Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Tom Callahan on the Utah Mammoth and Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game 2 tonight vs Vegas, Logan Cooley's impressive playoff debut + more

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Tom Callahan on the Utah Mammoth and Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game 2 tonight vs Vegas, Logan Cooley's impressive playoff debut + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: As we're listening to the Sean O'Connell Show from the
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  Speaker 2: its from two to six for your chance to win
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• 0:47
  Speaker 2: our giveaway today. We'll do that in the Daily Dump
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: coming up here in about twenty minutes. The Mammoth are
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: on the road again tonight Game two seven thirty puck
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  Speaker 2: Drop on UTAH sixteen and on ESPN two. Our guy
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  Speaker 2: Roxy Bernstein is on the call for ESPN and Tom
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  Speaker 2: Callahan our Mammoth Inside. One of our Mammoth Inside is
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: in the host of Locked On. Mammoth is kind enough
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  Speaker 2: to join us now to talk about what we can
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  Speaker 2: expect from this game to matchup. Tom Callahan, welcome back,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: How are you, sir?
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  Speaker 3: Hey, great to have, great to be back on. I'm
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  Speaker 3: excited to talk playoff hockey here.
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, I want to get to the Mammoth and
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  Speaker 2: the Knights. But you're you're Buffalo born and raised, as
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  Speaker 2: indicated in your Twitter bio and your Sabers finally back
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  Speaker 2: in the win column in the playoffs after a long time.
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  Speaker 3: The Buffalo Sabers. The whole city's going nuts. I'm really
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  Speaker 3: excited for my friends, everybody back home. It just wow.
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  Speaker 3: It's crazy to think it's been fifteen years since they've
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  Speaker 3: won a playoff game, and you know, the city is
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  Speaker 3: just erupting and excited about it. And of course, you know,
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  Speaker 3: part of it is everybody expected it to be the
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  Speaker 3: Buffalo Bills that was gonna, you know, really be the
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  Speaker 3: torch bearer for trying to win this city a championship.
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  Speaker 3: But right now, the momentum is behind Buffalo and it's
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  Speaker 3: it's great. You know, it's really fun to see for
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  Speaker 3: Buffalo getting back in for the first time in a
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  Speaker 3: long time. The city's fired up and it's kind of
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  Speaker 3: in a way very similar to Utah with the city
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  Speaker 3: getting fired up to support this team for the first time,
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  Speaker 3: getting into the postseason, and you know, there's nothing to
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  Speaker 3: energize the fan base like a playoff run.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we're hoping that this could be a deep playoff
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  Speaker 2: run for the Utah man. With the first two periods
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  Speaker 2: they looked awesome. Period three, things kind of went off
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  Speaker 2: the rails a little bit. Tell me how it happened
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  Speaker 2: from your perspective, Well.
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  Speaker 3: I think what you saw was a Vegas team that
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  Speaker 3: has a lot more been there, done that now that
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  Speaker 3: Utah doesn't have experience, and that's why they went out
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  Speaker 3: and got you know who have those Stanley Cup rings
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  Speaker 3: like your sten Lunds and your Schmid's and even b
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  Speaker 3: Tech Banacheck won last year with the Panthers. That experience matters,
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  Speaker 3: you know, Serga, Jeb, they'd been there. But what we
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  Speaker 3: saw from Vegas, I thought, and yes, there is a
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  Speaker 3: legitimate John Tortorella coaching bump for this Vegas team. It's
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  Speaker 3: a new voice in their room. They're energized, they're excited.
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  Speaker 3: They played great in the regular season, but they were
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  Speaker 3: just a little bit harder to play against. They turned
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  Speaker 3: it up that extra notch, especially in the third period.
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  Speaker 3: Vegas did not panic. The game was played mostly five
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  Speaker 3: on five, which I actually felt favorite Utah. They really
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  Speaker 3: did a nice job staying discipline, staying out of the box.
