Clearing The Crease Podcast

Razor and Commie are brutally honest about the Dylan Larkin situation... CTC 84

• Ozoon • Season 3 • Episode 84

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On today's episode of Clearing the Crease, Mike Commodore, Andrew Raycroft and James Cybulski prepare for Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, while also recapping all the hottest news across the NHL - from Dylan Larkin asking for a trade, to slapshots off the dome and much much more. All that and more on Clearing the Crease!


SPEAKER_00

I mean, I guess some players these days, you see players terminating their contract, but he ain't walking away from the city.

SPEAKER_03

Oh no, you don't do that. Don't do that, Darnell. Whatever you do, don't do that.

SPEAKER_00

You got pride, but you know what? There's pride and then there's principle.

SPEAKER_01

You got the rest of your life. Don't terminate that contract, Darnell. Don't fuck it up.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, take the lashings from Spectre and move on with your nine million. Yeah. Yeah. Laugh.

SPEAKER_01

When you fly home, you fly private.

SPEAKER_02

Clearing the crease.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome back to another edition of the Clearing the Crease podcast, powered by Ozun. Well played and well played for you tuning in to this rockstar episode. We got Kami, we got Razor Stavalski here hanging out with you. And just a reminder, everybody, if you're enjoying the show, content that we're bringing you between the podcasts, the add-ons on social, make sure you're mashing that like and subscribe button. Leave us a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. And make sure you're following along, whether you're on YouTube or Instagram, X, TikTok, or wherever else you're finding us and whatever algorithm, because we are popping up everywhere. So and don't forget, everybody else. A quick reminder: the World Cup is here. Yeah, in Canada. It's gonna be way better than what happened four years ago. Canada's ready to make history. Ozun is working on a promotion unlike anything you've ever seen before. How about this, okay? If you believe in Team Canada and if you believe that Canada can outlast Team USA in the World Cup, join the fun on Ozun.com. How about this, guys? You can get paid in a major way. Check out Ozun.com for all the details. But if you're planning on backing Canada to outlast the U.S., you can get paid in a major way. Courtesy of our friends at Ozun. Well played. How do you like the sound of that there, Kami? I could hear you salivating, man.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, yeah. I tell you, us Canadians are trying to get back at those Americans any way we can. I'm not sure if this is the best way to do it, but I think I'm gonna give it a shot. Canada's supposed to be pretty good, right? Now Davies is out though, right?

SPEAKER_00

Alfonso can get back in a decent time.

SPEAKER_01

My buddy said last, I mean, this is not obviously not hockey, but we're talking about the World Cup. That's allowed. My buddy told me it would have been and pardon my if I get it right. Was it the Conca Calf or whatever they call it? Like a little while ago. Yeah. My buddy who runs the uh sporting Kansas City, he took he texted me. And I I've heard about this, Davies, because he grew up in Edmonton, I think. And then maybe Vancouver, I think. Yeah, but grew up in Edmonton.

SPEAKER_00

He played for the white caps. He played for the white caps, but he was in Edmonton prior to that. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

That's right. That's right. Right. And he texted me. He said, and this guy knows hockey too. Like he pays attention. He goes, hey, he goes, I know you guys up in up north love Wayne Gretzky. He's like, I think this guy, hey, I'm kind of paraphrasing here a little bit, but he's like, I think Davies has the potential, the potential to give Gretzky a shot at being like one of the best, like the best Canadian athlete ever. He was serious. And I said, really? He goes, I think he he he thinks he's that good. He wasn't taking a shot at Gretzky. He was like, this Davies guy's awesome. So, anyways, hopefully get healthy.

SPEAKER_03

Get healthy. Yeah. Americans could lose the Paraguay in the first game for sure.

SPEAKER_00

He is uh he's unbelievable. And you know, Razor, I don't know about you, but every time I hear Commie talk about friends from Kansas City, all I can think of is D.

SPEAKER_03

I'm not nope, we're not going there. We're not allowed to go there. We're not going there.

SPEAKER_00

Do you know what we're talking about?

SPEAKER_01

Not right now, but put it in the chat and I'll read it. I'm sure it'll okay.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. All right. All right. Okay. There we go. Uh okay, hey, let's dive in. We are two games in as we forward this.

SPEAKER_01

I got it. Yeah. The hamster woke up. Yeah, it was the same guy who played that joke on me. Yeah. What a prick.

SPEAKER_00

Highly recommended. If you haven't found our archive section, uh YouTube's got a bunch of them. Apple, Spotify. There's a lot of fun if you're just joining us here now. So highly recommended. Okay. Uh Stanley Cup, here we are through two games. Uh, game one, dominance by Vegas. Game two. We're talking instant classic. Come on, quick thought from you on this one. Is it everything it's cracked up to be so far?

SPEAKER_01

I thought both games were great in a nutshell. The first game back and forth. The Canes come out flying. Vegas comes back, tied, then lose the lead, then tied again. Then Vegas scores on a great goal at the end. Uh as far as game two is concerned, I think Kaniacs should be I'll be sending Rasmus Anderson a thank you letter because with nine minutes to go in that game, from watching it on TV, Carolina was basically dead in the water until Rasmus Anderson started playing like Darnell Nurse. And all he had to do was rim that puck. That's it. Or chip it. And he he tried to reverse it to himself to and Stan Colvin took it. Boom, there's a goal. Now we're rolling. He's out on the ice again. Now the other one was kind of a tough break, but he he he overcommitted. Guy made a nice play. Bang, minus two. And then I mean Stone ties it up late. Anyways, uh, I thought, like I said, I think Kaniac should be sending thank you cards to Rasmus because I thought they were done in game two. And now we got a series. So great game, though. But if I was Vegas, it's totally, in my opinion, completely changed the momentum of the series. I know Vegas is going home, and at the end they're kind of in the driver's seat. But to me, it feels like Carolina kind of has the momentum with nine minutes to go in that game. I mean, it was not looking good.

