05/20/24 - Admirals Center Ice

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello and welcome. It's Milwaukee AdmiralsCenter Ice. I'm Aaron Sim's going solo
the Admirals getting set to take onGrand Rapids tonight at Panther Arena. It'll
be a seven o'clock face off.We'd love for you to come down.
This is a bit of a pregame to the pregame show here. We
start things off with Admirals assistant coachScott Ford joining us and Scott we're talking
on we're taping this on on Sunday, the day before the game. But

(00:22):
let's talk a little bit about theWednesday game and your thoughts on how that
went. You out shot them twoto one. I thought, I thought
you were the better team out therefor the most part, and they had
three or four of the transition goalsthat were tough for Troy to Troy to
stop. But you give me yourtake, Yeah, I think so.

(00:42):
The same thing, you know wasokay, I thought, you know that
we get a lot of little thingsjust just very well, and you know,
unfortunately the chances we gave up,we just gave up. You know,
a couple of great a's that endedup in the back then that you
know, some of that stuff offthe rush and saw that our game was

(01:03):
a solid game for maybe a regularseason type game, but just not that
extra jump and not that extra gearthat that we saw in those kind of
last three games in our backs againstthe wall against Texas. So just looking
for a little bit, a littlebit more you'll find it out of care
from some of our guys and hopefullycapitalize on some of our chances and just

(01:26):
kind of tidy up a couple ofmistakes. You know, you went from
three must win games to get whereyou are here in the second round or
the third round if you will,of the playoffs, And I'm wondering,
do you think there was a bitof a hangover coming from that game five?
I know, you hope that youstay up and the energy is there
and all of that stuff. Butat the same time, like you guys,

(01:47):
just you went through five games andnow you've got to do it again
a couple of days later. Wasit hard to Was it hard do you
think to get up for the gameor no? Not some kind I think
the guys wrapped with it. ButI feel like we talked, you know,
took a little bit too long tokind of creep into the game rather
than just hitting the ground running andand really trying to impose our play.

(02:09):
It was kind of a feeling outprocess and it just took a little bit
longer than anticipated to get going.And then, like I said, just
some of the timely tuning of themistakes, I think we gave up and
then kind of up it's capitalize onthem. I mean, they have a
good team over there there, andthey got you know, some some big

(02:29):
players that combined with some guys thatcan have high end scale and they can
can really move too, so they'vegot a good mix and we just have
to find a little bit put alittle kind of more ooms getting to the
net and finishing some of our plays. So we're you know, we're looking
forward to an Obviously, it hasbeen a few days in the team games

(02:51):
here again, scheduling, I meanthen I think our whole playoffs here just
started hasn't been you know, Ideal with with a lot at the time
and the scheduling, but that's kindof given us an opportunity to to address
some of our issues from game oneand get our guys you know, prepared,
hopefully as best as we can,and get a little healthier again and

(03:14):
hopefully get the job done tomorrow night. You know, we all know that
it's the playoffs, but what yousaid about the schedule, and especially here,
you play game one on a Wednesday, you play game two on a
Monday in the same city. Theyleft right after the game to go back
to Grand Rapids. It has thisregular season feel. It'll change awfully quickly,

(03:34):
but right now it kind of doesdo you do you agree with that?
No, for sure, it's unfortunatethat's the way it goes. But
you know, he's being around therink today and seeing all the you know,
kids with graduation and things like thattoo. I mean, there's other
things that are that are occurring inthe city and we get that. You
know, it's be sure, ourmen and of that's that's what's occurred here.

(04:00):
But we you know, it's notnon excuse. And like I said,
I think that it's given us anopportunity to address to address some some
you know, little issues and makesome adjustments and some tweaks and you know,
hopefully be a little bit you know, rested and ready to go here.
So we're we're turning it as aas a positive and and and trying

(04:24):
to get our mindset and turn ourbrains into that mode. I mean,
there's so many things that that occurredthroughout the American Hockey League that they were
working around and and scheduling and timeand travel and different things. I mean,
it's it's part of, you know, the process with with becoming a
professional and some of the some ofthe things that you have to learn how

(04:46):
to deal with, you know,as you hopefully move up to the National
league where you know you have someof that travel, travel and food and
and compensation and everything else. Youknow, So it's a learning experience all
the way around. Admiral's assistant coachScott four joining us. This is Milwaukee
Admirals Center. I see the learningexperience of the regular season and the playoffs,

(05:12):
it turns into a different animal,as we all know. But you
can't get to the postseason without thoseseventy two regular season games. And I
keep going back, and I knowI've talked about this with you and with
Carl Taylor, and with Greg Rallowand pretty much everybody over and over,
but the value of that nineteen gamewinning streak, just if it seems like
that is just the perfect crutch maybeto use when you get to the postseason

(05:36):
when you get to the playoffs knowingwhat to do the I mean, again,
they weren't all six nothing, sixto one hockey games. There was
you had to fight through things throughoutthe game. And I can't imagine that
for a playoff series that that isabout as good a training ground as there
can be. Yeah, no,for sure. I mean we talked about
it after we went down oh twoand talked about how many times and we'd

(06:00):
won three plus games in a row, you know, I mean over the
course of you know, nineteen gamewinning streak, we won three in a
row six different times. You know. Obviously they were all in a row.
But it's it's just like anything,Like we spoke about the scheduling and
some of the travel, some ofthe you know, other things, and

(06:21):
I think if you can mentally prepareyourself the best as possible and you can
kind of turn and think about someof these things in a different light,
I mean, it's really, youknow, not that bad, right,
It's it's just the way that thatyou perceive things and you can you know,
learn from some different things and thenkind of learning or use it as

(06:43):
a as a tool and not asa as a crutch kind of thing.
So you know, our guys havedone a good job with like you said
that in those streaks and learning howto win win in different fashions, learning
how to you know, fight throughadversity and things like that. So you
know, we're, like I said, we're looking forward to getting back on
the ice at home here and justplaying a game again. I mean,

(07:05):
likes the lulls in between games hasn'tbeen ideal, but I mean, we're
looking forward to getting back at it. The Admirals. That was only the
second game this postseason, which iskind of wild. But four of the
five against Texas and then here theother you know, the other night it
didn't happen, but four or fiveagainst Texas you scored the first goal.

