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This is the Athletic Hockey show.
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B
What up what up cocky show for March 25, 2026. I'm Sean Gentili, joined by Sean McIndu, Frankie Corrado, fellas, I'm I'm stunned. I'm stunned that the 15 game night in the NHL actually delivered. We had real movement, real games of consequence between all those teams, plenty of playoff implications and all that. So we're Getting down to business early, man. I don't want to. I don't want to waste time on pleasantries. McIndoo, what, what was your big moment coming out of the full slate last night?
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C
The Detroit Red Wings on home ice in a must win game against a team that had played the night before. Kind of the Rangers didn't exactly make the senator sweat on Monday night, but Ottawa had played the night before, had to travel in. The Red Wings were sitting at home all rested, ready to go, and they lose in regulation. A real loss. And I tell you right now, I, I'm. I have seen enough. The Ottawa Senators are in the playoffs and I don't think Detroit's making it. This was a disaster of a home ice loss for the Red Wings, buddy.
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D
Disaster, like catastrophic. Think about what has gone on here. They didn't. The Red Wings didn't have Larkin. They got Larkin back. They have beaten the Ottawa Senators three times already this year. And Ottawa didn't have Sanderson, didn't have Shabbat, didn't have Jensen. They played the night before and they couldn't take advantage of any of that. The biggest game of the year. The Red Wings are the team that's been in a playoff spot the longest. That seems to be spiraling right now. That is a catastrophic loss at the wrong time. But give a lot of credit to the Sens, man like that Carter Yakimchuk steps in, he has a between the legs assist that leads to a goal, and then he takes his time, walks it in and rips one for his first NHL goal. That's big stuff, man. Like they. Here, here's my, My big thought on the sens is that they have played really, really stingy defensive hockey for a long time and it hasn't wavered. And the last piece of the puzzle was just to get the goaltending that they needed. And Lina Salmark had a great game last night and now they're missing some of the big pieces on defense. And this whole time that the team was carrying the goaltending like, now it's time that the goaltending carries a little bit of things here. And all Mark did his job last night in a big way.
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C
And when you say they needed the goaltending, they did not need the goaltending to be phenomenal. They didn't even need the goaltending to be okay. They needed the goaltending to be not terrible, not the absolute bottom dregs of the league. And it's. It's been a lot more than that lately. This is a scary team that somebody's going to go up in the playoffs and, and a lot of people who for, for valid reasons have not paid a lot of attention to the Senators for most of the year are going to be surprised when this team is an extremely tough out for whichever one of the top seeds they end up playing because they have had all of the pieces for a lot of this year other than that goaltending. And if it's there, just average, just average goaltending, look out.
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B
And it's been good enough against the teams that they're in the race with too. Like I, I go back to the outcome for them against the, the Islanders last week. I mean, that's a crazy last, you know, final seconds goal from Brady Tkachuk. But it all, it is huge in and of itself, but it also gives them a regulation win over, over the Islanders. Right? And here we are again talking about another regulation win, this time over the Red Wings. Because that's like the standard line here when we talk about playoff race races and we talk about teams making up how difficult it is to make up points down the stretch. It's, well, three point games, there's loser points, there's a lot, there's lots of teams that are involved. The way around that is to beat those teams in regulation and get two and get two points when they get none. It's pretty easy when that happens. And that's what we've seen from, from, from Ottawa for the last.
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C
The Senators have as many regulation wins as the Carolina Hurricanes. I mean this is, they are right there. And, and the, the thing with Ottawa has been for, they've been cooking for a couple of weeks now, but it felt like every, every night they would get a big win and then you sit back and you look at the scoreboard and everybody else would win or everyone else would at least get a point because of those three point games. And so you're sitting there going, man, they're just not making the progress. Last night it finally clicked into place. Boston loses in regulation. You know, you look around, other teams that they're chasing are losing in regulation and that is what sends them up the standings. And yeah, maybe it's only two points gained, but that's, that's what they needed and they're now holding down a spot. Still some work to do. But boy, when you look at, when you look at the, some of the trends around the rest of those teams, it's not hard to see who's fading and who's staking their claim.
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D
DGB, to your point about the goaltending, like, they're 92 and 1 in the month of March. That's with.895 safe percentage. That's not like, that's not anything crazy, but it's good enough for them and, like, about everything that's going on around the league. And last night was. Last night felt chaotic. Like, Montreal beats Carolina, Columbus wins, the Islanders lose, Ottawa wins, Boston loses. And then you go to the Western Conference, it's like, hey, Nashville keeps winning, the jets win again, Vegas loses. Like, it almost felt like, remember in Dumb and Dumber, when they're sitting there and they're like, we got no food, we got no clothes, our pets heads are falling off. It's like the Canadians win the Senators when the Red Wings lose, our pets heads are falling off. Like, it was complete. Complete and utter madness. And my takeaway now with the two teams that feel like they're in a little bit of a free fall in the, in the Eastern Conference is Detroit. And it's been trending that way. Like, they're three, five and two over their last 10. And the Islanders, who are basically. They're. 500. They're. 500 over their last 10. But as you guys know, 500 does not cut it when the best teams recently are all in that fight for a playoff spot.
