(upbeat music) - Stan Reed Show. Kidock Central here in the Kintak Studio. Kidock Central is for enzyme-specific Vancouver's premier Chrysler.ram and Jeep Superstore on 2nd Avenue between Kambian and Maine, or an enzyme-specific Chrysler.ca. Rick Nash still to come later on in the program, putting together, well, he's kinda got the job that we all would want. Biknizar in studio. Also, Randy Jandak, a color analyst joining us, a little bit of a round table discussion. - Wait, who's got the job we all want, Randy for Rick Nash? - Rick, well. - Come on now, guys. - Rick Nash. - But also, come on, Rick. - The World Championship job or the Olympic job? - Well, I mean, any job putting together Team Canada at a big-time tournament. - Classic bar move, right? - Even the World Championships? - Yeah. - Some guys turn it down, guys. - Obviously, the World Championships job is like, maybe arguably more fun. - Hang out and switch the wind. - That's true. - Yes. - You're hitting up bars, getting a team together. But they are-- - Ask Chano Brian for the tour of Prague. - You know. - About 11 days of Prague and then you got traded. We got so well for Shane. - I mean, Tyler Myers had a great time at the Worlds last year. - It's true. And everybody remembers that Troy Stetragull. - We got to ask Rick about this though. Like, it's pretty obvious, like more work to put together the World Championship team than it is the Olympic roster, isn't it? - Oh, you got to figure. - It's like beating people away for the Olympic squad. - The Olympic squad, you're like, okay, we got to decide between the 13th forward and 8th defenseman. Other than that, we're pretty good. - Part of that is there's also like 100 mock drafts. How many mock drafts are there for the World Championships? Like none, right? - It's a classic conversation at the bar of like four years, five years since we've had Olympic or international tournament. It's like, hey, what's the next team, Canada? - Yeah. - And just started talking. - And then it's just like-- - Rick Nash is doing that right now. - Yeah, but we suck in goal. Like that's the problem. - Aidenhill. - That's what I would say at the bar. - Is it the starter right now? Probably? - Dude, I saw one with-- - Well, if they missed the playoffs, suddenly that-- - I saw a corner game bro. - I don't know. Debra Levi had a good performance the other night against the Canucks. He's on the radar now. - This is basically like the Eastern Conference wild card. It's like, what have you done in your last game? All right, you're number one. - The state of Canadian goal-tending. We need a summit. Well, Canucks are fine. At least they certainly look at right now. And if you, we were talking about this in the opening segment. And I know not everybody agrees with me because as one textor put it, Elias Linholm is one of the biggest trade deadline bus in recent history to this point. I know he hasn't had the offense, but if you look at everything else, their shot suppression numbers, their goals against the way that, you know, their backup goalie has come in and they haven't missed a beat defensively. They're still defending well in front of Casey-Dismith and he's bailed them out when there is the odd breakdown. I mean, he's made the Canucks, if they weren't already, he cemented them as one of the elite defensive teams in the league. - Yeah, in terms of balance guys, he is providing it. I know that's not a sexy word, but the reality is in the playoffs, you need that. You need somebody that makes you better and the points are gonna help. Whenever that happens, we've seen whether it was a maintenance day-to-day in practice, whether Rick Talkett was mentioning that, you know, this is a player that's dealing with something right now. At the very least, he adds some balance where, you're starting to see his line mates flourish a little bit and I think there was a shot yesterday. It was a three on two where it was at 68.2 miles per hour. Bick, we talked about this in the post game. It's kind of all you needed to see there. He was all by himself. He hit it cleanly, but there was just no zip on it. So to say it's a bust, listen, he makes them better from a 200 foot game perspective, but clearly, something's going on there. He's not 100% right. You just hope that he's ready to go for the playoffs because he does have that offense in his game. He just got to crack it open. - At least he's fulfilling a certain role. I know it's the cost is a lot and all this, the defensive impact that he's providing. And it's something that gives you an edge. You can control the middle of the ice. You can control how you're being attacked to a certain degree 'cause you have three very stout players. JT Miller is playing with a lot of ferocity and he's in people's faces. So each guy kind of provides a different element. So it's not monochromatic that hey, if one guy's taking over a game on a certain style, all right, maybe Lindholm is a good matchup for dry side. Oh, can we put Miller out there? And it provides you flexibility, there's benefits. It's just a high cost and it didn't solve the biggest need, I thought. But as we were saying earlier, they made their strength stronger. - Yeah, with a last Lindholm too, guys. Like the middle of the ice is something that you're gonna have to have some depth on. So I look at this in the short term, yes. You know, not picking up a point in what 15, or sorry, a goal in 15 games. Of course you look at that and say, you know, what's going on here. But in the long term, if you can get healthy, you're a matchup problem for games in the playoffs. And look at Vegas, if they're healthy, you've got a solid trio down the middle. If you've got LA, you've got something to rival what they have, even though they haven't looked good. And so in the short term, it doesn't look great right now because clearly dealing with something, maybe he doesn't have that chemistry with his line mates, but it's building towards April. And I think the formula is there, you just gotta get him to elevate his game. - One thing it'll help in a, certainly in a playoff series, like you're on the roads, who's the opposing coach gonna want to like match up against? It's like, yeah, okay. Like there are different levels of quality there for the Canucks, but there isn't anybody, Rick Talkett would be overly upset about being out there against another team's top line. Can Teddy Blooger take a shift against Conor McDavid? If he has to, he can. If it lies, they