Another MASSIVE Habs Win! The Canadiens Are GETTING HOT!

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/
All of your pets needs! https://littlebearonline.com/

The Montreal Canadiens pick up another big win, edging the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in a tight, playoff-style battle.

Zach Bolduc delivers the game-winner, Jakub Dobes stands tall in goal, and the Habs continue to show growth in key moments as the push continues.

We’re LIVE at 12PM to break it all down — biggest takeaways, standout performances, what this means for the Canadiens moving forward, and how this impacts the playoff picture.

Jump in the chat and let’s talk Habs hockey.

👍 Like, subscribe, and don’t miss the conversation.

#montrealcanadiens #hockey #habs

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

The Star and D'Amico show is brought to you by CheapestT-Shirts.ca. If you're looking for quality gear without overpaying, shop cheapesthirts.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 cheapest t-shirts.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 Cablatel. 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 Cablatel.com. Email them infocablotel.com. It's Cablotel. Peace of mind you can count on. 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, uh, hello and uh welcome, welcome, welcome to the Friday party. It's the Friday extravaganza, the afternoon that was the Montreal Canadians rolling up their winning streak the three consecutive games. Uh, can you believe it, you guys? The Montreal Canadiens won a 2-1 game in regulation over one of the best teams in the National Hockey League. Uh, welcome everybody to the Star Domico show. Right now, I'm going solo for only a few minutes. Uh, Marco D'Amico had a little bit of a family thing that needed to be taken care of today. Marco will be with us in just a few minutes. So stay with us. Uh, we're gonna dive deep into the Montreal Canadians uh going 2-0 on this two-game homestand. Now they are off on a five-game road trip. It starts Saturday night from Music City, USA in Nashville, and then a late afternoon on Sunday. And don't forget, I see lots of people already wondering about um our live show coming up at McClain's Pub, The Real Deal on Peel Street, uh Sunday afternoon. Marco and I will be there live starting at 4 p.m. We'd love a meet and greet. We'd love to see a bunch of y'all there. And don't be shy if you're in the house, if you're gonna come to McClain's and and spend some of the late afternoon with Marco and I, please come by and say hi. We are very much a um a friendly tandem, by the way. So, Marco again, Marco running a little bit late today, uh, had something to take care of, but just a quick reminder, he'll be with us in just a few minutes. Um, in the meantime, yes, lots of love for Hank, which I certainly appreciate as always. Hank is my delicious uh favorite rescue dog. Um, he's somewhere in the living room right now. I don't know if I can get him in here just to appease everybody, draw more viewers, you know. This is better than doing OnlyFans, I suppose. We'll do a dog OnlyFans. Um, Hanky, do you want to come say hello to everybody? People want to see you, Hanky. You want to be a good boy? You want to come see uh you want to come see everybody on the stream, Hank? And the answer right now is no. Um, yes, that that is the plan, my friends. Uh, coming from the gym this morning, right after work. I had a meeting after work today. And uh, so yeah, I'm I'm kind of running uh on fumes here after the Montreal Canadians big win. So, yes, lots of people uh ready to go, ready to celebrate. What a massive win that was. I can't wait to get Marco's take on the secondary scoring, which was absolutely huge, right? Uh Jaden Struble gets his first goal in 84 games. Uh Zachary Bullduck finally gets the monkey off his back and gets a big goal that broke the game for the Montreal Canadians. And what can we say? Have has this team finally found their number one goaltender after a few times? Because I think if we're being honest, right, and whether you feel it's fair to criticize Martin St. Louis or not, uh, they have had, and by they I mean Montabeau, Dobesch, the goaltenders with Jacob Fowler being called up um earlier this season, and now more or less as as the number two behind Jakob Dobesh. They've all had a chance to basically take the net and have it be theirs. And for the first time this season, I think we're seeing the semblance of a number one goaltender stand up and rise to the occasion. 41 saves in a career high performance in Tuesday's win over Carolina, 25 saves in the 2-1 win over Columbus last night. And very, very important to see not only do the Montreal Canadiens get that secondary scoring, massive game. I don't know if he's right now the most under the radar player for the Montreal Canadiens, talking about Noah Dobson and how valuable he's been, and more than just the offense, right? Like the balance of the six defensemen, the fact that now they've had stability with the Jaden Strubel playing alongside Lane Hudson. How good has Caden Gooley looked since he's been partnered with Alexander Carrier. And even though that is realistically like on paper, uh a third pair defensive tandem, Caden Gooley playing upwards of 21 minutes yesterday after and following up a massive hit parade on Tuesday in that win over Carolina. So um it's outstanding across the board. I don't know what like the overall consensus was when we went into this week with the four games Carolina, Columbus, Nashville, and then Carolina on Sunday. What did you think the acceptable point result was going to be? What should it be, right? And so far, four points on the table, four points in the bank as the Montreal Canadians hit the 90 spot in the standings, earning their 40th win in their 71st game. So they're four points back of Tampa Bay, six points back of first place Buffalo. And also the Habs did the New York Islanders a little bit of a solid as New York played a tight game in their own right, beating Dallas last night two to one. So the wildcard teams today, Boston and the Islanders, the Ottawa Senators who have played 72 games are one point out of a wild card. And can you believe it? The other thing that is not lost on me is the gap the Canadians have built uh between them and the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings on 84 points. There he is, without further ado, as promised, Marco D'Amico. Good afternoon, sir.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

How's it going, everybody? Sorry for the uh for the lateness.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

Yeah, better now, brother. There we go. Get that sorted out. Uh, no problem. Uh, you know, it happens, right? Um, and considering like, not that you were late on purpose, you know, you had a couple of personal things to take care of, but Marco, it's the second game in a row where the Canadians were a little late to get a little bit more involved. Carolina uh took them about 12, 13 minutes yesterday against Columbus, a pretty deep and a very, very good five-on-five team. What do you make of uh this week and the little bit of the developing trend of uh the Canadians? Um, I don't want to say sleepwalking sounds harsh, but a little late to the party.

SPEAKER_04 7:16

I part of it that you know, one of the things one of the elements that I've really kind of come across is both of those games were at home. The Canadians kind of had a feeling out process. Uh, they're two teams that are high like high shot ratio teams as well. So you look at those teams, especially in the first period, how many of those shots were truly dangerous, right? And I'm not excusing, you know, I'm not excusing the the Canadians for the way that they start. They need to play a full 60 minutes because again, you know, uh against the first Jesus Ryerson, well done. Uh first uh against the first period, um on uh against Carolina, they were coming in hard. Um, I felt like against Columbus, the Canadians are doing a better job of keeping them kind of to the extremes and stuff, so not that big of a deal in that regard. The one element that really kind of comes to mind is the Canadians are gonna get outshot against high um high shot count teams like Carolina, like Columbus, as they play that you know man-to-man style. Because what ends up happening is unless the wingers are playing higher in the zone, yeah, the offensive chances coming from the defensemen that are going to be shooting those pucks or opening up the ice are always gonna allow them to take high volume shots.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

