a group photo of them all
34:16
together in Arizona with Crispy. And it was, you know, our first
34:19
broadcast back where we were all sharing special moments of
34:22
Sheila and what she has meant to us.
34:24
And they just said we were watching, we were listening, we
34:26
were hugging, we were crying. They were like, from the bottom
34:28
of our hearts, thank you. And you know, like it's, it's
34:32
hard because I love Sheila Crisp.
34:34
She was as much as we love crispy.
34:36
Sheila was the the the matriarch of the family and she just means
34:42
so much to me. I'm just so very saddened by it
34:45
and miss her and just love the Crisp family.
34:48
I love that we got her reading the line up a couple of months
34:52
ago and you know, you may remember we talked about it on
34:55
the show UC Soros and his mask for Hockey fights cancer Night
34:59
and Sheila was one of the four on there.
35:02
We talked about Aaron Donig, of course, and Craig Partner BA,
35:06
and Lexi Rogers, the the daughter of Pred's equipment
35:09
manager Pete Rogers as the four who were on the mask.
35:12
But seeing Sheila on there and then getting to see her in the
35:16
room and, you know, I, I watched that video so many times after
35:19
she passed. And, you know, she was just so
35:22
full of life. And I I think that's what makes
35:24
it kind of hard to believe is that video was only a couple of
35:28
months ago. Again, it was not, it wasn't
35:30
like it was years ago that she was waltzing in there and
35:33
dancing in there and getting the guys going.
35:35
And but yeah, she was just such a lovely lady.
35:40
I think the thing that and I, I posted this as well shortly
35:44
after her passing. But the thing that always stuck
35:47
out to me and Crispy essentially said this when we interviewed
35:51
him and Pete on this show a couple of months ago as well
35:54
before they were inducted into the Golden Hall.
35:56
Is that any time that you would ask Crispy, you know, what is
36:00
what is the key? Again, another hockey lifer.
36:03
He he played, he coached, he broadcasted, he did just about
36:06
anything there is to do in the game.
36:08
And you ask him what the key able to last this long in a game
36:12
that can be very unforgiving and a profession that can be
36:15
unforgiving. And his his first answer.
36:18
And the only answer was always you find a good woman and you
36:22
love her and you keep her and she'll be by your side.
36:26
And that's how you get through everything.
36:27
And that's who you enjoy the highs and the lows and
36:30
everything that comes with a life in hockey.
36:33
And Sheila was that for him. And, you know, I always love the
36:37
photos of them when, when Crispy won the Cup as a player with the
36:41
Flyers in the 70s. They're, they're so sweet and
36:44
they're so young and they're photos with the Cup.
36:46
And, you know, and then you see the photos from Calgary where he
36:50
was the coach and, you know, then of course she was around
36:52
obviously as a as a broadcaster with him here.
36:55
And yeah, again, just such a wonderful, sweet, loving, kind,
37:01
lovely lady. And you know, as you guys both
37:04
said, we, we miss her dearly. It's, you know, part of it
37:07
hasn't sunk in. You're kind of expecting her to
37:09
walk around the corner one day. And we wish that was the the
37:13
case. But we love her.
37:15
We love crispy. We love the whole family.
37:17
And you know, Max, you've mentioned it as well, like we
37:19
were just in Calgary and you always see some of the crisps
37:23
when we're in Calgary. But Crispy's a legend up there.
37:26
And, and Sheila played an equal role and, and getting some of
37:30
those banners up in the rafter at the Saddle Dome.
37:33
Yeah, it was. It was fitting.
37:34
That we were there when we were. It was Saturday night, January
37:38
3rd. The 4th would have been Sheila's
37:40
83rd birthday and seven of the 10 crisp grandkids were there
37:47
with tons of their friends in a big suite.
37:50
And they were making noise. Of course.
37:52
They were riling everybody up. And I mean, you look at the
37:55
Saddle Dome, which is is the last old arena untouched
37:59
remaining in the NHL, It's almost gone.
38:01
They've only got one more season left there.
38:03
And they hang all the banners off of like big pipes that hang
38:08
from the ceiling like it's real old school barn style.