all can do the job. Sure, he'll want his specific matchup. So I'm sure, as we've seen with JT Miller at times, but there isn't one center that an opposing coach can truly try to attack with the home change. - I think with one of those, with all of those lines, the matchups are important, but guys, what we've started to see with every single one of these lines is, maybe the fourth line's not quite there, but the top three is, you've got those centers, but you've also got wingers with edge. And it's tough to play 82 games that way. I know we've talked to Yannick Hanson in the past, and you guys have on your shows as well, just talking about there's a certain gear you have to hit in the playoffs, breaking the seal, whatever you want to call it. You can't do that for 82, especially as a role player, going 110 miles per hour is not possible. But we started to see it, like Sam Lafferty yesterday, I thought it was amazing. This is a guy that was going full speed, making life very difficult for Arbor Jack guy. You saw that from Connor Garland, you saw that from Hoaglander, there's a number of players playing that style. So it's not only about the center matchups to me, it's about, are you able to bring that four check consistently? And even though there's a couple of games you weren't necessarily getting that, is this a lineup now when they're hitting top gear? That's not an easy matchup for any of those lines because they're coming at your defenseman full speed ahead and sure it's Montreal. You gotta up your ante a little bit against teams like a Vegas or an LA or a team that has a Drew Dodie and Alex Petrangello and all of those guys. But the center matchups really elevates what this line can do, but then you get wingers like that going into speed. It does change what this team can do in, and it's just a matter of having that mindset as you inch closer to April. - I wanna flip this to your reach 'cause we're talking about how the connection you're gonna go after other top centers and you're be comfortable with blue gear even out there against McDavid. How do you think other teams are gonna approach the matchup against Vancouver? 'Cause I feel it's automatic. If I'm LA, Phillip, no, you're getting attached to JT Miller, Ryan or Rob, you're getting attached to JT Miller. Adam Henry, you're getting attached to JT Miller. I think that's the one, that's the line people are gonna try to target to put their best matchup center out against. Wouldn't that be a good thing for Elias Peterson? Especially if he finds this game. Like, well, that finds that next level. - There's the caveat though, right? Like he's gotta find his game and the supporting cast has gotta be there with him as well. - It's definitely Peterson, like Miller and Besser have done it all year. You know, I said it yesterday on the show and it's not exactly a hot take. If you were to just analyze the two seasons, Miller's had a better season than Elias Peterson. And so when you look at Peterson, you still see the ceiling, but he's kind of a few steps below it and hasn't consistently gotten there. He needs it more, not only on the power play, which I think is where he can really take his offense to the next level, but part of this is now that you've got all these different centers and you've got these different matchup values, Peterson's gotta be able to take advantage of that. And we just, since Lindolm's been acquired since they've gone with this 3C formation, we haven't seen Peterson take advantage of it yet. - If it winds up being Peterson, Hoglander, and Souter, out there against Sisson's, Zucker, and Luke Evan-Jelista, that better be a big win. - Yeah. - That better be a monumental win for that Peterson line. And that's where the focus is gonna come from. - Well, think about the Colorado game where they just got crushed by Middlesad, right? - Yeah, and that's really what it comes down to because you might have a matchup that you're even with or maybe if that Lindholm line loses, but your X factor is really that second line. That's where your strength should be. And Elias Peterson will see what happens with this line because Connor Garland is relentless. He's brought the heat on that line very much alongside Neil's Hoglander, guys. But this is a guy that started off the season so well in Elias Peterson. And now you're gonna, as the game changes, you have to adjust with it. And those matchups, even yesterday, there was moments in the third period where Montreal, a little bit of targeting of Queen Hughes and Elias Peterson, there's some extra cross tricks. You got to get used to that. You got to play through that. And that's where I want to see as that game does change, does Elias Peterson change with it? - So on last night's game, the Kodak stat sheet, it kind of looks like a Legion of Doom fliers stat sheet from the 90s. Like Michael Renberg's got like 12 hits. It's like, who's doing the stats in Philly? Like they're just adding them on for fun. It's like the shot clock guy in Carolina. Like, yeah, we outshot the other team by 20. That's what I think at least. But you go through the lineup and they're much more strict about how these things get static these days. - The audit, the audit. - The league audits, the hit sheet every night. Six hits for Podkols and six hits for Juleson. You had four for Hoglander, five for Miller, three for Peterson, three for Lafferty, four for, sorry, not Garland. He had four pims. - Although he could have had a couple of overhand rights at Arbor, Jack. You were probably proud in that moment, weren't you? - I mean, even Pew Souter is getting four hits last night. Has this team found that physical level that Rick Tock has wanted to see from them? 