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B
Yeah, because it is, you know, we don't love where the Islanders are for sure, but they're also a point behind Pittsburgh and 2.2 points behind the Islanders or 2 points behind the Blue Jackets. 500 doesn't cut it. And they. And they have one more game played than both of those teams. But it really is wild, you know, that we can sit here and say, a team like New York or Detroit or whatever, we don't like the way they're playing. But also, man, it's still. It's still so close. And it's because of these regulation outcomes now. Like, Pittsburgh couldn't. Couldn't scratch a point out of. Out of Colorado last night. Like, didn't come particularly close. Right. And same goes for. Same. Same goes for New York. Same goes for. For. For Detroit. So it is. It's. It's. It's interesting. Frankie, you mentioned, you mentioned, you guys mentioned the Preds. Do we want to. Do we want to look over at the Western Conference? I mean, I. The fact that they're not just in the mix, but kind of. They're three points in a playoff spot. Now, boys, after. After last night's results, I think people were waiting to some extent for the Pacific Division's crumminess to come to roost. And I feel like that's finally what we've seen of the last week or two. Like we knew that the Kings in the Kraken were flawed to a very, very real degree. And if this feels more like the Preds benefiting from that than anything else. To me, than to me at least.
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D
Man.
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B
Five. Five, but five. Five straight wins.
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D
Good God. You got to give the Predators so much credit considering the way the season started and how essentially everyone was up for grabs over there. Like they were open for business. And there's like, there's a lot of pride in that room with those guys saying, like, we're not going to go down this way. And they've played really well. But it comes at the expense of, you know, the LA Kings who have fired a coach already this season. So maybe we, we knew that it was headed this way. And crazy to think that LA has a minus 27 goal differential. Like for a team that is supposed to be, if anything, stout defensively, doesn't give up much. You can live with like not having huge offensive upside, but my goodness, like, for them to be a -27 is not. That wasn't on the bingo card for them. And then the Seattle Kraken, hot and cold, like, good start to the season at different moments have. Have wavered. And now two 7 and 1 over their last 10. Not even Bobby McMahon can save the Seattle Kraken DGB scoring at a 90
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B
goal pace or whatever. Whatever he was with them until last night.
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D
Yeah. And.
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C
And how about this for how fast things can change? And this is, this is weird because usually in an NHL playoff race, things don't change fast. Right. It's that, oh, hey, we've. We just went eight and two in our last 10. Oh, we gained one point over the teams we're chasing. And that's the feeling we're used to. Five games ago, five games for each team ago, the San Jose Sharks were three points up on those Nashville Predators. Five games. Five games later, five wins for Nashville, five regulation losses for the San Jose Sharks. They're now seven points back. Let's pour one out for one of the great stories in the league this year. The Sharks are not making the playoffs, which means Macklin celebrating. I'm sorry, you can't be on heart ballots because your team did not sneak into the playoffs. Good season, kid. Try again next year.
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B
See it. See it in the fall. Yeah, yeah, it would have. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if they would have. I think if they make the playoffs, he pushes his way onto a decent amount of ballots. What I was, what I was interested in as far as the celebrating heart talk was concerned is like what would have happened if they would have just missed like, like what. What would have gone on if it, if they would have finished two or three points out of the not valuable.
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C
You're not valuable if your team misses by one point and you're. And you may not be valuable if your team makes it by 30 points but if your team makes it by 1 point extra valuable user it would have extraordinary. Even if you get swept in the first round, we don't talk about, about that part of it.
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D
You know what it would have been like? It would have been like the Matthews 69 goal season where if he scores 70, he wins the heart because he got 60. Sorry bud, he's only a Heart nominee. So he didn't win it that year. But 70, you have to win.
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B
It sounds like Sean McAnu's voting celebrity no matter what. You're Mac and Celebrini for heart dead under.
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C
I need to get my vote back, buddy.
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B
It's.
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C
I keep the, the random selection of who gets to vote has just not gone my way for six straight years. But maybe this year, maybe this is the one.
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D
This, this should be the year for you. And you know what? I was kind of thinking of it being the year for someone I was watching, I was calling Habs Hurricanes last night and so much talk at morning skate in Montreal was about how do you play against the Hurricanes? How do you, how do you beat them? Like, what's the recipe? Everyone knows the brand of hockey, right? Like there's such a brand of hockey associated with the Hurricanes. And last night in the first period, it was like signature Hurricanes hockey where Montreal couldn't touch the puck, they're under duress, they're high, flipping into the neutral zone. Carolina's jamming it right back down their throats. Eventually it's a two nothing lead. And here's where like I think Montreal has grown so much. And this is why, like we don't even talk about them missing the playoffs. The same way we talk about Boston, Detroit, Ottawa, the Islanders. Like, we haven't really mentioned Montreal as one of those teams that could fall out because for that 40 minutes that came after the first period, they took back the game like against Carolina, who makes it so incredibly uncomfortable for you all over the ice. Goalie Dobish played great. You know, they played on the Power play, which helped keep the flies off, but they didn't score on it. But then you're like, man, if that young, exciting team can respond like that against a veteran team that has been on the precipice of winning for a long time, we're right to not talk about them as one of those teams that. That is when we're missing the playoffs, because, yeah, they're resilient, but they can back it up with the way that they actually reset themselves in a game where it was nowhere near going their way in the first 20 minutes. But.
