Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Oh it's our turn too. Sorryfor the words, but with our balls
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on the table. Remember, kids, this is not how you play hockey.
It's just ing. I like it, you know what. I love
my streak to go back to Canada. Gala Blair. Game one, Yeah,
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game one. Hello, Welcome intothe Hockey Show right here on my
High Sports, Colorado's biggest and bestlive hockey radio show, Jjjarez. Here,
I'm the host. Hello with memy co host as always, very
loyal, very dependable, Ryan Bowlingof an hil dot com. Ryan,
how you doing? It's a playoffshow? Hello? How exciting? You're
good? It feels like hockey weatherout here. Unfortunately, Oh, I
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hate it. Thanks, I hateit. Meanwhile, it's eighty five degrees
in South Florida. In Seattle it'snot eighty five. I don't know what
it is that they're supposed to rainthe whole time, so be worse.
But no playoff hockey. Well underway, we're having some fun watching hockey.
I mean, we've had some latenights this week, right, and what
a good time it is to bein Denver. We'll get to that in
a second. Of course, wehave Mattenee money to worry about. We
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got a big show. We gottatalk about the whole show though, we
got we got playoff hockey to diveinto. We're gonna have Jesse Montano of
d NVR on the second second Montanosure, not according to him, and
not according to him, but ifhe, if he, if his name
was actually pronounced that way, he'dhave the till day over the end.
And he doesn't have that right.So Montana, what the heck, boy,
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get with it, Get with itor get lost. Um. And
then of course, yeah, sohe's gonna be joining us from Seattle.
We're gonna dive a little bit intothe Colorado Seattle series and then we're gonna
look around the rest of the NHL. But first we gotta get to Mattenee
money. No real matinee games today. First first NHL game starting at two
pm, which in my mind isan afternoon game, not so much Mattenee.
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So I didn't know really where togo. I know, there's a
four games today, it's tough topick what is going to come out of
which one. So I just wentwith what I thought the easiest, and
that's the New York Rangers money lineover the New New Jersey Devils because I
just don't see the Devils being ableto hang with with the Rangers, right,
So that's a minus one fifty five. It's funny you say that because
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I said that, and we getinto it later about the Islanders. Last
night, when I was looking atBets, I was like, I don't
know if they can do it,and they boy, did they do it
last night. But I feel thesame way the Rangers. That's one series
that just picking the series with nomoney on the line was hard to do.
I felt like the Rangers have theexperience, playoff experience. They've got
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the vets, they've got the goaltending, they've got Adam Fox, you know,
Panarin to Bena jad Kane, Like, this is a team that is
pretty dangerous, and we've seen theDevils, have seen the Devils be dangerous,
but they don't have that experience.Necessarily, they have game breakers right
coming into the playoffs, it wastough to make a decision. Now,
in hindsight, you're like, whywhy? Of course the Rangers are coming
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out on top, right, theyhave the experience, they have the weaponry,
and they have the goaltending first andforemost right, which is now we're
seeing New Jersey starting to question theirgoaltender, never a good sign in the
playoffs. We've had five days ofplayoff hockey so far. In those five
games. In those five days,Day number one had one game cover the
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puck line or a team one bytwo. Day two had all four games
a team one by two. Daythree, four and five each had three
of the four games win by two. So you know where I'm going with
this, right puck lines, baby, I'm taking the Rangers on the puck
line minus one and a half plusone seventy five. I love those odds.
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Not to mention the first two gamesthat they played in New Jersey,
we're both five to one finals fiveto one. That's all the Devils have
been able to put together. Andof course, our condolences out to the
poor souls out there who took theunder on the car line at New York
Islanders game. I'm sure going intothat game you're like, ah, these
are these guys always hit the under. The under is a sure thing.
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You're watching the game, Oh,my under is a lock. Everything's going
great, and then all of asudden, three minutes to go in the
game, the Islanders make it twoone and end the game five to one.
Yeah, two empty netters under wasruined. I uh, I've been
I've been betting on series, youknow, multi team parlays. I'll say
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right now, I'm three for twentyso it hasn't been great. But but
I did hit Mitch Marner as thefirst goal scorer the other night, those
great odds nineteen hundred. Who soI am back back to pretty much even
from when I started. But youknow, my unnamed betting app gives me
a little boost this game. Yeah, in the money, I'm rolling in
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it. Uh. It picks thegame. It gives you a plus two
hundred onto whatever pick you make.So you know, you look at a
guy like Nathan McKinnon today plus sevenhundred, that's fine, you know,
but I'm chasing that that money.So first goal, first goal scorer is
hard. I went with Kale mccarrtonight plus nineteen hundred. I mean those
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are plus seventeen hundred for Kale mccarr. Seems low. We know he's hurt,
but seems low. Yeah, Iagree. I mean there's always good
player props out there, and especiallywhen it comes around Kaylee mccarr. For
instance, his over underarm points ispoint five. Yeah. Yeah, the
odds aren't great at minus one ninety, but if Kaylee mccarr is in the
game, chances are he's getting atleast unassist right at some point, been
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a little slow going for him.I also took a three pick Parlay Nights
over Winnipeg. Winnipeg actually projected towin this game somehow, some way.
I took the Devils over the Rangers, and I took the Avalanche over the
Krack and have to say kind ofleading in my next point here, the
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Rangers Devil series is the only seriestwo and oh yep, seven of eight
series requiring a game five. That'sstill a lot. Yeah, it's wild.
So I also hedge that bet bythen doing a fourteen Parlay Nights leaves
Rangers Avalanche. It's a lot ofaction. It's a lot of action.
Um yeah. So along with thesweeps still being alive, Ryan, this
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week has been such a unique hereand unique week here in Denver, right
because we've had two playoff teams going. Not only that, two playoff teams
with home advantage. You see theNuggets right on the verge of making a
sweep. You see the Avalanche.You know, they're struggling their way through
the first series, but I thinkthey'll figure things out. It I but
I attended both this week. Iwas at both Avalanche games and I was
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at one of the Nuggets games that'sGame two. I mean, I'm surprising
they don't charge you rent at ballArena. I literally spent all week at
Ballerina. My you know that otherwas exhausted. But what I'm trying to
say here is the vibe in thearenas is is just different than years past.