'Cause it felt like they found it last night. - Yeah, yesterday they also identified a opponent that maybe was susceptible to that, right? A lot of young defenseman back there, Jordan Harris, Kate and Gully, who had an interesting game, where when you-- - Why is interesting a word for bad? - It was a nice way of saying bad. - It was bad, but it was also like, there's a lot of acting going on there. That's why I call it interesting. To me, it was, and we made comments during the call where it's just like snapping the head back. There's a lot of flopping around. - He was getting pummeled. - He was, but it felt like he was trying to make a lot, even though they're like, maybe not so hard hits. - Well, he took a big reverse hit from Podkols and at one point, I think it was in the second period, did not like it, but it happened with Hoaglander, it happened with Blueger on that other play. And yeah, the whole snap your head back thing, but that's the kind of thing. This team is, I know a lot of our listeners have wanted to see more of a physical nature to this squad. You're going to need it in the playoffs. It's one thing to do it against Montreal. Let's see you do it against Vegas later this week, who's a much bigger team and is used to playing that style, but I think they're trending in the right direction. - Well, their version of physicality isn't blow guys up and punish them into the boards. The version of physicality is more functional. It's what Rick Talkie was saying yesterday, right? Get in front of bodies and make it difficult and that element. But if you're throwing 40 hits, hard press do that every night, obviously. But if you're doing that, it's going to resonate with the fans in a big way. - It is, and it's also sending a message that you can play that way if necessary. In the playoffs, you're going to have games depending on who the opposition is, where they're going to challenge you physically. Can you back that up? Can you bring it and hold up your end of it, right? - Sure, and I asked Rick Talkie about that element today after practice about, you know, Lafferty and Garland really leaning into that role and he said, "Hey, it's a pack mentality." And the fact that this team is now able to do that across the lineup, and to your point, it's not all about Noah Julesen lining up guys or Nikita Zadorov lining up guys. When they do, it's great. It swings the momentum in your favor. You get a little bit more, maybe the chess puffed out boys, but it's about, are you able to make life difficult? And they're starting to do a lot more of that. The one thing I would look at though is, if they are in a position to elevate the physicality, are they able to do that? I feel it with like Zadorov and Julesen when he's in the lineup, they're able to up it. They're able to say, "Yeah, we're not going to back down," which is something last year, but even earlier this year, they didn't maybe have that in their game. Now as you're wrapping up the game, they're starting to show it. - Yeah, they're not bruising. - No. - Whereas I think you'll see some teams. You'll see a bloke, you're like, "Oh man, I wish there was a player or two on this team, they could do it outside of Zadorov, Myers flashes up here and there." But there's some teams-- - It should feel different with Joshua back though. - Yeah, that's fair. - I think Paul is bringing you guys. He's hitting hard. - Yeah. - He's hitting hard. - We're seeing the best out of Mikayev right now. Lafferty seems to be coming around as well. Podkolsen adds a lot more heft to this team, another big body, and you bring in Joshua, like you've got four guys through your bottom six that can really lay the body. - But it's also size, but it's speed as well. Lafferty's game yesterday was a speed game, and Mikayev's game is that as well. When you bring back Joshua, it's the physicality, but he's so rangy, where he's getting in your way, and it's a mixture of that where not only can we drill you into the boards, but at the same time, we're just not in a position to let you pass through, and that's what makes them such a challenging matchup, right? Kind of reminds you in Vegas in certain degrees. - I'm pumped up when Dakota Joshua returns. - I'd see what it looks like. Just getting antsy, man, it's been a while since we see him in the lineup, and I don't know what the lineup looks like when he's back. - That too, but at least it's just another credible body, and he brings all these things that you just mentioned, and he'll fit in again, like go pair him with Garland and see how it rolls, but him back in the lineup, I think excited a lot of people. - Okay, so let's just say, put X number of days on it, and Garland's still playing the way that he is right now. What does that third line look like? - Okay, so I pitched this to you yesterday, off air. The pairing that worked was Garland and Joshua, okay, yep. Why wouldn't you just want to keep them together? And what if it's with Luis Pedersen? - Okay. - I'm not saying that's the greatest idea ever, but could you try it? - Could you try it? - It's essentially, if Lindholm with Garland and Joshua is a souped up version of Luger there, why wouldn't you just soup it up even more and go with Pedersen there? - So you swap it with Lindholm and Hoaglander. - Yeah, it might be Lindholm, Hoaglander, and Suder. - Or if you want the defensive matchup line, it's Lindholm, Suder, and Lafferty, in the cave with Besser and Miller. - I don't mind to look at that, because that duo is so good. - They were really strong. - If anything, you feel kind of bad for Hoaglander, 'cause he hasn't done anything wrong in this regard, but when you're looking at balance, this is kind of what getting that padding, guys, and the standings all about, where you can test drive a couple of things to see if they work. - I think Miller and Besser are a duo. Hoaglander and Pedersen are now a duo. - Officially in stone? - Yeah, it's pretty close. The way Hoaglander's played, there's no reason to move him away from Pedersen. - I agree with you that-- - No points in four, by the way. Fair enough. - Wasn't he up? - Wasn't he up five and eight or something though? - Yeah, he didn't run there. - He did his work in the first semester, the second semester is he's killing a little bit. - He's got a free block. - I agree with you, it's a duo, but I wouldn't mind just experimenting a little bit, just to see what your idea looks like. I don't mind that. - Because you can't do it in the playoffs, you can't just say, "Oh, let's--" - No, can't do it right now. - Yeah, as far as like Hoaglander, Pedersen, Garland, I'm not sure like, that's something that works in a playoff scenario. Do you leave your, these are just enough size there. Matchups make that fight, man. Stiles make fight right now. - The issue is like a right winger for Pedersen and Hoaglander. You know, as much as that duo has started to work, it's missing somebody on the right side. And that's why Garland is there now after trying essentially everybody else. Now they finally put Garland there. - But that's why your idea on the left-hand side though, makes a little bit more sense, right? If you're trying to add some heft, it may break up that duo, but that's why that test drive makes sense. So, you know, if