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Boomer & Gio

NHL Player Toughness Compared With NBA & MLB

23 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What significant moment is highlighted at the beginning of the episode?

0.031 - 18.816 Boomer

The Jack Hughes overtime goal, the gold winning gold. Golden goal. Golden goal that Kenny Albert described. And it was an amazing moment for all of us who are watching. I think we were all collectively together as one for at least for about what?

0

18.796 - 22.961 Gio

Three or four hours? Yeah, and then everybody started yelling at each other again. Yes.

0

23.101 - 43.967 Gio

You know, I'm not in any way defending the NBA player, but one thing that needs to be discussed in this, so any time that someone in the NHL does what Jack Hughes does where they take a stick to the mouth and they're spitting out half of their teeth and then they go and finish a game and score a game-winning goal, people will compare that, and it's generally compared to NBA players. The flopping.

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44.027 - 65.945 Gio

The flopping of this or that or the injury. I mean, you see some of these guys who... Like, you know, whether it's Anthony Davis or whomever, you know, injuries and they're out all the time and, you know, how are they not fighting through these injuries and the load management, which is true. But the baseball players need to be brought into this discussion as well. They really do.

0

66.005 - 81.146 Gio

They never get criticized the way that the NBA players do when it comes to toughness. I mean, how many times do we see this? Every single year. What do you think would happen if Kodai Senga got two teeth knocked out of his face? He'd retire. Well, they'd bring in a therapist. I mean, my God.

81.586 - 89.097 Gio

I mean, you think about the freaking soft tissue injuries, and this guy's got this, and this guy's got that, and Stanton's got two elbows.

Chapter 2: How does toughness in NHL players compare to NBA players?

89.257 - 112.236 Boomer

I mean, Jesus Christ. And by the way, all the NHL players that did participate in the Olympics, I guarantee you all have something. I mean, blocking shots, taking hits. I mean, Tom Wilson almost took Dylan Larkin's head off. I think Dylan saw him right at the end and just kind of got out of the way a little bit. And so Wilson fell, but he got hit pretty hard, Dylan Larkin.

0

112.216 - 125.315 Gio

Yeah, so that's just – nobody is – I mean, the NFL players are very, very tough. We know that. The NHL players are tough. But, I mean, I feel like the baseball players need to be in this conversation more when it comes to the softness because I've never seen anything like it.

0

125.616 - 139.935 Boomer

I mean, the game of hockey, you've got to skate. You've got to stick in your hand. You've got somebody coming down your throat. You've got to be able to pass a puck, chip a puck. You know, make a shot, make a block. You know, I mean, there's so many different things that you have to do in the game of hockey.

0

139.955 - 151.889 Boomer

But the one thing I will say, Matt and I were talking to this, and Matt obviously was a – Matt Martin was a very physical player. And, you know, he would hit a lot of guys. But I said, you know, Matt, I don't know, maybe you'd have five or six hits a game.

0

Chapter 3: What role does flopping play in the perception of NBA player toughness?

151.929 - 172.484 Boomer

And, you know, you'd be going up against the boards, and it wasn't like you were a shouldered shoulder every time. Yeah. The NFL football game has about 150 hits. Yeah. Yeah. And it's shoulder to shoulder, head to head. You know, it's shoulder to thigh. I mean, twisting knees. I mean, it's a little bit different. That's why there's only 17 NFL games.

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172.784 - 188.293 Gio

Sure. Well, right. But probably 18 on its way, you would think. Right? I would think so, yes. I mean, though, the players are probably going to be like, ah, hell no, and then they'll see, like, oh, you get two bye weeks, and then this is how much more money per player you're going to get.

0

188.314 - 197.168 Boomer

Well, what you've got to think about is, like, what are the next quarterback contracts going to look like? Like, what is Drake Mays' contract going to look like?

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Chapter 4: Why should baseball players be included in the toughness discussion?

197.148 - 212.743 Boomer

What is Jackson, Smith, and Jigba? What is his contract going to look like for Seattle? I mean, these are the top-end players that are going to be up for contracts relatively soon, and it's going to be interesting to see what their average value of their contract is.

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212.774 - 230.916 Gio

I want to go back to something that you said earlier when we were talking about the Knicks and how it's about the playoffs with them, and if they have a bad game, you're not going to freak out as much anymore. I do think, though, to be fair, and you tell me if I'm off base on this, we know that you're a bigger Ranger fan that's your number one team than you are.

