Loading...
Loading...

In the wake of Florida Panthers forward AJ Greer’s three-game suspension for boarding Calgary Flames forwards Connor Zary, Max and Laz discuss whether the punishment fit the crime, how the NHL could do more to curb these kinds of dangerous hits, and the major obstacle preventing those changes. Plus, The Athletic’s own Aaron Portzline joins the show to discuss the surging Columbus Blue Jackets, who despite a 1-0 loss the New York Islanders on Sunday night, remain one of the league’s hottest teams. And, to close things out, the guys talk about the teams with a lot at stake down the stretch towards the playoffs.
Hosts: Max Bultman and Mark Lazerus
With: Aaron Portzline
Executive Producer: Chris Flannery
Producer: Chris Flannery
Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshow
Join our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/VTm9VjkF
Subscribe to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/hockeyshow
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hi, this is Pablo Torei from Pablo Torei finds out and today I want to talk to you about
Boost Mobile because we spent a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports, over
value contracts, money tied up in the wrong places, and so on, but those inefficiencies
aren't just on a roster, sometimes they're in your own monthly expenses.
Boost Mobile says switching to their $25 unlimited forever plan can unlock up to $600 in savings
a year.
That's $25 a month for unlimited data, talk and text when you bring your own phone.
If that money is trapped in a pricey phone bill, it might be worth a second look.
Visit BoostMobile.com to learn more.
After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience lower speeds, customers pay $25 per month
as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile and Limited Plan.
Savings claim based on a January 2026 Boost Mobile Survey of 1,000 Americans with single
line on limited plans, comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months
on the Boost Mobile and Limited Plan.
For full offer details, visit BoostMobile.com.
Are you noticing your car insurance rate creep up even without tickets or claims?
You're not alone.
That's why there's Jerry, your proactive insurance assistant.
Jerry handles the legwork by comparing quotes side by side from over 50 top insurers,
so you can confidently hit by no spam calls, no hidden fees.
Jerry even tracks rates and alerts you when it's best to shop.
Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year.
Don't settle for higher rates.
Download the Jerry app or visit jerry.ai slash a cast today.
Hi, this is Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Caram, host of The Watch What Crappens Podcast.
Here to tell you that the HBO original comedy series The Comeback is back for its final season.
On the official Comeback podcast, join host Evan Ross Katz along with Lisa Kudrow and
Michael Patrick King to unpack each episode.
Here about the show's origins, real life parallels, and why it still resonates with fans
after more than two decades.
Stream the comeback on HBO Max and watch The Comeback podcast on HBO Max or listen wherever
you get your podcasts.
This is The Athletic Hockey Show.
Hey, everybody, Max Boltman here alongside Mark Lazarus for another episode of The Athletic
Hockey Show.
Fun show on tap today.
We're going to talk about what is at stake and which teams have the most at stake on this
NHL playoff race.
Aaron Porcelain is going to join us shortly to talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets.
We've been one of the best stories in hockey since the Olympic break and even actually
before that.
But first, as I want to get to the news of the night here as we record this Sunday evening,
and that's the AJ Greer suspension.
It is a three-gamer for the Florida Panthers forward after the boarding hit on Conor
Zary.
It's kind of the second.
You have to view this in tandem, I think, with the Matthew suspension from last week.
The Radco-Gudus hit on him.
That gets five games.
Because of that one, Department of Player Safety, I think, and because of the high-profile
nature of Austin Matthews, the Department of Player Safety was under more spotlight,
more scrutiny than even it normally is.
It's kind of a constant conversation that we have year-round in the NHL.
And I think the Greer one is going to be another lightning rod in this.
I hate that we have to qualify everything, right?
Oh, it's a bigger deal because it's a star player.
It's a bigger deal because the player got hurt.
It's a bigger deal because it's a playoff game.
Is it a dirty hit?
Is it something we're trying to get out of the game?
And whether it's the Gudus hit on Matthews, which was a dirty hit that we won out of the
game, whether it's Greer on Zary, which was a dirty hit, we want to get out of the game,
whether it's one of any number of Matt Rempay hits in the last couple of years, or Jacob
Trouber, any of these headshots, do we want to get it out of the game?
And if we want to get it out of the game, it's got to be better than this.
It can't just be three games, four games, five games, two games, phone hearings, all this
nonsense.
Nothing is going to change with the kind of punishments they're dulling out.
The Greer suspension is absolutely laughable.
Laffable.
That was such a violent and dangerous hit.
And to get only three regular season games for that, I don't know what we're doing here.
All right.
So a couple of things there.
So the first one is the hit itself and the hit is a bad hit.
It's one of the more dangerous hits you can make in hockey is it's actually, in a lot
of cases, more dangerous to hit someone at that distance from the boards.
And really, this wasn't necessarily even a hit.
It's more of a shove.
But he shoves him down far enough away from the boards that he is going to run basically
headfirst into the boards with the stumble.
And that's, I think, where the fear comes in here and that's the reaction that you're
having, right?
Is that this is a head and neck, you know, super risk for a play like this.
I think the issue with the suspension length is always comes back to precedent.
And you look at like, okay, if we wanted a higher number of games here, you would have
to find precedent, I think, to why deliver that?
Why?
The precedent is bad.
That's the whole justice system.
The precedent is not sufficient.
It's failed us for years.
Why?
Just because they screwed up three years ago and they screwed up two years ago and they
screwed up yesterday, do we have to screw up today?
Because you're going to get an appeal.
You're going to, at some point go before a judge and you're going to be asked why you're
drawing the line here.
I guess you could raise the minimums for certain suspensions, but the issue that I think
is going to keep coming up here and it's going to be, it's the defining issue with trying
to get higher suspensions is in order to do that, someone's going to have to file a grievance,
you're going to have to fight for it.
Who would file that grievance last?
I don't know.
Part of the problem with this is the, there's an answer is protecting both.
That's the answer.
So the, the body that is responsible for trying to pursue that is the same body that represents
Greer and at some point, whenever there's a guy injured, we take the, you know, the sympathetic
look, I think for good reason, I'd be like, Hey, you know, someone has to stand up for
this guy.
But who's going to file that grievance on the players and say, Hey, we want all these,
all of our guys to get five games, 10 games to lose 20% of their salary to lose whatever
it might be sitting out these games because of this hit.
I don't think that's ever going to happen.
Well, no, and that's the problem is the, is the unions representing both the victim and
the perpetrator here, right?
It's a, it's a flawed system.
And I know the union has to represent all of its members.
Everyone who plays in the hockey game is a member of that union.
If, you know, if I was at work and I got decked by somebody who was in my union, it would
be complicated and weird.
I understand that.
