2 Guys 1 Cup : A New York Rangers Podcast
A New York Rangers Podcast by 2 die-hard fans Shawn Stein and Jonathan "Roc" Papadimitrios. We aim to bring you insightful guests, information, and offer our opinions on the Rangers.
2 Guys 1 Cup : A New York Rangers Podcast
These rookies are showing they belong in the NHL.
Shawn and Roc dive into the first two Rangers preseason games, analyzing the impressive performances from Gabriel Perrault, Noah Laba, and Matthew Robertson while discussing how the roster is shaping up under new coach Mike Sullivan.
• Perrault showing noticeable improvement with added muscle and willingness to go to dirty areas of the ice
• Robertson making a strong case for the NHL roster despite waiver considerations
• Analyzing the new broadcast team with Dave Maloney replacing Joe Micheletti alongside a new play-by-play announcer
• Discussing potential line combinations with Taylor Raddysh possibly starting on the second line
• Evaluating Connor Sheary's PTO performance and chances of making the roster
• Comparing current young talent to previous Rangers draft classes and development paths
• Examining the NHL's no-tax state advantage and its impact on competitive balance
• Speculating on when roster cuts will happen and which prospects might stick around
The Rangers have three more preseason games before opening night on October 7th, with significant roster decisions still to be made as training camp progresses.
Here comes Corey against Mike Richter, saved by Richter. What a save by Mike Richter, saved by Richter. What a save by Mike Richter. To stop Messier cuts in Still with the puck. Nice pass to Zubov. Zubov, beesley Leak scores. The waiting is over. The New York Rangers are the Stanley Cup champions, and this one will last a lifetime. You're listening to the Two Guys One Cup podcast with your hosts Sean and Rock.
Speaker 2:Good evening everybody. Sean and Rock, two Guys, one Cup. It's the preseason edition, as we are actually playing hockey these days. Yeah, I guess the two game evals are in. Oh, and this is just going to keep playing, isn't it? Let's do that. There we go. New intro music. Didn't know that. It just loops my bad Rock. How's it going, buddy? I'm good, my friend, excited to be with you to get the season going and talk a little rangers hockey and, uh, you know, kind of get going here, start the year, and that is what it's all about. Who's in here? Oh, look at this joining us. Close the latest. Close the latest first, uh, first guest of the uh, the new year, for the most part, right, yeah, so how's it going, buddy? Yeah, so we got two preseason games to talk about. Some interesting things, I think, right, some unexpected things, at least from my end. I don't know. I know you have zero expectations. They're going to go 0-82, maybe a couple of overtime losses in there.
Speaker 2:No remember they don't get to overtime. This is true. This is true. This is true Pretty much.
Speaker 2:What happened last night is what you envision for at least 74 games during the season. I mean, realistically, I would assume that that's not going to happen, but I'm not surprised. I mean, I was laughing because I was behind you. So I'm trying to get my kids to bed and, of course, one of them took a nap like on their way home from school, and so now she's up a little later than the other one, so the other one's asleep, the other one's trying to get the other one to bed, right, and you're texting me all these things. I'm getting tweets, I'm getting notifications and I just want to sit down and watch this damn game. You know, god forbid, I'll be able to watch 15 minutes of the Ranger game instead of watching the Muppet Babies for the 30th time. And I said so. I'm behind you, you're texting me, all these things. We're winning the cup, we're doing this, we're doing that, and I'm like, all right, I'm going to sit down and finally watch this game. Now I'm watching this game. I'm not seeing dominance the way you were, but I'm like, all right, they're playing. Well enough, it's a, it's a crap game. It's sloppy, you know it's a ton of guys aren't going to be playing. So now I have no idea what the score is and I'm getting notification after notification on my phone and I'm trying not to look at my phone Cause I'm trying to, like, let me, watch this game objectively and not know what's going on.
Speaker 2:Well, I get to the third period and the shot total just stopped. 10 minutes left in the third period and the shot total just stopped. Lady, didn't get another shot. I was like four, two, four, three. I said are they going to lose this game? Four, four. I'm sorry we're going to win it in overtime. Two minutes left in overtime, they finally get their next shot. So they didn't get a shot on goal from 10.32 of the third period, didn't get their next shot on goal until two minutes and 30 seconds left in overtime. So they went. How many minutes? Then? 13 minutes, 13 minutes without a shot. And they get the shot on goal and all of a sudden Zdorov goes flying down the other end and he whips one over the shoulder of Boyko and the rest is history. So I just started laughing. I'm like some things just don't change, it's just incredible.
Speaker 2:And I obviously know it's a preseason game so I'm going to preface that, but I just had a chuckle out of it. Attitude reflects leadership, sir. Attitude reflects leadership. And when the I guess most senior tenured Ranger in that game last night decides to mail it in and stand around and let Isamot, isabeth, isaac, but, sean, it's still 4-2. To not get another shot, you're going to pin that on Fox's one Lazy Fair play.
Speaker 1:The rest of the team played Lazy Fair after that.
Speaker 2:You've got guys playing for jobs. That you've got guys playing for jobs. You got guys playing for future contracts. You know uh guys playing for a lot of things. I'm sorry, I don't. It's amazing how one play from your quote-unquote star can flip the game around well then you know that none of those guys deserve to play the nhl. If one play by one guy turns an entire game around. None of them should make the team. Listen, listen, I disagree with you, I'm sorry. Oh, I'm being facetious, I'm being completely facetious.
Speaker 1:I was talking to you in series.
Speaker 2:Because I know you're not the biggest Fox supporter. No, is he Is. Is he being serious here? What it did, was it just Listen, boston had mailed the game in, except for Aizamat, and when? All right, let's just call him. I'm going to call him Aizamat Bagatov for the rest of his life. Now, okay, I'm just going to call him that, I'm going to call him Anisimov, I mean.
Speaker 1:For those who don't know who.
Speaker 2:Aizamat Bagatov is. For those who don't know who Azamat Bagatov is, go watch the Borat movie. Good reference. Yeah, so, azamat, he wasn't mailing it in. That game was completely mailed in by Boston.
Speaker 2:At that point Azamat just takes the puck away from Fox, who stood there flat-footed and, as I've said, couldn't recover because he can't recover. I watched it a few times. It looked like maybe he was expecting, because the guy kind of cut in front of him, so I wasn't sure if he was maybe expecting the guy to take the puck or do something else. Listen, it's a stupid play, a shit play. That shouldn't happen. It's Adam Fox. It's my biggest complaint I ever had with Adam Fox on the power play. He could give me all the power play points in the world that he puts up. The lack of urgency, the lack of skating on the power play from him kills me. That's the way he plays and I get it. I get it. And this was just another example of it and it burned him. And again, I'm not jumping off buildings here. No Preseason game. No Preseason game. No, he was logging 22 minutes in a preseason game which I disagree with.
Speaker 2:I mean you see the lineup they had out there. I mean the Rangers, both teams, both teams did I know, but even still, I mean the Rangers got, I mean how they even got four goals and they scored four goals against Corpus Allo. I mean I didn't like um the third period. If you want to just throw that in the garbage and just nobody. I don't think anyone really played well in the third period, um, so we can just kind of digest what we did, saw what we did like um, you know, I know you you have a lot of uh, you know a lot of thoughts on that. So I'll let you start with that, sure? So I'll just give you the takeaways I have. I've come into this.
Speaker 2:You know, obviously people who listen to the show often I, I was very, and I have the receipts to prove everything that I have said about Brendan Hoffman. Going back to when he was drafted, I was excited when he was drafted because I had seen him play in June in juniors with Don, the Don Mills flyers, my, you know, year and a half, where I quote unquote was scouting players and on the most amateur of levels humanly possible. Never saw these people live. But you know, I watch a lot of amateur hockey during the day and I remember watching when he, the kid was 14 years old, 15 years old, playing for don mills flyers. Um, it's like, oh shit, I remember that guy and so I was. You know, I was pulling for him, yeah.
Speaker 2:But I said I said a thousand times when he was still playing in juniors and scoring you know 50 goals in juniors. I said this thousand times when he was still playing in juniors and scoring you know 50 goals in juniors. I said there's, there's nothing he does that jumps out on the page. He's not particularly fast, he's not particularly big, he doesn't have any you know, an incredible handle, he doesn't have incredible hands, but he has a shot that these goalies at that level can't stop. So I said he's going to be one of two things he's either going to be a 30 goal score in the nhl because his shot is that good, or he's not going to be anything more than a bottom six player because he doesn't, because he doesn't do really much anything else. Right, and so far there's no evidence that his shot is good enough to score at that level in the NHL.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying it can't yet, I'm not writing him off. I'm saying that we haven't seen it. But what I have seen is another guy who I said I tempered my expectations completely. All right, gabriel Perrault, putting up all these numbers in college. I'm like, listen, you know, I won't get fooled again with these amateur numbers and these amateur stats, especially when he played with Ryan Leonard Will Smith. You know he played with two other top 10 picks. I was very excited about the pick. I like when the Rangers swing for the fences when they have a late first round pick, 19th overall or 21st overall. Wherever he was, he was a guy who all the pundits had to go.
Speaker 2:He was in the 20s. He was definitely in the 20s, so 21. I think it was 21.
Speaker 2:I think you're right 21 to 23 was one of those picks. Yeah, something like that. I know what you're getting at. But here was a guy who was supposed to go like 10th. So it's like great To me. I feel like we got the 10th overall pick, even though we took him at 22, 23, whatever it was.
Speaker 2:But again, tamper expectations. Here's another guy undersized, not particularly fast, very good hands and, and you know when, when the scouting report is adam fox. But playing forward I'm like great. Well, I already can't stand adam fox. So here's another guy I'm not gonna be able to stand. Um showed me nothing when he came up in the five games last year and that's fine. I didn't want to get too crazy about it. It's a big jump from college to the NHL. 19 years old, undersized. Listen, I've said all along let him get a year in Hartford, there's no shame in it. Let him learn. What I've seen in the two preseason games has stood out. I didn't expect it. I joked on Twitter a lot.
Speaker 2:I referenced the Marcus Camby off-seasons. For anyone who's lived in this town and followed the 90s Knicks and stuff like that, marcus Camby was an absolute string bean and all you would ever hear from the Knicks beat writers during training camp oh, marcus Camb, be put on 20 pounds of muscle and you'd see him. He'd look exactly the same. He was still. He was still a beanpole. There was no muscle. That man, that man couldn't put on muscle if he tried. So when you hear, oh, you know, gave you a pro put on 10 pounds of muscle in the last three months, four months, yeah, let me see it. You see it. It's noticeable. He's noticeably bigger and he's noticeably faster. He was flying around the ice last night, flying. So here's someone who I thought was going to be slow footed and undersized. He goes to all the dirty. His goals are from the slot. It's not like he's taking shots off the half wall, he's going to the net. He's taking swipes at goalies.
