Who replaces Brayden Point if he can't play in the Olympics?

Summary

The Athletic Hockey Show – January 14, 2026

Who replaces Brayden Point if he can't play in the Olympics?

Episode Overview

This episode revolves around the fallout from Brayden Point’s injury, which casts doubt on his Olympic availability for Team Canada. Hosts Sean Gentili and Sean McIndoo debate Canada's options for replacing Point on the roster, considering implications for both the Olympic squad and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The show also covers significant NHL news, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets’ coaching change and a check-in on prominent teams and players as the Olympic break nears.

---

Brayden Point’s Injury and Team Canada’s Dilemma

[03:00 - 13:45]

• Brayden Point Injury Details

  • Point suffered an apparent right knee injury, with the Lightning yet to disclose full details but a source described the situation as “not good.”
  • He is considered “week to week,” possibly avoiding the worst-case scenario (i.e., torn ACL), but his Olympic status is uncertain.
  • Discussion about the tough call John Cooper (Lightning and Team Canada coach) faces if Point is borderline healthy:

    “Are you gonna risk a guy who is a key piece of a team that right now is absolutely a Stanley Cup contender?”
    — Sean McIndoo [05:28]

• Olympic Roster Dynamics

  • Unique conflict of interest as Cooper coaches both Lightning and Team Canada.
  • Would Team Canada accept a not-fully-fit Point, or opt for a replacement?

---

Who Replaces Brayden Point?

[07:04 - 13:45]

• Replacement Candidates (as mentioned by CJ and Pierre LeBrun)

  • Sam Bennett
  • Connor Bedard
  • Wyatt Johnston
  • Mark Scheifele
  • Seth Jarvis
  • Travis Konecny

• Hosts' Analysis

  • The two-tiered replacement decision: filling out the roster spot and identifying the right player-type for Point’s role.
  • McIndoo argues Bedard is the natural choice, especially if Point would have played wing with McDavid:

    “If you’re trying to find a one-for-one replacement… it's Bedard.”
    — Sean Gentili [09:38]

  • They discuss schematics—Team Canada has a plethora of centers, so positional flexibility isn’t an issue.
  • McIndoo downplays Sam Bennett’s candidacy, noting Tom Wilson's existing selection fills the physical/power forward spot.
  • Bedard’s increased appeal:
    • Connection between Bedard’s NHL coach Jeff Blashill and Team Canada’s Cooper as a “tick” in his favor. [12:17]
    • Recent roster debates had focused on Bedard vs. Celebrini; both are in electric form now.

• Fun Aside

  • Gentle ribbing about “stacking the Lightning” with Canadian Olympic invites.

---

Coaching Carousel: Columbus Blue Jackets Post Evison Era

[17:53 - 32:57]

• Rick Bowness Hired as Head Coach

  • Dean Evison dismissed after a string of blown leads and poor third periods.
  • Don Waddell, GM, described this season as “the most frustrating of his career.” [18:43]

    “That’s an incredible statement from a guy who’s been in the league that long."
    — Sean Gentili [18:41]

• Timing & Terminology

  • Bowness is not labeled as “interim,” but no promise is made beyond the season.
  • The show jokes about Blue Jackets’ long list of coaches, contemplating if Aaron Portzline should apply for the job. [21:41]

• Why Was Evison Fired?

  • Team blown multiple multi-goal leads, especially to Pittsburgh.
  • Portzline outlines two types of teams that collapse: those lacking structure vs. those overly cautious.

    “They lock it down so much that they’re paralyzed.”
    — Sean McIndoo [23:10]

  • Columbus’ problem: panic and paralysis leading to squandered leads.
  • Critique of the team’s lack of physical edge—Voronkov cited as a 6’5” power forward who “skates away from scrums.”

    “The space in front of both nets is just way too easy against the Blue Jackets.”
    — Aaron Portzline [31:59]

• Will Bowness Fix It?

  • Bowness: “I’m a pressure coach. I’m not a sit back coach at all… We’re going to play pressure, we’re going to manage the puck better and we’re going to make it hard for the other team to create offense.”
    — Rick Bowness via Portzline [26:36]
  • Hosts and Portzline agree that coaching “bumps” often arise from new messaging and hope, even if tactical changes take time.

---

Rapid-Fire: Mitch Marner’s Vegas Transition & Bruins Emerging

[35:17 - 49:35]

Mitch Marner’s Adjustment in Vegas

• Jonas Siegel’s Athletic article highlights Marner’s adjustment pains: missing snow, family, and experiencing desert dryness.

• Gentili and McIndoo discuss the narrative of Marner’s happiness—or lack thereof—in Vegas:

  “Even if you’re a Leafs fan... you hope the best for him.”
  — Sean McIndoo [37:43]

• Prediction: Marner may finish his career with a return to Toronto.

• On Marner’s public perception:

  “I feel like there’s a degree of obliviousness to him... he doesn’t quite... get it.”
  — Sean Gentili [40:32]

Boston Bruins: Quiet Contenders?

• Despite skepticism about the roster, Bruins have won six of seven and are in a wild card spot.

• Sweyman (+7 GSAA, .920 SV% last seven games) and Pastrnak (15 points, 4 goals in last seven) leading the way.

  “This is how we thought they would... this was their chance at winning games.”
  — Sean Gentili [44:23]

• McIndoo points out quirk in standings: Bruins’ win-loss compared to teams like the Canadiens (both 26-21), but with few overtime points.

• Importance of points percentage versus raw rankings at this point in the season, due to games played disparity.

• Boston’s +9 goal differential is respectable and ahead of other wild card hopefuls.