But we have to figure out a way to better legislate this to, to be more consistent, to be more
severe and to actually get this stuff out of the game because this just keeps happening
because the punishments are so weak and pathetic.
Well, that's I think like what I wanted to talk about is I, I think that you can make
an argument they should be more severe.
I don't think it's going to happen at a dramatic scale.
Maybe you could go get this from three games to five or six.
I don't think it's ever going to be a 10, right?
Unless it's like a consistent repeat thing, which, which is a factor a little bit for
Greer.
He's a, he is considered a repeat offender here, but it's not on the level of like
a goodness or even like a Matt Rempio.
I think we're going to talk about in a second here.
The consistency I think can be missed.
I think that's one of the most common complaints is that it's completely wildly
inconsistent, but I went and looked for, I just searched, you know, NHL
boarding suspension and the plays that came up, you know, there's a couple
of recent ones, right?
So there's Miko Rantonen, you know, with, with what we talked about earlier this
year, he had the consecutive boarding penalties.
And so his was, I think, a mandatory suspension for that reason because he had
boarding penalties and consecutive games.
Obviously this hit, I would consider worse than either of the two ran and it's
against Alex Ramanov or I'm spacing on who the second one was against.
That he actually got the suspension for Matt Coronado.
So also against the flames here.
There was the JJ Moser one and that was two games and that was against the Florida
Panthers here.
And I think that's interesting because the, to me, the Moser hit is a more violent
hit. It's probably not a more dangerous hit, but it is like head right into the
dash or pressure applied.
It's fortunately, this is the instance where we talk about the proxies, it looks,
it looks worse.
Yeah, it looks worse.
Yeah, it's probably not as dangerous because the board and
some ways actually bracing and he's not going to crumple his neck in that way,
but it looks worse and that got two games.
If you go much beyond that with the Florida Panthers, they're going to go to
you and say, how did our guy only get the protection of two games and you're
going to give it against our guy for four, five, six, seven, double, triple the
suspension link.
So they gave him more, probably because Greer is a repeat offender, but both of
those two recent examples tell me that this actually is, we can have the debate
about severity, but it is consistent.
No, no, I always laugh when people say that it's not consistent because it is,
because they always under do it.
They never give out an adequate suspension.
You know, the one that I thought about was was a vandercane on
Nazum Kodri in the playoffs a few years ago in Edmonton.
And it was kind of that same thing where there was distance from the boards.
Yeah, when you hit a guy in the back four or five feet from the boards,
that's where the neck injury comes into play.
That's where they're really scary.
If you get smeared into the into the into the glass, that's not fun.
Nobody's looking for that, but it's not as dangerous.
Really, you just still get a concussion.
It's certainly dangerous, but the neck injuries that could happen when you get
flung into the board from distance is so much worse.
So that a vandercane hit on Kodri and King got one game.
Now we all know the rules.
One playoff game is two regular season games.
Yeah, still not enough, right?
It's still just two games.
And again, just because it was bad last time, doesn't make it good.
Doesn't make it right to be bad again.
Two wrongs don't make it right at some point.
And maybe this comes with a change of leadership at the Department of
Player Safety at some point, but we need to change the scale here.
We need to drop the hammer on some of these guys if we ever want to get
this stuff out of the game.
The penalties are just not severe enough.
Do you think that Greer in that moment, like he's not really battling for it?
And I think that's the most damn thing is this is not even the goodest one.
You can make an argument that he's scrambling to just trying to get any
piece of Matthews.
And I think you still need to be accountable and responsible for your your
body and your hits.
This one is not a scrambly play.
Like Greer has the time to gather himself here.
He's kind of been holding or hooking him on the way in and and
Zary breaks free and then he gives him the shove.
I don't know that I fully expected or if I was AJ Greer, I don't know that I
would be fully expecting it to be as bad as it was, but I think it's a case
where you're accountable for your body and for your your hits.
Right.
And it was it was a violent hit.
It didn't have the the arm pendulum swing that we were talking about with
the Moser hit, but it was a violent two handed shove.
And when you violently shove a guy who's bent over at the waist on ice
gates on a sheet of ice, what do we think is going to happen there?
But if there's no way he didn't think that guy was going down.
That play away from a corner, you see five, six times a game.
And I think that's like constantly what I think about when I look at
DPS decisions is that like, you know, one of the one of the things that
judge people crazy is the cross check, right?
And there can be some brutal cross checks in front of the net.
That do not get called.
And so then when you see one and you're like, well, how is that not more?
It's because there is some element of hockey play to some of these moves.
Even if it doesn't look like it, even if it's kind of like inconceivably like,
no, that he's not going for the puck.
He's just shoving this guy down.
We let defensemen shove guys down.
And the issue is where it was on the ice.
But if this occurred at center, ice, this is not a suspension of any kind.
It's a suspension because it's boarding because it's near the boards.
And I think that's like once you kind of established that we're in a framework
here of like, this is a problem.
If it's a little light, it's probably should have been a four or five gamer.
But I think the conversation shifts a little bit.
We're talking about, okay, it should have been one or two games longer instead of
this is a, they're allowing this horrible thing that they would never otherwise allow.
They actually do allow it elsewhere on the ice.
They do. That's true.
And the funny thing is they actually initially called this interference.
That's what the penalty was.
The puck was right there.
It was not interference like he was playing the puck and and
Greer was playing the body while Zari was playing the puck.
That's allowed.
It's the matter in which he approached playing the body.
That is, you know, you're going to guide directly in the numbers, basically
lower back and just shove him to the ice like that right near the boards.
I don't know.
I got five games.
I would have been more, I would have been happier with that than I would have with three.
But to me, that's seven, eight, nine games.
Only way we're going to see a change of the only way you're going to actually
affect change and change the way these guys think on the ice.
And we do need them thinking.
I know it's an instinctive sport, but you have to think in these moments.
I am near the boards.
He is bent over at the waist.
This is a dangerous hit.
And the only way to do that is to really knock him down for an eighth of a season,
a tenth of the season, take that money away from them.
Take those, you know, playoff race games away from them.
That's the only way that's going to get these guys to change their mindset.
Cause three games is nothing to drop in the bucket.
It might be the case.
I mean, you might be right that that is the line that would become, you know,
thoroughly enough disincentivized.
I just, I struggled to see them going that far when it would be a doubling or
tripling of all the past precedent.
And when you think about the money at stake and then that's obviously the
disincentive, I fully agree.
But the, the body that I think is, is the most likely to address this is the
body that you said represents both sides.
And that's why I don't think we will see like it, it get dramatically larger than
this.
I mean, maybe this is something that needs to be negotiated into the next CBA
because I think about, you know, 20, 30 years ago, you said bench clearing
brawls all the time.
