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- [00:01]
Frankie Corrado
Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
- [00:03]
Sean McIndoo
Right.
- [00:04]
Frankie Corrado
And the best part, they accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this. I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah. Huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby. Get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report. This is a Monday.com ad. The same Monday.com helping people worldwide, getting work done faster and better. The same Monday.com designed for every team and every industry. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one. The same Monday.com that your team will actually love using the samemonday.com with an easy and intuitive setup. Go to Monday.com and try it for free. Yes, the same Monday.com. hi, this is Matt from P1 with Matt and Tommy. And this episode is sponsored by ebay. The cars you'll find on ebay are just different. They come with a story that you can't wait to share. Like this 1973 Dodge Charger on ebay that has been tucked away in an Arizona barn for over 40 years. Only 55,000 miles and somehow, in great running order, even has a rare sunroof. Suddenly, a car that was hidden for decades is being delivered in just a few clicks with ebay's secure purchase. All the paperwork handled. There are thousands of cars on ebay,
- [01:33]
Sean McIndoo
from unique finds like the Pontiac Grand
- [01:35]
Frankie Corrado
Prix SJ to daily drivers. And now with a new way to buy them. Ebay things, people. This is the Athletic Hockey show.
- [02:11]
Sean McIndoo
What up?
- [02:11]
Frankie Corrado
It ups the Athletic Hockey show for February 25, 2026. Boys, my re. My resolution coming into the second part of the season is I'm going to stop saying the incorrect date at the top of the show. I'm going to go 100% down the stretch call. I will not get the day, date or year wrong, which I do them consistently.
- [02:33]
Sean McIndoo
I'll. I will call you out on that. There's no. And. And by the way, I'm not. I'm not going to catch you because I never pay attention to what date
- [02:39]
Frankie Corrado
you say you don't pay attention when I'm talking about anything like, whatever, it's fine. Why should you? Why should you? And why would you. NHL hockey's back tonight, fellas. I think we got 10 games. Is that right? We're going to get into that. We're going to try to reopen the Book on. On the season after. Geez Louise. However long it's been. 20 days or so without games. Oh, brother. And we're going to look back at the, at the Olympics. Frankie, we haven't talked since the gold medal game. Obviously we're going to get into that, but before we do that, we do need to recap the US men's trip to Washington D.C. for the State of the Union last night. 20 of the 25 players ended up going. 17 seem to be in attendance for Donald Trump's State of the Union last night. This is after an Oval Office session with them beforehand. Trump made the introduction about 12 minutes into the speech after declaring that the State of the Union was strong, of course, and then went into freelance mode. Introduce the team. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna read all of it, but he went into a whole thing about other countries winning again. We're winning so much, don't know what
- [03:53]
MacIntude
to do about it.
- [03:53]
Frankie Corrado
It's classic Trump stuff. Introduce them saying, you're gonna win again, you're gonna win big, you're gonna win bigger than. Bigger than ever. And to prove that point, to prove that point, here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud. The men's gold medal Olympic hockey team. And then they descended from the stairs in the back of the U.S. capitol and in the, in the House chambers and stood in the aisles and clapped
- [04:20]
MacIntude
for a little bit.
- [04:21]
Frankie Corrado
Everybody was complimentary. Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes were at the front of one of the groups. They were exhorting for more applause, which, you know, was funny to see. I said, I suppose. And then they were gone. My, my thoughts on that is that's about what we expected. I think Trump said it himself during the, during the little run up there, you know, to prove the point. Here with us tonight is a group of winners. He's trying to associate himself with winners. And he called a bunch of gold medalists out. They were happy to receive the invitation. And then off they went. Sean, Frankie, I know you guys are Canadians. I would if we. If you want to share the Canadians view on the way things went down last night, by all means, let me,
- [05:08]
Sean McIndoo
let me just share the married guy's view.
- [05:10]
Frankie Corrado
Yes, please.
- [05:10]
Sean McIndoo
Travels a little bit. Okay, so if you were just gone for, you know, whatever it was, 20 days, 19 days at the Olympics, and your poor wife was at home, wherever she is, maybe doesn't have any family help there, she's got a few kids at home, and you made that call, you're like, honey, I'm so, like, so happy we won. She's like, baby, I'm so proud of you. Get home. We all can't wait to see you. Hold on a second. Actually, we're going to fly to Miami. We're going to party at one of the best nightclubs in the world for a night. So I'm going to let my hair down a little bit and people, people
- [05:43]
Frankie Corrado
will be naked there.
- [05:44]
Sean McIndoo
I will be naked. And you know, the, like, you know, and then we're going to hop on a bird, military bird. We're going to go to D.C. we're going to hang with, with, you know, everyone there. We're going to do all that. So I'll be home a couple days later. And I think what the wife, who maybe has been drowning for three weeks, would say is, honey, no problem. When you get home, there'll be a nice flat stack of divorce papers waiting for you to sign. Just let me know when you want to come collect them. So that's, that's the married guy with young kids point of view.
- [06:18]
Frankie Corrado
I call that the Brock Nelson point of view.
- [06:20]
MacIntude
Yes.
- [06:20]
Sean McIndoo
Yeah.
- [06:20]
MacIntude
Brock Nelson had to get home to the kids and the grandkids and the great grandkids and huh.
- [06:27]
Frankie Corrado
He left his, he left his just, just for men at the, at the house and just couldn't live without it any longer.
- [06:32]
MacIntude
Y. I, My perspective on it was, I think that what happened last night, by all reports, because I sure didn't watch it.
- [06:42]
Frankie Corrado
Why not?
- [06:42]
MacIntude
I, I think, I think the. We avoided any of the worst case scenarios that we were worried about. Trump didn't do the 51st state bit. He didn't say anything extraordinarily stupid by his standards and then have the smash cut to miscellaneous NHL player clapping along or laughing or anything like that. So I think all things considered, it went about as well as it could have. The perspective I was interested in was the Canadian perspective, because putting political opinion aside, Donald Trump is an extraordinarily unpopular figure in Canada. This country has largely turned on Wayne Gretzky because of his association with Donald Trump. That, that is Wayne Gretzky, arguably the most popular Canadian of all time up until a few years ago. So if you think that we would never cast an angry glance at Jake Sanderson or, you know, whoever else, you're mistaken. It's, it's a tough situation, I think, for the five American Team USA players who play for Canadian teams. And we saw sort of a mix. Kyle Conner just bailed on the whole thing, got back to Winnipeg, said all the Right things I'm here to win, we're in a playoff race, et cetera, et cetera, which is what I thought all of them should be. You know, each, every one of those players is on a team that's not in the playoffs right now. I wasn't expecting anyone to make some grand political statement. I thought the thing to do would be to say, appreciate the invites, great honor, love my Team USA teammates, but I got to get back to work. I make millions and millions of dollars to help an NHL team in Canada get to the playoffs. We're not there yet, so that's my focus starting right now. And I think people in probably both countries would eat it up with a spoon, but only one of them really played that card, and that was Kyle Conner. Auston Matthews went to the White House event and then skipped the State of the Union. He gets back to his team in time that he can play tonight. That is a big one. I think anyone who missed a game for this stuff would have been rightly dragged for it. And then you had hit the other end of the spectrum. Connor Halibut not only there, but gets the, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is a very cool honor. Not a, you know, not a political one. This isn't, you know, they didn't make up the Donald Trump winner award and, and give it to him. They, they, they use something that had already been established and it's been used for other athletes. So that's, that's great. That's a cool honor for him. And then Sanderson and I mean, Brady Kachuka, I don't think anyone was expecting he was going to get a skip out on the thing. And the Senators don't play till tomorrow, so he had some extra time there. I think it was, the whole thing was a minefield. I think this could have gone a lot worse. I know that there's certainly a lot of Leaf fans who are not happy with Auston Matthews for having any part of it. I imagine it's the, it's, it's the same with Senators fans and, and maybe jets fans as well. But certainly the conversation we're having this morning, not as bad as it could have been. And that was part, that was why it was, I thought, bad judgment for these guys to go. Just don't put yourself in the situation where you can look ridiculous. And I, I guess we managed to avoid that. So yay. I spoke.
