June 10, 2025 • 34 mins
Energy Line with Nate Thompson and guest co-host Nick Alberga open up the show talking about the Panthers 6-1 win in Game 3 over the Oilers to take a 2-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. SportsNet host Mike Futa then joins Nate and Nick to dive into the Stanley Cup Final. Futa breaks down how the Panthers took two straight, the Oilers missing Zach Hyman, Stuart Skinner’s struggles, Sam Bennett’s free agency and veterans playing a big part in the series.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
All right, welcome back to the Energy Line with Nate
and jsp. You're listening to a production of the NHL
and iHeart podcast. Filling for Julie Stewart binks On, Nick
Alberger joined alongside former NHL or Nate Thompson. Nate, great
of you had to spend some time with me once
again today. Thank you so much for having me. How
are we feeling about Game three? That was some bizarre shit, man.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well, thanks for being here, Nick, And yeah, it was
some It was some bizarre shit. I don't know what
I was watching last night. I was not expecting that.
I was expecting a I was expecting another overtime game,
to be honest. And I told Julie that, I said
this this. I told her that in game one, which
is funny because they ended up going overtime in Game two,
and I thought, I thought this series, it could go
to overtime every single game.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
And it was not that. It was it was it
was a mess.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It was absolutely it was a shit kicking. It's probably
the best way I would describe it. But your prototypical
Florida Panther's signature victory and the Stanley Cup playoffs, and
I just felt like the Oilers got way too involved
and the first period was just just a disaster on
both sides. A billion penalties like eleven power plays in
the game for the Florida Panthers. I what, one hundred
(01:18):
and forty penalty minutes Like, It's not what I expected.
But to that point, I think if the Oilers are
going to be successful, it's got to be more of
the brand, the style we saw in Game one and
two and not Game three. If they try to play
and try to win that way, they're not going to
win this series.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah, I totally agree, Nick. And they didn't play their game.
They played nothing like their game. You know, they're all
about transporting pup quickly, breaking it out fast, playing fast.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
And they weren't doing any of that. And they were.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Getting sucked into the after the whistle stuff and all
the extra curriculators that Florida is so good at. I mean,
they they are the best team with games and chip
when it comes to playing a game within the game
and getting under guys skin.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I mean, I'm not surprised. I wouldn't be surprised.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
If every single guy on the Florida they have a
player on Edmonton and then they say, Okay, I got him, Okay,
I'm taking him.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I'm going to take him off his game, and it's just,
you know, they all fall in line, and.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Edmonton's gonna have to you know, I think now for Edmonton,
you can look at it this way, Nick, you can
look at it as it's a silver lining for Edmonton
and now they have a contrast of how they need
to play to win and how they don't need to
play right and here it is right there, there's a
blueprint in the middle of the series.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, and I think you have to have a short
memory too. You can obviously speak to this, and I
think players in general do a great job of just
turning the page really really quickly. And maybe to my
point about the day off, the extra day off, maybe
that favors Edmonton because you just sort of forget and
it's not even a memory anymore when you look back
at Game three. But how many times have we seen
that type of performance from the Florida Panthers and the
(02:51):
Stanley Cup playoffs? And it's more so the moment to
step up, to elevate, to do it in front of
DJ called Your Boy, as well. Lots coming up on
today's podcast, including a fantastic guest in a few minutes
from now for my NHL executs turned broadcaster Mike Food
of Rogers Sports Now will drop by if you've played
a key role in LA's two Cup victories in twenty
twelve and twenty fourteen, and of course the Oilers have
(03:13):
a lot of work ahead of them, but I wanted
to ask you constant my thoughts have changed in my
opinion going into this series. I obviously liked Edmonton to
win the Stanley Cup. I'm still sticking with McDavid from
the Florida perspective. I think things are wide open where
it started with Sergeia Lebrowski being the front runner. For me,
it has to be contract here. Sam Bennett and fourteen
(03:34):
goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs insanitied me.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Man, Yeah, I mean how about I want to talk
about his goal last night, Like how about that shift?
I mean just unbelievable, like if there's a a patent
Florida Panther's goal, like that's it, and Sam Bennett leads
the charge when it comes to that. I mean open ice,
hit another hit, and then comes down and scores a
big goal.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
I mean, Sam Bennett is, uh, he's.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Going to have some options after this playoffs, But I
totally agree with you. I think that's Sam Bennett is
a clear cut cons my favorite.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
With what he's doing. I mean it's not just his
scoring goals.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I mean he's scoring goals obviously, and he's scoring goals
at big times, but he's doing everything else. I mean
you saw his I mean his face off percentage. I
think in Game two was like he won like ten
out of fifteen draws, and you know, he's finishing checks,
He's doing all these little things, and I mean he's
I mean, he's a guy that, like, if I'm Brad
Tree living, I'm probably gonna want to try and bring
(04:31):
him back since he had him in Calgary too, So
you know, he's a he's been he's been a force
for Florida.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I'm not taking the bait in the least conversation at
least right now with Nate, But I think that we're
looking for man is his presence, Like there's just a
presence to him. There's a presence to Brad Marshawan, Like
who else kicks off the scoring after scoreing the ot
winner in Game two, it's Brad Marshawan And I think
he's right there in the conversation. And that's the crazy
thing and scary thing about the Florida Panthers. They're like
(05:01):
a chameleon. They can adapt and evolve and played different
styles and different brands and be successful. Did you know
We're three games into the Stanley Cup Final and arguably
the best player on the Florida Panthers has yet to
register a point. His name is Alexander Barkov. He hasn't
been great. That would concern me, I think from the
Edmonton perspective, knowing the best Barkov has yet to show
up in the postseason, in the in the Cup final
(05:23):
at least.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, And it's funny, you see, I know, if you
saw a postgame press conference from Paul Maurice and he said, yeah,
we're trading him, you know, you know, joking around about
how he hasn't you know, how he hasn't been scoring.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
But I'm not.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Worried if I'm Florida either, you know, I think that
you know, the way he plays, all the other things
he does. I mean, he's like you said, presence on
the ice. I mean he is, he's there captain for
a reason, and you know he does so many little
things well that I think it's a matter of time.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
And you saw last night. I mean the play.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I mean it's just hard work, like he just goes
into the fort, check, finishes his hit, gives a pass
to Ryan Hart and he scores.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
But that that's the things that Barkoff do that I
think that you know, we expect all, well, he needs
to be scoring some goals. He needs to be scoring
you know, doing this, doing that, you know, because he
got he is capable of highlight real goals and highlight
reel plays. But he hasn't done that because he's just
playing North South hockey and he's been he's.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Been their leader. And I wouldn't be concerned if I
was Florida.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
From the Edminton perspective, what's the mentality Neate as a player?
As you head into game four the extra day off?
Do you do you get after it? You hit the beach,
you get the tan cooking a bit like you just
forget about hockey for complete day.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
How would you attack it?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yeah, I think it's forget about the game. I think
you want to forget about it. You want to have it,
you want to enjoy.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
You going elbowroom or elbow room.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Probably not not in the middle of Stanley, old.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
School stuff, like guys before, right.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I would be shocked if there was any any players
from either team at the elbow room. Yeah, no, I
think you got to get away from the game for
a day. You gotta go go to the beach, go
for a walk, whatever it is, you know, go for
a nice dinner with the fellas. But I think you know,
you have to reset. And that's the challenge of the
playoffs is you know, there's so many ebbs and flows,
(07:17):
and it's emotional roller coaster and they can emotionally drain you.