(07:27):
So it doesn't necessarily mean you're goingto win the game, but it certainly
it bodes well. But again,you guys scored four of six now in
the postseason. How big? Howimportant is that? Obviously it's not too
important because people can come back frombeing down one nothing, but but do
you guys place a huge value onthat in a game, especially in a

(07:47):
series here against Grand Rapids where thegames have been solo scoring Yeah, No,
I think it is hugely. Imean, I think through the hockey
in general and in both leagues,I think teams that score first obviously there's
a higher percentage for them to winthe game. I think if you if

(08:07):
you look at how much we valueour back end, you know, our
defensive scoring, our guys' ability toskate, and then you know, keep
it out of the back of ourthat I think throughout the whole year,
that's we have a huge you knowvalue, And that's anytime we're able to
get out to a lead or toscore first, we do a pretty good

(08:28):
job of limiting teams chances and shuttingother teams down. And you know,
we've we've had good goaltending throughout theyear as well, and both guys have
played well. I mean they've they'veboth been on streaks throughout the year where
you know, they they've had qualitystarts back to back and continue continue to

(08:48):
play. And I think we've beenable to use both guys throughout the playoffs
as well, and obviously try rounda little bit of a run after and
after the two games against Texas andand we're gonna have you know, we're
gonna have to rely up on bothguys here and we guy and you know,
games to come to. So wehave a good goaltending, a good

(09:09):
back end, so anytime we gettimes scoring up front, we're able to
to you know, really lock itdown and to play very solidly from you
know, from our back out andand that helps when we score first.
Yeah, and you've been getting obviouslythe offense Zach LaRue six goals, Phil
Thomasino with four in the postseason,they've been terrific. I don't want to

(09:31):
put you on the spot here,but I keep saying, well, boy,
when Kemmel gets going, when offNassi gets going, and I mean
those guys were big time performers lastseason for the Admirals. They need to
they need to be big time performersonce again here. Yeah, for sure.
I mean I think guys are Idon't know, the guys put a
lot of pressure on themselves. They'reyoung professionals. You know, we don't
have a we don't have a veryyou know, experienced veteran leading lineup.

(09:58):
O. Our veterans are you know, older older pros, but are our
young forwards and and some of ourguys that that are being heavily relied upon.
You know, they they don't havea lot of experience per se.
So the more we play, themore you know, opportunities and we give
them and and they put themselves in. You know, that's just that's just

(10:20):
added layers and added experience. Andyou know, like you said, once
once they once that bubble kind ofpops, I think it's it's it's going
to be good, right. Youhope that the guys are maybe squeezing a
little bit, you know, hopefullynext game, our game two, the
first period, something special happens forone of those guys and and you know,

(10:41):
kind of pull the monkey off theback and and uh, you know,
take a deep breath and be likeall right, you know, maybe
the metals start looking big again.And and they got it. They get
on the street where everything they shootgoes in. Because there's been times during
the season where, like you said, they they really produced and and really
you know, scored some time ofgoals. So it's just a matter of

(11:03):
staying and sticking, you know,to the process and what they're you know,
preparing and doing each day and justhave a little bit of self belief.
Yeah, and you know, andand it's different for everybody, but
we touched on the schedule, andyou know, some people would say,
I want to get right back inthere and play Game two tonight the next
night. Some you know, unfortunately, in the schedule being what it is,

(11:24):
there's no control over it. Butyou had five days to wait now
instead of one or two. It'sup to the individual to figure out the
best way to use your mind inthose five days, because the mind is
the tricky part. I think you'reall in shape and all of that.
It's just where's your head at forfive days? Right? No, exactly,
And you know, if you cantake a take some time away.

(11:46):
I think we talked about it todayand you know, hopefully the guys are
able to get out and enjoy thecity a little bit and for a couple
of days, you don't get yourmind away from the game, you know.
I mean, for myself, I'maddictive the golf obviously that you know,
So for me to be able toget out and play a little bit,
or to get outside and just youknow, be with some family and

(12:07):
friends and things like that and kindof get your mind off the game,
because once those game days do occur, you know, there's a lot of
intensity there's a lot of focus.There's a lot of you know, things
that go into it. And tobe able to turn it on and kind
of fire at all cylinders and thento be able to shut it off as

(12:30):
well in order to get that valueressed and and to you know, give
your give your mind a little bitof a break, I think is really
important. I mean, we're fortunatethe city that we live in here has
a ton of opportunity, and andyou know, it's been beautiful out again
too. So the guys, guysdo value the time that they're able to

(12:50):
get away, and I know wedo as a staff as well, so
that when we do come to workand we do come to the rink,
it's we can go you know,hard and heavy on you know, business
first and demand a lot from ourselvesand a lot of our players. By
the way, could you go fiveunder if you were arrested the day the
second day of a PGA tournament.There's no way I could do five There's

(13:13):
no there's no way I could dofive hunderd anyway, but especially if that
were to happen. Yeah, Ithink I think yesterday though, I think
everything in the media and everything kindof caught up to him shot. He
shot a couple over on in thethird round. But yeah, come and
coming straight out of the jumpsuit andthe and the prison cell to shoot five
hundred and a major. I meanI thought that was that's pretty special.

(13:35):
But you know, that just goesto show how mentally strong some of the
best in the world are at theircraft. I mean they're able to,
you know, take things in andand go to a special place, you
know, mentally in order to letlet themselves perform at a high level.
You know, hopefully are hopefull ourguys are able to do that. On

(13:56):
on Monday on the ice, Yeah, no doubt about that. A couple
more minutes with Admirals Assistant coach ScottFord here. So back on the ice,
what are the keys for you?In Game two against this Grand Rapids
team, And by the way,they had fourteen shots that Marco Casper's nineteen
years old, he made two majorleague plays. The goal he scored the
game winner, and then that saucerpass to Zach Aston rees like two major

(14:20):
major league plays. And I usehim as an example right now by in
saying that people listening, if youwant to see the next level of talent.
And it's not just him. Imean, look at the Admirals with
Zach LaRue. Zach LaRue has scoredon two thirds of his shots in the
postseason. Like there's some major leaguetalent out here right now. No,
for sure. I mean, lookat any organization in the in the AHL

(14:46):
where their parent club NHL team isno longer playing in the playoffs. They
have the first round picks and prospectsthat are playing important games and important learning
experience playoff games for their HL teams, and the talent pool and just you
know, the level and quality ofplay and the players that are still playing

(15:11):
and competing is fantastic. So there'sso many guys in every organization right now
that's that are are going to playin the NHL at some point, So
it's it's amazing. I think apool came out earlier this year and I
think eighty seven and a half percentof the NHL that had played in the

(15:31):
in the NHL had played in theHL, and and I think our organization
was number one with current players playingthat have been through here. So I
think that's pretty special and just kindof shows the emphasis and the you know,
how how much we value you knowwhat we do as far as development

