Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / John Forslund on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Carolina Hurricanes leading the ECF, 2 straight OT games, Avs on the brink of elimination to V...

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John Forslund on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Carolina Hurricanes leading the ECF, 2 straight OT games, Avs on the brink of elimination to V... · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:08
Speaker 1: This is by Sean O'Connell show.
0:11
Speaker 2: You were home of the best in side of your hughes.
0:13
Speaker 1: Let's get back to WOEC from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio
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Speaker 1: of the ESPN seven hundred ninety two one AM.
0:24
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the o'connall show. Welcome in John Foresland.
0:27
Speaker 2: He is on the call for the Eastern Conference Finals
0:29
Speaker 2: on Sports USA. Carolina Hurricanes up to one in that series.
0:35
Speaker 2: They've won back to back games in overtime. We are
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Speaker 2: your home of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ESPN seven and
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Speaker 2: ninety two to one FM. Game four will be Wednesday night. John,
0:46
Speaker 2: Welcome to the show. How are you.
0:48
Speaker 1: I'm great, Thanks for having me.
0:51
Speaker 2: Let's talk a little playoff hockey. Is this series shaping
0:55
Speaker 2: up in the Eastern Conference the way you thought it would?
1:00
Speaker 1: I think it's fair to say that everyone expected, you know,
1:03
Speaker 1: the Hurricanes have an upper hand, and especially if they
1:06
Speaker 1: can control how they want to play, which if you
1:09
Speaker 1: throw out game number one. By and large, they've been
1:12
Speaker 1: able to do that, and last night they established a
1:15
Speaker 1: really good start on the road. They allowed the Canadians
1:19
Speaker 1: to come back a little bit, and you've got to
1:21
Speaker 1: give them credit for hanging in there and going up
1:24
Speaker 1: against a team that's experienced and well oiled and has
1:27
Speaker 1: it burned to get to the Stanley Cup final after
1:30
Speaker 1: having all of these consecutive failures in the conference finals.
1:34
Speaker 1: So right now it looks like an experienced team that's
1:37
Speaker 1: ready to take the next step against the team that
1:40
Speaker 1: has played a lot of hockey. You know, two seven
1:43
Speaker 1: game series, the emotions attached to all that, the youngest
1:47
Speaker 1: team in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And I guess the
1:50
Speaker 1: puzzling part about Montreal is they have this terrific home
1:53
Speaker 1: iice atmosphere, but they can't they can't match the energy
1:56
Speaker 1: in the building. It's just something that right now, whether
1:59
Speaker 1: it's in there ahead or whatever the case is, they
2:02
Speaker 1: seem to be up against it.
2:04
Speaker 2: How much do you think that the two the grueling
2:06
Speaker 2: seven gamers affected this because Carolina got a lot more
2:09
Speaker 2: rest in these playoffs, And there's always that argument of
2:12
Speaker 2: rust versus rest. If you rest too much, it can
2:14
Speaker 2: be detrimental to you. But as you already mentioned, two
2:18
Speaker 2: seven game series to get to this point versus yeah,
2:20
Speaker 2: sweeping your way in is different.
2:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, the way the Hurricanes are built in the
2:25
Speaker 1: way they're coach Rod Brinda Moore expects them the play
2:28
Speaker 1: and trains in the players with a real solid skating
2:31
Speaker 1: foundation and rest will fuel that. So there really isn't
2:36
Speaker 1: you know? There was rust? I mean the first game
2:38
Speaker 1: they were uncharacteristically bad defensively, they made a lot of mistakes.
2:42
Speaker 1: A lot of it was self inflicted. They don't normally
2:45
Speaker 1: do that, but they're They're one of the best skating
2:48
Speaker 1: teams in the league. They're a possession team, they have
2:51
Speaker 1: high shot volume all the time. They're great off the rush.
2:55
Speaker 1: So all these metrics that you look at, they check
2:59
Speaker 1: those boxes. It's all based on their skating. And Montreal
3:03
Speaker 1: is a quick team too, with a high level of skill.