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C
But, Frankie, I've heard whispers, and maybe you can. You can confirm or deny that there may be a scandal brewing in Montreal based on last night's game. I heard that after that first period in the intermission, Martin St. Louis went into the dressing room and he flipped the calendar ahead a couple of days and showed it to Cole Caufield and said, look, Cole, it's Saturday night again. And that activated Saturday night Cole mode. You can't be doing that. You can't have Saturday night Cole seven nights a week. The rest of the league is doomed if we're going to do that, because this guy might win the Rocket Richard, become the first Montreal Canadian to win the award named after the greatest Montreal Canadian. This kid's on fire. It's fun.
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D
Yeah. Yeah, he's. He's exciting, man. He's. He's like. He encompasses everything that's exciting about the team and the Bell center and the atmosphere. And you're right. Like, the last time a Canadiens player won the scoring title, it was not called the Rocket Richard, and it was Gila Fleur, and it was in the late 70s, I believe it was 77, 78, and it was named the Rocket Richard Trophy in 98, 99. He's got. He's got a very realistic chance. Like, I was going back through the numbers since the beginning of last season, he has the third most even strength goals in the NHL. Like, he's got 10 power play goals this year, which is good, but it's not like that's where he's making his living. And then goals per 60 minutes, he's number one in the NHL. He's like 2.10 or something like that. Like, 2.06, 2.10 goals per 60. Like, he's incredibly, incredibly efficient with his. His shot selection, his ability to beat goalies. And I had Sport Logic dig this up for me before yesterday's game. So the numbers have changed a little bit, but out of the. The three guys going into yesterday's games who had 11 goals since the Olympic break. It was Caufield, Cutter, Gautier, Nikita Kucherov. Caulfield was 105th in shot attempts. I believe it was 56 shot attempts. Gauche and Kucheroff were both in the top 15 in shot attempts like they were in the 90s. So it's not like he's just like, getting pucks and wasting them and shooting them from wherever. He's just, he's a really efficient goal scorer. And yeah, he's. He, he encompasses everything that's exciting about that Bell center right now.
- [18:42]
B
Crazy. He's two points behind McKinnon. It's 46, 44. That's. That's where the goal, the goal totals at. And that includes McKinnon scoring last night, too. So, like, he just continually is making up ground. I said it, I said it last week, you know, when we were putting together power rankings. We're just trying to figure out, you know, players to watch. That was the gimmick last week, like one player to pay attention to on each team. And it's obviously Caulfield for Montreal for that specific reason, like, you're. It's crazy that he was at that point. He's down by six goals. I, I think, I want to say it was 46 or, or I think it was five. It was 45 to 40. Was the edge. That was the edge that, that McKinnon had on him on that point. If you look at the way Caulfield's played in franking, if you look at the way that he was doing it, like you said, with tons of even strength goals, like not, you know, just an efficient way of going about his business. You have to take it seriously that, that he could make up that ground because at that point after, after the Olympic break, he'd scored nine goals. Right. Or eight. Eight times in nine games. Which, which was three more than McKinnon over that stretch. And McKinnon was, was, was playing great. Right. So he's finding a way to make up ground even though McKinnon's playing better. And that's continued into, into this week. So, yeah, he's two goals behind him with, you know, tons of momentum on his side. We need to take it seriously that this dude's going to overtake him.
- [20:09]
D
Yeah. And they've got that top line reunited. Like, they put Slavkovski back on the top line. It's been nine games now that they've been together. They had a 13 point combined night on Saturday. They had another big night last night like that. That line's a problem. The next level for that team is when they don't have to worry about should we or should we not put Slavkovsky with those guys? Because if we don't have him with them, then we're a deeper team and it helps out our second line. So, you know, we'll, we'll kind of see how, how that tracks. But they got another big one tomorrow against the Blue Jackets, so that'll be, that'll be exciting. And man, the Blue Jackets, they just, they keep winning games. It's, it's something, man, let's maybe save
- [20:51]
B
that for segment two. We can, we can talk a little bit more about user conference, maybe get into the Blue Jacket stuff. Do that after the break.
- [21:01]
A
It's that time of year again for Texas. We all know the stress of the old way of filing. You send your documents off and then absolute radio silence. You're stuck refreshing your inbox and sending awkward just checking in texts, wondering if they've even started. But with TurboTax Expert full service I know my TurboTax Expert takes taxes fully off my plate and updates me every step of the way so I don't have to worry. That way I can get back to the things that matter to me, like going on vacation in the spring or enjoying the NFL off season. So stop chasing updates rates. It's time to switch to the modern tax filing Solution with Intuit TurboTax. The best part? You can get Experts progress right on your phone while you go about your day. So go for a run or grab a coffee. You'll know your dedicated expert is handling it, looking for every last deduction to get you the best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve. File with confidence. Visit turbotax.com Only available with TurboTax Full Service Experts Real time updates only in iOS mobile app
- [22:01]
B
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A
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D
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B
You know what's wild Most people are still overpaying for car insurance just because it's a pain to switch. That's why there's Jerry. Jerry's the only app that compares rates from over 50 insurance in minutes and helps you switch fast. With no spam calls or hidden fees. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Before you renew your car insurance policy, do yourself a favor, download the Jerry app or head to Jerry. AI Acast. All right, boys, we're back. We should talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets. I feel like we've given them a decent amount of run here. We've talked about them periodically over their methodical climb through the standings since. Since Rick Bonus took over. But I. Yesterday was a big deal for them. They beat the Flyers in regulation. They occupy a top two position in the Metro for the first time this season, period. They jumped Pittsburgh, who again lost in regulation to Colorado. The last time Columbus ranked In the top two in the metro was 2021, and it was October of 2021. So it was four days into the season. I, at some point in the last month, I've, I was like, okay, this team's, this team's for real. As long as they can find a way to, you know, get enough points necessary to push their way in, I'm. I'm on board with them.