(15:52):
as a staff and as an organization. And it also shows you know,
how good the talent is that we'reworking with that is going to play in
the NHL one day. Yeah,I mean it's important for us to play
these playoff games and get people inthe most high pressure, you know,
valued situations you know that they canplay, and so it basically you know,

(16:17):
ramps everything up and you know,gives them a foulest track on.
They're just different stresses and different thingsthat they're going to occur or different things
that are going to occur as theyprogress along as a professional. Yeah,
you know what you just said,Like, I look at these college football
teams that turn down bowl bids andI'm like, you guys are giving up
five weeks and and relative importance ofa game for for what like just for

(16:44):
pride, I mean whatever it mightbe. But you got a chance to
develop these players a little bit longerif you want to, and for teams
to turn that down is just astonishingto me. Yeah, no, for
sure. I mean I think theamount of time that we put in over
the course of the season, youknow, when you make the playoffs,
it's it's bonus and and just everythingincreases as far as you know, we

(17:10):
talked about the mental aspect of it, talked about the importance of games like
just just to see how intense theplayoff games are at the NHL level.
I mean, the intensity is isno different at our level, right and
for the coaches too, by theway, and the rest of the staff.
Yeah, for sure. I meanjust put you in in you know,

(17:30):
high pressure situations and it tests youand hopefully you know, we were
learning as well. You know,there's a lot of different scenarios that gamesmanship
and different things that occur, youknow, from game to games. Then
you know there is pressure and decisionsto be made, and you know,
hopefully you you have your team preparedas best as possible and then try to

(17:53):
make a little tweaks and adjustments andkind of guide it as the game goes
on. But you know, it'sbeen fun toast for the last two three
years and just the opportunities and thatwe've been given and and I think we've
worked hard to achieve. Absolutely,Scott, thanks so much for the time.
Best of luck on Monday. Yeah, I appreciate that. Admiral's assistant

(18:15):
coach Scott Ford. We're back ina moment. You're listening to Milwaukee Admiral
Center ICE. Welcome back. It'sMilwaukee Admiral Center ICE. I'm Aaron Simms,
and we are getting set for theAdmirals taking on Grand Rapids in Game
two. That face off will start. We'll be at seven o'clock tonight.
Pregame coverage we'll start at six thirtyhere on the Big nine to twenty on
ninety seven to three the game,and on your iHeartRadio app. National Hockey
League they're moving on to the conferencefinals, and boy out East, you

(18:38):
have the two best teams. TheNew York Rangers will host the Florida Panthers.
Here to talk about that is theexcellent play by play announcer for the
Florida Panthers, my friend Doug playagainst Doug. First off, I love
the videos that you put out yourpreviews and the video of you and Bill
Lindsay up there celebrating on the goals. Is that your idea or is that
something that the team did specifically thecelebration video. Going back to last year,

(19:02):
and thanks Aaron for having me,But going back to last year,
we did a couple of them,and between us and our video production team
here, we just had some funwith them and people really liked them,
and it was it was as simpleas for the game, just sticking a
go pro on it. It's amazinghow how much technology we have at our

(19:22):
fingertips now, but just you know, sticking a GoPro on the on the
wall and the broadcast booth and itjust runs the whole game and then at
the end, you know, theseare our production team. They're they're so
good at what they're doing. Theycan whip these things up so quickly,
and they go on social media andpeople seem to really get a kick out
of them. So so we've cometo really enjoy them. It seems like
a lot of the fans and thelisteners have really come to enjoy them.

(19:45):
And it just gives people a littlebit different perspective on everything that's going on,
and we try to give people asmuch of a behind the scenes look
as we can. So it's justsomething we've had a lot of fun with.
Thank you for the kind words.I'm glad you've enjoyed them, but
yeah, we get a kicked outof it. I'm curious about this Florida
Panthers team. I mean, thelast three four five years turned around from

(20:07):
what they were before. It's it'sreally amazing. And I was going to
ask where does it start, becausethe last couple of years it's been Paul
Maurice. Before that it was JoelQuinnville. And then I mean the headache
there of changing the coach in atough situation and Andrew Brunette and losing in
the playoffs, and I mean,just where does it all come from?

(20:27):
That? Now? Florida is reallywhen you're talking about consistently good. The
Florida Panthers have been that the lastspecifically two years, but last four or
five seasons down there, it's beena great evolution. And I think you
have some players who've been here fora long time now, the longest tenured
guys between Alexander Barkov who just wonthe Celtie again and Aaron Kladd who's a

(20:52):
cornerstone type of defenseman, and inSergey Lebrovski who's been here now for five
seasons, and of the commitment fromownership and Bill Zito, the Panthers general
manager, and a lot of thegreat moves that he and his hockey operations
department have done. It's just beenit's been just something to really see and
something to watch because whether it's whetherit's like like you said, Paul More's

(21:17):
coming in and the DNA of theteam kind of changing and play in that
playoff style, and we saw howwell it worked last spring, and we've
seen it throughout this season winning theAtlantic Division and now the Panthers in the
midst of a great run once again. But you look at some of the
players over the years that Bill Zitoand his staff have been able to identify
and and bring in here and guysthat have seen their careers take off,

(21:41):
whether it be somebody like Cardivor Haagywho's turned into one of the best snipers
in the National Hockey League, oryou look at a guy like Sam Reinhardt,
like Brandon Montour, guys that youknow came from elsewhere, Sam Bennett,
guys that kind of got that theywere already good players, got to
change of scenery and then things justreally took off, and you know,

(22:02):
it's uh. And then you lookat a guy like Gus Borsling, who
I'm sure we're gonna we're gonna talkabout here because you can't really talk about
the Panthers these days without talking aboutGus Forsling. But this was the guy
the Panthers picked up on waivers rightbefore training camp a few years ago,
and he's come in and turned intoone of the best, one of the
best defensemen in the National Hockey Leagueand he's part of the fold now here.
Got his contract extension. He's gonnabe here for for a long time

(22:25):
to come. So again, it'sit's a matter of just, you know,
the the culture that's been developed,a lot of great players that have
been brought in, a lot ofguys taking huge steps in their careers and
doing it together and uh and again, the guys start to see the positive
results, they get as close asthey did to winning it all last season,
and that hunger's there as well.It's just been a special group.