Guys would leap over the boards and get involved in these line brawls and
there'd be 10, 20 guys out there.
Yep.
Then they changed the rules.
It's a 10 game suspension for leaving the bench now.
And it's five games for your coach, if you leave the bench, it is a massive
ridiculously over the top penalty to get involved in what happens, you know,
10 times a night.
But it changed the way people think it worked.
If you get dramatic with this, you can, we can get headshots out of the
game to like 90% degree.
If you just make it 20 goddamn games, if you hit a guy in the head, that's
the only way you do it.
And this league is never going to do it.
And the unions never going to go for it.
And I understand all that, but that doesn't make what they're doing right.
And it doesn't make it sufficient.
It's a very good point that, you know, there are examples of this that things
used to happen and as, you know, significant enough severe enough
punishment was established to deter it completely.
I mean, this is maybe a little different than that.
I think there's a little more pre, I don't know, decision to do.
Decide to jump off of the bench.
Like you're a little more, you're in a seated position.
Your time to meditate, yeah, pre-meditate.
That's the word I was looking for.
But I, like, this is a bad hit.
Like I think it should have been another game or two that more than it was.
And this is like, I think one of the more dangerous plays in hockey.
I, when I see a guy go down two feet from the boards, you cringe every single
time because you just don't know what's going to happen when the head hits.
And if the neck, you know, is, is in a vulnerable position.
It's one of the scariest plays in hockey.
Yeah, and we need to start legislating the hit, not the result of the hit.
It's got to be the intention and the act.
It can't just be, oh, this guy wasn't hurt.
So we don't need to suspend this guy.
That's nonsense.
Oh, for sure.
I mean, you can get hurt and it goes the other way, too.
You can get hurt on a play that wasn't a penalty at all.
And we're not going to be suspending guys for that.
And so likewise, certainly, you can't be saying, oh, well, he, because he didn't get hurt,
we're going to let him get away with it.
No, because the next guy might get hurt.
I mean, the rant and then sequence earlier this year, like he gets nothing
for the first one on Ramana.
I thought you should have got a game for that.
The mandatory one only came because it was two boarding pounds.
We don't know if he would have gotten a penalty on the Coronado hit at all.
If it wasn't a mandated thing for the two consecutive games with a major penalty for boarding.
So you might have, Matt Coronado might have avoided that play.
Had they suspended me, would have avoided that play?
Had they suspended me, go, and then for the Ramana of hits.
So I just wanted to say Zary's day to day.
So to your point, like this one, he was not injured.
And we don't know if that factored him.
And you brought a Matt Rampi.
He had the eight game suspension for him.
Yes.
He had a hit on Miro Heiscanin.
And now that was, that wasn't that, I think that was a reputational suspension, right?
Because that hit wasn't so bad.
That was a close-up hit.
Like when you hit a guy against the boards and he's already basically against the boards,
you're not doing a lot of damage.
Rampi is massive, but it wasn't violent.
He didn't swing his arms.
It wasn't a two-handed shove.
He just used his gigantic body to smush Miro Heiscanin against the boards.
He got eight games for it just because he was Matt Rampi.
The other part of that was they ruled that it was both boarding and elbowing.
So I assume that went into it too, that it was like you violated this on every level.
But I agree.
I thought the Rampi on Heiscanin was less dangerous than Greer on Zary.
And so that one, I think, it's a reputation.
And you know what?
To your point again, they gave me games.
We don't hear a whole lot about Matt Rampi's suspensions anymore and it haven't really since.
So I think you have a point.
I'm just trying to, you know, kind of say why I think it historically has not gone that way
and why I think it is more consistent than we give credit for sometimes.
I agree with you.
He will not change because this is the NHL.
I'm just saying it should.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's take a quick break right there.
When we get back, we'll have a happier conversation, I think, about one of the most exciting
hockey teams of the last two months.
We're doing it at an interesting time.
I will grant.
But Aaron Portz, I'll be with us when we get back from the break.
Talk about the Columbus Projects.
My dad taught me a lot, including how easy it is to forget to cancel things.
So I downloaded experience, my BFF, big financial friend.
Experience could help me cancel my unused subscriptions and lower my bills, saving me hundreds
a year.
Get started with the experience app today.
Your big financial friends here to help you save smarter.
Results will vary, not all bills are subscriptions eligible, savings not guaranteed, $631 a year,
average savings with one-plus negotiations and one-plus cancellations paid membership
with connected payment account required to experience.com for details.
Hey, this is Adam Grant, host of Ted's podcast, rethinking with Adam Grant.
Let me share with you why smart finance leaders turned to Bill.
They know that clarity isn't just helpful, it's strategic.
As the intelligent finance platform, Bill uses AI to automate the busy work for nearly
half a million businesses so they can focus on intentional growth.
Eliminate the friction and start scaling with the proven choice.
Visit bill.com slash proven to talk with an expert about automating your business finances
and get a $250 gift card as a thank you.
It's bill.com slash proven turns and conditions apply to offer page for details.
Hey y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair where delivery and setup are as easy as a few
taps on your phone.
Picture this.
You're relaxing in an old hammock, scrolling Wayfair's app when you spot it, a brand new
patio set.
Next thing you know, Wayfair delivers it right to your patio and sets it up.
Oh, you need a new girl too?
All right, Wayfair's got you covered.
With Wayfair's room of choice delivery and fast expert setup on qualifying orders, life
gets a little easier.
Visit Wayfair.com or the Wayfair app.
Wayfair every style, every home.
All right, we are back and I feel a little bad at last.
I think we're going to jinx or we did jinx the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight because
we knew we wanted to have Aaron Porzlianon to talk about the Blue Jackets.
They've been the hottest team west of Buffalo for the last two months.
And as soon as we booked 40, I see you there, Porty, as soon as we booked it, of course,
the Blue Jackets get shut out by the New York Islanders tonight, but they are still in
a playoff spot.
They have still been red hot.
40.
The biggest reason is Rick bonus, right?
Rick bonus has to be came in January 12th.
They were 1997 and they've been on a tear since then.
I've got the 18 with tonight 18, three and four under bonus in his time here.
So I mean, if barely two months and they've turned it around, yeah, it's all over the
place.
It started with communication.
It started with him demanding more engaged defensive play, which is the sexy answer, but
that's resulted in more offense.
And life is better for the goalies.
Elvis Merzlikens, even his steady, but Jet Greaves looks like a star now.
And yeah, it's just, this team is kind of playing how they thought they could play.
And you know, Jim Domino made the change.
It's a, it's a bold move in the middle of the season, but he doesn't make that change.
If he doesn't think that this team should have been performing better than they were.
And I thought it was a little early.
I thought maybe it would wait till the Olympic break, but he didn't think it could because
he thought this thing would be a lost cause if they waited much longer.
