Keith Yandle

Oh. Oh, my God.

I'll take both.

Wow, that's huge. Yeah, I'll take anything.

Well, your text was, Marlins man has four seats on the glass. Yans has one. So I thought that was already clear. Okay, you're done. Yeah.

Yeah, I can't wait. Never sat on the glass before, so that'll be a first. I plan on wearing all my clothes. I'm like the last guy who's sitting on the glass that works for this company. Yes. Yes. So, yeah, it should be a lot of fun. I met Marlon's man at the at the racetrack down at the Gulf Stream one time. And obviously his shirt said Marlon's man.

I told him that we're very, very, very good friends and very good coworkers. Yeah. I talked to him for a bit, but what a trip that guy is.

All he could talk about was your mom. Jesus Christ, Marlins, man. It was crazy. What a sicko. Man.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, no, I mean, everyone puts all that type of stuff out there in the Internet. They did it for, you know, the first round series against Toronto with, you know, Biz and his buddy Hockey Illuminati making it's just people making up.

ways to hopefully help their team win but i i don't see anything with it um you know different different times different players different teams uh that stuff means absolutely nothing obviously it's good storylines and something to talk about but i think when it comes down to it it really doesn't mean anything in this florida panthers team and they they know what they're doing um

They know how to play in these big games. Obviously, Edmonton back in the finals as well. But, yeah, I think that Florida is too deep, too big, too mean, and they're ready to roll.

Honestly, I'd probably say Florida. There was a lot of talk with Edmonton getting a little bit older and a little bit slower, but those guys have helped them out a ton this year. I think Corey Perry, 40 years old, I think this is his fifth or sixth Stanley Cup appearance. I wouldn't even say that that's a bad thing for them, getting older and slower. They're getting a lot of help from those guys.

But I think just what the moves that Florida made with bringing in a stud defenseman like Seth Jones and then Brad Marchand, who's probably going to be a Hall of Famer and a guy that is built for playoff hockey and built the way that Florida has been playing the last few years. So in my opinion, I would say Florida got –

Obviously, they were really good last year and won it all, but I think they got even better and even deeper.

Yeah, very fair. And I don't even know if it's like a depth thing because every team's deep and has good players and there's so many good players in the league. I think it's more like I give a lot of credit to Sasha Barkov. Like if someone on his line goes out, they can bring a guy in from the stands and he's going to look like he's been playing on his line all year.

It just goes to show how good Barky is. And yeah, just a true hockey player where all he wants to do is make people around him better. He's so unselfish, just won the Selkie, just won the Leadership Award as well. So just a guy that has all the hardware and has nothing to prove in this game. He's going to be a Hall of Famer.

But I think just what he does for his line mates and the guys that are playing with him to to help them, you know, be a better player, to help them, you know, get their success. Because he honestly, like, he doesn't care about himself. All he cares about is winning. And, you know, you see, I think it was two series ago, Boquist, who hadn't played at all, gets put on his line, and he had two goals.

And, like, he looks like he was a, you know, a first-line player. So I think a lot of that credit should go to Barkie with how deep their team is, just because they can plug anyone in with him, and he's a horse, and they can flourish with him.

Yeah, I think you should be offended. And yes, coaches should be involved, I think. I mean, obviously, I'm not a coach, and Paul Maurice has done it a lot longer than 90% of the guys in the league. But I just think that maybe he's downplaying how much that coaches mean to a team, especially during playoffs.

It's the hours that they're putting in, the schemes that they're coming up with, the video that they're watching. I think they deserve to be in there. Whether you're winning a series or losing a series, going through that handshake line, just what it means to – shake every guy's hand, look him in the eye, tell him either good luck or good series.

I think it's one of the best traditions in hockey, and it shouldn't be taken away.

Yeah, I do like how they only do it once. You never hate shaking hands after a regular season game. It's all hate until that seven-game series where guys are literally trying to kill each other and to just show the amount of class that guys have of going out there shaking guys' hands and what it means. And like you guys, fans love seeing it.

You see these animals going to work every single night and trying to kill each other and then they're just shaking hands and giving hugs and licking their wounds.

