Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hour two of Canuck Central. And this hour is brought to you by BC Liquor. Until May 30th, save $4 on Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc and $7 off Steamworks John Oliver Lager 15 packs. Visit your nearest BC Liquor today, 19 plus. Enjoy responsibly. as we broadcast live from the Kintec studio.
Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintec and get those thoughts in to our Dunbar Lumber text inbox, 650-650. It's Satyar Shah and Biknazar on Sportsnet 650. Let's go to the Able Auctions hotline and welcome in our next guest. It is Frank Cirovalli, NHL insider and host of Frankly Hockey on Victory+. What's happening, Frank? How are you doing today, man? Not too much.
How are you guys doing? Hey, we're doing great. I mean, enjoying the playoffs. It's still a surprise that the Vegas Golden Knights taking a 3-0 series lead on the Colorado Avalanche. But given that McCarr isn't right and what happened with Nathan McKinnon, it just seems like maybe the Avs got bad luck at the worst time.
Yeah, I mean, there's no doubt there's an element to that. I mean, missing Cal McCarr for the first two games certainly played a pretty significant factor in how those games played out. And then watching McKinnon struggle as he did last night after taking that puck to the knee, definitely not ideal, but I don't think that's the whole story.
And I don't think that's necessarily the fair narrative because there's a lot of things that the abs have done to shoot themselves in the foot. I mean, their goaltending has struggled pretty significantly. That's come back to bite them. I think they've, the way that they've managed the puck has been pretty disappointing and
And there seems to be a lot of individualistic type plays that come from this team when they get down and they start to press. that there's also an element of stubbornness. And I don't just mean on the ice. I mean, also on the bench, like I couldn't imagine watching that second period go against you the way that they did. It did.
And not try and do a couple of different things to halt the momentum that Vegas had going in their favor after the abs had a three, nothing lead. It was like watching a slow decay of their season play out in real time. So again, the injuries are, Significant contributing factor, but not the whole story.
What's been the reaction in your conversations to seeing John Tortorella kind of go on this run here? He comes in eight games left in the season, and right now it feels like Vegas is hitting every note.
Yeah, they are, and that's kind of the amazing story. I mean, he came back and said, my job is to stay out of the way. This is a good team that has good processes in place. that I'm here to just help guide them. And it feels like that's kind of exactly what he's done. There hasn't been a massive change in the way that Vegas plays. They seem to be a lot more confident.
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Chapter 2: Why are the Vegas Golden Knights leading the WCF 3-0?
What, you're going to go to the market and then try and think you're going to find someone better?
No, it's just, you know, because there wasn't any guarantee that he would stay there and they kind of, you know, did the deal for just the one year. But you're right. I think you're at a point now where, I mean, if you're going to get to even if you get to the cup final and lose it, like, how do you not bring that guy back?
The only question I guess is, do you feel like there's only so much runway you have with a coach like Tortorella that kind of would wear out as welcome after a while?
Yeah, but I think you're in win now mode. So you're not really worrying about that. My only question would be, and it's just a pure hypothetical at this point, but comes into closer view. John Tortorella is 67. He turned 68 in 29 days. He has been on this quest to win a second Stanley cup and become just the fourth guy to win two or more with multiple teams. Does this,
Mark, the end of the ride, does he walk in and say, look, I'm never going to have a better run than I just had stepping behind this bench. Right. Love these guys. What a great experience it was, but I'm going to go back to Florida and I'm going to do whatever it is that he does there.
Yeah, no, that also makes a lot of sense if it ends with the hoisting of the cup.
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Chapter 3: What impact did injuries have on the Colorado Avalanche's playoffs?
If it ends for Vegas winning the cup, I would assume Mitch Marner is the Conn Smythe winner. He's a runaway favorite right now. How stunning is this? Progress here, right? Like, playoffs can rewrite narratives, as we're talking about torts here, but also for Marner having this success here.