You know, uh just be moments before you jumped on, uh, talking about Jacob Dobesh, and you know, we could go back to last December when he made his debut and shut down the Florida Panthers and went on a went on a great individual undefeated run. You know, my argument around Jakob Dobesh is kind of twofold, Marco. Um, we're seeing a number one goaltender for the Canadians emerge at the right time, um, playing so well against Carolina. Another unbelievable performance. Mason Margment, oh boy, um, this guy's expected goals. The Carolina Hurricanes had over like three and a half expected goals in that game. Only one, only one gets by Jakob Dobish. And again, I wonder if Lane Hudson were to do it all again, would he make that decision to pinch that resulted in the two-on-one without anybody behind him to cover up? But that's a discussion for for later. But right now, to me, the fact that he's been in the league for as long as he's been in, and I get he's still a rookie, Marco, but this is the best version of Jacob Dobesh we've seen so far. What do you make of how he looks, how he's performed, and talk to me about you know what he's been able to do and provide for the Canadians stability.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

I think that that's what it is, right? Like when the Canadians get outplayed, I'm gonna knock on wood when I say this. When the Canadians get outplayed, they don't necessarily lose those games like they did before.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:10

I think that's the biggest difference, in my opinion, is that you see them play with a little bit more confidence in front of him because they're not always allowing the first goal. They did against Carolina, they didn't against Columbus. That was a sweet goal by Jaden Strubble to open up the scoring. But by having a guy like him that's able to shut the door down early in case the Canadians fail to show up in the first 10 minutes, or in the final stages of the game, when they need those big saves and everyone's standing on their on their feet in the bell center and the the all the pressure is on. I just feel like when it comes to goaltending, yes, you need a goalie that's able to kind of give you those big saves. The Canadians have to continue to do a better job and playing in front of them, though, because again, it could have been very dangerous yesterday. You know, Fantilly hit a post early in the first period, Marchmont missed a goal that he would have scored nine times out of ten, twice on Sundays. Yeah, you know. So I think you have to be very careful in looking at the way that they're playing. But at the same time, the Canadians are also owed a little bit of puck luck considering some of the losses that they've gone through this season. I think back to the Ducks game where they were robbed of at least one point uh when the Ducks were able to get the go-ahead goal with a couple of minutes left in the game. Like those kinds of situations balance each other out. And I felt like last night against Carolina, they balanced each other out. Again, the only thing I've got to say is they've got to play more assertively in the defensive zone. And once they're able to start doing that with more regularity and being more aggressive on the puck carrier, that's when the Canadians are gonna have success. And we've seen instances of that, Sean, where they were aggressive in their four-check. You think of Ivan Demidov's uh, you know, breakaway goal against the Carolina Hurricanes, that was exactly that. So, you know, as long as they're able to play that style, they'll find success. They just got to keep doing it on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

And to your point about, you know, how other teams approach the Canadians, you know, the fact that there are 11 games left to go, and I don't know, is it a common thread that sews together kind of you know what doesn't help the Canadians? You know, puck possession teams, teams that can cycle well in the Canadians end cause problems for the Canadians. Have we did we see that in the first two games? If we if I go back to my opening question to you about these slow starts where Montreal just wants to chip it out, chip it out, chip it out, and and kind of release the pressure valve.

SPEAKER_04 12:48

You know, one of the one of the defensive um strategies that I enjoyed, for example, from Carolina, and you can tell that that's uh that's a playoff team. Uh, in in the fact that they have been uh through lengthy playoff runs over the last couple of years. The Canadians have this bad habit of trying to exit the zone by you know clearing it through the boards. Teams have caught on. So what happens? You generally have one, if not two four checkers from the opposition that are against the boards, ready to intercept those clearing attempts. Whereas a team like Carolina, they just lob it out. Who's gonna catch a lob? Yeah, no one because Zidano Chara has retired, so there's nobody that's seven foot tall on skates. Um, so I think I I I feel like that is an element where the Canadians, I feel like they they need to get quicker on that regard and consider lobbing pucks out of the zone. And on the on the other side, and this happened a couple of times, too slow an execution in the defensive zone. Like you need to make a decision quick. Uh, you know, sometimes two, three seconds to try to make a decision. Oh, puck gets poked, goes back the other way. We saw that a couple of times last night. So it's things that are gonna get short up, but at the end of the day, you know, the the what I enjoyed or what I appreciated the most is they still played a tight game in front of Jakob Dobish. It's not like they allowed 43 shots again, like they did against Carolina. The game got much tighter, much quicker after the first 10 minutes of the first period, more so I found, than against Carolina. So you're consistently seeing progress. And I do want to shout out that one of the players that really continues to impress down the stretch of late in aiding the Canadians and limiting shot attempts and being hard on players and making sure that those pucks are out of the zone quick. Caden Gooley has been absolutely excellent for the Montreal Canadians, listed as a third pair of defenseman on the stat sheet, but was the third most used defenseman last night again, and that's not by chance.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

No, you're 100% bang on just under 21 minutes yesterday uh yesterday in the 2-1 win, right? Nice to see the Canadians win a 2-1 game in regulation. And I guess further to your point, you go back to his performance against the uh Carolina Hurricanes in the 5-2 final. You know, he played again close to 21 minutes, Marco, but he had eight hits on the box score in that game, right? I mean, uh is it as simple as him playing on his strong side, and that's just where he's comfortable? And that peace of mind has allowed him to be the old version of Caden Gooley again, compared to when Strubel and Jack Eye were in a revolving door situation and MSL and Stefan Robida were kind of mixing and matching. Sometimes Gaden Gul Caden Gooley was on his weaker side, so to speak.

SPEAKER_04 15:44

Yeah, well, right now it's Lane Hudson that's on his weaker side. Yep, you know, a lot of people are gonna point that out. And I, you know, I think that it is a hundred percent what it really is, uh, when it comes to Caden Gooley. Is it with the moment he's able to find his mojo and you're able to put him on a third pair? Bless you, Sean. Uh you don't have to you don't have to worry about it, right? Like people are gonna be like, well, why would you have a player like Caden Gooley on your third pair? Does Marte St. Louis give a hoot about what his pairs look like after the first minute of the game? No, yeah, after the first three shifts, he mixes and matches according to the game, right? And if and I speak for myself here, but if Caden Gooley can take some minutes away from Mike Mattheson, then you're winning, right? And then you really bounce out, balance out the left side. The problem is the lack of balance on the right side. To me, the only capable right shot defenseman on this team right now is Noah Dobson. Again, a fantastic game yesterday.

SPEAKER_03 16:45

What a stud. How much I think the key's meant to this team, Marco.

SPEAKER_04 16:48

Yeah, well, I mean, you don't trade players like Noah Dobson, apparently. I've been told fans tell me this on a regular basis. But again, right shot top pair right shot defensemen are rare. And I'm I'd be willing to to put out a nice wager that the Canadians are going to be looking into uh looking into shoring up and balancing out the left and right side of their defense this summer. And of course, they're going to be looking at you know the development of one uh David Reinbacker in that regard. But you know, um right now the issue to me is or it's not really an issue. The the the the the understanding that you have to have that everybody has to have right now is Lane Hudson's play, playing on his offside up until last night, midway through last night. I think Martin St. Louis kind of saw it a little bit. He was over committing himself because there was nobody on the ice that was gonna be able to be able to produce offense. And then you saw a switch halfway through the the second period where Struble and Hudson started getting shifts with the top line in a shutdown situation. That was a huge nod to the cap to to Hudson to kind of get his play going, but also to Jaden Struble, who I thought has been playing rather well over the last couple of days. Um, again, nothing insane. Obviously, got the goal, so it's easy to say. But to me, his overall defensive play was uh was was very much there yesterday. And uh, you know, I know I could see it in the chats now. We keep talking about Arbor Jackey.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Oh my gosh, Marco.