Speaker 2:You know, after the whistle, I am very, very, very impressed. I understand that. That's not, you know, charlie McAvoy that's trying to clear him out of the crease. I'm very aware that they didn't have any of their, you know. You know Hampus Lindholm wasn't there. You know, none of their bigger defensemen were defending him in that game last night.
Speaker 2:But I'm very, very encouraged with what I'm seeing with Perrault. I'm extremely encouraged with what I'm seeing out of Noah Lava to the point where I thought that there was no chance that he was going to play this year. Now there's every chance in the world that he could beat out Parson. Maybe not now, but over the next couple of months. Parson and Schitt's the bed. To me those are the two standouts. There's a lot of people I have liked, but Othman has done nothing bad. There's nothing where it's like, oh shit, this guy doesn't belong. But at the same time, I'm not seeing anything from him that tells me this guy belongs on the roster. Berard has passed him, perot has clearly passed him, lava, in my opinion, has passed him. There's just only so many spots, right. What about?
Speaker 1:you what?
Speaker 2:have you seen? Yeah, I concur with a lot of what you said. I mean, I don't always like to agree with you because it doesn't make for fun talk, but I'm seeing a lot of what you're seeing. I'm seeing a lot of growth from one season. Like you said, I think Perot is taking a step.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he just looks bigger on the ice. I don't know how to explain it. He does look a lot bigger, uh, than he did last year, and you know, that's, that's, maybe that's uh I'm gonna word this uh, when you have a father that's played in the nhl, you have an inside track because you know what you need to do to get to that next level. Right, I mean, there's. Obviously you need to have the talent, but but the training, the nutrition, the skating coaches, the skills coaches, the diet, the chef, all that stuff, you know I'm sure he has all that at his disposal and I'll tell you, he just looks like a different player. Lobo looks great. I want to see these guys against better competition. I want to see these guys against better competition Before I can sit here and say, oh, wow, they're making the team. I need to see all of these guys, every one of them, because we talked about Matthew Robertson.
Speaker 2:We thought he had a great game. I thought Jackson Dorrington had a good game up until I was at the third goal where he left his man open in the slot. Was it the third goal or the fourth goal, it doesn't matter, but I thought he looked good. He looked very confident out there, very poised. Morrow's looked good. I don't think Morrow's making the team, neither do I. I mean Gus I know Costa mentioned about Morrow has the inside track track. Any to me, any guy that is waiver exempt is is right now to me, in my opinion, gonna start the year in Hartford unless an injury happens or he just plays completely out of his mind. Right, I mean just just like. Like when we saw it Matt Gilroy did in his preseason.
Speaker 2:Or what we saw, what Hedl did, or what Brandon Peary did in his preseason. Was it Brandon Peary or was it somebody else? No, it was somebody else. It was somebody else that had a fantastic preseason. We saw what Fedotanko did in his preseason. But I'm just saying from a young guy's perspective, I shouldn't have even brought up an older player. But we'll talk about the PTO guys. I think anybody who's waiver-exempt is going down to Hartford because there's just too many guys, there's just too many guys. There's just too many guys that need to go through that, that need to go through waivers that you don't want to lose and listen, I don't think they want to lose Matthew Robertson. I thought he showed enough that he deserves an opportunity to at least fight for that seventh defenseman spot. So we'll see.
Speaker 2:Well, I agree with that you know how we feel about Soucy Gus and Gus wrote for anyone who's listening. He wrote in the chat do you really want Carson Soucy? No, I don't want Carson Soucy on the team, but he's here. You're stuck with him. He has a modified no trade. He's making $3.25 million Now.
Speaker 2:Granted, if you could trade him before the season starts, but the Rangers aren't doing it because he he waved his no trade clause to come here. The Rangers have had so much bad blood and so much bad publicity on their heads they're not doing it. You're stuck with them. So sink or swim. If he stinks, he's your seventh defenseman, I mean. But he's staying on this team until at least the trade deadline. And I would not be shocked if he's on this team past the trade deadline, especially if they're in a playoff spot. So you're right, at best he could be the seventh defenseman.
Speaker 2:But, as Sean's mentioned and I'm trying to be a little more optimistic and a little more positive and maybe he needs zone-to-zone defense, a man-to-man zone defense opposed to a man-to-man defense. Maybe that'll help, maybe not being in the defunct dysfunction of of a Peter Lobulet coach team. You know, unfortunately I don't want to blame Lobulet, I don't blame the coach for what happened, but obviously he's part of the problem last year, right? So let's see what happens when you're starting is? You played here last year, you got a little taste, you settled in, you got your family settled. Let's start the season and let's see what happens.
Speaker 2:I agree with everything else, you said, yeah, it's listen, morrow's a nice story. He looks like a nice player, I, I, if they were going to go roll and Sean P.
Speaker 2:To be fair, he fills a role. They need a second power play quarterback on that second unit. He does. He feels he feels a need, he does I. I just think they're at the point now where they know it's a veteran team and they're going to play veterans until, unless, until a veteran gets passed. So, in other words, all things being equal, like you said, someone's waiver exempt, they're not getting the benefit of the doubt. All things being equal, they would need to severely outplay somebody. And and and we, we all we, we, you and I both think that kind of Sherry's probably making this team.
Speaker 2:But we've seen this. Everyone says, oh, p make the interruption, and it's very rare and I've heard that said. And the rangers, I can rattle off guys. Dixon ward was a pto, uh, ryan malone, feda tanko, michael hale and ryan malone made the team. These are all guys. Jimmy vc, ben harper, these are all pto guys that earned nhl contracts or contracts with the rangers, correct? So it happens. Yes, point is and this was a point brought up by I don't know if it was Brian Boyle or Larry Brooks in his podcast that a lot of times these guys start off because they're playing for their lives these PTO guys? They're veterans. They start off like a house on fire, ryan.
Speaker 1:Malone.
Speaker 2:Ryan Malone is exactly who I think of.
Speaker 1:He lasted 12 games, 12 games they have they.
Speaker 2:They ramped themselves up so much and then all of a sudden, like we're, we're three weeks into the season and fall back down to earth well, malone's body couldn't do it right that was the problem with him.
Speaker 2:Fortunately for him it didn't work out. But I mean, we'll see. I mean, and then you said I mean these guys could. Then, you know, sherry goes down to Hartford or he retires or whatever, and a young guy comes up and takes his place. I mean, we've seen it, we saw Talbot replace Marty Buren to start you know how many games into the season. So it happens. Listen, I'm going to give so.
Speaker 2:Connor Sherry's had a very solid NHL career and very consistent in his production. Throughout his entire career. He only had one really big season though Big, yes when he scored 50 goals and over 20 goals, 50 points and over 20 goals, right Playing with Crosby, right, but he only scored over 20 goals one time. Again, like I said, consistently productive, oh, you're accepting? Okay, yeah, but as a as a third line guy, as that, as that type of player, 15 goals, 40 points, okay, listen, if he gave us 15 goals, 40 points playing on the third line every night, okay, can I ask you a quick question? Sure is taylor radish really starting the season on the second line?
Speaker 2:no uh, he has been there all all training camp he had not moved. Panarin's been hurt. No, panarin's had a right wing. He's been on the right wing, I mean, I might. Am I the only one that noticed that, I guess and on the right side with trochek and panarin, for the entire preseason so trochek played with Sheery and.
Speaker 1:Radish today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Well, I can see Sheery to me is taking Panarin's spot at this point. Got it At this juncture. So I read it the other way. I read it that Trochek might be groomed for third line role right now. Oh, I don't know, I don't think so. So you think the other way. Okay, Well, would you? Maybe it's going to be the second. Let's say listen, I mean, I don't think he's played in the two games yeah, he made that nice pass to Shiri.
Speaker 2:I think he's had moments. He's had moments. He's bad competition though we need to see a better. I like Parson, me too, but watching him play against this competition and watching Lava play against this competition, to me Lava shows me more. I think they both had flashes. I don't want to say one's played better than the other. That's my personal opinion.
Speaker 1:And I like Lava.
Speaker 2:I thought Lava had a great play with Gabrikov on the three-on-one. I thought that was a very poised play.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah to have that vision to see behind like that, right. But I don't know if you remember this, sean, this was a pre-season game. I might have been offman's first training camp, his first real training camp. He did this, a similar pass to adam fox in a pre game, and I said to myself, wow, what poise this kid has. I need to see this and I usually go to the first preseason game. So again, it's against a lower competition. I want to see guys. I want to see these guys play against good competition. Of course, let me see these guys play when the rosters start getting NHL heavy and then I'll go, then I'll give you my opinion.
Speaker 2:Like we saw at Mancini last year, sean Mancini, who I think is going to have a 15 year career, agreed, I, I, I tell you now we are going to be talking about Victor Victor Mancini 14 years from now saying, wow, up victor victor mancini 14 years from now. Saying, wow, what a great career this guy had. Mancini never dropped off. Now he struggled, maybe in some games nhl games when the season started, maybe against edmonton he struggled, but I guess a lot of teams would struggle against, a lot of defense would struggle, but he was consistently good the entire preseason, right even when the rosters got heavy, he still played a heavy game and you could see like this guy's nh already. This guy's going to be in an nhl player. I want to, because now you got me thinking with this whole radish thing. Well, this is. We talked about this. Yeah, we talked about this, is it Dimitri? Yeah, dimitri, yeah, I wonder how Sullivan handles Adam Fox's shenanigans. That turnover yesterday he's in mid-season form makes me worry, I'm surprised you.
Speaker 2:Just he said he's just joining us. I thought he might have. Somehow did you text him to say that? Yeah, is that your burner account.
Speaker 2:That's my burner. I go by Dimitri on Wednesdays. That makes sense. Getting back to Taylor Radish playing on the second line Listen again, it's almost funny because you make, not make fun, but you mock a little bit in a good way, in a I agree with you type of way. David Quinn set like the blueprint for this roster, right, and the next two coaches just followed it, right. You know the power play was David Quinn's power play. And then Gallant comes in same, laviolette comes in same, no changes. You know it's like Davidid quinn put these lines, these you know pairings together and all right, we're just gonna just run with that. I guess everyone's comfortable, right? If you remember we had trocheck or strome sorry, it was strome panarin and what, like colin blackwell. You know insert. Well, fast was there first, right, it was quickie, then Colin Blackwell.
Speaker 1:Blackwell, another guy, oh, dryden Hunt.
Speaker 2:Kako played there a little bit, yeah, but you kept, they kept playing this bigger, you know, or or physical type of right wing with those two. So you know, radish is a big body, can skate, can score. I mean, the guys scored 20 goals in this league before. So, right, right, do they feel he's a good compliment to trocek and panarin, who aren't really the big? I mean, trocek plays a little bigger than he is, but he's only 5, 10, 5 11, we always said that we felt that those guys needed a bigger body.