(22:49):
And then you can't tell the storyof the Panthers the last couple of years
without without Matthew Kachuck in there,who's one of the most unique star players
in the National Hockey League and theway that he affects the game in so
many different ways every single night,and the way that he's able to impact
everything just a huge part of thenot only what the team does on the

(23:11):
ice, but the culture of thisgroup, you know, and it's drafting
well too, because what you saidabout bringing in a Kachuck, like,
you have to trade some value there, and it was a beloved player in
Uberdo that has to go. Butyou know, in a situation like that,
right, But I mean you haveto have value to get value out
there. Yeah, you have togive up something to get something. And

(23:34):
you mentioned you mentioned Huberno Mackenzie Wiegerwas a part of that trade. You
know that the Panthers have They've movedsome picks, they moved some prospects over
the years, but it's turned intoturned into guys that can come in and
help this team, that have beenable to help the team and help the
team immediately. And you look atthis this group overall, you've got a
lot of guys that are kind ofright in that in that you know,

(23:56):
twenty five to twenty nine, thirtymaybe sweet spot, a lot of guys
that are right in that same junctureof their careers. And it's it's been
really it's just been really special tosee it all come together. You know,
when they make the move a coupleof seasons ago to bring in Paul
Maurice after the disappointment of the playoffloss. Like certainly, I think everybody
was shocked. Andrew Brunette was upfor Coach of the Year. The record

(24:18):
was unbelievable. He stepped in ina in a tough spot. But Paul
Maurice, my goodness, I'm sureeverybody thought in the regular season last year
it was a step down, buthe was building to something. Obviously,
he absolutely was building to something andwe've seen it all come together and Paul's
talked about it, and first,first and foremost I can speak to it
from from my perspective, I'm thankfulevery single day going to the arena that

(24:44):
I have the opportunity to work witha coach like Paul Maurice because he is
just so engaging and approachable and justjust such a great communicator. It's it's
it's just it's a lot of funto be able to go and chat hockey
with him and get to know him. And I've mentioned this before, but
he's one of those guys and talkedto him every single day, and you

(25:04):
know, I interviewed him for thepregame show, you know, every game
and every game he says something that'llthat'll make you watch the game a little
differently the next time around, andyou feel like you're learning something when you
talk to Paul Maurice, and it'sjust it's just been a lot of fun
to be able to go in andwork with him every single day. But
again, he came in really changedthe way this team played and changed the

(25:26):
way they played for the better.And he's pointed to a game. It
would have been January first, twentytwenty three, so we're talking New Year's
Day last season, and it wasa game that the Panthers didn't win the
game that day, but he particularlyliked the way that they finished the game
that day. And from January firston last season, they were one of

(25:47):
the best teams in the league,went to the Cup Final, of course,
and they picked up right where theyleft off this season. So he
kind of pointed to that date lastseason. It's kind of a turning point
where a lot of things just startedto really take hold and click. And
as we've said, when the guystarts seeing the positive results, it just
makes him that much more hungry everysingle day. And it's a it's a
team that found its stride never lookedback. Doug Plagan's joining us the Florida

(26:12):
Panthers play by play announcer. Thisis Milwaukee Admiral Center Ice. Let's get
to go stuff. Forestling. Itold you before we went on, He's
a guy I saw seven eight yearsago. He was back and forth between
Chicago and Rockford. He goes onwaivers. I guess he is the latest
example of players mature at different times. Right. That's that's one. That's

(26:37):
one big thing there. He's justyou know, he he found his game
here. And again it was itwas fortunately for the Panthers. The Carolina
Hurricanes at the time just had youknow, had too many guys on the
back end. They had to theyhad to potentially risk losing somebody. That
somebody was Gus Borsling. The Panthershad him, and he came in here
a few years back his first season, played a lot with Rad Cogunas and

(27:02):
we saw a lot there, andhis game just continued to elevate. And
at this point, like you said, he's a guy that just just found
his game, and maybe a littlelater than some others, but he's still
got a ton of runway ahead ofhim. As far as his career is
concerned, and you look at Gus, he's a guy that his career,
I think he's gonna be He's oneof those guys that looks like he's gonna
be elite for a very long timebecause he is an all world skater.

(27:27):
He's one of those guys that isnever out of position because he's such a
good skater. Is you know,as far as the physical fitness and everything
like that, he's absolutely one thousandpercent off the charts on everything in terms
of that's he's just a flat outwarrior and tough as nails. And we
use that phrase a lot, andit's not not tough as nails in the

(27:48):
sense of he's gonna knock you intothe third row every time on the ice
and he's not out there fighting thirtytimes a year. But he is not
afraid to take a hit to makea play. He's not afraid to,
you know, block a shot.He's huge in every situation for this Panthers
team. And this season he finishedan NHL best plus fifty six. And
I know people can look at plusminus different ways these days, but I've

(28:11):
always said, if you're if you'reoff to one of the the extremes.
Yeah, yeah, it usually tellsyou something. And they're only There are
only five active players who've finished plusfifty or better in an NHL season,
and Guss became the most recent onethis year. So again, he's he's
blossomed truly into one of the bestdefensemen in the National Hockey League. He's

(28:36):
an elite level skater and a guythat again, the sky's truly the limit
because you know, every night heimpresses us. And he's scored the game
winner in a series clincher the othernight against the Boston Bruins in Game six
to punch the Panthers ticket to theEastern Final. Not that you need any
uh extra incentive to perform in theplayoffs, but that's Florida started with Tampa

(29:00):
Bay and then moved to Boston.Like this just seems to be a great
warm up for this group. Soyeah, playing the Tampa Bay Lightning and
beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in aplayoff series that that had the rivalry to
it. Obviously, the Panthers andthe Lightning see each other a ton in
the regular season, they see eachother a ton in the preseason. They'd
met in the playoffs a few yearsback, Tampa Bay got the better of

(29:22):
them on a couple of occasions.So for the Panthers to be able to
get by the Lightning and and getby Andre Vassilevski, that was that was
a big step for this Panthers teamin the playoffs, in a big hurdle
and playing the Lightning. That's notyour typical, uh, your typical wild
card team that you're matched up with. That's you know, usually you win
your division, you expect to geta little bit better prize than that.

