Transcript of We Were Very Wrong About The Avs And Canes | The Hockey Show New

Boy, were we wrong about the Avalanche? This is The Hockey Show.

Mafi wak le lob de sala wahad kontinui shin ar bin ta studio ah-ah.

I'm the only one in the on-air studio right now. Dave is at home. He has a special engagement that he has to be at. Ethan's in the shipping container, and Rose, I don't know what's going on with you. What's going on?

Um, not, not much. That's what's not what's going on.

Not much, not much. Well, anyway, this is the Hockey Show. Uh, much to Rosie's chagrin, the Vegas Golden Knights are going to the Stanley Cup Final, and a lot of people, including the people in this studio— actually, the person in the studio, because I'm the only one here— did not think that it was going to be that way. We all thought that Colorado was going to end up winning, winning the Western Conference. But no, so the President's Trophy, uh, winners are out in 4. In 4, they get swept by the Vegas Golden Knights. Who could have seen that coming? The last President's Trophy winners to win a Stanley Cup was in 2013. That was the Chicago Blackhawks. I was very happy that that happened. We did not see the Vegas Golden Knights touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl. Uh, I believe they did, they did during the first, uh, run versus the Capitals. Uh, I think they touched the trophy and that did not work out for them. So it is what it is. As far as Colorado is concerned, they have to deal with injury. They had Cale Makar, uh, being injured, missing the first 2 games.

Nathan McKinnon got hurt during the series. It was not a good situation for Colorado. And Vegas just stifling on defense. Do not know what John Tonnarella did during his, uh, 6 games that he had during the regular season with the team, but It is what it is, and Vegas is now going into the Stanley Cup Final representing the West. Mitch Marner, definitely a Conn Smythe Trophy winner right now in my eyes. So take that, Toronto. Dave, what do you think happened during that Western Conference Final? Why are we here right now?

It kind of reminded me of what happened to the Panthers when they won the Presidents Trophy. They were— they led the league in scoring that year. They were a high-flying rush team. Colorado, very similar this year. A lot of their offense was generated out of their own zone through the neutral. Uh, things had to change during the playoffs. Obviously we saw that happen with the Panthers, that's why they changed their whole philosophy. Colorado seemed a bit deeper than that Panthers team, a bit stronger on the top end, so I thought maybe that wouldn't be an issue as it hadn't been in the first two rounds. But boy oh boy, did things change against Vegas. It turned into a true playoff series. Uh, you know, Colorado during the regular season, a lot they had McKinnon and Nietzsches together. They had to get split up, uh, just because those rush chances weren't there as much and, and they just didn't filter through the lineup as they thought, thought it would. And as any of us thought it would. That, uh, combined with Carter Hart playing out of his mind, uh, really well in that series against Colorado, uh, just, yeah, shocked still very from, from the results of that series.

Ethan, I think you agree with me, uh, Vegas's defense really helped out Carter Hart in that situation.

Unbelievable, Roy. I mean, we knew they were a good defensive team, but again, they only won 39 games this year. But let's be very clear, like, this is the Vegas team that we expected to see this year, stifling on defense. Mitch Marner, scoring at will almost. He scored that unbelievable goal in the Anaheim series. That's kind of been the marker of what he has been this postseason. He's a 100-point guy. He always was with the Leafs and we just never saw it in the playoffs. And I don't know what happened when he got to Vegas, but he is now a true playoff performer. He's had a fantastic— I mean, listen, he did have 0 points. Hold on. Ignore that.

Any—

oh, I get the joke. Somebody made the joke that Mitch Marner had 0 points from games 5 to 7 because there were no games 5 and 7 in this series. And I was— and I was— anyway, yeah, I got thrown off. Okay, damn you, Jay Fresh. Anyway, point being that Marner has been fantastic in these playoffs. And Jack Eichel, he, he kind of did this at the Olympics too, where he kind of cemented himself as one of the best 200-foot players in the league. And he has been phenomenal in these playoffs. And yeah, Carter Hart, he's done a nice job and he's been really solid, uh, as much as I hate to say that, but they've done an amazing job from in front of him, and he's made— they've made his job really easy. And if he sees the puck, he's gonna save it. And right now he's seen everything.

You mentioned the Olympics. Poor Nathan MacKinnon. He's not— he didn't go home with the gold, and now he's not even going to the Stanley Cup Final.

Yeah, I mean, I felt bad for MacKinnon because he wanted so clearly to give it a go in that Game 3, and he just couldn't. And you never know what happens if he's in there and he's healthy, if he can rescue them. But let's be very clear, they had a 3-0 lead and blew it before MacKinnon went down after taking that shot block, uh, to the knee from Shea Theodore. I think it was, it was either 3-2 or 3-3 by the time that McKinnon went down. So that game was already blown by the Avalanche. There were a lot more things that went into what happened than just Cale Makar missing games 1 and 2 and Nathan McKinnon being hobbled in game 3. They got beat in every way, and it's the most shocking result we've seen in the NHL maybe ever, but at least since the Tampa Bay Lightning got swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2019.

I think going into the playoffs, we did not see anybody, including Edmonton from the Pacific Division, just being even close in the Western Conference Final. And Colorado gets swept.

It's crazy.

That's just amazing to me, Dave.

They were stubborn. They were really stubborn in that series. Like Vegas did such a good job denying their zone entries game after game, and Colorado just refused to dump the puck in. It was almost like it wasn't something that they were comfortable doing. I was very surprised that they didn't make any adjustments and, you know, look what happened.

