Russo Radio, Jon Morosi! Common Man Progrum HOUR 2

Common Man Progrum HOUR 2 --Russo--534 -- Morosi

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
One of the ball drops. Drop your take.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's a purple talk back Tuesday on KFA in open
the iHeartRadio app, hit the Red Mic, and in thirty
seconds or less, you can tell us your favorite biking
this moment from twenty twenty five Winners All Day KFA
dot com Keyword Contest. For more information, KFA dot com
Keyword Contests.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Hey, mister Baulness, I am one hundred on a wild bandwagon.
I think that big turnaround early in the season made
that easy, but then the trade for Hughes just put
me over the top. Gotta love the lineup we have now.
Our goaltending is great and I can see us making
a run this year.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yes, keep those talkbacks coming.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Giving away tickets to an upcoming Minnesota Wild home game.
Maybe you don't want them, Maybe you're not a believer,
Maybe you don't think that they've done enough to gain
your loyalty. Back fifty four points and twenty four wins
in the first forty games. Considering how bad it was
in the month of October, it feels like things are
trending in the right direction.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Trending.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
They're twenty one four and three since November first. I'd
say it's more than just a trend. I don't think
it's a mirage. But hopefully they can keep it going
into the new year. I know everyone's favorite blogger will
be writing about it at nauseum and he joins us.
Now what I assume is from San Jose Michael Russo
of the Athletic in Theathletic dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Good afternoon, Michael, how are you, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:28):
Wild, they're having a rare practice on the road. I
don't know if everybody just can do on the ice,
but it's an afternoon game tomorrow and Newyear's Day often
in Anaheim or a Newport Beach area. They're definitely getting
on the ice today.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Well that's a good thing, right, I mean, because they
haven't had an opportunity to practice hardly at all, just
because of the condensed schedule. It's going to be more
of the same on the other side of the Olympic break.

Speaker 5 (01:53):
Yeah, exactly. I don't know if Quinn Hughes actually got
to look this up. I don't know if Quinn Hughes's
practice yet with the Wild, and if he has, it's
been one yeah, So, I mean that's just the way
that this type of schedule has been you know, in
the next here in the month of Jeded. You know,
they just had sixteen seventeen games this month. They're gonna
have sixteen seventeen games next month. It's it's just crazy,

(02:17):
and this is gonna be a norm. This isn't like
an aberration. This isn't gonna be an every four year
thing with the international calendar coming back to the NHL
with the World Cup every two years and then the
Olympics every two year cycle after that. I mean, it's
could be an every couple of year thing where the
schedule is super condensed and we're seeing it throughout the
national aculayer right now, or just injuries and injuries Glored

(02:37):
at least just got banged up. We saw Vegas last night.
They were without Eichel and Carlson and Theodore. Then they
lose Hurdle two minutes into the game with the boarding
major and it just makes things really tough on teams.
And the Wild went through it and right now they're
you know, knocking Wood healthy.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
Maybe this isn't as easy as just saying this, but
couldn't they start the season a week or.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Two earlier with start October?

Speaker 4 (02:59):
For I mean, they're adding two more games for the
regular season, which I'm all for. You know, the less
amount of preseason hockey, the better. If you ask me,
throw on five more games in the regular season. But
you got to figure out a way to make it
work in a bigger window.

Speaker 5 (03:13):
Yeah, absolutely, and that is going to be the goal
is to start the season really starting next year at
the end of September, which which is basically about ten
twelve days earlier than normal. And so they've got to
do it. They're gonna have eighty four eight seasons now,
I mean right now. The last couple of years, the
Stanley Cup Finals, especially if you go seven games and
butts right up into the draft and then free agency,

(03:35):
and it just makes you know, for teams that go
and win the Cup or go to the Cup finals,
you know every year like Edmonton and Florida has done
the last couple of years, it makes for incredibly short
off seasons. And you know, you see the byproduct of
that sometimes with just the level of play on the ice.
But you know, as you mentioned with the wild and
the and the callback before with with the bandwagon, the

(03:55):
one thing that I've been really you know about covering
the seam is not just the wins, but the games
are so entertaining right now. You know, if you're a
wild fan, I know that everybody's always cynical because the
first round exits and you know, wake me up, show
me when they went around. I mean, the goal of
professional sports is to have fun, watch successful seasons, and

(04:18):
then to be entertained and the while they're doing all
of the above right now.

Speaker 4 (04:22):
Are you willing to predict two fifty goal goal scorers
on this team this year? In Boldi and Capriza. We
knew that we had the bat the robin to the batman,
but now do we have two batmans?

