Alexis Lafreniere nets HAT TRICK!! Sullivan MUST keep Laf, Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault together! Jonathan Quick blanks Flames!

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Mike Sullivan must keep Gabe, Mika, and LaFernier together forever.

Welcome back Blue Shirts fans to episode number 1504 of the Lockdown New Year Crainers podcast.

I'm your host John Chick.

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So the Rangers crushed the flames, forwarded nothing last night, Alexi LaFernier gets

a hat trick.

The Rangers do something that they haven't done since before Christmas.

They win back to back games, Jonathan Quick gets a shout out and what I thought was one

of the more complete wins for the Rangers this season, you know, back to back wins that

you can truly say that of, you know, you had the win against the flyers and now this

one against the flames, not the best teams in the NHL to be sure, but still very nice performances

by the New Year Crainers.

So got a lot to talk about here today.

I actually attended the game last night with my wife.

So got to see a hat trick.

That was awesome.

We're going to in today's episode, be giving Jonathan Quick some props for obviously getting

the shut out and wondering what the future might hold for quick with the New Year Crainers.

We're also going to focus in on Alexi LaFernier and his outstanding performance last night,

notching the hat trick.

But we begin with talk of this new look, ranger top line of Mika's a Badged, Gabe Pro and

Alexi LaFernier.

They have been on fire and they need to remain together for the rest of this season and

hopefully into next season as well.

One game after this trio combined for four goals and three assists, they basically do

the opposite of that.

This time, it's three goals and four assists and obviously the three goals all belong

to Alexi LaFernier.

Like I said, well, we'll break down his big night a little bit later in today's episode.

But you had two assists from Mika's a bandage ad Mika, by the way, hit 800 points, Adam

Fox hit 400 points on the same goal.

They were kind of joking after the game about who gets to keep the puck for that one.

But be that as it may, you know, two assists from Mika and two assists for

Gabe Pro, who continues to really impress down the stretch here for the New York rangers.

And my biggest takeaway from this game is very simple, mention it just a minute ago

in the intro, you must keep this line together for the foreseeable future.

And I know that in the past, we've talked about on here how Mika's a Badged and JT Miller,

you know, they seem to play well together.

They seem to complement each other.

They seem to bring the best out of each other, right?

And I think for a time, there was some truth to that.

But look, I mean, sometimes you got to make some adjustments on the fly.

And when you have a trio of players that's firing on all cylinders like this,

that's catching fire like this, that's producing seven points a night together,

you don't break them up.

And I don't care if it's the rangers or any other team in the NHL,

any other level of hockey, any other league on this planet,

you don't break up free players that are just absolutely buzzing the way that these guys are.

Again, there's stuff in the score sheet every single night.

They're out chanting their opponents by like double digits,

you know, when they're on the ice on a nightly basis,

they're at threat every time they're out there.

It's very rare in these recent games that you see this line go more than a shift or two

without either scoring or creating, you know, just a grade A scoring chance.

And they've been dangerous off the rush, you know, that's something that's been very impressive.

The forechecking, the forechecking from this line,

and really the team as a whole, but certainly this line has really improved over the last handful of games.

Guys are getting in there very quickly on the forecheck.

They're pressuring the defenseman.

They're forcing teams into mistakes.

You know, there was the game right before this one against the flyers.

Where Gabe Perot went in there, separated the flyer.

I think it was Drysdale from the puck and that led to a goal.

And some great forechecking in this game as well,

really from the entire team, but certainly this line.

The second of a lot from years, three goals in this game was absolute poetry.

And we will break down his goals and his big night in due time here in today's episode.

But again, I mean, you cannot say enough about how well this line has played.

We have not seen a line on the New Year's rainers dominate to this degree.

Since a couple of years ago, and LaFernier was part of that line too,

but it was LaFernier, Trollcheck, and our Timmy Panarin.

And that line, no exaggeration, was one of the absolute best in the NHL.

I'm not going to like put this, this current line up there on that level,

because it's only, you know, a handful of games.

And, you know, they've only spent so much time together.

But, you know, obviously they've played very, very well recently.

I think the last handful of games, if you go,

if you take a look at like just from the end of the Olympic break to right now,

you've got to believe this is one of the most productive and best looking lines,

most dangerous lines in the NHL in that small time period.