But if you can find ways to unplug and get
away from the game during intense series like that, you'll
be better for it.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
The one thing I despise is excuses and watching postgame
coverage on various different platforms. We're talking injuries again, Like
where was that conversation in the first two games of
the series. We're talking about goaltending, Like, just go out
there and have a better game. From the Edmonton perspective,
it's so easy to blame Stuart's Skinner. But last time
I checked, they scored one goal in that game, dry
(07:48):
set on what no shots on goal? I thought they
did a great job, did the Panthers on Connor McDavid
like it was just a quiet night. And unfortunately that's
going to happen over the span of a long stretch,
whether it's the postseason the regular season. The entire team
was off. So I don't want to blame one guy
or have excuses for Evington. You need to be better,
and I think the good news is you got to
(08:08):
win four games and not just one here the way
the Panthers did in Game three.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, I totally agree. And we're always quick to blame
Stuart Skinner. He always seems to be the easy escapegoat
because of you know, Florida and they have Lebroski, right,
and he's a surefire Hall of Famer.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
But you're right, I don't think that Stuart Skinner is
the problem.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And and you know, yeah he didn't have a good night,
but nobody had a good night, not one player on
that team. So I would and this is gonna be
a big question, is I would I would come back
with Skinner?
Speaker 4 (08:41):
What would you do Nick.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Yeah, it's got to be Skinner. It has to be Skinner.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
I think you've you've made your bed, you got to
lie in it is that the saying. It has to
be like you can't you can't flip now like Picker
let his first shot in and you're gonna go to
cal Pickard to beat the defending Stanley Cup champions. It
has to be the guy that you brought to the dance.
It really does.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, And and what kind of message does that give
to Edmonton and even Florida? Like if you're Florida, I know,
and you're you're starting Picker. I mean, if I'm on
the other team, I'm thinking, oh, all right, we kind
of got these guys in a bit of a mind
pretzel right now, you know. So, Yeah, I think Skinner's
got to be the guy for Game four?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Absolutely cooked. Was there ever a fight in your career?
Like I was watching that nurse fight and I was
getting tired. I I almost gave a round of applause
watching our big screen here that the stamina involved in
that type of tilly And I thought it was important
for Edmonton to step up. And I don't know if
they did enough or maybe they just didn't do it,
you know, the smart way. But that was a long,
(09:40):
long ass till Man.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
That was a really long fight and a good one too.
And and and Gadjovich is a tough guy. Yeah, credit
to credit to Darnell Nurse. I mean he and Darnel
Nurse is a tough guy his own right too. I
mean he's fought some tough guys and he he can
handle himself. And uh, yeah, that was that was a
marathon fight. I mean for people that don't know, like,
you know, even the thirty second fight can feel like
(10:02):
eternity and when you're done, you're you're.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Huffing and puffing. But yeah, I thought it's funny.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I was thinking about guys that I fought that were long,
long fights like that. I think the longest one that
I can remember was Michael Ferland.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
That was in Calgary.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
We had one that was pretty long and at the end,
I think I got in the penalty box and I
was dying for breath for like two minutes.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I was just, you know, so tired.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
So I don't think we're gonna get any of that
in game four, but it was, you know, it was
nice to see you know, some uh some extracurriculars going
on too during this game at least.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, fair to say a lot of soul searching ahead
here for the Edmonton Oilers. We're going to hit a
pause on the other side, Mike Feuda of Rogers Sports,
that will drop by more to com here on Energy Line.
Welcome back the Energy Line with Nate and JSB filling
it for Julie stewartvinks On, Nick Alberga joined alongside Nate Thompson.
(10:58):
The Florida Panthers now halfway to repeating US Cup champs
after there's six to one dismantling the Edmonton Oilers in
Game three. Today's guest needs a minimum introduction. He helped build
two Stanley Cup winning teams in Los Angeles before that.
In short order, he has sent it up the ranks
in several different roles in the Ontario Hockey League and
now he's kicking ass in the broadcasting world for Rogers Sports. Now,
(11:19):
welcome to Energy Line, Mike Fudo.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
What's going on, Feuds? How are you bud Well?
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Other than feeling like Edmonton's fort check trying to get
on this pod, It's been a battle. I'm just happy,
I mean seeing Nate makes me happy, So everything's good.
I feel good. I feel after being these days off,
you get so excited about good hockey. And I thought
the first two games were like must CTV. Last night,
(11:44):
I was like, thought, I was watching a practice that
a coach would want to blow down and start all
over again.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
It was.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
It was not a It was not a very well
played hockey game by the Edmonton Oilers.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
No, it was not.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And I guess I'll ask that first feuts is what
has Edmonton need to do to beat because it seems
like when any team plays Florida there's no room for air,
and if you have an off night you don't play
the way you need to play, you're gonna lose, just
like they did six to one.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
It's it's because Edmonton their first couple of games, it's
looked like it's like Toronto had them figured out right
and they didn't. And I thought Toronto was more of
a self inflicted wound than they're just really good. I mean,
I think at some point you got to maybe me
as well. I got to stop making excuses for the
(12:35):
opponents and just realize what an incredibly structured team this is.
Because as I said, and it's like, not only did
they win everything, they sucked them into playing For first
I thought, I thought it was a strangely officiated game.
Out of the window. There was no flow. It was
like guys trying to draw penalties, like usually these guys
are so tough. At this stage, you got to earn
(12:57):
to get a penalty. There was a lot of the
head snapping back, diving away from the play.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
It was.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
It was not a banner game to sell the game
of hockey, especially the way these two teams can play it.
But man, once they got up, the skinner was just average.
I felt the two big dogs were very average, which
would shock me. I thought with time off that McDavid
and Dryseidel would just come shot out of a cannon.
They didn't. They didn't seem to have the extra gear
(13:24):
other than Bouchard and Perry. I was disappointed all around
with the team. But it's amazing that Florida sucks you
into this game. And then I'm like, okay, well, at
least they've got to take a pound of flesh, and
they couldn't even do that properly. It ends up that
you know, the only guy that matches up with Gadjevich
in my opinion, and god, I give darn Old Nills
(13:46):
pull credit, but you got a guy that's a bad matchup.
The only guy is Evander Kaine, and Gadgevitch ends up
getting a whole of year number three defenseman and he
hung in there. It wasn't like you got beat. But
I mean, that's not a fight you want to have,
Like everything about it, Sam Bennett causing havoc. They just
got under their skin and they didn't gain one ounce
(14:06):
of retribution in any one of those scrums. They actually lost.
They actually lost momentum in the scrum area as well.
So good on Florida, but I can't imagine this being
like Edmonton's got way too much brighter and they've learned
way too much to have another effort like that. But man,
I was it was not fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
It was your prototypical like Florida Panthers Stanley Cup playoff victory.
Like I thought Edmonton tried to play Florida's game when
they should have tried to play their own game. And
I thought the Panthers are just so relentless, like every
line just plays the same style and the will and
the passion but are we seeing the first you know,
cracks if you will, of Zach Hyman not being with
the oilers here Mic.
Speaker 6 (14:50):
This is such a great point. I sent a message
to man Mark. I said, Man, they're missing they're missing
Hymen right now, and that's it's but that's they're missing
them in game one, right there's always somebody out the
teams that find the way to win. They overcome that.
I think we're getting. I still think something's wrong with
the Chuck as well. I don't think you're seeing anywhere
(15:11):
close to the best version of Matthew to Chuck. And
he's still annoying his hell every shift and doing and
making his impact on it. But yeah, I I he's
that he's that critical to their lineup that it's got
everything off kilter with regards to the lines. But just
in general, I just again, Florida is so annoying. I mean,
(15:32):
and they were annoying before they added Mark marsha on
and that's so just imagine It's like, can we be
any annoying more annoying? Yeah, well, we may be just
adding maybe the most annoying guy in the league who's
going to turn into a sniper again at playoff time.
I get I'm gonna have to stop criticizing the opponent,
maybe give Florida much more credit for But everybody seems
(15:53):
to be falling in the in the trap of, as
you said, not playing their own game, but trying to
play Florida's game better. And nobody plays it better than Florida.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, you's, and I look it for I watch sport,
I see that the way they play, and I'm thinking
right now, and are there any similarities to those Kings
teams that you helped construct with the Florida Panthers and
the way I mean they play structured you talk about
they play very good d and they play mean.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
We were I think we were bigger. I think we
were actually if it came nate, you forget, like, if
it ever came time to throw down, we were deep
in that way as well, because Jordan Nolan like as
much as like Dwight King, if you ever wanted to
not so much beat guys up, but if you were
like if you ever needed a heavyweight to just even
tie it, like He's not. Dwight King was not going
(16:41):
to lose a fight to anybody, but he could. He
was big enough to take anybody on and I think
we had more threatening guys like Kyle Clifford. It was.
