The Hockey Show: Parade Aftermath

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz – Episode: The Hockey Show: Parade Aftermath

Release Date: June 27, 2025

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Introduction

Hosted by Roy Bellamy, The Hockey Show: Parade Aftermath delves into the Florida Panthers' recent Stanley Cup victory, their celebratory parade in Fort Lauderdale, and broader NHL developments, including player movements and the impending collective bargaining agreement. The episode also features an insightful segment on the 2025 Black Hockey Summit with guest Anthony Stewart.

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Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup Parade

[00:46 - 05:35]

Roy Bellamy opens the episode from the Panthers' parade in Fort Lauderdale, highlighting the city's vibrant celebration of the team's Stanley Cup win.

• Roy Bellamy: “We're at the Panthers parade right now... Celebrating the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup.” [00:46]

The parade was notably lively, with over 2,000 fans attending. A unique feature was the use of Super Soakers filled with melted ice from the championship-winning rink, adding a playful touch to the festivities.

• Greg Roshinski: “How often do you ever see a championship parade where people can also be simultaneously in the ocean?” [02:47]

[03:16 - 05:35]

Roy and Greg discuss the environmental twist of using rink ice in Super Soakers, humorously noting the potential downside of paint contamination.

• Roy Bellamy: “Until you realize that there's paint.” [03:22]

Guests Anthony Stewart and Greg Rashinski share their on-the-ground experiences, emphasizing the overwhelming turnout compared to the previous year.

• Anthony Stewart: “It was incredible. The turnout was unbelievable this year.” [03:57]

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Player Speeches and Team Dynamics

[07:50 - 15:47]

The episode transitions to player speeches from the parade. Highlights include Sam Bennett’s bold declaration and Aaron Ekblad’s nod to DJ Khaled.

• Sam Bennett: “I would like to apologize to absolutely nobody. Cause I double champs... Let's go.” [09:09]

Roy and Greg critique Bennett’s sunglasses and the attempt to downplay being "double champs."

• Greg Roshinski: “That was your takeaway from that?” [09:28]

Aaron Ekblad’s speech honors long-time supporters and teammates, reflecting on his 11-year journey.

• Sam Ekblad: “Thank you, fans. Thank you, my teammates...” [09:43]

The segment also features humorous takes on player behavior, particularly Sam Reinhart’s antics during celebrations.

• Greg Roshinski: “If I have to give a drunkest Panther award... it's gotta go to Sam.” [10:53]

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Wins and Fails Segment

[15:47 - 23:35]

Introduced by Ethan, the segment highlights the week's successes and setbacks within the Panthers organization.

• Roy Bellamy: "My win of the week is Dairy Queen..." [12:24]

Greg Roshinski commends the @BarkovMemes Instagram account for engaging fan interactions.

• Greg Roshinski: “They're gonna have to be an on-ice sponsor next year, right?” [12:20]

Anthony Stewart celebrates "Big C's" exceptional fan engagement, showcasing the team's strong community ties.

• Anthony Stewart: “It's just awesome to see them how they've embraced the fans...” [13:08]

Roy also highlights Evander Kane’s trade to Vancouver as a significant loss for the team.

• Roy Bellamy: “It's just a complete fail on Evander Kane's part...” [15:47]

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The 2025 Black Hockey Summit

[31:21 - 33:42]

Guest Anthony Stewart discusses the ongoing 2025 Black Hockey Summit, emphasizing its role in fostering diversity and inclusion within the sport.

• Anthony Stewart: “We're creating a space for everybody... celebrating diversity in hockey.” [31:21]

Rosie highlights the summit's growth, now hosting over 400 kids, and its impact on young athletes from diverse backgrounds.

• Rosie: “Over three years... it's grown from 250 to 400...” [25:09]

Stewart elaborates on the summit’s objectives to provide resources, mentorship, and opportunities for underrepresented youth in hockey.

• Anthony Stewart: “It's about giving your all to these kids... that's what a father does.” [24:09]

Greg Roshinski and Rosie commend the summit's efforts to expand hockey's reach into non-traditional markets and support emerging talent.

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NHL Draft and Collective Bargaining Agreement

[34:03 - 53:44]

The discussion shifts to the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft and significant changes in the NHL's collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

NHL Draft Coverage

• Roy Bellamy: “ESPN's NHL coverage includes the 2025 NHL Draft starting tonight at 6:00 PM Eastern.” [36:18]

Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Updates

• David Drucker: “Players have absolutely no desire to rock the boat... the cap is looking favorable.” [40:16]

• Drucker details the introduction of an 84-game season to balance divisional play, reducing preseason games to accommodate additional regular-season fixtures.

• David Drucker: “We'll take away two games from the preseason... the season might start a week earlier.” [40:28]

• Rule Changes:

  • Reduction in the maximum contract length for free agents.
  • Introduction of salary cap compliance for playoff active rosters.

• Roy Bellamy: “How is that going to affect the tiebreaker in this situation?” [44:02]

  Drucker explains that standard tiebreakers remain unchanged, with minor impacts from the additional games.

Front Office Commentary

• Discussion on Bill Zito's exemplary GM performance for the Panthers and his lack of broader recognition.

  • David Drucker: “There's absolutely no reason why Bill Zito is the GM of the decade.” [45:07]

• Player Trades and Team Rebuilds:

  • Drucker analyzes Evander Kane’s trade to Vancouver and its implications for both teams.

    • David Drucker: “That trade didn't make any sense to me from a Vancouver standpoint.” [49:06]

  • Discussion on Jonathan Tay's one-year deal with the Jets:

    • David Drucker: “It's an obvious one... a good match for him.” [52:13]

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Conclusion

Roy Bellamy wraps up the episode by highlighting upcoming NHL events and expressing gratitude to guests and the production team. The show promises to return the following week with more in-depth analysis on free agency and draft outcomes.

• Roy Bellamy: “Enjoy the draft. We will see you for free agency.” [53:21]

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Notable Quotes

• Roy Bellamy: “The Florida Panthers held their championship parade on Sunday... It was great.” [02:47]
• Sam Bennett: “I would like to apologize to absolutely nobody. Cause I double champs... Let's go.” [09:09]
• David Drucker: “Players have absolutely no desire to rock the boat at this point because everyone is doing pretty good.” [40:16]
• Rosie: “It's not just about making the NHL, but when you see kids get drafted and live out their dreams...” [23:35]

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Final Thoughts

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz delivers a comprehensive analysis of the Florida Panthers' recent triumph, the enthusiasm surrounding their parade, and the strategic moves shaping the NHL's future. The inclusion of the Black Hockey Summit segment underscores the show's commitment to highlighting important community initiatives within the sports landscape. With engaging discussions, insightful guest contributions, and timely updates, this episode serves as a valuable resource for hockey enthusiasts and those interested in the sport's evolving dynamics.

Transcript

[Roy Bellamy]

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[David Drucker]

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[Rosie]

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[David Drucker]

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[Roy Bellamy]

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[Rosie]

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[Roy Bellamy]

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[Rosie]

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[David Drucker]

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[Ethan]

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[David Drucker]

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[Ethan]

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[Rosie]

I don't know if you can hear.