SPEAKER_00

Four goals, four goals in the final nine and a half minutes there, Razor.

SPEAKER_03

I'm really intrigued now. So intrigued. And and more so, you know, again, we we talked about it. We said this series was gonna be interesting. Um it looked though for a long time. It looked for about what do we got, a hundred and hundred and nineteen minutes or a hundred and nine minutes? I should say 109 minutes. 109 minutes, it looked like it was not gonna be interesting. Like it I was getting text messages of brooms over the this the game two. And now to Tommy's point, who who benefits from game two? Does does Carolina really have the momentum? Or does Vegas say we just have a rasmus Anderson problem and we were really much, much better, and we bring it home? I so that's why I'm very intrigued on to see what we have in game three. Is Carolina really gonna take over now? Did they dodge the bullet or did Vegas just kind of take have a hiccup? Do you believe in momentum?

SPEAKER_00

But do you believe in momentum with these two? But do you like as much as I want to subscribe to that theory raiser? I don't know if these two teams, if momentum's really a thing with either of these. Vegas is veteran laden, they've been there, and you look at the way that they have kind of bounced back when they've dealt with adversity all postseason, and Carolina, same way. I mean, I don't even know if they've been really tested for crying out loud outside of the one game against Montreal.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. No, no, it's not momentum, it just comes down to is Vegas really better? Because that's what it looked like through two, basically for the two games. Fair. Or did Carolina get nervous going playing at home? And did they find a way to get over the hump in game two? That that that's what it comes down to for me. I'm I'm really fascinated because uh it it almost didn't become a series. It was almost the NHL and what we talked about, the worst nightmare. It was really close to being Cyanara in eight days.

SPEAKER_01

Vegas is still in the driver's seat, in my opinion. I think a better way, I don't know if momentum is the right word, but I feel like after those first two games, Carolina's going to Vegas feeling better than they probably should. Oh, yeah. And Vegas, it probably now they have a veteran team. I'm not saying, like I said, I still think they're in the driver's seat right now, but Vegas is probably going back home, feeling a little worse than they should, because they gotta feel like they let that one slip in game two. I mean, they were dominating that game until nine minutes left.

SPEAKER_00

I thought you got a two-goal lead. Yeah, you got a two-goal lead with 10 minutes to go in a hockey game.

SPEAKER_01

No, Carolina's chances, but not like not much. And then that goal went in and things changed. And they battled back too. Like I give, you know, Vegas isn't going away, but yeah, like I said, thank you cards to Rasmus.

SPEAKER_00

Well, is this? I mean, if if it goes Carolina's way the rest of the way, do we look at that as sort of your TSN turning point where I think so. We talked about the 93 cup final there with an illegal stick late in uh game number two, and this game number two late in the third period, all of a sudden my house is a little bit more than a little bit. Won't be Marty McCorley. Yeah, here we are. Rasmus Anderson might be the new uh pop culture vernacular here based on that. But let's see how it plays out. Yeah, I'll tell you what, I was sitting there on social media ready to post saying, hey, everybody, this is shaping up to maybe be arguably the worst postseason ever, just in terms of the lack of drama, right? We've only had two game sevens really uh in these playoffs. You had Montreal and Tampa, and you had Montreal and Buffalo, but um it just it's felt a little underwhelming in some respects. You get a sweep in the conference final, the other conference final goes five games, but now all of a sudden Carolina suddenly comes to life. Let's see what game three brings. Vegas has got home ice, uh, but it's starting to look like a banger, and as we talked about, it may not be the sexiest markets, but it's a sexy matchup for a hockey purist. So um some other big stories going on right now, guys. Uh, how about this one? Come as a former Detroit Red Wing.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, I mean I feel like every team you mentioned. Uh big big news comes out this week as Dylan Larkin, captain of the wings, has announced that he is uh requested a trade. He's got five years left at 8.7 million, five straight 30-plus goal seasons, coming off an Olympic gold medal with Team USA. This guy was Mr. Michigan, right? This is Detroit hockey, face of the franchise right now. First round pick in 2014, hometown kid. Um, yet somehow, some way, Stevie Y just seems to love to create animosity with star players. We saw it with Marty St. Louis in Tampa, and now here we go: the inevitable breakup with Dylan Larkin. Thoughts on that one.

SPEAKER_01

Well, for me, now I do have boys that are in the front office there, and I think the world is Steve Ezerman. Uh, I don't talk to Steve Eiserman, I do talk to those other guys, but I've never asked them about this, so this is me guessing. Uh my guess is that there's probably I'm actually kind of on Eiserman's from from what I've seen, just the outside looking in.

SPEAKER_00

Ooh, you're going management here. You're going management here.

