Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 650: Featuring Bruce Cassidy & Justin Williams

Summary

Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 650: Featuring Bruce Cassidy & Justin Williams

Date: May 28, 2026
Podcast: Spittin' Chiclets by Barstool Sports
Hosts: Ryan Whitney, Paul Bissonnette (“Biz”), Rear Admiral, Mike Grinnell
Featured Guests: Bruce Cassidy (former Vegas head coach), Justin Williams (Carolina Hurricanes, “Mr. Game 7”)

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Episode Overview

In this milestone 650th episode, the crew cover the frenetic final stretch of the NHL Playoffs, including surprising sweeps, deep-dive analysis of Vegas’ and Carolina’s dominance, and the emotional toll of playoff losses on teams and individuals. The episode features insightful interviews with Stanley Cup-winning coach Bruce Cassidy about his abrupt firing and post-Vegas limbo, and Justin Williams, ‘Mr. Game 7’, who talks about Carolina’s blistering form, locker room culture, and transitioning to NHL management.

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Key Discussion Points & Highlights

1. Western Conference Shock: Vegas Sweeps Colorado

• Analysis of the Sweep
  • Hosts express disbelief at the Vegas sweep (03:16).
  • Yan Stastny: “I’d be curious to know how many people bet Vegas sweep, like, on the planet. Maybe not one.” (04:49)
  • Discussion focuses on Colorado’s injuries, goaltending, and criticism of decisions around starters (Blackwood vs. Wedgwood).
• Credit to Vegas
  • Vegas’ “all coming together” at the right time: strong trades, healthy roster, depth contributions.
  • Merles: “You gotta give the credit to Vegas...Jack Eichels of the world, guys that are able to shut down big time players.” (07:35)

2. Colorado’s Fall: Postmortem and Window Questions

• Injuries, Fatigue, and Underperformance
  • Colorado’s core (McKinnon, Makar, Landeskog) didn’t show up at key moments.
• Fan Pushback on Media Reactions
  • Critique that Avs are getting a “pass” vs. media criticism of Oilers for earlier playoff failures (08:38+).
  • Yan: “If we’re sitting here comparing that Edmonton, with two of the best players...lost in the first round...and then saying Colorado lost to what we probably know is going to be the future cup champions—little bit of a difference here.” (10:45)
• Front Office Consistency
  • Expectation that Avs stay the course, not blow it up (“They ran into a wagon”).

3. Vegas’ Machine: Depth, Identity, and the ‘Wagon’

• Roster Construction
  • Praise for Vegas D-core’s size and mobility; goaltending (Carter Hart’s resurgence).
  • Debate over who will win Conn Smythe on such a stacked team.
  • Noted that Vegas is a destination where stars take less to win; a culture of buy-in and sacrifice prevails.
• Systemic Dominance
  • Comparison to 2012 LA Kings; suffocating, relentless playoff run:
    • Yan: “You want to talk Anaconda chokehold...that’s what’s going on there.” (22:12)

4. Player Development & Salary Structures

• Team-Building Trends
  • Convo about teams with “no superstar salaries” building camaraderie, depth wins.
  • Remarks on Vegas’ internal cap discipline; “hometown discounts” for success.

5. Coaching Carousel: Bruce Cassidy Interview (40:17–58:44)

Living in Limbo After a Firing

• Cassidy on watching Vegas dominate after his firing:
  • “It’s hard...you’re watching the team you coached for 74 games go to the final.” (55:24)
• Anger at NHL contract “non-compete” clauses: Even after being fired, he’s blocked from immediately taking another NHL job.
  • Cassidy: “...once you’re fired, your contract’s basically terminated...but I can’t work until Vegas gives me permission until this contract’s up, which is at the end of next season.” (50:26–51:13)

Coaching Reflections

• On managing star players and messaging:
  • “I’m an intense guy, so sometimes I’ll challenge guys to be better...Every year I try to take something away from that and be, I guess, kinder and gentler.” (58:34)
• Admits he should have brought more joy into the locker room during March struggles.

Future Aspirations

• Cassidy names Edmonton, LA, and Toronto as intriguing but can’t engage due to contract.
• Advocates for coaches to negotiate “freedom to seek employment after firing” clauses in future deals.

6. Eastern Conference: Carolina’s Domination & System

• Carolina’s Smothering Defense & Depth
  • Discussion on shutting down Montreal: holding Habs to record-low shot totals in series.
  • Praise for the balanced blue line and the addition of forwards who fit their relentless system.
  • Merles: “I’ve never seen a home team be dominated that much on home ice in my entire life.” (73:10)
• Rod Brind’Amour’s Trust Culture
  • Deep trust in fourth liners, rolling four lines even in statement games.

7. Justin Williams Interview (77:29–101:23)

Locker Room Culture & Team Construction

• Williams explains the “anonymity” of Carolina as a positive for player development:
  • “You could just do your thing...If you have a couple bad games, no one’s going to come calling for your head.” (80:53)
• On Jordan Staal’s leadership and physicality:
  • “The strongest player, teammate I’ve ever played with in my life. He is monstrous.” (82:22)
• Comments on blend of analytics, loyalty contracts (Stankhoven, Blake), and “buyers’ club” approach.

Value of Competitiveness Over Size

• Williams extols smaller players’ compete level—“they’re dogs on pucks”—and why they thrive in Carolina’s system.
• Acknowledges Carolina’s internal pay structure and team-first mentality as essential to long-term success.

Playoffs, Systems, and Rod Brind’Amour

• On adjustments post-layoff and handling Game 1 loss:
  • “We were just a half-second off...Since then we’ve been able to get our sticks on pucks...”
• Williams on being “special assistant to GM,” his role as a liaison between locker room and analytics-heavy front office.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Vegas’ Culture:
  “It seems like it is an unstoppable force right now in Vegas. That’s the problem.”
  — Eric Duhatschek (23:00)

• On NHL Contracts for Coaches:
  “It’s not right that they can let you go and then still stop you from working.”
  — Eric Duhatschek, regarding Bruce Cassidy’s situation (51:05)

• On Carolina's Balanced D:
  “It’s kind of great when you don’t know who your best defenseman is…”
  — Justin Williams (79:33)

• On Aging Players & Clutch:
  “I think things are going to get a little bit out of whack here in the next couple years [cap-wise]… but everything feels great when you win a championship.”
  — Justin Williams (99:12)

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Key Timestamps by Segment

• 03:16–17:00: Vegas-Colorado sweep, why Colorado lost, Vegas' playoff transformation
• 17:00–38:00: Denver/Edmonton/Colorado window talk, team building, luck, lessons from Tampa sweep years
• 40:17–58:44: Bruce Cassidy Interview (coaching carousel, firing aftermath, coaching philosophy)
• 61:46–66:15: Coaching job talk, future aspirations, organization culture in Vegas and future in hockey
• 73:10–77:29: Carolina’s dominance, preview of Justin Williams segment
• 77:29–101:23: Justin Williams Interview (Carolina locker room, play style, contracts/culture, impact of analytics)
• 101:23–114:50: Montreal’s future, goalie controversy, size debate, comparison to Carolina
• 114:50–128:00: NHL/Conn Smythe odds, Taylor Hall HOF case, pop culture and fun bits

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Final Thoughts & Takeaways

• Vegas and Carolina as Model Franchises: Both organizations are lauded for their culture, smart team-building, and buy-in from players at all levels.
• Bruce Cassidy’s Situation Shines Light on NHL Coaching Contracts: The episode’s most sobering takeaway concerns how coaches remain contractually handcuffed even after being fired—a rarely-discussed aspect of the business.
• Carolina’s Relentless Execution: From system to management to locker room, Carolina’s success is painted as total: "a well-oiled machine."
• Player and Coach Sacrifice: Both interviews reinforce the theme that sacrificing personal stats, ego, or short-term gain for the team is essential for Stanley Cup aspirations—and that happiness often follows.

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For listeners who missed this episode:
If you want a front-row seat to the inner workings of the NHL playoffs, the emotional grind of management and coaching, and the evolution of modern team-building, episode 650 is absolutely essential. It’s a mix of brutal honesty, inside stories, laughs, and the recognition that behind every win or sweep there’s a whole lot of hard work—and sometimes, just a bit of luck.

Transcript

[Ryan Whitney]

Hey Spit and Chiclets listeners. You can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

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[Justin Williams]

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[Eric Duhatschek]

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[Ryan Whitney]

Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed to the jungle that is Barstool Sports.

[Yan Stastny]

I brought it toward the coyotes and I asked him if it was okay if I joined the Spit Chickens podcast full time.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Ryan Whitney's got a pink Whitney out there now. The song man is a full time member. Marley just got an assist from Chris B. Whoa.

[Merles]

We're buzzing right now.

[Justin Williams]

Foreign.

[Eric Duhatschek]

What is up everyone? Welcome to episode 650 of the Spitting Chickens podcast. And you see it right now. Pinkies up. Mers drinking out of the bottle. Yan's is going double pinkies up. Biz just has one. I don't know if there's anything on his pinky shout out. Pink Whitney showed out pinkies up. And it's, it's, it's Carolina's. A spot where pinkies up could just be ripping and roaring. Because I know at the outdoor game a Few years ago, Mer smothered off the pink Whitney at the tailgate. They got a chance to move on to the Stanley cup final for the first time in a long time tomorrow night. And pinkies up, Pink Whitney will be representing at the tailgate. We know that, guys. A lot to catch up on. A lot's happened. The Stanley cup final is set.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Hey, hey.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Oh, wait. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. You're right. There's another game to be played in the East. There's another game to be played in the East.

[Yan Stastny]

I wonder what the winameter is going to be on that one.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Well, yeah, I. So we're going to save that a little bit because we're going to go over one of the most shocking sweeps the league's ever seen. I would say it's not quite as much as Tampa Columbus few years back, but right under that, in terms of nobody saw sweep, even the people who picked Vegas, which I believe was very few. When you see, you know, ESPN and all these different media outlets will pick winners. I. There were not. There were not a lot of Vegas golden.

[Yan Stastny]

I feel like we.

[Merles]

I think we all took Vegas.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't remember what I did. I can't even remember yesterday.

[Merles]

Check the tape.

[Eric Duhatschek]

But I do know for the most part, people were picking Colorado. And we've gone to the fans and thinking this isn't even a series and blah, blah, blah, but Colorado's done. And the way it went down, I actually think a little bit of the Brindamore, like, didn't feel like a sweep. Like, pretty good games, right? It was not like. Like, it's not like what we're witnessing in the Eastern conferen right now. And that's not a sweep. So a lot more competitive than 4.0sounds. But Biz, you said it. I think you said it against Utah that something was clicking with Vegas. And right now you're looking like a genius for one of the first times in your life.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh, I wouldn't go that far. I think that there was a lot of influence from Blunty. I think Bluney Gans hopped on it. I mean, Murr, you're always kind of on the Vegas train. Although you were being.

[Merles]

No, it was against his ABs.

[Eric Duhatschek]

It was against an ABs guy this year.

[Keith]

I picked the ABs jersey over the Vegas jacket.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay. Wow.

[Justin Williams]

All right.

[Yan Stastny]

Well, I guess you're an idiot too, now, but. Yeah, I mean, I'd be curious to know how many people bet Vegas sweep, like, on the planet. Maybe not one.

[Keith]

There was a bunch of tickets. There was a bunch of hundred dollar tickets at one of the Vegas casinos.

[Eric Duhatschek]

But that's the hell were the odds on that ticket.

[Keith]

It was 30 to 1, I believe.

[Yan Stastny]

I just, I think it's just a classic case of, of a team all coming together, peeking at the right time, goaltending being unbelievable. Every trade and acquisition they've made is, is worked out. And just Colorado, I don't know, man, just seems like they hit a wall. You know, obviously McKinnon not being 100%, but he was through the first two and a half games. Kill Makar. Anytime you have one defenseman controlling that much of gameplay throughout the regular season and playoffs, at least up until that point, I think it's just going to throw your group off when all of a sudden you're going to have to throw guys out there way more than they're used to. And you've been kind of running the machine a certain way for, for as long as they have. And I mean, going back to when they won it, like, look at how much he was playing and look how dominant he was. So shitty situation. I talked to a few guys here and, and they posed a question, they said. And goes back to what you tweeted out with, like, are we really surprised that. That Wedgwood and Blackwood didn't pull through as their goaltenders? Maybe a little unfair considering they, they, they won the, what was it, the Jennings Trophy?

[Eric Duhatschek]

No, I, I think, I just can't believe that Blackwood didn't start game.

[Yan Stastny]

I agree with that. And I agree with that.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And it's more like it's not even a shot at Wedgwood in the first two games. It's just when you have a season of back and forth, okay, pick a guy in the playoffs, because we've kind of argued that as well. But if you're down 20 and you've had a guy that's been your starter half the time, Buddy, it's time to switch it up.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And I don't want a buddy Bednar. I'm not saying buddy to bed. I love that guy. I didn't know. I'm just more saying buddy as in buddy buddy, you know, like, but, but

[Yan Stastny]

at the end of the day though, man, like you saw in the fourth game, like, did it really matter? No, no.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Blackwood was.

[Merles]

And Blackwood was good. He was really good.

[Yan Stastny]

It was all about what Vegas was bringing boys.

[Merles]

So Nate, Nate had two assists all series. McCarr zero assist in two games. Landiscog had three goals, no assists. Nelson zero points. Kadri one goal to say assist and nexus to assist. If you're big dogs, and those are big dogs, those are legitimate players. Half of them, Half of them were on Olympic team besides Kadri. All those guys were on Olympic team. Like those are your big dogs. They need to show up. They didn't. But it's almost like you got to give the credit to Vegas. You got to give the credit to the Jack Eichels of the world, guys that are able to shut down big time players. And I don't know if it's more that Colorado didn't play well, which obviously they didn't, but I think Vegas is just at a different level right now.

[Yan Stastny]

I gotta, I got a, a direct message from Bob Stauffer this morning. Okay. Did you, did he, did he text you with to tell you that he was sending this because you just had a grimace on your face?

[Eric Duhatschek]

No, the grimace was that I didn't get a message from Bob's office.

[Keith]

I didn't want to tell you, but I got one from him about a week and a half ago and I

[Eric Duhatschek]

haven't talked to him in a while. He might be done with me.

[Merles]

Yeah, he's done.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't really blame him. I mean, how can you not be done with me at this point?

[Yan Stastny]

I gotta read this.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Okay.

[Yan Stastny]

I gotta read this. And I know you feel like he's cheating on you, but you don't.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't.

[Yan Stastny]

I respect you don't want to get messages like this. Okay. He starts off with this one. Love you, man. Dot, dot, dot.

[Eric Duhatschek]

He does. He's a hell of a guy. He's a lover too.

[Yan Stastny]

But the Oilers top two centers both significantly compromise. Oilers lose to Anaheim dot dot dot in six games. You rip them this after Edmonton went to game seven and game six of the Stanley Cup Final the last two years. Colorado, Colorado has Makar McKinnon hurt. They get swept. Do you free pass them this emoji?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Hey, buddy. I've seen other Edmonton Oilers fan media and I have to find this right now that have kind of been. That have also kind of gone after you a little bit. Yeah, here it is. Biz rips Oilers but gives ABS a pass. A retweet to which you said on game notes yesterday I wouldn't change much. And I kind of love that these Edmonton people are getting together saying, keep

[Yan Stastny]

in mind, if this was happening with Toronto fans, you'd be saying they got to make everything about themselves. Okay. We've already been, we've talked Edmonton to Toronto eight minutes in no We've already been through this, man. Like, you can't, you can't compare the two and how they've handled business off the ice. Making moves like you can't. Like, they did a better job addressing their goaltending. We can't deny that.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Sure, for sure. Like, I wasn't even going to bring any of this up, so. You're right. You're right.

[Yan Stastny]

Like, listen, like, Nelson, he had an unbelievable regular season. He went to up until Olympic break. He came back, didn't look like himself. Like, did he play horribly in playoffs? Yeah, he didn't bring it nature in the third round. Yeah, man, he looked like too much of a perimeter player. Only two assists. Like, you know what? Hey, would I have ever traded Rotten and. Absolutely not. I criticize him for the way that they handled that situation. You can go back and check the tapes. But I'm also not saying that they didn't do a good job of like, at least replenishing what, what they lost from him to some degree. I mean, how many points did Nate just have this regular season?