[Roy Bellamy]

Me, but we're at the Panthers parade right now. We're at Paul Lauderdale Pete celebrating the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup. Whoa. That's Michael Jackson, by the way. Welcome to the hockey show with David Drucker. The hockey news, Ethan and Rosie in the yard studio in the shipping container. My name is Roy Bellamy. A lot of news has come out from the NHL. Players are on the move. We got a potential deal being struck with the collective bargaining agreement. They are having a meeting. Actually, they're gonna have a press avail. Yeah, they're probably gonna end up announcing today and the draft is tonight. We're gonna get all in depth with that with Anthony Stewart and Greg Rashinsky coming up next.

[Greg Roshinski]

But first, action Pat show today.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah, we got a lot to get through. We got to get through it right now. For those of you watching on DraftKings networking and watch Anthony and Greg and the rest of the show on YouTube. It's the Levitard and Friends YouTube page. You can hit the playlist tab and search for the hockey show folder. You can watch the entire show there. We got all the episodes and everything and it looks good. Great production quality from Rosie and Ethan. Appreciate you guys doing that. And the video team back there with Jason and Gino. Thank you very much for helping us out today. Reminder, we have merch, we have shut down city shirts, and we also have our shirzys. And until Monday coming up on Monday night is the last day. Proceeds from the sale of the jerseys will go to a nonprofit by the name of Rescue Paws who is dedicated to and finding forever homes for dogs. You can go torescue paws fl.org for more information on that. The Florida Panthers held their championship parade on Sunday and as you can tell from the code open there, it was loud. A Lot of people there. It looked good. It was great. People are complaining that there weren't a lot of people there. Well, that was a lie. There were a lot of people there.

[Greg Roshinski]

That looks pretty awesome. I mean, how often do you ever see a championship parade where people can also be simultaneously in the ocean?

[Roy Bellamy]

Once before last year. So, yeah, that happened on Sunday. So we saw that the players had Super Soakers filled with water. That water came from the ice that the Panthers won the Stanley cup championship on. It was melted down and put it in those Super Soakers.

[Greg Roshinski]

It's pretty cool.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah, that's actually really cool until you realize that there's paint.

[Greg Roshinski]

Yeah. I was thinking when you think about, like, Pete, the players are out there, you know, spitting and firing snot rockets into the ice during the game, which is totally normal.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah.

[Greg Roshinski]

So. But hey, you know, part of the game, celebrate. Yay.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yay. At the, at the parade, me and Rosie were there. We were personally at the writers table.

[Anthony Stewart]

I was there.

[Roy Bellamy]

Ethan was also there. He has B roll, actually. He took some video. I forget. I thought you had the. I thought you were doing something else, actually. I didn't realize you were at the place there.

[Anthony Stewart]

It was a lot of fun. It was. But it was more packed than last year's.

[David Drucker]

I have to say.

[Anthony Stewart]

It was incredible. The turnout was unbelievable this year to say hello. Well, you guys were in the media 10. I was all the way over here. I wasn't bothering going down to that end of the beach. It was way too packed. There were too many people.

[Roy Bellamy]

What. What part of the neighborhood?

[Anthony Stewart]

I was at this place right next to Elbow Room. We were really lucky. We have a friend who knew somebody got us a table. We were right on the street. They came right by us, right next to the Elbow Room, saw Chucky come out and go up.

[David Drucker]

It was.

[Anthony Stewart]

It was unbelievable. The energy was unmatched. And it's just. I think the coolest part was the chant was, we want three. We want three. Like three.

[Rosie]

Fans.

[Anthony Stewart]

Fans want to keep going. They're not satisfied with just two. They want to keep going.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah. Rosie and I got there early, real early.

[Greg Roshinski]

Kind of have to.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah, we had to beat the traffic. Was nine. We had. We got there at 9:00am the parade was at 12. Now Rosie, I mean, she was just there to go to the beach and that's. I mean, she came in there with a little sundress. Yeah, you were ready. Ready to get in the ocean. Like you were. You were pretty annoyed at the fact that you got there three hours early.

[Ethan]

Yeah, it was 8am we got there at 8am, not 9am I don't know why you say 9am because of traffic.

[Roy Bellamy]

You had to.

[Ethan]

Yeah, but it was eight. You were. You keep saying nine. We were there at eight.

[Roy Bellamy]

Okay, all right, all right. I wanted to get there by eight. It was really eight.

[Ethan]

I was, I was there eight. But the thing is, I was on the street.

[Roy Bellamy]

But yeah, yeah, yeah. So we got there obscenely early to beat the traffic and it worked. And there were a lot of people there when we got there. Oh, yeah, yeah. So it was good. It was packed early and they stayed throughout. Obvious, obviously, to go to the beach now this year.

[Greg Roshinski]

Right?

[Roy Bellamy]

Huh?

[Greg Roshinski]

No lightning?

[Roy Bellamy]

No lightning, no rain.

[Greg Roshinski]

No scares of life or death situations?

[Roy Bellamy]

No, just heat stroke. That's pretty much it.

[Greg Roshinski]

That's South Florida.

[Jeremy]

Now.

[Roy Bellamy]

I don't want to speak for Rosie, so I'm going to let Rosie speak for herself. It's time for Rosa in un minuto. Take it away, Rosie.

[Ethan]

Okay, are we ready? Okay.

[Greg Roshinski]

I don't know if I'm learning Spanish or not, but I understood a lot more than I usually do in that, like there's phrases jumping out at me.

[Roy Bellamy]

I didn't understand a single word. So we are going to do it in English. It's time for Rose in a minute. Rose, go ahead.

[Ethan]

Hey, let's take it away in English. Let's do it. Okay. The pent up celebration, their second straight Stanley cup as a massive beach parade in Port Lady. This time on no rain, just brutal heat. Over 2,000 fans line up along A1A A1A player rolled in the double decker buses spraying water with sprint guns filled with actual ring ice. But Bratsk and the Chuck jump into the waterfront to cool off while Barkov rocking a shirt to Chuck smoking cigar kicked off Bobby Chant Marsh landing the stage to take Boston chance and these elohimites stay. Bennett publicly begged for eight more years. Egg Lap laughed. Cedo gave a heartfelt thank you and coach Marie showed up with a cat shirt again. But this time the cats were crowned. And in front, Pink Panta Club played yes. The other songs followed by the we are the Champions and the whole team gathered at the front of the stage as the crowd went wild. It was a forgettable party though I left with a sunburn, heat exhaustion. It was epic.

[Roy Bellamy]

All right, that's Rose in a minute.

[Greg Roshinski]

Nice to meet you.

[Roy Bellamy]

That's very good. All right, so let's get to the actual player speeches. Let's start with Alexander Barov.

[Greg Roshinski]

Let me start with the way Ended last year.

[Rosie]

Let's do it again. Bobby.

[Greg Roshinski]

Bobby. Bobby.