SPEAKER_01

I'm going management here. My guess, well, I I know from what I've heard when I was in Tampa, and I have heard that, you know, Eiserman doesn't mess around. He's a good guy, don't get me wrong, when it would come to this stuff, he doesn't easily forgive and he doesn't easily forget. And when he wants something, he does it. I heard that long time ago, and I'm sure nothing's changed. When it comes to Larkin, and I thought this at the end of 2025, when Larkin did that press conference and basically said, Yeah, well, we were waiting for a spark at the deadline and we never got it when Steve didn't when Iserman didn't trade for people at the deadline or whatever, basically ripping Steve to the media that, hey, you didn't do anything, that's why we didn't make the playoffs. And then Iserman came back and said, Well, I thought sparks were supposed to be created in the room, not by management. My feeling is that probably from right about that point forward, uh, Steve Eisman probably has not been too thrilled with Larkin. Uh, like I said, this is just me guessing. I don't know. So my guess is Steve is going to uh happily accommodate or try his best to getting Larkin out the door to wherever he well, I don't know how the trade does he have no trades and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00

There is uh he's in control, he's the king of his own castle here.

SPEAKER_01

Well, there's also you know, there are backroom threats you can make as well. So we will see. But yeah, I I wouldn't it it doesn't really surprise me if there is, in fact, which there seems to be some animosity there.

SPEAKER_03

Um, if we go back again, we're doing the archive night tonight. If we went back, I think the two of us commie said that what Larkin said at the end of that season at the end of 25 was not gonna sit well with everybody in charge there. And what he did was unacceptable for a captain to do. Now, my my thought initially, right out of the gates, this is my thought. And I wish that I could talk to Dylan Larkin just a little bit and give him like a little perspective going forward. Is he's a Michigan guy, like you said, C-Ball, captain of an original six hockey team that is very storied. You do this, it's hard to go and back to that Detroit Red Wing alumni golf tournament in 10 or 15 years from now. This this becomes he's going to regret this at some point. He might not regret it hockey-wise, money-wise, he might not regret it in his career. He might go somewhere and win a cup somewhere else, but I can absolutely 100 million percent promise you that when he's my age or commie's age, he is going to regret the fact that he is going to be really uncomfortable at the Detroit Red Wing golf tournament. That he told Steve Iserman and everybody else, Chris Draper, everybody else in that organization, that he doesn't want to be the captain of that group anymore. It's a big deal. It's a really big deal to turn down the captaincy of an original six team and say you want to go somewhere else, especially when it's your state, you're the guy, and you have people in charge that are Hall of Famers. It's it's a thing. And I and I'm really surprised that no one got with them. They weren't able to put this all together because um, again, I can't I can't imagine you know, I can't imagine going to Matt Sunde and telling him I want to trade. I can't imagine going to Cam Neely and say I'm the captain, but I want to get traded. It's it's it's Dylan will regret it at some point, I think.

SPEAKER_00

I like how you kept my own. Thank you. Uh you know, but it's a good point. So the the issues are even at the end of this season, too, razor further to that point. Todd McClellan, Steve Eiserman, they did their end of the season news conference and they were asked, and it was like, you know what? Like our players need to be better. They they went in at the deadline this year, they added help, and Detroit faded. You know, we talked about this playoff stretch. If you go back a few episodes earlier in the spring and watching Detroit just crumble and the numbers, and Todd McClellan for a guy who doesn't typically call his teams out, was calling his team out, right? Time after time. And I think the real struggle with Detroit, Larkin's a fantastic player. I think there's most teams would love to have a guy and a center like Dylan Larkin. But I think the reality here is Dylan Larkin on a championship team. Tell me if I'm wrong here, but he's probably a two Cather as opposed to a one C.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed? Yeah, that's probably. I don't think I disagree with that. I mean, uh he's a good player, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER_00

It's not saying he's a bad player, but I don't think he's a franchise player. Yeah, I don't think. Right? Like if you're if he's your best player, you're probably not winning a cup. And then for the last 10 years, you're not getting into the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think they have a little bit of that. I mean, it's yeah, it's how long has it been with Detroit? Seven, eight years? It's been a decade? Oh, I guess it has. And it's been like seven years under Iserman, right? And then a couple years before that. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's almost kind of like the group of guys there, a little bit, you know, I mean, Detroit people probably won't like this comparison, but you know, it's kind of a little bit like we talked about with Columbus. You know, Columbus, Columbus went on a hell of a run then faded right at the end. You know, these guys have been there a long time, and it's like you're just kind of it's kind of comfy. Yeah, you're just kind of used to losing, and it's okay to miss the playoff, you know. Sure, when if somebody asks you, you're like, yeah, I want to make the play. But it's like, yeah, okay, but you yeah, you can I want to win a Stanley Cup too. I mean, yeah, I would love to do that every year. Yeah, we all would, but you I mean, there's certain things that go into that uh that are required. And so it I almost feel like there's some parallels there. But you're right, Larkin is a good player. I'm not saying he isn't, but you're probably right on the two C thing on a championship level team. And and like I said, I don't know the guy at all. I I have no idea. Um, I mean, but maybe I don't know, maybe maybe being a leader uh, you know, isn't maybe like his most shining quality. Maybe I'm just guessing. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Look at look at Quinn Hughes thrive without the C in Minnesota. Sure, yeah, it's not for everybody.

SPEAKER_03

I guess the the the big picture is now now it's like, okay, now it's great news for everybody that's doing this, like us, talking about it, because where's he going? Who's he going for? What's the deal? We needed this razor. We needed this. Because free agency was gonna be a joke, right? It's like Alex Tuck and nobody else, like Rasmus Anderson, who you know might have lost a million bucks.

SPEAKER_00

Shout out to Andrews Lee while we're at him.

SPEAKER_03

Um Anders Lee will do okay. Maybe Anders Lee fills right in with the uh captaincy of the Detroit Red Wings. That might be a leadership kind of play there, anyways. Um, lots of action now. And and but again, I just go back to to publicly do this with Steve Iserman and Chris Draper and that front office is really something we don't see often. And um, I'm very interested. I I would love to get Stevie on a lie detector test right now.

