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Rookie Review & An Ode to "Crazy Legs" · Predators Official Podcast

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According on Wednesday, December 10th, I'm Brooks Bratton
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alongside Carrie Hammer and Max Herz.
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If there wasn't enough incentive to be watching on YouTube
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already, Max is a man with many hats.
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What do you sport in there, Max? This is one of my many mementos
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from Ivan the Preds. Again, little mini pred sombrero
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here. And on the rare episodes where
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I'm at home while we're recording, I've got a lot of
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Knick knacks and some people would call them random crap, but
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I consider them valuable items and I'm very happy to own them
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all. And they all need something.
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Your treasures. My treasures, yeah, we've got a
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lot of good stuff here. The Predator's official podcast
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on ESPN1O25, The game streaming on Fred's YouTube, and a whole
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slew of other spots. Great to have you along for
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another episode. I'm Brooks Bratton of Nashville,
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predators.com, along with my friends Max Hurst from Preds
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radio and Kara Hammer from Preds TV.
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It's been a minute since we've talked to y'all, but a lot of
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wins to talk about the Predators with a night of milestones
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against the Calgary Flames, an OT thriller in Florida and then
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the Preds top the NH LS top team in a shootout, the Colorado
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Avalanche, more on all of those games.
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Craig Smith, a former fan favorite, hangs up his skates.
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We've got 12 days of hockey holidays, our biggie awesome
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person of the week and so much more to get to.
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But Max Cara, Tuesday night against Colorado, as we record
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this on Wednesday, December 10th.
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We've kind of just woken up, honestly, after we all got home
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in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
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A late one against the Avalanche, but it was worth it.
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A 43V in a shootout. Max Cara, that was a fun one.
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That was a fun one and Brooks, I always appreciate the one game
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of the year where we have the night off from broadcasting the
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game. So you get a sit in the sands a
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little bit like a fan in the media row.
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So obviously no cheering, but what an exciting night taking on
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the the top team in the league, the Colorado Avalanche.
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And to pick up a win in the shootout.
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I mean, it was it was midnight. We were rolling in to this
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morning technically and the team was still playing.
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And it was so fun and exciting. And my favorite was I got a text
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from Conor Mcgahee who does radio for the Avalanche and he
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said, who boosts Landiscog? And I said, well, the press when
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they're winning. Well, you had a unique
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perspective and you were up there with Conor and all of U.S.
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media types, as you mentioned. And I was, I noticed you sitting
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next to Willie Donnick and I was excited to ask you about your
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perspective because usually you're either on the glass,
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you're on the bench, you're in the bowels of the building.
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You don't usually get that perspective when you're
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watching. So what did you think of this
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Predator's team against the top team in the NHL and how they
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kind of went back and forth with Colorado and then ended up on
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the right side of the score sheet?
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You know, one thing I noticed is that I, I felt like, but they
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never just lost the game, right? It was 22 going into the third
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period and you felt like they weren't losing the game,
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especially, you know, they were killing off penalties.
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They were they were playing tight.
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They were playing connected. But I think the one thing that
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stood out to me, Brooks is I have to go to the overtime.
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And in that moment they had Adam Wilsby on the ice.
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And who thought that Adam Wilsby at one point almost looked like
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Kale Makar out there. He was shifting.
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He was moving. He he was trying to get past
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Scott Wedgwood and I just thought that it looked like a
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team who was finding a rebound after their tough loss against
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Carolina, finding a way to come back and get in the win column.
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Well, Max, same thing as well. Like we've talked about how this
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team, they know that they're capable of this, right?
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Even that last meeting against Colorado was it was a three
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nothing loss for Nashville. But two of those goals were
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empty netters. They went toe to toe with the
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Avalanche that whole game. They just couldn't put the puck
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in the net. Kind of the same thing on
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Tuesday night. They've shown that they're
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capable of hanging with the top teams in the NHL.
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They did it against the ABS. It's a matter of continuing to
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do it on a consistent basis though.
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Yeah, the Preds have really competed well with the Avalanche
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in the last three seasons since Andrew Brunel was hired as the
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head coach. And I like this matchup and
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it'll be fun to see what happens in Denver on Saturday as these
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teams played twice in the same week.
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So it's been fun to face the ABS and I think the Preds have done
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well against McKinnon and Mccarr.
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They've only gotten them in those end of game moments.
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McKinnon got an empty netter last game.
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I thought McKinnon was awesome on Tuesday night but the Preds
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still were able to keep him off the goal column and Mccarr got
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that goal late to tie it. But other than that, as Kara
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said, like the Preds, defencemen were the ones making the big
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plays in this game, so it was a really fun night.
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It was a late start for TNT and our fans stuck it out.
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Big shout out to the crowd. It was a full house.
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Lots of folks stayed till the end and we had one of our
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biggest crowds in Barrel House for the postgame show after the
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game at 12:30 AM on a Tuesday. So major props to Preds fans who
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were rewarded with a win. As UC Soros said on the TNT
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interview in the postgame, it's just another typical Tuesday
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night in Nashville. Stuff going on behind them, fans
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sticking it out in the barrel house, it was Jonathan
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Marshasil, Reed Shaffer and Brady Shay scored in regulation.
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Ryan O'Reilly got the only shootout goal.
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But guys, it was Soros, 39 saves through 65 minutes and then
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turned to side three more. I guess technically at least one
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of them missed the net in the shootout, but still, give him
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props. The Nashville goaltender really
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the start of the game on Tuesday.
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Yeah, you asked what it's like sitting next to Willie Donnick
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watching a game that he's not broadcasting.
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And at first time Soros had to save.
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I think Willie would would look at me and say he's dialed in.
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Look at him. He's dialed in, he's dialed in.