Turns out he was right.
It's really crazy.
I mean, on January 10th, Columbus was dead last in the conference.
They were behind the Rangers.
They were at what nine points out they had by far the least amount of regulation wins
in the conference.
They had no chance of making the playoffs.
And here they are showing you actually can make up ground in the NHL, even with the loser
point out that you just have to win every single night.
How does Rick bonus?
How does one guy come in?
I was looking at some of the numbers in those 24, 25 games, whatever it's been since bonuses
come in.
You got 10 guys with the least four goals.
You got six guys with the least six goals.
I know Connor darlin's not going to shoot 30% forever, but how does a coach get this
much offense out of a team?
We see Barry trots come in and make a team defensively sound.
How does a guy come in and make a team offensively dangerous?
Yeah.
Well, strangely enough by making them better defensively, they have the puck now.
They work harder to get the puck.
They check now.
I sound like Ken freaking Hitchcock here.
Actually, Rick bonus sounds like Ken Hitchcock a lot if you just look at the transcript.
If you listen to how he says it, it's much more congenial.
It's much more, it's said with a, he has like this default smile, you know what I mean?
And I think guys like Marcchenko and Fantilly certainly is a guy that's really up to his play
defensively.
There are others.
But this team finished seventh in the league and scoring last year.
They scored as many goals as the Maple Leafs did.
And that got missed a lot because they missed the playoffs.
There's some offensive talent here.
Werenzki Marcchenko, Fantilly had 31 goals last year as a 20 year old.
There's some firepower here, but they were, they were playing without the puck so much.
They were gagging up leads in the third period at an alarming rate.
There's probably 10 plus points that they've left out there by blowing leads in the third
period.
So confidence was absolutely an issue.
And bonus doesn't say we're going to try to do this.
We don't, there's no real problem.
It's just bad bounces and this and that, which is what they heard before.
What Rick bonus says is we know what the problem is.
This is what the problem is and we're going to fix it.
And again, that's the same kind of stuff that Tordorello would say, Hitchcock would say.
The coaches who've had the most success here.
Bones delivers it in a much more appealing way, especially to today's players.
But it's essentially the same message.
You check to create offense.
You defend.
You work hard to get the puck back.
You can't just rely on your skill, the national oculi.
And I think they've taken that message to heart.
I want to go back to Greaves because to me he's one of the big stories here.
Three, three, four years ago, Elvis Merzlikens was the rising great hope of the Columbus Blue Jackets
Post-Pobrovsky.
And it didn't stay that way.
And that was my biggest fear about the Blue Jackets direction was like this was supposed
to be the answer in goal and it wasn't materializing.
Greaves had a storied AHL career.
But like when did it start to turn to this level where he's been a bankable like every
night starter in the NHL?
You know, it's so great about Greaves and I hope I don't go on too much with this because
it's one of my favorite topics.
He came to rookie camp in Traverse City and actually we're probably there as an invite.
Wasn't drafted.
Played well.
Okay, kid, we'll keep your name, you know, how the rookie tournaments are.
They signed him the next year when he was still in junior with numbers.
The frankly weren't that great entry level deal, invited to the rookie camp.
There was really, and I don't, I would say this to Jed, I think he would probably agree.
At the time, there was no expectation that this was going to be a national hockey league
goalie and then it was the East Coast league and they put that before him and he devoured
it.
They brought him to the AHL.
He's only going to be a backup in the AHL.
This is who he is.
He devoured that and kept just kept pushing for more and more and more and every little
thing they've put in front of him, he's not only met but exceeded and one of the things
with the struggling franchise, right, a franchise that's in a tough spot is they either don't
wait or they can't wait long on players that are having the least little bit of success.
And if Jet Greaves were a draft pick, a first, second round or whatever, he was a player
that they had high expectations for, there's no way he would have developed and been able
to develop and allowed to develop as long as he did in the American hockey league.
So they're own, I think they're own sort of skepticism or doubt towards who this player
could be in a weird way, help them develop him the right way by just letting him play
in the American hockey league.
I mean, you would hear people would say, we're not, I mean, maybe we call him up for a
spot start, but that's not the answer, right?
And then you go back to Cleveland and went eight in a row with three shut outs and he's
a beloved player in Cleveland, he's a beloved player here, he's a wonderful person, he's
the kind of guy that people root for in the dressing room and we've seen that already.
He's a great story.
He's a great story.
He's dad's a firefighter, dad played Golly, plays Golly in a men's league and it's, yeah,
it's great.
He's really grabbed things and run with them.
Not a rookie.
He'd be really, I think, challenging, shape with the look of the year with his numbers,
but he's played too many games previously to count as a rookie.
It's the small Golly effect, right?
I mean, like none of us want to believe in these 6-0 goalies and now you got, Alex, I don't
think it's quite as small, but like another guy just, he was in the HL forever and now he
finally gets the runway and Buffalo and he's leading the way.
It's pretty incredible.
I think it's Busy.
What?
Me look.
Is he 6-1?
Brandon Busy is, they list him at 6-4, I think that's generous.
Oh, really?
That's really true.
Might be 6-2.
Yeah.
Okay.
Columbus has to lead the league in likeable Golly's between him and the Merce-Leakins.
I mean, what a tandem.
That is to work with.
As a bead rider.
Oh, I see.
Yeah.
Wow.
Elvis.
Yep.
We have had some doosies.
That's for sure.
He was my favorite guy to talk to at the Olympics.
I went to him like four different times for stories that had nothing to do with him.
I just wanted to talk to Elvis and Merce-Leakins.
Yeah.
He was fantastic.
Right.
But tell me about Charlie Coil.
He had this incredible goal binge right when bonus was hired and came in.
But his defense and I mean, he is maybe the leading selfie trophy candidate right now.
Since bonus has been in running things, he's only been on the ice for 11 goals against
at 5 on 5.
I mean, his defensive numbers are terrific.
He's really owned that third line center spot.
What has he meant to this team this year?
What void did he fill?
Yeah.
Well, that's going to be the Monday gathering lead is the players on this team with several
boards.
And Charlie Coil, I think, does deserve the selfie or at least lengthy consideration for
it.
He, first of all, he is such a, I've always thought this before he played here, one of the
most underrated players in the game.
Every team he's on, he's never missed the playoffs and that tells me something.
He's never missed the playoffs for 14 years.
He is a luxury as a third line center and one of the things that probably isn't appreciated
in enough in Columbus is that this organization for 25 years has never had enough depth
at center.
They've never had high quality centers, usually it's at the top.
Sometimes they have a decent one or two center, but that has been a weakness forever.
And now to have Fantilly emerge, Monahan, Charlie Coil, Boone Jenner is the fourth line center
on this team.
