[MUSIC PLAYING] When you want to grow your business, use Slack. Slack is where work happens, with all your people, data, and information in one AI-powered place. Seamlessly collaborate with your team using a suite of built-in tools and features to make your work day easier, like huddles, to schedule impromptu meetings, and avoid another calendar invite, or workflow builder, which lets you automate routine tasks so you can spend more time on the work that matters most. Slack, grow your business here. Learn more at slack.com. [MUSIC PLAYING] Looking to refresh your closet, home, or beauty routine this spring? Walmart's got all the stylish goods in one stop. From chic new looks and the latest makeup to quality furniture and tableware, go to walmart.com/nowtrending. That's walmart.com/nowtrending for the hottest fashion, home, and beauty finds. Your style at Walmart. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to the Tell It Abs It Is podcast. You're home for everything Colorado Avalanche. On the hockey podcast network, here's your hosts, Griffin Youngs, and Christian Boulay. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of the Tell It Abs It Is podcast on the hockey podcast network. I'm Griffin Youngs, joined by Christian Boulay. As always, the Avalanche take a three-to-one series lead over the Winnipeg Jets with a five-to-one victory in game four of this series, as it just kind of continues the pattern. The The Abs get on a roll for a little while, and the Jets have no answer for them. Lions one through four are playing better than the Jets. Connor Hellebach is not able to save them. Alex Giorgiov has been fantastic, and this Abs team is on the brink of moving on to round two. They're on the brink. We are back to a somewhat normal recording schedule as my traveling's over. I know we're a day late on this one, but we're still going to give you the best we can. Griffin's battling through losing his voice, so we're going to persevere through, but overall, man, this might be the best three-game stretch of hockey we've seen from the Abs. Like the most dominant three-game stretch we've seen because they have just taken the Winnipeg Jets out to the back shed and beaten them to a pulp. It's been clinical, how bad the Jets have looked in this series, and I think in part because the Abs are just that much better than them. Yeah, it's been shocking watching how badly the Abs have beaten a really good team. The Jets are a really good team. This team won 52 games. They're not running over a second wild card here. This is a team that if not for a couple of OT points for Dallas, would have been the top seed in the West. And the Abs are making them look like chumps, straight up chumps, no matter which way you look at the series, just watching them on the ice. The more you dig into the stats, every conceivable aspect of this series. The Abs are not only winning, they're dominating. Five on five, on the power play, on the penalty kill, in goal, they're killing this team. It's shocking, no, it's jaw-dropping. You can still, you can hear my voice still very-- - It's going out a little bit, okay, we'll fight. - Yeah, I'm gonna talk as loud as I can. I was a game four for the Capitals, you know, definitely worth losing my voice over that ship, but even still, doing my best here. But back to the point, the Abs are crushing a very good team in the Jets. And the Jets, again, we've said it probably in every game of this series, they don't have a ton of answers for what the Abs do. And to acknowledge the fucking elephant in the room, Kale McCar, there's no answer for that, none. When he's on that shit, you're not doing anything. - You're not doing anything then. It's just been beautiful hockey to watch. And it's still, I just, I love this point that we've made, I think, since Game 1 of the series. Nathan McKinnon and Miko Ranton have been good. They haven't had to be phenomenal to win these games because the depth has been unreal so far to start this series and to start this playoff run. Nathan McKinnon had what, a point yesterday? Do you have a point or two? - I mean, Nathan McKinnon, people are like, oh, the top line hasn't been that great. I think that applies a lot more to Miko than it does to Nate 'cause Nate, two points, one point, and two points in both games at home. - He's been good, but it's like compared to what we saw last year when he was just superhuman the entire time, it's been refreshing to see the team actually carry their weight. And Nathan McKinnon's been able just to be Nathan McKinnon, which is still a dominant ass player, but they're finding ways to win games and wins games pretty easily with him just only getting two points. Like, only getting two points. - The jaw-dropping, world-shattering domination has not been there. He is putting up the points, but it hasn't been at the level we've maybe become accustomed to over this year dating back to the first round series against Seattle and then this entire regular season. But when you have a second line performing at this level that is dominating everything the Jets are putting out there at them, you don't need them to. You can just have them put up two points, but when Casey Middlestadt is playing at that level, when Val Nachushkin is playing at this level right now leading the league in playoff goals right now and Arturi Leckenin just continuing to dominate the playoffs. Like he does, that's just his thing. Him and Val in the playoffs, they're built for this. This is what they do. This is what their games are built around. And what do we say for the trade deadline? Just get them a little bit of help, get them just a little bit closer and they went above and beyond with Casey Middlestadt. Again, dominant. They're putting him out there against Mark Sheikley. He's embarrassing him. That's the crazy part to me, is I thought Rick Bonus has done in these first or these two games at home. He did a pretty good job of getting the Adam Lowry line out against the McKinnon line. So you would think that the Sheikley Elers and Connor line would be able to feast on Middlestadt, Nachushkin or Millstadt, Lecken and Parisi. It's been completely opposite. Like the ab second line is dominating the Winnipeg Jets top line. Yeah, they both lines that the Jets have tried to put out there against that second line while they desperately tried to get Lowry out there with McKinnon. The Middlestadt line has killed them against the Sheikley line. They're having the more high danger chances. They have the more shots. They're suppressing everything that Sheikley's doing. And then they put Sean Monahan's line out there and it's worse. It's worse. Worse. It's almost unbelievable. Like I had, I think we had pretty reasonable expectations for Middlestadt coming in. We were saying half a point per game. Just be half a point for again. Be there, be present, be effective. It's his first playoff series. He's going up against Winnipeg. I mean, it's a tough ask. He is hitting one of the best players in the series. Is he over point per game right now? I mean, Middlestadt right now, he had the assist on the first goal. So he only had the one in game four. Right now, he is at five points in four games. So he's over a point for game. Like that's more than you can ask for at your second line center. And he has been phenomenal. And that little rut he went into at the end of the season, I think rightfully so gave some people some concerns because he wasn't producing as well. And I don't know what clicked for him in the playoffs, but he went back to the Casey Middlestadt we saw for the first like four or five games when he was with the abs. He's just so calm and smart with the puck. And his passing ability is phenomenal. And he has surpassed every expectation. Like who do you think the best passer is on the team right now? I think it's between-- I mean, it is McKitt. It's just McKitt. And then seconds the car. So it's a matter of who's third. Right. Which I-- it's unfair to compare anyone to Kate McKitt. Like you have to remove those two from the conversation. Not fair. Not fair. I think it's between Middlestadt and Drewann. Like both of their playmaking abilities is unreal. And with Drewann out, we needed Casey Middlestadt to step up and be that playmaker. And he has surpassed that. He has been very good. And it begs the question that if the abs are able to close up the series, which-- if they do lose the series, would be one of the worst clubs. This would be one of the greatest turnarounds in a playoff series I've ever seen. Yeah. Based on what we've seen through four games, I would not understand. Yeah. The Jets would have to make one of the greatest comebacks in the NHL history. I think it would be close to one of the greatest comebacks. Because they've been thoroughly dominated these past three games, thoroughly dominated. It would just take a completely different series taking place over the next three games than what we've seen over the first. Which is possible. It's possible. I mean, you have seen turnarounds happen in the playoffs. You look in goal, you're a give, 696 in game one. And then since then has not even given up seven goals since that point. But it can happen. It can happen. I'm not saying the abs have won the series because they have it. The toughest one to win is the last one. That's always how it goes. That's the mantra. But if you're looking ahead to maybe the abs moving on the second round, if you had Drewham back into this lineup, that's just unfair at this point. Because Zach Parisi has been unreal on that second line. And yes, that will eventually run out. And you need Drewann back. Because Parisi is what 39? Yeah. But he will. He will slow down. That's just being a human being. So adding in a healthy Jonathan Drewham back into that top six is going to add so much to this abs team. And I don't think either of us thought that we may see Jonathan Drewham playing in abs jersey again. Because with Mount the entire first round, a tough Winnipeg Jets opponent, we may have seen the last game for Jonathan Drewham in an abs uniform. Now you're looking ahead and you go, we could potentially get this guy back. And he goes through and jumps right into the second round. So Casey Milestat, Arturiellecken, and Valentichus can have been very good. I was close to saying they've been the best players for the abs, but Nathan McKinnon and Kelmakar. I've just been unreal. So again, it's a little unfair to say like, to put up the compare those three to Nathan McKinnon and Kelmakar. But you look at it, it's a tough competition for who's been the third best player. - Yeah, I mean, and both Nachushkin and Lecken and have been absolutely brilliant. And it's showing up again when you watch them in the actual points in the goals and the analytics, everything