And how will that inform maybe some teams' businesses over the coming summers as they look at a player who's kind of rewrote his narrative?
Yeah, the narrative part is interesting, and he sort of added some layers to it, right? I mean, he had that rocket quote after last night's game that really kind of got people buzzing in Toronto, right? Um, when he talked about, um, just how they've managed each other on the bench, he said, quote, we have an older group that just stays patient and stays calm. We don't turn on each other.
We don't get mad at each other. And a lot of people viewed that as a direct shot at Austin Matthews and William Nylander. I'm not going to put the words in his mouth, but I mean, there's still obviously a part of it that, um, Even being in Vegas and watching this all come together, it feels perfect now, right?
Because the playoffs have been an unreal run, but I think a lot of people look back at the regular season and they go, was Mitch Marner really the missing piece? There was a million of those questions floating around. So I don't know how it informs teams' narratives. I think what's universally true is just that Mitch Marner is a really good hockey player.
And I think as a manager or anyone running a team, it's so hard to find true difference makers that whether they come with a narrative or some baggage or maybe even you're able to get a distressed asset from someone, which Mitch Marner wasn't, that there's a ton of value in those players. And, you know, it takes someone sometimes going somewhere else to do that.
I mean, Jack Eichel had a certain narrative that surrounded him going back to Buffalo. Can't win with this guy, doesn't score enough, not a complete play. I mean, whatever it is, the injuries to the neck, he's never going to be the same again. They find a way to bet on guys and cash in.
Yeah, it's worked out for them on a few different occasions. Before we get to some of the Canucks stuff here and their head coach, there's been some rumors swirling around the Nashville Predators GM job and how they might be on the verge of hiring Chris McFarlane, who is a GM of the Colorado Avalanche. But obviously, you know, he's still with the Avs. They're still doing their thing.
I've heard different things on this. Some people think that it is going to happen. Some say it's not going to happen. Some say it's getting ahead of ourselves. Others say it's a foregone conclusion. What do you make of the Nashville job and potentially Chris McFarlane getting that gig once the Avs playoffs are over?
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Chapter 4: How has John Tortorella influenced the Golden Knights' performance?
So I think that's a nice breakdown of what to do with Simone Nemech moving forward in Vancouver. Of course, um, you know, you nailed it about a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about, um, who the GM is going to be. And you said, hey, listen, the push seems to be about Ryan Johnson. That's who I think the Sedins want to have the job. And then days later, that came to pass.
In terms of the head coach, there's a lot of buzz that it's going to be Manny Malhotra. They're negotiating the contract, but nothing is done yet. But does it seem like it's nearly a foregone conclusion that Manny is going to be the Canucks' next head coach?
It does seem to be pretty close to that. Now, I mean, obviously not willing to make a declaration today, but
But also the fact that we haven't heard anyone else being in for an interview or, in fact, even an interview process taking place that would lend itself to believe that, as Ryan Johnson hinted at, the Canucks have an internal candidate right in front of them that they need to take seriously. And clearly they're doing that. And that body of work, the track record from...
the amount of years that they worked together and interacted, there's clearly a trust factor there that I think is critically important in a stage that the Canucks are about to embark on of really trying to redo this team's culture and get it right and set in place some non-negotiables that he's kind of the perfect guy to have from that standpoint.
Now, the next question just becomes, of course, if this does happen and this is a fait accompli, that The next thing is what happens at the draft.
Yeah, again, we've spent some time talking about that even today. It just seems like nonstop. It's like, okay, if you're making one decision, does it exclude you from making a future decision on Caleb Mahocha? Now, Ryan Johnson, it felt like he was keeping all the options open when he was asked about it last week. And it's probably the right tactic to take. Why announce that?
You aren't going to do certain things to minimize your trade-down opportunities.
Yeah, I mean, I don't even know if it's like trade-down opportunities. I think it's just you really never know how the board's going to work, right? And I think that's the great unknown and the thrill of drafts is sometimes you end up in positions that you least expect.
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