The Golden Knights Outlast The Canes in a Marathon OT

Summary

Empty Netters Podcast — “The Golden Knights Outlast The Canes in a Marathon OT” (June 8, 2026)
Hosted by Chris & CP (Almost Friday Media)

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Episode Overview

This high-energy Empty Netters episode finds the brothers live in Las Vegas with T-Mobile Arena in their sights, breaking down the marathon double-overtime thriller that saw the Vegas Golden Knights outlast the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Amid hilarious sidetracking (including tales from a wild wedding featuring an oyster-eating marathon), Chris and CP deliver in-depth analysis on the game’s whiplash momentum swings, referee controversies, coaching news, major trade rumors (including Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck), and the strategic dilemmas each Cup contender now faces. Their banter blends fun, sharp hockey insight, and behind-the-scenes tidbits that only two former players could provide.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Wedding Hijinks and Stanley Cup Final Madness

• Chris & CP share that they had to split attention between a friend’s wedding and Game 3 (00:46–05:16).
  • CP: “I know people know me as a shrimp guy. But I was an oyster boy this one.” (05:02)
  • The duo and their degenerate gambler friend Aaron juggle wedding festivities and live bets, leading to comedic tension over their predictions and real-time betting swings.
• Memorable moment: CP gleefully admits consuming 20–24 oysters at the raw bar.

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2. Stanley Cup Final Game 3: Absolute Chaos in Vegas

• Game Progression Recap:

  • Vegas establishes a 4–0 lead, only for Carolina to storm back and tie it 4–4 with three goals in less than a minute, sending it to double overtime where Vegas ultimately prevails (03:22–25:20).
  • The hosts detail near-constant momentum swings and emotional rollercoasters for both fans and bettors.

• Disallowed Goals and Goalie Interference (08:25–11:23):

  • Two Vegas goals in the first period are overturned (offside and goalie interference).
  • Chris: “Every time there’s anyone near the goalie, it’s just such chaos … I hate this rule … There should be more clear, blunt rules.”
  • Both agree these repeated reviews and reversals are brutal for player psyche and fan experience.

• Notable Quote:

  • CP: “The cracked-out drunk-ass hockey continues. And game three was fucking bonkers.” (03:22)

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3. Marner’s Hat Trick & The Case for Toronto’s Accountability

• Mitch Marner explodes for a natural hat trick (and could've scored 6), highlighting what’s possible outside the Toronto market (13:08–18:32).
  • Chris: “It is so sick to watch this kid get a fresh start and perform this way … there’s no reason not to go, Damn proud of Mitch Marner. That was incredible.”
  • They discuss how Toronto’s environment may have suppressed Marner’s excellence, and how Vegas’ culture has unleashed him:
    • CP: “It’s clear no one enjoys the pressure in Toronto. But you had Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Willie Nylander for years … What have you done?”
  • Fun stat: Marner has 10 goals in these playoffs, compared to 13 total playoff goals with Toronto.

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4. Carolina’s Comeback & The Goalie Conundrum

• Carolina’s frantic third-period rally (three goals in under 39 seconds) sees Vegas’ lead erased, showing the Hurricanes’ resilience and confirming this as an all-timer Cup series (22:04–25:20).
  • CP: “If you’re Vegas, you are like, yo, calm down, Chill. Everyone calm down. And then less than that … Stall scores. And it’s like, jesus Christ, dude. How do you even let that happen?”
  • Chris (on Carter Hart): “Having a four-nothing lead, shut out deep into the third, and then it’s go, go, go, go, go, go, go, tied. … I don’t feel as though I’m playing bad, but this is wild.”

OT Breakdown & Vegas’ Mental Toughness

• Double OT ends on a flukey bounce goal by Shea Theodore; importance of this win for Vegas’ confidence (27:19–28:18).
  • CP: “So crucial that Vegas wins that game … to not blow that lead. … It was very big for Vegas to end Carolina’s undefeated OT streak this postseason.”

Goaltending Dilemma for Carolina (28:18–42:22)

• Should they stick with Freddy Andersen (struggling, .818 SV%) or turn to Bussey (who looked outstanding in relief)?
  • CP: “Freddy has not looked great at any point in these playoffs, with the exception of that crazy paddle save in game two.” (31:01)
  • Both agree: “If you start one, you have to ride with him the rest of the series.”
  • Chris: “I think I’d go Bussy. I bet it’s Freddy.”

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5. Trade Rumors & NHL Hot Stove

Dylan Larkin’s Trade Watch (43:36–62:36)

• Official trade request; three preferred teams leaked: Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights, and Florida Panthers.
  • CP: “Dylan Larkin is way fucking better than a lot of you people realize. He’s a natural born leader.”
  • They analyze why Florida’s 9th overall pick is likely trade bait and wonder about cap gymnastics required for any deal.
  • Discussion includes optics of “cup chasing” and rumored leak strategy to pressure Yzerman.
  • Notable speculation: “If you lose Dylan Larkin, you are re—this is, you’re blowing up. You are rebuilding.”
  • Fun “what if”: Would New Jersey swap Nico Hischier for Larkin? Would Carolina/Boston be even better fits?

Ring Chasing vs. Loyalty Debate

• Is it fair for players to pick only elite teams for trades?
  • CP: "I laugh like a witch in the face of people who have a problem with ring chasing … the only thing in the world that matters is winning if you’re a competitor."
  • Contrast with NBA “ring chasing,” and how winning the Cup is so much harder.
  • Zach’s Take: Fair to criticize if bolting from a close/contending club, but not if you’ve spent a decade losing (as Larkin has in Detroit) (58:11–59:20).

Connor Hellebuyck Trade Rumors (62:36–64:25)

• Emerging reports Hellebuyck may want out of Winnipeg.
  • CP (joking): “If we potentially have Larks, Auston, Brady, Connor, Leon, and Hellebuyck all this summer … I will die of erection poison.”

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6. League News: Coaches Carousel

Peter Laviolette Hired by LA Kings (64:25–69:45)

• Examination of NHL’s “old boys club” problem, weighing pros and cons of established veteran coaches versus giving fresh minds a shot.
  • CP: “It is the fear element. … At least this [Laviolette] is a switch up, but the roster makeup is changing … it would make sense to try to go and find your John Cooper.”

Mike Babcock to Edmonton? (69:36–74:02)

• Oilers’ front office reportedly seeks permission to interview Babcock.

  • Immediate, near-unanimous derision from hosts.
  • CP: “If the Edmonton Oilers hire Babcock and I’m Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, I send in my trade request one hour later.”
  • Chris: “I would give all the money in my account to be there the first time Babcock asks to see McDavid’s phone.”

• Wider Roster Philosophy:

  • Chris and CP say Edmonton should consider blowing up roster and trading McDavid if another playoff failure looms.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Wedding Oysters & Shrimp Banter: 04:44–06:16
• Disallowed Vegas Goals / Goalie Interference Debate: 08:25–11:23
• Marner’s Hat Trick & Toronto Guilt: 13:08–18:32
• Carolina’s 3-Goal Comeback & Goalie Dilemma: 22:04–42:22
• Larkin Trade Rumors + Ring Chasing: 43:36–62:36
• Connor Hellebuyck Rumors: 62:36–64:25
• Laviolette to LA Discussion: 64:25–69:45
• Mike Babcock to Oilers Backlash: 69:36–74:02

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Notable Quotes

• CP (on Game 3): “The cracked-out drunk-ass hockey continues. And game three was fucking bonkers.” (03:22)
• Chris (disallowed goals): “Every time there’s anyone near the goalie, it’s just such chaos … I hate this rule.” (09:20)
• CP (Marner in Vegas): “It’s clear no one enjoys the pressure in Toronto. … But you had Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Willie Nylander for years. … What have you done?” (16:35)
• Chris (Carolina’s stormback): “Having a four-nothing lead, shut out deep into the third, and then it’s go, go, go, go, go … I don’t feel as though I’m playing bad, but this is wild.” (23:49)
• CP (on Larkin): “He is way fucking better than a lot of you people realize. He’s a natural born leader and he will be that wherever he goes.” (47:56)
• Chris (Babcock to Edmonton): “I would give all the amount of money in my bank account to be there the first time Mike Babcock asks to see Connor McDavid’s phone.” (70:26)

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

• Energy/Vibe: Fast-paced, comedic, candid, sometimes explicit. Frantically fun and full of inside hockey knowledge.
• Analysis: Sharp insights entwined with storytelling and strong opinions, never dry, always with a player’s perspective.
• Engagement: Even though the conversation is meandering, all major Cup Final developments, goalie strategies, and league news are covered with both serious and lighthearted takes.

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For Non-Listeners

This episode is a quintessential Empty Netters ride: laugh-out-loud wedding stories, NHL “group chat” analysis, live hockey brain, and no-ego, brotherly razzing. If you missed the game (or the news), you’ll understand every major Cup trend, the goalie chess game, trade rumor context, and what makes playoff hockey culture so damn unique.

Transcript

[Chris]

The Stanley cup final, the final series, the final handshake line, the final chance to have your heart broken or watch

[CP]

your team make history.

[Chris]

For the next few weeks, nothing else matters.

[CP]

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

[CP]

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

[Chris]

Two fan bases, two cities, one cup.

[CP]

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.

[CP]

Outside the arenas, inside the arenas with

[Chris]

Hurricanes fans who have waited years for this run.

[CP]

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.

[CP]

So whether you're chasing your first cup

[Chris]

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

[CP]

Miles on the road, voices nearly gone,

[Chris]

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

[CP]

One trophy, one champion, one last push.

[Chris]

The Stanley cup final starts now.

[CP]

An empty netters is coming.

[Chris]

We are so back.

[CP]

We are so back. And we are live from Vegas. Here we are. You can see in the background. We got T Mobile arena right here. Shout out to the park. MGM and BetMGM bringing you this podcast. It's amazing to be back, boots on the ground. And we want to do a quick shout out and a quick thank you to all of the fans for not only understanding, but celebrating us getting to go and celebrate our dear, dear friends Soph and Loop getting married this week.