is there for them. Right now in this series, the Jets have scored 12 goals. Between Val and Lecky, they have 10. - They've scored in every game. - They've scored in every game. - They've both scored in every game. So far in this series, they're going toe to toe with the Jets entire roster right now in terms of actual goal production right now. You know, another great stat when the abs swept the predators in 2021 with a big save Dave and Connor Ingram in that four game sweep, the abs scored 21 goals. That's a lot for four games. You're averaging was a lot of goals. I'm not doing that on top of my head, I'm sorry, but. And then so far through four games in this series, the abs have scored 22 with Connor Hellebuck in net and the best five on five defense in the regular season in the NHL. That gave up less than 200 goals, 199 to be exact. So when we said in game one that that performance, even though they lost seemed very Nashville ask for how they had such an offensive explosion, I feel like we were kind of on with that. - Kinda, yeah, I mean, we were close. - Yeah. - It's just, hey, I'm running out of like, I'm still just kind of shell shocked that this has happened because if you go back and listen to game one, recap on the show, it was, we were still feeling positive about it, but I think I mentioned like jokingly that the abs could go and win four straight when the series of five. I did not think that was going to come to fruition in the slightest, but now we're sitting here and if they go out there tomorrow night and play like they have in these past three games, I don't really think it's a question. I think they're going to win in five. - Yeah, because again, I don't know what the Jets can adjust and do to change this because-- - According to Rick Bonus, it's just stop taking penalties. - I mean, it would help if you stop putting yourself in the box, but that's another aspect of the series where the Jets are getting so outplayed that they're melting down and getting frustrated and taking penalties and taking themselves out of the game. They're doing themselves no favors and their penalty kill is having a really hard time in the series and that's a bad combination with really bad discipline. - It's tough. I mean, the abs are cooking at what? 40% right now in the playoffs, I think it's what I saw. That's pretty damn good. And we talked about it with Raj in the playoff preview. The special teams, they're a huge factor in every playoff series and the abs have dominated in both. - Because the big factor coming into this series is the Jets five on five are probably a little better than the abs that you have been to at least defensively. It's not even close all season. They're way better five on five team defensively and offensively it's close enough that it almost makes it a wash. So the abs have to dominate the power play and the penalty kill. They've murdered both. Like they are dominating five on five and on the power play, it's not even a competition. The Jets have scored two power play goals all series. One of them was the seventh goal in game one. - Yeah, that's right. - The other one was the Morrissey goal in game three off of a penalty that didn't happen. - Didn't happen. - Didn't happen. - That didn't happen in the first place. But now you look at the series, the abs scored 22 goals in the series, Connor Hellebuk pulled for the third period and the Jets. - They have to start in game five, right? - They're starting Hellebuk for five. I'm bonus might get canned either way with how badly he's been out coached in this series. But if he goes with Persuah in game five and they lose axed, you're done. You don't turn on your bat, you're starting Vesna goalie that quickly. If you're going down, you're going down with him. - I agree with that. I mean, I do think that they just pulled him out of mercy being like, "Hey, dude, we're not gonna let you get "shelled anymore." "We're not really good in front of you, "but what you're going to be safe." - Is he really supposed to stop? Is it the Vow deflection on the Kilmer Car shot, Kilmer Car embarrassing the entire Winnipeg Jets organization or the perfect play from Lecken and to Vow on the power play? Like, he hasn't made the saves, but it's not his fault. - No. - How is a goalie supposed to thrive in these conditions? - Yeah, like, I don't even really think he's given up. Like, what's this bad goalie's given up the series? - I mean, the Parisi goal in game two, he had the tournament. - Yeah, he's had a couple of bad goals, but they're in blowouts. - Yeah. - Like, he's, there's, I can't blame Helba. I just think the abs are just murdering the Winnipeg Jets. And we knew going into the season that the Jets defense is not great. Like, their defenseman, not great. They had a really great regular season helped by Connor Helba making saves. But you look at that Decor, it's Morrissey, Schmidt, Stanley, Stanley who just takes like 90 penalties a game. - Big and nothing else. - Yeah, Brendan Dylan had that cut on his hand. It sounds like he'll probably play game five. I would imagine you will. But it's not like it's a superstar defense core. Like when Josh Morrissey's your best defenseman, Josh Morrissey's good. Now, he's a really good defenseman, but that Decor can't stop Nathan McKinnon. It's just, there's no way they can stop him. And Kilmercar is better than every single one of those defenseman. And I'd argue Devontes may be better than every single one of the defenseman the Winnipeg Jets have. - Devontes had a win. - 80 Sam Gerard too. - Maybe. - Devontes had a rough game one. Since then he has been a monster. - Yeah. - He has been just, he's just got everything. He and Kilmercar have completely won 80 from the regular season. Kilmercar obviously, 'cause he has eight points so far. And four games. - Is that the quietest eight points too? Like I feel like nothing. - 'Cause he had what 10 in four games against Nashville in the couple. So he's behind the, he's behind the eight ball a little bit. Another down year for Kilmercar apparently. - It's just quietly been eight points. And he's, everyone's talking about Val and Lucky rightfully. So 'cause everyone's scoring, but it's usually Kilmercar set in one of those two. - I mean, I think we're talking about Kilmercar a little bit, right? - We are, don't get me wrong. No, no, no, we are talking about it. But it's just been quiet eight point domination from it. And the best part, I think his defensive play has been significantly better than anything we saw in the regular season. And maybe that's just what Kil's gonna be. He's just the regular season for him. He'll get a little lazy. And I hate saying the word lazy 'cause he still put up 90 points this year. Maybe he's just like, I'm gonna save it all for the playoffs 'cause that's really what matters. And there we go. - I still think he was hurt and possibly he still is hurt right now in the playoffs. I think he just had a rough year trying to deal with that and also the regular season just is not that important. He's won his norisas. Kilmercar is going to be a Hall of Famer. He's breaking records every single night regardless. You know what he can be. And this goal that he scores in this score, we've been dancing around it for a little bit here, but like, Jesus. - It's just not fair. - He didn't even mean to do that. - You shouldn't be able to do that. - You should not be able to do that kind of thing where the puck bounces off of Lowry and he just goes right through the entire organization. Like, and you see Connor Hellabucks body language when that perfect shot goes right. 'Cause it's one thing to weave your way through a defense and everything, to just slowly circle your way up and rip that shot perfectly from not super close in. - He's outside the dots. - From outside the dots, top corner on Connor Hellabuck. There are maybe three people in the world that can do that kind of thing. Two of them play for the abs. Kayle McCar and Nathan McCann. I'd say the other ones may be Connor McDavid. I don't think there's any other people that can do that. And we're talking about two centers that are some of the greatest players we've ever seen and a defense been. - It's just find the odd one out there. What doesn't belong here? And the only thing that sucked about that goal is Connor Hellabuck was in such good position, you didn't even see it go in. - Yeah. Those are the lay reaction from everyone. And you're like, wait, did that go in? And you're like, holy shit, it's such a perfect play that you can't even really comprehend what you're seeing at that point. And Connor Hellabucks body language. Like, I don't wanna be cocky and say that the abs are going to wrap up this series in five and just win game five. But that goal certainly feels like the end. Like Connor Hellabuck's body language is just like, fuck man. - What else can I do? He was in perfect position. He was in perfect position. - He's looking around, like he just looks like he's a balloon and a needle just got put in him. The body language of that entire Jets team where he's like, yes, there is still another game to play and it is only three to one. This series is not over. But if the abs do wrap up this series in five, we're all gonna point to that goal and be like, that was the death rattle. In death rattle, excuse me. - Yeah, as your voice cracks there, that was kind of-- - Voice cracks, real word. - But yeah. - Oh, it's kinda ominous there. But, I mean, Kilmakar is just, we know he's the best defenseman on planet Earth and he does show this every once in a while where it's like, oh yeah. Let me just remind you all that I am. - Just give me one inch of space. Just give me one inch of space. Sleep on me just a little bit. Don't think I can do this. - Yeah, well, the best part about it is that that play shouldn't have been icy. It shouldn't have been icy going. It was like, oh, okay, cool. I'll just go for it. - Okay, well, I'll just put the puck in. - Yeah, you're changing lines. I'll just go for it and send it. I've been really impressed with Kale. Devontaves has been great. Josh Manson, I think, has bounced back pretty well. And Sam Girard, we talked about him in the last episode. He's so important to this team. I love Sam Girard and him and Josh Manson are really good pair of the only thing that sucks is I feel like Sean Walker doesn't get enough ice time. That's the only thing that sucks. - I thought this was Sean Walker's best game as an F. - Yeah, he was great, but it's like, I want more. - I want more. - Parker, but also the same time. I want more Sam Girard. I want more Josh Manson. - Who are you replacing? - It's the big thing. - It's just the kind of thing where it's like, you roll out Kale McCar and Devontaves and then you roll out Sam Girard and Josh Manson. It's