you're looking for size on that line, what's the alternative? - He's suited to not work on the right-hand side. And he works well with J.T. Miller Brock Besser. So you're gonna go back to McCabe in that situation? - Yeah, like I liked McCabe with Miller Ambassador. - Yeah, I think this recent stretch of McCabe has now said, to me, it's okay, you can go on any line. It's a matter of like where you're placed on that line. With Lindholm, he's right now, he's probably the second guy. If he goes up the line up, he's the third guy. So I can live with him being the third guy in any of the top six roles. - If he brings that speed to any of those top two lines. - And I play making. - And that's credit to, once again, I'm sounding like I'm a member of the Sam Lafferty fan club here, guys, but like the way that he drives the middle of the ice and opens up the ice for everybody, it was a special play. But Makayev, if he can keep this game going, if he can play with that speed, it gives Rick Talkett options, right? Kind of what he has on the back end right now, where Noah Juleson and Ian Cole, he can kind of swap in and see who's playing better, potentially dealing with an injury. If you're looking at the Ford group as well that way, that's something that you might be able to look at. Makayev and say, all right, show me what you got. You're going to get another elevated spot and maybe you bump somebody down. - So Imran from Richmond on the Dunbar Lumber text message inbox. I just don't understand why Lindholm isn't on power play. One, why Souter or Garland over him, Souter has many chances that he doesn't capitalize on. Lindholm would put those away. We got excited. I certainly got excited about the Canucks power play after the game against Buffalo. Last night it goes over for four and was less inspiring to say the least. - The easiest answer is lefty, that's it. - That's the biggest reason Souter is there. Garland got the chance before he is a righty. He didn't do much in his appearance on the power play. I'm really confused about the Lindholm thing. I wonder if... - I'm more confused with the Ronik on 513. - Yeah, that one, that was a momentum killer. - It was simply because they tried it earlier this year and it worked. - Yeah. - I think, right? 'Cause it worked against, it was like San Jose in December or something like that. - But since then, there have been moments where Ronik has been thrown even on five on four situations and guys, that shot, it's not going off quickly. There's a lot of bawling of puck and yesterday he killed momentum more than anything. - He doesn't shoot. - He can go through that. - He's trying slap passes, like just shoot the puck. That's what you're here for. - I praised him in early on in the year. - He tried Sheldon Suray, put it through somebody. I don't care. - Turned into Sammy Salah, hesitating. - Like Lindholm had that three on two opportunity and he didn't get enough on that one time or there's talk about an injury. I don't know, I'm like trying to find reasons why they aren't putting Lindholm on power play one because to me, it feels like something they need to try. - Yeah, I don't know, his shot to me, his shot to me is like just lacking zip. And if you're looking in that bumper area specifically, you want somebody who can pick a corner. Does his shot look like that right now? - No. - No. And net front, I still like Brock Besser there. When JT's going downhill guys, Brock plays that perfectly. So I would in that situation, still like Brock there, but Lindholm's shot is for whatever reason, no inside information on this, it just doesn't look right. - The thing, the unfortunate truth is the simple answer, of Lindholm being better than Souter or Garland, isn't necessarily the solution. It seems like the simplest thing, but it opens up so many other questions of, okay well then how do you activate the bumper? Well now Brock can't make that pass 'cause it's the righty to the righty. - Yeah. - So then does Lindholm have to go down though? And then where does Brock go? Does he go to the wall? Does he, are you putting JT in the, it creates all these domino effects of answers you don't really wanna ask? - Well they've missed it since Bo left, right? Like it's the area that they haven't been able to fill in the void of Bo Horvat is that bumper spot on the power play. And I don't know how they fix it for the playoffs. I imagine that's why they had so much interest in Jake Genssel because there's a lefty shot who can score for days and you just plug 'em play right into the bumper spot and he would work perfect there. But they obviously weren't able to pull off that deal. - No, they weren't and I think Lindholm will have another look at it at some point. I think when you've got a guy that's put up 40 at some point you're gonna give it another try. But is that right now with whatever he's dealing with, right? Not at practice today, given a maintenance day. So is it a little bit later on? Maybe in a couple of weeks, hopefully he's better by then. - So tomorrow night, Randy, Janet, how can I even Canada Punjabi, of course? - Yep. - At four o'clock. - Correct, Toronto versus Edmonton. - And then seven o'clock, you'll try to scurry over to Rod-- - Randy, Janet, and Brendan Batchlin, that's right. - He'll scurry over to Roger's Arena and be the color analyst for the Canucks on radio. - That's right, there'll be an interesting drive over. If you see me on the road, please move on the way. 'Cause it's gonna be a quick turnaround. - Can we get him a Royal Escort? - Can I get like one of the just the police lights on my car or something? Just move to the right place. - Just like the old movies, slap it on. - Slurpico style. - And then after that, it's not done yet. - It'll be Scott Oak, Connor Garland, and Randy Janda on after hours. - What shift? - I'm looking forward to it, it's gonna be a long day, I'll probably be seen at a local bar after all that's done, just for a quick drink. But no looking forward to it, man. Scott Oak's a legend and really looking forward to that. - What about Connor Garland? - Connor Garland, he's building the legend. - Scott Oak's a legend, he's building the legend. - No, come on, we talked to Connor Garland all the time. You guys have done it, I've done it. Scott Oak, joining him on that platform is pretty cool. So I'm looking forward to that. - Send in your questions, by the way. - Yes. - Get those questions in. - Connor Garland. - Send Randy some questions. - Can you