• On Bruins’ playoff legitimacy:

  “Maybe if you have an elite goal scorer... and a goalie like Swayman... Maybe that’s all it takes to keep them in the mix.”
  — Sean Gentili [48:31]

---

Timestamps of Notable Segments

• Brayden Point injury and Team Canada impact – [03:00—13:45]
• Blue Jackets coaching change with Aaron Portzline – [17:53—32:57]
• Mitch Marner in Vegas/Leafs trade aftermath – [35:17—42:24]
• Are the Bruins for real? – [42:26—49:35]

---

Memorable Quotes

• “If it’s a situation where Brayden Point can play, but there’s an element of risk to it… what do you do if you’re John Cooper?”
  – Sean McIndoo [05:27]

• “If there’s a silver lining here… a large subset of people are going to get what they want: Bedard and McDavid.”
  – Sean Gentili [09:59]

• “That’s an incredible statement from a guy who’s been in the league that long… the most frustrating season of his career.”
  – Sean Gentili [18:41]

• “The space in front of both nets is just way too easy… They curl away from hits… This should be [a] physical team.”
  – Aaron Portzline [31:59]

• “It’s easy to say it sounds like [Marner’s] not happy in Vegas… but he’s making an adjustment.”
  – Sean McIndoo [36:05]

• “This is how we thought [the Bruins] would… this was their chance at winning games.”
  – Sean Gentili [44:23]

---

Episode Tone & Takeaways

• The hosts keep a humorous and conversational tone, full of inside-jokes and friendly teasing.
• They balance analytics, insights, and banter, making roster debates and organizational changes accessible and fun.
• The Olympic break and injury crises layer high stakes into team dynamics.
• The recurring lesson: roster depth, coaching tweaks, and chemistry (or the lack thereof) drive teams’ fortunes in unpredictable ways as the Olympic break approaches—making the next weeks pivotal for contenders and bubble squads alike.

Transcript

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[Sean Gentili]

This is the athletic hockey show. What up? What up? It's the athletic show for January 2nd. I'm Sean Gentili. I'm here with Sean McAdoo. Buddy, we are frankless today. Somebody's not. Yeah, we were ships in the night in Washington D.C. yesterday. He was there for caps. Canadians. Caps end up winning that one. I'm here for other reasons, buddy. How, how, how are we? I, I, I know you've had a great morning full of, yeah, normal doing.

[Sean McIndoo]

The stuff I love. I, I'm a professional tech support guy now.

[Sean Gentili]

And congratulations to New York Times tech support team honorary member Sean McIndale.

[Sean McIndoo]

So it's, it's fun and I miss Frankie.

[Sean Gentili]

I do.

[Sean McIndoo]

We miss you, Frankie. Because I'm sure like he's going to listen to the show, right?

[Sean Gentili]

Like he'll definitely, he listens to all the shows. He, he loves, he loves the prospect show the most. He's a big, he's a big prominent guy. Frank is.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah, that's right. Lane Hudson thing, he's really a big fan of.

[Sean Gentili]

That's right. All right. It's, it's, it's mid January. The Olympic related injury stuff is starting to stack up kind of across the board. But the big one that we have the luck of talking about as the Wednesday show, Braden Point helped off the ice Monday. You. You folks probably know that already. That's been a bit of a story. Couldn't put weight on his right leg. It did not look good. Sean, we got the Pierre and CJ report yesterday. Sometime during the afternoon. Not great for Tampa, not great for Team Canada. The direct quote from that is the Lightning haven't placed any firm timelines or revealed the nature of the injury to points. Right knee. But a league source said Tuesday that it's quote, not good.

[Sean McIndoo]

Not good.

[Sean Gentili]

So I guess there's like, like you can like read the tone into, into not good how however you like. But I, I see that and I think it's, I think it's really, really not good.

[Sean McIndoo]

Well, it. But there was then some clarification. Was there? Not that it was. They avoided the worst case.

[Sean Gentili]

Uh huh.

[Sean McIndoo]

Which is a phrase that seems to come up a lot these days in sports injuries and that he was weak to week, which basically means he didn't blow at his acl.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, that's like, that's like spray, not tear. That's usually, that's usually. That's usually what I.

[Sean McIndoo]

But week not. Not great. Especially in a league where, I mean, we've seen guys leave the ice with bones sticking out and they're considered day to day with a lower body. So we got a month until the Olympics. So if he's week to week, he's got about three of them.

[Sean Gentili]

Yep.

[Sean McIndoo]

And then I don't know if, if Braden Point would have to come back before the Olympics to be on the team. I think there's probably some guys where you would say that like, we need to see proof of concept. We need to see you in the NHL and play, you know, points. A guy that's, he's a veteran, he's been there, he's been part of Team Canada for a little while now.

[Sean Gentili]

He's like a sharpie name on that roster. That's, that's been clear. Right. He was one of the initial announced names for the four nations thing. Like he clearly does that kind of cache.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's John Cooper.

[Sean Gentili]

Right.

[Sean McIndoo]

So I mean they're, they're gonna know Team Canada is gonna have the inside information on, on exactly how good he.

[Sean Gentili]

Is or is not.

[Sean McIndoo]

And it also, I mean it, it potentially creates a fascinating situation for John Cooper if there is. If it's a situation where brain point can play, but there's an element of risk to it. Now what do you do if you're John Cooper? You gotta win a gold medal, but you're not. Are you gonna risk a guy who is a key piece of a. A team that right now is absolutely a Stanley cup contender?

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, they're rolling.

[Sean McIndoo]

Like, if John Cooper wasn't on Team Canada, he'd be sitting there right now going, take a few weeks off, buddy. Take your time for you get back, be ready down the stretch, we got a playoff run.

[Sean Gentili]

But John Cooper, right, because you automatically go from three weeks of rest to five or six, right? Like that's what, that's the Olympic break turns into.

