Mike Johnson discusses the Maple Leafs’ big series lead, first round of playoffs

Energy Line with Nate Thompson and Julie Stewart-Binks open up breaking down the first round of the playoffs so far. Former NHL winger, NHL Network and TSN analyst Mike Johnson then joins Nate and JSB. Johnson discusses the Maple Leafs’ 3-0 series lead, whether they can win the Stanley Cup, who he is rooting for from the teams he played for, the Wild’s lead on the Golden Knights and the battle for Florida.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Welcome back to the Energy Line with Nate and JSB.
I'm Julie Stewart Thinks and he is former NHL or
Nate Thompson. The first week of the playoffs as well underway,

(00:26):
and we are back for a second episode this week
to break it all down. It is our first week
of two episodes, so it's a lot of a heavy
list lifting for me and Nate. Energy Line is a
production of the NHL and iHeart podcast Nate and I
will be joined later on in the show by NHL
Network and TSN analyst and former nhlor Mike Johnson. But first, Nate,

(00:46):
one week has gone by in the playoffs. What are
you most jazzed about? And what are you most surprised
about that's happened so far?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Oh, I'm most jazzed about. I think is the Leafs
being up three nothing. I mean, I picked the Leafs
to go to the final, so I'm happy about that.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
Actually I did. I did these kings.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
It is so I look like a absolute genius right now.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:16):
So, I mean, and then I think without I think
the biggest surprises I think has to be the Minnesota Wild.
They're up to one on Vegas gold Knights. I think
that's I don't think anyone predicted that or anyone saw
that coming. So for me, those are those are my
hot takes so far.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
I think that's great. I also I forgot to or
I couldn't do a playoff bracket like my I don't
know what I tried to do it. Did you try
to do it too?

Speaker 2 (01:41):
I never did a bracket. I just made my predictions
or cup finalist, so.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
That was it I tried, and I just yeah, you know,
signing in remember in a pass where I don't know
it was just like, so.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
You never actually filled out a bracket, is what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
No, but I have put money down obviously I already
mentioned I mentioned this last night. But I had a
six player anytime goals scorer parlay because I like to
live dangerously.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
And who did you need to score?

Speaker 1 (02:12):
I needed Kyle O'Connor and Jack Eike to score, Like
those are two guys that you would think would have scored.
I will tell you, Okay, this is like, oh, when
the Leafs were up to one and I had Matthew
Nyes to score and I was like, yes, good, but

(02:35):
I pick a player from each team to score, and
I had Brady kud Chuck and I was like, oh,
do I want Brady Kochuck to even this up? Or
and then he did and I was like yes, okay,
but like now I need them to win.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Like, so that game that worked out perfectly for you?

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, that one worked out quite well for me actually,
and Jordan Cairou helped me out, and so did obviously
Caroll Pritza, who's been lights out. Okay, So biggest takeaways
from this week Schmid's Creek, Schmid's creek.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Nate Schmidt, Yeah, three goals for Florida. He's been nails.
Like this guy he was playing like. I had to
go like look him up because I was like, what
is this guy's story and everything? I love that about
the playoffs where you can just find guys that are like,
who's this Yahoo? And then they're like the next coming

(03:37):
of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
This is what it's all about, though.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
This is why the playoffs is like, because you have
these little storylines of guys that don't score goals and
all of a sudden, like Nate Schmidt three goals in
two games.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
And it's funny you watch.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
I was watching his interview and that guy, like he's
Mike must watch interviews because he is the happiest person.
I never played with him, but like he is the
happiest person when he gets interviewed. He was just like
just so excited for life. He just seems so excited
about life. And he scores three goals and it's just
I mean, that's that's that's the beauty of the playoffs

(04:10):
is seeing stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
I love that he was so excited for life.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
I know that's what he looks like. He just looks
like this guy's happy all the time.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
He's just he's happy. Oh yeah, I mean his picture
on on Hockey dB, he's like he's like smiling so much.
He's got a big old smile right there. But yeah,
he's I mean, well, he's played in the he's played
in the league for quite a.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
While, and he has been around.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
He has been around, he's been around, but he's definitely
not been around in the sense that he is like
basically leading the league or whatever in playoffs. Again, we're
not a numbers podcast, Okay. Also the fact that we
saw Gabriel Landiskogg come back, which is a great story
and we're going to talk more about it with Mike Johnson.

(04:59):
I mean, it's just I mean I want to ask
you just like for your own personal thoughts on this,
because like, you see him, you see the team welcoming back,
you see him out there. Uh, did you did you
ever doubt that maybe this moment might not happen?

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Like, yeah, no, I It's funny. And I'm like starting
to get tingly and emotional as we're talking about this
because when I see the uh, when I see that
sign that his kids made it says, I'm so proud
of you, daddy, and you see them watching him, It's like, Uh,
I can't even imagine the emotions he was feeling. After

(05:38):
all he's been through in the last few years. I mean,
I know from my experience of you know, being injureda
and you know, I've had a couple surgeries and one
where I rupture my achilles and I was out for
I think seven eight months. But I can't even imagine
being away for three years. But at the same time,
you know, he's getting to be you know, he talks
about it. You know, he talks about how he gets

(05:58):
to be with his kids every single day, and his
kids get to witness all the work he put in
and they get to be with him through that whole process,
and then for them to see him standing on the
blue line, I see, It's it's hard for me to
compute because like I'm like, this is so it is
bigger than hockey. You know, you have him stand on

(06:21):
the blue line and everyone's chanting his name, and you know,
I can't imagine, you know, being his kids. You know,
they're they're watching this whole thing. I'm so proud of you, daddy,
and they're getting to listen to everyone chant their dad's name,
you know, And to me, like that's that's bigger than hockey.
That's something so special and good on Gabriel Lanska. I

(06:41):
don't know him that well personally, but you know, just
it just shows volumes of the character that he has
as a person. And obviously there's a reason why he's
the Captain of the Avalanche and has been for so long.
So what a great story and just awesome for Colorado
to have him back.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Hearing you talk about that, with the fans cheering him on,
and just like his and seeing his kids getting a
front row seat to seeing their dad do something so
incredible and like just the epitome of perseverance and like
coming back from something that might have ended other people's careers,
might people might have given up mentally, and then to

(07:22):
see it come to fruition, and like, I mean, those
kids at this age, that will likely end up being
a core memory at you know, I feel, I don't
know like how kids like what age you have to
be aut but I think that that what they're four
and four and five, I think you said that feels
like the age where you start to really remember stuff.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, I think for sure. Yeah, I mean, especially at
that age, I think you have it hard. It'd be
hard not to remember it a little bit like that,
it'd be hard to not remember.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, to see your dad go through that and have that,
I mean, that will that will shape them and their
view of him for the rest of their life, which
is really really special when you think about just the
personal aspect of it, and then it kind of reminds
me of, oh God, I'm gonna get we're gonna start
this podcast off just freaking in our feels, like I know, God.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
I had I had tears welling up when I was
talking about that. Oh my god, I know it really
got me this today.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's no, but it's kind of like it's it kind
of reminded me of in a different vein like Rory
McElroy winning and like seeing it like oh my gosh,
like I never I didn't know if this moment would
ever happen, like kind of how Rory said, I never
really I didn't. I thought maybe it was gone, like

(08:44):
I didn't think it might have happened again. And seeing
like the elation, the joy of like the emotion of
him coming back and then seeing a guy like Landiskog
like almost the We're seeing a lot of like feel
good stories happen in a way of people overcoming something
where you're like, yeah, I did have a dream and