SPEAKER_01

Should I put the request in to get him on the podcast? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Let him let him out his number unless he blocked it. If you can pull that off, hey Steve, if you want to pull that off, what do you think of Dylan Larkin right now?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, Zune owes you another $10,000 just for that.

SPEAKER_01

Steve runs a tight ship. He runs a tight ship.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, so further to this, with all this going on, and there's another player who's making news about a potential breakup as well. But have you guys ever had a teammate that requested a trade? Oh yeah, and what's that like?

SPEAKER_03

Go ahead. I gotta think. No, we I I mean, I was on enough bad teams that guys did it for every week. Like it was like deadline time. It's like get me out of here. Anywhere trade me, right? Trade me now. I want to go. There's no point in me being here. So um, yeah, we had I I had a not a bit of it, but it was it it didn't really affect uh it it was never a captain, that that for sure. I never had a like there's players that can request trades, or you know are unhappy that you know are moving, and it's okay. This is just different when it's the captain. Um I you know, of course, I was around when Joe got traded. Joe did not want to get traded as a captain of the original six Boston Bruins. That that was not that wasn't his call, yeah. No, no, no, no. And so um, you know, again, I was around in a few places where guys wanted to get traded, but it wasn't it wasn't it wasn't controversial in any way whatsoever. It was just part of the business. So I I I don't have one like this, but but yeah, we uh we had a bunch of guys like asking for trades at different times.

SPEAKER_01

I requested a trade once.

unknown

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

That was in Ottawa, wasn't it? Uh no, no, no. Ottawa just threw me out. Most teams just threw me out. No, in Columbus, in Columbus, my third year there, when I was the highest paid defenseman in the organization. My boy Scott O'Neill. Hopefully he gets canned this year coming up. Uh my boy Scott O'Neill came in there and I was out. Like, I was actually playing well. Scratch good. We've already gone over the story. I don't need to go all over all that. But it was like just after Christmas, and I was sitting in Phoenix, out again, and teams losing. We stink, we're tapping goals from the front of the net, and I'm not allowed to play. I'm like, I was just sitting in the room by myself after bag skating myself, and I'm like, man, this to myself, I didn't say it out loud. I'm like, this sucks. I'm like, I'm done here. So the beat writer was there, Aaron Portsline. So I just called him over and he, I'm like, hey, Aaron, what's going on? He's like, Commie, how you doing? I go, not great. He goes, yeah, I bet not. And I go, hey, you know what? He's like, are you like gonna get in the lineup? I go, I don't know. I don't talk to this head coach. I'm like, feel free to leak it that I want to get traded. He's like, really? I go, go right ahead. So he did, and before I knew it, I was on my way to Springfield. I actually I kind of I do I regret it in that that gave Scott O'Neill didn't want me around because he was jealous of me and the fact that I was making some money and I was single. I regret doing it because not just because of how it worked out, but I regret. Doing it because at the end of the day, that was the excuse that Arneal now had to go to the general manager Scott Hausen and get me out, like get me out of there. So as soon as that hit the hit the papers or the internet, he went right to Housen and said, Commodore, before that, I was sitting there, I was being a good soldier, I was being a good teammate. He wouldn't meet with me on it other than the shouting match I had with him or whatever. But that was his excuse to go, we need Commodore out of here. He's a distraction. And then Hausen came and he's like, hey, he's like, look, I know this isn't working out. I think I've already gone over this, but he's like, Do you want to go home? I'm like, nah, send me to Springfield. So went to Springfield and I hung out at the old Mardi Gras dance club there. And that's nice stakes. No escrow. I took my raise and went to Springfield.

SPEAKER_00

So was it a pretty calm reaction then? Sorry, Razor was it a calm reaction then with with Hausen and Arneal? Like, did Ish hit the fan at all, or what was that like? Uh Arneal, I know the story gets out, so it comes again, but it gets out in the papers.

SPEAKER_01

Portsline writes it, and then Portsline writes it, and I want to say, like, three days later, uh, or maybe it was even less. I can't remember. It might have even been the next day. Hausen texted me or called me or whatever to come up to his room. I went up to his room and said, Yeah, he's like, Look, I know this isn't working out. I said, No, yeah, I know it's not working out. And he's like, Look, he goes, you know, Arneal wants you out of here. You know, he says you're a distraction to the team with this. I'm like, oh yeah, I bet he does. And he gave me the option. He's like, hey, look, he's like, you know, what do you want to do? Like, do you want to go home? Uh, you like you have the option to go home. He goes, You just can't stay here. We can send you the miners. I know you don't want to play in the minors. We don't really want to send you there either. Like, on they didn't want to do that to me as a veteran guy. And I was just, I was sitting there and I'm like, well, it doesn't look good if I go home. Like, I might as well go, I'll go to Springfield and play a couple games. And so I did that. So no, it was calm. And then I told, I told Hausen right then and there. I'm like, hey, I go, well, this is it. I shook his hand and I'm like, hey, I go, you want to know who looks bad and all this? And he was kind of looking at me. I said, me. I go, I look terrible and I'm done here. But I go, you want to know who else looks bad right now? And he's like, who? I go, you. I go, you hired the wrong head coach. I told you this. This guy's a power hungry. He's after you too. I'm like, you look bad. You signed me to this contract. I'm halfway through it and I'm gone. I go, you look bad, and you could be next. And sure enough, he was next. Right after him, Arneal. Everybody was gone. Nash was gone. Brasard was gone. Everybody was gone. And there we were. And then I went and checked in with Babs and then I went to Russia. And then I went to the golf course. It all happened very, very fast. That trade request really things moved quickly.

