Conversation With Joe Beninati Part 3

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Joe Beninati, Joe, great to see you this morning after what looked like a very fun night

and watched an NDC last night.

Guys, that was a whole lot of fun and I expect that to continue for a good amount of time.

The young band arrives with a whole bunch of street cred and then goes out and proves

it.

And his coach says in the morning, you know, there's going to be room for mistakes.

Don't hang your head.

Just be you.

I don't know if I could find a single mistake last night.

He played confidently.

I think that's all about him to have a confidence about him.

But there were no signs of nervousness.

And honestly, guys, when we spoke with him in the in the dressing room in the morning,

at the morning skate, he appeared to be nervous as a cat.

And he said in his own words, I'm super nervous.

I can't wait to get into the game and get it over with, quote, unquote, get those nerves

out of his body.

They didn't look like they were there that long.

I got a kick out.

I mean, there's so many.

I watched a whole game because I, you know, calls a guy that I've been watching since

he was at the national program and, you know, I laughed at some of the back and force

that you guys had last night about Lane and who's the better passer and, you know, but

the best, I'd say the best kick I got was in the bench interview with Kirk Muller.

I really was like laying in bed watching laughing when Kirk was talking about how confident

he looked.

And he almost was like in disbelief because I believe it was right after the shift where

he comes up on the power play.

He kind of weaves his way into the zone.

And then he just kind of like stops moving his feet and just lets his hands go to work

before he like makes a simple little play, which is not an easy play to make.

And you, you could just hear the excitement and like almost like the, I don't want to call

it disbelief, but that interview with Kirk Muller, a guy who's so well-respected to just

be like, yeah, it's clear that this guy is confidence confident.

And Colby, he's the guy who runs the power play, right?

Kirk, that's Kirk's responsibility.

And it's no surprise if I were to say and anybody were to look at the stats that you guys

are talking about, the capitals being on the bubble playoff wise, huge reasons why

has been the ineffectiveness of the power play.

And you just think, well, if you had Cole Hudson the whole season, would the entries have

been that much cleaner?

Would you have had that many more opportunities for one-timers from the flanks?

And this is no disrespect to an all-time great in John Carlson.

But Hudson injected a skating ability last night to that to go along with the likes

of a Ryan Leonard or an Ethan Frank.

The caps should be able to get into the zone cleaner now on power plays and let's see

where that goes from there.

But this young man, again, as soon as they had him on the ice, they had him with the top

power play, and there was no hesitation.

And there was a complete belief that even at 19, he'd understand how to run it.

I know we're going to have a large Cole Hudson conversation this morning, but Joe, I feel

like one guy we have to talk about, and Colby and I have kind of, you know, right of the

ship a little bit over the past year.

So about Pierre-Luc Dubois, right?

Like a couple of years ago, I think his reputation, you know, wasn't necessarily the highest,

you know, people questioned his character in a locker room, but it's become clear to any

hockey fan who's paying attention that since he stepped foot in Washington, NBC, he has

become a very well-loved and caring and kind teammate offering up his home to Ryan Leonard

and now Cole Hudson.

And for, you know, I've gone to know him a little bit too over the past year.

So when the Washington cap was come through MSG, and I cannot speak higher of him as a

guy, especially when he talks to me, but I'd love to hear you talk about just the leadership

qualities that Pierre-Luc Dubois has kind of garnered over the past year or so in DC.

I'll start with Spencer Carberry.

There was immediate get along with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Spencer Carberry.

Spencer challenged him right from the get-go.

Pierre-Luc is the son of a coach and everything that Carberry was singing to Pierre-Luc met

very well with his ears and right off the bat from a responsibility standpoint, Spencer

was quick to say, hey, Pierre-Luc, do you want McDabby tonight?

Do you want McKinnon tonight?

Do you want Suzuki tonight?

I'll give you that match-up.

And I think Pierre-Luc just puffed out his chest and said, hey, they want that from me.

I can deliver that.

I can be a really good two-way guy.

I'm more impressed with Pierre-Luc Dubois this year than ever, considering what he's had

to go through.

It's not easy to go through a major in-season surgery.