Now, can they maintain this?

Can they, can they keep this going for the rest of the season?

And into next, it's hard to stay at this level.

I think for any line for like a super long period of time,

but the rainers owe it to themselves to try.

And it sounds like listening to Mike Sullivan after the game,

that, you know, I hope this would mean that he's leaning toward keeping these three together.

But this is what he had to say about this line after this game last night.

You know, those guys all have really good offensive instincts.

They are a little bit different in how they play,

but in a lot of ways, I think that's complimentary.

And yeah, I think there is something to that, you know,

they all have unique skill sets from each other.

And typically, the last thing you want to do is put three players together that are all kind

of like replicas of each other.

Like, you don't want three facilitators on the same line.

You don't want three snipers on the same line, three grinders.

I mean, if it's, if it's your fourth, fine, fine,

but you wouldn't want that like, you know, near the top of your lineup.

So yeah, I mean, I think these guys have been very complimentary

to one another over this last handful of games here.

They've been fantastic.

And Sullivan also said this about game pro.

I got to call some attention to this,

because it's something that we've discussed quite a bit.

On this podcast was Sullivan had to say about Gabe

after the game last night.

For a guy that's not the biggest guy out there,

he's pretty stiff in the puck battles.

And that's something that we've tried to challenge him on

throughout the course of the year is the importance

of the puck battles in all three zones.

And again, that is something that we've discussed on here quite a bit.

Gabe Perot does not play a soft game at all.

I think that during the draft, he sort of got labeled as like a finesse player.

And there was a while there where people were looking at him

to maybe go in the top 10, certainly no later than like, you know,

12, 15 somewhere in that range.

Nobody thought that he would be available to the Rainders when he was.

And the Rainders obviously pounced and they got their guy.

But if I had to make an educated guess as far as why Gabe Perot dropped

as far in the NHL draft as he did, I mean, the lack of size,

he's not the biggest guy.

And also, I think maybe just this idea that he wasn't going to be the type of player

that would get his hands dirty.

We're seeing the exact opposite that Gabe Perot does get his hands dirty.

Gabe Perot does drive to the front of the net.

Gabe Perot does get in hard on the forecheck.

Gabe Perot does finish his checks.

Gabe Perot does fight for the puck in the corner.

And it's been awesome to see because I think, you know,

after the Rainders took him, we knew there was a lot of obviously

natural talent, natural ability there.

But the question kind of became like, all right, well, you know,

is he going to, is he going to be the kind of guy that's going to do some blue collar work?

And he has, you know, and he's done that very impressively.

So you're looking at a player.

And again, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves here.

But you're looking at a player that, you know,

has a chance to become the complete package.

The skill is obvious.

It could not be more obvious this last handful of games here.

Obviously, now it's about consistency and doing it every single night.

But I'm more encouraged by the grittiness that he's shown,

the toughness that he's shown, and the physicality in some cases that he's shown.

I mean, he gets to the front of the net and goes for those stuff and goals.

There have been a couple of times where he's drawn the eye of his opponents.

You know, he'll be on the doorstep and trying to whack home a loose puck.

And they'll kind of jump him after the whistle blows.

And it's been awesome to see this.

It's not a kid that sheds away from any of that extra curricular stuff.

And you can see the confidence just growing gaming and game out.

So really, really excited about Gabe Pro.

Again, we don't want to overdo it here because he is just getting started.

And we've been burned by this in the past.

You know, high draft picks for the Rangers.

And we're all excited.

And he's going to be a great player.

And then, you know, it kind of just fizzles out.

But so far, so good for Gabe Pro with the New York Rangers.

And he's been excellent the last handful of games.

So all this said, for me, one of Mike Sullivan's biggest jobs for the rest of the season

is also his easiest job.

And we've kind of been hinting at this throughout this entire section here.

But his job is to simply leave this line together and let them cook.

This has not been an easy season for Mike Sullivan.

Or really, anybody associated with the New York Rangers.

But this is as much of a layup as he will ever get as the head coach of this team.

Because look at what they're doing.

Common sense should dictate that these three stick together for the foreseeable future.

Now, if we get to a point where they slump and they're not producing at all

and the Rangers start losing again and a shake up is needed, then so be it.