He was the first line center two years ago.
That's how much things have changed here.
Charlie Coil, I think there could be a revolt in that dressing room if he is not resigned.
And ownership was very care ownership GM Don what else, very careful.
He didn't even really get into contract talks with those players.
It's him, it's Jenner, it's Marchman, didn't want to upset the apple cart, didn't want
to sign one guy and not the other.
But Charlie Coil has centered a line with Syllinger with Olivier.
That is the third line, but they use it.
It's become a scoring line a lot of nights, mostly because of Coil, but Olivier's got
14 goals again.
It checks, it can defend, it can possess the puck and Charlie Coil is just a really smart
guy.
The power play numbers since January 6th, it's one of the top 10 power plays in the league.
And what happened on January 6th, not that January 6th, this January 6th is Charlie Coil
came in and joined the Blue Jackets first playoff unit.
And just having him in the middle, the right shot, they wanted him because of his presence,
his leadership, all of those great things.
They also wanted a right shot to take face offs and they finally figured out to put his
right shot on the power play.
It's really open things up and that unit has been dangerous.
I think better than its numbers would suggest, but it's still a top 10 unit in the NHL
since that January 6th Coil inclusion, if you will.
Yeah.
I want to go to Zach Borensky here because he had such an outstanding year last year.
He made my heart ballad.
He was runner up for the Norris.
And all he's done this year is get himself on pace to surpass those.
I'm thinking very strongly about him at the very top of my Norris ball at this time around.
I just wanted to get a little bit of your take on Borensky sees it and you know, you
don't often hit a new level up at this point in a career, usually that happens at like
24.
Yeah.
Can I read my Monday gathering for you?
Please.
You know, so I think there's a couple things here.
I think there's a few reasons why I think he may have a better shot of the Norris this
year.
I think there are more people that more people are going to vote for.
I don't think it's just McCarr this time around.
Like I think Schaeffer is going to take some votes.
I think Hudson's going to take some votes.
Montreal is going to vote for Hudson, right?
I think there's going to be some votes for Schaeffer.
Queen Hughes.
Queen Hughes for sure is going to get some votes, especially the way he should, the way
that the Minnesota has turned around.
I think Borensky, I think with these awards and we've seen it before, you have to have
a great season to get yourself in the conversation first.
And when you're in the conversation, sometimes you stay in the conversation longer than you
deserve to, but you've got to get into that conversation first.
I think last season got Borensky into that conversation and now people are paying attention
to him.
The other thing I think is going to be really big is everybody has seen that golden goal
by Jack Hughes.
Everybody saw the play that Borensky made out paddling Nathan Freakin McKinnon, that
is a hell of a play.
Hughes gets the credit because he scored the golden goal, of course, but you've seen it
a million times, I'm sure.
The play that Borensky makes to get the puck from McKinnon, to pass the puck basically
right at McDavid's feet, I think.
And I double HF play is not supposed to impact the Norris, but Damnit, people saw that, right?
And it burns in people's mind.
I think he's going to, I'm not sure he wins it again this year, I'm not sure there's
a better candidate this year.
And last year it was hard to look at Kale McCarr's goals and not be blinded by those goals
because it's a stunning number.
He's right there with everybody now, points goals, leads the way or second maybe in
ice time.
So he's got a hell of a resume and I think he's really put himself in the back of people's
minds, maybe in the front of people's minds now.
I think you nailed it.
The Norris more than any other award is a narrative award, right?
It's always whose turn is it?
It always feels like that's what we're doing.
And not only is it Borensky's turn, but he also deserves it.
And that's the perfect storm for how you win your first Norris.
And then once you win your first Norris, you're in the Norris conversation until you retire
basically.
Right.
So I think, I think you're right, this is going to be a year.
Let me ask you about, I mean, not to again, spoil your story, but Rick bonus.
Can you win coach of the year having only coached like 30 some odd games?
So little research on this today, there have been three coaches who have come on mid season
and have won the Jack Adam, not mid season in the season that have won the Jack Adams.
It's rare, but it has happened.
No one's come along as late as he did.
I think one thing that will really help bonus is I have yet to meet anybody.
It does not like Rick bonus.
He's worked for a ton of teams.
These are broadcasters who vote on this, right?
Remember that.
Don't blame the writers on this one.
But broadcasters love bonus.
He was one.
He worked at TNT before he got back into the coaching biz here.
I think that helps him.
But I also think Werenzki, I think Coil and I think bonus, all of it obviously depends.
They have to make the playoffs.
That carries so much weight with voters.
None of it happens.
I don't think any of them win any of them if they don't win, if they don't get into the
playoffs.
But if they do get into the playoffs, I think people will consider all of them.
I think bonus absolutely deserves it, but there are lots of candidates out there this year
too.
It's interesting, because we're going to have a similar conversation about Buffalo and
Executive of the year.
And is it to ZYARMO get it for basically everything that was done by Kevin Adams?
This is at least different because it's bonuses.
You can clearly see the bonus impact out there, but the answer to any problem in the NHL
seems to be fire someone.
Yes.
That's been a punch line.
Like the answer to everything is just go fire someone.
Right now it actually is the answer to everything.
Isn't it funny too?
Like you hear players say all the time, like coaches can only do so much.
I say that.
Like I've just been proven completely McClellan in my market, right?
Sip sort of deal.
I was very coaching agnostic and now it's like, well, I see it every day and it's happening
in Columbus.
Yeah.
I remember hitch taking over here.
And the first day they practice Rick Nash on the penalty kill.
We're all like, this guy's crazy.
Like Rick Nash killing penalties.
That's not a thing.
It cannot be a thing.
And he turned out to be one of the best penalty killers in the NHL in his career.
It's completely changed his game.
Yeah.
Hitches matter.
John Torturelle is the same thing.
Oh my god.
This guy is a lunatic.
And within like two weeks, the players in the room absolutely loved him.
Other times they wanted to murder him, but they loved him and they played their asses
off for him.
They made the playoffs four years in a row, under torts, which this organization's never
done.
But what they, where they differ in kind of demeanor, bonus in Torturelle, they re-diverge
or re-converge on experience.
They've both just seen a lot.
And I think that's the secret sauce to all of this is when you've seen every kind of
situation, you know what buttons to put in.
And like bonus to 71 and like, you know what?
Hell with that dude.
71.
He looks like he's about 54.
He kind of looks like Lou Graham a little bit from four or two.
He's got that 70s boat.
Tell me he's not yacht rock on his boat in the port.
Right.
I'm expecting that story sometime around August from you, so I'm going to go, I'm going
to go to the bride of the boat with him this heat water.
He was a head coach in the NHL in the 1980s, the 1980s.
