So the Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions. They become the third Atlantic Division Stanley Cup champion in the last five years. But it is five consecutive years in which an Atlantic Division team has been in the Stanley Cup final. Surely, surely one of the most successful teams in the regular season over that year. You know, I don't know if it's going to happen. I don't know if it's going to be going to happen. But it is five consecutive years in which an Atlantic Division season over that stretch of time has been one of them. And they wear blue and white. No. Oh, no, that's true. No. Yeah. The lightning. No. Oh, yeah. Sorry. See what I did there? Yeah, I know. They just stole the Leafs. It's like they stole the Leafs jerseys and now the Leafs will never go to the Cup final. Because the hockey gods are like, "I swear, we saw you there. You're there a bunch." The Stamm Coast was there. A whole bunch of Canadians. I don't know what you can blame them about. Yeah. Yeah. It'll be plenty of time to talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially this upcoming week. Yes. What was a great Cup final and a great game seven yesterday? I talked to Nick Kipryos, a real Kiprym born. How's it going, Kipryr? Good morning, guys. Yeah. You guys get a good shower in after that series? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It was a little icky, I suppose. What is it? So it's one thing for me sitting next to my eight-year-old kid of my couch to watch, you know, some guys live a lifelong dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup over their heads and what that must feel like. What's it like for you who actually knows what it feels like every time of year at this time to see that great ritual take place? Yeah. It's one of the best feelings in the world. I won't lie to you. We just had our 30th anniversary of our '94 Cup Championship and for 30 straight times, you know, I could turn around and whoever I'm sitting beside on any of those given nights of watching championships beyond that, I could look at them and say, "I know exactly how that feels." And that's the ultimate one that is sometimes beyond your control, circumstances being in the right place, the right time. Plus, maybe your attitude, you know, has a lot to do with it as well, but it's hard. It is such a hard thing and I can feel for the Edmonton Oilers, you know, waking up this morning and saying, "You know, is that my only opportunity? Is that this closest I'll ever get? I'll never forget, you know, being on the ice and being in this state of almost like an out of body experience of winning the Stanley Cup." And then I remember it like it was yesterday looking at Trevor Linden and it's an iconic shot right now of Linden on one knee with both his hands covering his face. And that's the fine line between winning and losing. And then also, you know, for Vancouver, Kirk McLean, who's a good friend of mine, childhood friend of mine, you know, I do feel for them, you know, having to look every year at a championship and only be reminded how close they were to that. And you know, that's the beauty of sport, right, in a nutshell. So it's a wonderful feeling if it still feels like yesterday when I think about what I felt as a champion and now the Florida Panthers are in the similar situation. And those words will always resonate with me that came from, you know, multiple veterans in the room just prior to game seven is you win one game, you will walk together the rest of our lives and that's so true. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's remarkable. I, I get misty-eyed sitting here watching it every year. I mean, the NHL, the, I think it was last year they did it, but it was this great promo about just, there's no words and it was just the guys getting asked about what it feels. And you know, not that you didn't do a good job explaining it there, but I can still feel your wheels spinning of you just almost want to scream at us. I don't know. It's just amazing. Okay. I won the cup. Like I can only imagine there's just something about the trophy. It's the best in all the sport. And you know, what is it, the, what is it like, you know, when you see a team like this and you touched on it there, the Oilers, I mean, they got Bennett and McDavid, those guys grew up playing together. Where do the Oilers kind of go from here, Kipper? I mean, on one hand, it's really easy. You try to resign Leon Drey's title, you bring back Connor McDavid and you let those guys run wild. But what do you think the feeling is like for them having come so close and now half in a climate all over again? Well, first of all, it's, you know, you're in a salary cap world right now. So, you know, prior to it, you can always sit there and say, okay, we're going to, we're going to keep 90% of the team together, 95, we're going to tweak it. We're going to go. We have one or two guys, but those days are over now. And you know, what the, the look of the Edmonton Oilers, you know, into us, I know today we woke up and, you know, the big story also out of Vegas might be that, you know, they've now have this Florida Panthers as favorites to win the 20, 25 Stanley Cup. And I'm like, give me a break. You don't know who's coming back. You don't know what's going to happen with Montour. Yeah. You know, they've got some, some issues there, Sam Reinhardt and Edmonton's the same way, guys. Do not know what this team is going to look like next season. And they don't have $20 million like the Toronto Maple Leafs. I think they're down to about $10 million. And that's going to seven forwards and five defense men. So you, you tell me what