[Chris]

That's our. That's our glue guy right there.

[CP]

That's our guy. That's our best guy.

[Chris]

And, you know, we said. I remember. I remember looking at him and he got engaged and I. And we said, not in June.

[CP]

Don't do it.

[Chris]

Don't do early June. And he went, I won't. I promise. And then he went, It's June 6th. I was like, that feels early to me. But the last few years, the Cup, I feel like starts even after that. So I was like, maybe we'll get lucky. And it was early enough.

[CP]

There's a chance. It was, like, right at the beginning, but it was smack dab in the middle. And I'll tell you what, it was a blast.

[Chris]

It was a blast.

[CP]

Here we are, folks. It is the day before game four. We are Here boots on the ground in Vegas doing so much. We're going to be back tomorrow at 6:30pm Eastern time for Stanley cup live on the NHL YouTube back hosting. Alexis going to join us. Going to have so many guests. It's going to be amazing. So much fun. But we're here now. We're going to get into game three. We're also going to get into some craziness.

[Chris]

Little news broke, little news broke.

[CP]

Been a little bit wild in the NHL. We've got a coaching hire. We've got Dylan Larkin's possible destinations. We've got rumors of another trade destination and rumors of another coaching.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

So we're going to get into all that. But first and foremost the cracked out drunk ass hockey continues. And game three was fucking bonkers. We had a four nothing lead, then we had a four, four tie, then we had double ot. But at the end of the day, Vegas is up to one going into game.

[Chris]

Yeah. And before we kind of go through the game, you know, in a minor way. Oh yeah. I got to tell you, it was insane for us because you know, we're on the east coast. This, this game is starting like right as the wedding is ramping. Right. Like puck drop. It's like, okay, the dinner's over and let's go.

[CP]

People saw the bet, dude.

[Chris]

So we, we're watching the first 10 and then we kind of release into the dance floor. And then I, I'm just kind of checking and I go 00 after 1. And then you had talked to one of our boys being like take the over. And he's pissed because he's like, he's showing you the phone.

[CP]

We got to do, we got to get into all that. It was amazing.

[Chris]

But basically it was just so crazy because we're my, my experience was basically like, oh, refresh 00, refresh for nothing. Refresh 4 4. And I was like, it's going on, dude. It was so nuts. I couldn't wait to get back and watch it down. So yeah, let's get into it.

[CP]

It was absolutely fucking bonkers, dude. First and foremost, just the wedding in general. Incredible. Such a good wedding. So much fun. I know people know me as a shrimp guy. Yeah. But I was an oyster boy, this one.

[Chris]

And we were in oyster heaven.

[CP]

I the, the oysters and the shrimp at the raw bar at this wedding, both the welcome drinks and the wedding were to die for. And at the wedding itself. I am not exaggerating. I swear I'm not exaggerating. I think I had roughly 20 to 24 oysters.

[Chris]

Did you?

[CP]

Yes. I just. There were so many good pass around. There was this one little, like, cracker biscuit filled with goat cheese, topped with a little bruschetta.

[Chris]

Oh. Oh.

[CP]

That was out of this world.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

But I kept going up for more oysters. At one point, Alice was like, what's. What number is that? Like, are you okay? And I was like, I've never been.

[Chris]

Yeah, well, she. She got worried because those are nature's greatest aphrodisiac.

[CP]

Your boy was horned up all wedding long.

[Chris]

Dude. I probably only had nine, but I wish I had 30. Also, the steak d' artar thing was.

[CP]

Yes. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Let's get into the bet.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

I had had one of the best days of all time at the office. So we love a gift bet. For those who saw that post go up, we did with Dr. Locks. The gift is golden. First 10 minutes.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

Yes or no? We went no. Which was insane because I also bet the over.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

And what was funny is our boy Shout out Aaron. Our boy Aaron, who's a degenerate gambler

[Chris]

in the best way.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Responsible.

[CP]

Just responsibly.

[Chris]

Responsibly.

[CP]

Aaron's like, what's. What's the action today? And I go, we're hitting the over.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

We're hitting Jack Eichel point.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

And we're hitting Vegas first goal.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

And he was like, boom.

[Chris]

I'm in it.

[CP]

I'm on all of it. Pretty sure Aaron did individual on all and parlay.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

Which is just beautiful. I mean, like, Aaron beautiful, man. But then I do no goal in the first 10 minutes. We get that video set up. We're watching the game. Aaron comes over and he goes, what are we on? I go, gift. And he was like, yes, of course. And I was like, no goal. And he was like, we're on the over.

[Chris]

Why would we. Why would we be on no goal in the first 10 minutes?

[CP]

And I was like, just trust me, dude. Just please trust me. And he did not trust me. He immediately got mad. But you all saw the video. We nailed the game. We hit immediately after that. I'm like, okay, now we need some goals. First period, end snowball. And I'm like, oh, all right. I'm standing at the bar. Aaron comes running up to me, and he's like, dude, you fucked me. You absolutely fucked. It's zero.

[Chris]

Zero.

[CP]

There's no fuck. And I was like, can you just relax, dude? Have you looked at these two? Look at how many insane things happened in the second or third Period. Just calm down. And he's like, no, dude, there's fucking no way.

[Chris]

We're dead.

[CP]

And then we are partying. We're ripping up the dance floor. I was on your shoulders at one point.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah.

[CP]

That was great. I go up to Aaron. There's three minutes left in the second period. And I show him the phone. Four nothing. Vegas. Jack Eichel. Point on the first goal. Mitch Marner, Natty Hattie. And we're laughing. We've got two of the three. And now all we need is two goals and we have a full period to do it. And he was like, holy shit, dude. Unbelievable. And then the best part was, Chris, I'm running around the wedding. I came up to you.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

When it got tied, four, four. And I was like, holy shit. Like, this is the craziest game of all time. And I just show it to Aaron and he goes the over, dude. Like he didn't give a shit.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, right?

[CP]

This game was stormed back in time. It was actually like five minutes later. Because he's rooting for Vegas because he's a Jack guy. Chumsford boy. Yeah. He comes up to me, he's like, fuck, dude, Vegas might not win now. And I was like, yeah, yeah, now it's clicking for you, Aaron.

[Chris]

So my favorite part, dude, was if he. I thank God, because, dude, we have been in rooms with him where a bet isn't going our way in real time. And he is. He's unwell.

[CP]

Oh, he's out of control.

[Chris]

I thank God that we weren't watching the second period live with him. Because if he had vague since he had Vegas first goal, the fact that Vegas scored and then it was challenged disallowed, then scored again and then challenged disallowed, he would have been losing his fucking mind. But then obviously Vegas gets the first one. Anyway, I want to talk about those real quick. Mark Stone gets the first on a little breakaway pass. And he goes. They. They score. I think it was maybe Freddy five hole. And then they challenge offside, which it was. And then the second one, I forget. Maybe the chat can tell me. I forget who got the second Vegas goal that didn't count. But then they call that one goalie interference. And I didn't get a great look at it, to be honest with you, because it was chaotic as we were watching this back down. But I am like, man, dude, I hate this. I hate this rule.

[CP]

And not even.

[Chris]

Because I'm saying that was a bad call. I'm just saying every time there's anyone near the goalie. It's just such chaos.

[CP]

I do wonder if we need more blunt, clear rules when it comes to this type of shit, because then it just. There, there. Then there's no debate.

[Chris]

Right?

[CP]

It's like if you literally touch the goalie for the net. Touch him.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

For the next two minutes, the play is goalie interview. Yes, it should. It should almost be like offside. I know. It's like you have a chance to not shoot the puck on the net for two minutes because it's not going to count. Yeah, obviously that's ridiculous. But you get what I'm saying. Because it is so annoying how anytime this happens, no one knows what it is. Everyone's like, yeah. I mean, well, we'll see here. Now we're league guys and I'm gonna go ahead and defend the league here and say it's just tough. This is a very tough thing to deal with. It's like, dude, you know, Are people saying it was Jack? It was Jack.

[Chris]

Yeah. Eichel had it. And then I think Barbie. Barbie hit Anderson.

[CP]

Yeah. That was interesting, by the way. It looked like Anderson might have gotten a little conked on that play.

[Chris]

Well, that's not one that I never get.

[CP]

And it's not shocking that he gives up four goals right after that. But yeah, I, I. The goal interference thing sucks. It hasn't. It's obviously, it's come up here a couple times now with goals getting taken away or goals being allowed. Whatever, whatever. It sucks when it happens, but it's part of the game. I don't think that there's a fix for it.

[Chris]

Yep. Yeah. Agree. Certainly not in the immediate. So I wanted to bring those up because I have something to say about them later. But also I want to give the Vegas team in this stage of the game a lot of credit because is as good as you're feeling where you're going. I've seen two go in that can be so demoralizing in a, in a big swing playoff game when the series is tied, when you feel like you have two goals and the emotions like you see them, they jump around. It's not like one of those disallowed goals where right away the refs going like this. Those were both goal.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

To celebrate with the team run down the bench and then challenge gets ripped away from you and you're like, so, so much credit to that team and the fans just staying in it, staying on it. Being like, this is going to break through. This is going to break through. And then My God. Did it.

[CP]

C.P. and I were at a game once where someone scored a hat trick goal and hats rained onto the ice. And then it was challenged and taken away. And I was like, that's the most devastating thing I've.

[Chris]

Ever. Lose your lid for that.

[CP]

All of these people should get their hats back.

[Chris]

Yep. Okay, so then, dude, Vegas power play. Michael gets your point. I think it was past a hurdle. Great pass. No, look, Jack come from behind the net. Yeah. And that's what I was going to say. That was a big goal for me because finally they get one that counts. And like we said in game two, your fear was, oh, here comes the canes power play. And then in here now, like, right away at home, getting a power play goal. I feel like that was so big, not only to get the one goalie, but also just to be like, see power plays humming. We're fine. We're in this, too.

