Ethan Podolsky

You knew it was thrive. Okay. English lessons with Rosie. I like it.

Let's start on our hot takes there. Dave, go ahead. Okay. So my first hot take is the Rangers turnaround is starting. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. And the reason why is the coaches are now playing. With the players. Oh. So yesterday, or Thursday, as we record this, the Rangers are in Dallas. They held a practice at the Stars facility there. Peter Laviolette, head coach of the Rangers.

Michael Pekka, assistant coach of the Rangers, decided they're going to show the players how to do it in the shootout drills. I don't know how particularly well it goes, but I'm seeing this as a good sign that everybody is happy. The good vibes are back around the Rangers. The coaches are farting around and having fun. And yeah, the turnaround is coming. Do I believe what I'm saying? No.

No, I don't. But... Let's put the positivity out there. So go get them, Rangers. You're only like 14 points or whatever out of first place, but you can do it.

Yeah, you know, just get rid of key guys. You're good. You're good.

No, you guys are dumb. People are dumb. We live in South Florida. It's the communal dumbness down here.

You've got to take care of it. Yeah, that's all you. First thing I thought of, who's taking care of the dog? It's not me.

My family's already got enough. Can we just have Willow be the hockey show dog? Willow is just the meadowlark dog. Well, because Willow is awesome and Willow is here and Willow has a loving home already.

They'll open it and then close it? No, no. I think it'll depend on the day. They're praying for a good weather day, right?

That would be very appropriate.

But how crazy is it, though? This is what's just kind of been sinking in over the last week or so since we first found out about this. The Panthers are hosting.

The Panthers are hosting an outdoor game. That's nuts. And yes, I know it's a quote-unquote outdoor game, and if it's cool enough on the day that it happens, they'll open the roof up. I'd say I'd probably take the bet that the roof will be closed and open, if we're talking odds. But who cares? This is awesome. You remember when we were just happy when they got an All-Star game?

I remember when it was like the playoff chase was what we look forward to every March. Like, oh man, they're only five points out with two games at hand. Let's go.

Yeah, with the Capitals, I think.

That one hurt. Losing to the Flyers in game 81. I remember going to like Bo Campers or something to watch that. Yeah. Ah, it's life as good as a Panther fan. Well, now it is.

Wins of the week. Okay, so my win of the week is Goalie Root. Gotta love it. Young man named Zachary Dietz, the e-bug in Ottawa, got called into action very late earlier this week.

So Anton Forsberg hurt himself during his pre-game warm-up routine. So this guy, Zachary Dietz, gets called at like a quarter to six.

And traffic in Ottawa, anybody that's been to a Senators game knows, like, it is nuts because there's only one road in and one road out. So he basically said, bleep it, I gotta get to the stadium. And as we're watching the video here, he picked up his bags, his gear, and he's running as all these cars are sitting in traffic trying to get in. He's guys running to the arena.

He gets there, suits up. He's on the bench for the game. This is an NHL goaltender right there, folks. And he is running with his own gear to the stadium. I thought that was so awesome. I would absolutely do the exact same thing if I was him. I would, whatever it takes, get me in that NHL bench. I'm going to sign a contract. That was so awesome.

Something that he's going to have for the rest of his life with that video and the experience. Just completely, completely cool. All encompassing my win of the week.