Canes Win the Cup - The Boys Lick Their Wounds

Summary

Empty Netters Podcast: "Canes Win the Cup – The Boys Lick Their Wounds"

Date: June 16, 2026
Hosts: Chris, Dan, Zach, Evan (via Almost Friday Media)
Theme: Celebrating the Carolina Hurricanes' Stanley Cup Victory and Recapping an Epic Final Series

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Episode Overview

This highly anticipated episode of the Empty Netters Podcast chronicles the immediate aftermath of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, where the Carolina Hurricanes clinched the Cup for the first time in 20 years. Broadcasting live from Las Vegas after an unforgettable night out, the brothers (and their crew) deliver raw, behind-the-scenes stories, impassioned analysis, and a heartfelt tribute to both teams and their fanbases. From euphoric anecdotes of post-game chaos to deep dives on pivotal plays and roster construction, this episode is a love letter to hockey, camaraderie, and the community built around the sport.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Setting the Scene: The Journey to the Cup

• The Hosts’ Road Trip: The crew details their journey across cities and rinks, immersed among rabid Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights fans.
  • [00:33] Dan: “While the rest of the hockey world watches from home, we're hitting the road...every city, every game, every unforgettable moment, we’ll be there.”
• Intense Fan Energy: Emotional shoutouts to loyal Hurricanes fans who traveled and filled Vegas with “Red” at the arena.
  • [11:12] Chris: “Kane’s fans rock, and they traveled in a big way. It was the people we’d seen all year in Raleigh, showing up in Vegas.”

2. Immediate Reactions & Party Antics

• Post-Game Hangovers and Celebrations:
  • Opening banter sets the unfiltered tone, with half-asleep hosts, sticky drinks, and even threats of on-air puking (for real).
    • [03:12] Chris (on Evan): “Evan is either going to puke on this pod or on the plane. Those are the only two options.”
• Wild Post-Game Night in Vegas:
  • The group recounts hitting multiple clubs, a spontaneous party bus to a tattoo parlor for “Lord 26” Cup tattoos, and late-night Bellagio gambling sessions.

3. Carolina Hurricanes: The Road to the Cup

• Fandom & Redemption:
  • Both hosts trumpet their years-long faith in the Canes, often defending them against media snubbing.
    • [09:12] Chris: “I’ve been pumping the Canes tires for a decade. Heavy on them when people made them a punching bag.”
• Hurricanes Fanbase & Southern Hockey Markets:
  • Deep appreciation for Raleigh’s hospitality; reflections on the challenge and pride of non-traditional “Southern” hockey cities.
• Key Game Analysis – Clinching Win:
  • [28:29] Chris breaks down Taylor Hall’s opening goal, calling it the series dagger:
    • “Taylor Hall gets behind the D. That shot, Carter Hart should have had, and as soon as it went in, with 16 minutes left in the first, I looked at you guys and said: pack your bags, boys. We’re done.”
  • [42:00] Dan: “If Carolina scores the next goal, dunions. Done here.” (as Jackson Blake scores to make it 2-0)

4. MVPs, Coaching, and Hockey Philosophy

• Rod Brind’Amour’s Legendary Status:
  • [12:44] Zach: “Rod redeemed himself on the Cup raise—man is so yoked.”
  • [14:09] Dan: “I’m not sure there’s anyone more important to a franchise in the NHL than Rod Brind’Amour.”
  • Stat highlight: Of the Canes’ 104 playoff wins, Brind’Amour has been involved as player or coach for 102.
• Goaltending Storyline: Bussey & Freddy:
  • [52:51] Chris: “Brandon Bussey getting a Cup-clinching shutout...the entire arena chanting his name. He barely got into the NHL at 26.”
  • [57:11] Dan predicted: “Freddy will get the Cup second after Staal, dressed. They won together.”
  • [58:52] Dan: “Freddy should feel only immense pride. He is a Cup winner and the Canes wouldn’t have done it without him.”
• Roster Construction & AHL Pipeline:
  • [67:40] Dan: “The best roster management I’ve seen in my lifetime—the Canes have $12 million in cap space, and barely anyone to re-sign. They can run this back.”
• Nikolaj Ehlers’ Impact:
  • [64:01] Dan: “Ehlers wasn’t a superstar rental; he gave the Canes another sharp canine in the bite. Watch out for him next year.”

5. Vegas Golden Knights: Respect for the Runner-Up

• No Diss for Vegas:
  • [20:55] Dan pays tribute: “The grave-dancing and hating on Vegas isn’t what we do. Swept Colorado, incredible run, Torts—what a fun ride.”
• Vegas Future & Roster Moves:
  • [22:23] Dan: “What does losing a Cup do to Vegas? I am so fucking curious what McCrimmon does now.”
• Coaching Dynamics:
  • [39:03] Dan and Chris debate Tortorella’s post-game demeanor and motivational impact.
    • [40:29] Chris: “All we wanted was Torts to be a motivator, and he did it. At the end, maybe they just ran out of fight.”
    • [41:00] Zach: “It feels like this was the team running out on Torts, stopped believing the motivation.”

6. Notable & Memorable Moments

• Hockey Brotherhood & Friendship:
  • [80:52] Dan: “Every single one of these guys are friends for life. This isn’t surface level, it’s real.”
• Postgame Escapades:
  • [73:59] Chris: “We got a party bus out of Omnia with all the boys... Then the boys wanted tattoos—‘Lord 26’ on their ass cheeks.”
  • [82:04] Zach confesses: “I gave the Cup a kiss last night. I leaned in and just did it.”
• Fan Tributes & Atmosphere:
  • [26:12] Chris: “Shout out to Vegas fans who stayed and cheered the celebration. True hockey fandom.”
  • [11:44] Dan: Describes the “Red” at the anthem, a testament to Canes fans’ presence.
• Team > Stars:
  • [61:23] Chris (quoting Shane Knighty): “He said, this Bruins team beat talent, and that's what happened here—Canes team beat that talent. You don’t need Marner or Eichel if the team plays as a unit.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00–03:00] – Setting the tone: exhaustion, hype, and live from Vegas
• [08:30–14:00] – Hurricanes: fandom, road warriors, and early analysis
• [14:00–17:00] – Rod Brind’Amour's legacy & Hall of Fame discussion
• [28:29–43:00] – Game recap: Hall’s goal, Vegas’ response, Canes’ dominance
• [46:01–47:30] – Random conspiracies and comic asides (JFK/Onassis)
• [52:51–60:55] – Bussey’s shutout, goalie tandem, and emotional locker room
• [61:04–68:34] – “Team beats talent,” roster analysis, financial future
• [70:03–74:41] – Postgame party: equipment staff shoutout, club chaos, tattoo stories
• [80:52–82:41] – Love for the hockey brotherhood and confession of kissing the Cup
• [83:55–End] – Closing reflections, season gratitude, and celebration roll

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Quotes & Anecdotes

On Canes' Cup Win...

“Carolina Hurricanes, Canes Nation, soak in every fucking second.”
—Dan [03:29]

On Rod Brind’Amour...

“I’m not sure there’s any one person more important to a franchise than Rod Brind’Amour.”
—Dan [14:09]

On Game 6’s Turning Point...

“Taylor Hall gets behind the D... I looked at you guys and said, pack your bags, boys. We're done. This game is over."
—Chris [31:06]

On Goaltending...

“Bussey getting a Cup-clinching shutout, the whole arena chanting his name... That is a fucking incredible moment.”
—Chris [52:51]

On Hockey Camaraderie...

“Every single one of these guys are friends for life… this is not surface-level, it’s real.”
—Dan [80:52]

On Postgame Partying...

“We got a party bus with all the boys out of Omnia. Then we needed tattoos. ‘Acquire me ink!’ I said to the driver.”
—Chris [73:59]

Vegas Shoutout…

“No one thought they’d get to the Cup after this season. The fact that they swept Colorado—incredible, man.”
—Dan [21:01]

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Closing Thoughts

The hosts end with a message of gratitude and hype for the future:

• The Canes are positioned to remain contenders, with a stacked, flexible roster.
• The tight-knit hockey world and their extended podcast family are the biggest rewards of the season.
• There’s much more content coming—hockey may be over, but “Netters season” never ends.

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“We know hockey season’s over, but Netters season never is! Congratulations, Canes. Congratulations, Canes fans.”
—Dan [84:00, 86:48]

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For Further Listening

• Hear about the team barf threats, debate on fast food, and all the inside jokes—listen to the full episode to catch every unfiltered moment.

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[Subscribe to Empty Netters for twice-weekly episodes, wild stories, and the spirit of the game.]

Transcript

[Chris]

The Stanley cup final, the final series, the final handshake line, the final chance to have your heart broken or watch your team make history. For the next few weeks, nothing else matters.

[Dan]

No work, no sleep, tons of group chat, meltdowns after every goal.

[Chris]

It comes down to two teams. The Carolina Hurricanes chasing their first Stanley cup in 20 years, and the Vegas

[Dan]

Golden Knights, the young franchise going for their second cup in nine years.

[Chris]

Two fan bases, two cities, one cup.

[Dan]

And while the rest of the hockey world watches from home, we're hitting the road. From opening puck drop to the moment the Stanley cup is raised.

[Chris]

Every city, every game, every unforgettable moment will be there.

[Dan]

Outside the arenas, inside the arenas with

[Chris]

Hurricanes fans who have waited years for

[Dan]

this run and Golden Knights fans ready to turn Vegas into the center of the hockey universe once again.

[Chris]

Nobody does the playoffs like hockey fans, nobody travels like hockey fans, and nobody loses their minds quite like hockey fans.

[Dan]

So whether you're chasing your first cup

[Chris]

or adding another banner to the Raptors, we've got you covered.

[Dan]

Miles on the road, voices nearly gone,

[Chris]

probably a few terrible decisions along the way, exactly how the Stanley cup final should.

[Dan]

One trophy, one champion, one last push.

[Chris]

The Stanley cup final starts now.

[Dan]

An Empty Netters is coming with it. Welcome back. And we're live with another episode of the Empty Netters podcast, brought to you by BETMGM live post Cup. How you doing, cp?

[Chris]

How do you think I'm doing?

[Dan]

I actually think you're buzzing,

[Chris]

dude. You just. You. You know what you do, Dan? You know what you do? You go sleep.

[Dan]

Who needs sleep, dude?

[Chris]

And then you make yourself a Cherry seven up. A Cherry zero seven up.

[Dan]

Is that Cherry zero seven up?

[Chris]

Yep. And. And Evan and Zach are tweeting.

[Dan]

I'm freaking out. Okay. You know. Okay, well, it hurts you or it hurts everyone.

[Chris]

Okay.

[Dan]

Oh, dude, I need a. I need an interrogation mirror with you guys, because.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

[Dan]

Whenever I see them whispering and talking, I'm like, what's happening?

[Chris]

What's.

[Dan]

Yeah, I'm like, what's happening to the show? Please, please, please, please, everyone stop shouting. Stop shouting.

[Evan]

We're guys. I'm telling. I'm telling the pot right now. I've told you this. I'm telling everyone that it's a distinct possibility that I'm gonna barf on this podcast.

[Chris]

Evan is either going to puke on this pod or on the plane. So those are the only two options.

[Dan]

So I have. Here's the thing, folks.

[Chris]

Oh, dude.

[Dan]

We are coming to you live from Vegas. The Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley cup, dude.

[Chris]

Carolina Hurricanes, Gaines nation soaking every fucking second.

[Dan]

The Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley cup in six games. Unbelievable. Three straight wins. The boys are absolutely buzzing. We had such a great run here at the Stanley Cup. We're going to get all into this final game and then just everything, everything, everything, everything about this run by the Canes, the season, all the things we're feeling. We had a great night last night. I've been off the piss for a couple of months here.