The Pacific now, Roy, has been in the Stanley Cup Final every year since 2022 when the Avs last won, right? And it's now been the, the, the Golden Knights, the Oilers for 2 years, and then the Golden Knights again. And we're staring down the barrel of the last 4 champions coming between 2 teams, the Panthers and the Golden Knights. So And Vegas isn't going anywhere, and the Panthers aren't going anywhere next year. So we could very well have a situation next year where the Panthers and the Golden Knights are going at it to see who is the dynasty of the 2020s in the National Hockey League if Vegas is able to pull it off against either Carolina or Montreal, but likely Carolina.

Meanwhile, in the East on Wednesday, Carolina put up 3 on the Canadiens in the first period and it looked done. Basically, the season is over for Montreal from what we are seeing in Tonight you can watch with us on our watch-along, The Hockey Show watch-along, as we, uh, every week check out a game during the Stanley Cup playoffs. And it looks like this season is going to end in Raleigh for the Montreal Canadiens, who have played 18 games so far, and both series that they've had, the first two series, have gone 7, and they've had 7 overtime games to play. That is a lot of hockey. To be— I mean, to play in the playoffs. I mean, yes, I mean, if you look at the history of this franchise, you see the 1993 team, as many times as they've gone to the playoffs, that's crazy. But this style of hockey right now in this era is just like— you can't, you can't do that. That's just too many games. And Colorado is— they, they look— Carolina— I'm sorry, Montreal.

Montreal looks—

yeah, yeah, yeah, Montreal looks absolutely dead tired. And I, I just don't think that they're gonna— then they'll— they got the underdogs, obviously. They're not gonna— they're not gonna lose by one. It's gonna be a— it seems like it's gonna be a blowout in that game.

Dave, I, uh, I mean, as you're gonna see in Puck Luck a little later today, um, I, uh, I very much believe in the Carolina Hurricanes ending the series tonight. So maybe that's the only saving grace for Montreal is that I'm so heavy on Carolina tonight. But the way that series has progressed, it has gotten worse and worse for Montreal. You can see how frustrated they're getting. They just can't generate any offense. Even when they do get in the zone, they can't get anything toward the net. Carolina's— we talked about, or we heard, excuse me, John Tortorella talking about how Vegas checked their asses off against Colorado and that was such a big reason why they won. Carolina's doing a very similar job to Montreal. They have no room to do anything on the ice. And if not for Dobish in net, this series, it may have been over in 3 games just because of how dominant it had been. Game 1 notwithstanding. But man, yeah, I'm not— I'd be shocked if Montreal comes back. I hope they do because that would make it a fun series. But the way that the last 3 games have gone, it's just been like a snowball.

Well, you've played as much hockey as the Canadiens have played in these playoffs. A matchup against Carolina has to be your worst nightmare, Ethan.

Yeah, uh, I want to take a second here, I'll look right at the camera and let everybody know I was wrong about the Carolina Hurricanes. Um, they're a phenomenal team. I, I never doubted that they were a really good team. I just kind of doubted that this style would hold up in the playoffs. Um, listen, we can talk about the path they've taken to get here, um, but Montreal was a really good team. I thought they were going to be competitive in this series. I was wrong. Whether that's because they've played too much hockey, whether it's just Carolina is that much better, I'm not really sure. But I was completely wrong about Montreal being competitive in this series. They have not been competitive in any way. I think the biggest problem has been, Roy, it feels like at times they're just feeding the Carolina machine and they're playing right into their hands with what they want to do. They're taking the puck back behind the net to kind of like ease the pressure off a little bit, but all that does is allow Carolina to go forward and just set up their defense deeper into the zone, and they're not even able to get the puck out from behind their own net at times.

And they're being hemmed in the zone. When they've had success in this series, the small burst they've had, like in Game 1, they played great, obviously. And then the little burst they've had in, in some of the games since, it's been when they're skating up the ice and they're finding gaps by moving the puck up the ice. They were showing on TNT the other night, they have chances to skate the puck out of the zone and they're just not doing it. They're just flipping it out. Carolina is knocking it right back in and just keeping the machine going. So look, I was wrong about Carolina. They're going to— I think they're going to roll them tonight. This is going to be kind of like a party in Raleigh, a coronation type thing where they finally got over this Eastern Conference Finals hump. They did it without the Panthers there. That doesn't matter, though, to the fans in Carolina. They're only going to care that they're going to the Stanley Cup Final and they have a chance to finally hoist the Cup.

Uh, they mentioned that Montreal is not getting the chances off, and that's been a playoff-long thing. You see in all these games, you see the shot— shots on goal total. They were only 17.

They made a— they won a Game 7 with 9 shots, Roy. And it doesn't— it doesn't make a lot of sense to me because Montreal has the firepower. They have the big guns. They have a guy like Lane Hudson who is a great puck mover. They have Nick Suzuki and Cole Caulfield and, uh Yuriy Slavkovskiy and Ivan Demidov. Like, they have great players that can get the puck up the ice, and they're just playing right into Carolina's hands with this style that they've been playing throughout the playoffs. I, I wonder if Buffalo or Tampa would have been a better matchup for Carolina. I still think, look, at the end of the day, those teams lost to Montreal, so it doesn't matter. So you can't really say they would be a better matchup because the Montreal Canadiens beat them in 7 games, both. So I care— credit to Carolina, they've been fantastic in this series. And what they do is working right now. Their whole thing is working. They're an elevated form of the team that we've seen for a lot of years. And it finally all came together and they're going to go to the Stanley Cup Final.

Ooh. If you think about Buffalo in the Eastern Conference Final versus Carolina, that would be a fun series. Transition offense versus forechecking offense. Oh boy. That's like boxing versus brawler, man.

It would have been definitely, you know, styles make fights, right, Roy? And that would have been a styles-making-fights kind of series because that would have been two teams that are completely different going at each other. But at the end of the day, if Buffalo wanted a shot at Carolina, they should have beaten Montreal on home ice in Game 7.