It was much more deep and actual. I wouldn't say toughness,
because Florida is way too but as far as if
you have to get to that other level where you
might have to drop the gloves, we were deeper in
(17:02):
that area. But I think they've got the annoying thing
down to it. Like I don't think we were ever
that annoying. We played hard, but we never we never
poked the bear, annoyed everybody off and then allowed you
to jump on us and just take penalties on us.
Like Mike Richards never took a backwards step. These guys
all they did the annoying part, but they just kept
moving forwards, whereas Florida seems to do these annoying things
(17:25):
and then back up and allow you to bounce on
them and get undisciplined. I'll tell you, as far as
the resources, just playing smart hockey and capitalizing on your
offensive chances when they come very similar, there's still that factor.
And I hate to say it that we knew every
night we put Jonathan Quick in the net that we
didn't have anything to worry about I think Florida has
that same mental aspect, like you have to kind of
(17:48):
google their backup goalie, whereas you're always you're hoping, as
you're hoping. Skinner, as much as he's been good, his
splits between his bad stats and his good stats in
his playoffs are absolutely like something I've never seen. So
the fact that you're almost now, whether it comes up
or not, there's going to be a hey, do we
(18:09):
start picker it? In game four? We never knew. We
always knew Number thirty two is getting rolled out.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
He was lasting.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
So I agree with you. There are so many different
similarities in between the not having kind of that guy
that was just sniping away. Everybody had a chance to score.
Everybody was a threat, and we were very hard to
play against, and we kind of dictated the tone of
every game physically, which is what Florida does as well.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, I was laughing, like, where did this confidence come from?
If you're VTech Vanichik, you're one of the worst teams
in hockey this year. They didn't want you, and he's
like staring down Stuart Skinner hasn't played a second in
the Stanley Cup playoffs, and we know it's gonna be
Babrovski every game. Do you see any Corey Crawford, by
the way, and Stuart Skinner for some reason, I keep
coming back to that name with Skinner. One game he's incredible,
the next game he's okay. There's no in between for me, guy.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
It is what it is. I mean, the bottom line
is you're like at this time of year because his
good games have been very good, but they also have
been so much more structure on him when he's playing well.
And last night, right from the get go, like Kelly Rudy,
I mean, I'm watching the Canadian feed, so he very
rarely says anything negative about a goaltender, and right out
(19:18):
of the get gate he was like hm hm, Like
that was a different way to start a game, like
on your belly out in the high slot. It just structurally,
when he's off, it's he's really off. And I'm not
a goalie expert by anything, but I know your goalie
is not supposed to be in his stomach in the
slot thirty five seconds into the game when the Bucks
in behind him. So it was again I give Florida
(19:43):
the credit. I mean, I thought, with all this extra
time off and all the playoff games that Florida's played,
and you think they're wearing Tara, it should come. It
should come to Edmonton coming out shot out of a gate,
and you just they got they got panthered. They got
absolutely panthered from the national anthem on.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Who do you start in game four? If you then
who do you think?
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Uh McDavid in drys Idyls. I'm gonna give them another
chance to date, I'm mean, honestly, the hardest part is
they've got two days to think about it. I think
if you don't, if you don't start Skinner, there's a
massive mental gain for the Panthers. But they've gone down
(20:30):
this road before and had success with it. Where the
last time that he did Picker win six and zero, right,
So it's not like they're guessing what the last time
the result was. But the problem is they're playing Florida
now and every time they get a mental edge, even
if it's an inch, they turn it in defeat and
(20:50):
it's it's it's just I mean, and even I'm a
Paul Maurice fan and I'm getting annoyed with his quotes,
like it's like it's like, honestly, come on, man, can
you have a team that annoys you more, that impresses
you even greater with their from beating you and then
telling you why they beat you, and you guys should
be proud of you. And then and then, you know what,
(21:13):
I'm going to beat you, and then I'm going to
discuss whether we should shake hands ten seconds after I
beat you to the pulp. I'm gonna ask if you
want to what your thought is on handshake lineups, Like, oh, man,
they've got it down to an art. They have it art.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Oh, they're just they're absolutely buzzing right now and obviously
feeling good about life. And I just think it's so
easy to blame the goalie you lose six to one.
I thought it was a no show up and down
that roster. And I think you live by the sword,
you die by the sword. It's got to be Stewart
Skinner for me. In game four, I want to ask
you about Sam Bennett. I think obviously a polarizing name.
Fourteen goals here in the Stanley Cup playoffs, pending free agent,
(21:53):
this guy's going to get paid whether it's in Florida
or elsewhere. But as a long standing you know, NHL
executive how do you quantify the value of Sam Bennett
who goes from a fifty point guy in the regular
season to an absolute stallion and stud in the Stanley
Cup playoffs.
Speaker 6 (22:08):
It's it's a great question. I mean, I don't think
he can. I go back to a kid that this
is the version when he was drafted in Calgary that
they thought they were getting. Right, this is kind of
what Kingston he played the way he played in Kingston.
He'd score, he'd fight, he'd do all these things. Knowing
his mental makeup. You don't leave Florida right you're happy.
This is exactly where he's found himself. If it's all
(22:31):
about money. And I know Darren Ferris is his agent,
and I mean I talk to him all the time,
and he makes it sound like it's more about money
than being happy, and it's more about being respected, and
you know, I just you just have to be careful
the way he plays physically, he's got a history of concussions.
Would anybody want him? The market for two seas is
like he's the absolute guy, right and and everybody that
(22:55):
wants to be gritty, whether it's the Mayple Leafe, it's
not just the mape. I mean, I have to hear
it about it all the time because it's Toronto, But
any team would want this guy. He defines what it's
like to be a two seed. But he also does
it because if all of a sudden you become and
this it sounds like I'm putting him down, but I'm not.
But if all of a sudden you're ten million dollar player,
(23:15):
you're a one seed, right and you don't have the
you don't have the nest of having Barkov ahead of you,
in Lundel behind you, where you can just freely be
the player that you're entitled to be. And if all
of a sudden you're drastically being thrust in salary wise
and everything into being the guy, and if you and
you start to have some trials and tribulations, you might
(23:36):
all of a sudden find yourself the same version you
were in Calgary. And I don't think he'll get he's
so much more mentally tough, he's matured. But I just
can't imagine this player playing anywhere with Florida. But man,
if you're out there, you're certainly sharpening your pencil on
what you're going to give him, But you're if you're
paying them ten million dollars. You're you're acquiring them to
(23:59):
be a one seed, and that's a different ball of
whacks all together.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
I totally agree if you to.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I think Sam Bennett he's definitely a unicorn in his
own sense the way he plays. But you know, if
you pay a guy that much, maybe Toronto, maybe tree
Leaving goes after. I mean, that's what I'm thinking of
my gut. I mean, you had him in Calgary, but
you pay that guy that much, you know, like you said,
three or four years down the line, it could could
come back to bite you.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
My next question I guess is is, you know, we
talked about Evander Kaine, you know, the last game and
how how much of an impact he had, and you know,
last night it was it was different. He wasn't It
wasn't the same, you know, and and a guy like that,
he I feel like he has to be you know,
he has to fill that role for Hymen a little bit.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
And we talked about how.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Much it is a huge hole not having Hymen in
the lineup, but with having Kane, you know, he has
to be that guy, right for for the Edvonton oilers last.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Night, the one thing I mentioned tomorrow was I felt
that he was playing the most unselfish hockey of his
For me, he kind of defined himself as an incredible
player that has all the attributes like to Tom Wilson,
probably have a much. He's probably a better player than
Tom Wilson, but he was always anytime his physicality came
to front, he was defending Evander Kaine. He wasn't looking
(25:20):
after teammates right, and for this playoffs this year, he
looked like he was in a different place mentally, big,
small in his face. The only tie he was finishing checks,
punishing people, but the only time physicality and after the
whistle was coming into play, he was defending teammates, which
for me, I always go back to that when the
guy was going after drys Isle and he just stepped
(25:41):
in and hey, you're not touching one of our stars.