[Chris]

That's a great night. Had a great night last night.

[Dan]

And then we got on the piss.

[Zach]

You were firmly back on the piss.

[Dan]

I was firm.

[Zach]

Firm. Back on the piss.

[Dan]

I was firmly back on the p. Night. And I'll tell you what my favorite drink of the night, boys, was. Your first one was our. Was our drink at dinner together.

[Chris]

Yep. The watermelon deck. Eh?

[Zach]

The watermelon.

[Dan]

We went to best friend. Dude.

[Zach]

We got a best friend.

[Dan]

We got a sesame infused 818tequila with fresh watermelon juice and lime.

[Zach]

They want tarps off.

[Chris]

There's a lot, actually.

[Dan]

People want tarps off in the chat. No, we can't do it.

[Chris]

Grant's going for it, Zach. Grant's going for it. Tarps off.

[Zach]

I love it. Tarps off. Tarps off, baby. Let's do it.

[Chris]

Evan's gonna puke. It's so sticky.

[Evan]

It's so.

[Chris]

It's so sticky over here. Grant's been looking for a reason to

[Dan]

go tarps off for so long. That is so good. Hey, I will say this. I'm gonna bring this up multiple times, but Evan, Grant, I need you guys to monitor this chat. I need help on what I should order for dinner when I get home tonight. Chat. So chat. I'm. I'm desperate and I don't. This is so anti fucking loser boy. Dano. I don't want anything healthy for once. I want to eat like a piece of shit. But no fast food. No fast food.

[Chris]

See, that's fair. Grant said McDonald's.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You can get.

[Evan]

Give me.

[Dan]

You can give me cuisines. You can give me specific places.

[Zach]

Edges in the chat did.

[Chris]

No, he said, please, back to the office. He goes, zach made it back to the office, huh?

[Zach]

I may not have a job, but I can.

[Dan]

Yeah, he did say. Oh, my God.

[Chris]

Well, edge, they won.

[Dan]

I was about to say, kick edge out of the chat.

[Chris]

He's working. Yeah, I'm working more than Nate's working. Yeah, Nate, talk directly to.

[Evan]

I'm talk directly to Edge right now. Hey, listen to me. Edge I'm so careful. I'm so. I'm so barfy right now that if he wasn't here, this would not happen.

[Zach]

There you go.

[Evan]

So if you want, you can. You can blame me. Really, you should blame them.

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah.

[Evan]

But. But, dude, he's an mvp.

[Dan]

That's true. Also, I'm gonna say this. I'm gonna say this. We're gonna keep the. The office chatter going here, and then we'll get back. But chat. You should know that Nate is an absolute rat pig. He doesn't do fuck all. Nate's out here playing fucking volleyball, going to his sister's graduation. Congrats. Actually, Nate's sister. But Nate is a piece of shit, dude. He's such a fucking rat.

[Evan]

Real quick here, everyone's saying waffle house Chinese egg drop soup.

[Dan]

Ooh.

[Zach]

Food is no Cheesecake Factory.

[Dan]

Ew, dude. No.

[Chris]

Cheesecake Factory's gas.

[Dan]

Cheesecake Factory's menu is too big. No such Detroit style pizza.

[Evan]

Bojangles. A lot of Bojangles.

[Chris]

Love Bojangles.

[Dan]

Mojang, Taco Bell. Bojangles. Mojangles. If I was in. If I North Carolina, I'd order Bojangles.

[Chris]

Right?

[Dan]

Actually, I'd get cookout.

[Evan]

Chicken parm. As long as you're.

[Chris]

Imagine cookout today.

[Dan]

Actually, Zach, can I be honest?

[Chris]

Shut the up, Dan. Shut the up.

[Evan]

Soft pretzels.

[Chris]

Shut the up.

[Dan]

Cookout hit a little bit harder last time I was there.

[Zach]

You said got hit a little bit hard.

[Dan]

Yeah. Like when I like my memory of cookout like 10 years ago.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I feel like. I feel like I got so much food I was drowning in.

[Chris]

Me too. For five bucks.

[Dan]

And then this. This past time, I feel like the portions weren't that big.

[Zach]

The same thing I like. I mean, I had a lot of COVID after or a lot of cookout after Covid.

[Chris]

I had a lot of COVID I

[Zach]

cook out after Covid and I will say it just dramatically gotten worse. As far as portion sizing. It's really sad. Yeah. We used to live in a country with 24.7Walmarts. Yeah, we used to, you know, we used to have good things.

[Chris]

I thought this was.

[Dan]

We used to live in a proper country.

[Zach]

Yeah, we did.

[Dan]

Cookout used to drown. I used to suffocate under the weight of cookout.

[Chris]

It was glorious.

[Dan]

It was glorious. We've got a lot of topics to cover. Zach, I love that you. You took notes on stuff. We got to talk. But we people are in the chat to hear some hockey talk.

[Chris]

Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Dan]

So we've got to talk the game. We've got to talk about the Carolina Hurricanes. But first and foremost, folks, the Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley cup champions.

[Chris]

How does that sound?

[Dan]

First time in 20 years. And I'll tell you what, man, it is as. As everyone knows, me in particular. I think me in particular more than you. We are. We're in that. We. We love everybody. I love everybody. I. I love seeing teams win. I love seeing great guys win, organizations win. And I'm very, very happy to say that we. We were pumping the Canes tires all year.

[Chris]

I've been. I've been pumping the Canes tires for fucking a decade.

[Dan]

Yeah, we. I think we were heavy on canes when a lot of people in the media found them an easy punching bag. It was like, oh, yeah, let's just. You know, the Canes are easy to pick on. What are you laughing about?

[Zach]

Edges in the chat. I'm sorry, I gotta. I gotta stop interrupting with the Ed stuff. But he just said, who paid for this? Airbnb. And is that a little boo boo behind us? We can sh. Edge.

[Dan]

Edge. It's two Labubus, one black, one white. Because we care about race relations.

[Chris]

Oh, we're done. Turn this off.

[Zach]

All right, well, that was a great podcast.

[Dan]

And now we are demonetized.

[Evan]

That's.

[Dan]

That was actually a joke from the host. And this is free lodging. This is Free Logic. This is our lovely, lovely friend.

[Chris]

Welcome. You're welcome.

[Dan]

Yeah, that was the funniest one. He was the. Did you actually hear this? When we were being given the directions, he. The host of this place was like the. The remote to turn up the blinds is next to the black labuu. Not racist. And I was like, no one thought it was racist.

[Chris]

I forgot about that.

[Zach]

Yeah, that is a real thing that did happen.

[Dan]

But anyway, we have been pumping the cane's tires for a long time, and we. I can't begin to explain how unbelievable everyone in Raleigh was, man. Like, I. I felt so overwhelmed with, like, kindness, generosity, and just a welcoming nature from every single person we met in Raleigh. And it. It's just another example. We've seen it in Florida, we've seen it here in Vegas, all of these Southern hockey markets. All these people want is just for everyone to understand that they have an amazing team, an amazing fan base. And that's just. That was so paramount with everyone we met from Raleigh.

[Chris]

And, dude, I will. I will tell you what. I think at this point, everyone knows Kane's fans rock, and they have a rock. But, yo, Kane's fans traveled in a big way. Yeah, that, yeah. And it was people that we have been seeing a ton in Raleigh. You know, it wasn't like new people jumping in like, oh, I'm coming to game six. It was people that we have seen every game in in the Lenny there in Vegas being like, yo, what's up? And I was like, oh, my God, yes. And that was. That was pretty awesome. That was the Red. We were all at the anthem listening for the Red. I was like, let's see how loud the Red is.

[Dan]

And then it was like, it was loud.

[Chris]

Oh, baby.

[Dan]

I, I, I also when that happened, I tweeted out right after the anthem at the Red. I was like, holy shit, there's a lot of Canes fans here. And someone replied to that. Like, a Vegas fan replied to that. Actually, I'll take that back. I'm not even sure if it was a Vegas fan. A but Hurt fan replied to that on Twitter and was like, I've seen like, five on my tv. And I almost replied with the douchiest comment of, well, I'm here, so, yeah, I can see more than you get on your, you know, but you peasants. But I was also just, like, watching the game. Yeah. Yeah. But I was also just like, there is no point in denying that there's

[Chris]

a lot of Canes fans here.

[Zach]

There are.

[Dan]

It was amazing.

[Chris]

So, yeah, that was sick. Dan, this is a great call. We probably could have saved this, but Joe. Joe Mama. Yeah, Joe Mama says Rod redeemed himself on the cup race. And I agree because remember, he did Rod. He did in a big way. He redeemed.

[Dan]

Do you guys know what we're talking about ever?

[Chris]

Remember the ride when he kisses?

[Dan]

Cup kiss. He kissed like, the. The neck Vampire dude.

[Chris]

Getting his fangs in the jugular.

[Dan]

Also.

[Chris]

It was insane.

[Dan]

Have you guys yet seen. Actually, Zacky, I think you showed it to me first. The video of Rod shirt tarps off in the locker room lifting. That man is so yoked.

[Chris]

It's crazy. Dude, I know it's a big joke, but it's not a joke here.

[Dan]

It's not a joke.

[Zach]

Is he as yolk as you show him tarps off?

[Dan]

He is more yolked than me, I think. Like, I hate to admit it.

[Zach]

He was. He was S. 60.

[Dan]

Or is Rod 60? No. No. That's insane. What is wrong with me? Rod's probably 50. He's probably 55.

[Chris]

20 years.

[Evan]

Wow.

[Dan]

Nailed it.

[Chris]

Wait.

[Dan]

He's in such good shape.

[Chris]

Dude, he was 35 when he won that cup.

[Dan]

Yeah, Dude.

[Chris]

Damn, dude. Who won Con Smite that year?

[Dan]

I don't know.

[Chris]

But if it was him, who won Con Smythe. Because if. If.

[Dan]

Oh, it was Williams, dude.

[Zach]

Right?

[Chris]

Oh, probably. I was gonna say if Stahl just broke the oldest cons, my record from Rod. That would have been fucking.

[Dan]

So we've got an. We've got an automatic Rod Brindemar statue outside the Lenny. Right?

[Chris]

Okay. Let's talk about this right now. I said this before. This stat's been going around.

[Dan]

Sorry. The brains aren't working very well today, folks. So I'm gonna be jumping in here and there.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

I'm going to preface this with a statement.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I think there's an argument here, guys.

[Chris]

Cam ward. Cam Ward.

[Evan]

1.

[Dan]

Cam Ward won the concept, of course. What are you talking. He's a fucking monster rookie, dude. Yes.

[Chris]

God, look at that.

[Dan]

That's unbelievable. Rod, I am not sure there is any one person who is more important to a franchise in the NHL than Rod Brindemore.

[Chris]

So, dude, this we were talking about, the stat went around that is that Carolina Hurricanes.

[Dan]

I forget.

[Chris]

I think it's 104 now. You guys can check me. I think it's 104 playoff wins in their franchise history. And Rod was either a player or a coach for 102 of them. I know it's two less. Whatever the total is. X minus two. How's your mother? That's how many Rod's been involved with. It is actually insane. That impact and even crazier. I mean, this makes sense because of the stat I just gave you. But it's insane that they were basically making playoffs going to cups with him on the team. He retired. They missed playoffs the whole time. And then he got promoted to head coach. And now they're like a perennial cup contender. It's insane, isn't it?

[Dan]

Like they have two playoff wins. Two.

[Chris]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's. I know. It's two less. I think it's. They have 104 in the history and he's been a player coach for 102 of them.

[Dan]

Two.

[Chris]

It's crazy, dude. So this is what I want.

[Dan]

Two times.