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D
It's. It's pretty crazy what's gone on. Rick Bonus is a wizard. Like, he's clearly got the magic touch when it comes to communicating with these players. But if you look at the guys that are having a lot of success in the last few months for Columbus, of course, it's headlined by Zach Warrensky, and if we talk about the Hart Trophy, of course we're going to talk about Nikita Kutrov. There's a pretty compelling argument to be made for Zach Warrensky and what he's done for that team. But, like, Charlie Coyle's played really well. Kirill Marchenko's probably been their most consistent forward all season long, start to Finish. Olivier's got 12 goals in the last couple months. Marchmont, you know, has 17 points in the last couple months. You know, Boone Jenner's played fairly well, like, half a point per game. And my takeaway with that is the guys that are hard to play against are point producers now on that team. And that's, that's a, you know, that's an imposing proposition for other teams where it's like, those guys aren't just, like, buried on third and fourth lines. The guys that are Kind of big and physical and can lean on you. They're also guys that get points and that's, you know, that's helping them and making them a difficult out for a lot of teams that are playing them.
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B
Isn't that something that Bonus is particularly good at though? I feel like that especially in the late, late era, Rick Bonus has turned into a guy who's, who's, who's we saw in Winnipeg. Certainly he's good at getting points out of the entire lineup. Right. Like you're in from a variety of different player profiles. It's a big part of the jet success and I feel like it's something that is ported over to Columbus.
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C
Yeah, he's, he's been fantastic. And I, I wrote a piece last week about the Buffalo Sabres where I said this is, this may be the single greatest bandwagon team in history and I stand by that. But boy, in any other year this Columbus Blue Jackets team would be at the top of the list because they're, they're a fantastic story. And guys, 26 years of Columbus Blue Jackets history. Do you want to hear a sentence that has never ever been uttered in the NHL?
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B
What's that?
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C
Welcome to Columbus for game one. Never ever have they had home ice in a playoff series. And I mean if the playoffs started today, which they don't, but they're right in that running. And you know, I, I don't know about in Pittsburgh, Sean, that I, I don't feel like the Blue Jackets necessarily rank all that high. But going the other way, the Penguins might be number one on the Blue Jackets list. They beat oh for sure times in the playoffs.
- [26:48]
B
It's a little, it's maybe a little one sided but it's a little one sided. But Columbus hates, Columbus hates Pittsburgh.
- [26:53]
D
Well, we're not going to get into the Bill Simmons comments are we remember that this like have we not how far the Blue Jackets have, have come this year. Like that was mid November where they're bad not off to a good start. And Bill Simmons out of nowhere drops this bomb and goes. Most irrelevant franchise in North America, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Their biggest driver is the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Penguins don't even know they exist. Essentially I'm paraphrasing but that's, that was the gist of it.
- [27:28]
B
It's the Matt, it's the Mad Men exchange with, with, with Don Draper and what's his face in the, in the elevator. I don't, I don't think about, I don't think about you at all. And that's, that's absolutely the vibe between. It was, it was Sid versus Brandon Dubinsky for a while. That was like the thing that Columbus held onto and it was just not that. That was a, that was a one way street and there was only one car on it.
- [27:50]
C
If, if the Blue Jackets don't have a cardboard cutout of Bill Simmons in the dressing room like major league, and they're tearing a piece of clothing off each time that they win. Hey, you know what? We've all been saying that the turning point of that season was hiring Rick. Bonus. Maybe it was the Bill Simmons comment. Let's, let's go.
- [28:09]
B
He was right. He's, he's, he's correct. They're just, they're, they're, they're like, look, we're, we're going through all these, all these numbers, right? Like never hosted a, never hosted a playoff game. Here's, here's a good one. The only other season the Blue Jackets. Blue Jackets ranked in the top two of their division after the 70th game played was 2016, 2017. So like they're in it in a way that they basically have never been before. Incredible. Yeah.
- [28:39]
C
That year it was the Penguins. And so it's this, this, this is beautiful. And, and I'm not, you know, in fact, I'm gonna get way out ahead of myself here and I'm just gonna run this by you guys, okay. And I'm not make. This isn't a prediction. Don't come yell at me if it doesn't happen. Don't tell me I jinxed anything. But if not how it works, if, if the two hottest teams in the Eastern Conference can get through their division and they meet in the conference final. If we get Columbus versus Buffalo in the conference final. Let me tell me what you think of this, okay? This is what I'm calling it. Yarmo Geddon. What do we think?
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D
Oh my God.
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B
That's the best.
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D
It writes for a reason, man. It writes itself. If we get those two teams playing against each other, the, you know how broadcasts will have a camera outside before the game getting like, see scenic shots. The tailgate scenics that they are going to get from both of those fan bases are going to be unbelievable. It'll be NFL esque and it'll be happening in the NHL. And Bill Simmons can take his Columbus Blue Jackets take and he can change it to the Charlotte Hornets or the Washington Wizards or sorry Sean, the Pittsburgh Pirates and stuff it. Because the Blue Jackets and their fans, they deserve this because that is a loyal fan base. When they had that down season, was it two or three years ago? They had a down season recently, and season ticket holders went up. They went up like fans and just like Buffalo, like, they've stuck by their team through some really rough times. So both those fan bases deserve what is happening right now for their teams.
