Latest / Predators Official Podcast / Homestand Success & Olympic Winter Games Preview feat. Kevin Morley, Team USA Trainer

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Homestand Success & Olympic Winter Games Preview feat. Kevin Morley, Team USA Trainer · Predators Official Podcast

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This is the Predators official podcast on ESPN1O25, The Game,
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Nashville Predators, YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
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My name is Max, hers from Preds Radio along with Cara Hammer
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from Preds TV and Brooks Bratton from nashvillepredators.com.
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We are podcasting to you on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026,
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fresh off a winning home stand for your Nashville Predators.
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Three wins and one loss on four games in six nights for the
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Preds as they stay right in the thick of the playoff hunt past
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the halfway point of the season. We're going to break down all of
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those games and in about 15 minutes we will be joined by
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Predators head athletic trainer Kevin Morley for an interview.
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He is going to be part of the Team USA Olympic staff at the
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Olympic Games next month. Looking forward to hearing from
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Kevin and looking forward to talking with two of my best
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friends in the world about some Preds wins.
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It was a fun weekend in Smash. I don't care.
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It feels like we played four days in a row.
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The Prince just kept on winning three out of four.
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That's right, Max. I mean, the the team seems to
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have found their rhythm. I mean, Willie Donnick sent me a
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stat last night. They're 11 of 12 when they're in
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one goal game. So things are starting to change
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for this team, but I was more into the exciting weekend of
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having some future hall of farmers in the house.
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I mean, Alex Ovechkin was in the building, went home with a loss.
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Connor McDavid was in the building, went home with a loss.
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So, so I, I feel like things are things are good right now here
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in Smashville. That was fun.
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I well and you know, we talk about hockey, It's you look at
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things on paper and that's why you play the games because what
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you think might happen probably isn't going to happen.
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I think maybe going into this, you'd look at all those games
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and say Chicago, that's probably the one that you're going to win
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if you're picking any of them. The press don't even score a
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goal against the Blackhawks. But what a bounce back it was
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against Washington. I think that was really again
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back-to-back week and we know the schedule has been so tight
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and so compact. The guys are tired.
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I mean, I, I think, you know, you and I, Max and Cara, like
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we've said before, we're tired and we're not even playing.
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Imagine how the guys feel. And that was really a great game
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on on Sunday against Washington. We'll get to more on that in a
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minute with Stan Kosan, Ovechkin and that sort of dynamic.
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But the captain, my goodness, we know he like he's always good,
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right? Roman Yossi is always a great
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player, but he's on fire right now.
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Five points in the last two games, including a pair of goals
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against the Edmonton Oilers. The overtime winner from almost
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an impossible angle. I love Yossi after the game
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saying that thank goodness it went in because I really didn't
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want to have to skate. He back up the ice.
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He was pretty tired. He didn't have much of a
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celebration. I don't think he had much energy
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to have a celebration, but but that was really a great way to
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finish off the home stand, especially considering the preds
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losing 6 to 2 in Edmonton just a week prior to come home.
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And you'll see also kind of jokes.
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He was in a really good mood last night.
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But he he joked, wow, McDavid only two points.
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I guess that's a pretty good night.
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You held him to just two points. But yeah, that that was a really
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fun way to to finish off the homestand.
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I think that's it's tough to get fired up on a Tuesday night in
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January, but that that's about as good as it gets under that
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circumstance. And guys, yeah, that was I think
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that was just a really impressive showing the way the
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Preds, yes, like you're never going to completely shut down a
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guy like Connor McDavid, but to limit him, to limit his chances,
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really good showing from a lot of guys on the back end.
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Nick Blankenberg, Adam Wills be sticking with him, especially in
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overtime, really just slowing him up and not allowing the
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Oilers to press like they usually do.
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So really great showing for the Preds on Tuesday night.
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And again, Roman Yossi, what more can you say is he inches
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closer to a big milestone, but really impressive from the
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captain. Yeah, you talk about them being
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tired. Even in our first star interview
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on the bench in front of all the fans, I asked Roman about
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specifically about that overtime and goes, We were tired.
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We were tired out there. And I feel like Brooks and all
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the times I've interviewed a player, I don't know if one has
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blatantly come out and expressed kind of how heavy their legs
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were feeling in the final moments of that game.
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But I know they had went into it knowing that they needed a quick
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start. How important was it for this
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team to come out off the jump? Michael McCarron goes with
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Darnell Nurse, Try to get everybody into it, get the crowd
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fired up. But then they were able to score
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the first goal and that I feel was the biggest game changer for
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this team because that's something they have not done
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recently, Max. We've seen how hard it's been
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for them to have to continue to play from behind.
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Yeah, 10 games in a row that Fred said conceded the first
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goal, which is hard to do and it's even harder to win more
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than half of those which they've done so pretty crazy.
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But to to play with the lead was a necessity against the Oilers
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with how poorly the Preds have done in that match up the last
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eight seasons since Tricidal and McDavid reached that superstar
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level together and and the Preds only trailed for 38 seconds in
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this game. The margin was never wider than
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a goal. Preds LED 1, nothing LED 21 down
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32. But 38 seconds after that
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superstar Oilers power play got their second goal of the game to
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give them their only lead of the night at 32.
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Yossi answered with a hammer from the point and then the
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overtime goal. I mean that that's one of the
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more unique walk offs we have ever seen in Preds hockey.
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Yossi gets the flip pass from O'Reilly even at the end of a 2
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minute shift defending McDavid dry sidle and Bouchard.
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He goes for it, he sends it. Tristan Jarry comes way off his
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mark and does get the puck away from Yossi, but Brady Shea
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sticks with it too. Yossi opens up for a tough
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angle. One timer.
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I don't know what Evan Bouchard was doing.
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He's not going to be a good goalie if he wants to be a
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goalie in the future because Yossi had plenty of room to get
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that through as long as he hit the net from a tough angle,
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which he did. And after a really hard D zone
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shift for two defensemen to combine on an OT winner of that
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caliber, that's a special moment and what's been a pretty special
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run for these Preds. They're 16 and eight in their
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last 24 games since that bad loss to the Panthers before
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Thanksgiving, and they haven't lost back-to-back games in that
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entire stretch. 3rd best record in the Western Conference since
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Tancara. And Brooks, you touched on it,
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but I just want to want to highlight here Nick Blinkenberg,
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his skate work there and that overtime taking on Conor
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McDavid. He was also a player who earlier
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in the game had drew a penalty to give up one of the power play
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goals to put Edmonton back in business.