- [10:32]
Sean McIndoo
And the great news is NHL hockey is back. Like, I feel like people are so sick of this because this is all everyone's been talking about, right. Like, now we finally get NHL games back, we get to sink our teeth into it. Like, I don't know. Not that I don't want to, like, push it to the side, but I think there's a lot of people that are happy that, like, we're starting up now tonight and it's go time again, and it's like, wait a second, where's. Where's my team at? Who's healthy? Who's hurt? Like, all these. All these big questions for the last 25 or games or so coming up.
- [11:03]
Frankie Corrado
And I think that's why, you know, last night went for that purpose. If you're someone who wants to just try to move past the last. The, you know, the drama of the last couple days and make it out of this minefield, I think that. I think the last night went about as well as it could. Like, those guys. Those guys did. Those guys stood up and, you know, were praised and what. Whatever that means. Like, they. They got in and got out. The three players who were not seen at the speech, but were in D.C. were, of course, Matthews, Clayton Keller, Dylan Larkin. So they did get some kind of head start going back and rejoining. Rejoining their teams. The other element there. Yeah, as. Sean, you. You mentioned this was. Was Connor Helbuk getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which.
- [11:56]
MacIntude
It's a very.
- [11:56]
Frankie Corrado
It's a very funny list. And it is like, you know, it's politicized to some extent on both sides because you do see people who are, you know, aligned with, whether it's. Whether it was Biden or Obama or George W. Bush or. Or. Or Trump. Now, it is. It's a. It's a very. It's a very funny list. Like, one of the athletes that Trump gave the Medal of Freedom to during his first term was Roger Penske, who was. It was a NASCAR driver. He was like a. It was like a. A business owner now. So it is. It is.
- [12:23]
Sean McIndoo
It's pretty funny.
- [12:25]
MacIntude
That's. That's it.
- [12:27]
Frankie Corrado
Hella Buck is like, outside of Katie Ledecky, the swimmer who got it during Biden's. During Biden's term, Connor Hellback is like, very literally the only athlete, like, in his prime athlete to receive this. Like, it's been guys who've gotten it after they've retired, it's been guys who've gotten it for contributions, you know, other, like, larger contributions to society outside sport, like Jackie Robinson and what have you. But, you know, Tiger woods got it. He was, he's. This is late period Tiger Woods. We saw Magic Johnson get it during the Biden administration. Like, this typically does not go to a guy who's currently in the moment, the best in the world at his athletic job. So I think that is kind of. Kind of a funny twist here. Like, he is outside the normal realm of. Of. Of. Of Medal of Freedom recipients. I just want to know, does he. Does he wear it. Does he wear it during games? He gets painted onto his helmet.
- [13:23]
Sean McIndoo
Like, I have a feel what'll happen is anytime we fire up for a SportsCenter hit and maybe we have to, like, be a little harsh on the jets for some reason, it's like, there it is. Presidential Medal of Freedom, right? Like, and. And let's call a spade a spade, man. Like, they don't win that game without Connor Helbuk playing the way that he did that. Empty net or not like McKinnon. Empty net aside, sure. But part of that is McKinnon was probably spooked by how well the guy was playing, so he had to rush that shot, because if he takes that shot a million more times, he's scoring a million. He could take that shot for 24 hours in a row, and he won't miss it once. But he missed it on that one occasion. Why? Because the goalie was that good. So, you know, it is interesting if you look at the list of athletes, you know, even like, more recently, that I've won it, whether it's. It's Jordan, it's Kareem. You know, I think if you go back a little further. Yogi Berra.
- [14:20]
Frankie Corrado
Yeah.
- [14:21]
Sean McIndoo
Like, there's some crazy. It's such a, like, Trump name.
- [14:25]
Frankie Corrado
Gave it to Babe Ruth during. During his first. During the first administration. Because Babe Ruth. And it's.
- [14:30]
MacIntude
It's.
- [14:31]
Frankie Corrado
It's a. It's a very. It's a very, Very funny, like, all. All very accomplished people, but, like, the order in which they've gotten it has been. Has been very. Has been very funny.
- [14:41]
MacIntude
What do we think was in on that decision? Like, what does that look like where you're sitting around? Because I'm assuming it started with, we should give this award to somebody from the US Team. And then is it. You know, they're. They're looking at the. Okay. Jack Hughes scored the goal. Quinn Hughes led the team. It's. I'm just saying, I feel like Matthew Kachuk is kicking over tables. Right? He didn't get this one because, man, that is. He's.
- [15:08]
Frankie Corrado
He's. He's paid his dues. He's on the presidential Committee for, for physical fitness or whatever, whatever it is
- [15:14]
MacIntude
I'm calling it right now because I'm, I'm assuming there's some, there'll be some sort of ceremony for Connor Helibut to get this. The thing. And I don't know when that happens. I, I'm going to assume Matthew Kachuk finds a way to get in on that photo op. Like.
- [15:29]
Frankie Corrado
Yeah, something. Something tells me he'll find a way to do that too.
- [15:32]
MacIntude
Yeah,
- [15:35]
Frankie Corrado
yeah. Frankie, we, we. I, we haven't, we haven't talked really since the, since the conclusion of the gold medal game. Let's, let's talk about Hellobuck. Honestly, like, because I think that sort of speaks to how good Hellbuck was in, in the gold medal game. Was that, you know, an old guy watching it on TV was like, yeah, he's. This guy's. This guy's pretty good in, in his capacity. He gave him, you know, the second highest civilian, civilian award, an American receipt.
- [16:03]
Sean McIndoo
Like, I don't think you could sit there and say that the Americans truly, you know, dominated that game or, or outplayed Canada and they put together the perfect roster like that. I don't think you can say that, but what you can say is that, you know, the American team looked the way it was supposed to. And what I mean by that is there was no one player that was head and shoulders above everyone else. Like, they wanted to build a team where everyone sort of contributes and everyone slots into the right spot and at the end of the day, they win the game. Well, they did do that because they won and Connor Hellebuck was at the forefront of it. And if you look at it and you're like, was Matthews great? He was good. Especially early in the game. Was Jack Hughes great? Well, he scored the game winner, but it wasn't like he, you know, was, was rolling things over and dominant in that game, you know, so on and so forth. Eichel Kachuks like, go up and down the lineup. You're like, there's not even Quinn Hughes for that matter. It wasn't like it was their game or anything like that. It was the hell about game and the players all slotted incorrectly. And to be honest with you guys, I think I'm a Canadian, of course. Would love to see Canada win something like that. Would love to see Connor McDavid win something like that. This is good. Like, it's good that the Americans won. I'm sorry, you will not convince me otherwise. Because rivalries are built on both teams having successful rivalries are not built on. We just dominate you all the time, no matter what. It's not a rivalry at that point. And the Americans, quite honestly, were due to win one of these, right? Like, their program has developed so much. They lost in, you know, 2010, they lost in 2002. You know, they've. They've won. Not this year, but the prior two world juniors, they've won those. They've won the men's worlds. Last year, like this was coming. The Americans were going to win something like this, and now they did. And it's not like you have to have some big referendum on the state of hockey in Canada. You don't, because you probably win that game nine times out of 10. But it's great for the rivalry, man. Like, we're not. We're not sitting here in Canada just talking about, you know, it's our game and come knock us off. It's like, no, we. We. We got work to do here, because these guys can win in any kind of situation now. So I think is a good thing that they won.
