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Oilers NOW with Bob Stauffer

Washington Capitals Analyst Al May (6/1/26)

01 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 31.158 Bob Stauffer

Hey, it's Bob Stauffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Just before we go to Almay, I just wanted to pass along to you all, did a little bit of digging on the Maxime Bereshkin front, led to believe that he got a two-year extension in the range of 80 million rubles a year. which works out to about $1.25 million U.S.

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31.819 - 51.781 Bob Stauffer

So, now, Vasilij Podkolzin knows Bereshkin. And I think that, I mean, that's a guarantee that he gets that money playing in the KHL. So $1.25 million American, $80 million. I'm told it's in the range of that number. So, I mean, I guess, and he's 24, so 25, 26.

0

Chapter 2: What recent news about Maxime Bereshkin is shared?

51.841 - 69.226 Bob Stauffer

That leads me to believe that he wasn't that excited about competing for a job at the NHL level. Well, one guy that's known a lot of Russians over the course of his broadcast and his career, including the greatest one to ever play, is Al May. He is our Oilers Now headliner today for Wilhock Beef Jerky.

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69.247 - 92.449 Bob Stauffer

Others can try to imitate, but nobody can duplicate the great flavor of Wilhock Beef Jerky, only available in Leduc. And we welcome back to the show Al and May. Hello, Al. How are you doing? Doing great. Thanks for having me, Steph. Great to be with you again. Absolutely. Well, let's get to it. Let's start, you know, with Alexander Ovechkin. I mean, we know how spectacular of a player he's been.

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92.469 - 104.507 Bob Stauffer

He's the all-time leading goal scorer in NHL history. Do you envision, do you have any idea which way is, you know, what are you hearing on, you know, is he going to come back and play another season? What do you think?

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105.55 - 123.223 Al May

I think we're all kind of expecting him to come back. No one's gotten any leaked word, and I'm pretty tight with a bunch of the players that played with him. We're all handicapping that he's coming back. I don't know if it's one year or two years, but probably the right thing to do would just be come back a year at a time.

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123.243 - 134.061 Al May

I think this year to have a kick at the can while healthy because last year, he had a bum hamstring, bum knee, I believe, to start the season.

134.081 - 157.942 Al May

He missed most of training camp, and then he started the season, and it took him about six weeks to get going, and he still led the team in 32 goals, 64 points, and he never, until a game at Salt Lake City sometime in March, he never got a defensive zone start. Maybe it was April. And the game that he got his first two defensive zone starts, he scored. They had two shifts in that game.

158.383 - 166.776 Al May

He scored goals on both of them. So, you know, he never was used less in his career, and he still found a way to score 32 goals.

167.515 - 182.715 Bob Stauffer

Was my math wrong, by the way? Well, no, I did it in American. 80,000 rubles, or sorry, yeah, 80 million Russian rubles is 1.538 Canadian? Is that the number you sent me there, Al?

184.057 - 189.844 Al May

Well, that one, I've got to go back and look at it again because it'll screw up my phone. So if I put it in U.S. ?

Chapter 3: What insights does Al May provide about Alexander Ovechkin's future?

386.002 - 404.664 Al May

And they were never in serious contention to make the playoffs. You know, they were decimated. But, you know, they've kept their attitude intact. And that's the difference. And I've always said this. Canadian media and people will say, oh, they get paid, it doesn't matter. Well, you know what? Guys in Florida get paid and they don't get harassed. They don't have to deal with all of this.

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404.704 - 427.7 Al May

And it's not the end of the world if you have a bad game. It's not the end of the world if you give up. a puck in your own zone, wherever you do it. It's not the end of the world if you let in a bad goal. But in Canada and Edmonton, Toronto, those two places, Vancouver, who knows what stories are written when you screw up there. But, you know, it's a completely different animal.

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427.76 - 443.427 Al May

And I keep saying guys get to be themselves in the American markets outside of those top six, and even in the top, in the original six, I should say. but guys get to live their life. And I think they're more emotionally free, mentally ready to play the games.