kind of flexibility they have to improve their roster or, or, or bring back the guys that they need to sign. So there's going to be a lot of discussion about the Edmonton Oilers, and it's going to start with, what do they, what do they do with Leon Dreycidal and is he just a lock to resign? And if so, are they going to hand over $14 million a year, $15 million on an extension? Those are, those are tough questions to answer and they've got the similar challenges of the Leafs, you know, years back when it's like, yeah, we, you know, we can and we will. And it's like, no, no, you can't, and, and you won't do it if it doesn't make any sense. And then down the road, there's, uh, Bouchard, everybody's taught about him in two years or three years, making 10 million. You've already got Darnell, and there's that nine, you got to buy Jack Campbell out. Like, it's, it's going to be very challenging and very frustrating for Edmonton Oilers fans, I think. Yeah, this is a slight bad job hosting by me, but I do want to go back to the cup celebration and what you remember about it for half a second. This always jumps. This is something I've always wondered of just like, you know, there's, we all had great moments in their lives. Unfortunately for me, nothing quite, quite as good as winning a Stanley Cup. But do you, like you, you say you're in this almost haze, this fugue state, if you will, do you remember who handed you the cup? Do you remember who you handed it to? And you know, it always seems, at least from the outside looking in, like there's a pretty clear packing order early on, like obviously the captain gets it first. And then, you know, like we all know the famous ones of like right to Ray Bork or whatever it is, but how much of that part in and of itself, do you remember, do you remember who gave it to you and do you remember who you handed it to? Yeah, I, I believe it was if I'm not mistaken, Glenn Healy, uh, but it could have been my roommate, Brian Newton, I, to be honest with you, I, I don't have a lock on, on the sequence. Uh, at that point, you're just like, you don't know what to do. You don't know what to think, you know, uh, I remember just kind of standing alone for a little bit. And then Brian Leach, you just, when the con smith, uh, says to me, you know, what do we do now? Yeah. Like Jim, I don't know, go, go hug somebody. I don't know. And then he says to me, and then Brian Leach says to me is, let's go ask Matt, she's done it. And this is on the ice. Oh, that's amazing. So, so we're just, you don't know, you've never been there before. It is like, I don't know, it's, and then it's just like, so that's the kind of, the haze or that, that, that feeling of, you know, uh, not being able to kind of, you know, lock in the order. I know, I know, uh, uh, you know, mess, uh, Kevin Lowe, and then it got a little bit hazy at the end, but, you know, the one thing I wanted to do more than anything is carry the cup along the, the, uh, the glass of Master Square Garden that the fans touch it. And that, that is a very vivid memory to me today still. And, yeah, and then you hoist it up and you get the cheer, you got to do the little kissing. Then you almost fall like Aaron Eckblad. Yeah. I hope that didn't happen to you. Oh my God. Yeah. That would have been rough. So we've seen proof of concept with, with teams getting to a cup final and then winning it the next year. I mean, this Panthers team was in a cup final a season ago and they got blasted in five games by the Vegas Golden Knights get back there, almost below a three O series lead, but end up winning in game seven. We saw Sydney Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins get there and losing six games to the Red Wings in '08 and get back in '09 and win in seven games. Is this like, can you see a world in which that happens for Conor McDavid and, and this Oilers team. Do you almost like need the heartbreak of getting all the way there and losing before you win it? Yeah. I think for the most part, if, if they're able to kind of keep building off of it and, and bring back a lot of the team, and I don't know what that magic number would be, you know, if they're able to, you know, bring in 80% of their team back, I got to think that there's something to be said about that turns of just getting to the next level. And usually these guys, as you just mentioned, some of these superstars find a way to get close and maybe be a little disappointed and, you know, or my earliest recollection is watching the Edmonton Oilers lose to the New York Islanders, you know, Justin Borne's dad's team and, and then finding a way to come back, you know, off of it. The stories of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier passing by the Islander dressing room and not seeing much jubilation and celebration, but just seeing a bunch of guys with ice packs, you know, strapped to their bodies. And yeah, there is something to be said for that, you know, and you got peak Conor McDavid, like, you almost single handedly did this thing on his own, you know, in many ways. Unfortunately, you know, the last two games were not Conor McDavid like and you got away with one in game six, but you're not getting away with it on the road in game seven. And that's, that's just the beauty of sport, like there's no one waking up tomorrow or today more hungry to come back and get another crack at it than, than, than 97 and he'll lead that charge. Yeah, God, I've just got the, I've got the post game up in front of me here. And he's just, I mean, they all are rightfully so, but he's just gutted. I mean, you see him, you see him hugging Perry. I mean, as, as gutted as