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And it was Willie noticing that even before the game started.
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He said to me, he goes, I hope Soros has a good night.
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And he sure did, right. He showed out.
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He was the first star. And shout out to UC.
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No goals, right? I love that Biz even remembered
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the commercial and was able to give him some props for it.
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My moment of the game is Reed Shaffer, the rookie crunching
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Kale Makar in the corner, picking up the puck and taking
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it all the way across the net mouth for his 2nd career goal in
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his sixth NHL game. Big Red is showing things and I
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got a couple of clips from Fred's radio last night that I
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want us to hear about Reed Schaefer.
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First up from Jonathan Marshall at the first intermission in our
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interview talking about Reed Schaefer scoring that goal and
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how his size works in the NHL. He's the kind of guy that
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whatever he was doing well in the AHL, it will it will still
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show in the NHL. The kind of guy that is a game
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fits perfectly for the NHL and his productivity should be
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around the same, I would say because he's a good part 4, a
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lot of great skills. He's really fast and I think
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it's a it's a he's he's been showing that he has a lot of
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skills and AP can can be effective to the NHL level.
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And definitely good to to see that he gets us on on the
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border. I just thought that was such a
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telling quote from a veteran who's seen it all.
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That's a guy whose game belongs in the National League.
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Jonathan Marsha so says about Reed Schaefer, and he got caught
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up at the perfect time. He didn't score any goals in the
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1st 11 AHL games of this season, then he got four and four and
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was fast tracked to the show and the transition has been pretty
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seamless. Well, Max, that's a good point.
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Like because Barry Trotz was on 102.5 on on Tuesday discussing
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Reed Schaeffer's game and Tuesday against the ABS I think
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was 1/6 NHL game. He's got two goals now, but I
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feel like Tuesday against Colorado was really the first
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game. Then I noticed him going out of
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his way to lay the body. I, I think there's been maybe a
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little bit of a feeling out process, which is totally
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understandable. And Barry Trotz mentioned this
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Reid Schaefer, he's still a young kid, right?
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He's got the size, but he's going to get stronger.
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He's going to get bigger, he's going to get faster.
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But I like how Trotz mentioned, like there's also kind of a
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feeling out process around the league.
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Like you don't know all the players.
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You can watch guys on television and see highlights, but it's a
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whole nother animal when you're actually playing against them.
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Once he starts seeing guys over and over again, figuring out
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tendencies and just realizing that, like Jonathan Marshiso
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said, he belongs in the National Hockey League.
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Whether or not he stays up here the rest of the year remains to
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be seen. But Reid Shaffer especially for
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me on Tuesday, a couple of hits. I remember one on Josh Manson
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behind the net. He also went out of his way to
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hit Sammy Gerard, former Pred, on the back end as well.
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And so I was impressed. The goal itself was beautiful,
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like you said, to go into the corner against Kael Mccarr,
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arguably the best defenseman in the world, and come out with the
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puck and score. But it's the physicality as well
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that really seemed to get Schaefer into the game, I
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thought. Yeah, and Schaefer was on our
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post game show way after midnight on one O 25 the game
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and got asked about all that by Caitlin daily.
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For me it's just plain simple for now, you know, just using my
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body, you know, it's my advantage, opening up space,
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just trying to get to the net and then obviously like skill
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can take over around there so. I love this quote from Schaefer
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cuz like it's a little bit of you feel him finding his home in
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the NHL. He understands that his size can
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do the work. And then I love the way he put
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this. Once he gets the puck, the skill
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can take over. Like he knows he's good.
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I just love the way he phrased that, and that goal on Tuesday
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night was all of that to a tee. And he knows he can do it now.
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He knows he can not kill Makar over and win a puck in the
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corner and he knows he can go right to the net and score a
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goal in the NHL. So, Kara, I just thought that
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was the perfect way to explain where Shaffer's at right now.
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Yeah, I've really been liking his game.
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We could talk about his his first NHL goal at Bridgestone
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Arena. I don't you know, I had a chance
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to to go up and and talk with his mom.
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So how cool was that that he has his family in the building.
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He picks up his first NHL goal and everybody was there to
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witness it. But you talk about his size,
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Max, you know, will he ask me? He goes, what was it like
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interviewing Schafer? And I said, I said, who's so
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tall? And I don't know if it's because
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most guys that come out for that first period intermission take
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off their skates, but he walked down with his skates on.
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And I remember going like this with the microphone.
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You know, everyone. Reed Shaffer, like he's a big
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body out there. But I think you're right back.
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His game is definitely translating over.
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Well, it's good to have some 65 ginger energy.
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We had it with Thomas Willis years ago, but I think Reed
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Shaffer's got about £50 on, maybe not £50 on Thomas, but at
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least a lot more muscle than Thomas had, bless his heart.
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But no, it's good to have Reed in the mix and again, just a
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good kid, right? Like it was fun last year to see
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guys come up, make their debuts, Just the excitement surrounding
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that. And we've had that with Reid as
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well. You talk about a first NHL goal,
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we had it with Ozzie Weisblatt too.
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It's been feels like a month since this happened, but
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Schaefer and Weisblatt against Calgary last week, both getting
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their first NHL goals. Schaefer also got his first NHL
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fight in that game. Weisblatt also fought against
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the Flames. That was a really fun night and
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I think this is a cool stat that I wanted to mention.
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So when Weisblatt and Schaefer pair of Predators get their
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first NHL goal in the same game, the fifth time in franchise
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history that's happened. And the other most recent
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example was in January of 2020, none other than Colin Blackwell
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and Pekka Rene scoring their first goals in the same game.
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We thought that Colin Blackwell was going to be the story that
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night until Pekka decided to score a goal of his own.