Speaker 5 (04:36):
I think that's a well put statement, and yeah, if
they're both healthy, they're going to both hit that. And
this is as good as we've seen. Boldi plays absolutely
on fire right now. He's delivering every single night. He's
playing a totally complete random hockey and he's doing it
on a shutdown line, which is to me even more
impressive because you know, the by definition you should be

(04:58):
you're going up against the best players every night, you're
gonna be in the in the defensive zone a lot.
But he has been just phenomenal, and we saw the
goal last night that he Sports the Wild does such
a great job with that line on the ice of
getting the puck up and at him up the ice,
and it just you know, it's created odd Man Rushes.
It's just been really cool. Then Caprice stuff just does
this thing.

Speaker 6 (05:17):
You know.

Speaker 5 (05:17):
The one thing I will say is, you know, now
with Rossi gahn Is, I still think that is going
to be the area that Bill Garon's going to try
to look at adding here at some point in advance
of the March sixth tread deadline. There it's not like
there's just you know, superstar number one centers out there
that you can go and acquire. But but we saw
it last night. I mean, you know, whether you're flippedt

(05:38):
Hartman or you're putting ear of the reality is is
that Capriceoff needs probably some help, and we see it
at times when that line is getting outmatched that John
Hines will put Erkinak and Boldie with Caprice suff But
at some point they're probably going to have to get
a real upper echelon center that's gonna play with those
guys and and even out the lines. And we'll see

(05:58):
if that happens.

Speaker 4 (06:00):
I wish list and again I'm like, I'm the Brett
Blakemore school of thought and asking this question, I'm just
a rube. I'm sitting on the sideline and I'm saying
I want to go pick some guy off off another
roster that I think is gettable, and I think that
would fit in incredibly nicely here.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
And the name that I keep hearing is Ryan O'Reilly.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
Is that a guy a target that you think would
be a possible acquisition for Bill Garin And he already
grabbed Quinn Hughes, which no one ever would have predicted.
How how tangible, how possible is it to put Ryan
O'Reilly in a Minnesota Wild uniform before the end of
the season, because I think he'd fit like a glove.

Speaker 6 (06:35):
Yeah, I think I.

Speaker 5 (06:36):
Agree, you know, to me watching him the other night
when they played the Wild, you know, I thought Ryan
is still playing at an incredibly high level. He draws,
you know, he's not the same offensive guy, but he's
incredibly disciplined, you know, great in his own end. He's
going to start with the puk, you know, and and
it'll allow allow John to throw him out and keep
based off situations if they ever were able to do it.

(06:58):
Now to get to your first question. Yeah, I think
the while they're targeting him, I think a lot of
teams are targeting them. Barry Trost has been pretty honest
about the fact that if he was ever going to
move Ryan o'rally, it's going to be up to Ryan,
even though he's got no no trade protection. And then
because of that, Ryan's almost going to get to pick
a spot. And so, you know, I don't see any

(07:18):
reason why you wouldn't look at Minnesota right now. They
have a really good chance of winning the Cup. But
I don't know what's going on Ryan's mind. I know
he's entrenched in Nashville. They're starting to play great hockey.
They go off to a terrible start this year, if one,
I think eleven of their last fifteen games, So right
now they're putting themselves back into a picture where that
we're in this conference with so many teams actually at
the bottom of the NHL standings, Nashville actually has a

(07:41):
chance to, you know, earn themselves a playoffs spot. And
so with the pressure that's on those guys in Nashville,
I don't think that they're going to feel the need
or the pressure to move guys right away, But we'll
see what happens in the in the next you know,
a couple of months, as we get closer to the
trade deadline.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Who are some other names that are floating around out there?

Speaker 4 (07:59):
You know, you don't have to even reveal your sources,
just tell me some of the like from a fan standpoint,
who's out there that you think would be a great
fit on this team other than a Ryan O'Reilly that
you think they could go get that would add to
potentially the top six, could help him down the middle,
or add some scoring depth.

Speaker 5 (08:17):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's interesting because scoring depth,
there's more of those type of players out there that
could potentially be on the move. Like if Buffalo it
does fall out and they don't resign out as Tuck,
maybe it's uck. If you know, if the Rangers are
not a playoff team, maybe a preneran. But those guys
aren't centers. And that's where I really still feel is
the biggest need for the Wild. But you know, if

(08:39):
you can get a really elite offensive scorer, it's going
to really deepen up the lineup and give the Wild
more options up the middle. Probably the best offensive center
that's available right now most likely going to be available
at the end of the year if they don't resign them.
And that's you to I'm talking about is Nick Schmaltz.
I am not the biggest Nick Schmaltz fan, although he
always seems to light the Wild up, but his offensive

(09:01):
numbers have really come down from a really unbelievable start
to the season. So we'll see where it goes. I mean,
there's there's just no doubt in my mind that when
you invest what the Wild just did in Quinn Hughes
and they really feel like the window right now is
to turn themselves into a true Cup contender, and you're
facing most likely Dallas in the first round of playoffs,

(09:22):
they probably need one more guy. And I think that
Bill Garin, even though he's obviously going to play koy
about it, you know, he's always going to try to
improve the team, and if he can figure out a
way to add, especially to me up the middle, I
think that he'll try to do that. At some point.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
I was browsing my favorite app on my phone, which
I can also get via my computer, and it's The
Athletic and Theathletic dot Com, and I saw a piece
on there about extensions potentially for a couple of guys
that need to be extended, whether it be a zach
Bagosian on Mats's Zucarello. But dare I say, Marcus Johansson,
who would have thought we would have been talking about that.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Coming into the season.