(09:04):
I got it. And it's like I think that's I
mean big, as we said, it's bigger than the game
because then I think that connects with like every single
person watching. It doesn't matter if you're a fan of
the Avalanche or whomever, whatever, you're like just the human spirit.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
And so yeah, it was so it was so special.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
I mean just yeah, I mean it's it's adversity and
people want to see people, you know, go through adversity
and come out on the other side and just it's
it's it's surreal, you know, to be out. I don't
know if people understand, but to be out for three
years is a long long time. Like I was out
for seven months and that's a long time. That's almost

(09:47):
a year, right coming up on you. That's close to
a year. But three years is a whole other level.
So kudos to Gabe Gabriel Laniskod.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, we definitely are sending him our flowers for that.
So in that same series, let's just talk about the
odd dynamic of Mico Ranton in now playing his former
team and he's with Dallas and it didn't really work
out with Carolina and then now he's there and what
do you make of sort of I guess him with

(10:17):
the Stars and then the Stars in this series in
general that maybe people might have written off, well, I.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
Think first off, Migo Randon, I mean, he it hasn't
been as advertised I guess for him since he's been
to Dallas, he hasn't been the player that everyone's like, oh,
He's going to light the world on fire. But I
think Mico Ranton in for the playoffs has been pretty solid.
I mean, this guy has kind of built for the playoffs.
His size, his strength, his skating everything. We know what

(10:45):
Miko Rantnon can do. And then this Dallas team, I
mean they are They're a Cup contender for a reason.
They've been in the playoffs year after year. And I
think we all have me included, we thought, Okay, you know,
they're not going to have Miro high skating, They're not
going to have some guys and they've inserted Tyler Sagan
back back in their lineup. They haven't had high skin,

(11:06):
and you know, Thomas Harley has been playing an absurd
amount of minutes for them. And now they're up to
one in the series and they are you know, I mean,
they get a big goal, of an overtime goal from
Tyler Sagan and.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
That was kind of wild. That was like, wow, Tyler Sagan,
I know.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's amazing, right, So and now and now they have
a lead, and you see how good they are and
how and why Dallas has been known for their depth
and I think we have to we have to remember that.
I think we forget that, right, We think because a
Miro high skin and these guys that are out for Dallas,
we think, Okay, they're not going to be able to
match up against Colorado, And yes, Colorado is an amazing

(11:50):
hockey club. The series is far from over. But Dallas
has depth. They have so many guys that can contribute
and we have to remember that. And they have a
very good goalie in Jake Ottinger. So this series, like
I said, is far from over. But the Dallas Stars
are showing us why they are one of the best
teams in the league.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, and I think they get really over written a lot.
They get kind of tossed aside, especially when they're facing
the Avalanche, and it's always like mccarr, McKinnon, you know whomever.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, well you look like like that
play like Mason marchmant like right, Like he's a guy,
he's a guy that not everyone would talk about, but
he's a very good hockey player.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
And the play he.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Made to Tyler Sagan on that goal was great.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Play Like.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
These are guys that have come up big for the
Dallas Stars. Colin Blackwell, right, Colin Blackwell gets inserted to
after not playing Game one, gets a certain Game two
and then scores the ot winner. So the Dallas Stars
are doing it by committee without some of their superstars.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, that seems to be like the theme the grinders.
Also Petez de Borr looking to go past the third
round for the first time ever in his career as
he has been always a brides bad, never bred. I
hate that sentence, but like that, because you know what,
it's great being a bridesmaid. You know what, Sometimes people
don't want to be a bread but in this sense,
you would like to be a Stanley Cup champion. And

(13:14):
Pizza Boro has been around the block. And we saw
Paul Moors last year when he kissed that cup after
so many years and just like that that elation of
just like oh my gosh, like it's so hard to
get here. At this point, I want to talk about
grinders and sort of unheralded superstars in a way or
star like not superstars that doesn't make any sense. Guys

(13:36):
that nobody thought would do anything that are doing something.
And for the Leaves, Simo and ben Waugh seems to
have been turning things on in terms of like making
very good plays in the right moment leading to the
Max Domy goal overtime goal in that second game, and
then he blocked like a ton of shots at the

(13:57):
end of regulation in that third game, and then he
scores the game winner in Game three. Like would you
would he have been on your NHL playoff bingo card?

Speaker 2 (14:07):
No, definitely not. But I think he's a guy. And
Craig Brewery talked about him after the ot goal and
he said, you know, he said, Ben, he's a guy
that's been doing so many little things for us all season.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
You know, he's a tough guy. He plays the game hard.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
And these are these are the types of guys that
the playoffs always end up kind of cut rising to
the surface because because playoff hockey, you have to play
a certain style of game and sometimes for these guys
that's their style of game and they stand out more.
And you know, at the same time, you know, he's
getting he's getting a good chance, and he's making he's
making big plays at key moments of the game. And

(14:43):
this is this is what you want to see. I mean,
the Leafs backhand I think is the best it's been
in over a decade. I mean, how much depth they have,
how many good defenders they have, you know, not just
Simone ben Wa.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
But but Chris Tanna, Brandon.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Carlo, like these guys are really really good defenders and
they're hard to play against. And when you have a
I like Simone ben Wan who's super hard to play against,
like you said, you mentioned it blocks so many shots,
just eats eats, eats pus, eats bucks as we say,
eats biscuits, and uh, you know, just having him and
then him scoring that OT winner, you could see other
guys how related they were for a guy like that

(15:19):
to score the OT winner. So it's it's awesome to
see for the least right now, Julie.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, well, I want to go back to something else
about blocking shots. I find it just so fascinating, Like
the mentality of it, Like when you decide to go
block a shot, are you like, I could potentially die
on this, but you're like, I'm not going to think
about that. I just have to block this shot.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, I think you're It's I like that you bring
this up, and it's there's a there's an art to it.
There's definitely an art to blocking shots and some and
then sometimes there's also there's an art to it, and
then there's desperation, and there's two different types of blocking shots.
Sometimes you'll have your technique and Some guys are all
different way block shots, whether it's going down on one knee.
Some guys like to slide, you know what. Some guys

(16:04):
go in front and basically have their face out for
which I don't understand. But you know, there's different types
of and then there's desperation where the guys get ready
one time and you're just trying to die in the front.
You're just trying to dive in front of it, which
is I recommend not doing. Uh, But you know, it's
the playoffs, and this is what I mean. You're it's
do or die, so yeah, I mean when you say

(16:26):
do or die, this is that's part of it where
you put your people literally do or die, do or die.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
You literally put yourselves in harm's way.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
It's actually do and.

Speaker 3 (16:35):
Die, do and die.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Like you've got to do this
and you might actually die with doing it. But did
you ever like, if you're blocking a shot, can you
have any any ounce of hesitation in your mind? Or
do you just have to be like turn that off?