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  Speaker 3: But Vegas was a little more physical, a little heavier
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  Speaker 3: on the puck, which I think is really important in
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  Speaker 3: the playoffs, and the mammoth just you know, kind of
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  Speaker 3: I don't want to use the word defensive shell, but
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  Speaker 3: that's kind of what it resembled. They started not taking
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  Speaker 3: the plate to Vegas. Vegas started taking the plate to them,
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  Speaker 3: And to me, once you do that, you're just giving
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  Speaker 3: the momentum to the other team. So that's a lesson
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  Speaker 3: for these guys to learn that, you know, hey, this
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  Speaker 3: sure sixty minutes is what it's going to take, maybe more,
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  Speaker 3: and to say, you know what, we've seen this team
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  Speaker 3: below leads in the regular season all year long. Hopefully
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  Speaker 3: they've been learning from those two. But the playoffs is
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  Speaker 3: a completely different animal and there's zero quit in any
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  Speaker 3: opponent and they have to finish it off with all
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  Speaker 3: sixty minutes, and they just didn't quite do it.
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  Speaker 2: That physicality, obviously, was a major topic of conversation during
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  Speaker 2: the game. After the game. You know, I imagine in the
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  Speaker 2: dressing room it was a topic of conversation. And Vegas
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  Speaker 2: has a little bit more size. Are there ways that
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  Speaker 2: you can manipulate the game so that that size does not,
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  Speaker 2: I guess represent itself so significantly, especially on you know,
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  Speaker 2: in front of the crease, especially when you're trying to
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  Speaker 2: get bodies down there to confuse heart's vision and things
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  Speaker 2: like that.
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  Speaker 3: You know, that is really the key question. If you're
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  Speaker 3: going to play perimeter against Vegas, you're not going to
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  Speaker 3: score a ton of goals. And yes, your gunter's and
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  Speaker 3: coolies of the world, those guys can score from those
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  Speaker 3: those shooting angles. They do and they're some of the
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  Speaker 3: most talented hockey players in the world. But it's not
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  Speaker 3: going to be the way you're going to make that
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  Speaker 3: happen every single time. And so really the two things
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  Speaker 3: that I think to counteract that that you have to
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  Speaker 3: do is you really do have to use your speed
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  Speaker 3: to get the pucks ahead of the other team turn
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  Speaker 3: their defense around. It's the way you chip and chase.
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  Speaker 3: It's the way you get those defensemen to pivot. Because
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  Speaker 3: if Vegas defensemen keep a good gap, meaning how close
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  Speaker 3: they are to the forwards while they're backing into the
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  Speaker 3: defensive zone, much harder to get around them. And you know,
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  Speaker 3: Vegas is smart enough that their d will do either
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  Speaker 3: a hit and pin on the wall and then release
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  Speaker 3: a guy because they get that little two count before
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  Speaker 3: it turns into interference, or they'll get a piece of
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  Speaker 3: a guy going wide. Vegas has to use speed coming
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  Speaker 3: from other angles, so maybe the guy who chips it
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  Speaker 3: in isn't the player going to get the puck. You
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  Speaker 3: need a secondary four checker in there. That's really how
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  Speaker 3: you're going to counteract that physical play. But then once
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  Speaker 3: you're in a battle on the wall, you just have
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  Speaker 3: to win with energy and enthusiasm and strength and being
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  Speaker 3: smarter by supporting the puck up high as opposed to
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  Speaker 3: cheating the game as they say, and trying to be
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  Speaker 3: down lower. You're like, oh, i'd be in a better
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  Speaker 3: scoring situation. Well, you need to be on the defensive
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  Speaker 3: side of the puck so that if it does come
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  Speaker 3: out that way, and supporting that puck battle then you're
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  Speaker 3: still going to end up a possession and you can
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  Speaker 3: keep it in the zone. So there's a lot of
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  Speaker 3: those little things they can do and they really do
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  Speaker 3: need to do with regularity. I said it on the
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  Speaker 3: podcast and I'll hit again here at Playoff Hockey of details,
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  Speaker 3: it is doing all of those things we just talked about,
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  Speaker 3: and more right, as often as you can, every single time,
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  Speaker 3: as impossible, but as often as you can to continue
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  Speaker 3: to make sure that you are the team that has
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  Speaker 3: the puck more than the other team and generates the
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  Speaker 3: scoring chances.
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  Speaker 2: You and I have talked all season long, and several
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  Speaker 2: times we've discussed special teams, and right now it feels
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  Speaker 2: like the penalty kill is in a bit of an awkward,
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  Speaker 2: maybe problematic spot. What can they do?