like, okay, they're finally putting their third pair and it's Sean Walker. - I mean, Sean Walker's simply 17 minutes in this game, but I want more Sean Walker. - Like even though the points aren't there for him, I know he had the two goal game against the Oilers when he first got here. This was better. Like the way that he blends in with this team jumps up into plays, but not recklessly. Like just is always seeming to be in the right spot. Is such another dimension for this team and brings them so much more. And he's always moving his feet. And having Sam Girard back, I think, just buries him a little bit and becomes such a hidden weapon. - He's a hidden weapon that you can throw it against a third line or a fourth line with Sean Walker and you're feeling good. But Kale McCarley played 20 minutes and 30 seconds. He played the third most minutes of defenseman last night. - Yeah. - What? What? And he was that dominant in 20 minutes. - I mean, you guys haven't played that much in the third period, they didn't need him. - Yeah, I mean, McKinnon played 20. Like he played 18, Mikko played 22. Like the minutes are just spread out so evenly. And like Ross Colton and Miles Wood, I thought they were good again too and they played under 10 minutes. - Yeah. - Like it's just, you're getting production from every single line right now. And I just don't, do you have anything to complain about in this game, anything? That the abs did, that the abs did 'cause there are some things you can claim out from the NHL. - Yeah, we'll get to those eventually. I thought Ransomon could look better. - Still out of point. - That's my only negative through the first four games of this series is just Mikko Ranton and has not been himself. He's just, he's been okay. I've seen he's been terrible. I completely disagree. I don't think he was-- - Oh, his efforts there. He's just not scoring as much as he does. - Yeah, it hasn't been there for me. It just something's off about him. I don't know if it's the injury that's still bothering him or something else. But the usual, I don't wanna say intensity, but the danger level from Mikko Ranton hasn't been there where when he gets the puck, you're not like at the edge of your seat, like you are with Cal McCar and Nathan McKinnon, where the play is just kind of existing on his stick right now. I still think he can get it back. I just think there's something wrong. - I love how we're saying there's something wrong. He has six points in four games. - That's the thing. That's just how good he is. He still has six points and they're all assists. - Yeah, he's gonna start scoring and they've just been so in unison. Everything has been perfect. How did Casey Milstad only play 14 minutes yesterday? In those 14 minutes, that might be some of the most dominant 14 minutes I've ever seen. - I mean, they think about him is like, every time Casey Milstad's on the ice, you know. - Yes. - He's doing everything. He does everything right. It really just, it doesn't matter if he plays five minutes or 25, he makes every second that he's on the ice counts. And you look back at the top line in general, like, yeah, we're all like, oh, the top line hasn't been that good. But they have 94% of the expected goals in that game when they're on the ice. Like they're gonna start scoring. Like this is not just, oh, the top line is coming down to earth or anything like that. They're gonna start having those explosions, especially when Val is playing like that. McKinnon in game three could have had two goals off the rush if he didn't dent the post. And he could have had a hat trick in that game based on the power play goal that he scored later. And we're not having this conversation. - Correct. - Did a couple of posts and the Jets, their entire game plans around him. Like, yeah, that's gonna take a couple of points off the board for him. But when you have these guys like middle stat and Val and Leki, the Jets are going to adjust their game plans to try to deal with them and guess who that opens space for? - Casey Milstad. So it's a really good problem to have right now. I've been very impressed with this team in these last three game, I mean, even game one, I thought the skaters were great in game one. - The abs should have won game one and they should have won it convincingly. They got historically bad game and goal. And since then, for Alex Georgiev, he's been absolutely fantastic. He's been my favorite part of the entire team. Like, yeah, you've had Casey Milstad doing this and Cal McCar doing that. Since giving up seven goals, Georgiev's giving up two, two, and one. You're winning those games. If you're getting that kind of goal tending, he didn't even have to give up that kind of goal tending. He could have been worse and the abs still would have been fine, but he's just been that awesome anyway. And it's been such a great thing to see the defense coming through for him and making his life easier 'cause the Jets, Jesus, they didn't have a lot. They did not have a lot in game four of the series. Like, you look at the shot charts, the front of the net was pretty clear. They did a really good job at keeping the Jets out of his face and making his life much easier. And he stops pretty much everything that he needed to. He only had one shot ring off the post. He only had one beat 'em, which shouldn't even have counted to begin with as we'll get to probably in a few minutes. And he stopped everything he's needed to stop. And again, that save he had on Tyler Tofoli when they were down two to one in game three. That's a big turning point in the entire series. - Yep. - Like, yeah, we ripped on Georgiev hard in game one. And based on the month and the season prior, I still feel like maybe we're in a little too far, but that was still the situation at the time where you went into that series that his leash is short and he just gave up seven on 23. Yank him, but on an insect for game two, he gets the opportunity to get it back. And he does. And he's been fantastic the rest of the way. - There's a testament to the game's defense. They held the Jets to 27 shots. - Yeah, and they've been under 30 pretty much every game. - And the 27 shots, there's a lot of these that are just flips from the point. Like just not much of anything. There's not a ton of high danger chances being given up here. Like the abs defense has fully come back alive and Georgiev has responded around them and made the saves that he needs to. - Yeah, 'cause you're, I don't care how good of a defensive game you're gonna play. There are gonna be chances where you can't play perfect defense, you can't. And you need your going to make the saves and he's made the saves. So I love Alexander Georgiev and the way he's bounced back and the way the whole city's kind of embraced him. I think that's been really good to see, but that wasn't the only other big storyline in this game. Surprisingly, I think me and you both were a little surprised by this. Nikolay Kovalenko makes his Colorado Avalanche debut in this game. I don't even remember when Joel Kibironta got hurt in game three, but he was out for this game and Kovalenko stepped in, played seven minutes, didn't do anything bad, didn't do anything great. I can call that a successful NHL debut for game four of the playoffs. - Yep, offensively nothing happened with Kovalenko on the ice, that's fine. He's brand new to North America entirely, not just the NHL or American hockey in general, the entire country. Defensively, he looked a little overwhelmed. He didn't even know he was playing in the game that morning. He was expecting to play an NHL playoff game and all of a sudden has called up to play third line for the abs in a pivotal game four, but he has a couple of months. He's sweeping pucks off the goal line. He's making smart defensive plays. He's made smart defensive plays. That's what Bednar wants to see out of a guy like Kovalenko. And I think he earned himself another kick at the can. I don't know if it's gonna be for game five. Kibironta's been excellent in the series. They're not gonna keep him out if they don't have to, but Kovalenko is probably the first guide that's gonna get put back in there when someone else inevitably goes down. - Well, yeah, and I mean, it's still one of those things where the eagle season is over now. So you're gonna start seeing a lot more of the black aces come up with the abs. So I thought he was okay. Or I mean, I can't imagine the rain. Honestly, it's probably the best thing. Like if I was gonna make my NHL debut, I'd want to know like four hours before. I wouldn't want to know like the night before. I would just freak out and probably not sleep. So he probably slept good thinking, all right, I'm gonna go play an NHL playoff game. And then, oh crap, I gotta drive down I-25 down to Denver and go play in an NHL hockey game. I think the potential's still there, but it was good to see him out there. It felt kind of like that player that it's like, we've waited so long to see you. And now we actually get to see you when life's good. - It kind of just felt like a formality at that point. Like we've known so much about Kovalenko for so long and tracking his entire journey in the KHL to hear. They're like, oh, there he is. He's finally there. He's like, we know him so well already that just almost felt like just another thing to have him in there. And it was great to see that he just beat and fuck up. That's all they asked for from him in this game. Just don't do anything awful. Just go to anything like Ryan Reeves and you'll be good. - Don't do anything like Ryan Reeves or Nick Jensen did. And you'll be fine. You're gonna be just fine. And defensively, pretty solid. He played a pretty physical game. And in the slot, made some smart defensive plays that did not seem intimidated by the Jets trying to target him and played well. And you give them more time. You give them a training camp in this system. There's something there. - There's something. - I don't know if we'll see him again these playoffs. I imagine we will. At some point, he's not gonna be a regular unless someone goes down for a while. But you're gonna see him again in Abs uniform before the end of the season, whenever that is. And next year, probably a full timer. - Probably a full timer. So, shout out Niko Aikova-Lenko. You made your debut and we'll go from there. Let's talk about the one and only Jets goal that happened in this game. Because we've been talking about the Abs the entire time, how great they've been. This should have been a shout out for your gift. It should have been. Nate Schmidt. That was a perfect shot. I'm gonna give Nate Schmidt credit. That shot was perfect. I would've loved you. We have to be a little bit more active with Walker, but you know what? He can't be perfect. - Talk cool. - So, it