[Roy Bellamy]

Bobby.

[David Drucker]

Thank you.

[Rosie]

Thank you.

[Roy Bellamy]

Thank you.

[Greg Roshinski]

Thank you. You're welcome.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah. So the players joined in in the back. Thank goodness. Because they didn't know what he was doing last year.

[Greg Roshinski]

No, you just let him go. You just let Barky cook.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah, that's. That's your captain right there. Here is Matthew Kachuk.

[Rosie]

We, we. We thought about one of my favorite lines ever and it was, I would like to apologize to absolutely nobody. Cause I double champs. As they were the once.

[Roy Bellamy]

The double champs. Here is Sam Bennett.

[Rosie]

You know, a lot of people have. They don't like the way we play.

[Roy Bellamy]

They.

[Rosie]

They don't like. They call us dirty, they call us nasty, they call us bullies.

[Anthony Stewart]

So no, I would, I would like.

[Rosie]

To take this time to, to apologize to absolutely. 1. We're the double champs. We do what the we want. Let's go.

[Roy Bellamy]

Some fancy ass sunglasses he was wearing there.

[Greg Roshinski]

That was your takeaway from that?

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah. I mean they're really trying to get the double champs thing off. Like the.

[Anthony Stewart]

Let's go. Very reminiscent of Jeremy's. Less. Let's go.

[Roy Bellamy]

Let's go. Here's Aaron Eckblad.

[Rosie]

It's funny. After 11, my agent called me and he said, make sure you don't say whatever Benny said. You got to hold on to that leverage. Hey, Benny. All I have to say is thank you. Thank you, fans. Thank you, my teammates. Thank you, Vinnie. 11 years you believed in me, Billy. You believed in me. Dale, Talon, all the people that believed in me.

[Greg Roshinski]

Wow.

[Rosie]

Come in and do what I do and do what we do best.

[Roy Bellamy]

Thank you.

[Jeremy]

Thank you.

[David Drucker]

Wow.

[Greg Roshinski]

That a Dale talent reference at the championship.

[Roy Bellamy]

Raise the blueprint.

[Rosie]

I do have a. I have a bracelet on. Can anybody guess what it says? Oh.

[Ethan]

Beautiful. And eclipse says something beautiful there, but it's not blipped.

[Roy Bellamy]

So it's bleep. Brooks Koepka. That's what the. The bracelet said. Here is Sam Reinhardt in honor of DJ Khaled. We the best.

[Rosie]

Why did he go to TJ Khaled?

[Roy Bellamy]

And I mean that.

[Rosie]

Another one.

[Greg Roshinski]

If I have to give a drunkest Panther award for the last fortnight, it's gotta go to Sam.

[Anthony Stewart]

I have a 5 1/2 minute video in my phone from 11 of Sam Reinhart talking.

[Ethan]

I'm gonna tell you something. I lost a little bit of respect of our players because when they disrespect someone else like Connor McDavid. I know we don't like Connor McDavid, but when they start like talking like that and disrespecting.

[Roy Bellamy]

I lost respect for Rosie. Have you not been paying attention to this team for the past three years?

[Anthony Stewart]

Like the double champs, they told you themselves they can do whatever the bleep they want.

[Roy Bellamy]

These are professional trolls.

[Ethan]

Yeah, me and the lucky.

[Roy Bellamy]

All right, it's time for wins and fails, brought to you by Jagermeister. It's presented by Jagermeister. I just said serve it cold or don't serve it at all. Jagermeister. Damn, that's cold. For more visitmeister.com Drink responsibly. David, what's your win?

[Greg Roshinski]

My win of the week. We go to Instagram, the account Barkov memes. Very funny account, Panther fans. If you don't follow it, give it a shout. Posted a picture. I remember back when Jake Walman was laughing at Thomas Nosek at the end of game one when he took that delay of game penalty and. And that aged like a fine milk in the sun. The Barkov Means account reposted it. And who commented on it? No, other than the great Brad Marchand.

[Roy Bellamy]

Huh.

[Greg Roshinski]

He's. He commented. You think he's still laughing? Probably not. Brad Marchand is. I know I just said Sam Reinhart might be the drunkest Panther for the. For the celebrations, but I don't know if any.

[Roy Bellamy]

There's a civil medal.

[Greg Roshinski]

Well, Brad Marchand certainly living his best life right now, and good for him.

[Roy Bellamy]

Speaking of Brad Marshawn, my win of the week is Duracrine. Now, it's been a solid run of business for Dairy Queen over the past month and a half, and they've really taken a lot of the Florida Panthers money even after they actually won the Stanley Cup. Because according to Panthers reporter Katie Engelson, a group of Panthers who on a trip to the Bahamas this week found a Dairy Queen store on the island. Those blizzards, I'm sure, melted as soon as they walked out of the shop. But yeah, Dairy Queen is the big winner this postseason, fueling the Florida Panthers to another Standard cup championship. That pitcher had Matthew Kachuk, Brad Marshawn, Sam Reinhardt, Aaron Ekblatt, among others. That was a star studded picture that they put up there. So, yeah, good job on Dairy Queen. I hope you got a lot of money out.

[Greg Roshinski]

They're gonna have to be an on ice sponsor next year, right?

[Roy Bellamy]

They better. At least on the boards.

[Anthony Stewart]

Ethan, my win of the week is big C's guys. You guys got to know who this guy is. One of the best Panther fans out there. Yeah, he had a week to Remember? And it was all culminated at the parade on Sunday. 1 Reinhardt and Tkachuk pulled him out of the crowd, poured some beer on him. They brought him on the stage at 11. He got the mic at 11, gave a speech, trolled biz in the spit and Chiclets. Boys. It's just awesome to see them, the way they've embraced the fans, and especially a guy like Big Ceeze. So salute to him. He's having a great week and a great summer.

[Roy Bellamy]

All right, Rosie, go ahead.

[Ethan]

Okay. Don't hate me. My win of the week.

[Roy Bellamy]

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

[Ethan]

I'm just giving it to English. I'm just giving the way to Rosario.

[Greg Roshinski]

Is very pretty, but what the hell?

[Ethan]

I'm just giving it to Rosario Tijeras, my brother. He did it again. Amazing season.

[Roy Bellamy]

Season of what?

[Greg Roshinski]

Season of Love is blind.

[Ethan]

Rosario Tijeras. I put that.

[Greg Roshinski]

Is that the name of the show?

[David Drucker]

Yeah.

[Rosie]

Yeah.

[Ethan]

Rosario Tijeras.

[Roy Bellamy]

I should make that my fail of the week.

[Ethan]

No, that's.

[Roy Bellamy]

I don't know what this is.

[Ethan]

I wanna be on season five. So, Barbara, if you wanna. What the.

[Roy Bellamy]

Are you begging for a gig? Yeah, Dave fell over.

[Greg Roshinski]

I think we just saw it.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah, I really should change mine, but I gotta keep mine.

[Greg Roshinski]

I'll stick with what I had. My fail of the week is it's us, Roy. It's you and I. And I'm going back to a year ago now.