3:06
Speaker 1: But right now the Canadians are doing a lot of chasing,
3:09
Speaker 1: and that's poison that plays into the hands of the
3:13
Speaker 1: Hurricanes the only way, and no one in this postseason
3:16
Speaker 1: has been able to figure it out. The only way
3:18
Speaker 1: Carolina has been beaten is by getting them out of
3:22
Speaker 1: their comfort zone, getting them away from leading the game,
3:26
Speaker 1: scoring first, dictating the terms, forcing them to take risks
3:30
Speaker 1: because they're trying to come from behind. If they have
3:33
Speaker 1: an exceptional amount of lead time, you're not going to
3:35
Speaker 1: beat them. So that's the bugaboo right now for Montreal
3:39
Speaker 1: that they're trying to overcome.
3:41
Speaker 2: What is the atmosphere Like, We're obviously a new NHL
3:44
Speaker 2: market and people have been complimentary to the way that,
3:48
Speaker 2: you know, the Delta Center has showed up and been loud,
3:53
Speaker 2: barn and all that kind of stuff. What is the
3:55
Speaker 2: what is the atmosphere like for the Carolina games? Like,
3:59
Speaker 2: what is what is that house like?
4:02
Speaker 1: It's very loud. I mean it always has been, and
4:05
Speaker 1: you know, I have ties to that franchise. I mean
4:07
Speaker 1: I joined the Hartford Whalers in nineteen ninety one, moved
4:11
Speaker 1: with the team in ninety seven, and went through it
4:15
Speaker 1: all till twenty twenty. And you know, over that time period,
4:20
Speaker 1: in two thousand and two they went to the Stanley
4:22
Speaker 1: Cup Final. In two thousand and six they won the
4:24
Speaker 1: Stanley Cup. There was a a conference final appearance in
4:28
Speaker 1: nine and a conference final appearance in twenty nineteen that
4:31
Speaker 1: I was part of. And over the course of time,
4:34
Speaker 1: the crowd, you know, grew into playoff hockey and became
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Speaker 1: what they like to call the loudest house in the NHL.
4:41
Speaker 1: Now listen, I go all over the league, every place
4:43
Speaker 1: is loud. I think the atmosphere and the Bell Center
4:46
Speaker 1: in Montreal is second to none. You know, in a
4:50
Speaker 1: short period of time, the Delta Center has emerged as
4:53
Speaker 1: a loud place, a place that could be intimidating down
4:56
Speaker 1: the road for opponents. But I think we're kidding ourselves
4:59
Speaker 1: with pro athletes. I think pro athletes enjoy being on
5:03
Speaker 1: the road and enjoy the opportunity to spoil the night
5:06
Speaker 1: for the crowd. So I don't think they're intimidated. But
5:08
Speaker 1: it can fuel the home team, and in Raleigh it does.
5:12
Speaker 1: And you know, the Hurricanes had fifty three wins this season,
5:16
Speaker 1: twenty nine of those at home. They've been an exceptional
5:19
Speaker 1: home team under Rod Brindemore because you know, the way
5:23
Speaker 1: they play is infectious to the crowd and vice versa.
5:27
Speaker 1: And so yeah, it's a great atmosphere and Raleigh and
5:31
Speaker 1: it works for that market, there's no question. And what
5:34
Speaker 1: happens is and you'll see that in your market, is
5:37
Speaker 1: that as you get deeper into the existence of the franchise,
5:41
Speaker 1: the crowds remain vibrant, but they also learn what the
5:44
Speaker 1: playoffs are all about. And that's what we see in Montreal.
5:48
Speaker 1: You know, this is a generational national thing with the
5:51
Speaker 1: Montreal Canadians. I mean this goes over the course of
5:55
Speaker 1: one hundred plus years in terms of their fandom, So
5:58
Speaker 1: it's handed down and as we march on through time
6:01
Speaker 1: and you see it in a new market, it'll continue
6:04
Speaker 1: to grow, grow, grow, to get to that level where
6:07
Speaker 1: they understand what the playoffs are about from a from
6:10
Speaker 1: an experience standpoint, because they've experienced bitter losses, they've experienced
6:14
Speaker 1: triple over time, they've experienced the exhilaration of winning a
6:18
Speaker 1: playoff round and then having to do it again. And
6:20
Speaker 1: if you're lucky to get deep into the Stanley Cup
6:23
Speaker 1: playoffs as a fan, you're going to do this for
6:25
Speaker 1: two months if you win it all. And that is
6:29
Speaker 1: really cool to watch a market go through it. And
6:31
Speaker 1: I look back at my time in Carolina and know
6:33
Speaker 1: six it was an unbelievable experience because as you know,
6:37
Speaker 1: you know, it's rich in college sports, but there's a
6:40
Speaker 1: there's a hatred for you know, the Tar Heels, the
6:42
Speaker 1: Blue Devils, and the wolf Back of NC State, But
6:45
Speaker 1: all of those fans under one roof can support the
6:48
Speaker 1: local hockey team and all come together and actually enjoy
6:51
Speaker 1: themselves as one. That's the difference in that market.