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But then he turns around right afterwards and he sets up the
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assist for Roman Yossi. So let's give a little to Nick
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Blinkenberg, who I felt, you know, just came out and and was
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able to play sound hockey when he needed to.
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Friend of the show Nick Blinkenberg.
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Yeah, he was. I was remarking as we were
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sitting in the press box last night.
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He's so good at what he does, the role that he fills and the
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guys that he matches up against. I mean, I think at one point we
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lost track of the amount of plays that he broke up either by
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intercepting a pass or just riding someone off into the
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boards or just getting in front of the puck.
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A really impressive showing for him against some of the top guys
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in the NHL, the the toughest guys to defend.
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So we mentioned Roman Yoshi. There's a ton of great stats at
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NHL PR put out. I won't read them all, but the
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one that I think is noteworthy, Yoshi is just the 6th defenseman
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in NHL history with 10 career overtime goals.
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Really impressive. I'm sure we can rack our brains
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and come up with a couple of memorable ones, but the captain
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finds a way to get it done in overtime.
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And kind of lost in the shuffle of all of this was Steven
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Stamkos. Kara, that first goal of the
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night early on, goal #6-O2 to officially pass Yori Curry for
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21st all time in NHL history. You mentioned the 16 and 8
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record Max. And it feels like every time the
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Predators win, there's a new milestone for Steven Stamkos.
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We're at this point where, again, they're kind of getting
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lost in the shuffle because it's like, oh, Roman had two goals.
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Oh, and yeah, by the way, another milestone for Stammer.
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Whatever. Yeah, we're used to it at this
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point. It's just great to see him
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producing and to see him do it in a Preds uniform.
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Keep hitting these milestones and against the Oilers.
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A good time to pass Yari Curry. So well done, Stammer.
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Yeah, looking at that, at that, the Capitals game, the the time
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before playing Edmonton, Stephen Samcos was able to score on the
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power play in the first period and that actually moved him into
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top ten and power play goals. So we could just do a highlight
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show of Stephen Samcos and what he's been able to accomplish
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this season. Well, and what a cool dynamic
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against the Capitals right and and a couple of guys talked
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about it. Andrew Brunette mentioned that
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post game as well, but dueling power play goals from Alex
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Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos. We all know that Ovechkin became
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the NH LS all time leading goal scorer last season, which is a
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tremendous accomplishment obviously on its own and he
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continues to add to that total. But we all know as hockey fans,
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we've as we've watched the game for the last two decades with
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these guys, where do they score their goals from?
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On the power play from the left circle, the one time the
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right-handed shots into the twine like they've done so many
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times before. And that's exactly what we got
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back-to-back. Ovechkin on the power play,
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Stamkos on the power play, the one timer from the left circle.
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That was a pretty cool moment. And Andrew Burnett mentioned
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after the fact, like, I hope the people appreciated that because
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we may never see two gentlemen with over 600 goals, 900 goals.
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Their totals are absurd and doing what they do best
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back-to-back like that. Maybe the last time.
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We don't know how much longer anybody's going to play, but
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that was a really cool moment. Even though you're you don't
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want to see it. As a Preds fan on the Washington
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side, you have to appreciate what Alex Ovechkin has done for
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the game. And then to see Stamkos counter
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right back and Akara. I know the brunette wasn't the
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only one to mention that. No, I had Cole Smith post game
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and I asked him about that. What was it like having that
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front row view? And he goes, I looked over at
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Mccarran and goes, we just got to see those one timers.
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And I, I just thought, you know, I felt so many people, us on the
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broadcast team, we were talking about kind of the treat that we
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were getting to witness. I know probably most of the fans
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in Smashville were in the same sentiment, but to then to look
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at the players and Max, I know you always love to talk to talk
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to better. We got to figure out, did he
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actually get to congratulate this time?
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Because I know last time he took on Ovechkin, he wanted to tell
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him in Russian, Congrats on reaching the record, but didn't
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have the chance. Do we know if he was able to do
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it this time? I'm going to go with no, I don't
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know that for sure, but I think maybe someday.
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But yeah, it's a Svechkov, obviously a a big Ovechkin
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admirer, as every Russian player is.
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And I mean the the cool thing for me was to to think about the
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perspective of just like I said with Stamkos, what it means to
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have these things happening in Nashville.
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And this was just the second time ever that the NH LS all
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time leading goal scorer played in Nashville.
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We got Wayne Gretzky once in the Preds inaugural season in
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February of 1999. He did not score a goal, but he
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did have 5 assists in A7 four Rangers win against the
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inaugural season Preds. And we had to wait almost 27
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full years for it to happen again with Alex Ovechkin passing
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Gretzky his first time coming here since the record.
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And it it really lived up to the billing.
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I mean, that was that was a milestone goal for Ovechkin.
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It was his 20th goal of the season.
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He now has twenty goals in every single season he's played.
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He's 21 for 21 and if he plays one more year, he will have a
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chance to tie Gordie Howe, who has the most twenty goal seasons
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ever. So I think he got a little extra
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on the Selly for OV on that one. Who's never going to undersell a
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nice power play goal. And I mean, what a goal it was.
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But honestly, I think Stamkos might have had the even prettier
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goal, the no look cross seam pass from Forsberg right down
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the gut on the power play from the right point to a tough low
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left side, one timer for Stamkos.
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I mean, those are pretty goals across the board.
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And that that's one that we really got to savor.
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So for all that's happened on home ice and in a Preds win,
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really, really special stuff, that doesn't happen every day,
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that's for sure. Would you guys agree that we're
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also starting to see the Steven Samcos that maybe we didn't see
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at the beginning of the year? You don't know if it was a
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frustration of not being able to score goals, but I felt like
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last night talking with Luke Richardson during the
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intermission about Samcos because his wheels are turning
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right now. You can see it.
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I think the coaches have seen it.
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I think the fans have seen it. It it feels like he's almost
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playing at a different level. Yeah, no, you definitely get
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that sense. I mean, at least the best that
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we've seen here in the year and a half in Nashville.
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And yeah, I mean, you know, we've talked to different guys
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in the room just, you know, especially some of the younger
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guys. I think that's what's been
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really cool is to get their perspective, just what they
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think of playing with him, somebody who is going to be a
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first ballot Hall of Famer. And and at this stage of his
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career, you know, he his his play, I think on the ice and
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just his energy off the ice is so infectious.