We've had years before where both teamswere in the playoffs. We've had
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years were ones in the playoff andnot the other. And the excitement in
round one is just there. It'sit's captivating. You feel it in the
building. Now I don't really feelit as much now. I feel like
the bar has been raised, especiallyfrom Nuggets fans. Right, Nuggets fans
are the ones sitting here like,oh man, we've been to the first
round before. This stinkx is boring. Not only that the team they're playing
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isn't really putting up much of afight, So I didn't get the whole
playoff vibe in the ball arena forthat game. Too for the Nuggets,
much like I haven't gotten the playoffvibe from the Avalanche games. This might
be a little bit more so fromthe team itself than it is from the
fans, but I've yet to feelthat playoff energy. Maybe we got little
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snippets of it in Game two,just little tiny windows of playoff energy,
but it feels like overall here inDenver, the playoff bar has been risen,
and nobody's satisfied, nobody's elated,nobody loves first round playoffs right now
bar has risen. I don't know, Danny, do you get the vibe
that there might be a Stanley Cuphangover in this city in terms of fandom
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and excitement, Maybe a little bit. And Danny's a big basketball guy,
so I know he's keeping a closeeye on these Nuggets game. Would you
agree with the sentiment that maybe thatelectricity that follows playoff, especially round one
of playoffs, just doesn't seem toexist right now because the expectations are so
much higher for both teams. Yeah, to a degree. And also I
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think part of what goes into itthe Avs dealing with all the injuries they
did all year long, and thenkind of coming into the playoffs on a
little bit of a hot streak,the Nuggets being healthy finally and going into
the playoffs on a little bit ofa down streak. I think the contrast
from how they finished the season tothe playoffs when they were clicking, makes
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it seem like the Nuggets have alittle something going. But you're right,
since Minnesota is not not much ofa fight, it doesn't feel like the
playoffs yet, right has it hasn'thad that energy yet, hasn't. I
will counter this this one thing thatI felt in Game two at Ballerina,
you know, inside the building.And maybe some of this has to do
with the altitude situation. You know, you're not you're not getting that piped
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into you, right, but you'renot getting the altitude piped into You're not
getting the the KC Sports property,you know, ra ra piped into my
head. But I do feel likeI was impressed by the crowd at Game
two the Avalanche. I think wecan all agree we're playing terribly. To
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start that game. Jared Bednar calledit the worst period they've played in this
series so far. He called itterrible, no surprise, it was almost
shocking how bad it was The crowdstill cheered every time they asked, touched
the puck. They were still init. They were still engaged to degree
where you were like, wow,like I'll have what they're having. I
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don't know if they were up orit was just the excitement of playoffs,
but they stayed in it, youknow, and I think that helps when
the Avalanche start to turn things around. The crowd are in it. When
they scored two goals forty eight secondsapart, I'm scrambling to keep track of
what happened in the first goal.The crowd was so loud I could hardly
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tell if the Avalanche had the puckor not for the duration of that.
And then the Abs went down andscored again, you know, a quick
one two punch really caught Seattle ontheir heels. The crowd was in it
though the entire time, and sothat's a credit to them. I think
just a relief. Maybe that wasa tier of relief, right they were
down to nothing in game two.All year long, we're feeling like,
oh, this just isn't their year. And now here we are in the
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playoffs, they're still proving this isn'ttheir year. But then they come back
they show glimpses of the team ofold. They come back kids from last
year, right or the Cardiac kidsI think was the name I saw thrown
around a lot. And they getthemselves back in that game. Not only
that, they go on to winthe game. I mean, yeah,
pumped some life in there. ButI think for a second there was some
man, We're here to be supportivefans because we love this team, but
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I don't know if this is theiryear. Well, I'll say there were
boots. The team was booed.It was all after the first period.
I actually had somebody tweet me lastnight and say I was at the game.
I didn't hear any booze at anybodyother than the refs. And I'm
like, well, did you showup at the second period because they were
booing the Avalanche in the first period. Yeah, and they deserved it.
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You know what I say to thatguy that tweeted you exactly, So,
yeah, I guess we only haveabout thirty seconds left here, Ryan,
But do the Avalanche now have controlof the series. Do you think momentum
has swung their way and everything's headedin the Avalanche's favor of the rest of
the way Here I do not thinkthat. I do not think that this
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is a secure and safe series forthe Avalanche at this point in time.
I expect enormous things out of Seattlein their first home playoff game in franchise
history. The building is going tobe insane. They're going to be jacked
up, and they know that theycan beat this Valanche team. I think
that that element of doubt can doa lot. You know, we saw
what happened to Philip Brubauer in theplast with the Avalanche a couple of years
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ago, when that doubt crept in, when he was suddenly human and not
superhuman. You know, cracks inthe armor, cracks in the wall.
I mean, they were feeling highfor a second there, right, They
thought they were going back to Seattlewith control of the series, and in
a forty eight second span, ruinedeverything about about that and planted the seat
of doubt in their minds. Andhere come They're defending champions with speed and
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vigor, I think is what Seattle'sthinking. But at the same time,
they clearly know that they can skatewith these guys. Right, They've done
it all regular season, They've doneit for four out of the six periods
so far this series, so inmy mind, they still have control,
they still have all the confidence theyneed to beat the Avalanche. So let's
get Jesse Montano's opinion on the otherside of the break here and see how
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the vibe is. Vibe check vibecheck from Seattle here with Jesse of DMBR,
So stick around through the break hereon the Hockey Show JJ Jarez,
Ryan Bolding, We're having some funtoday. Playoff style, playoff, Baby
Danny Baby behind the gus. We'llbe right back. Stop right now.
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It's sixteen minutes past the big hour, is head right, mister scream great,
good ste I think people are gettingreally cranked. We welcome back Colorado's
biggest and best live hockey radio show. Jjjurs, Ryan Bolding. We're heading
to the man Advantage power Play One. Got Jesse Montano on the phone from
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Seattle. I know morning skates justgetting underway, Jesse, So thank you
for taking the time to hang outwith us and give us some updates.
I noticed, I saw, Isaw on Twitter, and I see we're
back to normal. It's a daythat ends in Why so Cogliano is on
the ice first, does he jumpback in the lineup with that, look
at the thing. Let me letme give you a two part here.