ask? - Can you ask Connor Garland if he thinks he would beat Arbor Check Eye in a fight? - We'll put that one under discretion of Scott Oak. I send the questions to Scott. He decides if they're going on air. - All right, big question for me. Who, which one of you two likes this player more? Robin Van Percy. - Oh, it's going to be Randy. - Okay, so some of the sickest goals I've ever seen in an arsenal uniform come from Robin Van Percy. There was a left footed volley against Charlton, Emmanuel Abuei sent it in. Flying volley is one of my favorite goals of all time. So I liked RVP before he switched to Manchester United. - Yeah. - Like it hurt me inside. - Before he scorned you and left for Manchester United. - And then he won championships and all that, but like that one hurt me, that one actually inside. I felt like I died a little. - I'm not even sure if he's in like the podium for me as far as like attackers in my Manchester United fan. - Yeah, probably not. - He's not even above Ollie. - Squared some beauty goals. - Yeah, honestly, I'm not even sure if he's like top five. - Guys, we had some tough times at our school, right? - No, he was an unbelievable player. - Yeah, it was like diving header at the 2010 World Cup was unreal. - There was another left footed curler against Blackburn, like near the touch line. Just curling, like one of the best left foots of all. I remember these goals very specifically. - So the goals of that season were when United won the championship, there's a lot in there, right? Like the Valdi that Rooney launches all the way down there and the free kick games, Man City. Like there's a bunch that he was just like, "Wow, you're special." - For you guys, he had like a Henrik Larson type of effect. - He was, he was just like timely goals. - Strictly? - Strictly mercenary. - Yes. - Show it up, did the job, cool. Like we applaud you and he pops by training sometimes. He was like, "All right, man, you had a legend." - Once he left Manchester, once he left Arsenal, I hated him though. - Honestly, just blood was boiling. - It was, so play out the scenario. It's like, essentially Alias Patterson left the Canucks to go win a championship elsewhere. That's for those that don't understand the Arsenal Manchester United type thing. - But like your biggest rivals from the decade before. - Yeah, you would have to go to Seattle, I guess. - Could you imagine if the, yeah, like claims, or like, how about this? - The LA Kings. - Alias Patterson going to the Chicago Blackhawks and years like that's kind of the scenario. Or 10 years later. - That was almost a rumor this year. - It was, that had actually happened. But here's the difference. Chicago would actually have to win, right? - All right, we gotta go. Randy, we'll be watching Hockey Night tomorrow and of course, after hours. - And I'm gonna plug in the booth as well, coming out tonight. - All right. - Keep an eye out for that. - Dan Reicho and Vic Nizar, we're back with Rick Nash next on Canucks Central. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Dan Reicho, Vic Nizar, it is Canucks Central here in the Kintec Studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sort feet, what are you waiting for? Jan Pro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial. If your workplace demands a clean environment, contact Jan Pro for a free, no obligation quote. Visit janpro.ca. We've got a great question that mixes Canucks Central, mailbag Friday, and guy's name and dudes with the People Show. - Ooh, do you try to look at the questions beforehand? - Generally-- - Well, 'cause they're your replies. - Yes. - Okay, I try to go in fresh. - When sat puts out the question, I go more fresh. - Okay. - But today I just had a lot in the mentions. - I'm like Frank, it stands out. I like to go in fresh. - Elon is finding all of the best questions. - No trailers. - Actually, I'll have a question for you guys. - You don't have a question for me? - Yeah. - Or just a general group discussion. I pitched it to you earlier, 'cause I was out and about today doing some errands. - Yes. - I was flabbergasted by the price of things. And I'll have a topic for us later. - Aren't we all, just wait for April 1st and the new carbon tax hike. - I thought it was like April Fools, like all the prices go up on April 1st. - Yeah. Every time I go to the grocery store, it's April Fools. One day only everything is more expensive. - I'm sorry, how much are apples now? Geez. God do I sound like an adult. It's sound like my father. Dan Riccio and Pictazard is Conoc Central. So team Canada, we're getting excited for the four nations. We're getting excited for Olympic hockey to return with Best on Best. But before all that, well, there's a world championship. And our next guest on the dispatch plumbing heating and air conditioning hotline, the first call the only call is Rick Nash, two time gold medalists, and now putting together Team Canada for the men's World Ice Hockey Championships. And he joins us now. Thanks for this, Rick. How are you? - I'm doing well. Thanks for having me, guys. - Yeah, thanks for making time. So you play over a thousand games in the show. You win a couple of gold medals. And now you've got the dream job of every Canadian hockey fan. It must be pretty cool. - Oh, it really is cool. It's an honor, you know, any time I've been asked to represent Canada in any way, I've always wanted to do it. And, you know, it's nice that hockey Canada put a little trust in me to build a team, to, you know, pick some players to go over there and play. - Yeah, you're always quick to put on the jersey. So what's the move now? Is it the suit or what's the first move? - Yeah, I think the quick to put on the suit now. So it's a different game when you're watching open the press box. You know, it was actually something that I had to get used to. You know, when you're on the bench and on the ice, you can make a difference in the game. You know, once the game started and you're up in the press box, you're basically just watching. - Do you do pre-game naps like you would during your career or what? - Yeah, I mean, I like to, I like to tell the family that I still have to take a pre-game nap and that doesn't really fly anymore with them. So, you know, it's a school pickup, mini-stick, road hockey, whatever it might be. - So it's funny 'cause to me, like Doug Armstrong, he's got the easy job as the GM of the four nations team. You know, he gets to just pay whoever, right? Like you've