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  Speaker 3: Killing penalties is all effort. It is one hundred percent effort,
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  Speaker 3: and it stops. It starts at the most physically taxing
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  Speaker 3: thing you can do in a hockey game. You are
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  Speaker 3: constantly going back and forth your InMotion, and the discipline
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  Speaker 3: of the penalty kill is what they really need to
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  Speaker 3: focus on. It is maintaining the box. It is making
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  Speaker 3: sure that you're not getting caught chasing a guy, and
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  Speaker 3: they've been guilty of that on different occasions this year,
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  Speaker 3: especially skilled players. Sometimes you'll see them almost like you know,
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  Speaker 3: they become entranced by watching whoever it is, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the icle, the marnor whoever up and down the wall
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  Speaker 3: or carrying across, and then all of a sudden, the
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  Speaker 3: minute they cross over with someone else and they carry
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  Speaker 3: the pug deep. If you don't have the communication to
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  Speaker 3: know who's doing what, that's when the box breaks down.
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  Speaker 3: It causes an nod Man situation where there's a guy
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  Speaker 3: free somewhere. And that's that's really it. I mean, it's
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  Speaker 3: it's going to be the discipline and the hard work
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  Speaker 3: to keep your formation, to not chase and to not
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  Speaker 3: get caught watching. You know, it's it's also that you know,
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  Speaker 3: mental acuity to stay sharp at that point in the game.
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  Speaker 3: It really is more than anything else. That's why you
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: don't always see superstars out there killing penalties. Some do,
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  Speaker 3: but not all of them do, because they don't have
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  Speaker 3: the discipline and the focus to be able to execute
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  Speaker 3: that game plan all the time. And that's really what
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  Speaker 3: it is. It's executing the game plan. And quite frankly, look,
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  Speaker 3: sometimes on a penalty you just get beat some team
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  Speaker 3: makes an awesome play, there is one more guy on
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  Speaker 3: the other team. I mean that happened sometimes.
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  Speaker 2: Tom Callahan, our guest talking Utah Mammoth as we get
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  Speaker 2: ready for Game two tonight in Vegas. Right now, Utah,
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  Speaker 2: of course trails the Golden Knights won zero after the
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  Speaker 2: comeback victory for Vegas in Game one. All right, So
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: if you're looking for a tone setter, if you're looking
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  Speaker 2: for somebody that can early in this game and consistently
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  Speaker 2: all the way through, I suppose let Vegas know that
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  Speaker 2: what happened in that third period, the bully ball that
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  Speaker 2: they were able to play, is not going to happen.
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  Speaker 2: Is there one person on this Mammoth roster who can
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  Speaker 2: do it? Is it going to have to be a
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  Speaker 2: concerted team effort. Do you have to fight to send
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  Speaker 2: that message? How do you get that done?
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  Speaker 3: All the above? All the above? Yes, you can fight
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  Speaker 3: to send that message some teams. Do you know? It's
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: easy for me to go ahead and say, Brandon Tanner,
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  Speaker 3: you need to be that guy. And we've talked before
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  Speaker 3: about how you know, he's really at a disappointing season
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  Speaker 3: and I wish he would be that guy, but I'm
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  Speaker 3: convinced at this point he's not. So I'm not looking
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  Speaker 3: for him to be the solution. I don't know if
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: they're toying with the idea of putting Tune in the lineup.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: I'd love to see Liam O'Brien out there, but the
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: guys who I know are going to be out there. McBain,
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: even though I know he's probably a little banged up,
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  Speaker 3: he's a guy who can be one of those players.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: But really the guy in the line that needs to
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  Speaker 3: do this is Lost and Kraus and his line with
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Schmaltz and Keller. They were a minus eight in game one.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: They cannot be minus eight in game two. And Kraus
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: is a big guy. He's a physical guy. He can
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: create space on the ice. He absolutely he's got a
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: letter on a sweater for a reason. He absolutely needs
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  Speaker 3: to be that lead by example, get in their faced guy.