[Sean McIndoo]

It feels like, you know, in the NFL where a team like, you know, a guy will be like questionable in.

[Sean Gentili]

The bye week or whatever.

[Sean McIndoo]

They got the bye week coming up. So, you know, man, if they give him this game off, that, that doubles it. It's, it's kind of like that. So it's, the situation right now is we don't know until we hear more details, but it is, it's a very, very interesting dynamic given John Cooper's involvement in all of this. And. Yeah. How does it, how does it play out? If. And, and I underline if because we don't know this yet, but if it's a situation where there is any element of risk for, for re. Injury, it's a tough call.

[Sean Gentili]

I mean, we're obviously talking about injury replacement, Census Cooper, we're talking about injury replacement Nick Paul, and we try to get Yanni Gord a Canadian passport. You know, let's just, let's, let's mix in some more lightning guys. We might be one short, as long.

[Sean McIndoo]

As it's not a Florida Panther, but I think that's still.

[Sean Gentili]

Okay. Well, let's, let's see. Like you as, you know, proud, proud Canadian that you are, I think like here's, here's kind of the choice is like to me it's, it's a two tiered thing. You have to figure out who you replace point on the roster with. And the names there that CJ and Pierre brought up, they're the obvious ones. It's Bennett, it's Bedard, it's Wyatt Johnston, which is a very interesting possibility. Mark Scheifele, Seth Jarvis, Travis Konagne, those are the guys who are on the reserve list. So they're the most obvious potential candidates to replace him. So let's work off that list. Dude, like, you can pick one. Let's just assume that Braden points lower body injury air quotes is not healed adequately in time for the tourney. So you, Bennett, Bedard, Johnson, Scheifele, Jarvis. Connecting you as Team Canada GM can pick one. Who is it?

[Sean McIndoo]

Boy, it's. It's tough because the name that you would have said a week ago, you said if, if a Canadian forward gets hurt, I think you probably would have been down to Bennett and Bedard as your, as your two. All due respect to Seth Jarvis who was on the team, all due respect to Mark Scheifele, who continues to have a great year, but those would feel like the two guys. And the answer would have been, well, it depends who gets hurt. Right. It depends what role you're filling. And Braden Point's a tough one because, you know, he, he falls a little bit in the middle of that. Not merely an offensive player.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

Which, you know, obviously if you, if you lose someone who's pure offense, you feel comfortable going to Bedard. If it's, if it was Tom Wilson who got hurt. Come on down. Sam Bennett. I think Brain Point's closer to that first group than he is to the second, but he is a guy there.

[Sean Gentili]

Seemed like there is a very real chance that he was going to be playing wing on a line with Connor McDavid. So if that's power play time, if that's the role that you're the kind of player that you're losing out on and you're trying to find a one for one replacement on a, on a very gifted offensive player who, you know, yes, can possibly play second line center, but maybe you'd like to see him most of all on. On a win with McDavid and then get some power play time. It's Bedard.

[Sean McIndoo]

It is Bedard. And look, I mean, you don't, you almost don't really have to worry about center versus wing because there's like 10 centers on this team. You'll be able to figure that, that stuff out. But as far as chemistry, as far as, you know, it can be tough, man.

[Sean Gentili]

This might, this might be the end for us to see Bedard in McDavid, same line. Is that. Yeah. I'm not to say that this is a good thing for anybody, really. And it sucks for Braden Point, certainly. But like, if there's a silver lining here, it's that the people are. A large subset of people are going to get what they want here. Yeah, I, I think it's very. And of course, this just means they're going to take Wyatt Johnston and, you.

[Sean McIndoo]

Know, which would be fine, too. I, I completely. I don't think it's Bennett. Even though he was on the team last year even though, you know, Con Smite. And he's been better. Like he's a guy that through the first month of the season was not exactly putting his best foot forward for, for this team. But he's been better lately. So more.

[Sean Gentili]

It was more than a month, man.

[Sean McIndoo]

It was. Yeah, you're right. But I, I mean I, I just feel, and, and I'm, I'm being a little too simplistic here, but it kind of feels like Tom Wilson got the Sam Bennett role on, on Tom Wilson's.

[Sean Gentili]

A better version of Sam Bennett. Like he's more Sam Bennett than like that guy. He's, he's. Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

I don't know if anyone's as Sam Bennett as Sam Bennett is.

[Sean Gentili]

Sam, like Tom Wilson is a good regular player.

[Sean McIndoo]

Department of player safety is aware of Tom Wilson. So that's strike one against him already. He's not there.

[Sean Gentili]

He's a, he's a very well behaved fellow these days. We knew, we know this just as Filipino.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's, it's. I, I mean cooperation is going to be a key part of the decision and he coached Sam Bennett last year and presumably enjoyed it because everybody says Sam Bennett's the guy that like you hate him until he's on your team and then you love him. And probably nobody could testify to that more than John Cooper, who really, really hates Sam Bennett four times a year and then maybe seven times more in the playoffs, but probably likes him just fine. Now that said, John Cooper was part of putting this team together and Bennett wasn't on it. So I, I, to me, this is a, this is where you go more for the offensive guy.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, I agree.

[Sean McIndoo]

And, and there isn't anyone out there who's a one to one replacement for Breaking Point. It just.

[Sean Gentili]

No, definitely not.

[Sean McIndoo]

But.

[Sean Gentili]

Something to watch on. Something to watch on the Bedard front, by the way. This is something to keep in your back pocket. Jeff Blashell is his head coach. Jeff Blashell was John Cooper's assistant for several years before this. Those guys are tight. I think Jeff Blashell is pretty thrilled with the way Connor Bedard has played hockey over the last, over the last few months. So if there was any need to have some kind of reinforcement or just have someone, you know, gas up to an extent Bedard's overall play. I think you can rely on that. On that. Coming from Blash Hill to Cooper, I think that's, that's a nice little tick to have in, in Bedard's in Bedard's column if he wants to make this team.