[Eric Duhatschek]

100.

[Yan Stastny]

Nuskin. Apparently he was hurt. He didn't bring it. I don't know how many guys for Colorado you want me to criticize, but like, they, they, they ran out of steam. They didn't bring it as much as the Vegas Big Dogs. But if we're sitting here comparing the fact that Edmonton Oilers, with two of the best players in the world in their prime, lost in the first round to an inexperienced playoff team in Anaheim and then saying that Colorado lost to what we probably know is going to be the. The future cup champions, Little bit of a difference here. They won the President's Trophy. Like, there was a lot more that was achieved.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I just love that stuff. Woke up and he's like, in Oilers and it was violence. I don't want to do this. It's not Oilers because these, the fans. Listen, they don't deserve it.

[Yan Stastny]

I, I will say this. You say that goaltending him, let him down a little bit. But you question it going in.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, I questioned it going in. Now, here's mur. I kind of, as an ABS guy, I want to get your opinion on this because there's two sides to thinking about Colorado and Vegas will get our flowers. They deserve it.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

The one side is, hey, like, yeah, obviously Brent Burns is ufa. I think they have to sign Jack Drury. They have some things they got to figure out, right? But overall, like, their team is set, okay. And you look at president's trophies, they lose, they get swept in the conference final, but they'll be back next year. Okay, then the other side is. Well, they're all getting a little bit older. They all didn't play the way they did when they won the cup three, four years ago. So there's also that side of like, are they kind of on the way down out of the window now? I'll give this stat. There's been three present or president cup winning teams that have got swept in the playoffs. The 95 Red Wings, they want it two. They won two straight. Couple years later, Tampa Bay, they won two straight. Couple years Later. And Florida won two straight right after.

[Yan Stastny]

So I more think they didn't get swept by Vegas. Did they lose in five.

[Eric Duhatschek]

That's 20, 22 Florida. Oh, so they weren't swept. Okay, you're right. You're right.

[Keith]

They lost in Tampa early. I don't know if it was a sweep.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Was it? No, they weren't swept. You're right. Either way, as a. I'm looking at Colorado not as like, oh, like they're kind of in trouble now. I'm like, Colorado, if they were won the Stanley cup next year, I wouldn't be surprised. It's not like, holy shit, Colorado's in one.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Keith]

My biggest worries, I Nachushkin. He had four points in 12 games. He's one of those big bodies that he needed to show up in Vegas. Yeah, he's probably hurt. But Nelson, you got to remember last year in playoffs when they traded for him, he did nothing. And we're like, oh, man. But then he has 33 goals in the regular season. What does he do in this playoffs? He disappears again. Three points. Your number two center, you can't have that if you're going against Vegas and Makar. I said it on game notes yesterday. I had all my. I got most of my anger and disappointment out. He's got to play in game two if you don't want to play him game one, because he's probably got. I would bet a lot of money he's got dislocated shoulder. But all right. We all saw him skating that morning skate of game two. He was moving around. You put him in just psychological. Like, I don't even know how to talk psychologically. No, you're right for his team and for Vegas. Like Vegas is over there.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, yeah.

[Keith]

No Makar, that just makes them step up a little bit more. Throw them out there, maybe use them. Pppk. And then Migsy said, even better is that they're the home team. You can place them in spots where you want them, spot them on an old draw, spot them against a finesse line. Spot him PP, spot him 6 on 5. You should have had him in there. And, and you know, once they lost that game, we knew it was, Well, I mean I think we all knew it was over after two periods when you could just, you, your, our eyeballs told us, like I sent the Vegas

[Yan Stastny]

in 5 video because that was, you're. You're saying because like for instance, they were up one nothing most of that game, right? They, they ended up blowing that third period lead, which was the first time they lost a lead going into the third period. All season long. I think they were like 40, 42, 00 or something stupid like that. The ABs, the power play that like if they get an opportunity in that situation to close the game out and create that separation and maybe with Maar in the lineup working the top of the power play, you go up two nothing and all of a sudden it's a one one series and it completely changes the, the mindset and dynamic. Like after they lost game three the way they did it was over. They were defeated, like put the house on, on them losing game four. So I don't know, I don't know what more criticism that we can give them outside of their, Some of their top guys, as Yan mentioned, like just didn't show up. They dealt with injuries at the worst possible time. They didn't get the timely save. You go back to the Eiko goal and the Barbershev goal, like it all kind of just came to a bottleneck in like two games and at the blink of an eye their season was over. So I think that we kind of knew that about Edmonton. As you kind of watched that series where this one, it was just like, oh fuck. It was all of a sudden done. It felt like, yeah.

[Merles]

So I, you don't think like Colorado's going into these meetings the next couple days, like Sakic seems to be a guy that's obviously level headed where they're, they're not going and being like, we gotta blow things up, we gotta make major changes.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't know if the coach is back really.

[Yan Stastny]

I have never seen an emotional reaction unless I just haven't scoured the Internet enough quite like I did in game two from Joe Sakic as they panned up to the GM box. I've never seen him mouth a swear word in my life as they've panned up. And he was like, like, I don't know.

[Justin Williams]

He.

[Yan Stastny]

I'm Pretty sure he dropped an F bomb in there and walked off of screen. I, I like, I, I don't. I think Bednar is a great coach. Who the are you going to replace him with? Are you going to try this Carl thing out if it was even a possibility? Like what if it doesn't work out?

[Eric Duhatschek]

No, I agree. I just think the way EJ put it the other day, I think it was Eric Johnson who's like, they tried the shake up of the core and that didn't work well.

[Unknown Analyst]

They don't have any first round picks for the next three seasons either. So they're not in a good place draft wise. They don't have a loaded prospect.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah but that's not, to me that doesn't really like matter for next year and the year after.

[Unknown Analyst]

Like obviously to gain assets, like to make a trade this off season, you're going to need first round picks.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't even know if they need to make that many trades. I think their guys got to play better.

[Yan Stastny]

I think if they played better and they're, and they're healthy like you're, that, that's a, you're looking at a, a, a juggernaut battle series and then somebody's coming out of it. Man. You built a team in order to win. They ran into an absolute wagon at the perfect time and that's what it is. Like I think that there's been teams in the past where they've made drastic moves and they look back and they're probably like, oh, maybe we put hit the panic button a little too much. You just, you just use Tampa as the example. You don't think Coop, you don't think Coop was nervous? And keep in mind this isn't getting swept in the first round against Columbus. You don't think Coop was nervous going into that offseason? He probably thought he was done for sure.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

They stuck with everybody. They fucking regrouped. They, they look themselves in the mirror. Like sometimes you have to work through things. And let's not forget ourselves. This is a coach and, and most of that core who has won one with them. So they've won one. They've proven that they can do it.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So I know they've already, they've already won what now that, that Florida President's cup team was swept by Tampa. So that was, that, that was factual.

[Yan Stastny]

Which one?

[Eric Duhatschek]

40 in 2022.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay, okay.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Now so that's my thing. Like I don't think the roster needs an overall. They, they got to get lucky. It's it's all luck. I'm. It's not all luck. It's so much luck now to stay healthy.

[Merles]

Do you think the Minnesota series took too much out of them too? Like Colorado, like that's a grind of a.

[Yan Stastny]

Well, yeah, it took my car.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, he was already banged up, but that took him to the other, you know, to an even further extension.

[Yan Stastny]

When you say he was already banged up, you're telling me when he. I forget who he went shoulder to shoulder with. And then he grimaced and, and like you, you're telling me his shoulder was already banged up before.

[Eric Duhatschek]

It was from that hit against Calgary in, in the regular season at the

[Merles]

end of the year.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, he was banged up and you could tell even before the, the innocent one, Johansson or whoever it was, it was like he wasn't really producing the way he usually does. I know he had some goals. Not, you know, not many like points like that guy. Like if you're looking at defenseman right now and the way that people, you know, you saw Quinn Hughes and you see guys point per game, Lane Hudson, obviously that switched the past few games. That was Kale McCarr getting a point per game and over a point per game in the playoffs. So yeah, we could kind of put the, the, the Minnesota hurt.

[Keith]

I think they hurt lekking in. They hurt Malinsky because those guys all came into this banged up too. And, and Vegas 100 healthy. Yes, stone got a little banged up, but he looked better once he came back. He likes the, he needs a little rest. He's like that. The WWE geef. You know, when he comes back with

[Eric Duhatschek]

a cast at that thing, he's the

[Keith]

best at coming back.

[Yan Stastny]

Milinsky gains another year experience. Like he just kind of stepped. Finally had like his first couple years of getting his feet wet and knowing what it's like to be a full time NHL. And he just got the big deal. So they got him locked up at a great number for, for years to come. What happens with Brent Burns? Is he coming back?

[Merles]

I would, I mean, poor guy.

[Eric Duhatschek]

He's going somewhere, right? Yeah, because he's got. I think it's 57 games to break the all time record. All the guy wants is a cop. I don't. But that, that's, that's something that you have to consider here. The guy's not done playing. Like he doesn't have to be done playing at times. Did he look a little older in the series? Yeah, but he's 41 years old. Like I, I get it now onto Vegas boys. You know we did a lot of this chat when they're up 30 when we. When we chatted the other day. But the fact that. The fact that now hurdles. Playing this way, because we were calling out hurdle all regular season, basically the second half and then into the first few rounds, he's found something. We talked about that goal already. I mean, what a disgusting move that was. And then you have Stone down on, like, the third line with Sizzins and him. Stone gets that breakaway in game four. And after he said, like, he's kind of chirping his own skating in a way, and he's like, I've just been able to use angles. And it's funny. It's like hockey iq. Like, if I don't have the speed, it's all about my angles and where I have to be. And he. And he says, because I've actually gotten a lot of breakaways in my career, and for a guy who skates that way, you. He does get a lot of breakaways because he's reading the play and he's figuring out where he has to skate to get behind guys. And that was. That was the sign. It was over, if you want to say, going into the game. And Mur had texted us, they're only minus 105 in this game. Like, they should be minus 300, which was a great call. But Stone scores that goal, and the most electrifying celebration guy in the league, I think. Oh, yeah, just running point net. Was it McNabb who floated that thing? You know, he's just old, and it's like, oh, boys, this thing's done.

[Yan Stastny]

Like, he was at the blue line before it crossed the goal line. Psych's fist pumping and selling. You know what? You know what it reminded me of? It reminded me of when in the closeout game when Marner got that breakaway and went between the legs where he was just like, oh, it's. It's over. They got the first goal.

[Eric Duhatschek]

That was early on, too.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, I. I get such LA kings. When they won that first cup with the Vibes, when they just. They got the eight seed and they caught lightning in a bottle and there was no stopping them.

[Merles]

They drummed.

[Yan Stastny]

Everyone drummed. Everybody. They would just. They would weigh on you. They would grind you down. You would get nothing. You couldn't get to the inside. You're getting no good quality scoring chances. They usually found a way to get that lead, as I talked about, and then it would just be a dump and chase and you're a sandwich game where you're like, holy. You want to talk Anaconda chokehold. That's what's going on there. So, I mean, from top to bottom, it's, it's the, the only issue they have on their team right now is who, who's going to get the con smite when they win it.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So, so

[Keith]

around here, I'm not, I'm

[Eric Duhatschek]

not, I, I, I've switched my tune from when we were chatting the other day. Not on the show. Like, Carolina could win the Stanley Cup. Boys, I'm sorry.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay. All right. I like that.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And we can get into that a little bit because we still have to talk. Carolina, Montreal, the series still going on. Unless I'm being fooled by three teams that Carolina will have beaten once they finish off. The Canadiens being not that great and not Vegas level. This team is incredible. But with Vegas, the other part that's really cool is torts. And the interview after, Was it Bob McKenzie's son, Sean? Maybe? I think that was. He was just chatting. Like, he seems so at ease and so happy. And how could you not be like 4 and 1? They just, they're drumming everyone. But everything is worked out to perfection. And so you talk about the luck and the luck of being injured for Colorado and all these other teams, and then the luck of we made a coaching change at the right time because there's a chance we were going to miss. And then Carlson comes back and Hart finds his game. He's the best goalie left in the playoffs. And then everything's coming together. Hurdle starts scoring again. Stone's able to come back. So it's, it's just all coming together at the right time. That would be my fear as a Hurricanes fan is like, it's just, it seems like it is an unstoppable force right now in Vegas. That's the problem.

[Keith]

And the one guy we haven't talked about, I think changed the entire team is when I started thinking is William Carlson. He got slotted into that number two center, got Marner out of that spot where he could just play the wing and worry about that. And then Hurdle dropped into the third slot. Perfect third line size. And then when the Stone injury went out, it actually worked out perfect. They saw how good Eichel was with, with the, with the Russian guys. Stone and Hurdle, they're both big and kind of slow, but they're both so smart and skilled. They, those three lines are just perfect. And then the fourth line is, is the dream fourth line for a Stanley cup champion.

[Yan Stastny]

Did, did they. So they moved Sizzins to third line, center and Hurdle to the left side. Had they done that when Hurdle scored that goal down the left wing where he went to the backhand? Or was he playing center at that point? Because I noticed that they, they switched that in the last game. Right.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't know. What, I don't.

[Keith]

I would have thought he was center there. The guy made the D. Coughlin went over to the other D. I don't know how to say his name. He made the long pass up the stone. The breakout that Montreal should be using on Carolina. The Russian breakout, the high tip. Boom. Hurdle full speed. I, I, I would guess he was center and just curling to his forehand on that.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, I mean, veg. Vegas shout out Vegas too. All right, so they make that deal for Rasmus Anderson. Right? Like that's just a top four defenseman on, on any team in the league. Stanley cup champ. Doesn't matter. Probably a top two defenseman on a weaker team. The guy could play. He's paired with Hanifin. Then you got McNabb the horse. Right. He's with Theodore, who skates like the wind. He's also long rang. And then they're able to kind of plug in like coughlins look great. Is it. Korzak's the other guy. But they have other guys who've been in and out on the fifth, sixth spot. So it's, it's, it's that all coming together with. Hey, Carter Hart, you can dislike this guy all you want. I don't give a. The guy is in the NHL. He has the right to be the NHL. And everyone who hates him and everyone who's talking about it. Hey, talk about whatever you want. Do you think the Vegas Golden Knights don't love this guy and appreciate this guy and, and John Tortorella? You think a guy like that, who has respect for Carhartt, you think that he doesn't love seeing this guy come back from what he went through? And you can come at me all you want. I don't care. He's an incredible player who was found not guilty. He's playing for a reason in the NHL and he's doing a phenomenal job. And right now, that guy who was in the depths of hell at one point sitting in a courtroom is, is, is doing what he loves again. And I'm happy for him. So come at me. Come at him. Go with the Vegas Golden Knights. I hate the fucking Vegas Golden Knights. But to see a guy who probably thought he was never going to play hockey again.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Leading the Race for the con Smite. Even though he'll never get it. Good for him. Good for him. And Vegas is now going to be chilling and waiting and practicing and Torts is going to be singing Kumbaya because this is the new Torts. I don't have to yell at anyone. I have this perfect hockey team who just shows up every night. The fourth line runs around and kills people. Eichel, let's start talking Eiko. I mean, is Eichel a top five player in the NHL? I don't care that he doesn't get 115 points, this guy.

[Merles]

I, I just reheard that it was Big Walt. He was on the wingman podcast with Matthew and Brady. This was from a while ago and he was talking about how good Jack was. He said he ISO cammed him at four nations and at the Olympics. And he was like this guy. I didn't realize. Maybe because he's out west or whatever, but he, he is a true number one center. Shuts down every team, doesn't cheat offense. And I think he said, yeah, he did say he was like, he's like a Barov. Like he. The way that those guys can just control a game, even if they're not playing offense, even if they're not scoring goals, they can control it defensively.

[Eric Duhatschek]

It's.