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And especially when somebody of that caliber is going the way
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he's going right now, you can't help but feed off of that and
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rally around that. And Stamkos, you know, he would
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give the credit to Yossi. He mentioned the other day that
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he's like, you know, when did this thing turn around?
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When Roman Yossi came back from his injury earlier in the season
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and then things have started going.
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But everybody's kind of going right now, like the guys that
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you need to be playing well, they're playing well.
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And I think, you know, we've heard brunette, we've heard some
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of the guys say it recently that they know what they're capable
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of in that room, the belief in that room.
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They think they can beat any team in the NHL on any given
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night. And you see it against a team
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like Washington, against a team like Edmonton.
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Those are not easy games. No game is an easy game in the
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NHL, but especially in those circumstances.
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Now, what does it look like when you go to Colorado and Vegas?
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Another tough test coming up on the road.
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But I think the most important thing to mention off of this
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home stand is Nashville is at 48 points and they're right on that
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borderline of the wild card in the in the Western Conference.
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And that was certainly not the case a couple of months ago.
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And I liked what Andrew Brunette said after Tuesdays when he said
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we know what it takes to get back in, how much we, how much
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work we put into it. And we know how important it is
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now to not let it slip. We've talked about that win the
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week mindset, that one game at a time mindset, the team getting
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tighter and tighter as every night goes on.
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But that's key. We we're proud of what we've
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done so far, but there's so much work to do now.
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The key is not letting it slip and that is the mindset and the
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focus for the Predators as they continue on here in mid January.
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Fred's are in a good place right now.
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And coming up next, we are going to talk to a face that you see
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on TV quite a bit. You don't get to hear from too
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often, but we have a good excuse.
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He's going to the Olympics. Predators head athletic trainer
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Kevin Morley will join us next. He will be part of the Team USA
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athletic training staff coming up next month at the Olympics in
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Italy. This is the Predators official
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podcast on ESPN 1025 The Game. Welcome back to the Predators
16:09
official Podcast here on ESPN1O25, the game streaming on
16:12
YouTube, and a whole slew of other spots.
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Back on the program, Brooks Bratton along with my friends
16:18
Max Hers and Kara Hammer. And we're really excited to be
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joined by our next guest, someone who maybe you don't
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necessarily expect to talk to, but a fascinating person
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nonetheless and an Olympian. We will touch so much more on
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that. Preds head athletic trainer
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Kevin Morley is joining us here on The POP Kevin, First off,
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welcome. We're glad you're here.
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Thanks for joining us. Hi guys, Thanks for having me.
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Our pleasure. We're really excited to do this
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because we've talked already on the show previous episodes about
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we know the Preds, Olympians, Roman Yossi, UC Soros, Philip
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Forsberg, Eric Halla, all headed to Milan for the 2026 Games.
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But they're not the only ones. You are also going in a
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different capacity. You're not on the ice.
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You're close to the ice for Team USA.
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First off, the Olympic Winter Games as an athletic trainer for
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USA Hockey. Can you put into words what this
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honor means for you and your family?
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No, I don't think so. And I have a lot of words.
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So for me to not have words is is probably surprising for a lot
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of people. But I mean, you know, you just
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don't ever think, you know, I was a swimmer growing up.
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I swam in college. I certainly know I wasn't ever
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going to go as a swimmer. And so, you know, when you're my
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fledgling athletic career finished, I certainly thought
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that was the end of it. And so let me have this
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opportunity. Obviously such an honor for, you
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know, for me, just thinking back at all the all the summer and
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Winter Games that I watched as a kid swimming, but you know,
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other things as well. And obviously I've been in
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hockey now for almost 25 years. I've been watched.
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Obviously it's been a while since the NHL has been in and
17:54
the Olympics would even just watching, you know, all the
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games. It's just such an honor to
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represent, you know, all the because you just think all the
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people you you're representing my academic programs, obviously
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my family, my you know, town I grew up in, and of course the
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Preds, you know, and, and the USA.
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So it's very, very humbling. Kevin, you were in a similar
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role last year for the Four Nations face off.
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How do you even get on the radar to to be in its capacity to to
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join Team USA? I'm in truth, I'm actually, I
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got that question a lot. I'm not totally sure and I don't
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ask any questions because it happened.
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So I'm just going to take it and run with it, you know.
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But to your point here, yeah, I was invited by Billy Guerin.
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You know, it's been a year and a half ago now to join what was,
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of course then, you know, on the upcoming Four Nations
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tournament. And so the medical staff for
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that tournament, I joined two other athletic trainers from the
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Minnesota Wild and then the orthopedic surgeon, the team
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position of the Minnesota Wild equipment guys from a couple
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different places. And so obviously we kind of, you
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know, sourced from all over the NHL and how that actually
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happened. In truth, I really don't know
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because I just said I couldn't say yes fast enough.
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And so I didn't really care. And so, you know, we knew that
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the plan was that this, that the whole staff, coaching staff,
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equipment, folks, video, really everybody team services.
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The plan was for us to kind of get to know each other through
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the Four Nations experience and kind of not necessarily work out
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the kinks. A lot of us knew each other in
19:22
some capacity. Obviously, John Heinz is on that
19:24
staff who I've known back since our New Jersey days.
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And so, you know, we've all interacted with each other in
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different capacities along the way.
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But to really come together, you know, the Four Nations term
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obviously was so exciting and such an awesome experience for
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us personally, but of course was so, you know, so impactful.
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And I think, you know, blew out of the water anything that the
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league expected it to be. And then those US all the games
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are awesome. Obviously, I, you know, my, the
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even the, even the USA Canada game we lost was just like an
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unbelievable experience, I think for everybody.
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And to be able to play them once in Montreal and once in Boston
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was, I mean, those are I've been in a lot of hockey games and
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those are two that I think, you know, I know I'll never forget.
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And so to then have this opportunity again to kind of
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keep that staff, the whole staff that stayed together.
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We've added a massage therapist from Buffalo Sabres that we're
20:07
really excited about. We've added a team services kind
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of media relations guy as well. But I mean largely same stuff,
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same group of people. So it's nice to feel like we've
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gotten kind of the initial, I don't wanna say kinks worked
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out, but we've gotten to know each other a little bit, kind of
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understand everybody's kind of flow.
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Obviously Olympics will be different animal with, you know,
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of course the village and some different, you know, obviously
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the geography, everything's different.