Last night's the first time I felt it was like
he had read all this press clippings and I am
that good. I'm a little like the stick penalties, aren't
They weren't the kind of punishing stuff he'd been doing.
They were kind of undisciplined. He seemed incredibly flustered early,
(26:01):
emotionally like with the refs. He just seemed he seemed
out of control. There was no he seemed to be
dictating the physicality of the way he played for two
games and last night everything was unhinged. Florida meticulously picks
who they want to physically punish, and then they do
it under control. Like it's like to Chuck knows who
he's gonna get before a game and he gets it.
(26:22):
Jane just looked like he was looking around, who am
I going to? Like there was no method to his madness,
and then when all of a sudden the Chuck became available,
it was like it turned into an absolute shit, you
know what I mean. He just was like, you look
dunhinge trying to get at him. There was no control.
And then at the end of it, no messages were
delivered other than I'm out of control.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Right.
Speaker 6 (26:43):
They didn't hit him with anything. He didn't nobody got
a shot in Like I mean, Connor Brown threw about
eighty punches and scrums. I don't know if anybody ever
got hit with one of them. But it was Florida
quietly again with minimal effort, extracted all the pain on
the other team, and every time there was a chance
for went to send a message. They were mostly grabbling
(27:07):
with a referee, trying to get free and looking completely
emotionally unhinged, with no idea who they actually wanted to
target or it was it was he was bad last
Like he was not a good He was the worst
version of Evander Kaine you can get last night. But
they were all bad. I'm picking him out because he's
been so you brought him up and he's been so good.
(27:28):
He's been so good last night. That's the that's the
version of Vander Kaine that's played for five different teams.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
And and little Birdie tells me that Evander Kaine could
be on the trade market coming up following the Stanley
Cup Final. And again to your point, the first couple
of games, I'm like, shit, there's gonna be a lot
of teams that would be interested in that type of
player with one year left and his deal. But then
I watched last night and he played Florida's game. Yeah,
little bird, little board, little bird.
Speaker 6 (27:53):
But after game one and two.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, but the thing is is like Florida sucks you
into their game, Like I wasn't crazy about all the
diving bullshit last there was a sequence where Lindell two
dives in a role like that just not playoff hockey
to me. But again, I think you're find finding any
any edge you can get. Last question for me, Mike,
is ag just a number? Like I think the one
(28:16):
thing if I look back at this playoffs and the
Stanley Cup Final is the graybeards and just how important
those guys have been on both rosters. You know, Brad
Marshawn massive, Nate Schmid's a guy who's not getting enough praise.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
He's like Vegas Nate Schmidt.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Right now Corey Perry, forty years of age leading the
Edmonton Oilers. Is it time to put more value in
these type of guys and maybe concede that, hey, it's
okay to go after guys thirty five, thirty six, thirty
seven in free agency or trade.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
As long as you get the right graybeards. That's why
the guy in the bottom corner there, teams keep picking
them up and his if you get the right character
that by that buy in, it's it's it's you can't
put a value on it. I think it's funny because
you don't think I don't remember we're old. But like
guys like at the time, like I think we thought
just and Williams was kind of getting older and he
(29:06):
had so much left in the tank. Because the same
thing that make these adjustments and their leadership is so
it's so incredible, like to think Corey Perry was a
hard Trophy winner and he's the guys that are selfless
enough to mold their games to what they can give
still are so incredible to have around and you can
see Marshaan doing it, you see Perry doing it. I
(29:29):
think Pacoretti did a little bit this year, like this
guy was another he just go out and write his body.
Obviously had to miss a lot of games, but he
just ran over people. Right, that's an adjustment, whereas some
of the older guys and it's again it's it's not
a it's not a knock. But I think like when
when Joe Thornton stuff, like when they were kind of hanging,
they were still trying to be the best version of
Joe Thornton, like the player that was as a Hall
(29:51):
of Famer one hundred percent, but and it didn't really
adapt because that that secondary game that all these other
guys have found the roles that make them so successful
and they never sacrifice an ounce of the intangible that
is God given. I guess it is what they have
leadership wise, that's what makes them so special. And especially
you start to see the personalities come out, like Marshawn
(30:14):
now like goes from a guy that couldn't get in
the couldn't get in the bar and his hometown in
Stanley Cup because he was so despised by his local
people to being a guy that you just you can't
get enough of how much he's enjoying the game at
the Four Nations. It's like must see TV. You want
to hear the Brad Marshawn might go, it's a spitting
chicklets interview or this guy's loving life right reminds me
(30:39):
a lot of what Jerome Againla was trying to do
for us in his last couple of years, Like when
we couldn't figure out, you know, when we were going
into Calgary who to fight and this guy's like grabbing
a hold of England, go in toe to toe with them,
and you're like, oh my god, Like this is a
Hall of Famer fighting a heavyweight, just to show us
this is how you play the game. That's how you
(31:00):
stand up those guys. There's always a place for them.
And I think we're getting a special We're getting a
real special view of some of the best ever to
do it as far as redefining their their roles but
still being so effective.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
It's all about buying, man, even talking to a couple
of players, guys who have been top six guys for
a long part of their careers, and to adapt and
to evolve and mentally speaking, to be like, I'm a
bottom six guy and yeah, I kill penalties now, and
how will I adapt? Some guys adopt, well, some do not.
You always adopt excellent man, Thank you so much for
your time today. Really really appreciate this.
Speaker 6 (31:34):
It reminds me. Reminds me. There's a movie and I
always date myself. It's called Cocoon where the old butters
just jump in the pool and come out refreshed. And
I watched, like I said, it's like a Marshawn and
Marshawan and these guys are and Perry are like they're
looking for roles in like a Coon six.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Like they.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
They've jumped in that pool and they're coming out just
even if it's for a short period. They're treating us
to what incredible careers they've had.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Buddy, Yeah, thanks dude, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (32:06):
Thanks, Bud.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Be good, Larry Habit. Mike Fuda what an absolute stud.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Hey, Yeah, he's a beauty. I've known Feuds for a
long time and he's just uh, he's got a wealth
and knowledge and he's seen it all. He's seen it
all at the junior level, he's seen it all at
the NHL level. So it's nice having him on and
here and his uh, his input about both teams.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Knows what it takes to win, right And I think
as we move forward here to Game four of note
the extra day off, I don't know who that favors
right now. If you're Edmonton, you probably just want to
get back out there. But I still like the oiler's
chances in this series that I hate cliches. Man, Dare
I say Game four as they must win, Like, I
just don't envision a path I know they won three
in a row last year after going down three, Cobb,
(32:54):
I don't envision a pathway Edmonton winning the Stanley Cup
down three to one in this series?
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Do you see you say like I think about this
and I thought about it, and I see like Okay,
Game three. Seventy seven percent of teams that win Game
three win the series, right, and Oilers, everything they've done
this year has been against all odds. You know, you
look at back at every series. You look at the
series against LA they're down to nothing. You look at
(33:19):
points during the season you're like, there's no way this
team's going to go to a Stanley Cup final. And
they're now they're a the Stanley Cup Final. So I
think they do it is it is a must win
because they need to have this series tie going back home,
and I think it changes everything. And I do think
that it's going to be a much different game in
Game four from the Oilers. I mean, I think that
(33:41):
was I think that was a one off. I don't
know what happened with them. They just didn't have it.
And I expect a much better team that we are
used to seeing and saying, Okay, this so Oilers team.
You know that this is the team that's going to
beat the Florida Panthers this year.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Who do you got winning Game four?
Speaker 4 (33:58):
The Oilers?