[Merles]

He, he truly is. And I don't know if he doesn't. I think he gets the credit enough maybe for being like as good as he is a two way player, but man, that guy is just an absolutely fundamentally sound, amazing, amazing hockey player. Just what he brings. Like, there are times if they need an offensive shift, like you'll see him put on the, put on the burners, get some offensive zone. And then if they, you know, they need to like at the end of the game, he's out there. It's him and Marner out there trying to ice the game. Like they have a good fourth line like Dowd and those guys can win draws, but he's out there doing it. It's. It's awesome to see what he's.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Barkov's a great, A great comparable because I think both guys, if they didn't play a certain way, could get way more points.

[Merles]

Oh yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And they still get a shitload of points. So all the moves Vegas has made, it goes back years and years. And calling them cutthroat and villains, which I love to do, it seems like every move they make is a home run. And it doesn't hurt that they have guys who. Or it's a team in a city that people really want to play for. I mean, when you talk about certain markets that guys aren't going to want to go to, that's just a fact. Vegas is not one of them. It's actually the exact opposite.

[Yan Stastny]

And there's a kind of what Merle said too. Like you got Eiko, who just took 13 5, you got Capri soft making 17. It's like you talk about a place that people want to be and want to play, willing to take hometown discounts. Everybody kind of falls in line now all of a sudden for the next how many ever. Seven years you got Eichel at 13, five, you got Marner at now 12. I mean, Dorothea is probably gonna settle for 8 million bucks because he likes playing there and he's going to score 40 goals playing with guys like Jack Eichel. So it's. Yeah, it seems like everybody's bought in and. And that's going to be a problem for the league for a few more years. I would personally like. I mean, we can get to the Carolina series when if they were to be fully healthy and Florida were to be fully healthy, I would love to see them meet again.

[Merles]

That would be unreal.

[Yan Stastny]

That would be a like. I mean, I'm sure that, that Florida, Florida was banged up last time they met, right?

[Merles]

Yeah, like Matthew had his sternum thing, I think. Yeah, I think their whole team was depleted in that. In that finals. But yeah, man, that would be an insane finals. And you never know, we might get it next year.

[Yan Stastny]

Might get it next year. But yeah, I got to toot my

[Keith]

own horn here because if you're talking about the old Vegas team that won, then Florida back to back and now Vegas again. What do all four have?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Big old D men.

[Keith]

Big, huge D men. No, little number one D that are under six feet tall. So I gotta, I gotta shout my own name out for that one.

[Eric Duhatschek]

But also, what was the article you sent us where there's an article about this

[Keith]

stolen valor? Somebody on NHL.com writing articles about the

[Unknown Analyst]

long big D. Vegas has the second tallest team in the NHL. Where do you guys think Colorado ranks?

[Eric Duhatschek]

They're.

[Yan Stastny]

They're pretty big. 23rd small guy is. Is a con. And, and who, who what other tiny guys?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Actually, no, Nelson's big. Are you talking boys?

[Unknown Analyst]

They ranked 31st in the NHL in terms of height. Behind them, Montreal Minnesota Wild fraud squad.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Wait, are you talking D or the whole team?

[Unknown Analyst]

The whole team. The height. Height of the whole team.

[Keith]

While we're on that subject, all the Minnesota fans Coming at me calling Colorado a fraud squad. They wiped Minnesota out in five games. So if Colorado's a fraud squad, I don't know what that makes you guys.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Well, maybe that's them silently agreeing with you but also saying, listen, we're not the only frauds in the central.

[Yan Stastny]

Gee, what's the. What's the average. Average height of their team?

[Merles]

6:1.

[Unknown Analyst]

The average height of the Vegas Golden Knights is 6:2 with a average weight of 201 pounds, while the Colorado Avalanche height is 6 foot 6:1 with an average weight of 194 pounds.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So it doesn't seem like a lot when you read it off, but then you go through battle in a series every other night and you get worn down. Worn down. And man, even we didn't even mention that Cole Smith from Nashville. Like, this guy's running around, he scores a big. He scores the winning goal in the series clinching game. It's like, I think he was getting

[Keith]

close to being benched because he took another minor penalty.

[Eric Duhatschek]

They.

[Keith]

They panned the torts at one time. He was furious. First time I've seen torts upset since he got there. And. But he stuck with him and he got the game winner.

[Merles]

Yeah, that game winner. That game winner was. Is it the word microcosm. Microcosm of how Vegas can play like it was. It was hurdle who gets the puck in, kind of makes a good individual play, then ends up getting it deep. Then Dow goes in on the forecheck, buzzing around. Then he makes an unreal pass up top to Coughlin and he gets a shot on the net and boom, series over. It's just like how they played all series long.

[Keith]

Final fear leaguer. I play with Mike Cameron. He told me it's the best line. I told Biz I wanted him. He could have used it yesterday on the, on the panel. First and second line get you into the playoffs. Third and fourth line when you the Stanley Cup. So if you're looking at all these teams. So all the big goals are coming from those third and fourth lines in the big moments.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And we have. We're lucky enough. Bruce, Cassie's gonna be joining us in a minute, but I do think we

[Merles]

have actually towards this, we have to

[Eric Duhatschek]

quickly mention the comments. You know, I wouldn't say surprising, but I, I was taken aback when Marner mentioned, like, I've been through some dark days in my hockey career and of course Maple Leaf's fans, that business been carving. Like the people that are just so bitter, they. They made a big thing out of that. Oh, making. Playing golf at Royal St. George, whatever the courses that he was playing after they lost, tough life. But obviously it, it was pretty evident that he was going through some tough times at the end of those playoff failures and taking a lot of the heat biz.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah. I mean, yeah, like once again, like the, the, the, the idiots online are going to take that and run. All he's doing is giving you his experience and what he's been through and saying he's on the other side of it. So like anybody who can't just be happy for the guy at this point, like, he moved on, right. It didn't work out. Like, he was probably just as disappointed as anyone at the fact that he couldn't deliver in his hometown. And I'm not saying that in a sense of like it was all on him. I think that there was probably some, some key moments he wish he could have elevated his play. But hey, man, he, he went over to, to, to a team, a better team, right. He thought that this is a better situation for me where I'm not going to get scrutinized and, and, and take the brunt of, of, of all the blame when things don't go right and you know, when maybe it isn't his turn to step up, there's going to be other guys in the lineup who do. And that's, that's, that's proven true. Right. Like they got an unbelievable squad. He made the right move and, and let's not forget in times of need, in the first two rounds, like he was the go to guy when they needed a play to be made and they needed a game breaker, he did it. And yeah, I mean he deserves all the credit in the world. And we talked about it coming in. I think that it's really between Carter Hart, Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel right now as far as who's going to win the big hardware. And I would imagine that it's going to be between Jack and him. Now going back to what we were saying earlier about Jack too. Like, I think most people discovered how good he was and what he could bring the first time they won it. I think people thought he should probably won the Con Smythe that trip to the finals as well. Marchesault had a, had a fucking horseshoe up his ass. He was scoring everything that he touched. So that was the reason he took it. But yeah, I would say that at this point, man, Jack Eichel is, I mean he's a bona fide, he's hall of Famer, automatically Right.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Like, yeah, it'll end up that way.

[Yan Stastny]

It'll end up that way. But this will put the stamp of approval on it is.

[Merles]

Do you think for Marner, it was more like the beginning of his career. He was such like a joyful player having fun out there in the ice. And then his, by the end of his tenure in Toronto just looked like the fun had gotten taken away from him. And now you see it like he's having fun. You see him after the game when they win, obviously they're going on to the finals, but it, you just see that smile on his face and like I, I just feel like that's when he's at his best, when he's having fun and he's, you know, he's not feeling the pressure.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I guess you'd have to, we'd have to sit down and interview him to know what he was going through and what he was thinking in his last like probably the la. I think it was like the. We, we always go back to the stats like 2019, till, till last year through 18, game five, through sevens, no goals, six assists. Right. So there was obviously probably a weight like that that was weighing on him. And, and then when he didn't deliver in those situations, the team didn't either. The. Yeah, the media came down on all the guys making all the money. Now do I think that they made their situation easy by bending the team over and not even signing a full 18, 8 year deal? Like I think that you put a little bit of a, a target on your back. Like we just talked about Jack. Like there are differences between both environments. Right. You had a team who, you had their top players not willing to take hometown discounts, where now all of a sudden you're in a place like Vegas and they are like, Jack Geiko had already won a cup, but he's willing to take a hometown discount. He's making the same, he's going to be making the same on his big long term deal as Matthews just got on a four year bridge. So it's just that there's, there's, there's differences on, on the teams and ultimately to go back to your, to your, your question is like, he's just, he just seems way happier and it's a better environment for him and he's out of the media circus.

[Keith]

Guys, I'm gonna hop off here for the Bruce Cassidy interview, but I just wanted to ask you guys like, did you guys ask for permission from Vegas for this interview?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Biz Might have. They ain't giving me permission.

[Yan Stastny]

I never thought about that. I know that they're going to be hitting us with a fine for sure.

[Eric Duhatschek]

All right, before we get to Bruce, we got two quick ads here. Mer. Thank you. We'll see you in a couple minutes. First rougiette. You guys ever get a limp stick and I'm not talking about on the ice. Rouge yet Ready is a custom compounded three in one ED treatment designed to get your brain and body back in action. Dissolves under your tongue. No pills or water needed. Works in 15 minutes on average. Shout out My vacation. Why is everyone raving about it? Well, most ED meds only target blood flow. Rug yet Ready Combines tadalafil, cil and A for morphamine. A porphymorphamine. I'm going to try that every week till I get it to not just get the blood pumping but help light up those arousal signals in your brain. Lasts about 36 hours. Up to 36 hours, no buzzer beating needed. Although you might find yourself up for OT. It's doctor prescribed 100% online and ships discreetly to your door. Don't leave your game up to chance. Go to ruet.com Chicklets get 15% off. Start scoring today. RU G I.com Chicklets an athletic brewing company. They craft great tasting award winning non alcoholic beer that means no compromises on flavor, no consequences later for enjoying the celebration. This is a full flavor non alcoholic beer that never feels out of place. There's always a seat at the bar for you not drinking or cutting down on drinking. No worries, it's fit for all times. You can drink at any time, anywhere and still go right back to whatever you're doing. Biz we know you are an athletic favorite.

[Yan Stastny]

It's my favorite. You know I'm off the sauce. I like my athletic brews especially when I'm on my hikes. Low calorie, nice little refreshing ending and they do a lot of good things as far as donating money to trails all across North America. So shout out to my friends at Athletic Brew. I can't wait to get home after this series and sip a few after my my TNT TV gigs up for the year.

[Eric Duhatschek]

It's a dream sponsorship for you because with the the money gone to hiking which you love and the non alcoholic Bruce which is what you live on now. It's great that biz is involved and there's a reason for that. And they have so many different flavors. IPAs, Goldens, Extra Dark Brews, Sours, Hazies and many more of which you can only get online and for a limited time. And you could find Athletic Brewing's best selling lineup at grocery stores or liquor stores near you. Also go to athleticbrewing.com chiclets to find stores near you or get brew shipped right to your door. Use code Chiclets for 15 off your first online order near beer. Terms and conditions and certain limitations apply. Athletic Brewing Company fit for all times. Let's bring in a Stanley cup winning coach biz that you got to work with at TNT a little bit this year. Bruce Cassidy. What a. What a guest biz.

[Yan Stastny]

Here we go. There we go.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Hi fellas. How are you doing?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Thank you very much for joining us. How are you doing? Where are you at right now?

[Bruce Cassidy]

I'm in Cape Cod. You know it well. I got a tee time at 12:10 today, so.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Good for you.

[Bruce Cassidy]

It's. It's been kind of rainy out here and overcast every day with the sun's out today.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So Bruce, watching the games right now and obviously we just went over the Vegas sweep. I imagine it's a little awkward, right? Like I was a guy traded from a team who won the Stanley Cup. You won a Cup with Vegas. You're not there anymore. Is it, is it hard to watch? Are you watching all the games, like take us through. You mentally seeing what they're doing right now?

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, I've seen enough of them. I don't see them all. Some of them just because they're on later here, but you know, they're, they found their game getting contributions from everybody. Obviously the goaltender made, made a big difference when he got healthy and got into the lineup there. It's kind of solidified that position for them. So Carlsen getting him back, he's a real underrated player. I think it's helped them a lot. You can check anybody in the league and it showed against some, some pretty good players in Colorado and Anaheim. So they've been there before. I mean, they know what it looks like. Torch has been there before. He knows what it looks like. So they've got that going for them as well.

[Yan Stastny]

We're, we're a marner glazing podcast now. And when you were the head coach there because of the Carlson injury. Injury, you put him at center, second line, center most of the year. So like how, how, like how good is he as. As far as like a Swiss army knife and where you could put him and, and what he's able to play as far as penalty kill, power play and touch so many Areas of the ice. And at what point did you go to him to ask him, hey, can you, can you handle this for the season?

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, it's when Carly got hurt, it was kind of Jack and, and hurdle. We still had seasons and then he got hurt. So now we're down to two guys. We bring a guy up, but, you know, we had to find a replacement internally. So actually used Riley Smith for a few games and then I talked to Mitch about it. You know, he plays the game offensively like a center, right. He's a guy that, he's a transporter of the puck through the neutral zone. He needs it on his stick in the ozone to make his plays. So certainly plays that way with the puck. Without the puck was going to be trial and error. But Biz, he's unbelievably gifted defensively with a stick, his brain, he's above people all the time. The challenge was face offs. That's it. Right. So we use different guys to help him on the wing with that. But even that, you know, he wanted to go dig in on, he worked on it after practice. You know, it takes a lot of pride in everything he does. So I'm happy for him. I mean, I heard you guys, he had a tough goal in there. Toronto, I was out west for a lot of it. I saw him early on in his career when I was in Boston, we beat him in a seven game series. I thought he was their best player in the playoffs. So I've seen him be good that time of year. But right now he's, as you said, he's having a lot of fun out there and he's got other people around him. If he has a bad couple of not bad, but if he's, he's not producing for a couple of games, it's not the end of the world. In Vegas, where Toronto would probably get scrutinized a lot more.

[Merles]

Bruce, you mentioned Carter Hart quickly and you know, as a guy that I played with him, I'm super happy for him and you know, just with how competitive he is, how smart of a goaltender he is, like, how happy are you for him and what did you see from him? But also, can you touch on Sean Burke and what he means to the goaltenders there? Me and Biz had him in Phoenix and just an outstanding, you know, just a communicator with the goaltenders and the defense and the other coaches, like maybe touch on those two guys a little bit.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah, with Berkey puts a lot of work into it. Right. He knows the Position. Well, I think he played 17 years in the league so he certainly knows the ups and downs, the everyday mental aspect of it. And that's something as head coaches having not played that position is pretty unique. So you need that on your goaltender coach and he's excellent at that. He did a great job with, with Aiden Hill who the year we won the Cup, Aiden came over from Arizona. So that was Berkey's guy and identified him. He likes that style of goaltender with, with Hart coming in and being, being hurt. I think he missed a total of 12 weeks. It was probably tougher on Sean to get to know his game style without seeing him for a while, but easier to get to know him as a person. Right. You're working with them every day, one on one, so he had that advantage. But Carter, like I said, he the first. When he first played for us earlier in the year, remember he hadn't played in two years. Right. So we knew there'd be some rust. He got injured against Columbus and it set him back for a long time. And even his, his recovery didn't come along as quickly as we'd hoped. So we weren't sure when he'd get back. And he, you know, he happened to get back I think is the second game after I got let go. But he's really helped that team. He's. He's proven he can play in the league towards had him. I think that relationship, Yan's is probably really important for him too. So, you know, it all kind of came together for him a little later than, than he had hoped. But it came together in the end and you're seeing it now.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Brett Howden's a guy that it seems like he's kind of built for the playoffs. He had over 20 goals last year in the regular season, but he was great when you guys won it. And then now he's got 10 goals through what, 16 games so far. What is it about his game that translates so well to, to the postseason? I mean, obviously there's speed, but it seems like it just, it goes up a level for him when the playoffs start.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, he's a straight line player wit and goes to the net playoff type goals. Right. He's not afraid to get inside. He's not a guy that's going to curl up and look for late people. He's going to get the puck to whoever's playing center with him. And the year we won it was Chandler Stevenson and Mark Stone and he'd just go to the back post, go to the top of the creased and he scored a lot of goals that way. He'll get behind people because of his speed. So he'll crack down the wing every once in a while, get a goal that way. But it's usually getting open in the dirty areas and he's a great kid. He can play center, he plays left wing. We never used him on the power play and he probably could on other teams but didn't complain. And you know, just one of those real solid middle of the lineup guys that, that you need to score goals this time of year. He seems to have it. I remember there was a run, I think it was Anaheim years ago. It was Travis Mohn. I coached a long time ago. You know, that type of guy would score, you know, 10 during the year, but eight in the playoffs. Went to the crease and deflected pucks and got rebounds and, and, and how he's got a little bit of that in him and, and it's going well for him right now. The shorties, you know, a lot of those are Mitch making high end plays, but he's still got to finish the play. He does have a good shot. So really happy for him too. But you know, that's the biggest reason he doesn't mess around. He's getting inside and going where the, you know, where the, the pucks are going to end up and getting greasy.