Speaker 4 (10:01):
I mean, I think there's a lot of fans out
there that had the hater raide pouring in all over
the place in the fact that what your resigning markets
do you know what's going to happen. He's going to
end up in the top six. Well, thank god he
did Michael one year deal. Now the question is if
you if you do extend him, do you dare go
past one year, because it feels like that one year
contract really motivated that guy.

Speaker 6 (10:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (10:24):
If I mean, first of all, to your point, he's
been absolutely excellent, and I mean it's just been really
remarkable to watch just how consistently good he has been
from the start of the year. He's really gotten through
no ruts at all, other than maybe one in early
December or late November where he just seems to not
be getting points. But but you know, the second he

(10:44):
gets back with Boldie and Erickson Akats it seems to work.
And if it were me and I was Bill Garon
and he was interested in coming back, I would only
I would go on a series of one year deals.
I don't think he give a term. You know. The
question is after a year like this, would he come
back for eight hundred grand Again, I know his agent
wasn't very happy and that he wanted that he was
willing to do that. But that's how much Marcus loved

(11:06):
it to Minnesota and wanted to stay in Minnesota and
not go anywhere else in National Hockey League. It was
literally him going back to Forrestadt in his hometown of Carlstad,
or where he lives in Carlstad, Sweden, or coming back
to Minnesota. But he was he was one of the other.
And so if he wants to come back the way
he's playing, I would absolutely, you know, especially since they've
just gotten rid of, you know, guys like over in Rossy.

(11:28):
Now there you know there is It's not like there's
there's young guys ready to just suddenly come into the lineup.
So I think it makes a lot of sense. He technically,
because he's signed a one year YEELD, he can he's
eligible for extension starting January one. I did, you know,
correspond with his agent right now? There hasn't been conversation,
but you know, at some point maybe that will change.

(11:50):
Same thing with Zukerella. If he wants to come back,
it's probably gonna be up to him, and same thing
with the Goshen. The key is is that I don't
know if Billy is going to be in a rush
to do anything. I were him, I would wait because
if all of a sudden there is a huge trade
that you know falls into his lab, but that player
has term, you know, you don't want to all of
a sudden box yourself in because you're giving contracts to

(12:12):
guys for next year now, and there's really no rush
to make that decision right now.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
This is Michael Russo of the Athletic and Theathletic Dot Com.
Of course we go to him for all things Minnesota
while but you also have your finger on the pulse
of what's going on with the Olympics and watching the
World Juniors here in Saint Paul and Minneapolis for that matter.
It's really starting to amp up the fun that international
hockey brings to you. And that will be the case

(12:37):
there in Milan, Since we're talking Marcus Johansson, let's jump
over to Team Sweden for a second. I think it's
probably a foregone conclusion. The Ju Lyrics Andek and Jonas
Prodin are on that team. Philip Gustafson on that team
between the pipes, Marcus Johansson, Yes, Pervalstad, I think they're
bubble guys. If you're the manager of Team Sweden, you

(12:59):
put those two eyes on the roster.

Speaker 5 (13:02):
So for me, I have one hundred percent. Would especially
for Wally because right now i'll mark one one he
is on a leave of absence and Mark Strom they
both have not been good this year and to me
the two best Swedish goalies in the end reside episode,
So I would put on the team and Johansson I
absolutely would. To me, if I look when I when
I actually I did it on the plane today, I

(13:24):
was kind of jotting what I think with the Team Sweden.
I get to between Marcus Johansson and William Ecklin coincidentally,
who plays here in Santase. Really good young player that
is clearly going to be a huge future of Team Sweden.
But to me, the way that Marcus has played, I
would love to have that guy on my team. And

(13:44):
the other thing with him is that a lot of times,
you know, there's there's sort of a reciprocal gratitude when
you do things like he does, which is always answer
the call when Sweden calls and and go and represent
his country in international tournaments. He's represented Sweden the last
two World Championships. He was excellent in both. They meddled
in both. He was in the twenty fourteen Sochi Olympics.

(14:06):
There's only four or five Swedes that are probably going
to make the roster that did that, and there's not
many NHL or so. He's got Olympic experience, so I
think that he's got a great chance.

Speaker 4 (14:16):
Very interesting from my understanding, The Canadians are revealing their
roster tomorrow, the Americans on Friday.

Speaker 5 (14:24):
You can confirm that, Yes, today's show for the for
Speaker of the Devil, first one on the ice Marcus
Johanson's yeah. On the Today Show at eight am twenty
five ish Eastern time on Friday will be United States.
And one of the names that I know will be

(14:46):
on the Today Show is Jack Hughes. I assume making
knows he's making the team, and I believe Leila Edwards
will be representing the women.