Speaker 2 (16:51):
No, you can't have any hesitation. I think when you
get to the playoffs, I don't think any guys have
any hesitation about blocking shots.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
You're in the moment and you're just doing it.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
I mean, there's been two instances that I can remember
perfectly that I block shots with my anor foot that
I knew I broke, Like there's a there's a highlight
of me in twenty eleven blocking as a Dano Chara
shot on a five on three and it exploded my
foot like it was broken right away. And you know,
those are things that I remember, But at the time,

(17:20):
you know, you're you're doing whatever it takes because you're
trying to win that big shiny mug.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
All for a big shiny mug when you put it
that way. I hate when I, I, you know, hung
up the skates from Men's League hockey because I personally
didn't like seeing a finance bro winding up from the
point and being like, oh god, like I know they
ain't going to take it easy on me because they
hated see a net blonde ponytail out of the out

(17:49):
of the back of my helmet, and I just remember
being like, no, don't kill me, Like it actually feels
like that when they're fucking winding up from a from
the point and just about to like a like, why
why are you giving a slapshot in the Beer League game.
We're in level six out of eight and eight being
the worst. Like, come on, I mean I got I
got blocked a shot not on purpose, right in the

(18:12):
baby maker, So like that was great. Yeah, so if
I can't have kids, I'll be calling that finance bro
and letting him know about it. On that note, shout
out tell the ladies out there wearing a PWHL shirt.
And I actually bought this when I was in Toronto,
found it and I was just like, yep, obviously, and yeah, yeah,

(18:37):
I realized not all of this is on TV or
video wherever. You know, people watch things these days, and
so we want to give a shout out to Vancouver
being the newest PWHL franchise. And I mean, they did
such a great job hosting their takeover series. And I
also loved like Tessa Bonama's literally a legend. I think

(19:02):
she is so funny and so smart. And I mean,
I'm sorry for that Vancouver council guy or whatever who
didn't mention Marie Flupulen scoring two golden goals, but that
was a takedown. She really body bagged him in that.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
I mean she should have just left after that, Like
that was that was like a mic drop moment where
it was like, all right, yeah, I'm good now I
don't have to say anything else. Welcome to Vancouver.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
And you know that guy is literally probably he's probably
a nice guy who's just like, oh my god, I'm
mortified that like, but also you know, be a little
less tone deaf, like you're welcoming a new women's franchise here.
And PWHL like the final sort of stretch before the
playoffs gets underway on this coming weekend, and then everyone's like,

(19:53):
what I've liked about the PWHL is an aside. It's
like everyone's real close in the playoffs, and the top
four teams will make it. They're six teams, and so
anyone can kind of, like with these next three games
sort of move up and down. I know, because I'm
doing a game next Saturday and that could be either
one that makes or breaks the New York Sirens of

(20:13):
where I am located in New York. Okay, one thing
I wanted to talk to Nate about is you played.
What's it like watching the playoffs on TV?

Speaker 3 (20:25):
Well, that's that's a good question.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's uh, it's good and bad I mean, I guess
you don't get you don't get them as much of
the feel. I guess in the playoffs when you're watching
from when you're much from home and where this week,
you know, I went to two playoff games and watch
both games with the Kings, and you know, you can feel,
I know, I from being as a former player, like
watching a playoff game live. You know when it's it
gets intense and there's hitting and there's big goals and

(20:49):
the crowds going crazy, Like I could feel myself in
the stands like kind of vibrating and elevating, and I'm like, uh.

Speaker 1 (20:56):
Do you want to be out there?

Speaker 2 (20:57):
Oh yeah, one hundred percent. And I think any former
player would say the same thing. You know, you in
those intense games, maybe you don't miss playing all the time,
but in those instances you miss playing because watching it
live you get those you get those urges back a
little bit. So I think that's the difference. I guess
watching maybe you know, And I think too sometimes when
you're watching it live, you can kind of miss some things.

(21:19):
We're on TV at least I can see everything, and
I can also flip back and forth with different games too,
to make sure I could watch all the games rather
than look down on my phone while I'm at the
game and have to check things. So I think that
would be the difference. But watching it live, man, Like,
watching seeing those games live and being in that playoff
atmosphere is pretty awesome though.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, and I want to talk to you about that
atmosphere in a second. But when you're watching the games
from home, like you're obviously watching them from a different
vantage point than me, do you ever think about how
the like, say, a play happens and then the commentators
describe it. Are you ever like, is that how they
talk about us? Or is like I don't know if
I would say it like that, Like is it weird?

(22:00):
Kind of now seeing the other side.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
But yeah, now I think I listen more to the
analyst or the people you know, announcing the game because
I'm I'm, like you said, Julie, I'm a I'm trying
to learn, I'm.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
Trying to media media savant. I'm trying to get better
at this. So yeah, I'm listening to all of it.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
And I think that's why I like watching the games
at home too, is because I get to see and
learn from, you know, the people that are doing the
stuff on TV.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
So who's who stood out to you as an analyst
that you like in a game.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
In in game, well, I think like Eddie Olchak and
Brian Boucher are so good. I like, I like, I
love their dynamic, the way they go back and forth
between the.

Speaker 3 (22:40):
Yeah what are you seeing? What are you seeing down there? Bush?

Speaker 2 (22:44):
I don't know ed Zo, I see, I know ed
Zoe and Boush and I love those guys, so I
think they're great. And then I you know, I think
that guys on ESPN too, Like I think p k
and and and Messier are great as well, Like they're
in between. So it's super fun to watch. I think
the ESPN and tn T does a great job. But
it's uh, it's play a lot different, like you said,

(23:05):
watching games from home now, because I'm not just watching
the game I'm watching I'm watching the media people can
try trying to learn, trying to learn.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
That's how I watched the game. But I also watch
the sideline reporters and I'll be like, good report, interesting question,
how are they doing it? Phrasing it, all that kind
of stuff, and they do a very good job. And
also seeing how like Liam mcewe handles biz.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
He is so good.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
He is amazing because he can be funny, but he's
also very good at like passing the ball to everyone
and making sure everyone's involved.

Speaker 3 (23:35):
He's smooth. Liam mcewe is smooth. He's so good. Yeah,
I agree, all.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
Right, big fans of Liam mceute. Here on Energy Line.
You were in the building for LA What was it
like to experience the Harmonica Ladies live.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
Both games one and two? At first, I'll give you
a contrast of games one and game two of the
Harmonic Kings.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Game one, you could see.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
The crowd kind of like and everyone being like, hmm,
what is going on right now? Are we really listening
to Harmonica's right now? For the national anthem? And you
could even see players like players reactions was like oh laughing.
And then even in game two you saw Leon and
Connor on the blue line like smiling and looking at

(24:25):
each other like is this for fucking.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
Real right now?

Speaker 2 (24:29):
But but because it's the playoffs and people want to
follow something in the playoffs or have something to be
excited about, they bring them back for game two and
the place was electric for the Harmonica from the Harmonica
national anthem. People were singing through the roof people when

(24:49):
they were wearing jerseys this time, so uh yeah, I
mean I would watch out.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
The Kings look good.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
But the Harmonica Kings, the all those women on the
Harmonicas they are, they're hot item now they are.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
Star is born in La. It's Hollywood, baby, this is
what happens. You never know, like Pamela Anderson just being
on the jumbo Tron and becoming a huge star. It's
the Harmonic Kings. They've done so great. I love these women,
and I love that the La Kings made this pretty
bold choice to have them for Game one, because like
that's game one. Of the hosting a game in the

(25:28):
playoffs is you know, you're trying to figure out usually
kind of go blue chip, what can we do? But
they went and that's what La does. La. You know,
that's why that city is what it is because they
take chances, and they know they take chances. And this
is a team also who's won two Cups in whatever

(25:50):
however many years that it's been. God, it feels like
yesterday they won their last Cup, but it's actually been
eleven fucking years and that and that's how I feel
so old, but it.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
Was I'm sure Rob Blake's saying the same thing.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, you know what, I got to play with Rob
Blake and that was unfortunate for him because he had
to be on the ice with me. At the same time.
You're probably like, oh my god, get this girl out here.
I love the I love the Harmonic Kings. I heard that. Okay,
I heard this. People are like, how are they okay?
So the Kings have scored six goals as of like

(26:26):
first two games, right with the Harmonic Kings. Each game?

Speaker 2 (26:30):
Oh yeah, each game? Yeah, twelve roules twelve or thirteen
goals total?

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah yeah, So like that's a lot of goals. So, like,
do you bring them on the road with you?

Speaker 3 (26:40):
You can't?