SPEAKER_03

No, and uh go back to Larkett about this. This is the you end up being the one who looks bad. Because I, you know, I was in Boston similar. Everyone, Joe got traded. Buoyance is trade, everyone's gone. It's like, well, what am I doing here? It was that kind of a conversation on the way out. It's like, there's obviously you guys don't want me here. You don't want any of us here. And and I was traded the next time. And it wasn't public where I look bad, but I look back where I could have just said nothing and maybe I stuck around. And and it wasn't on me, right? When you complain and when you bring things up and when you put it out, it always does end up on the player. So commie's story is a perfect example of what I'm talking about with Dylan Larkin. It ends on him. It's not gonna fall on Stevie Y. Stevie Y is Stevie Y. It's going to end up on Dylan no matter what happens. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Like hockey wise, just in Columbus, they call it the Kami effect, though, right?

SPEAKER_01

Right, yeah. I would guess it's gonna be a good effort. Like he, I think I'm with you, Razor. I think he's gonna regret it at the end of the day. Now, like hockey-wise, you know, he's a good enough player and he's young enough and he's gonna terminate his comments. Wherever he goes next, he'll be Mitch Marr or Eichel or something. But yeah, like it would have to take an incredible stroke of bad luck and you know, injuries and stuff. Like he's a good enough player and young enough where hockey-wise, I think you'll, you know, that'll be okay. But I you I'm with you. I think at the end of the day, he's gonna regret it down the road.

SPEAKER_00

There we go. Great conversation, guys, great perspective. Uh, and and this is why we pay you guys the big bucks. A quick reminder, everybody the Clearing the Crease podcast is powered by Ozun.com. The road to the Stanley Cup wide open, and the clearest route to winning big is to play on ozoon.com. Ozun's got you covered for all the props, game lines, and futures from now right through the Stanley Cup final and beyond. So make your power play and score big with Ozun. Well played. Okay, uh let me throw this Manny Malhotra, named head coach in Vancouver. Everything seems to be coming back to Columbus here, Kami. We had a great conversation a couple of weeks ago about culture.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Ryan Johnson, our former teammate Razor, uh, the new GM, Daniel and Henrik Sadine, the new presidents in Vancouver, former teammates for you. Kami, you played with Manny in Columbus, and uh you just mentioned uh you guys uh go back and ran into each other not too long ago. Yeah. Um are the the only thing that makes me nervous with these four guys taking over is they're all rookies. They're all rookies stepping into these positions. That being said, you guys talked about the value of culture. Is Manny Malhotra a culture guy, in your opinion, for you, Kami?

SPEAKER_01

You know, uh I will say yes. Um, you know, it's not like I played, I didn't really play with anybody for an extended extended amount of time, but so it's not like I was with him for like five, six, seven years. But you know, I was around him for a couple years, or I'd have to, I guess I'd have to look, but the Columbus ended up being such a zoo, hard to keep track. But I really like Manny. Uh good guy. I thought he handled things well, like his career-wise, right? Like, you know, he was a very high pick and thrown into the Rangers right away, and probably wasn't ready for it if you're looking back. I mean if you asked him that, I think that would probably be kind of fair. And he managed his way around, had a great career for himself.

SPEAKER_00

Come on, he never scored more than 14 goals in a season and played almost a thousand games.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, there you go. That is called incredible. That's called managing your career correctly. For sure. He was not a good one. I was just not asking. Maybe he didn't request any trades. He just hung in there. Oh, he just seemed to move around enough, though. That's right. Fourth line, second remote.

SPEAKER_00

That's right. He just he just took it. Survivor. He's a survivor.

SPEAKER_01

But I think he's got a lot of experience, and I think like uh, yeah, I mean, I guess I wasn't around him long enough to know if he'll bring a good culture. I would like to think so. Uh man, he's a good dude. He's been successful in the American Hockey League. He's won there, which uh to me that's important. I think that's not easy to do. And I know he's been grinding out in the American League. Uh, you know, bust well, I guess they're flying out in the West Coast, but whatever. You guys, you know, it's it's it's the minors. So uh good for him. I I hear your concern, C Ball, or you know, with four guys and they're all kind of rookies, but to be honest, I I think I kind of like it. I like what I've heard so far, and I think I kind of like it. And I think with the bank, now you'll know better than me, you you two. I've never played in Vancouver, but I think the fact that they're all rookies will maybe give them some grace with the fans, maybe, or you know, a little extension, a little more leeway, maybe, at least for a while. So I kind of like it, to be honest, from the outside looking in.