Speaker 4 (14:53):
You'd have to assume Quinn, Hughes and Brock Favor are
going to be your top pair, right, tell me that's
the case.

Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah, you know. The only thing I'll s about that
is like slave In and Favor were so good at
the at the at the Four Nations, and they're probably
going to be a penalty killed pair. So even though
if Hughes and Favor play is great this next month,
I don't think it's necessarily a guarantee that they're the
top pair. That you could still split them up and

(15:20):
then have it in your back pocket if you ever
need to make tweaks that you know you down that
Hughes and Favor can play together. So my guest still
is that going into the tournament's gonna be slaven In
Favor as a pair, and probably Hughes and McAvoy. But
but we'll see. I mean, uh, you know, McAvoy and Favor,
as I always say, I mean, they're basically doppelgainers, both
in the way they look and the way they play.

(15:41):
But my guess is will be Hughes McVoy to start.
Mike Sullivan's also is bothering laws, so that might help them. So,
you know, we'll see what happens.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
Hey, Russo Brett.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
Here a couple of USA borderline guys with the roster
coming out soon that I'm interested in our Cole Kawfield
and Jason Robertson. They're both smaller guys, are not really
Bill Garon guys, so they can put the puck in
the net. Do they have any chance to make this
US Olympic roster?

Speaker 5 (16:05):
Yeah, Actually, Jason's got a pretty good stature. It's it's
Cole that's kind of smaller. Jason, you know, he's one
of those guys. It's like, I don't know, like when
scouts go watch him, they're never wowed by him. But
then at the end of the night he's got two goals,
you know, and you know he doesn't skate the greatest.
He's not overly physical, and so you're to your point.
He's not exactly the Bill Gharon type, but he has

(16:29):
the second most goals in the NHL tied I think
with Boldie. Since I don't know how you leave them off,
but I think they're leaving them off. You know, yesterday
in Minnesota, actually Bill Garon met with both Chris and
Pat Keller, Heer, John Van Biesbrook, Stan Bowman and Chris
druriy tumps Trail bil Fido, and they basically picked the roster.
I think it's been picked, and everything that I heard

(16:53):
going into that, even though it was still a debate
about Jay Robb, I was getting the impression that they
still were leaning toward putting players like Brock Nelson and
Vincent Trocheck on the team. I do think Katee Thompson's
making the team. I think it's probably between Clayton Keller
and Jason Robertson for that last spot. And it just
would not shock me if basically Keller gets it over

(17:14):
him just because he was at the World Championships and
so good. So, you know, the one thing that Bill
Garin's gonna have to do really well here in the
next couple of days is he informs players who made
the team and not made the team is look, there's
gonna be some sour grapes. There's gonna be some disappointment.
But if say a guy like Jay rob doesn't make it,
he's probably first out of the bullpen if there's an injury.

(17:34):
And as I mentioned, with the Wild having sixteen seventeen
games in January. All these teams in this league have
They're just a lot of hockey to be played, and
there are bangs up team already. So just because Jason
may not wind up on the roster on January second,
it doesn't mean that he can't be on the roster
February seventh when they all fly over to Milan. So
he's got it. You, Lily's got to do a really

(17:56):
good job of convincing the players that are going to
be understandably pointed that like, look, you know, keep your
head up. I might be calling you. This isn't about
you know, this is about fit and things like that.
He's going to have to do a really good job,
and I think that he knows that he's going to
have to do that. But when you have a talent
pool is as deep a as the United States, these
are the tough decisions that you have to make, and

(18:17):
the goal is to make a really good team, not
an all star team. And I think that Bill Garrion
and his staff really liked the way they played at
the Four Nations, like the mix of the players, and
right now I think that there's gonna be very few
changes maybe maybe three editions about I guess if I
had a guess right now at d kJ Thompson, Clayton
Keller and probably Seth Jones. But we'll see. They had

(18:38):
obviously their final meeting yesterday. Maybe things have changed.

Speaker 4 (18:42):
I want to let you go on this note because
I know you want to go watch practice and I
would definitely appreciate your time there. From San Jose Wild
taking on the Sharks tomorrow. Pregame extended pregame starts at
two o'clock, puck drops just after three right here on KFA,
and let's briefly touch on the Canadians. Then give me
your prediction biggest snub and maybe biggest surprise that'll be
on that roster.

Speaker 5 (19:03):
You know, biggest snub probably Connor BC Dart. I think
that he's also going to be first out of the Bolton.
I think Celebreny is on it. The one that the
good guy that it certainly sounds like he's going to
be on the team is Tom Wilson. That's probably the
biggest surprise. Somebody that didn't make the Poor Nations. Obviously
there's no fighting in the Olympics, that's not allowed, but

(19:23):
you know, on a smaller ice rink than an NHL size.
When you are assuming that you're going to probably play
you know, NHL the United States or Sweden in the finals.
I think putting a Tom Wilson on the team makes
a lot of sense. So that's probably going to be
the biggest addition, and as they said, the dark probably
the biggest snub.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Are you going right from this road trip to Milan?
Or when do you leave?