No, not really. My most favorite one is when it was Montreal and Boston and Milan Lucic looked every single guy in the eye. I think Montreal beat Boston. He was like,

basically like i'm gonna kill you next game look it up it's one of the most frightening thing because he he was like a bona fide monster like he could he could have beat up anyone and he'd scored 20 30 goals a year uh so i i think that one kind of sticks out the most but i was never a part of anywhere there was any uh shenanigans going on is it usually just guys being like go win it all

Yeah, yeah. Usually, yeah, because at the end of the day, if you do lose to a team, it looks better if that team that beat you goes on to win the Stanley Cup. So you're probably rooting for them a little bit. But, yeah, it's usually the great series. You know, during playoffs, you're mostly playing against the same guys. You're matched up against the same guys.

So you see a lot of each other and, you know, just the –

I think this layover is good for the Panthers. I think, you know, worst case, I think they might lose first game. I think there's going to be a lot of goals. So take the over first game. Sponsored by DraftKings. But yeah, I think that's going to hurt them because I don't think Skinner can turn it on like Bob can. I think you're going to have to be that...

that different type of animal that Bob is where, you know, if he goes out on Wednesday tonight when the show is airing, he could give up six and then the next game give up none. But so I think for Oilers fans, if Skinner does go out and lay an egg, you know, tonight, I think they could be in for a long series.

But I think Bob has the mental capacity to if he does have a bad game to shut it off and go on to the next one.

Yeah, and it does scare me a little. I mean, obviously, he's been amazing this whole playoff series. I mean, this whole playoffs. But remember last year, I think he had 40 points, which is insane. So there could be one of those series where he really just pops off and he's got 15 points by the end of this series.

So that scares me a little bit because he's one of one where he's a guy that at any time can – do whatever he wants on the ice. He can, you know, score goals, you know, make great plays. And he's got a, you know, another top five player in the league, Leon Dreisaitl, with him. And then when they put those guys together, when they're down a goal or two, it's scary as an opposing team.

You know you're going to get a lot of shots on you, a lot of time in your D zone. But like we said earlier with Bob, I think he's that guy in there that kind of settles the group a little bit. And we talked to Sam Reinhart yesterday and he's – they play –

Where they're D or up in the play, they're pinching, they're up in the offense, and they're willing to make some mistakes and give up some odd man rushes because they know they got Bob back there to settle them down and make big saves. But yeah, Connor does scare me a little bit just with how good of a player he is, but I think Florida has the guys that can control him.

Oh, man. I think it has to be McDavid, the McDavid show. I think he's got to put on a clinic. I think he's – earlier you said you look at the history of when Sid and Wayne and those guys passing the torch. I think for him to win this series, he's got to – He's got to be the guy all series and not have any shifts off because Florida is a team that doesn't take any shifts off.

Their big guys play hard every single night. Even when Florida's big guys aren't scoring, they're making plays defensively. They're not giving up opportunities. So I really think for him, if they're going to win this, he's got to put on a show for the ages.

Yeah, oh yeah.

Yeah. I mean, you look at last year, Sam Bennett and Connor McDavid grew up playing on the same team. I think they're, you know, really good friends. And, you know, Bennett's punching him in the face after whistles. They're getting under his skin. And, you know, it's just when especially in the in the Stanley Cup playoffs, like it's.

you know they call it north bay rules because i guess there was a prison up in north bay that there was no rules so they call it north bay rules where it's just anything goes got to find a way to win the game and uh florida's done a really good job of that but also staying out of the box too because edmonton's a team if you get if you get stuck on the pk all night you're you're going to be losing a lot of games yeah so in terms of just the style matchup between the two teams who would you say on paper has the advantage given the brand of hockey that they play

Probably say Florida. I think home ice obviously is going to help Edmonton. But Florida's been really good on the road, too. I really think that the way that Florida is built to play, they're built to play in the playoffs. They're big, they're mean, they're fast. Their D are huge.

Guys like Aaron Ekblad, Mikula, these guys are 6'4", with massive wingspans that can eliminate you anywhere on the ice. I really think that their D... especially are just built for playoffs. Like guys like Seth Jones, he's 6'4", probably 230 and just eliminates guys. So just, yeah, I would say Florida probably has the upper hand of the way that they're built.

Well, he told us last night, and I looked it up online, he's eating 20 ounces of steak a night. He's eating... He's eating a 12-ounce steak for dinner, like a normal at 7 o'clock. At TNT, they treat you right. They got runners taking it. He's getting it from Morton's or whatever. They're loading it with butter. Salt, yeah.