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443.708 - 464.393 Al May

And, you know, they don't have ups and downs to the same degrees as team and Edmonton and Edmonton, the guys get frustrated with the media all the time. You can see the distress on their face and, And just like that's all everyone's talking about. So, you know, Edmonton, you know, they had a lot of injuries this year, and everyone was up in arms.

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464.453 - 474.593 Al May

But once again, compared to the Florida Panthers, and I didn't hear a peep out of the Panthers about all the injuries and not making the playoffs. So completely different markets, completely different attitudes.

474.573 - 496.21 Bob Stauffer

Interesting. You know what? There's a lot of names out there now that Edmonton's made the change with the coach. And two of the names you've seen in action in terms of Bruce Cassidy, albeit that was the embryonic stages of his coaching development. And you also had a guy by the name just a few years ago, Peter Laviolette. What are your thoughts on those two coaches, Al?

497.725 - 519.092 Al May

Well, I'll tell you what. Cassidy grew up a ton from when he was first coaching in the National Hockey League. And he had a long, hard road back to get into it. But he certainly refined his systems, his coaching methods. And I remember before he became the Bruins coach, the Capitals had won like 14, 15, 16 games in a row.

519.325 - 541.03 Al May

uh against the bruins and bergeron marchand all their best players chara were all severely minus like to the tune of like minus 30s against the capitals cassidy becomes the coach and they started getting closer in the games you know all of a sudden it was a 5-2 game for the caps and then it was 4-2 and that was an overtime game

541.33 - 553.323 Al May

And next thing you know, they're beating the Cavs, and then the Cavs can't beat them type of deal. So he's grown us a lot. He's got great systems. Sure, he wears on players, but, you know, he demands.

Chapter 4: How did injuries impact the Oilers' performance this season?

1223.047 - 1232.608 Al May

is he does not play prevent defense. He continues to push and press on the puck all over the ice, and it makes for a lot better brand of hockey, in my opinion.

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1233.249 - 1250.421 Bob Stauffer

Hal, we've got to get you on a couple weeks or maybe during the summer for a longer segment. You can tell a story about when you fought John Tortorella when he was a coach. That's a great story. Awesome. I definitely will. Thanks, Al. All right. Al May is our witness now, headliner for Wilhock Beef Jerky. Others can try to imitate, but nobody can duplicate the great flavor.

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1251.022 - 1272.315 Bob Stauffer

Wilhock Beef Jerky, only available in Leduc, Alberta. And we spoke to Al about the playoffs. And Road to the Cup is presented daily by Sentinel Storage. Try four weeks free. Visit SentinelStorage.ca for details. Of course, guests on the show receive gift certificates to Japanese Village. It's a true celebration for the census, quality ingredients, and unmatched grill side experience.

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1272.335 - 1291.225 Bob Stauffer

Book your seat at jvedmonton.ca. The Oilers Now injury report for James H. Brown and Associates Alberta Injury Lawyers, the heavy hitters of injury law. Trent Brown, big supporter of the Edmonton Oilers, the Edmonton Elks, and the U of A Golden Bears. And he was a heavy hitter as a two-time CFL All-Star. By the way, taking a heavy hit was Evan Bouchard. Canada was never the same.

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1291.205 - 1304.485 Bob Stauffer

at the World Hockey Championship without Bouchard in that tournament. He finished plus 14. He had the second best plus minus in the tournament. Guess what? He was on for 14 goals at even strength and none against at even strength.

1305.106 - 1326.393 Bob Stauffer

And Canada, once he got knocked out of the tournament, that team, they missed him on the power play, they missed him on five on five, and he finished the tournament as the time on ice leader. Off to an 880 News weather traffic update with Thomas Dyess. When we come back, Mac T on Mondays for our friends at Contract Equipment. Your day starts right here. The number one place to be in the morning.

1326.433 - 1337.985 Bob Stauffer

We've got the news you need. Take that Team Canada approach. The experts you trust. More exclusives than anywhere else. And your first stop for the biggest entertainment stories. The Morning Show, weekdays on Global.

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