[Chris]

This is what I wanted to say. Dude, Rod, we had this conversation with some people last night. Rod should now make the hall of Fame.

[Dan]

And, well, you know what pisses me off? Yes, he should. And yes, he will. Rod should make the hall of Fame. Shout out, Booch. Rod should make the hall of Fame as a player.

[Chris]

So this is.

[Dan]

And I'm gonna Be pissed if he get, if like, they get him in and they're like, player, coach, or like, whatever. I'm like, fuck that, man. Yeah, he is a Hall of fame hockey player and he's a hall of Fame coach.

[Chris]

Yeah. So, yeah, it was kind of tricky because obviously he would rather be like, oh, I'm a. I got in as a player.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Chris]

But I'm, I'm kind of like, it's sicker to be like, I was both. I was so good at both. Like, they're making it sound like, yeah,

[Dan]

I don't think, like, sick to be a Hall of fame. Both. But I, if I were him, I would want the acclaim of, yeah, I was that good of a player.

[Chris]

Well, so. And they don't do this, but what the world is saying is he was a. He's a half player.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Because he wasn't a full ass. He was a half ass and then a half ass coach and then that makes a full ass. That's why he's in. But I'm saying he gets to go. No, they are, they are saying, rod, you were a hall of Fame player. You would have got in as a player alone and you would get in as a coach alone.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

You are a Hall of fame. Both.

[Dan]

It does. It makes me sad that there are some like, gen zers out there who probably think of, Rod is just a coach.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And I'm like, rod was a great ass player.

[Chris]

Isn't that crazy?

[Zach]

Look at that body we got.

[Dan]

Look at that. Zach, what generation are you?

[Zach]

Gen Z.

[Dan]

You are Z. Yeah. What's the new one?

[Evan]

Alpha.

[Zach]

You think I'm alpha?

[Chris]

Is that what it's called?

[Zach]

It's called Gen Alpha. It's just 23 years of age.

[Dan]

I'm a gen question, dude. Don't yell at me. That's such a Gen Alpha thing.

[Zach]

We don't. We brought, brought back movies, okay? We got Obsession.

[Dan]

We got back.

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris]

You didn't bring that.

[Zach]

Yeah, we brought him back, dude.

[Chris]

You guys gave up on him.

[Zach]

We brought him back.

[Dan]

Are you out of your mind, dude?

[Evan]

Guys, don't yell at him. He's not gonna have any Social Security.

[Dan]

Gen Z, All Gen Z has done is come in. And they stopped drinking. They stopped and they stopped going to the movie theater. You're a piece of.

[Zach]

I'm not a part of that percentage.

[Chris]

That's true.

[Zach]

I am drinking and going to the movie theater.

[Chris]

It's all, yeah, yeah, do it both at the theater.

[Dan]

It's all in one.

[Zach]

It's all in one. Dude, I, I'm not, I'm not saying

[Chris]

I haven't done that.

[Dan]

That is so good. That is unbelievable.

[Chris]

So I also wanted to say this, Dan. I think, I don't know if we. And we. I can't share this full story, but I think we've talked about this partially on the pod before, but the conversation that we had with Tom Dundon in Italy. Yeah, essentially his, his thesis of it was.

[Dan]

It's unbelievable.

[Chris]

It is, it is so hard. I can probably tell this part. He was saying that in the NBA, in a seven game series, 80% of the time, the better team wins. In the NBA. That's the breakdown in the NHL, you know, because this, the Canes are all about analytics. In the NHL, the playing field is so level that to get an 80 certainty that the better team wins, it would have to be a best of 55. That's how, that's how much parity there is.

[Dan]

Moneyball.

[Chris]

So he goes, in a seven game series in the NHL, it's essentially a coin flip. Even if you're the better team, you're like, I mean, I don't know who. If you're, if they're two good teams, if it's your, you know, it's a bloodbath, whatever.

[Zach]

Essentially.

[Dan]

Is there anything more in defense of that opinion than when the Canes got swept a couple years ago? And Rod was like, that wasn't a sweep.

[Chris]

Yeah, right, exactly, dude. Such a good callback. Perfect guy to have said it for this team. So essentially, Dundon looked me in the fucking face and goes, dude, dude. And smoldering eye contact looks me in the face.

[Dan]

I fucking love Tom Dun so much, man.

[Chris]

He goes, it's a coin flip. So, yes, I'm well aware that we're this punching bag to be losing this round every time, but I'm essentially getting a bad red black roulette spin. You know, like, I'm just like, okay, yeah, it's going to be red eventually. And then he just didn't waver from that at all and goes, I will eventually win the fucking spin, dude. And then bang, ball goes out red.

[Dan]

Trust the process. Like the Canes. The Canes are the process of the NHL. Yeah, there was a, an article that came out on, on the score app that was like, let me see if I can find. Was like, yeah, Hurricanes did it their way and it was true. We talked about it right on, on Stanley Cup Live before the game. There could not be two more polar opposite teams playing in this Stanley Cup. As far as roster construction yeah. And how.

[Chris]

Yeah, we were talking about that.

[Dan]

And I think it's really cool because this. This is no disparaging Vegas. And I actually want to. I want to jump into Vegas right, right now. But it's. It's cool that both ways can get you there. Both ways can get you to the Cup. And it was very awesome to see the Canes win one. Cause Vegas has just recently won one. Now I do want to talk about Vegas. I want to go back to Carolina.

[Evan]

We'll.

[Dan]

We'll finish the whole show stroking off Carolina and talking about that game, the whole run, everything about that. That team. But I do want to show a little bit of love to Vegas because I think as we've talked about a number of times here, the. The grave dancing and the casual hating on Vegas is not something that we like or do and we will not do. So I actually want to show some love to Vegas. No one thought they were going to

[Chris]

get to the cup once the season happened. Preseason, Everyone thought they're going to get to the preseason. Everyone thought it was going to be these two.

[Dan]

Absolutely.

[Chris]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan]

No one thought they were going to get to the cup once the playoffs started. The fact that they went on that rip, the fact that they swept Colorado. Incredible, Incredible. Man Torts. What a fun run. Came to an end here. He had those comments. He was like, I think I'm like, this is it. Like I'm not coaching anymore. But Marty said it great last night. Like, dude, he won a gold medal this year. He's won a cup. Torts towards has it all. Like, this was a really cool. If this was the swan song for him. Really cool last run. This team is in a very interesting place. As we've talked about. They have Rasmus Anderson that they traded a lot for. Yeah, a lot for who? Now they have to decide are we going to keep him around or not.

[Chris]

I think you literally have to, dude.

[Dan]

Just because based on how much you traded, it does feel that way. You've got Pavel Dorothyv who was phenomenal these playoffs.

[Chris]

Yep. He's an rf.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Chris]

And might be served with a different coach. Might be even better served with a different coach. Yeah, maybe.

[Dan]

Maybe We'll. We'll. We'll see what happens with him. You have a great team still. You have Petrangelo who is still on ltir. Probably not coming off that.

[Chris]

Correct.

[Dan]

Mark Stone is the biggest warrior of all time who continues to get more and more hurt. Let's see what happens with him. I can't imagine the laundry list of injuries that are going to come out from this Vegas team, him included. I. I think Vegas is in a really cool spot where I'm so impressed to see them get to the cup. So impressed to see what they did. And I'm now so curious to see what is their response. What is their response when they lost the cup in that first year, that was insane, right? It was just like, holy shit. And then that's really when like now the Vegas way, the roster building, everything is beginning. We've now seen them win a cup a few years ago. Now they've gotten back to a cup and lost a cup. I am so fucking curious to see what McCrimmon does and what this Vegas team does. Like, what is Vegas losing a cup look like.

[Chris]

I think they have a huge summer, dude. I think they have a massive summer. Yeah. And you're right. So basically what I was going to say is because I want to get into so much of that, but I just want to save it for when we're back and we can, like, absorb the summer because I really want this. And a shout out. There's. I think there was a couple shout out. Any of the Vegas fans who maybe are still here, But I got to believe this is mostly Canes fans in this chat. So I just want to. I just want to make this a fucking party for everyone, for all.

[Dan]

Yes. I just wanted to know.

[Chris]

But I'm so glad you did because. And I also just want to shout out Marner too, because what a fucking year. Like, you go. You get out of Toronto. You actually. You said it best, Marner. Marner had said, if we win the cup, I'm going to fucking tell some stories about what I was dealing with in Toronto. And then they lose. And I was like. But still tell them, Please still tell them.

[Dan]

Please still tell them. Or I need them to win a cup next year so I can hear them.

[Chris]

So. Massive shouts to Vegas. What a year. I'm so excited for their summer. Marner's a beast. We'll get into.

[Dan]

Jack's a beast too. Yeah, Just like we. We love Jack so, so, so much. And I think Jack was definitely fighting something. Hurting a little bit, but God damn it. Did he leave it all out there yesterday? That crossbar sucked. But dude, he played so well. He was flying around like he was trying. He was doing everything.

[Chris]

Evan's gonna puke.

[Evan]

No, I try. I'm not gonna puke in your friend's carpet. Yeah, it happens. I'm gonna grab that Chipotle bag. Oh, it's gonna help.

[Zach]

Maybe watching.

[Dan]

No, don't do that. Go to the bathroom.

[Evan]

We gotta get it on camera.

[Chris]

Yeah, we do need it on camera.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Unfortunately, content is king. Unfortunately, content is king.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Evan]

For the clip of myself for this

[Dan]

show, I will say this. I. Nothing makes me laugh harder than people puking.

[Evan]

Because the sound of.

[Dan]

Yes, yes. Like, gagging videos absolutely crack me up. And then people who hear gagging and then they gag cracks me up, too.

[Chris]

Oh, dude, I can't believe. Puking is crazy.

[Dan]

Puking is so funny. Your stomach turns inside out.

[Zach]

Do it on camera, y'.

[Chris]

All.

[Zach]

Chad is so scared about that, him puking on camera.

[Chris]

Really?

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Dan]

What are they like, please don't show that.

[Zach]

Yeah, please don't show that. And then I got a. I'm a sympathetic puker in the chat.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Dan]

That is so sweet.

[Evan]

Ever stand by me. And they're telling that story about the guy. The guy who eats all the pies.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Evan]

Pukes. And all the people in the audience puke.

[Dan]

And like, that is sympathetic puker. Such a sweet thing.

[Chris]

Somebody said. Oh, it was Kelly. Where is it? Shout out Kelly. Oh, Kelly. We had the bracelets on all game, by the way.

[Dan]

You sure did.

[Chris]

So I'm not saying that was the cause.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Dan]

By the way, Laura. I think I saw a comment from Laura the other day. Or. No, it was a hockey talk. Laura asked when she's out of time out. Yeah, you're out of timeout.

[Chris]

Yes. Laura, come on. One time. One time.

[Dan]

But be careful, Laura. You're. You were supposed to be my best friend, and you've been chirping me, so be careful.

[Chris]

So Kelly said, shout out to the Vegas fans who stayed and cheered on the celebration. Really couldn't agree more. A ton of them.

[Dan]

I was actually blown away with how awesome that was. Like, that right there, in my opinion, is true hockey fandom.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

The cup is in the building of. Thousands of Vegas fans stayed in the barn and watched the cup get brought out. Watch the Con Smythe be like, they were just enjoying the moment and respecting the game. That was awesome.

[Chris]

That was very sick. Okay, I want to talk about the game itself a little bit.

[Dan]

Take us through.

[Chris]

I. We always say I'm such a home team, you know, like when you're. When you're at the bar and it's like, there's a million fans there and they're happy, and I want them to be happy.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

I just like hockey. And, dude, if you got a problem with that, by the way, then take a number.

[Evan]

We.

[Zach]

We are unbiased Journos. Yeah.

