Transcript of The Hockey Show: The Cup Is Back Up For Grabs

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The playoffs are here and the Panthers are not in it. We talked to Bill Lindsay about that coming up. This is The Hockey Show.

Mefiwa kulelo obtesalawa hadkuntenu eishinorba into studio.

Uh-uh.

With David Dworka of The Hockey News. Ethan is over there. Rose is still out of country. My name is Roy Bellamy. This is The Hockey Show. The playoffs start tomorrow.

Where's your hat?

I forgot it. I'm not wearing a hat today because, you know, crazy morning. That's what usually happens when you have a child. And I don't know.

That's like saying walking out of the house.

Have a child.

Pants on, though.

Like, I mean, part of the wardrobe. Remember pants? I mean, you know, that'd be a stiff breeze coming up there.

You know, there's a breeze hitting your head, man. What's going on?

Yeah, well, my head is kind of cold.

Yeah.

Yeah. So the playoffs start. As I wrote my— the top of my head, the playoffs start tomorrow. We get our matchups. We are ready to go. We got— we got the Sabers and the Bruins. We got the Lightning and the Canadiens, the Hurricanes, the Senators and the Penguins and the Flyers in the East and in the West. Avalanche-Kings, Stars-Wild, Golden Knights-Mammoth.

I can't believe you can say that with a straight face. We're still getting used to the Mammoth.

That's the NBA TV series.

Yeah, yeah.

That'll be on TruTV. And, uh, Oilers and Ducks. All right, it's prediction time, boys.

I'm excited to see the, the Mamzambo, whatever it's called, in the—

Mamzambo.

The Zammoth.

The Zammoth.

The Mamzambo. The Zammoth.

Guys, I'm fired up. I mean, it's just what we live for, right? It's the Stanley Cup playoffs. I'm fired up about a lot of things. And now we get to do it from a neutral viewership, like the couch. How nice is it to not have to stress?

I mean, a vintage playoff watch for many of the Panther faithful, Panther following down here in South Florida.

The only thing I have to stress is that those damn Tampa Bay Lightning don't win the Stanley Cup.

Why? Who cares?

Because nobody wants to watch them win the Stanley Cup. Like, I don't even think—

they've done it before.

It's another reason to, to bring the rivalry and to get that piss and vinegar going.

Nah, let somebody else do it. Get some new blood in there. That's why I'm excited. That's why I'm excited about the Flyers being in here, even though very surprising team. I'm excited to see the mammoth Senators back for a second year. Like, I think we have a really— the Ducks, of course, our duckies. Are in the playoffs this year.

Your duckies.

Our duckies.

Your duckies.

Everybody's duckies, Roy. So I just think like it's an exciting mix of old school. I mean, not old school, but you know, the teams that have been around for a while. The teams that have been around for a while. You talk Colorado, you talk Tampa, you talk the Wild, the Stars, the Oilers. But I mean, really, if you look in the East, like the Panthers aren't there, the Leafs aren't there, the Rangers aren't there. I didn't even mention the Buffalo Sabers breaking the longest playoff drought in NHL history in the NHL. So I mean, man, this is a fun bracket when you take a look at it here, man. There's a lot of exciting storylines in these playoffs.

I love how he mentions the 3 teams in the East that surprisingly didn't make it just happened to be the 3 bottom teams in the East standings finish. Like, who would have bet that the Panthers, the Leafs, and the Rangers would finish 3-2-1 at the bottom of the standings?

I was reading the Athletic grades this morning each season and they gave the Leafs an F, obviously. Panthers got a D and the Rangers got like a D-. Say again? Panthers get an I. Yeah, I would say so. The Panthers get like a W. Like, they— with, you know, they drop the class halfway through the season, you know what I mean? Like, but, but yeah, uh, I'm really excited to watch a lot of these series. But thank God we— I'm just glad we don't have Kings and Oilers again.

Yeah, uh, we managed to avoid it, to avoid that. So that's, uh, thank God. A 5th year in a row would have definitely pissed everybody off. But it's prediction time, everybody. All right, let's go. What we got in the Buffalo-Boston series? Dave?

Buffalo in 5. Maybe, maybe a sweep, but I'll give them the gentleman's sweep. I love Buffalo. They're rolling going into the playoffs. Uh, Boston, it's not the best defensive team. They got a good goalie, but I just love Buffalo right now. Give me Sabers in 5.

All right, Ethan?

I'm gonna take this Sabers in 6 there. I think the Bruins, they Like credit to them. I thought they would go away. I thought they would die at some point in this season. They haven't. They got 98 points. Like they had a really impressive regular season. I think the Sabers are just going to be overpowering though. That's a wagon. And I sometimes playoff inexperience is a good thing. You don't know any better. Right. And I just think they'll kind of take control of the series. But I could see the Bruins scratching out a few games.

I got the Sabers in 6. That just seems like a St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup season. Model going on there. They got, they got some oomph. They got some momentum going into the playoffs.

What? I like that.

Some oomph. Yeah, they got going into the playoffs. I think they are going to ride that at least, at least maybe to the Eastern Conference Final. We'll see.

I would love to see that city go bonkers. I'm sick of them seeing them go crazy for the Bills. Enough of that already. Sabers, I'm good with.

All right, Tampa and Montreal. David, what do you got?

I got Tampa in 6. It's pretty easy. Tampa's a wagon. They look good. You know, Montreal is a fun team, but yeah, right now Tampa's firing on all cylinders, and I think they're gonna go deep.

