Is Habs-Lightning the best series of the first round?

Summary

The Athletic Hockey Show – April 22, 2026

Main Topic: Is Habs-Lightning the Best Series of the First Round?
Hosts: Sean Gentili and Sean McIndoo
Special Guest: Josh Yohe

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the first round of the NHL playoffs, focusing on the electric Montreal Canadiens vs Tampa Bay Lightning series. The hosts break down why it's been the most exciting, analyze key turning points, discuss major controversies (including a “fake five-minute major”), and expand the lens to the rest of the playoff landscape. Special guest Josh Yohe joins to dissect the shockingly one-sided Penguins-Flyers matchup. The episode is packed with sharp insights, candid humor, and highly specific hockey nerdery.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Habs vs Lightning: The Best Series of the Playoffs?

[02:31–13:24]

• Wild, Evenly-Matched Series: Tampa Bay ties the series 1–1 with a 3-2 OT win; Kucherov ties it late, JJ Moser nets the OT winner.
• Intense Playoff Atmosphere: “Two overtime games, some great individual play, lots and lots of bad blood, a little bit of controversy...I hope this one goes seven. I hope they go to overtime every single night. I hope they hate each other more and more with every game that goes by.” – Sean Gentili [04:10]
• Montreal’s Grit: The Canadiens, despite being underdogs, have matched Tampa’s intensity and physicality. “Montreal has stood toe to toe...There hasn't been, if, you know, the Habs were in the playoffs last year, but it was sort of dipping their toe into it. This is almost their first time on the really big stage of a winnable series. ... Montreal’s right in the mix here.” – Sean Gentili [05:45]
• Playoff Mind Games: The emotional rollercoaster—Tampa snatching Game 2 late leaves Habs fans (and hosts) overreacting; flipping the order would’ve made Montreal feel in control.
• Unexpected Heroes & Physical Play:
  • Josh Anderson emerges as a difference-maker: “Still can skate, still pounds the bejesus out of people and is still capable of, you know, pumping in a goal every now and then.” – McIndoo [08:57]
  • The series is nasty; both teams are pushing the limits physically, with Montreal handling Tampa’s trademark intimidating style surprisingly well.
• Penalty Controversy (“Fake Five-Minute Major”):
  • The late hit on Anderson by Scott Sabourin initially called five, reviewed, then downgraded—a common trend.
  • “These fake five minute majors that we see so often...I just assume it’s going to get pulled back...just cut the sideshow, cut the bs." – McIndoo [12:11]
  • The hosts question whether replays actually benefit the integrity of game management.

Memorable Quote:

"It’s been a nasty, nasty series. But I think if you’d told me going in that there'd be as many penalties and scrums and fights as there have been, I'd say, okay, well, that's playing to Tampa's advantage. And it doesn’t really feel that way." – Sean Gentili [10:45]

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2. Playoff Officiating & Replay Frustrations

[11:27–17:35]

• NHL's approach to reviewing and downgrading major penalties is viewed as disingenuous—refs “love” to review calls despite defending their integrity when challenged.
• Expanded vs. limited replay review: hosts note chaos in recent reviews (referencing the confusion in Carolina’s game) and caution against a baseball-style system in hockey.
• “Ain’t happening. ... You think if we just do replay review, all the calls are gonna be good, and everything’s going to work? … Come on. Ain’t happening.” – Sean Gentili [17:19]

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3. Other Notable Series Recaps & Insights

Bruins vs Sabres

[17:35–20:50]

• Boston bounces back with a dominant Game 2 (4–2), featuring a fluke center-ice goal by Morgan Geekie (“an all-time blooper”).
• The Sabres have work to do: Boston “have dominated 110 minutes out of 120" so far – Gentili [19:28]

Utah vs Vegas

[20:50–22:59]

• Utah ties series 1-1, fueled by local sensation Logan Cooley.
• The Golden Knights look “slow” compared to Utah; this underdog is leveraging speed and momentum headed into their home debut.

Avalanche vs Kings

[22:59–24:45]

• Colorado wins a second late/OT game; Kings can’t capitalize, but have given the Avs more trouble than expected.
• “That game is just proof that a late goal and any kind of overtime action is, is enough to make a game interesting…” – McIndoo [24:21]

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4. Penguins vs Flyers: Postmortem with Josh Yohe

[28:19–39:44]

• Philly in Control: Flyers up 2–0, looking dominant. “It’s not even anger. They’re just curling into a ball like, ‘Oh no, this is the team we were supposed to be all season…’” – Yohe [29:43]
• Penguins’ Complete Futility:
  • Power play disaster—0/5, 2 shots on goal, gave up a shorthanded goal and a 2-on-0.
  • Anthony Mantha, team’s top scorer, has zero shots in 2 games.
  • “If you look at the power play…all these hall of famers…over five, two shots on goal for the whole power play in game two. Gave up a pathetic shorthanded goal. … Stunning to see.” – Yohe [33:42]
• Disciplined Flyers:
  • “They’re not even trying to score. They are just sitting back and waiting until the Penguins do something stupid, which is happening about every 30 seconds.” – Yohe [31:52]
• Crosby’s Invisible Series:
  • Speculation about age/injury as cause for his poor form.
  • “He just hasn’t looked close to himself in these first two games, to the point that it’s, I think, been a little alarming.” – Yohe [37:33]
• Uncertain Future:
  • Big-picture implications for the Penguins core and GM Dubas if the team collapses swiftly.
  • “They need a track meet. Even though they’re old, like, that’s when this particular team scores.” – Yohe [35:45]

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5. Rapid Preview & Big Questions for Tonight’s Games

[40:06–51:33]

Ducks vs Oilers:

• Anaheim had their shot in Game 1 but Oilers’ stars likely bust out in Game 2.
• “That was a chance [Anaheim] frittered away ... you can’t get away with that too many times against the Oilers.” – McIndoo [43:14]

Stars vs Wild:

• Ottinger’s struggles in net become a subplot.
• Debate over Dallas/Minnesota playoff format fairness.
• “Goalies are…all huge weirdos to start with…if a goalie believes [they can’t win big games] one way or another, then it becomes self-fulfilling.” – Gentili [46:19]
• Both hosts agree: playoff format gripes are overblown—you have to beat good teams to win the Cup.

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6. Quirky Stories & Offbeat Hockey Trivia

[53:36–57:03]

• Imperial, Saskatchewan Connection: Oilers coach Chris Knobloch and goalie Connor Ingram both hail from the same tiny Canadian town (pop. 372).

  • "The fact that a coach and a goaltender end up with the same franchise from a town like that... mind-boggling." – McIndoo [54:29]
  • Picturing the Stanley Cup parade through three streets and a photo on the water tower.

• What would you do with your day with the Stanley Cup?

  • Gentili: Ball hockey game with eligibility for touching the Cup at stake.
  • McIndoo: Just put the Cup in his living room and play PS5.

• New Jersey Devils' New GM Sonny Mehta:

  • Shared nerdy nostalgia about 90s starter jackets.
  • Surprise: Mehta is co-author of poker books Gentili read “back in the day”—a real poker and analytics mind in a major front-office role.