goes in. And then you see that Bednar challenges for off-sides. And this is what drives me crazy about officiating and the review system, which is to my naked eye, that looked clearly off-sides. - It was. You break it down frame by frame, that bug is off-side. - Yeah, like it looked clearly off-sides. And they review it for what seems like eight minutes. Like it was a very long and lengthy review. - The second it goes past two minutes, it stands every time. - Yeah, no, I agree. I was just about to give you credit. Like I ever since you've pointed that out, I think earlier this year, maybe last year, that if a review goes on longer than normal, it's probably gonna stand or you're not getting it overturned. That looked clearly off-sides to me. It looked clearly off-sides. I felt like Kyle Connor was in, the puck was still on, was it Appleton's stick? - Yep. - It was Appleton's stick. But the problem was, is that the camera angle, you couldn't see the puck clearly on Appleton's stick from Kyle Connor's point of view, which just goes back to the point. I think you and I have both made on the show. Why are these players already wearing chips in their uniforms? Why can't we just tell if the plays off-sides and there's chips in the puck? Like what are we doing here? - You only have to do chips in the puck, just get a camera that's not from the 1900s. - Yeah. - Invest in better technology, where you can clearly see the puck, or have some kind of system in place, where you can very clearly tell when a puck is off-side or not. Like that's just what drives me crazy about, if we're gonna do this, where that play is off-side by the thinnest of margins, it's like a frame. It's off-side, but it's barely off-side. If we're really gonna do this, where we're just gonna break everything down, frame by frame, get it right. Invest in your technology, invest in your product. Like inconclusive, that's not an excuse. This league just made $6 billion, and you can't invest in better cameras on the boards, or more of them, so we can actually tell what the black puck got lost on the black stick. And you're gonna tell me that's just fine. - Yeah, we're good. - That's inconclusive. - Yeah, we're good. - Think of that. It's a simple matter of invest in your own league, invest in the details, invest in your own technology. Not even asking for an infrared outline of the puck to tell you it's off-side, get a better camera, or at least another one, so that you can see it, because you have one camera on one side that can't see it because the puck is on the other side of the stick, and the other one that can't see it, 'cause it's on the other side of the ice. And then you have the one up top that can't see it, because it's on the top of the arena. I don't know how this is in place, where if we're really gonna do this, these off-side reviews that if you get wrong, you get put on the penalty kill, make sure you get it right. Actually invest in your own league. I know it's such a ticky tacky thing to complain about, but I can't stand lack of effort. It's a lack of attention to detail, and the league is fine with it, 'cause they don't feel like it's money they need to spend. It doesn't come up enough. We trust our officials. - Yeah, it's a tough one. I didn't love it, I looked pretty clearly off-sides to me, and the fact that we can go on Twitter, and we can zoom in on the picture that the NHL puts out, and see the puck clearly on Appleton's stick, and Connor over the line. Like, come on, this is, let's do this. And we do sound like whiny crybabies, because the F's won five to one, so it's really-- - But that's the thing, the F's won five to one, but that doesn't take away the fact that that's ridiculous. What if it wasn't five-one? - True. - What if it was one-one in overtime and the Jets win that game? - Totally different story. - Like, 'cause what if that happens in overtime? If it's really such a big deal that these centimeters are gonna get goals called off, make sure you're getting the calls right. - Make sure you get the technology to make sure that you are getting the calls right. Like, I don't think that's just officials being incompetent. I think by the letter of their own law, they're like, yeah, we think that's the puck, but we really can't tell. Like, we're 99% sure that's the puck, but that's not conclusive. - Annoying, very, very annoying, and luckily the SPK kills it off, and we get a five-one victory, three-one series lead. Did we miss anything about the game? - I mean, I think still, I wanna just go back to the Jets in general in this series. Like, yeah, they're getting their asses kicked, and I don't think they know what to do, where I think this has just been a general sense of frustration for this franchise in the playoffs before, 'cause it lets theoretically say the abs do win game five, just theoretically, not making any sort of prediction of the sort, no sort of jinx. That would be the second year in a row, they got in gentlemen swept, and the fourth time in franchise history, they've been-- - Yeah, and this would be the second year early, one game one, and then proceed lose four straight. - Right, that's what I mean by gentlemen sweep. We're like, 2018 conference final against Vegas, they win game one, they lose the next four, the next one, they lose the first two, win the next two, lose the next two against the Blues, the bubble, that was Connor Helibux team, and you drag them even to making the expanded playoffs in the bubble, which they bowed out in the qualifier, missed the net, no, they made the Canadian playoff, swept Edmonton, got swept by Montserratov, then they missed the playoffs, then last year they made it in, gentlemen swept. - Well, they had to hold on for dear life to hold on to that second wild card, 'cause they were-- - That last year, yeah, they collapsed, near the end. - They collapsed hard last year, they were the top seed, like that comeback that the abs had, I don't remember exactly what it was, it was double digits. - Yeah, it was 10 or 12 points. - Yeah, it was like having to come back double digits to win the division, it wasn't Dallas who had that, it was the Jets, it wasn't even in Minnesota, and the Jets finished the second wild card at that point of the season. So this is a franchise I think that's littered with a lot of frustration, and it's starting to show itself again. And a franchise that for several years has been rumored to have a very toxic locker room, and I think they've alleviated a lot of that in recent years getting rid of Blake Wheeler. I don't want to pin it on Paul Maurice, but I think it was time to have a new coach. I don't know if Rick Bonas has done a great job with managing that locker room, 'cause you have the post game here where they just lost that game big. And again, their desperation push down four to one, trying not to go down three one in a series against the abs who you don't want to go down three to one two, their third period was pretty met. - And their shots isn't great. - Yeah, nothing was particularly dangerous other than-- - They had a couple of power plays in that third period too. - They had two power plays, Schmidt rang a post, and that was really it. And then I'm pretty sure I said this earlier, but Shifley and Needer Rider said they need to change their game plans. They have to adjust. And then Rick Bonas, when he's asked about that, like I said earlier said, "You want adjustments, stay out of the box, manage the puck better, and go from there." That's a, that is our players and coaches taking shots at each other in the media. Well, this is not the first time this has happened in Winnipeg. And for Rick Bonas, we all focus on like the players of the series and everything, and how badly the After dominating them on the ice. Jared Bednar has panced this guy and hung him on a flagpole by his underwear. It has not been a close series in terms of coaching where how the fuck is Colper Fettie not playing? How are you? - I thought he was hurt. - He's fine. They're just, they're putting him in it. They put Axel Janssen Fayalby in, who was a former caps prospect specifically for the penalty kill, and then didn't play him on the penalty kill. And where their line matching has been so desperate that they haven't been able to really do anything about what the adds are doing. - They're more worried about getting the right line match up than actually just playing. - And just playing, like they're so worried about responding to the adds. This is how I know that adds are gonna win this series. The Jets are desperately trying to come up with a response to the adds are just doing their thing. Jets are so far away from their own game right now that they're just so like, how do we stop this team rather than how do we get back to how we play? They can't do anything. - I think that point you're making is, there's nothing more. I think it was the start of the third period in game three. It was the Shifey line out against McKinnon and Shifey wins the face off and they just dump it in and go for a change immediately to get the Lowry line out there. It's like, what are you doing? Like you just won the face off. Like just go, like you have your top line out there. Go, you don't need to worry about the matchup right now. You're only up one. I'd get it if it was like a two go game and you're trying to prevent them from coming back, but you're so desperate to get the Lowry line out there. Like it's just, what are you doing? - And there's no calming presence with the Jets. They take one penalty and it becomes another penalty and another penalty and they keep putting themselves on the penalty kill. And when the abs get one thing going, they can't keep the puck out of the back of their net. Like this series is very much the abs are dominating, but there is also a factor of like, the Jets are not doing a lot to stop them. The Jets are really doing everything that you should not be doing against them. Taking a ton of penalties, getting frustrated, melting down where it's like, I can't look at Connor Hellabuck and say this is his fault with a straight face 'cause it's not. They are, the abs are putting perfect shots through them and the Jets are giving them those opportunities. So I don't wanna downplay what the abs are doing because it is one of the most impressive three game stretches I've ever seen from this team. But the Jets, they're too good to not be able to respond to all of them. So this is a massive mental problem in Winnipeg. And if this series does get wrapped up in game five, they need to take a very good look at themselves and ask themselves what can they do? What can they do? They just signed Hellabuck to the eight year deal. They just signed Shifu, do they eight year deal? You go all in the trade that line, like what are you