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B
Absolutely. Want to talk about the MVP race a little bit? Frank, you mentioned. You mentioned Nikita Kutrov a bit ago. Let's touch on that, because I feel like we're doing like a wrap up here to. To an extent, we're doing like a survey just of important stuff that's gone on around the league over the last couple days. I feel like now there's been some kind of movement. There's been a pro Kucherov move here over the last few days where people are really starting to, you know, not just note the play and not just say, wow, this is impressive and productive. And look at this. He's had a 45 game point stretch on par with, you know, Wayne Gretzky and Mariel Lemieux, which is true. That's not. That's something that happened last week. I feel like the dialogue has shifted now where it's actually starting to talk about him potentially winning the heart trophy. It's not just, wow, this is a crazy, productive, impressive season from, you know, a Hall of Fame player. It's more like, okay, this is. This is. This is true MVP stuff. Come call me crazy, but I feel like there's been some kind of moment there.
- [31:38]
D
Oh, no, you're not crazy. This is. This is very legit. What, does he have 104 points in his last 50 games or something like that? Like, it's. No. I voted for Kucherov two years ago as my number one guy because he had, like, 51%. He was in on 51% of all of Tampa's goals that year. Like, and you know, what he's doing in a league where, you know, McKinnon has had his stretch, McDavid has had his stretch, and now Kucherov, he does it in such a different way, right? Like, he's not. He's not thumping down the ice with his feet. Like, he's not blistering past four players like McDavid does, but he's so methodical in everything he does. And Tampa's been a really consistent team this season. I think it's. It's hard to argue, like, how. How much he carries that team now.
- [32:31]
B
The.
- [32:32]
D
The one. I guess the one argument I'll make against Kucherov and it's not really anything to do with Kucherov. I brought up Zach Warrensky before and Craig Button's kind of been banging this drum a little while now. But if you look at who like Warrensky plays with, like he's playing with Severson, you know, there's Dante Fabro, there's Provorov, like, you know, Kucharov is always going to have that, that notion that hey, he's around Gensel and he's around Point, he's around headman and slangs, you know, really good team. Some of the best players in the world. Like what Rensky's doing with Columbus where he doesn't, you know, he's not Cale McCarr playing with Devon Caves. That's. He's going to have like, he's going to be a top, he should be a top three guy. But I think as of right now, it's tough to argue that Kucherov is not number one.
- [33:21]
C
And it's, and look, I mean some of this MVP stuff does get into, I don't even want to say the narratives but it's, it's a long season and it, it, the Hart Trophy is a season long discussion and I think that sometimes with a guy like Nathan McKinnon, people get a little bored 100% the same guy being at the top of the list. Connor McDavid, you know, similar in a way. And you look at the Oilers, the season they're having, I don't know, is, is their best player a league mvp? I mean there's clearly an argument for it, but Kucherev is up there. But you're right, like Zach Rensky should be in consideration. Rasmus Dallin should be in consideration. And I've, I've mentioned this many times before. There hasn't been a defenseman even be a hard trophy finalist since the year 2000. Is, is completely wild for a position that when you're building a team is the number one thing you look at. Does this team have that stud all purpose blue liner and with, with Darlene, you look at not just how well he's played this year and how important he's been, but everything else that's gone with it with, you know, the, the, the situation that he's had in his personal life and everything like that and everything that him and his family have had to overcome. That doesn't, that isn't supposed to have anything to do with who wins the heart trophy, but it's kind of hard to ignore and I think you're hopefully this is the year that at the very least, can we, we got a goalie to win the MVP last year. Can we please get a defenseman at least to be a finalist this year? And you don't have to. If you're a voter. You don't have to choose between Werensky and Darlin. And then the rest of it is just the first four leading scorers in the league. You're allowed to put both of them on the ballot. I checked. Put them both on there. Let's get one of them as a finalist.
- [35:15]
D
It's about time someone started sticking up for defenseman that wasn't a defenseman. Thank you. Thank you.
- [35:22]
B
I mean, it, it's, I think the timing on all this is right too. Sean, like you, you said this a minute ago, but just to reiterate, like, the heart is a narrative based award in a way that, in a way that a lot of the other ones aren't, like people are or comfortable. You know, we're looking at, we're looking at its stats when we're talking about the selkie or, you know, safe. Like, it's, it's a lot easier to fall back on that stuff than a lot of the other awards. The Heart's different, though, because if it, if it weren't narrative based, we would just give it to Connor McDavid every year. And that's, that's, that's not, that's not what happens. It's not what happens in other sports either. LeBron James has won four MVP awards. You mean to tell me that that dude hasn't been the most valuable player in the NBA three more times than that, like, over the course of his career? People get tired of voting for the same people and people get tired of hearing the same stuff. And I think, I think what we're seeing this year is a coagulation of narratives that are, they're going to push other people towards the top.
