The Starr & D'Amico Show

HUGE HABS WIN! Cole Caufield Hits 40 Goals!

Shaun Starr

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 1:01:30

TEXT ME! WE ANSWER

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!
Great Gear! https://cheapesttshirts.ca/
Design Your Own! https://instacustoms.com/
Great Food & Drink! https://www.mcleanspub.com/pub/
Best In Home Security! https://cablatel.com/
Best Steakhouse! https://mirelassteakhouse.ca/
All of your pets needs! https://littlebearonline.com/

The Montreal Canadiens pull off a HUGE overtime win over the Boston Bruins — and we’re breaking it all down LIVE at 12PM.

Cole Caufield scores his 40th goal of the season in overtime as the Habs take down their biggest rivals 3-2 at the Bell Centre. 

Shaun Starr and Marco D’Amico dive into everything from this emotional rivalry win:

Caufield stepping up as a star
Jakub Dobes continuing to impress in goal
Josh Anderson’s impact performance
What this win means for the Canadiens playoff push
Can the Habs keep this momentum going?

This was a statement game for Montreal — and we’ve got full reaction, analysis, and your comments LIVE.

👍 Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and hit the bell so you never miss a Canadiens live show.

#MontrealCanadiens #NHL #Habs

Support the show

Thanks for listening! You can always SEE what you just listened to here https://youtube.com/@shaunstarr?si=aSp3vBqoo1Tpl6YF

SPEAKER_00

The Star and D'Amico show is brought to you by CheapestT-Shirts.ca. If you're looking for quality gear without overpaying, shop cheapest shirts.ca. Huge selection for men, women, and kids. Tees, hoodies, headwear, bags, and more. Proud Montreal business. Order today, ship today, delivery tomorrow. That's cheapesthirts.ca. Local, fast, and affordable. Brought to you by Instacustoms.com. Do you need custom gear from a local Montreal business? Instacustoms.com has you covered. Custom shirts, hoodies, hats, and more. Made your way. Fast turnaround, great quality, and proudly Montreal-based. Check out Instacustoms.com. Brought to you by Cablitel. For trusted alarm systems in Quebec and eastern Ontario, choose Cablatel. Over 20 years of expert installation and top-tier protection for homes and businesses. Check out Cablotel.com, email them infocablotel.com. It's Cablitel. Peace of mind you can count on. Brought to you by Morella Steakhouse. Looking for an unforgettable night out, Morella Steakhouse on Highway 132. It's just 15 minutes from Montreal, serving up premium cuts and bold flavors, and no tax on your bill. Book your table tonight at MorellastaSteakhouse.ca. Taste excellence tonight. Brought to you by Little Bear. Give your pet the best with Little Bear Pet Supply. It's a proudly family-owned business here in Montreal for over 30 years. Chuck Eve and their all-star staff have you taken care of with all the top brands at the best prices, and they really care for your pets. Shop online at LittleBearOnline.com or visit them on St. Catherine across from Westmount Square. It's Little Bear Pet Supply. Brought to you by McLean's Pub. Head over to McLean's Pub, 1210 Peel Street in the heart of downtown Montreal. Great food, cold drinks, and big games on all the screens. McClain's Pub, good times and great company. Well, well, well. Welcome to your Wednesday version of the live starring D'Amico presentation in the aftermath of a massive win at the Bell Center last night. And of course, it wouldn't be a Canadian's game without an overtime decision. And Mr. Saturday night showed up on a Tuesday night and a milestone achievement for the one Cole Caulfield. We say good afternoon to uh Marco D'Amico, who was in the building in the room after last night. That was a pretty fun game, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02

I thought it was a uh I thought it was a really interesting game from the Canadians. I thought they played a tighter game overall than what we've seen of late. And I think, you know, the way that the Bruins played, it felt like a playoff game. It felt tight, it was physical. Um, you know, the the there was a significant amount of attention to detail in the neutral zone. It really did feel like a little bit of a trench war out there, and that's exactly what you have to look forward to over the next 15 games and then some uh as the Canadians push for a playoff spot.

SPEAKER_00

Uh massive performance, uh Jakob Dobesh over three goals save above expected as he got the start and yet another win. As the Montreal Canadians marco move to 27-0-3 on the season, when they get a goaltender that puts up a 900 or better save percentage. I mean, what do we make of that number? You and I have been talking all season long about where would this team be in the standings? Forget about like Sterling goaltending, which is few and far between in today's NHL, but just average goaltending where this team would be. I mean, that's some that's an incredible number, 27-0-3 with a save percentage of 900 or better.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean, I think I've said this before, they would be top at the Atlantic right now, and possibly top in the East if they had 900 save percentage. And the fact that they're getting it more often than not of late is indicative of when they they they stay into these tighter games because I don't think you're gonna have many runaway blowouts like we saw the Canadians have in December and January as we get into the later stages of March and into April, the games tend to get tighter at that point. And I think you know, you look at the Canadian second line of Kapanin, Demidov, and Alex Newhook. Do you want to show the night and day difference between what the end of the season looks like and what you know the open style of hockey is in the NHL in the months of October, November, and December? The play of Oliver Kapanen is probably the most indicative of that because yes, he's still a very solid two-way player, but a lot of the offensive concerns that people had it's starting to show itself when the ice is almost impossible to gain without properly outplaying your opponent through creativity, right? He's getting his looks, absolutely. So is Ivan Demidov, but the ice is so much tighter for them now that they're going to have to adjust their games a little bit more for them to be just as effective as they were in the month of December and January.

SPEAKER_00

You know, it's a massive season for a couple of individuals, collectively, the group, you know, as we've pointed out before, the realistic landscape of you know, six, seven players scoring 50 or more points this season, Nick Suzuki, 98 point pace, Cole Cafield, 49 goal pace. I'd be curious to hear from the chat like who's your favorite goal scorer that you've seen in your life? Not what your dad or your mom told you about back in the day, but the player you've seen as he eclipses you know, Max Pacioretti's 39 goals. Marco, I mean, 1993, 1994 was not yesterday. I was I was still in high school when Vinnie Dan Foos dropped a 40 burger in that 93-94 season. I mean, I got to imagine for a certain demographic, Cole Caulfield's gonna be the the best goal scorer a portion of this fan base has ever seen, no?

SPEAKER_02

Well, are you asking who the best goal scorer for the Canadians?

SPEAKER_00

Your favorite goal scorer, it could be Bret Hall, it could be Ilya.

SPEAKER_02

So not limited to the Canadians, all right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, not limited to the Canadians, and I know if listen, I get the I get the angle that if you are a diehard Canadian fan, you're probably not gonna answer anyone that didn't wear the Blue Blanc Rouge, you know.