SPEAKER_04 18:25

Like at this point, I I I'm gonna say this. This is the last time I'm gonna say this. Go ahead for the good of this fan base and for the good of that player. I hope he finds a home somewhere else this summer.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

I think that's all I'm gonna say with Arbor Jacke.

SPEAKER_04 18:38

I think it's being overdone to the degree of absolution at this point. Once the Canadians have a physical right shot defenseman to play on their third, uh second or third pair, and then David Reinbacher comes in, and then they're able to trade for an Arbor Jackey's type 7th slot defenseman when they reach their competitive window. We won't be having these conversations.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Dude, I mean it's it's wild. Like, even like you know, move them to forward, brother. You know how many forwards this team has that they don't even get to play, and one's coming in April in Michael Hage.

SPEAKER_04 19:10

Like, like I mean, I'm just I'm just tired. Like, we spend way too much time on that having players like Josh Anderson and Arbor Jacke in this lineup somehow make it so that the Canadians are tougher. They don't.

SPEAKER_03 19:24

They no, they they don't, and you know what? Guess what? Miles Wood still runs Lane Hudson with Arbor Jackai in that lineup yesterday. Well, Carolina still takes shots at 48, doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

Everyone's gonna take shots at 48. You can't this isn't the 70s, you're not gonna have policemen on the ice. I don't care about that reason. You need players that could play hockey first and foremost. You need if the play matched the profile, you do need a player like Arbor Jackey, but maybe the player is not Arbor Jackey, it's okay that those things happen, right? But like the cult of a fifth or sixth, like this is Victor Mete level stuff right now where when he was traded, the world was going to like the Canadians were doomed. Um, you know, like it enough, relax, it's gonna be okay. You cannot think that a player that plays 10 minutes a game is gonna be the be all end all that's it in a hockey game that's played for 60, if not 65, and in the playoffs, 60 plus minutes a game. It's fine. And what I would rather talk about is how damn good Caden Gooley has been as the three F D, and how he finding his game has rebalanced the Canadians' defensive pairs, in my honest opinion, with the only blemish being that they have to play a guy like Lane Hudson on his offside. Other than that, you know, I agree.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

And you know what? Like ultimately, it's that old crutch, that old hockey crutch people fall on um about toughness, so on and so forth. The Canadians have been in the thick of a playoff race um all season long. And as we get now within you know, 10 games after Saturday night, this is tough hockey. They've been playing tough opposition and they've come out more or less clean on the other side. So, I mean, that's all really I have to say about that. And you know, just to add, you know, I we spoke about Caden Gooley, but Marco, like I'm I'm of the opinion that as we get you know into game 72 from Nashville on Saturday night, D'Amico and Starr will be live at McLean's pub on Peel, the real deal on Peel, Sunday afternoon at four. And I see lots of people are our uh one of our members here, uh, um, horse fan.

SPEAKER_04 21:30

Horse Hab fan.

SPEAKER_03 21:31

Uh yeah, um coming to the meet and greet. Yeah, please come on and say come by and say hello. We'd love to meet you. Uh get some interaction with uh Habs Nation and the Star and Domico community and have attendees. But uh man, that's a great combo, brother. But to me, the stability, the consistency, Marco, of having six defensemen, six defensemen with the same pair here, hopefully knock on wood if it goes well, having these guys go all the way through game 82. So like You know exactly what you're getting. Come round one of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

SPEAKER_04 22:03

No, yeah. I mean, already talking about Tampa, this guy. Um, one thing, one thing that I would say, uh you're gonna have mixing and matching. That's the that's the luxury of having defensemen that are compatible with each other on more than one pair, right? Yeah, Lane Hudson. They the Canadian let's call a spade a spade here. The Canadian's best combination of two defensemen on the ice together at the same time is Lane Hudson, Noah Dobson. I think we can all agree on this. I test analytically, I think I think Mike Matheson and Alex Carrier as a pair works for now. And I don't think that Mike Matheson and Caden Gooley as a pair long term works. So you have a sp you have basically a balancing issue. The fact that you can use it right now is fine, it's fine. You're absolutely fine in this moment, but when the Canadians oh, I'm done. Sorry guys, we have a Hank sighting and a really good one at that. Like, I don't think that there needs to be like the TV time out for Hank. Um just to finish the point, when the Canadians are truly gonna be contending, I man, I would almost be sure to wager that we won't be talking about a lot of the players that frustrate you on defense.

SPEAKER_03 23:27

Agreed.

SPEAKER_04 23:28

That's all I gotta say on that. And if the Canadians would have gotten done what they wanted to get done at trade deadline, we wouldn't be talking about this.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

Hey, you know what, Playboy? Uh, we're that much closer to 14,500 subscribers on the Astar and Domico show. Um, thank you so much. We're at 14406. Let's smash that like and subscribe button as the Canadians push towards the playoffs and hopefully a top five finish in the Atlantic division. Uh, we'll talk about the out-of-town scoreboard yesterday. Uh, the Penguins lose Sidney Crosby to an LBI. Of course, he missed 11 games through the Olympics when he came back, and now he loses a second period of last night's win in a shootout. All of a sudden, the Penguins are winning shootout games when they couldn't do that pretty much all season, except against the Canadians. Um, so the Ottawa Senators pick up a point. The Tampa Bay Lightning lose a little bit of ground as we take a look at the out-of-town scoreboard coming up. But this one from Felix, thank you so much, Felix. Um, I'm looking at the next Bulldog. Um, Jim Hand is reporting that X on X that Owen Protts is signing his ELC soon. Any any news on this, Marco?

SPEAKER_04 24:35

Well, the answer to that question is what is soon because it's not imminent. You know, the Hamilton Bulldogs, sorry, correction, the Brampton Bulldogs, they moved. Yeah, uh, the Brampton Bulldogs are a wagon, you know, and they very much could win. Jesus Lord, they very much the Bulldogs could very much win uh the OHL in in its entirety, they're stacked. Yeah, I mean, geez, Jay uh Jay O'Brien, uh you know Marek Vannicker, uh Caleb Maholtra, Manny's son, who is more than likely going to be a top 10, if not top five pick in this draft. You have Owen Pratz on the left side, you have Adam Yurichek on the right side. It'll it might be a while before we see Owen Pratz, but the Canadians have to sign Owen Pratz by June 1st if they want to retain his rights. So damn Phil, I'm I'm sorry, you may want to you want you may want to get that checked out.

SPEAKER_03 25:36

Oh hello, Diane.

SPEAKER_04 25:40

You're a married man, calm down. Um, so Owen Pratz, I expect, you know, in my conversations with Owen Pratz, like we all remember the preseason game that Owen Pratz played at the Bell Center where he was just smashing people left and right. In my conversations with uh with Owen, you know, he was he was pretty straight up straightforward about it. He wants to get back to that, and he knows he doesn't have sexy statistics, he's never gonna be that offensive defenseman. But what he does well, I think is exactly what Montreal lacks, and it's that perfection of the open ice hit. It's playing very aggressive along the boards, it's being very um, you know, very uh proactive in clearing the crease, being proactive and tying up sticks, like just the classic, prototypical modern day defensive defenseman. That's exactly what he is. So I wouldn't be shocked if we see an ELC come his way, uh, before you know, before the uh the June 1st deadline. It all depends on when the Hamilton uh again, sorry, the Brampton Bulldogs old habits die hard. It depends on what the Brampton Bulldogs can eliminate. Once the once the Bulldogs are eliminated, I would expect him to sign an ATO, join the join the Laval Rocket, and then sign his entry-level contract for next season.

