On this week's episode, Brendan Batchelor and Randip Janda break down the Canucks' impressive Game 5 win over Edmonton, look ahead to Game 6 on Saturday at Rogers Place, answer some listener questions and conduct another Rose Ceremony.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
And welcome to In The Booth on Sportsnet 650. We are your official home of Canucks playoff hockey branded bachelor alongside Randy Gendo with you. We call the games for you right here on the radio and Randy were recording this podcast prior to leaving for the airport to head to Edmonton for the Canucks opportunity to close out their second round series with the Edmonton Oilers and move on to the Western Conference final after a thrilling come from behind victory over the Oilers on Thursday night with a late winner from J.T. Miller and this series has had it all. It's had entertaining games and over time game a last-minute win for the Oilers a last-minute win for the Canucks and the upshot of all of that is through five games Vancouver leads three games to two. Yeah what an exciting game that was game five in Vancouver the crowd is ready the players are ready both teams really you know in the opening ten minutes it looked like it was gonna go a certain way batch but the Canucks rebounded they put in a heck of an effort for the second and third period end up getting that W of course in dramatic fashion as the Canucks always do. So when we look back at the way the game unfolded let's start with the first period where the Oilers dictated the play put the pressure on the Canucks ultimately took the lead early and had a few power plays that helped them build some momentum to even though they didn't score and when I look back on this game yeah we're going to talk about how great the second and third periods were in a moment and fully deservingly so but it was a couple of things in the first period I thought that allowed them to stay in the game the first of those things was the penalty kill the second of those things was archer she-lops. No doubt and the penalty kill is something that really you know the way that the game started and you're wondering okay this is not a trend the Vancouver Canucks want generally you want to have maybe one to three penalties in a game where ideally you want zero but we know what the way that games are called you're gonna eventually take one but that's five penalty kills and on those five penalty kills three shots for the Edmonton Oilers so not only were there limited looks on that PK but you know there was a real strong job it of course you got to be a little lucky when it comes to the penalty kill against the Edmonton Oilers but there was a little bit of luck involved but a lot of skill a lot of work a lot of determination so that's a credit to the unit they had out there and showed to a couple of players that really stood out further down the line of field Giuseppe we'll get into his contributions a little bit later on as well but I thought Neil's Oman had a fantastic game on the PK as well yeah and that line let's talk about that line as you bring both of those guys up obviously great to see D Giuseppe score a big goal just days after his son was born and for those of you that don't know the back story we talked about it in the game broadcast but it was a difficult pregnancy for his wife Maggie and she eventually was able to give birth to his son Sam on Sunday and everybody's doing well they were supposed to go home on Thursday so I'm assuming that happened we haven't heard anything to the contrary as of time of recording a JT Miller joked after the game when meeting with the media that he had the baby legs and he's like I fully believe in this now I've seen it happen too many times where guys have kids and they play a tremendous game afterwards so you know credit to D Giuseppe who they gave the game puck to at the end of the game but credit to that line with Neil's Oman honored as well and Vasily pod coals in coming into the lineup they gave the Canucks some good minutes at five on five they did really well on the four check and the Oilers had fits with the Canucks four check throughout their lineup but also on that fourth line well the fourth line and the third line for on any team really is supposed to provide you a little bit of energy and that's exactly what this line did seven minutes and 47 seconds for Vasily pod coals and had four hits in that game you had of course Phil D Giuseppe he ends up getting that goal but beyond that just in his nine minutes at 13 seconds everywhere creating problems on the four check playing with speed throwing hits and Neil's Oman also played a key role in his less than ten minutes pressuring Evan Bouchard to cough up the puck on the PDG goal but as I mentioned before on the penalty kill this is a player uh that has been in and out of the lineup like PDG like Vasily pod coals in but when you need players to bring that intensities often we look to the fourth line those unsung heroes and batch in game five the Edmondson Oilers you could see when that fourth line was on there even in the limited action they're rushing places Vasily pod coals in or Phil D Giuseppe was coming in with the four check uh they were trying to move the puck a little quicker and that's the impact of a good fourth line we'll see if they can continue it moving forward but they brought it in game five and I mentioned she loves as well in terms of someone that deserves credit for the way they played in that first period and in particular there was a huge save on a great a con or brown chance through the middle that she loves makes a stop on and he's been great throughout this run here as the Canucks starting goaltender with Demko out due to injury but we can you know continue to talk about him continue to throw roses and bouquets and flowers his way but he stepped up in a big moment again for the Canucks at a crucial point in the game when the Oilers could have tried to build a multi goal lead in that first period and if they were able to do that then maybe the complexion of the rest of the evening is quite a lot different for a third string goalie because yes that's what he started the playoffs as you know we're looking at him very differently now of course but the fact of the matter is he's played really third on the pecking order at the beginnings of these playoffs and what are you looking for in a player that is playing