[Roy Bellamy]

What did I do?

[Greg Roshinski]

It's what we did. And looking up right now at this picture, that was our Stanley Cup. We spent the entire summer trying to track that mother bleeping trophy down so we could get some kind of a candid moment with it. Drinking from it, kissing it, something and.

[Roy Bellamy]

Oh, you can kiss my ass.

[Greg Roshinski]

And we. We failed, Roy. We failed. We were lucky. We're very fortunate that the Panthers put this event together on opening night.

[Roy Bellamy]

Thank you, Addie.

[Greg Roshinski]

Thank you very much, Addie, Tommy and that crew for doing that for everybody. But we never got our, you know, whatever lame moment that we would have put together that would have been corny and nerdy and awesome. So I am saying right here and now that this summer, we have to make it happen. I've got to call in favors to people who don't owe me favors. I have to try to get us invited to cup day parties that we're not invited to. We have to, really. We can't fail two summers in a row. They've won the Stanley cup again, we have another chance. Second chances do not come along very often. So we got to turn this fail into a win. That's our summer job, our summer goal.

[Roy Bellamy]

Very quickly, my fellow week is Van de Kane. That's Vanikin got traded. He was so bad in, I mean it was, it was good in game one, but he was bad throughout the entire playoff Stanley cup final. 32 penalty minutes. 32 penalty minutes. And the misconduct in game six didn't come back out to shake his hand and the shake Matthew Chuck's hand or the rest of the Panthers hand. So yeah, it was, it's just a complete fail on Evander Kane's part and you deserve it, sir. Have fun in Vancouver. Coming up next, Anthony Stewart. We are going to talk about the 2025 Black Hockey Summit and we got Greg Rushinski coming up after that. You can watch that on YouTube, Levittard and friends. You can search the playlist tab and search for the hockey show folder. We will be there. Anthony Stewart is coming up next on the Hockey Show.

[Jeremy]

Jeremy, you know something about me, right? You know when I'm grilling outside and it's summertime, you know how I supplement my summertime?

[Anthony Stewart]

Of course I do.

[Jeremy]

I make it Miller time.

[David Drucker]

Of course.

[Jeremy]

That beautiful white can. Oh, when it's so hot outside, I just, I just put it right to my forehead right there and I just roll it sometimes right on the forehead, cool my body down and then I crack it open. Instant relief. And then that first sip, brother does that first sip.

[Anthony Stewart]

That is a top five sequence of events that you can possibly go through.

[Jeremy]

I'm just serenity now. When I just imagine that first sip of Miller life, just thinking about it.

[David Drucker]

It'S making me happy.

[Jeremy]

Dude, the sun is out. It's nice. You have your friends showing up. You got your family there. You just had your first sip of Miller Lite. And you know what? You're happy. You're blissful. You're fulfilled. I've been stocking my cooler with Miller Lite four years and for good reason. It's brewed for taste only. 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs. This year, Miller Lite turns 50. That is five decades of cookouts, laughs and ice cold moments that never miss. It's the original light beer and it's still my Go to Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

[Roy Bellamy]

Hockey Quality presents. The 2025 Black Hockey Summit is from July 14th to the 18th at Scotiabank Pond arena in Toronto. They got over 400 kids across North America attending this year. Dave, this is big, man.

[Greg Roshinski]

It's very cool.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah. We have the chairman of Hockey Equality. He's our friend. He's a very good person. He is Anthony Stewart. He's a former Panther, and I mean, what, like, one year?

[Greg Roshinski]

Stewart, Come on.

[Roy Bellamy]

Oh, man.

[Greg Roshinski]

With some great Panthers on a. At a time where it was not great to be a Panther fan. Yeah, they. They. They had some fun teams back then. Stewie and Ole. I think Louie was there for. For a little bit.

[Roy Bellamy]

I was not happy when he left. I. I was really not happy when he left. But, yeah, he had to go somewhere because that was a bad team back then. Now. So the Black Hockey Summit, this is, like, this is grassroots now. We're starting from the foundation here, trying to grow hockey in cities and towns that don't necessarily watch the sport or can't afford to play the sport. So this is. This is big. This is absolutely big. So why don't you talk about the Black Hockey Summit, how it got started and how all this came together?

[Rosie]

Well, we're going on our third year this year for the Black Hockey Summit, and what we're trying to do is sort of create an affinity space and be unapologetic for the work that we're doing. Yes. You know, we're creating a space for everybody, but you want to be able to highlight, you know, sort of some of the young black athletes and instructors throughout Ontario. And the one thing that people, you know, sort of are amazed by, there's like, well, where did you find, you know, 15 instructors of color? Then we have instructors from that are South Asian background, Black, East Asian, all over, you know, pretty much the entire world coming together to sort of celebrate diversity in hockey. And, you know, we're in a climate now where, you know, it might be going in a different direction, but for one week, seeing, you know, 400 kids from different backgrounds come together under one roof to play hockey. Basketball is subsidized, I think, 6, 75%. It's $250 per week. I think the cost is $600 per kid. But it's great because every kid gets a jersey, they get socks, they get to meet, you know, NHL hockey players. Right. You know, Tom Wilson comes out, you know, Eric Branson, Tyler Sagan has supported in years past. So it's just a celebration of hockey for one, one week. And what's great about that is there's a lot of kids that go through, you know, different issues, you know, with racism or, you know, different barriers in the sport of hockey, but they know for one week, I can come together, meet my friends, and at least get over, you know, sort of, you know, some of those other things that we're going throughout the year.

[Greg Roshinski]

Stewie, you said you're getting ready for year three of the, of the Black Hockey Summit this year, and I'm just curious, in the three years that you've been doing it, how much change have you seen for the better? Just over the last few years, just because you guys have been putting in.

[Rosie]

So much work, you know, it's. It's crazy, right? We're in a climate where, you know, we want to sort of highlight the negatives of everything, right? Especially with the sport. But, you know, when I see a kid that gets a brand new stick or a brand new set of equipment and get on the ice for the first time, and, you know, I'm like, well, you know, be careful, be careful. And within a day, they're playing the game of hockey, I'm like, that is change, right? Everyone talks about change of the vista. You know, an adjective, but it's a verb, right? So just seeing these kids get introduced to the sport, or seeing kids go from single A level to triple A level, or kids getting better and going on to the next level. As you know, there's a couple kids from our program getting drafted to the NHL today as first round draft picks. That's the change that we're talking about. And for me, I'm just trying to create a space that, you know, for the needs that I wanted as a player. I grew up in, you know, probably poverty. That would be described as poverty, but I had the community go above and beyond to make sure I was clothed. I had equipment, I had rides to the ring. So we're just creating that space. But, you know, over three years, you know, it's grown. I think it's gone from 250 to 300 to now over 400. So we're going to have to get a new rink if we expand any further, but it's going to be a great week.

[Roy Bellamy]

You have some alumni in this year's draft. You got Keshaun Acheson and Malcolm Spence. Why don't you talk about these prospects going into the draft this year?