SPEAKER_03

I do too. I think it's because they're all on the same page, they're all the same, they're all basic, they all play together. Um, they're all the same age, essentially. RJ's a year or two older, but they're all they're all in it together. Um, they're not going to deviate, one guy going here, the other guy, which has been the case in Vancouver for a little while. At different times, you've had different people doing different things. These guys are gonna stick together, they're on the same page, they've worked together for a couple of years now. With Manny being in Abbotsford, RJ was there, the twins, of course, were doing a lot of work with those guys. So I'm sure they have a very uh very similar outlook on how to build a team. Now, of course, it's different to do it under the gun and under the the spotlight and under under fire, but I think they have a running chance because they're on the same page. And I think if you're a Canucks fan, that's it to piecemeal something together would be much worse than what they have now. They have four really good people that are really good hockey people that have all done it differently, that should have good perspective and and uh and find a way to build the team properly.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, great character. Uh guys are clearly willing to do the work. And you look at what Manny's journey has been as a coach now onto this road, what Ryan Johnson has certainly done, Daniel and Henrik. I mean, I am a huge fan of both those guys. So let's see how it goes. I think there's optimism in Vancouver with the hire. We'll see how it plays out. Uh let's see if we can try to get everything in here in the next 10 minutes. Uh, we're on the clock here. Okay. Um, okay, I want to hit this one. Um, this has been one of your hot button topics over the last few years since we pretty much launched this show. But a report comes up from SportsNets Mark Spector suggesting that Darnell's time in Edmonton is coming up. Nursey, no more. Um your thoughts, I guess this report even suggested that they were thinking about scratching Darnell during the Stanley Cup final going back a year ago uh or two seasons ago, that it was it was going that off the rails where he was only averaging about 15 minutes of playing time. Uh, I guess as a player, like what sort of reaction do you get when you read an article suggesting that the team is kind of done with you?

SPEAKER_01

Well, first off, they should have scratched him in those 2024 playoffs. He was terrible. And the only reason why he played, like it said, they thought it would be a distraction. I mean, he was now before I start, uh I'm not here to just roast Darnell. I think Darnell lately has played better than he was in 2024. He stopped sliding around the ice, he's kept things a little more simple. I think he's been better. Now, in saying that, look, he ain't living up to the 9.25. Maybe that's not even fair to hold him to that. That it probably isn't, to be honest. He's not Cale McCar. He's never gonna be Kale McCarr. Um, but so I will say he has been better, but look, like he Some say he's not Kale Hulse. Well, yeah, I tell you what, Cale Hulse could rim the puck and he would shoot it off the glass. Some of those turnovers I've seen Cardell. And so well played. Yeah. I mean, I guess if I'm Darnell, I mean, I don't know. He has taken a lot of grief there, and I I think a lot of it is deserved. Like I said, I I think I do think he has been better, but I think it's too little too late. The Oilers are on the clock. He's eaten up, uh I know he's Connor's buddy, but look, he's eaten up a ton of cap space. And what are you getting out of it? Like that's he's not, I think at the best of times, this is just me. I think at the best of times in today's game, he is a number five defenseman tops, and he should at most be making half of what he's making. And I think that's being nice. Um but yeah, I mean, I'm sure it's not great for him to read that. I mean, I'm not sure now, once again, we got a full no move clause. Like, if I were him, I I've never had a full no, like I've never had any kind of thing like that. But I would think if it were me reading it, like I think part of him's got to be like, you know what, I want to get the hell out of here too. Yeah, like it's time I I've spent my time here, I'm sick of getting ripped on, blah, blah, but you know, he's got to have some personal pride as well. So I think I would be willing to wave it and go anywhere. Now, my question is, is who the hell's taking him? That's that's the big in this yeah, go ahead, Razor.

SPEAKER_03

I'll no, I'm I'm just piggybacking you. Like, who's where's that 9.2? Who's how much does Edmonton have to eat of that? Like, probably a great story, right? Like, it gets Spectre to be seen and talked about like we're doing, but of course, I'm sure they would have loved to have gotten rid of him the last four years. He's making nine two, but who's taking them? That's the the the I like I the it's interesting these stories coming up again. Larkin, same thing. Like, who's taking Larkin? What are you giving up for Larkin? Like, these are these are fun June stories, but I want to see it come draft day. Who's fucking up to to get Darnell nurse at 9.2? Gotta be out of your mind. In this article at Iron Man.

SPEAKER_00

Darnell at 4.6, but what about Darnell at 4.6 if Edmonton has taken half?

SPEAKER_03

Well, that's fine, but then the Edmonton's taking 4.6. They probably have to take a bad player on the side of it or give up a first round pick to get rid of Darnell at 4.6. Like it's just a lot. I just don't, I'm curious. I I get it can happen. I'm just very I want to see how it plays out because eating 4.6 isn't that easy for Edmonton right now.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he still has a lot of term left. Yeah. This this article said San Jose, or like destinations for Detroit, uh, would be the good destinations for Darnell. This this article said San Jose, San Jose would be out of their minds. Nah. Out of their mind. You want to stop the good good things they got going on there? Bring Darnell in. That'll kill it. Detroit. Are you kidding me? And then the other one was Toronto. I'm like, well, maybe. I mean they'll do it. What the hell? Fire him out to Toronto. Let's see how that turns out. But like the one quote in Spectre, and I'm not a I'm not a Mark Specter. I'm not a Mark Spector fan at all. He used to be at the Fort Record when I was growing up as a kid. He should have stayed there.

SPEAKER_00

But you've never partied with Speck like I'm not.

SPEAKER_01

I don't want anything to do with Mark Specter.

SPEAKER_00

I love you, Speck. I love you, Speck.

SPEAKER_01

I don't. Uh this is the quote about Darnell. And this is what this is pretty much exactly what I was told two years ago during those playoffs when I messed with somebody that knows like, hey, like, man, like what is he doing out there? He always gave you the feeling that he saw himself more as an offensive defenseman and would make some terrible reads with a with and without the puck at critical times in games. Hockey sense was always a concern for me. It ain't a good thing if you got a D-man making 9.25, and hockey sense is a big concern. So, anyways, I think Darnell should wave it and go wherever he can. But I don't but like I don't know what you do. I don't know how you I don't know how you get rid of him.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I guess some players these days you see players terminating their contract, but he ain't walking away from the city.