- [18:25]
Frankie Corrado
MacIntude, do you agree? Do you also think this is a good thing?
- [18:30]
MacIntude
I'm not gonna say it's a good thing, but I will agree with Frankie's larger point that, yes, this is. At some point, it's not a rivalry when it's the same team winning over and over again. And in a sense, and now I'm talking purely from the hockey side, forget all the nonsense afterwards, this played out just about as well as it could have for the NHL, because first of all, you got an exciting game. You got the big dramatic moment that they could play over and over again. You got the iconic image Jack Hughes with the teeth knocked out, draped in the flag. And we'll see that a trillion times over the next few decades. And also from a Canadian perspective, you've got people chomping at the bit for another shot at it now because they feel like, hey, man, we had the best team, and, you know, it didn't play out. And look, I've seen people say, oh, they got goalie. Yeah, you got goalie by the best goalie in the world. And we all knew coming into this tournament and the last one, and that the goaltending edge for the Team USA was going to play, and it did this time. And. And the goalie's part of the team, so to say, well, we got goalie. This isn't, you know, this isn't some obscure guy coming outta nowhere, suddenly has 60 saves. This is the best in the world. Playing like the best in the world. But it's. You certainly don't.
- [19:56]
Frankie Corrado
There's like, there's like a desire, I feel like, to compare it to Elvis Merlin or, you know, it.
- [20:03]
MacIntude
It doesn't. It's. It.
- [20:05]
Frankie Corrado
Chris. Chris Goodlevskis. I mean, I had the. I had the wrong Lafian goalie or like ron Tugnut making 65 saves.
- [20:12]
MacIntude
This is dominant. That's not what this is 1998, if any. Yeah, and that was.
- [20:17]
Frankie Corrado
And.
- [20:18]
MacIntude
And has. I mean, that Czech team were more certainly more of underdogs going into the tournament than Team usa, but if anything, that's what it is. And, and not to spoil anything, but I've got a piece coming up in a couple of days where Jesse Granger and I are going to look at this and say, okay, coming out of the Olympics, let's reevaluate on Connor. Hell. But where does he now fit on the all time list or at least on the modern list? Like, because, you know, we, we've. There's sort of been that holy trinity of Wa. Hasek Brodeur. Is he starting to knock on that door now that he's got the gold to go with the mezzanas and the heart trophy and all of this? Doesn't have the cup, though. And, and you go on down the debate. But no, I mean, anybody who says, like to say, oh, it's, you know, it was just a goalie, that. That'd be like if Connor McDavid had a hat trick in Canada wins three to two. And, and Americans said, ah, we just. You had one guy had a, had a good game. One guy got hot for a game. Yeah, one guy. The best skater in the world. He's part of the team. He's the guy the whole team's built around. This is, this is who the Americans built their team around and the plan worked to perfection. Give them credit.
- [21:33]
Sean McIndoo
Yeah. And listen, I think, I think Bennington had himself a really good game. Like, he made a number of saves, I think of the one against Quinn Hughes in overtime. It's like that gives Canada a chance to win. And I'm not going to dissect the goal again because everyone's done it a million different times. But you know, you talk about Conor Hellebach and now he's got all these great accolades. The one thing, I guess if we're going to nitpick here, it's not a small thing though, like, can you steal a series in the playoffs at some point? Because all these guys that you're talking about, whether you know, let's go recently, right? If it's Bobrovsky or it's Vasilevsky, like, they've stolen series for teams and he stole a game. Mind you, it was a massive game. But, you know, at some point you need to steal a playoff series. That's what they do. Now, it's not going to define his career because he's done so much and has, has accomplished so much as an individual, but that's one thing I guess I would. I would nitpick for. And, you know, I totally agree with
- [22:29]
MacIntude
that, by the way, Frank, That's a
- [22:31]
Sean McIndoo
reasonable ask because guys do it. Guys simply do it. It's not like we're asking too much. And I think the other thing that if we're talking about this bigger picture, overarching hockey conversation, Canada is not entitled to win every single event playing hockey. We're just not. And it doesn't happen. And it's the same way that, you know, Sweden is not entitled to be a top three team just because they're Sweden and they're loaded with NHL stars. Like, I think Sweden would be having a conversation of saying, you know, our countries passing us, like, are we. Are we worse than we actually should be? Whereas Canada's having the conversation like, okay, clearly a lot of people are. A lot of countries are catching up to us. Like, I, I think you look at it from different countries point of view and you could see where their conversations are headed.
- [23:20]
MacIntude
Yeah. And look, I'm old enough to Remember in the 90s, Canada loses to Team USA in the 96 World cup in, in what was the first time TBSA had ever won a. Best on. Best first time anyone other than Canada or Russia had won one. And then they go to Nagano and. And they just bomb out there, don't even win a medal. And at that point, it really did feel like, is there, like, is this a game in crisis? Are we, you know, and we had, we had summits and stuff like that to really talk about, like, what is happening? Are we losing our grip? And that contributed to the overwhelming pressure in 2002 to go and win gold. And then of course, they finally did and it felt like the dam broke and everything was, was good again. And of course, the team barely, the program barely looked back from there. It doesn't feel like it's the same here. Certainly on the, on the men's side, even on the women's, you could look at this Olympics and say, okay, same result. Exact same result. Team USA beats Team Canada 2:1 in overtime. And yet given how that tournament went and given how the last year or so has gone, you're looking at that going, man. Is Team USA starting to pull away from Team Canada a little bit? And especially when you look at the youth on that roster and you look at, you know, how dominant they were, how tough they were to even score on, boy, you're sitting there going, man, this, this might be the start of a new era. I don't feel like it is that in the men's side. This is, as Frankie said, just a case of a team that was right there all along, was in one play, one shift, one shot away. On a few other occasions, they finally got that play before Canada got it. Okay, that's hockey. And it doesn't, you know, it doesn't create a crisis. It doesn't, it creates disappointment. And sometimes you need some disappointment to fuel the next chapter of the story.
- [25:20]
Frankie Corrado
And what happened to cause this crisis in 1998? It's lost to Dominic Hasek.
- [25:26]
MacIntude
Yes.
- [25:26]
Frankie Corrado
You know, like, like, like, I think there may be some lesson to learn there too.
- [25:31]
MacIntude
An extra time about, about overreact over
- [25:35]
Frankie Corrado
overreaction to one game losses to the best goalie on earth. Because it happened then and it happened now. And it doesn't need to mean anything other than the result in the moment.
- [25:45]
MacIntude
Right.