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  Speaker 3: He used to have to nickname the sheriff. He used
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: to call it Lost and Kraus the Sheriff. I would love
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: to see the sheriffs saddle up and ride again.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: If we're grading Veggie from that first playoff appearance we've
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: seen with him in a mammoth uniform, how do you do.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: He was fine. I didn't have a problem with this game,
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: and I know I've been maybe one of his harsher
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: critics this year. I really didn't have a problem with
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: the game. I didn't think either goaltender was over the top,
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: spectacular or really bad. You know, I think he did
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: enough that they could have won that game. Yeah, I
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: think I think he was fine. I think he appeared
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: to handle the nerves fine. For me, it is more
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: in the playoffs about team defensing goaltending being hand in
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: hand with one another, and so the more Utah does
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: take care of their own under the front of their
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: own net, veg is going to give him more often
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: than not, he's going to give him the first save,
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: but they have to take care of it from there
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: because sometimes there are rebounds, sometimes there are leakers. They
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: just have to really be aware in the situations. I
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: didn't think he had a bad game. You know. Could
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: he have given them one more saved and maybe steal
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: it now, Yeah, sure, But I wasn't I wasn't unhappy
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: with the way he played.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Logan Cooley scored the mammoths first playoff goal. Maybe more interesting,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it's more important for me, was
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: the way that he was just getting under the skin
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: of the Knights. I mean, even guys who are much
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: older than him, veteran players that have seen playoff hockey.
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  Speaker 2: It seemed like there was a certain amount of focus
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  Speaker 2: on Cooley, and you know, we saw the face washing
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  Speaker 2: and things like that from him and from everybody really
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  Speaker 2: in this game. But how do we make sure that
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: he continues to have a big impact in this series.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: Let me take Jazz fans into the way back machine
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: and talk about Stockton and Malone. When those guys took
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: the court in the postseason, it was different and they
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: knew it. You knew it. Everyone knew it. There was
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: another level. And I think when you look at Logan
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  Speaker 3: Cooley what he showed us that even though it was
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: his first playoff game, he is going to be one
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: of those players. It is different, and his game is elevated.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: It brings new elements. I don't think he could play
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: like that for an eighty two game schedule and really
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: survive to have a long and fruitful career, because that
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: kind of pace burns you out. But in the playoffs,
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: I think if you can maintain it for two months,
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: you're going to Stanley Cup. And I think he's one
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: of those guys that is going to be We're going
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: to look back when he's done and say that was
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: one of the best playoff performers ever to wear a
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: Utah Mammoth uniform throughout the course of his career. I
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: love what we saw from Logan Cooley and I am
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: excited by it, and I hope that everybody else on
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: the bench is watching because that was phenomenal and I
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: want to see more out of it, more out of
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: him him, and more out of the guys on his line,
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: more out of the guys on the Benchit next to
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: him going wow, look at this kid. He is out
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: there and giving it his all, and he has that
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: extra level to keep him going, to wind him up
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: and let him go. He's he's young, he's got energy.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: I used to know what that was like, but I
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: don't anymore. You know, he can do it, and he
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: will do it because he wants to. He relishes that
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: role and he's fired up to be in the postseason.
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: I don't think you need to do anything except lem
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: let him keep running at it and have some fun playing,
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: and I think they'll they'll have success with him in
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: the series. Uh.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: I never like to overreact to any singular game, but
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: obviously we're in the playoffs now, so each game becomes
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: much more important. And you already addressed the fact that
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: the Krouse Killer Schmaltz line didn't have the night that
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: they needed to. And Clayton Keller is a captain on
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: this team, and he's had an up and down year.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: It feels like the tail end of the regular season
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: he was really kind of rounding into a form that
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: I thought would translate well to playoff hockey. Did we
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: see that from him individually in Game one? And I
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: don't think we did. So what does he need to
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: do to step up to justify, you know, our expectations
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: of him?