SPEAKER_03

Oh no, you don't do that. Don't do that, Darnell. Whatever you do, don't do that.

SPEAKER_00

You got pride, but you know what?

SPEAKER_01

There's pride and then there's principle. You got the rest of your life. Don't terminate that contract, Darnell. Don't fuck it up. Yeah, don't fuck it up.

SPEAKER_03

Don't get the lashings from Spectre and move on with your nine million. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You when you fly home, you fly private. Yeah, basically, he's in a position where he makes so much money for so long that you basically have to play him. Like you're you can't buy him out. You have to play him and just hope for the best. So, anyways, I don't want to torch Darnell. Like I said, at the end of the day, I think he's been he's been better than he was two years ago.

SPEAKER_00

So I know, I know you don't want to torch Darnell, but too late for that.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, sorry, Darnell. I mean, hey, Darnell, focus on hey, you cash those checks and just stay on your feet and you're worth for and my biggest in, man.

SPEAKER_00

Like what I mean, what are you gonna say? No to a contract like that at the end of the day, and yeah, so not at all.

SPEAKER_01

I don't fault fault him at all. No, of course not. Good for him. Proud of him, actually. Yeah, kind of jealous, to be honest. Very jealous. Very jealous. Good job, Darnell.

SPEAKER_00

Steve Darnell, you still have an admiration society here on the Clearing the Crease podcast, powered by Ozo. Well, just keep that club and don't listen to anything else we've ever talked about. That's right. That's right. Uh okay, time for our fan question. This is where you submit a question to us on social, on YouTube, wherever it may be, but make sure you're using that hashtag askCTC. Razor, this is one for you this week. You ready? All right. Here we go. This is coming from Justin checking out the CTC in Badger, Newfoundland. All right, shout out to The Rock. Razor, one of the top five hardest shots you've ever faced. Who shot the puck and did you make those saves?

SPEAKER_03

Perfect. Good question. Top four is very easy for me. So I have in no real order. Um, Sheldon Surrey hit me in a collarbone one night to hurt like hell. You do will pull up a video of Sheldon scoring on me in Montreal against Toronto off a face-off. It's like the parting of the Red Seas. It's like the funniest goal ever. Rob Blake, Rob Blake could absolutely heavy hammer it. Uh Zidane O'Cara, of course. I played against him all the time when he was in Ottawa. They would post him up on the five-on-three, and it was it was a fiasco. And then Shea Weber. Shea Weber, he could like he was bringing it at the end of my career as a young guy, and he brought it. Call me was playing the Hall of Fame game. He came down and took a clapper in the shootout. Remember that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I do remember.

SPEAKER_03

She almost, I'm like 42 years old. He almost killed me. I'm like, dude, you're in the Hall of Fame. And Callie came over after he's like, dude, that was bullshit. I'm like, completely uncalled for. Completely uncalled for. So those are the four guys. That's an easy four. I and so I kind of thought about it. Like my other one, kind of sneaky that you wouldn't think about was Matt Sundean. Like Matt's Matt's brought it in practice every once in a while, like when he was in a bad mood or the team, and and he he was so accurate with it, but he was big and strong and and he could shoot it really hard. So that was kind of my dark horse on five. The top four would probably be any goalies picks that that played in my era. Who you got, Collie? You have anyone that anyone that you're like, wow, that guy brings it. I'm forgetting.

SPEAKER_01

Uh I mean, well, Surrey's one. I mean, I don't disagree with anybody you said. Surrey was one like whenever he would wind up on the and I'm high, huh? Always brought it high quality. You ever see his curve? Like he was ridiculous. No disrespect, Sheldon. He was a good player. He had a hard time kind of passing the puck because the curve on his hockey stick. Yeah. That thing was meant for rifling the puck, there's no question. Um, yeah, no, that the nobody else really stands out to me too bad. I would say like two of the like, whenever I think of shots, two of the best, like, I don't mean hardest, but like quick releases is what I kind of think of that I remember. Uh, and it was thank God it was only briefly because he retired. But Joe Sakick, I remember once in Colorado, I was out there, and I I like I couldn't believe how quick he got. I thought I was in a good spot. It was being the net. I'm like, man, that was quick. And uh Danny Heatley. Danny Heatley. Oh, heater. Heater could shoot the puck, he could get rid of it quick. As far as velocity, I don't, you know, he could shoot it, there's no question. But those were two guys. Whenever I think of shots, like those guys got it and got rid of it quick.

SPEAKER_03

And I just thought of Brad Hall. Like I played against Bret Hall, but he wasn't bringing the heat like towards the biggest. It was the same idea, you know. Like he was a great scorer.

SPEAKER_00

Razor, I remember talking to Dan Kluche once after a game in Vancouver. Al McInnes had teed up with like a clean look from the point and hammered one. And Kluche made the save with his shoulder. And I remember after the game asking him, I said, Man, how about they stop a clear, like point blank Al McInnes shot? And I and this was probably in the second period. And I remember Kluche saying, He goes, My arm is like my shoulder is still numb. Oh my god, it hurt. It was like, man, I never got Al.

SPEAKER_03

I was lucky.

SPEAKER_00

Avoiding that one. So Kami, I a quick one quick one for you. Um, Brayden McDabb took one in the face the other day in game two, which was just awful. And you just you know, did anything like that ever happen to you? Uh yeah, you know, 600 games in the NHL. Like, I mean, did you ever uh and your job is to be that crease lizard to kind of protect it anyway?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I took one right in the face, right over my eye, my ninth game pro, but it wasn't in the NHL. I was playing for the Albany River Rats against it in the jungle in Willow just got zipped all over the place.