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Look at the line combination changes thatwe saw from game two and how I
guess how it seemed to have worked. Are you a little bit hesitant to
throw in a whole other mixture whenit seems like they've found the right recipe.
I think if you're pulling a guylike in with all due respect to
Ben Myers, I think if you'repulling a guy like Ben Meyers out of
the lineup for a guy like AndrewCogliano, even though you, to your
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point JJ had a good response,you won the game. I think that's
a trade off you're fine with making. Again, that's nothing against Ben Myers,
and I even think he was necessarilybad in the last game. Andrew
Cogliano just brings just a completely differentelement to the game for them. Uh
just you know, so hard toplay against, and we know, you
know, he kills penalties, heblocked shots, He does all the stuff
that you need guys doing in theplayoffs, especially when you're playing against a
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team the way that Seattle is playing. And I think you just, uh,
you know, I think you're finallymaking that change even though to your
point went well for game two.If you're getting a guy like COG's back,
if he's available, which we won'tfind out here for sure until probably
another thirty minutes. We talked toJared, if he's available, I think
you plug him back in, youknow, over a guy like Ben Myers.
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We know Gabriel Ands gugs out forthe playoffs, he's been out for
the season. We don't know whenhe's coming back. He's on the trip,
and he is on the ice forsome reason here in Seattle. What
does that do to this team justhaving I know we've had conversations about what
he brings as a presence, butwhat do you see this doing for this
Avalanche team just having him out there? Real reg Dunlap vibes there. Yeah.
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Well, so it's interesting because throughboth of the first two games,
I mean, like you guys knowyou've been in the room. They've talked
a lot about the fact that thatGabe is, you know, very vocal
right now during intermissions, you know, talking to guys in the locker room
talking about what he sees. AndI thought it was really interesting how Jared
Bednar after Game two talked about it'snice to have a guy like that who's
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maybe not as emotionally invested in thegame because he's not actually out there,
you know, competing, he's noton the bench. He kind of can
have a little bit of a differentperspective, maybe seat things a little bit
more clearly. I think it makesa huge difference. And you know,
him being out here on the ice, obviously you know he's not gonna play,
but I think just seeing him outhere and brings a little bit more
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normalcy, and it just helped himstay more engaged with the team and more
in tune with how they're feeling,what they're saying, what they're seeing.
I was actually thinking about it walkingover to the rink this morning. That
was his shot that just hit theglass in front of me. If you
guys heard it. I was thinkingabout it walking over. I said,
wouldn't that end up just being thiscrazy storyline if the Avs were able to
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go on any kind of run,whether they you know, win it again
or just are able to go acouple round seeds. I just think it's
gonna be a really interesting storyline thatyou know, injured Captain Gave Landiscott is
so valuable to this team. Thatpurely just his presence, just him being
in the locker room. You know, it was maybe enough to to will
this team through a couple of rounds. When he jumped out here this morning,
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I honestly I was kind of likehalf paying attention. I thought it
was Miko, but then he youknow, he took a shot and I
said that wasn't Miko's falter, andI looked up and realized it was Gabe.
So interesting to see him out here. H you know, they brought
him on the trip, so mightas well get some repsident, right,
But no, I think it's beenhuge. I think it's been huge having
him around. And you know,we all talked about them not having him
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in this playoff run isn't just adetriment on the ice, but it's it's
what he brings off the ice,for him being around and him just acting
as much as he can. Likeone of the guys I think is um.
I don't think it's anything to turnyour nose up at. It's funny
because last year in the playoffs,we remember he didn't participate in a single
morning skate. Maybe this year withoutparticipating in a single game, he's at
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all the morning skates and he Idon't know what's what do you think that
vibe is like? Is Jared Bednar? You know? Because that stood out
to me too, the point abouthe's less emotional, he can bring a
different message to the locker room.I'm picturing suddenly Jared Bednar in the locker
room being all emotional and riled upand maybe yelling at somebody in Gabe Landiscott
coming to play good cop and say, hey, calm down, Betsy,
I got this. You guys needto calm down. So it's funny that
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this is all a storyline that's that'scoming up, because I don't think it's
that weird, right I think acaptain hanging out in the locker room,
Yeah, he's gonna do that asplayoffs, he wants to support his team.
But we look a little bit deeperand we know Gabe Landi Scott has
such a huge presence with this teamand you know, almost transcends the team
as a whole at times that it'ssuddenly a story. I had no question
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there. I just wanted to commentthat. So my question to you,
Jesse after you, I know yougot there early yesterday morning, you had
some chance to experience Seattle the citya little bit. I know here in
downtown, you know, you walkLarramour Street, you got the Avalanche Jersey's
hanging up over the road, yougot Nuggets banners all over the city.
What's that vibe like in Seattle?What's the energy? Is there a palpable
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playoff feel to the city right now? So, you know, not not
a ton that I saw, behonest. I have a great friend that
lives here in Seattle, so I'llbe able to spend some time with them.
Yesterday and we kind of did moreof the uh like outside the city
stuff. So today was really kindof my first morning uh walking through the
you know, the streets of Seattlehere and you can definitely feel it.
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There's a lot of you know,I guess Seattle cracking playoff signage. I
don't know the best way to putthat, but kind of like when we're
talking about there, you know,around lam Or, a lot of banners,
a lot of you know, businessesthat have uh, you know,
whether it be posters of of players, you know, Maddie Beniers, you're
just the logo, the playoffs sloganI've seen on quite a few places so
you know, I definitely do thinkthere's a bit of buzz. I gotta
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get out of air of slay hereU showing up a little late to the
morning skate wind him to show up. Ask him when he's going to post
my story on the website. I'llu But yeah, you know, so
it's I don't want I don't wantto like put in the townty Seattle or
you know, city Seattle on lastyear. I haven't seen a ton but
again, i haven't done a tonof exploring. I'm definitely gonna go walk
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around finding some food and stuff thisafternoon. But uh, you know,
talking to some of the local mediahere, old friend Ryan Clark, who
now writes national stories for ESPN,like it's an expensive ticket to get in
this building tonight. Seattle's a greatsports town, and they understand the moment
they understand that this is the firstplayoff game, Uh you know in NHL
history played and being played here,I guess not in NHIL history, but
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in cracking history being played here atthe arena. There's definitely a buzz like
people are ready for this game tobeing going, and I'm expecting a pretty
uh you know, Bonker's atmosphere oncethe game gets going tonight. Um.