38:11
And when you look at the Flame side, the Calgary Hitman have a
38:14
side. The junior team has a lot of
38:16
banners when you look at the Flame side, there would be
38:20
significantly more pipe visible if it weren't for the Chris
38:23
family and all of those honors. 1989 is the cup year, but the
38:28
late 80's, the early 90s and that is all because of the
38:32
crisps Cara. And that's just as much Sheila
38:35
as it is crispy. And they love her there, I
38:37
think. I think one of the things.
38:39
About Sheila and we heard it from a lot of the players Phil
38:41
Forsberg even talked about it how she saw Phil's parents and
38:45
be she looked beeline to them. You know she just welcomed
38:49
everybody and and I think we've all had that sentiment from day
38:53
one. Sheila made you feel like you
38:54
were a part of the family. And my, my story of her is, you
38:59
know, her and Eridonic teamed up to host my baby shower.
39:02
So, so special to have these two women in my lives.
39:04
And when my daughter was born, I, I texted Sheila, 'cause, you
39:08
know, you can't text crispy on the tic tic.
39:09
So I, I had to text Sheila. No, hey, we'd had a baby.
39:13
This is what we named her. And she wrote back and said one
39:17
day she was born May 29th, so one day after Crispy's birthday,
39:22
but born on Terry and Sheila's wedding anniversary.
39:25
So I'm so fortunate to know that each year that Remy celebrates
39:29
another birthday, I'll get to think about Terry and Sheila and
39:31
their wonderful 60 years of marriage that they were able to
39:34
share with each other. Amazing.
39:36
Really well said from. Both of you and yeah, just for
39:38
me again, every time you get a chance to talk to her and see
39:41
her, she was just so wonderful. And you know, to me and my wife,
39:44
we, we didn't have a ton of interaction with her over the
39:47
years, but you know, she was, she'd only met my wife a couple
39:51
of times. And my wife does some embroidery
39:53
on the side. And she actually ran into my
39:56
wife at a store when she was doing it during COVID for a day.
40:00
She was kind of a guest in a store.
40:02
And Sheila was like, oh, yes, I have to let you do something and
40:05
I want you to do more. And years later, she was like,
40:08
oh, can you do something for me again?
40:10
Like, you know, just you wouldn't expect.
40:12
We had this brief encounter, this brief conversation, but you
40:15
mentioned it, Cara. Like she made everybody feel
40:18
like they were a part of the family.
40:20
And no matter if, you know, you've known her for 30 years or
40:23
you met her for 30 seconds, she was probably going to remember
40:26
you if she saw you again. And not only that, but she would
40:29
have a. Smile and a hug and a kind word
40:31
for you and she's just a wonderful person and we're going
40:34
to miss her dearly. Nice.
40:36
That's a good biggie for. The week to start the year that
40:39
might be the biggie of the year already here on episode 1 of
40:42
2026. We love you Sheila.
40:44
We love all those crisps and we we hope we don't lose anyone
40:48
else from our friends family. We've lost too many, we've had
40:50
too much sadness, especially from our broadcast team and
40:53
those that we love this year. So thinking of you guys, we are
40:56
all family and that goes for all of you listening in Smashville
40:59
as well. I hope you feel it just like we
41:01
do. That's all we got for this week,
41:03
Prince. Home games coming up this
41:04
weekend, Blackhawks, Capitals, and Oilers.
41:07
Then we will be back with you along the way next week before
41:11
games in Denver and Las Vegas. back-to-back next weekend.
41:15
We do have an episode of Smashville Live coming up on
41:18
Wednesday, January 14th. Kara will be with me, it is not
41:23
her birthday, so she is available to host with me and
41:25
hang out Wednesday night, January 14th from six to seven.
41:28
We'll be at Brewhouse South in the Cool Springs Galleria on
41:32
102.5 the game. Our guests are scheduled to be
41:35
friends, rookies Ozzie Wiseblad and Reed Schaefer.
41:38
So we hope to see you there. And we hope to see you in
41:40
Smashville for Dierks Bentley Bobblehead night Tuesday and a
41:43
whole lot more fun along the way for Brooks Bratton, Cara Hammer,
41:47
Nate Baker and our entire team. My name is Max OR Thanks for
41:50
listening to the Predators official podcast on Nashville
41:52
Predators YouTube and ESPN 102.5 The Game.