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So that was a pretty cool stat. The others I'll throw out real
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quick. Kelly Yarnkalk and Colt and
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Sissons did it together. Patrick Hornquist and Ryan Jones
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did it back in 2008, and then in 2004, Simone Gamache and Andrew
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Hutchinson as well. So that's a little unique tidbit
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there, but thought that was a pretty cool stat.
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Except for Brooks going back, I don't think that Pekka was on a
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Gordie Howe watch that. I mean, I think he just got the
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goal where in this scenario, both guys were trending that
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direction. You were kind of hoping during
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the game that one of them would get it right?
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Like both of them just needed the apple to pick up the Gordie
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Howe. I just think it's crazy that
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this has happened five times. That's a ton, right?
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And just 27 seasons. Yeah, no, it feels like a lot.
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Well, and I loved what Ozzy said in the post game about because
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it was Schaefer that scored first and then Ozzy scored and
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then Schaefer fought and then Ozzy fought and I was like,
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what's up with that? You're just following around.
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He's like, well, I'm not gonna let him outdo me.
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Like I've got to keep up. If he's gonna score, then I've
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got a score. So that was fun and and really
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good for Ozzy Weisblatt because unfortunately we go to Florida
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and he gets injured and now he's going to be out eight to 10
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weeks with an upper body injury. With that timeline, he probably
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won't be back until after the Olympic break.
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So that's really a bummer because boy was Ozzy Weisblatt
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really establishing himself and his role on the 3rd and 4th
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lines for the Preds. But I'm glad he got his cold
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before it got hurt. That really would have been a
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bummer. But he's still around.
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He's still bringing the energy. So disappointing.
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But we'll certainly look forward to to getting Ozzy back in
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February. But that one in Florida against
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the two time defending champs, that was a fun one too.
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Hey, before, before we hit Florida, Brooks, we have to go
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back because we can't pass this this game without also
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highlighting Steven Stamkos 1200 points.
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I was interviewing Ozzy on the bench and you know, we were so
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hyped on these young guys picking up their first goals and
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Ozzy said to me, yeah, but what about Stammer?
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1200 points, No big deal. Nope, no big deal.
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I love what I love what Ozzy said postgame after Stammer got
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his twelve 100th right. He's like, not too long ago I
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remember playing video games as Steven Stamkos, and now I'm
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playing with him. He's like, what do you think of
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1200 video game numbers? It's ridiculous.
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It's how Gill would say, and to put it into perspective, that's
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a lot of points. Just the 53rd player in league
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history to reach that milestone. Only 6 active players have done
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it. Pretty impressive for Stephen
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Stamkos. And then, yeah, a couple of
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nights later, we go to Florida. He scores the overtime winner
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and the Nets off the moorings. Where have we seen that before?
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This one counted as well. But yeah, that was you go into
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Florida, the penalty kill is perfect.
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That was the story of the game that night.
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Ryan O'Reilly ties it late. Stephen Stamkos gets the winner
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in overtime. But we were talking before we
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came on. Like these gritty, greasy, grimy
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wins. That's what the Preds have been
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able to do a lot of recently. It feels like they're really
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starting to, to like I just mentioned, they're, they're
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playing connected, they're finding a way to, to, to stick
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it out. And, and, and why we're talking
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about Stammer. I mean, he, he's been through so
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much. It took him a long time to get
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his game going. Right at the, the start of the
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season, he was in a slump and he, he took all the heat and
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he's been able to, to come out and, and show this veteran
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leadership to these young guys and you see it starting to pay
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off. They're they're finding ways
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now. It was a fun win and the Preds
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had to work really, really hard for this one.
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It was an awesome some goaltending duel.
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Preds get the game tying goal with under 10 minutes left and
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then in overtime they're able to cash in.
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And I'd like you said Brooks. I just love the karma of the net
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flying off and the Preds knowing that one was going to count.
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Nobody had a shred of doubt about the rule that that was a
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goal. I think the Preds were already
15:29
in the locker room before the officials even confirmed that it
15:31
had counted. They were like, we've seen this
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before. If the one in Minnesota counted,
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then surely this one will be OK. And they were booking it to the
15:39
room they knew and they were right.
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So that one counted. A big two, one win over the
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Panthers. Carolina was what it was.
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They got into a hole. The penalty kill was not great
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in Carolina, but you can't take as many penalties as the Preds
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did. They know that.
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But I did want to mention a couple of items.
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So still got three goals in the third.
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Matthew Wood, a really impressive between the legs
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tally in the third period. And then Philip Forsberg's goal
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was the 700th NHL point in his career.
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Just the second player in franchise history to record 700
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points with the Preds. Roman Yossi, of course, the
16:13
other one. But guys, still some highlights
16:16
in that one too. And we talked so much about Reed
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Shaffer and the confidence that he has shown as he has gotten
16:21
some games under his belt. Reminds me a lot of Matt Wood.
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It took him a minute to get his first, but he got that first NHL
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goal in Philadelphia in late October.
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He's gotten 7 more since that. And so two really good examples,
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I think Matt Wood and Reed Shaffer, of rookies settling in,
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finding their footing, finding their confidence, and now
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they're reaping the benefits of that.
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Yeah, that was an awesome goal, but I would between the legs,
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just showing off the skill in front.
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So those moments from wood keeps showing up.
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That one wasn't in a huge moment in the game, but many of them
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have been and it's been awesome to see.
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And also, I'd like everybody to know that at the NC State men's
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basketball team beat UNC Asheville 75 to 63 at the Lenovo
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Center on Saturday. And it was a very conveniently
17:07
timed game for all that we have no complaints about.
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We got there the the ice was still covered at about 5:00 for
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a 7:00 game. I think some people are getting
17:17
a little antsy, but they got it uncovered.