6:55
Speaker 2: So watching the Western com I don't know what you've
6:58
Speaker 2: been able to watch, how much comp there is with
7:00
Speaker 2: your schedule. I mean, I know they space out the
7:02
Speaker 2: games now, but the Western Conference finals, we're watching the
7:06
Speaker 2: same Vegas Golden Knights team that eliminated the Utah Mammoth.
7:10
Speaker 2: Now taking it to the team that has been the
7:13
Speaker 2: best in the NHL all season long and has the
7:16
Speaker 2: Colorado Avalanche on the brink of collapse. I mean, they
7:21
Speaker 2: could be eliminated tonight. What has happened in the Western Conference.
7:26
Speaker 1: That's puzzling because you know, the way the way Colorado
7:30
Speaker 1: played all year, nobody, nobody could even go there. There's
7:35
Speaker 1: no way you could start the playoff season and say,
7:38
Speaker 1: you know what, I think the Avalanche are ripe for
7:41
Speaker 1: an upset because that's how exceptional they were in the
7:44
Speaker 1: regular season. And when you look at their depth, you
7:47
Speaker 1: look at their star power, you look at even their
7:49
Speaker 1: goaltending this year was exceptional. You know, the numbers were
7:53
Speaker 1: absolutely off the charts. So why would anybody say that,
7:57
Speaker 1: I guess just to be an outlier and say maybe
7:59
Speaker 1: I'll be right and take shot at it. Well, then
8:01
Speaker 1: you're going to be right in this situation unless we
8:03
Speaker 1: see a miracle. But you got to give Vegas a
8:06
Speaker 1: lot of credit. You know, Golden Knights had it in
8:09
Speaker 1: different season. They always had the makings, they could never
8:14
Speaker 1: get there. And for the Lion's share of the season,
8:17
Speaker 1: their goaltending wasn't any good. And you know, no matter
8:20
Speaker 1: who the coach is, you know, there's an old saying
8:23
Speaker 1: in the sport, a great goalie makes a great coach, right,
8:26
Speaker 1: doesn't work the other way around. And so Bruce Cassidy
8:30
Speaker 1: was at nauseaum trying to drill his message through to
8:34
Speaker 1: a team that became vacant, and a lot of it
8:38
Speaker 1: had to do with their goaltending. The goaltending was rebuilt
8:41
Speaker 1: during the season, and right around the time John Tortorella
8:44
Speaker 1: took over, hard Hart came off the injured list and
8:47
Speaker 1: he hasn't stopped. So that's the first thing that's in
8:50
Speaker 1: place for Vegas and then everything else. You know, they're
8:53
Speaker 1: an excellent team and Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner have
8:56
Speaker 1: been absolutely fantastic. Their defensive corps is solid, they have
9:00
Speaker 1: a big team game, they're winners. They you know, they're
9:03
Speaker 1: not far removed from the twenty three Stanley Cup. So
9:06
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people just kind of washed
9:09
Speaker 1: away Vegas because of the division they play in. There
9:12
Speaker 1: wasn't a lot of respect given to the Pacific Division,
9:15
Speaker 1: and it seemed like the Titans were all in the
9:17
Speaker 1: Central and they were and you know, Colorado right now,
9:20
Speaker 1: I can't explain it. I watch it. I had a
9:24
Speaker 1: piece of Colorado in the first round with the Los
9:26
Speaker 1: Angeles series. Eddie Oldchuck and I were on that and
9:30
Speaker 1: it looked like, you know, they were finally tuned and ready,
9:34
Speaker 1: and they've been finally tuned and ready since the start
9:36
Speaker 1: of the season because they're one of the teams that's
9:38
Speaker 1: cupp or bust. You know, they're not building anything. And
9:41
Speaker 1: so this will be a major disappointment with Ramification should
9:44
Speaker 1: they lose tonight or lose a series. And it really
9:47
Speaker 1: is puzzling.