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “This is phenomenal. I'm loving it.” – Gentili on Habs-Lightning [04:10]
• “This is almost their first time on the really big stage of a winnable series. ... Montreal’s right in the mix here.” – Gentili [05:45]
• "He still can skate, still pounds the bejesus out of people and is still capable of pumping in a goal every now and then." – McIndoo on Josh Anderson [08:57]
• “These fake five minute majors that we see so often...cut the sideshow, cut the bs.” – McIndoo [12:11]
• “They're not even trying to score. They are just sitting back and waiting until the Penguins do something stupid, which is happening about every 30 seconds.” – Yohe on Flyers’ defensive posture [31:52]
• “He just hasn’t looked close to himself in these first two games, to the point that it’s, I think, been a little alarming.” – Yohe on Sidney Crosby [37:33]
• "Goalies are…all huge weirdos to start with…if a goalie believes [they can't do it in big games], then it becomes self-fulfilling." – Gentili [46:19]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:31] Habs-Lightning Series Overview
• [04:10] "Best series of the playoffs"
• [08:55] Josh Anderson playoff impact
• [11:27] Fake 5-minute major: penalty review rant
• [17:35] Bruins-Sabres and the Morgan Geekie goal
• [20:50] Utah-Vegas recap
• [22:59] Avs-Kings OT finish
• [28:19] Penguins-Flyers misery with Josh Yohe
• [31:52] Flyers' trap and Penguins' futility
• [37:33] Crosby assessment
• [40:06] Rapid preview: Ducks-Oilers, Stars-Wild
• [46:19] The psychology of NHL goalies
• [53:36] Imperial, Saskatchewan hockey trivia
• [57:14] Devils’ new GM poker backstory

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Podcast Tone & Style

• Wry, insider humor (self-aware, critical, packed with hockey nerdery)
• Conversational banter that leans into overreactions, emotional swings, and playoff clichés—while often undercutting them
• Stat- and narrative-driven analysis, always referencing the latest games and playoff results

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Summary

If you want a whip-smart, entertaining, and highly informed breakdown of the current state of the 2026 NHL playoffs—especially exactly what makes Canadiens vs. Lightning must-watch mayhem—this is your episode. Each series’ major themes are dissected, controversial calls are mocked, and the pain and drama of fandom are always front and center. The hosts’ lived experience and humor keep things loose even when the playoff tension is sky-high. Stay for the hot takes on referees, stay for the jokes about small-town Saskatchewan, and leave with a much greater sense of where each major first-round matchup stands.

Transcript

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by Grainger for the ones who get it done. This is the athletic hockey show.

[Sean McIndoo]

What up?

[Sean Gentili]

What up?

[Sean McIndoo]

It's the Athletic Hockey show for April 22, 2017. I am Sean Gentili. I am in Edmonton. I am joined by Sean McIndo as always, who is at home. Frankie Corrado is watching U18 somewhere. I'm not sure, not sure, not sure what he's doing. McAdoo have you been showered with glass lately?

[Sean Gentili]

I have not. No, not yet.

[Sean McIndoo]

Have you ever in your life been showered with glass?

[Sean Gentili]

I don't think I have, actually. I've. I've seen Easy Life. I've seen some glass break. I've. I've been party to it, but I don't think I've been showered by it.

[Sean McIndoo]

That was the headline on, on the thing Peter Barr, about T.J. smith last night. That's what that was a, A highlight from ABS Kings. I read that this morning and I had missed that that actually happened. So I saw. I showered with glass and was immediately very concerned for D.J. smith. That was. That might have been the highlight of ABS Kings. Probably not. We'll talk about that later. We need to start with the game last night. It's habs. It's Lightning McIntyre. I know you're particularly taken with this one. It was Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 2. Nikita Kutrov ties it with seven minutes left or so, then JJ Moser wins it in overtime. I think we anticipated we could have guessed a guy that was going to tie it. I'm not sure we had money on the guy who ended up winning it. And that series is tied at one.

[Sean Gentili]

And it's been the best series of the playoffs so far, which I don't think is a shock. I think most of us, if we were going to rank them going in, probably would have had Dallas, Minnesota, as, as the big one. But this one was right up there and it's delivered everything you could want and more. Two overtime games, some great individual play, lots and lots of bad blood, a little bit of controversy here and there. This is great stuff. And, you know, it's. It was fantastic for two games in Tampa and now we get to go to Montreal and drop it into the Bell center and. But it's. It's going to be something. I, I hope this one goes seven. I hope they go to overtime every single night. I hope they hate each other more and more with every game that goes by. This is phenomenal. I'm loving it.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's hard not to. I'm trying not to overreact. That loss from, from a Montreal stand standpoint, if you would have told them at the start of the series that you'd be tied one one and have whatever a lead with seven minutes left in, in game two, I'm sure they would have taken it at the start of it, but I'm an overreactive person by nature, so I, I'm. I'm fighting it. That, that felt. That felt tough for them. Am I wrong? Am I Overreacting. I don't know.

[Sean Gentili]

I mean, it, it. This is the nature of the playoffs, right? Because if you take game one and two and you just flip them, keep everything that happened exactly the same, just flip the order, then Montreal feels great coming home. One, one. You know, they certainly. I, I don't think anyone looked at this series and said Montreal is going to have a tough time hanging with the Lightning. I think a lot of people pick the Lightning to win and, and they've got that sort of. That winning pedigree, whatever you want to call it, they've. They've been here before. But I don't, I don't think anybody looked at this and went, oh, Tampa's going to blow them off the ice. But if you did think that, you don't think it anymore. I mean, Montreal has stood toe to toe with these guys. There hasn't been, if, you know, the Habs were in the playoffs last year, but it was sort of dipping their toe into it. And this is almost their first time on the really big stage of a winnable series. And sometimes maybe you worry the moment's going to be too big for a team. It hasn't been. You know, Montreal's right in the mix here. And you're, you're right. I mean, the, the way that it did play out, they win game one, they've got the lead, and you're sitting there going, geez, two nothing lead going back to Montreal. I mean, this is it. The series isn't over at that point. Yeah, but that's. And so you, you kind of get left feeling like, what a missed opportunity. But it's the same thing from Tampa's perspective, right? They get a goal in game one, and game two plays out the same way. They're up to nothing. This is the right result. Now Montreal's got home ice. I feel like they still feel pretty good, even though they are probably playing a bit of that. What if. In their heads, if that had just played out a little differently.

[Sean McIndoo]

I wish I would had the courage to pick the Canadians ahead of this one. I didn't. I didn't have the guts. It was like my. I felt like my heart was saying to pick them, but my head is. My head is garbage. And it convinced me not to. And I feel. I feel foolish now. I. I figured it'd be stupid.

[Sean Gentili]

Heads are just.

[Sean McIndoo]

Damn you. Damn you head. I was with a co worker last. I was with a colleague last night who was talking about Josh Anderson like he was 500 years old. And I, I he's 31. Josh Anderson scored his second goal of the series last night. He's. He's looked great. Not only was he not the Canadiens old guy without a cup representative, that was Brennan Gallagher. Josh Anderson, not even. Not even a valid choice. Not even eligible. He's. He's only 30. He's only 31 years old. And you limit it to You. You limited it to 33. But it is fun to see guys like him. I don't want to turn every discussion of every series into, like, this is what the playoffs is all about, because that's. That's corny. But. But, like, to some extent, seeing someone like Josh Anderson step up and play at a thousand miles an hour, like he's, you know, still playing for Columbus or whatever, is. That is kind of what the playoffs is all about.