Speaker 5 (33:59):
I got Adminton as well.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Meantime, thank you for listening to episode twenty four line
with Nate and JSB. Energy Line is a production of
the NHL and iHeart podcast Thanks to Mike Fuda as
well for dropping by. Also special thanks to to producers
Jake Brown and Bob Bender. Don't forget to subscribe to
the show on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts,
or listen on the iHeartRadio app. While you're out it
hit it up with a five star review. I'm Nick Alberga,
(34:22):
He's Nate Thompson. JSP will be back on Friday with
Nate as they react to Game four of the Stanley
Cup Final.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
Thanks tuning into Energy Line.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Energy Line is the production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
All right, welcome back to the Energy Line with Nate
and jsp. You're listening to a production of the NHL
and iHeart podcast. Filling for Julie Stewart binks On, Nick
Alberger joined alongside former NHL or Nate Thompson. Nate, great
of you had to spend some time with me once
again today. Thank you so much for having me. How
are we feeling about Game three? That was some bizarre shit, man.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well, thanks for being here, Nick, And yeah, it was
some It was some bizarre shit. I don't know what
I was watching last night. I was not expecting that.
I was expecting a I was expecting another overtime game,
to be honest. And I told Julie that, I said
this this. I told her that in game one, which
is funny because they ended up going overtime in Game two,
and I thought, I thought this series, it could go
to overtime every single game.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
And it was not that. It was it was it
was a mess.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It was absolutely it was a shit kicking. It's probably
the best way I would describe it. But your prototypical
Florida Panther's signature victory and the Stanley Cup playoffs, and
I just felt like the Oilers got way too involved
and the first period was just just a disaster on
both sides. A billion penalties like eleven power plays in
the game for the Florida Panthers. I what, one hundred
(01:18):
and forty penalty minutes Like, It's not what I expected.
But to that point, I think if the Oilers are
going to be successful, it's got to be more of
the brand, the style we saw in Game one and
two and not Game three. If they try to play
and try to win that way, they're not going to
win this series.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah, I totally agree, Nick. And they didn't play their game.
They played nothing like their game. You know, they're all
about transporting pup quickly, breaking it out fast, playing fast.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
And they weren't doing any of that. And they were.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Getting sucked into the after the whistle stuff and all
the extra curriculators that Florida is so good at. I mean,
they they are the best team with games and chip
when it comes to playing a game within the game
and getting under guys skin.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I mean, I'm not surprised. I wouldn't be surprised.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
If every single guy on the Florida they have a
player on Edmonton and then they say, Okay, I got him, Okay,
I'm taking him.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I'm going to take him off his game, and it's just,
you know, they all fall in line, and.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Edmonton's gonna have to you know, I think now for Edmonton,
you can look at it this way, Nick, you can
look at it as it's a silver lining for Edmonton
and now they have a contrast of how they need
to play to win and how they don't need to
play right and here it is right there, there's a
blueprint in the middle of the series.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, and I think you have to have a short
memory too. You can obviously speak to this, and I
think players in general do a great job of just
turning the page really really quickly. And maybe to my
point about the day off, the extra day off, maybe
that favors Edmonton because you just sort of forget and
it's not even a memory anymore when you look back
at Game three. But how many times have we seen
that type of performance from the Florida Panthers and the
(02:51):
Stanley Cup playoffs? And it's more so the moment to
step up, to elevate, to do it in front of
DJ called Your Boy, as well. Lots coming up on
today's podcast, including a fantastic guest in a few minutes
from now for my NHL executs turned broadcaster Mike Food
of Rogers Sports Now will drop by if you've played
a key role in LA's two Cup victories in twenty
twelve and twenty fourteen, and of course the Oilers have
(03:13):
a lot of work ahead of them, but I wanted
to ask you constant my thoughts have changed in my
opinion going into this series. I obviously liked Edmonton to
win the Stanley Cup. I'm still sticking with McDavid from
the Florida perspective. I think things are wide open where
it started with Sergeia Lebrowski being the front runner. For me,
it has to be contract here. Sam Bennett and fourteen
(03:34):
goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs insanitied me.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Man, Yeah, I mean how about I want to talk
about his goal last night, Like how about that shift?
I mean just unbelievable, like if there's a a patent
Florida Panther's goal, like that's it, and Sam Bennett leads
the charge when it comes to that. I mean open ice,
hit another hit, and then comes down and scores a
big goal.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
I mean, Sam Bennett is, uh, he's.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Going to have some options after this playoffs, But I
totally agree with you. I think that's Sam Bennett is
a clear cut cons my favorite.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
With what he's doing. I mean it's not just his
scoring goals.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I mean he's scoring goals obviously, and he's scoring goals
at big times, but he's doing everything else. I mean
you saw his I mean his face off percentage. I
think in Game two was like he won like ten
out of fifteen draws, and you know, he's finishing checks,
He's doing all these little things, and I mean he's
I mean, he's a guy that, like, if I'm Brad
Tree living, I'm probably gonna want to try and bring
(04:31):
him back since he had him in Calgary too, So
you know, he's a he's been he's been a force
for Florida.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I'm not taking the bait in the least conversation at
least right now with Nate, But I think that we're
looking for man is his presence, Like there's just a
presence to him. There's a presence to Brad Marshawan, Like
who else kicks off the scoring after scoreing the ot
winner in Game two, it's Brad Marshawan And I think
he's right there in the conversation. And that's the crazy
thing and scary thing about the Florida Panthers. They're like
(05:01):
a chameleon. They can adapt and evolve and played different
styles and different brands and be successful. Did you know
We're three games into the Stanley Cup Final and arguably
the best player on the Florida Panthers has yet to
register a point. His name is Alexander Barkov. He hasn't
been great. That would concern me, I think from the
Edmonton perspective, knowing the best Barkov has yet to show
up in the postseason, in the in the Cup final
(05:23):
at least.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, And it's funny, you see, I know, if you
saw a postgame press conference from Paul Maurice and he said, yeah,
we're trading him, you know, you know, joking around about
how he hasn't you know, how he hasn't been scoring.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
But I'm not.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Worried if I'm Florida either, you know, I think that
you know, the way he plays, all the other things
he does. I mean, he's like you said, presence on
the ice. I mean he is, he's there captain for
a reason, and you know he does so many little
things well that I think it's a matter of time.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
And you saw last night. I mean the play.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I mean it's just hard work, like he just goes
into the fort, check, finishes his hit, gives a pass
to Ryan Hart and he scores.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
But that that's the things that Barkoff do that I
think that you know, we expect all, well, he needs
to be scoring some goals. He needs to be scoring
you know, doing this, doing that, you know, because he
got he is capable of highlight real goals and highlight
reel plays. But he hasn't done that because he's just
playing North South hockey and he's been he's.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Been their leader. And I wouldn't be concerned if I
was Florida.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
From the Edminton perspective, what's the mentality Neate as a player?
As you head into game four the extra day off?
Do you do you get after it? You hit the beach,
you get the tan cooking a bit like you just
forget about hockey for complete day.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
How would you attack it?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yeah, I think it's forget about the game. I think
you want to forget about it. You want to have it,
you want to enjoy.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
You going elbowroom or elbow room.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Probably not not in the middle of Stanley, old.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
School stuff, like guys before, right.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I would be shocked if there was any any players
from either team at the elbow room. Yeah, no, I
think you got to get away from the game for
a day. You gotta go go to the beach, go
for a walk, whatever it is, you know, go for
a nice dinner with the fellas. But I think you know,
you have to reset. And that's the challenge of the
playoffs is you know, there's so many ebbs and flows,
(07:17):
and it's emotional roller coaster and they can emotionally drain you.
But if you can find ways to unplug and get
away from the game during intense series like that, you'll
be better for it.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
The one thing I despise is excuses and watching postgame
coverage on various different platforms. We're talking injuries again, Like
where was that conversation in the first two games of
the series. We're talking about goaltending, Like, just go out
there and have a better game. From the Edmonton perspective,
it's so easy to blame Stuart's Skinner. But last time
I checked, they scored one goal in that game, dry
(07:48):
set on what no shots on goal? I thought they
did a great job, did the Panthers on Connor McDavid
like it was just a quiet night. And unfortunately that's
going to happen over the span of a long stretch,
whether it's the postseason the regular season. The entire team
was off. So I don't want to blame one guy
or have excuses for Evington. You need to be better,
and I think the good news is you got to
(08:08):
win four games and not just one here the way
the Panthers did in Game three.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, I totally agree. And we're always quick to blame
Stuart Skinner. He always seems to be the easy escapegoat
because of you know, Florida and they have Lebroski, right,
and he's a surefire Hall of Famer.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
But you're right, I don't think that Stuart Skinner is
the problem.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And and you know, yeah he didn't have a good night,
but nobody had a good night, not one player on
that team. So I would and this is gonna be
a big question, is I would I would come back
with Skinner?