Yeah, he's getting a 12-ounce steak at 7 o'clock and then another 8-ounce steak at 10 o'clock, 11. He's like, oh, I just want to – just because he doesn't eat a mashed potato with it, he thinks that he's doing the right thing. Yeah. The guy is just such a drag. And you sent a video walking through the airport the other day. It was so fucking funny. How do you eat that much steak?

You shouldn't eat that in a month.

His body's trying to break down the first 12 ounces as the next eight ounces are coming in. He thinks because he only eats steak and goes for hikes that he's healthy, but... To get gout not drinking is so unbelievable. He's got to be the first guy in history to ever have that.

like everybody else in the world, maybe do it once a week, maybe twice a week. Morton's has chicken. Morton's has salmon. They have salad. You can get whatever you want there. I mean, you guys know him as much as I do. He's an excessive guy, and whatever he's going to do, he's going all in, and he's all in on the steak.

Yeah, it just goes to his inexperience, right? He's a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. They're not used to getting out of it. He's used to golfing right now. And he said he threw out his L5S1, which is a running joke with our group because he does more yoga than anyone. He stretches all day. If you ever see him, during Survivor, they'd have five-minute clips of him just stretching.

It's crazy, and he's still very unflexible. It's probably because all the red meat, realistically. He's turning into a cow.

I loved him. He was literally, he was like a kid that just loved hockey. That's all, literally all he cared about was hockey. He was at the rink. Say you got to be there at 9 a.m. He was probably there at like 6.30, and he'd go home, nap for a little bit, and then come back to the rink. This is at home, on the road. Where the arena is in Sunrise, no one lives around there.

Everyone lives in either Boca or Fort Lauderdale on the ocean. He lived within walking distance of the arena just so he could be close to the rink so he could go there every time. But he was such a treat, man. Yeah. Just his love for the game. I think he was probably like 42 years old when I played with him and just how happy he was every day to be at the rink.

He used to snack on blueberry muffins or chocolate chip muffins and I'd get him a muffin every once in a while and he would love it. He'd eat it in the back of the bus like he was hiding something. But he was the best.

No. No, I wish. That old school mullet that he had was so good coming out of the Jofa helmet. Probably the worst helmet of all time, but he made it look good. His hair at one point was like your lane, PFT. Yeah. It was long.

Yeah. YouTube, some of the videos of him, like when he first came over to play for Pittsburgh, like his first I think one of the first things he bought was like a jean tuxedo because he just wanted to look like North American. And like he'd drive his Porsche. He used to get he told me he got some crazy speeding tickets of just, you know, he was just a young stud in the NHL. Just he was the best.

And. He deserves a lot of credit for how good Barkov is because Barkov kind of gravitated towards him. And then, you know, those guys would just go to the rink all day and put in work. And I think that the work ethic that Barky has a lot comes from Yogs.

So I was telling my buddies the other day, like down here in Florida, people don't know a ton about hockey, but the linesmen, the guys who are breaking up the fights and calling out, like they're the strongest guys on the ice. Like those guys grab you and it's like, Oh man, it's like your dad grabbing you when you're a kid. It's scary. Like they're big.

They're all probably all the linesmen are probably six, three, six, like say six, two to six, four and massive men. The, the, the refs are a little smaller. Um, but very athletic, you know, skating without a stick is like, for me, if I'm skating without a stick, you feel naked. Like you don't know what to do.

And the way that they skate around the ice and, you know, with four of them on the ice now too, there's not a lot of room for them to move. They're always in a good position. Um,

yeah the refs don't get a lot of love so you know you got to give them and then you see one of the uh chickaroon he took a stick to the eye this year he'll be doing the finals he's one of the best in the in the game um you know comes back a week early i texted him a day or two he's like i'll be back i'll be back like these get these guys take it serious man they they they love the game just as much as the players do they take a lot of pride in what they do and um

you know, hopefully that gets Florida some good calls this series.

Like we always say, like McDavid, he comes off the ice all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Even go public skating for 60 minutes straight or even, you know, 20 minutes. They get arrested in between the periods. But if you're standing up the whole time, like you're like, I don't know how goalies do it. I would take a knee every single time out.

If I was a goalie down the other end, I don't know how they stand that long. They're, they're,

I think they steal one on the road early and take care of business at home and then, you know, win it at home. I think winning at home, game six would be huge. You know, a lot of that comes from I don't want to go to Edmonton for game seven. I think we'd have to go for that. So I'm really, really praying it's in game six.

No, we actually should. You guys got any ideas?

Yeah.

Ooh. He would never do that.