[Sean Gentili]

And like, oh, yeah, right.

[Sean McIndoo]

Josh Anderson still. Still can skate and still. Still pounds the bejesus out of people and is still capable of, you know, pumping in a goal of it every now and then. It was. It was fun to watch.

[Sean Gentili]

And he's that classic guy where, you know, the Habs went out and got him years ago now, gave him a great big contract. Everybody kind of looked at it and went, okay, okay, sure about this one. And it was like, wow, but just wait for the playoffs. And every year, I get tricked. Every year, you know, Montreal will come in to play the Leafs late in the season, and you see Josh Anderson, you're like, how's he doing this year? And you're like, oh, he's got 20 points. Great job, Great, great, great management there. And then the playoffs comes around, and it's a war, and he's. He's. The guy scores.

[Sean McIndoo]

He wanted. He wanted Tom Wilson in that series last year so bad. So bad. And it didn't really work out for him, so it's.

[Sean Gentili]

And it became, you know, probably too bad, right? Like, yeah, it sort of became a bit of a sideshow. And now, you know, maybe that's a little bit of learning process. Not that, you know, it wasn't like Josh Anderson had never been in the playoffs before, but maybe just as a team like you. You look at this and, you know, Tampa. It's funny, I feel like for the last couple years, we have rightly and correctly all focused on the Florida Panthers as the. To. To be charitable, the team that plays on a. On the edge plays right up to the line. Realistically, they're just dirty as hell. And. And. And they get away with it. Yeah, and they get away with it. But now that they're not in the playoffs, it's sort of like, oh, right, Tampa was right behind them. In fact, they almost, the Panthers almost learned how to play that way from the rivalry with Tampa Bay. So they're throwing everything they can at these Habs, and so far Montreal's been able to deal with it. I mean, we saw Slafkovsky drop the gloves last night. Yeah, maybe not the best idea, but that, you know, that sends a message too, to the team, to everyone. Like, none of us are backing down. We're all in this together. And it's been, it's been a nasty, nasty series. But I, I think if you had told me going in that there'd be as many penalties and scrums and fights as there have been, I'd say, okay, well, that's playing to Tampa's advantage. And it doesn't really feel that way.

[Sean McIndoo]

It doesn't feel that way.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah. Like Montreal's been able to handle it. What did you think, speaking of Josh Anderson, of the, the hit at the end of regulation, the Nick Sabrin hits him from behind, gets five minutes.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah.

[Sean Gentili]

One of those fake five minute majors that we, we see so often these days so that the referees can go and look at it.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah.

[Sean Gentili]

And apparently whatever they saw convinced them it wasn't five minutes. I guess he should have. Like, I, I don't, I don't know what five minutes for hitting looks like,

[Sean McIndoo]

but yeah, I, I, I'm like, I, I'm at the point now you kind of, you kind of alluded to this. I'm at the point now where when you see a five minute penalty, I just assume it's going to get pulled. Pulled back.

[Sean Gentili]

Yes.

[Sean McIndoo]

Like, regardless, regardless of how, of how bad a hit it was. It was or wasn't. Like, I call five need to, we need to spend August going through, going through these calls and seeing which ones actually end up resulting in a dude being in the box for five minutes, let alone like, you, you, you knew that. What is the playoffs? Like? You're, you're, like, you're not going to, you're, you're not. And it's, and it's, it's at the end of regulation, you're not going to put someone in the box for five. Like, we're like, just cut the, cut the sideshow, cut the bs. Like, you're, you're not serious about this. So, so stop the dog and pony show, you know, replay stuff and it ain't happening.

[Sean Gentili]

What were they expecting to see? Because it's, it's it's a hip. Or if people didn't see it, it was a hit from behind open ice. And Scott Sabrin, not Nick. Sorry to, to, to him. Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

Apologies to the entire Sabrin family. Apologies to Danny Sabrin. All of them.

[Sean Gentili]

All of them. The whole, the whole, the whole family. As I do the Auston Matthews checking the back of his jersey thing to, to get the name right. I mean, that is, that's a five minute penalty.

[Josh Yoey]

Yeah.

[Sean Gentili]

And I don't know what they were looking to see on the replay. You know, just see if he pulled out like a barbed wire baseball bat or something. And just like he actually had his,

[Sean McIndoo]

he actually had a switchblade in his skate that he pulled out. Oops. We didn't, we didn't, we didn't realize that at first.

[Sean Gentili]

Now, I mean, part of what they may have seen is the fact that Josh Anderson gets absolutely drilled from behind, manages to look up and gesture at the referee before realizing that he's hurt, and then curls up in a ball on the ice and, you know, is. Misses the rest of regulation, but miraculously recovers in time for overtime.

[Sean McIndoo]

Interesting. It's interesting how that works.

[Sean Gentili]

I will tell you what shocked me about that whole scenario was that overtime rolls around and Sabrin is, is back on the ice. Yeah, I looked at that and I said, that's his last shift of the game. We might not see him again.

[Sean McIndoo]

We might never see him again.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, because that's exactly. I mean, if you're going to have. And yeah, depth matters in the playoffs and everything, but you have to, you want to have a fourth line, those third and fourth lines that you can send out there, but you got to trust them. And to throw a hit like that with six minutes or whatever it is left in a tie game is in, in, in the most.

[Sean McIndoo]

The kind of, it's the, it's the kind of stuff that gets guys lost on the bench and then.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, yeah, I mean, you just, you lose the trust of the coach, you know, and if I can't put you out in a close game, in a series where the games are close all the time, what's the point of even having a lineup? But he was out there taking a regular shift. It's wild in overtime. But. Yeah, that was a, that was a nasty one. And these. Yeah, we need to come up with a term for these fake five minute reviews.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah, it's a fake. It's a fake. It's a fake review.

[Sean Gentili]

And it's, it's fascinating to Me, because anytime anyone ever raises the idea of like penalty replay review, which is a terrible idea for the record, but whenever they do it, the referees association gets their backup and goes, no, no, no, absolutely. And yet referees sure do seem to love reviewing, looking at replays of penalties because they choose to do it.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah, I, I think we're, we're. I feel like we're in a weird. There's like a dead cat bounce going on with replay where people are trying to incorporate it more again because of how well the ABS system has worked in baseball. Like people like actually replay can be good. Well in.

[Sean Gentili]

And then we had Monday, Monday night

[Sean McIndoo]

in Carolina, which I was covering the oil. I was in the. That was, that happened as I was covering a hockey game and it was like I've never been more confused about anything that's take about because like I had to follow it completely through, through Twitter. I wasn't, I wasn't watching the game. I've never had less of an idea about what's gone. About what's been going on in hockey game than that. You. I was, I almost, I almost called you and asked like what the hell happened? Because it was impossible to track.

[Sean Gentili]

I would not have been able to help you because watching it live, I also had no idea what was going on. We didn't know what was being reviewed. We won't do you know, I know it's, it's, it's. It was Monday night, which is forever ago in the playoffs. We had no idea what was even being reviewed. And even when they announced that no goal, goal overturn. Okay, well, it was only like minutes later when somebody figured out what they were actually looking at. It's such a screwed up system. So. And, and I'm already seeing it, you know, especially because, because Montreal, Tampa is such a, it's such a nasty series and such a fast series that you're seeing people go like, well, we need some sort of. No,

[Sean McIndoo]

nope. There's no, there's no analog there. There's nothing in hockey that can turn into a fight into, into a 30 second check like baseball. Like don't, don't, don't, don't.