He has seen like five different NHLs.
You know why you got fired for Boston?
Because he was told he talked to the players too much directly.
That's how long ago it was that he was the coach.
You're supposed to fear your coach, not burst with them.
Unbelievable.
That's so good.
All right.
We better let Porti get out of here so we can go keep covering the hottest team in
the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Thank you so much for doing this with this party.
Before we do, I just wanted to give our thoughts and condolences to the family
of Jesse Pearson.
And that's, that is a tragic story and a beautiful story on our site today by
Mike Russo and Joe Smith, that we would highly encourage everyone to check out our thoughts
are with them.
Hey, this is Adam Grant, host of Ted's podcast, rethinking with Adam Grant.
If you heard of Bill, it's the intelligent finance platform that uses AI to help you
avoid costly errors and optimize cash flow.
In fact, Bill reports that over 90 of the top 100 US accounting firms trust them to manage,
move and maximize money, proven by over a trillion dollars in secure transactions, eliminate
the friction and start scaling with the proven choice, visit bill.com slash proven to talk
with an expert about automating your business finances and get a $250 gift card as the thank
you.
That's bill.com slash proven terms and conditions apply see offer page for details.
Security and compliance done wrong is a giant headache security and compliance done right?
That's Vanta.
Vanta helps you earn trust and speed up growth, no spreadsheets required.
For startups low on time and resources, Vanta becomes your first security hire using AI
and automation to get you compliant fast and unblock big deals.
For enterprises, Vanta is your AI-powered hub for compliance and risk, bringing together
data from across your businesses and automating workflows so you can prove trust at any moment.
Vanta scales with you at every stage.
That's why top companies from startups like Cursor to Enterprises like Snowflake choose
Vanta.
Do security and compliance right?
Get started today at Vanta.com slash TED audio.
If you've used Babel, you would.
Babel's conversation based technique teaches you useful words and phrases to get you
speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world.
With lessons handcrafted by the 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers,
Babel is like having a private tutor in your pocket.
Start speaking with Babel today.
Get up to 55% of your Babel subscription right now at Babel.com slash ACAST.
Spelled B-A-B-B-E-L.com slash ACAST.
Rules and restrictions may apply.
All right, we are back in LASA.
Before we head out today, I just wanted to talk about a really extrapolate on a story
that we ran on the athletic over the weekend about what's at stake for some of these teams.
Some of them the answer is nothing.
I thought that was very funny reading through them today and see how many markets were
like, nah, there's no stakes here anymore.
But there are some teams where those stakes are very high and I'm in one of those markets
LAS where in Detroit right now, they officially fell out of a playoff spot when the islanders
moved it back ahead of them with their win over the Blue Jackets just a few minutes ago
as we record this.
And I haven't really scrolled around to see how the fans of Detroit are taking it, but
I know they are.
Super well, I bet.
They are living and dying every period, let alone every game right now.
So it is, it's high stakes hockey here as the ribings try to break a nine year playoff
drone.
I mean, the stakes all across the league, there's a lot of teams, especially in that Eastern
conference, a lot of teams that are fighting to get in for the first time in a while.
But honestly, I went through that list and the one that stands out to me is the Florida
Panthers.
They're top 10 pick, they traded a top 10 pick to the Black Oaks along with Spencer Knight
to get Seth Jones last year and they're not going to regret that they won the Stanley
Cup and Seth Jones played a big role.
But that pick is top 10 protected and right now the Panthers are kind of right on that line.
I think they're right now there at number nine, but they're neck and neck with like Seattle
and San Jose, LA, New Jersey, all these teams that could change that up.
And if they can get a top 10 pick and hold on to it.
This is a team that's expecting to get right back into the mix next year, right?
This is a team that, you know, we could look at the Brad Martian contract and say, oh,
boy, I don't know about that one.
But this is still a team with a bunch of guys signed in their primes to team friendly
deals.
Sasha Barkov comes back next year, Matthew could chuckle be healthy after his first long
summer in a while.
This could still be a Stanley Cup contender next year and Stanley Cup contenders don't
get to add top 10 picks.
So in the turns of the long game here, I feel like the Florida Panthers mini tank and
players don't tank organizations do players don't I understand that this is a huge deal
if you're a Florida Panthers fan right now to make sure you get to keep that pick is next
years might be the 28th pick.
So you're saying that the Florida Panthers actually would be okay with a longer suspension
for AJ Greer.
I'm not sure AJ Greer is the guy that's going to really make the difference in that.
But yes.
Yeah.
Now it's interesting to because of the 10 range in this draft.
Like if you ask Scott and Corey about the tearing of their lists, you can go look.
It's right around eight, nine, you're getting a premium prospect if you're picking in
that eight to 10 range with the Panther, which the Panthers still have a chance of doing
right now.
And you're right.
Like that's the only way to keep a dynasty like theirs or I won't use the word a wagon
like theirs rolling at a high level is to keep loading up and they've traded away so
many assets.
There's almost no way for them to do it barring something like this and imagine if you're
Chicago.
You're going to have a top five of your own.
You might have two top 10 picks in this draft or you might have one and then like the
number 27 pick next year.
Like this is a huge deal for two franchises, neither of which has any hope of making the
playoffs.
It's very funny.
Like there's a player in this draft, Ethan Belches and he's he's a Florida Panther.
If you've if you've ever seen one, right?
He is a big physical skilled winger place for the Windsor Spitfires.
And I just pulled up a tankathon to see where they sit.
Right in line, the mock draft right now has them taking Ethan Belches.
There you go.
The world will will explode.
I think if if this is the way it plays out, imagine if they win the lottery and they
get just get number one, it's just anything that could happen with the Florida Panthers.
They are they are charmed or cursed depending on who you talk to.
Yeah.
I think there's some other teams that that I think have very high stakes to and maybe we
could circle back to the Redvings toward the end of this and then flesh that out.
But the Pittsburgh Penguins is one that coming into the year.
I certainly.
An early season episode that we did and we were talking with with Rob Rossy about it and
the penguins and I was very ready to just say like this season is pointless for them.
They need to trade everybody that might have actually been a prospect series.
I don't know if it was with Robert.
I probably were talking Gavin McKenna since since the middle of the summer for the Pittsburgh
Penguins.
And somehow here they are and not only that like they're in line to potentially have home
vice advantage in the first half of the playoffs.
Like this is a legitimately good team.
I owe a may a culpa there.
Especially when they what they were able to do without Sydney Crosby.
I have been thoroughly impressed.
I'm still not sure that at how long of a run that they can really go on.
But it's very hard to continue questioning them at this point.
I think you should trade Sydney Crosby like you were planning to anyway.
He's clearly not that important to the team.