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But at the same time, you know, we spent our entire careers
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going from rink to rink and city to city.
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And so we're reasonably nimble in that regard where we're
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comfortable kind of setting up and, and, and making things
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work, you know, because it's not always the same thing.
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Our guests on the Preds official podcast is Predators head
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Athletic trainer Kevin Morley, who will be part of the Team USA
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athletic training staff for the Olympics coming up next month.
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So, Kevin, before you were an Olympian, before you ever were
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in Nashville, tell us, please, how you got to the Preds and how
20:58
you joined the organization. Yeah, thanks, Maxwell.
21:01
I started, I worked at my first show out of grad school was in
21:03
was in college hockey, which at Miami University in Oxford.
21:05
OH, and loved it there and just kind of got the itch after a
21:09
period of time where I knew I was ready for a different
21:10
challenge. And at the time the, the
21:13
American League job for the New Jersey and the New Jersey Devils
21:16
organization was open and through so professional contacts
21:20
was connected with the Lamarillo family and some different folks.
21:24
So made the move from college hockey into the into the AHL at
21:27
the time. So I spent start to finish 14
21:30
years in the Devils organization.
21:31
We were in law Massachusetts to start.
21:33
Then they picked us up, release ran up, ran out.
21:36
So we they picked us up and moved us to Albany, NY.
21:39
So it's in those two, that one position, 2 cities, same job for
21:42
a little bit and then went down to New Jersey and finished and
21:45
spent the last, I think I was a head athletic trainer in Jersey
21:48
for five years in New Jersey for, for 8 total and 14 with the
21:52
club. And then the the Preds, the
21:55
Preds, John, Andy Hosler, who's a very good friend then and
21:57
continues to be a good friend now.
21:58
Now with the New York Rangers, Andy Hosler was was going to
22:01
make a move for some, some family related and personal
22:04
reasons. And so that the Preds position
22:05
was open, he felt like I'd be a good fit for it.
22:08
And so, you know, of course, went through the interview
22:10
process, which was still kind of at the tail end of COVID, which
22:13
was a, you know, a very zoom focused process.
22:16
And, and just, you know, got such great energy from there's a
22:19
couple of people I already knew on the pred side.
22:21
Most people I didn't, but just everybody from, you know, Sean
22:24
Henry was part of my interview, Michelle is part of my
22:26
interview. Obviously the team positions
22:28
were part of my interview. Vicki Woosley is part of my
22:30
interview. And so it just became so clear
22:32
that, you know, the Preds was, I know it's a buzzer to talk about
22:36
a family environment, but it really was so comprehensive
22:39
that, you know, this, this hire was really important to a lot of
22:42
people. You could, I could have talked
22:43
to an HR person, you know, and just kind of check some, some
22:46
boxes. And that's not what happened.
22:48
And so people really spent a lot of time, you know, really diving
22:51
into kind of what it means to work for the president, what
22:53
we're looking to accomplish here and some forward growth.
22:55
And of course, David Pollo was AGM at the time.
22:57
So I spent a lot of time with David and, and Brian Pollo as
22:59
well. And so now obviously he's been
23:01
through some changes, but you know, the the energy hasn't
23:03
changed at all. You know, the energy and of
23:05
course, Barry Trotz leaving and coming back.
23:07
It is really exciting for all of, you know, presentation.
23:09
So it's been, you know, it's been a great, this is season 5
23:13
that we're now. And it feels like, you know,
23:14
feels like it was just yesterday, I guess.
23:17
What led you within your dream of wanting to work in sports
23:20
medicine and athletic training at a high level attracted you to
23:23
hockey specifically? Nothing, it just happened.
23:28
I have known, you know, story about how I I grew up outside
23:31
Hartford, CT and I did go to a handful of Whalers games with,
23:34
you know, Kevin Dean, Ray Ferraro and Mike Liu, you know,
23:37
and you know, those days, Ron Francis and and I was, I mean,
23:41
like I said, I was a swimmer. So I spent all my time in the
23:43
pool. And so my best friend growing
23:44
up, I mean, this is like my childhood best friend was a
23:46
hockey player. What's the rink a little bit
23:47
with him, But I mean, there was no hockey was not necessarily on
23:51
my radar and I finished grad school and I was looking for a
23:53
job, you know, I needed to start working.
23:55
I need to pay back some loans and the the again, the position
24:00
at Miami University working with the hockey team was open and
24:03
seemed like it would be a good fit.
24:04
And I I look back now on all the things I didn't know and you
24:09
know, and I'm, I'm just glad that I've taken the the path
24:13
that I've taken, you know, because it's just been, you
24:15
know, when that was that was in 2001.
24:18
So I'm dating myself by saying that, but it was, you know, so
24:21
it's been, it's been an interesting.
24:23
Ride So Kevin, just to give some insight to Preds fans on your
24:28
role as the head athletic trainer in Nashville.
24:31
You're on the bench during games.
24:32
Perhaps some folks have seen you on the ice tending to an injured
24:36
player, but how do you describe your role as the head athletic
24:40
trainer for an NHL club? Yeah, I generally, you know,
24:42
kind of in a nutshell, I just say that I oversee all the
24:45
medical services for the prets. And so that doesn't mean I
24:48
deliver all the services. It just means I oversee them.
24:50
You know, I have AI have a lot of administrative
24:52
responsibilities in terms of interfacing with obviously both
24:56
our our medical staff here in Nashville, which you know, as an
24:58
extension of course is all of our team physicians, most of
25:00
whom are associated with the Vanderbilt Medical Center.
25:03
We have a couple of private practice folks as well.
25:05
But that's everyone from all the things that you would expect in
25:08
terms of orthopedics and sports medicine.
25:10
But you know, people get sick and people have families and
25:13
family, you know, and wives or spouses get pregnant.
25:15
And so those are aren't necessarily my jobs to manage
25:17
that care, but certainly as in, you know, as a kind of from a
25:21
management perspective, I do, you know, get involved in kind
25:24
of connecting a lot of dots. And of course then, you know,
25:27
kind of the next essential courses are Milwaukee group.
25:29
And so, you know, the we have a full medical staff in Milwaukee.
25:32
There's there's a little bit fewer, you know, there's fewer
25:34
of them than we have here in Nashville, but they have
25:37
everything we have. They just have maybe a little
25:38
bit, you know, you know, fewer of them and a little bit less
25:41
space. But you know, they do a great
25:42
job as I'm interfacing with them a lot.