I want to say, he missed close to 47 games combined with the injury.

And he is a vital cog, both offensively and defensively for this team.

Leadership-wise, yes, people do gravitate towards him.

A lot of these young guys realize that he played a very young in the NHL when he first

started with Columbus Blue Jackets.

He has a great mind for the game.

He's someone that you love to sit down with in the dressing room just to pick his brain

about certain situations.

I know we've all heard the supposed reputation that he garnered, that he developed through

his first few years.

I swear to you, haven't seen any of that in Washington.

He's been a total buy-in, and when he's been on the ice, he's been productive, and he's

been putting in the work.

Yeah, look, I think I was pretty harsh on him at times, and I've been the first one

to really just appreciate what he's done in Washington and what he's brought.

And again, like Johnny said, the human side of it, how important that is, Cole Hudson,

right out of the hotel, right away, like that makes you feel so comfortable.

Just to know, guys are excited to have you there and welcoming.

I mean, that springboards you into success.

Without question, it'd help Ryan Leonard, and Leonard obviously was somebody that was

in Cole Hudson's ear in the time frame leading up to his NHL debut last night.

He and Cole are good friends from their rivalry with BUBC, from their time together with

the World Junior program.

Obviously, they were well connected, and Ryan speaks so highly of Pierre Luke, so it doesn't

surprise me at all to see the Dubois family treat Cole extremely well.

You watched the whole telecast last night, Dubois and Hudson actually sampled gold songs for

what they were actually going to choose, I think Cole chose a beauty, and for him to get

that chance, he didn't want that goal.

I know for a fact, these guys don't want their first NHL goals or any really big, major

milestone goals to be empty netters, but it was there.

Michael said, you go and take it.

I hear you.

Shoot it.

Shoot it.

Just don't look at me.

Cole wanted to assist.

Cole wanted to assist.

And I know where he was coming from, but it was great to have mom and dad in the crowd

last night.

The cutaway shots were awesome.

A whole bunch of fun for us on monumental sports network.

Joe, I got a text from from Shaddy, and he goes, did Cole just look off OV for an

empty netter?

And I was like, no, no, you got to watch the show to replay.

He was pointing to, obviously, that's his parents, Robin Julie and man, three kids in the NHL

this year.

And Joe, you watched this young man clay last night, and I was texting with Lane after

the game, and you know, Lane is such a, they're so different.

They really are.

They're so different those two.

And Lane will be the first one to tell you, and I would agree with this.

Like, Cole, not many players in the National Hockey League fully control their own destiny.

There's only so much you can control as a player, but then there's this small percentage

of guys that are just so damn talented that if they want to be great, and if they want

to be the best, it's fully cool.

Really up to that.

I'd say it's a very rare, small window of guys where like, you know, I say Lane Hudson

is like a magician.

Cole Hudson is like an assassin, and Cole will, I mean, Lane will tell you Cole has more

raw ability and has a higher ceiling.

And it's hard to say that for a guy who, as you guys pointed out on the telecast last

night, Lane has led the Canadians in assists for the last two years and been all world

type of player in the National Hockey League.

But I would agree, Cole's destiny is in Cole's hands.

His ability is scary, good.

First time I saw him in development camp, yes, you notice how slight they are.

There's probably not 175 pounds of hockey player there, but what is there is electric.

And everything last night was going forward.

I don't know if he backskated it all last night.

He said in our post game show, and I'm not pleased, Joe just said he's Quinn Hughes.

I didn't say that.

I said he reminds me, is stride, that first stride forward is very much like Quinn Hughes.

I don't know if he has the ankle breaking ability, the escapability of Quinn Hughes not

yet.

But he's trending in that direction, and if this aids, it's remarkable, and he does have

the mindset, you can see the self confidence, the belief is going to be there.

And yeah, there are going to be some growing pains.

Not every night is going to go as smoothly as last night.

But when you get that in your first maiden voyage, you do feel like, you know what, let's

see where he can go.

He might be able to control all that destiny that you're talking about.

And at the same time, be a vital figure in Washington moving forward in the post of

Etchkin era.