But yeah, so I'm anxious tosee you know, to your question,
JJ, just how much the cityis in breaking? So I remember that
was something about Vegas that stood outso much to me that first year was
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just that the city was immediately justdie hard, you know, for for
everything, and every every business hadstuff in the windows, and bars had
all kinds of watch parties and allthat stuff. So I'm anxious to see
what all what all I see becauseright now I'll just see a bunch of
I think that signs and posters andit's great. But I know there's a
ton of passionate fans out here.What is there? What is their playoffs
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slogan? Uh? The Legend awakenshi our way, the hard way or
whatever it is here, our wayor the highway Wait, something like that.
Yeah, No, it's it's uhcool logo they got on all the
towels out here, and uh yeahno, Like I said, I'm I'm
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I'm looking forward to the game presentationtonight. Definitely grab me one of those
towels. I'm a playoff towel collector. I like that, are you?
I like to collect them a littlebit. Uh, see what I can
do, Jesse, I'm kind ofgoing back. I mean, so Jared
Bednar yesterday basically said they'd be goingoptional skates from here on out, you
know, whether it's an off dayor a day on the ice. So
we're not gonna get like super goodlooks at everybody um and their state.
(21:52):
A lot of that is driven byBednar himself, with some infut input from
the players. But I'm curious,you know how you've thought certain guys have
handled the first two games, inparticular Darrenhelm. I know we talked about
Andrew Cogliano, what he brings.It seems like if Darrenhelm can stay healthy,
he just brings enough of the nextlevel over a guy like Ben Myers
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that it makes a difference to thisteam totally. I mean it was.
It was funny because that first day, I believe it was morning skate for
game one, and we talked toDarrenhelm, and you know, he just
kind of gave like this real likehey, look I'm trying to get ready,
I'm trying to push through this.And so when he went in for
Game two, I actually had thethought I was like, man, does
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he actually help you there. Butthen you see him play, and to
your point, right, it's justlike he's just his presence and just him
being there and his experience and justhow I don't know if I want to
say you too, having to rampup at this time of year he is.
But I think when you look atthis ABS roster and it's clearly nowhere
near as deep as it was lastyear, you need guys like that,
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you know. You you need guyslike Darren Helm who aren't going to be
overwhelmed by the moment, you know, who are comfortable in these games when
when the checking gets a little bittight, the pace picks up a little
bit. And that's part of thereason why going back to the very first
question about Andrew Coggliano, why Ithink plugging him back in on a night
like tonight, even if he's notquite a one hundred percent, I think
it makes sense and I think it'sthe right move because you need that experience
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when you don't have his beating theteam I needed last year, playing against
a team that's got great depth,you need guys like that to be able
to contribute in any way they canin the bottom six. So we saw
Darren Helm getting loose this morning.He dives me on the ice. I'm
expecting him to go again tonight.I have a feeling that we're going to
see a reuniting of the line lastyear, the fourth line last year that
(23:47):
was so good for the av ofCogliano, Helm O'Connor, and I think
that's something that Jared Beynar is gonnathat's his safety blinker, right. He
likes one to that line. Hedoes, he can trust them, and
I think he's anxious to get allthree of those guys back put together.
I'm gonna change gears here just alittle just turn the turn the volume knob
just a little bit here too.What we saw in Game one, in
(24:11):
the first period of Game two,how concerning is that in regards to the
overall state of this team in thispostseason, Like that's it's kind of uncharacteristic.
I thought, in particular, thefirst period of Game two was uncharacteristically
bad hockey. Look, you wouldnever get these guys to admit this,
(24:33):
and they would maybe even be offendedat the notion of it, but you
just won't convince you it through thosefirst four periods of hockey. I think
Seattle cockey guys off guard. Ithink that they were maybe expecting Seattle to,
you know, have just so muchrespect for them that they were going
to kind of, hey, we'rejust happy to be here, you know,
kind of roll over. You know, it's fun to be involved in
some playoff games. And I thinkthe ads are maybe you know, selling
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themselves a little bit there in gameone, got smacked, you know,
punch in the face, and again, I just think that maybe they were
expecting, oh, well, we'llcome out and we'll just as long as
we skate hard in the first fewminutes, they'll kind of they'll kind of
just go away for us, andSeattle'll send the message that they are not
going away. And the Avs hadto crank it up to you know,
be able to pull out a winthere last night or two nights to go.
(25:18):
Excuse me. I think those firsttwo games were a bit of a
wake up call for them. I'mexpecting a much better game tonight. You
know. I haven't had necessarily ahuge issue with the effort for the Avs.
I think they've skated hard, butto those first four periods, it
was just it was just bad hockey. It was just ugly, sloppy,
bad decision making, and like Isaid, I think that they were maybe
(25:41):
expecting something a little bit easier comingout of the gate, and when they
didn't get that, they didn't lookprepare for it. You you hope,
and I do think that they're readyfor it now. They know that they're
not going away, they're gonna havethe energy of their crowd behind them.
The Avs been a great road teamnow for two season, even going back
to last Playoffs nine and one.On the road, you wonder, is
(26:03):
there maybe just a little bit lesspressure, you know, when you're you're
not at home and you can kindof just focus on playing the game.
It's gonna be interesting because you know, they can't have another showing like they
did in Game one or in thatfirst period. They just can't. Being
here on the road. If you'regonna get behind like that, you know
(26:25):
you're gonna be in trouble. Jesse, I'm gonna preface this question was saying,
I understand some teams have played moreplayoff games so far than others,
but you look at the top ofthe stat page right now and you've got
Leon Drei Sidle with six points.Mitch Marner was six points, Adam Fox
was six points, and Zakopatar withfive. Then you scroll all the way
to the bottom. They are essentiallyninety eight guys in this playoffs with more
(26:47):
points than Miko rantonin, Nathan McKinnonand Cale mccar. Each of those guys
stuck at one point. I guesshow important is it for this Colorado Avalanche
team to have one of those threeguys step up, had a couple of
points to the score sheet and worktheir way up the overall NHL statistics page
here. So it's funny, saidAge or Jenny. I was looking at
(27:08):
that this morning and I had thesame thought. I was like, Wow,
that's that's crazy. The As don'thave any guys like anywhere near that.
