Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / ONELEGUPALEX MEDIA TALKS 2026 NHL PLAYOFFS UPDATE WITH GRANT FRANCIS, RYAN PAGANO - DEDICATED TO MY DAD ON 5-6-26

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ONELEGUPALEX MEDIA TALKS 2026 NHL PLAYOFFS UPDATE WITH GRANT FRANCIS, RYAN PAGANO - DEDICATED TO MY DAD ON 5-6-26 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Speaker 1: Thank you for your music and your stories are the rule.
0:09
Speaker 1: Thank it for the freedom when it came my time
0:16
Speaker 1: thinking for your kind it and the times when you got.
0:22
Speaker 2: Papa.
0:23
Speaker 1: Don't think I said I love you me.
0:32
Speaker 2: The man this time. Well three years ago today, I
0:37
Speaker 2: had done the eulogy for my dad's memorial and I
0:40
Speaker 2: was literally going to dedicate an episode to that, plus
0:43
Speaker 2: tying in the loss of John Sterling, and I may
0:46
Speaker 2: still get into that. At some point. My dad listened
0:48
Speaker 2: to radio. He had me raised up on John Sterling,
0:51
Speaker 2: and I'm inspired to get back out there and do
0:53
Speaker 2: play by play, which you've heard at one Lego alex Media.
0:55
Speaker 2: But instead of delving into that, to complete the three
0:58
Speaker 2: year cycle of processing my dad's loss. And there's a
1:03
Speaker 2: whole host of people to thank for that. I mean,
1:05
Speaker 2: my mom, my stepdad, Vic, and my sister Abby that
1:09
Speaker 2: were not together. Gabby got Ryan Sam Bellino and this
1:14
Speaker 2: part of the processing, my friend Sherry and Ashi who
1:18
Speaker 2: checks in every few days. There's been a lot of
1:23
Speaker 2: people to keep me upright during this process. There really has.
1:29
Speaker 2: And my friend Danny of course, and we miss him
1:31
Speaker 2: every day. There's just a lot of people that have
1:34
Speaker 2: kept me up right three years later. I mean it
1:37
Speaker 2: went from January eighth, the last time we were at
1:40
Speaker 2: Saint Thomas Church in New York City for Christmas, to
1:43
Speaker 2: May sixth, twenty twenty three, the memorial of my dad.
1:48
Speaker 2: I thought, instead of just going in the dumps and
1:50
Speaker 2: being down the dumps, why not play the episode I
1:54
Speaker 2: just recorded with Ryan Bagano and Graham Francis, who you've
1:58
Speaker 2: heard before, and we all talk hockey, and as you know,
2:03
Speaker 2: that is my dad's favorite sport. The picture with him
2:07
Speaker 2: in the Stanley Cup is so damn special. I posted
2:10
Speaker 2: every moment I had, especially during the NHL Playoffs.
2:16
Speaker 3: It was hockey that.
2:17
Speaker 2: Inspired him to inspire me to roll a blade at
2:20
Speaker 2: eight years old, and that moment at eight has changed
2:25
Speaker 2: my life forever too. So instead of being somber, this
2:30
Speaker 2: episode with Grant and Ryan on the twenty twenty six
2:34
Speaker 2: NHL Playoffs and dedicate it to my father John Garrett.
2:38
Speaker 2: All right, well it is one look up Alex Media
2:40
Speaker 2: and we are diving right back in to the NHL
2:43
Speaker 2: playoffs with Graham Francis. Welcome back, Grant.
2:46
Speaker 3: Hey, thanks for having me again, Glad and.
2:49
Speaker 2: A regular contributor, Ryan Pagano and packs perspective. Welcome back, Ryan, Well.
2:52
Speaker 4: You wouldn't wouldn't necessarily be mistaken about that one. Alex,
2:55
Speaker 4: good to be back.
2:56
Speaker 2: All right, Where do we start? Because Grant and I
2:58
Speaker 2: were talking about the whole first round. To me, the
3:01
Speaker 2: biggest surprise where the Flyers knocking off the Penguins, Right,
3:06
Speaker 2: I think we'd all agree that was sort of shocking.
3:08
Speaker 5: I would agree with that. I think I think that
3:11
Speaker 5: series and the way the first two games have gone
3:14
Speaker 5: in the Flyers series against Carolina, I think it's a
3:18
Speaker 5: big tell on how bad the Metro is Aside from Carolina,
3:21
Speaker 5: I think that was the biggest takeaway from that series.
3:24
Speaker 5: But I was surprised that Philly was able to get
3:26
Speaker 5: the job done. I thought Pittsburgh would put up a
3:28
Speaker 5: little bit more of a fight, but it was all Philly.
3:30
Speaker 4: Really, especially given their veteranosity to compared to a relatively
3:35
Speaker 4: young Flyers group. I mean, Porter Martin becoming a playoff
3:38
Speaker 4: hero in his first not even his first full NHL
3:44
Speaker 4: season too, which is just wild to say, would have
3:48
Speaker 4: been wild to say just last year, but yet that's
3:51
Speaker 4: exactly how it shook out, and seemingly a young inexperienced
3:55
Speaker 4: Flyers group in comparison, just no match for a veteran
3:58
Speaker 4: Leyden Pens team. And it's wild because I thought for
4:03
Speaker 4: sure this was going to go to six, no question,
4:04
Speaker 4: but completely in the opposite direction. I always figured out
4:08
Speaker 4: that Pittsburgh would prevail in the Battle of Pennsylvania yet again.
4:12
Speaker 4: But the scenario that the hockey gods have chosen for
4:15
Speaker 4: us is just ultimate chaos.
4:17
Speaker 3: I e.
4:18
Speaker 4: The Flyers winning on a Cam York overtime dagger.
4:21
Speaker 5: Yeah, Cam York of all people. But that was one
4:26
Speaker 5: of my biggest surprises. You want to know my biggest surprise, Yes,
4:30
Speaker 5: here about Montreal going into Tampa Game seven and taking
4:33
Speaker 5: down that team.
4:35
Speaker 2: With a very good coach, John Cooper. And yeah, the
4:37
Speaker 2: veterans on the lightning, right, I mean right, remarkable. But
4:40
Speaker 2: I've always been a Nick Suzuki guy. I like what
4:43
Speaker 2: the Canadians are doing up there. They're finally turning the tide.
4:46
Speaker 2: Look before we were really even more before you boys
4:49
Speaker 2: were born, before I really became into hockey, the Canadians
4:52
Speaker 2: were a stable. They won all those Cups and maybe
4:55
Speaker 2: we want to see him back there and try it again.
4:57
Speaker 2: Why not?