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: Well, as I mentioned a moment ago, to see you know,
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: loss and Crows get out and helped him create room
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: with help because I and the guy actually I picked
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: who the series would swing on his Nick s Maltz,
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: out of everybody on the team. I think Nick Maltz
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: can swing the series. But Keller, obviously, being the third
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: man in this unit, needs to be a captain and
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: with his leadership values here and just really kind of
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: make sure that he's on top of the other guys
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: and saying, look, this is how we need to play.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: Our line needs to instigate this. We need to be
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: the leaders out there.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: It shouldn't be Logan Cool, it shouldn't be Dylan Gunther,
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: who during the regular season I thought was the scrappiest
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: player at times that Utah had, which is a crazy
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: thought because he's your leading goalscorer. Keller has always been
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: a little bit more of a quieter guy. I would
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: like to see his leadership style blossom into something that's
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: a little more out loud. Here in game number two,
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: and to your point of you don't want to swing
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: a series on a game. I look at Dallas. I mean,
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: look at Dallas Minnesota. Minnesota pounded them six to one
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: in Game one. The Stars didn't even show up. That
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: was a horrible showing. Dallas went back out there in
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: one Game two, so things changed night tonight. Seven games
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: is an awful lot of hockey, especially against the same
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: team night in night out. And look, these guys that
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: we're talking about, all three of them are veterans. They
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: know what happened, they understand that they did not play well,
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: and there's a lot of professional pride involved here. They
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: will come back with a bounce back effort. I can
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: pretty much guarantee that now, are they going to be
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  Speaker 3: on the course sheet. I don't one hundred percent no,
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: because they're drawing those top line defensive assignments. But I
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: do think they're going to be much better in Game
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  Speaker 3: two in Vegas. So you know what, Clayton Keller, Yeah,
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: the spotlight on them, absolutely it is. But I just
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: me personally, the only thing I would like to see
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: is probably a little more emotion and a little more
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: demonstration on the ice. I want to see him being
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: that guy as well.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Tom Callahan for another minute or two here on the
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: Sean O'Connell show talking playoff Hockey, and I want to
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: expand our viewpoint here to the rest of the Western
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Conference and even in the East. You already alluded to
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Stars Wild. That series is now tied at one apiece.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Tonight you've got Colorado La Colorado leads the series one zero.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: What do you expect to happen tonight and in the
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: rest of that series?
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: You know, oc out of all the series, this is interesting.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: I forget where it was. It might have been NHL
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Network or one of those, or maybe it was the
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: satellite version, but that is the only series where not
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: a single host picked the Kings every other series, there
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: was at least one, if not more, votes for a
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: split amongst who they thought would win. Nobody's picking the Kings.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: And it's not that LA is a bad team. I
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: think they can hang out Colorado. I just don't think
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: they can win a seven gamer against them. So I
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: think Colorado is going to get past LA probably in
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: four or five. You know, maybe LA can can get
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: a couple out of them and extend that one. Dallas
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: and Minnesota, I from the beginning I thought was going
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: the distance because these two teams are really really well matched.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: And then you know Edmonton and Anaheim looking at the
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: West there, I'd love to see the Ducks, you know,
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: kind of show up a little bit more. But Kingress
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: by the way to Connor Ingram his first playoff win
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: former Mammoth in that for Edmonton, I just think Anaheim
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: has the weapons. I just worry that there are a
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: little lot of gas and maybe the Oilers. Are you
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: going to get through that one a little bit easier
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: than we all hope?
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: The Penguins Flyers the All Pennsylvania series, you got Philadelphia
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: on top to nothing and the Penguins fans were booing
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: their own team off the ice before this thing was
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: even over last night. I mean, I know, East Coast
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Hockey and Pittsburgh Hockey's built different and their expectations are
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: different than a lot of us out here. Was just
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: you know, happy to be at the party right now.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: But man, harsh, harsh reality for a team with a
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: lot of aging stars.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: Well, that's exactly it. Penguins fans know this is probably
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: the last kick of the camp and the number one
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: they don't want to lose because they don't want that
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: for Sidney Crosby or Malkan or any of those guys.
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: But they sure don't want to lose to Philly.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: And that's that desperation is born as much of the
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: fact that this is the Flyers that are up to
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: zero in the series as anything else, which I mean,
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: you know what, Philly's playing pretty good right now. They
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: played well going into the playoffs, quite frankly shocked everybody.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: I keep thinking Pittsburgh's window closed four years ago, but
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: yet here they are second in the division. So the
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Penguins aren't out of this series, but they better wake
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: up in a hurry because going on the road to
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: Philly Game three, there's not a whole lot of must
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: wins here, but Game three for Pittsburgh is a must win.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: We've got a couple more days before Delta Center hosts
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: the very first playoff hockey game, NHL playoff hockey game
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: in our state's history. What's that going to be like?