Speaker 2:They give panarin some space out there, right, maybe a bigger body player to kind of clear the lane for panarin a little bit.
Speaker 1:I again 632 20, it's pretty big. I get it you know.
Speaker 2:no, I, I concur, I, I don't disagree with you. But yeah, again, now you push it coolly to the third line, which it maybe isn't the worst thing in the world, because it may be, maybe, lengthens the lineup a little bit. Right, because that third line was looking very, very scary, like it was a lot of missing, a lot of like mishmash pieces.
Speaker 2:Well, now you might have a third line that has Cooley Parson in and Connor Sheery. Can Sheery play Now? Cooley's a left wing, can Sheery play the right side? I guess he will. I mean he'll play defense.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say he'll be the emergency goalie, if that's a contract.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, I don't know. I know that that Sullivan has has mentioned very vocally that he is off wing too, though?
Speaker 2:No, I would think so. All these guys, all these guys to get I would think that. So Sullivan says that he he thinks that wing should always play on their, off, on their. I heard that, I did. I did hear him say that. So Shiri is a lefty. So I mean, if that's part of Sullivan's plan, I don't know Again. Just Shiri looked very good Again.
Speaker 2:Not against the best competition necessarily let's see when the lights are on but Shiri was noticeable on every shift in the first preseason game, every shift Right. I was left. I'm like can this guy just fucking hit the net? But he got so many scoring opportunities in that game and that line was good and good score and that line was good and that line was good and like they said, like they said in I don't know if it was in the pre, the post game or during the game or the next game or whatever it was that sherry looked like an nhl player and that's what you want to look like when you're going against this type of competition. You want to look like the best guy on the ice, right.
Speaker 1:And you want to look like you're a.
Speaker 2:He looks like Tyler Mott. Tyler Mott took a PTO. Yeah, we just saw that he's got way more offense than Tyler Mott. Oh, yeah, I think he said he looks like him on the ice. Oh, okay, yeah, I think he said he looks like him on the ice. Oh, okay, yeah, he's a much higher offensive guy. Yep, I question, does Sheery need to play in your top six to be effective? No, he's never played in a top six.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at his minutes?
Speaker 2:No, he's always been a third line guy 13 to 15 minutes a night throughout his whole career. So then that third line. So let's just play devil's advocate for a minute If Mika Miller and Lafreniere play together and Panarin Trocek and say Radish for now, just to make it easy. So the third line would be somewhere of a combination of Cooley, parsonin and either Sheery, offman, perot, one of those other guys, right? So it would be Cooley and Parsonin for now, and then whoever those one of those other four or five guys are. To me I think it's Brzezinski's the 13th forward.
Speaker 2:I don't know that he's making this team. I'll be very honest. I don't know that he is you team. I'll be very honest. I don't know that he is you don't think, even from the center factor. Well, I guess they don't really need him, because then Mika could always move from center right.
Speaker 1:Do they want to?
Speaker 2:do that, but that's the other thing. Are they going to if someone gets hurt, if a center?
Speaker 1:gets hurt, are they going to?
Speaker 2:yo-yo Mika back and forth to center. So I mean I guess they could send Berzinski to Hartford.
Speaker 1:They got Cooley taking draws.
Speaker 2:What's the chance somebody claims him. You saw Cooley taking draws on the power play last night. I did see that and he started three. I think he started, was it three on three? It was him and someone another guy that wasn't a center started the three on three Right, it was him and another guy that wasn't a center started the three-on-three Right. Well, the three-on-four. Yeah, who was the other? Lava was the only guy who played it wasn't Lava.
Speaker 2:Lava played Cooley and somebody else. Who were the other NHL players that played last night? Anybody else? Why am I blanking right now? But it wasn't Lava. Sam Carrick, sam Carr, but it wasn't a lot of sam, uh, sam center. It wasn't the center. Oh, is it perot? Maybe it's cooley and perot, I don't remember. I'll, I'll, I'll go back.
Speaker 2:And I actually deleted that game. I couldn't, I couldn't bear I watch. I did watch the devil game again. I'm not gonna lie to you, I did watch it again. I watched it twice there you go straight through because I wanted to. I kind of like see if I saw things differently, because I watched it. I was kind of tired and a little bit hungover, a little bit buzzed when I watched it. That's why I never understood how you like going. I don't always like drinking when I go to games because I don't remember the game, like I want to remember the game. So I care when I'm at a game. I could care less about the recollection of the game the way that you're referring to to me. It's more about the emotion, I guess, and when I'm drunk, trust me, the emotion on both sides is well I don't know actually this do you go home?
Speaker 2:are you the? Are you the type that will go home and not re? Maybe not re-watch the whole game, but, yeah, I re-watch it because I know that I didn't see everything, but yeah, and it's funny.
Speaker 2:It's funny how there's, when I'm re-watching the game, there's things you miss, there's things that I'm like I know exactly. My brain will go right back to exactly what I saw from my vantage point when I see, especially like a neutral zone play like a puck that gets tipped or tipped into the, like weird shit, not just like a goal, you know, yeah, just weird. Sounds that I remember hearing during the game and shit like it's just I had, I I like doing it I don't.
Speaker 2:I agree with you. I, because I I've done that on occasion myself, but it was a few times that I remember. I came home one time and I, my wife, she goes you're watching the game, weren't you just there? She goes you're watching the game, weren't you just there? Did you go? You're watching the game. Again I said, well, I missed something. I want to go back. She goes you need help. You need help. I've also been on TV like three times, so you know, trying to see. That's what happens when you sit in the expensive seats. The other thing I wanted to ask you about when you sit in the expensive seats, the what did you? The other thing I wanted to ask you about again, I know it was time for Sam, for Sam and Joe to go, but it was very strange, very weird I'm not going to lie to you Not hearing Sam Rosen's voice to start the game.
Speaker 1:It wasn't weird not hearing Sam Rosen's voice to start the game.
Speaker 2:It wasn't weird. It was very strange to me, sean, because he is the only voice that I know and we both know, to be fair, yeah, and our generation, we were not around Jim Gordon. We were too young for Jim Gordon when the, the, the theme music came on and it went blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is New York Rangers hockey. I'm brought to you by buh buh buh. I'm like Payne Weber. Oh my God. I was like it's really, it's real. It finally hit me that it was real. Dave Maloney needs to use his vocabulary, because he used the word dovetail twice within the first 30 seconds of his conversation on the on the. I was like all right, you need to use different adjectives here. Pal yeah. First off, I listened to a lot of games on radio when I'm going to, when I'm going to play hockey, so the familiarity was there. It was like I was almost listening to the radio broadcast while watching the game, which was cool. I used to listen to it more when I was coming home from work.
Speaker 2:I would hear it more, which I've done. Where I'm driving a hockey, I'll put the game on my phone and put it on my dashboard, but I'll have the audio on from Sirius because it comes in a lot clearer. That's safe. None of it's safe. But I mean when you drive a thousand miles a week. No cops are listening right, no, and if you are hooked me up with a PBA card.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, so to me it still had a lot of familiarity. To me it wasn't. It wasn't weird to me. I've also been so anxious to get to this now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as much as I love Sam, three like it's been three, four years where it's kind of been time yeah, but you never wanted to push the guy out. He's a legend, we all love him. He left on his own terms, which is great. He never totally fell off. It just got a little weird for a couple years where he couldn't see.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, the game, I think, got a little fast and it was a little hard for him to keep up. It's funny, his last year was was much better than it was probably the three years previous. But just getting Joe Micheletti out of the booth and having an actual ranger in there, it makes it all so worth it for me. Right, and he was telling stories about his playing career. He talked about playing the one game with Jockaman, his only training camp with Jockaman. And again he's he's older than us, I mean he's. He's telling us stuff from the 70s where we probably prefer if he I mean he played a little bit in the 80s.
Speaker 2:But say don maloney played for play, I was the color guy for for the rangers. He could talk about the 80s runs. He could talk about james patrick hit on la fontaine and you know, in the 90, you know the 90 playoffs, and right, you know. He could talk about James Patrick hit on LaFontaine in the 90 playoffs. He could talk about stuff that we could somewhat recollect, where he's talking about things that happened before we were born. It's still more interesting than hearing about how Matt Gilroy lost three pounds in the offseason. Or this game has great pace for the 150th frigging time.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So it is nice to kind of hear stories about a guy that actually played for the frigging team, right, and hopefully they follow suit, cause I was in Maloney when he took the job and and you know he gets the promotion. I guess like, if we want to call it a promotion he was blunt about it, he goes or promotion, um, he was blunt about, he goes. Listen, you know I'm 70, I don't. You know, this is not necessarily a long-term thing. You know, he was pretty, pretty upfront about that. I mean, I don't think he's gonna have a 10-year run, I don't think he's gonna be 80 still doing games. No, I I wonder if I wonder if they're gonna start grooming somebody? I think they will.
Speaker 2:Now, these two new guys on the radio, which, mike silvers, we really need to. He's not here tonight, right, he's the one that. Because I said who the hell are these guys? Dave Starman, and he told me to give these guys a chance, that they're good, which is fine. Well, faust, I know Faust did games last year, but neither of them have any type of connection to the Rangers, right?
Speaker 1:No play-by-play guys rarely do.
Speaker 2:Neither of them played for the Rangers or were an executive with the Rangers or any type of a scout, an equipment manager, anything Well, play-by-play guys rarely do. They're right out of broadcasting school. Well, I'm not talking about play-by-play guys. I'm talking about the color guy.
Speaker 1:That's what I care more about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but Faust is the play-by-play guy and he did games last year for the rangers when kenny was starman. Starman is the color guy, yes, and I think he's just a career color guy I don't know really much about his background.
Speaker 1:I right, I mike if you're listening.
Speaker 2:I'm doing this I, I don't want to. No, no disrespect to Mike. He's in that world. Well, that's why I asked him. I said, do you know the guy? But why do we not have a? Why can they not Just let Stemkowski or an ex-player be the color guy On radio? Does Stemmer want to commute every single night?
Speaker 1:I know I guess he's 80.
Speaker 2:We have been fortunate between Sal Messina and we had Brian Mullen briefly. I know he wasn't that great, but we had former players in that spot or former guys affiliated with the franchise. You got a guy. That's not who I mean. What is he? I don't know? Maybe I have to reserve judgment until I hear him. I'll give it a chance. It to reserve judgment until I hear him? I just I'll give it a chance. It was just funny to me with Mike and Mike, if you listen, I'm like He'll get back to us. I was not joking with you, but seriously curious because I know that you. So for those who don't know Mike Silvers a lot of you do, but those who don't he actually broadcasts high-level high school football in Texas and high school football is like the professionals, it's literally like it's like varsity blues.