McDavid's got to be, he's got a full, you know, career ahead of him to do this thing. Well, what do you make a Corey Perry? I mean, on one hand, if you would have told him five years ago, hey, you're going to play him four more cup finals, he would say, done, but take that deal right now. I don't need to know anything else that led me to this point, but God, what, and, and, you know, I don't know that he's announced or he's ready to retire or anything like that. But if this is going to be the lasting memory of his NHL career, on one hand, you say, and, and he has made a point that he doesn't want to retire. I just mean, if this is like the, the trend of his last career here on one hand, you say, it's amazing that he was able to play on so many important teams late in his career. But God, what a, what a sour taste that must leave. And he does have his cup, but it feels like a lifetime ago to him, I'm sure. Even a lifetime ago, he's still, you said it, the magic words, he's got his cup. Can you imagine if he didn't have that cup? Oh my God. He is, he is the Buffalo Bills of the NHL, right with, without that cup. Yes. Totally. You know, I know a number of guys from any era that would have welcomed one cup and, and a handful of really close. But you know, he's, he's going to be remembered as one of the, one of the better power forwards in our era here than that we're in right now, and Corey Perry is a winner. He's just a winner. And those final, those finalists appearances prove that, you know, he's got, he's got something. He's got the, the factor for, for winning or creating an environment that makes people believe that they can win. So, you know, I'm sure he, again, he's disappointed and he doesn't like the ratio of, of, of cups in a Stanley Cup final form, but hell of a career in Hall of Fame or all day long for me. I think that's ultimately where he's going to end up as well. So, Conor McDavid does win the cons my trophy and he has a tremendous, tremendous postseason in the 42 points and the assist record and yada, yada, yada is great and single handedly, it felt like got the Oilers to this point where they could play in a game seven of the cup final. Even the scoreless or the pointless game that he had in game six on Friday in Edmonton, they didn't need him and they took the lead and he locked it down defensively, didn't have a shot on goal, but they didn't require him. They needed him yesterday, they had two shots on goal, but he didn't register a point. He's still Conor McFreaking David, we get that, but what, what happened to him yesterday, Nick, and like, were you expecting the, the immersion of Conor McDavid at, at some point that just never came? Yeah, I did because of what I witnessed out of Florida, but, you know, again, like there's Barkov there who will go down in, in our, you know, in our minds for this era as one of the best, if not the best shut down guy, you know, or 200 foot sentiment, you know, at both ends. But, you know, Barkov had a lot to do with that and so did that blue line that kind of found its way with Bobrowski. It looked to me a lot like what we saw early in the series when, when Edmonton went down where there was just not enough room for, for Conor and Florida slipped a little bit, gave up the blue line in the last three games. He was able to chew them up and spit them out with his, what, eight points in two games and, and it wasn't there last night. So Florida had four chances to find their game and that's, they found it when they needed it most. So a little less about what Conor didn't do for me and a lot more what the Florida Panthers did to him in game seven. Yeah. I don't want to, I don't want to just make this about, about the Oilers and I feel like we've given the Panthers their due in terms of coming out parties in the playoffs. I mean, it would have been impossible for Conor McDavid to have a coming out party. We've, we've known about him since he was 11 years old or whatever it was when he was cruising around with the, with the Marlies. It feels like Bouchard is the guy who took the biggest leap of consciousness here. I mean, the thing that jumped out to me in last night's game, and I know he, I know he kind of cheated a little bit and got away from for Haggie on the tip, but this was a player who we all knew the skill that was there with Bouchard, a guy can run a power play. He's got a heavy shot. You love all that. I didn't know he had that kind of mean streak to him. And I don't know that he did either. It's always remarkable to me how a player can change if they go on kind of one of these runs. Does Bouchard feel like maybe kind of the, the breakout guy of, of the postseason for you? Well, listen, he's, he's an incredible talent. You know, his ability, he's, to me, he's got like a lot of Carlson in him. He's got, at times, to your point, a little bit of Zuboff in him where he can hold on to a puck and not his, his threshold for not panicking is, is tremendous. And you know, there's tremendous upside for him moving forward. But, you know, there's always going to be a part of me that just says he's never going to be the, the complete 200 foot guy that, that can do it at both ends of the ice. I think, you know, he's going to be an 80, 90 point guy, which everybody would love and everybody needs. But there's no question that, you know, he's, his game has gone to another level and he'll be rewarded, you know, either the year or two on that, you know, and everybody's already got him pegged as a 10 million dollar player, if, if Edmonton wants to go that way a year from now, but, you know, he's, he's, he'll, I don't think he'll ever be that stellar kind of guy