it really any goaltender whether he's your your number one guy your number two guy your number three guys are you able to make the timely saves are you able to give your team confidence and you mentioned that corner of brown save whether it's you know the going back even in previous games the there's a couple of saves he made on Leon Dreysell McDavid in game four that led to Vancouver coming back in that game the aggressive poke check and him skating out of his crease well out of his crease also gave his team confidence so what is the one commonality he's played excellent hockey he's been a strong goal tender throughout the series but in those key moments as a young player that's been untested at this level batch he's able to give his guys confidence which is something that you know as a young player it's so so difficult so Arder she loves and at least three or four times in a game he's making that save and that continued in game five it certainly did so you know a first period that you know wasn't perfect for the Canucks they come out of it uh in a deficit but in an okay situation only down by one goal and we know that you know they've been comfortable in close games even when they're trailing and then the second period began and you know we already touched on that fourth line Phil D Giuseppe scores the goal just over five minutes in to tie the game at two but the Canucks for the first time really in this series tilted the ice against the Edmonton Oilers we've seen Vancouver eat lots of pressure and spend lots of time in their own zone throughout this series to this point but this time it was Vancouver pushing the pace against the Oilers and Edmonton that was struggling to contain Vancouver and at the end of that second period the shots were 17 to 4 in favor of the Vancouver Canucks in spite of the fact that they only had what two power plays in that period and one of them was a partial power play because the Patterson charging penalty was taken in the middle of it so um you know this isn't like they had three four five power plays in the period and were tilting the ice they were doing that at even strength they survived a couple more Euler penalty kills in the middle frame and got out of it in a tied hockey game and really had all the momentum going into the third period and they certainly did and there's a couple of things that were key factors in the first period there were seven Canucks giveaways and when you have giveaways especially in the neutral zone at the offensive blue line one of the best transition teams in hockey they're gonna take advantage and Edmonton had you know chances they had goals that's something that at the very least you are you know prolonging the shifts in your own zone or you're on the back foot and skating backwards to defend which is something that rick talk it does not like as we know so they really eliminated that in the second period only had one giveaway but that really starts from just winning more puck battles in the second period they were all over the ice they were skating and the neutral zone was not an easy place to navigate or the Euler's because they weren't giving them any shortcuts what those cleaning up of the you know the puck management the Euler's had to start in their own end and they had to skate into that traffic into the neutral zone there were no freebies so I think the battle level them being able to stack shifts and you know have multiple lines out there and really lean on the Euler's with that long change in the second period it worked in the favor of the Canucks but more than anything it was a a real look in the mirror I think between periods do we talk to Dakota Joshua on the post game show and he said yeah about halfway through the first period we started to get our game back we understood what we had to do and that was fully evident in the second period so it was a two-all tie coming out of the second period and we'll talk about the winning goal eventually here in and the third period but let's sort of revisit the lineup changes that rick talk it made because we already brought up the fourth line uh dee justepi comes in omon stays in pod cole's in comes in a hoglander came in and sousi drew back in and of course he scored uh the big goal to tie the game at one in the first period it was very happy to be back in the lineup and be able to contribute even though it was kind of his fall that led to the two one goal by Matias Yanmark but the blending of the lines from talk it really the first time we've seen him do this in the playoffs to any serious degree you know dee justepi had come out uh because of the birth of his child Myers missed a game in the Nashville series julson came in julson came in again in this series when sousi was suspended for game four but for the most part the structure of the lineup had remained the same and we saw talk it make some big changes he moved lindholm with peterson and hoglander he put bluger back with joshua and garland he constructed that new look fourth line that we talked about already and then he kept the miller line together and you know the the reaction you know a day after that happened is that that was a master stroke from rick talkett in terms of what he got from all four lines in this hockey game you know you start looking at really game four batch where nooblock made his changes and you're wondering okay is he panicking is he maybe overreacting they get a right in game four and then rick talkett has the onus to say all right my team didn't really do what i wanted them to do and you're still kind of wondering okay cars and sousi comes back in the game uh in the series which is what you expected but you know three changes on top of that one is significant and you start to wonder internally to say is this is this too much change but you know the way that elias peterson played with a lice lindholm at the top of that lineup just a freer peterson where playing with more speed he was more often first to pucks and sometimes just changing up what you're doing where on that line with mikev and lafferty um or mikev and hoaglander felt like maybe peterson had a lot of really responsibility on his shoulders and not to say he's not capable of course he's capable we've seen him throughout the season play that role but sometimes when you're in that funk you just need a little bit of help and elias lindholm taking that responsibility down the middle