Speaker 2:I mean I've seen he posts pictures all the time of the stadium and again stadium for high school that he's broadcasting from. So I legitimately was asking him do you know the guy? Because I've never heard anyone else. I don't see anyone else like championing Starman, and I love listen. I love the name. I get to sit there and sing David Bowie in my head every single time.
Speaker 2:I hear his name. I'm good with it. I've heard of him before. I don't know why I've heard of him. I don't know where he worked beforehand, but I do. I did know the name. Like when they announced that he was going to be the guy. I'm like all right, I thought he was a play-by-play guy for some reason, um, but I don't think he is, I don't think he was, but whatever, again, I'm going to hear him plenty because I listen to the radio plenty when I'm on my way to hockey you'll have to give a better opinion for him, because the chances of me being in the in the car for at that time of night for him is very remote nowadays.
Speaker 2:So, uh, you'll have to give me a uh, yeah, a better uh also nothing I'll lose.
Speaker 2:I won't lose sleep over a radio broadcast the tv no, no is the main the only reason I'm saying that is if dave maloney obviously he's not a young guy and I I guess I mean micheletti's always, always looked to me but I guess he took this job when he was in his 50s, which is crazy to think that.
Speaker 2:You know, because we're kind of heading in that direction and I don't think of myself in that realm. But you know, you got to think that at some point they have to be grooming somebody to take his spot and what MSG likes to do is they like to rotate these guys. You know, like like Micheletti was doing the Islanders right before he came into the Rangers, you know, and, and you know Steve Cangellosi and it kind of like move guys around like willy, nilly, right, and I just don't want to get stuck with another Joe Micheletti type guy who is not affiliated with the franchise, that never played for the team Like it is. I know I keep saying this and I know I keep saying I'm a broken record, but 20 years the guy was here and he never played for the team. I mean, what other New York?
Speaker 1:team has never had that here.
Speaker 2:I think he was. Just. He was a well. Tim McCarver never played for the Mets and he wound up being a Mets color guy for a long time for the Mets and he wound up being a Mets color guy for a long time.
Speaker 1:And great at it.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's right. He never did play for the Mets.
Speaker 1:No, he was a St Louis guy, I forgot he was a Mets.
Speaker 2:Another St Louis guy, another Midwest St Louis guy. Yeah, that's crazy to think. Did Ralph Kiner play for the Mets Pirates? Yeah, so there you go. There's two Ralph Kiner retired before. Yeah, that's true. Wow, that's a great point. I don't know. I just I don't know. I just wasn't a fan of that. No, neither was I to be fair, you and I were spoiled from JD. Yes, that's the other part of it.
Speaker 1:I think it was just.
Speaker 2:I think they left it up to Sam and Sam, I think, liked working with Micheletti. His professionalism he was good listen. For all the shit that I could sling at Micheletti for the fact that he kept his retirement a secret the entire year, took zero bows for it. Let Sam have the spotlight completely yeah that showed a lot of class. That showed so much class. That showed a lot of class. My opinion of him as a human is a lot higher than my opinion of him as a rangers color guy.
Speaker 2:100 if I ever met him, I'd take his hand and respect 100 and say you're an awful color guy for the rangers, but I wouldn't know. I completely 100 agree with you. I mean he was. That was a very and I joked about. I joked with Jim Schmiedeberg about this because he said this early in the season. I think this might be Micheletti's last season. I think Joe's going to, and he said it multiple times because Joe was being really critical of the team, really critical like ridiculously critical, really critical of the team, really critical, like ridiculously critical. I'm very curious to see how critical if dave maloney stays as critical of this team now that he's on the tv side. He has no filter, so I don't think that he'd be able to hold back.
Speaker 2:True, that wasn't happy about that penalty that they call exactly. But that's the thing. It's pure emotion. When he does this, he bleeds this and that's what I love and he bleeds being a ranger.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying. That's what you want. All right, both good and bad. I want the color guy to feel the same thing. I'm feeling again. You, you tell the story a thousand times on this show. You and Brian, or whoever you would go to games with, would run to the parking garage to hear the postgame, because you want to hear torts, you want to hear whatever vitriol you're feeling One time after one game that we delayed going through the Midtown Tunnel.
Speaker 2:You would lose the signal, right, so we can't miss this. We Tunnel, you would lose the signal, right, so we can't miss this. We can't miss this. Let's wait. Yeah, let's wait. But I was the same way with the Mets, where you know I'd be walking out of a Met game and I couldn't wait to get to my car to hear Howie Rose do the Mets postgame show on the radio. He was another hard on your sleeve type of guy, right, but but that that mattered to me, that it truly, truly mattered to me.
Speaker 2:So you know here's a guy right. You know here's a guy that you're gonna get that old game like we got from jd. You know when we were listening, you know when jd did games you you got an honest, an honest assessment and you got. You know you got some heart and soul in there too, right, if he was pissed he was, he let you know, he let you know right. And when you know when a big goal would happen or a great play, you know it's, it just comes out and it was natural. It wasn't forced.
Speaker 2:Joe joe is a very, very good national broadcaster, very professional, very insightful, like Joe. You know Micheletti knew his shit. No one ever doubted him on that. But you can't manufacture being a Ranger. You can't manufacture that. You know being part of that fabric and I guess you know 20 years in the booth he's going to be a part of the fabric and I guess 20 years in the booth he's going to be a part of the team's history, because 20 years is still 20 years. You give him his due. But I never enjoyed the broadcast with him, ever, no, zero.
Speaker 1:Zero and I'm so excited for the broadcast.
Speaker 2:And Sean. To be be fair, like we said, we were spoiled because we had sam and jd for 20 years, right? So how, how could you possibly I mean I don't really know who they could have brought in that could have matched that chemistry, the chemistry between?
Speaker 1:those two guys special unprecedented yes and and.
Speaker 2:And I don't even think as great as I think kenny albert and dave maloney are, I don't even think they're gonna ever match that?
Speaker 1:no, I think we are we are spoiled for.
Speaker 2:We're gonna be spoiled for the rest of our lives and we just have to accept that. They're not. They're not those two guys right, and I think that's gonna be. That's gonna be. I hate to keep bringing it back to baseball, but as a Met fan, with Gary, keith and Ron in the booth, you're not going to get that again. They're the best. They're the best at what they do. Well, they're still not that old, they're 70. Keith's about to turn 70. I think Gary's 70. Gary Cohn was originally the radio guy, right? Yes, yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah, howie was. It's funny Howie was. Is Howie still doing games On radio? On radio? Yeah, wow, so Howie was supposed to be have Gary's job on SNY. When SNY started, it was supposed to be Howie Rose SNY. When SNY started, it was supposed to be Howie Rose, but he would have had to have left the Islanders job.
Speaker 1:He would have left the.
Speaker 2:Islanders job anyway, right, oh, years later, a decade later, he left the Islanders job More than that. That's so funny. I always wonder how these guys Howie Rose, I believe, is a Ranger fan.
Speaker 1:He is 100%.
Speaker 2:You're actually having to do. Don mcgrick is a devil fan like he's now, and it was weird actually seeing him.
Speaker 1:So happy for him. How happy are you? Very happy for him yeah, that's that.
Speaker 2:He deserves that. That's a dream job. What I was surprised was I guess they planned. I guess they planned all this to have him do this, because I said, well, why didn't he just get the play-by-play guy job, full-time play-by-play job on the radio? Because I loved hearing him on the radio when coming home and doing the post-game wrap-up and everything else. It was great hearing him. That's really the only time I probably heard. You know, radio was either going coming or coming to the game, right, but I guess they all had the plan. I guess this was the plan for him to move into the Devils. I guess Cangelo see he's gone. Yeah, did he get fired or did he retire?
Speaker 2:He was still a young guy no idea what the Devils do. I just know that their radio is awful. Who's doing their radio? Sherry Ross, is she still doing it? I have no fucking idea, but when I turn on FAN and have to listen to, sherry ross was a beat writer that became a play-by-player color.
Speaker 1:I was like when did that happen?
Speaker 2:oh, it's not, uh, matt lachlan, isn't it matt lachlan? Matt lachlan? I think it's sherry ross, I think it's the two of them. Okay, he's, he's so unlistenable it's awful anyway. Enough. Enough about that, um. But yes, I am ecstatic with the new broadcast. I was very happy with it. It sounded I. I still felt at home. It didn't feel like, uh, you know something that was weird or, you know, uneasy. I, I love it, can't wait, can't wait for no one.
Speaker 2:Once the game started and just to preface this, once the game started started, I was good, but it was strange to not hear Sam for a new season to begin and to not hear Sam Rosen in the open. That was my point, makes sense. So what else has stood out to you in this preseason? What else have you seen that's caught your eye? Has there been anyone that's caught your eye? Not necessarily goal scoring, but maybe just pace of play.
Speaker 2:What did you think of the goalie? What did you think of Boyko? Well, he gave up three. I mean, I thought he was under siege. Yeah, I mean, the guy gave up three goals. But I mean I believe, if I'm right, boston only had 16 shots going into the third period, something like that. They finished the game with 39. So I mean, I thought he made, I thought he made some decent saves, some key saves. You know, I mean I didn't think he was awful, I didn't think he was great, right't think he was great, right. You know, anything is better than than adam huska in that game against colorado. Oh, my god, I was at that game, by the way, poor guy I don't mean, I was, I, I I'm gonna go around.
Speaker 2:I was only at the only game adam huska ever played the nhl. I was at that game. That's funny. That's like my claim to fame that I was at the uh, the preseason game, that uh, that Olaf Lindbaum played in for us. Oh my God, was that against the Devils? I don't remember who it was against, I just know that I was like holy shit, I actually get to see Olaf Lindbaum play hockey in a Ranger uniform. I got to. And speaking of that, I was at Wade Redden's first preseason game in the NHL with the Islanders at the Coliseum. Oh wow. So I used to go to all the preseason games because they were cheap. So my dad would like, yeah, still need $15. No, but back then they were like $15. You know they were dirt cheap. $20. Maybe you can still get Islander tickets for those prices. They might have been less than that.
Speaker 2:The only thing that's changed with the Islanders is the beers. I also remember back then there was the freaking Ticketmaster. They were tickets with $10, but then the Ticketmaster fees and all the other nonsense. So I went to my local video store and buy them, but uh what?
Speaker 1:Cheapos do tickets.
Speaker 2:No, Mr Cheapo never did tickets. No, he never did tickets. He never did tickets. No, he never did them. Where was?
Speaker 1:the spot by you.
Speaker 2:There was a video store on Hillside. Yeah, so I used to steal porn from. You know which one I'm talking about? I don't know exactly which one you're talking about, not the one at the Grand Union Shopping Center. No, no, no, right on Hillside, right on right on hillside, right on hillside. How do you know about that? Cause my buddies were from East Williston. Okay, yeah, so that that one, and they used to. They used to go in there. I remember, I remember I bought tickets for the Rangers against San Jose sharks. Pat Falloon was playing and, uh, my friend of mine had a Pat Falloon Jersey and he wanted to go see the for the Sharks. So we went around the corner from the house and we bought the tickets there. That's how I know, mr Cheapos. I know we used to go to Mr.
