Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners. You can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed to the jungle that is Barstool Sports. I brought it towards the Coyotes, and I asked them if it was okay if I joined the Spit and Chicklets podcast full-time.
Ryan Whitney, you got a pink Whitney out there now.
Get that on camera.
It's a full-time member. Marley just got an assist from Chris Bates.
Whoa, we're buzzing right now. Sonk.
What is up, folks? Welcome. We're into the conference finals. Pinky's up. Welcome to episode 648 of the Spittin' Chicklets podcast. Biz, in North Carolina, he already told me that there's people in the lobby with Pink Whitney giving you Pinky's up, so I respect that. They're attacking you already. That's not really an attack, though. That's more just love for Pink Whitney. So Pinky's up.
I know it'll be out in the amazing tailgates the Hurricanes get going. Paul. Playoff times, I bet you... There's a storm. We're about two hours away, maybe three hours away from that parking lot. Just lighting up, getting ready for game one. Carolina, Montreal, we got to go over. Game seven, a legendary game seven. Alex Newhook, just a hero in Montreal.
We got game one of the conference finals in Colorado, where Vegas... They said something a few weeks ago that Vegas had something cooking, and Merle's abs aren't. They're in one without McCartney. And we have Montreal Canadiens president Jeff Gorton joining the show. So this guy's had an amazing run in Boston. We've got to go over what he did there.
People don't even realize what he did for the Bruins and what he's doing currently for the Canadians.
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Chapter 2: How is the playoff atmosphere in Montreal described?
But I guess we start with last night, the most recent events, and Vegas boys, Mitch Marner.
Oh, baby.
Currently, just quickly before I throw it over to one of you guys, this is the one I wanted to mention. He leads the playoffs in points, plus minus, takeaways from a forward, shorthanded assists, shorthanded points, and wins, I guess, obviously, because, you know, they got nine wins. Those are the biggest.
That's the biggest stat.
They're the only ones with nine wins. I... I can't believe Makar didn't play. Biz, where do you kind of want to start it? It's just, it's not panic time yet, is it, for Colorado? One game, right? That's it.
If there's no Makar this series, they're done, first of all. And, like, just watching them and, like, you know, Bluntman's obviously got me on the train, right? Like, he's been so pro-Vegas. He's like, look out here. Nutty for bloody. Nutty. That's the new term. We're itchy for Mitchie. We're nutty for Blunny. We're tanning for torts.
But, like, the first couple games of playoffs, like, even that first series, like, you could see Carter Hart finally finding his rhythm. Boys, he's fucking locked and loaded right now. He is dialed in. So they got the goaltending. That back end, man, like... Hannafin, Anderson, McNabb, Dylan, Coughlin, Theodore. That's a fucking nice back end. They got a perfect balance of everything.
And man, all these guys that you don't really hear about, like the Colton Sissons, all these role players they got, they're fucking unbelievable. They're unbelievable. Dowd, look at Dowd's night last night, winning that draw to solidify things. So they got all things clicking, and then obviously the superstars are being the superstars.
So I think that if there's no McCarr on the Avalanche side, boys, I think this could end in fucking six games. I thought that the first half of the game, I did like Colorado's game. But my biggest gripe with Colorado is they're not really getting around the net enough. Like they're not getting those second cracks. They're not disrupting enough. And it's a credit to the D for Vegas, man.
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Chapter 3: What are the key stats and performances from the recent playoff games?
But after that, I just had no confidence in Colorado.
I mentioned the first half. I thought, obviously, the third period, Colorado really got cooking. It seemed like they found their game in the third. I mean, they made it 3-2, but they were way more active in the offensive zone and controlling the pace, I thought, in the third. The first period, I gave that to Vegas. The first five minutes, Colorado was all over.
Yeah, I felt like the best chance they got was the Colasar breakaway, right? I guess in the first period. And then aside from that, I didn't see much threat where I felt like Hart had to make a few big stops early. Was there a breakaway for Colorado in the first as well? I thought that they had one as well. O'Connor hit the crossbar. That's what it was. Yeah. That's what it was.
So, but overall, I mean, it's not like, it's not like Colorado played bad. I just feel like, like Vegas is, I don't think Vegas is not intimidated by Colorado. And it's just, you know, you got a guy who's the best, one of the best, if not the best five on five defensemen in the world. I think stats wise so far in these playoffs, Taves is number one and then McCar is number two.
at what all the analytics show. But as we know, because like Makar hasn't been a burner as far as the offensive output. I think he's got one assist these playoffs, the four goals to go with it. But I mean, it's more about what he can do five on five to prevent things. He's a one man breakout. And I mean, Merles, I think you guys touched it on game notes.