of the ice i thought it freed up peterson and in the fourth line we've already talked about where you add a couple of different pieces you add some players that add some size and speed and really some hunger these are two players that have missed games pdg of course we know you referenced the story but vesili pod goals in batch we were in that scrum prior to the game on morning skate this guy was loose he loves playing playoff hockey whether it was back in russia or in the a hl he was ready to go he had one liners he was in a good mood and he wanted to prove himself so i thought you know talk it did an excellent job tapping into a relieving some pressure and peterson to a certain extent and then throwing a couple of hungry players on the line up that delivered and peterson himself really stepped up his individual game and you know we can get into the chants and obviously our morning show did a great job getting that rally and cry going and when peterson and talk it spoke about it after the game they both thought that it made a difference and peterson talked about how he wants to play that much harder for the fan base because they've supported him through this tough stretch and i wouldn't go as far as to say it was vintage alias peterson in game five but it was certainly the best performance we've seen from him in the playoffs thus far it was progress and that's exactly what you want to see because you know sure we've had conversations of okay and that third period peterson looked better but overall there was there wasn't a leap forward or even steps forward in this game it felt you know a couple of contributions he was making and just the general sense of confidence he was you know playing physical of that warren fogle charging penalty that we discussed during the game broadcast i know we talked about it a lot of us talked about it on social media there's discussion in the media room after with uh media from vancouver and edminton but the fact that he's playing that role tells you are he's confident uh even on the game winning goal you know he lunges and disrupts a zone exit for the edminton oilers and it doesn't keep the puck in the zone but what it does is it kind of kills the flow of the edminton oilers trying to attack there and eventually leads to the puck going to a lice lindholm and he makes that back heel assist which is kind of lucky but he intended to do that that ends up hitting the post and gets an assist on the jt miller goal those are a couple of moments but there are a number of moments where he was playing a more confident game and it's been a while since we've been able to say that but having a player like lindholm right next to him just to maybe ease the burden a little bit the defense of responsibility and playing on the wing where you can play with a little bit more speed batch i think it really helped them now of course you can't take a step back you have to lean in even more and you know that next game game six is going to be even tougher because you're playing in a hostile arena and it's an expectation in the market to say all right you had some progress now build off of this but this was a starting point and it's a good sign for elias peterson and i thought another interesting point about the back heel play that he made and you're right it's a skillful play but there is luck involved too and the reason i say that and i was watching tony broir and jack michaels our buddies that cover the oilers doing their sort of post-game recap on the oilers website and jack made the point and i think rightfully so that if that doesn't go off the post and it goes in the net it's probably reviewed and called a distinct kicking motion and it doesn't count but the fact that the back heel from peterson goes off the post and right onto the tape of jt miller is a very fortunate bounce for the kennachs and you know miller was asked about the goal after the game and kind of joked that oh yeah that's something we practice all the time and then uh laughed and said no that's just like one of those plays where the puck falls to you right place right time and you have the opportunity to bury it and he was worried because he didn't actually get all of that shot because the puck was kind of bouncing but he was able to get enough on it to have it flutter past cal pickard and into the back of the net and now we're sitting in a spot where the kennachs lead the series three to two so looking ahead now to game six saturday i'm going to say afternoon it's a five o'clock game pacific time so programming note uh five o'clock puck drop on sportsnet 650 for game six from edminton on saturday so it's in a prime time slot people from around the continent will be able to watch uh a game in this series and how entertaining it's been for some people out east of course they're gone to bed by the time the puck drops in this series at least for most of the games to this point so as we shift the focus to game six what should the kennachs expect what do we expect from the oilers and what does vancouver need to do to try and close it out on the road at roger's place and make sure they don't have to come back to vancouver for a winner take all game seven well they're gonna have to play a you know a motivated style of game right this is a a team right now in the vancouver connects that's right and high but you have to reset that button really the next day when you're watching video when you're going through okay what worked what didn't and you know in edminton there's gonna be a couple of things that you have to really that start is gonna be so important yet again and you do a heck of a job on the pk in game five but in game six it's a different game altogether you have to make sure that especially early on in the game you don't give edminton any freebies this is one of the better teams in the league to begin with you know flush that start to the season that they had with jay woodcroft but they've shown that they are one of the best teams and they can jump on you conux have done a good job of limiting that here playing tight games but you cannot give them freebies so for me batch i think it's what we talked about really in the lead up to game four you've got a a gold tender and shows to cal pickard he played an fantastic game you know in game five but he's still a guy that i feel like the conux can take advantage of and you know you get traffic in front of him you