I want to point something out here. This is coming from the Canadian Hockey League during the round robin portion of the Memorial Cup. The Chicoutimi Chagnyan, who won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League title, was taking on the Kitchener Rangers, who won the OHL, the Ontario Hockey League. Um, Jordan Turrini stomped on Christian Humphrey's foot not once, not twice, 3 times. Humphrey somehow made it, made it to the bench. He somehow skated off the ice and made it to the bench. Turrini was handed a match penalty, uh, for the attempt to injure and, uh, got a game misconduct. He has since been suspended for the rest of the Memorial Cup. Kitchener132 Uh, they are— remain undefeated. They are in the Memorial Cup Final. They are waiting for their opponent. Shakutimi will play the Everett Silvertips, uh, in the Memorial Cup Semi-Final, uh, coming up, I believe, either today or tomorrow. Yeah, today. Uh, David, I specifically pointed this out to— it's rage bait. I just wanted to get you to rant about this. Uh, go ahead and, uh, be angry about this. Go ahead, what you got to say?

I, I feel like it's— this isn't something that just I would be angry about. Like, this is like a hockey thing. Like, hockey universally, players— as much animosity and physicality is involved in this game, the players take care of each other. Like, nobody's out there trying to hurt each other. There is a vast, vast majority of hockey players— I would wager to bet almost every single hockey player that's a professional right now is going to say that they would never try to intentionally hurt somebody, that something like that is insane. And that's why, like, this is at the junior level. You got to nip it in the bud right now. Because that is just so blatant. Like, I get it, you're in the motions of the game, it's the Memorial Cup, this is like the biggest games of your life, but still, buddy, like, you cannot be out there doing something that's not a hockey play, that you're not going to do anything. Like, we're lucky that the player on Kitchener didn't get hurt worse, uh, lucky that he was able to skate to the bench, that no tendons got cut or nothing like that.

These are sharp skate blades. I remember a few years ago, uh, somebody accidentally got Jonathan Huberdeau in the back of his skate and like got cut as a killer. Maybe it was Nick Bjugstad. It was several years ago, they were playing at West Point. And one of the players, their Achilles got messed up because a skate hit the back of their heel like this. The more I think about it and the more I think about the replay, I hate that. I hate that so much. And I just hope that this is just one of those isolated things that you only see come up every few years because it's just gross and yeah, icky. I hate it.

Is— are the last names just a coincidence or is this kid related to Andre Tarini?

I don't know.

The Utah Mammoth.

I do not know. That is, uh, something that, uh, I should probably have looked up on hockey.

No, it's okay. Uh, nasty play. That's a—

it's probably like Jones in Quebec, that kind of name though, you know?

Yeah, I'm sure. Smith, uh, I mean, it reminds me of Chris Simon. He did the same thing. I think it was with the Capitals at the time, did this, or maybe the Islanders. He did the same thing. He stomped on some— it was the back of somebody's skate that he did that to. It was just, just a dirty, dirty play at like Oh boy, and he was suspended for a long time doing that too. So, uh, obviously that guy got the gate, and obviously he will not be playing in the Memorial Cup anytime soon. It is time for Puck Luck. It's sponsored by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. David, go ahead.

All right, uh, I was just looking up the, uh, Torey family tree here, but I'll get back to that in a second because it's time for Puck Luck. Uh, I didn't—

he is not related.

All right, there you go.

He has not related.

He has an older brother that plays pro hockey, but he's not related to Mammoth Head coach Andre Tourigny. Now, I did some research this week. I did a lot of research this week, actually. Last night I put in a bit more effort than I usually do because I really want to hit this one. So first, we're going to take Carolina. I told you I feel like Carolina has just been dominant this series. So give me Carolina on the money line. Pretty simple. Give me Jakub Dović over 29.5 saves. Carolina is averaging almost 35 shots per game in this series, 34.2 on 84.2 attempts. That includes 41.5 shots and 95— 93.5 attempts over the last 2 games. So they have been ripping a lot of puck. The Hurricanes have also on the other side, Jimmy Anderson under 18.5 saves. Montreal is averaging only 16.2 shots per game this series, and that drops to 14.3 if you take out their massive 22-shot effort in Game 1. You remember how I said the Carolina is averaging 93 shot attempts over the past 2 games? Montreal doesn't even have that many attempts combined over the past 2 games, only 91.

And for those wondering, they're only averaging 43 attempts in the series. So yeah, give me Andersen undersaves. And finally, give me Jackson Blake on Carolina over 1.5 shots. He's had 11 shots on 26 attempts during the series, and that's include— that includes a Game 2 where he only had 1 attempt on no shots. So in the 3 games where he's been really lively, 11 shots in 25 attempts. He's also gone over this number in 8 of his last 11. Parlay odds on this are +500. Let's make a little money before we go to the Stanley Cup Final.

All right. It's time for wins and fails of the week. Dave, what is your win?

Dude, give me a minute to catch my breath. Holy cow. All right, let's go back to the Memorial Cup. We were just there talking about the Terrigni family tree and all that good stuff. But this— we're going to go back to the round robin part a few days ago when those Kitchener Rangers were battling the Everett Silvertips midway through the game. Kitchener's Andrew McNeil and Everett's Jaxon Vaughan dropped the gloves. You're seeing it now. A great old-fashioned haymaker-type tilt. They just kept throwing them and throwing them and throwing them and throwing them. I love this fight so much. I can't believe these were just junior players, because this looks like a heavyweight tilt in the NHL. Uh, Roy, I know you love this as well. Uh, just an awesome win of the week. Something nice to pull from the Memorial Cup.

One thing that you're never going to see is the cameraman on the ice doing that, and that's what— that was a great—

that is such a great touch, dude. How does that happen? Yeah, that is such a great touch. Like, did the cameraman just skate out from the bench or something?