4:57
Speaker 5: I'm glad to see Montreal having some success. It's been
5:01
Speaker 5: a while for them, even though they were in the
5:02
Speaker 5: final in twenty twenty one one. That was kind of
5:07
Speaker 5: a joke anyway, that whole restructuring of the divisions, the
5:13
Speaker 5: Canadian Division is what.
5:14
Speaker 3: It was at that time. Oh yeah, it was awful.
5:16
Speaker 4: Like no, it was just a whole cesspool just because
5:19
Speaker 4: of the travel restrictions from that point. And look, let's
5:22
Speaker 4: be real, with a typical regular season, it probably would
5:25
Speaker 4: have been Vegas for sure, if we're being realistic here.
5:28
Speaker 5: But I mean, I am glad to see Montreal doing
5:32
Speaker 5: well in a real playoffs compared to what they went
5:36
Speaker 5: through in twenty twenty one. But the fact that they
5:39
Speaker 5: won that game seven with nine shots on goal. They
5:43
Speaker 5: set the record for the fewest amount of shots on
5:45
Speaker 5: goal in a game seven victory in NHL history insane.
5:48
Speaker 5: Like you think about Dobesh with Montreal the goaltender and Vasilevski,
5:55
Speaker 5: You think about having nine shots on goal in that
5:57
Speaker 5: game against Andrea Vasilevski, you think you've got no chance
6:00
Speaker 5: and they end up winning that game.
6:03
Speaker 2: And then, of course, I mean to me, the other
6:05
Speaker 2: series I was really focused on, as you know and
6:07
Speaker 2: you both probably know were the Ducks Oilers because I
6:10
Speaker 2: want to see Crider get that chip. I think it's
6:13
Speaker 2: a disservice. He didn't get it here in New York,
6:14
Speaker 2: so I want to see him get it in Anaheim.
6:17
Speaker 2: And sure enough they knock out the Oilers. Now it's
6:20
Speaker 2: more surprised than the Oilers lost than the Ducks one
6:22
Speaker 2: only because McDavid and dry Settle. I mean those two
6:25
Speaker 2: are normally unstoppable.
6:28
Speaker 5: Yes, but at the same time, Edmonton has to What
6:33
Speaker 5: they've been doing is the definition of insanity, like doing
6:36
Speaker 5: the same thing over and over again and hoping for
6:38
Speaker 5: the same result. Like, at what point are they going
6:40
Speaker 5: to say, Okay, let's go get a real goaltender because
6:43
Speaker 5: they haven't had one. Name the last good goaltender for
6:47
Speaker 5: the Edmonton Oilers, I don't.
6:49
Speaker 4: Know, maybe half a season of Mike Smith. I mean,
6:51
Speaker 4: there really isn't a lot to choose from. No, to
6:53
Speaker 4: your point there, no, Yeah, they were supposed to have
6:55
Speaker 4: the guy with Jack Campbell, only he did not pan
6:58
Speaker 4: out at all whatsoever. And now what are they possibly
7:03
Speaker 4: stuck with now?
7:04
Speaker 3: Well, Tristan Jarry.
7:05
Speaker 4: Tristan Jarry, like, come on, yeah, this is really what
7:08
Speaker 4: a championship contending team is supposed to start in twenty
7:11
Speaker 4: twenty six.
7:13
Speaker 5: Well, and I gotta be honest with you, if I
7:15
Speaker 5: was Connor McDavid, I'd be wanting out at this point.
7:18
Speaker 4: And nobody could even fault him for that, because yeah,
7:21
Speaker 4: you got McDavid, Yeah, you got dry Sidle and when healthy,
7:25
Speaker 4: you got Zach Hymen. Maybe he could return a fifty
7:27
Speaker 4: goal for him at some point, but really, what else
7:29
Speaker 4: do you have? I mean, then it's just a tough
7:32
Speaker 4: situation for McDavid up in Edmonton where you can't help.
7:35
Speaker 4: But wonder if a couple of if a certain couple
7:38
Speaker 4: of signings have gone a better result than you know,
7:41
Speaker 4: maybe they would.
7:41
Speaker 3: Have had a Cup by now, I gotta be honest.
7:43
Speaker 4: Instead, you got a lot of anchors.
7:45
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think stan Bowman is one of the worst
7:47
Speaker 5: gems in the league up in Edmonton, because they had
7:50
Speaker 5: the team he took over for Ken Holland, they had
7:53
Speaker 5: the team to go win a Stanley Cup right there,
7:56
Speaker 5: and all he had to do was kind of stick
7:59
Speaker 5: to the plan and go get a goalie. That's your
8:01
Speaker 5: only tasks you had to do was go get a
8:03
Speaker 5: goalie and just keep the team that you had together
8:06
Speaker 5: as much as possible, and then the Blues go and
8:09
Speaker 5: snag Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg and those offer sheets,
8:12
Speaker 5: which was ridiculous that they didn't like match those offer sheets,
8:17
Speaker 5: and then they just continue to not go get a goaltender.
8:22
Speaker 5: It's really a simple equation, I think. I think if
8:25
Speaker 5: I was the gem of the Oilers, I couldn't want
8:27
Speaker 5: to stand like cup by now. And I'm not even
8:29
Speaker 5: really exaggerating that much, oh.
8:31
Speaker 4: A thousand percent, especially when you consider how close they've
8:33
Speaker 4: gotten to that in years past. I mean, just look
8:35
Speaker 4: at twenty twenty four, taking the Panthers all the way
8:38
Speaker 4: to Game seven and almost blessing the hockey world with
8:41
Speaker 4: the chance to laugh at the Florida Panthers hysterically, but
8:45
Speaker 4: yet that wasn't the case. You can't help but wonder,
8:47
Speaker 4: though you have an actual goalie there. Could they won
8:50
Speaker 4: the Cup in twenty four? Could they have repeated in
8:52
Speaker 4: twenty twenty five. It's entirely possible.
8:55
Speaker 2: And to your point bout McDavid, I mean, he signed
8:57
Speaker 2: this contract hoping things would improve, and now maybe not
9:00
Speaker 2: seen that improvement, I would think. Second guest not second guests,
9:04
Speaker 2: but I would think differently. Also, maybe he does come
9:06
Speaker 2: to the States finally, because you know, stas whybody in
9:09
Speaker 2: hockey want is him to have that Gretzky moment where
9:11
Speaker 2: he comes over to the States and becomes a player here.
9:14
Speaker 5: So yeah, but I mean there's been some not I
9:17
Speaker 5: don't know if i'd say Connor McDavid level, but there's
9:20
Speaker 5: been some great players that haven't won a Stanley Cup.
9:23
Speaker 5: Joe Thornton is the first one that comes to mind
9:25
Speaker 5: for me. In San Jose, Like he was one of
9:27
Speaker 5: the best players in the league for years. I mean
9:29
Speaker 5: he stayed with San Jose's whole career and he never
9:32
Speaker 5: won anything in San Jose.