Look, I think the Avs arein a tighter playoff series and some
of these other teams, right,I think they are. Regardless of win
or loss, I think these aregonna be low scoring games. Uh.
You know, Seattle's playing a reallytight defensive structure. They're not giving the
(27:30):
As a lot of time in space. They're in passing lanes, they're in
shooting lanes. So I don't necessarilyknow about working their way up the overall
scoring list. But like you're onehundred percent right we talked about coming into
this series, Seattle's got the depth. The Avs by a mile, have
the high end talent by ten mileshalf the high end talent. You need
(27:51):
that high end talent you start showingthrough. You need Nathan McKinnon, Miko
Ranson and Tilma car you know,valnd the shooting. You need those guys
start taking over the game. Andthat's where you're gonna draw separation between yourselves
and n Seattle. And just forthe record, just because he came down
the slot and just fire really enoughshot, Larzeller is out here flying around,
(28:11):
looks totally fine. A little bitof a question mark AfterAll. But
you need that top end talent tocome through. You you need by the
time the Avs head back to Denver, you need Nathan McKinnon, Ko Ranson
in four or five points in thisseries each. You need Kilmacar three or
(28:32):
five points. Like, you justneed those top guys to start taking over
because that's where the Avs are supposedto have the advantage in this matchup,
right, You're supposed to have thehigh end talent. You need that to
start showing through a bit, andyou need them to start producing again.
I don't think that when the firstround ends, the Avs will have any
guys at the top of the pointsstandings NHL wise, because I think this
is gonna be a tighter series andwhat you're seeing in other parts of the
(28:55):
league, I mean Toronto Tampa twoseven goal blow out, you know,
back to back, each team's tradingblowouts. I just don't think you're necessarily
going to get that in this series. Um, but you need you need
the top of your line up tostart producing, no question about it.
You gotta be careful when you sayblowouts around JJ, it means entirely something
different these days. What do youthink of blowout? Is JJ? I
(29:18):
don't I don't get it. Idon't follow Ryan's weird must we must not
change diapers yet? Oh yeah,oh okay, okay, okay, all
right, yeah blowout? How dareyou almost call him aj? All?
I was hoping neither of you caughtthat, but I'm sure you both did.
It's hey, I just I wassuch a big fan of He's aj
(29:40):
I'm JJ. I just always thoughtit worked so well on the original bs
N POT so I just it's stillstuck in my brain. Sometimes sometimes I
call Ryan Arrof that's what He's justtrying to point that out. Jesse,
the difference between us as I washere on time. Thanks so true.
Thanks for spending some time with us. Before we let you go. Give
us a quick prediction. What doyou think the Avalanche do tonight? Is
(30:00):
this one where they control momentum,they build off of what happened in game
two? Or does Seattle continue togive him fits. I'm gonna say four
to one. I think the Avstake this one. I think you're gonna
have to weather a storm early.You're gonna need to lean on Alexander Georgiev
and you're gonna your defensive details hasto be on points tonight. They will
have to be on point tonight fromthe opening puck drop. I think this
(30:22):
crowd is going to be going nuts. I think the team is gonna feed
off fit and look, I thinkthey are feeling confident, and why shouldn't
they should be After the two gamesin Denver, you know, I think
they are in a big like.You know, we can hang with these
guys, We can beat these guys. Mode. You're gonna have to weather
a storm, but I think theApps will need to. I think they'll
push back early after kind of gettingthrough that, and I think they'll be
able to take us one. Yeah, I think four to one. Right
(30:45):
on, Get back to morning skate. Thanks again for hanging out with us,
and we'll talk to you soon.Appreciate you boys, Talk to you
soon. Do you have it?Jesse Montana of d MVR, Oh is
the pleasure. He's feeling good aboutthe Avs. He's feeling high. I
don't. I don't know if there'sbeen enough for me to call a four
to one victory out there yet though, But if it starts at the goaltending
that, like he just brought up, the goaltending is where the Avalanche have
(31:06):
the upper hand and they haven't beenable to use that yet. I feel
like he maybe overlooking the concern thatwas the first game in the third,
you know, like he's happy tosay that they figured it out and they're
good to go. But I don'tknow, you know, if if that
is a If consistency is an issue, which it has been at points this
season, I'm less confident. Ilove that. Thanks for joining the Hockey
(31:30):
Show. You're wrong, though,Jesse. Yeah, no, he made
a lot of good points. Ohall right, Well that'll do it.
We'll be right back. We're gonnabreak into the rest of the league and
all the other playoff series going around, because there are seven other ones going
on it, Ryan, so stickthrough the break. Does the Hockey Show?
Jjjurrez, Ryan Bolding, Danny BaileyMamile High Sports. Yeah, what
(32:09):
go Colorado? Welcome back? Thisis the Hockey Show. Danny's got snow
on the mind. I'm sure alot of people here in Colorado are are
spending the day up in the mountains. I'm sure they had to drive six
and a half hours just to getthere. But hey, they might be
there, or they might be gettingclose to there. I am jealous.
(32:34):
I'm jealous of everybody on the beachin Miami right now because it's eighty five
degrees over there. Here we arein the snowy weather. Hm. Ryan,
that's me. Have you ever donekaraoke? Yeah? I like to
do rid hot chili pepper songs becauseI feel like I have the same key
as the chili peppers, and there'sso much gibberish going on that if you
mess up the words, no oneknows. Yeah, yeah, yes,
(32:57):
I don't know. Um, SoI want to look at the red to
the League here, and of coursewe only have twelve minutes per segment,
so we gotta jam pack all sevenother series into this segment. So I'm
I got my stop watch out here. We're gonna spend two minutes on each
series so that way we don't driveDanny Bailey crazy. And he doesn't give
me this the death stare of youguys need to get to break now,
(33:17):
just kidding. He doesn't do that. He's chill. He's a cool guy.
Um, so let's get it going. Ryan. Actually, Danny,
can you even hit us with maybesome background tunes on this one? Almost
like a game show feel to it. You're just springing it on him.
I just throwing it on but he'son his toes. That's what makes him
the greatest jeep song. Where thisis eating into our twelve minute it doesn't
need to be Jeopardy. I justwant some some some tunes in the back.