And the same thing went with Brodine being out for Minnesota is all of a sudden you got guys like Burns and other defensemen having to carry a little bit more ice that is going to expose them against good teams like Vegas. So it's a brutal, brutal loss. to me, way more impactful than Vegas missing Stone. Oh, yeah. People comparing the injuries, it's not even close here.
So I don't know what you guys saw, Jens.
I had a former NHL player yesterday tell me an insane hot take, and then I thought about it. I disagreed with him. He's like, I think I like Vegas' game better when Stone isn't playing. I was just going to say that. They're faster.
They're faster. They're faster.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of injuries on the teams' performance?
It could have changed it, honestly. Did you know the outcome? No, I locked my phone down and I just watched the game. It's on me because I told you how I flipped the game putting on the jersey the other night. So I will stay up next game or I will sleep in the jersey. I was going to say sleep in it. Yeah. While it's going on. Yeah. Maybe a selfie video. Yeah. Hey, good night, abs fans.
I got you today. You can't lose next game, Murr. Do the Winnie the Pooh, just a shirt, no pants. Oh. Yeah, the wife will love that one. It makes me focus on the game more. It's nice, though, because I'm not checking Twitter. I'm not checking live bets. I'm not texting the group. So I was dialed in on this game. And, yes, the first five minutes, the abs were there.
But then it switched, and I was like, oh, man, this Vegas team. I look back at the D, like you guys talked about, Hannafin, Theodore. It was like exhibition to them all season. Now it's time to go. Like, these guys are men. I used the reference on my tweet. I said it's like the Omnia nightclub that we went to when Vegas got the cup. You can't move around in the D zone.
But it almost extends to the neutral zone. There's not nearly the space that you normally see Colorado swirling around. Nature's flying through 1,000 miles per hour through the neutral zone. That wasn't there. So major, major concerns with that part of the game. Obviously, the McCarr thing's a big, big concern. Murr, do you agree in a sense of, like, Colorado, even around the net, like...
they they don't penetrate the middle enough and and they looked a little timid where it's like fuck even when the score was out of hand like get in there and the minute that a fucking vegas d gets his hands up start something you gotta if you're the avalanche you have to establish that you're not afraid of that back end and going to the hard areas and they got big guys to do it and i felt like they were trying to like like yeah it's the the cadre thing remember when he kind of like like yeah i
got pushed over pretty easy. Maybe he was trying to draw one, but that ain't the play to me.
Especially him. That's not Colorado's game. It hasn't been all year.
Well, you got to come outside your comfort zone. I agree.
I agree. But I think that's easier said than done. When they're high flying, they're never out of games. There's not much nonsense to their game. And all of a sudden, I would say Vegas is way more willing to just kind of be pricks. I don't know. Like, I see their fourth line at least. Well, we know that. In this organization, just true villains.
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Chapter 5: What are the challenges of staying composed during high-pressure games?
it's exciting you know here we are let's see what's let's see what's next i guess how are you at staying composed during these games especially when some of them are heading to overtime like are you a nervous wreck in the box yeah i'm not as good as i thought you know i always promised myself going into every game i'm gonna be good and then i'm never good you know it's like i i'm like i'm gonna be tonight i'm not gonna say a word and then the game starts and i'm like that's the
And I started losing it, you know. My buddies all text me going, like, you can't keep wearing the same suit. It's going to be a disaster. But, you know, we hang in there. I should probably not sit so close to Kent because we're not good for each other at all during the game.
Just getting each other's blood pressure up.
Yeah, you just turn to the guy next to you like, what the hell is that? You know, but, you know, 10 floors up, it's very easy to watch and think that we can all go out there and have some success.
But I know better than that. Yeah. Going into this series, obviously you guys gone the distance in your first two of the seven games. You know, is this one of those things where you're using the momentum where, you know, team like Carolina has been waiting?
I think it's the longest wait in NHL history, like where for you guys, it's like, hey, listen, you know, especially nowadays, like all these kids want to do is play hockey. Right. And to go out there and just play and have fun.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see tonight what, you know, I guess it's the rest versus playing all the time. What's going to, you know, play itself out and, you know, will they be rusty? I guess rest versus rust, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, I don't know what's going to happen.