- [25:45]
Frankie Corrado
It doesn't need to lead to anything else that necessarily. I think that goes both ways. Like, if you're an American hockey fan, just enjoy this one. Don't worry about what about how things are set up for 20, 30 in the French Alps and blah, blah, blah, like it might not happen again. We, we, we know that you can go 20 years in between best on best tournament victories or 46 years between gold medals because it just happened. You never know. So enjoy it. Don't, don't make too much of it. And yeah, we'll see at the World Cup, I guess.
- [26:21]
MacIntude
And maybe what we need is somebody else to win in 28 or 30, even Sweden or Finland or somebody. And then we're really back to the mix of, man, this is anyone's game
- [26:32]
Sean McIndoo
and let's just be happy that it didn't end in a shootout at least 3 on 3 is, is, is a different sport than 5 on 5. Everyone knows what they were playing. Everyone had like plenty of lead up time to wrap their heads around it. And it's funny, if you watch the clips from that 98 shootout, you could just tell it's such a foreign thing for all those guys because all they did was skate as fast as they could in on Hasek. Like every guy was like the old thing where you got to generate speed on the breakaway, right? And they all did it. And meanwhile, now we see guys take 30 seconds from the time they touch the puck to the time that they shoot it. Almost just. It's a very different, very different thing. If you go back and watch those clips quickly.
- [27:13]
Frankie Corrado
Frankie, what kind of, what kind of three on three player was prime? Frankie Corrado.
- [27:18]
Sean McIndoo
Scared. Scared. Yeah. Yeah. Just like once I passed the threshold of like 25 seconds being like, I gotta find a way to get off because I don't want to be hemmed out for a minute and a half.
- [27:32]
Frankie Corrado
Then he could have just gotten double shifted and played for a minute and a half and whatever. That's how Canadians roll, apparently. Yeah.
- [27:37]
Sean McIndoo
I remember one time in Belleville. One time in Belleville we're playing against Grand Rapids and I tried to do. I saw like one of my forwards streaking, right? And I'm like, oh, I'm going to go bank job off the end boards and like try and get it to him. Icing coaches losing it on the bench. Troy, man, he's like afterwards goes, what the are you thinking out there? Bank job and three on three, get your ass off the ice.
- [28:07]
Frankie Corrado
Thank God Frankie's dudes and the not dudes of the Olympics are next. We'll be right back.
- [28:17]
D
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- [29:55]
Frankie Corrado
Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
- [29:58]
MacIntude
Right.
- [29:58]
Frankie Corrado
And the best part, they accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so. Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby. Get with the times. Right? So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report. Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com feel the sensation of an AI work platform so flexible and intuitive it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com start for free, and finally breathe. We're back. Smack and do Crowdo Gentili. We're picking through. We're picking the carcass of Olympic hockey because it's just that important. Even though it's February 25th. Frankie, pick some of your fellows from this one. These are the dudes.
- [30:58]
Sean McIndoo
Sean. I got dudes, and I got maybe guys that were not dudes. Like, maybe a little disappointing. You had a moment that you'd want back, but, you know, it's pretty obvious who the big boys were. But maybe I'll sort through them in order and let me know what you guys think. You want to start dudes or not? Dudes first.
- [31:17]
Frankie Corrado
Let's go, dudes.
- [31:19]
Sean McIndoo
All right, coming in at number five, I have packaged both Hughes brothers together at number five, Jack and Quinn. And Quinn was unbelievable. He wasn't there at the Four Nations. Jack was clearly not himself last year at the Four Nations. He got filtered down lower in that lineup. Didn't feel like he was a factor. And both these guys had overtime winners in big moments and kind of showed that, like, wait a second. When we're on this team, it's different and it's a big deal, and we came through in big moments. So I got the Hughes brothers at number five. At number four, I have my guy, Uri Slafkovsky, who Jaromir Jagger is now saying he reminds me of me. And that hopefully, is not just saying, the guy's got a big caboose and he sticks.
- [32:07]
Frankie Corrado
I was going to say is that is, that. Is that because of your high Slavkovsky's ass. Is it possible that that's why yaggers.
- [32:13]
Sean McIndoo
That is not just an aesthetic thing. That is because this guy has found something.
- [32:18]
Frankie Corrado
Like it's the meaning behind the caboose.
- [32:21]
Sean McIndoo
Exactly. It's how you use it. And, and I think we've seen this sort of percolating now this year where he's not just the guy that's going to retrieve the puck for the skill players. He's carrying it. He's. He's making the plays. He's driving a line from the wing. He's playing, playing with a little physicality, more than a little physicality. And he was the most important player for his team going into the tournament. He was the most important player for the success that they had. A team that on paper was outmatched so many different ways. And he was awesome. So he's at number four, at number three, Macklin Celebrini, who, if you don't know, now you know how good this kid truly is. Like, if you're up one night and you can't sleep, put on a San Jose sharks game at 10:30pm Eastern time because he'll be worth it. And I think what, what comes to the forefront of this is, you know, that's a team with a lot of superstars, a lot of older superstars. And he was maybe supposed to be just like a complimentary piece when it was all said and done. He was second in tournament in points. And it just wasn't about the points. It was about the way he got him there. It was the way he was stealing pucks off guys sticks is the way he was slippery getting away from checks. Like he was. He was awesome. And now everyone knows.
- [33:41]
Frankie Corrado
It's been so wild. And I know we don't need to relitigate Celebrini all the way because we've talked about him plenty. Whether it's three of us or wherever else. The last three months we've seen him go three months, four months, six months, however long, short amount of time we've seen him go from maybe makes the Olympic team to yeah, he's definitely going to be there. As if nothing else, you keep him along because he's. Because he can play on a bottom six and he's capable contributing there to like, no, he's definitely in the lineup every day to, oh, he's actually on the first. He's with McDavid to, oh, he is an active participant and looks completely, completely in place. You know, as one of the two or three best players in any game that he played. It's, it's incredible.
- [34:28]
MacIntude
Even, even a month ago, it felt like, yes, like he was sitting in the waiting room with a few other guys with Connor Bedard and a few other guys waiting to someday go join the McDavid McKinnon conversation. Yeah, like that's the Olympics starts and suddenly he was knocking at the door and now the door is wide open and he's in the room with those guys hanging his posters up and everything because he's, he's moved right on it.
- [34:54]
Frankie Corrado
That's, that's kind of, that's kind of what I mean. Like, like in November, December, you know, I, I, I had, I worked on a celebrity thing and I taught and I talked to a lot of people about it. And their stance on him back then was like, man, this kid is going to be a factor at the Olympics because his game ports down to the bottom six. It's going to be great to watch him play like he's, he's going to contribute there because he's that kind of player and he's complete and he, he can contribute in a bunch of different ways and he can do exactly what that team needs him to do. Like, people were excited about that. And then what we ended up getting from December to February, the leap that he made in that amount of time, whether it was just in perception or in the eyes of, of the coaching staff, where they were, you know, ready to give him those opportunities, is incredible. Like, there was already optimism about the guy, right then he starts on the first line and then levels up even from there. It's just, we can't, I still can't say enough about what we saw from him over the last few weeks.