I honestly think – I think he wants you dead at some point. Like, if you're in – I don't know if you bet on them or not.

That's huge. You guys should go to the Moss Pit. What's the Moss Pit?

Oh, yeah, yeah. The Moss Pit. I'll tell the listeners.

It's a pit outside of their arena with a statue of Joey Moss, who was a guy that worked the visitor's room for a long time. He had Down syndrome. He was the best guy, like, ever. And I believe Wayne was the one who had him there. So he was there forever. And he passed away, but they have, you know, a section outside of the arena where fans can watch the game all together.

And, you know, it's a gong show out there. And then even if they win, win or lose, they're fighting after the game. They just get into these absolute scrap. There'll be two guys in a Connor McDavid jersey just blasting each other. It's so good. And, you know, at the end of it, they're like, oh, good game. Shake hands. See you later. Yeah. Unless they're coaches. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing.

But, yeah, that's awesome you guys are ambassadors. Didn't Dave bet that they'd win in six games? Yeah, yeah. So if it does go to seven, he's going to be rooting for Florida, right? Because he'll be so pissed. Yes. So that's kind of the only reason I hope it goes to seven so he can get all over Witt for that and be in Witt's ear. But Witt's a good fan. He is. He is.

He's a really good... And he played for the team. That was my only gripe with Biz, with Toronto. He never played for the team. He never even played against them, never mind played for them.

And all his cats.

PFT's mom.

See you, boys. Thank you.

Okay, all right, all right, all right.

The green rings.

I think so.

I personally took no credit, but a lot of people have been throwing some credit my way and I am not a guy to sit here and not take it. So I am going to take it. And I don't know how much I deserve of it, but I am taking it. Cause to be honest, once it like that, once I kind of settled down and was watching the game, I was like, Oh shit, if they lose, it's kind of on my head.

So then like, I was all nervous during the game. And, uh, so it kind of made for a fun, you know, fun 60 minutes and they played unbelievable the night that I did it. Uh, Bob had a shutout. So it was just a lot of fun to be at the game. I don't go to a ton of games anymore. Just... You know, during the week, it's brutal going there. But it was a blast. So fun to be there.

And they played unbelievable. It was the best game they've played in the playoffs, especially in this series. It was back to, you know, the way that the peas play.

Well, we're colleagues right now this week. You know, last week or a week and a half ago, we were, you know, really, really, really good friends. And, you know, this week we're colleagues. So I think, you know, win or lose, I think we'll be back to where we were before. But I think it's definitely taken a little out of our friendship, you know, the way I –

Just the way he's been treating people, I've been gracious enough to bring on the show. Just his whole antics and everything. He's been foaming at the mouth a lot more, so hopefully we've got to get him checked for rabies soon. I know he was supposed to have a doctor's appointment, but knowing him, he probably missed it. But, yeah, it's just the guy's lost in the sauce, like Witt said.

He is lost in – He thinks he's a part of the team. The man never played for the team. He barely played in the NHL, so I don't know how he's claiming another team. He was lucky enough to be on one. It's been a lot of headaches with him this week, but I'm looking forward to the series to be over so we can be back to being friends.

Yeah, but you know what? I was at the game, and even a lot of Toronto fans were coming up to me, and I think a lot of them have had enough of his shit.

Just a lot of people, they're like, honestly, who is this guy? And then he's taking up our time. He's sitting at TNT on the desk, just being a complete homer. So I think a lot of people have had enough of him, including myself. So I think for the betterment of the game and watching hockey, it'll be better.

actually, as we were going to the game, my kids were like, Oh, big justice and a big AJ did it the day before. And I'm like, how do I, how do I follow that up? You know what I mean? And then, um, It was tough sledding, just the mental warfare for the 30 minutes leading up. Once the puck dropped, actually during warm-ups, I could kind of tell.

You know when Bob's in his rhythm, the way he was making saves in warm-ups, seeing everything into his glove. I knew he was going to have a good game, so I owe him. I know he likes to give out bottles of wine after a shutout, so I'm actually going to send him a bottle.

Yeah, those are scary, especially when a guy has his back turned. He's that close but far enough away from the boards where you could go in headfirst. Luckily, Barky's okay. He's a big, strong guy. But the best part about it, I find, is there's a couple – it's playoff hockey. There's going to be dirty hits. There's going to be dirty plays that happen in Game 1 and Game 2.