17:20
We played the Preds, lost of course, unfortunately, but we
17:24
got it done. Yeah, that's always cool when
17:26
you get to watch one of those time lapse videos.
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That's how they opened the show of how quickly they were get
17:30
getting things turned over. And I was watching with my dad
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goes wow, they had a basketball game before this.
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It's way less cool watching it in real time in real life.
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I'll. Tell you that, yeah.
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I mean I saw the whole thing in like 10 seconds.
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It's much cooler when we're in LA and it's, oh, the Lakers are
17:46
playing today, we can wait. And then NC State is playing
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who? UNC Asheville?
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Why does that have to be in the 18,000 seat arena?
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So yeah, thanks Carolina. All right.
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Well, before we close this out, I do have a question for you
18:01
guys because at the end of the Colorado game, we saw Philip
18:05
Forsberg crash into Scott Wedgwood and obviously the Preds
18:09
go to Denver on Saturday night to take on the Avalanche.
18:12
So I got to know, do you think we're going to see some rebuttal
18:15
coming up? How do you expect this one to
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play out? Well, we we were kind of joking
18:19
in the post game. Like what?
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Like Bruno, did you tell Philip to run into Scott Wedgwood in
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the show? Of course he didn't.
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But yeah, that was it's tough to see, right?
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Like we, we all love Scott Wedgwood.
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We got to know him a little bit at the beginning of last season.
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He's such a good guy and he's been a tremendous season for the
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Avalanche. And it was kind of scary, like
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Phil ran into him, as you said, and he was kind of immediately
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calling for the trainers. And then a weird situation at
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the end, like he was kind of got had gotten pulled out for the
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from the concussion spotter. Mackenzie Blackwood had to come
18:50
in. It didn't matter because Gabe
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Landiscog was stopped by UC Soros and the game was over at
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that point. But yeah, what a what an
18:56
interesting finish to that one. So I don't know, Hopefully
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Wedgwood's OK one, but if if you do see him again on Saturday, I
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don't know that'll be that'll be fun to to face him again,
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especially after the way that that played out.
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Yeah, I definitely could feel some tensions rising, you know,
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and I obviously it was not on purpose, right?
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You know, that was, that was, there was no, you know,
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purposeful contact. It just happens.
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And so we'll see. You wonder, though, because it's
19:24
Phil this, he's a superstar, he's a veteran.
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You know, it's not like a, it's not like a, a young rookie
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making this, making this happen. So we'll see on Saturday the
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Preds are in Colorado and then they'll be in Saint Louis on
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Monday. Kind of a weird scheduling quirk
19:37
these six games, it's Carolina, Colorado, St.
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Louis, Colorado, St. Louis, Carolina.
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So we'll get used to these opponents over the next little
19:45
bit for the Predators, but a good little stretch wins in five
19:49
of seven for Nashville. Coming up, a former Predators
19:53
fan favorite who we all know and love, Craig Smith retires.
19:56
We'll touch more on Smitty after the break.
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You are listening and watching the Preds official podcast on
20:01
ESPN 102.5, The Game and YouTube.
20:10
Welcome back to the Predator's official podcast on ESPN 102.5,
20:13
The game, YouTube, and a whole slew of other podcast platforms
20:17
on Brooks Bratton alongside Max hers and Kara Hammer and
20:20
friends. As we were enjoying practice on
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Monday morning, some news came across our timelines and it was
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notable for those of us in Smashville, one of our all time
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favorites, a guy who was in Nashville for a long, long time.
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Former predator's winger Craig Smith officially announced his
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retirement from the NHL on Monday.
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He spent the first nine seasons of his 14 year career in
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Nashville 160 two goals, 331 points over 661 regular season
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games with the Predators, 16 more points and 52 playoff
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appearances, including the run to the Stanley Cup Final.
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We used to talk about a Thomas and I, that there are a few
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things that are consistent in life, but death, taxes and Craig
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Smith scoring 20 goals. That seemed to be the case in
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the prime of his career. Hit the 20 goal mark five times
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with the Preds 25 goals during the President's Trophy season.
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But Kara Craig was always a joy to deal with and we're certainly
21:18
happy for him. So close to 1000 regular season
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games, 987. He's got it in the playoffs,
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though. But what a career for Smitty.
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I mean I I just love crazy legs. He was always one of my favorite
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players on the team. I always loved interviewing him,
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loved watching him. He's also just one of the nice
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guys, right? And you, you just when he
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retired, you think, God, if he should have 1000 games, only 13
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to go and you look back and you wish you could have gotten it.
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But I, I have to share my favorite Craig Smith story and
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this is going to come off the ice and it always makes me laugh
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and it still does this day. But it was one of the very last
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games of the season. And I and I always interviewed
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Craig and I I go in the locker room and I was like, hey,
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everybody like, have a great year, whatever.
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And he goes, all right, see you, Cara.
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And I think at this point, it was like Yost.
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I mean, it was like Ryan Johansson.
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Everybody goes, did you just call her Cara?
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And he goes, yeah, that's her name.
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They're like, no, it's Kara. And all of the guys just were
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chirping him like crazy. It was so funny.
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And I'm not kidding. I would always see him after
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that, you know, even when it got traded to Boston, you'd always
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come back down to the hallway and say hi.
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And he always got Cara after that.
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He could remember. But I thought, Craig, we just
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did. I did 41 home games that season.
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Oh, that's amazing. I well, never.
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Forget it. He was the only guy whoever and
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and I usually will ask guys before I talk to them in the
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locker room. Hey, can I grab you for a
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second? Hey, can I talk to you for a
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minute? He was the only one that ever
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pulled the I don't know. Can you like OK, OK, Mr.