Speaker 4 (08:41):
What would you do Nick.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Yeah, it's got to be Skinner. It has to be Skinner.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
I think you've you've made your bed, you got to
lie in it is that the saying. It has to
be like you can't you can't flip now like Picker
let his first shot in and you're gonna go to
cal Pickard to beat the defending Stanley Cup champions. It
has to be the guy that you brought to the dance.
It really does.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, And and what kind of message does that give
to Edmonton and even Florida? Like if you're Florida, I know,
and you're you're starting Picker. I mean, if I'm on
the other team, I'm thinking, oh, all right, we kind
of got these guys in a bit of a mind
pretzel right now, you know. So, Yeah, I think Skinner's
got to be the guy for Game four?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Absolutely cooked. Was there ever a fight in your career?
Like I was watching that nurse fight and I was
getting tired. I I almost gave a round of applause
watching our big screen here that the stamina involved in
that type of tilly And I thought it was important
for Edmonton to step up. And I don't know if
they did enough or maybe they just didn't do it,
you know, the smart way. But that was a long,
(09:40):
long ass till Man.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
That was a really long fight and a good one too.
And and and Gadjovich is a tough guy. Yeah, credit
to credit to Darnell Nurse. I mean he and Darnel
Nurse is a tough guy his own right too. I
mean he's fought some tough guys and he he can
handle himself. And uh, yeah, that was that was a
marathon fight. I mean for people that don't know, like,
you know, even the thirty second fight can feel like
(10:02):
eternity and when you're done, you're you're.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Huffing and puffing. But yeah, I thought it's funny.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I was thinking about guys that I fought that were long,
long fights like that. I think the longest one that
I can remember was Michael Ferland.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
That was in Calgary.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
We had one that was pretty long and at the end,
I think I got in the penalty box and I
was dying for breath for like two minutes.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I was just, you know, so tired.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
So I don't think we're gonna get any of that
in game four, but it was, you know, it was
nice to see you know, some uh some extracurriculars going
on too during this game at least.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, fair to say a lot of soul searching ahead
here for the Edmonton Oilers. We're going to hit a
pause on the other side, Mike Feuda of Rogers Sports,
that will drop by more to com here on Energy Line.
Welcome back the Energy Line with Nate and JSB filling
it for Julie stewartvinks On, Nick Alberga joined alongside Nate Thompson.
(10:58):
The Florida Panthers now halfway to repeating US Cup champs
after there's six to one dismantling the Edmonton Oilers in
Game three. Today's guest needs a minimum introduction. He helped build
two Stanley Cup winning teams in Los Angeles before that.
In short order, he has sent it up the ranks
in several different roles in the Ontario Hockey League and
now he's kicking ass in the broadcasting world for Rogers Sports. Now,
(11:19):
welcome to Energy Line, Mike Fudo.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
What's going on, Feuds? How are you bud Well?
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Other than feeling like Edmonton's fort check trying to get
on this pod, It's been a battle. I'm just happy,
I mean seeing Nate makes me happy, So everything's good.
I feel good. I feel after being these days off,
you get so excited about good hockey. And I thought
the first two games were like must CTV. Last night,
(11:44):
I was like, thought, I was watching a practice that
a coach would want to blow down and start all
over again.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
It was.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
It was not a It was not a very well
played hockey game by the Edmonton Oilers.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
No, it was not.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And I guess I'll ask that first feuts is what
has Edmonton need to do to beat because it seems
like when any team plays Florida there's no room for air,
and if you have an off night you don't play
the way you need to play, you're gonna lose, just
like they did six to one.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
It's it's because Edmonton their first couple of games, it's
looked like it's like Toronto had them figured out right
and they didn't. And I thought Toronto was more of
a self inflicted wound than they're just really good. I mean,
I think at some point you got to maybe me
as well. I got to stop making excuses for the
(12:35):
opponents and just realize what an incredibly structured team this is.
Because as I said, and it's like, not only did
they win everything, they sucked them into playing For first
I thought, I thought it was a strangely officiated game.
Out of the window. There was no flow. It was
like guys trying to draw penalties, like usually these guys
are so tough. At this stage, you got to earn
(12:57):
to get a penalty. There was a lot of the
head snapping back, diving away from the play.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
It was.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
It was not a banner game to sell the game
of hockey, especially the way these two teams can play it.
But man, once they got up, the skinner was just average.
I felt the two big dogs were very average, which
would shock me. I thought with time off that McDavid
and Dryseidel would just come shot out of a cannon.
They didn't. They didn't seem to have the extra gear
(13:24):
other than Bouchard and Perry. I was disappointed all around
with the team. But it's amazing that Florida sucks you
into this game. And then I'm like, okay, well, at
least they've got to take a pound of flesh, and
they couldn't even do that properly. It ends up that
you know, the only guy that matches up with Gadjevich
in my opinion, and god, I give darn Old Nills
(13:46):
pull credit, but you got a guy that's a bad matchup.
The only guy is Evander Kaine, and Gadgevitch ends up
getting a whole of year number three defenseman and he
hung in there. It wasn't like you got beat. But
I mean, that's not a fight you want to have,
Like everything about it, Sam Bennett causing havoc. They just
got under their skin and they didn't gain one ounce
(14:06):
of retribution in any one of those scrums. They actually lost.
They actually lost momentum in the scrum area as well.
So good on Florida, but I can't imagine this being
like Edmonton's got way too much brighter and they've learned
way too much to have another effort like that. But man,
I was it was not fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
It was your prototypical like Florida Panthers Stanley Cup playoff victory.
Like I thought Edmonton tried to play Florida's game when
they should have tried to play their own game. And
I thought the Panthers are just so relentless, like every
line just plays the same style and the will and
the passion but are we seeing the first you know,
cracks if you will, of Zach Hyman not being with
the oilers here Mic.
Speaker 6 (14:50):
This is such a great point. I sent a message
to man Mark. I said, Man, they're missing they're missing
Hymen right now, and that's it's but that's they're missing
them in game one, right there's always somebody out the
teams that find the way to win. They overcome that.
I think we're getting. I still think something's wrong with
the Chuck as well. I don't think you're seeing anywhere
(15:11):
close to the best version of Matthew to Chuck. And
he's still annoying his hell every shift and doing and
making his impact on it. But yeah, I I he's
that he's that critical to their lineup that it's got
everything off kilter with regards to the lines. But just
in general, I just again, Florida is so annoying. I mean,
(15:32):
and they were annoying before they added Mark marsha on
and that's so just imagine It's like, can we be
any annoying more annoying? Yeah, well, we may be just
adding maybe the most annoying guy in the league who's
going to turn into a sniper again at playoff time.
I get I'm gonna have to stop criticizing the opponent,
maybe give Florida much more credit for But everybody seems
(15:53):
to be falling in the in the trap of, as
you said, not playing their own game, but trying to
play Florida's game better. And nobody plays it better than Florida.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, you's, and I look it for I watch sport,
I see that the way they play, and I'm thinking
right now, and are there any similarities to those Kings
teams that you helped construct with the Florida Panthers and
the way I mean they play structured you talk about
they play very good d and they play mean.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
We were I think we were bigger. I think we
were actually if it came nate, you forget, like, if
it ever came time to throw down, we were deep
in that way as well, because Jordan Nolan like as
much as like Dwight King, if you ever wanted to
not so much beat guys up, but if you were
like if you ever needed a heavyweight to just even
tie it, like He's not. Dwight King was not going
(16:41):
to lose a fight to anybody, but he could. He
was big enough to take anybody on and I think
we had more threatening guys like Kyle Clifford. It was.