Like, oh, Yeah, they're definitely in position for that because they're on the ice as well filming the players doing the, you know, the fist bump line going across the bench. So yeah, I mean, that's one thing I don't think I've seen that in the NHL outside the All-Star Game.

So great touch. It's a great touch.

It's nice. There is such a thing as couple goals, you know. I'm not talking about a couple of goals. I'm talking about a relationship between two goals, two partners. Uh, and, and a prime example of that is the linking up of A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat. And the two took in Game 3 between the Golden Knights and the Avalanche, and this is what it looked like. Come on, come on, come on, get in your bags! Oh, if I was a goalie, I'll just lay in front of the goal.

It'll go like, yeah, just hit it over. That's why my ass ain't no goalie.

Come on!

Yeah!

And again.

Come on, just guard. Yeah, yes! Oh, come on! Oh, he caught that! Yeah, we lit!

Like, we back in this.

We just got to score one more time before my heart can rest a little bit. Don't play with your food! Don't play with your food! Don't play with your food!

I like that.

Oh, oh, he down, he down!

Come on, come on, come on, get there!

Oh, what?

Oh, that man, nice! And a good time was had by all except Florida Panthers. Uh, the Florida Panthers social media team was not happy. They felt some kind of way after seeing that clip. And they went to X, they went to the X account and they posted, bam, WYD, what you doing? And they had a drooping rose emoji following that. Of course, the question was prompted by a quick answer, a quick response from Bam Adebayo. This is what he had to say. So we just went to a nice game. I just want everybody to know it's still I just couldn't wear it in there because I was with somebody, but y'all know what it is. Bam out of bio.

I'm really curious about what— first of all, In the Wraith is so fire, but I'm really curious about what he— like, why does he have this bag seemingly like zip sealed, like as if he's like going on a plane and he like, you know, those bags where you suck all the air out, you know what I mean? Thank you. Yeah, what is he doing with the jersey in there?

I think it's pretty clear what he was doing. He knew he was going to a hockey game, so he brought his hockey jersey to wear to the game. And then Vegas was like, oh, here, we made you a custom jersey. We're giving you seats on the glass. Here, wear our jersey.

So yeah, that's the bag that he got from the team store.

At least it was not a jersey swap. That would have been embarrassing.

That would have been okay.

I have two questions for Asia. First of all, I want to know what was happening on the ice when she was yelling, don't play with your food, don't play with your food, don't play with it. Like, what exactly hockey-wise was happening that caused her to have that reaction? And then also, when Bam was giving his video apology, when he started, which I didn't hear until just now, I've seen it a few times, you hear Asia in the background, oh man, as if she was pissed off that he had to apologize. But because he's an allegiance to the Panthers, who cares about the Golden Knights? Like, that's his girls team. Like he was there supporting them. That's what you do. My girl's a Yankee fan. I'll support the Yankees. But if they're playing the Marlins, uh-uh.

Ethan, what's your win?

My win, guys, is this shirt. I got a Puck Everybody shirt. It's a great shirt. This was one of the shirts they gave out at the Wells Fargo Center. A little late to the party, obviously. Infinity Mobile Center.

Oh, Infinity Mobile Center.

Excuse me.

In Philadelphia.

Isn't it the Centra Mobile Infinity Center, Ethan?

Anyway, this was given out in one of their early rounds of the playoffs at a Flyers game and a fan of What Chaos is also a fan of our show. Salute to Young Gritty. Sent it to me. I asked him for it and he came through and delivered as he always does. So shout out to Young Gritty. Free Young Gritty. And I hope to see you back on the social sometime soon, bud. We miss you.

What's your fail, David?

My fail is the Montreal Canadiens. They're having such a hard time against Carolina in this series. We talked about it earlier. Their shots this series: 22, 12, 13, and 18. So to say that the incredibly loud, local, dedicated fans at the Bell Center were upset during Wednesday's 4-0 loss would be an understatement because at one point They started a chant that I used to hear when going to Panthers games in the early 2000s. If we have the audio, we do have the audio.

Yep.

Yeah, shoot the puck! You're, you're in the conference finals and your shot totals are in the teens. So to— but when the Montreal fans turned against the team in the conference final, to me That was kind of eye-opening. That was a little jarring.

Yeah, that was bad.

They have been tentative for sure.

Yeah. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, we saw— Eastern Conference Final, there's no S, by the way. The Eastern Conference Final saw a bad call on the ice by the refs. This was a net-front battle between Alexander Texier and Keandre Miller when out of nowhere, Texier speared Miller.

That's a bad play.

No, no, no, no, no.

Speared him right in the groin.

You know what he did, Roy?

What?

In the words of Chris Winningham, what'd he do, right?

Oh no, right in the penis.

He hit him in the penis.

Yes, uh, right in the penis. And of course Miller went down in a heap. The, you know, the referees gathered together and decided to call a major for spearing before they could review the call. That's, uh, that's protocol that they had to do. And somehow the result of that was a slashing minor, not a spearing major, not a game misconduct because of the spearing major. A slashing minor.

That was Mercy from Montreal being shown there. I guess that was earlier in the series, but that's what it feels like.

That is karma. That's my fail.

That's karma.

That's karma.

That's why they've been shit the rest of the series, right? Maybe don't jab a guy in his nuts when you're trying to play hockey. Maybe stick to hockey plays. I don't know.

Yeah. Ethan, what's your fail?

My fail of the week is me, Roy. I was really wrong about the—

Why does everything have to be about you?

About the Montreal Canadiens. I was so wrong about them. I was so wrong about the Carolina Hurricanes. We posted that video last week of Jork and I talking about the— about Game 1 and how it was more than just Rust. No, it was just Rust. We were wrong. We were incredibly wrong and we deserve to be ridiculed in the comments for it. So yes, we were wrong. I admit it, as I've done twice now.

Not drag me into your fail.