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Wisconsin collegiate degree. But no, he he's such a good
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dude. I I had the chance to see him.
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He was actually at the Preds alumni Clay shoot this October
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and I said, you know, are you trying to get to 1000?
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He's like, no, I'm pretty sure I'm done So, but it was so cool
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to see him. Great to see him back in town.
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And as you said, just a really good guy and and and such a
23:21
consistent contributor. I think that's obviously what
23:23
people will remember about him. You know, I, I guess I kind of
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knew this in the back of my head, but going back and looking
23:29
up some numbers, just the the places that he has on the
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franchise's all time list. He's 9th in games played with
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Nashville 6th and goals again. That's 162 seventh and all time
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points. He's also 4th and even strength
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goals, tied for fifth and power play goals and 9th and
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game-winning goals. So when you pull up the all time
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franchise numbers with the Reds, Craig Smith's name is
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everywhere. So he's a guy again, that really
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made his mark on the team when he was here and certainly spent
23:58
the the largest amount of time of his career with the
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predators. Just an all around good dude and
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Congrats to him. It's it's an awesome thing to be
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able to do to get to the end of your career.
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So as I said, this news broke during practice on Monday.
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And then I actually went into the room and asked Philip
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Forsberg, one of the few guys in the room who was actually
24:15
teammates with Craig Smith and said, you know, what do you
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remember about Smitty as a teammate?
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And, and he brought up the Crazy Legs nickname that we heard Pete
24:23
Weber recite all the time about Craig and but Phil.
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And I was glad that he mentioned this because I had kind of
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forgotten just the competitor that Craig Smith was.
24:32
Like, he took losses hard. And if you ever spoke to him
24:35
after a loss, he would be really frustrated and disappointed and
24:39
and just angry sometimes. But you'd be hard pressed to
24:43
find someone who cared as much as him, not only about the
24:46
results on the ice, but in taking care of himself.
24:48
Phil mentioned that as well. Like always in the gym, always
24:52
the most in shape guy. I mean, he was jacked, He was
24:54
ripped, right? And we used to sometimes he
24:57
would walk around the room after a game with like a smoothie.
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He'd go back in the players lounge and come out with this
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like greenish, brownish looks like he had grass clippings or
25:06
something in the smoothie. But whatever it took to be his
25:09
optimal performance, he was gonna do it.
25:11
So I think that was I was glad that Forsberg mentioned that as
25:15
well that don't forget just what a competitor he was and how he
25:19
would do anything to make himself better and make the team
25:22
better. That's I just I think one more
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thing about Craig's legacy that is certainly worth mentioning.
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So Congrats to him. All the best to him and his
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young family as he hangs up his skates and goes down in
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Predators history as one of the all time best to wear the
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Nashville sweater. So Congrats to Craig and yeah,
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maybe we'll see him down the road.
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Cara, I don't know, maybe we can get him on the podcast sometime
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and he can call you Cara. On the podcast, on the
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broadcast. We need you out here, Craig
25:49
Smith. Smitty, if you're listening and
25:52
watching, which I'm sure you are, give us a call.
25:54
We'd love to have you. Congrats again to Craig Smith.
25:58
Up next, Predators prospects. They're not about to retire, but
26:01
they are one step closer to playing at the World Juniors.
26:04
And we've got 12 days of hockey holidays there in full swing.
26:07
You are listening to and watching the Predators official
26:10
podcast back in just a moment. Welcome back to the Predators
26:20
official podcast on Preds YouTube and ESPN1O25.
26:24
The game, Max Hers, Brooks Bratton and Cara Hammer all here
26:27
with you and Brooksy. The World Juniors are coming up
26:32
here in just a couple weeks, and we found out this week that six
26:36
Preds will be in preliminary rosters for their home
26:39
countries. Indeed, Yeah, it's always an
26:41
exciting time of the year. So you've got Christmas Day and
26:44
then you've got Boxing Day, as our Canadian friends call it,
26:46
the day after Christmas. But that is always start of the
26:49
World juniors. It's the number one junior
26:51
tournament in the world and that's where a lot of NHL
26:55
prospects, you get to see them before they become household
26:58
names. And yeah, this is this is really
27:00
a nod to Nashville's prospect pool that they've got six guys
27:03
potentially that will be skating in the world junior.
27:06
So the most recent three that were named were Team Canada's
27:10
Brady Martin, who of course we saw make his NHL debut earlier
27:14
this year, Nashville 5th overall pick, Cam Reed, the defenseman,
27:18
also a first round pick for Nashville this past draft, and
27:22
then Jack Ivan Kovic, the goaltender, a second round pick
27:25
for Nashville last June. So all three of those guys who
27:29
the Predators added in the draft that he could potentially be
27:31
representing Canada at the World juniors.
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A couple of Americans as well, Riker Lee, who's at Michigan
27:37
State. And it seemingly once a week has
27:39
a ridiculous highlight on Twitter that we end up showing
27:43
he will be there. As well as Teddy Stiga, who we
27:45
all remember scored the big winner last year.
27:48
He'll be back on Team US as preliminary roster.
27:51
And then Viggo Gustafsson, a big Swedish ginger named to Sweden's
27:56
Camp Rost as well. So good to see him competing
27:59
there. So we will certainly keep you
28:00
updated as we get closer. And then the tournament begins
28:04
after Christmas and into the new year.
28:06
But yeah, ultimately, I think from a Predator's perspective,
28:09
really good news to see a number of guys who the Preds hope will
28:14
one day be on their roster see their respective countries say,
28:17
yeah, these are among the best that we've got.
28:19
We really need them at the World Juniors.
28:22
Yeah, we'll keep you guys updated as they announce the
28:25
final rosters in the next couple weeks.