[CP]

Yeah. I mean, listen, man, Like, I don't. It's. It's been a couple days. I. I'm not being lazy here. I don't want to, like, step by step through this game. But to your point, that was so massive. Like, it was like after the goal's taken away, to then get the power play Jack buzzing. Like, it's. It's ridiculous to say after how it went, but on that goal, you felt kind of like, this. Vegas is winning this game.

[Chris]

Yeah. And.

[CP]

And it's just like, you. You've. You've this. You've now scored three goals, right? With. With all of that wind taken out of your sale, you're kind of like, okay, dude, we're in Vegas. People are going crazy here. It's Saturday night. Loop's getting married across.

[Chris]

Yeah. Which they know.

[CP]

Everyone's out of control. Jack's wheeling and dealing. That goal happens. And then Mitch comes Marner show, dude. It's like, frankly, Chris, even before the second and third goal, which was insane, and we'll then talk about Mitch, but, like, Mitch then scores, and I was like, oh, my God, dude. You are dead.

[Chris]

Yeah, dude. So it was crazy because you're right when Mitch. Mitch's second is the one that he just fires in front and it hits, like, Sean Walker maybe or something, I can't remember. But Mitch hits, Sean Walker, ricochets in. And I actually felt like that was more of a Vegas is going to win now because you get the power play goal, and then you get pucks ricocheting in. They should have four goals. And you're like, all right, this game's Fucked. We're dead if you're Carolina.

[CP]

Yes. That.

[Chris]

That's how I was feeling in that moment.

[Zach]

I was incredibly, like, out of my mind. Almost like, wow.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Zach]

You know what I mean? And I. The. The moment that struck it for me was the Mitch martyr interview.

[CP]

Oh.

[Chris]

Oh, yeah.

[Zach]

When he's like, at the end of the second period, he's like, oh, yeah, you know, we have a lot more left. But it feels so great. It just felt like it was over.

[Chris]

They're chilling, right?

[Zach]

Yeah, they were chilling.

[Chris]

That's a great point, Zach. They feel calm. They feel calm Even when these goals aren't going in. Mitch ricochets that one in. And then. Dude, this was actually. I obviously saw the score sheet that Mitch had a hattie. But what I couldn't believe, the most shocking thing to me was Mitch could have had fucking six goals that game, legitimately. Six or seven goals. Because after he gets the second one, he gets sprung on the breakaway, which gets stopped.

[CP]

Yeah, that was crazy.

[Chris]

But then that same shift is when it comes back to him, and then he goes, like, forehand, backhand around Freddy with a nasty tuck. So then he's fucking, man vibing.

[CP]

Yep.

[Chris]

In that moment. And, dude, then the third one was so epic because it's such sickness from Mitch that he sees the puck. Puck getting turned over in his own D zone, and he takes off early, which is not cheating. There are. What does Shelley always say? Anticipating. It's anticipating. Great forwards anticipate, but some, like Patrick Kane and Cooch sometimes are quote, unquote, cheating more than they're anticipating. But I want them to do that.

[CP]

You're Patrick Kane, like, get.

[Chris]

Get behind the D when you can. That play by Mitch wasn't cheating at all. That was straight up vision, anticipation. He sees what's happening, and he's just the first to react. But it was epic because he gets that pass and he's so gassed. He's like, if on a fresher shift, he turns that into a breakaway. But he's like, I don't have the legs. I'm just going to come down and hammer a fucking clapper. And then it goes far posted in and him going like this. I am a God.

[CP]

Oh, dude, that. That celebration. And then I. I forget who said it. Someone was talking about it. It was like, I think I've seen Mitch hit more clappers in this series alone than he has in his entire career. Which then goes into the amazing stat that's going around. It's like in Mitch's entire history with The Toronto Maple Leafs. He has, I think it's 13 goals in the playoffs.

[Chris]

That sounds right.

[CP]

And he has 10 in these playoffs. God damn. And I, I actually want to talk about that. There are a lot of people, I think, like, Biz and Whit and Yans were talking about this and they were like, you mean, like Vegas is just a better team and. And that's obviously a huge factor and they are, but I, That's. I'm not letting Toronto off the hook for that. It's like, I'm so.

[Chris]

About Mitch. I see. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[CP]

People are like, how does he have 10 goals in these playoffs? And he had 13 in his entire career with Toronto. And there's like, there are a number of things to look at. One, he is. He's a Toronto boy playing for his hometown team with the insane media and the insane fans and the pressure off and playing in a fun, amazing place like Vegas has just made him be like, fucking rights. I'm just, I'm letting it rip now. I'm flowing. The other is, well, Vegas is just a way better team, so he's thriving on said better team. And my response to that is both scenarios is a knock on Toronto.

[Chris]

Correct.

[CP]

Like you. I. Yes, I do think that it's a. It's partially a pressure thing. And that's not saying he can't handle the pressure. It is clear that no one enjoys the pressure in Toronto. But I think it's another thing. It's like, look at this fucking team, dude. You had Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Willie Nylander for years.

[Chris]

Years.

[CP]

You're bad. Like, what have you done? So either way, I'm like, Toronto, you up?

[Chris]

Yeah. No, it's a nightmare, dude. And watching him, I gotta say dude as. Because. Because I think it was Vixen. Someone said he had the penalty shot too, which we were talking about, which also was.

[CP]

Imagine if he had six goals.

[Chris]

That's what I'm saying. Like, legitimately, he had a Hattie and he could have scored six times, which is lunacy. And he. That was actually a great save by Bussy. And obviously we'll get to Bussy in a second because that was a pretty good move, but it was a great play to get the breakaway. He is on. I was about to say he's on another level, but it's not a level that we ever thought Mitch Marner couldn't be as a. As hockey fans, you watch this guy play and you see he's 100 point guy and you see what he's capable of. Now, I know people want to go, he's not a playoff performer. To your point. He's kind of been point per game his whole career in playoffs, so fuck off with the. He's not a playoff performer. Yeah, we want more goals for sure.

[CP]

For sure.

[Chris]

But, dude, it brings me such joy to watch a guy, and this is coming as a dude who grew up a Bruins fan who has never really cared for Toronto and has had many battles with Mitch Marner, you know, as a. As a. Watching the Bruins against the Leafs. But, dude, it is so sick to watch this kid get a new fresh start and perform this way. Win or lose, win or lose. But you best believe if they win, he's winning. Fucking Conn Smythe, which is epic. But win or lose, unless you just love the Leaf so much and, like, hate him because he left or something, I don't know how you can't be happy for him, the hockey player, him, the person, even Kane's fans, once the dust settles, if you lose and you're like, I hate Vegas for a window because that's fandom and I have no problem with that at all. Once the dust settles, if you love hockey, you. There's no reason to not go. Damn proud of Mitch Marner. That was incredible.

[CP]

100%, dude. Like, that is fucking. Just unbelievable. And with all of the. Hold on real quick. Hey, before you say a word, you're live on the show right now. And don't say anything. Don't even speak so people can hear your voice. We're not going to talk. I'm just going to say you're the best, I love you, and I'll call you back soon.

[Chris]

Buzz you back. So, yeah, go, Zach.

[Zach]

Can we unpack that?

[CP]

Yeah, that was. No, there's. There's just awesome news that has happened to one of our favorite people, one of our favorite players that we're not going to talk about yet. And it'll come out soon.

[Zach]

Very nice, very nice, very nice.

[Chris]

So Marner, natural Hattie, the hats are raining down, the crowd's going apeshit. Marner gives his interview. Like Zach was saying, we go into the third, and I for sure was like, man, this Vegas has been dominate. And I said to you out loud, I was like, if you look at game one, the Canes go up. But then it really felt like a crazy Vegas run to win that game. And then game two, they're winning for 50 minutes and then they fall asleep for five, and then now it's four nothing. I started to get sad with you there? I was like, man, this might be a runaway. Because even number Arcanes fan friends were texting us with 10 minutes left in the third of game two, going like this. Holy. We're gonna get swept. And then I was like, oh, no, now it's series. And then at 4, nothing. I was like, oh, no, this is. This could be five. And all our fears were confirmed. Yeah. To come out in the third period. And I'm pretty sure Marner had the penalty shot. When it was. When it was into the third, still for nothing but to get the actors, it was because it was bussy. So to get that save and then Explode has made this the greatest series ever. First of all, one of the great games ever. Second of all, and third of all, for all the credit I just gave to Vegas for being resilient and scoring two goals and having them challenged and coming back. All of that and more onto this Cane's team for going, fuck you, we. I said after game two, there's no quit. We do belong. And then they just went, dude two. Oh, come back. Hold my beer, bitch. Yeah. Like, what a fucking moment for that team.

[CP]

So, God. So C.P. and I always say when you're down multigol going into the third period, you set benchmarks. And this is. This is something that a team does. So you know, this is good. Inside baseball, when you're talking on the bench, you're talking in the locker room. If you're down by a couple of goals, three goals, in this case four goals, you kind of just look at everyone and say, hey, boys, if we get a goal by minute X, we're fine. We're still in this. So you got to kind of set those benchmarks. And if it's two goals, if you're down two goals and you go into the third and you go, hey, if we score before eight minutes left in the game, we're alive. Because you make it a one goal game. You got eight minutes left. You are fucking fine. You're laughing in this one. You're like, we gotta get one early. Yeah, gotta get one early. It's four goals. We get one early, we get one in the first five minutes. It's a game. Like it's. It's three goals. Sure. But like, we can get two goals and then pull the goalie. Figure something out. When seven minutes goes by, you are kind of like, fuck me.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah, this one's tough.

[CP]

Like, I don't know that we can come back. The fact we again, we've had three games in the Stanley Cup Final. All three games have gotten the official Dano stamp of great action. Like, great action in every game. And this one came when three fucking goals were scored in 39. Yeah, I don't even know how that happens. Like, truly, when you.