score some goals so i think you got to have that attack mentality not careless not reckless but you want to shut up that home crowd right off the bat and really dent the confidence of the oilers because they feel like you know internally they probably feel like all right this team's had our number all year how do we come back in the series and really you want to stamp out any hope early on in that game absolutely i think discipline is going to be a key part of this game too um we could talk about it in terms of puck management but also in terms of penalties and i'm not going to sit here and say the conux were very undisciplined in game five in fact i thought it was probably the most poorly officiated game of the series um you know maybe with the exception of of some of the stuff that happened earlier with the high stick on hues from mc david that went on called and then everything that revolved around the sushi suspension and that whole scrum at the end of the game but um conux five for five on the penalty kill that's great you can be confident in that you can be proud of that accomplishment and proud of the way that you played but that doesn't mean you want to try and have to do that again in game six because you know mark my words if you give the oilers five power plays they're gonna score on at least a couple of them this time around and that makes it that much more difficult to win a close out game against a desperate team with some of the top players in the world pushing to try and win you can be proud of your pk but at the same time also maybe go back in the room and say hey boys we can't take five again right like that two things can be true at the same time when it comes to that pk um but you know i think they've shown the oilers that they're capable but you have to be really careful in a hostile arena where you don't get behind the ball right off the bat if you can plant that seat a doubt early on in that game for this oilers team and really you know put the onus on them they're gonna have all the pressure they're the team that is is facing another year of not winning a cup but if you get that early goal uh then you're really then you're really you know in a great situation and you can just you know lean into a little bit more and and even heat more pressure on them batch yeah and and that is the thing here that that is going to be fascinating about this game is we've seen a lot in this series teams have come from behind like you look at the last few games and i'm not sure off the top of my head if this carries for the whole series but the oilers scored first in game five but ultimately lost uh we've seen that happen quite a lot in this series where the team that gets out to the good start gets the first goal doesn't necessarily win the game but when it is a close-out game the dynamics of that change a little bit so if the Canucks can score first can take some of the energy out of roger's place that's going to be a big factor in how the oilers respond because desperate teams can play good hockey but they can also play sloppy hockey and if they get desperate and over commit for offense because you put them behind the eight ball inside their own building with a nervous energy that you can create if you're able to do that then Edmonton will be on the back foot and you never know the kinds of mistakes teams will make when they're pushed with their backs to the wall and that is Canucks hockey where they played some of their best hockey this year when they're kind of not sitting back but they're being aggressive in the neutral zone waiting for those mistakes to happen if you try to force the issue against this Canucks team through the neutral zone they can jump on your real quick at the very least you know turn the possession going the other way and lean on you so you know rick talk it has these guys playing that way but that's why that first goal is so important and we saw it how many times during the regular season 53 times in 82 games if you get that lead first and you can kind of sit back just a little bit just enough and play you know skate forward in the neutral zone to create more mistakes that's how this team thrived all year long so that's going to be a big big key in game six and takes a little bit of pressure off you as well now what do we expect from the Oilers in terms of deployment because they've played McDavid and dry settle on separate lines the last couple of games for the most part it worked pretty well for them in their win on home ice in game four less so in the loss in Vancouver in game five and we saw later in the game that Chris knob lock went to both of those guys on the same line more often but ultimately it's McDavid on the ice when the Canucks score the winning goal and Vancouver did a much better job in terms of the territorial battle when the Oilers taught players were on the ice and I think part of that is what we already talked about with the lines where he was comfortable having Miller out against McDavid and he was you know using sort of a soft match up with the dry cycle line going up against both the Lynn home line and the blue girl line at different points in the game but with the series shifting to Edmonton Canucks won't have the last change Chris knob lock can try and exploit some matchups and I would imagine that we will see a much more healthy dose of McDavid and dry-cidal playing together because early in the series knob lock went to that and he went to it a lot and we saw those guys play nearly half the game in games two and three in particular and with the season on the line with a situation where he's already showed a relative lack of trust in the rest of his lineup and to be honest I don't blame him because the rest of his lineup hasn't given him a whole lot in this series I would imagine the McDavid and dry-cidal hour out over the boards all the time in game six and the Canucks are going to have to try and handle that and try and drive play as effectively as they did at home in game five yeah at this point if you're a knob lock you can't ease back on those minutes this is do or die time for his team in Punjabi I'll teach you some Punjabi we call it Gado Jamoto batch which is the exact same thing so if you ever if you're ever needing some Punjabi that's that's one for you but you know this is a a real interesting situation for this Oilers team because in the last game those two lines of