It was much more deep and actual. I wouldn't say toughness,
because Florida is way too but as far as if
you have to get to that other level where you
might have to drop the gloves, we were deeper in
(17:02):
that area. But I think they've got the annoying thing
down to it. Like I don't think we were ever
that annoying. We played hard, but we never we never
poked the bear, annoyed everybody off and then allowed you
to jump on us and just take penalties on us.
Like Mike Richards never took a backwards step. These guys
all they did the annoying part, but they just kept
moving forwards, whereas Florida seems to do these annoying things
(17:25):
and then back up and allow you to bounce on
them and get undisciplined. I'll tell you, as far as
the resources, just playing smart hockey and capitalizing on your
offensive chances when they come very similar, there's still that factor.
And I hate to say it that we knew every
night we put Jonathan Quick in the net that we
didn't have anything to worry about I think Florida has
that same mental aspect, like you have to kind of
(17:48):
google their backup goalie, whereas you're always you're hoping, as
you're hoping. Skinner, as much as he's been good, his
splits between his bad stats and his good stats in
his playoffs are absolutely like something I've never seen. So
the fact that you're almost now, whether it comes up
or not, there's going to be a hey, do we
(18:09):
start picker it? In game four? We never knew. We
always knew Number thirty two is getting rolled out.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
He was lasting.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
So I agree with you. There are so many different
similarities in between the not having kind of that guy
that was just sniping away. Everybody had a chance to score.
Everybody was a threat, and we were very hard to
play against, and we kind of dictated the tone of
every game physically, which is what Florida does as well.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, I was laughing, like, where did this confidence come from?
If you're VTech Vanichik, you're one of the worst teams
in hockey this year. They didn't want you, and he's
like staring down Stuart Skinner hasn't played a second in
the Stanley Cup playoffs, and we know it's gonna be
Babrovski every game. Do you see any Corey Crawford, by
the way, and Stuart Skinner for some reason, I keep
coming back to that name with Skinner. One game he's incredible,
the next game he's okay. There's no in between for me, guy.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
It is what it is. I mean, the bottom line
is you're like at this time of year because his
good games have been very good, but they also have
been so much more structure on him when he's playing well.
And last night, right from the get go, like Kelly Rudy,
I mean, I'm watching the Canadian feed, so he very
rarely says anything negative about a goaltender, and right out
(19:18):
of the get gate he was like hm hm, Like
that was a different way to start a game, like
on your belly out in the high slot. It just structurally,
when he's off, it's he's really off. And I'm not
a goalie expert by anything, but I know your goalie
is not supposed to be in his stomach in the
slot thirty five seconds into the game when the Bucks
in behind him. So it was again I give Florida
(19:43):
the credit. I mean, I thought, with all this extra
time off and all the playoff games that Florida's played,
and you think they're wearing Tara, it should come. It
should come to Edmonton coming out shot out of a gate,
and you just they got they got panthered. They got
absolutely panthered from the national anthem on.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Who do you start in game four? If you then
who do you think?
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Uh McDavid in drys Idyls. I'm gonna give them another
chance to date, I'm mean, honestly, the hardest part is
they've got two days to think about it. I think
if you don't, if you don't start Skinner, there's a
massive mental gain for the Panthers. But they've gone down
(20:30):
this road before and had success with it. Where the
last time that he did Picker win six and zero, right,
So it's not like they're guessing what the last time
the result was. But the problem is they're playing Florida
now and every time they get a mental edge, even
if it's an inch, they turn it in defeat and
(20:50):
it's it's it's just I mean, and even I'm a
Paul Maurice fan and I'm getting annoyed with his quotes,
like it's like it's like, honestly, come on, man, can
you have a team that annoys you more, that impresses
you even greater with their from beating you and then
telling you why they beat you, and you guys should
be proud of you. And then and then, you know what,
(21:13):
I'm going to beat you, and then I'm going to
discuss whether we should shake hands ten seconds after I
beat you to the pulp. I'm gonna ask if you
want to what your thought is on handshake lineups, Like, oh, man,
they've got it down to an art. They have it art.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Oh, they're just they're absolutely buzzing right now and obviously
feeling good about life. And I just think it's so
easy to blame the goalie you lose six to one.
I thought it was a no show up and down
that roster. And I think you live by the sword,
you die by the sword. It's got to be Stewart
Skinner for me. In game four, I want to ask
you about Sam Bennett. I think obviously a polarizing name.
Fourteen goals here in the Stanley Cup playoffs, pending free agent,
(21:53):
this guy's going to get paid whether it's in Florida
or elsewhere. But as a long standing you know, NHL
executive how do you quantify the value of Sam Bennett
who goes from a fifty point guy in the regular
season to an absolute stallion and stud in the Stanley
Cup playoffs.
Speaker 6 (22:08):
It's it's a great question. I mean, I don't think
he can. I go back to a kid that this
is the version when he was drafted in Calgary that
they thought they were getting. Right, this is kind of
what Kingston he played the way he played in Kingston.
He'd score, he'd fight, he'd do all these things. Knowing
his mental makeup. You don't leave Florida right you're happy.
This is exactly where he's found himself. If it's all
(22:31):
about money. And I know Darren Ferris is his agent,
and I mean I talk to him all the time,
and he makes it sound like it's more about money
than being happy, and it's more about being respected, and
you know, I just you just have to be careful
the way he plays physically, he's got a history of concussions.
Would anybody want him? The market for two seas is
like he's the absolute guy, right and and everybody that
(22:55):
wants to be gritty, whether it's the Mayple Leafe, it's
not just the mape. I mean, I have to hear
it about it all the time because it's Toronto, But
any team would want this guy. He defines what it's
like to be a two seed. But he also does
it because if all of a sudden you become and
this it sounds like I'm putting him down, but I'm not.
But if all of a sudden you're ten million dollar player,
(23:15):
you're a one seed, right and you don't have the
you don't have the nest of having Barkov ahead of you,
in Lundel behind you, where you can just freely be
the player that you're entitled to be. And if all
of a sudden you're drastically being thrust in salary wise
and everything into being the guy, and if you and
you start to have some trials and tribulations, you might
(23:36):
all of a sudden find yourself the same version you
were in Calgary. And I don't think he'll get he's
so much more mentally tough, he's matured. But I just
can't imagine this player playing anywhere with Florida. But man,
if you're out there, you're certainly sharpening your pencil on
what you're going to give him, But you're if you're
paying them ten million dollars. You're you're acquiring them to
(23:59):
be a one seed, and that's a different ball of
whacks all together.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
I totally agree if you to.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I think Sam Bennett he's definitely a unicorn in his
own sense the way he plays. But you know, if
you pay a guy that much, maybe Toronto, maybe tree
Leaving goes after. I mean, that's what I'm thinking of
my gut. I mean, you had him in Calgary, but
you pay that guy that much, you know, like you said,
three or four years down the line, it could could
come back to bite you.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
My next question I guess is is, you know, we
talked about Evander Kaine, you know, the last game and
how how much of an impact he had, and you know,
last night it was it was different. He wasn't It
wasn't the same, you know, and and a guy like that,
he I feel like he has to be you know,
he has to fill that role for Hymen a little bit.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
And we talked about how.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Much it is a huge hole not having Hymen in
the lineup, but with having Kane, you know, he has
to be that guy, right for for the Edvonton oilers last.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Night, the one thing I mentioned tomorrow was I felt
that he was playing the most unselfish hockey of his
For me, he kind of defined himself as an incredible
player that has all the attributes like to Tom Wilson,
probably have a much. He's probably a better player than
Tom Wilson, but he was always anytime his physicality came
to front, he was defending Evander Kaine. He wasn't looking
(25:20):
after teammates right, and for this playoffs this year, he
looked like he was in a different place mentally, big,
small in his face. The only tie he was finishing checks,
punishing people, but the only time physicality and after the
whistle was coming into play, he was defending teammates, which
for me, I always go back to that when the
guy was going after drys Isle and he just stepped
(25:41):
in and hey, you're not touching one of our stars.
Last night's the first time I felt it was like
he had read all this press clippings and I am
that good. I'm a little like the stick penalties, aren't
They weren't the kind of punishing stuff he'd been doing.