[Chris]

It feels impossible when you are as

[CP]

good of a team as Vegas and you. Boom.

[Chris]

Goal.

[CP]

I think. What was the first one, Chris? I think the first one was like. No, no, no, sorry. The. The time between the second and third goal was actually shorter than the first,

[Chris]

I can tell you.

[CP]

But the first and second was like 26 seconds. And when that happens, Martinuk scores. 26 seconds later, Taylor hall scores.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

If you're Vegas, you are like, yo, calm down, Chill. Everyone calm down. And then less than that. 13 seconds. Yeah, yeah, 13 seconds. Stall scores. And it's like, jesus Christ, dude. How do you even let that happen?

[Chris]

Someone in the chat tell us, was there a timeout called at any point in that run? Like, did they call timeout after the second? Did they call timeout after the third? That's what I'm curious about. Not later.

[CP]

If they called timeout after the second. Everyone. Everyone on the ice is fired after

[Chris]

that third goal, dude, because the Martinuk one, it's like.

[CP]

It's the.

[Chris]

It was just a scramble. And, dude, I actually feel bad because it. This is two games in a row where Carter Hart is pitching a shutout, and then one goes in. I remember when. Who scored the first one in game two. Oh, stank. I remember when that stank one goes in and it bounces off of. I forget who. One of the defenders, but it bounces off of someone and goes in. And Carter Hart's like, damn, yeah, there goes my shutout. But we still win.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

And then it was like Jankowski was like, bang, goal. And I remember Carter Hart kind of just always being like, are you kidding me, dude? Like, now. Now it's tied and having a. A four nothing lead. Shutter deep into the third. And then it's like this. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, Tide. He's like, dude, I don't feel as though I'm playing bad, but this is. And the first one was another one like that. It was kind of a jam goal.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

And then the second one, and for people that have been talking about him, unbelievable pass from Ajo to see Taylor hall whipped on a backhand sauce going 30 miles an hour back that Halsey bangs in. So that was actually really sick. And Carhartt's like, you got to be kidding me. And then, dude, Jordan Stahl has turned into Joe Pavelski with the sauciest tips I've ever seen. Netfront, if you're Vegas, I'm like, move him out of the way. He is a wizard with that wand. It's ridiculous.

[CP]

So less than two minutes left. Carolina gets a peeper and scores. And it's Fetch. Absolutely huge. Game is tied. We go to ot. You mentioned earlier, CP great in game two when Carolina figured out the power play, and in this game they're one for two. So 50% getting that power play goal. Huge. And the other thing, Carolina fans looking for things to cling to, hope to cling to Taylor hall scoring in this game and fetch the cop scoring in this game to a power play goal is fucking monsters. Absolutely monstrous. So, like, there's a lot of hope here. So I don't really know if you have much to say about ot. I don't.

[Chris]

All I had to say about this fetch goal was, and, dude, we don't want to put the stamp up again, but great action. Unbelievable. I'm so glad he tied it. But it's that goal to me isn't that far. And I'm. People are gonna get mad at me in the chat, but that goal to me isn't that far. From the Barbie. No goal where it was like, there's a thousand people sitting on a goalie, sticks are waving, the puck is loose the whole time, and it goes in and everyone's like, goal. And I'm like, that was amazing. But the Barbie goal, I'm like, I think people appreciate you saying I'm like the Barbie. The same thing happened. There was a thousand people sitting on the goalie and sticks were swinging and a puck got hit and it went in the net like people are hitting Carter. You know, it was chaos. I think they both should have been goals. I'm not saying set him in the lab. I'm saying that is. That's a scrum. That's a good scrum. Good goal. That's a good goal.

[CP]

It's a great scrum. So we go to ot. I First OT was pretty chaotic. We actually, by this point, the. The wedding had ended. We had moved on to post game parties. We went a. Shout out, Richard. I want to shout out Richard.

[Chris]

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

[CP]

Yeah, our guy. So we went to. Hold on, I will get this right now. We. Yep, we move and we wind up at this amazing bar. Say the name again.

[Chris]

Talk house.

[CP]

Talk House. Thank you. And we meet Richard there, who is just like the sweetest dude in the entire world. I'm so pumped that we finally met him and just had such a blast. And we were able to watch a bunch of the game, which is just sick. So, yeah, talk house was gas.

[Chris]

Yeah. Incredible spot.

[CP]

Fun, fun spot. Hampton's Richard the goat and Richard is the absolute man. Richard cannot wait to come back and cannot wait to see you. So we got to watch the game in there, which was a blast. First OT we were watching and I was like, holy hell, these guys are gassed.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

Like, they were so wiped. And obviously second ot, same deal. It is a massive bummer that that game ends the way it does with a crazy ricochet shot off the boards, then off busy and in. Shout out.

[Chris]

Theo happy for Shay.

[CP]

Couple things to say. One so crucial that Vegas wins that game.

[Chris]

Yes.

[CP]

And again, we always talk about the discomfort of Vegas and them being fine in it. I genuinely think if they lost that it would not have killed them. They would be like this. Are you fucking. It wouldn't be like, oh my God, we are dead.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

However, it would have been the similar to last round. Carolina being like, well, well, well.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[CP]

Getting us and then two back to back OT wins. That would have been huge. It would have been continued undefeated by Carolina in ot. So like that was very, very big. It was very big for Vegas to sort of end the similarities of round three for Carolina to end their undefeated streak in overtime and just more than anything to not blow that lead. The big questions for me are now, do you. What is Carolina doing in that?

[Chris]

Okay, so this is what I wanted to talk.

[CP]

So like game over. Vegas wins. They're up to one. They have home ice. Huge game for Carolina here tomorrow night. And you now officially have a question in net if you're Carolina. Freddy. I think it's an 818 save percentage in this round. It's just not good. I mean, like, this is a guy who came in and he was a. He was a what? Cp Top three. Con Smythe, Freddy favorite.

[Chris]

If. If they won, he was going to win it.

[CP]

Yes. Yeah, he was the guy. Like, it was hall for a while after two rounds, but after the Eastern Conference final, it was like if they have a console with winner, it's going to be Freddie. You're dead now.

[Chris]

Like you most likely.

[CP]

So. So he came in. I think Bussy made 18 saves.

[Chris]

Dude, dude, it was in the third. Sometimes you see Caroline in the third or any period. I mean, dude, I act. It is a ph phenomenon what Carolina does to Vegas in the first period. Yeah, Vegas shoots twice in the first period every Single game. I think the most shots they've had in the first, I think it's gone 2, 4, 2, literally in the first period, which is insane. And then Vegas murders them in the second period, every game. So anyway, Vegas, nine shots in the third, seven shots in the first overtime, and then three in the second overtime. Does that, say Theodore count as a shot on goal? That's what a fascinating question. Yes, it does, because it misses the net, hits the end boards, hits the goalie and goes in.

[CP]

Yes, it's a goal.

[Chris]

Yeah, it has to. Crazy. Anyway, Bussy comes in. So this is the reason I brought up. One of the reasons I brought up the two disallowed goals in the first is. And we always talk to Wyatt about this, even though they don't count to a goalie, a puck's going past you. Yeah, I remember we were talking about Sway. Someone hits a high stick, a clear high stick, and it goes in. It still sucks because he's like, that did go past me. You know, I want to block everything. So if you're Freddie, you've given up four, but actually six, because you're like, fuck, I'm getting cheesed. The tricky part is the first hurdle. Goal is a point blank shot, right? Like, I go to hurdle. He's nude and he goes, cheese. High glove. The second goal kicks in off Shawn Walker. Literally not Freddy's fault at all. The third goal is Marner walking down Main Street. Forehand, backhand. Good move. The fourth goal is a clapper that Freddie probably wants.

[CP]

Def.

[Chris]

Is it Just kind of beat him here. But again, how often do we say it went posting it? So I'm like, yep.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Was his angle not perfect?

[CP]

Sure.

[Chris]

But, like, it's a low clapper posting

[CP]

in blocker side, dude. So first of all, CP staying consistent, protect our goalies. And I really appreciate that from you. That said, at the end of the day, I think Kane's fans would agree. Freddy has not looked great at any point in these playoffs, with the exception of that crazy paddle save in game two. Yeah, and that was one save.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[CP]

It's not like it was even a stretch. Like, his numbers have been bad for him. He doesn't look confident. And I think that is the problem. Yes, we're three of the four, if not four of the four of those goals. Like, man, those are tough ones, sure. But in order to win a Stanley cup, you do need games multiple. Ideally, where your goalie is so dialed that when you're playing in front of him, you are going, I Know he's got us.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

Right now, I'm sure the Canes players feel that way if Freddy's in that regardless because they're such a tight knit group and believe in their guys. But if we're talking objectively, they can't feel that way. Like, if I come out in game four, right. And a goal goes in and Vegas gets the first goal and I'm McCain's defenseman, I go, Fuck me.

[Chris]

If Freddy's in net 100%. Yep. That's fair. That's a fair take.

[CP]

I feel that way before the game even starts.

[Chris]

That's a fair take.

[CP]

Like, I am throwing my face first. I'm going full McNabb in front of every shot because I'm like, I don't believe he's dialed right.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

And that is a horrible feeling. And that's not me talking shit about Freddy. It's me looking at the numbers and the tea leaves.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

If you have an 818 safe percentage through three games, Stanley Cup Final, I do not feel confident. How could you possibly feel confident? So, yes, if you start Freddy and a quick goal goes in, if Vegas gets the first goal again, you are not freaking out. You're not thinking. You're out of it. Because bang, look at what happened in game two. Look at what happened in game three. But you are like, fuck me. I do not know if I trust Freddy to make a big save so quick. That's a problem.

[Chris]

That's a huge problem. Quick shout out McNabb, by the way, for just being literally fine, putting a birdcage on and having like two assists or something.