- [36:21]
C
You know, who changed the course of sports history. And I don't even know what league it was that was the first to have an MVP award. But whoever it was that sat down and said, I'm going to use the word valuable instead of just best player outstanding or whatever, that guy changed the way that, that we think about sports. Because, you know, you're right. If it was the best player award, oh, congratulations, LeBron. Here's your 15th, your 15th trophy. Here you go. Connor McDavid. Ten years in a row, you've, you're the best player in the league each and every Year. We can give it to you in October, but that's not it. And that leaves that wiggle room for, you know, what exactly does value mean? And it's not spelled out. When you get your ballot. It's not like they give you a whole paragraph saying, this is what we mean by most valuable. It becomes this whole thing. Well, you know, ah, Taylor hall had 80 points, but he got the Devils into the playoffs. So, you know, maybe he's the MVP this year. And then you go on down the list. It's a weird. It's a weird award. It leaves that wiggle room.
- [37:25]
D
You know what's nuts? If I look back at, like, the points leaders from when I played in the league, like, 80 to 85 points was like, oh, my God, that guy's a stud. Are you kidding me? A point per game. It's. It's so crazy how it's changed so much. But if McDavid, like, you can't count out McDavid because obviously he's been very, very good, and if he continues to score goals similar to the one he scored last night for 400, he probably needs a few more of those and maybe puts himself, you know, more at the top of the. Of the list. But it's a. It's a great fight. Like, it's a great fight for the hart Trophy. And McDavid, McKinnon, Kucherov, Orensky, Darlene. Like, I don't know. There's just. There's a lot of names that are circling around it. I like that. It's not one definitive name. Like, I think the ballots are really interesting.
- [38:15]
B
They're going to be all over the place.
- [38:17]
D
Yeah.
- [38:17]
B
Yeah.
- [38:17]
D
I think it's going to be great.
- [38:19]
C
It's. It's a great fight, Frankie, and it's a real fight, not a pillow fight.
- [38:24]
B
Right.
- [38:24]
C
Which brings us back to McDavid and.
- [38:26]
B
And here we are.
- [38:27]
C
Division and those. And. And boy, I'll tell you, I mean, we said McDavid MVP, and we had said earlier, I. I mean, you got to make the playoff. The Oilers are not a lock yet, and the Vegas Golden Knights are really not a lock yet. Another. You know, the Oilers got the win last night. At least Vegas didn't. And here we are. Where is it even. Is it possible that for all of this talk about how lousy the Pacific is, that it could be, you know, an LA or Seattle or something if they win their games in hand? They are right there with the Golden Knights.
- [39:05]
D
How.
- [39:05]
C
What level of panic should we have in Vegas? Because that team Cannot get a save.
- [39:13]
B
Everyone said throughout whatever most of this season, if they get half decent play from Aiden Hill, that's like a, that's a dangerous team. Well, I mean this is March 25th and hasn't, it hasn't happened yet. He's at 8:69. Aiden Hill is since the, since the Olympic break. He's, he's underwater and goal saved above expected. That's a, that's a flawed team in a lot of ways. But the, the goaltending is, is the primary issue here. And I think everyone is written kind of in pencil like, yeah, as long as, you know, they, he gets his. As long as the goaltending gets right in one way or another, you know, they'll be worth, worth taking seriously and worth paying attention to. And it hasn't, it hasn't happened yet.
- [39:54]
D
No. And, and think about this. If they even had a smidge of belief, they wouldn't have signed Carter Hart. Like they don't have Carter Hart and they have to go with Aiden Hill at this point. And Akira Schmidt is not like that's not a playoff. Like that's not a playoff viable option that helps you get to a Stanley Cup. So they have no choice.
- [40:14]
B
Now in fairness to Akira Schmidt, like he's been, he's been better than Hill for the last chunk. But you, but you, like if you're a serious playoff team now, you.
- [40:22]
D
Right. And, and now, okay, so Ottawa's got the worst safe percentage in the league. Florida 31st. Well, Florida's out of it and then it's Edmonton and then it's Vegas. Like both those teams are right there. Like that's a lot, that's a lot to have to overcome when you don't play hockey the way the Senators do. Like Edmonton is not a good defensive team and Vegas used to be, but it feels like when Vegas was, was good and they won that Stanley cup, it's not like their decor was fast, but they were a little more mobile and they were big. They could clog things up. But they, you know, there's, there's some different personnel. Not having Petrangelo is obviously a big deal and they're, they're older now and that doesn't help their, their shoddy goaltending
- [41:08]
C
and, and Rasmus Anderson has not been the answer there. That's, that's been a bit of a bust. And, and yeah, I mean just, I'm stating the obvious here, but you know, as a fan, this time of year you kind of check the standings and you look down at the bottom of those standings at the, at the wild card races and who are the teams holding down the wild cards? Who are the teams sitting in ninth, 10th place? Keep in mind, for teams like LA and Seattle, as, as rough as it's been lately, they've got two paths to the playoffs. They can catch Nashville for a wild card or they can catch a Vegas for that, that three spot. And it's the same over in the east where the Metro teams that are chasing have two paths in. The Islanders have got two paths. Even the Flyers, who, you know, that was a tough one.
- [41:57]
B
That's a rough, rough loss for them.
- [41:59]
C
They've got two paths in versus the Detroit Red Wings. Only one. The Red Wings can pass as many metro teams as they like. It doesn't help them get in the playoffs. They've got to pass Atlantic teams. And this is another artifact of this weird playoff format, which is a whole other discussion we won't do today. But just keep that.
- [42:17]
B
That sounds like. That sounds like August to me, buddy.