We were wrong.

The hell? This is your fail.

Dave, you were in the video too. You said it. You said it.

Goodness.

You talked about the Kane struggles in the Eastern Conference Final as we all did.

Catching fail of the week strays over here.

It was bad. It was ugly. So. That's that man.

All right, um, Claude Lemieux, uh, he's, uh, this was a— this was tough news yesterday as he took his own life at the age of 60. We lost basically a titan in this, uh, in this sport. 4-time champion. He won the Conn Smythe in 1995 with the New Jersey Devils. He on Monday took the torch out during the Montreal Canadiens— what was it, Monday, Game 3? It was Game 3 versus the Hurricanes. He walked out with a torch. He won in 1986 with the Canadiens, uh, the Stanley Cup. And to hear this news that he took his own life was just jarring.

So shocking, right?

It was. It's like, because we all grew up watching him, like, obviously my first memory was when he was with New Jersey. They won the Cup against the, uh, Detroit Red Wings, and then the very next year won the Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. Obviously bad memories here as a Panthers fan. Yeah, I mean, he's a champion. He's the type of guy that you hated playing against, but if he was on your team, he was absolutely loved. And, uh, obviously with that rivalry with, uh Detroit and Colorado. A lot of bad blood there. Remember, he boarded Chris Draper in the '96 Western Conference Final, and, uh, that didn't go over well in the city, city of Detroit. And the very next year, hijinks, just absolute shenanigans happened when they met in March before— this is before they met in the Western Conference Final again that year. But, uh, yeah, Claude Lemieux and, uh Darryl McCarty ended up, uh, getting together and McCarty sucker punched him as a means of revenge, and, uh, Claude Lemieux totaled. So, um, those two buried the hatchet, uh, and East 60 ended up having a bit of a documentary about that rivalry.

And, uh, Darryl McCarty went to X and posted this: This is extremely sad, no matter what feelings from past or present you hold. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. And people who got to see the person off the ice wasn't the person on. As I've said and will always call it as I see it, if you're on the ice with Claude Lemieux and you turn your back, you are an idiot. But off the ice, I'll turn mine. And please, if you're struggling at all, please reach out and talk to someone. Godspeed, my friend. And that's the situation where absolutely, if you are going through something Don't do it alone. You have to reach out to somebody. You have to talk. You have to get therapy, but don't do it alone. And, uh, seeing Claude Lemieux pass away that early in life is just devastating.

And the image of him looking so triumphant just the other night, looking so happy, literally the other night. You have no idea what he's going through. And it's, it's haunting to think about. But if that's, yeah, in a way it's beautiful that that's the last time we saw Claude Lemieux is looking happy and looking triumphant and being adored by his home crowd in Montreal.

Yeah.

And it is, I mean, it's really just unbelievable to, it's hard to fathom the change from one day to the next seemingly.

If you are watching on DraftKings Network, you can go to our YouTube page at The Hockey Show DLS and you can check out Sarah Sivian of The Siv Report and Too Many Men. We are going to talk about the Vegas Golden Knights going to the Stanley Cup Final and should we be happy about that? That's coming up next.

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I walk in like this.

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As sports fans cheer for, and sports media has to cover, teams that built rosters with individuals who we do not know personally. I mean, who knows what these individuals happen to do in their private lives, you know, off the court, off the field, and off the ice, and sometimes the wrong people get second, third, fourth, even fifth chances. And, uh, that's why when the Golden Knights signed Carter Hart, uh, in what probably could be considered a desperation move, uh, in, in net because of their injury situation, we were all questioning why. Uh, if you remember, Carter Hart was one of the 5 members of the, of Hockey Canada's 2018 World Junior Team who were accused and acquitted of sexual assault. And by the way, his current Vegas teammate Brett Howden was not involved in the— was not involved in the accusation, but he was in the room, uh, so he had to testify about it in court. So how do we feel having to separate our morality with the teams that we have to cheer for? Uh, Sarah Sivian wrote about that in her Substack called The Siv Report. She joins us now. Sarah, can you answer that question?

Yeah, I think when we're dealing with this situation, the thing that I tried to kind of write about here wasn't the act itself, but more like I think a lot of people, the troubling thing about this is that there's not enough saves he can make or goals he can allow that make this more or less true what he did. And he was acquitted, right? But there are evidence and texts that have been thrown out and that they could not use in court. So that's— I don't know, that's what I— everybody's entitled to their own opinion about how guilty he, he is, right? But I think we get into this tricky trap sometimes with this situation and others where you're kind of either rooting for or against him to fail because it would vindicate or not vindicate him. And that's just not the morality play we should be using.

We've seen this before with men in this league getting multiple chances. We've seen it this year with Joel Quenneville getting hired to coach the Anaheim Ducks. We've seen Stan Bollman getting hired to be the general manager in Edmonton. Could it be desperation? Could it be the league being allergic to change? What, what is this pattern here in the league?

I mean, it's old boys club. It's classic that they— the way that this happens where it's not just about the individual or the situation, it's the people. Like you said, Brett Howden getting on the trial and defending and testifying, and they all kind of testify figuratively and literally for each other and have each other's backs because maybe they've done something similar in the past, or maybe, oh, he's a really good guy to me And, "Oh, he's done the work," but we never really know what work they've all done, do we? Do we? And we ask, and it's kind of under wraps there. So it is kind of an old boys' club where people who are in that club get to decide who is forgiven and who isn't. And then it's kind of a trickle-down where people can't say anything because he's a good coach or because he's being a good goalie, you know what I mean?

Sarah, I want to keep it with Vegas. Talking about the old boys club, I feel like Vegas might be putting a wrench into that with their actions regarding their former coach Bruce Cassidy, who they fired with like, what was it, like 8 games left in the season or whatever it was. Now he's out trying to get another job, and it's become very public how Vegas is denying him the opportunity to work anywhere else. Uh, this it rubs me the wrong way, as I'm sure it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But the broader question for you is Vegas the most hated team? And why don't they care?