But they've earned a significant amount of leisure,

significant amount of rope going forward to continue to play together.

And hopefully produce at or near this level.

I think that's the best case scenario for everybody.

And it's funny because I saw some people on social media,

you know, talking about JT Miller.

Like, I'll just put him on the fourth line when he gets back,

keep him far, far away from these guys.

You really don't even need to do that.

All you really have to do with JT Miller is put him on the second line.

Because if you guys have noticed, the second line right now,

it's been true trick and coolly every night in JT Miller's absence.

But you had Taylor Raddish.

And the last couple of games have been Johnny Brudzinski.

And again, our condolences and our best wishes to Taylor Raddish and his family.

Because, you know, obviously, Taylor Raddish lost his father a couple of days ago.

So obviously a very sad situation there.

But whenever JT Miller is back, you've got to believe that, you know,

there's a spot for him there on the second line.

You play him out there with Cooley and Trollcheck.

And I mean, that could be a fun line too.

You know, that's a physical hard-hitting line.

We know that JT Miller and Vincent Trollcheck have been friends since they were,

I mean, literally kids.

So there you go.

That's your second line.

And you don't have to really overthink this.

The captain gets to stay in the top six.

But you keep this line of Perot and Mika and LaFernier together.

It's common sense.

Let's just hope that the rainers actually do it.

We will say.

But in just a minute, we're keep everything going.

We haven't even really gotten into Alexi LaFernier's big night yet.

I mean, we mentioned the hat trick, but we got to break down, you know,

all the goals and talk about what the future holds for him going forward.

Is he somebody that could even potentially wear a letter next season?

This is something that we brought up a while back.

And it sounded a little nuts at that time.

Maybe it doesn't sound so crazy now.

We'll get into that debate, though, in just a second.

All right, we just want to take a minute to let everybody know that today's episode

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Now, for the every dayers,

we'll be back after the rainders play the Jets on Thursday night.

The puck drops at 8 o'clock for that one.

That's actually the latest start time that the rainders have remaining on their schedule.

Everything after that is 7.30 or earlier, which is nice, I would say, for most of us.

But yeah, we'll discuss whatever happens there,

chance to win three in a row.

It actually could happen.

We will see.

But for right now, let's talk about Alexi LaFranier.

Let's talk about this hat trick that he had last night.

Let's go ahead and break down the goals first.

And then we'll get into some kind of big picture thoughts as it pertains to LaFranier.

So obviously, they open the scoring.

I mean, of course, they did.

They shut them out.

So by definition, the rainders open the scoring.

But LaFranier specifically opened the scoring.

You get a five on three power play for the rainders.

You've got Mika blasting a one-timer off of a feed from Adam Fox.

And LaFranier, by this point, is crept to the front of the net.

And he's there.

And he redirects the puck into the twine.

Gives the rainders the one-to-thing lead.

A kind of a funny thing that happened on this shift.

I don't know how many people noticed this or remembered this.

But Vincent Trocek broke his stick.

And so he flies out of the zone.

And he's going back to the rainder bench to go get a new stick.

By the time he turned back around, the rainders had actually scored.

So just kind of one of the lighter moments, I guess, of Raindere Hoppy this season.

I thought that was kind of funny.

But that gave the rainders a one-nothing lead.

And then, you know, forget about the LaFranier hat trick.

Forget about the fact that the rainders went back to back games.

The miracle that we saw last night,

anybody that was at this game, as I was,

kind of sure he scored a goal.

Great forechecking on this play by Labba,

by Cartier.

Cartier made a great pass.

Put it on a tee for Sherry and Sherry scored.

So I had to mention that real quick.

But getting back to LaFranier here,

the second goal that he scored,

and the one that made it three to nothing.

You've got Fox setting the puck behind the net.

And then Mika gets to it.

And he immediately passes between his own legs to Gabe Perot.

And then Perot, as the puck is going to him,

he kind of fakes like he's going to shoot, right?

He pulls his stick back just a little bit.

And then he makes a really short pass to his right to Alexey LaFranier.

And at this point, I mean, just about anybody could have scored.

But LaFranier is obviously in the right position.

He's where he needs to be.

And he stuffs the puck into the net.

And it's two to nothing.