[Chris]

Like I'll tell you.

[Zach]

Yeah, sorry, Sorry.

[Dan]

We are not. We're unbiased dipshits.

[Zach]

Dipshit. Yeah.

[Chris]

Because. And, dude, if the Bruins or the Kings are in a cup, then we can revisit this conversation because I will probably be rooting pretty heavily for one team, but for the most part, I'm like, I must see some good.

[Dan]

I swear to God, if the Bruins and Kings play in a Stanley cup against each other while we are doing this job, I will literally not go.

[Chris]

I'll quit.

[Dan]

I will literally not go.

[Chris]

I can't.

[Dan]

I couldn't do it.

[Chris]

But, dude. So the. Until then, I'm here. And I'm a home team slut, and I will not be slut shamed for that in any way, shape, or form. So you get to Vegas. And by the way, I know that the travel is a bag, and I know that you guys are tired, and I'm tired, too, but the travel is a bag. But deep down in my sick, twisted brain, I just wanted more of this. So I was like, whatever, dude. Send me back. Like, I'll go. I'll go seven. I'll go fucking seven rounds with you. You want to go seven rounds, bitch? I'll go seven fucking rounds. How about a little bite? So how about a little bit? It was part of me that was like, okay. Okay, Vegas. Like, let me see what you got. Dude, no. Wild Bill. Everyone's counting you out. Let's fucking go. So the game starts, crowds going, you know, because there were a lot of cage fans there, but the Vegas fans were fucking ready to fight. And it was pretty good flurry from Vegas first. And then Taylor Hall. Dude, Taylor hall gets, like, kind of behind the D. Not kind of. That wasn't a clean break, I would say.

[Dan]

Really?

[Chris]

Yeah, because he. He has. He is forced to shoot that. Like, he's not coming in.

[Zach]

Oh.

[Dan]

Oh, sure.

[Chris]

He didn't clean.

[Dan]

Well, he didn't. I think it was a clean breakaway. He didn't have a lot of time.

[Chris]

I have that goal. Do you guys have the Taylor hall goal?

[Dan]

Hey, Zach, why don't you do your job?

[Chris]

Hey, Nate, what are you.

[Dan]

Yeah, actually, you know what? Hey, Nate. Hey, Nate, why don't you stop distracting Zach, you absolute pig. Let's get the Taylor all go. I think this was absolutely a clean breakaway.

[Chris]

Okay, well, it was.

[Dan]

It wasn't a, like, out of control breakaway. Yeah, but Blakey snapped him that pass, right? Or did Blakey get the secondary on that?

[Chris]

I can't remember.

[Dan]

Oh, wow. It's like.

[Chris]

I would.

[Dan]

It's a Zach footage, too. I would say it's not even the fucking.

[Chris]

But you know what I mean? I would say if he tried. Chris, that is a breakaway. No, but if he tried to go forehand back in here, he couldn't.

[Dan]

Yes, that's what I'm saying. He didn't have a ton of time, but he is in alone. And he has a. Like, he has a moment to be like this. Okay, where am I shooting this with no obstruction?

[Chris]

Agree. But my. All I meant by that point is, if I'm Carter Hart, I know for a fact he has to shoot because he can. Yes. And that is so Carter Hart is sitting here.

[Dan]

Great point. Great point. Great point.

[Chris]

He's out of time. He has to shoot and.

[Dan]

Great point. Great point.

[Evan]

Jack.

[Dan]

Zach. Great point. Great point.

[Chris]

Exactly. Great point. Great point.

[Dan]

No. Great point. Great point. Great point. Great point. Speak. Great. Great point.

[Zach]

Yes. Sorry.

[Dan]

Join in the chat. Great point. Great point. Great point.

[Zach]

Great point.

[Evan]

Right. Yeah.

[Chris]

You're doing it, right.

[Dan]

Why was that? I just wanted you to say great point. I think the hunger, I think is.

[Evan]

I think he's. I think he's. I think he was drunk. Yeah.

[Chris]

He's sobering up now. Yeah.

[Zach]

I think I legitimately do think that the hangover is just starting to hit me.

[Chris]

Seven up. You got.

[Dan]

Hey, she just got hit with a late day.

[Chris]

Go get a zero, cherry.

[Dan]

Absolute worst thing in the world, the late day hangover, dude.

[Zach]

Yeah. Points got really sweaty and. Yeah.

[Chris]

Oh, yeah, you did.

[Dan]

You got hit with a late day hangover.

[Chris]

Oh, no.

[Dan]

It's terrible when you're, like, still drunk and you think you're fine. You're like, I'm not really that hungover. And then all of a sudden you're like, wait a minute, I was drunk. Now I'm hungover. Terrible. I feel awful for you.

[Chris]

So what I was gonna say is we've made a. There's been a lot of commentary in this series, in this playoffs.

[Dan]

You need to make Zach a drink.

[Chris]

Okay. About the. A winger coming down on his strong side. So what I mean by that is your stick is close to the board. It's not like a right shot coming down the left wing. That puck is centered, and it's harder for the goalie if it's a left wing coming or a left shot coming down the left, and you get beat all the way across your body and it's not piping in. Because a couple times people were chirping Wedgwood. And I was like. Because of that jack shot and I'm like totally posting in, but that one just kind of goes clean in.

[Dan]

This team is so down bad. Evan's about to puke, bro.

[Chris]

I got back. We. We stumbled out of the Bellagio. I mean I guess we can't tell too many stories, but like someone. We left someone on the Bellagio floor.

[Evan]

We.

[Zach]

We left somebody on the Bellagio floor last night. That is a real thing.

[Dan]

No, I will not take responsibility.

[Chris]

We stumbled out of the Bellagio. We walked out of the Bellagio noon like it's.

[Dan]

He was gone. He left us to go get food.

[Zach]

Yeah, he did.

[Chris]

And then he came back and fell.

[Dan]

Assuming we were there.

[Chris]

Woken up on the Bellagio floor at 11am this morning.

[Zach]

That's.

[Dan]

We don't know that.

[Chris]

So anyway, dude, we are hurting but that shot is. I think if I'm Carter Hart, I ha. And. And I want to say Carter Hart had actually a great game in compared to the series. He made some really big saves. But that shot I have to have in the first five minutes of this game when it's like we need the lead. We can't be chasing the Canes. And it was like bang. Taylor hall goal. And I was like. I looked at you guys, there's like 16 minutes left in the first period. And I looked at you guys and I was like, pack your bags, boys. We're done. We're done here. This game is over. The series is over.

[Dan]

I will say this, that goal went in and it felt very much like last year's Florida win in game six.

[Chris]

Yeah, they won that.

[Dan]

What did they win that? Game three.

[Chris]

No, Sam Reiner had four goals.

[Dan]

Yeah, it was a rinse job.

[Chris]

Four goals.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Dan]

That game was like a shit stomping.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

In that moment it felt like, oh my God. I didn't. I wasn't like Carolina is going to rail them. But I was like exactly what I said after game four when I keep going on and on. Carolina figured out Vegas that play. We gotta someone figure it out. Who had the fucking. I think it was Blakey's pass because it was such a good quick turnaround snap to take a Slavin.

[Chris]

They were saying someone said Slave.

[Dan]

Okay, so it was Blakey to Slave.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And then Slavin to Taylor Hall. That snapped pass by Slavo was unbelievable because it was like he gets him in there. Taylor just fucking big game. Taylor hall puts that. Yeah. Puts that puck in. And I was like, man, this team is just dialed. And after that in the first period, there was a crazy Flurry of Kane's pressure and 79 made an unbelievable save, diving back across the crease. And I actually saw some fucking donkey comment online that was like, people are calling this such a great save, but it's actually a play by heart behind the net. And I'm like, so that makes it not a good save.

[Chris]

Yeah, because they did turn over behind the net, but it's still awesome.

[Dan]

Oh. Oh, yeah, he made a bad turnover. That means it's not a good save. What are you talking about? It was an unbelievable save. And that definitely woke Vegas up for a little bit in that first period.

[Chris]

Yes.

[Dan]

Like, to me, I was like, this first period's ending. Three. Nothing. Like I, like, in that flurry, I was like, they're going to score here. That save was made. And then everyone on the Vegas bench was like, all right, wake the fuck up. Because they came out so dead, so flat, so slow. That save made them wake up. And I was like, okay, we've got a little bit of a game here.

[Zach]

So I actually have a really good, strong question about this. This is the first time, obviously, like, at the beginning of this Stanley Cup Final, Vegas just felt like a robot, almost destroyers, all those things. What happened? And it's not even like, obviously Bussy played out of his, his mind, but between like, game five and game six, there was an entirely different level of body language, there was entirely different level of atmosphere, and there was an entirely different approach from the team that I am very.

[Dan]

Dude, fantastic question.

[Zach]

Very curious.

[Dan]

I, I, I know I sound like an insufferable. I'm repeating myself. I'm telling you, Game four, Carolina's game figured out Vegas, they, they in, in game four, Carolina won that game. And the lack of shots from Vegas, the neutral zone, pressure, not letting Vegas enter the zone with possession, with good space to get good shots, that in game four, got to Vegas in a frustration way. You started to remember, I called out, I was like, taylor hall is getting under people's skin. That shit as well as that fucking blanketed, suffocating pressure in the neutral zone that was messing with Vegas's game. And Carolina won that game in a way that Vegas was like, man, they're like, they're frustrating us. Then they came out in game five and won cleanly with the same model. And when you lose two games in a row like that in hockey, you, especially when you have your goalie giving up all these goals, you are going, shit, like, this team kind of has our number. That, that, that was, yeah, that, that was the feeling. I Whether they want to admit it or not, that was an overwhelming feeling in that Vegas locker room of, like, this is a very good hockey team, and they have our number right now. And then for me, Zach, going into this game, you've got Braden McNabb, who ate a puck in the fucking face.

[Chris]

Who's de.

[Dan]

Like, he. Listen, he played. He had an amazing series. But no matter what, dude, that is like, you're. You're playing with a fucking birdcage on now. You know, you have a broken nose. I wonder if he has, like, orbital fractures, too. That's in your head. One of your best defensemen is hurt. You lose. What? Wild Bill Carlson, who, as we say, shout out murals, is the straw that stirs the drink for that team. You change it up, you get. You take Kolasar out of the lineup, which I hated, and when you're making changes like that, you lose a guy like Carlson, this team has your number. You definitely are going into that game not laying down, but you're like, fuck me, it's going to. We got a battle here. So to that point, I'm so with you. I was shocked how flat they came out.

[Zach]

That was.

[Evan]

I, like, are we looking at, like, coaching, too? Like, as far as, like, I wonder, like, Rod getting their number. So good on him for. For figuring it out. And then also, maybe some coaching issues with Vegas. Is that what you're thinking?

[Dan]

I don't know that. I think that I did say I love Torts. I'm a tor. I do think Torts is genuinely a sweetheart. He's a hard ass with the media

[Evan]

and, like, a personality thing. Maybe he just, like, didn't know how.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Evan]

The canes.

[Dan]

I was during hockey talk yesterday. I was quick to be like, I didn't like torches snap at. At Laz's question.

[Chris]

You didn't?

[Dan]

I didn't at all. I think there's one thing in supporting your goaltender in a question like that. I think it's another thing to actively piss on your backup goaltender.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Which he did.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

And then also, I think comments like that, when you're down in a series and you feel like your back's against the wall, feels a little petulant.

[Chris]

Yeah. Oh, dude.

[Dan]

It also, I think there's one thing. If he gets that question, let's role play. Paraphrase that last question.

[Chris]

Did you ever think, is there any moment in the third period you thought about going to Hill?