at both ends of the ice, but certainly a guy that is going to be fun to watch much like Carlson, but, you know, there's going to be times you're going to be frustrated with him in his own zone. How much can he clean that up, you know, it was up to him, you know, but right now, I mean, there's, there's so much upside for him and the future that he has, as an Edmonton oiler, I think. So the off season starts now, it is, it is underway. We, we, No, it started. No, it started in like three days. I know. And so, that's so bad it is that, you know, maybe put this final June 24th, it's, it's just dumb. It's just dumb, dumb, dumb. Yeah. It doesn't feel like hockey. Hockey season. Agree. Yeah. Yeah. It's like 40 degrees last week. Anyways, yes. But now it's, it's, it's underway in earnest. We've already seen some significant moves as we get the draft on Friday as well. And yeah, so much conversation is going to surround Mitch Marner and, and whether it may beliefs do try and earnest to, to move him. But let's just, let's, let's combine the two things as we let you go. The, the, the Panthers winning their first cup in franchise history, obviously second straight year, they've been in the cup final. And this leaves off season where they try and change perhaps the core of this group. Is there anything to be learned from what the Panthers have done the last couple of years and specifically this year and winning their first Stanley cup? Well, the, the one thing that stands out about me about the Panthers where, you know, the the Leafs are going to have to go is just being able to kind of shore up the blue line with perhaps a shoestring budget, you know, and, you know, this is where the, the four his links came out of nowhere. Uh, Niko, Mikala came out of nowhere. They resurrected Oliver Ekman Larson's career on a, on a shoestring budget, Kula Kow, like these guys were tremendous, you know, and they were able to do it kind of without a lot of, if you don't need to go out there and blow your brains out free agency, necessarily, but you got to have a keen eye, you got to, you got to do your background checks, you got to know players, characters, and it was just remarkable to watch that, that blue line come together, you know, with, with Ekblad, who's been there forever. And, you know, even Montor, like nobody was really talking about Montor. And now he's in a position where he could, you know, earn seven, eight million dollars next year, you know, based on what he's been able to do the last few years in Florida. So I'll always believe that the, the ultimate Stanley cups are built from the net on out. And, uh, and that's where, you know, at the end of the day, Skinner wasn't as good as Bobrovsky and that blue line was not as good as Florida's. That's, that's how you win Stanley cups. And I think that's what Florida not only proved to the Leafs, but everybody else, you know, look after your blue line and the rest will look after itself. Yeah, uh, that'd be a good advice for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And they got a lot of open spots on that blue line. So we'll see what they do this offseason. Kipper, uh, great to chat and, uh, listen, what? There's, there's, there's a ton of crap out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. A ton. Ooh. Don't get sucked into all these losers out there. Me. Some interesting retweets yesterday, Kipper. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's getting out of control. That's all I can tell you. It's just getting out of control. All right. Well, we'll see what happens in the coming days. Uh, thanks, guys. Thanks, buddy. See ya. Have a great one. You too. Nick Kipperus of real Kipper and born. Um, yeah. So he, he doesn't think Mitch Martin has been traded. And not to Utah. Definitely not. Yeah, be careful when you retweet out there, people. Do your research. Anyways, but yeah, I know this is like the silly season and that trade or potential trade in earnest is going to be the number one thing that people are going to try and parse every little comment or every little piece of information that they believe they have and turn it into something larger because that's the thing that we care most about in hockey now because this is the biggest hockey market and that's the biggest potential hockey move. Just live with me for two seconds to where the marner trade came out at the time. The hallmark one did. Yeah. Oh my God. Oh my God. The league would have thrown the biggest connection of all time. They would have fooled the franchise. Yeah. Like. They would have stripped the Leafs to draft picks if they did that. Lienus Almark is a is a vesna trophy winner and it's like just like factually been one of the best goalies in the national hockey league for the last half decade. 100 percent in tandem with Jeremy Swamann. It's Swamann has emerged as the starter in Boston. A Canadian franchise acquired him in trade inside the their own divisions. Like a huge deal massive huge deal. But yeah Mitch Marner being traded on the like in the minutes leading up to games out of the Stanley Cup final. Honestly, there's nothing that can overshadow game seven of the Stanley Cup final. That might have done it though. Immediate sports and central panel on sports and Ontario only. You could watch the game on West Central. Dude. If that had happened before like at the same time. Oh my God. So you don't like intro the game with Mitch Marner obviously Mitch Marner. But like the first intermission panel have to the first intermission panel. Is like, yeah, we'll do the game and then you come back and you do like a Mitch Marner panel. Yeah, you have to you'd have to in game