These guys were laughing after the goal.

You know, Mika and Gabe and LaFranier,

because they knew what a beauty this was.

That they had just scored here.

And again, it goes back to what we were talking about.

Just the chemistry with these guys is off the charts right now.

They've been absolutely fantastic.

And just an absolute highlight reel.

One of the more beautiful goals

that the range of scored really the entire season.

And then of course, you're getting toward the end of this game.

And you know, you're hoping that Jonathan Quick can get the shut out.

And you're hoping that maybe Alexey LaFranier can get the hat trick.

And lo and behold, both of those things happen.

And it's funny because for a while in the third period there,

you know, the raiders are up for nothing.

They mostly had control of this game.

I mean, I guess Caldary got like a little push in the third period.

But it was nothing too serious.

And the raiders were in control.

So you had a lot of players in the raiders,

probably most notably Mika's advantage.

They were trying to feed LaFranier the puck.

You know, anytime the raiders had the puck in the offensive zone,

everybody was trying to work it over to LaFranier

and you know, let him get the hat trick.

And he got a couple of chances even before he actually got the hat trick.

But then he finally pulls it off with about two minutes and 20 seconds to go,

you know, whatever it was there.

You've got the raiders breaking out of the defensive zone.

Valken, I am moving the puck up to Gabe Pro.

Gabe with a quick pass to LaFranier.

LaFranier just as quick backly to Gabe Perot.

Perot goes over the blue line.

A kind of a late developing two on one here.

Gabe holds it for as long as he possibly can.

Then a beautiful saucer pass to LaFranier.

LaFranier takes care of the rest.

He hammers at home.

Ford and nothing.

And there's the hat trick.

So that was awesome.

And look, I know some people are going to say to me,

you know, don't be in wagon.

Alexi LaFranier now.

I heard you saying bad things about him this season and this,

that and the other thing, right?

Yeah, I did.

And the bottom line, if people, if there are reindeer fans out there

who felt good about what they were seeing from Alexi LaFranier

last season and really the first half of this season,

probably even more than the first half,

then more power to you.

I think a lot of us, myself included,

were expecting more out of Alexi LaFranier.

And I think where a lot of the frustration comes from

is something that I mentioned on Twitter the other day.

We know he has this in him, at least to a degree.

Now, he might not ever be, you know,

some of these number one overall pets.

He might not ever be Crosby, might not ever be McDavid,

you know, on and on any number of examples, right?

And, okay, fine.

But we know that he's better than what he's shown

for the majority of the last two seasons

because we saw it the year that the reindeer's

won the president's trophy.

He's out there with Panarin and Trollcheck.

That line was absolutely lethal every single night.

I would argue that LaFranier was the best New York reindeer player,

honestly, other than Igor Shastirken,

during the playoff run that year,

where they made it to the conference final against the Panthers.

So, again, I think it just,

that's where the frustration comes from.

It's just knowing that he's better than this,

you know, at least somewhat better than this.

And we're seeing it recently.

And as far as why it's happening,

I mean, we talked about this in the last episode too.

Why is LaFranier finally like, you know,

excelling and looking like a guy

that has a skill set of a former number one overall pick?

I know some people have tossed out the idea

that, you know, LaFranier is better off without Panarin.

And I don't really think that's what's going on here.

The one thing that I'll concede to that group, though,

is that it's possible that with Panarin on the team,

LaFranier was a little bit less hesitant

to really take the ball by the horns

and really look to be that guy,

kind of just be a passenger for Artemis Panarin.

But the biggest reason why I don't buy that whole explanation

is because like we were just talking about two seasons ago,

that was the best season of Alexi LaFranier's career.

And he played on a line with Artemis Panarin.

So how do you explain that?

Like was Panarin holding back LaFranier then

when LaFranier was having the best season of his career?

Like that just doesn't really make any sense.

At least not to me.

I mean, that season LaFranier had 28 goals, 29 assists.

And it looked like he had arrived.

And I mean, he's not the first player to benefit

from playing with Artemis Panarin.

I think just about everybody benefits from playing with Artemis Panarin.

But the one thing that I'll concede, like I said,

is maybe just the mindset for LaFranier changes.

I don't think it's like anything that Panarin was like

doing to him or holding him back or this, that and the other thing.