dry-celled McDavid they got how played like the dash twos are one thing but they got out chance shot attempt sore they were in the negative so generally when even when they were on together five on five for about four minutes and forty nine seconds they were neutral they didn't create much of anything and when it came to high danger chances they were in the negative there too so I think a couple things are happening here of course when you're at home you can dictate your own matchups but you know I don't see them deviating too much going you know like versus like has been something the series has been about so you could expect Leon and Connor to play on the same line but I also do wonder here at this point in the series when you played so much hockey and you especially early on in this series are playing a lot of minutes and even in the last game 23 minutes and 20 seconds for Leon Dreyseil Connor McDavid 23 25 at some point that physical play the fatigue starts to set in and these guys are capable of breaking through that wall within seconds they're so dangerous but every hit in game one you know it compounds as you go in game two game three you feel it in game six and seven so you know I think there's a real element of all right these guys you know they were all played by Vancouver and Vancouver had three essentially three lines that could pair up or match up against with them to a certain degree at this point of the the series you start to wonder if guys are getting tired and for the first time in the series I started to think that during game five to say all right the Canucks are doing a great job defending them whether that's the forwards or the defenseman shout out to I thought you know Philip Roanick, Carson Susie and Tyler Myers were fantastic defending but part of me also saw some plays 10 I think these guys are slowing down a little bit I think they might be running into that wall just a little bit so you know that matchup in the deployment is going to be fascinating because if you're no luck at this point in time you can't take any chances I think you load up with that top line this is in the booth on sports net 650 your official home of the Canucks on the other side we'll get into the mail bag we got lots of great questions from you the listener and we'll conduct the rose ceremony before we get out of here as well it's all still to come on in the booth on your official home of the Canucks and Canucks playoff hockey sports net 650 Welcome back to in the booth on sports net 650 your official home of the Canucks if you're listening on the radio and missed any part of the show it lives as a podcast as well on the Canucks central podcast feed so make sure to subscribe you get the show every weekday with sat and dan Canucks central you get every post game show with sat bic and former NHL defenseman Brett festerling and you get in the booth every week with ran deep and I as well and let's get into the mailbag ran deep let's start out with this one from Chad who asks how big was this game meaning game 5 for PD I think the crowd getting behind him really fueled him to have a pretty solid game and then to get the apple on the game winner has got to be a huge confidence boost to keep building on he needed it the team needed it and boy was it sweet to see and Chad all agree with all of that I think that was a really big game for peterson and you know you can look at the score sheet and say okay it wasn't the biggest impact and you know I kind of saw mark specter throwing shade at peterson in his his post game column where he talked about the fact that you know McDavid has a game where he doesn't produce a point and and something's wrong with him but peterson breaks out in a game where he gets one assist but to me it was less about the bottom line numbers ran deep and more about the way he played and how engaged he looked in the game again and that's an encouraging thing for this Canucks team at this time in the postseason heading into a potential close-out game on saturday night that peterson seems to be finding his footing and ultimately you know when we look at Chad's question how big was that game for PD we're going to find out based on whether he can carry that form forward the rest of this series and potentially beyond that if the Canucks can have some success over the next couple of games but I think that game has a chance to be a big turning point for peterson with the struggles he's had to this point in the playoffs yeah the eye test tells us that he was not playing pause hockey as rick talk and calls it right where you're stopping and there's a lot of you know thinking going on and we can see you think and it was a very similar conversation around Vasily pod Colton too to rick talk and saying hey when he's playing well he's moving and that's exactly the thing that alias peterson was doing where you know he was first epochs he was engaged in battles he was a guy that you know he wasn't necessarily overthinking and I thought that aggressiveness also showed in the offensive zone he didn't necessarily get any goals but there was more you know opportunities for him he had what you know eight shot attempts three on net and yeah that's not a you know nobody's going to say hey you should win the consummate trophy as a result of this effort but it's progress for a player that prior to this game we all heard that press conference we all heard that media availability where he did not sound like a very confident player at all so following that up this was important and I do want to say you know I think the morning show guys the had a great idea and the fans in the building when you hear that when you're supported by people in the city that of course and sometimes validly so are critical of you but they say hey we got your back that just makes you puff your chest out a little bit more and and that's not only you know the only thing I'm sure there's a lot of focus for him in video and practice and getting better but it was a good thing to see but you're 100 percent right it's how do you follow it up because it doesn't stop there the expectation is that you build off this our next question comes in uh from @dsbdsbjr on twitter and there's no name so sorry for reading out all those letters but here we go that's got to be a burner yeah exactly uh you know I wonder who it is maybe it's someone famous there were a lot of celebrities out in the crowd