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230.956 - 244.317 Gio

You're a big Knicks fan, but you're a bigger Ranger fan. If the Rangers were in the Knicks position... and they played one of the better teams in the league and got their asses handed to them, you'd be pissed off, wouldn't you? I would.

0

245.019 - 248.345 Boomer

But that's why I came in pissed off after the Detroit game.

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248.546 - 248.907 Gio

Yeah.

249.107 - 249.508 Boomer

I was.

250.45 - 254.297 Gio

But now you're saying you're not going to anymore because they played two games in a row.

254.438 - 259.588 Boomer

I know, but I'm just thinking that I think this team is a –

Chapter 5: What are the differences in injury handling between NHL and MLB players?

259.822 - 285.615 Boomer

Bronson is a great player. He's a playoff player. Bridges is a playoff player. Hart is a playoff player. OG's a playoff player. They raise their games in the playoffs. I know they do. I've seen it. So I don't like, you know, if Mikael Bridges has an off night here or OG is missing with a freaking toenails hanging off or whatever it may be. I know it's a long season.

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285.695 - 300.453 Boomer

I know they're going to be in the playoffs. And ultimately, that's how Mike Brown is going to be judged. That's how Carl Anthony Towns is going to be judged. That's exactly what Shaq told Carl Anthony Towns. And that's exactly what you've been saying about him since he got here.

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Chapter 6: How do NHL players demonstrate toughness during games?

300.473 - 321.486 Gio

Well, yeah. And that's why the two things that I need to see to feel more comfortable going into the playoffs, and maybe ultimately it won't matter, is that I need to see Carl Anthony Towns played like he did the last two games consistently. And I need to see that Mike Brown's offensive system is doing the things that it's supposed to be doing in critical moments against good teams.

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321.506 - 326.153 Gio

I mean, those are the two things. Everybody else I kind of trust. But Brown and Towns still need to prove it to us.

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326.413 - 348.283 Boomer

Right. Well, yes. And this is one of the reasons why they made the coaching changes. One of the reasons why we said at the beginning of the year, just like Joe Brady up there in Buffalo, you have a team that's right there, very close, and you're changing the system. You're changing the coach. You're changing everything about the team from a mechanical aspect of it.

0

348.263 - 367.977 Boomer

And players need time to get into it and understand it. But they've had more than enough time to understand this. Now, let's see what happens in Cleveland on Tuesday night. Again, I still think that this team is all about getting to the playoffs. They're veteran players. They were all brought here because of their pedigree. They were not drafted here.

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367.957 - 380.05 Boomer

They were traded for, they were paid, and I think it's all about the playoffs for them. So they're going to have some more clunkers. There's no question about it. But then it comes down to those seven-game series.

Chapter 7: What are the challenges faced by NHL players compared to NFL players?

380.15 - 384.261 Boomer

Can they win those seven-game series, or is it going to be heartbreak central again?

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384.899 - 395.345 Gio

Yeah, I mean, I really can't wait if and when it happens. You know, Pistons, Knicks, conference finals. I mean, phew.

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395.365 - 396.368 Boomer

There may not be conference finals.

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396.388 - 410.871 Gio

It's true. There actually may not be. That's right, yeah. Well, whenever that series is. Second round. Whenever that series is, I am all in like everybody else, obviously. All right, let's go to David in Watertown, Connecticut. What's going on, David?

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411.251 - 427.852 Unknown

Hey, good morning, guys. What a great hockey day yesterday. The game, of course, was just edge of your seat for three hours. Our goalie stood on his head the whole tournament. He was just outstanding. But I want to tell you the way the hockey day ended for me, Boomer. There was a great documentary on SNY last night about the Hartford Whalers.

428.333 - 428.473

Mm-hmm.

429.01 - 442.393 Unknown

And they did a really nice piece, a two-hour piece on SNY. Talked about all the great players that played there, like Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Samuelson, of course, the Howes. It was just a really nice piece. If you haven't had a chance to see it, I would highly recommend it.

443.335 - 446.4 Boomer

All right. I appreciate that, David. Thank you very much. Brass Bonanza.

446.48 - 448.463 Gio

You know how much I love that? Hey, listen, man.

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