Yeah, Ethan, Roy, you go first.

Me?

Yeah, you go first. Well, you guys, I just— I'm here. Yeah, I just— I want to see what you pick here.

All right, I'm going with Tampa in 6. Uh, I don't think Montreal is there yet. They're getting closer, but they're not there yet. And Tampa obviously got the experience. Um, and Kucherov, I think, might actually win the Hart Trophy this year.

He might.

Yeah. So, uh, yeah, Tampa in 6. Ethan, please say Montreal.

I'm gonna take the Habs, guys. I really like this Montreal team. I think they're really good. I, I watched that game a couple nights before the end of the regular season where they played Tampa, and Tampa tried to punch them, and Montreal punched right back and kicked their ass. Like, I think Tampa is going to try and do this tough guy thing that they do And I don't really see it as genuine this year. In the past, I think it was. I think they're kind of trying to pull out some of the skeletons from the old closet. And I think they're trying to do the thing that got them to 2 Stanley Cups. And I just don't think they have it left in them anymore. I think Montreal is arriving. You guys think they're too early? I think last year they were too early. And this is the year that they've really arrived. Cole Caufield is going to announce himself as a star to the general public, I think, in this series. I like Montreal in 6 games.

I think they're next door. Not down the street, next door.

Watching Caulfield and Kucherov go head-to-head for a playoff series the way that they've been putting up points this season, that could be fun.

Yeah, that definitely sounds like fun. Carolina and Ottawa? Go ahead, Dave.

I got Carolina in 7. I do think that Carolina takes out Ottawa. They're a good team. They don't get— maybe, you know, we're kind of rolling our eyes at Carolina over the way the playoffs the last few years, but they've run into Florida a lot. And that's never easy. But no, I think I like what Rod DeBoer does for Carolina. I think they've got a solid roster and I think they take Ottawa in 7. It should be a fun series though.

Ethan.

I'm going to go with the upset here again, boys. This is my other upset pick here. I think the Senators, they have been playing as good of hockey as anybody down the stretch at the end of the season, and they're finally getting saves. And if you look at their underlying metrics throughout the year, they were always one of the top teams in the league. They just weren't getting any saves. Now they're getting some saves. And I think that's going to go a long way for them. I'm going to take the Senators in 6 games. I think last year did a lot of really good, a lot of good for them taking Toronto to 6 last year. I think that they're— that was a lot of good experience for a team that really needed it. And I think they're ready. And I just— I don't trust Carolina come playoff time. I just don't.

Yeah, I got Carolina in 7. Yeah, I think this might be the second closest series of this entire playoffs with Dallas and Minnesota as well.

There's one I think that could go 8 games if they— but we'll get to that.

They can go 9 games.

Yeah.

Right, well, yeah, uh, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. This might be a pick 'em.

That's— this is the series that's gonna go 9 games.

I have no idea where to go here.

I, I've been going back and forth on this. I think this might be the most entertaining series of the first round just because it's, you know, forever rivalry into the same state. They hate each other, uh, very Panthers-Lightning vibey, uh, but I'm gonna ultimately— Ethan, we were talking about this before the show— I'm going with Pittsburgh, the team with the home ice advantage. It's the only edge that that I can see right now because they're fairly evenly matched teams, but Pittsburgh's got the Crosby and the Malkin and the— why can't I think of his name?

Letang.

Thank you.

And Eric Carlson has been fantastic.

No, but I was thinking Chris Letang just in terms of veteran guys.

It's going to come down to goaltending.

Which— Stuart Zinner.

Who knows where this will go, right?

That's the thing, Stuart Zinner has shown us some decent playoff goaltending chops over the last few years, just ups and downs. But Dan Vladar, I think he's been a beast for Philly all season. I really like him. I'm very excited to watch this series, but I'll go Pittsburgh in 7.

Ethan.

Yeah, Jason Vladaar finished 10th in goals saved above expected this year. Nobody really talked about it. He's been fantastic. I'm going to go with the Penguins here. I think the Flyers, like, they're a great story. They're a lot of fun. I love the new blood. They'll steal a game in Philly. Say again?

How many games?

I'm going to go with the Penguins in 5. I think the Flyers will take a game in Philly. But I just think that I just think The Penguins are another team that I thought would go away all year and they never did. And not only did they never do it, they were really, really good at a lot of points. And a lot of people that I trust and that watch a lot more Penguins hockey than I do are saying this team is really good and they're really deep. I like the Pens. I think they're going to score a ton. And I just think it's going to be a little overpowering for a young Flyers team that hasn't been there before. So yeah, I like the Penguins.

You know what we just heard? We just heard Dave Damashek speaking through Ethan's mouth.

It's annoying!

I got the Penguins in 6. There's too much veteran leadership in that one.

That hurts you to say that though.

Yeah, I don't like it at all. Western Conference: we've got Colorado—

Do we need to do this series?

Well, we gotta see how many games.

Oh yeah, so many games.

You guys have seen how many games.

So Dave, go ahead.

Gentleman sweep. Give the Kings one, but yeah, Colorado's insanely good.

Ethan.

They're gonna sweep them right out of here. Colorado in 4.

I got 5. They'll give them one. Just to be nice. Alright, Dallas and Minnesota.

I got the Stars in 7, but I think this could rival the Penguins-Flyers series as entertainment value. These teams are so good. They're both playing really well. They both have great goaltending. They both have deep rosters, very talented blue lines. I'm pumped for this series, but I'm just kind of like the other one. I'm gonna go with the team who's gonna be on home ice in Game 7.