SPEAKER_02

But I really liked Stampkos in his 65 goal season. I thought he was ridiculous. Um I mean he scored them, but I think it had a lot more to do with Joe Thornton. But Jonathan Chichu's run to the Maurice Richard trophy was hilarious and so much fun to watch. Yeah, but in terms of pure goal scorer, huh? I know he never ran away with a scoring title, but I just the shooting mechanics of Joe Sakik were both scientific and artistic at the same time.

SPEAKER_00

I think that's well described. Vernaby Joe. I always remember uh Bob Cole's call at the Olympics. Joe Sakik. Um love love watching him. I'm um here's another dated reference. I'm old enough to remember him as a as a Quebec Nold Zick. Um in their final years, right? Um, I wanted to I want to pick your brain on one thing that's that's confused me, and I don't I don't understand. I mean, are they trying not to make it a big deal when going into the into the pregame media availability and Martin St. Louis was asked about changing up his defensive pairings with Hudson and Struble, Matheson and Dobson and Gooley and Carrier, that they're like it's no big deal. We mix and match, we mix and match. Arp and Basu during the broadcast, during uh Basu's notebook with Kenzie Lalone during the second intermission that I caught up with this morning also kind of played down to the defensive tandems. For me, if we're questioning the Canadians going into the playoffs, Marco, we spent a lot of time talking about the structure and the personnel. I mean, to me, it's kind of a big deal that they that they to me for one game, they stabilize things.

SPEAKER_02

Why'd you catch why why'd you only catch up with it this morning, Sean?

SPEAKER_00

What do you mean?

unknown

Were you?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I was watching the game on RDS. Oh, okay, that's why. I was like, were you were you were you already getting the beauty sleep?

SPEAKER_00

No, no, no. I don't during the 7 7 30 games. I don't go I watched uh until uh until completion, as they say. Completion.

SPEAKER_02

Damn, that must have been a really tough morning for you. You tipped my hand.

SPEAKER_00

I've been doing it for a minute. It's uh I'm good with it now. And I just, you know, I even went to the gym after work and stuff like that. So I got Jesus. I got a lot of energy for a 47-year-old old salty dog. I still have a lot of energy, you know.

SPEAKER_02

I look forward to being 47 years old and not needing that kind of sleep because if I don't get my seven hours, I am terrible.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I that part I can relate to. I think I got, you know, I don't know, just obviously under seven hours last night, but uh, we're motoring along. It's a passion project, brother. But uh it's a passion project.

SPEAKER_02

Um, well, I mean, like like let's look at you, you know, you bring up the defensive situations and and kind of how you know the I felt like everything was very balanced in terms of how the shifts were were given out and basically how the game was was played. And one of the things I really enjoyed from a statistical perspective was that I didn't feel like anybody was overused outside of Nick Suzuki. Nick Suzuki was the most used player for the Canadians with 24 minutes. Uh, it was really interesting for me to to to watch him go at it. But in terms of the defense, Dobson 24 minutes, Matheson 23 minutes, gooley, who is listed on the third pair, yeah, 22 minutes. So this is why I I keep telling individuals it doesn't matter if it's first pair, second pair, third pair. Martin St. Louis doesn't give a hoot, he's going to use gooley every single penalty kill, and he looked good on the penalty kill. Did Ghoulie uh last night? I was I you know I tipped my hat to him on that. But again, you know, Jaden Strubel was playing with Lane Hudson on paper at five on five, and he only played 1340. Right. So it doesn't matter who plays with who.

SPEAKER_00

That those are good minutes for him.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, yeah, it's fine given the context. It's third pair of minutes. I mean, Carrier didn't play 20 minutes, which I think is a change as well that was needed. I think he needed to have his minutes maybe a little reduced so that take a little bit of pressure off the guy. And then once you know, once he's back in the right seat, he's able to play a really uh, you know, a he's able to play a better game. I thought I thought Carrier played a better overall game yesterday than what we're used than what we've seen of late. I don't disagree. I think the Canadians made one egregious mistake at five on five, and it was the double coverage uh on the Pavel Zaka goal from Lane Hudson and Oliver Capan. And other than that, I thought that this the way that the defense played yesterday, they played tighter in front of Dobesh. Uh, they didn't give Boston much other outside of like pop situations, and it really did feel like they did a good job of trying to box out the Bruinstar players the most uh the to the best of their abilities.

SPEAKER_00

Let me put this comment from a member of the show, Jerome, up Hudson was the machine that play in overtime after two minutes plus on the ice was amazing, was awesome. Something happens every time he's on the ice. He's my favorite player, says Jerome. And it's funny, right? When you talk about the Pavel Zacka goal that made a 2-1, Oliver Kapanen and Lane Hudson converge on Victor Arvitson that creates the turnover, and the Canadians um are trailing for the second time on Tuesday night. It's a I mean, do we simply chalk that up to a guy that's still, even though he's super high-end, he's a game breaker, he's a butting superstar that's still learning the ins and outs of the decisions because he can make a play like that, he can make a decision like that. Hudson can, right? That results in a in a mistake, let's call it, but then flips the switch, helps turn the game over. Josh Anderson gets the tip in from in front of the net. Anderson played a strong game, and then to Jerome's point, makes that outstanding read and play in overtime there from Hudson.

SPEAKER_02

And I just want to add this because we are talking about Anderson. People are asking whether or not there's a health update. Uh, the Canadians say he is not injured, but he did take today off for a maintenance day. So we'll leave it at that.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

Um, as for Elaine Hudson, I mean, yeah, he's capable of some defensive blunders, and he was auto-whipping himself in the dressing room after the game about that play. And at the same time, you know, he course corrected that play and tied the and got the game tied off a nice deflection from uh Josh Anderson. So, you know, that's one thing that I've been harping on a lot. Everybody that's follows this channel knows this. The Canadians have seemingly been allergic to the long distance shots with net front presences, and I was very happy to see that that's what ended up tying the game. Got a lot of thumbs up from that on uh on uh on social from uh very knowledgeable fans here that watch us. Um, and then Lane Hudson's play in overtime to slide across after they had been on the ice for two full minutes to block off the pass, take the pass. I think my favorite part of that entire play wasn't even Hudson. It was Hudson gets the puck, like he he pokes the puck away, gets possession, and Yakub Dalbish is at the left circle waiting for the pass, as if he's a defenseman. I was losing my mind. We like we were like, what is happening here? Uh Jakob Dobish, eager, uh, eager to help, eager to help, the best teammate possible. But um, I think Lane Hudson, you know, he did it again, where he was able to make yeah, one mistake defensively that really hurt his team, and then make a successive you know, list of really strong decisions that not only led to the tying of the game to killing of an offensive, a dire offensive situation against, and then ultimately as well being the guy that starts the play that ends the game. I thought to me that that shows exactly why Elaine Hudson is made for a market like this, because not many people can make that kind of a mistake and come back from that in the same game.