[Sean McIndoo]

And, and don't forget that when this team was named a couple weeks ago, a lot of the discussion leading up to it was Celebrini or Bedard, and they were right there with each other. And then Bedard gets hurt and it was sort of a feeling of wow, you know, maybe that's the out. Maybe this is. And, and at the end of the day, look like Macklin celebrating. He just took this thing by the throat and, and said, I'm, I'm going to make it impossible for you not to put me on the team.

[Sean Gentili]

Get to watch the Celebrini show in person tomorrow, baby. They're playing, they're, they're playing the Caps. I get to get to check into that. Cool. Yeah. Not, not, not really.

[Sean McIndoo]

But almost there too, though, as far as forcing his way on. And then he was hurt and now he's back. So, I mean, maybe this timing works out.

[Sean Gentili]

Now you guys, do you guys get to have celebrating on a line with Crosby and Connor Bedard on a line with Connor McDavid. Sweet, sweet.

[Sean McIndoo]

A lot of fun.

[Sean Gentili]

Congratulations. Yeah, yeah, we'll see.

[Sean McIndoo]

But it's okay. But you guys have Brock Nelson to shut that down.

[Sean Gentili]

So do not look at Jason Robertson's hockey reference page right now, whatever you do. Had some big news pop up over the last couple days. A coach firing. We got Aaron Portsline, our Columbus writer, to join us after the break. Stick around.

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[Sean Gentili]

All right, we're back. We are joined by Aaron Portline who is the team he covered the Columbus Blue Jackets. They are fresh off a 53 win over Calgary. That's not much of a surprise. The big news Coming out though, is Rick Bonuses first game as the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Dean Evison dismissed not. Not too long ago. It certainly seems like based on reading your reporting and the stuff that you wrote over the last week or so, it certainly doesn't seem like it's a huge surprise. Anybody looking at the standings could have figured that out. But also, let's start with this. Don Wheddell told you it was the most frustrating season of his career thus far. That's an incredible statement from a guy who's been in the league that long. And I think it kind of speaks to why we're looking at the situation that we're looking at here.

[Sean McIndoo]

Decade with the Atlanta Thrashers.

[Aaron Portline]

Exactly.

[Sean Gentili]

Probably he was booking arena shows in Raleigh. Like he had to worry about booking, you know, Brad Paisley to play at the Lenovo center down there while he was trying to run a hockey team. And this is somehow more frustrating.

[Aaron Portline]

And that's. I was like that. You know, Don, that really begs a follow up because you've been in the gate. I don't want to say, you know, you're old or anything, but you've been in the game for quite a while now. You really mean that or are you just like sort of expressing frustration? No, no, it is. And I'm like, okay, okay.

[Sean Gentili]

Oh, boy.

[Aaron Portline]

But he also start the clock.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah.

[Aaron Portline]

The conversation didn't give if certainly a full, you know, support to Dean Evison and not a huge surprise, like you said, that it's that he didn't finish the season everson with the way things were going. But I was naive enough, I guess, to think that it might take until the Olympic break before they made that move. Just that huge gap there. So inviting. But I think the. They did the math. They looked at it and, you know, another thing to keep in mind is not only do they have to think about this idea that they still think they can make the playoffs, but Don Waddell needs to have some sort of clarity by the trade deadline.

[Sean Gentili]

Right.

[Aaron Portline]

Which is sort of much closer than people realize. I mean, not in terms of on the calendar, but in terms of game played. As soon as it comes back from the Olympics, it's like a week. So, yeah, he wants some clarity there and started well last night, but we'll see where it goes.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

Speaking of clarity, we should be clear on Rick bonus because if I. Unless I missed it when they hired him, they. They didn't say interim coach.

[Aaron Portline]

Correct. I pressed Don on that. I'm not sure you guys have all seen this. People In. In the sports world. Get weird about words.

[Sean Gentili]

Right?

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah.

[Aaron Portline]

We're not rebuilding. This is a reset. Right. You know what I mean? We're not rebuilding. We're. We're not overhauling.

[Sean Gentili]

We're re. We're retooling.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah, that's right. He is an.

[Sean McIndoo]

We're not shopping, but we're listening. Okay.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah.

[Aaron Portline]

Their distinction is that they're not. He's not in place while they're looking for another guy. Like, now, like, okay, it's settled. Through the end of the season. He's going to be the guy through the end of the season, and then they're going to talk.

[Sean McIndoo]

So he may be the coach going forward, or is this, like, understood that this is just for the year? I mean, the guy sees he's going to turn 71 in a couple of days.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah. And so we very well could be. The Blue Jackets could be looking for their 14th coach.

[Sean Gentili]

It's incredible.

[Aaron Portline]

It's incredible. In 26. In 25 seasons, you're gonna put your.

[Sean McIndoo]

Resume in or how does that work?

[Sean Gentili]

Don's. Don's got. Don's got your number, so.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah. Apparently. Yeah. And I don't believe the storytelling that. A phone call was made Monday. Hey, I know you're on the boat. Would you come here and start coaching our team? Like, I think that phone call happened. I think that was the official. We're going. You good? Let's.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, wait.

[Aaron Portline]

Let's go.

[Sean Gentili]

Right. Get.

[Ad Voice]

Get.

[Sean Gentili]

Get off the boat. Like, you're not. You're not that surprised.

[Aaron Portline]

I think they knew. I think the Blue Jackets played in Colorado Saturday, knowing that was. Was. Had essentially been fired. I think the decision was made when they did what they've done so many times this season. 4, 1 lead against Pittsburgh.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah.