Yeah.

I'm going to take the star power here and I'm going to go with the Wild. I just— whoa, that was a capri— favor Boldy. And, and Ottinger's been up and down. Uh, like 6, because I, I want to say 6 because that would mean Minnesota would win at home, but I think 6 or 7, and I still would pick Minnesota. I just think they have too much star power for, um, Dallas. I think Dallas kind of to me is like Carolina West. So I'm— I don't trust them come playoff time either, so I'm gonna go with the Wild here.

I also am going with Minnesota. I got them in 7. This is, uh, this is gonna be a real—

oh wow, okay.

Uh, but yeah, I mean, it's gonna be an offensive firepower coming from Minnesota, so, uh, we'll see what happens there. Uh, Vegas and Utah.

Give me Vegas in 6, I guess. I'd like to see Utah win. I feel like that would be fun, but I just, you know, Vegas they underachieved for much of the season. It seems like when they replaced— whose name I can't think of— with John Tortorella—

Bruce Cassidy.

Yeah, I'm horrible with names today. Like, oh my God. When Bruce Cassidy was replaced by John Tortorella with about 10 games left in the season or whatever it was, Ethan, it seems like Vegas is playing a lot better. So I'll take Vegas in 6 over the Zambone— the Mamsen— what was it?

The Zamith.

You're—

5 games, man.

I'm on one today.

Um, Ethan?

Yeah, I like the Golden Knights here as well. I really like this team. I think they're really good. I'll get there, Roy. I think they're really good. Um, they're really fun. This core is going to be around for a long time. They're going to be a staple of the Western Conference playoffs now that they've finally arrived. But I just think the Knights have a little too much experience. I'll take the Knights in 5 games.

I also have Vegas in 7. Yeah, it's a I said also in 7. I'm taking them in 7. Uh, yeah, it's gonna be closer than what people are gonna think. I mean, Utah really had a good year, and Vegas is obviously, uh, they have a new coach. We'll see what happens there. Uh, but I think Vegas with— we'll, we'll take it.

Uh, as long as the goaltending holds out, I think Vegas will be okay.

Yeah, we'll definitely see about it.

I want to be clear, that'll be a very tight 5 games. Like, that won't be your usual gentleman sweep. Like, I think all those games will be close. I just think Vegas is kind of getting hot at the right time and their playoff experience will overwhelm. But a bad goaltending performance from Vegas in this series and things could easily flip the other way. So very interesting series here, I would say.

Edmonton and Anaheim. What do you got, Dave?

I got the Oilers in 6. As much fun as the Ducks have been this year, I just, you know, Edmonton, they've got to get out of the first round. Florida is not there to stop them this year. I feel like they probably get a little bit of vindication or a little juice from knowing that, hey, you know, the team that knocked us out the last 2 years, we don't have to worry about them. So, uh, gimme the Oilers in 6.

I'm gonna go Oilers in the most exciting 5-game series you might ever see. There are going to be a ton of goals in this series. The Oilers don't really play defense. The Ducks don't really play defense. The Ducks have the better goaltending, but I think the Oilers just have too much firepower and the Ducks are too young. Like, this is a really tough matchup for the Ducks. I would have taken the Ducks against a few teams out west, but I'm not going to take them against the Oilers here. I think the Oilers have too much experience, and this will be a good test for the Ducks, and it'll make them better for next year because I think they'll be back in the playoffs next year.

Fun fact to follow up with what Ethan said, no teams in the playoffs gave up more goals than the Oilers and the Ducks. Whew!

Bet those overs, baby.

Uh, I got Edmonton in 6. The Ducks are a very young team, and they are very much an up-and-coming team. We'll see what, uh, Dry Saddle looks like, uh, in the first round for the Oilers. But I definitely am going with the Oilers in 6 games. That is our predictions for the playoffs. Uh, I want to play this sound from, uh, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bonas. Uh, Columbus, as you may have remembered, fired the head coach Dave Everson, uh, halfway through the season. Bonas took over and led them very close to making the playoffs, but very close, uh, but they ended up falling off. And in their 2-1 loss to Washington, he was warm. He criticized the lack of effort, and I want you to take a listen to what he had to say in the press conference.

23 giveaways. Like, I don't know if I'm back, but if I'm back, I'm coming. I'm changing this culture. These guys, they don't care. Losing is not important enough to them. They, they, it doesn't bother them. Like, how can you go out and play like that? Should have done this about a month ago. But this is why we are where we are. This is why we're out of the playoffs. That kind of effort. Losing, you have to hate losing. I don't care if it's a meaningless game. I don't care. Show up and compete. 3 hits, 23 giveaways. What else you want to know?

You reached them for so long after you got here?

Did it—

how did it stop? Where did it stop?

Because it got tough. Because it got hard. Like we talked about after the Olympic break, it's going to get harder. So everything's good as long as it's going their way. And now it gets tough, we don't want to battle back. And that's why— but that's what's happened over the last little week, a couple weeks. That's all that's happened. We're going to change that. If I'm back— I don't know if I'm back. Well, Don and I will talk. We'll get to that. But man, oh man, some of those guys are so lucky. The season's over and there's no practice tomorrow. It's— anyways, and there's no more games.

Well, there'll be more games for Rick Bonas because he is returning next season.

He got himself rehired with 110%.

He dropped it 110%.