9:49
Speaker 2: Sounds like McKinnon's going to play tonight, and there was
9:51
Speaker 2: some question about that. When you're forced with the decision
9:55
Speaker 2: of a you know, seventy percent whatever it is, and
9:59
Speaker 2: we won't get that real number. I mean a compromise.
10:02
Speaker 2: McKinnon better than not having them at all.
10:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, same thing with mccarr, Like mccarr's not one hundred
10:08
Speaker 1: percent at all. Actually, I believe he has two different injuries.
10:12
Speaker 1: You know, it'll find out when this is over. And
10:15
Speaker 1: with McKinnon, it's the same thing. They get the players
10:18
Speaker 1: as ready as they can be and if they can
10:21
Speaker 1: do it and they're willing to do it and they're
10:23
Speaker 1: not at risk in terms of their career, they're going
10:26
Speaker 1: to play. And hockey players traditionally have been heroic when
10:29
Speaker 1: it comes to performance through injury in the Stanley Cup
10:33
Speaker 1: playoffs and the season for that matter, because as you know,
10:36
Speaker 1: at the end of every season, part of the press
10:39
Speaker 1: conference at the end of the year with either the GM,
10:41
Speaker 1: the coach or both is this laundry list of injuries
10:44
Speaker 1: that they finally released to us and you see, you
10:47
Speaker 1: know what exactly is happening and who's lining up for
10:50
Speaker 1: offseason surgeries. McKinnon will gut it out. They'll they'll be
10:56
Speaker 1: a strong push from Colorado. They're going to make a change,
10:58
Speaker 1: I understanding goal and go with Mackenzie Blackwood tonight. So
11:03
Speaker 1: they're going to try and just do as much as
11:05
Speaker 1: they can to get a sniff to get a little
11:08
Speaker 1: lifeline and then take it home and go from there.
11:11
Speaker 1: Doesn't happen often. It's only happened a handful of times
11:14
Speaker 1: in NHL history. But you know it could. I mean,
11:17
Speaker 1: Colorado's that good, they could pull it off. But Vegas
11:22
Speaker 1: is determined to play their best tonight and just get
11:25
Speaker 1: some rest themselves and march on to the final.
11:28
Speaker 2: What do you make of the decision to start Mackenzie
11:31
Speaker 2: Blackwood in goal.
11:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's okay. I do I think, you know,
11:36
Speaker 1: I don't really think it's that much against Wedgwood. I
11:41
Speaker 1: think it's just another way to wake up the team.
11:45
Speaker 1: Blackwood is capable of very good performances. He's kind of
11:51
Speaker 1: had an injury plagued decent season, not great. Wedgwood has
11:56
Speaker 1: carried the water, but you can see Wedgwood breaking down
11:59
Speaker 1: the little bit. And I mean, to be fair to him,
12:03
Speaker 1: these things just don't happen out of the blue. I mean,
12:06
Speaker 1: Scott Wedgwood has been a very capable NHL goalie throughout
12:10
Speaker 1: his career, but mostly as a number two. And he's
12:13
Speaker 1: probably as good a number two as you can find.
12:16
Speaker 1: But then when you get the number one job and
12:19
Speaker 1: everything that's attached to it, including playoff pressure as a starter,
12:23
Speaker 1: which he's going through for the first time. It can
12:26
Speaker 1: be too much. So it's not like they're moving on
12:29
Speaker 1: from Henrik Lundquist or something like that. They're moving on
12:32
Speaker 1: from a guy, and I don't want to disrespect him,
12:34
Speaker 1: but I think it's fair and I think that's why
12:36
Speaker 1: the decision has always been for Colorado. We have too
12:40
Speaker 1: you know, Tampa Bay enters a playoff round and John
12:44
Speaker 1: Cooper has won Andre Vasilevski, that's it. The Utah Mammoth
12:49
Speaker 1: have one goalie, in my opinion, that's it. So there's
12:51
Speaker 1: no real choice, you know, in terms of where they're
12:54
Speaker 1: going to go. But in this case, there's always a
12:56
Speaker 1: goalie option. There's always a flip, there's always a move
13:00
Speaker 1: they could make. And now this is this is a
13:02
Speaker 1: coaching maneuver to wake up the team and also wake
13:05
Speaker 1: up Blackwood. This is his moment. I mean, he could
13:08
Speaker 1: grab it, he could get hot, he could be a
13:10
Speaker 1: difference maker, but he's got to play really well to
13:13
Speaker 1: outduel the guy at the other end, because Carter Hart
13:16
Speaker 1: has been outstanding in the playoffs.