And just everybody in Canada, including Biz – is bitching and complaining about how dirty the Panthers are and all this. And then you don't hear the Panthers complaining about anything. They're just all about that business, all about going to work the next day, getting ready for the next game. But I did not like the hit. I thought it was dirty. I think he got a 5,000.

$5,000 fine, which, you know, it is what it is. But I know Max. I played with him a little bit in Phoenix. Or maybe he was just there for training camp. But a good kid. I don't think it was malicious. I don't think he was trying to hurt anyone. He was just trying to get some momentum for next game. But I definitely didn't like it. But I really liked the way the Florida handled it.

Like men, like, you know, the winners that they are and they know what it takes and they'll be ready to go, you know, Wednesday night.

I don't think he needs to. I think they're going to play their game. I think the momentum from the last two games at home, they got back to the way that they played. The first two games they played in Toronto, you've got to give credit to Toronto. They played well, but... The Panthers shot themselves in the foot. They had very uncharacteristic mistakes.

They had four guys on the ice one time to score a late goal. Bob didn't play his best hockey. I'm sure he'd be the first one to tell you that. They lost those two games, but they honestly... you know, basically gave them away. So I really like where they're at now. The last two games they've played back to, you know, Panthers hockey where they're, you know, just getting pucks. You watch them play.

They're best players. Every single guy on the team hits guys, run guys through the wall. They're in on the forecheck. They don't make stupid plays when they're playing well. They did in the first two games, but they haven't the last two. So I just love the way that they're playing and they're a team that can carry it over and, you know, keep building momentum on that.

And they're going to be scary on Wednesday.

I did see a picture floating around the internet of, you know, one of the players took a picture with a fan, but I see nothing wrong with that. I'm a big vitamin D guy, as you can tell by my beautiful tan. Yep. Fifty shades of white, but...

yeah no i i you know it's it's what you do when you're down here usually you know i loved playing playing down here and then other teams you know the teams from canada winnipeg they'd come in you'd see the backup goalie the next day on the bench just burnt red he knew he wasn't playing so he some guys might give it an hour on the beach and you know the backups giving about three hours on the beach roasting away but i didn't see too many sunburns so i think that they uh they knew what they would do and they probably rotated uh use some spf but no you can't

I can't blame them from that. You've got to take in the cities. When you go to these cities, you only play in the league so long. You only get to go around these cities. I see nothing wrong with it.

Yeah. It's honestly one of the best parts about playing down here, especially now with how good they are. The fans are still respectful. They appreciate what the guys are doing on the ice. you know, you can go anywhere you want. You're not going to get, you know, harassed anywhere. And, you know, I think that's just such a, you know, a good perk to have a plane down here.

And you still go to the rink. It's the same game once you get in that arena. But, you know, when you leave the rink in your golf cart and flip flops and Janko shorts, it's nice. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, honestly, it should have never got to that point. William Carlson, he's one on three, dumps the puck in. I think there's eight seconds left at the time where he dumps it in. And, you know, it's one verse three and he ends up somehow getting to the puck and just throwing it to the middle. And luckily, Riley Smith was there. So at that point, it's kind of just panic time because...

you know everyone's you you count down the mental clock in your head and you guys every guy's probably like oh my god there's one second two seconds and then you're kind of just you know panicking you don't know where to go so i'm sure the goalie did the same thing i'm i'm sure if it was uh you know 10 minutes left in the game that it would have never happened but you know the panic set in and uh you know he kind of just got himself out of place but for how dominant

you know edmonton has looked like that the win that vegas got there like that's the only way that i think they have a chance of beating them right now it's just like a miraculous win win with point force it's like you can't give mahomes enough time on the clock you couldn't give tom brady enough time on the clock that's how the oilers are right now you give them enough time they're gonna find ways to score uh you know whether it's late in the game you know clutch goals they they i didn't give them the credit that they deserve coming in i think i had them even losing first round and

They've impressed me so much just with their depth scoring. You know, McDavid and Dreisaitl are still playing amazing, but they haven't had to carry the load as much as they have in the past, which is scary for every other team because, I mean, they haven't got going as much as they really could because they haven't had to.

But I mean, they're still finding a way. They're scoring huge goals. They're getting big assists, game winners and stuff like that. But you got Adam Henry, Corey Perry, guys just chipping in and finding ways to win.

I mean, on paper, he's definitely the, you know, in quotations, the weak link of their team. He's an amazing goalie. He's, you know, he's a big guy. He's, you know, he's got really good instincts. But I think last game, he just he really used his size to an advantage and wasn't trying to overplay things. And, you know, he was just in good position at all times.