[Dan]

No. That is a way that respects your goaltender.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

Kind of like looks at the. If you wanted to insult Laz you're kind of doing it like that, but to lash out the way he did. Like, again, it's funny. I love it. Like, it's. Torch is funny. And like last handled it perfectly because Laz is the best.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

But I didn't like the response because I was like, Feels to me like you're. You're doing the, like, I am calm thing. You know what I mean? So I was kind of like, dude. And yeah. I wonder, guys, I wonder if this got to a point where Torch was like, oh, man, the magic's kind of running out.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

And I wonder if in that locker room, a team that by all reports was like a top team in the league going into the season then kind of underperformed for various reasons. And it sounds like with Cassidy, they were like, we are so fucking done with this guy.

[Zach]

Yep.

[Dan]

We're legitimately not even playing that they had to fire him 10 games before the playoffs. You wonder if, like that group who's a little fed up now, gets Torts. And maybe Torts gets to the point where he's like, I'm kind of running out of the steam here. And they're all like, well, then we don't really have a coach here, dude.

[Chris]

I just. And this might be.

[Dan]

I don't think that was the case. I think, again, I think Court Torch is a great coach. I just.

[Chris]

Well, this probably takes away from what he thinks he was doing, which I'm sure was something.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Chris]

But I feel ev. To answer your question, it was a little bit of a double edged sword because the whole narrative of Torch coming in with, with eight games left was there is no time for Torts to, to change this team. All we're asking you to do is be a motivator in the room. Yes. Do nothing. We trust this roster is good. Just be there and get the boys fired up, which he did all playoffs. And then in the final, they're going Torts isn't coaching enough. And I'm like, no one asked him to coach.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

They asked him to just fire the boys up.

[Evan]

That's a hamstring situation, you know, so I'm like, he's.

[Chris]

He's not. What, what do you want to do? Fucking change a system? They just met this guy. He's just saying, come on, boys, little fight. And then they ran out of fight.

[Zach]

I think you're making a fantastic point. I also, like, truly think this.

[Dan]

This is just.

[Zach]

This was it running out. This was the team running out on Torts. And this was like, that would explain all the behavior is literally he was brought in to motivate. And then the moment they stopped believing the motivation anymore, we got the body language that we saw last night.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Yep. Agree.

[Dan]

So to go to go back to the Canes. Halsey gets that goal. Great shot. Amazing start. Good little response from Vegas after that big save. We. We had a couple peepers here and there. Nothing really going.

[Chris]

I want to say this on that. The just quick aside the hurdle face off interference penalty was the most out of pocket. Shit. I did not see.

[Dan]

I actually didn't like a number of calls.

[Chris]

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup, I was like, I've never even heard of this.

[Dan]

Yeah. But I. I did respect how the refs were like, we're calling. Yeah, you know, whatever.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So we had a couple of power plays. Whatever. I. Easy to say this in hindsight, but I feel like I have some defense with. With how much I have talked about believing in this team, especially from the whole game four thing. When Halsey scored, I personally, I don't know how you felt. I was like, this is over. They are winning.

[Chris]

Oh, yeah. I said that. I looked, you guys, 15 minutes left in the first period.

[Dan]

And I said, we're.

[Chris]

We're done.

[Dan]

And then I. I tweeted out, God,

[Chris]

that would have been awesome.

[Dan]

I tweeted out, next goal is huge. Yes, absolutely huge. Because if Vegas had scored and tied it up one one, I. I still think Kane's had it, but it would have been, oh, man, that barn would have gone nuts. Like, it would have been like a little bit of fight. But I was like, if Carolina scores fucking dunions. We are done here, Dunya. And then who but our boy Jackson, Blake tucks one in. And I was like, this game is finit.

[Chris]

And Dan, I said this to you live. I said this to you at dinner. And I'm not going to say any names. Anyone wants to go back and watch the highlight, you can know who I'm talking about. If you have the Blakey goal, you can throw it up, Zach. But I'll tell you what, dude, this is another goal. And listen, the Carolinas forecheck was great all series. So I'm not taking away from the adjustments they made on the forecheck, but I am telling you, there were a multitude of times in this series where a Vegas player has the puck on his stick in the D zone with no one around him. Bad turn, full possession, and then in 10 seconds, they're getting scored on. Bad turn. And I'm like, to your point, in this Moment where, like, next goal doesn't win if you're Vegas, but next goal wins if you're Carolina. And just to puke these pucks up, I'm like, dude, what are you doing?

[Dan]

Dude, what are you doing? But also, let me say this. I can't emphasize enough. I don't know if it translated as well as it did in person on tv. The way this Carolina team was all over the place in this game.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Was truly one of the most miraculous things I've ever seen.

[Chris]

Oh, dude, they're sworn. I mean, that's the thing.

[Dan]

They were. But, dude, this game was a different.

[Chris]

This game was.

[Dan]

And it makes sense that they have had a shutout in this game. Zach. Like, you could see it, right? Like, as a not, like, lifelong hockey guy, dude, Carolina won every single puck battle. They. Every time there was.

[Zach]

Yeah, it was obvious. I'm telling you this. It was. Yeah, it was. This was Carolina's game from start to

[Dan]

jump start, start to finish. Absolutely. Like, they were. They were on every loose puck. And there was a couple of times, I think it was the second period. They know it was the third period, third period, up to nothing. There was a great transition play. I think Svetch had it came into the. Just entered the offensive zone and he, like, whiffed a shot or maybe threw Svetch and like, maybe threw a pass or something. But it was, like a bad turnover, and it was a bad turnover in transition because the way the flow went with the line change and the zone entry, it was an immediate Vegas four on two.

[Chris]

Yes.

[Dan]

And, dude, you know when we get those cool moments in sports, happens in football or, excuse me, happens in basketball a lot, where it feels like all the players are, like, in sync and they're like. It almost looks like a simulation, the way Svetch, I think Aho. And one other player, everyone on the button, turnover happened, bang, stopped on the ice, and, like, we're fucking sprinting back. Like those hard, quick strides on the ice where it looks like a player's running on the ice to get back and back check. And Svetch came in. And Svetch got the puck back. He came back through the neutral zone, found the puck, carrier, stick lift, poked it off, got it to Chatfield, and then, like, settled down, regroup. And I, like, that was a turnover where I was like, ooh, this could be dangerous in transition. And before that thought even came through my head, Svetchnikov came back, broke up the plane, got the puck back, and I was like, these go. These boys Are not leaving this building without the puck.

[Zach]

Can we. Can we do something?

[Dan]

Always. Yeah.

[Chris]

Yeah, dude. Somebody. Somebody into who might be dying. Like, we've lost Evan, and he might be gone and dead, but somebody have

[Zach]

to give them the congrats. I. They're the. The ghosts are busted.

[Dan]

Ghosts.

[Chris]

Ghosts have been.

[Dan]

Hey, ghosts. Bussied.

[Chris]

And that's what we came up last night. I was like, how did we not put that together? We've been on Ghostbusters all playoffs, and it was ghost. Ghost Busin. Dude, Ghost Busin was the answer the whole time. And they couldn't fully be busted until you put the bus in. That was insane. Dude, that was so fucking awesome. Laura demonetized, correct?

[Dan]

No, no. Less than 10 seconds.

[Chris]

Yeah. Caught it in time.

[Dan]

Chris, get up and go make Zach a drink.

[Chris]

Okay.

[Dan]

And I will filibuster while you're gone. Do. Here's the. Here's a question. Monitor the chat. Chat. Do you want me to keep talking about the game while I filibuster, or would you like me to filibuster about a random topic for a couple of minutes? Oh, you okay? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That'll hurt you. That'll hurt you. We'll let those responses roll in, Zach. But until the responses roll in, I will just keep talking about the game. Two, nothing into the third period, and we went 15 or so minutes, 15 and a half minutes in the second without a shot by Vegas. Like, it was. It was just. Wow, an unbelievable onslaught.

[Zach]

It is an overwhelming. Random topic.

[Dan]

Random topic.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Okay.

[Dan]

Filibuster on a random topic. All right, now chat, you. The power is in your hands.

[Zach]

Yep.

[Dan]

Some of the first responses that you

[Zach]

see, Zach thought, fill my buster. No, no, there's no topics yet. Yet.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

All right. Chat.

[Zach]

Send me dance conspiracies.

[Dan]

Oh, Dan's conspiracies. Oh, all right. Here's my conspiracy.

[Zach]

Oh, wait. Really want a story from what happened last night?

[Chris]

No.

[Zach]

Yeah, we can't talk about that. No, no, no. We can't tell any stories about.

[Dan]

We're not doing that. I will get into a conspiracy, though. Here is my conspiracy that I teased when we were in Raleigh. I talked about it. I believe that John F. Kennedy was murdered by Jackie's then later husband, Onassis. What is his first name? Aristotle. It's not Aristotle. It's a sick name, though. Evan. What. What is Jackie Kennedy's husband's name? Onassis.

[Zach]

Is he okay?

[Evan]

Me.

[Chris]

He's gonna kill us.

[Evan]

I did.

[Zach]

No, no.

[Dan]

Hey, look it up. Look it Up Onassis first name. Someone in the chat's gonna do it. It's.

[Evan]

It's.

[Dan]

It's not Aristotle. It's. It's something.

[Zach]

Oh, yes.

[Chris]

God, you're so lucky. I wasn't.

[Dan]

It is Aristotle. Okay.

[Chris]

Laura said dungeon Caller call Laura. If I had been here, I would have hijacked this whole.

[Dan]

Okay, so check this out. The theory goes like this. Jackie and JFK married. Jackie loses a child. Absolutely devastating. And then her sister was dating a man named Aristotle Onassis, and she invited Jackie to come to their place while she recovered from the trauma she was dealing with from losing child. There, Jackie and Aristotle fell in love. Then Aristotle breaks up with Jackie's sister, is like, yo, I'm in love with you. And Jackie's like, same, but I am their first lady, so we can't do anything about this. And Aristotle goes, I can do something about this. JFK is assassinated. Then Bobby Kennedy comes through and is like, yo, I love you too, Jackie. Because Jackie's the most lovable person in the entire world. You can't be with Aristotle Onassis because Aristotle Onassis is a fucking criminal, dude. He's in the Mafia. He's a bad guy. You can't be with this type of guy. You should be with me. Another Kennedy. Then what happens, dude? Bobby whacked. Then Jackie goes off on the super yacht with Aristotle. Next thing you know, they're married.

[Chris]

Married.

[Dan]

So Aristotle Onassis behind the assassination of JFK and Bobby Kennedy, all because Jackie was that thang.

[Evan]

Dude.

[Dan]

Everyone needed a piece.

[Chris]

Correct.

[Dan]

She's the most beautiful woman in the world.

[Chris]

Helen of Troy.

[Dan]

Helen of Troy. He's modern day Helen of Troy.

[Chris]

That's true.

[Zach]

Yes, but that's. I mean, losing your life to a man named Aristotle is a tough.

[Chris]

Very tough.

[Zach]

That's tough.

[Dan]

How can you compete with Aristotle Onassis?

[Zach]

Aristotle Onassis, dog. I mean, you can't be.

[Dan]

You think that's a bad name, Zach?

[Zach]

You can't be better than the original Aristotle. Like, your whole life is set up for failure because you're second to the OG Aristotle.

[Dan]

I don't know.

[Chris]

But if you.

[Dan]

If you become, like. If you become a mafioso and you start whacking people, dude. Zach, you're telling me that a guy who's able to fucking assassinate the President of the United States doesn't live up to Aristotle?

[Chris]

That's pretty badass.

[Zach]

He's second to Aristotle. He's the second best Aristotle.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

Damn.

[Evan]

Man of high morals.

[Chris]

Yeah, I try to be okay, Dan, you're gonna have to write a book about this. Maybe we write a screenplay about this.