Like, you're pissed, me too. I'm gonna kick these guys ass. We're gonna call practice tomorrow. The season's over, but forget it. I want to get these guys back on the ice just so I could ride them. I love that. I love everything you said.

Believe it or not, I have two friends that are Columbus Blue Jackets fans. I asked both of them—

two friends—

two friends. Not only do I have two friends, I have two friends that are Columbus Blue Jackets fans. Yeah, both of them after that were like, please bring Rick Bonas back, because I think there, there is— this is a team that is super talented, should absolutely be in the playoffs next year, and they need a guy that's going to kick them in the ass and is going to light a fire under their ass and is going to say This has to change because this is the same thing they did last year where they got really hot towards the end of the year and then they fizzled out with like 7, 8, 10 games to go. Right. And missed out on the playoffs. They need a kick in the ass. And look, Bonas is re-upped. He's going to be their coach. And I think I don't have any reason to doubt based off that, that he's going to get them right and get them into the playoffs next year.

Well, that leads us to the Panthers then. And the Panthers ended their season with an 8-1 win against Detroit. Where two-thirds of the lineup were Charlotte checkers. And Todd McClellan was not happy. Not happy at all. Here's what he had to say during his press conference.

Todd, was this kind of a fitting end to a disappointing season, do you think?

Well, I don't even know if I'll answer your question, but I'll tell you that we both— both teams came in with nothing on the line. And you can see their championship pedigree. So I'm going to compliment the Panthers. It runs throughout the organization. They came and they played and it meant something to them. This hurt a little bit, just the way you guys came out and just—

Yep.

Ted, how do you measure the fact that this team made progress in several disciplines?

I don't even want to talk about that. I'm not even going there. We're good.

Embarrassed?

I mean, were you a little bit embarrassed? Yeah, I think we all should be. We'll see you back in the next—

Yeah, George Richards was in that presser. I'm sure he would have pissed him off a little bit more.

He's not wrong though. I mean, that just kind of goes to show you like this Panthers culture, it's like a real thing and it runs deeper than just in the NHL level.

You know, this is— you remember Die Hard, right? You remember the scene where Holly looked at the terrorist that smashed his gun against the garbage can? He was angry when she said that John is still alive because only John would make somebody that crazy. That's the Florida Panthers.

Yeah, yeah, I, I think the Panthers, like, yes, they could have gotten themselves to the 6th pick or the 7th pick, right? But they still ended up in the top 10. They still did their job, and they did something that's way more, way better than what Columbus did at the end of the year, than what Detroit did at the end of the year, which was they didn't quit. Like, they didn't shut down. Like, the Panthers went out and played their asses off on Thursday night, and they beat a team that laid down and quit in the Detroit Red Wings. And It'll leave a much better taste going into this offseason. Obviously, the Panthers and the Red Wings were in different spots at that point. It'll leave a much better taste.

All right. It's time for Puck Luck. It's sponsored by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours, David and Ethan, because Ethan made money.

The first ever win in Puck Luck, boys.

I get to return. We got ourselves a faceoff.

We're dueling. So does the winner of this one—

Since you won, you go first.

Okay. Does the winner of this one get to do Puck Luck for the rest of the playoffs? Is that what we're going to do?

We need to discuss these kind of parameters before we get on the mic. Like that's That's something that I'm not ready to start negotiating.

All right, so we'll talk about this in the weeks and days to come. I'm going to give you a 3-game parlay for the first day of playoff action. I'm going to take the Carolina Hurricanes, even though I picked against them in the series. I think they'll come out firing on home ice and win the first game of the series. Like, I, I would take a bunch of goals in that one. I think they'll come out hot, win that game against Ottawa. I'm going to take the Pittsburgh Penguins on the money line. That's -148. Both of these are actually -148 on the money line in their first game against the Flyers. And then I'm going to take the Wild +1.5 against the Stars on the puck line. I think that series, all those games are going to be really, really tight until the end. You'll probably get a couple overtime games. So that's a 3-game parlay, an easy one. It comes out to just +295. So not your big moneymaker, but I think I feel really, really good about this one. Yeah, it'll, it'll still be a nice little payout.

Dave.

All right, I, uh, I'm also going with the team that I picked against in the series for the first game. I'm going to take Ottawa's money line in game 1 against Carolina. I think Ottawa comes out and smacks Carolina in the face and wakes them up a little bit. So I'm going to take Ottawa in game 1 there. I'm taking Dallas game 1 money line over Minnesota. Dallas at home, I like Dallas to win the series. And I was really back and forth on this last one, but I'm sticking with Pittsburgh money line on home ice. I was thinking of going Flyers +1.5, but I just like the Pittsburgh They're a little deeper. They're on home ice. I'm obviously leaning into that a bit for my first round. So that's my, my parlay: Ottawa moneyline, Dallas moneyline, Pittsburgh moneyline, 588 odds. You're going to make more money with me than you would with Ethan.

All right, let's breeze through wins and fails. David, what's your win?

My win of the week, congrats to the New Jersey Devils. Congrats to the former Panthers assistant GM Sonny Meta. He's hired as the Devils' next GM, and I just wanted to throw some congrats and flowers his way. A great guy, very well deserved. That's Alex Ovechkin. There's Sonny Mehta.

Whoops!

No, just a great guy, brilliant mind, amazing poker player too. Do not sit down at the poker table with this guy. But he's gonna be great there. He's going home. He grew up in New Jersey, grew up a Devils fan. His first analytics job in the NHL was with New Jersey, so it's a cool homecoming for Sonny.