And one thing I can't wait to see when he finally is comfortable, because he said last

night, I think in the post game, like he was never really feeling super comfortable throughout

the game, right?

Like he was, but he is a guy.

And just like I was in a veteran who loves to celebrate when they score.

And last night, obviously, an empty net goal, you're up by two.

You're not going to see a flashy, crazy celly for a first NHL goal, but Cole Hudson once

OV spends a lot of time with him, the celebrations he's going to have when he scores some goals

in Washington DC.

I mean, he is one of the best at it in college hockey.

So for the fans that have loved Alexander Ovechkin's goal celebrations, I think they're going

to see it a lot when you get Cole Hudson scoring goals that are on a goal tender.

Johnny and Colby, I was working with our producer a couple of days in advance of Cole's

debut.

And he sends me this sizzle reel of all Cole Hudson stuff from Boston University, not

really much.

I don't think there was much from the world junior team, but it was all BU stuff.

And it was very glitzy and glam, and it was nicely done.

And we were working on a tease on a package for Cole for his debut game.

And I'm sitting there going, wow, this kid really does know how to, how to celebrate,

how to open out.

And the goals that he scores in college are remarkable.

And in his words, believe he said, Lane is shiftier.

I'm smoother.

That's what Cole said in comparison.

I want them to compare to his defensive brother, Lane Hudson, NHL rookie of the year.

It's not like you know, you think you have a little bit of pressure on you.

Hey, what'd your brother do?

Yeah, he was the NHL rookie of the year.

Where does he play?

Montreal.

Oh, by the way, big market, big hockey market.

But this young man seems like he's more than ready to face the pressure.

Spencer Carberry told us he thought it would be interesting to watch against an Ottawa team

with great speed, known for its forecheck pressure, how a 19 year old defenseman would

handle that.

I don't think he was bothered at all by it.

And I don't remember a single time where he got hit.

And that's the same thing I say about Lane.

I went to Tom Wilson for the playoffs with the Caps played Montreal a couple of seasons

back.

Was last season in fact.

Last year, yeah.

How hard is he to hit?

Joe, I can't get him.

I line him up.

I think I have him.

I can't get him.

And that's the kind of shifty shakeability.

I think they both have.

Yeah.

And you could just see like watching the game, you know, the first period, he was scanning.

He was looking around a lot.

He was kind of figuring out how much can I cheat up the ice with making sure I have the

speed in my back pocket to defend.

And then as the game went along, you just started to see more and more of who he is.

He makes that play in the third period where he throws that little head fake, gets around

the net, almost beats the goal tender short side.

You know, he comes up on the power play, wide track, Pontiac, as Jack Parker used to

say, like, he's not even moving his feet.

He's just weaving his way in like, like Kutcheroff does, honestly.

I mean, you could just start to see it, Joe.

And I was, I was really just enjoying as you and Locker were kind of talking about some

of these little things that he was getting into.

By the way, great, great trivia question.

I don't know how I, like, I'm like, Tom, who's the other one?

Tom Poti, obviously, was a question, I'll let Joe pull his third BU defenseman to play

for Washington.

Can you name the other two?

Oh, man.

Well, you just gave away Tom, you gave away Tom Poti.

You heard Poti.

The other one has a funny name.

Yeah.

Oh, man, we might spend five minutes of the show.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah.

Shaddy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Shaddy.

As soon as I saw the question, I came up with all the BU forwards.

I'm like, a lot of good.

This is going to do eat.

Yeah.

He's worked for defenseman here.

Yeah.

Shadden Kirk and Poti, but for Cole, Colby, you would have heard an entirely different goal call

for me.

Shaddy.

Get it.

Take every single empty letter you can get, Cole.

But I think this is a player who's going to treat us to a lot of highlight real stuff.

And I really was.

I knew that he'd do well.

I didn't know that he would do that well.

I make that kind of an impression right off the bat.

He was really, really strong.

Yeah.

And you guys set on the broadcast that he scored his first college game and you wouldn't

be surprised if he got one in the first game.

And so you guys set the table for him, which was nice.

It was really nice.