seven of the Stanley Cup final. We are the straw that serves the drink, baby. All right, a second break and talk to a man who covered one of the most exciting, most anticipated games in NHL history. Game seven of the cup final. We'll talk to Luke Fox next, but as we go to break, how do we do this? Why don't we play the Florida call of their Stanley Cup victory as the fan morning show continues. Ben and his Brent Gunning sports net five 90 the fan. Ten seconds left to one Panthers. A dream 30 years in the media is a real. The Florida Panthers have won the Stanley Cup. Lord Stanley is coming home. You always will have a place in South Florida. Oh, my God, the Panthers have won the Stanley Cup for the first time. Oh, history. Start the celebration. South Florida. The Panthers have done it. Stanley Cup champions. The Florida Panthers are the 2024 Stanley Cup champions. Oh, we crossed the finish line, buddy. We crossed it. Oh, what a group of bunch of guys. Pomerase. Congratulations. Oh, what a team. What a gutty effort. That is some cojones, boys. Wow. Hey, it's Nick Kiprios and I'm Justin Bourne. We're diving deep and everything happening in Leafland and the biggest stories around the NHL. Real Kipper and Bourne weekdays from four to six on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, the fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. Fan Morning Show Sportsnet 590, the fan, Ben Anis, Brian Gunning. Good time for Sergey Babrowski to remember that he's been very good. For the most part. Yes. Two post seasons. True. Didn't start last year's post season, but did emerge as one of the best goalies in the post season leading the Panthers all the way to the camp final where they lost five games. And this year, start to finish was very, very good, except for games four, five and six, allowing the Oilers to get back into the series and force a game seven where he once again looked very good in a two one Panthers victory, securing their franchises first Stanley Cup. Let's talk to your friend and mine, the great Luke Fox in Sunrise, Florida. How's it going, Luke? That's one. Okay. Little tired, I'll admit, but you know what, it's the best night of my professional life every year is when you get to go on the ice, see the families, see the cup. All of a sudden the interviews lose all their cliches. You actually get raw emotion from the players and the coaches. And yeah, it's a treat, right? It costs, what does it cost? It costs over a grand to get a nosebleed seat in the building. And some, someone at the company said, okay, we'll give this guy a few bucks that actually go down there and do this. So I'm feeling pretty good. It was an awesome, awesome series. And I do think the better team one in the end, that was Florida Panthers style hockey. Like all of a sudden they snap back to the way they wanted to play. Lock it down to one game, hard grinding game. That's how they wanted to play. And that's how it was kind of surprising they didn't play for three games straight. Yeah, it was really weird. Yeah, because it's not just Sergey Babrowski, it was the entire team and the amount of running around the Oilers were capable of doing in games four, five and six. Shocking compared to what they were unable to do yesterday, even with the six on five at the end of the game, they just couldn't create anything against that great Panthers team. Like, yeah, sticking on the topic of your professional life, because we asked Mark Spector about this yesterday, like the most anticipated game that he's ever covered in his life. And obviously he's an Oilers reporter. So like, I know he's a big J journal list, and you know, you separate your emotion from it. And he just, but like there is, it's a different element to cover the team that you've covered throughout your entire career in a cup final, as opposed to you, you're a Leafs reporter and Leafs aren't there, so your score says national reporter. I mean, where does this rank in the all-time moments or games or cup finals that you've ever covered in your professional life? Yeah, ranked pretty high. Well, the joke is like, you know, my colleagues would be like, oh, here comes Florida Panthers beat reporter Luke Fox. That is rude. Because I've actually covered more Panthers playoff series in the last two years, four, than I have Leafs three. So yeah, it's kind of funny. But, you know, because you do start to get to know other teams when you cover them for a few series and get to know the personalities and the different characters. But as far as where ranks, it's right up there. You know, I think if the Oilers pulled off what proved to be the impossible, it would probably be number one. But the only other game seven of Stanley Cup of covered was Bruins, Blues. And that had a lot of drama. You know, Tara with the broken jaw coming out. And I remember the anthem, just him standing there with the, the guard around his, his jaw. And he couldn't even barely talk in the morning of the game. He had to, you know, write his answers down to one poll reporter. One guy got the interview. And he had to write his answers down because the man couldn't talk as jaw was wired shut. So that was pretty memorable too. But I think the fact that this one involved the Canadian team, the chance to break the curse after 30 years and the drama of the potential of a reverse sweep, I never was walking into an arena thinking, this is the biggest game I've ever gotten to cover. And that's how I felt last night. I think a lot of my colleagues too have been doing this a lot longer than me. We're saying the same thing. That's, that's awesome to hear. You know, we've, we've sat here and talking