And I don't think he was tested as much as, you know, other goalies are. I think Even if he plays subpar a little bit, they can still win this series, but I think it's that next series, whether it's against Dallas or Winnipeg, when he's getting a lot more pressure, that's when you're going to really see what he's made of.

Honestly, I don't think so. I don't know if they look a little off right now. They look like they're just not on the same page. They got some guys going well. Mark Stone, I think, is a little banged up. He left game three the other day. He played last night, which was a good sign, but he just didn't look like himself.

Jack Eichel has been amazing for them, carrying the load, but they're not getting the support that they have in the past. I don't think that they can come back in this series against Edmonton. I think Edmonton's playing at a different level right now. And, you know, if you only got to win one more game and you got Leon and Connor, it's always going to be tough to close them out.

Yeah, that's a good breakdown of that. I think last night was the first time that there's even been a goal in the first period for either team. So Washington still hasn't scored in the first.

I think they only have one goal in the power play this series, which is, you know, if you're a capitals player or a fan, it's, that's how you guys, you know, make your, uh, your bread and butter is scoring on the power play. Um, And it's, it just hasn't been able to get it.

I think, I think Washington does a really good job of suffocating teams and, and, you know, not only five on four, but five on five, their defense, their defensive zone, they just play really fast. They get on you. Not a lot of teams play the way that they do. Um, I mean, this series is so boring.

It's basically, it's like the late 90s, early 2000s New Jersey Devils kind of sit back in the rocking chair and not let you get through the neutral zone and then just pressure the shit out of you in the defensive zone. hey, at the end of the day, it's winning hockey. Rod Brindamore gets all of his guys to buy in. He gets everything out of his guys. He doesn't have the one big superstar.

He's got guys that just come in there, check their ego at the door, and play hard for them. It's definitely not a fun series to watch, especially if your team's losing to them. If you're a Carolina fan and At the end of the day, if you're hoisting that trophy in June, it doesn't matter how you did it. But yeah, this one, I think you're 100% right. They have to score early.

If I was the Capitals and Carberry's done an unreal job there, I would just go full on. I'd pull my goalie in the first period. Get a six on five. Why not? Get a lead.

I got to give a shout out to and put some respect on his name is Tom Wilson. He's obviously been around a long time. He's an unbelievable player, but I think he is a bona fide star right now. He should be on that Olympic team. No one wants to play against him. He does everything for that team. Power play, penalty kill, five on five.

uh amazing leader as well so i think i think you got to talk about him a little bit more of how good he is and how much he can impact a game and also logan thompson he's been amazing like a couple bad ones in um you know game three i didn't love but you know he he played decent last night you know he just you know he's getting no run support and uh you know but they are a team they've done it all year they've played well they've

They've found ways to win games, and I think you're right. If they can go home and get a big win, get the momentum going. It's that building in Raleigh, too. It's a tough, tough building to play in. Unless you like chain restaurants, they get you when you land. You go into a chain restaurant, you're staying at a decent hotel, not great, and then you go into the away locker rooms, awful.

So it's a mental game, too, from the minute you land there to the minute the game's over.

I'm not going to say that. I mean, if it ended today, we'd be happy with it. Right, right. It has fans in the Capitals and a puck. We would like it. And, yeah, I mean, obviously everything with what Ovi did this year, I think, I don't know if their social media team did a really good job of just getting clips out of, you know, Carberry talking to the team.

It just seems like such a cool, tight-knit group. I've talked to their assistant coach there. He just says, like, the guys love each other. And, you know, every coach says that, but, like, He said these guys absolutely love each other. We had James Van Riemsdyk on chicklets yesterday and his brothers on that team.

And he said he went to his nephew's one first birthday and there was like 15, 20 guys on the team over at the at his house for the for the party. So you can tell that they're, you know, galvanized group. They you know, they love each other and easy team to root for. You know, I think everybody wants to see them move on here and You got to win one more. Just win one at a time, PFT. One at a time.

No.

what what is the vibe like and what is like the mentality when it's like all right hey we're loading up the first line and now everyone else has to figure it out yeah it's kind of especially in playoffs when it happens during the regular season it's kind of like oh god you kind of you're like hey what what about us we can play with these guys too but when it's playoff time and no one cares about their stats or all you care about is the wins and

I think when you're in the locker room and you see – if I was in the Edmonton locker room as a defenseman and you see on the board before the game McDavid, Dreisaitl, and whoever, Corey Perry – you are just itching to be on the ice with them because you know it's going to be fun. You know, you're going to have, you know, snap it around the offensive zone. You're going to be high flying.