28:27
And Team USA will get to defend their gold on home ice in
28:31
Minnesota at the Wild Arena. And the secondary arena will be
28:36
the University of Minnesota Arena.
28:37
So awesome to have it in the US. It's not here too often.
28:41
So cool to have the World Juniors on US soil this year.
28:44
And we hope to see hopefully all six of those guys end up in the
28:48
World Junior Championships representing their countries.
28:51
We have a lot of things here in Smashville we want to tell you
28:53
guys about, some announcements and some things to get you ready
28:56
for the holiday season. First up, Wayne D is back with
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12 Days of Hockey Holidays. It is underway right now,
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December 9th through 20th. Every day you can open the
29:08
Nashville Predators app and scratch off your chance to win a
29:11
new prize. And Wayne D will come deliver
29:15
those prizes to some lucky kids in Smashville.
29:18
And he told us it actually does not matter if you were naughty
29:21
or nice this year. He has different standards than
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Santa. Good to know.
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Get at it. No matter how well you've
29:27
behaved, you've been. There's some good prizes in
29:30
there too. I saw the first one was a Nate
29:32
Bargatzi prize pack. The second one's a staycation to
29:35
the Omni. That's a nice little home away
29:38
from home for you. So there's some good stuff in
29:40
there. So yeah, make sure you're
29:41
checking out the app every day. And Wayne D as he said, it
29:44
doesn't matter if you're naughty or nice, you're a jerk.
29:47
You can still win. So give it a shot.
29:50
Hey, and don't we have a Nate, Nate Bargatzi bobble head coming
29:53
up? We do, we do.
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That'll be the game on the 11th on Thursday against Saint Louis.
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And then of course, the Nashville native performs 3
30:02
shows at Bridgestone Arena on the 12th and the 13th.
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Friend of the show, by the way, we had him on way back in the
30:08
day. We like to say that we gave him
30:10
a start. That was before all the Saturday
30:11
Night Live and the arena headlining and so it was good to
30:15
give him a little boost. We're we're really glad we could
30:17
do that. That's so nice of you and Thomas
30:20
back in the day Brooksy. So make sure to open the
30:23
Nashville Predators app every day for Wayne D's 12 Days of
30:26
Hockey Holidays. Lots of great prizes from the
30:29
Preds and also Preds Partners, Delta Airlines, Jack Daniels,
30:34
Johnny O, the Omni Nashville Hotel and also some autographed
30:39
country music star guitars. Lot of variety.
30:42
Wayne D has left no stone unturned for Wayne D's 12 Days
30:46
of Hockey Holidays. So that gets your holiday season
30:49
started. Next week we will be celebrating
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Hanukkah in Smashville with Preds Jewish Community Night.
30:55
That is on Wednesday, December 17th when the Preds host the
30:59
Carolina Hurricanes. On the fourth night of Hanukkah,
31:02
we will have a pregame menorah lighting and gathering at the
31:05
arena. You can sign up by going to
31:07
nashvillepredators.com/jewish Community Night to be a part of
31:13
it. If you already have tickets, we
31:14
still ask that you register for the event.
31:17
If you don't have tickets, you can buy tickets through the
31:20
Jewish Community Night ticket package and we hope to see you
31:22
there. And we still have some Hebrew
31:26
Preds T-shirts available, but you got to sign up fast because
31:29
we are almost out. So go to
31:30
nashvillepredators.com/jewish Community Night and we will see
31:34
you for the 4th night of Hanukkah in Smashville.
31:37
Very nice. And then once the holidays are
31:39
over and you may have seen it announced on Tuesday, but the
31:42
Predators versus the Red Wings on March 2nd, that's a Monday
31:44
that's been moved to a 1:00 PM central start.
31:47
So the idea is to make it prime time in Europe.
31:51
We know we've been to Sweden recently and just to kind of
31:55
continue that momentum also on the heels of the Olympic Winter
31:58
Games in Milan, so continuing to grow that European audience.
32:02
But that is a fun way to spend a Monday too.
32:05
So get this half off Michelob Ultra the whole game, Dollar hot
32:09
dogs the whole game. It's kind of like you're going
32:12
to a baseball game. It's at 1:00 on a Monday as it
32:14
is come on out, have a beer, have a hot dog.
32:17
I talked to a friend during the game on Tuesday.
32:19
He's like, I legitimately cannot wait to just take off at lunch
32:22
and go to the game and never go back to work.
32:24
So follow his lead. Take a long lunch, come on out
32:27
with your Co workers, take the day off.
32:29
That'll be a fun way to spend a Monday for sure.
32:31
It's. 5:00 somewhere. Well, Speaking of baseball, that
32:36
is going to be the third installment of our Smashville
32:39
Sports Series baseball jerseys which are pretty sick.
32:43
And for the day game we have doubled the giveaway from 5000
32:48
to 10,000 of Smashville Baseball jerseys.
32:51
So Monday March 2nd, 1:00 Central time.
32:55
And from a hockey perspective, that is the start of a
32:57
back-to-back with travel for the Preds.
32:59
They play in Columbus the next day.
33:01
So not only is it something the NHL has been wanting to do for a
33:04
while, but it actually will help the Preds be better rested for
33:08
their game the following day. So a lot of reasons why we're
33:11
giving this a try and the same as all the NHL events that the
33:14
Preds have been a part of before, this is a league
33:16
initiative and the Preds were the team that was happy enough
33:19
to oblige. And the reason that we are in
33:21
outdoor games and we go to Europe two times in four years
33:24
and host All Star games and drafts is because the Preds are
33:27
willing to try new things. And this is another example of
33:30
that. So I think it's a great idea and
33:34
skip work nobody wants. To work anyway.