[Aaron Portline]

Turns into a 5, 4 overtime loss at home. It was. It's one of those feelings. You guys have all had it where you're watching the game and it doesn't matter. Six goal lead, and you're like four and seven. Like, the other team is just so. The Blue Jackets were just so caught up. No one's playing hockey. They. You know, a guy gets the puck, looks up. There's literally nobody to pass it to because everyone's like, I don't want it. You know, just a complete meltdown.

[Sean Gentili]

And.

[Sean McIndoo]

And that's. That's been the story this year, is the blown leads. And. And for those of us on the outside, when you hear about a team blowing a lot of leads.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's. It's one of two things. It's either they're not playing the right, they're not playing structure. They're just everybody's freelance and everybody's trying to get the next goal or they lock it down so much that they're paralyzed.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

And it sounds to me like it was the latter in Columbus. It was just chip the puck out. And then at the end of the period, you wonder why the other team had to puck the whole time.

[Aaron Portline]

I think there were a lot of games like that, but there are also other games like the Pittsburgh game where there was a sense of panic and, and just complete unraveling of, of play, where a panic, I mean, they were overcome. They've had, they've had three, two goal leads in three games against Pittsburgh. They pulled one out and it was either overtime or shootout early and they've lost the other two. Right. But Pittsburgh's come back every time. Oddly enough, the third game of the Rick Bonus era will be Saturday at Pittsburgh. So here we go.

[Sean Gentili]

It was, I was it after the Pittsburgh game. I saw it, I saw it in one of your stories, the quotes from Warinski trying to explain kind of what happened in the, in the third period there. That's the sort of stuff when you see, you're like, okay, this is, this is. Something's gonna have to at some point soon.

[Aaron Portline]

And I don't think, like it's. I don't think they were, I didn't mean. No, coach says, okay, guys, sit back, right? I don't think it's ever that implicit. But I think the lines you put out, the words that you use, the. Just don't make a mistake here, guys. Get the puck deep. Not be with the puck when you get it deep, not possess it tax zone, just get it deep. Nothing stupid here. I do think it creates sort of a psychology with the team. And there would be games where they're either see they're tied or they're, they're up a goal and it's early third period coming out of a, out of a stoppage or even mid third period coming out of a TV timeout and offensive zone start goes to the fourth line, right? And you're like, like, seriously, what is the thinking there? And you would ask and it would be, well, you know, I trust my guys, I'm rotating the guys. I don't want to. And I think from their perspective, they thought, well, if we don't just play the way we have played, then we're encouraging a sense of panic. Then you get into this situation where people are doing things or not doing things because they're wondering how they're going to be perceived and are they going to create the panic. And then you're just completely in your head and it just felt like nobody, like there were no answers for it was, we got to start getting some bounces and you're like, okay, you're 50 games in guys. Like it's not bounces. Right.

[Sean Gentili]

And that's the, and you know, you mentioned the time element and 50 games in, you know, they don't, they don't have until the Olympic break to waste. Like this needs to start now. They're seven points out of a spot in the Metro Division. They're five points out of a spot in the wild card. There's a gazillion teams ahead of them. They're, they're functionally at the bottom of the conference there. Like there's, there's, there's no time to waste. I was, I was taken by something Bonus said too. And this is, this was in his initial, you know, his initial conversation with you as the head coach. This seems like it's going to be music to the ears of the fan base, certainly after what they've watched for the last little bit or the season. I'm a pressure coach. I'm not a sit back coach at all. That's also, we all know that about, about Rick Bonus. I don't like what we've seen. We're sitting back and that drives me absolutely nuts. We're going to play pressure, we're going to manage the puck better and we're going to make it hard for the other team to create offense. When you're on your heels in this league, man, you're going to get burnt. The league's too good. There's too many highly skilled guys. If you want to let them come at you and you want to give them time and you don't want to hurt them or hit them, you're going to pay the price. Like that is, that is directly in line 40 with, with, with the problematic stuff you've seen from this team over the last few months, isn't it? That sounds like, that sounds like he's already in the mindset that that's, that that's going to give them a chance to dig out of this.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah, it sounds like he's been in the comments section thinking, how can I, how can I speak to the people.

[Sean Gentili]

He'S, he's in the Sunday gathering comment section.

[Aaron Portline]

How can I speak to the people here? And you know what? Last night they were better in the third period, but you could still see that there were like the old tendencies at times where it's like, no, no, no, no, just go, go play. Like, I think it's going to take time. Like Fantilli and Johnson played a ton last night and Johnson made an impact. These are, they're two young guys, of course, but they're still fighting it. Like, I still think there's a lot of stuff to work through here and if he keeps feeding them time, maybe they come through it. But you've seen how these things happen. The coach bump right where it just swells up this feeling. And he's probably not saying entirely different things than the previous guy was, but he's saying it in a different way and giving the players something that they can attach hope to. And I think professional athletes, people in general want to attach hope to something when things are not going well. And if that's where it starts, that's where it starts. We've seen it here before.

[Sean McIndoo]

So, Aaron, I gotta, I guess I gotta ask you. Whenever you see a mid season coaching change.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

Unless there's really weird extenuating circumstances, it almost always comes down to a GM saying this team is underachieving.

[Aaron Portline]

Right.

[Sean McIndoo]

This team is better than the record.

[Aaron Portline]

Yeah.

[Sean McIndoo]

I look at this Blue Jackets roster, are they better than a 500 team? I guess my question is sell me on the idea that this team is underachieving as opposed to this team slightly overachieved last year to get to 89 points. But this is basically a true talent, 80 to 85 point team. And Dean Evison was, was getting that.