got a little bit more of a tougher gig. You've got to figure out who's willing to play in all this. You've got a lot more work to do than Doug does. - Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Two years ago, I got the AGM job that Jane Dohm was the GM and, you know, it seemed like we got a lot more nose than we kind of imagined getting. So it was, it was an eye-opener for me. I'm hoping with all the buzz around international hockey right now with the four nations and Olympics coming up that, you know, some players might want to come over and get adjusted to the international game and, you know, show what they can do as well. - Well, that's what I want to ask. The initial reception is we're all kind of gearing up for four nations, Olympics and everything. Is the tone of the excitement from the players changing in your job so far? - I think it is. I haven't reached out to any players as of yet, but, you know, we're going to move forward and, you know, put a little management group together and hire some coaches and then go on to the players. But, you know, I think it would have to be, there hasn't been any job players in the Olympics and, you know, that's been a world cup in a while. So, I'm hoping that, you know, there's a lot of action and I'm hoping for a lot of yes. - You mentioned being AGM a couple of years ago for the World Championship roster. Now the big job is it, is it putting names on whiteboards first? Like, how does your process start to go? - Yeah, it's a good question. It's, you know, it's funny over the years with doing some draft stuff and free agency and trade deadline, you know, everyone's kind of got a different process and, you know, for me, we're just going to start at that start a depth chart with our group and, you know, start ranking our players. And, you know, it's kind of funny because it's almost like a movement target. So, you know, the playoff situation is changing each game and, you know, you're trying to follow the stats and the analytics of teams that are going to make it. You know, and then the first round is going to end before the tournament even starts. So, you got that to think about yet. So, you know, it's a movement target but we're just going to put our players in order and then, you know, start making our calls. What translates from the club job as your director of player development in Columbus to the national job? But, you know, like, there's no salary cap or anything like that. You're not developing players, it's picking them. But as far as roster construction, is there things that translates to you? - Yeah, it was, you know, it was interesting last time when you started getting a few nos, you started piecing the puzzle together. You know, it's tough just to take a roster and get, you know, all the great players in the world and put it together and think if you're going to have success, you know, sometimes you got to tweak and, you know, cater to needs, whether you want to shut down line, whether you want to shut down deep air, you know, who's coming back from injury. So, there's a lot of things that go, that go into it. I think there's, you know, some players, obviously, that are Canadian, that you'd want on the team, no matter what. So, it's a good question and that's for translation. You know, I'm used to working with CHL kids and see that, like, obviously this is a bit different. So, I think I'll pull from my experience as a player on, you know, how players and how to communicate with the coaches and try to put the best product on the ice. - Do those conversations as far as guys changing their roles a bit when they come to the great squad, you were praised a great deal for adjusting your game a little bit at international play as well. Do you have those conversations or is that more about the coaching staff kind of handling it? - I think it's a combination of it. I think it's some teamwork between the coaches and management to the players. I think communication is, you know, the biggest key, not only in hockey, but in life is, you know, to move forward, you got to be able to communicate and express yourself and make sure you're listening to others. And saying that, I've known firsthand that I've had to change the style of play. The way I play, I remember in 2010 in Vancouver there, you know, playing with Richards and Taze on a shutdown role, playing against other teams, best lines. And then we get to Sochi and, you know, he's playing on a fourth line that, you know, just kind of killed penalties and got a couple shifts to game. But that's the thing about when you play with hockey candidates, it doesn't matter what you do with your club. It doesn't matter how many minutes you get. You're there for a bigger reason than winning gold medal. And that's the idea behind it. - Rick Nash, our guest, you know, it's kind of a new era we're living in where Sydney Crosby may not be heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Pittsburgh Penguins as they are well on the outside looking in. I'm sure you're hopeful that maybe your old team, Canada teammate might might have some interest in coming to play for you. - Yeah, I mean, that's one of the players that you would, you know, right away when you see Pittsburgh out of the playoffs, it's something that it's only, it's only human to think about getting the player like that and what it can do to make other players come as well. So, you know, we'll have to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. But, you know, I don't think any country or any team would turn down a player like Sid. - Well, selfishly, like watching maybe Sydney Crosby and Connor Bedard play together for Team Canada, that would be kind of fun. - Well, I think it'd be great. So if you guys know them first lane, when I'm a little bit, I'll take all the help I can get. - Is there a director of it all to maybe pair some guys up that might translate to other tournaments down the line? - I think it's a fair question to ask. You know, the conversations we've had internally with our group here is that, you know, the player says, no, it's not gonna take them off the list for Olympics or for four nations. That's for sure, I can make that clear. But, you know, if there's a bubble player or someone that hasn't had much international experience, I mean, it can only help them to go over to the world, have a great tournament, gain some momentum. So I think it can help in your favor for sure. - So you are the director of player development