[Sean Gentili]

You know, I know you think, I know you think it's that if we just do replay review, all the calls are going to be good and everything's going to work. We're all going to agree and your team will always win and all of that stuff. Come on. Ain't happening a little bit.

[Sean McIndoo]

In the other Eastern Conference game, Boston for Buffalo to the Bruins didn't blow this one. Buffalo added two at the end. One of those Bruins goals though. It was an all timer from Morgan. Geek it wasn't it?

[Sean Gentili]

A snipe. Absolute. What a beauty. Look, I, I mean I'm sure people have seen it by now. If you haven't, you will because it's, it's an all time blooper. Basically. Gets. Gets the Toskala bounce on a flip in from center ice. Tell me I'm not alone on this. I've always felt like if I was in the NHL I would do that often. Do the little try to short hop the goalie and I feel like I would score 15, 20 goals a year just off of those every time.

[Sean McIndoo]

Depends on how often you'd play. UKO Peka Lucan.

[Sean Gentili]

There's got to be. There's got to be a way to like, you know, throw a little bit of a spin on the, on the puck and, and set it up there. I feel like that would be my. Now I mean I. My total goals from all other plays would be zero, but I, I feel like that would be my specialty and be the guy who could do the, be that and the, the fake ring it around the boards and then you put it on net after the goalies already started out is those would be my two patented moves. You know, Kucherov's got a shootout move. There's the Datsu move. That would be my move which is just get the puck and fling it towards the net and try to try to short hop the goalie.

[Sean McIndoo]

I think that one underscores too. Like I like you know, fluke stuff happens. I'm not gonna, not gonna bury looking in for, for, for that. But I think that does underscore the biggest reason to believe in Boston here is like the, the goalie gap in this one is just enormous. Swamming swimming was, was. Was really, really good again.

[Sean Gentili]

He was. But also I mean this, the series is one one. So I, you know. Yeah, I don't want to. And again this is. You flip the order of the games and the narrative, the momentum and everything feel completely different. But it's not like the Sabres are getting goalie here. The Bruins have dominated 100 maybe 110 minutes out of 120 minute series so far. Yep. Sabres have got some work to do. They've. This. This is. It's been a great story.

[Sean McIndoo]

Everyone. Everyone loves the story. Game one was, you know, just the, the visuals alone coming to that coming out of that were incredible. Right. Sabers and three blah blah. But I think when you look at it in the cold light, the cold light of day after. After. After two games like Boston, I think they're positioned pretty well.

[Sean Gentili]

It's as. I mean, the. The Bruins, you'd. You'd prefer to be the Flyers coming back home up to nothing but for a 1:1 series. I. I don't know how it goes any better for you, how you could feel any better about your game than. Than the Boston Bruins have to right now, going into that crazy building and. And basically owning it for the vast majority of those. Those two games. Yep.

[Sean McIndoo]

Utah three, Vegas two. That. That one's also tied one one. Oh, my God. My. My. My heart. My heart increased 10 sizes diagonally across the continent when I saw West Mifflin Zone. Logan Cooley scoring that. Scoring that game winner. Man, I. Tell me if I'm wrong about this. I wasn't watching this one super closely. We were at an establishment, so I. It was. And it was late. Vegas looks slow.

[Sean Gentili]

Yep.

[Sean McIndoo]

They're.

[Sean Gentili]

They.

[Sean McIndoo]

I. I'm not. I don't. I'm not sure I'm ready to. Quite ready to pick Utah to get this one done, but, man, they. They. They're certainly the faster team out there. Is. Is that just because Cooley's one. Always one of the fastest guys on the ice and he's, you know, from my hometown and all that stuff. Maybe. But I. There's. There's a gap there, and I. I think it was pretty apparent last night.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah. And you didn't really see it as much in game one. And I still think Vegas is the better team. I still think they're going to win the series, but, yeah, this. This is what you want to see from an underdog, which is the counter punch. And very, very interesting to see what it looks like going back to Utah. I'm saying going back to Utah. Going to Utah for the first time, back to. This is. This is it. This is the. You know, this is the debut. What kind of weirdness do they have? Is it. You know, I know that it's a. It's an unwritten rule of the hockey universe that whichever the newest team in the league, we all have to say that it's the loudest building and all these fans are so crazy, and so I'm sure we'll all be doing that, but it might be true. And this is. This is a series. And look, I think Vegas is a better team, but this is a vulnerable Golden Knights. This. It wouldn't shock me to see them come out of the Pacific, but this is also they seem very wobbly. They seem like it wouldn't take too much and maybe a game three win for Utah is that that moment that kind of pushes them and we find out how much pushback they have and maybe they don't have as much as we thought.

[Sean McIndoo]

Kings 2 or excuse me Abs 2 Kings 1. Nick was scores in overtime. That's after Landiscog tied it with about three and a half minutes left. Where does that one rank on the gut punch scale here like that. That's just, you know, I, I at no point watching that one did I did I feel like the Kings were going to win the game. They're just such, they're a, they're a tough watch but then you know whatever they, they hang in there for, for the, for the majority of it. But then to.

[Sean Gentili]

They did it game one too. Right. Like this is. And again it's they. This was a chance to steal one. This was a chance to, you know. And I don't even think if the Kings win game too if they get the overtime goal that, that anyone is going oh we got a series now. I mean everybody is still picking Colorado in this one. But yeah you in any series if you're the underdog, there's going to be a couple games where you gotta, you got a shot and you got to take, take advantage. And the good, I mean the good news is we all made our jokes about oh abs in 3 and this is not even. And, and the Kings have shown. No, we're right there. We've, you know, we're not rolling over and credit to them for that I suppose. But

[Sean McIndoo]

that's. That game also is, is just proof that a late goal and any kind of overtime action is, is enough to make a game interesting like that. That was a slog for the vast majority of it. But you know, if everyone's, everyone's like oh wow, incredible late goal by Gabe Landiscog and then the Nick Wall wins it. It's, it's fun. It's fun because the way it ended.

[Sean Gentili]

But yeah games that are scoreless process

[Sean McIndoo]

was just, it was, it was, it was, it was painful. Yeah. One of the more non competitive series in first round in the first round is Penguins Flyers and we're going to talk to Josh Yowie about that kind of unexpected result there coming up after the break.

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[Josh Yoey]

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[Sean McIndoo]

a long, bumpy Road dealing with yet bladder infection and driving to the pharmacy to pick up meds. I went over a pothole and a little pee came out. So now I get to stand in line with pee pee pants.

[Sean Gentili]

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[Josh Yoey]

fast free delivery with Amazon Pharmacy.

[Sean McIndoo]

Health care just got less painful. All right, we're back. We're joined now by our buddy Josh Yoey, who's on Flyers Penguins. Of course, he's gotten a personal taste of the. Of the. Of the cross state rivalry there. The flight Flyers fans are making his life miserable.