Speaker 1:Cheapos.
Speaker 2:Mr Cheapos wasn't near that spot Get fish bootlegs and the video store. They're still there, mr Cheapos, they're hanging on. Good for them, the records would help them. They're not selling CDs anymore or tapes. But not selling cds anymore or tapes, but, uh, they're still selling the record. That was the place to go like for all the imports. You know, like the pearl jam import cds.
Speaker 2:I have a beetle cd live from paris, say, yeah, so I still have that one. I have a few, a few of them, but uh, yeah, that's a good spot. I've been in there in years. I think I had like 80 fish concerts on tape that I've gotten from, uh, from cheapos. Oh yeah, they had all the, all the old stuff, all the old beetle cassette tapes that were discontinued and, um, the ones you used to. I remember I used to go into Kmart, used to be in the, in the, in the little, the, the slots and all different like collections and stuff. He had them all stuff. He had them all. It was incredible Back then when CDs first came out, those tapes, if you had those you could sell them and you could actually make back then like 10, 15 bucks a tape Because you couldn't find them anymore.
Speaker 1:They were all discontinued Now.
Speaker 2:Forget it Now. They're not worth anything. They're VHS tapes. Nothing's worth shit anymore.
Speaker 2:But no, as far as you asked me about if anyone else has stood out to me, like I said, I don't everyone that you've mentioned is who I want to say that stood out, and the guys that haven't stood out are the guys I mean. Obviously we said Hoffman, I didn't think Berard had an overly great game. He had that one nice open ice hit last night which I thought was good. He had five hits. Well, the one I remember in the first period is the one I'm thinking of. I thought Schuster and Robertson had a good game. Oh, that's who I wanted to talk about, schuster.
Speaker 2:I don't think he makes the team. I do. I don't think he makes a team because I don't think they're gonna let robertson go through waivers sean, I don't. I just don't think I, I, I would be shocked unless robertson completely takes a complete nosedive in the next three preseason games. I can't see a 25 year old-old defenseman, 6'3", 6'4" defenseman, going through 24-year-olds or whatever. So why haven't they tried to trade him then? I don't know, maybe so he's signed for this year and next year. He's signed for this year and next year at a low AV. Yeah, now again, you have to find a team that needs a defenseman that's going to keep him on the NHL roster, like they did with Ty Emberson when they lost him. And now look at him, he's a middle-pairing defenseman.
Speaker 2:Ty Emberson you remember what year he was claimed? Was it two years ago? It wasn't last year, it was the year before. Right, yeah, definitely the year before. Yeah, I would love to know. I'm trying to think of the defensemen that were here that that they kept zach jones. Maybe they may be in retrospect then. Maybe that wasn't the best decision. Yeah, and darren radish. Darren radish has turned into taylor's brother, has turned into a solid nhl defenseman.
Speaker 2:Another guy we just let go for nothing. Well, darren? Well, that's the thing too. Sometimes these defensemen take time. You can only have so many guys. Sometimes you don't know who to get rid of. Two years ago they kept Zach Jones. I guess you never know, you never know, but it seems like they're getting away from that below six-foot defenseman. But two years ago they still weren't doing that. No, maybe they would have at this point.
Speaker 2:Emerson's on the Sharks now, or is he still on Edmonton? Edmonton, I think, unless he signed this offseason? I know he was definitely. I thought he was with one of those teams it was the Sharks or with Edmonton. I think he's with Edmonton because I remember them talking about him and Chris Knobloch connection. So what did we get? Did we just let Radish go? Yeah, I think he was a free agent. Yeah, signed as a free agent with Tampa. They got Darren Radish. Was he in the Peter Holland trade, darren Radish? He was probably a minor league trade. Yeah, peter Holland Jesus Christ, you're fucking recalling something Traded for Peter Holland February of 2019. But I mean Radish's. Last year with Hartford, he had 15 points in 24 games. Did he play any games for the Rangers? No, he played none. Zero NHL debut with Tampa. And how?
Speaker 1:many.
Speaker 2:And how old was he and what year was that? Because he's probably close to he has to be in his 30s now. No, he's 29. Wow, so when the Rangers got him, so he was 24 when he left us. Really, yeah, so we let a 24-year-old defenseman go that turned into.
Speaker 2:That's my point, sean. You just don't know. Yeah, I mean and again, we talked about this probably a million times in the show Anton Stroman went through two franchises, went through a PTO, a failed PTO with the Devils, signed with the Rangers and boom, his career blew up. He became a millionaire. This guy I mean Radish last year only played 17 minutes a night.
Speaker 2:So he's playing pretty much like the third pair. Is he in Chicago? No, tampa. Oh, he's in Tampa still. He's only played for Tampa. So did he win cups with them, is he?
Speaker 1:on the roster.
Speaker 2:I don't think he has a cup. I don't think he was on those teams, right? No, brewster was on at least one of those teams. Jan Ruda was on that team. Tried to get the defenseman Chernak I forget Chernak McDonough, schuster. Ruda Shattenkirk was on one of those teams. Girardi no, girardi was not on the championship teams. He didn't win a cup at all with them. No, he didn't win a cup with them at all. I'm missing somebody, but he had 37 points last year. Unbelievable, a third pairing defenseman with 37 points. You just never know these guys blossom. And 33 the year before playing in a second line, a second pair. He played 19 minutes a night. That's incredible good for him. Yeah, no, it is I mean the rangers have had.
Speaker 2:The rangers have had that history in some case, in some cases of letting guys walk. I mean, I know ryan graves hasn't had the greatest. He gets a bad reputation, but he's still an nhl defenseman. You still got nothing, but he's still an NHL defenseman. You still got nothing for him. He's an NHL defenseman in some capacity. And you got Chris Begris for him. You let Marcio walk. They have had those moments of guys that have just walked for nothing and went into other places and blossomed, and it's more so the other way than for us. Right?
Speaker 1:Emerson had 76 games last year.
Speaker 2:Because he's probably the one guy that you could sit here and say, wow, this guy, the Rangers picked off the scrap heap and blossomed into a stud. Well, if you consider him a stud defenseman, but a serviceable NHL defenseman for another 10 years, something like that. I mean he played for Tampa, he played for Florida. It's funny, he played for both of those teams. I don't think he won a cup, but it's funny because it goes back to where you normally go the other way, where it's you know why can't they trade these guys before they're not worth anything?
Speaker 1:And here there's two guys they gave up on.
Speaker 2:But, sean, that's my point is, those are so few and far between. There's not that many guys, and a lot of times it's usually the defense, the defensemen's that that go off the and blossom into, into better players, right? Um, I mean, like I said I I've said this a thousand times well, glenn, say their love him or hate him, never traded away a stud prospect, a stud player?
Speaker 1:no, he knows he knew what they looked like.
Speaker 2:That's prospecting. The worst trade he ever made was probably what, uh, uh. What's his name? Uh, the, the finish, the finish, kid for uh, for ever leasing. Why am I blanking on his name? Who was?
Speaker 1:the finish.
Speaker 2:Not. Who was the finish guy? He didn't make that trade. That was a Gordon trade. Oh, what was the Finnish kid they drafted the same year. They drafted Montoya To Corpito, laurie Korbikoski, korbikoski. He wound up having a decent career, not great.
Speaker 2:Leeson played one year and he was gone, right. And maybe, if you want to get get critical, trading away tootin for nick jared f, because tootin went on to have, you know, a 10-year career and jared was here for one year. But remember they also unloaded christian backman's contract in that deal. So that was really the one. They have what? For one more year? But you have to be savvy and you have to have balls. You have to. You have to say to yourself this one might hurt.
Speaker 2:Now gordon hit a home run with the zabinijad trade and. But he hit an absolute dud with the mcdonough trade. But he swung for the fences. You know they were very high on libor. He trusted the scouting system. They, they fucked up, they failed and guess what? They were all gone within what? The next three, four years. And don't think that had anything to, don't think that they had something to do with it, because that is a huge miss. They had to have him. That they included freaking JT Miller in that trade and McDonough's still playing, and still playing at a better level than Trouba, who they replaced him with. What did you think of Rubrik? Loved him. That's a good one, sean. I like him. Just another, I like him.
Speaker 1:It's just funny how everyone's I like him a lot Everyone's talking about how we have no depth.
Speaker 2:I've liked him for a year. Well, let's see if these guys translate into NHL players. This group of players remind me very similar of the guys that we got coming out of the lockout.
Speaker 1:Dubinsky.
Speaker 2:Callahan, anisimov, all of those guys, I think they're all going to play in the NHL in some capacity. The question is, at what level? None of those guys were superstars. They were good players, but none of them were stars, hopefully one of those guys.
Speaker 1:Can we get a brand new point?
Speaker 2:Can we get a find a fucking forward. But once it turns into a superstar, one guy in the later rounds, yeah would you?
Speaker 2:say if you think and you're pretty good with the drafts in the entire in the last 40 years what was the? Who was the best player drafted by the rangers not in the first round? Forward, forward, forward, forward. Who do you think? If you were to say Stefan, I was going to say probably Stefan or Dubinsky, one of the two. I mean, I don't know if you want to go back to Doug Waite, but if you want to say, within the last, I'm going post-lockout, post-lockout.
Speaker 2:I'm saying they have not drafted a guy in. I yeah, I'm saying they have not drafted a guy in. In, in Pat, I mean Crider's what he was I mean they've drafted old Bushnevich.
Speaker 2:Probably Bushnevich might be the best one he might be. That's a good one. He might turn out to be the best player, the best forward, the range that drafted not in the first round, maybe in their history Ironically right up there in that conversation. We'll see what happens with the rest of his career, but duclair and they were in the same round of the same draft. That's incredible. That turned out to be a very good draft for that. I think ryan graves was in that draft too, right, but they traded yeah, they traded the first round pick to get nash and they get a third round pick back and that's fujinevich. They would do doing really well drafting in those later rounds. You added Quickie was a late-round pick. They found guys Hagelin Hagelin was a fifth-round pick Shishirkin. That turned out to be a very good draft. I forgot what draft?
Speaker 2:2014.
Speaker 1:Was it 2014 draft.
Speaker 2:Shishirkin was definitely 2014. I'll tell you this La Preniere draft if you look at that draft, that might go down as one of the best drafts in the ranger history. Yeah, him and cooley cooley schneider. Uh, rempe I in that draft. So shisterkin was not. Was not that same draft 16, wasn't he? No, shisterkin was 14, so that he was the? Uh, brendan halvers, keegan Iverson, ryan Mantha Isn't that crazy to think that they've drafted a goalie higher than him.