as well with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The cliche we've heard a lot is the NHL is in a development league when guys get here. But I think that's kind of a cliche, because, you know, as a player, I'm sure you know this as much as anybody else. Like, you never kind of stop working at your craft. You're always developing something within your game. How do you go about it? I know you mentioned you're working mostly with CHL and NCAA players. But how do you go about working with a development plan for each player? - Yeah, I think coaches can always develop too and management in that every level. You know, just as a person, you're always trying to develop and be better. You know, one thing I found out with my career is the older I got, the more work I had to put into it. So, you know, it's important just to pass on these, you know, these little pieces of information that you found out in your career. And at the same time, you got to let them kind of live their own career and just kind of give them guidance to not get, you know, overstep your boundaries. They're, you just want to be a help and support system for them, trying to live out there, their dream. - I'm curious about that too of trying to empower the players to be the best versus themselves and have their own identity as their player. But I imagine in your role, as much as you're dealing with players, you're also keeping an eye on where the game is going and trying to pair a player to where the game could be going as well. How do you marry that? - Yeah, that's a tough one to figure out, you know, the game's always evolving. And we've obviously seen it from when I came in the league and, you know, everyone was over six foot and straight line power forward. So it's kind of the hot item at the time. And now, you know, you have to be able to skate, you have to be able to use your edge work. So it's interesting, you, in the development role, you know, a player has to play a system and, you know, you don't want to get involved in systems when you're trying to develop a D. Some teams might stand up with a blue line. Some teams might give up the blue line. So you're really working on an individual basis and not system wise. And, you know, a big part of it is relationships too. You want to make sure that these kids feel comfortable talking to you. - I'm always curious too about where the game is right now. And a team I always think about, and you referenced it earlier, that Sochi team, just how strong they were defensively. And the game then was, you know, so much about control or where the game is now. And that team was so good at just pressing everything and keeping control and shot suppression. That's kind of where we are now. Do you kind of have your own theory of where the kind of game is going or might be in the next three to five years? - Yeah, I mean, it seems like a, just a comment on that team. I mean, that team to have that kind of structure within a free area, I mean, a 14 day tournament, whatever the, whatever, how long we are there for. You just don't see that. You know, usually see a lot of running gun hockey, but that team that structure defensively, you know, now it seems like a little bit of a possession game. You know, you're not seeing as much as jumping chase as there used to be. You know, you've seen a lot of players circle back, pulled onto the puck. So it's just the game's evolving in my mind into a possession game and everyone should escape. You know, you watch old videos of old games back in the 90s or early 2000s. I feel like there's just a huge difference in this game stride. - Yeah, and one thing I think we've seen here with the Canucks really having a big turnaround in the last 12 months. Puck management is just such a big part of the game. You know, when, and young players have to learn this, you know, what you can get away with, what you can't sort of have to play the long game. Don't try to hit a home run on every shift is something Rick Talkett says quite often. Just how important is puck management in today's game? - Yeah, it's just so important. You're right. You know, we always used to say even Tom Brady runs on fourth down. So, you know, when you're back there and you don't have any other options, obviously you got to make the right decisions. But, you know, we've had a few coaches over the years to say hockey is just a game of mistakes, right? And if the bench is going to make a bigger mistake, you know, we'll usually lose the game. - We'd be remiss if we didn't ask you about your former New York Rangers teammate J.T. Miller. I know he was a, he was a younger guy back then but he's developed into arguably a top 10 center in the league. What do you think of the way J.T. Miller is in the player J.T. Miller's turned into? - Yeah, I would like to take a lot of credit for that after taking him under the main. - He learned the power forward game from me, right? - Yeah, but I said it from the day I started playing with that guy that he has all the tools. You know, he can shoot, he can hit, he can pass, he can play center, he can play up and down the line up. So I'm happy to see him have so much success because he really is a great guy. - Hey, Rick, we really appreciate the time. All the best putting this team together and hopefully we'll talk again soon. Thanks for this. - Hey, appreciate it guys, take care, bye bye. - There is Rick Nash joining us, GM of Hockey Canada's World Championship Team and gonna have an interesting job. We'll see if he gets Sid to commit. That would be an interesting one. Sid's already done the triple gold, so. It's not like he needs to add to his resume. It's not like Tiger Woods playing in Canadian opens so that he could, you know, say that he won the US Open, the British Open and the Canadian Open. - He's already done it. - But it would be pretty cool. - It would be pretty cool. - As we get a text here, after you ask that question, if the Oilers get kicked out in the first round. - Yeah. - Denver gets kicked out in the first round. And let's just say Crosby is already there. - I just call him Denver. - The text says Denver. I'm reading the text. - Okay, why'd you call them Denver? - I'm just reading the text. - Why'd the text are called them Denver? Who calls them Denver Avalanche? - If Colorado fall in the first round too. And if Crosby's already there, is that enough of a poll for McKinnon and McDavid to say, you know what, since they're, I'll go to. - Yeah. - And just throw