about all the stuff coming out of it. I do just kind of want to stick on this, you know, we all, we all love the game. We've made our lives, you know, covering sports for sure. But hockey specifically, is that the best thing we have in our sport? Is the celebration there? I mean, like the game itself is, is wonderful. I love it. McDavid is breathtaking. And you have guys who play it a completely different way. That's amazing. But every time I sit there and it does not matter. I mean, Luke, like you've talked to me enough to know that I was probably not thrilled with the Florida Panthers winning the cup. Even me, I sit there and I go, this amazing. And you get the speech you get from Maurice. And you mentioned it, all the families there. I'm not going to sit here and say it's better than, you know, watching Conor McDavid go and through the entire team. But I honestly think that might be one of the things that separates hockey or makes it feel a little different than the other sports and all celebrations are great. But you mentioned that the family's on the ice and I don't know. There's just, there's just something about it, Luke. There is. Well, it's like it's the countdown, right? When the one team has the lead and you hit the whole crowds counting down the last 10 seconds. And then as soon as the buzzer goes, what is the sport? Do you get to fling off so much equipment as you as you flood the ice? And so I'm watching from up top in the press box. And just it's one massive hug and they're banging against the glass. And the fans are banging the glass back at them. And the whole end boards are like wavering back and forth. And to the point where you're like, is it a painted glass going to come off? Like it's just there's a violence to it, but there's a joy to it. And then especially the fact that it happened in Florida, there's so many rats. It just started raining rats. I just love it. You know, it's there's something very raw. And it's also the most physical and grueling sport. And then you throw in the fact that you don't hand the trophy to an owner or something silly like that. We have we have this amazing tradition where you hand it right to the captain. And then everyone's waiting. Who's he going to hand it to next? Who's he going to hand it to next? And it shows you the internal respect that we don't really know from the outside. But they know. And and then each guy gets his moment. They get a little twirl. They get a kiss. And then yeah, it's just it's awesome. It's the best night in in team sports, I think. Yeah, it is. It's great. It's great. It's great. We were robbed though of the moment of economy gave it kissing the consummate trophy, which obviously it's never what happened. We could have had like the the sad face. It's more likely he would have smashed it to smithereens if they were to made him go out there and take it honestly. So you you published your your consummate ballot, which I you you had an official ballot, Luke. I did. So if we want to go, let's go a little inside baseball. Yes. Apparently they had originally had 16 voters after whatever whatever two, three games. And they were like, I think what what they were concerned about is that we might get a co-winners. Yeah. Because it was a two horse race at that point between Mabrowski and Barkov. And I think the you know, the people higher up in the in the writers' association than me said, maybe we should get an odd number of voters. So I was told you're number 17. So I the deciding vote, the deciding vote, the swing vote. You're the mythical swing voter, Luke. Yeah, the mythical swing voter, but so it was my first time actually getting to vote on that award, which there's way fewer voters that get to vote on the consummate slice than the, you know, the heart and all the other trophies. I've done that for I've done that for a while, but I've never gotten the privilege to vote on the consummate. And then lo and behold, you have to submit a vote, no matter what the score is, even if the score is eight one oilers, you got to submit a vote in case the Panthers suddenly score eight goals. So this is the first time in maybe history, because I don't know if they did this back in the 40s, this method. In fact, I believe that this method is only about 20 some years old. So we had four rounds of voting and every ballot of mine, and I think a lot of my colleagues changed every single game because it was that dramatic and then all of a sudden the orders came on. McDavid had his eight points in two games, but Broskie gets chased. And so the power ranking fluctuated a lot within one series. Yeah, that's unreal. So I mean, but your ballot changed between six and seven because it feels like the way McDavid finished with no points in six or seven, that he was the guy no matter what happened in either game six or seven. Like, how did that, how did that manifest in your mind? I think, well, no, I think I had them number one in both, but like the two and three spots were changing a little bit. And you can put it. I mean, you had to submit it to one. So you could put a different ballot, depending on the outcome of the game. Like you could put caveats on it. But he gets, he has 20 more points than Barcoff. You know, I think as far as an individual for the playoffs, he broke a Wayne Gretzky record, most assists in the playoffs. But yeah, I, you know, I don't think anyone should slag him for not coming out. No. It's the most crushing defeat of his career. And I think, I don't know who said it, but someone said, you know what, you could say, hey, he didn't come out to accept the trophy, or you could frame it as, hey, he wanted to stay in the room with