[Josh Yoey]

I mean, I actually kind of enjoy dealing with Flyers fans. Like, it's a. I don't know. They're actually very entertaining to me. That one guy, like, he was in my DMS last night telling me off and making fun of the Penguins for being down. I said, dude, I said, maybe just enjoy the success. Come on, you gotta. You gotta enjoy this. Why are you. Why are you making fun of me like, I don't matter? And he writes back like, it's so cool that you responded. Like, sure, yeah, yeah.

[Sean Gentili]

A big.

[Sean McIndoo]

A big shot like you has the time to mingle with the hoy polloi in. In Twitter.

[Josh Yoey]

Dms, right? And the hoy pollo is out in Philadelphia. Oh, boy.

[Sean McIndoo]

Josh. Like, okay, so I'm. I'm not in Pittsburgh. I'm. I'm in Ed. I am in Edmonton. I have a sense for how the fan base has reacted to these first two losses. But you tell me, man, on a scale of 1 to 10, how pissed off are people in Western Pennsylvania right now?

[Josh Yoey]

I think they're more depressed than they are.

[Sean McIndoo]

That's a better way to put it.

[Josh Yoey]

They're kind of like, they're not even angry. They're just curling into a ball like, oh, no, this is the team we were supposed to be all season. Oh, my God. These last six months have been a mirage. Oh, no. This hasn't just happened. And now it's the Flyers doing it to us, like, because the Penguins didn't even put up a fight in the first two games. There's nothing to really be angry about for the fan base. I don't think I've watched as many of the other playoff games as I can. And they're all competitive. Like, they're all entertaining hockey games. I don't know what it was that the Penguins were doing in these first two games. There's just nothing competitive there. The scores were 3 nothing and 3 2. They may as well have been 6 nothing. That's how bad the Penguins have looked And I think everyone's maybe in a little bit of a state of shock more than anything.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, we all thought that the. Going into the season, the Penguins are supposed to be the team that was tanking and then they didn't, but now they are. So that's pretty. I mean, they'll get a, they'll get a high pick in the playoff draft. Is there. I mean, having watched those two games, you're right. Like, this is like domination would be the wrong way to phrase it because domination is. You're losing seven to one every night. But as far as two relatively, we thought, evenly matched teams, this is about as one sided as it gets. And maybe even to an extent that the scoreboard which hasn't been friendly to the Penguins is maybe making it seem closer than it is. What's the adjustment? What do you do to change this? What's happening here is, are the Flyers just a better team than the Penguins or is something gone off the rails that can be fixed from a Pittsburgh perspective?

[Josh Yoey]

Well, first of all, Sean, you're in Edmonton, so I want you to tell everybody there that Stuart Skinner has been the Penguins best player in these first.

[Sean McIndoo]

I already have.

[Josh Yoey]

Good. He's actually been really good. Because the games could be more lopsided than they are. And maybe they are tanking for McKenna in the playoffs, which is an interesting approach. I didn't work that way.

[Sean McIndoo]

I gotta, I gotta check the, I gotta check the CVA on that.

[Sean Gentili]

But I'm pretty sure that's just act surprised in the lottery when Bill Daly flips that card.

[Josh Yoey]

There it is.

[Sean Gentili]

Look at that.

[Josh Yoey]

Sure. That won't get hockey fans worked up. No, because you're right. These games have been. Here's the thing. The Flyers aren't even trying to score. They are just sitting back and waiting until the Penguins do something stupid, which is happening about every 30 seconds. And they're just counterattacking and getting enough offense. I do think Philly might be a little better than we realized. I think Porter Martin, excuse me, Porter Martone. Like, it's only been a few games. I mean, he's got star potential just oozing off of him. He's really good. He's made a very clear difference. I think Owen Tippett's a lot better than people realize. They have some players. Yes. And I think they're playing an incredibly disciplined style which can be harder to do at home. And I'm curious to see if they can duplicate that at home. But they've just played a perfect defensive hockey series through two games. But the bigger story still to me, is the futility of the Penguins. They have been unable to figure out the trap Philadelphia is playing. They have been unwilling to simply dump the puck and go to work. And it's interesting. In the Crosby era, listen, the Penguins won the cup three times. They've been to four finals, they've been to five conference finals. They've done a lot of great things in the playoffs, but when they fail in the playoffs, they often do so spectacularly, like they either put it together or they fall apart. We see this a lot with this team over the years. And listen, look at the power play. You've got Crosby, Malcolm, Carlson, Raquel and Russ. That's a pretty darn good power play on paper. Over five, two shots on goal for the whole power play in game two. Gave up a pathetic shorthanded goal. Also gave up a two on none. That's what they did on the power play. These are a bunch of hall of Famers. I don't know how you fix that in 48 hours. Dan Muse is going to try, but it's been stunning to see just how inept the Penguins have looked in these games.

[Sean McIndoo]

Well, that. That first period in game two, I think, was. It summed a lot of it up. They had 19 shot attempts or whatever, and two of them were actually on net. Like, they're get there, they're getting zone time, and then just completely, completely running into a wall. And it was wild to see. It's a 10 series. You play one period a game, two, and you have 19 shot attempts in the first period. Right. And you should be feeling okay about, like, if those are the bullet points that you get, you say, all right, things are going fine. There's no reason to panic. It felt like they lost that game already after the first period, and there was. And there was no score on the board, just because the degree of futility that they were showing when it came to actually turning that zone time into anything meaningful at all.

[Josh Yoey]

That's right. It's like there's this. This big wall in front of the slot area that they simply either can't get to or refuse to go to. And you're right, the first period was interesting. They had the puck the whole period, which is good. And actually they actually tried to get the puck deep and weren't turning the puck over in the first period. But I don't recall one really good look in that period that they had. They just kind of threw a few pucks toward the net and the Flyers blocked them all. That's pretty much all it was. And if you look at Philly, like for really the last month of the regular season when they got hot, they're not giving up goals. Their goal prevention in general has been very impressive and, and I do think Vladar has played a role in that. He's been good, but I don't know what to make of him because he hasn't been tested in the series at all. The Flyers, like you said, Sean, they're putting up that wall. And the Penguins, you could feel the frustration in the building at the end of the first period. I was thinking, oh boy, they're in trouble. You could just feel it. And by the way, the Penguins are not built to win two one games. In fact, it's an unbelievable stat. I don't think they won a 21 game all season and I think they only won 132 game. The game in Vancouver in January against the pathetic Canucks. They don't win low scoring games. They need a track meet. Even though they're old like that. That's when this particular scored.

[Sean McIndoo]

They scored the second most goals in the NHL this season. I, I honest to God don't think people, not enough people realize that this was, this was a, this was a really, really, really productive hockey team. And they highest scoring team of the Crosby era.

[Sean Gentili]

Did I see that correct?

[Josh Yoey]

It is.

[Sean Gentili]

That's wild.

[Josh Yoey]

And it's. And Anthony Mathis, their leading goal scorer with 33 goals. He has zero shots in the first two games of the series. I've barely noticed him. That's always kind of the book on him, by the way. Talented, he'll score some goals. He's a free agent this summer. Careful. Somebody's gonna offer him something ridiculous. It might not be the.

[Sean McIndoo]

He's. He's gonna get, he's gonna get 6 million for seven years now instead of 7 million for eight or whatever, right?