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: In nuts, It's going to be crazy. It's going to
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: be so much fun. It's the energy is incredible, and
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: you know, it was funny I was reading the anecdote
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: somebody was referencing online about you know, that's the only
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: building where Phil Jackson ever needed earplugs. You know, I
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: thought to myself, Man, that just that multiplied by the
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: enthusiasm and the energy behind hockey, and just like what
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: modern fandom has become in sports, I think that it's
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: going to be exciting. The energy is going to be amazing.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: It will be a party like atmosphere. I think everybody
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: is pretty darn happy to be in the postseason. Eventually,
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: believe me, we're all going to get to a point
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: where you want to win every single time out in
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: every single playoff series, and anything less than a couple
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: won't be good enough. But this year is something special
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: because it is the first time and it is against
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: the team that's easy to hate in Vegas, and I
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: think it's just going to be probably the best party
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: that Downtown has seen in an awful long time. And
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: it's going to be so loud in that building. It's
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: already loud in the regular season. Bring your ear plugs.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: It's going to be crazy.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: I don't like to be the sports media guy who
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: tries to force anything, to force feed rivalries or things
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: like that, but it feels like Utah in Vegas. There's
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: a lot of natural ingredients for an authentic rivalry to
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: develop between these two teams, and playoff hockey can accelerate
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: that significantly. Is this you see the makings of something here?
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, absolutely I do. When I was with Nashville,
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: when I was doing play by play with the most See,
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: we came into a series against the Anaheim Ducks. Neither team
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: cared about the other team before that series, and then
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: in that six game playoff series, which Nashville won, an
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: instant rivalry was born, and for the next like five
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: or six seasons, pretty much until Corey Perry left the Ducks,
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: Nashville and Anaheim was one of the biggest burning rivalries
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: in the NHL and that it just it was born
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: out of the playoffs. And I do see that with
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: Vegas because, as I say, Vegas is an easy team
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: to make your Darth Vader or you know, insert villain here,
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: because of the way they run things. They very much
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: and they're cool with it. They're cool with being the
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: evil end part. They're cool with being the team you
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: love to hate. So that I think unto itself already
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: walking into it, people are going to be predisposed. Utah
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: fans are going to be, oh, we don't like these guys.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: But now on the ice, it's going to get even better.
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: It's going to get even more obnoxious, and there's a
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: lot of things you can glom onto. Plus the geography
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: is there. They are a new franchise. We are a
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: new franchise. Like, there's a lot of things. There's going
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: to be a lot of comparisons between the two. So
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: I really believe that there is all the makings of
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: a Vegas rivalry.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Last thing before I let you go in it has
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: nothing to do with the Mammoth or the playoffs or
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: anything else. But there's a really interesting article in the
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Athletic about how the Seattle hockey experiment is not going
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: well right now, and some of the factors that might
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: be contributing to that. Attendance is good, but the results
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: on ice are just not there. Is it going to
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: take an ownership change you think to jumpstart the kracking?
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: Oh no, I don't think it will take an ownership change.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: It definitely will take a hockey ops direction change. I
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: remember back when they were setting that team up that
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: they went a completely different direction than anyone expected in
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: building that team, because everybody was thinking the way the
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: expansion draft set up for Seattle day'd have the same
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: success as Vegas and building their team. Yet the way
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: they built that team was much more plugger grinder traditional,
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: we're going to lose sixty games while we figured out
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: expansion team. And I was kind of shocked by that
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: they did not go after some really big, notable names who,
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: by the way, including Serge Bobrovski, was out there. They
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: could have plucked him as one of their expansion goaltenders.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: There were a lot of moves they did not make
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: at that time that left a lot of us scratching
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: our head. And then they brought in Dave Hackstall as
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: a head coach, the first head coach, and he had
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: never had a ton of success. It was weird how
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: they almost talked themselves into being an expansion team in
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: an old school we're going to be bad for a
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: while away, whereas Vegas did not do that. So they've
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: been set up since before they took the ice as
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: a team that I felt was behind the eight ball.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: They haven't drafted well. They certainly haven't scouted well. They've
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: spent money in weird places. They threw a ton of
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: money at Philip Grubauer. There's just a lot of signings
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: that didn't go well. That's a front office thing. It's
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: got nothing to do with ownership. They just really need
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: a different hockey culture in that building if they're going
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: to get it going.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Tom can't tell you how much I appreciate your time
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: again and look forward to hopefully seeing you on Friday.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Oh see, I look forward to it and I cannot
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: wait to see what Delta Center is going to be like.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Tom Callahan Utah Mammoth insider, host of Locked on Mammoth.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Check him out on Twitter at Callahan on Air