SPEAKER_03 27:02

Um, thanks so much, by the way, for checking out our Michael Hage video outlining you know the options for Michael Hage based on James Hagins of the Boston Bruins, the seventh overall pick uh with the Providence Bruins on an uh on an ATO, an amateur tryout, and what those options might look like for Michael Hage. We got close to 15,000 views on that video uh that we put out on Thursday on a game day. So thanks so much for the love and the support there. Uh, which takes me into this one from Matt. A few people Marco talking about uh big Michael Hage. He's in Albany, the New York capital today.

SPEAKER_04 27:34

Yes, sir. How many people knew that Albany was the capital of New York?

SPEAKER_03 27:38

I did.

SPEAKER_04 27:41

It's it's you know, everyone would assume it's New York. It's like people that think that Toronto is the capital of Canada. What correct?

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:48

But I will say, yes, Michael Hage has a big game today. Uh Michigan, number one ranked Michigan, playing against Bentley. Uh to later this, uh, later this evening, right? It's at seven o'clock, I believe. Five or five or seven o'clock.

SPEAKER_03 28:02

Is that the company? Is that are the he's playing the employees from the luggage and baggage store? I see in the little malls all over the place. Not that Bentley. Oh, never mind. That was a terrible joke. I apologize, everybody.

SPEAKER_04 28:11

Sean. We're gonna have to have a conversation.

SPEAKER_03 28:15

Proceed. I'll leave the dad jokes to you.

SPEAKER_04 28:17

Yeah, yeah. Jesus Christ. Um, so if if Michael Hage and Michigan lose tonight, I believe that would be highly improbable. Um, it would be the end of Michael Hage's season, and then the Canadians would obviously have a choice on what to do when it comes to Michael Hage. Does he sign an ATO? So an uh an amateur tryout for the American Hockey League, go to Laval so they can evaluate where his play is at. Because if his season does end today, there's two weeks before the end of this, the end of the actual NHL season, about 16 days, right? Still eight games, I believe, or sorry, 10 games, I believe. So there's still time. Um, and then you know, then at that point you evaluate if he's if he's shown that you know he's too good for the AHL, sign him to his entry-level contract, burn the first year, join the team, play out the last game or two of the season, very possible. But if Michael Hage wins today with Michigan, they play the regional final in Albany against the winner of Penn State and Minnesota Duluth. Penn State, for those that don't know, Gavin McKenna and uh Jackson Smith, first round pick of the uh Columbus Blue Jackets that the Canadians played last night. Um, so either that or Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota Duluth is very mature in the way that they play. Very, if there was a team that could be defensively structured enough to counter the high octane offense of Michigan, it would be Minnesota Duluth. So there is significant upset potential on Sunday. I still believe that Michigan is going to the frozen four and that Michael Hage will not be available for Laval or Montreal until at the earliest April 10th.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

Boy, oh boy. Uh the Canadian season ends April 14th in in Philadelphia. I mean, they got a match of Metropolitan, they just played two Metro teams, they're gonna come back and they're gonna play more metro teams. Uh Carolina Sunday, they got the Rangers, they got the Devils twice, and then they got the Islanders, the Blue Jackets, the Flyers, lots of Metro division, which to me is kind of stucky. I'd love to see more division games down the stretch, but whatever.

SPEAKER_04 30:30

What are you talking about? Silent. Why the fact that the Canadians don't have to play any more four-point games against their own division is a benefit at this stage. They have Tampa, right? They got Tampa twice, if I'm not missing. Huge, huge, huge. Yeah, Tuesday's game against Tampa is gonna be something else.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

Can't wait.

SPEAKER_04 30:50

Um, but you have Tampa, you have Florida, and then you're gonna have Tampa again when they come back to Montreal, right? Yep. So that's it. The fact that they only have three intradivisional games left is huge. Yeah, and then after that, it becomes the metro, and we know the metro is going through it right now as well, right? The Islanders won yesterday, Columbus lost in regulation. Yeah, like those there is potential where you either are the third team in the metro or you're out of the or your Deadville, exactly. Yeah, and then you you know, today Detroit versus Buffalo. It could be the end of the Izer plan today if Detroit wins, uh loses in regulation.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

Bro, the the the the the Red Wings are six points back of the Canadians, like my gosh, see a big thing. They were tied passing exactly, passing you on the Autobahn. Um, Montreal picks up a massive uh victory. Cuckoo Bananas has been this season. All somebody put that, get get our friends at uh cheapest t-shirts uh to put that on a t-shirt, uh, please.

SPEAKER_04 31:54

And uh we will get uh t-shirts done for this, I will I promise you.

SPEAKER_03 31:58

And also, um uh from John on Michael Hage. I you know, we did a pretty good job, I think, breaking down all the options, right? I mean, uh on Michael Hage on Thursday's video.

SPEAKER_04 32:08

I would be floored if Michael Hage went back to Michigan. Floored because you also have to factor in that team is expected to take a little bit of a step back next year, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Right?

SPEAKER_04 32:19

TJ Hughes, who is you could argue the number one or number two center, it's between them and Hage are the best one-two punch in the NCAA. But TJ Hughes is a senior, he is a hundred percent, has no choice, has to turn pro, so he'll be turning pro at the end of this season. And then you have Michael Hage that's kind of in a situation where you know, do I stay or do I go? Uh, you know, I believe with TJ Hughes gone, the way that Michael Hage has played this season, I you know, at this point, I think there's the Canadians would like him to get into the pro system, be it in Montreal or Laval. I would be very, very surprised. Something would have to go terribly wrong for Michael Hage to want to go back to Michigan. Everybody that we talk to around Michigan is under the impression that this is it.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

Uh, again, I encourage you to go check out our video that we dropped on Thursday. Uh, there's a there's the the title there with Michael Hage is on it. We got a Canadians and a Laval Rocket uh logo up on the on the on the graphic. So click on that, uh, give it a watch. Um, I think it's worthwhile if you're interested on the options. And uh Marco has his opinion, I have my opinion on the on the path for Michael Hage. So go check it out. In the meantime, uh Zachary, you know, the last time we did a live show at McClain's, Zachary Bulduk scored a goal. That was December 23rd against the Boston Bruins. Nice to see the kid getting rewarded, not losing the confidence. I loved his quote um before last night's game, Marco, where he talked about, you know, he's not that worried, he's not overstressing. He talked about how he still scores in practice, so he knows he could do it, right? And then gets rewarded with his physical play that has been, I think, so good for the Canadians, and then obviously scores the game winner. Like what you see from Zachary Bolt Duke's game, and and I would imagine a proud moment for Martin St. Louis is the coaching and the player development uh paid off in a massive way for the team last night.