- [35:53]
Sean McIndoo
It's, it's something, man. And you know what? In 2030, maybe we're talking about Celebrini being the best player on the team. Like, that's probably not a far fetched thing. He was already the second best player on the team right now. And I'll get to number two. I'm just going to say that I don't have Connor McDavid because Connor McDavid is in a different stratosphere right now. I'm talking about guys that like, maybe had a moment that like, you weren't expecting or just, you know, we know, we know what Connor McDavid is. He was the MVP of the tournament. He lost again. That's a whole bigger picture thing. So just keep that in mind. At number two, I have The Slovakian goaltender Halavi, who plays for the Iowa Wild and has some of the worst numbers in the American Hockey League. And if you looked at that, you said, they're screwed. They don't have anyone in that. And this kid, for whatever reason, was such a dude over there. Like, I can't imagine. Like, I don't know if he'll ever put together a run of hockey like that ever again. I hope he does. Like, I hope, you know, maybe scenery change, whatever. But, man, Slovakia doesn't get a fourth place finish without this guy. This guy was unbelievable. Like, I don't.
- [37:03]
MacIntude
Did.
- [37:04]
Sean McIndoo
Was he even registered anywhere on your radar?
- [37:07]
Frankie Corrado
No. That he was the reason not to. Well, not him necessarily, but you said it. Slovakia's reason goaltending was the reason not to believe in them. You're like, okay, there's, you know, they got his star in Slafkovsky. They've got some, you know, NHL players on the, on the back end. They've got the guys. They've got the, like, divorce keys and regendas and guys like. Like there were people in the mix. Right? But do you. At the start of the tournament, you're like, oh, don't. Mental goalie. And then Hawaii steps up. That. Sean, that's like the exact. That's the guy that we're talking about. If you lose, if the United States goes out and loses to Slovakia in the semifinals because Havi makes, you know, 38 saves and it ends up. And it ends up being a 21 game. That's the guy who you're like, oh, this sucks. We got.
- [37:56]
MacIntude
We.
- [37:56]
Frankie Corrado
We got goalied. It's like, maybe kind of unfair because he just, you know, had had the run of his life there, but, man, yeah, he is. That's what it's about. I think guys like that stepping up is. Is what makes tournaments like this so much fun.
- [38:09]
Sean McIndoo
And I think number one should be fairly obvious. But this. This person had a narrative surrounding him that he could never do it in the big game, like he could never do it in the playoffs. And he still needs to steal a playoff series. But we've talked about that already. It's Connor Hallebuck. Last year in the Four Nations, Jordan Bennington stared down the ice and he said, I'm better than you when the pressure's on. And this year, Connor Hallebuck said, I got it. I'm going to make the stick save. I'm going to make the two breakaway saves on McDavid and Celebrini. I'm going to make three or four saves. On a five on three for a minute and 11 seconds. And you got me last year. You're not going to get me this year. And that is dude esque. If I can ever think of anyone that was like, watch this.
- [38:58]
MacIntude
What? What a week. Gold medal, Presidential medal of freedom. And now the Frankie Corrado medal of Dudum.
- [39:06]
Sean McIndoo
Dudum.
- [39:07]
Frankie Corrado
Yeah.
- [39:08]
MacIntude
It's like every day brings a greater honor for this guy.
- [39:12]
Frankie Corrado
We should stand. Stand and applaud. Yes.
- [39:16]
MacIntude
Way to go.
- [39:17]
Frankie Corrado
Way to go, Conor.
- [39:18]
MacIntude
Again, Matthew Kachuk just kicking over a trash can right now.
- [39:21]
Frankie Corrado
Yeah. In their. In their sweaters. As as hella buck has the dude of the week metal hanger on his
- [39:27]
MacIntude
neck, kicking over the trash can that his brother lives in and just. Oh, nothing gets.
- [39:32]
Frankie Corrado
Nothing gets you to the top of a list like that than a win over Jordan Bennington, you know?
- [39:36]
Sean McIndoo
Well, especially with what happened last year. All right, I'll. I'll rifle through the top five. Call it like not dudes or not dude moments or disappointments, whatever you want to call it. But I have one observation coming off the dudes list. Let's rifle through this one first. Number five on not dudes. Canada's decor could have used a little more puck moving ability back there. Like, it was.
- [39:58]
Frankie Corrado
It was apparent you wanted Evan Bouchard on this team, Frank.
- [40:01]
MacIntude
Say it.
- [40:02]
Sean McIndoo
I will say that I never said to have Evan Bouchard on this team, but after watching some of the stuff that happened there on the right side of the ice, it couldn't have hurt them. I'm sorry. I will. I will gladly admit that having Bouchard there, having Matthew Schaefer or having Jacob Chickren. Take your pick. One of those guys or two of those guys helps that decor.
- [40:24]
MacIntude
You mean you didn't enjoy watching Colton Perego bomb shots from the point in the general vicinity of the net?
- [40:32]
Sean McIndoo
He did Cody CC justice for the shot in the bubble, Jim Houston, and he missed the net by a mile. All right, number four. I don't know if this is controversial. I don't know if it's a hot take, but when you miss a wide open net and then you are hesitant on the play, that becomes the game winner in a span of like 30 minutes of real time. It's not dude stuff, man. So Nathan McKinnon's number four. I know he had the big goal, but I don't know. It's. When that happens, it's fair. It's fair to critique that.
- [41:10]
Frankie Corrado
I. I'm glad you said it. I needed. I felt like I needed that I feel like I needed backed up. That was I in the moment after that game, after the gold medal game, that's in the immediate aftermath, I was like, I catastrophe for McKinnon. Like I like that. That more than more.
- [41:32]
MacIntude
Maybe not the tournament.
- [41:33]
Frankie Corrado
The game, the game, the game. Maybe more, maybe more than the United States just won a gold medal. The thing that was on my mind was, was the way McKinnon played. I could not believe it.
- [41:44]
Sean McIndoo
Yeah. And not only did that stuffy not make it home, I think you went into the trainer's room and you grabbed a knife or scissors and you stabbed the thing a million times. Like I think that stuffy, like just is, is it blown into a. It's gone.
- [41:59]
Frankie Corrado
I saw that, I saw that coming. When they did it after the, after the women's game, after the women's final and they, you know, double back and then make them take another. Like they haven't. They have the tray of medals and then go back for the tray of stuffies. I was like, someone, someone's getting caught on camera after the men's game. And if it's Canada, I think we all kind of knew who it was going to be.
- [42:20]
Sean McIndoo
All right, number three, three. The Florida guys for Team Canada. I think if you looked at that and you said, man, we got the guys that are like just gritty and scrappy and big game, big moment. Guys that are just going to wear you down. I kind of expected more from the Florida guys. Like that's Reinhardt got filtered down lower in the lineup. Sam Bennett took some ill advised penalties. Brad Marchand was clearly not 100% couldn't extremely hurt. I thought the Florida guys were a disappointment for Canada. Doesn't take away from their legacies and what they've done in the past, but in this tournament, I didn't think it was, I didn't think it was a factor for them. It was.
- [42:59]
Frankie Corrado
I think you could say something similar about Matthew Chuck on the US Side too. I don't think, I don't. I don't think he was much of a factor either.
- [43:05]
Sean McIndoo
Right.
- [43:05]
Frankie Corrado
A lot of, A lot of miles. A lot of miles on, on those tires, man. Like they, like they've played a lot of hockey over the last couple years.