Speaker 2 (26:41):
I mean, how how do you? I mean, Julie, how
does that work? You're gonna bring them to Edmonton? You're
gonna bring those ladies to Edmonton? They would get no,
that is that's not even safe. It's not safe.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
I mean actually it's like legitimately not safe. Like justs
in the border is just not safe at this point.
Just don't just get.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
No, no, leave him here, leave him here. They're home
their home games, home.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
Games, home game only okay, so see them back maybe
for the next maybe for Game five. If we're listening to,
our upcoming guest is none other than former NHLer and
current broadcast analyst on NHL Network and TSN, and that
is Mike Johnson. He has something to say about this series,

(27:25):
of which you'll learn about after this break. All right,
welcome on back to Energy Line with Nate and JSB.
And we're very fortunate to be joined by someone who
knows the playoffs very well on and off the ice.
He is a former NHLer and current broadcaster for NHL

(27:47):
Network and NHL on TSN. Watched him on the sideline
in between the benches all season covering the Toronto make Beliefs.
And that is none other then Mike Johnson. Mike, thanks
so much for joining us today.

Speaker 4 (28:00):
Thanks for having me, CHSB. What's up, Nate, what's going on?
I appreciate Nate getting up early for him for us
because it's early where I am, it's even earlier where
he's at. So we'll see how much energy energy he's
got today.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
I always have energy. Don't worry about me, always have energy.

Speaker 4 (28:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:19):
Also, like y, let's give a shout out to Nate
for a second, because it's like seven eight, eight am
where you are, and you always you're meth Did.

Speaker 4 (28:27):
You just deduct three from eleven and came to seven.
I don't understand what's happening.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
We're not a numbers podcast, as we've said before, not
a numbers podcast. Yeah, Nate's up early, and he has
a kid. And then Nate also, I know this is
an interview with Mike Johnson, but first, Nate, the fact
that you also then stay up to watch all the games. Yeah,
it's a really long day.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
I do my best, Julie, I really do my best.
But yeah, you're right, I did wake up at seven
to get ready for this podcast.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah, okay, Well, I guess it's a young.

Speaker 4 (28:56):
Dad or like a baby. Babies are up all the time.
You're kind of like you're up late with the baby.
So what are you gonna do? That's how it goes.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
It's play. So you gotta do what you gotta do,
you know.

Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah, And as I said that time here, Nate waking
up at seven am isn't really that big a deal. Okay,
So Johnny, all right, let's get into the good stuff,
and that is the fact that Toronto is planning the parade.
The Leafs are of three nothing against the Ottawa Senators,
and from your vantage point, from what we saw in

(29:28):
game three, you know, grinding it out another overtime victory
for the Leafs, small benoit from the top rope, and
the Leafs are not in a position to close out
this series. Do you think that it's actually possible for
them to sweep the Senators?

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Sure?

Speaker 4 (29:45):
Of course, I mean they've come this far. And one
of the real the challenges almost at this point is
mentally like, does Autawa sort of have it in them
to believe they can keep winning even though they're very
unlikely to win the series, almost impossible to win the series?
Does Toronto have it in them to not ease off
and just drop just a percentage or two and close
it out and games? I'm not so sure, But I

(30:06):
think everyone who is a Toronto fan, Jesse, I think
you are one of those.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
No, don't say that I'm impartial. I'm a journey yeah, right, yeah,
you never know, you never ever know.

Speaker 4 (30:16):
I think everyone is looking like, why is this team
different than years past?

Speaker 3 (30:20):
Right?

Speaker 4 (30:21):
And I think there's a couple of different factors that
play here, and a lot of it's results driven. They
won two games in overtime. They could have lost those
two games to be down in the series and the
sky would be falling, but they didn't. So I think
Craig Berube changed the way the team played this year.
They played a ton of close games, low scoring games,
games that had to be side in the third period.
They are comfortable in those games. They've had a lot

(30:41):
of success in those games. That's different than the way
they did under Sheldon Kief. That's probably going to help
them in the playoffs. I think over the years, goaltending
hasn't cost them in the playoffs, but it hasn't necessarily
won them playoff games or series. And I think right
now Stolars has playing at a level that is better

(31:01):
than oh Mark and is a big part of the
reason why they're going to win the series. So that's different.
The other part is the power play. Right last year
against Boston they get the game sent overtime, they got
one power play goal in the entire series. They're like
five for nine this year, so that is very different.
And then the big one, I'm changing the narrative about

(31:22):
the core four, so it's no longer Matthews Marner Tavars
and Kneelander. It's the Fab five. I'm dumping Maddy Nyes
into this cluster because he's that good and he plays differently.
I think that's what's more important, not just the thirty
goals and the power play stuff, is that the four
guys ahead of him are not instinctively physical in a way.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
Right.

Speaker 4 (31:46):
They're skilled and amazing, but the way he plays and
the way he works with those guys, he's different now
than he was in playoffs pass last year, even though
he's been relatively good. And I put all those things together,
and they're playing the team that hasn't been there, and
they're in a good spot. They're going to win the series.
But as far as planning the parade, are they watching

(32:06):
what's happening in Florida? Because I would just pump the
brakes just that on the parade, because the Panthers look
like they're gonna be a handful.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
If it looks like they're gonna just they'll win this
series and then just get absolutely smoked, like they're just
gonna get wiped out by like Florida or something, or
you know, if Tampa comes back. But I think that's great.
I love the Fab five, we're re dubbing this entire
Leaf's identity and yeah, they can win. Like with Sheldon Keith,
it would be like, oh, we're down. It's like that

(32:36):
office gift, like, uh, you know what's happening. It's happening
and go no, like stay calm like they always would
just freak out. It felt like, but you know Nate
who doesn't live in Toronto, he obviously doesn't give the.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
God I actually do I care about the leaf There's
some guys that I root for, but like, like you
talked about Johnny, like there's a difference in the Leafs
and watching them, like you could see the composure they
have during the game, whether something bad goes you know,
something bad goes wrong or whatever. They just kind of
stay even keel and it's not like the Leafs we're
used to seeing.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
So, you know, there's a couple of guys.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
I want to talk about I think, like Max Domy,
Scott Lawton, you know, players like that that have been
I think just a huge X factor for the Leafs
in this series so far.

Speaker 4 (33:16):
Before we get to those guys you talk about composure,
did you see the clip of Craig Berube grab Mark
as the assistant coach, and he and and they scored
a goal as a game to game one, and Savvy,
who's come on, let's go, and Bruba just goes no,
sit still like he's talking to a four year old.
And then Sabard fixes his tie, try to get you know, yes,

(33:40):
I'm a professional. It was the past, like I'm sorry, dad,
yes I'll be better.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
Well, they had a contrast of another goal and you
see Savvy and I play with Savvy and you see
him like he gets to get ready to like cheer,
and he kind of comes back.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
Down and he's like, okay, okay, I can't get too excited.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
I can't they cheer right, Like why does Brube want them?
He just like like a dog, like, don't don't get
too excited.