(33:40):
So we'll wait with radio silence untilhe gets second. He's on top
of it. Here we go.Yeah cool. I like this vibe too.
We welcome into the Hockey shows.Hockey look around On the NHL Playoffs
twenty twenty three, Ryan Bolding theNew York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
We talked about a little bit atthe beginning of the show, but Rangers
up to nothing heading back to MSGtoday. I know I said this was
(34:04):
maybe the hardest series for me topick. It definitely was in the East.
I'd say also Minnesota and Dallas inthe West hard series to pick,
right. These two teams match uppretty well. A lot of hatred historically,
you love to see it. I'msure it's awesome to be a fan
and a part of this. ButI think that the Rangers have the edge
in the talent, the veteran talent. JJ hasn't even started his time er
yet on this first question, andI think the goaltending in New York is
(34:29):
far better. In fact, Ithink Vanniicek is a good goalie, right,
I'm saying it. I can't believeWashington got rid of him. He's
had a great year for New Jersey. He's out a Kia Schmidt might be
the starter tonight hit the streets.I don't know what to think about that,
but I think I trust in LindyBrough I remember early on in the
season, I came on this showand I said, man, the Devils
(34:50):
have a great backup goaltender. Idon't know his first name, but his
last name is Schmid, Kiera.Schmid is a quality goaltender as well.
Does he match up to Strasterkin?Absolutely not. You have goalie controversy in
the playoffs. You're a disaster.Rangers are taking it tonight. Here's a
side note. I talked to KeithKincaide yesterday. He backed up as the
third goalie for the Rangers when theywent to the Eastern Conference final last year.
(35:12):
I asked him, you know,can you did you see this out
of Georgiev at the time? Hesaid he did obviously. I said,
nobody is going to steal the thronefrom Shasterkin there, which is no surprise.
Why Georgiev's with the Avalanche. Nextstarts the timer. That was fun.
Yeah, well, we'll try tobetter on this one. All right,
Let's get to Carolina versus New Yorkanother series we dabbled into a little
bit, but not really too much. Low scoring series on paper, right,
(35:37):
and just a defensive matchup that kindof rocks you to sleep. To
be honest. Yeah, this isa series where you were worried when who
was it that got hurt? Specialnikovgot hurt for Caroline and you're like,
oh no, that's a big componentof their offense. Hasn't necessarily been an
issue. Yesterday I said out loud, I don't know that the Islanders can
steal a game in this series,and then they did that at home.
(36:00):
I mean, when you got aguy like Matt Martin sniping shots, things
are going your way. Finished fiveto one, like you mentioned, I
think you know some interesting moments.Marty Nikash, I can't ever say his
name right, gets hit into thebench. Niches gets hit into the bench.
My favorite part of that whole scenariowas Simon Varlamov standing there like should
(36:22):
I help him up? I'm notgonna. I don't know what to do.
And then he punched somebody in theface on the Islanders bend and then
Varley shoves him off the boards ashe's jumping. Is kind of like a
I don't know what to do withmy hands here a moment. All right,
let's get to Boston versus Florida.I love the energy you're bringing though
here. I love it. Let'sgo Boston versus Florida, Boston versus Florida.
(36:43):
That's it. You got nothing forme anyway. Lenas Olmark is a
game time decision for Game four.He's apparently battling something other than the stomach
flu that's going around. I'm waitingfor the stomach flu to crop up with
the Florida Panthers. It seems likelythat they would not contract what's going around
the Boston room at some point inthis series. I was very impressed with
(37:06):
Florida's win in Game two. Ithought that this team might get folded over
itself multiple times in this series,but Bosta came out and slapped them around
in the next game. I justdon't know that Florida has enough to keep
up with it. I've really lovedwhat I've seen out of Alex Lion in
this series. He has had somegas. He had a goal last night,
go off of his glove again intothe net. You saw Babrowski and
(37:28):
at the end of the game.I still don't know that you give Bobrowski
any starts here. Yeah, notenough firepower from the Florida Panthers. There's
my snippet for you. Let's getto Toronto vers Tampa Bay. Of course,
everybody in the Toronto area was shockedand in tears after game one and
saying, oh no, here wego again. It feels like Toronto has
righted the ship a little bit.The game two. Where are we at
(37:49):
will we played two games? Yeah? Game two, they came out and
obliterated Tampa. I mean, Tampawas having issues with fans. Guys were
getting kicked out of the penalty boxbecause fans were given them too much of
a hard time. Like that's whatyou expected out of Toronto in game one,
but you knew that they were goingto lose game one. It's easy
to say in hindsight, but withall of the pressure and the expectations,
(38:12):
and you haven't made it out ofthe first round, and you know,
like my entire lifetime, you knewthat was going to happen, right,
And we've seen it time and timeagain. We talked about not counting out
the Tampa Bay lightning. I stillcan't. I still can't do it.
I picked Toronto to win today,but I don't feel good about it fair
enough. I think it's a spoton analysis. Let's get to Minnesota VERSU.
(38:32):
Dallas. I think this has beenthe most physical series, maybe the
biggest question mark of nobody knows who'sgoing to win this game and even more
so the series. Well or yeah, win the series, but even more
so, this is who the Avalanchewill face. The winner of this series
will play the Avalanche if they getout of this round, and that's gonna
be a physical series as well.So I knew everybody's happy that the Avalanche
(38:53):
aren't playing either of these teams currently, especially after five periods, four periods
of hockey that we've seen from theAvalanche so far. We've had two good
periods, but you know, Idon't know that them beating each other to
death is really going to hurt thesetwo teams coming out of this. Like
(39:13):
the winner of this series is gonnacome out of here juice up. They're
gonna come out of here bruised up, but vulcanized like a hockey puck.
Like it's it's just gonna be bodiesare just gonna be scaps. It's gonna
be like extra armor. These guysare gonna tear it up. I didn't
think Dean Evison's idea of going toMark Andre Fleury was the right move Gustufson
played so well in that game.I didn't think he deserved to be taken
(39:36):
out. And he's back and hewon. I mean, I think there's
some solace from Minnesota that now thatdecision has been made, the experiment has
already been done. You can headthe rest of the playoffs with Gustus.