uh for game five so who knows but the question is is there anyone who thinks Ian Cole should still be in the lineup let's give Jules in a shot he made some errors but I have more confidence in him if he knows he'll be playing going forward and this is an interesting one for me because at this point in the series I feel like Ian Cole has become a bit of a scapegoat now I'm not letting him off the hook because he's had a tough series he's made some bad mistakes there's a lot of pucks that have found their way off him and into the back of the Vancouver net but I think as is often the case in the fan base in Vancouver we focus a lot on the negative and ignore the positive and one of the positive things is that Ian Cole was a big part of that penalty kill performance in game five I think he spent almost four minutes on the ice short-handed in the game and you know yes he's had some tough bounces you know some of his puck decisions have not been the best but this is a veteran guy a Stanley Cup champion who still brings a lot to this lineup even if it comes with some poor decisions at times so I don't know if I be pulling him out for Noah Julesen I understand the conversation and I'm willing to have it with you but I still think Ian Cole deserves to be in the lineup at this point even if most of Canucks Twitter disagrees with me Randy well let's be one clear about one thing it hasn't been a good series for Ian right he's dashed four he's had trouble moving the puck up the ice and clears have been a problem but remember even in that game where he played over just over 12 and a half minutes you're right almost four minutes of that was on the pk he blocked three shots one went off his stick and hit him in the face and this guy did not budge off the ice like he is a playoff warrior he's a guy that you want in those shooting and passing lanes and yes he's not the perfect player we've seen him on the backhand in that game unable to clear and what happens it ends up in the back your net eventually he gets caught on the ice for nearly 90 seconds he's tired at the end of it and loses a battle of Leon Dreyseld and it's a goal for the Edmonton Oilers but I think when you look at his game the positive outweighs the negative he's an absolute monster on the pk and let's go back around against Nashville he was one of their best defenseman in that style of game when you know it's a slog it out kind of defensive battle he was really really strong in this one the Canucks have eaten a lot of pressure in that first half of the first period yet Ian colden look good batch but you know when he did look good when the Canucks had the puck in the neutral zone and the offensive zone so part of this is also the team identity of if you eat pressure against Edmonton Oilers team some of your defensive defenseman aren't going to look great so I would still keep him in the lineup I think Noah Juleson has had similar issues moving the puck up diving into the neutral zone neither of them are perfect players but neither of them are as bad as some people seem to think but I think you know on the pk and just engaging in battles I think Ian Cole is a part of a team that needs players like that so I would still keep him in I know there's a lack of patience right now there's been a lot of unlucky plays for Ian but he'd be in my lineup yeah I think so too and we'll see if Rick Talkett ultimately looks to make a move because I think you know Noah Juleson when he came into the lineup played pretty well but at the same time he chases a big hit in the neutral zone on Matthias echolm and gifts the Oilers the two nothing goal in game four from Nugent Hopkins off the rush so it's not like he's been perfect either and we always talk about trust with these sorts of things I think there is a clear level of trust with Ian Cole and Rick Talkett that Noah Juleson maybe hasn't earned yet and look Juleson I think is probably going to be a full-time member of this blue line next season because I'm not sure if Ian Cole is going to be back so that trust will be there eventually but right now I would imagine Cole stays in the lineup at least for the moment and we'll wait and see how things progress and from here one thing to add to that because there's the on ice component but Batch you know as well as I do Rick Talkett has mentioned Ian Cole behind the scenes of him being one of essentially kind of like a coach back there so yes on ice matters but I think the leadership and the significance that guys like Ian Cole and Tyler Myers have in that room alongside other players of course the veterans like J.T. Miller that's another intangible that Talkett likes about Ian Cole so if you're pulling that out of the lineup you know you better have a pretty significant upgrade because there's stuff he does on the ice and off the ice that matters to this team. Another question here is we continue to go through the mail bag Ken writes in and says I'll ask the obvious one if Demko is ready which I'm sure nobody knows outside of the team when does he get the net back Saturday Monday if necessary or round three and the latest on this is that Rick Talkett spoke to the media on Friday and when asked if Demko would be able to play at the weekend so if we're counting Monday as part of the weekend because it's a long weekend for a potential game seven Talkett said that would be a stretch so my expectation at this point based on the fact that as of time of recording on Friday afternoon Demko has not partaken in a practice with the team we know he's been taking shots and and getting work in but it's been away from the team to this point and for the most part away from the media so we haven't seen a whole lot of him on the ice I would be shocked right now if Demko plays in this series now if they win game six or game seven now they've got a few days off and we're looking at later next week potentially when they're going to start the western conference final if indeed that does come to pass is that possible who knows but at this point my word on this is that I would be quite surprised if we see Demko in this series against the Oilers I agree with you and I think a big part of this is first and foremost the biggest part is the health factor we have to base it off what we see from you know essentially Rick Tom Rick Talkett's comments and occasionally we have seen Richard Demko in and around the building there's been moments where