[Yan Stastny]

What was it like playing for like a management staff where like you knew at any point they were going to try to make a move to make the team better? Like obviously halfway through the year you saw them get Anderson. I think it was the year prior, maybe just the year before that where they get Hannifan. So they're constantly pushing their chips in and getting these big, these big guys to come in and help the team out. Like are they consulting you on these moves? Like are they going to you. Are you guys roundtable in quite a bit?

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah, yeah. Well, the hurdle was the year before and it was Barbershev the first year which was kind of a under the radar move that, you know, was the final piece for us year we won. I mean he's fit in really well with Eichel and Marsha. So yes, it's not so much names biz. It's like where do you see the lineup? Where do we need help? Right, so you start with that. Well, maybe we need another puck mover back there that that's, you know, got good feet. So that's where the, the Hannifin probably came in and, and then Anderson when Petro Petro's injury hasn't allowed him to play. So we're like, how do we replace him? Can we do it internally or you know, will we look around? And I think Anderson was on their radar for a while. At least that was being discussed in the media, I think even the year before. But so it's not always a name, it's more like where, where, where are we deficient? Where can we, we upgrade? And then, then as you get closer, names will come up. Just, just in case you have a previous history with them. Right. They want to know that Jeremy Lows on we made a trade for. I coached him in Boston as a young player back there. So you know, those things can be relevant when you're sort of getting to the finish line.

[Merles]

In those deals, Bruce, you had Patrice Bergeron, who, you know, the Selkie Award should probably be named after him, but. And then you got a guy like Jack Eichel who grew up in Boston, probably watched a ton of Patrice Bergeron. But just the way he plays defensively doesn't cheat the game with how good offensively is like, what do you see about his game that just makes him such a good 200 foot player?

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah, well, I think he, he wanted to have some of Bergey's attributes in his game and you know, it's hard if you're not in the playoffs to build that kind of reputation. Right. So I think he probably had it in the back of his mind then got more of an opportunity in Vegas. And you know, we met on the Cape here when I signed with Vegas and I met with Jack in July. I think it was on a way to a wedding in Chatham or something. And I grabbed him for half an hour and we kind of talked that through. What, you know, what do you need from me? And here's what I'd like you to look like. And it was more about, hey, I know you can bring it offensive, you're going to run our power play. But you know, 200 foot player, Jack, or your ability to skate and you're a hockey iq, I mean you'll be a Hall of Famer if you get that down. Right. There's no doubt in my mind he will be. And he has gotten it right. He used it in the Olympics unbelievably, you know, against us. I know in the final game he used it. That playoff series against McDavid, they had a great, great series back and forth and, and he's doing it again. So that's what Jack's all about. He takes care of his body. He's a pro, great guy. He's going to be a, you know, a dad soon. So I'm happy for Jack. He's, he's really turned the corner. When it looked like, you know, with the buffalo, the neck injury and all that, wasn't sure where it would land and, and he's, you know, he's their guy there. He's the guy that leads that team. Him and Mark Stone and he's done an unbelievable job there.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So the way it all went down, Bruce, obviously, I imagine very difficult for you. And then the one part is you're fired and the entire hockey world saying, well, he's going to have a job in 10 minutes. Right? Like that's, that speaks about you and your career. And then the news breaks where you're not allowed to talk to certain teams. And then you know, my squad, Edmonton, I think they planned. Oh, we can get Cassidy, take us through your thoughts in terms of not being allowed to talk to certain teams right now. Like does that upset you or is that part of the business? Like where are you at in terms of your next gig?

[Bruce Cassidy]

No, it's upsetting, I'm going to be honest because once you're fired, you know, your contract's basically terminated. But the one thing people don't realize is all the deals, you know, they got the NHL bylaws this and that and I don't know everyone but you know, you have non compete clauses. So I, I can't resign today and, and go work for someone tomorrow. I'm still, I can't work until Vegas gives me permission until this contract's up, which is at the end of next season. So you know, if you resign, all I do is not get paid. So I mean, you know, I got.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Oh, interesting.

[Yan Stastny]

You can't.

[Eric Duhatschek]

You brought that up.

[Yan Stastny]

I did. I said, can't you just forfeit your salary and say, hey, like I don't need your money, I want to go get, I want to go get the bag from somebody else.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So it's not right that they can let you it to me, it's not right. They can let you go and then still stop you from working. That's where the bylaws are probably messed up a little bit.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah. And like I said, I'm not. Those are in I think everybody's contract. So that is what it is. And, but you can't do that. And I think they do that probably because they wouldn't want to coach in the middle of the year to resign on February 1st and go work up the street on February 3rd.

[Ryan Whitney]

Right.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Because they like a better situation. I'm sure that's kind of why some of these things are written in. But in this case, yes. There was two teams that asked. It's public knowledge now. And I would like to talk to them. I want to go to work. I'm a hockey coach. As much as I love being around biz at tnt, I want to get back to work. And I gotta tell you,

[Merles]

you want to listen to him chew out loud?

[Yan Stastny]

How many steaks is this guy gonna eat?

[Justin Williams]

I gotta tell you, they were.

[Bruce Cassidy]

They were great to me. Make me feel like part of the team. I had a good time doing that. So thanks again. I wanted to give you guys a shout out. Do a great job.

[Yan Stastny]

Put me in concussion protocol after you did that power play breakdown. 12 minutes.

[Bruce Cassidy]

So anyway, that. That's where it's landed right now. And I don't know if there'll be clarity on it. There hasn't been yet. We keep asking to see if we can, you know, get on with my coaching career, but right now, it's a little bit in limbo. In Vegas isn't a playoff series. I understood that, but I still think they could take some time and sort through it, and hopefully they do. If they don't, well, I guess I. I wait it out until. Until I can find a resolution.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, I don't buy that.

[Yan Stastny]

Fun being on the other side of a cutthroat organization, now, is it, Bruce?

[Eric Duhatschek]

No, I don't buy that part of it.

[Yan Stastny]

Hey, do you think that this is, you know how, like, sometimes in leagues things have to happen to be like, oh, it's. It's evident we need, like, a rule change here. Do you think this will force age moving forward where there will be clauses where if the team were to fire you, that. That would be a clause where, okay, now you're able to go talk to whoever you want and have the option to forfeit that money because you just said, like, obviously, if you were like, oh, January 1st, I'm gonna just say, hey, peace, I resign and go work somewhere else. Well, obviously, that's not going to be something that they'd hand over, but the latter, like, the other thing of getting fired, you should be able to.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah. You know, listen, I'm not good enough to coach a Vegas Golden Knights, but I'm, you know what? Too good of a coach to coach, you know, a team that asks, like, you know what I mean? That's the part that sort of bothers you.

[Yan Stastny]

But would you would you ask to put that in your contract?

[Bruce Cassidy]

I would. And I think, I think other coaches, well, that are up now too, might say, listen, if I'm terminated, I have the right to go seek employment anywhere in the league. Any one of the 31 teams. And I. They'll try to put it in. Why wouldn't they? After, you know, like that's usually necessity as a mother invention, whatever that saying is, is, you know, probably why some, some coaches will look to do that. Whether the teams sort of allow that, I don't know. That's another question. But I don't. I would, I would ask for it next time I would go through this.

[Merles]

Has a team ever done this to another coach?

[Bruce Cassidy]

Not to a head coach. You know, it happens a lot and is. Teams will call and ask for permission to talk to maybe your head coach in the American League to become an assistant in your organization. That happens all the time. And teams don't want to lose an asset because they haven't fired them. Right. They're, they're under contract. They want to keep them. Some teams will let a guy go in that situation. A lot won't usually if you ask for, well, look at Edmonton. Did they ask the Rangers for permission to talk to. Now Block, he was in Hartford. They granted it. So that part of it does happen, you know, if a guy has a chance to be head coach in the NHL. So I think it's a different situation. But no, not after guy's been fired. I mean, the, the ironic part is, you know, Vegas had to get permission from Philly to hire Torch. So, you know, you know, like, so it happens, it happens a lot, those

[Yan Stastny]

guys, eh, Anyway, now, because you were so close with these guys, is it a situation where like maybe you shoot them a text and you're like, boys, come on here. Can't be.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I want a coach.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, I, I mean, I've Talked to Kelly McC. Listen, we had a good relationship with George and Bill Foley. I mean, there was neverthen, never anything adversarial at all. We all want to cup together, so that's not the issue. They've just decided they don't want me working in certain places and, you know, I've got to sort of try to figure out a way to allow me to do that.

[Merles]

So don't fire me if you don't want me somewhere else.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, you know, that's, I, I honestly, I wish it was that easy because then I, you know, I could get, you know, listen, you're watching the team, you coach for 74 games, go to the final, you're kind of going, geez, you know, what did I need to do better? And you go through it in your head, right? Because that could be, you know, that's what you play, coach and play for. Right. To get your name in the Cup. It happened once. I'd love to do it again. So that part is. Is a challenge. And then to not be able to go and sort of say, okay, I'm gonna do things better in my next stop and get on with that, that's kind of a double whammy right now. And that's when I think when Whit asked me earlier, that's the part that gets, you know, frustrating, is like, I just like to get on with coaching, get it sorted out, figure out where I'm gonna be. I mean, I got a couple of kids in high school. They're. They're doing great, but, you know, you got to sort of figure out your family plan, too, a little bit, so.

[Merles]

Right.

[Bruce Cassidy]

But at the end of the day, then there's the side of it. Well, I am getting paid a lot of money to do nothing, so that's the good part. I would rather. I'd rather be working, to be honest. And. And so that's. That's where it's landed, and hopefully it gets resolved. We'll see.

[Yan Stastny]

Well, we're normally a players podcast with. Maybe we become a coach's pod and we go to bathroom and maybe do, like, a little protest.

[Eric Duhatschek]

That would be the final.

[Merles]

We'll run the union. We'll run the union. The coaches union.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I didn't even know that union existed when I saw that started.

[Merles]

Just started when this happened.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah, we have. We have an association. Right. So it's. It's. It's. You know, they do a good job for all the coaches to get together and sort of spitball ideas and, you know, get, you know, if you don't have an agent, compare salaries. You know, Lindsey's done a really good job running it, and, you know, the coaches are involved on the board, and we'll meet with the league at times to help but give our opinion on, you know, the odd rule change and whatnot. But I think it's more for the younger guys to. To get some knowledge, be around the older guys here to. And maybe, you know, learn a few things in your. If you are negotiating your own deals and such. But, I mean, it was good that they're standing behind one of their coaches. I appreciate that. But, you know, I think at the end of the Day I've just got to find a way to, to get to Vegas and, and see if they'll, you know, let me go.

[Merles]

Do you think it's something that after the playoffs then there's a better chance of it happening or for them it's

[Bruce Cassidy]

like, yeah, I would think so. Just the fact that I respect that they're busy focusing on winning a cup, I get that.

[Yan Stastny]

I don't.

[Bruce Cassidy]

On the other hand, I think, you know, they're a well run organization. I think they could take the time to do a couple of things at once, but that's kind of the answer I've been given a little bit. So I have to respect that. And like I said, I, I, I worked for those guys for almost four years and, and had a lot, ton of respect for them and I hope, you know, it ends up getting resolved. Simple as that.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay, so we talk sometimes on the podcast about what's going on and like what we think and what we hear and, and like we've talked about it before, like obviously you're an incredible coach but sometimes maybe like the, I guess the word is, is you can get a little down on the players. Would you say that that is maybe one of the things that you would, would have changed a little bit, like maybe, you know, maybe a little bit more towards the player, coach side of it where you're, you're not as hard on guys. Is that, is that a fair, is that a fair assessment?

[Justin Williams]

Yeah.

[Bruce Cassidy]

And I think, you know, there's always truth to like I'm an intense guy, so sometimes I'll challenge guys to be better and how I message, sometimes I'll go, okay, you need to do a better job of that. Maybe that has to be one on one. Sometimes you're doing in video because, you know, so if you're pointing out, you know, Jack Eichel not stopping and starting, then the, you know, usually the last another guy will say, oh, he's going to go after that guy. He's going to, you know, he's going to come after me next. So it's a little bit of, you know, solidifying what you want in your group. But how you message, I think is important. And every year I try to take something away from that and be, I guess, kindler and gentler. But at the end of the day this year I look back and we had a tough march, you know, and we were finding ways to lose instead of win. So it probably should have brought more joy into the locker room and a little more fun than saying, hey, let's tighten this up. But that's a little bit kind of my styles take care of details, and that can wear on guys for sure. So, yes, I can see that happening. But, you know, then sometimes they'll say, well, he's a short. I mean, I was in Boston six years and coached some. Some future hall of Famers. And, you know, we found ways to win. And Vegas was almost 4. I was. I was. You know, so there's certain part of it that certainly works. I think, Biz, that I don't want to change. And there's other parts that I got to recognize that, you know, and it's not even players nowadays. Like, you know, no one wanted to get, you know, sort of have a coach on them all the time. I don't care what age you were, whether you're, you know, the ends and you're playing a long time ago. Biz, Whit, you still want to be able to communicate well with players and allow them to have fun coming to the rink. I think we did that. We just. In March, it got away from us a little bit, and I should have reeled it in better and found a way to get the guys to feel better about themselves. That didn't happen. So that's what I'll look back on and make sure I don't make that mistake again.

[Yan Stastny]

When you were going through that, like, do you feel it kind of like slipping through your fingers or were you not even thinking about that? You're like, no, I'm just focused on getting this group turned around. Like, did you feel. Because maybe it is the organization that it is. You're always walking on eggshells where a coaching change was even a possibility.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, yeah, I think when you. We. We weren't winning enough, you start thinking about, I got. We got to get a couple wins here to calm everything down. And then, you know, the one slips away, you lose the shootout, you lose overtime. So I think it can certainly wear on you. You've got to fight that urge and just make sure the guys are feeling good about themselves. But, yeah, I think it goes through your head. Especially the year we had, it was up and down. Expectations are high in Vegas. As you said, they make a deal every year at the deadline to win. It's one of the reasons I went there. I thought they had a great chance to win, and I'd like that to be my next opportunity. I'd like a chance to win and take the pressure that goes along with it and the expectations. I don't have a problem with that at all. Because, you know, you don't want to coach a team where it's okay to lose. You know, we're building. I think there's certain times in your career as a coach you can do that. I just don't feel, you know, that I'm at that place right now. I'd rather have the chance to win. I can't always pick and choose. I understand that. But so that part of it, yes, I think there is a little bit in the back of your mind, but it's not something that affects your everyday work. I don't think it can, I don't think you can carry that around with you. And to be a good coach, if you're worried about, you know, your job security every day.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah. And that's one thing where we've seen so many coaches be fired so quickly. Right. Like, you see guys, they're not even reaching their extensions, some of these coaches. And then for you, we talked earlier about Vegas throughout the playoffs, like, it's just kind of been goaltending. Obviously, there's other things that Carlson comes back and hurdle scoring a little now, but throughout the year, there was, there wasn't much goaltending. So for you, it's like, all right, well, if that was just kind of average, we wouldn't be in this situation. I imagine as a coach, you're looking at both sides, seeing what you could do different. And also stuff that just wasn't working, that maybe wasn't necessarily on you. Is that true?