25:44
You know, we have some great stuff there.
25:45
They don't really need my help, which is great, but we do
25:47
interface a lot. Obviously we're having, you
25:49
know, player transactions all the time.
25:51
So I need to know what's going on down there to a certain
25:53
extent. They need to know what's going
25:55
on up here. So you know, we're, I just, you
25:58
know, we're, we work with our prospects a little bit.
26:00
And so the folks, you know, depending where they are and
26:02
what type of things are going on with them, sometimes we're
26:04
talking to the junior teams or that, you know, there are clubs
26:08
in Europe just to make sure that they're getting what they need.
26:09
And we understand there are times when we get involved.
26:12
Most of the time we don't cuz we don't have to.
26:13
But it's really important that we have our finger on the pulse
26:16
of everything that's happening throughout the organization.
26:18
So you know, my favorite part of my job is the actual medical
26:21
care part. I like working with our players.
26:23
I'm a hands on therapist and so I like that part of it.
26:26
You know, my staff will tell you that probably less and less
26:29
every year. It might afforded the time to do
26:31
that because there's so many administrative things that kind
26:34
of fall under this umbrella. But that's the that's that's how
26:37
I describe my role. Looking ahead to the Olympic
26:41
Games cover, what are you? What are you most looking
26:44
forward to in your role? I guess the obvious answer, the
26:48
obvious answer of course would be you know, the games in the
26:50
medal rounds and, and that we're hoping to play in and planning
26:53
on playing in. I think apart from that, it's
26:55
just that is the the experience with that working in the NHL is
27:00
the best thing that I've ever done as part from having, you
27:03
know, being a parent and having children and all sorts of
27:06
things. But, but I've done this for a
27:08
long time and it never gets boring and it never gets old.
27:10
But it does get a little cyclical, a little formulaic.
27:13
We kind of know what to expect from place to place, you know,
27:17
So, you know, working, even just being in a different
27:20
environment, being around female athletes, you know, will be the
27:23
way we're set up in the village in in Milan is that the all of
27:27
the USA is in the building that we're in.
27:28
There's lots of different villages because the footprint
27:31
of the games is really, really spread out.
27:33
And so in Milan there's not that many sports happening.
27:36
So in our village, what you would the US women's team is in
27:39
the same building as us. And then we've got a shared
27:42
treatment kind of medical space. So the men's stuff and the
27:45
women's stuff, we're sharing that space.
27:48
And so of course, the women's tournament starts a good ten
27:51
days or so, maybe even more prior to the men even getting
27:54
there. So they'll already be up and
27:55
running. And so we'll be able to cheat
27:57
off of them because they'll send us some, you know, some videos
27:59
and things of all the things we've seen mock ups of all these
28:01
spaces. But until you really get there,
28:03
you know, it's kind of like when you when you go to buy a house
28:06
and you see the pictures of the house and it always looks way
28:08
bigger on the on the website. And then you get if you're like,
28:11
you know, so I think that's probably what I'm expecting.
28:13
And so the collaboration with women's team even prior to
28:16
getting there has been awesome. And a lot of the folks on the
28:19
women's team on the women's side rather have done Olympic Games
28:22
before. So they're absolutely
28:23
babysitting us to do this. And we couldn't be more
28:25
appreciative of that. And so I'm excited to do to see
28:28
that. I'm excited to collaborate with
28:30
them to whatever extent is possible.
28:31
I'm excited to see some other events.
28:33
I watch, I watch a lot of hockey games and I have a really great
28:36
view. And that never gets boring and
28:37
never gets old. But it is always interesting to
28:39
see something different because I don't ever get to see anything
28:41
different. So in Milan, in addition to
28:44
men's hockey and women's hockey, are all the speed skating events
28:47
and then all the figure skating events.
28:49
And so we're still trying to, of course, my primary
28:51
responsibility will will be to, you know, to, to take care of
28:54
our players. But when there's opportunities
28:56
depending on kind of the schedule and transportation and
28:59
all the X factors, you know, I'm, I'm, I'd love to see some
29:02
figure skating. I'd love to see some speed
29:04
skating. I've, you know, of course you
29:06
want to spend a lot of time at rink.
29:07
So I've seen all these things a little bit, but I mean certainly
29:09
not at the Olympic level. So things like that I think are
29:11
going to be the The X Factor that really, you know, make it
29:14
again just the whole Olympic experience.
29:16
Yeah, I was curious, like what other sport you could be
29:18
interested going to the Olympics?
29:20
You talk about speed skating and like I'm thinking about Apollo
29:22
Ono and how incredible his Olympic journey was.
29:25
But do you have a favorite Olympic memory looking back that
29:28
you you might be thinking about as you had here?
29:31
Not really on the side. Again, I'm a swimming nerd, so
29:33
obviously I have to go back to Phelps in O8 with April medals.
29:36
Like that's, I mean, that's a tap in, right?
29:38
That's easiest. Katie Ledecky's been an absolute
29:40
goat for years and years. So I mean, between Ledecky and
29:43
Phelps, like those are easy answers for me on, you know, on
29:46
on the on the winter side, I actually spent a period of time
29:51
earlier in my career working for the X Games.
29:52
And so I have a little bit of experience with some of the snow
29:54
sports and I did a Winter X Games only one time, you know,
29:57
because I spent most of my time in hockey.
29:59
But you know, the, the slopestyle stuff, the big, the
30:02
big air, the vert ramp, those sorts of things on skis and
30:05
snowboards, any of those things when you see them in real life.
30:07
And you guys obviously even just experiencing hockey games in
30:10
real life, like it's a different environment when you're seeing
30:12
in real life as opposed to when you see it on TV.
30:15
So when I, you know, having been at the Winter X Games, you know,
30:19
seeing how big the vert ramp is or the halfpipe, how big it is
30:23
and how high they go and how fast they spin and things like
30:26
that, You you can't, you can't. I think it's just a different
30:29
experience seeing it in real life.
30:30
So, you know, I, I, I spent a little bit of time with Shaun
30:33
White as as a skateboarder. I didn't really see any came on
30:36
to snowboarding a little bit later.
30:37
But I mean all those things that were just so impressive.
30:40
And then again, then just the realization that those are also
30:44
people, right? So to, to, to preds fans, right.
30:47
Most, most preds fans aren't interacting with Roman.