[Rosie]

Well, if you're the Florida Panthers. You better draft, sort of trade up to get one of these players. We'll play it up. It's great, you know, sort of seeing, you know, young players that you've known, you know, from the age of 10, 11, 12, and get a little bit of extra mentorship or extra, you know, motivation to sort of help them, guide them along the way. I had a lot of help as a youngster getting to the National Hockey League as a first round traffic. And it really takes a village, seeing these kids at 13, 14 years old and you know, being introduced to the NHL and you know, being introduced to Ron McClain from Hockey Night Canada, David Amber, you know, Ben Johnson and saying, hey, guys, you guys can do it. And if you need any help, here's your support system and here's your rock or your network. It's great. So both players, big part of the program. I'm really, really excited for them. But at the end of the day, the one thing I can tell you is they can play. They can play. Right? So I know you guys traded sort of.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah, I was not happy about that.

[Rosie]

Right. You know, you might have a player in that and Rock and Spence. So I'm excited for those players. But, you know, seeing it's not about making the NHL, but when you see kids get drafted and have them live out their dreams, it's definitely, definitely fulfilling and rewarding.

[Greg Roshinski]

Sri that kind of leads me into what I wanted to ask you about. Just in terms, I know how big family is for you and being a father, just in terms of growing the game through your own, through your own eyes and through your own experiences. How has your, your work just kind of helping build diversity in the game? How is that kind of influenced you as a father and vice versa? How do you think you're being a father has influenced your work, helping so many young hockey athletes trying to, you know, pursue their dreams.

[Rosie]

Well, you know, the, you know, when you're a father, right. You do anything for your kids, right. And that's sort of, you know, I bring that thinking into helping these kids.

[Roy Bellamy]

Right?

[Rosie]

And some of these kids, you know, it's not just underprivileged kids or low income. Some of them just need somebody to talk to after a game. Some of them might just need a stick. Some of them might just need, hey, someone to go over some video. So going above and beyond for these young athletes, you know, being a father, that's what it's taught me to do. But you know, my first son, like, he plays low level House league hockey. He just likes playing games and he goes and it's social for him, sits on the bench, has a good time and that's it. But now that I have, you know, three other kids, I'm now getting itch where, you know what if I'm helping all these different kids, well, I might as well implement that for my own kids. So I have a daughter that's playing high level hockey. I have a young son that's seven years old and you know, he's playing with Miguel Gravoski, former NHL. So he's now got the itch and the bug and he's ready to go as well too. So the sense of fulfillment, but the sense of, you know, giving your all to these kids, you know, that's what you do with the father and that's what I do for these young athletes. And I feel that's why we're having success.

[Roy Bellamy]

Since the time of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, around the turn of the 20th century. It's about 130 years from then to now. And there's been very little progress, some progress in the first diversifying and including everyone in this sport. Even between the time of you being drafted in 2003 by Florida and the time to now, there have been very little progress or some progress in diversifying and including everybody in the sport. So how far do you think that we've come so far? And is the current hockey establishment still throwing obstacles in a way in making everybody feel welcome and playing the sport?

[Rosie]

I think someone from the league's listening.

[Greg Roshinski]

Careful.

[Rosie]

I'll tell you this, right? For me, it's, I'll give the political answer. No, I'll give it a real answer, like yes. You know, you look at the color hockey, you know, our history goes back 130 years, 1800s, right. And the reason why they started that league, as you know, they wanted to get people into the church and you know, just reading the history on that, where, you know, they have to play their games leading into the spring because that's the only time that they'd be able to get their ice. And they used to have to cancel championships because of the weather, right. The ice melted. So to go from there to now, yeah, there's a lot of work to do. But you know, I tell the NHL, the nhlpa, you know, with pocket quality, we're the barometer, right. We're the weather system and we're predicting the kids are coming. And it's my job to give them the tools to be successful. Right. So I didn't have somebody, hey, maybe wait till you win the Stanley cup before you go to the Elbow Room. Don't be going there the night before a game. Right. Don't. It's healthy, you know, I mean, if I want this Stanley Cup, I'd probably be trying to swim to Cuba with it. Right. That's probably why they're not. That's why no one's allowed to live in Fort Lauderdale. But I think just, you know, seeing this mentorship and seeing what these kids are getting, they are getting a taste of what's to come, and they're going to know what to expect before they get there. And, you know, I look at myself and, you know, the Wayne Simmons is. And the Chris Stewarts and Devonte Smith College, we had a lot of bumps in the road. We had a lot of bumps in a row because we didn't necessarily have, you know, I had Anson Carter and some other guys, but no one to really pull us aside and say, hey, you have to do it like this, you're doing it like that. It has to be like that. So now, with these kids, now that have the access and we're leveling the playing field, access to training, access to mental health, access to academies, you know, they're going to be catching up really, really quick. And I'll tell you this, it's not just black players, South Asian players. There's going to be a player from China drafted in the first two rounds today as well. So for me, it's, yes, the past. There was some work to do. But I'll tell you what, the future. The players are. They're coming.

[Greg Roshinski]

Yeah. Anthony, that totally leads me into what I wanted to ask you, just in terms of, like, a positive spin on what's happened and where we're going, because you mentioned there's players coming from all over the world. We've seen. Seen the. The. Was it the. The Latam cup that they have down here where they have teams from, like, it's nearing a dozen Central and South American countries that come and play ice hockey here in South Florida. Just, you know, in terms of positivity, how nice has it been, I guess, to see the progress that has come lately that you were just talking about, where we're seeing players not just of different backgrounds, but from all over the world coming and really showing that they're getting really good at ice hockey?

[Rosie]

It's definitely great, right? And I follow Little Adam cup quick, very closely. My brother was a coach a couple years ago, and what you see Is over the years. Well, good luck today. Good luck, guys. A couple of youngs are outpicked, William, by Porter Motone. You got to pick. Pick him. But every year you see, you know, different countries. You know, there's Greece now involved. Pakistan had a team. Right. There's India. So seeing all these different teams and countries get involved every single year is definitely very exciting.

[Roy Bellamy]

I mentioned the term grassroots earlier. You know, we're talking about the foundation, we're talking about growing the game in these communities. It's not just having a hockey team in your backyard or somewhere near, you know, in the tri county area or something. Like, if you live in Miami, as opposed to, you know, sunrise, or if you live in West Palm beach, as opposed to sunrise, you know, like, you're trying to grow the game. And a lot of this, as I said earlier, is can't afford to play the sport. It's expensive, you know, so what can be done in that area, because I know that this is all based in Ontario, like, but throughout Canada and throughout the United States, continental here. How can we grow this game in communities that doesn't necessarily. That can't really afford to play the sport?