SPEAKER_00

Um, there's a little bit of a debate going on in the chat uh as regard in regards to the defensive tandems. Um Struble has played his best hockey with Hudson, they seem to complement each other rather well. Habschat disagrees, puts it on Hudson saying uh 48 makes anyone he plays with look good. You want to weigh in on this in your perspective? I disagree on Struble and Hudson.

SPEAKER_02

I disagree entirely. I disagree entirely. I don't think Hudson made Caden Gooley look good in any way, shape, or form. Yeah, and I don't think that's Hudson's fault either. It's just I don't buy this. Hudson makes anybody he plays with look good. I disagree with that entirely. I think you have chemistry with certain players, and it's fair to say he has chemistry with with Jaden Struble. He admitted to it himself yesterday. Um, and it's okay to say that Jaden Struble probably played one of his best games this season last night.

SPEAKER_00

I know.

SPEAKER_02

Uh that Hudson goal doesn't happen without Jaden Struble's pinch, right? So it's okay to say that he was that he plays well with Hudson. It's okay to say that it's it's actually statistically backed up. I'm not saying that it's something that they should continue with, you know, all the way into the playoffs, but if any of the Canadians' bottom pair defensemen is is suited to play for Hudson with Hudson, it's Jaden Struble. And that for better or for worse is the reality that they're in right now. Is that something they probably might need to rectify down the line? Yes. But I thought Jaden Struble played a very honest game yesterday, um, and it's worth mentioning. And that's not a slight on any of the other defensemen that didn't play with Hudson. That's not a slight from any of the players that weren't in that game. It's I'm identifying in this game, Jaden Struble had an impact, independent of the fact that he played with Lane.

SPEAKER_00

So I I I wonder, Marco, with with the games that are left for the Canadians, who again are in still in third place. A crucial two-point pickup by the Habs in that overtime win on Cole Caulfield's 40th goal of the season. So with 84 points, they trail second place Tampa Bay by 86. The Buffalo Sabres go to Vegas, 2-0 shutout win. Uka Pekka Lucanin's first shutout of the season. The Sabres are an absolute wagon. They're on 90 points, almost like forget about them, right? And you got Boston and Detroit, both two points back of the Montreal Canadians. And Detroit doesn't play tonight. This is a huge game for the Ottawa Senators. They're in Washington when we look at the out-of-town scoreboard. But with the context of the fact that there's 15 games left to play, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02

Wait a second.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

The Canadians can get a big help from one Cole Hudson making his debut for the Washington Capitals against the Ottawa Senators tonight.

SPEAKER_00

Let's see if he's got that Hudson gene, that game-breaking gene. Um it must be so cool for brothers, right? I mean, when your brother gets the contract and gonna play in the National Hockey League, I would imagine the chat and uh just cool for your brother.

SPEAKER_02

Cole Hudson was wearing a Montreal Canadians jersey in the stands at the Bell Center while they were playing his Washington Capitals. That's right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's cool. Yeah, uh, I love that stuff. Um, but if we focus back on the Strubble, and I don't disagree. Um, very noticeable. I like the minutes, I like the balance. You outlined the minutes to the defenseman with 15 games left. Can we talk about the rotation? Can we talk about is that the strategy at hand, or do you want to start to cement things in as opposed to Struble in one night, Jack Eye in the other, and back and forth we've gone all season long? Your your thoughts on the rotation. Should it continue or maybe a longer view here?

SPEAKER_02

I don't disagree with the rotation continuing in the sense that you want to keep your guys fresh. Could that rotation be every second game instead of every game? Perhaps. You know, that's that's the whole point that we're in right now, is that the Canadians have the the the Canadians have the luxury of health right now. The only player that's injured is Kirby Doc. That's a really good problem to have, if you ask me. I don't, I don't know. So if you get to rotate these guys in and keep them fresh, because then you're gonna get down the stretch, and we've already told we've already talked about this, Sean. End of March, beginning of April, three back-to-back settings.

SPEAKER_00

That's right.

SPEAKER_02

Right. So you're gonna need these guys again. You're gonna need these guys to be fresh, ready, available, and god forbid, you know, there's any injuries. You want these guys to be able to jump in and see what ends up happening. So, you know, I don't get caught up on the who's playing in a in a given game. It's there's 82 seem to be 84 games in a season. Don't get caught up on who plays one of them one of those games every every so often. Martin St. Louis is just going with what he feels is gonna work in that situation, and I think his decision to go with Strubel last night was a savvy one because and then it ended up paying dividends for him, uh, especially when it came time to tying that game up and ensuring that the game didn't get out of control from uh zone possession time on the defensive side.

SPEAKER_00

You know, just to uh you know expand on that with the back-to-back still to come, uh they're coming up on the 28th and 29th. And the 29th is a very special day for the month of March when the Montreal Canadiens play at the Carolina Hurricanes. There are a few people in the chat that want the Canadians to massage the standing. So maybe they finish in wild card one to perhaps play the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round, trying to avoid Buffalo, trying to avoid the Tampa Bay Lightning. I mean, you'd have to slip down there. Uh, but uh be careful what you wish for. Carolina Hurricane team is uh pretty good. They play that boring brand of hockey. But uh, we got a lot of time to kill between now and the first round of the playoffs, right? But um Marco and I will be live at McClain's on March 29th. So come by and say hi. It's the real deal on Peel with uh a great vibe, the game on all the screens. And uh better yet, Marco and I will be there live at four o'clock, getting ready for the five o'clock puck drop from Carolina. So if you have time on a Sunday, come check us out in McClain's pub. Uh Jakob Dobish, uh 26 saves on 28 shots. As I mentioned in the lead-in, just over three goals saved above expected. Uh, an outstanding performance, really, again, right? I mean, there was one play to me, there was um a clean face-off win. It was a set play by the Boston Bruins, and he positioned himself because he anticipated that's where the puck was going to go off the face-off win, and that's exactly what happened. Put himself in a in a in the perfect spot to make a glove stop. I mean, we're seeing a lot of growth from Jakob Dobesh. I wonder if we if I follow up on the rotation here. Jacob Fowler's here. The guy, we're not talking about Fowler playing Thursday in Detroit, right? Just keep the rotation going as it's been.