[Dan]

That would actually be.

[Chris]

That's what Laura's saying.

[Dan]

We would probably get whacked by Aristotle.

[Chris]

Jessica, Jessica is asking if I have a new hair routine. Kelly, I'll let you answer that. Please, please answer Jessica about my new hair routine.

[Dan]

This chat. I'm curious what you think if there are any Jewish people in the chat, let me know.

[Zach]

What?

[Chris]

Here we go. Here we go. Dude, he's got the fucking boo boos. And now what?

[Dan]

You guys are the problem. If I say if there are any. I have a question. What is the name of the braids on? I believe. Is it Hasidic Jews who have the braids that come down the side?

[Evan]

Yeah, I'll look it up. Yeah.

[Dan]

Or if there's any Jewish people in the chat, let me know. Simple question. Because you have. You always pull your hair down your sideburns like you have on the left side of your head right now.

[Evan]

Pay out.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Chris]

I don't. I don't do anything I don't do.

[Dan]

Actively pull those down and you know.

[Chris]

Incorrect. I just put my hat on and

[Dan]

I'm saying you would have unbelievable braids if you ever.

[Chris]

If I did that. That'd be gas, actually.

[Dan]

So I'm just saying.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah, you're right.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

And they're like, you, not you, dude. They're like, get.

[Zach]

Boo.

[Dan]

Boo this, man.

[Chris]

Oh, my God. All right, dude, this is what I wanted to say about the game.

[Dan]

Brandon Bussey, I have not yet seen the

[Chris]

caption. That's correct. Brandon Bussey getting a shutout in a Stanley cup clinching game. And I know for a lot of. Obviously not the Canes fans, but for a lot of people, everybody was like, man, what a bummer that this series was fucking electric factory. And then the last game was pretty boring, which it kind of was as a neutral. But Bussy getting a shutout. Now that the game's over and the Canes have won, Bussy getting a shout out is so awesome. For him. That is a fucking incredible moment and achievement. I just wanted to highlight a few moments from his night. Early. It was already one nothing but early. Great shift from Jack. The puck gets whacked, I think by Dorothy. I've had a mid air hits the. The top of the net, falls right down and Bussy like caught it without pushing his glove into the net. That was a sick moment early where I was like, wow, soft hands, Bussy.

[Dan]

Yeah, big time.

[Chris]

Then after the ridiculous hurdle call and it probably was a good call. I saw people in the chat saying it was the right call. I'm. I'm. I can't see that face off. I don't get a replay. I just. All I meant is I can't believe they're making that call. But anyway, Howden gets a breakaway on that. Four on four goes five hole. And.

[Dan]

And that's big game, Brett.

[Chris]

Big game.

[Dan]

Like that.

[Chris]

That.

[Dan]

That was a monster save.

[Chris]

So that would have been one one. Okay. Then the Vegas power play at the end of the first. You kind of mentioned this earlier. Jack gets. This isn't the crossroad, but Jack gets a massive one. Timer busy, like, comes flying over, Huge save. And I know Jack was tired, but when that horn sounded to end the first, Jack did this thing, you know, stick on pants, just gliding to the gate. And I was like, dude, that's frustration. That's not. I'm just tired. He's like, God damn it. So there was that one, then. Oh, that was. That was a good heart save. Then Dorothy Ev. Michael had the crossbar. Just nightmare for Vegas.

[Dan]

But the, like, a crossbar was. I mean, that.

[Chris]

That was 10 minutes.

[Dan]

That was it. That was game, right, Guys? Like that, when Ikes hit the crossbar there, it was like, it was game.

[Zach]

It was 100 game.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

That felt like the cellophane moment. It was like, there is cellophane on this net. You cannot score tonight.

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah. I remember, like, in the moment, I just. After, like, watching the replay of the crossbar, and I was just like, like, obviously not a Vegas fan, but I just was haunted by, like, I could just see that pain over and over, that replaying over and over.

[Chris]

There was a huge Dorothy of chance with 5 minutes left. Bussy again. And then I could. I can't remember who this was, but there was an outrageous chance with two minutes left on a reboot. Dude, that busy, like, tombstone, kind of.

[Dan]

Yes. And you know what? Before that, I tweeted this in real time. I'm curious if you saw it. Fucking shout out. Jalen Chatfield, dude.

[Chris]

Chad, he's dope, dude.

[Dan]

He had the most unbelievable stick lift I have.

[Chris]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

I remember that in my life.

[Chris]

That was awesome.

[Dan]

I genuinely do not know that enough people saw this, because I know a bunch of Kane. Also, Canes fans, if you haven't done this yet, go back and rewatch that entire game over and over.

[Chris]

Yeah, correct.

[Dan]

It's so fun. You'll see so many things that you didn't see while you were watching. Because you were too nervous. There was about three minutes left. There was a crazy flurry for Vegas, I believe with the goalie pulled and a puck got thrown back door to the right stick with an absolute gaping net. And I don't even know who had the shot attempt for Vegas. But Chatty came in out of nowhere on.

[Chris]

On the one.

[Dan]

It wasn't like a collect it and take your time. It was a 1T attempt and he just reached in with everything he had and got a nice little stick lift and broke it. I was like, that is the fucking

[Chris]

play of the game, dude.

[Dan]

It was unbelievable.

[Chris]

So, yeah, there were some. There were some epic moments like that. Those are my highlights. Just that I wanted to shout out Bussy. Insane. Hearing the entire crowd chant his name must have been surreal as he's like, I barely got. I just got my into the NHL at 26.

[Dan]

It was incredible.

[Chris]

And now I just want a Stanley cup and the entire arena chanting my name as I get a cup clinching. Shut up. It.

[Dan]

Let's talk about that. We. Was it. It was EP4 or 5 where we were talking about the whole Freddy situation. Freddie getting benched. And I. And I said, I guarantee if and when they win the cup, he will come out dressed and he will get. You remember, back me up.

[Chris]

You said this.

[Dan]

I was like, he will get the cup after. He will get the cup after. Stall.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

And we saw that happen, obviously. Let's have the Freddie Bussy conversation.

[Chris]

Okay.

[Dan]

What's going on?

[Chris]

It's got a funny text.

[Dan]

A bunch of people in the arena shout out Emily. Absolute. One of the most wonderful human beings.

[Chris]

Correct. Legend.

[Dan]

Emily, we love you. Vegas fan was saying how bad she felt for Freddie as the Bussy chants were going.

[Evan]

And.

[Dan]

And I think that's such a good point because Freddy is an unbelievable NHL goaltender. Leaves Toronto, finds himself as the starter in Carolina, reinvents his career. Is so good. Such a strong player has unbelievable health issues that he battles through. Still is out here playing at 36 years old, has one of the best seasons of his career this year. And then comes into the playoffs, gets the starting job when it was in question.

[Chris]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dan]

And goes sweep, sweep, gentleman sweep. Then after three and a half games, he gets yanked and Bussey cleans up the rest. There is absolutely a feeling for a competitor like that that is like you want to be in the net. You want to be. You want to be the man in the arena. And he has to sit there, not even dressed and watch Bussy go in and clean up the job. And finish it out. No question. There must be a part of Freddy's that's like, fuck me, I wish that was me.

[Zach]

Yep.

[Dan]

But I am here to say, from everything that we've heard about Freddy, from everything we've heard in his post games on the ice, he was like, I can't believe this is real. He was just so happy. I don't think there is a single shred of him that should feel anything but immense pride for what they've done. Like, dude, Bussy is a hero. He's a Carolina hero forever. And those chants, unreal. Getting that shutout out of this world. But I actually loved that moment so much because all season long they were the best team in the east doing it together. At the end of the day, they then won the cup together.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

I thought that was awesome.

[Chris]

It was cool. And dude, somebody said early in the chat, I won't be able to find it, that this is the, I guess like, so somebody was like, oh, this disproves the tandem theory. And it's not exactly your theory because no one went back in, but it is an interesting one. I'd like to look back because Kemper came out for a bit, but Kemper goes back in and it was injury. But I'm just saying usually the guy, if there's a switch, that like starter goes back in.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Chris]

This is an interesting one where I'm like, oh, the, I guess Aiden Hill. Aiden. This is the exact Aiden Hill story. It's very, it's like, oh, the back. The backup came in and did this, which wasn't that long ago, but still extremely awesome. A lot of people in the chat saying the two goalies hugging at the end was epic.

[Dan]

It was, was unbelievable seeing them embrace.

[Chris]

Yep. But I, I, I said this after game five. Freddy should be extremely proud and is extremely, extremely deserving of his name on the cup. We are friends with some goalies who have their name on the cup where they're like, I didn't touch the ice, so it's sick that I won one. But like, like, Freddy, this Cane's team does not win this cup without you.

[Dan]

No.

[Chris]

Be, be so proud.

[Dan]

Absolutely not. No.

[Chris]

Yep. What a moment. That was awesome.

[Evan]

Sorry. Yeah. Wasn't he also the second person to get the cub? Yeah.

[Chris]

We're talking about. That's to him first.

[Evan]

Oh, was I dying on the toilet?

[Dan]

You were wrestling your demons.

[Evan]

Well, yeah, yeah, yeah, I was.

[Dan]

Which, Dude. Hey, Good fun.

[Zach]

Fight.

[Dan]

Little fight.

[Chris]

Ev.

[Evan]

Thanks, brother.

[Dan]

Little fight.

[Chris]

The shout out. Shane. Shane Knighty came up to Us at. At the end of that game, he was there. He came up to us and said really nice things. So if he's listening, thank you so much.

[Dan]

Yeah, you're Shane Knight.

[Chris]

But he said something where he goes, we brought up the 2011, obviously. And he goes, that Bruins team. What? And. And don't take this the wrong way, Boston fans, but he said that Bruins team was team beat talent against that Canucks.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Chris]

The senior brothers and everything. Team beat talent. And he said to me, he was like, that's what happened here again this year. Team Kane's team beat that talent because everyone picking Vegas. Pretty much the narrative was, I get how good Carolina is, but they don't have Jack Eichel, they don't have Mitch Marner. And I don't even think Carolina fans are going, yes, we do. Because, like you don't. But they go, it doesn't matter because our team can beat the top end talent that you have and it doesn't. That was cool.

[Dan]

Agree, agree. Speaking of the roster management, we've said it a number of times this year. Does this absolutely confirm Nikolai Ehler's move of the year?

[Chris]

Dude, I mean, he. I would love to go back and find this. But we said in one of the first playoff episodes, Nikolai Ehlers isn't a megastar. You did not trade for this megastar.

[Dan]

But.

[Chris]

But the Canes didn't need. The Canes have been so close for so long that they were like, oh, I don't need a Mitch Marner or something. I just needed like one guy that could be. Could do enough. And after one of the first playoff eps, we were like, I think Nick Ehlers is enough. Like, I think you get a guy like Nick Ehlers and I go, boom, you can now win. And then you did. And he's nasty. It was crazy.

[Dan]

All right, so we're obviously a big Nick Ehlers podcast. Fly. You're my guy. I think Nick Ehlers was very much the straw that stirs the drink for Carolina.

[Chris]

Good call. It's a really good call.

[Dan]

It's. When you think about what is the. What was the difference maker for this team. Now you can talk all about the fact that Florida wasn't in it, Tampa got eliminated early, whatever, you know, miss me with all that. Every year is every year or every year is a new year. And you play who you play. When you look at this team and you ask yourself who was the difference maker? Obviously Bussy. Massive difference maker this year.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

But when you look at the. The skaters, Nick Ehlers was a Massive addition. And I, I talked about it so many times in the latter half of the season, post Olympics, he came alive in a big way for this Carolina team. And, man, the dynamic performances that he had in these playoffs, scoring that first goal to start the Stanley cup final, his multiple goal games the way he was. That fucking pass he made on that last goal in game five.