There's another guy that I wanted to talk about.

And Johnny, Johnny is pretty good about talking about how important the Hershey Bears system

has been to the Washington capitals over the years and how well the organization has

kind of flown under the radar for not only having really good American league teams,

but developing players that are now impact players in the NHL.

And Ethan Frank is a name that comes to mind because I remember calling this guy's game

games at Western.

I remember Pat Firstwiler on Twitter being like, this guy should be in the NHL.

And as I'm watching last night and I'm watching that power play, you know, Frank, I'm pretty

sure makes a play where a puck comes around the wall and he takes it off the wall.

And all in one puts it between his legs out to the slot.

And then they try to hit OV on the back door.

I don't know who tried to make the second pass.

But I'm sitting here and I'm going, God, isn't Ethan Frank a great story for your college

player?

Actually, five year college player gets an American league opportunity, gets no sniffs

for the first three years after scoring 30 and 30 almost, I think it was 28 or something

in the American league.

And now this is a guy who looks to be a contributor at the national hockey league level.

And I'm curious with Frank, like, what is, what do you think his ceiling is?

And how important do you think that development time was for him with Hershey in the American

league?

Shoot it really well, Colby.

Skates incredibly well.

I mean, he's lightning fast.

I believe he's got a little roller hockey in his background.

He gets flat out high straight ahead line skating.

He's fantastic with it.

I think the first few years that I watched Ethan at the development level, whether it be

American hockey league or in small tastes at the NHL level, it almost looked like the

puck slowed him down a little bit.

He wasn't necessarily at top speed with the puck, Allah, Conor McDavid.

In this season, as he's become more confident, as his playing time is improved, I don't notice

him dragging the puck.

I notice him moving it forward and keeping his pace and his speed and really challenging

NHL defenseman wide.

I'm thrilled that he earned a two-year contract from the organization.

The teammates love him, the coaches love him.

He's got a great attitude for the game.

And the more you see him getting opportunities now in the power play with that speed on

the entry, I think the more his hands catch up to his legs, he's always had phenomenal

skating legs.

He had three chances in the first period to score last night and there were some bobbles

or shots that went wide.

I think he's going to relax more as this goes along as he gets to play on higher lines

and I wouldn't be surprised.

You asked for a ceiling?

It could be a 20-25-hole guy at the speed.

He really can.

And I was just looking it up as you guys were talking.

I wanted to know how many guys in the current lineup for Washington had spent time with

the Hershey Bears.

It's hard to find the exact number.

Maybe Joe, that's homework for the next broadcast, but it did say like around like eight to

12.

I'm not sure how accurate that might be, but like Proto-Spec Michael, Mowenstein, Leonard,

Fervari, Sandine, I think those are a few names that maybe have spent time in Hershey.

But that's something obviously that-

I heard in Hershey.

Winded Leonard.

Oh.

Did he not?

Did he not?

Did he have any Hershey?

You know, Leonard's never been there yet.

He didn't play well.

Okay.

You need to stay there.

I think it's great that you referenced the American Hockey League Hershey Bears.

They are multiple times, I want to say 13 time Calder Cup champions and a lot of those

teams that win the Calder and the American League are dominated by veteran talents.

That's not the case of Hershey.

They do have young kids there.

I just think back when you say how the organizations help the CAHPS, I immediately think back to

the likes of Braden Hopi, Semyon Varlamov, Michael Moivare, all goalies who play in the American

Hockey League.

John Carlson, Carl Alzner, all defensemen who cut their teeth in the American Hockey.

On and on and on.

So many of them developed in the American League in one championships there.

That had a lot of help.

Jay Beagle, a lot of the guys on the team stand winner.

You could easily see the Hershey connection there.

So that's a good point made by YouTube.

Well, I'll hand up.

I got AI.

The chat's calling me out because I looked it up and it was like one of those like Google

Overview things.

You know, it's not always super accurate.

It's the AI.

So hand up.

I got AI during the show.

But yes, that is a point we definitely wanted to make.

But I do, we did kind of start this conversation, Joe, talking about where the CAHPS are in

the standings.

There's six points back right now.