supposed to do? They gotta ask themselves that question. Why are we nowhere close to the abs? Because the abs are the standard. I've said this for months. The Avalanche, NHL wide are the standard. You compare yourself to this team. You judge yourself based on how well you play against the Avalanche and how well you match up against them. And for the Jets, they won 52 games this year. They were one of the best teams in the regular season. They surpassed all expectations. They had a Mesna winner in net. They had tied for the most wins in the West this season. So if they really bow out in four straight games here, they gotta ask themselves why? Why are we nowhere close to that? Because that's the standard. How did we get destroyed by that so easily? And I think that starts with the coach. I think it's been a lot of war preparation, poor game planning. I think Cheval Deaf has done a decent job building a pretty decent roster. It's a better-- - I think if you look at the Jets on paper, it's a good team. - Yeah, like they're better than they've been. They took Pierre Lutubois out of there and replaced him with three better players. They gave him a deeper lineup. I doubted their ability to make a super deep run. I don't wanna eulogize the Jets before this game. - No, it's not over. It's a three-one series like it. - I'm saying this because I respect Winnipeg and that they are a very good team and I'm just kind of confused as to where the disconnect with them. - It shouldn't be this easy for them. - It shouldn't be. - That's the point you're making and I agree with that. The Abs are the better team. We've talked about this whole series. It still should not be the Jets are already facing elimination in game five. - Right, this should not be a five game series. - No. - This should not be done in five. The Jets are too good for them. I have too much respect for the Jets to think that they should just lay down and die against this team. The Abs have kicked their ass for four straight games. This series should be over, if not for the Abs just, you already have just couldn't get a stop in game one. He's made every stop we've needed since then but if he just, two more saves in game one, the series is over. - Let's talk about sweep. (laughing) - That's ridiculous for the Jets. And if this series, like it very well might not be done in five. We might be going back to Colorado for a game six but based on everything I've seen from the Jets, that does not strike me as a team that has it in them to come back. And I don't want that to come off as like, I'm just cocky that the Abs are gonna win this series and the Jets have nothing they can do. Like I'm worried about their mental state as a locker room, as a coach and as players. - I think it goes back to the point I said at the beginning, like the Jets could very well come back up with the series. And if they do, I think it would be the most impressive come back in NHL history when it comes to, I know there's been 3-0 deficits overcome and all that stuff but the way the Abs have just kicked the shit out of them, these first three games or four games, if they can find a way to come back with the series, I will tip my cap and say good for you because this is the greatest turnaround I've ever seen. - Yeah, I mean, it would take the Abs falling apart. - Correct. - It would have to be a lot of both. The Jets would have to completely change their game and the Abs would just have to, for some reason, completely stop what they're doing in order for that to happen. And I guess we've seen that in the playoffs before. - We've seen it. - Not really from this team, but like we've seen it happen in the playoffs before. But just with this team right now, they're not scoring on the power play. 5-1-5, they're getting killed and they're yelling at each other in the locker room. - And Connor Hellebach is exhausted and they're just, they're pulling him just to give him a break. - Just a little bit of room to breathe. - Yeah, just a little bit of a breather 'cause again, they're piercing him for four straight every single night. - It's tough, man. It's tough. Let's talk about game five, which will be taking place tomorrow night. I do think we're gonna see a good response from the Jets in the first period. I think the first period, we're gonna see the Jets play their game. I think they're gonna, we're gonna see like 12 to four shots. I think your game flex in one, but I think it comes up with a couple big saves to keep it like a one-nothing game and maybe the absentee thing in the first. And the second period, I think is where we see the abs take over. I think they're gonna take like a two-one lead going into the third period. I think the Jets respond. I think they tie the game, but I do think the abs went in overtime. We're due for an overtime in the series. We're due for a close game in the series. - We're starting to see more over times creep in another series throughout the league. - I think for this game, I think the Jets are gonna come out with everything they've got. - I think the first period is going to tell us how the game's gonna go. - Yeah, I would not be surprised if the abs are down more than one goal at some point in this game. But I think the way this series has gone, it's either, if the abs win this game is gonna go two ways. It's either gonna be a blow out. Like they're gonna step on them early and the Jets are gonna quit. Or it's gonna be a multi-goal comeback. The abs are gonna get one goal and it's gonna cascade the rest of the way. And their Jets have not been able to stop them. They don't have the confidence right now to stop them. And the abs are gonna win this series in game five in Winnipeg. I think it ends in regulation. I'm gonna say it's five to three. - I like that. I just can't see, like all those points you're making about this, I just don't see this series ending in five. I can't envision it in my mind. - Yeah, I think maybe we're just not, we don't think about the Jets enough. - Right. - Maybe this does make sense, based on every-- - Maybe it does, maybe it does, maybe it does. - I don't pay a ton of attention to the Jets, but this is a team that I've respected all year. I think they've done a great job this year. They surpassed a lot of expectations to finish second in the central and second in the West if we were going one through eight. They would be the second seed right now. They're getting a pretty shitty matchup for a second in the West right now, having to go up against the abs. I agree, I have a hard time seeing this team lying down and dying. - It feels gross, but I'm picking the abs to win two. But yeah, it feels gross doing it, but 'cause like I respect win two, I think they're a very good team. I just don't think they can stop the abs right now. - And that's also the thing is like, I look around the league, through the first two games, I was like, okay, this is the closest series. This is the closest series of anybody right now. And that's still kind of holding true, even though it is three to one, but it's not the closest series anymore. You have to kick the crap out of them. - Right. - And there's just, there's a part of my brain 'cause this series has been going on for like a week. So it's really hard for my brain to just completely rewire itself in like a week. But that's the way the series has been going. All four games have followed a lot of the same patterns. - The exact same thing. - Like the difference in game one, compared to games two through four is the abs got much better goaltending the rest of the way. That's been the big difference, the abs offensively. They've been able to go on certain explosions of offense. - It's been the exact same game, all four games for the abs offense. It's been on where the Jets have not been able to flip that and not been able to respond to that in any way. So based on what we've seen, I just don't think that's gonna magically change here. - It's not gonna, unless they make a crazy, like I just think that first period is if you're an abs fan, don't freak out because the Jets are gonna come out with all they got in that first period. This first period could get ugly for the abs. And by ugly, I mean like the Jets could have like 15 shots to three. Like that's kind of what I'm envisioning in my mind 'cause that's just playoff hockey. But I just think the abs are gonna hang around and then they'll be like, oh okay, the momentum's died down a little bit. - You just said the key word right there. They just gotta hang around. That's the thing with the abs in every game. Like we got away from it because the end of the regular season went pretty poorly. But after the Penguins game, they come back down four to nothing. We know this team is like, there's no lead that's safe. - No, they almost won game one when they were down three minutes with 10 minutes left in the game. - They gave up so many goals and still almost came back to win. If you're the Jets at any point, even if the Jets are up four to one, I think I even said this coming in the game four. Even if they have a four to one lead, like you switch the rolls, you're telling me they feel safe? - No. - Never at any point are the Jets going to feel okay in this game. Even if they come out and dominate early, even if they dominate the first 40 minutes, the abs are a good third period team, one of the best. - I think in these, this last third period, like you can say the abs kind of took the first, they did, they just played good defensive hockey. - They bought up, they totally turtled and nothing happened. - Nothing happened. So it feels gross to pick the abs to win this game because the series should go more than five. The Jets are way better team than to lose five, let alone lose four straight. But we have four games as a sample size and even with their home matchups, they couldn't stop the abs. I think the abs win at three to two in overtime. Let's get crazy. I think Bao scores the OT winner and sends the abs to the second round. - Leading scorer or the playoffs? - Yeah, like it's not crazy, but I think Bao's going to score it. The abs are going to get some much needed rest before. Actually, I don't even know if they want rest. It does kind of suck if they probably get what like five days off. - I mean, it depends on what happened. I mean, a lot of these series might wrap up pretty quick. The second round might be here closer than we think it is. There's a bit of a wrench in the Vegas Dallas series 'cause they're like a good game behind everybody's right now for whatever reason. So there might be some rest in there, but you don't care. In series, you don't care. You take what's in front of you. If you have a chance to beat a team in five, you take it and if the team goes. I mean, 'cause people point about that like rest and