Gustison has been solid. You wantto see a little more out of Jake
Ottinger. This is the issue I'vehad with Dallas for a while, and
that is they're two different teams.There are a team that scores goals and
a team that does not, andwhen they don't score goals, they don't
(39:59):
win. So you're you're looking tosay, Dallas, where is all the
firepower you had? You gotta getRobertson going more right. You're getting a
hat trick out of rupe hints.The guy can't carry the team on his
own. Breaking news. You gottascore goals to win hockey games, folks.
That brings us to the Vegas GoldenKnights versus the Winnipeg Jets. This
was an interesting series because I thoughtit was because of all the Canadian pundits,
(40:20):
but so many people coming in thisseries picking the Winnipeg Jets. And
here we are, Winnig Jets puttingup pretty decent fight. Like I said
today, my betting app had WinnipegI think at plus one or at at
minus one hundred to win tonight's game, which is a bit shocking to me.
I did not expect the Jets towin a game in this series.
I think I picked it in sixjust to be generous in my bracket.
(40:43):
But the way that Winnipeg sort ofbacked into the playoffs, you know,
they won some big games, butthey lost some big games. I did
not expect this from them. NickolaiEilers not playing in the game today,
that's a big loss for this team. On the other hand, Mark Stone
returns from the grave. The manliterally had two back surgeries in less than
two years. You're wondering is heever gonna play again? Just shows up
(41:06):
ready to go in the playoffs.I know fans are mad because they think
it's some LTIR stick going on.I don't believe it. I just think
the guy is an animal. Lookit's the way he celebrated that goal.
He's an elite talent. There's nostick. He's their captain, right and
he played like twenty three minutes inthe first gay back like, it's I
don't know what to think, it'sunbelievable. It's marks their own ladies and
gentleman. Yep, that's a seriesthat you gotta keep your eye on for
(41:29):
sure. And then somehow they gotthe two o'clock slot today. It makes
no sense. Oh, don't evenget me started. Finally, my favorite
series. The reason why because Iget to be the Kermit the frog in
the meme drinking my tea while therest of you picked Edmonton to go to
the Western Conference Final. Edmonton versusLa are the La King's the sleeper of
this year's playoffs. I'm starting tofeel like they were. And I only
(41:52):
say that because a lot of peoplepicked Edmonton to go the final. I
didn't want to do it, butI did it because I didn't think that
the Avalanche could physically withstand the prolongedphysicality of the postseason. I stand by
that. But Edmonton is giving mea little bit of a scare. I
still think they're going to pull itout in the long run. But the
Kings are so good defensively, likeif you can keep Connor McDavid off the
(42:15):
score sheet, which isn't easy todo, and they haven't done a lot,
but I mean this is a gamebreaker guy, right, Connor McDavid
should have the ability to win thesegames for Edmonton. It isn't happening and
the hatred is amping up. Yousaw some animosity between Evander Kane and Drew
Dowdy last night. There's controversy didTabalardi touch that puck with a high stick.
(42:35):
The more that I watch the trajectory, the physics of the flipping puck
in as tight of a replay asI can find it, I think it
was a high stick. But Idon't know. You know, this series
has all of the elements. It'sgot some hatred, it's got physicality,
it's got controversy. It's fun towatch. It's a pity that it's always
the latest of late games, butyeah, this is the one. LA
(42:57):
has one thing to do to winthis series, and that's stay out of
the box. Edmonton scored four powerplay goals already in the three games this
year, and that's pretty much allConnor McDavid has been able to contribute is
powerplay points. LA. LA scoredten fifteen seconds into a power play last
night too. I mean, yeah, you don't want to. One thing
you really don't want to do istake any four on four opportunities. When
(43:21):
this team has dry, Sidle andMcDavid out there together four on four,
there's too much ice. These guysare magic. They're wizards. There you
have it, They're wizards. Harry, take a deep breath. Now we
did it. He made it,trusted it. Way to go. Love
the energy. We did everything ontime, and we got through every single
series. There's not one stone weleft unturned here on The Hockey Show as
we head into break. So umyeah, it's fun show. Fun show
(43:45):
we're having today. Playoff energy,still bringing it time forgot to put the
stay in between us like we normallydo four plaffs. But we'll be back
for the mixed back skate. Getover a couple more topics. Little I'm
a dumbass. It hurts uh,all right, this is the Hockey Show
Jjjre has rival and Danny Bailey.We'll be right back stores play hockey and
(44:22):
I forn a kate because is thetwo most fun things in cold weather.
Boy, do we have cold weatherhere today? Hopefully you're doing one of
those two things. Just keep yourselfwarm and entertained. I guess because you're
not golfing, you might be stuckin traffic driving to the mountains, so
you can't play hockey doing that.You got you gotta make up your mind
(44:42):
here. But welcome to the mixedbacks Hate. This is the Hockey Show.
This is the last section of theshow where if I was a listener,
I'd probably tune out at this point, after all the energy I brought
in the last segment. That's true. You're like that they gotta finish strong,
right, They're like, I'm gonnawatching just to see if he passes
out and dies. Heart just explodes. I think the conversation in the happening
(45:04):
in the NHL Playoffs that caught theeye of everyone, not just hockey fans,
but sports fans all around was MorganBaron of the Winnipeg Jets catching a
skate to the face and receiving seventyfive stitches. But wait, it doesn't
stop there. The crazy MF returnedto the game, just slapped a cage
on and said, I'm finishing thisplayoff game. I don't care how many
stitches I got in my face.Amazing stuff, I mean, just thoughts
(45:30):
feeling. It feels like every yearthis is the time where that tired meme
comes out of insert x hockey playerinjury and insert Lebron James holding his leg
down on the ground, and it'slike hockey players they literally died and then
came back and finished their shift.And basketball players just looked at it and
were like, load management, Ineed a night off. And it was
(45:52):
funny ten years ago. Ten yearsago, it's not funny anymore. It's
tired. But rest if Morgan Baron. I mean, it wasn't like a
skate like slice, like I'm cuttingfruit here. It wasn't one of those.