[CP]

There is no chance that a single molecule of air is getting through his

[Chris]

nose, dude, literally, what happened? Like, I actually want to know what happened. Like, you took a 90 mile an hour slapshot to the beak and I'm like, are you okay?

[CP]

Fucking mutant.

[Chris]

Anyway, so for me, dude, Bussy comes in, plays awesome, stops a penalty shot, looks really solid. Also, how often do we hear that the lefty righty glove switch up is a big deal?

[CP]

Big deal.

[Chris]

You know, the whole team's been used to shooting a certain way, so that could be a factor too. Someone in the chat already said Bussy. If you don't think Bussy can win three, three games out of the next four year high. And I think they're right, he can. And we've been saying this all year. I would, dude, for most of this year, I was saying Bussey will be their guy in playoffs. In fact, someone go back and find the episode to start Playoffs. I was legitimately shocked they went, Freddie, you and I in game one against

[CP]

you and I both said you have to start Bussy.

[Chris]

Yeah. So like if you're a Kanes fan, who cares? I. You're looking at two dudes sitting on a couch in Vegas who think busy's the better goalie anyway.

[CP]

We have said a million times the only reason Freddy was as good as he was through three rounds is because Bussy let him be this fresh and this confident. You went the who and being the best team in the east in large part to having both of them rested. I am the biggest guy in the world of. If you've got more than one goalie in playoffs, you have no goalies. You will lose. But maybe this team's identity all season was these two guys. Give it a fucking shot, dude.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

And you know what? I am passionate that if you start Bussy in game four and you lose, I don't think people are going to be like this, why did we start Bussy? What a dumb decision. I'm like, are you kidding me, dude? Freddie has been brutal. Like, sorry, he's not.

[Chris]

I wouldn't say that because like I said, those goals weren't really his fault. In my opinion.

[CP]

18 is horrendous. Can we please stop talking about the shots? I could give a fuck less how many pucks go in off the post. If you have an.800 save percentage. That is horrendous for a. What was a Con smythe favorite goaltender?

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

800 save percentage.

[Chris]

But people are saying Carter Hart, you know, should. Like we were just talking to a couple guys. We were like, Carter Hart should win it. And I'm curious what his is in this.

[CP]

Absolutely. Literally. Dude. If there are a hundred people.

[Chris]

Yeah, okay. That was 10. That was last night, right?

[CP]

Yes.

[Chris]

879 in game three.

[CP]

In game two, Chris put it this way. Carter Hart gave up. Carter Hart gave up three goals in 30 something odd seconds and he still had a better save percentage than Freddy has had in.

[Chris]

In.

[CP]

And this is one game. Yeah, like that. It's not good.

[Chris]

Six eight, six two. So his is probably eight, six in the final. You know. And I'm so. I'm like. My point is it's just like both goalies are playing pretty bad.

[CP]

Oh, Carter Hart is dead in cons.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

Unless they. Unless he has a shutout in back to back games and they win.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah. Agree. So that's the only thing I would say is it's just not like he. Both goalies are just. It's been chaos. A lot of gold.

[CP]

It has.

[Chris]

Yeah. So it's. It's a tricky one. I don't think Freddie has been that bad. But I. I hear you on the confidence thing. My question to you is. Well, I guess my question to you

[CP]

is who do you.

[Chris]

Who do you start game four? And then if you start bussy and lose game four, do you go back to Freddie? Or does your theory kick in where you're like, well, now we're dead.

[CP]

Absolutely not. So here's the. It's the same thing that fucking happened in. Where the fuck did we just see this?

[Chris]

Buffalo.

[CP]

Buffalo. No, no, no, no. Colorado.

[Chris]

Okay?

[CP]

Like, you. You game four, when you're down three zero, you put in Blackwood. And he's like, thanks, dickheads.

[Chris]

Yeah. Yeah.

[CP]

You cannot do that to a goalie.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

You cannot be up against it. So if you start Freddy, you are going like this. Freddy is our guy no matter what. I don't care if Freddy gives up five goals on five straight shots in game four. You then start him in game five.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

You have to make your bed on the guy. Obviously, that's a bit. But you understand what I'm saying. I would start Bussy. Probably you, sir. Let's. Let's rule out any things of. Like what? Like, did Freddy get conked?

[Chris]

Right. He's not practical. Everyone's saying he didn't practice, but they

[CP]

called it a maintenance day, and I believe that.

[Chris]

Me, too. He needs.

[CP]

It's a normal maintenance day. If he has any conc. If he has even one concussion symptom. And you don't start bussy. Yeah, you are. You have fucking Boston Bruins yourself. Agree. And. And you're like this. Oh, all the signs were there that he probably shouldn't be playing, and we played him anyway, and now we've lost in the playoffs. You're a idiot if you do that. If he's fully healthy, I probably, honestly would start Bussy. Like, look at what he did. Obviously, that was third period. Vegas probably felt like they had it. But then you have a football full overtime period, and you go into a double overtime, and it's a ricochet goal. Like, Bussy played great, dude. 19 saves goal against, like, Jesus Christ. I would probably start Bussy. But I am here to say this. If they start Freddy, I'm like, okay, you know, it's. It's fine. It is what it is. But if you start Freddy tomorrow, you are starting Freddy for the rest of the series.

[Chris]

Yeah. I think it's actually a fair take.

[CP]

It is Just such bullshit to do to a goalie.

[Chris]

Dude.

[CP]

Like Bussy comes in, in this game three and saves your ass and allows you to even get to overtime. And then you don't reward him with a start in game four. And then you go down three one and you go, hey, save us now. Yeah, yeah. It's bullshit to do to a goaltender.

[Chris]

Yeah. So I think barring a disaster, if you start Freddy in game four, barring a disaster, it's probably Freddy the rest of the way. I agree, but I'm kind of with you. Here's the only fucked part, though. And it's only 2:1, so it's completely fine. But if you start Bussy here, I think you have to go with him the rest of the way because I just think, oh, I go, Freddie, you're. We don't trust you, so we're going bussy busy, gets lit up in game four and you go, freddie, just kidding. Just kidding, bud. Game five, we need you. Like, I think whoever you start next game, it's over.

[CP]

First of all agree and hear you. But don't you, don't you think that that's the game, dude? Like, if you. Yeah. If you start starting different goalies in playoffs, you can't get in your head about like, well, now I have to switch back. What are they going to think? I'm like, you're a player on this fucking team, dude. I think go in the net and save goals.

[Chris]

I trust both of you. I trust both you. I'm going with my gut. Yeah. It's just tricky. It's a tricky, tricky one.

[CP]

Tricky. And you know, the thing that really blows now is if you have been a fan of this Carolina Hurricanes team for the last four years, a huge Freddie topic has been he runs out of gas in the playoffs.

[Chris]

Yeah, exactly.

[CP]

And yes, it's great how good he was through three series, but when you think about it, look at how many games he played through three series, right? He played 13 games. That's not a lot of games. That's literally one more than the absolute minimum you can play through three series. So it's not that surprising that maybe he was pretty good up until now. But through three games in this series, like we have said multiple times, his save percentage is pretty bad. His goal against is very bad. And you're like, has Freddy run out of gas?

[Chris]

Right. Which was always the fear. And we'd seen it in the third round usually. And right now the amount of games they've played equals the third round.

[CP]

That's what's and what's very scary for me is. And we'll move on to our other topics after this. The interesting thing heading into game four here is if you're the Carolina Hurricanes, I think you feel great about pretty much everything else. You have scored so many goals in every single game through this point. You have your good, like, Jarvey with an OT goal, Svetch Halsey with goals in this one. Ajo is starting to great. Get getting certain things going. You stall is fucking wide. You feel very, very good for a lot of reasons. You would love to give up less goals. You'd love your defense to play a little bit stronger. You would certainly love the goaltending. But that is the big question is, like, the one thing that you really didn't want in this series, through two games, through three games, is, does Freddy look bad?

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

And Freddy does not look great.

[Chris]

But. Yep.

[CP]

And that is. That is very scary. So, like. But what's interesting, and this is. I suppose this would be a massive area to advocate for starting Bussy is you go, really, the one question right now we've got is we need goaltending and defense to be a little bit better. And you know what? As a defenseman, I'm a plug. But as someone who played defense, if I'm looking at these numbers and I'm like, if I'm a D man, and I'm like, dude, look at the shots. The shots are pretty fucking low. Like, we've had. We've held this team, this Vegas team, to, like, under 30 shots in regulation for a long time, and the goals are this high. I'm kind of like, it's maybe not us. Like, we. Maybe we are getting in front of shots. Maybe we are taking away lanes. That's what you sort of. Sort of have to ask yourself. And that blows. But I'm saying that is something to point to, towards advocating for starting bus.

[Chris]

Yep. And I. A lot of people in the chat are saying bussy. And I think maybe if you're a Canes fan, you go, what a luxury. We have Bussy. Right. If most teams go, oh, our starters run out of gas, we're in big trouble. And we have no one to put in. But the Canes go. We have Bussy and Kelly. I see you in here. Shout out, Kelly. Dan, she brought up, too. Freddie had an incredibly emotional loss. Can't forget that. And that is a. That is an interesting factor in this. Obviously, you do whatever it takes to get let your team win the cup. And if that's bussy, then they don't care what's happened and they go bussy. But I do think it is a bit of a factor in Freddy's head where he goes, I need to be out there because I'm, I'm honoring someone, you know, Like, I want, I need it. So when Rod has those conversations, I'm just sure that's Freddie's like, no, dude, that's my net. Because I have to do this for sure. Makes it harder. So.

[CP]

Yeah. And again, just to sort of reemphasize what I was saying. Game one, Vegas. 23 shots total, five goals. Game two, 26 shots total, three goals. Yeah, this, this game, I, I think in OT, I think they had 35 shots total.

[Chris]

Yes.

[CP]

And, and, but to my point, 19 of those were saved by bus.

[Chris]

Yeah. Yeah. Yep, yep.