The playoffs.

They traded away John Carlson and you saw all the interviews after the trade deadline

of how shaken up the locker was from losing a guy like John Carlson.

But is the belief still there because there are two, three game winning streak away from

being right back in contention?

I mean, they aren't.

Six points is not that much room to have to make up for with 13 games left, I believe.

Like, what is the vibe right now as far as playoffs go in their locker room?

I'm glad you said it because most people think I'm crazy, but it depends on how you look

at it.

You sit there and say, okay, to me, the best chance for Washington to get into the playoffs

is to not focus on the wild card.

It's to focus on getting the second or third in the metro.

I think that's going to be the path for them.

Joe, to get there, you're going to have to go what, 12 and 2 down the stretch.

And there's been nothing of late.

The caps have been playing 500 hockey.

There's been nothing of late that leads you to believe they're going to rip off seven,

eight wins in a row.

But is it doable?

Yes.

Is it schedule favorable?

Not really because they spend a lot of time on the road and they've had difficulties

winning on the road this season.

I want to say they have the worst road record in the metro.

They have the second best home record in the metro only to Carolina.

They've done incredibly well against the metro division.

Team they beat last night, Ottawa, it's the Atlantic division that's really submarine

watching in the season.

Do I think they can get there?

Yes.

Do they think they can get there?

Yes.

There's that belief is still there.

A couple of seasons ago, Spencer Carbri's first year behind the bench, the caps actually

traded away at the deadline and still made the playoffs.

So there's experience.

There's a track record there of, hey, you know, let's see how we can sort of tread

water here, thread the needle and trade guys away where we can get assets, draft assets

for the future.

And at the same time, keep the room, keep the team thinking it's a possibility.

Mathematically, I know it's slight.

I know that the odds makers percentage wise will say it's very, very low for Washington.

I still think it's there.

It's just a matter of like you said, can they rip off three or four in a row?

They don't have those two losses to Boston or Killamy, but you know, as I don't focus

on the wild card, those two losses to Boston straight up that hurt with respect to your

wild purchase.

I still think though you can catch an Islander or a Pittsburgh team for positioning in

the metric.

Yeah.

And if they don't make the playoffs, Joe, you know, we're going to get an opportunity

to see what is going to be the new iteration of this team.

Obviously, Chris Patrick is the general manager now.

I think a lot of people kind of forget that outside of Washington.

And we all still think about, you know, McClellan and obviously those guys have worked

hand in hand together for so long.

But in theory, you know, the caps have right now $10 million in cap space.

That's not in theory.

That's reality.

And then Ovechkin's nine and a half million comes off the books.

And you look at their situation like they have a couple of UFA's.

They have one RFA with Mick Michael, who's a guy who they're obviously going to want

to keep.

But I don't think there's anybody do for some massive, massive payday.

So there is going to be opportunities for Chris to get out into the market and kind of

reshape this team in his view.

How does he see fit?

And I'm curious from your standpoint, like, are they going to go in this summer and spend

all their cap money?

Do you see them sort of slow playing this a little bit and realizing, okay, like we

just lost the greatest goal scorer of all time and the history of this game, when I say

lost, they're not losing him, but you know what I mean by that.

How do we sort of change now to the next page?

And I'm curious, like, what are your expectations or viewpoints on the direction that they may

look to go within the off season?

Great question.

At first off, I'm not trying to be as smart as.

No.

As Ovechkin told you that he's not going back.

No.

He had it.

No, he has not.

You know who keeps telling me that I'm telling him under the bus, Jeff Merrick keeps telling

me.

You're a fault that Joe is telling me that I'm wrong on this one.

So blame Jeff.

The answer that Jeff is exactly right.

I get the impression that this is Alex's final year, but he hasn't made it public yet.

And I think time will tell, Alex will tell.

I think you guys are both right, but I hadn't heard it so conclusively as you just put it.

Yes.

If Alex is not in the picture, there's a lot of money to be spent.

And slow play?

No.

That's not Ted Leonsis's motive as an owner in Washington.

Brian McClellan is still in the picture working with Chris in that sense from a from a

president's level.