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, I, listen, I, I, you can go through our analytics that, you know, if you're an analytics guy or not. Some guys take a lot out of it, some don't. We were good in every year. Like, our special teams are both top five, top 10, you know, scoring, whatever that is. Expected goals for, expected goals against. They were all good metrics. So I thought the team was playing, performing well most nights we were just, you know, we didn't get the timely goal or the timely save. It's not all on the goalie. We weren't scoring certain nights either. Right. Our shooting percentage and our, and our save percentage, I think was last in the league to have some stat. I forget the fancy name for it, but so obviously that puck luck is a little bit to do with that and that's going to happen from, from year to year. But I thought we honestly would get through it and then, you know, stabilize that position at the end. And Carter Hart's done that for the team and, you know, good for the team. You need it you're not winning without a guy back there. That gives you confidence, and certainly not in the playoffs. He's gotten better and better. He was a good goalie in this league in Philly, so we knew it was in there. And that's why, you know, Kelly wanted to sign him, because he knew what he. He was capable of. We just had to get the reps going again and unfortunately had an injury in the middle of the year where we couldn't use him and crunch time and he got healthy late and found his game. So that. That can, you know, give a good team a lot of confidence. And I think Vegas is a good team. So there's that part of it that makes you feel good that I'd say, hey, my fingerprints are on this team in certain areas. It's just torches getting to have all the fun now, so. But he's got them, you know, he's got them feeling good about themselves, and that was his job coming in. He's done it.

[Yan Stastny]

Well, he took the dog, too, didn't they?

[Merles]

Bruce, you mentioned you'd like to step into a team that's ready now. You want that pressure? Like, what would be the dream job for you right now?

[Yan Stastny]

Gargoyles, Greensboro. Gargoyles in the echo. We could use some.

[Eric Duhatschek]

That's our team that finished last place, Bruce.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Well, you get the first overall pick.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Is there even a draft on the coast? I don't know. I don't even traded it.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah, listen, that's hard to say. I mean, Edmonton's open right now. They got two. Two of the best players on the planet. They've been close, so they know what it looks like. La, I think. Dj. I'm not sure what's going on. It's, you know, they've got a franchise that's one Cups. Toronto's looking, I mean, you know, interesting to see what will happen there with, you know, some newness around their, you know, their GM and president. They got the first overall pick. What direction do they want to go? I think, you know, those are some of the questions those middle teams ask themselves. Right. So some of those would need to be. You'd want to get answers if they had interest in you. So. So obviously, you know, I don't know which one. I just like to be able to talk to the teams that have asked and start with that.

[Merles]

You never want to see a coach get fired. And we love Bednard, but if Colorado happened to fire Bedner, that would be a nice place to slide into.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, I mean, they've got a.

[Bruce Cassidy]

You Know, a great team there too. Obviously they showed that this year. They've been knocking on the door for years. I like beds. He's a great guy. He's done. I think he's done a terrific job, especially with their top end guys to keep them performing every year. Oh, yeah, he really has. They just, for whatever reason against Vegas, they just couldn't find another gear and Vegas did. And I'm sure everyone was surprised by that. Not so much that Vegas won, but I think that it was a sweep. Right. Colorado didn't. They never seem to get any traction there. So I'm sure they'll look at why. And some of it's simple as injuries. Right. Some of their top guys, I don't know if they're 100% and sometimes that's all it takes to get an edge. But yeah, I mean, I understand that the firing. I mean, I got a job way back when because a good man got fired in front of me. Right. That's kind of the way it works. We know that part of the business. That's kind of what you sign up for and, and yeah, that's it. On that front.

[Yan Stastny]

Did you ever think that like the, the coaches salaries, just the way the NHL is now, would ever get to the place? It is like looking back when maybe when you retired, even just starting to get into coaching, like it's kind of

[Bruce Cassidy]

gone crazy where, listen, I made 39, 000 to go to the East Coast League coach in Jacksonville, Florida, my first gig. So, you know, I, I went into it with my eyes open, see where it lead me and had a lot of ups and downs and it's worked out well. But I think Mike Babcock drove that with Toronto a long time ago when he signed there. He signed, it got more term and more money, I think than anybody ever had. So that started the process. So you have to thank Toronto and Babs for that to sort of push it. Yeah, you know, you know, he did get a, you know, and then Sully just got one in New York that, you know, drove it up a little bit. So there's usually guys out there that have to push for it. We always try to help each other because young guy behind me, he'll be in this position a few years down the road and we wouldn't want to set him back. But I think it's, it's, it's a good thing because I'm, I'm in this industry. So I'm glad they went up. I probably do it anyway, whatever that the market Asks for. But, yeah, that's how it's played out. And I still think we're well behind the other sports in general, but so are the players. Right. When it comes to basketball and football. So hopefully it goes up for everybody. You're seeing that with the players. The capsule made a nice jump here the next three or four years, and hopefully that the revenues keep growing, so everybody benefits.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I. I appreciate you coming on, Bruce. I know you're the man, and I. I respect your honesty. You're hard on your players, your honesty, and kind of sticking up for yourself a little bit. Like, I want to coach. And I think that's what most people are thinking as well. Like, all right, you fired them.

[Yan Stastny]

And also, to be fair, the. My favorite coaches I ever had were the ones that were the most hard on me, too. Like, I talk about Mike Stuthers all the time, too, and it's, you know, it's tough love, and that's what drives people to be better. And I. I hope. I hope I didn't piss you off with that question earlier.

[Bruce Cassidy]

No, listen, I don't think I'm disrespectful to the players. Do I challenge them sometimes too much, maybe pick a better way? Of course, you're always looking at that, but I got a ton of respect for everyone in the room and including the Vegas guys. I mean, they're a great group of guys, good family guy. There's a whole bunch of young kids in that locker room that, you know, would be great. You know, on Sundays, we're able to bring them in and get them together. I mean, I love that part of the game. So you try to, you know, you know, make sure that you have relationships with them, and I just got to try harder.

[Yan Stastny]

And. And the mlb, if you play one game or. Or coach one game for a team, you end up getting a ring. Like, is that stupid to think about if they win it? Like, do you get any. Like, you get. Do you get a ring?

[Bruce Cassidy]

I. I doubt it. I know it's a good question, but,

[Yan Stastny]

I mean, you go the whole year and all the. The doldrums of the year, and then.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah, no, I bought a bonus.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Did you have a bonus for a couple?

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, but those are.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Those get eliminated once.

[Merles]

They shouldn't get eliminated if they don't

[Eric Duhatschek]

talk to another team every which way they got you right now.

[Yan Stastny]

We need to join the coaches union boys.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

All right, Bruce, play well today, and we appreciate you coming on.

[Bruce Cassidy]

All right, thanks again, guys.

[Yan Stastny]

Thanks, Bruce.

[Eric Duhatschek]

That's awesome. You know, Hearing from a coach and what he actually believes right now, that's, that's, that's pretty cool to hear. And I get it. I do. And when he says they. They're playing right now. When I said I don't buy it, you literally go, okay. You could talk. It's not like it's. You gotta fly everyone somewhere and figure it out. So that's Vegas though, Biz, they are not cutthroat. They are the best.

[Yan Stastny]

Wouldn't it be sick to interview Pinky and the Brain together?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Oh, yeah. They'd have us in a blender. They'd have us fighting each other somehow.

[Yan Stastny]

We would do it in a UFC ring in Vegas at the headquarters.

[Eric Duhatschek]

All right, let's bring Merles back in. I know Biz, you're gonna run in a couple minutes here.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, I'm leaving, boys.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So any final thoughts on what you've seen so far before you go?

[Merles]

Just.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, like I just like, you know, once you all looks defeated, boys, they're gas. Like there's nothing to be disappointed in. What an incredible season. Way ahead of schedule. Like obviously they're gonna have to address some needs and you know, you. I don't want to say get excited exposed, but Carolina's been working at this for eight years, boys. They've faced all their adversity. They, they've gone through the the with getting swept and getting embarrassed in the Eastern Conference finals. They did so in game one. They didn't even practice the next day. They had a video session. They said, boys, let's recalibrate our brains. We've been here, we've done this, we've worked towards this. We're not going to squander this opportunity. Let's get back to what we're good at and what we do best. And they've done that the last three games. Like the. I think it's like a record as far as limited shots through a three game span in an Eastern Conference final. I think they allowed 12 shots on goal in games two, three and four in the third period in overtime. Like total. That's fucking insane. So four lines, 6D spreading out the ice, smothering, forecheck, neutral zone, giving them no areas to breathe. And obviously with the lack of amount of gas, a lot of self inflicted pain for the Montreal Canadiens too, where Doish has had to be incredible to even somewhat keep a minute. And finally the floodgates opened in, in, in game, in game four there. So I think this series ends in five games and I think that'll be Very important for Carolina to keep that energy that they've been able to store up with how quickly they've made work of other teams because they're going to be going up superior team, in my opinion, in Vegas. That's not taking anything away from them. Obviously they still need to get through this series, but nothing for Montreal to be disappointed and not proud about. But this is just a team that's ready and biz.

[Merles]

Like, let's not forget Montreal is the second youngest team in the NHL besides Chicago, by about point, whatever, 53%. It's. They're, they're set up for the future. They're a team that's, I think, ahead of the schedule. They were even ahead of schedule last year, even making playoffs. So, I mean, obviously the series isn't over. Anything could happen. But what we've seen the last couple games is just, you know, a team like Carolina just outclassing another team, like they're playing so well. And you got to give a lot of credit to Freddie Anderson. I know you guys talked about on the broadcast, like just being able to stay focused, stay mentally sharp in those games where you're not getting a lot of rubber sometimes in a period, not getting any shots, and then, boom, you got to make a big save because you know they have guys that are making good plays, guys with great shots. So, yeah, this Carolina team, man, like, I know how much I've been down on them, don't love watching them, but man, they are built to win and they're doing a hell of a job from top to bottom in that group.

[Yan Stastny]

I've never, I've never seen a home team be dominated that much on home ice in my entire life. They couldn't, they couldn't get a shot through. They could string a few passes together. Just sheer dominance from. From Carolina in a game where it was like it had to be a statement game. It had to be a game where. Why would you let Montreal back in the series to go things tied back to Carolina and they just the minute the puck dropped the trust that Rod has in the fourth line. They are a well, well oiled machine. And with that said, boys, you guys could snap it around with Justin Williams. Mr. Game 7. I love you boys and.

[Eric Duhatschek]

All right, buddy. Next podcast, safe travels.

[Yan Stastny]

We'll see you on Monday, Fish, send me that link.

[Keith]

I love how Biz started his rant with the Martin St. Louis like this, like he was last night.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Oh, my God. And honestly, like I, I looked at, you know, we make fun of the win a meter or deserve to win a meter. I, I saw it was 6% Montreal. I was like, no, like, I thought it was like, we're looking at a 0.1% type thing here. Because like he said, that game, it, it was, I was like, this is. They can't even get into the zone. Like, let alone get like cycling in the zone. They couldn't even get in. So we're gonna bring on Justin Williams, Mr. Game 7. What a nickname once again. Before we bring him on, we got to talk about Stella Blue. Stella Blue Coffee is more than just great coffee. It's coffee that gives back. That's why we started we Brew to rescue a nationwide campaign using proceeds from our new ready to drink cans to fund 1, 000 pet adoptions. This year, every can you crack open helps a real pet find a real home. Simple as that. Made with a hundred percent Colombian coffee, each 11 ounce can delivers smooth drinkable energy with a boost of protein. Available in Espresso Cafe Mocha and Espresso sweet cream. They're the best canned lattes out there, period. Drink Stella Blue. Stella Blue. Fuel your day and help set a pet's life. Save a pet's life. Excuse me. Get yours [e-mail] Amazon and CEREC realtors across the country. Guys, we got to take a minute here and talk about Lucy. Lucy is the obvious choice for the true nicotine pouch connoisseur. That's why they're the official nicotine pouch partner of Barstool Sports. Every other pouch is the same. Lucy breakers are the only ones doing it differently to give you the longest lasting flavor in pouches. Lucy pouches go up to 12 milligram in strength and have a unique shape that feels great. Also, Lucy gum is now available nationwide in Canada. Yes, they gum now. Like stores on the run, it has the same great flavor as the pouches, but delivered in gum. For those looking to quit smoking, Lucy's in stores nationwide now. Or get Lucy delivered to you ASAP on apps like DoorDash and GoPuff. I'm telling you, the espresso breaker, you can't beat it. Coffee in the morning with a Lucy espresso breaker. You crack it open, the flavor's there, it lasts the longest. That's why Lucy is the greatest. Lucy is the only pouch that delivers long lasting, on demand flavor. Find a store near you at Lucy Co stores or get it shipped with 20% off your first order at Lucy Co Chiclets. Using code Chiclets, Canadians check ca Lucy Co to find a store near you, Lucy. Products are only for adults of legal age and every customer is age verified. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. We'll bring it in.

[Keith]

Just to set you up. I'm gonna set you up for this intro right here because I wanted to get this said. The last two games just showed it was a team that swept two series versus a team that played two game sevens. It was pretty obvious.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yep, I think that's true. I also think that I, I got up, I got up to use the bathroom quick as biz was talking. I don't really fault Montreal. It's like they're just, just they're outclassed and I think there'll be a time based on Montreal and their youth that there's. There may be in an Easter conference final and they're outclassing a team. But the Carolina is a better, bigger, deeper team. Right.

[Keith]

And yeah, you missed my, you missed my, my intro. Like I was trying to set you up with the intro there when I finished with the team that played two game sevens.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah. Mr. Game seven. I already said Mr. Game seven, but I'm sorry, you're right. Bring them in, bring them in.

[Keith]

Bring them in. Bring the guy, him in here. Let's go.

[Eric Duhatschek]

There he is.

[Keith]

Can't make this guy sit in the background on us.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Come on.

[Justin Williams]

What's up, Willie?

[Eric Duhatschek]

What's up?

[Justin Williams]

What's up fellas?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Not much. But what, what was your thought watching that game? Kind of a dream scenario for your squad really. Just foot on the gas from the opening puck, drop to the very end. The third period was when I was like, all right, are they going to muster up anything? And I don't know if they got a shot for 15 minutes. So as you're watching that, that's what I'm guessing is, is the Canes hockey that you've kind of seen and be accustomed to seeing this year?

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, for sure. I was actually wasn't at the game. I'm here at my, my parents house right now in Coburg, Ontario. So watching that game I was watching here in the basement with a couple of my buddies, my mom, a couple of her friends. So we were, we have that, we have that Bud Light. You guys remember the Bud Light Light that goes off when, when the team still.

[Keith]

His biz used to have a bunch of them.

[Justin Williams]

So my parents have one in the basement here and it's, and it's awesome. It lights up the whole basement. But it goes off sometimes before we score. So you know, we might be behind a little bit and the horn goes off and like, oh man, we just scored. So it kind of ruins it sometimes. But anyway, that's where I was yesterday. Sorry, Whit, I, I, I went on, I didn't even answer your question.

[Eric Duhatschek]

No, no, no, you're, I mean, that's, that is answering the question. Basically the red light was on and it came on three times in about three minutes. It felt like at the end of the first. So I have a bunch of questions about this team for you. But my number one thought watching last night and Wayne Gretzky was mentioning him, Keandre Miller, I guess he's one of those guys that like Rangers fans little left to be desired. Like they expected more. And then you're like, oh, put him in Carolina system though. And it's just fit perfectly. And he's so big, he skates like the wind. And he's, I mean, I think he's been the best defenseman on the team in the playoffs.

[Merles]

It was the same when like Brady Shea went over from New York to Carolina. Like those guys could just play in that system.