13:20
Speaker 2: If Colorado doesn't make it to the Stanley Cup Final.
13:23
Speaker 2: It's thirteen years in a row that the team with
13:26
Speaker 2: the best record, the President's Trophy team does not make
13:30
Speaker 2: the Stanley Cup Final. Now, is this some weird outlier
13:34
Speaker 2: freak streak or is this something that NHL teams need
13:38
Speaker 2: to pay attention to and maybe make an adjustment based.
13:40
Speaker 1: Off That's a great, great question, and I was talking
13:44
Speaker 1: with somebody else about this today and I'm of the
13:46
Speaker 1: belief that something has to be done with the playoff format.
13:50
Speaker 1: It doesn't appear that the commissioner's too interested in changing
13:54
Speaker 1: this playoff format. We used to have the one through
13:57
Speaker 1: eight like they have in basketball in each conference. Now
14:00
Speaker 1: we have a divisional situation. Way back when we had
14:03
Speaker 1: divisional playoffs and it was changed when, oddly enough, when
14:06
Speaker 1: Bettman came on board in the early nineties to go
14:09
Speaker 1: to more of an NBA style playoffs. I think there
14:12
Speaker 1: needs to be a reward for the teams that perform
14:15
Speaker 1: as well as they do in the regular season, and
14:18
Speaker 1: I think as a league we should protect the elite
14:21
Speaker 1: teams that play that way and give them every opportunity
14:25
Speaker 1: to be fresh and get an advantage, at least in
14:28
Speaker 1: the first round. I think it's a sin that have
14:31
Speaker 1: teams like Dallas and Minnesota playing in the first round.
14:35
Speaker 1: I really do, because to be fair, if we'd had
14:38
Speaker 1: another tournament now next week, and say, for instance, pulled
14:42
Speaker 1: out the Dallas Stars and put them at full health,
14:45
Speaker 1: they might win the Stanley Cup against Vegas or Carolina.
14:50
Speaker 1: And that's just kind of the way it is. So
14:52
Speaker 1: I really think with the randomness that you have in hockey,
14:56
Speaker 1: there's parody. But there are elite teams that are positioned
14:59
Speaker 1: to win, and you know, it's it's a long time
15:03
Speaker 1: to play great in hockey. If they you're Colorado, they
15:07
Speaker 1: have been unbelievably great from the very beginning of the
15:11
Speaker 1: season until now that's October till the end of May.
15:15
Speaker 1: At some point, just your luck's gonna run out. You're
15:18
Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna run against the hot goalie. You're gonna
15:21
Speaker 1: have this crop up. And if it happens in the
15:24
Speaker 1: third round, okay, that's that's kind of normal because that's
15:26
Speaker 1: where they should be. But when we see teams that
15:30
Speaker 1: are at the top of the league stumble in the
15:31
Speaker 1: first and second round, something's wrong, you know. So, so
15:35
Speaker 1: I think they should look long and hard at this,
15:39
Speaker 1: maybe there's a play in situation we should go to
15:41
Speaker 1: as a league. Give the high end teams a week
15:44
Speaker 1: to rest a little bit. I don't think they're gonna
15:46
Speaker 1: get rusty. I think they're just gonna, you know, rest
15:49
Speaker 1: the wounds from the regular season, clear their minds mentally,
15:52
Speaker 1: and then take advantage of the weaker teams who are tired,
15:55
Speaker 1: not the weaker teams that are so happy that they
15:57
Speaker 1: got into the playoffs they have a chance at an upset.
16:02
Speaker 1: This is one sport where you know, there's a lot
16:05
Speaker 1: of strategy in hockey, but there's a lot of luck
16:07
Speaker 1: to if we're fair, And that's why it's not dominated
16:10
Speaker 1: by star players all the time. It's a collective thing.
16:14
Speaker 1: So I think it's a great question you bring up.