9:34
Speaker 2: Now he could be a Hall of Famer too.
9:35
Speaker 5: Oh he's yeah, he's gonna be for sure. Now again,
9:39
Speaker 5: he's not to the level of Connor McDavid. McDavid's the
9:41
Speaker 5: best player in the league, but there comes a point
9:44
Speaker 5: in time where it's like, Okay, if the team that
9:47
Speaker 5: I'm on is not going to do the simple thing
9:49
Speaker 5: and go get the one glaring issue solved on the
9:51
Speaker 5: team that's been here for years, then you know McDavid
9:56
Speaker 5: is the type of player that he wants to win.
9:57
Speaker 5: It's not all about money for him, even though he
9:59
Speaker 5: makes a ton of money, he wants to win. I'm
10:03
Speaker 5: convinced that one, maybe two more years of this, if
10:07
Speaker 5: things don't change, he's gonna be gone.
10:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely all right. The other series we haven't really tapped
10:13
Speaker 2: into yet is the Sabers Bruins, and that's another one.
10:16
Speaker 2: I called it the toppling of the monarchy of the NHL.
10:19
Speaker 2: It felt like, like, you know, and I know King
10:21
Speaker 2: Charleston last week says, yes, the toppling of the monarchies
10:26
Speaker 2: of these leagues, of this league. I mean the Bruins,
10:30
Speaker 2: the Penguins. I mean, let's go to Buffalo and that series.
10:35
Speaker 2: I want to Teje Thompson the Sabers and they came through.
10:38
Speaker 2: But Grant, remind us what you had in that series?
10:41
Speaker 5: Well, I had Boston in that series. And I'm glad
10:45
Speaker 5: Buffalo won. I'm so happy for that city. They need that,
10:49
Speaker 5: like as a city that has had so much heartbreak
10:51
Speaker 5: over the years and so much just like awful hockey
10:55
Speaker 5: to watch over the last what decade and a half.
10:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean nearly twenty years since they last made
11:00
Speaker 4: it to the playoffs. I mean never mind the fact
11:02
Speaker 4: that their last appearance in the Big Dance was in
11:04
Speaker 4: twenty eleven.
11:05
Speaker 5: Right, So good for them. I'm so happy for Buffalo.
11:09
Speaker 5: I hope they continue to go on this run. I
11:13
Speaker 5: thought Boston was gonna pull that off, just because of
11:16
Speaker 5: the sheer inexperience on Buffalo's end, and I think maybe
11:21
Speaker 5: on my end, it was a little bit a little
11:24
Speaker 5: bit of an oversight, maybe assigning too much experience to
11:28
Speaker 5: Boston considering they've lost a lot of that experience with
11:31
Speaker 5: you know, no more Brad Marshawn, no more Patrice berger On,
11:34
Speaker 5: like that team's gone. But they still have players like
11:37
Speaker 5: Charlie McAvoy. They've got a couple other players that have
11:39
Speaker 5: been there for a while. But I think I underestimated
11:43
Speaker 5: Buffalo's ability, and honestly, I think their goaltending held up
11:46
Speaker 5: better than I thought it was going too. So good
11:48
Speaker 5: for them. I think they have a real shot at
11:51
Speaker 5: the Eastern Conference Final. I think Montreal does as well.
11:54
Speaker 5: I think that series is a real toss up.
11:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, it could really go either way, at least for me,
11:58
Speaker 4: because look the way I see it, both squad's fairly
12:02
Speaker 4: evenly matched, a little inexperienced on both sides, I would say,
12:05
Speaker 4: if you want to go that route, but you know
12:09
Speaker 4: there's another series. We're talking about a potential Game seven here,
12:12
Speaker 4: and I could see this going the whole distance. Now,
12:16
Speaker 4: who wins that series is just anybody's guess, because I
12:19
Speaker 4: believe I actually had the Lightning winning over the Habs
12:23
Speaker 4: and round one, so I wasn't even entertaining that conversation
12:27
Speaker 4: by that point. And in fact, I actually had the
12:29
Speaker 4: Bolts knocking off Buffalo here in my Stanley Cup playoffs.
12:34
Speaker 4: See but now that the Habs or what did you
12:36
Speaker 4: see him.
12:36
Speaker 2: Buff to knock out the Bruins? What did you see in.
12:38
Speaker 4: The surprisingly theyir goaltending, believe it or not, Alex Lyon
12:42
Speaker 4: becoming a force in net certainly something that not a
12:45
Speaker 4: lot of people would have necessarily expected. But look, we
12:48
Speaker 4: saw some flashes from lying in the regular season. In particular,
12:52
Speaker 4: I recall dominating season two.
12:53
Speaker 2: I mean it was it was incredible to watch him
12:55
Speaker 2: in Net. And by the way, as you guys know,
12:57
Speaker 2: I'm a baseball guy first, so to put Yankee red
13:00
Speaker 2: Sox to watch the Bruins and the Sabers, I think
13:04
Speaker 2: the three of you you, Grant and Luke termanol have
13:07
Speaker 2: got me into playoff hockey a little more because Hey,
13:10
Speaker 2: I miss it. I think I told you this story
13:12
Speaker 2: a few years ago after my at an issue in
13:14
Speaker 2: the hospital. I was still there under observation, and I'm
13:18
Speaker 2: screaming in the hallway or screaming in my room, Like
13:21
Speaker 2: what happened? I said, Trojerk just scored the game winner
13:24
Speaker 2: against the Hurricanes. I missed that level of hockey here
13:26
Speaker 2: in New York, I really do.
13:28
Speaker 5: I was just about to say too, like it's it's
13:31
Speaker 5: gonna turn around here, definitely for the Islanders. I think
13:34
Speaker 5: next year the Islanders are a playoff team. They took
13:36
Speaker 5: a real big step in the right direction.
13:37
Speaker 4: This year, oh for sure.
13:39
Speaker 5: But it's a shame to not have a single team
13:42
Speaker 5: here in the New York area in the playoffs.
13:44
Speaker 4: Yeah, first time ever. Yeah that this has happened too
13:47
Speaker 4: where the Devils, Rangers, Aisles.
13:50
Speaker 5: None of them have made it, and I think the
13:51
Speaker 5: Rangers might have a little bit of a longer road
13:53
Speaker 5: to get back.
13:54
Speaker 3: But weird things happen.
13:55
Speaker 5: I mean, Utah getting in buff Nobody had Buffalo or
14:00
Speaker 5: Montreal getting in this season, So these things can turn
14:02
Speaker 5: around faster than you'd think we are.
14:05
Speaker 2: By the way, By the way, I saw a stat
14:08
Speaker 2: there is the first time since nineteen not a Florida
14:10
Speaker 2: team's been in it either. Yeah, yeah, I mean so
14:13
Speaker 2: that's interesting.