Speaker 7 (19:45):
No?

Speaker 5 (19:46):
I leave February second, so the women actually start before
the men. Yes, so I'm going to cover the women's
tournaments start, so I'll get there February third. I get
there like a week before the NHL er is. But yeah,
now I'll be back in Minnesota and then I I
am on that the wild and a trip to Buffalo
in eastern Canada'll be on that and then get myself
ready for the Olympic.

Speaker 4 (20:06):
Will it be weird traveling Italy without Lapanta chaperoning you everywhere?

Speaker 5 (20:11):
That's a good point. You know, it's going to be relaxing,
that's for sure. Much more relaxing that less stressful, you know, uh,
and a lot quieter like to talk.

Speaker 4 (20:23):
Yeah, well I don't know how you hear anyway, you've
got your head buried in your phone every second of
every day, whether you're texting someone, or you're talking to someone,
or you're tweeting something.

Speaker 6 (20:33):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (20:33):
You know, Lapant is a little bit more aloof when
it comes to that kind of stuff.

Speaker 5 (20:37):
So I know you'll have fun with I use the word,
I use the word of noxious. But but but I
hear you.

Speaker 4 (20:43):
All right, buddy, go enjoy practice and good luck and
we'll talk.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
To you soon. I'm sure.

Speaker 5 (20:49):
Yeah, see Kevin, see you, Brett.

Speaker 4 (20:51):
Michael Russo of the Athletic and the Athletic dot Com
joining us from San Jose again. Extended pregames starting tomorrow
at two o'clock leading into the Why and Sharks pregame
on the network starts at two forty five puck drops
I think at three to zero eight here in the
Central time zone.

Speaker 1 (21:06):
We'll bring you that.

Speaker 4 (21:07):
Then we'll go into that extended postgame show, hopefully celebrating
yet another wild victory as they attempt to start this
seven game road trip a perfect three to zero. And
if they do that, we'll bring you John Hines postgame comments.
We'll probably talk to the equipment guys. Carill Caprisov his
interpreter the whole works, and then finally we'll get to
Halve as he brings you the Americans and the Swedes

(21:29):
in the final game of the round robin portion of
the World Juniors. That game will be joined in progress
after the Wild and Sharks right here on the fan.
We'll take a break, and then when we continue get
to more of your talkbacks. We'll get to your texts
as well, giving away Wild tickets to an upcoming Minnesota
Wild home game. If you want to go, all you
got to do is tell us are you on the
bandwagon or are you still off it? What needs to

(21:51):
happen to get you on this side of the good
side of the state of hockey.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Do all that and we'll get to some of those
Next on the fan.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
It's a Border Battle week, and we've got your final
shot to be the Rube of the game this season.
Swing by the Plaza outside US Bank Stadium this weekend
before kickoff, visit a cafe and booth. Ask for the
street team and how you can score Papa Murphy's game
day meal deals for a year. Cafe dot com keyword
calendar for more Detailscafe dot Com keyword calendar, Hi Kevin.

Speaker 8 (22:23):
Hi, Michael, this is Mark from Apple Valley.

Speaker 6 (22:25):
See.

Speaker 8 (22:25):
I was just wondering, just have a little concern about
It's a great start for the Wild obviously, but when
they come back from the Olympic break with playing in
the Olympics, and do you see any kind of a
lull or slow to go being the Wild to probably
have a lot of players in the Olympics and then
traveling and stuff. So just kind of worried about the
start after the Olympics. But it's been a great start,

(22:47):
so let's go wild.

Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah, well said there, Captain talked back. I agree.

Speaker 4 (22:53):
First forty games has been an unbelievable ride, and there's
been plenty to hang your hat on. For those of
you that are debating whether or to or not to
get on that bandwagon, the vast majority of you have
jumped on the back back onto the bandwagon, and for
good reason. But I get it, and you know everyone's
going to be in the same boat when it comes
out of that Olympic break.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
It ain't going to be easy to just pick up
where you left off.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
But you know, for the guys that aren't playing in
the Olympics, it'll be a good chance to rest, relax,
get some vitamin D in your skin. For the rest
of them, though, I mean, who can argue playing Olympic hockey,
the battling for your country on an international stage.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
Nothing quite like it.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
And ask any of those guys that I've been talking about,
not only is Zach Perezy or a Phil Housley or
a Mark Parrish, John Mayasich. He still talks about it,
and that was like fifty sixty years ago that he
was doing it. It's just something special about it and
it should be no different whether it's this weekend in
the World Juniors or coming up in a couple of
months there in Milan. We like to bring back the

(23:52):
bits that are the common Man show, and we've been
We did the Wheel of Topic. We even put together
a montat. Yeah, fix the Wheel of Topic. I hope
it's like that the next time he tries to fire
it up. We of course had the montage to open
the show. Why don't we do five, three, four whatever
it's called time?