So I think a lot of it too is just kind of, especially in playoffs too, like those other three lines have to be like, hey, we got to do our job of just, you know, holding the fort down a little bit, maybe pitch in with a goal or two, and then we let these big dogs eat. And, you know, that's the best part about playoffs is nobody cares what happens, like where you're playing.

Whether you're a healthy scratch or not, if your team's winning, everybody's happy. Especially as a fan watching when the big boys get put on the same line and they're playing. It's kind of just like all-out pond hockey. It's so fun to watch.

yeah it's probably it's probably right now like halfway through the second the second series is you're mentally you're coming down from the high of being in in the playoffs now you're traveling a little more you know you're not getting the sleep that you're getting every night um or that you're supposed to be getting every night because you know your blood's pumping after the games you you got to be up having meetings and practices and whatnot the next day so

I think right now is probably that time where your body's like, holy shit, what are we doing to myself right now? And like, you know, you're really in the fight. And but it's also at the end of the day, it's the best time of the year, too, because you're just playing hockey. That's all you care about. That's all you're worried about.

You're not dealing with shit at your kid's school or, you know, going to the grocery store to pick up stuff for your wife. It's strictly hockey. And, you know, that's why you play.

uh one man performance that you've seen in the playoffs yeah i mean i think just the whole you know everything's surrounding it too and with him being traded uh to carolina not wanting to get traded and then being flipped to dallas and i love the fact it's almost a little uh nba-ish is like he most hockey guys would be like oh yeah it is what it is it's the trade

But he's like, I wanted to I wanted to come to Dallas so I could shove it up their ass. And yeah, and he did it. And he and he's got the entire hockey world like flipped on its head. He's got guys that used to play with them, you know, answering questions. Oh, you know, why the hell did you trade them?

Guys weighing in that used to play with him that aren't on the team anymore are weighing in on Twitter. Nazem Qadri was like, this is why you don't trade the big boys. It's bringing a little drama to the game, which is always fun. He's living up to his nickname of the horse, the big horse. He is absolutely on a mission right now. To go into a team, I think he only played what...

10 or 12 regular season games with them so it's not a ton of familiarity with your players i know i know he's um you know country mates with rupe hints so they have a little chemistry together but it's really hard to go in and you know not have that much time with a team and to be playing this good because you know a lot of tendency you get you you figure out how guys like to play where guys like the park the tendencies of you know where guys are going to be in the

ozone d zone and the fact that he's figured it out this quick and you know at the end of the day i think he's just like hey boys hop on my back and enjoy the ride and he is he is putting on an absolute clinic right now the big horse i love that nickname the big horse yeah i've heard i've heard people call him the moose too i don't know i've moose is another one what's the difference between having a horse on your team and having a moose on your team well when you got both of them

I mean, if you have two nicknames, it's a horse and a moose. You'd rather that. I don't know. I'd probably rather a horse because I feel like they're a little faster. Yeah. I mean, a moose is both beautiful animals, too. So, I mean... I don't know. I'd rather have a horse. What would you rather have?

He's in Dallas, though, so he might die.

He's legit. He is – I was talking to Witt about it the other day. I remember my first couple years in the league playing against Jarme Jager and Wayne Gretzky, I remember in the pre-scout meeting, he was like, hey, if he turns his back on you – you'll never get the puck because he's just so big and so strong and used his ass so good. And that's exactly how Rantanen is.

Rantanen is the, you know, from when I played against Jager till when I played against Rantanen, like the two of the only guys that you're like, oh my God, if he turns his back on you, there's no way of getting the puck because they're just so big and so strong and use their edges so good. And Yeah, he's a specimen, and I honestly do not know how they traded him.

I think the first series, he got a little bit too much heat, I think, because the play in front of him was awful. The games that they lost on the road against St. Louis, obviously, he didn't play great. He let in a couple not-so-great goals, but...

i i truly believe that the team was dog shit in front of them too that they were they weren't playing their best and yeah i heard an interview with um jesus what's their captain's name um whatever uh you know and he he and he admitted it he said that you know they they weren't playing uh a lowry uh and he was like we're not playing good in front of him we're not giving him a chance to win and um you know they were taking accountability for it but

it's something you got to figure out if you're going to go on a, on a run and win a Stanley cup, you got to win on the road at some point. And, um, Right now, I think Dallas is a team I see going further. I see them winning this series, and it's strictly because of Ottinger, too. He does not get rattled, whether he's home or away. He kind of plays the same game.