Speaker 2:Brendan Halverson's still playing somewhere. Yeah, where did they see he's still playing? Well, he played two games for Tampa. He finally made the NHL last year. That's incredible. Bushnevich was. So the Rangers had three third-round picks. They took Adam tambolini with the first one. Yeah, and it's actually that's the other thing. They miss on the first guy. And again, that's very reminiscent of what they did the, the draft, the draft coming out, the lockout with all. There were all those second round picks. They had sean, yeah, coming out. Uh, what was it? The um, what draft was that? I'm gonna blank in the 0-4 draft, the Montoya draft 0-4. Yeah, so they drafted Montoya.
Speaker 2:They drafted Korpikoski, yep keep going and like I said, they drafted the guy Darren Oliver, they drafted Bruce Graham, they drafted Dane Byers and then they drafted Dubinsky Correct. Then they drafted another guy and then they drafted Callahan. So all those guys, they drafted two guys in the third round before Callahan in the fourth. Well, they did. It was two guys. Billy Ryan was one of them. Yep, and if you get this name, I swear to God, I just log off. Hold on, let me think for a minute. It wasn't Kozak Rich Kozak, was it. Was he in that draft? No, no, they got him in. I'm sorry, that's wrong. They got him in the Malakoff trade. He was a prospect, was he Tom.
Speaker 2:Maggio. No, oh God, let me think here for a minute. I used to know that draft inside and out. I mean, you just rattled off the second round in order, which is Dane Byers and Bruce Bruce Gramian mixed up, but otherwise you were dead on. I know, billy, it was Billy Ryan. Billy Ryan was after this guy, so he was after this guy. Billy Ryan went 80th, this guy went 73rd. God give me, you're never going to get it. Is it a European?
Speaker 1:guy. Yes, Czech A Czech guy.
Speaker 2:Yep, I'll, god give me, give me. You're never gonna get it is, it is. That is the european guy. Yes, check a czech guy. Yep, I'll give you that. Clearly never played in the nhl, obviously, no, who was it? Sedanik behensky? No see, I don't remember his name. Yeah, I, maybe if I saw it like written out, I might remember it jed Jednik Behenski. Whatever, I didn't even see it. I said all right, that's how, but you got everyone else, which is fucking nuts. Bruce Graham.
Speaker 1:Dane Byers played a little bit.
Speaker 2:He played a little bit for the Rangers. Bruce Graham was a center. I think he played in Hartford a little bit. He was big. Yeah, darren Oliver never played in Hartford a little bit, he was big. Darren Oliver never played in Hartford. I don't think he even played in Hartford, but it's crazy when I'm looking at the 2013 draft and it's Tambolini never played. Bucinavich 593 games. Duclair 607 games. Ryan Graves 433. Those are substantial. Those are guys who are getting what's it called Pensions. These are pension players that you drafted in the third and fourth round. That is an accomplishment. But the draft, of course, the guy with the so in Ranger history, minimum one game played. Who has the greatest goaltending numbers as far as goals against and save percentage in franchise history? Mackenzie Skapski, six-round pick Because he shut out Buffalo twice. Buffalo twice. He gave up one goal. Oh, that's right. Right, one of the games he gave up one goal, that's when hank got hurt and talbot. That was in 15 when talbot was playing all those games, yeah, could you?
Speaker 2:could you imagine that? I mean think about that sean. You played two nhl games shut out shut out one, one goal and the other and never play again. The man has 0.50 goals against him.
Speaker 1:That is kind of remarkable.
Speaker 2:And a 978 goals against that? Yeah, it's incredible. He can't be more than 30. He's 31 years old. Wow, did he have injuries? I have no idea. We couldn't play Buffalo enough times to keep him around. Remember El Vino calling the Buffalo killer? Yeah, that was like Chad Johnson. He was very good too against Buffalo. So Mackenzie Skapski I was looking at his hockey DB. Yeah, that's a good one. He hasn't played since COVID. Who Skapski? Yeah, where was his last stop? So he went. He was still with Hartford the next year, had a 305 goals against 902 save percentage for Hartford and then was sent down to the Coast League Wow, and didn't do much better. Hartford again the next season with a 473 goals against. But, in fairness, those Hartford teams were awful. They were so bad, they were bad. And then he went back to the Coast League, to Greenville for us and then the Orlando Solar Bears, which you know once you go Solar Bears, you really never come back from that.
Speaker 2:So, Sean, I want to just read this off to you really fast. So he's a coach. He's a coach in the ahl. He's a goalie coach for the calgary wranglers in the ahl. Okay, so that's, that's where mckenzie scaps. Well, jeff, jeff nalkin, who's who played in harford's there is the range of goalie coach. Now, right, that's crazy to think that. So the 2020 draft to me'Donnell is one of the best drafts of all time for the Rangers as far as talent.
Speaker 1:So they got.
Speaker 2:Lafreniere, schneider, cooley, dylan, garand, who still has a chance to possibly be the Ranger backup next year Berard and Rempe that's a lot of NFL talent. To think about all those guys all playing, possibly playing. I mean four of them, five of them already played in the NHL Right, and you get Garand in there, garand will play in the NHL.
Speaker 2:That is a home run of a draft. I mean that is. I mean you don't see that? Nope, and the draft before which was the Kako draft. They're going to wind up and Kako, obviously Kako Robertson, zach Jones and Edstrom all play to the NHL. Four guys.
Speaker 2:You've given up on your boy, hunter Skinner. I knew you were going to bring him up. I liked him, you did. That just goes to show you about preseason you never know. All right, it's true, I always say this. I always temper my enthusiasm with preseason. I'm going to tell you this.
Speaker 2:I think I told this story. I was at a game, preseason game, and Gilbert Fontaine remember him. I remember him had a great preseason game. Is there a better hockey name than that? No, fantastic name. He looked amazing on the ice. I was like, wow, this guy looks great out there and never saw the light of day, never saw the light of day. I just he looked so good out there against, you know, average to below average players, you know. And then never sniffed the NHL, never even sniffed it. And then I remember the I think I've said this too.
Speaker 2:I said it's Mark Stahl. The first time I saw Mark Stahl was was in a preseason game against the Islanders took three penalties and he but he looked like he belonged Right. Like I said to myself, this guy's going to play in the NHL, like I just, you just knew it. But you know, like some guys, you just know. And then other guys, you, you, you hit and other guys you miss. It's like being a scout, I guess. But, um, yeah, I mean they, they've, they've done well, they've done well with the drafting. I mean, which they had to have shown. I mean those other drafts, I mean the Kratsov draft turned out to have nobody. I mean Keandre Miller, kratsov, only the three first-round picks, the only guys that sniffed the NHL.
Speaker 2:Well, joey Keene it's my fault, I attempted the draft party, I take responsibility for that one, you know, and the one before that, I mean Morgan Barron and Hedl. You know Leah Sanderson, that one you know, and the one before that, I mean morgan barron and heidel. You know, leah sanderson was what he was, and I won't even get gilbert fontaine was in the 16 drift. But ty ronning, tim gettinger, tomo reunion in sean day. Ryan gropp I mean those were, these were all guys that we're all were high on. And ryan gropp it's pretty impressive, though, that 2013, that they only had two, four, five draft picks, and five of them played in the NHL, yeah, and four of them had pretty good careers. Amazing, amazing, you never know, you never know, yeah, that 18 draft is such a bust. And they just went D D, d D.
Speaker 1:There's no way, we're not going to be loaded up on D. That was.
Speaker 2:Joey Keene and Ragnarsson and Nico Gross. It was all those guys. I think the only forward they drafted was what's his name Was Kratsov Kratsov and then maybe one other guy, laurie Pashniemi, that's it. Did he play in the NHL games for them? No, they called him up right Pashniemi. No, he's never played in the NHL. Never played in the NHL. I do sure he's never played in the nhl.
Speaker 1:I I do sure you might.
Speaker 2:I'm looking right at his thing oh, you look at his stats right now? Why? Did I think he did. He definitely played, maybe because he played the preseason. Yes, I think they called him up, but I don't think he ever actually played in the game. They still have his rights. So, as far as prospects go and we'll have to I still want to get Steve on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we got to talk about that because I'm just curious on some of these guys, like McConnell Barker's, another guy that again Hartford. Well, they already sent him down. I don't think was he in camp. Maybe he was in camp for the first like couple down. I don't think Was he in camp. Maybe he was in camp for the first couple of days. I don't remember him seeing him anywhere on the sheets or anything. I don't even know what's going on with him. Yeah, I know he was definitely in.
Speaker 1:Hartford last year.
Speaker 2:He was because he had played 68 games and only had 15 points. I was high on him too 6'2", 194. He's 21. I mean, he's not at that point yet. I'm not giving up on him yet Again. Nothing that'll ever be a star, I don't have any illusions of that. But again, you just want to continually keep adding this guy. I saw in camp this Nathan Apostel. He played against the Devils, isn't he?
Speaker 1:6'9", 6'7" 6'7".
Speaker 2:He played five games for Hartford last year, 19. So McConnell Barker played 68 games last year for Hartford, 15 points, 6'2". Ford Eskew is the guy that I'm really curious to know if he's, if he's going to be a solution for us moving forward obviously not this year. Left shot D's that's what we need. Left shot defenseman, I'll tell you it's a good problem to have. It's a good problem to have. It definitely is a good problem to have. As far as I don't know if he'll be a solution for next year, but he definitely could possibly be a solution for the year after, to take over that second pairing spot or even the third pairing spot, because you've got back and on it for this year and next year. You know, maybe he's your solution. The year after they're going to go for it for the next, they're definitely going to go for it for the next couple of seasons.
Speaker 2:My question is I know that. My question is is at what point? You know? That's why I say to myself you know, unless they completely get shut out of the big free agents, are they going to saddle themselves with a 34 year old panarin at a big number? I really think, I really question that. I think that if they can bring back Panarin and add another big guy, I think they'd do that. But I think if they could only add one or the other, I think they're going to go for the younger star. But at what point do you kind of need to? I mean, listen, tampering happens all over the place.
Speaker 2:We all know that I didn't listen to it, but apparently they're thinking that some tampering happened with Kaprizov. Might have, might have, and so what if it does? I don't care. I don't know why you'd want to play in Minnesota. I mean, they've won nothing in their history Right In the NHL, for that matter, and there's precedent for it. Panarin did this with Columbus. So listen, I don't mind here, but this is not where I want to live. There's more to an NHL life than just what's on the ice.
Speaker 2:So what were you saying, though? You had a different thought, you started a different thought oh, just as far as oh. Wasn't that what I was saying? Where did I that? I lost my train of thought? No, you were talking about. I said to you.