SPEAKER_02

I like I again, I don't think that they're in a rush to change anything right now in terms of the weather strategy. I think it's I you know, I I understand the panic amongst fans because this weekend didn't exactly go to plan. But again, you know, in if you zoom out, the Canadians have had a pretty pretty good go of it since coming back from their road trip, and they have had they have found some success in that regard. So I feel like they're gonna continue to to try and get guys into games as much as possible. I think, you know, because it's an important game, I wouldn't bat an eye if the Canadians went back to Dolbech, but I just feel like Jacob is probably gonna get this game anyway. They have faith in Jacob, they believe that he can win them big games, and he has won them big games against the you know divisional rivals. You think back about that game against Boston uh in late December where he stood on his head uh for most of that game and allowed the Canadians to come back into it with uh two five on three goals. You know, that is if they were willing to do it then, I don't see why they wouldn't be willing to do it now against a team like Detroit. So, you know, I I would I would be I wouldn't be surprised if it were Jacob Fowler in net tomorrow, but at the same time. Jakob Dobish has been playing much more convincing hockey since the trade deadline.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, how can you? I mean, you you just look at his season. He's got he's got 22 wins, man. You know, like it's you know, he he just wins regularly from um one of my favorite uh names on the chat, half horse Habs fan. Um, he finds it, Marco, difficult to not criticize Mike Matheson. He's looked a lot better in his right chair, but Habs fan says I still find his defensive blunders cost more to the team than his positives positives bring. Please help me. Please help me. Cry for help in regards to Mike Matheson on the defensive side of things.

SPEAKER_02

I thought Mike Matheson played a pretty strong game overall yesterday. I mean, outside of that poke that you know on the on the four-minute uh high sticking, the poke that he made to cut off the pass that finds itself right onto Pavel Zaka's stick, like that's just bad luck. But I thought he played, I thought he played a solid game overall. Him and him and Dobson, I thought, were commanding on the ice when they were together, and I thought that they played well overall. Um is he is he perhaps taking a little bit more liberty when the pucks on his stick in transition than he did earlier this season? I think so. And I think that's probably where a lot of people are starting to get a little um what's the word here? A little concerned or a little um uneasy when it comes to seeing him on the ice because he doesn't, you know, he he's consistently trying to do too much. And when Matheson is at his best, is when he simplifies his game and isn't trying to overcommit himself in transition. Play the safe game, make the safe play, and when the ice is open, attack it, right? Yeah. Well, I felt like he was trying to force plays a little bit over the last, I'd say, week or so, and that cost the Canadians defensively, but not last night. Last night I thought I found the Canadians' defensive structure was actually there. I don't disagree. I don't disagree.

SPEAKER_00

I thought it was it was a strong collective defensive effort. And you know, it's funny, you know, Mike Matheson on a per game average plays more minutes than anyone on his team. And it's for me, I guess to answer the question, it's the law of expectations for me kind of factors in. It's like when you go into a game, what do you expect to see from Mike Matheson? Do you expect to see shutdown extraordinaire? Do you expect to see um a one-sided offensive-minded defenseman? To me, he's a great mix of the two guys. And he plays against top line opposition, night in and night out, again, to repeat myself, plays more minutes per game. So I guess I just come from that angle of I kind of expect, you know, I don't I don't expect perfection. Let me phrase it that way. And to me, the the good by far outweighs the slips in defensive zone coverage to the guy was it two years ago uh before Lane Hudson came in and kind of took over the offensive role and took charge, was the was the new whipping boy in Montreal. So we'll see what happens. The Habs are off to Detroit tomorrow night, then they're back home against Matthew Schaefer and the um and the New York Islanders. Oh, let's see if we uh lost Marco there for a second and see if we can get him back.

SPEAKER_01

You did him.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's all good for maybe two seconds. Um, what what's in your opinion, what's made the Boston Bruins so competitive? You know, when I looked at it, is it is it as simple as saying they've got Jeremy Swayman on an unbelievable bounce back season? And yes, they got a world-class player in Pasternak, obviously, right? But McAvoy, Pasternak, Swayman, this team, Marco, has kind of defied what a lot of people thought about them in the preseason. I'm curious what you make of the Bruins being as competitive as they've been all season long.

SPEAKER_02

It's almost like when you have a an elite established core, they can they can drag you into a playoff situation. Yeah. Um, look, I mean, you gotta also factor in that they've gotten uh really good secondary scoring from the likes of guys like Pavel Zacka. Uh Morgan Geeky has had himself a career year. Yeah. Um, you know, uh, you have guys uh that you know continue to improve. Elias Linholm is always a surefire player for them when he when he's in the lineup as well. Fraser Minton's development has also been excellent from that end. It's really just on defense that they're unsure. But when you have McAvoy and Linholm as your as your base on defense, you're already, you know, starting with a solid base and you could kind of fill up your lineup from there. So it's understandable that they're still in the fight. I uh I think the the thing that surprises me probably the most is the fact that they've maintained themselves in the fight. Yeah. At this stage of the season. Last year, this is where they fizzled out.

SPEAKER_00

You know, as as Surf points out, they're a veteran team that play all three phases of the game. And listen, Marco Sturm is doing an unbelievable job, you know, squeezing every drop out of that uh out of that orange there in Boston, I suppose. Um, when you know, we are talking about this before. You know, Cole Caulfield scores his 40th of the season. The Habs top line combines for five points. Nick Suzuki's on a three-game goal streak, right? Um, on pace for 98 points. You know who stood out to me that I loved his game last night? And I'm being love is a dramatic word here, but Alex, Alex Texia to me, man. I I I just love his attitude when he's on the ice. Very much like I want to say, like a confrontational player. He's not afraid to shoot, he's not afraid to go to the net, drive it from around, get to the front of the net to you know, cause a disturbance. I mean, it's clear like he was banged up going to the Olympics, and now since the return from the Olympics, you're seeing a full version. I mean, this is this is the kind of player I'd like to see more of from the Montreal Canadians. I found he's been bringing it lately. What do you think about Texas and the line he's been on since I guess I mean since he's been back in the lineup?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, I mean, the fact that he was scratched at that at the beginning there, a lot of people were questioning whether or not Kent Hughes jumped the gun, yeah, sending him to a contract, right?

SPEAKER_00

I wondered about it for sure.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it makes sense. And I, you know, I don't blame you, but I think you see the way he plays and the way he's able to come into the lineup in the face of injury now, he's not getting out. Right with Kirby Doc being injured, he is staying put. Yeah. So the way that I see it, Sean, is this is the kind of depth that you're gonna want the Canadians to have in their bottom six when they're gonna start getting competitive. Because we've talked about this. The Canadians' lack of quality in their bottom six has held them back significantly over the last three or four years, obviously by design, uh prior to last year, because they were they were trying to finish low. Um, but as you try to take that next step, you need to really improve that bottom six. And I think a guy like Texier really does that because he's so versatile. He plays defensively, he plays offensively, he plays laterally, he plays in the corners, he's able to be that kind of player that goes to the net. So, because he's a jack of all trades in that element, you can put him in whatever situation you want, up or down your lineup. And I think he's simply just showing us more of what we saw prior to him extending his contract with the Canadians, and especially down the stretch, that's exactly what you're looking for.