But just the idea with LaFranier is like,

I got to be the guy now.

I got to lead the way for this team.

I got to be one of the big time major players on this team.

That's at least possible.

You know, we saw, it was too a lesser degree.

But we saw something similar like that happen a couple of seasons

go with Capo Caco.

Remember when like they would move Capo around the lineup.

And for a while, they had him with Mika and Criter.

And it didn't really click.

And then, you know, Capo would play better

when he was on the third line with guys like Brazinski

and like Alex Weinberg, right?

And nobody can really figure that out either.

But I think what happens is, you know, he's out there

with guys that are just like random veterans

or guys that are even younger than him.

And that leads to him taking the bowl by the horns a little bit more often.

And maybe with LaFranier, we're seeing a little bit of that as well.

That is possible.

But the idea of Panarin like holding him back

or like stifling LaFranier, like I don't see that either.

Everybody that's ever played with Panarin pretty much

as benefited from it in one way or another.

And the other myth that I see out there right now is that,

you know, LaFranier is finally getting opportunities.

He's had opportunities, okay?

He's played in the top sticks for basically the entirety

of the last three seasons.

He's been on the top power play.

I would say if you look at the last three seasons cumulatively,

probably a little bit more often than not.

I mean, it's close.

But he's had a good amount of opportunities on the top power play.

And he's played with good line mates and whatnot.

I think he's just playing better.

And my theory again, and I've talked about this in the past,

is that Mika and LaFranier are very good together.

And the evidence is continuing to pile up for that.

I've been seeing this for years.

They've never really gotten a chance to be line mates.

I mean, you'll see it for a couple of games here and there,

but it never really sticks until now.

And now it might really stick.

I mean, you might see these two together for several seasons to come.

And in a best case scenario,

that's what happens for the Rangers.

And LaFranier continues to keep playing the way that he's playing right now.

What are the things that I'll mention here?

And this is me defending LaFranier.

I'll go to bat firm for this too.

People are not everybody, but you know,

some people are trying to downplay what LaFranier is doing right now,

because, oh, well, great.

He's scoring goals and playing better

in what's a lost season for the New York Rangers.

I would actually argue that that makes it more impressive

and more encouraging moving forward.

Now, of course, we would love the Rangers to be in a playout spot right now,

or at least within a striking distance,

that would make everything a lot more fun

down the stretch here.

But as far as LaFranier goes,

and like downplaying it because the Rangers are buried in the standings,

well, first of all, that doesn't affect the Rangers opponents.

It's not like teams are going to like go easier on the Rangers

because they know the Rangers are bad.

You know, there's teams that the Rangers are going to be playing

that are fighting for a playout spot.

Granted, the calorie flames are not one of them,

but you get the idea.

LaFranier has been playing a lot better over the last, you know, bunch of games.

And I think that one of the biggest reasons

why it's more encouraging is because

this is the type of season and the portion of the season

where it would make more sense for a player right now

to kind of dog it, not even necessarily dog it,

but maybe it's just one of those things where you can't find that extra gear

and you're kind of just going through the motions

until the season ends, right?

Because the Rangers are hopelessly buried in the standings,

still in last place in the Eastern Conference.

This is the time, this is a situation where I think a lot of guys,

some consciously or not, might take their foot off the gas a little bit.

LaFranier is doing the exact opposite and he's doing it.

And this is a player that, you know,

his work ethic has come into question on this podcast and otherwise.

And he's stepping up like this in a situation where

the Rangers have nothing to play for.

Why would he do worse than this in a situation

where they do have something to play for, right?

That doesn't make any sense.

So to me, it's more encouraging that he's stepping up like this

in a situation where, at least for this season

and the playoffs are concerned,

all hope is lost for the New York Rangers.

And one more thing that I'll throw out here,

as far as LaFranier is concerned,

there was an idea that I tossed out there a while back.

And I heard, I took some heat for this one.

And I kind of knew that was going to happen,

but regardless, I'll throw it out there again.

Because I get the feeling now,

some people might have changed their minds on this.

Some people are going to dig in,

and their opinions will not have changed

just because LaFranier is having a good stretch.

However, I threw out the idea.

Once it was obvious that Panarin was going to get traded,

what about giving a Lexi LaFranier an A?