30:50
You'll see or filled for us, but on a regular basis.
30:53
And so and you know, of course, all four of us, right, like we
30:56
know them as people too. And so that's the fun part is to
30:59
really get to know people and establish relationships with the
31:02
person. And then to watch people
31:04
perform, you know, is really exciting, and I think it makes
31:07
it even even more special. Yeah, we'll finish on this.
31:11
And, and you touched on it at the beginning.
31:13
It's it's tough to put into words what this means for you,
31:16
your family, your, your academic institutions, basically all the
31:20
paths you've crossed. But where is that sense of pride
31:23
and not only representing your country, but also helping to
31:26
make sure that these elite athletes are able to compete at
31:30
full health as they compete and you compete for a gold medal.
31:33
I mean, on one hand, you know, obviously it it's very exciting,
31:38
but and kind of fanboy, right, But the it's also it's also
31:41
burdensome. You know, I mean, like I feel as
31:46
as my colleagues and I were were reaching out to.
31:48
Of course, the team has been named for a few weeks now.
31:50
And so as we're reaching out to the other teams, our colleagues
31:53
in sports medicine calling, you know, Vegas and New Jersey and
31:56
Columbus and saying, you know, tell me about this player and
31:58
what is it that he needs? And I kind of already know,
32:00
again, most of the roster course is the same as the Four Nations
32:03
roster with a couple of exceptions.
32:04
So what do you know? Thankfully, most of these
32:06
players, but to then interface with their providers again, what
32:11
is it that, you know, we're all very formulaic, we're all very
32:13
repetitious. We're creatures of habit and
32:16
some players more than others. And so our goal is to make sure
32:19
that they deviate from those those habits as little as
32:21
possible. Hopefully zero.
32:23
I can't promise 0, but we're going to do it, you know, as
32:25
little as possible. And so it's burdensome for us.
32:28
And I feel the weight of talking to the providers for these other
32:31
players and and getting to understand what it is that
32:34
they're expecting. What do they need to perform?
32:36
And some guys are super easy breezy, laid back.
32:39
It doesn't really matter. I'll get to it when I get to it.
32:41
And some guys are pretty regimented at 16 minutes and 32
32:44
seconds on the clock. I eat a banana and I eat it with
32:46
my left hand, right. And so those things, and I don't
32:48
want it on my shoulders that I messed up your banana routine.
32:51
I'm probably not going to do the delivery guy.
32:53
But if that's what you need, then if I can't execute that for
32:57
you, I can probably find someone who can.
32:59
So it's kind of equal parts Brooks, you know, it's, it's,
33:03
it's the excitement and it's the American in me and it's the fan.
33:05
It's just the sports fan. But then it's also, you know,
33:09
we're here to do a job and, you know, and my goal is to not mess
33:13
it up. And so both of those things kind
33:15
of in concert are, are, are exciting and it's not stressing
33:19
me out. It's exciting me.
33:20
I feel very prepared. And again, the Four Nations
33:22
thing couldn't have prepared us better because going into that
33:24
experience, you know, you've got the top 2234 whatever players in
33:30
America. And so they're used to getting
33:32
not necessarily what they want, when they want they again, they
33:35
have these routines. And so I was like, well, if, if
33:37
7 of you need something at the same time and there's only three
33:40
of us, I don't know how we're going to accomplish that.
33:42
And, and it just magically worked.
33:43
And so, you know, that makes me know that gave us pause going
33:47
into Four Nations. I think it makes us feel much
33:49
better now. But again, we've added a staff
33:50
member, as I mentioned before, so that makes us feel even
33:52
better. But again, you know, our, our,
33:55
our plan is to come home with a gold medal.
33:57
And I, you know, what I'm willing to do within reason,
34:01
whatever it takes to get that accomplished.
34:03
And so very, very excited, very honored, you know, really,
34:05
really looking forward. You know, it's like it comes up
34:08
quickly, but now it feels like the days are dragging.
34:10
And so we're, you know, we obviously we're having calls and
34:14
all the things. And so we're, you know, really,
34:15
really looking forward to getting there.
34:17
Maybe the most important question, Kev, if we meddle, do
34:21
you get a medal? So it's funny that you say that,
34:24
Max, because I just assumed the answer was yes because I don't
34:27
actually pay attention to anything.
34:29
My wife told me that the answer is no.
34:31
My wife told me that the only people that get medals are
34:34
players, that coaches don't get them.
34:35
Now I believe, and you can, you know, the Internet can correct
34:40
me, I think that either USA Hockey or USOPC or somebody, I
34:45
imagine like with Stanley Cup rings or whatever, you can buy
34:49
anything, right? So I imagine that there that you
34:52
that you can get that. But in terms of like the numbers
34:55
of medals that are that are allocated for each club, we have
34:57
the 25 roster spots. So there's 25 metals.
35:01
All right, well, bring home the gold.
35:03
We'll get a gold medal to go with your Preds gold, and we'll
35:05
be looking for it on the bench every Time Team USA is out
35:08
there. Kevin, thanks so much for doing
35:10
this. Thanks guys, I appreciate the
35:11
time. That is our USA Olympic athletic
35:14
trainer Kevin Morley, the head athletic trainer for your
35:17
Nashville Predators. Back with more after this on the
35:19
Predators Official Podcast. Welcome back to the Predators
35:24
Official Podcast on Nashville Predators YouTube, ESPN1O25, The
35:28
Game and on all of your preferred podcast platforms.
35:32
My name is Max hers from Preds Radio with Cara Hammer from
35:35
Preds TV and Brooks Bratton from nashvillepredators.com.
35:39
Preds coming off a three and one home stand for sold out home
35:43
games in six nights at Bridgestone Arena, wins against
35:47
the Islanders, Capitals and Oilers and a lot of fun moments
35:52
along the way. We just talked about the
35:55
Olympics with Predators head athletic trainer Kevin Morley,
35:58
who will be on the Team USA athletic training staff and
36:01
guys. Steven Stamkos tried out a very
36:04
popular Olympic sport. He's going to have to wait until
36:07
2028 in Los Angeles for the Summer Olympics to try and go up
36:12
against my favorite athlete of all time, Mondo Duplantis in the
36:16
pole vault with some assistance from Capitals goalie Charlie
36:20
Lindgren on Sunday night against the Capitals.
36:23
And it was just another moment of many of this home stand that
36:26
got our fans in Smashville up and out of their seats as Steven
36:30
Stamkos went up and out of his seat and nearly scored a goal.