SPEAKER_00

Did I miss anything? Alex Newhook, nine minutes last night.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, I think that whole second line had a we we touched on it at the beginning of today's episode, but the second line had a difficult going, had a very difficult go. Um, you know, even with the last change, they were just, you know, obviously the second goal, uh, the second line was on the ice. Um, they just there was no mojo, and you know, again, you know, Nick Suzuki has taken uh Alex Newhook's spot on the PK unit as well, right? Because Martin St. Louis got the memo that they would the Canadians uh would like for him to win the Selkie. Yeah, so he's getting uh regular PK shifts. Yeah, I'm just joking, guys. That's not what happened. Um, but you know, I I think that second line was it wasn't jiving last night, it was not, and be it Ivan Demidov, uh, you know, losing Pucks down low, be it Oliver Kapanin that wasn't really that you know creating much, uh, and be it you know Alex Newhook, it just it wasn't happening, and they were getting beat. Uh, oftentimes Puck going back the other way. So, you know, Martin Sailouri made a decision to start you know cutting his bench, especially with a game tight like this divisional rival, four-point game. I wouldn't read too much into it, but I think it's fair to say that you know, more so Kapanin than Demidov, but I think you know the rookies are starting to feel the brunt of what you know the later stages of the season looks like in the NHL after playing you know 60 plus games already this season.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I was gonna ask you about hitting that you know, that rookie wall we were talking about early on in the season, you know, uh with Oliver Kapanen on 20 goals and Ivan Demidov uh talking about the Canadians um and and their 3-2 overtime win against Boston last night. Entertaining game. I thought Montreal was the better team from top to bottom. Um so I mean, I don't want to say it's it's it's over, but it feels, would you say, less stressful if we go back six weeks or so when the fan base by and large to an extent that carried into the media, Martin St. Louis last week. Um stop asking me 40 questions about Sam Montebo. I'm not saying that that that item has been checked off the to-do list, but right now it appears that the goaltending has stabilized and maybe not as big of a concern, Marco, as it was three weeks ago, four weeks ago.

SPEAKER_02

Hello, see that was that was me dodging the question.

SPEAKER_00

There it is. I feel confident in saying that.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, it's it's I don't you know never gonna nope, nope, nope. It takes one bad game, and everyone's just gonna be like, no, so I'm we're not well.

SPEAKER_00

Some people didn't even like Dolbesh's game on the on the weekend, right? Those wristers that were getting through him, and they were like, Oh, here's Montebo, there's Montebo. To me, I mean that was too harsh in my opinion, but that's just it was it was harsh, it was harsh.

SPEAKER_02

Listen, there were some long shots where Mart Montebo is being beaten clean without any players in front of him. Yeah, that is concerning. Now, when you're a goalie and your defenseman is tying up the forward, but can't get them out of the way, and the long shot bounces off the player you're trying to you know have a battle with in front of the net and beats the goalie. I don't blame the goalie on that, right? So there's that's why I I didn't go, I wasn't as critical as uh for Dabesh on those long shots as I was maybe against Montabeau in that last game in at in uh in California before they came back from the road trip. That that I think those are very different situations. The only thing that's similar is that the puck originated from higher in the zone. Um, I think goaltending has looked better. Um, they've definitely gotten clutch saves, right? You know, even though the Canadians lost both of those games, I felt like Dalbech and Fowler still made the key saves necessary, not to necessarily not to help the Canadians win, but to at least keep them in the game. And then I felt that they were let down by the defense in front of them, which is why we talked about it at the top of the uh of the episode and we continue to kind of bring this up. Yeah, but I felt like last night was the was a total change from the defensive units where they played tighter in front of Dobesh, they played stronger in the slot, they tried to they kept pushing Boston to the outside, right? Boston had significant troubles trying to do cross-ice passes in the slot because the Canadians were more aggressive in for-checking them, were more aggressive in cutting off passing lanes. That forced the Bruins to continue to play to the outside, and that's why the only time they were able to effectively take advantage of the Canadians at five on five was when they made one coverage mistake and double covered the wrong player. That's it. That's all the Canadians gave them at five on five. The rest, Jakob Dobich just gobbled up. But grade A chances, the Canadians greatly reduced that in terms of the way that they played. And I think if they would have done so this weekend, the Canadians would be you know battling the Sabres for the top of the Atlantic right now.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, we'll get into Detroit tomorrow night, uh, as we spoke about the projections about starting goaltending uh for the Habs road game, the one road game they're gonna play there on a batch of um a good stretch of home games, with the outlier being tomorrow night, but uh back home against Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders. Um, let's get this question in here from our member surf who says Mason McTavish moved to the third line wing and has been a healthy scratch. Is it worth checking in on him?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, that depends on what your vision is for Michael Hage, right? Like if you if the Canadians feel that Michael Hage is gonna be the second line center, then maybe they don't check in on McTavish. That being said, I think you see a player like that get scratched, you have every GM is gonna check in on that. Because when does a young center that has put up uh you know good numbers in the NHL become available like that? And if the Ducks do move them, I mean listen, I would be remiss if the Ducks trade Mason McTavish and they don't get back at least a top four right shot defenseman or a prospect in the same age range that is slated to become a top four right shot defenseman. Like that, that's the only way I see the ducks doing it because they do have the necessary depth they're winning right now to play without McTavish in the top six. So if that's the case, maybe he is an excess on that team, and you could try to you know sell him to the highest bidder to improve your roster elsewhere, but that won't come cheap.

SPEAKER_00

You know, when you talk about the stability on defense and minimizing those passes in the offensive zone from the Boston Bruins last night, and again it's it's just one game. Uh, what's this? Uh LeBron.

SPEAKER_02

I do want to address this one.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, yes, and and uh Darren Dregger on TSN 690 with Connor McKenna and yours truly was uh very forceful in his opinion that it was not uh Matthew Nice of Washington, of course.

SPEAKER_02

Tell him to say hi to Keith Pelly for us. Um when it comes to uh when it comes to Nice, as we reported on this channel, two things were very true. Nice wasn't trade talks, the Canadians did talk to the Leafs, but no, the player that the Canadians almost traded for is not Matthew Nice.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and that's more or less. Dregor Dregor did mention and has mentioned this since kind of like that kind of hit the the the wire, I suppose, that um Montreal did touch base with Toronto. Um, you know, they asked around, but I don't know how how close, according to you know, a couple of insiders, but anyways. Um but apparently they were close on that our RHD, that that right-handed shot defenseman.