They don't care because the results show. And it's not because they do morally questionable things, but it's because they do like everything, you know what I mean? They kind of stick everything at a wall and see what sticks. And the fact is that The amount of times, I mean, they've left coaches on the tarmac after firing them and they've brought in and the revolving door of coaches is kind of crazy, but it's still one of the number one destinations for coaches to be because you can't really argue with the results that they've had when it comes to the trade market, when it comes to staying relevant at all costs. They've put together these good win-now teams in the decade that they've been a franchise and they've been relevant almost every single— they've gone to the Cup Final 3 times more than they've not made the playoffs. So it's just, they can get away with this because it works for them. And some of the disruptive stuff I think is really good. I think more teams should utilize the trade market more, put maybe a little less value in winning later because there's less of a probability that you're going to win later.

When you have these like Jack Eichels, Mitch Marner, Mark Stones in their prime and you trade for them, I mean I think that's genius. But then I think obviously I'm morally objected to some of this stuff. And the Bruce Cassidy thing, I mean, it's funny that Edmonton leaked it, and I understand not wanting to give Bruce Cassidy to a team in the West, but when it starts being he's not allowed to talk to anyone until XYZ— listen, I think he's going to be fine. I think he's going to get a job. I think it's kind of funny because I don't know, like It's so petty. It's so beyond petty, but I would be like, it's just ridiculous. But I don't know. It's kind of how they operate, I guess.

So help him find a job.

Yeah, exactly. I think in a roundabout way, which doesn't mean it's a good thing or not petty, but I mean, it's interesting.

So Vegas is now in the Stanley Cup Final, and I have to say that Rosie was right in her pick because if I don't, she will kill me. Anyway, the Western Conference Final, what went wrong with the Colorado Avalanche? Should we say that what went wrong with the Colorado Avalanche or what went right with the Vegas Golden Knights? Because I don't know what John Tortorella did that changed their whole philosophy, but they became world beaters over here on defense. What say you?

He's really good at that. Remember that Blue Jackets um, situation in, in the bubble, I believe. It might have not been in the bubble that they hired Torts.

Yeah, they beat the Lightning in 2019, right?

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, he's really good with kind of a veteran group. He knows exactly what he's good at, where his limitations are. And that's where I hand it to the Golden Knights for seeing that exact type of coach is something that they needed, that Cassidy had maybe lost the locker room, and acted— and they acted accordingly. And, uh, I think it's a combination of being aggressive and making these moves. Mark Stone coming back, of course. And then you have the problems with the Avalanche where it's like, as great as this team is, there's— if you have McKinnon and you have Makar this hurt that they can't play, and then they come back and it's clear they're hurt and everybody knows it, that's just the two worst things that could happen to this team. And then you look at The Panthers and the Bruins back when the Bruins had this wonderful goaltending tandem that collapsed when they got to the playoffs. It's just kind of if your success relies on, I think, like two amazing goalies, even one with Connor Hellebuyck, I think it's kind of the regular season shot selection. Shots that get taken are so different than the playoffs and these good goalie teams keep getting exposed.

If you have two goalies, Roy, you have none.

You have—

yeah, I knew you were gonna say it. I knew it was coming from Ethan.

All right, Sarah.

Yeah, of course it's coming from Ethan.

It's your time. I know you've been waiting to do this. Tell us how wrong we were about the Carolina Hurricanes.

Everybody was extremely wrong about the Carolina Hurricanes because they got— and I just love that I have evidence of myself dunking on— but it's 8 years of myself dunking and ended up being wrong. So now the rules are finally reversed and it's— I'm having the payoff. But I think when you look at this roster, I— there was such a problem with everybody after they lost one game in the ECF and going past— like, it's a logical fallacy to think because they went 1-17 in the ECF that they do it in this situation. It's a completely different situation. This team was the only team in the NHL with 720 goal scorers this season. They finally had the depth they've been trying to build this team around. They finally got it. Finally, the Panthers aren't there to terrorize them. And part of this 1-17 record, it's like a 2009. So I don't like— this isn't really fair. I think then there's been the Panthers. Now you just look at this objectively. It's a different team and they have kind of kept optimizing this version of the team to get to like the final boss of the Carolina Hurricanes.

And that's what they are now. They aren't. Unconfident after they lose one game. And mind you, they went 8-0. They like were breaking records in the playoffs and suddenly they lose one game and everyone's dunking. Not so fast.

I hate how right.

Zero.

Finally, I have nothing to say. I have no comebacks.

Wow.

I'm shocked about that. That is surprising.

And I hate it and it drives me insane.

Ethan was too stunned to speak.

Shocking.

Rare. David, you got to soak in the moment. I did want to ask you, Sarah, about the Conn Smythe race, just because I feel like it's right now it's Mitch Marner's race to lose. I know if Carolina makes it, like, I think maybe like a Logan Stankoven or even a Freddie Andersen could get there. But as much as I feel like particularly one region of the hockey world is going to hate it the way it's trending right now, it feels like it's Marner's to lose. No?

Yes. And that's the tragedy of this Carter Hart situation is that we're not talking enough about how amazing and sick Mitch Marner has been. He's not only improving their offense, but their defense. Like, he's just been involved in every play, every transition. And it's just— it's a masterpiece that he's putting on, a clinic, if you will. And it has been— the Vegas Golden Knights have been far from perfect in these playoffs, and Marner has been able to conceal a lot of these mistakes. And it's been awesome to watch.