16:16
Speaker 1: I think it's something that needs to be looked at.
16:19
Speaker 2: John forden for a couple more minutes here on the
16:20
Speaker 2: Sean O'Connell show, talking NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and as
16:24
Speaker 2: a market and even as an individual show, we're figuring out,
16:28
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of things about NHL hockey. And
16:30
Speaker 2: I was after we got our first taste of the
16:33
Speaker 2: playoffs and I saw what Vegas was able to do
16:36
Speaker 2: to our beloved Utah Mammoth because you know, they're they're
16:39
Speaker 2: a little bit bigger, a little bit more experienced, a
16:41
Speaker 2: little stronger, really tough in some of those games for
16:46
Speaker 2: the puck to get through the neutral zone. And I
16:48
Speaker 2: was like, okay, there's a there's a particular style of
16:51
Speaker 2: winning playoff hockey that might be a little bit different
16:55
Speaker 2: than regular season hockey. You've been around the game a
16:58
Speaker 2: lot longer, you're calling these playoffs games. Is it that simple?
17:03
Speaker 1: Is there?
17:03
Speaker 2: You got to be able to play a certain style
17:05
Speaker 2: of hockey to win the Cup? And what does it take, Well, it.
17:09
Speaker 1: Takes a team that has, you know, an organizational depth.
17:13
Speaker 1: You know, you got to you got to take advantage
17:15
Speaker 1: of the trading deadline, make sure that you've got players
17:18
Speaker 1: who are not playing that will probably have to play
17:21
Speaker 1: over the two months if you go all the way
17:23
Speaker 1: and they're really good NHL players that can fill a
17:25
Speaker 1: gap for you or give the coach some options to
17:28
Speaker 1: kind of change the lineup, whether it be you know,
17:31
Speaker 1: opponent based or just trying to wake up the team
17:33
Speaker 1: and get more energy that needs to be in place.
17:35
Speaker 1: So you've got to have superior depth. You also have
17:38
Speaker 1: to have a degree of physicality because you know it
17:41
Speaker 1: does get harder. You know, there's scrums after every whistle.
17:44
Speaker 1: There's an intimidation side of things that really doesn't occur
17:47
Speaker 1: in the one through eighty two because it's a one
17:49
Speaker 1: and done and moving on to another opponent. And the
17:52
Speaker 1: players really can't play that way all year because they'll
17:56
Speaker 1: break down and get injured and so on it and
17:59
Speaker 1: and there's so much travel that's done, especially with Western
18:02
Speaker 1: Conference teams. You rely on your positional game, you rely
18:06
Speaker 1: on your goalie, your special teams, you rely on and
18:09
Speaker 1: your preparation, all of that to win in the regular season.
18:12
Speaker 1: But when it's you know, mono a mono situation. You're
18:15
Speaker 1: in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it's one team, it's two weeks.
18:19
Speaker 1: The coaches are game planning against each other. Everybody knows
18:22
Speaker 1: the secrets, everybody knows the tendencies. What's a determining factor?
18:26
Speaker 1: How tough is your team? You know, can your team
18:29
Speaker 1: get over the hump as a group. And when I
18:31
Speaker 1: say that, I mean even your skilled players. Are your
18:34
Speaker 1: skilled players tough enough to understand there's another step and
18:38
Speaker 1: it's not going to be easy, and youve got to
18:40
Speaker 1: fight for your ice and they have to be supported.
18:42
Speaker 1: So maybe a team like Utah looks at that moving
18:45
Speaker 1: down the road, maybe they look to get a little
18:47
Speaker 1: bit bigger and they're one through twelve with their forwards,
18:50
Speaker 1: maybe they're going to have to sacrifice a younger star
18:53
Speaker 1: type player along the way to acquire something like that
18:57
Speaker 1: of star value. That's just a little bit different. That's
19:00
Speaker 1: going to help a team win in the playoffs. It's different,
19:03
Speaker 1: there's no question about it. It's in many ways the
19:05
Speaker 1: same game. But again, you're breaking it down against one
19:09
Speaker 1: team against one team for two weeks and that's all
19:11
Speaker 1: it is. And when you have that in a contact
19:14
Speaker 1: sport where it's every other day, you know, animosities start
19:17
Speaker 1: to build. There's a true hatred between the two teams
19:20
Speaker 1: by the time they get at the end, and then
19:22
Speaker 1: when it's over, they respect the heck out of each other.