[Justin Williams]

It's, it's, it's kind of, it's kind of great when you don't know who your best defenseman is. It's kind of a real, it's kind of a really good thing, right? You have slaving out there on the, you know, big six foot four, six foot five guy on the left side and then you have Keandre men are big left, left foot, left shot, 6 foot 5 guy. And on the left side again, you've got, you know, Nikishin down there, six foot, just big long guys. And just getting back to what you said about Miller. I mean, guys who can skate and are long obviously fit anywhere, but they really fit within our system really, really well. Because he's got that stick that's just kind of like a cobra that just you thought, you think you're out of, out of out of reach, but he just pokes that puck away from you. Keeps the puck in and keeps our momentum going and keeps a lot of pucks in. But he's, listen, he's among a lot of players on our team. It's hard to nitpick when you're, you know, you're, you're 11 and 1 and things are going well, but these guys are, are cruising right now and playing at a super high level, him included,

[Keith]

to stay on Miller. I gotta ask because I know a lot of Rangers fans were worried about like his commitment to the game. And, you know, like, being in New York, it seemed like he had a lot of distractions and has it changed since he got traded? I know it's happened to other guys when they get traded for the first time, like, oh, I got to get my. I got to get it together here. Like, it's a short career.

[Justin Williams]

Well, one of the, One of the really good things about Carolina is a little bit of the. The draw is a little bit of the anonymity, the fact that you could kind of just do your thing and, you know, if you have a couple bad games, no one's going to become, you know, calling for your head in the newspapers, on tv.

[Bruce Cassidy]

You don't got to read about it

[Justin Williams]

online or on Twitter very much. You know, like, you could kind of just do your thing here. And I think Keandre has, has really blossomed in that aspect that, that he just goes out there and does his thing, man. And he's. He's consistently improved. It's always a feeling out process when you come to a new team, right? Just, you got to learn a lot of stuff. The guys your D partner, but, but him and Sean Walker right now are, are. It's. It's hard to say they're not our top D because we seem to have. They seem to be playing the most minutes right now, but they're. They're chewing up a lot of minutes and they're. They're keeping people to the outside and as you can see for the shot totals the last few games.

[Merles]

And big thing for Carolina, too, is their fourth line and a guy like Jordan Stall. I was watching the game with a buddy of mine the other night, and I was trying to explain to him how strong Jordan Stahl is. I'm like, you can't move this guy. He's just a farm. He's got that farm strength. But, you know, he gets a big goal the other night, he out muscles Anderson in front of the net, who's another huge man. But just what he brings to that team. Winning face offs, like the dedication you get Martin nuke in on it, like in on his line, causing havoc. Like what a great teammate he is, I would imagine too, right?

[Justin Williams]

Oh, Jordan is the strongest player, teammate I've ever played with in my life. He is. I mean, you guys know this. He is monstrous.

[Merles]

It's crazy.

[Justin Williams]

He is a huge human. He must have taken most of the food at the Stall household when they were younger because. I don't know. He's.

[Bruce Cassidy]

He's.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, Eric was thin, like right he

[Merles]

was a little Mark, too.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, yeah, and Mark, too. But, yeah, I mean, didn't he look like. I'm watching the show Vikings kind of on Netflix right now. He looked like a Viking when he scored that goal yesterday, and he was just screaming in celebration, just like, I out muscled you, Anderson. I had my stick on the ice and I got it. And listen, I can't say enough great things about him from the start of the playoffs. Just, you know, answering the bell with Brady Tkachuk, it really. I. I feel like it just. It just made our team a little bit bigger, if that makes sense.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And then we talked a lot about, like, bringing in, like, just a score. And then the Ronton thing goes down last year and it doesn't work out. And then this summer, Ehlers comes over, right. And he's been great. Like, he's so quick, and I think some people are like, oh, they need a little size. But he plays like a big guy, too. He's a little bit of a rat at times. He's intense. What has it meant to the team to have him come in and. And also, like, I think in the past, maybe his playoff performance wasn't great. And for him to be able to be on this team and play the way he does on the third line, too, technically, the third line, like, what have you seen from him and what the guys say about him in the room?

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, I think the most important. The most important attribute you can have as a player is competitiveness. And our slighter, smaller guys are just super competitive. You look at Jackson, Blake, Stankhoven, you know, Ealers, to some extent, he's slight, you know, aho like Jarvis, like, these guys are competitors, man. They are dogs on pucks. And I would say Ehlers has slowly, slowly become one of my favorite players to watch on the ice. He is. The way he's able to find ice, change speeds, and find little lanes with passing lanes. It's. It's really awesome. And, and really, I'm sure you guys as. As, you know, guys who watch hockey a lot, I think you probably agree with me just the way he's able to find lanes and just create space for him. And that's what the best players do, Right. Somehow you're like, how does he still have the puck? And, you know, there should have been a guy on him, but just the. The shoulders and then the changing of speeds really makes him awesome. And he's. He's added that extra element of skill that perhaps maybe we. We've been missing.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah. And that Even last I've been on the.

[Keith]

I've been.

[Eric Duhatschek]

That. That was him who dished it over to Ajo, right?

[Merles]

Yeah. Unreal.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And I think he knew he was giving it to him before Gossip Spare even gave it to him. Like, it's kind of like knowing what he's gonna do before. Before he gets it. So that. Yeah, that's. That's.

[Merles]

But the way he. The way he got to the middle to be a threat to shoot, and like you said, he probably knew, but the. The puck was, like, in front of him, and he makes that pass, like just a highly, highly skilled play.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Keith]

And I've been on it about the third and fourth lines, like, right there. Ailers and Stall both got goals last night, but the fourth line for you guys. They're starting the game for you guys. I want to know about this Jankowski and what was the thought behind, like, signing him mid playoffs?

[Merles]

Ivan Drago.

[Justin Williams]

Janker's been a huge part of our team ever since he came over from. From Nashville. He's. He's. He's fit and found himself a role, and that's what. That's all those, you know, bottom six guys want to do, right? They want to find a team that they can find a role in and then just keep hammering on in that role. And he's. He's been excellent. He's been excellent for us.

[Merles]

That.

[Justin Williams]

That line. Obviously, as you know, I heard you guys talking before I got in the air, like, our depth is our advantage, we feel against any team in the league. And those guys, the way they're playing right now, they're so big. You got carrier down there, just out muscling people and taking pucks to the net just when he wants to. And. And Jankowski, you know, kind of like a Swiss army knife. And Robinson, with his speed, I mean, it's almost like a game of keep away on the outside. And then when someone could get to the middle and they have that little lane, then they take it there, and they're big enough to do that. So I can't say enough great things about, you know, that line.

[Merles]

What about going to the goaltending? Freddy Anderson, obviously, he hasn't been tested a ton, not getting a ton of shots, but, like, just to have that mental fortitude, staying in games, being ready, making the key saves when you have to. And I. I got to meet him, skated with him one summer. Just like an unbelievable cool dude. Like, not.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Not.

[Merles]

Not really like, the typical goalie that you see. Like, he was out having beers with the boys hanging out and, you know, just. I'm really happy for him, especially what happened in Toronto and stuff like that. But how much, how much credit do you give him just being able to stay in the net when not seeing a lot of shots and, and making huge saves for the team when they need it?

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, I, I agree with the, the, I guess I shouldn't say typical goalie, but maybe goalies are a little aloof sometimes. A little maybe different. But, but he's, you know, I think his personality is, is perfect for goalie. I mean, I want a goalie to have, you know, that fire and he adds that fire. But that fire is kind of from more within. He's, he's such a calming guy back there that you kind of, you look back and you say, okay, everything's okay. Freddy's. Freddy's calm. He's. He's cool. Whether or not he's got a goal scored against him or he's pitching a shutter right now, he kind of looks the same back there. Like, he's just kind of moving, lets the puck hit him. And I think as a puck mover, yens like, he's really, really underrated moving the puck. He makes really smart decisions, which helps out the D a lot. That, that help us get the puck out of the zone really quick. So, I mean, listen, Freddy's, you know, you're worried a little bit about the layoffs, but he's got the perfect personality for. And whit you, you'd appreciate his golf swing too. It looks like Ernie Hills. It's so smooth. I mean, it's just a long 6 foot 4 Danish swing. It looks beautiful.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I knew you'd bring it to golf somehow when talking about a great goalie after Game 1. Now, it wasn't like a. I guess it was a surprise, but, but they had so long of practicing and battling each other. Like, it just had to be difficult. Biz mentioned no practice the next day, guaranteed. No panic in the room. But what were you thinking watching that? It was, was it similar to Brindamore? I think they got him on the bench saying, like, what are we doing?

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, well, I, I think it really. What it, what it really does is shows you how minuscule it is when, when you're just a little off. Like, yeah, we, we were, we were just a tiny. A half second off of these plays and Montreal was able to make plays and you know, since then we've been able to get our sticks on pucks. We've been more, you know, more in their face. A little bit more. They've had a little bit less time to make their plays and in turn, you know, their turn backs and their. And their, you know, give and goes and all that stuff. It hasn't really been, you know, working the way that.

[Bruce Cassidy]

That.

[Justin Williams]

That they've obviously wanted it to, and we've kind of shot that down a little bit. So I think it kind of. With the layoff, it goes back to like, you know, when you're training for like, pre seat for like the season, you're in the summer and you have training camp and stuff, but you finally get into a game and you're like, whoa, why am I so sore?

[Eric Duhatschek]

It's like I never trained.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah. Yeah. It's like you can't simulate physical contact. Like, we worked extremely hard at practice. Roddy had the boys buzzing and working hard, but when there's a guy trying to hit you and take you off the puck, it's just.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Just different.

[Justin Williams]

It doesn't matter how hard you work.

[Bruce Cassidy]

And.

[Justin Williams]

And I think that's what it was. We were just a second off, and Montreal exposed us in game one.

[Keith]

While we're talking, Roddy, I. I have to ask this. I need. I need to know when he made that comment. It was. It wasn't a sweep, but it was a sweep or whatever it was. Have you guys ever asked him about that? And does he regret saying that? I think it's one of the funniest quotes of all time.

[Eric Duhatschek]

It wasn't sweet.

[Justin Williams]

It wasn't as sweet. We did lose four straight. Yeah, but I don't think he ever. I don't think he. It's kind of like a sound bite now, right? Because I feel like other teams have lose it to be like, I swear we didn't get swept. We lost four straight. It's like kind of a sound bites now. And as you guys know, we're pretty. We're a pretty big. Not. Not totally central. We're a pretty big analytics team.

[Bruce Cassidy]

And.

[Justin Williams]

And we look at that, we don't take it to, you know, 100, but, you know, we're a big analytics team. We look at the numbers a lot. And you look at that series that we did lose, the one we got swept, we look at the numbers, we're like, wow, how the heck did we get swept here? Make any sense? It's not bad. You know, Bobrovsky had like a 980 say percentage. Like, what were we supposed to do? So I don't think he regrets saying it, but it was pretty funny.

[Eric Duhatschek]

When you see teams that get this far. There's. There's oftentimes, you know, the high picks and the guys who make up the core. Like, and then there's also guys usually at the bottom of the lineup who've been through a lot, and every team has them. And one of the guys I think is Martinook. And I, I think back to. I think it was on waivers, was it two or three years ago and a camp ended and I believe it was, you know, it was a cap type thing. But at some point he could have been picked up and now he matters. He matters so much that. That has to be a guy that you personally are happy for, right? Like, wow, this guy's kind of been through a lot and he's so important to our team now.

[Yan Stastny]

Now.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, he is. He's kind of like a. I don't know the word. He's kind of like a. He's a huge heartbeat of that dressing room. There's 100 of that. I mean, he's. Him and. Him and Stall played together probably like 99 of their shifts the last, like five years. And it's kind of like Roddy's like, safe. He's like, jordo, Marty, get out there, you know, get this. You know, this game's going the wrong way. Go have a good shift in the office. Go kill a penalty. You know, like, he's, he's such a huge part of our team. Just the fabric of our, of our, of our culture. Just, you know, coming over from Phoenix and then I actually kind of totally forgot about that. You know, it was a, you know, an issue with, with, with the cap and everything with the waivers, but that, you know, we, we hoped he wouldn't be picked up, and, God, we're thankful that he did that. He didn't. And, and he's doing an unreal job. I don't know if Yan's. Did you play, did you play with him?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah.

[Justin Williams]

And he did, right?

[Merles]

He was even. That guy, he was young when he came up, but he. You could tell he was like the heartbeat of a locker room. Like, you're already confident in himself and obviously not one of the better players on any of the teams he's been on, but he's. His voice is heard in the locker room, and especially now, the way he plays, it's probably even heard way more.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Well, you look at, like, teams with third and fourth line issues, and the guy was on waivers. It's like, obviously he fits in with Carolina, how he skates and physical, but it's, it's it's just like, how did nobody grab him that, that, that it was the end of camp, I think.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, it's, it's a, he's a guy that like, honestly he got better when he got to like 27, 28 years old. Like, he got better. Like it was like fat. It was like one day at training camp, I was still there with him. I'm like, Marty, did you get faster over the summer?

[Bruce Cassidy]

Like, what happened?

[Justin Williams]

Like, he got these little feet and he was buzzing out there. I'm like, who is this guy? And he honestly got better. He's gotten better with age and that doesn't happen a lot with hockey players.

[Merles]

Willie, will you talk to a lot of guys? And I know for me like hated playing in that building and you've played there, played against there. What makes that building that makes people hate it and so hard to play in that building against those fans and against that team.

[Justin Williams]

I think you guys have, have hit it at nauseam. I've watched you guys a few times about how bad bad it is.

[Merles]

It's the worst.

[Justin Williams]

I mean you got that wind tunnel going out. It just freezes your ass off every time you come out there. The worst freezing. Listen, the room's not great, but we don't want it great. I don't, I don't want to make it awesome. We want to make it as good as possible without getting fine. It's exactly what we want to do today. You know, that's, that's what we want. So it's hard and it's packed and it's, it's real, you know, busy. And obviously the team is the main reason why it's tough to play.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So right now if you, if you look up what Justin Williams is doing, he's the special assistant to the gm and many times on the show I've been like, look at this guy Tulski. He's a mad scientist and, and his life and like patenting things. It's just such an interesting story. To become a GM of an NHL team. Is your role with him almost similar to like the way like Sundin just came back with Chaika? Like I'm an analytical math guy, but I never played the game. And I can lean on Justin for locker room stuff and, and team heartbeat stuff and things like that?

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, I could be. I'm certainly a kind of like a, a catch all type thing. A good liaison between obviously the players and, and management. But I mean the real heartbeat of that is, is, you know, it's, it's Roddy he's, He's, you know, the guy that talks with, with, you know, with us and in, in the, you know, the press box sometimes and coming up there and, and talking to the management and then he's, you know, got the full, you know, buy in from the team there. But going back to Tulski, I mean, obviously he's, he's learned a ton. Obviously, not playing the game hurts a little bit, but, but he is himself and our owner, Tom, Donna, they've, they've learned so much over the years that they've been here. And the good thing with them is, is they take advice. Not like, no, this is the numbers. This is what it is. It's. Oh, okay, well, let's see how we can figure this out. Or you don't think this is right? Why do you not think this number is right? And he's smart enough to, he can change his algorithms in his, in his, you know, the things that he builds. Right. And, and you can be like, all right, well, how about this? Is this more accurate? Would this be a good opportunity to shoot how, how, how many, how many times you think you'd score from this area? And he's, he's been really good with obviously, the management side of it and then becoming the gm. He's, he's done a phenomenal job with us. And you can see by the players that, that, that, you know, he's been able to bring in responsible for and

[Eric Duhatschek]

stank open signs for six a year for eight years. And then Jackson Blake's five a year for eight years now as a player. But like, when those are going down, you have to say to yourself, like, we got. I, I really like our, our deal here as a team. Like, I, I can't sit here and say, like, wow, these guys probably could have made more and, and, and know that like, we, we have a good spot and are in a good spot with these guys making this money. When you look around the league at where salaries are going to some.