There's there's the takeaway from all this don't don't make that the social clip.
It's a it would be a validation.
I think of how they've approached things that they're able to kind of start this rebuild
without completely punting and tanking.
I still think at some point they're going to have to pick really high and it's up you
always have to pay the bill at some point.
But as long as you're getting into the playoffs with Sydney Crosby without mortgaging the future
at which they've done they've found a way to kind of get younger better more strategically
position for the future and not sacrifice the present.
I'm floored by what a good job Kyle Dubas has done.
Absolutely.
I'm fascinated to see what the long term effect of this penguin season and this ruin season
to a lesser extent this islander season because they did luck into a number one overall
pick.
But does this end the era of just these tear downs I'd like Detroit had like Buffalo had
like Edmonton had like Chicago had like San Jose had Anaheim to a degree does this end
that because oh man we don't have to go through nine years of abject misery in order to
get good again.
I mean it helps to have a core to build around but like I'm curious to see if this changes
the way not just GM's think but ownership things because owners are the ones who allow
these GM's to tear everything down and give them these long leash.
If I'm the only if I'm like Danny words in Chicago I'm looking like well what the hell
did they do over there why couldn't we have done that when we had Patrick Kane and Alex
to bring it and Dylan Strom why is this taking the years when we could have just done that.
If that is the case I don't know if that's going to be the case or not but if that is
the case it's going to be fascinating for what it means for teams like the Chicago's
in the next year or two like you know all these teams that are now on the rise that have
spent all this time stockpiling capital expecting to be able to at some point trade either
those prospects or their future picks for ready made players there's no more free agency
you're not getting you know veteran health that way.
You really have to rely on teams that are starting a tear down to get better and build
up with veteran players if teams kind of stop tanking I'm fascinated what that's going
to mean for for how teams like your Chicago's like your San Jose's that are starting to
come out of these rebuilds and how they approach it.
Absolutely 100% like the black dogs have made it clear that they're basically just doing
this exclusively through the draft like they've had 11 first round picks in four years
they've got two more coming potentially this year two more the next year but you know
they how many have to hit for you to actually be able to build a championship team without
real free agency without there being a Mary and Jose you can add to supercharger rebuild
right so like it's going to be really fascinating to see how this this summer plays this
summer could be absolute chaos because there might be a lot of guys with term getting
traded or absolutely nothing might happen I'm fascinated to see how this will all play out.
I'm living it right now in Detroit I mean they they've tried to do that style of rebuild
right and eventually you know that they've gotten to a point now where you know they traded
a first round pick for Alex to bring get a couple years ago kind of a unique case like
star player with the hometown ties and they had a second first round pick that they traded
this year was the first time that they traded their own first round pick under Steve
and they traded it to St. Louis for Justin Falk I like that move I still think that's
a good move but they might miss the playoffs and that pick may be a lottery pick and it's
probably going to be like the 15th or 16th pick but it could still move up as high as five or six
and if they don't make the play out the only way that can happen is if they don't make the playoffs
and you don't make the playoffs and you've traded your first round pick I mean I talk about
the high stakes that is a really uncomfortable position because you find yourself just hoping that
these guys are these these young players are going to click I mean I thought this would be the
year Nate Danielson really clicked he got some games still spent a lot of the year in the AHL
spent a lot of the year hurt you don't know when it's going to happen for these guys even the top 10
guys and it's tough to because I look I've been very critical of the iser plan I think it's been
ridiculously long and and they were still they were still trading guys for first round picks
recently is last year I think so I've been critical but this is a good team that's going to have
mid 90s points if this team was in the Pacific division they're running away with the division
and they're looking at them as as as a potential final four team the east is so strange this year
that I the red beans could finish ninth and it could feel like a disaster but it actually was
the step forward that they needed that that one was waiting for to get to that tier because 95 96 97
points that should get you into the playoffs and this year in Eastern converts it might not so it's
it's kind of like the red beans are doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing but so are
nine other teams and it's really complicating the the big picture you know analysis of what these
teams are that's the frustration here right and then one of my preseason bold predictions this year
was that they would finish with I don't know if I said 92 or 93 I think I said 92 because that's a
number that would have gotten them in in each of the last two years and that they would still miss
this year and I thought that that was possible because of the way that the east was kind of structured
there was no real heavy weights but there was a lot of teams on the rise I thought that it was
possible they were going to have a number that would have gotten them in in the past and wouldn't get
them in this year I'd never in a million years would have thought that number could be 97 or 98
points which looks entirely possible I mean they would be leading the Pacific division right now
as would basically every team in the Atlantic and and yet they're not in a playoff spot and I think
that's going to make it a really complicated offseason if they're not able to get it done because
how do you assess that do you they would have taken a step forward by like 12 or 13 points they would
have been a team that in years past would have been a divisional seed with that point total and yet
by definition they wouldn't be one of the top eight teams in the eastern conference you know I have
no reason to think that Steve Iserman's on like a hot seat and so you talked about kind of the
the criticism of the Iser plan hot seat in that traditional sense at least where it's like right
you keep your job but yet the public pressure I think is just going to keep until they get into
the playoffs the public pressure is going to just ratchet up and up and up I see it every single day
I get I've been getting tweets from fans for like eight years now and I can tell you the
temperature is as hot as it's been it's it's not quite you know at the level of like with the
Toronto Maple Leafs were experiencing in the first round year after year but the Red Wings fan
bases reaction to the month of March and anytime something goes wrong in the month of March is
significant and notable and it's only going to get worse if it happens again this year absolutely
in the western coverage of the complete opposite end of the spectrum teams that are just
guarantee to make the playoffs and have been making the playoffs I think there's a lot of
stake for Colorado and Dallas to a less degree Minnesota I don't think Minnesota can win that
division at this point I think there's too much ground to make up but Dallas you know Colorado is
running away with this thing and Dallas got right up on their heels with that incredible like it was
like 1401 run they went on Dallas you think get out of that first round matchup with Minnesota
and let Colorado worry about that that is a huge deal for a team that has to win right now that
has been to the conference final three straight years but has not reached the Stanley Cup final
if they can get that top seed and place some garbage team from the Pacific division or whoever
gets in as the as the fifth place central division team that is a huge advantage because that first
round matchup between their Dallas or Minnesota or Colorado or Minnesota is going to be an absolute
knock down dragout war that's going to take a big chunk out of one of those teams so getting out
of second place in the central and winning the central division if Dallas can do that that is a
massive massive deal and it's just as massive for Colorado which lost in the first round last year
to Dallas to secure that first place mid and avoid that same pitfall themselves. Totally and
those are the right two teams to identify there because those are both all in win now teams and I