They would spend and it's been Chris Patrick's intention.

I think for the last six weeks, eight weeks leading into the trade deadline.

He's been saying top six forward goal scoring forward.

So once they do get to free agency, that's going to be the area in which they look to spend

some money.

I don't think they'll hold anything back and reserve.

If Alex chooses to play one more season, because he likes what the what the pipe what what's

in the pipeline for Washington, I really do think he likes the fact that Paul Hudson's

going to be around.

Alexey Protus's brother, Elias is going to be around.

And in lack of it, if those shoulders of the injuries heal, it's another future 30,

40 goal score.

I think Alex likes the future.

I just don't know if it's the it for him.

If he's going to step away, then we are truly turning the page after a legendary career.

If there's that kind of money to spend, Colby, they're going to spend it.

I don't think they'll hold anything to reserve.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Good.

Kind of like off topic question, not necessarily off topic, but I was sent this clip yesterday.

I think it might have been like a bar stool sports clip or something, but the question

was name of sports city that has at least three of the four major major sports, you know,

MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, where the hockey team is at least in the top two in popularity.

And I thought Washington DC was one of those cities.

I think the point they were trying to make is as popular as hockey is, if you look around

all these major sports cities in the US, it is not typically a top two popular sport

in that specific city because the NFL, MLB, NBA dominated.

But would you agree that in DC, the caps are probably, if not one, at least two?

The commanders overall still, regardless of what how they do on the field, the commanders

are the number one Washington capitals, I would say are the two here now.

Nats would be three, Wizards would be four in that rotation.

Washington and Pittsburgh come to mind right away, and I do believe the penguins sit with

the Steelers ahead of the Pirates, we're talking about three of the major sports, right?

In that city.

So those teams, those two cities come to mind right away, Johnny, I think that's fair.

When the Nats won the World Series, the year after the caps won the Stanley Cup, it was

pretty darn close, since that time Nats have really fallen through the floor, and I know

that they have a good plan, and they're going to try and make their way back up the ladder.

But in the meantime, the commanders have always been, and I've been here since 1994, the commanders

and albeit Redskins have always been the number one here, and it's not close, but the caps

have taken that number two mantle for sure.

Well, I feel like, we talk about youth hockey all the time, a lot on this show and where

the hockey hotbeds are, and DC is not one that gets brought up a lot.

But I know there are so many kids that play in Virginia that play for the little caps.

I don't know if it's kept there anymore, but I remember going up in the AYH, playing

against the little caps.

That was always fun.

Sordiff is a local kid, right?

I think he grew up in the area.

Is Frank not a local kid?

He's not sure that he grew up in the area, but another player who they really think highly

of and who has made a nice first step and has been, they were very focused upon him,

pro scout wise.

When he was with Florida, he obviously the Panthers were a deep organization.

Justin never got a chance there, plus some injuries curtailed him with them.

But he's very much in the picture here in the future.

I pull all of that, Johnny.

That's the Ovechkin effect.

Yeah.

He perfectly, since Alex arrived in O506, not that hockey wasn't important in the marketplace,

but boys, girls, high school hockey boys and girls.

A lot of players, level players now are getting opportunities at the collegiate level that

are coming from the DMV area, DC, Maryland, and Virginia without a question.

I'm wrong about Sordiff, so I'm over to today on my facts, but he's from British Columbia,

but I think grew up in Capsvan, so I made that mistake.

So, damn, tough day.

Jersey on.

Yeah.

I think he's from Victoria, one of the most people places on earth.

Don't worry, Johnny.

We're always happy to give you a minus, and no more fact checking for me.

That's the best moment of my personal hockey life, and journey took place in Washington,

DC, and in that building when we won the National Championship in 09.

So I got a big warm spot in my heart for DC.

I'm pretty sure the Frozen Four is in Vegas this year.

It's either in DC next year or the year after.

I know DC is one of the next two.

I know it's Chicago in DC.

I'm not sure if the order is DC, then Chicago or Chicago in DC, but I have told my bosses

at ESPN, please don't fire me or replace me until the DC one is done.

After that, hey, I get it.