The last thing I wanted to ask you about, obviously it's very sad yesterday when we heard about what happened with Claude Lemieux and how crazy it was. We were talking about it earlier, how just 2 days prior, like, this guy, he's got the torch in Montreal. But kind of my take as I've let it process is how oftentimes when something like this happens, everybody's very quick to say, you never know what somebody's going through. Always check in. And I feel like this puts a huge spotlight on that specific element of it because seemed like he was great, seemed like life was awesome. And obviously, you know, things could be happening, but I, I just kind of wanted to get your take on it because obviously it's horrible. I, I just— my brain goes to try to finding some kind of a positive to take from everything, and, and that's where I went.

Yeah, 100%. It can be— I mean, I'm still kind of in shock about it. I mean, I knew him somewhat. He was an agent to many players that Absolutely spoke the world of him. And you could see why when you interacted with him. I was scared to interact with him because he's such a legend and he's kind of like, he's a scary guy on the ice, right? But he couldn't have been nicer or more passionate when it comes to getting his players what they deserve and kind of like getting, setting the record straight. So I just really appreciated interactions that I did have with him. He was Freddie Anderson's agent and a few others that came through the Canes. And yeah, it's just exactly— I think I am really happy that he could see one last time how respected and loved he is in the hockey world. I think that's where that comes in when he was carrying the torch and looking around. Yeah, you never, never know what mental health looks like for somebody, no matter how they're presenting on the outside. And it should be a lesson not to just talk about it like this, like we always do, but just to check in, I guess, with your friends in real time.

And, um, not that— but also sometimes someone's battling a mental health demon that's so strong that even that, like, don't feel guilty if your friend is dealing with something that's bigger than you. It can be a chemical imbalance, right? That can be— I think it shows how much of a chemical imbalance and how important it is to kind of stay on top of your own mental health because everybody's journey is completely different. And the maintenance of mental health is something we don't talk about enough to like, if you're somebody that struggles even when you are doing well, I think it's important to stay on top of it.

You can read her Substack, The Siv Report. You can listen to her with Allison Lukian and Sheena Goldman on Too Many Men, a fabulous Fantastic podcast. You can find anywhere you find podcasts. That's Sarah Sivian. Thank you for joining us, Sarah.

Thanks so much for having me, guys.

All right, before we get out of here, we have to talk about off-campus before my life comes to a very violent end from the chaotic Rosario area. So, um, Rosie, take it away.

Well, I'm not taking it away because—

yeah, take it away, please take it away, take it away from me.

Yeah, yeah, okay, I'll take it away. Uh, but, um, you were saying that you do not remember what happened, so I'm gonna remind you what happened.

Oh, for God's sake.

So what were they, 4 and 5? Is that the one we just watched this week?

Yeah, 4 and 5. Okay, so if you remember, you ended up with, hey, can you give me an orgasm? So we got into the scene of the, of the, um orgasm, which I couldn't watch entirely because I had to skip a lot. But I was like, I just hope they don't talk because if not, I'm gonna miss a lot of, uh, dialog. But apparently David says no, wasn't a lot of talking.

No, no.

And to be fair, the whole— that whole sequence, like, I, I don't know how this is gonna make me look, but I feel like it was very realistic because it took like 12 seconds for both of them to finish. And I'm like, oh, that's reality. Thank you. So like, you know, that was kind of like a nice little touch.

But well, there you go, at least something positive.

Like, you didn't miss much, Rose.

When he starts dancing and he's like, oh, I feel the groove, I was like, oh my God, this man is so sexy.

No, that man was so horny. Oh my God, he was about to get some and he wanted to get to business.

So sad. No, he was setting the mood because, uh, didn't you remember potato potato, Rose? I didn't remember the conversation he had with Dean and he was like 'How can I make a girl feel comfortable?' Oh my God, real guys in the world, they don't ask that. You guys, when you talk to each other, it is so not like that. Like, that is men written by girls.

Like, that's a great point.

It's a great point, right?

It is, bro.

I have conversations like that. I don't know, if I have something I want to talk about with a guy friend, I'm gonna ask. Like, am I crazy?

You just said, 'Oh, it took 12 minutes to finish.' No, I'm saying seconds.

Seconds, not 12 minutes. If it was 12 minutes, more power to that guy.

Listen, yeah, for you, bro. Yeah, nice job. So I thought that scene was actually like, besides the obvious like sexual tension and kind of like one of the hot— more hot and bothered scenes in the show, like it was actually like really romantic and you kind of see them starting to like make that connection with each other that's just deeper than just like the friend level. Because like to be able to do that with somebody and do that for somebody and the way he was kind of helping, and especially after what she opens up to him about in the previous episode. Yeah, yeah, it is pretty amazing to like to see that kind of relationship, and those kinds of relationships aren't often portrayed in these romance and television shows where it's like—

it was the same episode, by the way.

Yeah, people who started—

yeah, yeah, yeah, people who's paying attention, Roy.

There you go.

People who start as friends and then kind of build this friendship in this relationship, and then they become involved sexually and romantically. Like, you don't see those relationships portrayed that way, and I think that kind of relationship can be very beautiful, and, and they do a great job of portraying it.

I'm sorry, but you lost me at the man feet in that situation.

I mean, yeah, fair enough. Yeah, you didn't like—

they had to portray the— they had to figure out how to show us that they were orgasming without actually You know, like nobody's cleaning up afterwards. It's not realistic at all. They just finish and they're flopping on the bed next to each other like it's all good. That, you know, I, I don't like how unrealistic those elements are, but that's just me.

I don't know, but, uh, like the conversation he has with Dean, and they're in college, like, mind you, they're in college, so they're not very mature, and that conversation is so mature.

That— no, no, no, no, no, that is— that conversation is exactly how it would go down, where you don't really know how to tell your buddy what you need to do, and you don't know how to tell your buddy that you don't know how to do that to a girl. That is definitely a conversation that would go down between guys like that. That's exactly how it would go down.