The goals that Hellebuck's given up, he looks sometimes like Skinner the other night, where he's way out of position, where goaltenders are usually never out of position, and And he's just not playing the game that he played all year. And, you know, when you win, I think this will be his third Vesna. And, you know, people just expect you to have a shutout every game.

Obviously, that's not going to happen. But, yeah, I think he's also one of those guys, too. If he gets a road win, it could flip something in his brain where he just goes on a complete tear and it'll be tough to score against them.

I've said it from the beginning that it's going to be Panthers-Stars, so I'm sticking with that. But this Edmond team does scare me a little bit. Yeah. even thinking, you know, don't want to think too far ahead, but if it was a playoffs, you have a revenge tour of, you know, McDavid, you know, losing last year.

You can just, you see the videos of him in the locker room, pissed off after throwing stuff around the locker room. And you can almost just see that as like the start of the DVD, the championship DVD for this year. So that, that stuff scares me a little bit, but But we're still a long ways away from that.

I'll still stick with Dallas coming out of the West and Florida coming out of the East and just another no-tax city Stanley Cup finals.

I think Witt might move to Edmonton and just become mayor or coach or GM. I think he'll... But the good thing about him, he's not lost in the sauce like Biz is. And he played for the team. He was a part of that organization. Yeah. I feel like Witt's been very calm this playoffs. Yeah. He's got three kids now, so maybe he's a little tired. Perspective?

It is fun. And I mean, anytime Witt's upset is always fun because he gets really passionate about things. And, you know, he'd die for his team. He loves the Oilers. I think he's probably regretting them right now. You know, all year having to watch the late games and be up late and, you know, early wake ups at six in the morning with the youngins isn't that fun. But yeah,

You know, he's a ride or die. You know, even through their tough times during this season, he sticks with them. And so you got to give him respect. But I'd much rather Edmonton win than Toronto and see Biz's antics. True.

I think, yeah. His last year in the NHL was the Panthers. Yeah.

He did, yeah, him and Biz. Yeah, so they might both be blues.

instead of weight he's saying like i gotta be better in the next game like he is he's taking on the entire team as him the the ego on this guy is incredible oh did you like he's not working tnt and he's going back to his house in well in ontario i need to find out where he wouldn't tell me where he's watching the game and i need to

If I find out where he's watching the game, I will get Twitter just to tweet out where he's going to be, and I will fly any Panthers fan to where he is just to torture him the entire game. If you guys could do me a favor and be like, hey, where are you watching the game? Because he won't see that. Actually, he'll never see this. No. So if you could do that for me. I'll text him right now.

No, but he loves himself so much he would love that.

Yeah. Yeah. He's never played a minute of power plays in his entire life. They got five of the best players in the league on their power play, but it's his fault. You have Oldie. Oldie should text and be like, hey, where are we watching the game?

No, no. The reason why he thinks he's a part of the team, yes, because of that ambassador's jacket that Brendan Shanahan gave him. But he claims that when he was put on waivers from Pittsburgh that Toronto – that Toronto and Phoenix put a claim in for him. And the way that it works in hockey, if you get put on waivers, anyone can claim you.

And then if multiple teams claim you, whoever came in a lower position the year before gets you. So in Phoenix, they finished lower than Toronto, so he ended up in Phoenix, which I still don't even believe that because Toronto – I can't imagine they needed a guy like him back then. They had like Jay Rosehill. They had Colton Moore. They had tough guys and –

I can't imagine they wanted Biz at any point.

I mean, that's probably what it's going to be.

No. No. I think Florida will – I think that the way that they play will kind of take away from the way that Carolina plays. They play so hard and fast. I think they'll kind of – both teams will play like each other. Both teams will play more of a Florida-style type game. I think they're just doing what they can do right now to Washington. It's a good game plan. They're suffocating them.

But I think against Florida, you've got to have a completely different – game plan and the game will be completely different. It'll be a lot faster, a lot more up-tempo goal scoring. And even too, when you're in the Eastern Conference Finals, it's always must-watch TV. So Hank, we'll dial you back in and it'll be a fun series no matter what.

They were terrible, yeah.