think Dallas is a team like they're young enough they have enough good young players that they'll
still be around for a while but we know the Boston Roberts is coming back this is their best chance
this year right now I agree and in Colorado same deal I mean they were one of the best teams we've
ever seen through the early part of this season and it's certainly even a month ago if you
told me they're not going to win their division I would have been I would have you know not even
retained the idea now it's at least in play and it's going to be fascinating down the stretch you
know Minnesota you're right it's kind of in the sweet spot here where they look you know completely
on the rise they're the team the Colorado and Dallas have to be worried about because if they keep
Quinn Hughes and you're able to go forward with Capri's off Hughes favor boldly they're going to
have to find a center at some point we all know that they have as good of a core in the league I
think is anyone right now yes hundred percent but that's also a fan base that has seen it a first
round loss like every year for the last millennium it feels like so they have all this excitement and
they have a really great team they have the they have the third best team in the league if you ask me
I'm I they're better than any team in the east in my mind if they go out and they lose to Dallas in
five or six games or they lose to Colorado in five or six games that's going to be crushing for
a fan base that deserves better and wants more even though yes they are they are better situated
in the long run I think we all think Quinn Hughes is kind of falling from Minnesota and is going to
stick around long term they are situated to be good for a long long time but man it would be such a
let down such a buzzkill if they can't get out of the first round again this year it would and
and you know we're going to go back to the Leafs I guess a little bit with this but it there was
an element to that too in the Toronto saga where you know they were okay clearly better in some of
those series that they still lost and it was you know the famous quote was like there was more
respect in the handshake line and that obviously is not a good quote to have out there and yet I
completely understood what it was because I respected them more after watching that series too
and I could see something like that happening with Minnesota where I'm willing to write it off
and say oh well there this is not the same five or six game or seven game even first round
losses what we've seen in the years past and yet you know how how much are people going to tolerate
my guess is Minnesotans will be a little more patient with them I don't know man I that's a
fan base I'm well acquainted with over the years I I covered three straight black Hawks well wins
over them in 13 14 to 15 well they want to win they are they are they're desperate for it they
need it it's been they it's such a great fan base and they've had nothing to celebrate basically
the entire existence of this incarnation of the franchise and it's funny because like you know
I'm I'm an advocate for going to 116 seating to saying to to punish the Pacific Division for
what they are and to let more Eastern teams and this is a perfect example of what I've been
harping on for years is you do have years like this at the least go to one eight but and I
hate to say this it kills me to say this I sort of agree with Gary Batman the NHL first round
the Stanley Cup playoffs first round is so far in a way the best round of the Stanley Cup playoffs
it's so much better than other playoffs first rounds because of this kind of matchup that we get
because the series go longer because it's unfair it's it makes for better entertainment the first round
is so much fun it's chaos is four games a night there's all these great series and then the second
rounds like oh god we still got like six weeks left of this this isn't that exciting I did a
ratchet's up again in the conference final the Stanley Cup playoffs first round is the best
round in all of sports except for maybe the first weekend of the NCAA tournament so Gary
Batman is not wrong and oh my god it's painful to say that when he says that this playoff system
does what it wants to do it it accomplishes its goal yeah because the conference finals and the
cup final sell themselves so all you got to avoid is what the NBA has which is knowing that all
your first round series are pretty much going five games meaningless they're just they're worthless
yeah but I took to go back to Minnesota like I'm not disputing with their desperate and I think
they're they deserve to be desperate I think they're good enough that they can I think they
win the Stanley Cup they can win the cup absolutely I think they go in the Stanley Cup but I'm just
saying like because of the positive momentum I don't think it's quite the same stakes there
as it is in the other places because I think everyone would agree that it's arrow up in Minnesota
and that they should be here for some a few years to come yet with with more and more improving
quality chances that's fair how about Edmonton speaking of arrow up it depends they have to make
the playoffs here yeah they have to make the playoffs it's true I like I thought about bringing
them up earlier but I was like well do they have that highest stakes in the regular season but
yeah if we're talking about you know doubting whether they're going to make the playoffs and in
fairness like they are five points up on the Nashville predators right now the predators have a
game in hand it's a little hairy there we've talked about them all year though in the light of
just get in and then it's it's McDavid and dry side all the sure the rest of it doesn't matter
they got a lot of that lead without Leon dry side all too yeah and they should get dry
side all back for the playoffs at some point at least in the playoffs and uh you know it is at
the end of days if the Edmonton Oilers go in and they have to have a really tough first round series
no but I certainly wouldn't want the one against Colorado like I think Connor McDavid can beat
anybody but you are you are in the Connor McDavid prove to me we can still win phase these might be
the most important years most important two or three seasons in the history of the Edmonton Oilers
short of the cup years oh I'm not saying that going out in the first round wouldn't be a disaster
I'm just saying like I still think they could win a series against anyone in the NHL because they
have Connor McDavid so I'm saying like if they they also with Colorado that's still it's you
know you still have a chance in that series yes and and in that specific division they can still
make it to the conference final relatively easily oh yeah but they could also miss the playoffs and
oh my god that would be quite a scene if they get a divisional seed I'm gonna expect them in the
conference finals like it as long as that they're as long as their path is through the pacific and
not through the central that's right gonna be big Vegas is trash and I'm not there yet San Jose's
not there yet I mean Edmonton's the only team in there you can have any faith in whatsoever
which is shocking to say after they made one of the worst trades of the NHL season
somehow trading we we asked for a coley trade and the genie had a cruel sense of humor on that
was one of the monkey paws curling yeah 100% all right let's let's wrap there a good show today
thank you to Aaron Portes line for joining us on this one you can the shons will be with you on
Wednesday as well as Frankie Carrotto don't want to leave him out there we'll talk to you soon
when it comes to managing money forget the hype and look at the results bill has a trillion
dollars of secure payments powering our bill pay tools instead of just moving money bill is
powering the financial operations of nearly half a million customers so stop the guesswork
and start scaling with the proven choice ready to talk with an expert visit bill dot com slash
proven to get started and grab a $250 gift card as a thank you terms and conditions apply
see offer page for details there's one place for the newest drops in wellness and performance
and the biggest sale of the year it's the drop by gnc curating the best of what's new handpicked by
the pros who know what works and right now get it all by one get 150% off during the semi annual
live well sale from crushing workouts to leveling up to nutrition and everything in between
get the best deals on the latest innovations all the newness is all on sale right now during the
live well sale on the drop by gnc oh could this vintage store be any cuter right and the best part
they accept discover accept discover in a little place like this i don't think so Jennifer oh yeah
huh discovers accepted where i like to shop come on baby get with the times right so we shouldn't
get the parachute pants these are making a comeback i think discoverers accepted at 99% of places
that take credit cards nationwide based on the February 2025 nilson report