SPEAKER_04 34:13

Yeah, absolutely. And I think you know, he's it it's been a long time coming, it's been a long time coming for him. He's played well, had a goal overturned, like he's fine. Um you know, it's the habits that you want to see, and you know, I I I just want to I had to find the comment because it actually will lead right into my point of view. But um, there was a comment that put out who uh in the Canadians bottom six will other teams be afraid of when it comes to the physical side of the puck. Yeah, but Zerk injured Dana Damon Seberson. That's a huge loss for Columbus if he's out for any amount of time.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_04 35:02

Um, he's been hitting left and right, physical, going to the boards, being, you know, like one of the things if you look, if you look go back and look at games, which we're all busy, I assume none of you are going to do, but if you if you do have the time, go and look at the way that that uh Balzuk used to forecheck before. He would come in and like spin into the forecheck almost like he was trying to like reverse clothesline a guy. Yeah, now he's coming in shoulder first and plowing, guys. There has been little differences. He comes in with an active stick, he come, he makes himself available. Joe Villeno actually was really he had a shift last night where he was just hitting everything. Um, so I really did enjoy that. But Balzuk Evans and Anderson, I 100% agree with Pauly here.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Me too.

SPEAKER_04 35:50

That is that crash and bang style that I appreciate, right? I do, I and I I think that if the only thing that I wish is that Anderson had a little bit more finish. That's the only thing I'm gonna say. But how long how many years have you been saying that? Basically, since the second year of his contract, he had a good first year, and then after that, I was just well, he did have a 20-goal year, so I'll give him that. But it's just so unfortunate. He's probably one of the most unlucky players on the Montreal Canadians. But yeah, uh Joe Villeno played a very physical and and overall game.

SPEAKER_03 36:24

I very much like did he maximize every minute?

SPEAKER_04 36:27

I mean, he didn't play a lot, but when he was out there, you noticed him that's what every time that is what you need from a player you insert in your bottom six. You don't play for 16 games. I don't give a hoot. You come in, you hit everything that moves, you give the double effort, you're the first man back. Like, that's what you want. And we didn't see that from Zachary Balzuk early on in the season. And a lot of people are gonna be like, Oh, he's having a terrible season, this and that. Balzuk was not a good five-on-five player in St. Louis. He, with respect, took full advantage of playing on the first power play wave with Robert Thomas and Jordan Cairou on their ridiculous playoff push last year, where Robert Thomas along with Nick Suzuki were the two most performant point producers after the Four Nations. But his five-on-five game, right? Now you're seeing what his five-on-five game could actually look like. The physicality, the pace, the fore check, the shot generation, um, you know, the the the one-on-one ability. Like that is what it's what they did with your eye. I find they they were really able to kind of uh diversify his game. And I think moving Balzuk away from being a power play, I hate the word power play merchant, but a player who is able to take advantage of open ice on the power play to a player that's able to create open ice at five on five, that's the difference. Yeah, and I feel like that to me, that progression is what's going to allow Balzuk to be a uh a value bottom six player, even if it's a third-line player, because eventually you're gonna need scores. You're gonna want this guy to continue to improve because if there is eventually an injury at forward on the Canadian's top six, he becomes another option where you can put him on the put him on the top six in a pinch, and he's able to bring that high octane, that motor, that those details. And I feel like that to me, like I'll give you a direct, quotable example. Jaden Strubel's goal, Zachary Balzuk in October would have taken that shot.

SPEAKER_03 38:43

Even I was screaming from my couch, shoot the puck. 100%.

SPEAKER_04 38:46

Yeah, but it goes to show that little bit of patience.

SPEAKER_03 38:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 38:53

I just like that to me is the details. Scanning, thinking, looking at the play. It's not about your goal total. He was rewarded for it, and you know, in the third period with a really strong play. It's about what is the right play? What is the read? What does the situation require of you? And that is something that Martin St. Louis and the coaching staff I know have been working a lot with some of the younger players on this team in the video room. Yuri talked about it a lot. That's why he's become such a presence in the bumper, is you know, working over that. The same thing applies to Balzuk. Where to be in the offensive zone, either on the rush, on the fore check, or when you know the opposition's trying to do the breakout, where do you need to position yourself? Where does your stick need to be? Where does your body need to be? That's what I've appreciated. The only thing I would like to see more from Balzuk is that play, that style of play that he plays in the offensive zone, in the defensive zone.

SPEAKER_01 39:51

Correct.

unknown 39:51

Correct.

SPEAKER_04 39:52

Because if he's able to bring that crash and bang style along the boards or to the high point uh on the defensive zone, he's gonna be a handful when it comes to those players to those teams that love to take shots from a distance.

SPEAKER_03 40:04

That's fair. And I'll you know, again, not that you need reminding, but you know, this is still after Chicago made their moves at the deadline. Montreal now the second youngest team in hockey, right? I mean, it's still a very, very young team. There's so much more room to grow, which takes me to number 93's performance. Boy, did Columbus do their work on Ivan Demidov. I would imagine they watched the game team against Carolina. Now, I mean, they basically gave him close to zero free ice to operate.

SPEAKER_04 40:29

He still made things happen.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

He did, but he got trucked a couple of times, you know.

SPEAKER_04 40:33

Yeah, but that's normal. That's absolutely normal. I mean, as he gets he develops more and gets bigger and stronger, and you know, he's gonna be able to maybe withstand some of those checks. But I think with with Ivan, like one of the things you need to keep into consideration, he went from being a pure skilled player to being a guy that's like hitting guys in the corners and like cross-checking guys.

SPEAKER_03 40:58

No, he takes contact. I love that about him. I love that about his game.

SPEAKER_04 41:01

Me too. It's for because I used to watch him a lot in the KHL when he was playing for ska, and you didn't see that element in his game. Like sometimes the odd play where you'd see a highlight reel of him hitting a guy and then going back the other way. Okay, but you're seeing it with regularity. Like, if you didn't know he was Ivan Demidov, you would assume that he was just like this, you know, uh lunch pale, blue collar kind of player because of the effort that he shows when he's on the ice. That's what I appreciate from him because then the then the the vision and the IQ and the hands come out, and that is what's going to make him a star in my mind, because he just doesn't give a hoot about playing to the extremes, always pushing for the center of the ice, and that's what I love about him.

SPEAKER_03 41:50

That's that's two hoots from Marco D'Amico. One more. Every everybody gets a hat. Love it. Um, there's Marco Domico. I'm Sean Star. Hit that like and subscribe button for daily habs content. Don't forget we're gonna be live. This is what I meant. Uh I um on 93's game. Uh, looking forward to seeing so many of the Star and Domico community at McClain's Pub Sunday afternoon, starting at four o'clock for our live show. Come by and say hello. Uh, we'll be there as we get ready to set the table again for the Carolina Hurricanes. And for me, Marco, it makes sense. It makes sense. Jacob Fowler against Nashville on Saturday night. Dobesh gets an extra day, Dobesh gets the extra day's rest. Back to Dobesh and Carolina on Sunday. You got a thought on that?

SPEAKER_04 42:30

Yeah, it's I mean, if that happens, it's and then this isn't uh, but if that happens, it's what I thought would have been the logical way of going about it. Now, granted, sure, Dolbech played a hell of a game against Columbus.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

Uh, he's had a hell of a week, brother.

SPEAKER_04 42:45

Yeah, but I think he played a hell of a game against Carolina. So when you agree, when he plays the way he played against Carolina, I think he deserves the game against Columbus. I would I agree, I would still give Fowler Nashville because you just it would be a week between play.

SPEAKER_03 43:00

You just gotta play a once a week minimum.