Not even necessarily at the start of next season,

but for the rest of this season.

Put an A on his sweater,

making one of the alternate captains.

Now, if you're the Rangers and you go into next season,

you can keep things the way they are.

You know, J.T. Miller is the captain,

and then your alternates are Fox, Mecha,

and Vincent Trollchick if he's still here.

But we know how this goes.

You know, teams tend to have more alternate captains

than they ever have in the past.

And they obviously just lost one in our tummy, Panarin.

So in theory, there's kind of an opening there, right?

You know, somebody could wear the A next season

for the Rangers who has not done so previously.

And the reason I threw this out in the past,

when LaFranier actually when he was struggling

and not looking very good is to me, you give him the A.

It's a challenge.

It's a call to arms.

It's a we believe in you.

Now, let's go out there and start getting the job done, right?

Let's get out there and start playing a good brand of hockey.

It's a way to fire up a player and get them going.

And like I said, challenge them.

And now that he's really picked up his game,

it might be an even better situation to do this

than it was previously.

You know, it's certainly something

that they could at least consider.

It's crazy because you might not realize this.

LaFranier is becoming one of the longest

tenured New Year craters, which is frightening to think about.

But I mean, who's been here longer?

Mika, Igor, and I'm forgetting one.

At Fox, Fox has been here longer than LaFranier.

Is that it though?

I think it might be just those three.

So it's not as crazy of an idea as it sounds.

And it's certainly not as crazy of an idea

if LaFranier continues to play this down the stretch.

You can wait until next season if you want.

Maybe really make a merit.

Let's see if LaFranier is going to keep this up for the last,

you know, 20 games, 19 games, however many are left at this point

and see if that becomes like a viable option

heading in the next season.

Let me know what you think about this.

I think this is really going to split the

the ranger fan base maybe completely in half,

but it's an idea.

I'm not 100% convinced one way or the other either,

but it's something that, you know, I've thought about it.

It's not, it's not such a terrible idea.

It's an idea that I think at least warns us in consideration.

LaFranier wearing the a.

One more thing that I'll mention here

before we switch our attention to Jonathan Quick.

The last three New York ranger games

that my wife and I have attended together,

the rangers have gotten a player that has scored a hat trick.

Last night it was LaFranier.

Years ago it was Mika's advantage out

against the Buffalo Sabers.

That was when the garden was only 10% full

due to, you know, COVID and the lingering effects of COVID,

but we could got a hat trick that night.

And then we also saw Phillip Headle

against the islanders in the preseason in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

He got a hat trick there, including the overtime game winners.

So pretty crazy.

Maybe I should go to more ranger games

and maybe the hat tricks will continue,

but either way, just had to throw that out there

because that's, that's pretty wild.

But anyway, in just a minute,

we'll switch our attention to Jonathan Quick.

He had an excellent game and talk about the future,

what that might hold for quick with the New York rangers.

We will get to that in just a second.

All right, we just want to take a minute

to let everybody know that today's episode of Locked On The

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All right, let's wrap up today's episode

by giving some props, Jonathan quick.

Obviously the the shutout last night against the flames.

And again, I know some people are gonna say,

it's just the flames fine.

I get it, it's still a shutout

and he still made some really nice saves

in this game to earn it.

And it's funny, I mentioned a minute ago

that I was attending this game obviously last night.

And going into it, believe it or not,

I was actually hoping that Jonathan quick

would be between the pipes.

And I had a feeling that he would

because if you remember,

quick played two games before this one.

He was in there for the six three loss against the devils

and then Igor played on Monday

and he led the rainers to a six to two win over the flyers

in that game.

But then you've got a game on Tuesday.

It's a second game of back to back.

And I'm thinking like there's really no reason

for Igor Shisterkin to play both games of a back to back

like the rest of the season.

I mean, typically teams and the rainers have done this too.

When there's a back to back,

that's usually seen as a good chance

to get your goalie a breather,

you're starting goalie and the backup plays one of those games.

But with this situation, it makes even more sense

because the rainers again,

they can't possibly make a playoffs.

Last year was a little different.

We saw Igor, I mean, they wrote Igor

into the ground last season

because they were trying to make up some ground

and try to eat their way into the playoffs.