Speaker 2:I said that you know, with panarin that at some point you don't want to get, you don't want to get, uh, you know, left without a chair, though also, so to speak. So if you, if you don't sign panarin ahead of time, and then everybody else, you know, winds up, uh, find that other dance partners, but is that? You know? I get that, I get that and I don't disagree with you. But the other problem is that do you want to saddle yourself with a bad contract just for the sake of that not happening? Like? I mean, he's aging really well, he is.
Speaker 1:He is.
Speaker 2:And I love him. And this is not. I want to word this right. I want to word this right. It's more along the lines of at what point do you say to yourself we haven't won? How many times are you just going to keep going to the same well, with the same players, the same guys that have failed over? And that's what I was trying to stress to you the other day, when we were talking about Lafreniere, when you said well, why would they trade him If he's playing well? They're not going to trade him. If he's not playing well, well, why would they trade him? They're not going to get anything from him. My point is at what point do you say to yourself we're not winning like this. We need to do something drastic. We need to change the culture.
Speaker 1:We need to do something drastic. We need to change the culture.
Speaker 2:We need to change the yeah. That's a different conversation. I don't expect the Rangers to be in that circumstance. I think the bigger question is you think they were going to be in that circumstance? Last year they were you never know. I think the attitude around this team is 1,000%. I hope so.
Speaker 2:You can't like last night, but you can't even blame the guys. The Samskills guys weren't even here last year. I'll worry about this come opening night, right, that type of stuff we were talking at no point Again. You look at our roster compared to every other roster in the Metro, we have the best roster. That doesn't necessarily mean that they will come out on top. They have to come together as a team and play as a team. I'm confident in Sullivan's ability to mold them together that way.
Speaker 2:I think there's incredible chemistry that's being developed between Zibanejad and Miller off the ice, and what we saw on the ice last year was there too. Again, a lot of things are going to come down to. How does this team play as a five-man unit defensively? They're back to a zone which they all are so outspoken about. Being thankful that they're all back to playing zone defense was a trochek said you spend half your energy chasing people around defensively that you have no energy left to play, to score, to play offense, and one of the one of presidentroep be playing this system. I get it, I get it, but Okay, I get what you're saying. Yeah, bottom line is you know, here we are. I think it's a completely different mood, a completely different. I think they're on a mission and you talk about someone like Panarin who's playing for you know he's playing for his his last contract he's going to get.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think that the sky is the limit. Again, I don't think we're better than Florida, but nobody is. You don't just pack up and go home, because Florida is better than everybody. You do everything you can to put yourself in a situation to be there in the Eastern Conference Finals and you take your shot. Yeah, to put yourself in a situation to be there in the Eastern Conference Finals and you take your shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's all you can ask for you.
Speaker 2:just want to see effort this year, Sean.
Speaker 1:You did the effort last year.
Speaker 2:If they're in that situation, that's where the question gets tricky Do you commit to Panarin and then still let's they lose to florida again in five, six games? And again it was very similar to the eastern conference finals two years ago where, yeah, they got some bounces and igor stood on his head and, you know, kept it close, but you know, and they're all one goal losses, but we clearly clearly just didn't have what it took to get that extra goal. When Panarin's sitting there with maybe four points in the six games, are you going to re-up? And it's a tough call to make because, let's say, mcdavid stays in Edmonton and Kaprizov goes elsewhere, whether it's Minnesota or Tampa, who knows where the guy goes? Listen, the commissioner can tell me he's not worried about it. I'm very worried about all these no-tax states getting everybody. But if everyone else.
Speaker 2:He doesn't care, with the exception of Vegas. Nobody wanted to go to Tampa, nobody wanted to go to Florida, and all of a sudden these places are desirable and that's what Bettman cares about. These small market clubs, the survival Look. He tried keeping a team in fucking Phoenix, well past the time they should have done. Had to have a team in Phoenix, fail, fail, fail. I mean how many years? 20 years of failure. So he doesn't care about it. He wants the small market teams to succeed. But that's my thing is, all these other guys sign elsewhere. And Panarin's been saying you know, panarin's agent has been asking for a contract this whole time and we've been pushing him off. It's funny.
Speaker 2:You want a contract Panarin, all right, then take a really team-friendly discount, but that's not realistic because he's not getting $11 million again. Of course he will, if he puts up 100 points. This year he might now, because the cap's now gone up. So we've got whatever we wanted. We got the cap going up. Now these contracts are going to go fucking through the roof.
Speaker 1:They are going to go through the roof.
Speaker 2:Kaprizov's going to get 20. You're going to tell me Panera's not going to get 13 if he has 100 points season again he is.
Speaker 1:He won't get termed.
Speaker 2:He's not getting it here, then you don't know that. How is he getting it? Sean, you tell me let's just play devil's advocate for a minute. With 30 $30 million under next year's cap. I understand that, but you still need to sign a backup goalie. You need to spill out the rest of your roster. You need to still find other pieces. Garanda will most likely be the backup goalie next year.
Speaker 1:You've got to find.
Speaker 2:Braden Schneider, you've got to still spill out your third line. I mean $30 million. They have $30 million, $30. I understand that, but they can do anything they want. They can't do anything they want because they can't bring in McDavid at 20 million and also bring in Panarin at 13. If you're bringing in McDavid, you don't need Panarin, but if you're bringing in Kaprizov, you still need Panarin.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:All right. So you're saying, bring him back, panarin only if you don't get one of those guys. Correct, only Correct, or listen if he wants to play with the preseason. I'm that bad that they're both willing to. My other point is is like I mean, all right again, and we talked about this last show, I'm sorry, unless one of those young unless Cooley or Lafreniere completely explode and put up 70 or 80 points, unless they're able to do that, playing in your top six, you need Panarin plus somebody else to win a championship. Bringing, just bringing in mcdavid or just bringing in kaprizov does make you better, but it doesn't take you from here to here. It takes you from here to here and it doesn't take you to. It doesn't make you an automatic stanley cup champion.
Speaker 1:Well, no one's an automatic stanley cup.
Speaker 2:Well, that's my well, my point is is you're trying to build a stanley cup contender. You need one of those top five players. You need a top five player and you need to add another piece. I think that adding the other pieces is the JT Miller's Sabanajad getting back to being. You know 90% of what Mika's been. Fox is as good as you guys all tell me, so you know. And Igor, there's a lot of other things that can go into that, but you do need that, you need that alpha, you need that top five guy.
Speaker 2:And unless you're getting, unless sasha barkov is shaking loose or jack eichel shaking loose or austin matthews is shaking loose, you know, unless one of these guys is shaking loose somehow, which I don't see, you know, maybe I don't see eichel leave in vegas. He's got such a great situation out there, why the fuck would he leave? Come back East, that'd be the only thing. Family, I don't see him. I'm just saying, I'm just throwing it out there. I would have loved for someone to leave that team. That would make me so happy for someone to say, fuck you, we're leaving. I would love for someone to leave that team. That would make me so happy for someone to say, fuck you, we're leaving. Right, I would love nothing more, because they just signed player after player after much mourner here, stone, where's all this money coming from? Who doesn't want to play there? It's not about wanting to play there, sean. How are they affording paying all these guys? How are they affording to do this? These guys like, how are they for? How are they affording to do this? Like I don't understand that it makes panathin petrangelo and they just they traded, they signed everybody and then, man, I don't get it yeah and that's what the point is, where you know these, these more shunt physically came out, said I love that he did that and how
Speaker 2:and how does the child that fucking G? How, the freaking commissioner, when the players are saying it. The players are saying it, are saying it's not a big deal. It's not a big deal because the small market teams are benefiting from it. There are small market teams that are because they couldn't. They were scared because Florida was going to move. Now, all of a sudden now you know, barry Zito pulled off all his freaking I know what his name is.
Speaker 2:Bill Zito pulled out all his magic signing all these guys from trading for all these guys from Buffalo Right, Pulling rabbits out of his derriere and finding magic down there pretty much on trades, having two drafted guys where everything else was a free agent signing in a trade. So this idea, now that you have to go through the draft, now you can take that and throw it out the window because now that's not important anymore, Because if you make great trades, you can succeed in the league If you make shrewd trades. Listen, he built an unbelievable team through scouting. Unbelievable team through scouting. He got so many Kachuk. He traded the best player in franchise history statistically to get Kachuk. That was a ballsy move. Give him credit for it. I don't think that's a ballsy move, but it's a bad move, Of course it was.
Speaker 1:Got 115 points.
Speaker 2:It doesn't matter, he didn't trade him for and Uyghur and he traded McKenzie. Uyghur and he traded two studs. He had two studs, he traded two studs, but he had Ekblad already. He didn't need Wieger. He didn't need Wieger because they got.
Speaker 1:They were dealing for a position of strength Forsling turned into a top five defensive. Well, they stepped to shit.
Speaker 2:They did step to shit with that, but that's what they do. That's what they do.
Speaker 1:They got lucky.
Speaker 2:Reinhardt, they got lucky. Look at what Reinhardt.
Speaker 1:They got lucky Sean.
Speaker 2:They still put a lot of shit. They knew every one of those guys were going to be good. Come on, I'm sorry, that's scouting. No, he knew every one of those guys was going to hit.
Speaker 1:They hit too many times.
Speaker 2:He knew OLE was going to have a bounce back here. He was a fucking zombie for two years. He hit too many balls out of the park to say that it was all luck. I don't know. He was not just Dave.
Speaker 1:Kingman, closing his eyes and swinging.
Speaker 2:Maybe not all luck. Some of it was luck, some of it was luck.
Speaker 1:That's a lot. I don't know if Forsling was going to win Carter Verhage.
Speaker 2:Verhage won a cup, though with Tampa. No, he didn't. We went over this already. He didn't win a championship. He was on their roster, didn't play, so what he did not contribute. I just remember him holding the cup Didn't contribute, he was on the boat holding the cup so he won a couple of times, just the way Barry Richter won a cup with the Rangers. So if Mike Hartman went somewhere else and had a career, it would have been like oh, stanley Cup winner with the Rangers, Mike.
Speaker 2:Hartman, 100%. He's on the Cup. His name's on the Cup Mike Hudson, huddy, exactly. To me, you need to play more than five minutes to be called to have a nickname like Huddy. But the thing is that what Florida is benefiting from is that they've been able to keep these guys. The Cap era is supposed to make it almost impossible to have a dynasty, because how could you keep everybody? These guys are making $2 million extra staying there than if they signed a New York. Letman doesn't care, because these franchises have been shit for decades.
Speaker 2:It's parody for the league, and that's what he wants. But it's not parody for the league, when now only these teams are in the finals and only these teams are winning. How is that parody? Because the Rangers will still be the Rangers, the Leafs will still be the Leafs, all these original six teams.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you a question.
Speaker 2:So now, let me ask you this now, if Dallas wins the cup this year and then Vegas wins again next year, and you know what's another? What's another no tax state, another no tax, uh, uh city that hasn't won any, and name anyone that hasn't won yet, when all these teams?
Speaker 1:if they all keep winning championships.