SPEAKER_02

And uh there were two there were two trades that basically were almost completed closer to the to to the later stages of of the three o'clock cutoff, which which is consistent with my next line of questioning, right?

SPEAKER_00

Because again, again, with the context being that they were looking at an RHD, that um the takeaway was a strong one on the new defensive pairings in the win over Boston, one game, right? But does this slow down the chatter around David Rheinbacker, Adam Engstrom, when he's healthy, does does does this slow it down a little bit, or it's still marching along that um Ryanbacker or Engstrom could be close to a call-up in your view?

SPEAKER_02

Well, Adam Engstrom is uh cleared, officially allowed to play as of right now, so he'll be getting in. Um uh we'll be getting into the play tonight, too.

SPEAKER_00

The the Laval plays tonight, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So he's he's in tonight. Uh, and so we'll see what's going to happen with that. Yeah, I think the Canadians I've all said this before I've said this before on this channel in a previous episode, but I believe that both of them are probably gonna get a game or two before the end of the season.

SPEAKER_00

But if you I mean, I'm not wrong to say that there was like this seemingly like a almost like a rush situation, gotta get them up, gotta get one of these guys up, right?

SPEAKER_02

That's a hundred and fifty thousand percent from the fans. Yeah. And I respect your anxiety, fans, but if you think like a fan, you will soon find yourself as one. And so that's why Kent Hughes is not in a rush to make a make a rut like savior kind of attempt here. They want David Ryanbacher to continue to show good things and then eventually call him up for a cup of coffee. Now, will that impact their offseason decision making when it comes to improving their defense? Perhaps, but they have to see how David Reinbacker continues to develop between now and the summer to make to be able to make a projection on him and to then act accordingly in terms of how do they go about improving their roster? Because you could go and get a right shot defenseman in the meantime and then also fit in David Rheinbacker next season and potentially move out in Alex Carrier. Like that's what it would do, it would give the Canadians options. So I'm not necessarily saying that going to get a veteran right shot defenseman is off the table, nor am I saying that David Rheinbacker might not be the kind of player that could be that play that role as soon as next season. I just don't think that the Canadians are in a rush to be like, hey, this has to happen like right now.

SPEAKER_00

It's gonna be a fun, it's I think it's gonna be a very fascinating offseason. You know, we talked about Kirby Doc on the up on the channel yesterday, uh, with his pending RFA status and and what his future is. You know, Doc out now two to four weeks with an upper body injury. Arbor Jackey is another restricted free agent. It's gonna be uh, I think a very interesting summer in terms of the decision uh and his future around the Montreal Canadians and and how management sees him, how they evaluate him, uh, and based on needs um in terms of deciding what happens next with with Arbor Jackey and also the goaltending. And I like this question from uh Habi Dabadoo. What it what if Dobesh is the real deal and now we have another halak and price all over again? What then? Uh to me that that's a good problem to have, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I don't think it's um I don't think it's a huge problem to have. Uh the only thing I would say though is halak and price had what a year and a half, two years difference. One was an 03 draft and the other one was the 05 draft. They were young rookies together around the same age. If I'm not mistaken, isn't Jacob Dilvish like 25? So uh yeah, sounds right, Jacob is at the point where like you want earlier to start getting established in this league. Yeah, Jacob is still very early on in this process. But if Jacob, if Jacob, Jacob and Jakob, if Jacob can continue to grow and Jacob cements himself as a starting NHL goaltender, well, when the time comes, you have the opportunity to deal from a position of strength if that's the way you want to go.

unknown

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

So I don't think it's a I don't think it's a problem. The reason why it was deemed problematic at the time with Halak is because there was a contract that needed to be signed that was coming up, and they had to make a decision on that.

SPEAKER_00

Isn't it the the unique pass that both of them took to get to where they are, to where now their teammates I was reading, was it Macklin Cellebrini was just like raving about Jacob Fowler in the USHL, Youngstown, Chicago, and and Celebrini called him the hardest goalie to score on, and you know, was in awe of watching Jacob Fowler. And then, you know, you had uh Dobesh with the Ohio State University, and and you know, didn't have, I guess, the same level of exposure to massive games the way Jacob Fowler did, you know, from the USHL, and then where uh he was a Boston college kid, right? Um, playing in some of those big games. Just very interesting, two very different pass that have now met, you know, at the same point, more or less at their journey to becoming NHL players. It's uh the goaltending position is such such a wild, unpredictable position, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, I don't think many people would have given much thought to the fact that Yaakub Dobish would have been a number one goalie or you know, a starting goalie in the NHL at the moment of his drafting. He was drafted as an overager, remember that, and took the long path to the NCAA. But he's a gamer and a student of the game, and you know, he's worked his tail off. Again, you have to factor in. Jakob Dobish hasn't had it easy in terms of his development path either. And when he came and joined the Laval Rocket as a rookie, he broke the record in the AHL for the most amount of starts for a rookie goaltender. Right. That's nuts.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, so you you do have to factor that in with him, and he's used to dealing with that kind of that kind of pressure and the lack of orthodoxy when it comes to the way that you know things go about for him on a day-to-day basis. The only thing I will add is I think the fact that Marco Marciano is around the team on a regular basis right now is going to help that help him greatly in terms of finding his niche in the NHL.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, from Zolak, do you agree? In the last five games, Oliver Kapanen has really improved. He's starting to create in bold letters grade A plays for his line mates. Agree or disagree?