14:14
Speaker 3: That's correct.
14:14
Speaker 5: So the first time since twenty nineteen when it was
14:18
Speaker 5: Blues and Bruins that a Florida team is not in
14:20
Speaker 5: the Stanley Cup final, which is wild.
14:23
Speaker 2: I'm going to ask you, guys though, the ultimate question,
14:25
Speaker 2: because we'll keep breaking this down, are we headed too
14:27
Speaker 2: And this is gonna make Grants blow and bloy because
14:29
Speaker 2: he hates the Avalanche, But are we head to do
14:31
Speaker 2: an abs hurricane? Yes, champion or Stanley Cup?
14:34
Speaker 4: Is that we're rabbling right now, although I'm just waiting
14:39
Speaker 4: for the moment where the Canes will somehow blow this
14:41
Speaker 4: opportunity again. It's been the same song and dance for
14:43
Speaker 4: them in the past seven years something like that. They
14:46
Speaker 4: always find a way every single year to not make
14:50
Speaker 4: it to the Stanley Cup finals. Maybe this could be
14:52
Speaker 4: their year, who knows. Then again, we've been saying this
14:55
Speaker 4: for over a half decades, so is it actually gonna
14:57
Speaker 4: come to fruition? Who knows this point. But if this
15:02
Speaker 4: is the case. If there's any year for the case
15:04
Speaker 4: to do it, it's definitely this one thousand, especially with
15:06
Speaker 4: a wide open Eastern Conference to go through.
15:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Grant, you have some skepticism about the Avalanche.
15:11
Speaker 2: You think the Wild could do some damage here.
15:14
Speaker 5: I really don't think any team is going to be
15:17
Speaker 5: able to beat the Avs at this point, which I
15:20
Speaker 5: hate saying. I do think Minnesota is going to be
15:24
Speaker 5: the toughest team to beat for Colorado. Even though Colorado
15:28
Speaker 5: is up to nothing in the series right now. I
15:30
Speaker 5: think Minnesota is gonna have a push at home Game
15:34
Speaker 5: three and four. I think they at least win one
15:36
Speaker 5: of those games. But man, it's just it's that Colorado
15:41
Speaker 5: team is so dynamic. They can hurt you in so
15:43
Speaker 5: many different ways, and they're a veteran team. They've been
15:46
Speaker 5: there before. It's like Minnesota, that's one thing they don't have.
15:50
Speaker 5: They haven't really been here before. They haven't even been
15:52
Speaker 5: to the second round of the playoffs since god, I
15:54
Speaker 5: can't even remember, so like that's what's hurting Minnesota right
15:59
Speaker 5: now the most.
15:59
Speaker 3: I think.
16:02
Speaker 5: The one thing that could turn in that series is
16:06
Speaker 5: if the goaltending goes sour for Colorado because I'm not
16:09
Speaker 5: a huge believer in their goaltending situation. Wedgwood has been
16:12
Speaker 5: good all season, but Wedgwood also doesn't have a ton
16:15
Speaker 5: of experience in the playoffs. So I could see if
16:18
Speaker 5: Minnesota starts to plant the seat of doubt in their
16:20
Speaker 5: mind on home ice, I could see Minnesota maybe having
16:24
Speaker 5: a chance to creed back in that series. But I'll
16:27
Speaker 5: tell you this, I wouldn't put money on it. I
16:29
Speaker 5: think Colorado's got it locked up. And to your point
16:32
Speaker 5: about Carolina, I think Carolina has the easiest path to
16:39
Speaker 5: the Stanley Cup Final in the Eastern Conference that I've
16:42
Speaker 5: ever seen. I mean, Ottawa was not a difficult team.
16:47
Speaker 5: Philly obviously isn't a difficult team. No disrespect to Philly.
16:50
Speaker 5: I just think the Metro is not a very good
16:52
Speaker 5: division aside from Carolina. And then obviously Carolina will have
16:57
Speaker 5: the winner of Buffalo Montreal, which no disrespect to them,
17:00
Speaker 5: But again going back to playoff experience, they don't really
17:04
Speaker 5: have any except for what they've gone through this season.
17:06
Speaker 5: So I think Carolina had I think they're on cruise
17:09
Speaker 5: control until the Stanley Cup Final, and then if that's
17:12
Speaker 5: the case, I think Colorado's gonna have a rude awakening
17:16
Speaker 5: for them in the Stanley Cup Final.
17:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, perhaps wrapping up in five games. Yeah, perhaps that's
17:20
Speaker 4: what That's what I have.
17:22
Speaker 2: By the way, Yeah, any any of the eliminated that
17:25
Speaker 2: you have hopes for. I mean, obviously have a veteran
17:27
Speaker 2: teams here with the Penguins and and I guess the
17:30
Speaker 2: centers a little bit, but also the Bruins. But anybody eliminated,
17:34
Speaker 2: and I'm talking about the Mammoth, couldn't Utah make them
17:36
Speaker 2: more of a dent moving forward?
17:38
Speaker 5: I think they can definitely could. That was the team
17:40
Speaker 5: I was going to bring up. And the reason why
17:43
Speaker 5: is because they play the playoff style. They are a
17:49
Speaker 5: nasty team to play against. Like I've you know, worked
17:52
Speaker 5: for the Blues for a few years and even going
17:55
Speaker 5: back to the Arizona days when they weren't making the playoffs.
17:59
Speaker 5: They're just a orn in the side type of team
18:01
Speaker 5: to play against. Their physical they're just annoying their pests,
18:05
Speaker 5: and that's what works in the playoffs typically. I think
18:08
Speaker 5: getting a little bit of experience this year for some
18:10
Speaker 5: of the young players there. I think they also have
18:14
Speaker 5: a situation where they need some goaltending. I think they
18:18
Speaker 5: might be a goaltender away from doing damage in the playoffs,
18:21
Speaker 5: and maybe just a little bit of maturity and maybe
18:23
Speaker 5: also just a pure goal scorer. They didn't really have
18:26
Speaker 5: a superstar goal store. They've got Clayton Keller, but you know,
18:30
Speaker 5: they don't have the player that can really break through
18:34
Speaker 5: it any moment. I think Clayton Killer goes on hot streaks,
18:36
Speaker 5: but he didn't have a great playoffs. I mean you
18:39
Speaker 5: didn't look at him at any point in the series
18:41
Speaker 5: and go, wow, that was like a game breaking play
18:44
Speaker 5: that he made or a goal that he scored. I
18:47
Speaker 5: think they've got a couple of pieces they need to add,
18:50
Speaker 5: but gosh, I think they could do some damage in
18:53
Speaker 5: the playoffs. If I'm the Blues and the Blues were
18:56
Speaker 5: making the playoffs, I wouldn't want to go up against
18:58
Speaker 5: Utah next year.