33:38
Yeah, well said, Max. And then we talked about
33:40
Saturday night in Denver, the Colorado Avalanche, the
33:42
Nashville Predators. It's the first of four
33:44
appearances on News Channel 5 this season.
33:47
Those went really well last year.
33:49
Just another way to get to game the game out to a a larger
33:53
audience for the Preds. And so they'll have four of
33:55
those games, December 13th, December 27th, February 28th and
34:00
then March 28th. But again, the first one,
34:02
Saturday night News Channel 5, the local CBS affiliate in
34:06
Nashville, that'll be a fun one as well.
34:08
And like Kara said, you never know what's going to happen
34:10
these days when the Preds and the act get together.
34:12
This will. Be a fun one to watch.
34:15
Yeah, and Kara will be in the house out in Denver.
34:18
It'll be a Preds Radio TV crossover party, so we hope
34:23
you're watching on News Channel 5.
34:24
The game will still be on FanDuel Sports Network and all
34:27
the places it usually is, but for the second year in a row,
34:29
there will be 4 games that are on both channels.
34:32
All four of them are Saturday nights, including two this
34:35
month. When we come back we will hand
34:37
out the Biggie Awesome Person of the Week and answer some fan
34:41
questions to finish up the Preds Official podcast here on
34:44
ESPN1O25 The Game. 4th and final segment of the Predators
34:55
official podcast, The Recording on Wednesday, December 10th.
34:58
I'm Brooks Bratton alongside Carrie Hammer and Max hers.
35:02
If there wasn't enough incentive to be watching on YouTube
35:05
already, Max is a man with many hats.
35:08
What do you sport in there, Max? This is one of my many mementos
35:13
from Ivan the Preds. Again, mini pred sombrero here.
35:17
I've on the rare episodes where I'm at home while we're
35:20
recording. I've got a lot of Knick knacks
35:22
and some people would call them random crap, but I consider them
35:25
valuable items and I'm very happy to own them all and they
35:28
all mean something. Your treasures.
35:32
My treasures, yeah, we've got a lot of good stuff here.
35:35
Amazing. Well, Speaking of good stuff,
35:38
the biggie, Awesome Person of the week and Max, you are
35:40
bringing this one to us and it's a pretty cool story.
35:43
Yeah, back in September at the Gold Star Showcase in
35:46
Clarksville, we were really happy to have some members of
35:48
the Fort Campbell Army hockey team on Preds radio when the
35:53
Preds had their intrasquad scrimmage up in Clarksville.
35:55
And their captain, Josh Tobin, was one of the folks that we
35:59
interviewed and he brought his leading goal scorer, Bradley
36:02
Becker, with him. And this past weekend at the
36:05
Forte Center in Clarksville, the Fort Campbell Screaming Eagles
36:09
took on the Metro Nashville Police Department hockey team in
36:12
front of a big crowd up in Clarksville.
36:14
And Bradley Becker went Michigan goal on the Metro PD and it was
36:20
a beautiful goal to the Fort Campbell Screaming Eagles hockey
36:24
team. You all are the biggie, awesome
36:26
people of the week. Thank you for your service.
36:28
And Bradley is an active duty soldier and he's also scoring
36:33
lacrosse goals. So great job guys.
36:35
It's so cool to have them a part of the hockey community and we
36:38
look forward to seeing them in Nashville soon.
36:41
Amazing. Yeah.
36:41
Thanks to all of them for their service.
36:43
They do amazing things up in Clarksville and all over the
36:45
world. We're so grateful.
36:47
And that we've also got some awesome hockey players on our
36:50
side, too. It's pretty great.
36:52
Yeah. So thanks to you guys for that.
36:54
I wanted to get to a couple things.
36:55
First off, there was a gentleman who, for the life of me, I
36:58
didn't get his name, but I've seen him before.
37:00
He stopped me and the 300 level concourse on Tuesday and said I
37:04
just have to tell you how much I'm loving the podcast with Max
37:09
and Kara. So shout out to that gentleman
37:11
again, I didn't catch his name. I'll get it next time because I
37:13
know I'm going to see him again. But I we really appreciate that.
37:17
As I've said before, we've said it before on the show, if you
37:20
see us out and about, if you like what we're doing, if you
37:22
ever have a question for us, please stop and say hello.
37:25
We love that when it happens. So thanks to that fine gentleman
37:29
who said he was enjoying the show and enjoys hearing us talk
37:32
for an hour a week. We we certainly appreciate that
37:35
we've at least got a few listeners out there.
37:36
And we did get a question and that's a good one.
37:39
And we might have to do a little more research on this as well.
37:41
But Abby wanted to know what's the logic behind who comes out
37:46
of the tunnel first? She says, I understand Yossi and
37:49
Steven Stamkos with the C and the A, but Nick Hague comes out
37:53
behind Stammer. There's kind of a method to the
37:56
madness, Max, I don't care. I don't know if you have any
37:58
insights in on the in on this, but there is there is a reason
38:03
like they all come out in the same order every time, whether
38:06
it's start of the game, start of warmups, whatever the case might
38:10
be, it's always the goaltender first, unless it's a player
38:12
who's making his NHL debut. But then after the goaltender,
38:16
same kind of order. So do you guys have any insights
38:19
there or do we need to do some more research on why there is a
38:22
certain order the way that it is?
38:24
I think we need a little bit of research, but I, I also think
38:26
that my opinion from just watching is maybe a little bit
38:30
of superstition. When they come out in the
38:32
hallway, they kind of, you know, have their way that they line up
38:35
with their fist bumps where they're going, who's dabbing who
38:38
before they go out. But then Brooks, this is going
38:41
to totally throw this off because I've also seen scenarios
38:43
where the guys are lined up, but then as you know, they're
38:46
walking through the Lexus Lounge and there's a lot of fans who
38:49
are and a lot of those fans are small kids.