[Merles]

Wait, he's on the other side. He's on.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, but I'm saying he still knows. You still know, like, we've done a good job here.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you want players. I mean, as a player, you. I want players to make as much money as they can. I, I mean, I do. But you want it to fit within the structure of your own team, right? Have you just, just, you just wanted to fit. Okay. You want to slot guys, and that's kind of what it's getting harder and harder to do now. With the cap going so far up, but you just want to slot guys, okay, this guy's here, then this guy should be here. And then you just kind of trickle it down. Right? And when you say, when you sign guys like Stankhoven and. And Blake to these extensions, obviously you're. You're taking a risk, too.

[Bruce Cassidy]

But.

[Justin Williams]

But players like it because they feel like you believe in them, and. And, you know, they're like, okay. I mean, these guys really believe in me, and they. They want me to, you know, the player for a long time. They see me as a big part of this team. And. And it's kind of. It's kind of like a loyalty thing. You're like, all right, you believe in me. I'm gonna go. I'm doing it for you guys. And I kind of had that attitude when I was playing, too, like, give me the longer. Give me the longer term. So I know where I'm playing. I know I'm going to be part of a team. I know where my role is, as opposed to, you know, maybe trying to just, you know, squeak out a couple more mill and. And, you know, have to potentially move around, maybe go to a coach that you're not quite sure of. And I don't know, there's a lot of things that. That go the other way, but certainly those contracts look great for the team right now. But, you know, those guys aren't. They're not. They're not going to be begging for pennies inside of the street either.

[Keith]

But I believe. And that's what's part of these good teams is when the guys aren't. Aren't making an absurd amount of money. It's.

[Yan Stastny]

It.

[Keith]

It brings up the team camaraderie and everything, and it's like, all right, everybody's in it together. There's no one superstar. It's. It's everybody together. And those are always the best teams at any level.

[Justin Williams]

Level.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Well, think about this, Willie. Your three cups. Did any of those teams have a guy making like an. An insane amount around the league?

[Merles]

Dewey was probably a high D man right at that time.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, he was. He was. He would.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Well, it was like eight then.

[Justin Williams]

Maybe it wasn't astronomical and he wasn't the highest paid D in the league, but is that. Is that. Is that stat still there with the $10 million and no one winning?

[Merles]

No, because Bob proved that wrong.

[Justin Williams]

But he was 10.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, he was 10.

[Keith]

I think Michael was, too.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Michael might have been under 10 when they won. Yeah, for the extension or it was 10. But but I'm saying even in Carolina, your first title like that, I don't remember anyone on that team making a shitload.

[Justin Williams]

No, the salary cap was 39 million win.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

With 24 rollback.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Justin Williams]

You remember those days. Yeah, but it is. Listen, just trying to find guys that, that, that fit in the role and want the role and I mean, I think things are going to get a little bit out of whack here in the next couple years. But you know, we'll have to adjust the way we do and you know, everything is, everything feels great when you win a championship. So, you know, five more wins to go and the boys are doing a great job.

[Keith]

Willie, I got one last question from you. From my end. You're, you know, you're Mr. Game 7. You're Mr. Clutch. Like when you're in these GM meetings, are you the guy that's like, oh, I need a pen. And you're just like, yep, got it here. Or the, the wife loses the cell phone. You're like, yep, got it right here for you.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Whatever.

[Keith]

Clutch everywhere.

[Justin Williams]

I don't think so, but I like that. But I'm not at the GF meetings. That's, that's Tulsi job for sure. I, I stay away from, I stay away from those things for now.

[Merles]

He's that old Chad. I'm just snapping the ball around the corner.

[Justin Williams]

Hey, you know it. With my, with my earpieces and just putting her on the driving range. Those guys with the earpieces.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, I like that Eric. I like that Eric. Cut.

[Merles]

Yeah, give him five.

[Eric Duhatschek]

All right, Willie. Thank you for hopping on, dude. It's. It's been, it's been very impressive what they've done one loss after a 12 day break and we'll see if they can close it out tomorrow and then, and then we'll be set. They have home ice if they're able to get it done and, and we're looking forward to it. So thank you.

[Justin Williams]

All right, cool. I'm sure you guys will be in, in, in Raleigh soon. Let's get together if you are.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Would love to. All right, buddy.

[Merles]

Thanks, Willie.

[Justin Williams]

Later.

[Keith]

Yeah, I mean last time I was down at that tailgate we talked about, I was welcomed into the Carolina Hurricanes alumni little tailgate they had RV Because I do have my two exhibition games.

[Merles]

You got the. Yeah, exactly.

[Eric Duhatschek]

You scored a gold down after he scored a bowl in pretty season down on the plane buried him last goal at the Spectrum. Is that what I said?

[Keith]

Yep. Last goal.

[Eric Duhatschek]

A little known fact before and also you Know, I think the only guy, right, that played with Sid and coached by Mario. I mean, Wayne.

[Keith]

Played with Sid. Mario and coached by Wayne.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah. Only guy.

[Keith]

I mean, it's amazing what I. What I've accomplished in my tiny. Which the people from Minnesota love to let me know. My small window size of my NHL time.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, I had a lot of accomplishments. Let me know what it still made.

[Merles]

It still made a joke.

[Keith]

A lot of screenshots of my elite prospects page.

[Merles]

You play?

[Eric Duhatschek]

Oh, they're giving you that one every year. New team, buddy.

[Keith]

You.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Before we bring on Ra Geno, back in Pittsburgh, we kind of wondered what was going to happen there. Pretty cool. They dropped the video and they announced five and a half million. But I think the chance to make like eight or nine based on bonuses and all that. A million bucks if the Penguins get in the playoffs. 500 grand for each round they win. 500 grand in bonuses for games played. So Gino's gonna make plenty. He has made plenty. But I think pretty cool. I'm guessing that this will put to bed him playing on another team and that he'll finish his career as the Pittsburgh player. I know it was just one year. Does he play another year after that? I don't know. It depends if he's as good this season as he was next season as he was this year. But that was pretty cool to see. Geno ain't going anywhere. 21st season with the Penguins coming up.

[Keith]

Yeah, that's the exact structure he had with his Magnetogors contract before he came over with just weird bonuses.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's like, what is that?

[Merles]

But he's one of those guys, too, that you just want to see him wear one jersey his whole career. What he's.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah.

[Merles]

To that organization. Him, Sid Latang, Flurry. Like you think of those guys, you know, they. They literally kept the team in Pittsburgh. It was going to go to Kansas City. So I. I love when guys stay on one team, especially superstars like him. And yeah, the video is just typical Gino asking for more zeros. Whatever he was saying. It's so funny. He's just a great character, this game.

[Unknown Analyst]

Can I ask, guys, do you guys think that for 20, 30 Olympics, do you think there's any shot that he's on that if, say, Russia is granted a team in the Olympics, do you think there's any shot he's on that roster, goes back and plays in Russia for the next few years?

[Merles]

20, 30?

[Keith]

I don't.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't.

[Merles]

I think there'll be so many good.

[Keith]

Would Go back and play in Russia. Unless it's home games only, I think.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I think playing a season in. In Russia.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Keith]

Traveling to Neft. Nephthahemic and eating spaghetti and ketchup.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, but he might.

[Merles]

That's what they like.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't think they look at the food they're eating as like the way we're like.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Finally forget these American restaurants.

[Unknown Analyst]

I think Obi's come out too, saying that he's gonna finish his career in Russia. He's gonna go play.

[Merles]

Yeah. It'll be him, Malk and they'll be on the same line. It'll be incredible.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And who knows at that point. Rajalov's still playing over there, isn't he?

[Keith]

He won the championship.

[Merles]

He's younger than he.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Win it again this year.

[Merles]

Smoking.

[Eric Duhatschek]

All right. Bring in. Bring in our very own Radulov. Ra.

[Ryan Whitney]

There we go. Hello, everybody. Welcome to Ari's World here on the Spitting Chicklets podcast. What's up, boys? I know we've already talked about the Canes. Just an absolute suffocating steamroll, but these numbers are insane. Habs first team in NHL history to record less than 18 shots and three consecutive playoff games. They've been outshot 136 to 65 in the four games. 43 shots on goal and 197 minutes 35 seconds of game time over the last three games. An average of 13.1 shots per 60. That's the fewest shots per 60 minutes by an NHL team over any three game Spanish regular or postseason since shots were first tracked in. 55, 56. First time they lost three straight since November 15th. Absolute buzzer. I know people are talking about Montreal. Played more. A little tired. But we got to give full props to what Carolina is doing. Looking for their third post. I'm sorry. Third Stanley cup appearance of all time in franchise history. So, boys, awesome job of Butch Cassie there with great question. You had their farm about you know how Vegas is handling the situation. I thought you guys are great there. And it's kind of ironic. We went from getting coaches fight to getting coaches hired here on spitting chickens, it looks like.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Biz says we might be flipping. We might do the complete heel turn and be a coach's podcast. We might never get a current player to come on ever again. But that.

[Keith]

Well, that's our age now. All our friends.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I know. No, all right. We were.

[Merles]

It's not Ra. It's Steve Bartman.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, with the headphones.

[Merles]

He does look like it's identical.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Got Moises Alou Staring at him. Was it Felipe?

[Justin Williams]

Who.

[Eric Duhatschek]

What a. Lou. Was that.

[Merles]

What are you doing, Moses? Alo. Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Holy. We talked a lot of canes and. And I mean, what can you say? Like, Mer quickly had mentioned about Montreal. I guess the question for Montreal, for me is, yeah, young Demidov, he's going to be incredible. Hudson's already incredible. They have two young goalies. They do have. They are smaller and Mer's the size guys, so they probably need a little size. Now this other Russian that's coming, who I believe is like on pace with. With Demidov's numbers, Zarovsky or something, then they have a. They have the WHL defenseman of the year. I can't think of his name right now. So they have crazy prospects, but in terms of playoffs and get to the next level, maybe they're looking to get a little bigger. I mean, Goulet's pretty big on the back end. Carrier small, Hudson small. But that. That's whatever. It's Lane Hudson. Even though in Merle's world, that doesn't count. But I'm wondering about size for them because you see like the length on Carolina and they're not huge up front, but at least defensively they are. Bryce Pickford, WHL D man of the year. So that's another guy coming.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, I think they've definitely overachieved this year. People didn't, you know, a lot of people didn't even have them in the playoffs. Yeah, a little. Little smaller overall, but I think just the experience is great. I think Marty St. Louis put a lot of people out eating their words after, you know, from when he was high, they would. They kind of pooh pooed it even till now. But yeah, I think they just kind of. The games maybe have caught up to them. And again, Carolina, this is a buzzer of a team. They've been working like. Like I think, what, eight years with Brindermore now and they're finally going to hopefully break through to the finals for that team and that fan base. But yeah, I think the future is bright for Montreal. Man, what they have for prospects, they certainly look like they have a number one goalie in Dovish. And if you're a Habs fan, you know, you got to take this season and be happy with it. I don't see how anybody can be disappointed. I know you're coming this far, but they do look like they're like a little bit spent by.

[Eric Duhatschek]

At this stage, when they were yelling shoot the puck, I was like, they don't Even have the puck. How are you supposed to shoot it?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, you need bullets in the gun to fire the gun.

[Merles]

But not to mention.

[Keith]

Yeah, all right, I want to talk goalies. When you. Because you just brought them up, you got their goalie for the future Dovish. But they. I mean, the top goalie prospect maybe in the world is Fowler.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I know.

[Keith]

What are they going to do about all that?

[Eric Duhatschek]

I think follows their guy someday. I still think it.

[Merles]

I agree.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's a great problem to have. Right? Right, Merles? You'd rather have too many good goalies than not enough. And, you know, I think we'll probably see some more starts out of Fowler this next season. 26, 27 season then, you know, I think it's one of those things you just kind of deal with it as it comes. I mean, he's still unproven at the professional. The NHL level. Rather follow. But, yeah, it's a good problem to have too much goaltending depth. Never a bad thing. I mean, well, look, you know, look at the Bruins. I mean, over the last, you know, 15 years or whatever, you know, they've always seemed to have a goal in the pipeline. Whether or not he makes it to Boston is a different story. But, yeah, it's a good. It's a good problem.

[Unknown Analyst]

Trade one of them, I think.

[Keith]

You dare trade Dovish right now. He's not higher. Big dog.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Not yet. I agree with Ra, like, and it's funny.

[Merles]

You gotta ride them out there.

[Eric Duhatschek]

The Flame, which was, I mean, interesting choice. He did have that one run where people are like, oh, keep him. Trade Carrie Price. And they let it play out. It wasn't like they traded Halak right after that playoff season. So they probably should have, though.

[Unknown Analyst]

They would have got a lot more for him. That's what I'm saying. If you trade Dobus.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, but Price had already played enough in the NHL where you're like, yeah, this guy's incredible. Right now it's Halak. But I. I love Fowler and I do think he's going to be incredible, but I don't know. That'd be. That'd be a hard one right now. You're saying what, you could get back for him?

[Keith]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Unknown Analyst]

I think Dovis stock is as high as it's ever gonna be after this playoff run.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Interesting point.

[Unknown Analyst]

Jacob Fowler has won at every single level he has ever played at. He always plays good.

[Eric Duhatschek]

They didn't win in college.

[Unknown Analyst]

I love. I love Jacob Fowler. And I think. I think you go get a center this off season. I Think you use Dobus. Goalies are a hot commodity right now, guys.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh yeah, I think they always are.

[Merles]

In RA Was even talking about Montreal and being ahead of schedule. Like you got their road to where they are right now. Playing Carolina was a lot harder than Carolinas. They went game seven. They've been into a bunch of overtimes. Like they're proven that they're going to be a playoff team for a long time. And I, like we said earlier too, they're ahead of schedule and nobody in Montreal should be disappointed in the way that this team has performed this year.

[Ryan Whitney]

And you know, Carolina, they haven't, you know, got to the final yet. But if assuming they do, man, I, I think this would be a fan. It's going to be a fantastic if it is indeed. Carolina, Vegas. Like, you know, I see people already and it's Twitter take it with a pound of salt. Not even a grain about, you know, the, the matchup and the ratings and blah. It's like, bro, like these two teams are both buzz saw their way. Well again, Carolina putting the card in front of the horse a little bit here. But I think this is a dynamite matchup, man. In Carolina right now. Looking at the odds. MERLES ON DRAFTKINGS they're minus 145 to win the cup right now. VEGAS Plus 130. So that, I mean that tells you right now Vegas is going to be an underdog going.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Well, funny enough, it's crazy. Funny enough is that I get and I think halfway through the year it might have been. Jeff on our group chat was like, oh, Carolina, Vegas or in the playoffs, Carolina, Vegas. Probably not great for ratings. People always also said the same thing about Carolina. Edmonton in 06 and it was one of the best cup finals. I, I remember it went to game seven. Like, I think Carolina, Vegas will be incredible. I do wonder and I'm sorry, Montreal fans, like they're not winning three in a row. So at some point you got to talk about this. But Carolina playing Vegas that they are playing the Florida teams they lost to, right? That is, it's as close can. So we're gonna get, we're gonna get the answer because right now it's like, oh, Ottawa, Philly and Montreal, they're not what you couldn't get through before in big, strong, mean teams and they're gonna face one. So it's like, can. Can they. If they can get by it, then you can never say a bad word about Carolina ever again. Obviously their cup chance, but they'll have done it by Beating a team that they just could never get past before. Because this Vegas team in Florida last year, I don't really see much difference.

[Merles]

Do you think Vegas is as mean as Florida? I think there is maybe not, maybe not as mean.

[Keith]

Dirty.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, they're not as dirty, but they're, they're big, physical and like, like Eichel Barkov. Kind of the same. And then the D are similar.

[Keith]

And Marner Reinhardt,

[Eric Duhatschek]

like McNabb's. McNabb's a Florida Panthers defenseman, right?

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Keith]

Oh, yeah.

[Unknown Analyst]

Hey, real quick to dispel the Carolina TV ratings would suck rumor. The game two of Flyers versus Carolina had 2.3.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I know, but I think that's Philly.