19:24
Speaker 1: That's what the playoffs are all about, and that's why
19:27
Speaker 1: the fans love it as much as they do because
19:29
Speaker 1: it's just another step. You know, the game gets, it
19:32
Speaker 1: gets energized, it gets it gets put on steroids if
19:35
Speaker 1: you will, you know. So that's that's what it is.
19:38
Speaker 1: And I think those those teams, and the Utah franchise
19:42
Speaker 1: is building, you know, And what we see in the
19:45
Speaker 1: salary cap era is teams that are in total rebuilds,
19:49
Speaker 1: Teams like Utah that are pretty close and are going
19:52
Speaker 1: to try and make that step. And then you've got
19:54
Speaker 1: the Colorado's and the Dallases and Carolina's in Florida and
19:58
Speaker 1: teams Tampa Bay. Those are the teams that are in
20:01
Speaker 1: a different, different vein because they've already gone through the
20:04
Speaker 1: decade or so of building to get to that point.
20:07
Speaker 1: So that's what it is. And I'll tell you what.
20:10
Speaker 1: When you see it and you see a team win
20:13
Speaker 1: a playoff round in your market and your fans are
20:15
Speaker 1: going through it, and then you do it again, you
20:17
Speaker 1: do it again and you get to that fourth round,
20:19
Speaker 1: there is nothing like it. It's unbelievable.
20:23
Speaker 2: John. How many Winter Classics have you had the pleasure
20:25
Speaker 2: of being at?
20:27
Speaker 1: Oh, quite a few, I believe a half dozen or
20:30
Speaker 1: so in some stadium games. The best one I ever
20:33
Speaker 1: did was the Centennial Classic in Toronto, Detroit and Toronto,
20:37
Speaker 1: the one hundredth anniversary of the league back in twenty seventeen.
20:41
Speaker 1: That was a remarkable day, you know, in Toronto and
20:45
Speaker 1: just I'll tell you what. The game we had in
20:48
Speaker 1: Seattle with Vegas a couple of years ago was absolutely incredible.
20:53
Speaker 1: Team Mobile Stadium, The game you guys are going to
20:56
Speaker 1: have is going to be special, and it's just it's
21:00
Speaker 1: a it's an opportunity when you're there to soak in
21:03
Speaker 1: the entirety of the atmosphere. That's what I would say
21:07
Speaker 1: to the fans if you're there. You know the players
21:11
Speaker 1: do it too. You know they understand what they're what
21:13
Speaker 1: they're doing. It's a regular season game for two points.
21:17
Speaker 1: It isn't an exhibition, but in many ways it is
21:20
Speaker 1: because it's showcasing the beautiful game outdoors where the roots
21:24
Speaker 1: of the game are and have been. So you know,
21:27
Speaker 1: this is this is everybody becomes a little boy and
21:31
Speaker 1: when the women play the little girls again, you know,
21:34
Speaker 1: like it's just an unbelievable experience for everybody involved. And
21:38
Speaker 1: since the league has done this, you know, they've done
21:41
Speaker 1: a lot of great things, but this is this is
21:43
Speaker 1: one thing that will never lose its luster in the market.
21:48
Speaker 1: I think they're probably going to have to look at
21:50
Speaker 1: their scheduling a little bit and try and get it
21:52
Speaker 1: away from other things that are also going on in
21:55
Speaker 1: and around that day on television and so on. Because
21:58
Speaker 1: it was a standalone event at the beginning with the
22:01
Speaker 1: help from NBC, and that really pushed it in a
22:04
Speaker 1: great place. That's a different conversation. Basically, it's a wonderful
22:08
Speaker 1: event that you'll thoroughly enjoy and you know, no matter
22:13
Speaker 1: what the weather is, the NHL can make it work.
22:15
Speaker 1: So it's a great thing if you could.
22:19
Speaker 2: Have any player. I'm turning into a GM and I'm
22:23
Speaker 2: going to give you any mammoth player to build around
22:26
Speaker 2: for the next we'll say, five or ten years. Who's
22:30
Speaker 2: that guy right now on this Mammoth roster?