[Aaron Portline]

Out of them, right? Yeah, it's a great question. Last year's team, everybody had two hands on the rope, right? The, there was a built in emotional trauma tie to things right off the bat where you knew where it was coming every night. There are, there's a lot, there's a lot of questions with this group. I think you could say that they. I'm not sure that they're a top three Metro team, but I definitely think they could should be a wild card team. Having said that, I'll point out some deficiencies here that they have one goalie, they have a goalie. Mers Leakins has really, really struggled. I don't think he wants any part of a backup role. He's openly said now twice, I'm getting ready for the Olympics. That's what I'm doing. Right. Monahan's hurt. He's been playing through stuff. He was their, one of their best forwards. Last year, the really troubling thing this year is Fantilli had 31 goals. He's backpedaled a bit still. I think he's a 12 or 13 goals. So not out of the question that he gets there. Ken Johnson played a ton last night was noticeable, but wow, like he has disappeared when compared to last year. So you know, we know how these things go with with teams that are relying on young players. It's not a straight upward trajectory ever. It's sort of choppy seas. But I think they felt with that they were kind of beyond that with these guys because it's not like it's their second year in the league. It's their fourth for Johnson, third for Fantilli. I think they're better than they have shown and I think the proof of that is how well they have played at certain times. Look at their numbers in the first and the second period and then just look at the cliff that hits in the third period right now. Maybe that's man against boys, just proof of that. But I think this is a team that should be much more competitive. The other thing I've seen that, that I think drives what EL crazy is and for me, I know there are a lot of fans that disagree with this, but Dimitri voronkov is the 6 foot 5, 230 pound, just absolute behemoth who curls away from checks, sidesteps, hits, who skates away from scrums. And it absolutely drives me and them crazy to see this player with that skill set basically just become another forward. And there are times where he's challenged and my God, it's vicious. He takes care of people, but he's kind of the poster child for me for this. But there are just tons of guys and I saw it again last night. I think, I think bonuses will push to change this. The space in front of both nets is just way too easy against the Blue Jackets. Way too easy. And they curl away from hits. There are opportunities to finish checks and they don't skate through them. And this should be a physical team. They want to be a physical, they have to be a physical team. Not hard to play against. And that needs to change.

[Sean Gentili]

We also got to get Rick Bonus to find some way to make Adam Fantilli shoots 16 again because he's down, he's down, he's down below 10. Like some of the 5 on 5 numbers are good, but the, the finishing hasn't been there at the level we saw from him last season.

[Aaron Portline]

He was like 25 in the second half last year. Just do that.

[Sean Gentili]

Just, just do that again. Simple. Easy peasy. Yeah, Porty. Thanks for the time, man. We're gonna. We're gonna let you go. We know you're a busy fella, so thanks again and I'm sure, I'm sure we'll talk to you down the road.

[Aaron Portline]

Thanks, guys. Good chatting with you.

[Sean Gentili]

There he goes. Me and DGB will be right back after the break. Stand clear of the closing doors, please.

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[Sean Gentili]

All right, we're back. Sean McIndew, what have you learned? I feel like you learned something this morning thanks to Jonah Siegel. Right? What have we learned, Sean?

[Sean McIndoo]

It is. It is Mitch Marner week in the hockey world. This is. We get Leafs Golden Knights in Vegas this week, and then next week you get the big Mitch Marner return to Toronto. That will be lots of fun for everybody, and I'm sure everyone will be super chill, normal, the whole thing.

[Sean Gentili]

Very chill and normal.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah. What I learned this morning is that, yeah, Jonas has a great piece on. On Mitch Martyr, in which the main takeaway is that it sounds like. How do we put this? So that it's not.

[Sean Gentili]

I mean, it's.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's easy to say. It sounds like he's not happy in Vegas. I think that's. That's a stretch. That's not what. What Jonas is saying, but he's making an adjustment that. Yeah, picking up and leaving home and family and all of that stuff and. And starting all over again. These guys are human beings, and it's. Sometimes the grass isn't instantly greener on the other side.

[Sean Gentili]

They don't have grass in Vegas.

[Sean McIndoo]

They don't. So it's definitely not. Well, I mean, we don't. They don't have any in Canada right now either. So it's true. Kind of lose, lose, lose there for. For the Mariners. But, you know, he. Mitch Marner has been good in Vegas this year. He hasn't been great. He hasn't been, you know, the 100 point Mitch Marner. It hasn't been the whole, you know, when that transaction went down, we all went, boy, you put. Put this guy on a line with Jack Eichel, put him with Mark Stone, and, boy, the other team will never touch the pot. Hasn't quite clicked that way, which is. Which is fine. It. It takes time to adjust to things like that. But I, I will say this, like, just. Just as a fan and as a, you know, as a. As a. We live in narrative world, the whole idea of, you know, Mitch Martyr going somewhere and then being like, oh, I'm. I'm not happy here. That. That. That's a great story for fans to jump on. But just you. You hope the best for him. Like, it's. Even if you're a Leafs fan, it's like, it's.

[Sean Gentili]

Am I surprised? Am I surprised to hear you say that? I. I'm not. You're. You're a nice enough guy, I suppose you're gonna. You're gonna. You're gonna wish the best for people.

[Sean McIndoo]

I'll, I'll even say this. I'll, I would, I would not be shocked. In fact, I'll, I'll make the prediction. I think by the end of Mitch Marner's career, I think he's back in Toronto. Oh maybe just, maybe just one last year when he's 40 years old and he's got the Joe Thornton beard and whatever else. But the point is it, it's not happening now. It's done for now. So just you wish him the best and you know, he's got, he's got the young family and all that and how can I put this? There is always an interesting.

[Sean Gentili]

I'm just, I'm just like letting you cook on this one.