Speaker 8 (24:12):
Now?

Speaker 7 (24:12):
Four five questions? Well, actually three, but five sounds like
more than four. Question number one.

Speaker 4 (24:23):
Now, first of all time, Now for an in depth
look at the state of the state of hockey.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
This is shocking.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
I was just gonna say, we're not gonna have time
for five. We might not even have the time for
four or three, but we got to get in a
couple and get away from the hockey. I was gonna say,
but let's google the Minnesota wat what do you got.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Brett, Well, I got one question that I didn't get
to and breakaway, So we're using it here. Danella eurof
got moved back up to the top line. Do you
like him better keV and the top line with Caprice
Offen Zucarello, or do you like him on the kremline?
Is that what we're calling it? The krem line with
Tarasenko and Trenyum. Where do you like danili Yurov in

(25:01):
this lineup as it stands right now December thirtieth, twenty
twenty five.

Speaker 4 (25:05):
So this is where I could go common and I
could argue either point, like whatever you take, I could
take the counterpoint and make a valid argument. I like
him in between those top two wingers because of the
fact that he's reliable defensively, but I could also put
him in a grinding role because he's so good. You know,
he's not out there because eventually maybe for his offensive acumen.

(25:26):
At some point he's going to get to that point
where he's comfortable putting the puck in the net and
being a little bit more prolific offensively. But he's so
rock solid defensively that I don't mind him in a
defensive checking role either. So I can make the argument
either way, and that would be a good way to
start an argument with you.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
You pick one way and I'll go the other way,
and we'll go to with a nail.

Speaker 8 (25:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
I agree with you that you could make an argument
either way. I do like him on the top line.
I think him in Capri Soft pairwell, and I like
having a top center that's young and exciting put the
puck in the net.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
He's very good. You always like to root.

Speaker 4 (25:56):
For the young guys, though, I regardless, So.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
N GIN number two, Oh, let's wait, that's game.

Speaker 4 (26:07):
It's now time to take an in depth look at
the state of the school.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
Sporting Battle week and it is maybe the most meaningless
border battle in border battle history. Oh, there's been a few.
The Packers have absolutely nothing to play for. The Vikings
have absolutely nothing to play for. They're more or less
locked into a fifteen to twenty pick. The only thing
that they could play for is potentially a fourth place schedule,

(26:34):
which is a difference of like three games. And the
Packers they've got nothing to play for. They're locked in
their seed, They're seven no matter what, they control nothing.
What's the best case scenario for Vikings fans on Sundays?

Speaker 4 (26:45):
Send the Packers into the playoffs with a limp. I
don't care what it looks like. I'm not I don't
want to literally hurt, but I want them to go
in with their their ego bruised, come into US Bank
Stadium and think, Okay, we got nothing to play for.
We already know where we're going in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
Well here you go.

Speaker 4 (27:00):
Oh we're gonna light you up for thirty some points,
the defense is gonna lock you down, and you're gonna
go into the playoffs thinking maybe we're not as good
as we think we are.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
Oh, we're already thinking that, don't you worry. One more
question Number three, humor or heinous.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
We're trying to get out of hockey. But I brought
it back because I wanted to this Barzol story. Are
you familiar? I'm not with so Matthew Barzol Islanders player.
It's two hands, so Mason Marshman blue jackets, he kind
of stuck out a knee as the equivalent of like
a chicken winger with the knee. Yes, need a knee.

(27:43):
So then Barshall skates over and two hands Paul Bunyan
axes him right on top of the skate, which any
hockey player knows that's like a top two place to
not get hit. That is somewhat padded. He gets a
five thousand dollars fine, which is maxim no suspend. Is
that slash humors or heinous?

Speaker 4 (28:06):
Marchman is one of those guys that if he's on
your roster, you love it, but he's on the opposition,
so you love to hate him.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
And that's he's one of those guys.

Speaker 4 (28:14):
He had a coming, you know, he stuck out his
knee on Matthew Shaver, one of the great young players
in our game today. And you just can't run around
with reckless abandon like that. So he got what he deserved.
And it's too bad that he got the two hand
chop right over the top of his escape laces and
you're right, hurts like hell, But he had a coming.

Speaker 7 (28:34):
And that's it for today's edition of five questions, well
actually three questions, but five sounds like more than four.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Quick break and then we'll wrap it up.

Speaker 4 (28:45):
You're listening to Fallness and blakemore in for Common and
Moleskey on the fan.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Fan to the USA n they'll return the favor.

Speaker 4 (29:02):
It's the Deep five expires and TENUSA Trial takes.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
Out Team Slovakia.

Speaker 6 (29:10):
The final score USA six, Slovakia five.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
So much fun at the World Juniors.