I know that these guys are really good, and I've seen some footage of them practicing a lot, and I'm sure Rod will have them ready. But our guys, I think they're in a good spot and ready to roll, so we'll see. Those first 10 minutes might feel like there's eight guys on the ice for Carolina. We'll see. It gets pretty loud in there.
When you look at, like, your team, there's just so many different storylines. But with how guys talk about Martin St. Louis, and I think it was the first round when Dobish might have said his pregame speech is just something I'll never forget. Like, take us through when he came in, right? Like, it was Hall of Fame player. He's coaching mid-Fairfield, I believe, in Connecticut.
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Chapter 6: How does Jeff Gorton assess the performance of young players in critical moments?
Um, well, he's, I had him as a player, kind of like Yance and, uh, obviously unique. And, uh, and he just had this way about him that you, that you felt like there was always going to be a chance to coach. And actually when I was in New York, I actually offered them job in Hartford, uh, But, you know, Greenwich to Hartford didn't seem that appealing to him, I guess.
So I guess we had to wait to get to Montreal. But, you know, Kent has a lot of history with him, too. Their kids play together at the program. You know, he played for us in New York. So there was that. And then, you know, going into Montreal, we were pretty bad when we first got there. And... kind of promised we wouldn't change coaches.
And then just being there for a while, I could see the players' faces. They were dying and we had to change something. So we just started talking and saying, well, how about if we just tried this, you know, and Marty was willing to come for just the end of the season, which, you know, there's not a lot of NHL coaches just saying, Hey, I'll come for three months.
Let me show you, you know, usually it's a four or five year deal.
Chapter 7: What led to the decision to bring in Martin St. Louis as head coach?
So, That was appealing. And honestly, the first time I ever saw him speak to the team, I was like, whoa, that's pretty good. The guys are going to like that. So you can see through his speeches, and he's very well thought out. And, you know, you guys are all former players. I'm sure you can envision yourself in the room thinking, I'd really like to play for this guy.
And that's kind of how it's been. I like this one. Oh.
Oh, that's the one that really got me up in the wind. Yeah, he spends a lot of time trying to figure out what his next thing for those guys is. You guys know, I'm sure, you get bored sometimes with the same old, same old. And I think he's probably had coaches that were like that for him. And he goes out of his way not to make it so boring.
No, he's hitting all the right buttons. And before you hopped on, Whit talked about how the correlation of how young this group is just over the average age of 25. And I mean, I guess when you and Hughes put this team together, how proud are you of this group and the fact that not only is Martin hitting the right buttons, but they haven't lost back-to-back games since like March at this point.
And for a young group not to let like things fester and snowball and get out of control, like to me, that's one of the most impressive stats I've seen in a long time.
Yeah, it is. It's, you know, I saw that stat the other day. It is pretty wild, you know, just feels like we're in the playoffs. We're in the third round.
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Chapter 8: How does the team plan to address their roster needs moving forward?
We won. We basically have one loss, one loss, one loss, one loss. Right. So it's a little crazy. But for a young group to to just kind of shake everything off, you know, game six against Buffalo, we're up three to one. And then we got we got run out of our own building there. So that was tough. and then for those guys to respond, to Dober to respond like that, to the players to respond like that.
So it means a lot, and I think as we go forward, it's something obviously we can use a lot. But I will say, Biz, I felt pretty good when you put that Buffalo jersey on. I knew we had a chance.
I don't know if you heard him. He took Carolina in seven before you came on. I heard him. I thought that was perfect. What I said to the group is I said, hey, boys, we might have a hard time if we go to Montreal. I don't think tickets are easy to come by. And Jens is like, oh, no, Gortz has got us. And then he said, as long as you're rooting for Carolina, he knew we were going to take it down.
I said, we better have a box with the seafood tower ready to go.
I'm going to put you, you're going to sit right behind Rod. The other guys would get treated really well.
I'll have a fake set of tits on, too.
Yeah, you'll be down there. You'll be down there, and the fans will be just giving it to you.
Hey, I'm used to it. I've been taking a lot of L's these days. One other thing, too, you mentioned Dolbush, too, and one of the coolest viral videos I saw happen in these playoffs were when he came out. I believe he was first star, and he was getting interviewed, and the fans wouldn't even let him speak. They just gave him the Olay treatment. Yeah.
Are you there, like, in the box still watching that, or are you already heading down the elevator to go to the room?
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