[Sean McIndoo]

It's just an interesting vibe. Mitch Marner in Toronto where he seemed like a guy who maybe was a little tougher to make happy than other people. And so if that's continuing in Vegas, okay, I'm not surprised. Like I say it was pick me up and drop me in a completely different city in a different country and check back with me in six months. And I'll probably be making some adjustments too. You just hope the best for them because if you weren't happy in Toronto where you were a God and now you're in Vegas where you're more anonymous, which be a God or a guy, that's, and you're a guy. There's, I don't know, you're, you're kind of running out of options. So we'll see. Anyways, real good piece by Jonas. I would encourage people to check it out. This is sort of the, the warm up week of the. And and then next week it'll be all Mitch Marner all the time and he'll get a smattering of booze in Toronto and then they'll play an 18 minute video and everyone will use the word classy 47 times and it'll be fine.

[Sean Gentili]

Without prompting, Marner brought up the snow and how much he missed it. Jonas writes he wondered what Christmas would feel like without it. He was taken aback by how early allergy season arrived in Nevada. The dryness that came with life in the desert also took some getting used. To make sure you got chapstick ready. Marner was shrewdly told on arrival like this is people are going to read this story. Don't you pull out the bits and pieces and analyze them quite a bit.

[Sean McIndoo]

I think and be waving chapstick at them at the.

[Sean Gentili]

It's not impossible.

[Sean McIndoo]

Isn't there a part of you probably. I mean, for. For you as an outsider in this. Don't you wish he had played the heel more when he left? Because it. He. You know, with. With Mitch Marner, there's always been, like, the stuff behind the scenes, and then there was what he tried to put.

[Sean Gentili]

In front of just, like, a degree.

[Sean McIndoo]

Of, like, tried to do the right thing.

[Sean Gentili]

There's, like, a degree of obliviousness to him, I feel like, where it's like he doesn't quite like, you know, him, like, him. Him. Him pulling on the. Like, him pulling on the Vegas jersey in front of the marketing department or whatever it was. That just kind of. That just kind of sums up the vibe I've always gotten from him. Like, it's like, okay, okay.

[Sean McIndoo]

But he has. He has tried. Like, you can. You know, you look at it and you go, like, I mean, he's gonna get booed next week by a portion of the fan base. I don't know how loud or if it'll be everyone, but, you know, he.

[Sean Gentili]

Always tried to say over 50% of. Of the. Of the people who are making. I think it'll be.

[Sean McIndoo]

I think it'll be the kind of like 50. 50, you know, welcome back. He'll get cheered when they play the video, but then there'll be boos when he touches the puck kind of deal. And, you know, when he scores the winning goal in the shootout, which we can all pencil in. You know, I. I think it'll be mixed. I don't think it's going to be a Mike Keenan comes back to New York situation, but I don't know. I guess the. The thing you can say about all this, as far as. As him playing the heel, he's never done that.

[Sean Gentili]

The.

[Sean McIndoo]

The best heel promos in this entire thing have been cut by Brian Marchand, who's not even on either one of these teams. Maybe we could bring him back for next week. Just have him, like, special guest, ring announcer.

[Sean Gentili]

They should. They should have him in the tunnel and pass him the mic if the booze get too loud. So. So that's right. And then let him. Let him run out on the ice, be like, whoa. All right. Everybody okay?

[Sean McIndoo]

Yep.

[Sean Gentili]

What's wrong with you people? He served admirably.

[Sean McIndoo]

That's right.

[Sean Gentili]

He's part of this community. How dare you?

[Sean McIndoo]

Exactly. That'd be good. And he'd do it, too.

[Sean Gentili]

Yeah, we got it. We got to check the Panthers schedule and see. See. See if they're free that day. Make it happen.

[Sean McIndoo]

Work this out. For sure.

[Sean Gentili]

I learned something about another Atlantic Division team.

[Sean McIndoo]

There's other Atlantic Division teams.

[Sean Gentili]

Can you believe it? I don't know if the Bruins are good. I'm not. I'm not going to say that I can't look at that lineup and take it all that seriously. That's still. That's still a group of forwards that just doesn't. Doesn't move me in, in any kind of way. But they've won six to seven games. They beat Detroit last night. They're in a wild card spot today, which doesn't mean anything. We're like, I am conscientiously trying not to turn every week into, like, okay, like, here's, here's where we are in, in the Eastern Conference wild card race, because it could change and will change every single night from here on out. So where a team is on a given night doesn't matter all that much. But I feel like, personally, I haven't taken the Bruins seriously as a. As a contender, and now it's like, maybe. Maybe I should. You got David Posternak. He's got 15 points in those last seven games. Again, Boston's won six of them. Fifteen points, four goals. Swayman's been really good. More than seven goals saved above expected in, in that stretch. His safe percent is up around 920. Like, this is this to me, and I think this is maybe why I'm. I'm a little bit more in on the Bruins than I was before. This is how we thought they would. This was their chance at winning games. Like, if they were going to be an actual contender, it was going to need to be because they had Posternach, you know, at the top of his game and swam in as well. There's something different, I think, about having your best players be your best players on a winning streak versus God bless. God bless. Morgan. Geeky, right? He's a. He's a. He's a good player, but he should not be scoring more goals than David Posternak. Like, if Boston wants to be good, they need David Posternak to be, you know, top five points David Posternak. So I think the fact that, you know, they're getting led in the right direction by those two guys in particular, so Swayman and Pasta. I think that's maybe what has piqued my interest in them a little bit more than what we'd seen in. Over the last little bit.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah. And they're an easy enough team to ignore in the sense that, you know, we love it when a team builds up. They're a contender and then the window slams shut, which is what happened last year. And then you go, okay, now we know how this works in sports. Go take your couple of years, do your little rebuild, and we'll see you back when you're ready to, to compete. And here they are kind of slipping in there. The other thing about the Bruins, and, and I don't know if I, If I admire their surf, it annoys me. But your feelings about the Bruins are really influenced by how you feel about the loser point or the bonus point or whatever, because they are right now, wins and losses. They're 26 and 21 on the season, okay? They've won 26 games. They've lost 21 games. You know who else is 26 and 21? The Montreal Canadiens, who everybody looks at and goes, that's a good team, flat out. I mean, you know, they're. They're not. They're not perfect, but they're. That's a good playoff team. And yet you also look at the Bruins, and in terms of regulation losses, they have as many as Columbus, who just fired their coach. So what are we doing here? And the issue is, the Bruins win a lot of games. They lose a lot of games in regulation. They have two loser points, fewest in the league, and we respect it, but it does make it confusing. That and the fact. Can we just please get all the Atlantic teams to. Or play the same number of games, all the teams in the east, because the Bruins right now have got four teams, Toronto, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, that are behind them in points and ahead of them in points percentage.