That's obviously not gonna happen this year.

So I had a feeling it would be quick.

And I also wanted it to be quick

because, you know,

Igor's awesome.

Don't get me wrong.

But we, as reindeer fans,

have many, many, many, many more opportunities

to see Igor Shisterkin between the pipes

for the New York Rangers.

And with Jonathan Quick,

there's probably only so many chances remaining.

At this point, you know, this was,

this was also his 65th career shutout in this game.

He passed Henrik Lunkwis for 17th most all time.

There's a chance that that was his last shutout

of his NHL career.

It's at least possible

because he's only got so many games left this season.

And we'll see how, you know,

Sullivan and the coaching staff look to divvy up the games

between Igor and Quick.

We might even see Garan start a game

or two down the stretch, you know,

this season for the Rangers.

I would be in favor of that.

I think you want to give him a chance.

So we'll see.

And I don't know what the future holds for Jonathan Quick.

He may not know either, you know,

he might be, he strikes me as somebody

that's like very much in the moment

and he'll kind of reassess once the season ends.

And that's all well and good.

But that could have been it.

That could have been the last shutout of his career.

And that was very, very cool to get to witness in person.

And as far as, you know, next season

and Jonathan Quick and his potential future

with the Rangers, do you bring him back

for a fourth season with the Rangers?

Do you sign him to his fourth consecutive

one year contract with the team?

I think you can, I'm not against him.

When you watch it performance like the one last sign

it kind of makes me like just want them to do it.

And you know, the Rangers are rebuilding.

So you've got this guy that's kind of the big brother

that everybody in the room,

I kind of like that dynamic too.

I also would like to see Dylan Garand

eventually get a chance.

I mean, he's been with the Wolfpack for I think four years now.

And, you know, his numbers have taken

a little bit of a step back this season, Garand.

But at a certain point, I think, you know,

you have to make that move.

And something we'll discuss in greater detail

and something we'll take a look at in the off season

for sure we'll do a deep dive on Jonathan Quick

and, you know, his future with this team.

I think it's something that's at least on the table though.

And as far as like the price is concerned,

I mean, you know what's going to be just for a one year contract.

And I don't think he's going to break the bank,

you've got the salary cap rising,

you've got the rainers all of a sudden

with a lot of cap space.

So the money is really no issue whatsoever.

It really just comes down to,

do you think you're better off with Jonathan Quick

even though he's 40 and he'll turn 41 next season?

Or do you look to another veteran backup goalie?

Or do you promote Dylan Garand and give him a chance

and let him try to run with a backup goalie job?

It's an interesting situation.

I'm kind of open to any option,

but there is that party, man, you know,

and I always say never but against a legend

where I would like to see him back

with the rainers next season.

But we'll see how it all shakes out.

But yeah, I mean, quick as far as this game is concerned,

he was awesome, 21 save shut out.

He had a couple of really nice saves

on one of Calgary's power play opportunities

in the second period.

And he made an amazing save on Coronado.

The ringers turned it over trying to leave the defensive zone.

The shot went wide, but the puck kind of bounced back

in front.

Pass the Coronado on the right side and quick.

I mean, sprawling full extension, you know,

reaching out with his glove.

The shot actually hit the bottom of Quick's glove

and then bounced down to the ice

and skitter just wide of the net.

But that obviously preserved the shut out

and quick hung on at the end to earn that shut out.

And good for him for doing that.

So we'll call it there.

I do have to give a shout out to Mike.

He is a loyal lister of locked on to your greeners,

got to meet him at the game last night.

So that was a lot of fun.

I got to speak with him for a little bit

between the first and second periods.

So we'll see, you know, maybe later this season,

more ranger games, prices are down.

They will get like a locked on rangers meetup

at some point.

If not this season, then I think certainly

next season for sure.

But look, I know some people want this team to tank.

We've mentioned that too.

Wooding is fun.

And at a certain point, you want to start

building something for the future

and seeing some young players contribute

the way that they have in recent games,

that's encouraging for the rangers.

So I've enjoyed these last couple of wins

and chance to win three in a row against Winnipeg on Thursday.

So looking forward to seeing that.

But we'll call it there.

Thank you guys as always for tuning in.

And I will see you next time.