rust and everything versus a team that just played seven. And we've seen multiple times throughout the year, sometimes teams sweep and go on and continue to be dominant. Sometimes the rest is bad for them. We saw it two straight years with the abs. They sweep the blues and they kind of just crap out against Vegas next round and then they swept Nashville. Then they had a really strong series against the blues again. And so it just, it doesn't matter. If you're a strong team with good coaching and a good buy-in, just take care of your series. Take care of your own business. - Take care of your business. You'll be feeling good and you don't know, man, it would not shock me the least if the Jets win this game tomorrow night. I just don't know if they can, man. I just think that they are a defeated team right now. And I think the abs get the job done and we're gonna be coming on here tomorrow night going Vegas, Dallas beat the shit out of each other, beat the shit out of each other and we'll go from there. - 'Cause I really am trying to be neutral here. I really am trying to neutrally look at this series because it is not close. This is not just, oh, my favorite team is up three to one. They're definitely gonna finish the series. Like, no, they're killing them. They're making a very good team look bad. - Look bad. - Like a bunch of chumps. Like they don't-- - They're making them look like the national team in 2022. - Yeah, they're making them look like they don't belong here. And they do. The Jets absolutely do belong in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Like, I think if you put them in a series against the stars, that's a great series. I think if you put them against anyone, that's a great series. But they run into a buzz saw here and-- - Is it? I wanted to switch topics here because I don't think there's anything worse. And I strive, hopefully, that me and you can be to that point one day, but that Jesse guy from bar down, like he's-- - I don't even want to give him any attention. - No, I mean, he's a troll, but like, this has got to be the worst thing for him because it's like you troll every other fan base and then-- - Is it even the worst thing for him? Is it? He's getting what he wants. When you're like that, you can't lose. You either win and you get to rub it in everyone's face or you get a million interactions laughing at you. - Yeah. - I don't know. I strive that we can get to that point one day. And that is one thing. 'Cause like, Luca's part of that bar down crew. I feel like Luca only tweets about the ass like once a game. Maybe. - Yeah, Luca's just like a pretty well adjusted person. - Yeah, he just tweets like once a game. Like, I'll see Luca pop up. I'm like, oh yeah, I forgot he's an apps fan. We had him on the show before. Great guy. - Yeah. I just saw that and I was like, man, that dude is going through like hell right now because he was talking so much trash after game one. And to maybe lose four straight. That's just tough. And also being a Winnipeg Jets fan. Like, that's tough too. That's tough. So that's enough ads, Jets talk. Let's quickly wrap up the playoffs. I think really it's just been underwhelming the entire first round. Like, if Vegas wins tonight against Dallas, that's pretty much every series is at three one. - Yeah, you would have seven, three to one series and one that's over. - One that's over. The games really haven't been that great either. Like the national. - They got a little bit better. - They got a little bit better. National Vegas last night. You have that great comeback by Vancouver. - Vancouver. - Vancouver, what did I say? - You said Vegas. - Oh, sorry, Vancouver. You had Vancouver and Nashville, that great comeback by Vancouver. Two goals in the final minute. Hockey's a cruel sport. I don't know who the Prince player was. Could not have hit the post more square on that empty net shot. Was it Craig Smith? No, he plays for Vancouver. - No, he's in Dallas. - Yeah. - I know who it is. I have their face. Just the name's not coming to me. - Yeah, it's all right. But he hits the post so squarely and then the Canucks go down score too straight. Brock Besser gets a hat trick and Elias Winholm wins in over time. And I am been impressed with Vancouver. I have the way they bounce back these last two games with them co-out to go up 3-1 against the national team that has been good. I've been impressed with them. I still think they're going to get mollywapped by Edmonton, but they've done better than I thought they would. - I have not been impressed by either team in this series. And Vancouver has been fine. I think, I mean, Nashville choked that game. - Yes, they choked it away, but we're both in agreement that whoever wins the series is going to get dogwatered by Edmonton. - Yeah, it's been the kind of series of like, okay, so Edmonton's just going to go to the conference final. Not really a whole lot to this here. And I mean, Vancouver, they look fine. But also, I don't think the series is over. Like we're talking about series that are 3-1 right now. It's like statistically, one of them has to go kind of deep here. If you have seven of them, one of them is probably going to go to a game seven. Nashville has had more shots in every game. The Canucks are played, someone who I've never heard of in my life, Arthur Silva's. I did not know that person existed. - It's a real person? - Yeah, that was him. That's who played in game four of this series 'cause Kasey the Smith somehow got hurt as well. I still think Nashville, I guess I'm just going to die on the Nashville in Seven Hill, but Vancouver has looked okay. Nashville has looked just okay. Like this is a series that Vancouver has come down to Earth, but Nashville is meeting them under the bar. - Yeah, it's a tough series to lose because both teams haven't looked great, but I'm going to get Vancouver credit. I am, but it was a good win last night. They're up through on the series. They can close it out tomorrow night. And good for Vancouver. I think everyone in the hockey world can agree that Edmonton's just going to dog walk whatever team they face next. - Yeah, 'cause I guess we can just talk about that series. We talked about the six, one game. I did not watch much of this game. Sounds like I didn't miss much. There's one that game, one to nothing. - On the 13 shots, big game, Dave got to start. And the king should have won that game, but Stuart Skinner was phenomenal. - Yep. And that to me is the final death cry of Los Angeles Kings. - Yeah, they're done so hard. - You can't win that game. You are not marching in Edmonton and winning game five. - See, I think hockey's so weird. And I think the kings and Oilers have played so much. I would not shock me in the least if you Kings win game five and then just get dog walk to game six. - Probably, maybe even so. - Yeah, like that's cool. - That's kind of my thought process. But yeah, the Oilers are going to win that series. It could, I think everyone kind of said five. That's shaping up like the Kings. That team could not be like, they rushed the rebuild 'cause a copitar and Dowdy's pressure and they don't have a goalie and that's a problem. So the Kings are going to be back in hockey purgatory. - They gave Pierre-Luc Du Bois a lot of money for no reason. You're already seeing trade rumors swirl about that. Good luck trying to move that contract. If only anyone could have warned you. - Wait, everyone did. - Yeah, everyone did. If only anyone at all could have said anything that could have possibly prevented you from making such an unforced error. Trading for Pierre-Luc Du Bois. - Because like, do you think if they have I of all of them in the Florida in the series, it's closer? Yeah, I do. - Maybe a little bit Edmonton still beats them but the Kings didn't do enough as often. - Yeah, and they had to give her the jersey too on top of that. - We set it in September that the Kings just, they didn't do anything. They got worse. - Yep, he brought in Cam Talbot who's good for spurts but he's not a starting goal tender in the NHL anymore. And yeah, I mean, Edmonton's going to win that series and they'll probably win round two convincingly but Edmonton, I think they look okay. - They look fine. I think they look the second best team in the West right now. - I agree. And then Vegas Dallas is taking place tonight right after we're done recording. I'm excited for that game. Dallas loses the first two on home ice. Wyatt Johnson has a game of his lifetime, wins game three and was that double overtime or single overtime? - Single. - Single overtime. If Vegas finds a way to win this game, I just don't know what Dallas does, man. I don't see them winning three straight. - I mean, this is the most important game of any series so far in my opinion. If Dallas wins this game, that series is immediately right back in their favor. Vegas could push him to the brink 'cause I still think that series goes deeper regardless of the result today but I do think Vegas is going to win one out of the final three games of that series. So if they go up three to one here, I feel good about their chances to move on. And the thing is from an abs perspective, we're on the verge of moving on. You subconsciously start looking ahead. Dallas has looked better than Vegas in the series. So if Vegas can take them out. - That'd be great. - I feel like Vegas is good. Like whatever team you face. If we get-- - No disrespect. No disrespect to Vegas. - Those teams are both two very good teams but I'd rather see Vegas than Dallas. - Yeah, I would rather play the Golden Knights than Dallas. I think the abs can be both but if you're giving me a choice, I would rather beat the defending champs and beat the darlings of the league that took out the cheaters or you go up against Dallas where that's just you're going to punch the shit out of each other. - And Logan Thompson, like he's been okay. Like I know Jake Otter hasn't been great this whole year but I'd still rather face Logan Thompson than Jake Otter. - This is just the only series I'm even remotely interested in. - Yep. - I mean Tampa, Florida tonight's happening as well but that's three one right now. Like Tampa has to win this game to make it interesting otherwise it's over obviously but that has the potential to get interesting. This is the only one where it's like if Dallas ties this series, this is like the only one that could go either way at this point. And it's a great series and I just hope we get some kind of manageable hockey out of this first round because everything else has been brutal. - It's been brutal. It's been brutal. I will say this Dallas Vegas game, whoever wins this game tonight's winning the series. - Probably, yeah. And also just the fact that the stars got Wyatt Johnson but like that's not