Speaker 4 (34:03):
To ask our players to have composure. We need to
have composure. But it was just great that he was chastised.
You're like, oh, once again you're doing what you're toold,
but you're right, Like so Scotti Lattin's fascinating, you know him,
Nate from Philly, he got traded, was so excited to
come to Toronto. But I think he struggled with the
idea of leaving Philadelphia, the only place he ever knew,
and he put a lot of pressure on himself and

(34:25):
it didn't go great early. And when you change teams
and it doesn't go great early snowballs. It sucks. And
it sucks even more when you're from the city you're
playing in, because now it's not just yourself in your
own head saying you got to be better, you got
to do it better. It's your dad, it's your buddies,
it's your high school friends, it's all those randos that
like you don't don't get a piece of you in Philadelphia,

(34:46):
but they're there in Toronto. They're doing as they care.
But it's it's exhausting. So I think that hurt him
a little bit. The last week of the season, Nate,
he figured it out. He got on with the line
with yarn, Croak and Lorenz. They were good the final week.
Scored a couple of goals, had an overtime game winner
in the last game of the season, and he's been
good at five on five. The Leafs haven't controlled the
series at all. In fact, they've probably been the lesser

(35:08):
of the two teams, but his line. Lawton's line has
been has been more than capable of holding their own there.
So he's been important and Beruba trusts him. Now he's
getting good minutes, starts periods. You know what it's like, Nate,
who does the coach trust? Who does he start the
game with, Who does you start a period with? Who
does he put out after we score or they score?

(35:28):
He's putting out Scotty now tells you he's trust and
then Scotty feels that plays better. And for MAXI I am,
actually Julie quite impartial about the Maple Leafs, although I
played for Toronto and I live in Toronto.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
You know, whatever I want, the guy Sports Network, I.

Speaker 4 (35:45):
Work for the Sports Network. But like Max, I've known
Max since he was a like literally born, you know,
he was a rug rat one two year old. Max's
mom still lives very close to my parents, like five
doors down, so I see their family are and Max

(36:05):
and I talk all the time to the year, and
it was a tough year. He could not score and
everybody wants to play offense, everybody wants to contribute, and
he wasn't. So it's hard to see him have that
overtime goal and ate that moment. Dad in the building
like it was is pretty cool, Like, it's really pretty
cool for him. And I think if you were just

(36:27):
talught to that the least management one thing they'd always
say is when we get to the playoffs, Max will
be there. They always believe that he was going to
be the kind of guy that could have a moment
rise to the occasion. And clearly we're only three games
in and he already has.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
Played with Max in Montreal.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
And after the game I texted him and you know,
he texted me back, and I was and I text
with Tie too, and it's so funny because Tie is
so involved in Max and loves Max so much, And
right away he says, did you text Max? Just that
I'm like, yes, Ty, I texted Max. I texted my profice.
So it's all good. So but yeah, I mean, I
I love watching Max play so well right now he's

(37:05):
been he's been fantastic.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
Yeah. First of all, that's cool that you're texting so
many name droppers right there, uh Nate. But the fact that, uh,
I am jealous. I only have Tie on on Instagram DM,
and so that's that's been too late. You know, when
you're trying to get.

Speaker 4 (37:24):
The not the same levels, not the same level.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
Yeah, I got to work up to playing in the
league and then maybe I'll get Tye Domi's number to
text him about Max Domy. Okay, but it was so
it was a really great storyline. I think everyone just
felt like when Max scored, it was like, oh, this
is just so good, like for humanity, like like Max
scoring and also knowing what he'd been through and the

(37:48):
connection and the history and it was just like so perfect.
Even though I documented the fact that when they were
taking that defensive zone face off, I was like, oh,
I do not like this line at all. I do
not like the fact that Brube has put them out there.
But then to your point that he trusted them and
obviously it paid off. Simon Benoit nails the last couple

(38:08):
of games he did. He's done so great overall. But
I want to go to you and your career because
you talk a lot about hockey. Obviously you're an analyst,
but when you watch the leafs Now kind of you
know a lot of people make a lot of connections
back to the quote unquote like glory days against the Sins,
and I know you played for them before that, but like,

(38:30):
what part of your playing career with the Leafs has
really come to the forefront. When you're watching like this
team now, it's like a memory that's that's vivid.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
You know.

Speaker 4 (38:40):
In ninety nine, I was with the Leafs and we
made the conference final. That's as far as the Leafs
have gone since like nineteen sixty seven, right, Like, they've
never been to a final since sixty seven. And what
I think of when we get to the Toronto, when
we get to the playoffs every year, is that that
city is so ready to embrace success because they haven't

(39:01):
had any. They haven't had any. And I remember that
run in ninety nine where, you know whatever, we'd win
an overtime game in Pittsburgh and my bodies would be
telling me that Young Street, which is like the primary
street in Toronto, would be shut down with people honking
horns and climbing on roof cars and like being ridiculous
for a second round game two win, like miles away

(39:25):
from the from the final. And I guess that's what
I think of. I think of the energy that the
city has for success because it hasn't always been there.
So you know, that's that's I go back to my
days when we were in ninety nine to what they're
doing now, and everyone always says, man, if they ever,
if they ever could, Like we saw what the Raptors did. Yeah,

(39:48):
the Raps, like there's like five million people at their parade.
I know that would be one that if the Leafs won,
like literally, there's so much more popular than the Toronto Raptors.
So that's what we all kind of Trontonians and my
my friends are all leaf fans, and my parents are
certainly leaf fans, and they do you think they can
do it? Do you think they can do it? And

(40:10):
like that, that's sort of what you think about. If
they ever could, it would be you know, a party
of a lifetime in that city.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
Yeah, people black out before blacking out, they just be
like I don't know how to act. I know, I
wouldn't know how to act. Dan O'Toole has a theory
that Leafs fans don't actually want to win because that's
their identity, and they wouldn't know what to do if
they won, because they always are bitching and moaning. And
I think he's off his rocker on that, but like whatever,

(40:38):
let's get to some other stuff.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
Yeah, I mean so well, I was gonna ask you
know you talk about the Leafs. I know you're a
Leafs fan, partial and partially you say before before the
five teams you played for are playing in the playoffs?

Speaker 1 (40:53):
Is there, NATed some research?

Speaker 3 (40:55):
Is there?

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Is there a team that you're rooting for that you
played for, or is there a team you're kind of like,
all right, well, you know this team has a chance,
and I think you know what's four?

Speaker 3 (41:05):
Or four are the five teams?

Speaker 5 (41:06):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, said to Mike Johnson, Bob, Well,
I listened, like the last several years when Tampa was
winning and Saint Louis was winning, I'm like, listen, Montreal
was in the final.

Speaker 4 (41:16):
I'm like, it's all clearly related to me, obviously, funny
as you should. As you should. The team that I
played for that I had the most affinity for was
Phoenix because I played a lot. And so like, I'm
weirdly drawn to Utah even though they're not in the
playoffs and I've never even been to Utah in my life,

(41:37):
but I'm somehow like I want them to do well.
You know, I I spend a lot of time in Montreal.
I call their games Nate. You know that city, it
is special. I played with Marty. I you know, I've
known Marty for thirty years. Marty San Louis, we were
in college the same four years. We played together in Tampa.
For a few played against each other. I see them

(41:57):
all the time in Montreal, so I am excited to
see the to feel a full building experience in the playoffs,
because the Montreal Canians they made the final that last time.
It was so strange, covid half fans, health workers, pot
crowd noise pumped in on speakers. It was so weird.
I was in the building. It was so strange. It

(42:18):
won't be that tonight. It's going to be you know,
spine tingling stuff. So I guess I sort of cheer
for Montreal. I love that city. I love the sort
of sophistication of the fans and how much they appreciate
hockey and how it should be played. So I guess
they put up a good fight too against Wash Like
it hasn't been easy for Washington, so let's see if
they can get one and.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
Make that a little bit more interesting. Nate has literally
wax poetic about the Bell Center many times, as he
shit because it's it is a rocket barn let's look
at let's look at a series. It's maybe not as
exciting to other people that might not be watching all
the time, but Dallas Colorado exciting in the fact that

(42:59):
Gabriel Landiscott came back. Let's first and foremost give our
flowers to landis goot he comes back.