19:00
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what. Utah sort of reminded me, especially
19:02
Speaker 2: for their hot start last year in the first season
19:05
Speaker 2: of the Golden the Knights. I know they lost them
19:07
Speaker 2: this but I feel like they're almost on that track
19:09
Speaker 2: of getting the playoffs very early on in their infancy
19:12
Speaker 2: of a new franchise.
19:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're almost there too. Like you know, we talked
19:16
Speaker 4: about Clayton Keller just about a minute ago. But then
19:20
Speaker 4: you also got to take into account too once some
19:22
Speaker 4: of that younger talent gets to the chance to develop.
19:25
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm looking right at Tija Ginla right there. Yeah,
19:28
Speaker 4: you know, when the time comes for him to finally
19:31
Speaker 4: make a splash at the NHL level just like his
19:33
Speaker 4: father did, then we're talking about a nasty Utah team.
19:37
Speaker 4: I mean, you pair him again with yeah, exactly, you
19:40
Speaker 4: pair him with Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, the rest of
19:44
Speaker 4: that young nucleus that Utah has over there, and I
19:48
Speaker 4: mean we're talking about it forcing the West right there.
19:50
Speaker 2: Yeah. A couple of news I want to get to
19:52
Speaker 2: outside of the playoffs. Obviously, the Leaf's setting the number
19:55
Speaker 2: one draft pick. I don't know, does this mean that
19:58
Speaker 2: they're gonna ship out Austin Matthews now they have a
20:01
Speaker 2: one pick, or are they going to keep him?
20:03
Speaker 5: Honestly, I think it means that there's a higher chance
20:06
Speaker 5: that Matthews is their long term I think this is
20:09
Speaker 5: a this is an opportunity for Toronto to really get
20:13
Speaker 5: another number one player to pair with Matthews, especially with
20:18
Speaker 5: Mitch marn Or not being there anymore. They've still got
20:21
Speaker 5: n Elander, but.
20:22
Speaker 4: And they've sorely missed him this year too.
20:24
Speaker 5: Clearly, Yeah, like clearly they did. So. I actually think
20:29
Speaker 5: this is an exciting thing for a player like Austin
20:32
Speaker 5: Matthews and makes him want to stay that much more.
20:35
Speaker 5: My biggest takeaway from the the draft lottery is like, god, like,
20:40
Speaker 5: there's a lot of conspiracy theories out there about the
20:44
Speaker 5: NHL Draft lottery being rigged.
20:46
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I'm.
20:48
Speaker 5: Not totally uh throwing those out the window, because man,
20:54
Speaker 5: it's just convenient that the one year Toronto is bad
20:57
Speaker 5: a major market, they get the first over a pick,
21:00
Speaker 5: oh of course, and even last year with the Isles
21:03
Speaker 5: getting the first overall pick right conveniently just months after
21:06
Speaker 5: the NHL pulled the plug on the twenty twenty six
21:08
Speaker 5: All Star gameame right, The Rangers getting Alexi la Fronier
21:13
Speaker 5: when they were they were not a high chance of
21:15
Speaker 5: moving up that high in the draft, they got it.
21:18
Speaker 5: Chicago getting Connor Bdard. Now, Chicago was bad for a
21:21
Speaker 5: long time, but Connor Bedard was the draft that it
21:23
Speaker 5: was like, Okay, this is the next Connor McDavid type
21:26
Speaker 5: player because he was like one of the greatest players.
21:29
Speaker 5: Now it seems like Maclen Sillabrini might be a little
21:32
Speaker 5: bit better, honestly, But at the time, it was like
21:34
Speaker 5: Connor Bdard, is this like the next god in the NHL?
21:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, I can provide perfect pr to a team in
21:40
Speaker 4: need of one. And let's be real, the Blackhawks at
21:42
Speaker 4: that point in their history were very much in need
21:44
Speaker 4: of that, right, Oh, yes, that's true.
21:45
Speaker 5: But like, when was the last time a small market
21:48
Speaker 5: team got the first overall pick? Like when would when
21:52
Speaker 5: did the Winnipeg Jets get the first overall pick? When
21:55
Speaker 5: had like you know, Utah or Arizona, Like it just
21:57
Speaker 5: doesn't happen for those kind of teams.
21:59
Speaker 3: So it's like, I don't know. The draft lottery.
22:01
Speaker 5: To me, it's like I always kind of hope to
22:03
Speaker 5: see a new team up there, but I feel like
22:04
Speaker 5: it's it's always a major market team and it just
22:08
Speaker 5: I feel weird about it.
22:09
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, I mean so do I. And then you
22:12
Speaker 4: also consider who the Leafs conveniently brought in as their
22:16
Speaker 4: GM just right before the draft lot too. I mean
22:19
Speaker 4: John chak As, somebody who was whose last job in
22:22
Speaker 4: hockey was six years ago where he resigned in shame
22:25
Speaker 4: with the Coyotes. Isn't it pretty convenient timing that the Leafs,
22:30
Speaker 4: for whatever reason, I don't know what they saw in
22:32
Speaker 4: John Chaka enough to the point where they decided to
22:35
Speaker 4: bring him in as their GM, even getting questioned by
22:39
Speaker 4: Steve Simmons, one of the Toronto Beat reporters, at his
22:42
Speaker 4: introductory press conference and arguably kind of owning him in
22:46
Speaker 4: the process.
22:47
Speaker 3: That was fascinating.
22:48
Speaker 4: See, I'm convinced that the NHL just felt bad enough
22:51
Speaker 4: for the Leafs to the point where they just decided,
22:53
Speaker 4: you know what, you could have the first overall pick.
22:55
Speaker 4: But that's my prerogative though.
22:58
Speaker 2: And you know what, as the city that as the
23:00
Speaker 2: Hockey Hall of Fame, that's sort of like the beating
23:04
Speaker 2: heart of hockey just because of Toronto. Maybe you're right,
23:06
Speaker 2: maybe there's some merit to it. All right, I want
23:09
Speaker 2: to get to this other story because I'm still looking
23:12
Speaker 2: at the Rangers offseason and did you guys see they
23:14
Speaker 2: fired the entire coaching to have at Hartford to rebuild.
23:17
Speaker 2: I mean, is this a dreary effort to look like
23:20
Speaker 2: they're doing something to try and improve the team.
23:22
Speaker 4: Or what jeez, I see. I'm more boggled by the
23:26
Speaker 4: fact that Chris Drury still has a job with the Rangers.