38:51
So I have seen a player stop to give an extra high 5 or, you
38:55
know, just have a quick extra moment and then get left behind
38:59
in the line as they're going out to the ice.
39:00
So that also could shake things up, especially if it's a if it's
39:04
a family member of one of the players, they may stop for an
39:07
extra second. But there have been scenarios
39:09
where the whole line will stop if a player stops for an extra
39:13
moment and they'll wait for that guy to get back in line.
39:15
So my opinion would be that it's a little bit superstition, and
39:21
that's my only reason. I don't know, Max.
39:23
Do you have a? Do you have fact, a factual
39:25
explanation for this? I just think everybody wants to
39:28
be either first or last, and once everybody makes their pick,
39:31
it's based on tenure. And Steven Stamkos was kind
39:35
enough to let Roman Yosi keep leading the line, even though
39:38
Stamkos has been in the league longer than Yosi has.
39:40
And I think it was a bit of an adjustment for Stammer, who was
39:44
always first one out on Tampa Bay.
39:47
So I think these guys are a little bit more flexible than
39:50
they'd like you to think. As long as they all up end up on
39:53
the ice, I'm happy. And I don't think it affects the
39:56
outcome of the game. But I'm not going to tell the
39:58
players that to their faces. But we may have to do a little
40:01
bit of research on it because there have been times too where
40:04
there's a long moment before the next player comes out.
40:07
Like you'll see one or two guys come out and I'll be on the
40:10
bench wondering is anybody else coming?
40:12
Are they coming like? Yes, what and I I my memory
40:17
precedes me, but I but I seem to recall Thomas Willis years ago
40:21
writing some sort of story. I don't know if it was the order
40:24
in which they come out or just the routine that guys have in
40:28
warmups, But if you're ever at a game for warmups, which I would
40:30
recommend going early to see the guys go out there.
40:33
I think it's fun just to watch in warmups, but do yourself a
40:37
favor sometime and pick one guy to watch and then do it again
40:43
another game and notice how basically just about every
40:47
player does the exact same thing every single time.
40:50
The way they come out on the ice, the number of pucks they
40:53
shoot, the way they stretch, the time in which they get off the
40:57
ice from warmups like Eustace on the is always feeding Jonathan
41:01
Marshall pucks to shoot at the end of warm up.
41:04
Marshall pretty much always the first guy off the ice or sorry,
41:08
the last guy off the ice after warm ups are over.
41:11
It's fascinating how everybody has, like you said, they're
41:13
little superstitions and it carries on through the warm ups.
41:17
So if you're ever there, just pick a guy or two to watch and
41:20
see what they do, and then see how similar it is game by game
41:24
by game. It's really quite fascinating.
41:25
But they're habits of they're creatures of habit, and if it
41:27
works, it works. Yeah, and if I'm gonna suggest
41:30
the first player to watch it is Ryan O'Reilly.
41:33
And we're hoping that during the broadcast this season we can mic
41:36
him up during during the the warm ups and walk you through
41:40
what kind of his superstition is.
41:42
But that would be my first suggestion.
41:45
Interesting. OK, good to know.
41:46
Yeah, I'm always, I always watch.
41:48
You mentioned Steven Stamkos coming out like he comes out
41:50
without his helmet and he'll do like, I'm standing up, so I'm
41:53
gonna spin watch this. He'll do like a little twirl
41:56
with his stick around the back, right?
41:59
Yeah. And it's just, I don't know.
42:00
It's just one of those things. And I'm like, that's a cool way
42:02
to come out on the ice. And I appreciate that.
42:04
So well done, Stammer. Can I, can I hit you with the
42:06
second one? I've I've seen this a couple
42:08
Times Now. Michael Bunting always goes to
42:11
to center ice and he kind of like marks his territory on on
42:16
their their half of the ice. And I've seen a player to kind
42:19
of skate over the line a little bit and I've seen like a like a,
42:22
a, a bump like Nope, I'm going to knock you back to your side.
42:26
So this is also something to keep an eye on and it's
42:28
something that I noticed it two or three Times Now.
42:31
I'm going to have to see if the if this is really a thing that
42:33
he keeps doing, but it caught my attention.
42:37
Interesting, I've never noticed that.
42:38
All right, I'm going to watch Michael Bunting these next few
42:40
games and see what we can come up with.
42:42
And if you're a fan listening, tweet us, like, let us know, hit
42:45
us up and let us know what you're seeing and things that we
42:47
could be looking for as well. Yeah, yeah.
42:50
Good question, Abby. We'll do some more research on
42:51
this and this is we could do a whole podcast just on warm up
42:55
routines, I'm sure of it. Oh, for sure.
42:59
Max doesn't seem very excited about the prospect.
43:03
I'm excited. I just never get to see warmups
43:05
because I'm always on the air. Oh, that's right.
43:07
That's right. Yeah, I have.
43:09
I have nothing to add, sadly. I wish I could, but the fans
43:11
definitely have much better insight than I do on this one.
43:14
All right, well, we'll let you know what we find out, but good
43:16
question, Abby. And again, you can always use
43:19
#preds podcast if you want to get in touch with us or leave a
43:22
comment below if you're watching on YouTube in the comments
43:25
section. We certainly appreciate it.
43:27
Max Cara, it's always a pleasure.
43:29
It's been a fun one. It's good to talk to you both.
43:32
Great hanging. I hope everybody likes my hat.
43:36
And on that note, the show is over for Brooks Brat and Kara
43:39
Hammer, our entire crew. My name is Max Hers.
43:41
Thanks for listening to the Preds official podcast.
43:43
We'll see you in Smashville this weekend.
43:45
You're on ESPN1O25 The game.