[Rosie]

You know, my dad was a Jamaican immigrant, and he immigrated to Canada in 1974. And he knew nothing about hockey, right? But he knew to integrate. He found a way to sort of get his sons involved, and he did, through the Montreal Canadiens. And what happened was, you know, me watching the Montreal Canadians as a youngster growing up, I decided that I wanted to, you know, try the sport. And with that, you know, I started with ball hockey, and then it started with rollerblades, and I started with foot hockey. To play foot hockey in school, where you literally would kick a tennis ball into a net. But once I got the itch and I got on the ice, my dad found a way. So you have to find a way to introduce kids to the game. And I tell everybody I'm not a baseball fan, but I am a Toronto Blue Jay fan. Because when I was a youngster, our local church, if you got baptized, it would take you to dinner and would bust down and you go to a Blue Jay game. So let's just say when I was young, younger, I went to 5 Blue Jay. So me going as I was baptized five times, I don't know if that's good or bad, but my. The story in that is I became a Blue J fan because they supported me when I was young. When I was young. So if I'm the Florida Panthers, it's Hampton Bay Lightning get kids to the game, give them the experience, get them introduced to it, and their parents will find a way. Because the cost of hockey is expensive, but the cost of bail, the cost of low grades, the cost of all these other things and socioeconomic issues, if you do not play the game and you're getting into other stuff is a lot more deeper. So I think it's just introducing players to the game. And Florida's done that. And one of the high schools was donated a rink by Anthony Duclair and the NHLPA in the NHL, little stuff like that, you'll see the impact economically, but with the game, you know, a lot sooner than later.

[Roy Bellamy]

Geez, I didn't get. I didn't go to any Marlins games when I got baptized. I mean, that's not fair.

[Rosie]

Canada's a different breed.

[Anthony Stewart]

Dude. You were on one of my favorite Panther teams as a kid. The 0809 team that tied the Montreal Canadiens for eighth and ninth place and just missed the playoffs. That was as close as we used to get down here. Now we've won back to back Stanley Cups. What has it been like for you to watch the emergence of this franchise?

[Rosie]

I'm jealous. I'm jealous, right? And we had great players, right? But you know, for us, like, you know, I got sent down nine times one year and you know, half the games I played, like I had to race. Literally. We're in Rochester, I'm getting in at 4:30, have to race down to get to the rink. And I'm getting there just in time for warm up. So like, how prepared was it? So I think management wasn't necessarily the best place at the time, but could you imagine this team of Stephen Weiss, did you imagine this team with a Jay Bowmeester as your number four? Yeah, right. You know, David Booth flying down the wing. So we had some great teams. I just think he are, you know, we just weren't put together at that time. But you know, it's great to see hockey in South Florida because it was considered a non traditional hockey market. But you know, seeing Bill Zito and the work that he's done putting this group together, it's definitely been nothing short of amazing. So I'm happy for them, but I'm really, really jealous. I'm really, really jealous. So great. Campbell, like, you know, shout out if you need a, you know, an advising job. I have 20 jobs as it is, and Jamaican. But you know what, if you need any advising, you know, let me know. I got some young players for real.

[Greg Roshinski]

Now we need to Bring Stewie home for sure.

[Roy Bellamy]

Yeah, Stewie, tell everybody how we can help hockey quality.

[Rosie]

You can help by just going to our website, hockey www.hockeyquality.org. we're always accepting donations. The NHL, the PA have been amazing. Our primary sponsors, I like to shout out, you know, Kim Davis, Rob Knessarik, Jeff Scott from the NHL. They've committed over a million dollars over the last three years. Definitely excited for that, but, you know, it takes a village. It costs money. You know, everyone wants to see the grassroots, the kids with, you know, ankle burning because it's the cheapest way. But these kids need sticks, they need skates, they need resources, they need mental health, they need, you know, everything that it costs you, how much it costs to feed these kids to get there. So any, any supports we need. Volunteers would be greatly appreciated. And I really appreciate you guys having me on this program and this platform to really talk about my cause.

[Roy Bellamy]

The 2025 Black Hockey Summit is July 14th through the 18th at Scotiabank Pond Arena. For more information, log on to hockeyquality.org bhs and log on to hockeyquality.org and donate. Enjoy your time if you are up there in Ontario. Anthony Stewart, thank you for joining us.

[Rosie]

Thanks for having me. The Panthers. If you're still partying, go home, please. Your wife miss you. Go home, get some sleep and do it. Next year.

[Greg Roshinski]

You'd be partying, too. Stop, Stewie. You'd be out.

[Rosie]

Oh, yeah, I like it. You don't even know where I'd be right now. I'd be. I'd be a spongebob under the ocean. All right, everybody.

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[Roy Bellamy]

ESPN's NHL coverage continues throughout the offseason. They got the 2025 NHL Draft that begins tonight at 6:00 Eastern with the point on ESPN2 and ESPN and that's followed by round one of the NHL Draft on ESPN and ESPN plus at 7:00 Eastern. The rest of the draft rounds two through seven begin begins at noon Eastern to on Saturday across ESPN Plus. And coming up next week you can catch this guy on Free Agent frenzy on Tuesday, July 1st beginning at 11:00am Eastern on ESPN Plus. This guy, we know this guy. He was a guy, been a guy and will always be a guy. This guy is named Greg Roshinski. A lot of guys, A lot of guys we are going to get started. This has been a big time week. A lot of news has flown out. A lot of players have gone, you know, to and fro, you know, trades and everything we got. We got a new collective bargaining agreement apparently that has just been finalized and will be announced later today. But first we are going to talk about the Florida Panthers. They want to stand a cup again. So they are currently on their worldwide troll tour and it seems like they are going after everybody right now. Greg, are they being bad boys? What say you? Are they showing good form in the trolling right now?

[David Drucker]

Well, I mean the the only downside to me right now is that if there was any inkling of trying to convince Connor McDavid to come to south beach, that's probably out the window, based on some of the, the chants I've heard at the club. It's. It's. Did we really expect them to change the, the manner in which they won the cup after they won the Cup? Like, absolutely not. And, you know, I think it's. I think it's par for the course amongst championship celebrations to do a little boasting and do a little bit of chest puffing and, you know, the Panthers do that, but then they also just carry over what it was that made them special. I wrote a big, like, essay about them after the, the cup win.

[Greg Roshinski]

Great story, by the way.

[David Drucker]

Thank you very much. And something when a current NHL player told me, when I asked him, you know, what is it about the Panthers that kind of like, sets them apart, is he said, they try to embarrass you, but he said it's not just like, embarrassing you with their taunting and their antics and Sam Bennett doing the oopsie doopsie and the goaltenders heads and all that stuff. You know, like, this player said, they want to embarrass you on the scoreboard. And anyone who watched them in the playoffs understands that because that whole thing of the blood in the water, them scoring one goal and scoring, you know, three more after that within the next, like, six minutes is just kind of how they are. And, And I don't think that you can turn that off if you're the Panthers. I think that especially after you have the proof of concept of two straight cups and three straight trips to the final, you're the, you're the king of the mountain until otherwise thrown off. And I think that the. What they're doing is, is. Is awesome. But also, you know, I mentioned McDavid off the top. It's also kind of a recruiting video, man. Like, people, people underestimate the messaging and the images that come out of that Panthers locker room and like, the camaraderie that they have. And you know, what NHL player wouldn't love to play in a place where you're constantly winning the championship and then also partying by the beach. It's like, it's pretty dope. And Bill Zito has mentioned, their GM has mentioned this a few times of like, oh, gee, what a life. You got to drive around in a golf cart and flip flops to practice. I mean, it's all part of the thing where that's shifted for both the Panthers and, you know, for a while, the lightning on how much fun it is to. To win in Florida.