I'm fair game.

You've got all these great former players now, like Oshi and John Eric Johnson.

They're all coming back and now they're all broadcasting.

So I'm sure my seat is going to get hot pretty quick, Joe, but I do hope I get to make it

through the DC one because of the great memory that I had in that building.

And obviously, you know, we talked about Shatton Kirk earlier.

You know, he passed me that puck.

So he's a he's a hell of a part of that moment as well.

But I'll always have a big warm spot in my heart.

And we celebrated at a bar called Sign of the Whale, which was just some part, yeah,

just some bar near the hotel.

I don't know how we picked that one or ended up there.

But boy, that was a fun night.

That's a great, great memory there.

And despite what is it, 35 years of pro hockey for me now, I love the opportunity to call

college games.

I'm envious of what you and Boots you get to do with regard to the Frozen Four and all.

Yeah, I had heard that it's coming to Capitol, one arena.

I'm sure they'll put a great face on it for you guys.

And as this season unfolds, I was looking, I do some work on the big 10 network in the

cross.

And I know Michigan and Michigan State were way up high in the rankings this year.

So I'm curious to see how that will play out for them over the next few weeks.

But college hockey has always been a love for me.

It is, by the way, it is April 8th and 10th next year, 2027 Capitol, one arena in DC.

And they will do a great job.

It was sold out when we were there in 09, I'm sure it'll be sold out next year.

And Joe, I will be very, very surprised if Michigan and Michigan State are not playing

for in the Frozen Four this year.

They are two teams that have been good from the first weekend of the season.

Maybe Michigan has a slight edge because they've played better as of late.

But those two teams to me have just been a cut above and maybe throw North Dakota in

there with Western Michigan and Denver kind of nipping at their heels.

But those three programs have, in my opinion, just sort of been the best three teams from

wire to wire.

And I think when you do that, you have a lot of confidence going into the one and done

format of the NCAA tournament.

That Michigan athletic program is pretty good.

Hockey, football, basketball, they do it all.

I think they're going to win the national championship.

I mean, that's a crazy take my chance.

They should ask about our hockey, Johnny, which both, yeah, both, I think they're going

to wait.

I mean, listen, they're going to have to think about college basketball, but they're going

to have to beat themselves in hockey, Joe.

They are, you know, they've got it going there.

They've got a lot of really good players and I know there's some teams that are hoping

maybe they lose sooner than later because they want to see him playing for them in the

national hockey league.

But Joe, thanks so much for coming on today.

Enjoy your time with Cole.

I love the kid.

I'm rooting for him.

His family has been great.

His parents have been, listen, his dad, one of a kind.

I hope you get a chance to talk to him soon because Rob is one of a kind, unapologetically

himself and he's put three, help put three boys in the national hockey league, Robin

Julie.

And I got to tell you, like, you could say whatever you want about a person, when you

see three kids in the national hockey league all within the span of 24 months, the parents

did something right.

And I will die on that hill every day.

Guys, do you know how old is Lars?

There's a fourth brother, right?

You as a USHL with Nesquil.

Yeah.

Wow.

Amazing.

Yep.

And my son is older, a little later on Lars.

He's he's he's going to surprise people.

Don't sleep on Lars either.

So we'll see what happens with him.

Hopefully, no of them are asked it.

Sorry, I know the caps were interested in the other one that's that's with Edmundton.

I know they were trying to be a free agent.

Yep.

Yeah.

And he might be a free agent.

Or maybe he just signed an extension.

I can't remember.

I think he signed.

Quince on, I think I just want an extension.

But he'll he'll play in the league, Joe.

He's he's a smart player.

not listen, he's not quite cold or or or or or lame, but he can play like he belongs and

he'll find his footing in the NHL. Like I would not bet against Quinn either. So seriously,

try to if if if Robin and Julia are going to come around and watch some of these next

couple of games, if you get five minutes to just chat with him, Joe again, he he's one

of a kind and I and I say that in a good way. I really do. I say it in a good way.

I love it. I look forward to it. Guys, thanks. I appreciate the time today.

Thank you, Joe. Appreciate you.

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