fair. No, that's not fair. - They got him in the 20s of that draft where like the Oilers could have had him which still wouldn't have been fair but that kid's gonna be good for a long time, long time. It's also why I wouldn't mind seeing Dallas get knocked out early here 'cause they're gonna have their kicks at the can down the road. Like with the way they've structured this team to be good for a long time, they're gonna get a lot of kicks at the can for a cup and statistically they're gonna make a run for at least one. - They have to, yeah, I agree with that. It's just hopefully it's not this year, hopefully it's not this year. Moving over to the East, we, the Islanders win game four, avoid getting swept, delaying the inevitable. I think Carolina finishes that series. Is that tonight or tomorrow? - That is tomorrow. - Tomorrow? - We only got the two games today. - Yeah, I think Carolina finishes that one. I think Florida's gonna finish off Tampa tonight and those two series will be done. And why am I blinking on the other East matchup? - Boston. - Boston, Toronto. Jesus, Toronto is melting down on the inside. Like, Mitch Marner, like they won't do it, but I think you have to move Mitch Marner. - You saw-- - You're done. - Yeah. - This is it. It's been eight years now where, and like Neelander misses the first two games, we still don't really know why. - Was it the first three? - It was, yeah, you're right, it was the first three. We still don't really know why Matthews might not play. And this seems like he's sick. Marner's throwing his gloves on the bench and his teammates are telling him to stop fucking crying. How can you run this back? - Yeah, you can. - Well, here's my thing about this. People are just like, this is the end of an era in Toronto. You're not trading Matthews. - No. - So no-- - Neelander. - You're just getting-- - Neelander, you just signed him. Okay, you trade Marner and upgrade your defense. That's not an end of an era. That's just the end of talking points. - Yeah, and it's gonna be really funny for whatever team Mitch Marner goes to next year, and he's gonna be phenomenal. - Yeah, I bet it'll be much better. But there's also guys who've been 100-point player in the past. There's also the thing, this series is not over. The eulogies I've seen put out against the Leafs, it's a little ahead of themselves. They have been terrible in this series. Make no mistake about Boston has not been perfect, but well enough to beat a team as fragile and ineffective as Toronto. - Well, it's just, you see the coaching difference. - Because, Sheldon, you wanna talk about change in Toronto. Sheldon Keef has should be gone well before Mitch Marner. - Yes. - And also, the defense that the Leafs put out there, this is why I never took them seriously this year, or any year, that defense sucks. Morgan Riley is not a number one. He's never been a number one. At any point, a number one. And it's not squarely on his shoulders because they build the defense around him. But TJ Brody has sunk into the dust. You're putting Mark's yordano out there. Like Jake McCabe is fine. - He's okay. - You're trading for Ilya LeBouchkin, and I'm blanking on the cap's name. Oh my God, I'm a horrible person. - Oh, Edmondson? - Edmondson, yeah, holy shit. I'd totally blanked on him, but. - Dude, I saw 20 and I thought it was Connor Timmons for a second. - But like you train for Edmondson and LeBouchkin, like guys who just do not even come close to solving the problem. But at least the Leafs lead the league and hits in the playoffs right now. - Yeah, it was like the three or four that Reid's had just had a egregious turnover to van named Dike. - Four. - Four. - It was like, but yeah, glad you signed him for three years. You just completely ignoring the problems of this team. Like the abs, they're not full of guys with a ton of snorkel, I'd say. Like not like super aggressive, bite your nose off kind of guys. They just fucking try. - Yeah. - That's the difference, like you can't bring guys in to stop guys from getting pushed around. If that's just your mindset, that's just who you are. No one you're gonna bring in, like bringing Ryan Reeves into making almost a million and a half to be the team DJ is not gonna fix the culture on a team. - Nope. - It's just one of those things that makes me laugh because it's that team is always considered a Stanley Cup contender. And I don't think they've ever really necessarily been close. - No, they haven't been, they won one round. And honestly, their loss to Florida was more pathetic than any of their first round losses 'cause they got the monkey off their back. They slayed the demon, they beat Tampa of all teams. And they've had multiple comebacks to do it. And it did nothing for them, nothing. Statistically, you had to win at least one of the series eventually and it had nothing to do with breaking the curse or anything. The team's a bunch of fucking losers. - Yeah, bunch of crumb baby losers. - But I do agree, the UOG does seem a bit too soon. I think they could win game five but I still think Boston wins that series. - Yep. And it could still go seven. The Leafs have done this before. It's Boston where they look like shit and then win the next two games and then just the- - Lane all time making bad shitting of a lifetime. In game seven, they've done it like three times. So that was- - I think mostly fans would rather have them just die right now than go through it. - I think they're ready to have them to drag it out for two more games would be cool. - Cool. - Just let's get this over with now this time. Lose progress in your series against Boston where you don't even take it seven this time. You don't have the excuse of saying that you're close. This team needs a lot of work. Shanahan should be gone tree living. It's not his fault, but he didn't do a good job with this team. I think he's the wrong general manager for this team. The way he builds teams is not what the Leafs need. And Shelton Keefe should have been fired two years ago. - Yeah. - Effect that he's still around with a new regime. I don't understand what the- - Oh, he's gone. - Yeah. - It also it is kind of like, is Mike Sullivan staying with the Penguins? - Apparently so. I think Dubas is keeping him. - I mean, good for Kyle Dubas. Like, I thought he wouldn't have been fired. 'Cause I think Mike Sullivan will be good in Toronto. - See, here's the thing. Mike Sullivan is a good coach, one of the best in the league. He should be done in Pittsburgh. - Yep. - The message has gone stale. There's just a time where it just doesn't work anymore. There should have been more out of that roster. And if they're keeping Todd, we're somehow just turning into the Penguins thing. But if they're keeping Todd weirding around, then that's not a serious organization anymore. But back to the point of the Leafs in general, which I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about, just 'cause they take up so much media space. I try to give every team the same attention, but the Leafs watching them is genuinely pathetic. They deserve the shit they're getting this time. There are times I think a lot of the shit they get is way overblown. They deserve this one. - Oh, dude, they were. The first two periods of that game, you would have thought was like game 50 of the regular season. - How do you use six straight home games in the playoffs? - It's a remarkable feat. - That is insulting. Can you imagine the ticket prices that they pay to go to those games and a lot of them are taken up by suits anyway? - Dude, that drives me crazy. I hate that excuse. Like, rich people are buying the expensive tickets. Like, don't make that an excuse for your team. Like, that drives me crazy. It's like, oh, your tickets are expensive and the rich people are buying them. Welcome to the world, bro. Like, the abs get, the abs get. Like, people sitting in the 100s, like, those are expensive ass tickets. But, like, don't, like, it just drives me crazy. Like, I've seen that going around. It's like, the Leafs don't really get home. It's like, you have some environment 'cause of all the suits in the 100 levels. Like, okay. - They could have done something about that. - Yeah. - Like, if that's such a big concern that they don't have a good enough home ice advantage, the team makes enough money that they could probably do something about it. - They could. - But anyway, my point overall being, like, those tickets are expensive as fuck. And to lose six straight home games in the playoffs, like, you just spit on the ice. Why don't you? That's awful. And, like, it's time. We've been, we've had this conversation for almost a day. - Five years? - Yeah. - Like, pretty much since their first loss to Boston in 2018 to talking about this core and can they do it? Like, it's, we're coming up on seven, eight straight, is it their eighth straight playoff run with this core? What else do you want? - Yeah, come to the court, bro. - Yeah, go to court. - Coaches, multiple GMs, multiple support systems and depth guys. Yeah, obviously, you keep math views. He's one of the best American players ever. And yeah, he hasn't had a good playoff, but apparently he's sick. I'm not, I'm not one of those people that's gonna be like, oh, he hasn't told me that. We don't know. He might be throwing up in the intermission every single game. - Blue affects everyone differently, so. - And apparently, knee lander, the rumor unconfirmed, apparently, was migraines, which are debilitating. - Oh, I would wish that on my worst enemy. - You would wish that on my worst enemy. - You would do anything with migraines. And marner has not been very good. - Marner's been terrible. - He's the odd one out. If that's it at the end of the day, you can't give that guy $12 million. - Nope, nope, nope, nope. But that's the playoff recap. I don't think there's a series we missed. It's been kind of boring so far. - Are you sure? - What? - Are you sure? - Yeah, a little bit. Oh, wait, is there a series we haven't talked about? Oh, yeah, the caps range here is. Sorry, that actually wasn't planned at all. - And your defense, not much of a series. - Well, because we had talked about it before we started recording. So I was like, I thought we had already talked about the show. Yeah, the Rangers beat the caps, sweep 'em. It was expected that the Rangers win the series. The caps, special teams was probably worse than Winnipeg's has been. - That was the worst special teams performance I have ever seen with my own two eyes. - Yeah, it was bad. And Alex Ovechkin finishes with zero points in the series. - Yeah. - People are dogging on him. I know he said he's healthy. That guy's a fucking liar. No shot, that man's healthy. He played like eight minutes in that game. You're telling me your season's on the