[Josh Yoey]

Yeah, that's, that's the way that might go this summer. But I mean, he's been invisible and listen, Crosby has a history of killing the Flyers. That is to the point that we just expected. We just expect. Anytime he sees that logo, you know that gift that you see going on when he's like staring straight ahead in the locker room like he wants to kill someone like that. That's always what we're expecting from him against them because that's all we've ever known. He's been really bad in these first two games. I don't know.

[Sean McIndoo]

Is this, is this injury stuff? He, all he, he didn't look hurt. He didn't look hurt, too. He didn't look like a guy who almost tore his mcl in the Olympics two weeks ago, but he. He does. He does now.

[Josh Yoey]

Yeah. I mean, it could be. I doubt he's 100%. Of course, I could also counter that by saying, then why the hell was he playing in Washington in a meaningless game last Sunday if he wasn't 100% that we always look. What's Crosby. I think there's always a natural assumption. Well, there must be something wrong. He can't just be playing poorly. Is it Father Time catching up a little bit? You know, I hate to bring that up, but he is 38. He'll be 39 this summer.

[Sean McIndoo]

When you're 38. When you're 38, that question gets asked. Like, it has to.

[Josh Yoey]

Like, the playoffs are a faster animal. Everything's at warp speed. We know this. And he just hasn't looked close to himself in these first two games, to the point that it's, I think, been a little alarming. And now tonight, he goes into Philly, the building he has owned more than any other. I'm sure there will be a comfort zone for him there. He likes playing there, historically. Sidney Crosby goes out and scores a goal in the first five minutes. It's like, oh, okay, here we go. What if he doesn't? I don't know. We have to monitor how he looks. I think that's fair.

[Sean Gentili]

It really feels like this game tonight has two distinct paths. It could go down, and both of them, in hindsight, will feel obvious. Right. We're either going to get a repeat of the first two games where the Flyers will just lock it down, and the Penguins are going to look a half step behind all night, and we'll go, yeah, Flyers are better. This. This series is going to be sweet. We all figure that out after two games, of course. Or like you said, Crosby scores early. Here come the Penguins. And we're all going to be going. Yeah, of course. A proud team of champions. Like. Like the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to lay down. Of course we're going to have a series. We knew that. We're all going to be very, very smart in. In about 12 hours. We just don't know which direction.

[Josh Yoey]

Yeah, I think that's true. I mean, there's also the possibility of, like, Philly comes out and scores three goals in the first 10 minutes, and this place is going to be a zoo tonight. I have no doubt. No, I mean, I think a lot of different things are in play and. And the guys, I'm telling you. Not just because of how the Penguins lost the first two games, but just how pathetic they looked.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah.

[Josh Yoey]

Like if they get swept or losing five. Thinking about Kyle Dubas right now, and there's a lot of people in Pittsburgh like, oh, you got to bring Geno back and you got to keep the guys together. I'm not so sure any of that's going to happen if they keep looking as old as they've looked in the first two games. I'm not talking about Sidney Crosby. I'm talking about everybody else on the roster over the age of 30. You have to wonder how Kyle Dubas is feeling when he watches his team look this bad against a young team in the playoffs. It has to get his attention.

[Sean McIndoo]

Thank you for all those reasons for Penguins fan optimism. Josh.

[Josh Yoey]

That's a. It was my pleasure. When you come to Philadelphia, the negativity just hits you right in the face, and you. You almost become that way a little bit. I apologize.

[Sean McIndoo]

It comes. It comes on the side at Wawa, brother. That's. That's. Oh, say no.

[Josh Yoey]

Yeah. Not the truth.

[Sean McIndoo]

Enjoy the game, brother. Talk to you soon.

[Josh Yoey]

See you guys. Take care.

[Sean McIndoo]

All right. Macne there. There are two other games tonight. We got Dallas, Minnesota. We got Anaheim, Edmonton. We'll start. We'll start with Ducks Kings. Ducks Kings. Oh, my God. Ducks Oilers, because that's the one I'm on. I'm of the mindset here that things went about as well as they could have for anaheim in game one. You keep McDavid off the score sheet entirely, which is crazy. Had literally never happened in an Oilers win this season. And you get 68%. Leon Draisaitl he didn't. He. He had his legs. He's fine there. The issue was timing. He looked like a guy who hadn't played a game in a month. And you certainly don't expect that to continue. So I'm of the mindset that, you know, that was a chance that they frittered away just because they managed to keep those guys at least off the score sheet. I think, you know, six, two. Each has three points. Tonight is a very, very real possibility. Tell me I'm wrong.

[Sean Gentili]

I don't think you're wrong. I mean, this is what happens in the playoffs, especially when you've got a favorite underdog scenario. We're seeing it play out very much in the LA Colorado series, where, you know, when you've got. When you've got the established favorite and everyone goes, oh, they're going to win. 5:1 tonight. And then you get a close game instead. You sort of go, okay, well, that's a, that's a bit of a moral victory. That's, you know, we're playing them close, we're playing them tight. We're in this series, we're showing that we can compete with them. And it's like, yeah, but also you're only going to get so many opportunities, get a win on the board, and when one of them flies away, especially, I mean, that, that, that, that Game one. You know, I'll be honest, I was, I was so revved up with all the crazy stuff that happened in the Ottawa Carolina series on Monday night that I went to bed when we were two periods deep in the, the Oilers game and Edmonton's down going into the third period, a goal. And I'm looking at that score before I turn the light off going, oh, oh, this is, this is big trouble in Edmonton if, if this plays out this way. And then woke up the next morning and yep, there, there you go. Edmonton came back, got it done. You know the old cliche, they don't ask how, they ask how many. I mean, we have to ask how a little bit because we're especially early in a series, you're trying to analyze and figure out how it might go. But also when you're under as much pressure as the Oilers are, it kind of is just how many. And they got it done. And look, if, if the Ducks come back and can get a win tonight, split series, go home, make it into something okay, then, then let's see how it plays out. But you're right, it doesn't. It's not that tough to, to picture the Oilers flexing a little bit and then we, we all end up looking back at game one going, boy, if that second half of that third period have played out a little bit differently, we got a whole different series. But the Ducks took their best swing, the Oilers took the punch, and then the fight was over.

[Sean McIndoo]

You're not going, you're not going to get too many. You're not going to win too many series. When you lose games because of Jason Dickinson and Kasbarri Kapanen, like, you can't, you can't get away with that too many times against the Oilers and, and Heims already used one of their bullets. Okay, Dallas, Minnesota. My, my question after two games of this is about J. Gottinger.879, say percentage. He hasn't looked particularly good. I, at some point, maybe it's this series, you know, maybe Maybe the Stars win the cup and we never asked the question, but at some point we need to, we need to start wondering about. Everyone loves Jake Ottinger and he's, and he shows up on preseason Veznalus and blah, blah, blah. But you know, he is a guy when you look at the Stars postseason flame outs in one way or another over the last few years, all the, all those losses in the Western Conference finals, he's a guy who not undeservedly has escaped the amount of blame you'd expect from a goaltender who was responsible, who is at least a net for all of them. And I think if, if, if this series goes the way it has in the first two games, that is going to change. Jake Ottinger is going to be wearing the collar after this one. If, if they, if Minnesota somehow pulls, pulls this off. I know it's early, but I think, I think he's, he's tracking towards a narrative shift surrounding him.