- [42:19]
C
There are a couple of different. Well, Gary Bedman's already said it's fine,
- [42:23]
B
so we don't have to, don't have
- [42:24]
C
to worry about it. But I'm looking at the, you know, Dom's model has got, I think it's the Oilers at 87% chance to make the playoffs, Vegas at 88. So we're not overstating it to say that, you know, these teams are in crisis or something. They're both heavy, heavy, heavy favorites to make it in. But boy, I look at 87% chance of making the playoffs and I see 13% chance of absolute catastrophic failure by a team that should be a Stanley cup contender potentially not making it in one of the worst divisions ever. That's the kind of thing that gets a whole lot of people on the unemployment lines because teams have to radically rethink what they're doing. So you talk about the stakes being high about make the playoffs, don't make the playoffs. They feel even higher than that in Edmonton and Vegas because a lot is going to change in both of those markets. If one of these teams stumbles down the stretch and actually gets caught by the Seattle cracking or the L, I
- [43:29]
B
just wish, I wish the teams that were chasing them were a little bit more interesting. That's kind of, that's kind of. That's like the big asterisk here. It's cool that the Kings have a game at hand on Edmonton and Vegas. It's cool that Seattle has two games in hand on both of those teams and we're talking about four points to make up in LA's case, six to make up in Seattle's case. I just, I. I would love to sit here and say like here they come. Get ready. I just, I'm not.
- [43:56]
D
It's.
- [43:56]
C
It's tough. Vegas and Edmonton play each other twice including, including tomorrow night they play each other twice down the stretch. If, if those are not three point games, that does potentially open a door. And Seattle also gets Vegas twice more in, in just about the final week of the season. So if you're the Kraken, you're sitting there going, we don't have to pass him next week. We just got to stay within four points and then it's going to be. The ball will be in our court.
- [44:30]
B
It sounds like, it sounds like Sean McIntu loves the Seattle Kraken.
- [44:35]
D
I think that's where we land is there. That's, that's the only reason many Leaf greats Bobby McMahon and Jared McCann. That is why DGB loves the long
- [44:46]
B
time, long time Leafs legend Jared McCann.
- [44:49]
D
That's right. The one that got away.
- [44:52]
B
The one that got away.
- [44:53]
C
One Frank. One. Yeah.
- [44:54]
B
The one of just the one.
- [44:56]
C
Many.
- [44:58]
B
Just the one. Yeah. Frankie's sticking in Montreal for a couple days. Are you?
- [45:02]
D
Yeah, yeah. We got. We got the Blue Jackets here tomorrow and then back home and Montreal will be. Actually, they got to play Carolina again on Sunday. They have a back to back Saturday, Sunday, Nashville, Carolina and then into Tampa next week. So busy for them and busy for everyone. Busy for all of us, buddy.
- [45:21]
B
Schedule's ridiculous. Whatever. All right. I'll be watching Blue Jackets Canadians tomorrow. I. I think that's my. I think that's SG's game of the night.
- [45:28]
D
All right. Love it.
- [45:31]
B
I'm trying to watch other feed though.
- [45:33]
D
That's gutless. That's good.
- [45:35]
B
Completely. Columbus. Columbus feed. Take it easy, bud. See you, bud.
- [45:45]
A
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D
The result?
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A
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- [47:49]
B
all right, we're back. There goes Frankie. Sean McIndo here's something I learned.
- [47:53]
C
What have we learned?
- [47:54]
B
Sean Courtesy of the NHL PR Twitter feed. We love a great fake stat around here. As as we always we always bring up this is one of one of the greatest. It's about Nikita Kucherov. I know we talked about him in segment three, but who cares? Can't be talked about enough. He's gonna win the heart. As we discussed, Nikita Kucherov passed Paul Coffey and Bobby orr for the second most consecutive 80 assist seasons in NHL history as he continues to build a gap that's off the points list this season. Again, second most second most consecutive 80 assist seasons in NHL history. He is which he's got four now and also he's fourth in most 120 point seasons which is a significantly less less fake stat. Second most consecutive 80 point or 80 assist seasons is wild work. I salutes.
- [48:56]
C
Do they even bother to tell you who's first in the tour? Is it just a Sue?
- [48:59]
B
They don't that was why that was why I like paused because I was like wait, here's a list in front of me. Gretzky's at the top. They they didn't even do the full list. It was just most 120 point seasons in the graphic below this. So they, they couldn't even commit to the bit and say who had the most. I mean we all know it's Gretzky, but they didn't even go with the graphic there. They went with the graphic for the actual relevant thing which is 120 point seasons. And again he's, he's got four, which is six months, tied for six most all time. That is a real stat. Consecutive 80 point assist seasons is very regrettably as funny as it is. It is, it is not have to
- [49:39]
C
rule that a fake stat. I, I learned that I've got to do something I don't like to do which is give some credit to the schedule maker in the NHL. We, we talked about how much fun last night was. 15 games last night and A. I, I'm not going to give last night at A plus. I'm going to give it an A only because of the two teams that didn't play, one was the Rangers.
- [50:03]
D
That's fine.
- [50:03]
C
They, they don't want to be playing, so nobody wants to be watching. But the other team that didn't play last night was Buffalo. And I mean it can't be an A plus night without everyone's favorite team involved. But we get three more 15 game nights over the rest of the season and it's each and every Saturday night from here on in. 15 games. No, 16 game nights, but 15 games each night. And you know what? Yes. That leads to a few, you know, a few of those like two game Fridays that nobody seems to like. But I don't, I don't mind it because it's 15. I'm saying Saturday nights, but it's, it's day games too. They have packed Saturday night. This league is planting a flag and saying for that, for, for the next few weeks we're going to own Saturdays. And that's the way it should be. I like it. This is going to be a lot of fun heading down the stretch.