- [43:11]
Sean McIndoo
Number two, officiating. I didn't like the officiating. I think there was some terrible non calls. If you want to. Don't be a factor in a game. Make the appropriate calls. Like, how do you not see that there's six players on the ice when Slovakia, four guys. You're telling me, didn't see Czechia go down the ice with, with six players and score a goal. And then it's not consequential in the gold medal game because a million other things happened that led to Canada losing, but it's the most clear as day, too many men on the ice penalty that's ever been presented itself, and you didn't make the call. Why?
- [43:43]
Frankie Corrado
I think that's fair.
- [43:44]
Sean McIndoo
Why didn't you make the call? Because you don't have the stones to do it. Because it was a big moment and you didn't have the stones to do it. I'm sorry.
- [43:51]
Frankie Corrado
I've never heard you come out against officiating this hard, dude.
- [43:54]
Sean McIndoo
Well, whatever.
- [43:55]
Frankie Corrado
I love it. I love it. You sound like, you sound like Macinto
- [43:58]
Sean McIndoo
today and my number one, not dude of the tournament, the Swedish head coach.
- [44:05]
MacIntude
Oh, yes, okay.
- [44:07]
Sean McIndoo
He did. Sam Hallam, or however you want to say his name, did a disservice to all the European coaches that are trying to get to the NHL and become head coaches. He torpedoed it all for them because he had no idea how to handle all those players, whether it was Rasmus Dalin or Philip Forsberg or Oliver Ekman Larsen. He set European coaches back a decade at least with the way that he handled those players.
- [44:36]
Frankie Corrado
Rasmus, Rasmus Dalian, too, said after, when he came back to Buffalo. I'm not, I, I'm not gonna try to quote him here, so I'm not gonna, I'm, I'm, I'm not gonna bother with that. But, like, he was basically like, yeah, I was, I was, I was fine during, during that elimination game, like, gotta ask the coach, like, why I didn't play that much, like, what, what is this dude doing? And he's a guy too. Over the last, however long, over the last six, six months or 12 months, very, very talkative guy. Has, has a lot, has a lot of media friends. Pops up frequently as, as, as a, a person who knows what he's doing. I, I think, and I saw plenty to the opposite that, to speak to the opposite over the last couple weeks. I love that, I love that pick, dude.
- [45:22]
MacIntude
That's, that's, that's a good one. I, I gotta throw this out here, Frankie, because I, I, I love all the picks. I agree with all of them. But you got me, you got me a little excited on the Dunes, and we all knew Hellebuck had to be there. But when you were talking about the guy who had the reputation, couldn't win the big one, I was starting to lean forward. I thought we were going to get the Auston Matthews. Do you think, was he close, Was he in the running to making the list? Because he, he led the team in scoring among forwards and he was a defensive demon in the gold medal game. And the Hughes brothers have told us that we're not allowed to say that Boston Matthews isn't a winner anymore. Number six on the dude list, top ten. Like, help me out.
- [46:10]
Sean McIndoo
Honestly, like, if, if, if I had an honorable mentions list, it would be like, Soros, it would be Leonardo Ginoni, who the Edmonton Oilers should be on the horn with and see if he can win a Stanley cup for them.
- [46:22]
Frankie Corrado
He's as old as I am, because
- [46:24]
Sean McIndoo
this guy has, like, a very decorated international goalie. The Matthews thing I find fascinating, right? Because if you think about captain of the team, face of the team, team wins a gold medal, generally, you're like, well, that guy must have been a huge factor, right? Like, he must have been a rock star. But he kind of fits what the USA was all about, where it was like, there's. There really didn't feel like there was one player that was that much better than anyone else. And maybe that's the key for Auston Matthews. Maybe this whole thing, Sean, of like, you know, there's three or four big guys at the top, and Matthews is going to be so overwhelmingly good.
- [47:02]
MacIntude
He's.
- [47:02]
Sean McIndoo
He's good. But maybe that's. This is the kind of situation that lends itself to Auston Matthews having success, and it's not been the case in Toronto. I thought he was good. You know, I didn't think that Auston Matthews performance per se, like, defined him winning and USA winning, if that makes sense. Like, you know what I'm trying to say. Like, he was good, but he wasn't that much better than. He wasn't better than the Hughes brothers, for me, wasn't better than Hellebok, but he was good there. It wasn't the Auston Matthews moment, wasn't the Austin Matthews performance that won it for them.
- [47:37]
MacIntude
That's it, right? I mean, you, you, you can't nitpick him. He did everything that they would ask him to do on both sides of the punt. You know, he. Especially in that gold medal game where he still, he had a point on the first goal, and it was probably the best defensive player maybe in the game, certainly had some big plays. But was there an Austin Matthews moment? Was there an Austin Matthews shift, An Austin Matthews game in this tournament? No. And, you know, if, if you're looking for somebody who isn't a goaltender to just put a team on his back and say, I'm going to be head and shoulders better than everyone. You're looking in the wrong place when it's Team USA or Team Canada or something like that, because there's just so much talent. And maybe that just means that you can't draw conclusions. But yeah, this, like, we're not going to look back on this team and go, this was the Austin Matthews team that won gold. Should we have expected that? Is that way too high a place to. With the bar? I don't know.
- [48:37]
Frankie Corrado
I.
- [48:38]
MacIntude
It's, you know, to take it back to the discussion we had in the first segment, I really feel like among Leaf fans, you looked at the way that tournament played out and it was like, all right, there's a little bit of redemption there. Everybody's been hammering. This guy hasn't been having a great season, certainly in the playoffs, and here he is, big spotlight. He had a very good tournament. And I think there were a lot of good feelings about Auston Matthews in the Toronto fan base, some of which were probably squandered by some of the decisions that happened in the aftermath of that game. But he was good. He was very good. He almost disappointed everybody. Because if you're in the narrative business, you didn't get the big moment where you could say, that's it, the script has been flipped. But also, if you're the sort of person who sits back and wants to blame Auston Matthews for everything that goes right or wrong, he didn't get anything close to that either.
- [49:33]
Sean McIndoo
Yeah, it was right in the middle. It was right in the middle. And I will say this man, seeing Austin Matthews smile after winning the gold medal, I'm like, that. That's a. That's a dude who's lost a lot, man.
- [49:45]
MacIntude
I didn't know he could do that.
- [49:46]
Sean McIndoo
He looked. I've never seen a smile on him, seriously. Like, not since he was an 18 year old kid, maybe. And he didn't even smile that much, scoring four goals in his NHL debut, like, this is. There would have been a lot of, like, mental and emotional pain this guy has gone through. He definitely cares. And the fact that he won, good for him. Like, I'm happy for him. And now, two years in a row, not to make it all about Toronto, but Mitch Marner. Mitch Marner won last year. Auston Matthews won this year. They can do it. They can win. Just for some reason, it never happened together.
- [50:23]
Frankie Corrado
You know, we got to do. We need to get Austin to just brush up on his three on three skills. He needs, he needs to spend the next four years developing those and maybe then he can score a goal in an elimination game and we can put him at the top of lists like this. I think that's, I think that's the key.
- [50:36]
Sean McIndoo
Yeah.
- [50:37]
Frankie Corrado
Frank, you're back to work this week, man. Where are you going?
- [50:39]
Sean McIndoo
It feels weird. Like I'm prepping my notes for a game like, what the. What the heck? Crazy, you know. So, yeah, I'm back in actually pretty good showdown tomorrow night. Habs, Islanders, Demidoff, Schaefer, Hudson, rookie of the year last year. Schaefer potentially could be two, you know, back to back years. Having defenseman rookie of the year. I think it's going to be pretty cool to see all three of those guys on the ice at the same time.