Alright, so my win is Penguins-Capitals. At the end of the game, Sidney Crosby formed a handshake line with the entire Penguins club for Alexander Ovechkin— I don't need the video for this one— Alexander Ovechkin said, no, get off the ice, that's my win, showing up Sidney Crosby.

Ethan, my win came from the same game, and this was awesome. At the beginning of the game, Ryan Strome was set to take the opening faceoff. He got thrown out on purpose from the faceoff dot so that Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby could take the opening faceoff together in what could possibly be their final game against each other. I'm not really sure what Ovi's gonna do. I don't think anybody is. I don't think Ovi's even sure yet, but if that's the last we see of them on the ice, I thought that was a really cool moment from Ryan Strome.

Fails, David.

Uh, my fail of the week, we're gonna go to the OHL playoffs. Game 2 of the second round between the Sault Greyhounds and the Kitchener Rangers. Uh, Greyhounds forward Travis Hayes trashed the net, went barreling into the pads of Kitchener goalie Christian Kirch, and then he just stayed there. He made zero effort to get out of the way. The goalie's trying to move around, make a save. So what happens? Rangers defenseman Jared Wooley comes over, grabs Hayes by the back of his neck collar, and just drags his ass out of the crease. I loved everything about this. That's a major fail on the part of Travis Hayes, but I'm glad that the Kitchener team had their shit together.

Alright, my fails, two of them, came from the same player in the same game. Another week of equipment fails. This time it wasn't a skate blade. It was Canucks-Sharks and, uh, Yaroslav Askarov's right leg pad came off. What completely came off? It just came right off his shin, exposing his leg. Very, very much protected.

That's very dangerous.

The refs blew the play down. But also in this game, Askarov got caught out of position trying to play the puck because it went up behind the net, but it bounced off the boards. He just— he flipped the entire net over as Marco Rossi fired it on net. That was a goal, obviously.

Yeah.

The refs awarded the goal to him.

A for effort though.

Yeah, uh, so the goal counted. And Dave, as a goaltender, you think that was the right move?

I, I wouldn't know because I keep my ass in the goal crease.

Yeah, there you go.

So I never have to worry about that.

Ethan, what's your fail?

No fails, guys. This is Stanley Cup playoffs. I'm ready, I'm fired up, I can't wait. And I just—

I—

with it, we have a little bit of time left. I just want to thank the Florida Panthers for the last 3 years. What an unbelievable run that they went on, and it is far far from over. They still have most of their core locked up through 2030. I think it's important to remember that they're going to have a top 10 pick to utilize this year, whether it's on a player that'll contribute over the next few years or whether it's using it to go out and get maybe somebody like a Jesper Wallstedt in goal. Uh, this team isn't going anywhere, and the last 3 years have been some of the most fun in my entire life with the 3 Stanley Cup trips. So thank you to the Florida Panthers. We love you, and we can't wait for you to be back.

For those of you watching on DraftKings Network, check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel at The Hockey Show DLS because we have Bill Lindsey from the Panthers Radio Network and NHL Network to put a bow on this Panthers season. That's coming up next.

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Bill Lindsey of the Panthers Radio Network and NHL Network joins us, uh, as we get ready to spend some, uh, time writing the eulogy on this Florida Panthers season. And Bill Lindsey's getting ready to go to the Keys. Uh, unfortunately, he's, uh, going to the Keys a bit earlier than usual this season, but he's about to go out there and catch some tarpon. So that's, that's going to be a good time for him. Billy, this Panthers season ended a bit abruptly. In fact, I can tell you that 6 of the players that played in last year's Stanley Cup Final was rostered in the season finale against Detroit.

6 out of 20.

Yeah, not, not.

Yeah. Imagine. Yeah. Imagine the different— the amount of different line combinations we had to use this year. That'd be staggering. I'm not sure what the final number was, but Paul Maurice was looking down at his bench probably wondering— usually I just call out the centerman for the line that's up. Markov, your line's up. I'm sure he had to go, uh, Schwindt, Hinnestrose, uh, König, get over the boards. Uh, Cole Reinhardt, Cole Reinhardt, you guys are up.

Alsher, get out there.

It got a little hectic down the stretch.

Yeah, but to their credit though, and I feel like this is something that's been talked about a bit, Billy, is how a lot of the teams that were out of the playoffs over the last few weeks of the season, none of them really prioritized winning, obviously, because at that point you're looking to the future. But with the Panthers, like, they kind of made it a point that, like, no, we are not tanking even though we have this draft pick that we could potentially keep. Uh, they kept their foot on the gas as best they could. So it's almost like karma worked in their favor because they ended up keeping the pick anyway. But I think that just kind of speaks to the culture that Zito and Maurice have built down here, that this team, even when they're fielding a roster that has more than half AHL guys, they're still pushing for every point they can get.

Well, you're right on that point, David. There's a culture and there's a standard, standard that's set in that dressing room, and it applies to everyone once you get in there. And that's the beauty of the systems of Paul Maurice. It doesn't look as good when you have Barkov out of the lineup and maybe 6 or 7 regulars, But the system is so good and the identity of this team is so strong that you plug and place players in from the American Hockey League and you work hard and that system has a chance to win every single night. And it's the beauty of this. You walk in and sometimes I talk to Bill Zito a little bit about it and Paul Maurice. But sometimes when you lose, there's fractures in the dressing room. This didn't happen. It's a close-knit group. It's a bond. So when you're a young player coming into that room, you can ask questions and the veterans, Gustav Forsling, he'll be paired with a young kid. Yes, I want to be paired with them. Give them to me for 20 minutes. Let's get out there. Let's play. The veteran leadership in practice to sponge off these guys for all these kids that we called up is invaluable.