(29:45):
Then here here's Andrea Vassileski and theTampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
But the Panthers were able to We'reable to get through that. And then
of course with Boston there's history there. Now. They always say that to
build a rivalry truly, you haveto meet in the playoffs, and now
the Panthers and the Bruins have metin the playoffs back to back years.
And the Panthers have now, ifyou can believe it, won six consecutive

(30:07):
playoff games in td Garden, whichis no easy test. So the Panthers
game six there the other day beingthe most recent on that run. But
the Panthers got the better of theBruins, and tell you what, that
Boston team made the Panthers work forto say the least Jeremy Swayman has.
If there's one thing we learned aboutthe Boston Bruins and these playoffs, it's
that Jeremy Swayman is on his wayinto that elite tier of goaltending. He

(30:30):
was outstanding again. They battled hard, they defend well, their structured that's
the Boston team that certainly had allthe ingredients necessary to be able to go
on and run themselves. So thePanthers again gave a lot of credit.
Hats off to the Boston Bruins forthe battles that they put forth. But
now this is a heavyweight tilt comingup again, starting up on Wednesday,

(30:52):
in the same building that housed LeeFraser one and two. We're going to
get a heavyweight patch up between thePanthers and the New York Rangers coming up
here on Wenda. Well, andI just got done watching, as I'm
sure you did too, watching theRangers come from behind and have Chris Kreider
score the hat trick in the thirdperiod and pull out the series win against
a very, very good Carolina team. I mean this, like you said,

(31:15):
heavyweight matchup, two best teams.This ought to be just one heck
of a show between these clubs.Yeah, the interestingly enough, it just
it's interesting how a lot of thishas worked out across the playoffs. Think
in the first round, the higherseed won every matchup, and now here
you've got the two division winners goingahead to head in the Eastern Conference Final.

(31:36):
But you'll look at the matchup overall, Aaron, and both teams have
all world offensive players. Both teamsare great on the back end. Both
teams have all world goaltending. Bothteams have great penalty kills. I think
if there's one thing that you learnedfrom Carolina's attempt to come back from down
three to zero against the New YorkRangers, you saw as Carolina was able

(31:57):
to keep the game at five onmore, it gave them a better chance
to you know, to be ableto get some traction, so I think,
and that's something the Panthers have known. The same thing against the Tampa
Bay Lightning, same thing against theBoston Bruins. Those were teams that you
didn't want to you didn't want tospend extra time in the penalty box against
those teams if you could avoid it. So I think, you know,
it sounds cliche, but I thinkthat's got to be one of the keys

(32:19):
going into this series. You don'twant to give the Rangers any extra opportunities
on the power play because they're lethal, But the Panthers are used to that.
Having played against Tampa Bay and thenplayed against Boston, They've they've played
against some teams that have really goodpower play units here through these playoffs.
But this is gonna be gonna bea heck of a series coming up here,
and I know the Panthers are excitedfor it. And like I said,

(32:40):
if there was you know, lastyear defeat definitely stung for the Panthers
in those playoffs, but it wasthe team that truly was just scratching the
surface. We believe in what theycan what they can accomplish, and they
definitely learned a lot on that runlast year and they've put a lot of
those lessons to work. You're onthis playoff runner. I tell you what,

(33:01):
Doug, We're short on time here, but if people if they for
a treat here Wednesday, six pmCentral Time, the Panthers and the Rangers
and and Doug has followed Doug onon the social media because you'll give you
instructions on how to listen to himand Bill Lindsay on the radio while the
TV is going again, followed Dougon social media and you'll be able to

(33:22):
find it and real quick, Doug, why don't you throw out your former
Twitter handle? Yes, appropriately weactually do the world famous former Twitter segment
during our second intermissions, used tobe the world's famous Twitter segment, but
went to former Twitter segment at DougPlagans on Twitter, at Doug Plagans on
Instagram. Not reinventing the wheel withthose user names, but keeping it easy

(33:43):
for everybody out there. And againwe invite you to follow along and it's
always thereon Thanks for having me.Well, I can't appre I can't appreciate
your times as much as I do. This is just great. Thank you
so much and and best of luck, Doug, all the best, Thanks
so much for having me. AllRight, Doug Plagans, we'll take a
break back in a moment. You'relistening to Milwaukee Admiral Center ICE. Welcome
back to Milwaukee Admirals Center ICE.I'm Aaron Sims, the Admirals getting set

(34:07):
to take on Grand Rapids in gametwo of that Division final series, best
of five series. Grand Rapids,up one game to none, face off
tonight at seven o'clock at Panther Arena. The Dallas Stars are sitting around for
a little bit. They'll know lateron tonight whether they will be hosting the
Vancouver Canucks or the Edmonton Oilers.The joining us now from the Dallas Stars

(34:27):
Radio network is broadcaster Owen Newkirk Ohen. Thanks for your time. This has
been again quite a run for theDallas Stars. Pete de Boor, like
you look at the teams. Youbeat the defending champ in round one when
you were down oh two, andthen the mighty mighty Colorado Avalanche in the
second round, and it started makingthem believe that Dallas might be pretty good

(34:47):
this season. I say that jokingly, by the way. It always likes
to talk to you. And youknow, it's funny, you see that
is I heard. I think itwas Elliott Friedman say the possibility It was
still during round one, maybe atthe end when Dallas Vegas was the possibility

(35:10):
of arguably the hardest path to aStanley Cup. Maybe in NHL history they
had to go through, let's sayVegas, Colorado. I think at the
time he suggested either the Division wellit turned out to be right, the
Division winners in Vancouver, or theperennial Ted Lindsley winner and Connor McDavid and

(35:34):
company. And then either the StanleyCup runners up or the President's Trophy winners
in the New York Rangers of theFlorida Panthers. So I mean, look,
I think when you're working for ateam, you want him to win
the Stanley Cup, regardless of howthey do it. But if you at
the end of it hear a bunchof national and international pundits telling you that

(35:55):
it was the hardest journey of theentirely history, that's pretty cool. Yeah,
well, you remember those stories,right, Like Gretzky was talking about
how they were so dejected and theywalked by the islander's locker room figuring they'd
be hooting and hollering, and theywere all just gassed. Right, They're
all Billy Smith probably had a budlight and everybody else might have had something
else, and they were just exhaustedand not doing anything. I mean,

(36:20):
just think about that, Like Dallasto celebrate getting one to win the championship,
but two and I know we're puttingthe cart before the horse here a
little bit, but like you said, my goodness, that is a gauntlet
if there ever was one. It'ssuch a grind. And to get through
the Avalanche when they did was somassive to not have to go to a

(36:42):
seventh game to get a few daysoff. And they won game six the
other night and it felt like theywere on fumes, but they survived and
found a way to win, eventhough it took double overtime, and by
the end of it, you're going, boys, they really need a couple
of days off. That was hugethen, because Vancouver and Edmonton went to
a seventh game, that really gaveThey gave me two more days, and

(37:06):
that kind of recovery could be massive, because, look, you're not gonna
have a ton of rest in theplayoffs. We get it. But if
in one of the rounds, whetherit's the first, second, or third,
if you're if you're fortunate enough toget to the Sailey Cup final,
if you can get through one ofthem and not having to play seven,
if you can get a couple ofdays to recharge the tanks, I think