[CP]

So it's just like, again, if you're the defense, you're kind of like, we're

[Chris]

not playing badly, dude, I think I'd go busty. I bet it's Freddie. That's my, that's my answer.

[CP]

I bet it's going to be Freddy too. And I am here to say to all Kane's fans and the Kane's team, they know this, but if Freddy starts, hell yeah.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah, we're okay.

[CP]

You feel. I don't even think it's okay. Yeah, you feel totally fine. Like this team is such a fucking locked unit. It's amazing. And then Vegas, man, I just like, God damn it. They are so fun. Yeah, they are so fun. What an insane game to give their fans like the, the, Are you fucking kidding me? Feeling of blowing a four goal lead but then to still win it in double OT and have a Saturday night on the Vegas strip is fucking unbelievable. And it's just another piece of evidence of how this team is so unfazed. It's one of the most fun teams I've watched in years.

[Chris]

Yes, it's incredible. Incredible.

[CP]

All right, we've got game for tomorrow night. 6:30pm Eastern Time, Stanley cup live on NHL's YouTube. We will be there giving you the pregame and then we'll be boots on the ground with Zach in the building giving you all the content as usual. Let's wrap up and talk about some fun going on.

[Chris]

Hell yeah.

[CP]

First one. Zach, what do we got?

[Chris]

Let's talk about, let's talk about Lin.

[CP]

So we had a little bit of a release we obviously last week discussed. Dylan Larkin has officially requested a trade out of Detroit today. It has surfaced that the three teams, Lin and his camp have said he would like, to go to are the Minnesota Wild, which we talked about. One of the suspected ones, the Vegas Golden Knights, which was another one we talked about. And shout out Pag. Shout out Pagnotta, who was like, that's a team to look at. And the third team is the Florida Panthers. Don't think a lot of people were talking about Florida. Yep. So stick taps to us. Anyone who thought that Dylan Larkin would be like this, send me to a Canadian team. Yeah, like, please, God. Like Toronto fans, Montreal fans who were talking about that. Listen, obviously a player like Dylan Larkin becomes available. You want to talk about it with your team, that was never in the cards. So we've got Florida, Vegas and Minnesota. What's very interesting to me, dude, about all of these, and we can have some. Evan, if you're listening, maybe look this up and text us. Not a single one of these teams other than Florida, because of the craziness of how the draft lottery broke out. Vegas does not have a 2026 first round pick. Minnesota does not have a 2026 first round pick. Florida has that ninth pick, I believe. Oh, yes. Is that true? Yes. And we talked about it a lot with Florida. They are. Look, look me in the eyes. Everyone watching Florida is trading that pick.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

There is no planet where that ninth overall pick is helping this Florida core win another Stanley Cup. Like, that player is not playing for probably three years at a high NHL level. And this team is in win fucking now mode. So I assure you that pick is getting traded. So that is an interesting one to keep an eye on for the Florida. I think it's. It is. It is not.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah.

[CP]

So that is something to be very aware of. That said, what can Florida do with the cap space? What can they do with their roster? Because they're very good down the middle.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

A lot of people are talking about Sam Askevich maybe throwing in a Verhaege in there to make the cap work. But again, now you have a situation of you have Barkov, you have Bennett, you have Lundell. Do you have to lose Lundell to make this work? And respectfully, we know I'm the biggest Larkin guy in the world. I don't think you're trading Lundell for Dylan Larkin's 8.7. Mildell's on like 5 mil for a couple more years, I believe. And he is Baby Markov. He is. He is like in. I mean, this is a guy who has just been a part of this team. I don't think you want to lose that. And if you're Florida too. No. No disrespect to Carolina, but if you were, if you're a healthy Florida and you're looking at the way the east broke out, you are probably like this. We are obviously in the Stanley cup right now.

[Chris]

Yes. And I also think, and this is, I'm not even saying Larks was an. Isn't an improvement over some of these guys, but in a way, if you're Florida, I think you go, why, why would I bust this up? Why would I ship off swaggy 100 even though I'm like 100? Oh, I'm improved or whatever. I don't even want to make an opinion on this.

[CP]

But Larks in this scenario plays right well wing, don't you think?

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

So you're not, you're not trading Bennett.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

I don't think you're trading Lundell. Like, I think this is a situation where you, if you were to get Larks, you would be playing him on the wing with, with a Bennett with, with a maybe first line with Markov and like a Chuck on the left wing or something.

[Chris]

I don't know. So it kind of feels weird to bust this up if you're Florida. So that's an interesting factor there to, to go to his teams for a second. I think we said with dz, if you were watching Stanley cup live, we had had Michael Delzado on to talk about this right when it broke and we both said, hey, dz, I'm sure Olympics played a big factor in this. A and he was like, oh, 1000%. And then look where the three teams he listed are all his Team USA,

[CP]

Quint, Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber, Matt Boldy, Bill Guerin on Minnesota. Down in Florida you've got Matty Tkachuk, obviously. And in Vegas you've got Ikes, you've got Hannifan. Yeah. Like it's. Yeah.

[Chris]

So it's like a no brainer there. I want to talk about the perception of this. Do you want to talk about that or you?

[CP]

I do. No, I do. I do. Everything that we said when we were talking to DZ and I, I've been, I've been happy to debate anyone about this. My stance on this was good for Larks and I stand by that. I think he is well within his right to ask for something like this. He should ask for something like this. I know there are a lot. We brought up Matthew Chuck, we brought up Jack Eichel and there were some people who like, Dylan Larkin is not the same player as those guys. And that's true. Dylan Larkin is way fucking better than a lot of you people understand and realize. He is a natural born leader and he will be that wherever he goes. Just like he was on Team USA filled with nothing but leaders. Talk to anyone on that USA team, they will talk about how valuable he is. But I understand that comment. But the point is not comparing the players. The point is comparing the situations. People want to bring up that eight year extension and then they want to say he's got five years left on that this is bullshit that he would do this. Guys, he gave a decade to this team and they didn't do enough. Every Detroit Red Wings fan will admit that. They will say that they did not do enough to build around this guy. When you look at that Detroit team and you look at a guy like fucking Dylan Larkin making 8.7 million, that's what Larks is making. And you're telling me you couldn't figure out ways to build around that? What the hell are we talking about? And I love Yzerman, but I am going to just be honest and say it is a massive failure of what they have put around him. And like you trade. I love Falk. I talked about the trade. But like you traded a first round pick to get a 34 year old Justin Falk and like good player. Yeah, but I'm like look at the other trades being made and what people are getting for the same price. It's just there have been missteps in it. I had a lot of other teams that I really liked for Larkin's potential destination. I loved Boston. I think a Boston makes a ton of sense. I think a Utah makes a ton of sense.

[Chris]

Yeah, that was a good one.

[CP]

1. What was the other one we talked about? Oh, Carolina. Carolina is like, I mean Jesus Christ, they don't even need to do anything now. I don't, I don't love that. These are the three that are named and I do want to say shout out to Johnny Laz because we were talking about this this morning and Laz was, was saying like would not be surprised here if Eiserman's camp leaks this.

[Chris]

Dude, I loved this.

[CP]

I, I loved, I, I was thinking it and I love that Lazy said it because dude, I mean this doesn't look great for Larks. Like Minnesota was the one. We all assumed Vegas is the bad boy of the NHL. Everyone hates that. They are, you know, they are up two games to one in the Stanley cup final as we speak. And then Florida is the team that if healthy, everyone's like, they would have obviously gone to a third straight or fourth straight.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah.

[CP]

Essentially won a third. So you've picked two of the top teams in the league and it does have a cup chasing look to it if this is, you know, good friend of ours, Larks agent and like Larks camp, you. You can't be naming just these teams. Like, truly. Just like throw in one because he has a no move. Throw it. Throw in a name that you don't even believe in.

[Chris]

Dude. But. But then what if you get traded there? Like, I'm like, fuck you. Here's a no move, here's where I'll go.

[CP]

He could say no, but they're saying

[Chris]

this is who he said to the team. These are my.

[CP]

These are places I'll go, yes, and you can. Dude, if it happened, you could say you have a change of heart. But like, yeah, there's got to be at least one or two others that he would still be. Maybe they're not his top three, but he'd still be happy. You just got to name those two. So like, I wouldn't be shocked if this is Steve because it's like, at the end of the day, there is something that people need to understand is Steve does not have to do anything. I am the biggest proponent of if a player goes, I want out, you trade him immediately. Because you just cannot have that in your locker.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

You simply cannot.

[Chris]

I agree.

[CP]

And with Calgary and Rasmus Anderson, I thought that went on for way too fucking long. Yeah, Good God. Like, there's a. There's a reason. I mean, they were never a playoff contender. Really. No offense, Calgary, but like, there's. That's just not a vibe you want in the law. You're. You're building kinship with these players and your teammates and you've got a guy that you're like, literally any day this guy's going to get traded. It's just not great for vibes. You cannot have your captain just like chilling, playing in training camp. And also like, if you're Larks, you got to work with him too. Because we've seen. Dude, like, look at what happened to Mason McTavish this year. Look at what happened to Sway the year before. Like, missing camp is not good. It is brutal for your, your fit with the team and for your own progression. So, like, don't miss camp. So, like, if you're Larks, you gotta work with this. If you want this to happen. You got to make it. Make a trade happen that makes everyone happy or at least happy enough. Yeah, I To me, man, like, I've seen a lot of Danila Yurov, Charlie Stramel and a 2027 first round pick, which I believe Minnesota has someone in the chat. Check me on that because I know they moved big pieces when. But I've seen a lot of Wings fans see that and go, if that's the package, Stevie, why better call Larkin and go. See you at camp, pal. That's not enough. Yeah, and I'm. There's a bit of me that's like, that might be enough, dude. Like, I think you're of. Had a great year this year and is showing that he can be a very impressive top nine top six player. Strammel's an amazing prospect and that's a first round pick. And I think like I saw someone. Who was it? Oh, Jersey. Someone was looking at someone hit us up on Twitter. Awesome Netters fan.