line? Oh, that's gonna be playing eight minutes and he's healthy. You're a liar. You're a big, stinky liar, but that's not the point where I'm about to go with this is I was at the game. That's why my voice is so shot. I had a great time. I regret nothing. And here's the thing. The Rangers, 'cause this is where we have to look at now. The Rangers are moving on. So you have to think about how they're gonna look in the next round. I would be very concerned as a Rangers fan. That was a sweep for sure. The capitals were not good. I've said from October, this team sucks. This is not new information to anyone who stuck around with this show. At five on five, that series was concerningly close. The Rangers never really at any point in this series pull the way. They never like really put the caps out of their misery and a lot of the goals they got were just directly handed to them. Like straight up given to them. Like the first goal in game four, Nick Jensen, just threw a live grenade to Kapo Kaka. Less than a minute into the game. Big, that's just a three goal handed to you. And then you have two games before that with short handed goals that are just given to you. Just like that. Like, yeah, the Rangers power play and their special teams were dominant in this series and I've seen people throwing the depth out there a lot. Honestly, that's not as much of a compliment as I think it is because the band of Jad Panerin, Crieder, were okay. Panerin obviously gets the series winning goals. The band of Jad, I did not notice a lot of Crieder. Crieder had his usual net front presence. Like La from Yair didn't do a ton. Like it's good to get depth, but like they should have feasted on this team. - They should have, they should have. And it should have been like the games on paper look like they were blowouts. Like the caps had chances. - No, the worst blowout was game one. And that was four to one. Next one was four to three. The next one was three to one. And last night it was four two with an empty net. Those are not blowouts. - Oh dude. And I did not like what Carberry did. I get pulling the goalie when you have a chance, but I would have just waited the extra 10 seconds until you get your fifth guy out. - See, we were all screaming that in the crowds. Like, pull him, you're down. Like, I know we're not good, but like if you just have more time with the puck in your zone, like they waited too long to pull the goalie. - No, see, I didn't think that like, it was either pull him right away because I think that they killed like the first three seconds and they actually had a couple chances. They waited until-- - Oh, you're talking about the penalty kill. I'm talking about what before that even, they should have pulled him. 'Cause they waited too long and then they pull the goalie, they take a penalty and then they have to kill. - Yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. Like, I thought on the penalty kill, just wait the extra 10 seconds till your guys out. - Well, there would have been 30 seconds left in the game. - Yeah, I'd rather it would have got died like that than they, he pulls him when the Rangers have the puck. I was like, what do you do? - That was also the thing is like they, they were struggling to pull him before that. So I think it was just like, oh, we have the puck, I'm getting off now. - Yeah, it was tough. - It's a bunch of things. It was, it's a, it's a bad team. It's a bad team with 91 points that overperformed and got in because their goalie carried them for most of the season, was not very good in this series. And Ovechkin was able to propel them enough into the playoffs. It's not a good team. And honestly, the capital special teams historically bad in this series, you know who doesn't have historically bad special teams? - The Hurricanes. - The Carolina Hurricanes who were top five in both categories, top three in the penalty kill. I think fifth on the power play that might be reversed, but the Hurricanes do not have that problem on special teams. And if not for special teams, the series is probably still going, which again, like we joke about this capital's team, but like they are genuinely terrible. The Rangers should have swept this series. - Yes. - They should have beaten them by more. - They should have. It's just, it's tough because I felt like the Rangers played down to their opponent a little bit. I do think Carolina's going to beat the Rangers. I just like this Carolina team, but it was, it was, I didn't expect to, the caps go out as sad as they did. I should have. I don't know why. I guess I just bought into the caps belief system for a little bit there. And I was like, you know, maybe they could just shock the world. When in reality, this team was just progressively mediocre all year. - It's the worst playoff team that has ever made the playoffs. And for the argument though, the Red Wings or the Penguins should have a better fight. The Capitals were the worst playoff team of all time and you missed. - And you missed like that's. - Well, a lot more about you. - It's a lot more of revisionist history. - And honestly, I will say now that the sweep has happened, it does actually make it a little funnier that they made the playoffs. - Yes. - Because they've completely ruined like three team seasons for practice. - Correct. - Absolutely nothing. - That was fun, that was fun. - It's absolutely hilarious. I expected nothing from this team. They made the playoffs. I went with a group of like 15 people yesterday of the game. We had a fucking blast. I don't even care that we lost. That to me is worth it. They made the playoffs, which was a stretch goal for me at the beginning of the season. I would have been happy. Actually, I wouldn't have been happy if they didn't finish in the bottom 10 because that's just a worst draft pick. I expected this team to be pretty much around where they were last year, if not a little worse, not a little better. - And if you're a caps fan, I feel pretty good. Like they've always been good at drafting and identifying talent in the middle of the first round. And Ovechkin's going to break the goal record hopefully next year. - And you go from there, hopefully teach. I don't think T.J. Ocean's coming back. - No, he skated around on the ice a little bit after everyone was off like waving the fans. He played with a broken hand in the game. - Yeah. - I love T.J. Ocean. One of my favorite caps ever. How could you not love him? He's done. - Yeah. - The guy has been hurt so much over the last four years. - Pick him up, bro. Go spend time with your family and you go from there. - It might be an LTIR retirement 'cause he got one year left. They might pretend that he's not retiring, but... - Probably. - Probably. - Anyway, not to turn this into a cap show. But this is the last time I'm talking about this team probably until October. - Probably until October. So caps go out, Rangers win that series, but hopefully this first round, hopefully the second round's better than the first round, but who knows? It's been a little disappointing. One last NHL thing we have to talk about, kind of a surprise firing. Dave Hackstahl gets let go by the Seattle Kraken. Didn't he win the Jack Adams? No, he finished second in the Jack Adams. Lindy Ruff won it last year, right? - Honestly, don't remember. - Yeah, I think Lindy Ruff won it. And then it was Lindy Ruff. Dave Hackstahl, and I forget who the third goes, but two of the three Jack Adams finalist last year have been fired. - Yeah, that's the thing about the Jack Adams is like, yeah, Bednar doesn't win it and Cooper doesn't win it. They have their jobs. - Yeah, they still their job is not best coach. It's most surprising team. - And did we talk about Lindy Ruff getting hired by the Savers? - No, he did not actually. - Yeah, I mean, that's just the stupidest hiring of all time. - It's very lazy. - It's uninspired. - Yeah. - Lazy, I love the Savers. You love the Savers. It just feels like the wrong coach at the wrong time. And Lindy Ruff is, he was a good coach back in the day. I don't think he's good anymore. Like he just was with the young team in New Jersey and they underperformed drastically. - And he refuses to give his young guys ice time and refuses to properly develop guys. So let's bring him into a developmental team. - Right, it's just, I don't like it. Very uninspired. - Yeah, and then with Hackstall, I'm not surprised he got fired. I think it's also a GM. I don't even wanna say it's a GM shifting blame 'cause this is Seattle's third year. I think it just last year put unfair expectations on them. - Right. - Where they really overperformed. They made the playoffs. They obviously beat the abs last year. That shouldn't have happened. - They were on what like the greatest like shooting percentage run of like any team ever. - Yeah, and they got really good depth scoring and Hackstall got a lot out of them last year. He just, the team got worse in the off season and they came back down to earth at the same time. They're fine team, like they're fine. There's nothing wrong with them. They're just kind of what they should be in their third year in existence, which is just kind of meh. - Congratulations, mediocre. - Hackstall gets the blame. And honestly, I don't think it's, I think it makes sense for the Kraken 'cause they need a new identity. They need to just shift how they play. They need to build a stronger team. And it's just, I don't think he's a terrible coach. I thought he was terrible in Philly, but I thought he did a good job here. And it's just, it's time to move on for both sides. - Agreed, agreed. But I think that's it, man. I don't have anything else. We're gonna be back actually tomorrow night after the game. We will be recording. There is no knock on wood. Nothing has on the schedule for us to not report after, but sorry again, this one's a little bit late. And I don't think I have anything else, man. - No, I think my voice has had enough. I'm gonna not talk for the next 12 hours. And we're gonna wrap this one up here. Thank you all so very much for tuning in as always, you can use promo code TELLEDABS. It is on Seakeat for $20 off your first order of $50 or more. If you want to follow us on Twitter, you can follow me @gyoungs in a show. You can follow Christian @Christian_ablea. And you can follow the show @TELLEDABS it is. But again, thank you all so very much for tuning in. My voice is on its last legs here. And we will catch you all next time. But until then, let's go abs. Nope, let's go abs. There you go, there you go, you got it. - Not ending on that one, that's a weak one. So, see you then, and let's go abs. Fuck, let's go abs, there we go. We're good, even if that, goodbye. See you next time. (gentle music) (gentle music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