23:30
Speaker 4: I mean, you would think that he would have been
23:33
Speaker 4: gone at the end of the season. But yet Patrick Wah,
23:36
Speaker 4: someone who you know, wasn't as disastrous to the level
23:39
Speaker 4: of Chris Drewy but maybe not the most optimal. He
23:42
Speaker 4: somehow lost his job before Chris Drury and he is
23:45
Speaker 4: still employed right now. I'm just flabbergascid. But it just
23:49
Speaker 4: seems like at this point he's like a toddler trying
23:51
Speaker 4: to imitate Jackson Pollock, right, just throwing anything at the wall,
23:55
Speaker 4: hoping it'll stick. And I don't know, maybe it'll work
23:59
Speaker 4: with Hart, but you can't trust him at this point,
24:03
Speaker 4: especially with his recent regimen. We'll see what happens, though.
24:08
Speaker 4: I just flabbergasted.
24:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I'm kind of starting to feel about
24:15
Speaker 5: Chris Drury how I felt about the Buffalo Sabers GM
24:19
Speaker 5: that they just fired mid season.
24:22
Speaker 3: God, I can't his name's escaping me or.
24:24
Speaker 4: It wasn't Jason bott.
24:26
Speaker 3: No, I don't think so.
24:29
Speaker 5: But I mean he had been there forever and obviously
24:33
Speaker 5: the team had gone nowhere and finally they let him go,
24:37
Speaker 5: and obviously, like the general manager is a little bit
24:40
Speaker 5: more removed from the on ice performance, that's more of
24:43
Speaker 5: like a coaching thing the on ice performance. But they
24:45
Speaker 5: fire him and then immediately Buffalo goes.
24:47
Speaker 2: On this run.
24:48
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Kevin Adams, Kevin Adams, that's what his name was.
24:51
Speaker 3: Thank you.
24:52
Speaker 5: But I'm starting to feel the same way about Kevin
24:55
Speaker 5: or about Chris Drury that I felt about Kevin Adams
24:57
Speaker 5: before they fired him, because it just seems like every
25:02
Speaker 5: time the Rangers make a move, it's like what are
25:05
Speaker 5: they doing?
25:07
Speaker 4: Just seems like they're going in no direction whatsoever. Like
25:10
Speaker 4: they make to continue to blog with the aim of rebuilding,
25:13
Speaker 4: but then they also make win now moves, like you know,
25:16
Speaker 4: I e. Flatyslav Gavikov bringing him in to a huge deal,
25:20
Speaker 4: and I mean it's worked out, I'd say, thus far,
25:22
Speaker 4: but I mean there's still a ton of turn left
25:24
Speaker 4: on the deal, so you know, there really isn't much
25:26
Speaker 4: of a verdict on that yet. But will it pay off?
25:30
Speaker 4: I mean, it really depends on how the Rangers approach
25:32
Speaker 4: these next few years.
25:33
Speaker 5: Well, and I brought this up on the last podcast
25:36
Speaker 5: we did Alex. But I think the biggest turn off
25:40
Speaker 5: for me when I see a general manager do something
25:43
Speaker 5: like Chris Drury did was when you really don't have
25:48
Speaker 5: the pulse of the team on your radar. And I
25:50
Speaker 5: think I remember hearing that. I think some players had
25:56
Speaker 5: said that when they placed Barkley Goodrow on waivers that
26:01
Speaker 5: it really disturbed the locker room because he was a
26:04
Speaker 5: big part of the locker room chemistry. He was loved
26:06
Speaker 5: in that locker room. And that was the season after
26:09
Speaker 5: they won the President's Trophy that they put Barkley Goodrow
26:13
Speaker 5: on waivers. And then the year after that, I'm pretty
26:16
Speaker 5: sure was when they missed the playoffs. Correct, the year
26:18
Speaker 5: after they won the President's Trophy, Yeah, right after.
26:20
Speaker 3: So like it all went downhill as soon as a
26:22
Speaker 3: move like that happens, and.
26:23
Speaker 5: It seems small. It seems like that fourth liner, you know,
26:27
Speaker 5: he's a fourth liner. He's not gonna score twenty goals
26:30
Speaker 5: in a season, Like it's not that big of a deal.
26:33
Speaker 2: But at the same time, they signed Laughy to seven
26:35
Speaker 2: years and he just crist.
26:36
Speaker 5: Well and I'll tell you what else. And this happened
26:38
Speaker 5: a little bit with the Blues. When you give out
26:40
Speaker 5: big contracts to young players that maybe haven't performed to expectations.
26:47
Speaker 5: It causes issues with the veterans in the locker room,
26:49
Speaker 5: and it happened with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrie with
26:53
Speaker 5: the Blues. They signed Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrie to
26:57
Speaker 5: I think it was an eight year extension or seven
27:00
Speaker 5: and a half and eight million dollars and that was
27:05
Speaker 5: in the offseason. The next season was when everything went
27:08
Speaker 5: downhill for the Blues and they missed the playoffs. They
27:10
Speaker 5: treated Ryan O'Reilly, Vladimer Terasenko, all the big guys out
27:14
Speaker 5: because it just wasn't working after that. I think, more
27:18
Speaker 5: than in other sports, I think hockey locker rooms are
27:21
Speaker 5: fragile when it comes to players coming in and going out.
27:25
Speaker 5: I think if you move the wrong player out, even
27:27
Speaker 5: if he might not be a top line player or
27:30
Speaker 5: a premier goal scorer on the team, it can really
27:33
Speaker 5: mess with the chemistry of the team.
27:35
Speaker 2: Because Barkley was like a team player that he invited
27:37
Speaker 2: him out to their to his home or something like that,
27:39
Speaker 2: Like there was a lot of closeness off the ice
27:41
Speaker 2: with him. Yeah, and then of course the dumbest thing
27:45
Speaker 2: besides training, everybody is naming Trouba captain, Like I just
27:48
Speaker 2: if you're gonna let him go mid season, you should
27:50
Speaker 2: have named him capion at all. Like that's the one
27:52
Speaker 2: thing I'll never understand.
27:53
Speaker 3: You know what that felt like for me?
27:56
Speaker 5: And Jim Montgomery, the head coach of the Blues, actually
27:58
Speaker 5: talked about this in the offseason because now that they
28:00
Speaker 5: traded Brayden Chin, they don't have a captain. And he
28:03
Speaker 5: was asked by I think Matthew De Franks, a reporter
28:05
Speaker 5: for the Blues, if he thinks it's important to name
28:09
Speaker 5: a captain in the offseason, and Montgomery's response was, if
28:14
Speaker 5: we have a captain, it's important to name them. But
28:16
Speaker 5: I don't know if we have a captain yet. And
28:18
Speaker 5: I think in the case of Jacob Truba, it kind
28:21
Speaker 5: of felt like, okay, we need to name a captain,
28:24
Speaker 5: just to name a captain, like we need to have
28:26
Speaker 5: a player with a C on his jersey, even if
28:28
Speaker 5: he didn't fit the mold all that much, like he
28:33
Speaker 5: is a veteran player, but also he has a lot
28:37
Speaker 5: of issues on the ice when it comes to, you know,
28:41
Speaker 5: getting suspended and some if he dirty hits here and
28:45
Speaker 5: there and I mean, I'm not in the Rangers locker room.