[Sean Gentili]

That's what I'm saying.

[Sean McIndoo]

Like, that's why the sign up for math, man. Don't, don't.

[Sean Gentili]

That's why it's not worth obsessing over who's in a while. And I, I know I'm. I'm like, undoing the point I just made because I'm like, well, the Bruins are in a wild card spot. Probably time to pay attention to them. But, like, we need to generally resist that urge because points percentage is all over the place. We're also at a point in the schedule right now where there are serious games played disparities, which is important. Sean, I know you brought that up as related to the Red Wings in the weekend rankings because they've been intermittently at the top of the conference, but they've also consistently had two or three more games played than everybody. So it's like you can't take it all that seriously because that's irrelevant. That's a relevant Number of points, right. But man, I, and I don't know, I don't want to overstate how good I think the Bruins may or may not be. But you know, Swayman's good, Posternach's good, geeky's, you know, he's still on balance over the last couple years been great. Pavel Zaka is playing well. That's a must have for them because their center depth is just so, so shaky on, on its best day. But if they're getting good production from him, you know, I think they're going to be in the mix more legitimately than maybe, than maybe I thought at various points.

[Sean McIndoo]

One last point to make. Looking at the standings page, it's not the be all and end all of everything, but you look at goals differential, they are ahead of all the non playoff teams, ahead of the Leafs, ahead of the Islanders, ahead of the Habs, ahead of those Detroit Red Wings.

[Sean Gentili]

So they're ahead of a bunch of teams.

[Sean McIndoo]

Some of those are pretty close. But I mean if you're look like that is a, a number you can look at, if you're looking for evidence that somebody is fake, that's a pretty good one. If they're sitting there -10 on the year, well, Bruins are, are +9. That's, it's not a fantastic number, but it's a number that tells you that okay, this, this isn't smoke and mirrors necessarily.

[Sean Gentili]

It's just, it's a situation too in the conference where, you know, there's so much, so much slop in the middle of it, right? So much mediocrity in the middle. Like maybe if you have an elite goal scorer and a potent, you know, low end MVP candidate and then a goalie like Swayman who's certainly shown flashes in the past of being a capital G guy, like maybe that's, maybe that's all it takes to keep them in the mix. Because I can guarantee you on January 14th, I was not anticipating talking about, you know, the Philadelphia Flyers and the, in the, in the Pittsburgh Penguins as, as, as legitimate playoff contenders. Like isn't it crazy, isn't it cute.

[Sean McIndoo]

How we're acting like any of this matters, as if Tampa is ever going to lose the game again.

[Sean Gentili]

No, they're, let's see how, how many more games they have. Finished season finish, finish the season on a, on a 41 game winning streak.

[Sean McIndoo]

37. So yeah, that'll be, they'll be about in the 40s and then 16 more straight in the playoffs and we're all set. As long as Nick Paul doesn't.

[Sean Gentili]

As long as Nick Paul doesn't get hurt during the Olympics, everything will be fine. Right? Right.

[Sean McIndoo]

Yeah, that's. That's. That's a good way to look at it.

[Sean Gentili]

What's coming up for you this week, bud? Do you. Do you have a post this morning?

[Sean McIndoo]

I do. I have a post this morning. We're looking at the prediction contest. We're halfway through the season, so we're taking a look at what we. We collectively got right and what we got wrong. And it's mostly the latter, but we're just kind of taking a look and seeing what has caught us by surprise so far.

[Sean Gentili]

I love the prediction contest, you know? Do you know I do it. Do you know I do it every year. Suit on. Pseudonymous. Pseudonymously. Pseudonymously. Pseudonymously. Wow.

[Sean McIndoo]

So you got like a burner account that you use in the comments section?

[Sean Gentili]

That's none of your business. You can feel like we can do.

[Sean McIndoo]

I feel like we can do some analytics on the thumbs up on Shan Gentilli posts and see if we can figure out who.

[Sean Gentili]

If you see any winning entrances from Craig C. That's. That. That's my. That. That's my alias on. On all. On any and all Internet message boards.

[Sean McIndoo]

Nobody would suspect a thing.

[Sean Gentili]

Kind of a light night, man. Four games. We got Kraken, Devils, Sens, Rangers, Flyers, Savers, and of course, Mitch Marner's. The Mitch Marner led Vegas Golden Knights again against the Kings. So enjoy those. We'll be back next week. I'm sure Frankie will be as well. Thank you, Sean McIndoo. Thank you to the great air in porcelain. And thank you fine folks, for listening to the athletic hockey show. Haley and I are back on Thursday. We're bringing a friend. He's got a long last name. It doesn't have many vowels in it. Yes, that's right. It's Dauntless Chishin. He's back. Tune in then. And again. We love you. Thank you folks, very much.

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[Sean Gentili]

Ooh, who's there?

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So the knock knock was just you knocking?

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