- [51:03]
MacIntude
And is this the first Islanders haves games since the no Dobson trade as well? Is this.
- [51:08]
Sean McIndoo
I believe this is the first time. I believe it is the first time both these two teams are playing and I don't know, for some reason, Habs and Islanders fans love to go at it.
- [51:18]
Frankie Corrado
I've seen that too. Yeah. It'll be fun, man. Glad we got NHL game to talk about. Like I said, who needs Olympic hockey when we can do Habs? Canadiens on a, on a Thursday night with Frankie. That's what it's all about. All right, boys. See you down the road, brother. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
- [51:42]
Sean McIndoo
Right?
- [51:42]
Frankie Corrado
And the best part, they accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh. Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby. Get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report. Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com. feel the sensation of an AI work platform so flexible and intuitive it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes, go to Monday.com, start for free and finally breathe.
- [52:24]
Sean McIndoo
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- [52:44]
Frankie Corrado
Savings versus comparable Verizon plans. Plus the cost of optional benefits plan features and taxes and fees vary. Savings with three plus lines Include third line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines. Qualifying credit required. All right. There goes Frankie. Sean McIndu, you're always at the top of my dude list.
- [53:04]
MacIntude
That's, that's sweet. Do I have to say it back now or is it all.
- [53:08]
Frankie Corrado
No, I love you. Say it back. What have we learned? It's been. It's been so long. What have we learned, Sean?
- [53:17]
MacIntude
It has been a long time. You know. You know what was a long time was. Do you remember the trade freeze right before the Olympics started and we had the Artemi Panarin blockbuster and there were a couple other moves and then I remember at the time going, you know what's going to be fun is when that freeze lifts in a couple of weeks, it's going to be like another trade. We're going to get out all this action. All these GMs have two or three weeks to do their incredibly difficult jobs and to really evaluate and to talk. I mean, they've got no games to watch. They got nothing to do other than hang out in the group chat and pull out some deals. And then midnight Sunday night comes and goes and nothing happens immediately. I guess these guys were all just watching the Games, I guess. Oh, no, wait.
- [54:12]
Frankie Corrado
You're dooming us here, by the way.
- [54:15]
MacIntude
Yeah, yeah.
- [54:17]
Frankie Corrado
What they were doing, we need like a couple hours of bumper time before, before the record drops.
- [54:23]
MacIntude
All I'm saying is they were kicking tires. They were what, Listening, but not shopping, I think is what they were doing. All this stuff that you do that these guys in their incredibly difficult jobs, I don't think people understand how complicated it is. I mean, yeah, in the NBA, you can pull off a weekend all day. The superstar looks grumpy in practice, so you pull up a four way trade with, you know that, that, that is done by lunchtime, right?
- [54:55]
Frankie Corrado
Trades are hard.
- [54:55]
MacIntude
No, but it's, it's hard to do this. And so they did next to nothing. Although, in fairness, we did eventually get a pretty decent size deal out of it. So one for, you know, I guess two for 32. Good job.
- [55:13]
Frankie Corrado
And as it relates to the trade you just alluded to, Sean, that's, this is, this is actually a bit of information I did, I, I did pick up. I, I learned something tangible here. It's from the great Bob Grove, who's a Penguins historian, who's, who's been part of the Pittsburgh media ecosystem for, for forever. No one knows more about the Pittsburgh Penguins. Grover's like one of my favorite favorite social media follows Just because he drops tidbits like this on the regular. And I saw this yesterday and it blew my mind. This is after Kyle Dubus and the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Sam Gerard in a second round pick from Colorado for Brett Kulak, which is a trade I'm sure Sean and I will discuss shortly. But I the. The way I want to frame this to you, Sean, I'll just read Bob's tweet here. Kyle Dubas on Sunday hits two years, nine months since being hired. The most trades made by a Penguins GM in his first two years and nine months on the job. And then there's a list. It's a list of six of six different Penguins GMs who, who've been in that.
- [56:21]
MacIntude
Who's.
- [56:21]
Frankie Corrado
Who've been in that chair for at least that long. How many trades do you think Kyle Dubas has made in the last two years and nine months?
- [56:30]
MacIntude
Oh, boy. I mean, he's a reasonably active guy. I will say 10 trades.
- [56:43]
Frankie Corrado
You are low. Okay,
- [56:48]
MacIntude
what's the answer?
- [56:50]
Frankie Corrado
41.
- [56:53]
MacIntude
Wow.
- [56:54]
Frankie Corrado
Across the board, if, if you include all trades of, you know, draft picks and picks and Minor Leaguers and whatever. 41 trades in less than three years on the job, how many in that time, in that amount of time span did Jim Rutherford make? Trader Jim, Nobody moves, Nobody moves players around like gm. Jr. Well, how many trades did he make in his first years?
- [57:20]
MacIntude
I'm assuming it would be higher the way you're framing it. I, I feel like I'm, I'm getting set up here, but I'll go 50 for, for good old Trader Jim.
- [57:31]
Frankie Corrado
20.
- [57:32]
MacIntude
Wow.
- [57:32]
Frankie Corrado
Kyle Dubas has made double the amount of trades as Jim Rutherford in the same amount of time after initially taking over the Pittsburgh job. That is mind bog. Like, we had a gym when, when I was, when I was covering the Penguins, yoi and I just had a Jim Rutherford trade tracker that we would update periodically just to keep track of everything. It was like, like an historical thing going all the way back. And the premise was just like, look at all this. Look at all the big deals, medium deals, small ones, like Trader Jim, always at it. Kyle Dubas has doubled him and he's also, by the way, at the helm of a team that is in playoff position, like fairly comfortably. We'll see, we'll see what happens there with Sidney Crosby's injury.
- [58:15]
MacIntude
Yeah, I was going to say, did anything happen in the Olympics that would change? Do we know what Crosby's injury is like?
- [58:22]
Frankie Corrado
Have they just found it out? Actually, did we. Producer DREFF dropping. Oh, look at this. Dropping news bombs in the dock.
- [58:30]
MacIntude
Okay.
- [58:31]
Frankie Corrado
Sidney Crosby will miss a minimum of four weeks with the lower body injury. So that sounds about right.
- [58:36]
MacIntude
Okay.
- [58:37]
Frankie Corrado
That looked like a four to six week injury when I, when you saw it, when you saw it play out, that looked like. We're not playing. We're not, we're not gonna, you know, pretend to be doctors here, but it looked like. It looked like a sprain of some sort.
- [58:48]
MacIntude
Tend to be a doctor. Do you. Do you think, especially now that we know that, you know, it was a serious injury, he's going to miss significant time? Do you think he was ever really a candidate to play? Or do you think that whole thing was a decoy, that he was never going to play? Or do you think he's such a psycho that he was legitimately going to go out there and try to Lindsey Bond the gold medal game?
- [59:14]
Frankie Corrado
I kind of think he was going to try to Lindsey Vaughn the gold medal game if he could have. And, you know, whatever.
- [59:19]
MacIntude
He.