[Chris]

Awesome.

[CP]

Awesome dude. And was like like, all right, how about a trade with Jersey that involves Simone or excuse me, that involves Nemetsch and he.

[Chris]

Sure. Yeah.

[CP]

And. And then coming back the other ways like Larks and Falk. And I think Koso was in there thinking about the replacement for Markstrom down the line, number one. I'm like, I know that. I know that that part of that deal would be to. To eventually get Quinn. Yeah, I will come here. I would be very interesting to hear. Interested to hear if Devil's fans would want a he sure for Larkin deal.

[Chris]

Right?

[CP]

Like, he sure is like a great selkie guy just had fucking 80 point. Like, I mean the points production, they're pretty similar. And like he sure is one of the best two way centers in the game. I like that. I was like, oh, I don't know. I don't know if people would want that. But for Detroit fans, I'm like, this ain't gonna be a one for one dude like you if. I'm sorry, man. You're losing Dylan Larkin. You are re. This is. You're blown up. You are rebuilding.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

I mean, I'm pretty sure. Cat like, can. Can. Zach, do you have access to Internet right now? Can you look up for me? Go to Puckpedia and go to Detroit's cap space and tell me when Alex DeBrinc contract is up. Like, when is he an unrestricted free agent? Because like, that's another guy that. I'm like, if Larkin goes, I'm like, you probably fucking trade him too, dude. Like, it's, you know.

[Chris]

So my take, dude, is this Larkin. I have. No, put it this way, dude.

[Zach]

The 20, 26, 2027.

[CP]

Okay. So at the end of next year. Yep, Cat is up.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

I would. I would trade Cat this summer.

[Chris]

Yeah. And Kane's up right now.

[CP]

So I'm like, yeah, I mean that, but.

[Chris]

I know. But I'm just like, you know, don't read.

[CP]

Do not. Yeah, do not sign him.

[Chris]

The reason this does look, quote, unquote, bad to some people. I've had texts last. Was messaging us earlier. And I love last so much. And I love this take. I get why Stevie maybe would leak this because it looks bad. It makes you go, oh, look at Dylan. He's just doing this. However, usually if your player requests a trade, the fewer teams that he was willing to go to when he has a no move kills your leverage. So usually you don't leak stuff like this because then when you're negotiating with teams, you go, well, he's given me 10 teams he would go to. I can fucking get the best deal possible. When it's now, when Florida, Vegas and Minnesota know they're the only three in the fight, they can give Stevie scraps and go, you're fucked. Because your point? If Stevie goes, whatever, dude. Show up at camp, I go, okay, well, your whole season is ruined now.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

And, like, Dylan hates you now and, like, it's such a fucking debacle. You have to move him. I. The only thing I want to say about it is I actually have zero issue with this. And we brought up to Laz, I brought up McDavid and Matthews when in my opinion. But if those guys move, they are not. They are only going to go to the best teams in the league so they can win. Right now, they've spent the first 12 years of their career. They're now 30, losing. They're not gonna go. You know what would be really fun? Going to Utah and helping them get over the hump in the next couple years. I'm like, no, as sick as that would be. And I love the Mammoth. Going to Utah to be like, pretty soon we'll be good there is moronic.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Go to Vegas and just win the cup right now. Go to Florida and win the next three Cups. Like, I literally do not get this. Wow, dude. I don't respect that. Because it's fucking hard to win the cup ring. Chasing in basketball is one thing where you're like, I joined the Warriors. We're going to win. Like, you don't win automatically.

[CP]

Let me say this. CP I think, and Zach, you got to jump in on this because I know that you have takes on this, I think, respectfully, I laugh like a witch in the face of people who have a problem with ring chasing and cup chasing. Because in my opinion, I'm like, dude, the only thing in the world that matters is winning if you're a competitor. So I'm like, yeah, dude, go win. Now, I think to your point, basketball and hockey are impossibly different.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

Like, truly, to me, with some of the shit like LeBron did and KD did. Absolutely. Like Katie going to Golden State, I was like, are you fucking kidding me?

[Chris]

That one.

[CP]

I was like, dude, this team is like breaking NBA records, winning titles, and now the best shooter in the league or the best scorer in the league is going to this team. That was a little crazy. There is zero guarantee that Dylan Larkin going to. Let's say it's Vegas.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

Means that they're going straight back to the Cup. Like, people look at the way people are talking about Vegas this year.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

So I think with hockey, with how much bigger the rosters are and how much harder it is to win a Stanley Cup, I don't think it's that comparable. But at the same time, I'm like, how could you ever have a problem with a player trying to win a championship?

[Zach]

I think, personally, I think there's a lot of issues that can arise from ring chasing. Right. Where for me, if you have. It depends on the team that you're leaving.

[Chris]

Right.

[Zach]

If I'm leaving a situation in a setup where I have a. I'm close, right. I am. I'm right there on the edge. I could be there. I could not be there. Right. Like, let's take the habs. Right. Like, imagine if. And I'm going to say dope as just because he did play so well in the playoffs. But imagine he's just like, he gets a great offer, gets a great contract, and they're young, but it gets a great contract to help out this Hurricanes team and fix that goalie issue that they have with Freddy, and then boom. I still feel like you were right there. You were seconds away from me. Not seconds away, you know, but you were close. Yep. And I have a deep fear, like, if I'm just jumping or I'm just leaving a great situation for a slightly better one. I feel like that's wrong. But if you're on, like, a winless Detroit Pistons team that can't win anything, then it's different.

[Chris]

Yeah. Okay. I don't. That's fair. I mean, dude, I would say the Wings, though, have the. Didn't you Just say they have the longest drought now.

[CP]

They have the longest playoff drought in the NHL currently. And Dylan has been there for 10 fucking years. And like, yes, I know he signed an extension, but I. I continue to go to bat for. We don't know what has happened in the last three months. What conversation. Like, people keep going to that interview where he's like, I signed the extension because I believe in what's going on.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

First of all, he. He's the fucking captain of the team. He's obviously going to say, like that. But second of all, we don't know what's happened in the last two months. You know, and it's like, that's where I'm always like, anything you. He could have had an exit interview.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

With Steve, with. With the coach and with everybody and been like, hey, like, what are we doing? And then what they said in that moment could have been terrible. And he's like, all right, I'm. I want out.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

So, dude, I just go like, that's a really fair point, Zach. But for me and I said this and you. And last kind of laughing. Glass. Disagree. But I was like, like, when Connor McDavid leaves, who is literally the best player in the league and who has been extremely frustrated and misused. Not misused, but, like, they have fumbled the whole thing in Edmonton. When he leaves, he is going to go to a contender, full stop. He's not going to go to any team that's like, oh, I'm trying to get there. He's going to go to a contender. He has no time to waste. And I don't think anyone is going to go, oh, my God, look at McDavid chasing the ring. I think they're going to go, can we.

[Zach]

Can I also have a more fair comparison to hockey.

[CP]

Yes.

[Chris]

Football. Yep.

[Zach]

Kenneth Walker signing with the Chiefs this year. Obviously, Mahomes is hurt, but, you know, they desperately needed a running back. They definitely, like, he. He's going to get them back to the super bowl or close.

[CP]

Yep.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Zach]

I don't blame him.

[Chris]

Me neither.

[Zach]

But I do think in basketball, I do. I think it's literally just a players. The amount of players on the ice, the amount of players on the court, or the amount of players on the field and the difference that one player makes. That is how I view it.

[CP]

I. That. That was kind of my whole thesis.

[Chris]

Like, I couldn't agree more.

[CP]

Like, basketball is, like, it is such an insane, like, people talking about a Giannis trade to Boston. You and I were talking about that. If Giannis gets traded for Boston. To Boston for not Jalen Brown or Jason Tatum. Everyone in the east is like, are you fucking kidding me? Like, that's crazy. And I'm like, I understand that and I get that. So this one, I agree. And Chris, we'll get into the Connor McDavid in a couple of minutes here with some of the more news that has come out, but I, I hope that there are some different options. Like, I mentioned Boston, Utah, Carolina, I know a lot of people mentioned Tampa. We are not going to open this can of worms, but I think Tampa has way more question marks than Tampa fans want to. Yeah, like, everyone's like, we're right there. And I'm like, you are not. Yeah, yeah, clearly not. But yeah, listen, I, I love Dill. I, I, I'm in his corner and I have his back in 110% on this without question. And if he goes to any of those three teams, I'm like, fucking rights, dude. Good for you. And I will be his number one fan. I do hope that there are other teams available because to me, it's not, it's like, just take away the optics of it. I'm like, to me, there are other teams that are a good option.

[Chris]

Yeah, yeah.

[CP]

Like a re. I mean, dude, I, I will go back to it. Dylan Larkin in Carolina or Boston is an insanely good fit. Insanely good fit.

[Chris]

Like, that would be awesome.

[CP]

Lina is the most preposterously good fit. Okay, let's pop to the next one. We've got a. Well, actually, you know what? Before we pop, before we pop, we don't need to spend a lot of time on this because there's not much. But reports are coming out that Connor Hellebuck is, has officially requested a trade.

[Chris]

Interesting.

[CP]

We have no confirmation on that yet, but it's being chatted about because a lot of people were bringing up that

[Chris]

hella buck to the Buffalo, the Sabers would be numb.

[CP]

And now it's starting to be rumored and people are questioning it. Has Helbuk actually asked for an official trade? And what is hilarious, dude, people keep bringing up Florida. Yeah, people keep bringing up Florida because they have Bob, who is much older and the, the old with how young all of these guys are in Florida. The only thing keeping them from being a dynasty for the next five years is a new goalie. And holy.

[Chris]

Bob would just retire, though. Like, if they were like, you're on the Jets.

[CP]

He'd be like, oh, no, no, I'm not saying. Well, Bob hasn't been Tiny, yet.