Speaker 4 (43:05):
How long as long as you were out for if
an injury, the longest lungs you missed.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Long as I was out for six was probably six
or seven months with an achilles tears, which is a
long time. And so but like three years, Yeah, that's
a whole other beast.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
Yea, it was almost two years out of the NHL.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
I went.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
I went seventy one game straight with a shoulder, then
a lockout so everyone was out. So it was like,
you know, twenty months without playing the NHL. And I
tell you what, when I went back to playing, I
don't know what you felt like. And this is what's
wild about Landiskog or Tyler Sagan or freeze Off, these
guys who are out for months. If I went to
an All Star weekend, which I never went to, like

(43:44):
I had that weekend off, I would go back on Tuesday,
and like I've never played this sport before, like it's
never I've never felt worse about anything in my life.
These guys missing months and months, and Landy missing years
and years, and then to come back into the playoffs
and be comfortable and play well it is. It is crazy,
the standard those guys have said. But Jules, I mean

(44:06):
on a human level, maybe I'm getting older, Like I
get emotional at times. I cry, like, you know, stuff
like seeing Atlantiscog's kids there with the sign, and all
I could think of was his son, who's probably four,
has no memory in his life of his dad playing hockey.
He's never seen his dad like he doesn't remember is
that ever playing hockey? And then you know the SI,

(44:28):
I'm proud of you, daddy, welcome back. I'm like, my god,
how do you even play? After that? But the only
thing missing was the overtime winner from him. I was like,
they got the power play to start the overtime. I'm thinking, please,
please Walt Disney's script, let him score here. It would
be the biggest, the greatest thing of all time.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
But I don't know.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
I don't think I would have had it in me
to rehab for three years not knowing if I was
ever going to get healthy. I think I probably would
have like, it's not going to work. I got to stop,
Like mentally it'd be too much. So impressive that he's
gotten there.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
I thin such a great point, the mental aspect of it,
and the fact that he already had a cup. He
went out with a Stanley cup. You could have just said, well,
maybe I could just sort of retire now, but what,
like what kind of gene do you need to have
to be able to get through three years? And like
maybe both of you guys can answer this because you've
been out, but like to actually keep going to get

(45:25):
there and then that first game when you're standing there,
like are you not scared shitless because you think like, well,
what if I injure myself again? Or like what if
I fuck up? Like everyone's watching me right now. It's
like a lot going on.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
It's Johnny just before you, like you, I got emotional
just you talking about the kids part, but like the
mental health part of it, of how hard that would
be day in and day out, just from my previous
injuries and how hard it was mentally every single day.
But I can't imagine, like you said, Julie, like the
three years and standing there. It's yeah, it's it's out

(45:58):
of this world. What how the technology and everything he's
done and how he come back, it's insane to me.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Still.

Speaker 4 (46:05):
Yeah, he said it his first love in life was hockey, right,
like you have to love it more than I loved it,
and like you know, I like Hoki.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
You have to love it more than Mike Johnson loves it.
That's the line for coming back that.

Speaker 6 (46:19):
Yeah, that's okay. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with
that clip that thing, like, that's fine. Not everyone loves
the game the same. Not everyone is the first on,
last off guy. Not like not everyone's wired like Sidney Crosby.

Speaker 4 (46:31):
That's just the truth. So you have to love it.
The support you'd have to have to keep pushing you
because during this rehab, if you followed it, he had
the docu series on it, like he would work, try
to get better, have a setback, and then like six weeks,
have to disappear, stop going around the team, stop training,
and like reset and did that several times plus all

(46:53):
the procedures. The only thing that he would have going
for him before the game, Julie was that he actually
played too. He played two games the miners, right, so
you like least physically, you think I'm okay, I can
get through this because you know Nate, you know what
it's like. Do you imagine if you were one of
the guys in Colorado and Gabe is now practicing, you

(47:15):
think anyone's going near gab landis goggin practice, Like he's
not testing that in practice. Nobody is going near him
in any way, shape or for him. Ever. He is
bubble wrapped like I'm not I'm not. I'm not gonna
shoot a puck near him. I don't even want to
do the drills with him because I don't want to
lose an edge and bump into him. So the fact
that he got to test it a couple of games
in the minors probably gave him some confidence. He played

(47:38):
pretty well. I love him hitting ranton it in the
first shift. Like first of all, Miko's like, who's his
own story in this series? He gives him a little
tap welcome back. I'm sure it's pretty cool to see
you're very good friend back. But then Landy runs him over.
You're like, sorry, Miko, not tonight, Like this is this
is the way this game is played. This is what
we do and he and maybe for Colorado he might

(48:02):
if he can get better and like continue to improve
and get more comfortable, he might play a role in
this series because Colorado is in tough against Dallas right now.

Speaker 3 (48:09):
Yeah, they really are.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
I mean I think this series it's probably gonna go seven.
I mean, both these teams are so evenly ma ash,
even with some guys being out for Dallas. But what
has been your biggest surprise this far in the playoffs?

Speaker 3 (48:22):
So far?

Speaker 1 (48:23):
Mini?

Speaker 4 (48:24):
What Mini has done against Vegas, and not that Mini
was gonna make it tough?

Speaker 3 (48:29):
They are.

Speaker 4 (48:30):
They're pesky, That's what they feel like. They're pesky. They're
gonna make it tough and tight. I thought Vegas. I
think Vegas is really good, like a Stanley Cup will
be good. And they haven't looked at goaltending and in
Hill has been pedestrian.

Speaker 1 (48:45):
They're sort of attention to detail.

Speaker 4 (48:47):
Which is really the foundation of their game. Just okay,
Bruce Cassidy snapping on the bench, That to me has
been surprising, not just that Mini's up to one, but
how they've looked it. But maybe what I was under
selling and I shouldn't have, Like I don't know, where
you put Nate, where's Careal capri He's off in best
offensive players in the world.

Speaker 3 (49:07):
Top six, top five, top five.

Speaker 4 (49:09):
I think, right, you got you got Nate, you got Connor,
you got Leon, you got Cooch. He's he's that group, right, Well,
he's like he's.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
In that group before he got hurt. I think he was.
He was in that group this year. This season, he's
gonna be.

Speaker 4 (49:24):
A hard finalists. Yeah, if the season ended at for
forty games, So maybe we didn't give him enough respect
about what a because he's been the best player by
a mile in that series. And then you equate it
this way. Okay, you go in to series team A
team B. If team May has the better goalie Gusta

(49:45):
sin Overhill, Team Ay has the better superstar, capriz Off
over Akle by a considerable margin. In both cases, tam
is probably gonna win the series. And that's more a
compliment to capriz Off than an indictment of Vikael. But
he's been that good that so that to me has
been a big, big surprise. I thought Vegas would just
sort of grind him down and win in six games.

(50:06):
And it's gonna looks like it's gonna be tougher than that.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Yeah, and to your point, combine Boldie and caprice Off
thirteen points.

Speaker 3 (50:14):
In three games. Holy smokes, there you go.

Speaker 4 (50:18):
That capriz Off effect again, right, Like Boldie's really good,
you put him with capriz Off, he becomes really really good.
Ericson X pretty good. You put him with capriz Off,
he becomes really you know, that's that superstar effect, Like
that's how he not only makes his team better, but
his teammates.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
So like saying that, though, do you think that maybe
we sort of just underestimated Minnesota in the fact that like, okay,
we talk about the big teams. You know, we're inundated
by the big stars, but like a, Minnesota isn't as
sexy as like some of the other teams. Just say
it right there. I mean, it's obvious you're in it,
Johnny obviously every single day, every single second because you're

(50:56):
on air. I think you're on air like all day
every day, so you're like you're in it. But like
for the average fan person, they don't really know a
whole lot about Minnesota. So like I feel like there's
a couple teams out there that are just sort of like,
like does does everyone know a whole lot about Dallas,
probably not. They know a lot about Minnesota, maybe not Winnipeg,

(51:16):
even for American fans, you know, or even say Loulis.
Some of these like mid, I guess I'm really just
talking about them talking.