[Chris]

Yeah, nasty.

[Dan]

He was just feeling it, man. And I, I think sometimes, yeah, maybe you don't need a star, star player, but when you can add, let me say a superstar player, but when you can add another star player to this group, that's the big thing, right? When you have a top line of Sebastian Ajo, Seth Jarvis, Andre Svetchnikov, three star players, and then you have a second line, third line, and you're like, yeah, we have, you know, I think Stank is a star player. I think Halsey, especially in the playoffs, is a star player. Talk to Taylor, Hall, Jackson. Blake is a fucking star in the making. Like, what an unbelievable guy they have there and what a deal they have with him. And then when you add Nick Ehlers to that group, dude, I'm just, I'm telling you, man, like, that is such a dagger for other teams where it's like, this fucking guy. Yeah, this guy's on their second line, their third line. What the fuck? And then the big thing for me is what Nick did to the power play. Yeah. If you noticed, the power play in Carolina runs through Ehlers.

[Chris]

Oh, yeah, dude.

[Dan]

He is the guy they're going to

[Chris]

get that shot to.

[Dan]

He is the guy they get the puck to like. They look to Nick Ehlers on that power play. And, man, I'm telling you, he just gave them, he gave them another sharp canine in the bite. And here we are, Stanley Cup. And I will finish my Ehlers rant with this. I think we could expect a massive year from him next year. Me too comfortable now, second year with this group. Clearly they know what he has, what he's capable of. I'm very excited to see what he does next year, dude.

[Chris]

And listen, the. We're not getting into this today. Florida's going to be back, there's going to be great teams, Colorado, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Going to be some big trades this summer, I hope. But I just want to say the Canes are in a great spot to try to run this back. A lot of teams win and you're like, oh, man, I'm so glad you won now because you're cooked. The Canes are, are sitting very pretty to Be right in the mix. I want to basically I want to end this, not this show because I have plenty more to talk about but this game with.

[Dan]

We're gonna get the boys to the airport.

[Chris]

I know this. I am so glad that that line that Blakey.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Halsey stank and like you said, shout out Blakey with a he once Halsey scored, I was like, man, Con Smythe bid. And then Blakey had the Blakey scored and I was like, dude, cons might have been Blakey. Shout out Jane, by the way. Shout out Jane. Incredible run there. But dude and the that line. Getting it done or being such an impact in the clinching game was really cool. Based on what they did all playoffs like that. I think the Canes were going to advance with, you know, whatever. But they were doing everything to start playoffs. What a perfect bow for them to be like, we got the goal. We got the two goals to get it done 100%.

[Dan]

I'll do a quick two minutes on just like this Canes team and then Zach, I want you to touch on some of the things that you took notes on as we close up the show here. Man. Someone asked me during hockey talk, do I think the Canes are going to make big moves if they don't win the cup. And I was like yes. But also I think yes, no matter what. And I just cannot emphasize enough, man. This is the best roster management I think I've seen in my lifetime in the NHL. This team currently. Because we're in the off season now, folks.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Dan]

This team currently has about $12 million in cap space. $12 million in cap space. And do you know who they have to sign? Literally no one, dude. Like they, they have DeLaurier who's a Ufa and that's an unbelievable guy to have in the locker room. But you can bring him back on a low hit. Mike Riley, unbelievable guy could bring him back on the low hit and you got Nikation RFA. Now I'm giving that guy a great deal. 24 years old, he's a great player.

[Chris]

But.

[Dan]

But that's not going to be all 12.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

No way. I think you can get the Kishan probably at a seven by six. Maybe I buy that. So then you got $6 million and dude, the next year who is a UFA in that Ford group Next year you have Bussy at 1.9 for 3 years. Next year your UFAs are 33 year old Martinook and 37 year old Jordan Stahl.

[Chris]

Yeah. Wow. That's it.

[Dan]

On the defensive side that's another 33 year old Gostaspier and 30 year old Chatfield like this. I can't believe the roster construction of this team. And that's why I keep going back to. I think they make a move like, look at Dylan Larkin. Look at some of these people who have become available because look at this team that just won a Stanley Cup. Guys like Rob Thomas are on the block. You could add to this team, make a trade, do whatever. And it's like now they're even better. So it's just. I'm so happy for this group. I'm so happy for Dundon. I'm so, so happy for Tulski and Rod. Obviously, all the boys, all the families and all of the fans. But this is very much a. They did it. I know a lot of Panthers fans are chirping like it's only because we were out. And I love that, I love that fight. But if you're the Canes, I think right now you're going. What is stopping us from going back to back? And that is the mentality you should have.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

Do not. Do not go.

[Chris]

We did it.

[Dan]

We thought we did it. First time in 20. Fuck that. Go win again. Go in again.

[Chris]

Yes, go in again. Okay. I want to give the fans just a couple fun things before. Okay. So my first. So we did it, dude. Game over. We win. Party time. First thing I want to do is shout out George. He's the equipment manager on the Canes. He came up to us after, says he listens to netters while he sharpens the team skate.

[Dan]

Yeah, that was awesome. That was a sick fucking. He said that and that like again in Vegas and Carolina, everywhere. We've met so many awesome fans and human beings. It's the best. That one actually stopped me in my tracks, dude. When he said that, I like, I kind of like snapped my head and I was like, that is sick.

[Chris]

Actually, I'm sure he buzzed the wheels before game six. So I kind of think, you know, he was listening to Netter sharpening to the hype up. Yeah, got got the boy stopping on pucks. He also played at NC State, which was. We were talking about that fire. George, you're a legend. That was awesome chatting with you. Okay, so for me, dude, and Zach, do you have any of that shit tuned up from the videos you were going to show?

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah, I got a couple of things.

[Chris]

So the first thing I want to say because obviously, obviously, we can't start

[Dan]

letting it rip, dude. We're closing off the show.

[Chris]

Here. But dude, so I had a moment because there was some all time. So we. We were bouncing around with the boys at. We were at Aria for a bit and then we went to Omnia. We're at Omnia. And you know, the fuck. It's chaos. It's chaos in the street, the cuffs fucking everywhere. So I have a moment where I'm in the, you know that hallway, like, kind of that you came in. I'm in the hallway, like, alone. I was trying to find the bathroom and I'm wandering there and I turn the corner, there's a hallway and I look down because I'm looking to see if the bathroom's down there and it is not. But there's just one person there just leaning against the wall with a beer. I think it was a mic ultra. I think, boom. And it's Jordan Stahl. And we're just there by ourselves and like the music's pumping from the other room and I go, stall. I think I said. I was like, stallsy, Alzheimer, bro. And he just. He's like leaning back the ball and he just looks at me and goes. And just hits me with the sickest wink I have ever seen in my life. Dude, I will remember that wink for the rest of my life.

[Dan]

Hey, you know what I said to Grant last night? We were. Were sitting in the one of the sections and like, we're with all the boys. And I was like, one of my favorite things about hockey guys is when they're on their skates, like when we're on the ice after the game, like, they look so huge. And their equipment, they look so huge. Then a lot of them, like, you see just in person, you're like, oh, you're just a normal dude.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And we were standing next to Stallsy and I was like, except for him.

[Chris]

You're huge.

[Dan]

He is a fast.

[Zach]

He looks like Aaron Judge, dude.

[Chris]

Yeah. He is a brick house. I do it every. And now I get it. I'm like, how does it Vegas not move him out of the front of the net? He's tipping and everything. And I'm like, that's how you can't monster man dude. Him just lean against the wall. Bang, wink. Con. My mvp. I was like, yes.

[Evan]

Amazing night for him.

[Chris]

It was so sick, dude. That was a. I was extremely.

[Dan]

That was really outside of family stuff. I mean, like, Jesus. Yeah, this is. You know, he's got multiple cups now, but like Con Smythe winning this. Con Smythe as the longest tenured captain of the Carolina Hurricanes. Oldest Con Smythe Winner of all time.

[Chris]

Okay, so, dude, then we are getting bounced out of Omnia at like four something, right?

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris]

And I'm telling everybody to go to McMullens. I'm like, we got to go to McMullen's because it's open, you know.

[Dan]

You know what deaded this?

[Chris]

I think. I think they were there.

[Dan]

Oh, well, it was me, okay? I was a. Was an absolute Benedict Arnold.

[Chris]

You scumbag. While you were doing that, like this

[Dan]

Guinness, he was stopping everywhere he was going, like, finding. Being like, hey, we're going here. Chris would then move on to the next person, and I would then go to that person, be like this. We absolutely cannot go there.

[Chris]

Why?

[Dan]

Dude, it is so off strip.

[Chris]

I know, but would you have rather think about what ended up happening to us? I loved every second, okay? So I'm trying to get everyone to McMullen's the Boy. And it is fair, fairly. They're not. It's not their city. Like, it's a sick rip, obviously, but I get that they're not going to be like. Like, you know, oh, look at this offshore bar. And get with the people, because I'm like, the people aren't rooting for you. So we're trying to figure it out. And we are bouncing. And this is where. I was pretty hazy. I said this to you, but all of a sudden we're rolling out of Omnia and I'm trying to get us somewhere and somehow we get a party bus. Because I was. Do you remember?

[Zach]

I was like, yeah, we did, dude. I was just gonna cab cp.

[Dan]

We were on a party bus last night.

[Chris]

We were on a party.

[Zach]

Yeah, we had a party bus last night.

[Chris]

That's what I'm saying, dude. You don't even remember this place, bro. We were on a fucking party. No, we weren't. Yes, we were, dude. We got a party bus out of Omnia with all the boys, and then we fucking. And somebody goes like this. We need tattoos. So I literally go to the fucking driver and I'm like this. We need a tattoo. Like, I acquire me ink. And he goes, okay, dude. And drives us to wherever the that was, dude. Like, I don't even know where we were. Was that across from the Bellagio? Did we walk from that place?

[Dan]

It wasn't across to the tattoo place. The alleged party bus.

[Chris]

So we get on the party bus. The party bus happened, dude. We did. We were on a party bus.

[Dan]

Yo.

[Chris]

I'm telling you, dude. But Dan, I almost forgot too. Like, I literally was like, so so we go to the tattoo place. Yeah, don't put it on yet. And I go. The guys go in there and they say, this is what we want. And the guy go. I go, how, dude, I am obliterated. And the guy's like, how much? And he's like, 400 each. And I go, how about 350 for both for total? And he was like, that is not at all how negotiation works. Like, you.

[Dan]

You just went below and cut it in half.

[Chris]

So I go, 350 total. He goes, no. And then I go, 375. And he's like, still not even fucking close. So then I'm like, dude, well, we don't want it that big. We got to get it smaller. And this what we want. Can I see a font book? Blah, blah, blah. And. And then he's like, we're finding a price. But then there's these tattooing another guy right in front of us, which actually felt insanely unsanitary.

[Dan]

Oh, buddy. Well, we talk about it all the time. Anywhere that is doing late night drunk tattoos is probably not the most above board tattoo parlor.

[Chris]

Yeah, it's like 5am and so he goes. He goes, well, it's going to take me 30 minutes to tattoo this dude. And then 30 minutes, tattoo your guy and your guy. And I'm like, all right, we're not sitting here for 90 minutes, boys. Like, let's go. And I was like, I give you my word, I will come back. Let's go gamble. Will come back. And then they go, okay, on the

[Zach]

word of pull this.

[Chris]

And then we left. And then I went, great, everyone is going to gamble. And then we all did, like a shoulder check. And we were like, where are those two guys? Two of the boys? And they were gone. And I was like, fellas, my God, dude. And then, wouldn't you know it, 60 minutes later, Zach put it on a hole into the.