- [59:20]
Frankie Corrado
He's a, he's the kind of person, this has been said plenty of times where like, a, he's a psycho who's going to try to play, but B, he's a reasonable enough human being where if he, he's not, he's not gonna lie. Like, he, like, I'm sure he. He understood the stakes and realized that if he was at 35, that it was a better move to have Sam bedded in there or, or whoever. But I, I don't, I don't doubt the sincerity of the attempt. At least you say, all right, this isn't gonna knock me out for a month. Can I play 11 minutes on it in a gold medal game? And I, I do, I do believe that he tried, but I'm also not remotely surprised at the outcome here. I think it's, It's. It's certainly closer to best case than worse for Pittsburgh, though, honestly, based on the way that injury looked initially like that was. You saw that off the bat, you're like, this is four to six months, six to eight months. And, you know, they have, I guess the upshot here, and this goes back to what the job that Dubas has done I is I think they have. This sounds crazy, but they have the cushion, based on their performance in the first chunk of the season, to make this stand up. Like, they have given themselves enough rope to at least potentially, theoretically, possibly be able to deal without Sid for, For the next month. Whether that happens is certainly up for debate, and I think there is a very real possibility that these guys come out and lose 11 or 14 and then, you know, whatever. But it's a testament to the job I think that dubious has done so far. And we haven't even talked about the trade yet. What'd you think? I thought it was crazy. Like I think I would have traded Sam Gerard for Brett Kulak straight up. I think they're similarly effective players even though they're not. Even though you know different player types. I think it makes more sense for the ABS than, than maybe we initially thought because they clearly were trying to clear up space about 2.5 million off the cap so they can go out and do something else. But just for. For it to be Gerard plus a second is. Is. Is. Is kind of crazy. That doesn't mean it's a bad trade for Colorado. I I and Myrtle said as much in his trade grade. I I which I totally agree with. Like I get why Colorado did it. I think Kulak fits what they're trying to do and he takes stuff off the cap. You know, it makes it possible for them to add elsewhere. But if you're Pittsburgh, this is a. A plus plus plus and it's. And it's similar to a lot of other things, honestly that Dubas has done on the job. You know, he's adding picks and amassing assets and you know, hasn't kind of completely gut the team to. To do it. It's impressive.
- [61:50]
MacIntude
What a gm. I wish my team had a guy I know.
- [61:52]
Frankie Corrado
I well, that's. That, that's. That's what I was gonna say. Do you ever wake up and think if only the Leafs had a guy who were so bold and so economical. Maybe someday.
- [62:03]
MacIntude
I feel like Brad True Living has thought about making a trade 41 times.
- [62:08]
Frankie Corrado
Are we sure about that?
- [62:10]
MacIntude
Two months or whatever. And that's close. It's a hard job.
- [62:13]
Frankie Corrado
Is he. Where did trades are hard come from? Is that.
- [62:18]
MacIntude
That's, that's GMs in general. That is the GM. And, and we might be the poster
- [62:23]
Frankie Corrado
boy for trades are hard though.
- [62:25]
MacIntude
We just bought it. Yeah.
- [62:26]
Frankie Corrado
Oh.
- [62:26]
MacIntude
I mean yeah, we would have traded this third liner for fourth round pick but we only. We only started thinking about it in November and that's just not like. Sean, I don't know if you realize this, but there's. There's this thing in the NHL called the salary cap.
- [62:39]
Frankie Corrado
What? What?
- [62:41]
MacIntude
Just. It's so tough. These guys.
- [62:45]
Frankie Corrado
What game are you going to watch tonight?
- [62:48]
MacIntude
I'm going to watch the Leafs and the Lightning.
- [62:51]
Frankie Corrado
Oh yeah, right.
- [62:52]
MacIntude
I forgot the whole. And I'm going to watch Brandon Hagel probably score four goals and I'm going to scream at my TV about where was that a few things ago.
- [63:04]
Frankie Corrado
Maybe they should have put Brandon Hagel out there for three on three.
- [63:07]
MacIntude
Could Couldn't have gone any worse.
- [63:11]
Frankie Corrado
I guess I'll watch. I guess I'll watch the Kings pairing if. If I'm up that late. Since no since obviously as we. As we both know no east coast sports writers ever stay up to watch Western Conference.
- [63:23]
MacIntude
No.
- [63:24]
Frankie Corrado
Simply does not happen. No King's Gold Knights.
- [63:27]
MacIntude
Watch it in the morning TiVo. All right. That was an old right. As soon as I said it.
- [63:31]
Frankie Corrado
Christ.
- [63:32]
MacIntude
As soon as I said it I said that's oh, that's way too old a reference. But my good buddy SG won't call me on it. So it's okay. Just.
- [63:40]
Frankie Corrado
I think. I think we're pretty. I. I think we're pretty diplomatic over that stuff.
- [63:45]
MacIntude
Dude. At my age, you're lucky I didn't tell you to pop it tape in the VCR.
- [63:51]
Frankie Corrado
40 I'm figure out how to.
- [63:53]
MacIntude
Nobody ever figured that out, by the way. Nuts.
- [63:56]
Frankie Corrado
40 now, man. I'm catching up to you. It's fine. Yeah. I. I'll do. I'll do Panarin. It's Kings versus Golden Knights. Pan's making his. His debut in la. That's an interesting one. They're going to need more from him than they thought because Kevin Fiala is out for God knows how long. Thank you. Olympics. That could do. What's. What else is up for you. For you this week?
- [64:20]
MacIntude
I you know, I. I teased it already but Jesse and I are going to try to figure out where does Connor Helbuk rank in the modern era right now? Is he knocking on the door of the Holy Trinity? Is he, you know, nudging Ken Dryden aside? Did we. Is he already past the Grant Fears and Eddie Belfors of the world? It's. We're gonna. We're gonna go back and forth. I don't know if it's gonna be a debate. We'll find out. I think. I'm sure Jesse will. Will rank him highly because Jesse loves all his goal.
- [64:56]
Frankie Corrado
Oh man so much.
- [64:57]
MacIntude
And I'm gonna force him to rank them a little bit which is like forcing a parent to rank their kids in the sense that they don't want to do it. But secretly they do have a ranking RA ready to go. You just got to get it out.
- [65:10]
Frankie Corrado
I got to do that. Immediate post game with Jesse after the Gold medal game. It was. I.
- [65:15]
MacIntude
It was.
- [65:16]
Frankie Corrado
It was like watching someone talk about
- [65:17]
MacIntude
their child just glowing. So much pride.
- [65:22]
Frankie Corrado
Child, grandchild, beloved beloved niece, nephew perhaps, whatever, whoever you love the most. I think is what is what Jesse looked like talking about Connor Helenbach. So yeah, I that'll be interesting. It's an. It's another another honor for Connor Hallebuck to add to to the to the
- [65:38]
MacIntude
list as we factor a Presidential Medal of Freedom and being the number one dude.
- [65:44]
Frankie Corrado
I I know I was. I was talking primarily about about number one dude and then who knows where he lands on a, on a list made by Sean McAdoo and Jesse Granger. No, there truly is no higher honor for an American civilian than either of those things. All right, buddy. Thank you. I'll talk next week. Frank, you'll be back. Thank God. We thank him. We thank producer Jeff. I'm back Thursday with SG1, Shayna Goldman and Mike Russo, and who knows who else. Enjoy the return of NHL hockey tonight, folks. Eight games. We're back. We'll be back next week. Thanks for listening. After the rush of the holidays, what you really want is your space back. Pura is a smart home fragrance system designed to help you feel calm, grounded and at ease without adding one more
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