They were kind of undisciplined. He seemed incredibly flustered early,
(26:01):
emotionally like with the refs. He just seemed he seemed
out of control. There was no he seemed to be
dictating the physicality of the way he played for two
games and last night everything was unhinged. Florida meticulously picks
who they want to physically punish, and then they do
it under control. Like it's like to Chuck knows who
he's gonna get before a game and he gets it.
(26:22):
Jane just looked like he was looking around, who am
I going to? Like there was no method to his madness,
and then when all of a sudden the Chuck became available,
it was like it turned into an absolute shit, you
know what I mean. He just was like, you look
dunhinge trying to get at him. There was no control.
And then at the end of it, no messages were
delivered other than I'm out of control.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Right.
Speaker 6 (26:43):
They didn't hit him with anything. He didn't nobody got
a shot in Like I mean, Connor Brown threw about
eighty punches and scrums. I don't know if anybody ever
got hit with one of them. But it was Florida
quietly again with minimal effort, extracted all the pain on
the other team, and every time there was a chance
for went to send a message. They were mostly grabbling
(27:07):
with a referee, trying to get free and looking completely
emotionally unhinged, with no idea who they actually wanted to
target or it was it was he was bad last
Like he was not a good He was the worst
version of Evander Kaine you can get last night. But
they were all bad. I'm picking him out because he's
been so you brought him up and he's been so good.
(27:28):
He's been so good last night. That's the that's the
version of Vander Kaine that's played for five different teams.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
And and little Birdie tells me that Evander Kaine could
be on the trade market coming up following the Stanley
Cup Final. And again to your point, the first couple
of games, I'm like, shit, there's gonna be a lot
of teams that would be interested in that type of
player with one year left and his deal. But then
I watched last night and he played Florida's game. Yeah,
little bird, little board, little bird.
Speaker 6 (27:53):
But after game one and two.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, but the thing is is like Florida sucks you
into their game, Like I wasn't crazy about all the
diving bullshit last there was a sequence where Lindell two
dives in a role like that just not playoff hockey
to me. But again, I think you're find finding any
any edge you can get. Last question for me, Mike,
is ag just a number? Like I think the one
(28:16):
thing if I look back at this playoffs and the
Stanley Cup Final is the graybeards and just how important
those guys have been on both rosters. You know, Brad
Marshawn massive, Nate Schmid's a guy who's not getting enough praise.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
He's like Vegas Nate Schmidt.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Right now Corey Perry, forty years of age leading the
Edmonton Oilers. Is it time to put more value in
these type of guys and maybe concede that, hey, it's
okay to go after guys thirty five, thirty six, thirty
seven in free agency or trade.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
As long as you get the right graybeards. That's why
the guy in the bottom corner there, teams keep picking
them up and his if you get the right character
that by that buy in, it's it's it's you can't
put a value on it. I think it's funny because
you don't think I don't remember we're old. But like
guys like at the time, like I think we thought
just and Williams was kind of getting older and he
(29:06):
had so much left in the tank. Because the same
thing that make these adjustments and their leadership is so
it's so incredible, like to think Corey Perry was a
hard Trophy winner and he's the guys that are selfless
enough to mold their games to what they can give
still are so incredible to have around and you can
see Marshaan doing it, you see Perry doing it. I
(29:29):
think Pacoretti did a little bit this year, like this
guy was another he just go out and write his body.
Obviously had to miss a lot of games, but he
just ran over people. Right, that's an adjustment, whereas some
of the older guys and it's again it's it's not
a it's not a knock. But I think like when
when Joe Thornton stuff, like when they were kind of hanging,
they were still trying to be the best version of
Joe Thornton, like the player that was as a Hall
(29:51):
of Famer one hundred percent, but and it didn't really
adapt because that that secondary game that all these other
guys have found the roles that make them so successful
and they never sacrifice an ounce of the intangible that
is God given. I guess it is what they have
leadership wise, that's what makes them so special. And especially
you start to see the personalities come out, like Marshawn
(30:14):
now like goes from a guy that couldn't get in
the couldn't get in the bar and his hometown in
Stanley Cup because he was so despised by his local
people to being a guy that you just you can't
get enough of how much he's enjoying the game at
the Four Nations. It's like must see TV. You want
to hear the Brad Marshawn might go, it's a spitting
chicklets interview or this guy's loving life right reminds me
(30:39):
a lot of what Jerome Againla was trying to do
for us in his last couple of years, Like when
we couldn't figure out, you know, when we were going
into Calgary who to fight and this guy's like grabbing
a hold of England, go in toe to toe with them,
and you're like, oh my god, Like this is a
Hall of Famer fighting a heavyweight, just to show us
this is how you play the game. That's how you
(31:00):
stand up those guys. There's always a place for them.
And I think we're getting a special We're getting a
real special view of some of the best ever to
do it as far as redefining their their roles but
still being so effective.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
It's all about buying, man, even talking to a couple
of players, guys who have been top six guys for
a long part of their careers, and to adapt and
to evolve and mentally speaking, to be like, I'm a
bottom six guy and yeah, I kill penalties now, and
how will I adapt? Some guys adopt, well, some do not.
You always adopt excellent man, Thank you so much for
your time today. Really really appreciate this.
Speaker 6 (31:34):
It reminds me. Reminds me. There's a movie and I
always date myself. It's called Cocoon where the old butters
just jump in the pool and come out refreshed. And
I watched, like I said, it's like a Marshawn and
Marshawan and these guys are and Perry are like they're
looking for roles in like a Coon six.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Like they.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
They've jumped in that pool and they're coming out just
even if it's for a short period. They're treating us
to what incredible careers they've had.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Buddy, Yeah, thanks dude, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (32:06):
Thanks, Bud.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Be good, Larry Habit. Mike Fuda what an absolute stud.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Hey, Yeah, he's a beauty. I've known Feuds for a
long time and he's just uh, he's got a wealth
and knowledge and he's seen it all. He's seen it
all at the junior level, he's seen it all at
the NHL level. So it's nice having him on and
here and his uh, his input about both teams.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Knows what it takes to win, right And I think
as we move forward here to Game four of note
the extra day off, I don't know who that favors
right now. If you're Edmonton, you probably just want to
get back out there. But I still like the oiler's
chances in this series that I hate cliches. Man, Dare
I say Game four as they must win, Like, I
just don't envision a path I know they won three
in a row last year after going down three, Cobb,
(32:54):
I don't envision a pathway Edmonton winning the Stanley Cup
down three to one in this series?
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Do you see you say like I think about this
and I thought about it, and I see like Okay,
Game three. Seventy seven percent of teams that win Game
three win the series, right, and Oilers, everything they've done
this year has been against all odds. You know, you
look at back at every series. You look at the
series against LA they're down to nothing. You look at
(33:19):
points during the season you're like, there's no way this
team's going to go to a Stanley Cup final. And
they're now they're a the Stanley Cup Final. So I
think they do it is it is a must win
because they need to have this series tie going back home,
and I think it changes everything. And I do think
that it's going to be a much different game in
Game four from the Oilers. I mean, I think that
(33:41):
was I think that was a one off. I don't
know what happened with them. They just didn't have it.
And I expect a much better team that we are
used to seeing and saying, Okay, this so Oilers team.
You know that this is the team that's going to
beat the Florida Panthers this year.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
Who do you got winning Game four?
Speaker 4 (33:58):
The Oilers?
Speaker 5 (33:59):
I got Adminton as well.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Meantime, thank you for listening to episode twenty four line
with Nate and JSB. Energy Line is a production of
the NHL and iHeart podcast Thanks to Mike Fuda as
well for dropping by. Also special thanks to to producers
Jake Brown and Bob Bender. Don't forget to subscribe to
the show on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts,
or listen on the iHeartRadio app. While you're out it
hit it up with a five star review. I'm Nick Alberga,
(34:22):
He's Nate Thompson. JSP will be back on Friday with
Nate as they react to Game four of the Stanley
Cup Final.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
Thanks tuning into Energy Line.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Energy Line is the production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Nate Thompson
Julie Stewart-Binks
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