[Unknown Analyst]

It's the MO. It's the most watched second round game ever. That can't all be from Philadelphia.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah, you're right. You know, you're right. No. 100 and I don't think we give Kane's fans enough credit. The passion down there is incredible. I just think that it's, it's the rest of the country, right. That is tuning in a lot. I think with Philly and being back in than it is the rest of the country tuning into Carolina playing Vegas. We'll see when the ratings come out after. But I. All right, I'm with you. I think it's going to be a great series.

[Merles]

Carolina. Carolina's been way more fun to watch in this series against Montreal than the past two series. But so I'd almost put that more on Philly and Ottawa because I was down on Carolina and now I can't wait to watch them play bags.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Okay, you flipped.

[Merles]

I've flipped.

[Ryan Whitney]

And it's a piggyback on your point, G. Like I think one of the highest rated games all playoffs was Buffalo, Montreal. Game 6. The one we got Saturday Night Live. Yes. On Saturday night prime time rather. And you know that, that, that's a team from another country. So the fact that so many people in the States watch, you know, again, not even accounting for the Canadian ratings. Yeah, I, I, I, again, we obviously want higher ratings, but at the end of the day it doesn't affect, it doesn't affect us.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't care at all. I, I truly, yeah, I want high ratings, but if you, if you give us a great cup final, I don't care if other people aren't watching it.

[Ryan Whitney]

Exactly. Updated cards, Mike. Thoughts? Mitch Minor right now. Plus 165. Still the truck. Freddy plus 250. Taylor Hall 6 to 1. Stankhoven plus 950. Carter hot all the way down to 12 to 1. It was 80 to 1, I think two, three weeks ago. Blake 15 1. Eichel 16 1.

[Eric Duhatschek]

So how is Eichel?

[Ryan Whitney]

That's some value crazy. He says second in points. I mean, if he goes off, you know, in the, in the Stanley cup final and outscores Minor by a vast, you know, difference, man. So they're saying that value right there.

[Eric Duhatschek]

If you said Montreal's -140 right now in the Cup.

[Keith]

Carolina, sorry.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Carolina's -140 to win the Cup.

[Ryan Whitney]

145 if you want to be able to win the Cup.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And what is Vegas plus 130. So you think that, that that will stay the same or is there any part of their still playing?

[Keith]

Well, Carolina should get bigger once they.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Keith]

That's what's crazy.

[Ryan Whitney]

So, yeah, I mean, they could be like a 7, 8, 89 favorite. MERLES.

[Keith]

Yeah. Like last night, you could get Vegas to beat Carolina plus 210 because Carolina obviously wasn't in yet. If you go on that now, it's. You can take Vegas to beat Carolina plus 140 because they're still one game away. That's the way you want to do it. If you're betting Vegas.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Merles]

If. If Taylor hall wins the cup and the Con Smythe, he's obviously already got the MVP. He's got almost 800 points that he gets another 100, 150. Is he a Hall of Famer?

[Eric Duhatschek]

I mean, yeah, if you have an mvp, a Cup and a Con Smythe. I feel like that should be like the, the auto bid.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Like. All right.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Just look at those three things. I was thinking last night, watching the game that I've had a. A lot of like, good, good friends and guys I played with that I was so happy for, that they won the Cup. All the guys in Pittsburgh when I was traded. Halsey be right up there in terms of, like, he's lived with him. He's such a great guy. And like, he's. He went through a lot. Like, you forget about his leg, his knee injury and all the different teams. He was on Buffalo for a year and then he.

[Bruce Cassidy]

He's.

[Eric Duhatschek]

It's. It didn't work out in Edmonton and all these things. It'd be like, that'd be a guy I'd be so happy for if he got his upbring.

[Keith]

We saw him in Chicago at the barstool office.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I think he was ready to quit hockey.

[Keith]

I think he might have said it in the Little interview we did.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I don't know, boys. I don't know how much time left in this league now. He's. He's running around killing people, scoring big goals.

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

He has been burying people all playoffs.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Hey, real quick.

[Unknown Analyst]

That's just a great transition. I just want to bring this up, Ryan. Evan Bouchard just got knocked out cold.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I saw that.

[Unknown Analyst]

Ryan Lindgren knocked him out.

[Bruce Cassidy]

And.

[Unknown Analyst]

And Frank Saravelli is reporting that Bouchard actually had some pretty bad concussion issues at the end of the playoff. So this is. It doesn't seem like this is good at all.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I've seen that. And then I thought it was. Came out to not be true, but because I'm, because I'm like, if, if it came up when it came out after that Bouchard was. Was like concussed in the Anaheim series. I don't think he'd be going to the world.

[Merles]

Right. Yeah, exactly. That's what I was thinking.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Keith]

Canada right now after two periods.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Okay, who scored?

[Keith]

Celebrini had an absolute snipe in the first period on the pp and the second goal was from Dylan Holloway. Sorry, Whip.

[Ryan Whitney]

Congrats to Freddie Anderson too. He's got five playoff shout outs with Carolina, the most in team history. 111 with the 144 goals against.9288 percentage in three shoutouts. Needless to say, leads the NHL and playoffs right now. So good stuff coming from Freddie. Shifting gears. You know, we talked about it a little while back. Project Hail Mary. You know, you. You would start at the theater. I started in imax. I watched it again the other, the other. The other night. I. I liked it even better the second time. I don't know if you guys. I know it's this time, this time of year, like this is the catch up time with movies and shows we haven't been able to see. I watched again. I liked it even better the second time. But what Ryan Gosling does, essentially he acts across from a puppet. To be able to be that charismatic and funny and convincing. Thought it was good stuff there. I want to give that an extra shout out. If anyone hasn't seen it yet, Keith, you'd like it. I think.

[Merles]

I. I saw an imax. I loved it.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay, my bad.

[Merles]

On. On tv. So we'll probably. I'll watch that with the kids soon as well. Because they loved it in the theater. So. Yeah, I mean, the, the TVs are so good nowadays. Like, you're not losing too much, right?

[Eric Duhatschek]

When I get the lights off at the TV we got in the living room. We pump up Sonos and just with.

[Keith]

But the. The quality of Netflix, I mean, you just can't beat it either, right?

[Merles]

Oh, it's nothing better.

[Eric Duhatschek]

You are a veteran, let me tell you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Just. Actually, just finished. I talked about Running Point, season two. Check that. If you're looking for a great show that, that flies by. The one with Kate Hudson. She plays the owner of a fictional basketball team. Good stuff. Give that a whirl. But I started watching that spider noir last night with Nick Cage. Dude, it's. It's a. The latest Spider man, you know, comic book that didn't turn into a TV show. Unbelievable stuff. Like it's. You could watch it in color or black and white. You could like click between each. Each version while you're watching it. But it's just kind of like that 19, like 20s, 30s, like rainy new York, like black and white, like Nick Cage. He said basically he was like channeling Humphrey Bogat and Bugs Bunny for this role. But if you're into the Spider man stuff, so far, so good. I watched a couple ups. Another great documentary. You guys ever seen probably the movie Platoon with Charlie Sheen back in the table?

[Merles]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, it's a. It's a phenomenal documentary. It's called Brothers in Arms. Fantastic stuff. Give that a whirl. It's just a real deep dive on, you know, how they made the movie. Like what all of a stone put these guys through, how they all did boot camp with. With the real boot camp instructor and stuff. But yeah, just a phenomenal look into how a movie is made. And my classic recommendation for the week. It's available right here on Netflix. It's True Romance from 1993. It was written by Quentin Tarantino, directed by the late Tony Scott. Christian Slater plays this kind of like, slacker who comes across a big bag of drugs and is trying to get rid of them. Patricia Cat plays his sidekick. But it's got an unreal cast. Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Brad Pitt, Chris Walk and Sam Jackson, if you guys. I'm assuming one of you guys at least seen it.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Never seen it.

[Keith]

It's my wife's favorite movie, I believe.

[Ryan Whitney]

No. Okay, nice. So, Merles, you must have seen it, obviously, but your wife's favorite.

[Keith]

Couple times. Great, great show. Great show. Not sure it's a. Is it on Netflix now? I'm not sure.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I did. I double checked before I. Before I gave it for the record of the week. Yeah, absolutely.

[Merles]

It a good one. Good One I just watched on Netflix is the saint of second chances. It's about like the old. The owner of the Chicago White Sox had no clue about them. That's. That's a good easy watch. Fun. Like, a lot of stuff that baseball does now that they were doing back then that the other owners hated, like, you know, fireworks going off during when a home run was hit and stuff like that. Like, just the way that they've kind of transformed the game that a lot of stuff is used now, but had some go down on the way. On the way up.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Up.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. Bill Veck, right? Was it. Was the guy.

[Merles]

Yeah. And then his son.

[Justin Williams]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Interesting character from baseball history. But Merles, he's a peg leg.

[Merles]

He had a peg leg.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Really? All right. Is you. Are you the one who posted the video of the woman who was getting pulled over for being on her phone and the cops, like, you were holding the phone in your right hand and then. She didn't have a right hand.

[Ryan Whitney]

I posted her on Instagram. Yeah.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Yeah.

[Merles]

That was so funny.

[Ryan Whitney]

That was so wild. Like, he said, like, first off, like. Like a cop saying, he pull. He pulls. You swear to God that's not like a legal precedent for that. Like, you don't get to swear on God that, like, to get a ticket,

[Merles]

hand to God, she put the right one up and then he goes, can you do it with the other?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. It almost looked like a skit. Nowadays you can't be too careful. Like, you know, but everything said, like, see, people doing content are tricks. But yeah, that was a pretty wild one. I. Needless to say, I think it was dismissed the next day because, yeah, she. She somehow got the.

[Justin Williams]

The.

[Ryan Whitney]

What do you call it?

[Justin Williams]

The. The.

[Ryan Whitney]

Not the dash cam, the body camera footage.

[Eric Duhatschek]

But yeah, showing I have no hand

[Ryan Whitney]

to hold the phone.

[Eric Duhatschek]

You said I was holding said phone with.

[Ryan Whitney]

And I guess she's like a. Like a power. A power lifter. She's like a weightlifter. She's like a. An athlete. You know, in the world of disabled athletes. I'm not sure the proper terminology, but yeah, so she's like. There's some clips of her lifting weight. She's. She's a. She's strong as an ox. But yeah, that was a pretty. Pretty wild. Pretty wild clip out there. Merles, I wanted to ask you, NBA, are you following it? You've been getting the action on it. Who do you like? Nothing.

[Keith]

I have nothing on the NBA. It's. It's just. It's been. Just an awful product. I know the Knicks swept. Which is nice. And then I, I used to be a San Antonio spurs from the days when me and. Yeah. Played for them and they were, they were the owners of our team. But no, I don't follow anything. OKC is gonna probably win it all again.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I, I don't. I've been open about the basketball and the NBA and what I think of it, but. But I was the guy ranting and raving a couple years back, if not last year, that McDavid was better at his sport than anyone else was at their sport. And then we kind of said, I think Ohtani might have that. But the alien on the Spurs, I clicked on. I think it might have been game one of this series against okc. Cause it ended right after one of the hockey games. It is, it is bizarre. He's.

[Merles]

He.

[Eric Duhatschek]

He kind of moves around like he's 6ft tall, but he's. What is he, 7 4? And then he shoots threes and doesn't look like tall guys like that. Like, remember Sean Bradley? Like, people used to call me Sean Bradley when I was eighth grade. Like, they didn't really move. Well, this guy is, he's. I guess the alien is the perfect nickname for him. I do think, though, maybe I'll get crushed by NBA people on this. When you talk about how many rebounds he gets, I'm not. It. I'm not very impressed. I. The rebound thing is he's just, he's 7 4. So obviously the rebound aspect, it hits the rim and he's just reaching up and grabbing it. The points, nuts, the threes, the dribbling at that height. I'm not, you're not going to get me on. Like, oh, you're 24 rebounds. I, I don't. It's kind of like.

[Merles]

But there's other seven footers he's going against. Like, it's not that easy, I would imagine, but he's.

[Eric Duhatschek]

He's got four or five inches on them.

[Merles]

Yeah, that's true.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's the fluidity of his play. Like, like you said, to see a guy that tall and that slender, like, yeah, you think I'm a new bowler. Sean Bradley. But just. He's just so goddamn smooth and he's pulling up from, from the logo and, and swapping.

[Eric Duhatschek]

He wears a 20 and a half size shoe. Granoli. 20 and a half.

[Merles]

Wow.

[Eric Duhatschek]

I did see an article. It was on vacation that apparently he's big into. Like, he went and studied at like a. Where monks are. What is it, a monastery. Monastery. How do you say that already?

[Ryan Whitney]

Monastery.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Monastery. About mind body connection. And like I. He seems like super dedicated to his craft, which makes sense based on how good he is. But yeah, I don't.

[Keith]

What was Shaq shoe? Remember they used to have that?

[Eric Duhatschek]

I had. I had one Shaq Orlando Magic Reebok. And yeah, it was probably 22 size 22.

[Ryan Whitney]

And wrote a Cuba with the Noah. That's that friggin shoe.

[Merles]

Did you see Wemby when they were getting beat the other night and he got subbed out of the game and he like whispered to the two guys going in, like, I don't know what he said, but the two guys just took two hard follows. So he's got some dog in him too. He's. He's a competitive son of a. Yeah, I'll give.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'll definitely give that a look when they start. Right now, Merle's to Oklahoma City. Similar to the. To the cup. They're already minus 145. The next. Plus 210. San Antonio plus 550. Of course, the west hasn't been decided yet, so. So yeah, it just indicates OKC will be a huge favorite.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And plus I saw Titus at Barstool. I saw a clip of him saying that OKC is like the worst thing to ever happen to basketball. And I don't. I don't really know what that was about. Do you guys know that?

[Unknown Analyst]

Why flopping. It's like SGA flopping. He's like a huge.

[Merles]

Gets to the line all the time.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Okay. Okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, yeah. Well, ironically, I mean, is. I mean, Steph, you know, I'm a Larry Bird guy, but Steph's the best shooter of all time. Not the best scorer of all time, but certainly the best shooter. But. But the ironic thing is that that forever altered the NBA because it just became a three point league after that. Everybody thought they were Stefan. You know, I mean it works for some teams, not for others, but it's kind of like, you know, as good as. As good as he's been for the league and you know, the exposure.

[Merles]

It's also.

[Keith]

I always fight that though, because they moved that line in. They moved that three point line in and that's when they started doing it. Yeah. Remember it used to be way back from the college line. Now it's kind of. They made it like almost in between.

[Merles]

I don't know about that.

[Keith]

Oh, let's do a few. They moved the NBA.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Michael Jordan was playing at a different length.

[Keith]

Yeah. Three point shot like crazy.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know they.

[Merles]

No, no, no, no, you're wrong.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't think he did it years ago.

[Eric Duhatschek]

He's not wrong often. Keith, I'm telling you, beware. Like I'm not saying the NBA three

[Unknown Analyst]

point line has not, has not moved and remains at its original distance 23ft 9 inches.

[Ryan Whitney]

Is that AI?

[Keith]

I. I don't know. I feel like that was a big, big thing.

[Merles]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

Merles. You know who hit the very first three pointer in NBA history? A little trivia for you.

[Merles]

Larry Bird.

[Ryan Whitney]

No. Good. Good guess. One of his teammates, Chris Ford, former Celtics and eventually was a coach as well. Yeah, little trivia for you. Well, either way, we got the finals in both sports coming up. Great time of the year. Summer's coming and boys. Yeah, pretty much wraps up what we got here in our raised world. Any other questions? Fire off.

[Merles]

But otherwise, who do the Cubs got tonight?

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, this half probably older than I

[Keith]

think they're at the Pirates, I believe.

[Merles]

All right everyone.

[Eric Duhatschek]

Thank you to Bruce Cassidy. Thank you to Justin Williams. I think tomorrow night we're gonna have our cup final set and we'll be excited be previewing that and discussing all that ra. Good to see you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Good to see you.

[Eric Duhatschek]

And shut up. Biz to on a on a PJ with Wayne Gretzky. What a life. We will see you guys all Monday. Love you all.

[Bruce Cassidy]

Foreign.

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