[Sean Gentili]

I love it. You're setting the stage. I'm picturing my mind Connor Hellebuck sitting on the bench, kind of scooching over and patting the seat next to him like, come on, come on over to the big name goalies who have been slapped.

[Sean McIndoo]

Are we sure? Are we sure about this guy?

[Sean Gentili]

It's, and look, I mean, you said we've got to start thinking about it. Pete Tabor's out there going, I'm ahead of you, man.

[Sean McIndoo]

And, and seriously. Yeah.

[Sean Gentili]

And look, the reality is, you're right, it's early. It's, you know, two games in after Jay Cottinger gets the 40 save shutout tonight, the whole, the whole narrative will shift to something else.

[Sean McIndoo]

We will delete this recording and it

[Sean Gentili]

will never heard it. But the way that things ended last year for Dallas does kind of play in here. And the Ghost of Pete DeBoer yanking Jake Ottinger and, you know, oddjerk trying to go back to the net and an angry Pete Deborah tell that that kind of does play into it. And that's sort of why the way that, that all played out last year was so potentially alarming if you're a Dallas fan. Because look, man, goalies are, first of all, they're all huge weirdos to start with. There's not a single normal human being who's ever put those pads on. And it's, and it's such a psychologically tough position to play that, you know, it's not. Is, is there such a thing as a goalie who can't do it in the big Games, maybe not, but if, If a goalie believes it one way or another, then it becomes self.

[Sean McIndoo]

You're halfway there.

[Sean Gentili]

You know, I, I'm still.

[Sean McIndoo]

I.

[Sean Gentili]

A lot of the concern with Jay Gonger was, you know, game one was just a mess. Game two, everything for Dallas was, was better. I would say Jake Ottinger was a bit better. But I mean, this, this still feels like a long series.

[Sean McIndoo]

This is all, this is just sour grapes because I've picked him to win the Vesna in October for the last three years. Like, I'm, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just sour over it.

[Sean Gentili]

You're, you're, you're an absolute fool. But hey, I mean, it's been this series so far has not lived up to the hype in the sense that this was the one that, you know, was supposed to be going overtime every night and everything. And it kind of feels like a bit more of a feeling out and. But. But it's tied 1:1, and it just, it. This feels like what we're getting early is just the building blocks. Yep. Of what can still develop into a classic late in the series. And you're just sitting there going, yeah, I remember for the first few games it was just two teams hitting the big moves on each other, and then, you know, then they had to figure it out down the stretch. I still think we got a lot of hockey left to go on this. But. Yeah, yeah, I mean, you're, you're right. You look at Dallas fired a coach for losing in the conference final because that wasn't good enough. So this, this is a, this is a tough one if they can't get it done against the, A very good Minnesota Wild team. But you know, also the, you know, it's, it's weird. I wrote about this this morning. The, the whole playoff format thing in this series. Do you realize the Minnesota Wild are not even the best team record wise, to start on the road this year?

[Sean McIndoo]

I, that was one of those thoughts that I was kicking around. I was like, are we sure? Like, should we be as mad about. About the playoff formatting as we are and Minnesota. Then I saw, then I saw you lay it bare in the post this morning.

[Sean Gentili]

They finished, and you know what I'm referring to. They finished behind the Canadians in the standings. And I haven't seen much, if any Canadiens fans are saying, oh, the terrible playoff format. We got to play the Lightning. We should be playing someone. There's been some of that in the east. Just because the 7 and 8 seeds are facing each other, which is pretty ridiculous. But I mean, I look at it more from the Minnesota perspective that, hey, you don't get to play the playoff format card. If you lose here because you finished seventh, you finished seventh overall, you're going to play a good team in the playoffs in the first round. And if you lose to that team, then you weren't really a cup contender to start with. Dallas, hey, I mean, you could say third best record in the league. They, they, you know, if anything, they're the ones who have got the complaint that hey, we should, we should be getting a cupcake in the first round here instead of a real good Wild team. But at the end of the day, like, you gotta, you gotta beat the good teams. You're not winning the Stanley cup with playing three 70 point teams and then, and then somebody good in the final.

[Sean McIndoo]

So it's not, it's not a cop out. You're gonna have, you're gonna have to beat these teams eventually. Like, I, I'm, I'm so much. I'm way less angry about the playoff format than the average person. I feel like I like it. Is it, is it perfect? No. Is it, is it unfair? Sure. Should it be changed? Yes. But I don't have it in me to get all that angry about it. Like, if you're, if you're Minnesota and you want to, you want to win a cup, go beat someone good. Like, like tough, tough.

[Sean Gentili]

Both these teams, Dallas, if you can't beat the Minnesota Wild, you weren't, you know what? You don't deserve to a Cup. You know, sorry you couldn't beat the Wild, but you were going to go through Colorado and you know, like, it's tough logic. It's. This isn't 1984 anymore. There's not 21 teams and 16 of them make the playoffs and one of them has 52 points. And, and if you're the Oilers or the Islanders or whoever the powerhouse is, you get a literal first round buy. Pretty much those, those days are gone. I, I want the format to change. I'm on board. But I guess the best way I could put it is you sit me down at a sports bar and get a couple of beers at me and then say, hey, what's bugging you? I'm going to hit you with a whole bunch of stuff.

[Sean McIndoo]

Man. That's so true.

[Sean Gentili]

That comes up. It's not that high on my list of things to change and to bring it back. Just, you know, yes, we want it to be fair. We want it this is a great matchup, man. I mean, I. Far be it for me to agree with Gary Bettman or even seem like I might be agreeing with, but some of these first round matchups are pretty great.

[Sean McIndoo]

I'm kind of, I'm kind of close to it. I'm kind of close to agreeing with.

[Sean Gentili]

I mean if, if the weird format serves up a couple of absolute A plus matchups that maybe shouldn't happen till the second round, but we get them early. I don't mind eating my dessert before the ends. Before the broccoli. Right?

[Sean McIndoo]

Like the ends. The ends. The ends justify the means.

[Sean Gentili]

There you go.

[Sean McIndoo]

I'm fully, I'm fully prepared to watch a three overtime game in the press box in Edmonton tonight on my phone because that feels like. It feels like Minnesota and Dallas have. Have one or two of them. One or two of those in them.

[Sean Gentili]

Fingers crossed, man. I hope so.

[Sean McIndoo]

Let's go hit a break. We'll be back to tell you what we learned.

[Sean Gentili]

Hey honey, it's mom. Did you know if we switch to Verizon, we can get four phones for $0 plus four lines for $25 a line? Call me back. Me again.

[Sean McIndoo]

That's just $100 a month for four

[Sean Gentili]

lines on unlimited welcome plus four phones. No trade in needed. Call me.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's mom.

[Sean Gentili]

America's best network. Verizon. That's the one we're talking about. I'll send you text.

[Josh Yoey]

America's best network based on RootMetric's best overall mobile network performance. US second half 2025. Four new lines and unlimited welcome and auto pay. See verizon.com for details.

[Sean Gentili]

Are you really buying a car online on Autotrader right now?

[Sean McIndoo]

Really? I can get super specific with dealer listings and see cars based on my budget.

[Sean Gentili]

Budget? You can really have it delivered or pick it up. I think kid is walking up the slide.

[Sean McIndoo]

Really? Autotrader, Buy your car online. Really?