his teammates during the most crushing loss that he may have experienced, right? He wanted to stay with the guys. But I, as I was voting him, I'm like, this photo of him accepting a concise would just be awful. He'd be the saddest man to ever win a trophy. Yeah. And yeah, looking at the jaguerre photo, it's like, yeah, he doesn't need that. Like who's, who's other than making fun of J. S. Shaguerre? Like who's using that? Like, he's not hanging that in his home. Although Papa McDavid was ready to take a picture. He's ready. Wasn't that if you saw that, but he was ready to take a picture. Yeah, no, he had his phone out. When they announced it, when they announced it, his dad led out a massive brick flare. Woo. And then he had his phone out. And then he pretty clearly wipes to his wife, McDavid's mother going, he's not coming out. Let's get out of here. That is how it played out. You gotta go find this video. It's everywhere. It's great. Luke, great job as always, buddy. We'll see you again soon. Okay. Bye. Take care again. Yeah, you too. Luke Fox in Sunrise, Florida. Quickly. Yeah, I know. Bucala is there. We just got Sarah Vellie just tweeted out. The cons might ballots all 27 are all 17 of them. One guy have Babrowski first. Ryan S. Clark of ESPN. Yeah, McDavid second and but everybody else McDavid first. Hmm. Interesting. Okay. Let's go to Vegas where the NHL draft is the next thing on our docket coming up a Friday from the sphere. Jason Bucala is currently inside the sphere, I imagine. Sports and hockey analyst. I think he's scaled it. I think he's on top of it. I was like, go on, Jason. You guys are overestimating my athletic prowess at the stage of my life. Not a chance. All right. I want to get your perspective is somebody spent some time in that organization. The Panthers organization, obviously, I imagine you have friends acquaintances who were maybe even hoisting the Stanley Cup yesterday. What was it like to watch that the seconds ticked down in Sunrise yesterday? Really happy for a lot of people that I worked a lot of years with. Obviously, I mean, former Toronto Maple Leaf, Ryan McCabe is, you know, one of them, you know, one of my best friends on the tour down. We've got this. We've been working together for, well, she's 10, 12 years. Obviously, Lou, Roberto Longo, Rob Tiles, the Goldie coach. You don't hear a lot about him, but he's a fantastic human being. You know, just a lot of the office staff, a lot of the back end people that I've worked with, you know, all the trainers, you know, it's exciting. I'm happy for them. You know, it's bittersweet a little bit, obviously, for myself and some of the guys that didn't have an opportunity to see it through. But wow, really, really proud of the organization, really happy for the community. And it's a big deal. It's great. It's funny. You mentioned we don't hear about the Goldie coach. It's because the Goldie's good. That's right. We only we only hear about the Goldie coach when the guy's not not making stops. You know, obviously, a lot to take on a last night's game. We heard your thoughts on the Panthers or I'll just kind of open it up to you. What was your kind of big takeaway? Be it from last night's game. Be it from the series as a whole. The playoff as a whole. What's your kind of first blush thought this morning? Storying first was absolutely the it was the key to the game for the Florida Panthers. So as soon as they were in a position not to chase the game last night and they got back to, you know, grinding it along the wall and, you know, making some plays, listen, Edmonton push back off. We are like really hard. But again, it came down to, you know, Bob Ross, he was swimming around being athletic Bob, but he made some absolutely huge saves. And I feel bad for Skinner a little bit. You know, there's a saying in baseball, you know, the ball will find you sometimes. And off the rush that goal, you know, the second the game winning goal, I think we would all agree he'd like to have that back in terms of any stops that. So it's just that one extra stop, guys. Yeah, how confident are you in saying? And yeah, there's a lot to play out this off season. But how confident are you in saying that they didn't the Edmonton Oilers and specifically Conor McDavid will be back in a position to win a Stanley Cup? Not as confident. They got some some contractual things that they've got to deal with there. There's going to be some change. So I guess it's just going to come down to dollars. They'd be on some bodies coming off the roster, which will open up some money. But listen, when you go on a deep run like this, it holds well similar to Florida last year. It holds well in terms of, you know, the room knows what it takes to get there. And I wouldn't discount it. I just think that it's going to be it's going to be a really heavy lift. This might be the best version. This might have been their best opportunity. And, you know, time will tell that this might have been their best opportunity in the immediate. Yeah, and it's certainly entirely possible that that is that is the case. I can't believe I'm about to out of this sentence. But we had a massive trade an hour before game seven of the Stanley Cup final mark now now a senator. What does that do to, you know, transactions at the draft? That's a pretty big domino to fall. And I guess that kind of part two of that question is why did they announce that an hour before the Cup final? Well, okay, here's here's my take on the on the announcement. So yesterday, flying out of Pearson, day full and you stay offs were on well, we could have had the draft on the plane. Everybody was on it. So, you know, treat