[Chris]

Oh, oh, true, true. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

[CP]

And like, listen, that would be a dagger for Bob, but, like, I think he would just retire, like, if somehow Florida figured out a trade and got Heluck. Because what's interesting is the jets have the eighth overall pick.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

And if Florida could figure out a trade that gives them the ninth and is like, here you go. You have 89 in this draft. Like, you can try, try to trade that package or you can just, you know, kind of reset. If you don't, you just missed playoffs, now you've lost Heluck. I think Bob would be like this.

[Chris]

I retire.

[CP]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Like retire and take four size with Carolina. They win the cup.

[CP]

Sure. But again, we don't need to spend a lot of time on it. We'll wait for any confirmation. But if Hellebuck. If we. If we potentially have Larks, Austin, Brady, Connor, Leon and Hellebuck all this summer, right after the cup was won, it's.

[Chris]

Dude. Yes.

[CP]

I will die of erection. Poison.

[Chris]

Correct. Correct.

[CP]

It's unbelievable.

[Chris]

See a doctor.

[CP]

All right, next one, which will transition into another one. We've got a new coach in la. Peter Laviolette. It was we. We heard that the interviews were going on last week. Now he has officially been hired in la. I have a grander stance on this. I think Labs is a really good dude. I think he's also a good in his first year. I think things tend to go well with Lavs. I think everything that we've ever heard and everything that we've experienced is he's a good, good coach for the players, gets along with guys really well. I do not like overall the old boys club of this.

[Chris]

Yeah, it's so tough because I was ranting about this earlier and then you calmed me down, being like, well, Quenville looks to be doing great. Who else would you say Maurice looks to be doing great? So, so very fair. And I'm glad you said that because. Yeah, Lindy, perfect example. So very fair. I'm actually glad you said that because I was like, I gotta calm down. And I also. Well, knock on wood. But I'll be old someday. I'll be very old someday. I'm already old.

[CP]

People still want to work with me.

[Chris]

Exactly. And I don't want to go, oh, I'm just out of. I'm out of anything I want to do because I'm old. That's not fair. But it does rattle me when it feels like there's got to be young minds out there willing to. That know the game and we should be taking chances on. And you. And then people push back and go, well, dude, taking a chance means like, we suck for three years. And I'm like, you do anyway, Most teams suck for. This is what happens. Like, coaches get fired every three years, all the time.

[Zach]

Can we. So this is a problem across sports?

[Chris]

Yes, sure.

[Zach]

This is a problem across sports. And I. Here's why. And here's if you're a GM and you love that job and you're in. You're in a great situation and it's so hard to Steven, get a job, a GM job, right? It is one of the most difficult jobs to probably get in any industry, anywhere, any place, anytime. Okay. And now you're like, all right, I know I have to pick one guy that's going to determine my entire future. And I think that is where we miss in so many arguments. And across all of sports, we miss this every single time. You got to think, just a normal dude who doesn't want to lose his job. I go with the unproven guy that I have no idea, or I go with a guy that was kind of average. And I go, at least I know I'll get average. We might get better. And that's what they do every time. I think they're just human.

[CP]

100%. Dude, you are. You are fucking spot on. I think it is the fear element. It is the fear element of hiring. I mean, like, look at fucking chica.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

I mean, like, we've got John Chaika now hired in Toronto after he was hired in. In Arizona with this exact issue. It was like, this is a 26 year old dude. What happens here? And he has a horrendous win percentage, I think makes the playoff once and then gets fired for like improper conduct. Like, that's a fucking. Yes, that can happen. But to me, man, it's like Lindy's a great example of. Lindy was in Jersey and it's like not really working. And he gets hired in Buffalo. And we were like, we were. People were going, this is going to be hilarious when they bring back Lindy as a joke. And then it happened and it's. It's gone great. It has gone very, very well. Quinville, I think, is just a brilliant hockey mind. Makes sense that that's going well. It's not to say that some of these older guys don't deserve another shot, but for me, with la, dude, you had a situation where you have, like, legacy guys as your president and as your gm. In my opinion, everyone in the world knows we are huge. Kings fans love that organization. We love everyone who works there. I think there was an element of too much comfort there. These people who walk around their king's royalty, people aren't going to hold their feet to the fire maybe as much as they should. And then you had a situation where you fire Todd, you then hire Hiller.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

And it was kind of like that. I don't think that was the right hire. I don't think Hiller at the time was a NHL head coach. But you hired him, then you fire Hiller and you let D.J. take the job. So essentially you had the same fucking guys behind the bench for like eight years.

[Chris]

Right.

[CP]

And then you were shocked when things didn't turn around and go well. So at least this is a switch up. But the roster makeup of the Kings and the very, very significant changing of the guard here with Kopi retiring, Drew is going to retire in a couple years, three years, who knows? You have like this new era arriving. It would make sense to try to go and find your John Cooper. Try to go and find your young guy. You know, I know David, Carl's not available, but like a young, maybe college coach, maybe Canadian junior coach, but someone, maybe an assistant coach on another team. Yeah. Who's making a fucking huge impression. And you, you go bring in this new voice with new ideas that's going to relate to the players more and see how it works. Because for me, with LA being a great example, what do you have to lose?

[Chris]

I know, dude.

[CP]

Now that transitions perfectly into our last topic here with another little report. The Edmonton Oilers and Stan Bowman have asked permission from the league to interview Mike Babcock for the head coaching job in Edmonton. That is truly, man. The only response to that is this league yet, yet again the Oilers doing something that is making us be like, are you kidding me? And I'm here to say right fucking now, as a Detroit Red Wings of the Mike Babcock era. Yeah, I am here to say if the Edmonton Oilers hire Mike Babcock and I am Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, I send in my trade request one hour later, dude, one fucking hour later,

[Chris]

I would give all the amount of money in my bank account to be there the first time Mike Babcock asks to see Connor McDavid's when he goes, give me your phone right now and

[CP]

let me look through the.

[Chris]

Let me look through your hidden pictures photo. Hidden pictures file.

[CP]

It's, it's like for, for those who don't know, like literally he did that in his last job and got fucking fired for it. It, all the jokes aside, that would be mind blowing.

[Chris]

Mind blowing. I don't even know like that is. That would be the one of the worst decisions just based on fit. Like, I don't even mean Babcock. I have nothing to say, I have nothing to opine on this show about Babcock the man or Babcock the coach, but just the idea that, that what this, the reputation from him and the situation in Edmonton that has been trying to marry that in. If he doesn't leave this summer, in the most important summer of your fucking life, right like this, this season either keeps Connor McDavid or means he's gone, period. And then you go, let's just try Babcock and see what happens.

[CP]

To me, Chris, honest to God, I'm being dramatic because I, I, I want the change. I think it makes sense. We've, we've talked about this a number of times and this is no shade at Edmonton Oilers. It's no shade at the fans or the franchise. It's simply a look at it from a numbers perspective. I don't think it's working anymore. I think it's time to call it quits, dude, and restart and get back what you can. I have been saying for, for weeks, you, you have to trade mcnavid now.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

Like straight up, if I were Bowman, I would go like this. Hey, listen, listen. Either we go, we take another crack at this and we get bounced in the first round or the second round or third round, even if you lose in the cup Final, it is yet another. We didn't do it with these guys and you're fired.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

If I were Bowman, I would straight up go, I'm at least gonna try something. And I would trade them. Yeah, I would try crazy. I would. I think, I think it has not worked. And if I'm those guys, God bless the two of them, they haven't done it already. I would feel how Larkin's feeling. I'd be like this. We are getting worse.

[Chris]

Clearly. Yeah.

[CP]

If I were McDavid, you, you went, you did your little contract last year.

[Chris]

Yep.

[CP]

And you straight up looked at Bowman and this organization and you went like this. I'm doing you a favor. Do me one. Yeah, let's get better. Let's win a cup. And what they did was give Evan Bouchard the contract that they gave him, and then they went out and traded for Tristan Jar and now are hiring Babcock. Well, that, my point being, if you look at Last year and you're Connor, you go, whoa, whoa, whoa, guys, not it. And now they're going like this. We're gonna hire Mike Babcock. I would, I would request a trade right now.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[CP]

Even if they don't hire him, why did you say you're doing this is your best swing.

[Chris]

That's funny.

[CP]

I would straight up go, I don't even need to see what you do. I'm out. Trade me now.

[Chris]

Even say that. Yeah.

[CP]

Fucking crazy. Yeah.

[Chris]

No, it would be madness. I, I, there's, I just cannot believe in any universe this happens. So we don't have to give it too much airtime because it probably won't. But I just. To your point, very well said. I could not believe. How is this even being floated? It like, what, what is going on?

[CP]

Dude, it's. You see the reaction? Like, listen, we always talk about guys like us who just, you know, have our amazing show and we just have a bunch of laughs and a bunch of jokes and it's a great time. But when even guys like us and then journos are all in agreement being like, this is crazy, that's when you probably should know. You would hope Bowman knows better. That that's probably isn't going to go over very.

[Chris]

Yeah, right.

[CP]

And it's not.

[Chris]

Oh, my God.

[CP]

So it's an interesting one. Okay, let's wrap things up here. We're gonna have an amazing day in Vegas, getting some great content for you, and then tomorrow is going to be all fucking time ahead of Game 4. Make sure you tune in Stanley Cup Live, NHL YouTube, 6:30pm Eastern Time for all of the pregame show action. It's going to be so much fun. I'm going to be right there, right outside of T Mobile. Cannot wait. Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube, guys. Everyone watching here, I'm sure you already are, but if not, send them to your friends. Get your hockey fans dialed in on us. Go follow us on all the socials, check out the store. Everything has been such a blast so far. Congratulations to Soph and Loop. Amazing wedding, so much fun and we're so pumped to be back here boots on the ground for the rest of the Stanley Cup Final.

[Chris]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[CP]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee. Full [e-mail].