[Zach]

We can show it.

[Chris]

Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll, Drum roll, please.

[Dan]

And this is what we got, folks.

[Evan]

Dude,

[Dan]

two of the jar boys. Two of the good old Canadian boys. Dude, by the way, we've talked about the Stanley cup in a lot of ways with various names. The way that the fellas just were calling it Lord, Lord. And then they were like, this. I have Lord on my ass, dude.

[Chris]

Dude, they were like, we need to get Lord, Lord 26. And sure enough, PPY right there on the other cheek, dude.

[Dan]

And I'll tell you what, listen, boys, I love you and I'm so happy that you did this. It's not the best tattoo.

[Chris]

They couldn't sit down. We couldn't sit down.

[Dan]

It's not the best tattoo. The outline of the cup. Whoever this artist was didn't do the best job.

[Zach]

Dude.

[Chris]

The fuck.

[Dan]

It's not very symmetrical.

[Evan]

That. That. That's What? That's with 350 for both you.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah. You got a deal, dude. 350. I'll do it. Lefty.

[Dan]

Also shout out Bri. Brian. I were like. Everyone was trying to get us to do get tattoos, and I famously. I am a tattooless man, as is Brian. And we were just in the classic vortex of being like, should we do it? Should we do it? Yeah, obviously not gonna do it.

[Zach]

I'll get down just in case we don't get fucking. Yeah.

[Dan]

And Brian and Bry goes. At one point, he goes, dude, if I do this, my grandma will kill me. And that was it for us. We were like this. Oh, well, we're done. We're not doing this. Now the.

[Chris]

Somebody. Andy goes. The flight back to Winnipeg is gonna be so pa.

[Dan]

Correct.

[Chris]

Oh, my God.

[Zach]

True.

[Chris]

On that plane.

[Dan]

True.

[Chris]

I'm sure they haven't. They. I'm sure both of them have an exam coming up. All they. Every five seconds. They're missing exams, so that was insane. And then we go to the Bellagio or We. We were already there. They meet us there, and we are like, we have to play. We're playing craps till. Till noon.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

We are going in.

[Dan]

We tried it.

[Chris]

I have never seen more scumbag from the people working at that craft table. I can't swear. I can't say Edge. I hope Edge is still in that.

[Dan]

There's no way that's legal. Edge.

[Chris]

Yeah, we got yelled at. They said you could. They looked us in the face and said, you are not allowed to say the F word at this table because

[Zach]

it was in front of ladies. We. We said, oh, that's kind of nice.

[Dan]

I didn't hear that.

[Evan]

Imagine it. Like, how many people gambling who lose their shirts and just go so loud all the time the whole place.

[Dan]

Did they actually say it was because they were ladies?

[Zach]

Yeah, because they were ladies.

[Evan]

You know what? Who.

[Zach]

Hey, Dan.

[Chris]

Staff.

[Dan]

No, I like it.

[Chris]

The staff.

[Zach]

Who.

[Chris]

Who were the ladies there? They just called it a ple of the pants. Who were the ladies there that they were upset at?

[Zach]

The. The dealers.

[Chris]

The dealers, Dude.

[Zach]

The other ladies were saying, dude.

[Chris]

And we were. We weren't doing that. We were going like this.

[Dan]

Let's fucking lower the tone of your voice.

[Chris]

I will not. I am Fuming.

[Dan]

I did not know this. I actually think that that's great. If it was because there were ladies present, that. That's very classy, but they deserve to be chastised for everything else. They were terrible.

[Chris]

But you know what?

[Dan]

There's a part of me that thinks being in the 5am Crew must suck.

[Zach]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Evan]

Hard line.

[Chris]

Yeah. Good point.

[Dan]

That must stink. So I'm kind of like, we go

[Chris]

to the loony baby in at the Bellagio. We stumble out in the middle of the day.

[Dan]

How is there more to this story?

[Zach]

There isn't.

[Chris]

We stumble in the middle of the day. So maybe someone slept on the Bellagio floor. Maybe not. But do you have. Did you have. Do you have the video? I airdropped you. I'm gonna post this on the. On the grid, too. But this was just. And to. Just to give you guys a sense. We, We. The party was awesome. We were in the mixer. Happened.

[Zach]

That.

[Dan]

I will tell you.

[Chris]

And if any of you ever see me in person at another hockey event, I will tell you all these stories. But I'm not telling it on a recorded podcast. But we were in the mixer. Crazy shit going down at the club, and this was. This was all time. Will they be able to get the audio of this, Zach, or just. Just the video?

[Dan]

No, no, don't do the audio.

[Chris]

Just. We'll post it. I'll post it. I'll post on the grid. Yeah. Okay. So. Yeah. Is that up already? Yeah.

[Dan]

Can I take a moment to say the. The best part of this job and this amazing, blessed life that we have is as we've always gone on and on about hockey. People are so special.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

And I know people have seen us having the amazing opportunity to hang with these fellas in Milan. Now we got to hang in Raleigh, and now Vegas. Every single one of these guys are friends for life.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

This is not a surface level, like, oh, it's fun you guys are doing.

[Zach]

No, no, no.

[Dan]

I absolutely love these guys. I will be friends with them till the day I die. We'll talk to them till the day I die.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

They are such an unbelievable group of human beings, and this is the world that brings us together. It's. I'm so grateful.

[Zach]

It's amazing.

[Dan]

Yeah, absolutely. Evan just said that it's the friends we made along the way. It's absolutely true, man. And I just, like, I. I. I genuinely, genuinely love them, dude.

[Chris]

The group chats that have been going, that have been firing pics and videos from last night to each other, just remembering, like, do you remember this? Did you see this? Like, I don't, dad. Dan. Dan. I barely remember the party bus I was seeing get said to me like, oh, yeah, I forgot that happened. I almost got clotheslined by the cup at one point, and I'm, like, trying not to touch it, and Martinook was shaking it so hard. I'll show you this video. Literally, I was like, like, oh, my God. That would have been dumbies.

[Dan]

Okay, we got to get the fellas to airport here.

[Zach]

Yeah. Can I. Can I admit something that I did last night?

[Chris]

Yes, please, dude.

[Evan]

Oh, is that why my butt?

[Dan]

Did you.

[Chris]

No, not that.

[Dan]

Did you puke?

[Zach]

No. So when the, The. There was a moment where the cup was passing me, and it was kind of like people were, like, touching it and stuff as it was going by, and that little hallway right by. Dude, I gave the cup a kiss last night.

[Chris]

Are you my dad, dude?

[Zach]

No.

[Chris]

Are you kidding me? So give. Tell me every thing that happened in

[Zach]

what context people were tapping on and stuff as it went by.

[Dan]

We can. We can turn this video off, by the way. It's been on for 50.

[Zach]

Let me turn this hangover. Yeah, but, yeah, I gave the.

[Evan]

The.

[Zach]

The cup a kiss last night.

[Chris]

So it came by and you just leaned in.

[Zach]

I leaned in.

[Chris]

You leaned in and fucking smacked your

[Zach]

lips off just, like, a little real fast. Yeah. Wow.

[Dan]

Dude, isn't that crazy?

[Chris]

That was awesome.

[Zach]

It was like, it's my moment. Well, because people were, like, touching it, and, like.

[Chris]

Yeah, everyone was doing it.

[Zach]

Everybody was doing it. It was. No, it was sitting there for a while, and there was enough people touching it. I was like, I'm gonna kiss it real quick. And so I did.

[Chris]

Dude, did you touch it, Evan?

[Zach]

No.

[Evan]

No. I, I, I, I was pretty tired. Weird. Yeah, I left before you guys.

[Chris]

Yeah, but you were there. You had. You've got plenty of cup time, though. You were. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Evan]

I, I, I. Zach, it feels like you can't touch it. There's something about it.

[Chris]

Yeah, I can't do it. Zach has now kissed the Stanley Cup.

[Dan]

I love it.

[Chris]

Can you believe that tournament?

[Zach]

I love it.

[Dan]

It feels very. Zach, he's just.

[Zach]

I just said he's now the baseball producer.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Zach]

No more hockey anymore.

[Chris]

God, that is fucking awesome.

[Dan]

All right, we got to get the boys here to the airport, so we're gonna wrap things up. And normally, emotional Dan, I would go on a big speech about how unbelievable this year was. It's been a crazy year. Some downs, way more ups, and it's all because of you guys. But the good news is we don't have an offseason.

[Chris]

Correct.

[Dan]

So we'll fucking see you guys in like two days.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Dan]

Don't leave us is what I will say. We've got a ton of. Of great stuff coming out. Love island reviews are ripping right now. Like we said, last step. We've got a ton of people coming through, some of our amazing actor friends in this company, outside the company. Other creators are going to jump on. We're going to be doing so much stuff with the World cup. As long as that tournament's going on. So don't go anywhere. I know hockey season is over, but Netter season is never over. So stay with us.

[Chris]

It's going to be a blast.

[Zach]

Can we. Can we do.

[Evan]

Do.

[Zach]

Do one thing. Just play it out.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Well, yeah. Before you kind of say thanks to. Thanks to Saul and Schmoopy for giving us this incredible set. I think they maybe are still here.

[Dan]

Massive. Massive. Love, love. Love you. To Schmoops and to Sully. Because I. I said earlier, I was like, we're living large. Feel so safe here. I don't want to leave.

[Chris]

And then. Well, what are you gonna play us out with?

[Zach]

The. On I. Celebration from the Canes. So we have a bunch of videos of it. I think we should just do it.

[Chris]

I love it. And everyone in this chat. I don't know if I get. Do I talk after the video or is that just.

[Zach]

You can talk through the video. Yeah, it's.

[Chris]

Let it rip. Let it rip.

[Evan]

What?

[Dan]

Guys, like, we gotta go to the airport.

[Chris]

We gotta go right now. What a. What a season. What a moment for the Canes. What a moment for every Canes fan in this chat. This was an incredible run and I'm so happy for all of you. God, a ho. Dude, I was. He made me really pumped. Like, I was just so happy for him. God. Because he's been there the whole time.

[Dan]

They're. They're an incredibly, incredibly lovable team. Every one of these guys.

[Chris]

Amazing. He was. Dude, someone sent. So people were saying he was crying on the bench. That was so sick. I gotta get a video of that.

[Dan]

Halsey thrilled for a ledge beast.

[Chris]

God, you got some great stuff, boys.

[Dan]

I mean, this team has got to have some of the best contracts in the entire league. Bussy. Like I said 1.9 for like three more years.

[Chris]

Insane. He doesn't care. He doesn't care.

[Dan]

Doesn't care. We've got. I mean, the fact that Slavin's on 6.4. Sean Walker is on 3.6.

[Chris]

That is awesome pizza, dude. I remember that. Yeah.

[Dan]

And then how about this one? C.P. jackson Blake 5.12 until 2034. Yeah, that might be the best contract.

[Chris]

Are you kidding me?

[Dan]

Stank 6jarv742 775 Nick 85 Fishy 97 I mean this team is unbelievable.

[Chris]

Yeah, it's insane.

[Dan]

Oh, Jarvis the best.

[Chris]

Oh, that was unreal, dude. That's what that. In that moment he said there are not enough beers in Vegas. And I said, you are correct.

[Dan]

He was right.

[Chris]

Let's, let's, let's test that theory.

[Dan]

We actually ran out. Brian, Brian and I were. Brian and I were running out of beers. It was unbelievable.

[Chris]

Dude, when the beat.

[Dan]

No, no, no more stories. We got to wrap this up.

[Zach]

Yeah, we're all getting out.

[Evan]

All right.

[Dan]

Absolutely. Love you guys. We got got to wrap up. We will see you next episode. Congratulations, Canes. Congratulations, Canes fans.