Speaker 2:I don't know. Maybe at what point do you say to yourself we need to change this, like how I mean? At what point did you say, all right, enough's enough. Now he won't care about that, he's going to care about the league revenue, the bottom line of the league, and the league will be making more money. They got us one thing that will help. We're idiots. We're willing to pay $300 a night to sit in our seats when it costs like $50 everywhere else. We're idiots. The MSG in a seven-year drought will sell out every single night Seven-year playoff drought?
Speaker 2:They definitely don't have to worry about us. They definitely don't have to worry about us 18-2 every night, now it's 18,006.
Speaker 2:Every night, two. Every night, now it's eighteen thousand. And six every night. Doesn't matter, they sell out every night regardless. There were there were some games where, uh, they definitely didn't sell out, that they announced the ticket. The tickets were sold, maybe, but you know what I'm saying? They, they the original six markets, that the traditional northeast markets and Canadian markets, aside from Winnipeg which struggles. They got those fan bases by the balls. They don't need to address them. But if Tampa ever, you think Tampa could survive seven years not making the playoffs again, why would people go? Those teams will be on their ass soon. But that's my point. It's coming. Those markets are not traditional markets. People find other things to do if the team is not winning Right and the Florida Panthers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, listen, I don't care.
Speaker 2:I don't care that they brought this team back To go to a third straight Stanley Cup. Listen, I don't care. I don't care that they brought this team back. I could go to a third straight Stanley cup final. I don't think. I can't see it. They're going to Atlanta again. They're going to want them to go into Atlanta again, cause it's a huge TV market. You get Atlanta, atlanta and they have a building. They have a building. Atlanta and Houston are top 10 TV markets. That's where X. That's that's where they're going. Those will be the next two teams. They're huge TV markets, not Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1:No, it'll be Atlanta and Houston.
Speaker 2:No, not that I've heard. You know it's a shame because they really should be in Canadian markets, these two new teams. No, the politics don't allow it, man, because that's really who deserves to have the new franchises. We get that, but no, I know I get it, but I mean, look at the look at the teams in Canada with, I mean, with the exception of what, toronto, montreal, maybe Vancouver. I mean all right, All right, so fine, those three Edmonton you take, maybe you take. Maybe McDavid leaves that team starts falling on their face.
Speaker 2:But I'm saying that team starts falling down. Maybe they're not creating the revenue that they normally would. I don't know. It's not a big market team. It's not a big market team, but it's all that's out there. It's a beautiful arena. It is a nice arena. I've seen pictures of it. They'll be fine. It's calgary. You know, if the if calgary gets a new arena built, that'll help them. Saddle dome yeah, winnipeg's tough when winnipeg's tough, but again there's, there is nothing else I'll tell you though they got some nice contracts, of course, which I flee, and he hella buck all with those deals.
Speaker 2:If you listen, if you had money, if you had money to lock up your big stars in the last three years, you're going to be sitting pretty Well, that's what the Rangers did with Fox.
Speaker 1:They knew what they were doing.
Speaker 2:Fox says shirking, because you figure the next goalie is probably going to make more. Yeah, the next guy always makes more. Well, I mean, it took a while for someone to pass bob right. Right, it took a while. I mean it took six years. Bob was signed before covid, I know that, but it still took six years for him to get to that point. So I don't know who the next guy would be. I mean I'm trying to think who the next big goalie free asia that's coming up. I can't think off the top of my head, but you figure, all some of these guys like I think swayman did, I think they already signed all those guys, so I don't know who the next guy would be, but it'll be Carter Hart.
Speaker 2:Do you see Carolina signing two of those two of the five guys? They're just desperate to sign anybody McLeod, and nobody wants to play there, except for Nikol Ealers. He was going there to hide, but I'm pissed, honestly. Carter Hart's a pretty good goalie and so if he goes, if he goes to Carolina, I'm sure he hasn't played in two years. Let's see how good he is. I'm sure he's practicing, but it's not like playing in an NHL game. I get that part. It's a long time. It's a long time between drinks. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. I was laughing at Nikolai Illers when he's like I need to go to a place that fits my. You go to a place that has no media attention, that you're going there to fucking essentially collect the paycheck and fucking hide like semen. Did, coward, get the fuck out of here. You coward. He's extremely overrated. He's a coward, extremely overrated. I hope he falls on his face there. He'll play 65 games.
Speaker 2:I hate hearing that I hate hearing about a guy that wants to go to a place. Oh, this is a. I want to be a spot. I would not be in the spotlight. Get the fuck out of here, right. Get out of here, you coward, please. You want to hide out there? Go hide out there. Yep, I hope that team falls. I can't stand. So I was at Dick's and I bought the girls Ranger T-shirts for school and the guy goes all right, I guess I'll ring you up, even though you're a Ranger fan. I said who do you root for the Islanders? He goes no, I'm actually a Carolina Hurricane. I goes I'd actually be worse than being an Islander fan.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I said I can't stand that team. I told you when we started this podcast and we were talking about stuff like this and I said you're gonna see over the next five, six years, rangers, carolina, devils these three teams will be vying for the metro every year. These will become the new rivals. You're like oh, carolina's not a rival of ours. I'm like watch, here we are. Four years later. I hate them more than everybody Because Sebastian asshole.
Speaker 1:That's why I can't stand them.
Speaker 2:The Devils have become a little bit of a rival again. The Islanders are just terrible. No, the Islanders to me aren't, but their fans are just even worse. Like I can't, I can't, I cannot go to a Ranger Islander game at the Garden anymore. It's just not fun. Yeah, I'd rather go to UBS than go to the Garden. It's not enjoyable because the fans that go there I don't know what it is. They're assholes. They're just complete assholes. It's just not unenjoyable. But, um, so let's finish with this, let's end with this, because I'm starting to fade here. Same when do you think they're going to do these next, these next set of cuts after this game, after this third game? Yeah, probably, because you figure, I mean we haven't seen trochek, we haven't seen miller, we haven't seen. I mean you got to think these guys are going to play at least two games. The guys that I think you're going to see stay on the roster after all these cuts are made.
Speaker 1:Other than that aren't waiver exempt.
Speaker 2:You'll see Robertson Mauro Like. I don't think he'll. I don't think Mar, even if Mar was not going to make the team, I don't think he'll be sent down quickly. No Offman. Berard Lava Perot Um, I I think they'd like to get more of a look at Rubrik, but at the same time, there's just only so many spots. Why are you wasting? You know? I don't know. Yeah, I have to look. Maybe a Derek Pouliot sticks around or a Casey Fitzgerald sticks around.
Speaker 2:See now I want to ask you that question. Sure, greg was calling him Palat during the game. Did you hear that? Yeah, it's got to be Pouliot, though I can't imagine it's pronounced that way.
Speaker 1:I mean, how do you mess?
Speaker 2:that up, though you had a Benoit Pouliot on the Rangers, unless that's how he pronounces it. Maybe, always called him pull the yacht. Yeah, they've always called him pull the yacht. Every other person, every other. Because he was. He was a first round pick of pittsburgh, wasn't he? Yeah yes, like fourth, or like high, very high first round, high first round pick, and I could have sworn. They called it pull the yacht, but he's fitch gerald is I?
Speaker 2:I've I like what I've seen from him. He's I think he's the undersized. He looks small, small on the ice. He was five, 11. He looked good last year. They they didn't keep him below. I'm very long. Yeah, it looked decent last year, but he can play. He can play. He didn't sniff. I mean, he's a captain down there, isn't he? Yes, he's 28.
Speaker 2:But it, but it's just another you know depth guy that can you know that can come up right-handed shot connor mackie. See, I like him. I like fitzgerald better than mackie. Different, totally different type of player is mackie. Did mackie sign a two-year deal, not one one? Yeah, pulley outside the two, that's what was so he might stick around a little bit. He has to go through waivers too, and Jackson Dorrington is on a three-year deal. He signed an ETLC though, right, yes, so he'll probably go down. He'll probably go down.
Speaker 2:I don't know about Socorro. I really thought I'd see Socorro go down. He's still really young. Socorro's first preseason, he was so noticeable. It just goes to show you these guys. He was so noticeable his first preseason and now you don't even know he's on the team. I forgot he played last night. He played last night, right, yeah, I couldn't even tell you he played last night.
Speaker 2:He had a nice season last year for Hartford, especially for a 20-year-old. 30 points in 70 games for a 20-year-old is really good production. That's good. He might still have a career, you don't know. He's been down there forever. He's 18, right, yeah, which is crazy. What is this? This is going to be his fourth season. Where did he just go? It was the Cora. He started in Hartford in 22-23 as an 18-year-old. He played two games and then played four games in the playoffs and then yeah. So if you count that as a year, then one, two, three, yeah, this will be his fourth year. Wow, crazy, that's crazy. Yeah, I think that they'll make the uh, the cuts after the next game. Yeah, that's usually what they did I'm just curious like the third game.
Speaker 2:I'm curious how many of these forwards, because you know they're gonna want the NHL guys to get in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're going to have to cut down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if they're doing some kind of team-building thing this weekend, because then they have a break. I don't think they play again until what? Tuesday, next Tuesday. Well, their last game is October 2nd and then opening night's the 7th, so you've got five days there. You've got a second and then opening nights the seventh, so you got five days there. You know, five day break between the, uh, the final preseason game.
Speaker 2:Maybe I'm, maybe I'm. I thought I thought there was a break after this thursday game. I thought, yeah, no, I, I do think you're right about that. Also, I said, wow, they don't play for four days because they normally they go to like west point and uh, so they play, and they are. They don't play again till monday, so they play thursday, then Four days, because normally they go to like West Point, so they play. They don't play again until Monday, so they play Thursday, then they don't play again until Monday, and then they play, and then not until Thursday again. They play Thursday again, then they play Saturday. Oh, I didn't see the Saturday game. I didn't realize they play Saturday against Boston. It's a 2 o'clock in the afternoon game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so their team-building thing is probably going to be this weekend. Yeah, that makes sense. Unless they decide for that last preseason game to call up ball. That might be the big cut. The big cut might be after the 29th. Think about it. They probably want some of those kids to be part of the team building. You would think this way if they do come up at some point during the season, they're accepted in the locker room.
Speaker 2:I think the big cut will come then. But I think they're going to make some cuts. Some, yes, like Nathan Aspinall, guys like that will probably get cut at the next game. But after the Monday game, because then they have two preseason games left, with Tuesday, wednesday, two practices before the Thursday night game, they're probably going to want to have the lines kind of intact. Maybe one or two position battles, finalizing before those last two, those last two dress rehearsals, yeah, and that'll probably wrap it up. All right, that's it, pal. That's it for me. Good one, it's it for you. Yep, we'll see next week. I got to see when I have games next week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, We'll figure it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll figure it out. We'll talk about it off the air, alright, later guys.