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[Sean McIndoo]

Sean McIndoo. I would like to tell you what I've learned.

[Commercial Announcer]

What have we learned, Sean?

[Sean McIndoo]

Oilers coach Chris Knobloch and Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram are both from the Same town of 372 people in Saskatchewan. They're both, they're from Imperial Saskatchewan. I, I know that's a very uniquely Canadian thing to have these, to have these, these prairie towns and that, you know, have 15 people and whatever the. I, I can't run the odds on this because it's, it's not, it's not possible. The, the fact that a coach and a goaltender and end up with the same franchise from a town like that, from a town of that size. And literally, if you go to the Imperial Saskatchewan, like, town website, it's lit. It's. They just have, it's like we have a water tower and, you know, three streets.

[Sean Gentili]

Do they have a group photo of the entire town together? Just.

[Sean McIndoo]

I'm not kidding.

[Sean Gentili]

There's like, it's a selfie with somebody.

[Sean McIndoo]

There is, there is a, there's a photo carousel on the, on the, on the municipal website for, for this, for this town. And one of the photos is just of a house. It's just like a normal, like, ranch, like ranch house. It's like, okay, here's like the, here's the post office. Here's, you know, here's, here's the water tower. Here's like an overhead shot of the, of the four blocks of town. And then there's one that's. It just looks like, it looks like any house you've ever seen. And there's no context at all. It's just like, here's, here's one of our, here's one of our, you know, 60, 68 houses. It's incredible. And the fact, and I know that there, there is some kind of personal connection between their families. Obviously it's not possible to live in a town that small and where everybody doesn't know everybody, but the fact that, that you're talking about a playoff team that has a coach and a goalie or each from that particular Place was just, was just mind boggling to me.

[Sean Gentili]

I, I've got some, some small town Canada and both sides of my family. And here's, here's the thing that I can't stop thinking about with this is if the Oilers win the Stanley cup. Imagine being in a town of going to Imperial baby, that gets two Stanley cup visits. I mean do you, do you roll those together, do them back to back, do a 48 hour binge or do you, do you spread it out? You know, does, I mean how many, how many folders?

[Sean McIndoo]

It's literally, it's like we're go like we're, we're, we're taking the cup to the, to the elementary school. We're taking it, we're taking it on top of the water tower. Like it's, it's. There's, there's not much else to do.

[Sean Gentili]

What would you do with the cup if you had your day? Because I would, I have a, I have a plan for when I win it. I, it's, you know, I'm just going,

[Sean McIndoo]

I'm going back to, I'm going back to the pool at, at Mary Ellen Muse House. That's where it always ends up. I think I, I think it needs a return trip.

[Sean Gentili]

You're going to reunite it. My thing has always been I would get, I would get a bunch of my buddies together from like my whole life and we're going to, we're getting together, we're going to play a ball hockey. We pick the teams. Ball hockey. One game, winning team gets to pass the cup around. Losing team, you do not touch the Cup. You're not taking any photos, you got nothing. You get to play one game for the Stanley Cup. I think it would be, I mean the number of shredded ACLs off the opening face off would be impressive.

[Sean McIndoo]

I wouldn't take it in public. I would just stick it in my living room and sit there by myself and play, you know, PS5 or something. I would be a groundbreaker in that way.

[Sean Gentili]

Here's what I learned and I like. I learned two things about the new GM of the New Jersey Devils, Sonny Mattup from who they hired away from the Florida Panthers. First of all, I learned that he had the same taste in 90s clothing that I did. The starter jacket, the whole deal, dude. When I finally get hired as GM of the Leafs there, let's just say there's a lot.

[Sean McIndoo]

You actually might too, by the way. I don't know if I, I don't know if you have, if you have chat GPT on your phone or not,

[Sean Gentili]

but I haven't, I, I mean, I've got a couple of voicemails I haven't checked. I'm assuming that's my buddy Keith calling,

[Sean McIndoo]

but she asked, asked Gemini if you have an interview coming up for the, for the Maple Leafs job.

[Sean Gentili]

So I, I love that, that photo of Sonny the In the Devils. That, that, I mean, I'll just say that that beats the, that beats the bed sheet.

[Sean McIndoo]

Pajamas. Yeah, I, I, I knew you were gonna correct me on that as soon as I started saying pajamas. They're bed sheets. I know. We know, we know, we know.

[Sean Gentili]

Stop calling him pajama boy.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's been, it's been 15 years, but here's, here's the other, is 43 years old. Leave him alone.

[Sean Gentili]

Here's the other thing that I learned about, about Sonny Meta, which is I had known that he was a poker guy. Yeah. And I saw there was somebody asked him about it at the, I don't know if it was a press conference or somewhere else. They like, how does your poker strategy affect. And he gave like a really thoughtful, interesting answer. And that, that kind of got circulated on social media. And I'm a poker guy myself. What I didn't realize is I didn't realize he wrote the books on poker that I had back then. I used to read the Ed Miller, you know, the, the two plus two books and all that. Like, I was all over that. And because I didn't know you were.

[Sean McIndoo]

I didn't know you were that much

[Sean Gentili]

of a poker guy back in the day. I mean, I like everyone else. Right.

[Sean McIndoo]

Got in Vegas together a couple years ago. Were you like, were you like, were you like slipping out on me?

[Sean Gentili]

No, I can't, I can't, I can't play. I'm playing online on the. Until they start opening up some five and ten dollar tables in Vegas. I don't think, I don't think I'm gonna, I don't, I don't think I'll be doing that. But yeah, I've probably got those books somewhere. That's incredible. And I feel like there is some, I can't remember the exact circumstances, but I ended up like there was something with Ed Miller where like we ended up conversing about something. I don't know if he. Hockey guy or whatever. I didn't realize until just yesterday I was looking it up because the reason I went to look it up is, I wanted to know is, is Sonny the first guy to have gotten into poker during the lockout? In 2004, 2005, the way we all did to then become like a pro poker player and then get it like it has this come full circle and. No, he was already doing pretty well at the tables before then, but I just thought that was very cool. I own the. I've. I've literally got the book on this.

[Sean McIndoo]

And imagine how fun it would be if you owned poker books written by the guy who was the GM of the team you root for. Alas, Alas, Alas, alas.

[Sean Gentili]

Would have been. Would have been cool. But there's still time.

[Sean McIndoo]

Your post went up today. This, this morning. It's. It's the, the. The panic rankings, basically.

[Sean Gentili]

I think I. The pressure rankings.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah.

[Sean Gentili]

Everybody wants to win in the playoffs. Who needs to win? I think it'll. It, it. It will shock people to find out who's ranked number one. And I'm sure their fans will be really cool about it because they, they really enjoy when outsiders.

[Sean McIndoo]

Gentle, gentle, gentle criticism from people who, who aren't from Alberta.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, exactly.

[Sean McIndoo]

I don't know what you're talking about. All right, Sean, have a good day. We'll talk to you next week. Frankie Crado probably back. Who knows? He's. He's again big, big time us for, for TV stuff for U18s. We'll see if he's back. Who knows? Haley and Max are back with the. With the show tomorrow. With the show on Friday. Rather I will be on a plane to the greater Disneyland area. We'll talk to you down the road. Enjoy the games, enjoy the puck, and thanks for listening.

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[Sean Gentili]

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