And that's what you look— there's still that love and bond in the dressing room. And I saw— I understand why we won the last 2 years more so in losing this year. Just the understanding of how close they can keep it together, how hard they can play, how well the systems work. With all that kind of combination, even though we lost this year and it was all kinds of adversity, they stuck together. They, they fight, they hang in there, and it doesn't matter who's in the lineup, uh, who, whatever's going to do, you are going to play and be held to a certain standard. And if you don't, uh, you're not going to be around this organization long. And that's the beauty of the whole thing, and that's how this whole thing works. And You talk— when that— when they put together a lineup, whatever is on that ice that night, it's 100% to win, uh, wherever it falls in the standings. Uh, they are out there to win a hockey game.

Uh, we mentioned that the Panthers get to keep their draft pick. They are going into the NHL Draft picking between 1 and 10 overall, uh, depending on how the ping pong balls go. They'll be going into that draft without assistant general manager Sonny Mehta. As he takes the Devils GM job. Talk about how important his role was with the team and just how sorely he's going to be missed.

All the respect in the world for Sonny Mehta. What he did, brilliant mind, analytical driven, one of the best, if not the best, at what he does, trying to pair the analytics. And it was a great team that we had with Bill Zito and Sonny and the combination of all our scouts, people that get involved in decisions and to pair and marry all that kind of stuff between the analytics side of it and start to, okay, what kind of heart, desire? We had a really stout combination of his ability to put all the metrics out there into place and understand, does this player work? Does it fit to our system? He had a huge understanding of that. And then along with all the other hockey people to understand, okay, well, what kind of heart does this player have? What kind of grit intensity does he play with? Can we marry the two together? And it just— it works so well for our organization. He will be missed. He did a tremendous job. He's from New Jersey. It's a good chance for him to go back home. And that's happened. That happens when you win. Everyone's going to be looking at your organization and how'd you do it?

Why did you do it? Who were some of the people that were involved in it? And can we get those people involved with our organization? And it's a good step for Sonny. I really appreciate everything that he did down here. Brilliant mind, very kind person, and got to know him over the years. And I have the just utmost respect for him. New Jersey will be in good hands with Sonny Mehta.

That strategy, as far as using analytics from the front office positions, fairly new and it's a far cry from what Dale Tallinn kind of used. And it seems to have worked, don't you think?

Yeah, it works. You also— but you have to marry the two. So I'll go through that. I'll go through the analytics of teams before I do a game, before I call a game, or before I go on NHL Network. And I can get a scouting report of how those teams play. So when I watch a game, I get an understanding, well, they're deficient in this area, they're strong at that area. And then how does it play out on the ice? Why does it work? And sometimes maybe it's just goaltending. You look at a team like Boston, their metrics are really bad defensively, but their goaltending and timely scoring, they scored a rapid pace. Does it hold up? Same thing for Detroit. I knew they could fall off a cliff. Cliff because they spent more time in their own zone than any other team in the NHL defending. They just defended too much. You could see that happening. So when you get all this kind of stuff together, you see the numbers and Gustav Forsling is a player like that that you find out, okay, well, his analytics are good. Does he fit into our system?

But you also have the understand— same thing, Carter Verhaeghe. You can go through different type of players. But what kind of heart? There also has to be the evaluation. Uh, what is he a leader? Does he lead by example of all these things? And then once you kind of pair those two together, then you're really on to something. And that's what the Panthers do extremely well. They pick out a player that's, uh, very analytical and analytically sound, uh, and then does it fit our system? And if you bounce off the coaches, the GMs, the analytic people, the scouts, and if the final decision ends up in Bill Zito says, okay, yep, that's going to work, we will do that. And so it's a lot of good hockey minds put together, and that's why it's been successful. They've married the two between analytics and understanding the heart and grit and desire of players to fit our system. So they've done it extremely well, and that's what everyone, I guess, around the league. Once you've won a couple of Stanley Cups and been to 3 straight, teams are going to copy you, uh, system-wise, what you're doing in the front office.

Everyone wants a piece of it.

When you see how guys are approaching preparing for the game, using analytics to drive, you know, what they're working on in practice, what the coaches have, the systems and the styles that they want the teams to do— when you see that compared to when you were playing, and maybe when this stuff wasn't quite as utilized or really even looked at, like, do you see things from a perspective of like, it's more complicated? I mean, I know that you see that like you have to marry the two together, but it must just seem like such a weird change. And I guess it's the evolution of the game, uh, just coming from, you know, somebody who played 20 years ago, 30 years ago when, you know, this stuff was still in its infancy, if anything.

Yeah, there's just much more data that you can have on everyone. You just didn't have the total insight, like how much did Bill Lindsay get into the slot area? How much time did he have? All the time. Yeah. Or how much time did he have with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone? Well, 3 seconds. Well, that's not very much per game if he only has— so you can dive through all of it. I would say the changes happen, but you can still see with an eye test and get an understanding. So the analytics just— they're absolute and certain. They would be helpful to everyone, I guess, to a hockey player, that if you get the understanding and they show you right to your face, well, this is what's happening, that they can make you a much better hockey player too. So that understand— there's just with the wealth of information out there from a team standpoint, it can help the players, it can help organizations. But you have to be careful of where you draw the line at with the data. Data can tell you so much, but there is something in certain players that makes them click and drive that just can't be measured by analytics.