36:35
Well, First off, very quickly, best of luck to Kevin Morley.
36:38
And keeping everybody's banana routine in check with air in
36:42
Italy. Very important aspect for that.
36:45
But for Steven Stamkos, yeah, what we talk about all the
36:48
accolades and the milestones and how well he's playing.
36:51
But yeah, he said after the game, well, I've never pole
36:53
vaulted before That was that was something new.
36:55
The one that came to mind. And some other people had
36:57
mentioned it as well. I mean, this is probably 20 to
37:01
25 years ago. Marian Gaberich in Detroit
37:04
flipping over Dom and Akashic who came out on a similar play.
37:08
And it is a little bit scary like when you're head over heels
37:11
all of a sudden you're like, gosh, I hope I don't land in the
37:14
wrong place and come up with an injury.
37:17
But the the thing that really stuck out for me and I I posted
37:21
the photo on X by the great Predators team photographer John
37:25
Russell since day one, who seemingly never misses a moment
37:28
and didn't miss this one. And I love hockey photography
37:33
because the game is so fast and so physical and when you get the
37:38
perfect photo to freeze a moment in time, it's just so beautiful.
37:43
And he captured it perfectly. And I put it out on XI.
37:46
Haven't had a post blow up like that in a very long time.
37:50
People were so enamored with the photo and wondering what was
37:53
happening and how it came to be. And that was just a cool moment
37:57
that you don't get everyday. First of all, you're glad that
38:00
Stamkos is all right and the Pads got the win.
38:02
That's most important. But little things like that that
38:05
get people talking and out of their seats and the reactions in
38:08
the crowd, I think every single person's mouth is got some sort
38:12
of circumference open wide, not believing what they're seeing
38:16
from Stamkos flying through the air.
38:18
But yeah, that was a fun little nuance that we hope we never see
38:21
again. Honestly, you don't want Stephen
38:23
Stamkos flying through the air like that all too often.
38:27
What a shot from John Russell and and what a moment that game
38:30
in the homestand. It was just so graceful.
38:34
Yeah, no, really, I. Feel like the majority of people
38:37
would like flip and dunk, but it was like it was just really
38:40
slow. It was like a ballet move,
38:42
almost. Well, Speaking of graceful
38:46
dancing that got fans out of their seats this homestand, my
38:50
favorite moment may have been the gloves coming off right off
38:53
the drop Tuesday night against the Oilers.
38:56
Darnell Nurse asked Mike McCarron, and McCarron said yes.
39:00
Both teams wanted to get things going and set the tone.
39:03
And I mean, that's how you lock the crowd in right from the
39:06
start. I absolutely loved it.
39:09
Did you see the video that was posted from the, the, the Oilers
39:12
were on their father's trip here in Nashville and somebody
39:16
actually caught Darnell Nurse's father sitting next to Connor
39:19
Mcdavid's dad, who right off the jump looked and said what
39:23
happened down there or what was going on?
39:25
And, and Darnell's father said, I don't know.
39:28
So nobody really knows why they were dropping right away because
39:32
nobody can recall anything happening in the loss a week
39:34
ago. But hey.
39:37
Yeah, no, I, I, I, I don't think anybody expected it on the Preds
39:40
bench either. But yeah, you're right.
39:41
Max the Mccarran said after the fact that Nurse asked him to go.
39:45
And you know, it's, it's a Tuesday night in January.
39:47
It's not the most highly anticipated matchup necessarily.
39:51
Sometimes you, you just need a little bit to get the people
39:54
going. That's one way to do it off the
39:56
opening draw. And Carrie, you, you talked
39:57
about it in the opening segment. Just you start with that and
40:00
then you get the first goal of the game less than 3 minutes
40:03
later. But that's a big moment and
40:05
you'll see touched on that with Mccarran as well after the game
40:07
that. Fighting's hard, it's tough,
40:09
It's not an easy thing to do. Guys don't necessarily want to
40:13
do it, but they want to stick up for their team.
40:15
It's team above all else. And that really got the guys
40:18
going on the bench. And sometimes you need that at
40:20
the end of a long homestead. You played a lot of games like,
40:23
hey, Mike Mccarron's in at the end of the game and he's willing
40:26
to fight for his entire team, and so we better pick it up a
40:30
notch, too. And so that was a great way to
40:32
start that game and we love to see that.
40:34
And you know, jerks Bentley, who was in the house, he was
40:37
certainly entertained by that. That as well.
40:39
What's going on with Dierks on Tuesday on his bobblehead night?
40:41
That was a fun one. We're so happy to have Dierks
40:45
Bentley in the building. His daughter Evie opened up the
40:48
ceremony by singing the national anthem.
40:51
But shout out to Dierks Bentley, who roasted on live television.
40:56
Our good friend and colleague Haugill.
41:00
It might have been one of the best chirps we've heard all
41:02
season. Jerks was promoting his new
41:04
whiskey that he is coming out with.
41:07
But you guys giving giving a little bit to Skillzy, like, we
41:11
kind of work. We're here for it.
41:13
I'm glad somebody finally put Skillzy in his place.
41:18
We love. I don't have I don't have the
41:20
clout or the voice that Dierks Bentley does, but he speaks for
41:23
all of us. Dirks was making the rounds too.
41:25
I noticed on the broadcast he was in the Oilers father's suite
41:30
a little bit, shaking hands, kissing babies, saying hi.
41:34
But no, it's great. Dirks is a great friend of of
41:36
the organization and was wearing Ryan O'reilly's jersey to the
41:40
game and they were showing some clips of Dirks out on the ice
41:43
with the guys he plays. His son Knox was the blue liner
41:46
of the game. It really was a family affair.
41:49
They're a hockey family. And then that's just one of the
41:52
cool things right about Nashville and Smashville is, is
41:54
you never know who you're going to get.
41:56
Obviously we knew we were getting Dirks that night with
41:58
the bobble head and everything else that comes with that.
42:01
But that's just one more really great element of, of, you know,
42:04
living in this city and playing hockey in this city is you get
42:08
people who, you know, we, we always talk about the the hockey
42:11
players want to be rock stars and the rock stars want to be
42:13
hockey players. And it's such a cool melding of
42:15
of those two industries here in Nashville.