SPEAKER_03

Just on the bus ride home.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no vibes.

SPEAKER_00

Do you remember?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I do. Uh, it was a uh face-off in our end, Albany. G puck got one back to Andrew Ference was playing for Wilkes. And there was a forward in front, yeah, forward in front of the net. Andrew wound up to shoot it. I cross-checked the forward out of the way, and I was the goal he could see. I think it was Arya Honan, wasn't it? Yes, it was. First round pick, Arya Honan. First round pick, 1999. You're right, Razor. Yep. And I cross-checked my guy out of the way, and I was looking back. Andrew shot the puck, and it was gonna be probably two feet off the ice behind me. Nobody was in the way, would have been an easy save. Well, right about, so let's say I'm at the top, a little about top of the crease. Uh, well, his name was Mike Jefferson at the time, and then he changed his name to Mike Dan. He went out there to get in the shot lane, and the puck hit the shaft of his stick. I saw it coming the whole way. I had no time to move, and it just off the shaft, straight up, and right in my bean. That was no fun. That was detached retina. That was a ride. I didn't even get on the bus. Oh, it was bad. I thought things were over before they even got started. Yeah. So I yeah, I didn't even go back on the bus. We had Willie Mitchell down for that game. I actually jumped in the car, Willie's car, the next day to, or maybe it was that night. Might have been that night. Willie got called back up, so I drove back with Willie to New Jersey, got checked out, and I was in surgery about 30 minutes after I got checked out. It was not much fun.

SPEAKER_03

You're lucky you're lucky you ended up to New Jersey. You could have stayed in Albany for the night and got screwed. Oh, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. Big time. What kind of screwed? Do you mean there, Razor? I mean no eyes. Yeah. Like, like, well, I won't even. I there's a couple guys I could say, but I'm not gonna that is wild.

SPEAKER_00

Anyway, that's uh well, thanks for sharing that. Uh, but yeah, it's certainly I wish our best to bring McDowell. Hopefully he's not out.

SPEAKER_01

That's big for Vegas, too. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

As we as we even my dog's concerned right now, he's losing his mind over.

SPEAKER_01

I don't think Vegas 4D. Vegas doesn't want to roll 4D. We saw that last night. Yeah. Anyways.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, time for Don't Puck It Up. Let me kick it off here, guys. NHL executives. Look, you all make good salaries. Invest in equality. Watch. And look, I'm not suggesting a Rolex, but if you can afford it, go for it. But don't act like a high school student trying to submit an assignment at the 11th hour, okay? When you have a stud like Matthew Nyes, two first rounders, and a top prospect all dangling at the wind at the terrain deadline. You know what? Maybe you don't want to submit that trade a minute too late as was reported earlier this week, okay? This isn't bidding for a card on eBay here, everybody. Hire a director of timing operations if you need to. Executives at the trade deadline. Don't puck it up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, is that story true? I just read that right before we came on. Who knows? Okay. Whoops. Maybe that's why you got fired. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Somebody needs their ass kicked for that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Uh mine'll be quick. Um, I'll just go with what I touched on a little bit earlier. Don't puck up the gift from Rasmus Anderson, Carolina. Don't puck it up. Go into Vegas and win one game. Come home, make it have it be 2-2. Don't puck up that gift. Don't go there and lay an egg in game three and go back to Carolina 3-1. Get a split in Vegas and get the home ice back.

SPEAKER_03

I feel like we have to bring it up again. Don't puck it up, Mitch Marner. You're this close to winning the con Smythe and bringing that baby back to Young Street. The greatest. Find a way, Las Vegas. Don't puck it up. Game two. Let that get back to you. The exact opposite of what Kami's saying. Mitchie, come through, big boy.

SPEAKER_01

Mitch Marner. Mitch Marner must have been livid when he was going up the boards there, and all Rasmus had to do was rim it, and that thing tried to be. Let me backhand that thing out of the zone. It's just one little step closer to the greatest summer of my life. And Rasmus tried to reverse it to himself. And the five foot two stake COVID shoved him off the puck.

SPEAKER_00

Oh boy. He pucked it up. We need to get some clearing the crease, pucked it up t-shirts. Yeah, we do. No, we do.

SPEAKER_03

Let's get on that.

SPEAKER_00

Produce Mr. Stewart. Add it to the list.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we got we got to do the don't puck it up. We should mix in a few more you pucked it up. Like, you know, a little variants, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

We got a whole summer. Yeah. We got a whole summer for it.

SPEAKER_01

That's true.

SPEAKER_02

That's right.

SPEAKER_00

A quick reminder, everybody uh the World Cup is here, and Team Canada is ready for history. Ozun working on a promotion unlike anything you've ever seen before. If you believe in Team Canada and if you think that Canada can leapfrog over the U.S. the World Cup, well, hey, check out Ozun.com and you can get paid in a major way. Visit Ozoun.com for all the details if you're planning on backing Team Canada because the Clearing the Crease podcast is powered by Ozoon.com and the road to the Stanley Cup, it's open, at least for now. And the clearest route to winning big is to play on Ozun.com. Ozun's got you covered for all the props, game lines, futures from now until the cup final and beyond. Make your power play. Score big with Ozoon. Well played. He's Kami. He's Razor. I'm Sabalski. We'll be back later this week, right here for another episode of the Clearing the Crease podcast, powered by Ozun. Gentlemen.

SPEAKER_01

Well played. Even for you right now.