With that said, that's why I always say when you're putting the two together, like, how big was— how big was his heart? How much is it? How much does that overcome some of the stuff that we don't see analytically? And A lot of times that answer could be, well, that's a huge yes. He's like, without him in our locker room, without him being in that leadership position, what he's doing in practice for this team, that's not measured by analytics. So there's still, you have to be able to watch, but the wealth of information just, it does give you a guide, I guess, or a map of, of players, uh, where you want to go and what your team is trying to do.

All right, let's get into the playoffs now. Uh, it starts tomorrow. Let's start in the East. Uh, give us, uh, what you think is going to happen here. We got Boston and Buffalo, Tampa-Montreal, Carolina-Ottawa, and Pittsburgh-Philadelphia.

Yes, the first one there, as I mentioned, Boston. Uh, I don't, I don't believe that they beat Buffalo. Uh, just that's one, one area where I will go analytically. Uh, they're are their numbers defensively for Boston to keep up in a series? Can they score enough goals? Very good offensive team in Buffalo that seems to be getting better and better, more confidence. All their young players that have taken another step this year, the additions on the blue line to make it a little bit tougher, bigger with Logan Stanley coming there.

They're—

the D-men in Buffalo move the puck very, very well. So I see Buffalo winning that series. Just a more complete rounded group that can kind of beat you in different ways. When you— the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia series, that's— I don't have a lot. That could go either way. I think Sidney Crosby being back in the playoffs, Dan Muse, the coach there, has done a wonderful job. So has Rick Tocchet in Philadelphia. Just a lean a little bit towards Pittsburgh. And then the Ottawa series there, if you take a team And you compare it analytically and to how the team that won the Stanley Cup the last 2 years that looks the closest in the East, it's the Ottawa Senators. Linus Ullmark holds up that if Ottawa is my surprise in the East, if they, if they somehow find a way to beat Carolina, which is very, very doable, that's going to be a long series. If they find a way to beat Carolina, they're going to make a deep run. I firmly believe that into that position. The other side, Tampa Bay, strong. They will get through on the, on the, that first round. Montreal will test them.

They're good offensively, but still, it's a Montreal team that's making waves. Tampa's better, should prevail in that series. I'm just really interested, I guess, in the Ottawa series. We'll have some length to it. And I also believe that the Philadelphia Pittsburgh series. Those are 6, 7 game series that could be tilted either way on just a 1 goal or something happening at one end of the rink or the other. May seem odd, but Ottawa, that's where I will go to, is just study model-based physical grind, mean team that defends really well. Linus Ullmark holds up, Ottawa's got a chance.

I like that. I like that a lot. Now, look, looking out to the West, Billy, uh, my— we were talking before the show, I'm thinking, is this Dallas's year finally to get over the hump? Maybe Minnesota is going to be a tough series for them. Uh, the Colorado Avalanche look great. They're going to face the Kings, who are the Kings, you know, they have this thing about first-round exits. Uh, Utah and Vegas, I'm curious, the goaltending situation in Vegas, how that's going to play out. And then obviously Edmonton heading down to California for a first-round series just always seems to happen, but now they're a little further north than LA against the Ducks. So what do you think out west, and is there an Ottawa of the West that you think could be a surprise team?

Is there an Ottawa of the West? Uh, not quite sure. That Pacific Division is interesting where they finished with all their kind of point totals, and it's like Utah that's going to go out and play at— get out there and play the, the the, the Knights. The Knights only had a couple more points.

Yeah.

And Utah in this season, which is— or maybe one, I'm not sure where that, that balanced out. Utah, Vegas, uh, Utah could be that team, could be that kind of dark horse. Vegas has found something under John Tortorella. Carter Hart's played well. Can it hold up? Uh, there was, there was something really missing before Tortorella got there. It was dysfunction. I'm not sure if it was in the dressing room, but it seemed like there was not a lot of fun to go to the rink. Can they flip that switch? Utah would be my dark horse out in the West. It's deep. The scoring is throughout that lineup. The defense move the puck relatively healthy. Vemelka has played a ton of hockey in that. So that's— yeah, Utah would be kind of my Ottawa out there. Dallas, Minnesota. Dallas has such a tough road. That Minnesota series is going to be brutal. Colorado seems to be How do you beat Colorado is gonna be a question. They seem like a runaway victor to go all the way. There could be a spoiler into that mix. Edmonton might have something to say, but there's that Pacific is LA's not doing it.

The 20 overtime losses, their regulation wins are fewer than some of the bottom teams in the NHL. Nothing's happening in that LA. LA series out of the gate. It's going to be an early exit for Colorado. Then you get into the meat of it. Edmonton. There's the one. What's Edmonton do this year? Can they get any— Draisaitl back healthy? What does he look like? Goaltending issues. Just, it seems all like that. Just seems Colorado all the way. It sounds sometimes like you'd like to pick an upset or someone that could maybe challenge them, but they're They're so good in so many areas. If the power play just even holds water, they're just so dominant at 5-on-5 that I believe Colorado just kind of, just kind of roughshots the West. They're, they're heads and shoulders above everyone else. But well, they're in the playoffs, anything can happen. Utah's a dark horse. Other than that, Dallas maybe. Colorado just seems this year to be the sure one coming out. Yep.