- [50:59]
B
Are there any 15 game Thursday nights?
- [51:01]
C
I don't think so. I think just the Saturdays. You're not a Thursday guy.
- [51:06]
B
I mean, I, I, I don't. You could play a hundred games on Thursday night at this point I wouldn't care because that's the night we do power rankings and it's just, it's busy. It's busy and, and kind of annoying no matter what. So it doesn't matter.
- [51:18]
C
How much do you guys do? Because I sit there and write my, when I'm writing the Monday rankings. I, I have been accused sometimes of, you know, you don't pay enough attention to the Pacific teams or whatever. And, you know, not this year because, for obvious reasons, but I, I gotta be honest, man. I. You can have the greatest story going if You've got a 9:30 Eastern game on a Sunday night, you're. You're not getting prime real estate. And I can only imagine for you guys if. Yeah. When they pack the stuff schedule on Thursdays, it's like whatever's written.
- [51:54]
B
Whatever's written is written. Well, we'll, we'll make, we'll make adjustments for like, for the placement maybe based on the result. But, but we're not.
- [52:02]
C
Anytime you're reading a. A power rankings and you see like this team's garbage, they stink. They're terrible. Although they did look good last night when they beat parenthetical.
- [52:12]
B
Like, although they, although they did beat, you know, the Wild six to six to three. On.
- [52:17]
C
If the, if the editors ever hang us out to dry and leave the hole. If they win, put this. If they not allowed, they win. Please put. They're an absolute unit and nobody can beat them. And if they lose, please put this paragraph about how they're a paper tiger and just, just figure it out.
- [52:35]
B
No, the, the, the main reason I ask is that we've had. We've had 15 game Thursdays. Right. But like, who. Nobody. Nobody wants that. Give us, give us 15 game Saturdays. It's the weekend. Come on. They can't easier to spread out the starts.
- [52:49]
C
Yeah. They can't do it early. Right. Because Saturday's college college football. And you know, even, even the last little while busier for March Madness and, and stuff like that, but now it's, Now's the time they take your shot. I don't know what the logic is between behind not doing the full 16 games. Maybe they just want to keep that as like a special thing that they. Yeah, I'm sure it is earlier in the year, but 15 games on a Saturday, they're. There's going to be a lot of Saturday mornings where you wake up thinking, you know, one thing about the playoff race and by Sunday morning it's going to look an awful lot different.
- [53:23]
D
And that's cool.
- [53:24]
B
I. Sean McIndew's Sean McIndew salute to
- [53:29]
C
the league office in the league schedule for the NHL. It's a weekly feature here where I pick something this league does. Right.
- [53:38]
B
Yeah. Coming up next week, goal interference calls starring just Justin Brazzo.
- [53:44]
C
Crystal clear. And the playoff format, kind of fun.
- [53:48]
B
We love it.
- [53:49]
C
And Also the best officiating in the world. Don't you forget it.
- [53:54]
B
Thank you, buddy.
- [53:55]
C
Make sure the check clears, Gary.
- [53:57]
B
Mm. You just send a. Send a briefcase of money for me.
- [54:01]
C
That's right.
- [54:02]
B
Not much of a check guy. Thank you, McAdoo. Thank you, Corrado. In Montreal somewhere. There are only two games tonight. There are not. Not 15.
- [54:12]
C
There's a game tonight.
- [54:13]
B
There is.
- [54:14]
C
Rangers Leafs. Does not. If you're watching Rangers Leafs and I get help.
- [54:19]
B
Yeah. So you'll be watching Rangers Leafs tonight.
- [54:21]
C
Yep. Oh, yeah. I'll be all over. Yeah.
- [54:23]
B
Boston and Buffalo. That's. That's the fun one.
- [54:26]
C
It's a good one.
- [54:27]
B
It's Boston Bruins. Bruins need to do some work. I feel like we didn't. We didn't talk about them much. In the mix of. Of Eastern Conference teams that.
- [54:36]
C
Losing. Losing to get their stuff together.
- [54:38]
B
How humiliating. How humiliating.
- [54:41]
C
Terrible.
- [54:42]
B
Could be. Couldn't be me. Thank you, buddy. Do you have any. Do you have a post going up today?
- [54:47]
C
I got a post up to date about. Well, about those very same Leafs. How to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs when they are not worth watching whatsoever. Because it's. The Maple Leafs have not played a stretch like this in 10 years where they have no playoff implications. Nothing to play for. This is new for some of these younger Leaf fans. So I found a grizzled, crusty, cranky old veteran in the mirror and he's got some tips for you on how to watch an absolute tire fire of a Maple Leafs season playoff.
- [55:24]
B
That's one that I'm going to read in midway through. I'm going to say, why am I. I. Why. Why am I reading this? Because I'm not going to watch the Toronto Maip Police. I like Macadoo's work that much. What can I say? Take it easy, bud.
- [55:38]
C
You too.
- [55:39]
B
Thank you, folks. That'll do it for us. We're back next week, the three of us. I am back tomorrow with Haley. Enjoy the game. Again, there's only just the one. Talk to you soon.
- [55:54]
A
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B
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