28:48
Speaker 5: He might be a great leader for those players that
28:50
Speaker 5: we don't see, like we're speculating talking about this, he
28:53
Speaker 5: might be a great leader for the players on his team.
28:56
Speaker 5: But from an outsider's perspective, it does sort of seemed
29:00
Speaker 5: like a move that's like, Okay, we need to name
29:03
Speaker 5: a captain because we need to name a captain.
29:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, just naming one just for the sake of naming one.
29:07
Speaker 4: And I'm sure what ragerous management thought at that point
29:10
Speaker 4: was seeing all the off ice work that truebat was doing,
29:14
Speaker 4: him and his wife being involved with a bunch of
29:17
Speaker 4: charities to my recollection, so he was doing a lot
29:20
Speaker 4: of great work off of the ice. But then with
29:22
Speaker 4: all the on ice stuff, with the suspensions, as you're
29:25
Speaker 4: referring to Grant, you know, it's not really captain material,
29:28
Speaker 4: so to speak. I mean to me, okay, maybe, but
29:33
Speaker 4: then again, you could have named somebody better. Well that's
29:37
Speaker 4: another thing that but to even have anybody better though, yeah,
29:41
Speaker 4: that's really the big if, right. Well, and that goes
29:43
Speaker 4: back to what Jim Montgomery said about Okay, it's I
29:46
Speaker 4: don't find it important to name a captain unless we
29:48
Speaker 4: have a captain on the roster like that's that's going
29:52
Speaker 4: back to what he said, and I agreed one hundred
29:53
Speaker 4: percent with what he said.
29:55
Speaker 3: And you know.
29:56
Speaker 5: It, those captain situations can be fragile too, because I
30:01
Speaker 5: remember when Alex Petrangelo left the Blues and they named
30:05
Speaker 5: Ryan O'Reilly captain. One of the reasons why Vladimir Terasenko
30:09
Speaker 5: and I love Vladdie, but one of the reasons why
30:12
Speaker 5: he requested a trade from the Blues is because he
30:14
Speaker 5: felt he should have gotten the captaincy and it caused
30:18
Speaker 5: a whole riff amongst the team, and it's just like, Okay, well.
30:22
Speaker 2: Well, I think a lot of people in that locker room,
30:24
Speaker 2: Doc Crider deserved it at that point, and I I
30:27
Speaker 2: don't disagree.
30:28
Speaker 5: I don't disagree, and so I think these things become
30:33
Speaker 5: more of an issue than they become helpful when you
30:36
Speaker 5: name a captain at certain times. That's why I think
30:38
Speaker 5: it's important that if you don't have a clear cut captain,
30:42
Speaker 5: you don't name a captain because it's going to cause
30:44
Speaker 5: more issues than it will, you know, give you benefits exactly.
30:49
Speaker 4: Just go with the three alternates and go from there right,
30:52
Speaker 4: you know, maybe a future captain could break out of
30:54
Speaker 4: that point. Well, and I'll tell you no need to
30:55
Speaker 4: cause the drama, yeah, especially especially if you notice right
30:59
Speaker 4: then and there, like you know, we don't have a
31:02
Speaker 4: clear cut captain. Let's avoid any unnecessary drama.
31:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I'll tell you right now just speaking of
31:07
Speaker 5: the Blues real quick, like their situation right now is
31:10
Speaker 5: gonna be interesting because they don't have a captain obviously
31:12
Speaker 5: with Braden Chin getting traded to the Islanders. Robert Thomas
31:18
Speaker 5: is their best player on the ice. But Robert Thomas
31:22
Speaker 5: does not have a captain's attitude. I've been in that
31:27
Speaker 5: locker room. I've seen He's not a bad guy by
31:31
Speaker 5: any means, I'm not saying that, but he gets in
31:33
Speaker 5: his own.
31:34
Speaker 3: Head so bad.
31:35
Speaker 5: Like I've watched him at practice missed the net shooting
31:40
Speaker 5: the puck and he gives a banner reader like he
31:43
Speaker 5: just hit the post in Game seven double overtime, Like
31:45
Speaker 5: it's like, what, why are you.
31:47
Speaker 3: So upset right now?
31:48
Speaker 5: And those are the type of things like when you're
31:50
Speaker 5: thinking about captain ces, you've got to have a level
31:53
Speaker 5: of maturity, you know, to have that role. And this
31:57
Speaker 5: guy on Blues Jake Neighbors. He's a young younger than Thomas,
32:02
Speaker 5: and he is the quintessential captain, Like he is the
32:06
Speaker 5: perfect attitude, perfect personality for a captain. He should get
32:11
Speaker 5: the next captaincy for the Blues. But I guarantee you
32:14
Speaker 5: if he gets given the captaincy as a younger player,
32:17
Speaker 5: it's gonna piss Robert Thomas off. So it's going to
32:20
Speaker 5: be like a very interesting thing that they have to navigate.
32:24
Speaker 5: But applying this to other teams, like this is where
32:26
Speaker 5: it becomes an issue of how do you go about this?
32:30
Speaker 5: And like the drama of naming a captain and going
32:32
Speaker 5: back to the Rangers point, like I just wonder if
32:35
Speaker 5: something like that happened with that team.
32:37
Speaker 2: All right, Well, you know my captain growing up wasn't
32:40
Speaker 2: Mark Messi because I was really young for that. The
32:42
Speaker 2: captain I really admire most growing up was see Scott Stevens.
32:47
Speaker 2: And I'll tell you why I gotten involved with the
32:49
Speaker 2: Devil's organization at a younger age because they were partnership
32:52
Speaker 2: with the Yankees, and I got to be in lul
32:54
Speaker 2: Lambarello's office at the meadow Lands a couple times and
32:58
Speaker 2: the one time I was there with him. He presented
33:01
Speaker 2: me because I said my favorite player was Scott Stevens.
33:03
Speaker 2: A signed Scott Stevens jersey.
33:05
Speaker 3: Oh wow.
33:06
Speaker 2: It was the coolest moment I wore during the game
33:09
Speaker 2: one of those years. But that was during the era
33:11
Speaker 2: where they were winning cup after cup, it felt like.
33:14
Speaker 2: And in two thousand and three, up at George Seimern
33:17
Speaker 2: and Sweet the Devil's come in with the Stanley Cup
33:21
Speaker 2: up to the suite and it's sitting on the floor
33:23
Speaker 2: and I was sitting right in front of the cup
33:25
Speaker 2: and I was holding the cup with Scott Gomanz not
33:28
Speaker 2: kidding you, not bullshiting you here, I was literally literally
33:32
Speaker 2: holding the cup with Scott Gomez. And uh, you know
33:35
Speaker 2: that was my captain. Scott Stevens growing up, was my
33:37
Speaker 2: captain and that whole Devil team, John Madden, j Puonsdolfo Gomez.