them on a line and get it there. Just, if they went Crosby, McKinnon, McDavid as a line, I'm too new for a lot of games. - Do you think they'll do that next year? - But at least for the world, next year, probably not. I don't think it gives you the best chance of winning. - What, throwing them all on one line? - Yeah, I think you probably want them separate. - Maybe two of the three together. - Yeah, yeah. - But you probably split them up. But for the World Championships, just lean into it, please. That would be so much fun. - There's too many variables there. It's too many ifs that need to happen. Like Colorado's got to lose in the first round. - They did it last year? - Yeah, I guess. Edmonton? - Edmonton against LA again this year. - I know. - But in a world, in a world where Sydney Crosby is playing in the World Championships. - I hope Sid goes. I feel like Badard will go. It would make sense for Badard to go. Sid and Badard would be a lot of fun. And just to see like a preview of what it would look like at the Four Nations next year. I'd be all in on that. You also heard Rick Nash talk about JT Miller, was turned into a top 10 center in the league. - What are you laughing about? - You say it like, Frank Costanza's saying J-Booter. - That was the line. What the hell did you trade JT Miller for? - But when you're doing the line, makes sense. - Makes sense. - You just dropped it in there. - I don't know if you know this about me, but I just make random voices sometimes. - Yeah. - But yeah, I know he picked a big shout out there for JT. - Yeah. - He essentially wanted to take credit for JT learning how to be a power forward. I wonder how JT would feel about that. - Can I ask him tomorrow? (laughing) - It's like, I know Sat brings up the stat, basically every post game show, but it is remarkable how few player types there are, like JT Miller. - Well dudes like Rick Nash, fewer far between. Like we're talking on 6'4", 2'15". - Yeah. - And fly down the wing. It's not really like that anymore. - Yeah. - The game's gotten a bit smaller. - Yeah. - Obviously a bit faster. - Yeah. - More skilled. But here's someone that's relative to the rest of the league, I guess, he would be a power forward. You had to be 6'4", 215 in Rick Nash's playing time, because D-Men were much larger. Now suddenly, if a 6'4" guy compared to a 6'1" guy, 6'2" guy was the power forward gap. A 6'1" guy compared to a 6'4" guy, it's probably the gap now. - Is that Rick Nash goal against Arizona? - Burned in your memory, yeah. - Yeah. - Pull Paul, it was Paul Mara on that play. Just like, this is the reason I remember you Paul. - More guy. - Unbelievable. It's still like-- - Just the two quick drags and boom boom. - I'm actually watching it right now. - Trying to pull it up. I gotta watch an ad first on YouTube. - It is, honestly, it's one of the most ridiculous goals I've ever seen. And still is one of the most ridiculous goals you could ever see. - He was a fun player, man. - He was a lot of fun. Some injuries and stuff, but still over 1,000 games and had an incredible career. All right. Mailbag Friday is coming up next. Your question's for us. - Oh man, the double drag's so nice. - The double drag. Just like you can see the defenseman's soul leaves their body. It's like the Anthony Edwards dunk last week. - Oh yeah, that's one you're never gonna do that. Poor Michael Telkis. - Tough. - I ran over your, trying to exit here. - It's all right. We got Mailbag Friday coming up here on Canucks Central. Your questions for us to close out the show on a Friday. FOMO Fridays, sorry, Sat. He's ill today. Was planned on being here. So we hope Sat gets well soon. Coming up, Giants report with Nathan Cantor. Giants big weekend for them. Let's hear from Nathan Cantor. (upbeat music) Tonight, the Vancouver Giants can clinch at least fifth place in the Western Conference standings as they begin the final weekend of the regular season at home against the Colonna Rockets. With just two games left, it's now all about playoff positioning. And unfortunately, there's still a lot that's actually unclear. The bottom line though, right now, is a win for the G-Men tonight, means they will get to fifth and avoid the top three teams in the Western Conference. No Prince George, no Portland, no Everett in the first round, which Giants head coach Manny Vivros says has been the goal. You don't want to be caught up against some of those other teams at the first round here. You know, second round, a completely different scenario, but you know, and again, no disrespect. And the other of those teams wouldn't actually, but the PG's and the Everett's and the Portland's, they kind of separate themselves in our division here in the third reason, 'cause they're not good here. But having said that though, I like the way our team has been progressing over these last few months, especially after Christmas was so, whoever we face in that first round, we certainly have so much respect to them, but we're so lucky to be scared. With things so incredibly tight, it means nobody knows who their first round playoff opponent will be. The good news again tonight, we could find out any sort of Giants, which does not matter, if it's in regulation, if it's in overtime, if it's in a shootout, any win, and they will book a first round playoff matchup with the wild. The Giants can also still hop when action and get into fourth, which would be home ice advantage against the wild in that first round, but that does require two wins this weekend and a bit of good luck. Confused yet? Well, we are too, but the fact is, things will be a lot clearer after tonight, or after tomorrow, depends what happens between a whole bunch of teams. And because they're still quite a bit, we don't know, we remind you to check vancouverjiance.com for the latest news after Friday's game and after saturday's game, playoff tickets. The first round of the playoffs will go on sale on monday morning, monday, march 25th at 10 a.m. Pop drop forward tonight's fan appreciation night against the Rockets is set for 7 p.m. at the Langley event center. And we remind you there's plenty of awesome prizes to be won, including a trip for two to Las Vegas, a team signed stick also signed by michael booble, a $1,200 white spot gift card package, and a whole bunch more. So head to vancouverjiance.com/tickets to grab your seats before it's too late. Tickets are going fast. For your Giants report, I'm Nathan Kim. (upbeat music) (dramatic music)