he's hit the ice but we haven't had viewings of that recently so there's not really much we can base it off of the other thing is is a batch that archer shield ops is still playing well right this is a team that is not really they haven't even dipped into their second goalie right now as of right now kasey de smith so if it was a situation where you didn't have confidence in either one of your goalies you'd probably say all right hey is is Demko in a situation that you bring him back or you rush him which I would not expect the team to do anyways but at least you would have that conversation we're not even anywhere near that conversation because the play of a certain young lat being goal tender that is really elevated his game so in order to answer that question there's a lot of information we don't have but based on the comments as you outline there from Rick Talkett it seems like and you know everybody's had got their fingers crossed here but round three is the most logical answer to me yeah I think so too and and again we have to credit shield ops because in any other scenario this would be a massive story you know vezana finalist goal tender not available for their team in the second round of the playoffs for a crucial closeout game but the way that she loves is played like we haven't talked about demko anywhere near as much as I thought we would be talking about him at this point in the postseason and I know we've talked so much about she loves and the key saves he's made but he's really slid into the crease seamlessly like a glove and the way the team has played in front of him shows that too that they have confidence in him and it's not a situation where they're playing scared because it's a young goaltender behind them so she loves deserves the credit and in fact it's a really good thing for the organization because it doesn't put them in a spot where they feel like they might have to force demko back early because they really need him they can take their time they can make sure he's a hundred percent healthy before they even try it because they know that archer she loves can get the job done as he has to this point in the playoffs and he's so composed as well which is even after the game last night I kind of ran into him as he was waiting for the the elevator and just so soft spoken so just even keel but you know some of the things I hear from talking to people in Abbotsford he's a big personality down there but since he's been in the NHL it doesn't seem like he wants to maybe ruffle any feathers he wants a low key focus on his job and he's been a really you know a silent person in that locker room even queen he's saying he doesn't talk very much but you know it's been a breath of fresh air for this team because to your point they don't have to worry about oh oh our all-store goaltender's not here what do we do do we rush him back or not that's not a question right now because this young kid is running with it he certainly is another question from chef swagger from hell's kitchen what personnel changes can we expect from the Oilers in game six that we haven't already seen in this series and I'll be interested to see what Chris Knoblock does because you know to our eye we kind of thought he was over reacting by going to Cal Pickard as early as he did in the series that has proven to be a pretty good decision through a couple of games although I'll be interested to see and again at the time of recording on Friday afternoon we don't know who the Oilers starting goaltender is going to be on Saturday night ran deep but there is some conversation in the Oilers fan base and media about whether you go back to Stewart Skinner because it's a must-win game and are you really going to bench your starting goaltender for a game that you need to win in my mind I would stick with Pickard just because I don't think he's given you any reason to pull him out he was great in game four I thought he was great in game five too even though the Canucks ultimately wanted in the last minute on a goal that he can't really do a whole lot about it was more of a breakdown in coverage that Miller was wide open in front of the net but when we talk about the Oilers changes we can get into some other spots in the lineup first but let's begin with the goaltender and what Chris Knoblock and his staff might decide to do for game six yeah I think going back to Stewart Skinner would be the wrong move if I'm being completely honest with you Calvin Pickard 32 saves in that game and a lot of saves quite a few of them that were a high degree of difficulty he was giving his team confidence in that game and confidence is the key word that is a lot of pressure on Stewart Skinner and I understand he's your number one goaltender but where is his confidence you have one guy that showed in the last game that sure he lost the game but he was playing a confident game and Stewart Skinner you know the last time we saw him he wasn't doing that even in his media availability which I appreciate in Edmonton he had the right mind space but that's a real big question for me so I think you have to go with Pickard if you're the Oilers just based on the fact that he's given you a quality start right now where the last time Skinner played you weren't getting that now in terms of other changes the Oilers could make and I think the assumption here is from the Canucks side of things that they will probably ice the same lineup just because of how the well things went for them in game five for the Oilers I'm going to pull up the list of guys that were scratched last game and this includes their black aces it includes Adam Henrik who was injured but Chris Knoblock said he's getting close Henrik is only played in game two in this series due to an injury that he's been battling so that's the top of the list Henrik could come back in other than that Ben Gleason Adam Ernie, Lane Peterson, Sam Carrick, Troy Stetchers, Xavier Borgo, Rafael Lavois, Phil Camp, Cam Dineen, Philip Broberg, Sam Gagne and then Olivier Rodriguez and Jack Campbell are there two extra goal tenders so I don't see a lot on that list in terms of guys that could come in and have an impact the only guys I'll bring up are Sam Carrick because he's already played for them in the playoffs this year as a depth center ice option that may give them a little bit more than what they've got down the lineup you could look at Troy from Richmond on