33:43
Speaker 2: I know I'm a ranger guy more now, but in
33:46
Speaker 2: that era, I was a Devil guy. Like I just
33:49
Speaker 2: I liked that team I like and of course bro Door,
33:51
Speaker 2: I mean, come on.
33:52
Speaker 5: I was about to say a lot of great names there,
33:54
Speaker 5: and you hadn't even mentioned Marty Brodor yet.
33:56
Speaker 4: Yeah.
33:57
Speaker 2: So yeah, and then last year a couple years ago
34:00
Speaker 2: was twenty years I'm like, how did that happen? Like,
34:03
Speaker 2: how are we there twenty years later? So, yeah, that's
34:06
Speaker 2: that's my captain c. But no, it's cool to see
34:08
Speaker 2: Mark Messe is still around the garden with Game seven
34:11
Speaker 2: and some of these guys still linger around after a while.
34:15
Speaker 2: But yeah, as far as today's captains go, I love J. T.
34:18
Speaker 2: Miller as the Ranger captain. Following in the Folks is
34:20
Speaker 2: what Larry Brooks would.
34:22
Speaker 4: Want right exactly, calling it right in his columns just
34:25
Speaker 4: before he passed too.
34:26
Speaker 2: So all right, speaking of those of the past, he's
34:30
Speaker 2: known as a Yankee guy. He's known as the Yankees voice.
34:32
Speaker 2: But you guys know, John Sterling maybe you out there
34:35
Speaker 2: don't know, was the voice of the Islanders in the
34:38
Speaker 2: seventies on our employed to WNCA. I mean, guys, it's
34:43
Speaker 2: sort of a small world connection we have with John Sterling.
34:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, a little bit.
34:47
Speaker 5: And that's something that I didn't realize very much. I'm
34:52
Speaker 5: from Saint Louis, so the history of you know, some
34:55
Speaker 5: of the broadcasting situations, I'm not super you know, up
34:59
Speaker 5: to date on but I remember doing some things at
35:04
Speaker 5: wrig where I was using some of his calls and
35:07
Speaker 5: I didn't even realize it was John Sterling's voice until, like,
35:11
Speaker 5: you know, recently, having thought about it, I'm like, I
35:13
Speaker 5: was using some of his calls from you know, the vault,
35:18
Speaker 5: which is cool to think about, but it does seem
35:20
Speaker 5: like so many New York broadcasters are interlinked.
35:25
Speaker 3: With all the teams.
35:27
Speaker 5: Well, look how he rose did Island or how he
35:29
Speaker 5: rose perfect example.
35:31
Speaker 4: Even before that with the Rangers, of course, I mean
35:33
Speaker 4: spend a couple of years with them, including in ninety
35:35
Speaker 4: four as well. But you know, really getting back to
35:38
Speaker 4: Sterling though, spending his early years and really the early
35:42
Speaker 4: years of the Isles franchise calling their games on WMCA
35:46
Speaker 4: was just crazy to think about, Like you had to really,
35:50
Speaker 4: at least from my perspective, you had to listen to
35:52
Speaker 4: it to really believe it was actually John Sterling because
35:57
Speaker 4: growing up, and I'm sure this is the case for
36:00
Speaker 4: a lot of other people my age, but always thought
36:03
Speaker 4: of him as a Yankee guy, that's it. But then
36:07
Speaker 4: they don't even look into his past forays like doing
36:09
Speaker 4: the Islanders, even doing nets basketball back when they were
36:13
Speaker 4: a New York based franchise. The first time in the
36:16
Speaker 4: Nasau Coliseum. And and I'm sure if the Isles were
36:22
Speaker 4: still in the playoffs, had they held on to one
36:24
Speaker 4: of those top three seeds in the metro and for
36:27
Speaker 4: all we know, maybe they could have been playing second
36:29
Speaker 4: round hockey right about now. I just know for a
36:31
Speaker 4: fact that we could have gotten an Allen Feuring Islander goal,
36:34
Speaker 4: Islander goal in memory of Sterling.
36:36
Speaker 5: I gotta tell you, I think it'd be really cool
36:39
Speaker 5: if the Islanders did something similar to what the Yankees
36:41
Speaker 5: are doing, like playing Islanders win, or if.
36:45
Speaker 3: They have something like that.
36:46
Speaker 4: I was surprised to you I have the Islander goal.
36:48
Speaker 4: Islander goal.
36:49
Speaker 2: I found it in the vault, and that's what we're
36:50
Speaker 2: going to end the show.
36:51
Speaker 3: Oh I love that.
36:52
Speaker 4: Perfect And you know what one other thing I'll say
36:54
Speaker 4: to regarding that Brendan Burke paying homage to Sterling on
36:59
Speaker 4: the day of his retronment when they clinched actually a
37:02
Speaker 4: trip to the twenty twenty four Stanley Cup Playoffs. I
37:04
Speaker 4: was at that game in Newark, Isles, beating down on
37:07
Speaker 4: the Devils to make it to the Big Dance that night,
37:10
Speaker 4: and Brendan Burke with an Islander goal, Islander goal, call
37:13
Speaker 4: a memory of Sterling, So you can't help, but wonder
37:16
Speaker 4: could you perhaps be seeing that in October, especially if
37:19
Speaker 4: the isles continue to honor Sterling. Did did just put
37:21
Speaker 4: out a statement honoring him on the day of his passing,
37:24
Speaker 4: and who knows if we could get anything else When
37:27
Speaker 4: the twenty six to twenty seven season dawns well, I's.
37:30
Speaker 2: Been to the whole thing about my dad and his
37:32
Speaker 2: memorial for him on May six, twenty twenty three, did
37:35
Speaker 2: but you know what hockey talk is what he'd want
37:37
Speaker 2: to talk about on a day like today. So this
37:40
Speaker 2: is the episode dedicated to my dad, who loved hockey,
37:42
Speaker 2: who got me involved with hockey. I don't know if
37:44
Speaker 2: you guys know this. At three years old, I was
37:46
Speaker 2: literally knowing all the logos, that's how intense he was
37:49
Speaker 2: about hockey. So this one's for your dad. And yes,
37:53
Speaker 2: John Sterling did hockey. Those millennials are just thinking did baseball.
37:57
Speaker 2: Maybe this was a little historical lesson for you today
38:00
Speaker 2: as well. Before that, thank you both for joining me
38:03
Speaker 2: here at one look up Alex Media, Ryan Pigano, Graham Francis,
38:07
Speaker 2: and now take it away, John Sterling. John Sterling, you
38:16
Speaker 2: will be missed,