(37:27):
that can really be the difference betweenguys who are on the verge of maybe
getting hurt but just you know,taxing their muscles to being able to survive
and play at a really high level. Dallas Stars broadcaster Owen Nuwkirk joining us
at Milwaukee Admirals Center ICE. I'lltell you what. It starts off two
against Vegas and at a home ofall places, right, you lose it,

(37:50):
lose two games at home to Vegas, the defending champs. What are
you guys thinking at that point?Well, you know how the emotional rollercoaster
goes in the playoffs. If youlose our game, you feel like you're
never gonna win again. And ifyou win a game, you feel like
the cup is already years nobody's evergonna beat you when you lose two at
home, close games. Both ofthem were very close. It wasn't as

(38:14):
though Vegas went came into Dallas andjust smoked the Stars and outclass them to
the point where you go, ohmy goodness, they can't compete with them.
But it was that very stark reminderthat the playoffs are hard. Obviously,
Vegas had the storyline of Mark Stoneand a couple of other players coming
off of LTIR and just in timefor the playoffs. How convenient. And

(38:37):
you know, the Golden Knights hada obscenely over the salary cap roster for
those games. But both of thosetimes you watched, and obviously the original
emotion was people thought that, especiallythe fans, thought the stars were cooked.
I was very much of the impressionthat if they can go to Vegas
and win game three, we hada series. It wasn't go there and

(39:00):
win two. It was if youcan go get one and make it two
to one so you're not down ina three to zero hole. You're there.
They able to do that, andthat was tough. But then once
they did that to get then thefourth game and make it to two,
then all of a sudden, theswing of emotion went from I don't know
if we're even going to make itout of the first round, and isn't

(39:21):
that a really unfair first round matchupfor the Western Conference regular season title holders
to have to play the defending champswho really aren't an eight seed, right
They came in as the eighth asthe second wild card, but you looked
at the way they played the rosterthey had, and go, they're not
an eighth seed. This is ridiculous. But then once they got through that,
you started to really feel some beliefthat, Okay, you just beat

(39:45):
maybe your toughest test in the firstround, you're really a good team.
When they switch goalies, do youstart thinking you got them when they switched
in Game five? I absolutely thoughtso because Logan Thompson was fantastic. I
really thought he was good. Butyou bringing a guy though, that won
the Cup last year. Yeah,And look, there's two things going on

(40:07):
here, because one is Thompson wasn'tthe reason why they almost lost a couple
of games. In fact, hewas one of the reasons why they weren't
blown out in Game three because Dallashad a great game and Vegas did looked
that hot and Thompson was really good. But I heard something interesting, and
I really think it's true, isBruce Cassidy with the fact that they got

(40:30):
a Stanley Cup with Aiden Hill.Any coach who has a goalie win him
a Cup has a special trust inhim, and he was not going to
go out without getting the guy thatgot him a Stanley Cup at least a
couple of games in a tough serieslike that, And that's no shot at
Logan Thompson. I thought he wasoutstanding. Although the Danoff goal from the

(40:53):
right wing corner that was up overthe head when Bompson went down in the
RVH a little early, a coupleof them big rebounds he was giving up
that was giving Vegas some problems.So I understand why they did that,
and I remember he cast it basicallysaying that although Thompson was playing well,
he didn't want to have to makethe change to Aiden Hill when they were

(41:15):
down three to two. So attwo to two he thought, I might
win the game, but I knowthat I'm setting my goalie up to be
ready to play if we lose Gamefive, which they open that we did,
because he wasn't sure they were goingto win three in a row in
Dallas, and so I understand whyhe did it. But at that time
we thought that that was a signthat they were in trouble. You know,

(41:37):
I look at the Dallas Stars,and certainly there's veterans. You got
Pavelski and Ryan Suitor and the like, and you got some guys who are
five six years in the Haysken Endsand major stars. But these young guys,
Wyatt Johnston, Jason Robertson, andthe guy I voted for in the

(41:57):
American League to be MVP this yearis Logan Stankov, and I thought he
was the straw who stirred the drinkfor that Texas Stars team, and I
think his absence proves that I wasright. Nothing against Maverick Bork who won
the award, but my goodness,I mean, the young talent they continue
to mine in Dallas is just ratherThomas Harley, just rather amazing what these

(42:21):
guys do at a superstar level.I think this is the real fruition of
the plan that Jim Nill expected toput together when he came to Dallas as
general manager Funk Detroit. He modeledhis style around what they did with those
red Wing teams, which is tohave a constant factory of new prospects coming

(42:43):
in as you age out some ofyour veterans and just have this sort of
you know, assembly line of multiplestages of one roster, but you add
a couple in the next wave asthe other ones start to age out.
And that's how you have sixteen playoffsaimed a success in the playoffs. It's
not only you need to pull thattrigger. But you know, Dallas got

(43:06):
a really good roster put together backin twenty fifteen sixteen and fell short in
the playoffs, partly because I thinktheir goaltending wasn't good enough. But then
they had a couple of injuries andguys aged out, and they missed on
a couple of drafts when it reallycould have been beneficial for them. And
that's what led to the twenty seventeendraft, the fact that they were in

(43:28):
a position too because they missed theplayoffs to win a lottery pick. At
the time they were still out pickingthree lottery selections instead of now too and
to be able to get a guylike Miro Hayskin and was a transformative thing.
But they also traded into the firstround to get Jake Ottinger and then
picked up Jason Robertson early in thesecond round, and that was massive.

(43:52):
But then a couple of years later, because of the COVID season being canceled
around junior hockey, especially the OHL, they actually traded down in twenty one
to get Wyatt Johnston and ad picksthat they were able to get Stan Coben
and Artam Krustakov Grushakov they used inthe trade to get Chris Cannebright's been sensational,

(44:14):
and those two drafts together, andthen obviously you have Maverick Bork as
the first round Pickleam Bixel as anotherfirst that's on the way, Thomas Harley
a first as well. They've beenable to do that. It's rare that
you have the types of drafts whereyou get two or three NHL Stars,
and like Dallas has pulled off ofthe two I mentioned, but you have

(44:35):
to hit one or two every year. You know, you have to hit
on your first or second because you'regonna find gems later in the draft once
in a while. But it isjust nowadays scouting departments are too good.
You're not finding Henrik Lundquist in theseventh round like they used to. Right,
absolutely, right ohen new Kirk joiningus from the Dallas Stars Radio network,

(44:57):
last one here for you, tapingthis on Sunday, but we're pretending
it's live on Monday. I'm who, do you who would Dallas rather have
Vancouver or Edmonton? You know?Uh, in the first round when it
was a choice between La and Vegas, I knew which one I wanted.
It was La. And after goingdown oh two, I said, see,