SPEAKER_04 43:04

And you know that Fowler is playing one of the Florida teams next week. You know it. You're not gonna be in Florida and not play Jacob Fowler, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

Like, you know, they call he's Gator, he's gotta play. Gator gotta play. Gator gotta play.

SPEAKER_04 43:21

Uh so I think personally, I think they go Fowler Dobesh, Dolbesh Fowler. I think Dobish gets Tampa, and I think Fowler gets the Florida Panthers. Okay, and I think that's the way they go with it.

SPEAKER_03 43:38

Um, the start of uh five consecutive away from the Bell Center, Montreal won't return home.

SPEAKER_04 43:43

Which is like perfect timing for me because as my son leaves the hospital and is home now, all the games are away. So perfect a little bit of a break from going to the bell center at the perfect time.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

You know what we say? It was meant to be. It was meant to be timing. Uh Montreal's back.

SPEAKER_04 43:57

He was born, he was born to watch the Olympics. And he's come home exactly as the Canadians go in a stretch.

SPEAKER_03 44:03

And I'm glad you know life comes at you fast, you know, and already um you're the Mr. Young D'Amico at home. Um the dis of the bitter disappointment of the USA winning gold over Canada. And nice to see, by the way, nice to see Nathan McKinnon scoring left, right, and center, scoring into up to empty nets. He's on 48 goals now. Congratulations, Nathan McKinnon. You're doing it. Bravo. Cole Coffield, by the way, could have had another multi-goal night yesterday. My goodness. Oh my gosh, how he missed that, how he missed that shot goes goes high above Jet Greaves, who just another great storyline, by the way, in the NHL. This undrafted goaltender for Columbus is having a uh a phenomenal season.

SPEAKER_04 44:38

You know what's ironic about Jet Greaves? What he's fantastic for for the Columbus, right? He's taking over his job.

unknown 44:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:46

You know what Jet Greaves was doing last year this time? He was the number one goalie for the Erie Monsters. Huh. As they played Jacob Fowler and the Laval Rocket in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 44:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:59

And Jacob Fowler outplayed Greaves at that point. So I'm not saying there's a direct correlation, but what I would say is, you know, I'd be I'm very interested to see what kind of goaltender Jacob Fowler is going to look like next year.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Oh my god. I don't disagree. Uh, was there ever was there? Am I missing some was there a lot of hype around Tyler Thorpe? Has it died off?

SPEAKER_04 45:23

Well, I mean, the hype. Tyler Thorpe to me was always going to be, you know, fourth line bottom six physical winger. Um, as the hype died, I don't think there was hype to begin with. I think again, he's he just turned 20 years old, like like Jack Eye last year. Like he's a young player in the American Hockey League, getting nothing but bottom six minutes. You know, to me, it's you'll see how it evolves, but I don't think that you know Thorpe was drafted to be a point producer. If he was, they would have him higher up in the lineup, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:58

And that'll come with time. They're in no rush with him. And I think that's great because he can work his way up and eventually get to the point where he could produce or he can get an opportunity, right? Because I feel like ultimately his tool set is what they're looking for, and they're able to kind of bring him in and you know do his thing, but there's no rush because he was a late born, he was able to play in the AHL a year earlier. So this is all you know, this is all gravy. I'm very interested to see what he looks like next season because there will be a certain level of turnover at forward for the Laval Rocket.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

I find uh something that's developed interesting. I'm curious about the timing of it all. I guess the coach has decided to flip a switch, right? I mean, if there's anybody that knows competing, I mean, it got him all the way to the hockey hall of fame and became a Stanley Cup champion in Martin St. Louis. But the fact that he's being so protective of the lineup, media blackouts on goaltenders. I don't know how many people in the chat saw the press conference that Martin St. Louis had when various members of the media were kind of pressing him on the on the lineup and and the secrecy and and the questions around, well, why now? Why aren't you telling us? Kind of we want to know. Listen, you know, I come from the media landscape. I'm not a journalist, I'm a talk show host by by by profession, I guess. Um, but I always believe that a journalist's job is to provide information to the public and dig in on questions. I'm curious, Marco, as someone that's around the Bell Center, that's someone that has asked Martin questions that has been in this many press conferences for many years. I'm I'm curious what what you made of Martin St. Louis kind of um interesting press conference and the timing of the secrecy of the of the lineup, the cachet of the lineup. We're not telling anybody. You only found out about Alex Texier's LBI, you know, not long before Puckdrop.

SPEAKER_04 47:52

I don't want to address it. Because if I say something on this, I'm gonna get in trouble.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

From who? Well, you don't have to be controversial. Well, listen.

SPEAKER_04 48:07

Do I think the makeup the makeup of the Canadians bottom six and who their starting goaltender is going to be, and who the seventh to sixth or seventh defenseman is gonna be is some sort of strategic faux pas to know beforehand. I do not. And I understand that they're getting into a situation where they're getting into the playoffs, yeah, but I don't think that Rob Brindemore and Rick Bonus gave a about who play, like if Josh Anderson was healthy, or if Alex Texier was good to go, or like I don't think anyone cares. And so, like, these are semantics right now, and I get it. By him protecting his players and all the questions around why is this player injured, why is that player injured, you're putting less press out there on that. I get what what's happening, and I understand his stance, my two cents, you know, a little bit a little bit less John Tortorello.

SPEAKER_03 49:17

Right. Okay, that's fair. Yes, and just so I'm clear, I I work for the rights holders of the Montreal Canadians. I I understand it's it's more his it's more him that has to be careful than me. Trust me, I understand staying in the sandbox. I've been in several meetings, several um meetings about that exact term staying in the sandbox. So trust me, I get the sensibility. And for the record, for the record, I love I also I love I love that personally, I love the tactic, I love the mental side of getting your guys ready. It's playoff time, no edges for anybody. Let's stay sharp, let's stay hyper focused. I'll I'm all about the intensity. So I'm a fan of it.

SPEAKER_04 49:56

Yeah, I'm with it. I'm with it a hundred percent. Yeah, the only thing I that I would say is you know, rallying your guys by trying to make the media look like the bad guys for asking what the lineup looks like.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:15

Maybe not the play. Yeah, maybe not the play because there are no expectations on this team from a media perspective right now, and barely from a fan perspective. It's just try to make the playoffs, right?

SPEAKER_00 50:26

Exactly. Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_04 50:27

Where are we gonna get to as a relationship between team media and fans when actual expectations are gonna be put on them? What we're gonna not find out about the rosters in December because we're in playoff mode, like so there are two ways there there's an there's a balance that needs to be, and I respect that balance. This is why I'm not throwing the team under the bus. I just wish that it would be done in a way that was a little bit more conducive to collaboration. Yeah, and I'm I'm a peace guy. I'm that's all that's the only thing I say when it comes to that. Other than that, I respect the heck out of Martin St. Louis, I respect the heck out of his tactics to protect his players and not have story after story after story on minute players. But you know, when it comes to these players, I don't think internally, I don't think internally there is the level of expectation that there is externally. I think internally Martin St. Louis is trying to get this team to go from wild card perspective to one of the top teams in their division. So that I understand. But like you don't have to question media members' intelligence, is all I gotta say. Like, that's fair.