Speaker 4 (51:23):
About Central Central Times. What are you doing right now?
Just ran down the Central Times.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
Nobody gives a fuck about the Central Division, is what
I'm really seeing here.

Speaker 4 (51:31):
But I know you don't.

Speaker 1 (51:33):
Well, Okay, I care about Winnipeg Jets. Me and Nate
are big are big Jets guys here on the show.
We have a very large Winnipeg following, surprisingly for our ours. Okay,
Kyle Connor and Jack Eicho could have really done me
a solid last night and I would have won four
thousand dollars, But those two guys didn't show up to score,
which was very unfortunate because four other guys did. Obviously,

(51:58):
player goalcoring parlay. Yeah, I like to live life dangerously, one.

Speaker 4 (52:03):
Of those people who just like you want to hit
one out of a hundred, like.

Speaker 3 (52:07):
Yeah, I'm off.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
You know, it's gonna be really about parlay favorites. All
you gotta do is parlay favorites, and usually it works out,
except for when you go just a little bit too much,
Like I could have stopped and had like two thousand
dollars and not put those two guys in. But I
thought I actually I could have cashed out early, yeah,
because it was like seeing that everyone was scoring, and

(52:30):
I think it was like, oh, oh better, we better
let this scirrel cash out. And then they're like, eh,
you didn't get it. Okay, let's just go to two
teams that people are very much focused on, and that
is the Battle of Florida. Blood Beth, what's going on
with Tampa? Do you think that they can you think
this one goes far? Do you think that maybe Florida
just got them.

Speaker 4 (52:51):
I didn't see this coming. I didn't, And I guess
we should give Paul Maurice credit for knowing his team
when he said, I don't really worry about finishing first
or second. We're gonna have to play a good team
somewhere in the first round and we'll take care of
it when we get there. I'm more worried about us
getting healthy, and so he sat as players they didn't,
you know, sort of chase first place and not playing
Tampa or Toronto. I guess with good reason if Tampa

(53:13):
was gonna win games, don't you think go to be
the two games thout Aaron aclad he gets to come
back in game three. Now it was getting better and
he's rested and he's robustly in shape apparently, so he's
gonna come back. So that's not good.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
Robust robusts. It doesn't seem to do him any you know,
help with the whole peed situation.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
That easy.

Speaker 4 (53:36):
Yeah, that's why I went there. We're all on the
same page. But I think what Florida showed in those
two games in Tampa is that when they play their
style of game, they are better at it than everyone else. Defense, physical,
tight checking, no space, greasy scrums, and not only are

(54:00):
they better at playing that game, they're so great at
forcing you to play that game.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
You almost never get.

Speaker 4 (54:07):
A game against Florida when they're in, when they're fully
invested to be played on your terms. It's always on
their terms, and they're better at their terms than you,
and it sucks like there's no space. Tampa running gun,
high scoring, one of the high scoring teams league. They
got nothing, They got no chances, very few shots. Bob's good, obviously,
but hasn't had to be great. That's what the problem is. Now, Nate,

(54:31):
you tell me you're a physical player. You don't mind
the rough stuff. Hagel on Barkoff.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
Yeah, what do you got?

Speaker 2 (54:40):
Yeah, I think that's frustration. I mean, you watched Tampa
last night. You see Hagel. I mean he he was
already committed to that hit, no matter what if if
Barkoff had the puck or not. It was a tough hit.
But you know, you hear John Cooper's comments, and he
talks about last night. He says, you know, well, we
had a lot of good looks. They just you know,

(55:01):
teams teams check, right, he said. Basically he talks about
how good Florida is at checking. So I guess my
question is to you, too, Johnny, is how does Tampa like,
how does Tampa get back into this series? Because right
now it looks it looks it looks grim for them
after the first two games.

Speaker 4 (55:18):
Okay, first of all, I'm gonna say it. I think
haylerho get suspended for that.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
Yeah, I think, yeah, he's having a hearing today that
just announced.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
Yeah, very nice, because Nate, you're a player. You know
you said it. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Now he can tell you, well, I thought Barkoff was
going to touch the puck, or I thought he did
touch the puck. Now, Hagel, we know how smart you are.
You saw a guy, an important player, in a vulnerable
spot that you could sort of hit around the edges
of the rules, and you're like, I'm gonna hammer this guy.

(55:46):
And he crushed him.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
Yeah, crushed him.

Speaker 4 (55:50):
You can't have guys getting hit when they don't have
the puck. That's too dangerous. So I think that would
probably be two games regular season, if it's me, I
think one game in the playoffs, which would be a
blow to Tampa. But we'll see. And if Barkoff's hurt,
though Barkoff might be the singular most important player for Florida,
you want to how Tampa's getting back in the series.
Barkoff can't play, that's that's sort of a step in

(56:11):
the right direction. But what Tampa needs to do to
try to get going in the series is it's hard,
but you have to find a way to break Florida's
for check. Yeah, good luck with that. They do it
so well. They're so physical, they're disciplined. There's so much
pressure like Seth Jones. You watch them play in Chicago

(56:33):
and gaps are loose and he's a defensive liability and
you just don't know what he's gonna do. You watch
him play in Florida. You don't get anything on that guy.
And that's the strength of Florida system. So I think
that's sort of what it comes down to. And then
when you get chances and you get power plays, you
get a five minute major, you know, like you get
you get timed on the plower play. If you're Tampa,

(56:54):
you have to score. You're not gonna get that many looks,
so you've got to be really efficient on the ones
you get. And Old Vassileski stands at his head like
you need a lot of things to happen, because Florida's
that good when they play like their in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Right, and then they've just been so consistent the last
couple of years. Okay, so it's been a week since
the playoffs started. Johnny, if we had to say look
ahead to say we're doing this podcast a week from now,
what do you think will be, could be or will
be the biggest headline?

Speaker 4 (57:23):
Edmonton Oiler is out in five I mean and that's
coming from a guy. All you Edmonton haters, I picked
Edmonton to win the Stanley Cup before the season. Oh,
I'm a big before the season, not before the playoffs,
before the season.

Speaker 3 (57:37):
Okay, Okay, I adjusted, that's a difference.

Speaker 4 (57:40):
I adjusted, But I mean, I think it's different this year.
Different for LA and it's different for Edmonton. And I
don't know if cal Pickard starts Game three or not.
I think he might, which tells you every know about Edmonton.
Ack home is a blow. I don't think they'll be
able to recover from. And LA's better, Kemper's better, offenses better,

(58:04):
you know, Drew, Mikey Gavrikov, like they're all good stout defenders.

Speaker 3 (58:09):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (58:10):
I think that could be a real surprise for a
lot of people who thought Edmonton would make a real
push to go back to deeper in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
Yeah. I agree.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
I've you know, I've been at both those games here
in LA, and you see there's there's no answer. And
and it's which is crazy because they have Connor McDavid
and Leon Dreysl and what Connor did in the first game,
but like they have, they have no answer. Like every
game it's been the Kings. Okay, you guys score goals,
all right, Wolf score goals. You guys defend Okay, well
we defend better. Uh So I drew. I d really

(58:40):
like that prediction. So, I mean, we're we're talking about playoffs,
and I like to talk about, you know, former stories
or whatever. Is there anything in your playoff career that
like you you remember that jumps out to you particularly individually,
that you that you did.