It wasn't like the cut that cutGabriel Landskog's leg. You know,
he fell face first onto a skate. It's like it's like, I don't
(46:17):
know, a horror movie right wheresomebody's like knife is coming at somebody's eye
or something. He had to watchhis face come down on the goalie skate
and it just cut his face.I remember being at the game where Taylor
Hall got hit behind the Avalanche netand cut Ryan o'burn's cheek, and his
(46:37):
cheek was like flapping and it wasa PK and he stayed out for the
entire PK and I was club levelbehind the net and you could see him
bleeding all over the ice. That'show much he was bleeding. You could
see it the entire time he's outthere. I think he ended up with
like nineties stitches. It's crazy.I know this is gonna rattle hockey pierist
out there, and I'm one ofthem. But you know what could have
(46:58):
completely prevented that whole scenario, RollerBlizz the freaking cage that he put on
after the injury. Maybe if youput it on before the injury, Bull,
you don't have to get seventy fivestitches. But hey, that's just
my opinion. I know pro playersare never gonna get on board with cages.
You never know completely. But theNHL has mandate advisors and there I
believe four players who are grandfathered intothat who don't have to wear them.
(47:22):
Jamie benn is one, Ryan O'Reillyis another. I have no idea on
the other two, but that iscrazier to me then wearing a visor,
like having nothing there to protect yourface at some point, why there's zero
justification like oh it's gonna change mygame or how I see the game.
It's not you know what will changethe way you see a game? A
(47:43):
skate to the eyeball, Yeah,no eyes will change how you see hockey.
Also, players are just so setin their ways with their gear.
Like you look around the Avalanche lockerroom, there is the gnarliest, grossest,
shaggiest stuff hanging from people's stalls.I had no idea until this year
I start to paying attention. Ofcourse, the pros go through gloves and
sticks and helmets, but the undergearthey you could tell some of those guys
(48:06):
have had it for years. Didsome of them have companies that don't even
exist in the hockey world anymore.You see, I think Eric Johnson's shoulder
pads are Rebok. Rebok doesn't makehockey equipment. Any of my favorite McDavid's
socks. There's a picture that Ithink the NHL posted of Connor McDavid's socks.
There cutproof socks. They have holesin him, his big toes like
sticking out of him. He justkeeps wearing them. Why, I'm sure
(48:29):
he'd be just as good of aplayer in fresh socks. And those are
the first guys a bit like I'mnot superstitious. You're like, yeah,
well, then why are you usingyour socks from Cooper nineteen eighty three.
Cooper was my first hockey stick brand. You cut deep with that one.
Will Farrell attends yesterday's LA King's Game. Of course, it was in La
(48:49):
not no longer the Staple Center,the Crypto dot Com Center or stadium,
something like that. But Will Farrellhad his face painted right. I don't
know if that was an attempt todisguise himself a little bit or just truly
genuinely showing how big of an lA King's fan he is, because he
is. I have so many thoughtsabout this. The first is I love
that he just is passionate. Youknow. I feel like there's a propensity
for celebrities at events to be like, I'm a celebrity and up here and
(49:13):
I buttoned up and I'm tight,and I gotta look good and smile for
the camera and do the Queen wave. But I did the blue but I
need a blow but oh U.And then there's Will Ferrell, who has
no problem making an ass out ofhimself, and he face painted himself.
He looked like a checkered flag froma NASCAR raise. But also nightmare fuel
(49:34):
like the blacks. He had likewhiten and black checkers on his face,
but his eyes were blacked out aslike straight nightmare fuel. Well done,
hilarious. I mean, the manis probably willing this team into winning right
now. It's a good thing headded the white paint in there too,
right, How how bad would thathave been had he not? If it
was just like skin and black boxes. Oh no, just just straight black
(49:58):
paint. Oh yeah, that wouldhave been probably not good. The only
Robert Downey Jr. Can do thatone the one conversation that I wanted to
have today. You kind of hintedat it in the last segment there,
and that's the game time the puckdrop starts. They're absolutely absurd, especially
in Game one where we're sitting herein Colorado for an eight o'clock puck drop.
(50:19):
Meanwhile, Las Vegas has a seventhirty puck drop our time, which
is six thirty Las Vegas time.So everybody in the entire playoffs gets to
have a decent puck time puck droptime at one point or another, except
for your Colorado Avalanche. Well,you know, poop rolls downhill and the
time zones run east to west,so I don't have a problem with the
(50:40):
eastern teams getting earlier start times.But it's weird on a Saturday for Vegas
to start at two and the Avalancheand crack In to start again at eight,
Like, why does that need tobe a seven pm start time in
Seattle? Why can't it be atthree o'clock? Like, what's give us
some early games? Yeah, Nuggetsstarted at eight eight o'clock as well.
(51:01):
We're not on the West coast,We're closer to the Central time zone than
anything. They should just play gamesin the morning. Oh, that'd be
great. Um. Lastly, Bryan, it's Saturday night playoff hockey eight o'clock
start for your Colorado Avalanche. What'syour setup? How are you watching tonight's
game? What? What do youdo to bring these Saturday vibes to your
(51:22):
playoff hockey? Right now, Ithink I'm gonna go home and nap for
two to three hours that I'm probablygonna getting well. I can't nap for
two three hours because there's a gameon in an hour, so yardwork is
out of the question. Luckily,I don't have to shovel. I guess
that means video games not original atall. That's all you ever do.
(51:45):
What are you gonna do? Yeah, that's why I thought. That's what
I thought. All right, Well, then to go. I'll crack open
one of my last two smelling saltsand be ready to go. Here we
were plug hockey straight into my veins. I've been I've been mainlining this since
the playoffs started. I'm tired.I am tired. I've had hard iPads,
computer screens, TV. You've gonethe late games going into overtimes.
(52:07):
You've got the Nuggets this night,one double overtime between Minnesota and Dallas.
Why why did you do this tome? Here? I was coming into
this show thinking it's playoffs, We'regonna have a really great show. We're
gonna raise our game to playoff level. And then we had this and then
this is what we did. Ihad a very good third sarcasm. Yeah.
PP two was great for me.I'm sorry you had to watch it
(52:30):
from the bench. I'm just kidding. Had fun. This was a fun
show today, playoff vibes, playoffenergy. So thanks everybody for hanging out
with us. We'll be back nextweek to break down more playoffs and hopefully
bringing that same energy and same vibe, so thanks for hanging out. This
is a hockey show for Ryan.I'm JJ see you later. We out
(53:00):
them the Days Contents Day