42:18
And we love it when stuff like that happens and when they're
42:20
not afraid to to give it right back to some of the
42:24
broadcasters. Cool moment in our Music City
42:27
bobblehead series. When we come back, we'll give
42:29
out the Big E award of the week and also take your fan questions
42:32
on the Predators official podcast.
42:37
Welcome back to the predators official podcast Kara Hammer,
42:40
along with Max hers and Brooks Bratton and Maxi, our big E
42:44
person of the week. We had a a moment of silence
42:49
here at at Bridgestone Arena. You were you were in the
42:53
building. Can you share who are awesome
42:55
person is? Yeah, the the Big E award this
42:58
week in in memory of our friend Aaron Donnick is going out to
43:01
the Williams family and Vanderbilt paramedic Allen
43:05
Williams, who was close to the Preds, someone who worked at
43:08
games, was a big Preds fan. And many Nashvillians will
43:13
remember there was a tragic helicopter crash, a Life Flight
43:16
helicopter crash in November, so a couple months ago.
43:20
And we lot, we lost a few people in our medical community and
43:25
Allen was one of them. He's a big Preds fan.
43:27
He's a big Oilers fan as well. So that was the occasion for
43:31
both the pregame moment of silence and a very special
43:34
dedication last night, the Allen Williams Memorial Award, which
43:38
every year will honor a member of the Vanderbilt Life Flight
43:42
and Vanderbilt medical community with an affiliation to the Preds
43:45
who goes above and beyond. And the first recipients are
43:49
Allen's family, Allen and his family.
43:51
So we are going to tack the Biggie Awesome Person of the
43:54
Week award on to that because we know that our friend Aaron would
43:59
be so so there for a family in their time of need.
44:03
And we know the Preds family and the very closely knit Vanderbilt
44:06
medical and Life Flight paramedic family who is all over
44:10
the place and on top of everything at Preds games and
44:13
does such a great job. And they will continue to
44:16
represent Alan every time they can.
44:19
So a good moment of reflection and great job by the Preds
44:23
organization and Vanderbilt Medical to make sure that Alan
44:27
will not be forgotten. So another special moment this
44:31
week in Smashville. And we know there are so many in
44:34
the in the Life Flight community and in the Preds community that
44:36
will miss out on. And we want to make sure we did
44:39
our part. And we are we are so glad that
44:42
we will be able to remember him with this award.
44:44
So thank you to him and his family.
44:45
Thank you to his family for being there and allowing us to
44:48
honor them. Well said, Max, Very well done.
44:51
Yeah, it was a great moment of silence and thinking of Alan's
44:54
family and just everything that he meant to this community.
44:58
So very well said. We will wrap things up here on
45:02
this week's episode with our mailbag.
45:04
Of course, you can always use hashtag Fred's podcast on X, or
45:07
you can comment right below in the comments section as you're
45:10
watching on YouTube. Please do.
45:11
We want to hear from you. We want to discuss the topics
45:14
that you're interested in. But Tia said she would love to
45:17
know. And this is topical since we
45:19
spoke to Kevin Morley saying I would love to know if any of the
45:22
Preds players who aren't playing in the Olympics will still make
45:25
the trip to watch some of the games and cheer on their
45:27
teammates. It's a good question.
45:29
It's fair question. I will say I I don't know that
45:32
unless anybody is planning on vacationing in Milan, though,
45:35
that that will be part of the plan.
45:37
I think that most guys at this time of the year, and especially
45:40
with an Olympic break, it's been 12 years since we've had one of
45:42
these extended portions. And I believe it's 9 or 10 days
45:48
that the guys will actually have completely off, which is
45:50
incredibly rare to have that amount of time off in the middle
45:54
of a season. I imagine that most of them will
45:57
be heading for tropical locales. We usually end up seeing a lot
46:00
of Instagram posts on the beach during a break like this.
46:06
So I think that'll probably the be the plan for most of the
46:09
guys, not to say that they won't be keeping up with what's going
46:12
on at the Olympics. I think there's always that
46:14
sense of pride, and especially when you've got teammates
46:17
playing over there, you want to see what's going on.
46:19
But yeah, I imagine that most guys will be headed somewhere
46:23
warmer than what they're accustomed to in a hockey rink
46:26
this time of year. Well, the the players will be
46:30
receiving what is the typical bye week length of time away and
46:36
all of the players that are not the Olympics actually will
46:38
return for really a week and a half, almost 2 full weeks of
46:43
practices on the back half of the Olympics will be holding
46:46
some team events in there. The Nash Vegas Casino night will
46:49
be part of that week and it's it's going to be a lot of
46:52
practice time, which is going to make up for the fact that there
46:55
has been absolutely zero practice time leading up to the
46:59
Olympics for basically every team because of how frequent the
47:02
game schedule has been. So I mean, I think it would be
47:06
cool. I, it would be awesome to go to
47:08
Milan, But what by the point where the medal rounds are
47:10
happening, the players who are not the Olympics will be back
47:13
already. So that would be, I guess, a
47:16
hindrance to them doing that. As much as I think Tia, your
47:19
instincts are right, they all would want to be there as fans
47:23
too. Yes, and we will not be going.
47:25
I, I've had a number of people ask if I'm going to cover it.
47:29
I will not be. I think it'd be cool.
47:31
But you know, you never know how things are going to play out.
47:34
And that's a long trip, an expensive trip for just a few
47:38
guys go on. So while we wish them the best,
47:40
we will cover them from afar. But I myself am also looking
47:44
forward to a little bit of time off.
47:45
I don't think we're going to the beach, but just, you know,
47:48
catching up on some sleep and sitting on the couch, that's
47:51
it's a perfectly fine vacation in my eyes.
47:56
Well, we'll get some sleep. The Preds will be back on the
47:58
road for a back-to-back this weekend.
48:01
Friday night in Denver against the Avalanche, Saturday night in
48:04
Las Vegas against the Golden Knights, Back home on Tuesday
48:08
the 20th for the start of a three-game home stand against
48:11
the Sabres at Bridgestone Arena. We also want you to know we have
48:14
Smashville Live coming up next Wednesday, January 21st at
48:19
Brewhouse 100 in Bellevue with Kara and I so hope to see you
48:23
there. Thanks so much to Kevin Morley
48:25
for joining us. Thanks to you for listening to
48:28
us for Brooks Bratton, Kara Hammer and our whole team.
48:30
My name is Max Hers. Thanks for listening to the
48:32
Predators official podcast. You're on ESPN 102.5 The Game.