SPEAKER_02

I've counted because I I'm specifically doing this because I know I'm gonna get flack for when I say this. Uh, I've counted three potential pass assists from Oliver Kapanin in five games. Not enough on a top six line. Now, he's had three also grade A scoring chances, and I'll give him that because man does Kapanin do a really great job at finding himself on the ice. Really good job. Like his positional awareness is so elite. And I really credit to him on this. It is the it is the single best thing in his game, and it is one of those things that you absolutely cannot teach with the amount of video that you do, his wherewithal and being able to read those plays and how quick he does it is just second to none. Now, if he could combine the where the situational awareness with long-range creativity, you'd have yourself a bona fide top six center. And I still like there's still room for him to potentially get there. I just have not seen enough of it yet. And I think yesterday was put on pulled full display. That line was not creating enough. And when they got time to getting into the offensive zone, they simply weren't distributing fast enough to be able to make stuff happen. It was mostly the defensemen that would have to come in and assist in that in that regard. So I felt like you want to see a little bit more from him in that regard. We'll see how uh how he's able, if and how he's able to up his game down this stretch.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, a little love for Marco from Chris here on your TJ Hughes article. Marco, you want to uh give us the Coles notes for those that that missed it or point them in the direction where they can read in depth?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well it's on uh I just posted it on on social media. I could put in the comment section after the video is done. But TJ Hughes is uh probably the top college free agent uh right now that's set to probably sign a contract at the end of his uh collegiate season. He is uh, for those that don't know, Michael Hage's teammate, as we speak right now with uh with the Michigan Wolverines. Um, it was really interesting talking to him because obviously he's one of the most performant players in the NCAA. Things are going well. Um, but you know, it was interesting to learn from this Hamilton Ontario native uh that he grew up a Canadians fan and that his uh favorite player growing up was Max Pacioretti, who, for those that don't know, is the assistant coach at Michigan right now, coaching both Michael Hage and TJ Hughes. Awesome. Um just a really, really fun individual, a guy that took a path less traveled, went to the AJHL uh to play for the Brooks Bandits, because back then you had to go uh midget A and midget B basically, like junior A to go to the NCAA. You couldn't play in Canadian Major Junior like you can now. So he took the Path Less Traveled, went to Michigan, started his career as a rookie playing with Adam Fantilli, Luke Hughes, and all those guys. Uh, and now is one of the leaders for the top team in the country and in in all of the NCAA. TJ Hughes to me is gonna be one of those guys that is gonna easily find himself an entry-level contract once Michigan season is done. I know the Oilers are interested. Uh, there's a handful of teams I've been told that are on his case right now. So it may not just be the Oilers. Uh, and I think, you know, if I'm him, I I wouldn't jump at the opportunity for Edmonton. I'd also maybe go like the way that Colin Graft did, where he decided to pick a team that's young enough, that's going places, uh, like maybe the San Jose Sharks, uh, that will be able to give him playing opportunities. So TJ Hughes is a name to watch over the next month, uh, likely to sign an entry-level contract shortly. But I wouldn't um I wouldn't think it would be with the Montreal Canadiens. The the Canadians are just too stacked uh in terms of their prospect pool.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, lots of questions about Alex Newhook's future here. And and this one summarizes it. When it comes to Kapan and a Newhook, can we agree that they belong in the bottom six in a cup contending year? They don't have permanent top six swagger in um half horse Habs fans uh perspective.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, you'll get no complaints from me on that topic. We've been talking about this since the beginning. Yeah, um, you know, I I love I like Kapanin's shooting ability, I like his situational awareness, I like his two-way game, but I think we can all look at him and say that as of right now is not a top six center. Can he develop into one? Absolutely, no one knows what the future holds 100%. But what I feel like is there's telltale signs, habits that a player exemplifies that allow you to perhaps read what it is that they can and cannot do on the on that ice. Yeah, and I just feel like as a top six center, you can't just be good at one thing, not in this league, not anymore. You can't just be a straight playmaker and maybe end up with like five goals, just like you can't score 25 goals and have five assists or 10 assists. It doesn't make sense. You have to be a dual thread, or else everybody sees you coming eventually. And I think that's kind of what's happening with with Kapanin to a degree is teams have enough tape on them now that they know how to counter a player like that. And now it's going to be up to Kapanin, knowing how teams are going to be playing against him, to be able to adapt his game to counter that kind of coverage and remain as as efficient as he was in October, November, and December. And he's fully capable of doing it. But therein lies the issue. Once you start making a name for yourself, once you start getting people's attention from a defensive perspective, it's it forces you to have to alter your game just a little bit.

SPEAKER_00

You know, um, I asked the question earlier: who's your favorite goal scorer in honor of Cole Caulfield dropping 40 on the season with 15 games to go projected for a 49 goal season? And you know, the chat brought up some good names. Marco had some good nominees. Uh, one person I think I had a borderline meltdown, uh, threatened to unsubscribe from the channel because no one mentioned a Montreal Canadiens player. And therein lies the one of the big differences, right? Uh, in terms of the demographic of certain people, where the Montreal Canadiens, for the better part of two plus decades, have not been known to be an offensive lights outperforming organization, right? I mean, you can look at Max Pacioretti, obviously, but outside of that, you know, you got to be in your 50s, and you know, pushing 60 years of age, you want to talk about Guy LaFleur and you want to talk about Steve Shutt. I don't know if we have anybody in the chat that was alive to watch Morris Richard ply his trade at the Montreal Forum uh, you know, 80 years ago or whatever it was, but it's just a testament to where the organization was, where they are today, where they continue to go. So I wonder if, like if I have another question for the chat, what would be the more boss flex in your opinion? Nick Suzuki's projected for 98 points. Would you be more impressed with a 98-point season or a 49 goal season from Cole Caulfield? Which one would impress you more? Captain hitting 98 or Caulfield hitting 49? I'm curious what the chat's perspective is on that because scoring goals in the National Hockey League is incredibly difficult. You know, only Nathan McKinnon has more goals. He's uh Caulfield, by the way, is also second in the NHL in even strength goals this season. So just to put it in perspective about how special of a year Cole Caulfield is having. And right now, Marco, it's 49 goals, 49 goals. Um, right now, lopsided in in terms of uh the question about 98 points for Suzuki projected or 49 projected goals for Cole Caulfield.

SPEAKER_02

Um, well, I mean, I think you're gonna give people with OCD a heart attack with these kinds of stat lines, but um, what I would say is 49 goals without even blinking. There is five, I think what, four players already right now with a hundred points.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, the race too.

SPEAKER_02

It's like 115, 111, 110. Three players with a with over 110 with 110 points or more. Yeah, well, cooperative. Dry sidle five points yesterday, and Dry Seidel's out for the season, or else he would have had a hundred points. Yeah, and then Macklin Cellebrini's there with 95. So you're probably gonna have four. You would have had five guys with a hundred points this season. There's still time, right? How many 50 goal scores are you gonna have this season? Right now, it looks like it's only trending unless someone pops off, right? It's only trending for one, maybe two. So I'm gonna have to go with Cole Caulfield.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, I mean it's uh scoring goals is what it's about, man. And it's uh he's having a very, very special season, Cole Coffee. It's it's a been a pleasure to watch what he does. Um, and how many what is it now? Is it 24 go-ahead goals this season? 24 tie-breaking goals, and and that's the what the what did I read? It was the third highest total in the season in the last 25 years.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. And the second player behind him has only 17.