the back end although I think he's probably lower than Philip Broberg on the defensive depth chart and Broberg is an interesting one to me because Knoblock earlier in the series hinted at going 11 and 7 and rolling 7 defensemen and in that scenario we were looking at Broberg coming into the lineup so if he really feels like he needs to try and expose the Canucks and get McDavid and Drycidal out there more and out there more against depth lines then he could go 11 forward 7 defensemen and bring Philip Broberg in on the back end and then another guy that's interesting to me is Sam Gagne and whether he can give you some sort of punch up front but beyond that I don't see a lot that the Oilers can do to tweak what they've already got in the lineup no and you know the two names that I'll focus on you know Gagne has been a a key addition at certain times in the season where they drop them in calling them up for Bakersfield but I think you know it comes down to Broberg if you're looking for that extra defensemen if you're trying to get McDavid and Drycidal out there a little bit more and you know we had some conversations with people in Edmonton some of them believe that Philip Broberg is a better option in the lineup than some of the other defensemen currently playing and we're talking about veteran options so Cody CC basically is what you're saying exactly exactly and at least at least one defensemen so that conversation has been going on in Edmonton the other thing is a Sam Carrick if you're looking for a little bit more of a physical presence in your bottom six and I know Nablock said that he was happy with his bottom six after game five but you got four players that are playing sub 10 minutes and the question I have is how many of those guys have provide a physical presence you know Corey Perry with all due respect he can't skate anymore he's at 7/11 minutes and 7/11 sorry 7 minutes and 11 seconds and then beyond that you got another three guys that are four guys that are in that nine-minute range none of them really provide a physical presence none of them provide an aggressive forecheck that of November Cain brings further up the lineup so is that an option for Carrick who does bring some size who does bring some sandpaper as well and just gives you a different look compared to some of the options in the bottom six because for the most part that bottom six has been pretty easy to play against for Vancouver like I thought you know providing energy they haven't done it so much even though they scored in the last game I would look at bringing in maybe a carrick and and bringing out another player that hasn't really provided much of anything all right that does it for the mail bag here and it is time for the rose ceremony before we conclude this week's edition of in the booth and then we're both off to the airport to head to Edmonton for game number six on Saturday night I'll give my rose first here Randy and I'm going to give my rose to the fans chanting let's go PD at game five and I talked about this on Canucks talk on Thursday where you know it had to be all in if you were going to do the chance they had to be loud they had to be like the JT Miller chance it couldn't be scattered let's go PD in one corner or maybe in one section it had to be something that the whole crowd committed to got loud and got behind him and credit to our morning show guys for starting the rallying cry and credit to those people that showed up at Rogers Arena and made their voices heard loudly it came through over the air on the broadcast and Pedersen talked after the game about how much it meant to him so that's the difference a strong home crowd can make and full credit and hat tip and roses to all the people that showed up at the rink and did their job with the let's go PD chance yeah I love that it was spontaneous just like the JT Miller chance it's not something that's forced it's something hey fans felt like it they started doing it I love it my rose is going to go to one individual that's gotten a lot of criticism in Vancouver over the last number of years big number 57 Tyler Myers plus three five hits four block shots he plays over 20 minutes in that game and it was an absolute monster with hits good gap control playing you know a physical game I thought that was probably one of the best games that Tyler Myers has played against anybody in the NHL but let alone he played it against McDavid and dry settle and didn't give him anything and Myers you know I think in the last year of his contract is playing his best hockey as a canoch and I don't know if any of us would have predicted that when the organization signed him and people thought it was a deal that was going to age poorly Myers has flourished in this rick talk it system he's a key leader for this group off the ice beloved by his teammates in the dressing room and stepping up and playing that key matchup role a lot of the time in this series alongside Carson Susie Myers deserves a ton of credit for the way that he has played okay Randy almost out of time we're back to Edmonton again by the way I guess we should update people we didn't end up at Boston pizza last week as we were joking on the show but you know did did visit a number of nice restaurants and establishments in Edmonton and had a good time while we were there over games three and four and looking forward to getting back there over the weekend here for game six yeah we had four days there previously just a couple of days but I do want to highlight I did go to West Edmonton mall checked at the pirate ship that was a solo mission batch did not want to join me which is completely fine I understand that but what a marvel of human creation that pirate ship at the West Edmonton mall is a marvel of human creation I was not expecting that phrase to come up in the show this week but here we are okay uh Randeep so we're off to the airport now but thanks for listening to in the booth again if you missed any part of the show it lives as a podcast on the Canucks central podcast feed and we will speak with you next on Saturday ahead of game six the Canucks and the Oilers Vancouver with a chance to book the ticket that they want to the western conference final again it is a five o'clock puck drop on Saturday night Pacific time but that does it for us on in the booth this week you're listening to the official home of Canucks playoff hockey sports net 650