Speaker 4 (58:56):
I got you one.

Speaker 3 (58:57):
All right?

Speaker 4 (58:57):
Here we go here in Arizona. We're playing first round Sharks,
and I always like playing a good sharkis anyways, and
even though they're really good back then. Scott Thornton, Joel Thornton,
Chee Chu, that group, Marlow, Scott Hannon, the bock Off.
We're down two zhero in the series. We're playing game
three and maybe were down to one of this year,

(59:18):
was playing game four whatever it is. We're down two
nothing in the game and they call a penalty shot
and it was a penalty shot for goalie walk off
with stick at me and knocked it off my stick.
So anyone on the ice could have taken it. I
didn't have to take it, and I was on the
ice with Damon Lanko a lot of slav Naggy, both
better goalscorers than me. But for whatever reason, in a
rear display of ego, I just went to center Rice

(59:40):
and stood there. I did even go to the bench.
I'm like, I guess it's me, and like it was
a hundred better than me at scoring goals, but I
just stood there. I was knock going to let Bob
Francis call me out of the penalty shot. And this
is before the lockout, so we had not taken penalty shots.
They weren't part of the game. It's not something we did.
And I remember sitting there out at center shark ten

(01:00:03):
roaring down to nothing pivotal part late second period, and
the first time in my entire hockey playing life ever,
I was physically nervous on the ice, like shaky legs, dry,
dry mouth, like you know, we like just dying and
I'm like, oh my god, what like what am I doing?

(01:00:25):
And I would not tell the story if I didn't score,
So it has a happy ending. I scored and we
lost the game anyways, lost the series in five. But
I'll never forget standing out there like an out of
body experience, taking a penalty shot in a high leverage
moment in the playoffs. It was crazy crazy, that's me.

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
Did you make eye contact with the coach? Like did
you look at the guys? If like, no, opposite, And
you know what I mean when you look at the
coach like kind of like looking at his eyes like, ca,
come on, you know I'm looking at you.

Speaker 4 (01:00:54):
Yeah, you're right, I'm walking in. I'm not going anywhere.
I got this. I went the other way. I just
face the face the far side of the ice, like
I wasn't gonna let him be like get back here,
let's get bags out there. Like I think even Bobby
France is like what is he doing? Maybe the coach
thought I had to take it because I just went there,
you know, like if you get tripped, you're the one
who has to take it. But because of the nature

(01:01:16):
of the infraction, I didn't have to. But I went
the other way.

Speaker 6 (01:01:19):
I hit.

Speaker 4 (01:01:19):
I did not want to give him a chance to
let's let's rethink this one. I wanted to. I wanted
to try it, so that one that was a nervy,
nervy moment.

Speaker 1 (01:01:29):
I love that story because it was a nervy moment.
Yet you were so confident to go take it. You're like,
I'm going there, and then you're just like, oh my gosh,
I'm taking a penalty shot in the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:01:39):
Very conflicted in that moment, all confident and terrified.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
Great, two things can be true. Johnny, thank you so
much for joining us here talking all things playoffs. Obviously,
we could talk all day about everything that's going on
because the first round and beyond has just been so great,
and especially these stories that you've told us. We love
hearing about the good old glory days of Mike Johnson
playing for Wayne Gretzky. We know that that's also part

(01:02:04):
TOOD that we'll have on another time. But good luck
with the rest of the playoffs covering them on NHL
Network and beyond. So thanks again for joining us.

Speaker 4 (01:02:14):
Kay good talking on juels, Nate good seeing her brother
go back to bed.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
All right, Well that was Mike Johnson given us all
of the great insight and analysis. He's got personality, but
he also has so much credibility.

Speaker 3 (01:02:32):
Nate.

Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
I think we both were pretty pretty surprised at his
bold but also accurate prediction of the Oilers getting knocked
out in five.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
Yeah, I mean, he was very convinced.

Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
But when he said it too, you know, he was like,
all right, they're going to be done in five games.
Just I mean, you see the proof of the pudding
with the games. And then I love the stories too,
Mike tells. I mean, he's very he's very animated when
he talks, and some of the stories and his playoff insight.
I mean, Johnny's around and he's seen a lot of games,
and he watches a lot of hockey, as we know,
so his insight is great. I mean, I'm sure you

(01:03:10):
were extremely excited of his insight on the Toronto maple leafs.

Speaker 1 (01:03:14):
Oh, come on, I don't care about anything right now
with the leafs, because I just it's not true.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
That was a complete lie, like lig statement. And the
longer you started that sentence to the end of it
was like what.

Speaker 1 (01:03:32):
You put a lie detective on me? Right now, it
would just go through the roof.

Speaker 3 (01:03:36):
Fuck, it would be fucking going like just.

Speaker 1 (01:03:39):
Okay, well, because like a lot of people have made
it okay, I'm looking at Buz Nasty right now and
others who are on national platforms to have some kind
of not rooting interest. I just it goes just against
my like, oh, it's like nails on a truck board
journalism background, but now it's like okay to be open

(01:04:00):
for things. But yeah, for Leafs fans it would be nice.

Speaker 3 (01:04:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:04:05):
And also yeah, Johnny's from Toronto, so I think that
he also understands that that's like, you know, it's like
the Cubs. It's like people want to see the people
that want to people don't want to continue to see
people suffer. Right, No, I don't know. We live in
a different world these days, so I don't know what's
going on. Okay, so before we go, I said it

(01:04:29):
to uh, like Johnny there, but like, what do you think, Well,
what do you think will be a headline? That's not
what he said. In a week, I think.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
We're going to see a series from Winnipeg and Saint Louis.
I believe that that is going to be into a
six or seven games in a week. I think if
it will get to that, I think it will with
a scheduling.

Speaker 3 (01:04:52):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:52):
I don't do the scheduling, but that is my what
I want to see in a week, or what I
think will happen in a week, because I think the
way Saint Louis has played every single game against Winnipeg.
It's been extremely close, and then you know, you see
how they dominated them last night, and then you know,
I think in about a week, I think this series
is going to be very even and very close in

(01:05:14):
a deep series.

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
Right, I think so too. I mean, that was a
great showing by Saint Louis to come back when I
think everyone sort of had written them out. I love
the lip syncing from Jim Montgomery, which I'm just going
to say I noticed that before anything. I just like,
I feel like I take some ownership for noticing Jim
Montgomery singing your Love, But I would like to see

(01:05:40):
cameras focusing more on players lip syncing during timeouts. Okay,
so I'm hoping there's going to be at least two
or three more ISOs isolated camera shots in the next
week of players lip syncing during the playoffs. All Right,
this has been energy line with they just really ran

(01:06:03):
away to things off. I think the Leafs are gonna
sweep the Senators and then they're gonna be off for
like two weeks because the Battle of Florida is going
to go so long, and then they're gonna get absolutely annihilated.
In game one.

Speaker 3 (01:06:16):
All right, there's a leaf fan. I know.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
It's like the it's the ying and the yang, it's
the up and the down. It's the masochism and the hope.
And that's what we do here on Energy Line with
Nate and JSB. Thank you guys for listening to episode thirteen.
This is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcast
Thanks to Mike Johnson for joining us. Thanks to Jake
Brown for producing the show. Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify,

(01:06:41):
or wherever get your podcasts, or listen on the iHeartRadio app.
Give us a five star rating. Please and write in
a night's review. I'm Julie shure Binks, He's Nate Toobson.
Nate Now will be back on Tuesday, reacting to the
first round of the playoffs. Thank you so much for
tuning into Energy Line. We'll chat with you next week.

(01:07:02):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart Podcasts.
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