SPEAKER_03 51:52

That's fair. That's all we say. We can move on. Um, yeah, Marco, they're they're one point away from tying their total last season. 91 points is where they finished, and it got them at the eighth. That was points 89 and 90 last night. Um I'll be I'll put my hand up. I I don't know. My expectations weren't that they were going to be a lot better points wise in the standings. I honestly I do I wasn't expecting this team to be as dynamic with their consistent goal production. I mean, is it just the combination of uh of how fast they play, the fact that Suzuki, Slavkowski, and Caulfield have all leveled up, that you've seen this tremendous growth. I mean, they're they're gonna leave the 91 point total in their dust with 11 games to go here.

SPEAKER_04 52:44

It's crazy how the turntables. Hey guys, last year, 91 points you were able to get into the playoffs. Yeah, this year may require 100 in the east, it may require 91 in the west, though, because god almighty is a badge. Jeez, Nashville is 77 points, they're wild card two. I know it's nuts. Yeah, it's nuts. There are like 10 teams, 11 teams in the east that would be in the playoff picture in the west. It's nuts. Yeah, but I think when it comes to um when it comes to the the race itself, they're gonna have no choice to keep pace and to be that aggressive and to maintain you know the way that they're going. You know, right now, as you said, the way I see it, if the Canadians win six of their next 10 games, they're in. Doesn't matter what happens. I think 100 points is the magic number, and you're crazy, yeah. But you know, got to get there to get there, right? And that's if, of course, and we've talked about this, you look at some of the teams out there. Buffalo plays Detroit, Buffalo plays Ottawa, Buffalo plays Tampa again. Like there could be some fluctuation from outside of the Canadians' control. This is where this the last 10 games of the season gets extremely interesting, and that's why it's important for the Canadians to have games like they had this week where they can help control their own fate. But it's also gonna be interesting to see how other teams, like for example, Ottawa losing in overtime last night and the Islanders winning, the Islanders jumped jumped ahead of the of the Senators, right? So that's gonna be the case right now. Everyone's gonna be flip-flopping, but the Canadians, thank you know, thankfully for the fans here, have been giving themselves a significant cushion, or at least a significant cushion at this stage of the season, given the way the East looks. If the Canadians can win one of the two games this weekend, they'll have six points out of a possible eight this week.

SPEAKER_00 54:45

Uh wild. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 54:46

That was my personal minimum that needed to come out of this this these four games. So five is is fine if they get one point in the next four games, kind of obviously a downer, but a little bit, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:00

Considering, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:02

But I think you have to you have to take that into consideration. One, you know, two to three points doesn't look like much, but when there's ten games left in the season and there's a lot of intradivisional teams and you're not playing in your division, things can move rather quickly, you know. Yeah, I think Detroit could be out of the playoff race entirely if they lose in regulation to the Sabres tonight, right? So it's things to consider as as teams are kind of pushing, and obviously, health is a big deal in that regard as well. But yeah, I felt like a guy like Nick Suzuki last night showed exactly what he could do at six on five to keep the Canadians in a in a winning scenario. Um, I think Yaqob Dobez shows he can do that. So the more that this team is able to play and lock down, the better they're going to be when it comes time for the playoffs to actually begin.

SPEAKER_03 55:54

And I mean, whether it's sustainable or not, you know, the one thing I've noticed this week, Marco, and again, I'm gonna give credit to Martin St. Louis, who was preaching publicly about certainly the Kapan and Demidoff and new hook line, you know, why you saw their ice time dramatically cut last week, playing nine minutes, playing 10 minutes, Demidov getting power play time, but five on five time was in the nine-minute kind of threshold. That he wanted them to play more on the offensive zone. Have we not noticed in the Carolina Columbus games that the second line, the third line, Phil Danot puck possession, the Jake Evans line with with Josh Anderson, have you not noticed more sustained pressure in the offensive zone, mucking up in the corners, cycling down low, keeping the puck there and playing less on defense? That's been something I've noticed. And whether that's sustainable, if that can be sustainable, that could be a little bit of a game changer as the games get tighter in the playoffs round into form here.

SPEAKER_04 56:45

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And I think getting that secondary scoring is gonna be a key in the playoffs. You need that secondary scoring.

SPEAKER_00 56:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:54

And if you're not getting it, it's gonna be very difficult. You're gonna need an insane old game like what we saw from the top line against the Islanders to hope to run away with it. And even then you had contributions from other lines, right? So I I think it's essential, especially when you're playing uh on the road, you need all of the uh all the four lines kind of rolling, playing their role and and and generating offense. The one thing I would say though is I I do believe that in the end, you absolutely need to find that level of offensive stability. Once you do, your team becomes a machine. And I think that's one of the reasons why the Canadians, who have been one of the highest scoring teams in the NHL this season, you're seeing far more discipline in their in their approach. Like if it doesn't become a rope a dope game like we saw with the Islanders that just got out of hand, yeah, it becomes very tight, very structured games. We didn't see that at the beginning of the season. And I think that kind of you some may call it boring. I thought last night's game was amazing in terms of action, but those kinds of low-scoring games are what win you Stanley Cups. So the more they get used to being able to play that, the better off they're going to be, not only just for this year's playoffs, but as their window opens in the years to come.

SPEAKER_03 58:18

Uh, is there anything else from last night's game that maybe you know we I or you didn't in didn't touch on that is worthwhile bringing to the table? Um, considering again, I I love me a good old goalie game, a 2-1 final, beating again the Columbus Blue Jackets. I mean, they they've completely turned the script flipped the script and turned their season around on January 12th. Rick bonus comes in from that day, Jan 12th up until last night. I think it was them and the Buffalo Sabres that were tied for the most wins in the NHL. Top 10 team in in five-on-five scoring. The Canadians kept Zach Werenski quiet for the first 20 minutes of the game. Great job identifying a game-breaking Norris trophy candidate defenseman and minimizing the damage. And they kept them at bay. I mean, what else? Is there anything else that got kind of stood out that you want to elaborate on?

SPEAKER_04 59:06

I just thought that to me, last night was one of Nick Suzuki's best defensive performances of the year.

SPEAKER_03 59:13

Yeah, and no points, right? There you go. There's one of those that doesn't matter, right?

SPEAKER_04 59:17

When we're talking about Nick Suzuki for Selke, and the argument is he doesn't play on the penalty kill. My counter-argument is, yeah, but he's the Canadian's best shutdown center at five on five, and he's always on the ice at six on five to help protect the lead, and he does it to such a quality level that if he played on the penalty kill, this and regularly for that matter, because he does play on the penalty kill, but if he played two minutes on average on the penalty kill, this would be a runaway for Nick Suzuki this season. He is the best defensive player in the NHL right now, as you know, and it's arguable if with Sach Shabarkov being healthy, but this year he is the best defensive player in the NHL. And I would go one step forward if the Canadians had more quality depth in their lineup in the middle six, yeah, and he would get regular power play like penalty kill time, it would be just insane. It would he he would be running away with it. The only thing I would say is that you know Nick Suzuki is one of the most overused players in the NHL. And that's not a bad thing. That's that just goes to show you how important he is as a player. But I think he's Montreal overuses him so much that he can't be used on the penalty kill to that level, and they also use special teams to give you know role players more minutes like Jake Evans, like Phil Deneaux, like Josh Anderson, because or else those guys uh would normally be getting you know 12 to 13 minutes instead of 15. So I get the play. But as Doug Armstrong said, when they pick Nick Suzuki for Team Canada, he is one of the best available defensive players that we can get. The fact that he doesn't play on the penalty kill in Montreal is a strat, is an internal strategy issue and not a skill issue.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:18