But no, the answer would be very— like, with the guys that I have known, it would be very different. Like, I think it's very mature the way that they answer.

For course, it sounds like you have immature friends, Rose.

Uh, maybe, but, uh, most of the immature people that I have met is in the United States, so That's also probably very, very accurate. Yeah, so it's like, I was very surprised. I'm like, the thing is, you're left with an emptiness because, you know, those type of guys— very mature, intelligent, emotionally intelligent, and handsome, and cuadritos— they do not exist.

No, no, definitely not in this studio, I'll tell you that. But, uh, anyway, how do we go from talking about the show? I was speaking for you too. Anyway, episode 5, uh, episode 5, they ended up, uh, Hannah realized that, you know what, this other guy, I'm not really into him. I'm gonna stick with, uh, the— whatever his name is.

That's one thing I like about the show is that they were just like, screw the love triangle. Like, this love triangle doesn't need to— doesn't add anything at this point. It's kind of just a hindrance to, like, the main relationship that it should— that should— the show should be about. Like, I like how they just kind of dumped the love triangle and were like, screw it, this thing's over. The show and the story are really about Garrett and, uh, Garrett and Hannah and the relationship that they build. And I do think, like I said, like, it's a very beautiful relationship in a way because it's very unconventional from the ones that you see normally on—

yeah, it's beautiful how in like episode 5 it'll like, like, it takes another turn and it goes deeper. And like, you see their problems and everything. And like, when you see the scene of him and having the turkey with the dad That scene is so well done.

This is the Thanksgiving episode, right?

Yes.

Episode 5.

Yeah.

So the Thanksgiving episode, Rose, is like— it's like all of their traumas, right? Like every, every— it's her, it's Garrett, it's all of the people from home. You learn about the Logan, uh, siblings and, and, you know, their problems with their mother at home. And it's just like, shows don't explore that always, and I thought they did a great job of exploring it. And also, like, That scene at Thanksgiving where he recognizes, you know, what's happening to his, his, uh, dad's new wife. And, and yeah, and then the scene in the car. Yeah, fiancée. Yeah, the scene where, um, he's crying to her in the car. Like, I, I cried. Like, that was an incredibly emotional scene. And that was, for me, without a doubt, the most emotional scene in the entire show.

All right, uh, the hockey aspect, Dave, you had any problems?

There was no hockey.

There was a— there was hockey aspect in this. Yeah.

All right, so here— yes, I do, now that you remind me. Thank you. Um, hockey players don't practice by themselves, and in this show everybody's on the ice by themselves. Like, where are they getting all this time? Where are they getting the ice time? Like, hockey players practice so much on— when they're part of a team, they're not out there just fucking around on the ice. Like willy-nilly. And then, oh, the arena's wide open, by the way, so she can just waltz in while he's having this private workout.

She works in the arena. She works in the arena.

Okay, well, she's got access to the arena, so okay, maybe that's— so she waltzes in and she starts playing a random piano. I guess that's because this junior arena has, has its own— what was it? What are they called, Roy?

The— I thought she plays a song on the off-score, doesn't she?

No.

Yeah, whatever they're called, the arena organs that I can't think of.

Keyboard, keyboard, keyboard.

The organ, thank you. But like, what, what are we doing?

Well, that's the way I'm gonna, uh, conquistar Barky. I'm gonna go and he's gonna be playing.

And then there was what, the one game that he played with her in the stands as his girlfriend where he like smiles at her and she gets all giggly about it? Like, if anybody on the ice saw him do that, if anybody on the other team saw him smiling at a girl in stands, even his teammates. That's it. Like, you're— you got a job to do, and this guy's an NHL prospect. So that—

yeah.

All right, okay, I'm done.

Just wait till you see, Dave. Just wait till you see. We got an episode about the hockey, about where the hockey goes in terms of his draft prospects. You're gonna get really mad in the next couple of—

really, really, really quick, Rose, because I got in this shit because I got—

hey, yes, really quick. And what I think it's a win for Off Campus, um, a lot of people— hey, a lot of people try, uh, to grab their niche and they try to do both guys and girls. You just have to be like, get the girls happy and that's it. And with these shows, we're so like, oh, it's a rom-com and you have handsome guys and everything. So when the girl is happy, you're gonna have a lot of views, like 36 million views.

Oh yeah, wait, what? One last thing that I have to throw in there that we haven't mentioned real quick, real quick.

Go.

Like, her hot best friend suddenly like going for the, the, the slut on the team, the, the guy she— the guy that did the orgasm advice.

Just you wait.

Uh, we already saw her in her underwear in his room and he's supposed to be like visiting his family, so like clearly there's some drama coming in.

They keep saying By the way, uh, that's season 2 subject right there, the, the, that relationship.

Can we chill with the spoilers? I'm amazed that we got—

no, they announced it. They announced it. It's been announced. Yeah, it's good.

Next episode rocks.

All right, can I end the show now? Thank you.

Please.

All right, here we go, folks. Uh, game 5, we got ourselves a watch-along, these Eastern Conference Final between the Canadiens and the Hurricanes. That series is over. Uh, but you can watch us in that series tonight as, uh, The Hockey Show has the watch-along. Uh, by the way, we thank you for watching, uh, the Western Conference Final last week for us. Next week we are going to actually watch the Stanley Cup Final, hopefully on Thursday. That'll either be Game 1 or Game 2, so stay tuned for that. Uh, remember to subscribe to The Hockey Show on our YouTube page, which is where you can find the, uh, watch-along, as well as the Levittard Show page. You can find us at The Hockey Show DLS, uh, on TikTok, The Hockey Show 7 on X, Instagram, and Threads at The Hockey Show DLS. For Gino, for Jason, for Rosie, for Ethan, and for David, my name is Roy. We will see you tonight for the watch-along.