[Roy Bellamy]

We've been hearing the word harmony between The NHL and the Players association, and they have apparently finalized their collective bargaining agreement and they are going to formally announce that in a little bit. How are we looking at an 84 game season? What potential rule changes are we looking at here, Greg?

[David Drucker]

Well, first of all, the words I would use to describe the labor negotiations, as a kid who grew up in a union house, my dad was an electrician in New York City. Are fat and happy.

[Roy Bellamy]

Wow.

[David Drucker]

The players have absolutely no desire to rock the boat at this point because everyone is doing pretty good. The revenues are strong for the league. There's going to be even more revenue rolling in through expansion, you know, coming up in the next maybe like, you know, five or six years at the most. And the smartest thing that Gary Bettman, the commissioner did was he put out a projection for what the next three years of the salary cap looks like. And, you know, three years from now, the cap is like well over $100 million. And if you're, you're a player and you have an inkling of, well, the cap sucks and we should have a luxury tax and I'll get paid more, you look at that, you're like, or we can do nothing and just be happy with where it is right now. And, and I think that's kind of where they are. So a couple of the changes in the CBA that are significant that impact people. You mentioned the 84 games. Myself and my colleague Kevin Weeks broke the story a couple days ago that there will be an 84 game season beginning in 2627. It'll be in the CBA. And the reason for it is obviously like money, but also, if you look at the schedule and how it's currently constituted with, with the, the 32 teams that we have, you don't play everybody in your division the same number of times. There are some years in which the Panthers play the lightning four times, some years in which they play them three times. So by adding two more games to the schedule, you even that out. And obviously, the more games against your divisional opponents, the better it is for your revenue and interest, right? To do that, they'll take away two games from the preseason, because who gives a about the preseason, right? And, and then they'll probably start the season maybe a week earlier at the end of September. The other two things NBA worth mentioning, one is that there will be a reduction in the maximum amount of years you can give a player on a contract. If he is on your team, you can give him seven. If he is a free agent, you can give him Six. And that's significant because that will encourage more player movement and also probably fiddle around with, with how big these cap numbers are because you won't be able to space out the, the money you give a player through eight years, it'll just be seven. And the other thing finally, along with the, the salary cap and, and the word shenanigans comes to mind is long term injured reserve. Now we have probably talked about that on the show before, about how certain teams have been able to leverage that to their advantage. Evander Kane is out for the entirety of the season and then my God, like Christ himself rises for, for the early part of the playoffs.

[Greg Roshinski]

I don't know if Christ has taken that many penalties. I don't know.

[David Drucker]

We've seen it happen with, you know, every team. I mean, a lot of very successful teams have done it. And so the way they're going to address this is not by playing around with the long term injured reserve rules, which are very hard to change because then you're getting into the dicey area of is this person really hurt? Are the doctors lying? Like they don't want to get into that area.

[Greg Roshinski]

Slippery.

[David Drucker]

But they will get into the area of putting a salary cap in the playoffs. And by that I mean the guys that are on the active roster, the active lineup, I should say, not roster, but lineup. The, you know, the defenseman forwards, goalies that are active for a playoff game, the total of their cap hits must be under the salary cap. And that's how they're addressing it. So as one agent told me this this week, you can have a billion dollars in player revenue, player salaries like on your roster entering the playoffs, but the guys that are actually on the ice have to be cap compliant.

[Greg Roshinski]

Interesting.

[Roy Bellamy]

You get into an 84 game season, you add divisional games. How is that going to affect the tiebreaker in this situation?

[David Drucker]

Insofar as like the standings?

[Roy Bellamy]

Yes.

[David Drucker]

I mean, it'll still be the same stuff. I mean it'll still be, you know, the usual, you know, regulation wins, overtime plus regulation wins, goal differential. All that stuff will still be in place. I don't, I don't, I don't think it's going to have a huge impact on the standings necessarily.

[Roy Bellamy]

Unless there's six points.

[David Drucker]

It's an. It is, but I mean, extra four.

[Roy Bellamy]

Points, I should say.

[Greg Roshinski]

Yeah.

[David Drucker]

Or, or if you want to, you know, swing it out to like points lost points game, it's an extra eight points. But I mean, it's just two games. The only difference for me is like now the Buffalo Sabres will miss the playoffs by two additional games. Yeah, it's really the only big change, I think.

[Greg Roshinski]

All right, so you talked about shenanigans among construction of teams, long term, injured reserve. You throw all these very technical terms at us. You got me thinking about front office. And I have a very simple question for you. Why isn't Bill Zito the GM of the, of the decade? Why doesn't he get more credit for what he's done? Is I don't think any gm, and maybe the history of sports Greg has had a run like Zito's first five years in Florida.

[David Drucker]

It's, it's been fantastic. Now, if you wanted to get kind of like conspiratorial about it, the reason he probably doesn't get it is because other teams are jealous of the advantages that he has. We talked about the climate, we talked about the quality of life. And then we probably have to bring up tax advantages which other GMs get kind of salty about. Maybe that's not a reason because Jim Nell in Dallas has the same advantages, manages to win that award a lot. But I mean, listen, I've been a Bill Zito fan going back to his days as an assistant GM in Columbus. I was one of the first people to put his name out there and say, this guy has got it. You know, there was always a hesitancy about hiring him as a gm. He had, he had gotten interviews before, but he had never gotten a gig. And part of it might be because of his background as an agent at the time wasn't really in vogue of thinking outside the box. It was like, let's hire the most famous name for the organization to be the gm. But you look at what he's done and now everybody's doing the same thing. I mean, the Sam Bennett trade, when they got him from Calgary was the template for you could, you could draw a through line from what the Philadelphia Flyers just did with Trevor Zegras to what the Panthers did with Sam Bennett. Insofar as finding a guy that's young, that a team is very iffy about insofar as do they want to extend that relationship multiple seasons because he's a restricted free agent. In Calgary's case, there was also pressure about potentially losing him to Seattle in the expansion draft and then anteing up with a bunch of, of picks and prospects and getting that guy and then hoping that you bet. Right. And in the case of Sam Bennett, they like extremely bad. Right, because the guy just won the con Smite. But those were the Kind of moves that Zita was doing, it was identifying players, buying low, you know, paying a commiserate price, but not overpaying, and then just really smartly building out his team attitudinally hiring the right coach. I mean, there's absolutely no reason why that guy is the GM of the decade.

[Anthony Stewart]

When I ask you about a team that seems like they're going to be really active on draft night here, and it's the New York Islanders, it seems like Noah Dobson could be. Could be traded any second. And it. The reports are coming out now that they have pivoted from looking for players to looking for futures and draft picks. Does this signal that the Islanders are going in more of a rebuild direction than maybe many of us expected heading into this offseason?