treat treat was on it as well. But I think that so we were delayed four and a half bars in Toronto. And then we were stuck on the runway here in Vegas. Like it didn't turn into like a 12 hour travel day. I think the timing just ended up being, you know, the way the business day kind of played out. That's my take on that first of all. Because they were in the air. There's all kinds of moving parts that was the trade call that has to be made in there. See, the second part, it is bizarre, though, an hour before game seven. I mean, you never want it. That's that's unusual. But anyways, the trade itself, though, guys, I'm all in for this. Like the auto senators, the psyche that your pastor be stronger today, knowing that they've been able to go out and acquire what I believe is a bona fide one. Listen, all my stats from two years ago, we're obscene, like 46 and one and Bezna and nine 38, whatever. That's not going to happen again. But I was surprised when I was breaking down some stats after the trade. You know, the senators were in the bottom third of the league and shots on goal against as a team last year. Like this wasn't, you know, of course, the statistics will say they give out some high dangers or whatever else. But I mean, it's a goalies job to make big saves. That's what you get paid for. And, you know, I think that this is a big deal for them and the cost of business was appropriate. Yeah. Yeah. No, it seems like you'd be happy if you were a senators fan after giving up what they gave up to get a guy that's not that far removed from winning of Bezna. All right. Last one before we let you go with the draft on Friday, and we've already seen some moves of consequence here even before yesterday. I mean, how likely is it that we see a lot more moves and, of course, all eyes in this market on potential Mitch Marner trade leading up to and maybe during Friday's draft? Well, I'm not an insider, but I can tell you this, that there's a lot of noise. There's a lot of soft low ground. So I think there's going to be the potential for quite a bit. And I'm not just talking about bodies. I'm talking about picks too. Like I started to see the first round pick go back a bus. And so there's going to be bodies and picks. I feel like this is going to be a real act to build up the July 1st. Obviously, Marner's name is something that's going to be one to keep it on. If that drops, and I saw it because I'm trying to be a homeward from a belief guy, like that'll be a huge, that'll be the biggest name of the week by far. So curious to see where it goes. I think there's lots of noises out there. So my guess right now, this is going to be a pretty active week. So, so stay tuned. Oh, can't wait for it. Yeah. We're right into the offseason hours after the end of one of the best Stanley Cup final series. We can remember Jason. Appreciate you waking up early for us. Thanks, man. And get down from the seers safe. Yeah. Let me let me slide off the side of skier here. Thanks, buddy. See, uh, there's Jason Boogla in Vegas, getting ready for Friday's NHL draft after the award ceremony. So happening in Vegas. How much could they have sold a live audio only stream of that plane? Oh, my God, all the GMs on it. It's like, obviously, they're not just like openly, you know, because I imagine other people are on the flight, but God, like what you'd give to be a fly on the wall in that it's like true living's there and everybody's talking and it's like, it's only human nature. If you do anything, if you have anything in common with someone, you're trapped in a metal tube for hours on end. Yeah, you're going to chat about it. Yeah. So Jason says he's not an insider despite the fact that he knows and has been on the inside and knows many people who are still on the inside. He was also on a plane with all the guys. So when he says like, yeah, there was some chatter and we could be in store for some big things happening Friday into Monday's opening of free agency. That's, I, I give that a lot of credence. Yeah, I don't, I want to be clear. I'm not saying this happened that almost guarantee it didn't. But I like to picture Brad for living, just grabbing the mic and going, all right, I got a Mitch Marner here. What do we got? What do we got? What do we got? One dollar. Hey, one dollar first round pick, two first round picks. Turn on picking a brass pick. What do we got going? What's going to my soul to the Utah, whatever you're called. I, God, I need to live in that world where it's like an airplane version of whatever happened there. I don't mean an airplane like the movie. Yeah. So we just had, I would argue that the best Stanley Cup final series of my lifetime, like in game seven, Bruins and Blues, that was pretty good. And okay, Canucks, Rangers, I was pretty good. And especially the historic stakes of the Rangers having not won a Stanley Cup in as long as they had gone. Yeah, but this one considering the best player in the world that a chance to win is first and the reverse sweep. And it didn't end up happening, but still the first in the franchise of the, in the history of the franchise of Florida Panthers were headed into now the off season. That could be the biggest off season in the history of the NHL. If the Toronto Maple leaves trade away, the former fourth or all homegrown kid who has a full no move, claws in the midst of their window of contention. Yeah, that'd be pretty big. Yeah, I'd say it would certainly trump a lot of other things that if that have happened there, hide say. All right, we'll be back tomorrow with another edition of the fan morning show, then it's Brent Gunning sports at 5.9 in the fan. Good morning.