22:33
Speaker 1: For me, it's Logan Cooley. I just think, you know,
22:37
Speaker 1: he's going to continue to grow as a player, you know,
22:43
Speaker 1: physically maybe a little bit, but most importantly I see
22:47
Speaker 1: him taking steps. I liked what he went through this
22:51
Speaker 1: year in the playoffs where he was challenged. You know,
22:54
Speaker 1: He's what we were just talking about. He's an individual
22:58
Speaker 1: example of a skilled player who's gone through a couple
23:03
Speaker 1: of injuries situations at a young age. But you know
23:06
Speaker 1: he's going to matriculate into this guy that understands the
23:10
Speaker 1: rigors of the playoffs and succeed for it. So I
23:14
Speaker 1: think you've got a great But we have a collection
23:16
Speaker 1: of really good young pieces there. Gunn. There's an unbelievable
23:22
Speaker 1: game breaker. I mean, he reminds me of if you
23:25
Speaker 1: go way back, Mike Boss who played for the New
23:27
Speaker 1: York Islanders back in their heyday. He had that kind
23:30
Speaker 1: of shot that he had the big one timer on
23:32
Speaker 1: the weak side, break the game open. But I think
23:36
Speaker 1: Cooley can can give you, you know, a variety of
23:40
Speaker 1: different things from his skill set that will parlay into
23:44
Speaker 1: I hope he becomes a superstar. I think he could.
23:47
Speaker 1: I really do so. That would be the guy for
23:49
Speaker 1: me in the central position as a center. You know.
23:53
Speaker 1: That's that's how I see it, all.
23:56
Speaker 2: Right, last thing before I let you go. Do we
23:58
Speaker 2: see Colorado survive tonight?
24:03
Speaker 1: Yeah? I mean I thought they were going to win
24:04
Speaker 1: the other night and you know, three zip and forty
24:08
Speaker 1: nine and oh in that situation and then they lose.
24:12
Speaker 1: I don't know. I still think they will for whatever reason,
24:17
Speaker 1: So I'll go with a yes, although I'll be surprised
24:21
Speaker 1: if they do. I really do. I think when teams
24:26
Speaker 1: are in a position to close, especially an experienced team
24:31
Speaker 1: like Vegas. They understand what that's all about, because that's
24:34
Speaker 1: another step too. You know, that's another for young franchise.
24:38
Speaker 1: That's that you know, situation where they have to you know,
24:41
Speaker 1: what do we do now when we're up in a
24:44
Speaker 1: series and we're supposed to win? You know, how hard
24:46
Speaker 1: do we have to play to get it done? Vegas
24:49
Speaker 1: will you know it's a cliche, but they'll have to
24:51
Speaker 1: play their best to win the series in the fourth
24:54
Speaker 1: game against the team that's got a lot of pride
24:57
Speaker 1: and a lot of talent. Fortunate that McKinnon's probably not
25:01
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. Cal mccarr's not. I don't believe Nachushkin's
25:06
Speaker 1: going to play tonight, So they're dinged up, but they
25:09
Speaker 1: might be able to do it. They might have another
25:11
Speaker 1: another opportunity. I think they've earned it, get a lifeline
25:15
Speaker 1: and see if they can make something happen in Game five.
25:19
Speaker 1: So I'll just call it that way, and I'll likely
25:22
Speaker 1: be wrong again. That's what I do.
25:25
Speaker 2: Well be comforted in knowing that at least around here,
25:28
Speaker 2: we're wrong a lot more often than you are. We
25:31
Speaker 2: terrible on the predictions.
25:32
Speaker 1: But that's okay. So It's a hard business making predictions.
25:35
Speaker 2: I'll tell you that, John, appreciate you giving us some time.
25:38
Speaker 2: Have a great call, and we'll chat again soon.
25:40
Speaker 1: Thank you my pleasure anytime, Thanks for having me.
25:43
Speaker 2: That's John Foresland Sports USA. On the NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs,
25:49
Speaker 2: Carolina is up to one in that series. We will
25:52
Speaker 2: have and we will have that game Montreal versus Carolina
25:58
Speaker 2: on Wednesday night here on ESPN seven hundred and on
26:02
Speaker 2: ninety two one FM. The puck will drop at six
26:06
Speaker 2: on Wednesday for that one. Your home of the Stanley
26:08
Speaker 2: Cup Playoffs right here on Utah's number one Sports Talk