[David Drucker]

I think it's possible and I'm fine with it. I mean, so as you guys can tell, I'm not in Los Angeles, but I will be on the island tonight at the New York Islanders draft party because I think they are the most interesting team at the draft on day one with hauling the first overall pick, with trying to figure out a way to draft local kid James Hagans, and then obviously doing all these trades scenarios to try to reshape the roster. This is a deeper dig out of the hole that they're in than maybe they're willing to admit publicly. But, you know, Lou lamarillo had basically doubled, tripled, quadrupled down on the same roster for multiple seasons. It hadn't worked. They're an older team, they're a slower team. They need to get younger, they need to get faster. And frankly, you know, one of the guys that the guy who led the GM search before they hired Matthew Darch was John Collins. John Collins is a co owner of the team. Before that, he was also the guy who, like, helped invent the Winter Classic for the NHL. The man understands spectacle. The man understands entertainment. The man understands that this is a market that has kind of atrophied under the current style of play, play and the level of success. And they still got a real new building. Man, that thing is beautiful and they got to fill it. So I'm all for them pivoting to maybe rebuild, retool, whatever, in the hopes that they can build something that's sustainable and exciting and, and. And brings fans back to that building on the reg, because whatever they're doing right now ain't working.

[Roy Bellamy]

You mentioned the Vander Kane or in this case, Jesus Christ with a gambling debt problem. He got traded to Vancouver, Edmonton, did not get much in return in this trade. What do you think led to this trade? And is this really going to help eat a team?

[David Drucker]

I mean, first of all, from what I understand, and again, it's been a while since I read the Bible, but I believe Jesus Christ was on DraftKings of Samaria. And so there's something we said about that. That trade didn't make any sense to me from a Vancouver standpoint. Like, I get their logic that they put out there. Insofar as it's hard to find wingers that can score that many goals, they. They got to get a little bit more physical because they don't have J.T. miller there anymore, and he brings that. And then the biggest gamble, obviously, is that a guy that has been a bit toxic in the stops that he's had. And by the way, no love lost with him at Edmonton, from what I gather at the end of his time there, that, that being in his. His hometown, the place where he played junior hockey, the fact that he's got, you know, a young family, like all of that adds up to maybe a level of maturity that we not have not necessarily seen from Evander Kane. I mean, physically, his body seems like it's breaking down. And, and, you know, I've. I'm just not. I still find it weird that a team that sort of. Sort of imploded because of some tough locker room drama would then be like, we got to be in the Evander Kane market. I, I don't quite understand that. And I also don't understand taking on the full freight of that contract from a division rival without them sending at least some kind of draft pick sweetener the other way. So it was a trade that vexed.

[Anthony Stewart]

Me about the Vancouver Canucks just on Edmonton. Do you think that Stan Bowman knew that you can resign a guy that is on your team and you don't have to give him eight years? In the case of Trent Frederick.

[Roy Bellamy]

Well.

[David Drucker]

You know, that's, That's a really weird one because the Oilers used to get hit with that a lot about giving out, like, term to bottom six players. A lot of teams have gotten hit with that give out term to bottom six players, and you figure they would have learned that lesson. I didn't see anything from Trent Frederick that really said to me, we got to be in the Trent Frederick business long term. But I guess when you make that trade, you've committed a certain amount of. Of. Of capital to it and you have to keep them around. Yeah, obviously, with the Oilers, the biggest. The big question is, McDavid and I wrote about that this week on ESPN. There is a non zero chance that he leaves Edmonton next summer. If he doesn't like what he is hearing from a planning standpoint from Stan Bowman in the franchise, he's I don't think I'd be shocked if he signed on July 1 based on the way that things are trending. He's going to take his time, understand what their plan is and you know, when you hear that, I think it greatly reduces the chances that he'll sign a long term deal like Leon draisaitl did. It increases the chances that he might take something on a shorter term. Give Edmonton four more years to get this thing right and then if they don't get it right, you become the single greatest unrestricted free agent in the history of, of North American sports since LeBron. And the decision, I think that's kind of where he'll go, but we'll see how it plays out because as I've often said about impending free agents, his stuff is in Edmonton and when your stuff is there you tend to stay and, and sometimes you stay for quite a long term.

[Roy Bellamy]

Jonathan Tay signed a one year deal with the Jets. His hometown is in Winnipeg. He hasn't played since 2023 due to long Covid. What do you make of this deal?

[David Drucker]

Kind of an obvious one. I mean I, I think it's in Tave's best interests to go to a place that is going to be less pressure packed than say like Toronto would have been for him because he's just getting back into it. Got to see what kind of shape he's in. Hometown Winnipeg, not a whole lot of pressure cooker there. For a guy like Jonathan Taves who returns as a conquering hero, it's an incentive laden contract. So there's not a lot of risk on the jets side and no one's expecting him to be their second line center but if it happens, great, they need one. So I think, I think it was a good, a good gamble for them and, and a good match for him and hopefully he can, he can run it back. I mean he was one of the most outstanding players of his era and then it kind of all fell apart for him health wise. So hopefully he can come back and make a meaningful contribution to a pretty good team.

[Roy Bellamy]

You can catch Greg on ESPN's coverage of the NHL Draft with the points on tonight at 6 o' clock you got round one at 7 o' clock and you got free agent frenzy next week on July 1st. All that is going to be across the ESPN family of networks. Greg Waszinski, thank you for joining us.

[David Drucker]

Anytime, boys. Thanks for having me.

[Roy Bellamy]

All right, and that's it for this week's hockey show. We are off next week. We will return the week of July 7th. For everybody in the back, for Gino, for Jason, for everybody in the other room over there with Ethan and Rosie, that's David Druck. My name is Roy Bellamy. We will see you in two weeks. Enjoy the draft. We will see you for free agency.

[Jeremy]

Jeremy, you know something about me, right? You know when I'm grilling outside and it's summertime? You know how I supplement my summertime?

[Anthony Stewart]

Of course I do.

[Jeremy]

I make it Miller time.

[David Drucker]

Of course.

[Jeremy]

That beautiful white can. Oh, when it's so hot outside, I just. I just put it right to my forehead right there and just roll it sometimes right on the forehead, cool my body down. And then I crack it open. Instant relief. And then that first sip, brother, does that first sip.

[Anthony Stewart]

That is a top five sequence of events that you can possibly go through.

[Jeremy]

I'm just serenity now. When I just imagine that first sip of Miller Light, just thinking about it.

[David Drucker]

It'S making me happy.

[Jeremy]

The sun is out. It's nice. You have your friends showing up. You got your family there. You just had your first sip of Miller Lite. And you know what? You're happy, you're blissful, you're fulfilled. I've been stocking my cooler with Miller Lite four years and for good reason. It's brewed for taste only. 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs. This year, Miller Lite turns 50. That is five decades of cookouts, laughs, and ice cold moments that never miss. It's the original light beer and it's still my go to Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.