Speaker 4 (29:17):
Halvey and Mark Parrish on the call yesterday last night
at Grand Casino Arena.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
We got the call here on the radio side.

Speaker 4 (29:24):
On the television side, NHL Network doing a great job.
And the guy that's on the sidelines is John Morossi
joins us now I assume in Saint Paul, John, Kevin
Fallness here, Thanks for joining us here in the Twin Cities.

Speaker 6 (29:37):
Kevin, I am thrilled to be here. Thanks for the
invitation to be on the show. I love this tournament
and St. Paul Minneapolis both perfect host so it's been
a great way to spend the holiday season.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
I was going to say, you guys are covering Team
USA much like we are on the radio side of things.

Speaker 1 (29:53):
How much funn are you having.

Speaker 4 (29:54):
I don't think they've played a perfect game as of yet,
but here they are three and oh going into the
final game of the round robin.

Speaker 6 (30:01):
Well, Kevin, that's the fun of this right. It's it's
not perfect hockey, and that's why we love it. The
last game they played against Slovakia, they're down to nothing
after a pretty poor first period by their standards, and
they come back to win six to five. That's why
this tournament is so much fun. It never disappoints. There
are wild games, there are unexpected outcomes, stars that he

(30:24):
didn't expect that you were going to see that then
become household names the US. As a young defenseman Chase
read it by the way of celebrating his birthday today,
who is now eighteen years old. But he was in
the North American Hockey League at the beginning of last
year and then he found his way of the OHL
and now he's the start for Team USA. It's not
supposed to be perfect for it to be entertaining. It's

(30:45):
I think to the general sports Ben Kevin, I would
compare it to why we love March Madness so much.
It's that unpredictability and and this is hockey's version of it,
and it is truly one of my favorite sporting events
every year.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yeah, no doubt.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
And to have it in our backyard here in the
State of Hockey, we are extremely proud of the show
they're putting on there, not only on the U of
M campus, but they're in Saint Paul at Grand Casino Arena.
Through three games thus far, what does impress you most
about Team USA.

Speaker 6 (31:16):
I think that the resiliency has really stood out, and
you look at the ability Kevin for them, for the
Americans to find different ways to win despite some key
personnel not being available. You think about from the beginning
of camp, They've lost Trevor Connelly, was supposed to be
one of their top power play wings. They've lost now
Cole Hudson with a very scary injury in their second game,

(31:38):
and then Max plant from Hermantown was injured there in
Game three. So it's been the ability to withstand some
adversity they've now had in three games. They've had Caleb
Hyle start twice, Nick Kemp start once. There were some
questions about how the goaltending would go, and I think
it's been at least solid yes, there were plenty of
goals given up in the last game, but I think

(31:59):
they had a lot more to do with some defensive
lapses than it did any sort of shortcomings on Caleb's side.
So I think it's been it's been that it's been
so much fun to watch will Zellers, of course, a
local guy here from the Twin Cities, and to see
what he's done, of course, three game winning goals. He
was not someone that we expected to be a key

(32:19):
player necessarily on this team. In fact, he was the
last forward invited to camp where he was back in
Grand Forks, not really expecting an invitation necessarily after the fact,
and then he got the call and he's come in
and all of a sudden he's become the US's most
reliable goal scorer. So that's what I love about this tournament.
You don't know who the stars are going to be.
You have to let the stars and the games tell

(32:42):
you what the stories are. And I think it's all
leading up to a phenomenal New Year's Eve. It's always
as part of this tradition, Kevin, with the tournament. As
you know, well, New Year's Eve is always it's always
the culmination of the preliminary round. Almost always the US
and Canada are playing massive games, sometimes against each other
when they're when they're in the same group. But tonight,
of course, or tomorrow rather it'll be the US and

(33:03):
Sweden and Canada with Finland. So this is exactly in
a lot of ways how we expected sort of the
macro results to play out, but how we've gotten here
and the stories and the people that have emerged. Adam
Kleeber for UMD has been fantastic. He's that having to
play on his off side following the injury to Cole Hudson.
So I think some really really important names that have
represented the US very very well.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
Give me a preview of tomorrow night, then the culmination
of the round robin tournament portion of this tournament, as
the Americans going up against Sweden, both teams three and zero,
both teams far from perfect thus far. But again, like
you said, that's the fun of this tournament.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
What should we expect in the final game, Well.

Speaker 6 (33:42):
A few things. First of all, I'll say this, if
you are in the Twin Cities and if you love
hockey and you have been waiting for the moment to
really dive into this tournament. Tomorrow is the time Okay,
five o'clock local time at Grand Casino. The US and
Sweden one of the great rivalries, especially in this tournament.
The US actually they won.

Speaker 9 (34:00):
Gold in Sweden against Sweden and a raucous atmosphere in
Gothenberg two years ago, and the Swedes obviously is a
different group of players, but they remember this and they.