SPEAKER_00

Isn't that crazy? I mean, what a what a special player, and also, I mean, just to that end, like you know, Marco joins Connor and I on Habs Breakfast Wednesdays at 805 on TSN 690, right? To break down games and and talk about what's going on with the Montreal Canadians as we do here. And you know, we talked about Martin St. Louis, Cole Caulfield. Marco, you were in the room. Cole Caulfield referred to MSL as his mentor to have a mentor like that as a coach to help him become the player he's become be turned into. He's not just a player on a goal scorer.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no, I mean it was just funny. It's uh yeah, I a hundred percent. If you're a smaller player playing in the NHL, you grew up watching Martin Saint Louis and Johnny Goudreau, and those were his two idols, it's not by chance, and that's why he was 13, right? Yeah, well, that's it. So, you know, the way that Cole talks about Martin is because Marti could really impart direct lived knowledge onto Cole, and that's what's helped him diversify his game, yeah, and that's why Marty is always so very much on him uh when it comes to you know developing more of a dual threat, which we saw on the first Canadian's goal. That started by Cole Caulfield and a strong play uh in that moment. Um, but again, like you know, I go back to it. Martin St. Louis has had such a profound impact sometimes that I feel like fans forget it when they call for his head because they don't agree with some of his uh from some of his stats. Some of the teaching that he has done, just imparting some of his own habits as a as a former player. Uh, you know, some of that, some of that is gonna never show up on a stat sheet, but you hear about it in the room after the games.

SPEAKER_00

I did wanna I yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02

I did see one comment here, and I just I do want to like circle back to it because I thought it was an interesting one. Um y'all write so much, I'm so sorry. It's gonna take a just a sec. All right, here. So David Morris had a really good point here, and I thought it was worth addressing. I think Kapanin has a bright future as a two C, but I think Demidov should be on the top line with Slavkovsky and Suzuki, and I think Caulfield should be on the second line. That's a fair point to make, but I think this setup would further exemplify why I don't believe that Oliver Kapanin has what it need what it takes to be a 2C because at least with Demidov on his on his line or Slavkovsky on his line, he wouldn't be tasked with play driving or setting up the play. If you put Cole Caulfield with him, you would need a center that would feed Cole Caulfield. So you would need a goal a center with vision that is able to make space for Cole. And I don't feel like Oliver is there yet. I feel like if you're going to do that kind of a setup, Michael Hage would be the center for Cole Caulfield because that is an individual with vision for days. That guy's got 2025 vision, like so this, and maybe Kapanin plays the wing in that case, or vice versa. But that would be the only way I would be able to see it. Because I just don't feel like he has that ability, that fine ability to to to thread the needle with the precise key kind of passing that you would need to feed a goal scorer like Cole Caulfield.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, as as you know, one commenter point, I hope we have two first lines, but for the life of me, I I I have zero appetite to break up Nick Suzuki and Cole Caulfield. I have zero appetite to do that, and to the point of having two first lines. I mean, I love tandems, and these guys have been playing together for a long time. I mean, why break up the Beatles essentially? I mean, these are it's a dominant tandem. Nick Suzuki's got 13 points since he's come back from Milano. I mean, the guy's playing unbelievably great hockey, and him and Cole Caulfield, they can they can find each other in a phone booth, man. They're just they're they're meant to play together.

SPEAKER_02

I I'm very which is ironic because neither of them have probably ever entered a phone booth, right?

SPEAKER_00

What's that? Is that what was that a blockbuster? Is that where you rent to go rent movies? Okay, boomer. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, I've been in I've been in one, I've used one.

SPEAKER_00

Don't worry, I'm I was gonna say, have you ever gone on a Friday night like movie rental run? Dude, I have achieved unc status. I know. Okay, because it I'll be honest, man, boomer or not, like going on a Friday night, Saturday night movie run was browsing the selection and stuff. That was that was that was good times, man. I I'm I don't say I missed those days, but I look back on those days fondly. It was a great experience.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, absolutely. I used to raid Blockbuster at the time.

SPEAKER_00

That was great. Overpriced snacks, half horse had blah blah blah. That name drives me crazy. Scotch funds, uh Hank Treat and Marco Scotch fund. MSL as a coach is like having Gandalf as your fellowship leader. He's hard and can be direct, but also incredibly caring, and he can talk to moths, probably. That's a that's a that's a full value comment. That's a full value comment.

SPEAKER_02

This this this whole comment is a 10 on 10. Yeah, we get Hank reference, we get Scotch reference, we get uh Tolkien reference. I'm good.

SPEAKER_00

Perfect. Absolutely. I have without question. I've had to call my parents from a big phone and my mom to come pick me up. I remember because they used to tell you, you know, if you're out late, don't be afraid to we're we're always up. Call us anytime. And I put them to the test. It's like, what are you calling me for? Well, come get me. That was the thing.

SPEAKER_02

Call me if there's anything. And then it was like, get it, and then it's like, oh yeah, no, I need to get home. It's like 1 a.m. and they're like, take a cab.

SPEAKER_00

I know. Um, there was also one interesting comment that I heard from Cole Caulfield after the game last night when he was talking about the win and the coach and how much MSL has helped improved his game. He at one point ref said that MSL is hard on them. I found that interesting. I don't hear like I've seen that from MSL, like at clips at practice and stuff, where he's like, Are you paying attention? Do you all understand this? Trying to drill something home. But did you find that as interesting as I did? That comment about MSL's hard on us.

SPEAKER_02

He expects a lot from them. I know like this is another stage in their development, and you're at the results point. So I think, like, you know, Gandalf was really mean to Marion Pippen. He called him, he called uh he called him a fool of a toque. No one, no one going off being like, hey, Gandalf was harsh against the hobbits, but they were, right? So how'd that work out?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I mean, listen, he gave a really good speech uh halfway through uh the return of the king, and things worked out. But there was a journey to get to that point, right? And I think that you can be hard on a player, you could expect more of a player, you can rattle them when they're not paying attention. Absolutely. But then when the when the media will ask questions on a certain player, he's gonna rip our heads off to defend that player, so it's two-way, right? In the room, he'll ask you something, and he'll he'll demand something of you, and he'll be that demanding because unfortunately that that's what it takes to win. And on the flip side, once it's done, he is gonna protect them inch, tooth, and nail from everybody else.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. Uh, Paul, if you go back to the video we talked about um with Laval Rocket, it's a game day for the uh for the North Division leading Laval squad tonight. And uh Marco letting us know that Anna Mengstrom has been cleared for active duties back tonight. Um, we talked about the possibilities of where the Canadians are with some of their uh new defensive tandem. So, as always, uh you can check back on this video, you can listen to it again. It will be uploaded on your favorite audio podcast platforms, and as always, like and subscribe to the channel. Uh Zippy Skippy, 61 minutes and done in the aftermath of the Canadians 3-2 win at home over the rival Boston Bruins. Crucial two-point pickup. MSL called it, he said it was the shaping up to be the game of the year. And uh glad for him and his team that they were able to pick up those two points. All right, Marco, that's it for us. Good stuff as always, and uh on to Detroit on Thursday night, and we'll be here to recap that for you. Enjoy the rest of your day.

SPEAKER_02

Sounds great, everybody. Have a good one. Thank you for being here.