(45:21):
I was right. Yeah, Laput up a fight, but they
didn't make it very long in theirbattle with Edmonton, and so I was
I felt very vindicated with that thathot take. I was not surprised that
Colorado was the opponent in the secondround, but in this one, Aaron,
I'm not sure I have a choicebecause I see them as sort of

(45:44):
one being similar to Vegas and onebeing similar to Colorado very much. So
that's that's excellent. Yeah, well, put, I truly believe that Edmonton
is very Colorado like because they havethe high m superstars that as good as
Dallas is, as as they don'treally have a Connor McDavid. And that's
okay. Very few teams have ConnorMcDavid on their roster, and in fact,

(46:07):
maybe two or three right if youthink of guys like McDavid, Nathan
McKinnon, Nikita Kucherov just to namea couple, those guys don't come around
very often. I do think Dallas'sdeath can handle that, and I think
they're they're prepared, and I thinkthey have an advantage both down the lineup
on the blue line and in goalcompared to Adminton Vancouver is a deeper team.

(46:28):
But I also don't think, asyou know, as good as g.
T. Miller, Brock Besser andLias Petterson have been, they aren't.
Connor McDavid and Leon Dryside do respectto them, and so it might
be a more of a balanced fight. The big question is for Vancouver is
or is it Vancouver with doctor Demkoor is it Vancouver without him? Because
that changes the equation. They're stillan act going team. But Demko is

(46:52):
phenomenal and I'm a huge fan ofhis. I think he and Jake Otter
and a couple other otten Excuse me, I've been calling him auto too long.
Andre and Demco, along with ahandful hell of us great American goalies,
they're gonna there's gonna be somebody verydeserving that doesn't make the Olympic team
in two years, which is agreat position to be in for American hockey

(47:14):
fans. But when I look rightnow, I don't know if there's a
difference. The storylines come in.It's do you want to try to take
down two of the top three MVPvotes in successive order, or do you
want to try to take down thePacific Division champion? The team that Stars

(47:34):
owner Tom Glardi wanted to buy butcouldn't. Jamie Ben's home province, Chris
Tannev played for them for years,went to a cup final and lost to
Tyler Singon with Boston, who beatVancouver in a cup final his rookie year.
There's a ton of storylines, soto be perfectly honest with you,
it doesn't matter. They're both greatteams and it's gonna be a great series.

(47:55):
You know what, out East yougot one too, so why not
out West? Right? Two onetoo? This is what you play the
regular season, the value of eightygames in a regular season, and now
it comes out it comes to fruitionhere that you get the top two teams
in the playoffs like it's supposed tobe. And I don't have that stat
yet. I've been thinking about that. I'm really curious to find out.

(48:15):
Hopefully the NHL Stats group will getus to that if that's a possibility of
how often the top four team,yeah, at least in this format,
if not the other ones, butfour division winners made the conference final,
that would be really remarkable because there'stoo many upsets in the stane like a

(48:36):
playoffs for that to be a normalthing. Yes, yeah, you're here,
Owen. Thanks so much for yourtime. I always appreciate it.
It's good to talk to you.All the best to the family, and
congratulations on how far you've gone,and and good luck the rest of the
way. Here pulling for you,Aaron. It's always a pleasure. I
wish we've got to visit like weused to do in our mutual AHL days,
but it's fun to chat to anytime. I appreciate it. Thank

(49:00):
you so much. Let's Owen newKirk from the Dallas Stars will take a
break back in the moment you're listeningto Milwaukee Admirals Center Ice. Welcome back
to Milwaukee Admirals Center Ice. We'regetting set for a face off tonight just
after seven o'clock, the Admirals takingon the Grand Rapids Griffins. It'll be
game number two of the best offive Central Division Finals, again dropping the
puck about seven to zero five tonight. The official pregame show will start at

(49:22):
six point thirty here and also onninety seven to three the game, so
make sure you tune in for that. Coming up, we'll hear from Admirals
head coach Carl Taylor, and calO'Reilly during the pregame during the show tonight
pregame with Carl Taylor and then CaloRiley coming up in the first intermission with
jeff Orlowski right now in the show. A couple of players for the Admirals

(49:43):
who have been big parts of theseason. Obviously, Spencer Stasney scored the
huge goal last year. Everybody willremember the game five win over Manitoba and
Spencer Stasney scoring the game winner withtwenty six point eight seconds remaining in regulation
to give the Admirals a two toone win and a series win over the
Manitoba movie of course from mech oneWisconsin. He played several games in the

(50:04):
NHL this year in the playoffs,two for the Nashville Predators. So we'll
start with Spencer and we'll also hearfrom Admirals Captain Kevin Gravell, who has
been so steady for Milwaukee all seasonlong, A big obviously big part of
the team. He sets the moodfor the club. His work ethic is
unparalleled. So here we go withSpencer Stasney and Captain Kevin Gravell before pregame.

(50:25):
Before the official pregame begins at sixthirty tonight, joined by Admirals defenseman
Spencer Stasney down all one in thisseries. As you get ready for Game
two tonight, has this felt likea regular season type of thing right now?
The way the schedule has there's nothingyou guys can do about the schedule.
But it's been five days and youhaven't been in the building, and
it's just strange, isn't it.Yeah, it's definitely strange. Yeah,

(50:45):
maybe a little regular season vibe,but I think just trying to wrap it
up for the game and we've hadgood intensity in practice. We're trying to
stay focused here and I know thateach game matters a lot more here in
the playoffs. So yeah, we'llbe ready tonight and weird break, but
we'll be ready to get The toughestthing is just getting your head wrapped around
all of this, isn't it LikePhysically, yeah, it might be okay,
but mentally it's like your program toget going here, right Yeah.