Speaker 6 (34:10):
They want to get their revenge and tomorrow night is
part of their opportunity to do so. Some very highly
regarded prospects on the Swedish side, Antion Froundell, a top
prospect with the Chicago Blackhawks. Jack Bergland, their captain, has
I've been very impressed by him. There's been some buzz
around Evar Senberg. He might be the number one overall

(34:31):
pick in the draft this year. Alphonse Pry who has
been really good for them on the defensive side of things.
For Team Swedes, so that they've got plenty of talent,
I think talent for talent. This is a pick him game.
It's probably gonna come down to execution, goaltending, special teams.
The US finally got their their power play rolling there
in the third game with some clutch scoring. James Hagens,

(34:53):
who is one of the key players for the US
top rated prospect of the Boston Bruins. He has gotten
going now, so all the personality is all coming together.
And of course Bob Bosco a great coach for this team,
the coach at the U as well. So pick your storylines, Kevin. There,
They're all there, and I would highly encourage anybody that
hasn't had a chance to go to a game yet.
New Year's Eve with us at the rink is a

(35:14):
great plan.

Speaker 4 (35:15):
Tickets are available World Juniors m N two six dot com.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
That's on the ice.

Speaker 4 (35:20):
Off the ice, you guys are painting a wonderful picture
as well.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
How'd you like your trip to HERMANTOWNE all loved it and.

Speaker 6 (35:26):
Thank you for asking about that. I loved it. So
we landed, as you know, camp was in Duluth, and
so we got there. We had a long day of interviews,
which is really one of my favorite days of the
whole year, where you get to sit down with the
members of the Team USA for about six hours. So
we get to the loose and literally the first place
I went with the Hermittown I three and I got
my rental car and drove right there. There are high

(35:48):
school games going on and youth hockey games. You got
a chance to sit down with with Christy Plant. There's
such a wonderful person. Max's mom. Of course Derek Plant.
Everybody in Minnesota hockey knows Derek and what he's been
able to to. You've coming from Cloque and Christie from
East Toulouse. So just to understand the culture of hockey
and Hermantown, and you know, I'm from Michigan. Where where
to be honest, I wish we had a system of

(36:11):
hockey in our state like you do here in Minnesota.
It's special here, It's it's unlike anywhere else. And when
you see a small town in a community like Hermantown,
where where really hockey is at the core of the
of the social existence and the community and the relationships
that you have. And I love driving up to the
rink and seeing kids walking from elementary school with their

(36:32):
with their hockey bags over their shoulders, just going right
to the rink and they'll go to the outdoor rink
and then they'll go to the indoor rink. That's perfect
for me. And so just to experience them and be
able to share the story. And of course, as you know,
Victor plant is still still on his way through. He's
gonna be at UMD next year. He's at the USA
Hockey National team development program right now in Michigan. So
just a great family them is over there playing for

(36:55):
the US Collegiate Selects there in the Spangular Cups. Just
a phenomenal family and it was all honor to be
there and help tell their stories.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
Awesome stuff, John, enjoy the ride. We'll see if the
ring tomorrow sounds great to.

Speaker 6 (37:06):
Look it forward to it and anytime I can help,
please let me know. But if it's been an absolute
pleasure to be here in Minnesota.

Speaker 4 (37:10):
Awesome dude. John Morosi, sideline reporter for NHL Network. They've
got the call on TV Halve and myself will be
on the call tomorrow after the While take on the
San Jose Sharks. We started the show ill prepared because
if Mileski was here, he would have had an awesome montage.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
They would have saluted the Minnesota while.

Speaker 4 (37:27):
Through forty games this season, So if you missed it,
we went on the little website and we created an
AI version of what we thought the montage should look like.
We wanted it to have an ode to comment. It
should be emotional, it should have wild highlights. I don't
know how this AI thing works, but they were able
to put this thing together and it was emotional. So

(37:47):
let's relive it again as we put a rap on
the show blast. I can't believe we put that together
on the fly. Technology is great. I don't want Brandon
Moleski or Justin Guard to ever find out about this
stuff because it makes the job too easy.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
Technology is wink so easy.

Speaker 4 (38:04):
Unbelievable, good stuff, Brett outstanding. I look here to seeing
you Saturday on Beyond the Pond, where we will try
and stay out.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Of the way of Pat Nicoletty, but hope at least
one breakaway.

Speaker 4 (38:14):
Yea, we'll do our best. See tend to noon on Saturday.
That's Beyond the Pond. We've got an extended pregame tomorrow
leading in to the Wild and Sharks.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
We'll start that.

Speaker 4 (38:22):
Thing off at two o'clock puck drops just after three,
and then of course hel be on the call with
the World Juniors up next, though Justin Guard home.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
Buckle up there, Gopher fans, He's next. I'm ki if

Speaker 2 (38:34):
I listen back to any of common Man's programs by
podcasting on the iHeartRadio act or KFA dot com