You know, speaking of individual hardware, um Jakob Dobesh picked up his 24th win as a rookie for the Montreal Canadians, tying Carey Price, leapfrogging Patrick Law last night. Is there an argument to be made that if he continues to put up a few more wins, Marco? I'm not saying he can get to 30. That would be a monumental task. But the what he's meant, a rookie helping backstop a Canadians team to a playoff, I mean, is it too far-fetched to believe that he could be a finalist for the Calder, considering everybody knows it's Matthew Schaefer's trophy. He's got a hand and a half and a foot on it at this point.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:58

But yeah, I mean, out of the because right now it's it's Schaefer, Demidov, Seneca. Yeah, those are the three. If you then had to throw in rookies to the to the mix, I think Jack Greaves also uh qualifies as well. I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure Greaves qualifies. Uh, I will just double check, please bear with me. But um he no, he does not qualify. I stand corrected, and I apologize.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:26

Um is that an age thing?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:29

No, it's because you have to play like if you play six games, two seasons with six games or more, you're not considered a rookie anymore. And he played um nine in 23-24, and then 11 last year in 24-25. So I don't believe he is a rookie this year. Um, but you look at Jakob Dobesh, right? Jakob Dobish to me would be the arguable number three or number four. Yeah, he's played better than Wallstead, in my opinion. I think Wallstead was an interesting player at the beginning of the season, but there's like you know, I I I I think we've seen a slowdown. It's still great numbers, you know, 912 save percentage in 31 games. Um, but he's not playing much as much of late, and there's a reason for that. Whereas Dobesh, Dobesh is playing lights out for Montreal, and you know, his numbers continue to increase on a regular basis. You know, prior to uh the Olympics, he was like an 8-8 something, and now he's an eight-nine-eight after yesterday. And I'm pretty sure by the end of the week next week, he'll be above 900s. And considering you know how wild of a situation the Canadians were in terms of a defensive scenario, I think that they were you know not kind to their goalies in general. Yeah, eight nine eight is pretty damn close to where they want him to be. If he could be in the 900 range, because being in at the 900 range playing 16 games is one thing, yeah. Being at the 900 range playing 36 to four, like he's at 36 now, he's probably gonna play somewhere between 40 to 45. That's a completely different beast. Um, hold on a second. Marner will would win a selkey before Suzuki and Marner gets used on the PK. Martin has been terrible defensively.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:23

Yeah, no, not this year, brother.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:24

You have not watched the Vegas Golden Knights if you believe they they like they Yenny Gord's there.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:31

Um Noah Cates is there in that conversation. If we're talking about uh uh what's his face from Ottawa, um Amad was it Amadio, another guy. Um that's getting some some some Selkie love. But excellent, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:46

Yeah, he's been played well. Yeah, he's been playing well, but again, I for we go back on Suzuki, you know, I feel like the Canadians would be a far better team if Suzuki played regularly on the power play. That's my two cents. You overuse him, I understand, but I feel like when the Canadians have an established, legitimate number two center, we may see the strategies shift a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:08

I'll go down. It's funny. I was speaking to um to an executive from Toronto today, and we were talking, he was you know, he's he's marveling at the Canadian situation, right? I mean, if Ottawa doesn't make it, I mean it's you know, Edmonton, whatever, and that uh what McDavid called the pillow fight Pacific Division. Um, and the a lot of eyes, a lot of eyeballs are going to be on the Montreal Canadians, and Star and Demico are gonna be covering it like a blanket for you, as we have all season long. But he was amazed when you know he was talking, he couldn't believe the last time a Montreal Canadian player at 100 points or 50 goals, the fact that Nick Suzuki's on 62 assists, something that hasn't happened to a Habs player, a Habs Ford in 35 years, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:48

He's the only Canadian's captain to ever record 60 right assists.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:52

Time goes by fast, and it's amazing what this team has collectively has done is one of the youngest teams in the National Hockey League all year. It's an it's an incredible achievement. It's an incredible season, in my opinion, regardless of what happens in the playoffs. But they look more prepared to me for a playoff fight this year than they did last year against Washington.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:10

Yeah. Yeah. But you, you know, I think they're better equipped to play a team like that. And the other thing is the team toughness angle has improved as well. And you see it. Yuri Slavkowski is a beast out there now. Ivan Demidov is just fearless in that regard. Zachary Balzuk is becoming more of that crash and bang kind of forward with the shot. So you you see those elements come in, and then obviously Caden Gooley now stepping into form and playing a very physical game, something he didn't do in the playoffs last year when he was coming back from injury.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:42

No doubt.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:43

Um, you know, so I think they're better equipped this year to win a round. My two cents. The question simply is who are they going to play? And we'll have a clearer idea of that next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:53

Hey, I know everybody in the chat loves my dog Hank. Marco loves him. I love him too. And I get the best for my pet at Little Bear Pet Supply. Littlebearonline.com. It's their spring saving event. You can save up to 50%. So toys, bedding, clothing, food, you name it. Go to Little BearOnline.com, place your order. The uh the discount will be applied at checkout. Uh, we love to support Montreal companies with Star and D'Amico, like our friends at cheapest t-shirts and the best in home security, state-of-the-art technology at an incredibly affordable price. Check out cabalitel.com. Our friends at InstaCustoms. Again, you need gear, you need um, you got tournaments for your kids, you got a bachelor, bachelorette party, you want funny stuff, you want to design your own, you can get all that done at InstaCustoms. And don't forget, we're going to be live at McLean's pub, the real deal on peel, Sunday afternoon, starting at four o'clock. We'd love to see you. Don't be shy. Come over and say hello. You never know. We might have something in the closet to give your way.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:48

And we'll be there to watch the whole game. So make sure to stick around so that you can join the watch party. I know we already have at least a good dozen uh individuals that confirmed, and I have to check my DMs. It's been a busy morning, but uh, we should be a good 20 people uh already that are gonna be there for the watch party. If you guys want to come and join in, uh by all means, please do. Uh, it'll be a pleasure, and I know it'll be a good time. Uh, Sunday games, especially Sunday like afternoon-ish games, always a good time because you get to go home at the end of those games and your day's not already over.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:20

No kidding. I preach. Uh I wish more games were like that for my own lifestyle. Not gonna lie, but that's me being selfish. All right, man. Enjoy your Friday. Go have fun with your uh familia now that the sun is home. That's great news.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:33

Yes, absolutely. I think we're gonna have a great time at home today and obviously take advantage of the fact nothing. Um, nothing. That's the whole point. Just chill and marvel at you know, a little baby.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:45

You got family coming over this weekend? They're gonna come hang out with the baby.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:48

My mother is literally in the living room right now.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:50

Uh well, give her my best. Awesome. I know she's a fan of the show and listens all the time. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:55

So again, thank you so much for guys uh you guys for watching. Apologies for being a little late today. Um, and then for everybody else, we'll have more content coming at you. Obviously, we'll have a couple of lives this weekend to uh go over you know uh what happens Saturday, uh Sunday morning. So make sure we are doing a live on Sunday afternoon at McLean's, but we will be doing a live Sunday morning to recap Saturday's game as well. Right. So be sure to catch that. And the best way to do that is to like and subscribe so that you could be notified whenever we go live. So in general, have a good day, everybody, and thank you again for being a part of the show.