(51:07):
Yeah, with a lot of timeoff there, it's it's kind of a
weird break in the playoffs here.Just used to go and going going,
and uh yeah, hopefully hopefully wegot a little rest here, but but
we can ramp it up and tiethis serious tonight. You guys know these
guys awfully well, you played onegame against them. They're always going to
be close games, you know that, especially in the playoffs. Did you
feel playoff intensity here the other night? Yeah? Yeah, that was that

(51:30):
was definitely a playoff game. Ithink we can be a lot sharper.
There are a lot of areas weworked on this week in practice, but
yeah, I think the Milwaukee fanshave been great at and increasing the intensity
here in the playoffs, and Iexpect that tonight as well. That's a
tough thing, right, This isa weekend league, and when you get
Wednesday and Monday the whole mice,It's kind of tough, isn't it.
You got to kind of fortunately,like you said, even last year,

(51:52):
you went through the Western Conference Finalagainst Coachella Valley and night it might not
have been nine thousand people in here, but it certainly felt like it.
Yeah. Yeah, And uh,maybe we don't fill up the crowd every
night in a week night, butwe definitely we definitely hear the fans and
we know that the people that youshow up are intents and passionate about this
team. So yeah, They've beengreat all year and we just try to
match it on the ice. Youguys had I would shot them two to

(52:14):
one in the last game. Howdo you get more past kosa here?
Because obviously they were they front verywell, you had said. You just
said after the game you thought youhad ten blocked on your own, which
that might be high. But they'rea tough team to get pucks through.
Yeah they are, So I thinkjust just finding ways to move the puck
around and get better scoring opportunities.I think that's what they took advantage on.
They had some good chances and scored, So I think it's just not

(52:35):
staying on the perimeter and finding away to fight inside and get good chances.
The nice thing about your team isyou've always been defense first, not
like you're a defensive team, butyour defense first and you'd protect the house.
You've done that all season long.That boats well in the playoffs.
Yeah, it definitely does. AndI think you know, obviously, the
the less they score, the betterour chances are. So I think we're
just gonna focus on that, butalso try to ramp it up offensively and

(53:00):
like I said, to get betterscoring chances and get in tight on the
goalway, Admiral's captain Kevin Gravell joinsus this does it feel like a regular
season or did it feel like aregular season this last couple of days with
five games off in between games andthey came and went and all of that.
Yeah, it's a little bit different. Something kind of got to deal
with the American League with I thinkrink availability and all that plays a big
part in it. I think throughoutmy ears, I've kind of experienced something

(53:22):
like this before. We have along layoff, whether two between a series
or between you know, a gamein the series. I would say you'd
rather play kind of keeping the flowof the series and and and you know,
do that every other thing that thatis more common in playoff hockey.
But it is what it is.You know, it can be a good
and a bad thing. Guys getto heal up a little bit extra between
games and get your legs back atyour recovery. So no, we're excited

(53:44):
to go here tonight. It's abig one for us and we got to
respond here. I could say,we can we can spin this anyway we
want. If it works out,well, it was a great break.
If it doesn't work out well,man, it would have been great to
get right back at it after Wednesday. It's exactly that. I think you
got to take the positives in it, you know, like I said,
obviously you'd rather be playing and justkind of continue to stay in the series
and in the flow of the series. But you know, the coaches did
a good job here of of kindof getting us, you know, rejuvenated,

(54:06):
recovered. Here a couple of goodpractices, you know, correct the
our mistakes when over a few thingsof video. So I'm excited here to
get back go on and get backin the flow. But when I was
in high school, the wrestling roomhad a sign that said practice doesn't make
perfect perfect, practice makes perfect.I'm sure you've heard that variation somewhere along
the way. Can you have thatintensity, can you afford to have that
intensity in practice? Or do youneed that intensity in practice? I think

(54:27):
so. I think I think you'realways need to be going hard in practice.
Obviously you're not gonna run and runyour teammate, and you know,
but I think you need to havethat competitive competitiveness in practice, and and
and by doing that, you're onlymaking the guy next to you better.
You know or by no means donehere, by no means a finished product.
So I think we're still looking toget better every game and build our
game as much as we can andand and that that happens in practice.

(54:47):
You know, coaches see a fewthings that you know they want to adjust
or you know, work on,and if you're not giving it your own
working as hard as you can tofix that, it's not going to get
fixed. So you absolutely need tobe be going as hard as you can
and in practice, and and youknow, within reason, you're not,
like I said, you're not gonnayou know, you're not gonna take a
slapshot at your teammate or things likethat, you know, but no,
you know, you need to keepthat competitive edge up, especially when they're

(55:09):
still long in between games. Youknow, you don't want to back off
and then and then you kind ofdrop the puck here and and you haven't
you know, been going hard fora few days. So and that's even
more in the playoffs then, likecompared to regular season, I think,
So it's a balance, right,Like, you know, it's different if
we're playing every other day and thenyou're probably maybe not even practicing, you
know, But but we had theyou know, opportunity here with five days

(55:30):
off to get a couple of skatesin, and yeah, you do a
couple competitive drills and a couple youknow, just things that you need to
work on and and and guys needto have their attention and be going hard.
So like I said, if we'replaying, you know every other day,
you're probably not maybe you're going outtouching the ice more of a pregame
skate kind of thing. But justkind of how the schedule worked out,
I think it was you know,for this opportunity to kind of bring up

(55:52):
the compete a bit in practice competitivedrills versus X and x's and o's.
Is there one that's more important?Are they equally important? Yeah, they're
really important. I think you know, each drill probably has a little bit
of both mix into it. Soyou know, it's it's it's good.
You know, it's drills now thatwe've done all year. You know,
some guys are familiar with the drills. But yeah, you know, practice

(56:13):
is always going to be important.It's important at this time of the year.
Like I said, you don't getas many opportunities to do it in
the playoffs, especially you know,the farther you go. Rest is an
important thing of of you know,a playoff run. But you know,
like keep touching on it. It'sjust just the way the schedules, you
know, kind of shaped up.So it was it was it was good
to get a few under our belt. You guys know these guys very very

(56:34):
well. And as I mentioned x'sand oo's, it's not like there's going
to be any surprises here tonight.You guys are just it comes down to
execution. It comes down to playinghard. Yeah, definitely. I think
anytime you know, you're we're stillin the division here in playoffs. So
we played these guys I think eighttimes in the regular season. It was
so pretty even record both ways,you know, very competitive games every time
we play each other. I thinkthey're all probably really close games, won
two goal games, you know.So yeah, we're familiar with them,

(56:58):
they're familiar with us. You know, we know their roster and vice versa.
So yeah, it just comes downto you know, putting in the
work and and and competing out there. It's it's it's a really fun time
of the year to be playing.You know, it's a grind and it's
hard and it should be hard,but that's kind of where the enjoyment comes
from too. So they're a greatteam. You know, they got a
lot of skill, they got agood dCourse, so you know it's gonna
be a challenge, but we're readyfor comments there from Admirals Captain Kevin Gravell.

(57:21):
Before him, we heard from AdmiralsDefenseman Spencer Stassni. The Admirals and
the Grand Rapids Griffins getting set forGame number two in this best of five
Central Division Finals series. We'll dropthe puck a little bit after seven.
The official pregame show starts at sixthirty, so we'll take a quick break,
come back with a little bit morebefore we get to the official pregame
show. You're listening to Milwaukee AdmiralsCenter Ice