All right, so what is your Stanley Cup final winner prediction?

Yeah, so I'll go on the long shot there and I'll go Colorado-Ottawa. Yeah, okay. I'll have the Avalanche winning. We'll see, that could be a really long shot. It'll have to happen in the first round with Ottawa. I wouldn't discount Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay would be my second choice in the East, but I'll stick with Ottawa as they call it.

I like it.

Carolina with all this, uh, again, can they score enough, uh, when it matters? Uh, goaltending I'm not sold on. So the two, two strongest teams in the East, uh, are Ottawa and Tampa Bay, and I would take Ottawa. Uh, goaltending is going to hold up for them. They're going to make a miracle run, but they'll be falling short at the end to Colorado. I guess kind of like us in '96, kind of an unsung team, and meet this Avalanche team that's just loaded. In the finals, Colorado wins the Cup. Wow.

So it's going to be Matthew Kachuk sitting with Keith Kachuk in the stands this time.

Hey, there you go. Hey, you never know. It's a, it's a bold prediction.

Yeah, I like it.

I, I just believe, I believe it has a chance to come to fruition.

Yeah, it'd make it be a fun playoff run, that's for sure. We get a lot of entertainment value out of that.

Yeah. Yeah, be looking forward to seeing what Buffalo does in this playoffs.

That should be Yeah, I'm excited about that.

All right, Bill Lindsay.

Buffalo deserves it, by the way.

Yes, they do. They absolutely do. It's been too long for that city to be in the playoffs. Yes, absolutely.

It's a great sports town. They do love their teams.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, that arena is going to be rocking.

And I'm happy for Lindy Ruff. Yes, down here when we started, really happy for Lindy and the coaching job that he's done this year. It's a good chance that he might end up with the Jack Adams Yeah. So yeah, there'll be some people in there. But to revitalize that team and show that he— I talked to Lindy about that, actually, about developing. And we're talking about analytics and all this kind of stuff and the phones and access and how he's been able to evolve over the years. So he told me he had an Instagram account, a Twitter account, and does.

Yeah.

So he could follow everyone and keep up to date. Doesn't post anything, but he wants to understand what's happening in that world so he can communicate with some of his younger players. So He's made a full-on effort to kind of change with the times. And that's why you see coaches, when they're able to adapt later, that they have an understanding. What are these young kids thinking? How do I go about coaching them? And if you've been around a long time like Paul Maurice or Lindy Ruff, you have to kind of adapt to those situations.

Yeah. Just do a better job than what Mike Babcock did.

He needs to call Mike Babcock. That's the first thing I was thinking.

Yeah.

Well, Billy. Enjoy the fishing.

Um, yeah, well, yeah, long summer. Wow, crazy.

Yeah, it's gonna be a long, long summer.

It's still gonna go by fast.

I bet it will.

Everyone get by— well, hopefully everyone gets healed. Uh, we did it. Getting to know that we were out early instead of having to maybe miss the playoffs by points or get an early exit in the first round and just tear everyone to shreds. We had the chance to get everyone mostly rested and healed. So when they hit this offseason, they got 5 months to get after it and just go full slate, put the muscle mass back on, stay off the ice for longer than 2, 2, 2, 3 months off the ice. Just work on your body yet. And then you got that excitement. And this team— imagine how good the Atlantic with the Panthers being back in business next year. How good's the Atlantic going to be next year? Wow.

The Panthers next year with a chip on their shoulder seems like a scary thought to everybody else in the East.

And a couple of the players are actually playing in the World Championship. So you got to look for that to shake off the rust.

There you go. Yeah, it'll be good. It'll be good for them to go over, have some fun. That's a great tournament. I played in the World Championships. It's serious, but it's also mini vacation. You go over there. It's one of the funner tournaments I've ever played in. So everyone enjoys it. For the European people, that it's deadly serious. It's, it's almost like the Olympics to them. So when you go over there and play in it, uh, there's, there's still a lot of prestige. It's kind of a hidden tournament, but it means a lot.

Nice.

Nice. All right, Billy, we appreciate you joining us. Uh, enjoy your summer.

Yes, Roy, David, appreciate you guys always. Thanks for the coverage, and, uh, hopefully we'll be in touch throughout the summer.

Uh, before we get out of here to start our coverage on the Stanley Cup playoffs, I want to give a nice shout out, a retirement to Joe Bowen. Joe has been the Toronto Maple Leafs play-by-play guy for over 40 years, and he signed off for the last time. You're not going to find another lifer like that. We're talking about 40 years of calling hockey for one team.

Yeah, 40 frustrating years. No, I'm sorry. No, I mean, look, there's some legends, some legendary voices out there.

Yeah.

Joe's certainly one of them.

Yep.

He will be missed in the Toronto annals for sure.

Yeah, holy mackinac. So he has signed off for the last time. Enjoy fishing with Bill Lindsay, I guess, huh?

Paul Maurice.

And Paul Maurice. Uh, remember to subscribe to The Hockey Show YouTube channel. That's The Hockey Show DLS. We're also on TikTok at The Hockey Show 7 and on X, Instagram, and Threads at Hockey Show DLS. We are starting our Stanley Cup playoff coverage. We are going to have some live streams, uh, throughout the playoff run. So look out for that. For Ethan, for Dave, for Gino and Danny in the video room, my name is Roy Bellamy. Enjoy the playoffs, everybody. It starts tomorrow.

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